Tombstone Tuesday -- Edward Thurston, Sr. of Rhode Island

HERE LYETH THE BODY

OF EDWARD THVRSTON

WHO LIVED 90 YEARS

AND DEPARTED THIS LIFE

_ 28  DAY OF FEBRVARY

1706

FindAGrave site

Coddington Cemetery

Newport, Rhode Island

Another tombstone entry for this cemetery.

Tombstone Tuesday -- Jones at Mount Auburn Cemetery

LEWIS JONES

A. D. 1640

EDWARD F. JONES

COLONEL 6TH REG MA. V. M.

FIRST IN THE FIELD

BALTIMORE APR. 19, 1861

COLONEL 26TH REG. MASS. VOLS.

BVT. BRIG. GENERAL U.S. VOLS.

LT. GOV. NEW YORK

1886 TO 1892

BORN JUNE 3, 1828

DIED AUG. 14. 1913

NETTIE

HIS WIFE

DIED OCT. 23, 1862

AGED 35

FIND-A-GRAVE SITE FOR EDWARD F. JONES

Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Can't Read a Will? -- Tuesday's Tip

Have you ever tried to read a will, either an old one or a more recent one? Since I've been blogging, I've transcribed at least 10, and have had problems with reading the handwriting on all of them. The other day, while typing up my most recent for the post for yesterday, I discovered a way to figure out what some of the words were. I don't believe I've ever seen this method before. Being a huge user of Google, I decided to type in some key words, both before my unknown word/s and some key words after the unknown. Below, I give two examples of what I was up against, and Google helped!


I used these Key Words: lastly as to all the rest residue ___ whether real or personal (I knew I was missing about four words).

Correct: All the rest, residue and remainder of my estate, whether real, personal.

I used these Key Words: Decease her ____  apparel is to be given to my

Correct:  Decease her wearing apparel is to be given to my

Amanuensis Monday -- Samuel Griffin

Will for Samuel Griffin, my 6th great-grandfather.

In the name of God Amen I Samuel Griffin Essex in the County of Chittenden in the state of Vermont being weak in body but of sound and of perfect mind and memory do make and publish with this my last will and Testament in manner and form following That is to say I give to my Beloved wife Mercy Griffin all my Household furniture during her life with other possessions hereafter mentioned -- I give to my son John my farm on which I now live together with my Cattle Sheep and Swine also my tyme peace and loom on the following conditions viz He is to support my wife during her life and provide and furnish her with all things necessary for her Comfort and Convenience he is to pay all my debts that I shall owe at my decease he is to pay sixty Dollars to my three Daughters viz Twenty to Lois Kelsey to Polly Dowd and Twenty to Azube Davis My son John is to pay the aforesaid sum to my Daughters in one year after my wife's Decease and he is to have my Farming  utensils -- my Carpenters and Joiners are to be equally divided between my five sons, viz Joel, Asahel, Samuel John and Dan after my wifes Decease her wearing apparel is to be given to my daughter Mercy Pelton and the remainder of my Houses hold furniture is to be divided as follows. Samuel and Dan are to have Each of them a bed and bedding The remainder is to [be] equally divided between my five sons above Mentioned excepting my son John lastly as to all the rest residue and remainder of my estate whether real or personal of what name or nature I give to my beloved wife Mercy Griffin whom I do appoint sole Executrix of this my Last Will and Testament Thereby revoking all other Wills by me made In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and Seal this 16th of May in the year of our Lord 1808.

Signed sealed published and     }

declared by the above named

Samuel Griffin to be his last       

will and Testament in presence

of us who here unto subscribed

our names as witnesses in the   }

presence to the Testator      

Ezra Slater?

Zuriel Tyler

Benton Buck

                               Sam^l Griffin

 

An Inventory of the real and personal Estate of Samuel Griffin Late of Essex Deceased

Copies received from Joan Kaysen in July 2006 and Bradley Griffin in October 2009. Both are distant cousins, and it's taken me this long to discover I had two copies, and this long to transcribe it.

