more "wicked...."

I have written in the past about relatives who lived outside of societal norms and even the law, and shared stories about both a ghost and a spook, but never a witch--until now. 

Edward Farrington, a paternal 9x great-grandfather, was born in Lynn, Massachusetts in July, 1662, and indicted on two counts of witchcraft. But before we get to all the witchy stuff, some background.

Not Edward Farrington.
"Ginger Witch," by AstraZero.

Edward's father, John Farrington (1622 - 2 May 1666) was born in Olney, England, and came to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1635 as a young man with his parents, settling in Lynn.

A few years later, father and son were among a party sent by Governor Winthrop to establishment an English settlement in what is now Southampton on Long Island, New York, at that time claimed but not occupied by the Dutch. An arrangement was made between the English and the actual first inhabitants, the Shinnecock Nation and the town of Southampton was founded. 

We know that John Farrington stayed in Southampton at least a few years, then returned to Lynn (and the historical record) by at least 1660, when he married Elizabeth Knight (abt 1642 - 1705). John was a cooper and farmer. Four years--and three sons later--he died. Elizabeth, a young mother of three boys including Edward, quickly remarried, and steps out of our story as well.

On 9 April 1690, Edward Farrington, now 27, married Martha Browne (abt 1670 - 22 May 1738) in Andover, Massachusetts. Their first daughter, Elizabeth (my future 8x gg) was born in December, and ultimately they had at least six children (records differ), the last born in 17-- "But we want to hear about the witch!"

"...four or five years since, in the town of Andover aforesaid wickedly, maliciously, and feloniously a covenant with the Devil did make and was baptized by the Devil and unto Him renounced his first baptism & promised to be the Devil's both body and soul forever, and to serve the Devil and signed the Devil's Book, by which diabolical covenant by him with the Devil made in manner and form aforesaid. The said Edward Farrington is become a detestable witch against the peace of the sovereign Lord & Lady the King & Queen, their crown & dignity, and the laws in that case made and provided."

That was Grandpa Edward's first indictment. Dated 13 January 1693, and witnessed by his own hand.  (Transcription modernized for convenience.)

Edward Farrington's indictment.
Photo courtesy of the Massachusetts State Archives.

The second indictment against Edward, brought the same day as the first, was slightly more mundane. He was accused of using

"Certaine Detesteable arts called witchcrafts  & Sorceries Wickedly and Mallishiously and felloniously" 

against Mary Warren, who was supposedly

"Tortured Afflicted Pined & Tormented Consumed Pined & wasted against."

Well then. That indictment was witnessed by Ann Putnam, one of the primary accusers in Salem. Belonging to one of New England's most prominent families, Ann began naming names at age twelve, when she first claimed she had been "afflicted." Ultimately she personally accused nearly one third of Salem's suspected "witches." Perhaps karmically, she died relatively young after years of actual chronic illness.

Mary Warren was apparently prone to fits and convulsions, whether genuine or not. Soon after Edward's indictment, she renounced all her accusations, after which she was accused and tried for witchcraft herself. Hysteria was in the air. Like Ann Putnam, Warren never married and died in her mid-thirties.

If their names seem familiar, it is because Mary Warren and Ann Putnam were immortalized as characters in Arthur Miller's 1953 play The Crucible. For those of you who forget your high school English class, Miller used the mass hysteria, suspicions, unsupported accusations, and persecution of "others" during the Salem witch trials as an allegory for the McCarthyism occurring in his own era. Sadly, it seems to be as timely today as when it was written.

From the original production of The Crucible.
Photo courtesy of Getty Images

Despite the two indictments, Edward Farrington was not tried, nor convicted. By May 1693 the craze had ended, the trials ceased, and everyone still in custody was pardoned by Governor Phips. (Some suggest it was because his own wife was now one of the accused.) Edward returned home to wife Martha and daughter Elizabeth, had more children, and lived an otherwise eventless--or at least undocumented--life for another fifty-odd years. 

"Captain Alden Denounced," Anonymous, 1878. 

Of course, it did not end so well for some of the accused. Edward Farrington was just one of over two hundred people who were called out, of whom thirty were found guilty and twenty put to death. In 2019, we visited the Salem Witch Trials Memorial Park. It was moving and tragic, even without knowing the family connection. The Museum had a thought-provoking exhibit about witch-hunts throughout history, that came down to the simple formula:

"fear + a trigger = a scapegoat." 

At the Memorial Park. Rebecca Nurse also appears in The Crucible.
Photo by your blogger.

