What Is HathiTrust and Why Do Genealogists Need to Be Familiar With it?

In 2008 a group of a dozen universities and the eleven libraries in the University of California system founded what was called the HathiTrust.  The universities involved were those members of the former Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC), which was formed in 1958 by the presidents of the university members of the Big Ten athletic conference as the academic consortium counterpart to the athletic organization.  In 1958 the member universities were: the University of Chicago[1], University of Illinois, Indiana University,  University of Iowa, University of Michigan, Michigan State University, University of Minnesota, Northwestern University, Ohio State University, Purdue University, and the University of Wisconsin.  Pennsylvania State University was added to the consortium in 1990 when it was admitted to the Big Ten and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln was added in 2011 for the same reason. In 2013 both Rutgers University and the University of Maryland joined the consortium and in 2014 both also were admitted to the Big Ten athletic conference.  Following the growth in the membership of both the athletic conference and the academic consortium, the name of the consortium was changed to the Big Ten Academic Alliance (BTAA) on June 29, 2016.

"Hathi" is from the Hindi language and it is the word for "elephant."  The word is pronounced like "hah-tee."  The name choice makes sense when one learns about the programs and projects instituted by HathiTrust and then recalls the association that the elephant has come to have with possession of a good long-term memory.  The saying "memory like an elephant" is derived at least in part by the ability elephants are said to have to remember the person who trained them even when they have not seen the person for twenty years or more.  It is the contributions of the HathiTrust Shared Print Program and the HathiTrust Digital Library project to the preservation of the collective long-term memory of our science and culture that makes the trust name so appropriate.

The HathiTrust Shared Print Program is a commitment by the participating libraries to retain and preserve as a distributed "collective collection" for at least 25 years monograph volumes that number some 18 million volumes as of a few years ago.  The HathiTrust Digital Library is a huge repository of digital content obtained from research libraries and includes content from Google Books and the Internet Archive digitization initiatives.  Digital content is also contributed by local libraries.  The repository is administered by the University of Michigan.

According to Wikipedia, as of late 2015 HathiTrust comprised over 13.7 million volumes and some 5.3 million of them were in the public domain in the U.S.  [There are now some 17 million volumes in the collection.]  Importantly, HathiTrust provides full-text search across the entire repository and in 2016 alone more than 6.17 million users in the United States and 236 other nations used HathiTrust for more than 10.9 million research sessions.  A web application called PageTurner is available at HathiTrust for viewing publications in the repository.  The application allows versions of the publications to be downloaded as a .pdf file and viewing of pages can be accomplished using thumbnail views, flipping, scrolling, or one page at a time. Recent changes to the viewer application are explained in a short illustrated YouTube video embedded on the HathiTrust home page at https://www.hathitrust.org. 

The HathiTrust repository has not been without controversy.  In 2011 the Authors Guild sued HathiTrust over alleged massive violations of copyright.  The federal Courts ruled in 2012 that the use of digitized books by Google fell under the fair use doctrine based on the "transformativeness" involved -- meaning that while the works involved had been transformed into digital versions the process had not infringed on the copyright holders' rights.  The Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court ruling in June 2014 finding that giving search and accessibility for the visually impaired provided grounds for regarding the service as a transformative and fair use.  The matter was remanded to the lower court to reconsider the matter of the Guild's standing to sue with respect to the HathiTrust library preservation copies.  As of 2021 the HathiTrust copyright policy has been published with the following language

            "[M]any works in our collection are protected by copyright law, so we cannot ordinarily publicly display large portions of those protected works unless we have permission from the copyright holder", and thus "if we cannot determine the copyright or permission status of a work, we restrict access to that work until we can establish its status. Because of differences in international copyright laws, access is also restricted for users outside the United States to works published outside the United States after and including 1896."

So what does this have to do with genealogy?  Why should genealogists be interested in the HathiTrust repository?

The answer is simple and has to do with what can be found in a collection of some 17 million digitized volumes being preserved in the repository and made available for easy viewing.  Many, if not most, of the works in the collection are long out of print, in the public domain, and not easily found and accessed elsewhere in the original published book form without great effort and possible expense of traveling to a physical library or making a time consuming inter-library request for temporary use of the book.  Two examples will suffice to illustrate what is out there and available to the genealogist with internet connection and basic computer research skills.

Suppose you are interested in learning more about the early history of Rhode Island and particularly about the settlement of Aquidneck Island in Narragansett Bay.  If you go to the HathiTrust home page and do a search for "early history of Rhode Island" you will find that there are over 925,000 results.  But if you have read that there is a book from 1920 titled "History of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations" and enter that in the search bar, Voila!  There it is. . . a 1920 book on that subject by Thomas William Bicknell along with thousands of other results for old books that delve into the history of Rhode Island at various levels.

Or suppose that you are interested in the genealogy of the Carpenter family in the United States that originated from colonial Rehoboth, Massachusetts.  You have heard of a late 19th century genealogy on that family that has often been cited to even though it is recognized to have a number of errors or inaccuracies.  You do not recall the author and you just want to be able to see it without going to the DAR Library in Washington, D.C. where you are told there is a rare physical copy of the massive book.  You want to be able to view it yourself for clues and possible leads for your research.  You go to the HathiTrust home page and enter "Carpenter family Rehoboth, Massachusetts."  You are almost instantly provided with 45,398 results for your search, but the sixth hit down is a thumbnail view of the title page of an 1898 genealogy by Amos B. Carpenter titled "A genealogical history of the Rehoboth branch of the Carpenter family in America, brought down from their English ancestor John Carpenter 1303, with many biographical notes of descendants and allied families."  You click on the "Full View" link and within seconds you can now view a digitized version of the entire 976 pages compliments of digitization of an original copy owned by Cornell University.

