ATWOOD – In the Woods

another lighthouse

The ground was pretty soggy from melting snow and days of rain so we decided to take a walk in the village of Stonington Borough, rather than traipse through the muddy woods. I visited this lighthouse many years ago with my sister-in-law and climbed the very narrow circular stairs up the tower to the lantern room on the top. The view was wonderful. There wasn’t much space to move around or stretch out, though!

The Stonington Harbor Light is a historic lighthouse built in 1840 and located on the east side of Stonington Harbor in the Borough of Stonington, Connecticut. It is a well-preserved example of a mid-19th century stone lighthouse. The light was taken out of service in 1889 and now serves as a local history museum. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.
~ Wikipedia

The Stonington Harbor Light is located at the southern end of Stonington Point, marking the eastern side of Stonington Harbor. The light station consists of the tower and keeper’s house; both are built out of large granite blocks, and the keeper’s house has a wood-framed ell attached. The tower is an octagonal stone structure 35 feet (11 m) in height and 10 feet (3.0 m) in diameter, with a circular glass lantern house on top. The house is 1½ stories and about 30 feet (9.1 m) square.
~ Wikipedia

leftover Christmas wreath above the door

The promise of a water view behind the lighthouse lured us around the back and across the spongy lawn. How nice to see a bench there. Looks like a nice spot to enjoy a warm spring day. But no sitting for us on this wet day!

There were lots of sparrows chirping and flitting about, making it feel like a spring day. We found a sundial in a corner of the yard but it was too cloudy out for the sun to tell us the time. It might have been accurate, too, because we are not in daylight savings time. I wish they would do away with the time change. We’re only under “real” time for about four months out of the twelve…

Looking west on our way down to Stonington Point we saw a moment of blue sky! From the end of the Stonington Borough peninsula one can see two lighthouses in two different states.

Latimer Reef Light
Fishers Island, New York

Latimer Reef Lighthouse, which was placed on the western end of the half-mile-long rocky reef, consists of a prefabricated, cylindrical, forty-nine foot-tall, cast-iron tower with a cast-iron, concrete-filled foundation. … There were a number of other lights built around this time using the same design and employing the same construction methods. They were initially referred to as “Coffee Pot” lights because of their shape, but a few decades later, after the internal combustion engine was in common use, these towers became more commonly known as “Spark Plug” lighthouses.
~ Lighthousefriends.com website

A good portion of the parking lot at the point was still covered with the snow deposited there from the blizzard. It blocked a lot of the views! But in the distance between these mounds (above) I spotted Watch Hill Light, which we visited in October. So I walked across the waterlogged lawn area and used my zoom lens to get a picture of it from Stonington Point. (below)

Watch Hill Light
Watch Hill, Westerly, Rhode Island

Our plan to keep our shoes dry failed completely! But at least they were less mucky than they would have been had we gone for a walk in the woods.

Years ago I used to be a member of the Stonington Historical Society but discontinued my membership when paying the dues didn’t fit in our budget. But it was there that I found a letter written to the Society by my great-grandmother in a file. Emma Flora Atwood was asking them if they had any information about her husband’s parents, William Martin White and Ellen C. Hill, who lived in Old Mystic, another village in Stonington. I don’t know what their reply might have been, but the folder had little else in it. It was exciting to handle a piece of paper that she had touched, too. I like to think my great-grandmother was as interested in family history as I am. She was my mother’s Grammy and that’s why I wanted to be Grammy to my grandchildren. ♡

The other thing I learned while I was getting the Society’s newsletter, was about my 2nd-great-granduncle, Pvt. Rufus C. White, brother of my 2nd-great-grandfather, William M. White, mentioned above.

Rufus C. White, born 6 June 1839, died 16 May 1864, age 24, at Drewry’s Bluff, Virginia. Rufus served as a private in the Union Army, Company E, 21st Infantry Regiment, Connecticut and was killed at the Battle of Drewry’s Bluff. In the 1860 census, Rufus was recorded as a farmer with a personal estate of $100.

