Low Line Research: Harriet Phillips Low's father's side

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Low Line Research: Harriet Phillips Low's father's side

Harriet Phillips Low (b. 12 June 1834, Deer Isle, Maine; d. 26 Nov 1918, Seattle) married Capt. Richard Blackmer Holbrook at Steilacoom on 24 Dec 1860. This file covers her father's ancestry:

  • Part One: the Low male line, and the Essex County wives' lines (Boreman and Carter, Lamb, Wise, Tompson and Freeman, Varney, Proctor, Cogswell, Lord, Waite and Ward, Fuller, Emerson).
  • Part Two: the ancestry of her grandmother Rebecca (Thompson) Low (Thompson, Foster, Bate, Payson, Bigg, Kneeland, Green, Hawkins and the Scottish claims).

Her mother Hannah Read Tyler's side is in Tyler_Ginn_Line_Research.md. Mollie's typescript covers these lines on pp. 67-134; Mollie_Typescript_Review.md gives the claim-by-claim verdicts.

Evidence tiers

  • [Documented]: a primary record, or a published transcript or abstract of one, with volume and page.
  • [Compiled]: a secondary genealogy or online tree.
  • [Inference]: our own reasoning from records, with the reason given.
  • [Tradition]: family lore, including Mollie's typescript where no record supports it.

Status. Compiled 1 Oct 2026 from research reports written that day. They draw on online sources: archive.org full texts of printed vital records and genealogies, NEHGR, TAG as quoted online, WikiTree, Pane-Joyce and newspapers. Quotations are as read in those sources; OCR-derived quotations may carry small reading errors. Nothing here has yet been checked against original manuscripts or images, except where a section says so.

One conflict between the two parts. Part Two says the date of Major Nathan Low's marriage to Rebecca Thompson (23 Oct 1792) is Mollie's alone. Part One found it in the Boxford VR (p. 171, "of Dear Isle", with the intention also recorded). The Boxford record stands. [Documented]

Part One: the Low line and its Essex County wives' lines

Scope: the Low male line from the immigrant Thomas Low to Harriet, and the wives' lines Boreman, Lamb, Wise, Tompson, Varney/Proctor, Lord/Waite/Ward and Fuller/Emerson.

Dashes inside quotations are shown as hyphens. Where the typescript OCR is garbled I say so instead of guessing.

Key findings

  1. Major Nathan Low of Deer Isle is almost certainly the son of Nathan and Lucy (Lord) Low. A Boxford record ties him to his Deer Isle wife: "Nathan, jr., and Rebecca Thompson of Dear Isle, Oct. 23, 1792." His children were baptized at Boxford in 1793 and 1795. No probate record names him outright, so this is a very strong case rather than formal proof.
  2. Capt. Nathan Low's death is in three 1874 newspapers.
    • The steamer Lewiston ran down his schooner Paragon off Seguin about 10 p.m. on Thursday 10 Sept 1874.
    • He died at Deer Isle on Thursday 17 Sept 1874, which matches Mollie's date.
    • The papers say the steamer's boats rescued the crew. That contradicts Mollie's "left in the water many hours."
  3. Harriet's first marriage was dissolved by a private act of the Washington territorial legislature, passed 17 Jan 1860. The act divorces "Crowell H. Sylvester and Harriet P. Sylvester." It is a dissolution, not an annulment.
  4. Mollie dropped or merged a generation in three places.
    • Varney. Abigail (Proctor) Varney was the grandmother, not the mother, of Abigail (Varney) Low.
    • Lord. There were two James Lords, father and son. Lucy was the daughter of the younger one.
    • Abigail Varney's birth. Mollie's "Oct. 4, 1733" is really 14 Oct 1713.
  5. New line: Abigail Varney's mother was Abigail Cogswell, daughter of Adam Cogswell and Abigail Wise.
    • So Harriet descends twice from Joseph Wise and Mary Tompson of Roxbury.
    • Caleb Low and his wife Abigail Varney were second cousins.
  6. Mary Tompson, wife of Joseph Wise, was not the daughter of Rev. William Tompson of Braintree.
    • Published scholarship identifies her as the daughter of John Tompson, gent., of Preston Capes, Northamptonshire, and Alice Freeman.
    • Alice Freeman is a well-known "gateway" ancestor. Her line from King John has been disproved, but she is a documented ancestor of Diana, Princess of Wales.
  7. The Proctor kinship is documented. John Proctor, hanged at Salem in 1692, was the brother of Abigail (Proctor) Varney, Harriet's 4x-great-grandmother. Court depositions of 1673 and 1679 prove it. "Tho. Low Sanor" (Deacon Thomas Low) and "Thomas Varny" both signed the 1692 Ipswich petition for the Proctors.
  8. Famous-kin claims:
    • Confirmed by compiled sources: Seth Low, Rufus Choate, George W. Cable and Ralph Waldo Emerson.
    • Plausible but not traced: Nathaniel Hawthorne.
    • Wrong: James Freeman Clarke. He descends from a different John Fuller, of Newton.
    • No evidence: Major Caleb Low as an aide to Washington.
    • Capt. David Low did serve at the Lexington alarm and in the 1777 Saratoga campaign, but he was a first cousin of Nathan (5), not a brother.

(a) Verdict table

Low line

Mollie's claim Finding Tier
Thomas Low (1) b. 1605 Deposed 25 Sept 1660 "aged about 55" (Essex Court Files 5:80, abstracted by Wm. G. Low 1908) Documented (abstract)
He married Margaret Tod 22 June 1630, from Polstead/Boxford Polstead register: "Thos. Lowe & Margaret Tod married 22 June 1630." Groton: Thomas, son of Thomas & Margaret Lowe, bp. 8 May 1631. Boxford: John, son of Thomas & Margaret, bp. 2 Mar 1633. Wm. G. Low and V. B. Redstone call the identification with the Ipswich man "a probability." Documented entries; Compiled identification
He came 1636 in Rev. Nathaniel Rogers's company Ipswich grant, 6 Apr 1641, mentions "ten acres due to him by grant unto Mr. Rogers company." Rogers arrived Nov 1636 (Winthrop). Documented grant; Inference for the voyage
His father was Capt. John Lowe of the Ambrose Wm. G. Low (1908) concluded "probably not." No evidence. Tradition, unsupported
He was a maltster at Chebacco Rev. Thomas Cobbet's will (c. 1685): "Malt at old Goodman Lowe's malt house" (Hammatt p. 56) Documented
He married 2nd Susannah, who d. Charlestown 1684 Will of 1677 names wife Susannah. Merriam (1901) gives "Susanna Low 19th of August, 1684. Aged about 86" at Watertown. Thomas d. 8 Sept 1677 (Ipswich VR 2:625). Documented / conflict
Deacon Thomas (2) b. 1631/2, d. 1712, m. 4 July 1660 Martha Boreman Confirmed: m. 4 July 1660 (VR 2:292); d. 12 Apr 1712 aged 80 (VR 2:625) Documented
Sgt. David (3) b. 1667, d. 2 June 1746, m. 1699 Mary Lamb Born 14 Aug 1667 (VR 1:252). Married at Chebacco 28 Dec 1699 (VR 2:289). Died 2 June 1746 (VR 2:624). Wm. G. Low's "d. before 1736" is wrong. Documented
Caleb (4) m. 173? Abigail Varney Married at Chebacco 8 Jan 1732/3 (VR 2:289, 436). Born c. 1707; d. 17 July 1777 "lethargy, a. abt. 70" (VR 2:624). Documented
Caleb is a son of Sgt. David David's will (14 Mar 1745) names son Caleb (Merriam p. 18) Compiled (will abstract)
Nathan (5) b. Oct 1742 at Chebacco "Nathan, s. Caleb and Abigail, Oct. 1, 1742" (VR 1:254). Caleb's will of 17 June 1773 names son Nathan (WikiTree abstract of the probate image). Documented / Compiled
He m. 17 Jan 1765 Lucy Lord; d. Boxford 24 July 1804 Both confirmed (Ipswich VR 2:291; Boxford VR p. 249, "a. 62 y.") Documented
Major Nathan (6) b. Chebacco 3 Nov 1765 That is the baptism date (Ipswich VR 1:254). Boxford record: "Nathan, s. Nathan and Lucy, at Ipswich, Oct. 18, 1765." Documented
He married Rebecca Thompson 23 Oct 1792 Boxford VR p. 171, "of Dear Isle," intention also recorded Documented
He went to Deer Isle before 1800 Hosmer says "prior to 1800," but "from the county of Worcester." That conflicts with Boxford. Children were baptized at Boxford 1793 and 1795. Compiled / conflict
He d. 1859 Hosmer: "He died in 1859, at the age of ninety-four years" (pp. 144, 219) Compiled
His second wife drowned herself Hosmer: Hannah Hardy, "some forty years younger," "died in a few years after her marriage." No suicide mentioned. Tradition
Capt. Nathan (7) d. Sept 1874 after a steamboat collision Confirmed in detail (section b) Documented
He was left in the water many hours Contradicted: "The steamer lowered her boats and rescued the captain and his father and brother - the entire crew" Documented, corrects Mollie
His son Daniel was with him One paper names the master as "B. F. Law" [sic] and says the crew was "the captain and his father and brother." Who exactly was aboard is unresolved. Documented / unresolved
Harriet married Crowell Sylvester at 16 Marriage record not found Unproven
Crowell was a widower and brother of Edmund Sylvester, founder of Olympia Brother: confirmed by Blankenship (1914) and Wikipedia ("younger brother"). Widower: unverified. Compiled
The marriage was "annulled" by the legislature It was a divorce: "dissolve the bonds of matrimony," passed 17 Jan 1860 Documented, corrects Mollie

Boreman

Mollie's claim Finding Tier
Thomas Boreman (5) bp. Claydon 18 Oct 1601; d. 1653(?) Baptism confirmed. He died May 1673, aged 72 years 7 months (will 17 Dec 1670, codicil 3 May 1673, inventory 26 May 1673). Compiled (Goldthwaite, from originals)
His will names "my daughter Martha wife of Thomas Loe" Verbatim in Goldthwaite p. 115 Documented (transcript)
The widow Margaret's will gives "my daughter Loe all my pewter" etc. Probate Records of Essex Co. 3:350, will dated 8 Aug 1679 Documented
English line William, Thomas, William, Thomas; mother Elizabeth Carter, dau. of Felix and Margaret Matches Goldthwaite's pedigree, built from Claydon registers and Cropredy/Banbury wills Compiled
Thomas was "honoured by the rare title Mr." Yes, "Mr." and "Mistress" in Ipswich records. The English family were yeomen. Compiled

Lamb, Wise, Tompson

Mollie's claim Finding Tier
Thomas Lamb, Winthrop Fleet 1630; d. 28 Mar 1646 Buried 28 Mar 1646 (Roxbury VR 2:571) Documented; 1630 arrival Compiled
He m. 2nd 16 July 1640 Dorothy Harbottle Confirmed (Roxbury VR 2:241) Documented
Caleb Lamb b. 9 Apr 1641; m. 30 June 1669 Mary Wise Both confirmed (Roxbury VR 1:208; 2:240). Mollie's Wise page says "9 Apr. 1669" for the marriage; the VR says 30 June. Documented
Mary Lamb b. "? 7, 1681(?)" A first Mary, b. 13 Apr 1678, died 4 July 1679 of smallpox. Our Mary must be a later daughter whose birth is not recorded. Documented + Inference
Thomas Lamb outlived his son Caleb Impossible. Thomas died 1646; Caleb had children 1671 to 1687. Contradicted
Joseph Wise came 1636 on the Bonaventure No evidence. He is first found in Dr. George Alcock's will (Dec 1640) as Alcock's servant. Unproven; Compiled (TAG 56)
Wise descends from the Devon gentry Wises (Sydenham) Disproved. West (NEHGR 177, 2023) places him at Bulkington, Warwickshire, bp. 17 June 1617, son of Henry Wise and Katherine Willmore. Compiled
Rev. John Wise was a son of Joseph and Mary Lamb's uncle Yes. Mary Wise bp. 27 Feb 1649/50 and John bp. 15 Aug 1652, both children of Joseph (Roxbury VR 1:389). Documented
Mary Tompson was a daughter of Rev. William Tompson Wrong. Mollie's own date (Mary "born before or shortly after 1636") is impossible for a 1641 bride. Scholarship (section b) makes her daughter of John and Alice (Freeman) Tompson. Compiled

Varney and Proctor

Mollie's claim Finding Tier
Corporal Thomas Varney d. 4 Dec 1692 "Thomas, Corp., at Chebacco, Dec. 4, 1692" (Ipswich VR 2:699) Documented
Thomas Varney (2) b. 24 Dec 1682 "Thomas, s. Corporal, at Chebacco, 3:10br:1682," i.e. 3 Dec 1682 (VR 1:375) Documented
Thomas (2) married Abigail Proctor Wrong. He married Abigail Cogswell (b. 21 Mar 1688/9; d. 5 Sept 1738 "a. 49 y. 6 m."). Abigail Proctor was his mother. Documented + Compiled
Abigail Varney b. "Oct. 4, 1733," m. Caleb Low "Abigail, d. Thomas, at Chebacco, Oct. 14, 1713" (VR 1:374) Documented
Abigail Proctor was a daughter of John Proctor Sr. and sister of John Proctor, executed 1692 Proved: EQC 5:195 (1673) and 7:218 (1679) Documented
Mrs. Varney (Abigail Proctor) led the 1679 meeting-house raising Court record: "Thomas Varny, for his wife" acknowledged the offence, 25 June 1679 (EQC 7:245) Documented

Lord, Waite, Ward

Mollie's claim Finding Tier
Robert Lord 1602 to 1683, clerk of courts "Robert. Aug. 21, 1683, a. 80 y." (VR 2:620). Felt calls him town clerk and clerk of the court; Hammatt gives the will. Documented / Compiled
He married 1630 Mary Waite His will speaks of "almost fifty three years" of marriage (Hammatt p. 208) Compiled
Mary Waite was a dau. of Samuel Waite and Mary Ward, niece of Rev. Nathaniel Ward Found only in online trees and Mollie's own reasoning; no primary source seen Unproven
Robert Jr. (marshal) d. 1696, m. Hannah Day "Rob[er]t, marshall, Nov. 11, 1696" (VR 2:620). Hammatt and Felt confirm Hannah Day. Documented
James Lord (one man), b. 1676, m. 1731/2 Mary Fuller, father of Lucy Two men. James Sr. b. 27 Jan 1676/7, d. 24 May 1734. James Jr. b. 12 Apr 1707 m. Mary Fuller. Lucy is James Jr.'s daughter. Documented
Lucy bp. 30 Aug 1747 Confirmed (VR 1:245). The Choate Genealogy gives b. 25 Aug 1746. Documented / conflict
Lucy remarried "a Choate" and had a daughter who married a Tappan Lucy married (2) 25 Apr 1808 Capt. Ebenezer Lord, and (3) 28 Nov 1817 Josiah Choate. The Tappan bride, Nancy, was Josiah's daughter by his first wife. Documented / Compiled
Robert Lord the Indian fighter who could never sleep on a feather bed again Not about the Ipswich clerk; apparently a Maine Lord Tradition, misattributed (Inference)

Fuller and Emerson

Mollie's claim Finding Tier
John Fuller d. 4 June 1666; m. Elizabeth Emerson Confirmed (VR 2:563; W. H. Fuller) Documented / Compiled
Nathaniel son of John, m. 14 Oct 1708 (one page says 1700) Mary Jackson of Rowley "Nath[anie]ll, and Mary Jackson of Rowley, int. Oct. 14, 1708" (VR 2:178). Nathaniel b. Jan 1663, d. 1719 (W. H. Fuller). Documented / Compiled
Mary Fuller b. c. 1708, m. 5 Jan 1731/2 James Lord Marriage confirmed; Mary c. 1709 (chose guardians Dec 1724 "being above 15") Documented / Compiled
Thomas Emerson m. Elizabeth Brewster; d. 1666 Bp. 26 July 1584 Bishop's Stortford; m. 1 July 1611; will proved 10 May 1666 Compiled

Famous-kin claims (details in section c)

Claim Verdict Tier
Ralph Waldo Emerson is a cousin Yes, about fifth cousin once removed to Harriet Compiled
James Freeman Clarke descends from John Fuller Wrong John Fuller: his line is from John Fuller of Newton Compiled
Seth Low descends from Thomas Low Yes, through Sgt. David Low and Mary Lamb Documented + Compiled
Rufus Choate descends from Thomas Low Yes through Varney/Proctor; probably also through Ruth Low Compiled / Inference
Major Caleb Low was Washington's aide at André's execution No evidence. He was a militia major in Col. Nathaniel Wade's regiment, July to Oct 1780. Documented service; claim unsupported
Capt. David Low at Lexington and Saratoga, a brother of Nathan (5) Service confirmed. He was a first cousin, not a brother. Documented
George W. Cable descends from Samuel Boreman Yes Compiled
Nathaniel Hawthorne descends from Robert Lord via Miriam Lord Miriam Lord m. Richard Manning 30 May 1776 (VR 2:301); her descent from Robert Lord not traced Documented marriage; descent Inference

(b) The lines, generation by generation

B1. The Low line

1. Thomas Low (c. 1605 to 8 Sept 1677).

  • Birth. Aged "about 55" in a 1660 deposition. [Documented abstract]
  • Wives.
    • (1) Probably Margaret Tod, m. Polstead 22 June 1630. [Compiled identification]
    • (2) Susannah, named in his will. [Documented]
  • At Ipswich. In Ipswich by 1641. Will dated 20 Apr 1677 (Wm. G. Low) or 30 Apr (Merriam and Hammatt); proved 6 Nov 1677.
  • His wife's provisions (Merriam p. 14): "she shall have her beere as she hath now & also free use of the fire." [Compiled transcript]
  • Children. Thomas, Margaret (m. Daniel Davison), John (m. 1661 Sarah Thorndike), Sarah (m. Joseph Safford).
  • Note. Mollie's table says "d. Charleston 1684," which belongs to Susannah. Merriam has her at Watertown, 19 Aug 1684, aged about 86.

2. Deacon Thomas Low (c. 1631/2 to 12 Apr 1712).

  • Dates. Died "a. 80 y." (gravestone, Ipswich VR 2:625). Possibly the Thomas bp. Groton 8 May 1631. [Compiled]
  • Age conflict. A 1676 deposition gives "Thomas Low, jr., aged about thirty-six" (EQC 6:159), which would make him younger.
  • Marriage. "Thomas, and Martha Borman, July 4, 1660. ct. r." (VR 2:292). [Documented]
  • Wife. Martha d. "Jan. 22, 1720, in her 79th y." (VR 2:625).
  • Will. Dated 17 June 1708, proved 5 May 1712 (Goldthwaite p. 120; Hammatt p. 216). [Compiled]
  • Children named in the will. Jonathan, Samuel, David, Martha Dodge, Joanna Dodge, Sarah Low, Abigail Goodhue. Also Thomas (b. 1661, d. 1697/8), Nathaniel (d. 1695) and John (d. 1695).
  • Mollie's extra names. Her "Asa" and "Daniel" are grandsons, sons of Samuel (Crowell, via Wm. G. Low).

3. Sgt. David Low (14 Aug 1667 to 2 June 1746). [All Documented except the will]

  • Birth. "David, s. Thomas, jr., Aug. 14, 1667" (VR 1:252).
  • Marriage. "David, and Mary Lamb, at Chebacco, Dec. 28, 1699" (VR 2:289).
  • Deaths. "David, Sergt., June 2, 1746." Wife: "Mary, w. Sergt. David, of Chebacco, Mar. 3, 1735" (VR 2:624).
  • Will. Dated 14 Mar 1745, proved 16 June 1746. Names sons David, Jeremiah, Caleb, Stephen, Joshua, and daughters Mary Lufkin, Martha Crafts, Abigail, Eunice (Merriam p. 18). [Compiled]
  • 1690 expedition. Deed of 5 Oct 1736 to son David Jr. of "land granted to a certain number of men, which formerly went in an expedition to Canada under Sir William Phipps, of which I, David Lowe, was one" (Merriam p. 18). [Compiled]
    • Merriam places the land in New Hampshire. Mollie says Winchendon.
    • "Ipswich-Canada" (Winchendon) was the 1735 grant to Ipswich men of that expedition, so Winchendon is likely. [Inference]
  • Son Stephen. "Stephen, Lt., of Chebacco, 'Slain att the Battle of Tyconderoga,' July 8, 1758" (VR 2:625). [Documented]

4. Caleb Low (c. 1707 to 17 July 1777).

  • Marriage. Married Abigail Varney at Chebacco, 8 Jan 1732/3. [Documented]
  • Will. Dated 17 June 1773. Names wife Abigail; sons Thomas, Caleb, Nathan, William, Jeremiah; "Thomas Varney, brother"; daughters Katharine Sutton, Abigail Low (wife of Joseph Low), Mary Bradley. [Compiled: WikiTree abstract of Essex Probate, Old Series vols. 351-352, FamilySearch image 562; I did not see the image]
  • Children (VR 1:251-255, all Documented):
    • Catherine (bp. 17 Mar 1733/4)
    • Abigail (b. 10 Sept 1735, d. 1736)
    • Abigail (b. 1 Sept 1737)
    • Caleb (bp. 8 July 1739)
    • Nathan (b. 1 Oct 1742)
    • Thomas (b. 20 Feb 1744)
    • Mary (b. 7 May 1747)
    • William (b. 4 Nov 1751, d. 28 Dec 1752)
    • William (b. 27 May 1754)
    • Jeremiah (b. 17 Dec 1756)
  • No son David. This is the evidence against Mollie's "Captain David Low ... brothers of our ancestor."
  • Abigail's death. "[Catharine, c. R. 4.], wid. Caleb, Dec. 30, 1800, a. 86 y." (VR 2:624). The age fits Abigail (b. 1713); the church record's "Catharine" is a conflict.

5. Nathan Low (1 Oct 1742 to 24 July 1804).

  • Marriage. "Lucy, and Nathan Low, Jan. 17, 1765. c. R. 7.*" (VR 2:282, 291; c. R. 7 is the Fourth Church). [Documented]
  • Move to Boxford. Came to Boxford from Ipswich in 1767 and hired the Hale farm (Perley, Dwellings p. 47). [Compiled]
  • Children (Boxford VR pp. 59-60, all Documented):
    • Nathan, "at Ipswich, Oct. 18, 1765"
    • Caleb, Dec. 24, 1767 (Mollie: Dec. 25)
    • James, June 17, 1770
    • Daniel, Oct. 20, 1772
    • William, June 2, 1775
    • Jeremiah, Apr. 6, 1777
    • Jeremiah, Aug. 6, 1779 (Mollie omits)
    • Solomon, Apr. 9, 1782
    • Joseph, Dec. 28, 1784
    • an unnamed daughter, Oct. 19, 1786 (gravestone in Harmony cemetery)
  • Deaths (Boxford VR p. 249): "Nathan, July 24, 1804, a. 62 y." and "Lucy [(Lord)], w. Nathan, Sept. 10, 1833, a. 87 y." [Documented]
  • Revolution. "Low, Nathan, Boxford. Private, Capt. Jacob Gould's co. of militia, Col. Samuel Johnson's regt., which marched on the alarm of April 19, 1775; service, 4 days" (MSS&R 9:1030). [Documented]
  • Mollie's Quebec claim. She says he went with his grandfather against Quebec "when a very young lad." Impossible: grandfather David died when Nathan was 3. [Inference]

6. Major Nathan Low (b. Ipswich 18 Oct 1765, bp. 3 Nov 1765; d. Deer Isle 1859).

  • Marriage. Rebecca Thompson of Deer Isle, 23 Oct 1792 (Boxford VR p. 171). [Documented]
  • Children baptized at Boxford (Boxford VR p. 59): Lucy, d. Nathan jr., bp. 18 Aug 1793; Mary, bp. 30 Aug 1795. [Documented]
  • Is he proved the son of Nathan and Lucy? Very strongly supported. Not formally proved.
    • Boxford calls him "Nathan, jr." when it records his Deer Isle bride.
    • His birth is recorded at Boxford as son of Nathan and Lucy.
    • His first daughter was named Lucy.
    • His age at death (94 in 1859) fits b. 1765.
    • He was a tanner, as was his brother Jeremiah at Boxford (Perley p. 48). [Inference]
    • The deciding records would be Nathan Sr.'s Essex probate (1804) or a Hancock County deed. Not seen.
  • When and why Deer Isle? Between 1795 (last Boxford baptism) and 1800 (Hosmer).
    • No record states why. The marriage into the Thompson family is the obvious link: he later owned "one of the lots laid out to Mr. Thomas Thompson near Thompson's Cove."
    • Hosmer's "from the county of Worcester" may reflect a stay with his sister Abigail, wife of Joseph Low of Fitchburg (Merriam p. 22). [Inference] Hosmer gives Worcester County origins for several settlers.
  • Hosmer pp. 143-144. Tanner and farmer, "probably one of the most skilful farmers that was ever in the town."
    • Wives: Rebecca, d. 1836; then Hannah, daughter of Jonathan Hardy.
    • Sons: Thomas T., Nathan Jr., William.
    • Major in the militia; selectman.
    • Died 1859 aged 94.
    • [Compiled, by a Deer Isle contemporary]

7. Capt. Nathan Low (b. Deer Isle c. 1804/5; d. Deer Isle Thursday 17 Sept 1874).

  • Birth. Hosmer says "nearly seventy" in 1874. Date not found.
  • Wife. Hannah Reed Tyler, "born Dec. 12, 1809; died April 9, 1886; married Captain Nathan Lowe, of Deer Isle, Maine, who died after a disaster to a boat." She was a daughter of Rowland Tyler and Sally Ginn of Dixmont (Tyler Genealogy 1:221). [Compiled]
  • Marriage date. 4 Oct 1832 per Mollie; not verified.
  • Selectman. Hosmer lists a "Nathan Low" as selectman in 1828 and 1829 (p. 241) without saying which Nathan.
  • Death. Newspaper accounts are in section (d). The Kennebec Journal: "He leaves a wife and three children."

