Message Board Lancaster Online

    Welcome to the Lancaster Online Message Board and Guest Book. We post notes of interest to residents, messages, opinions and comments about this site. This board is meant to be a constructive means for sharing ideas. It is a place to ask questions (which we will continue to forward to the appropriate town departments, but this gives our readers a chance to add information about genealogy and town history, both among our frequently asked questions).
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NEWEST MESSAGE LISTED FIRST

I went to the Lancaster Middle School from 1978 - 1981 and was wondering if anyone would have video tapes of the school gym shows that we put on each year. I know the school used to tape them, if anyone from the school knows where the tapes are that would be helpful too. Please contact me with any information at agrivakis@comcast.net.
Alexis

I have a 2.5 year old daughter. We are looking to start her in a school like environment soon. Maybe like a part time playgroup that's a few hours a week. I was hoping someone could point me in the right direction. I have heard nothing except for great things about the Lancaster school system. So though we currently live in Leominster at this time I would really like to get my family involved in the Lancaster community, it is a town I would gladly reside in, in the future.
Responses will be posted and forwarded

I am looking for information about a business around the year 1918. My uncle Patrick Martin was a horseman and on his WWI draft card he said his employer was SC.B. Wiggins of South Lancaster, MA. Would anyone know of this business and what type of business it was?

Thanks,
Nancy Tower

Responses will be posted and forwarded

An early drawing circa 1840 by Sarah Hutchings of S.Lancaster MA will be in an auction Saturday April 16. See http://www.ROYKAS.com for a picture and more information

Sincerely,

Paul Royka
Royka's Auctioneers & Appraisers
21 Main Street
Lunenburg, MA 01462
(978) 582-8207
paulroyka@aol.com
http://www.ROYKAS.com

I am a descendent of Hannah Beaman and Samuel Wilson. I have been concerned about some of the inconsistencies in data and would like someone more closely associated with the area and the families. As I am from one of the younger children of younger children some of my data have become garbled in the retelling. Any assistance would be appreciated.

Richard Wilson

Tesoft@aol.com

Richard Wilson

Tesoft@aol.com

Lancaster was incorporated in 1653.

It is my understanding that Lancaster was founded in 1620 by a group of people from England. One of my ancestors was in that group.

This information was given me by a cousin of my father. Is this cousin in error?

Lois in Wisconsin

Responses will be posted and forwarded

I am looking for a property in Lancaster to rent, lease, or purchase. Must have stable for an English shire, an Irish hunter, and a pony. The house and yard need not be large,a riding arena would be nice but the stable is the main concern. If anyone knows of such a property, or of a firm that deals in such property please let me know.
kiltone@aol.com

I am coming to Lancaster in May and am a Philip Goss and Keziah Cooley and their son Philip Goss and his wife, Mary Kendall's descendant. These people lived in Lancaster in the early 1700's. I am wondering if anyone knows where they are buried, where they might have lived, or other information that might be helpful or of interest to me in regard to them while I am in the Lancaster area.

If so, please email me at: usamom99@hotmail.com

Thank you,

JHS

Hi: I was wondering whether you found any information on Lt. Jonathan Houghton -born March 28, 1719 in Lancaster, MA. or his son James Houghton. The family might have moved to Bolton,MA. I am working on the history of this line. Thank you, Marilyn Dickerson
Responses will be posted and forwarded

As my "cousin" John C. Schumacher-Hardy notes on the message board, most of America must be related to Gamaliel Beaman. I am.
I am descended from John and Priscilla, buried in the Old Settler's cemetery.
I am interested in guidance about walking around parts of Lancaster that may give me the feel of the area, particularly as it would have felt to the settlers in the 1600's. Is there anybody who would be willing to walk me around the Neck? the rivers? show me old homesites? I'll be in Acton March 26-30.
Thanks.
Henry Walker (my mother is a Beaman)
Responses will be posted and forwarded

New business opens:

Where are your Treasured Photos?
If you are like most Americans, they are stored in crushed shoeboxes, the envelopes they came in, and/or peeling, cracked sticky-page photo albums that are actually sucking the color out of your precious photos. I’ll show you how to preserve your family’s memories in Fun, Safe, Archival Quality Scrapbooks and permanent storage options. I can teach you how to create treasures that will be passed on for many generations to come. I host monthly workshops in my home for those who want a quiet place to work on their projects and to network with other scrapbookers to share ideas and ask questions. The products I use are all safe, archival quality, items from Creative Memories. Call/email me if you’d like to get on the road to preserving your memories.
Thanks,
Lisa Boutotte
73 Carter St.
Lancaster, Ma 01523
(978) 368-0004
cmlisab@comcast.net

Looking for an old friend named Tom Saldana formerly of Milling Street in Lancaster, please email me at: luckeys@excite.com. I have lost contact with him and would very much lick to get back in touch. Thanks you for your help!!
Lance and Kelli Luckey

My parents live where the Beaman Oak used to stand. We had to have it cut down because the town said it was a danger (&it was), but the stump is still there.

Hello, I am moving to Lancaster and understand that the two ponds on the Kilbourn land (George Hill) used to provide the town water. Does anyone know where the service ran to and how long ago it was discontinued? Thanks!
Responses will be posted and forwarded

Our family recently moved from Clinton to Lancaster and we are sending our children to the Clinton Middle School this year. I was wondering if any family in Lancaster on the Route 2 side of Lancaster (we live on Shirley Road, about a mile from Shirley) is doing the same. I’m looking for a family to share the drive from Lancaster to Clinton every day. I can drive your children and ours in the morning, if someone can pick them up after school. My e-mail address is dasheridan@comcast.net

Thanks
Denise Sheridan

I have a by-fold billfold that was in my mothers house on the inside it says Cobb&Johnson,Lancaster Mass. You can tell that it is old so I would say it was either my grandfather or great grandfather. I am wondering if Cobb & Johnson is still in business. Thank You, Tom
Responses will be posted and forwarded

respobse received:
The old leather wallet you recently found was made by a company that is no longer in business. At least two sizes of "pocket books," as they were commonly referred to (used by both males and females) in the 19th century, were manufactured
in Lancaster, MA between 1835 and 1875.

The business was established by Mr. B. M. Cobb by 1835. In 1852 he took on a partner by the name of George A. Johnson. In 1866, Mr. Johnson became sole proprietor and continued the business until 1875. After the business discontinued, the large Main St. building that had long served the company was converted into residential tenament housing.

A photograph of the building with the workers assembled in front, probably not much before 1875, shows a little over thirty employees, male and female, ranging in ages from childhood to mature adulthood. This photograph was included in the book by Acadia Publishers' Images of America series entitled "Lancaster," published in 2001 and compiled by Heather Maurer Lennon. The official town history, "History of Lancaster," published in 1879, written by Abidjah Marvin, briefly notes the business and its general history on page 606.

Most surviving wallets that were manufactured here have "MADE BY COBB & JOHNSON / LANCASTER, MASS." stamped within. These wallets were typical for wallets of the period, having long leather straps that
wrapped around the folded wallet and were tucked through short fastener strips on both sides of the folded wallet. The wallets were handmade and entirely leather with nothing but stitching holding them together, no metal, buttons, snaps or zippers. Men would often carry their personal wallets, which were longer and more rectangular in style than our modern "bill fold" wallets, in their upper inside coat pocket, close and safe. Today when an old wallet turns up in an attic, antique shop, trunk or
estate sale it's always fun to see if any papers or coins remain in the several sections within.

Similar styled old wallets that I've been lucky enough to find in my family's clutter have sheltered receipts, I-Owe-You's, notes,
advertisement or business cards, and a few old stamps. One had a note written in 1853 to my great-great-great-grandmother from her future husband inviting her to the "Farmers and Mechanics Ball." She must have prized the momento since she kept it in her wallet-pocketbook until her death many decades later.

