Philip Harrington- A quitclaim lists heirs

   Philip Harrington was born in Ireland about 1813, son of Daniel Harrington and Hannah Scanlon.  He married Julia Shea.  The couple lived and farmed in West Brookfield, Massachusetts by 1850, and fourteen children were born to them there.  Philip died Feb. 7, 1889 in West Brookfield, and is buried in Sacred Heart Cemetery.
   This quitclaim found at http://www.masslandrecords.com is important because it lists Philip's living heirs, their spouses, and their places of residence.  I had lost track of son Timothy, and was able to find him using information in the document.

Margaret Shea to Julia Harrington - Quitclaim property on Milk Street, West Brookfield, MA, Worcester County Deed Book 1313, Pages 472 - 474

   Know all men by these presents that we, Margaret Shea, and Timothy Harrington of Springfield, and Kate Gallivan, Hannah Harrington, Julia Shea, Eliza Donovan, Nellie Morgan and Philip Harrington, of West Brookfield, and all in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, in consideration of One dollar, and other valuable consideration to us paid by Julia Harrinton of West Brookfield in the County of Worcester and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, do hereby remise, release and forever quitclaim unto the said Julia Harrington her heirs and assigns, a certain tract of land with the buildings thereon standing, situated on the Westerly side of Milk street and near the Boston and Albany Railroad crossing in West Brookfield aforesaid, bounded and described as follows, to wit: on the East by Milk street aforesaid, on the South by Quaboag River, on the West by land formerly owned by Edmond O'Day and on the North by land of the Boston and Albany Railroad Company, and land of Joseph E. Waite, and being the same premises described in a certain deed given by William Cady to Philip Harrington, dated September Fourteenth A. D. 1882, and recorded with Worcester District Deeds, Libro 1126, folio 455 to which deed and the record therof references is hereby made for a more full description of the premises hereby conveyed. Also all our right, title, and interest in and to any and all of the personal property belonging to the estate of Philip Harrington, late of said West Brookfield deceased. [ blank space ] To have and to hold the granted premises, with all the privileges and appurtenances thereto belonging to the said Julia Harrington and her heirs and assigns to their own use and behoof forever. And we do hereby, for ourselves, and our heirs, executors and administrators, covenant with the said grantee and her heirs and assigns that the granted premises are free from all encumbrances made or suffered by us and that we will and our heirs, executors and administrators shall warrant and defend the same to the said grantee and her heirs and assigns forever against the lawful claims and demands of all persons claiming by, through or under us but against none other. And for the consideration aforesaid, we, John Shea, husband of Margaret Shea, John T. Gallivan, husband of Kate Gallivan, Michael Shea, husband of Julia Shea, John Morgan, husband of Nellie Morgan, and J. S. Donovan, husband of Eliza Donovan, do hereby release unto the said grantee and her heirs and assigns all right of or to both dower[?] and homestead or right by curtsy in the granted premise.
  The document was signed and witnessed by some family members on September 10, 1889.  It appears that others may have signed later.

Worcester County Deed Book 1313, Page 473

Worcester County Deed Book 1313, Page 174


  I have transcribed most of the document using a free program called Transcript, available from http://www.jacobboerema.nl/en/freeware.htm 
What a great timesaver!

From the Probate File of Samuel Bliss of Brookfield

Terms of Samuel's Last Will and Testament dated March 28, 1842

1. To  wife Mary Bliss the use and improvement of one undivided third part of my home farm during her natural life
2. To son David Bliss I give and devise my home farm, my farming tools, my household furniture, and all my stock of cattle on the same, wood lot of ten acres in the South Parish of Brookfield purchased from Seth Watkins, after deducting what I have given my wife.  Also a note of hand held against Dea. Alfred White. This was given upon the condition that David give three hundred dollars to the children of Mary Rogers, Samuel's daughter, and that he provide his mother with whatever sum of money and support she might need in addition to her third of the farm. [Bliss Genealogy lists children of Mary and Samuel Rogers as Samuel, Charles, George, Eli, and Mary.]
3, To son Samuel Bliss - the farm on which he resides partly in Warren and partly in Brookfield - 75 acres more or less.  This was given on the condition that he give to the children of Samuel's late daughter Sarah Rogers, the late wife of Benjamin Rogers, the sum of four hundred dollars to be divided in equal shares and given to each of them at age 21. [Bliss Genealogy lists children of Sarah and Benjamin Rogers as Sarah, Harriet, William, and Benjamin.]  William was later known as William E. Gilbert, the subject of Last Weeks Post.
4. To son Levi Bliss the residue of the farm purchased from Seth Watkins in the South parish of Brookfield containing about 70 acres.
5. To daughter Mary Rogers - $25 to be paid by executor
Executors named were sons David and Samuel.

