Robert Whitcomb (c1629-1704) and Mary Cudworth (c1637-1699) (52 Ancestors 2020 Week 23) Theme: "Wedding"

It isn't often that a wedding results in legal charges, yet that is exactly what happened to my 7X great grandparents Mary (Cudworth) and Robert Whitcomb!

Born to General James Cudworth and his wife Mary (Parker) in Scituate, Plymouth Colony in 1637, Mary Cudworth probably grew up in relatively comfortable circumstances. Her father was a well-respected citizen in early Plymouth Colony. Though not himself a Quaker, he was known for defending the unpopular Quakers in the area, a position that had resulted in some serious repercussions for him from time to time.

General James Cudworth Memorial
Scituate, MA photo 1999

Robert Whitcomb was born in Taunton, Somerset, England in about 1629. His parents John Whitcomb and Frances (Coggens) had been married in St. Mary Magdalene Church at Taunton 26 November 1623.

Interior of Church of St. Mary Magdalene, Taunton, Somerset, England photo 1998

As a young child, Robert immigrated to America with his family.  Like the Cudworths, the Whitcombs settled at Scituate in Plymouth Colony. When his parents moved the family to Lancaster in 1654, Robert was a young man ready to make his own life. He received lands from his father and remained behind at Scituate. It is possible that Robert remained as part of the Quaker congregation that included his older sister Catherine (Whitcomb) Ellmes. Perhaps Robert was already taking an interest in Mary Cudworth and wished to remain near her.

However it transpired, early in 1660, Robert and Mary were married by Henry Hobson, a Quaker preacher in Rhode Island. Hobson not being licenced under the laws of the colony, the marriage was pronounced unlawful. Robert and Mary were charged with "disorderly conduct coming together without consent of parents and lawful marriage" and were sentenced to pay 10 pounds fine and be imprisoned during the pleasure of the court.

The couple responded with an approved and fully-accredited wedding on 9 March 1660. Half the fine was thereby remitted; there is no record of the other half of the fine having ever been paid. Nor is there any record of actual imprisonment of the guilty parties.

Having now been married twice, Robert and Mary spent their lives in Scituate where they raised their family, the youngest of whom was my 6X great grandfather James Whitcomb. Their first wedding is the only record of any trouble-making on their part!

Resources:

• Records of the Cudworth Family: A History of the Ancestors and Descendants of James Cudworth of Scituate, Mass. collected and compiled by W. John Calder, Oakland California 1941, ed. and revised by Arthur G. Cudworth, Sr. in 1974. 
• Deane, Samuel, History of Scituate, Massachusetts from its First Settlement to 1831; Boston: James Loring, 1831, 381.
• Earle, Alice Morse, "Old-Time Marriage Customs in New England", The Journal of Amercan Folklore, Vol, 6, No. 21; 1893, pp.97-102 accessed online 13 May 2020 at https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/533294.pdf

Nils Olsen (1802-1892) and Guri Larsdatter (1807-1900) (52 Ancestors 2020 Week 22) Theme: "Uncertain"

We can thank the meticulous record-keeping of the Norwegian Lutheran Church for providing certainty for what would have been left uncertain in many societies. Birth records kept by the church indicated whether a child was born in or out of wedlock and both mother and father went on the record in either case.

Viker Kirke, Norderhov, Buskerud
 Photo by Tove Frovoll Thoresen, Wikimedia Commons

When my great grandfather Carl Johan Nelson was baptized in 1840, almost a year after his birth, the Norderhov, Buskerud church record indicates his status as the baby of unmarried parents Nils Olsen Sorgefoss and Guri Larsdatter Vesterneie.

1839 birth and 1840 baptism record for Carl Johan Nelson

Was it simply a matter of Nils and Guri being uncertain about making a commitment? The answer seems more complex.

Although the unmarried status of a child's parents was obviously of some significance, it was hardly unusual in Norway in those times. Most men didn't marry until they were 27 or 28 years old, and women a year or two younger. Given the number of years a fertile young person was likely to be single, coupled with lack of contraception, it isn't surprising that so many babies were born before their parents would marry. Traditionally, engagements could last for some time and once an engagement was announced, it was acceptable for the couple to behave as if married; as a result, many babies were born shortly after the wedding occurred. However, it does not seem that any engagement had been announced in the case of Nils and Guri. At the time Carl was born, Nils would have been about 37 years old and Guri about 32, certainly prime ages for having their babies.

So why were young people postponing marriage for so long in Norway at the time? I don't know the full answer but expect that it has a lot to do with their economic situation not being stable enough to provide for a family. In Norway in the mid-1800's, the burgeoning population and shortage of land and opportunities led many to head to America in search of a better life. Many of the Norwegian farmers were basically cotters renting just tiny plots barely large enough for a vegetable garden, let alone providing crops for sale. No doubt this left many young people, like Nils and Guri, stranded in an unmarried state for years longer than might have been ideal.

