Introduction: In this article, Melissa Davenport Berry continues her series on Mayflower descendants, focusing on Jennifer (Koehler) Mackall and the Wixon family line. Melissa is a genealogist who has a website, americana-archives.com, and a Facebook group, New England Family Genealogy and History.

Today I continue my series on “Mayflower Descendants: Who’s Who,” featuring the family lines of Jennifer (Koehler) Mackall, born in 1963 to Christopher Howland and Eleanor Marion (West) Koehler.

Jennifer is a direct descendant of Mayflower passengers Stephen Hopkins and his children Constance and Giles, William Bradford, George Soule, Thomas Rogers, Joseph Rogers, William Brewster and his wife Mary, Richard Warren, John Tilley, Elizabeth Tilley, and John Howland.

Here is a genealogy chart of Jennifer’s lineage listing all her Mayflower lines. A red arrow points to her.

Jennifer reached out to me after I published “Mayflower Descendants & the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe (part 12)” because she is related to early settlers who are said to have married women of Native American heritage and formed connections with Mayflower families.

The photograph below features Jennifer with her siblings Christine and Gretchen, together with their great-grandmother Marion Barstow (Baker) Wixon (1896–1978) and additional grandchildren taken in Dennis Port, Massachusetts.

In this photo we see: (front, left to right) Christine Koehler; Amy Woodman; Gretchen Koehler (Mann); (back, left to right) Jennifer Koehler (Mackall); Marion Barstow (Baker) Wixon; and Aeron Babcock.

To recap: Part 1 covered Jennifer’s great-great-great grandfather Robert Clinton Baker (1867-1956), born to Captain Nathan Foster Baker (1831-1898) and Mary Ann (Studley) Baker (1836-1906), and Robert’s wife Hattie Hamblin (Barstow) Baker, born to Joseph Barstow (1832-1871) and Mary Jane (Snow) Barstow (1837-1898).

Jennifer’s great-grandmother Marion Barstow (Baker) Wixon, one of the eight children born to Robert Clinton and Hattie Hamblin (Barstow) Baker, married Capt. Nathaniel Hawes Wixon (1896-1970), son of Edgar Francis Wixon (1862-1939) and Adelia M. (Hawes) Wixon (1868-1940).

Marion’s obituary was published in the Boston Herald. She died on 14 May 1978 in Hyannis, Massachusetts.

This article reports:

WIXON. In Hyannis May 14, Mrs. Marion (Baker) of Lower County Road, Dennisport. Wife of the late Nathaniel H. Wixon. Mother of Mrs. Orion (Pauline) Derick of South Dennis, Mrs. Robert (Adelia) West [Jennifer’s grandmother], and Mrs. Natalie Woodman of Dennisport. Sister of Mrs. Richard (Eleanor) Hall of South Dennis, and Mrs. Edith Sears of South Yarmouth. Funeral services will be held at the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints [RLDS Church], Sea St., Dennisport.

To read more about the Wixon and allied families and their membership in the RLDS (a continuation of the church established by Joseph Smith’s father in 1830), check out my post “Mayflower Descendants & the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe (part 12).”

Marion’s daughter Pauline Frances (Wixon) Derick (1917-1997), mentioned in her mother’s obit, was the family genealogist and historian.

The Dennis Historical Society has part of Pauline’s collection, and many of their newsletters feature her musings on the Wixon men who were sea captains, fishermen, and operated the Wixon Fishery business at Herring River.

Here is a photo of Wixon Dock, c. 1907. The building on the right is the shanty of Edgar F. Wixon. In this photo we see (from left to right): Marcus Tripp; James Joy; James Smith (in wagon); Nathaniel H. Wixon (in door); David M. Howes; Alonzo House; and Edgar F. Wixon.

According to Pauline, the first type of fish weir (trap) was called a “fike” and was set in rivers, used mostly to catch eels.

Edgar F. Wixon of Dennis Port had the first offshore weir in the town of Dennis and Zenas Baker of West Dennis had the second.

The weir features a leader set on the bar’s edge, extending 500 yards from 20 to 30 feet deep, ending at a heart and bowl. The bowl has a radius of 50 feet, 320 feet around it, and is big enough to take a 30-foot boat.

Fish migrating north for feeding and spawning typically encounter the leader, following its path as they attempt to pass, ultimately moving into the central area and subsequently into the trap or bowl. These traps are commonly arranged in sequences of three, spanning approximately one mile in distance.

The fish caught include herring, shad, pogies, squid, mackerel, butterfish, and on the north side of the Cape, tuna.

In a good season, it has been known to take $3,000 worth of fish a day. One year Nathaniel H. Wixon caught 10 tons of tuna in one trap on one day, averaging 100 pounds each dressed, and another time, 23 tuna the smallest of which was 400 pounds.

Below is a photo of Nathaniel H. Wixon and one of his big scores, taken in 1950.

Here is a photo of another tuna caught by Nathaniel H. Wixon, being admired by Marion (Baker) Wixon with her grandson, Burton Nathaniel Robinson Derick (Pauline’s son).

Wixon Dock, now located at 11 Harbor Way in Harwich Port, Massachusetts, is the only remaining commercial fishing pier in Harwich.

Nathaniel bought his father’s fishing business after the stock market crashed. The town acquired the dock as a gift from the Wixon family, shown on a commemorative plaque marking the site.

Here is a photo of Nathaniel (left) age 32, aboard ship Katerina in 1928 when he was a sea captain before the stock crash, and beside him is Capt. Dexter Snow.

Below is a photo of Nathaniel H. Wixon with his parents and siblings. In this photo we see: (standing, left to right) Charles Peterson Wixon (1892-1958), married Edna May Edwards; Beatrice Thankful Wixon (1889-1972), married Frederick Thacher; Nathaniel Hawes Wixon (1896-1970), married Marion Barstow Baker; (sitting, left to right) Adelia M. (Hawes) Wixon, daughter of Nathaniel Smith and Thankful Freeman (Nickerson) Hawes; Lettie Doris Wixon (1900-1907); and Edgar Francis Wixon, son of Ira and his wife and cousin Elthina T. Wixon.

Stay tuned…

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Note on the header image: “Mayflower in Plymouth Harbor,” by William Halsall, 1882. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Related Articles:

• Mayflower Descendants: Who’s Who, Part 35 (part 9)
• Mayflower Descendants: Who’s Who, Part 35 (part 10)
• Mayflower Descendants: Who’s Who, Part 35 (part 11)
• Mayflower Descendants: Who’s Who, Part 35 (part 12)
• Mayflower Descendants & the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe (part 1)
• Mayflower Descendants & the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe (part 2)
• Mayflower Descendants & the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe (part 3)
• Mayflower Descendants & the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe (part 4)
• Mayflower Descendants & the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe (part 5)
• Mayflower Descendants & the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe (part 6)
• Mayflower Descendants & the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe (part 7)
• Mayflower Descendants & the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe (part 8)
• Mayflower Descendants & the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe (part 9)
• Mayflower Descendants & the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe (part 10)
• Mayflower Descendants & the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe (part 11)
• Richard Bourne: Missionary to Plymouth Colony Indians
• Thomas Tupper: Missionary to Plymouth Colony Indians