Alice & list - I know some you have Jacques connection Lisa CECILE M. (JACQUES) COTE - West Warwick 01:00 AM EDT on Thursday, June 17, 2004 www.projo.com CECILE M. (JACQUES) COTE, 85, of Oak Hill Road, North Kingstown, formerly of West Warwick, a retired clerk, died Friday at the South County Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, North Kingstown. She was the wife of the late Phillip J. Cote. Born in West Warwick, a daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. Olivier Jacques, she had lived in West Warwick for most of her life before moving to North Kingstown three years ago. Mrs. Cote had been a clerk at Security Cleaners for 20 years before retiring. She leaves a son, Robert Cote of Hope Valley; two grandsons, Eric Cote of Johnston and Jason Cote of South Kingstown; and a great-grandson. She was predeceased by 11 siblings. A committal service will be held tomorrow at 1 p.m. in the columbarium chapel in Rhode Island Veterans Cemetery, Exeter.

Hi to all, First of all, I'm going to make a suggestion... Lately, when I have posted to any Rootsweb List, cutting out a portion of someone else's post and then responding to it, even thought I have left a couple of spaces between, Rootsweb has run it all together so you can't tell where one stops and the other starts. Therefore, I'm going to suggest that we all put a line -------------- (like this) between them when we respond in that manner. ----------------------- Now to the topic at hand... Below is Hannah Pratt who was married in Bellingham as "Mrs" but had never been married before. Sue ---------------------------- 1. HANNAH3 PRATT (JOSEPH2, JOSEPH1) was born 24 March 1756 in Oxford, Worcester, Massachusetts (Source: Vital Records of Oxford, MA, to the end of the Year 1849, (Publ. by Franklin P. Rice, 1905), page 91.), and died 10 March 1828 in Bellingham, Norfolk, Massachusetts (Source: (1) New England Historic Genealogical Society, Vital Records of Bellingham, MA to 1850, (1904), page 174, "in 72nd year.", (2) Center Street (Scott) Cemetery, Bellingham, MA., Tombstone.). She met (1) UNKNOWN (the father of her first child). She married (2) JOSEPH CHILSON, JR. 25 January 1786 in Bellingham, Norfolk, Massachusetts (Source: New England Historic Genealogical Society, Vital Records of Bellingham, MA to 1850, (1904), page 95, Marriage record shows her as "Mrs." Hannah Pratt -- but this stands for "Mistress" and was commonly used for unmarried women in Bellingham in this time period.), son of JOSEPH CHILSON and LYDIA PRATT. He was born 17 July 1751 in Bellingham, Norfolk, Massachusetts (Source: New England Historic Genealogical Society, Vital Records of Bellingham, MA to 1850, (1904), page 21.), and died 5 April 1841 in Bellingham, Norfolk, Massachusetts (Source: New England Historic Genealogical Society, Vital Records of Bellingham, MA to 1850, (1904), Year in parentheses--age 86--may have died in 1837?). More About HANNAH PRATT: Burial: Center Street Cemetery (Scott), Bellingham, Massachusetts More About JOSEPH CHILSON, JR.: Fact 1: 1790, On census in Bellingham, Norfolk Co., MA--name spelled Jillson. Fact 2: 1798, On tax list in Bellingham, Wrentham, Franklin district. Fact 3: 1800, On census in Bellingham, Norfolk, MA. (6 in fam) Fact 4: 1810, On census in Bellingham, Norfolk, MA Fact 5: 1820, On census in Bellingham, Norfolk, MA Fact 6: 1830, On census in Bellingham, Norfolk, MA. Fact 7: 1840, On US Census in Bellingham, Norfolk, MA Alternate Death Date: 3 January 1841. Marriage Notes for HANNAH PRATT and JOSEPH CHILSON: Hannah Pratt and Joseph Chilson, Jr. were first cousins. Joseph's mother and Hannah's father were brother and sister. Hannah and Joseph were married the same day as Hannah's half brother, Joseph Pratt III. Child of HANNAH PRATT and UNKNOWN is: i. MELITIAH/MILLITIAH4 PRATT, b. 22 May 1779, Bellingham, Norfolk, Massachusetts (Source: New England Historic Genealogical Society, Vital Records of Bellingham, MA to 1850, (1904), page 54.); d. 12 November 1825, Bellingham, Norfolk, Massachusetts (Source: (1) Center Street (Scott) Cemetery, Bellingham, MA., Tombstone gives her name as CHILSON., (2) New England Historic Genealogical Society, Vital Records of Bellingham, MA to 1850, (1904), page 174, Refs: Baptist Church Record ____, 1825; Center Cemetery Record 12 Nov in 47th year; private record of Wight Family 12 Nov age 45, death records list her as CHILSON.). Notes for MELITIAH/MILLITIAH PRATT/CHILSON: She was born out of wedlock as Melitiah Pratt and later used her step-father, Joseph Chilson's name. She died unmarried. More About MELITIAH/MILLITIAH PRATT/CHILSON: Burial: Center Street Cemetery (Scott), Bellingham, Massachusetts Children of HANNAH PRATT and JOSEPH CHILSON are: ii. HANNAH4 CHILSON, b. 25 August 1788, Bellingham, Norfolk, Massachusetts (Source: New England Historic Genealogical Society, Vital Records of Bellingham, MA to 1850, (1904), page 21.); d. 24 December 1866, Bellingham, Norfolk, Massachusetts (Source: Center Street (Scott) Cemetery, Bellingham, MA., Tombstone.). Notes for HANNAH CHILSON: Died unmarried. More About HANNAH CHILSON: Burial: Center Street Cemetery (Scott) Fact 1: 1850, On census in Bellingham, MA. iii. JOSEPH CHILSON III, b. 18 January 1791, Bellingham, Norfolk, Massachusetts (Source: New England Historic Genealogical Society, Vital Records of Bellingham, MA to 1850, (1904), page 21.); d. Unknown. Notes for JOSEPH CHILSON III: He may be the child of Joseph who died in Bellingham, MA, 3 Jul 1800. Susan M. Hillier Roe Seal Beach, CA SueMHR@aol.com "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." Margaret Mead, 1901-1978

