Immigrant Ancestor -- Edmund Hobart (abt 1570-1646)

Another 10th great grandfather of mine was Edmund Hobart, who arrived with his wife and several grown children (the number varies) in New England in 1633. His son, Rev Peter Hobart was a vicar in England, but held strong Puritan beliefs and ran afoul of "the strict doctrines of Anglican England", which led the Hobart family and other Puritans to leave for New England.  

Soon after their arrival, Edmund, his sons Peter and Joshua and other recent arrivals from Norfolk, were the original settlers of Hingham, which today is part of Greater Boston. The town was incorporated as Hingham in 1635, named after their former home village, Hingham in Norfolk. It was a town born of religious descent, according to this Wikipedia entry.

Edmund Hobart and his wife Margaret (Dewey), said the Puritan minister Cotton Mather, "were eminent for piety...and feared God above many". Together, they had at least nine children. Margaret seems to have died not long after they arrived at Charlestown in 1633. He went on to marry two more times, fathering more children, before he died in 1646.

Edmund is the descendant of a family "established in East Anglia for many centuries", says one source. One of his brothers, Henry Hobart (abt 1560-1625), was a distinguished politician and barrister, and was knighted in 1603. The name has appeared as Hubbard or Hoberd, but Hobart became the most common spelling. Edmund's great grandfather, James Hobart, was knighted during the reign of Henry VII.

Colonial Families of the USA

Edmund himself must have been a man of some substance, because he was able to afford to send his son Peter to Cambridge University. Says this FamilySearch.org entry about him, "a university education in those days was a luxury only indulged in by the well-to-do".

Edmund was a well regarded senior member of the Hingham settlement in New England, serving as constable and a commissioner (the equivalent to today's justice of the peace).

I descend from Edmund and Margaret through their daughter Rebecca (1611-1655), who married another immigrant ancestor, Edward Bangs (abt 1591-1677) as his probable third wife.

The never ending story continues....


© Margaret Dougherty 2016-2017 All rights reserved

Immigrant Ancestor and Brick Wall -- Thomas Butler (1781-aft 1819?)

Sometimes are more challenging than others when writing about my immigrant ancestors. This is one of those times. In fact it's a brick wall.

I don't have a record of the death of my 3rd great grandfather, Thomas Butler, but he probably died in Nova Scotia after moving there with my 3rd great grandmother, Mary Southwick (1788-1865) some time after their 1806 Massachusetts marriage. Their son Samuel my 2nd great grandfather, was born in Halifax on 16 Mar 1816. That date is relied on by many researchers, but I'm still looking for more confirmation of that. Perhaps it comes from a long ago family bible.

Back to Thomas. He was born, like so many of my ancestors, on Cape Cod, in Falmouth. His parents were Captain (he was a sea captain) John Butler (1751-1794) and Parnel (also spelled as Parnal) Hatch (1759-1842). He was their eldest son. John, according to one story, was lost at sea, serving with the British Navy. Thomas was the only one of his siblings to go to Nova Scotia, so far as I know. A few years ago, I found a listing of the births of John and Parnel's children, with Thomas as the eldest listed first.

Falmouth, Massachusetts vital records, 1750-1831, v2

I've never found Nova Scotia arrival records for Thomas Butler and Mary Southwick, and I've never found a record of Thomas' death. Several researchers say that in addition to my 2nd great grandfather, Samuel, that Thomas and Mary possibly had three other sons. No surviving source information on any of them seems to exist (and I've looked), aside from their names and possible birth dates: Thomas b 1810, James b 1812 and Sames (?) b 1819. I've often thought that James and Sames are the same person. But apparently Sames does exist as a given name. James was the name of his grandfather, James Southwick, and following the generally accepted naming patterns of the time, it seems likely that this is fairly solid. But whatever happened to James Butler?

Mary Southwick Butler died in 1865, in Stewiacke, Colchester, Nova Scotia, likely in her son Samuel's home, which has always made me think that perhaps if Samuel did have brothers, they all died young.

I don't know Thomas' occupation -- was he a seaman like his father or a blacksmith like his son, or a farmer? I don't know where he died or where he's buried.

Some of my indirect Butler ancestors were United Empire Loyalists, a third cousin tells me. But not my direct Butler ancestors.

