I suspected that a wealth of information regarding the Pickering’s and collateral families of Pennsylvania and Massachusetts lay hidden within out-of-print 19th-century books. Furthermore, I believed other genealogists were, and had been, investigating these same family lines, placing them years—even decades—ahead of me. These realizations prompted me to adopt new and radical research technique.
I began by gathering information from personal trees on Ancestry.com’s OneWorld section. While recognizing that much of this data is unsourced and often unscrutinized, it provided valuable clues. This “harvesting” process allowed me to construct a framework based on Ancestry.com’s automated compilation of other users’ GEDCOM uploads. Don’t bother to try and find OneWorld at Ancestry today. This was back in the early 2000s when Ancestry was still a wild west show.
After reviewing the “framework” for obvious mistakes such as an entry showing a child with both parents named “Henry Eaton,” I then paid a visit to the online forums that focused on the surnames and families where I reviewed messages that discussed any issues that I had found so far. Here, I learned about any families and pedigrees that I was not yet aware of.
I utilized Google’s Book Search[1], a powerful tool that indexes the full text of books digitized and stored in Google’s database. Google has partnered with prominent universities and public libraries, such as the University of Michigan, Harvard (Widener Library), Stanford (Green Library), Oxford (Bodleian Library), and the New York Public Library, to make approximately 10,000 public domain works fully viewable online. By searching Book Search for surnames of interest and their associated locales, I discovered several mid-to-late 19th-century titles. These resources provided ample information, allowing me to construct a clear understanding of the family lines I was researching.[2]
The lines that I focused on primarily were those of Hannah Bancroft, great-great-grandmother of Cordelia Pickering, daughter of John Bancroft & Elizabeth Eaton, and granddaughter of Elizabeth Kendall. I was intrigued by these lines because, in my review of the “harvesting” of GEDCOM data from Ancestry.com, I noted that other researchers, operating at least as a consensus, had traced the Kendall branch back to the 15th century and the Eaton branch back to the century following the Norman invasion of England and in some cases back further to the years before William the Conqueror. That is how I came to focus on those two lines.
Hannah Bancroft, born in 1702, was a key person in her family’s history, marrying Edward Pickering in 1724. She lived to be 62, passing away in 1764, and was buried in Pine Hill Cemetery in Mendon, Massachusetts, which really highlights her local roots.
Her parents were John Bancroft (born 1651) and Elizabeth Eaton (born 1662). John and Elizabeth got married in 1678, well before Hannah was born, showing they had a long-standing family. John lived a long life, dying at 89 in 1740, while Elizabeth passed away in 1705, just a few years after Hannah’s birth. This gives us a good picture of the family in the early to mid-1700s and their ties to the Mendon community. Digging deeper into the Bancroft and Eaton families could tell us even more about their lives, what they contributed, and the historical period they lived in.
We will discuss the Eatons further in this chapter. Now, let’s turn our attention to Cordelia’s Kendall lineage.
The pedigree of Elizabeth Kendall, third great-grandmother of Cordelia Pickering, first caught my eye because this line purportedly went back as far as the early 1400s to one John Kendall, who was born 1421 in Westmoreland. Much of the information regarding the Kendall line from Elizabeth Kendall comes from Samuel Sewall’s “The History of Woburn, Middlesex County, Mass.”The lineage from Elizabeth Kendall to her sixth great-grandfather, John Kendall, is detailed below.
On February 17, 1642, Elizabeth Kendall was born in Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts. She married John Eaton, son of William Eaton and Martha Jenkins, on March 8, 1658, at Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts. On October 7, 1688, she died at Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts.
Thomas Kendall, the father of Elizabeth Kendall, was born in 1617 at Norfolk, Norfolk, England. He married Rebecca Paine, daughter of Anthony Paine and Alice Potter, in 1640 at Charlestown (Woburn), Massachusetts. On July 22, 1681, he died at Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts.
