Re: 6 gen. anc. chart of ch. of Richard & Joyce (Keesling) Lawson
-
In reply to:
6 gen. anc. chart of ch. of Richard & Joyce (Keesling) Lawson
Richard 11/23/11
My grandma Lawson's mother's mother was Hannah [Joanna] (Jewett) Chase, and she was born in Pepperell, Middlesex Co, MA on April 20th 1816.She was my 2nd great & my children's 3rd great grandmother, and she died on Oct. 3, 1899 in Topeka, Shawnee Co, KS, where I was born on Sep. 25, 1946.This post will be about some of her ancestors, and will be followed by others that will be more about her immediate family & her descendents, which were many.
Hannah was a daughter of Abijah & Elizabeth (Baldwin) Jewett, and her parents were 3rd cousins.
Abijah Jewett of Pepperell was a son of David & Abigail (Walker) Jewett.
Elizabeth Baldwin of Pepperell was a dau of David & Elizabeth (Blood) Baldwin.
David Jewett of Groton & Pepperell was a son of Nehemiah & Lydia (Blood) Jewett.
Elizabeth (Blood) Baldwin of Groton & Pepperell was a dau of Moses & Elizabeth (Stone) Blood.
Lydia (Blood) Jewett of Groton & Pepperell and Moses Blood of Groton & Pepperell were sister & brother, she being a dau and he being a son of John & Joanna (Nutting) Blood.
John Blood of Groton was a son of James & Abigail (Kemp) Blood.
Abigail Kemp of Billerica & Groton was a dau of Samuel & Sarah (Foster) Kemp.
Sarah Foster of Andover, Billerica & Groton [& said to have been of Charlestown, now part of Boston] was a dau of Andrew & Ann (???) Foster.
Andrew & Ann (???) Foster were Hannah's 4th great, my 9th great & my children's 10th great grandparents [twice].
Ann's tragic story can be found all over the internet in this "information age", and from all kinds of various sources, and some of what is said may be true.There are some indisputable facts, and I will do my best to present their story as they lived it, as a couple, and as parents & grandparents.
Andrew & Ann were married about 1638/9 [some said in ENG & some said in MA, some even said in Andover] , and some said Andrew was listed as one of the early settlers of Andover about the year 1640 [possibly because some said their first child Andrew was born 1640 in Andover [others said about 1643].Their second child Sarah was said to have been born 1642 [& about 1645] in Andover.Their third child Hannah was said to have been born about 1647, and their fourth child Abraham about 1649, both in AndoverTheir fifth child Mary, said to have been born July 9, 1652 in Andover, Essex Co, MA, was their first & only child to have been listed with an actual date of birth.
Andrew Foster was evidently in Andover by 1653, as he was mentioned In the court files of 1653 [not long after Mary's birth].Andrew was exempted from military training due to age & other infirmaties.
Andrew was said to have been a member of the Scotch Charitable Association [formerly the St. Andrews Society] which was formed in Boston as early as 1656.
Andrew & Ann's dau Sarah Foster married Samuel Kemp of Billerica on May 23, 1662.
Andrew & Ann's son Andrew Foster married Mary Russ [Russa Russe] on June 7, 1662.
Samuel & Sarah Kemp had a son Feb. 23, 1663 Billerica, Middlesex Co, MA Colony, but he died before Mar. 27, 1665 when Samuel & Sarah had twins in Billerica; another son Samuel [II?] & Abigail.
Andrew & Ann's dau Hannah Foster married Hugh Stone on Oct. 15, 1667.
Samuel & Sarah Kemp had a son Jonathan Apr. 6, 1668 Groton, Middlesex Co, MA [Richard Blood was the Town Clerk of Groton in 1668, where his son James Blood married (1) Sep. 7, 1669 to Elizabeth Longley, dau of William & Joanna (Goff) Longley, the maternal grandparents of Joanna (Nutting) Blood, mentioned above].
Andrew was made a "freeman" in 1669 [according to wikipedia, "Voting in Massachusetts was limited to freemen, individuals who had been formally admitted to their church after a detailed interrogation of their religious views & experiences."].
Samuel & Sarah Kemp had a dau Ann on May 16, 1671 Groton, but she probably died young.
Samuel & Sarah had another dau Mehitable Jan. 4, 1673 Groton.
Andrew & Ann's dau Mary Foster married Lawrence Lacey on Aug. 5, 1673.
Samuel & Sarah Kemp had a son Zerubbable on May 23, 1677 Groton.
Samuel & Sarah had a dau Sarah Apr. 18, 1679 Groton, but she probably died young also.
Andrew & Ann's son Abraham Foster married Hester Foster [dau of Deacon Samuel Foster of Chelmsford] on July 13, 1681.
Andrew Foster was said to have received about 12 tracts of land in or near Andover, but it appears only one was dated in July of 1682.
Samuel & Sarah Kemp had a dau Bethiah on July 9, 1683 Groton, but she probably died young also. [Samuel & Sarah Kemp are known to have had five out of at least nine children who lived to adulthood & married, but probably they had no more children born after the death of Sarah's father Andrew Foster.]
Andrew Foster died in Andover, Essex Co, MA on May 7, 1685 [listed as 106 years of age in the Town Records of Andover, but that age was later said to have been exaggerated by about 20 years].
Due to the age listed at the time of his death, his birth was estimated to be about 1579 [he and Ann were said to have been born in ENG, but they were also said to have been Scottish or even born in SCT].You can go back through the dates listed above, for yourself, and question whether he was about 40 or 60 when he married 21 or 22 yr. old Ann [if 40, might have been his first marriage, but if 60, he could have had an earlier marrige, or two or more, and he could have had other children by those earlier marriages, as some have said].
