Thomas Bascom and Martha Boltwood Field

Thomas Bascom and his wife, Martha Boltwood Field, are two of my fourth-great-grandparents, through their son David.  This image is from Amherst town records and shows a family listing of their first five children.

Such a record does not prove the children were born in Amherst, but most certainy the family resided there for a time.  Given that David is the last listed, it is more likely that he was born there.  Town histories uniformly name Thomas Bascom as one of the early settlers of Amherst and there is no record of him returning to Warren, Worcester, Massachusetts prior to 1880.  Consequently, I believe it is fairly safe to say that David was born in Amherst.

The baptismal note added to the first Nathan's birth listing would seem to imply that he was at least baptized in Amherst.  It's probably also safe to list Martha and the second Nathan as born in Amherst.

Four more children were more probably born in Warren: Solomon, Asa, Absalon, and Simon.

Line of Descent
Thomas Bascom = Martha Boltwood Field
David Bascom = Lydia Palmer
Titus Davison = Hannah Field Bascom
Celim Homer Porter = Clara Evelene Davidson
my Grampa Porter


SOURCE

FHL186126 / online browse images / Amherst
Amherst, Hampshire: Births, marriages, deaths 1747-1836 vol 1 / clip from image 7 

Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1627-2001 at Familysearch.org

Portrait of a Great Great: Mary Mason

With a full quarter of my ancestry coming from the Great Migration, I'm used to finding the occasional mention in American Ancestors, one of the periodical publications of the New England Historic Genealogical Society.  But the Winter 2015 (Vol. 16, No. 1) has set a new standard here for excitement!

One article is primarily about Abigail Smith Adams, wife of President John Adams and mother of President John Quincey Adams [1].  Author Michelle Marchetti Coughlin hypothesizes howAbigail's maternal great-grandparents may have affected Abigail.  Luckily for me, those maternal great-grandparents are also my 8th-great-grandparents, John NORTON and Mary MASON.

The entire article is very interesting and includes a good deal of family history information and detail, far beyond birth-marriage-death.  The great surprise is a portrait of Mary Mason, circa 1670!  The actual portrait, artist unknown, is on display at the Adams National Historical Park in Quincy, Massachusetts.  As part of the United States National Park Service (NPS), the website is great, too.  It includes a Photo Gallery with eight sections, one of which is Portraits in the Old House. Of the 32 portraits shown there, one is of "Mary Mason, circa 1670" and a download is available.  My illustration here is a clip of that NPS download. Please visit their fine site for your own full copy.

Conclusions

• Join national genealogy societies!
• Read their publications and be prepared for surprises!
• Appreciate fine government websites!

Line of Descent
Rev. John Norton = Mary Mason
Capt. John Norton = Elizabeth Thaxter
William Norton = Elizabeth Bennett
Moses Bates = Hannah Norton
Moses Bates = Ruth Shaw
Norton Bates = Betsey Sweet
Homer Thomas Porter = Dolly Ann Bates
Celim Homer Porter = Clara Evelene Davidson
my Grandpa Porter


[1] Coughlin, Michelle Coughlin. "A shared sensibility: Examining the legacy of John and Mary (Mason) Norton, maternal great-grandparents of Abigail Smith Adams." American Ancestors, 16 (1): 47-51.

First Friday Folder: Lt. Nicholas Shaw & Ruth Beal

Lt. Nicholas SHAW and Ruth BEAL are two of my 6th-great-grandparents.  I selected this folder because, after my Unexpected Gift from a Great Blogger post last month, I played around a bit more in one of Bill West's blogs and Findagrave, which led me to another printout from Findagrave on Ruth (Beal) Shaw to file and no folder in which to place it! 

The Couple
Nicholas Shaw was born 28 January 1712/1713 in Abington, Plymouth, Massachusetts and died there 7 June 1780.  Ruth Beal was born about 1717 and died 15 December 1808 in Abington.  They were married 6 February 1735 also in Abington.  According to the page at Findagrave, she is buried at the Mount Vernon Cemetery in Abington. Her Findagrave page give a date and inscription, but no photo.  I wonder if Nicholas is also buried there?

The Folder
Ah, great news: this folder is in wonderful shape!  Of course, it's brand new today and only has two things in it ....

The Plan
I shouldn't do any more on this couple until I finished tying up loose ends in my research on the paternity of Norton Bates. I'm confident that I have the right parents (as shown here), but I need to finish resolving some mild contradictions and I need to formally write-up my theory and conclusions.  Then, I can work back couple by couple in more detail and with a clean conscience.

