(p. 61) Jesse French came from Billerica in 1763, and owned and occupied the estate on Pearl Street, above referred to as the “Upton place.” He was born April 6, 1739. Little is known of him. His name does not appear on the Lunenburg or the Fitchburg records as occupying any official position. He married, April 14, 1761, Abigail Jaquith. The births of eight children are recorded as follows:
Jesse, born at Billerica, October 11, 1762. Samuel, born at Fitchburg, March 14, 1763. Thomas, born at Fitchburg, May 8, 1765. Luther, born at Fitchburg, September 25, 1767. Abraham, born at Fitchburg, January 22, 1770. Ebenezer, born at Fitchburg, June 19, 1772. Abigail, born at Fitchburg, September 11, 1774. (died 1776) Abigail, born at Fitchburg, June 6, 1777.
Some of his descendants lived here as late as
the middle of this century. Edmund, a grandson, (son of Thomas), now holds a
position in the office of the Pullman Palace Car Works, Pullman, 111.; and his
brother, Joseph C, is a retired druggist, at Indianapolis, Ind. A grandson of Jesse French, —Josiah B., —settled in Lowell, where he
was a prominent citizen, was president of a bank, manufacturer, railroad
manager, and in 1849 and 1850 mayor of the city.
(Page 38.) The roads across the territory were few in number and are indicated on the map. The principal and oldest ones were—the road entering the town from Lunenburg near Jonathan Holt’s place, and by Pearl and Blossom streets, turning west at a point now the corner of Main and Blossom streets, running over about the same location of the present Main and Prospect streets, over Flat Rock and Dean hill to Ashburnham; another entered the town near Ephraim Whitney’s place, running westerly and passing the garrisons of Joseph Spafford and Isaac Gibson, continuing over Pearl hill and northwesterly to the garrison of John Fitch. Another road started from a point near Jesse French’s place, on the first named road, running westerly to Jonathan Woods’ near the river, thence on about the location of the present Intervale Road, Bemis road, Wanoosnoc road and Turnpike road, near the garrison of Samuel Poole, and on to Westminster line.
The following provides brief biographical sketches of Josiah and Amos French, the brothers of my 3rd great paternal grandfather Abram French (Photo left). I have to admit a little familial pride, these French boys were an amazing, enterprising lot! I have written several posts about Abram: Leading Citizen – Abram French, Priceless – Abram French, and Which Abram Are You.
Mr. Amos French belonged to the class of men who made their way into the world unaided, and without encouragement of any kind. He was in every respect a self-made man and the success which he secured in his years later was the fruit of his own persevering effort and stern self-denial.
(Edited excerpt from the History of Lowell) Mr. Amos B. French was born in Billerica, July 3, 1812, and died in Lowell, March 23, 1890. Mr. French was descended from a family whose members were among the early colonial settlers. His common ancestor in this country was Lieutenant William French, who arrived here in 1635, and was elected the first Representative of the town of Billerica in 1663-64. Amos received his early education in the country schools of his native place, and came to Lowell at the age of 11 years to engage in business. At different times he was employed by the manufacturing companies of Lowell, and in 1835 was the keeper of a restaurant. He afterwards engaged in the crockery business with Mr. Puffer, under the firm name of French & Puffer, in which business he continued for twenty-seven years.
Amos served the city as member of the Board of Aldermen in 1870-71. At the time of his death he was a Director of the First National Bank, a Director of the Lowell Mutual Fire Insurance Company, and a Trustee of the Lowell Institution for Savings.
The Winnipesaukee Water War and the 1859 Fight for NH Property Rights (Article posted by the New England Historical Society) Great article about this long running New England water war – “On Sept 28, 1859, James Worster led 50 angry farmers, mill operators, loggers and laborers in a vain effort to destroy a 250-foot dam that controlled the outflow of Lake Winnipesaukee. The dam regulated how much water flowed into the Merrimack River and powered the cotton cards, the spinning frames and the power looms of the enormous textile mills in Lowell and Lawrence, Mass. It was just one battle in the Winnipesaukee water war that had gone on for years.”
…. “When the men showed up, the sheriff arrived and sent them away. Undeterred, they came back in the afternoon and began removing the planking. The Lake Company’s agent, Josiah French, and his assistant tried to stop them. In the course of the struggle, French’s assistant struck one of the men on the hand with an iron bar. Some of them tried to push French off the dam. The dam attackers left again, only to return around nightfall with a larger crowd. Worster arrived with the 50 men wielding axes and iron bars. They came from as far away as Concord. And they brought with them a law enforcement officer who arrested French and his assistant for assault and battery.” …. “French was then sued for assault because he’d clubbed a rioter’s hand with an iron bar. A jury acquitted him.”
