The Moulton Family of Salem, Massachusetts

Puritans in New England (source: National Geographic)

I did not expect that I would spend so much of 2023 reading about Salem, Massachusetts and the Salem Witch Trials. It was purely accidental that, early in the year, I stumbled upon a whole group of my early American ancestors who lived in and around Salem and experienced that infamous period in time. It has been fascinating to learn the ways in which my family members, and my husband's family members, endured what transpired in Salem in 1692. 

I've previously profiled a number of different families in my tree that settled in the towns northeast of Boston in the 1600s, including the Coldham family, the Norwood family, the Stevens family, and the Eveleth family. They were all involved in the Salem Witch Trials. I've also written about my husband's famous ancestor, John Proctor, whose tragic story is told in the American classic, The Crucible by Arthur Miller. Just when I thought I had reached the end of studying this period in time, I found another group of ancestors from Salem, the Moulton family. The events of 1692 are just a small part of their story, which isn't detailed until the end of this post. Let's start much earlier, with my immigrant Moulton ancestor, Robert Moulton.

Robert Moulton

The Moultons were, and continue to be, a well-known family in and around Salem. There is a Moulton Avenue that runs along the North River, just north of downtown Salem. Current U.S. Representative Seth Moulton hails from Salem. There are many Moulton families still in the area, but they would be distant relatives of mine at this point, since my branch of the Moulton tree left Salem for Connecticut in 1636.

The Moulton story in America begins with Robert Moulton, my 11th great-grandfather. Much of what is known (and can be proven) about Robert and his family was compiled into a book titled Moulton Family Ancestors: Immigrants to Salem 1626-1629 by Graham Cocks. Published in 2015, the book is thorough and well-sourced. Much of what I know about the Moulton family came from this book, and while I will quote anything that comes directly from Moulton Family Ancestors, even my broad summarization of the family's history is based in large part on what I learned from Cocks' work. Anyone who is studying the Moulton family should buy a copy of this book.

Robert Moulton was born in England around 1587. Cocks begins the chapter about Robert as follows:

As the chief of a team of shipbuilders sent by the Massachusetts Bay Company in 1629, Robert Moulton was an important man in the early days of Massachusetts. He soon became a freeman, a selectman and a Deputy to the General Court.

Then, eight years after his arrival in Naumkeag, he was disarmed and excommunicated when he stood against both state and church in a dispute over religious beliefs and religious tolerance. Within a couple years he was rehabilitated, though he played a more limited role in public affairs thereafter. 

It's important to remember why most of the early colonists came to New England. The Puritans were religious hardliners, who believed that the Church of England was not "pure" enough and practiced a very strict and conservative form of Christianity. Their beliefs were not appreciated in England, and feeling marginalized, they left their homeland in the early 1600s to become the first European colonists in early New England. 

They [the Puritans] were religious people with a strong piety and a desire to establish a holy commonwealth of people who would carry out God’s will on earth. In such a commonwealth, they felt, it was the duty of the civil authorities to enforce the laws of religion, thus holding a view almost the opposite of that [later] expressed in the First Amendment. (Free Speech Center, Middle Tennessee State University)

I've written in previous posts about the rigid, Bible-based society established by the Puritans in America, where communities were monitored to ensure no members stepped out of line. Those that did might suffer banishment and humiliation. Robert Moulton has not been conclusively documented as being a Puritan. He was sent to New England in 1629 by the Massachusetts Bay Colony to build ships for the colonists, and might well have been hired for his skill, not because his belief system completely aligned with the Puritans.

Illustration of either the Higginson Fleet or the Winthrop Fleet

Robert sailed from England on the ship George Bonaventure with a team of six carpenters. The Bonaventure was part of what was known as Higginson's Fleet, a group of approximately 350 colonists who sailed together on five ships. Details from Wikipedia:

Higginson led a group of about 350 settlers (including many of his own congregation) on six ships from England to New England. Because of the ever-present pirate threat as well as the undeclared war with Spain all ships carried armament. The Lyon's Whelp and the "Talbot" left from Yarmouth, Isle of Wight 11 May 1629 and arrived in Salem harbor 29 June 1629. The Higginson Fleet brought with them 115 head of cattle, as well as horses and mares, cows and oxen, 41 goats, some conies (rabbits), along with all the provisions needed for setting up households and surviving till they could get crops in. They would have to build their lodgings for the coming winter from scratch. These were some of the first settlers of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the main body who would start coming in 1630 on the Winthrop Fleet. The Higginson Fleet set sail on the 1 May 1629, arriving in Salem harbor on the 24 June 1629, and was greeted by a small group of settlers, led by John Endecott.

