francesca lucente terragnoli pettinelli

I have been focusing on my fourth great grandparents in my last few posts; but I know that I have another side of my family where I have very little information that I need to focus on.  The reason that I have little information is that there is a gap in records available online for the area this family is from, Prezza, L'Aquila, Italy in the Abruzzo region.  I would love to obtain records from Italy, but I know the only way this is going to happen is if I hire someone to do the research or if I visit Italy myself.  I have tried unsuccessfully to write to the civil registration office for Prezza and I have contacted a couple of researchers, but all have been too expensive.  Instead, I thought I would see if I could find some more clues in the records I do have and see if there are any more records that may be in the United States, starting with one of my second great grandmothers, Francesca Lucente.

Francesca has been tricky to find in the United States, but she definitely came here at some point because I came upon her gravestone in Quincy, MA on findagrave while I was searching for someone else.  I wrote a little about this in another post.  With the information from her stone, I also obtained a transcription of her death record from Massachusetts Document Retrieval service; which answered some questions, and left many to be answered.

From previous research I have done on Francesca, I have come to the conclusion that Francesca Lucente first married Guiseppe Terragnoli, my second great grandfather, in Italy.  They had at least three children, Luisa, Damiano, and Cosnio (spelling is a guess from records). All of these children came to the United States at some point - the following is the information I have on these children:

• Cosnio or Cosmo Terragnoli : passenger record from Italy to Boston - he came over with his brother-in-law, Arnaldo DeNicola - his sister Luisa's husband, in 1906 and he lives in Boston in 1907.  He may have gone back to Italy as I cannot find him in the United States after these dates. 
• Damiano Terragnoli : have not found his passenger record; but the 1920 census states he came to US in 1898, 1930 census states he came to US in 1907.  He marries Giselda Faiella in 1910 in Boston, MA.  At some point he changes his name to Damiano Pettinelli, all of his children have the Pettinelli surname.  (Terragnoli is surname on Damiano's marriage record in 1910, but census for 1920 and 1930 he is going by Pettinelli)
• Louisa Terragnoli : married Arnaldo DeNicola, probably in Italy around 1905.  She came to US in 1907 with her husband and first daughter.  The rest of their children were born in MA.  Arnaldo came back and forth from Italy a few times before they settled here in 1907.  They came from Prezza, Italy. 

These are the only children I know of that Francesca had.  There may have been more in Italy that did not come over.  Francesca's' husband, Guiseppe Terragnoli, must have died in Italy as Francesca's death certificate and her gravestone has the last name of Pettinelli.  Her death record states she is widowed from Luigi Pettinelli. (This is where her son Damiano got his new last name from - although I do find it strange that he did not keep his Terragnoli surname).  I have not been able to find a marriage record of Luigi and Francesca, so I am guessing they were married in Italy.  I do not even know if Luigi Pettinelli came to the United States, as I have not been able to find any records in the US for Luigi.  I also do not know when Francesca came to the US, as I cannot find her passenger record.  

Her death record does state she had been in the "community" for 18 years.  She died in 1925, so she probably came to the US around 1907.  This is around the same date her children came to the US also.  I have searched the passenger records using both the ancestry.com search form and the Stephen Morse search interface on http://stevemorse.org/ for a Francesca Terragnoli, Francesca Pettinelli and even her maiden name of Francesca Lucente; and still cannot find her.  I did not even restrict the search to a timeframe, and still found no good matches.

If Francesca had been living in the United States since 1907, she should be in the 1910 and the 1920 census. I cannot find her in either.  As I mentioned above, her death record shows that she was residing at 54 Winter street in Quincy, at the time of her death in 1925.  The 1924 Quincy directory has Arnaldo DeNicola and Francesca's daughter Louisa living at this residence in 1924.  So clearly, Francesca is living with her daughter when she dies.  I searched the 1920 census for her daughter and husband Arnaldo DeNicola, and I also cannot find them.  I am frustrated I cannot find them as they are living in Quincy, MA according to the Quincy directory; on Washington Street in 1920.  If Francesca was living with them, it would provide me with another date of birth and a possible immigration date to compare with her death record.  

The death record of Francesca Pettinelli also provided a possible birth date of 1839, as the informant, Luigi Pettinelli, states Francesca Pettinelli was 86 years old at the time of her death in 1925.  We also have her parent's names from this record.  Her father is listed as Nichelle Lucente and her mother Dominca DiRanico. Since some records for Prezza, Italy are online at the Archives of Italy, I browsed through the dates of 1838-1850, and the only birth for a Francesca Lucente was in 1846 to Nichelle Lucente and Dominca Gentile.  The maiden name of her mother is different;  but this is still a very close match.  So that brings the question as to who is the informant of Francesca's death?  The name of the informant is given as Luigi Pettinelli, who is residing at 54 Winter street; the same place of residence as Francesca, according to the death record.  

I only found two Luigi Pettinellis in the 1920 census.  One is living in Lawrence, MA, and looking at other records for this Luigi show that he is the son of Andria Pettinelli.  I have not made any connections with this Luigi to my family, and as they seem to be living in Lawrence, it seems unlikely this Luigi would be residing with Francesca at the time of her death in 1925, as the death record states.  The other Luigi Pettinelli is Francesca's grandson, the son of Damiano Pettinelli.  This Luigi was born in 1913.  If he was the informant, he would only have been 12 years old . That does seem a bit young.  The relationship on the death record of the informant Luigi Pettinelli is listed as NR, not recorded. If this Luigi Pettinelli is the informant of Francesca's death, he probably would have not known the correct age of his grandmother, or the name of his great grandmother.  (Does DiRanico sound similar to DeNicola, Francesca's daughter's married name - maybe this was the error?) 

If I could just find Francesca in the 1910 or 1920 census, I would have more information as to her correct birth date and therefore possible parents.  Another document that would be very helpful would be her two marriage records, first to Guiseppe Terragnoli and secondly to Luigi Pettinelli.  These documents would most likely have her parents' names.  The documents for Prezza that are online though the state archives only go up to 1865.  I think both marriages took place after 1865, as Francesca's daughter Louisa was born in 1877.  The Family History Centers do not have records past 1865 either.  After writing to the civil registration office for Prezza a couple of times already, and not getting a response, it seems I will have to hire a researcher who can obtain these marriage records for me.  So far I have not had much luck finding a researcher that will only look for one record for me.  

margaret blackington harding

I wrote about Maria (Harding) Stoddard's father, Otis Harding, in my last post. This post I will focus on Maria's mother, Margaret (Blackington) Harding, one of my fourth great grandmothers.

I know Margaret was born in Thomaston, Maine from two of her daughter's death records (see previous post). I have not been able to find many records from Thomaston, Maine; so I have not found her actual birth date.  Searching through the censuses may help me find a birth year for Margaret and help narrow down her death date.  Hopefully, Margaret's parents will be listed on her death record.

1840 census

The last census I found Margaret Harding in was the 1830 census in Thomaston, ME, with her husband and their four daughters.  I concluded from my last post that Margaret's husband, Otis, died before 1840. I searched for Margaret Harding in the 1840 census; but was unable to find her. I browsed through the entire town of Thomaston, ME, and she is definitely not enumerated in that town as a head of household. Since the 1840 census only lists names of heads of household, it is possible Magaret could be living with someone else and therefore not enumerated.  Out of her four daughters, three of them are married by 1840, so she would probably only have her youngest, Maria, living with her in 1840. (see note 1) Margaret and her daughter Maria have many options of people they may be living with, including family members in two different states.  I am looking for a household that would contain Margaret who is about 43, and her youngest daughter Maria, who is 14.  I have listed the possibilities below, but have found that none of the families match up to include Margaret and Maria.