Appointment of Jesse Bliss, Esquire as guardian ad litum for the minor children of Benjamin Rogers - grandchildren of Samuel - May 10, 1842

Signatures of the widow and heirs

Massachusetts, Worcester County, Probate Files, 1731-1881, images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1961-37411-8140-82?cc=2102083&wc=9FGW-YWL:1055512501,1055534101 : accessed 14 Jul 2014), Worcester > Case no 5997-6066, Bliss, Issac-Blood, Eliza A, 1731-1881 > images 375 and 377 of 1259; citing Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, Boston, Massachusetts.
Title: Genealogy of the Bliss family in America, from about the year 1550-1880
Publisher: Boston, Mass., Printed by the author
Contributor: Boston Public Library
http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/john-homer-bliss/genealogy-of-the-bliss-family-in-america-from-about-the-year-1550-1880-sil/page-18-genealogy-of-the-bliss-family-in-america-from-about-the-year-1550-1880-sil.shtml

William E. Gilbert - Born William Edwin Rogers

   Recently I came across the a 1911 death record recorded in Northampton, Hampshire County, Massachusetts for William E. Gilbert.  As I began  to cite the record in my database, I was surprised to find that the name of his father was written on this record as B. Franklin Rogers (sic) who had been born in Holden.  B. Franklin Rogers  ??? 
   My database showed that name as Benjamin Rogers Gilbert, and I had used the marriage record of William E. Gilbert and Henrietta Pepper as a source.  I immediately went back to the source as found on Americanancestors.org.  Sure enough, I had made an error by making the assumption that the last name Gilbert had been left off the record.  Had I looked carefully at the other records on the page, I would have realized that the last names of all the fathers on that page were listed.
  Now I had some new questions.  Why and when did William's last name become Gilbert?  To date, I have been unable to answer either of those questions.  My theory is that William's parents died when William was a young boy and perhaps he was adopted by one of the Gilberts in town.
  Using pre 1850 vital records from Brookfield and Holden, and later records from West Brookfield, and Brimfield I have found the following:
   1. Benjamin Rogers and Sarah Bliss Marriage intentions in Brookfield on Mar. 28, 1830, and in Holden on March 31, 1830.  [A Bliss genealogy says they married in May 1830.]  Sarah Bliss was William E. Gilbert's mother's name according to his death record.
  2. Birth of William Edwin Rogers on July 5, 1836. [Death record of William E. Gilbert says born West Brookfield on July 5, 1833] West Brookfield was a part of Brookfield until 1848.  This is probably the birth record for the man known as William E. Gilbert.
  3. Death of Sarah Rogers, wife of Benjamin on March 3, 1842. [Brookfield VR]  Mother of William E. Gilbert
  4. I have not positively identified either William Rogers or William E. Gilbert in the 1850 U.S. or 1855 Massachusetts Census
  5. 1858 Marriage record of William E. Gilbert and Henrietta Pepper
   I have not found evidence that William ever lived with a Gilbert family,  and need to find probate court records, not yet online.
   I have discovered a number of new facts about William E. Gilbert in other records, including a record of William's 2nd marriage, the last will and testament of his grandfather, Samuel Bliss, which mentions the children of his late daughter Sarah, wife of Benjamin Rogers. Masslandrecords.com has quitclaim deed where Benjamin F. Rogers of Paxton, relinquishes to William E. Gilbert, his claim on land previously owned by his uncle, David Bliss.  I also found information in two published family genealogies. One was a genealogy of his mother's Bliss family, and the other, a genealogy of the Gleason family  which he married into twice. 
  I know from Samuel Bliss' will, that Sarah Bliss Rogers had a sister who married the brother of Benjamin F. Rogers.  I also know that William Edwin Rogers had a brother named Benjamin F. Rogers.  I have yet to determine which one signed the quitclaim deed.
  I know that William's third wife, Desdemona Bump, was the niece of his second wife, Susan Gleason.  I have been unable to find an official record of the third marriage in MA.
  I am now left with a great deal more work to do on the Gleason and Bliss families, both of whom lived in Brookfield and West Brookfield for many generations, and I still have not found when or why William Edwin Rogers became William E. Gilbert.