(Story from History of Lowell, Mass., content edited)
Among the men who were prominently identified with the early history of Lowell, few are more entitled to be held in respectful remembrance than Mr. Abram French. Mr. French was the fifth in a family of eleven children. He was born in Billerica, Mass., Dec. 13, 1803, and died at Lowell, April 11, 1879.
Abram was descended from Lieut. William French, who was born in England in 1604. He married in England, came to New England aboard the “Defense” in 1635, and died Nov. 20, 1681. From this ancestor the line of descent runs as follows:
Jacob French was born January 16, 1639-40, married Mary Champney, Sept. 20, 1665, and died May 20, 1713.
William French was born July, 1668, married Sarah Danforth, May 22, 1695, and died Sept. 30, 1723.
Ebenezer French was born August 5, 1707, married Elizabeth Hill, Aug. 27, 1729, and died Dec. 31, 1791.
Jesse French was born April 6, 1739, and married Abigail Jaquith, April 14, 1761.
Luther French was born in Fitchburg, MA on September 25, 1767, married Sarah Bowers, Aug. 28, 1796, and died in Lowell, March 15, 1846.
Mr. (Abram) French received his education in the public schools of his native town, and went out of school assisted his father in the work of the farm. At the age of 17, he went to Lexington, Mass., where he was employed in a general country store for a few years, after which he went into the dry goods business in East Lexington for himself. In 1835, he came to Lowell and was identified with business interests here for the greater part of his life.
Mr. French, in early manhood was a stanch Democrat, became a member of the Free Soil Party during the struggle between the north and south, and attended the Free Soil Convention at Buffalo in 1848. On the formation of the Republican Party he joined that party and remained a Republican till his death.
During the anti-slavery agitation he was active in the movement in Lowell, and was strongly in favor of abolition, and so deep was the impression of those trying times that his sympathy for the colored race remained always true and steadfast. Though taking an active interest in public affairs, he never sought office. He was a member of the Common Council in 1852 and 1853, and afterward of the School Board for a number of years. He early joined the Free Masons, and was a member of Pilgrim Commandery of Knights Templar. He filled various positions of trust and was a Trustee of the City Institution for Savings, and a Director of the Lowell Mutual Fire Insurance Company for many years.
In religious belief he was a Unitarian from boyhood, and was a constant attendant at the Church of the First Unitarian Society of Lowell. Mr. French was twice married; first, on July 21, 1831, to Elizabeth Simonds, of Lexington, Mass., and second, on Nov. 20, 1855, to Alice Dean of Providence, R.I. By his first wife he had: Charles A., born April 18, 1832; who married Elizabeth M. Holbrook, of Boston; Elizabeth, born July 7, 1834, who married Charles Darrow, of Boston; James O., born Jan. 5, 1838, who died in childhood; George W., born March 8, 1840, who married Jennie S. Hall, of Boston; and Horace E., born Feb. 24, 1843, who married Laura M. Foster, of Medford. By his second wife he had: Alice, born Sept. 3, 1856, who married Frederic P. Spalding, of Lowell; Gertrude, born Nov. 29, 1857; and Anna, born Sept. 20, 1859, both of whom died in childhood.
For many years he was a merchant tailor, occupying a building on Central Street, which he purchased from the Middlesex Mills Company in 1841. During his ownership the Appleton Bank was one of his tenants, several prominent professional men occupied offices in the building, and Mr. French’s store was a rendezvous for many men who afterwards rose to distinction in the Democratic Party. In 1849, he sold the building to the Appleton Bank, intending to remain as a tenant, but a long delay in rebuilding caused him to change his plans, and later he went into the retail clothing business, under the American House Hotel, from which he retired in 1868.
George Anton Shonka (1874-1965), my daughters maternal great-great grandfather, was the son of Matej and Mary (Hajny) Shonka (Sonka). Matej (aka “Mathias”) and Mary immigrated to the United States in 1869 from Bechyně, Tabor, Bohemia, a region now part of the Czech Republic. After a brief stay in Iowa, the Shonka’s established deep roots in Nebraska.