8. Harriet Phillips Low.

  • Birth. 12 June 1834 per Mollie. An earlier report in this project gives 12 June 1839. The conflict is unresolved.
  • First marriage. Crowell H. Sylvester; date not found. Dissolved by private act, "Passed January 17th, 1860" (WA Territory Acts, 1859-60 session, Private Laws p. 476). [Documented]
  • Crowell's family [Compiled]:
    • Brother of Edmund Sylvester (b. Deer Isle 2 Mar 1821), founder of Olympia.
    • Came west "about four years" after Edmund (1846), escorting Edmund's wife (Blankenship 1914, p. 248).
    • Edmund married Clara Pottle in 1854 (Wikipedia), so the escort trip may be c. 1854-56, close to Mollie's 1856.
    • The elder Crowell H. Sylvester of Deer Isle (d. 1863 aged 78) was a son of Capt. Edmund Sylvester, "a native of Marshfield, Massachusetts," who came to Deer Isle in 1788 (Hosmer pp. 96, 124-125). He is probably the father of Edmund and Crowell. [Inference] This supports Mollie's "family came from Marshfield."
  • Side note. 24 Dec 1860 fell on a Monday. Mollie calls it "That Sunday evening, Christmas Eve."

B2. Boreman (Boardman Genealogy, Goldthwaite 1895)

All entries Compiled from Claydon registers and Peculiar Court wills:

  • 1. William Boreman of Banbury. Lay Subsidy, 1525.
  • 2. Thomas "the elder" of Claydon. Will 3 Apr 1576, proved 2 May 1580. Wife Isabel.
  • 3. William. Will 12 Dec 1610; buried 10 Jan 1612/13. Wife Annis, buried 12 May 1608.
  • 4. Thomas. Born c. 1570. Married 2 Feb 1595/6 Elizabeth Carter (b. c. 1575, buried 11 May 1631), eldest daughter of Felix Carter (nuncupative will 29 May 1619) and Margaret. Thomas was buried 9 Mar 1627/8.
  • 5. Thomas Boreman of Ipswich.
    • Bp. Claydon 18 Oct 1601. Freeman March 1634/5. Deputy 8 Sept 1636.
    • Died May 1673. Will 17 Dec 1670.
    • Wife Margaret, maiden name unknown. She died 25 Nov 1679 (Goldthwaite p. 114). Her will is dated 8 Aug 1679.
  • 6. Martha. Married Dea. Thomas Low 4 July 1660. Born c. 1641/2.
  • Cousin. Samuel Boreman of Wethersfield was a son of Christopher Boreman and Julian Carter, Elizabeth's sister. He was a first cousin of Thomas of Ipswich (Goldthwaite p. 101). This matches Mollie.
  • Mollie's date. Her "Margaret D. Ipswich 1673" is apparently Thomas's death year misplaced.

B3. Lamb (Roxbury VR)

  • 1. Thomas Lamb.
    • Wife (1) Elizabeth, "child birth," buried 28 Nov 1639.
    • Married (2) 16 July 1640 Dorothy Harbittle. The Roxbury church record calls her "a godly maid, a sister of our church" (quoted by Pane-Joyce).
    • Thomas buried 28 Mar 1646 of "calenture."
    • Dorothy married 2 Feb 1651 Thomas Hawley, "slain by the Indians at Sudbury, Apr. 21, 1676" (Roxbury VR 2:547).
    • [Documented]
  • 2. Caleb Lamb.
    • Born 9 Apr 1641, recorded as son of Thomas and Dorothy. A different-ink entry also gives a Caleb, son of Thomas, b. 27 Nov 1639; this is a conflict.
    • Married 30 June 1669 "Marie Wise."
    • Children recorded at Roxbury: Caleb 1671; Joseph 1673; Mary 1678 (d. 1679); Jeremiah 1679; John 1683/4; Eunice bp. 1685; Huldah 1687.
    • Death not found. Pane-Joyce's "30 Jun 1690" looks like confusion with the marriage date.
  • 3. Mary Lamb. Born c. 1680-82, not recorded. Married David Low 1699; died 3 Mar 1735.

B4. Wise

1. Joseph Wise of Roxbury, butcher.

  • Bp. Bulkington, Warwickshire, 17 June 1617 (West, NEHGR 177:141-143). [Compiled]
  • Married 3 Dec 1641 "Mary Tompsonn" (Roxbury VR 2:398, 442). [Documented]
  • Died 12 Sept 1684. Mary died 4 Aug 1693 (Roxbury VR 2:675). [Documented]
  • Twelve children. These two matter here:
    • Mary, bp. 27 Feb 1649/50, m. Caleb Lamb.
    • Abigail, b. 20 June 1666, m. Adam Cogswell ("Adam, and Abigaill Wise, Nov. 19, 1686. ct. r.," Ipswich VR 2:192).
    • Rev. John Wise, bp. 15 Aug 1652, minister at Chebacco from 1680, was a son as well. [Documented]
  • That this Abigail Wise was Joseph's daughter is Compiled (WikiTree, citing Anderson, TAG 56:80-82). Her brother being the Chebacco pastor makes it highly likely. [Inference]

B5. Tompson (corrected)

Mary Tompson, wife of Joseph Wise, was bp. 14 Nov 1619 at Preston Capes, daughter of John Tompson of Little Preston (d. 1626) and Alice Freeman [Compiled]. Sources:

  • C. A. Torrey, TAG 13:1-8 (1936)
  • R. C. Anderson, "Joseph Wise of Roxbury, Butcher," TAG 56:80-82 (1980): "credible circumstantial evidence"
  • D. L. Greene, The Genealogist 4:173-186 (1983)
  • R. A. West, TAG 87:209-217 (2015)

Supporting details:

  • Alice's brother, Thomas Freeman of Cranford, gent., left a will in 1637. It names "sister Tompson" and her children, including Mary and Bridget.
  • Alice was in Roxbury by April 1640 with daughters Mary, Bridget and Dorothy.
  • Bridget Tompson married George Denison at Roxbury in March 1640 (Roxbury VR 2:398).
  • Alice later married Robert Parke.

Mollie's Rev. William Tompson of Braintree is real; the Virginia mission and melancholy are confirmed by Winthrop. He is not this ancestor. In 1643 his wife left behind "a company of small children" (Winthrop 2:94), so he could not have had a daughter marrying in 1641.

B6. Varney, Proctor (and the new Cogswell link)

1. John Proctor Sr.

  • Ship list: "Husbandman John Procter 40, Martha Procter 28, John Procter 3, Marie Procter 1" on the Susan & Ellin, 1635 (Hotten p. 59). [Documented]
  • Died at Ipswich 1672.
  • Mollie's "Martha ... d. June 13, 1659": the VR entry "Martha, w. John, June 13, 1659. ct. r." most likely belongs to the first wife of John Jr., not to the mother. [Inference]
  • A Harper maiden name for Martha appears only on WikiTree. [Compiled, unsourced]

2. Abigail Proctor (c. 1639-44 to 1 Mar 1731).

  • "Abigail, wid., of Chebacco, Mar. 1, 1731, a. 92 y." (VR 2:699). Her depositions make her younger: "about thirty" in 1673 and "about thirty-two" in 1676.
  • Married Corporal Thomas Varney (c. 1639 to 4 Dec 1692), son of William and Bridget Varney.
    • William Varney's estate was administered in 1654 (EQC 1:338).
    • Bridget's will of 10 Nov 1671 names "my sonne Thomas Verney" (EQC 5:119).
    • Thomas Varney deposed in 1659 "aged between twenty and twenty-one years" (EQC 2:187).
  • Children:
    • Abigail (m. 1687 Josiah Burnham)
    • Mary (b. 1669, m. 1690 Thomas Choate)
    • Rachel (m. 1692 John Fellows)
    • Thomas (b. 3 Dec 1682)
    • others

3. Thomas Varney Jr. (b. 3 Dec 1682).

  • Married Abigail Cogswell, b. "at Chebacco, Mar. 21, 1688-9," daughter of Adam (VR 1:96).
    • The Cogswell Genealogy (1884, p. 28) says "Abigail, b. March 21, 1689; m. Thomas Varney."
    • Her death fits exactly: "Abigail, w. Tho[ma]s, Sept. 5, 1738, a. 49 y. 6 m."
    • [Documented + Compiled]
  • Married (2) 27 Dec 1739 "wid. Ann Low" (VR 2:289, 437).
  • Children: Abigail (1713), Thomas (1715), Adam (1724), Joseph (bp. 1726), Stephen (1729), Nathan (1730).

4. Abigail Varney (b. 14 Oct 1713). Married Caleb Low 8 Jan 1732/3.

Corrected kinship.

  • Abigail (Proctor) Varney was the grandmother of Abigail (Varney) Low.
  • John Proctor (hanged 19 Aug 1692) was the brother of Harriet's 4x-great-grandmother.
  • Joseph Wise and Mary Tompson are Harriet's 5x-great-grandparents twice.

B7. Lord

1. Katherine Lord, widow. Commoner 1641 (Hammatt p. 208). Felt: Robert "appears to have been son of Widow Catharine Lord." [Compiled]

  • Anthony Lord appears in the Gleanings. The 1603 will of John Lorde of Redriffe, clothier, names "two houses in Sudbury," "father Anthony Lorde" and "brother Robert Lorde" (EIHC 17:73). This suggests Anthony was Robert of Ipswich's grandfather, not father. [Inference]

2. Robert Lord (c. 1603 to 21 Aug 1683).

  • Freeman 3 Mar 1635/6. Deputy 1638. Town clerk and clerk of the court.
  • Will dated 28 June 1683, proved 25 Sept 1683.
  • Wife Mary Waite: parentage not proved.

3. Robert Lord, marshal (d. 11 Nov 1696).

  • Married Hannah Day.
  • Sons: Robert (b. 1657), John, Thomas, Joseph (b. 1674), James (b. 27 Jan 1676), Nathaniel (b. 1681) (Hammatt p. 209).

4. James Lord Sr. [Documented]

  • Born 27 Jan 1676/7; died "May 24, 1734, a. 57 y. and 'about' 4 m."
  • Wife Mary died 11 Apr 1724.
  • Intended marriage to Susannah Waite, 27 Mar 1725.

5. James Lord Jr. [Documented]

  • Born 12 Apr 1707.
  • "James [jr. int.], and Mary Fuller [jr. int.], Jan. 5, 1731-2" (VR 2:177).
  • Children: Mary (bp. 1732), James (bp. 1738), Ebenezer (bp. 1744), Lucy (bp. 30 Aug 1747).

6. Lucy Lord.

  • Married (1) Nathan Low 1765.
  • Married (2) Capt. Ebenezer Lord, 25 Apr 1808 (Boxford VR p. 171; Ipswich intention 9 Apr 1808, VR 2:280). A Capt. Ebenezer Lord died 2 May 1810 (VR 2:617).
  • Married (3) Josiah Choate, 28 Nov 1817 (Choate Gen. p. 85).
  • Died 10 Sept 1833.
  • Identifying the 1808 bride as this Lucy: [Inference]

B8. Fuller and Emerson

1. Thomas Emerson. [Compiled, The Ipswich Emersons, 1900, pp. 19-31]

  • Bp. Bishop's Stortford 26 July 1584. Married there 1 July 1611 Elizabeth Brewster.
  • The inventory of "Goodman Emerson Sener deceased" is dated 3 May 1666; will proved 10 May 1666.
  • W. H. Fuller's "died ... May 1, 1681" is wrong.
  • Mollie's death date OCR is unreadable.

2. Elizabeth Emerson.

  • Baptized 1623; the OCR reads "1-4 .Tuu.", i.e. 14 June. Mollie reads 14 Jan.
  • Married John Fuller, who came on the Abigail, 1635, aged 15, with brother William ("Jo: Fuller 15," Hotten). John died 4 June 1666.
  • Elizabeth married (2) Thomas Perrin.

3. Nathaniel Fuller (b. Jan 1663; d. 1719).

  • Married 1708 Mary Jackson of Rowley.
  • She married (2) Samuel Ayres (intention 23 June 1721).
  • Do not confuse him with Nathaniel b. 1682, son of James, who married Mary Potter.

4. Mary Fuller (c. 1709). Married James Lord Jr. 1731/2.

(c) Gentry, royal and famous-kin claims

  1. Low name lore (Domesday Book, William the Conqueror, a Lord Mayor, Capt. Barnaby Low of the Armada) and the wolf arms (Merriam, from Guillim). No connection to Thomas Low shown. [Tradition]
  2. Capt. John Lowe of the Ambrose (Winthrop Fleet). Unsupported. The source is Capt. Winthrop Low's statement to Rev. Robert Crowell. Wm. G. Low found it "probably not" so (Quest No. 2, 1908). [Tradition]
  3. Boreman. Yeomen and coopers of Claydon. The "Mr." and "Mistress" titles in Ipswich show local standing, not gentry. [Compiled]
  4. "Lambe of Bury" and King James (Camden Papers). Mollie herself says "not a clue." No evidence. [Tradition]
  5. Wise of Devon (Sydenham, Mount Wise, arms "Sable, three chevronels ermine"). Conjectural, and contradicted by the Bulkington, Warwickshire origin. [Compiled, against]
  6. Tompson and Freeman: the real gentry and royal question. Mollie's Tompson line is wrong, but the corrected line is a genuine gentry family.
    • John Tompson of Little Preston, gent., held a moiety of the manor of Saxby, Leicestershire (1616). Alice's brother was Thomas Freeman of Cranford, gent.
    • Alice Freeman's descent from King John has been disproved: the Joan de Harley link (The Genealogist 1980, 1989) and the Margaret ferch Llywelyn link.
    • WikiTree reports a line from Æthelred II that Gary Boyd Roberts uses. I have not evaluated it.
    • Alice is documented by Roberts as a 10th-great-grandmother of Diana, Princess of Wales, through Mary's sister Dorothy (Tompson) Parke. That makes Harriet a distant cousin of Diana.
    • Mary's identity as Alice's daughter is "probable" (Anderson), not proved.
    • [Compiled: WikiTree citing TAG and Roberts]
  7. Waite/Ward (Mary Waite a niece of Rev. Nathaniel Ward, author of The Simple Cobler). Unproven. Mollie's own case rests on "Candler's Pedigree of Ward in the Bodleian." Plausible context: Rev. John Ward's widow Susan married Richard Rogers of Wethersfield, Essex, the Waite home. No primary record seen. Waite "rank" lore and the regicide Thomas Waite: no connection. [Compiled / Tradition]
  8. Emerson arms and Ralf of Foxton. Ralf of Foxton received arms in 1535; he was not "knighted." The descent from him is conjecture in the 1900 book. Its suggestion that Elizabeth Brewster was a daughter of Elder William Brewster of Scrooby is chronologically implausible: his eldest known child was born 1593, and Elizabeth married in 1611. [Inference]
  9. Ralph Waldo Emerson. Yes. RWE is a descendant of Thomas Emerson through Rev. Joseph of Mendon (Ipswich Emersons, entry 601: "son of William and Ruth (Haskins) Emerson, was born at Boston ... 25 May, 1803"). Elizabeth (Emerson) Fuller was Joseph's sister. By my count Harriet and RWE are fifth cousins once removed. [Compiled]
  10. James Freeman Clarke. No.
    • Mollie's chain "John 1, Joseph 2&3, Abraham 4, Sarah 5, who married Wm. Hull" is the John Fuller of Newton line.
    • Judge Abraham Fuller of Newton's daughter "Sarah, b. Apr. 27, 1759; m. 1781, Gen. William Hull," and their daughter Rebecca (b. 1790) was Clarke's mother (W. H. Fuller p. 128).
    • [Compiled]
  11. Seth Low (NYC mayor; also his brother William G. Low, author of the Quest pamphlets). Yes.
    • The line runs Sgt. David & Mary Lamb → David (1701-1771) & Susanna Low → Capt. David (1728-1782) & Abigail Choate → David & Hannah Haskell (married 1778) → Seth Low (1782-1853) → Abiel Abbot Low → Seth Low.
    • Sources: marriages in Ipswich VR 2:289; Merriam pp. 18-22; Wikipedia on A. A. Low ("His paternal grandparents were Hannah (née Haskell) Low and David Low (a son of David and Abigail (née Choate) Low)").
    • Harriet and Seth Low are fourth cousins once removed.
    • [Documented links + Compiled]
  12. Rufus Choate. Yes, by two routes.
    • Via Varney/Proctor. Thomas Varney & Abigail Proctor → Mary Varney m. Thomas Choate → Francis → William → David Choate → Rufus (Choate Gen. pp. 10-11, 155-157, and David [231]). [Compiled]
    • Probably via Low as well. Rufus's mother Miriam Foster was a daughter of "Aaron, and Ruth Low, Feb. 14, 1754" (VR 2:166). Ruth was bp. 11 June 1727, "d. Thomas and Anna" Low. [Documented]. That Thomas is apparently a grandson of the immigrant through John Low. [Inference]
    • Note: the "Mr. Rufus Choate" whom Wm. G. Low quotes about the David Low house was a later Rufus Choate of Essex, not the orator.
  13. Major Caleb Low (1739-1810, of Danvers).
    • MSS&R 9:1020: captain of a company on the 19 Apr 1775 alarm; captain 1776; chosen 1st Major in Col. Larkin Thorndike's regiment 4 Mar 1778.
    • "Major, Col. Nathaniel Wade's regt.; engaged July 6, 1780; discharged Oct. 10, 1780." Wade's regiment served in the Hudson Highlands then, where André was tried and hanged 2 Oct 1780.
    • No source calls him an aide to Washington. As a three-month militia major he would not have been one. [Documented service; aide claim: no evidence]
  14. Capt. David Low (MSS&R 9:1021): "Lieutenant, Capt. Jonathan Cogswell, Jr.'s co., which marched on the alarm of April 19, 1775."
    • Captain 1776. "Captain of a company of volunteers ... marched Oct. 2, 1777; discharged Nov. 7, 1777; ... under Gen. Gates in Northern department, and in guarding Gen. Burgoyne's army to Prospect Hill."
    • This is the David bp. 5 May 1728 (d. 1782), son of David & Susanna, and so a first cousin of Nathan (5). [Documented]
  15. George W. Cable. Yes. His mother Rebecca Boardman (Amos, Thaddeus, Benjamin, Daniel, Samuel) married George W. Cable in 1834 (Goldthwaite pp. 367, 474). Common ancestors with Harriet are Felix & Margaret Carter of Claydon (and the Claydon Boremans), roughly seventh cousins. [Compiled]
  16. Nathaniel Hawthorne.
    • Documented: Hawthorne's maternal grandparents Richard Manning and Miriam Lord married 30 May 1776 (VR 2:301; Gleanings chart, EIHC 17).
    • Not done: I did not trace Miriam back to Robert Lord.
    • Plausible: nearly all early Ipswich Lords descend from him. [Inference]

(d) Anecdotes (verbatim)

The 1874 collision. Portland Daily Press, 12 Sept 1874, p. 3:

"Collision. - Thursday night at about 10 o'clock, when the steamer Lewiston was a short distance from Seguin, she collided with a small [schooner] named the Paragon, belonging to Deer Isle. The officers of the steamer claim that the schooner had her light on the wrong side thus misleading them as to the course she was sailing, while her owner and master, B. F. Law, says that the lights were correctly set. The bow of the steamer cut the stern of the schooner completely off, and the schooner sank. The steamer lowered her boats and rescued the captain and his father and brother - the entire crew. The men were injured slightly, but not seriously. They were brought to this city on the steamer and to-night will be carried back to Deer Isle where they belong. The schooner was in ballast, and was valued at about $800."

Ellsworth American, 17 Sept 1874, p. 3:

"The crew, consisting of an old man and two boys, were rescued by the steamer's boat."

The same page has a shipping note: "Salem - Ar 8 ... Paragon, Low, Ellsworth."

Daily Kennebec Journal, 19 Sept 1874, p. 3:

"Capt. Lowe, master of schooner Paragon, which was rundown by steamer Lewiston off Seguin a few nights since, died Thursday morning at his home at Deer Isle, from the effects of exposure in the water. He leaves a wife and three children."

Major Nathan Low. Hosmer, p. 144:

"He was a large, portly man, and as an officer in the militia must have made a fine appearance. I have been told by one who had seen both that he very much resembled the father of Daniel Webster."

Mollie's text closely follows Hosmer here.

The Chebacco women, 1679. EQC 7:245:

"John Gittings, Joseph Gittings Abraham Martain, Seth Story, Hannah Goodhue, Hannah Martain and Thomas Varny, for his wife, acknowledged, in court, 25 : 4 : 1679, that 'we are conuinced that wee haue offended in being actiue to erect a meting hous contrary to the aduis and prohobession of the Counsell for which we are sory and desier it may be forgiuen.'"

Abigail Varney on her sister's dowry, sworn 17 June 1673 (EQC 5:195):

"Abigail Varney, aged about thirty years, deposed that she heard her father say to her mother that he had promised at the making up of the match between her brother Dodge and her sister Sarah, his wife, to give his daughter 45li., five pounds of which was for household stuff but that her mother Prockter said that she was not willing that the five pounds should be paid at that time."

Thomas Varney at the Proctor homestead, 1679 (EQC 7:218):

"Thomas Varny, aged about forty years, testified that he was at the house which was formerly his father Procter's, and heard Joseph say to John that he might as well stay and take his share of the fifty pounds. He was then going away and seemed to be angry."

The 1692 Ipswich petition, [5 Aug 1692], SWP No. 107.7:

"His Breading hath been Amongst us; and was of Religious Parents in o'r place ... upon o'r Consciences we Judge them Innocent of the crime objected."

There are 31 signers, among them "Jno Wise," "Tho. Low Sanor," "Thomas Varny" and "Joseph prockter." Mollie says 32.

Thomas Boreman's will, 17 Dec 1670 (Goldthwaite p. 115):

"Item to my daughter Martha the wife of Thomas Loe to her children twenty pounds three yeares after the decease of my wife when my sonne Thomas shall possesse the whole farme."

Also:

"my will is that my Brother Daniell shall abide with my wiue while she lives."

Margaret Boreman's will, 8 Aug 1679 (Probate Records of Essex Co. 3:350):

"To my daughter Loe all my peuter and a pare of fine shetese and half a duson of napkines two cowes that are in thare handes and a black goune and a Red petticot only one pint pot Resarued."

The Boreman ox, testimony of 1695 (Goldthwaite pp. 108-109):

"Mr. Bordman's servant Isaiah Wood lett ye oxen pull down ye cart of (off) the bank where the oxen were hanged by the neck, one of them till he was dead."

"A very old man." 1671/2 (Goldthwaite p. 111):

"Thomas Borman, a very old man, being before us at Ipswich, declared upon his oath that he Judgeth the words (Thomas Borman) subscribed ... to be his hand."

Lidia Banks, London, 5 Sept 1672:

"not forgetting old Mr. Bourman, Mr. Rogers and their wifes if alive."

Deacon Thomas Low's will, 1708 (Goldthwaite p. 120). He calls himself "of good understanding & sound memory, but ancient, crazey & infirm in body." For his wife Martha:

"a horse to ride on as she may have occasion, 10 bushels apples for the winter ... two barrels of 'cydar.'"

Robert Lord's will, 1683 (Hammatt p. 208):

"with whom by God's good providence we have lived comfortably together in a married condition almost fifty three years."

Mollie wrote "almost fifty."

Gen. Solomon Lowe and the Boxford house. Perley, Dwellings of Boxford (1893), p. 48. Solomon was Nathan (5)'s son:

"He died April 3, 1861, lacking six days of being eighty years old. The remains of General Lowe repose in his tomb in Harmony Cemetery. Upon the face of the tomb are illustrations of himself and ... wives engraved on marble tablets."