• oldest daughter Eleanor Harding Colley - Thomaston Maine - Males 20-29:1 (ebenezer); Females 20-29:1(eleanor)
• daughter Harriet Harding Thomas - Weymouth, MA - Males 20-29:1 (alfred) - census looks like there is a zero in the female 20-29 column, maybe it is a mark for Harriet?
• daughter Matilda - marries in April 1840 to Isaac Prouty in Hanover, MA - cannot find them in the census.  Matilda and Isaac are also not living with Isaac Prouty's father William Prouty in Scituate, MA. (see note 2)
• Since Margaret does not seem to be living with any of her daughters, it is possible she could have some siblings living in Thomaston she may be living with. (see note 3)  So I checked the 1840 census for any Blackington's residing in Thomaston, and still did not find a possible match for her and Maria. The only Blackington (variations included) that had a female between the ages of 40-49 in it, was a Betsey Blackington; but that most likely is Betsey herself (whoever she is).  The other Blackington's in the 1840 census do not have any females aged 40-49; these households are headed by the following people (names as indexed on ancestry.com); John Blackington, Briant Blackington, Edward Blackington, James Blackington, William Blackenton, Alden Blackenton, Hannah Blackinton, Rufus Blickinton, James Blarkinton, William Blickinton, and Benjamin Blackinton. (see note 4)

Second Marriage 1851

Another reason I may not be able to find Margaret in the 1840 census is that maybe she remarried after her husband Otis died.  I have not been having much luck finding records in Maine, so it seemed slim that I was going to find a marriage record for Margaret if she did remarry. I figured at this point it would be helpful to see if the History of Thomaston, Rockland, and South Thomaston, Maine... had more information on Margaret Blackington. I found the following paragraph which included Margaret, under John Blackington, her father.  It looks like she did remarry as shown in the excerpt below.

Margaret's second husband is Joseph Dyer of Weymouth, MA. It seems she also moves back to Massachusetts, just like her daughters. With this information, I checked the ancestry database of Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988, to see if her second marriage took place in Weymouth since this is were her new husband is from; which it did.
The marriage record gives us a bit more information on Margaret, including her parents' name and her age at the time of marriage in 1851.


Margaret was 54 years old in December of 1851 when she married Joseph Dyer; so she would have been born in the year 1797. The marriage record also states she was born in Thomaston, ME; which is the same town listed on her daughter's death record and the town Margaret resided in the 1820 and 1830 census with her husband Otis. This marriage record also states that her parents are John and Ellen Blackington, no maiden name for her mother. (The History of Thomaston books does state her mother's name is Eleanor Spear). The birth date and parents' names support the information from the History of Thomaston book.

This marriage record gives me some more information to help me find Margaret in the 1860 census; but does not help me track her down in the 1840-1850 censuses.  I am trying to come to terms with the fact I may never know where she is in these years right after her first husband dies.

1860 census

Now that I have a new last name to use after 1851; her married name of Dyer, I went back and searched the 1860 census; and found Margaret and her husband Joseph Dyer living in Weymouth. They also have a 7 year old living with them, Ida Prouty. I am not sure who this is. One of Margaret's daughters, Matilda, does have a daughter Ida Prouty born in 1851, but that Ida is living with her parents, Matilda and her husband Isaac, in Scituate in 1860. It is possible Ida was enumerated twice, but why would she be living with her grandmother?  Also, the Ida in Margaret Dyer's household would have been born around 1853; not 1851 as Ida is listed in Matilda's household. This date is close, but at that age, the dates are usually more accurate. Wouldn't her grandmother know if she was 9, rather than 7? There was another Ida Prouty born in 1855 to a John Prouty and a Mary Young in Weymouth. I actually cannot find this family in the 1860 census, but I do not know how they would be connected to Margaret and Joseph Dyer.  Also, this Ida still has the birthdate a couple of years off; she was born in 1855 rather than 1853 as the Ida in Margaret's household is. I did find the John and Mary Prouty family in the 1870 census living in Quincy, with their daughter Ida. Also in 1840 this Prouty family is living in Weymouth, enumerated a page before Joseph Dyer and his first wife Betsey. Again, I am not sure of the connection to this family, if any.  It is just not clear which Ida Prouty this could be. (UPDATE: Maragaret does leave money to Ida Wood in her will, which is the daughter of Matilda; so seems like she had a close relationship to her, probably is her in the 1860 census)

1870 census

In 1870, Margaret Dyer is still living in Weymouth.  Her household has changed a bit, as her husband Joseph died in 1861.  Margaret is now a widower, residing with her grandson Amasa Stoddard, Maria Harding's son. Also in her household is Lucy Reed and Lucy's son William Reed. Lucy is also a widower; perhaps she and Margaret were friends and found it convenient to live together. Only six years later, Margaret's grandson, Amasa, will marry Lucy's grand niece, Charlotte Vining. (see note 5)

1880 census

In 1880 not much has changed, except Lucy Reed is not listed in Margaret's household.  She is still living in the same house as her grandson Amasa, but Amasa is now married and has a child.  Also listed in Amasa's household is a thirteen year old servant, Mary Madden.

These censuses show us that Margaret is living in Weymouth, but it does not provide a street name. I searched the Weymouth directories available on ancestry.com to see if Margaret is listed. She is found in the directory residing on Pleasant Street, near Main Street in Weymouth, from at least 1873 and until at least 1880. I then searched the Norfolk County deed index on familysearch to see if their was a description of her land and where she obtained it from. The only deed I have found for Margaret Dyer is when she sells her land to Joseph Dyer, her stepson, in 1862. The deed mentions many lots of land, including one lot bordering Pleasant street and bordering her housemate in the 1870 census, Lucy Reed. This deed also states this lot was the homestead of Joseph Dyer, her late husband.

Since the directories show that Margraret is living on Pleasant Street after she sold her land in 1862, either she had more land or she remains in her late husband's house even though she sold it to her stepson Joseph. After looking at the historical land ownership map of Weymouth for 1876, there are a couple of reasons I think Margaret is living in her stepson, Joseph Dyer's, house.

• First, the 1876 Weymouth map has two entries for J Dyer; one on Pleasant Street, one on Main Street, fairly close to each other. There is no listing on the 1876 Weymouth map for Margaret dyer even though the directory has her residing on Pleasant Street. If she had land of her own, I would think she would be on this map. 
• Also, one of the J Dyer lots from the Weymouth map borders the land of Mrs. Lucy Reed and Pleasant Street. The deed that Margaret sells to Joseph states one of the lots borders Lucy Reed's land. This lot on the map must be the land that Jospeh bought from Margaret.  Since the directories show Joseph is living on Main Street, not Pleasant - someone else must be living in this house. Since Margaret is living on Pleasant Street and she is not listed on the map, I think it is likely she is the one living on this J Dyer lot.
• Margaret's grandson Amasa Stoddard, who is living with her in the 1870 census, is also listed in the Weymouth directories at this time on Pleasant street, as a boarder to Mrs. Joseph Dyer's.  Again, I would think if there was additional land that Margaret owned on Pleasant Street it would be on the Weymouth map.  I do not find Amasa in the Norfolk Deeds until 1889 when he purchases land in Weymouth from Charles Clapp.  (Amasa's occupation in the directory is store clerk at Joseph Dyer's.  On the Weymouth map, you can see Joseph Dyer's store across the street from J Dyer's lot on Pleasant Street.)
• I have highlighted the map below showing the two J Dyer residences, one on Pleasant Street, one on Main Street; and his store at the corner of Main and Pleasant Street.  Zoom in for more detail. (Map has been removed - need to relocate)

Probate

Margaret's probate would probably have more information, showing us if she did have more land than what she sold to Joseph in 1862.  According to the History of Weymouth book (vol 3, p 218), she does leave a will, mentioning many of her family.  (Norfolk Probate 22379)  Norfolk Probate are not available online at this time. (UPDATE: Familysearch now has norfolk probate online.  Margaret's will is here - interestingly her first statement is that she intentionally will leave nothing to her daughter item Eleanor Johnson, wife of Samuel E Johnson of Quincy nothing,  For the rest of will see note 6.)

Margaret (Blackington) Dyer's death is recorded in Weymouth on April 3, 1881 from "senile bronchitis", at the age of 84 (Massachusetts, Death Records, 1841-1915 on ancestry.com).  Her death record states she was born in Thomaston, ME and her parents were John Blackington from Attleboro, MA and Ellinor Paine from Thomaston, ME.  The maiden name of her mother differs from the History of Thomaston book, which states her mothers name is Elleanor Spear.

From blog post margaret blackington harding

Finding a marriage record for Margaret's parents in Maine, John and Elleanor, would be helpful in clearing this discrepancy up.  I am not sure who was the informant for Margaret's death record, but they very well could have made a mistake with her mother's maiden name as they most likely did not know Margaret's mother, since she was living in Maine and had died many years before.  Again, I am not sure where the Thomaston book obtained their information, but I will have to find some vital records from Maine to find an accurate last name of Margaret's mother.