George and Stazie
George
married Anastasia ‘Stazie’ Prokes on June 26, 1901 and they resided for
a number of years in the village of Richland, Nebraska and raised four
children. George worked at the Richland State Bank, eventually serving
as bank manager. During his years of service to the bank, George
encountered “yeggs” on at least one occasion. I wondered the very same
thing you are probably asking, what are yeggs?
n. “thief, burglar,” especially “safecracker.”
The news account on the right was published in the Omaha Bee and a later, more detailed story (below) on the same event .
Saturday, April 18, 1896 – Enterprise – Special Dispatch to the World Herald
Revelers
Scare Yeggs Away From Bank Safe Robbers Get Contents of the Safety
Boxes, but Leave $3,000 at Richland Blow Door of Vault
Richland,
Nebraska, December 8. —Young people returning from a dance shortly
after midnight his morning are believed to have frightened three robbers
in the act of rifling the vault of the Richland State Bank here.
Several private deposit boxes and valuable contents of all the others
were carried away, but the yeggs failed in their attempt to blow open
the money safe, containing about $3,000, before they became unease and
fled.
George Shonka,
managing cashier, discovered the robbery this morning, and said no
figures on the loss had yet been compiled, as the bank officers did not
know what the private boxes contained. The loss may be heavy, as the
community consists of well to do farmers.
The
yeggs forced the front door and blow off the vault door. Schuyler
police saw a high powered closed car speed east through that town, eight
miles east of here, about 2 a. m., and now believe it contained the
robbers, escaping toward Omaha, where police were notified. Some wires
out of Richland were cut, supposedly by the robbers. State law
enforcement officials at Lincoln were notified by Sheriff Harennet of
Colfax County.
Lucile Lydia Bame was born on May 25, 1917, in Schuyler, Nebraska. She married Glenn Thomas Shonka on May 25, 1939. Lucile was the daughter of Vaclav Bame (1868-1950) and Katherina Fendrich (1877-1966). Following her graduation from Schuyler High School, Lucile worked for Eacker Motor Company, who sponsored her in the Miss Schuyler contest, which she won! Lucile is my daughter’s maternal great-grandmother.
Bodurtha – Tragic Drowning
Reice Bodurtha, my 8th paternal great-grandfather, was born in 1621 in Wales and married Blanche Lewis in 1646 in Springfield, Massachusetts. Together, they had four children (John (died at birth), John, Joseph, Samuel) during their marriage. In 1645, he was granted a house lot, wet meadow and woodland by the Plantation of Agawam (Springfield Colony). The house lot extended from “Ye streete fence to Ye great river.” The map (at left) illustrates the location of the Bodurtha house lot.
Sadly, Ye great river – the Connecticut River, was the place where Reice and his family suffered a tragedy. The event is described is in Stories Carved in Stone: Agawam, Massachusetts (Rusty Clark, 2005).
Which, Witch?
In 1652, Hugh Parsons, of Springfield, Massachusetts, was convicted before William Pynchon on formal charges of witchcraft. One of his formal accusers (along with his wife and most of the town) was Blanche Bodurtha, my 8th great-grandmother.
The following story is about Jonathan Danforth, my 8th great paternal grandfather. Jonathan was born on February 28, 1627 in Framlingham, England and died at the age of 85 on September 7, 1712 in Billerica, Massachusetts. By all historical accounts, he was a respected community leader and a gifted surveyor. In the inventory of his estate, he is referred to as “Captain Jonathan, Gentleman.”
Part two touches on Jonathan’s involvement and response to conflicts between Native Americans and colonists. Part three provides a brief story about Jonathan’s brother, Thomas Danforth, who played a role in the Salem witch trials.
Part One – Early New England Colonist, Gifted Surveyor, Community Leader
When
Jonathan was five years old, he came to America with his father,
Nicholas Danforth, brothers Thomas and Samuel and his three sisters,
Anna, Lydia, and Elizabeth. Jonathan’s mother had died a week before he
was a year old.
The Danforth family sailed on the Griffin, departing England on August 1,1634 arriving in Boston on September 18. The Griffin weighed 300 tons and carried about one hundred passengers and cattle for the colonies plantations. It is believed that he spent his youth in New-Towne (later Cambridge) living with his father until his death in 1638 and then lived with an elder, married sister. At the age of twenty, he left Cambridge and was a founding father of Billerica, Massachusetts. He married Elizabeth Poulter in Boston on November 22, 1654 and together they had eleven children. Elizabeth died on October 7, 1689. Their daughter, Sarah (1676-1747), married William French (my 7th great-grandfather).