As it turned out, when Carl was born, he already had a couple of half-siblings. The church records show that Nils had fathered another son out of wedlock just a couple of years earlier. Young Martin Nelson had been born in the same community to the same father but a different mother, Berthe Halvorsdatter, early in 1838.

1838 birth and baptism record for Martin Nelsen, 1838 - Father was Nils Olsen Sorgefoss and mother was Berthe Halvorsdatter

Guri had also previously given birth to another son out of wedlock. Carl's other half-brother, Engebret  Nelson, had been born in 1833 to Guri and Nels Ericsen Honnefos.

Amid all this uncertainty of relationships, Carl's father Nils Olsen Sorgefoss married the mother of his other son Martin on 15 July 1842 and went on to have more children with her. They show up on Bergedal farm, Norderhov, Buskerud in the 1865 Norwegian census records as follows:

Nils Olsen, 60
Berthe Halvorsdtr., 47, his wife
Ole Nilsen, their son, 12
Johanne Nilsdtr, their daughter, 9
Berthe Maria Nilsdtr, their daughter, 5
Helle Nilsdtr, their daughter, 20, and her daughter Nikoline Nilsdtr, age 2

The census tells us that Nils had a cow, 3 sheep, barley, mixed grain and potato crops. (Oldest son Martin Nilsen would have been about 23 years old and living away from home by this time.)

No matter how understandable and how common their situation was, one cannot help but wonder at the difficulties these relationships must have caused them over the years.

It seems that Guri raised her two sons, Engebret and Carl, on her own. No evidence has ever been found for a marriage for Guri. She was living with son Engebret and his family in 1865 when the Norwegian census was taken. Engebret and Carl emigrated to America together with their wives and young children in 1867 in the midst of famine in Norway. It is hard to imagine they would have abandoned their mother unless she had other remaining family to provide support. No further record has yet been found regarding Guri's fate although her date of death is generally given as 31 December 1900 which would have made her an elderly 93 at the time of her death.

Any difficulties caused by the uncertainty in establishing his family did not seem to do Nils any long-term damage either. He lived to the advanced age of 90 years, dying in Norderhov, Buskerud 16 January 1892.

Some Resources:

• Norwegian Digital Archives for Norderhov, Buskrud - Norderhov kirkebøker (church books) various dates - records can be searched online through this site: https://media.digitalarkivet.no/en/kb/browse?counties%5B%5D=06&clerical_parishes%5B%5D=0613P&start_year=&end_year=&text=
• Norwegian Digital Archives for 1865 census for Norderhov, Buskerud - records can be searched online through this site: https://www.digitalarkivet.no/en/search/sources?s=&from=&to=&format=all&archive_key=&jt%5B%5D=7&m%5B%5D=0613
• "Norway Social Life and Customs" article in the Familysearch.org wiki located at this site: https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Norway_Social_Life_and_Customs

Eleazor Carver (c1669-1744) and Experience Blake (1665-1746) (52 Ancestors 2020 Week 21) Theme: "Tombstone"

Last week's "Travel" theme had us visiting sites associated with Joseph and Sarah (Hartwell) Carver. While in New England in 1999, we were also able to find tombstones for Joseph's grandparents Deacon Eleazor Carver and Experience Blake, my 8X great grandparents who are the subjects of this week's story.

Deacon Eleazor Carver's Stone

Both are buried in Bridgewater, Massachusetts in the First Cemetery, also known as the Old Graveyard and the Summer Street Cemetery.

Eleazor's and Experiences's stones were typical of those common at the time in New England. The shape was perhaps suggestive of the headboard of a bed symbolizing rest. It was also symbolic of the arches and portals the soul would be required to pass through en route to eternity. The rounded central portion, called the tympanum, was above the carved details of the deceased person. Either side had another rounded shoulder, often fully decorated, as were the Carvers' stones.

Tympanum for Elezaor's Stone 

To me, the most interesting part of their stones, similar for both, is the tympanum with the interesting arches (depicting Heaven-bound wings) and the rather scary Martian-like faces. This is apparently a variation of the winged death's head. In earlier times, these were clearly skulls with wings, a symbol of mortality derived from the Puritans' strong and stern religious beliefs. By the time the Carvers passed away, the skull was evolving into a winged face or effigy, with sometimes rather strange results. The other decorative motifs carved into the stones were often symbolic in the society or for the individual whose resting place was being marked, although it appears the Carvers' were perhaps purely decorative.