The following is from Stonington’s Forgotten Heroes of 1861-65 by James Boylan:

The second large Stonington unit was Company E of the 21st Infantry Regiment, which was recruited in the summer of 1862 from eastern Connecticut. About seventy Stonington men served in Company E, under Captain Charles T. Stanton, Jr., of Stonington. Like Company G of the Eighth, this company became involved in the fogbound battle of Drewry’s Bluff, in which Stanton was severely wounded, and the siege of Petersburg, where Captain Henry R. Jennings of Stonington was wounded. Partly because its term of service was shorter, it suffered fewer casualties.

And there was another pleasant memory, which Tim & I recalled as we passed the Society’s Captain Palmer House Museum on our way home. It must have been in the early 2000s, when I read with great interest, In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick. I am distantly related to some of the sailors he wrote about on that ill-fated voyage. Imagine how excited I was to attend a lecture he gave about his book at the museum. Tim and Larisa came with me and we had a brief conversation with him afterwards.

Mum & Pop

1957 ~ My great-grandparents,
Capt. Martin Freeman Thompson & Amanda Eliza Hamblin,
welcoming me to the family.

My great-grandfather, Capt. Martin Freeman Thompson, son and only child of Martin Edward and Elizabeth Emma (Freeman) Thompson, was born 29 March 1875 in Harwich (Barnstable) Massachusetts, and died 13 July 1965 in Dennis (Barnstable) Massachusetts. He married in 1894, his fifth cousin, once removed, Amanda Eliza Hamblin, who was born 2 August 1879 in Dennis, and died 6 July 1966 in Taunton (Bristol) Massachusetts, the daughter of William Nelson and Anna Eliza (Baker) Hamblin.

Martin was for a time the captain of the King Philip, a fishing boat out of Boston. He was a pilot and a sea-captain. In 1906 the couple resided at 69A Whiting Street, in Lynn, Massachusetts and later lived at 13 Wilson Drive in Abington. Probably sometime after his father’s death in 1928 they moved to the family home at 114 Depot Street, in Dennis Port, and were certainly there before 1957. For a time Martin & Amanda resided at 10 School Street in Woods Hole with their daughter and son-in-law, who were caring for his aunt and uncle, Edward and Susan Flora (Freeman) Swift.

Amanda had a very close relationship with Martin’s cousin, Annie (Thompson) Kelley. She cherished unrealized dreams of becoming an actress, but was well-known for the beautiful doilies she crocheted. Many of the doilies were given to her great-granddaughter, my sister Beverly, who seems to have inherited the crocheting genes. Beverly reproduced some of Amanda’s designs and has mounted some of the originals for safekeeping.

Amanda suffered from dementia in her final years, and for the year after her husband died, could only accept that he was at sea, and would only be made to rest easier when she was told that he was coming home soon. Amanda was called “Mum” and Martin was called “Pop” by their daughter and grandchildren. Both Mum & Pop died of pneumonia, a year apart, and lie buried together in Swan Lake Cemetery in Dennis Port. Martin’s Namesakes: his father Capt. Martin Edward Thompson and his mother Elisabeth Emma Freeman. Amanda’s Namesakes: both of her grandmothers, Amanda Bearse and Eliza R. Eldridge.

Amanda & Martin were the parents of one daughter:

1. Emma Freeman Thompson (my grandmother), born 8 June 1906 in Lynn (Essex) Massachusetts, died 3 September 1996 in Dennis (Barnstable) Massachusetts. She married 30 November 1929 in Harwich, John Everett White, who was born 8 June 1905 in Rockland (Plymouth) Massachusetts, and died 4 April 2001 in Dennis, son of Samuel Minor and Emma Flora (Atwood) White. Emma & John were the parents of two children.

Lt. Francis Shurtleff & Mary Shaw

Sometimes when doing research in a family history book we might find a biographical sketch about an ancestor. I was delighted to learn so much about my 5th-great-grandfather but also a little sad that Mary, his wife, my 5th-great-grandmother, was barely mentioned.

Lt. Francis Shurtleff, son of Barnabas and Jemima (Adams) Shurtleff, was born 8 April 1738 in Plympton (Plymouth) Massachusetts, and died 14 August 1794 in Carver (Plymouth) Massachusetts. He married (as her first husband) on 7 August 1760 in Plympton, Mary Shaw, who was born 4 March 1742, and died 1 March 1816 in Carver, daughter of Nathaniel and Hannah (Perkins) Shaw.

