more maps and property

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

joanna whiting (whiton) french

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

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

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

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

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



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