Massachusetts Family Genealogies
We have detailed information of the first ancestor of the families listed below plus
the locations of homes, and biographies.
Please do not expect information about other branches of that surname unless indicated.
CARRET: Descendants of Jose Francisco Carret (1834-97), who was the special collections
librarian at Boston Public Library, in whose home the first students of
Radcliffe were housed. Ancestry proven back to Guillaume Carret of
Villefranche near Lyons about 1560.
COFFIN: Ancestry and descendants of "America's most famous woman" Lucretia
Coffin Mott (1793-1880) and her sister Martha Coffin Wright (1806-95).
Contacts with biographers and source of letters of these women who were
leaders at Seneca Falls Convention of 1848.
GARRAN. Descendants of Richard Gearing of Gloucester who married there Lydia
Carlisle about 1717, and died there about 1722-3. The name is often
pronounced Garran, which became the spelling in one branch by 1800.
GARRISON. Complete descendants and known ancestry of the famous abolitionist
William Lloyd Garrison (1805-1879) and his wife Helen Eliza Benson (1811-76)
descendant of colonial governors of Rhode Island and English royalty.
GEARING. See Garran
GOODARD. Complete descendants of Elias Goddard (1778-1826) sail maker of
Boston's North End, and his wife Eunice Walker (1784-1859), a nurse, and
daughter of John Walker of Boston. Best known was his son Elias (1803-88)
Senior Warden of Old North Church involved in the church controversy,
Commander of the Columbian Artillery, and cooper by trade.
GOULD. All descendants of Thomas Gould or Gold, (d. 1707), a brass founder,
who came from London to the west end of Boston about 1687, was founder of
King's Chapel 1689. Descendants included James who built the first bridge
out of Boston in 1789, Thomas, member of Boston City Council who founded
Tremont Temple, Boston's first integrated church, Douglas who built the
first oil shale plant in the world 1923. There are many Gould families in
America. I can tell you if you are a descendant of Thomas if you send me
full name and date, and suggest ways to find info if you are not related.
HENCHMAN. Descendants of Capt. Daniel Henchman (d. 1685), founder of
Worcester, grandfather of printer of first Bible in America, and great-great
grandfather of silversmith Daniel Henchman.
LAWRANCE. Descendants of Thomas Lawrance of Hingham, Kent who settled
Hingham Mass 1637, died there 1655, and his wife Elizabeth Bate(s), daughter
of William Bate of Aston Clinton, Buckinghamshire. Their children were among
early settlers of Dorchester, Mass.
LOVIS Descendants of Thomas & Sarah Lovis of Marblehead about 1717. He was
fisherman, blubber boy, shore man and weaver. The family moved to Hingham, and
to Boston. We would love to hear from anyone of this name.
MANSFIELD: Ancestry of Revolutionary soldier Joseph Mansfield (1728-1806),
cooper of Hingham, and his wife Sarah Waters (1733-1804), including the
founder of the first ironworks in America, Quinton Pray, "witch" Rachel
Clinton condemned in Salem trials, and founders of several Massachusetts towns.
TEEL Ancestry and descendants of Benjamin Teel (1781-post 1821) baker of
Newburyport and Boston, and his wife Sally Barnard (1779-1826) of
Newburyport, including her ancestor the accused witch Mary Bradbury.
TIDD Ancestry and descendants of Jacob Tidd (1755-1821), distiller of
Medford, and his wife Ruth Dawes (1766-1861), owners of the Royal Mansion in
Medford 1811-60. Her half-brother William Dawes spread the alarm at the
start of the Revolution. Descendants of "The Puritan" Deacon Samuel
Chapin
who was idealized in the famous statue by St. Gaudens.
WELD Ancestry and descendants of Thomas Swan Weld (1810-48), son of Capt.
William Gordon Weld, the famous oriental trader under the Black Horse Flag,
and Hannah Minot (royal ancestry). Also ancestry of his wife Sarah Fitch
Sumner (1819-1901), descended from the Bailey, Clement, Coffin, Greenleaf, and Little families.