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Document Number: 79
Author: NEW ENGLAND HISTORIC GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY
Institution: SLGS
Call Number: US/CAN Book 924/B2ne
Classification: ORIGINAL: GeneralHistory
Location: USA, Massachusetts
Last Will and Testament of HAWKINS, James
Document Entry Number: 1
Information:
Volume: 48
Page: 460
Transcription:
Son James Hawkins half of pasture at end of orchard at one and twenty.
Wife all land, house and cattle not disposed of. Five daughters, Mary, Ruth, Damarus, Elizabeth, Sarah.
To ten grandchildren each a bible at twelve years of age. Wife Mary sole executrix, and friends William Davis and Thomas Lake overseers 25 June, 1699. Wilnesses William Davies, Samuel Hayward, and Thos Lake. Probated 30 April 1670.
Inventory James Hawkins sen of Boston.
Apprized 1 Apr 1670, by Peter Brackett, John Morse.
vol vii, pp 42,43
Associated Persons and Marriages:
HAWKINS, James (Id# 513) DiedD, MEDIUM
HAWKINS, James (Id# 513) LinkFToChildren, MEDIUM
HAWKINS, James (Id# 513) Name, MEDIUM
HAWKINS, Mrs. Mary (Id# 512) Name, MEDIUM
HAWKINS, Mrs. Mary (Id# 512) LinkMToChildren, MEDIUM
HAWKINS, (Sir) James (Id# 466) LinkCToFather, MEDIUM
HAWKINS, (Sir) James (Id# 466) LinkCToMother, MEDIUM
HAWKINS, (Sir) James (Id# 466) Name, MEDIUM
HAWKINS, James and HAWKINS, Mrs. Mary (Id# 1335) LinkMarriage, MEDIUM
Death of MEACHAM, William at the Battle of Bunker Hill.
Document Entry Number: 2
Information:
Volume: 49
Page: 203
The following is all taken from an article entitled "Capt. William Meacham at Bunker Hill."
Transcription:
Capt. William Meacham at Bunker Hill.
By E.S Willcox, Esq., of Peoria, Ill., Librarian of the Public Library
WILLIAM MEACHAM, of New Salem, Mass., captain of a company of so called minute-men, was killed in the battle of Bunker Hill, but I have been unable to find any published record of that fact, and am told that his name does not appear upon the marble tablets at Bunker Hill, which profess to give the names of officers who fell in that action.
In the REGISTER, vol. 27, for 1873, page 122, his name is given in a "List of officers who were in the battle of Bunker's (Breed's) Hill, June 17, 1775, not named in Frothingham's 'Siege of Boston,' second edition," as captain in Col. Benjamin Ruggles Woodbridge's Regiment, but it is not stated that he fell there.
As Capt. Meacham was my mother's grandfather, and as family tradition and the family Bibles claim that he was killed at Bunker Hill, I have naturally looked for some official or published confirmation of the fact, but, until this last summer, without success.
While in Boston, July last, pursuing my inquiries, Mr. G.W.Brown, the obliging attendant in the rooms of the Massachusetts State Archives, State House, handed me the original paper, well preserved, of which the following is a copy:
December ye 15th 1775 This may certify that I William Stacy and I William Smith and I Ben Haskall were well knowing to the guns of Capt Wm Meacham and that of John Ganson, the sd Capt were killed the said John were wounded in the action on Bunker's hill ye 17 of June last we therefore have prized the sd Capt. gun at 3 00s 00d the Bayonet and Belt at 0 09s 08d and the sd Jno. gun at 2 14s 00d the sd Capt. gun was a compleat fuze* the other a New French Regular gun.
William Stacy, (Majr)
William Smith, (Lt)
Benj'n Hascall, (Sergt.)
* For fuzee, no doubt
[Massachusetts Archives, Vol 138, page 375]
Here is the incontestable proof of what I was seeking, carefully filed and indexed and easily found at a moment's notice. My astonishment at finding such a document as this, at holding it in my hand, may be imagined, and also my gratitude to the grand old State of Massachusetts for so sacredly preserving and guarding the original records of the deeds of her brave sons.
