HANNAH KNIGHT LIBBY – Part 8 – LAST YEARS IN SCARBOROUGH & SACO

                We can only guess about this portion of Hannah’s life as virtually nothing has ever been written about it.  My guess is that John and Hannah and their little family probably lived with her parents, Zebulon and Lydia Libby until John could have prepared his farm for habitation.  Zebulon Libby was a blacksmith by trade and since Dominicus, William F and Philip all became blacksmiths it is possible that John picked up this trade at this time.  There is no evidence that John learned the blacksmith trade but it is a possibility.    

                In any case there is evidence that by the time of Almira’s birth John had already begun to make plans to move from the Scarborough area.  Their farm in Scarborough & Saco consisted of 72 acres.  By 1808 John and Hannah had built a house and a barn on the property.  Just fifteen days after Almira was born, John sold half of this farm for $600 dollars to Jonathan Foss.  As a later deed will disclose, this sale consisted of half of his land and half of his barn.  Probably the half of the farm that was sold was unimproved land.  It is doubtful that John could farm all 72 acres of the farm in any case.  Probably only a few acres were actually farmed.  The rest of the land was probably used for timber harvesting as that was a big industry in Scarborough.  Since John and Hannah continued to live on this land this deed of sale was for future consideration as Jonathan Foss didn’t record the deed for a year and a half (11 Aug 1809).  Obviously the arrangement was that when John was ready Foss could take possession.

                 

                By September 1808 Hannah was again pregnant. This would not have been a good time for the family to move but on Almira’s first birthday on 8 Mar 1809 John made two interesting deeds.  First he sold the rest of his farm that they were living on to Jonathan McKinney (obviously a kinsman as his grandmother was a McKinney.)  As before this deed was for the other half of the farm including the house and half of the barn.  As the facts will show the family would continue to live on the land that they had sold for about two years.

Newry sign at intersection of Highways 2 and 26.

                On the same day as the previous deed (8 Mar 1809) made his first purchase of land in Newry, Maine.  His sales in Scarborough netted him the $1200 which was the same as he initially had invested in the 72 acres there. Newry was a frontier town in 1809 and the price of land was much less.  On that same day (8 Mar 1809) he purchased 50 acres (the south half of Lot 1 in Range 3) in Newry for $100.   Two months later John purchased Lot 2 of Range 3 (100 acres) and 14 acres of Lot 14 in the same range for $500.  Thus they went from owning 72 acres to owning 164 acres plus having a net profit of $600 dollars.      

               

                This property was probably totally undeveloped.  John would never actually clear more than a few acres of the total acreage as only a few acres would ever be used based on the town tax records.  But the effort to clear a single acre had to be enormous.  Having been to Newry this writer can attest that there are literally hundreds of trees on every acre and it would take a huge effort to clear this land.  In a previous episode on this narrative it was explained how a new farm in Maine was traditionally created.

Carter Home was about 1/4 of a mile behind this home.

                Because of the time it took to clear and prepare the virgin land for habitation it was common for farmers to remain on their established farm for 2 or 3 years while the new owner/farmer  would spend the summers (or at least part of the summers) clearing and preparing the new farm.  Once the new farm was developed enough then the farmer would physically move there.  This appears to be the pattern that John and Hannah followed.

                The year 1809 was a busy year for this young family.  Less than two months after this second purchase of land in Newry, Hannah gave birth to her third and last child in Scarborough, Hannah on 28 June 1809.  I am sure this was the reason John had put off making purchases of land in Newry.  Possibly before, and surely after, Hannah’s birth, John must have begun to cut down the trees on the land that he would need for his new farm.  He made $600 profit in the sale of his Scarborough land so possibly he hired someone to help him clear the Newry property.  It was too late in the season in Newry to plant anything in 1809 so this year was probably spent with John spending most of his time in Newry working on this new land.  Hannah was at home back in Newry tending to her newborn and year old Almira and 3 year old Dominicus.  There is no way she would have been able to take care of the Scarborough farm so probably the two purchasers (Foss and McKinney) or family members of one of their families helped care for the land that year.  In any case 1809 was probably a year of sacrifice by all.

                In 1810 the family probably again spent a year with John split between tending his farm in Scarborough and clearing more land and probably erecting a home in Newry.  Jonathan McKinney recorded his deed for the house, half the barn and his half of the 72 acres in Scarborough / Saco on 14 July 1810 almost a year and a half after he purchased it.  But it appears that John and Hannah still had possession of the home as they were enumerated there on the 1810 census (which wasn’t started until August 1810 and was taken over the following 10 months.)   It appears that John and Hannah didn’t actually move to Newry until probably the spring of 1811 – as they were first taxed there on that year. 

                So between 1810 and 1811 our little family bid their families farewell and trekked into upstate Maine to start a new life in a very primitive location.  It must have been hard on both of these natives of Scarborough to up and leave friends and kin.  One must think that there was something driving the family away from the sea coast up into the forests of upstate Maine.  The War of 1812 was already happening with the British impressing sailors daring to not trade with the British though the formal declaration of war didn’t occur until President Madison made the declaration on 8 June 1812.   In any case if John needed to stay out of the eyes of the British armies, moving to Newry was a good choice of a hiding place.

HANNAH KNIGHT LIBBY - Part 7 - MARRIAGE AND FIRST CHILDREN

               In the history of the Carter family there are a handful of genealogical problems that have caused much consternation between the genealogists and non-genealogists of the family.  The biggest one has always been how many Richards are in our pedigree starting with the immigrant Richard Cater. (And yes, the last name was originally Cater not Carter – but that is another story.)

                So in this episode of Hannah’s life we are going to discuss the correct date of Hannah’s marriage to John Carter.  Anyone not well versed in the Carter genealogy might have cause to wonder as to why this is a big deal.  In short the issue revolves around the year of the marriage – whether it was 1805 or 1806.   For as long as I can remember most everyone in the family subscribed to the 1805 date.  We will discuss how this came to be – whether by accident or as a deliberate act we may never know but for a century or more the wedding date stood in the records of the family as 1805.   For moral reasons this was perfect as it would place their first child’s (Dominicus) birth some fifteen months after their marriage.  The facts will show that this isn’t the case and Hannah was a full five months pregnant on her marriage date.  It is not my plan to point fingers at anyone but the truth does need to be stated.  This fact doesn’t diminish my opinion of my third great grandparents at all.  Knowing this does help to explain many things that went on about this time in the life of John Carter.  So let’s get back to the story.

                In 1805 Hannah was 18 years old.  She was probably still living at home and as the fourth eldest child (and second oldest girl) in the family of Zebulon and Lydia Libby, and as such she probably had many major responsibilities in the home.  The children ranged from Amos who was 25 down to the baby Clarissa, who was three.   At this point none of the children were married and we suppose that all the kids were still living at home.  Zebulon’s farm was called “substantial” in one record which leads you to think that it probably required all the effort of this large family to run it effectively.

                John had been raised on a farm within a very short distance from the Libby farm.  It is most likely that the Libby family and the Carter family were well acquainted though there is no physical proof of this assumption.  Little is known of his early life until in 1804 a remarkable deed is found that describes his purchase (with another man) of a home in Portland.  John is described as being a “mariner” on the deed.  Family lore has always said that he was a sea captain at one point in his life and that rumor, at least, has some substance as the 22-year-old John is living in one of the main seaports of New England in 1804.

 

                History then steps in and appears to change the course of John’s life.  The year 1805 must have arisen full of great hope and much financial prosperity for the mariners of Portland.  Profits had gone up and up in the previous years and the city was in the midst of a great boom.  But as in many financial situations things can change rapidly – and within two years the bottom would fall out of the maritime industry centered in Portland due to two events.  After the Revolutionary War the relationship of the new United States and Great Britain remained strained.  Simply put the British may have lost the war but they weren’t through exerting their supremacy, as they saw it, over their former colonies.  Politically the situation deteriorated until in 1806 the British formally passed the Non-Intercourse Act which forbid any American ship from trading with any foreign country except Britain.  At that point the only shipping was done was by individuals who were willing to risk being captured by the British if they were discovered.

                By 1805 John and Hannah had begun to see each other.  Whether he would visit her when he was in Scarborough to see his family or if she was going the 5 miles or so into Portland is a question we will never answer.  Most likely knowing the general morality of the day I suspect that they began courting during his visits to Scarborough. Whatever the case their love must have blossomed and eventually turned intimate as Hannah became pregnant sometime in October of 1805. 

Based on the events as they unfolded I seems most likely that John had already made a decision to leave the life of a mariner for life on the farm.  For on 7 Nov 1805 John purchased 72 acres of land that was between the farms of his parents and Hannah’s parents.  There is no way the couple would have known that Hannah “was in the family way” at that point so, I believe, they had already decided to get married and John had chosen to leave the sea and be with his wife.

In any case once it became obvious that the couple would have to marry they put in motion the plans and were married on 2 Mar 1806.  So if it wasn’t someone concerned with morality and wanting preserve Hannah’s dignity by moving the marriage date back a year, how else can it be explained.   A look at the original record of their marriage – which first came to light some 80 or so years ago can help explain the “problem” of the date.

