All's Well That Ends Well

It’s been a busy summer. I completed a very intensive genealogy research course through Boston University, which had me up to my elbows in citations for 15 weeks. We helped our daughter and son-in-law get settled in their new house in New Jersey. And, we decided that 110 inches of snow was too much, so we sold our house in Massachusetts and moved full time to our house in Virginia.

As we trekked from one cradle of history to another, I considered other Brock ancestors who also made significant moves with their families.

My late father-in-law, Richard used to tell a story of an ancestor who, while serving in the Civil War, got a drink of well water from a Virginia farm and exclaimed it was the best waster he ever tasted. The context for that life-altering libation may never be known, but according to Richard, the ancestor vowed to come back and buy that farm.

Since Richard had a reputation as a bit of a storyteller, I chalked this tale up to another chapter of Brock family lore. Several Brock relatives served during the Civil War, including great-great grandfather Alvan D. Brock and two of great-grandmother Lilian Burritt Brock's brothers, Loren and Ira.

None of the three went from field command to farmer.

Alvan was commended for bravery as part of the storming party during the assault on Fort Mahone¹, but headed to California and the west coast real estate boom after the war. Loren Burritt served at Gettysburg and was promoted to Lt. Colonel with the 8th Regiment Colored Infantry. He was severely wounded at the battle of Olustee, Florida². After the war, he returned to Athens, Pennsylvania where practiced law.

Brother Ira returned briefly to his native Pennsylvania³ after the war before relocating his family to Washington, D.C.⁴ where he was the proprietor and editor of The Sunday Herald.

Discounting these ancestors as the man at the well, I leveraged the tools from my new arsenal of research weapons and followed the signals - literally - to the Signal Corps and Sobieski Chapin.

Sobieski Loander Chapin was Richard’s great-grandfather. A native New Yorker, Sobieski initially enlisted with Company E, 76th Regiment and then transferred to the 76th NY Infantry Signal Corps,⁶ which was stationed in Virginia. After he mustered out, Sobieski returned to West Union, NY, collected his family, and headed back to Virginia. By 1880, the family is living in Dranesville, Fairfax County.⁷

In 1881, Sobieski purchased a 61 plus acre piece of property in Fairfax County, Virginia from Maria L. Barlow $203.37.⁸

Sobieski’s property was originally part of Sully Plantation, built in 1794 by Richard Bland Lee (an uncle of General Robert E. Lee). Lee lived there with his wife, Elizabeth Collins Lee until 1811.⁹ Alexander Haight and his wife Phebe Sweet owned the property during the Civil War.¹⁰ Phoebe and her sister-in-law, Maria Haight Barlow were left to defend their homes after Alexander and Jacob Barlow fled Alexandria to avoid incoming Federal troops. Alexander and Jacob were suspected [correctly] of being Union sympathizers. Alexander was under the protection of the Union Army near the end of the war.¹¹

Sully Plantation is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and now on my new list of Virginia to-dos.

Now that I know Richard's stories may be more embellishment than lore, I'm anxious to start researching some of the others. For Sobieski, all’s well that ended [with a] well.

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Footnotes:

1. Daniel S. Lamont, War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, (Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.: 1894) , Series I, Volume XLVI, p. 1056; online version, Google Books (https://books.google.com : accessed 10 September 2015) Report of Brig. General Simon G. Griffin.
2. “U.S., Colored Troops Military Service Records, 1861-1865,” service return for Loren Burritt, Co. B, 8th Reg’t, Colored Infantry; digital image; Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 10 September 10, 2015). Loren served as a Major and as a Lt. Colonel with the 8th Reg’t after serving with Co. K, 56th Reg’t , Pennsylvania Infantry at Gettysburg. Loren eventually died from the wounds he sustained at Olustee.
3. 1870 U.S. census, Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, population schedule, Herrick Township, p.1 (penned), dwelling 3, family 3, household of Amanda Burritt; digital image, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 10 September 2015) citing NARA microfilm publication M593, roll 1455. Ira, his wife Elizabeth and daughter Effie were living with his mother, Amanda, a 56-year old widow, and several of his younger siblings.
4. 1880 U.S. census, Washington, District of Columbia, population schedule, p. 16 (penned), enumeration district (ED) 74, dwelling 146, family 164, household of Ira N. Burritt; digital image, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 10 September 2015), citing NARA microfilm publication T9, roll 124.
5. De Benneville Randolph Keim, Society in Washington: Its Noted Men, Accomplished Women, Established Customs, and Notable Events, “The Washington Correspondents, “ (Harrisburg Publishing Company, Pennsylvania : 1887), p. 215; online edition, Google Books (http://www.books.google.com: accessed 10 September 2015).
6. “New York, Town Clerks’ Registers of Men Who Served in the Civil War, ca 1861-1865;” Sobieske [sic] L. Chapin, enlistment, 18 July 1863; digital image, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 10 September 2015) citing New York State Archives collection number (N-Ar) 13774, box 58, roll 31. Sobieske L. Chapin, enlisted as a private with Co. E, 76th Regiment, NY for a term of 3 years. Also, U.S., Civil War Pension Files, 1861-1934,” for Sobiescki L. Chapin, database index and digital file, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 10 September 2015). An invalid’s pension request was filed on 22 August 1891 in Virginia.
7. 1880 U.S. census, Fairfax County, Virginia, population schedule, Dranesville District, p. 17 (penned), enumeration district (ED) 39, dwelling 149, family 151, household of S.L. Chapin; digital image, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 10 September 2015), citing NARA microfilm publication T9, roll 1364.
8. Fairfax County, VA, Deed Book A: 320, Barlow, et. al to S.L. Chapin, 31 August 1881, County Courthouse, Fairfax.
9. “Lee Family Cemetery at Sully,” Fairfax Genealogical Society (http://www.fxgs.org/cemeteryRecords.php?cid=139 : accessed 15 September 2015). Information abstracted from Volume 4 of the Fairfax County gravestone books.
10. “Guide to the Alexander Haight family collection, 1764-1977,” online index and biographical information, George Mason University Libraries, (http://sca.gmu.edu/finding_aids/haight.html : accessed 10 September 2015) search for Alexander Haight.
11. Julius Stahel, Fairfax, VA, letter, 20 June 1868; digital image, George Mason University Libraries (http://hdl.handle.net/1920/6445 : accessed 15 September 2015). Stahel certifies that Alexander Haight of Sully Farm is a good and loyal citizen deserving of the protection of the Union Army.

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Mary Jones: The Tavern Keeper's Wife

One of my interests is history, and locally that includes the Golden Ball Tavern, a National Trust landmark in Weston, MA. The tavern, built in 1767 by merchant Isaac Jones, served as tavern for more than 20 years and as home to six generations of the Jones family for nearly 200 years.

As a member of the Golden Ball's Education Committee, I volunteer time to give tours of the tavern, telling the remarkable story of Isaac, the role the tavern played during the Revolutionary War and its resurgence as a hotel/boarding home in the mid-19th century during the tenure of Isaac's great-great grandson, George and his wife Lettie Frost Jones. Taverns, ordinaries or inns as they were called, were the social and cultural centers of life in the 18th century and tavern keeping was an important and viable profession, even for women.

Today, the Golden Ball Tavern Museum recalls an integral part of local Weston history through tours to school groups, civic and social organizations and any other groups or individuals interested in an up close and personal glimpse into the lives and history of the Jones family. The tours focus on Isaac Jones, Tory and then Patriot, highlights of the home and tavern, its role in the Revolution and the Weston "Tea Party", but recently, the Education Committee agreed to add a first-person interpretation as well, and that will come in the person of Mary Jones.

Mary was the widow of Stephen Willis and the second wife of Isaac Jones. She married Isaac in 1762, he himself a widower. His first wife, Anna died of small pox, leaving him with three young children. Five years later, when Mary and Isaac took up residence in the newly opened Golden Ball Tavern, their young family had grown to include eight children (4 more would follow).

