By delving back and forward in the family I discovered I have distant relatives who died on RMS Titanic and also survived. So... I thought I would look back into the dark depths of the family discovering that I would be related to the family that founded Gorton in Lancashire and also another Salem witch. Read on for more...
The first person we meet is Arthur Webster Newall. He was born in 1854 in Suffolk county Massachusetts to Benjamin Newall and Susan Bennett. Author very much wanted to see Egypt in the surrounding areas so he decided to take his family overseas to visit the amazing Holy Land. He would travel with his two daughters Madeleine and Marjorie. As you surprise to his two daughters he had made reservations for their return on the maiden voyage of the RMS Titanic. They would embark on the Titanic in Cherbourg, France. At 11:30 p.m. on April the 14th they were awoken by the sound of the collision with the iceberg. Their father would ensure that Marjorie and Madeleine would be put into the first lifeboat to leave the struggling Titanic. That would be the last they saw of their father as he went down with the ship. His body would be found 2 weeks later and returned to the family in Lexington Massachusetts. Such a sad end to a happy journey with a father and two daughters.
So... how am I related to Arthur Webster Newall I hear you ask? Well...remember Edward Hunt - who lived in Chicago. That's where the journey begins. His daughter Dorothy Hunt would marry Byrl Ted Hewitt in 1940 in San Diego California. Byrl Ted, or BT as he was known to his family, would exasperate his family by always being truant from school. His mother was convinced that the best thing for him was to join the navy and in July 1929 he was a sculpted to the recruiting station and signed an affidavit saying his birthday was 1911 making him old enough to join. BT's naval career took him around world to places that include Alaska, Pearl Harbor, the South Pacific and Hawaii.
BT's father Eugene would begin the journey with his grandmother Betsey Farnsworth. The Farnsworths would be one of the first settlers in Massachusetts in 1740. Josiah Farnsworth who was born in 1721 was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, also known as the War of independence, between 1775 and 1783. He also took part in the relief of Fort William Henry; a British Fort near Lake George at the base of the Adirondack Mountains and was attacked by the French forces. Josiah's mother Mary Pierce, born in 1696, takes us on the next part of the journey.
Mary Pierce's mother Mary Whitney was born in 1675 and would marry Ephraim Pierce. They would be one of the first settlers in Lunenburg. Mary Whitney's father Joshua was born in 1635 and would serve in King Philip's war. This war is not a campaign for King Philip of Spain but rather a war related to the English Colonists fighting native Americans. It was named after Metacom, chief of the Wampanoag who's English given name was 'Philip'. Mary Whitney's mother was Abigail Tarbell and her father, therefore Mary's grandfather, was called Thomas Tarbell. Thomas was born in 1615 in Dorset, England and died in Charlestown in 1678 and married Mary Groton. Thomas Marvell's ancestor was John Maplett (1581 - 1630) who was the personal physician to Charles II of England. Thomas' daughter in law was Mary Nurse who was accused of witchcraft. I knew there would be more witches in my family...but more of that in a later post. Mary Gorton's family can be traced back to Gorton, Manchester in about 1332. Her father was Samuel Gorton (1592 - 1677) was part of the Puritan underground and would leave England to have the freedom to worship as the Bible prescribed and emigrate to Rhode Island and would become the founder of Warwick, Rhode Island.
Mary Whitney's sister Alice is where we go next. Alice's grand daughter Phebe Wood married William Scott and it is his ancestor Margaret Stephen who is the interesting person. In 1692 Margaret would be put on trial for witchcraft. She was indicted and sentenced to death on the 22nd of September 1692 and was hanged at Gallows Hill, Salem, Massachusetts. I think the number of witches that I have discovered in my family deserves a post of their own...so watch this space.
Phebe Wood's daughter Betsey would marry Samuel Robb and it is Samuels family that would lead us to Arthur Webster Newell. Marjorie Newell, who survived the Titanic sinking, would Murray Floyd Newton Robb in 1917. Marjorie would go on to teach both violin and piano in New Jersey and would later be one of the founders of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. She died in 1992 at the ripe old age of 103.
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