revolutionary war - joshua bates

The Revolutionary career of my sixth great-grandfather, Joshua Bates, began at the beginning of the war in April 1775 and ended towards the end of the war in 1780. He served for 5 years, a long time compared to most men in his town of Weymouth who would enlist for 3-9 month periods and be done after their first service. I was able to find Joshua's pension file on footnote.com. It was filed by his wife, Tirzah Pratt Bates Hunt, after he died (she remarried Ebenezer Hunt after Joshua's death). As the pension was applied for by his wife, it should be noted that the information comes secondhand from Tirzah, so it is not as detailed as it may have been coming directly from Joshua.
According to Tirzah, "first he served about two weeks commencing on the nineteenth of April 1775 on a minute Company raised at Charlestown where he was then an apprentice*, names of officers under whom he served unknown." The date of Joshua's service is significant in the Revolutionary War. April 19, 1775 was when the battles of Lexington and Concord were fought. During the battle, neighboring towns were alerted and minute armies marched to the alarm toward Lexington and Concord. After these battles, Massachusetts militia from different towns surrounded Boston to block the British from getting more supplies from their navy. This was known as the Siege of Boston, and lasted about a year. It seems likely due to the dates and location of Joshua's service in Charlestown that he was involved in a march towards Lexington and Concord or the beginning of this siege. The book, Historical Sketch of Charlestown..., discusses this time period in Charlestown on page 7,

A more detailed description of this time in Charlestwon is found at google books in History of the siege of Boston, and of the battles of Lexington... on page 79. Living in Charlestown at this time in history would have a great effect on Joshua, with people from the town fleeing with a war starting on their homeland. Joshua made the decision to protect and serve his home. Joshua only served for about 2 weeks in Charlestown, leaving about 2 months before the town was burned and destroyed by the British.
His next service began from Weymouth, in the town he was born. The pension file states, "Also that he served as a private at Weymouth and at Hull in a Company commanded by Capt Joseph Trufant from about the first of May 1775 to the first of January 1777 a term of twenty months. Also that he served at Hull four months ending on the first of May 1777 in one of the four independent Companies there Captain’s name not known" I did not find any information on Capt. Trufant's regiment until I searched for Joseph Trufant in the book on ancestry.com of Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors in the Revolutionary War. It gives a bit more detail than Joshua's pension file as to how this independent company served in the war. The dates and places match what was stated in Joshua's pension.

Joshua's next bought of service is stated as follows, "Also that he served as orderly Sergeant in Capt. Amos Lincoln Company of Artillery, Col. Revere’s Regiment from May eight 1777 to December 31st 1779 . Also in second Company of Revere’s Regiment from January first to May eighth 1780 a term of three years in one continued period of service. While performing this period of service he was frequently marching from station to station and from one section of the Country to another, he was in the Penobscot Expedition and in an engagement at Rhode Island by which he lost his hearing which in a great measure unfitted him for active business through life."
The Colonel Revere referred to in Joshua's pension is the well-known Paul Revere. Amos Lincoln and Paul Revere were both participants in the Boston Tea Party. It is neat that a relative of mine had relationships with at least two members of the tea party. I am not sure how he became to serve with this group and not with a Weymouth regiment, perhaps he made ties with them when he apprenticed in Charlestown. (I also noted that there is an Edward Bates listed as a participant at the Boston Tea Party, not sure if there is a relation.) This last part of Joshua's pension tells a bit about how he served in the Revolutionary War, mentioning an engagement in Rhode Island and the Penobscot Expedition. If we look at Paul Revere's regiment information, we can get a better idea of their activities. The Rhode Island engagement is most likely referring to this engagement explained on the Revolutionary War and Beyond website, where Revere and his regiment "were sent to reinforce General John Sullivan at Newport, Rhode Island. The colonists were unable to recapture Newport and Revere was home in Boston by September." On this same website is a brief explanation of the failed Penobscot Expedition, "Summer 1779, Lieutenant Colonel Paul Revere was placed in command of the artillery train for the Penobscot Expedition to drive the British from Penobscot Bay, Maine (then part of Massachusetts). This turned out to be a disastrous expedition and was the worst US naval defeat in American history until Pearl Harbor. Paul Revere was charged with insubordination for several alleged offenses during this mission and was dismissed from the militia. He was exonerated from all charges after three years of trying to get a fair court martial."
Lastly, Joshua's pension file states, "Also that he continued his services as a soldier from the end of the last mentioned period to the close of the war: but the ? which he made and the officers under whom he served are not certainly known accepting that he served at Rhode Island in Capt. Theophilus Wilder’s Company several months in the year 1780." This last service in Rhode Island is probably the following described in History of the Town of Hingham... on google books:

The book goes on to state the Hingham men that were involved in this event. As Joshua was not from Hingham he is not listed on the Hingham roll. According to the History of Weymouth book on ancestry.com, some men would enlist from other towns if the town was paying more money than their own town could offer. Perhaps this is what Joshua did, or maybe he did not have the opportunity to serve from Weymouth if they were not enlisting men at this time. Regardless, Joshua chose to serve and protect his new country with many years of service.

notes:
*Joshua's son, Joshua Bates, was the benefactor of the Boston Public Library. This son Joshua also was a clerk in Charlestown for William Grey, a distinguished merchant. Excerpt here . This Bates family clearly had ties to Boston and Charlestown.
*I searched the rev. rolls - 2 joshua bates - one serving in vermont and one in 2nd reg and 23rd reg - probably not this joshua bates as those regiments are not listed in the pension file. Rolls mostly list the continental army, does not list all militia.

revolutionary war

I have traced many of my ancestors back to the Revolutionary War period of 1775-1783. After reading an article in the November 2008 issue of Family Tree Magazine, "Operation Online Records", I thought I would try to find out which ancestors fought in the Revolutionary War. This article includes a handy chart which lists the range of birth years of men who may have fought in the war. I searched my family database for any men that were born between 1726 and 1767 and came up with a possible list to check for revolutionary war records. I wanted to focus on my direct line ancestors first, so I narrowed the search for only great grandparents and not great uncles or cousins on my collateral line. I came up with the following list:

Direct Line Ancestors that may have fought in the Revolutionary War

Joshua Bates (b. 1755)
Samuel Bates (b. 1754)
John Blackington (b. 1756)
George Lane French (b. 1741)
Abner Holbrook (b. 1741)
Pierre Labrec (b. 1756 Canada)
Samuel Torrey (b. 1761)

The first place I looked for records was footnote's database of Revolutionary War Pensions. I was only able to find two pensions in this database for the men listed above, oddly it was the first two I searched for; Joshua Bates (6th great grandfather) and Samuel Bates (5th great grandfather). My next two posts will be about these two Revolutionary ancestors.


to do list:
1. The following men are my other ancestors that are on my collateral line that may have fought in the Revolutionary War. I will look more closely at these men later. George French (b. 1766), Joshua French (b. 1764), Adam Holbrook (b. 1750), John Holbrook (b. 1765), William Holbrook (b. 1739), Cushing Pratt (b. 1759), Zanas Pratt (b. 1766), James Vining (b. 1744), John Vining (b. 1752), Jeremiah White (b. 1756), John White (b. 1760), Luther White (b. 1743)

samuel bates and selah white

The anniversary of Samuel Bates and Selah White is today. They were married 232 years ago today, March 24, 1778 in Abington, MA. Their intentions were recorded in Weymouth records. Samuel was from Weymouth and Selah was born in Abington. It does seem that the White family though was originally from Weymouth according to the many local genealogies on the White family.

Samuel and Selah were both about 24 years old when they married. They were married at an important time in history, during the Revolutionary War. Samuel did enlist in the war and I was able to find his pension file on footnote. According to this file, he served from May 1775 to August 1777. He did not fight in any battles, but marched from state to state, town from town, carrying supplies and goods for the army. Perhaps Selah knew Samuel before he enlisted and waited for him to come home to marry him, or maybe she did not meet Samuel until he returned in 1777. Either scenario, it was only seven months after Samuel returned from service that they were married.

The marriage record in Abington does not state which church they were married in. I looked for some historical books on the town of Abington on google books and found, History of the town of Abington, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, from its first settlement. According to this book, the only church for the town at this period in time was The First Congregational Church in Abington Center. During the time that Samuel and Selah were married, the Reverend was Samuel Niles. Below is a drawing of the church from the above mentioned book.




Samuel and Selah Bates did not stay in Abington, as their first child, Elijah, was born in Weymouth in 1781, about three years after they married. They continued to have seven more children, all born in Weymouth.

I looked in the History of Weymouth book available on ancestry.com and found some references (vol. 2 page 554) to a Samuel Bates living near Whitmond Pond in Weymouth around 1752. This was a couple of years before this Samuel Bates was born, but perhaps it was his parents, Samuel and Hannah, who were living here. There are a lot of Samuel Bates in the Weymouth Vital records (book available on google books), so it difficult to say which Samuel they are referring to that is living by Whitman's pond. I do know that both Samuel and Selah (Celia) were buried at Elmwood Cemetery in South Weymouth, so by the end of their lives they were at least living near the parish and cemetery in South Weymouth. They probably did not move around the town throughout their lives, so it will probably be safe to assume they lived in South Weymouth for most of their lives. I am not sure if his parents lived in this different section of town near Whitman Pond, but it could be that Samuel moved when he was older to South Weymouth.