Little is known about Mary specifically. Unlike Lettie Frost Jones, Mary didn't leave a diary or journal, but conclusions about her daily routine can be drawn by her role as a mother and the wife of a wealthy 18th century tavern owner. A typical day would have included cooking (for both her family and the tavern guests), sewing, cleaning and home management. In 18th century New England, women played active roles shaping their own lives the communities in which they lived. Given her status, Mary Jones was likely no exception.

Clothing, like the furnishings and architecture of one’s home were visual representations of wealth and stature in the 18th century. The quality and quantity of Mary’s wardrobe, and that of her daughters and step-daughters, would have been directly influenced by their position in the community. Although fabric was expensive, the cost to make a woman’s gown or petticoat was not, and It’s probable that Mary owned several gowns, jackets, petticoats, aprons and caps, both for daily wear and for more formal or social occasions. I’d venture to guess that like any woman of prominence, she had multiple pairs of shoes as well.

Clothing, given its expense, was considered property and often listed on probate inventories. When she died in 1813, Mary Jones’ clothing and accoutrements were likely bequeathed to her surviving daughters or daughters-in-law to be refitted, repurposed or restyled.

An abundance of period fashion plates, paintings, websites and blogs are available online to give you a better sense of the fabrics and styles worn by women like Mary Jones in 18th century New England.

To learn more about the Jones family and the Golden Ball Tavern, visit their website or Facebook page.

 

[Colonial gown image credit: history.org; A Colonial Lady’s Clothing: A Glossary of Terms]
[Isaac Jones 1770 tavern license credit: The Golden Ball Tavern Museum]

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Joel Lyman Raymond

There are so many branches in Jason’s family tree, it’s hard to keep track of who’s who, who’s related to who, who married who, and on and on and on.  While most of my genealogical research has focused on the Brock trunk lately, every now and again I’ll veer off and shake some of the other leaves to see what falls out.

With more and more information on line very day, it’s getting easier and easier to do genealogical research from the comfort of your kitchen table. And date is great – tax records, census records, vital records, they help to build the timeline of these relatives’ lives - but photographs are still the Holy Grail.

I’ve expounded before on the concept of instant ancestors. Wander into any antique store and you’ll find a box of them – discarded cdv and cabinet card photos, shiny black and white photographs from the 1920’s and 30’s – none marked or identified, save for a photographer’s mark or handwritten date.  Their story will never be told, these smiling, but nameless families and friends, waiting to be adopted, but more likely bound for some crafter’s or artisan’s table to become a piece of altered art.

While I can't imagine why people would discard family photos, I guess I can understand how the anonymity of an icy glazed, sepia tinted woman or somber child perfectly posed against a fringed armchair may not hold the same appeal for everyone. Sadly, the photographs most attributed to the people in my family trees are headstones. While the person may leave this Earth, the headstones remain in perpetuity, a record that they were here, but not of the life they lived, but that's exactly what they are meant to do.

A photograph is a gift, and the other day, I got one. I received a message on Ancestry.com with a link to a family photo. One of the great things about Ancestry is the sense of community, and the concept of paying genealogy forward while you're looking backward. Wayne, from Washington state, sent me a link to his tree and a picture of Joel Lyman Raymond, Jason's 3x great grandfather on his grandmother, Mabel's side. Seems Wayne's wife, Carol is a direct descendant of William Greenleaf Raymond, Jason's 4x great-grandfather, and while cleaning out the attic, she came across several old family photos, including the 1912 photo of Joel.

Joel Lyman Raymond was born on March 2, 1816 in Hinsdale, Massachusetts. Until now, he was data – the son of William Greenleaf Raymond and his wife, Elizabeth (Betsy) Freeland. The family lived in Tiogoa County, NY and in 1837, settled in Bingham Township, Potter County, Pennsylvania. Joel's first wife was Jane Searles, who died in 1838, shortly after they married. His second wife was Lydia Matilda Grover, the daughter of David and Lydia (Lyman) Grover. Joel and Lydia had 8 children – Jane (Jason's 2x great grandmother), Minerva, Harriet Louise, William G., Pauline, Ruth, John and Grace. By and large, the family remained in the Potter County area, and many of the Raymond ancestors, including Joel, Jane and Lydia, are buried in North Bingham Cemetery.

