Holbrook line: William Pritchard

 The first thing I learned as I wrote this blog post is that I don't know much about William.  I thought I knew who his parents were, and some of his grandparents, but it seems more likely that Roger, whom I believed to be William's father, is actually his brother.  And their parents aren't proven.  In fact, their birth location is still a mystery, as far as proven records go.  Pritchard is thought to possibly be a Welsh name, as in "ap Richard", but the name is also spelled Pritchett or Pritchet so I'm reluctant to do anything more than consider that as a possibility.  

We are not even sure of his birth date, variously given as anywhere from 1617 to 1629, but it's believed that he was likely born in either Wales or England, not in New England.  We don't know when he came to America, although he is not listed in the Great Migration Directory.  There are early references to him in Ipswich, Massachusetts in 1639 and in Lynn, Massachusetts in 1645.  The two towns were located across the Ipswich River from each other and it is possible that he moved from one location to the other for his job. He is sometimes found in Ipswich and sometimes in Lynn until he later moved west.  .  

William was a mariner, a captain of a boat that traveled at least as far as Barbados in about 1647.  We don't know if this was his only trip that far afield, but it seems unlikely that he would have captained just one trip.  Also, as a captain he must have had earlier experience on the seas, as one didn't just become a captain.  It was a position attained by hard work usually starting from the bottom of the ladder and working one's way up the ladder.  He would have been a young captain indeed if he was born in 1629, so I suspect we need to look earlier for a birth date.  

We also don't know who William's wife was, or whether he may have had an earlier wife.  My tree shows his wife as Hannah Langton, daughter of George Langton, but that is still up for debate.  A Hannah Pritchard married a Lovejoy in 1676 and it is thought that this was William's widow.  This marriage supposedly occurred about 1652, and if that is correct than we need to be looking for an earlier wife, because our connection, Esther, was born in November of 1647, and a son John was born about 1645.  So that search continues, also. William and his wife are credited with as many as nine children, although it's possible that some of these were the sons of Roger, who had died in 1671.  Or perhaps these boys were raised by the couple and not noted in the lists I've seen. 

Sea-faring was a hard life.  As was the case with many seamen, William may have had a drinking problem, since it 1645 Timothy Tomlins testified in Salem that he, an innkeeper, and his wife were out of the house when William entered it and "he drew more wine himself and drank too much."  This didn't necessarily mean that he wasn't a Puritan, but again, it's a possibility.  

By 1667 William had either retired from life at sea or had otherwise resolved to turn over a new leaf.  He and his family moved to Brookfield, Massachusetts, where he became an outstanding citizen.  He was one of a commission of five to direct the early affairs of the town, was chosen "Clerk of the Writs".  This seems to mean he dealt with a lot of the routine paperwork of a court, issuing summons to witnesses, taking bond petitions, applying attachments, and so on.  So we know he was literate.  

He also was part of the committee to purchase land for the settlement from the the indigenous people, and was a sergeant in the militia at Brookfield.  This brings us to the final event in his life, which is quite well documented.  On August 2, 1675, he and two other men were ambushed by native Nipmucs, and later in the day his son John was killed as he desperately attempted to gather supplies for the 80 people who were garrisoned in one home during what had been, to that point, a three day siege.  Fortunately, military reinforcements arrived and the town was safely evacuated, although it was burned and resettlement did not begin for about 12 years.  One can only imagine the horror of William's wife as she dealt with the death of her husband and son (or stepson), the loss of her home, and the need to care for her remaining children.  If she was the Hannah who married in 1676, she needed all the help she could get.  

There is a will for William Pritchard of Topsfield, which may be where the remnants of his family settled.  It is dated March 27, 1677, so over 18 months after William's death at Brookfield, but the eldest son was John and other facts seem to show that this is our William.  Interestingly, his widow was only referred to as "the woman" and she was not given her widow's third, probably because she had already remarried.  The estate was valued at 109 pounds, and included land in Topfield and in Ipswich, plus some household goods and farm animals.  There is no mention of the land in Brookfield so either this had been sold ((perhaps replaced by the land in Topsfield?) or it was considered worthless.  

William's life came to an early end, but it was an interesting life.  From England or Wales to the east coast of Massachusetts and then on to the "interior", from a life on the sea to a farmer, from a man who on at least one occasion imbibed a little too much to the Clerk of the Writs, this man was and is fascinating.  I'm glad I learned this much of his story, and would certainly love to learn more!