The Kendall family came originally from the town of Kendall, on the River Kent, Westmoreland county, England. The emigrants to this country were Francis and Deacon Thomas Kendall, who sailed from England under the alias of Miles, again taking the name of Kendall on reaching this country. Their father, John Kendall, lived in Cambridge, England, in 1646 and died there in 1660. Francis Kendall is said to be the common ancestor of all the Kendall’s in this country, Deacon Thomas having ten daughters but no sons. Francis Kendall, above mentioned, was in Charlestown, Massachusetts, before 1640. He was a large landholder and a miller by occupation.
He died in 1708. He married, at Woburn, Massachusetts, December 24, 1644, Mary Tidd (pronounced Ted or Teed), and their sons, born in Woburn, Massachusetts, were: John, July 2, 1646; Thomas. January 10, 1648; Samuel, March 8, 1659; and Jacob, January 25, 1660. John Tidd embarked May 12. 1637. at Yarmouth. England, aged nineteen, as a servant of Samuel Greenfield, of Norwich. He was of Charlestown that year, subscribed there in December 1640. (Town Orders’ for Woburn, taxed at Woburn, 1645, chosen surveyor offenses 1646). His wife Margaret died in 1651. He had a second wife, Alice, daughters Mary and Elizabeth, and a son John. His daughter Mary was doubtless the wife of Francis Kendall.[3]
“Francis Kendall remembers likewise in his Will the eight children of his brother Thomas, (one of the first settlers of Reading, and a deacon of the church there) who were living, when he, his said brother died. It seems that this brother of Francis Kendall, of Woburn, Deacon Thomas Kendall, of Reading, and Rebecca, his wife, had had ten daughters, but no son that lived. But these daughters, in order to preserve their maiden name, Kendall, among their posterity, directed, each of them, when married, that her first born son should have the given name, Kendall, prefixed to his surname; as Kendall Peirson, Kendall Boutwell, Kendall Eaton, Kendall Briant, etc., etc., etc., which gave occasion to the following lines respecting these daughters in a Poem written by Lillie Eaton, Esq., of South Reading, and published with Flint’s Historical Address upon the 200th Anniversary of the founding of Reading. In mentioning the venerable matron, their mother, he observes : ‘ She had ten daughters; and each one, When married, christened her first son Kendall; and thus we may infer Why ’tis these names so oft occur.’ Flint’s Address, p. 64”.[4]
John Kendall, the grandfather of Elizabeth Kendall, was born in 1580 at Norfolk, Norfolk, England. He married Elizabeth Sacherell, daughter of Henry Sacherell, on November 25, 1605, at Norfolk, Norfolk, England. On March 21, 1660, he died at Cambridge, Middlesex, England.
As Cordelia Pickering is in fact Della Gaume DeBacker’s mother, then John Kendall is my 10th great-grandfather. This connection would make former President George H.W. Bush my 11th cousin, Barbara Pierce Bush my 10th cousin, once removed, and their son, President George W. Bush, my 10th cousin. It appears both George H.W. Bush and Barbara Pierce Bush are descendants of the Kendall family. George H.W. Bush descends from Francis Kendall (1612-1708), a brother of John Kendall, while Barbara Pierce Bush descends from Mabel Kendall (1606-1690), sister to both John and Francis. This lineage establishes President George W. Bush and First Lady Barbara Bush as 9th cousins.[5]
Elizabeth Kendall’s great-grandfather, John Kendall, was born in 1548 in Norfolk, England. He married Mary Miles in 1574 and died in 1628, all in Norfolk, England.
Her 2nd great-grandfather, William Kendall, was also born in Norfolk, England, in 1527. He married Sarah Brayne and died in 1601 in Norfolk, England.
James Kendall, Elizabeth Kendall’s 3rd great-grandfather, was born in Westmoreland, England, in 1504. He married Elizabeth Miles in Norfolk, England, in 1525 and died there in 1578.
