Book on Duxbury illuminates Pilgrims’ lives

When you’re looking for Pilgrims – and their descendants and cousins – don’t stop at Plymouth. Keep in mind nearby Massachusetts communities such as Pembroke, Bridgewater, Marshfield – and Duxbury.

And didn’t I love finding Pilgrim Isaac Allerton’s name on the first page of Dorothy Wentworth’s “Settlement and Growth of Duxbury, 1628-1870,” published in 1973.

While not one of the more famous Mayflower passengers, Isaac Allerton was the one who went back to England in 1626 and arranged for the settlers to take over ownership of the colony from the Merchant Adventurers. Formerly limited to 1 acre of land each, each man was then able to get 20 acres for himself and 20 acres for each family member.

The book includes pictures of Duxbury from various eras, and many references to Pilgrims and other settlers of the times.

My ancestor Experience Mitchell, who came over in 1623, lived “just beyond Harrison Street and Lieutenant Nash had land along the widening Blue Fish River,” Wentworth wrote.

My dear friend and many-times-descendant of the Pilgrims, the late Marjorie Marsh Quigg, obtained her copy of the book directly from the author. The book isn’t indexed, so Marjorie made her own list of many of the surnames sprinkled throughout the book, which we share with you here:

Alden, Allerton, Arnold, Bassett, Besbeech, Brown, Bradford, Bartlett, Brewster, Bumpass, Barstow, Cole, Carver, Chandler, Church, Clarke, Collier, Cushing, Delano, Drew, Eaton, Ford, Freeman, Howland, Holmes, Harlow, Hiller, Hicks, Kein, Keene, Loring, More, Mitchell, Nash, Prior, Pabodie, Prence, Peterson, Phillios, Pollard, Pratt, Partridge, Palmer, Pierce, Robinson, Rogers, Sprague, Sanger, Soule, Sampson, Simmons, Sylvester, Seaver, Starr, Southworth, Sewell, Seabury, Standish, Thatcher, Turner, Tracy, Vassall, Wiswell, Winsor, West/Weston, Washburn, Wadsworth, Winsor, White, Winslow.

The book also includes a map of several of the ancient landmarks such as the location of the Alden Farm, the Brewster Farm, Dingley Cemetery, Howland’s Mill, Keene’s Store, the King’s Highway, meetinghouse sites, the Standish Farm and the Tree of Knowledge.

“Settlement and Growth of Duxbury, 1628-1870” is available in the Bangor Room at Bangor Public Library, and at Fogler Library at the University of Maine. It’s always interesting to find resources that are available locally, but not at the state library.

Another interesting resource, available both at Bangor Public Library and at the Maine State Library in Augusta, is William Copeley’s “Index to Genealogies in New Hampshire Town Histories,” published in 1988.

For example, information on the Hildreth family can be found in the histories of Amherst, Antrim, Chesterfield, Cornish, Littleton, Lyndeborough, Mont Vernon, New Ipswich, Sutton and Warren. Burbanks were in Boscawen, Charlestown, Dunbarton, Fitzwilliam, Gorham, Hillsborough, Hookset, Langdon, Richmond, Shelburne, Walpole, Washington and Windham. The list for the Currier family is even longer.

The book is still in print and may be ordered for $7 plus $6.95 shipping from New Hampshire Historical Society, 30 Park St., Concord, NH 03301. Or order it online at www.nhhistory.org

If you have New Hampshire ancestors, keep in mind that the NHHS’ Tuck Library is right next door to the New Hampshire State Library in Concord. I spent two days in Concord a few years ago, and the two libraries are worth the trip.

The Aroostook County Genealogical Society will meet at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 23, upstairs at the Lions Building, 111 High St., Caribou. If you have queries or material to donate, the address is ACGS, P.O. Box 142, Caribou, ME 04736-0142.

3352. BOUDREAU-BUSHWAY. Looking to contact descendants of Odilon “Shorty” Boudreau, 1872-1970, and wife Agnes (Bushway) Boudreau, 1881-1970, who resided on Parker Street in Bangor. Listed in 1970 obituaries were sons Albert J. Boudreau of Bangor and Robert Boudreau of Brewer; daughters Edna M. Boudreau of Bangor and Mrs. Florence Smith of Holden. There also were six grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren. Odilon was son of Odilon Jerome Boudreau and Marceline Paulin or Poulin from Maisonnette or Caraquet, New Brunswick. Gerald Boudreau, 1488 Rue Chatillon, Maisonette, New Brunswick, Canada, E8N-1R4. (506) 727-2051, ford302@nbnet.nb.ca.

Send genealogy queries to Family Ties, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor, ME 04402; or send e-mail, familyti@bangordailynews.net.