Some Bucks Stay in New Brunswick

To continue with Edward and Phoebe’s family, of the seven children, the first two and the last two stayed in New Brunswick. Ann has gone off to ME and then Iowa, William, the next in line was b. 1801 but died in 1819. Thomas, who was b. in 1803, also died in 1819. I haven’t found any explanation for their deaths. It could have been illness; it could have been a common accident where both were killed by the same circumstances or any of a number of other scenarios.

Their daughter Ann Buck Simonton has an adopted son named William Buck. His birth year doesn‘t fit in with any of the other known Bucks. Since his name is William, he could be the son of her younger brother, William, who died, but this William’s death date is 3 years before the adopted William’s birth. It’s quite probable that the year of death is incorrect. I haven’t explored that possibility.

Edward Buck, Sr. (c. 1763 England–1826 NB) m. 1792 Phebe Elizabeth Tower                        (1777-1822)

There are two children left to discuss before I return to my direct line to the Bucks. The sixth child was:

James Richard (c. 1812-1874) m. 1836 Sarah Mitton (1812 Yorkshire Eng.- 1879 NB)

          - 8 children

          1. Phebe Elizabeth (1838-1897) m. 1859 James Alexander Buck (1835-1908)

                    – 6 children. They were 1^st cousins.

          2. William Edward (1840-1887 lost at sea) m. 1866 Lucinda Jane Cole (1845- 1919)

                   – 10 children (See earlier blog – Edward Cole’s Family, Dorchester, NB)

          3. Frances Maria (1841-1925) m. 1865 Albert Cook (1842-1929) – 8 children

          4. James Richard (1845-1909) m. 1875 Theodora Woodworth (1851-1918) – 9 children

          5. Charles Albert (1848-1914) m. 1872 Matilda Brown (1853 CT-1919 CT) – 6 children

                      (Find more info on this couple in my blog: A Tower Marries a Buck in New 

                      Brunswick

          6. John Wilmot (1849-1883 lost at sea) m. 1876 Sarah Augusta Buck (1852-?)

                      – 4 children; Sarah was the d/o George and Ann Baxter Buck. This line will be 

                      discussed in the next blog.

          7. Lemuel Allen (1852-1914 Hartford CT) m. 1878 Mary Wilmot (1854-1932) – 3 children

          8. Sarah A. (1855-1861)

Lemuel and Mary are enumerated with the household of J. Richard Buck, his brother, in the 1881 Sackville census. Lemuel is listed as a Sea Captain. I find him again in the 1900 census living at 69 New Britain Ave., Hartford CT, with 3 children.

Phebe (1814-1881) m. 1834 Leighton Card (1809-1881) – 12 children

          1. William (1836-?) m. Esther Kent

          2. Elizabeth (1838-?)

          3. George Buck (1840-1906) m. Unknown – 2 children

          4. Maria (1842-?)   

          5. John (1844-1919)

          6. Wesley (1847-?)

          7. Sarah Ann (1849-?)

          8. Jane (1852-?)

          9. Clara (1854-?) m. 1871 Isaac Beach                      

          10. Charles (1855-1946)

          11. Benjamin Miles (1858-?) m. 1877 Jane Wry (1858-?)

          12. Bedford Layton (1860-1948)

Phebe and Leighton both died in 1881, apparently before the census as neither appear. William, the oldest son is called the Head of House and all the rest of the children, who are now grown adults, are listed there, except Clara and Bedford.  They are both married and have moved elsewhere.

Now I’ll move back to the main line of my descent. See you on the next blog.  

My sister kindly shared with me an updated photo of the graves of Edward Sr. and Phoebe Tower Buck. They've been cleaned and look great. 

A Buck Moves West

As always, I welcome additions, corrections or necessary deletions when brought to my attention. I recently received this correction for Ebenezer Cole’s first daughter, Elizabeth Cole Palmer. The correction is for her grandson which I had incorrectly given as William Gifford Ayer. If this is important to your family line, please change it to Willard Gilford Ayer.

Corrections sent in:

Ebenezer Cole’s First Daughter

Elizabeth Cole (1791-1875) m. 1814, John Palmer (1789-1889)

          Melvina Augusta Palmer (1842-1927) m. 1863 Elijah Ayer (1837-1927)

                    Willard Gilford Ayer (1875-1965 Attleboro MA) m. 1902 Gertrude   

                                  Eugenie Newell in Plainville MA (1876-1921 Attleboro MA) – 2 children

********************************************************************************************

The next child in Edward and Phebe Tower Buck’s family will be their first daughter Ann Buck. Ann ended up a long way from home so I thought she deserved a bit more blog space than some of the others. 