I took a look at the census data for Samuel and Selah to find some clues as to where they may have lived in Weymouth, if they were living in South Weymouth near the cemetery they were buried in. The early censuses listed only head of households, and sometimes the enumerators alphabetized the surnames when they re-wrote the data to submit it. For the censuses that were alphabetized, it would be impossible to figure out who their neighbors were. Luckily, the enumerator for the Weymouth 1790 census listed the families in the order he visited them. This shows me that Samuel and Selah Bates were neighbors with some of my other ancestors that I know lived on Union Street in South Weymouth. They were neighbors with David Whitman, Widow Whitman (there is a parenthesis linking the Bates with Widow Whitman, but I have not established who this is yet), Widow Holbrook (who I established was most likely Jerusha Vining, mother of his daughter's husband - in another blog entry here), and John Vining (Jerusha's father). This fits in with what I already know of this family. First, they were buried at Elmwood Cemetery on Union Street. According to their neighbors on the census information, they would have lived across the street from this cemetery. Secondly, their daughter, Hannah Bates (my 4th great-grandmother), married James Holbrook, their neighbor that lived on Union Street with them according to the 1790 census as mentioned above.

The 1800 and 1810 Census entries are alphabetized and provide no information as to the location in Weymouth that this Bates family lived. The 1820 Census does list the families in order they were enumerated once again, and we still see them living near the same families of the Holbrooks. Some other families listed are most likely his son, Samuel Bates Jr., Cushing (their daughter Selah married David Cushing), White and Shaw (their son Reuben married a Shaw) families. The 1820 Census also lists the street they live on as Boxbury Street. I have not been able to find the location of this street in Weymouth, as it no longer exists. The 1830 Census again lists neighboring families of the Holbrooks in addition to Lemuel Paine (their daughter Lydia's husband) and Whitman families.

The History of Weymouth book also lists in the chapter of Century old-houses in Weymouth, a Samuel Bates living on Union Street after the Holbrooks. Chamberlain states that it "was later times known as the house of Melvin Bates. It was until recent years owned by the Bates family, and then became the property of Thomas Kiernan, 520 Union Street." (vol. 2, p. 934) Melvin Bates is Samuel and Selah's grandson, the son of Samuel and Phebe Bates. This makes it likely that the property was handed down to their son Samuel, then to Melvin. The map of Weymouth from the Historical Land Ownership and Reference Atlases on ancestry.com does have an M. Bates listed next to the cemetery. This location on the map is most likely the original property of Samuel and Selah.

It seems that Samuel and Selah both spent their lives together in Weymouth. They both died in Weymouth, Selah in 1832 at the age of 78 and Samuel in 1838 at the age of 84. They lived a very long life together.

to do list:
1. find a connection between the samuel bates living in whitman pond area in 1752 and the samuel bates living on union street in 1790-1830
2. find connection between widow whitman and samuel bates living on union street

helen l. cowing stoddard

Helen L. Cowing, my great-great grandmother, was born March 22, 1865 in South Scituate, MA. Her parents were George Clinton Cowing and Lydia Helen French.

Helen was the second oldest of four children to George and Lydia.  She had an older sister, Mary and two younger brothers, George and Percy.  Percy was actually born much later than the rest of the siblings.  Helen was fifteen years older than Percy and would only live in the same house as him for about 4 years. 

1870 census

From helen lydia cowing

1880 census

From helen lydia cowing

Helen was 19 years old when she married Arthur T. Stoddard in Weymouth on May 11, 1884.  They probably met when they were young, as they lived only six houses apart, according to the South Scituate map from 1879.  I have written a bit about Arthur and Helen in this blog post; which includes the map of South Scituate for 1879.

After they married, Helen and Arthur lived on High Street in Norwell, MA.  The town of South Scituate changed its name to Norwell in 1888, so they were still living close to home; really in the same town as they grew up in.   Helen's siblings did not stay in Scituate/Norwell, but moved to towns of Malden, Brockton and Hingham in Massachusetts.  They probably did not see much of each other once they married and had families of their own.  Helen and Arthur had three daughters, Nellie, Ethel and Carrie in Norwell.

Helen died at a young age of 49 years, of Acute Bright's Disease. Helen is buried at the Washington Street Cemetery in Norwell with her husband Arthur, her daughter Carrie, and her father George C. Cowing.


Helen was survived by her mother, her husband and two of her daughters, Ethel and Nellie.  As I wrote in another blog post, her daughter Carrie took her own life a year before Helen died.  Her two surviving daughters did marry and had children of their own, all in Norwell, MA.  Helen was alive to see 8 out of 15 of her grandchildren born; although, two of those grandchildren died within a few days of birth.  My grandmother (Helen, probably named after her) never got to meet her grandmother, Helen.  She was born 15 years after Helen died.  She never spoke much about her family, maybe because she did not know all that much herself. 

more maps and property

After spending a lot of time looking at the maps on the Historic Land and Atlas database available on ancestry, I wanted to organize some of my thoughts and research process.