Line of Descent
I have started printing the line of descent for each of my direct-line couple folders as I use the folders.  With my new printer/scanner, I was able to make this image of the chart and, then, insert it here!  I have impressed myself!


Conclusions
I had hoped that my First Friday Folder reviews would always result in saving lots of room in the file cabinet by my finding and removing unnecessary duplicates and other unneeded goodies.  Unfortunately, this week resulted only in adding material to the drawer.  But, I guess better organization is a higher goal anyway.... 

I would probably have more time for my serious research if I were able to quit reading other blogs and quit "playing" in the places they lead me and stay focused on a current targeted problem/topic/couple....  But, where's the great fun in that?!

Unexpected Gift from a Great Blogger

Bill West, of The Old Colony Graveyard Rabbit, recently posted lovely photos of the "Olde Beechwood Burial Ground"  in Cohasset, Massachusetts.  One photo that caught my eye turned out to be the headstone of my 5th great-grand-aunt, Sarah Bates, who died at about the age of 11 in 1737.

I know Bill also contributes to FindaGrave.com, so I quickly clicked over to their site and found out that Bill had indeed already submitted a photo and annotation for Sarah's father, Joshua Bates.  Thank you, thank you, Bill!

Thanks to Bill, I now have burial locations for both Joshua and Sarah!  I like filling in blanks in my database!  Now, I wonder if Bill West and I are related....

First Friday Folder: Cary & Godfrey

I'm backdating this post a bit, but I did start it before January's first Friday...!  These are two of my eighth-great-grandparents: John CARY and Elizabeth GODFREY.  I picked this folder for this month because I haven't worked on them for a very long time, no one in the line of descent has been a FirstFridayFolder yet, and the folder looked awfully large.  I was hoping there would be lots to weed out, leaving more room in the file drawer!

Organization
Yes, I hadn't studied this couple for a long time: the family group sheet was six years old!  There were several printouts from 2003 of online, unsourced family trees--clearly from my name collecting days--and I discarded them.  Yeah! The file drawer has a little more room!

Updates
I ran the Cary/Godfrey names in searches in the NEHGS databases, printed out a few sheets, and updated the sources in my database.  Darn, now the folder is back to the size it was before I started....

Planning
Reviewing my notes in the family group sheet, I see that there is a good deal of controversy/uncertainty about John Cary's ancestry and early years.  I checked the Great Migration series at NEHGS and see that there is still no Cary sketch.  I checked Hollick's (2006) New Englanders in the 1600s and recorded the sources for Cary in my To Do file.

I need to study more on the best or standard format for locations in the Massachusetts area in the 1600s.  Should I be using colony names?  What was Bridgewater part of in 1644?  It seems to me that there should be a published,  industry standard for all those early towns for specific date ranges.

Line of Descent

John Cary  =  Elizabeth Godfrey

Joseph Cary  =  Maretia Mercie Bushnell

Elizabeth Cary  =  Seth Palmer

Joseph Palmer  =  Abigail Lasell

Zenas Palmer  =  Lydia Marshall

Lydia Palmer  =  David Bascom

Hannah Field Bascom  =  Titus Davison

Clara Eveline Davidson  =  Celim Homer Porter

L Willis Porter

Lots of Marriage Records: John Sweet & Judith Payson

Great-great-great-grandparents Norton Bates and Betsey Sweet have caused me genealogical problems for all the years I've been working on genealogy.  First, it took several years to figure out who Norton's parents were: Moses Bates & Ruth Shaw. Sorting BATES in New England is not easy, but now I have all of his lines back for at least 3 more generations and some for many more.

Betsey Sweet is still a problem.  I think of her not so much as a brick wall but more like a climbing wall with footholds and handholds out of reach and me with no safely line....  I've been collecting SWEETs for many years, studying families and hoping for possibilities, while eliminating most of them.  Recent additions to the familysearch.org databases gave me a new location for Betsey's possible parents: Adams, Berkshire, Massachusetts.

CAUTIONARY WARNING: I am NOT saying that the following couple are the parents of my Betsey Sweet.  They are simply one more lead that I am currently exploring.