His son Major William Lowe "died in 1870, from injuries caused by a bull which attacked him in his cowyard." The buildings "were completely destroyed by fire early on the morning of June 21, 1874."

Rev. John Wise, Mary Lamb's uncle, 1687. Wikipedia, citing Alan Taylor, quotes the official who answered his tax protest:

"Mr. Wise, you have no more privileges Left you then not to be Sold for Slaves."

[Secondary]

(e) Open questions and records still to get

Low line

  1. Nathan Low's probate, Boxford 1804 (Essex Probate). Does it name son Nathan of Deer Isle? Also Hancock County, Maine deeds c. 1795-1800 for Nathan Low.
  2. Capt. Nathan Low's birth and his 1832 marriage: Deer Isle town records (Maine). Also his gravestone.
  3. Identity of the Paragon's master "B. F. Law/Low." Check the Deer Isle 1870 census and the Rockland or Bangor papers.
  4. Harriet's birth year: 1834 (Mollie) or 1839 (earlier report). Check the 1850 Deer Isle census and her death record.
  5. Harriet and Crowell H. Sylvester: the marriage record (Maine) and Washington legislative journals for the divorce petition.
  6. NEHGR 174 (2020), Edward E. Steele, "Descendants of Thomas Low, the Immigrant to Ipswich ... for Three Generations." Subscription only; not seen. It may settle the Polstead/Groton identification and Susannah.
  7. View the original probate images for Caleb Low's will (1773) and David Low's will (1745). I relied on WikiTree and Merriam abstracts.
  8. Martha (Boreman) Low's death: the gravestone says "Jan. 22, 1720." Check whether that is 1719/20 or 1720/21 on the stone.

Wives' lines

  1. The birth record of Mary Lamb, c. 1680-82, and Caleb Lamb's death and estate (Suffolk Probate).
  2. Anderson's TAG 56:80-82, on Abigail Wise as Adam Cogswell's wife and on Mary Tompson.
  3. The Great Migration sketch of Robert Lord, and any primary evidence for Waite/Ward.
  4. Miriam (Lord) Manning's ancestry, to test the Hawthorne link.
  5. Mary Jackson of Rowley's parents (Rowley VR). Not researched.

For other researchers

  1. The Roxbury VR has "THOMPSON, Thomas, and Mary Foster, Oct. 28, 1765" (2:394). This may be Rebecca Thompson's parents; refer to whoever has the Thompson-Foster lines.
  2. New line: Harriet descends from John Cogswell (Angel Gabriel, 1635), through Adam Cogswell and Abigail Cogswell Varney. Mollie does not have this line.

(f) Sources (all read)

Vital records

Court, probate, legislative and archival records

Newspapers

Compiled genealogies and local histories

Online trees and reference pages

Seen but not relied on. Unsourced online pages for the Lord/Waite claim: https://homepages.rootsweb.com/~sam/lord.html and https://minerdescent.com/2010/10/28/anthony-lord

Part Two: the ancestry of Rebecca (Thompson) Low

The main findings:

  • Mary (Foster) Thompson's parentage is not proved. Mollie's John Foster married Jane Lindsey in 1750, about five years after Mary was born.
  • The Foster line breaks at its top. Richard Foster of Biddenden was not the son of Rev. Thomas Foster of Ipswich.
  • The Hopestill Foster fined as a Baptist was a different man. The fines belong to the Billerica/Woburn Fosters.
  • The Boston John Kneeland was a Scot. He was one of the founders of the Scots' Charitable Society in 1657, not a man born in New England.
  • Every Scottish and royal link fails. Most of them grew out of real Cleland of that Ilk marriages that were copied wrongly.

(a) Verdict table

Mollie's claim Finding Tier
Thomas Thompson b. Boston 1744 No birth found in the printed Boston births, 1700-1800. Hosmer says only "removed here from Massachusetts". Born c. 1744 if "upward of eighty" at death c. 1824. Year [Compiled]; Boston birth [Tradition]
Thompson went to Deer Isle c. 1765 Hosmer, p. 25, lists "Thomas Thompson, 1765". He married at Roxbury on 28 Oct 1765, so he arrived with his wife late 1765 or after. [Compiled] + [Documented]
Married "in Boston or Dorchester" Married at Roxbury, 28 Oct 1765. Corrected [Documented]
Thomas d. c. 1824, aged 80 Hosmer p. 47: "not far from the year 1824, aged upward of eighty years" [Compiled]
Mary b. 1745, d. 1836, over 90 Hosmer p. 218: "1836, Mrs. Thompson, widow of Thomas Thompson, aged 91" [Compiled]
Thomas's parents unknown Still unknown Open
List of the Thompson children Matches Hosmer pp. 46-47 word for word. See section (b). [Compiled]
Rebecca m. 23 Oct 1792 Major Nathan Low Hosmer confirms the marriage but gives no date. The date is Mollie's alone. [Compiled]; date unproven
Mary (Foster) Thompson was the daughter of John Foster (1722-1760) and Jane Not proved, and it conflicts with the records. John Foster married Jane Lindsey at Boston on 20 Apr 1750. Their recorded children were born 1751-1760. Mary was born c. 1745. Unproven
Mary "half French and Indian" No record supports it [Tradition]
John Foster b. 1722, son of Samuel and Rachel Rests only on Pierce ("JOHN, b. in 1722; m. Jane"). No Boston birth record. [Compiled]
John d. June 1760, Roxbury; widow Jane Called deceased in the Roxbury church record on 6 July 1760. Suffolk Probate administration of 1760, docket 12403. [Documented]
John's children: Jane, John, Martha, William, Mary Roxbury births: Samuel 1751, William 1753, Jane 1755, Martha 1760. Suffolk guardianships of 1773: John, Martha, Jane. No Mary anywhere. Partly confirmed
William m. Mary Draper of Dedham and moved to Deer Isle Roxbury marriage, 11 June 1778. Hosmer: William Foster of Deer Isle came from Dedham and was the brother of Mrs. Thompson. [Documented]; identity [Inference]
Samuel Foster (6) m. 1721 (p. 113) or 1 Apr 1722 (p. 124), Rachel Kneeland 5 Apr 1722, at Boston, by Mr. Joseph Sewall Corrected [Documented]
Samuel (5) b. 27 Dec 1676, d. 10 Mar 1702; m. Rebecca Brisco, dau. of Joseph Confirmed [Documented]
Hopestill (4) b. 1645, m. 1667 Elizabeth Payson, d. Boston 1678 Baptised 10 Mar 1644/5. Married 15 Feb 1666/7. Administration granted 28 Jan 1677/8. [Documented]
Elizabeth Payson b. 9 Feb 1645 4 Feb 1644/5, Roxbury Corrected [Documented]
Her 2nd husband "Edmund Brown, soapboiler" Edmond Brown was a shopkeeper. The soap boiler was Hopestill himself. Corrected [Documented]
Capt. Hopestill (3) b. 1621, d. 15 Oct 1676; m. Mary Bate Baptised 30 July 1620. Died 14 Oct (gravestone) or 15 Oct (Blake's Annals). [Compiled]/[Documented]
Richard Foster d. England 1630; m. Patience Bigg Confirmed by a Prerogative Court of Canterbury (PCC) administration of 3 May 1630 [Documented abstract]
Patience d. 30 Jan 1702/3, aged 84 That is Mary (Bate) Foster's death. Patience's death date is unknown. Corrected
Richard was the son of Rev. Thomas Foster of Ipswich Contradicted. Rev. Thomas's son Richard was a shipmaster of Ipswich, alive in 1639. Disproved
Rev. Thomas's will made 21 Sept 1628 Dated 22 Sept 1638, proved 5 Dec 1638 Corrected
Hopestill (4) fined as a Baptist 1672, 1675, 1678 Those presentments concern Thomas Foster of Billerica and his son Hopestill (b. 1648). Ensign Hopestill was dead by Jan 1677/8. Misattributed
Rachel Kneeland b. 11 Aug 1705, d. 1776 No Boston birth record found. Death "July 10, 1776, ae. 71" (Kneeland 1897) against 10 June 1780, New Haven (a Connecticut church abstract). [Compiled]; conflict
John Kneeland (14) b. 29 Nov 1668, builder; m. Mary Green, dau. of Samuel Green Jr. Birth of 29 Nov confirmed. Mary Green's parentage is unproven and has a chronology problem. Mixed
John Kneeland (13) b. 2 Aug 1632 "in New England", d. Roxbury 11 Aug 1691 Death and age confirmed by his gravestone. But he was a 1657 founder of a society of "Scottish men". Birthplace corrected [Inference]
John (b. c. 1575) and Edward arrived c. 1630 with their mother Mary Dunbar No record found [Tradition]
Mary Hawkins was the dau. of "Col." James and Mary (Mills) Hawkins Her father James is supported. He was a bricklayer; nothing shows he was a colonel. [Compiled]
James Hawkins was the son of Richard and Jane Hawkins Supported by a 1651 petition of "James, Jobe & Thomas Hawkins" for "theire mother" [Documented]
Jane Hawkins banished for "Quakerism" Wrong. She was banished in 1638 and 1641 as Anne Hutchinson's associate, called a familist and suspected of witchcraft. Corrected [Documented]
Scots Charitable Society founder, 1657 Confirmed [Documented transcript]
John Kneeland (14) built the Old South Meeting House The 1729-30 building was built by mason Joshua Blanchard (cornerstone "JB 1729") to a design by Robert Twelves Not supported
Mary's "brother" Timothy Green was Samuel Kneeland's partner The partner was the second Timothy Green, son of Timothy of New London. That makes him Mary's nephew, if her parentage is right. Corrected
Scottish chain, Hepburn, Blantyre and James V descents See section (c). None is supported.

(b) The lines, generation by generation

Thompson

Thomas Thompson (c. 1744 - c. 1824)

  • Hosmer, pp. 46-47 [Compiled]: "He settled upon the land adjoining that of Mr. Closson on the southeast. He removed here from Massachusetts not far from the year 1765. He was a man of a great deal of energy and in his time was one of the most prominent and enterprising citizens of the town and was one of its selectmen. He was of small stature, but he possessed a great share of courage, being perfectly fearless, was very active in what he undertook, and what he lacked in size he made up in what is generally termed 'pluck.' He was the owner of a considerable amount of land, about three hundred acres, as appears by the plan of Peters's survey, and his death took place not far from the year 1824, aged upward of eighty years. His wife, a very worthy woman, was the sister of Mr. William Foster..."
  • Town and church offices, from Hosmer's abstracts of the town records:
    • church elder, chosen 8 Jan 1793 (p. 277);
    • selectman 1795 (p. 223) and 1796 (p. 224);
    • one of three on the 1795 committee to provide timber for the meeting-house (p. 223);
    • named with Joseph Tyler to go to the General Court over the island lands (p. 36).
  • Thompson's Cove "derived its name from Mr. Thomas Thompson, who was the owner of the lands adjoining, and lived near it" (p. 289).
  • Marriage: Roxbury Vital Records (VR) 2:153 reads "Foster ... Mary, and Thomas Thompson, Oct. 28, 1765." The same entry is at 2:394 under Thompson. [Documented]
  • Parents: not found [Open].
    • No Thomas Thompson birth c. 1744 appears in Boston Births 1700-1800 (searched; only a 1710 Thomas son of Miles appears).
    • Roxbury has a Samuel Thompson who married Jane Steward on 30 June 1747. That marriage is too late to make him Thomas's father unless Thomas was born later than his stated age suggests.

Mary (Foster) Thompson: died 1836, aged 91, so born c. 1744/5 (Hosmer p. 218) [Compiled].

  • Mollie records her mother's memory of a small, precise old lady in a cap with her feet on a footstool [Tradition].

Children (Hosmer pp. 46-47; Mollie copies him) [Compiled]:

  • Sons:
    • Adam: "His family consisted of nine sons and five daughters". In context this sentence refers to Adam's family, not Thomas's.
    • Capt. John, master mariner, "died in Philadelphia".
    • Thomas, "died when a young man".
  • Daughters, wives of:
    • Major Nathan Low;
    • Joseph Sellers (he married her "when he was forty-eight years of age", so c. 1800; p. 107);
    • "a Mr. Hazen, who lived in Bridgton";
    • Nathaniel Kennison of Sedgwick;
    • "Colonel Edward Barnes, of Boston";
    • John Howard Jr. (his first wife; they had one son, Capt. Thomas Howard; p. 69).
  • Two possible matches in the Roxbury records [Documented records; the identification is Inference]:
    • "Martha [Tompson. int.], and Enoch Hazen of Rowley, Feb. 9, 1791" (Roxbury VR 2:394). Rowley Hazens settled Bridgton; a Jacob and a William Hazen are on the 1794 Bridgton list.
    • "Jane, and William Barnes [Barns. int.], Nov. 29, 1793" (2:394). Conflict: Hosmer names the husband as Colonel Edward Barnes.
  • If these are Thompson daughters, they were married in Roxbury, among Mary's Foster kin.

Rebecca (Thompson) Low

  • Hosmer pp. 143-144 confirms the marriage and says "She died in 1836" [Compiled].
  • Nathan Low remarried: "1837. ... Jan. 30, Maj. Nathan Low and Hannah Hardy, both of this town" (Deer Isle marriages by Rev. Jonathan Adams, Bangor Historical Magazine 5) [Documented transcript].
  • Conflict, outside my scope and not researched: Hosmer says Nathan Low "came here from the county of Worcester". Mollie says Boxford/Essex.

Foster (going upward)

VII. John Foster (b. 1722? - d. by 6 July 1760)

  • Married at Boston, 20 Apr 1750, Jane Lindsey; intention 9 Apr 1750 as "Jane Linsey". Boston Record Commissioners (RC) 28:344 and 28:287 (image checked). [Documented]
  • Children recorded at Roxbury (VR 1:134-135) [Documented]:
    • Samuel, 9 May 1751;
    • William, 7 Feb 1753;
    • Jane, 25 Mar 1755;
    • Martha, 21 Apr 1760, entered as "d. John [deceased July 6. C. R. 1.], and Jane".
  • Suffolk Probate index [Documented index]:
    • John Foster, 1760, administration, no. 12403;
    • guardianships 1773: John (15400), Martha (15401), Jane (15599).
  • Later Roxbury marriages of the family: Martha m. Paul Dudley, 27 Apr 1779; Jane m. Thomas Cheney, 6 Apr 1780 (VR 2:153).
  • "Cordwainer" and Mollie's "Lib. 73, fol. 14" division have not been seen by me.
  • Parentage: only Pierce p. 539 ("JOHN, b. in 1722; m. Jane"). No baptism or birth record found [Compiled, unproven].

The problem with Mary. Mary (b. c. 1745) cannot be a child of the 1750 marriage. She is absent from the Roxbury births and from the 1773 guardianships. She could still be:

  • a daughter of John by an earlier, unidentified wife. That would make her William's half-sister, which fits Hosmer's word "sister". This is Inference only. No marriage of a John Foster in 1743-46 was found at Boston or Roxbury; a Boston intention of John Foster and Elizabeth Woods, 14 Nov 1747, is too late; or
  • some other Foster altogether. A Mary, daughter of Thomas and Mary Foster, was born at Dorchester on 2 Feb 1741/2, but she would have been 94 in 1836, not 91.

On the "French and Indian" tradition: everything found places Mary among English Congregational families at Roxbury. Her mother is unidentified, so the records cannot strictly exclude it, but nothing points that way.

VI. Samuel Foster, periwig-maker (b. 25 June 1701)

  • Birth date from Whitmore and Pierce [Compiled]; not found in the Boston record OCR.
  • Marriage, Boston RC 28:106 (image checked): "Samuel Foster & Rachel Kneeland / Int. reads [Samll.] / Mr. Joseph Sewall Presn. / Apr. 5, 1722" [Documented].
    • Publication date conflict: Whitmore "8 March 1721-2"; Pierce "March 28, 1721".
  • A 1724 deed (Whitmore) names "Samuel Foster of Boston, periwig maker, and wife Rachel" together with Rebecca Best and the widow Rebecca Scorch, who were Samuel (5)'s daughter and widow. This links him to Samuel (5) [Documented abstract].
    • Citation conflict: Suffolk Deeds 39:68 in one place in Whitmore, 36:68 in another. Mollie uses 36:68.
  • No Suffolk probate for a Samuel Foster in the 1740s. A Samuel Foster will of 1728 (no. 5650) is worth checking.

V. Samuel Foster, "goldsmith" (b. 27 Dec 1676; d. 10 Mar 1702)

  • Birth: Boston RC 9, "Samuel of Hopestill & Elizabeth Foster born Dec. 27" [1676] [Documented].
  • Trust deed of 9 Mar 1699/1700 (Suffolk Deeds 21:150), describing himself as "son of Hopestill Foster the soap boiler", made "for love of now wife Rebecca, daughter of my father-in-law Joseph Brisco, and also love of only child Rebecca" [Documented abstract, Whitmore].
  • Daughter: "Rebecca of Samuel & Rebecca Foster born Apr. 10" [1699], Boston RC 9.
  • Rebecca (Brisco) married (2) Thomas Morrise, 13 Oct 1709, and (3) William Scorch, 25 Dec 1718.

IV. Ensign Hopestill Foster, soap boiler (bapt. Dorchester 10 Mar 1644/5; d. by 28 Jan 1677/8)

  • Marriage, Roxbury VR 2:152 (Roxbury church record): "Hopestill, eldest s. Capt. Hopestill, of Dorchester, and [blank] Pason, at Dorchester, 15 : 12m : 1666", i.e. 15 Feb 1666/7 [Documented].
  • Children in Boston RC 9 [Documented]:
    • Elizabeth, July 26, 1669 (image of p. 110 checked);
    • Mary, July 22, 1671. She married Timothy Nash on 2 Apr 1694; Mollie's "Thomas Nash" is wrong;
    • Samuel, Dec. 27, 1676.
  • Administration granted to his widow Elizabeth on 28 Jan 1677/8. The inventory "mentions money due from Father Payson" (Pierce p. 505) [Documented abstract].
  • His widow Elizabeth married Edmond Brown, shopkeeper, before 1694 [Documented abstract].
  • Mollie's handwritten "d. 1733 King's Chapel" probably confuses her with Elizabeth (Phipps) Foster, widow of Hopestill (b. c. 1670), who died 15 Feb 1732/3 [Inference].

Elizabeth Payson (b. Roxbury 4 Feb 1644/5)

  • Roxbury VR 1:270: "Elizabeth, d. Giles, Feb. 4, 1644. [1644-5. C. R. 1.]". An earlier Elizabeth was buried 8 Mar 1639.
  • Giles Payson married Elizabeth Dowell, Apr 1637 (VR 2:311).
  • Elisabeth, wife of Dea. Giles, died 8 Jan 1677. "Giles, Dea., Jan. 28, 1688-9, a. 78 y." (VR 2:609).
  • Mollie has Giles dying at Dorchester; the record is Roxbury. [Documented]

III. Capt. Hopestill Foster (bapt. 30 July 1620; d. 14 Oct 1676)

  • Baptism: Early New England Families, citing TAG (The American Genealogist) 80:26, via WikiTree [Compiled].
  • Gravestone, per the Dorchester Atheneum: "Here Lie Interr'd the Remains of Cap'tn Hopestill Foster Who Departed this Life October the 14th Anno Domini 1676 Aged 56 Years". Blake's Annals and Mollie give 15 Oct.
  • Will dated 19 July 1676 (Suffolk Probate 6:136-138). It names wife Mary; sons Hopestill, John, James, Elisha, Comfort and Standfast; "young Hopestill, my grandson"; and daughters Thankful Baker, Patience Browne and Mary [Documented abstract].
  • Mary Bate died 4 or 5 Jan 1702/3, aged 84 (tombstone). Her parentage as daughter of James Bate rests on Savage 1:138, which says "Mary m. Hopestill Foster"; on the 1635 passenger list ("Marie, 17"); and on John Baker's will naming "his wife's uncle Bates" [Compiled/Documented abstract]. Her mother Alice's maiden name Glover was not checked [Compiled].
  • Hopestill's house: Pierce gives the "southwest corner" of Adams and Centre Streets in one place and "northwest" in another; Mollie says "S.E."

II. Richard Foster of Biddenden (d. by 3 May 1630) and Patience Bigg

  • Archaeologia Cantiana 20, abstract of a PCC administration [Documented abstract]: "Foster Richard (relict Patience renounses), Parish Biddenden; to whom granted, John Bigg, maternal uncle of Mary, Hopestill and John Foster, children, minors; date, 1630, 3 May."
  • John Besbeech of Biddenden's will of 28 June 1609 left a bequest to "Richard Foster and Patience his wife" (NEHGR 67:33, via WikiTree) [Compiled].
  • Smallhope Bigg's will leaves "Hopestill Foster, 'son of my sister,'" £300 [Documented abstract].
  • Embarkation, 17 Apr 1635, ship Elizabeth: "Patience Foster, aged 40. Hopestill Foster, 14. Rachel Bigg, 6 [sic, for 60]".

I. Rev. Thomas Foster: the link fails [Documented + Inference]

  • Rev. Thomas's will (Pierce p. 485): "the xxijth day of September ... 1638. I Thomas Forster of Ipswich in the countie of Suffolk Clarke". It makes "Richard my son" an executor. The witnesses are John Lambe and John Hawys, not "James Lambe".
  • Lechford's Note-Book, p. 135, 29 July 1639: "Thomas Foster of Boston in New England, Canonier, makes a letter of Attorney to Richard Foster of Ipswich, his brother, shipmaster ... to receive of the Executor of his ffather Thomas Foster, minister, Deceased, all such legacyes."
  • That Richard was alive in 1638-39. Richard of Biddenden was dead by May 1630. They are different men.
  • Bisbee's 1956 genealogy (via Pane-Joyce) makes Richard of Biddenden the son of Thomas Foster and Dorothy Austin, who married at Biddenden on 20 Jan 1579/80; Dorothy remarried John Besbedge on 31 Oct 1586 [Compiled].
  • Whitmore (1898), the source Pierce drew on, never claimed the Ipswich minister.
  • Also: "Abigail Wimes", whom Mollie lists among Rev. Thomas's children, was the wife of his son Thomas the gunner (Lechford p. 377).

Kneeland in America

Rachel Kneeland (b. 11 Aug 1705)

  • Birth date from Kneeland 1897 p. 52, "mostly from Bible records" [Compiled]. Not found in Boston RC 24.
  • Kneeland 1897: she "m. (1) April 5, 1722, Samuel Foster, (2) Timothy Parmerly, of Bradford; had eight children; d. July 10, 1776".
  • WikiTree (Kneeland-293) cites a Connecticut church record abstract: "Rachel Parmelee death 10 Jun 1780 in New Haven". "Bradford" may be Branford, Connecticut [Inference].

John Kneeland (b. 29 Nov 1668; d. 5 Aug 1740)

  • Boston RC 9: "John of John & Mary Kneeland born Nov. 29" [1668]. Savage misprints it as 9 Nov [Documented].
  • His children with Mary 1692-1698 are in RC 9.
  • Suffolk Probate: John Kneeland, 1740, administration no. 7389. Unread; it may name "Rachel".
  • Mary Green as daughter of Samuel Green Jr. is [Compiled] (Kneeland 1897).
    • Savage says Samuel Green Jr. married Elizabeth Sill in Nov 1685, too late for a daughter who married by 1692.
    • An NEHGS Vita Brevis article (2016) says Samuel Jr. "is not credited with any children" in most accounts.
    • So this step is unproven.

John Kneeland (c. Aug 1632 - 11 Aug 1691)

  • NEHGR 14:52: "Here lyes ye Body of John Kneland Aged 59 years & 9 days, died ye 11th of Aug. 1691" [Documented].
  • Savage 3:34 has no English or Scottish origin for him, and no father, Edward or brother Bartholomew.
  • He married Mary Hawkins by 1659 (Torrey: "Mary [HAWKINS], dau James; by 1659") [Compiled].
  • Children: Mary 1659, Hannah 1663, Mary 1666, John 1668, Solomon 1671, Ruth 1673 (Boston RC 9) [Documented].
  • He is in the founders' list of 6 Jan 1657, under articles "for the relief of ourselves, being Scottish men, or for any of the Scottish nation". So he was almost certainly Scottish-born, not born in New England in 1632 [Inference].
  • Dunbar (1650) or Worcester (1651) prisoner origin is possible but unproved. He is not in the OCR of the 1652 John and Sara list.