Tombstone for Experience (Blake) Carver "relict too Deacon Eleazor Carver"
Bridgewater, MA

Records for the lives of Eleazor and Experience can be found at Marshfield, Taunton and Bridgewater in Plymouth Colony (Massachusetts).   Experience was previously married to a man named Samuel Sumner and had  four children with him prior to his death. She and Eleazor married 11 June 1695 and  had sons Eleazor and Joseph (my 7X great grandfather) and daughters Experience and Mehitabel. 

Eleazer was generally known as "Deacon Eleazer."  His first name, rather appropriately, means "To whom God is a help." He was clerk of the First Congregational Society of Bridgewater from 1716 to 1718 and Deacon until his retirement in 1741. Throughout his life, he was very active in the church, often taking the part of pastor though there is no evidence that he was actually an ordained minister.

The tombstones for Eleazor and Experience are side by side in the Old Graveyard at Bridgewater (near the Unitarian Church). His tombstone says: "In memory of Dea'cn Eleazor Carver, Who dece'd January y 25th, 1744, in y 75th year of his age." 

And hers says: "In memory of Mrs. Experience Carver, relict to Deac'n Eleaz'r Carver, who deceas'd Jan'y 16th, 1746, in y 82d year of her age." These days, widows would bristle at being called a "relict", but that is the term often used in those days to indicate that the wife had outlived her husband. Twice widowed, I suppose Experience was twice a relict!

In the mid 1700s, average life expectancy in New England was only to the mid 30s. Experience and Eleazor both lived to very ripe old ages for their times. Their stones have also been long-lived, surviving in quite good condition for some 275 years.

Some Resources:

• Jones, William, "Robert Carver of Marshfield and Some of His Descendants" from Genealogies of Mayflower Families, Vol. I; Selected and Compiled by Gary Boyd Roberts; Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1985, p.432. Accessed online at Ancestry.com.
• Early American Gravestones.doc  accessed at website https://www.davidrumsey.com/farber/Early%20American%20Gravestones.pdf
• Mitchell, Nahum, Mitchell's History of Early Settlement of Bridgewater, Massachusetts; Bridgewater, MA., Printed by Henry T. Pratt, Published by Edward Alden, 1897 available at Google Books at this website:  https://books.google.ca/books?id=KIc-AAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false, pp. 130-131.

Sarah Hartwell (1726-1817) and Joseph Carver (1727-1786) (52 Ancestors 2020 Week 20) Theme: "Travel"

For family historians, nothing can beat the thrill of travel to ancestral homelands! In the spring of 1999 my husband, my mother and I visited New England: so many graveyards, churches, memorials, libraries and historical societies. It was absolute bliss!

One part of the family we were looking for was our Carver line. My 7X great grandmother Elizabeth (Snow) Carver was one ancestor whose resting place we located during our travels in Massachusetts.

The author and her mother at Scotland Cemetery, Bridgewater, MA 1999

Stone for Elizabeth Carver who died in 1755

No matter how thoroughly we searched during our visit to Scotland Cemetery, we were unable to find Elizabeth's husband Joseph Carver (senior) who died in 1778. (Years later, we learned from his Find a Grave website memorial that there is no record of his having been buried here - nor apparently  anywhere else, for that matter!)

During our travels, we also visited the Foster, Rhode Island area where Elizabeth and Joseph Carver's son, another Joseph Carver and his wife Sarah (Hartwell) Carver (my 6X great grandparents) are buried at a very remote cemetery called the Hopkins-Ide Lot (also known as the Rhode Island Historical Cemetery Foster #26). This is in a very rocky wooded area and is definitely not your typical well-tended New England town cemetery.

Photo 1999 by Elinor Bardahl - we were all enjoying our visit to the site.

Joseph and Sarah's Stones behind a rusted iron fence

Lots of rocks in the vicinity

Directions point out how tricky it is to find the cemetery location:  You enter Tucker Hollow Road from Route #6, then watch for a lane near the foot of the hill. Enter the lane in front of telephone pole #15 and follow the lane to telephone pole #2. The entrance is just before Pole #2 on the north side of the lane. Well, even before the era of GPS, we were somehow able to find it!

Seeing where the couple were buried might lead one to the mistaken conclusion that they lived a very quiet, isolated and rustic life.

Sarah Hartwell was born 26 March 1726  and husband Joseph Carver was almost exactly a year younger, born 23 March 1727. Both grew to adulthood in Bridgewater, Plymouth Colony where they were part of large extended families. They married there on 25 September 1746 when he was 19 and she 20. Sarah and Joseph raised a family of 8 children with the first four also born in Bridgewater. It was sometime after the birth of their fourth child in 1753 that they moved their family to Providence, Rhode Island where Joseph was a merchant.