On one of our motorcycle jaunts, Jason and I ventured out to Potter County, visited the North Bingham Cemetery where I took dozens of photos of the aging headstones, inscriptions fading into oblivion, and with it, the memory of these ancestors. But now, thanks to Wayne and Carol, Joel Lyman Raymond has come to life; snow white hair, the straight jaw covered with a closely cropped beard, eyes alert and thoughtful, every inch the family patriarch at the age of 96 in his velvet jacket, buttoned vest and striped trousers.

A picture is definitely worth a thousand words.

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Keeping Up with the Joneses

My dream job, whether it involves a paycheck or not, is to be a costumed interpreter at Colonial Williamsburg.

And until I get there, I’m practicing. When we lived in New Jersey, I was really involved (Jason will say too involved) with the Hackettstown Historical Society. For three years we hosted a fund raising Ghost Tour, parading about the town Victorian garb telling tales of the town’s history and mystery.  I dis the research, wrote the scripts, and made sure the participants were treated to the right balance of fact and theater. It was great fun – lots of walking – but there’s nothing better than the sparks of genuine interest and enthusiasm you from the people on your tour, especially when someone says they’ve learned something new. But the Victorian era is a whole different century – literally. 

One of the great things about living here in Massachusetts, the cradle of the Revolution, is the opportunity to get involved with groups and societies that help promote the history of the area and events that shaped our country. Lots more practice, as I see it, to help me prepare for the calling of the fife, drum and cannon in Virginia.

The Golden Ball Tavern, right here in Weston, was my first volunteer opportunity, and my first foray into the late 1770’s.

Josiah Jones founded the Town of Weston in 1713. The Jones family, including Josiah, his sons and grandsons, featured significantly in the town’s business and political affairs. The Golden Ball Tavern, now a living museum and beautifully proportioned example of Georgian architecture, is at the center the town and its history.  Built circa 1767 by Isaac Jones, grandson of the town’s founding father, the Golden Ball Tavern sits prominently on Boston Post Road, the town’s main thoroughfare.  From its rooms, the townspeople had a front row seat to significant events in the war for independence.

Golden Ball Tavern c. 1936
Image courtesy of the Library of Congress

Isaac Jones became one of the wealthiest men in town, but his loyalties and sympathies lay with the British. The tavern At the Sign of the Golden Ball, was widely known as a Tory tavern, something the British were to discover in 1775, and they continued to use the tavern as a stop on their routes into the Massachusetts countryside.  The tide was turning; the battles at Lexington, Concord and Bunker Hill, followed by the British evacuation of Boston left Jones isolated. From 1775 to 1777, few traces of him even exist.  By 1777, Isaac had changed sides, signing the Oath of Allegiance and accepting a contract to haul goods for the American army.  He was back in business – literally, and by 1778 had once again regained the respect of his neighbors.

Golden Ball Tavern  2013

The Golden Ball Tavern continued to operate after the war and Jones served in several public offices, retiring from business and politics in 1793 at the age of 65. The inn “At The Sign of the Golden Ball” ceased operations in 1793, but Isaac had begun to make significant structural changes to the house, and it would be home to the next six generations of his family. Isaac Jones died in 1813 and is buried in Weston Central Cemetery. Ralph Frost Jones, the last male descendant to live in the home, died in 1963 and left the home and estate to the Town Library Trustees.

The town has done a phenomenal job of preserving this historical treasure, with lots of help from the Jones family themselves. Seemed they never threw anything out. Unlike many living museums, the house is full of furniture, bedding, tableware, ledgers, paintings and more – all belonging to the Jones family,

With more than 300 years of history, I’m excited to learn more, but it’s going to take a lot to keep up with these Joneses.

