Chapter VI: Zaccheus and Sarah's family [part 1]
… the annals of human history reveal the transcendent importance of marriage. The lifelong union of a man and a woman always has promised nobility and dignity to all persons…Its dynamic allows two people to find a life that could not be found alone, for a marriage becomes greater than just the two persons…Since the dawn of history, marriage has transformed strangers into relatives, binding families and societies together"- Justice Anthony Kennedy in the majority opinion of Obergefell v. Hodges (2015), a Supreme Court case which requires all states to enforce same-sex marriage [88]
Exploring the family of Zaccheus and Sarah continues the story of the Packards. Zaccheus (sometimes called Zacheus or Zacheas) Packard, the third child of Samuel Packard, Sr. and Elizabeth, was reportedly born in Hingham, between 1643 and 1646. As the story goes, in April 1682, he would marry a woman named Sarah Howard, the daughter of John Howard and Martha. [89] They would have nine children, named Israel, Sarah, Jonathan, David, Solomon, James, Zaccheus (II), John, and Abiel, who will be talked later in this chapter more in-depth.
In the years after Samuel Packard, Sr.’s death, Zaccheus would increase his standing in the town. He would purchase land in Bridgewater with a Packard named Sarjeant (relation unknown) in 1686, and be part of the “ways over” committee the same year as John Packard was allowed to build a horse bridge in the town. [90] In the 1690s, Samuel Packard, Jr., Samuel Packard Sr.’s son, would buy 10 acres in the town which sat above the saw mill. He would buy them for Zaccheus, a surveyor of highways in 1696 or 1697, who would “improve” 10 of his 50-acre lot in Bridgewater in 1697. [91] He would continue to live in Bridgewater for years to come as he acquired more land. This would include a land agreement with Josiah Edson in September 1714, and mentioned in passing as Jonathan Packard and Joseph Lathrop agreed on a dividing line of their property. [92] The nine children of Zaccheus and Sarah would have a different experience than he did in Bridgewater.
Israel Packard, the first child of Zaccheus and Sarah, was reportedly born on April 27, 1680. Some claim that Israel married “Hannah” in 1703 and Susannah Fields on November 30, 1735. Varied records point to this as well, with Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988 indicating that he married a woman named Hannah Grosman in 1701. Furthermore, the Family Data Collection says he married Susannah Fields in November of 1735. However, these two sources could have incorrect or have distorted information. Nothing else is known about this man.
On the other hand, Sarah Packard, the second child of Zaccheus and Sarah, was born in 1682, reportedly on August 19. She would marry a man named Josiah Edson supposedly in 1704, who would become a militia captain. [93] One source indicates that Josiah was a town selectman, a Christian man of “large stature, rather above medium height, of dignified deportment, of easy and colciliation [sic] manners” while Sarah was described as a “lady of domestic and retiring habits, amiable and forgiving in her disposition, and ambitious only to promote the welfare and happiness of her husband and children.” The dignified Josiah and “domestic” Sarah would have seven children named Sarah (b. 1705), Abidah (1706 -1749), Josiah (1709-1778), Huldah (1713-1800), Abiezar (b. 1715), Elijah (1720-1781), and Freelove, all with the last name of Edson. [94]
The description of Sarah was in keeping with the norms of the time. British colonial law, specifically the law of coverture, required that women were legally dependent on their husbands, losing their original last names and gaining no civil rights. [95] At the time, almost all women married, with men being the only ones would could vote, and women were supposed to obey their benevolent “protectors.” Some women did not accept the definitions of their lives “by motherhood and domesticity,” rebelling against being “Tyed to a Man,” but this was limited by the fact that hard work within and outside the home restricted lives of women, as did the expectations that women had to tend several children by their twenties or thirties. [96] Even though women performed work which was essential to the working of the household, the husband or father owned the “fruits of that labor” and when they worked in urban areas as “seamstresses, laundresses, and domestics,” they received half of the wages which men were paid. Sarah Packard seems to fall into the “traditional” domestic role if the description of her, as one with “domestic and retiring habits,” who wanted to promote the welfare of her children (and husband), is accurate.
Jonathan Packard, Sr., the third child of Zaccheus and Sarah was a bit different. He was born in 1684, reportedly on December 7, and died on June 7, 1746. [97] He would, as story goes, marry a woman named Susannah Hayward on Dec. 24, 1719, and would marry again to a woman named Abigail Thomson in 1723. He would have a son named Jonathan who would be born in 1730 and live until 1805. In 1708, Jonathan Sr. would make a land agreement with David Packard to gain, for 120 pounds, 127 acres of land on the Northeast side of the Matfield River, near the land of Joseph Hayward, in Bridgewater. [98] Seven years later, in June 1715, he would be part of an agreement with the Snell family. He and his brother James would buy hundreds of acres from Thomas Snell. [99] In 1725, he would become administrator of his father’s estate. After his father’s death, he would expand his political role and land holdings. In the 1730s, he would be implied in agreements between varied Packards (John, Samuel, Jonathan, and Daniel). [100] He may have endorsed the establishment of West Bridgewater as an independent township and advised that West Bridgewater be exempted from ministerial taxes if he was a legislator within the Massachusetts legislature from 1737 to 1738.
In 1746, Jonathan Packard was dead. Abiel, his brother, helped delineate his possessions. [101] On July 4, his inventory would show his lifestyle. While lands with buildings on them would be most of his property value, he would also have books, apparel, arms & ammunition, tables and table linen, tackling and husbandry tools, shoe maker tools & leather, a weavers loom, six ox hides, and nine cow hides, to name a few. [102] His probate would be finalized on May 7, 1747. Four years later, in May 1751, his real estate would be divided up. His wife Abigail, Joseph Edson, Jonathan Howard, David Packard, Abiel Packard, and Josiah Small would all be involved in this process. [103] There is a further historical context to these possessions, just like the possessions of Zachariah outlined in Chapter 3, which needs to be explored in order to further understand the story of the Packard family.