I was able to locate some of my ancesters, mainly the Whiting (Whiton) families in South Scituate and South Hingham. I thought it would be interesting to track the land as it may have been passed from family member to family member. This will eventually help me when I am able to search the probate and land records. I used both the maps and the local histories of both Hingham and Hanover as a basis for my conclusions.

Benjamin Whiton (my 6th great grandfather) married Joanna Gardner in 1766 in Hingham, MA. According to The History of the Town of Hingham book, Benjamin was a farmer who lived near Accord Pond in South Hingham.

The Historical Sketch of the Town of Hanover states that this Benjamin lived in a house where Eleazer Chubbuck now lives. The book was published in 1858.

Also according to the Hanover book, Eleazer Chubbuck married Benjamin's Granddaughter Elizabeth (Betsey b. 1801). So Benjamin's land probably went to his son Archelaus. Betsey's mother died in 1803, and her father Archelaus enlisted in 1812 (probably died in war). This would have left Betsey alone at age 11, her grandparents were already dead at this time too. Maybe she moved in with one of her aunts or uncles, and the property was left to Betsey - where she later lived with her husband Eleazer Chubbuck. The property from the map looks like they lived on Gardner Street.

Another son of Benjamin that lived in this area was Joseph. The Hingham books states that Joseph resided on Gardner Street near Accord Pond and that Joseph's son Joseph (another one of Benjamin's grandchildren), stayed on at his paternal homestead. I also find J.M. Whiting on the map on Gardner Street living two houses up from Eleazer Chubbuck, which is probably Joseph and therefore his father Joseph's house. Perhaps Benjamin divided his land and gave some to his granddaughter Betsey (through his son Archelaus) and some to his son Joseph, who passed it on to his son Joseph. So Betsey and Joseph, who are living on Gardner Street in South Hingham in 1879 are cousins, both grandchildren of Benjamin Whiton and Joanna Gardner.

There is still a house between J. Whiting and E. Chubbuck on the map of Hingham. It would make sense if this house were also on Benjamin's original property. The map states the house belongs to E Beal. Looking at The History of the Town of Hingham book, this is probably Edwin Beal who married Elizabeth Chubbuck (daughter of Eleazer Chubbuck and Betsey Whiting).

Elizabeth would have been living next to her parents on the map. If this were originally Benjamin Whiting's property - Elizabeth Chubbuck Beal would be his great-granddaughter, living next to two of Benjamin's grandchildren. So perhaps Benjamin's property was split amonst them all - or further subdivided by his grandchildren. As seen in the excerpt above, The History of The Town of Hingham book does state that Edwin Beal lived on Gardner St.

Map of South Hingham which lists the properties I have discussed above

Benjamin also had a son Benjamin (my 5th great grandfather) that lived in Hingham near Accord Pond, accoring to the Hanover book. The History of Hingham book states Benjamin removed to Scituate. According to the census data, he did move to South Scituate, which was right down the street from Hingham and where his father lived. He must have built or bought his own house, as he is not in Hingham where his father lived. I have no direct evidence as to where his property went when he died, but it seems it probably went to his children as many of them are living in the same area of South Scituate near Accord Pond.

Benjamin's daughter, Joanna, married Freeman French and lived in South Scituate. We can see F. French on the South Scituate map below Accord Pond. Another daughter of Benjamin and Lydia's, Lydia Whiting, never married and lived with her brother Jared and sister Mary Whiting (both probably never married either). The censuses for 1860-1880 have this family of siblings living next door to Freeman and Joanna French. They are not listed on the property map of South Scituate, so maybe they lived on the same property in a second house. Elizabeth, another daughter of Benjamin and Lydia's, married James Burrill. On the censuses and the map of Scituate, there is a J. Burrill living across the street from Freeman French and Joanna. Elizabeth probably resides in her parent's house as she and her husband lived with her mother Lydia after her father Benjamin died. The second oldest son of Benjamin and Lydia was Richard, who married Mary Stoddard. Richard had died by the time the Scituate map was made in 1879, but his wife Mary was living in Hingham. I was not able to locate a Mrs. Mary Whiting on the map in Hingham, but as they were living in Hingham, they most likely did not have his father's property. Benjamin and Lydia's other children had either died by the time the map was created in 1879, or removed to another town after marrying.

