Karen K | Thursday, March 8, 2012 The immigrant progenitor of my Parker line was Elisha PARKER (1631-1717), who, at the ripe old age of four, came over from England with his brother Robert and their father's seal-- meaning that their father did not accompany them and had probably died. It is believed that they traveled with Reverend John Lothropp.
Karen K | Monday, July 4, 2011 A physician, statesman, delegate to the Continental Congress, Chief Justice of the New Hampshire Superior Court Judicature, 6th governor of that state, and a signer of the Declaration of Independence.
What a guy.
No, I'm not directly descended from Josiah BARTLETT, but he is a collateral relative: a second cousin eight times removed through both sets of his paternal great-grandparents: John EMERY II/Mary WEBSTER and Richard BARTLETT/Abigail WELLS.
I don't know if many people realize it, but signing that Declaration of Independence was a very gutsy thing to do: you were openly declaring yourself to be a traitor to the British monarchy-- for which the penalty was death. When Benjamin Franklin said, "If we do not hang together, we will most assuredly hang separately", he wasn't kidding or exaggerating.
Dr. Bartlett had set up his medical practice in Kingston, New Hampshire, which was a pretty small town; he was the only doctor around at that time. Like many men back then who had a regular occupation, he farmed as well.
You can read more about this fascinating man here.
Karen K | Saturday, July 2, 2011 For Independence Day weekend, I thought I'd highlight the story of an ancestor who fought for America's freedom...
My 5th great-grandfather Samuel SEVERANCE, born about 1741, was a native of Kingston, New Hampshire, and enlisted in the Revolutionary army in the summer of 1775. He was in the Battle of Bunker Hill, and he brought back home a small stone as a memento of that event.
His wife Hannah (nee WINSLOW) sent him green beans, pork to cook them with, and some corn meal. His packages also contained berries lovingly picked for him by his six-year-old daughter, also named Hannah. The other soldiers were moved to tears, wishing that they had wives and children to send them such nice little gifts.
There is preserved a very touching if badly-spelled letter Samuel wrote to his family:
Madford [Medford, Massachusetts] July th 17. 1775,
These Lines comes to you, my loveing wife and dear children, hoping in the marcy of god that you are all well, and I hope in gods time I shall be restored home again; but if not, I beg of god that we may so live in this world that we may spend wone day in each others preasents in a world of glory, for I put noe trust in the arm of flesh, but my trust in in god alone for life and mearcy, and I hope in the mearcy of god that he will cary you throu all your troble and difictiles that you have to pas throu in this life. my love to father and mother, to brother John and wife. I hope that you are all well, and the rest of my friends, to my wife; what money I send home to you, you may take care of it. if you have aney pros[pect] of corn, I would have that old cow have a peas on her horns, so I have noe more at the preasent, so I remain your Loving housband til death peart.
Saml. Severance
Personally, I think the awful spelling makes this letter all the sweeter.
His son, my 4th great-grandfather Samuel Jr., would be born one month after he wrote this, so I can imagine how rough it was on both him and his wife; I'm imagining poor Hannah, heavily pregnant in the middle of summer, and her husband is off fighting a war and might not come home. Talk about mood swings and crying jags!
But as it turned out, she wouldn't have long to wait; he came down with "camp sickness", and was discharged. He was so pale and haggard when he returned to his family that little Hannah didn't recognize her father and hid herself behind a door in fear of this "stranger."
The above information and letter was furnished to the New England Historic Genealogical Society by E. George Adams, a descendant of Samuel's above-mentioned daughter Hannah (SEVERANCE) ADAMS, which appeared in Volume 12, page 22 of their Register. I'm very grateful to him for that.
Line: Samuel SEVERANCE I - Samuel SEVERANCE II - Mary SEVERANCE - James WINSLOW - Bessie WINSLOW - Dorothy PALMER - S. HOWES - Me.
Karen K | Saturday, June 25, 2011 Hannah Melissa (SPECHT) BAKER (1843-1924) was my mother's father's mother's mother's mother, and it turns out that she had some pretty interesting ancestry on both sides of her family.
She was born Hannah Melissa SPECHT on December 7, 1843 to Anthony Christopher and Margaret Sophia (THURBER) SPECHT in Barton, Digby, Nova Scotia, Canada. She married George Arthur BAKER on Christmas Eve, 1862 in Barton, and was living with her widowed daughter Jennie (BAKER) SANFORD in Barnard, Vermont by the time of the 1920 census. Hannah died there on July 2, 1924, of (according to her death record) chronic bronchitis.
Her grandpa was a Hessian soldier
Hannah's father's father was Ensign Johann Julius SPECHT (abt 1749- aft 1833), a soldier sent from Braunsweig (Brunswick) Germany to fight for the British during the American War for Independence.
A substantial number of troops fighting on the side of the British during this war were from Germany; they were either criminals, desperate men of some sort, or veteran soldiers, recruited and sent over by German princes. Because the majority of these troops came from the region of Hesse-Kassel, they are generally referred to as "Hessians"-- even if they hail from elsewhere in Germany, as my 5th great-grandfather did.
According to an secondary online source I've found:
Ensign Johann Julius Anton SPECHT arrived in 1776 on the ship Ost-Rust.
In 1777 Ensign Specht, under the command of General John Burgoyne, was wounded and captured at Bennington. He spent the next five or so years as a prisoner of war.
After his release, around 1783, he petitioned for and was granted British subjectship and land in Nova Scotia, at the head of St. Mary's Bay. He married Elizabeth (maiden name unknown) and settled down there.
Johann Julius Specht died in Nova Scotia sometime after 1833. He has quite a few descendants through his sons, and the Specht surname has several variations: Speicht, Speight, and Spates, to name a few.
Primary sources:
WILHELMY, JEAN-PIERRE. German Mercenaries in Canada. Beloeil, Quebec: Maison des Mots, 1985. 332p. Page: 263
"An Eyewitness Account of the American Revolution and New England Life", The Journal of J.F.Wasmus, German Company Surgeon, 1776-1783, translated by Helga Doblin.
The Mayflower connection
Through her mother, Hannah Specht Baker was also a descendant of the Mayflower Billington family.
John Billington, his wife Eleanor (maiden name unknown) came to America on the Mayflower with their two sons, John Jr. and Francis. The family did not have a good reputation; John Billington made enemies easily and was known as a "foul mouthed miscreant."
Ten years after arriving in Plymouth, he shot and killed fellow colonist John Newcomen during a heated argument over hunting rights. For this, Billington was hanged in September of 1630. He was about 50 years of age.
Line 1: Johann Julius SPECHT - Anthony Christopher SPECHT - Hannah SPECHT - Jessie BAKER - Estelle SIMMONDS - Henry HOWES - S. HOWES - Me.
Line 2: John BILLINGTON - Francis BILLINGTON - Mary BILLINGTON - Israel SABIN - Jeremiah SABIN - Sarah SABIN - Samuel THURBER - Margaret Sophia THURBER - Hannah SPECHT - Jessie BAKER - Estelle SIMMONDS - Henry HOWES - S. HOWES - Me.