I've only recently added Edward Farrington to my family tree, through a breakthrough in a brick wall provided by another online researcher. (Thanks again, Chip!) As I mention, I was not aware when we visited Salem that I had an alleged witch among my ancestors.

What I did know, however, was that some of the Putnam family appear in my extended family tree as well, on my maternal side, which perhaps adds a genetic twist to my parents' acrimonious divorce, but I digress. I did not consider them much, though, as the relationships were distant and not blood: two descendants of Ann Putnam's grandfather, Sarah Putnam (28 Nov 1708 - 13 Apr 1802) and Rachel Putnam (6 Sep 1757 - 10 Oct 1847), married, respectively, a 6x great granduncle of mine, Joseph Steele (1706 - 23 Feb 1788) and Samuel Steele (19 Feb 1751 - 13 Dec 1811), a 1st cousin, seven times removed. 

Families are interesting, and so is history. Considering my own family history always makes me think, and feel a profound connection to this country. Today's meditation?
"We are only what we always were." --Arthur Miller

"She hides handsome and richly dressed aft the blinds of the window..."

Today being Hallowe'en, I wanted to post something mysterious, murderous, or macabre about my family history. Alas, we seem always to have been a pretty clean-cut, upstanding group. Where are my highwaymen, defrocked clergy, or sheep-stealers hung by the neck until dead? But I was able to find two apposite legends; so legendary, in fact, that they only concern possible family members.

The first story concerns at least one of the legitimate (by which I mean factual, not bastardy) children of Ira Baker Brown (28 Jun 1829 - 15 May 1899), a maternal second great-grand-uncle, oldest brother to Silas W Brown, about whom I have written before. Among many other occupations, including cooper, painter, soda maker (?), and photographer (he owned a panorama camera), Ira Baker Brown was also a sextant at the Edgewood Cemetery in Chillicothe, Missouri. Oooooohhhh! Not terribly spooky in itself, I know, although I did try to add a little atmosphere to the photo below.



Edgewood Cemetery, original photo by "mordecarr" at findagrave.com.

No, the grim component to this story is that his children, twins (a classic horror trope!) Orlando and Malvina (5 Oct 1859 - 15 Jul 1863) were apparently both struck by lightning while at school, and killed instantly. Let us pause to shudder while considering that idea.



Not our twins, but a suitably macabre illustration,
 from Edward Gorey's The Epiplectic Bicycle.

It is an awfully good story, and comes to us from no less an authority than Timothy Hopkins' John Hopkins of Cambridge, 1634, and Some of His Descendants (1932, Stanford University Press), the former Martha Abigail Hopkins (27 Jul 1834 - 1 Apr 1924) being Mrs Brown, and consequently the children's mother. The only problem is that the story is merely that. There are no records of daughter Malvina Brown, despite her "twin" Orlando appearing on the 1860 U S Federal Census. And it is doubtful Orlando, even allowing for the lightning strike, would have been in school, as he was just three years old at the time of his death. Like many family stories (and I am sure you can think of examples in your own lineage), there may be some truth in this tale, but not as it has come down to us.

The second legend involves an actual person, unlike the mythic Malvina Brown, and it involves everything from piracy to a haunted house. The stretch here is that I have not been able to prove our heroine is related to me (although it is likely); she certainly would have been known by some of my ancestors. I am referring to Mary Wilson (Jul 1720 - 13 [alas, not a Friday] Feb 1814). Who? She is better known to New Englanders and beloved by ghost-story fans as Ocean Born Mary.

The legend has inspired everything from a children's book to an indie album to a puppet show.

The story, aptly enough, does begin with her birth at sea, on board the sinisterly-named Wolf, coming from Ireland to the New World. The ship was overtaken by pirates, whose captain was named Don Pedro. Upon seeing the newborn girl in her mother's arms, the oddly sentimental Captain, struck by the beauty of the red-haired child, said he would spare the lives of all aboard, and return the plunder his men had taken--if the child would be named "Maria," after his own mother. Needless to say, Mother Wilson agreed, so the pirates departed, but not before Don Pedro returned to the cabin to present her with a length of sumptuous green brocade, for baby Mary to wear on her wedding day.