The line of descent is:

William Pritchard-possibly Hannah

Esther Pritchard-John Hanchett

Johgn Hanchett-Lydia Hayward

Hannah Hanchett-John Stannard

Libbeus Stnnard-Eunice Pomeroy

Libbeus Stanard-Luceba Fay

Hiram Stanard-Susan Eddy

Louis Stanard-Mary Alice Hetrick

Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook

Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen

Their descendants

Harshbarger line: George Harshbarger died 1844

I've waited quite a while to write about George Harshbarger, because much of what I "know" is based on hearsay.  However, since I am trying to note as many of our ancestors as I can, before ending this blog project, I will write a little bit about him and hope to find more in the future.

George Harshbarger was the son of John (Johannes) Harshbarger and Christena Elizabeth Fehler.  However, there's a problem here.  We know he is the son of Johannes because of Johannes' will, but perhaps his mother is someone else.  The problem is with the dates.  Most sites I've seen list George's birthdate as "about 1802".  Johannes and Christena (who was likely actually known as Elizabeth) were not married until 1804, at Brush Valley, Miles Township, Centre County, Pennsylvania.  So either George had a different mother, or the date of 1802 is just a guesstimate and he was born after the marriage.  The dates for his children would work with a date that is more like 1805-1806, and so would his reported age in the 1840 census.  

John sold his land in 1822 and moved to what was then Green Township, Stark County, Ohio, now Summit County.  Many trees show George's marriage to Mary E Kepler, daughter of Andrew and Anna Maria Kramer Kepler, as occurring in 1817, with no documentation.  I think the marriage took place later than that, because the earliest known child was born in 1828.  I would love to find documentation for the marriage, but I'm thinking it happened in Stark County.  

George and Mary had four known children, Lewis, John, Andrew Jackson, and Leah.  All four children moved to Whitley County, which brings us to the question of what happened to George, and why did the children all live in Whitley County.

George was a driver of some sort.  We were told he drove wagons of supplies from Stark County to Chicago.  Someone on line thinks he drove a stage coach, and it's possible that he handled both types of vehicles.  At any rate, in 1844 there was an accident in Whitley County, Indiana and his wagon (or coach) overturned.  George was killed.  We spoke to someone who believed they could show us where George was buried, but there is a listing for him in Summit County Cemetery Inscriptions, Volume 2, showing him as buried at the East Liberty Cemetery in Green Township, Summit County.  It is possible that he was first buried in Whitley County and then moved to the family plot (of mostly Keplers, in that area) later.  

One wonders whether George had talked of settling in Whitley County, and that's why his children moved there.  Mary remarried, apparently twice, and did not settle in Whitley County.  Her farm records, still as Mary Harshbarger of Green Township, Summit County, on the 1850 farm census show that she had 40 acres of land, 20 improved and 20 unimproved.  The cash value of the farm was $800 but the value of farming implements and equipment was $30.  She had 1 milch cow and 4 swine, for a total of $40.  Her crop inventory included 100 bushels of wheat, 100 bushels of Indian corn, and 30 bushels of Irish potatoes.  The value of animals slaughtered the previous year was $20. I've not found her on the 1850 census, but we can guess that her children, or some of them, were still living with her in 1850 because Lewis wasn't married until 1852.

I have read that only German was spoken in this home, and there is a story that Mary came to visit her children in Whitley County at some point, but because she did not understand English well, her train ticket which she thought would take her to Columbia City took her to Columbus, Ohio.  Mary is believed to have died after 1880, but I don't have a death date for her-yet.  

This is as much as I've learned so far about George, stories and a few bits of information that are documented.  The search continues!

The line of descent is:

George Harshbarger-Mary E Kepler

Lewis Harshbarger-Catherine Mentzer (shown as Mancer)

Emmanuel Harshbarger-Clara Ellen Harter

Grover Harshbarger-Goldie Withers

Cleveland Harshbarger-Mary Beeks

Their descendants

Holbrook line: John VIckery-1653-1698

I've found very little information about this ancestor, but because not many of our ancestors had this kind of background, I want to share what I've learned.  Our New England ancestors are fairly well documented (most of them) but when we get to the mid-Atlantic states, finding information seems to be more challenging.  I suspect that if I were able to spend weeks at each of the locations where I know our ancestors lived, more could be uncovered, but that is not likely to happen.  So even though this glass is mostly empty, I'm going to write a little about the small amount of information we do have.