In a message dated 5/27/2004 11:19:54 AM Pacific Daylight Time, ri1654@earthlink.net writes: I think we can safely assume that the small town of Bellingham did not have dozens of widows who married again during a sixty year period, especially since earlier marriages can't be found for the vast majority of these women. So, I think we can assume that after a change of town clerk in April of 1754 the new clerk referred to all women being married as Mrs and that he used Mrs as a contraction for Mistress. This is certainly a reasonable assumption. When someone is listed as "Mrs" in that time period in Bellingham, it will be necessary to use other records to be sure of the person's previous marital status. In my research, I found a woman with a child listed as "Mrs" in Bellingham. Since she had a child, I assumed she was a widow, especially with the "Mrs" designation. Wrong! She had never been married and had the child out of wedlock. This I was able to prove using other records. This is what everyone will need to do when they come across a "Mrs" being married in Bellingham in that time period. Maybe, if we prove or disprove a previous marriage for anyone in the above category, we should post it to this list. That way we can help others who may be researching the same family. I'll post mine in a separate email. I hope others will follow. Sue Susan M. Hillier Roe Seal Beach, CA SueMHR@aol.com "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." Margaret Mead, 1901-1978

In a message dated 5/27/04 2:19:46 PM Eastern Daylight Time, ri1654@earthlink.net writes: > When we explained the concern in detail, we were given > the extraordinary opportunity to review the actual records. > Well that is really remarkable. Glad that they were forthcoming with the data. J

I've tried to send this for two days, but it keeps rejecting. Alice says the list is working, so I'm trying again. Frank It's time to wake up this list. We've been too quiet lately. Several months ago I posted a message regarding Sarah Bates of Bellingham and an intention of marriage in 1797 to Benjamin Hall of Cumberland RI. In a response, it was noted that Sarah was listed in the transcribed records as "Mrs" indicating she was a widow. Several messages went back and forth on the subject of so many apparent widows in Bellingham remarrying. I was never comfortable with the idea that so many of the women marrying in Bellingham in the latter half of the 18th century were widows. In April I had to go to Rhode Island for a funeral so I took a day to meet list Mom Alice in Mendon and we went over to Bellingham to talk to the town clerks. Initially we were only shown the transcribed records that are available to anyone. When we explained the concern in detail, we were given the extraordinary opportunity to review the actual records. The original records do show "Mrs" for all the brides in many of the entries, although the entry is shown as a capital M with a small r and s written in what we would call superscript today. All the entries for the grooms showed "Mr" with a capital M and a small r, also written as superscript. This still bothered me so I started randomly checking records and finally found when this form of recording began. The last entry without the "Mr" and "Mrs" was on March 30, 1754; it was an intention of marriage for Daniel Chapin of Mendon and Abigail Corbett of Bellingham. The next entry is on April 5, 1754 and is in a different handwriting. Suddenly, the method of showing people's name changes. That first entry is an intention of marriage for Mr. Josiah Nelson of Mendon and Mrs. Elizabeth Mayer of Bellingham. The town clerk told us the office of town clerk used to change hands on the first of April each year, if it changed at all. She said it is common to find a change of handwriting between March and April. The practice of using Mr and Mrs for intentions of marriage appears to last for about sixty years. After that, the records are in poor condition and I could not follow the pattern. After arriving home I researched the use of Mr and Mrs. Most researchers agree that Mrs was a contraction for Mistress from early colonial times until the early to middle part of the 1800s. It is also generally agreed that Mistress was used to refer to any woman over the age of 16 regardless of her marital status. The use of mistress to refer to a woman, married or single, disappeared completely by the Victorian era. I think we can safely assume that the small town of Bellingham did not have dozens of widows who married again during a sixty year period, especially since earlier marriages can't be found for the vast majority of these women. So, I think we can assume that after a change of town clerk in April of 1754 the new clerk referred to all women being married as Mrs and that he used Mrs as a contraction for Mistress. There may be some exceptions, but I think we can safely assume that most of the women marrying between 1754 and about 1800 in Bellingham were not widows. I'm open to other suggestions, though. Frank Comstock

