| Notes |
- Elizabeth Goodale was a widow and a grandmother when she left her home inYarmouth, England in 1637 with her three unmarried daughters, Ann,Joanna, and Elizabeth. Her oldest daughter, Susanna, born in 1607, wasmarried and came at the same time with her husband, Abraham Toppan, andtwo children, Peter and Elizabeth. According to The Old Families ofSalisbury and Amesbury by David W. Hoyt, Elizabeth and all of herdaughters arrived on the Mary Anne in 1637. The entry in Winthrop'sjournal for June 20, 1637 reads "Three ships arrived here from Ipswich,with three hundred and sixty passengers." Charles Banks in Planters ofthe Commonwealth lists the Toppan family among the seventy fourpassengers on the Mary Anne which "sailed from Ipswich in May and arrivedat Boston June 20". Apparently, the four Goodales were among the threehundred and six unlisted passengers on the two unnamed ships noted byWinthrop. They settled in Newbury, Mass.
Joanna married John Oliver and their daughter was born in 1639. JohnOliver died in 1642 and in 1645 Joanna married William Gerrish. He hadarrived in Newbury from Bristol, England in 1639 with a company whichincluded John Lowell and his father, Percival, well-to-do merchants.
Ann married Thomas Milward and they became the parents of threedaughters, Ann in 1642, Rebecca in 1643 and Elizabeth in 1644. ThomasMilward died in 1653 and in December of 1654 Ann married Daniel Pierce,the father of three children. No additional children were born to Ann andDanie
The younger Elizabeth became the second wife of John Lowell, a wealthywidower with five children. Elizabeth and John had three children,Benjamin in 1642, Thomas, who died in infancy, and Elizabeth in 1646.
In 1646 the families were firmly settled in Newbury where John Lowell wasone of the eight men who governed the town.
Three more sons, Isaac, Abraham, and Jacob, had been born to Susanna andAbraham Toppan since their arrival (as well as a daughter and son whodied in infancy).
Joanna and William Gerrish's first son, John, was born early that year.Joanna's other children were Abigail (born in 1647), William (1648),Joseph (1650), Benjamin (1652), Elizabeth (1654), Moses (1656), Mary(1658), Ann (1660) and Judith (1662).
Elizabeth Goodale had reason to be very satisfied with her life in theNew World. Her daughters were all married, she had twelve grandchildrento enjoy and three of her granddaughters were named Elizabeth - surely atribute to her. Elizabeth Goodale died intestate April 8, 1647.
At that time second families were no more unusual than they are today.The death of one parent usually led to remarriage and the birth of asecond family. It is apparent from John Lowell's will that his teenagedaughter, Mary, resented the second wife who took her mothers place. MaryLowell was born in England and came to Massachusetts in 1639 with herparents and three brothers. Another brother was born in November 1639 andMary's mother died soon after his birth. Her father married ElizabethGoodale in 1641 and three more children were born before her father'suntimely death.
John Lowell was aware that he did not have long to live when he made hiswill in 1647. Most of these early wills follow a similar pattern whichincludes a reference to the mental and physical condition of the writerand often a statement of religious belief. John wrote, "I, being inperfect understanding, knowing my frailty, do declare this to be my LastWill and Testament: Steadfastly believing that when I go hence I shallrest in Glory through my Savior the Lord Jesus Christ ..." He "humblyentreats" his friends and brethren to be overseers of his wife andchildren in a "friendly, Christian way." After directing the division ofhis estate, he made a provision that in the event Elizabeth remarry, hisdaughter Mary "shall live with my sister Johan Gerrish* if my sisterplease; if my daughter Mary chuse to live with my sister before mywife..." John died July 10, 1647.(12) The inventory taken at the time ofhis death is still cited as evidence of the affluent lifestyle of thegentry at the time (Old Town and the Waterside, Two Hundred Years ofTradition and Change in Newbury, Newburyport and West Newbury, 1635-1835by Peter Benes, 1986).
In 1647, both Elizabeth Lowell's mother and husband died, leaving her awidow with five stepchildren and two young children of her own. She didnot remarry, and she didn't survive her husband by many years. Her willis dated 17th first mo: 1650. "I... Considering my fraile condition doeCommitt my soule unto the Lord Jesus my Redeemer Who hath bought me withHis blood not doubting of my resurrection together with all Saints. I dotherefore while I injoy my sences ..." The will clearly shows her concernfor her son and daughter. She directed that: "my brother Thomas Millardkeep my son (Benjamin) and his estate until he go forth to be anapprentice & then to be placed forth as my overseers think fit: I desiremy four brethern to be my overseers namely bro: Thomas Millard, RichardLowell, Abraham Tappin and William Gerrish desiring them to see mydaughter Elizabeth be brought up to her needle and what else they mayjudge meet & to dispose of her as I desire to such as are God and meet toinstruct my Child in the fear of God."