Record of Marriage for John and Hannah (Records of the First Parish of Scarborough)

Above is a photocopy of the original town record of Scarborough, Maine that includes John and Hannah’s marriage.  A partial transcription is as follows:

A list of Marriages in the Second Parish in the Town of Scarborough

Returned by the Rev. Nathan Felton, Pastor of the said Parish

From April 1805 to April 1806
Record by Robert Hart, Town Clerk…
1806…

…
Mar 2, John Carter & Hannah Knight Libby

                The confusion with the record is that it starts in 1805 and that date is very prominent.  The 1806 year is buried in the middle of the page and, in fact, looks a little like 1805 itself.  If the reader of this record was not careful they might miss the 1806 and assume that the date was 1805.  In any case this is what I think might have started the 1805 date in our genealogy.  But once it was uncovered morality seems to have set in among some of the descendants that insisted that that date had to stay in spite of evidence to the contrary.

                Since John had previously purchased his 72-acre tract of land one would presume that this is where the newly wedded couple moved after their marriage.  There is no indication in the deed for this land that there were any buildings on the property.  If that was the case, John probably wouldn’t be able to build a home between the purchase of the land in November and their marriage in early March as this spans winter and conditions would make it difficult for John to construct a house at that time.  In that case they may have spent the first few months of their married life living at the home of one of their parents – probably the Libby family as Hannah would probably want her mother to be with her in the birthing of her first child.

Dominicus Carter

                On 21 Jun 1806 the Carter family welcomed their first child, Dominicus, into the world.  Dominicus was named after John Carter's youngest sibling - Dominicus who was baptized 11 Aug 1796 and probably died young - possibly before John and Hannah's first child was born.   If John and Hannah were living in the home of Hannah’s parents their life would have been reasonably comfortable.  Over the next couple of years John did build a dwelling on his property and the little family surely moved into it.  About a year and a half later, on 3 Jan 1808 their second child, Almira, was born.  By then they were in their home on their farm but still essentially neighbors of both sets of parents.  It is doubtful that John could, on his own produce enough to sustain his family but with parents’ farms close by they surely were able to have what was needed.  John also probably helped out on the farms of the parents.

(Up next:  Preparing for the move to Newry.)

HANNAH KNIGHT LIBBY - Part 6 - GROWING UP ON A FARM

               The truth be said, there in nothing recorded on the life and times of Hannah as a little girl growing up on her parent's farm in rural Scarsdale.  In the 15 years that followed Hannah's birth Zebulon and Lydia Andrews Libby had 4 more girls and 3 boys making for a total of 11 children.  Through it all it is quite remarkable that all lived to marry except one, Josiah Libby, who was born 10 May 1800 and died on 7 February 1801.  One can only imagine how sad the family would have been to lose this little child.

               Because nothing is really known of this time period in Hannah's life, I have taken the liberty to refer to the writing of others who have provided generic versions of live in the time period around 1800.  " Life was not easy for many children during the 19th century. While wealthy families did exist, the average family depended on its children to help provide a living. Children began working at an early age. Their skills were honed to make them useful in many areas, from farm production to manufacturing, and street sales. The average child was afforded little time for play, and the toys available to them were few and simple. Many toys were homemade. 

               Children of wealthy families, however, experienced a very different life. They were not only sheltered from the harsh realities of life known to low or middle class children, but from most of the outside world.

                 During the early and middle 1800’s, many families operated family farms. In fact in 1840, 85% of the Illinois work force was farmers. Farm families tended to have many children. Older children were charged with helping to care for the young as well as with many other responsibilities. Children were considered an asset to their families as soon as they could begin working to help out with the family farm. “In short, children were expected to begin working for their families as soon as possible. At age seven, typically, boys joined their fathers to work in the fields and to learn farming while girls took their place beside their mothers to learn the household chores or “women’s work” that constituted their lot” (Fornieri and Gabbard, 97).

               The subsistence farm was typical in the 19th century, wherein farmers focused on self-sufficiency, and grew only enough food to feed their families. The chores of men and women on the farm were clearly delineated, and women and their daughters played an important role in the subsistence farm. They typically managed dairy and poultry operations, made soap, candles and spent a great deal of time producing cloth. Cotton and wool made up most of the family’s clothing, with the women providing one set of clothes for each family member, every season. In fact, “as late as 1840, farm women produced more cloth at home as all American textile mills combined” (Fornieri and Gabbard, 96).

                Women usually cared for the kitchen garden, but men typically farmed the fields. Men and boys also cared for the livestock, cut and split wood, built the house and barns and constructed and maintained the fences. Families reproduced their households by setting up their grown children in households on adjacent farms. This allowed them to co-op their farming efforts and made offspring available to care for parents in their old age. In short, children worked during the day almost as much as their parents. Working alongside parents and older siblings was how children learned the necessary skills they would use to run their own farms in adulthood. Many people continued to live this way right up to the Civil War." (Found online at - America on the World Stage - A Teaching American History Grant Program - "What Was Life Like for Children inthe 19th Century (150 years ago) and How was it Different From the Lives of Children Today?")

               About the only thing I might add to the above about the Libby family farm was that they probably did a certain amount of logging as they lived on prime property for cutting trees to create lumber and for the production of masts for sailing ships (especially for the British navy.)

               The following describes the process of setting up a farm from scratch in early Maine:  "From the arrival of the first European settlers until about 1900, the creating of farms from the wilderness was much unchanged and dependent on those two tools, the axe and the firebrand. These steps suggest what was common. Some men had the help of a strong son or two. Some settlers were single, thus with no family to worry about. Some men had no old home their family could stay, they had to feed and house their wife and children while doing the steps listed below.

               Year 1 – Cut trees on 5 or 6 acres. The man of the family did this, usually after he had planted the gardens at his old home. His wife and family would tend these crops while he was in the wilderness.

               Year 2 – Again the man would come alone, burn the slash, and plant corn among the stumps. He then would build a log cabin and move the family That winter they would live on corn meal plus whatever had been brought from their old home and what could be found such as wild meat.

               Year 3 – Next the settler would build his first barn, plant wheat as well as corn and clear another 5 or 6 acres. The farmer’s oxen would pull a new land harrow (all wood) among the stumps to scratch up the soil for planting. We should note that corn and wheat need to be ground to be eatable by humans. This could be done at a conveniently located gristmill or by hand. 

               Years 4 – During this year our settler would add rye to his garden and would plant English hay to be harvested for winter animal feed. English hay was better feed than was salt marsh hay along the coast or meadow hay found inland. Again he would apply the axe and firebrand to more wilderness acres, what was called improving the land.

               And so this process continued. After about seven years, our settler would build a frame house that might become the ell of the big house that he might build after a dozen more years. Most farms in our area did not prosper enough to have that big house addition. A bigger barn or a lean-too on the old barn could be added to accommodate hay and livestock. As the stumps were burned away, or dug up, or rotted away, the oxen would drag a brush harrow to smooth the fields. This could be as simple as a log drawn side ways or as complicated as having the log fitted with birch tops (in drilled holes). Harrows with iron teeth were used on cultivated land."  (What is written here is based on Clarence A. Day’s History of Maine Agriculture, 1604 – 1860.)

Picture of a cabin in the woods

               We know nothing of what the Libby farm house looked like.  Having been to this part of Maine it is obvious that every inch of land used for actual farming had to be bought with a high price in difficult, back-breaking labor clearing hundreds of trees from every acre and then fighting back the forest as it tried to reclaim the land.   The Libby farm being a second generation home and farm might have looked more like the following which is a modern day picture of the Carter Home that John grew up in a couple of miles from the Libby farm.

The original Carter home is the part directly behind the car.
The rest of the house as added on in later years.

               Another topic to cover here is Hannah's education.  Hannah did have some education - she was known to write letters and was variously described as "refined,"  The details of this in Hannah's life is again not known to this writer.  The roots of education in New England go back to the1600's and the Pilgrims but the system really wasn't codified and established by law in Maine until at least 1816.  So, with the Libby family living a few miles out of town, it is likely that Hannah received her early training at the foot of her mother.  Later it is possible that she spent at least part of the years attending one of the schools established in Scarsdale. 

               With this we have done about all we can to fill in the missing pieces of Hannah's life prior to her marriage to John Carter.  That will be the topic in the next part of this narrative.

               

HANNAH KNIGHT LIBBY CARTER - Part 5 - BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS

               Hannah Knight Libby was born on Monday, 9 Oct 1786[1] in Scarborough, Cumberland, Maine to Zebulon Libby and Lydia Andrews.  Hannah descended from several generations of ancestors who had been among the earliest settlers of what would become the United States of America. 

               Capt. Zebulon Libby, as her father was known, was born in Scarborough, 1 Feb 1757[2] ; and married in Scarborough, 19 Oct. 1780[3], to Lydia Andrews, daughter of Deacon Amos and Anne (Seavey) Andrews of Scarborough. A year or two after his marriage, he settled on a portion of his father's large purchase which was then in Scarborough, but is now in Saco. There he always lived.  It appears that Zebulon and Lydia were buried on their farm property – in the Libby Plot Cemetery on Watson Mill Road in Saco.[4]  Watson Mill Road is the first road to the west of Broadturn Road in Scarborough were the Carter family resided.  In fact, John Carter just prior to his marriage to Hannah had purchased a piece of land that straddled the Saco/Scarborough boundary and probably was adjacent or quite near to the Libby homestead.

