Lovewell's Fight: The Woods Family

 

The Woods Family seems to have had the most family members involved in the fight.  One of them became more famous for his act during the fight than the others. 

The WOODS FAMILY

Nathaniel Woods was born on October 19, 164 in Groton, Massachusetts, son of Nathaniel and Eleanor (Whitney) Woods.  He was the grandson of my 8^th great-grandparents Samuel and Alice (Rushton) Woods of Groton, Massachusetts and nephew of my ancestor Abigail (Woods) Barron, who was an aunt to the mentioned Elias Barron by marriage to Samuel Barron.   In 1725, Nathaniel was 30 years old and unmarried.  He enlisted from Groton and made a sergeant of the company.  When the fort had been erected at Ossipee Pond, he was left in charge.  He and the other survivors from the battle arrived in Dunstable, Massachusetts five days afterwards.  Maybe the fight and loss of his younger brother affected Nathaniel by thinking of marriage and a family soon, that his brother never got a chance to do.  Nathaniel married his first wife, Alice French on 14 September 1725 and would have 6 children and two more wives before his death in 1766 in Pepperell, Massachusetts.

Daniel Woods was born on May 10, 1696, in Groton, Massachusetts and brother to Nathaniel Woods.  In 1725, he was 28 years old and unmarried.  He enlisted with his brother from Groton, Massachusetts.  He was killed in the battle and buried on the field.

Thomas Woods was the first cousin to both Nathaniel and Daniel Woods, son of Thomas Woods and his 2^nd wife, Hannah Whitney.  The same relationship with the others as Nathaniel Woods.  In 1725, Thomas was only 19 years old and youngest in the company.  He also enlisted from Groton.  He was killed in the battle of May 9, 1725, and buried on the field.  Now two of the Woods family members had been lost.

Abigail Woods, sister to the above Thomas Woods, was born 19 August 1692 in Groton, Massachusetts.  She married John Chamberlain on 13 October 1712 in Concord, Massachusetts.  In 1725, Abigial was 32 years old and pregnant with their 4^th child.  John was 33 years old and enlisted from Groton in 1725.  John and his father were farmers and millers in Groton until his father was murdered in 1709.   During the fight, John was wounded but not seriously.  He is given credit as being the one who shot and killed the Abenaki leader Paugus.  Seth Wyman is credited in some sources, but he was said to have killed 2 natives and not Paugus. 

                                An engraving by John Gilmary Shea, 1872, Wikipedia

Pat Higgins wrote about Lovewell’s fight between the two men in his blog “The Maine story” as follows: “As the story goes, Chamberlain's gun became fouled in the course of the fight. He crept down to a small brook to wash it out. As he stepped out onto the bank, a warrior on a similar mission approached from the opposite bank. The two men recognized each other and began furiously to prepare their guns. Reputedly, Paugus said to the ranger, "I shall now very quick kill you." "Perhaps not," answered Chamberlain. He had an ace in the hole; his gun primed itself with just a thump on the ground Chamberlain had time to take careful aim while Paugus was still priming his gun from his horn. In a flash the white man fired and Paugus lay shot through the heart.  Quite interestingly, this tale was not told until after the last ranger died in 1798. With no one to refute the story, it spread like wildfire and was hotly argued by the 19th century historians”

Chamberlain’s descendants claim that he was known as “Paugus John” afterwards adding to their claim it was him and not Wyman.  There was a story that Chamberlain years later killed one of Chief Paugus’ sons who came looking to kill Chamberlain to avenge his father’s death.   So many years later it’s hard to tell the truth from fiction.

John returned home to his wife and family and had six children in total.  His wife, Abigail died on January 20, 1738, whereas John survived until his death in 1758 in Groton, Massachusetts.

The story of Lovewell’s Fight has been remembered in a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and both Nathaniel Hathorne and Henry David Thoreau wrote about Lovewell’s Fight.  There is even a YouTube Ballard about the battle.  There are books published on the fight as well.  There is a good podcast by Jim Cornelius with more details on the background history of the towns and Capt. Lovewell leading up to the fight.

