Convicted and Escaped

I am a student of history.  It was my favorite subject in school and it is what I got my college degree in - B. S. of History, English minor in 1989 at the University of Idaho.  Having said that, you could assume that I had some knowledge of the Salem Witch trials.  It was a surprise to me to find out that I had a distant relationship to one of the accused.

Lydia Perkins would be my 9th great grandmother.  She was born 3 June 1632 in Boston, MA and died 12 Jan 1707 in Ipswich, MA.  She was married to Henry Bennett (b. 1629 in London, England d. 3 Oct 1707 in Ipswich, MA).  Lydia was the daughter of John Perkins and Judith Gater and had a sister named Mary Perkins.  Mary was b. bef 3 Sep 1615 in Hillmorton, Warwickshire, England and d. 20 Dec 1700 in Ipswich, MA.  She married Thomas Bradbury in 1636.  During one of my genealogical wanderings, I came across a notation about Mary, my 10th great aunt, that she had been tried and convicted during the Salem Witch trials.  According to an article by Melisssa Berry in GenealogyMagazine.com - at http://www.genealogymagazine.com/witchcraft.html - Mary was the victim of numerous familial squabbles from the Carr family.   Melissa explains that it mainly started when Mary spurned an offer of marriage from George Carr and married Thomas Bradbury. Evidently Mary was so powerful that she caused the death of John Carr by "dethroning his reason" and leaving him "weakened by disease, with disordered fancies."  Read the entire article if you get a chance.  I had to use that phrase...it was too good not to quote. Mary had to be quite aged at the time of the accusations.  The trials occurred during 1692 and Mary was born in 1615 making her 77 years of age. Mary was actually sentenced to death to be hung.  Somehow she escaped that fate and died in 1700.

I have always found the Salem Witch trials an excellent example of what mass hysteria can and does do.  It seems like we never seem to learn "our" lesson, because it has happened time and time again. I can't imagine the helplessness that Mary's family had to feel from her husband and children to her siblings, because it seems that it is a very difficult thing to combat.  You can look at Mary's grave online which is located at Salisbury Colonial Burying Ground in Salisbury, MA - Go to FAG #38426363 . Her gravestone is essentially broken pieces in the photo, not an uncommon occurrence in a gravestone that is 300 years old.

I am related to Mary Bradbury through my 3rd great grandmother, Belinda Willey.  Here is my line starting with my grandparents.

Frank Stewart Johnson m. Helen Marian age
Shirlie Louisa Pope m. Ulpian Grey Johnson
Winslow Lonsdale Pope m. Nancy Ann Marie Lyons
Belinda Willey m. Francis Pope
Eber Willey m. Elizabeth McFarland
Abel Willey m. Mercy Fowler
Abel Willey m. Patience Beckwith
Rose Bennett m. Isaac Willey
Henry Bennett m. Sarah Champion
Henry Bennett m. Lydia Perkins
John Perkins m. Judith Gater (Parents of Mary Perkins Bradbury)

My Grandpa Frank used to think there wasn't a whole lot impressive about his family background!  I think he might have changed his mind with all the info that we have found through the years about his family!

Belinda Willey Pope

Belinda Willey is my 3^rd great grandmother (Find A Grave site with Gravestone).  She was born 10 Mar 1817 in Orleans Co., VT to Eber Willey and Elizabeth McFarland.  

She married Francis Pope in 1835.  

Francis was born 18 May 1812 in Shipton, Quebec and died 7 Feb 1888 in Danville, Quebec.  He was the son of Winslow Pope and Mary Wheelock. 

They are the parents of: 

• Leander Pope b. 1835 d 1914 m. Ann Maria Braidy
•  Polly Pope b. 1836 d. 1910 m. Jasper Edward Emerson 
• Sherman Thomas Pope b. 1839 d. 1919 m. Hannah Nottingham 
• Winslow Lonsdale Pope b. 1839 d. 1842 
• George Luna Pope b. 1841 d.1908 m. Elsie Avery Blake 
• Hiram Pope b. 1843 d. 1894 
• Nancy Maria Pope b. 1845 d. 1914 m Thomas Hewes Hunkins 
• Winslow Lonsdale Pope b. 1847 d. 1928  m. Martha Rutherford m. Nancy Ann Marie Lyons m. Susan Emma Cutter 
• Charles Henry Pope b. 1849 d. 1932 m Ellen Eliza Williamson 
•  Adelaide Lutheria Pope b. 1851 d. 1865 
• Plumer Francis Pope b. 1854 d 1928 m. Florinda Lane 
•  Viola Belinda Pope b. 1857 d. 1888 m. Freeman Austin Lyons