Rev. Samuel Dunham - 12th pastor of West Brookfield Congregational Church

  


From Google Books

 Samuel Dunham was born in Southington, Hartford, Connecticut on Feb. 8, 1835, son of Chauncey, and Sylvia (Langdon) Dunham.  He prepared for college at Lewis Academy in Southington, and graduated from Yale in the class of 1860.  After graduating from Yale, he attended Union Theological Seminary in New York for two years, and graduated from Andover, Massachusetts Theological Seminary in August 1863.  Samuel married Sarah Maria Clark in Harwinton, Litchfield, Connecticut on Oct. 6, 1863.
   Mr. Dunham began to preach in the West Brookfield Congregational Church (known previously as the First Church of Brookfield) in April 1863, a few months prior to his graduation from Andover Theological Seminary.  He was called to serve as the regular pastor in West Brookfield in March of 1864, and was ordained there on Oct. 4, 1864.  Rev. Dunham and his wife Sarah served the West Brookfield parish for more that seven years.  Their first two children were born in town.  Samuel Clark Dunham, born in 1866, and Clara Langdon Dunham, born 1869 and died 1870.   The church celebrated its150th anniversary with commemorative ceremonies, speeches and celebrations. On Oct. 12, 1870 Rev. Dunham was dismissed at his own request, citing "ill health," and moved to Norwalk, CT. 
  Rev. Dunham served for two years in Norwalk.  He and Sarah welcomed a son, Chauncey Wilson there in 1871.  The family moved to Binghamton, NY in 1873, when Samuel was appointed pastor of the West Presbyterian Church there. He served actively in that capacity until December 1901, when he retired and became the pastor emeritus.
During the years in Binghamton, sons Chauncey and Samuel had died, another son, Luther Langdon Dunham was born about 1875, and died in 1893, and sadly, Samuel's wife Sarah died in 1894.  Samuel married Robertha McLeod on Dec.. 10, 1901.  She was more than thirty years his junior.  Samuel died at home in Binghamton on Dec. 4, 1936, at the age of 101.  He was buried in Glenwood Cemetery.  Robertha died in 1944.

Sources;
1. In loving memory of Mrs. Sarah M. (Clark) Dunham, wife of Rev. Samuel Dunham, pastor of the West Presbyterian Church, of Binghamton, N.Y., died April 9, 1894 (Archive.org)
2. Matrimony Notice for Mr. Samuel Dunham and Miss Sarah Maria Clark (Genealogybank.com)
3. Retrospect of a Happy Ministry: The Life Story of Half a Century, Including Personal Reminiscences, and a Complete History from Its First Inception of the West Presbyterian Church, Binghamton, N.Y. (Google eBook)
4. Samuel Dunham Dies in New York, 101(Genealogybank.com)
5. Vital Records of West Brookfield, MA 1841-1910 (Americanancestors.org)

Mary Abbott - Not the daughter of James Abbott and Azuba Ruggles

  Many online trees which include the West Brookfield, Massachusetts family of James Abbott and his wife Azuba (Ruggles) Abbott, have a supposed fourth child named Mary.  I, too, noticed Mary, aged five, living in the household at the time of the 1850 United States census, and found it curious that I had not found her birth record in Brookfield vital records, and that she had not been mentioned in the wills of James or Azuba.  Descendants of George Abbott, of Rowley, Mass ..., did not include Mary with the family, even though the information for that family was contributed by James and Azuba's daughter Eliza. I also calculated that Azuba Abbott would have been about 48 years of age at the time of Mary's birth. 
   I did find, upon further investigation, that Mary Abbott married Jason Stoddard in West Brookfield on Oct. 30, 1868 at the age of 22.  Her birth place was recorded in the marriage record, as Hartford, Ct, and her parents were named, as John and Frances Parks. At first, I interpreted this to mean John Abbott and Frances (Parks), but after comparing this record with the others on the page, I realized that the other records included only the first names of the parents.  There were no parentheses around the name Parks.  Did this mean the parents were John Parks, and his wife Frances?
   Mary A. Stoddard died in North Brookfield, MA, on Dec. 10, 1889, of consumption, at age 45years, 3 months, and 15 days.  According to her death record, she was born in Hartford, Ct., was adopted by Eliza Abbott, and her parents were unknown.
   Who were Mary Abbott's parents?  I am not certain.  I have not found a birth record, for Mary Parks or Mary Abbott, born about 1845 in Hartford, CT, nor have I identified the John and Frances Parks named in the marriage record of Mary Abbott and Jason Stoddard.
  Where then, does Mary belong in the family tree?  She was not named at all in the wills of James or Azubah, even though she was enumerated in their household in 1850 and 1860.  Eliza Abbott was seventeen at the time of the 1850 census, old enough to have given birth to a child, but probably not old enough to have adopted one. She would have been just 12 years old when Mary was born.  Eliza outlived Mary by fourteen years, so there would most likely be no mention of Mary in Eliza's will (assuming she left one.)  My question remains as I ponder how to proceed in my quest for the best answer.
   How would you handle this dilemma?