Upon reaching land, the Wilson family settled in Nutfield, New Hampshire (present-day Londonderry), where Ocean Born Mary grew up. Her father James Wilson, died soon after their arrival, and her mother, Elizabeth (nee Fulton), married James Clarke, also of Nutfield. Mary Wilson was known to be tall, with fiery red hair and aquamarine eyes. On 18 December 1742, she married James Wallace (1712 - 30 Oct 1781), wearing, as promised, a dress made of the ill-gotten seafoam brocade. The Wallaces stayed in Londonderry, and had five children, living a normal life until James died. Then Mary's tale takes another bizarre turn...

And it is here that I must interrupt (this is called building suspense) to explain how Ocean Born Mary Wilson Wallace may be related to me. As I have written before, my seventh great-grandparents, Thomas Steele (1683- 22 Feb 1748) and Martha Morrison (1686 - 22 Oct 1759) were among the founding families of Nutfield/Londonderry and were well-acquainted with the Clarkes and Pattersons (into which family Mary's only daughter married), so certainly would have known Ocean Born Mary. And the Steele's daughter, Janet (1703 - aft 1754), married John Wallace (abt 1700 - 1785) in 1720; they are my sixth great-grandparents. John Wallace is very likely  related to Ocean Born Mary's husband James Wallace, although it has not been proven. But today's theme is meant to be more chilling than genealogical, so to continue....

After her husband's death, Mary moved away from Nutfield to nearby Henniker, New Hampshire, perhaps to be near her now-grown sons. Don Pedro--remember him?--had since retired from piracy, but never forgot Ocean Born Mary. He sought her out using his stolen fortune, and upon discovering she lived in New Hampshire, bought land there and built a magnificent mansion on a hill, in which he intended to install Mary as, if not a bride, at least a companion. She accepted, and they lived a life of leisure and luxury, including a black carriage drawn by four white horses. They were a striking couple: the elegant Irish widow and the fine "Spanish" gentleman.

The only thing that marred their gentility was the occasional reappearance of someone from Don Pedro's piratical past. Mary once thought she saw figures, including her husband, digging a hole behind their home, in which to place an enormous trunk. When she asked Don Pedro about it, he denied everything, but less than a year later, she discovered him in that same spot, dead, with a cutlass stuck through his back! Rather than risk digging on their land, Mary instructed the servants to bury Don Pedro under the hearth. Although occasionally rumors surfaced about Don Pedro's background, and wild stories abounded about treasure buried there, Mary continued to live in the house until her death.

The home stayed in the family for nearly a hundred years, often occupied by tenants, who never seemed to stay long. The house fell into disrepair. Soon, ghost stories began to spread, tales of ectoplasmic buccaneers, or a tall ethereal woman descending the stairs; sometimes they told of phantom carriages driven by a flame-haired woman.

About 1918, a new family, the Roys, bought the home, and began to notice many peculiar things, from objects behaving oddly to apparitional appearances. Learning of the folklore surrounding their home, they decided to share the "haunted house" with neighbors, then tourists. Word got out to reporters and psychic investigators, and soon Ocean Born Mary's story was out. Her fame went as far as National Geographic magazine, which featured her in an article from 1939 about prominent American ghosts. Through the 1960s, members of the Roy family continue to charge for tours, and even rented shovels to those brave--or greedy--enough to want to dig for treasure.

Times change, and we learn more. Whether that is good or bad is hard to say. The family that bought the house next said the Roys admitted the entire ghost story was fabricated, as a way to make money. Historians have provided documents proving that Mary would have been over sixty (and Don Pedro older still) when they moved into the house. Researchers dug deeper and learned that the supposedly haunted house was not even Mary's, but her son Robert's. Although she did live nearby, she so disliked him it is doubtful she ever visited the house.



Ghost-y, and less-so. Left, the infamous "Ocean Born Mary House" touted by the Roys;
 Right, Mary's actual home.

Yet to this day, there are many that go to Ocean Born Mary's House--particularly on Hallowe'en--to try to catch a glimpse of the black carriage coming up the hill, or the fiery-haired woman of New England folklore. Will she be seen tonight? How much is true? Is she related to me? I suppose it depends on what you want to believe....

An evocative recent image by Victor Ambrus.



"...one supposed it lucky to be born"

So the other day was my birthday, and at my age you don't make too much of it--although I did get a smashing donut "cake." As I was reading the morning paper (before it became too covered in chocolate and sprinkles to make out), my eye fell on the "Today in History" column, and later on the list of the day's celebrity birthdays. It was reasonably interesting to discover that in 1609 Henry Hudson began exploring the river that was later to bear his name, and that Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning chose to elope on "my day" in 1846. I have no idea who Yuto Nagatomo is, but it was nice to see that H. L. Mencken, Maurice Chevalier, Alfred A. Knopf, and Jesse Owens are all among my Virgo buddies. Apparently 12 September is also the feast days for several saints, including Ailbe of Emly (patron saint of wolves) AKA Saint Elvis (!), and Guy of Anderlecht (who protects against rabies). Fascinating.

