Notes: Bishir Family Scrapbook

Matches 1,951 to 1,962 of 1,962

#	Notes	Linked to
1951	Yuma, Arizona	Family F287
1952	[George and Sopia Brown of Lamar Co, Texas are conjectural parents for Mary but are not yet proven. See below.] We don’t know very much about great-grandmother, Mary Ann “Molly” Lee. Family legend has it that Molly was found as a baby in Texas at the site of a burned out wagon train inside a wrecked wagon. Folks who ran a stage stop found her and the only thing they could find in the wagon had the name “Brown” on it, so they named her Mary Ann Brown. They raised her and she worked at the stage stop. One uncle of mine claimed that she ran off with the “Flying Lees” when the circus came to town. That’s quite a story and we may never know the truth. In 1869 Mary was first married in Tulare County to George Balaam, Sr., a 64 year-old British-born rancher who had traveled from Texas to California by wagon train in 1853. It appears she did not stay with him long, because by the mid-1870 census George is alone and she cannot be found. They were divorced in 1871 about the same time she had her first child in Lone Pine, Inyo County with John Harvey Lee. By 1880 Mary Ann Brown is separated from John Harvey Lee and soon to marry his younger brother, Joe Lee. She already had the first five of her ten children. Molly’s death certificate states that she came to California when she was four years old and that her father’s name was J. Brown. Since her husband was still living at the time of her death, we assume that he provided the information for that document; and it seems to me that if anyone knew about her family and her past it would have been John and Joe Lee. At various times, Joe and Molly Lee ran three ranches in Santa Ynez and later raised stock in Calabasas. In later years her son Fred, George Frederick Lee, was their agent. He would stay in downtown Los Angeles and facilitate the buying and selling of beef. We know about Fred Lee’s role in the family business because his daughter, Verna, had kept a letter written by Molly Lee to her son discussing the availability of stock. The letter was addressed to Fred Lee at a downtown Los Angeles post office in 1908. We have to remember that the distance between Calabasas and Los Angeles City seemed much greater back then, when travel was on horseback or by stage. Molly raised nine of her 10 children to adulthood. Only Lucy, her youngest with first husband John Lee, was lost in childhood. Great Grandma must have been a strong woman to withstand the hardships and challenges of her pioneering life. Her granddaughter, Thelma LaGier, claimed that Molly’s hair never turned completely gray. I think that’s rather symbolic of the fortitude of the tough, hardworking frontier-woman known as Molly Lee. Carley Bisher Worth, www.bishir.org/gen Research: Mary first married John Harvey Lee but later divorced him. She was living with his brother, Joseph C. Lee, in Castroville near Monterey, California in June of 1880 along with all her children and married him later that year. According to Thelma Thomas, Mary's hair never turned gray. She died of a pulmonary embolus. Mary's death certificate does not show her middle name. It shows her birth date as 1 May 1851. There is a Mary M. Brown listed in the 1870 census for Farmersville, Tulare Co., CA. It shows her as 16 years old (should be 19 to be our Mary Brown) and born in Texas. She is living with a 38 year old Joseph Brown, born in Kentucky. However, the 1880 census shows her as his wife - so it cannot be our Molly Brown. Could not find her in the census in 1870 in Tulare. A Mary Ann Brown is shown in the 1850 Red River Co., Texas census as a daughter of George Brown (age 23, born in Alabama). According to probate records in Lamar Co., Texas, George died in 1858 and his children were assigned to William Brown of Lamar Co. as guardian. Mary appears with William and his wife and children in the 1860 census. Autosomal tests for descendants of three of William’s daughters match our Mary Ann Brown’s descendants. Our working theory is that George and William were brothers. Based on additional circumstantial evidence, we think George, William, and another brother, Caleb, were sons of William R. Brown who was the 1st sheriff of Lamar County, Texas and who might have served in the Texas war of independance. This William Brown Sr. was born around 1781 in North Carolina. He was living with his son, Caleb, in 1850 in Lamar. We think William Brown Jr.’s son, Thomas, was living with Caleb’s family in the 1860 census. William Brown Jr.’s marriage record in 1836 in Alabama lists his father as “William Brown Sr.”. Another Brown family, that of William H. Brown and Elizabeth (Stowell) Brown left Lamar Co. in 1853 for Los Angeles in a wagon train. They had a daughter Mary as well who may have been raised by her grandmother Stowell who had remarried a Joseph Morrow in El Monte after the deaths of Mary’s parents. This Mary Brown is listed as “Mary H Brown” age 1 in 1850 in Lamar Co., Texas, and “Mary M. Morrow” age 8 when living with her grandmother and step-grandfather in El Monte, California in 1860. Two daugthers of the Brown family, Permelia Stark and Margaret McKenzie, ended up in Tulare Co., California. However, a matrilineal descendant of Elizabeth Stowell’s mother was tested for mtDNA and she does not match a matrilineal descendant of Mary Ann Brown (Carley Worth). So this family has been ruled out, unless they were adoptive parents of our Mary Ann Brown. Additional triangulated Autosomal DNA matches indicate that our Browns originally may have come from Blount Co., Alabama to Texas in the late 1830s. They were living in Wilkes Co., North Carolina in the late 1700s and early 1800s and in Pittsylvania, Virginia before that. However most of this is suggestive based on multiple DNA segment matches and needs more research.	Brown, Mary Ann (I1700)