Sources available upon request.  They include MA Vital Records found on Americanancestors.org, census records found on Ancestry.com, the wills of James Abbott and Azubah Abbott found at familysearch.org, Descendants of George Abbott, of Rowley, Mass ..., found on Archive.org
  

George Rufus Abbott - Ship's Mate - What became of him?

   This week I have spent some time researching the family of James and Azubah (Ruggles) Abbott.  I had a tough time finding accurate information about their son, George.   While I do not have proof, I think I now have an indication of how he lived his life.  This information was first found without a source in an Ancestry Tree. I have likely located the tree owners' source by doing a Google search for "George Abbott died Peru 1872."
   George Rufus Abbot was born 19 Apr. 1834 or 1835 in Brookfield, Massachusetts.  His parents were James Abbott, a yeoman, and Azubah (Ruggles) Abbott.  George left home, and went to work as a ship's mate.  His whereabouts were unknown at the time of his father's death in 1864.  He was enumerated as being "at sea"  in the 1870 US Census taken in West Brookfield.  On the list of lawful heirs in the probate file of his mother Azubah, who died in 1871, his address was indicated as West Brookfield.
   What happened to George?  According to an entry in,  Descendants of George Abbott, of Rowley, Mass., Vol 2, pg. 583, George was thrown from a horse in Callao, Peru, and died on May 30, 1872.  The information was most likely contributed by his sister Eliza.  Also cited was Spooner/Ruggles family reg.

Sources:
1. Ancestry.com. Vital Records of Brookfield, Masschusetts to the end of the year 1849.
2. Ancestry.com. U.S. Federal Census, 1870, West Brookfield, MA.
3. Familysearch.org, Worcester County, Massachusetts, Probate Records for James Abbot, and Azubah Abbott
4. Maj. Lemuel Abijah Abbott. Descendants of George Abbott, of Rowley, Mass., of his joint descendants with George Abbott, sr., of Andover, Mass.; of the descendants of Daniel Abbott, of Providence, R. I.; of some of the descendants of Capt. Thomas Abbott, of Andover, Mass.; of George Abbott, of Norwalk Ct.; of Robert Abbott, of Branford Ct.; with brief notes of many others of the name, original settlers in the United States. By Major Lemuel Abijah Abbott .. (1906). Archive.org

Sullivan Converse

   Sullivan Converse was born in New Braintree, Massachusetts on Oct. 8, 1821, one of nine children of Col. Roswell and Theodoshia (Nichols) Converse.  Educated in Westfield,  he returned to the large family farm in New Braintree, and purchased it from his father in 1848.  There, on over 200 acres, he raised cattle, sheep, and swine, and grew rye, Indian corn, and oats. He was known for successfully breeding Ayrshire cattle. He sold the farm in 1880 and moved to West Brookfield, with his wife, the former Anjenette B. Fenton, whom he had married Feb. 27, 1850 in Palmer, MA.  Anjenette died in West Brookfield on July 28, 1895. 
   A short notice in the Springfield Daily News published August 7, 1896 announced the marriage of Converse Sullivan and Lilia E. Barnes at the home of the groom on Tueday evening with only immediate family members present.  Lillian was 45 years younger than her husband, and considered an estimable young woman in town.

Converse Sullivan died in Feb. 27, 1899, at home on Central St. after a long illness, and was buried in Pine Grove Cemetery.  Lillian married George Johnson in 1902.  She died in 1910.


Sources:
Americanancestors.org  Massachusetts Vital Records to 1850 and    Massachusetts Vital Records 1841-1910
Ancestry.com  US Federal Census Agricultural Schedule 1850 and 1870
Genealogybank.com Death Notice of Mrs. Sullivan Converse; Worcester Daily Spy; July 30, 1895
"                                 Marriage Announcement for Sullivan Converse and Lilia E. Barnes, Springfield Daily News; Aug. 7, 1896
"                                 Obituary of Sullivan Converse, Springfield Daily Republican, Feb. 28, 1899