The ships in the fleet were:

1. Talbot (carried 19 cannon) Capt. Benjamin Gonson/Ganson, whose family had long history with the Royal Navy, Sir Admiral Richard Hawkins and Sir Francis Drake. 
2. George Bonaventure (carried 20 cannon)
3. Lyon's Whelp (carried 40 planters + crew + 8 cannon)
4. Four Sisters (carried 14 cannon)
5. Mayflower (carried 14 guns); a different ship from the Pilgrim's Mayflower
6. Pilgrim (small ship with 4 guns that carried supplies only)

While they were in route, the Massachusetts Bay Company sent a letter to John Endecott, who was then governor of the colony, stating, "We have sent six shipwrights, of whom Robert Moulton is chief." In another letter a month later, the company gave an inventory of supplies that had been sent with the carpenters, and their goals for the team upon arrival. They wanted a storehouse to be built to house the carpenters' tools and materials, an inventory of those supplies to be taken, and for the carpenters to build three "shallops," small, wooden boats propelled by sails and oars and typically used in shallow waters. Two of these boats would be for company use, and one for company official and future governor, John Winthrop. These boats were to be used for fishing and trading.

An example of a shallop

Robert and the carpenters arrived in Naumkeag, the Native American name for the settlement that was later called Salem, Massachusetts. Naumkeag was also the name of the indigenous people who lived there. More information about the Naumkeag people, how they interacted with the colonists, and their fate can be found at Salem.org. In Moulton Family Ancestors Graham Cocks describes what Robert and his crew encountered when they arrived at Naumkeag.

We know a little of what Salem was like when Robert Moulton arrived, for Francis Higginson wrote that there were "about halfe a score Houses, and a faire House newly built for the Governour." Including the approximately two hundred men who came with the Higginson Fleet, there were about three hundred planters, about two thirds of whom were in Salem and the remaining hundred in Charlestown.

Housing was clearly inadequate for the population, so building suitable accommodation before the onset of winter would have been a clear priority. With their carpentry skills, Robert Moulton and his team of six shipbuilders may have helped with that task, though their first priority may have been to build the three shallops...

John Winthrop, who was to become the next governor of the area settled by the Massachusetts Bay Company, arrived in 1630 with about 1200 settlers. This increased the population of the area significantly, and there was not adequate housing. Graham Cocks quotes from a letter written at the time regarding conditions in Salem:

The multitude set up cottages, booths and tents, about the Town Hill. They had long passage; some of the ships were seventeen, some eighteen weeks a coming. Many people arrived sick of the scurvy, which also increased much after their arrival for want of houses, and by reason of wet lodgings in their cottages; and other distempers also prevailed. And although people were generally very loving and pitiful, yet the sickness did so prevail, that the whole were not able to tend the sick as they should be tended; upon which many perished and died, and were buried about Town Hill.

John Winthrop

During this time, Robert Moulton moved to Charlestown, perhaps because of the overcrowding in Salem, but likely because Charlestown offered a better waterfront area for the building of ships, and it is where the men financing the build were living. There, Robert and his carpenters built the 30-ton ship Blessing of the Bay for Governor John Winthrop. It was launched in July 1634 from what is now Somerville. This was the first large ship built by a European in Massachusetts. In The Somerville Times, Bob (Monty) Doherty wrote the following about Blessing of the Bay.

The Blessing, as Winthrop referred to the vessel in his writings, was used to deliver men and soldiers westward, where they built a garrison to protect English settlers from the Dutch and Indians on the Connecticut River. These communities included what would become Chicopee, Springfield, Holyoke and other towns that are still in existence today. If the Governor had not taken these actions, the settlements on the Western Massachusetts border could easily have come under Dutch control. At that time, they held New York and were rapidly extending their reach. In fact, New Amsterdam was the original name of New York City, until the English acquired the island years later. The Blessing of the Bay proved tantamount to settlers’ safety.

The Blessing of the Bay was also pivotal to commerce. Trading and bartering of goods became the first industry of New England where fish and fur were the main items of trade. The Blessing enabled settlers to trade with far-off colonies and would sail as far south as Virginia to acquire goods, such as molasses used to make rum, sugar cane and various other products.