At the time of Margaret's death in 1881, all of her daughter's were still living.  One daughter, Harriet, was living in the same town as Margaret, in Weymouth.  Two of her daughter's were living fairly close in Scituate, and another in Quincy.  As I mentioned earlier in the post, Margaret was living with her grandson, Amasa, for many years, with Amasa working in Margaret's step-son's store as a clerk.  Margaret's will does mention more grandchildren, including some in Maine according to the History of Weymouth book.  I will have to trace these grandchildren once I see her will for more precise information.

The History of Weymouth book also states that Margaret is buried at Mount Hope Cemetery in South Weymouth.  This will have to be my next cemetery visit.

notes:

1. Margaret's daughters all married at young ages.  Maybe Margaret as a widow did not have a place to go and her daughters were pushed to marry young.  The oldest daughter, Eleanor married at 21 years old, not as young as the rest of her sisters.  Harriet married at the age of 17, Matilda at 16, and Maria at the age of 15, if their birth records are correct.  Harriet, Matilda and Maria all married in Massachusetts.  Eleanor stayed in Maine until at least 1850.  
2. Matilda Harding's husband, Isaac Prouty, is the brother of Elizabeth Prouty.  Elizabeth Prouty is the mother of David Stoddard - the soon to be husband of Matilda's youngest sister, Maria.  So Maria marries the nephew of her sister's husband.  So if Maria marries a into the same family as her sister, Matilda, maybe Margaret and Maria are living close by to Matilda or with another Prouty family, or with Maria's future husband David Stoddard?  Other than Isaac, the only Prouty sibling I cannot find is Lincoln Prouty in 1840 (even though he is living next to his brother William Prouty in both 1830 and 1850 in South Scituate).  Most of the Prouty's are in Scituate in 1840, including Isaac's father William, and his siblings William and Elijah; but Margaret and Maria do not fit in these households.  The other members of Isaac's family seem to be in Sandwich, MA.  Isaac Prouty's sister Elizabeth (Maria's future mother-in-law) is in Sandwich, MA in 1840 with new husband - but her son David T Stoddard is not with them- he was 20 in 1840. Unfortunately, I also cannot find David Stoddard in the 1840 census.  Another Prouty sibling also goes to Sandwich - Hannah Prouty marries Micah Tinkham - but she dies in 1840.  Micah is still living in Sandwich with a very large household of 21 people!  So I am missing Lincoln Prouty and family, Isaac and Matilda Prouty, Margaret and Maria Harding, and David T Stoddard - Maria's future husband, in the 1840 census.  Where is everyone in 1840?  Could they all be living with Micah, their brother-in-law.  
3. The only sibling of her late husband Otis that came to Maine was his sister, Polly, but both she and her husband died before 1830.  Polly and her husband Luther Hearsey had many children, some of them too young to be on their own by the time their parent's died.  Most of them eventually made their way to Quincy, MA - but I have not been able to find out what happened to them in 1830 or 1840, where they went to live as children.  Maybe Margaret is with them?  Margaret's eldest daughter, after she eventually left Maine by 1860, also settled in Quincy.  Margaret's other daughter's settled in either Weymouth or Scituate, MA.  
4. I also checked siblings of her late husband Otis Harding that were living in MA, and Margaret does not fit into any of these households either.
5. Charlotte Vining is the daughter of Solon Vining and granddaughter of Jared Vining.  Jared Vining is Lucy Vining's brother.
6. Margaret Dyer's WILL : item 1. I intentionally give to my daughter eleanor johnson wife of samuel e johnson of quincy nothing,  Item 2. To my niece Helen Palmer wife of george palmer of thomaston me ((This is her brother Edward Blackington's daughter)), and to my granddaughter ida wood wife of charles wood of rockland ((this is the daughter of Margaret's daughter Matilda, Ida Prouty Wood)), ten dollars each.  item 3, to my grandson a otis thomas and oliver b prouty of south scituate irving stoddard of weymouth fifty dollars each  item 4. to my daughters harriet thomas wife of alfred thomas of weymouth, matilda prouty, wife of isaa prouty and maria stoddard wife of david t stoddard of s scituate the rest and residue of my estate together with all i may acquire after the date of this will in equal shares and to their heirs and assigns forever.  item 4.  I appoint joseph dyer of weymouth executor of this will

otis harden/harding

Since I just wrote about one set of my fourth great-grandparents, I thought I would look at another couple of that generation. In the last post I focused on my third great grandfather, David Turner Stoddard's, parents. Now I will focus on David's wife, Maria Harding's, parents - Otis Harding and Margaret Blackington.


Just as with David's parents, I also know Maria's parents' names from her death record in 1908 in Norwell, MA. This record includes her mother's maiden name of Blackington, and includes her parent's place of birth. Maria's father, Otis Harding, was born in Abington, MA; and her mother, Margaret Blackington, was born in Maine, with no town listed. Maria was also born in Maine, again no town listed.

So from this record, it seems that Otis was born in Abington, MA and at some point he moved to Maine and met Margaret Blackington and started a family. I am guessing they were married in Maine, as their daughter Maria was born in Maine. I did look for a marriage record in both Massachusetts and Maine, but was unable to find it in either state. Eventually, I know his daughter Maria made her way back to Massachusetts, as she married and lived most of her live with David Stoddard in Scituate, MA. I am not sure at this point if her parents, Otis and Margaret, stayed in Maine or also came back to Massachusetts.

Since I am more familiar with Massachusetts records, and Otis was born in Abington, MA; I figured I would start looking into Otis Harding's family first. I thought the first step would be to narrow down his birth date by finding him in the censuses. Maria was born in Dec of 1826 according to the 1900 census; which complies with her death record stating she was 81 years old at the time of her death in 1908. So, Otis and Margaret should be in the Federal Census for 1820 or 1830 in Maine.

I found Otis Harding in Thomaston, Maine in the 1830 census - and with a little more work, also found him in the 1820 census in Thomaston, Maine (ancestry has him indexed as ceks harding). Since I have not found any other Otis Harding in the census for Maine, I am going to assume this is our Otis. I will have to find more evidence later that supports Otis and Margaret were living in Thomaston. For now, I am going to use these dates to narrow down Otis' birth date to help locate his parents. (These were the only two censuses I was able to find Otis in, in either MA or NH)

In the 1820 census, I am not sure which age range Otis would be in. I would guess he would be the younger of the two categories since his wife is; and it seems they are just starting a family with only one daughter. If Otis is between the ages of 16-25, he would have been born between 1795-1804; if he was between the ages of 26-44, he would have been born between 1776-1794. (children's names from History of Thomaston book)

Males 16-25:1(?) Males 26-44:1(?) Females Under 10:1(eleanor) Females 16-25:1(margaret)

 Let's look at his household in the 1830 census.

Males 30-39:1(otis) Females Under 5:1(maria) Females 5-9:2(matilda) Females 10-14:1(harriet) Females 30-39:1(margaret)

Since there is only one male in this household, we know Otis is between the ages of 30-39, which makes him born between 1791-1800. With this date range, I went to the Abington Vital Records book to see if an Otis was born between these dates. There was no Otis Harding, but under Harden, I did find...


It looks like my Otis could be the son of Jacob and Mehitable Harden, born November 11, 1789.  This date does not fall within the 1791-1800 range; but, if he was born on this date, it would make Otis 40 years old on the enumeration date of June 1, 1830. (see note 1)  Also, the age category according to the ancestry.com 1830 census information page is actually 30-40 years old (not 30-39), which would make this Otis born in Abington in 1789 fit into the Thomaston, Maine 1830 household. (see note 2)

I wanted to find more of a connection for Otis Harding to Jacob and Mehitable Harden; so I checked to see if his possible father, Jacob Harden, had a probate record.  I did find a Jacob Harden that has an 1805 probate, from Abington, MA. (Plymouth Probate 9138)  In these probate files for Jacob, his wife Mehitable is mentioned, along with the administrator, Jacob Harden; a possible son.  There is no mention at all of any children though, probably because Jacob's estate was insolvent, owing more in debts than he had in assets.  Unfortunately this did not provide me with the connection I was looking for.

I also searched through the Plymouth County Deeds for Jacob and Otis Hardens/Harding in the Abington area.  There are no deeds for Otis; which supports the fact that Otis, the son of Jacob, removes from the area.  Also, the deeds for Otis' father Jacob, do not mention Otis.  This is not surprising as Jacob dies in 1804, when Otis would only be 15 years old; too young to be given or buying land from his father.  Although this lack of information makes sense, it still does not show a connection to my Otis in Thomaston, ME.