Ann (1800-1883) m. 1819 Benjamin Simonton (1795 Portland ME-1883 Cass Co. IA)

 – 16 children

Ann married Benjamin Simonton from Portland ME in 1819. Benjamin was the son of Thomas and Mary Alden Simonton. By this marriage, the descendants of this family can claim Mayflower descendancy through Benjamin’s mother, Mary Alden. Benjamin was the 3x gt. grandson of John Alden. Some time during the year 1819, Ann’s two younger brothers, William and Thomas died. I’ve found no explanation for this although, often, when two young family members die in the same year, it’s due to some disease. In our era, we don’t think much about scarlet fever and measles, but both of those childhood diseases were killers in the 1800’s.

My notes on Ann say they left New Brunswick for ME in 1825. The first five children were born in NB; the remaining 11 were born in Portland ME.

Benjamin and Ann Simonton’s children were:

          1. William Buck (1822-?) Adopted

          2. Mary Alden (1820-1899) m. 1851 in Portland ME Royal Cummings

          3. Ann Phoebe (1822-1905 Lawrence MA) m. 1844 Daniel Handy of    

              Boston MA – 2 children

          4. Susan M. (1823-?) m. 1846 in Portland ME William H. Swain of Boston  

               MA

          5. Jane T. (1825-?)

          6. Sarah M. (1826-?)

          7. Thomas B. (1828-?) m. 1853 in Portland ME Seraphina Margeson

          8. Elizabeth (1830-?)

          9. James P. (1831-?)

          10. Charles McLellan (1833-1905 Cleveland OK) m. 1869 in Cleveland OK 

                 Hannah Elizabeth Waltrous of Cattaraugus Co., NY – 5 children

          11. Caroline L. (1835-1914) m. 1859 James G. Davis of Windham VT

          12. John L. (1837-?) m. Lydia Unknown of NY

          13. George E. (1838-1841 Portland ME)

          14. Olive A. (1840-1842 Portland ME)

          15. Silas A. (1842-1924 Cleveland OK) m. 1868 Clarissa A. Turner

                – 3 children

          16. William L. (1843-?) m. in Cass Co., IA Ellen Griffin

         

The 1850 Federal Census for Portland, Cumberland Co., ME, shows this family still living there, with Jane, Elizabeth, Charles, Caroline, John, Silas and William still living with them. Sometime in the 1850’s-1860’s time frame the family moved to Cass Co., IA. This was mostly farming country with small groups of population in small towns scattered across the landscape. The 1880 census shows that Benjamin and Ann are living with their son, Charles, in Franklin, Cass Co. IA. The records for the Wiota Cemetery show that both Benjamin and Ann are buried there.  They also show a military gravestone for Silas Simonton, with no dates, just Co. B, 42^nd Illinois Infantry.

I haven’t done the digging on this, but he was of the appropriate age to have been in the Civil War. The 1910 census shows Silas and wife with their son James living with them. He is age 33 and his occupation is a printer. Silas is listed as a landlord in that census. There is a grandson, Delford, age 10 living with them but it doesn’t indicate who the father is. But by 1920, James and Delford are gone and their divorced son, George, is living with them. Silas and Clarissa also had a daughter, Bertha, for whom I’ve found 3 marriages and no children. In 1935, she applied to the Gov’t for a military headstone for her father’s grave. It was approved, shipped and placed on his, then unmarked, grave in the Wiota Cemetery, Cass Co., IA. Then I found a 1900 census for George. His wife’s name was Bertha, also, and Delford was his son, born in Dec. 1899. They were living in Atlantic City, Cass Co., IA.

Over the years, I’ve been in touch with a descendant of Charles Simonton who has generously shared a great deal of his information. I truly appreciate the generosity of all genealogists who spend hours on research yet are always willing to share what they’ve found.  Then, in the last few years before I retired, a new staff member was added and, would you believe, his name was Simonton. The minute he opened his mouth I knew he was from New England, so first chance I got I was asking him questions. Not only was he from New England but he was from the town right next door to the one I grew up in. As a teenager, he even had a job in one of the drug stores in my town. Here we were both of us over 400 miles away from our beginnings and just happened to end up working for the same organization. Of course, I had to ask him about his name and he said he knew they had come from ME and that there were family stories that they were Mayflower descendants. Right then I knew he was connected to the same Simonton family. I didn’t pursue it to see if Benjamin and Ann were his ancestors. But then you never know!  I love small world stories!!

http://iagenweb.org/cass/cemetery/wiota/

http://iagenweb.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_Township,_Cass_County,_Iowa

