Wells Siblings Stayed Close to Home ~ 52 Ancestors #4

This week's theme is Close to Home.

My third great-grandfather, Thomas Goodwin Wells (1804-1873), traveled from New Hampshire to California, and back to Massachusetts where he died. He was one of ten children of Dr. Thomas Goodwin Wells and Lucinda Lyman. Of these ten children, almost all of whom were born in Hopkinton, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, a few traveled hundreds of miles from New Hampshire (Georgia, Texas, California), but most remained in New Hampshire.

Siblings, Lucinda Lyman Wells (b. 1806), Edwin Ruthwin Wells (b. 1814), and Ruth Lyman Wells (b. 1816), all remained in Hopkinton, where they died within days of each other in 1882.

Brother, Edwin, actually did move around during his lifetime; he lived in Pittsburgh, California, and Georgia, before returning to New Hampshire. The two sisters, Lucinda and Ruth, lived together in Hopkinton for their entire lives.

This newspaper article from the Nineteenth Century U.S. Newspapers database (accessed using my AmericanAncestors.org subscription) lists each of the siblings who died within a week of each other in March 1882.

"Fatality from Pneumonia," Independent Statesman (Concord, New Hampshire), 23 March 1882, p. 196, col. 8;
digital images, Gale Nineteenth Century U.S. Newspapers via AmericanAncestors (https://www.americanancestors.org : accessed 25 January 2020).

"Mrs. Long," the surviving sibling in this household, was Marcia Emeline Wells, widow of Edward Long, who survived her brother and sisters by just over seven years.

Many members of the family are buried at Old Hopkinton Cemetery in Hopkinton, New Hampshire. The FindAGrave memorial for Edwin shows links to memorials for his parents and siblings.

The 1787 Will of Elias Lyman ~ 52 Ancestors #47

I am participating in this year's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks writing challenge from Amy Johnson Crow. Each week has an optional writing prompt and this week's writing prompt is Thankful.

I am thankful that I am currently participating in the ProGen Study Groups.

My most recent assignment was to transcribe a will or deed. I chose a New Hampshire ancestor whom I have not researched very much and transcribed his will. I am thankful that I have had this learning experience because it has (1) shown me the importance of transcribing every word of an old handwritten document and (2) helped me clarify the number of children of the writer of this will.

My 5th great-grandfather, Elias Lyman, was born in Enfield, Grafton County, New Hampshire, on 14 April 1754. [1] He married Ruth Griswold on 30 January 1776 in Enfield. [2] The only other sources I have for him are authored works: a 1935 Griswold family genealogy [3] and an 1872 Lyman family genealogy. [4]

Two of the children of Elias and Ruth were found in New Hampshire vital records:
Ruth Lyman (b. 7 January 1777 in Enfield)
Elias Lyman (b. 5 or 6 July 1778 in Lebanon)

Then there is Lucinda Lyman (born about 1784), my 4th great-grandmother, who married Thomas G. Wells, and two other children mentioned in the published genealogies: Lucy Lyman and Harry Lyman. The Lyman genealogy also included Roswell Lyman, but doesn't specifically list him as a child of Elias and Ruth. (And since the Griswold genealogy based its information on this family from the Lyman genealogy, it doesn't include Roswell Lyman.) Both genealogies included Tryphena, born 10 August 1810.

However, the will, written and proved in 1787, means that Elias Lyman died 23 years before Tryphena Lyman was born and therefore couldn't have been her father.

Section of 1787 will of Elias Lyman in which he lists his children

He referred to his beloved sons: Elias Roswell and Henry (with no punctuation between the names) and Elias inserted before and above Roswell. He referred to his beloved daughters, Ruth, Lucy, Lucinda (with punctuation). However, using the will and continuing with researching from the hints from the genealogies, I am surmising that he had six children: Ruth, Elias, Roswell, Lucy, Henry, and Lucinda, but I still need to explore each of these families to confirm the birth order.

Samuel Greeley Supported Independence ~ 52 Ancestors #27

I am participating in this year's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks writing challenge from Amy Johnson Crow. Each week has an optional writing prompt and this week's writing prompt is Independence.