Such land possessions would be in line with what many other Puritan colonists, who were farming in a “cold and infertile region.” They were raising “cattle, sheep, and grain on thousands of small, rocky farms,” shipping modest surpluses of these supplies, after fulfilling their family needs, to the “West Indies to feed planters and their slaves” while New England merchant ships would return with “molasses, rum, and sugar” or carry such cargo to Great Britain where they could be exchanged for manufactured goods. [104] This means that while these Packards did not own enslaved people (except Zachariah Packard, his children named Nathan, Nathaniel, and Abigail, and wife of the same name as discussed in Chapter 3), they participated in the system of slavery in British America through interconnected trade networks. This is further the case considering that slavery was legal in every British colony, with Quakers as one of the only groups that objected to the practice, with the colonies simply a “land of black slavery and white opportunity,” with relatively small port cities. [105]
David Packard was the fourth child of Zaccheus and Sarah. Reportedly born on February 11, 1687, he would marry Hannah Ames, and die on November 3, 1755. [106] Through the years, he would gain prominence in the town of Bridgewater. In September 1725 he would be one of 11 people who would agree to build an “Iron Works or forge” in Bridgewater on the Packard's Mill Dam. [107] Eleven years later, he may have signed a petition requesting that the northern part of Bridgewater’s West District be established as its own township, along with numerous other Packards. In 1738, he would also lead an effort to change Bridgewater’s boundaries. [108] In 1739 and 1740, he would reportedly serve as part of a gospel ministry. He helped to furnish the meeting house and approve certain preachers. [109] If this is accurate, he may have been an influential part of the community. By the later 18th century, the king was be seen as a “champion against their Catholic enemies” and colonists, seeing themselves as “free-born Englishman” would be “proud of their British liberty,” holding up the political consensus which constituted a British constitution. Ministers in established churches preached the “sacredness of social stability” and deference to authority, which would be disturbed by Evangelical religious revivals. This means that David, who would have a son of the same name who acquired gobs of land, was part of this established order and loyal to the British crown. [110]
Solomon Packard was the fifth child of Zaccheus and Sarah. He would be born in 1686, reportedly on March 20th, and would be married to Sarah Lathrop in November 1715, married Susanna Kingman in 1717, and Dorothy Perkins in October 1760. [111] Other sources noted that had a similar role to David in the Bridgewater community. In 1739, he reportedly served as part of the Gospel ministry, listing him as a church member, like his brothers David and Solomon, helping to maintain the local church. [112] He would also be listed as a private in the Revolutionary War. He would serve as a private in the Second Massachusetts Regiment, in Adam Bailey’s company from July 10, 1780 to January 10, 1781, with David Packard enlisting the same day also for a 6-month term. [113] A scanned copy of the History of North Bridgewater would note that he was one of those raised in July 1780 for Continental service, marching on “alarm to Rhode Island” by the order of the Massachusetts legislature. This same resource noted that varied Packards served in Massachusetts units throughout the Revolutionary War. [114] His life after that point is not known. His date of death is reportedly 1782, and is clear that he participated in varied land transactions for years to come. [115]
James Packard was the sixth child of Zaccheus and Sarah. Born in 1691, reportedly on June 1, he would marry Jemima Keith, and die on November 22, 1765. [116] He would buy and sell large amounts of land. This ranged in the hundreds of acres. [117] Little else is known about his life. While his probate estate file is empty, there are available probate records issued after his death. [118] On September 24, 1765, he wrote a will in which he says he was in a “declining state of bodily health” but of perfect mind and memory; says he is a Christian, and asks for a “decent Christian burial.” Within this will, he gives his son James 1/8 part of a sawmill which is not far from Packard's Forge in Bridgewater, one half of his right and interest in the Old Cedar Swamp, and a piece of meadow on the Salisbury Plain River, and a meadow lot, formerly belonging to his deceased brother John who will be discussed in the next chapter. [119] He also gave his son James half of his wearing apparel, half of his husbandry tools and implements. For his son Reuben, who he makes the sole executor of his will, he gives 1/8 part of the sawmill near Packard's Forge, his right in the grist mill near Salisbury Plains River, half of his stake in the Old Cedar Swamp, his dwelling house to live in, his quick stock, and half of his wearing apparel. [120]
Zaccheus Packard II was the seventh child of Zaccheus and Sarah. Born in 1693, reportedly on September 4, he would marry Mercy Alden in 1725 and would die in 1775. [121] Zaccheus II and Mercy would have three children. They would be Eleazer Packard (1727-1803) who was later a revolutionary war veteran, Simeon Packard (1726-1815), and Mercy Packard (1738-1775). [122] Little is known about him otherwise. Other than land agreements, he lived in Bridgewater, among 13 other Packards. [123] He was one of the nine Packards who signed a petition in favor of creating a West Bridgewater township.
John Packard was the eighth child of Zaccheus and Sarah. Born on Oct. 6, 1695, he would marry Lydia Thompson in Feb. 1725, and die in 1728. [124] He will be explained more in the next chapter. Abiel Packard was the ninth and final child of Zaccheus and Sarah. Born on Apr. 29, 1699, he would die in 1774, not in 1776, and hence would not be a “famous captain in the revolutionary war” as is asserted in some sources. [125] More about his role as a Captain will be explained later. Other sources would confirm his birth and deaths dates and assert he married Sarah Ames in 1723 and Deliverance Washburn in 1771. [126] Like David and Solomon, he would have a role in the local church, if Bradford Kingman’s History of North Bridgewater has any merit.