I have one small-size Lancaster wallet / pocket book in my collection (from a former occupant of the Lancaster Poor Farm), but mine is mising it's wrap-around strap. It measures approximately 2.75" x 4.5". The town has several on display at our local Thayer Memorial Library. Please let me know if you are ever interested in parting with it, I collect Lancaster-related items.
:-)

See below for further information about Lancaster wallets.

Here's a transcription of a Clinton Courant newspaper clipping from c Jan. 1878:

"AN OLD POCKET BOOK. / The following interesting letter recently received by a citizen of Lancaster, explains itself. It may be proper to add, however, that Mr. Geo. A. Johnson has filled the order, and still has pocket-books on hand good for another quarter of a century. / Medina, Kansas, Dec. 7, 1877. Messrs. Cobb & Johnson, Lancaster, MA: / If you are still in the pocket-book business what will you charge me to send by mail one calfskin pocket-book about four and one-half inches long to carry in pants pocket? I have one of your make that I have carried twenty-six years and it is about played out. I carried it when I drove peddlars' cart for M. F. Wood of Lancaster. It has traversed the country from Lancaster through all the country to Concord and Keene, N. H. It has been carried a long time in the factories at Clinton; I drove milk cart for 'Fiddler's Green' to Clinton one year, during which time I collected many a bill from the size of a dollar down to a bungtown; I rented Sidney Harris' grist mill one year; bought corn and sold meal to Clintonites, always putting the money in the same pocket-book. April 12th, 1857, took it and started for bleeding Kansas, where the border ruffian war was raging; landed on April 27th, 1857. Bummed around the country; when Jim Lane went to Lecompton to disarm the border ruffians, went with him; hauled the Lawrence (Kansas) brass band, for which I got $18 in gold, put the same into said pocket-book. Commenced freighting over the prairies in 1857; traversed the whole country from Lawrence to Leavenworth, Kansas City, Fort Scott and all points, always putting all the money that came into my clutches into said pocket-book. / In 1859 I carried the mail from Lawrence, Kansas, to Sumner, on the Missouri river, a distance of fifty miles; used to go on horseback and had to go through in a day; one day my horse got sick and I had to walk the whole distance with mail bag on my back. After traveling about forty miles night came on, and being very footsore and no house within ten miles, this being in the Indian Reserve, thought I would lie down and sleep till morning, but before I had lain one-half hour the wolves set up such a terrible howling (I should think there were twenty) that I got up and plodded on to Lawrence; there being no one living on the north side of the river, and the ferryman having retired I had to lie there till morning, with all the money I possessed in --- this same pocket-book. / In 1860, the year of the drouth [sic, drought], I took a claim on government land in Douglas county, opened out a farm, put in twenty-five acres of corn, and fenced it, and when I found I was not going to raise anything, I took my team in September and loaded on at Lawrence for Pike's Peak, 750 miles. Traveled up the Kansas river, crossed over the divide through millions of buffalos to the big Platt river, went up the Platt river to Denver, Colorodo, thence into the Snowy range, returning home in dead of winter, making the trip in sixteen weeks and suffering fearfully with the cold. Picking up a man on my way home nearly starved to death, his fingeres frozen, having nothing to eat for eight days, only what he had picked off old buffalo bones with his knife, (he having been robbed of everything by the Indians). Landed at Lawrence in December, with the net proceeds of my trip ($300) in --- this same pocket-book. / In spring of 1861,went back on my claim, farmed through the summer, and when Jim Lane marched his army from Springfield, Mo., to Arkansas, went with him; staid [sic, stayed] all winter with the army, returning to my farm in the spring with the net proceeds of my trip in /// this s ame pocket-book. / In 1863 went back to farming again on my claim, tended my crop, and in the fall went to freighting on the road, from Lawrence to the southern country -- whereever I could get a load -- always putting my cash --- into this same pocket-book. / In the spring of 1864, getting tired of faming, I sold my farm for $1500, and my stock for $1500 more. I put all the money -- into the same pocket-book. / Went into Jefferson county, Kansas, bought an interest in a saw-mill, worked in the saw-mill a year, and bought out the banlance of the mill and paid for it out of --- this same pocket-book. / I run [sic, ran] this steam saw-mill several years, and in 1874 built a grist-mill and flouring-mill on the Deleware river, and paid all the money out of --- this same pocket-book. / In 1875, took in a partner for the sake of getting more means to handle the grain and flour business, and all the money has gone in and out of this historic pocket-book. Sometimes its full and sometimes it has narry 'red' in it. / With these few lines I shall have to close. I should like to tell you more about this pocket-book if I had time, for it has not one-half been told. / Now if you are living and in the business yet, give me your price; and if you are dead, please appear to me and tell me where to get one of the same kind. I have not been east since I left; it will be twenty-one years next April 12th since I started for the prairies in the far distant west. Should like to come back to Clinton and Lancaster and see the folds, when --- I get my new pocket-book. / Yours very truly, C. L. Thompson."