1953	[mtDNA has proven that Elizabeth Stowell Brown is not our Mary Ann Brown’s mother. So Wm. Harrison Brown & Elizabeth are not her parents. So the conjecture that follows is not correct.] The family was living in Lamar Co., Texas in 1850 and left on a wagon train of 100 wagons bound for California in April, 1853, arriving in El Monte in November of the same year. Other families in the wagon train included the Glass, Stark, and Balaam families who all ended up later in Tulare Co., CA. It would seem that Elizabeth’s mother, Margaret Stowell, was also on the train because she was married in El Monte in 1856 and may have raised young Mary Brown. We have found no record of William’s death, but it appears he and Elizabeth may have been dead prior to the 1860 census because Mary’s grandmother is raising her by then. On the other hand, a William Harrison Brown appears in the Great Register of Voters for Kern County, California in 1866 and a W H Brown is listed as a miner in Mariposa County (Hornitos), California. His age is about right (45) and birthplace is North Carolina. Could Elizabeth have died and William H Brown struck out to find his fortune in the goldfields, leaving his children in Los Angeles with their maternal grandmother? Autosomal DNA matches indicate that William’s family originally came from Blount Co., Alabama to Texas in the late 1830s. They were living in Wilkes Co., North Carolina in the late 1700s and early 1800s and in Pittsylvania, Virginia before that. However most of this is suggestive based on multiple triangulated DNA segment matches and could be incorrect. We believe Mary Ann Brown was the daughter of William Harrison and Elizabeth Stowell Brown because: 1. There is a DNA match to a descendant of another Brown family also living in Lamar Co., Texas in 1850. 2. Mary’s first husband, George Balaam Sr., was on the 1853 wagon train that Wm. and Elizabeth took to California and his family was living near Mary and her grandmother in El Monte in the 1860 census. 3. Members of the family wound up in Tulare Co. by 1869 when Mary married George Balaam Sr. there. 4. A descendant of Mary (Carley Bisher Worth) has many autosomal matches to persons with the Stowell ancestry. However, alternate scenarios are possible. At this point we guess that William and Elizabeth Stowell are 75% probable to be Mary’s parents.	Brown, William Harrison (I9172)
1954	[per Terry Chaffee] Last known address for Mr. Homer Righetti: 271 Birch St, Cayucos,Ca. Children: 2 sons 1 daughter, now Mrs O'Conner. The one daughter, has a daughter Susan O'Conner Huntington who has 4 girls and 1 boy; location unknown. This same daughter also has a son, Lawrence O'Conner. Location also unknown.	Righetti, Homer (I10269)
1955	[Quoting from Kenneth Freeman Mosman's book, "James Mosman", Vol. 1] After their marriage Timothy and Sarah resided at Roxbury, moving to Dorch ester before May 1705 (see b. dau. Anna). They lived in Dorchester about f ifteen years, where presumably he learned to be a weaver. The family mov ed to Sudbury before 1721 (s. John b. there) and was a weaver there. He sp ent the remainder of his life in Sudbury, suggesting that his occupati on as a weaver provided him with adequate income and no reason to aspi re to greater wealth by acquiring or moving to new lands in the provinc e. Their grandson, Dr. Moses Mosman. in his will dated 1816, left a loo m, possibly his grandfather's, to his daughter Mary (Middlesex Co. Proba te 15600). [See Appendix 6). By early 1725, Timothy's family had gro wn to eight children, a factor which likely dampened any motivation he mig ht have had to leave Sudbury. The threat of Indian attacks was a matt er of continuing concern to residents in the more remote communities, as w ell as Sudbury, making travel hazardous. The relationship between the sett lers and the Indians that year was aggravated by a number of tragic event s, including the killing and scalping of Rev. Joseph Willard, a former Sud bury resident, at Rutland. Another took place on 20 February 1725 when a p arty of whites led by Capt. Lovewell took ten Indian scalps at Wakefiel d. New Hampshire. A bounty of 100 was paid for thern at Boston. It was a m atter of duty that prompted Samuel, Timothy and Sarah's oldest son, to jo in a Ranger unit formed to protect the settlers from Indian aggression. T he tragedy of his death affected the family not only from the more immedia te grief, but for years to come through the grant of land received d ue to that death (Jonas Reed, The History of Rutland (Worcester, 18831; Go rton Carruth, ed., The Encyclopedia of American Facts and Dates [New Yor k, 19721, 50, hereafter cited as Carruth, American Facts and Dates). Timot hy's family received a six-mile square tract of land in Rutland, grant ed by the Province to Samuel's heirs following his death during military s ervice. That property remained in the possession of the entire family unt il 15 May 1736, when it was quitclaimed to James by Timothy and his oth er surviving children Anna, Sarah, Timothy, George. Ebenezer and John. Tim othy2 approved of the quitclaim for his sons Ebenezer and John who were mi nors at the time. A portion of this land passed to Timothy's great grands on Mark who disposed of it about eighty years after Samuel's death (Middle sex Co. Deeds 41:577). Timothy was given, on 5 July 1736, a grant in the t ownship of Dorchester-Canada (Ashburnham by 1765) in ". . . the Right of S amuel Hix, His Wifes Brother . . ." who was in the 1690 expedition to Cana da. Timothy