For my Irish immigrant ancestors, on their holiday. While I've been able to document their lives following their arrival in the States, the place of origin is not yet known for several of them, so the research continues on.

One Irish branch settled in the city of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. They were: 
My 2nd Great-Grandparents,
JOHN CONDON (b. abt March 1833 Cappoqiun, Waterford - d. 30 June 1884, Portsmouth, NH)
ELLEN GRIFFIN (abt 1834 IRE - 17 July 1894, Portsmouth, NH)

​My 3rd Great-Grandmother,
ELLEN (BOWLES) GRIFFIN (abt 1800 - 17 Dec 1889, Portsmouth, NH)

There is a stoneless plot at Calvary Cemetery in Portsmouth that bears the name of Condon and Mulligan on its concrete border, the latter being the married name of my 2nd Great-Aunt Margaret. Cemetery records do not show who lies in the other graves, but it is probably John and Ellen, and possibly her mother Ellen.

Gloucester, Massachusetts was where another line of my Irish families settled.
My 3rd Great-Grandparents,
DENNIS HESSIAN (11 Aug 1827  Bruff, Limerick - 17 Mar 1882, lost at sea, George's Bank)
MARY WALDRON (abt 1825 Killham, IRE (unk location) - 14 Sep 1857 Gloucester, MA)

The results from my autosomal DNA tests varied greatly when it came to calculating my Irish ethnicity. Some of the companies even combined Ireland and United Kingdom into a single percentage value. The highest return came from AncestryDNA, at 31%.
Note: these test numbers have changed over the years [see blog entry from Nov 2016: It's in my DNA]

Week 44 of the 52 Ancestors Challenge - "Frightening"

It was a Sunday evening, the 30th of March 1656, the night that Old Goodwife Walford turned into a cat. This was according to the testimony of a Susannah Trimmings of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, who was walking home that night when she was confronted by Jane Walford. "Lend me a pound of cotton" she demanded, to which Susannah refused. First verbally threatened by Walford, she was then "struck as with a clap of fire", before the witch vanished by the water side "in the shape of a cat". This was Mrs. Trimming's testimony, under oath, at court on 18 April 1656. Her husband, Oliver, also testified, saying that his wife returned home in a sad condition and could not speak, as if something in her throat prevented her from doing so. She finally was able to speak "Lord have mercy upon me, this wicked woman will kill me". In court weeks later, she still complained of being ill.

Jane Walford was brought into this court in June 1656 along with son Jeremiah (likely the witness who said he was at Goodman Walford's home, with his wife being there the entire night). Several others entered court, including John and Agnes Puddington, who relayed the story of a yellow cat that would follow the wife of W. Evans all day. One day, Mrs Evans visited the Puddington home, and the yellow cat arrived that evening. John attempted to shoot it, but his gun failed to work. Two other cats joined the party and then "the yellow one vanished away on the plain ground", the other two also taking off.

Another testimony came from Nicholas Rowe, who claimed Jane Walford visited his bedroom on two occasions following her being accused and, without saying a word, placed her hand on his chest, causing him great pain and making him unable to speak. Mr. Rowe (or Roe) was no stranger to the courts - he and his wife Elizabeth had been in Dover court back on the 3rd of October (3rd of 8th month) 1648, being sued for slander, as the wife had accused Jane Walford of being a witch [NH State Papers Vol 40, pg 38]. Mrs. Row had been found guilty in that case, and was ordered to publicly announce at public meetings in Dover and Strawbery Banke that she had done Jane wrong. This Elizabeth Roe actually had several cases against her on this court date for slander and other ill speech which resulted in a public whipping verdict.

The 1656 Trimmings case was dropped, with Jane being discharged from the court on 7 May 1657 [NH State Papers Vol 40 pg 129].  She would return again (now a widow), on 28 June 1670 [Vol 40, pg 258], when she charged Robert Couch for slander, after he called her a witch. She won this one as well.

JANE, the wife of THOMAS WALFORD, was my 10th Great Grandmother.