Hawkins

  • James Hawkins, Boston 1635, bricklayer (will 25 June 1669). Savage: "had w. Mary".
  • Mary Mills: John Mills's will (12 Jan 1678) names "ds. Mary Hawkins and Susanna Dawes". Savage: John Mills was church member No. 33, "town clk. 1653"; "first" town clerk is unproven [Compiled].
  • Jane Hawkins, wife of Richard, is proved as James's mother:
    • Records of Mass. Bay 1:224 (12 Mar 1637/8): "Jane Hawkins, wife of Richard..."
    • Records of Mass. Bay 3:228 (May 1651): "In answer to the petition of James, Jobe & Thomas Hawkins for the returne for theire mother to liue in this jurisdiction..." [Documented]
  • Mary (Hawkins) Kneeland as daughter of this James is [Compiled] (Torrey; the Great Migration household entry, via WikiTree; Sumner 1948).

(c) Gentry, royal and famous-kin claims

Where the chain comes from. Burke, Landed Gentry (1847), "Cleland of Rath-Gael", pp. 227-228 → Anderson, Scottish Nation, vol. 2, p. 617 ("Kneland, (now Cleland,)") → S. F. Kneeland (1897) → Mollie.

  1. Alexander Kneland, "Parson O' Gowie", m. Margaret Wallace, daughter of Adam Wallace. No evidence, and contradicted.

    • Burke makes Margaret "dau. of Adam Wallace, of Riccarton, and sister of Sir Malcolm Wallace, the father of Sir William", i.e. Wallace's aunt.
    • Anderson garbled this into "Adam Wallace of Riccartoun, father of Sir William Wallace". Mollie printed both readings.
    • Blind Harry (Moir ed., Book I, ll. 147-154): "Hys modyr fled with him fra Elrisle, Till Gowry past, and duelt in Kilspynde. The knycht hir fedyr thedyr he thaim sent Till his wncle ... Ane agyt man". "Hir fedyr" means her father, i.e. the mother's father, Sir Ranald Crawford. The uncle is unnamed and not called a priest. Kneeland and Mollie misread it as "his fadyr".
    • Kneeland 1897 (p. 24) admits the identification is his own deduction: "it follows that Alexander Kneland must have been the uncle".
    • Fordun's priest-uncle, who taught Wallace "Dico tibi verum...", was at Dunipace.
    • In Harry, Adam Wallace is the "ayr off Ricardtoun", Wallace's cousin, son of his uncle Sir Richard Wallace.
    • Wallace's father: Wallace's own seal on the 1297 Lübeck letter names Alan Wallace. Blind Harry says Malcolm.

  2. James Kneland, Wallace's "cusying". A literary Kneland exists; his forename, parentage and descendants are unattested.

    • Harry has an unnamed "Kneland": "Kneland was thar, ner cusyng to Wallace, Syne baid with him in mony peralous place" (III.55-56); "Craufurd, Kneland, was haldyn till him der" (IX.38); "Kneland, cusyng, cum tak the ster on hand" (IX.133).
    • Moir notes that manuscript A reads "Cleland", "near Bothwell, in Lanarkshire".
    • The forename "James" comes from Burke and Anderson. Harry's poem dates from the 1470s and is not a record.

  3. William m. 1462 Jean Somerville. Garbled from a real marriage.

    • Scots Peerage 8:9-11: William, Lord Somerville (d. 1456), married Janet Mowat. Their daughter "Janet, married to James, son and heir of William Cleland of that Ilk."
    • So there was a Somerville-Cleland marriage, but the bride was Janet and the groom James. The date 1462 is unsupported.

  4. Alexander killed at Flodden in 1513 (Burke cites a 1498 seal), and James m. a daughter of Hepburn of Bonnytoun. Both are [Compiled] and unverified.

    • I found no "Hepburn of Bonnytoun" among the 1st Earl of Bothwell's children in Scots Peerage vol. 2.
    • Even if true, this would be a descent from Patrick, 1st Earl (d. 1508), not from Mary Queen of Scots' husband.

  5. Major William and Darnley. Anderson reports that "William Kneland of that ilk" was "delated" for the Darnley murder [Compiled]. But Burke's 10th laird is Alexander. Kneeland 1897 recast him as "Maj. William". No "Major" exists in the record.

  6. Capt. John m. Mary Dunbar of Dunbar Castle. He appears in no Cleland genealogy and no record. No evidence.

  7. John (b. c. 1575) m. Mary Stewart, daughter of Walter, 1st Lord Blantyre. False.

    • Scots Peerage 2:83-85: Lord Blantyre (d. 8 Mar 1617; married 1582) had James, William, Walter, Mr. John, Anna ("senior filia") and Jean. There is no Mary.
    • The real link is 2:81: his sister "Marion, married to William Cleland of that Ilk".
    • Kneeland 1897 p. 49 turned this into "Her aunt, of the same name, married his uncle, William Cleland".
    • There is no documentary link between the Boston Kneelands and the Clelands of that Ilk. Kneeland himself wrote (p. 19): "Personally, I do not stand sponsor for the truth of all this ancestry ... I simply give it from Burke."

  8. Descent from James V. False.

    • The Blantyre Stewarts descend from Stewart of Dalswinton (Scots Peerage 2:77).
    • Kneeland's claim (p. 32) that Walter's mother, Margaret Stewart of Cardonald, was James V's granddaughter is chronologically impossible.

  9. Descent from James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell. No evidence. Scots Peerage 2: "had no legitimate issue ... The Duke left one natural son, named William Hepburne." Mollie herself cites only "lost notes".

  10. The Foster royal claim and the Northumberland Forsters. No link exists.

    • The Anacher, Baldwin and "Sir Richard Forester" chain is copied from Pierce, Foster Genealogy, pp. 11-12 ("The Early Foresters").
    • It is legend. William the Conqueror's wife Matilda was the daughter of Baldwin V, not Baldwin IV.
    • The bridge to the family also fails: Rev. Thomas was not Richard's father, and Bisbee places Richard's father, Thomas of Biddenden, dead by 1586.

  11. Boston's city arms from Foster arms. The claim is garbled. What is documented: John Foster (1648-1681), son of Capt. Hopestill, "made the Seals or Arms of the Colony, viz an Indian with a bow and arrow" (Blake's Annals, quoted by Whitmore). That was the colony seal, not Boston's.

  12. Samuel Green "published in England the famous Cambridge Bible". Wrong. He printed at Cambridge, Massachusetts; his greatest work was the Indian Bible, with Marmaduke Johnson (Savage).

(d) Anecdotes

  • Capt. Foster to King Philip, Dorchester, 22 June 1670 (Pierce pp. 494-495, "copied from the originals now among the ancient documents of Dorchester"): "To Philip, Sachem of Mount Hope, Capt. Foster of Dorchester sendeth greeting. You may by this understand I re'd your letter dated June the 15th 1670, wherein you desire a meeting about land at pole plaine and within our township ... we shall some of us be together with some of the bay Indians give you a meeting if the lord permits at Captain Hudson's farme at Wading river upon the 12th of July next ... H. Foster with the Consent of the townsmen."
  • Philip's reply, Mount Hope, 15 May 1672: "Sir, you may please to remember that when I last saw you att Wading river you promised mee six pounds in goods; now my request is that you send me (by?) this Indian five yards of White light collored serge to make me a coat and a good holland shirt redy made, and a pair of good Indian breeches ... and silk & buttens & 7 yards Gallonnes for trimmings ... King Philip his Majesty P. P."
  • Hopestill (3): "a brewer, active in all town affairs, a man of judgment and deserved popularity" (History of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, quoted by Pierce). Mollie's "inscription" ("one of the leading men ... a great loss to the town") is the 1859 History of Dorchester commenting on the stone, not the stone itself.
  • Rev. Thomas Forster's will, 1638 (not an ancestor): "I give unto the said Richard my son my great backed leather chair standing in the parlour".
  • The Baptist presentments belong to Billerica (Wood, First Baptist Church of Boston; Pierce p. 489):
    • "June 18, 1672, George Farley, Thomas Foster & Wm Hamlet being p'sented for breach of ye Ecclesiasticall lawes, they all confesse the p'sentmt, were admonished & ordered to pay [costs] 4s. 6d. apeece."
    • "June 15, 1675. Thomas Foster ... convicted of constant and ordinary frequenting the meeting of the Anabaptists on Lord's day."
    • A 1671 Woburn presentment for "absence from Church and opposition to infant Baptism" names "Hopestill Foster" among the Woburn men; this was Thomas's son, b. 1648.
  • Jane Hawkins:
    • Winthrop's Journal, vol. 1, pp. 266-268: "the midwife, one Hawkins's wife, a rank familist also"; "she grew into great suspicion to be a witch, for it was credibly reported, that, when she gave any medicines, (for she practised physic,) she would ask the party, if she did believe, she could help her".
    • Vol. 2, p. 8: "Hawkins's wife (who continued with her, and was her bosom friend) had much familiarity with the devil in England, when she dwelt at St. Ives".
    • Mass. Bay Records 1, 1641: "Jane Hawkins is enioyned to depart away to morrow morning, & not to returne againe hither, upon paine of severe whiping ... & her sonnes stand bound in 20l to carry her away".
  • Scots' Charitable Society, 6 Jan 1657: the subscribers agreed "to make a box, and every one of us to give as God shall move our hearts ... for the relief of ourselves, being Scottish men, or for any of the Scottish nation". "John Kneeland" is in the founders' list.
  • Kneeland & Green (Isaiah Thomas): Rachel's brother Samuel Kneeland and his partner printed "an edition of the Bible in small 4to. This was the first Bible printed, in America, in the English language", with a false London imprint.
  • William Foster of Deer Isle, blacksmith (Hosmer p. 51): "Of him Deacon Nehemiah Closson learned his trade".

(e) Open questions and records to get

  1. Mary's parentage, the key gap:
    • Suffolk Probate no. 12403 (John Foster, 1760), with its division (Mollie's "Lib. 73, fol. 14"), and guardianships 15400, 15401 and 15599 (1773). Check whether "Mary Thompson" is named as an heir.
    • A first marriage of John Foster, c. 1743-45.
    • Mary's baptism in the Roxbury First Church records.
  2. Samuel (6)'s death, and whether the Suffolk will of 1728 (no. 5650) is his. If so, it may name son John and prove the 1722 link.
  3. John Kneeland's 1740 administration (no. 7389), for Rachel. Also Rachel's Parmelee marriage and her death (1776 or 1780).
  4. Deer Isle records:
    • the typescript "A true copy of the most ancient vital records of Deer Isle ... abt 1757-1833" (Geneanet), for the Thompson children, the 1792 Low marriage and Rebecca's birth;
    • Thomas's and Mary's gravestones;
    • Hancock County deeds;
    • the 1790 census.
  5. Thomas Thompson's origin: Roxbury and Boston records around the 1765 marriage.
  6. Modern sources to read:
    • the Great Migration sketches for Hopestill Foster, James Bate, Giles Payson, and James and Richard Hawkins;
    • TAG 80:26 on the Biddenden Fosters and Biggs;
    • Torrey and a Green genealogy for Mary (Green) Kneeland's parentage.

(f) Sources

Addendum, 2 October 2026: earlier generations and corrections found while adding life details

These were found while gathering life details for the interactive tree. Each is now in the tree, and its evidence grade is shown on the link.

New generations

Briscoe (above Rebecca Brisco, wife of Samuel Foster)

  • Joseph Briscoe Jr. (b. 21 Aug 1658, Boston; living 1724), baker.
    • Born months after his father drowned. [Compiled]
    • He held offices: Artillery Company 1692; constable 1693/4; tithingman and measurer of grain 1706-09.
    • The corner of Washington and Bromfield Streets was called "Briscow's Corner" in 1708. [Compiled]
    • "William Row, Negro Servt. to Joseph Brisco" was forbidden to marry Johanna Gig on 26 Oct 1720 (Boston RC 28:99). [Documented]
    • Wife: Rebecca, living 1724, when land was sold "with the consent of Rebeckah his wife."
    • Source for all of the above: Spencer, Dearborn and Dearborn, "William Briscoe of Boston," NEHGR 178 (2024).
  • Joseph Briscoe Sr.
    • Baptised Watford, Herts, 19 Aug 1627.
    • Married Abigail Compton, Boston, 30 Jan 1651/2.
    • Drowned 1 Jan 1657/8 (Boston RC 9:61).
    • Rev. John Wilson wrote a printed elegy on him, built on the anagram "Job cries hopes." [Compiled, NEHGR 178]
  • William Briscoe, tailor.
    • Baptised Sundridge, Kent, 24 June 1591, son of Rev. Guy Briscowe, rector, and Mary Wilson. [Compiled]
    • Admitted at Boston 24 Feb 1639/40 "to have a great Lott, for eight heads, at the mount" (Boston RC 2:48). Freeman 1641.
    • A first cousin of Rev. John Wilson of Boston's First Church.
    • First wife Jane, buried Watford 3 May 1637. [Compiled, NEHGR 178]

Mills

  • [Inference] Mary (Mills) Hawkins's mother was probably Catheryn Scotson.
    • John Mills married Catheryn Scotson at All Saints, Sudbury, Suffolk, 5 Feb 1615/6 (Ullmann, NEHGR 175:197-206, as cited on WikiTree Mills-1007).
    • He had married Susanna, widow Whitlocke, by 1628/9, and Mary was born about 1616/7.

Bigg and Martin (above Patience Bigg)

  • John Bigge, clothier of Cranbrook, Kent. [Compiled: Pane-Joyce; Waters, Gleanings 1]
    • Married Rachel Martin at Tenterden, 14 Sept 1583. Buried at Cranbrook 13 Aug 1605.
    • Children include Smallhope, Patience (bapt. 1588) and John.
  • Rachel (Martin) Bigg.
    • Baptised Lydd, 17 June 1565, daughter of James Martin and Joan Adam. [Compiled]
    • Came on the Elizabeth in 1635 as "Rachel Bigg, 6 [sic, for 60]." Died Dorchester 30 June 1647.
    • Her son Smallhope's will (1638) left "my mother Rachell Bigg one hundred pounds."
    • Her son John Bigg of Maidstone remembered "My mother Bigg, my sister Foster, my brother Stowe, all these living in New England" (Waters, Gleanings 1:21-22). [Documented abstract]

Bate (above Mary Bate, wife of Hopestill Foster)

  • James Bate of Lydd, yeoman and jurat. [Compiled: Watkins, "Bate of Lydd," NEHGR 51:270]
    • Married 6 June 1580 "Mary Martine(?)." Died 2 Mar 1614.
  • [Compiled, unproven] Watkins queries the surname. WikiTree, citing Whitmore, makes Mary (Martin) Bate a sister of Rachel (Martin) Bigg. If so, Mary Bate and her husband Hopestill Foster were second cousins: she was Mary (Martin) Bate's granddaughter, and he was Rachel (Martin) Bigg's grandson. The tree marks this link as unproven.

Cogswell (above Adam Cogswell)

  • [Compiled] The Cogswell Genealogy (Jameson, 1884, p. 28) gives the steps John Cogswell (Angel Gabriel, 1635) > William Cogswell m. Susanna Hawkes > Adam.
  • John and Elizabeth Cogswell:
    • "with his wife Elizabeth and eight children, embarked May 23, 1635, at Bristol, England, on the Angel Gabriel," which was wrecked at Pemaquid in the storm of 15 Aug 1635.
    • He had sold a homestead at Westbury and Westbury Leigh, Wiltshire, before leaving (Jameson pp. xvi-xvii). [Compiled]
  • [Documented] William Cogswell won a suit in 1676 against his nephew John over the estate of his brother John Jr. (d. 1653). Witnesses said the orphan "lived with his uncle William" (EQC 6:152-162).
  • [Compiled] Adam Cogswell:
    • "Mr. Cogswell was a trustee of the parish, a selectman of the town, and held a captain's commission" (Jameson p. 29).
    • The book leaves his wife's surname blank. Her identification as Abigail Wise rests on the Ipswich VR marriage of 1686 and on Anderson, TAG 56.

