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Tuesday, December 31, 2013

1846 :: Inventory of Roberts Slaves



List of property appraised 31st dec 1846 By David O. Warren James Perkins and Jackson Randol -- and belonging to the estate of Elisha and Patsey Roberts --


MALES Candy, Spencer, Daniel, John, Shedrack, Bedney?, Charles, George, Washington, Bedford, Jerdin, Nathan, Nelson, Philip, Columbus, George, Martin, Burrel, Ceasar, Massaline, Elick?, James, Alfred, Charles, Dick, Carrol, Allen, Leonard


FEMALES Betsey, Rose & child Lewis, Linda Cole, Linda Payne, Rachel, Jenny & child Philip, Clara & child Mary, Caroline & child Dick, Mary, Celia, Elon, Virginia, Vina, Clara, Agg, Louisa & child, Nancy, Gelina


These names are being listed here with the hope that there are researchers who will be assisted in their journey to find their ancestors by the sharing of the names of these individuals . . . this list is made available thanks to the research efforts of Elisha and Patsy's great-great-granddaughter, Esther . . . thanks a bunch cousin Esther!




Saturday, December 21, 2013

Blog Caroling :: I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day


150 years ago today . . . on the 21st day of December . . . in the year 1863 . . . in Houston County, Texas . . . James Madison Hall writes in his Journal that he is choosing to record information on a daily basis (1860-1866) for the benefit of those that come after me, in order that they may see some of the benefits that war brings upon the Country and people . . .


On Christmas Day 1863, J.M. Hall will make reference to their Christmas jollification . . . and will state that all went off as merry as a marriage bell . . .


Meanwile, almost two thousand miles away, while listening to the church bells of Cambridge, Massachusetts toll out the glad tidings of Christmas Day . . . Henry Wadsworth Longfellow picks up his pen and writes the following words . . .



I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along the unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.


Till ringing, singing on its way
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good will to men.


Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!


It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!


And in despair I bowed my head
“There is no peace on earth,” I said,
“For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.”


Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on earth, good will to men.”



The following video gives a version of the story behind those words, as told by Edward K. Herrmann and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir . . .





See also . . .




Thursday, December 19, 2013

1878 :: Marriage of Mary Olive and W.A. Muston


On this date in our family history . . . the 19th day of December . . . in the year 1878 . . . Mary Olive and W.A. Muston are married in Crenshaw County in the State of Alabama . . . this Mary and William are 2nd great-grandparents of the Keeper of this family history blog . . . by 1890 they are in Texas and have had at least three sons . . . in June of that year it is adjudged that the said Mary E. Mustin is a Lunatic, and it is ordered by this court that she be conveyed to the Lunatic Asylum at Austin, County of Travis, for restraint and treatment . . . at least one more child would be born, a daughter, in January of 1893 . . . after that date, no further record has been found of our Mary Olive's existence . . .







Tuesday, November 12, 2013

1833 :: The Night the Stars Fell



 


Texas is the finest portion of the Globe
that has ever blessed my vision.

The above poetic statement was penned by Sam Houston in an 1833 letter to a cousin, shortly after Sam had crossed the Red River and stepped onto Texas soil for the first time, i.e. . . .


On December 2, 1832, an imposing figure stood on the north bank of Red River. His passport read: "General Sam Houston, a Citizen of the United States, thirty-eight years of age, six feet, two inches in stature, brown hair, and light complexion."

Sam would soon become a frequent visitor in the homes of some of the men later described by Alexander Horton as . . . some of the noblest men to be found in any county. They (were) generous, kind, honest and brave . . . Elisha Roberts* . . . Philip A. Sublett* . . . These were the most earliest settlers of East Texas. . . .


*This Elisha is a 4th great-grandpa to the Keeper of this family history blog . . . Sublett is married to Elisha's daughter, Easter Jane . . .

Before Sam left Tennessee, he served as a commander in the Tennessee volunteer militia of General Andrew Jackson during the War of 1812 . . . among those serving under Sam were the Parker brothers, Daniel and Isaac . . . by August of 1833, this Daniel and Isaac were members of a wagon train leaving Illinois, their destination being Texas . . . regarding the people on this wagon train (including a young girl known as Cynthia Ann), according to Glenn Frankel in his book, The Searchers, The Making of an American Legend . . .