Elizabeth died April 23, 1651. Mary petitioned the court for permissionto return to England in October 1650, her age at the time was about 17years. Permission was granted, but she never returned to England.Benjamin became a blacksmith and married Ruth Woodman in 1666. They werethe parents of six children: Ruth (born September 4, 1667), Elizabeth(October 16, 1669), Benjamin (February 5, 1674), Sarah (March 15, 1676),Joseph (September 12, 1680), and John (February 25, 1683).
Benjamin died in Newbury in 1714. The patterns of Elizabeth LowellNelson's life appear tragic when viewed across the centuries. Like hermother, she became the second wife of a wealthy man who had children. Shewas twenty years old when she married Philip Nelson of Rowley, MA andacquired a six-year-old stepson and a four-year-old stepdaughter. Philipwas thirty three years old at the time of the marriage. Elizabeth becamethe mother of ten children of her own, one of whom died in infancy. Thereferences I have seen to Philip indicate that he was, at the very least,an eccentric man. He graduated from Harvard College in 1654. He was alarge landowner and active in civic affairs. He was often involved inlawsuits concerning his father's estate and church affairs. Testimony ina 1677 suit quotes the Reverend Mr. Samuel Philips as charging PhilipNelson with "being the principal cause of all the troubles in town, as hewas a leading man
In The Diary of Samuel Sewell we find a description of Philip wanderingaway on April 5, 1681. The resident of Rowley and Newbury "seeking him;on Satterday (April 9) is found, having walked out of his place to takethe air." Whatever the cause of the stroll in search of fresh air, Philipwas well enough nine years later to volunteer for military duty. Hiswill, dated April 9, 1960, was apparently made in some haste before hisdeparture. He wrote "I ... who am going out under sir William Phipps whois going against the French at Nova Scotia and not knowing how theProvidence of God may dispose of me ... "
The abstract of this will, published in Volume 5 of the HistoricalCollections of the Essex Institute, briefly gives the fact that heappointed Elizabeth co-executrix and only mentioned his three oldestchildren by name. Unlike her mother, Elizabeth lived many years after herhusbands death. When Philip died in 1691, she was forty-five years oldand the mother of nine living children ranging in age from twenty-threeyear old son to a two-year-old daughter. Elizabeth lived until 1731.Death was no stranger to her; orphaned at the age of five, she survivedthree of her four sons and lived forty years a widow until her death atthe age of eighty-five.
Ruth Nelson was born August 20, 1680, the seventh of Elizabeth'schildren. She was eleven years old when her father died. Ruth and hersister Martha married brothers, Samuel and George Dickinson of Rowley,MA. Ruth and Samuel were married on April 6, 1704 and raised their familyin a large, comfortable house that they acquired on the year of theirmarriage. The house is pictured on page 94 of Early Settlers of Rowley,Massachusetts.
Ruth and Samuel became the parents of one son and four daughters.Probably the greatest sorrow of their long lives was the death of theironly son in 1751, he was survived by his widow and five children (thelast one born after his death) all of whom are mentioned in Samuel'swill. Indeed, he named his daughter-in-law executrix. Samuel died inDecember 1756, Ruth lived on until 1760 and died at the age of 80 years.
Rebecca Dickinson and Daniel Tenney were married March 16, 1742 inRowley, MA. The Tenney Genealogy after reporting the marriage notes thatRebecca had received property by the will of her father and then devotesa paragraph to the exploits of her grandfather, Philip Nelson. Daniel andRebecca moved to Sutton, Massachusetts in 1746. Daniel is described as awheelwright in various deeds on file in the Worcester County landrecords. Daniel and Rebecca were the parents of seven children, two ofwhom, both named Marion, died young. This was the third generation inwhich the name of a dead child was passed on to another child. However,in this case, the second Marion died at the age of six. The Daughters ofthe American Revolution Lineage Book and Massachusetts Soldiers andSailors in the War of the Revolution list both Daniel Tenney and hisson-in-law, Moses Hovey, as Corporals in Colonel Holman's MassachusettsRegiment.
Phebe Tenney and Moses Hovey were married on August 14, 1777. He was afarmer and a soldier in the Revolution. The couple left Oxford,Massachusetts and established a home in Otsego County, New York.Jeremiah was "slain by ye Indians at Dunstable" in July 1706; John diedprior to 1710.
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1569 - 1647 (78 years)