Now there was a fine, satisfied customer!

Hello,
I am doing an update of the Gamaliel Beaman and Sarah <Clark> family, of Dorchester and Lancaster, MA. I think that I have most of the Beamans that lived in and around Lancaster, but I have been receiving conflicting information on related families; such as the wrong spouce and children. Beaman women married the following named men in or around Lancaster:

        BARROW, BIGELOW, BINNEY, BOYNTON, BUCK, CARTER, CHAFFIN, DAKIN,
GALE, HASKELL, HERBERT, JOSLIN,         KNIGHT, OSGOOD, PIERCE,
RICHARDSON, SAWYER, WHEELOCK, WHITE, WILDER, WILLARD, WILLIAMS, WILSON.

If anyone is working on these families, I would be happy to share the
information that I have acquired.

Jack F. Beaman
jbeaman1@juno.com
Responses will be posted and forwarded

Hello all!

I am trying to convince my husband that we should move to Lancaster - I love the town and area. He works in Cambridge and is worried the commute will be absolutely horrendous, so I'm wondering if any of you could give us an idea of what the commute from Lancaster to the Cambridge area might be like.

Thanks so much!

Jenn (who's hoping to b the neighbor of some of you at some point!)
Responses will be posted and forwarded

Hello, My name is Carrie and I am writing in for any information that Lancaster residents can give me. I am looking into buying a home in Lancaster and I don't know anything about the town. I did notice that the taxes were a little high, but I was wondering if any residents could give me some usful imput as to what it is like living in Lancaster. Any relpys will be appreciated.
Thank you,
Carrie
carrieb78@hotmail.com
Responses will be posted and forwarded

Hi, I found your site on the web and I thought what the heck, leave a message. I am looking for the family of Patrick Monahan who moved to South Lancaster, Mass in the early 1980's. He is an old classmate of mine from State Street Elementary School in Westerly RI. A group of us are trying to locate and get addresses of our 6th grade graduation class (1979). His parents names are Joseph J. and Kathleen P. Can someone look up in your area phonebook and see if this family is still in the area. Thanks for any help at all.
Karen
Responses will be posted and forwarded
Response received:

hello karen:

one of my neighbor's is patrick monihan. he is my age so that would fit for your 1979 6th grade time period. so he must be the one!
i'm alerting him to this message and hopefully he'll contact you soon. good luck! send your email address to mine (see below) and i'll get it to him.

john schumacher-hardy

If that name sounds like one from the past history of Lancaster, you are right! I am Ralph Henry Houghton - direct descendant of Lancaster's first city clerk in 1655. I like your site and would like to include links to it for an electronic version of Dr. John W. Houghton's 1912 "The Houghton Genealogy".

Research on the Houghton family continues!!

Ralph

Does anyone know if Lancaster will be lighting the Christmas tree on the town green this year?