From the Massachusetts Marriages, 1695-1910 database:

This looks like a very good lead, given Betsey's death record listing parents' names John & Judith Sweet and a calculated birthdate of about 1794.  Last weekend, I traveled to the newly remodeled Los Angeles Family History Library (yes, they've changed names again) and got to see the source film, FHL# 760,652.  Sure enough, there where it was supposed to be on p. 23 was entry #124:

But, it's not quite as advertised: it says "intended," not "married," and is the only entry on that page without a notation of when a certificate was given.  I was very sad to see that I did not have a solid marriage record here, but I kept reading the film, mostly because it was such easy reading.  I was not hopeful since the familysearch.org search function had not turned up any other records. Then, just a few pages later, I found this one:

 Aha! Over two years later, they again made their intentions AND got a certificate another month later!  The difference in her name is not a deal breaker; it just gives me additional names to watch.  But, now I'll need to watch for issues around Betsey's birthdate in relation to the marriage of her parents.

I kept on reading, hoping to see some children for the couple.   There were some children listed pages later for other families, but none for any Sweet family nor Payson family.  But then, the format of the document changed again and it went back to some marriage records where I found this one:

Aha! Aha!  And 'they' thought they could fool me!  This entry sure makes it look as though this couple actually married on 4 September 1796.  These three entries were the only SWEET or PAYSON names I saw on the whole film.  There weren't even any of either name among the recorded earmarks!

I still can't link this couple to my Betsey Sweet with any confidence, but they are the best candidate now and the best candidates I have ever had.

I'm sharing this research to show that the familysearch.org databases are not perfect.  I tried again today to form a search that turned up either the second or third entry in the online index.  After quite a bit of effort and knowing the records are indeed on the film, I was able to find my second record:

Again, it's indexed as a marriage rather than intentions.
And, finally, I was able to force the third one to show up in a search:

Note that it was indexed as 'Tason' rather than 'Pason,' an understandable indexing interpretation if one had not been reading pages of that handwriting and looking at how known Ps & Ts compared.

This all showed me again in just one day that I must always, always go to actual sources.  This experience also reinforced the idea that just because a search in an online database doesn't turn up the people I'm looking for, it doesn't mean that they aren't there!

Sources

Births, Marriages, and Intentions of Marriage, ca. 1766-1847 [Adams, Massachusetts].  FHL # 760,652.

https://beta.familysearch.org ; database: Massachusetts Marriages, 1695-1910.

Digital photos of the microfilm images off the microfilm reader by MHD.

First Friday Folder: Joshua Lassell & Mary Burnap

This is the second in (hopefully) a habit of regularly picking a folder that I have not seen for a while and giving it a once over.  I thought last month's folder cleaning went well!  With any luck, this process will eventually lead to either more room in the file drawer &/or better plans on what to do next!

Seventh-Great-Grandparents Joshua Lassell and Mary Burnap

Both Joshua and Mary were descendants  of Great Migration immigrants.  Joshua was born 18 February 1688/1689 in Plymouth, Massachusetts, and died 11 April 1767 in Kent, Litchfield, Connecticut.  Mary was born 6 January 1686/1687 in Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts, and died before 1740, probably in Connceticut.  They were married 14 Dec 1714 in Windham, Windham, Connecticut.

I picked this particular folder because I haven't worked on these lines for a while but had a nagging feeling that something was pending, and I was right!  Organizing the contents of this folder was easy since there were only 2 items in it about Joshua and Mary, but there were several things for Mary's ancestors.  I had verified her lines, but had not made the folders and had just stuck info in with Joshua & Mary.

So, I made 5 new folders and printed out new family group sheets for everyone.  I saw that while I had cited it for his ancestors, I had neglected to site one of the main sources for the LASSELL line in any of Joshua's events:  Massachusetts and Maine Families in the Ancestry of Walter Goodwin Davis [1].  A three volume set, this book is considered to be a reliable source for early New England information.  I was led to its Lassell info by Hollick's New Englanders in the 1600s [2], which is a wonderful index to recent, quality research.  I've had the book for 3 years now, and still haven't finished following up all the excellent citations it gives.

As for a plan for further research, there are no big controversies around this couple.  The only big thing I'm missing is death information for Mary (and I will keep an eye out for it), but if greater greater minds than I have not found it yet, I will put it toward the bottom of the research list.

While filing the new folders for BURNAP ancestors, I saw that I had not yet removed the folders for the  Martha Swift line, which I believe is NOT part of my ancestry.  So, in removing Swift, Hatch, Wing, Dillinham, etc., this FirstFridayFolder effort still resulted in having more room in the file drawer even though I added 5 folders!  Hurray!