The HathiTrust Digital Library should clearly be an arrow in the quiver of every dedicated genealogist.  Just give it a try!

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[1]  The university of Chicago was a founding member of the Big Ten conference, but withdrew from the athletic conference in 1946. Nevertheless, an invitation to the University to join the academic consortium in 1958 was accepted.  The University of Chicago is not currently a member of the BTAA.

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Copyright 2021, John D. Tew

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Witch and Warlock?? -- How a Genealogy Journal Article Led to an Accused Witchy Woman and Her Warlock Husband Hiding in My Genealogy (October 28, 2019)

                          

I've been waiting for an appropriate time to post this recent genealogy discovery and, given the subject matter, the month of October seems to be just right.  The timing also coincides with two items on this blog in recent Saturday Serendipity posts: (1) Item #7 in the September 28th Saturday Serendipity noting a New England Folklore story related to the Salem Witch Trials; and (2) Item #1 in the September 21st Saturday Serendipity about the value of reading academic genealogy journals published by various genealogical organizations.  This post gives me the opportunity to weave together items of interest from some Saturday Serendipity posts with recent probable additions to my genealogy.

The story begins with the fact that one of my 4th great grandmothers is Amey Bishop.  Amey was born in Cumberland, Rhode Island on April 22, 1781.  She married Asquire/Asquare Miller before 1800 when the first of their children, Aurin Miller, was born on April 22, 1800 (his mother's birthday).  Amey died in Cumberland on October 31, 1864.  Both Amey [Bishop] Miller and her husband Asquare/Asquire Miller are buried in Rhode Island Historical Cemetery, Cumberland 3 [1]   located on Dexter Street  in Cumberland, RI.  The cemetery is a short walk from what was the Miller homestead at 551 High Street (also now known as Rte. 114) in Cumberland.

    

Amey [nee Bishop] Miller's parents were Naamon/Namon Bishop and his wife, Hannah [nee Grant] Bishop. Hannah [Grant] Bishop (1753 - 1805) is also interred at Rhode Island Historical Cemetery, Cumberland 3.

Cumberland Cemetery 3 was incorporated by an Act of the Rhode Island General Assembly in 1870. Among the eight incorporators of the cemetery was Eber Miller (1805 - 1877), my 3x great grandfather and the son of Amey [Bishop] Miller (1781 - 1864) and Asquire Miller (1775 - 1825).   Eber Miller and his wife, Abby Hunt (1807 -1893) are also interred in Cumberland Cemetery 3.  I have known for some time about my Bishop ancestors and that they are interred in the historical Cumberland Cemetery 3 along with several of my Miller and Carpenter ancestors and relatives. [2]  

As many genealogists habitually do, I review all the genealogy journals I receive as a result of membership in genealogy organizations, and I peruse other genealogy journals I come across in libraries or elsewhere.  Whenever I browse such journals, the first thing I am looking for is surnames that I know are in my genealogy.  It is not often that I come across a familiar surname that appears to deserve additional attention and research to determine if there is a family connection, but recently I did just that with the Bishop surname.

Because of my Bishop ancestors, when I received the Winter 2019 issue of The Register the first item that caught my eye in the table of contents was the article by Nancy R. Stevens, "Edward Bishop (ca. 1618 - 1697) of Salem and Beverly, Massachusetts." [3]  

The goal of the Nancy Stevens article (hereafter "Stevens") was to further clarify the confusion found in the well-known work, New England Marriages Prior to 1700 by Clarence Almon Torrey.  Torrey's original compilation of marriages lists a total of five Edward Bishops who lived at one time in Salem, Massachusetts. Three of the five Edward Bishops are designated as Edward [1] and the two others are designated as Edward [2] and Edward [3], respectively. [4]  The Third Supplement to Torrey's New England Marriages Prior to 1700 by Melinde Lutz Sanborn (2003) adds yet another Edward Bishop who is noted as being "not Edward [1]."  The Supplement addition of the Edward Bishop who was not the same as Torrey's Edward [1] was undoubtedly based on the 1981 - 1982 work of David L. Greene [5] who established that a sawyer named Edward Bishop married Bridget Playfer/Wasselbe/Oliver in Salem sometime before 1680.  As both Greene and Robert Charles Anderson [6] noted, Bridget Playfer/Wasselbe/Oliver/Bishop had the unfortunate fate to be the first person executed during the 1692 Salem witch trials.  Torrey had originally (and erroneously) attributed the marriage of "Bridget (Warsilbe) (Oliver)" as the second marriage of Edward [1], widower of Hannah Bishop.  [Stevens also points out in her article that the third marriage Torrey originally attributed to Edward [1] -- that to Elizabeth (Lambert) Cash -- "is probably for Edward the sawyer as well."]