Lovewell's Fight: Robbins, Jefts and Barron

Three relatives to my ancestors were killed in the Fight at Fryeburg.

ROBBINS

Jonathan Robbins was the son of my 8^th great-grandfather, George Robbins and his 2^nd wife, Alice Frye.  He was a half-brother to my ancestor, John Robbins, son of George Robbins and his first wife.  Jonathan was born on November 19, 1686 in Chelmsford, Massachusetts and moved to Dunstable about 1710 where he settled.  He married Margaret Lund on January 16, 1711-2 in Concord, Massachusetts.  He was commissioned as a Lieutenant in 1724 and served on 3 expeditions with Capt. John Lovewell.  In 1725, he was 38 years old and married for 14 years with five children.  He set out as one of two Lieutenants under Lovewell in April 1725.  On May 9, 1725, after finding their first Native and returning to get their packs, Lovewell’s company was ambushed and both Jonathan and Lt. Farwell were wounded early in the engagement.  He eventually died from his wounds.  A manuscript of the fight states that Jonathan asked to have pistol left with him.  He said “the Indians will come in the morning to scalp me and I will kill one more of em if I can.”  His widow petitioned for administration of his estate.  She remarried to William Shattuck in 1729.

JEFTS

John Jefts was born in 1696 in Billerica, Massachusetts, son of John and Lydia Jefts and grandson of my 9^th great-grandparents Henry and Hannah (Births) Jefts.  He was a nephew to my ancestor Hannah (Jefts) Spaulding.  In 1725, he was unmarried at 28 years old.  He enlisted from Groton, Massachusetts, but was probably a resident of Billerica.  John was killed instantly early in the battle and buried on the field.

BARRON

Elias Barron was born in 1695 in Groton, Massachusetts, the youngest son of my 8^th Great-grandparents, Ellis and Mary (Sherman) Barron.  He was a brother to my 7^th great-grandfather, Samuel Barron.  He married Priscilla Wilson in 1718 in Concord, Massachusetts.  In 1725, Elias Barron was 32 years old and had three children.  He enlisted from Groton, Massachusetts.  During the fight, he was wounded and said to have crawled away and died near the battlefield.  His widow remarried to Jonathan Mead and died in July 1740.

                                            The monument to the men killed in Lovewell's Fight

                         Dedication of the monument at Fryeburg, Maine in 1904 by the                                                            Massachusetts Society of Colonial Wars

Lovewell's Fight: Fulham-Whitney Families

The more I researched the participants in Lovewell’s company, I realized that this affected not only a direct male ancestor, but a direct female ancestor, Tabitha Whitney. 

FULHAM-WHITNEY FAMILY

Tabitha Whitney was my 7^th Great-grandmother, daughter of Jonathan and Sarah (Hapgood) Whitney.  She was born August 22, 1696, in Watertown, Massachusetts.  She had married her first husband, Jacob Fulham of Watertown, Massachusetts in 1715.  In 1725, she was 28 years old and had been married for 10 years and was the mother of three children with a fourth one due within the year by Jacob.  He was 31 years old and enlisted from Weston, Massachusetts and also yeoman or farmer.  He was made a sergeant in Capt. Lovewell’s company.  Jacob was one the men killed in the battle.  From the Genealogies of the Families and Descendants of the Early Settler of Watertown, Massachusetts by Henry Bond, [1855] p. 227: “A sergeant named Fulham, and an Indian, distinguished by his dress and activities, singled out each other and both fell, mutually slain by their antagonist weapon.”  