Specifically, he would be a treasurer of the North Parish in Bridgewater (1738-1743, 1762), approve certain preachers, sell pews, and help improvement the local church (from 1739-1740). [127] In 1744, he would pay a higher tax than other Packards, possibly indicating he owned more land than them, and would confirm the sale of pews the same year. He would also serve on the committee of the North Parish (1746-1748, 1750, 1752, 1754, 1756-1758, 1760-1761, 1763-1769), vote to furnish the meeting house in 1748, serve as a selectman (1750-1751), and serve in the militia from 1762 to 1774, going from the rank of ensign to captain by the end of his service. [128] On June 19, 1773, he would write his will while he was “weak in body.” He gives his wife Deliverance one cow, 30 pounds, and his estate. His son Josiah received his lands in Bridgewater. He distributed his other possessions to his three of his children, dividing his estate with the following each getting a third: his daughter Sarah (widow of Ebenezer Snell), his daughter, Betty/Bettie (wife of Jacob Edson), and his son Benjamin. [129] He also made Benjamin the executor of his estate. The land acquisition by Abiel was continued by his children. [130]
Joshua, Luther, Thomas, Josiah, Daniel, and Timothy were among those who acquired land. Their land acquisitions were wide and ranging. While the probates of these children and others is not known, it was evident for Timothy. Dying on November 22, 1782, as a “yeoman” his wife Sarah Alden and son Bethuel managed his estate, which was ultimately divided between his children. [131] His inventory, when listed in February 1783, consisted of books, varying apparel, quick stock, hay & oats, hayseed and flax in straw, outdoor movables, and charcoal, among other possessions. It would not be until August 1783 when his estate was settled, by which time Sarah Alden had become the guardian of her three sons Josiah, Timothy, and Perez, and one daughter Sarah Packard, mostly under age 14.
Some talk about how the father of Zaccheus’s wife, Sarah Howard, was one of the first settlers in Massachusetts, settling in Duxbury and becoming “one of the town’s original proprietors and settlers” in Bridgewater, there’s no need to expand upon that here. Zaccheus was described in the same history as dying on August 3, 1723, and was said to be married in Bridgewater, dates which were supported by varied records, including Find A Grave entries. [132] Within the division and inventory of Zaccheus’s estate in May 1725, it used this same date, so it is clear that he died on August 3. His inventory, also reprinted in his estate files, notes that he owned sheets & table linen, a box, chests, barrels, loom with tackling, iron candlesticks, a brown cow, a black cow, an old horse, a cow, and steer, among much more. [133] Like the other Packards mentioned in previous chapters, he was a farmer. There are many more records I could have looked at for this chapter, including land records. [134]
Even without using those records, it is my hope that this chapter shed more light on another part of the Packard family’s story. With available resources I was able to add necessary historical context in order to improve the family story. The next chapter will move onto the next generation, focusing on the family of John Packard and Lydia. Not as much about them is known as the children of Zaccheus and Sarah, but they have the distinction of being the first generation of Packards who participated in the Revolutionary War since most of the Packards of the generation, noted in this chapter, would have been too old to hold any position with a few exceptions. Let us move forward to the story of John, Lydia, and the children of the second generation removed from Samuel Packard, Sr.
Notes
[88] Majority opinion of Anthony Kennedy, Obergefell v. Hodges, Justia, accessed July 8, 2017. It is relevant to the story of the Packards, including the family described in this chapter.
[89] See the Find A Grave entry for Sarah Howard Packard.
[90] Town Records Vol. 1-4, Plymouth, Bridgewater, Massachusetts, Town Clerk, p. 107, image 42 of 654; Town Records Vol. 1-4, Plymouth, Bridgewater, Massachusetts, Town Clerk, p. 112, image 44 of 654. Who Serjeant Packard is, and his relation to other Packards, is not known.
[91] Plymouth, Bridgewater, Land Records, Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Town and Vital Records, p. 257, image 149 of 767; Town records vol 1-2, Plymouth, Bridgewater, Massachusetts, Town Clerk, p. 34-35, image 14 of 285; Town Records Vol. 1-4, Plymouth, Bridgewater, Massachusetts, Town Clerk, 1626-2001, p. 129, image 58 of 285; Plymouth, Bridgewater, Land Records, Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Town and Vital Records, p. 255-256, image 148 of 767. Also in the 1690s, Nathaniel Packard made an agreement for 10 acres with Samuel Lathrop.
[92] Town records vol 1-2, Plymouth, Bridgewater, Massachusetts, Town Clerk, p. 131, image 59 of 285; Plymouth, Bridgewater, Land Records, Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Town and Vital Records, p. 258, image 149 of 767; Plymouth, Bridgewater, Land Records, Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Town & Vital Records, p. 259, image 150 of 767.
[93] See the Find A Grave entries for Sarah Packard Edson and Josiah Edson. He would live from 1682 to 1762. For the source listed in the next sentence, see Kippy Spinelli, which confirms he was a militia captain, but provides information describing Josiah and Sarah. Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988 says that Sarah was born in 1682 and other records indicate that she died in 1754, confirmed by her gravestone which says she was 72 years old, called “Sarah Edson.” That is all that is known at this time.
[94] See the Find A Grave entries for Sarah, Abidah, Josiah, Huldah, Abiezar, and Freelove. Abiezar would have one child named Pollycarpus who would marry a woman named Mary Packard who was the child of Samuel and Anne with Samuel being another child of Nathaniel Packard (1657-1736), discussed in a previous chapter.
[95] Alan Taylor, American Revolutions: A Continental History, 1750-1804 (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2016), p 27.