My 4th and 5th great grandfathers, both named Samuel Greeley, served in the Revolutionary War from Nottingham West (now Hudson), New Hampshire.

Samuel Greeley (1752-1798), who was "suddenly killed by the fall of a tree," was known as Samuel Greeley Jr to distinguish him from his father, Samuel Greeley Sr (1721-1802).

The History of Hudson, N.H. by Kimball Webster (Manchester, N.H.: Granite State Publishing Co., 1913) is a great resource for the history of this community and includes transcriptions of many old town records in addition to sketches for Samuel Greeley and other men of its early history. (A digitized copy of the book can be found at Google Books and at FamilySearch Books.) This book is considered a DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) source for the service of Samuel Greeley Sr, probably because it notes (on page 252) that the old military records of Nottingham West were lost or destroyed. Much of the following information is from this book, as well as from vital records sources in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

Samuel Greeley Sr (DAR Patriot #A047894), responded to the Lexington Alarm on April 19, 1775, leading sixty-two men from Nottingham West, New Hampshire, to Lexington, Massachusetts. On their way, they were met by a courier who informed them that the British had retreated, so the men returned home. Many went on to fight in the Revolution, though not Samuel Greeley Sr, probably due to his age; he was in his 50s. It also appears that Samuel Greeley Jr didn't fight, but he did pledge his support for the Patriot cause. Both Samuel Greeleys are found to have signed the "Revolutionary War Association Test" which men were required to sign if they were supporting the Patriot cause:

WE, the Subscribers, do hereby solemnly engage, and promise, that we will, to the utmost of our Power, at the Risque of our Lives and Fortunes, with ARMS, oppose the Hostile Proceedings of the British Fleets, and Armies, against the United American COLONIES.

Samuel Greeley Sr was born on 10 May 1721 in Haverhill, Essex County, Massachusetts, the oldest child of Samuel Greeley and Rachel Robenson. He moved, with his parents and younger siblings, from Haverhill to Nottingham West, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, in 1740.

Samuel Greeley (1783-1861) - 52 Ancestors #45

For this week's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks writing challenge from blogger Amy Crow Johnson of No Story Too Small, the theme is ... pick your own theme, so I get to write about another third great-grandfather - one of the many ancestors named Samuel Greeley (or Greele) in my ancestry. (See Surname Saturday ~ Greeley (Greele) of Salisbury, Massachusetts for the ancestral line.)

Samuel was born on July 2, 1783, in Wilton, New Hampshire, to Samuel Greeley (the one who was killed by the fall of a tree in 1798 and is buried in a haunted cemetery) and Olive Read. He was the second of their six children.

He attended Harvard College, graduating in 1802. He married four times, fathering three children.

He married first, Lydia Maria Sewall, on May 3, 1812, in Marblehead, with whom he had:
   Abigail Greeley (4 Feb 1814 - 10 Feb 1814, in Marblehead, Massachusetts)

He married second, Louisa May, on October 19, 1823, in Boston, with whom he had:
   Samuel Sewall Greeley (11 Oct 1824, in Boston - 8 Mar 1916, in Chicago)
   Louisa May Greeley (1 Jan 1827, in Boston - 7 Oct 1903, in Chicago)

He married third, Marie Antoinette Paine, on October 18, 1831, in Boston, and fourth, Sarah Emerson Follansbee, on October 8, 1844, in Newburyport. His first three wives predeceased him.

He lived primarily in Boston, where I find him in the 1840, 1850, and 1860 U.S. Censuses, but apparently lived on the North Shore in Marblehead and Swampscott at various times in his life. 

I don't know if he was a member of the New England Historic Genealogical Society, but there is an obituary for him in the Register, Volume 15 (1861), pp. 360-361.

There is also an obituary for him in the Farmer's Cabinet, a New Hampshire publication:

Samuel Greeley (d. 1798) - 52 Ancestors #44

For this week's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks writing challenge from blogger Amy Crow Johnson of No Story Too Small, the theme is Frightening: Do you have an ancestor who did something frightening or lived through a scary event? Do you have your own ghost story in the family? Now is the perfect time to share!