When I first started learning about Belinda Willey and Francis Pope, I found it interesting to find that they seemed to move back and forth between Canada and the Vermont/New Hampshire.  At first glance, it would be easy to assume that her family were on the side of the British during the Revolutionary war – but that can’t really be the case.  Belinda’s grandfather was a Revolutionary War soldier…so why did they move back and forth between Canada and the United States.  

I asked a cousin about this migration between the US and Canada.  It was a very simple explanation…economics.  These families were going where there jobs were.  They were loggers following the jobs.  That makes sense to me.  

Winslow Pope - taken about October 1928 shortly before his death

Her son, Winslow Lonsdale Pope, was a wanderer who lived in Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota and eventually back to Massachusetts.  Perhaps it was a family trait.

I am still learning about her family and thus far it stretches back several more generations.  I feel as if I have much more to learn.  I am still wondering what I will find! 

The Winslow Connection

I still remember the first time I saw my great great grandfather’s name – Winslow Lonsdale Pope – and thought…if anything is a New England name…then that is.  Very quickly I found out I was correct.  Winslow was born in Weston, Drummond, Quebec but his family came out of Vermont and New Hampshire.  He wasn't even the first Winslow Lonsdale Pope in his family…he had an older brother with the same name who was born in 1839 but died in 1842.  My Winslow was born five years after his brother’s death on 1 Nov 1847.   I am always curious where names come from - and I knew the name of Winslow was pretty prevalent in New England.  After a bit of help from others and research on my own, I found out where that name came from.

Picture of Great Great Grandpa Winslow
 taken a week before he died in 1928.

Winslow Lonsdale Pope was the son of Francis Pope and Belinda Willey and Francis Pope was the son of Winslow Pope and Mary Wheelock.  This Winslow Pope was born 10 Aug 1770 in Rochester, Plymouth Co., MA to Seth Pope and Sarah Winslow.  So, as it was common to name a son from the mother’s surname, the Winslow name had a source and a New England source.  Now it was time to find out a bit more about Sarah Winslow.

 

Sarah Winslow was born on 19 Mar 1733 in Rochester, Plymouth Co., MA and married Seth Pope on 15 Mar 1752 when she was 18 years old.  She was the mother of seven children before she died on 20 Aug 1775.  She was the daughter of Edward Winslow and Hannah Winslow – 2^nd cousins who married on 14 Dec 1728 in Harwich Barnstable Co., MA.  Both are the great grandchildren of Kenelm Winslow and Mercy Worden.  I must admit that I am always a little dismayed to find ancestors who married cousins, but I've found a few who are much more closely related.  It seems that it illustrates the cruel fate that befell a lot of women – Sarah was only 42 when she died and her mother was only 34 years of age.  At least her grandmother, Bethia Hall (wife of Kenelm Winslow) lived to be 73 years old which was a grand age in 1745.  Unfortunately, Bethia’s daughter preceded her in death by just a few weeks.  When I look at the young ages of these women, it is hard to tell if their deaths were caused by childbirth, over work , or sickness – perhaps it was a combination of all three.

So, now it is obvious that my great great grandfather’s name comes from a well established and known family of New England.  While he was not descended from the Edward Winslow who was on the Mayflower, he was descended from his brother, Kenelm who  arrived a few ships later.  So, here is my Winslow line:

• Kenelm Winslow b. 1599 d. 1672 m. Eleanor Newton b. 1598 d. 1681
• Kenelm Winslow b. 1635 d. 1715 m. Mercy Worden b. 1640 d. 1688
• Kenelm Winslow b. 1668 d. 1729 m. Berthia Hall b. 1672 d. 1745 (Father of Hannah)
  & Edward Winslow b. 1681 d. 1760 m. Sarah Clark b. 1682 d. 1767 (Father of Edward)
• Edward Winslow b. 1703 d. 1780 m. Hannah Winslow b. 1711 d. 1745
• Sarah Winslow b. 1733 d. 1775 m. Seth Pope b. 1729 d. 1821
• Winslow Pope b. 1770 d. 1847 m. Mary Wheelock b. 1778 d. 1854
• Francis Pope b. 1812 d. 1888 m. Belinda Willey b. 1817 d. 1880
• Winslow Lonsdale Pope b. 1847 d. 1928 m. Nancy Ann Marie Lyons b. 1855 d. 1906
• Shirlie Louisa Pope b. 1881 d. 1927 m. Ulpian Grey Johnson b. 1881 d. 1927
• Frank Stewart Johnson b. 1914 d. 1975 m. Helen Marian Gage b. 1920 d. 2011 (My grandparents)

My Mayflower Ancestry - Pt 3

It is fun to study one’s maternal lines – you never know what you’ll find or where they will end up.  In our search for information on my Mom’s Allen line – we kept running into research that just wasn’t quite right.  The family story was that we were related to Ethan Allen of the Green Mountain boys from the Revolutionary War…so everyone was trying to make the Ethan Allen’s line mesh with our Adoniram Allen line…and they never worked.  It turned out that the tie was not with the Allen line but rather with their mothers…who were sisters.  It was a lesson well learned and I have found some interesting family lines on the maternal side of the family…and here is one that ties my father’s family and mother’s family together by marriage!

William White was a passenger on the Mayflower and he died on 21 Feb 1620.  Beyond that there really isn’t much more information.  He was married to a woman named Susanna and traveled on the Mayflower with his son Resolved.  Susanna White gave birth to a son named Peregrine on board the Mayflower while it was docked off of Cape Cod while the Pilgrims were trying to find a place to place their colony.  William White was one of the passengers who died on during that first winter leaving his wife with two young children to care for.  I don’t that anyone has found anything concrete on William White’s ancestry – White has to be almost as common of a name as Johnson to research.  There were a few Whites in Leiden, Holland who were possibilities, but they have been discounted.  No one knows what Susanna White’s maiden name was either.  So, she remains Susanna, wife of William White and Edward Winslow.  After the death of her husband in February, she married another widower who had lost his wife as well, Edward Winslow. 

Edward Winslow was one of the leaders of the Plymouth colony and was in fact its’ third governor.  Edward came on the Mayflower with his brother, Gilbert and his wife, Elizabeth.  Elizabeth died soon after arrival and Gilbert went back to England.  Edward married Susanna in May of 1621.  They had five children but only two lived to adulthood and had children.  Several of Edward’s brothers came within a decade, one of whom was Kenelm Winslow, my 9^th great grandfather.  So…with all of the research that Mom and I did…the only tie we ever found between my parents was when Mom’s 9^th great grandmother married Dad’s 8^th great-granduncle.  Susanna lived to be an old woman and died almost 50 years after the arrival of the Mayflower in 1680.  Edward died in 1655 while on journey to Hispaniola and was buried at sea.

Here are my lines is my line to William White & wife, Susanna.

• William White m. Susanna
• Resolved White m. Judith Vassal
• Anna White m. John Hayward
• Sarah Hayward m. David Allen
• David Allen m. Sarah Baker
• Adoniram “Teges” Allen m. Elizabeth Morris
• Morris Allen m. Rachel Bishop
• Ailey Allen m. William Kelly
• John Ward Kelly m. Melvina Robertson
• Sarah Rachel Kelly m. John Lyons Tannahill
• Oliver Richard Tannahill m. Capitola Friddle
• Betty Jean Tannahill m. Eugene Johnson
• Me!

Here is my line to Edward Winslow’s brother, Kenelm – both were sons of Edward Winslow and Magdalene Ollyver…

• Kenelm Winslow m. Eleanor Newton
• Kenelm Winslow m. Mercy Worden
• Kenelm Winslow m. Bethia Hall & Edward Winslow m. Sarah
• Hannah Winslow m. Edward Winslow (yes they were first cousins)
• Sarah Winslow m. Seth Pope
• Winslow Pope m. Mary Wheelock
• Francis Pope m. Belinda Willey
• Winslow Lonsdale Pope m. Nancy Ann Marie Lyons
• Shirlie Louisa Pope m. Ulpian Grey Johnson
• Frank Stewart Johnson m. Helen Gage
• Eugene Johnson m. Betty Tannahill
• Me!