Despite all of these negatives, to end on a positive note, by fathering his son Samuel, Thomas was responsible for one of my several lines putting down Nova Scotia roots, so I do appreciate him for that. And Samuel? Well, he fathered 17 children (!) by two different wives. But that's another story for another time.

The never ending story continues.....




© Margaret Dougherty 2016-2017 All rights reserved

Immigrant Ancestor: Abraham Pierce

Another 9th great grandfather of mine, Abraham Pierce (abt 1605-abt 1673), arrived at Plymouth Colony in July 1623 from England on the Anne, along with several other ancestors. Plimoth Plantation has this information about Grandpa Abe. Apparently, he was about 18 years old when he arrived, possibly as a servant to another passenger. This is mentioned in several sources. He was the first Pierce to settle in the Americas.

FamilySearch.org has this more interesting biographical sketch, sourced to The Great Migration Begins: Immigration to New England 1620-1633. Abraham's origins in England are unknown.

He married by about 1637 to a woman named Rebecca. Together, they had five children, the youngest of whom is my 8th great grandmother, Alice Pierce (abt 1650 - 1712). He was a freeman of Plymouth, and by about 1642 had settled in Duxbury in Plymouth Colony.

Abraham may have been an original purchaser of Bridgewater, adjacent to Duxbury in about 1645, but never lived there, according to some sources. He died in Duxbury by June 1673. Like many early settlers of the Americas, too little is known about him and his family. Their stories are lost to history.

The never ending story continues....

Immigrant Ancestors: Thomas Birchard (1595-1657)

My 9th great grandfather, Thomas Birchard, was born in 1595 in Essex, England. Setting sail in September 1635, he arrived at Boston on the Truelove with his wife, Mary Robinson (1597-1655) and six children, including my 8th great grandfather, John Birchard (abt 1628-1702), who was then just seven years old. On the ship manifest, Thomas is described as a labouring man. They came as part of the Great Migration.

Thomas is another of my growing number of ancestors listed in my favourite handy little resource. He was most likely a Puritan.

Thomas and his family spent their first few years in New England in Roxbury, which was annexed to Boston in 1868. It was one of the first few towns of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, settled in 1630.

By 1639, the Birchards were in Hartford, Connecticut. Thomas is recognized as one of that city's founders, having settled there before February 1640.

By 1653, the Birchards were living in Edgartown, on Martha's Vineyard, where he became town clerk. In those days, the journey between Hartford and Martha's Vineyard would not have been a straightforward affair. I wonder what prompted Thomas to leave Hartford and to settle on Martha's Vineyard as his family's new home. Was his son, John, already there?

In about 1655, Thomas' wife Mary died. Some sources say this happened in Roxbury, but we know that by 1653, Thomas was on Martha's Vineyard. In any case, Thomas remarried at least once more in Edgartown, and possibly twice.

Now, Martha's Vineyard was the domain of my ancestor Governor Thomas Mayhew, another of my 9th great grandfathers. I wrote about him here. In 1673, a movement began to oust Mayhew, and Thomas was apparently the first to sign a petition to the General Court at Massachusetts Bay. The movement was crushed.

By 1682, Thomas had relocated yet again, to Norwich, Connecticut, where John was then living as one of that town's first proprietors. Thomas died in Norwich

A manuscript published in 1927 claims to have traced the first Birchard all the way back to the Franks in 496. I might take that with a grain of salt.

The never ending story continues....

Our immigrant ancestors -- Thomas Butler (1781-aft 1819)

Much of my 3rd great grandfather Thomas Butler's life after his marriage on 7 Apr 1806 in Massachusetts to Mary Southwick (1788-1865) remains a mystery to this day. He wasn't considered part of the New England planter migration and settlement in Nova Scotia -- that era had passed by the time he migrated to Nova Scotia.

Massachusetts Vital Records

Thomas was born on 20 May 1781 in Falmouth on Cape Cod to Captain John Butler (1751-1794) and Parnel (or Pernal) Hatch (abt 1759-1842). He was the eldest of six children.

There is an unproven story passed down that Captain John served in the British Navy and was lost at sea.

At some point after their 1806 marriage, Thomas and Mary arrived in Nova Scotia, initially in Halifax. Was this Thomas a sailor?