In reading and re-reading the Stevens article, it was the carefully documented story of Edward [1] that grabbed my attention and sent me to my maternal Carpenter/Miller/Bishop line to do further research on my 4th great grandmother, Amey Bishop's, paternal genealogy.  The Stevens article had as its central purpose the indentification of "records created by or about Edward [1] Bishop and [to] present a genealogical summary of his children and grandchildren."  My purpose was to try to work backwards from Amey's parents to see if her genealogy (and thus mine) connected to Edward [1], and particularly his son Edward [2] who left Salem and moved to Rehoboth, Massachusetts where he was an innkeeper until he died in Rehoboth on May 12, 1711. 

The presence of Edward [2] and his wife Sarah in Rehoboth was of great interest to me because my 2x great grandfather, Samuel Carpenter, was born in Rehoboth as were both his parents and all his male line back five additional generations.  Samuel Carpenter (1828 - 1904) married Ruth Ann Miller (1828 - 1893) of Cumberland, Rhode Island who was the granddaughter of Amey [Bishop] Miller and her husband, Asquire/Asquare Miller.  And Amey Bishop's father, Naamon Bishop, was born in Rehoboth in 1746.    

The basic biography for Edward [1] was summarized by Stevens as follows: "Edward [1] Bishop was born about 1618 (age in 1680 and 1681), probably in England, and died by 7 November 1697, probably in Beverly, where he lived.  He married probably in Salem about 1645, Hannah _____."

Through careful analysis of the record trail left by Edward [1], Stevens established his presence in Salem and then Beverly from about 1641 until his death in 1697.  Edward [1] and his wife Hannah had three children (two daughters and one son) who were all baptised in Salem: Hannah Bishop married Wiliam Raymond and had five children; Edward [2] Bishop married Sarah Wild and had eleven children; and Mary Bishop married Robert Coburn and had eleven children.

All of the eleven children of Edward [2] Bishop and his wife Sarah [Wild] Bishop were born in either Salem or Beverly, Massachusetts according to the Stevens article.  But only two of their nine sons had any stated connection to Rehoboth -- Jonathan Bishop, who married Abigail Averill, died in Rehoboth in February 1752, and John Bishop, who married twice, died in Rehoboth in September 1748.  So the question for me became, "Did Amey [Bishop] Miller's father Naamon Bishop, who was born in Rehoboth, have any genealogical connection to either Jonathan Bishop (abt. 1675 - 1752) or his younger brother John Bishop (1689 - 1748) and thus to Edward [2] Bishop and his wife Sarah [Wild] Bishop who moved to Rehoboth in 1703?" 

Naamon Bishop's parents were Gould Bishop (born 1703 in Beverly) and Mary [Pullen] Bishop (1712 in Rehoboth - 1756).  Gould Bishop's parents (and thus Naamon's grandparents and Amey [Bishop] Miller's great grandparents) were .  .  .  Jonathan Bishop and his wife Abigail [Averill] Bishop!  And so the answer to my question is that there was a genealogical connection between my 4x great grandmother Amey [Bishop] Miller and both Edward [2] Bishop and his father Edward [1] Bishop.  It appears that Edward [2] Bishop and Sarah [Wild] Bishop are my 8x great grandparents.

So why did the possibility of this genealogical connection back to Edward [1] and Edward [2] interest me so much?  It is because both of these Edward Bishops lived in Salem, Massachusetts during the period of February 1692 to May 1693 when the Salem witch trials occurred.  During that time more than 200 people were accused and 19 were found guilty and executed by hanging (14 women and 5 men).  In addition, one man was crushed to death for refusing to plead and five other people died in jail. [7]

Neither Edward [1] nor his wife Hannah were among the accused during the Salem witchcraft hysteria even though both of them signed a petition in defense of Rebecca Nurse.  Tragically, Rebecca was nonetheless executed on July 19, 1692 for witchcraft involving the killing of seven babies supposedly by using her spirit!

Edward [2] and his wife, Sarah [Wild/Wildes] Bishop daughter of John and Priscilla [Gould] Wild, were not so lucky because both of them were accused of witchcraft and imprisoned in the spring of 1692!  They were transferred to the jail in Boston, but escaped in October 1692. [8]  Eventually they removed to Rehoboth where Edward [2] became an innkeeper.  Both of them died in Rehoboth.  Their son Jonathan Bishop, a sadler, also died in Rehoboth and he and his wife, Abigail [Averill] Bishop, had a son Gould Bishop (who appears to have been named after his great grandmother, Priscilla [Gould] Wild).  Gould Bishop married Mary Pullen in Rehoboth on March 15, 1733 and the second of their three sons was Naamon Bishop born in Rehoboth on January 24, 1746.  Naamon married Hannah Grant in Cumberland, Rhode Island on December 24, 1778.  Naamon and Hannah had two daughters -- Nancy Bishop [9] and Amey Bishop.  As mentioned at the top of this post, Hannah [Grant] Bishop is buried in Cumberland Cemetery 3 and so is her daughter Amey, who is buried with her husband Asquire/Asquare Miller [10]. 

And so, with Halloween and depictions of witches and warlocks popping up on lawns, in stores, and in the costumes of trick-or-treating children, 'tis the season to contemplate the existence of witchcraft.  While I do not believe my 8th great grandparents were a witch and warlock couple, clearly some in Salem, Massachusetts in the spring of 1692 believed they were and accused them of such fabricated evil.  The accusations were taken seriously enough by the supposedly godly powers that governed Salem and nearby communities, that Edward [2] Bishop and his wife Sarah were imprisoned to await trial and possible execution -- but they were fortunate enough to escape and live a full life in Rehoboth, Massachusetts!  

