{"id":93009,"date":"2023-07-14T09:34:48","date_gmt":"2023-07-14T13:34:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=93009"},"modified":"2024-02-01T09:28:58","modified_gmt":"2024-02-01T14:28:58","slug":"paternity-drama-in-colonial-america-part-6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/paternity-drama-in-colonial-america-part-6.html","title":{"rendered":"Paternity Drama in Colonial America (part 6)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/em><\/strong>: In this article, Melissa Davenport Berry provides more stories about out-of-wedlock births in colonial America, focusing on Topsfield, Massachusetts. Melissa is a genealogist who has a blog, AnceStory Archives<\/a>, and a Facebook group, New England Family Genealogy and History<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Map:<\/a>
Map: Topsfield, Massachusetts, showing the land and house of Zaccheus Gould and listing his neighbors Perkins, Wildes, and Towne. Credit: \u201cThe Family of Zaccheus Gould\u201d by Benjamin Gould, 1895.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The court cases are listed in Melinde Lutz Sanborn\u2019s book Lost Babes: Fornication Abstracts from Court Records, Essex County, Massachusetts, 1692-1745<\/a>, and the original court documents are on the FamilySearch site Court Records, 1686-1726<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Hanna Blye<\/strong><\/p>\n

In one case, on 13 April 1697<\/a>, Hanna Blye of Salem, daughter of John Blye and Rebecca Gott\/Gault, was charged with fornication.<\/p>\n

Blye was originally charged in 1695, and accused John Lawther of Salem (who married Elizabeth Curtis in 1686).<\/p>\n

The year Blye had named him as the father of her child, Lawther and his wife had a daughter Elizabeth (who married John Callum).<\/p>\n

The 1697 court date was to determine whether Lawther was guilty of fathering Blye\u2019s child. Lawther gave testimony \u201cproviding several evidences\u201d that when Blye was a servant working at the Exchange Tavern in Boston she was keeping company with Captain Sadler.<\/p>\n

The court dismissed all charges against Lawther and ordered that Blye be whipped 10 stripes on her naked back and pay court costs.<\/p>\n

In tracking the Sadler males in the area, I found Anthony Sadler (who married Martha Cheney) of Newbury. They had a son, Captain Abiel Sadler (who married Rebecca Dike). Abiel and Rebecca, in turn, had a son, Captain Richard Sadler (who married Elizabeth Gourding in Boston in 1707). Richard died within a few years of the marriage at age 35.<\/p>\n

I could not locate a birth record for Hannah\u2019s child. Further research is needed. Her father John and her brother William both testified against Bridget Bishop<\/a> in the 1692 witch trials, and their characters are portrayed in Cry Innocent: The People Versus Bridget Bishop<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Elizabeth Dunwell<\/strong><\/p>\n

The next two cases involve the same mother: Elizabeth Dunwell, daughter of Michael Dunwell\/Dunell of Topsfield. She never married and had three children born out of wedlock. What happened to the babes I do not know.<\/p>\n

On 28 December 1698, Elizabeth Dunwell was charged with fornication. She accused Zaccheus Perkins, son of Deacon Thomas Perkins and Phebe Gould.<\/p>\n

In that session the judge ordered both parties to return to appear in the next session. Dunwell was attended in court by her brother Dr. Michael Dunwell.<\/p>\n

For Perkins, his brother Elisha Perkins and Capt. John How paid sureties of \u00a350. When the next session came, on 1 March 1699<\/a>, daddy Perkins did not appear.<\/p>\n

It was not until 26 September 1699<\/a> that Dunwell and Perkins were back in court. Dunwell was ordered to be whipped 10 stripes on her naked back and pay a fine of \u00a340.<\/p>\n

Perkins was ordered to make weekly payments to Elizabeth of \u00a32 and 6s for maintenance of the child plus court costs. Capt. How and Thomas Perley secured a \u00a350 bond.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: the memorial stone dedicated to the three women from the Topsfield area who were executed for witchcraft in 1692: Mary Esty\/Easty; Elizabeth How\/Howe; and Sarah Wildes\/Wilds\/Wild\/Wilde. The stone was erected by the Topsfield Historical Society in May of 1992 on the 300th anniversary of the tragedy. The stone stands directly across from the Congregational Church, which occupies the site of Topsfield\u2019s third and fourth meeting houses, built in 1703 and 1759, respectively.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But the plot thickens\u2026<\/p>\n