Corrections made in the tree

  • Samuel Foster (the periwig maker). The deed naming "Samuel Foster, periwig-maker, and Rachel, his wife" with Samuel Foster (5)'s widow and daughter is dated 27 June 1722 (Suffolk Deeds 36:68), not 1724. [Documented abstract]
  • Mary Green. Savage lists a Mary, born 6 Nov 1669, daughter of the printer Samuel Green Sr. by Sarah Clark. She fits the dates better than a daughter of Samuel Jr. The link remains unproven.
  • Thomas Lamb. "A donor to its free school" was removed. WikiTree (Lamb-322) says he died intestate, and no source for a gift was found.
  • Richard Hawkins. His places now run Bluntisham > St Ives > Boston > Portsmouth, Rhode Island, where he and Jane went after their banishment.
  1. # Low Line Research: Harriet Phillips Low's father's side
  3. Harriet Phillips Low (b. 12 June 1834, Deer Isle, Maine; d. 26 Nov 1918, Seattle) married Capt. Richard Blackmer Holbrook at Steilacoom on 24 Dec 1860. This file covers her father's ancestry:
  4. - **Part One:** the Low male line, and the Essex County wives' lines (Boreman and Carter, Lamb, Wise, Tompson and Freeman, Varney, Proctor, Cogswell, Lord, Waite and Ward, Fuller, Emerson).
  5. - **Part Two:** the ancestry of her grandmother Rebecca (Thompson) Low (Thompson, Foster, Bate, Payson, Bigg, Kneeland, Green, Hawkins and the Scottish claims).
  7. Her mother Hannah Read Tyler's side is in Tyler_Ginn_Line_Research.md. Mollie's typescript covers these lines on pp. 67-134; Mollie_Typescript_Review.md gives the claim-by-claim verdicts.
  9. **Evidence tiers**
  10. - **[Documented]:** a primary record, or a published transcript or abstract of one, with volume and page.
  11. - **[Compiled]:** a secondary genealogy or online tree.
  12. - **[Inference]:** our own reasoning from records, with the reason given.
  13. - **[Tradition]:** family lore, including Mollie's typescript where no record supports it.
  15. **Status.** Compiled 1 Oct 2026 from research reports written that day. They draw on online sources: archive.org full texts of printed vital records and genealogies, NEHGR, TAG as quoted online, WikiTree, Pane-Joyce and newspapers. Quotations are as read in those sources; OCR-derived quotations may carry small reading errors. Nothing here has yet been checked against original manuscripts or images, except where a section says so.
  17. **One conflict between the two parts.** Part Two says the date of Major Nathan Low's marriage to Rebecca Thompson (23 Oct 1792) is Mollie's alone. Part One found it in the Boxford VR (p. 171, "of Dear Isle", with the intention also recorded). The Boxford record stands. [Documented]
  19. ---
  21. # Part One: the Low line and its Essex County wives' lines
  24. Scope: the Low male line from the immigrant Thomas Low to Harriet, and the wives' lines Boreman, Lamb, Wise, Tompson, Varney/Proctor, Lord/Waite/Ward and Fuller/Emerson.
  26. Dashes inside quotations are shown as hyphens. Where the typescript OCR is garbled I say so instead of guessing.
  28. ## Key findings
  30. 1. **Major Nathan Low of Deer Isle is almost certainly the son of Nathan and Lucy (Lord) Low.** A Boxford record ties him to his Deer Isle wife: "Nathan, jr., and Rebecca Thompson of Dear Isle, Oct. 23, 1792." His children were baptized at Boxford in 1793 and 1795. No probate record names him outright, so this is a very strong case rather than formal proof.
  31. 2. **Capt. Nathan Low's death is in three 1874 newspapers.**
  32. - The steamer *Lewiston* ran down his schooner *Paragon* off Seguin about 10 p.m. on Thursday 10 Sept 1874.
  33. - He died at Deer Isle on Thursday 17 Sept 1874, which matches Mollie's date.
  34. - The papers say the steamer's boats rescued the crew. That contradicts Mollie's "left in the water many hours."
  35. 3. **Harriet's first marriage was dissolved by a private act of the Washington territorial legislature, passed 17 Jan 1860.** The act divorces "Crowell H. Sylvester and Harriet P. Sylvester." It is a dissolution, not an annulment.
  36. 4. **Mollie dropped or merged a generation in three places.**
  37. - **Varney.** Abigail (Proctor) Varney was the *grandmother*, not the mother, of Abigail (Varney) Low.
  38. - **Lord.** There were two James Lords, father and son. Lucy was the daughter of the younger one.
  39. - **Abigail Varney's birth.** Mollie's "Oct. 4, 1733" is really 14 Oct 1713.
  40. 5. **New line: Abigail Varney's mother was Abigail Cogswell, daughter of Adam Cogswell and Abigail Wise.**
  41. - So Harriet descends **twice** from Joseph Wise and Mary Tompson of Roxbury.
  42. - Caleb Low and his wife Abigail Varney were second cousins.
  43. 6. **Mary Tompson, wife of Joseph Wise, was not the daughter of Rev. William Tompson of Braintree.**
  44. - Published scholarship identifies her as the daughter of John Tompson, gent., of Preston Capes, Northamptonshire, and **Alice Freeman**.
  45. - Alice Freeman is a well-known "gateway" ancestor. Her line from King John has been disproved, but she is a documented ancestor of Diana, Princess of Wales.
  46. 7. **The Proctor kinship is documented.** John Proctor, hanged at Salem in 1692, was the brother of Abigail (Proctor) Varney, Harriet's 4x-great-grandmother. Court depositions of 1673 and 1679 prove it. "Tho. Low Sanor" (Deacon Thomas Low) and "Thomas Varny" both signed the 1692 Ipswich petition for the Proctors.
  47. 8. **Famous-kin claims:**
  48. - **Confirmed by compiled sources:** Seth Low, Rufus Choate, George W. Cable and Ralph Waldo Emerson.
  49. - **Plausible but not traced:** Nathaniel Hawthorne.
  50. - **Wrong:** James Freeman Clarke. He descends from a different John Fuller, of Newton.
  51. - **No evidence:** Major Caleb Low as an aide to Washington.
  52. - **Capt. David Low** did serve at the Lexington alarm and in the 1777 Saratoga campaign, but he was a first cousin of Nathan (5), not a brother.
  54. ---
  56. ## (a) Verdict table
  58. ### Low line
  60. | Mollie's claim | Finding | Tier |
  61. |---|---|---|
  62. | Thomas Low (1) b. 1605 | Deposed 25 Sept 1660 "aged about 55" (Essex Court Files 5:80, abstracted by Wm. G. Low 1908) | Documented (abstract) |
  63. | He married Margaret Tod 22 June 1630, from Polstead/Boxford | Polstead register: "Thos. Lowe & Margaret Tod married 22 June 1630." Groton: Thomas, son of Thomas & Margaret Lowe, bp. 8 May 1631. Boxford: John, son of Thomas & Margaret, bp. 2 Mar 1633. Wm. G. Low and V. B. Redstone call the identification with the Ipswich man "a probability." | Documented entries; Compiled identification |
  64. | He came 1636 in Rev. Nathaniel Rogers's company | Ipswich grant, 6 Apr 1641, mentions "ten acres due to him by grant unto Mr. Rogers company." Rogers arrived Nov 1636 (Winthrop). | Documented grant; Inference for the voyage |
  65. | His father was Capt. John Lowe of the *Ambrose* | Wm. G. Low (1908) concluded "probably not." No evidence. | Tradition, unsupported |
  66. | He was a maltster at Chebacco | Rev. Thomas Cobbet's will (c. 1685): "Malt at old Goodman Lowe's malt house" (Hammatt p. 56) | Documented |
  67. | He married 2nd Susannah, who d. Charlestown 1684 | Will of 1677 names wife Susannah. Merriam (1901) gives "Susanna Low 19th of August, 1684. Aged about 86" at **Watertown**. Thomas d. 8 Sept 1677 (Ipswich VR 2:625). | Documented / conflict |
  68. | Deacon Thomas (2) b. 1631/2, d. 1712, m. 4 July 1660 Martha Boreman | Confirmed: m. 4 July 1660 (VR 2:292); d. 12 Apr 1712 aged 80 (VR 2:625) | Documented |
  69. | Sgt. David (3) b. 1667, d. 2 June 1746, m. 1699 Mary Lamb | Born 14 Aug 1667 (VR 1:252). Married at Chebacco 28 Dec 1699 (VR 2:289). Died 2 June 1746 (VR 2:624). Wm. G. Low's "d. before 1736" is wrong. | Documented |
  70. | Caleb (4) m. 173? Abigail Varney | Married at Chebacco 8 Jan 1732/3 (VR 2:289, 436). Born c. 1707; d. 17 July 1777 "lethargy, a. abt. 70" (VR 2:624). | Documented |
  71. | Caleb is a son of Sgt. David | David's will (14 Mar 1745) names son Caleb (Merriam p. 18) | Compiled (will abstract) |
  72. | Nathan (5) b. Oct 1742 at Chebacco | "Nathan, s. Caleb and Abigail, Oct. 1, 1742" (VR 1:254). Caleb's will of 17 June 1773 names son Nathan (WikiTree abstract of the probate image). | Documented / Compiled |
  73. | He m. 17 Jan 1765 Lucy Lord; d. Boxford 24 July 1804 | Both confirmed (Ipswich VR 2:291; Boxford VR p. 249, "a. 62 y.") | Documented |
  74. | Major Nathan (6) b. Chebacco 3 Nov 1765 | That is the **baptism** date (Ipswich VR 1:254). Boxford record: "Nathan, s. Nathan and Lucy, at Ipswich, Oct. 18, 1765." | Documented |
  75. | He married Rebecca Thompson 23 Oct 1792 | Boxford VR p. 171, "of Dear Isle," intention also recorded | Documented |
  76. | He went to Deer Isle before 1800 | Hosmer says "prior to 1800," but "from the county of **Worcester**." That conflicts with Boxford. Children were baptized at Boxford 1793 and 1795. | Compiled / conflict |
  77. | He d. 1859 | Hosmer: "He died in 1859, at the age of ninety-four years" (pp. 144, 219) | Compiled |
  78. | His second wife drowned herself | Hosmer: Hannah Hardy, "some forty years younger," "died in a few years after her marriage." No suicide mentioned. | Tradition |
  79. | Capt. Nathan (7) d. Sept 1874 after a steamboat collision | Confirmed in detail (section b) | Documented |
  80. | He was left in the water many hours | Contradicted: "The steamer lowered her boats and rescued the captain and his father and brother - the entire crew" | Documented, corrects Mollie |
  81. | His son Daniel was with him | One paper names the master as "B. F. Law" [sic] and says the crew was "the captain and his father and brother." Who exactly was aboard is unresolved. | Documented / unresolved |
  82. | Harriet married Crowell Sylvester at 16 | Marriage record not found | Unproven |
  83. | Crowell was a widower and brother of Edmund Sylvester, founder of Olympia | Brother: confirmed by Blankenship (1914) and Wikipedia ("younger brother"). Widower: unverified. | Compiled |
  84. | The marriage was "annulled" by the legislature | It was a **divorce**: "dissolve the bonds of matrimony," passed 17 Jan 1860 | Documented, corrects Mollie |
  86. ### Boreman
  88. | Mollie's claim | Finding | Tier |
  89. |---|---|---|
  90. | Thomas Boreman (5) bp. Claydon 18 Oct 1601; d. 1653(?) | Baptism confirmed. He died **May 1673**, aged 72 years 7 months (will 17 Dec 1670, codicil 3 May 1673, inventory 26 May 1673). | Compiled (Goldthwaite, from originals) |
  91. | His will names "my daughter Martha wife of Thomas Loe" | Verbatim in Goldthwaite p. 115 | Documented (transcript) |
  92. | The widow Margaret's will gives "my daughter Loe all my pewter" etc. | Probate Records of Essex Co. 3:350, will dated 8 Aug 1679 | Documented |
  93. | English line William, Thomas, William, Thomas; mother Elizabeth Carter, dau. of Felix and Margaret | Matches Goldthwaite's pedigree, built from Claydon registers and Cropredy/Banbury wills | Compiled |
  94. | Thomas was "honoured by the rare title Mr." | Yes, "Mr." and "Mistress" in Ipswich records. The English family were yeomen. | Compiled |
  96. ### Lamb, Wise, Tompson
  98. | Mollie's claim | Finding | Tier |
  99. |---|---|---|
  100. | Thomas Lamb, Winthrop Fleet 1630; d. 28 Mar 1646 | Buried 28 Mar 1646 (Roxbury VR 2:571) | Documented; 1630 arrival Compiled |
  101. | He m. 2nd 16 July 1640 Dorothy Harbottle | Confirmed (Roxbury VR 2:241) | Documented |
  102. | Caleb Lamb b. 9 Apr 1641; m. 30 June 1669 Mary Wise | Both confirmed (Roxbury VR 1:208; 2:240). Mollie's Wise page says "9 Apr. 1669" for the marriage; the VR says 30 June. | Documented |
  103. | Mary Lamb b. "? 7, 1681(?)" | A first Mary, b. 13 Apr 1678, **died 4 July 1679** of smallpox. Our Mary must be a later daughter whose birth is not recorded. | Documented + Inference |
  104. | Thomas Lamb outlived his son Caleb | Impossible. Thomas died 1646; Caleb had children 1671 to 1687. | Contradicted |
  105. | Joseph Wise came 1636 on the *Bonaventure* | No evidence. He is first found in Dr. George Alcock's will (Dec 1640) as Alcock's servant. | Unproven; Compiled (TAG 56) |
  106. | Wise descends from the Devon gentry Wises (Sydenham) | Disproved. West (NEHGR 177, 2023) places him at **Bulkington, Warwickshire**, bp. 17 June 1617, son of Henry Wise and Katherine Willmore. | Compiled |
  107. | Rev. John Wise was a son of Joseph and Mary Lamb's uncle | Yes. Mary Wise bp. 27 Feb 1649/50 and John bp. 15 Aug 1652, both children of Joseph (Roxbury VR 1:389). | Documented |
  108. | Mary Tompson was a daughter of Rev. William Tompson | Wrong. Mollie's own date (Mary "born before or shortly after 1636") is impossible for a 1641 bride. Scholarship (section b) makes her daughter of John and Alice (Freeman) Tompson. | Compiled |
  110. ### Varney and Proctor
  112. | Mollie's claim | Finding | Tier |
  113. |---|---|---|
  114. | Corporal Thomas Varney d. 4 Dec 1692 | "Thomas, Corp., at Chebacco, Dec. 4, 1692" (Ipswich VR 2:699) | Documented |
  115. | Thomas Varney (2) b. 24 Dec 1682 | "Thomas, s. Corporal, at Chebacco, 3:10br:1682," i.e. **3 Dec** 1682 (VR 1:375) | Documented |
  116. | Thomas (2) married Abigail Proctor | Wrong. He married **Abigail Cogswell** (b. 21 Mar 1688/9; d. 5 Sept 1738 "a. 49 y. 6 m."). Abigail Proctor was his **mother**. | Documented + Compiled |
  117. | Abigail Varney b. "Oct. 4, 1733," m. Caleb Low | "Abigail, d. Thomas, at Chebacco, Oct. 14, 1713" (VR 1:374) | Documented |
  118. | Abigail Proctor was a daughter of John Proctor Sr. and sister of John Proctor, executed 1692 | **Proved**: EQC 5:195 (1673) and 7:218 (1679) | Documented |
  119. | Mrs. Varney (Abigail Proctor) led the 1679 meeting-house raising | Court record: "Thomas Varny, for his wife" acknowledged the offence, 25 June 1679 (EQC 7:245) | Documented |
  121. ### Lord, Waite, Ward
  123. | Mollie's claim | Finding | Tier |
  124. |---|---|---|
  125. | Robert Lord 1602 to 1683, clerk of courts | "Robert. Aug. 21, 1683, a. 80 y." (VR 2:620). Felt calls him town clerk and clerk of the court; Hammatt gives the will. | Documented / Compiled |
  126. | He married 1630 Mary Waite | His will speaks of "almost fifty three years" of marriage (Hammatt p. 208) | Compiled |
  127. | Mary Waite was a dau. of Samuel Waite and Mary Ward, niece of Rev. Nathaniel Ward | Found only in online trees and Mollie's own reasoning; no primary source seen | Unproven |
  128. | Robert Jr. (marshal) d. 1696, m. Hannah Day | "Rob[er]t, marshall, Nov. 11, 1696" (VR 2:620). Hammatt and Felt confirm Hannah Day. | Documented |
  129. | James Lord (one man), b. 1676, m. 1731/2 Mary Fuller, father of Lucy | **Two men.** James Sr. b. 27 Jan 1676/7, d. 24 May 1734. James Jr. b. 12 Apr 1707 m. Mary Fuller. Lucy is James Jr.'s daughter. | Documented |
  130. | Lucy bp. 30 Aug 1747 | Confirmed (VR 1:245). The Choate Genealogy gives b. 25 Aug 1746. | Documented / conflict |
  131. | Lucy remarried "a Choate" and had a daughter who married a Tappan | Lucy married (2) 25 Apr 1808 Capt. Ebenezer Lord, and (3) 28 Nov 1817 Josiah Choate. The Tappan bride, Nancy, was Josiah's daughter by his first wife. | Documented / Compiled |
  132. | Robert Lord the Indian fighter who could never sleep on a feather bed again | Not about the Ipswich clerk; apparently a Maine Lord | Tradition, misattributed (Inference) |
  134. ### Fuller and Emerson
  136. | Mollie's claim | Finding | Tier |
  137. |---|---|---|
  138. | John Fuller d. 4 June 1666; m. Elizabeth Emerson | Confirmed (VR 2:563; W. H. Fuller) | Documented / Compiled |
  139. | Nathaniel son of John, m. 14 Oct 1708 (one page says 1700) Mary Jackson of Rowley | "Nath[anie]ll, and Mary Jackson of Rowley, int. Oct. 14, 1708" (VR 2:178). Nathaniel b. Jan 1663, d. 1719 (W. H. Fuller). | Documented / Compiled |
  140. | Mary Fuller b. c. 1708, m. 5 Jan 1731/2 James Lord | Marriage confirmed; Mary c. 1709 (chose guardians Dec 1724 "being above 15") | Documented / Compiled |
  141. | Thomas Emerson m. Elizabeth Brewster; d. 1666 | Bp. 26 July 1584 Bishop's Stortford; m. 1 July 1611; will proved 10 May 1666 | Compiled |
  143. ### Famous-kin claims (details in section c)
  145. | Claim | Verdict | Tier |
  146. |---|---|---|
  147. | Ralph Waldo Emerson is a cousin | Yes, about fifth cousin once removed to Harriet | Compiled |
  148. | James Freeman Clarke descends from John Fuller | Wrong John Fuller: his line is from John Fuller of **Newton** | Compiled |
  149. | Seth Low descends from Thomas Low | Yes, through Sgt. David Low and Mary Lamb | Documented + Compiled |
  150. | Rufus Choate descends from Thomas Low | Yes through Varney/Proctor; probably also through Ruth Low | Compiled / Inference |
  151. | Major Caleb Low was Washington's aide at André's execution | No evidence. He was a militia major in Col. Nathaniel Wade's regiment, July to Oct 1780. | Documented service; claim unsupported |
  152. | Capt. David Low at Lexington and Saratoga, a brother of Nathan (5) | Service confirmed. He was a **first cousin**, not a brother. | Documented |
  153. | George W. Cable descends from Samuel Boreman | Yes | Compiled |
  154. | Nathaniel Hawthorne descends from Robert Lord via Miriam Lord | Miriam Lord m. Richard Manning 30 May 1776 (VR 2:301); her descent from Robert Lord not traced | Documented marriage; descent Inference |
  156. ---
  158. ## (b) The lines, generation by generation
  160. ### B1. The Low line
  162. **1. Thomas Low (c. 1605 to 8 Sept 1677).**
  163. - **Birth.** Aged "about 55" in a 1660 deposition. [Documented abstract]
  164. - **Wives.**
  165. - (1) Probably Margaret Tod, m. Polstead 22 June 1630. [Compiled identification]
  166. - (2) Susannah, named in his will. [Documented]
  167. - **At Ipswich.** In Ipswich by 1641. Will dated 20 Apr 1677 (Wm. G. Low) or 30 Apr (Merriam and Hammatt); proved 6 Nov 1677.
  168. - **His wife's provisions** (Merriam p. 14): "she shall have her beere as she hath now & also free use of the fire." [Compiled transcript]
  169. - **Children.** Thomas, Margaret (m. Daniel Davison), John (m. 1661 Sarah Thorndike), Sarah (m. Joseph Safford).
  170. - **Note.** Mollie's table says "d. Charleston 1684," which belongs to Susannah. Merriam has her at Watertown, 19 Aug 1684, aged about 86.
  172. **2. Deacon Thomas Low (c. 1631/2 to 12 Apr 1712).**
  173. - **Dates.** Died "a. 80 y." (gravestone, Ipswich VR 2:625). Possibly the Thomas bp. Groton 8 May 1631. [Compiled]
  174. - **Age conflict.** A 1676 deposition gives "Thomas Low, jr., aged about thirty-six" (EQC 6:159), which would make him younger.
  175. - **Marriage.** "Thomas, and Martha Borman, July 4, 1660. ct. r." (VR 2:292). [Documented]
  176. - **Wife.** Martha d. "Jan. 22, 1720, in her 79th y." (VR 2:625).
  177. - **Will.** Dated 17 June 1708, proved 5 May 1712 (Goldthwaite p. 120; Hammatt p. 216). [Compiled]
  178. - **Children named in the will.** Jonathan, Samuel, David, Martha Dodge, Joanna Dodge, Sarah Low, Abigail Goodhue. Also Thomas (b. 1661, d. 1697/8), Nathaniel (d. 1695) and John (d. 1695).
  179. - **Mollie's extra names.** Her "Asa" and "Daniel" are grandsons, sons of Samuel (Crowell, via Wm. G. Low).
  181. **3. Sgt. David Low (14 Aug 1667 to 2 June 1746).** [All Documented except the will]
  182. - **Birth.** "David, s. Thomas, jr., Aug. 14, 1667" (VR 1:252).
  183. - **Marriage.** "David, and Mary Lamb, at Chebacco, Dec. 28, 1699" (VR 2:289).
  184. - **Deaths.** "David, Sergt., June 2, 1746." Wife: "Mary, w. Sergt. David, of Chebacco, Mar. 3, 1735" (VR 2:624).
  185. - **Will.** Dated 14 Mar 1745, proved 16 June 1746. Names sons David, Jeremiah, Caleb, Stephen, Joshua, and daughters Mary Lufkin, Martha Crafts, Abigail, Eunice (Merriam p. 18). [Compiled]
  186. - **1690 expedition.** Deed of 5 Oct 1736 to son David Jr. of "land granted to a certain number of men, which formerly went in an expedition to Canada under Sir William Phipps, of which I, David Lowe, was one" (Merriam p. 18). [Compiled]
  187. - Merriam places the land in New Hampshire. Mollie says Winchendon.
  188. - "Ipswich-Canada" (Winchendon) was the 1735 grant to Ipswich men of that expedition, so Winchendon is likely. [Inference]
  189. - **Son Stephen.** "Stephen, Lt., of Chebacco, 'Slain att the Battle of Tyconderoga,' July 8, 1758" (VR 2:625). [Documented]
  191. **4. Caleb Low (c. 1707 to 17 July 1777).**
  192. - **Marriage.** Married Abigail Varney at Chebacco, 8 Jan 1732/3. [Documented]
  193. - **Will.** Dated 17 June 1773. Names wife Abigail; sons Thomas, Caleb, Nathan, William, Jeremiah; "Thomas Varney, brother"; daughters Katharine Sutton, Abigail Low (wife of Joseph Low), Mary Bradley. [Compiled: WikiTree abstract of Essex Probate, Old Series vols. 351-352, FamilySearch image 562; I did not see the image]
  194. - **Children** (VR 1:251-255, all Documented):
  195. - Catherine (bp. 17 Mar 1733/4)
  196. - Abigail (b. 10 Sept 1735, d. 1736)
  197. - Abigail (b. 1 Sept 1737)
  198. - Caleb (bp. 8 July 1739)
  199. - Nathan (b. 1 Oct 1742)
  200. - Thomas (b. 20 Feb 1744)
  201. - Mary (b. 7 May 1747)
  202. - William (b. 4 Nov 1751, d. 28 Dec 1752)
  203. - William (b. 27 May 1754)
  204. - Jeremiah (b. 17 Dec 1756)
  205. - **No son David.** This is the evidence against Mollie's "Captain David Low ... brothers of our ancestor."
  206. - **Abigail's death.** "[Catharine, c. R. 4.], wid. Caleb, Dec. 30, 1800, a. 86 y." (VR 2:624). The age fits Abigail (b. 1713); the church record's "Catharine" is a conflict.
  208. **5. Nathan Low (1 Oct 1742 to 24 July 1804).**
  209. - **Marriage.** "Lucy, and Nathan Low, Jan. 17, 1765. c. R. 7.*" (VR 2:282, 291; c. R. 7 is the Fourth Church). [Documented]
  210. - **Move to Boxford.** Came to Boxford from Ipswich in 1767 and hired the Hale farm (Perley, *Dwellings* p. 47). [Compiled]
  211. - **Children** (Boxford VR pp. 59-60, all Documented):
  212. - Nathan, "at Ipswich, Oct. 18, 1765"
  213. - Caleb, Dec. 24, 1767 (Mollie: Dec. 25)
  214. - James, June 17, 1770
  215. - Daniel, Oct. 20, 1772
  216. - William, June 2, 1775
  217. - Jeremiah, Apr. 6, 1777
  218. - Jeremiah, Aug. 6, 1779 (Mollie omits)
  219. - Solomon, Apr. 9, 1782
  220. - Joseph, Dec. 28, 1784
  221. - an unnamed daughter, Oct. 19, 1786 (gravestone in Harmony cemetery)
  222. - **Deaths** (Boxford VR p. 249): "Nathan, July 24, 1804, a. 62 y." and "Lucy [(Lord)], w. Nathan, Sept. 10, 1833, a. 87 y." [Documented]
  223. - **Revolution.** "Low, Nathan, Boxford. Private, Capt. Jacob Gould's co. of militia, Col. Samuel Johnson's regt., which marched on the alarm of April 19, 1775; service, 4 days" (MSS&R 9:1030). [Documented]
  224. - **Mollie's Quebec claim.** She says he went with his grandfather against Quebec "when a very young lad." Impossible: grandfather David died when Nathan was 3. [Inference]
  226. **6. Major Nathan Low (b. Ipswich 18 Oct 1765, bp. 3 Nov 1765; d. Deer Isle 1859).**
  227. - **Marriage.** Rebecca Thompson of Deer Isle, 23 Oct 1792 (Boxford VR p. 171). [Documented]
  228. - **Children baptized at Boxford** (Boxford VR p. 59): Lucy, d. Nathan jr., bp. 18 Aug 1793; Mary, bp. 30 Aug 1795. [Documented]
  229. - **Is he proved the son of Nathan and Lucy?** Very strongly supported. Not formally proved.
  230. - Boxford calls him "Nathan, jr." when it records his Deer Isle bride.
  231. - His birth is recorded at Boxford as son of Nathan and Lucy.
  232. - His first daughter was named Lucy.
  233. - His age at death (94 in 1859) fits b. 1765.
  234. - He was a tanner, as was his brother Jeremiah at Boxford (Perley p. 48). [Inference]
  235. - The deciding records would be Nathan Sr.'s Essex probate (1804) or a Hancock County deed. Not seen.
  236. - **When and why Deer Isle?** Between 1795 (last Boxford baptism) and 1800 (Hosmer).
  237. - No record states why. The marriage into the Thompson family is the obvious link: he later owned "one of the lots laid out to Mr. Thomas Thompson near Thompson's Cove."
  238. - Hosmer's "from the county of Worcester" may reflect a stay with his sister Abigail, wife of Joseph Low of Fitchburg (Merriam p. 22). [Inference] Hosmer gives Worcester County origins for several settlers.
  239. - **Hosmer pp. 143-144.** Tanner and farmer, "probably one of the most skilful farmers that was ever in the town."
