freeman french

Freeman French is one of those ancestors that would have been nice to find a diary of his daily life. (actually, finding one for every ancestor would be nice too). Freeman lived during an interesting time in American history; I would love to know what he thought about everything going on around him at this time.

Freeman is my 4th great grandfather. He was born April 24, 1801 in Hingham, MA to Nathaniel French and Sarah Chubbuck. He seems to have grown up in South Hingham, where he was the middle child, having two older brothers and two younger sisters. His father was a packetman working at the Hingham packet station in Boston. (note 1)

Freeman was about 24 years old when he had his first son, Henry Freeman French in September of 1825, still living in Hingham. The date is interesting, as he did not marry Joanna until December of 1826, again in Hingham. If these dates are correct, I am sure it was difficult to have a child before marriage. It is nice to see that they stuck it out together though, and continued to have a large family of at least 8 children.

Freeman and his family lived in Hingham until at least 1830, when he is located in the census in Abington. By 1841, when he and his wife Joanna had their 5th child, Lydia, he had moved his family to South Scituate. Maybe he was struggling to find a place of their own, moving from Hingham to Abington to South Scituate. They seem to have settled in South Scituate, which eventually became Norwell in 1888. South Scituate is very close to South Hingham, where he grew up. Maybe he felt the need to be closer to his mother as she was getting older. Freeman's father died in 1819, but it looks like his mother died in April of 1843 (note 2).

Freeman not only moved his family a couple of times, but he also had a couple of professions; changing back and forth between shoemaker and farm laborer (note 3). I am not sure how common this was, but it does seem strange to me that he did not have a consistent profession. His property value as listed in the censuses is usually lower than others around him; it does seem they may have struggled a bit. He still supported his children though, even after they were married and had children of their own. The 1850 census shows his daughter, Joanna, and her husband and child living with them. Also in 1850, his son Henry and his wife are living with them. Their son Benjamin is still living with them at the age of 36 in the 1880 census. Freeman also opened his house to someone outside of his family in 1880. In the census there is a John Gurney, a 27 year old shoe finisher, living with them. Maybe he was a boarder to bring in a little extra money, or maybe Freeman was just helping him out. Regardless, the household never seems to be a lonely one. I tend to think of Freeman as a welcoming and friendly man; a happy person even though he may have been struggling a little financially.

Since Freeman is listed in the 1880 Census as living in South Scituate, I looked up the historical land ownership map on ancestry for this area. I found him near Accord Pond, bordering the town of Rockland.




Freeman was alive during many changes in American history. Around the 1830's in Massachusetts, there was a stirring of feelings rising against slavery. In 1831, The first abolitionist newspaper, The Liberator, was published in Boston by William Lloyd Garrison. Freeman's daughter, Lydia (my 3rd great-grandmother), actually married into a family, the Cowings, which had ties to the abolitionists and Garrison (note 4). Perhaps it was a philosophy also held by the French Family. Freeman was about 59 years old when the Civil War broke out, therefore he did not fight in the war. His family, as most Massachusetts families, supported the cause though with at least one of his sons, Benjamin, enlisting at the age of 18, with the 39th regiment. Benjamin received a disability discharge only a couple of months after enlisting in 1862, and applied for a pension in 1885 (note 5). Freeman also had three nephews give their lives in the Civil War, 2 as prisoners. (note 6)

Technology was also changing the world; especially in 1876, with Alexander Graham Bell demonstrating the first telephone in Boston. I do not know if Freeman actually ever saw a telephone before he died, but he most likely did not have one in his home. I wonder what he thought about the invention and all the changes that were occurring during his lifetime.

Freeman lived 88 years, dying on March 2, 1889 in Norwell, about 2 years after his wife Joanna died. During his life, he was probably close to his children, as they did not move far from home. He unfortunately had to see three of his daughters die in their 20s; some of them had children of their own. He was fortunate enough to know at least 12 grandchildren; unfortunate to have 4 of these grandchildren die; 3 in infancy, one at the age of 10.

I wrote a blog post about Freeman's wife Joanna, noting that they were probably buried at the Liberty Plains Cemetery in South Hingham as that was the closest cemetery to their home. I did finally get a chance to go to Liberty Plain Cemetery. Luckily it was not too large to walk through, and I was able to find the gravestones of both Freeman and his wife. The three daughters that died at young ages; Sarah, Mary, and Pamelia, are buried near them. I was happy to find them all together.



notes:
1. Bouvé, Thomas T, Edward T. Bouvé, John D. Long, Walter L. Bouvé, Francis H. Lincoln, George Lincoln, Edmund Hersey, Fearing Burr, and Charles W. S. Seymour. History of the Town of Hingham, Massachusetts. Hingham: Pub. by the town, 1893. (vol 2; page 237)
2. death date for a sarah french, aged 74, in 1843 in south hingham - matches approximate birth date of sarah chubbuck (freeman's mother)
3. 1840 - agriculture; 1850 - shoemaker; 1860 - farm laborer; 1870 - shoemaker; 1880 - past laborer
4. Lydia's husband's great aunts (Susan, Sarah and Maria Cowing) had involvement in the abolitionist movement - wrote about them in a post here.
5. Benjamin W. French. Historical Data Systems, comp.. American Civil War Soldiers [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1999.
6. Freeman's brother Nathaniel had three sons that died in the civil war, Nathaniel, Henry and Charles, the latter two as prisoners. Information from The History of Hingham book from note 1, (vol. 2, page 238)

to do list:
1. any probate records for father Nathaniel or mother Sarah? probate for Freeman? (UPDATE: Plymouth County Probate is online at familysearch - none listed for Freeman or his mother Sarah; probate for wife Joanna written about here, and father Nathaniel will be posted soon.)
2. any land records for Nathaniel, Sarah and Freeman