Both of these lines were branches off of maternal lines in my family.  My advice is to not forget the women in the family.  You might find some of your most interesting ancestors!

Revolutionary War Veterans

Seeing that it is Veteran’s Day on Friday…I thought it would be a good opportunity to talk about some of my ancestors who were Veterans.  On my father’s side there are several mostly from the New England/New York area and Virginia:

·         Probably my oldest American Veteran who fought on American soil was my 9^th great grandfather, John Gallup.  He died storming the fort in the Great Swamp fight at Narragansett on 19 Dec 1675.  He was buried in a mass grave alongside his soldiers.
·         His son John Gallup b. 1646 was also with him at the battle but survived.   (8^th great grandfather)
·         Col. Nathan Gallup fought in the Revolutionary War.  (6^th great grandfather)
·         John Macomber fought on the Massachusetts line despite being a Quaker. (6^th great grandfather)
·         Abel Willey – fought in the a company from Plymouth to reinforce Ft. Ticonderoga (5^th great grandfather)
·         Asa Wheelock served in Ebenezer Learned’s regiment during the Lexington Alarm of 19 Apr 1775. (5^th great grandfather)
·         Edward Montanye fought in Captain Ten Eyck’s Company in the New Jersey militia. (6^th great grandfather)
·          Abraham Pitzenberger served as Private in Michael Reader's Co., from Virginia. (6^th great grandfather)

My mother’s family were pretty well entrenched in the south for the most part and the majority of her Revolutionary ancestors fought in the Battle of King’s Mountain in North Carolina.

·        James Tannehill served as a private on the Maryland line and spent a lot of his time as POW in the Revolutionary War. (4^th great grandfather)
·         Isaac Harrington served in NY under Captain Jonathan Hallett. (5^th great grandfather)
·         William Harrington in the 6^th & 10^th Berkshire Co., of Massachusetts. (6^th great grandfather)
·         David Allen, who was Adoniram’s father also fought in the Revolutionary war at the Battle of Moores Creek despite being in his late 60’s.  (6^th great grandfather)
·         Julius Ceasar Robertson fought at the Battle of Kings Mountain and the Battle of Point Pleasant. (5^th great grandfather)
·         Roderick Shelton also fought at the Battle of Kings Mountain. (5^th great grandfather)
·         William Dollar fought in the NC militia and was also involved in the Battle of King’s Mountain. (5^th great grandfather)
·         Adoniram “Teges” Allen served as a Captain in the South Carolina Partisan rangers in the battle of King’s Mountain.  (5^th great grandfather)

The likelihood is that there are probably several more that were Revolutionary War ancestors or veterans of the early wars from the 1600’s and 1700’s.  I must admit that one of my favorite ancestors that I have researched is Adoniram “Teges” Allen.  The story goes that he was born in 1734 in New Hampshire near the Vermont border.  He immigrated south to North Carolina with his father David and fought in the Revolutionary War.  Adoniram was recorded in Georgia and South Carolina before he decided at the age of 72 to make yet another move – to Clay Co., KY.  He built a water-powered saw and grist mill in 1807 on the south fork of the Kentucky River. He was nicknamed “Teges” which was shortened from “Tedious” which was known by, because he was so particular.  If you look at a map of Kentucky today, you will find a Teges river, which was named for Adoniram Allen.  He lived to the age of 104 and died in 1838…having retired only a few years before. I have heard that Adoniram Allen was closely related to Ethan Allen, of the Green Mountain Boys.  I always thought that the tie in was with Allen side…a few years ago, I discovered that they Adoniram & Ethan weren’t related through the Allen side but rather through their mothers – who were sisters. 

I’m sure that there are probably a few more Revolutionary War Veterans in my family that I do not yet know about.  I’ve studied history for most of my life.  I have always tried to imagine the difficulties that a Revolutionary Veteran faced – by fighting for the colonies – the choices that they made helped build our nation.  I’m proud of their sacrifice and those of their families.  They fought for the idea of the United States of America and defeated the superpower, the British Empire.  What a proud heritage that we have as Americans!