John Vickery was born in England sometime around 1655.  The most likely set of parents I've found for him are John and Mary Vickary.  If their son John is our John, then he was baptized October 26, 1653 at St Decumans church in Watchet, Somerset, England.   Two clues make this idea worth pursuing.  The older John named this son John, and our John named his land in Maryland "Bristol", which is 37 miles from Watchet.  Our John could easily have lived in Bristol, or at least passed through there, on his way to life in America.  

John arrived in Maryland as an indentured servant in 1681 or 1682.  I've not yet found the name of his master, but the odds are that John served an indentureship of 4 to 7 years, and the most likely scenario is that he worked clearing land and planting crops for his master.  He probably married in England, because the dates we have for his children are about 1680-1683.  It's unlikely that his master would have given him permission to marry early in the indentureship.  

When John bought 200 acres of land in 1696 (at least, that's when it was recorded), it was located in Dorchester County, Maryland.  John probably either served his indentureship there or had reason to have visited the area.  This is on the eastern shore of Maryland, across Chesapeake Bay from areas where our Amos and many other families lived.  The main crop was tobacco, which was eventually replaced by mixed farming.  It's likely that John's land was on the Choptank River or one of its tributaries, as a fresh water source would have been needed.  

If I've located the correct records, John was baptized in the Church of England and would have attended Anglican services in Dorchester County.  It may be that attending church services was required as an indentured servant.  There are two Anglican churches in the area.  One is at Church Creek, Old Trinity Church, which bills itself as the oldest church building still operating as a congregation in the United States.  It was established and built in 1674.  Christ Church in Cambridge was founded in 1675 but has burials in its cemetery dating from 1675.   

It is thought, but not proven, that John's wife, the mother of his three known children, was named Margaret.  That is all that is known about her.  The three known children are John, Mary, and Hezekiah.  The Vickery family stayed in Dorchester County for some years, as Marmaduke, Hezekiah's son, was born there in 1715.  I've not found a will for John, who is thought to have died in 1698.  (There is a will for a John Vickery who died in 1711, but his wife was Ann and his only named heir was Robert Stevenson Vickery.  It appears that our John may have had other relatives in the area.)

Clearly, there is much more to be done to research this ancestor.  I'd like to know much more about him.  I'd love to find his will and inventory.  I'd love to know how the area he lived in related to the native American population.  Were there conflicts?  Did the natives get pushed out, succumb to epidemics, or what?  And most of all, why did he come to America?  The search continues.

The line of descent is

John Vickery-possibly Margaret

Hezekiah Vickery-Merci Holland

Marmaduke Vickery-Elizabeth Nation

Jerretta Vickery-Joseph Nation

Elizabeth Nation-Christopher Myers

Phoebe Myers-Adam Brown

Phoebe Brown-Fremont Holbrook

Loren Holbrook-Etta Stanard

Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen

Their descendants

 

 

Beeks line: John Aldridge died 1750, Prince George's County, Maryland

I'm hesitant to write this blog post because there are major events in John's life that at this point, I'm unsure of.  For instance, his birth date is variously given as 1688, 1702, or 1712, in either Anne Arundel County or Prince George's County, Maryland.  His parents are variously given as George and Anne Aldridge of Talbot County, and Thomas and Elizabeth Purdy Aldridge of Prince George's County.  I've shown Thomas and Elizabeth as his parents, and either the 1702 or 1712 date of March 28, 1712, possibly on the South River in Anne Arundel County.  I suspect that once again there is more than one John Aldridge whose records have been confused (not to mention the several who were born and died in England, who seem to have no connection at all to this Maryland family.

John married Elinor (Eleanor) about 1739, but I've not found records to document this.  Speculation is that Eleanor may have been a Watkins, or she may have been a Jones.  I currently have no opinion at all about her surname or her parents.  

Most of what we know about John comes from his will.  From that, which was dated November 30, 1750 and yet was proven March 14, 1750, we know that his wife was Elinor and that he had four children.  His sons were Thomas, Jacob, and John (no George, notice) and his daughter was Susannah Prather.  He owned two parcels of land, one 111 acres called Tucker's Cultivation, and one of 100 acres called Pasquaham which was near Sugar Loaf Mountain.  Elinor received the first tract of land, plus all farm animals and personal property, for her lifetime and then the land was to go to Jacob.  