  240. - Wives: Rebecca, d. 1836; then Hannah, daughter of Jonathan Hardy.
  241. - Sons: Thomas T., Nathan Jr., William.
  242. - Major in the militia; selectman.
  243. - Died 1859 aged 94.
  244. - [Compiled, by a Deer Isle contemporary]
  246. **7. Capt. Nathan Low (b. Deer Isle c. 1804/5; d. Deer Isle Thursday 17 Sept 1874).**
  247. - **Birth.** Hosmer says "nearly seventy" in 1874. Date not found.
  248. - **Wife.** Hannah Reed Tyler, "born Dec. 12, 1809; died April 9, 1886; married Captain Nathan Lowe, of Deer Isle, Maine, who died after a disaster to a boat." She was a daughter of Rowland Tyler and Sally Ginn of Dixmont (Tyler Genealogy 1:221). [Compiled]
  249. - **Marriage date.** 4 Oct 1832 per Mollie; not verified.
  250. - **Selectman.** Hosmer lists a "Nathan Low" as selectman in 1828 and 1829 (p. 241) without saying which Nathan.
  251. - **Death.** Newspaper accounts are in section (d). The Kennebec Journal: "He leaves a wife and three children."
  253. **8. Harriet Phillips Low.**
  254. - **Birth.** 12 June 1834 per Mollie. An earlier report in this project gives 12 June 1839. The conflict is unresolved.
  255. - **First marriage.** Crowell H. Sylvester; date not found. Dissolved by private act, "Passed January 17th, 1860" (WA Territory Acts, 1859-60 session, Private Laws p. 476). [Documented]
  256. - **Crowell's family** [Compiled]:
  257. - Brother of Edmund Sylvester (b. Deer Isle 2 Mar 1821), founder of Olympia.
  258. - Came west "about four years" after Edmund (1846), escorting Edmund's wife (Blankenship 1914, p. 248).
  259. - Edmund married Clara Pottle in 1854 (Wikipedia), so the escort trip may be c. 1854-56, close to Mollie's 1856.
  260. - The elder Crowell H. Sylvester of Deer Isle (d. 1863 aged 78) was a son of Capt. Edmund Sylvester, "a native of Marshfield, Massachusetts," who came to Deer Isle in 1788 (Hosmer pp. 96, 124-125). He is probably the father of Edmund and Crowell. [Inference] This supports Mollie's "family came from Marshfield."
  261. - **Side note.** 24 Dec 1860 fell on a **Monday**. Mollie calls it "That Sunday evening, Christmas Eve."
  263. ### B2. Boreman (Boardman Genealogy, Goldthwaite 1895)
  265. All entries Compiled from Claydon registers and Peculiar Court wills:
  266. - **1. William Boreman of Banbury.** Lay Subsidy, 1525.
  267. - **2. Thomas "the elder" of Claydon.** Will 3 Apr 1576, proved 2 May 1580. Wife Isabel.
  268. - **3. William.** Will 12 Dec 1610; buried 10 Jan 1612/13. Wife Annis, buried 12 May 1608.
  269. - **4. Thomas.** Born c. 1570. Married 2 Feb 1595/6 Elizabeth Carter (b. c. 1575, buried 11 May 1631), eldest daughter of Felix Carter (nuncupative will 29 May 1619) and Margaret. Thomas was buried 9 Mar 1627/8.
  270. - **5. Thomas Boreman of Ipswich.**
  271. - Bp. Claydon 18 Oct 1601. Freeman March 1634/5. Deputy 8 Sept 1636.
  272. - Died May 1673. Will 17 Dec 1670.
  273. - Wife Margaret, maiden name unknown. She died 25 Nov 1679 (Goldthwaite p. 114). Her will is dated 8 Aug 1679.
  274. - **6. Martha.** Married Dea. Thomas Low 4 July 1660. Born c. 1641/2.
  275. - **Cousin.** Samuel Boreman of Wethersfield was a son of Christopher Boreman and **Julian Carter**, Elizabeth's sister. He was a first cousin of Thomas of Ipswich (Goldthwaite p. 101). This matches Mollie.
  276. - **Mollie's date.** Her "Margaret D. Ipswich 1673" is apparently Thomas's death year misplaced.
  278. ### B3. Lamb (Roxbury VR)
  280. - **1. Thomas Lamb.**
  281. - Wife (1) Elizabeth, "child birth," buried 28 Nov 1639.
  282. - Married (2) 16 July 1640 Dorothy Harbittle. The Roxbury church record calls her "a godly maid, a sister of our church" (quoted by Pane-Joyce).
  283. - Thomas buried 28 Mar 1646 of "calenture."
  284. - Dorothy married 2 Feb 1651 Thomas Hawley, "slain by the Indians at Sudbury, Apr. 21, 1676" (Roxbury VR 2:547).
  285. - [Documented]
  286. - **2. Caleb Lamb.**
  287. - Born 9 Apr 1641, recorded as son of Thomas and Dorothy. A different-ink entry also gives a Caleb, son of Thomas, b. 27 Nov 1639; this is a conflict.
  288. - Married 30 June 1669 "Marie Wise."
  289. - Children recorded at Roxbury: Caleb 1671; Joseph 1673; Mary 1678 (d. 1679); Jeremiah 1679; John 1683/4; Eunice bp. 1685; Huldah 1687.
  290. - Death not found. Pane-Joyce's "30 Jun 1690" looks like confusion with the marriage date.
  291. - **3. Mary Lamb.** Born c. 1680-82, not recorded. Married David Low 1699; died 3 Mar 1735.
  293. ### B4. Wise
  295. **1. Joseph Wise of Roxbury, butcher.**
  296. - Bp. Bulkington, Warwickshire, 17 June 1617 (West, NEHGR 177:141-143). [Compiled]
  297. - Married 3 Dec 1641 "Mary Tompsonn" (Roxbury VR 2:398, 442). [Documented]
  298. - Died 12 Sept 1684. Mary died 4 Aug 1693 (Roxbury VR 2:675). [Documented]
  299. - Twelve children. These two matter here:
  300. - **Mary, bp. 27 Feb 1649/50**, m. Caleb Lamb.
  301. - **Abigail, b. 20 June 1666**, m. **Adam Cogswell** ("Adam, and Abigaill Wise, Nov. 19, 1686. ct. r.," Ipswich VR 2:192).
  302. - Rev. John Wise, bp. 15 Aug 1652, minister at Chebacco from 1680, was a son as well. [Documented]
  303. - That this Abigail Wise was Joseph's daughter is Compiled (WikiTree, citing Anderson, TAG 56:80-82). Her brother being the Chebacco pastor makes it highly likely. [Inference]
  305. ### B5. Tompson (corrected)
  307. Mary Tompson, wife of Joseph Wise, was **bp. 14 Nov 1619 at Preston Capes**, daughter of John Tompson of Little Preston (d. 1626) and **Alice Freeman** [Compiled]. Sources:
  308. - C. A. Torrey, TAG 13:1-8 (1936)
  309. - R. C. Anderson, "Joseph Wise of Roxbury, Butcher," TAG 56:80-82 (1980): "credible circumstantial evidence"
  310. - D. L. Greene, *The Genealogist* 4:173-186 (1983)
  311. - R. A. West, TAG 87:209-217 (2015)
  313. Supporting details:
  314. - Alice's brother, Thomas Freeman of Cranford, gent., left a will in 1637. It names "sister Tompson" and her children, including Mary and Bridget.
  315. - Alice was in Roxbury by April 1640 with daughters Mary, Bridget and Dorothy.
  316. - Bridget Tompson married George Denison at Roxbury in March 1640 (Roxbury VR 2:398).
  317. - Alice later married Robert Parke.
  319. Mollie's Rev. William Tompson of Braintree is real; the Virginia mission and melancholy are confirmed by Winthrop. He is **not this ancestor**. In 1643 his wife left behind "a company of small children" (Winthrop 2:94), so he could not have had a daughter marrying in 1641.
  321. ### B6. Varney, Proctor (and the new Cogswell link)
  323. **1. John Proctor Sr.**
  324. - Ship list: "Husbandman John Procter 40, Martha Procter 28, John Procter 3, Marie Procter 1" on the *Susan & Ellin*, 1635 (Hotten p. 59). [Documented]
  325. - Died at Ipswich 1672.
  326. - Mollie's "Martha ... d. June 13, 1659": the VR entry "Martha, w. John, June 13, 1659. ct. r." most likely belongs to the first wife of John Jr., not to the mother. [Inference]
  327. - A Harper maiden name for Martha appears only on WikiTree. [Compiled, unsourced]
  329. **2. Abigail Proctor (c. 1639-44 to 1 Mar 1731).**
  330. - "Abigail, wid., of Chebacco, Mar. 1, 1731, a. 92 y." (VR 2:699). Her depositions make her younger: "about thirty" in 1673 and "about thirty-two" in 1676.
  331. - Married Corporal **Thomas Varney** (c. 1639 to 4 Dec 1692), son of William and Bridget Varney.
  332. - William Varney's estate was administered in 1654 (EQC 1:338).
  333. - Bridget's will of 10 Nov 1671 names "my sonne Thomas Verney" (EQC 5:119).
  334. - Thomas Varney deposed in 1659 "aged between twenty and twenty-one years" (EQC 2:187).
  335. - Children:
  336. - Abigail (m. 1687 Josiah Burnham)
  337. - Mary (b. 1669, m. 1690 Thomas Choate)
  338. - Rachel (m. 1692 John Fellows)
  339. - Thomas (b. 3 Dec 1682)
  340. - others
  342. **3. Thomas Varney Jr. (b. 3 Dec 1682).**
  343. - Married **Abigail Cogswell**, b. "at Chebacco, Mar. 21, 1688-9," daughter of Adam (VR 1:96).
  344. - The Cogswell Genealogy (1884, p. 28) says "Abigail, b. March 21, 1689; m. Thomas Varney."
  345. - Her death fits exactly: "Abigail, w. Tho[ma]s, Sept. 5, 1738, a. 49 y. 6 m."
  346. - [Documented + Compiled]
  347. - Married (2) 27 Dec 1739 "wid. Ann Low" (VR 2:289, 437).
  348. - Children: Abigail (1713), Thomas (1715), Adam (1724), Joseph (bp. 1726), Stephen (1729), Nathan (1730).
  350. **4. Abigail Varney (b. 14 Oct 1713).** Married Caleb Low 8 Jan 1732/3.
  352. **Corrected kinship.**
  353. - Abigail (Proctor) Varney was the grandmother of Abigail (Varney) Low.
  354. - John Proctor (hanged 19 Aug 1692) was the brother of Harriet's 4x-great-grandmother.
  355. - Joseph Wise and Mary Tompson are Harriet's 5x-great-grandparents **twice**.
  357. ### B7. Lord
  359. **1. Katherine Lord, widow.** Commoner 1641 (Hammatt p. 208). Felt: Robert "appears to have been son of Widow Catharine Lord." [Compiled]
  360. - Anthony Lord appears in the Gleanings. The 1603 will of John Lorde of Redriffe, clothier, names "two houses in Sudbury," "father Anthony Lorde" and "brother Robert Lorde" (EIHC 17:73). This suggests Anthony was Robert of Ipswich's **grandfather**, not father. [Inference]
  362. **2. Robert Lord (c. 1603 to 21 Aug 1683).**
  363. - Freeman 3 Mar 1635/6. Deputy 1638. Town clerk and clerk of the court.
  364. - Will dated 28 June 1683, proved 25 Sept 1683.
  365. - Wife Mary Waite: parentage not proved.
  367. **3. Robert Lord, marshal (d. 11 Nov 1696).**
  368. - Married Hannah Day.
  369. - Sons: Robert (b. 1657), John, Thomas, Joseph (b. 1674), **James (b. 27 Jan 1676)**, Nathaniel (b. 1681) (Hammatt p. 209).
  371. **4. James Lord Sr.** [Documented]
  372. - Born 27 Jan 1676/7; died "May 24, 1734, a. 57 y. and 'about' 4 m."
  373. - Wife Mary died 11 Apr 1724.
  374. - Intended marriage to Susannah Waite, 27 Mar 1725.
  376. **5. James Lord Jr.** [Documented]
  377. - Born 12 Apr 1707.
  378. - "James [jr. int.], and Mary Fuller [jr. int.], Jan. 5, 1731-2" (VR 2:177).
  379. - Children: Mary (bp. 1732), James (bp. 1738), Ebenezer (bp. 1744), **Lucy (bp. 30 Aug 1747)**.
  381. **6. Lucy Lord.**
  382. - Married (1) Nathan Low 1765.
  383. - Married (2) Capt. Ebenezer Lord, 25 Apr 1808 (Boxford VR p. 171; Ipswich intention 9 Apr 1808, VR 2:280). A Capt. Ebenezer Lord died 2 May 1810 (VR 2:617).
  384. - Married (3) Josiah Choate, 28 Nov 1817 (Choate Gen. p. 85).
  385. - Died 10 Sept 1833.
  386. - Identifying the 1808 bride as this Lucy: [Inference]
  388. ### B8. Fuller and Emerson
  390. **1. Thomas Emerson.** [Compiled, *The Ipswich Emersons*, 1900, pp. 19-31]
  391. - Bp. Bishop's Stortford 26 July 1584. Married there 1 July 1611 Elizabeth Brewster.
  392. - The inventory of "Goodman Emerson Sener deceased" is dated 3 May 1666; will proved 10 May 1666.
  393. - W. H. Fuller's "died ... May 1, 1681" is wrong.
  394. - Mollie's death date OCR is unreadable.
  396. **2. Elizabeth Emerson.**
  397. - Baptized 1623; the OCR reads "1-4 .Tuu.", i.e. 14 June. Mollie reads 14 Jan.
  398. - Married **John Fuller**, who came on the *Abigail*, 1635, aged 15, with brother William ("Jo: Fuller 15," Hotten). John died 4 June 1666.
  399. - Elizabeth married (2) Thomas Perrin.
  401. **3. Nathaniel Fuller (b. Jan 1663; d. 1719).**
  402. - Married 1708 Mary Jackson of Rowley.
  403. - She married (2) Samuel Ayres (intention 23 June 1721).
  404. - Do not confuse him with Nathaniel b. 1682, son of James, who married Mary Potter.
  406. **4. Mary Fuller (c. 1709).** Married James Lord Jr. 1731/2.
  408. ---
  410. ## (c) Gentry, royal and famous-kin claims
  412. 1. **Low name lore** (Domesday Book, William the Conqueror, a Lord Mayor, Capt. Barnaby Low of the Armada) and the **wolf arms** (Merriam, from Guillim). No connection to Thomas Low shown. [Tradition]
  413. 2. **Capt. John Lowe of the *Ambrose*** (Winthrop Fleet). Unsupported. The source is Capt. Winthrop Low's statement to Rev. Robert Crowell. Wm. G. Low found it "probably not" so (*Quest* No. 2, 1908). [Tradition]
  414. 3. **Boreman.** Yeomen and coopers of Claydon. The "Mr." and "Mistress" titles in Ipswich show local standing, not gentry. [Compiled]
  415. 4. **"Lambe of Bury" and King James** (Camden Papers). Mollie herself says "not a clue." No evidence. [Tradition]
  416. 5. **Wise of Devon** (Sydenham, Mount Wise, arms "Sable, three chevronels ermine"). Conjectural, and contradicted by the Bulkington, Warwickshire origin. [Compiled, against]
  417. 6. **Tompson and Freeman: the real gentry and royal question.** Mollie's Tompson line is wrong, but the corrected line is a genuine gentry family.
  418. - John Tompson of Little Preston, gent., held a moiety of the manor of Saxby, Leicestershire (1616). Alice's brother was Thomas Freeman of Cranford, gent.
  419. - Alice Freeman's descent from **King John has been disproved**: the Joan de Harley link (*The Genealogist* 1980, 1989) and the Margaret ferch Llywelyn link.
  420. - WikiTree reports a line from Æthelred II that Gary Boyd Roberts uses. I have not evaluated it.
  421. - Alice is documented by Roberts as a 10th-great-grandmother of **Diana, Princess of Wales**, through Mary's sister Dorothy (Tompson) Parke. That makes Harriet a distant cousin of Diana.
  422. - Mary's identity as Alice's daughter is "probable" (Anderson), not proved.
  423. - [Compiled: WikiTree citing TAG and Roberts]
  424. 7. **Waite/Ward** (Mary Waite a niece of Rev. Nathaniel Ward, author of *The Simple Cobler*). Unproven. Mollie's own case rests on "Candler's Pedigree of Ward in the Bodleian." Plausible context: Rev. John Ward's widow Susan married Richard Rogers of Wethersfield, Essex, the Waite home. No primary record seen. Waite "rank" lore and the regicide Thomas Waite: no connection. [Compiled / Tradition]
  425. 8. **Emerson arms and Ralf of Foxton.** Ralf of Foxton received arms in 1535; he was not "knighted." The descent from him is conjecture in the 1900 book. Its suggestion that Elizabeth Brewster was a daughter of Elder William Brewster of Scrooby is chronologically implausible: his eldest known child was born 1593, and Elizabeth married in 1611. [Inference]
  426. 9. **Ralph Waldo Emerson.** Yes. RWE is a descendant of Thomas Emerson through Rev. Joseph of Mendon (*Ipswich Emersons*, entry 601: "son of William and Ruth (Haskins) Emerson, was born at Boston ... 25 May, 1803"). Elizabeth (Emerson) Fuller was Joseph's sister. By my count Harriet and RWE are **fifth cousins once removed**. [Compiled]
  427. 10. **James Freeman Clarke.** No.
  428. - Mollie's chain "John 1, Joseph 2&3, Abraham 4, Sarah 5, who married Wm. Hull" is the **John Fuller of Newton** line.
  429. - Judge Abraham Fuller of Newton's daughter "Sarah, b. Apr. 27, 1759; m. 1781, Gen. William Hull," and their daughter Rebecca (b. 1790) was Clarke's mother (W. H. Fuller p. 128).
  430. - [Compiled]
  431. 11. **Seth Low** (NYC mayor; also his brother William G. Low, author of the *Quest* pamphlets). Yes.
  432. - The line runs Sgt. David & Mary Lamb → David (1701-1771) & Susanna Low → Capt. David (1728-1782) & Abigail Choate → David & Hannah Haskell (married 1778) → Seth Low (1782-1853) → Abiel Abbot Low → Seth Low.
  433. - Sources: marriages in Ipswich VR 2:289; Merriam pp. 18-22; Wikipedia on A. A. Low ("His paternal grandparents were Hannah (née Haskell) Low and David Low (a son of David and Abigail (née Choate) Low)").
  434. - Harriet and Seth Low are fourth cousins once removed.
  435. - [Documented links + Compiled]
  436. 12. **Rufus Choate.** Yes, by two routes.
  437. - **Via Varney/Proctor.** Thomas Varney & Abigail Proctor → Mary Varney m. Thomas Choate → Francis → William → David Choate → Rufus (Choate Gen. pp. 10-11, 155-157, and David [231]). [Compiled]
  438. - **Probably via Low as well.** Rufus's mother Miriam Foster was a daughter of "Aaron, and Ruth Low, Feb. 14, 1754" (VR 2:166). Ruth was bp. 11 June 1727, "d. Thomas and Anna" Low. [Documented]. That Thomas is apparently a grandson of the immigrant through John Low. [Inference]
  439. - Note: the "Mr. Rufus Choate" whom Wm. G. Low quotes about the David Low house was a later Rufus Choate of Essex, not the orator.
  440. 13. **Major Caleb Low (1739-1810, of Danvers).**
  441. - MSS&R 9:1020: captain of a company on the 19 Apr 1775 alarm; captain 1776; chosen 1st Major in Col. Larkin Thorndike's regiment 4 Mar 1778.
  442. - "Major, Col. Nathaniel Wade's regt.; engaged July 6, 1780; discharged Oct. 10, 1780." Wade's regiment served in the Hudson Highlands then, where André was tried and hanged 2 Oct 1780.
  443. - No source calls him an aide to Washington. As a three-month militia major he would not have been one. [Documented service; aide claim: no evidence]
  444. 14. **Capt. David Low** (MSS&R 9:1021): "Lieutenant, Capt. Jonathan Cogswell, Jr.'s co., which marched on the alarm of April 19, 1775."
  445. - Captain 1776. "Captain of a company of volunteers ... marched Oct. 2, 1777; discharged Nov. 7, 1777; ... under Gen. Gates in Northern department, and in guarding Gen. Burgoyne's army to Prospect Hill."
  446. - This is the David bp. 5 May 1728 (d. 1782), son of David & Susanna, and so a first cousin of Nathan (5). [Documented]
  447. 15. **George W. Cable.** Yes. His mother Rebecca Boardman (Amos, Thaddeus, Benjamin, Daniel, Samuel) married George W. Cable in 1834 (Goldthwaite pp. 367, 474). Common ancestors with Harriet are Felix & Margaret Carter of Claydon (and the Claydon Boremans), roughly seventh cousins. [Compiled]
  448. 16. **Nathaniel Hawthorne.**
  449. - Documented: Hawthorne's maternal grandparents Richard Manning and Miriam Lord married 30 May 1776 (VR 2:301; Gleanings chart, EIHC 17).
  450. - Not done: I did not trace Miriam back to Robert Lord.
  451. - Plausible: nearly all early Ipswich Lords descend from him. [Inference]
  453. ---
  455. ## (d) Anecdotes (verbatim)
  457. **The 1874 collision.** *Portland Daily Press*, 12 Sept 1874, p. 3:
  458. > "Collision. - Thursday night at about 10 o'clock, when the steamer Lewiston was a short distance from Seguin, she collided with a small [schooner] named the Paragon, belonging to Deer Isle. The officers of the steamer claim that the schooner had her light on the wrong side thus misleading them as to the course she was sailing, while her owner and master, B. F. Law, says that the lights were correctly set. The bow of the steamer cut the stern of the schooner completely off, and the schooner sank. The steamer lowered her boats and rescued the captain and his father and brother - the entire crew. The men were injured slightly, but not seriously. They were brought to this city on the steamer and to-night will be carried back to Deer Isle where they belong. The schooner was in ballast, and was valued at about $800."
  460. *Ellsworth American*, 17 Sept 1874, p. 3:
  461. > "The crew, consisting of an old man and two boys, were rescued by the steamer's boat."
  463. The same page has a shipping note: "Salem - Ar 8 ... Paragon, Low, Ellsworth."
  465. *Daily Kennebec Journal*, 19 Sept 1874, p. 3:
  466. > "Capt. Lowe, master of schooner Paragon, which was rundown by steamer Lewiston off Seguin a few nights since, died Thursday morning at his home at Deer Isle, from the effects of exposure in the water. He leaves a wife and three children."
  468. **Major Nathan Low.** Hosmer, p. 144:
  469. > "He was a large, portly man, and as an officer in the militia must have made a fine appearance. I have been told by one who had seen both that he very much resembled the father of Daniel Webster."
  471. Mollie's text closely follows Hosmer here.
  473. **The Chebacco women, 1679.** EQC 7:245:
  474. > "John Gittings, Joseph Gittings Abraham Martain, Seth Story, Hannah Goodhue, Hannah Martain and Thomas Varny, for his wife, acknowledged, in court, 25 : 4 : 1679, that 'we are conuinced that wee haue offended in being actiue to erect a meting hous contrary to the aduis and prohobession of the Counsell for which we are sory and desier it may be forgiuen.'"
  476. **Abigail Varney on her sister's dowry**, sworn 17 June 1673 (EQC 5:195):
  477. > "Abigail Varney, aged about thirty years, deposed that she heard her father say to her mother that he had promised at the making up of the match between her brother Dodge and her sister Sarah, his wife, to give his daughter 45li., five pounds of which was for household stuff but that her mother Prockter said that she was not willing that the five pounds should be paid at that time."
  479. **Thomas Varney at the Proctor homestead**, 1679 (EQC 7:218):
  480. > "Thomas Varny, aged about forty years, testified that he was at the house which was formerly his father Procter's, and heard Joseph say to John that he might as well stay and take his share of the fifty pounds. He was then going away and seemed to be angry."
  482. **The 1692 Ipswich petition**, [5 Aug 1692], SWP No. 107.7:
  483. > "His Breading hath been Amongst us; and was of Religious Parents in o'r place ... upon o'r Consciences we Judge them Innocent of the crime objected."
  485. There are 31 signers, among them "Jno Wise," "Tho. Low Sanor," "Thomas Varny" and "Joseph prockter." Mollie says 32.
  487. **Thomas Boreman's will**, 17 Dec 1670 (Goldthwaite p. 115):
  488. > "Item to my daughter Martha the wife of Thomas Loe to her children twenty pounds three yeares after the decease of my wife when my sonne Thomas shall possesse the whole farme."
  490. Also:
  491. > "my will is that my Brother Daniell shall abide with my wiue while she lives."
  493. **Margaret Boreman's will**, 8 Aug 1679 (Probate Records of Essex Co. 3:350):
  494. > "To my daughter Loe all my peuter and a pare of fine shetese and half a duson of napkines two cowes that are in thare handes and a black goune and a Red petticot only one pint pot Resarued."
  496. **The Boreman ox**, testimony of 1695 (Goldthwaite pp. 108-109):
  497. > "Mr. Bordman's servant Isaiah Wood lett ye oxen pull down ye cart of (off) the bank where the oxen were hanged by the neck, one of them till he was dead."
  499. **"A very old man."** 1671/2 (Goldthwaite p. 111):
  500. > "Thomas Borman, a very old man, being before us at Ipswich, declared upon his oath that he Judgeth the words (Thomas Borman) subscribed ... to be his hand."
  502. **Lidia Banks, London, 5 Sept 1672:**
  503. > "not forgetting old Mr. Bourman, Mr. Rogers and their wifes if alive."
  505. **Deacon Thomas Low's will**, 1708 (Goldthwaite p. 120). He calls himself "of good understanding & sound memory, but ancient, crazey & infirm in body." For his wife Martha:
  506. > "a horse to ride on as she may have occasion, 10 bushels apples for the winter ... two barrels of 'cydar.'"
  508. **Robert Lord's will**, 1683 (Hammatt p. 208):
  509. > "with whom by God's good providence we have lived comfortably together in a married condition almost fifty three years."
  511. Mollie wrote "almost fifty."
  513. **Gen. Solomon Lowe and the Boxford house.** Perley, *Dwellings of Boxford* (1893), p. 48. Solomon was Nathan (5)'s son:
  514. > "He died April 3, 1861, lacking six days of being eighty years old. The remains of General Lowe repose in his tomb in Harmony Cemetery. Upon the face of the tomb are illustrations of himself and ... wives engraved on marble tablets."
  516. His son Major William Lowe "died in 1870, from injuries caused by a bull which attacked him in his cowyard." The buildings "were completely destroyed by fire early on the morning of June 21, 1874."
  518. **Rev. John Wise**, Mary Lamb's uncle, 1687. Wikipedia, citing Alan Taylor, quotes the official who answered his tax protest:
  519. > "Mr. Wise, you have no more privileges Left you then not to be Sold for Slaves."
  521. [Secondary]
  523. ---
  525. ## (e) Open questions and records still to get
  527. **Low line**
  528. 1. Nathan Low's probate, Boxford 1804 (Essex Probate). Does it name son Nathan of Deer Isle? Also Hancock County, Maine deeds c. 1795-1800 for Nathan Low.
  529. 2. Capt. Nathan Low's birth and his 1832 marriage: Deer Isle town records (Maine). Also his gravestone.
  530. 3. Identity of the *Paragon*'s master "B. F. Law/Low." Check the Deer Isle 1870 census and the Rockland or Bangor papers.
  531. 4. Harriet's birth year: 1834 (Mollie) or 1839 (earlier report). Check the 1850 Deer Isle census and her death record.
