Monday Is for Mothers: Martha "Patty" Shepard (1800 - Before 1875)

The time has come to give some attention to this third great grandmother. After all, we've already considered her father Joshua Shepard (1753-1804), her husband William Porter (1796-1868) and her son Orville Tracy Porter (1838-1916).

[Detail from New Hampshire. S. Lewis del. Tanner sc. (Published by John Conrad & Co., Philadelphia. 1804).

Source David Rumsey Historical Map Collection]

Patty* was born in Alstead, Cheshire County, New Hampshire, in 1800 and was her parents' youngest child. She was only four years old when her father suddenly died while harvesting wheat in August of 1804.

Her mother Lucy became the head of the household as we can see in the 1810 U.S. Census. (Patty and her next-oldest sister Catherine are represented by the "2" in the column that enumerates those "FREE WHITE FEMALES: Of ten years, and under sixteen."

[Ancestry.com. 1810 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: Third Census of the United States, 1810. (NARA microfilm publication M252, 71 rolls). Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.]

The next record we have for Patty is her marriage to William Porter, who lived in neighboring Walpole, on June 18, 1818, almost certainly in the building known as the Langdon Meeting House, which has served many functions over its lifetime. The clergyman who performed the ceremony was Robert Bartlett, a well-known Universalist** minister.

[Ancestry,com. New Hampshire, Marriage and Divorce Records, 1659-1947 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013. Original data: “New Hampshire, Marriage and Divorce Records, 1659–1947.” Online index and digital images. New England Historical Genealogical Society. Citing New Hampshire Bureau of Vital Records, Concord, New Hampshire.]

[Langdon Meeting House. Source: Langdon Heritage Commission]

The young family left New Hampshire for the Township of Mexico*** in Oswego County, New York, in about 1826.

[Map of the County of Oswego. By David H. Burr. Published by the Surveyor General, pursuant to an Act of the Legislature. Entered according to an Act of Congress Jany. 5th. 1829 by David H. Burr of the State of New York. Engd. by Rawdon, Clark & Co., Albany & Rawdon, Wright & Co., N.Y. Source: David Rumsey Historical Map Collection]

And that's where we find Williams's household in the 1830 and 1840 U.S. Census records; there's no record naming Patty until the 1850 U.S. Census. By then her 88-year-old mother Lucy Royce (now widowed a second time) and two of her sisters Lucy (66) and Mary (56) have joined the Porters in New York.

[Ancestry.com. 1850 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: Seventh Census of the United States, 1850; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M432, 1009 rolls); Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29; National Archives, Washington, D.C.]

In New York State's 1855 Census, we see that their 27-year-old son Charles is now the head of the house as his parents, several of his siblings and his aunts are now living with him in a frame (not log) house valued at $75. (I can't help but think they must have been really crowded in there.)

[Ancestry.com. New York, State Census, 1855 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013. Original data: Census of the state of New York, for 1855. Microfilm. New York State Archives, Albany, New York.]

In the Federal Census five years later, Charles is still head of the household but there's no sign of his wife or the baby girl who had just been born in 1855 and there's a 3-year-old girl named Frances so it's clear that tragedy has stuck the family.

[Ancestry.com. 1860 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: 1860 U.S. census, population schedule. NARA microfilm publication M653, 1,438 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.]

More changes have taken place by the 1865 New York State Census. William is once again listed as head of a household which now includes son Chauncy Shepard Porter and his growing family. Patty's sister Mary is still living with them.

[Ancestry.com. New York, State Census, 1865 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Original data: Census of the state of New York, for 1865. Microfilm. New York State Archives, Albany, New York.]

William died in 1868 and Patty and her sister Mary continued to live with Chauncy and his family until her own death sometime before the 1875 New York State Census. Mary Shepard died in 1877.

[Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: 1870 U.S. census, population schedules. NARA microfilm publication M593, 1,761 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.Minnesota census schedules for 1870. NARA microfilm publication T132, 13 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.]

The place where William and Patty are buried isn't known.


*Patty and Patsy were common nicknames for girls named Martha. You can find out more about that here.
**Although today Universalists and Unitarians seem to have been conflated, in early years the Universalists considered themselves different. If you want to learn more, here's a link to an 1840 publication titled Plain Guide to Universalism.
***Represented on this 1829 map by the pink section that's closest to Lake Ontario.

© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Where Were My Ancestors About 1796? Abraham Bradley's Map of the United States: Part 2

This is a continuation of my post earlier this week using Abraham Bradley's postal map of 1796.  This is just an exercise to get a handle on where all of my American ancestors were during the Federalist Era.  I can already see the fatal flaw of adding ancestors by going up and down my tree as opposed to grouping by location--for instance, I actually have a lot of people who were in the western Pennsylvania area, but there will be separate maps for the family groups in this iteration because they are on different branches of my tree.  I will put together a more concise version at a later date.

