lucy ann holbrook torrey (part 4 of 4)

civil war

The civil war began when Lucy was about 35 years old, which means she probably had family members that fought in the war.  I did a search on the U.S. Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles database on ancestry.com for anyone that lived in Weymouth, MA with Lucy's maiden name of Holbrook, her married name of Torrey, and her mother's maiden name of Bates; leaving the first name blank.  The following is a list of the names that came up that I also had in my family tree related to Lucy. (note 1) 

Lucy’s brother Jeremiah Holbrook

• Enlisted in Company G, Massachusetts 4th Heavy Artillery Regiment on 09 Aug 1864.
• Mustered out on 17 Jun 1865 at Washington, DC.

Lucy's brother-in-law (Nathaniel's brother) Franklin Sumner Torrey

• Enlisted in Company G, Massachusetts 4th Heavy Artillery Regiment on 09 Aug 1864.
• Mustered out on 17 Jun 1865 at Washington, DC.

Lucy’s cousin George A Holbrook (Uncle Oran Holbrook’s son)

• Enlisted in Company H, Massachusetts 12th Infantry Regiment on 26 Jun 1861.
• Mustered out on 08 Jul 1864 at Boston, MA

Lucy’s cousin Charles E Holbrook (Uncle Oran Holbrook’s son)

• Commissioned an officer in Company B, New Hampshire 14th Infantry Regiment on 09 Oct 1862.
• Promoted to Full 1st Lieutenant on 04 Apr 1863
• Mustered out on 23 Apr 1864
• Lived in NH and Vermont

Lucy’s cousin Quincy Holbrook (Uncle Daniel Holbrook’s son)

• Enlisted in Company A, Massachusetts 60th Infantry Regiment on 18 Jul 1864
• Mustered out on 30 Nov 1864 at Indianapolis, IN

Lucy’s cousin William Augustus Holbrook (Uncle William Holbrook’s son)

• died in war
• Enlisted in Company E, Massachusetts 4th Cavalry Regiment on 27 Jan 1864.
• Mustered out on 22 Aug 1864 at David's Island, NY Harbor.

Lucy's cousin once removed Samuel Addison Bates (Uncle Elijah Bates grandson)

• Enlisted in Company H, Massachusetts 12th Infantry Regiment on 26 Jun 1861
• Mustered out on 02 Jan 1863
• Enlisted in Company F, Massachusetts 2nd Heavy Artillery Regiment on 10 Sep 1864
• Mustered out on 26 Jun 1865 at New Berne, NC

Lucy's cousin once removed George E Bates (Uncle Elijah Bates grandson)

• Enlisted in Company K, Massachusetts 24th Infantry Regiment on 14 Mar 1864
• Mustered out on 20 Jan 1866 at Richmond, VA.

Lucy’s cousin James Lawrence Bates (Uncle Elijah Bates' son)

• Commissioned an officer in Company H, Massachusetts 12th Infantry Regiment on 26 Jun 1861.
• Promoted to Full Major on 05 Aug 1862
• Mustered out on 05 Aug 1862
• Commissioned an officer in Company S, Massachusetts 33rd Infantry Regiment on 06 Sep 1862.
• Promoted to Full Colonel on 09 Sep 1862
• Mustered out on 18 Sep 1862
• Commissioned an officer in Company S, Massachusetts 12th Infantry Regiment on 19 Sep 1862.
• Mustered out on 08 Jul 1864 at Boston, MA
• Promoted to Brevet Brig-General on 13 Mar 1865

James Lawrence Bates

notes:
1.  This is not an exhaustive list as I limited my search to only three surnames, leaving out any sisters with children of a different name.  I also limited my search to those living in Weymouth.  I just wanted a quick list of those that Lucy may have had close contact with.

cowing house

While I was researching for the last post, I came across a picture of a house on the Historical Section of the Town of Weymouth website.