In mid-November they reached the brown, placid Sabine River, bordered by pine trees as tall and erect as sentinels, and crossed over into Texas. They camped that first evening, November 12, 1833, near San Augustine, twenty miles deep inside their new promised land, just in time for one of the most awesome celestial events in human history.


On the Night the Stars Fell, the heavens blazed with shooting stars as large as moons trailing clouds of bluish light like divine afterthoughts. Although well past midnight, the bright burning sky illuminated the wide, awestruck faces of the pilgrims as if it were high noon. . . .




As it happens, during the year the stars rained all over the sky, Grandpa Elisha and a large assortment of his kith 'n kin lived near San Augustine, just about Twenty miles deep inside their new promised land . . . i.e., just east of San Augustine and about 20 miles west of the Sabine River . . . so it is quite possible this group of travelers actually camped on land owned and / or occupied by some of our Roberts kith or kin . . .






 

Meanwhile, in another part of Texas in 1833 . . . a family by the name of O'Docharty is residing in San Patricio County during this year of the Plenty Stars Winter . . . as the years passed and their lives on this earth came to an end, many of these family members were laid to rest in the Old Cemetery on the Hill (FYI, it is believed by some that our Elisha's son-in-law, Bryant Daughtry, might be buried in the same cemetery) . . . the matriarch of the O'Docharty family was Susanna, who was tall and slender with a shock of red hair . . . it has been said of her that she accurately predicted her own death . . . the following is a portion of what is referred to as her epitaph . . . it is from a collection of stories handed down through generations by oral tradition . . .





And now I lie with them upon this hill
Mingling with Texas earth as seasons come and go.
Chilling northers bend grasses almost to the ground;
Low-hung clouds are misty blankets
Dropping days of rain upon the earth.

Then wild flowers make sweet the air in spring;
At dawn birds chirp and trill as if to wake us,
But we lie immutable, insensible to summer heat and winter cold . . .
While we lie here a segment of a forgotten colony.




Here I lie beside my own --
A hundred springs have come and gone
Since first I lay upon this lonely hill. . . .




This blogpost was researched and prepared specifically for The Fifth Annual Great Genealogy Poetry Challenge over at cousin Bill's blog which is known as . . . West in New England . . .


Monday, November 11, 2013

1791 :: Birth of Lucy Thurston


On this date in our family history . . . the 11th day of November . . . in the year 1791 . . . a baby girl is born in Cumberland County, Maine . . . her parents, Thomas Thurston and Lucy Fenderson, decide to call her Lucy . . . this Lucy is a 4th great-grandma to the Keeper of this family history blog . . .










Sunday, November 03, 2013

Sentimental Sunday :: Dear Home Faces


Mrs. Silence J. Soule penned the following words . . . I have observed that old people live much in the past. As I grow older I find myself turning oftener to the days in the old home. I hear the patter and the prattle of childish feet and voice ; light step of youth and maid; sober footfall and serious word of man and matron; the slowing step and failing voice of age. All, all are gone! I alone am left of . . .



The dear home faces whereupon
The fitful firelight paled and shone.
Henceforward, listen as I will,
The voices of that hearth are still.
How strange it seems with so much gone
Of life and love to still live on.

These few lines of poetry were adapted by cousin Silence from
Snow-Bound
by
John Greenleaf Whittier


The version linked here is dedicated as follows . . .

To the Memory of the household it describes :






Happy Birthday to :: Mahala Lee & Maggie E. & Ida Mae & Berta Mary
On this date in our family history . . . the 3rd day of November . . . in the year 1816 . . . Mahala Lee Roberts is born in Washington Parish, Louisiana . . . she is the 7th of nine children known to have been born to Elisha Roberts and Patsy Gill . . .


By 1830, Mahala is living in San Augustine County, Texas with her parents and siblings . . . in 1833 her father signs his name to a document establishing the town of San Augustine . . . in 1836 Mahala marries John M. Sharp in San Augustine County . . . and at least two children will be born to them . . . Samuel Houston Sharp and Margaret Sharp . . . John Sharp is presumed to have died before 1846 . . .


In 1851, Mahala marries Joshua James Hall in San Augustine County . . . and they have at least two children . . . Roberta Hall and Toby Hall . . .