In Bertie County, North Carolina, possibly in the Salmon Creek area, John H Hardy, 23, was married to his first wife, Jamima Wilson, and they had a toddler Etheldred.  Jamima would die in the next year.  John's mother Sarah Sowell, 63, had been widowed 3 years before when her husband William Hardy died, and she would be listed in the 1800 Federal Census as head of household in Bertie County, North Carolina.   John's future second wife, Elizabeth Ward, 21, daughter of Thomas Ward (who had died the year before at about age 60) and Pheraby Sowell, about 47.  John Hardy and Elizabeth Ward were distant cousins--their mothers were both descendants of Richard Sowell (born c. 1659).

John Chappell, 33, had moved to Georgia probably in the mid to late 1780's from Sussex County, Virginia, likely with his parents, Revolutionary veteran John C Chappell, 58, and Nancy "Nannie" Harrison, 55.  Like Jesse Warren Sr he was in the area that would become Hancock County, Georgia. John and his wife, Sarah "Sallie" P Heath, 25, had several small children by the time the map was made.  Sallie was the daughter of Valley Forge veteran Abraham Heath, 56, and Winnifred "Winny" (??), 50, who had moved from Surry County, Virginia to Burke/Warren County, Georgia 10 years earlier.
Josiah Freeman, 33, was likely in Oglethorpe County, Georgia with his first wife, Susannah Hawkins, and at least 5 small children.  He had likely moved to Georgia sometime between 1786 and 1790.  He was originally from Virginia, possibly Sussex or Surry counties.  His parents William Freeman, 58, and Sarah Williams(??), about 56, were in Surry County, North Carolina, and may have originally been from Surry County, Virginia.  All these Surry counties!!  It gets confusing.  Elizabeth Jordan, Josiah's second wife, was only about 9 in 1796.  I have not yet figured out who Elizabeth's parents were.  Elizabeth was born in either Georgia or possibly South Carolina.
Richard Turner, 17, had been born in Cascade, Pittsylvania, Virginia, and had moved with his family to Wilkes County, Georgia (part of which became Lincoln County) when he was about 5.  His parents, Shadrack Turner and Margaret Hill, were both about 45.  Mary Henderson, 15, would marry Richard about 3 years later in Wilkes or Lincoln County.  She had Virginia as place of birth on the 1850 and 1860 Censuses, but I have not yet been able to determine who her parents were, although there were numerous Henderson families in Elbert County (neighbor county to both Wilkes and Lincoln) at the time she would have married Richard.

William Porter was born in May 1796 in Sheffield, Caledonia, Vermont, to Benjamin Porter, 24, and Lydia Wilcox, 21.  It is not clear why they were there, as they had married in Surry, Cheshire, New Hampshire the year before, and were back there by the 1800 federal census.  Benjamin's widowed mother Esther Carpenter, 57, allegedly didn't die until 1827 in Lyme, Grafton, NH, but apparently didn't head a household in the censuses and probably lived with one of her adult children.  Lydia's parents, physician Obediah Willcox, 72, and Sarah Talcott, 61, were likely living in Surry, Cheshire, New Hampshire.
Joshua Shepard, 43, and Lucia "Lucy" Farnsworth, 34, were living in Alstead, Cheshire, New Hampshire.  Joshua's parents, Jonathan Shepard, 87, and Love Palmer, 79, had divorced 32 years earlier (about 1764), and had both subsequently remarried.  Love had married a Mr. Heard or Herrick (date unknown), and she died 23 July 1796 in Alstead, Cheshire, New Hampshire.  Jonathan had married Mary Underwood in 1765 and lived in Windsor, Windsor, Vermont, where he died 2 years after this map was made (26 March 1798).  Lucy's parents, Thomas Farnsworth, 65, and Elizabeth Davis, 68, also lived in Alstead (they had moved there sometime between 1776 and 1790).








© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Some Notes About Joshua Shepard

It's always nice to find an obituary of an ancestor that reflects how well thought of he was.  Saturday, September 1, 1804, New Hampshire Sentinel (Keene, New Hampshire), vol 6, issue 285, pg 3. from GenealogyBank.com

My 5th great grandfather, Joshua Shepard (1753-1804), yeoman and Revolutionary War veteran, son of Jonathan Shepard and Love Palmer, died intestate on 22 August 1804 in Alstead, Cheshire, New Hampshire, at a relatively young age, with minor children including my four year old ancestress Martha "Patty" Shepard (b. 1800, married William Porter). Elsewhere in the probate it showed Cyrus Kingsbury was appointed to be guardian of Patty and her sisters Caty (who had turned 9 just days before Joshua's death) and Polly (about 8).  

