From the Ayers to the Bowers...in England.

I'm glad to not be an archeologist, who would literally get dirt under her fingernails. At least my digging is all digital and I'm glad to spend hours doing it.  The actual records are often available and very interesting, showing much more than the Ancestry highlight often.

We've been looking at my grandmother's line, Ada Swasey Rogers, with a lot of her ancestors from New England. Are there any more that go back 12 or 13 generations?

Ii just posted about Ammi Ayers and her husband Samuel Swasey  Their son,  Joseph Swasey married  Mary Bowers.  Let's go up to the top the branches of her family tree today. 

At the top there's Elizabeth Iwerner Minster Bowers, (b. 1570 in First (Manby), Lincolnshire, England, d. 1659 in Manby Lincoln, Yorkshire, England.)  Iwerner is my eldest matriarch for this branch of my tree, and a 9 times great grandmother.

She married Thomas Bowers in 1590 in Lincoln, England.  

So I could look for Manby, Lincolnshire.  And then Manby Lincoln, Yorkshire.  These are not the same county again, and I can't persue it unfortunately.  I'm glad someone left records of their births and marriage and deaths.

Iwerner and Thomas Bowers had a son, George Bowers, in 1590 in Manly, Lincolnshire, Eng.  And Iwerner died in 1659 in Manby Lincoln, Yorkshire, England as well. She is the first of my matriarchs  who didn't even come to America. I am handicapped by not understanding the Lincoln vs. Lincolnshire counties of England. If anyone wants to give me better information (from the16th century) please comment!

George Bowers first married Barbarie (Barbara) Smyth  (b.1596 in Braithwell, Yorkshire, England, d. 25 Mar 1644 in Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts)  They married in Braithwell, Eng. in 1614.  I did try to find information about Braithwell...

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"Braithwell Facts

Interesting and historical facts about Braithwell.

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"Sorry, there are no facts about Braithwell."

Well, apparently all the fun people moved away from Braithwell.  There must have been some good farming at any rate.

The George Bowers had one or two children in England, then their next children were born in Connecticut or Massachusetts.  Their son Benanuell Bowers was born in 1627 in Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts, and died on 28 May 1698 in Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts.

Benanuell Bowers married Elizabeth Marie Dunster (1632-1692), 

Their son Jonathan Bowers (1673- 1750) was born in the American colonies, and he and his wife Ann Sylvester (1669-1745) had a daughter, Mary Bowers (1719-) who married Joseph Swasey, (1714-1801) as mentioned above.

But soon I'll climb further out on the branch of our tree to see about the earlier Bower ancestors.

One of those shipping captains, John Samuel Sherburne

More about the Sherburnes, since I just got those big portrait paintings added to my family tree over on Ancestry (see earlier post HERE.)  Of course they are really pretty far removed cousins, or aunts and uncles. But their portraits are in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, NY, and I quite honestly don't think anyone else on my tree is! (And a quick editorial note, my computer or blogger wants to spell Sherburne as Sherborne, and so if you see it spelled that way, it is unintentional.  Of course there are also Sherbournes who spelled it That way!)

But I do like finding out about some of our leading citizens,so let's look at Captain John Sherburne of Portsmouth, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, (before it became a state.)

John Samuel Sherburne, Capt.

1647-1698

Actually historians know a lot about him, and his home is still standing, as a museum in Portsmouth.  

The John Sherburne house at Strawbery Banke Museum, Portsmouth, NH, built around 1695, which is why a British flag is flying in front of it, because this was a British colony at the time.

John's wife was Mary Cowell Sherburne (1657-1736.)  Her parents (Edward and Agnes Cowell) are my 8th great grandparents.  I was surprised, because I had thought her great granddaughter Mary Sherborne Bowers (1735-1799) who married Jerathmel Bowers would be the connection to the Swasey line.  Nope.  Jerathmel's sister married a Swasey, but that made him just an uncle, a few times great.

The Cowells are more direct, and Mary Cowell Sherburne's little sister Amy (Annie) (1657-1736) married into the Ayers family.  (I blogged about her and her husbands here, and some of the history of the Ayers and Cowell families HERE.)  Nathaniel and Amy Cowell Ayers' daughter Amy Ayers Swasey, (1687-1783) married Samuel Swasey, and they became my great times 6 grandparents on my grandmother Ada Swasey Rogers branch of our tree.


Here is more information about the Sherburne home and museum in Portsmouth NH.

I'm glad someone over on Ancestry visited the Sherburne home, and took photos...though not all were in focus.  We'll skip those.

One of the reasons that the Sherburnes did so well started with John Samuel's father, Henry.  I'll give more details about him soon.

 Law enforcement in Colonial America...

Some American colonials who weren't very happy about their taxation.

I'm sharing this with Sepia Saturday, where we look at our history through photographs.  This week are some interesting looking men in uniforms over there.  

SEPIA SATURDAY 423 : SATURDAY 16 JUNE 2018

Archives of the East Riding Of Yorkshire

Hull City Police Uniformed Officers  1875

POLICE  :  UNIFORMS : GROUPS

"When constabulary duty's to be done (to be done) / A policeman's lot is not a happy one (happy one)"