was thus one of the original proprietors of the township, prob ably owning the land that ex-tended on the ". . . west side of Cushing str eet from Main street to the common." Although it is unlikely that he ev er lived there, many of his descendants played a role in the history of As hburnham (NEHGS Register, 16 (1862):149; Ezra S. Stearns, History of Ashbu rnham, 833, hereafter cited as Stearns, Ashburnham). Sarah died at Sudbur y, although no documentation has been found. Her death occurred befo re 19 September 1740 when her surviving children quitclaimed to their brot her James, for 18, their rights to her estate land in Scituate, Plymouth C ounty Massachusetts. This land was received from her father, Samuel (Hick s, formerly of Dorchester, she being his only heir. Timothy also quitclaim ed his rights, and the rights of his minor son John, to her estate (Middle sex Co. Deeds 41:579). Timothy married (2) Alice Woodman at Dorchest er on 25 May 1744 at the age of sixty-four. They had a child Isaac (Sudbu ry V.R., 241; BRCR, 28:12). On 21 October 1748, Timothy, of Sudbury, so ld his "well beloved son" John fifty+ acres in west Sudbury for 200. The l and with buildings bordered his son Timothy. Jr.'s land, and consist ed of pasture, orchard and mowing (Middlesex Co. Deeds 81:454, record ed 3 December 1784). Alice's death has not been found, but she probably di ed before 1751 at Sudbury. Timothy was there in 1751, and on the six th of November of that year he married (3) Elizabeth Buttrick (Sudbury V.R ., 241). Elizabeth's death, also not found in the records, can he document ed only by Timothy's next marriage which took place on 27 November 1767, t en days after his eighty-eighth birthday. This fourth wife was Tabitha (Ne wton) Malcom. Tabitha, born on 18 October 1661, was the widowed moth er of his daughter-in-law Eizabeth, wife of his son James. Tabitha was t he widow of Joseph Balcom who died on 17 September 1745. Tabitha di ed on 27 February 1773 (H. Galpin, Annals of Oxford N.Y. [Oxford, 1906], 2 4; Charles Norman Chase, Genealogy of the Mosman Family, Our Branch, herea fter cited as Chase, Mosman Gen.). Timothy owned no land or farm anima ls in 1771, and probably lived with his son John at Sudbury. Timothy di ed there on 27 February 1773 (B.H. Pruitt, The Massachusetts Tax Evaluati on of 1771 [Boston, 1978], hereafter cited as 1771 MassTax; l Heywood. Wes tminster, 799).	Mosman, Timothy (I1355)
1956	[Quoting from Kenneth Freeman Mosman's book, "James Mosman", Vol. 1] James Mosman was born on 9 July 1626 at Edinburgh Scotland, the son of John and Isobell (Gardner) Mosman (Original Register of the Edinburgh Parish Church, 685/1, V. 3:77). [See Appendix 1]. It is assumed by this compiler that James spent his youth in Scotland. Sometime between 1647, when he was twenty-one, and 1675, when evidence places him in Wrentham, Massachusetts, he traveled by ship to the Colonies. That travel was undertaken either voluntarily or involuntarily. The "involuntary" hypothesis has been espoused by Cutter and some family historians. The evidence is indirect. By 1647 Scotland was in a period of considerable turbulence. Scottish armies were decisively defeated over the next few years by the forces of Cromwell, the Lord Protector of England. An invading Scottish army was defeated by Cromwell in the summer of 1648. Cromwell invaded Scotland and defeated a Scottish army at Dunbar. He followed a Scottish army into England and, at Worcester on 3 September 1651, the Scots were heavily defeated. In this latter battle alone, ten thousand Scots were taken prisoner. Many of these prisoners were deported to the American Colonies including, according to Cutter, James Mosman and his brothers, George and John. This is the "involuntary" hypothesis. Its credibility rests solely on James' age of majority occurring at the time that such captures and deportations were known to have been taking place (William Richard Cutter, ed., Historic Homes and Places and Genealogical and Personal Memoirs Relating to the Families of Middlesex County, Massachusetts [New York, 1908], 627, here after cited as Cutter, Historic Homes; F. MacLean, A Concise History of Scotland [New York, 1908], 128; Roger Howell, Cromwell [Boston]. 152). There are contraindications to the "involuntary" or "deportation" hypothesis, viz., no record of a ship that carried James to the Massachusetts Bay Colony has been found. This absence of record argues against the "deportation" hypothesis for enforced departures usually were recorded in contrast to voluntary travel to the Colonies. Also no evidence has been found to indicate that his two brothers George and John came to the Colonies. If they lived in the Colonies, and then returned to Scotland, such travel would likely have been voluntarily undertaken and therefore negative evidence for the "deportation" hypothesis. Conversely, the "voluntary" hypothesis regarding James' travel to the Colonies gets support from the absence of a travel record and the lack of evidence placing the brothers in the Colonies. The twenty-eight year period from 1647 to 1675 suggests that James could have married and raised a family somewhere either in Europe, perhaps Ireland, the Colonies, Canada or possibly the Caribbean. This period of James' life is unknown and receives no clarification from this study. Cutter has suggested that James first arrived in the Colonies in 1667, although no documentation is given and none has been found by this compiler (Cutter, Historic Homes, 627). James married (1) Anna, probably between 1673 and August 1674 in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Their marriage is confirmed only by the births of their children. The twenty-one year