Elizabeth Kendall’s ancestors, all born and deceased in Westmorland, England, include her 4th great-grandfather, Francis Kendall, born in 1480, who married Mary in 1500 and died in 1561; her 5th great-grandfather, Henry Kendall, born in 1441, who married Elizabeth in 1478 and died in 1520; and her 6th great-grandfather, John Kendall, born in 1421, who married Margaret in 1434 and died in 1501.
“[The Kendall name] is of local derivation from the town of Kendall, Westmoreland county. The town’s name was doubtless derived from that of the river Ken, on which it is located. The family in England is very large and widely distributed, in many of the branches bearing arms and having distinguished members. The name is found in Bedfordshire, at Basingborne, Essex ; in Lancashire ; at Smithsby, Derbyshire; in Cornwall; in Devonshire; and Hertfordshire. In 1575 a branch of the family settled in Thorothules, Durham, a younger son of the Kendall family of Ripon, Yorkshire, where the family lived at an early date. Among the early Kendalls who were prominent was John Kendall, sheriff of Nottingham, killed in the battle of Bosworth in 1485, fighting in the army of Richard III. (I) John Kendall, progenitor of the American family, lived in the county of Cambridge, England, in 1646, died there in 1660. Two of his sons came to America: 1. Francis, mentioned below. 2. Deacon Thomas, who was a proprietor of Reading, Massachusetts, in 1644; was admitted freeman May 10, 1648; had ten daughters and no sons, thus leaving no descendants bearing his name.”[6]
Because Cordelia Pickering is, in fact, the mother of Della Gaume DeBacker, John Kendall (1421-1500) is my 16th great-grandfather.
Let’s continue tracing Elizabeth Eaton’s family line. We’re now delving into an area of research where I believe the primary sources are quite distinct within genealogy: the Visitations.
Much of the information regarding the Eaton line from Elizabeth Eaton comes from Richard Treswell’s “Visitation of Shropshire Taken in the Year 1623”. Heraldic Visitations were tours of inspection undertaken by the College of Arms in England, Wales, and Ireland to regulate and register the coats of arms of nobility and gentry and boroughs and record pedigrees.
They took place from 1530 to 1688, and their records provide important source material for genealogists. Visitations occurred in Shropshire twice in the 16th-century (1569, 1584) and twice in the 17th-century(1623, 1664). The College of Arms holds these papers as unofficial records of the Visitations under the various Heralds of the day. Notes of the 1623 Visitation are held in the Vincent papers. However, the Harleian Society has published the Shropshire Visitation of 1623 based on several manuscript copies, with additions from the two earlier ones of 1569 and 1584. This publication was made in 1889 under editors George Grazebrook and John Paul Rylands. The original 1623 Visitation was conducted by Robert Tresswell, Somerset Herald, and Augustine Vincent, Rough Croix Pursuivant of Arms.[7]
Think of them as a form of upper-class census for the period between 1530 and 1688. They served as a way to officially recognize and document the lineage of those who were entitled to bear arms, essentially verifying their status within the social hierarchy of the time.
The introduction to the “Visitation of Shropshire Taken in the Year 1623” discusses some problems with the pedigrees contained within the volume. It states that “absence of a name altogether from the list is no proof whatever that their social position and heraldic rights were not all the time perfectly well assured” and that “the pedigrees ought most assuredly to be received with great caution and few of them to be regarded as indisputably correct unless tested by documentary evidenced.”[8]
Shropshire, or Salope, is a sparsely populated, rural county in England’s West Midlands, bordering Wales. With a population of 289,100, it’s the UK’s least populated two-tier governed area. Established in the 10th century during the division of Saxon Mercia into shires, it saw significant development after the 1066 Norman Conquest, when prominent Normans received its principal estates.
The area now known as Shropshire was annexed to the Saxon Kingdom of Mercia by King Offa in 765, who built Watt’s Dyke and later Offa’s Dyke to defend against the Welsh. Mercia was divided into shires in the 10th century. “Shropshire” first appears in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in 1006. Post-Norman Conquest, Roger de Montgomerie, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, was a key proprietor.