All of the above having been said, however, perhaps I might reconsider if a witch and warlock are sitting in my geneaology IF on Halloween night either of my young granddaughters twitches her nose and things start flying about the room.

😉

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[1]  See the six-part series on Cumberland Cemetery 3 beginning with the initial post of May 20, 2016 and the documents and photos presented there.

[2]  As explained in my blog series on Cumberland Cemetery 3, my mother's father (my maternal grandfather), Everett S. Carpenter (1891 - 1962), was the last Secretary/Treasurer of the Cumberland Cemetery and it was from him that all the documents relating to the Cumberland Cemetery eventually came to me so that the information and names contained in them could be published and shared with others.  See also, John D. Tew, "Discoveries About Cumberland Cemetery 3," Rhode Island Roots, Journal of the Rhode Island Genealogical Society, 43 (December 2017): 211 - 226.

[3]  Nancy R. Stevens, "Edward Bishop (ca. 1618 - 1697) of Salem and Beverly, Massachusetts," The New England Historical and Genealogical Register -- The Journal of American Genealogy 173 (Winter 2019): 52 - 65.

[4]  With respect to Edward [2] and Edward [3], Stevens observes that the one entry in Torrey's original compilation for each of these Edwards "have stood the test of time" and they are the son of Edward [1] and the grandson of Edward [1] respectively.

[5]  David L. Greene. "Salem Witches I: Bridget Bishop," The American Genealogist 57 (1981): 129 - 138; 58 (1982): 163.

[6]  Robert Charles Anderson, "Bridget (Playfer) (Wasselbe)(Oliver) Bishop: Her Origin and First Husband," The American Genealogist 64 (1989): 207.

[7]  See, "Salem witch trials" at Wikipedia.

[8]  See, "Edward Bishop (Salem witch trials)" at Wikipedia.

[9]  My 2x great grandfather, Samuel Carpenter (who married Ruth Ann Miller, daughter of Eber Miller), had tthree children: my great grandfather Samual Eber Carpenter and his two sisters Abby Laura Carpenter, and Nancy Bishop Carpenter.  Nancy Bishop Carpenter was named after her great grandmother Amey [Bishop] Carpenter's sister, Nancy Bishop.

[10]  My Miller ancestors in Cumberland, Rhode Island also originally came from Rehoboth.  The Millard/Miller family had been living there for four generations when Peter Miller (who was born in Rehoboth) married Anne Aldrich of Cumberland in November 1766 and relocated to Cumberland.  It was Peter Miller who built (sometime around 1767) what became the Miller/Carpenter homestead on High Street in Cumberland. 

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Copyright 2019, John D. Tew

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Who knew . . . but is it true? (December 17, 2016) : The Mayflower; Benjamin Church; King Phillip's War; Anawan Rock; and Me??

Several years ago I was finally able to complete the research and documentation necessary to prove the family lore that held we were Mayflower descendants through my mother's line. The problem had been that while my maternal grandmother maintained that we were descended from Richard Warren of the Mayflower, I was never clear about whether it was through her Cooke line or through the line of her husband, my grandfather Everett Carpenter. [I have blogged previously about how I finally had the "Eureka Moment" when all the pieces of the centuries-old puzzle fell into place and I was accepted by the General Society of Mayflower Descendants. You can see that post from May 23, 2013 here.] As it happens, there are actually two known lines of descent from Richard Warren to me and they both pass through my mother's mother and her Cooke line. 

Tracing in reverse order one of the meandering lines of connection from me to Richard Warren, the path eventually comes to the marriage of Richard Warren's fourth daughter Elizabeth Warren (1616 - 1669) to one Richard Church (1608 - 1668). Richard and Elizabeth Church are my 9th great grandparents.

               Me 

               Shirley Carpenter m. Arnold G. Tew, Jr.

               Ruth Eaton Cooke (1897 - 1979) m. Everett Shearman Carpenter (1891 - 1962)

               Walter W. Cooke (1869 - 1944) m. Florence L. Flagg (1870 - 1904)

               George H. Cooke (1843 - 1872) m. Susannah C. Appell (1844 - 1906)

               Russell Cook (1810 - 1884) m. Mary Vinal Otis (1806 - 1881)

               Benjamin Cook (1768 - 1846) m. Abigail Church (1771 - 1845)

               Ebenezer Church (1726 - 1825) m. Hannah Wood (1734 - 1815)

               Caleb Church (1701 - 1769) m. Deborah Woolworth (1703 - 1733)

               Joseph Church Jr. (1663 - 1715) m. Grace Shaw (1666 - 1737)

               Joseph Church Sr. (1637 - 1711) m. Mary Tucker (1641 - 1710)

               Richard Church (1608 - 1668) m. Elizabeth Warren* (1616 - 1669) 

               * Elizabeth Warren was the fourth child and fourth daughter of 

                     Richard Warren and Elizabeth Walker, his wife.

               

Elizabeth Warren and Richard Church had at least ten children according to the Mayflower Families series. The second son of Elizabeth and Richard Church was Benjamin Church (1639 - 1718), the immediate younger brother and sibling of my 8th great grandfather, Joseph Church Sr.

