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| photo courtesy discoverulsterscots.com |
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| Londonderry NH 2019. Please note my Ulster Scot t-shirt. photo courtesy your humble blogger |
In 2019, on the 300th anniversary of the founding of Nutfield/Londonderry, there was quite a hoopla, a grand addition to their annual Old Home Day celebration. We made the trip out, and even got to ride in the parade, on a float for descendants of the original sixteen families. Alas, somehow we two were the only ones on the float (my husband given honorary founder descendant-by-marriage status), but waved and smiled to the baffled spectators along the route. We were followed by a wonderful group of marching bagpipers (Scotch-Irish, remember), and were later told that somewhere behind them the actual Ben & Jerry rode on a–dare I say–ice cream float. It was a delightful day of Americana.
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| A Parade in Town. Londonderry NH 2019 collage courtesy of your humble blogger |
Anyway. By the time of the War of Independence, it is thought that almost a quarter of a million Scotch-Irish made the journey here, ultimately representing almost fifteen percent of the Colonies’ population. Many of them settled in Appalachia, and their cultural influence can still be seen there today in everything from fiddle music to moonshine. But their influence is broader: the Scotch-Irish were heavily represented in the Revolutionary War; nine Ulster Scots signed the Declaration of Independence, and nearly one third of our Presidents have Scotch-Irish ancestors. Here in the 21st century, other descendants and I of those original Aghadowey parish voyagers have a yearly Zoom call with descendants of those that stayed at home. It is always delightful, full of shared song and storytelling, uniting us across the sea–and years.
With the arrival of the Steeles and Morrisons in 1718, it would be almost one hundred and fifty years before additional ancestors of mine arrived on our shores, coming not from Great Britain, but for the first time throughout northern Europe. But we’ve got plenty of years to cover before then….
For more information on the Ulster Scots, visit here. They also have a terrific YouTube channel. 1730s Of course, not everything was on the historic, grand scale of town foundings and Indian wars, privation and persecution, log cabins, wolves, witch-hunts.... Daily life went on, and one hundred years or so after Plymouth Rock, most folks were preoccupied with necessities, like farming, raising children, and other quotidian pursuits. But they were also beginning to create our own distinct American culture and customs, particularly in the larger, established cities and towns. Even before developments in architecture, music, or literature, however, came American furniture. Adapted from English designs, these earliest pieces quickly began to evolve in both form and material, including our native hardwoods.
Thomas Davenport, 8x gg, was one such early “cabinet-maker,” the general name for wood-workers who designed and constructed not just cabinets, but chairs, tables, bedsteads, and the like. He was known for his “distinctive pierced splat” and “scrolled ears.” (I had to look it up too. Who says family history isn't educational?)
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| Side chair, one of a pair believed to be Davenport's work. Walnut and maple, with modern cushion. |
Sometime after Thomas' first wife, 8x gg Catherine Woodworth (a fitting surname for a carpenter's spouse) died in 1727, he moved across the Sakonnet River from Newport to Little Compton RI. (Her grandfather, 10x gg Walter Woodworth, owned many plots in Little Compton, although he never lived there.) Both locales were known for their outstanding joiners and cabinet-makers. Perhaps that is how Thomas got to know his second wife, Mary Pitman, whom he married in 1737; the men in her family were nearly all noted craftsmen. Thomas continued to craft chairs and tables until his death in 1745.
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| Walter Woodworth's Little Compton RI properties are highlighted. The Southworths and Howlands whose names appear are distant relations. |
Almost one hundred and fifty years later, a resurgence of interest in Colonial and Early American furniture began, both in home décor and as an area of academic research, bringing to light names–like Thomas Davenport’s–that might otherwise have been lost. It persists today. Just in the last few years, chairs by Grandpa Davenport have shown up in Yale University Press books, at Bonham’s Auction House, and on display at the Little Compton Historical Society. You can view one of his chairs and other selections from their exhibit online here. (Scroll down to find the Davenport chair. It’s between the ”Cow Vomit Rope” and the “Sheep Treadmill.” Really.)
Memorials, monuments and plaques are all well and good, commendable reminders of remarkable people and notable achievements. But while very few people can achieve that lofty recognition, all of us can enjoy a nice chair. You can read more about Davenports and design, including a surprising link to Savannah GA here.
1754 It’s interesting to see certain occupations recur in a family tree. Like Thomas Davenport, the subject of this segment was also a chairmaker, among other things. John Grindle, 6x gg, was a fascinating man of many accomplishments–and a few contradictions.
Born in 1714 in Portsmouth NH, just across the Piscataqua River from Maine, John Grindle relocated there by 1740, where he was one of the pioneers of Brooksville. During his lifetime he had three wives, and at least nine children.