It was also the first ship that was armed to fight pirates and to protect other merchant ships.

There are varying tales illustrating the demise of The Blessing. Some speculate that it was lost in a shipwreck on the inner side of Cape Cod. Others say it sailed off course during a storm on the outer Cape, and still others believe that it mysteriously disappeared off the coast of Virginia.

Graham Cocks described how Robert assimilated to his new home during the period while he was building Blessing of the Bay:

Meanwhile, Robert Moulton had been active in the civic affairs of Charlestown. He was made a freeman on 18 May 1631 and must have received an allotment of land in that year on the north-east of the peninsula, where the Mystic and Charles rivers join the bay. This area became known as Moulton's Point, and the hill there as Moulton's Hill.

144 years later, in 1775, British troops would land at Moulton's Point when they began their first attack on the breakaway colonies, before the Battle of Bunker Hill.

All was going well for Robert Moulton. In Charlestown, he served as an assessor, was selected as a Deputy of the General Court, and sat on a committee to develop a sea fort. In February 1635, he was part of a group of men who gathered to select a government to run Charlestown, which had grown considerably. Eleven men were elected, and Robert Moulton was among them. However, in May of that year, he relinquished his lands, and by 1636, had moved back to Salem. It is unclear why he did this. He immediately reintegrated into Salem's community, however, and in 1636 was elected a selectman in Salem and served as the foreman of a jury. In 1637 he was made a Deputy of the General Court, just as he had been in Charlestown, and was granted 100 acres. Once again, all seemed to be rosy for Robert Moulton, but trouble was on the horizon.

John Cotton

In 1633, a controversial preacher named John Cotton arrived in Boston, having been essentially kicked out of England by a disapproving Archbishop. Cotton began preaching in Boston, and was joined in the ensuing years by supporters who had followed him in England, most notably, Anne Hutchinson and John Wheelwright. Anne and John's interpretation of Cotton's theology became strident. Anne was the most vehement of the three in expressing her beliefs. By 1637, this group had attracted a lot of attention in New England with their unconventional religious stance, which was not welcomed by the Puritans. The ensuing conflict became known as the Antinomian Controversy.

...the Puritan majority held the view that an individual's salvation is demonstrated by righteous behavior or "good works," while the Antinomians argued that one's spiritual condition had no bearing upon one's outward behavior. However, the debate quickly changed, as the Antinomians began to claim that personal revelation was equivalent to Scripture, under the influence of Anne Hutchinson's teachings, while the Puritan majority held that the Bible was the final authority, taking precedence over any personal viewpoints.

According to R.T Kendall, the doctrines of the Antinomians may be summarized as thus: (1) Faith is the sole evidence of justification. (2) There is no necessary "preparation" for grace prior to salvation. (3) Sanctification is not meant to be a proof of salvation. [Wikipedia]

The Antinomians' beliefs were very much at odds with the Puritans. Controversy erupted, and although Cotton encouraged Hutchinson and Wheelwright to tone down the rhetoric, their defiance of Puritanical law landed them in court, where Robert Moulton was a deputy. At some point, Robert aligned himself with Hutchinson and Wheelwright's cause, and signed a petition supporting their right to worship as they chose. 

Edwin Austin Abbey (1852–1911) created this famous illustration of Anne Hutchinson on trial in 1901

In 1636, Henry Vane, a supporter of Cotton, Hutchinson, and Wheelwright, was elected Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. In 1637, John Winthrop, who had been governor from 1629-1634, ran against Vane and won. Vane, defeated, returned to England. An emboldened Winthrop, who was a vocal opponent of Cotton's theology, banished Hutchinson and Wheelwright from the colony. Shortly thereafter, all those who had signed the petition supporting them were censured. They were stripped of their freemanship and some were disarmed. Robert Moulton was among the five men who were disarmed in Salem.

Robert was not banished, but he was humiliated and marginalized. He never held elected office again, and he was excommunicated from the First Church of Salem, which would have isolated him socially. However, he seems to have rebounded from this shame somewhat briskly, because by 1639 he was serving on juries again, and at some point was allowed back to the church.