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In Search of John Brock

Genealogy is a bit like detective work. You look for evidence; you follow the clues, and hopefully, find your man (or woman). Sometimes, the clues lead to interesting discoveries, and sometimes, sadly, they lead to a dead end. 

With so much information available on line, and more added every day, sites like Ancestry.com, Familysearch.org, Americanancestors.org and the occasional Google search, have made it easy and convenient to add leaves to the branches of a family tree. It’s been (relatively) easy to uncover information on Jason’s early ancestors from the comfort of my couch, with so many of his early ancestors hailing from the proudly historic and well-documented state of Massachusetts.

Recently, Ancestry.com added a new database – Massachusetts Town Vital Collections, 1620-1988, a virtual treasure trove of the original hand-written, town and clerk records – birth, marriage and death - from towns across the Bay State. Some states have more information available on line than others, but some information can only be viewed, or better, discovered, with a trip to the local archives or historical society.

To date, I have documented more than 8 grandfathers eight times removed or better for Jason, men who were the first of their name here in Massachusetts (and there are still others in Connecticut, Maine and one in Virginia), including Robert Elwell, Thomas Millett, John Eddy, Thomas Riggs, John Tucker, Nicholas Denning, the Puritan, Samuel Chapin and the Pilgrim, Richard Warren, but the person I was interested in learning more about was John Brock, the first of the Brock name.

John Brock is Jason’s sixth great-grandfather. The first documented mention I’ve been able to find of him is the 27 September 1735 marriage intention to Abigail Elwell, the daughter of Eleazer Elwell of Gloucester.  Reverend John White in Gloucester married them in Gloucester on 25 March 1736.

The next mentions are associated with the births of his children, Abigail born on 1 December 1736 and then John on 4 November 1740. The Essex Antiquarian, a quarterly periodical dedicated to the biographies, genealogies, history and antiquities of Essex County, Massachusetts, included a blurb about John Brock in Volume 12, (year), which read, “John Brock, fisherman, lived in Gloucester, 1737-1774; married Abigail Elwell of Gloucester in or before 1737; both living in Gloucester in 1774,” and cites Records as its source. But that’s it. No birth for John, Sr., no parents or siblings, no death records for he or Abigail, nothing.  It was a cold case, but a nagging one.  Given Abigail was born on 3 August 1714, I made an assumption that John was born sometime between 1710 and 1715, but the Brock name was not as uncommon at the time in Massachusetts as I’d thought. There are numerous Brocks in Nantucket and Marblehead, but none that I could connect to John. I found a birth record for a John Brock, born in 1711 in Boston to George Brock and Mary Favor, and while the dates generate excitement and possibility, I can’t find anything that documents, with certainty, he is the John.

One of the great things, genealogically speaking, about living in Massachusetts, is the proximity to the cradle of Jason’s ancestry, so I took my own advice and headed to Gloucester, a quick 45 minute drive north.

Gloucester is America’s original seaport. Despite several setbacks and difficulty with profitability, settlement continued and the General Court of Massachusetts incorporated the Town of Gloucester in 1642. Included among the town’s first prominent families and land owners were Robert Elwell and Thomas Riggs.

The early town records are housed in two places – the Town Hall and the Cape Ann Museum Library. The Town Hall is a magnificent old building, but the archives are in a small space in the basement, smaller than the living room in my house. Sarah, one of the volunteer archivists, was extremely generous with her time and knowledge, having done a little pre-research in answer to my email inquiry and in expectation of my arrival.

The Archives Room is packed with books and binders, two computers, a working table and a few chairs, but the real gems, the original documents, are hidden away in a bank-like vault down the hall, complete with combination lock. The most noted publication on Gloucester is John James Babson’s The History of the Town of Gloucester, Cape Ann: including the Town of Rockport, (1860; Proctor Brothers, Gloucester, MA) and is the first place anyone familiar with town’s history will point someone who’s inquiring. There, on page 259 in the chapter titled New Settlers is John Brock, listed among the list of settlers from 1701-1750, known to have been heads of families.