A Tower marries a Buck in New Brunswick

Edward Buck arrives upon the scene in Sackville, NB at about 1790. I have not found a ship’s list with his name on it nor have I found where he departed from in England.  Many of the Yorkshire immigrants had found their way to Nova Scotia and New Brunswick in the 10 to 20 years prior to Edward’s arrival. It cannot be stated with certainty that he came from Yorkshire, however family folklore handed down claims that was his place of origin. With no evidence to contradict this, I’ll keep Yorkshire as his place of birth and hope that someday, his true history can be found. To state the obvious, nothing is known of his background, his parents, his siblings or any other information that would round him out as a real person. He simply appears on the scene and becomes the progenitor of hundreds by the name of Buck and a similar quantity of non-Buck names as the female children and grandchildren married into the local families.

I don’t have any information on how Edward acquired his land. The information I do have comes from written histories of the Yorkshire emigrations. The histories indicate that the Yorkists came with money and purchased the lands of the New Englanders who wanted to return to New England. Most of the immigrants were tenant farmers and didn’t have a great deal of money as times were very hard in England. One of the histories stated that the Yorkists didn’t receive land grants and purchased their land when they arrived. It would seem that Edward Buck fell into this category as he owned land and was married by 1792 to Phebe Elizabeth Tower, the d/o Benjamin and Ann Finney Tower. The land he owned provided him with his occupation which was mining gypsum.

A short and simple science lesson, here, will help us to understand what gypsum is. The simple definition is that gypsum is a sedimentary rock and a crystalline mineral, which is soft and chalky. It can be found in beds or in layers of rock strata. It is found in many parts of the world, but one in particular is worth mentioning. In the Montmartre district of Paris, France, there is a large quarry of dehydrated gypsum. When water is added, after a short interval of time, it becomes regular gypsum again. This will then harden or set in ways which are useful to making molds or castings. We know this as Plaster of Paris.

Unfortunately, we don’t know what type of gypsum Edward Buck was able to mine from the quarries on his land.  There are several different ‘types’ which are used in a variety of ways. Plaster for walls and ceilings in the 1800’s would have been in great demand. Some gypsum is known as Alabaster and can be carved into decorative moldings or statues. Whatever form it took, Edward was able to make a comfortable living and had easy access to ports on the Bay of Fundy. 

By 1820, Edward and Phebe Buck were living in Dorchester, NB, which seems to indicate he had sold his land with the gypsum quarry on it. They were listed as 1 man, 1 woman and 6 children. The 7^th child, the oldest, Edward Buck, Jr., aka as Ned, was married and living in Dorchester, too. The census showed him as 1 man, 1 woman and 1 child.

Edward Buck, Sr. (c. 1763 England–1826 NB) m. 1792 Phebe Elizabeth Tower                        (1777-1822)

          

Their Children: 

          1. Edward Buck, Jr., (Ned) (1797-1875) m. 1817 Mary Ann Finney (1800-                     1898) – 4 children

          *2. George E. Buck (c. 1798-1878) m. 1820 Phebe Palmer (c. 1801-1881)                               – 9 children

          3. Ann (1800-1882) m. 1819 Benjamin Simonton (1795 Portland ME-1883                               Cass Co. IA) – 16 children

          4. William (1801-1819)

          5. Thomas (1803-1819)

          6. James Richard (c. 1812-1874) m. 1836 Sarah Mitton (1812 Yorkshire                        Eng.- 1879 NB) - 8 children

          7. Phebe (1814-1881) m. 1834 Leighton Card (1809-1881) – 12 children

This represents the known children and grandchildren of Edward and Phebe Buck. Infant mortality was high so there’s a strong possibility of additional children who didn’t survive infancy.  Still this generation produced 49 grandchildren for Edward and Phebe.

My descent comes by way of George E. and Phebe Palmer Buck (*2 above).

Phebe remains an enigma because there is no certainty about her parentage. I firmly believe that she is the d/o Gideon and Catherine Harper Palmer. Yet there is not a speck of documentation to support that. She is not mentioned in Gideon’s will, a glaring omission when attempting to prove relationships. Yet, I have seen this in other cases where some rift has caused the parent to disown the child and the child’s name is removed from the will. Perhaps there was some unresolved dispute between the Palmers and the Bucks, either with George directly or George’s parents. The one thing I believe lends a tiny bit of credence to my theory is that Phebe had a son named Gideon and a daughter named Catherine. The other thing is that Gideon had an aunt named Phebe. Grasping at straws, this could indicate that if there was a rift, it came after those two children were born. Flimsy, yes, but there is no other Palmer family in the Dorchester/Sackville area who could claim her. Perhaps she came from further away where there were some Palmer families. Anything is still possible, although I have looked through many records and can’t find a Phebe that fits the time line. If anyone has the key to unlocking this little mystery, I’d be ever so happy to hear it.

