Mary Bartlett Bartlett

Mary Bartlett was born in Newton, New Hampshire, in 1731.  She was the daughter of Joseph Bartlett (1685-1754) and his second wife, Sarah Hoyt (1686-1777).  Elizabeth Tuxbury, Joseph’s first wife, and Sarah Hoyt, gave Bartlett a total of 10 children. 

At the age of 22 in 1707, Mary’s father was drafted for guard duty at Haverhill to provide protection against an expected raid from Canada. As feared, a large force of about 160 French soldiers and 50 Native Americans attacked the town and set fire to buildings. Assembling in Captain Wainwright’s garrison home, Joseph Bartlett and others fired upon the enemy from the windows. When the defenders were forced to surrender, Bartlett had time to hide his gun in the chimney above the fireplace. He was captured and carried to Canada where he was a captive for four years. 

Describing his captivity, Bartlett said he was handed over to “an old squaw” and told that he “need not fear for he was given to the squaw in lieu of one of her sons, whom the English had slain.” Later in a letter, Bartlett wrote he was being treated very well by a French officer. When he was redeemed, Joseph returned to Haverhill and recovered his gun. It is now in the possession of the New Hampshire Historical Society. Bartlett died in 1754 and is buried in the Newton Old Town Cemetery in New Hampshire.

Mary Bartlett’s mother, Sarah Hoyt, was the daughter of Thomas Hoyt and Elizabeth Huntington. Sarah Hoyt’s great-grandfather, Sergeant Major John Hoyt, was born in Dorset, England, in 1592, immigrated to New England, and became one of the founders of Salisbury, Massachusetts. A founder’s plaque in the town dated 1654 bears the name of John Hoyt and 17 additional founders. Sarah Hoyt died in 1777, at 90 years of age, and is buried in the Old Town Cemetery in Newton, New Hampshire. 

The inscription on her headstone reads:

Wife of Capt. Joseph, ae 90 yrs

Farewell my friends dry up your tears

My dust lies here till Christ appears

Grave of Sarah Hoyt Bartlett

The Bartlett family history dates back to the Norman Conquest. Adam Barttelot, the Squire for Guido de Brionne, fought in the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Both are listed in the Battle Abbey Roll of participants. In that Roll, the Bartlett name appears as “Berteulay.” Afterwards, the name sometimes appears as “Adam de Bartelot.” There is also speculation that Adam Barttelot is a 7^th generation descendant of Charlemagne.

After the Norman Conquest, both Barttelot and de Brionne received grants of land in Sussex, which became the village of Stopham. Members of the Bartellot family have lived there for centuries. The author of this biography and his family visited Stopham in 1982. A circle of rose bedecked cottages surrounded a central church. There were headstones of Bartletts in the cemetery and Bartlett markers inside the church. Lunching in the town pub, we learned that a Sir Brian Barttelot lived nearby, as did his uncle.

Many centuries and generations after the Norman Conquest, Richard Bartlett, Mary Bartlett’s great-grandfather, left Stopham in Sussex and came to America in 1634 aboard the ship Mary and John. Richard was just 14 years of age at the time. He later married Abigail Welles, and the Bartlett family settled in Newbury, Massachusetts.

Over 100 years later in January 1754, the subject of this biography, Mary Bartlett, married her first cousin, Josiah Bartlett, who was a physician. Josiah Bartlett’s parents were Stephen and Hannah (Webster) Bartlett. The Bartletts built a large and loving family, with Mary bearing 12 children born between 1754 and 1776. Mary and Josiah endured the heartache of losing four of their children at birth or in infancy. The eight surviving children grew to adulthood. As was typical during the colonial period, Mary Bartlett tended to the domestic duties of running a household and raising a young family. She was proud to see her husband’s growing reputation for providing effective medical care and new treatments for disease. Many members of the Bartlett family and others in the Kingston, New Hampshire, area benefitted from Josiah’s medical care.