When we visited Providence in 1999, we did not know that Joseph had once been a businessman there. As a result, our travels did not include looking for any evidence of Joseph there. Living all the way across the continent makes a return trip impractical, even before travel was essentially shut down because of the COVID-19 pandemic this year. This means it is definitely time for some virtual travel through the use of maps and online resources. Although perhaps not quite so satisfying as an actual visit, this often provides even more context to the overall family story.

A map of downtown Providence from 1770 shows the prime location of Joseph's land there.

1770 Map of Buildings in Central Providence, R.I.

Close-up showing location of Joseph Carver property 1770

This can be brought forward into the 21st century through the magic of Google Earth showing this same street layout in the downtown business district. When we traveled to Providence in 1999, we did not know of Joseph's connection to this particular property or we would certainly have visited and taken our own pictures, but we would not have obtained this interesting aerial view!

Same area of downtown Providence with the wedge-shaped Turk's Head Building built 1913
Google Earth Street View Image

Front View of Turk's Head Building, Providence
Joseph's property would have been down the right side toward the back
Photo 24 June 2007 by Infrogmation
This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5license

Obviously, it was nothing like this when Joseph had his business there. But perhaps even in its early days, Providence was getting too large for Joseph's taste and he decided to move his family and his business into a more rural area. In 1769 he purchased property at Scituate, R.I. and moved his family there a year or two later.  The census for Scituate in 1774 lists Joseph Carver with five males over the age of 16 and one under the age of 5. (Apparently there was no interest in recording the number of females at that time.) Joseph was obviously an enterprising man. He had an interest in a forge known as Hopewell which he eventually sold to his eldest son Oliver (my 5X great grandfather) in 1778.

Joseph signed up on 6 July 1775 to fight for the "Patriots" in the American Revolution and was discharged on 17 December of that same year. We don't know just how far he might have traveled while participating in the War.

But he did seem to have traveled around a bit after this, showing up in the records of Fair Haven, Vermont in 1782. He and others apparently petitioned the town for certain land rights there. However, a Remonstrance by a man named Benoni Hurlburt claimed that Carver was a "transient person from the State of Rhode Island" who had used Hurlburt's name on the petition without his knowledge and consent and against his interest. Perhaps Carver was retaliating since he and the other petitioners were complaining that they had themselves been unjustly treated and deprived of their rights without being informed or represented. (After looking at maps, my guess is that this land dispute in Fair Haven relates to the lands on which he wished to install his various undertakings referred to below.) 

Time for more armchair travel.

Google Earth map showing proximity of Fair Haven, Vermont to the Poultney River

Joseph established an iron works and lumber mill near Fair Haven on the Poultney River but across the state line in New York, naming the falls there "Carver's Falls". There is now a dam in the area, but pictures of the Falls can be found online at this site: http://www.newenglandwaterfalls.com/vt-carverfalls.html.

Hampton, N.Y. - also close to the Poultney River

No doubt this is the same iron works referred to in the History of Washington County, New York where a man by the name of Carver was reported to have built an iron forge in the northern part of Hampton in its very early days. Hampton is just 5 miles from Fair Haven, Vermont. Apparently the boundary between New York and  Vermont was disputed for many years and the proximity of these locations shows how it was likely all part of the same general business that Joseph conducted.  The iron was brought from the west side of Lake Champlain, probably along the river systems including the Poultney, and was used to make flat and square bar-iron for blacksmiths' use.

Joseph Carver died in Foster, Rhode Island just before Christmas in 1786. In addition to the iron works in New York, Joseph also owned land in Vermont and two farms in Foster and one in Scituate, R.I., all of which he left to his sons. Apparently wife Sarah was not happy with this and did not accept the legacies given to her in the will in lieu of her dower rights.

Joseph Carver's stone in the Hopkins-Ide Lot, Foster, R.I.
Photo by the author 1999

Sarah was living with son Oliver at the time of the 1790 census but later moved in with her daughter Sarah and son-in-law Timothy Hopkins. Sarah Carver died in Scituate on 27 June 1817 in her 93rd year.

Sarah's stone in the Hopkins-Ide Lot at Foster, R.I.
Photo by the author 1999

Their quiet resting places belie the varied and interesting lives they led, encompassing the American Revolutionary War and family and business life throughout Plymouth colony (Massachusetts), Rhode Island, Vermont and New York. Sarah and Joseph were well-traveled citizens of their time.

Resources:

Adams, Andrew Napoleon, History of the Town of Fair Haven, Vermont: in Three Parts; Leonard & Phelps, printers, 1870; available online through Google Books; pages 25-26 and 514.

Johnson, Crisfield, History of Washington Co., New York; Philadephia: Everts & Ensign, 1878; available online through Google Books; pages 363 and 369.