jeremiah white and hannah canterbury

Jeremiah White and Hannah Canterbury were my sixth Great Grandparents. They were married 270 years ago today on October 9, 1740 in Weymouth, MA. The Weymouth record has a notation for their intention of marriage at The First Church, South Precinct; perhaps this is where they were married. At this time, Mr. James Bayley was the pastor of this newly formed church in South Weymouth, as noted in The History of Weymouth (1_233). Although Jeremiah and Hannah were married in Weymouth, they probably lived their married life together in Abington, MA, as all of their 9 children's births were recorded in Abington. Hannah Canterbury White also died in Abington, MA.

I am not sure when Jeremiah and Hannah moved to Abington, but it seems that both of their families were originally from South Weymouth, MA, which is probably how they met. In the book, The History of Weymouth, Hannah Canterbury's family is outlined, with Hannah's father, John Canterbury, living on 74 acres in Weymouth. When Hannah's father died, he left his land to his wife and his only son Jacob, who lived in South Parish. (3_151) Hannah died at a young age, even before her father and mother, so the land she and Jeremiah had in Abington was probably not from her family. According to the book, The Vinton memorial, comprising a genealogy of the descendants of John Vinton of Lynn... , page 373, Jeremiah's father is Samuel White of Weymouth. This book has Samuel's residence in South Weymouth, so Jeremiah's childhood was spent in South Weymouth, similar to Hannah's. The book also states Samuel died intestate and insolvent, so Jeremiah would not have been handed down this land in Weymouth. Perhaps Jeremiah and Hannah moved to Abington as a newly married couple in 1740 since they had no family land in Weymouth. We do know that their first child, Hannah, was born and died in Abington in 1742.

Jeremiah and Hannah had six girls, two died young, and three boys. Their last child, John, was born in 1760 in Abington. Unfortunately Hannah died only five years later, leaving Jeremiah to care for seven children; two of which, Luther and Anne, would have been old enough to marry at 22 and 18 years old. I have not looked for their marriage records yet to see if they were married or still living at home when their mother died. As was common during this time in history though, Jeremiah remarried after his first wife's death. His second wife, Sarah Thayer, also died before him, and Jeremiah married a third time to a Mrs. Esther Kingman.
Since Jeremiah and his family were living in Abington, MA, I searched the History of the town of Abington, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, from its first settlement, to see if there was a section on the White family. There are not many families discussed in this book, and unfortunately the White family was not included. There is a section on the Seven Years War, or the Old French War, as the book calls it. In this chapter, the book states there was a Jeremiah White who enlisted and survived this war which occurred between 1756-1763. I do not know how involved Jeremiah was in this war, but it must have been a frightening time for this young family during this period in history.
Since Jeremiah was living in 1790 according to the History of Weymouth book (d May 23 1794 (4_746)), I checked the first US Census. There is a Jeremiah White living in Abington, MA during this time. It could be our Jeremiah or his son Jeremiah. Either way, it seems Jeremiah the senior is probably living with his son, as there are two males over 16 in the household. Jeremiah the junior would have been too young to have a son over 16 years old. There is also 1 female living in the household along with 1 male under the age of 16, most likely Jeremiah and his wife's son. I will have to make sure Jeremiah's third wife Esther had died by 1790.
The History of Weymouth book has an interesting excerpt from a May 1792 Weymouth town meeting - (2_596) "a request was received by the following petitioners of Abington asking to be taken in by Weymouth, provided the general court would grant the petition to be separated from Abington : Josiah White, Lebulan Paine, Ezra Tirrell, Lebulan Paine Jr, Abiah Shaw, Joshua Curtis, Abiah Shaw, Jr., Thomas Hunt, Jeremiah White, John White and Benjamin White. voted to grant the petition." This Jeremiah is probably the junior, since Jeremiah the senior would have been over 80 years old in 1792; and Jeremiah the junior probably would have cared more about where his land was located at his younger age. I am not sure that their request passed, as I did not find any records of birth for Jeremiah and his wife in Weymouth or Abington. The following is another excerpt from Acts and laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on google books:

There is a Jeremiah White in the "Century Old Houses" section of the History of Weymouth book that lives near Reuben Blanchard and Nathaniel Loud in Weymouth, near Abington town line (2_933). Either the above petition was approved by the General Court, or Jeremiah moved within the Weymouth town line. (could be the other Jeremiah White living in Weymouth after 1799 - see note below)


to do list:
1. Samuel's father was Ebenezer White, whose land was handed down to gr.gr. grandson abiel white, not to samuel. samuel moved to south weymouth - did he buy the land from someone or was it in his wife's family. see who abiel's father was. this land was land near where eventually christopher webb would live- history of weymouth book. seemed ebenezer probably lived in weymouth landing on commercial street as that is where abiel lives according to century old houses in weymouth.
2. locate canterbury land on historic map - how did jeremiah and hannah meet - were samuel white and john canterbury neighbors. did not find. locate land records. jacob canterbury sold some of the 74 acres in weymouth to reuben burrel and thomas colson
3. write chart for asa white who wrote about family of thomas white - see relation - also history of where white's lived. in nehgr on google.
4. find jeremiah's son jeremiah's wife and son dates : there is another jeremiah white (jeremiah's seniors nephew - son of benjamin) who marries a ruth derby in weymouth in 1799 - and have a son in may of 1800 who died young - the 1800 census was enumerated on 4 August 1800 according to ancestry.com, and this son dies in 1816 - so it could be this jeremiah's family and not the jeremiah jr. i did find jeremiah jr. death record for weymouth though in 1809 - so should be listed in census - perhaps he is living with a sibling - did he ever marry molly and have a child - seems to be living in abington in 1790 census though - unless that is the jeremiah the elder with another one of his children - see if other children of jeremiah senior are married with a child and not listed in census in 1790. also the jeremiah listed in the 1800 cenus is in the south parish - but cannot tell if they are near the abington line. look at other people listed in petition with jeremiah white to see if they are listed in 1800 census in weymouth or abington and estimate time frame the writer of century old houses writes about the jeremih white and others that live near the abington line - maybe he is talking about other jeremiah white.