With Sarah’s help, we found some notes about John Brock in the varied indexes and abstracts lining the shelves of the room. She disappeared to the vault, returned with a gray archival box and carefully removed its tissue-papered contents. She gingerly unwrapped a wonderfully old and fragile ledger and placed it on the table in front of me. The title page, in a flourished hand and brown ink, identified the book as the Selectmen’s Records Third Book.  The subsequent pages were filled with handwritten records from 1756 to 1781, documenting the meetings and decisions of the town leaders. It was amazing to be that close to original documents that old. 

Sarah turned the pages delicately to page 116 and the first of John’s records – a notice of tax abatement of 10s Province tax and 6s Town tax on 3 November 1763. A tax abatement is a stay of paying a tax grated to a taxpayer by a taxing board. It could be granted for a short or long term, for a total or percentage of the tax. There was another abatement for 1762 and once again in 1766. John’s children were grown by then, in fact, his daughter Abigail passed away in 1764. His son, John would die 5 years later.

The next entry was in April 1774, “At a meeting of the Select Men of Glocester [Apr?] 15 An Order was Drawn on the Town Treasurer to Pay Docter Thomas Sargent or Order the Sum of Two Pounds five Shillings and six pence it Beaing for Mediences and Attendance on John Brocks wife as pr his Acct Render in 2..5..6  [spellings as written]. 

I inquired as to why the Selectmen would order a doctor bill paid on John’s behalf. Sarah told me that they (Selectmen) would support the town’s poor, and this entry was indicative of John’s financial status.

By 1774, both of John’s children had died, and judging from the doctor bill, his wife, Abigail, was not well. There were no additional records about Abigail, so I don’t know if recovered from her illness or if she died too.

John’s status in town did not improve, and there was another entry the next year. “The Poor were Lat out to the following Persons from March the 25/1775 to March 25/1776  viz......John Brock to be alow'd 2/5d pr weak till further Orders.”  The final entry found in the book came on page 491 in  1780,  “At a Meetting of the Selectmen Feb'ry 15th 1780 An Order was Drawn on ye Town Treas'r or Succes'r To Pay unto Deac Nathan'l Kinsman or Order Twenty Pound being in full for making a Coffin for John Brock one of ye Town Poor.”

John Brock died a pauper, and potentially alone, at approximately 70 years of age.  This was the first indication I’d found of his death, as it had not been noted in the Town’s vital records. The life of fishermen in early Gloucester was hard, and from all accounts, John had not been financially successful at his trade.  Sarah said that he would have been buried in a pauper’s grave in the First Parish cemetery, but most certainly, his final resting place would not have been marked.

I was taken aback by the somberness of it all, and the sad life of this first Brock ancestor. The Brock name, however, would persevere, in John’s son, John, who died in 1771, leaving his wife, Martha with three young children, the fourth born posthumously; to John III, born in 1766 and the last of this line in Gloucester. He would move to Maine, where he and his wife Susannah would raise 9 children. Their son, David, was married first to Judith Farrar, and secondly to Livonia Coburn. Their son, Alvan Dinsmore Brock, would go on to represent Maine in the Civil War, would marry twice, and lead a colorful, if not somewhat eccentric life until he was killed by an electric car in 1900. Alvan’s son, Fenelon was a patent attorney in Washington, DC, and with his wife, Lilian Burritt Brock, a woman of distinguished heritage herself, raised 5 children, including Walter Burritt Brock. Walter, a Presbyterian minister and sometimes inventor, like Alvan, was a bit different in his thinking, and perhaps a bit like John the first, was often down on his luck.  My late father-in-law, Richard Warren Brock followed, and now, the name rests with Jason and his three sons, Harry, Makenzie and Mitchell.

The chapter on the first John Brock isn’t closed just yet. Despite the absence of his life story, save a few sentences in town records, I know there’s more to learn about him. I’ll just keep looking. 

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