On Mahala's 53rd birthday . . . the 3rd day of November . . . in the year 1869 . . . Mahala's granddaughter, Margaret Elizabeth Sharp, is born in Liberty County, Texas . . . another two years later . . . on the 3rd day of November . . . in the year 1871 . . . another granddaughter, Ida Mae Sharp, is born in Houston County, Texas . . . Mahala would live to share another thirteen birthdays with these two granddaughters before her death in June of 1885 . . . 


We are blessed to have access to a portrait of our Mahala . . . as well as photos of some of her grandchildren . . . the little one in the collage is a four-year-old version of the Keeper of this family history blog . . . in the arms of her great-grandma, Berta Mary . . . Mahala was grandma to Berta Mary . . . and is a 3rd great-grandma to the four-year-old in the photo . . .





A hundred-year-old photograph
stares out from a frame.
And if you look real close you'll see
our eyes are just the same.
I never met them face-to-face
but I still know them well
From the stories my dear grandma would tell.





They're my Guardian Angels
and I know they can see,
Every step I take they're watching over me.
I might not know where I'm going
but I'm sure where I come from.
They're my Guardian Angels
and I'm their special one.

A hundred-year-old photograph
stares out from a frame.
And if you look real close you'll see
our eyes are just the same.





This blogpost containing poetry as well as song lyrics was researched and prepared specifically for The Fifth Annual Great Genealogy Poetry Challenge over at cousin Bill's blog which is known as . . . West in New England . . .

Thursday, October 03, 2013

1948 :: Family Reunion in Rockdale






Sixty-five years ago today . . . on the 3rd day of October . . . in the year 1948 . . . a family gathering is being held at the Hamilton home on Cameron Avenue in Rockdale, Milam County, Texas . . . the photo in the collage was taken that day . . . the handwritten list on the back of a copy of that photo gives the family names . . . the people in said photo include the surviving children and daughters-in-law of William Paschal Henry and his wife, Josephine Wingfield Henry nee Davis . . . 


Rockdale Reporter, October 7, 1948 -- A family reunion of the Henry's was enjoyed by many in the home of Mrs. J.D. Hamilton Sunday. Dinner, which was furnished by all, was served buffet style.


Those attending from Rockdale were: Mr. and Mrs. Edgar Henry, Roberta [Mom of the Keeper of this family history blog] and Oscar, Mrs. Will Henry, Mr. and Mrs. G.R. Henry and Weldon Lee, Mr. and Mrs. Edward Backhaus, Ruth and Doris Ann, Mr. and Mrs. S.C. Christian, Mr. and Mrs. Vesper Christian and Donna, Mr. and Mrs. Milford Henry and Dale, Mrs. Howard Avrett and Darwin, Mr. and Mrs. Graham Kyle, Graham Jr. and Linda Sue, Mr. and Mrs. Mark Towery, Bohn, Dana and Sandra, Robert Phillips, Mrs. J.D. Hamilton and Laura.


Out of town guests were: Mr. and Mrs. J.B. Henry, Waco; Mrs. Velma Henry Smith, Waco; Mrs. Ida Halyard, Crockett; Georgia Faye Henry, Freeport; R.B. (Sonny) Rosenkrans, Freeport; Delores Sharp, Palestine; Mr. and Mrs. W.H. Reynolds, Palestine; Mrs. T.A. Newton, Palestine; Mr. and Mrs. T.A. Newton Jr. and Shirley, Palestine; Mrs. W.C. Newton and Luckey, Palestine; Mr. and Mrs Alton Peebles, Mary Jane and Martha Lou, Lexington; Mr. and Mrs. Henry Weldon Kyle, Nanette and Douglas, Houston; Mr. and Mrs. E.E. Fergeson, Houston; Delbert Kyle, Huntsville; Mr. and Mrs. Fred Ceasar, Virginia Hope and Harry Douglas, Thorndale.