Map of South Scituate with Benjamin Whiting's property as discussed above

to do list:
1. list picture of jos. j whiting and amasa whiting house
2. find mary whiting - widow of richard whiting on hingham map - look in census
3. create family chart to explain relationships better

joanna whiting (whiton) french

Joanna Whiting, another one of my 4th great grandmothers, was born March 16, 1807, two-hundred and three years ago today. She was born to Benjamin Whiting and Lydia Stoddard in Scituate, in the part of that town that later became known as South Scituate (1849) and then Norwell. The Whiting (Whiton) family was not originally from Scituate though, but resided in Hingham. At some point, Joanna's father Benjamin Whiton moved to Scituate, maybe he started out there after his marriage to Lydia, as that is also where all of Joanna's siblings are born.

Joanna was the 5th child out of 10 that Benjamin and Lydia had. She married Freeman French on December 28, 1826, when she was about 19 years old. The marriage intention was recorded in Joanna's town of Scituate and the marriage was recorded in Benjamin's town of Hingham. I am not sure if this means the marriage took place in Hingham, but the couple did live in Hingham soon after their marriage as their first two children (Henry Freeman and Joanna Whiting) were born there in 1825 and 1827 respectively. Soon after, they must have made a move to Abington, as that is where they are living in the 1830 census. Joanna and her family made another move to South Scituate by 1841, when their daughter, Lydia Helen French (my 3rd great grandmother), was born there.

Here is an excerpt for Freeman and Joanna from The History of the Town of Hingham... on googlebooks, listing Joanna and Freeman's children:

It seems that Joanna and Freeman settled in South Scituate according to the 1850-1880 censuses. Joanna died at age of 80 of "chronic hepatitis" in South Scituate, two years before her husband Freeman died. It is happy to see they lived a long life together. Joanna's death record states she was buried at South Hingham. Since both the Whiton and French families resided in South Hingham, she was probably buried with either Freeman's family or her own.

Both families were from the "Liberty Plains" area of Hingham, near Accord pond, according to The History of the Town of Hingham. I did a general search on google for Hingham cemeteries to find a cemetery close to Accord Pond and the Liberty Plains area. I came across the USGenWeb site for Hingham, which includes a map for cemeteries located in Hingham. I did also check the larger Hingham Cemetery off of Water Street as there is a list of people buried there online, but Joanna and Freeman are not listed at this cemetery. There are a lot of other French families listed here though. So my next step will be to visit the Liberty Plains Cemetery, which is located on Main Street between Longmeadow Road and Ritter Road in South Hingham. Hopefully the stones will still be legible. UPDATE : found Joanna and her husband at Liberty Plains Cemetery, Hingham - see blog post here
I also wanted to see if I could find the property of Freeman French and Joanna on a map for Scituate during that time they lived there. The Historic Land Ownership database on ancestry also has a map for this town for 1879. I found a F. French listed on the "Scituate Town, Scituate Village South, South Village South" map on the border of Rockland and South Hingham, down the street from the other French and Whiting families in South Hingham, on Accord Pond.



For any locals that may know this area, it is about where the old Ground Round Restaurant was(now it is Not Your Average Joes), in Norwell, right up the street from the Home Depot in Rockland - across from the pond. It looks like this is also Main Street, although it is not labeled on the map. This does explain why they were buried in South Hingham, as they were living right down the road. So although the census information makes it seem like they moved from place to place, they really ended up close to home, only living in Abington for about 10 years in between.
to do list:
1. search the liberty plains cemetery to find joanna and freeman french. UPDATE : found Joanna and her husband at Liberty Plains Cemetery, Hingham - see blog post here

abner holbrook

I did not post yesterday about Abner Holbrook's birthday on March 9, so I am posting today instead. He was born March 9, 1741 in Weymouth, MA to William Holbrook and Elizabeth Poole. Most of my ancestors on my maternal grandmother's side resided in Weymouth, which is interesting as that is where I grew up too. I love finding out about these ancestors and the familiar areas they lived in.

According to the vital records of Weymouth, Abner had an older brother William that died in 1756 as a "soldier in the Army Under General Winslow...[died at age] 19, at the Camp at Lake George." General Winslow was the man that helped remove the Acadians from New England in 1755. As I do not have the dates that William was in the army, I am not sure William was a part of this removal or the other war activities of General Winslow. He was most likely a part of the large group of seven thousand men General Winslow took to New York with the plan of marching on to Lake Champlain (which never happened). William probably died of illness before he was able to march back home with General Winslow. Abner was only 15 years old when his brother William died in the French and Indian War (Seven Years War), fighting for the British.