Mary married (as her second husband and as his fourth wife) on 9 March 1797 in Carver, Dea. Thomas Savery, who was born 1 July 1736 in Plymouth (Plymouth) Massachusetts, and died 13 March 1822 in Carver, son of Thomas and Priscilla (Paddock) Savery, and widower of Zilpha Barrows, Hannah Bennett, and Mary Crocker.

Mary & Francis lie buried in Lakenham Cemetery in Carver, Massachusetts.

The following is from Descendants of William Shurtleff of Plymouth and Marshfield, Massachusetts, Vol I:

He was an ensign in Capt. Nathaniel Shaw’s second Plympton company, Col. George Watson’s first Plymouth Co. regiment; commissioned 1762, and Aug., 1771; also second lieutenant, Capt. Nathaniel Shaw’s company, Col. James Warren’s regiment, which marched on the alarm of Apr. 19, 1775, from Plympton to Marshfield; service, 2 days; also first lieutenant, Capt. Nathaniel Shaw’s seventh Plymouth company, Col. Gamaliel Bradford, Jr.’s, first Plymouth Co. regiment; commissioned June 6, 1776; also lieutenant, Col. Thomas Lothrop’s regiment; marched Dec. 11, 1776, on an alarm to Bristol, R. I.; service, 14 days; also first lieutenant, Capt. Nathaniel Shaw’s seventh company, Col. Theophilus Cotton’s first Plymouth Co. regiment; commissioned Oct. 28, 1778. On July 1, 1781, he was commissioned captain of the North Company of the local militia in Carver. He was one of the delegates sent from Plympton to the state convention to act on the constitution of the United states and voted against it, and was representative from Plympton to the first session of the General Court, May 26, 1784.

The following reminiscences of Mr. Shurtleff were written by his great-granddaughter, Olivia Holmes.

[Since most people are not so familiar with the lives of their great-grandparents, I imagine Olivia taking these notes (as I have often done) as she listened to her elders reminiscing about her great-grandfather. I was amused that Francis was “in the habit of pulling teeth and usually carried instruments for that purpose in his pocket.”]

When the first town meeting was held at Carver on July 5, 1790, Mr. Shurtleff was chosen as moderator. He was also the first town treasurer of Carver and their first representative to General Court. He was clerk of the Popes Point Furnace Company, but today we would probably call him an agent. This furnace ran only in the winter and then night and day; and during that season Mr. Shurtleff and wife lived in a house nearby, so they could board the men who were employed there. He was a justice of the peace (appointed Apr 16, 1790), a deacon of the church, and a dentist; at least, he was in the habit of pulling teeth and usually carried instruments for that purpose in his pocket. Afflicted people sometimes met him at the meeting house, sat down upon the steps and had the decayed member removed right there. It was an act of mercy, and quite proper for the Sabbath. When the Squire went to Boston to attend the General Court he rode horseback, and carried his linen in one end of his saddlebag and some provender to bait his horse on the way in the other end. Arrived at the city he put his horse out to pasture until such time as he might need him again. Once when he went to seek the animal, he was not to be found; thorough search did not discover him; so the Squire took his luggage over his shoulder and walked home to Carver. By aid of a connection who was supposed to deal with rogues, he recovered the horse, but the animal had been used rather hard. Mr. Shurtleff had several children and sometimes more than one wanted to ride at a time; then they used a pillion and rode double-jaded. In this manner he sometimes took his wife or daughters to Plymouth, shopping. He was indulgent to his children, and when one day his daughter (Olivia) expressed a liking for a certain piece of goods which she thought too dear for her to purchase, he bought her a dress from it, although it was English calico and one dollar a yard. His wife’s maiden name was Shaw and among her descendants are some tiny teaspoons marked M. S. in her honor; the younger members of this family ask whether the letters stand for Mary Shaw, Shurtleff or Savery. Mr. Shurtleff was interested in educational work and the school of his district was sometimes kept in his house in a bedroom. He named one of his children for the beautiful daughter of the ‘Vicar of Wakefield.’ His pastor, the Rev. Calvin Howland, suggested this to him and named one of his own children Sophia for the other one, but the Esquire had the first choice and called his Olivia.