During the early Norman period, Shropshire was heavily forested, with Worf Forest being a royal hunting ground. Other forests included Wrekin and Stiperstones. The constant need for defense against the Welsh led to extensive castle building; 32 of England’s 186 castles are in Shropshire. Key castles include Ludlow, Bishop’s Castle, Clun, and Caus. Shropshire became a vital part of the Welsh Marches.
Below is the lineage connecting Elizabeth Eaton to her 16th great-grandfather, Robert de Eyton. This journey through time, spanning nearly 400 years, draws significantly from the Visitations.
Elizabeth Eaton, 3rd great-grandmother of Cordelia Pickering, was born on September 8, 1662, at Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts. She married John Bancroft, son of Thomas Bancroft and Elizabeth Metcalf, on September 24, 1678, at Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts. On March 12, 1705, she died at Lynn, Essex, Massachusetts, at age 42.
“She [speaking of Abigail Eaton] was undoubtedly the daughter of John and Elizabeth [Kendall] Eaton, of Reading. Her name does not appear in the list of their children in the history of Reading. In that list is Elizabeth m. ____Bancroft. This I find to be John Bancroft.”[9]
John Eaton, the father of Elizabeth Eaton, was born on December 20, 1635, at Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts. He married Elizabeth Kendall, daughter of Thomas Kendall and Rebecca Paine, on March 8, 1658, at Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts. He died on December 17, 1695, at Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts, at age 59.
There are conflicting dates for the marriage and death of John Eaton:
John, son of William and Martha Eaton, was born in England, December 20, 1635. He lived in Reading, where he died on May 25, 1601. He married in 1658. Elizabeth Kendall, born in 1642. daughter of Deacon Thomas Kendall, and they had children. He died May 13, 1673. She died in 1680 or 1681.[10]
John Eaton, the eldest son and third of the five children of William, resided in Reading; married March 8, 1668, or 1669, Elizabeth Kendall, dau. of Deacon Thomas Kendall of Reading; he died December 17, 1695.[11]
William Eaton, the grandfather of Elizabeth Eaton, was born in 1604 at Staple, Kent, England. He married Martha Jenkins, daughter of Edward Jenkins and Martha Phillips, on January 28, 1628, at Staple, Kent, England. On September 26, 1672, he died at Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts.
William Eaton was born in England about 1604. He married Martha Jenkins. and was a husbandman in Staples, in the county of Kent. With three children, William and Martha sailed from Sandwich, June 9, 1637. and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts, of which he was a proprietor in 1642. and a freeman in 1653. He subsequently removed to Reading.[12]
The emigrant ancestor of this family was William Eaton of Staple in the county of Kent, England. With his wife Martha, three children and one servant he sailed from Sandwich in 1637 and settled first at Watertown, and subsequently removed to Reading, where he d. May 16, 1673. His wife d. Nov. 14, 1680.[13]
Peter Eaton, a great grandfather of Elizabeth Eaton, was born in 1575. He married Elizabeth Patterson on January 28, 1603, at St Marys, Dover, Kent, England. He died in 1658. William Eaton, 2nd great-grandfather of Elizabeth Eaton, was born in 1540 in England. He married Jane Hussey, daughter of Thomas Hussey and Bridget Bowes, in 1569. He died before 1584 in England.
William Eaton, 3rd great-grandfather of Elizabeth Eaton, was born in 1512 at Rowington, Warwickshire, England. He died in 1590. This William Eaton is the weakest link between the Eaton’s of Massachusetts and Shropshire’s Eatons (Eytons). The Visitation of Shropshire, 1623, shows William (Willimus) as a son of Henry Eyton but indicates for him “s.p.” (sine proles), meaning without issue. It is unclear whether this is taken to mean literally that he had no descendants or that his descendants have been, for whatever reason, omitted. There are two footnotes, one that states that for the line from Henry Eaton (below), another document (Harl. MS 1396) differs from the Shrewsbury MS. The second footnote states that William and six brothers are “omitted in the Shrewsbury MS.” There is also shown in the “List of Disclaimed, 1585” one William Eton of Pimhill.[14]
Henry Eaton, a 4th great-grandfather of Elizabeth Eaton, was born in 1485. He married Jane Cressett, daughter of Thomas Cressett and Elizabeth Cornwall, in, say, 1510.[15] He died in 1580.