Friday, September 27, 2013

1860 :: Explosion of the Bayou City



On this date in our extended family history . . . the 27th day of September . . . in the year 1860 . . . Oliver Lazarus Battle is a passenger in the Gulf of Mexico on board the steamboat Bayou City . . . she is bound from Galveston to Houston, and when about to make a landing at Lynchburg, her boilers burst with terrific explosion and fearful result . . . among those who die as a result of that explosion is Oliver's brother-in-law, I.T. Irvin, Speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives . . . Irvin was last seen rushing aft, and it is believed he jumped overboard and was drowned . . . this Oliver Battle is a 1st cousin five times removed to the Keeper of this family history blog . . . many news clippings about this tragic event are available online, including a lengthy article in the State Gazette. (Austin, Tex.), Vol. 12, No. 9, Ed. 1, Saturday, October 6, 1860 . . . P.S. . . . Oliver's mother, Margaret Fannin Battle King nee Porter, was the stepmother of James Walker Fannin . . .




Ancestor Appreciation Day


Go to www.wordle.net to create your own Wordle similar to this one
Remembering the Grandmas . . . 


for Ancestor Appreciation Day . . .





I hear the voices of my grandmas
Calling out from a distant past
"Please do not let us be forgot.
Record our stories that we may last."

Tell the children of our wanderings
Let the kinfolk hear the tales
How we braved the new horizons
How we blazed the olden trails.

How we buried too many babies
How we struggled to keep them fed
How we caressed the hands of our loved ones
As they lay dying on their beds.

How we endured many a hardship
With an eye to the future goal
To create a more promising future
And to keep our family whole.

They were as different from each other
As the scraps in a crazy quilt
Yet once the pieces were sewn together
Another generation they had built

I can sense them calling out to me
From the gloaming of my past
"Please do not let us be forgot.
Record our stories that we may last."






Begotten . . .
and may they never be forgotten . . .
Remembering my Grandmas . . .








The above family poem was composed by BeNotForgot back in 2009 in response to a challenge posted at Genea-Musings: Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Poetry and Genealogy . . . and the Wordle (name cloud) was created at wordle.net . . .

Thursday, September 19, 2013

1833 / 1891 / 2013 :: News from San Augustine


On this date in our extended family history . . . the 19th day of September . . . in the year 1891 . . . Easter Jane Sublett nee Roberts dies at her residence, three miles east of San Augustine, Texas [click HERE to read what some of the 1891 papers had to say about Easter and her family] . . .


Easter Jane is an older sister of Mahala Lee Roberts . . . who is a 3rd great-grandma to the Keeper of this family history blog . . . this Easter Jane and Mahala are two of nine children known to have been born to Elisha Roberts and his wife, Martha "Patsy" Gill . . .



By the time Mahala was 16 years of age, in 1833, Easter Jane had already been married for five years, to Philip Sublett . . . and that was the year when Elisha, as well as this son-in-law, were two of the twenty-one men who signed the original founding document of San Augustine . . . those twenty-one men, and their place in the family tree of the Keeper of this family history blog (if any), are listed below . . .





A special invitation has been issued to descendants of the above men to gather in San Augustine during the annual Sassafras Festival for an event hosted by San Augustine Main Street . . . during this annual festival, at 2 p.m. on the 26th day of October . . . there will be a gathering at the Historic Museum Theatre on Columbia Street in downtown San Augustine . . . regarding this special event it has been stated that . . .



Historic San Augustine is celebrating its 180th birthday with a presentation of the newly discovered deed dated July 11th, 1833 purchasing the land where the town of San Augustine was laid out by Thomas McFarland. The document is signed by these 21 Texas patriots who established the town.

If you are a descendant of one of the twenty-one signers listed above, please contact Connie at . . . deed dot descendants at gmail dot com . . . for more info about the Sassafras Festival, please call 936-275-3172 . . .




Tuesday, September 17, 2013

1692 :: Salem Witch Trials


On this date in our family history . . . the 17th day of September . . . in the year 1692 . . . Rebekah Eams nee Blake and Mary Parker nee Ayer are tried and condemned after being accused of practicing witchcraft . . . both Rebekah and Mary are 9th great-grandmas of the Keeper of this family history blog . . .





Salem Witchcraft:
With an Account of Salem Village,
and a History of Opinions on Witchcraft and Kindred Subjects
,
Volume 2 (Google eBook)
by
Charles Wentworth Upham
Wiggin and Lunt, 1867



Sunday, September 08, 2013

Sentimental Sunday :: Grandparents Day



This was originally published in August of 2009 . . . for another one of those nights of genealogy fun with Randy . . . I thought it appropriate to recycle it for use on a Sentimental Sunday . . . in memory of my grandparents . . .