Monument at Fryeburg, Maine

Tabitha gave birth to late husband’s son, Elisha Fulham on June 26, 1725, some two months after his death.  She filed a probate petition for administration of her late husband’s estate on August 10, 1725.  An Inventory taken listed that Jacob owned two Bibles and other small books, showing he was a literate man for the time.   Among the creditors of the estate was George Parkhurst of Weston, Massachusetts.  George married Tabitha (Whitney) Fulham on April 19, 1726.  Jacob’s father, Francis Fulham, petitioned to be guardian of his son’s children.  An agreement between Francis and George Parkhurst, now the husband of Tabitha, allowed George to remain on his son’s estate if he provided for Tabitha and his son’s children.  The final division of Jacob’s estate was made in 1741.  George and Tabitha Parkhurst had five children together with their last child born days before George’s death on March 17, 1734. Their son, Jonathan Parkhurst being my direct ancestor.   She married her 3^rd husband Samuel Hunt on August 10, 1736, whom she remained with until her death on November 2, 1762, in Harvard, Massachusetts.

Isaac Whitney was the brother of Tabitha Whitney.  He was born in 1703 in Watertown and was 22 years old in 1725.  He enlisted from Concord, Massachusetts, but probably was from Watertown or Weston.  Isaac was one of the ten men who were left behind at the fort in Ossipee and survived the battle. He and the other men returned to Massachusetts five days after the Fight in Fryeburg, Maine.  He settled in Concord, Massachusetts where he was a glazer (term for a glass cutter and or pottery maker).  Probate for his estate was in 1744 in Middlesex County, Massachusetts.  The fort at Ossipee was built on what is eferred to as an Indian Mound or burial ground.  Today that area is now a golf course.  The Indian Mound is maintained by the owners of the course.

Lovewell's Fight: The Farrar Family

 
Though I'm from Maine, I was surprised to discover that my ancestor Jacob Farrar died in a Colonial Fryeburg conflict.   I am sure this is taught to local school children from this area, but I had never heard of Lovewell’s Fight in 1725.  When I read that Jacob had been killed in this fight between the Native people and the early colonists from Massachusetts, I had to research what this was about Lovewell’s fight or the Battle of Pequawket (the Abenaki name of the area that is now Fryeburg, Maine).

                                Painting of Lovewell's Fight by John Burton

The more I studied the surnames of the men who were killed or survived, I realized many of them were in my ancestry.  Not only were these men descendants of my ancestors, but were brothers, cousins, and brothers-in-law to each other and my ancestors.  This one small skirmish affected several of my ancestral families which I was never aware of until now, including another female ancestor.

The fight occurred on May 9, 1725, during the war in northern New England. Captain John Lovewell led a privately organized company of scalp hunters, organized into a makeshift ranger company, and Chief Paugus led the Abenaki at Pequawket.  Capt. Lovewell sought to profit from colonial bounties on Native scalps, while Chief Paugus defended his people’s land against encroaching settlers along the Kennebec River in present-day Maine. Capt. Lovewell’s party consisted of 47 men, who were inexperienced with ranging and with a smaller group than had accompanied Lovewell in past expeditions.  They left Dunstable, Massachusetts (now Nashua, New Hampshire) on April 16, 1725.  Their Indian guide and two other men returned to Dunstable unable to continue.  With one of their men falling ill, they built a fort at what is now Ossipee, New Hampshire where they left ten men including a doctor and supplies for their return.  The other 34 men pressed on to Pequawket, some thirty miles away.

That morning of the 9^th while being led in prayer by the chaplain, they spotted a lone Abenaki warrior.  Suspecting he was a decoy and more warriors were ahead, the men tried to hide their packs and pursued the warrior, killing and scalping him.  However, a larger group of Abenaki warriors discovered their packs and proceeded to wait for the men to return.  As the men returned single file, the warriors attacked, killing Capt. Lovewell and his lieutenants instantly.  During the 10-hour battle Chief Paugus was also killed.  The colonists retreated.  Fourteen men were dead with four wounded, three of them died on the return to the Ossipee fort.  Abenaki deserted the area and left for Canada. There are no known number of men the Abenaki lost.

Some sources give the date of the battle as May 8^th because they did not want the fact that the chaplain who had led the prayer that Sunday morning had been the first one to scalp the first Abenaki warrior on the sabbath.  By making the battle the day before, it would preserve the chaplain’s reputation.

A monument dedicated to those who died in the battle was erected in Fryeburg, Maine.  The grave marker for those men who died there.