Whether he was 53 or 73 when his last child with Ann was born, and therefore about 55 or 75 when exempted from training, and about 70 or 90 when admitted to his church, and thereby able to vote in the MA Colony, is evidently a matter of opinion.
The fact remains however, that when he died, he was survived by his devoted wife, Ann & all five of their known children & their children's respective spouses, and an ever increasing number of grandchildren.Andrew's wife Ann, was the exectrix of his will, which indicates his esteem for her & his confidence in her ability to fulfill her final duties towards him & his estate, which she did.Andrew Foster died, at a "ripe old age", without any clue of what would happen to his beloved & faithful wife, or to any of his other descendents. [His granddau Abigail Kemp became the 2nd wife of James Blood in Groton on Dec. 20, 1686.]
Andrew Foster had died in Andover on May 7, 1685.Nearly a full four years later, on April 20th 1689, suddenly there was a knock on the door.There were no phones or other means to alert Ann to the tragic news that her dau Hannah [pregnant for 8 months] had been murdered by her own husband Hugh Stone, while he was in another of his drunken fits of rage.It was the first murder in Andover, and the later trial & hanging of Hugh Stone were a cause for great excitement in that community in Essex Co [with Salem as its county seat] in the Colony of Massachusetts.All of that would take place in the near future.But on this night of April 20th, Ann would have had to answer the knock on the door and hear of her dau's murder from someone in person, probably from one of the constables of Andover, and hopefully by some of her children & grandchildren.
Ann's dau Hannah had seven surviving children, whose faith must have been tested to the limits, along with their grandmother Ann's, and the faith of their surviving Aunts, Uncles & Cousins.In this Springtime of 1689, when all living things were to be refreshed, let us hope that Ann was surrounded by the support of her surving family, who would immediately need to rally around her & to aid in the support of her surving grandchildren, the children of her dau Hannah (Foster) Stone. To say that the Foster family was a family in crisis would perhaps be an understatement, but their tragic story was far from over.
Just over three years later, when Ann was about 75 & had been a widow for a little over seven years, on July 15, 1692, suddenly there was yet another knock on the door.This time it was one of the two constables of Andover, no doubt John Ballard.He was there to arrest Ann upon serving her with a complaint that she had used withcraft to afflict Elizabeth (Phelps) Ballard, wife of Joseph Ballard, brother of John Ballard, Constable of Andover.Upon the constable's request, the two young girls, Ann Putnam & Mary Walcott were brought from Salem to Andover for the first time.According to the constable, the girls went into fits upon the sight of Ann Foster.However unlikely there is any shred of evidence or truth to that claim, Ann was then and there caught in an insidious trap, and "presumed guilty" of witchcraft.
This was in 1692 in the English Colony of Massachusetts.The charter for the colony had expired and those governing there were more or less acting on their own authority, even if for & in the name of the Lord & Lady William & Mary, the new King & Queen of England.Ann was not necessarily "innocent until proven guilty".Just four days after Ann was arrested, there were mass hangings of witches in Salem.
While Ann was being "put to the question" [a combination of interrogations and tortures], Elizabeth (Phelps) Ballard lay near death [she died July 27, 1692].During this time of torture through the last half of July, Ann refused to confess to any of the charges she was accused of, so during this same time, her dau Mary (Foster) Lacey 40 & her granddau Mary Lacey Jr 18 were also arrested under charges of using witchcraft to bewitch Elizabeth (Phelps) Ballard with her fatal illness.The final interrogation of Ann & both Marys before the court is available online, and ultimately led to Ann's confession on Sep. 10, 1692.
An inquest was held, wittnesses testfied, Ann was found guilty and comdemed to die by hanging, on Sep. 13, 1692 [on that very same day, it was recorded in the Town Records of Groton that her granddau Abigail (Kemp) Blood's husband, James Blood was "killed by Indians" - see follow-up to this post].
Ann died in the Essex County Jail, in Salem, on Dec. 3, 1692.Her son had to pay for her body to be released for burial & for 4 1/2 months of expenses for her incarceration.She was said to have been buried in the Burying Point Cemetery in Salem, which was also said to be the place of burial of most, if not all, of her accusers.I will soon post more of the positive influences of her life, and of her death, on her future descendents & their various communities, esp. upon the life of Hannah (Jewett) Chase.
More Replies:
-
Re: 6 gen. anc. chart of ch. of Richard & Joyce (Keesling) Lawson
Pat Stewart 12/07/11
-
Re: 6 gen. anc. chart of ch. of Richard & Joyce (Keesling) Lawson
Richard 12/09/11
-
Re: 6 gen. anc. chart of ch. of Richard & Joyce (Keesling) Lawson
Pat Stewart 12/09/11
-
Re: 6 gen. anc. chart of ch. of Richard & Joyce (Keesling) Lawson
-
Re: 6 gen. anc. chart of ch. of Richard & Joyce (Keesling) Lawson
-
Re: 6 gen. anc. chart of ch. of Richard & Joyce (Keesling) Lawson
Richard 12/05/11
-
Abijah & Elizabeth (Baldwin) Jewett & Hannah (Jewett) Chase
Richard 1/03/12
-
Abijah & Elizabeth (Baldwin) Jewett & Hannah (Jewett) Chase 2
Richard 1/03/12
-
Abijah & Elizabeth (Baldwin) Jewett & Hannah (Jewett) Chase