Putting aside these strangers, I wondered who in my family tree shared my birthday; out of over four thousand people (albeit many of whose birth dates are unknown), I figured there had to be a few.

Reviewing the report I generated, I noticed that there were other events tied to 12 September as well: two deaths, Lillian Amelia Johnson, mother-in-law of a maternal first cousin, twice removed (26 Oct 1886 - 12 Sep 1977); and Robert Elmer Velin, father-in-law of a maternal first cousin, once removed (3 May 1916 - 12 Sep 1979). My birthday is also the death date of John Alden (15 Sep 1598 - 12 Sep 1687) of history and legend, who may be a paternal eleventh great-grandfather, although I am still verifying this.



A fictional representation of a feasible ancestor.

There has also been one marriage, that of Moses Steele (10 Sep 1745 - 9 Feb 1814), a maternal first cousin seven times removed, to a Lydia Campbell--or Gibson, records vary--(19 Sep 1776 - 7 May 1836), on 12 September 1805, in New Hampshire, just months after the death of his first wife, Abigail Codd (15 Dec 1751 - 24 Jan 1805). Miss Campbell being Mr Steele's second wife may explain the nearly twenty year age difference....

But back to the birthdays. More distant relations include Elizabeth Mott (12 Sep 1672 - 22 Mar 1749), a paternal ninth great grand-aunt (and one of five women by that name in the family), and Claire Elaine Runser (12 Sep 1929 - 4 Oct 1946), a maternal second cousin, once removed.

My only direct ancestors who share my birthday are actually father and son: Benjamin Lowell (12 Sep 1642 - 22 Oct 1714) and Joseph Lowell (12 Sep 1680 - 8 Apr 1753), paternal eighth and seventh great grandfather, respectively. In an odd coincidence, Benjamin died on the same date as my sister's birthday.

Benjamin Lowell was born in Newbury, Massachusetts, the son and grandson of two of the town founders: Percival Lowell (1571- 8 Jan 1664), who emigrated from England with his family, including son John Lowell (1595 - 10 Jul 1647), Benjamin's father. The family connections with Newbury run deep. Benjamin Lowell married Ruth Woodman (28 Mar 1646 - 22 Oct 1714), daughter of another town founder, Edward Woodman (27 Dec 1606 - 11 May 1670). There are excellent articles about John Lowell and Edward Woodman at the Newbury, Essex County, MA GenWeb site.

http://newbury.essexcountyma.net/lowell.htm
http://newbury.essexcountyma.net/woodman.htm

A vintage postcard of the Founder's Memorial, and a detail of one of the sides.

Somehow this post seems to have taken us quite a ways from my birthday, which when you get to be my age, might be just as well. Time for another donut.

1. Benjamin Lowell (12 Sep 1642 - 22 Oct 1714) was born in Newbury, Essex, Massachusetts, where he married Ruth Woodman (28 Mar 1646 - 22 Oct 1714) on 17 Oct 1666.

2. Joseph Lowell (12 Sep 1680 - 8 Apr 1753) was also born, and died, in Newbury. It was also there that he married Mary Hardy (2 Feb 1693 - 4 Nov 1747), daughter of George Hardy (1660 - 6 Nov 1694) and Mary Fogg (1 May 1662 - 6 Nov 1694), on 6 Dec 1707.

3. Joseph Lowell (20 Feb 1720 - aft 1769) married Mary Jones (5 Feb 1726 - ?), daughter of Joseph Jones (1 Oct 1702 - ?) and Mary Prowse (26 Nov 1703 - 1783), on 11 Jan 1745, in Newbury, Essex, Massachusetts.

4. Hannah Lowell (23 Jan 1759 - Sep 1802) married Reuben Grindle (20 Mar 1757 - 15 Jul 1835), son of John Grindle (1 Aug 1714 - 1794) and Elizabeth Dorr (1727 - 12 Apr 1761), on 6 Oct 1777, in Penobscot, Hancock, Maine.

5. Deborah Grindle (25 Feb 1784 - aft 1860), married Isaac Burnett (1780 - May 1860), parents unknown, on 23 Dec 1802, in Hancock County, Maine.