Benjamin Church is my 9th great uncle. He was a very interesting character and Nathaniel Philbrick, author of Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War (New York: Penguin Group, 2006), devotes considerable space in his book to the person and character of Benjamin Church. According to Mr. Philbrick, Benjamin was a thirty-three-year-old carpenter who became "the first Englishman to settle in the southeastern tip of Narragansett Bay at a place called Sakonnet [Little Compton, Rhode Island today], home to the female sachem Awashonks and several hundred of her people." Benjamin was a man who wanted to create his own home from scratch out of what was then wilderness in Indian territory. As Philbrick put it, "Church was a throwback to his maternal grandfather, Mayflower passenger Richard Warren. By Moving to Sakonnet, he was leaving his past behind and beginning anew in Indian country." (Mayflower, p. 233)

It took Benjamin Church little time to realize that his dream of establishing a home at Sakonnet for himself, his wife Alice Southworth, and their two-year-old son Thomas (who were left behind in Duxbury) depended on establishing a good relationship, if not a friendship, with the sachem Awashonks. In time he succeeded in establishing such a friendship with Awashonks that at some point in June 1675 she warned Church that Metacomet, the second son of Massasoit of the Wampanoag's (by then known by his adopted English name of Phillip), was about to start a war with the English colonists. Philip wanted her Sakonnets to join him, and Awashonks wanted Church's advice first. Church advised that she and her people look to Plymouth Colony for protection and promised her he would go to Plymouth to warn the governor and return with instructions. Before he could do so, the predicted war broke out and eventually spread throughout New England. The war -- known today as "King Philip's War -- lasted from 1675 to 1678. More than half of New England towns were at one time or another attacked by Native American warriors and in southern New England more than 1,000 colonists and 3,000 Native Americans were dead.

Benjamin Church became a captain for the first Ranger [1] force in America in 1676 when he was commissioned by Josiah Winslow, the Governor of Plymouth Colony, to form a ranger company during King Philip's War. He was one of the principal leaders among the settlers. Today he is considered the "Father of American Rangers." [See, "United States Army Rangers" at Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Army_Rangers#Colonial_period] Church played an active and leading role in the war that Philbrick (Mayflower, p. 357) summarizes as follows . . . 

               [N]o matter how desperately our nation's mythologizers might wish

               it had never happened, King Philip's War will not go away. The

               fourteen bloody months between June 1675 and August 1676 had a

               vast, disturbing impact on the development of New England and,

               with it, all of America.

On August 12, 1676, Church's company of rangers conducted an operation that resulted in the killing of King Philip by one of Captain Benjamin Church's allies -- a Native American named John Alderman. Philip's body was "then butchered in a manner standard with English punishment for treason."[2] The body was drawn and quartered. The war effectively ended soon after the death of King Philip though skirmishes continued in far northern New England into 1678. In the greater part of the war theater in southern New England, the war ended on August 28, 1676 when Captain Benjamin Church succeeded in capturing one of King Philip's chief captains, Anawan, the war chief of the Pocasset people at the site of what is now known as "Anawan Rock" in Rehoboth, Massachusetts. Philbrick tells the full story of the capture of Anawan in Mayflower at pages 338 - 344 and it does not end well for Anawan for he was beheaded while Church was away discussing the possibility of his taking a company to Maine to assist in hostilities against the Abenakis. Church had hoped to turn Anawan to his side as an ally in the fight against the Abenakis, but that was not to be.

Philbrick's closing words about Benjamin Church are as follows (Mayflower, 357-58) . . .

               Out of the annealing flame of one of the most horrendous wars ever fought

               in North America, [Church] forged an identity that was part Pilgrim, part

               mariner, part Indian, and altogether his own. That so many characters 

               from American history and literature resemble him -- from Daniel Boone to

               Davy Crockett to Natty Bumppo to Rambo -- does nothing to diminish the

               stunning originality of the persona he creates in [his] Entertaining Passages

               Relating to Philip's War. That Church according to Church is too brave, too

               cunning, and too good to be true is beside the point. America was destined

               to become a nation of self-fashioned and self-promoting men. What makes

               his story so special, I believe, is that he shows us how the nightmare of

               wilderness warfare might one day give rise to a society that promises liberty

               and justice for all.

*     *     *

There is another interesting line of descent that passes through my mother to me, but this one comes via my mother's father, Everett S. Carpenter. Tracing this somewhat less meandering line of descent to a 4th great grandmother and her father and grandfather onto the farm they owned at the time of the American Revolution, the line is as follows . . .

               Me 

               Shirley Carpenter m. Arnold G. Tew, Jr.