[96] Ibid, 27-28. This may have been the situation for many of the Packard women.
[97] Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988 indicate he was born in 1684 and that he died on June 7, 1746. Mayflower Births and Deaths, Vol. 1 and 2 and U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 claims he married Abigail Thomson in 1723. Other sources noted here come from a Packard Family History and cannot be independently verified at the time of this writing. Also see his Find A Grave entry.
[98] Land Agreement between David Packard, Jonathan Packard, and Josiah Snell, 1708, Massachusetts Land Records, Plymouth, Deeds vol 6-8, p. 283-285 images 317, 318, and 319 of 504.
[99] Land Agreement involving Snell and Packard families, July 1715, Massachusetts Land Records, Plymouth, Deeds 1714-1717 vol 11-12, p. 212-213, images 416 and 417 of 439. The Estate of Zaccheus Packard, 1725, Massachusetts, Plymouth County, Probate Records, Probate Records vol 5-5 T, p. 72-77, images 66, 67, and 68 of 256. In May 1725, a document is signed in the presence of Joseph Edson and Nathaniel Brett. Many Packards signed this document, including Zaccheus Packard II. Proceedings ended on May 19.
[100] Petition Submitted to the General Court by the inhabitants of the Northern Part of Bridgewater North Precinct, Dec. 11, 1736, series 228, Massachusetts State Archives, Vol. 114, p. 212; Agreement between varied Packards, 1730-1731, Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, Plymouth, Bridgewater, Land Records, p. 259-260, image 150 of 767; General Court committee report advising that the inhabitants of the Northern part of Bridgewater West Precinct be exempted from ministerial taxes, Jan. 29, 1737, Massachusetts State Archives, series 228, Vol. 114, p. 216; Notice for a precinct meeting of Bridgewater West Prinict, Dec. 13, 1737, Massachusetts State Archives, series 228, Vol. 114, p. 215. Later that year, this same Jonathan would sign a notice of meeting about if West Bridgewater is to separate.
[101] A True Inventory of Jonathan Packard, May 7, 1747, Massachusetts, Plymouth County, Probate Records vol. 10-10A, p. 408, image 222 of 611. Courtesy of Family Search; Land agreement involving Jonathan Packard and Jonathan Lopeland, Sept. 7, 1757, Massachusetts Land Records, Plymouth, Deeds vol 56-57, p. 147-148, image 446 of 575. In later years, his son would be buying land, in an agreement with which the Snell family was involved.
[102] He would also own spinning wheels; sheep wool, flax and yarn; iron vessels & iron utensils; some pieces of cloth woolen & linen; sheep shine; beds & furniture; pewter glass, earthen vessels; indian corn, rye, and other grain; meat tubs, wooden barrels; brass vessels, forks & knives; home furniture, bridles, saddles, and pillory; looking glasses, some silver and knives; and one sled. There are undoubtedly more items not listed here.
[103] Division of Jonathan’s estate, Nov. 15, 1753, Massachusetts, Plymouth County, Probate Records vol 13, p. 85-91, images 54, 55, 56, 57 of 298.
[104] Alan Taylor, American Revolutions, p 19, 25. As Taylor explains on page 25, colonial farms produced crops for “household needs and for the external market” which burst the myth of colonialists as self-sufficient “yeoman farmers.” He later adds on page 66 that most “free [white] men” in the colonies owned land by “freehold title” meaning that this “promised a cherished independence from a landlord, employer of master” but that that cost of land grew exponentially between 1750 and 1770 with only one of big families inheriting a whole farm in many cases.
[105] Ibid, p 21-22. Small port cities included Boston, Philadelphia, and many others.
[106] David’s gravestone on Find A Grave and Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records assert that he died on Nov. 3, 1755. The date of his marriage to Hannah Ames was reportedly 1612, but nothing verifies or disproves this date.
[107] Agreement to build an iron works or forge, Massachusetts Land Records, Plymouth, Deeds vol 18-20, p. 142-143, images 396 and 397 of 679; Petition Submitted to the General Court by the inhabitants of the Northern Part of Bridgewater North Precinct, Dec. 11, 1736, series 228, Massachusetts State Archives, Vol. 114, p. 212. Another Israel Packard mentioned. His relation is not known.
[108] Petition submitted by David Packard and others requesting for their land to be annexed to the North Precinct of Bridgewater, Nov. 24, 1738, Massachusetts State Archives. Series 228, Vol. 114, p. 234; Petition submitted to the General Court by Jacob Allen and others of Bridgewater West Precinct, Massachusetts State Archives, Vol. 114, p. 247.
[109] Bradford Kingman, History of North Bridgewater, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, From its First Settlement to the Present Time with Family Registers (Bradford Kingman: Boston, 1866), p 20, 85.
[110] For this paragraph, see Alan Taylor, American Revolutions, p 13, 29-32, 55. For David’s son (1713-1783) see book 44, p. 2-3; book 47, p. 39; book 51, p. 252-253; book 55, p. 117; book 65, p. 251 of Massachusetts Land Records for a source for the “gobs of land” assertion.
[111] The Abstract of Graves of Revolutionary Patriots; Volume: 3; Serial: 11999; Volume: 8 says he was buried in East Bridgewater. Massachusetts, Marriages, 1633-1850 says he married Dorothy Perkins in Oct. 1760 and Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988 says he was born in 1689. The New England Historical & Genealogical Register, 1847-2011 says he married Sarah Lathrop in Nov. 1715, and U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 says he married Susanna Kingman in 1717.
[112] Bradford Kingman, History of North Bridgewater, p 85
[113] U.S., Revolutionary War Rolls collection on Ancestry, which consists of scanned original documents.