Abner was most likely too young to fight in the French and Indian War, although he may have been old enough during the later part of the war. However, Abner was definitely old enough to be involved in the Revolutionary war; he was about 34 years old when the war started. He does not have a pension in the Revolutionary Pension Files on footnote.com, but I did find a record for an Abnar (prob. Abner) Holbrook in the Revolutionary Rolls database on Footnote. This Abnar was in Capt. Able Mason's Company in Colonel J. Davis' regiment of militia from July 20, 1780 to August 8, 1780. After looking into Capt. J. Davis' regiment, it looks like this is not the correct Abner as this regiment was based in Worcester. Further research brought me to the book online at Ancestry.com, Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War..., which states there was an Abner Holbrook in a company commanded by Captain Thomas Nash of Weymouth, in Colonel Solomon Lovell's Regiment for a service of 4 days. It is more likely that this is the correct Abner as it is a more local regiment. This regiment "marched to take possession of Dorchester Heights March 4, 1776; roll endorsed "Minute Roll". The book goes on to state that Abner also was in "Capt. Thomas Nash's Co, Col. Solomon Lovell's regt.; service 5 days, subsequent to March 10, 1776; roll sworn to at Weymouth." There may have been another Abner Holbrook in Weymouth at this time, so I need to check the Holbrook families living in Weymouth to see if there was another Abner that this record may be for.

The few other records I have for Abner come from the database on newenglandancestors.org, the Massachusetts Vital Records to 1850. According to the vital records, he was born, married, and died in Weymouth. He married Jerusha Vining on November 3, 1763, together they had at least 10, maybe 11 children. (Chamberlain's History of Weymouth book lists a daughter Betty Holbrook who died in 1789 - I have not found her in the vital records). Abner lived only for 47 years, dying on May 31, 1788. His youngest child, Daniel, was only 1 year old when Abner died. Since Abner died before the first US Census was taken in 1790, I do not have any census records for him, but I did find some entries for his family.

Abner's wife Jerusha is listed in the 1800 and 1810 Census in Weymouth, MA. I have been unable to find Jerusha in the 1790 Census. Since the censuses at this time period only list head of households, I would not be able to find her name listed if she was living with someone else, a relative or friend, soon after her husband Abner died. I would think she would have had Abner's property after his death, but I have not obtained any land or probate records for Abner to see where his property went at his death. His oldest son was John Holbrook, who would have been 23 years old at the time of his father's death. Perhaps Abner left his property to John. I looked at the Census for Weymouth in 1790 and searched for any Holbrooks. There was a Jon listed, however in this household there were 3 males over the age of 16 and 3 females. It seems unlikely this was Abner's son John as there would have to be at least 3 males under the age of 16, along with 4 females if he was supporting his mother and siblings. John does not marry until 1792, so he would not be living with his wife at this time. There are two John Holbrooks living in Weymouth in the 1800 Census, which would support the idea that this Jon in the 1790 Census is not the John we are looking for. I will have to check the History of Weymouth book to see if there is another John with a family living in Weymouth for 1790.

Chamberlain's History of Weymouth book has a chapter in volume 2 on Century Old Houses. On page 293, he talks about two of Abner's sons, James (my 4th great-grandfather) and Abner. They both resided in Weymouth around the early 1800s. They each had a house near Elmwood Cemetery on Union Street. Chamberlain states that the elder Abner originally built his son Abner's house on Union Street and describes it as "a fine example of the sturdy old houses." He states that one of Abner's daughters, Thais Holbrook Totman (Abner's granddaughter), lived in the house after Abner, then she and her husband sold it to the Carney family in 1857. Also in this chapter, Chamberlain has a section on John Holbrook and Silas Holbrook's house. This John would be Abner's oldest son that I looked for in the 1790 census after Abner's death. Maybe John left the house before his father died to build his own house. Perhaps Abner then left his land to his second oldest son, Abner, as mentioned in Chamberlain's book. If Abner had his father's property, perhaps Jerusha is living with him in the 1790 census. There is an Ab Holbrook listed in Weymouth for the 1790 census, with 1 male over 16 (himself), and one female (could be Jerusha). Abner does not marry until 1796, so he would not be living with his wife at this time. It is possible that this could be another Abner from another Holbrook family, again I will have to check for other Abners in the vital records at this time. If this is the correct son of Abner though, maybe the Jon Holbrook I mentioned above has the siblings living with him, while Abner has his mother.

I did find the map on ancestry.com that lists the houses on Union Street in Weymouth in 1876. You can see on the map both R. Torrey (who is Lucy Holbrook's husband who lived in James Holbrook's house later) and Mrs. Carney (the owner of Abner's house after Thais Holbrook sold it to them) in two houses across from the cemetery on the far right side of the page.