6. Nathaniel S Burnett (12 Mar 1826 - 10 Oct 1885) married Rachel Elizabeth Squire (28 Jan 1829 - 21 Apr 1902), daughter of Samuel Squire (13 Apr 1797 - 26 Jul 1871) and Lovina Coleman (27 Oct 1806 - 2 Jul 1901), on 26 Dec 1850, in Hancock County, Maine.

7. Charles A Burnett (Feb 1856 - 17 Jan 1930) married Ella Swarts (1 Sep 1861 - Apr 1899), daughter of Charles Swarts (12 Feb 1835 - 8 Jan 1909) and Henrietta Davenport (Jan 1836 - May 1904), on 1 Sep 1879 (her eighteenth birthday), at Spring Lake, Minnesota.

8. Alfred Nathaniel Burnett (19 Aug 1883 - 31 Jul 1959) married Jennie Arleta Eaton (14 Mar 1891 - 15 Apr 1979), daughter of Dor Henry Eaton (May 1869 - 31 Dec 1945) and Anna B Miller (Jan 1867 - aft 1920), in 1909 in Minnesota.

9. Leroy Stanley Burnett (31 Aug 1910 - 11 May 1980) married Hazel Lucille Erickson (6 Sep 1910 - 6 May 2002), daughter of Erick Albert Erickson (28 Aug 1864 - 27 Nov 1948) and Johanna Maria "Marie" Svard (5 Feb 1875 - 28 Apr 1914),on 21 Jun 1933 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

10. [Living] Burnett married Beverly Alane Brown (8 Aug 1934 - 7 Mar 2010), daughter of Dana Earl Brown (26 Jan 1910 - 10 Sep 1984) and Myrna Margaret Severin (6 Nov 1907 - 12 Jun 1997), on 4 Mar 1961 in Long Beach, California.

11. Your humble blogger.

"other births will bring us richness and variety"

My last two postings--although not by design--ended up featuring members of my extended family, collateral line folks who are not direct ancestors. This week--for no good reason, but it is my blog--I will continue that theme. When I began my genealogical research, I focused primarily on my mother's side of the family, and due to a lack of information about her father's side, turned more to her mother. This made sense, too, as my grandmother and her two sisters (and their descendants) were the core of the relatives I know well, the people I still see at holidays and other family gatherings. Delving into the Severin sisters and their ancestry, I got as far back as Thomas Steele (1683? - 22 Feb 1748) and his wife, Martha Morrison (1686 - 22 Oct 1759), seventh great-grandparents, who were the first arrivals (in 1718) in the New World of this part of my family.

Through the Steele descendants, I am related--albeit distantly--to a number of prominent people and families. Of course, Thomas and Martha had six children, and something like thirty-two grandchildren, and the entire US population in--say--1750 was just over one million people, all living on the eastern seaboard, so the odds are in my favor. I certainly can't claim any of these eminent personages' distinctions for my own, but at least I can say that I found their connections to my own flesh and blood. Here are three such people, in chronological order:


First up is Sarah Putnam (28 Nov 1708 - 13 Apr 1802), who married Joseph Steele (1706 - 23 Feb 1788), sixth great-grand uncle, on 2 August 1737, in Middleton, Essex, Massachusetts. He was one of those six children noted above; his older sister Janet Steele (1703 - after 1754) is my forebear. Sarah was part of the noted Putnam family of colonial New England. Her grandfather Edward Putnam, and his brother, Thomas, were accusers in the Salem witch trials; Arthur Miller used Thomas Putnam as the principle villain in The Crucible. Other notable Putnams include Israel Putnam, a General in the Revolutionary War; George Palmer Putnam,who founded the eponymous publishing house; and his grandson, George P Putnam, best known for marrying Amelia Earhart.

John Sullivan (17  Feb 1740 - 23 Jan 1795), was the father of Lydia Sullivan (17 Mar 1763 - 9 Apr 1842), who married Jonathon Steele (3 Sep 1760 - 3 Sep 1824), first cousin, seven times removed, on 17 January 1788, probably in New Hampshire. Jonathon Steele was the son of David Steele (30 Jan 1727 - 19 Jul 1809), another of Thomas and Martha's children. John Sullivan was a delegate to the Continental Congress. After the establishment of the federal government, George Washington nominated Sullivan as the first District Judge of New Hampshire, a post for which he was confirmed. Sullivan also served as Governor of New Hampshire three times. His most notable achievement, however, may have been that he is purported to have fired the first shot in the Revolutionary War; he was later made a General. There are counties named after Sullivan in five states.