Awhile back, when I was researching my Greeley line (the five Samuels in a row: See Surname Saturday ~ Greeley (Greele) of Salisbury, Massachusetts), I found that several ancestors are buried in what is considered a haunted cemetery in Wilton, New Hampshire.

Samuel Greele (or Greeley) was born on September 29, 1752, in Hudson, New Hampshire, to Samuel Greele and Abigail Blodgett. According to the DAR's Genealogical Research Service, "Samuel Greeley, Jr." is recognized as a Revolutionary War Patriot for his patriotic service because he "signed the association test" in "Nottingham West," New Hampshire. His Patriot Number is A047896.

He married Olive Read on November 8, 1779, in Nottingham West (which is now known as Hudson) and died at age 45, leaving a widow and six children, ranging in age from 17 to a year and a half.

I previously shared information about his burial in Tombstone Tuesday ~ Samuel Greele Killed By The Fall of a Tree, where I noted that he died on September 25, 1798, in Wilton, New Hampshire, and is buried at Vale End Cemetery in Wilton, New Hampshire, between his wife and his father, Samuel, also a Revolutionary War patriot. (See his memorial here.)

Thomas Goodwin Wells - Prosperous? - 52 Ancestors #17

For this week's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks writing challenge from blogger Amy Crow Johnson of No Story Too Small, the theme is Prosper. The ancestor I selected was prosperous, yet suffered a terrible tragedy before he turned 50.

My 3rd great-grandfather, Thomas Goodwin Wells, was born on November 23, 1804, in Hopkinton, New Hampshire, to Thomas G. Wells and Lucinda (Lyman) Wells.

A couple of years ago, I learned that he was married before he married my 3rd great-grandmother, Elizabeth and this first wife died young. See Who Was Mary Eliza Wells? for the details. In 1838, he married Elizabeth Sewall Willis. He had five children with her.

In the 1850 U.S. Census, he is enumerated in Walpole, New Hampshire, as a farmer. His household includes his wife, Elizabeth; his three oldest children: Eliza, Henry, and Louisa; his father-in-law, Benjamin Willis; and two servants.

1850 U.S. Census, Walpole, Cheshire County, New Hampshire, record for Thomas G. Wells

However, someone recently found my FindAGrave memorial for Thomas Wells and contacted me to share information he found about fellow travelers of his second great grandfather. It turns out that Thomas was NOT in New Hampshire in 1850, but in California!

Thomas Goodwin Wells was one of 210 passengers and crew members who boarded the sailing ship "Sweden" in Boston Harbor, on March 1, 1849. Their destination was San Francisco, via Cape Horn, South America. The ship arrived August 3rd. This link shows "T. G. Wells," a 44 year old "exchange broker," from Walpole, Massachusetts [sic: should read New Hampshire], listed in a logbook kept by fellow passenger Benjamin Bailey. A photo of each page of the entire logbook can be read by entering page number "1" in the box, once at the above link.

A transcription of the same logbook (which can be easier to read than the handwritten pages) can be read page by page here.

Abigail Blodgett Greeley Lived To 94 - 52 Ancestors #16

For this week's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks writing challenge from blogger Amy Crow Johnson of No Story Too Small, the theme is Live Long.

I figured out how to look at the age at death for my direct ancestors by creating a custom report in Family Tree Maker. No centenarians in my direct ancestry, but there are several who lived into their 90s.

The one direct ancestor who lived the longest (for whom I have relatively good records) is my 5th great-grandmother, Abigail Blodgett, who was born in Dunstable, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, as the middle of seven children of Joseph and Dorothy (Perham) Blodgett, who were originally from Chelmsford, Massachusetts, a town just to the southeast of Dunstable.

Dunstable Vital Records show Abigail's birth date as February 18, 1723/24.

Surname Saturday ~ Wells of New Hampshire

The earliest ancestor I know about on this line is Thomas G. Wells. Ancestry.com has trees that spell his surname as Welles and show parents for him, but they don't include sources, so for now, he is still a "brick wall" for me.