               Everett Shearman Carpenter (1891 - 1962) m. Ruth Eaton Cooke (1897 - 1979) 

               Samuel Eber Carpenter (1853 - 1929) m. Sarah Etta Freeman (1858 - 1945)

               Samuel Carpenter (1828 - 1904) m. Ruth Ann Miller (1828 - 1893)

               Joseph Carpenter (1789 - 1880) m. Nancy Mason Bullock (1793 - 1880)

               James Carpenter (1767 - 1812) m. Lucy Bliss (1769 - 1817) -- my 4th great

                    grandmother

               Jonathan Bliss (1739 - 1800) m. Lydia Wheeler (1737 - 1803)

               Ephraim Bliss (1699 - 1778) m. Rachel Carpenter (1699 - 1784) -- my 6th great

                    grandparents

As the descent line above indicates, Ephraim and Rachel Bliss had a son named Jonathan who married Lydia Wheeler. One of the numerous children of Jonathan and Lydia Bliss was Lucy Bliss who married James Carpenter in Rehoboth, Massachusetts on March 6, 1789. Their son Joseph Carpenter married Nancy Mason Bullock and they had 14 children, one of whom was my great great grandfather Samuel Carpenter. Another of their children was Lucy Bliss Carpenter who was named after Joseph's mother Lucy Bliss. Lucy Bliss Carpenter (my 3rd great aunt) married Everett Leprilete Sweet on March 6, 1851.

I posted recently about Lucy Bliss [Carpenter] Sweet and the written Memorial to her compiled by Mrs George St. John Sheffield sometime after Lucy's death on December 13, 1910.  A copy of the Memorial was kindly provided to me recently by my 4th cousin, Neysa [Carpenter] Garrett.  [See, my post of December 13, 2016 here.] It was a portion of the Memorial to Lucy that provided the inspiration for some research that led to this post of previously undiscovered historical connections in my genealogy . . . as will now be revealed below.

On page 2 of the Memorial to Lucy Bliss [Carpenter] Sweet, her lineage to the Bliss family of Rehoboth was summarized and the fact that she got her name from her grandmother, Lucy Bliss, was explained. In the summary of Lucy Sweet's Bliss lineage, it was stated that Lucy's grandmother, Lucy Bliss, was the daughter of Captain Jonathan Bliss; and, in turn, Lucy Bliss [Carpenter] Sweet was the great great granddaughter of Lieut. Ephraim Bliss -- both Jonathan and Ephraim served during the "War of the Revolution."

Most of this Bliss connection through my Carpenter line was previously known to me, but it was the following passages from page 2 of the Memorial (shown and highlighted below) that really caught my attention . . . 

               [Lucy Bliss] was the granddaughter of Lieut. Ephraim Bliss, who, when the

               War of the Revolution broke out, "though seventy-five years old, shouldered

               his musket, and with his two married sons," -- one of them Captain Jonathan

               Bliss, the father of Lucy, -- "marched away, and joined the Continental Army."

               After a year, [Ephraim] was compelled to return home, but a grandson took his place

               to keep the family number intact. His own services were not ended, however,

               for, one day, when working in a distant field, he heard the note of danger sounded

               from the horn always kept on the bench beside the kitchen door, and, leaving his

               plough in the furrow he hastened on his horse to the house, to learn that a 

               messenger had brought news that the enemy were burning a nearby town . . . At

               once [his saddle bags] were thrown over the horse . . . and the horse was turned

               toward the enemy. *  *  * On this Bliss farm was the celebrated Annawan Rock,

               around which cluster Indian legends. It was the lodge of the chieftain of that name,

               who was under-chieftain to the famous King Philip, and the story of his capture is

               one of the thrilling tales of Philip's War. This romantic spot, -- the rock and some land

               surrounding it, -- was deeded to the Antiquarian Society of Rehoboth, by a

               descendant of Lieut. Bliss, "after it had been in the family over two hundred years."  

Who knew that there was a historical and genealogical connection between my Cooke/Church line through my maternal grandmother and my Carpenter/Bliss line through my maternal grandfather . . . and that it involved the famous Anawan Rock in Rehoboth, Massachusetts too? The only thing that  remains is definite proof of the Bliss ownership of a farm that once included the land on which Anawan Rock sits and its transfer by deed to the Antiquarian Society of Rehoboth.

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[1]   Rangers were men who were hired by colonial governments on a full-time basis to do reconnaissance and to patrol the boundaries of the colonies to provide early warning of troubles.

[2]  See, Wikipedia, "Benjamin Church (ranger)," https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Church_(ranger)

Photograph of the Mayflower II underway from WikiTree at https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:The_Mayflower

The image of an engraving of Benjamin Church from a 19th Century edition of his narrative, Entertaining Passages Relating to Philip's War, is from the author's copy of Nathaniel Philbrick's book Mayflower (p. 234).

The image of Captain Benjamin Church by unknown artist circa 1675 -- New York Public Library,  Stephen Schwarzian Building -- is in the public domain. It was obtained from Wikipedia at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Church_(ranger) 

The image of a 19th Century engraving depicting the capture of Chief Anawan ("Annawon") is from the author's copy of Nathaniel Philbrick's book Mayflower (p. 341).

The photo of the entrance to Anawan Rock is from the website SGC (SouthCoast Ghost): Investigating the Paranormal in Southeast Massachusetts http://southcoastghost.weebly.com/king-phillips-war.html

The fall photo of Anawan Rock in Rehoboth, MA is from the blog Wicked Yankee at http://wickedyankee.blogspot.com/2011/11/anawan-rock-rehoboth-ma.html

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Copyright, John D. Tew

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Immortality (December 13, 2016) -- Lucy Bliss [Carpenter] Sweet

"Immortality Lies in Being Remembered by Family and Friends." -- John D. Tew

I have been on a rather extended "sabbatical' from blogging for several weeks while I focused on assisting my elderly parents up in Pennsylvania, and while I devoted concentrated time to trying to catch up with publishing my blog in book form for long-term preservation purposes. Since October 29th, I have only posted here three times including the last post, which was for my father's 94th birthday on November 28th. I am still trying to catch up on my blog book project, but a recent gift and the calendar made it imperative that I take time to post this today . . . as you will see. 

