14870.
John GOODALE
14871.
Elizabeth PARLETT
Elizabeth Goodale was a widow and a grandmother when she left her home in Yarmouth, England in 1637 with her three unmarried daughters, Ann, Joanna, and Elizabeth. Her oldest daughter, Susanna, born in 1607, was married and came at the same time with her husband, Abraham Toppan, and two children, Peter and Elizabeth. According to The Old Families of Salisbury and Amesbury by David W. Hoyt, Elizabeth and all of her daughters arrived on the Mary Anne in 1637. The entry in Winthrop's journal for June 20, 1637 reads "Three ships arrived here from Ipswich, with three hundred and sixty passengers." Charles Banks in Planters of the Commonwealth lists the Toppan family among the seventy four passengers on the Mary Anne which "sailed from Ipswich in May and arrived at Boston June 20". Apparently, the four Goodales were among the three hundred and six unlisted passengers on the two unnamed ships noted by Winthrop. They settled in Newbury, Mass.
Joanna married John Oliver and their daughter was born in 1639. John Oliver died in 1642 and in 1645 Joanna married William Gerrish. He had arrived in Newbury from Bristol, England in 1639 with a company which included John Lowell and his father, Percival, well-to-do merchants.
Ann married Thomas Milward and they became the parents of three daughters, Ann in 1642, Rebecca in 1643 and Elizabeth in 1644. Thomas Milward died in 1653 and in December of 1654 Ann married Daniel Pierce, the father of three children. No additional children were born to Ann and Danie
The younger Elizabeth became the second wife of John Lowell, a wealthy widower 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 was one of the eight men who governed the town.
Three more sons, Isaac, Abraham, and Jacob, had been born to Susanna and Abraham Toppan since their arrival (as well as a daughter and son who died 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 the New World. Her daughters were all married, she had twelve grandchildren to enjoy and three of her granddaughters were named Elizabeth - surely a tribute 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 a second family. It is apparent from John Lowell's will that his teenage daughter, Mary, resented the second wife who took her mothers place. Mary Lowell was born in England and came to Massachusetts in 1639 with her parents and three brothers. Another brother was born in November 1639 and Mary's mother died soon after his birth. Her father married Elizabeth Goodale in 1641 and three more children were born before her father's untimely death.
John Lowell was aware that he did not have long to live when he made his will in 1647. Most of these early wills follow a similar pattern which includes a reference to the mental and physical condition of the writer and often a statement of religious belief. John wrote, "I, being in perfect understanding, knowing my frailty, do declare this to be my Last Will and Testament: Steadfastly believing that when I go hence I shall rest in Glory through my Savior the Lord Jesus Christ ..." He "humbly entreats" his friends and brethren to be overseers of his wife and children in a "friendly, Christian way." After directing the division of his estate, he made a provision that in the event Elizabeth remarry, his daughter Mary "shall live with my sister Johan Gerrish* if my sister please; if my daughter Mary chuse to live with my sister before my wife..." John died July 10, 1647.(12) The inventory taken at the time of his death is still cited as evidence of the affluent lifestyle of the gentry at the time (Old Town and the Waterside, Two Hundred Years of Tradition and Change in Newbury, Newburyport and West Newbury, 1635-1835 by Peter Benes, 1986).
In 1647, both Elizabeth Lowell's mother and husband died, leaving her a widow with five stepchildren and two young children of her own. She did not remarry, and she didn't survive her husband by many years. Her will is dated 17th first mo: 1650. "I... Considering my fraile condition doe Committ my soule unto the Lord Jesus my Redeemer Who hath bought me with His blood not doubting of my resurrection together with all Saints. I do therefore while I injoy my sences ..." The will clearly shows her concern for her son and daughter. She directed that: "my brother Thomas Millard keep my son (Benjamin) and his estate until he go forth to be an apprentice & then to be placed forth as my overseers think fit: I desire my four brethern to be my overseers namely bro: Thomas Millard, Richard Lowell, Abraham Tappin and William Gerrish desiring them to see my daughter Elizabeth be brought up to her needle and what else they may judge meet & to dispose of her as I desire to such as are God and meet to instruct my Child in the fear of God."
Elizabeth died April 23, 1651. Mary petitioned the court for permission to return to England in October 1650, her age at the time was about 17 years. Permission was granted, but she never returned to England. Benjamin became a blacksmith and married Ruth Woodman in 1666. They were the 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 Lowell Nelson's life appear tragic when viewed across the centuries. Like her mother, she became the second wife of a wealthy man who had children. She was twenty years old when she married Philip Nelson of Rowley, MA and acquired a six-year-old stepson and a four-year-old stepdaughter. Philip was thirty three years old at the time of the marriage. Elizabeth became the mother of ten children of her own, one of whom died in infancy. The references 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 a large landowner and active in civic affairs. He was often involved in lawsuits concerning his father's estate and church affairs. Testimony in a 1677 suit quotes the Reverend Mr. Samuel Philips as charging Philip Nelson with "being the principal cause of all the troubles in town, as he was a leading man
In The Diary of Samuel Sewell we find a description of Philip wandering away 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 take the air." Whatever the cause of the stroll in search of fresh air, Philip was well enough nine years later to volunteer for military duty. His will, dated April 9, 1960, was apparently made in some haste before his departure. He wrote "I ... who am going out under sir William Phipps who is going against the French at Nova Scotia and not knowing how the Providence of God may dispose of me ... "
The abstract of this will, published in Volume 5 of the Historical Collections of the Essex Institute, briefly gives the fact that he appointed Elizabeth co-executrix and only mentioned his three oldest children by name. Unlike her mother, Elizabeth lived many years after her husbands death. When Philip died in 1691, she was forty-five years old and the mother of nine living children ranging in age from twenty-three year 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 survived three of her four sons and lived forty years a widow until her death at the age of eighty-five.
Ruth Nelson was born August 20, 1680, the seventh of Elizabeth's children. She was eleven years old when her father died. Ruth and her sister Martha married brothers, Samuel and George Dickinson of Rowley, MA. Ruth and Samuel were married on April 6, 1704 and raised their family in a large, comfortable house that they acquired on the year of their marriage. 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 their only son in 1751, he was survived by his widow and five children (the last one born after his death) all of whom are mentioned in Samuel's will. Indeed, he named his daughter-in-law executrix. Samuel died in December 1756, Ruth lived on until 1760 and died at the age of 80 years.
Rebecca Dickinson and Daniel Tenney were married March 16, 1742 in Rowley, MA. The Tenney Genealogy after reporting the marriage notes that Rebecca had received property by the will of her father and then devotes a paragraph to the exploits of her grandfather, Philip Nelson. Daniel and Rebecca moved to Sutton, Massachusetts in 1746. Daniel is described as a wheelwright in various deeds on file in the Worcester County land records. Daniel and Rebecca were the parents of seven children, two of whom, both named Marion, died young. This was the third generation in which 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 of the American Revolution Lineage Book and Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors in the War of the Revolution list both Daniel Tenney and his son-in-law, Moses Hovey, as Corporals in Colonel Holman's Massachusetts Regiment.
Phebe Tenney and Moses Hovey were married on August 14, 1777. He was a farmer 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 died prior to 1710.
15544.
Thomas NEWHALL
15546.
Thomas GREEN
15746.
Steven BACHELDER Rev.