Thomas Cressett, the father of Jane Cressett, was the son of Thomas Cressett and Jane Corbet – the Corbet line is discussed in more detail in the next chapter.
Louis Eaton, a 5th great grandfather of Elizabeth Eaton, was born in 1447. He married Anne Savage, daughter of Sir John Savage and Katherine Stanley, in 1474. He died at Eyton-Upon-Weald-Moors, Shropshire, England. The Visitations of Essex by Hawley shows that Lewis Etton of Etton (son of Sir Nicholas Eaton) was married to an unnamed daughter of Sir Thomas Blunt of Kinlett (knight).[16]
Nicholas Eaton, a 6th great grandfather of Elizabeth Eaton, was born in 1397. He was Sheriff of Shropshire between 1440 and 1449. He married Katherine Talbot, daughter of John Talbot, in 1445.[17] This line is discussed in detail in the next chapter.
Georgius Eaton, a 7th great grandfather of Elizabeth Eaton, was born in 1367. Humphrey Eaton, an 8th great grandfather of Elizabeth Eaton, was born in 1345 at Salop, Shropshire, England. He was Ranger of the Forest of Wrekin and Wildomores circa 1394 at Salop, Shropshire, England.
Peter (V) de Eyton, a 9th great grandfather of Elizabeth Eaton, was born before 1334. The Visitation of Shropshire, 1623 shows Peter born in the 39th year of the reign of Edward III, which would be 1366. He died circa 1400.
Peter de Eyton (V), presumed son and heir of John, occurs as a witness on March 25 and May 3, 1354. On April 2, 1366, he presented to Eyton Church, and on May 21, 1377, he appeared again as a witness of a Deed already quoted, but not as a knight.[18]
John de Eyton, a 10th great grandfather of Elizabeth Eaton, was born before 1308 at Cresswell, Derbyshire, England. The Visitation of Shropshire 1623 shows a date for John in the 11th year of the reign of Edward III, which would be the year 1338, but it is not clear what that date represents. He died after 1344.
John de Eyton, presumed to have been son and heir of Peter de Eyton (IV.), occurs as John de Eyton on August 13, 1328, and like John, Lord of Eyton, on September 21, 1331, and as John de Eyton on January 6, 1333;—and from thence till July 25, 1344, when he is styled Dominus Johannes de Eyton super le Widmore [Eaton on the Wealdmoors], but it is evident from the context of this Deed that he was not a knight. I take it that neither he nor his father nor yet his son ever attained that dignity. On May 7, 1339, a fine was levied whereby Richard de Tattenhall and Margery, his wife (Deforciants) quitclaim for themselves, and the heirs of Margery, to John de Eyton (Plaintiff) 100s. rent in Eyton super le Wyldmore. For this, John de Eyton paid 60 merks.[19]
Peter (IV) de Eyton, 11th great-grandfather of Elizabeth Eaton, was born before 1282 at Weald Moors, England. He died between 1325 and 1328.
Peter de Eyton (IV.), who, in October 1302, March 1303, January 1305, and March and May 1308, occurs as a prominent witness of Wombridge Charters, is in no instance styled a knight. On May 21, 1311, he was styled “Lord of Eyton,” and either under that style or as merely Peter de Eyton, he is a frequent witness of Wombridge Charters, the latest of which bears date January 20, 1324. A charter which I ventured to date in 1320 speaks of him as Peter, son of Sir Peter de Eyton and having granted the Canons of Wombridge a right of way through his land of Lega. This estate at Leonards Lee, whatever its extent, probably came to him right of his grandmother, Matilda. On April 28, 1325, he was appointed a Commissioner to raise Hobelers and Archers in Shropshire and Staffordshire, in place of Alan de Cherleton. Three Writs of the same year, the latest dated September 20, instructed him concerning the marching and inspection of these levies;—but nothing further do I learn certainly of him. Some pedigrees show a William between Peter IV and John. Others show a William between Peter I and Peter II.[20]
[2] “Google Book Search.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 14 Sep 2007, 11:58 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 28 Sep 2007 <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Google_Book_Search&oldid=157830905>.