[114] The scanned copy of the History of North Bridgewater also says that “Solomon Packard was in service in Captain Benjamin Edgell's company, Colonel John Jacobs's regiment, five months and sixteen days, 1777.” This book notes that the following Packards served in varying Massachusetts units throughout the war: Nathan Packard (1st Lt.), Reuben Packard (Sgt.), William Packard (Corporal), Silvanus Packard (Drummer), Jonathan Packard (Private), Lemuel Packard (Private), Luke Packard (Private), Asa Packard (Fife), Oliver Packard (Private), Daniel Packard (Minuteman), Elijah Packard (Private), Ichabod Packard (Private), Josiah Packard (Private), Jonas Packard (Private), Ephrahim Packard (Private), Benjamin Packard (Private), Simeon Packard (Private), Shepard Packard (Private), Hezekiah Packard (Fifer), Thomas Packard (Private), Abiah Packard (Private), Levi Packard (Private), Adin Packard (Private), Phillip Packard (Private), and many more. It is hard to know if any of these men are the same ones as written about in this family history.
[115] Agreement between Jonathan and Solomon Packard, May 1, 1721, Massachusetts Land Records, Plymouth, Deeds vol 38-39, p. 169, image 183 of 585; Agreement between Zacheus Packard and Jonathan Packard, Mar. 1, 1721, Massachusetts Land Records, Plymouth, Deeds vol 38-39, p. 114-115, images 414 and 415 of 585; Agreement between Solomon Packard and Icabod Edson, Apr. 24, 1765, Massachusetts Land Records, Plymouth, Deeds vol 50-51, p. 35-36, images 47 and 48 of 576; Agreements involving Solomon Packard, Feb. 13, 1770, Massachusetts Land Records, Plymouth, Deeds vol 54-55, p. 93-94, images 388 and 389 of 593.; Agreement between Solomon Packard and Matthew Belcher, Nov. 1, 1773, Massachusetts Land Records, Plymouth, Deeds vol 56-57, p. 196, image 495 of 595.
[116] See the Find A Grave entry for James Packard. Massachusetts, Marriages asserts that James Packard married Jemima in 1722. One source says he married her on June 22, 1722. Hence, no date is put in the main text.
[117] Land Agreement involving Snell and Packard families, July 1715, Massachusetts Land Records, Plymouth, Deeds vol 11-12, p. 212-213, images 416 and 417 of 439. Also see book 30, p. 138; book 33, p. 131; book 44, p. 148; book 51, p. 160 within Massachusetts Land Records 1620-1986.
[118] Probate of James Packard of Bridgewater, 1765, Case no. 15107, Massachusetts, Plymouth County, Probate Estate Files, Plymouth, image 460 of 1362. File is empty, only says “see records.”
[119] Will of James Packard, Sept. 24, 1765, Massachusetts, Plymouth County, Probate Records, 1633-1967, Probate records 1763-1771 vol 19-20, p. 356-358, images 212 and 213 of 641. Courtesy of Family Search. In the last two pages is a letter by the estate’s administrator, Reuben Packard on Dec. 3, 1785. He also issued an executive account in 1766, showing who had been paid from the estate’s funds, the following year.
[120] He also gives him half of his husbandry tools, all of his household goods and indoor movables, and all of his estate other than what he has given his son James. He gives his daughters Hezia, Jemima, and Rebecca 24 pounds, five shillings collectively plus four pence a piece to be paid to them in cattle or iron bars at market price in cash, meaning that they would receive six pounds, one shilling each for the next four years, along with all the money which is due to him.
[121] See Zaccheus Packard II’s gravestone on Find A Grave which says he died in his 82nd year of age. U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 says he was born in 1693 and married Mercy in 1725. There is also a gravestone for his wife Mercy saying she died in May 12, 1775, while he died in Nov. 8, 1775 and was married to Zaccheus.
[122] See the gravestones for Eleazer, Simeon, and Mercy. They apparently had three other children.
[123] Plymouth, Bridgewater, Land Records, 1672-1834, Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Town and Vital Records, 1626-2001, p. 260, image 150 of 767. Courtesy of Family Search; Tax List of the Inhabitants of the Northern Part of Bridgewater West Precinct, 1738, Massachusetts State Archives, Vol. 114, p. 230; List of Inhabitants of Bridgewater West Precinct, Feb. 1738, Massachusetts State Archives, Vol. 114, p 226; Petition submitted to the general court by inhabitants of West Bridgewater, June 15, 1738, Massachusetts State Archives, Vol. 114, p. 203; Tax valuation of inhabitants of Bridgewater and Stoughton, 1739, Massachusetts State Archives, Vol. 114, p. 207. Abiel, David, David (Jr.), George, James, John, Jonathan, Seth, Solomon, and William Packard signed the petition.
[124] This comes from Family Data Collection - Individual Records. Also see his Find A Grave entry.
[125] See his gravestone on Find A Grave. This proves he died in 1774.
[126] The Family Data Collection – Births and Family Data Collection - Individual Records says he was born in 1699, the latter asserting he married Sarah Ames. Massachusetts, Marriages, 1633-1850 and the Millennium File says he married Sarah Ames in 1723. Massachusetts, Marriages, 1633-1850 says he married Deliverance Washburn in 1771. Massachusetts, Town Death Records, 1620-1850 says he died on June 1, 1774. Mayflower Births and Deaths, Vol. 1 and 2 just gives general information. Mayflower Deeds and Probates, 1600-1850 summarizes his deeds and probates. Also see the gravestones of Sarah Ames and Deliverance Washburn.
[127] Kingman, History of North Bridgewater, p 20, 85, 88, 113, 206, 211-212.