Before I go into George and Phebe’s families, I would like to put forth the information I have on their other children. Starting with:

          A. Edward Buck, Jr., (Ned) (1797-1875) m. 1817 Mary Ann Finney (1800-1898)                  – 4 children. We know Mary Ann is connected to one of the Finneys who came to NB. I have not been able to determine which one. It is safe to say that she was most likely a cousin, of                          some sort, to her husband, since his grandmother was a Finney.

                    

Their children: 

                    1. Phebe (1818-1904 Hartford CT) m. 1853 Middletown CT Frederick Bidwell (1815-?)                                 

                    2. Amelia (1821-1901) m. 1847 William Yates (1816-1901) – no children found for them                             

                    3. Edward (1823-1875) m. 1846 Mary Jane Tower (1824-1898) – 2 children                                      

                    They were 2^nd cousins. After 1871 they were found living in Moncton, NB Canada                      

                    4. Angel (1826-1894 in Hartford CT) m. 1849 in NB George Brown (1816-1896                              in Hartford CT)

                              Their daughter Matilda Brown (1853 CT-1919 CT) m. 1872

                              Charles Albert Buck (1848-1914), s/o James Richard and  Sarah Mitton                                .                             Buck. Matilda and Charles were both born in NB and both died in Hartford Ct.                                        

                              They were 1^st cousins once removed. I found a census entry for 1880 for an

                              Angel Brown in Hartford saying she was divorced. The birth date and                           

                              location were exact, but still didn’t feel there was enough information to make                                                                                                                                                                                         

                              a positive identification. How many Angel Browns could there have been in 

                              Hartford CT in 1880?

Ann Buck, who married Benjamin Simonton, will take up quite a bit of space so I’ll cut this short and carry on next with the Simontons. Hoping everyone who celebrates Easter had a pleasant and enjoyable day.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gypsum

http://www.ayup.co.uk/knows/knows11.html

https://familysearch.org/search

The Towers in New Brunswick

My apologies for the error on Benjamin Tower’s birth year in the former post. As many times as I checked, rechecked and double checked, I still missed that incorrect entry. It has been corrected in this post.

We left Judith in New Brunswick with her children having lost her husband, Joseph, to the sea. It may have been this loss that set the family on the journey to NB, since Joseph Sr. was a grantee of land there but never took possession of it. Very little is known about Judith after they arrived in NB. There is controversy over when and where the youngest daughter was born. However there are some things that are known and prove that at least some of the family remained and thrived in their new location.

Joseph and Judith Briggs Tower

Their children were:

          *A. Benjamin (1744-1804 Sackville NB) m. 1766 Ann Finney (1747                                Rehoboth MA - c. 1804 Sackville, NB)

          B. Joseph (1746-1822 Ira, VT) m. 1768 Ellen Mason (1748-?)

          C. Nathaniel (1748-1836 Lennox PA) m. 1774 Lucy Tingley (1758-?)

          D. Joshua (1750-1753)

          E. Lucy (1752-1822) m. 1770 Gideon Smith (1748 Providence RI-1784)

          F. William (1755-1783)

          G. Nancy (c.1761-?) m. 1778 Gershom Maxwell (1758-1828)

Judith was a widow and as was the case for many in that era, she did marry again. It has been suggested that her 2^nd husband was her son Benjamin’s father-in-law, Nathaniel Finney. I have been unable to determine if this is accurate, although I do have information that says she married a man named Finney. If she did marry Nathaniel, that could be the reason why she is so hard to find. Nathaniel Finney eventually left Sackville and moved back to the states, settling in Machias, ME, where he died in 1809. The Finney family deserves an entire blog, so I won’t go into any great detail here. The family seems to consider itself as three different branches. The splinter that went to and stayed on Cape Cod, spell their name Phinney.  The group in Swansea MA and the group in RI use the spelling, Finney. The family site maintains that it’s all the same family. I’ll come back to this family at a later date.

We know that Benjamin, Lucy and Nancy remained in NB, married and had families. Joseph married a Mason girl and lived in Ira VT, the same place James Cole and his wife, nee Mason, lived. The younger Nathaniel set out for PA and I have not tried to follow his line as yet. Joshua died as a toddler and William was lost at sea, unmarried. Therefore, it can be said that it is highly probable that Benjamin and Anne Finney were the progenitors of all the Towers located in the Sackville NB area.