The Antinomian Controversy had a lasting impact on Massachusetts and the development of  America. The Puritans had entirely shut down a new and more liberal interpretation of Christianity. Charles Francis Adams wrote in Antinomianism in the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, "The long-term effect of the Antinomian controversy was that it committed Massachusetts to a policy of strict religious conformity." A colony that had been founded upon the idea of religious freedom declared emphatically that such freedom only extended to the Puritans, and not those espousing other doctrines. 

By 1644, Robert was in good enough graces with his church that he was assigned special duties. The following comes from Dawes-Gates Ancestral Lines by Mary Walton Ferris, published 1931.

The church decided to check up on loafers who failed to attend religious service so they planned that each Lord's Day, two men should "walke forth in the time of God's worshippe to take notice of such as either lye about the meeting house... or that lye at home or in the fields" to present them to the Magistrate, and one Sabbath Emmanuel Downing and Robert Moulton were to serve so, while the following Sabbath Robert Moulton and Richard Ingersoll were appointed to the task.

It is likely that Robert continued working as a shipbuilder after completing the initial three ships, although this is not conclusively documented. In Salem, he owned two pieces of land. The first was farmland located west of Salem. Graham Cocks researched the exact location of this plot and determined it lay on the edge of modern-day Peabody and Danvers, in approximately the area circled in red on this map.

Robert did not live on that farm, though. He owned a house in Salem town, and this is where he chose to reside. According to Graham Cocks, "An early history of the Moulton family written in 1905 said that his house stood on the northern side of Essex Street where it meets Boston Street, and the remains of his cellar could still be seen at that time." He adds that this lot ran all the way to the North River, so if Robert was still engaged in shipbuilding, he had direct water access. This lot would have been approximately between the red lines on the map below.

Robert Moulton died sometime between February 20 and April 26, 1655. His children are both named in his will, but his wife is not, indicating that she died before him.

Moulton Family Origins

There are various suppositions as to where Robert lived in England, from Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, to the town of Moulton in Lincolnshire, to the Bermondsey area of London. There is no proof of his origins at all, though, so we just don't know. Many Moulton historians claim that Robert may have descended from the de Moulton family, descendants of a Norman knight who came to England in 1066 with William the Conquerer. In Moulton Annals, authors Moulton and Moulton also make this claim, naming the knight as Sir Thomas de Moulton. They write that Thomas was granted lands in Lincolnshire for his service, and the area where he settled became a town called Moulton. There is another theory that the family's estate was located in Norfolk, near the village of Moulton St. Mary. 

There is no concrete proof that Robert emigrated to America with any other Moulton family members, such as brothers or cousins, but many sources have attempted to link Robert to several other Moultons in early New England. The book Moulton Annals by Henry W. Moulton and Claribel Moulton, published in 1906, claims that Robert arrived in Massachusetts with a brother, James, who settled in what is now Wenham, Massachusetts. In A history of the Moulton family; a record of the descendents of James Moulton of Salem and Wenham, Massachusetts, from 1629-1905, author Eben Hobson Moulton makes the same claim. He also suggests that Robert and James may have been the sons of a Robert Moulton, Sr., a Royal Navy officer in England.

The locations of Moulton, Lincolshire (red star) and Moulton St. Mary, Norfolk (blue star)

There were other Moultons who immigrated to Massachusetts in the early 1600s, including brothers John, Thomas, and William Moulton, of Ormesby St. Margaret in Norfolk. Earlier family histories have suggested that these Moultons were related to Robert and James, but these three Moultons seem to have stayed together in a specific area not near Salem, and there's no evidence of any interactions with Robert or James. 

I am not sure I am convinced that Robert and James were brothers, although it's certainly possible. If not, they might have been cousins. There is just no real evidence for any claim. 

This version of events comes from a paper written for the Historical Society of Newburyport by Henry W. Moulton:

In 1635, there came to Newbury, from Norfolk County, England, two brothers, John and Thomas Moulton. After remaining with the infant colony two years, they joined a party and proceeded to settle in Hampton, N. H. Their lands joined. In 1637, a lad of 17 years named William Moulton, came from Ormsby, Norfolk County, England, with Robert Page and family. These emigrants stopped two years near Moulton Hill, Newbury, and then proceeded to Hampton, N. H., where William Moulton married Page's daughter, Margaret. This William settled upon a farm, adjoining his two brothers, Thomas and John. Several years later, Thomas proceeded to York, Maine, and there made a permanent settlement.