period, 1675-1696, between the births of her first and last child suggests that Anna was born ca. 1652, a date resulting from an assumption of a minimum age of twenty-one when she married and a maximum age of forty-four in 1696. She was, therefore about twenty-six years younger than her husband. The August 1674 date is nine months prior to the birth of their first child. The first evidence uncovered of James and Anna places them in Wrentham, Massachusetts in early 1675 where their daughter was born in May of that year. Also that year, he was awarded two acres of meadow lying below "slate rock". This award of land was the result of a three year search for a town blacksmith by the proprietors of Wolomonopoag (Wrentham by 1673). The proprietors had voted in 1672 to give ten acres of upland for the encouragement of ". . . such a man as may be approved of the calling of a blacksmyth." In 1674 they voted ". . . for further incoragement of a blacksmith if there appere a man that is suffichant workeman and other wayse Incorageabell and do supply the towne with Good and suffichant ware ..." Thus it seems likely that James and Anna arrived in Wrentham in early 1675 in view of the town's prior unsuccessful search for a blacksmith (D.H. Hurd, History of Norfolk County Massachusetts [Phila., 1884 ], 629). At the time of their first daughter's birth, there had been considerable anxiety in many frontier communities for over a year because of the hostilities by Indians during King Philips War. Communities that came under attack included Northfield, Deerfield, Brookfield, Quinsigamond (Worcester), Lancaster, Groton, Mendon, and others, including Wrentham. The government in Boston urged the people in these frontier settlements to retreat to stronger communities closer to Boston. On 6 March 1676, their daughter Elizabeth died, probably due to diseases that were epidemic at that time. "The Inhabitants of Wrentham, abandoned the Place on the 30th of March, 1676. No Lives were lost. The Enemy came upon the Town after they were gone, and burnt all the Dwellings, except two. What saved these from the Fire was their being infected with the Small Pox, of which the Indians by some Means or other had gotten Information." (Rev. William Hubbard, The History of the Indian Wars in New England, f.n. 327 by Samuel Gardn er Drake, 1 [Roxbury, MA, 1865], 209); NEIIGS Register, 3 (1849):31; D. E. Leach, Flintlock and Tomahawk, New England in King Philip's War [New York, 1966)). James and Anna were among those who left Wrentham for the safety of the settlement at Dedham, probably late in March 1676. By 12 August 1676, King Philip (Chief Metacomet), who led the uprising of the Wampanoags, Nipmucks, and Narragansetts, was trapped and killed at Mount Hope peninsular on Narragansett Bay and the danger of Indian attack appeared to be over (H.H. Peckam, The Colonial Wars 1689-1762 [Chicago, 1965] ). Towards the end of 1677, James decided to have his own blacksmith shop. On 10 December 1677, he made a motion at the Dedham town council ". . . to set up a shoope; to worke in the Highway: neer John Fairbank Senor House whic is grated and Decon John Aldus is desired to Apoint: him to the place And Timber is granted to him to build it with ..." (Don Gleason Hill, ed., The Early Records of the Town of Dedham. Mass. 1672-1706 5 [Dedham, MA. 1899], 60). James and his family moved to Roxbury sometime before the birth of their son Timothy on 17 November 1679. James apparently remained in Roxbury during the next several years, for he was located there on 25 February 1693, when he purchased about eight acres along the Country Road between Dedham and Roxbury. The way to Cambridge Village (now Newton) also crossed this land. His property consisted of a ... House Messuage and Tenement . . . lying in Roxbury . . . being part pasture, part mowing and part orchard containing . . . sixteen acres . . ." He bought a wood land lot adjoining his property on 20 February 1697 (Suffolk Co. Deeds 58:93: 34:238 and 35:8 as recorded 1720). The purchase of his Roxbury property was no mean achievement, and was likely made possible from the profits of his blacksmith business. The Colonies were growing rapidly and there was an accentution of class differences as a result. A study of the Boston tax lists in 1687 showed that out of a population of six thousand there were one thousand property owners. The top five percent, or one percent of the population, consisted of fifty individuals who owned twenty-five percent of the wealth (Howard Zinn, A People's History of the United States [New York. 1980]. 49), hereafter cited as Zinn, People's History. Anna died perhaps during the birth of Elizabeth, or later, but before 27 July 1703 when James married (2) the widow Elizabeth (Franklin) Glover Cleverly. Elizabeth was born on 3 October 1638, the daughter of William and Allice Franklin, and she died on 21 June 1705 (A Report of the Record Commissioners of Boston 28 [Boston, 1898], 12, hereafter cited as BRCR: John Langdon Sibley, Biographical Sketches of Graduat es of Harvard University 1642-1658 1 [Cambridge, 1873], 297). James probably lived in Elizabeth's (the Glover) house, which fronted on Summer Street in Boston, from the time of his marriage to her until his death, for when John Glover's estate was reopened on 7 January 1722/3 the house was ". .. lately in the Possession of James Mosman Deceasd." (Suffolk Co. Proba te 4516, recorded in New Series 10:213). James quickly married (3) the widow Margaret () Grant at Boston on 10 October 1705. Margaret's husband James Grant died ca. 1698 (BRCR, 28:13; Boston Evening Transcript, 2 May 171 7, 1806). James was a man of considerable vitality and good health, for at a Boston town meeting on 21 January 1706/7, at age eighty, he was selected to be a "watchman" in the community. James Clements, chosen on 4 November 1709, was "appointed . . . at the South" in Mosman's place. James served in similar capacities likely for a period of four years or more. His last appointment, as overseer of the Watch, was made by the selectmen on 23 October 1710. That year he also served as a "tithingman." The process of tithing or night watch was a colonial predecessor of constables and sheriffs used to maintain order (Robert Francis Seybolt. The Town Officials of Colonial Boston 1634-1775 [Cambridge. MA, 1939], 115. 