I next turned my attention to finding Otis Harding in some Maine genealogy history books.  He is mentioned in the following book, available on google books, History of Thomaston, Rockland, and South Thomaston, Maine...


This book gives a death date for Otis of August 23, 1834.  This date does make sense, since the last census I was able to locate Otis was the 1830 census.  I am not sure where this date from this book was obtained, maybe the town clerk has records.  There is another book published in 2002, Vital Records of Thomaston, Maine, that is not online.  Maybe when I finally review this book, it may show a source for Otis' death date.

The History of Thomaston book above does provide more information on Otis' family that I can research further.  It contains the names of Otis' daughters, and mentions they remove to Massachusetts.  This supports the information I have on his daughter, Maria Harding, my third great-grandmother, who marries and has a family in Scituate, MA.  Now that I have more children's names, I searched through the Massachusetts Town Records on ancestry and found a bit more evidence to connect Otis Harding to the town of Thomaston in Maine.  Two of the daughter's death records, Eleanor and Harriet, state their mother, Margaret Blackington, was born in Thomaston, Maine, and their father Otis was born in Abington, MA.

I also found another connection of this Harden family in Abington to Thomaston, ME.  After researching the other children of Jacob and Mehitable Harden, I found that another child of theirs also went to Thomaston, Maine.  This would be Otis' sister, Polly, who marries Luther Hearsey in Abington in 1797.  Polly and Luther are still living in Abington in 1800, but by the 1810 census, they are in Thomaston, ME.  So, Otis' sister was the first to leave Abington and head to Maine. (see note 3)  Otis would leave Abington soon after, residing in Thomaston by 1819 when his first daughter was born there.  

The last piece of information I searched for was a death record for Otis Harding.  As mentioned above, The History of Thomaston book has his death date of 1834.  I am not sure if Otis moved back to Massachusetts before his death, so I tried both states when searching for his death.  I checked the following databases:

• index for Maine, Deaths and Burials, 1841-1910 on familysearch - nothing
• Maine, State Archive Collection, 1718-1957 on familysearch, but for Thomaston, ME, they only have World War I records, which is much too late for Otis.  
• Maine, Vital Records, 1670-1907, on familysearch.  This database is not fully indexed yet, so I browsed through both Harding and Harden as surname - nothing
• Since I know that his daughter Maria eventually made it back to MA, I also checked for Otis' death in MA using the Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988 on ancestry.com and again found nothing.
• Massachusetts, Plymouth County, Probate Records 1633-1967, familysearch - if he returned to Abington area - nothing
• Maine, County Probate Records, 1760-1979, familysearch - looked in Lincoln county  for years surrounding 1834-1840 - found nothing
• Maine, Knox County Cemetery Records, familysearch - looked in Thomaston Village Cemetery index - found nothing

Unfortunately; none of these databases had any information on Otis Harding's death.  I also emailed the town clerk of Thomaston, ME, to see if they had records that far back.  I am still waiting to hear from them.

I am fairly confident that I have found the correct family for Otis, with his parents as Jacob and Mehitable Harden in Abington, MA.  Now I have more people to research to hopefully take the family back another generation.  First; though, I will look into Otis' wife, Margaret Blackington's, family for my next post.

notes:

1. According to the information about the 1830 census from ancestry.com, "The official enumeration day of the 1830 census was 1 June 1830. All questions asked were supposed to refer to that date." On June 1 1830, Otis Harden, born in Abington would have been 40 years old. 
2. Also from the ancestry.com information, "Enumerators of the 1830 census were asked to include the following categories in the census: name of head of household; number of free white males and females in age categories: 0 to 5, 5 to 10, 10 to 15, 15 to 20, 20 to 30, 30 to 40, 40 to 50, 50 to 60, 60 to 70, 70 to 80, 80 to 90, 90 to 100, over 100". So Otis would have fallen into the 30-40 category, even though ancestry has that category indexed as 30-39.
3. The History of Thomaston books states that Polly and her husband both die before 1830, Polly in 1825, Luther in 1828 - they are not in the 1830 census.  The 1820 census indicates they left behind many children.  So far among the children I have found, their oldest was 31 and their youngest either 11 years old, or maybe even as young as 9 years old when their father died in 1828.  I will have to try to track them in the 1830 census - maybe they are living with their older siblings.  Thomaston VR book will be of great help to figure this family out. 

elizabeth (prouty) stoddard drake

In my last post, I left off with Mrs. Elizabeth Stoddard, whom I believe to be Elizabeth Prouty, marrying Perez Drake in Hanover on October 15, 1837.  After searching through records and looking closely at the marriage intention, her new husband's name is actually Bezar, not Perez.  I believe the Hanover book transcribed it incorrectly.

Now that I know Elizabeth is probably still living, I jumped forward a little bit to the 1850 census since this is the first census where every member of the household is named.  I was able to find an Elizabeth Drake (at bottom of image below) in South Scituate, with two children, Harriet and Bezar Drake.  Her husband is not in the household, he must have died not long after they were married; just like her first husband David Stoddard.  I have also highlighted other families that have the Prouty surname; showing evidence that Elizabeth's maiden name is probably Prouty, as I thought in my last post.

From blog post elizabeth prouty stoddard drake

Elizabeth is also listed in Scituate in the 1860 census; this time living alone, working as a seamstress.  Again, I also highlighted the Proutys living near her, which seem to include many siblings and nieces and nephews of Elizabeth Prouty.

From blog post elizabeth prouty stoddard drake

Since now I have more children of Elizabeth, I can search for their birth records to see if they list their mother's maiden name.  I did not have luck finding Harriet's birth, but I was able to find Bezar.  Bezar was born in Scituate in November 3, 1844 to Beza and Elizabeth Drake, no maiden name listed for Elizabeth.  I was also able to find Harriet's death record, which states she was born in Sandwich, MA and died in Scituate in 1865.  Harriet's death record also does not have her mother's maiden name, just her parents as Beza and Elizabeth Drake.

From these records, the only new piece of information I obtained is that Elizabeth and Bezar's daughter Harriet was born in Sandwich, MA.  I searched for Harriet Drake's birth, now knowing this new information, and found she was born in September of 1840 in Sandwich; but again no maiden name for Elizabeth.

So Bezar and Elizabeth must have been living in Sandwich at some point before they moved back to Scituate.  (see note 1)  With this new information I searched for them in the 1840 census in Sandwich.  Here is the household I found for them.

From blog post elizabeth prouty stoddard drake

Males Under 5:1(charles); Males 20-29:1(bezar); Females 10-14:1(hannah lapham stoddard); Females 15-19:1(elizabeth jane stoddard); Females 30-39:1(elizabeth)      

After doing some more research, I found that the child under 5 is Charles Drake, from Bezar's first marriage. The other children are from Elizabeth's first marriage with David Stoddard; the only one missing is their son David who would be about 20 years old.  He may still be living in Scituate.  I am confident that this is the correct census entry for Bezar and Elizabeth Drake.

So I now have found Elizabeth in the 1810, 1820, and 1840-1860 censuses.  I was unable to find her in the 1870 census, so I am assuming she died between 1860-1870.  Guessing she probably died between these years,  I searched for Elizabeth Drake's death in Scituate since that is where she was living in 1860.  I could not find her death recorded in the ancestry databases, so I searched the familysearch database, Massachusetts Deaths 1841-1915, and found her!  Elizabeth Drake died March 9, 1865 in South Scituate.

So does this elusive death record reveal Elizabeth's parents names, giving further evidence that it is the same Elizabeth Prouty that first marries David Stoddard.  It does list her parents names, but just as William and Hannah.

From blog post elizabeth prouty stoddard drake

I am happy with this information, as when I narrowed down her parents in my last post I believed she was the daughter of William and Hannah Prouty.  Even though the record does not give her parent's last name, I believe this is enough information, in addition to everything else, to show this is Elizabeth Prouty.

I did not stop with her death record though.  Plymouth Probate records are online at familysearch, so I browsed the index and fortunately Elizabeth Drake has a probate file!  Plymouth Probate 6654, does definitively tie Elizabeth with both David Stoddard and Bezar Drake as it lists all the heirs to her estate.  The heirs include both children from her first marriage to David Stoddard and her second marriage to Bezar Drake.  Those listed are David T Stoddard (my 3rd great grandfather), Elizabeth Jane Taylor, Hannal L Stoddard, and Harriet Damon, recently deceased.  Within the probate files, her other son Bezar Drake is also listed as she receives his bounty money from the government; I am assuming Bezar had passed also.