SOURCE: "Putnam's Monthly Historical Magazine", May, 1892-April, 1893, Vol. I; Eben Putnam, Publisher and Editor, Salem. PART 4 Page 190 http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ma/state/revwar/putnam/part4.html I was looking for some Lancaster families and came across this site; it has some Upton, Douglas, Northbridge, Uxbridge families....thought it would be interesting to someone on this list

In a message dated 5/27/04 10:46:14 AM Eastern Daylight Time, SueMHR@aol.com writes: > > You left the "m" off of the end of the address -- it says "co" rather than > "com". > Ok, that explains it. I guess I did it in a hurry; but no excuse. Thanks, Sue Jean

In a message dated 5/27/2004 7:05:35 AM Pacific Daylight Time, Jespane@cs.com writes: I, also , tried to post a message this week and received this error message. ----- The following addresses had permanent fatal errors ----- <MA-Mendon-L@rootsweb.co> You left the "m" off of the end of the address -- it says "co" rather than "com". Susan M. Hillier Roe Seal Beach, CA SueMHR@aol.com "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." Margaret Mead, 1901-1978

I, also , tried to post a message this week and received this error message. ----- The following addresses had permanent fatal errors ----- <MA-Mendon-L@rootsweb.co> ----- Transcript of session follows ----- 550 <MA-Mendon-L@rootsweb.co>... Host unknown (Name server: rootsweb.co: host not found) Jean

Morning All, This is just a test .. Frank C. has been trying to post a message and being told there is no Ma- Mendon List. :)) Frank, I checked and it's still there. :) Too quiet of course.. but still there. Please all drive safe and have a great Memorial Day Weekend. Alice alicep@rcn.com Message from Massachusetts

It's a good site to keep - it's come in handy a few times. I didn't have the address of the original web site, so I never searched for it there, but I did see they have links to other on line books Lisa ----- Original Message ----- From: <SueMHR@aol.com> To: <MA-MENDON-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, April 17, 2004 11:02 PM Subject: Re: [MA-MENDON] Annals of Mendon > In a message dated 4/16/2004 10:41:43 PM Pacific Daylight Time, > llepore@comcast.net writes: > http://www.waybackmachine.org > Very interesting! But no Annals of Mendon :( Sue > > Susan M. Hillier Roe > Seal Beach, CA > SueMHR@aol.com > > "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the > world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." > Margaret Mead, 1901-1978 >

In a message dated 4/16/2004 10:41:43 PM Pacific Daylight Time, llepore@comcast.net writes: http://www.waybackmachine.org Very interesting! But no Annals of Mendon :( Sue Susan M. Hillier Roe Seal Beach, CA SueMHR@aol.com "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." Margaret Mead, 1901-1978

In a message dated 4/17/04 1:41:40 AM Eastern Daylight Time, llepore@comcast.net writes: > > > There's a very cool website called the wayback machine. > > It archives websites [many but not all] so sometimes you > can find things that are no longer available. > > Try entering the site you have at this page and see if you > come up with anything good! If I remember correctly, you need > to enter the whole thing beginning with http in the box next to > the words wayback machine. > Thanks, that is a wonderful hint Will look there this morning. Jean

Alice and listers - There's a very cool website called the wayback machine. It archives websites [many but not all] so sometimes you can find things that are no longer available. Try entering the site you have at this page and see if you come up with anything good! If I remember correctly, you need to enter the whole thing beginning with http in the box next to the words wayback machine. http://www.waybackmachine.org Lisa llepore@comcast.net ----- Original Message ----- From: "Alice Palladini;" <alicep@rcn.com> To: <MA-MENDON-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, April 16, 2004 3:22 PM Subject: Re: [MA-MENDON] Annals of Mendon > Hi All Listers, > > The Annals URL tha I have says "page no longer available" Like Lisa I > searched and came up with nothing, even relating to the Annals > ..except the Tommie Page that has all entrees of the Annals > concerning the Thompsons, only. > But the whole Annals was on with an index, a while back!! wonder > why it is off now?? > Alice >