[128] Ibid, 88, 94, 112-113, 201, 203, 206, 292-293. By 1774, he was militia captain (originally he was ensign in 1762, serving from that point) with Issac Packard. Other militia captains included: David Packard in 1780, Robert and Lennel Packard in 1783 (Robert again in 1796), Adin Packard (1817), Abiel Packard (1819) & Charles T. Packard (1862).
[129] Probate of Abiel Packard of Bridgewater, 1774, Case no. 15026, Massachusetts, Plymouth County, Probate Estate Files, images 159 and 160 of 1563; Last will and testament of Abiel Packard, 1774, Massachusetts, Plymouth County, Probate Records vol 21-23, p. 624-625, images 299 and 300 of 827. His probate estate records are non-existent, just saying “see records” but other records as noted here and here fill in the gaps. He calls Joshua a yeoman, gives him 5 shillings to be delivered within 12 months of his death, the same for Thomas, Timothy, Daniel, and Eliab?. Betty also gets a bed and case of drawers. He also gave Benjamin a land grant 2 miles north Bridgewater called [something] brook and he gives his son Timothy the orchards, buildings, and such on the same premises as his house. Elizabeth Edson and Josiah Packard not mentioned. Neither is Abiel Packard, Jr., since he is dead by this point.
[130] Within Massachusetts Land Records see: Book 24, 95; book 47, p. 144; Book 51, p. 67-69; Book 52, p. 170; book 56, p. 92; Book 57, p. 155, 165, 178-179, 218; book 58, p. 41, 56; book 62, p. 13; book 68, p. 113; book 69, p. 165; book 71, p. 83; book 89, p. 10.
Note: This was originally posted on August 8, 2018 on the main Packed with Packards WordPress blog (it can also be found on the Wayback Machine here). My research is still ongoing, so some conclusions in this piece may change in the future.
© 2018-2022 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.
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A Simple Nocturne
alucard|adrian tepès x reader | 3.3k
synopsis; following the defeat of his father by his hand, you notice alucard becomes withdrawn amid an uncertain future. you take his hand, unable to bear the suffering he endures in silence.
story warnings; mentions of patricide, alucard in mourning, erotic content that isn't really explicit, written in 2018, sotn-coded alucard mostly, mdni!
At his insistence, he was often in your company for a few sparse moments while the moon was at its highest beyond the spires of the castle and coverture by clouds. You couldn’t say you were a fool to the layout of the castle any longer, and even once telling him so, he still offered to walk with you through the dismal corridors, guided by the dull flicker of candlelight from the candelabra in his grasp.
These were the moments with him that you cherished the most, the only ones he seemed willful to indulge you in. Following the defeat of Dracula by his own hand, you thought his eyes had grown colder than any hellish winter, reflecting the nebulous traces of his thoughts. He stood within your grasp these times almost always, and yet he was so far away from you.
Even as he walked alongside you, the halls comfortless and abysmal aside from the synchronic tap of your footfalls across cold stone that reverberated endlessly off the walls and carried on as though a voice growing more distant, you felt alone.
You could feel his presence beside you, his languid strides easy enough to keep in pace with, the tail of his coat nearly dragged the floor and wound his legs, and if you were to sidle just slightly nearer, you would be touching him.
He seemed a ghost; residual and purposeless, a man with nothing else he could possibly lose and yet for some reason even unknown to him, he continued living on.
The sweet glow emanating from candlelight cast across his face and showed to you a haunted man, an otherworldly beauty that captured the pallor and translucency in his skin, the glimmer of hair like tinsel, and a gaze with faint shine that swayed towards you.
You quickly looked away towards the worn tapestries adorning the walls and the many doors mirroring one another as you passed. However, after a moment, the discomforting echoes in the hall tapered into nothing as you both stopped before one door in particular.
“I feel like it looks different every night.” You said, fingertips curling away from the brass handle wrapped in the night chill. “I sort of feel like switching up rooms again. That alright with you?”
“You’re free to do as you wish, that has not changed.” Alucard gave his brisk reply. Perhaps if this had been your first encounter with him, you would had thought him rude, but there was no ill-intent behind his words.
And by the dimming glow from the flames, you could feel his gaze waver at the slightest, lips twitching at the corners as though trying to search for something more to say. You wondered if he thought he presented an unperturbed, impenetrable, always stoic demeanor that you couldn’t see through. It was likely of little comfort to him when your eyes pierced straight through him; those feelings, those things he perceived as his own weaknesses wore on his sleeve and made your heart tremble as well.
“Tomorrow, then.” He spoke at last, taking one step away for you as he turned. There was a reluctance in his movements, a lethargy as though realizing once he left, he would be alone again.
You couldn’t bear his suffering any longer.
“Adrian, enough of this.” You caught his wrist, jarring him to a halt while his eyes shone in surprise. “Enough. Please just talk to me about how you’re feeling. Whatever you’re going through. You’re not well, you haven’t been in sometime.”
The walls were crashing down around him, the facade was quick to melt away as his face began to twist as though anguished. “I’ve nothing left to say that’s worth taking your time.”
“That doesn’t matter to me, you damn fool.” You searched for his fingers, twining them together as the large door gave a suffering wail. Your first steps backwards into the room were met with resistance, the full length of his arm outstretched, lingering at your doorway with the candelabra leveled at his waist. “You can come inside. Please, just talk to me. If not for yourself, then just don’t let me be alone.”
And so, led by the warmth of your hand, he ventured in the darkness of your room. The brass handle gave a rattle as he closed the door behind him, freeing his fingers from your own to set the candelabra aside on the first table that caught his eye. Despite the black air that encompassed you, you navigated the room easily enough, feeling for the candles and dainty lanterns you kept at your bedside for convenience.