Thomas and Mary had perhaps four sons. It's not known whether the two eldest were born in Massachusetts or Nova Scotia. However the marriage certificate of their third son, my 2nd great grandfather Samuel (1816-1887) to his second wife, Esther Lawson, notes that he was born in Halifax.

Thomas may have died around 1819, but documentation for that is difficult to find. His widow Mary remained in Upper Stewiacke, no doubt to be near her son and grandchildren, until she died in 1865.

I've traced Thomas' ancestry back five generations, to another Thomas Butler (abt 1617-abt 1689), who was born in England, and arrived in New England in about 1637, settling in Sandwich on Cape Cod. We don't know where in England that first Thomas was born.

There is another old Butler family in Massachusetts, this one on Martha's Vineyard, where the first recorded there was a Nicholas Butler (abt 1588-1671). There is no proven link between Nicholas of Martha's Vineyard and Thomas of Cape Cod, but perhaps Nicholas was a nephew? One of  Nicholas' Martha's Vineyard descendants -- yet another Thomas Butler (1654-1732) -- married a 1st cousins 9x removed of mine, Jemima Daggett (abt 1666-?), granddaughter of Governor Thomas Mayhew, who was the second immigrant ancestor that I profiled here.

There are many unsolved mysteries with this immigrant ancestor. Hopefully, there are records yet to be found in both Cape Cod and Nova Scotia that will explain all....eventually.

The never ending story continues....

Our immigrant ancestors -- Hugh Calkins (abt 1603-1690)

Immigrant Ancestors listing

My 9th great grandfather Hugh Calkins arrived with his family in New England in 1638 as part of the Welsh Company, a group led by a minister, which sailed from Wales, but whose members may not all have been Welsh, seeking religious freedom. The minister may or may not have been ejected from his position in Britain, which may have been the catalyst for him leading a group of about 50 families to New England.


Hugh is one of dozens of my immigrant ancestors listed in my favourite little reference book. As noted there, Hugh was one of the founders of Gloucester, Massachusetts. He and his wife Ann (last name unknown) had at least nine children, the youngest of whom were born in New England. Through his children, he has many descendants across North America today.

William Cutter writes in his 1910 book, Genealogical and Personal Memoirs Relating to the Families of the State of Massachusetts, "Hugh Calkins was a radical, in religion a non-conformist, and living in the troublous times of Charles, the First, soon became satisfied that there were safer countries than England and Wales—for men who wished to worship God according to the dictates of their own consciences. Accordingly, he with his wife, Ann, and John, their son, then four years old, joined a body of emigrants called the 'Welch Company,' and with their pastor, Rev. Richard Blinman, embarked and came to America, about 1638 or 1640.” Does this mean he was a Puritan? I don't know. 

Hugh was born in Cheshire, the English county that borders on Wales, and was christened on 3 Apr 1603 in Waverton, Cheshire, England. We know from his christening record that his father's name was Rowland. 

His son, my 8th great grandfather John Calkins (1634-1703), was one of the founders of Norwich, Connecticut in 1659. His name, together with the other town founders, is listed on a monument in Founders Cemetery there.

At some point, the "s" was dropped in the family name. Hugh's great grandson (and my 6th great grandfather), Jeremiah Calkin (1705-aft 1770) migrated from New England to Nova Scotia as a New England Planter as a widower, with his family in about 1760. Jeremiah had been married to Rachel Janes (1700-bef 1760) in Connecticut in 1725, and they had at least five children.

Jeremiah's house still stands today in Kings, Nova Scotia. Jeremiah's daughter (and my 5th great grandmother), Lucy, migrated to Nova Scotia separately with her husband Jonathan Godfrey, as I noted here.

The more you research, the more you know. Early on, I was thrilled to discover Hugh Calkins because, based on what I initially read, I thought that I had Welsh ancestry. Sigh. But the more I researched I learned that he was an Englishman.

The never ending story continues....