Amanuensis Monday was begun by John Newmark of the TransylvanianDutch blog. The term means, "a person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another." Many bloggers enjoy doing this because it allows them to freely copy something that has been written.

Edward Cross and Arizona's First Newspaper

"Edward Cross, born in Lancaster, New Hampshire in 1832, began working as a printer for his local paper, the Coos Democrat, when he was 15 years old.  He then moved on to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he worked as a printer for the Cincinnati Times. Demonstrating writing skills, he served for a time as the paper’s Washington Correspondent.  He became involved with directors of the Sonora Exploring and Mining Company and moved west in 1857.  He settled in Tubac, Arizona Territory, where he invested in the company’s  mines and established the territory’s first newspaper,  The Weekly Arizonian.  The Washington printing press was brought to Tubac by Cross and his associate, William Wrightson, via the “Jackass Mail,” as the mule teams were called, and was used to print the first issue on March 3, 1859.

Cross, serving as editor of the paper, had strong convictions.  He took exception to a number of articles written by Sylvester Mowry of Tucson that were published in Eastern newspapers. He criticized them for inflating the size of the local population and the magnitude of local mining operations.  Mowry challenged Cross to a duel, which took place on July 8, 1859. Using Burnside rifles, four shots were fired before Mowry’s gun failed, entitling him to another shot.  Cross stood waiting unarmed.  Mowry refused to fire at an unarmed man, thus ending the duel.  Both men exchanged apologies in person and in the Arizonian. The paper was sold a few weeks later, ironically to Mowry.  He moved the press to Tucson where it was used to print the first issue of the Citizen  and possibly theStar.  Later it printed the Tombstone Nugget.  In 1910, the press was donated to the Arizona Historical Society.  The press ultimately returned to Tubac after an absence of 120 years in 1980, where it was installed in the period print shop at the Tubac Presidio State Historic Park Museum.

In addition to his writing and mining interests, Cross joined the U.S. Army scouts in their efforts against the Apaches.  In 1860, he crossed the border into Mexico to command a Sonoran army garrison supporting the insurgency of Benito Juarez.  At the outbreak of the Civil War, Cross returned to New Hampshire where he accepted a commission as colonel of the Fifth New Hampshire Volunteer Regiment. 

Cross was reportedly an impulsive and colorful officer, occasionally striking non-commissioned officers with the flat of his sword when angry.  He was known to wear a red bandana on his head instead of the traditional officer’s hat. This was his way of making himself easier to spot on the battlefield by his men.  However, on July 2, 1863 Maj. Gen. Winfield S. Hancock noticed that his bandana was black rather than red.  Cross indicated that he had foreseen his own death and that black was more appropriate.  Cross fought in the Battle of Gettysburg that day and was mortally wounded while helping to stabilize the left flank as it entered the Wheatfield.  He fell near Rose Woods and died the next day at a field hospital.  His body was shipped home to Lancaster and laid to rest in the town’s cemetery."

The article was copied from Tubac Presido Park and permission was granted by Cindy Monro.

My cousin, Larry McGrail forwarded this link to me in September 2011. Edward Cross is my first cousin, five times removed.

Graves of Connecticut -- Surname Saturday

The Graves line is another old Connecticut line of mine, I'm showing my direct lines below in green. The other day I posted a blog titled, When a Reader Corrects my Lineage, and I am glad to be providing correct information for this Graves family.