Abigail Delano (10 May 1785 - 24 Jun 1869), married Samuel  Cherry (10 Oct 1779 - 10 Oct 1822), fourth great-grand uncle, in 1803, in New York. Samuel Cherry was the older brother of another of my forebears, John Wallace Cherry (27 May 1788 - 10 Feb 1857). Abigail was a descendant of Jonathan Delano, whose other descendants include presidents Ulysses S Grant and Calvin Coolidge, Laura Ingalls Wilder, author of the "Little House on the Prairie" series, and astronaut Alan B Shephard. Jonathan Delano's father was Philippe de Lannoy (or de La Noye), the progenitor of all Delano families in the United States, so yes,  Franklin Delano Roosevelt is also a member of this illustrious family.

To point out once more what a small, interconnected world it was, especially in the earliest years of America, I would like to point out that I am also related--collaterally, of course!--to the Delanos through my paternal side, via Francis Cooke (? - 7 Apr 1663), an eleventh great-grandfather; Cooke was Jonathan Delano's grand-uncle by marriage. 

The aforementioned Calvin Coolidge is also connected to me paternally by marriage. Certainly there is no shared DNA between my discursive self and the famously terse Coolidge, who, when told at dinner that his dining partner had bet she could get more than two words out of him, replied "You lose."

"Wonderful cities and free nations we shall fetch as we go"

Our little village of Greenhills was founded on April 1, 1938. Coincidentally, that was also the day--seventy years later--of Stephen's and my first house payment here in our new home: April Fool's Day, indeed. Our village was the second in what turned out to be just three quasi-Utopian experimental "Green Towns" built under the direction of Rexford G. Tugwell--there's a name!-- who guided the Resettlement Administration, an offshoot of FDR's New Deal and WPA. And although we are not "Pioneers," the nickname for original residents and the current middle school's sports teams, it got me thinking about pioneers, and town founders, and how they relate to my family's history. (I also must add that I enjoy the word "founder," as it relates to "find." Can one found a city or just find it, and how do you find it if it is not already there? But I digress; that is a musing for another, linguistic blog....)

Besides having some Mayflower ancestry (ladida! and about whom more at a later date; someone remind me closer to--perhaps?--Thanksgiving) on my father's side, there are a number of other pioneers:

Thomas Steele (1683 - 22 Feb 1748) and Martha Morrison (1686 - 22 Oct 1759), maternal seventh great-grandparents, arrived from Aghadowey Parish, Northern Ireland in one of five ships full of other Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, and were among the sixteen families who founded the town of Nutfield (present day Londonderry), Rockingham, New Hampshire in 1719.

Capt Samuel Cherry (15 May 1756 - 27 Oct 1825), a maternal fifth great-grandfather, helped settle New Haven, Oswego, New York in 1810, and was appointed one of the first four justices of the town after its formation in 1813.

Isaac Burnett (1780 - 1860), a paternal fourth great-grandfather, was one of the founders of Newport, Penobscot, Maine in 1814, and served as one of the first school agents, for District 5.

Which is all very historico-glamorous, but perhaps not that exciting. After all, we still see new cities being formed, although I cannot imagine that in the future anyone will find much to boast about if their ancestors were early residents of [insert your local soul-less suburb here]. But what about founding a whole state? Which leads me to the particular subject of this post: Stephen Addison Davenport, another paternal fourth great-grandfather, who sports a name nearly as posh as that of the aforementioned Mr Tugwell.

The Davenports are first recorded in America in 1640, when Thomas Davenport (abt 1615 - 1685, paternal tenth great-grandfather) appeared in the Dorchester (present-day Boston), Massachusetts church records. Successive generations of Davenports lived and farmed throughout New England, each son moving away from his birthplace.

Eliphalet Davenport (1750 - 1835, paternal sixth great-grandfather) fought in the Revolutionary War, enlisting as a Connecticut State Trooper under (then) Capt Israel Putnam (a distant connection on my maternal side) in 1775. 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.