This week (August 2009), for Randy's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun, he is asking, "How many ancestors did you 'meet'?" His short and sweet instructions are to . . .
  • Write down which of your ancestors that you have met in person (yes, even if you were too young to remember them).
  • Tell us their names, where they lived, and their relationship to you in a blog post, or in comments to this post, or in comments on Facebook.






I was born and raised in Texas . . . and plan to live here 'til I die . . . and I am blessed to have been touched by hands . . . that touched the hands . . . of those who came before . . .







    My Mom was born in Massachusetts, but was living in Texas with her paternal grandparents before 1940 . . . and she now lives just one block away from the land owned by those grandparents . . . Mom was only 3 days old when her mother, Elizabeth, died . . . Elizabeth's father had died in 1920 . . . and her mother, Eva, would survive her daughter by only 4 years.
    • Mom's father, Robert E. Henry, was born in Milam County, Texas in 1905 . . . and died in San Patricio County, Texas in 1976 . . . he joined the Navy in 1927 . . . and then took up residence in Massachusetts until after WWII . . . when he finally returned to Texas, bringing his 2nd wife and their three daughters with him . . . his father died shortly thereafter, and before I was born.
      • Robert's mother, Berta Mary Henry nee Sharp, was born in Houston County, Texas in 1873 . . . and I was born on her birthday just four years before she died in 1955 in Rockdale, Milam County, Texas.




    My Dad, Forrest Lee Pounders, was born in San Benito, Cameron County, Texas in 1927 . . . and died in Rockdale, Milam County, Texas in 1996 . . . he spent time in Japan and Korea while in the Army, but lived his entire life in Texas.
    • His father, Jacob Edmund Forrest Pounders, was born 1902 in Caldwell County, Texas . . . and died in Rockdale, Texas in 1957 . . . both of Pa Jake's parents were dead before I was born.
    • His mother, Ima Lois Pounders nee Muston, was born in Lee County, Texas in 1906 . . . she lived next door to my parents my entire childhood, and until her death in 1999 . . . her father died when she was a child.
      • Her mother, Emma Patience Muston nee Nettles, was born in Lee County, Texas in 1882 . . . and died in Rockdale, Texas in 1964.




    So, that makes seven (7) for me -- 2 parents plus 2 grandpas plus 1 grandma plus 2 great-grandmas.



    Friday, August 30, 2013

    1830 :: Marriage of America & Milton



    On this date in our family history . . . the 30th day of August . . . in the year 1830 . . . America J Fears becomes the bride of Milton Grant Davis . . . this America and Milton are 3rd great-grandparents of the Keeper of this family history blog . . . the record of their marriage shown in this collage was found in Georgia's Virtual Vault . . .


    Research note . . . Many branches of this family have it in their records that *James* was her middle name, however, no contemporary record has been found showing what the *J* actually stands for.

    Monday, August 19, 2013

    1692 :: Rebekah Accused as a Witch


    On this date in our family history . . . the 19th day of August . . . in the year 1692 . . . Rebekah Eames is examined before Salem Majestrats on accusation of being a witch . . . this Rebekah is a 9th great-grandma to the Keeper of this family history blog . . .






    See also . . . The Devil in the Shape of a Horse by cousin Bill West . . . and Five People Hung for Witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts by cousin Heather Wilkinson Rojo . . .



    Saturday, August 10, 2013

    1876 :: Shooting of our Olive Cousins


    On this date in our extended family history . . . the 10th day of August . . . in the year 1876 . . . the pending death of Jay Olive is reported in the Weekly Democratic Statesman (Austin, Tex.), Vol. 5, No. 52, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 10, 1876 . . . this Jay Olive is a 3rd cousin four times removed to the Keeper of this family history blog . . .



    Austin, Texas. A letter received in this city Thursday from Post Oak Island says that on the night of August 1, a party of fifteen or twenty men attacked the Olive brothers on their ranch. Besides the three brothers there were three white men and two negroes. Jay Olive was shot in the body in twenty-two places, and it is thought he will die. Prince [sic] Olive was shot in the hip; and a man named Butler several times in the leg and hip. Bill Wells, one of the negroes, was shot twice in the head. The raiders got $750 from the house, and then forced one of the negroes to burn it. The trouble is said to have grown out of the Crow and Turner tragedy, which occurred in that neighborhood some six months since.