THE FARRAR FAMILY

Jacob Farrar was my 7^th great-grandfather.  He was born on October 23, 1692, in Concord, Massachusetts, the son of Jacob and Susanna (Reddiat) Farrar.  His family did not have any positive incidents with the native people. His grandfather, also named Jacob Farrar had been killed by Indians during King’s Philip’s War in 1675 in Lancaster, Massachusetts.  In another raid or massacre often referred to in records, his infant uncle, Henry Farrar at age two was killed in 1676.  His uncle John Farrar was later killed in an Indian attack in 1707.   Jacob married Sarah Wood in 1714 and had a family of five children. In 1725, he was 33 years old, and the temptation of the bounty placed on an Indian scalp at 100 pounds would have been hard to resist.  With the hero, Capt. John Lovewell leading them, it must have felt like a sure bet that this would provide more money than he could earn for farming.   Knowing his family’s relationship with native people he must have felt it would be vengeance for his family relatives. He enlisted from Concord and besides his family members who joined him, he probably knew the other men from Concord in the company.   Jacob was wounded in the battle and said to have expired after midnight by the pond (now Lovewell Pond).  His widow, Sarah was named administrix of his estate on June 9, 1725, with her late husband’s uncle George Farrar and her father, Josiah Wood as bondsmen.  Inventory of his estate contained books which prove that Jacob was literate.  She remarried to David Parlin on April 9, 1726, in Concord, Massachusetts, who became the guardian of her children.  The division of the estate between Jacob’s widow, Sarah Parlin and his children, Jacob and Ephraim Farrar, Sarah Conant (my ancestor), Mary Melvin and Hannah Farrar occurred on August 8, 1743. 

Mary Farrar was the sister to Jacob Farrar.  In 1725, she was 30 years old and had married David Melvin in 1715 in Concord, Massachusetts.  Her husband was 34 years old, and they had five children at that time.  David enlisted from Concord, Massachusetts with his brother-in-law and his brother Eleazer Melvin.  David was one of the 20 men who returned home from the battle, probably to the relief of his wife and children, despite the loss of her brother.  David’s brother Eleazer also survived the battle.  However, only 20 years later, both brothers joined the Siege of Louisbourg in 1745 in what is now Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia.  David was made a Captain in Col. Willard’s regiment.  David was not so lucky this time as he was wounded and died on November 17, 1745.  However, his brother was also wounded, but survived, dying in 1756.  Mary (Farrar) Melvin remarried to John Edwards in 1749.  She died September 2, 1756, in Lincoln, Massachusetts.

Joseph Farrar, son of George and Mary (Howe) Farrar, was the first cousin to Jacob Farrar.  In 1725, he was 33 years old. He had married Mary Hoskins in 1716 and had three children.  It was his father George Farrar who the bondsman for his cousin Jacob’s widow in 1725. Both George and Jacob Farrar were grandsons of my 9^th great-grandparents, Jacob and Hannah (Hayward) Farrar.  Joseph enlisted from Concord and was one of the men who survived the battle and returned home.  Although, it is not known why, but Joseph died before August 13, 1733, when probate records show Nathan Brown was appointed guardian for the children of Joseph Farrar, late of Concord, Massachusetts.

Marriage found in War of 1812 pension

 

When researching my paternal grandmother’s ancestry, I try to keep track of what events occurred during my ancestor’s lifetime.  For example, my 3^rd great-grandfather, Peter J. Skinner (born 17 January 1784 in Cape Elizabeth, Maine and died on 23 July 1874 in Casco, Maine) was born after the Revolutionary War which his father participated in and Peter was too old during the Civil War in which several of his sons served as soldiers in the Union Army.  However, Peter Skinner was just the right age (30 years old) to serve in the War of 1812.  This representing three generations of men serving at a time of conflict.