122, 124, and 125; Dictionary of American History 5 [New York], 338, hereafter cited as Dictionary). As an owner of Roxbury land, James was apportioned land in Woodstock, Connecticut. The first was lot 78 consisting of seven-teen and one-half acres and the second was lot 16 consisting of twenty-two and one-half acres. The latter lot was apportioned to him on 19 July 1713. He probably never availed himself of these lands because of his advanced age (A Report of the Commissioners. Containing the Roxbury Land and Church News. 2nd Ed, [Boston. 1884], 51, 54 and 57). It is not clear if James was actively a blacksmith while serving as a watchman, although at the age of eighty-eight he was referred to as a blacksmith, of Boston, in a deed dated 21 August 1714. Margaret signed this deed and her death occurred, therefore, sometime after this date (Suffolk Co. Deeds 30:96). James married (4) Sarah Lyon of Roxbury on 4 August 1720. Rev. Thomas Foxcroft, Pastor of the First Church of Boston, performed the ceremony. Sarah probably died within the next eighteen months, for on 11 May 1722, at the age of ninety-six, James married (5) Mary Havet or Haslett. On 20 July, he wrote his will and three months later ". . . old Mosman dyed." His will was proved on 5 November 1722 (NEHGS Register 42 (1888):153 and 15 (18 61):196; Suffolk Co. Probate 4660 recorded 22:374). His will contained Christian passages common to the wills of that day. By his will, James left to his loving wife Mary Mosman ".. . all my money and moveables ..." and "... all the Incomes of my house and Land in Roxbury During her Natural Life for her comfortable subsistence." He appointed Mary to be the Executor of his will, and after her death, his house and lands were to go equally to his grandchildren, the children of Timothy. Upon the receipt of the property, they were to give the sum of five shillings each to George and Elizabeth "... which is all I give to my said Son and Daughter." [James's will is given in Appendix 21. Mary died before 3 April 1724. Later, on 24 May 1739, James' grandchildren, the children of Timothy, Hannah, Sarah Maynard, Timothy, Jr., James, George, Ebenezer and John, sold the Roxbury property they inherited from him. It is possible that Elizabeth lived in the Roxbury messuage until 1739 with the ultimate heirs enjoying the rental income (Suffolk Co. Deeds 37:205 and 58:93, recorded at Sudbury 31 May 1739). This account of the life, of James leaves many questions unanswered. His life from the time of birth to 1675 is unknown, including whether his travel to the Colonies was voluntary or not. What little evidence there is seems to favor voluntary travel. The unknown period to 1675 suggests that he may have had a family elsewhere or that there may have been an intervening generation. His reference, however, in his will to his "... great age . ." the substantial longevity of his only son Timothy (age ninety-three) and of his grandsons Timothy. James; and George; (average age ninety) support the conclusion that James' was a nonagenarian, born 9 July 1626.	Mosman, James (I1368)
1957	[Quoting from Kenneth Freeman Mosman's book, "James Mosman", Vol. 1] Joshua moved to Princeton in Worcester County with his parents ca. 176 0. He and Ann Joyner declared their intentions to marry on 19 February 176 7, although no evidence has been found to indicate the marriage ever to ok place (Lancaster V.R., 40). On 10 April 1770, Joshua married the wid ow Sarah (Stratton) Barnard in Westminster. Sarah was born in Lexingto n, 1 June 1737, the daughter of Jabez and Margaret Stratton. and married G eorge Barnard of Cambridge, 31 March 1762. Barnard died in Princet on on 26 November 1767, leaving Sarah and two small children (Cambridge V. R., 2:378; Lexington V.R., 80; Princeton V.R., 11, 150; Westminster V.R ., 171; 1800 US Census VT). Over the sixteen year period from 1769 to t he Revolutionary War, Joshua bought a considerable amount of land in Princ eton. The first tract was seventy acres, part of Gardner's Farm, whi ch he obtained from Abel Ray on 5 June 1769. The next purchase took pla ce on 28 June 1771, when he bought two lots of the Gardner's Farm from Pa ul Walker. The land was between Princeton and Westminster and consist ed of sixty-six and twenty-six acres. His acreage included one tilled ac re which yielded eleven bushels of grain, and six acres of mowing produci ng six tons of hay (Worcester Co. Deeds 63:489, 100:352; 1771 MassTax). Jo shua was a resident of Princeton when he became a soldier in the Revolutio nary War: "Private, Capt. Joseph Sargent's co. of militia, Col. Sparhawk 's regt., which marched April 20, 1775, in response to the alarm of Apr il 19, 1775; returned May 1, 1775; service, 12 days; also, Capt. Aaron Gui ld's co., Col. Josiah Whitney's regt.: abstract for advance pay for 1 mont h, etc., dated Camp at Hull, July 13, 1776: also, petition dated Camp at H ull. September 17, 1776. signed by said Mosman and others belonging to bat talion stationed at Hull, asking for increase and payment of wages; als o, Private, Capt. Aaron Guild's Co., Col. Josiah Whitney's Regt.; enlist ed June 25, 1776; service to Nov. 1, 1776, 4 mos. and 6 days; rolls dat ed Camp at I lull; also, same Co. and Regt.; service from Nov. 1, 177 6. to time of return home. 1 mo. 4 days; roll dated Hull." Joshua's last e nlistment was as a private in Capt. David Nourse's Co. from 12 December 17 76 to 26 March 1777. He and his brother Oliver served in the "Jerseys." (M SSWR. 11:163; Henry S. Nourse, Military Annals of Lancaster. 