  532. 5. Harriet and Crowell H. Sylvester: the marriage record (Maine) and Washington legislative journals for the divorce petition.
  533. 6. NEHGR 174 (2020), Edward E. Steele, "Descendants of Thomas Low, the Immigrant to Ipswich ... for Three Generations." Subscription only; not seen. It may settle the Polstead/Groton identification and Susannah.
  534. 7. View the original probate images for Caleb Low's will (1773) and David Low's will (1745). I relied on WikiTree and Merriam abstracts.
  535. 8. Martha (Boreman) Low's death: the gravestone says "Jan. 22, 1720." Check whether that is 1719/20 or 1720/21 on the stone.
  537. **Wives' lines**
  539. 9. The birth record of Mary Lamb, c. 1680-82, and Caleb Lamb's death and estate (Suffolk Probate).
  540. 10. Anderson's TAG 56:80-82, on Abigail Wise as Adam Cogswell's wife and on Mary Tompson.
  541. 11. The Great Migration sketch of Robert Lord, and any primary evidence for Waite/Ward.
  542. 12. Miriam (Lord) Manning's ancestry, to test the Hawthorne link.
  543. 13. Mary Jackson of Rowley's parents (Rowley VR). Not researched.
  545. **For other researchers**
  547. 14. The Roxbury VR has "THOMPSON, Thomas, and Mary Foster, Oct. 28, 1765" (2:394). This may be Rebecca Thompson's parents; refer to whoever has the Thompson-Foster lines.
  548. 15. **New line:** Harriet descends from John Cogswell (Angel Gabriel, 1635), through Adam Cogswell and Abigail Cogswell Varney. Mollie does not have this line.
  550. ---
  552. ## (f) Sources (all read)
  554. **Vital records**
  555. - Ipswich VR vol. 1 (Births), 1910: https://archive.org/details/vitalrecordsofip01esse
  556. - Ipswich VR vol. 2 (Marriages and Deaths), 1910: https://archive.org/details/vitalrecordsofip02ipsw
  557. - Boxford VR, 1905: https://archive.org/details/vitalrecordsofbo00boxfo
  558. - Roxbury VR vol. 1 (Births): https://archive.org/details/vitalrecordsofroroxb
  559. - Roxbury VR vol. 2 (Marriages and Deaths): https://archive.org/details/vitalrecordsofroroxb_0
  561. **Court, probate, legislative and archival records**
  562. - Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, vols. 1, 2 and 4-7: https://archive.org/details/recordsfilesofqu01mass , https://archive.org/details/recordsfilesofqu04esse , https://archive.org/details/recordsfilesofqu05esse , https://archive.org/details/recordsfilesofqu06esse , https://archive.org/details/recordsfilesofqu07esse
  563. - Probate Records of Essex County vol. 3: https://archive.org/details/probaterecordsof03mass
  564. - Salem Witchcraft Papers No. 107 (John Proctor): https://salem.lib.virginia.edu/n107.html
  565. - Acts of the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Washington, 1859-60 session (Olympia 1860), Private Laws p. 476: https://archive.org/details/walaw-session-laws-1859
  566. - Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors vol. 9: https://archive.org/details/massachusettssol09mass
  567. - Hotten, Original Lists of Persons of Quality (1874): https://archive.org/details/originallistsofp00hottuoft
  568. - Winthrop's Journal vol. 2 (Hosmer ed. 1908): https://archive.org/details/winthropsjournal02wint
  570. **Newspapers**
  571. - *Portland Daily Press*, 12 Sept 1874, p. 3: https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn83016025/1874-09-12/ed-1/?sp=3
  572. - *Ellsworth American*, 17 Sept 1874, p. 3: https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn84022374/1874-09-17/ed-1/?sp=3
  573. - *Daily Kennebec Journal*, 19 Sept 1874, p. 3: https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn82014248/1874-09-19/ed-1/?sp=3
  575. **Compiled genealogies and local histories**
  576. - Hosmer, *Historical Sketch of Deer Isle* (1886): https://archive.org/details/historicalsketch00hosm
  577. - Brigham, *Tyler Genealogy* vol. 1: https://archive.org/details/cu31924092510894
  578. - Perley, *Dwellings of Boxford* (1893): https://archive.org/details/dwellingsofboxfo00perl
  579. - Perley, *History of Boxford*: https://archive.org/details/historyofboxford00perl
  580. - Goldthwaite, *Boardman Genealogy* (1895): https://archive.org/details/boardmangenealog00gold
  581. - Hammatt Papers: https://archive.org/details/hammattpapersear00hamm
  582. - Felt, *History of Ipswich* (1834): https://archive.org/details/historyofipswich00felt
  583. - Wm. G. Low, *A Genealogical Quest* (1908) and No. 2: https://archive.org/details/genealogicalques00loww , https://archive.org/details/genealogicalques01loww
  584. - Merriam, *Ancestors of the John Lowe Family Circle* (1901): https://archive.org/details/ancestorsofjohnl00merr
  585. - Jameson, *The Choates in America* (1896): https://archive.org/details/choatesinamerica00jame
  586. - Jameson, *The Cogswells in America* (1884): https://archive.org/details/cogswellsinameri00jame
  587. - W. H. Fuller, *Genealogy of Some Descendants of ... John Fuller of Ipswich* (1914): https://archive.org/details/genealogyofsomed0000will
  588. - B. K. Emerson, *The Ipswich Emersons* (1900): https://archive.org/details/ipswichemersonsa00emer
  589. - Essex Institute Historical Collections vol. 17 (Gleanings): https://archive.org/details/essexinstitutehiv17esse
  590. - Blankenship, *Early History of Thurston County* (1914), p. 248, transcript: https://jtenlen.drizzlehosting.com/WABios/ecsylvester.txt
  592. **Online trees and reference pages**
  593. - Wikipedia: Edmund Sylvester https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Sylvester ; Abiel Abbot Low https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abiel_Abbot_Low ; John Wise https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wise_(clergyman)
  594. - WikiTree, read through the API: Low-1937 (Caleb; will abstract), Low-1949, Low-1950, Low-1178, Thompson-562, Freeman-1326, Wise-52. These profiles cite TAG, NEHGR and FamilySearch images: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Low-1937 , https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Thompson-562 , https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Freeman-1326 , https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Wise-52
  595. - Pane-Joyce on Thomas Lamb: https://mathcs.clarku.edu/~djoyce/gen/report/rr02/rr02_222.html
  597. **Seen but not relied on.** Unsourced online pages for the Lord/Waite claim: https://homepages.rootsweb.com/~sam/lord.html and https://minerdescent.com/2010/10/28/anthony-lord
  599. ---
  601. # Part Two: the ancestry of Rebecca (Thompson) Low
  604. **The main findings:**
  605. - **Mary (Foster) Thompson's parentage is not proved.** Mollie's John Foster married Jane Lindsey in 1750, about five years after Mary was born.
  606. - **The Foster line breaks at its top.** Richard Foster of Biddenden was not the son of Rev. Thomas Foster of Ipswich.
  607. - **The Hopestill Foster fined as a Baptist was a different man.** The fines belong to the Billerica/Woburn Fosters.
  608. - **The Boston John Kneeland was a Scot.** He was one of the founders of the Scots' Charitable Society in 1657, not a man born in New England.
  609. - **Every Scottish and royal link fails.** Most of them grew out of real Cleland of that Ilk marriages that were copied wrongly.
  611. ---
  613. ## (a) Verdict table
  615. | Mollie's claim | Finding | Tier |
  616. |---|---|---|
  617. | Thomas Thompson b. Boston 1744 | No birth found in the printed Boston births, 1700-1800. Hosmer says only "removed here from Massachusetts". Born c. 1744 if "upward of eighty" at death c. 1824. | Year [Compiled]; Boston birth [Tradition] |
  618. | Thompson went to Deer Isle c. 1765 | Hosmer, p. 25, lists "Thomas Thompson, 1765". He married at Roxbury on 28 Oct 1765, so he arrived with his wife late 1765 or after. | [Compiled] + [Documented] |
  619. | Married "in Boston or Dorchester" | Married at **Roxbury, 28 Oct 1765**. | Corrected [Documented] |
  620. | Thomas d. c. 1824, aged 80 | Hosmer p. 47: "not far from the year 1824, aged upward of eighty years" | [Compiled] |
  621. | Mary b. 1745, d. 1836, over 90 | Hosmer p. 218: "1836, Mrs. Thompson, widow of Thomas Thompson, aged 91" | [Compiled] |
  622. | Thomas's parents unknown | Still unknown | Open |
  623. | List of the Thompson children | Matches Hosmer pp. 46-47 word for word. See section (b). | [Compiled] |
  624. | Rebecca m. 23 Oct 1792 Major Nathan Low | Hosmer confirms the marriage but gives no date. The date is Mollie's alone. | [Compiled]; date unproven |
  625. | Mary (Foster) Thompson was the daughter of John Foster (1722-1760) and Jane | **Not proved, and it conflicts with the records.** John Foster married Jane Lindsey at Boston on 20 Apr 1750. Their recorded children were born 1751-1760. Mary was born c. 1745. | Unproven |
  626. | Mary "half French and Indian" | No record supports it | [Tradition] |
  627. | John Foster b. 1722, son of Samuel and Rachel | Rests only on Pierce ("JOHN, b. in 1722; m. Jane"). No Boston birth record. | [Compiled] |
  628. | John d. June 1760, Roxbury; widow Jane | Called deceased in the Roxbury church record on 6 July 1760. Suffolk Probate administration of 1760, docket 12403. | [Documented] |
  629. | John's children: Jane, John, Martha, William, Mary | Roxbury births: **Samuel** 1751, William 1753, Jane 1755, Martha 1760. Suffolk guardianships of 1773: John, Martha, Jane. No Mary anywhere. | Partly confirmed |
  630. | William m. Mary Draper of Dedham and moved to Deer Isle | Roxbury marriage, 11 June 1778. Hosmer: William Foster of Deer Isle came from Dedham and was the brother of Mrs. Thompson. | [Documented]; identity [Inference] |
  631. | Samuel Foster (6) m. 1721 (p. 113) or 1 Apr 1722 (p. 124), Rachel Kneeland | **5 Apr 1722**, at Boston, by Mr. Joseph Sewall | Corrected [Documented] |
  632. | Samuel (5) b. 27 Dec 1676, d. 10 Mar 1702; m. Rebecca Brisco, dau. of Joseph | Confirmed | [Documented] |
  633. | Hopestill (4) b. 1645, m. 1667 Elizabeth Payson, d. Boston 1678 | Baptised 10 Mar 1644/5. Married 15 Feb 1666/7. Administration granted 28 Jan 1677/8. | [Documented] |
  634. | Elizabeth Payson b. 9 Feb 1645 | **4 Feb 1644/5**, Roxbury | Corrected [Documented] |
  635. | Her 2nd husband "Edmund Brown, soapboiler" | Edmond Brown was a **shopkeeper**. The soap boiler was Hopestill himself. | Corrected [Documented] |
  636. | Capt. Hopestill (3) b. 1621, d. 15 Oct 1676; m. Mary Bate | Baptised 30 July 1620. Died 14 Oct (gravestone) or 15 Oct (Blake's Annals). | [Compiled]/[Documented] |
  637. | Richard Foster d. England 1630; m. Patience Bigg | Confirmed by a Prerogative Court of Canterbury (PCC) administration of 3 May 1630 | [Documented abstract] |
  638. | Patience d. 30 Jan 1702/3, aged 84 | That is **Mary (Bate) Foster's** death. Patience's death date is unknown. | Corrected |
  639. | Richard was the son of **Rev. Thomas Foster** of Ipswich | **Contradicted.** Rev. Thomas's son Richard was a shipmaster of Ipswich, alive in 1639. | Disproved |
  640. | Rev. Thomas's will made 21 Sept 1628 | Dated **22 Sept 1638**, proved 5 Dec 1638 | Corrected |
  641. | Hopestill (4) fined as a Baptist 1672, 1675, 1678 | Those presentments concern **Thomas Foster of Billerica** and **his** son Hopestill (b. 1648). Ensign Hopestill was dead by Jan 1677/8. | Misattributed |
  642. | Rachel Kneeland b. 11 Aug 1705, d. 1776 | No Boston birth record found. Death "July 10, 1776, ae. 71" (Kneeland 1897) against 10 June 1780, New Haven (a Connecticut church abstract). | [Compiled]; conflict |
  643. | John Kneeland (14) b. 29 Nov 1668, builder; m. Mary Green, dau. of Samuel Green Jr. | Birth of 29 Nov confirmed. Mary Green's parentage is unproven and has a chronology problem. | Mixed |
  644. | John Kneeland (13) b. 2 Aug 1632 "in New England", d. Roxbury 11 Aug 1691 | Death and age confirmed by his gravestone. But he was a 1657 founder of a society of "Scottish men". | Birthplace corrected [Inference] |
  645. | John (b. c. 1575) and Edward arrived c. 1630 with their mother Mary Dunbar | No record found | [Tradition] |
  646. | Mary Hawkins was the dau. of "Col." James and Mary (Mills) Hawkins | Her father James is supported. He was a bricklayer; nothing shows he was a colonel. | [Compiled] |
  647. | James Hawkins was the son of Richard and Jane Hawkins | Supported by a 1651 petition of "James, Jobe & Thomas Hawkins" for "theire mother" | [Documented] |
  648. | Jane Hawkins banished for "Quakerism" | Wrong. She was banished in 1638 and 1641 as Anne Hutchinson's associate, called a familist and suspected of witchcraft. | Corrected [Documented] |
  649. | Scots Charitable Society founder, 1657 | Confirmed | [Documented transcript] |
  650. | John Kneeland (14) built the Old South Meeting House | The 1729-30 building was built by mason **Joshua Blanchard** (cornerstone "JB 1729") to a design by Robert Twelves | Not supported |
  651. | Mary's "brother" Timothy Green was Samuel Kneeland's partner | The partner was the second Timothy Green, son of Timothy of New London. That makes him Mary's **nephew**, if her parentage is right. | Corrected |
  652. | Scottish chain, Hepburn, Blantyre and James V descents | See section (c). None is supported. | |
  654. ---
  656. ## (b) The lines, generation by generation
  658. ### Thompson
  660. **Thomas Thompson** (c. 1744 - c. 1824)
  661. - Hosmer, pp. 46-47 [Compiled]: "He settled upon the land adjoining that of Mr. Closson on the southeast. He removed here from Massachusetts not far from the year 1765. He was a man of a great deal of energy and in his time was one of the most prominent and enterprising citizens of the town and was one of its selectmen. He was of small stature, but he possessed a great share of courage, being perfectly fearless, was very active in what he undertook, and what he lacked in size he made up in what is generally termed 'pluck.' He was the owner of a considerable amount of land, about three hundred acres, as appears by the plan of Peters's survey, and his death took place not far from the year 1824, aged upward of eighty years. His wife, a very worthy woman, was the sister of Mr. William Foster..."
  662. - Town and church offices, from Hosmer's abstracts of the town records:
  663. - church elder, chosen 8 Jan 1793 (p. 277);
  664. - selectman 1795 (p. 223) and 1796 (p. 224);
  665. - one of three on the 1795 committee to provide timber for the meeting-house (p. 223);
  666. - named with Joseph Tyler to go to the General Court over the island lands (p. 36).
  667. - Thompson's Cove "derived its name from Mr. Thomas Thompson, who was the owner of the lands adjoining, and lived near it" (p. 289).
  668. - **Marriage**: Roxbury Vital Records (VR) 2:153 reads "Foster ... Mary, and Thomas Thompson, Oct. 28, 1765." The same entry is at 2:394 under Thompson. [Documented]
  669. - **Parents**: not found [Open].
  670. - No Thomas Thompson birth c. 1744 appears in Boston Births 1700-1800 (searched; only a 1710 Thomas son of Miles appears).
  671. - Roxbury has a Samuel Thompson who married Jane Steward on 30 June 1747. That marriage is too late to make him Thomas's father unless Thomas was born later than his stated age suggests.
  673. **Mary (Foster) Thompson**: died 1836, aged 91, so born c. 1744/5 (Hosmer p. 218) [Compiled].
  674. - Mollie records her mother's memory of a small, precise old lady in a cap with her feet on a footstool [Tradition].
  676. **Children** (Hosmer pp. 46-47; Mollie copies him) [Compiled]:
  677. - **Sons:**
  678. - Adam: "His family consisted of nine sons and five daughters". In context this sentence refers to Adam's family, not Thomas's.
  679. - Capt. John, master mariner, "died in Philadelphia".
  680. - Thomas, "died when a young man".
  681. - **Daughters**, wives of:
  682. - Major Nathan Low;
  683. - Joseph Sellers (he married her "when he was forty-eight years of age", so c. 1800; p. 107);
  684. - "a Mr. Hazen, who lived in Bridgton";
  685. - Nathaniel Kennison of Sedgwick;
  686. - "Colonel Edward Barnes, of Boston";
  687. - John Howard Jr. (his first wife; they had one son, Capt. Thomas Howard; p. 69).
  688. - **Two possible matches in the Roxbury records** [Documented records; the identification is Inference]:
  689. - "Martha [Tompson. int.], and Enoch Hazen of Rowley, Feb. 9, 1791" (Roxbury VR 2:394). Rowley Hazens settled Bridgton; a Jacob and a William Hazen are on the 1794 Bridgton list.
  690. - "Jane, and William Barnes [Barns. int.], Nov. 29, 1793" (2:394). **Conflict:** Hosmer names the husband as Colonel *Edward* Barnes.
  691. - If these are Thompson daughters, they were married in Roxbury, among Mary's Foster kin.
  693. **Rebecca (Thompson) Low**
  694. - Hosmer pp. 143-144 confirms the marriage and says "She died in 1836" [Compiled].
  695. - Nathan Low remarried: "1837. ... Jan. 30, Maj. Nathan Low and Hannah Hardy, both of this town" (Deer Isle marriages by Rev. Jonathan Adams, *Bangor Historical Magazine* 5) [Documented transcript].
  696. - Conflict, outside my scope and not researched: Hosmer says Nathan Low "came here from the county of Worcester". Mollie says Boxford/Essex.
  698. ### Foster (going upward)
  700. **VII. John Foster** (b. 1722? - d. by 6 July 1760)
  701. - Married at Boston, **20 Apr 1750, Jane Lindsey**; intention 9 Apr 1750 as "Jane Linsey". Boston Record Commissioners (RC) 28:344 and 28:287 (image checked). [Documented]
  702. - Children recorded at Roxbury (VR 1:134-135) [Documented]:
  703. - Samuel, 9 May 1751;
  704. - William, 7 Feb 1753;
  705. - Jane, 25 Mar 1755;
  706. - Martha, 21 Apr 1760, entered as "d. John [deceased July 6. C. R. 1.], and Jane".
  707. - Suffolk Probate index [Documented index]:
  708. - John Foster, 1760, administration, no. 12403;
  709. - guardianships 1773: John (15400), Martha (15401), Jane (15599).
  710. - Later Roxbury marriages of the family: Martha m. Paul Dudley, 27 Apr 1779; Jane m. Thomas Cheney, 6 Apr 1780 (VR 2:153).
  711. - "Cordwainer" and Mollie's "Lib. 73, fol. 14" division have not been seen by me.
  712. - **Parentage**: only Pierce p. 539 ("JOHN, b. in 1722; m. Jane"). No baptism or birth record found [Compiled, unproven].
  714. **The problem with Mary.** Mary (b. c. 1745) cannot be a child of the 1750 marriage. She is absent from the Roxbury births and from the 1773 guardianships. She could still be:
  715. - a daughter of John by an earlier, unidentified wife. That would make her William's half-sister, which fits Hosmer's word "sister". This is Inference only. No marriage of a John Foster in 1743-46 was found at Boston or Roxbury; a Boston intention of John Foster and Elizabeth Woods, 14 Nov 1747, is too late; or
  716. - some other Foster altogether. A Mary, daughter of Thomas and Mary Foster, was born at Dorchester on 2 Feb 1741/2, but she would have been 94 in 1836, not 91.
  718. **On the "French and Indian" tradition:** everything found places Mary among English Congregational families at Roxbury. Her mother is unidentified, so the records cannot strictly exclude it, but nothing points that way.
  720. **VI. Samuel Foster**, periwig-maker (b. 25 June 1701)
  721. - Birth date from Whitmore and Pierce [Compiled]; not found in the Boston record OCR.
  722. - Marriage, Boston RC 28:106 (image checked): "Samuel Foster & Rachel Kneeland / Int. reads [Samll.] / Mr. Joseph Sewall Presn. / Apr. 5, 1722" [Documented].
  723. - Publication date conflict: Whitmore "8 March 1721-2"; Pierce "March 28, 1721".
  724. - A 1724 deed (Whitmore) names "Samuel Foster of Boston, periwig maker, and wife Rachel" together with Rebecca Best and the widow Rebecca Scorch, who were Samuel (5)'s daughter and widow. This links him to Samuel (5) [Documented abstract].
  725. - Citation conflict: Suffolk Deeds 39:68 in one place in Whitmore, 36:68 in another. Mollie uses 36:68.
  726. - No Suffolk probate for a Samuel Foster in the 1740s. A **Samuel Foster will of 1728 (no. 5650)** is worth checking.
  728. **V. Samuel Foster**, "goldsmith" (b. 27 Dec 1676; d. 10 Mar 1702)
  729. - Birth: Boston RC 9, "Samuel of Hopestill & Elizabeth Foster born Dec. 27" [1676] [Documented].
  730. - Trust deed of 9 Mar 1699/1700 (Suffolk Deeds 21:150), describing himself as "son of Hopestill Foster the soap boiler", made "for love of now wife Rebecca, daughter of my father-in-law Joseph Brisco, and also love of only child Rebecca" [Documented abstract, Whitmore].
  731. - Daughter: "Rebecca of Samuel & Rebecca Foster born Apr. 10" [1699], Boston RC 9.
  732. - Rebecca (Brisco) married (2) Thomas Morrise, 13 Oct 1709, and (3) William Scorch, 25 Dec 1718.
  734. **IV. Ensign Hopestill Foster**, soap boiler (bapt. Dorchester 10 Mar 1644/5; d. by 28 Jan 1677/8)
  735. - Marriage, Roxbury VR 2:152 (Roxbury church record): "Hopestill, eldest s. Capt. Hopestill, of Dorchester, and [blank] Pason, at Dorchester, 15 : 12m : 1666", i.e. 15 Feb 1666/7 [Documented].
  736. - Children in Boston RC 9 [Documented]:
  737. - Elizabeth, July 26, **1669** (image of p. 110 checked);
  738. - Mary, July 22, 1671. She married Timothy Nash on 2 Apr 1694; Mollie's "Thomas Nash" is wrong;
  739. - Samuel, Dec. 27, 1676.
  740. - Administration granted to his widow Elizabeth on 28 Jan 1677/8. The inventory "mentions money due from Father Payson" (Pierce p. 505) [Documented abstract].
  741. - His widow Elizabeth married **Edmond Brown, shopkeeper**, before 1694 [Documented abstract].
  742. - Mollie's handwritten "d. 1733 King's Chapel" probably confuses her with **Elizabeth (Phipps) Foster**, widow of Hopestill (b. c. 1670), who died 15 Feb 1732/3 [Inference].
  744. **Elizabeth Payson** (b. Roxbury 4 Feb 1644/5)
  745. - Roxbury VR 1:270: "Elizabeth, d. Giles, Feb. 4, 1644. [1644-5. C. R. 1.]". An earlier Elizabeth was buried 8 Mar 1639.
  746. - Giles Payson married Elizabeth Dowell, Apr 1637 (VR 2:311).
  747. - Elisabeth, wife of Dea. Giles, died 8 Jan 1677. "Giles, Dea., Jan. 28, 1688-9, a. 78 y." (VR 2:609).
  748. - Mollie has Giles dying at Dorchester; the record is Roxbury. [Documented]
  750. **III. Capt. Hopestill Foster** (bapt. 30 July 1620; d. 14 Oct 1676)
  751. - Baptism: Early New England Families, citing TAG (*The American Genealogist*) 80:26, via WikiTree [Compiled].
  752. - Gravestone, per the Dorchester Atheneum: "Here Lie Interr'd the Remains of Cap'tn Hopestill Foster Who Departed this Life October the 14th Anno Domini 1676 Aged 56 Years". Blake's Annals and Mollie give 15 Oct.
  753. - Will dated 19 July 1676 (Suffolk Probate 6:136-138). It names wife Mary; sons Hopestill, John, James, Elisha, Comfort and Standfast; "young Hopestill, my grandson"; and daughters Thankful Baker, Patience Browne and Mary [Documented abstract].
  754. - **Mary Bate** died 4 or 5 Jan 1702/3, aged 84 (tombstone). Her parentage as daughter of James Bate rests on Savage 1:138, which says "Mary m. Hopestill Foster"; on the 1635 passenger list ("Marie, 17"); and on John Baker's will naming "his wife's uncle Bates" [Compiled/Documented abstract]. Her mother Alice's maiden name Glover was not checked [Compiled].
  755. - Hopestill's house: Pierce gives the "southwest corner" of Adams and Centre Streets in one place and "northwest" in another; Mollie says "S.E."
  757. **II. Richard Foster of Biddenden** (d. by 3 May 1630) and **Patience Bigg**
  758. - Archaeologia Cantiana 20, abstract of a PCC administration [Documented abstract]: "Foster Richard (relict Patience renounses), Parish Biddenden; to whom granted, John Bigg, maternal uncle of Mary, Hopestill and John Foster, children, minors; date, 1630, 3 May."
  759. - John Besbeech of Biddenden's will of 28 June 1609 left a bequest to "Richard Foster and Patience his wife" (NEHGR 67:33, via WikiTree) [Compiled].
  760. - Smallhope Bigg's will leaves "Hopestill Foster, 'son of my sister,'" £300 [Documented abstract].
  761. - Embarkation, 17 Apr 1635, ship *Elizabeth*: "Patience Foster, aged 40. Hopestill Foster, 14. Rachel Bigg, 6 [sic, for 60]".
  763. **I. Rev. Thomas Foster: the link fails** [Documented + Inference]
  764. - Rev. Thomas's will (Pierce p. 485): "the xxijth day of September ... 1638. I Thomas Forster of Ipswich in the countie of Suffolk Clarke". It makes "Richard my son" an executor. The witnesses are John Lambe and John Hawys, not "James Lambe".