[3] Ellery Bicknell Crane, Historic Homes and Institutions (Worcester County (Mass.): Lewis Publishing Co., 1907), pg 424. Hereinafter cited as Historic Homes and Institutions.
[4] Samuel Sewall, The History of Woburn, Middlesex County, Mass (n.p.: n.pub., n.d.), pg 620. Hereinafter cited as The History of Woburn, Middlesex County, Mass.
[5] William Addams Reitwiesner, compiler, Ancestry of George W. Bush (http://www.wargs.com/political/bush.html (ON-LINE)). Hereinafter cited as Ancestry of George W. Bush.
[6] William Richard Cutter, New England Families, Genealogical and Memorial Vol. III. (New York: n.pub., 1915), pg 1125. Hereinafter cited as New England Families.
[7] “Heraldic visitation.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 29 Jun 2007, 11:33 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 7 Oct 2007 <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Heraldic_visitation&oldid=141373135>.
[8] Richard Treswell, The Visitation of Shropshire Taken In the Year 1623 (London: The Harleian Society, 1889), pg xxxv. Hereinafter cited as The Visitation of Shropshire; 1623.
[9] Samuel Thomas Worcester, Bi-centennial of Old Dunstable: Address by Hon. S.T. Worcester (n.p.: n.pub., n.d.), pg 135. Hereinafter cited as Bi-centennial of Old Dunstable: Address by Hon. S.T. Worcester.
[10] Ezra Scollay Stearns, Genealogical and Family History of the State of New Hampshire (Chicago: Lewis publishing company, 1908), pg 1486. Hereinafter cited as Genealogical and Family History of the State of New Hampshire.
[11] Henry Sweetser Burrage, Genealogical and Family History of the State of Maine (Maine: Lewis Historical Pub. Co, 1909), v.3; pg 1310. Hereinafter cited as Genealogical and Family History of the State of Maine.
[12] Ezra Scollay Stearns, Genealogical and Family History of the State of New Hampshire, pg 1486.
[13] Henry Sweetser Burrage, Genealogical and Family History of the State of Maine, v.3; pg 1310.
[14] Richard Treswell, The Visitation of Shropshire Taken In the Year 1623, page 1
[15] Thomas Hawley, The Visitations of Essex, 1552 (Essex (England): Mitchell and Hughes, 1878), pg 50 “Henrey Etton of Etton.= Janne, da. Tho. Cressett, of Upton Cressett”. Hereinafter cited as The Visitations of Essex, 1552.
[16] Thomas Hawley, The Visitations of Essex, 1552, pg 50.
[17] Thomas Hawley, The Visitations of Essex, 1552, pg 50 “Sir Nicholas Eton of Etton in com. Salope [Shropshire], Knight == Katharen, da. of John Talbot Earle of Salop;” Charles Burr Todd, A General History of the Burr Family, with a Genealogical Record from 1193 (New York: Knickerbocker Press, 1902), pg 184 – “30. Katherine Talbot m. Sir Nicholas Eyton”. Hereinafter cited as A General History of the Burr Family.
[18] Rev. Robert Eyton Antiquties of Shropshire, I (London: John Russel Smith, 1854), pg 34-35. Hereinafter cited as Antiquties of Shropshire.
[19] Rev. Robert Eyton Antiquties of Shropshire, pg 34.
[20] Richard Treswell, The Visitation of Shropshire; 1623, pg 181.
Gathering Leaves 