alfred labrecque and florence edna brown

My Great grandfather, Alfred Napoleon Labrecque married his first wife, Florence Edna Brown, on October 4, 1906, one hundred and four years ago today. Alfred later would marry my Great grandmother Anne Ferguson.

Alfred and Florence were married in Quincy, MA by Minister Ellery C. Butler. I did a google search for Ellery to see which church he ministered, and found him listed on the website of the United First Parish Church in Quincy, MA. Ellery was at this church from 1894-1912 according to this website. I found it interesting that Alfred was married at this Unitarian church as he seem to have come from a strong Catholic background. It seems his wife Florence must have been from this church/denomination.

In 1906, when Alfred and Florence were married, they were both living in Quincy. Alfred was a reporter and 22 years old, while Florence was only 17 years old and still a student, according to their marriage record. In the 1908 Quincy Directory, they are living on Shennen Street. In the 1909 Quincy directory, Alfred is listed as Editor of the Quincy Telegram at 1382 Hancock Street, room 8, and still residing on Shennen Street, H N (which I assume stands for Houghs Neck, a section of Quincy). His father Achilles is also listed as residing in Houghs Neck, on Bay View Avenue, only 2 blocks away. Alfred's brothers, Arthur and Eugene, are listed as boarders of A N Labrecque, which could be Alfred, but most likely they are boarding at their father's Achille's house. The 1912 directory lists the house number for Alfred and Florence, at 48 Shennen Street, he still is the editor of Quincy Telegram, which now is on 10 Chestnut Street. His parents have moved to Sea Street at the corner of Albatross, still fairly close at just under 2 miles from each other. In 1914, Alfred moved to 490 Sea Street, corner of Albatross Road, the same address as his father Achille. It seems Alfred moved in with his father and siblings, as Arthur, Arthur J, Eugene and Corrine are all listed as boarders at this address also. Alfred is now the editor of the Quincy Evening Telegram, probably the same newspaper, with a slight name change at 1382 Hancock Street, room 8.

By 1916, Alfred decided to fight in WWI. He took advantage of his citizenship from Canada and enrolled in their military, as the US had not entered the war yet. This must have been a difficult decision, as he would have had to leave his wife and three children under the age of 8. On Alfred's military papers, dated April 1917, from Quebec, Canada, he states his wife Florence is living at 48 Shennen Street in Quincy, not at Sea Street as the 1914 directory states, and his parents living in Watertown, MA. This probably would have been more difficult for Florence, as she would not have the help of her children's grandparents and Aunts and Uncles, as they are now in two different cities. According to the 1900 Census of Florence's parents, she did not have any siblings to help her, and I could not locate her parents in the 1920 Census. It seems she did not have much support during this time when her husband was at war.

Sadly, Florence died while Alfred was away between the years of 1917-1919. Her name and address are crossed out and marked deceased on one of Alfred's military records as next of kin. Their son, Alfred Theodore Labrecque, is written in its place, living at 20 Westland Road, Watertown, MA, where Alfred's parents are living. Alfred was granted two leaves during his service, perhaps when his wife Florence had died. The first leave was for 14 days, granted January 27, 1918. The second leave was granted from September 28, 1918 to October 12, 1918. Alfred sailed home to Canada at the wars end in May 1919.

When Alfred comes back to the US after WWI, he changes occupations to an insurance broker. The 1920 Quincy directory has him working in the Alhambra building, and is living at 1269 Hancock Street. During this time period, Alfred was involved in a famous court case in Massachusetts. He was a character witness in the Sacco-Vanzetti case, used to challenge the credibility of the prosecution's eyewitness, Lola Andrews, as stated in the The Sacco-Vanzetti case: transcript of the record of the trial of Nicola Sacco Bartolomeo Vanzetti in the courts of Massachusetts and subsequent proceedings, 1920-7. Sacco and Vanzettie were two famous Anarchists, both found guilty and electrocuted for a robbery and murder in South Braintree, MA. Many people believe that Sacco and Vanzetti were falsely accused of this crime and that Lola Andrews gave false testimony in identifying Sacco in South Braintree.

Even though there is evidence that Alfred was in Quincy, MA around 1920, he is listed in the 1920 Census living with his parents and his siblings on Westland Road in Watertown, MA. I am not sure where Alfred's children were living, but they are not listed with him and his parents (their grandparents). Alfred's oldest child, Richard, would only have been 12 years old in 1920.

By 1922, Alfred is now married to Ann Ferguson, my great grandmother, and living at 17 Merrymount Road in Quincy. They supposedly met in the war, my great grandmother a nurse at Edinburgh, Scotland. I will write more on Alfred and his second marriage in another post.