But Mr. Brown gave me still a greater surprise by stepping back into one of the alcoves and bringing me the original muster-roll or pay-roll of my great-grandfather's company, a little faded and yellow with age but in perfect preservation, containing the names of fifty-three men who composed the company, date and place of enlistment, number of miles marched, amounts due each one for mileage, service, etc., etc., etc., and on the back, endorsed for filing, in a bold, clerical hand, the following:
Capt. Wm Meacham
Army Roll (Pounds)205: 18/9
Jany 9th
Coll Wodbridge's
Regt.
The muster-roll was headed: "A muster-roll of the Company under the command of Captian John King in Colonel Woodbridge's Regiment to the first of August, 1775."
The first line is in substance as follows:
William Meacham, town New Salem; rank, Captain; killed June 17; time of enlistment, May ye 11th; travel, 90 miles; amount, 1d a mile 7/6; time of service, 1 month 9 days; whole amount, (pounds)8 05s 11d 1q; guns 1; bayonet 1; himself lost June 17, and so on.
The second name on the roll is that of John King, sergeant, then captain, the one who succeeded Capt. Meacham in command, and who made out the quarterly payroll, Aug 1st following. It is his name, evidently taken from this pay-roll, which appears in place of Capt. Meacham's in the REGISTER, vol. 27 p. 122, for 1873.
In this list or roll of fifty-three men in Capt. Meacham's company, who were mostly from New Salem, appear also the names of Jeremiah Meacham, Jonathan Meacham, John Meacham -- four brothers Meacham -- and Moses Curtis, who married their sister Mary Meacham after whom my mother was named. John Meacham died many years afterward at Benson Vt. Jeremiah died in Oneida Co, N.Y., and Jonathan at Petersham, Mass. Moses Curtis was the grandfather of Rev. Dr. Harvey Curtis, a graduate of Middlebury College and subsequently President of Knox College, Galesburg, Ill.
Capt William Meacham was born in Salem, Mass., March 10, 1742, and married Sarah Cook in 1771 -- the ancestor of the family came over to Salem previous to 1640, from Somersetshire, England.
After his death his widow with her two young children, William and Jeremiah, removed to North Adams where she taught school, and then married Zadok Everest, a widower from Ticonderoga, N.Y., with two children, William and Sally. They had ten children more - Lois who married Erastus Swift of Bridport, Vt., son of the Rev Dr. Job Swift, and after whom I was named; Zadok, Dudley, Udney, Hiram, Solomon, Charles, Lorraine (grandmother, I think, of the Murrays of Clarendon Springs, Vt.), Rhoda and Esther. The Everests were a large family connection long well known on the lake shore in Essex Co. N.Y., and in Addison Co., Vt. The Sally Everest mentioned above married Loudon Case and lived many years in Rock Island, Ill.
Since, so far as I have been able to discover, there exists no published acknowledgement that Capt. William Meacham lost his life while commanding a company at Bunker Hill, although there is abundant and easily accessible evidence of the fact in the Massachusetts State Archives, I have thought it a matter of historical as well as family interest to publish these particulars. There are many descendants of Capt. Meacham and his brothers who will be interested in knowing them.