Location of Libby and Carter farms in rural Scarborough, Maine

               Zebulon was a patriot having served three years in the Revolution, and was afterward a captain in the militia. His Revolutionary war record is summarized as follows:  “Private, Capt. Abraham Tyler's Co., Col. Edmund Phinney's (31st) regt.; billeting allowed from date of enlistment, May 9, 1775, to date of marching to headquarters, July 6, 1775; credited with 57 days allowance; also, order for bounty coat or its equivalent in money dated Cambridge, Oct. 26, 1775; also, Private, Capt. Abraham Tyler's co., Col. Edmund Phinney's regt.; muster roll dated Garrison at fort George, Dec. 8, 1776; also, Corporal, Capt. Benjamin Parker's Co;., Col. Nathan (Nathaniel) Wade's regt.; enlisted June 25 [1778]; company stationed at Rhode Island for 6 months.”[5]  He died 6 Dec. 1835 and his widow died 9 Dec. 1838.[6]

               Hannah was the fourth of eleven children born to Zebulon and Lydia Andrews Libby.  Ten of the eleven children lived to marry and have families of their own, so the descent of this family quite numerous.  Hannah had two older brothers (Amos born 29 Jan 1781 and John born 20 Dec 1784) and one sister (Mary Ingersol Libby born 11 Mar 1783).  The children continued to come after Hannah in a regular pattern of every two or three years:  Eunice, born 6 July 1788; Anna, born 24 Feb 1791; Thimothy, born 9 Oct 1793; Lydia, born 23 Sep 1795; David, born 15 Sep 1798; Josiah, born 10 May 1800; and finally Clarissa Milliken Libby, born 25 Feb 1802.  Josiah was the one child that didn’t live to adulthood, dying three days short of nine months on 7 Feb 1801.  Hannah was 14 years of age and must have been deeply touched by this event.  This large family was essential in running a large farming operation.  Without the heavy machinery we have today, the family was the main source of labor for the many farm duties.

               No real details of Hannah’s early life are known.  The best we can do is reconstruct what her life was probably like.  Scarborough was one of the earliest settlements along the northern New England coast.  “In about 1630, John Stratton opened a trading post on Stratton Island in Saco Bay off Scarborough's shore.  In 1631, the Plymouth Council for New England granted the "Black Point Patent" to Captain Thomas Cammock, nephew of the Earl of Warwick. Cammock built a house and began residence in 1635 on the 1,500-acre (6.1 km2) tract of land, which extended from the Spurwink River to Black Point - today this area is known as Prouts Neck.  However, he then sold his holdings and moved to the West Indies. Nevertheless, settlements developed at Black Point, Blue Point (i.e., Pine Point), Dunstan (i.e., West Scarborough) and Stratton Island.  By 1650, there were fifty homes.  The town offered excellent fishing and farming. On July 14, 1658, the Massachusetts General Court incorporated them all as Scarborough, named for Scarborough in Yorkshire, England.”[7]  It was north of the Dunstan (West Scarborough) settlement that the Libby and Carter families would buy land in later years and begin their farming endeavors.  But before that Scarborough was laid to waste by Indian attacks in the King Philip’s War of 1675-1676.  The true resettlement of this area didn’t occur until 1702 when a fort was built on Prout’s Neck and commanded by Captain John Libby (Hannah’s second great uncle).  Despite occasional subsequent harassment, the second settlement succeeded. By 1749, it was economically prosperous. Cattle and timber were important local products for export, with Scarborough's many water power sites operating a dozen sawmills.[8]

               The area known as Dunstan in Scarborough, Maine, has a rich history. Settled by Europeans in 1651, it was named for Dunster, the English hometown of early settlers Andrew and Arthur Alger. Early settlers quickly established farms, businesses and schools in this beautiful area, still famous today for its pristine beaches and protected salt marshes.

               Dunstan immediately became an important hub for goods and services. In Colonial times, Dunstan Landing became a key access point to the Atlantic Ocean for lucrative timber exports. In particular, tall Dunstan timber was highly sought after for masts for the King's navy. From the early 1700s to the mid-1800s, ship building was big business in coastal Maine, and many ships were built in Dunstan shipyards. While connected to far-away ports through industry, Dunstan retained its village charm.[9]  John Carter’s grandfather, Benjamin Carter, who first owned the land John was raised on, earned much money selling timber for masts to the King’s navy prior to the Revolutionary War.  So though Zebulon Libby was described as a farmer, his economic endeavors probably spread out to timber cutting.  One biographer of Zebulon stated that he was also a blacksmith and a manufacturer of hay rakes.[10]

               Hannah thus grew up in a prosperous community on a probably well to do farm.  Whether Hannah received any formal education is questionable.  By 1800, although 161 towns had been incorporated within the territorial limits of Maine, only seven had grammar schools.[11] From this it may be assumed that no more than seven had over one hundred families and that the population was relatively sparse.  Since the Libby family lived in a rural area of farms, Hannah most likely received what education she did receive at the feet of her mother.

               It was in this relative prosperous environment that Hannah spent her early, formative years.

---

[1] Black, Susan Easton, compiler. Membership of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1830–1848.50 vols. Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Religious Studies Center, 1989. Private Donor.

[2] Scarborough (Maine). Town Clerk (Main Author) LDS Microfilm - FHL US/CAN Film [12221], Vol 1, Page 266.

[3] Second Church of Scarborough Marriages, 1744-1800 in the Maine Historical and Genealogical Recorder [Ancestry.com], vol. 4 (Portland, Me.: S.M. Watson, 1887) - "Oct. 19, [1780.] Zebulon Libby and Lidia Andrews."

[4] "Maine, Nathan Hale Cemetery Collection, ca. 1780-1980," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/QVJP-R6D8 : 30 October 2014), Zebulon Libby, 1835; citing Saco, York, Maine, United States, Libby Plot Cemetery, Maine State Library, Augusta; FHL microfilm 1,316,077.

[5] Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors in the Revolutionary War, Vol 9, p. 784 (images online at Ancestry.com).

[6] Maine, Nathan Hale Cemetery Collection, op. cit.

[7] Wikipedia, Scarborough, Maine

[8] Ibid.

[9] http://www.dunstancrossing.com/history.html

[10] Betty Andrews Storey "The Descendants of Lieut. John Andrews of Ipswich, Essex County, Massachusetts,", 2009.

[11] William J. Corthell, Twenty-Third Annual Report of the State Superintendent of Common Schools, 1876, p.20.

HANNAH KNIGHT LIBBY CARTER - Part 4 - HER MATERNAL ANCESTRY Continued

                We have now come to the final portion of Hannah’s ancestry – the family of her maternal grandmother, Ann Seavey.  It was from part of her ancestry that Hannah got her middle name – Knight.

The Seavey Lines of Hannah Knight Libby's Ancestry

SEAVEY ANCESTRY

                Ann Seavey’s great grandfather, William Seavey, son of Henry and Helen (Baron) Seavey, was born in the parish of Stokeinteignhead, Devon, where he was baptized on October 25, 1601.  He came to New England in 1632. At Portsmouth, New Hampshire, September 3, 1676, in the suit of Robert Tufton Mason against Massachusetts, he testified to the commissioners for the Board of Trade as follows;The Deposition of William Seavey aged seventy five years Saith that he came into New England upon a fishing account at the Isles of Sheles near the River of Piscataqa about a year before Capt. Neale went from this country to England...which was in the year 1632....N.H. Prov. Papers.  He settled for a time on the Appledore, then called Hog Island, the largest of the Isles of Shoals, which Captain Christopher Levett, in his voyage to New England, 1623-24, had described as a good fishing place for six ships, but more cannot well be there, for want of convenient stage room, as this year’s experiences hath proved.  William Seavey’s servant and Stephan Crawford were cast away in a shallop in 1642. With exemplary fidelity, William Seavy administered Crawford's estate for his widow, Margaret, and their two small children, Susan and Sarah. The older child, Susan A, William Seavy kept as his own, but evidently frail, she died after doctoring at Boston.  On April 17 1644 he was sworn freeman at Portsmouth, where he had a town lot before March 4, 1646, and obtained other grants in 1652,1653,1660 (161 acres), (101 acres), and 1669. He was elected one of the three Portsmouth selectmen in 1648, treasurer in 1652 selectman and a constable of the Iles of Shoals in 1655, and selectman again in 1657. As selectman he had charge of the erection of the old South Church at Portsmouth, where he was listed as contributing to the minister, the Reverend Joshua Moody, in 1659, 1666, 1671, and 1678. He was on the inquest into the drowning of Robert Marshall and Jeremiah Dolley.  Without mention of his wife, presumable dead, on October 29, 1679 William Seavey executed, and on July 6, 1680 acknowledged a deed of gift granting and confirming to his son William Amy now dwelling house together with all other out-houses an also my upland and marsh and Mill on this side of the creek that my Mill now stands on, four acres only excepted of marsh....An also all the Cattle which said William Seavey now enjoyeth as his proper care, upon the condition that he pay to his brothers John and Stephen and married sister Elizabeth Odiorne the sum of ten pounds each.  William Seavey Sr. Deposed in February 1682-3 that he first Thomas Walford over forty- five years before that date.  His name appeared for the last time on the tax list of Greenland and Sandy Beach (Rye), August 25 1684. His son was recorded as junior on July 20, 1686, but was not called Junior in 1687, when he served on a jury. (Parsons p History of  Rye, p.526)

                William’s son, William Seavey Jr., was an important figure in the general Portsmouth area. He owned land at Greenland, Sandy Beach, and New Castle. He was a surveyor, and also handled many estate inventories. (Rye Families, p. 5) He was born in 1640, in Portsmouth NH died in 1733. He married Hannah __, born 1633, died 1/31/1748. William Seavey was on the grand jury in 1682, and surveyor in 1683. At a proprietor's meeting in 1728 he desired to be excused by reason of ages and infirmity from any further service in laying out lands. His will was dated Mar 25, 1728-29 proved June 1733. His widow's will, dated Sept 10, 1741, proved Feb 28, 1748 bequeathed to sons Stephen, James & Ebenezer, and children on son Thomas. One of his possessions was a negro woman, a slave. (Boston & Eastern Mass, page 789)

                Ironically, very little is known of Ann’s father Thomas Seavey beyond he born 21 Apr 1695 in Rye, Rockingham, New Hampshire.  In 1717 he moved to Scarborough, Cumberland, Maine.  It was there that he married Hannah Knight on 14 May 1721.  In Scarborough they had 7 children with Anne Seavey being the 6^th as she was born 5 May 1736.