This is the house that Francis Cowing is living in around 1876, as shown in the Weymouth Map I discussed in my last post on Samuel Pratt. The house was near the location of Samuel and Alithea Pratt. Also, according to the History of Weymouth book (vol. 2, p 918), my 6th great-grandparents, Joshua Bates and Tirzah Pratt, lived in this house in the late 1700's or early 1800's, before Francis Cowing.
The caption above the Cowing house picture states that the family donated the farm behind the house to the town to build the Weymouth North High School (currently the Middle School). I searched the deeds on the Norfolk County website and found a Weymouth deed in Sept 1926, (1714-125, 126, 127) stating that the Town of Weymouth voted to "take", from Francis W. Cowing (Francis H. Cowing's son), a certain area of land between Hillside and Middle Street for the purpose of a playground, raising $100 for this owner, Francis W. Cowing. Another deed in Weymouth (1763-331,332) for 1927 states that Francis W. Cowing sold, to the Town of Weymouth, land "between Hillside Avenue and Legion Memorial Field" for $400.00. Hillside Avenue does not seem to be a street in Weymouth anymore, but Legion field is located behind the current Middle School (old High School), on Middle Street. This may be land in addition to what was already given or sold to the Town of Weymouth for the old High School on Commercial Street. I searched a little more to see if I could find the original deed that involved the Cowing family and the land for the old High School on Commercial Street. I found the following Weymouth deed (1677-361,362) for December 1925 which states Francis W. Cowing gave to the Town of Weymouth 13 acres on Commercial Street, originally his father's, Francis H. Cowing, land. The original deed for Francis H. Cowing is referenced to have happened in 1877, Norfolk deed book 490, page 80. This is probably the land that is referred to in the caption above the picture, behind the Cowing House, which is now the Middle School and was once the High School.
There are many more deeds online for Francis W. Cowing, but the ones discussed above were the ones that pertained to the Town of Weymouth. I find it interesting that the Town of Weymouth bought this land for what seems to be small amounts of money, for even this time period. It does see that Francis W. Cowing started the process by first giving a large amount of land, 13 acres, to the town. Then the town used Eminent Domain to take some land for only $100.00 to create a playground, perhaps Legion Field or an area near Legion Field. Then Francis W. Cowing decided to sell some more land to the Town of Weymouth for $400.00 in the same area. It is not clear why the Cowing Family decided to donate land to the Town, but it is nice to think that the school I once went to was once land belonging to my ancestors.

revolutionary war - samuel bates

Samuel Bates, a 5th great-grandfather of mine, fought in the revolutionary war from 1775 until 1778. Samuel was from Weymouth and enlisted in Weymouth during these years. He states in his pension that he was not involved in any battles, but did a lot of marching to and from different parts of the country. He also spent the latter part of the war carrying goods as a teamster from city to city. The pension file also allowed me to find Samuel's parents names from his birth date listed on the pension, and gain some other personal information. Samuel spent almost three years helping his country, I am glad to have some record of it.

Samuel first enlisted in May of 1775, a month after the battles of Lexington and Concord. This term of service lasted until January of 1776 as a private in the Massachusetts Militia under the command of Capt. Jacob Gould in Col. Greaton’s regiment. During this term, Samuel "marched from Weymouth to Boston was stationed there through the vicinity the whole term: that he served at Cambridge with a portion of the regular troops; and Gen. Washington, General Heath, and General Putnam regular officers were known to him: that he was in no battle." According to the Wikipedia article on the Massachusetts line, Greaton's regiment was part of the Seige of Boston, "The 21st Massachusetts Bay Provincial Regiment was commanded by Colonel William Heath, of Roxbury. Heath was made a Continental brigadier general on June 22, 1775, and command of the regiment passed to Lieutenant Colonel John Greaton. Greaton was promoted to the rank of colonel on July 1, 1775, and the regiment became Greaton’s Regiment. In August 1775, Greaton's Regiment was designated "The 36th Regiment of Foot." It served in the Siege of Boston until its disbandment." The reference given for wikipedia's information is the Historical Register of the Officers of the Continental Army..., which can be found on google books. There is also an article in Massachusetts Magazine on this regiment, referenced in my to do list below, which I will have to obtain.

Samuel's next term of service was from January 1776 to January 1777 as a private under the "command of Jacob Gould in Col. John Greaton’s Regiment. That he marched from Boston to
Cambridge, from thence to New London, from thence in Hartford and New York from thence to Ticonderoga and from thence to New Jersey: that he served at all these places with the regular troops; and General Heath and General Schuyler" Wikipedia's entry on this regiment is as follows, "The 24th Continental Regiment was formed by consolidating the remnant of Crafts' Company, Bond's Regiment, with the remnant of Greaton’s Regiment. Colonel John Greaton commanded this regiment throughout 1776. Greaton's regiment remained with the Main Army, moving to New York City in April. In the same month it was ordered to reinforce the American army in Canada. The regiment rejoined the Main Army in November, marching directly to Morristown." Wikipedia references The Historical Register, Wright's book, The Continental Army, and Carrington's Battles of the American Revolution.... Doing a search on Greaton in any of these books follows the regiment in the Revolutionary war. Greaton's regiment is stated to have gone to Canada, but Samuel does not mention this location in his pension. Samuel does mention General Schulyer and Ticonderoga and New Jersey, which does correspond to other activities of Greaton's regiment as discussed in the above books. Perhaps Samuel did go to Canada, but did not mention it on his pension.