1 740-1865 [L ancaster. 18891. 148, hereafter cited as Nourse, Lancaster). The period fo llowing his discharge was difficult for Joshua for it brought him into con flict with the law. The bills of credit issued by the Continental Congre ss between June 1775 and November 1779 began to deteriorate in value a nd by January 1781 they essentially lost their value leading to the expres sion "not worth a Continental." Disallusionment and frustration about t he severe loss of purchasing power was widespread (Dictionary, 2:274-275 ). With a wife and four or more children to support, Joshua probably was h aving a difficult time financially, and on the 8th of August 1778, he w as caught with counterfeit bills in his possession one of which he pass ed in Worcester. For this he was indicted by the Superior Court in Septemb er 1778, a charge to which he pleaded guilty. A month later, he again r an afoul of the law by aiding in the escape from the Worcester goal of Nat han Davis who had also passed unlawful bills. Joshua was sentenced in Apr il 1779 to a fine of 90, to treble damages and to receive "...twenty strip es on his naked back at the Public Whipping Posts..." for the first offens e, and a repeat of the flogging as punishment for the second offense. In a ddition for the second offense, he was fined 500 and released in reconizan ce of two sureties of 250s which were furnished by his father Timothy a nd David Willard of Lancaster. Perhaps to pay his fines as well support h is family, he sold ninety-two acres of his farm to David Willard for 1,0 00 on 24 May 1779. Abuttors were his brothers Abel and Timothy (Worcest er Superior Court Cases #152993 and #153033: Worcester Co. Deeds 81:395 ). [Flogging was a common form of punishment during the Colonial period. B efore the development of prisons during the 1800s. offenders received no a dditional punishment but later both forms of punishment were meted out. Af ter the Revolutionary War, flogging was increasingly regarded as inconsist ent with scientific peneological principles (Dictionary, 3:36)]. Heywood 's History of Westminster (p. 799), correctly indicates that Joshua was ta xed in Westminster in 1780, for his Gardner's Farm was anexed to the to wn of Westminster before 25 May 1779. The family then moved to Pittsfor d, Vermont, probably in October 1787, when he purchased a fifty-five ac re farm there. Caverly, in the history of the town of Pittsford, questio ns whether Joshua ever moved to Pittsford, but he was enumerated the re in the 1790 federal census. His family at that time consisted of a ma le child born between 1774 and 1790 (probably Joshua, Jr.) and two femal es (Worcester Superior Court Case #153033. A.M. Caverly, History of the To wn of Pittsford, Vt. With Biog'l Sketches & Fam. Records [Rutland, 1872 ], 290, hereafter cited as Caverly, Pittsford; 1790 US Census VT). Josh ua disposed of his acreage in Pittsford in April and March 1797, one l ot of which abutted the Wait Farm. The grantees were Joseph Keeler and Jos hua's son Timothy Morsman (Rutland Co. Deeds 2:668-669, 3:168-169). Joshua 's adoption of the spelling Morsman seems to have coincided with his mo ve to Vermont. In any case, it was about this time that Joshua and thr ee of his brothers changed their name to Morsman. Thomas Paine stated th at by 1783 Americans had become so transformed by the Revolution that the ir "style and manner of thinking were different." This new attitude may pa rtially explain the brothers' change in name. For Joshua the motivation m ay have been to leave an unhappy past. In 1810 the census listed a Josh ua Morsman in Leicester, Addison County. Vermont, which could have been Jo shua.' or his son, Joshua. In any case, Joshua died sometime before 23 Ju ne 1814, when a deed refers to the "widow Morsman", and possibly before 18 00 for Sarah was living with her son Oliver in 1800. She died after 3 Mar ch 1824 (1810 US Census VT; Rutland Co. Deeds 10:272-73. 13:108).	Mo(r)sman, Joshua (I785)
1958	[Quoting from Kenneth Freeman Mosman's book, "James Mosman", Vol. 1] Timothy was an energetic, aggressive, enterprising individual who avail ed himself of opportunity and developed business projects. He and Martha l ived at Sudbury and after his father obtained the right to land in the tow nship of Dorchester-Canada (Ashburnham) on 15 May 1736, he and his fami ly may have moved there after 1740, probably on the land extending ". .. on the west side of Cushing street from Main street to the common." (Ma SA 114:193, 12 January 1737/8; Stearns, Ashburnham, 833). His first busine ss opportunity involved building an inn in Ashburnham. The proprieto rs of Dorchester-Canada voted in 1743 to encourage someone to "... sett le a Family and Keep a public House with Suitable Entertainment." Also vot ed was "That 100 O.T. (old tenor) be paid to one person that shall bui ld a good and sufficient House with three Rooms on a floor with Chimne ys in each Room of it for a House of Entertainment and Barn and provisi on suitable for to entertain men and Horses." With such an inn, the town c ould house men sent to provide protection from Indians. Timothy built an i nn in 1743, probably on the land owned by his father. Stearns claims a dis tinct tradition that this