Muster Roll of Capt. John King's Company, August 1, 1775
Men's Name
|
Towns whence they came
|
Rank
|
Time of Inlistment
|
Travell
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Amount at 1d a mile
|
Time of service
|
Whole amount
|
Notes
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William Meacham
|
New Salem
|
Capt. killd June 17
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May ye 11th
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90
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7-6
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1 month 3 days
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(pounds)8 5s 11d 1q
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Lost his gun June 17
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Moses Curtice
|
New Salem
|
Corpl
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Aprial 26
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90
|
7-6
|
3 month 13 days
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(pounds)7 19s 10d 2q
|
|
Jeremiah Meacham
|
New Salem
|
Corpl
|
Aprial 26
|
90
|
7-6
|
3 month 13 days
|
(pounds)7 19s 10d 2q
|
|
Jonathan Meacham
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New Salem
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privat
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May 11
|
90
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7-6
|
2 months 25 days
|
(pounds)6 3s 2d 0q
|
|
John Meacham
|
New Salem
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privat
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May 11
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90
|
7-6
|
2 months 25 days
|
(pounds)6 3s 2d 0q
|
|
Editor's Comments About Entry:
This entry is significant because it clears up confusion about Mary Meacham (ID#211). Previously we did not know if she was Mary or Molly Meacham. Also, I am not sure if Sarah Cook was William's only wife, Jane Peace Duncan has also been said to have been his wife.
Associated Persons and Marriages:
MEACHAM, William (Id# 286) Title, HIGH
MEACHAM, William (Id# 286) Name, MEDIUM
MEACHAM, William (Id# 286) DiedD, HIGH
MEACHAM, William (Id# 286) DiedP, HIGH
MEACHAM, William (Id# 286) Profession, HIGH
MEACHAM, William (Id# 286) BornD, MEDIUM
MEACHAM, William (Id# 286) BornP, MEDIUM
MEACHAM, Jeremiah (Id# 284) Name, MEDIUM
MEACHAM, Jeremiah (Id# 284) DiedP, MEDIUM
MEACHAM, Jeremiah (Id# 284) Profession, MEDIUM
MEACHAM, Jonathan (Id# 294) Name, MEDIUM
MEACHAM, Jonathan (Id# 294) Profession, MEDIUM
MEACHAM, Jonathan (Id# 294) DiedP, MEDIUM
MEACHAM, John (Id# 290) DiedP, MEDIUM
MEACHAM, John (Id# 290) Profession, MEDIUM
MEACHAM, John (Id# 290) Name, MEDIUM
MEACHAM, Mary (Id# 211) Name, MEDIUM
CURTIS, Moses (Id# 212) Name, MEDIUM
MEACHAM, William and COOK, Sarah (Id# 1103) LinkMarriage, MEDIUM
MEACHAM, William and COOK, Sarah (Id# 1103) MarrD, MEDIUM
CURTIS, Moses and MEACHAM, Mary (Id# 210) LinkMarriage, MEDIUM
MEACHAM, Jeremiah: Commentary on marriage mixup
Document Entry Number: 3
Information:
Volume: 35
Page: Unknown
Transcription:
MEACHUM - In Savage's Gen. Dictionary it is stated that Jeremiah Meachum, of Salem, 1660, married Deborah, daughter of John Brown of Watertown, and died 1695 at the age of 81. Having had occasion lately to look up the Meachums and the Hackers, I find an egregious mistake regarding the above marriage, which should be set right. The above Jeremiah made his will April 12, 1694 at which time he styles himself quite ancient, and about 81 years old. His will was proved Nov 18, 1695, at which time he would be 82 years old. He also names his first wife Margaret, deceased, and his present wife Alice.
Mr. Meachum was born about 1613. Mr. Brown, father of Deborah, born 1631, and the last named born 1673.
In farther search I found it was Mr. Meachum's grandson Jeremiah, born Dec 21, 1673, who married said Deborah, a partial account of whose family is on Salem records. I thought an abstract of the foregoing, published in the REGISTER as errata, would prove beneficial to the public. I would say that the grandson Jeremiah was son of Jeremiah Jr., and Mary, daughter of Henry Trask.
Perley Derby --- Salem, Mass.
Editor's Comments About Entry:
Marriage to Bliss, Freelove 1698
Marriage to Brown, Deborah 1693, May 25
which make Deborah Brown the first wife.