    The Olives are engaged largely in the raising of stock, and have suffered severely for a long time at the hands of horse and cattle thieves. Several months ago they gave out that they would kill any one they found skinning their cattle or riding their horses, and not long after that old man Crow and a suspicious character named Turner were killed in the woods near McDade while skinning a beef with the Olive brand. Crow had a son who had served one or more terms in the penitentiary, and he accused the Olives of killing his father, and threatened to revenge his death. Since that time it is said he has been at the head of a band of roughs and desperadoes, and this crowd is suspected of committing the horrible tragedy perpetrated on the Olive brothers and their employees on the night of August 1. The Olive brothers are said to be upright men, and they have many warm friends in the vicinity of where they live, and that further trouble and bloodshed will follow is quite probable. What action the Governor and the authorities will take, we cannot say, but certainly the affair calls for hearty and rigid work. Life and property is not safe in Texas, and there is no use of any one asserting it is.

    Sunday, July 21, 2013

    1882 :: Death of Cap'n Enoch Snow



    On this date in our extended family history . . . the 21st day of July . . . in the year 1882 . . . Captain Enoch Snow dies at Blue Point, Scarborough, Cumberland County, Maine . . . the name of Cap'n Enoch Snow has been immortalized in a Twentieth Century-Fox movie entitled "Carousel." . . . was filmed in the locale of the present F.H. Snow Canning Company in Maine,and tells of the life and loves around a Maine fishing village. . . . This fall (1956) the lovable Cap'n Snow will become familiar to all through Snow's Chowder promotion of this seafaring character as their trademark. . . . we spent time with his 2nd great-granddaughter when we visited in Maine in the autumn of 2011 . . . she is a fount of information about our shared family history . . . and she was gracious enough to take us to a small family burial ground we would not have found without her assistance . . . her beloved father, Harold Forest Snow, is a 2nd cousin twice removed to the Keeper of this family history blog . . .




    Saturday, July 20, 2013

    1869 :: Mollie prepares to leave Mississippi for Texas



    On this date in our family history . . . the 20th day of July . . . in the year 1869 . . . Wm. N. Valentine sits down in Oktibbeha County, Mississippi to pen a few words to his Dear and well beloved Children now in Texas . . . in said letter he makes note of the fact that . . . Now the matter is not Exactly fixt up by us yet as I really have not as yet solde out but that will only operate in this way if anything should happen that I do not sell John will Remane one year longer and make a crop and during the year prepare and winde up my affairs that we may leave un dun and next winter he and his wife for this will take place if we under stand by him go on stay but if the Land is solde or not land Meary your mother Jo Thomas and Molly West will cum as soon as my Bisnez is wound up Wm and John and Jo Thomas will starte as Early as they can git of theri crop I will stay and close out all of the unsetled Bisnez and then well will go by steam . . . this Molly West, aka Mary Annie Nettles nee West, is a great-grandma of the Keeper of this family history blog . . . 




    1530 :: Death of George Pyne



    On this date in our family history . . . the 20th day of July . . . in the year 1530 . . it is written that George Pyne / Pine of Devonshire dies . . . this George is currently believed to be a 15th great-grandpa to the Keeper of this family history blog . . .


    Chart from The Visitations of the County of Devon (Google eBooks) . . .





    Friday, July 12, 2013

    1717 :: Will of Daniel Merrill



    On this date in our family history . . . the 12th day of July in the year 1717 . . . the will of the late Daniel Merrill is probated in Essex County, Massachusetts . . . this Daniel is a 9th great-grandpa to the Keeper of this family history blog . . . the will itself is transcribed in full in A Merrill Memorial which was published in a very limited edition in 1928 by Samuel Merrill (1855-1932) . . . this Samuel is a fifth cousin five times removed to the Keeper of this blog . . . a different publication has the following to say regarding said Daniel . . .



