Jan. 2
Surname: Hughes
Query submitted by: Carolyn Fitzgerald
Primary Goals: To share information, To learn more about relatives, To identify sources of specific information
Time Period: 1900's
Looking for newspaper death notices in Lawrence, MA for the following people:
John Hughes dd Jan 18, 1906
Mary Hughes dd July 19, 1921
(Buried in St. Mary Cemetery in Lawrence)
Their son, Francis Hughes, was a catholic priest and died in Cambridge, MA on Nov 23, 1915 but he is buried in Lawrence, MA. Any information on parishes he was at would also be appreciated.

Answer Query cfitzg51@wowway.com

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Jan. 5
Surname: Rowland/Roe
Query submitted by: Bob Foster
Primary Goals: To share information, To learn more about relatives, To identify sources of specific information
Time Period: 1700's or earlier
Looking for information on Rebecca Rowland/Roe who married on 17 Jan 1713 in Boxford, MA, Capt. John Foster (1690-1778), as his first wife. She was born ca 1690 and died prior to 1730 when he married second.

Answer Query rfoster407@gmail.com

Response on Feb. 29 from Bob Gillis,
The Boxford VRs to the end of 1849 have:
John Foster of Andover married Rebecca Rea at Andover Jan 17 1713-14. There is no birth of a Rebecca Rea in Andover, Boxford or any other town.

The Andover Marriages have:
John Foster married Rebecka Roe [of Boxford int] Jan 7 1713-14. [int 11 Dec 17 1714]. I think the marriage date was actually Jan 5, 1714-15. Either the recorder or transcriber confused the date. Check their children's births to determine the actual date.

Also a John Foster married Mary Osgood 13 jan 1724/5 and John Foster filed intention to marry Darcus Hovey of Boxford 16 Sept 1732. The married in Boxford 23 Nov 1732.
The Essex County VRs <1850 can be found at http://ma-vitalrecords.org/
Familysearch.org has the 3 children Stephen , Jemima and an unnamed son.

Bob Foster's Response on March 1 to Bob Gillis' comments :

Thanks for responding to my Query regarding Rebecca Roe. Yes, John Foster married both Rebecca Row?Rowland and Dorcas Hovey, but my Foster Genealogy by Frederick C. Pierce on page 138 has Rebecca's surname Rowland. According to my Legacy program Rebecca is my 5th great grandmother. I need her parents to assist me in my goal of tracing my grandparents lineage back to the immigrant. She is just one of several dead ends.

You mentioned a Mary Osgood married John Foster. This is correct but this is another John according to my tired, frayed Foster Genealogy on page 148. They are not in my direct lineage.

I have been submitting a query to ESOG for the past 3 or 4 months on one of the dead ends. My query for March will be about Rebecca Porter who married George Bixby about 1685 in Boxford MA. Again it is her parentage that I need. Thanks for interest in my search.

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Bob Gillis' follow up response on March 2, 2012: John Foster married one woman. In Andover she was recorded as Rebecka Roe, marr 7 Jan 1713/14 [int 11 Dec 1714] In Boxford her name is recorded as Rebecka Rea. marr 7 Jan 1713/14 (no intention mentioned)

I had surmised that the Andover date was in error based on the intention date and the 1713/14 was an error in converting an old Julian date format to a new Gregorian date format.

Only by looking at the original Andover and Boxford Marriage and Intention records and seeing the sequence of records can we more definitely determine which of the conflicting dates are correct. The Andover VRs and other town records 1647 - 1849 and Boxford 1666- 1849 have been filmed by Archives Publishing (Jay Holbrook) and are available at some libraries. A look a their children's birth dates might clarify. The and Lynnfield Library Genealogy room might have the Holbrook fiche.

I have no idea where the Rowland surname came from but the surname is not mentioned in the Andover or Boxford VRs <1850, only in Lynn and Marblehead. The Foster Genealogy is still under copyright;however as it was written in 1899 I doubt that is has any citations.