This probate gave me a bit more information that I had not known.  Interestingly, Elizabeth Drake's property is described a bit, stating she lives in a house on the land of William Prouty; which I believe is her brother. Also, I thought that perhaps Elizabeth and David Stoddard's daughter Elizabeth had died as I could not find her in the records.  Now that I know she is still living in 1865 and married, I was able to find her death record in 1890 in New Bedford, MA.  I also found out that their other daughter Hannah was also living in New Bedford at this time.

At this point I have no doubt that Elizabeth was born in 1800 to William and Hannah Prouty, then married David Stoddard and eventually Bezar Drake.  She was unfortunate to have both husbands live not too long with her; but seems to have eventually made her way to the town she was born in, living near her siblings and other family.

notes:

1. The only other connection I have found so far with Elizabeth to Sandwich is that her sister Hannah marries in Sandwich in 1831.

david stoddard and elizabeth prouty

I decided to print out an ancestor chart from ancestry.com to see where I had some holes in my family tree. The obvious gaps in my research are mostly on my Italian side, as I do not have access to most of these records. On the other hand, my maternal grandmother's line is one of the lines I have been able to take back at least to the 1700's.  After looking at this chart; however, I did notice I do not have any birth and death dates for one pair of 4th great grandparents, David and Elizabeth Stoddard.  In the past, I have looked in the censuses for more information on this couple, but have been unable to find them.  So I figured I would start again with what I know.

Marriage

I know that David Stoddard and Elizabeth Prouty are my 4th great grandparents from my 3rd great grandfather, David Stoddard's, death record.  The record lists his parents as David Stoddard and Elizabeth, including her maiden name as Prouty, both born in Scituate.

With this information it was easy enough to find David and Elizabeth's marriage record on the ancestry database Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988.  There are multiple entries, showing their marriage intention on January 23, 1819, and their marriage on June 7, 1819.  The multiple records show two different locations for their marriage, one in Scituate and one in Hanover.

One of the records is also in the book on google books, A Copy of the Records of Births, Marriages, and Deaths and of Intentions of Marriage of the Town of Hanover, Mass. 1727-1857:


I always assumed David and Elizabeth were married in Scituate because their children's births are all recorded in Scituate, and their first marriage record I came across was from Scituate.  However; as the record is written above, it looks like they were actually married in Hanover, MA, a neighboring town of Scituate.  Their marriage was probably recorded in Scituate also as that is where they were from.

David and Elizabeth's first child, David Turner Stoddard, my 3rd great grandfather, was born in Scituate on August 13, 1820.  Since he was born in Scituate, I had searched the 1820 census for David and Elizabeth Stoddard in Scituate, looking for this family listed with one son under 5 years old.  I have never been able to find them in Scituate, and did not look too closely at other towns at the time.  After looking at their son's birth date though, I see it is later in the year of 1820, and David and Elizabeth could be living in Hanover before his birth.  I did another search for David Stoddard in the 1820 census in Hanover, MA; and there he was (I think)!  The household consists of :

Males 16-25:1 (david); Females 16-25:2 (elizabeth,?)

There is one person unaccounted for, a female aged 16-25.  This could be a sibling of either David or Elizabeth.  Their son David is also not included in this census, which as I stated above makes sense as he was born in August; probably after the census was taken.  I do think this is the correct David Stoddard, as they have to be living somewhere close and they do not seem to be anywhere else. (see note 1)  Also, the household matches up fairly well.

I usually go on to try and locate all the census records I can when researching a family as these records provide clues to birth dates and other family dynamics.  So my next step was to search the 1830 census. According to Scituate Vital Records, Elizabeth and David Stoddard had two more children, Elizabeth Jane Stoddard born in 1822, and Hannah Lapham Stoddard born in 1824.  Since their children were born in Scituate, David and Elizabeth still might be near Scituate in the 1830s.  I searched for them in the 1830 census in Scituate, but also included other towns nearby just in case.  I did not have any luck finding them this time.

Birth

I at least have one census record; though, so I can estimate David and Elizabeth's birth dates.  They were both between the ages of 16 and 25 years old in 1820, so that makes both of them born between 1795 and 1804.  I also know from their son David's death record, they were both born in Scituate.  Looking at the Vital records of Scituate, Massachusetts: to the year 1850, Volume 1, here are their possible birth dates and parents.

Elizabeth Prouty (p 301):


The only entry that matches with a birth year between 1795 and 1804 is the last one, Elizabeth Prouty, born August 10, 1800 to William and Hannah Prouty.  This does not prove this is her birth date or parents, for many reasons.  I could have the wrong census entry for them and therefore the wrong birth range.  There could also have been other Elizabeth's that were not recorded in Scituate, or Elizabeth may not have been born in Scituate.  Their are also many reasons supporting this birth date though.  The first is the that the date makes sense for Elizabeth, married at age 19 and had children between the ages of 20-24.  I also could not find any other census entries in 1820, and her birth date of 1800 does fall between the age range in that census.  To obtain further evidence of her parents I would look at William and Hannah's probate, deeds, and Elizabeth's death record if I could find it.  If her death was after 1840, it would probably include her parent's names.

David Stoddard (p 339):


The only David that would match our birth range of 1795-1804 from the 1820 census would be the first entry, David Stoddard born Sept 27, 1795 to Hezekiah Jr. and Jane.  (The last entry is David and Elizabeth's son David, my 3rd great grandfather.)  Again for the same reasons as Elizabeth's possible birth date, this does not prove that I have the correct David's birth.  I will also have to look into Hezekiah and Jane's probate and deeds, if any, and David's death record if I can find it.  For all the information I have at this point, this David makes the most sense.

Finding more evidence to support David's birth dates and parents:

• probate - David's possible father, Hezekiah Stoddard (Plymouth probate 19550, year 1817) - appoints a guardian to Hezekiah for excessive drinking and wasteful spending.  No mention of David, or any other children.  David would have been 22 years old.
• deeds:

• there are many deeds for Hezekiah Stoddard but only one mentions a David Stoddard, cordwainer of Scituate, and applies to the probate above of selling off Hezekiah's land by his guardian. (Plymouth deed 133,61).  In this deed David buys 9 acres of Hezekiah's homestead in Scituate.  The deed also mentions Hezekiah's wife Jane; but it does not state David is their son.  David does not keep this land, but sells the same land to Thomas Simmons (Plymouth deed 133,62). Both deeds are dated 1817.

• There are also no deeds for a David Stoddard in Hanover, showing where he got his land. (see note 2)

• There are many deeds for a David Stoddard/Stodder in Hingham, but this seems to be a different David - a bricklayer.  

• death records - could not find for David
• census: the 1820 census includes nearby families of Henry Stoddard and David Prouty - but not sure who they are yet in relation to David and Elizabeth.  Hezekiah Stoddard does sell some land in Hanover to a David Prouty.  (Plymouth deeds 138,194; and 128,229)  Other neighbors include families of Barrell, Damon, Nash and Curtis.

Finding more evidence to support Elizabeth's birth dates and parents:

• probate - no probate for William or Hannah Prouty.  
• deeds - many deeds for William Prouty - none to Elizabeth or David Stoddard.  William does give most of his land to his sons before he dies through deeds, but do not see any for Elizabeth or David, or William's other daughter Hannah.
• death record - did not find death record for Elizabeth Stoddard 
• census : same analysis as David's above.

So I found some connections between Hezekiah Stoddard and David Stoddard, especially in the Hanover area as recorded in some of Hezekiah deeds.  I still have not found any additional evidence to support William and Hannah as Elizabeth's parents.  I really need to find their death records, hoping it will list their parents.

Death

Now that I have possible parent's names for both Elizabeth and David, and I could not find them in the 1830 and on censuses, I did a quick check for their possible parents' households in 1830 to see if they could have been living with them.  They do not look to be living with either parents though.  I looked at Elizabeth's possible siblings also, but again none match up. (see note 3)

So at this point I have only found David and Elizabeth's marriage record in Hanover in 1819, their census record with them living in Hanover in 1820, and their children's births in Scituate, ending in 1824.  I was beginning to think that either David or Elizabeth (or both) had died between 1824 and 1830, since the last record I have of them is their daughter's birth in 1824 and I could not find them in the 1830 and beyond censuses.  Below I list the process I have taken to find their death dates.