1.	JOHN GRAVES (GEORGE GRAVES1) was born ABT 1633 in Prob. England, and died 31 DEC 1695 in Guilford, New Haven Co., Connecticut. He married ELIZABETH CRUTTENDEN 26 NOV 1657 in Guilford, New Haven Co., Connecticut, daughter of ABRAHAM CRUTTENDEN.
	Children of JOHN GRAVES and ELIZABETH CRUTTENDEN were: + 2   i. JOHN GRAVES was born 27 FEB 1658/9 in Guilford, New Haven Co., Connecticut, and died 1 DEC 1726 in Guilford, New Haven Co., Connecticut. 3   ii. Elizabeth GRAVES was born 11 APR 1661 in Guilford, New Haven Co., Connecticut. 4   iii. Elizabeth GRAVES was born 16 SEP 1665 in Guilford, New Haven Co., Connecticut, and died 28 MAY 1687. 5   iv. Sarah GRAVES was born 14 MAR 1667/8 in Guilford, New Haven Co., Connecticut. She married Thomas ROBINSON 17 JAN 1692 in Guilford, New Haven Co., Connecticut. He was born 1666. 6   v. Abigail GRAVES was born 6 MAR 1669/70 in Guilford, New Haven Co., Connecticut, and died 13 AUG 1753. She married Ebenezer BENTON14 JUN 1694 in Guilford, New Haven Co., Connecticut. 7   vi. Joseph GRAVES was born 27 AUG 1672 in Guilford, New Haven Co., Connecticut, and died BEF 1716. He married Margaret WILCOXSON BEF 1699 in Hartford / Guilford, Connecticut, daughter of JOSEPH WILCOXSON and ANNE. She was born 1672 in Killingworth, Middlesex Co., Connecticut, and died 9 FEB 1763 in No. Guilford, New Haven Co., Connecticut. 8   vii. Daniel GRAVES was born 17 SEP 1675 in Guilford, New Haven Co., Connecticut, and died 8 NOV 1675 in Guilford, New Haven Co., Connecticut. 9   viii. Nathaniel GRAVES was born 27 JAN 1677/8 in Guilford, New Haven Co., Connecticut, and died JAN 1727. He married Elizabeth BARNES 25 NOV 1709 in Hartford, Hartford Co., Connecticut. 10   ix. Hannah GRAVES was born 12 JAN 1679/80 in Guilford, New Haven Co., Connecticut, and died 21 MAR 1757. She married Nathaniel STONE 6 JAN 1709. He was born 1678.

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Generation No. 2

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2.	JOHN GRAVES (JOHN GRAVES2, GEORGE GRAVES1) was born 27 FEB 1658/9 in Guilford, New Haven Co., Connecticut, and died 1 DEC 1726 in Guilford, New Haven Co., Connecticut. He married ELIZABETH FOOTE 12 JAN 1685 in Guilford, New Haven Co., Connecticut, daughter of ROBERT FOOTE and SARAH POTTER. She was born 18 MAR 1663 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut, and died 14 MAY 1730 in Guilford, New Haven Co., Connecticut.
	Children of JOHN GRAVES and ELIZABETH FOOTE were: 11   i. Elizabeth GRAVES was born 17 JUL 1686 in Guilford, New Haven Co., Connecticut, and died 25 MAY 1687 in Guilford, New Haven Co., Connecticut. + 12   ii. John GRAVES was born 1 FEB 1690 in Guilford, New Haven Co., Connecticut, and died 17 JUL 1763 in Guilford, New Haven Co., Connecticut. 13   iii. Ann GRAVES was born 29 AUG 1692 in Guilford, New Haven Co., Connecticut. + 14   iv. NOAHDIAH GRAVES was born 4 DEC 1694 in E. Guiliford (now Madison), New Haven, Connecticut, and died 24 JUL 1751 in Durham, Middlesex Co., Connecticut. 15   v. Mindwell GRAVES was born 4 NOV 1696 in Guilford, New Haven Co., Connecticut, and died 12 FEB 1771 in E. Guilford, New Haven Co., Connecticut. She married Nathaniel STEVENS 10 NOV 1713 in Guilford, New Haven Co., Connecticut. 16   vi. Sarah GRAVES was born 14 APR 1699 in Guilford, New Haven Co., Connecticut, and died 30 MAY 1784 in Killingworth, Middlesex Co., Connecticut. She married Thomas FRENCH 14 DEC 1720 in Guilford, New Haven Co., Connecticut. 17   vii. David GRAVES was born 31 JAN 1701 in Guilford, New Haven Co., Connecticut, and died 16 SEP 1726 in Guilford, New Haven Co., Connecticut. He married Prudence WILLARD 17 FEB 1721 in Guilford, New Haven Co., Connecticut. 18   viii. Elizabeth GRAVES was born 4 JAN 1703 in Guilford, New Haven Co., Connecticut, and died 2 NOV 1775 in Clinton, Middlesex Co., Connecticut. She married Daniel REDFIELD 18 MAR 1728 in Killingworth, Middlesex Co., Connecticut, son of Theophilus REDFIELD and Priscilla GRINNELL. He was born 22 SEP 1707 in Killingworth, Middlesex Co., Connecticut, and died 11 JAN 1758 in Clinton, Middlesex Co., Connecticut. 19   ix. Ebenezer GRAVES was born 15 JUL 1705 in Guilford, New Haven Co., Connecticut, and died 1 MAR 1785 in Guilford, New Haven Co., Connecticut. He married Mary ISBEL 12 FEB 1730 in Guilford, New Haven Co., Connecticut. + 20   x. Mehitable GRAVES was born 1 FEB 1688 in Guilford, New Haven Co., Connecticut, and died 16 JUL 1747 in Durham, Middlesex Co., Connecticut.