I thought I would try to find some more information on Colonel John Greaton. Searching in Google books led me to the following excerpt in The memorial history of Boston: including Suffolk County, Massachusetts

This passage gives a little more detail as to what Greaton's regiment was involved in during the Seige of Boston. It also mentions the Invasion of Canada, which is not mentioned in Samuel's pension file. According to The Campaign of Trenton, 1776-1777, Greaton's regiment was told by Lee to march back to Morristown, NJ after arriving in Canada. Since Samuel mentions New Jersey after New York in his pension, it seems likely he was involved in the march to Canada also. The book also mentions Greaton's other activites in the Revolutionary War in 1777 and beyond. Samuel was not part of Greaton's regiment however after January of 1777.

It seems that Samuel took some time from the war after January of 1777, enlisting next in August of 1777 until March of 1778. His pension is difficult to read in some parts, but it states he was "under the command of Capt. Levett, that he was detached from the army and selected as a teamster and in that capacity under the whole term went from Boston to Philadelphia, from Boston to Duxbury, with hospital ? – from Boston to ? for the army – carried wood from Boston to Cambridge."

Samuel's pension did not just provide military information, but it also listed personal information; including his wife's name Selah, a daughter Lydia, and his birth date and some family information. His birth date of November 5, 1754 in Weymouth made it possible to find his parents, Samuel and Hannah Bates, as listed in the Weymouth town records. As there are a couple of Samuel Bates born around that time in Weymouth, I was not able to find which parents were my 5th great-granfather's until now. I had searched in the History of Weymout book on the Bates family, which noted that my Samuel Bates, who marries Selah, was the son of Jonathan and Deborah. I know now that this is not correct.

The other interesting bit of family information on Samuel's pension is his state of his family in 1820 when he applied for a pension. Samuel states the following:
"I am a farmer but in consequence of having lost my sight, and other infirmities am unable to labour. I have in my family a wife aged 66 years who has been a long time sick and ? ? and a daughter, whose health is declining and is unable to do any work. My wife's name is Selah, my daughter’s name is Lydia.
35 acres land – ½ part of an old house – 2 tons English hay – ½ house – 2 cows – iron pewter crockery ? ware – looking glass – 1 desk – 1 chest – 1 musket, 2 tables, 7 chairs –
… about 289.70$ to … …
Saml Bates
Sworn to and declared on the 14th day of August 1820"

I learned quite a bit about Samuel by finding his pension file on footnote.com. I am so happy to have this bit of knowledge into Samuel's life. It seemed by 1820 that he and his family were leading a difficult life in Weymouth with ill health. Lydia, Samuel's daughter did eventually marry in 1836, at the age of about 40. This was 4 years after her mother Selah died, and two years before her father Samuel died in 1838. Perhaps she married late due to her illness as mentioned in Samuel's pension, or maybe she stayed with her parents to take care of them. I have seen referenced in many places that Samuel and Selah are buried in Elmwood Cemetery in South Weymouth. I have not visited Elmwood Cemetery in a while, I will have to go back and find their stones.

to do list:

1. obtain this article : “Colonel William Heath’s and Colonel John Greaton’s Regiments. Colonel William Heath’s Regiment April 19, 1775. Colonel John Greaton’s Regiment April 19, 1775. Colonel William Heath’s 21st Regiment, 21st Regiment, Provincial Army, April-July, 1775. Colonel John Greaton’s 36th Regiment, Army of the United Colonies, July-December, 1775.”[The Massachusetts Magazine, January, 1912, 5:1, p. 15-28; April, 1912, p. 55-72].

2. look up Jacob Gould in Massachusetts Sailors and Soldiers in Revolutionary War - see if it mentions Canada.

3. look at pension rolls and activities on footnote.com for the 24th regiment in 1776 and the 21st Massachusetts Bay Provincial Regiment or the 36th regiment of foot for 1775; both were Greaton's regiments.

4. locate samuel and selah bates gravestones in elmwood cemetery.

revolutionary war - joshua bates

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

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

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

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

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

samuel bates and selah white

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

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

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




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

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

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

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

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

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

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