• I did not find a death record for David Stoddard in the surrounding towns during the 1820s-1830s.  I also did not find death records for him after 1840.  I think it would be more likely that if he died later in life, the records would  be more accurate and I would be able to find it.  This leads me to believe that David died between 1824-1830, and it was not recorded.  
• I also did not find a death record for Elizabeth.  This could mean that she died young also, and the death was not recorded.  It could also mean; however, that if David died, she remarried.  Maybe I have not been able to find her death record because she has a different last name.
• If both David and Elizabeth died young, they would have left three young children behind.  If this is the case there would probably be probate documents identifying their guardians, which there are none in Plymouth Probate index. 
• I did not find a probate docket for a David Stoddard at this time, but there is a probate docket for an Elizabeth Stodder in 1827 in Scituate.  This could be Elizabeth or the Elizabeth that marries Hezekiah Stoddard, David's grandfather.  Since there is no identifying information in the probate, I am not sure who this Elizabeth is.  There is no mention of any children.  
• If David died before 1830, Elizabeth probably would have been enumerated in 1830.  There is an Elizabeth Stodder living in Hingham, but the household does not match.  She does not seem to be living with family members at this time according to their census households. (see note 3)

The research above leads me to believe that David probably died after his last child was born and Elizabeth remarried.  I have looked for a second marriage record for her in the past, but was unable to find one in Scituate.  Since I know now Elizabeth has a connection to Hanover, I checked their vital records also.  I did find an Elizabeth Stoddard who marries a Perez Drake in 1837 in Hanover.  The entry below is from A Copy of the Records of Births, Marriages, and Deaths and of Intentions of Marriage of the Town of Hanover, Mass. 1727-1857:

This could possibly be our Elizabeth, but it does not give us any information if this is Elizabeth's second marriage.  I searched on the ancestry database, Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988, to see if I could find any more information on this event and found one interesting entry.

The marriage intention states Mrs. Elizabeth Stoddard, which means she was married before and Stoddard is her married name.  This looks to be the correct Elizabeth to me, which means David's death was most likely between 1820-1830, or at least before this marriage in 1837.  This still does not explain why I cannot find Elizabeth Stoddard in the 1830 census as a widow.  She and her children must be living with some other family.

Now I have another name to search for Elizabeth, Elizabeth Drake.  I will explore what happened to Elizabeth (Prouty) Drake in my next post.

notes:

1. after I found out who their parents were, I looked at father Hezekiah Stoddard and her father William Prouty and they are not included with these families in the 1820 census.
2. Hezekiah Stoddard does seem to have land in Hanover as he sells some of it, as recorded in the Plymouth deeds.  In at least two of these deeds, David and his possible brother Michael, are witnesses (Plymouth deed 126,190 and Plymouth deed 128,229).   Since Hezekiah owns land in Hanover, maybe David is just living on his father's land and did not purchase it.
3. In 1830 they are also not with possible brothers Elijah Prouty, William Prouty or Lincoln Prouty.  I cannot find Elizabeth's sister Hannah Prouty either, they both do not seem to be with possible father William.  Their brother Isaac Prouty still seems to be in father William's household.  I did not look into David Stoddard's possible siblings household in 1830 because if Hezekiah and Jane are his parents, he would have too many siblings and half siblings to check.  

finding rachel cushing's maiden name

I was searching through my family tree, trying to decide which family to focus on next when I saw that I have not found my 5th great grandmother, Rachel Cushing's maiden name.  One of her daughters, my 4th great grandmother, Deborah Cushing, was married to Joshua Bates Cowing.  I wrote about them in a blog post here.

I have Deborah's death record from the ancestry database Massachusetts, Death Records, 1841-1915.

Death Record of Deborah (Cushing) Cowing

The death record shows us that Deborah was 77 years old when she died in 1892, and her parents are Thomas and Rachel Cushing.  Unfortunately the record does not give us her mother Rachel's maiden name. My next step was to see if her marriage record to Joshua has her mother's maiden name listed.

There are many entries for Joshua and Deborah's marriage intentions in the ancestry database, Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988, but none of them state the parents of Deborah. The book, Vital Records of Weymouth, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850: Marriages and deaths, available on google books has the marriage intention date and the marriage date, but again does not list their parents. The book states the date of marriage came from C.R.3, which is a church record of the Union Church of Weymouth and Braintree.  If I find the original source of this record, perhaps there will be more information on this family.

I also found Deborah's birth record using the information I already have.  I know that since Deborah died at the age of 77 in 1892, she was born around the year 1815, to Thomas and Rachel Cushing.  Again, there are many records for her birth in the ancestry database, Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988, showing Deborah was born July 23, 1814.  The records do not show her mother Rachel's maiden name though, but they do show that she was a twin to her sister Betsey Cushing.

Deborah Cushing birth record

At this point, my two possible options for finding Rachel's maiden name is to search for Thomas Cushing and Rachel's marriage record which most likely would have Rachel's maiden name; and to search for Betsey's death record which also may list Rachel's maiden name.  I would have to estimate the marriage of Thomas and Rachel to be around 1814, since I know they had at least two children at that time.  I also have to guess that this couple was married in Weymouth, since that is where Deborah and Betsey were born.  Using the Vital Records of Weymouth, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850: Marriages and deaths, I see that there are actually two Thomas Cushings around this time that marry a Rachel.  Thomas and Rachel Hunt and Thomas and Rachel Green.



This narrows it down a little bit, but still does not give a definitive answer as to Rachel's maiden name.  So on to finding Betsey Cushing's death record hoping it will finally give us Rachel's maiden name, to bring this family back another generation.  Since I am guessing Betsey marries, and I do not know her married name, I decided to do a search on familysearch which allows you to search for Massachusetts Deaths using first name and parents' last name.  I started my search in familysearch's Massachusetts, Deaths, 1841-1915, using Bestey as a search term, leaving the last name blank.  I also included parents last name as Cushing.  I found one that matches, showing a Betsey Cushing Smith in Weymouth.  I was very excited to see that it did include her mother's name as Rachel Hunt! Then I saw it had her father's name as David Cushing, not Thomas!  I still think this is the correct Betsey, and that the informer just had her father's name incorrect.  I did do a quick search to see if there was a David and a Rachel that had a Betsey around this time in Weymouth, and I did not find one.

death record of Betsey Cushing Smith

Moving on from vital records, I thought it would be interesting to see if Rachel Cushing is listed in the 1830 census. At this time, the census only listed head of households; but Rachel's husband Thomas most likely died in 1822, according to Weymouth Vital Records. There is a Rachel Cushing in 1830, living in Weymouth.  Her household contains the following:

Males Under 5: 1 (?); Males 20-29: 1 (hiram); Females 5-9: 1 (?); Females 15-19: 3 (deborah, betsey,?); Females 20-29: 1 (?); Females 50-59: 1 (rachel)

There are many people in her household, some I am not sure who they would be shown by the question marks above.  One of her children and their family could be living with her; though none I could find matched perfectly.  One interesting thing to note about the 1830 census is who Rachel is enumerated next to, most likely being her neighbors. Simeon Cushing, probably her son; a Polly Cushing; and an Ebenezer Hunt, maybe her brother.  I would think that this Rachel is probably the Rachel Hunt, not Rachel Green, as she is living near Hunts, and Simeon Cushing's death record states Rachel Hunt as his mother.  Since Deborah Cushing Cowing is from Weymouth in all her records, I assume that her parents are the Thomas Cushing and the Rachel Cushing, head of households, in the Weymouth censuses.

So where is the Thomas and Rachel Green living?  There is no other Rachel Cushing or Thomas Cushing in the 1830 census for Weymouth; however there is another Thomas Cushing with a family in nearby Hingham. The other Thomas Cushing family in Hingham is still living in Hingham in 1850, when the census starts to enumerate every household member.  This Thomas's wife is indeed Rachel, and they have two adult children Rachel A and Almira living with them.  I looked for the death records of Rachel A. and Almira Cushing (d. 1872 and 1871), and both state their mother as Rachel Green, and they were born in Hingham.  So the Hingham Thomas and Rachel is the couple that marries in 1810 (Rachel Green); which leaves the Weymouth couple as Thomas and Rachel Hunt. Again, since Deborah was born in Weymouth, not Hingham, her parents most likely are Thomas Cushing and Rachel Hunt.