Jonathan was a noted land surveyor and his descriptions of this service fill some 200 pages in the first volume of Land Grants. He held many public offices: deputy for the town, town clerk, selectman and he also represented the town at the General Court in 1684/5.
“He rode the circuit, chain’d great towns and farm, To good behavior, and by well marked stations, He fixed their bounds for many generations. His art ne’er failed him, though the loadstone faile. When oft by mines and streams it was assailed. All this is charming, but there’s something higher. Gave him the lustre which we most admire.” Poem by his nephew, the Rev. John Danforth of Dorchester.
Part Two – King Philip’s War and the Fate of Indian Children
It
was also an especially bloody war—the bloodiest, in terms of the
percentage of the population killed, in American history. The figures
are inexact, but out of a total New England population of 80,000,
counting both Indians and English colonists, some 9,000 were killed—more
than 10 percent. Two-thirds of the dead were Indians, many of whom died
of starvation. Indians attacked 52 of New England’s 90 towns, pillaging
25 of those and burning 17 to the ground. The English sold thousands of
captured Indians into slavery in the West Indies. New England’s tribes
would never fully recover.Blood and Betrayal: King Philip’s War
Starting
in 1646, colonists began to establish “praying towns” in an effort to
convert New England tribes to Christianity. By the year 1675, there
were an estimated 1,100 Praying Indians in Massachusetts located in fourteen Praying Towns.
These towns were situated so as to serve as an outlying wall of defense
for the colony. Wamesit, a praying town, was located within five miles
of Billerica.
Jonathan Danforth served during King Philip’s War under Major Daniel Gookin. The town of Billerica had twelve garrison houses, each was providing a defensive space for four to seven families. The homes of Jonathan Danforth and Jacob French’s (8 great grandfather) house both served in this capacity. During the war, Daniel Gookin, Jonathan and Thomas Danforth were protective of their neighbors, the Praying Indians, resulting in threats on their lives for interceding….
Following
the war, some Indian children where placed into servitude in the homes
of local residents where they “were to be provided religious education
and taught to read the english tounge.” According to published
accounts, “a boy of twelve, son to Papa Meck, alias Dauid, late of
Warwick or Cowesit, Rhode Island, was apportioned or bound out to
Jonathan Danforth.” The boy, later known as John Warrick died on January
15, 1686 at Billerica.
The following extract from the New England Historical and Genealogical Register, 1854 (Indian Children Put to Service) provides a listing of the children, the names and status of their parents and to whom they were been placed.
Part III – Thomas Danforth – Judge not lest ye be judged
Jonathan’s brother Thomas Danforth (portrait) was the first treasurer for Harvard College and elected president of the province of Maine, then independent of the colony of Massachusetts. One published account observed, “Perhaps the most intriguing characteristic of Thomas Danforth was his willingness to stand up for his convictions despite opposition.” Considered a progressive advocate for colonists’ rights, he also was persecuted for his decent treatment of the Praying Indians during King Philip’s War.
Deputy
Governor Thomas Danforth traveled to Salem in the early months of 1692
as part of a preliminary inquiry into the matter of witchcraft being
practiced. He was not appointed to serve as one of nine judges name to
the Court of Oyer and Terminer (hear and determine) established for the Salem witch trials
and was vocal in his distaste for the manner the witchcraft proceedings
were conducted. As a demonstration of his sympathy for those swept up
in the hysteria, he provided sanctuary on his own property (Danforth
Plantation) for Salem families seeking asylum, including Sarah Cloyes
and her husband and children. (Check out this great post – Witch Caves & Salem End Road)
Warning:
this story contains references to fornication, moonshine, corporal
punishment and jail. (Good, now that I have your attention – Read on!)
My 7th paternal great-grandfather, Jerathmeel Bowers, was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1650 to George and Elizabeth (Worthington) Bowers. When Jerathmeel was six his father died and six months later his mother Elizabeth married Henry Bowtell.
The
next mention of Jerathmeel in 1670 states that he “proved an
outrageously insolent servant and was convicted of premarital
fornication. (with Elizabeth Wilder)” (Sex in Middlesex).
Massachusetts law provided,”that if any man commit fornication, with
any single woman, they shall be punished, either by enjoining marriage,
or fine, or corporal punishment, or all or any of these, as the judge of
the Court that hath Cognizance of the case shall appoint”
In
1670, records show that Jerathmeel and Elizabeth were enjoined by the
court and in 1671 had their first child, Hannah. Jerathmeel served in King William’s War and later as a captain in Queen Anne’s War.