Zaccheus Perkins had a slew of charges for stealing and other criminal acts which he confessed to in May of 1680. He was sentenced to be whipped and was branded on the forehead with a \u201cB\u201d for burglary.<\/p>\n

The cases can be viewed in the Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, Massachusetts<\/a>. Among his victims were: Thomas Maule; Michael Dunnell\/Dunwell\/Dwinnell (Elizabeth\u2019s father); and his own father Deacon Thomas Perkins.<\/p>\n

In the 1692 witch trials, Perkins testified against the wife of his neighbor John Wilds. (See Deposition of John Gould & Zaccheus Perkins v. Sarah Wilds<\/a>.) Perkins\u2019 aunt, Priscilla Gould, was married to John Wilds and died in 1663. Wilds\u2019 second marriage was to Sarah Wilds. (Note these alternate spellings: Wildes, Wild, Wilde.)<\/p>\n

Zaccheus Perkins married Rebecca (purported Bradbury) and had three sons: Zaccheus Jr. (who married Priscilla Jewett); Thomas (who married Susanna Prescott); and William (who married Elizabeth Nelson).<\/p>\n

Elizabeth Dunwell was charged again for fornication on 26 December 1710<\/a>, and her punishment for having a third bastard child was ten stripes on her naked back and having to pay court costs. I could not locate the case of her second fornication charge.<\/p>\n

On this third charge she named Thomas Goodale as the father. But since no birth witnesses confirmed the charge, Goodale was dismissed, the court noting \u201cthat this is the third bastard child which she hath had and so become a common strumpet or little better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here is the twist on this one: Thomas Goodale\/Goodell\/Goodhall was married to Phebe Perkins, daughter of Katherine Towne and Elisha Perkins \u2013 the brother to Zaccheus Perkins, the father of Elizabeth\u2019s first child.<\/p>\n

Katherine Towne, the daughter of Jacob Towne, was the niece of Rebecca Nurse and Mary Towne Esty. Both women were convicted of witchcraft and hanged during the Salem witch trials. Sarah Towne Cloyes was accused, condemned, jailed, and released after January 1693 when the charges were dismissed.<\/p>\n

Only one Dunwell appears in the Salem witchcraft papers. That is Elizabeth\u2019s father Michael (see the deposition of Joseph Herrick Sr. & Mary Herrick v. Sarah Good<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Sarah Perkins<\/strong><\/p>\n

In another case, on 26 September 1704, Sarah Perkins was charged with fornication and named Simon Bradstreet as the father of her child, Simon Bradstreet Jr., who was born on 9 August 1704. The court accepted her claim via the midwife Sarah Fairfield, who testified.<\/p>\n

From records gathered, Sarah Perkins was the daughter of Thomas Perkins and Sarah Wallis, and married William Makittrick.<\/p>\n

The father of Sarah\u2019s child, Simon Bradstreet, married Elizabeth Capen, daughter of Rev. Joseph Capen and Priscilla Appleton. The couple named one of their sons Simon Bradstreet, who was born in 1714 and later married Anna Flint of Salem.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: baby cradle in the Parson Capen House, 1 Howlett Street, Topsfield, Massachusetts. Courtesy of the Phillips Library, Peabody Essex Museum, Samuel Chamberlain Collection.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Simon Bradstreet (the child born out of wedlock) married Susannah Hobbs, daughter of William Hobbs and Mary Knight. The Hobbs<\/a> family had a role in the 1692 witchcraft trials.<\/p>\n

One thing is for sure: this little chap had quite a pedigree. He was the grandson of poetess Anne Dudley Bradstreet, dubbed the \u201cEmpress Consort of Massachusetts,\u201d and the great grandson of Governor Thomas Dudley.<\/p>\n

To be continued\u2026<\/p>\n

Explore over 330 years of newspapers and historical records in GenealogyBank. Discover your family story! Start a 7-Day Free Trial<\/a><\/p>\n

Note on the header image:<\/em><\/strong> exterior of the Parson Capen House<\/a>, 1 Howlett Street, Topsfield, Massachusetts. Courtesy of the Phillips Library, Peabody Essex Museum, Samuel Chamberlain Collection.<\/p>\n

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