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William was born on April 26, 1839 to William Henry and Mary Jane (Shaw) Barr in Spencer, MA. During the US Civil War he served as a wagoner, teamster, and forage master in the 21st Massachusetts Infantry, Company C. Private Barr enlisted in July 1861 and served faithfully until he mustered out in October 1864. During his service he contracted malaria but survived. After the War William returned to Massachusetts and worked as a teamster and laborer, taking on odd jobs. He mar

Elijah Flagg Jr. was born in Lunenburg, MA on August 17, 1779 in the midst of the American Revolution. His father may be the Elijah Flagg who lived in Worcester, MA. More research is needed. In the early 1800s he worked as a school master in Lunenburg, MA. He married Mercy Osborne of Bolton on January 12, 1808. Elijah was living in Marlborough, MA and working as a physician. The couple had four daughters, and at least three of them lived to adulthood. Dr. Flagg died on consum

Andrew was born on May 14, 1838 in Charlton, MA to Lyman and Hannah (Brown) Knight. He was the oldest of their three children, born only three months after their marriage. Lyman died in 1844 at age 24 of a gangrenous infection. I wasn’t able to find Andrew in the 1850 Census, but in 1855 he is living in Charlton with Andrew McIntyre and working as a shoemaker in his shop—perhaps an apprentice? On October 21, 1858 he married Catherine A. “Kate” Olds. The marriage was registere

William Pettingill Fabens was born to Elias White Fabens, keeper of the City Scales, and Susan S. Fabens on February 12, 1833. He was baptized in Salem, MA on September 15, 1839. William had four younger sisters: Emily, born in 1834, who married Silas S. Smith, Abby, born in 1837 who never married, Harriet H., born in 1841 and died the following year, and Alice, born in 1844 and died in 1846. When his father died in 1858, William became the primary breadwinner for his family,

George was born around 1839 to Daniel and Mary H. (Stevens) Eveleth in either Dorchester or Dedham — his death record says Dorchester but his marriage record lists Dedham. He was the youngest of their children on the 1850 and 1855 Censuses. In his youth he and his family moved frequently, and can be found in various locations in eastern Massachusetts: Dorchester, Boston, Lynn, Amesbury… In December 1861 he went to Providence, RI and enlisted as a Private in the 1st Rhode Isla

Anchor'd in the haven of Rest In Memory of JABEZ SMITH Junr Lieut of Marines on board the Continental Ship Trumbull born in Groton State of Connecticut August 31, 1751 departed this Life in Boston June 28, 1780 Aged 29 Years Jabez was the third child and oldest son of Captain Jabez Smith and his second wife, Amie (Avery) Smith. He was born in Groton, CT on August 31, 1751. The Smith family was one of the oldest families in Groton, and remained prominent well into the 19th c

Jared was born in Westampton, MA around 1834 to Elihu B. and Cynthia W. (Chapin) Hunt. His father had been married previously and was almost 20 years older than his mother, which was not at all unusual for the time. Jared was raised with siblings from his father's first marriage. By 1840 the family had moved to Springfield, MA and Elihu was one of the town butchers. Jared had finished school and was working as a laborer and sometimes clerk by the 1850 US Census. His unmar

In memory of DEACON JOSIAH HAYNES who died in Freedom's Cause ye 19th of April, 1775 in the 79th Year of his Age.

Sacred to the memory of Edward Goddard Esq. who departed this life, Oct. 13th 1777 in the 80th year of his age. As he liv'd so he died, in full expectation of a glorious inheritance.