At this point, I am pretty sure that Rachel Hunt is the mother of Deborah Cushing Cowing.  Since Rachel and Thomas were married in 1792, she would have been born around 1770.  The Weymouth Vital Records show her possible birthdate in 1771 to Ebenezer and Rachel Hunt.

birth entry for Rachel Hunt

I also looked at Norfolk and Suffolk Deeds to see if Rachel Hunt's possible parents, Ebenezer or Rachel Hunt, sold or handed down land to Thomas or Rachel Cushing.  (Weymouth was in Suffolk County until 1793).  I did find some connections between the Thomas and Rachel Cushing's in Weymouth to the Hunts, as shown in the following deeds.  This provides more evidence that Thomas and Rachel in Weymouth were Thomas Cushing and Rachel Hunt, and most likely parents of Deborah Cushing as she was born in Weymouth, not Hingham. (see note 1)  These deeds also show that Rachel's father was most likey Ebenezer Hunt, as she is listed as an heir to his estate in two of the deeds.

• norfolk deed 20(140) : Ebenzer Hunt Jr. sells land in Weymouth to Jacob Dyer and Thomas Cushing dated 1804 (carpenter and mentions Thomas Cushing and wife Rachel)
• norfolk deed 28(8) : heirs of Ebenezer Hunt divide land in Weymouth -- mentions Rachel Cushing and Thomas Cushing (housewright) - among others dated 1805
• norfolk deed 28(9) : heirs of Ebenezer Hunt divide land in Weymouth -- mentions Rachel Cushing and Thomas Cushing (housewright) - among others dated 1805

Now that I am more certain that Rachel's parents are Ebenezer Hunt and Rachel, I looked in the Probate index, Norfolk County, Massachusetts ... 1793-1900, (page 574).  There are many Hunt probates that may apply to this family, including:

• Ebenezer Hunt probate for 1804, in Weymouth, Number 10268 adm; (this is probably her father)
• Ebenezer Jr., for 1823 in Weymouth, number 10269 adm. (this is probably her nephew)  
• Ebenezer Hunt will in 1832, number 10270, (this is probably her brother)  
• Rachel Hunt, will, 1817, Weymouth, number 10349 (this is probably her mother)

All of these documents may provide more clues into Rachel Hunt's family and provide more evidence connecting Deborah Cushing Cowing to this family.  These documents are not available online at this time, so I will have to wait to obtain them.

One of my final step in finding more information on Rachel Hunt is to look in the History of Weymouth book online at ancestry.com.  I look at this last because I do not like the book to influence my thoughts and change the process I would take to find information in records on my own as they often do not provide their source of information.  I have also found errors in the town history books.  I checked Ebenezer Hunt's entry (p 317) to see if they came to my same conclusions as to his family, which they did.  They also state in this book that Ebenzer Hunt's wife, Rachel Hunt, left a will as I referenced above, (Norfolk Probate 10349).  This will apparently mentions her daughters, including Rachel Cushing. I would still like to obtain this will, to see all the information it provides.

I think there is more evidence to support Deborah Cushing Cowing's parents are Thomas Cushing and Rachel Hunt, rather than Rachel Green.  I reached the following conclusion through:

• twin sister Betsey Cushing Smith death record states parents as David Cushing and Rachel Hunt - probably a mistake with father's first name.
• 1830 census has Rachel Cushing living in Weymouth next to an Ebenezer Hunt, possibly her brother.
• 1850 census has other Thomas Cushing and Rachel Green living in Hingham, children born in Hingham according to their death records - Deborah born in Weymouth.  This couple is in Hingham 1810-1860.
• Norfolk County deeds showing that land in Weymouth was handed down to Rachel Cushing, wife of Thomas Cushing, as an heir to Ebenezer Hunt.
• History of Weymouth book states Deborah's mother Rachel Hunt has a will, Weymouth, which mentions daughter Deborah Cushing.

notes:

1. I also looked at Plymouth county for any deeds that may show a transaction for Thomas or Rachel Cushing in Hingham that were linked to either Greens or Hunts, just to double check.  I did not find any connections to either; maybe because both this Thomas Cushing and Rachel Green were from Weymouth according to History of Weymouth book (p 187), so they probably did not purchase land in Hingham from their families.  

hingham house tour - thomas chubbuck jr house

In my last post, I wrote about the Hingham Historical Society's annual House Tour - and how two of the houses belonged at some point to my ancestors.  This post will show some deeds related to the Thomas Chubbuck, Jr. House.  

The Thomas Chubbuck Jr. House - 1778

Courtesy of Hingham Historical Society

Another house on the Hingham Historical House Tour that one of my ancestors lived in is the house of Thomas Chubbuck, Jr (b. 1757).  Thomas Chubbuck, Jr. is my 5th great grand-uncle, the brother of Sally (Chubbuck) French.  According to the Hingham Historical Society, Jeremiah Chubbuck, my sixth great grandfather, owned this land before his grandson Thomas Jr. built his house here.

The house description from the Hingham Historical website is as follows:

"Thomas Chubbuck, Jr. was a patriot and soldier of the Revolution, serving in the Battle of Bennington in 1777. He was descended from the first Thomas Chubbuck, a large landowner and early planter who arrived in Hingham in 1634. Upon his return from war in 1778, Thomas Jr. built this house atop a knoll in the Liberty Plain area on property owned by his father, Thomas, whose house at 1175 Main Street is also on the tour this year. This land was originally granted by the Town to Robert Peck. Subsequently, it was owned by the Thaxter family from 1641 to 1692 and was then purchased by Theophilus Cushing. It was part of the land that passed to the Chubbucks (detailed in 1175 Main Street history). In 1749, a portion of the land was mortgaged to Harvard University by Jeremiah Chubbuck to pay for his college tuition. Thomas deeded the land to Thomas Jr. who married Joanna Whiton, daughter of Captain Enoch Whiton and Joanna (Whiton), in 1787. Thomas Jr. died shortly after their marriage, and he and Joanna had no children, but Joanna lived here 60 more years until her death in 1850."

The land that this house is on is probably part of the 100 acres purchased from Seth Cushing by Thomas Chubbuck in 1742, recorded in the first deed I wrote about in the previous post, Suffolk County deed 73(164).  I have not found deeds which show how the land is transferred to the later generations of Chubbucks; I am assuming the land was handed down through wills or maybe part of some other deeds of land referenced above.  (see note 1)

I did find the Suffolk County deed 76(147), which records Jeremiah Chubbuck's first transaction with Harvard College.  The college treasurer pays to Jeremiah one hundred pounds for...

"a certain piece or parcel of land situate and being in Hingham aforesaid butted and bounded as follows, viz, eastwardly partly on the highway and partly on the land of Thomas Chubbuck, southerly on the land of Daniel Wyton, west on the river, and northward on Seth Cushing the whole containing by estimation about 40 acres be the same more or less now lying in partnership with my father Mr. Thomas Chubbuck, the land hereby intended to be granted is the one moiety or half part of the above described land and premises..."

dated March 1749

and another Suffolk deed 81(101) records the mortgage of Jeremiah's land to Harvard College; where the treasurer of the college pays fifty pounds for...

"one full moiety or half part of a certain piece of land with the fence thereon situate lying and being in Hingham aforesaid butted and bounded as follows viz southwardly on Accord Pond westwardly on the proprietor's land, and the land of Peter Ripley, northwardly on Seth Cushing's land, and eastwardly on the river, containing in the whole 45 acres..."

dated August 1748

I believe later in the deed it is stated that Jeremiah is expected to pay back the fifty pounds, with interest, and the deed will be void.  The language was a little difficult for me to understand while I was reading it quickly.
I am not sure that Jeremiah did pay the college back, as another deed records a division of land between Jeremiah Chubbuck and Harvard College, Suffolk County deed 87(66).

