Elizabeth (Gardner) Blanchard

We got to this lady by a circuitous trek. The latest issue the American Ancestors Magazine (Vol 20, Num 3) had an article titled thus, In Her Own Words: "The Life of Elizabeth (Clapp) Withington (1816-1845)." She was a granddaughter of Lemuel Clapp of Dorchester about whom we know a bunch. Elizabeth's diary was found and was the basis for the article. The tales were a repeat of what happened 100 years before which we will look at more closely. The main theme of the issue was women's voices which have been lost. We might say the same for the silence of Thomas and Margaret.

Now, the Elizabeth of the title of the post is not this Elizabeth.

So, continuing, Elizabeth's father, Lemuel, was an early patriot whose military career has been the subject of several papers. So, the thought was, did Dr. Frank mention him in the series on the Siege of Boston? These appeared in issues of The Massachusetts Magazine. We found no reference to Lemuel, himself, though several from the Clapp family were mentioned. It may be that Lemuel's organization was outside of the focus area (his group helped fortify Dorchester Heights).

The next step was to see if Dr. Frank had mentioned Clapp in his 1907 book. Also, we looked for Withington as this was the family into which Elizabeth married. Well, not that either, but Winthrop is there. Of course, John is mentioned with regard to the early years of Salem and its surrounds. However, another Winthrop name, that is familiar, shows up.

Before we look at that, this reading of this history today got us to Israel Porter. Now that name rings a bell since Dr. Frank has it in his lineage (Houses of Salem). Too, there are Gardner/Putnam going-ons from way back. What was new was a Journal with an article about the reputation of General Israel. This bears our attention. Israel had been a farmer. So, he wasn't of the clan (military officers). Some of the opinions will tie into that theme. Lafayette weighed in to. Well, Americans are celebrating that old guy (we'll put a link here, French student's work on following the General - Note: 07/29/2020 - here it is - The Lafayette Trail). Yet, we allow merit to be a factor in the rise of an individual. The American dream? Some think so (it'll be a part of the conversation, too).

In our ten years, we have covered a lot of area. Most of this was looking back, however, along the way, new stuff was being created. So, we are a point where we can use our work as a backbone and fill in the new material. In short, again, no lack of work to be done.

Well, back to Dr. Frank's book. Where R.C. Winthrop was mentioned was in the section for Elizabeth Gardner (1-#197 - 1907 book). Okay, we have seen that name before. Our first step was to look at WikiTree. What? There is very little information there. We could see how she descends from Thomas on one side, but there is also a descent on the other to bring out. That WikiTree information needs to be updated.

What about find a grave? Sure enough, Elizabeth Blanchard (1759-1816) is there. She was born early enough to remember the War of Revolution. Too, F.A.G. has a record for her son who married Mary Anne (Cabot) Lee. Their daughter, Elizabeth (she of the post), married Robert Charles Winthrop (1834-1905). He is a forebear of John Kerry through a granddaughter. Also, he funded Winthrop University in 1886 to teach young women. It is considered South Carolina's top university.

There is a lot more to look at, but Elizabeth's father, Samuel Blanchard, was a physician who studied with General David Cobb. We do have a Wikitree entry for him (Cobb-1762), as there is an effort to on WikiTree to identify people who had served during the War of Revolution.

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If we might proceed on Elizabeth (Gardner) Blanchard's line further back toward Thomas and Margaret on the father's side (John 1-#139), we see that her grandfather was Samuel Pickering Gardner. His grandparents were John and Elizabeth (Putnam) Gardner, and his son was John Lowell Gardner. We want to look at further at his sister (see Remarks 12/25/2019).

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Elizabeth Blanchard is a grand-niece of a descendant of Samuel (Jonathan who married Elizabeth (Gardner) Gardner),  as well, as being descendant of George (through her father). Looking at all of these associations, Samuel Gardner (son of Thomas) owned Gardner Hill. It was Samuel Pickering Gardner (descendant of George) who visited in the 1830s and was upset with the destruction of grave sites.

Now, looking at Putnam (mentioned above), Elizabeth (Gardner) Gardner's grandmother (Elizabeth Putnam) was a cousin of General Putnam. But, her grandmother was sister-in-law, too, as she married the General's brother (her first marriage).

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In eight days, we can acknowledge, once again, 29 Dec. 1674.

Remarks: Modified: 07/29/2020 

12/25/2019 -- Closer look at the sister of Samuel Pickering Gardner: Elizabeth (Gardner) Gardner (WikiTree - husband Jonathan). Also, we have a WikiTree profile for Elizabeth (Gardner) Blanchard.

12/26/2019 -- One of the ways that Clapps comes into the Gardner tree is with the 1704 marriage of John Gardner and Elizabeth Weld. Elizabeth's grandmother was Barbara Clapp.

12/27/2019 -- Some changes after an edit review (not the final). Put in the new reference for people and the book (1907 will be 1-#number which is the Dr. Frank assigned number; 1933 will be 2-#number). Clarified the relationship between EGGardner and EGBlanchard.

07/29/2020 -- Added link to the work on Lafayette's Trail. Also, Elizabeth is of the sixth generation.