Day 72

Today was hot in more ways than one. I perspired my way through the entire day and was zooming around on caffeine (Diet Coke and iced tea) trying to stay hydrated. I finally saw a thermometer at 5pm - 97 degrees. OK, it was hot.

The day was also hot in terms of discoveries and accomplishments. I started by visiting Scituate harbor and walking the rocks near the lighthouse. The ocean was a bit rough but smelled of salt and seaweed. I would have stayed longer but, you guessed it, it was hot.

I found the Men of Kent cemetery in Scituate (early settlers were from Kent, England). Here was the grave of Rev. Jeremiah Cushing (7gg), one of Scituate's early ministers. He graduated from Harvard in 1676 (the college was established to provide the new world with ministers). His wife was located across the cemetery nex to her second husband. Her stone reads: "Here lyes the body of Hannah Barker wife to John Barker formerly the wife of Mr. Jeremiah Cushing, departed this life May the 30th 1710 in the 46th year of her age." This is very typical wording. At least she was called wife and not "relict" as many of the women are.

I then drove to Hingham, MA. In Hingham 60 years ago, my father asked for my mother's hand in marriage. If only he would have realized he had the support (albeit in the ground) from 8 generations of Cushings and Lorings in Hingham, he might have been less nervous. I made my way to the historical society where they had a fabulous history of the town with many of the early settler genealogies. The Cushing and Loring lines now go back 9-10 generations with their voyages to America in 1634 and 1638. In addition, several Cushing and Loring homes still exist. The town placed plaques on the homes with the name of the original inhabitant and the date built. They then provide a map so you can locate the homes. For us, this included Daniel Cushing's home at 209 Main Street, built in 1690. The homes are wonderfully care for and you can picture what the town must have looked like 325 years ago.

Then it was on to Attleboro, MA (just outside Providence, RI). I had two cemeteries to find - one huge and one tiny. I couldn't find either. Fiona (the GPS lady) gave up in Attleboro, spending the afternoon in total confusion muttering to herself. I finally asked a policeman who was sitting outside a cemetery in which I had no interest. He informed me that I was in S. Attleboro. He gave me directions to N. Attleboro and the large cemetery. He had never heard of the small one. I arrived at Mt. Hope Cemetery about 3:30 and was overwhelmed. This facility is 20-30 acres and more than 4,000 graves. I was looking for 2 - Oliver and Mary Blackinton. What I did know was that the stones had been moved from the Old Kirk Cemetery in the mid-1800s to make room for train tracks. My assumption was that there would be a grouping of the old stones that had been moved, distinctive in shape and material from newer ones. I was right. There were groups of old stones - all over the cemetery mixed in with all the new ones. Finally on the west fence, I found our gggggg grandparents. I also found their son Oliver Jr. who died one year before his father. As it turns out (revisiting the wills and probate records), Oliver Jr was the insolvent one noted in the blog a few days ago. It was his father who left everyone with generous legacies (both estates were probated at nearly the same time). Oliver Jr's untimely death and lack of solvency may explain why Oliver Sr. made such specific legacies to grandchildren. Some were probably Oliver Jr's children.

OK - 4 graves down, 2 to do. Examining the paper map, I figured I had nothing to lose so headed north looking for a particular confluence of streets. Suddenly, there was the Old Hatch Burying ground on a small peninsula of land three steps up from the sidewalk. This cemetery only had about 40 graves - including Pentecost Blackinton and his wife Rebeccah (parents of Oliver) and Penecost's mother Mary. It is amazing how long lived many of our relatives were - 78, 88,93.

A side note - Pam Baker asked me about the stones since some seem so well preserved. Most of the gravestones are, amazingly, original. Slate provides the best engraving surface and are very durable but it has a tendency to split over the years. Most of the stones from the 1600s and 1700s are slate so survive. Granite is the most durable but didn't come into common use until the 1800s. Forget marble - the engraving just washes away. That being said, today it appeared that Oliver's stone was probably original but his wife's was definitely a replacement (not the high quality carving). The original was probably damaged when the stones were moved. Pentecost, Mary, Rebeccah, Jeremiah, and Hannah's stones were obviously original and worn around the edges.

Finally, I drove through (and around via Fiona) Providence, RI during rush hour, making Mystic, CT about 6:30. I am tired but it was a good day. Probably off to Stonington tomorrow morning before conference calls with clients in the afternoon.

Day 71

Today was easy. I spent the morning doing chores - oil change and the like and the middle of the day plotting my cemetery crawl for tomorrow. I will head from here to the coast and Scituate to find Rev. Jeremiah Cushing's grave and then back track to Hingham. Sounds odd but the Hingham Historical Museum doesn't open until 11. After lunch I will head inland and south to Attleboro looking for Richardsons and Blackintons. If it is a good day, I will have 6 solid photos in my camera to share tomorrow.