His grandson, Stephen Addison Davenport, was born in 1806. He farmed and began raising his family in Madison, New York. In 1841, he moved to the recently-formed Wisconsin Territory and bought a farm near Brighton, in Kenosha County. The move may have come about as a suggestion from his wife, Alma Holmes Doty. She was a descendant of those Mayflower folks to whom I referred earlier, and who seemed to have come from a higher social echelon than the simple Davenport farm-folks; one of her cousins was the Territory's second Governor, James Duane Doty. It is possible that James Doty may have exerted his influence, because Stephen Davenport was elected to serve in the Second Constitutional Convention, representing Racine. Sixty-nine men were picked for this convention, as "men of high standing in their respective Communities" according to Halford Erickson, Commissioner of Labor and Industrial Statistics, in his Blue Book of the State of Wisconsin, 1903. [One wonders what he would make of all the recent goings-on in Wisconsin....] Stephen Addison Davenport was one of the signers of the State Constitution, adopted 1 February 1848 and ratified by popular vote the following month.

One might think that Stephen Davenport, having recently turned forty, fathered six children, and being one of the founders of the thirtieth state admitted to the union, might have taken a well-deserved rest; one would be mistaken. Apparently, the adventurous Davenport gene would not allow this, and Stephen Davenport decided to strike out for even-newer territory: California, and its gold rush. Unfortunately, he was a year too late.

On 30 April 1850, the Salem Company was formed, electing a Capt Noble as their head. It was a group of about two-hundred men, who would travel to California to seek their fortunes. Stephen Addison Davenport was appointed one of Capt Noble's assistants. Among other things, the Company passed a resolution, "excluding Ardent Spirits as a beverage" and disallowing gambling and card playing. The sober group intended to depart from Iowa on 6 May.

Remarkably, there are a number of extant letters from Stephen Davenport to his wife and children, whom he left in the care of a sixteen year old farmhand, Austin Geer. They give a fascinating view into the times.

From Kanesville (now Council Bluffs, the historic starting point of the Mormon Trail), Iowa, 4 May 1850:

 "...now as far as Iowa is concerned it is not a fine nor pleasant nor delightful Country.... There is in this place at this time and in the settlement about 10000 inhabitants and 99 one-hundreths of them are Mormons they are living in mizerable huts as a general thing. Corn is worth 2 dollars per bushel.... [T]he rush of Emigration is Enormous...at this place probably from 5 to 8 thousand people... at St Joe there is said to be 3 times as many as there is here if so great God what the rush must be....Now send the children to school this summer if convenient all except enough to keep you company. Do not be loansum....   [W]e lodge in our waggons nights and bake our own pancakes and keep ourselves as clean as we can but if you or any other person could see the crowd that is here and the situation that we are in, you would then and there see how necessary it is for a man to have a woman.... [G]ood day until I have a chance to wright you from the Eldorado or gold diggings."

And again from Kanesville, 8 May:

 "...tomorrow is the Day we are set to Depart from the White Settlement but I am doubtful whither we get away before the Middle of the week.... Take good care of the pigs there in the pen, yours lovingly S A Davenport"

There are crowds, delays, high prices, and Stephen Davenport continues to suffer from an unknown illness.

From Fort Laramie, Wyoming, 1 June:

 "...dry and cold weather. Grass has but just started our horses have seen hard times. There are a few Soldiers Stationed at this place. The fort and about it is neat and clean. Soldiers neatly dressed and they are in a Romantic place you may Depend. Now in Reguard to myself and my health I am well and Compared with when I last wrote you still I have an occasional pain in my Side and Breast but I do not feel alarmed about it.... I have not seen a white man or woman Except the Emigrants for 590 miles and Do not Expect to See another for 1100 miles more. But I must say to you that I see all kinds of folks and from Every State in the union and they all appear friendly.... Now I want you to Make and Eat you and the children A first rate pie plant pie for me for O God how I long for one and after Eating feed the pigs that I may have Some pork when I get holme next winter.... Now I had the pleasure of Seeing the peak of Laramie that is the fore taste of the Rocky mountains it is now Covered with Snow and ice. This is the most Romantic Country in the world. I believe it is well worth Seeing. We have seen plenty of Buffalo have seen them in Droves."