Despite being called the War of 1812, it was a conflict between Great Britain and the United States which began in 1812 and did not end until 1815 officially.  Some of the basic reasons that began the conflict was due to British restrictions to impede trade by blockades between the States and France which Britian was at war with.  The impressment of American sailors into the British Royal Navy, claiming they were British deserters and Britain’s support of Native American resistance of American expansion further west since the Revolutionary war.  America had only gained its independence from Britian 36 years beforehand.  On June 1, 1812, President James Madison sent a declaration of War to Congress, and the War of 1812 began the day after Madison signed the measure into law on June 19, 1812.

 

President James Madison (Wikipedia)

Maine, then part of Massachusetts, was a base for smuggling and illegal trade between the United States and the British. Until 1813, the region was generally quiet except for privateer actions near the coast. In September 1813, the United States Navy's brig Enterprise fought and captured the Royal Navy brig Boxer off Pemaquid Point. On July 11, 1814, Thomas Masterman Hardy took Eastport, Maine without a shot and the entire American garrison, 65 men of Fort Sullivan peacefully surrendered. The British temporarily renamed the captured fort "Fort Sherbrooke". 

In September 1814, John Coape Sherbrooke led 3,000 British troops from his base in Halifax in the "Penobscot Expedition".  In 26 days, he raided and looted Hampden, Bangor and Machias, Maine while also destroying 17 American ships.  He won the Battle of Hampden with the loss of two men and only one American. The British occupied the town of Castine, Maine for the rest of the war.  The Treaty of Ghent returned the territory the United States. (Source Wikipedia)

 

John C. Sherbrooke (from Wikipedia)

From the Massachusetts Volunteer Militia of the War of 1812, p. 210 we find Peter Skinner’s name as a soldier in Capt. E. Cobb’s Company and Lieut. Col. J. E. Foxcroft’s regiment with service from Sept. 10 to Sept. 24, 1814; raised at Gray, Maine and service at Portland, Maine during this time of the raids occurring further north in Maine by John Sherbrooke.

After the war, Peter married his 1^st wife, Susanna Mitchell, probably a cousin as his mother was Katherine Jordan and Susanna’s mother was Sarah Jordan about 1815.  They had one daughter, Catherine born in 1816 and Susanna died in 1820.  Peter then married Sarah (Sally) Meserve.  No record of Peter’s marriage had been found in the town of Raymond, Maine where he lived or in Cumberland County marriage records.  As his first child was born in 1822, it was reasonable to assume he was married about 1821.  Peter and Sally Skinner had 11 children born in Raymond, Maine where Peter was a farmer.  The area of Raymond which they resided in was annexed to form the town of Casco, Maine which was his residence afterwards.

Vital Records of Raymond, Maine, book 1, p. 64

Fold3 has been a website where Military records for soldiers can be located.  For many years, the only record for Peter Skinner was a card showing his widow, Sally’s pension number for her husband’s service in the War of 1812.  

However, Fold3 has been adding the War of 1812 pension records to its site over the past few years.  Now the Widow’s Pension of Sally Skinner is available. 

Although I knew the dates and company that Peter had served in, it was his date of marriage to his wife, Sally that was the true gem of the record.  Sally had to show that she was Peter’s widow and entitled to a pension by proving she married him and witnesses to state she was his widow and had not remarried after his death.  The Widow’s Pension provided the marriage date of January 27, 1822, in Raymond, Maine, with eight months to spare before their first child was born.

 

The witnesses she provided were her daughter-in-law, Ellen (Gay) Skinner and Ellen’s brother, Albert R. Gay and their mother Mary Gay.  The Gay family had been the closest neighbors to Peter and Sally Skinner.  Her petition for a pension was approved in 1879.  Sally died on 20 October 1889 in Casco, Maine.  Most of the information in the pension was already known from the above published lists of soldiers of the War of 1812.  Sally included that Peter Skinner had married before their marriage in 1822, but no date which would have been another gem to have.  

Both Peter and Sally and several of their children are buried in Murch Cemetery, Casco, Maine.  Peter's first wife and daughter are buried in Skinner Cemetery, Raymond, Maine.