​Below is a clipping of a French map of Portsmouth, dated around 1782 [from the Leventhal Map Center]. This inlet of water, known as Sagamore Creek since at least the late 1600's, for a time was called "Witch Creek". Was this because of the Walford family, who lived along this body of water? A different creek, located further south of this, now carries this name.

Sources:
"Witchcraft in New Hampshire" - N.H. State Papers [Vol 1, pg 217-219]
"New Hampshire Court Records" in [State Papers Vol. 40]

The 52 Ancestors Challenge, Week 40: "Ten"
"Ten" being the number of children of William and Elizabeth (Lucy) Chandler, as found listed in his probate papers following his death circa 1747.
​ 
WILLIAM CHANDLER was my 7th Great-Grandfather, born in Dedford*, Kent, England [Marr Rec; Old Kittery, pg 316]. He was in Portsmouth, New Hampshire by 1714, when he was married to ELIZABETH LUCY on 22 Dec [NEHGR, vol 23 pg 271]. He was a shipwright.

​He was still living in Portsmouth in 1726 when he purchased a 1/2 acre of land in Kittery from Tobias Leighton [York Deeds, Bk XII, Fol. 113-114]. The plot was located on the Piscataqua River, at a place called Crooked Lane*.

​​William Chandler probably died near the end of 1747, as administration of his estate was begun on 4 Jan 1747/48. An inventory was taken and filed on 4 Apr 1748, valued at £406, and the division of his personal property was done so on 26 July 1748 [York County Probate, Vol 7 pg 207]. With this act, we are given the names of his ten children. In numerical order, as was listed in the division:
i. William Chandler
ii. Mary Marr, wife of John Marr
iii. Benjamin Chandler
iv. Joseph Chandler
v. Lucy Pevy, wife of Edward Pevy [Peavey]
vi. Samuel Chandler
vii. Thomas Chandler
viii. John Chandler
ix. Alexander Chandler
x. Katherine Chandler [listed as a Rand in Jan 1749]

Each child of William Chandler, dec'd, was given  £18.8.4 worth of goods from his estate. As for his real estate, which consisted of the dwelling house and the 1/2 acre of land, brothers William and Thomas filed a claim that they wanted to co-own it, instead of it being sold off. In Jan 1749/1750, the probate court agreed to this [Vol 8, pg 37], on condition that the brothers paid £18 to each remaining sibling. Wife Elizabeth (Lucy) must have predeceased William, as there is no mention of her in these probate records.

Son William Jr died by 1756, and his probate papers are mixed in with his fathers (File #2768). His inventory shows he still owned 1/2 share of his late father's house and land. 2/3 of it would end up being sold (so his widow Mary retained 1/3 as her dower).
 

*Notes: 
"Dedford" is not found in any records, but there is a Deptford in County Kent, which is probably the correct location.
​
"Crooked Lane" - the section of Kittery that is now Whipple Road (Rt 103). I have yet to trace the land ownership past the Chandlers, to find which plot of land along the river was theirs.
​
​Sources:
​York County, Maine Estate Files (File #2768 William Chandler)

Week 39 of the 52 Ancestors Challenge - "On the Farm"

This is my Great-Grandmother's brother, John Knight Jr., at his farm on Gosling Road in Portsmouth, New Hampshire (dated prior to 1950). It was passed down to him by his father, JOHN KNIGHT, who died in 1917.

This property was purchased by my 2nd Great-Grandfather in 1913, who had previously only rented farms in Portsmouth and Newington, NH, following his move here from England in the 1880's. Uncle Johnny didn't marry, and lived here with his sister Abbie, who was married but deserted by her husband. My grandmother and her siblings also lived here for a time, after their parents met their untimely deaths in 1929 and 1932.

The government came through in the 1950's, with plans on building an air base in Newington, spreading partly into Portsmouth, and included the Knight property. In April 1952, Uncle Johnny sold off all his standing timber to H. Roby Jewell, with the right to construct a sawmill on the property while the clear cutting was done. In October of the same year, all the heirs of John Knight Sr (and their spouses) signed over the 65 acres to the U.S.A. for $10,600.