There is no mention of Robert Moulton in this paper, indicating to me that the Moulton families in Newburyport and Salem were not related. If there was any relationship between Robert and the other Moultons living in New England at the time, it hasn't been conclusively documented.

The Children of Robert and Alice Moulton

Not much is known about Robert Moulton's family life. While still living in England, he married a woman named Alice, whose surname is unknown.

Robert and Alice had two children:

1. Robert Moulton, Jr. (b. abt 1607; m. Abigail Goode; d. 1665)
2. Dorothy Moulton (b. abt. 1618; m. (1) Abraham Finch (2) John Edwards (3) Richard Tousley; d. abt 1680)

Alice, Robert Jr., and Dorothy came with Robert to Massachusetts in 1629. Given the nine year age gap between Robert and Dorothy, it's very possible that Robert and Alice had other children that did not survive to immigrate to the American Colonies. 

Dorothy Moulton and Her Descendants

In 1636, at about the age of 18, Dorothy Moulton, my 10th great-grandmother, married Abraham Finch. Abraham lived in Wethersfield, Connecticut, and was possibly the son of Daniel Finch, a constable in Wethersfield. It's also been speculated that he was the son of an Abraham Finch, Sr. Abraham, aged about 27, was killed the year after his marriage, in 1637, during an attack on Wethersfield by the native peoples who lived nearby.

Charles Lyle, executive director of the Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum, says the discovery of wampum suggests that the settlers and natives were trading partners. But, he notes, the natives feared the area’s limited food supply was being threatened by a burgeoning influx of immigrants. “In 1637, Indians attacked Wethersfield and they killed six males, three females and then they abducted the two daughters of the richest guy in town,” he says. Contrary to popular belief, he says, “the Indians weren’t there to slaughter the settlers. They were there to eliminate as much as they could the sustenance of the settlers, their food.” Twenty horses and cattle were also killed in the April 23 attack. “They were trying to send a message to the settlers that maybe they ought to go back” where they came from.

Woodward says the kidnapped girls were then taken in canoes down the Connecticut River and “they were paraded in a taunting manner past the [colonists’] fort at Old Saybrook.” They were later ransomed and returned thanks to Dutch intervention. The colonists retaliated violently to the incident, first declaring war on the Pequot on May 1. “It ultimately led,” Lyle says, “to a big army of early settlers attacking the Pequot village and slaughtering (several hundred) men, women and children” a month later in Mystic. That incident was chosen by the History Channel as one of the “10 Days that Unexpectedly Changed America.”

This engraving depicts an attack by Native Americans on the colony at Wethersfield in 1637.
Source: Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum

In 1638, Dorothy married again, to John Edwards of Wethersfield, a widower with a son from his first marriage, Thomas. Dorothy and John had seven children together. John died in 1664, aged about 64, and Dorothy married for a final time, to Richard Towsley of Saybrook.

Dorothy's line of the family never again lived in Salem after she moved to Wethersfield in 1636, but family historians say that Dorothy and her brother wrote letters to each other, keeping in touch despite the distance between them.

I am descended from Dorothy Moulton and John Edwards' daughter, Ruth Edwards. Ruth married Richard Norton, a blacksmith, in 1665, and they moved to Hatfield, Massachusetts. There, they had nine children, including Abraham Morton, born in 1676. Abraham, my ninth great-grandfather, married Sarah Kellogg. They had eight children in Hatfield, including Sarah Morton, born in 1707. Sarah married Samuel Smith, my 7th great-grandfather, who was a deacon and fought in the Revolutionary War. Sarah and Samuel lived in Northfield, Massachusetts. I descend from a long line of male Smiths that followed, ending with my mother.

Robert Moulton and His Descendants

Robert Moulton, Jr. did not follow his father into shipbuilding. He was a minister of the Church of England. Robert Jr. was already an adult of 22 when he came to Massachusetts with his family. He attempted to establish a congregation of the Church of England after settling in Salem, but was barred from doing so by Governor John Endecott and other local leaders, since having churches of other denominations did not meet the approval of the Puritans. This is another reason I suspect that Robert Moulton, Sr. was not a Puritan when he went to Massachusetts. His son being a minister of the Church of England, and attempting to continue in that role in Massachusetts, indicates that this was the Moulton family tradition, rather than being aligned with the breakaway Puritans. Once in Massachusetts, however, the Moultons would have had to assimilate. 