ancient inn "was fortified and stood near the si te of the Powder House." Timothy received eighty of the 100 voted for t he purpose, and he was to have received an additional 40 "... if there sho uld be peace with France within twelve months . . ." In June 1744, Timot hy was chosen to "take care of the meeting house by nailing boards again st the windows and doors," a precaution prompted by the threat of Indian a ttack. Most of the families had been removed to places of greater securi ty (Stearns, Ashburnham, 285). On 4 June 1744, Timothy, husbandman of Sudb ury, mortgaged to his brother-in-law Zebediah Maynard for 25 the ". . . af ter Draughts Rights & Divisions of Land. Swamp and meadow that . .. belo ng . . . to . . . house Lott No. 14 & 15 . . . in . . . Dorchester Canaday ." Since he sold these two lots and his house to Asher Cutler f or 65 on 9 July 1744. it appears that the two lots, containing one hundr ed and thirty acres, were used as collateral for the 25 received previous ly from Zebediah Maynard who winessed the final sale. Timothy also sol d, on 11 August 1745, one hundred and twenty-three acres ". . . of Wild La nd Lying in . .. Dorchester Canaday . . ." for 100 O.T. This was l ot 56 in the Second Division of the lands of the new Township of Dorcheste r. He sold lot 42, also in the Second Division of land in Dorchester, f or 250 on 13 February 1746 (Worcester Co. Deeds 19:56-57. 23:228-29, 30: 65 and 33:309). After the disposal of his Ashburnham properties, and his r eturn to Sudbury, he located southwest of the Sudbury River where he purch ased three properties between April and October of 1745. On 23 March 174 8, he sold a messuage and thirty acres of that land for 500 (Middlesex C o. Deeds 52:129, 49:99, 52:130, 56:405 and 59:186). For his efforts in Ash burnham, Timothy had a house lot at Dorchester-Canada (Ashburnham) award ed him "on his own rights", i.e., probably for his efforts in the construc tion and maintenance of an inn there. The settlement was reviewed on Febru ary 1750, and there is reference in this review to "A very Commodious Meet ing House built near the Middle of said Township" (MaSA 116:7, 31 March 17 51). By April of 1750, a committee reviewed the settlement at Narraganse tt No. 2 (Westminster) and reported that Timothy, among others, had fulfil led the conditions of a grant there. His two lots. 16 and 55. belong ed to Joseph Bowman, the original proprietor. On 23 February 1751. Timoth y, Jr.. of Sudbury. purchased these two lots from Bowman for 220. The mort gage was discharged on 24 June 1756 (Worcester Co. Deeds 38:66 and 29:27 5: MaSA 116:113, 31 March 1751). As a descendant of one of the military pe rsonnel under Captain Gardner in the 1690 expedition to Canada, in this ca se his father's brother-in-law Samuel Hicks, Timothy was granted a porti on of a six-mile square tract of land adjoining Northfield in Hampshire Co unty (now Warwick). The soldiers in the 1690 expedition were men principal ly from Roxbury and Brookline, and all were lost but one. Their descendant s, however, felt that the land granted to them was unsuitable for settleme nt, and on 31 March 1751 Timothy joined the others in a petition to the Co urt to allow them to sell (MaSA 116:8). As yeoman of Sudbury, Timothy so ld sixteen acres of his property southwest of the Sudbury River and fif ty acres north of the Lancaster Road for 160. The grantee was his brother- in-law Zebediah Maynard and the date was 19 February 1753 (Middlesex Co. D eeds 51: 147). By 1755, the area around Lake Champlain saw military acti on between the English Colonies and New France. At the age of forty-fiv e, Timothy served as a Private, from 26 June 1755 to 12 November 175 5, in Eleazer Lawrence's company in the Crown Point campaign. Crown Poi nt was a promontory on the west shore of the lake in northern New York. T he expedition was commanded by William Johnson (K. David Goss and David Za rowin, Massachusetts Officers and Soldiers in the French and Indian War s. 1755-1756. New England Historic Genealogical Society, [19851: Dictiona ry 2: 266). After his military service, Timothy and his family moved to Po ttash (sic), a place east of Mt. Wachusett in Princeton. He was a reside nt there on 16 June 1756 when he sold several lots in Westminster. These w ere the lots purchased five years before from William Bowman (Worcester C o. Deeds 37:337). Timothy leased a 1,500 acre farm in Princeton from Cap t. Thomas Plaisted. He produced potash and in his own words ". . . did mu ch labour, in improving and making roads . . ." This commercial ventu re to produce potash was interrupted in the Spring of 1760 when the Provin ce Agent, Capt. William Richardson, seized the farm. The grantee, Plaiste d, had violated the terms of his grant, probably for leasing his land. T he farm was leased back to Timothy by Capt. Richardson, but ultimate ly it was taken from him again (MaSA 117: 651, 46:452, 46:485-6, 46:441 ). On 30 May 1764, Timothy petitioned the Governor of the Massachusetts B ay to forgive a 12 debt he owed the Province and to give him ".. . land be twixt Westminster and Leominster . . ." to compensate him in the amou nt of 200 for his losses incurred at Ashburnham and in Princeton whe re he ". . . met with Great sickness in my person & family, and was furth er reduced by the loss of the possession of the Province Land as it beca me provitable (sic)." His petition was approved in part by the General Cou rt which ordered on 12 June 1764 that the sum of twelve pounds he owed t he Province be remitted to him in full in answer to his petition (MaSA 46: 486). Timothy continued to live in Princeton. By 1771, he probably farme d, for he owned his own house and an adjoining