This post is in response to the challenge of posting about 52 ancestors in 52 weeks by Amy Johnson Crow
My 4th great grandfather Ebenezer Hutchinson was the 2nd son born to Solomon (1721-1815) and Hannah (Putnam) Hutchinson who had a total of 5 children, three boys and two girls, all of whom lived to adulthood. Ebenezer was born March 22, 1753 in Danvers, Essex County, Massachusetts which was originally called Salem Village located just on the northwestern outskirts of Salem. As an aside, his great grandfather and 2x great grandfather (both named Joseph) took part in the Salem Witch Trials. By late in 1759 the family had moved to Amherst, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire and remained there for a number of years.
Ebenezer Hutchinson service in the Revolutionary War
Ebenezer and the family were in Amherst at the time of the Revolutionary War and several members took part in it. In late June and early July, 1777 Ebenezer was with Captain Peabody’s company of volunteers who marched toward Fort Ticonderoga as it was under siege. (from Secomb, Daniel R.) Before they arrived the fort had fallen. His older brother Solomon took part in the Battle of Bennington on August 16, 1777. I have no documentation of any other battles in which he or Solomon may have been involved.
Ebenezer married Hannah Littlefield probably prior to 1774 and their first child, Hannah, was born in 1774 in Amherst. Their ninth child, Robert, was born in 1791 in Amherst and their tenth, Samuel, in 1795 in Fayette, Kennebec County, Maine. Ebenezer, his brothers Solomon and Asa and his father Solomon all moved to the area of Fayette, probably in the early to mid 1790s. Solomon, Solomon and Asa apparently lived in or around Fayette until their deaths as did other Hutchinsons, all of whom descended from my 9th great grandfather Richard and wife Alice (Bosworth) Hutchinson.
While most of the family stayed around Fayette, Ebenezer (and at least two of his sons) moved to the area of Paris and Woodstock, about 25-30 miles from Fayette. Ebenezer’s son-in-law Abraham Walton was already in the area. Latham states on p. 467, “In the sketches of mills, it is stated that Ebenezer Hutchinson built a grist mill on Moose Pond stream about the beginning of the present century. In the list of early purchasers of land, on page seventy-six, it is stated “April 2, 1799, Ebenezer Hutchinson of Walton’s Plantation, bought of Stephen Robinson of Paris, the southerly part of lot numbered 27-28 in the 6th range.” Walton’s Plantation now constitutes a part of the town of Woodstock, and consisted of a few lots run out on the south end of what was afterwards the grant to Gorham Academy, and know as “Smith’s Survey”. Several Walton families were among the first settlers here, and hence the name. Hutchinson came to this section from Fayette, and he, the Waltons and several other neighboring families emigrated to Ohio. This emigration occurred about the year 1812.” In 1802 Ebenezer signed a petition to divide the town of Paris into two entities because a river ran through it and it was difficult to operate as if it were one entity. In 1809 his son Abraham was a Paris town officer and in 1810 his son Ebenezer was one.
Despite what Latham says, the emigration probably took place in 1814 as I have previously described. I’m not sure what other families besides the Hutchinsons and Waltons took part in the move but it may have been several. I really wish I knew why they decided to move west! The part of Maine they were in was certainly rugged and sparsely populated, as was the area to which they went. Many sources say that Ebenezer Hutchinson died in 1828 in Ohio and some say 1838 in Ohio. He may have died in 1838 but I don’t believe it was in Ohio. The 1830 US Census for Lancaster Township, Jefferson County, Indiana shows a 70-80 year old Ebenezer Hutchinson living next to a 40-50 year old Abraham Hutchinson. In 1830 Ebenezer would have been 77 years old and his son Abraham 48. I doubt that eight years later Ebenezer would have traveled to Ohio to die, although I have found no evidence of his death or grave in Indiana.
Secomb, Daniel R.; “History of the Town of Amherst, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire; with Genealogies of Amherst Families; Evans, Sleeper & Woodbury; Concond, N.H.;1883”
Volume: 184; SAR Membership Number: 36750. Ancestry.com. U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
Genealogical and Family History of the State of Maine; Little, George T., ed.; vol 2; Lewis Historical Publishing Company; New York; 1909; pp. 1526-1528
Lapham, William Berry and Silas Packard Maxim; History of Paris, Maine, from it’s Settlement to 1880: with a History of the Grants of 1736 & 1771: Together with Personal Sketches, a Copious Genealogical Register and an Appendix; Paris, Maine; Printed for the Authors; 1884
Lapham, William Berry; History of Woodstock, ME, with Family Sketches and an Appendix; Stephen Berry Printer; Portland; 1882
1830 US Census; Census Place: , Jefferson, Indiana; Page: 105; NARA Series: M19; Roll Number: 28; Family History Film: 0007717.
larrysgroup 
Larry, I follow your blog due to our Walton kinship. My lineage is from Rev William Walton’s son, Nathaniel.
Re your ‘why emigrate West’ question. If you go up the Walton line from your mentioned Abraham Walton, you will come to Samuel Walton, also of Maine. Some of his children heard the word of Mormon, and decided to join the group, first in Ohio, then to Illinois [some became “Saints”], and finally Utah. Perhaps your Abraham Walton joined part of this westward movement and stayed in Ohio/Illinois.