Associated Persons and Marriages:
SOUTHWICK, Mary (Id# 324) LinkCToFather, MEDIUM
MEACHAM, Jeremiah (Id# 315) BornD, MEDIUM
MEACHAM, Jeremiah (Id# 315) LinkCToFather, MEDIUM
MEACHAM, Jeremiah (Id# 315) LinkCToMother, MEDIUM
MEACHAM, Jeremiah (Id# 313) LinkFToChildren, MEDIUM
SOUTHWICK, Mary (Id# 324) LinkMToChildren, MEDIUM
TRASK, Henry and SOUTHWICK, Mary (Id# 300) LinkMarriage, MEDIUM
MEACHAM, Jeremiah and TRASK, Mary (Id# 1065) LinkMarriage, MEDIUM
MEACHAM, Jeremiah: Account of Murder of Wife
Document Entry Number: 4
Information:
Volume: 35
Page: 435
The following was recorded by the REGISTER from the following source: Memoranda from the Rev. William Cooper's Interleaved Almanacs. The Rev. Cooper was a resident of Boston, Mass from 1716 until his death in 1743.
Transcription:
1715: Mar 23. A melancoly Relation of a barbarous murder committed at Rhoad Island, by one Jeremiah Meacham, a man of abt 40 years of age , born at Salem Village, but had liv'd in yt colony abt 20 years: who one evening kill'd his wife with whom he had liv'd well, and had children; and also his wife's sister; both without any known reason or provocation, but by a diabolical impulse. He first cut them with his hatchet, and then his wife's throat with a penknife. A man coming to them he also dangerously wounded; and then set fire to his house, and cut his own throat; but the fire being extinguished, and his wound not mortal, he was apprehended & committed.
Associated Persons and Marriages:
MEACHAM, Jeremiah (Id# 315) Name, MEDIUM
Last Will and Testament of WHITMORE, Francis
Document Entry Number: 5
Information:
Volume: 9
Page: 134
Transcription:
THE DISPOSAL OF THE ESTATE OF FRANCIS WHITMORE OF CAMBRIDGE, IN NEW ENGLAND
After payment of my just debts, I do give unto my loving wife the use and enfeofment of my whole estate in housing, lands and moveables (excepting that part of my land by me already given unto my son Samuel) during her widowhood for her livelihood and for the bringing up of my three youngest children, and for the expending of what learning she shall be able upon them. But if she marry to another man, my will is that she shall have thirty pounds out of my moveable estate to dispose of as she shall see meet. To my two youngest sons Thomas and Joseph I do give my housing, barns and my part of the new mill, with all my lands thereunto belonging; excepting that part of the land by me set out and delivered to my son Samuel which shall be the full of his portion; he not to share in any after division of any part of my estate to be equally divided between them. They to enter upon the posession thereof at the age of twenty and one years of age if their mother be not then living; but if she be then living and continue my widow, she shall not be dispossessed of any part of my estate during her life. Also my will is that what of my estate do remain at my wife's decease or marriage which of them shall first happen, with what each of my children have already had being added thereunto, shall be equally divided among them, to each an equal share. My two youngest sons to have the housing and lands as aforesaid and to pay out of them to the rest of my children that which shall be accounted due to them, as followeth: My eldest son Francis his part to be due him two full years after the posessing of my youngest son of the housing and lands as aforesaid. The second two years after; the third two years after, and so successively till all be paid. To my grandchildren of Daniel Markham which he had by my daughter Elizabeth, I do give to each of them twenty shillings out of my estate. Also I do nominate my loving friends William Locke Sen. of Woburn and Francis Moore of Cambridge to be my executors of this my last will.
8th m. 8th day 1685.
The estate was valued at 305 9s. [Middlesex Recs. Liber 6, p. 270]
Associated Persons and Marriages:
WHITMORE, Francis (Id# 533) LinkFToChildren, MEDIUM
WHITMORE, Elizabeth (Id# 176) LinkCToFather, MEDIUM
WHITMORE, Francis (Id# 795) LinkCToFather, MEDIUM
WHITMORE, Samuel (Id# 797) LinkCToFather, MEDIUM
MARKHAM, Daniel and WHITMORE, Elizabeth (Id# 202) LinkMarriage, MEDIUM
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