JACKSON ANCESTORS

                William Seavey Jr.’s wife was Hannah Jackson.  Her grandfather, John Jackson appears to be the first of her line in the New World. From the Genealogical Dictionary of Early Settlers of New England, Savage, Sect IV, Chap 3 Vol 2, page 530:  JOHN (JACKSON), of Portsmouth, died about 1654, leaving (a) widow Joanna, and son Richard, perhaps born   in Eng. 

From the Genealogical Dictionary of Maine & New Hampshire by Noyes, Libby and Davis, 1979, GPC, Baltimore, page 370-371:  JOHN (JACKSON), of Portsmouth, a cooper, bought the Crowder farm from Ambrose Lane 2 June 1651; confirmed by the town 20 Mar 1656, house, land and island; in 1651 sued Henry Douglass for 18 weeks of a son's time. Seven times grand juror 1653-1666. Constable and clerk of the market 1654. Selectman 1656-7. O.F. July 1657. Trial jury 1666. In 1662, having lived peaceably in town so many years, he and John Hart were having trouble with a quarrelsome new neighbor Geo. Jones. He was living 7 November 1666, his estate was inventoried 6 Dec. 1666; and administrated 25 June 1667 to widow, Joan, and son Richard, divided after her death to three sons; Inventory Sept. 6, 1718 administration granted to son John, the estate not fully administered and Richard dead. She was living in 1675; tax rebated 15 Mar. 1679-80, probably then dead; line was fixed between John and Richard 24 Dec. 1681.             

                Hannah’s father was Thomas Jackson.  From the Genealogical Dictionary of Maine & New Hampshire by Noyes, Libby and Davis, 1979, GPC, Baltimore, page 372:  THOMAS (JACKSON), was a cooper, aged +/- 50 in June 1690, and +/- 61 in Mar. 1700-1, when he was living on land on Jackson's Isle given him by his father 25 June 1660, although his wife Hannah Johnson inherited half the Johnson homestead on Great Island, in 1672 he administered Peter Adams's estate.  He served on the Grand jury in 1665, 1666, 1675, 1683, 1687, 1700; on Trial juries in 1683, 1696.  He died between 2 April 1711 - 4 Dec 1712; his wife was living in 1713. Known. children included Hannah, b. +/- 1663, m. William Seavey.

JOHNSON ANCESTOR

                Thomas Jackson’s wife was Hannah Johnson and her father was James Johnson.  From the Genealogical Dictionary of Maine & New Hampshire by Noyes, Libby and Davis, 1979, GPC, Baltimore, pg 382:  JAMES (JOHNSON), of Great Isle., knew Kittery early; deposed 31 May 1652, aged +/- 50, about the site of Capt. Mason's mill in Berwick. Signed Bloody Point petition on 1642; in 1649 he had a license to keep ordinances at Dover and ran a ferry to Strawberry Bank and Hilton's; sold his house there in 1651. Sold at Sandy Beach 1660, and soon had 1 acre of ground on Great Isle and a new home from Alex Batchelder's and bought from his widow. He was a Selectman in 1652, 1655-7; on the Grand jury in 1657, 1659, 1661-2, 1664.  He was freed from training 1674. His estate was inventoried 8 June 1678, administered 25 June 1678 to widow Mary, who remembering over 40 yrs. back, was deposed. 15 Feb. 1682-3, +/- 70, when she and husband came over, olf Thomas Walford living on Great Isle on Little Harbor side. She was taxed July 1690; and d. before 16 Nov 1694, when an equal division of her land was made to children: Mary, who married John Odiorne. and Hannah, who married Thomas Jackson.  The Genealogical Dictionary of Early Settlers of New England, by Savage, Sect IV, Chap. 3, Vol 2, page 554 only states: JAMES (JOHNSON), of Portsmouth, sent over by Mason in 1630 or 1, is said to have died about 1678, aged 79.

KNIGHT ANCESTORS

                Thomas Seavey married Hannah Knight (this was who Hannah Knight Libby was named for.)  George Knight was Hannah’s grandfather.  From the Genealogical Dictionary of New England Settlers, Savage, Sect. IV, Chap. 4, Vol 3, Page 34 states:  GEORGE (KNIGHT): He was of Scarborough, died in 1671, in his will of 5 Apr. of that year he gives to wife, Elinor, son Nathan, and a daughter Elizabeth.  His widow married Henry Brooking, as perhaps I may be justified for conjecture by the dark passage in Genealogical Register Vol. IX, page 220.  In the Genealogical Dictionary of Maine & New Hampshire by Noyes, Libby and Davis, 1979, GPC, Baltimore, page 403 is found:  GEORGE (KNIGHT), of Black Point, had a wife Eleanor who was indicted for suspicion of adultery 7 Nov. 1665. He died soon after making his will 5 Apr. 1671, the inventory being filed 27 May. By 10 Oct. 1671 his widow had married 2d Henry Brookings who was appointed administrator of her estate on 2 Apr. 1672. Children: Nathan, born about 1667 and Elizabeth.

                Hannah’s father was Nathan Knight.  Nathan was born about 1665 possibly in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. In November of 1676, about five years after the death of his father, Nathan Knight was apprenticed for 12 years, 5 months, to Samuel Whidden, a mason, by his mother Elenor, and step-father Henry Brookings. It is unclear whether he completed his apprenticeship. In 1693/94 Nathan married Mary Hannah Westbrook probably in the Portsmouth Meeting House. Mary Hannah was the daughter of John Westbrook and Martha Walford. She was the sister of Colonel Thomas Westbrook, a wealthy and influential man in New Hampshire and later the Province of Maine. Children born to Nathan and Mary Hannah were Elizabeth, Hannah, Margaret, Martha, Mary, Nathanial, Westbrook and Sarah. About 1697 Thomas Westbrook sold to Nathan Knight a farm of about 100 acres from the estate of his father, John Westbrook. About 1704 Nathan began a business partnership with his brother-in-law Thomas Westbrook. Together they kept the local Portsmouth fort provisioned with timber and firewood.  In 1707/8 Nathan sold to George Vaughn all of his father's lands and rights in Scarborough. In 1711 Nathan received shares of common land from the town of Portsmouth. Nathan and Mary Hannah lived in Portsmouth until about1720 when they moved to Scarborough, Maine. On Dec. 23, 1720 Nathan was granted a license by the York Court of Sessions, Province of Maine, granting him the right to operate the Black Point Ferry. According to the license Nathan was to “keep a boat conversant with the passage of man and horse." The amount of the fare was also determined by the court. A man could ride the Black Point ferry for 5 pence, and a man and a horse for 10 pence. No fare was given for a horse without a man. An actual copy of the document is available from the Maine State Archives for a small fee. Nathan Knight and Thomas Westbrook entered into another business venture in the 1720's. Westbrook had been appointed the King's Mast Agent. Responsible for finding suitable timber for use by the Royal Navy, Westbrook moved from Portsmouth to Falmouth (Portland, Maine), building a home and masting business at the head of the Fore River. Nathan and Thomas built a masting camp in the Dunstan area of Scarborough, Maine. The timber harvested was floated down the river to Stroudwater Falls area of Falmouth, where it was then shipped to England. Also involved in Westbrook's business ventures was Nathan's son Nathaniel. Nathaniel may have been involved in the construction of Westbrook's home, Harrow House. Nathaniel also was involved, not only in the masting business, but also ran a mill owned by Thomas Westbrook The mill was located near the Upper Falls area of Stroudwater Falls. While Nathaniel lived near his uncle, his father and mother continued to live in Scarborough. Also living near Thomas Westbrook was Nathan's younger son Westbrook Knight. The family of Westbrook Knight lived in a cabin near Harrow House. Westbrook Knight and Nathaniel Knight also bought property together near the Upper Falls, near the mill and Nathaniel Knight's home. 8 Nathan died in 1751 in Scarborough. He was survived by his two sons, Nathaniel and Westbrook, and six daughters, Mary Crockett, Sarah Brackett, Margaret Roberts, Elizabeth Seavey, Martha Elder and Hannah Seavey Cilley. (The above is from http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~knightfamilyofmaine/)

WESTBROOK ANCESTOR

               Nathan Knight’s father-in-law was John Westbrook.  From "This Was Stroudwater," 1985, p. 5: "John Westbrook, English born, bought land in Portsmouth… in 1671, and subsequently married the daughter Martha of Thomas Walford. ...His son Thomas was administrator of his estate in 1697... 100 acre farm and contents...in that year the farm was sold to Nathan Knight who wed Thomas's sister Mary Westbrook."  More is found in the Genealogical Dictionary of Maine & New Hampshire by Noyes, Libby and Davis, 1979, GPC, Baltimore, page 740:  JOHN (WESTBROOK), of Portsmouth, married  Martha (Walford) Hinkson and had one child by 15 Nov. 1666; he married  2nd before 18 June 1679 widow Alice Cate. In 1671 he bought 13 acres from Anthony and Abigail Ellins which were sold by his heirs in 1697. He was sued in 1678 by John Sherburne, grandson of his step-daughter Mary Hinkson; in 1681 he sued Shurburne for withholding Walford land. He served on a Jury in 1685, 1692, 1694; surveyor of fences 1692; selectman 1697. With John Sherburne, he appraised estates of John and Thomas Edmunds 27 June 1696. Westbrooks, Sherburnes, Brewsters and Edmunds were neighbors, and indications are that young Mary Hinkson was the wife of Thomas Edmunds, the mother of his children and the Indian victim. Administration on his own estate 11 Aug 1697 to son Thomas, widow Alice renouncing. She was living in 1702, at times called Cate after his death. Ch. John, born before 15 Nov 1666; MARY, married Nathan Knight. THOMAS; and perhaps MARTHA.