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Generation No. 3

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12.	John GRAVES (JOHN GRAVES3, JOHN GRAVES2, GEORGE GRAVES1) was born 1 FEB 1690 in Guilford, New Haven Co., Connecticut, and died 17 JUL 1763 in Guilford, New Haven Co., Connecticut. He married Abigail STARR 1728. He married Elizabeth STEEVENS 10 MAY 1714 in Guilford, New Haven Co., Connecticut. She was born ABT 1695 in Killingworth, Middlesex Co., Connecticut, and died 20 FEB 1725 in Guilford, New Haven Co., Connecticut. He married Naomi 1753.
	Children of John GRAVES and Elizabeth STEEVENS were: 21   i. Anne GRAVES. 22   ii. John GRAVES. 23   iii. John GRAVES. 24   iv. Ezra GRAVES was born 3 JUL 1722 in Guilford, New Haven Co., Connecticut, and died 26 SEP 1759. He married Elizabeth GRAVES, daughter of NOAHDIAH GRAVES and SARAH. She was born 21 JUN 1723 in Durham, Middlesex Co., Connecticut.

14.	NOAHDIAH GRAVES (JOHN GRAVES3, JOHN GRAVES2, GEORGE GRAVES1) was born 4 DEC 1694 in E. Guiliford (now Madison), New Haven, Connecticut, and died 24 JUL 1751 in Durham, Middlesex Co., Connecticut. He was buried in OId Burying Ground, Durham, Connecticut. He married SARAH ABT 1718. She was born ABT 1692, and died 10 MAY 1777 in Durham, Middlesex Co., Connecticut. She was buried in OId Burying Ground, Durham, Connecticut.
	Children of NOAHDIAH GRAVES and SARAH were: + 25   i. ELIZABETH GRAVES was born ABT 1700 in Durham, Middlesex Co., Connecticut. 26   ii. Sarah GRAVES was born 20 MAR 1721 in Durham, Middlesex Co., Connecticut. 27   iii. Noahdiah GRAVES was born 20 JUN 1721 in Durham, Middlesex Co., Connecticut. 28   iv. Elizabeth GRAVES was born 21 JUN 1723 in Durham, Middlesex Co., Connecticut. She married Ezra GRAVES, son of John GRAVES and Elizabeth STEEVENS. He was born 3 JUL 1722 in Guilford, New Haven Co., Connecticut, and died 26 SEP 1759. 29   v. Abigail GRAVES was born 25 SEP 1725 in Durham, Middlesex Co., Connecticut. 30   vi. Rozwell GRAVES was born 5 DEC 1731 in Durham, Middlesex Co., Connecticut.

