A GENEALOGICAL ACCOUNT 01' TBB DESCENDANTS OF RICHARD BURKE OF SUDBURY, MASS. OOHPILED BY JOHN ALONZO BOUTELLE OF WOBURN, MASS., l'OII. WILLIAM A. BURKE OF LOWELL, MASS. ~urlt.e. BOSTON: PRINTED BY HENRY W. DUTTON AND SON, 90 I; 92 WABBINGTOII' BTll.llT, 1864. CONTE·NTS. PA.GE. Preface, - - 3 Burke, Introductory Hist.ory of the Name o~ 7 Genealogy or the Descendants of Richard Burke, or Sudbury, Mass., 13 Genealogy of the Descendants of Richard Burke, of Northampton, Mass., 77 Genealogy of the Descendants of Alexander Alvord, of Windsor, Conn., and of Northampton, Mass.,. - 87 A very brief Genealogy of some of the Descendants of Benedict Alvord, of Windsor, Conn., 170 Appendix A-Adminstration or Richard Burke's Estate and Inventory, - 179 Appendix B-Historica.I Acco,mt of Cresar and Flora Brackey, 185 Appendix C-Pedigree of Keziah Benjamin, Wue of Solomon Burke, 187 Appendix D-Funeral Sermon on the Death of Benjamin Burke, Esq., 195 Appendix E-Copy of the Will of Alexander Alvord, 198 Appendix F-Copy of the Will of Joseph Alvord, - 200 Codicil to the above Will, 202 Appendix G-Copy or the Will of John Alvord, of South Hadley, 204 Appendix H-Copy of a Deed, from Elisha Alvord to sundry persons, con­ taining the Land which the present Court House now stands upon, in Northampton, Mass., 205 Appendix I-Birt1ts, Copied f'rom Northampton, Mass., Town Records, 209 Marriages, Copied from Northampton, Mass., Town Records, - 211 Return of Maniages, Copied from Northampton, Mass., Town Records, 212 Maniages, Copied from Northampton, Mass., Church Records, 213 Dea.tbs, Copied from Northampton, Mass., Town Records, ·213 Deaths, Copied from Northampton, Mass., Church Records, - 214- Dea.tbs, Copied from a Print.ed Book in bands of Mr. Williams, 215 Births, Copied from Windsor, Conn., Town Records, - 216 Marriages, Copied from Windsor, Conn., Town Records, 217 Deaths, Copied from Windsor, Conn., Town Records, - 218 Baptisms, Copied from Windsor, Conn., Church Records, 218 Births, Copied from Windsor, Conn., Church Records, 218 Index of Names, 219 EXPLANATIONS. The families in this 1\Iemorial are arranged in the order of sen­ iority, in the first five generations, the head of the family, having a consecutive number, being in German text, thus-V. 60. ~lijak ~Urltt, shows that Elijah Burke is of the :fifth generation, and that 60 is his consecutive number, and that by turning back to the number 60, his name will be found in his father's family. The other head of the family is in old English, and is printed in the middle of a line. This mark t, following a consecutive, and immediately before a per­ son's name, denotes that the person will be subsequently noticed as a head of a family, his. or her.name being printed in German text, in tl?,e middle of the line~ preceded by the consecutive number. When a woman:ts name occurs thus, Thankful (Wait) Burke, it will be understood, that the name in parenthesis was her original or maiden name, and the name following was a_cquired by marriage. When a woman's name occurs thus, Mary ( . ) Alvord, the hori­ zontal line included in a parenthesis denotes t~t her Qriginal or maiden name is not known to the compiler. P~evious to the year 1752, there were two methods of reckoning time. According to on_e of these methods, the ye_ar began _on the 25th of March, February being the twelfth month; this was called the civil or 'legal year. According to the other method, the year began on the 1st of January, December being the twelfth month ; this was the historical year. Upon our ancient records these methods are often combined thus, January 8th, 1727-8. According as we now reckon time it would be 1728, but according to the first mode it would be 1727. ERRATA. On the 58th page, 19th line from the top, Kentucky should be Tennessee. On page 139, 7th line from the top, Tinkham should be Tinker. On 143d page, the consecutive number 145 should be 147. On 144th page, 3d line from the top, the word died should be omitted. On 161st page, Nos. 661, 662, Paschal should be Pascal. PREFACE. MANY years since, my father, Benjamin Burke, Esq., began to collect and record some genealogical account of his ancestors and relatives. What he had thus collected was quite brief and imperfect, his opportunity ~or examining such records as would have assisted him being very limited. Before his decease he placed in my hands w_hat he had gath­ ered, and was very desirous that I should complete what I well knew, from my earliest recollection, had been a. favorite object with him. Very fortunately I obtained