The Mount Desert Ferry Accident family connection

 

There has always been a connection between my paternal Great-Grandmothers, Emmie (Mower) Smith and Edna (Southard) Skinner with a marriage between families in the early 1800s.  But a tragedy in 1899 at Mount Desert in Maine tied the families together with another connection.

On August 6, 1899, what is called the Mt Desert Ferry Accident saw both sides lose a family member.  Their names were Ellen (Horn) Billings and Margery (Kenniston) Mower.

                                                                Ellen (Horn) Billings

Ellen or Elizabeth Horn was born in Ripley, Maine on 16 April 1831, the daughter of Thomas and Sarah (Tucker) Horn.  Although Ellen’s family resided in Ripley, they were active in the Dexter, Maine Baptist Church where they were founding members.  Her mother, Sarah Tucker was the daughter of John Tucker, the 2^nd settler of Dexter, Maine.  Ellen married Albert Holland Billings on 21 July 1853 in Dexter, Maine, a widower with a young daughter.  They would have 4 more children together.  On the 1860 census of Dexter, Maine, Albert H. Billings was listed as a Universalist clergyman.  Not sure what issues this may have caused Ellen to break with her father’s church while he was still living.  However, by 1870, Albert was a dealer in wool and woolen products while living in Dexter with his wife and children.   By 1880, Albert and his family had moved to Bangor, Maine where he was listed as a canvasser.  He died in Bangor 25 April 1896 and buried in Dexter, Maine.  His widow, Ellen took up the occupation of a hairdresser.

Obituary for Mary T (Horn) Mower

Ellen’s older sister was Mary Tucker Horn.  She was born on 28 January 1810 in Ripley, Maine, 20 years older than Ellen.  She married Dan Mower on 18 April 1828 in St. Albans, Maine.  Dan was from Greene, Maine and followed his brothers to the Dexter area.  Dan and his wife settled first in Ripley, Maine where he lived on the 1830 census.  He then moved to Sangerville, Maine and then to Bangor, Maine after 1845.  He died on 21 June 1849 in Bangor, Maine leaving his widow with six children.  On the 1850 census of Bangor, Mary Mower, age 38 had no occupation and was probably living off wages from her son, Amos Mower, who was a tin plater.  Mary made the decision to move herself and daughters to California by sailing down the east coast of the states and South America around the Horn and back up the west coast to San Francisco.  Her eldest daughter, Sarah Jane Mower, had a talent for cooking and the gold miners paid good money for her meals. Eventually the family moved to Gold City, Nevada where even more wealth was gained.  Mary returned to Napa, California where she appears in Directories and census records.  She died 16 October 1890 in Napa City, California.

                                                                    Amos Horn Mower

Mary’s eldest son, Amos Horn Mower who was born 26 Jul 1830 in Ripley, Maine would eventually follow his family to California.  After his father’s death in 1850, he became the main supporter of his mother and siblings as a tin plater in Bangor, Maine.  His mother appeared to have sold any remaining property in Maine in 1851 and headed west to California when Amos moved to Boston, Massachusetts to continue his occupation.  He married Margery Kenniston on 1 May 1856 in Boston, Massachusetts.  She was born in Kenduskeag, Maine in 1832.  They had 7 children, two in Massachusetts and the rest in San Francisco where he became a wealthy tinsmith. However, on the 1880 census, his occupation was a plumber.  Amos died on 4 October 1882 in San Francisco.

Margery (Kenniston) Mower

It was in August 1899 that Bar Harbor, Maine was the location that several of the war ships from the Spanish American War were going to be stationed.  These ships had stopped in Portland, Maine harbor where tours were given.  Many people from Maine were excited to make the trip by train from Bangor to the ferry at Mount Desert to Bar Harbor that August of 1899.  Among them were Ellen (Horn) Billings and Margery (Kenniston) Mower.  Ellen and Margery were aunt and niece by marriage, but the same age and may have been friends despite the distance between Maine and California.  Margery would have had family in Maine to visit and kept an acquaintance with her in-laws.  It would be strange to think the two women went alone to see the warships and not have known the other.   It was never stated in any papers that two women were together, but with both being widows and different surnames, it may not have been known to the press.