You turned your head towards the sound of scuffing fabric, managing just then to coax a lantern alight, basking the spacious room warm, dancing hues that didn’t quite reach your doorway. It pleased you, however, when Alucard emerged from that nothingness without his coat, shadows seemingly dissolving from his shoulders as he fiddled with the cuffs of his shirt.
The bed barely emitted a creak as you flopped atop of it, legs crossed under you, giving the spot before you a eager pat. “Sit right here and tell me what’s on your mind. I’m all ears.”
His fingers froze at the buttons on his sleeves, eyes swimming across the room as though cautious there might be others listening, observing you both. That feeling stayed with him even once he joined you on the bed, his presence little more than a slight dip in the mattress.
You scooted closer to him. “There’s something I’ve been curious about, Adrian. With, you know, everything that has happened. Are we—Are you going to stay here indefinitely?”
“Even I cannot foretell the future.” He hunched forward, arms draped across his thighs. “What it is I should do against what I feel I should, I think of them often. My bloodline is cursed, what good to the world has come about it?”
He said this one other instance, though your memories of that day were vague, dreamlike even. You only recalled roaming Dracula’s castle with him, and then the next awakening in his arms to a brilliant sunrise and a sprawling, glittering sea. That beauty was marred by his overwhelming grief, though his tears only glistened at the corners of his eyes, never falling.
“I don’t think you’re cursed, Adrian.” You said, reaching forward to give light strokes his arm. Through the thin fabric, you felt his muscles tense against your touch, his eyes fixated on yours. “You’re a good man who wants peace, who sacrificed so much, who loves his family more than anything else… even after everything.”
Those words seemed to soften him as his shoulders lowered, tresses of gold falling across his chest. The shadows deepened in the creases of his brow, and even though it pained him for you to see his composure chip away, he could not will his gaze away from you. Not now, and not when the tears seared his eyes, clouding his vision until the your face was no longer discernible to him.
“Oh, Adrian.” You found your voice cracking, his despair so palpable that it made your bones ache. It wasn’t any thought in your mind to wrap your arms around him, nestling your face against his chest to smother your own tears. “None of this was your fault. Not what happened to your mother, nor your father. This isn’t something you have to deal with on your own.”
You had never felt so much rigidity in his body more than you did in that moment. Clearly, your response was unexpected, your touch even less so. Despite this, he let his vulnerability show, body trembling as you smoothed your hands across his back.
His fragility was heartbreaking, and thought it was not so, he felt so much smaller than yourself.
“I... I am tormented by it every night. By my mother’s death, seeing it again.” He whispered shakily, taking a moment to ease his breaths. “And by taking my father’s life by my own hand. I remember so vividly still, at the end before his death, he had a moment of clarity. He wanted forgiveness that I could not be the one to grant.”
“Adrian—”
When you felt his arms surround you, holding you flush to him as his chin rested atop your shoulder, you thought the air had been knocked from your lungs. How long had it been since he held you like this?
“Is this the fate I’m meant to endure? The knowledge that I was useless to save my mother, and my father was slain by my hand? Isn’t a fate where I seal myself away from the world something to rejoice?”
You couldn’t listen to this anymore.
“Adrian, my love, that’s not the answer!” you snapped, that outburst startling him long enough for you to slip your arms between your bodies to take the sides of his face in your hands. “Please, don’t talk about yourself like that. You’re still grieving, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But, you need to accept that you’ve always done everything you could.”
His arms loosened from your waist, yet he still would not let you go. A smile tilted the corners of your lips as you traced your thumbs under his eyes, swiping away his tears. You were doubtless that you could offer him little comfort in alleviating all of his agony.
The only one who could bring that war in his heart to a standstill was himself, you could only do this and hold his hand when he needed it.
Aside from the drum of your heartbeat in ears, the room was void of noise. You indulged in that silence, mesmerized by the softness of his skin that still held traces of warmth, and glisten in his eye that you wanted to believe stemmed from something other than tears.
He was entranced just as much by you, leaning his face more to one side against your palm, though you noticed the way his eyes drifted down your face.
It was an invitation that you eagerly took.
The feeling of his lips against yours was something you had craved for a time, foreign for you both, though his reaction was much more genuine. He was unsure, startled even that you had decided to kiss him. His face remained still in your hands as you moved your lips to the corner of his mouth, feathering upwards towards his cheeks, to the tip of his nose, and then once again to the origin.
This time he held no reservations to your affection, one of his hands carefully caressed your nape while your arms rose to hook around his neck. His lips were as soft as you had imagined they were while fervor grew from the caress, rousing something in you that you had been forced to the furthest parts of your mind for a while.
You felt his hand sweep lower to your back, gliding between your shoulder blades until he held you at your waist and eased you down on the mattress. His loose curls were much like spun gold, tempting you to twist them like tight ringlets around your fingers as his hair spilled over his shoulders like silk.
It wasn’t until you felt the tickle of the crisp night air against your flesh that you realized his easy work on your blouse, unfastening the last of the buttons before reaching past the fabric to feel your skin. You were growing unfathomably hot just by this, keenly aware your chest burned where he touched you, and it crept higher and higher as his hands did.
“Mmmn, this isn’t how I want it to go, Adrian.” You managed between kisses, tilting your face away where he then found fascination in your neck. His warm breath fanning across your flesh, trailing the length of your neck and behind your ear was rewarded with a quivering, longing sigh. “Adrian—”
“Do you want me to stop?”
“Yeah, I do.” You murmured, luring his face over yours again where you yanked him by the shirt into yet another ardent kiss. Without releasing his shirt, you ventured lower to fumble through undoing the buttons and peeled the thin fabric from his body.
