Family Bible records are one of the most coveted, and rarest, sources for family researchers. They often add multiple generations to a family tree and explain how many people are related to each other. This set includes Frances (Fanny) Appleton, wife of great American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
This family Bible, which once belonged to Nathan Appleton, a Boston lawyer, was printed by Samuel Etheridge of Charlestown, MA, in 1803. It bears the inscription “N. Appleton, 1806”, stamped in gold on the cover. Alexander J. D. Wainwright of Gwynedd, Pennsylvania, purchased it from a Boston bookshop and is probably who donated it to Princeton University.
Appleton Family Marriages
~ Isaac Appleton and Mary Adams were married April 24, 1760
~ Nathan Appleton, born at New Ipswich, Oct. 6, 1779, and Maria Theresa Go(u)ld, born at Pittsfield, Nov. 7, 1786; married at Pittsfield, April 13, 1806.
~ Nathan Appleton (second marriage) to Harriet Coffin Sumner, born at Boston Feb. 28, 1802, on Jan. 8, 1839 at Boston.
~ Robert James Mackintosh, born at Bombay, Dec. 22, 1806, and Mary Appleton, married at Boston, Dec. 26, 1839.
~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, born Feb. 27, 1807, Portland, Maine, and Frances E. Appleton, married July 13, 1843.
Appleton Family Births
Children of Isaac and Mary (Adams) Appleton were:
Isaac Appleton, born June 6, 1762
Joseph, born July 25, 1764; died Dec. 2, 1791
Samuel, born June 22, 1766
Aaron, born Aug. 6, 1768
Dolly, born Sept. 6, 1770; married Dec. 29, 1799
Moses, born March 17, 1773
Polly, born June 22, 1775; married Oct. 3, 1809
Ebenr (Ebenezer), born Oct. 17, 1777; died July 7, 1780
Nathan, born Oct. 6, 1779; died July 14, 1861
Milly, born Nov. 7, 1781; married Nov. 6, 1805; died June 4, 1809
Ebenezer, born June 7, 1784; died April 29, 1833
Emma, born April 14, 1787; died Dec. 30, 1791
Other births, from the next two generations, were:
Thomas Go(u)ld Appleton, born March 31, 1812, Boston
Mary Appleton, born Oct. 18, 1813, Boston
Charles Sedgwick Appleton, born Oct. 9, 1815, Boston
Frances Elizabeth Appleton, born Oct. 6, 1817, Boston
George William Appleton, born Oct. 1, 1826; died May 25, 1827
William Sumner Appleton, born Jan. 11, 1840; baptized by Rev. Mr. Gannett, June 30, 1840
Harriet Appleton, born Nov. 16, 1841; bapt. by Rev. Mr. Gannett, June 3, 1842
Nathan Appleton, born Feb. 2, 1843; bapt. by Dr. Gannett, June 29, 1845
Charles Appleton Longfellow, born June 9, 1844
Ernest Wadsworth Longfellow, born Nov. 23, 1845
Fanny (Longfellow), born April 7, 1847; died Sept. (entry not completed)
Alice Mary (Longfellow), born Sept. 22, 1850
Edith (Longfellow), born Oct. 22, 1853
Annie (Longfellow) born (blank here) Nov. 8, 1855 (on loose sheet)
Ronald Mackintosh, born Oct. 18, 1840
Eva Mackintosh, born June 3, 1843
Angus Mackintosh, born Jan. 18, 1846 (says 16th on loose sheet)
James Mackintosh, born Feb. 15, 1847
Appleton Family Deaths
Maria Theresa Appleton died Sunday, Feb. 10, 1833, 4 p. m.
Eben Appleton died at Lowell, April 30, 1833, age 49
Charles Sedgwick Appleton died Sunday, Oct. 25, 1835, at 3 p.m.
Nathan Appleton died Sunday morning, July 14, 1861 at 5 a.m.
Fanny E. Longfellow died Wednesday morning, July 10, 1861, at 10 a.m. (says July 13 on loose sheet)
Miscellaneous Memoranda
Elisabeth Sedgwick Go(u)ld married Chs M. Lee, Jan. 19, 1812
Deacon Isaac Appleton died Feb. 25, 1806, age 74 years, 9 months
Widow Mary Appleton died May 22, 1827, age 85 years
An extensive biography of Nathan Appleton, the original owner of this Bible, appeared in the New England Historical and Genealogical Register (Vol. XV).
You may wish to read about Longfellow's 7 Year Courtship of Fanny Appleton.
Source:
A contribution by Milton Halsey Thomas of Princeton, NJ, to The New England Historical and Genealogical Register (VOL. CVI, April, 1952)
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