AGS member Molly Shannon (aka Margaret Abbey Ashman Shannon) has recently published Vol 1 of her Family History/Genealogy book. She is fortunate to have a 1916 Abbe-Abbey Genealogy to use as a starting point. The introduction to that volume states, “A family history is never complete and we have produced only the beginning – may others continue the work.” In 2018, Molly took up the challenge, researching at the Genealogy Center located on the 2nd floor of the Albuquerque Main Public Library, online, and traveling to Massachusetts and Connecticut to ‘walk the land,’ visiting libraries, historical societies, and cemeteries.
Unlike the 1916 volume which outlines the genealogy of all John Abbe’s (the 1635 immigrant ancestor) descendants, Molly concentrated on her direct Abbe/Abbey ancestors and researched the ancestry of the women who married the Abbe/Abbey men. “Having four granddaughters, I thought it important to pass along something of these great-grandmothers’ lives and heritage. I loved finding stories, artifacts, meeting extended family and people along the way who shared my passion. I included sections on “History and Inventions” and “The Lives and Role of Women” in each generation.” One ‘beta reader’ commented, “You made what could have been a dry list of ‘begats’ come alive.”
Molly was a member of the AGS Special Interest Group: Writing and Publishing; she also recommends the wealth of resources in the Library on the topic. She will be offering a talk for Southwest Writers in July, about her process for this book, followed by three Saturday Classes in August. If interested, you can learn more on the Southwest Writers website. A hardcover edition of her book will soon be in the Library.
The book is currently on sale at Amazon, where it is described as follows:
“The past is filled with captivating accounts of brave immigrants; those who worked the land, and landed gentry descended from royalty. Their stories are quietly heroic, with a few scoundrels for good measure. Some came seeking religious and civil freedom, others pursued opportunity, and the chance to improve their economic circumstances.
Abbey-Ashman: Two Colonies and Pioneering Families of North America is both the author’s genealogy and family history. Beginning in 1475 England, this genealogical journey engages readers in the social-political structures which drove the family to brave life in the new world. English settlers and Native Americans in the New England territories first attempted a mutual relationship based on trade, but soon disease, the rapid grown of the English colonies and their need for more land, led to conflict and eventually, war. The history of these first generations in America is both complicated and fascinating and must be remembered.
For this Volume, Margaret Abbey (Ashman) Shannon uses the 1916 Abbe-Abbey Genealogy, In Memory of John Abbe and his Descendants as a starting point. Volume One begins with John Abbe’s beginnings in England and offers extensive and current research. Then follow four chapters each covering a generation of author’s Abbe-Abbey ancestors in colonial America up to the American Revolution. Included are genealogies and stories of Allied families – the ancestry of the women who married these Abbe-Abbey men.
Allied families include: Cooper/Couper, Harberd; Fairfield, Knight, Skepper/Skipper, Fisher; Pease, Goodale/Goodell, Adams, Newton, Vassall, King(e), Lorran; Terry, Lobdell, Helme, Eldred, Rouse, Morgan, Gilbert. These families are traced back in time from the wives of the Abbe-Abbey men, to their own beginnings in England. If you are a serious, or hobby genealogist, and researching any of these lines, this volume could provide lineage data, vital statistics information and stories of these ancestors.
Extensive references have been given, countless books have been consulted in libraries from the author’s home town of Albuquerque, New Mexico to the New England Historical and Genealogical Society in Boston, libraries in Wenham, Massachusetts and Enfield, Connecticut. Numerous web-sites have been searched, and sources confirmed (or noted otherwise), primarily AmericanAncestors.org, Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org.
The author writes, “I walked through rain-soaked cemeteries and historic homes that are centuries old and lovingly preserved for posterity. I loved every minute of it.” Various museums, and historical societies were also visited, and photos taken which are found within these pages. It was important to ‘walk the land.’
Sections titled: History and Inventions and The Lives and Role of Women are included for each generation, as well as stories from the author’s travels and research. Images, charts and photographs enhance each section. These features serve, as one “beta” reader commented, “to turn dry lists of ‘begats’ into compelling stories of real people who lived real lives, leaving England behind and forging a new home in a new land.
Volume Two will follow in 2022, featuring Peter Abbey and Hannah Alden Abbey; Volume Three will take the Abbey family to New York State, the settlement of Cleveland, Ohio and eventually to the American West and around the globe. Volume Four will cover the author’s Ashman ancestors, from England and Ireland, then sailing from New York in 1851, to become a pioneer family of California.”
Congratulations, Molly, on this major accomplishment. We look forward to Volumes Two and Three!
Molly also provided some wonderful photos to accompany this blog post.
1614 Will of Thomas Abbe of Staverton/Roade, Northamptonshire, England. His son John Abbe, Molly’s immigrant ancestor, received 5 pounds in his father’s Will and arrived in Massachusetts in 1635 aboard the Bonaventure.
Molly with chest made for her 6th great grandmother Mary Pease, who married Thomas Abbe of Enfield, CT. The chest was made by her father, Molly’s 7th great grandfather John Pease, one of the original settlers of Enfield. It is now held on the lower level of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts in their Americas’ Collection.
The Goodale line is related through the Pease family. This home – the Goodale House – was moved to its current location in Ipswich, MA in the late 1920’s. Molly was able to talk with Maisie Crowther, the now 90 + year old daughter of Dr Goodale who had the house moved. Molly’s book contains additional current photos as well as older images of the house’s exterior and interior; and an interesting story about Molly’s visit to Ipswich and the Goodale House.
The Pilgrim Maiden statue by Henry Hudson Kitson (1922) in Brewster Grande, Plymouth MA (author’s photo). Molly visited Plymouth, along with several other locations in MA and CT in 2019 as she researched this book and the subsequent Vol 2 which will cover her Mayflower ancestors through Hannah Alden Abbey. Each Generational Chapter of Molly’s book has sections titled “History and Inventions” and “The Lives and Role of Women.” Molly has four granddaughters and felt it was important not only to research the ancestry of each wife of her Abbe/Abbey male ancestors; but also the evolution of women in Colonial and early American society.
Captain Thomas Abbey, the 4th Generation of Abbeys in America – (1731 – 1790). Captain Abbey served in the American Revolution and had a role in Drumming the Congregation from the Enfield meeting house on 20 April 1775, and then drumming the troops from Enfield to Boston. Thomas Abbey’s wife, Penelope Terry Abbey, was a physician and midwife. The DAR chapter in Enfield CT is named for her.
Today, this statue stands today in front of the Congregational Church in Enfield.