Francis & Mary were the parents of eleven children, but only five of them survived to adulthood:

1. Zilpha Shurtleff, born 22 October 1761 in Plympton, died in infancy there on 7 March 1762.

2. Caleb Shurtleff, born 27 February 1763 in Plympton, died in infancy there in 1763.

3. Francis Shurtleff, born 3 August 1765 in Plympton, died 3 December 1852 in Middleborough (Plymouth) Massachusetts. He married 22 December 1785 in Middleborough, his second cousin, once removed, Elisabeth Shaw, who was born there in 1762 and died 6 August 1819 in Carver, daughter of Elkanah and Elisabeth (Atwood) Shaw, my 6th-great-grandparents.

4. Caleb Shurtleff, born and died in 1767 in Plympton.

5. Olivia Shurtleff, born 8 November 1769 in Plympton, and died 14 November 1848 in Carver. She married 19 March 1801 in Carver, James Savery, who was born 29 August 1777 in Plymouth (Plymouth) Massachusetts, and died 11 January 1860 in Carver, son of James and Mercy (Burbank) Savery. Olivia & James were the parents of seven children.

6. Lothrop Shurtleff, born 10 March 1772 in Plympton, died in 1832 in Middleborough. He married 22 September 1796 in Carver, Betsey White, who was born 4 January 1777 in Plympton and died 30 June 1815 in Carver, daughter of Benjamin White. Lothrop & Betsey were the parents of three daughters.

7. William Shurtleff, born 14 February 1775 in Plympton, died there 12 November 1778, age 3.

8. Nathaniel Shurtleff, born 16 September 1776 in Plympton, died there 18 November 1778, age 2.

9. Mary “Polly” Shurtleff, born 25 December 1779 in Plympton, died 25 January 1859 in Middleborough. She married 30 July 1797 in Carver, her fourth cousin, Silas Thomas, who was born 1766 in Middleborough, and died there 26 January 1858, son of Jeremiah and Susanna (Thomas) Thomas. Mary & Silas were the parents of two daughters.

10. Zilpha Shurtleff (my 4th-great-grandmother), born 21 July 1782 in Plympton, died 28 August 1838 in Middleborough. She married 1 February 1806 in Carver, Nathaniel Atwood, who was born 28 April 1782 in Middleborough and died there 26 January 1858, son of Ichabod and Hannah (Shaw) Atwood. Zilpha & Nathaniel were the parents of five children.

11. Susanna Shurtleff, born 26 April 1785 in Plympton, died 5 September 1791 in Carver, age 6.

Last Revised: 8 November 2021

Mount Vernon Cemetery

reuellouisaatwood — Reuel & Louisa Atwood

Mount Vernon Cemetery in Abington, Massachusetts, is where my great-grandparents, Samuel Minor & Emma Flora (Atwood) White, and my 2nd-great-grandparents, Reuel Gardner & Louisa Jane (Atwood) Atwood, lie buried. I have many Atwoods on my family tree, with a lot of cousin marriages crossing the branches. Reuel & Louisa were half second cousins, once removed, both descendants of Nathaniel Atwood (1693-1767).

My 2nd-great-grandfather, Reuel Gardner Atwood, son of Reuel and Abigail Savery (Tillson) Atwood, was born 5 February 1833 in Middleborough (Plymouth) Massachusetts, and died 19 August 1908 in Henniker (Merrimack) New Hampshire. He married 26 November 1860 at Middleborough, Louisa Jane Atwood, my 2nd-great-grandmother, who was born 6 April 1840 in Carver (Plymouth) Massachusetts, and died 12 January 1928 in Abington (Plymouth) Massachusetts, daughter of Ebenezer and Waitstill (Lucas) Atwood.