On the Knight land was the "Roach Cemetery", and was one of eleven that needed to be moved prior to the construction of the air base. There were 75 (or 86) graves that needed to be relocated from the disputed area.

The 1892 map of Portsmouth shows the home of "Miss A. Roach", whose home John Knight would purchase many years later [from Clarence D. Foss, who had purchased it from Amanda Pickering; it having previously belonged to Owen Roach, nephew to (Miss) Ann Roach]. Also on the map (to the right) is the location of the Gee Pickering farm, where John Knight had rented before moving to the Gosling Road property.

1952 topo map of Portsmouth, NH, showing rough location of the John Knight property. The "Spur Road", which would later become Rt 4/Route 16, was not yet built.

This is the current map of the former Pease Air Force Base, showing where the Knight formerly was (approximately, I'm no surveyor!). Circled in blue is the Pease Development Authority building, which sits on the same knoll where the old farm once stood. 

Johnny Knight and his brother Walter, at his Newmarket, NH farm (photo dated 10 July 1967). He passed away the following year, and is buried (in an unmarked grave, as is most of his family) in Newington Cemetery.

Week 27 of the #52Ancestors Challenge - "Independence"

​On the 14th of March, 1776, the Continental Congress passed a resolution, recommending that all persons "​who are notoriously disaffected to the Cause of AMERICA, Or who have not associated, and refuse to associate, to defend by ARMS, the United Colonies, against the Hostile Attempts of the British Fleets and Armies." be disarmed.

In response to this, the Committee of Safety in New Hampshire passed a resolution on 12 April, 1776, requiring the selectmen of each town to gather signatures from all males above 21 years of age, excepting "Lunaticks, Idiots and Negroes", and to report to the Committee or the General Assembly all those who refused to sign. Those opposing this ASSOCIATION TEST were not necessarily pro-British, but included ministers and Quakers whose religious beliefs were anti-war. Some men who were currently serving in the army may have been missed as well, and the reports for some towns are fragmentary or missing (or never turned in).

Below are the names of my ancestors found in these Association Test lists. Some were already veterans of the war, and others would later enlist. A lack of information and/or common names will prevent me from knowing what, if any, service, the others may have been involved in.
​

BARRINGTON - John Blake (1716-1816), my 7th Great-Grandfather

BRENTWOOD - Samuel Lock (Locke), my 6th Great Grandfather (1740-1818)

HAMPTON - John Taylor (1711-1796)

NEW CASTLE 
Christopher Amazeen, 5th Great Grandfather (1737-1823)
David Mitchal (Mitchell) Jr, 5th Great Grandfather [a "Jr", but his father David isn't seen on the list]
Isaac Pridham, 5th Great Grandfather (1746- )
Benjamin Yeaten (Yeaton), 5th Great Grandfather (ca 1724-1785)
Richard Yeaton and son Richard Junr (under list of refused, but he was serving in the army at the time)
[Missing from the list are 6th Great-Grandfather Henry Tredick, and 5th GGF Joseph Amazeen (ca 1736-1825)]

NORTH HAMPTON - "Frances" (Francis) Page, 6th Great Grandfather (1724-1802). Son Coffin Page would have aged 21 at this time, so should have been a signer. He had already served in the army, and would reenlist.

NORTHWOOD - William Blaake (Blake), 6th Great Grandfather, and son of John Blake (on Barrington list above)

PORTSMOUTH - Nathaniel Lear

WAKEFIELD - Only one "Joseph Leavitt" was found on the list of this town, so the other one (either the father or son) was probably still in Exeter (listing for this town not complete), or was serving in the army.

Sources:
New Hampshire Provincial and State Papers, Volume 30 [on archive.org]
Wilson, Emily S. Inhabitants of New Hampshire, 1776. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1993 [on Ancestry.com, this is same data as above NH State Papers, but listed in alphabetical order by surname]