Fort Laramie, c 1845, by A J Miller

From the North Fork of the American River, Placer County, California, 23 September 1850:

"Dear Wife and Children you must Excuse me for not Writing oftener than what I have, But permit me in the most humble manner to Say to you that our convenience for Writing is not as nice as when we are at holme.... Our Journey across the Plains was Some what A tedious one. We Run Short or porvisions when about a hundred miles from our Journeys End and to that Degree that we were obliged to put our Selves on rations.... This was a hard stent for me after living to Be 43 years old and always having Anough.... We Came through Safe and Sound with our team. All the horses lived through. Old Polly I sold for 85 Dollars, old Nancy I traded to the Indians for A pony and Sold the pony for 80 dollars this made 165 Dollars for my horses, our waggon we throwed away and paid 10 Dollars for another.... I have not lost one Single Day, And have made about 7 Dollars per Day Since.... We arrived here in the mines the 1 Day of August we was from 75 days Coming through the Bluffs.... [We] have been Building a Dam for across the river for purpose of working the bed of the river but have not yet worked it. Digging and washing gold is A hard Business.... I Can only Say that I Shall Come [home] as Soon as I have Money enough to pay my Debts and to get there with. I want you to guide and Direct the Steps of our Children and Say to them that I never lay myself Down on my rather Miserable Bed without thinking of all of you.... For three Months... I lay on the ground without any Shelter over me but my two blankets And was pretty Comfortable too at that. Sleep was never sweeter....We have of late had two quite Rainy Days. This they say is an unheard of thing.... Now I have got a Small but Merry pretty Speciman of pure native gold that I am going to Send to you in this sheet that you may see the nature of the Weed in its natural State this may not look as nice to you as it does to me...."

Stephen writes of the disappointment of the company as to what they expected, finding too many men and not enough gold. His health takes another turn as well.

10 October:

"Dearest and only thought of Woman, I have now Set Down after supper and A hard Days work to inform you that I am yet Alive and well and in as prosperous circumstances as I could expect to be.... Provisions are going up higher But we have got our flour and meat and Butter the latter at one Dolllar per lb. Wouldnt you like to get that for yours.... I suppose you and the girls are knitting your fingers off this fall and Just Save A pare for me mine have got holes in them.... Diging gold is A lottery and Damnd Bewitching. Doo not Believe Anything Else let whom will tell it... for this is A hard way to get Rich and A worse one for Comfort or happiness. All the wealth of the Californias would not induce me to Come on the trip again. All though and for all of the Assertions that I have here made I am not Sorry that I have Come. I have now Seen for myself and know for myself and if I am fortunate enough to get holme Alive and well and once more Enjoy our little family I Shall Be as Rich as I Desire.... Kiss little Willie for me and the younger ones the old ones are to Big to kiss But I doo not forget them. If Austin is there tell him to Be a good Boy."

Stephen Addison Davenport died the following month, from an unknown cause, without ever returning home. The Kenosha Democrat of 19 June 1852 reported that on 11 May, his estate was settled, some of the Davenport farmland being sold off to repay his debts.

Stephen Addison Davenport was born 20 November, 1806, probably in Pennsylvania. He married Alma Holmes Doty (9 Oct 1814 - 10 Aug 1879) in August 1835 in Madison, New York, her birthplace. Shortly after the birth of their third daughter in 1840, the family moved to a farm near Brighton, in the recently organized Wisconsin Territory (the farm stayed in the family until 1952). Three additional children followed, the last in 1849. The following year, Stephen Davenport went west with the Salem Company (to which he was appointed an Assistant) to make his fortune in the California Gold Rush. He died in Placer County, California, November 1850, but is erroneously shown in the 1850 United States Federal Census as still residing in Brighton, Kenosha, Wisconsin in September.

1 Stephen Addison Davenport married Alma Holmes Doty.

2 Henrietta Davenport (Jan 1836 - May 1904) married Charles Swarts (12 Feb 1835 - 8 Jun 1909), son of John Swarts and Mary McDonald, in Wisconsin, in 1859.

3 Ella Swarts (1862 - Apr 1899) was born and lived her entire life in Minnesota. She married Charles A Burnett (Feb 1856 - 17 Jan 1930), son of Nathaniel S Burnett and Rachel Elizabeth Squire, in Scott County, Minnesota, September 1879.

4 Alfred Nathaniel Burnett (19 Aug 1883 - 31 Jul 1959) married Jennie Arleta Eaton (14 Mar 1891 - 15 Apr 1979), daughter of Dor Henry Eaton and Anna B A Miller, in Minnesota, in 1909.

5  Leroy Stanley Burnett (31 Aug 1910 - 11 May 1980) married Hazel Lucille Erickson (6 Sep 1910 - 6 May 2002), daughter of Erick Albert Erickson and Johanna Maria Svard, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on 21 June 1933.

6. [Living] Burnett married Beverly Alane Brown (8 Aug 1934 - 7 Mar 2010), daughter of Dana Earl Brown and Myrna Margaret Severin, in Long Beach, California, on 4 March 1961.

7  Your humble blogger.