shop. His farm animals incl uded one horse, one cow and one pig. He had three acres of pasture, two ac res of tillage yielding twenty bushels of grain per year and four acr es of mowing land producing three tons of hay per year (1771 MassTax). Alt hough Timothy did not serve in the military during the Revolutionary Wa r, his five sons did. The war, which lasted eight and one-half years, wa s, because of his age and the absence of sons, likely a period of conce rn and stress for him and Martha. Thus he began in 1776 to dispose of h is Princeton property (part of the Mayhew Farm) which abutted the la nd of his sons Joshua, Timothy and Samuel. The last sale was forty-eight a cres in Princeton on 24 February 1779. No record of Timothy exists as a gr antee at Princeton in Worcester County deed indexes and it is uncertain fr om whom he acquired these lands (Worcester Co. Deeds 73:511, 81:452). At t he age of sixty-nine, Timothy purchased, in 1779 and 1780, a substantial a mount of land in Ward (Auburn), Massachusetts. His son Timothy, age thirty -five, was a witness to one of the purchases. By the Spring of 1782. Timot hy's sons Joshua, Samuel and Abel were located in Westminster, and his so ns Timothy and Oliver were making plans to migrate to Vermont. Also, the w ar was not yet over, and his son William was a known Loyalist. Amidst the se stresses, concerns and uncertainties, and at the age of seventy-two, Ti mothy sold his Worcester property on 17 May 1782 and moved to Westminst er to be near his sons (Worcester Co. Deeds 81:294-96, 83:364, 87:229). Ti mothy and Martha were living in Westminster in 1790 as were their sons Ab el and Samuel and their families. Martha died at the age of eighty-fi ve in Westminster on 15 April 1801, and Timothy died there on 5 Septemb er 1801 at the age of ninety-one (1790 US Census MA: Westminster V.R., 239 ). Later generations descending from Timothy's sons Joshua, Timothy, Willi am and Oliver spelled their name Morsman. The name change was made ca. 178 3. The war had ended and William had left for Canada. It may be that polit ical and economic events such as post-war taxes and inflation were inducem ents to the change. There was a desire on the part of most people of th at time to improve their lot and a need to break with an unhappy past. T he moves and the name change completed the separation for this family. Wha tever the real reasons, the name Morsman is unique to these families, f or it was not found among the many Colonial or Scottish records examin ed by this compiler (L. N. Hook, Family Names [New York, 1982], 324). [Sub sequent research has revealed that some Americans with the name Morsman a re not descended from this family. Families from Holland and from Austr ia have the name Morsman].	Mosman, Timothy (I801)
1959	“Children” below are actually all other unidentified Lees in Howard Co. Missouri in the various censuses up to 1850. They are not (necessarily) siblings of Richard Lee. Hancock Lee and Mary Willis are often given for the parents of Richard Lee but many researchers dispute this and DNA tests have shown it cannot be the case.	Lee, Unconfirmed (I9156)
1960	“Joseph R. Yoakley is the fifth of the nine children born to his parents. The first seventeen years of his life were passed on the farm and the following three years were passed in a printing office. In 1876 he came to Texas, stopped in Tarrant county four years, and then settled in Shiloh, where for the past eight years he as been engaged in general merchandising. He received the appointment of postmaster in November, 1885, and has filled the postion until the present time to the entire satisfaction of the community. In March 1882, Mr. Yoakley married Miss Georgia Mills, daughter of Dr. Mills, of Alabama, and there have been born to this union two children -- W. Carlos and C. Wallace.” “JR had a general store, a sawmill & was a blacksmith. Said to be a Scottsman. Member of "Woodmen of the World". Had sons: Wallos, Carl, Berlos & Joseph & a daughter Wilma.” The family was living in Denton Co., Texas in 1900. “J. R. Yoakley Dead Record-Chronicle, Special WAKETON, June 26. -- J.R. Yoakley, a well known businessman of Yoakley’s Store near Shiloh, died at his home Saturday afternoon of heart failure, and was buried in Shiloh cemetery Sunday, several from here attending the services. Mr. Yoakley was well known thruout his section of the county where he had lived for many years. He was postmaster at Shiloh a number of years before that office was discontinued.” Yoakley opened his store in 1880 and operated it until his death in 1917. His wife ran the store thereafter at least until the 1930s. It was one of the oldest businesses continuously run in Denton Co. It was a general merchandise business in the 1880s, and for many years the Yoakleys had a large volume of trade, supplying the needs of the people over a wide area of the county. In the earlier days a large stock of merchandise, including dry goods and clothing, was carried, but with the advent of better roads and faster means of travel, more of the people in that section traded in larger communities, and by the 1930s a smaller stock of goods, consisting largely of groceries and various household articles, is carried.	Yoakley, Joseph Richard (I7057)
1961	“Son Carl's children were JR, Adalaie, Carline, Ernestine,Monty & Donald.” Carlos is living with his deceased wife’s parents, E & M.E. Newton, in Ochiltree, Texas in 1910. He and his wife, Curtis, are living as roomers in Fort Worth, Texas in 1930.	Yoakley, Wilton Carlos (I2022)
1962	• EVENT: 12 SEP 1918, St. Mihiel, France?wounded during WWI at Battle of St. Mihiel, 1st Sgt. CO. C, 356 Inf., ?89 Division	Lee, Wilfred Clay (I8024)