                                                The Commercial, 3 August 189

On August 6, 1899, the women took the train from Bangor to Mount Desert where they and almost 200 other people quickly departed the train to walk across a slip to the ferry. 

                                                        Plan of the exit from Trains to the Ferry

According to numerous newspaper accounts, the slip was poorly made of wood and collapsed under the weight of the people trying to board the ferry.  The center gave way, plunging all into the ocean water fifteen feet below.  Many were rescued, some clung to the boards still connected to the ferry by chains.  Some individuals were assisted by ropes to exit the water, while others who were able to swim reached safety independently However, for those who could not swim or pushed under by the many who fell on top of them in the water ultimately drowned.   When it was over, 20 people drowned.  

Among the dead were Ellen Billings and Margery Mower.  Sadly, Margery was one of the last to be identified as her niece had drowned and no other relative accompanied her.  One of Amos Mower’s cousins, Mr. H.G. Mower of Dexter, Maine came to identify her body. 

An investigation called the tragedy an accident and the coroner’s report blamed it on the poor construction of the slip that boarded people on the ferry. 

                                    The Commercial, 8 August 1899

 Ellen and Margery funerals were held together, but each were buried with their husbands in Maine and California.

       

 Funeral Notices from the Commercial 8 August 1899.

The local papers still continued to print that the trains to Mount Desert and Bar Harbor were still running the next day to ensure people could continue to see the warships in the Harbor.

                        

One another note, when I googled Spanish American warships in Maine.  My search yielded nothing.  In fact, an automated reply stated there was no evidence that the warship ever went to Maine. However, several papers carried articles on the ships in Portland and Rockland as well.

    My Family connection to both Ellen (Horn) Billings and Margery (Kenniston) Mower

                        Ebenezer Mower                        Thomas Horn=Sally Tucker

                        /          \                                    /                      /          \

    John Mower          Dan Mower=Mary Horn            Ellen Horn    Sabrina (Horn) Moore

            ׀                                   ׀                                                                       ׀

Penn Mower           Amos Mower=Margery Kenniston      Georgetta (Moore) Southard

            ׀                                                                                                           ׀

Emmie (Mower) Smith                                                                 Edna (Southard) Skinner

                        ׀                                                                                               ׀

            Donald C. Smith                           married                        Ethelyn V. Skinner

                                                                        ׀

                                                            Glenn S. Smith

                                                                        ׀

                                                            Peter M. Smith

Not Charmed: Three sisters accused of witchcraft in 1692

I have always been drawn to certain events in history, The Tudors of England, King Philips War, The Revolutionary War, Civil War and the Salem Witch Trials. I have written about my ancestor Mary (Perkins) Bradbury who was accused, tried and found guilty of witchcraft. Recently I found I had an even stronger connection to this event in history with my ancestor, Mary (Towne) Estey and her sisters on my paternal grandfather’s side. The trials would see three of the Towne sisters accused and convicted of witchcraft. They were Rebecca (Towne) Nurse, Mary (Towne) Estey and Sarah (Towne) Cloyce. The hysteria began after several young girls became claiming their were being tormented by other members of the community through witchcraft and spectres.

Rebecca (Towne) Nurse, the daughter of William and Joanne (Blessing) Towne was baptized on 21 February 1621 in Great Yarmouth, co. Norfolk, England. She was one of eight children and came with her parents to Massachusetts in 1635, settling at Salem, Massachusetts (now Danvers, Massachusetts). She married Francis Nurse around 1644 and had eight children. He was a tray maker by occupation. He was a Constable of Salem, and Rebecca was known as a pious woman in the community. 

On 23 Mar 1692, a warrant was issued for the arrest of 71 year old Rebecca Nurse based on accusations of Edward and John Putnam. Upon her arrest, she stated said, "I am innocent as the child unborn, but surely, what sin hath God found out in me unrepented of, that He should lay such an affliction on me in my old age." Another accusation came from Sarah Holton, a neighbor who claimed that Rebecca upset about their pigs trespassing on their property cursed her husband, Benjamin Holton. The night of the quarrel, Benjamin began having convulsions and died several weeks later. Despite this claim, Sarah spoke out against the injustice of the trials. 