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In 1754 Grindle first took part in what is now known as the French & Indian War. In actuality, it was a war between the French and British and their respective colonists and indigenous allies, part of a larger conflict between the two countries over land and commerce in the new world that lasted for almost a decade. The British controlled what we think of as the Thirteen Colonies, while the French occupied much of eastern Canada and the Great Lakes region. (This was the war that first brought George Washington to prominence, as the Commander of the Virginia Regiment.)
Grindle’s exact participation is not documented, but he was considered a respected veteran. A staunch Loyalist, by the time of the War of Independence he was commonly known as “Old Tory Grindle.” In The Grindle Family of Hancock County, Maine, Walter A Snow wrote:
John Grindle had seen the atrocities of the Indians in the families into which he married. He had soldiered long and faithfully for King and Queen. No longer exactly a young man he had found a new life in the frontier wilderness. He was accustomed to finding his security in the trained and seasoned regulars in their red coats. He had exulted in the fall of Quebec. Now in his sixties to witness the hazardous venture of severing ties with the parent country of which his family still carried, perhaps, some fond memories? No wonder his sentiments.
Ironically, four of John’s sons (and two sons-in-law) fought on the American side of the Revolutionary War.
In his sixties, still farming and making chairs, John Grindle took on another role, as the region’s first postmaster (another frequently recurring occupation in my family history, down to my own grandfather, 4x great-grandson of John). From Connee Jellison’s Hancock County, a Rock-Bound Paradise:
The sea was Surry's lifeline. As early as 1775, John Grindle carried the mail in a boat along the shore [of the Bagaduce River] with the letters and papers tied up in a handkerchief….
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| The original lighthouse at Grindle Point. It has since been rebuilt, but is still active. photo courtesy the National Archives |
1760s By 1770 the population of the American Colonies was roughly two million people. I have mentioned fifty of my ancestors by name so far, not counting many of their wives, who did the same things as the men but backwards in an apron and bonnet…. I chose each of them, so far, for their connection to a notable event or movement in our nascent nation’s history.
But what about the immense majority of everyone’s kinfolk not connected to historic touchstones? Who were they, where were they, and what were they doing? Before we leap to our next milestone–the big one!–1776 and the War of Independence, chosen starting point of the America 250 celebration, here is a survey of a few of my forebears not previously mentioned:
William Perham & Hannah Pomery, 6x ggs. They married in 1764. He later was a founding member of the Derryfield (now Manchester NH) Social Library. Members paid an annual fee used to buy books they would share. The collection began with seventy-eight books, mostly on religious topics, then expanded to over 100 titles of all types. Their son Robert (!) was the librarian in 1814. It was disbanded in 1833, members taking which books they wanted.
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| From Miscellaneous Notes & Queries, Vol XV, 1897 |
Southworth Hamlin & Tabitha Atkins, 7xggs. He was a carpenter; she was his second wife. After his death in 1766, she inherited their home and land in Barnstable MA, as well as his carpentry tools, books, and a loom, among other things.
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| A detail from Southworth Hamlin's will. |
Jonathan Stamper & Rachel Parks, 6xggs. By the 1760s they owned a considerable amount of land along Bugaboo Creek in Wilkes County NC. Perhaps not surprisingly, they also owned three slaves. He was appointed a constable, and later opened a tavern.
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| Wilkes Country NC, from an early map. Bugaboo Creek is on the eastern side, near modern-day Ronda. |
John Wallace & Janet Steele, 6xggs. They were among those founding families of Londonderry, NH in 1718 (about which I wrote previously). In 1762, still living in Londonderry, he signed his name on a petition to the Governor of the Province of New Hampshire asking that they be allowed to choose their own Representative.
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| A detail from the petition of Jan 25, 1762. Other signers, including Gregg, Clark, and Lindsey, were in-laws of John Wallace. |
This is as good a time as any to mention the Internet, that double-edged wonder of our Age. Crowded with junk, it also provides access to obscure and bygone documents and information that, if not lost entirely, would at least be nearly inaccessible. I cannot imagine being able to find such detailed information about so many things–even beyond family lore–without it.
Anyway. Speaking of age, this is also a good place to bring up life expectancy vs life span, two distinct things. It is often asserted how lucky we are to live now, because “in the olden days, most people only lived to be 30,” or some other dire approximation. In fact, in the 1760s in the Colonies, the life expectancy was about 34. Yet of my eight direct ancestors mentioned above, four lived into their 80s; their average age at death was 68. Were they lucky? Were they somehow healthier than their neighbors? Not necessarily. They lived the average life span of their time. Life expectancy takes into account things like infant mortality, widespread disease, and fatalities through violence and wars, all rampant during the Colonial era. Times were tough back then, indeed, and many lives were lost too early. Life span, however, is the age one could live to under normal circumstances. Lesson over.
