Which Moses Foster?

The subject of my last post, Deacon Moses Foster, has often been confused with another Moses Foster who lived at about the same time. In this post I will try to distinguish between the two. WARNING: This post is more research-oriented than most.

Will of Moses Foster of Ipswich

According to The New England Historical and Genealogical Register for 1876 (vol. 30), the other Moses Foster “was born in Ipswich, 1697. He was a husbandman. His will was dated 28 March 1782. He died at Chebacco, Ipswich, 27 Sept. 1785. He married first, Mary, daughter of Nathaniel Rust. She died 2 May 1732, in her 30th year. Secondly, Mary Blodgett, 18 Jan. 1732-3. Thirdly, Ann Varney, a widow, who died 21 Feb. 1787, in her 87th year. His children were: i. Miriam, bapt. 14 Aug. 1726. ii. Zebulon, bapt. 22 Sept. 1728. iii. Moses. iv. Aaron, b. 1723.”[1] These facts about Moses Foster of Ipswich are corroborated by the Find A Grave website for the grave of this Moses Foster.[2] We can add to this that Moses of Ipswich married Ann Varney on 10 Dec. 1767.[3] The 1782 will of Moses of Ipswich makes clear that his son Aaron was alive in 1782, but sons Zebulon and Moses had died. No other children are mentioned.[4]

How do we know that the Moses Foster who settled in Dorchester Canada (later Ashburnham) was not the Moses Foster from Ipswich? This can be demonstrated by means of their children. The records of Ipswich show that Moses and Mary of Ipswich had two children: Miriam (bapt. 1726) and Zebulon (bapt. 1728).[5] The will of Moses of Ipswich lists two additional children: Moses and Aaron.[6] There is no indication that any of these children had anything to do with Dorchester Canada or Ashburnham.

Moses of Chelmsford had twelve children: Phoebe (b. 1716), Samuel (b. 1718), Esther (b. 1720), Mary (b. 1722), Sarah (b. 1724), Martha (b. 1726), Elizabeth (b. 1729), Moses Jr. (b. 1731), Jane (b. 1733), Joseph (b. 1735), Eunice (b. 1737), and Anna (b. 1739).[7]

Children of Moses of Chelmsford/Littleton

In 1744 Moses of Chelmsford’s daughter Martha married John Bates in Westford, near Littleton and Chelmsford.[8] The Bates’ daughter Martha was baptized in Lunenburg (near Dorchester Canada) in 1749.[9] Their daughter Mary was baptized on July 4, 1756. John is said to be “of Dorchester Canada.”[10]

Moses’ daughter Jane married Zimri Heywood on Jun 5, 1756. At the time of their marriage, both were said to be “of Dorchester Canada” although the marriage took place in Lunenberg (about eleven miles to the east of Dorchester Canada).[11] The Heywoods had five children in Ashburnham: Rebekah Willis (b. 1757), Eunice (b. 1760), Nathan (b. 1762), Elizabeth (b. 1764) and Thomas (b. 1766). During the Revolution, Zimri was commissioned as Captain of the 6^th Company, 2^nd Lincoln County Regiment. However, on 27 June 1777 he resigned his commission, saying he had performed his duties to the best of his ability, but felt compelled to resign because of disaffection in the company.[12] The Heywoods eventually moved to Maine, where Zimri died on 14 July 1798.[13]

Moses Foster Jr. and his wife Mary also lived in Ashburnham for a time. Seven children were born to them there: Milicent (“Melsent”) (b. 1758), Sarah (b. 1760), Kezia (b. 1762), Phebe (b. 1764), Esther (b. 1767), Brooks (b. 1769) and Moses (b. 1771).[14] Milicent (“Melsent”) died in Ashburnham in 1760.[15] Moses Jr. and Zimri Heywood had a saw mill in the town.[16] Moses Jr. moved to Shelburne, Massachusetts in 1770.[17] It appears that he died intestate in 1779. In papers associated with the settling of his estate, there is a note stating that “he went and joined the enemy about the first of September in the year 1777.”[18]

Moses Sr.’s daughter Anna married Nathan Melvin in Concord in March of 1759. The Melvins moved to Ashburnham and had six children there: Anna, (b. 1760), Sarah (b. 1762), Phebe (b. 1765), Hepzibah (Hephsibeth) (b. 1767), Nathan Jr. (b. 1769) and Theodore (b. 1771).[19] During the Revolution, Nathan was a Sergeant in Capt. Thurlow’s Company, Colonel Josiah Whitney’s Regiment. He served from July 30 to September 13, 1778 in Rhode Island.[20] Later the Melvins moved to Cambridge, Vermont.

The fact that the children of Moses Foster of Chelmsford and Littleton have connections with both Littleton and Ashburnham shows that Deacon Moses Foster of Dorchester Canada (Ashburnham) was originally Moses Foster of Littleton and Chelmsford.