To Do List:

1. find property information on Abner - probate record, etc.
2. find where Jerusha was living in 1790 census - UPDATE: I was searching for Jerusha's father, John Vining, since he was still living during the 1790 census. Above the entry for John Vining was a listing for Wid. Holbrook - which is most likely Jerusha, she was just not indexed for the census on ancestry.com. This widow has living with her the following: 1 male over 16 (John or David), 2 males under 16 (James, Jacob, Daniel), and 5 females (Jerusha, Sarah, Jerusha, Lydia) - the discrepancies are missing maybe one male above age 16 if John is still living with them, missing one or two males under 16 and 1 too many females (maybe Betty), but looks like a close fit to Jerusha's family. Some of the children may be living with other relatives. It will also be good to check the probate of Jerusha's father John Vining to see if any of his grandchildren are listed.
3. read up on General Winslow - I think there is a diary - to see if he mentions any Holbrooks
4. Look into Holbrook families in Weymouth - see if there are other Abners that may have fought in the revolutionary war and other Johns and Abners that would be listed in the 1790 Weymouth census.

joshua bates cowing and deborah cushing

According to Weymouth Vital Records, my fourth great-grandparents, Joshua Bates Cowing and Deborah Cushing, marry on March 7, 1832 in Weymouth at the Union Church of Weymouth and Braintree. The Union Church has an interesting history as told by the Braintree Fire Fighters Association, Local 920 on their website. The Union Church was originally the Hollis Street Church in Boston until it was moved to Quincy Ave. in Braintree, MA. Paul Revere then created a new bell for the church tower, and this new Union Church had its first service in November of 1810. Unfortunately, a fire destroyed the church on June 19, 1897. Pictures are included on the Fire Fighters website, this is one before the fire.


The US Federal censuses from 1850 - 1880 show that Joshua and Deborah Cowing lived in Weymouth throughout their life where they had 7 children. Joshua is listed as a bootmaker and a shoemaker in the 1850 and 1860 Census, which is not surprising as Weymouth had a very large shoe industry at this time. In the 1870 and 1880 Cenus, and on his death record of 1888, Joshua is listed as a farmer.

I took a look at the Historic Land Ownership and Reference Atlases on the ancestry.com and found a map for Weymouth for 1876. JB Cowing is listed accross the street from his brother FH Cowing on Commercial Street in Weymouth, right next to the railroad tracks. Near his home are many shoe manufacturing buildings and stores. I am sure Joshua worked for one of these close to his home. You can also see Joshua's land that he farmed in his later years. I am not sure what type of farmer he was, but he does not seem to have a considerable amount of land.




There are a couple of interesting things about the map above. As you can see from the arrows (click on the pitcure to make image bigger), I have pointed out where JB Cowing's land is. I also included another arrow, pointing to the street I grew up on, just under 1/2 mile from each other.


View Larger Map

The other interesting thing about Joshua Bates Cowing's property is that he did not seem to inherit it from his father Balch Cowing, who had a substantial amount of land on Commercial Street, further up the road in Weymouth Landing, near Braintree. Joshua was Balch's first son. During this time period, fathers would usually hand down their property to their first son, but Balch seems to have given his land to Susan, his daughter, who remained single throughout her life. Susan actually lived with one of Joshua's son's, Francis H. Cowing in 1880, after Balch dies. In 1860 and 1870, Francis lives with his grandfather Balch. The map for Weymouth Landing has FH Cowing listed as property owner for a substantial amount of land, I assume this was part of Balch's estate. I have not seen a reference to a probate record for Balch, but I assume there should be one since he seemed to have had so much land. It would be interesting to obtain if found. Balch's wife, Cynthia Bates, does have a probate record for Norfolk County, but she died before her husband Balch.

to do list:
1. find probate for Balch - unable to find a reference to one
2. obtain probate for Balch's wife Cynthia

links of interest :
1. Massachusetts Historical Society - has holdings of church documents for the First Church of Weymouth part of the parish broke off to form the Union Church of Weymouth and Braintree

the other side

Most of my posts have been on relatives from my side of the family; however, today we can finally celebrate one of Jeff's (and the kids') ancestors. Jeff's 4th great grandmother, Mary Smith, married her second husband, William Cottrell, March 4, 1845 in St. Martin, Birmingham, Warwickshire, England, 165 years ago.

Mary married her first husband, Jeff's 4th great grandfather, James Scattergood, probably in the mid 1830s, as their first daughter, Ann, was born around 1836. I was not able to locate Mary and James' marriage record in the BMD (Birth, Marriage, Death Index) on Ancestry.com, probably because these records began in 1837. I would have to look at the parish registers for Birmingham, although I am not sure where they were married. Birmingham parishes would be a good guess as this is where Mary was from. James is not listed as deceased on his son Samuel's marriage record in 1869; but Mary Smith's 2nd Marriage record states Mary is a widow when she remarries in 1845 to William Cottrell. I did find a possible death record for James Scattergood. The dates match up, as this record of James states he was 32 years old when he dies, which means he was born around 1811, the same year our James was born according to his 1841 census record.