The sad thing is-you guessed it-that he was a slaveholder.  Elinor was to receive three Negroes-Jenney, Cato, and Valentino.  John was to receive on Negro boy called Black, Jacob a Negro boy called George, and Thomas a Negro girl called Momber.  The three for Elinor are called "all the rest of my Negroes". so this was apparently a total list, with no differentiation between field and, if any, house slaves.  We have no way of knowing whether families were split by this division, but at least they weren't immediately sold out of the family, anyway.  

Elinor lived for ten more years as a widow and died in 1760.  In her will, she bequeathed Negroes Ozburn and Sarah to John, Valentine and -ed to Jacob, and a Negro woman whose name I can't make out, her son Judah, and the Negro woman Jane to Thomas.  Three Prather grandchildren received specific items of personal property and heifers, and the sons were to divide the rest of her property, including livestock.  It appears that only one of the Negroes had stayed with Elinor for those ten years.  It would be both interesting and painful to know what happened to the others, and how the "new" Negroes came to her.  

Because of the slaves and the fact that John owned two tracts of land at his death, we can be fairly sure that at least one of his crops was tobacco.  I've not located an inventory which might tell us more. There are a lot of questions about John but this at least will give us places to research, and indicate some answers we still need.

The line of descent is:

John Aldridge-Elinor

Jacob Aldridge-Elizabeth, possibly Soper

John Simpson Aldridge-Mary Lakin

John Simpson Aldridge-Lucinda Wheeler

Darlington Aldridge-Leah Folsom

Harvey Aldridge-Mary Catherine Dunham

Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks

Mary Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger

Their descendants

Holbrook line: John Eames 1737-1815

 John Eames is another ancestor who hasn't left us a lot of records.  We have a tantalizing glimpse of him, or perhaps it is him, in the Revolutionary War.  We know who he married and we know his children.  We have census records for 1790-1800, and 1810.  And we have a death date.  So this will be another short post, for which I apologize.

John Eames was born shortly before September 11, 1737, (the date he was baptized) to John and Rachel Comstock Eames, in Norwich, Connecticut.  According to his death record, he may have been born as early as 1728.  He was one of only three children known to have been born to John and Rachel, so he would have received plenty of parental attention, and also plenty of chores.  (Full disclosure: There are trees on line that believe the John Eames baptized September 11, 1737, was a different John Eames.  Based on geography, I tend to go with his parents being John and Rachel but am open to reviewing any facts or documents I may have missed.  Please contact me.)  Rachel is thought to have been only 15 or 16 at the time of her marriage, so she certainly had her hands full. 

John grew up in Norwich, which at the time was a rather large area.  Lisbon was incorporated from part of Norwich in 1786, so it is quite likely that John lived his whole life in the same area, if not on the same farm, where he grew up.  John married  Elizabeth (Betty or Betsey) Longbottom, daughter of James and Elizabeth Jackson Longbottom on November 23, 1758, in the middle of the French and Indian War.  I haven't been able to determine whether John served in that war but it is certainly possible.  If nothing else, he would have been part of the local militia.  

John and Betty are known to have had at least seven together, if the list I've seen is correct. If the two youngest are indeed theirs, Elizabeth had children well into her 40's, which, while not impossible by any means, would have been a bit unusual.  Their known children were Rufus, Comfort, Anna, Cyrus, Lucy, and possibly Gideon and Lydia.  We don't know anything about John's life during this time, except that he likely farmed.  

Was John a soldier in the Revolutionary War?  A man by that name, a sergeant in Col. William Douglas's Regiment, is listed on the pay roll of Lt. Robert Parke or Parke's Company, serving in New York.  (This information is from "Collections of the Connecticut Historial Society Revolution Rolls and Lists 1775-1783, Volume VIII.)  This John Eames entered the service on September 7, 1776.  He is credited with 2 months and 21 days of service, being discharged on November 20 of 1776.  In the records, it is noted that "The above company found themselves 17 guns, 17 blankets, and 17 knapsacks."  Colonel William Douglas's unit was present when the British invaded New York at Kip's Bay, and this was the unit that tipped George Washington over the edge when he caught them retreating.  Washington himself is reported to have flogged some of the men.  He must not have realized that this unit had been together only 9 days at the time of this battle.  The company appears to have also taken part in the Battle of White Plains in October of that year.  We don't know for certain that this is our John Eames, and we don't know for certain that he was present at these two battles, but it is worth noting as a possibility, maybe even a strong possibility.