20.	Mehitable GRAVES (JOHN GRAVES3, JOHN GRAVES2, GEORGE GRAVES1) was born 1 FEB 1688 in Guilford, New Haven Co., Connecticut, and died 16 JUL 1747 in Durham, Middlesex Co., Connecticut. She married Cornelius HULL 1 FEB 1715 in Durham, Middlesex Co., Connecticut. He was born ABT 1686, and died 24 MAR 1756 in Durham, Middlesex Co., Connecticut.
	Children of Mehitable GRAVES and Cornelius HULL were: + 31   i. Cornelius HULL was born 31 OCT 1723 in Durham, Middlesex Co., Connecticut. 32   ii. Rebecca HULL. She married Joseph MEEKER, son of Daniel MEEKER and Elizabeth OGDEN. He was born in Fairfield, Fairfield Co., Connecticut, and died 1752.

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Generation No. 4

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25.	ELIZABETH GRAVES (NOAHDIAH GRAVES4, JOHN GRAVES3, JOHN GRAVES2, GEORGE GRAVES1) was born ABT 1700 in Durham, Middlesex Co., Connecticut. She married JAMES WRIGHT.
	Children of ELIZABETH GRAVES and JAMES WRIGHT were: 33   i. Samuel WRIGHT was born ABT 13 JUL 1718 in Durham, Middlesex Co., Connecticut (as Right). 34   ii. Abigail WRIGHT was born ABT 26 DEC 1720. + 35   iii. DANIEL WRIGHT was born ABT 23 JUN 1723 in Durham, Middlesex Co., Connecticut, and died 1794 in Durham, Middlesex Co., Connecticut.

31.	Cornelius HULL (Mehitable GRAVES4, JOHN GRAVES3, JOHN GRAVES2, GEORGE GRAVES1) was born 31 OCT 1723 in Durham, Middlesex Co., Connecticut. He married Abigail CHIPMAN 1 JAN 1746 in Durham, Middlesex Co., Connecticut, daughter of Joseph CHIPMAN.
	Children of Cornelius HULL and Abigail CHIPMAN were: + 36   i. Sylvanus HULL was born 13 OCT 1746 in Durham, Middlesex Co., Connecticut, and died 24 OCT 1818 in Durham, Middlesex Co., Connecticut. 37   ii. Cornelius HULL was born 5 MAR 1747 in Durham, Middlesex Co., Connecticut. 38   iii. Abigail HULL was born 26 JUL 1749 in Dunham, Missisquoi Co., Quebec, Canada. 39   iv. Samuel HULL was born 10 DEC 1751 in Dunham, Missisquoi Co., Quebec, Canada, and died 29 JAN 1830 in Lowell, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts. 40   v. Ann HULL was born 3 FEB 1755 in Dunham, Missisquoi Co., Quebec, Canada. 41   vi. Huldah HULL was born 6 MAR 1758 in Dunham, Missisquoi Co., Quebec, Canada. 42   vii. Charles HULL was born 5 MAY 1760 in Dunham, Missisquoi Co., Quebec, Canada, and died 1826 in Dunham, Missisquoi Co., Quebec, Canada. 43   viii. Giles HULL was born 4 JUL 1762 in Dunham, Missisquoi Co., Quebec, Canada.

Tower of Westover, Massachusetts -- Tombstone Tuesday

Eli Tower

Born 1807, - Died 1886.

His Wife

Mary Fletcher

Born 1813, - Died 1878.

Children

Waldo

Born 1840, - Died 1841.

Albro W.

Born 1846, - Died 1848.

Lilian Eva

Born 1853, - Died 1916.

TOWER

Fairview Cemetery

Westford, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts

Seeing Rockport, Massachusetts on New Year's Day 2012

Motif #1
It is often referred to as "the most often-painted building in America."
Wikipedia information.
 

On January 1st, 2012 we visited Rockport, because it was such a warm day to see the ocean and to walk around. Fortunately, a few stores were open and many shops still had their Christmas decorations up. Although you don't see many people, it was quite crowded.

 

Map of Rockport, Essex Co., Massachusetts (in pink).