His death warranted notice in a variety of newspapers at the time, from New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Maine, and Pennsylvania.  I'm surprised there were no mentions in Connecticut papers, where Joshua was born, but maybe that is just reflection on GenealogyBank's holdings. 

Using GenealogyBank and restricting the search to "Joshua Shepard" in 1804, I found his death was reported from late August 1804 to mid-September 1804, from Maine all the way down until Doylestown, Pennsylvania (marked red dots).  The green arrow indicates approximate location of Alstead.  Image is from Abraham Bradley's postal routes in 1796 (Abraham Bradley's Map of the United States, exhibiting the post-roads, the situations, connections & distances of the post-offices, stage roads, counties, ports of entry and delivery for foreign vessels, and the principal rivers (Philadelphia: William Harrison, c. 1796); digital image, Library of Congress Geography and Map collection (http://www.loc.gov/resource/g3700.ct003710/ : accessed 22 Sep 2015).

Joshua's wife, my 5th great grandmother Lucy Farnsworth (born 1762), had to go to the court in Jaffrey, Cheshire, New Hampshire (over 36 miles) to file as administratrix.

Lucy (Farnsworth) Shepard's application to be administratrix of her late husband's estate.  This document shows that Joshua's wife was named Lucy and that her brother was Joseph Farnsworth.  This information was already known to me, but it is nice to see confirmation of what I already have. Cheshire County, New Hampshire, Joshua Shepard probate file No. 114, Estate Files, S58-S143, 1793-1807: digital images, "New Hampshire, Wills and Probate Records, 1643-1982", Ancestry (http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=8996 : accessed 22 Sep 2015), search "Joshua Shepard."

A transcription:

To Abel Parker Esp. Judge of the probate of Wills &(?) for the County of Cheshire
Respectfully sheweth Lucy Shepard that she was the lawful wife of Joshua Shepard of Alstead in said county deceased whereby administration of the estate of said Joshua by law belongs to her.
She therefore prays that the administration of the estate aforesaid may be granted to her together with her brother Joseph Farnsworth of said Alstead
Dated(?) at Jaffrey the 3d day of Sept. 1804

Lucy Shepard

* Joshua's service record from Fold3.
* This is the most relevant set of laws in place I could find for New Hampshire c. 1804: The Laws of the State of New Hampshire: The Constitution of the State of New-Hampshire, and the Consitution of the United States, with Its Proposed Amendments. by J. Melcher, 1797.  I only briefly examined the work, but put it here in case I should need to consult it regarding the laws of probate.




© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Working on Wednesday: Barnabas Davis (About 1599 - 1685), Tallow Chandler, Soldier, Planter

Although it sometimes can be difficult to trace colonial ancestors back across "the pond" to their origins in the Old World, that's not the case with this paternal ninth great grandfather--sources agree that he came from Tetbury in the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire and was born about 1599. Therefore he was about 29 when he married Patience James in Tewkesbury on July 4, 1628. The couple's four oldest children were baptized in Tetbury.*

[Glocestershire; Britannia Depicta or Ogilby Improved. Being a Correct Coppy of Mr. Ogilby's Actual Survey of All ye Direct & Principal Cross Roads in England and Wales ... By Ino. Owen ... Maps of All the Counties of South Britain ... By Eman Bowen, Engraver. 1675. Source: David Rumsey Historical Map Collection]

In 1635 Barnabas and Patience decided to emigrate to New England with their four children and chose to make their departure from London. However in July of that year, Barnabas left London by himself on the ship The Blessing bound for New England as the agent of William and John Woodcock who had made an investment in Connecticut land and wanted Barnabas to check on its progress, and they convinced him to leave his family in England.

Ten days after Barnabas landed in Boston he set out for Connecticut on foot. But when he arrived at the Woodcock's property he found nothing had been done and that Francis Stiles, the man in charge of the work, had returned to England so Barnabas left as soon as he could get passage back to London.** After he reported his findings to the Woodcocks it was learned that Stiles had gone back to Connecticut. So the Woodcocks sent Barnabas off to New England again (after a short visit to his family who apparently were back in Tewkesbury).

He arrived in Boston during the Pequot War and as it was no longer safe to travel overland to Connecticut he went by sea. Because of trouble with the Indians he wasn't able to visit the location of the Woodcock's property but Barnabas was able to ascertain from neighbors that the promised work had not been done and was given letters to deliver to his employers in London.

"[B]ut in the meantime he was taken a soldier against the Pequids and before he could return & get shipping in the sea near upon a year was spent from his last landing."