  765. - Lechford's *Note-Book*, p. 135, 29 July 1639: "Thomas Foster of Boston in New England, Canonier, makes a letter of Attorney to Richard Foster of Ipswich, his brother, shipmaster ... to receive of the Executor of his ffather Thomas Foster, minister, Deceased, all such legacyes."
  766. - That Richard was alive in 1638-39. Richard of Biddenden was dead by May 1630. They are different men.
  767. - Bisbee's 1956 genealogy (via Pane-Joyce) makes Richard of Biddenden the son of **Thomas Foster and Dorothy Austin**, who married at Biddenden on 20 Jan 1579/80; Dorothy remarried John Besbedge on 31 Oct 1586 [Compiled].
  768. - Whitmore (1898), the source Pierce drew on, never claimed the Ipswich minister.
  769. - Also: "Abigail Wimes", whom Mollie lists among Rev. Thomas's children, was the wife of his son Thomas the gunner (Lechford p. 377).
  771. ### Kneeland in America
  773. **Rachel Kneeland** (b. 11 Aug 1705)
  774. - Birth date from Kneeland 1897 p. 52, "mostly from Bible records" [Compiled]. Not found in Boston RC 24.
  775. - Kneeland 1897: she "m. (1) April 5, 1722, Samuel Foster, (2) Timothy Parmerly, of Bradford; had eight children; d. July 10, 1776".
  776. - WikiTree (Kneeland-293) cites a Connecticut church record abstract: "Rachel Parmelee death 10 Jun 1780 in New Haven". "Bradford" may be Branford, Connecticut [Inference].
  778. **John Kneeland** (b. 29 Nov 1668; d. 5 Aug 1740)
  779. - Boston RC 9: "John of John & Mary Kneeland born Nov. 29" [1668]. Savage misprints it as 9 Nov [Documented].
  780. - His children with Mary 1692-1698 are in RC 9.
  781. - Suffolk Probate: John Kneeland, 1740, administration no. 7389. Unread; it may name "Rachel".
  782. - **Mary Green** as daughter of Samuel Green Jr. is [Compiled] (Kneeland 1897).
  783. - Savage says Samuel Green Jr. married Elizabeth Sill in **Nov 1685**, too late for a daughter who married by 1692.
  784. - An NEHGS *Vita Brevis* article (2016) says Samuel Jr. "is not credited with any children" in most accounts.
  785. - So this step is unproven.
  787. **John Kneeland** (c. Aug 1632 - 11 Aug 1691)
  788. - NEHGR 14:52: "Here lyes ye Body of John Kneland Aged 59 years & 9 days, died ye 11th of Aug. 1691" [Documented].
  789. - Savage 3:34 has no English or Scottish origin for him, and no father, Edward or brother Bartholomew.
  790. - He married Mary Hawkins by 1659 (Torrey: "Mary [HAWKINS], dau James; by 1659") [Compiled].
  791. - Children: Mary 1659, Hannah 1663, Mary 1666, John 1668, Solomon 1671, Ruth 1673 (Boston RC 9) [Documented].
  792. - He is in the founders' list of 6 Jan 1657, under articles "for the relief of ourselves, being Scottish men, or for any of the Scottish nation". So he was almost certainly Scottish-born, not born in New England in 1632 [Inference].
  793. - Dunbar (1650) or Worcester (1651) prisoner origin is possible but unproved. He is not in the OCR of the 1652 *John and Sara* list.
  795. **Hawkins**
  796. - **James Hawkins**, Boston 1635, bricklayer (will 25 June 1669). Savage: "had w. Mary".
  797. - **Mary Mills**: John Mills's will (12 Jan 1678) names "ds. Mary Hawkins and Susanna Dawes". Savage: John Mills was church member No. 33, "town clk. 1653"; "first" town clerk is unproven [Compiled].
  798. - **Jane Hawkins**, wife of Richard, is proved as James's mother:
  799. - Records of Mass. Bay 1:224 (12 Mar 1637/8): "Jane Hawkins, wife of Richard..."
  800. - Records of Mass. Bay 3:228 (May 1651): "In answer to the petition of James, Jobe & Thomas Hawkins for the returne for theire mother to liue in this jurisdiction..." [Documented]
  801. - Mary (Hawkins) Kneeland as daughter of this James is [Compiled] (Torrey; the Great Migration household entry, via WikiTree; Sumner 1948).
  803. ---
  805. ## (c) Gentry, royal and famous-kin claims
  807. **Where the chain comes from.** Burke, *Landed Gentry* (1847), "Cleland of Rath-Gael", pp. 227-228 → Anderson, *Scottish Nation*, vol. 2, p. 617 ("Kneland, (now Cleland,)") → S. F. Kneeland (1897) → Mollie.
  809. 1. **Alexander Kneland, "Parson O' Gowie", m. Margaret Wallace, daughter of Adam Wallace.** No evidence, and contradicted.
  810. - Burke makes Margaret "dau. of Adam Wallace, of Riccarton, and sister of Sir Malcolm Wallace, the father of Sir William", i.e. Wallace's aunt.
  811. - Anderson garbled this into "Adam Wallace of Riccartoun, father of Sir William Wallace". Mollie printed both readings.
  812. - Blind Harry (Moir ed., Book I, ll. 147-154): "Hys modyr fled with him fra Elrisle, Till Gowry past, and duelt in Kilspynde. The knycht hir fedyr thedyr he thaim sent Till his wncle ... Ane agyt man". "Hir fedyr" means her father, i.e. the mother's father, Sir Ranald Crawford. The uncle is unnamed and not called a priest. Kneeland and Mollie misread it as "his fadyr".
  813. - Kneeland 1897 (p. 24) admits the identification is his own deduction: "it follows that Alexander Kneland must have been the uncle".
  814. - Fordun's priest-uncle, who taught Wallace "Dico tibi verum...", was at Dunipace.
  815. - In Harry, **Adam Wallace is the "ayr off Ricardtoun"**, Wallace's cousin, son of his uncle Sir Richard Wallace.
  816. - Wallace's father: Wallace's own seal on the 1297 Lübeck letter names **Alan Wallace**. Blind Harry says Malcolm.
  818. 2. **James Kneland, Wallace's "cusying".** A literary Kneland exists; his forename, parentage and descendants are unattested.
  819. - Harry has an unnamed "Kneland": "Kneland was thar, ner cusyng to Wallace, Syne baid with him in mony peralous place" (III.55-56); "Craufurd, Kneland, was haldyn till him der" (IX.38); "Kneland, cusyng, cum tak the ster on hand" (IX.133).
  820. - Moir notes that manuscript A reads "Cleland", "near Bothwell, in Lanarkshire".
  821. - The forename "James" comes from Burke and Anderson. Harry's poem dates from the 1470s and is not a record.
  823. 3. **William m. 1462 Jean Somerville.** Garbled from a real marriage.
  824. - *Scots Peerage* 8:9-11: William, Lord Somerville (d. 1456), married Janet Mowat. Their daughter "Janet, married to James, son and heir of William Cleland of that Ilk."
  825. - So there was a Somerville-Cleland marriage, but the bride was Janet and the groom James. The date 1462 is unsupported.
  827. 4. **Alexander killed at Flodden in 1513** (Burke cites a 1498 seal), and **James m. a daughter of Hepburn of Bonnytoun**. Both are [Compiled] and unverified.
  828. - I found no "Hepburn of Bonnytoun" among the 1st Earl of Bothwell's children in *Scots Peerage* vol. 2.
  829. - Even if true, this would be a descent from Patrick, 1st Earl (d. 1508), not from Mary Queen of Scots' husband.
  831. 5. **Major William and Darnley.** Anderson reports that "William Kneland of that ilk" was "delated" for the Darnley murder [Compiled]. But Burke's 10th laird is **Alexander**. Kneeland 1897 recast him as "Maj. William". No "Major" exists in the record.
  833. 6. **Capt. John m. Mary Dunbar of Dunbar Castle.** He appears in no Cleland genealogy and no record. No evidence.
  835. 7. **John (b. c. 1575) m. Mary Stewart, daughter of Walter, 1st Lord Blantyre.** False.
  836. - *Scots Peerage* 2:83-85: Lord Blantyre (d. 8 Mar 1617; married 1582) had James, William, Walter, Mr. John, Anna ("senior filia") and Jean. There is **no Mary**.
  837. - The real link is 2:81: his sister "**Marion, married to William Cleland of that Ilk**".
  838. - Kneeland 1897 p. 49 turned this into "Her aunt, of the same name, married his uncle, William Cleland".
  839. - **There is no documentary link between the Boston Kneelands and the Clelands of that Ilk.** Kneeland himself wrote (p. 19): "Personally, I do not stand sponsor for the truth of all this ancestry ... I simply give it from Burke."
  841. 8. **Descent from James V.** False.
  842. - The Blantyre Stewarts descend from Stewart of Dalswinton (*Scots Peerage* 2:77).
  843. - Kneeland's claim (p. 32) that Walter's mother, Margaret Stewart of Cardonald, was James V's granddaughter is chronologically impossible.
  845. 9. **Descent from James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell.** No evidence. *Scots Peerage* 2: "had no legitimate issue ... The Duke left one natural son, named William Hepburne." Mollie herself cites only "lost notes".
  847. 10. **The Foster royal claim and the Northumberland Forsters.** No link exists.
  848. - The Anacher, Baldwin and "Sir Richard Forester" chain is copied from Pierce, *Foster Genealogy*, pp. 11-12 ("The Early Foresters").
  849. - It is legend. William the Conqueror's wife Matilda was the daughter of Baldwin V, not Baldwin IV.
  850. - The bridge to the family also fails: Rev. Thomas was not Richard's father, and Bisbee places Richard's father, Thomas of Biddenden, dead by 1586.
  852. 11. **Boston's city arms from Foster arms.** The claim is garbled. What is documented: John Foster (1648-1681), son of Capt. Hopestill, "made the Seals or Arms of the Colony, viz an Indian with a bow and arrow" (Blake's Annals, quoted by Whitmore). That was the colony seal, not Boston's.
  854. 12. **Samuel Green "published in England the famous Cambridge Bible".** Wrong. He printed at Cambridge, Massachusetts; his greatest work was the Indian Bible, with Marmaduke Johnson (Savage).
  856. ---
  858. ## (d) Anecdotes
  860. - **Capt. Foster to King Philip**, Dorchester, 22 June 1670 (Pierce pp. 494-495, "copied from the originals now among the ancient documents of Dorchester"): "To Philip, Sachem of Mount Hope, Capt. Foster of Dorchester sendeth greeting. You may by this understand I re'd your letter dated June the 15th 1670, wherein you desire a meeting about land at pole plaine and within our township ... we shall some of us be together with some of the bay Indians give you a meeting if the lord permits at Captain Hudson's farme at Wading river upon the 12th of July next ... H. Foster with the Consent of the townsmen."
  861. - **Philip's reply**, Mount Hope, 15 May 1672: "Sir, you may please to remember that when I last saw you att Wading river you promised mee six pounds in goods; now my request is that you send me (by?) this Indian five yards of White light collored serge to make me a coat and a good holland shirt redy made, and a pair of good Indian breeches ... and silk & buttens & 7 yards Gallonnes for trimmings ... King Philip his Majesty P. P."
  862. - **Hopestill (3)**: "a brewer, active in all town affairs, a man of judgment and deserved popularity" (*History of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company*, quoted by Pierce). Mollie's "inscription" ("one of the leading men ... a great loss to the town") is the 1859 *History of Dorchester* commenting on the stone, not the stone itself.
  863. - **Rev. Thomas Forster's will, 1638** (not an ancestor): "I give unto the said Richard my son my great backed leather chair standing in the parlour".
  864. - **The Baptist presentments** belong to Billerica (Wood, *First Baptist Church of Boston*; Pierce p. 489):
  865. - "June 18, 1672, George Farley, Thomas Foster & Wm Hamlet being p'sented for breach of ye Ecclesiasticall lawes, they all confesse the p'sentmt, were admonished & ordered to pay [costs] 4s. 6d. apeece."
  866. - "June 15, 1675. Thomas Foster ... convicted of constant and ordinary frequenting the meeting of the Anabaptists on Lord's day."
  867. - A 1671 Woburn presentment for "absence from Church and opposition to infant Baptism" names "Hopestill Foster" among the Woburn men; this was Thomas's son, b. 1648.
  868. - **Jane Hawkins:**
  869. - Winthrop's Journal, vol. 1, pp. 266-268: "the midwife, one Hawkins's wife, a rank familist also"; "she grew into great suspicion to be a witch, for it was credibly reported, that, when she gave any medicines, (for she practised physic,) she would ask the party, if she did believe, she could help her".
  870. - Vol. 2, p. 8: "Hawkins's wife (who continued with her, and was her bosom friend) had much familiarity with the devil in England, when she dwelt at St. Ives".
  871. - Mass. Bay Records 1, 1641: "Jane Hawkins is enioyned to depart away to morrow morning, & not to returne againe hither, upon paine of severe whiping ... & her sonnes stand bound in 20l to carry her away".
  872. - **Scots' Charitable Society, 6 Jan 1657**: the subscribers agreed "to make a box, and every one of us to give as God shall move our hearts ... for the relief of ourselves, being Scottish men, or for any of the Scottish nation". "John Kneeland" is in the founders' list.
  873. - **Kneeland & Green** (Isaiah Thomas): Rachel's brother Samuel Kneeland and his partner printed "an edition of the Bible in small 4to. This was the first Bible printed, in America, in the English language", with a false London imprint.
  874. - **William Foster of Deer Isle**, blacksmith (Hosmer p. 51): "Of him Deacon Nehemiah Closson learned his trade".
  876. ---
  878. ## (e) Open questions and records to get
  880. 1. **Mary's parentage**, the key gap:
  881. - Suffolk Probate no. 12403 (John Foster, 1760), with its division (Mollie's "Lib. 73, fol. 14"), and guardianships 15400, 15401 and 15599 (1773). Check whether "Mary Thompson" is named as an heir.
  882. - A first marriage of John Foster, c. 1743-45.
  883. - Mary's baptism in the Roxbury First Church records.
  884. 2. **Samuel (6)'s death**, and whether the Suffolk will of 1728 (no. 5650) is his. If so, it may name son John and prove the 1722 link.
  885. 3. **John Kneeland's 1740 administration** (no. 7389), for Rachel. Also Rachel's Parmelee marriage and her death (1776 or 1780).
  886. 4. **Deer Isle records**:
  887. - the typescript "A true copy of the most ancient vital records of Deer Isle ... abt 1757-1833" (Geneanet), for the Thompson children, the 1792 Low marriage and Rebecca's birth;
  888. - Thomas's and Mary's gravestones;
  889. - Hancock County deeds;
  890. - the 1790 census.
  891. 5. **Thomas Thompson's origin**: Roxbury and Boston records around the 1765 marriage.
  892. 6. **Modern sources to read**:
  893. - the Great Migration sketches for Hopestill Foster, James Bate, Giles Payson, and James and Richard Hawkins;
  894. - TAG 80:26 on the Biddenden Fosters and Biggs;
  895. - Torrey and a Green genealogy for Mary (Green) Kneeland's parentage.
  897. ---
  899. ## (f) Sources
  901. - **Deer Isle**
  902. - Hosmer, *Historical Sketch of Deer Isle* (1886): https://archive.org/details/historicalsketch00hosm
  903. - "Aged Persons of Deer Isle" (Maine Genealogy transcript of Hosmer): https://archives.mainegenealogy.net/2007/01/aged-persons-of-deer-isle.html
  904. - *Bangor Historical Magazine* 5: https://archive.org/details/bangorhistorica188990bang
  905. - Inhabitants of Bridgton, 1794: https://archives.mainegenealogy.net/2008/12/inhabitants-of-bridgton-1794.html
  906. - **Vital records**
  907. - Roxbury VR, vol. 1: https://archive.org/details/vitalrecordsofro0001vari
  908. - Roxbury VR, vol. 2: https://archive.org/details/vitalrecordsofroroxb_0
  909. - Boston RC 9: https://archive.org/details/reportofrecordco9163bost
  910. - Boston RC 24: https://archive.org/details/reportofrecordco2417bost
  911. - Boston RC 28: https://archive.org/details/volumeofrecordsr28bost
  912. - Dorchester (RC 21): https://archive.org/details/reportofrecordco21bost
  913. - Dedham records: https://archive.org/details/bwb_P9-CDP-541
  914. - **Probate**
  915. - Suffolk Probate Index, vol. 1: https://archive.org/details/indextoprobatere01geor
  916. - Suffolk Probate Index, vol. 2: https://archive.org/details/indextoprobatere02geor
  917. - **Foster**
  918. - Pierce, *Foster Genealogy* (1899): https://archive.org/details/fostergenealogy01pier
  919. - Whitmore (1898): https://archive.org/details/descendantsofhop00whit
  920. - Lechford, *Note-Book*: https://archive.org/details/notebookkeptbyth00lech
  921. - Dorchester Atheneum: https://www.dorchesteratheneum.org/project/hopestill-foster-1620-1676/
  922. - Pane-Joyce: https://mathcs.clarku.edu/~djoyce/gen/report/rr01/rr01_259.html ; https://mathcs.clarku.edu/~djoyce/gen/report/rr01/rr01_089.html ; https://mathcs.clarku.edu/~djoyce/gen/report/rr01/rr01_261.html
  923. - WikiTree: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Foster-1884 ; https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Foster-2330
  924. - Records of the Suffolk County Court: https://archive.org/details/colonialsocietyo29colo
  925. - Wood, *First Baptist Church of Boston*: https://archive.org/details/historyfirstbap00woodgoog
  926. - **Savage, *Genealogical Dictionary***
  927. - vol. 1: https://archive.org/details/genealogicaldic01savarich
  928. - vols. 2-3 (archive.org copies genealogicaldic02savarich and genealogicaldic03savarich)
  929. - **Kneeland, Hawkins and Green**
  930. - Kneeland, *Seven Centuries in the Kneeland Family* (1897): https://archive.org/details/sevencenturiesin00knee
  931. - WikiTree: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Kneeland-293 ; https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Kneeland-163 ; https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Hawkins-2789
  932. - NEHGR 14 (1860): https://archive.org/details/sim_new-england-historical-and-genealogical-register_1860-01_14_1
  933. - NEHGR 1 (1847), *John and Sara* list: https://archive.org/details/newenglandhisto1847wate
  934. - Scots' Charitable Society (1840): https://archive.org/details/celebrationofclx00scot
  935. - Wikipedia, Scots Charitable Society: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scots_Charitable_Society_of_Boston
  936. - Sumner, *Ancestry of Edward Wales Blake and Clarissa Matilda Glidden* (1948): https://archive.org/details/ancestryofedward00sumn
  937. - Records of Mass. Bay, vol. 1: https://archive.org/details/recordsofgoverno01mass
  938. - Records of Mass. Bay, vol. 3: https://archive.org/details/recordsofgoverno03mass
  939. - Winthrop's Journal, vol. 1: https://archive.org/details/winthropsjournal01wint ; vol. 2 (winthropsjournal02wint)
  940. - Isaiah Thomas, *History of Printing*: https://archive.org/details/historyofprintin01thom
  941. - *Vita Brevis*, "Turning Green": https://wp.vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/2016/09/turning-green/
  942. - Old South Meeting House report: https://www.boston.gov/sites/default/files/file/2025/05/Old%20South%20Meeting%20House%20Study%20Report.pdf
  943. - **Scottish claims**
  944. - *Scots Peerage* vol. 2: https://archive.org/details/scotspeeragefoun02paul
  945. - *Scots Peerage* vol. 8: https://archive.org/details/scotspeeragefoun08paul
  946. - Blind Harry, Moir ed.: https://archive.org/details/actisanddeidisi00moirgoog
  947. - Anderson, *Scottish Nation*, vol. 1: https://archive.org/details/scottishnationor01ande
  948. - Anderson, *Scottish Nation*, vol. 2: https://archive.org/details/scottishnationor02ande
  949. - Burke, *Landed Gentry* (1847): https://archive.org/details/genealogicalhera0001john
  950. - Wikipedia, William Wallace: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Wallace
  952. ---
  954. ## Addendum, 2 October 2026: earlier generations and corrections found while adding life details
  956. These were found while gathering life details for the interactive tree. Each is now in the tree, and its evidence grade is shown on the link.
  958. ### New generations
  960. **Briscoe (above Rebecca Brisco, wife of Samuel Foster)**
  961. - **Joseph Briscoe Jr.** (b. 21 Aug 1658, Boston; living 1724), baker.
  962. - Born months after his father drowned. [Compiled]
  963. - He held offices: Artillery Company 1692; constable 1693/4; tithingman and measurer of grain 1706-09.
  964. - The corner of Washington and Bromfield Streets was called "Briscow's Corner" in 1708. [Compiled]
  965. - "William Row, Negro Servt. to Joseph Brisco" was forbidden to marry Johanna Gig on 26 Oct 1720 (Boston RC 28:99). [Documented]
  966. - Wife: Rebecca, living 1724, when land was sold "with the consent of Rebeckah his wife."
  967. - Source for all of the above: Spencer, Dearborn and Dearborn, "William Briscoe of Boston," NEHGR 178 (2024).
  968. - **Joseph Briscoe Sr.**
  969. - Baptised Watford, Herts, 19 Aug 1627.
  970. - Married Abigail Compton, Boston, 30 Jan 1651/2.
  971. - Drowned 1 Jan 1657/8 (Boston RC 9:61).
  972. - Rev. John Wilson wrote a printed elegy on him, built on the anagram "Job cries hopes." [Compiled, NEHGR 178]
  973. - **William Briscoe**, tailor.
  974. - Baptised Sundridge, Kent, 24 June 1591, son of Rev. Guy Briscowe, rector, and Mary Wilson. [Compiled]
  975. - Admitted at Boston 24 Feb 1639/40 "to have a great Lott, for eight heads, at the mount" (Boston RC 2:48). Freeman 1641.
  976. - A first cousin of Rev. John Wilson of Boston's First Church.
  977. - First wife Jane, buried Watford 3 May 1637. [Compiled, NEHGR 178]
  979. **Mills**
  980. - [Inference] Mary (Mills) Hawkins's mother was probably **Catheryn Scotson**.
  981. - John Mills married Catheryn Scotson at All Saints, Sudbury, Suffolk, 5 Feb 1615/6 (Ullmann, NEHGR 175:197-206, as cited on WikiTree Mills-1007).
  982. - He had married Susanna, widow Whitlocke, by 1628/9, and Mary was born about 1616/7.
  984. **Bigg and Martin (above Patience Bigg)**
  985. - **John Bigge**, clothier of Cranbrook, Kent. [Compiled: Pane-Joyce; Waters, *Gleanings* 1]
  986. - Married Rachel Martin at Tenterden, 14 Sept 1583. Buried at Cranbrook 13 Aug 1605.
  987. - Children include Smallhope, Patience (bapt. 1588) and John.
  988. - **Rachel (Martin) Bigg.**
  989. - Baptised Lydd, 17 June 1565, daughter of James Martin and Joan Adam. [Compiled]
  990. - Came on the *Elizabeth* in 1635 as "Rachel Bigg, 6 [sic, for 60]." Died Dorchester 30 June 1647.
  991. - Her son Smallhope's will (1638) left "my mother Rachell Bigg one hundred pounds."
  992. - Her son John Bigg of Maidstone remembered "My mother Bigg, my sister Foster, my brother Stowe, all these living in New England" (Waters, *Gleanings* 1:21-22). [Documented abstract]
  994. **Bate (above Mary Bate, wife of Hopestill Foster)**
  995. - **James Bate of Lydd**, yeoman and jurat. [Compiled: Watkins, "Bate of Lydd," NEHGR 51:270]
  996. - Married 6 June 1580 "Mary Martine(?)." Died 2 Mar 1614.
  997. - [Compiled, unproven] Watkins queries the surname. WikiTree, citing Whitmore, makes Mary (Martin) Bate a sister of Rachel (Martin) Bigg. If so, Mary Bate and her husband Hopestill Foster were second cousins: she was Mary (Martin) Bate's granddaughter, and he was Rachel (Martin) Bigg's grandson. The tree marks this link as unproven.
  999. **Cogswell (above Adam Cogswell)**
  1000. - [Compiled] The Cogswell Genealogy (Jameson, 1884, p. 28) gives the steps **John Cogswell** (Angel Gabriel, 1635) > **William Cogswell** m. **Susanna Hawkes** > Adam.
  1001. - **John and Elizabeth Cogswell**:
  1002. - "with his wife Elizabeth and eight children, embarked May 23, 1635, at Bristol, England, on the Angel Gabriel," which was wrecked at Pemaquid in the storm of 15 Aug 1635.
  1003. - He had sold a homestead at Westbury and Westbury Leigh, Wiltshire, before leaving (Jameson pp. xvi-xvii). [Compiled]
  1004. - [Documented] **William Cogswell** won a suit in 1676 against his nephew John over the estate of his brother John Jr. (d. 1653). Witnesses said the orphan "lived with his uncle William" (EQC 6:152-162).
  1005. - [Compiled] **Adam Cogswell**:
  1006. - "Mr. Cogswell was a trustee of the parish, a selectman of the town, and held a captain's commission" (Jameson p. 29).
  1007. - The book leaves his wife's surname blank. Her identification as Abigail Wise rests on the Ipswich VR marriage of 1686 and on Anderson, TAG 56.
  1009. ### Corrections made in the tree
  1011. - **Samuel Foster (the periwig maker).** The deed naming "Samuel Foster, periwig-maker, and Rachel, his wife" with Samuel Foster (5)'s widow and daughter is dated 27 June 1722 (Suffolk Deeds 36:68), not 1724. [Documented abstract]
  1012. - **Mary Green.** Savage lists a Mary, born 6 Nov 1669, daughter of the printer Samuel Green Sr. by Sarah Clark. She fits the dates better than a daughter of Samuel Jr. The link remains unproven.
  1013. - **Thomas Lamb.** "A donor to its free school" was removed. WikiTree (Lamb-322) says he died intestate, and no source for a gift was found.
  1014. - **Richard Hawkins.** His places now run Bluntisham > St Ives > Boston > Portsmouth, Rhode Island, where he and Jane went after their banishment.
BeginEnd