Finally, I will make my way to Mystic, CT for this week and the Labor Day weekend. My motel room will have to do triple duty as a base for some fun time on the beach, some Peabody and Coats searching in Stonington, and some paid work. Yes, my Minnesota clients can't live without me so I have a couple of grants to write in the next 3 weeks. Good for the pocketbook and my ever present need to learn balance in my life.


Cynthia and Doug have been marvelous hosts. Hopefully, I haven't worn out my welcome. There is much more family information to be mined in the Boston area.

Day 70

Well it is official. I have been on the road for 10 weeks. The time is flying by and I can't believe that the journey is half over.

I spent the morning straightening the Brocklebank-Dole mess. Turns out I had all the right players just not aligned correctly. Samuel Brocklebank (10th GG) came from England in 1638 as a child with his widowed mother Jane and brother John. He became a surveyor and married Hannah Rolfe in 1659. They had a number of children and in 1668 built a house in what is now Georgetown, MA. Samuel was killed with his entire company of men in Sudbury during King Philip's War (Indians vs Pilgrims). Hannah Rolfe married a widower from nearby - Richard Dole. He had 10 children from his first marriage and 5 of them married 5 of Hannah's children. This is what I didn't know yesterday and caused a stumbling block in sorting out the lines. Hannah's daughter Mary married William Dole. They begat Samuel Dole who begat Samuel Dole who begat Samuel Dole who married Hannah Little and who begat little Sarah who married Rev. Wm Bradford Dodge - whew!

On the way to this new information I found that the home Samuel Brocklebank built in 1668 still exists and is a museum. It is open 2 half days a month and of course today was NOT one of those days but the weather was fine and called for A ROAD TRIP! Off I went. The house is quite large and grants from local historical societies are refurbishing the exterior. Wish I could have gone inside but it was wonderful to walk around the old family homestead. FYI - in the 1750s the home became a tavern - owned by Solomen Nelson whose daughter Lucy married Phinneas Dodge. This means two lines of the family leading to Dodges had connections to this house. What it really shows is how close the communities and how interwoven the families were.

From Georgetown, I drove to W. Newbury and found Capt. Samuel Dole and Hannah Little Dole's gravestones. They are well preserved although Samuel's stone is difficult to read. They sit on a hill under a lovely oak tree. Hannah was born in 1757 and lived a long 86 years (see stone). Then it was on to First Burying Ground Cemetery in Newbury. I searched for several hours but no luck finding Richard Dole or Hannah Rolfe Brockelbank Dole's graves. Lots of other familiar surnames - just not the 2 I was looking for.

After a long day, I met Doug and Cynthia for a nice waterfront dinner in Essex. This was our last meal together as they are staying in Boston to work and I will be in Acton for 2 nights before moving to CT.

Day 69

Everyone was up early today. I caught the 7:25 train and was waiting when the NEHGS library opened at 9. Emily and her parents drove to the U of Conn where Emily begins her senior year. They had lots of fun with her roommates/suitemates most of whom she has know for 3 years.

My day of research was a mixed bag. Made some good confirmations on the Richardson family but struck out on anything new for Tukey origins. I have a real mess going with the Doles and Brocklebacks (new family members as of this week). The two families marry in the 1700s but I am having problems aligning the Rowley and Newbury vital statistics records to the probate and land records. Can't decide if there are 3 generations of Samuel Doles after William Dole and before Sarah or just two, one of whom married twice. Also if Mary Brockleback married in 1684 then she can't have been born in 1707 - duh - I hate gaps in the records or just that fact that I can't locate the correct records.

Robinsons are split between MA and ME plus there are a lot of them. No luck finding all the correct links from John. NO luck at all finding Cries although there are quite a few Rayners (Jane Rayner Crie's middle name) north of Boston. I'm just unable to hook up the right connection.

I will be sorry to leave the NEHGS behind but I need a couple of days to let things gel. Tomorrow is a chore day with set up for the cemeteries I want to visit in Hingham and Scituate on Tuesday. Doug, Cynthia and I had a nice dinner out tonight. The glass of wine I had has made me sleepy so I think I will snag my book and crash. Night all!

Day 68

Today was a day for Blackintons and Richardsons. Both families were from the Attleborough area of Massachusetts - near Providence, RI. Probate records pushed the Blackintons into the 1600s adding three more generations and 100 years to what we knew a few weeks ago. In case you have forgotten - or face it, cared - Olive Blackinton married Henry Richardson. They are the great-grandparents of Abby Jane Richardson who married George Washington Coats. If you are more visual, Abby Jane is the lady who in photos from the 1890s looks like a dried apple woman.