Answer will be posted

My condolences to the entire family of Lancaster residents.
To my fallen brother, Rest in Peace...Your job is done, and you have made the ultimate sacrifice.

Capt. A. Powell
Dracut Fire Department

Hi. My brother just found a little leather “wallet” in an estate sale. Written in ink on the inside is:
H(?) A. M.
4tTh Tennessee Cav
Diborville, Miss(?)

The leather is stamped Cobb & Johnson Lancaster, Mass. Can anyone there provide some history on “Cobb and Johnson”.

Thanks in advance.

James Temple
Canton, Texas
Responses will be posted and forwarded

Response received:
The old leather wallet your brother recently acquired in an estate sale in TX sure has wandered far from it's "home town" Lancaster, MA. At least two sizes of "pocket books," as they were commonly referred to (used by both males and females) in the 19th century, were manufactured in Lancaster, MA between 1835 and 1875.

The business was established by Mr. B. M. Cobb by 1835. In 1852 he took on a partner by the name of George A. Johnson. In 1866, Mr. Johnson became sole proprietor and continued the business until 1875. After the business discontinued, the large Main St. building that had long served the company was converted into residential tenament housing.

A photograph of the building with the workers assembled in front, probably not much before 1875, shows a little over thirty employees, male and female, ranging in ages from childhood to mature adulthood. This photograph was included in the book by Acadia Publishers' Images of America series entitled "Lancaster," published in 2001 and compiled by
Heather Maurer Lennon. The official town history, "History of Lancaster," published in 1879, written by Abidjah Marvin, briefly notes the business and its general history on page 606.

Most surviving wallets that were manufactured here have "MADE BY COBB & JOHNSON / LANCASTER, MASS." stamped within.   These wallets were typical for wallets of the period, having long leather straps that wrapped around the folded wallet and were tucked through short fastener strips on both sides of the folded wallet. The wallets were handmade and
entirely leather with nothing but stitching holding them together, no metal, buttons, snaps or zippers. Men would often carry their personal wallets, which were longer and more rectangular in style than our modern "bill fold" wallets, in their upper inside coat pocket, close and safe.
Today when an old wallet turns up in an attic, antique shop, trunk or estate sale it's always fun to see if any papers or coins remain in the several sections within.

Similar styled old wallets that I've been lucky enough to find in my family's clutter have sheltered receipts, I-Owe-You's, notes,
advertisement or business cards, and a few old stamps. One had a note written in 1853 to my great-great-great-grandmother from her future husband inviting her to the "Farmers and Mechanics Ball." She must have prized the momento since she kept it in her wallet-pocketbook until her death many decades later.

I have one small-size Lancaster wallet / pocket book in my collection (from a former occupant of the Lancaster Poor Farm), but mine is mising it's wrap-around strap. It measures approximately 2.75" x 4.5". The town has several on display at our local Thayer Memorial Library. Please tell your brother to keep me in mind if he ever wishes to part with his!!
:-)

Thanks for inquiring!

John C. Schumacher-Hardy / JCS12367@juno.com
PO Box 1697
So. Lancaster, MA 01561-1697

Another response:

Hello again:

Here's a transcription of a Clinton Courant newspaper clipping from c Jan. 1878:

"AN OLD POCKET BOOK.   / The following interesting letter recently received by a citizen of Lancaster, explains itself. It may be proper to add, however, that Mr. Geo. A. Johnson has filled the order, and still has pocket-books on hand good for another quarter of a century. / Medina, Kansas, Dec. 7, 1877. Messrs. Cobb & Johnson, Lancaster, MA: / If you are still in the pocket-book business what will you charge me to send by mail one calfskin pocket-book about four and one-half inches long to carry in pants pocket? I have one of your make that I have carried twenty-six years and it is about played out. I carried it when I drove peddlars' cart for M. F. Wood of Lancaster. It has traversed the country from Lancaster through all the country to Concord and Keene, N. H. It has been carried a long time in the factories at Clinton; I drove milk cart for 'Fiddler's Green' to Clinton one year, during which time I collected many a bill from the size of a dollar down to a bungtown; I rented Sidney Harris' grist mill one year; bought corn and sold meal to Clintonites, always putting the money in the same pocket-book. April 12th, 1857, took it and started for bleeding Kansas, where the border ruffian war was raging; landed on April 27th, 1857. Bummed around the country; when Jim Lane went to Lecompton to disarm the border ruffians, went with him; hauled the Lawrence (Kansas) brass band, for which I got $18 in gold, put the same into said pocket-book. Commenced freighting over the prairies in 1857; traversed the whole country from Lawrence to Leavenworth, Kansas City, Fort Scott and all points, always putting all the money that came into my clutches into said pocket-book. / In 1859 I carried the mail from Lawrence, Kansas, to Sumner, on the Missouri river, a distance of fifty miles; used to go on horseback and had to go through in a day; one day my horse got sick and I had to walk the whole distance with mail bag on my back. After traveling about forty miles night came on, and being very footsore and no house within ten miles, this being in the Indian Reserve, thought I would lie down and sleep till morning, but before I had lain one-half hour the wolves set up such a terrible howling (I should think there were twenty) that I got up and plodded on to Lawrence; there being no one living on the north side of the river, and the ferryman having retired I had to lie there till morning, with all the money I possessed in --- this same pocket-book. / In 1860, the year of the drouth [sic, drought], I took a claim on government land in Douglas county, opened out a farm, put in twenty-five acres of corn, and fenced it, and when I found I was not going to raise anything, I took my team in September and loaded on at Lawrence for Pike's Peak, 750 miles. Traveled up the Kansas river, crossed over the divide through millions of buffalos to the big Platt river, went up the Platt river to Denver, Colorodo, thence into the Snowy range, returning home in dead of winter, making the trip in sixteen weeks and suffering fearfully with the cold. Picking up a man on my way home nearly starved to death, his fingeres frozen, having nothing to eat for eight days, only what he had picked off old buffalo bones with his knife, (he having been robbed of everything by the Indians). Landed at Lawrence in December, with the net proceeds of my trip ($300) in --- this same pocket-book. / In spring of 1861,went back on my claim, farmed through the summer, and when Jim Lane marched his army from Springfield, Mo., to Arkansas, went with him; staid [sic, stayed] all winter with the army, returning to my farm in the spring with the net proceeds of my trip in /// this s ame pocket-book. / In 1863 went back to farming again on my claim, tended my crop, and in the fall went to freighting on the road, from Lawrence to the southern country -- whereever I could get a load -- always putting my cash --- into this same pocket-book. / In the spring of 1864, getting tired of faming, I sold my farm for $1500, and my stock for $1500 more. I put all the money -- into the same pocket-book. / Went into Jefferson county, Kansas, bought an interest in a saw-mill, worked in the saw-mill a year, and bought out the banlance of the mill and paid for it out of --- this same pocket-book. / I run [sic, ran] this steam saw-mill several years, and in 1874 built a grist-mill and flouring-mill on the Deleware river, and paid all the money out of --- this same pocket-book. / In 1875, took in a partner for the sake of getting more means to handle the grain and flour business, and all the money has gone in and out of this historic pocket-book. Sometimes its full and sometimes it has narry 'red' in it. / With these few lines I shall have to close. I should like to tell you more about this pocket-book if I had time, for it has not one-half been told. / Now if you are living and in the business yet, give me your price; and if you are dead, please appear to me and tell me where to get one of the same kind. I have not been east since I left; it will be twenty-one years next April 12th since I started for the prairies in the far distant west. Should like to come back to Clinton and Lancaster and see the folds, when --- I get my new pocket-book. / Yours very truly, C. L. Thompson."

Now there was a fine, satisfied customer!