Even though he was a lean man, there was still definition in his fame, muscle in his arms and chest. You memorized the divots and curves in his skin with your fingertips, unlikely to forget how he twitched when you touched him and his trembling breaths.
His pants and undergarments came off much faster, a reflection of your ardor and perhaps even his own as he swayed against you to slide them off his hips, cock hard against your thigh. The last of your garments was shucked from your body to join the heap on the floor, prompting you push yourself on your elbows as you kissed beneath his jaw.
“Lie on your back, Adrian.” You smiled against him, running your hands across his chest as persuasion. “Tonight is for you. I want you to know how much I love you.”
“As you wish.”
There was a flicker in his eye, a liveliness and searing want. His hands seized your own, pulling you up to straddle his waist when he laid back on the bed. There he explored more of you, stroking circles on your thighs and hips, eyes traveling across your body in a way you expected someone would look at exquisite art. “You are divine. This moment is ours, though I still do not understand what I have done to earn your love.”
“I don’t think any of us really do. We just love authentically and truly.” You answered, casting your eyes low to his erection and rubbed yourself against him. “I love you because you’re a good, kind man, even if you don’t want to see it.”
His breath snagged in his throat as you wrapped your hand around him, stroking his length and circling your palm around the head. You felt his hips lift under your, yet continued with fluid, rhythmic pumps. “I love you because you always try your best, you always do what you can with whatever circumstances are given to you.”
Even when in the clutches of pleasure, he was absolutely beautiful. His teeth caught the dim light when his mouth fell ajar, and his hair was a luscious bed of curls around him. You found it a bit humorous that you could elicit such a reaction from him, being what he was. But, you always believed him to more human than vampire.
It was after giving his cock a few harder strokes that he gripped your wrists, halting you. “Enough of this. I want to feel you, give yourself to me.”
You held no qualms to what he wanted.
Convinced by your nod, he released your wrists to grip at your thighs instead, massaging the back of them and then your ass when you rose to your knees to guide him inside you. His expression twisted deliciously the lower you went on his shaft, his fingers pushed deep divots into your skin when you acclimated to his girth and began rocking on him.
He didn’t let you go, not once.
Hot air hissed through your nostrils, lips taut and brow furrowing in your concentration to angle him just right as you rolled forward and then back. More than your own pleasure, you were careful to watch for his; the subtle twitch of his lips, the tension between his eyes, and the unyielding stare he fixed you with.
This moment was solely for him, yet you could say you were surprised when he began stroking your sides, raising his hips in unison with your thrusts, sending quakes of pleasure racing through your limbs and core.
There was a new glimmer in his eyes now, a coddled flicker that had grown in such enormity that even you felt embarrassed to be on the receiving end of it. He helped you in your motions, lifting you high enough for the tip of his cock to just nestle in you, bucking his hips to plow deep inside, luring a rather harsh gush of air from your lips.
At that point, you loomed over him, fingers splayed across his chest to keep yourself from completely collapsing on him. Your breaths quivered as you touched your lips against him, setting is flesh ablaze as your pants left hot, moist trails on him that then caressed his ear.
“There’s so much more I want to experience with you, Adrian. This—" you stifled a moan, body jarring as you rammed back down onto him, striking a spot in your that made your toes curl inward and abdomen clench tighter and tighter. “This—this is nothing.”
A sting of cold air touched your sides as you threaded your fingers with his, pinning the back of his hands on the bed next to his head. His knuckles bled of color as he clenched your hand tighter, pants seeming nothing more than dainty puffs of air, but your body knew otherwise.
Your sides were going to bruise, fully expecting the same of your hands. His thrusts were hard, belonging to a man creeping closer to his end. And yet, even midst all of this, you had never seen his eyes so dazzling, smoldering, encompassing you in such warmth and passion.
“A lifetime with you,” he fussed with your fingers, the back of his head digging deeper into the sheets as he writhed below you. “I—I could ask for nothing else. There is none other that I would rather have.”
As tender and genuine as his words were, you could only focus on the tension burying deeper in your gut, but spreading like a growing ember, a heat pulsing through your veins. Your walls tightened around him, the friction roused something of a harsher noise from the back of his throat, whereas you met your end.
You shook as you came, the strength in your thighs weakening and warmth in your body flourished, climbing to from your toes to your fingertips, and filled your vision with a glare of white. While the tension flowed from your body, your motions atop of him lethargic and fingers loosening from his, he thrust up into you a number of times; each reaching deeper than the last, fierce and quick.
The feeling was almost indescribable. He held your hands tightly, body halting and rigid beneath yours, cock throbbing against your walls and growing slick with cum that sent a shudder rattling down your spine. It was then that you noticed his chest relax when he released his breath, hips flattening against the mattress.
“Your love…” he rasped, tipping your balance as he lifted the back of your hand to his lips, fingers still tangled with his. “I will never understand what I have done to be worthy of it. And yet, I cannot find it in myself to refuse it.”
You couldn’t call the sensation pleasant as you removed him from your body, joining his side on the bed, and inviting the night air to dance across your skin. All but one lantern had dimmed in the room, his expression difficult to determine, though you didn’t think you would be wrong in your assumption.
“Truly, who knows why anyone falls in love. But, I’m sure of my feelings.” You burrowed your face against his neck, relishing his touch as it ghosted across your shoulder. “We’ll face tomorrow, the following day, and every day thereafter together.”
“I have no doubt of that.” There was a faint rumble of laughter in his throat. He coaxed your face higher with his fingers so as to easily reach your ear. “To begin this lifetime together, allow me to repay you the words that you’ve spoken to me so much already."
"I love you.”
divider;@/anlian-aishang
reposted from my deleted blog, cardeneiv
please interact and reblog if you enjoyed reading! 💜
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