The following are the three Tower children of Joseph and Judith Briggs Tower who remained in the Sackville/Dorchester NB area and most likely have descendants who still there.

Benjamin Tower (1744-1804 Sackville NB) m. 1766 Ann Finney (1747 Rehoboth MA - c. 1804 Sackville, NB).  They had 10 children:

          1. Joshua (1768-?)

          2. Benjamin (1770-?) m. 1795 Mehitable Unknown – 6 children

          3. George (1772-?) m. 1797 Sarah Unknown – 10 children

          4. Nathaniel (1774-?)

          5. William (1776-c. 1804)

          *6. Phoebe Elizabeth (1777-1822) m. 1792 Edward Buck (1763 England- 1826 NB) 

– 7 children

          7. Ann (c. 1780-?) m. 1805 Charles Delesdernier (1780-1860)

          8. Joseph (c 1784-1857) m. 1808 Sarah Maxwell (1788-?) – 7 children

          9. Gideon (1786-?) m. 1815 Catherine MacFarlane

          10. Ruth (1787-?) m. 1807 Israel Thornton (1787-1885) – 1 child

Lucy Tower (1752-1822) m. 1770 Gideon Smith (1748-1816)

          1. Ruth (1772-?)

          2. Zilpha (1773-?)

          3. Jotham (1775-?)

          4. Gideon (1777-?)

          5. Joseph (1781-?)

          6. Henry (1781-?)

          7. Stephen (1783-?) m. Sarah Peck – 2 children

This Gideon Smith family was part of the Planter Migration Group who left the Providence RI area in the 1760’s and settled in Sackville NB. Gideon Smith’s father, also Gideon Smith (Sr.) arrived with at least some of his family. This elder Smith died in 1784. It appears that Joseph and Henry may have been twins, but as can be seen I have not followed the Smith line since it isn’t a direct line for me.

The same applies to the following Maxwell family.

Nancy Tower (c.1761-?) m. 1778 Gershom Maxwell (1758-1828)

          1. Dolly (1779-?)

          2. Mary (1782-?)

          3. Lucy (1786-?)

          4. Sarah (1788-)

          5. Ruth (1792-?)

          6. Zilpha (1795-?)

          7. Gideon (1797-?)

          8. James (1800-?)

          9. Gershom (1804-?)

                                            Looking from Sackville across the Bay of Fundy toward Dorchester.

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nbwestmo/census.htm

http://archives.gnb.ca/Archives/Default.aspx?culture=en-CA

For an interesting and informative newsletter on the area where the Towers lived you might enjoy:

http://archives.gnb.ca/Archives/Default.aspx?culture=en-CA

The 2^nd article is most intriguing!!

The Tower Connection to New Brunswick

Robert Tower lived in Hingham, Norfolk Co., England, was married there and died there, but it isn’t known if he was born there.  He married Dorothy Damon who also died at Hingham, Eng. There may have been several children in this family but I have the name of only one, John.

First Generation

I.  Robert (c. 1582-1634) m. 1607 Dorothy Damon (c. 1590-1629):

          Their son:

          John (1609 Hingham, Eng.-1702 Hingham, MA) m. 1639 Margaret Ibrook (1620                       Eng.-1700 Hingham, MA)

John came to the colonies in 1637 with his friend, Samuel Lincoln (4^th gt. grandfather of Abraham Lincoln), where they settled in New Hingham in Plymouth Colony. In 1639, he married Margaret Ibrook, d/o Richard, who was born in England, possibly in Southold, Suffolk Co., England. No record of the Ibrook family has been found in that place after 1626 so where they lived until they left for the colonies is unknown. Richard Ibrook married Margaret (Unknown), and they had 9 children. Most of them came to the colonies some time around 1635 and settled in (New) Hingham MA. An interesting sidebar for the Ibrook family is that Margaret’s older sister, Elizabeth, married Rev. Peter Hobart, a well known, if not well-liked, minister, in New Hingham. Her younger sister, Ellen, married Peter’s younger brother, Joshua Hobart.

