lucy ann holbrook torrey (part 3 of 4)

Lucy's illness

Lucy's life takes a turn for the worse by the time of the 1870 census, at age 44, when she is listed as insane. The only clue I have to her insanity is from the 1880 Schedules of Defective, Dependent, and Delinquent Classes. (note 1)

From lucy holbrook blog post

This census lists Lucy as being in the following asylums; Taunton, South Boston and Worcester. By 1880 she had spent 12 years of her life in asylums according to this census, and was last discharged in 1879. There is also a checkmark in the column of homicidal. It sounds as if Lucy had some serious mental health issues, and probably did not have the best of life living in asylums during this time period. I would very much like to obtain her health records, and have read online that some people have had success getting records from the Worcester Hospital.

I do not know how long Lucy stayed at home after her 1879 discharge, but by the 1900 census, her husband had died and she is a patient at the Worcester Insane Asylum again. She is also a resident of this asylum in the 1910 Census.

There are some probate records for Lucy listed in the Norfolk County, MA Probate Index on ancestry.com during this time of illness.  I ordered these documents some time ago, hoping to find some more information on Lucy's medical condition. The documents did not provide any detail in this respect, but did show when Lucy was declared insane along with some guardian information and land ownership information.  The following is a breakdown of her probate records:

• May 12 1869 : Lucy is declared insane and her husband, Nathaniel R. Torrey, is declared her guardian of person and estate
• May 12 1869 : Nathaniel possesses "certain real estate...in which his said wife is entitled to a jurisdiction right of dower and homestead and that he is desirous of selling from time to time...he prays that he may be authorized to release all said jurisdition rights of dower and homestead of his said wife that he may sell or mortgage within the next 5 years." (includes a "schedule A" which documents location of land (note 2 and map below).  The court grants Nathaniel's request to release authorization to him.
• Oct 6 1874 : Nathaniel petitions the probate court and is granted that he be authoized to sell to Alveh Raymond... "real estate with a dwelling house and / Barn thereon, situated in said Weymouth, / On the corner of Park Avenue and Pleasant / Street, and occupied by Alveh Raymond Jr" (highlighted on map below)
• September 13 1882  case number 18598 Nathaniel petitions the probate court and is granted that he be authroized to sell to J. Shores...  "John F Shores of / Said Weymouth holds against him a / Bond for a deed of about five eights of / An area of land situated on Union / Street in said Weymouth with a small / Dwelling house and barn thereon" (J Shores lives next to Nathaniel and Lucy Torrey on the 1876 weymouth map above)
• March 1898 case number 33415  new gaurdianship, as Nathaniel R. Torrey is deceased.  Gaurdianship granted to Nathaniel A. Torrey and George W. Torrey, sons.
• August 1899 Nathaniel A Torrey petitions court to sell land of his deceased father..."
  That an advantageous offer has been made to your petitioner for said estate to wit, the sum of / Six hundreddollars over and above an existing mortgage of sixteen hundred dollars,
  That theinterest of all parties concerned will be best promoted by an acceptance of said offer, and / That it will be for the benefit of said ward that her interest therein be sold, and the proceeds / Thereof putout on interest or invested in some productive stock, for the reason that she is / Now without other means of support at the insane asylum."

Lucy probably resided at the Worcester Insane Asylum until her death in 1912, as her death record is from Worcester. The cause of death is listed as dementia praecox, with a contributory cause of broncho-pneumonia.  While she was in Worcester, three of her children passed away.  George Wilbur Torrey died of pneumonia in 1901, Lucy Jenny Torrey died at the Westborough Insane Asylum in 1903 of tuburculosis, nepritis, and pneumonia, and Nathaniel Austin Torrey died of heart disease in 1909. 

Lucy's death record states that Lucy was buried in South Weymouth.  Her two remaining children, Lydia and Henry (my 2nd great grandfather) must have been responsible for making sure she was brought back home and buried with her husband at Elmwood Cemetery on Union Street in South Weymouth. 

From lucy holbrook blog post

websites of interest:
1. Worcester insane asylum pictures from 1948 Life Magazine article on Opacity website.
2. Wikipedia article on Worcester Insane Asylum

notes:
1.  U.S. Federal Census - 1880 Schedules of Defective, Dependent, and Delinquent Classes : National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington, D.C.; Nonpopulation Census Schedules for Massachusetts, 1850-1880: Supplemental Schedules of Defective, Dependent, and Delinquent Classes; Year: 1880; Roll: 35; Publication Number: T1204. ancestry.com

2.  Schedule A of Lucy's probate describes land that Nathaniel wants authorization over, but Lucy has rights to according to dower and homestead.  " One undivided fifth part of all the real estate which I inherited from my father Josiah Torrey late of Weymouth deceased intestate..."