Libraries, taverns, carpentry and such…. Nothing special or historic, just daily life. I hope my ancestors appreciated and enjoyed their mundane experiences. It was a calm before the storm, with ”the shot heard round the world” just a few years off.
1775 - 1783 I have at least eighteen direct ancestors across both sides of my family who fought in the Revolutionary War. While many did not see battle, others were there at defining events.
These men served as Privates:
Reuben Grindle 5x gg, (son of that “Old Tory Grindle” about whom I wrote previously) fought, among other places, at the Battle of Machias [ME] in 1775. It was the first naval battle of the war. You can read more about it here.
Samuel Squire 6x, Capt Emerson’s Company, NH
Aaron Colman 6x, Capt Jones’ Company, MA
John Lombard 6x, Capt Gills’ Company, ME
Eliphalet Davenport 6x, “responded to the Lexington Alarm [MA] in Capt Elias Buell’s Company, and served other enlistments” for three years. According to his Pension records, he served variously as a guard, teamster, and even as personal waiter to Col Thomas Brown, until his discharge in 1779.
Amaziah Doty 6x, Capt Shaw’s Company, MA
Elijah Eaton 6x, Capt Beebe’s Company, NY
Joseph Rasey 5x, Capt Ellis’ Company NH
Thomas Connelly 7x, served under Col Pinckney at the Siege of Charleston [SC] in 1780. Then later that year, at the Battle of Kings Mountain [NC],
Thomas was shot through the body by a British musket ball. A Dr. Hicks, who was half Indian and had graduated from a French University treated the wound by passing a silk handkerchief through it. About three years later in 1783 Thomas died from the wounds.
(From 300 Years in America with the Connely Clan by Reginald D Conley.)
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| Musket balls. They varied in size from a half inch to an inch. photo courtesy of the National Park Service |
John Conley 6x, Thomas’ son, Col Armstrong’s Regiment NC
William Maxwell 5x, Lamb’s Company NC
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| This digitized scrap is the only source we have to show that David Maxwell served. |
Jesse Toliver 5x, was also at Kings Mountain, but in a far less dramatic capacity. You can read more about him elsewhere on my blog.
John Parks 7x, Col Mathews’ Regiment VA
John Isom 5x. Details of his service are unknown, but he received a pension for his service. VA
One reached the rank of Corporal:
Roswell Holmes 6x gg, Col Willet’s Regiment, NY. According to Enlistment Records, he was a shoemaker, and remarkably, stood 6’10!
Two were promoted to the rank of Captain:
Stephen Hickox 6xgg, Col Simonds’ regiment, MA. Stephen fought in both the Battles of Ticonderoga and Saratoga [both NY]. The former is notable as the first offensive victory on the American side in the war, while the latter led to a crucial alliance with France.
Samuel Cherry 5x. The first of my Revolutionary ancestors I discovered, and the one who had the most remarkable career. He was a leader of the 2nd New Hampshire Regiment, and among other things, on 19 Oct 1781 he was present when Lord Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown [VA], heralding the end of the War for Independence. Capt Cherry is the subject of one of my earliest blog posts, where you can learn more about his career.
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| One of two flags of the New Hampshire 2nd Regiment. It is said that Benjamin Franklin designed the intertwined circle motif. |
Huzzah, we won! Now what?
In 1782, our nation’s motto–E Pluribus Unum–was coined, and began appearing on coins just four years later. The committee who chose that motto included Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin, none of whom I descend from.
In 1787 the Constitution was written, ratified in 1788, and went into effect in 1789. There is nary an author nor signer of the Constitution in my family tree. Moving on….
1789 was also the year of the first presidential election. Spoiler: George Washington won, and established the tradition of serving just two terms. I have no presidential ancestors either.
But in 1790 the first US Census was taken, and my ancestors were there–at least some of them. The Census was established in the Constitution to determine the number of representatives for each state in the House of Representatives. It was pretty bare bones: the name of the head of the household, and just five classifications: Free White Men under 16 years old, Free White Men over 16 years old, Free White Females, Free Persons, and Slaves.
The categories give us insight into the time, into who was valued at that time. Native Americans weren’t counted at all, unless they lived in a white household. White men were divided into two age groups only to establish who might join a militia if needed, or able to participate in agriculture and commerce. What was a Free Person? Anyone neither white nor a slave. That number wasn’t very large, of course, at about 1.5% of the nearly four million who were recorded. Slaves, whatever age or gender, were tallied together in one grouping, but for purpose of representation were only considered ⅗ of a person.
Many people, including Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, believed the Census count was far too low, with no real way to verify the information. The population was scattered, transportation was often difficult, and people self-reported their family size, among other concerns. If not a snapshot, we can consider it at least a sketch. A messy sketch.