John C. Schumacher-Hardy
So. Lancaster, MA

I need to know what county Lancaster was in before Worcester Co. was created in 1731. Everton's Handybook says Worcester was made from Suffolk and Middlesex Counties, both formed in 1643. If a man was born in Lancaster in
1720, what county would he have been born in? Thank you.
Responses will be posted and forwarded

Response received: Lancaster is referred to as "the oldest town in Worcester County" on the sign by our town hall. Indeed, incorporated in 1653, it is the eldest of the towns within Worcester County. However, at the time of its incorporation, Lancaster was part of Middlesex County. Not until the establishment of Worcester County in 1731 (effective July 10th) did
Lancaster fall under the new jurisdiction.

An interesting sideline to this county change is the fact that Lancaster was seriously considered for the location of the new county seat (we'd likely be in Lancaster County today had that choice been taken). However, a leading citizen of the period, Judge Joseph Wilder, was influential in preventing the establishment of the new county seat here, with its court house and governmental buildings / offices. He warned against Lancaster becoming the shire town "lest it should be the means of corrupting the morals of the inhabitants." And so Worcester, another central Massachusetts small town then about the same size as Lancaster, was instead chosen.

And here's another interesting tidbit. In the late 1800s a movement was afoot to reduce large Worcester County by establishing a new county in the north, to be named Lincoln County (in honor of the late, slain President). Fitchburg was the proposed town for this county seat to be located. Alas, this attempt was never approved by the State Legislature. Instead district courts were established through out the county and a branch Registry of Deeds was set-up in Fitchburg. Worcester County North Registry of Deeds still operates in Fitchburg, serving several of the surrounding towns.

To answer your original question. At the time, a person born in Lancaster On The Nashua in 1720 would have been considered a naitive of Middlesex County.

And now for an additional "monkey wrench." In 1720 Lancaster was larger than it is today. The following towns, or sections of these towns, were all once part of Lancaster township before breaking off to form separate towns: Harvard (1732), Bolton (1738), Leominster (1740), Sterling (1781), Boxborough (1783, took a piece of Harverd formerly Lancaster), Berlin (1784), Boylston (1786), West Boylston (1808), Clinton (1850), and Hudson (1868, took a piece of Bolton formerly Lancaster). All of these areas were likewise part of Middlesex County prior to July 10 1731.

Good luck with your research.

John C. Schumacher-Hardy

Hello,

I'm a descendent of Gamaliel Beaman, one of the first settlers of Lancaster. Is there a reprint of the Annals of Lancaster? If so, what is the cost and where can I purchase a copy?

I saw the message from Maureen Beaman, and it sounds like she is a cousin that I've never heard of before. Please pass on to Maureen my e-mail address.

Jack F. Beaman
Responses will be posted and forwarded

Response received:
Jack,
Apparently most people in America are descendents of Gamaliel Beaman. He was my Maternal Great x 8 Grandfather.

I found a good piece of the Annals of Lancaster on line at http://www.usgennet.org/usa/topic/newengland/philip/

Response received:
Thank you for your response to my inquiry. I will check out the site you provided. And yes, the Beaman Family is much larger than I ever believed possible.

For the last couple of years I have been working on an update of Miss Emily Beaman Wooden's book, "The Beaman and Clark Genealogy" which was published in 1909. As of tonight I have 2039 Beaman names, and 1534 related family names. When I checked my index of names, I did not find your name.

If you live near Lancaster, I sent a copy of what I had, at the end of 2003, to the Beaman Public Library, West Boylston, MA. May I ask what Beaman family line you are in?

Are you aware of the Beaman Museum in Rochester, NY? The Museum is operated by Kenneth Beaman who has be researching the Beaman Family for many years. I just received 93 pages of material on the Beaman Family from him, about 60 % that I did not have. I'm currently working on the 64th page of that material.

Again thank you for the information, and I looking forward to hearing from you again.