• "being about seven acres of land with the buildings thereon and bounded as follows mainly / Northerly by land of Alvah Raymond and Park Avenue / Easterly by land of Alvah Raymond and Pleasant Street / Southerly by land of Elijah Bates, westerly by land / of George Holbrook and widow Noah Torrey" (highlighted on old Weymouth map of 1876 below - after Nathaniel sells to Alveh Raymond, looks like Jospeh Emmons Torrey, Nathaniel's cousin, is living next to this property)
• "Also 1 piece of land continuing one and half / acres bounded as follows / Northerly by Prescott Torrey and Land of R. S. White / Easterly by land of Jacon Holbrook / Southerly by Park Avenue / Westerly by Pleasant Street" (highlighted on weymouth map below : near ps torrey)
• "Also / 1 piece wood bottom containing about 7 acres / in south Weymouth on what is called mosquito plan"
• "Also / eight aces wood bottom on pine hill in Hingham / bounded as follows northely by land of heirs of David Whitman / Easterly by land of Daniel Holbrook / Southerly by land of Abner Curtis / Westerly by land of Jason Holbrook" (I have not been able to find this land on the 1879 Hingham map - Pine Hill is the southern most hill of World's End in Hingham - but none of the above names are on the Hingham map in that area)
• "Also / 1 pew in the congregational Church / South Weymouth"

some of Nathaniel Torrey's land in Weymouth as noted in Schedule A of Lucy's Probate records

From lucy holbrook blog post

to do:
1. Obtain Lucy's medical records. (Shirley Burchfield posted on an online forum about obtaining records from the Worcester Insane Asylum : "[you need to be]appointed a "volunary executor" for medical records only. This entailed driving to the City Hall, getting the death certificate, walking next door to the courthouse and filling out the paperwork, handing over $120 and within minutes, I was appointed her voluntary executor. I then just needed to mail a copy of the death certificate, together with the court order to Worcester State Hospital and within 6 weeks I had most of her records. ") Sounds promising!  I have already ordered a certified copy of Lucy's death certificate online through Worcester Vital Records department.

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

joshua bates cowing and deborah cushing

According to Weymouth Vital Records, my fourth great-grandparents, Joshua Bates Cowing and Deborah Cushing, marry on March 7, 1832 in Weymouth at the Union Church of Weymouth and Braintree. The Union Church has an interesting history as told by the Braintree Fire Fighters Association, Local 920 on their website. The Union Church was originally the Hollis Street Church in Boston until it was moved to Quincy Ave. in Braintree, MA. Paul Revere then created a new bell for the church tower, and this new Union Church had its first service in November of 1810. Unfortunately, a fire destroyed the church on June 19, 1897. Pictures are included on the Fire Fighters website, this is one before the fire.


The US Federal censuses from 1850 - 1880 show that Joshua and Deborah Cowing lived in Weymouth throughout their life where they had 7 children. Joshua is listed as a bootmaker and a shoemaker in the 1850 and 1860 Census, which is not surprising as Weymouth had a very large shoe industry at this time. In the 1870 and 1880 Cenus, and on his death record of 1888, Joshua is listed as a farmer.

I took a look at the Historic Land Ownership and Reference Atlases on the ancestry.com and found a map for Weymouth for 1876. JB Cowing is listed accross the street from his brother FH Cowing on Commercial Street in Weymouth, right next to the railroad tracks. Near his home are many shoe manufacturing buildings and stores. I am sure Joshua worked for one of these close to his home. You can also see Joshua's land that he farmed in his later years. I am not sure what type of farmer he was, but he does not seem to have a considerable amount of land.




There are a couple of interesting things about the map above. As you can see from the arrows (click on the pitcure to make image bigger), I have pointed out where JB Cowing's land is. I also included another arrow, pointing to the street I grew up on, just under 1/2 mile from each other.


View Larger Map

The other interesting thing about Joshua Bates Cowing's property is that he did not seem to inherit it from his father Balch Cowing, who had a substantial amount of land on Commercial Street, further up the road in Weymouth Landing, near Braintree. Joshua was Balch's first son. During this time period, fathers would usually hand down their property to their first son, but Balch seems to have given his land to Susan, his daughter, who remained single throughout her life. Susan actually lived with one of Joshua's son's, Francis H. Cowing in 1880, after Balch dies. In 1860 and 1870, Francis lives with his grandfather Balch. The map for Weymouth Landing has FH Cowing listed as property owner for a substantial amount of land, I assume this was part of Balch's estate. I have not seen a reference to a probate record for Balch, but I assume there should be one since he seemed to have had so much land. It would be interesting to obtain if found. Balch's wife, Cynthia Bates, does have a probate record for Norfolk County, but she died before her husband Balch.

to do list:
1. find probate for Balch - unable to find a reference to one
2. obtain probate for Balch's wife Cynthia

links of interest :
1. Massachusetts Historical Society - has holdings of church documents for the First Church of Weymouth part of the parish broke off to form the Union Church of Weymouth and Braintree