Second Generation

II. John Tower and Margaret Ibrook had 11 children, all born in Hingham MA

          A. Mary (?-1712) m. William Whipple (1652-1712)

          *B. John (1639-1693) m. 1669 Sarah Hardin (1648-1729) – 6 children

          C. Jonathan (1641-1701)

          D. Ibrook (1643-1732) m. 1668 Margaret Hardin (1647-1705) – 12 children

          E. Jeremiah (1645-1676) m. 1670 Elizabeth Goodale (?-1723) – 3 children

          F. Elizabeth (1648-?) m. 1667 William Roberts – 1 child

          G. Sarah (1650-1733) m. 1683 Samuel Curtis  - 1 child

          *H. Hannah (1652-1722) m. 1677 David Whipple (1656-1710) – 7 children

            I. Benjamin (1654-1722) m. 1680 Deborah Gardner (1654-1722) – 12 children

           J. Jemima (1659-?) m. 1705 Thomas Gardner (1664-?)

           K. Samuel (1662-1724) m. 1683 Silence Damon (1663-1702) – 5 children

William and David Whipple were brothers who married Tower sisters, Mary and Hannah. Deborah and Thomas Gardner were siblings who married Tower siblings Benjamin and Jemima.

Third Generation

III. (*B) John Tower m. Sarah Hardin

          There seems to be a conflict in the spelling of Sarah’s last name. Since the earlier records show it as Hardin, I’ve chosen to use it that way. Later references to this name have it spelled Harding.  Sarah’s father, John Hardin was b. in Braintree MA c. 1625. His parents were Joseph Hardin and Martha Doane. She’s believed to be the sister of Deacon John Doane,           since, at her death, in 1633, she gave her sons to him to be raised and cared for. It is believed that she and Joseph were in the colonies as early as 1623 and were apparently well acquainted with the Gorges (Georges) family, Sir Ferdinando, Gov. of Maine and his son, Robert, Gov. General of New England. Their children were all born in Hingham MA, except for        Joseph who was born in Braintree MA.

          Their children were:

          **A. Benjamin (1674-1743) m. 1699 Deborah Whipple (1681-1755)                               – 11 children

          B. Gideon (1677-1698)

          C. Sarah (1679-?)

          D. John (1682-?)

          E. Joseph (1686-c.1765) m. Ruth Thayer (1689-1752)

          F. Mary (1690-?) m. Ebenezer Spear (1680-1732)

III. (*H) Hannah (1652-1722) m. 1677 David Whipple (1656-1710) – 7 children; all children born in Providence RI.

                   

          A. Israel (1678-1720) m. Mary Wilmarth (1678-1720)

          **B. Deborah (1681-1755) m. 1699 Benjamin (1674-1743) – 11 children

**Deborah Whipple and Benjamin Tower were first cousins.

          C. Jeremiah (1683-1721) m. Deborah Bucklin (1692-?)

          D. William (1685-?) m. Mary Unknown (?-?)

          E. Sarah (1687-?)

          F. Hannah (1690-?)

          G. Abigail (1692-?)

Fourth Generation

IV. Benjamin (1674-1743) m. Deborah Whipple (1681-1755):

          A. Gideon (1700-1772) m. 1729 Mary Ray (1710-1794) – 6 children

          B. Patience (1702 [in Bristol, MA] - bef. 1743) m. 1723 Nathan Carpenter

          C. Sarah (1704 in Attleborough MA - ?) m. 1732 Elisha Sabin

          D. Margaret (1705 in Attleborough MA – 1787) m. 1730 Jeremiah Bartlett

          D. Zipporah ((1709 in Attleborough MA - ?) m. 1731 Joseph Jackson

          E. John (1711 in Attleborough MA - ?) m. 1739 Hannah Hancock

          F. Hannah (1714-?) m. 1733 William Hancock

          G. Benjamin (1715-?) m. Ruth Unknown

          H. Hester (1719-?)

          *I. Joseph ( 1721 in Attleborough MA – 1761 lost at sea) m. 1743 Judith Briggs (c. 1725- c.1773) – 7 children

          J. Enoch (1724-1774)                    

                                                                   

Fifth Generation

V. (*I.) Joseph ( 1721 in Attleborough MA – 1761 lost at sea) m. 1743 Judith                           Briggs (c. 1725- c.1773) – 7 children

         

Before continuing with the children of this family, it should be noted that Judith Briggs was from Taunton MA. After her marriage, this family moved to Cumberland Hill, Providence RI. All of their children were recorded as being born in that place. The Tower Genealogy devotes about one page to Joseph, but does not seem to follow this family after they left New England. Joseph Sr., was a grantee of Sackville, NB, but never took possession of it as he was lost at sea in 1761.