Drawing of Rebecca Nurses's trial

 At her trial on 30 June 1692, she was not allowed to have a lawyer and the “afflicted girls” often claimed Rebecca was tormenting them and their spectral evidence was allowed. Many people spoke on her behalf and she was found not guilty. However, due to the public outcry and the torment of the young girls, the jury asked for a second chance of deliberation. She was asked to explain a remark she made about Deliverance Hobbs “being of her company.” Rebecca who was hard of hearing thought they were referring to Deliverance being another accused witch. She was found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging on 19 July 1692. 

Sarah (Towne) Cloyce was born 7 January 1637 in Salem, Massachusetts. She married John Bridges and had several children before his death. She remarried to Peter Cloyce/Cloyse, a widower and had three more children. On 27 March 1692, after Rev. Parris spoke of the evil afflicting his family and congregation. After reading a passage, Sarah Cloyce got up and left the sermon slamming the door behind, which some felt was in solidarity with her sister Rebecca Nurse.

Darwing of the accused at public Interrogation

On 11 April 1692, the 50-year-old, Sarah was interrogated and maintained she was innocent. She was jailed without bail and taken to a prison in Boston. Returning later in June to a prison in Ipswich. It was after the deaths of her sisters that Governor William Phips dissolved the court in October 1692. A new Superior Court was formed in December 1692 and in January 1693, the new court dismissed the charges against. However, Sarah and her husband still had to pay her prison fees. They immediately petitioned to be released from church and moved their membership to Framingham, Massachusetts where they settled.

Mary (Towne) Eastey was baptized on 24 August 1634 in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England.  After her arrival in Salem, Massachsuetts, she married Isaac Eastey, a farmer and barrell maker in 1655. They had eleven children. Like her sister Rebecca Nurse, Mary was a pious and respected citizen of Salem, and her accusation came as a surprise. 

During the examination on 22 April 1692, when Eastey clasped her hands together, Mercy Lewis, one of the afflicted, imitated the gesture and claimed to be unable to release her hands until Mary released her own. Again, when Mary inclined her head, the afflicted girls accused her of trying to break their necks. Mercy claimed that Mary’s spectre had climbed into her bed and laid her hand upon her breasts. In the face of such public hysteria, Mary Eastey defended herself with remarkable eloquence: when she was asked by the magistrates John Hawthorne and Jonathan Corwin how far she had complied with Satan, she replied, "Sir, I never complied with Satan but prayed against him all my days, I have no compliance with Satan, in this ... I will say it, if it is my last time, I am clear of this sin." Hathorne, showing a momentary doubt about her guilt, went so far as to ask the girls if they were quite sure that Mary Eastey was the woman who afflicted them. 

Spectre Evidence at Witchtrials

Mary Eastey was released from prison on 18 May 1692 after two months. However, on 20 May, Mercy Lewis claimed that Eastey's spectre was afflicting her, a claim which other girls supported. A second warrant was issued that night for Eastey's arrest. She was taken from her bed and returned to the prison; Lewis ceased her fits after Eastey was chained. Eastey was tried and condemned to death on 9 September and hung to death on 22 September 1692. 

In the aftermath of the trials with only one sister who survived she spent her time trying to clear her sisters’ names. The Eastey family received 20 pounds compensation for her wrongful death in 1711. In the decades following the trials, survivors and family members (and their supporters) sought to establish the innocence of the individuals who were convicted and to gain compensation. In the following centuries, the descendants of those unjustly accused and condemned sought to honor their memories. Events in Salem and Danvers in 1992 were used to commemorate the trials. In November 2001, years after the celebration of the 300th anniversary of the trials, the Massachusetts legislature passed an act exonerating all who had been convicted and naming each of the innocent. The trials have figured in American culture and been explored in numerous works of art, literature and film.

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