Back to the Blackintons. Our first ancestor in the line is now Pentecost Blackinton, Sr. He was probably born in the mid-1600s. He died in 1715. His will plus a land deed nicely name is wife (Mary) and 3 children (Pentecost Jr, Benjamin, and Elizabeth). His son, Pentecost Jr., must have been born in the latter quarter of the 17th century since he was married by 1717 and died in 1744. Upon his death, his wife Rebeccah is left with sons Pentecost III, George and John, daughters Rebeccah, Anne, and Mary and 3 sons under the age of 14 requiring a guardian - Othaniell, Peter and Oliver. There seems to be a fair amount of land amassed as there are a plethora of land transactions throughout Pentecost Jr's life and so the family survives.

Oliver overcomes a chaotic childhood and marries Mary Whipple in the 1750s. He dies in 1810. He leaves a generous will in which he names his beloved wife Mary, son Oliver, grandchildren Charlotte, Eliza, Esther, Caroline, Ellis and Samuel, and a daughter - yes! - Olive Richardson. It is so nice that he includes her married name. Now although he has provided handsomely for everyone, he is insolvent and can't pay his bills. Letters go out to creditors including 2 Richardsons - members of his daughter's family-in-law.

For the moment, the story ends here. since both Oliver and Olive were adults when Oliver Sr dies, I imagine they took care of their mother for the last 10 years of her life. Who knows if the grandchildren ever received any inheritance bu most of them would also have been adults by 1810. George Richardson (son of Henry R and Olive B) and wife Lovicy Robbins would likely have been in Maine at this point before making their way to Michigan in the 1830s.

One more day of research remains at the NEHGS before my visit to Boston ends Tuesday morning. I know I won't get everything finished. I will definitely need a return trip!

Day 67

Yes - I made progress today. Of course it helped that I could actually read the documents and page numbers.

Deeds and quasi-probate information pushed the Dole lineage back 3 generations. Samuel Jr was tied to Samuel Sr., Samuel Sr to his widowed mother Mary and deceased father William plus Mary names her father in an additional document - Samuel Brocklebanks. Yea!!

On the Dodge side, I firmly nailed down the Phineas-John-Phineas-Wm Bradford lineage through probate records. There are lots of Phineases and Johns so to straighten them out and clearly identify who belongs to whom through a combination of records is very satisfying.

Tomorrow and Saturday will be more of the same. At least the 4 day monsoon is over so I walked to the train and library in sunshine before disappearing into the microfilm cave. Off to bed - I am tired.

Day 66

Today wasn't nearly as exciting as yesterday. Once again I was knee deep in microfilm, trying to read 17th century vernacular, 18th century handwriting and going cross-eyed peering through blurry 20th century scanning.

Samuel Dole's will is one of the very pleasant ones to read. here are some inventory evaluations that you should enjoy. The spelling is theirs, not mine.)

• funeral charges 83.45
• soal leather and calfskin 4.25
• one ox waggon 26.00
• 2 ox sleds 7.00
• chissels 2.20
• 8 pair pillow cases 7.00
• suit of curtains 3.00
• 3 yards of low cloth .50
• 32 table cloths 49.00
• 34 chairs 21.86 (don't we wish we had a few of these now)
• 2 pair brass headed fire shovel and tongs 1.75
• 5 pair linen sheets 35.00
• 51 plates 2.49
• tar and barrel .59
• spooling wheel, swift, shuttles, temples and blocks 2.00
• payment of the bond and letter of guardianship for his minor child 1.10 (cheap lawyer)

Plus 3 more pages of household goods, debts and real estate. Obviously Mr. Dole was well off. We also discover his wife's name is Hanna, he has a son James, and 3 daughters (including our Sarah who marries Wm Bradford Dodge), and the will is being probated on May 24, 1808.

A more difficult document to read is an agreement of Indenture. In this paper, Mathew Soley and Henry Phillips agree that Mathew will pay the value of $150 pounds to pay off a purchase of land. Henry's wife Mary is in agreement with this document. There is more than a page of great explanation about fields, bulls, pump yards, upper and lower parts of the chimney and a multitude of other contingencies that will take me a week to decipher. In addition, the two families agree to create a permanent path to Samuel Ward's Alley that they all can use for the carrying of wood and such without regard to which yard they have to cross. Each family will own half the arbor bordering the path. Date: 20 June 1675. Very interesting but a lot of wok to get one confirmation that Henry's wife's name is Mary.

More of such fun tomorrow!