WALFORD ANCESTOR

               Thomas Walford was a blacksmith, and came to Charlestown, Mass. before 1628; was living in a thatched and palisaded house on the arrival of the Spragues and others from Salem in the Spring of 1628-9. In some unexplained way he incurred the displeasure of the authorities and was arrested, ordered to pay a fine of XL shillings and to leave the jurisdiction with his wife; the charge alleged is "contempt of authority and confronting officers"; this edict was given 3 May, 1631. He paid the fine by killing a wolf. He soon departed, as his goods were sequestered for debts Sept. 3, 1633. [Mass. Col. Rec.] He removed to Portsmouth.

Wm. Payne brought suit against him concerning lumber 26 (6) 1646. He and his wife Jane brought suit in Dover court 3 (8) 1648. He was a grand jury man in 1650. 50 acres of land were assigned to him in Portsmouth Jan. 13, 1652. He took oath of fidelity July 2, 1657. His wife was accused of witchcraft in 1656; son Jeremy gave bonds for her; she was discharged July 2, 1657.

He died in 1667. Will dated 15 Nov. 1666, probated 27 June, 1667; beq. wife Jane; to grandchildren Thomas and Jeremiah W., John Westbrook, Mary Hingson, Mary Homes, (wife of John H.), Sara and Samuel Jones, and Mary and Hester Savidg; to daughters Peverley and Westbrook; to John Peverley and John Westbrook; to John Homes; servant John Read to be at the disposing of son in law John Westbrook. Refers to land which son in law Thomas Hingson formerly possessed.

The widow Jane deposed 27 June, 1667, ae. 69 years, that he gave a piece of land to his daughter Elizabeth Savidg (Savage) 9 years before he died, and that it was commonly called Bess Savidge's marsh. His daughters Mary, wife of Will Brookings, ae. 32, and Martha Westbrook, ae. 22, with his son Jeremiah W. and grandson John Homes, ae. 26, confirmed her testimony. The widow's thirds were laid out by order of court 27 June, 1671. The daughters Jean Goss, Hanna Jones, Mary Brookin and Eliza Savage petitioned the court to give them the overplus of the estate Sept. 7, 1681.

(Please note that these histories have been gathered online for the most part.  If they had source references these were generally added to this record.  For the most part I left the language the way I found it.  I did add words to make sentences more complete and filled in abbreviations to make the stories clearer.  I realize this isn’t a quality writing product but it is provided, understanding it’s weaknesses, as a way to learn a little about Hannah Knight Libby’s ancestors.)

HANNAH KNIGHT LIBBY CARTER - Part 4 - HER MATERNAL ANCESTRY Continued

                We have now come to the final portion of Hannah’s ancestry – the family of her maternal grandmother, Ann Seavey.  It was from part of her ancestry that Hannah got her middle name – Knight.

SEAVEY ANCESTRY

                Ann Seavey’s great grandfather, William Seavey, son of Henry and Helen (Baron) Seavey, was born in the parish of Stokeinteignhead, Devon, where he was baptized on October 25, 1601.  He came to New England in 1632. At Portsmouth, New Hampshire, September 3, 1676, in the suit of Robert Tufton Mason against Massachusetts, he testified to the commissioners for the Board of Trade as follows;The Deposition of William Seavey aged seventy five years Saith that he came into New England upon a fishing account at the Isles of Sheles near the River of Piscataqa about a year before Capt. Neale went from this country to England...which was in the year 1632....N.H. Prov. Papers.  He settled for a time on the Appledore, then called Hog Island, the largest of the Isles of Shoals, which Captain Christopher Levett, in his voyage to New England, 1623-24, had described as a good fishing place for six ships, but more cannot well be there, for want of convenient stage room, as this year’s experiences hath proved.  William Seavey’s servant and Stephan Crawford were cast away in a shallop in 1642. With exemplary fidelity, William Seavy administered Crawford's estate for his widow, Margaret, and their two small children, Susan and Sarah. The older child, Susan A, William Seavy kept as his own, but evidently frail, she died after doctoring at Boston.  On April 17 1644 he was sworn freeman at Portsmouth, where he had a town lot before March 4, 1646, and obtained other grants in 1652,1653,1660 (161 acres), (101 acres), and 1669. He was elected one of the three Portsmouth selectmen in 1648, treasurer in 1652 selectman and a constable of the Iles of Shoals in 1655, and selectman again in 1657. As selectman he had charge of the erection of the old South Church at Portsmouth, where he was listed as contributing to the minister, the Reverend Joshua Moody, in 1659, 1666, 1671, and 1678. He was on the inquest into the drowning of Robert Marshall and Jeremiah Dolley.  Without mention of his wife, presumable dead, on October 29, 1679 William Seavey executed, and on July 6, 1680 acknowledged a deed of gift granting and confirming to his son William Amy now dwelling house together with all other out-houses an also my upland and marsh and Mill on this side of the creek that my Mill now stands on, four acres only excepted of marsh....An also all the Cattle which said William Seavey now enjoyeth as his proper care, upon the condition that he pay to his brothers John and Stephen and married sister Elizabeth Odiorne the sum of ten pounds each.  William Seavey Sr. Deposed in February 1682-3 that he first Thomas Walford over forty- five years before that date.  His name appeared for the last time on the tax list of Greenland and Sandy Beach (Rye), August 25 1684. His son was recorded as junior on July 20, 1686, but was not called Junior in 1687, when he served on a jury. (Parsons p History of  Rye, p.526)

                William’s son, William Seavey Jr., was an important figure in the general Portsmouth area. He owned land at Greenland, Sandy Beach, and New Castle. He was a surveyor, and also handled many estate inventories. (Rye Families, p. 5) He was born in 1640, in Portsmouth NH died in 1733. He married Hannah __, born 1633, died 1/31/1748. William Seavey was on the grand jury in 1682, and surveyor in 1683. At a proprietor's meeting in 1728 he desired to be excused by reason of ages and infirmity from any further service in laying out lands. His will was dated Mar 25, 1728-29 proved June 1733. His widow's will, dated Sept 10, 1741, proved Feb 28, 1748 bequeathed to sons Stephen, James & Ebenezer, and children on son Thomas. One of his possessions was a negro woman, a slave. (Boston & Eastern Mass, page 789)

                Ironically, very little is known of Ann’s father Thomas Seavey beyond he born 21 Apr 1695 in Rye, Rockingham, New Hampshire.  In 1717 he moved to Scarborough, Cumberland, Maine.  It was there that he married Hannah Knight on 14 May 1721.  In Scarborough they had 7 children with Anne Seavey being the 6^th as she was born 5 May 1736.

JACKSON ANCESTORS

                William Seavey Jr.’s wife was Hannah Jackson.  Her grandfather, John Jackson appears to be the first of her line in the New World. From the Genealogical Dictionary of Early Settlers of New England, Savage, Sect IV, Chap 3 Vol 2, page 530:  JOHN (JACKSON), of Portsmouth, died about 1654, leaving (a) widow Joanna, and son Richard, perhaps born   in Eng. 

From the Genealogical Dictionary of Maine & New Hampshire by Noyes, Libby and Davis, 1979, GPC, Baltimore, page 370-371:  JOHN (JACKSON), of Portsmouth, a cooper, bought the Crowder farm from Ambrose Lane 2 June 1651; confirmed by the town 20 Mar 1656, house, land and island; in 1651 sued Henry Douglass for 18 weeks of a son's time. Seven times grand juror 1653-1666. Constable and clerk of the market 1654. Selectman 1656-7. O.F. July 1657. Trial jury 1666. In 1662, having lived peaceably in town so many years, he and John Hart were having trouble with a quarrelsome new neighbor Geo. Jones. He was living 7 November 1666, his estate was inventoried 6 Dec. 1666; and administrated 25 June 1667 to widow, Joan, and son Richard, divided after her death to three sons; Inventory Sept. 6, 1718 administration granted to son John, the estate not fully administered and Richard dead. She was living in 1675; tax rebated 15 Mar. 1679-80, probably then dead; line was fixed between John and Richard 24 Dec. 1681.             