In all my research, I have found it interesting that other than 1 branch [a female marrying a southerner], the Rev William Walton family have basically lived their lives in the northern states. Of course, I’m not counting those who retired to Florida, etc. Therefor, the odds are pretty high, if we were to meet a Walton in, say Michigan or Minnesota, that we are related!
Just a thought.
E Walton, currently living in NYS.
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E Walton: thanks for your comment. As far as I know Abraham went to Ohio and Indiana in the southern portion and with a small group. Also they appeared not to be Mormons since they attended Baptist and other non-Mormon churches. Is there some way I can email you to discuss family history in more detail?
Sure, how do I do it without putting my email address in this box?
I think I got your email address from your comment. Let me try it.
Larry, Just found this website – we’ve corresponded before. My ggrandmother was Rhoda, dau of Isaiah Walton. As for the Mormon connection, 12 or 15 years ago I was in touch with a distant Walton relative in Salt Lake. His line included the branch that came west in the first Mormon migration. I need to re-research, but I thought one of them was in the cadre that went by sea to San Francisco and then to Salt Lake to meet Brigham Young and the bulk of the first wave.
And second topic, our Maine west migration. I think it was a pretty good sized group of Hutchinsons, Waltons and Jordans that left Maine originally to the Cincinnati area. My mother’s early (’50’s) research involved her mother, aunts and other older relatives so it recorded family folklore. She understood that Ebenezer Hutchinson was buried near Cincinnati but the rest of the family had moved onto Jefferson and Jennings Counties in southern Indiana by then. The cemeteries in those counties are full of Walton’s, many that I have not connected. On one visit there a fellow told me he believed there may have been three separate Walton clans who settled in that part of southeast Indiana. I suspect that Isaiah’s move further west after Eliza Jane died (in childbirth at 47 as I see it) was to follow our ggrandparents, Merritt (yours) & Rhoda (mine). James and Rhoda (Walton) Rowlison stayed on Merritt’s farm in Marshall Township of Clay County NE their first winter her while Merritt went to Missouri for the winter. The Rowlison’s lived on three other farms around Edgar, NE before pressing onto Hoxie, KS where James shortly died leaving Rhoda with a house full of kids (Sod, it seems). We don’t have Jordan’s in our direct lines but a couple of distant uncles married (Lydia, Polly and I think there was a Phoebe). My mother’s interpretation of the folklore as she heard it was that those three families came together. I’ve found a lot of Hutchinsons in Jefferson & Jennings Co. cemeteries that I also haven’t connected.
O.K., another story, this one from my grandmother, Maggie (Rowlison) Cassell. Her father died in Hoxie shortly after Maggie was married in Edgar. She and her husband went to the funeral where she learned she’d inherited 80 acres. Grandpa Dave Cassell did not want to farm there – he had a better farm near Edgar. Maggie traded the farm to one of her uncles for a team, a wagon, a cow and a calf. Dave & Maggie then drove the team and cow/calf back to Edgar accompanied by her grandfather, Isaiah Walton, who would have been 78 at the time. Several stories about that including: At one point they stopped and saw a rattlesnake beside the wagon. Grandpa climbed up on the wheel and jumped down landing on, and crushing the rattler. Isaiah and his bachelor son John Parker Hale Walton are buried in the Marshall Union Cemetery about 1 1/2 miles north of the Merritt Walton homestead – straight north of Edgar NE.
Hi Jerry: I do remember you and our correspondence. I still want to get together when I’m back in NE and will contact you about it this summer. Thanks for your comments and stories! I wish I had more. My grandmother Pearl had plenty and I heard lots but never wrote any down and it’s too late now. I really want to talk to you about the research your mom and the rest did back when. It has been the foundation for much of my interest and research into the family history.
Larry: Thanks for the comment about “The Little Brown Book” that Mom and LoRee and a few other cousins did back then. I’m looking forward to spending some time with you – just let me know when you’ll be in NE again and we’ll make it happen – Jerry
Jerry, you’re more than welcome – like I said, that’s really what got me started and gave me the place to go onward from! We definitely will make it happen this summer when I’m in NE!
Hi Larry, Jerry
Ebenezer’s son John is buried in North Lewisburg, Champaign Co.,, OH
Do either of you have an obituary for a Hannah Walton who remarried a Coner, Conner, O’Conner?
Larry,
I concur with your thoughts that Ebenezer Hutchinson didn’t die in 1828 in Ohio. All sources that supply this date and state appear to me to be derivative of Perley Derby’s Hutchinson genealogy (1870 imprint). I suspect that 1838 may be correct; Perley may have just misread the supplier of that year’s handwriting, or perhaps it was typesetter error.
Ebenezer was in Jefferson County, Indiana, by 1822 when he married Sophia Thompson (1778-1865), widow of Eliab Thompson (1778-1818), who died in Jefferson County from Small Pox. Sophia was born in Marlboro, Massachusetts, daughter of William and Deborah (Sturdevant) Thompson. She was a distant cousin of her first husband. As you note, Ebenezer appears in Jefferson County in the 1830 federal census. The female in his household, the only other person besides himself, is 50-60 years of age–correct for that female to be his second wife, Sophia. Few of Ebenezer Hutchinson’s children have marked graves or have known burial locations. I suspect that Ebenezer was buried, along with others in his family, in Jefferson County at a place now lost to time.