Very recently, a 4th cousin of mine via my mother's Carpenter line kindly sent me a copy of "A Memorial to Mrs. Lucy Bliss Sweet" that was compiled by Mrs. George St. John Sheffield in late 1910 or, more likely, early 1911. Mrs. Sweet was born a Carpenter and she was the 6th of the 14 children of Joseph and Nancy Carpenter. 

Lucy Bliss [Carpenter] Sweet was born in Rehoboth, Massachusetts on August 1, 1824 and she died in Attleboro, Massachusetts on December 13, 1910 -- 106 years ago today! Since Lucy was an older sister of my great great grandfather, Samuel Carpenter, she is my 3rd great aunt.  

I have written previously about my 3X great grandparents, Joseph and Nancy [Bullock] Carpenter.  [For example, see my February 21, 2013 post here and my February 18, 2013 post here.] Joseph Carpenter was born in Rehoboth, Massachusetts on September 8, 1789. He was the eldest child of the seven children of James Carpenter (1767 - 1812) and his wife Lucy Bliss (1769 - 1817). James and Lucy Carpenter are my 4X great grandparents. Lucy Bliss [Carpenter] Sweet, my 3rd great aunt, was named after her father's mother -- her paternal grandmother -- Lucy [Bliss] Carpenter.

Lucy [Bliss] Carpenter, wife of James Carpenter, was born on June 23, 1769 in Rehoboth and she died in Rehoboth on September 21, 1817. Her parents (my 5X great grandparents), were Jonathan Bliss (1739 - 1800) and his wife, Lydia Wheeler (1737 - 1803). 

On March 6, 1851, Lucy Bliss Carpenter was married to Everett Leprilete Sweet (1828 - 1868) in Norwich, Connecticut. Lucy's older brother, Rev. George Moulton Carpenter a Methodist minister who was living in Norwich, performed the ceremony in his home. Everett Sweet was the son of Leprilete and Lydia [Dunham] Sweet of Attleborough. Everett and his wife Lucy had five children: Leprilete Sweet (1853 - 1941); Lydia Dunham Sweet (1854 - 1869); Lucy Carpenter Sweet (1855 - 1922); Everett Henry Sweet (1858 - 1893); and Newton James Sweet (1860 - 1941). According to the Memorial to Mrs. Lucy Bliss [Carpenter] Sweet, her husband Everett "spent much of his time at the South [after the Civil War], superintending the getting out of dogwood and persimmon timber, which he shipped North, to be made into shuttles." 

Sadly, Lucy Bliss [Carpenter] Sweet lost her husband Everett just 26 days shy of his 40th birthday in August 1868. Upon her husband's death, Lucy was left as the single parent to five children, the oldest of whom was 15 and the youngest only 8.  Again, as the Memorial states, she, "was left with the entire responsibility of her large family . . . with but slender means, the greater part of which (through some bank failure) was soon lost. Her main asset was a home, but beyond that she had only herself to depend upon for their care and maintenance."

Fortunately for Lucy, her father (and the Carpenters before him) were interested in having educated children.  It was said in the Memorial that Lucy's father Joseph "justly estimated the value of education for his children, and gave to them all that was in his power." On the particulars of that education, the Memorial states . . . 

               "The little red schoolhouse" was the only 'hall of learning" for country children,

               and to it they gathered from far and near, and of all ages, from five to twenty

               years. There were no "grades" in those days, but all the scholars sat together

               on hard benches, in the one not over-heated room; -- nor were there any covered

               barges to transport those living at a distance; there were only the sturdy limbs of

               the youngsters themselves, with which to trudge the long miles, or in winter, rude

               sleds, on which some of the boys, if they were gallant, would draw their favorite

               girls. * * * Here Mrs. Sweet went to school . . . The "little red schoolhouse"

               curriculum comprised chiefly "reading, writing and ciphering," and oral spelling,

               and the girls often worked on their samplers in school. * * * In addition to this

               public instruction a teacher was employed for the Carpenter children in their

               home, -- Miss Fidelia Thompson -- a daughter of the then minister of the 

               Congregational Church, in Rehoboth, and to her, Mrs. Sweet has said, she

               owed her thorough "instruction in English and her love for literature."

So it was that when Lucy lost her husband and much of the family savings, and was left basically with just a home for herself and her five children, she relied on her early education and training with Fidelia Thompson and "her pen became the means of support" for her and her children. She developed some talent as a writer in verse and prose. She became a regular contributor to the Central Falls Visitor and later wrote extensively for the Attleboro Advocate that was bought by her two sons Everett and Newton when they reached adulthood.

Of her writing, the Memorial reported . . . 

               Her prose writings were clear, fair, and sincere, and characterized by her practical

               commonsense, which, as she said of a friend's was "uncommon good," and her

               poems were instinct with the genuine piety of her nature, and, written in easy,

               unaffected diction, possessed a womanly charm "all their own." From early life to

               the very latest years, she was repeatedly called upon to write for special occasions,

               both public and private, and "our own town poet," as she came familiarly to be called,

               could always be depended upon to respond in a manner appropriate and acceptable.