During the American Civil War, Reuel, age 29, fisherman, enlisted for a one year term of general service in the Navy on 17 September 1862 in New London, Connecticut, on board the frigate USS Sabine, one of the first ships to see action during the war. He was 5’9 1/2″ tall, with blue eyes and dark brown hair.

Reuel worked as a box maker and a fisherman. Louisa was a homemaker. On 11 March 1888, Reuel & Louisa survived The Great Blizzard of 1888 that killed more than 400 people along the eastern seaboard.

After Reuel’s death Louisa was a widow for twenty years. When the 1910 census was taken she was living in Henniker, New Hampshire with her son, Frederick, and his family. By 1920 she was living with her daughter, Emma Flora, and her family at 170 Linwood St. in Abington. Her grandson, John Everett White (my grandfather), fondly remembered the wonderful mittens she knitted for her three grandsons. They had a new pair every winter. Louisa died of tuberculosis at the age of 88.

Louisa & Reuel were the parents of eight children, but only three survived to adulthood and the others are buried here with their parents:

1. Elsie Fremont Atwood, born 9 August 1862 in Middleborough, died there 25 October 1863, age 1.

2. Elbridge Lincoln Atwood, born 10 August 1865 in Abington, died 20 December 1878 in Boston (Suffolk) Massachusetts, age 13.

3. Frederick Reuel Atwood, born 28 December 1867 in Abington, died 4 February 1963 in Hillsborough (Hillsborough) New Hampshire, age 96. He married 31 August 1895 in Rockland (Plymouth) Massachusetts, Jane May Patterson, who was born 13 May 1873 in Wallace (Cumberland) Nova Scotia, and died 21 December 1966 in Manchester (Hillsborough) New Hampshire, daughter of Thomas S. and Anna M. (Greives) Patterson. Frederick & Janie were the parents of four children.

4. Eustace Lorenzo Atwood, born 2 November 1870 in Abington, died there 22 November 1880, age 10.

5. Emma Flora Atwood (my great-grandmother), born 5 January 1873 in Abington, and died 2 February 1955 in Foxborough (Norfolk) Massachusetts, age 82. She married 21 November 1902 in Rockland, Samuel Minor White (my great-grandfather) , who was born 7 July 1873 in Stonington (New London) Connecticut, and died 2 July 1949 in Abington, son of William Martin and Ellen C. (Hill) White. Flora & Samuel were the parents of three sons.

6. Amy Grace Atwood, born 17 April 1875 in Abington, died there 23 August 1877, age 2.

7. Samuel Ebenezer Atwood, born 10 March 1877 in Abington, died there 5 December 1880, age 3.

8. Everett Mason Atwood, born 26 November 1880 in Abington, died there 26 October 1971, age 90. He married 26 November 1902 in Abington, Alice Matula Merrill, who was born there 17 March 1884, and died 8 February 1976 in Weymouth (Norfolk) Massachusetts, daughter of Charles F. and Mary (—) Merrill. Everett & Alice were the parents of five children. Everett’s nephew was my grandfather, John Everett White, who was named in honor of his uncle.

samuelwhite — Samuel Minor White (1873-1949)

Engraved on the back of the Atwood stone are the names of their daughter and her husband. My great-grandfather, Samuel Minor White, son of William Martin and Ellen C. (Hill) White, was born 7 July 1873 in Stonington (New London) Connecticut, very close to where I live now, and died 2 July 1949 in Abington (Plymouth) Massachusetts. He married 21 November 1902 at Rockland (Plymouth) Massachusetts, Emma Flora Atwood, my great-grandmother, who was born 5 January 1873 in Abington, and died 2 February 1955 in Foxborough (Norfolk) Massachusetts, daughter of Reuel Gardner and Louisa Jane (Atwood) Atwood.

When Samuel was about 12, he ran away from home because he did not get along with his stepmother. He would not discuss with anyone his whereabouts between leaving home and marrying Emma Flora, although his sons speculated that he probably went to sea. He had been told that his mother was dead, but I discovered that his parents were actually divorced and that his mother was living in the poor house of Stonington with two illegitimate children who were born after the divorce. Samuel was named after his granduncle, Samuel Minor White (1808–1894).

emmafloraatwood — Emma Flora Atwood (1873-1955)

In 1901 Flora was working as a bookkeeper. She was working in Whitman, Massachusetts, where her cousin lived when she met Samuel. Samuel & Flora were married by Fred Hovey Allen, Clergyman. Samuel was a hard-working laborer and in 1905 was working in a box mill. Flora inherited the house at 170 Linwood St. in Abington, where the couple raised their three sons. She had a baby grand piano she loved to play.