    Genealogical and Family History of the State of Maine, Volume 3
    (Google eBook)
    Henry Sweetser Burrage, Albert Roscoe Stubbs
    Lewis historical publishing Company, 1909 - Maine


    • Sergeant Daniel, fourth son of Nathaniel and Susanna (Jordan) Merrill, was born in Newbury, August 20, 1642,
    • and was admitted freeman, May 7, 1684.
    • March 22, 1677, Moses Pilsbury and Daniel Merrill were chosen fence viewers "at the farter end" of the town of Newbury.
    • In 1665, Daniel Merrill was one of those who were called upon and did take the oath of allegiance to the King, in a modified form.
    • His name again appears among those who took the oath "as it is by law established within the Kingdom of England," in 1678.
    • In the "Invoyes" of August, 1688, Daniel Merrill's list enumerates two heads (persons); two houses: twelve acres plow lands; two horses; two oxen; five cows; eight younger cattle; thirty sheep and six hogs; showing him to have been in very comfortable circumstances.
    • In 1689 he was chosen "Way Warden."
    • He was admitted to Newbury church in 1681, and to the Salisbury church later.
    • He died June 27, 1717, in Salisbury.
    • His will, made May 10, was probated July 12, 1717. In it his wife Sarah is mentioned, and "cousin" Thomas Merrill, to whom he gave land in Haverhill.
    • Daniel Merrill married (first) May 14, 1667, in Newbury, Sarah Clough, who was born June 28, 1646, and died March 18, 1706, at Salisbury, Massachusetts.
    • He married (second) May 29, 1708, Sarah, who was born October 14, 1650, in Salisbury, daughter of Abraham and Sarah (Clement) Morrill, and widow of Philip Rowell and of one Siphorus Page. They had Daniel, John, Sarah, Ruth, Moses, Martha and Stephen.



    Tuesday, July 09, 2013

    1889 :: Wm. P. Henry to S.A.&A.P.



    On this date in our family history . . . the 9th day of July . . . in the year 1889 . . . Wm. P. Henry of Milam County, Texas sold and conveyed the rights to about four acres of his land . . . located about four miles north of Rockdale . . . to the San Antonio & Aransas Pass Railway Company . . . this William Paschal Henry is a 2nd great-grandpa to the Keeper of this family history blog . . .



    Know all men by these presents, that I, W.P. Henry of the County of Milam and State aforesaid for and in consideration of the sum of One Dollar to me in hand paid by the San Antonio & Aransas Pass Railway Company the receipt of which is hereby acknowledged, have granted sold and conveyed and by these presents do grant sell convey and deliver unto the said San Antonio & Aransas Pass Railway Company of the County of Bexar and State of Texas that certain tract piece or parcel of land lying and being in the State of Texas and County of Milam and described as follows to wit. A Strip of land ? feet in width and about 1200 feet in length over and across my land on the T. J. Chambers Survey said strip of land to embrace ? feet on each side of the center of track of the S.A.&A.P....on the plans on file in the Office of the Engineer of said Company containing about 4 acres more or less. To have and to hold the above described premises together with all and singular the rights and appurtenances thereto belonging unto the said San Antonio & Aransas Pass Railway Company, its successors and assigns forever. And I do hereby bind my heirs executors and administrators to warrant and forever defend all and singular the said premises unto the San Antonio & Aransas Pass Railway Company its successors and assigns against every person whomsoever lawfully claiming or to claim the same or any part thereof.
    Witness my hand at this 9th day of July A.D. 1889.
    Signed "Wm. P. Henry"

    Original 1891 documents from Volume 27, pages 149 and 150 of the Milam County Records as found in the Milam County Courthouse in Cameron, Milam County, Texas . . . 1891 map from Portal to Texas History . . .




    Sunday, July 07, 2013

    1687 :: Birth of Joanna Barker



    On or about this date in our family history . . . the 7th (or the 17th) day of July . . . in the year 1687 . . . a baby girl is born to Mary Stevens and John Barker . . . they give her the name of Joanna . . . and the birth is recorded as the 7th in the Vital Records of Andover, Massachusetts . . . but . . . the Genealogical and Family History of the State of Maine (1909) . . . as well as the Barker Genealogy (1927) by Elizabeth Frye Barker . . . both give Joanna's date of birth as the 17th day of July . . . this Joanna Barker grows up to marry John Farnum . . . and they are 7th great-grandparents of the Keeper of this family history blog . . . 


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