In 1640, while serving as the rector of the church in Salem, Robert Jr. married Abigail Goode, daughter of John Goade [note the different spelling] and Abigail Downing. Like Robert, Abigail Goode was born in England and came to Salem as a young person, where she lived with her maternal uncle, Emmanuel Downing, who was a lawyer. Emmanuel's wife was Lucy Winthrop, sister of Massachusetts governor John Winthrop, and a founder of Harvard University. Robert and Abigail had eight children together in Salem.

Robert died sometime between early September and late November, 1665. Abigail died a year later, in 1666. 

Robert Moulton III

Robert and Abigail's oldest son, Robert Moulton III, was born in Salem in 1644, and married Mary Cooke in 1672. In 1692, Robert was 48 years old and the father of seven children. That year, when the witchcraft frenzy descended upon Salem, Robert was called to give testimony in the trial of Rebecca Nurse, who had been accused of witchcraft by Susannah Sheldon. Susannah, age 18, was one of the group of girls who made most of the accusations of witchcraft, along with Ann Putnam, Elizabeth Booth, Elizabeth Hubbard, Mary Warren, and Mercy Lewis. Like several of the other girls, who worked as domestic servants, Susannah was not an affluent townsperson. Her father and brother had died, after losing their Maine farm during King William's War, and the remaining Sheldons were living in poverty in Salem. Susannah was a prolific accuser. According to Wikipedia, she accused 24 people of witchcraft and testified against 11, including Salem's most prominent and wealthy couple, Philip and Mary English. Philip, the owner of a successful trading company, and his wife were accused and then jailed in Boston while they awaited trial. Due to their lofty status, they were allowed out of jail during the day on the promise that they return at night, but Philip and Mary took this opportunity to flee to New York, where they waited out the hysteria.

In June 1692, Susannah accused her neighbor, Rebecca Nurse, of witchcraft. At the time, Rebecca was a 71-year old grandmother and midwife who was well liked in Salem. Rebecca's trial was held on June 29, and Robert Moulton testified about an interaction he had with Susannah Sheldon in which she claimed to be afflicted by Rebecca's witchcraft. In this statement, Robert claimed that Susannah lied, or at least changed her story about what had happened to her, implying that she was untruthful and Rebecca Nurse was innocent. His statement, seen below, is also transcribed here:

“The testimony of Robart Moulton sener who testifith and saith that I waching with Susannah Sheldon sence she was afflicted I heard her say that the witches halled her Upone her bely through the yeard like a snacke and halled her over the stone walle & presontly I heard her Controdict her former: disCource and said that she Came over the stone wall her selfe and I heard her say that she Rid Upone apoole to boston and she said the divel Caryed the poole”

Despite this evidence, Rebecca Nurse was convicted, and then hanged on July 19, the same day as Susannah Martin and Elizabeth Howe, who I mentioned in my post about the Proctor family. The Hadley family, nieces and nephews of John Proctor, were related to Susannah Martin and testified in support of Elizabeth Howe, their neighbor. Rebecca Nurse plays an important role in Arthur Miller's The Crucible, representing an innocent killed without cause. In 1692, outrage over Rebecca's hanging may have helped turn the tide of public opinion against the young accusers, since Rebecca was beloved by many in Salem.

There is another connection to the witch trials in this generation of the family. Robert's brother John, born in Salem in 1654, married Elizabeth Corey in 1684. Elizabeth was the daughter of Giles Corey and his first wife, Margaret. Giles Corey was famously pressed to death in 1692, after refusing to plead guilty to witchcraft. His third wife, Martha, was hanged. Giles was the neighbor of John Proctor, my husband's 9th great-granduncle, who was also hanged after a witchcraft conviction.

Conclusion

This year of studying my family's roots in Salem and nearby towns has been fascinating. It was a complete surprise to me to discover that I am connected to people who settled this area, and later lived through its most terrible, violent moments. Robert Moulton, my 11th great grandfather, has a different origin story than my other early American ancestors, since he came to Massachusetts specifically because of his trade. There are more records of his journey and his early years in America than most immigrants from this time, as a result. Although he had only two children, the family multiplied, and descendants can now be found all over America. I am so glad to have rediscovered our Moulton connection, and have taken great pleasure in sharing his story with my children, who are just beginning to learn about colonial history.