Jack F. Beaman

I left Lancaster in 1957. If anyone could give information regarding the home on the corner of Main and Carlton closest to the town common, I would be ever so grateful. I grew up in the house, and know that it has fallen into disrepair which breaks my heart. I noticed on the website Massachusetts EOEA- Community Preservation Initiative http://www.commpres.env.state.ma.us/ the house is on a list for preservation. Could anyone give me the history of this home. I believe it once served as the manse for the Bullfinch church. Is this correct? I lived there with my grandparents Raymond E. Wright and his wife Ethel and daughter Alice. Any information would be much appreciated. Thank you for your time and generosity.
Responses will be posted and forwarded

I'd be interested in anything you can find about the John Houghton who died in 1684, as I am descended from him myself (by way of his son, John Jr.). As others have probably told you by now, there was a massacre in Lancaster during King Philip's War. According to the book on the history of the Sawyer family (into which John Jr.'s daughter Mary married), in "the so-called Great Massacre of 10 February 1676, King Philip and some 1500 warriors attacked the town and killed or captured 50 of the residents -- one-sixth of the entire population.... So great was the devastation that the survivors left Lancaster and did not return for four years."
Ken Sawyer

Also: (1) How can I get to the Old Settlers' Cemetery? I have several ancestors buried there, including Thomas Sawyer (d. 1706).
(2) I read that there is a bronze marker in South Lancaster at the site of his home, recognizing it as one of the two garrisons in which "inhabitants took refuge" after 2/10/1676. I would love to know just where that marker is.
Thanks,
Ken Sawyer
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Response received:
Greetings "Cousin" Ken Sawyer:

I too descend from John Houghton and Thomas Sawyer.

I live less than a mile down Main St. from the Thomas Sawyer Garrison
site. My dear friends the Dr. J. Howard Sprague live in the house by the
Main St. bronze marker for this historical spot.

I have an original 1706 deed signed by John Houghton, Jr. and his wife
Mary. It's on temporary loan at the Lancaster Public Library's museum
[I also have a few bricks from the large brick Federalist house of Silas
Sawyer (1766-1842) that used to stand at the top of Berlin's Sawyer Hill.
It was lost to a fire about a decade ago.]

The Lancaster's First Settlers Cemetery is not far from the Thomas Sawyer
Garrison site. It is located behind the railroad tracks northeast behind
the Middle Cemetery. The Middle Cemetery is on Main St. just north from
Bigelow Gardens senior housing. Main St. is also Rt. 70.

Where do you live? What direction would you be coming from when you
visit Lancaster?

Regards,
John C. Schumacher-Hardy
So. Lancaster, MA

PS: My descent from John Houghton is thus:

John C. Schumacher-Hardy, son of
John O. Schumacher, son of
Charles A. Schumacher, III, son of
Charles A. Schumacher, II, son of
Lucy L. (Cutting) Schumacher, daughter of
Lavinia K. (Sawyer) Cutting, daughter of
Capt. Silas Sawyer of Berlin, MA, son of
Thomas Sawyer, son of
Silas Sawyer, son of
Dea. Josiah Sawyer, son of
Mary (Houghton) Sawyer, [wife of William Sawyer] daughter of
John Houghton, Jr., son of
John & Beatrix Houghton of Lancaster, MA

Response received:
Ken,

I have an electronic version of Dr. John W. Houghton's "The Houghton
Genealogy" from 1912. I can send you a CD with the PDF file. John
Houghtons genealogy is the second major section in the book. One of
John's descendants lived somewhere near Washington CD and has a sword
with a Thistle and Rose on it. Would like to find out where that is.

Also I have connected with someone from Bedfordshire in the UK who is
interested in doing some family research on John and Ralph in Eaton Bray
where John was baptized and married. They were Catholics probably and
would not have had a lot of records kept. The research continues.

You might also like to know, Katherine Hepburn was one of John
Houghton's descendants as well as the Douglas Houghton who named
Houghton Lake in MI and discovered the copper resources in the upper
peninsula.

Drop me a line with your mailing address and I will send one to you.

Thanks,
Ralph

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