In the summer of 1911, Flora & Samuel survived a deadly heatwave that killed more than 2,000 people in the northeastern states.

My grandfather, their son, remembered that the house had a huge elm tree with an oriole nest and a lawn swing. Flora treasured her bed of dark red peonies. The family always had one horse, one cow (sometimes up to three), sometimes pigs, chickens, ducks and rabbits. Samuel worked at a slaughtering house and at times slaughtered his own pigs. Each morning he left a list on the kitchen table of chores to be done by his sons, which weren’t always completed.

During the boys’ college vacations, a man came to cut firewood into stove lengths and all helped to stack the wood in the basement. Samuel also worked for a Mr. Dudley peddling ice. The ice was harvested from Mill Pond and the wagon served the city of Brockton. Sometimes the ice was harvested with horses. The horses pulled chisels which cut the ice, which then floated down the pond where machines pulled it up to the ice house. Sometimes a team of horses would slip into the water. Ladies would have to order the ice desired, and a meat cart came once every two weeks. My grandfather and his brothers would wait for the cart and a slice of bologna was often tossed out to them.

Flora & Samuel were known as Grammy & Grampy to their grandchildren. My mother spoke fondly of them, which is why I wanted to be called Grammy by my grandchildren. Tim didn’t want to be called Grampy, though, so he goes by Grandpa. Samuel died of colon cancer five days before his 76th birthday. Flora died of an ear infection and mastoiditis at the age of 82.

Flora & Samuel were the parents of three sons:

1. Earl Martin “Bob” White, born 5 December 1902 in Rockland, died 9 October 1965, age 62. He married in 1927 in Braintree (Norfolk) Massachusetts, Ruth Lois Tilden, who was born 20 October 1905 in Fairhaven (Bristol) Massachusetts, and died 7 July 1991 in Bourne (Barnstable) Massachusetts, daughter of Henry Edward and Ruth Ann (Crocker) Tilden. Bob & Ruth were the parents of two daughters.

2. John Everett White (my grandfather), born 8 June 1905 in Rockland, died 4 April 2001 in Dennis (Barnstable) Massachusetts, age 95. He married 30 November 1929 in Harwich (Barnstable) Massachusetts, Emma Freeman Thompson (my grandmother), who was born 8 June 1906 in Lynn (Essex) Massachusetts, and died 3 September 1996 in Dennis, daughter of Martin Freeman and Amanda Eliza (Hamblin) Thompson. John & Emma were the parents of two children.

3. Lincoln White, born 11 February 1909 in Abington, died 31 August 1993 in Monson (Hampden) Massachussets, age 84. He married 18 April 1936 in Colrain (Franklin) Massachusetts, Marjorie Elizabeth Cary, who was born there 14 January 1913, and died 5 March 2004 in Wilbraham (Hampden) Massachusetts, daughter of Herbert Francis and Elizabeth (Blagborough) Cary. Lincoln & Marjorie were the parents of two sons.

3.5.16.2038 — Emma Flora (Atwood) White (1873-1955)

3.5.16.2040 — Samuel Minor White (1873-1949)

3.5.16.2050 — In recognition of Reuel’s service in the American Civil War.

3.5.16.2053 — This tree’s branches reach over the Atwood plot.

3.5.16.2075 — View of the Atwood plot. Reuel & Louisa and their children lie buried behind the large stone, with flat stones marking the individual graves. Other Atwoods, children mostly, lie buried in front of it with various kinds of stones. I’m not sure how these Atwoods are connected to Louisa & Reuel.

Tim and I revisited this cemetery on March 5, 2016. Our first visit was so many years ago, but now that I have a better camera I want to return and photograph as many family plots as I can, retracing our steps.

Last Revised: 29 September 2021