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Another Nancy Jane Chase (1845-1919) - My Great Great Grandfather's Sister and Some of Her Family - Yarmouth and Dennis, MA

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I have previously written about my great great great grandmother Nancy J. (Brooks) Chase, as well as her son, my great great grandfather Franklin Howes Chase, both of Yarmouth and Dennis.  Nancy J. Chase had a daughter, a sibling to Franklin, also named Nancy Jane Chase of whom I had not researched beyond the most basic of vital record information.  What I found reflected in available documents was perhaps a difficult life for Nancy J. as well as for her children and others in her circle.  The documents themselves can present the facts but do not inform us of emotions, drama, and background, for any of the tribulations they actually lived through. Nancy Jane Chase, sister to my great great grandfather Franklin Howes Chase, was born 25 February 1845 at Yarmouth, Massachusetts to George Washington and Nancy Jane (Brooks) Chase.  Like her mother and siblings, Nancy Jane's race is identified as "Indian" in the 1855 Massachusetts State Census at Yarmouth.  She is ide...
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False, Feigned, and Scandalous Words - Sarah Howes v. William Howes, 1749, Yarmouth, MA

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Have you ever stopped to wonder, say, what was going on this day in 1749?  What were the young citizens of Yarmouth doing on a raw gray fall day like today way back when?  Were they gathering the last herbs remaining in their kitchen gardens?  Were they cutting and stacking more and more wood to last the approaching winter?  In a Barnstable Court record, we find out what at least one group of youngsters of Yarmouth were doing.  In late November 1749 a group of teens and young adults were still talking about a gathering that had occurred on a Yarmouth beach several months earlier.   Barnstable Court Records On 20 June 1750, the Barnstable County Court issued a summons to William Howes, minor son of Judah Howes, Yeoman, of Yarmouth, to appear before the Inferior Court of Common Pleas on 8 October 1750 to answer a plea of trespass by Sarah Howes. Under Sheriff James Otis attests that he served William Howes by leaving the summons at William's usual place ...
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Finding Martha Mott (1799-1883) and Her Mother Naomi - Greenfield, MA, New York, and Missouri

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I have written previously about the Rees family on my father's side and how they came from New York (some having immigrated from Wales) and made their way through several states to Missouri - specifically my ancestors Thomas Rees and his wife Martha Mott.  Martha Mott had long been a genealogical dead end with only basic information garnered from census records, i.e., Martha Rees wife to Edward Rees of Martinsburg, Lewis County, New York was born in Massachusetts. I left Martha aside for several years hoping that with passing time more records would become available, through digitization, etc., and ... voila!  Recent "Mott" searches have opened up a number of "new" records bringing me closer not only to this family, but the related Lyon/Lyons family.  Both families have New England ties, specifically Massachusetts, and possibly a Cape Cod/Martha's Vineyard connection.  I think if any of my siblings took interest in this, they would be surprised that our Midw...
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Thomas Greenough of Yarmouth (1746-1836) - My Favorite Ancestor

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If you asked me who my favorite ancestor was, no question it would be Thomas Greenough of Yarmouth, Massachusetts.  Indeed, I wrote a book on him.  While I continue to research in an effort to find everything I can about his life, this ongoing exhaustive search discovers no new information.  Well, a few little items here and there, i.e, notations of payments to Thomas Greenough by the Town of Yarmouth in it's early account books, and the name "Thomas Crno" (I suspect this to be an early phonetic version of Thomas Greenough) on a petition dated 1762 by a group of indigenous people of Yarmouth requesting payment to Thomas Ralph as their minister.  I do have theories and thoughts on who he may have been related to, possibly who his mother might be, but nothing documented.  Thomas Greenough, and his Native American ancestry, is well documented in primary sources - town records, vital records, and leases written and signed in his own hand.  His existence, and hi...
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Abner Chase, Yarmouth 1729-1815, Patriot, Whaleman, Deacon

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Abner Chase of Yarmouth was born 22 June 1729 to Thomas and Sarah (Gowell) Chase.  His siblings were Gowell, Hannah, Phebe, Richard, Joseph, Priscilla, Sarah and Thomas. Abner was appointed  Executor to his father's estate probated 21 September 1767; Thomas Chase in his Last Will and Testament leaves Abner nothing "by reason and consideration of what he had already given him by deed this day."  On 27 October 1748 Abner Chase and Deborah Baker, both approximately 19 years of age, were married by Thomas Winslow of Harwich, Justice of the Peace (Intentions 13 August 1748).  Deborah was born at Yarmouth 2 March 1729 to Judah Baker and his wife Marcy Burgess.  Abner and Deborah had ten children: Priscilla, Lydia, Elizabeth, Nathan, Anthony, Deborah, Abner, Thomas, Owen, and Mehitable. I descend from their son Owen who married Peninah Bassett.                                    ...
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