Jerathmeel operated a still on the corner of his property and may have been the first man in Chelmsford to receive a license to sell liquor (“strong waters”). He was actively engaged in farming and became one of Chelmsford’s most prominent citizens, in addition to being a man of substantial wealth. His greatest distinctions came from serving the Town of Chelmsford as a selectman in 1690-92, state representative in 1697 and 1698. (Groton’s Anonymous Mistress, Carl Flowers)
Benanuel Bowers –
George Bowers by a previous marriage had a son who he named Benanuel
(1627-1698). According to published accounts, Benanuel and his wife
Elizabeth (Dunster), due to being Quakers, both received “cruel
whippings and imprisonment and the loss of part of their worldly
substance” through “the outrage and violence of fiery zealots of the
Presbyterian party.”
In the above noted case, he came to the aid of a well known early Quaker by the name of Elizabeth Horten. From an account of her travels – “So afterwards I returned to Cambridge, where they were very thirsty for blood because none had been there before that I knew of, and I cried repentance through some part of the town. So they took me and had me early in the morning before Thomas Danforth and Daniel Gookin, two of their magistrates who by their jailer thrust me in a very dark dungeon for the space of two days and two nights without helping me to either bread or water. But a Friend, Benanuel Bower, brought me some milk and they cast him into prison because he entertained a stranger and fined him £5.”
Other offenses of his are also documented – Benanuel Bowers appearing before the court and being convicted of absenting himself the public ordinances of Christ on the Lord’s days, by his own confession, for about a quarter of a year past, and of entertaining Quakers into his family two several times, on his examination he affirmed that the Spirit of God was a Christian’s rule. (Source)
Bathsheba, the daughter of Benanuel and Elizabeth, was a “Quaker writer and speaker Bathsheba Bowers wrote a spiritual autobiography, An Alarm Sounded to Prepare the Inhabitants of the World to Meet the Lord in the Way of His Judgments (1709), one of the first published religious testimonials by an Anglo-American woman.” Bathsheba Bowers | History of American Women
Note: Elizabeth Dunster Bowers was the the niece of first president of Harvard University, Henry Dunster.
For further information about Colonial America read:
America’s True History of Religious Tolerance
– The idea that the United States has always been a bastion of
religious freedom is reassuring—and utterly at odds with the historical
record (Smithsonian Magazine, Oct 2010)
The gravestone of my paternal 9th great-grandfather Robert Harrington notes he was born in 1616 in Somerset, England and died in 1707 in Watertown, Massachusetts at the impressive age of 91! Robert came to New England on the ship Elizabeth in 1634. His estate lists a house, mill and over 647 acres of land.
The
following is a brief post on Vaclav and Anna (Voboril) Fendrich and
their daughter Katerina. Vaclav and Anna are my daughter’s maternal 3rd
great-grandparents. Included are a copy of Anna’s obituary and
Katerina’s marriage record. In the census, marriage and immigration
records, the names Fendrich-Frendrick-Fendrych all appear, I used the
version they appeared to settle on. Also, I admit a shortcoming in
interpreting Czech regions (Kray/Krai), districts (Okres), towns and
villages and the correct order to to identify a place of birth or
residence.
Vaclav Wenceslaus Fendrich
was born in May 1844 in Cáslav, Bohemia, (Austrian Empire) now part of
the Czech Republic. Vaclav was the son of Catherine Nowak and Franta
(Frank) Fendrich. He married Anna Voboril
in 1873. They had ten children in 19 years. Vaclav was a rancher and
lived in Marsland, Linwood and later Schuyler, Nebraska. Vaclav died on
May 7, 1914 in Schuyler, Nebraska, at the age of 70.
Anna Voboril was born in July, 1849 in Jankov Kray Caslav, Bohemia. Her parents were Jan Voboril and Marie Marshalek.
Anna
arrived in America in 1870 with her first husband John Havlinek Sr.
John died two years after their arrival and Anna married Vaclav in 1873.
At the time of her passing in 1938, Anna had 57 grandchildren and 29
great-grandchildren!
(Note)
Anna’s obituary lists her parents as Joseph and Anna. However, Vaclav
and Anna’s marriage license shows Jan and Marie as her parents.
Katerina Fendrich
was born on August 28, 1877, in Abie, Nebraska, to Vaclav and Anna. She
married Vaclav Wencel Bame on June 25, 1895, in Hemingford, Nebraska
(click to view a copy of their marriage record). They had three
children. She died on February 13, 1966, in Schuyler, Nebraska, at the
age of 88.