Nancy Ruth was born in Stetson, ME on October 5, 1823 to Oliver Hartwell Jr. and Keisha (Matthews) (Chase) Hartwell. Her father had served during the Revolutionary War. Both of her parents had been married previously, and surprisingly she was not the youngest—she had a sister named Roxanna born in 1826. In 1840 Nancy married Robert Stetson. He died in 1850, and she married his younger brother Sherbourne in 1851. He died around 1861. She had six children, two with her first hu

Orlando was born on December 8, 1843 in Douglas, MA to shoemaker and trader Comfort and Mary J. (Simmons) Carpenter. He had an older brother named Merrill Edwin who was born about a year before him who died young, so Orlando was his parents' oldest surviving child. His siblings included Julia Ann, Edwin Cook, Mary A., Herbert Irving, and Alice Jane. He enlisted as a Private into Company B of the 25th Massachusetts Infantry on September 30, 1861 a few months before his 18th b

Peter was born to Timothy and Mary (Rice) Bancroft on June 23, 1783 in Auburn, MA. His birth came a little over a year after his parent's marriage. In January of 1786 he was joined by a sister named Comfort. Peter would have six total siblings, but Comfort was the only one of them that he was able to meet. He died on October 26, 1786 and is buried in Auburn Center Burial Ground near his parents and several of his siblings who also died young. His gravestone was carved by Ja

The Robert Smith House taken by Harriette Merrifield Forbes in 1927 Robert was born in Worcester, MA on January 8, 1730/1 to John and Rebeckah (Batty) Smith. He was the second child and oldest son of their six children. The Smiths were some of the early settlers of Worcester, coming with the other "Scotch-Irish" families in the 1720s. There was a large anti-Presbyterian movement in Worcester in the 1740s and many families left. I believe John and Rebeckah were among them

L-R: Miss Pike, Mr. Newel, Mrs. Newel, Mr. Stacy , Miss Goodenough Edward Waldo was born in Harvard, MA on April 9, 1842 as the oldest child of Nathaniel and Lucy W. (Adams) Stacy. He had a younger sister named Mary who was born on January 16, 1844. Nathaniel was a paper manufacturer, and was almost 16 years older than his wife. As a young man Edward Waldo attended the local public school. His sister did as well. Alice Adams, their maternal grandmother, lived with the fam

Here lies the Body of Mrs. REBECCA WHITE Widow of Mr. ISAAC WHITE late of Boston. When the British Troops took possession of the Town of Boston, she went to her Son JOHN WHITE Esq. of Charlestown and continued in his Family 'til She died at Billerica, Sept. 13th 1782 Aged 94 Years.

Here lies ye Body of the Widow LYDIA DYAR of Boston; the Place of her Nativity, where She left a good Estate & came into ye Country May 22d, 1775; to escape ye abuce of ye Ministeral Troops sent by GEORGE ye 3d, to subject North America to Slavery. She died July 28th, 1776. Aged 80 Years.

According to the Salem Death Records, William H. Bell is the son of William Bell and Mary E. Monarch, and was born around 1845. Some time before the 1855 MA Census he came to live with Benjamin and Maria Jewell, relatives on his mother’s side. Before the Civil War he worked as a laborer. He joined Company B of the 7th Massachusetts on July 1, 1862. I was unable to find him in the regiment’s muster rolls available through the National Archives, but it is very possible that tho

Jacob was baptized on November 29, 1719 in Ipswich, MA. He was the eldest son of Deacon Jacob and Rebecca (Lull) Caldwell. He married Anna Hastings on September 28, 1742. They were married by Joseph Mason, Justice of the Peace. Both were "of Watertown", so Jacob must have moved there at some point before his marriage and long enough to establish residency. Jacob and Anna had nine children. John in 1743, Rebecca in 1744, Anna in 1746, Jacob in 1748, Sarah in 1750, and Enoch

This mausoleum in Thompson, CT might look rather mundane, but one of the people interred within was quite the opposite. Anastase Andreivitch Vonsiatski was Russian Pole who fled during the Bolshevik Revolution. He claimed to be a Russian Count, and while his ancestor did have land granted to him by the Romanovs, he was not a member of the nobility. Vonsiatsky’s second wife was an American heiress, and he married her before getting a divorce from his first wife. In the US he w

John, Elijah, and Nathaniel were children of Nathaniel and Elizabeth Davenport. Nathaniel Davenport came to Shrewsbury, MA from Bridgewater, MA with his new wife Lucy in 1730. Lucy died in October that year a few weeks after the birth of their first and only child, a daughter named Lucy. I do not know what became of Lucy the younger, as she does not appear in any records other than that of her birth. She likely died soon after her mother. By 1733 Nathaniel had married a wom