Monday Is for Mothers: Thanklord Perkins (About 1610 - After 1675)

In the first record we have of this 8X great grandmother, Thanklord Perkins was married to Ralph Shepard at St. Bride's, Fleet Street in London on the 21st of May, 1632.

[Ancestry.com. London, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Original data: Church of England Parish Registers, 1538-1812. London, England: London Metropolitan Archives. Images produced by permission of the City of London Corporation Libraries, Archives. ]

A year later the baptismal record for the couple's first child, Sarah, at St. Dunstan's in Stepney lists only her father's name, giving his occupation as tailor residing in Limehouse.

[Ancestry.com. London, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Original data: Church of England Parish Registers, 1538-1812. London, England: London Metropolitan Archives. Images produced by permission of the City of London Corporation Libraries, Archives.]

The couple's non-conformist religious beliefs led to Ralph, Thanklord and Sarah's departure from London on June 30, 1635 aboard the ship Abigail bound for New England. Thanklord's age was given as 23 and she was pregnant with her second child, Thomas, who is one of my 7X great grandfathers.*

Their first residence was in Watertown (presumably where Thomas was born), followed by removals to Dedham in 1637, then Weymouth in 1639, on to Malden by 1650 and ending up in Concord by 1666.

In 1651 Thankslord joined with 35 other women in a petition in defense of their minister Rev. Marmaduke Matthews.

[Ancestry.com. The history of Malden, Massachusetts, 1633-1785 [database on-line]. Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004. Original data: Corey, Deloraine Pendre,. The history of Malden, Massachusetts, 1633-1785. Malden: The author, 1899.]

Here's a tracing of her signature from that document.

[From Ralph Shephard, Puritan by Ralph Hamilton Shepard, 1893.

Source: Google Books]

Several land records in Malden name Ralph "with the assent and consent of Thankslord my wife" and she "acknowledged" a deed giving some property in Concord to their son-in-law Walter Power** on March 28, 1675. This is the last date we have for her. Her date of death and place of burial are unknown.



*My descent from Thomas.

[Ancestry.com]

**Walter Power married their daughter Trial (1641-1708) who's my 7th great grandmother.

[Ancestry.com]

© 2017 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Monday Is for Mothers: Lydia Rogers (1642 - 1727)

This maternal eighth great grandmother was born in Weymouth, Massachusetts, in 1642 and that's where she married Joseph White.

[Births, Marriages and Death. 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).]

[Ancestry.com. U.S., New England Marriages Prior to 1700 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2012. Original data: Torry, Clarence A. New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2004.]

There's a conflict here with the date of John Roger's will being brought to court (April 30, 1660) and Torrey's New England Marriages Prior to 1700 listing for Lydia and Joseph White's marriage in September of that same year. The will clearly identifies her as "Liddia white" and refers to his "sonne in law Joseph white" so it must have been made after their marriage. There is an error somewhere because at this time the civil year began on March 25th.*

[Probate Records, Vol 1-4, 1628-1667. Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, Wills and Probate Records, 1635-1991 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Original data: Massachusetts County, District and Probate Courts.]

Five of their seven children, including their only daughter and my direct ancestor Lydia White (1662-1696), were born in Weymouth. Their two youngest boys, Samuel and Ebenezer, were born in Mendon so the family had moved there by 1667.

Joseph** died in Mendon in 1706, and Lydia survived him by 21 years, dying on May 8, 1727.***

["Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, <i>FamilySearch</i> (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1942-31535-13836-85?cc=2061550 : accessed 2 November 2015), Worcester &gt; Mendon &gt; Births, marriages, deaths, property records 1677-1826 &gt; image 109 of 328; town clerk offices, Massachusetts.]

Their granddaughter Lydia Cook (1686-?) married Daniel Darling (1682-1746) and their great great granddaughter Mercy Ann Darling's (1835-1915) son Jesse David Webb (1860-1935) is my great grandfather.

*Neither of these conflicting records shows us an original document. There's another (printed) transcript of the will which gives the probate date of 1661 but the inventory date is in 1660. (I'm so confused...)

[Wills. Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, Wills and Probate Records, 1635-1991 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Original data: Massachusetts County, District and Probate Courts.]

**The death record refers to him as Captain Joseph White. I haven't found any probate records for him (yet).

["Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, <i>FamilySearch</i> (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1942-31535-13911-79?cc=2061550 : accessed 2 November 2015), Worcester &gt; Mendon &gt; Births, marriages, deaths, property records 1677-1826 &gt; image 107 of 328; town clerk offices, Massachusetts.]

***Presumably both are buried in Mendon, but there's no record of where their graves are.


© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Monday Is for Mothers: Lydia White (1662 - 1696)

If the 1879 transcription of 17th century Weymouth, Massachusetts, birth records is correct, Joseph and Lydia (Rogers) White had twins Lydia and Joseph* in 1662.

[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).]

Torry lists her marriage with Samuel Cooke in Mendon, about 30 miles east of Weymouth, in 1681 when Lydia would have been 18 and that's where she lived for the rest of her life.

[Ancestry.com. U.S., New England Marriages Prior to 1700 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2012. Original data: Torry, Clarence A. New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2004.]

 In the 15 years of their marriage Lydia and Samuel had at least eight children.** She died in 1696 at the age of 32 only about four months after the birth of her youngest child.

Samuel lived until 1752, surviving his wife by 56 years. There is no record of a second marriage for him. It is presumed that both Samuel and Lydia are buried in Mendon.


*The first Joseph must have died earlier.
**My direct ancestor is their fourth child Lydia Cook, my sixth great grandmother, who married Daniel Darling.

© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.