Investigative Reporting. . . >From the NEHG records of the Medfield Death Register I find: MARY T. DERBY died Sept. 11, 1880 at age 83 years 8 months & 9 days; her parents names are unreadable. This would indicate that she was born 1896/1897 >From the 1880 census Medfield Norfolk Massachusetts I find: MARY T. DERBY widowed age 83 born in Massachusetts as were her parents; with her is her adopted daughter ADDIE MOORE age 35 born in Virginia and her sister LUCRETIA TOWNSEND age 81. >From the 1820 census Medfield Norfolk Massachusetts I find: JOHN B. DERBY Esq. 1 male age 16-26 and 1 female age 16-26 >From the Medfield Norfolk Massachusetts Vital Records I find: MARY TOWNSEND born January 1, 1797 daughter of Horatio and Anetis >From the Vital Records of Dedham, Mass. 1635-1845 I find: Intentions - John B. Derby, Esqr, & Miss Mary Townsend, both of Dedham, July 23d, 1820. >From Dexter's Memoranda of Boston; Originally published as: John Haven Dexter's Memoranda of the Town of Boston in the 18th and 19th Centuries. Boston New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1997; I find: Derby John B., md Mary Townsend, dau. Horatio, Dedham, Aug. 6, 1820. [3] >From the Church and Cemetery Records of Dedham, Mass. 1638-1845 (Online Database: NewEnglandAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2007), (The Record of Baptisms, Marriages and Deaths, and Admissions to the Church and Dismissals Therefrom, Transcribed from the Church Records in the Town of Dedham, Massachusetts. 1638-1845. Editied by Don Gleason Hill, Dedham, MA, 1888) I find: Aug. 6. 1820. John Barton Derby & Mary Townsend, daughter of Horatio Townsend, both of Dedham. Episcopal Church >From the Vital Records of Medfield Norfolk Massachusetts to the Year 1850 I find: Birth - Derby Sarah Anstis, d. John Barton and Mary, Oct. 19, 1821. Death - Derby Sarah A., d. Mary D., July 25, 1837. And FINALLY. >From the Town of Medfield web site at http://www.town.medfield.net/index.cfm?pid=12699 I find the following: The Dwight/Derby House (a picture can be seen at the website). Seth Dwight, John's and Elizabeth's youngest child, married Hannah Fisher in 1740. John gave Seth half of what he owned; the east end of the house, his barn, and land as a wedding gift. The house was modernized sometime between 1730 and 1750. The original (left) of the house, that dated to 1651, was torn down leaving only the original 1651 beams in the hallway. They converted the house to a Georgian style as you can see in the picture below. Seth's children owned businesses. Timothy was a physician and Patty's husband was a merchant. Upon inheriting the property, they sold the house and 16 acres, in 1797, to Horatio Townsend to gain capital for their businesses. Townsend had five children. Mary, the oldest, married John Derby and bought the house, the barn, and a small piece of land from her father in 1820. Mary lived in the house for the next sixty years. She raised her two children and took care of her mother and sister. Her husband left in 1823. Mary made changes in 1830-1840 to the house so that it now looked like the picture below. A better picture taken July 11, 2009 - 7 Frairy Street Medfield Massachusetts http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dwight-Derby_House_Medfield.jpg >From the book (Google Books) "Medfield, Massachusetts Proceedings at the Celebration of the Two Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary of the Incorporation of the Town June 6, 1901" I find the following: 1828 - "There is tradition that the first religious service of the new enterprise was held in the upstairs, southwest corner room in the house on Frairy Street now occupied by Mr. Eldon Hamilton. It was then occupied by Mrs. Derby and her sister Miss Townsend..." >From this website http://loveandpersistence.com/Transcriptions.html I find the following: Horatio Townsend to Mary Derby - Bond written 1821/ recorded 1823 Norfolk Deeds 65:90 Know all men by these presents that I Horatio Townsend of Dedham in the County of Norfolk and Commonwealth of Massachusetts Esquire am holden and stand firmly bound and obliged unto Mary Derby my Daughter and wife of John B. Derby of Medfield in said County Esq. in the full and just sum of Twelve Hundred Dollars to be paid to the said Mary Derby to the which payment well and truly to be made I bind myself my heirs executors and admins. firmly by these presents sealed with my seal - dated the fourteenth day of May in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty one -- The Condition of this [Bond - crossed out] Obligation is such that if the above bounden Horatio Townsend shall suffer the said Mary Derby to take immediate possession of and quietly occupy and improve a certain house lot and the house and barn thereon standing lying in Medfield aforesaid - beginning at the southwesterly corner of said Townsend's land & running northerly on the line between the said Townsend's and Artemas Woodward's land about a rod beyond the barn then turning at a right angle and running about ten rods then turning and running in a line nearly parallel with the line on sd Woodwards land to the road which passes the pond in front of the house and on said road to the corner first mentioned reserving to the said Townsend the Corn barn standing on the said lot & also a privilege to an equal and common use of the barn -- as an adequate advance portion to the said Mary out of the estate of said Townsend her Father and shall during the life time of the said Townsend give a good & sufficient deed of the same to the said Mary for her life and to her heirs forever, then the above written obligation to be void otherwise to remain in full force and virtue. Horatio Townsend /seal/ Signed sealed & Delivered in presence of us Edward Turner James Foord March 3d 1823 Received Entered & Examined by Enos Foord Reg. [NOTE: This bond was rewritten as a deed, with identical property description, dated Oct 1, 1823 and witnessed by Abigail Greene and Theron Metcalf. The deed was not recorded until Aug 3, 1829 - see ND 88/31] There are other items of interest including letters etc. As an armature genealogist for the pat 20 year I am to a certain sure that MARY T. (for Townsend) DERBY was born MARY TOWNSEND. I hope this helps some one and if not it sure was fun. -----Original Message----- From: manorfol-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:manorfol-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of gc-gateway@rootsweb.com Sent: Friday, December 11, 2009 4:49 AM To: MANORFOL@rootsweb.com Subject: [Norfolk Co MA] 1846 folded letter to Mrs Mary T DERBY of Medfield,Massachusetts from West-Point, New York This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: JimMiller599 Surnames: DERBY Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.massachusetts.count ies.norfolk/3180/mb.ashx Message Board Post: I recently found a photograph of an old envelope that was sent to Mrs Mary T DERBY of Medfield, Massachusetts from West-Point, New York in 1846. You can see the envelope on http://philgen.org (search on DERBY, click on View, and scroll to the bottom of the page), or click on the link below. I am unable to determine with whom Mrs DERBY was married and wondered if someone more familiar with Medfield could provide details on her family. The letter (as well as a second envelope) is a folded letter that has writing on the other side of the sheet used to make the envelope. I believe this envelope may be helpful to someone in their genealogical research. The reason I have a photo of the envelope is because of my interest in using old envelopes and postcards in genealogical research. I have an article in the spring 2009 issue of New England Ancestors entitled Philatelic Genealogy (viewable at the philgen website) and have started the philgen website. Here is a direct link to the photo of the envelope: http://philgen.org/index.php?option=com_fabrik&c=form&view=form&Itemid=10&fa brik=5&rowid=1098&fabrik_cursor=0&fabrik_total=3&tableid=5&lang=us Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board. ------------------------------- NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS MAILING LIST LIST TOPIC: The discussion and research of genealogy or history information pertaining to Norfolk County at any point in its history. 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