[A Map of New England from  A Narrative of the Troubles with the Indians in New-England, from ... 1607 to this present year 1677 ... To which is added a Discourse about the Warre with the Pequods in the year 1637. By W. Hubbard, Minister of Ipswich. ... Boston.

Source:David Rumsey Historical Map Collection.]

So Barnabas returned to England for the final time and embarked with his family in 1639 to settle in Charlestown where he remained for the rest of his life.*** He died on November 28, 1685.

He is referred to as a tallow chandler in deeds, also sometimes as a planter or husbandman.**** The inventory of his estate included "tallow valued in 13s. 6d. and mold & [nod] & knife for a chandler valued at 6s."

[The Art and Mystery of Making Wax and Tallow Candles, engraved for the 'Universal Magazine', 1749 | Social Studies, The Arts | Image | PBS LearningMedia]

Although the engraving above is dated 1749, the candle-making process didn't change much in the intervening years. Tallow chandlers often made soap also. It was a smelly but profitable trade.

Elizabeth Davis (1728-1823), the great great granddaughter of Barnabas and Patience, married Thomas Farnsworth (1731-1820) and their daughter Lucy (1762-after 1850) married Joshua Shepard (1753-1804). Their great great granddaughter Letta Estella Porter is my paternal grandmother.

*Three more children were born to the couple later. My descent is from their oldest child, Samuel (1629-1699). Most of the information here is taken from his profile in The Great Migration: Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volumes 2, page 286.. Boston: New England Historical and Genealogical Society, 1996-2011.
**In 1636. We know about this period of his life from depositions taken during his suit again the Woodcocks in 1641 for money they owed him. Unfortunately the result of this suit is lost to history.
***He continued to act as a agent of the Woodcocks and was able to get a judgement for 300 pounds against Stiles after his 1639 landing.
****Both Barnabas and Prudence were able to sign their names on these deeds.

© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Book Shelf: Epitaphs from the Old Burying Ground in Groton, Massachusetts

First published in 1878 and available as an ebook here through the Internet Archive.

[Author: Green, Samuel A. (Samuel Abbott), 1830-1918; Coburn, Arthur Bruce

Subject: Epitaphs -- Massachusetts Groton; Groton (Mass.) -- Genealogy

Publisher: Boston : Little, Brown, & Company

Book contributor: University of California Libraries]

The earliest surviving grave marker dates to 1704, so that there is no entry for either Matthias Farnworth (d. 1689) or his son Matthias (d. 1693).

© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Working on Wednesday: Matthias Farnworth (1612 - 1688), Weaver

While we know that this paternal eighth great grandfather was baptized in St. Mary's Church in Eccles, Lancashire, on August 20, 1615, there are huge gaps in the surviving records until he appears as a resident of Lynn in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1657. There's no indication how long Matthias had lived in Lynn at that point or when he had arrived in the New World.

[Thomas Groom, British, active 1820-1825 St Mary’s Church Eccles Lancashire Lithograph (318 x 410mm)

Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu http://christchurchartgallery.org.nz/collection/objects/79-449/]

By 1664, town records indicate that he had removed to Groton, where he was considered one of the original proprietors of the community. In May of that year he was one of a committee named to consider how to bridge religious dissensions that had arisen in Groton in the wake of political changes after the restoration of the monarchy in 1660.* In November of the same year Matthias was allotted some land "to be laid out agaynst his house" and he was admitted as a freeman of the Colony in 1670.

[Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. Original data: Town and City Clerks of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Vital and Town Records. Provo, UT: Holbrook Research Institute (Jay and Delene Holbrook).]

During King Phillips's War, Groton was attacked by the Indians and all except four garrison houses were burned on March 13, 1676. The inhabitants fled to Concord where they remained for two years before returning to rebuild their homes.

[1677 Map of New England by William Hubbard.

 Source:http://www.histarch.illinois.edu/plymouth/images/1677map.jpg]

Matthias was a respected citizen of Groton and served at times as a Constable and a Selectman.

He dictated his will on January 15, 1688/89 in which he stated he was "aged about 77 yers" naming his oldest son, also named Matthias,** to be joined with two neighbors to administer his estate. He died about three weeks later.

Sources agree that he was a weaver by trade and among the items in the inventory of his estate was a "Loom and tacklin" valued at 2 pounds which he had bequeathed to his oldest son in the final line of his will: "also I give my loam and tacklins for waving to my son Mathyas farnworth."

Matthias Farnworth is buried in the Old Burying Ground in Groton.

You can find more information about the Farnsworths here and here.

*After several meetings, the committee of eleven men were unable to do more than make general suggestions about should be required of church members.
**My direct ancestor, whose name is spelled Mathyas in the will. The early records spell the surname without the "s" which was added later.

© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.