Conclusions 

There are still many early New Englanders with entries in Hollick for me to find, read, and synthesize.  What I really need is a plan to more efficiently use my time!

It's only 2 months old, but First Friday Folder is working for me so far.  I feel a sense of accomplishment from today's efforts! 

Surname Line of Descent:  Mary Burnap

Thomas Burnap = Johanna Norrys  (my 14th-great-grandparents)

Thomas Burnap = Alice Cramphorne

Thomas Burnap = unknown

Tobert Burnap = Ann/Agnes Miller

Robert Burnap = Ann

John Burnap = Mary Rice

Mary Burnap = Joshua Lassell

Surname Line of Descent: John Lazell

John Lazell = Elizabeth Gates (my 9th-great-grandparents)

Thomas Lassell = Mary Allen

Joshua Lassell = Mary Burnap

Isaac Lasell = Bethiah Woodward

Abigail Lasell = Joseph Palmer

Zenas Palmer = Lydia Marshall

Lydia Palmer = David Bascom

Hannah Field Bascom = Titus Davison

Clara Eveline Davidson = Celim Homer Porter

L Willis Porter (my grandfather)

References

[1] Walter Goodwin Davis, Massachusetts and Maine Families in the Ancestry of Walter Goodwin Davis (1885-1966): A Reprinting, in Alphabetical Order by Surname, of the Sixteen Multi-Ancestor Compendia (Three volumes).  Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1996. The Lassell entry is in Vol. 2, pp. 412-415+.

[2]  Martin E. Hollick, New Englanders in the 1600s: A Guide to Genealogical Research Published Between 1980 and 2005.  Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2006.

Disclaimers

I receive no special consideration from these publishers.  I bought my own copy of Hollick; I access Davis at a local Regional Family History Center.

First Friday Folder: Simeon Bates & Abigail Bates

I see all the neat blogging ideas for days of the week, such as Wordless Wednesday or Surname Saturday, and they do inspire me, but I think I'm just not that kind of genealogy blogger.  However, I have been thinking about doing something alliterative maybe once a month that would directly support enhancing my research.  My new idea is for the first Friday of the month: take one family folder from my file drawers and spend some time with it.

My plan is to go through it and look at:

Clean-up:  Are there any duplicates or other papers I can remove? (I always feel good when I can make a folder smaller!)  Is there anything that even shouldn't be in this folder in the first place?!

Organization:  Is everything in the right grouping: for instance, are all the census documents together and in order?  Are the family group sheets for the children who aren't my direct line together?  Have all the documents and other sources been entered in my database?  Do I need to print any new family group sheets?

Problems:  Are there any glaring problems with this family and have I clearly written my concerns?  If it is a time period with censuses available, is there a census summary grid and is it up to date?  Where do I stand in having appropriate sources and are they recorded?

Plans:  What do I do next?  What do I need to do so I can do the next thing?

Simeon Bates and his wife, Abigail Bates

So, today I began with 5th great-grandparents Simeon BATES (21 Mar 1737/1738 - 1828) and Abigail BATES (3 Oct 1733 --  ), who were themselves first cousins as both were grandchildren of Joshua BATES and Rachel TOWER.

This folder had some duplicates in it that I could discard and 2 pages misfiled.  I had not entered my source for their children's baptisms & communion. There were several worksheets that could be better grouped for easier review. The family group sheet printout was 2 years old, so it was really good I had discarded some unnecessary duplicates or else cleaning out the folder could have actually increased it!

I ran the names through the databases at New England Historic  Genealogical Society (NEHGS) to look for new additions, printed a couple of pages, and updated my database.  The big problem with this couple is that "Simeon Bates" is NOT a rare name in that time period/locality.  There are numerous, sourceless genealogies online that have Simeon with two wives: Abigail Bates and Martha Swift.  I'm very confident that my Simeon did NOT marry Martha Swift.  The Bates/Swift couple is clearly having children at the same time that my Bates/Bates couple is and in different towns.  And, neither of them is the Simeon Bates of lighthouse fame!

I need to review Attleborough, Bristol, Massachusetts history and types of available records, especially probate to see what I can find.  I need to track Abigail.  I must track their children more thoroughly: I only have anything past births for 2 of the 6.

Conclusions
I think it's a good idea to go back and look at folders every so often, if only to be something different from current, long standing projects.  It's a nice, little break!

I knew that I wouldn't reach any great resolution with this folder, but it's certainly in better shape now than it was!  And, I think I am more likely to get somewhere with it when I do go back to it.