Our immigrant ancestors -- Samuel A. Fisher (1758-1812)

My 4th paternal great grandfather was Samuel A. Fisher, who was born in Londonderry, New Hampshire in 1758 to Deacon Samuel Fisher and Sarah Barber. In chapter 38 of his 1873 book, Historical and Genealogical Record of the First Settlers of Colchester County, Thomas Miller writes this about of Samuel A.:

"Samuel, son of Deacon Samuel Fisher, was born in Londonderry, New Hampshire.  He removed to Nova Scotia in 1767.  He was married to Mary, daughter of Eliakim Tupper, Esq., and Elizabeth Newcomb.  He settled on the interval farm that is now owned by Mr. Samuel Butler and Mr. Patterson, on the south side of the Stewiacke River, in 1784.  He was a worthy man; he went by the name of Deacon Fisher also.  He died in Stewiacke, May 12th, 1812."

Miller also writes about the passage of Samuel's father, Deacon Samuel Fisher, my 5th great grandfather from Ireland to America this:

"Deacon Samuel Fisher was born in the North of Ireland, in the year 1722, and was of Scottish descent. His father was a weaver. He came to America in 1740, in the 19th year of his age. The ship in which he came was usually spoken of as "The starved ship". The vessel was so scantily supplied with provisions, that, long before the voyage was completed, one pint of oatmeal for each individual on board, and a proportionate allowance of water, was all that remained. Mr. Fisher once went to the mate with a tablespoon to obtain some water, which was refused him, there being but two-thirds of a bottlefull on board. Mr. Fisher's custom was to take a spoonfull of meal and having moistened it with salt water, to eat it raw. The passengers and crew, having subsisted in this manner for fourteen days, were at length reduced to the necessity of eating the bodies of those who died. Even this resource failed them; and, at length, Mr. Fisher was selected to give up his life to preserve the lives of the rest. Providentially, however, a vessel hove in sight; and their signals of distress being observed, they obtained relief, and he was saved. So deep an impression did the horrors of that passage make upon the mind of Mr. Fisher, that, in after life, he could never see, without pain, the least morsel of food wasted, or a pail of water thrown on the ground carelessly."

What a harrowing journey! This story takes my breath away. Deacon Samuel married three times in New Hampshire. Samuel A. is the second son of his final marriage, to Sarah Barber, my 5th great grandmother.

Samuel A. arrived in Truro, Colchester, Nova Scotia in about 1767, aged nine, with his older half sister, Janet and her husband Matthew Archibald. He married Mary Tupper (1766-1812), a daughter of Eliakim Tupper and Elizabeth Newcomb in about 1786, and they went on to have ten children, making their home in Upper Stewiake, Colchester, Nova Scotia, where he farmed. In 1791, Samuel A. is recorded in a poll tax roll as residing there.

Samuel A. died on 12 May 1812, following Mary, who predeceased him only weeks earlier on 23 Apr 1812. It is reported in sources that Samuel A. and Mary were the first white people to be buried in Upper Stewiake's Riverside Cemetery, built on land that had originally been an Aboriginal burying ground.

The never ending story continues...

Our immigrant ancestors -- Governor Thomas Mayhew

A few years ago, a wonderful fellow Mayflower descendant clued me into an incredible little book originally published in 1942 that lists alphabetically, with very brief biographical sketches, the names of 2,500 of the earliest immigrants to America. I periodically go through Immigrant Ancestors: a list of 2500 immigrants to America before 1750 when on one of my all too often research binges, and at last count, I have 26 direct ancestors listed in it.

Yes, these are immigrants to America, but as I've noted, I have many ancestral links to New England, including Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, Connecticut and New Hampshire. In fact, at one point very early on, one of my ancestors, Governor Thomas Mayhew (1593-1682), held the land titles to Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. He received the original land grants in the 1640s.

Thomas is my 9th great grandfather. He arrived at Plymouth Colony as part of the Great Migration of Puritans in 1631/32 from the Southampton area, where he was a merchant. He was born in Wiltshire. Read what is said about him in Immigrant Ancestors (l). Yes, there's a discrepancy in the dates given in that 1942 publication, but as more and more confirmed, sourced documentation has come to light, this is common.

The never ending story continues....

I am the sum of many ancestors

I used a word cloud to capture the family names of just some of my many ancestors, who include crofters, farmers, fishers, soldiers, servants, clergy, community leaders, nobles, royalty and the earliest settlers of New England and Nova Scotia. Each has a story to be told. Aside from DNA, my roots go back to Scotland, Ireland, Wales, England, France, Spain, Belgium and more.

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