[Harvard College and Jeremiah Chubbuck] "do hold and enjoy in common and undivided a certain tract of land situate and lying at a place called the great plain in Hingham aforesaid containing in the whole sixty eight acres and thirty eight rods...and is bounded northerly with the land of Enoch Whitten easterly with the country road southerly with Daniel Whitten's land and westerly with the land of Peter Ripley and the said Enoch Whitten...that a partition and division of the same land be made between them...that the divisional line of said tract of land begin at a stake and heap of stones standing in or near the highway nine rods...from the northeast corner of said Chubbuck's dwelling house...college has northerly part containing about 30 acres...southerly part contains about 35 acres to be Jeremiah Chubbuck's... "

dated may 1755 

Eventually, the land that Jeremiah has left, the 35 acres, is probably handed down to his son Thomas, and Thomas' son Thomas, Jr. who builds the house pictured above.

notes:

1. There are some Suffolk County deeds which describe transactions between Seth Cushing and Jeremiah Chubbuck, it looks like Jeremiah and Seth exchange about 100 acres in Hingham back and forth.  It looks like Seth Cushing buys this land suffolk deed 67(236) and 67(237) back from Jeremiah Chubbuck in 1742.  These may be mortgages, as the end of the deed describes how Seth will pay Jeremiah.  Then also in 1742, suffolk deed 70(183), Jeremiah pays 600 pounds to Seth Cushing for part of this land, 100 acres.

hingham house tour - david cushing house

I was very excited when I came across the 89th Hingham House Tour website from the Hingham Historical Society. Unfortunately; I missed it!  I hope they do the same houses next year, especially the David Cushing house and the Thomas Chubbuck, Jr. house.  In the descriptions on their webpage, my Chubbuck ancestors (Thomas, Jeremiah, Thomas, and Sally) are mentioned as having lived in these historic houses that are still standing.

I thought it would be fun to try and track down the deeds related to these houses and my ancestors.  I will tackle the David Cushing House in this post.  I used the familysearch.org database of Massachusetts, Land Records.

The David Cushing House - 1719

Courtesy of Hingham Historical Society

From The Hingham Historical Society's website describing The David Cushing House:

"David died only four years after he built the house and it was subsequently owned by his brother Seth Cushing, before being sold to Thomas Chubbuck in 1742.  The Chubbuck family cared for the house until the early 20th century.  Three Chubbuck men are listed in the History of Hingham as residing at this Main Street property before it passed to Chubbuck daughters. First was Thomas (1674 -1753), then his son Jeremiah (born about 1700), and Jeremiah’s son, Thomas (1732/33, - 1802). It was this Thomas that sold half of the barn and house to his daughter Sarah’s husband, Captain Nathaniel French, and the other half of the house to his daughter Mary’s husband, Daniel Dill.  When Thomas’ son, Thomas, Jr. returned from serving in the Revolutionary War, he built a new home next door at 1191 Main (formerly numbered as 1193 Main), which is also on the tour this year."

Thomas Chubbuck (1674-1753)

The first Thomas Chubbuck mentioned was born in 1674 in Hingham.  He is my eighth great grandfather. The Suffolk County deed 73(164), shows that Thomas Chubbuck, of Hingham, yeoman, paid Seth Cushing twelve hundred pounds for...

"all that my [Seth Cushing] late dwelling house and barn with one acre of land convenient to the same also one moiety or half part of the land adjoining according to the quality as well as quantity thereof lying and being in the township of Hingham aforesaid at a place called great plain the whole of said plans contains by estimation one hundred acres...is butted and bounded easterly with the country road southwardly with the patten line westerly with the undivided lands northward with the land of Enoch Whiton and the heirs of Peter Ripley deceased..."

dated march 1742/1743 

Jeremiah Chubbuck

The above transaction was only 10 or so years before Thomas dies in 1753.  The Hingham Historical Society states that Thomas' son Jeremiah, my seventh great grandfather, also lived in this house.  The only transaction I found that mentions Thomas' land and a house being sold is in Suffolk County deed 90(22).  This deed states Thomas Chubbuck owes a debt to Samuel Clapp of Scituate; therefore, his estate gives to Samuel 1/4 of Thomas' dwelling house, barn, and 1/4 of the acre of land.  (see note 1)  This deed also states that Thomas' son Jeremiah is in charge of the estate.  I am not sure if this is the same land mentioned in the first deed of this post, but I do not see any other deed where Thomas sells his dwelling house to his son Jeremiah.  This deed does show that Thomas has a will, which I will have to find. (see note 2)   Maybe in his will, Thomas gives his dwelling house and land from the first deed to his son Jeremiah.  The History of Hingham book does state that Thomas gives to his grandson Thomas the northeast half of his land at Accord Pond.  Again, I am not sure this is the land where the original David Cushing house now stands.  Thomas does seem to have a lot of land in Hingham, according  to the Suffolk Deeds, so it is hard to tell which land is which.   

 

Thomas Chubbuck (1732-1802)

Another deed may show the David Cushing house being handed down to Thomas Chubbuck, my sixth great grandfather and Jeremiah's son.  Suffolk Deed 100(200), records Thomas' purchase of land from his father Jeremiah.  Thomas Chubbuck, yeoman of Hingham, pays thirty four pounds to Jeremiah Chubbuck, of Hingham, gentleman,...

"all that my [Jeremiah Chubbuck] piece or parcel of land lying and being in the township of Hingham aforesaid is part of my homestead it is butted and bounded north with the land of Samuel Whiten, and west with the land of Peter Ripley, and this line is twenty four rods and sixteen links to a stake and heap of stones and then it runs with the said Jeremiah Chubbuck's land southeast eighty nine degrees...and then with the said Jeremiah's land northeast forty six degrees...and then easterly with the orchard that being one acre and no more, the whole contains fourteen acres..."

dated Sept 1761

Thomas was about 30 years old when he purchased this property, and seems to have spent the rest of his life here.  As the Hingham Historical society notes in their information about the Hingham House Tour, Thomas does eventually sell his house and land to two son-in-laws, Daniel Dill and Nathaniel French.  As the following deeds show; though, Thomas remains in his house probably until his death in 1802, living with his son-in-law and daughter Nathaniel and Sally French, my fifth great grandparents.

Daniel Dill and Nathaniel French

Suffolk deed 167(55), records the transaction of half of Thomas Chubbuck's house to Daniel Dill, the husband of his daughter Mary.  Daniel Dill pays fifty pounds to Thomas for,

"one half of one acre of land in the south parish of Hingham, together with one half of the dwelling house and barn standing thereon, bounded easterly on the road leading from Boston to Plymouth partly and partly on land purchased of the town to begin at the southeast corner of Enoch Whiton land and to run southerly by my said land and the said road til it comes four rods southerly of said barn northerly on land of mortgaged to Francis Barks westerly on my own land and southerly on my own land to run as far westerly to make one acre, also I sell to him three acres of land in Hingham..."

dated 1789

Eleven years later, in 1800, Thomas' other son-in-law, Nathaniel French, my 5th great grandfather, also purchases half of this house from Thomas Chubbuck.  This deed shows that Thomas probably remained in the house and was cared for by Nathaniel.  This transaction is recorded in Suffolk deed 195(149):

"...that I, Thomas Chubbuck of Hingham...yeoman...in consideration of three hundred dollars already paid me by Nathaniel French of Hingham aforesaid mariner in boarding me and for the further consideration that he provide me suitable and comfortable maintenance and support during my natural life and pay all my just debts the receipt whereof I do hereby acknowledge have given, granted, bargained...one undivided half of one acre of my homestead in Hingham aforesaid with one half of the dwelling house and one half of the barn thereon standing the whole lying in common with the other moiety which I sold to Daniel Dill, the said acre of land is bounded as follows viz easterly of land I bought of the town partly and partly on the post road from Boston to Plymouth beginning at the southeasterly corner of Enoch Whiton's land and running with my said land and said road until it goes four rods southerly of said barn southerly on my own land and westerly on Daniel Dill's land partly and partly on Nathaniel French's land and northerly on Enoch Whiton's land - also included in the same consideration one other piece of land containing one quarter of an acre more or less in front of the aforesaid homestead, which last mentioned land I bought of said town of Hingham for the description of which reference being had to the records of said town - also included in the same consideration one other piece of land in Hingham aforesaid containing four acres more or less, bounded easterly on the aforesaid post road partly and partly on Daniel Dill's land southerly on said Nathaniel French's land westerly on Accord pond river and northerly partly on said Nathaniel French's land and partly on said homestead...

dated Aug 1800

notes:

1. I looked through the Suffolk County grantor deed index to see if Samuel Clapp sold this part of the land and house back to the Chubbuck family.  I did not find any deeds for Samuel Clapp selling land in Hingham.  
2. Thomas Chubbuck's (d. 1753) will would be in Suffolk County.  Only v.2-3 indexes for Suffolk County probate are online; which does not include Chubbuck, need vol. 1.