                Hannah’s father was Thomas Jackson.  From the Genealogical Dictionary of Maine & New Hampshire by Noyes, Libby and Davis, 1979, GPC, Baltimore, page 372:  THOMAS (JACKSON), was a cooper, aged +/- 50 in June 1690, and +/- 61 in Mar. 1700-1, when he was living on land on Jackson's Isle given him by his father 25 June 1660, although his wife Hannah Johnson inherited half the Johnson homestead on Great Island, in 1672 he administered Peter Adams's estate.  He served on the Grand jury in 1665, 1666, 1675, 1683, 1687, 1700; on Trial juries in 1683, 1696.  He died between 2 April 1711 - 4 Dec 1712; his wife was living in 1713. Known. children included Hannah, b. +/- 1663, m. William Seavey.

JOHNSON ANCESTOR

                Thomas Jackson’s wife was Hannah Johnson and her father was James Johnson.  From the Genealogical Dictionary of Maine & New Hampshire by Noyes, Libby and Davis, 1979, GPC, Baltimore, pg 382:  JAMES (JOHNSON), of Great Isle., knew Kittery early; deposed 31 May 1652, aged +/- 50, about the site of Capt. Mason's mill in Berwick. Signed Bloody Point petition on 1642; in 1649 he had a license to keep ordinances at Dover and ran a ferry to Strawberry Bank and Hilton's; sold his house there in 1651. Sold at Sandy Beach 1660, and soon had 1 acre of ground on Great Isle and a new home from Alex Batchelder's and bought from his widow. He was a Selectman in 1652, 1655-7; on the Grand jury in 1657, 1659, 1661-2, 1664.  He was freed from training 1674. His estate was inventoried 8 June 1678, administered 25 June 1678 to widow Mary, who remembering over 40 yrs. back, was deposed. 15 Feb. 1682-3, +/- 70, when she and husband came over, olf Thomas Walford living on Great Isle on Little Harbor side. She was taxed July 1690; and d. before 16 Nov 1694, when an equal division of her land was made to children: Mary, who married John Odiorne. and Hannah, who married Thomas Jackson.  The Genealogical Dictionary of Early Settlers of New England, by Savage, Sect IV, Chap. 3, Vol 2, page 554 only states: JAMES (JOHNSON), of Portsmouth, sent over by Mason in 1630 or 1, is said to have died about 1678, aged 79.

KNIGHT ANCESTORS

                Thomas Seavey married Hannah Knight (this was who Hannah Knight Libby was named for.)  George Knight was Hannah’s grandfather.  From the Genealogical Dictionary of New England Settlers, Savage, Sect. IV, Chap. 4, Vol 3, Page 34 states:  GEORGE (KNIGHT): He was of Scarborough, died in 1671, in his will of 5 Apr. of that year he gives to wife, Elinor, son Nathan, and a daughter Elizabeth.  His widow married Henry Brooking, as perhaps I may be justified for conjecture by the dark passage in Genealogical Register Vol. IX, page 220.  In the Genealogical Dictionary of Maine & New Hampshire by Noyes, Libby and Davis, 1979, GPC, Baltimore, page 403 is found:  GEORGE (KNIGHT), of Black Point, had a wife Eleanor who was indicted for suspicion of adultery 7 Nov. 1665. He died soon after making his will 5 Apr. 1671, the inventory being filed 27 May. By 10 Oct. 1671 his widow had married 2d Henry Brookings who was appointed administrator of her estate on 2 Apr. 1672. Children: Nathan, born about 1667 and Elizabeth.

                Hannah’s father was Nathan Knight.  Nathan was born about 1665 possibly in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. In November of 1676, about five years after the death of his father, Nathan Knight was apprenticed for 12 years, 5 months, to Samuel Whidden, a mason, by his mother Elenor, and step-father Henry Brookings. It is unclear whether he completed his apprenticeship. In 1693/94 Nathan married Mary Hannah Westbrook probably in the Portsmouth Meeting House. Mary Hannah was the daughter of John Westbrook and Martha Walford. She was the sister of Colonel Thomas Westbrook, a wealthy and influential man in New Hampshire and later the Province of Maine. Children born to Nathan and Mary Hannah were Elizabeth, Hannah, Margaret, Martha, Mary, Nathanial, Westbrook and Sarah. About 1697 Thomas Westbrook sold to Nathan Knight a farm of about 100 acres from the estate of his father, John Westbrook. About 1704 Nathan began a business partnership with his brother-in-law Thomas Westbrook. Together they kept the local Portsmouth fort provisioned with timber and firewood.  In 1707/8 Nathan sold to George Vaughn all of his father's lands and rights in Scarborough. In 1711 Nathan received shares of common land from the town of Portsmouth. Nathan and Mary Hannah lived in Portsmouth until about1720 when they moved to Scarborough, Maine. On Dec. 23, 1720 Nathan was granted a license by the York Court of Sessions, Province of Maine, granting him the right to operate the Black Point Ferry. According to the license Nathan was to “keep a boat conversant with the passage of man and horse." The amount of the fare was also determined by the court. A man could ride the Black Point ferry for 5 pence, and a man and a horse for 10 pence. No fare was given for a horse without a man. An actual copy of the document is available from the Maine State Archives for a small fee. Nathan Knight and Thomas Westbrook entered into another business venture in the 1720's. Westbrook had been appointed the King's Mast Agent. Responsible for finding suitable timber for use by the Royal Navy, Westbrook moved from Portsmouth to Falmouth (Portland, Maine), building a home and masting business at the head of the Fore River. Nathan and Thomas built a masting camp in the Dunstan area of Scarborough, Maine. The timber harvested was floated down the river to Stroudwater Falls area of Falmouth, where it was then shipped to England. Also involved in Westbrook's business ventures was Nathan's son Nathaniel. Nathaniel may have been involved in the construction of Westbrook's home, Harrow House. Nathaniel also was involved, not only in the masting business, but also ran a mill owned by Thomas Westbrook The mill was located near the Upper Falls area of Stroudwater Falls. While Nathaniel lived near his uncle, his father and mother continued to live in Scarborough. Also living near Thomas Westbrook was Nathan's younger son Westbrook Knight. The family of Westbrook Knight lived in a cabin near Harrow House. Westbrook Knight and Nathaniel Knight also bought property together near the Upper Falls, near the mill and Nathaniel Knight's home. 8 Nathan died in 1751 in Scarborough. He was survived by his two sons, Nathaniel and Westbrook, and six daughters, Mary Crockett, Sarah Brackett, Margaret Roberts, Elizabeth Seavey, Martha Elder and Hannah Seavey Cilley. (The above is from http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~knightfamilyofmaine/)

WESTBROOK ANCESTOR

               Nathan Knight’s father-in-law was John Westbrook.  From "This Was Stroudwater," 1985, p. 5: "John Westbrook, English born, bought land in Portsmouth… in 1671, and subsequently married the daughter Martha of Thomas Walford. ...His son Thomas was administrator of his estate in 1697... 100 acre farm and contents...in that year the farm was sold to Nathan Knight who wed Thomas's sister Mary Westbrook."  More is found in the Genealogical Dictionary of Maine & New Hampshire by Noyes, Libby and Davis, 1979, GPC, Baltimore, page 740:  JOHN (WESTBROOK), of Portsmouth, married  Martha (Walford) Hinkson and had one child by 15 Nov. 1666; he married  2nd before 18 June 1679 widow Alice Cate. In 1671 he bought 13 acres from Anthony and Abigail Ellins which were sold by his heirs in 1697. He was sued in 1678 by John Sherburne, grandson of his step-daughter Mary Hinkson; in 1681 he sued Shurburne for withholding Walford land. He served on a Jury in 1685, 1692, 1694; surveyor of fences 1692; selectman 1697. With John Sherburne, he appraised estates of John and Thomas Edmunds 27 June 1696. Westbrooks, Sherburnes, Brewsters and Edmunds were neighbors, and indications are that young Mary Hinkson was the wife of Thomas Edmunds, the mother of his children and the Indian victim. Administration on his own estate 11 Aug 1697 to son Thomas, widow Alice renouncing. She was living in 1702, at times called Cate after his death. Ch. John, born before 15 Nov 1666; MARY, married Nathan Knight. THOMAS; and perhaps MARTHA.

WALFORD ANCESTOR

               Thomas Walford was a blacksmith, and came to Charlestown, Mass. before 1628; was living in a thatched and palisaded house on the arrival of the Spragues and others from Salem in the Spring of 1628-9. In some unexplained way he incurred the displeasure of the authorities and was arrested, ordered to pay a fine of XL shillings and to leave the jurisdiction with his wife; the charge alleged is "contempt of authority and confronting officers"; this edict was given 3 May, 1631. He paid the fine by killing a wolf. He soon departed, as his goods were sequestered for debts Sept. 3, 1633. [Mass. Col. Rec.] He removed to Portsmouth.

Wm. Payne brought suit against him concerning lumber 26 (6) 1646. He and his wife Jane brought suit in Dover court 3 (8) 1648. He was a grand jury man in 1650. 50 acres of land were assigned to him in Portsmouth Jan. 13, 1652. He took oath of fidelity July 2, 1657. His wife was accused of witchcraft in 1656; son Jeremy gave bonds for her; she was discharged July 2, 1657.