There’s a bit of interesting history concerning Judith Briggs. There’s been an on going thread on some of the message boards for the last ten years or so. It concerns her ancestry. She was the d/o Nathaniel Briggs and Judith Guild, who was the d/o John Guild and Sarah Fisher. John Guild was the s/o John Guild and Elizabeth Crooke. This Elizabeth provides the ‘history mystery.’  Several people on the message boards claim descent from this woman and they claim that family folklore says she was an Algonquin Indian. Another person claimed she was a Wampanoag, who are a part of the Algonquin language group. Apparently there have been no definite records found to prove or disprove this. Yet there is much that lends it some veracity. The Dedham, Natick, Wrentham, Roxbury areas were known to have ‘Praying Towns.’ These were established for the Praying Indians. John Eliot did much to Christianize the ‘heathen’ and even wrote the Bible in their language. This is the area where Elizabeth Crooke was born. Another piece of family information passed down was that her name had been anglicized. The search for the Crooke family was to no avail. The possibility that she was an Algonquin Indian still exists quite strongly, until some record comes along to refute it.

Back to Joseph and Judith Briggs Tower!

Their children were:

          *A. Benjamin (144-1804 Sackville NB) m. 1766 Ann Finney (1747                                  Rehoboth MA - c. 1804 Sackville, NB)

          B. Joseph (1746-1822 Ira, VT) m. 1768 Ellen Mason (1748-?)

          C. Nathaniel (1748-1836 Lennox PA) m. 1774 Lucy Tingley (1758-?)

          D. Joshua (1750-1753)

          E. Lucy (1752-1822) m. 1770 Gideon Smith (1748-1784)

          F. William (1755-1783)

          G. Nancy (c.1761-?) m. 1778 Gershom Maxwell (1758-1828)

There are a lot of names that don’t have much information. This is not because there isn’t any, it’s because I haven’t investigated all the lateral lines. I apologize for the omission if your ancestor has little or incomplete information.

Now that Judith Tower and her family are settled in Canada, I’ll pick her family up again next time around.

Welcome, Spring!!

The History of Hingham, by Solomon Lincoln, Jr., 1827.

http://genforum.genealogy.com/tower/messages/365.html

submitted by Stuart Ward

http://www.towergenealogy.com/Home_Page_correct/History.html

http://www.answers.com/topic/praying-towns

Ebenezer Cole's first marriage, last child

Ebenezer Cole’s last child from his first marriage was Martin, born 1809. His year of birth and the death of his mother, Martha Grace Cole, in 1809 seem to suggest that the two events may have been connected. Whether or not this last birth contributed to Martha’s death at the age of 41, she did leave behind 7 children and Martin would have been an infant.  Although, by today’s standards, we would think it too soon to marry again, Ebenezer did just that in 1810. His oldest son Jonathan was 18 and Martin may have been about a year old. When Margaret Wade married Ebenezer, she became a mother to a ready made family and became the only mother that Martin ever knew.  It is this Martin who partnered with his older brother, Squire Rufus, in the grindstone and shipping businesses.

Martin became a Master Mariner, which entitled him to be known as Capt. Cole. In 1830, he married (1) Mary Smith, b. 1811 in Sackville, NB. There were many families by the name of Smith but I haven’t been able to connect Mary to any of them, so her parents remain unknown. 

Martin (1809-1885) m. (1) 1830 Mary Smith (1811-bef. 1871)

Martin and Mary had the following children:

A. Mariner Lamb (1831-1862) m. 1853 Lucy Ann Snowden (1836-?)

          1. John (1859-?)

          2. Thomas (1861-?)

Mariner died at Hopewell Cape and was buried at Edgett’s Landing all in Albert Co., NB.

B. Alfred D., Capt. (1834-1912) m. Margaret Bell McIntyre (1849-1916)

          1. Dorrance (1874-1914) buried in the Rockport (Sackville Parish) Cem.

          2. Isadore (1879-?)

          3. Mary Grace (1882-?)

          4. Lalia (1883-?)

In the 1901 Canadian census, Dorrance, Isa and Mary were still at home. Margaret was recorded by the name Margaret.

In the 1911 Canadian census, Dorrance and Mary were still living at home with their parents. Margaret was recorded by the name Bell.

Alfred and Margaret are buried in the Rockport (Sackville Parish) Cem.

C. Ruth E. (1837-1877)

D. Jonathan (1840-?) m. 1861 Catherine Palmer (1841-1888)

          1. Marcus (1866-?)

          2. Clarence (1869-?)

This family is listed in the 1880 Federal Census for Portland CT.

Catherine is buried in the Dorchester Pioneer Cem., Dorchester NB.

         

E. Martha Ann Grace (1842-1877) m. Asa Read (18931-1880 at sea)

          1. An infant daughter

F. Joseph Bedford (1850-1924) m. 1878 Ada Clara Tower (1856-1935)

          1. Eliza Gertrude (1878-?)

          2. Bessie Zora (1881-?) m. unknown Richardson

          3. James William (1885-?)

          4. Lalia (1887-?)

          5. Sarah Annie (1892-?) m. unknown King

          6. Bedford (1894-?)

          7. Minnie Martena (Tina) (1901-?)

An unproductive search was made to see if the first names of either
Richardson or King could be found.  Will need more information for this.