               No matter for what the call might be, __ a hymn for children, a family gathering, a

               dedication, a religious anniversary, a public celebration, the thought would be the

               right one, and the words chosen to express it, would be suitable and in good taste.

So today I raise a glass in memory of Lucy Bliss [Carpenter] Sweet, my 3rd great aunt, a strong and talented woman who left this world 106 years ago today!

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Thank you to my 4th cousin, Neysa [Carpenter] Garrett, who found the Memorial to Mrs. Lucy Bliss Sweet in the Attleboro Public Library, and kindly sent me a copy. It is very much appreciated and is now an important part of my Carpenter genealogy "library."

The photograph of Lucy Bliss [Carpenter] Sweet is taken from the Memorial to Mrs. Lucy Bliss Sweet and is the only verified photograph of Lucy that I have.

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Copyright 2016, John D. Tew

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Tombstone Tuesday (October 7, 2014) -- Elizabeth [Moulton] Carpenter

Yesterday I posted about Thomas Carpenter III, my 5th great grandfather. Thomas served in the Revolutionary War as a colonel in the Massachusetts Militia. Today I post about his wife, Elizabeth Moulton.

Thomas married Elizabeth Moulton on December 26, 1754. She is my 5th great grandmother. Elizabeth was born on July 22, 1736 in Rehoboth, Massachusetts.  She was the daughter of Stephen Moulton and his wife, Rebecca Chase. Elizabeth died in Rehoboth on May 17, 1804. Her grave is located in the Village Cemetery in Rehoboth (also known as Rehoboth Historic Cemetery 8). Her headstone is pictured above.

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Photograph of headstone in Rehoboth Historic Cemetery 8 taken February 8, 2012 by Kenneth Zirkel "kickstand" of Find-A-Grave.  Used by permission granted by Mr. Zirkel at his membership profile (#47213883).  Thank you Mr. Zirkel!

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Copyright 2014, John D. Tew

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Military Monday (October 6, 2014) -- Col. Thomas Carpenter of Rehoboth, Massachusetts

Thomas Carpenter III is my 5th great grandfather.  He was born October 24, 1733 in Rehoboth, Massachusetts the son of Thomas Carpenter and Mary Barstow. He was the great great grandson of William Carpenter who was born in England in 1605 and immigrated to Massachusetts in 1638. 

Thomas Carpenter III died in Rehoboth on April 26, 1807.  He was married to Elizabeth Moulton (1736 - 1804) and they had twelve children together, including my 4th great grandfather, James Carpenter (1767 - 1812).

Thomas and Elizabeth built their home in Rehoboth at what is now 77 Bay State Road. The home was completed in 1755. In 1983, the home was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The home is pictured immediately below.

The Thomas Carpenter House, 77 Bay State Road, Rehoboth, Massachusetts

  

Thomas Carpenter III was a colonel in the Massachusetts Militia during the Revolutionary War. He commanded the First Bristol Regiment (known as "Carpenter's Regiment") from 1776 - 1780. He had been elected in 1774 to serve as a delegate to represent Rehoboth at the Massachusetts Provincial Congress and in 1775 he was elected Deputy to the General Court of Massachusetts.

Col. Thomas Carpenter served under Major General Lincoln and marched to New York in 1776. In July 1778 Thomas was part of the Rhode Island expedition and he served for one month and nineteen days.  On August 18, 1778 he was ordered to Rhode Island and on the 29th of that month his regiment was involved in action where several of his men (residents of Rehoboth) were killed.  Thomas Carpenter himself was "distinguished for his activity and bravery" at that time. Later, Carpenter's Regiment served under Brigadier General Godfrey and in July and August 1780 he served at Tiverton. 

Col. Thomas Carpenter is the ancestor upon whom my membership in the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (NSSAR) is based.

My descent from Col. Thomas Carpenter is as follows:

          Thomas Carpenter (1733 - 1807)                    m.    Elizabeth Moulton (1736 - 1804)

          James Carpenter (1767 - 1812)                       m.    Lucy Bliss (1769 - 1817)

          Joseph Carpenter (1789 - 1880)                      m.    Nancy Mason Bullock (1793 - 1880)

          Samuel Carpenter (1828 - 1904)                     m.    Ruth Ann Miller (1828 - 1893)

          Samuel Eber Carpenter (1853 - 1929)            m.    Sarah Etta Freeman (1858 - 1945)

          Everett Shearman Carpenter (1891 - 1962)    m.    Ruth Eaton Cooke (1897 - 1979)

          Shirley Carpenter (1927 -     )                         m.    Arnold G. Tew, Jr. (1922 -     )

          John D. Tew

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Photograph of headstone in Rehoboth Historic Cemetery 8 taken February 8, 2012 by Kenneth Zirkel "kickstand" of Find-A-Grave.  Used by permission granted by Mr. Zirkel at his membership profile (#47213883).  Thank you Mr. Zirkel!

Photograph of The Thomas Carpenter House is from the Historic American Buildings Survey and is the property of the Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, MA-394-1. The work is in the public domain as a work prepared by an officer or employee of the United States Government as part of official duties. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Thomas_Carpenter_House.jpg

See, Thomas Carpenter III at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Carpenter_III

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Copyright 2014, John D. Tew

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