He died in 1667. Will dated 15 Nov. 1666, probated 27 June, 1667; beq. wife Jane; to grandchildren Thomas and Jeremiah W., John Westbrook, Mary Hingson, Mary Homes, (wife of John H.), Sara and Samuel Jones, and Mary and Hester Savidg; to daughters Peverley and Westbrook; to John Peverley and John Westbrook; to John Homes; servant John Read to be at the disposing of son in law John Westbrook. Refers to land which son in law Thomas Hingson formerly possessed.

The widow Jane deposed 27 June, 1667, ae. 69 years, that he gave a piece of land to his daughter Elizabeth Savidg (Savage) 9 years before he died, and that it was commonly called Bess Savidge's marsh. His daughters Mary, wife of Will Brookings, ae. 32, and Martha Westbrook, ae. 22, with his son Jeremiah W. and grandson John Homes, ae. 26, confirmed her testimony. The widow's thirds were laid out by order of court 27 June, 1671. The daughters Jean Goss, Hanna Jones, Mary Brookin and Eliza Savage petitioned the court to give them the overplus of the estate Sept. 7, 1681.

(Please note that these histories have been gathered online for the most part.  If they had source references these were generally added to this record.  For the most part I left the language the way I found it.  I did add words to make sentences more complete and filled in abbreviations to make the stories clearer.  I realize this isn’t a quality writing product but it is provided, understanding it’s weaknesses, as a way to learn a little about Hannah Knight Libby’s ancestors.)

HANNAH KNIGHT LIBBY CARTER - Part 3 - HER MATERNAL ANCESTRY

When a couple marries they blend their dissimilar families into one.  This was definately the case in the marriage of Hannah's parents, Captain Zebulon Libby and Lydia Andrews. Zebulon's side of the family had been in Scarborough for several generations.  Lydia Andrews, on the other hand, (and her mother Anne Seavey) were the first of Hannah's maternal family to be born in Scarborough.  Hannah's maternal lines came mainly from New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

Ancestry of Hannah's mother Lydia Andrews

ANDREWS ANCESTRY

       Lydia Andrew's 2nd great grandfather was John Andrews.  Lieut. John Andrews was a house carpenter and farmer, and lived in that part of Ipswich which in 1679 was organized as Chebacco Parish and in 1819 was incorporated as the town of Essex, Mass.
His name is frequently found in the land and court records of Ipswich,where he seems to have accumulated considerable property and to have been a man of some distinction. He was honorably connected with that outbreak of independence which led the inhabitants of Ipswich in 1687 to resist the order of Sir Edmund Andros and his council for levying a tax on the King's subjects, viz., "a penny in the pound on all Estates personal or real, twenty pence per head as Poll Money," etc. (Andros Tracts, vol. 1, p. 81, published by the Prince Society.) John Andrews was at that time chairman of the selectmen of Ipswich, and John Appleton was town clerk. They, with John Wise, the minister, and others, called a meeting, at which the command of the Governor to choose a commissioner to assist in assessing the tax, was discussed; and at the town meeting the next day (23 Aug.) the town considered that by the laws of England it was enacted "that no Taxes should be Levied upon the Subjects without consent of an Assembly chosen by the Freeholdf'rs." (lb., p. 84.) For this act of the town Mr. Wise, John Andrews, John Appleton, William Goodhue, Robert Kinsman, and Thomas French were arrested, brought before the court at Boston, and tried; and "that they might be sure to be found guilty, Jurors were picked of such as were no Freeholders, nay of Strangers; the Prisoners pleading the privilege of Englishmen not to be taxed without their own consent, they were told that the Laws of England would not follow them to the end of the Earth,- . . . for the penalties they resolved should follow them quo jure quaque injuria;" that they had no right to claim the privileges of Englishmen, "when it had been declared in the Governors Council, that the Kings Subjects in New-England did not differ much from Slaves, and that the only difference was, that they were not bought and sold. . .. In as much as the Prisoners mentioned had asserted their English Liberties, they were severely handled, not only imprisoned for several weeks, but fined and bound to their good behavior." (lb., p. 82.) This act of resistance has been called "the foundation of American Democracy," and was the beginning of those events which eighty-eight years later culminated in the Revolutionary War. It is commemorated in the seal of the town of Ipswich, which bears the motto, "The Birthplace of American Independence 1687."

       During the unhappy days of the Witchcraft Delusion John Andrews and his four sons were among those who signed the petition to save John Proctor and his wife, who had lived at Chebacco and had been tried and convicted of witchcraft at Salem; and although they could not save the husband, they put themselves on record as among the more tolerant of the people of New England.

       John Andrews had a son - William Andrews. In the HISTORY OF THE ANDREWS FAMILY WILLIAM ANDREWS of Ipswich, William is supposed to have been born about 1650. He married Margaret Woodward, October 21, 1672. [Extraction] This indenture [is] made in the 24th year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord Charles the 2nd, between Samuel Cogswell, & William Andrews, s/o John Andrews, Sr., carpenter, of the other part. Samuel Cogswell, in consideration of the £60, [leases] to the said William Andrews, 100 acres of land. John Andrews & William Andrews, his son, promise to erect a house. In witness whereof, the parties to these presents severally & respectively, have set their hands & seals, the 20 day of August 1672. From the foregoing it would appear that John Andrews, the father, was a carpenter, & that William Andrews, the son, was a husbandman or farmer. In Ipswich March 12 1716. Letter of adm. at large or all & singular the goods & estate of Ensign William Andrews, late of Ipswich, deceased was granted unto his widow Margaret Andrews. She gives bond to administer according To law, to exhibit an inventory & to render an account at or before the first Monday In June (?) next ensuing.

        Jonathan Andrews, son of William and grandfather of Lydia, was born in Chebacco, about 1682. He was a blacksmith by trade and resided in his native parish until 1733, when he settled in Scarborough, Maine province, York county, Massachusetts. He was admitted to the church there February 25, 1733-34. He married Sarah Smith (published December 6, 1718). He proved a valuable addition to the town of Scarborough, both on account of his good qualities as a man and citizen and his skill as a blacksmith.

       Amos Andrews (Lydia's father) was a farmer in Chebacco Parrish.  In 1747 he voted against the Town of Scarborough for a Meeting House at Black Point.  He was a clerk of the Second Parish Church of Scarborough in 1760; Deacon in 1758; Church Warden in 1767 and 1770; Assessor in 1778; Highway Surveyor in 1781 and 1796; a Selectman in 1784; on the Committee to Draft Instructions to the Representative in 1787; a Grand Juror in 1790.  Amos is listed in the Daughters of the American Revolution database as having served in the Revolutionary War.  He was a Sergeant in Capt David Strout's Company; enlisting in 4 July 1775; roll made up to 31 Dec 1775, a service of 5 months and 27 days at Cape Elizabeth and Scarborough.  Amos was a Second Lieutenant in Capt. Crocker's Company at Falmouth commissioned 16 February 1776 and in Capt. William Crocker's Company in Cumberland County Regiment.  Pay rolls for service from 1 March 1776 to 23 Nov 1776, 8 months and 23 days at Falmouth.

     Amos is mentioned in his father's will written 3 July 1752: "And I give to my well beloved Son Amos Andrews whom I likewise constitute make & ordain my only Executor of this my last Will & Testament all ye Home place and also all The Cattle belonging to ye aforesd Home place; And also I desire that the Common Lands may be divided equally among them freely to be possessed & enjoy."  The Amos Andrews and Ann Seavey marriage is recorded in the "Records of the Second Congregational Church in Scarborough," page 24.  (by Dr. Andree Swanson)

WOODWARD ANCESTOR

       Ezekiel Woodward was born in England, the son of Nathaniel and Margaret Woodward.  He came here in 1633 with his parents.  He was a soldier in King Philips War and lived in Ispwish and Wenhaw Massachusetts.

       "Ezekiel Woodward was born about 1624, since in 1672 he deposed that he was about fifty-eight years old. He evidently emigrated to New England by or before 1650 since he is said to have acquired land in Boston in 1651, and since in November, 1668, he deposed at Salem that he had known Thomas Wells, then a defendant, for seventeen or eighteen years. His life until about 1660 was spent in Boston where he had married about 1650 as his first wife Anne Beamsley, the mother of all of his children.

       On September 14, 1658, the day William Beamsley made his will he also signed a confirmatory deed to Ezekiel and his wife Anne of a portion of the Beamsley home lot on which the young couple had lived about seven years...

       " Ezekiel, whose trade was carpentry, is not recorded as having taken part in public affairs during the ten years he lived in Boston nor as having church membership nor freemanship but five of their nine children were born during the period so Anne must have been a busy woman and Ezekiel must have been active in his carpentry to have cared for them all... "Henceforth our relationships to the Woodward family appear only in Essex County.

        Ezekiel, as of Ipswich, in March, 1661, paid 60 pounds to Ralph Dix for a tract of two and one-half acres and a house "by the smaller falls" and near the Great Bridge which was built in 1672. He lived in this property, which was bounded on the northeast and southwest by the Mill River, for about ten years, but in October, 1672, after the death of his wife, Anne and about the time of his own removal to Wenham, Ezekiel sold a part of the Ipswich tract to Shoreborn Wilson and sold the house and remainder of the lot in 1679...