Hi All Listers, The Annals URL tha I have says "page no longer available" Like Lisa I searched and came up with nothing, even relating to the Annals ..except the Tommie Page that has all entrees of the Annals concerning the Thompsons, only. But the whole Annals was on with an index, a while back!! wonder why it is off now?? Alice

I also looked through the list archives, and saw a message from Alice last year? that the annals were on line, but the link was not included, so I went on a hunt to find it, and came up empty. Maybe Alice knows where it went to? It's great that these books are on line, but they are not the easiest things to figure out - especially when they don't have an index. Oh Well.... Lisa ----- Original Message ----- From: <SueMHR@aol.com> To: <MA-MENDON-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, April 16, 2004 10:05 AM Subject: Re: [MA-MENDON] Annals of Mendon > In a message dated 4/15/2004 10:45:52 PM Pacific Daylight Time, > llepore@comcast.net writes: > I found a site with excerpts from the Annals of Mendon > http://www.wellswooster.com/tommies/annals_mendon.html > > I did find the proprietors records books on line here > http://www.usigs.org/library/books/ma/Mendon1899/ > Thanks for these sites, Lisa. I never saw the original request. Perhaps it > came in during that time when Rootsweb was having problems with AOL and a > couple of other servers? I missed some mail then. I appreciate you following up! > > USIGS has added lots of books since the last time I visited. If any of you > haven't been there, when you go to the Proprietors Records URL above, you can > click on "Parent Directory" at the top of the list and it will take you to a > list of all the MA books in the collection. > > I was disappointed that they did not include the index to the Proprietors > Records -- it's kind of like looking for a needle in a haystack!! > > Has anyone found the entire Annals of Mendon online? That would be great! > Sue > > Susan M. Hillier Roe > Seal Beach, CA > SueMHR@aol.com >

In a message dated 4/15/2004 10:45:52 PM Pacific Daylight Time, llepore@comcast.net writes: I found a site with excerpts from the Annals of Mendon http://www.wellswooster.com/tommies/annals_mendon.html I did find the proprietors records books on line here http://www.usigs.org/library/books/ma/Mendon1899/ Thanks for these sites, Lisa. I never saw the original request. Perhaps it came in during that time when Rootsweb was having problems with AOL and a couple of other servers? I missed some mail then. I appreciate you following up! USIGS has added lots of books since the last time I visited. If any of you haven't been there, when you go to the Proprietors Records URL above, you can click on "Parent Directory" at the top of the list and it will take you to a list of all the MA books in the collection. I was disappointed that they did not include the index to the Proprietors Records -- it's kind of like looking for a needle in a haystack!! Has anyone found the entire Annals of Mendon online? That would be great! Sue Susan M. Hillier Roe Seal Beach, CA SueMHR@aol.com "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." Margaret Mead, 1901-1978

I'm kind of behind in my mail..... I found a site with excerpts from the Annals of Mendon http://www.wellswooster.com/tommies/annals_mendon.html I did find the proprietors records books on line here http://www.usigs.org/library/books/ma/Mendon1899/ I didn't see anyone answer this message - did you find the site for the Annals? Lisa ----- Original Message ----- From: <Jespane@cs.com> To: <MA-MENDON-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, February 09, 2004 11:19 AM Subject: [MA-MENDON] Annals of Mendon > Does anyone know if the Annals of Mendon are still on line? > They were available some time back in book form but I have lost the URL. > Jes >

Hello to all on the list. I had to make a fast trip to Rhode Island for a funeral this week and took a day to visit various areas in Mendon, Blackstone, East Blackstone, and Bellingham, all villages in the Mendon area and of interest to one or more people on the list. I had a chance to meet Alice (also known as Mother Mendon) and spend a few hours with her. She's a great lady and is filled with Mendon knowledge. I just got back to Maryland (Friday afternoon) and will turn around on Saturday morning to head north to New Jersey for the holiday weekend, so I don't have time to report everything I found. I'll try to post a message within a week with some thoughts on my time in Mendon and the other villages and report a couple of things I found. One thing Alice and I found may be of interest to several on the list. Anyway, have a great weekend. I know I can't wait to get back on I-95. I've spent a good part of my week on it, so it seems appropriate to drive a few hundred more miles on this east coast parking lot ! Frank Comstock

In a message dated 4/9/2004 5:30:29 AM Pacific Daylight Time, alicep@rcn.com writes: call the Uxbridge Town Hall or Library and probably they could give you a contact . When I visited Uxbridge a few years ago, I found the ladies at the library to be an extremely pleasant and helpful bunch. I would try there first. Sue Susan M. Hillier Roe Seal Beach, CA SueMHR@aol.com "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." Margaret Mead, 1901-1978