The confusion of Moses Foster of Chelmsford and Ashburnham with the Moses Foster of Ipswich seems to go back to the book Foster Genealogy by Frederick Clifton Pierce.[21] Pierce appears to have used two sources for his information about Moses Foster. One is the article by Edward Jacob Forster, “Genealogy of the Fo(r)ster Family: Descendants of Reginald Fo(r)ster of Ipswich, Mass” in The New England Historical and Genealogical Register for 1876 (vol. 30). The other is Ezra S. Stearns’ History of Ashburnham. Pierce’s entry for Moses Foster begins as follows: “DEA. MOSES FOSTER (John, Reginald, Reginald) b. Ipswich, Mass, in 1697; m. ]an. 18, 1732 Mary Rust; b. 1702. She d. May 2, 1732; m. 2d, Jan. 18, 1733, Mary Blodgett, b. 1702; d. Nov. 11. 1777. in Ashburnham; m. 3d, Mrs. Ann Varney; b. 1700; d. Feb, 21, 1787.” Then Pierce quotes (inaccurately and without acknowledgement) from Stearns’ account of the appearance of Moses Foster at a meeting of the proprietors of Dorchester Canada. After summarizing the rest of what Stearns says about Moses Foster, Pierce adds: “In his extreme old age he returned to Ipswich.” After this, Pierce continues with an adaptation from Forster: “He was a husbandman. His will was dated March 28, 1782. He died at Chebacco, Ipswich, Sept. 27, 1785. He married. first, Mary, daughter of Nathaniel Rust. He d. Sept. 27, 1785. Res., Ipswich, Ashburnham and Ipswich, Mass.” Pierce then follows Forster in listing the four children of Moses of Ipswich. However, he adds to these four one child of Moses of Chelmsford, namely Jane, who married Zimri Heywood.[22]

From the above it will be seen that Pierce has assumed that Moses’ wife Mary, who died in Ashburnham on 11 Nov 1777, is Mary Blodgett, the second wife of Moses of Ipswich. However, this is impossible. Moses of Ipswich married his third wife, Ann Varney on 10 Dec. 1767. Pierce also has to assume that Moses “in his extreme old age” returned to Ipswich from Ashburnham, because Moses of Ipswich died in Ipswich on 27 Sep. 1785. But the records of Ashburnham state that Deacon Foster died in Ashburnham on 17 Oct. 1785 at the age of 94 years[23] (which is more in keeping with the 1692 birthdate of Moses of Chelmsford).

Many have been influenced by the errors of Pierce. I am hoping that this account will make clear that Moses Foster of Chelmsford and Ashburnham (1692-1785) and Moses Foster of Ipswich (1697-1785) are two distinct persons.

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[1] Forster, Edward Jacob. “Genealogy of the Fo(r)ster Family: Descendants of Reginald Fo(r)ster of Ipswich, Mass.” The New England Historical and Genealogical Register for 1876 (vol. 30). Boston: The New England Historical and Genealogical Society, 1876.  p. 102.

[2] Find A Grave, Moses Foster. (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/63888578).

[3] Vital Records of Ipswich, Massachusetts to the End of the Year 1849. Salem, Mass.: The Essex Institute, 1910. p. 171.

[4] Essex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1638-1881.Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2014. (From records supplied by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Archives.) https://www.americanancestors.org/DB515/i/13765/9955-co19/0

[5] Vital Records of Ipswich, Massachusetts to the End of the Year 1849. Vol. 1 – Births. Salem, Mass.: The Essex Institute, 1910. pp. 147, 149.

[6] Essex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1638-1881.Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2014. (From records supplied by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Archives.) https://www.americanancestors.org/DB515/i/13765/9955-co19/0

[7] Records of Littleton, Massachusetts. Printed by Order of the Town. Births and Deaths from the Earliest Records in the Town Books Begun in 1715. Littleton, Mass.: [No publisher listed], 1900. p. 47.

[8] Vital Records of Westford, Massachusetts to the End of the Year 1849. Salem, Mass.: The Essex Institute, 1915. pp. 134, 170.

[9] Stearns, Ezra S. History of Ashburnham, Massachusetts. pp. 606.

[10] Vital Records of Westford. p. 11

[11] Vital Records of Ashburnham. pp. 118, 125.

[12] Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War, Vol. 7. Boston: Wright and Potter Printing Company, 1900. p. 810.

[13] Find A Grave, Zimri Heywood. (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/55851313).

[14] Ibid. p. 33.

[15] Ibid. p. 183.

[16] Stearns, Ezra S. History of Ashburnham. pp. 89, 91.

[17] Ibid. p. 709.

[18]  Hampshire County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1660-1889. Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2016, 2017. (From records supplied by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Archives and the Hampshire County Court. Digitized images provided by FamilySearch.org) https://www.americanancestors.org/DB1653/r/1044315582

[19] Vital Records of Ashburnham. p. 56.

[20] Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War, Vol. 10. Boston: Wright and Potter Printing Company, 1902. p. 627.

[21] Pierce, Frederick Clifton. Foster Genealogy: Being the Record of the Posterity of Reginald Foster, an Early Inhabitant of Ipswich, New England, Whose Genealogy is Traced Back to Anacher, Great Forester of Flanders, Who Died in 837. A.D., with Wills, Inventories, Biographical Sketches, Etc. Also the Record of All Other American Fosters. Chicago: Press of W. B. Conkey Company, 1899.

[22] Ibid. pp. 147-148.

[23] Vital Records of Ashburnham. p. 184.