the services of John A. Boutelle, Esq., of Woburn, Mass., by whose genealogical skill, assiduity, and untiring perseveran~ the following account of the Burke and Alvord families has. been collected, and to whom all the credit is due for collecting the material for this book. No one, but -those who have made the trial, can have a just conception of the labor and investigation required to prepare with tolerable accuracy a genealogical work of even so limited an extent as the present one. The historical account of the De Burghs ( or Burkes) has been prepared from authentic records, collected by Mr. Boutelle. Some readers may think it fanciful or far sought, while to others it may be interesting to learn the origin of a name that was un­ frequent in New England forty or fifty years since, but is now quite common. The genealogy of the Alvord family here given is not a com­ plete one. In looking up the genealogy of my mother I only purposed to make a brief record of her ancestors. It was owing to· hav­ ing followed another branch of the Alvord family that quite an l 6 PREFACE. amount of information ,vas collected, that it was thought best to print for future reference by those who might be interested in it. In the Appendix are genealogical accounts of minor impor­ tance, with sundry wills, deeds, &c., that it may be interesting to some persons to read. These were collected by Mr. Boutelle in the course of his researches in Probate Court and Church Records. Upon the title-page to the Burke Genealogy will be seen the coat of arms of the De Burghs, with the motto-UNG ROY, UNG FOY, UNG LOY-that is, one king, one faith, one law-and on that of the Alvord Genealogy, the coat of arms of the Alvord family, as described in Sir Bernard Burke's" General Armory." My thanks are due to all who have in any way assisted to furnish such information as has contributed to make up this book. No doubt the persistence with which it has been sought has annoyed some who can see little or no use in collecting records of past generations. "Let the dead rest," perhaps they may think or say. But m almost every instance information has been cheerfully given, with a desire to possess the "book" as soon as it could be published. There are some omissions ( and no doubt many inaccuracies) in this book, and many of them might have been filled up ( or corrected) by taking more time; but as more than a year and a half has now been occupied in collecting such facts as are here presented, I thought best to bring the work to an end. WILLIAM A. BURKE, LOWELL, MASS. MAY, 1864. INTRODUCTORY HISTORY OF THE N~'1E OF BURKE. THE name of Burke, Bourke, or Bourek, as it is variously spelt, was originally written De Burgh, and under that form is an ancient na1ne, and of much note in the old world. It may be traced back to the eighth century, and has for its head Charles, Duke d'lngheim, fifth son of the Emperor Charlemagne. In the fourth generation from him, we find Baldwin de Bourg, his great~grandson, a renowned crusader, whose son Baldwin founded the house of Blois in France, and was a progenitor of the noble families of Burgh and "\r esey in Ireland. Early in the fourteenth century, lived and died John, Earl of Comyn, and Baron of Tonsburgh in Normandy, a descendant of the above, "who, being general of the king's forces, and gov­ ernor of his chief towns, obtained the surname of de Burgh," a name particularly pertinent, not only on account of its mean­ ing, which signifies "pertaining to a city," but also because the name had belonged to one of the earliest progenitors of the family. Being, therefore, a prominent Norman family, it is not unnatural to suppose that they found their way to England when the connection between the two countries became so.inti­ mate, that ·the first Norman kings of England passed a great part of their time in ,vhat was to them their old home. ....\.ccord­ ingly we find them mentioned in early English history from ti1ne to time, verifying their descent fron1 the staunch old crusa­ der by deeds of bravery, piety, and fidelity to their king. The celebrated Hubert de Burgh, after"-ar<ls King's Justiciary, ,vas a marked instance of loyalty and integrity. His father and uncle had been in places of trust under Henry II., and in the latter part of the troublous reign of King John, "'" hen his Barons had confederated against him, and leagued with the King of 8 INTRODUCTORY HISTORY. France to put his son on the throne, Hubert was Governor of Dover Castle, which, with that of "1rindsor, held out against the French.