Rufus, Comfort, and Cyrus all appear on Revolutionary War lists, noted that they came from Norwich, so if John wasn't the man mentioned above, he still instilled patriotism in his children and for that he deserves our thanks.  

John died according to the Hale Collection of Cemetery Inscriptions, on December 4, 1815 at the age of 86 years and six months.  Betsey, consort of John, died May 22, apparently in 1816, at the age of 79 years and 5 months.  I haven't been able to locate a will for either of them, which would certainly be helpful in determining their financial situation, and if we could find an inventory, it would help us determine an occupation and perhaps more.  

This is little to go on for a man who lived in such fascinating times.  I hope to find more records and to verify whether or not John participated in either of the wars I've mentioned, as well as more about his life.  If a reader happens to know more of John's life, I'd sure like to hear from you!

The line of descent is

John Eames-Elizabeth Longbottom

Anna (or Hannah) Eames-James Lamphire

Susan Lamphire-Joseph Eddy

Susan Eddy-Hiram Stanard

Louis Stanard-Mary Alice Hetrick

Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook

Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen

Their descendants

Beeks line: John Bloomfield or Blumfield, died about 1639

 Once again, there's not a lot of information about an immigrant ancestor, and what little there is seems to be conflicting.  So what else is new?  I'm going to give the barest of information here, because an ancestor deserves to at least be acknowledged, and perhaps someday more will be found about him.

John Bloomfield or Blumfeild or some combination close to those names was born about 1583-85, probably in Woodbuiry, Sussex, England.  His father may be another John Bloomfield, but I doubt if he's the Sir Henry Bloomfield I've seen on some trees.  At least, I've not found documentation for this claim.  But he may be some relation, as at least they were in the same county at the same time.  

It's believed that John's wife was named Elspeth or Elizabeth, although once again, I can't find records.  They were probably married about 1610 because the oldest of their five known children was born about 1611, with the last born about 1619.  John may have remarried to someone named Ann, because I'm finding her name mentioned as a wife also; again, I've not found any actual records.

Robert Charles Anderson's Great Migration Directory shows him as having arrived in Newbury, Massachusetts, about 1637, when he would have been in his early or middle fifties.  His son Thomas arrived at about the same time.  It also shows that he was made a freeman at some point.  

Sadly, John didn't live long in the New World.  He died in 1639-1640 in Newbury.  (Many trees say he died in Woodbridge, New Jersey but that town was not yet established, and his will is abstracted in "The Probate Records of Essex County", by the Court of Assistants of Boston.  The brief abstract of his will that I've found leaves the house and grounds to his son, Thomas, who was also in the colony, and his "lame" daughter was to have the overplus of the goods not disposed of.  Unfortunately, I don't have a copy of the will or of his inventory, but at least this indicates that he had a few things of value to bequeath.  Since no wife was mentioned, he may have been a widower by this time.

This is as much information as I have been able to locate.  He was in Massachusetts Bay Colony for only a few years.  If he was a freeman, as Anderson indicates, then he was a church member also.  He would have been an active part of his new community (Newbury was formed in 1635).  He lived at a relatively good time in the colony's history, as there were few tensions with the native Americans at this point.  He may have succumbed to the elements, or to one of the many illnesses that the pioneers of the earliest days had to battle.  We just don't know. 

We can honor John for his willingness to come to the New World, and for the efforts he made to give his family a better life within a Puritan framework.  

The line of descent is:

John Bloomfield-Elspeth

Thomas Bloomfield-Mary Waters or perhaps Withers

Mary Bloomfield-Jonathan Dunham

Benjamin Dunham-Mary Rolph

Jonathan Dunham-Mary Smith

Samuel Dunham-Hannah probably Ruble

Jacob Dunham=Catherine Goodnight

Samuel G Dunham-Eliza Matilda Reese

Margaret Catherine Dunham-Harvey Aldridge

Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks

Mary Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger

Their descendants

Holbrook line: Medad Pomeroy 1730-1801

 Oh, the bubbles I am about to burst with this blog post!  I was really excited to find a lot of good stuff about this ancestor, until I was able to figure out that most of the "good stuff" is about at least two other men by the name of Medad Pomeroy.  One, the Revolutionary War Medad, cannot possibly be the one born in 1730 because his pension application states that he was 72 years old in 1830.  So this is Medad, the son of the Medad I am writing about, because the younger Medad was born in 1758.  (The son does have a fascinating story and it's worth pursuing, as a collateral relative but not as an ancestor.)  There is also a lot of information about "Dr. Medad Pomeroy", who has different birth and death dates, as well as different parents, than our guy.  Our Medad was not a doctor and he was not the son of Seth Pomeroy.  Our subject, and Dr. Medad, however, were each great grandsons of Medad the son of Eltweed Pomeroy.  

Now that I've thoroughly confused you, let's see what we do know about the Medad Pomeroy was born December 17, 1730 in Suffield, Hartford County, Connecticut.  When he was born, however, the town was considered part of Massachusetts, and the dispute between the two colonies wasn't settled until 1749. (This goes along with my slightly tongue in cheek belief that our ancestors found the most difficult ways and places to live, just to make it harder for us to find them and sort it all out.)  Medad's parents were Medad (do you see why there is confusion about all these men?) and Hannah Trumbull Pomeroy.  He was one of at least seven  children, which makes it a little surprising that he was the one given his father's name.  Perhaps his parents were, after all, hoping to make it a little less confusing to future family members, by giving other names to their sons.

We know very little about Medad's specific upbringing.   It appears likely that he was the Medad Pomeroy who was part of the French and Indian War, although I have not yet located information showing when and under whom he served.  (Some think this was his father Medad, but there seem to be enough listings that both men could well have served.)

During the French and Indian War, Medad found time to marry.  He first married Eunice Southwell on August 18, 1757, the daughter of Ebenezer and Elizabeth Judd Southwell.  They had two children together, Medad of the Revolutionary War, and Eunice.  Sadly, Eunice died just ten days after her daughter was born.  It's a wonder that our Eunice survived; there must have been a wet nurse of some sort involved.  Medad, with two children under the age of 4, next married Phebe Kent on July 8, 1761.  She gave birth to a son, Phebus, on January 6, 1762, and died 19 days later.  Now Medad had three children, and once again we wonder how Phebus survived.  (He was another Revolutionary War soldier, so it's a good thing he did survive!) Medad then married Mary Wilcocks or Wilcox on December 4, 1764.  She may have been more than a few years younger than Medad, probably having been born between 1740-1745.  Medad and Mary had as many as nine children together, with the youngest being born in 1784.  Mary would have been a busy lady, with three step children to care for also!

The only clue I've found so far to any potential civil service would be that there was a Medad Pomeroy who was a justice in the 1760s, but I'm not sure whether this was our Medad or not.  Medad the grandfather died in 1767, and he'd held many town offices.

It would be interesting to know when and why Medad left Suffield (his last marriage was in Suffield, in 1764) and went to Northampton, Massachusetts, where he had deep roots. We know that he was there in 1799, when the selectmen found him to be a lunatic and unable to care for himself. THe 1800 census shows that he and Mary were both over 45, and there was also one male aged 26-44 and one female 16-25 living with them.    We don't know what form of dementia Medad had, nor do we know when it first became evident.  

Medad died in Northampton November 13, 1801 and it took a long time to settle the estate.  It appears that Mary got her 1/3 widow's dower, but that bills against the estate took most if not all of the remainder.  There was no will, but there is a large estate packet found on American Ancestors which includes an inventory and then a long list of payments made to the guardian the selectmen had appointed, and other payments made by the estate.  Mary died in 1821 but I've not found a will for her, either, and I don't know whether she re-married.  

There is more research to be done for Medad, but this will at least give a starting point.  Can we find proof that Medad was in the French and Indian War, and what service he might have done? Are there church records?  What did he do for a living?  When did he become disabled by his dementia?  We do know enough to disregard references to Dr. Medad, to a pension application in 1820 in Pennsylvania, and to the Medad who was of Northfield, (as opposed to Northampton).  That's a start!

The line of descent is:

Medad Pomeroy-Eunice Southwell

Eunice Pomeroy-Libbeus Stannard

Libbeus Stanard-Luceba or Euzebia Fay

Hiram Stanard-Susan Eddy

Louis Stanard-Mary Alice Hetrick

Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook

Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen

Their descendants