Courtesy Wikipedia

Based on his gravestone (died in May 1849, age 70), he was born in 1779 or 1780. I believe he was born, lived, and probably died in New Hampshire. I find him in Hopkinton, New Hampshire in the U.S. Censuses for 1820, 1830, and 1840. In 1820, Hopkinton was in Hillsborough County (next to Massachusetts), but in 1823, a number of towns, including Hopkinton, were removed to become part of Merrimack County (the dark green county in the green image of New Hampshire at right). The red image represents where Hopkinton is located in the current Merrimack County.

Thomas G. Wells married Lucinda Lyman about 1802, as their first child was born in 1803. I estimated the date of this marriage based on the New Hampshire birth records of their children (Elias Lyman, Thomas Goodwin, Lucinda L., Phineas Parkhurst, Maria Emeline, Edwin R., Ruth Lyman, Elias Lyman (born the year his older brother died), Bodwell Emerson, and Elizabeth A.) which include the parents' names.

I know Thomas G. Wells is a physician from the 1820 U.S. Census (which doesn't usually include occupation information).

1820 U.S. Census, Hopkinton, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, record for Thomas G. Wells

Dr. Thomas G. Wells died on May 2, 1849, according to his gravestone at the Old Hopkinton Cemetery. See his Find A Grave Memorial, where I have linked him to the memorials of family members, including nine of his ten children!

I descend from his second son, Thomas Goodwin Wells.

I have done a bit of research on the descendants of this ancestor, but I'm still not sure who his parents are! It's a challenge, as there are several men by the name of Thomas Wells in New England during this time period.

Thomas Goodwin Wells

Generation 2: Thomas Goodwin Wells (1804-1873), whose image I shared on Wednesday (at left) was born in Sutton or Hopkinton, New Hampshire. (Different sources note different locations.) As I discovered several months ago, he first married Mary Eliza Little in September 1835 in Hopkinton, New Hampshire. She died in 1836. As far as I can tell, there were no children from this first marriage.

Thomas later married Elizabeth Sewall Willis (1820-1900) on November 6, 1838 in Newburyport, Massachusetts. They had five children: Eliza May Wells, Henry Willis Wells, Louisa Wells, Benjamin Willis Wells, and Ruth Lyman Wells. I descend from their oldest, Eliza May Wells. This Thomas became a successful merchant in Boston, and he is enumerated in the 1860 U.S. Census in Brookline, with several servants in his household. This couple is buried in Forest Hills Cemetery in the Willis family plot with several additional family members.

Tombstone Tuesday ~ Who Was Mary Eliza Wells?

I recently found on Find A Grave that several Wells family members were buried in Old Hopkinton Cemetery, Hopkinton, New Hampshire. Most were buried together in one plot. My 4th great-grandparents, Dr. Thomas G. Wells (1780-1849) and wife Lucinda Lyman Wells (1785-1860) are buried there with most of their children. Dr. Thomas G. Wells' Find-A-Grave Memorial is linked to his wife's memorial and nine of his ten children's memorials. Six of his children are buried in Old Hopkinton Cemetery.

However, his son Thomas Goodwin Wells (1804-1873) is buried in Forest Hills Cemetery, Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts. (I shared their Find-A-Grave memorials in September 2012.) I am descended from him and his wife, Elizabeth Sewall Willis (1820-1900). They were married in Newburyport, Massachusetts on November 6, 1838.

I always thought that Elizabeth was his only wife, until I recently received notice of a fulfilled photo request for an unknown Mary Eliza Wells (1808-1836) who was buried in Old Hopkinton Cemetery.

Find-A-Grave Memorial# 83322264
Photo courtesy of alden

MARY ELIZA,

wife of

Thomas G. Wells,

Obt. April 16, 1836.

AEt. 28 years.

Tombstone Tuesday ~ Samuel Greele Killed By The Fall of a Tree

As I noted in my Greeley Surname Saturday post, it has been noted that Captain Samuel Greele died by the fall of a tree. In exploring Find A Grave for Greele / Greeley ancestor memorials, I found memorials for Captain Samuel Greele and his wife Olive (Read) Greele, as well as their son, Major Samuel Greeley, who are all buried in Vale End Cemetery in Wilton, New Hampshire.