[possible death : Name: James Scattergood Year of Registration: 1842 Quarter of Registration: Apr-May-Jun District: Birmingham (1837-1924) County: Warwickshire Volume: 16 Page: 175 - obtained record 3-1-07]

When Mary married her second husband, William, the marriage record states she was living on Lancaster Street, Birmingham, England. She was also living on Lancaster Street with her first husband, James, in the 1841 census, so she was probably still living in the same place after his death. I will have to take a look again at the James' death certificate to see if it lists the street this James lived on before he died. If it does list Lancaster Street, it probably is the correct James. I have not located Mary and William in the 1861 or 1871 censuses, so I am not sure when they made the move to another house.

Mary is found living at 9 Court 9 in Birmingham, England, in the 1881 census without her second husband, William. Mary is listed as widowed. I am not sure about the street address as I am not familiar with British addresses. It looks like the street listed for the family above Mary's entry live on Newhall Street. Mary's entry states 9 Court 9 - with a space in front of the first 9. Familysearch has transcribed her address as 9 Court 9 Newhall Street. The 1881 census lists street addresses and names of houses, so perhaps they lived on Newhall Street and Court is the name of the house. The entries after Mary's family also list Court - so perhaps it was a complex of some nature. It also could be that Court is the name of the street, but I am not sure why there would be two nines listed - one before and one after. Looking at Maps on Google - there is both a Newhall Street and a Court Street in Birmingham. They are about 1 mile apart from each other, so it would seem strange that a Census enumerator would go from Newhall Street then to Court Street immediately after, missing all the other streets in between. I guess the best way to figure this out would be to look at previous census pages to see if other house names are listed on Newhall Street and to look at pages after Mary's entry to see if Newhall Street is listed again at the top of the page, as it is on Mary's page. This will give me a better sense of the area that was enumerated.

Further evidence that they probably lived on Newhall Street and the name of the house was Court is explained on Wikipedia's entry on Birmingham Back to Backs. It is an article about a set of Back to Backs in Birmingham that were restored, and gives an address of 50 Inge Street/ 1 Court 15, which is very similar to the entry above for Mary and her family of Newhall Street, 9 Court 9. Another article on Wikipedia is useful in it's description of what a Back to Back is :

"Back-to-back houses are a form of terraced house in which two houses share a rear wall (or in which the rear wall of a house directly abuts a factory or other building)..Usually of low quality (sometimes with only two rooms, one on each floor) and high density, they were built for working class people and because three of the four walls of the house were shared with other buildings and therefore contained no doors or windows, back-to-back houses were notoriously ill-lit and poorly ventilated and sanitation was of a poor standard."

If this is the type of house that Mary and her family lived in, it must have been very crowded. Mary is the head of household in the above mentioned 1881 census, which includes Mary's daughter Sarah and her two children (Sarah and William) and Mary's widowed son Samuel and his three children (Agnes, Luisa, and Arthur). Mary's daughter Sarah is listed as married, but no spouse is listed. Mary's son, Samuel Oakley Scattergood, is Jeff's 3rd great grandfather. Mary also had two other children, Ann and Mary, that are probably living with their spouses at this time. According to approximate birth dates gathered from census data, all of Mary's children were from her first husband, James Scattergood.

It seems Mary Smith Scattergood Cottrell lived in Birmingham, England thoughout her life, from about 1816 until her death after 1881 when she was probably living on Newhall Street. Google books has The Encyclopedia Americana... online, with an excerpt on Birmingham here. Also on Google books is A Concise History of Birmingham, published in 1808, a little before Mary was born there. Of course, Wikipedia also has an entry here with some Birmingham history, sharing with us the following passage, "author J. R. R. Tolkien was brought up in Birmingham with many locations in the city such as Moseley bog, Sarehole Mill and Perrott's Folly supposedly being the inspiration for various scenes in The Lord of the Rings." Some interesting things occurred in Mary's homeplace of Birmingham, including the composer Mendelssohn's "Elijah" being preformed for the first time at the Birmingham Festival in 1846 (a year after she married William). Another part of history occurred in Birmingham about 15 years before Mary was born, the Birmingham Riots of 1791, perhaps Mary's parents witnessed this historic event.

To Do List:
1. look at the pages before and after Mary's entry on the 1881 Census to see if other house names are listed (before) and Newhall Street is listed (after)
2. find James Scattergood death certificate that I ordered to see if Lancaster street is listed as his address - which would make this death certificate a more probable match - also see if his parents are listed on this death certificate.
3. find where Mary's daughter Sarah's husband may have been in the 1881 census - why he is not listed with them as Sarah is listed as married, not widowed.
4. find mary's first marriage record to james scattergood perhaps in birmingham parish registers