       "In April, 1667, Ezekiel was taken sharply to task "for his great offense in affronting the constables in the execution of their office." The court ruled that he should be fined or make public acknowledgement of his fault on the next lecture day, and he is recorded as having chosen the latter. The conditions concerning the punishment of four young men who had torn up a bridge and were sentenced each to sit an hour in the stocks and then be returned to jail until a three pound fine was paid for each of them. While they were in the stocks the citizenry including Ezekiel evidently crowded around, and the two constables ordered them to "keep further off" and presumably punished Ezekiel, for he is quoted as saying to them that "it was the King's ground, that he had a right to stand there as well as they, and if they thrust him again he would sett them further off." Another witness claimed that Ezekiel said to one of the constables "what will you? breed a mutanye and if you had stroak me, I would a laid you over the head!"" From: Dawes-Gates Ancestral Lines, vol. I, by Mary W. Ferris (1943) pp. 667-676; 32 references cited.

       Ezediel died on 29 Jan 1698/99.  He and his wife Ann were parents of Margaret Woodward, who married William Andrews.

SMITH ANCESTRY (Line 1)

       George Smith was born 4 Nov 1621 in Lincolnshire, England  & died 30 Mar 1674 in Ipswich, Essex, Massachusetts.
Parents: John Smith b 1600 Lincolnshire, the immigrant ancestor to Ipswich, MA.  He married abt. 1644 at: Ipswich, Essex, Massachusetts to Mary French 1625- 1697) the daughter of Thomas French & Susannah Riddlesdale .
Sources:
New England Marriages Prior To 1700
New England Historical & Genealogical Register Vol: 110-11: Thomas Smith Wheelwright of Ipswich, Mass.
Will of George Smith made 13 April 1674 and his Inventory was taken 15 Dec 1674; The children named in the will are listed on their family group sheet. His wife, Mary was alive at the time of his inventory.

       His son was Samuel Smith who was born at Ipswich in 1647. His name is included in the list of the braves of Narragansett, 1675. He m 2nd wid Priscilla Gould of Topsfield who d Oct 16, 1732 aged 86 yrs. He died May 31, 1727 age 80 yrs at Ipswich, not Medfield (Ips VR).

FRENCH ANCESTOR

       Thomas French [1]., bp. 11 Oct 1584 at Bures St. Mary in Suffolk, according to the Bures St. Mary vital records which began in 1538, at St. Mary’s Church, son of Jacob, moved to Assington ca. 1585/86, m. Susan Riddlesdale 5 Sep 1608 in Assington. Thomas was named after his grandfather, Thomas French [23]. This entire family immigrated to New England.
Susan Riddlesdale was bp. 20 Apr 1584 at Boxford, Suffolk Co, England, dau. of John and Dorcas Riddlesdale, d. Aug 1658, immigrated 1635 [13] to Ipswich, Massachusetts, a few years after their son, Thomas Jr. and 3 older daughters immigrated. Thomas Sr. d. before 5 Nov 1639 in Ipswich, MA [16]. Thomas Sr. occupied a farm located in Assington called Garlands. See Ref. [31]. It was owned by John Gurdon. The will of John Gurdon, Esq., of Assington, made Dec. 6, 1621, left to his grandson "the messuage or farm house wherein one Thomas French doth now inhabit, called Garland's." Brampdon Gurdon, Sheriff of Norfolk 1625-29, was b. in Assington Hall and had at least one dau., Muriel Gurdon, b. 1613 [26]. Thomas immigrated to Ipswich, MA before Jul. 25, 1638 when a lot of his is mentioned as a boundary to land at the Reedy Marsh. Four of his children had preceeded him to America.

       Susan d. Aug. 1658, Ipswich, MA. On Mar. 10, 1658/9, inventory of her estate was made, totaling £12.11.6. Daughter of John Riddlesdale and Dorcas. Susan was probably the aunt of Dorcas Riddlesdell, a witness in a case in Ipswich, MA court in Mar. 1647. Thomas’ children: All Children baptized at Saint Edmund’s in Assington. All children immigrated to MA except Margaret who died young.

       Thomas French lived but a couple of years in New England, for on 5 Nov 1639, administration of his estate was granted to his wife and 'the land which he left is to be disposed of by sale or otherwise by advice of the Magistrates of Ipswich, for the maintenance of his wife and education of his children which are not yet able  to provide for themselves, nor were disposed of in their father's life.'
"A widow French was a Commoner in Ipswich in 1641. There is no further mention of her (Susan Riddlesdale French) until her death in August 1658. Administration of her estate was granted to her son John."  (SOURCE: The French Family Association at http://www.frenchfamilyassoc.com/FFA/CHARTSWEB/ChartE001.htm)

NOTE:  Of interest to many of us is the fact that Thomas French and Susan Riddlesdale were the ancestors of one Joseph Smith the Prophet, who restored the Gospel and founded The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

SMITH ANCESTOR (Line 2)

       Henry Smith was an early settler of Dorchester, MA where he was a selectman in 1634. He soon decided to move westward to what is now known as Springfield, MA. At that time the area was under the jurisdiction of Connecticut. "In … [1635], Mr. Pynchon, Henry Smith, Jehu Burr, and probably, some others, came to this place, called by the Indians Aggawam, and began to build a house on the west side of the [Connecticut] river, on the Aggawam, in the meadow, called from that fact Housemeadow. The Indians, seeing this, and being perfectly friendly, informed them that the house would be exposed to the flood, and they abandoned it, and came and built a house on the east side of the river… It is supposed they returned to Roxbury in the fall." In the spring of 1636 William Pynchon led a small group of eight families to settle at Aggawam. The members of this company of "adventurers" were: William Pynchon, Matthew Mitchell, Henry Smith, Jehu Burr, William Blake, Edmund Wood, Thomas Ufford, and John Cable. These men purchased Aggawam from the Indians for "18 fathoms of wampum, 18 coats, 18 hatchets, 18 hoes, and 18 knives." The settlement was founded, in large part, to take advantage of fur-trading opportunities along the Connecticut River. Henry and Ann, daughter of his step-father William Pynchon , married at about that same time. They lived there until deciding to move back to England along with her father, in about 1652. Sometime after her father’s banishment from New England, it is stated that his daughter, Anne, wife of Henry Smith, "went crazy." Henry was described as "a Godly, wise young man."

       Henry and Ann Pynchon Smith had a daughter Martha A Smith who married the previously noted Samuel Smith.

PYNCHON ANCESTOR

       The history of the Pynchon family in New England starts with William Pynchon. He was born in Springfield, in England on October 11, 1590. He was the son of John and Frances (Brett) Pynchon and grandson of Jane Empson.

       There is no evidence that he attended university in England, although it is agreed by historians and biographers that he was very well-educated. This is based on his own writings and extensive knowledge of Latin, Greek, and Hebrew writers. He held numerous offices of responsibility in the colony and he kept journals of records of all kinds, a practice which his son John carried on. He spent a good deal of his later life thinking and writing on religious matters.

       In England he was a member of the group of Adventures which later became the Massachusetts Bay Company. William's father, John went to school at New College (Oxford) with the Rev. John White of Dorset, and William was probably acquainted with him before becoming a member of this group of Adventures.
     
       William came to New England with the Winthrop Fleet in 1630 with his wife Anna Agnes Andrews and four children. Ann was the daughter of William Andrew of Twiwell, Northamptonshire, and was a member of a old Warwickshire family.

       They settled first at Roxbury where he was the principle founder. Anna died there in the first year and he later married Widow Frances Stamford. He was the first member to join the newly formed Congregational church of Roxbury in 1632.

       In 1636 he led a party from Roxbury, among whom were Henry Smith, his son-in-law, Jehu Burr, and Miles Morgan, to the Connecticut River, and began the settlement of Agawam, which he named Springfield, after his hometown in England. He was a magistrate there for many years and made a good deal of money in the beaver trade. He did very well at trading with the natives, becoming the second largest trader in new England.

       William served as a Massachusetts Bay assistant, from 1630-36, and again from 1642-50/51, and as treasurer 1632-33. Oddly he did not become a Freeman until August 11, 1642, yet he had always behaved as one from the day of his arrival. It may be that it was an oversight, that may have been noticed in May of 1642, when William was elected an assistant again. The first time he had served in a colony office since his removal to Springfield in 1636.

       He was in England in 1650 to oversee the publication of his book, The Meritorious Price of Our Redemption. This book held views contrary to the prevalent Calvinistic view of atonement. The publication caused quite a stir in the magistry. The General Court condemned his book as false, heretical, and erroneous, and ordered Rev. John Norton to answer it. The Court ordered the burning of his book in the marketplace of Boston. They also threatened to prosecute William unless he retract his statements publicly and in writing both here and in England. Upon his return to New England, he was hauled before court.

                                                                                                                                                                           In May, 1651, Pynchon appeared and explained or modified the obnoxious opinions. The judgment of the Court was deferred till the next session in May, 1652. Hoping to give him time to change his mind and attitude in these matters. William, fed up with the persecuting and intolerant spirit of the authorities in the Bay, returned to England, with his wife and son-in-law, Henry Smith, before his court date. Henry returned and he and Ann moved to England late in 1654. He left his son John to care for the business in Springfield. There in 1655, he published a new edition of his book, with additions and other books concerning religion. He died in England in October 29, 1661, at the age of seventy-two. He is buried in the church yard at Wraysbury. He outlived both his wife and daughter Ann who died within a few days of one another in Oct. 1657.

       William was the primary force responsible in the establishment of the first court in western Massachusetts and the administration of justice in the region until 1651.