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| One of the pages for Wilkes County NC in 1790. Jonathan Stamper is in the upper right corner. |
From a genealogical standpoint as well, the 1790 Census was not that great. Many of the original records are lost, although we have some transcripts. Those that survive were handwritten and cluttered. Looking at the listing for 6x gg Jonathan Stamper (mentioned in a previous post), we see this:
2 Free White Males 16 & Over: As head of household, we know that one of those is Jonathan Stamper, but who is the other?
0 Free White Males under 16
2 Free White Females: We can assume one is his wife. The other… ?
1 Free Person: Who is this?
1 Slave: Another unknown.
Apart from the Head of Household, there are no names or relationships given. So a second Adult Male might be a son, brother, uncle, brother-in-law, servant or boarder! An Adult Female might be a wife, aunt, spinster daughter…. With luck and a little detective work, we might be able to figure out who those others are, although we cannot be sure, even of something as basic as his wife. It’s part of the fun–and frustration!--of genealogy.
Who is the other Adult Male over 16? Sons Joel and Jonathan appear on the next page, so that rules them out. Other sons, Joshua and John, are found in Kentucky and North Carolina. Which leaves son Jacob. Or possibly son Jesse. Or someone else entirely.
On the distaff side, we know Jonathan Stamper married Rachel Parks in 1749; we know she died in 1793; we know of no additional marriage records for her. Based on the information we have, it’s a solid assumption that one of those Free White Females was her, but we can’t be certain. As a wise National Park Ranger once told me: it takes three legs to make a stool. The other Free White Female? Daughters Mary and Martha are married and appear elsewhere on the Census with their husbands. Daughter Susannah and her husband, John Burton are not accounted for. Are they on one of the lost Censuses? Are they the two unnamed Free Whites?
(Each time I write “Free White,” I can’t help but be reminded of “Free, White, and 21,” a popular catchphrase of the 1930’s, and the title of a song from 1934 co-written by my grandfather and a fella named Don Rodricks.)
Anyway. The one Free Person remains unknown, and we can only glean a single thing about the slave. In Jonathan Stamper’s will, written in 1793, he leaves “one negro boy by the name of Dave” to son Jesse Stamper. RIP Dave, you are not forgotten.
Ten years later, the US Federal Census of 1800 made one change, daringly adding age brackets for White Females, along with additional categories for Males' ages. So Nathaniel Eaton, 5x gg, and his family shake out like this:
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| Nathaniel Eaton in a detail from the 1800 US Federal Census, Cherry Valley, Otsego County, New York. His father Elijah's family appears on the next line |
3 Males under 10 sons (likely sons Elijah and Elisha and Eliakim)
1 Male 26 - 44 is Nathaniel
1 Female 10 -15 ?
1 Female 26 - 44, probably wife Anna
The additional bracket doesn’t help much. Who is the female 10 - 15? If she is a daughter, she is not accounted for in any other records. Did she marry, or die young? (At any rate, based on the boys’ names, it’s almost a given her name would have begun with an E.) Perhaps she is not a daughter, but a live-in servant? It’s unlikely, but not impossible. (It’s nice to note the Eatons owned no slaves.) Nathaniel’s wife Anna is likely the older female. Sadly, no records give her last name, although it is sometimes seen in secondary sources as Cronk. Really.
The 1810 Census used the same format as the prior one, but in 1820 there were significant additions, including age brackets for both Free Colored and Slaves, and columns to indicate how many people participated in industry, commerce, and agriculture. You would think that additional categories would help, but instead they led to a great deal of confusion, as some people were counted in multiple columns. Remember, only the head of the household was named! In addition to the occupational categories, there was also an additional count of men ages 16 - 18 for military purposes, along with the category of men aged 16 to 25, leading to double counts in those cases.
Tweaks continued every decade, until finally in 1850 we got a Census where every person was given a name, age, race, and even occupation. Hurrah! It also recorded which of those people were literate, deaf, dumb, blind, insane, “idiotic,” a pauper, or a convict. Alas, many of the changes were driven by economic concerns, not representation.
1860 saw the inclusion of Chinese as a race, and Native Americans, but only if they “renounced tribal rules.” Then in 1870, all Black people were finally counted, names and all. In 1880, women were trusted to be enumerators for the first time. The 1890 Census has been completely lost, woe to genealogists; a lot can happen to a family in a twenty year span.
We continued to tweak the Census in the 20th century and beyond, adding new categories as our country saw--and more importantly, recognized--more diversity; same-sex couples, for example, were not counted as such until 2010.
For privacy’s sake, the most recent Census available to view is 1950; barring changes, later counts will continue to be released seventy-two years after they are taken. Future generations looking to learn more about their Uncles Robert and Stephen will have to wait until 2072. Unless, of course, they find these posts first.