Martin also married (2) Phebe Pearsons on Aug 10 1871.

Ebenezer's Youngest Daughters

Ebenezer Cole’s 5^th child and 2^nd daughter of his first marriage was Ruth. I have been unable to discover very much about Ruth’s short life.  She married John Calhoun and moved from the Dorchester area to Hopewell Cape, Albert Co., NB. There were several Calhoun families in Albert Co., descendants of the original settler Thomas Calhoun and his wife Rebecca Peck. Thomas was born in 1738 in Chester Co., PA. He was the son of John Cohoon*, an immigrant from County Donegal in 1714. Thomas was a licensed Indian Trader but later moved to what is now Albert Co., NB to manage a large land grant. He and his wife are considered to be the progenitors of the Calhoun families of Albert Co., some of whom can still be found there. The little info I did run across listed them as Master Mariners and/or Farmers. Some were both. After many years at sea, they would retire to farming in their later years.  Shipbuilding, lumbering and mining were other profitable occupations for the residents of this county.

*Another reminder to check all spelling variations for any surname. There was no standardized form of spelling until the late 19^th century. 

Hopewell Rocks - Bay of Fundy at low tide

A. Ruth E. Cole (c1800-1826) m. 1820 John Calhoun, Jr. (1795-1843 Bermuda)

          1. Ingraham (?-?)

          2. Henry A. (1822-1912) 

          3. Ruth Matilda (1824-1912) m. 1846 James Manford Ayer (1822-1887) - 9 children

          4. John (1825-1879) m. Caroline (c1835-?) -  2 children

After Ruth died, John Jr. m. again in 1827 to Mary Brewster.  They had one daughter, Mary Ann Calhoun, daughter of James Calhoun, who married (1) Elijah Calkins and 2^nd Squire Rufus Cole.

I haven’t seen it documented but it’s most likely that John was a mariner. He died in Bermuda in 1843 from Yellow Fever. He is, however, buried in Mountain View Cem., Lower Cape, Albert Co., NB.

Then a 3^rd daughter is born was born to Ebenezer and Martha Grace Cole.  Martha was born in Dorchester, but as an adult, she moved to the States where she lived with her husband and family.

B. Martha (1805-1890 Portland CT) m. 1824 Caleb Read (1803-1865 Portland CT)

          1. Zena Jane (1825-?) m. George Kirkpatrick (1822 Ireland -?) - 3 children

          2. John Gideon (1827-1912) m. 1849 Mary Jane Tower  (1829-1912)  – 7 children

          3. Rufus (1829-1918) m. Sara A. (born in Ireland) – 4 children

          4. Asa ( 1831-1880 lost at sea) m. Emily Cole (1834-1870) – 5 children

          5. Ruth Calhoun (1834-?) m. John Gosmer – 1 child.  Since this child was living with his          uncle and grandmother in 1870, it is likely that his mother, Ruth Calhoun Gosmer, had passed away before that census was taken.

          6. Jane  (1835-?)

          7. Cyrus (1836-?)

          8. Joseph (1939-?)

          9. Martin (1841-?) m. Jane Unknown – 2 children

          10. William (1843-1847)

          11. Bedford (c 1845-?)

          12. Bliss (1847-?)

Tidal Bore - Bay of Fundy   

It’s unknown just when this family moved to CT, but Martha has been found in the 1860 Federal census for Portland CT. By the 1870 census she was a widow living with her son, Martin, and his wife, Jane. Another son, Bliss, was also living there. He listed his occupation as a quarry worker. In addition, grandson John Gosmer, age 7, was also living with Martin’s family. He would have been the son of Martha’s daughter, Ruth and her husband John Gosmer.  Martin’s occupation was listed as a sailor.

Although it appears that all of the Read children were born in NB, I have been unable to locate this family in any 1850 census. Perhaps it was at that time that the family was on the move and hadn’t settled in CT yet for the USA 1850 census and were no longer in NB for the Canadian 1851 census.

There is one more child, Martin, from Ebenezer’s first marriage, which will be the subject of the next blog.

http://albertnb.tripod.com/default.htm

http://albertnb.tripod.com/albhist.htm

http://bayoffundy.com/communities/new-brunswick/albert-county-nb/

http://bayoffundy.com/communities/new-brunswick/albert-county-nb/

http://albertnb.tripod.com/