> I have been submitting a query to ESOG for the past 3 or 4 months on
> one of the dead ends. My query for March will be about Rebecca
> Porter who married George Bixby about 1685 in Boxford MA. Again it is
> her parentage that I need.

There is no marriage of a Rebecca Porter or a George Bixby in the 17th century in Boxford. The early marriage records only give the names of the bride and groom. Their parentage can only be determined by the birth records of the name. In the 17th century most girls married around age 21. Later their marriage age got lower.
Again the VRs are available at http://ma-vitalrecords.org/. The site has both indexes and images of the pages, which again are transcriptions but have high reliability

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Jan. 11
Surname: Osborne/Osborn
Query submitted by: Amy McGuiggan
Primary Goals: To share information, To learn more about relatives
Time Period: 1900's, 1800's, 1700's or earlier
I am very interested in learning more about my Osborne family that descends from William through Samuel, Joseph, Aaron, Jonathan, William Augustus, George F., and Edward A. to my grandfather John J. Osborne. We always believed that my grandfather was an orphan but I have learned that his roots run deep in Salem/Peabody and Danvers. I'll be grateful for any thoughts or leads. I've made great progress but am always hopeful that there is more I haven't yet discovered. I am wondering if there is any connection to the Osbornes that are mentioned in Salem Witch Trials histories. Thanks!

Answer Query ninepoints@comcast.net

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Jan. 13
Surname: de Poyen
Query submitted by: Stephen Sakellarios
Primary Goals: To identify sources of specific information
Time Period: 1800's
I would like to know any information about Abigail de Poyen of Rocks Village from her birth in 1816 to her marriage in 1836 to Matthew Franklin Whittier. In particular, I want to search legal records to see if there is any record of any charges being brought against her, but also any information at all, including when and why she changed her name from "Weld" to "Rochemont," and whether she might have been adopted. Her name might be listed as: Abby de Poyen; Abby R. Poyen; Abigail de Poyen; Abigail R. de Poyen; Abby Weld de Poyen; Abigail Weld de Poyen, or any combinations.

Answer Query ssake@goldthread.com

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Jan. 15
Surname: Hastings
Query submitted by: Linda Bearse-Netto
Primary Goals: To learn more about relatives
Time Period: 1700's or earlier
Seeking birth records and parents of 6th great grandfather: Robert Hastings
Birth 11 May 1653 in Haverhill Essex County Massachusetts, USA
Death 4 Jun 1737 in Haverhill Essex County Massachusetts, USA

Wife: Elizabeth Davis
Birth 11 Mar 1653 in Haverhill Essex County Massachusetts, USA
Death 1720 in Haverhill, Essex, Massachusetts, United States

Children:
Katherine Hastings, 1677 ? 1734
Elizabeth Hastings, 1679 ?
Robert Hastings II, 1682 ? 1744
Ann Hastings, 1684 ? 1749
George Hastings, 1688 ?
John Hastings, 1691 ? 1728
Esther Hastings, 1694 ?

Answer Query idahonetto@gmail.com

Response from Bob Gillis on February 29, 2012:

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Jan. 17
Surname: Abbott
Query submitted by: Lesley Lowe
Primary Goals: To learn more about relatives
Time Period: 1800's
Great great grandfather: Joseph Alfred Abbott.
Details from Death Cert:
Died:12 August 1888 at Wellington Hospital,New Zealand. Age 44.
Born: United States of America. In NZ for 26 years.
Father: James-Sugar Planter(possibly incorrect)

The following is from his daughters(great gran)birth cert: Her birth-1882.
Fathers place of birth: New Bedford, Nth America.
Fathers age: 36

A local genealogist, has found him on several ships as a crewman, prior to marrying and settling in NZ. He continued as a seaman until the death of his first wife and possibly until he remarried.
We have reason to believe he may have been born in Essex, but not to James. This is where we come unstuck. I do hope you can help and please inform us of any costs.

Answer Query lynnandlesley@xtra.co.nz

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