Do visit Samuel Greele's Find A Grave Memorial, where photographers have shared wonderful photographs of not only his stone, but a monument with a notation by the photographer that "This marker is at the spot where he died when a tree fell on him and his horse."

In addition, his gravestone notes his cause of death as well.

Source: Find A Grave photographer Cindy Schultz

SAMUEL GREELE,
who was suddenly killed
by the fall of a tree, on
the 25th of Sep. 1798 in
the 46th year of his age.

Surname Saturday ~ Greeley (Greele) of Salisbury, Massachusetts

My immigrant Greeley (Greele, Grele) ancestor is Andrew Greele (as it was spelled in early records) who was in Salisbury, Essex County, Massachusetts by 1640. He died there on June 30, 1697. His wife was Mary Moyce (or Moyse) and they had six children. All I know of his wife Mary is her name and death date of December 24, 1703, in Salisbury (found in Salisbury Vital Records).

Salisbury, Essex County, Mass.
Source: Wikipedia Commons

I am not sure where Andrew Greeley came from or exactly when he arrived in Massachusetts, but by 1640, he owned land on a river in the area of Salisbury which is now part of Seabrook, New Hampshire. By the early 1650's, he had built a sawmill there, which was run by three generations of Greeleys until 1747, when it was sold out of the family. Andrew's name appears in various records in both Salisbury and Haverhill (three towns to the left of Salisbury in the image to the right) throughout the latter half of the 17th century, including records having to do with committees appointed to "lay out the lines" between New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

He is also noted as operating other mills, as well as running a ferry at Haverhill. It appeared that he was financially comfortable until he had to sell his Haverhill property to pay the debts of his son Benjamin, who died in December 1690. The following spring, he returned to Salisbury to live with his son Andrew. He remained in Salisbury until his death June 30, 1697.

Andrew and Mary had six children: Philip, Andrew, Mary, Joseph, Benjamin, and Westwood. All except Andrew, who was born in Haverhill, were born in Salisbury (found in Haverhill and Salisbury Town Vital Records).

Each generation seemed to have large families and they reused names, so I always need to refer to my genealogy program to remember who is who. Note that in my line there are five Samuel Greeleys in a row, and only the fifth one was given a middle name! I am descended from Andrew and Mary's fourth child and third son, Joseph.

Matrilineal Monday ~ Eliza May Wells

Eliza May Wells, my second great grandmother, was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on August 20, 1839, to Thomas Goodwin Wells and Elizabeth Sewall Willis.

She spent her childhood in Merrimack and Walpole, New Hampshire, based on the fact that I find her father and family in Merrimack, Hillsborough, New Hampshire, in the 1840 U.S. Federal Census and I find the family in Walpole, Cheshire, New Hampshire, in the 1850 U.S. Federal Census.

Louisa May Alcott was a cousin who spent time with her "Wells cousins in New Hampshire."

By 1860, her family had moved to Brookline, Norfolk, Massachusetts and in 1866, she married, as his second wife, a first cousin of her mother, Samuel Sewall Greeley, in either Brookline or Cambridge, Massachusetts. (See their marriage record here.) See Samuel Sewall Greeley's obituary for more about him.

Eliza May (Wells) Greeley then moved to Chicago, where she gave birth to five children:
Elizabeth Sewall Greeley (1867 - 1868)
Ann Percival Greeley (1869 - 1876)
Henry Sewall Greeley (1871 - 1877)
Ethel May Greeley (1875 - 1931), my great grandmother. See a photograph of her.
Ruth Lyman Greeley (1878 - 1975), who deserves her own blog post one of these days.

She was also step-mother to three sons of Samuel and his first wife.

She applied for a passport application on September 25, 1879 in Chicago, Illinois. Her brother Benjamin W. Wells confirmed that she was who she stated she was.

Ancestry.com, U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925. Record for Eliza M. Greeley (1879)