The family’s life began to change when Josiah became active in local and colonial affairs. Mary was pleased when her husband and Royal Governor Wentworth of New Hampshire became colleagues and enjoyed a mutually productive relationship during the 1760s. Governor Wentworth appointed Josiah to several important positions in the New Hampshire Colony. Bartlett became concerned when her husband’s relationship with Wentworth began to deteriorate in the 1770s. Josiah opposed the Crown’s actions to control the Colony, and strongly defended colonial rights and liberties. Soon, Governor Wentworth dismissed him from all of the colonial New Hampshire positions. Then, in 1774, the family faced devastation when arsonists set the Bartlett’s home on fire and burned it to the ground. The act was blamed on loyalists because Josiah had received a warning to cease his “pernicious activity.” Due to rising tensions in the colony, Governor Wentworth was forced to flee, boarding a British warship at Portsmouth in 1776.

The loving relationship between Mary and Josiah Bartlett is revealed in the many letters they exchanged during the four years her husband spent in the Continental Congress.  Forty-two of Mary’s letters to her husband reside in the New Hampshire Historical Society yet today. In her letters, Bartlett often wrote about what was taking place in the Kingston area during the period. So often were the exchanges of communication that both Mary and Josiah wrote weekly during his times away from their home. Both were detailed in noting when letters were sent, received, and by what route their letters were sent. Unlike many of the signers and their wives, they did not seem to fear their letters would fall into the hands of the enemy.

The concerns of family emerge from Mary Bartlett’s letters informing her husband about their children’s health and her own. She mentioned Sally’s colic, Ezra’s scarlet fever, Rhoda’s fainting spells, Lois’s pain in the head and sore throat, and Miriam feeling poorly. She also told Josiah about her own “sick headaches,” and once begged him to come home: “Pray, do come home before cold weather, as you know my circumstances (meaning her pregnancy) will be difficult in the winter if I am alive.”

Mary Bartlett also reported on the health and illnesses of Josiah’s friends and patients, and kept him informed of notable deaths. When he wrote of his own coughs and colds, her concern for his health once resulted in dispatching a warm gown and a special medicinal “cordial made of rum with cinnamon, saffron, and sugar” by stagecoach.

The extensive Kingston farm was a frequent subject in both of their letters. Bartlett’s letter often contained updates on the progress of constructing their new home to replace the one burned by arsonists, and Josiah in turn expressed his concern about its progress. He made recommendations, and she kept him apprised about the state of the crops, weather, livestock, money matters, and how the farm progressed with the hired help. Meanwhile, Bartlett continued the domestic chores of spinning, weaving, making clothes, addressing the health needs of her children, preparing meals, and preserving food for harsh New England winters.

Their letters indicated their mutual concern about the events of political change and war. Josiah wrote at some length about activities in Congress and the state of the war, and Mary responded with her hopes and fears for the country and that Congress would achieve good outcomes.

Her concern and hope appear in a letter written in 1776 when she wrote: “My Dear . . . The times Looks Dark and Gloomy upon account of the wars. I belive this year will Decide the fate of america which way it will turn God only knows we must look to him for Direction & Protection; Job Said tho he Slay me yet I will trust in him.” In the same letter Mary’s worry about the general health during the smallpox epidemic when she wrote, “P.S. I fear the Small Pox will Spread universilly as boston is Shut up with it & People flocking in for inoculation . . . .”

Mary Bartlett did not hesitate to inform her husband when weather resulted in both good and bad conditions for their crops. A reassuring springtime report to her husband when he had arrived in Rhode Island in route to Philadelphia stated: “My Dear . . . Warm Rain’s and Shine’s by turn’s which has Brought the peach tress Cherry & other Plumb trees into full Blossom – apple trees Beginning to Blossom . . . .” In August of the same year Mary reports, “My Dear . . . A very wet time for a month or Six weeks Past Except Last week good time to get in hay no rain . . . A heavy Cold Storm of wind & rain a monday & tuesday which Beat Down Considerable of the Indian Corn which very rank & high. Some they Say measured Eleven feet high; Indian corn is in the milk.” In another report two years later, Mary wrote, “My Dear . . . The weather with us is extremely hot & Dry. Rain is very much wanted. Grass Drys very fast, English Corn and Flax begins to turn yellow, Indian Corn looks very green and grows fast.”

As with all women of the era, Mary hoped for the war to end. When Mary read about the Battle of Monmouth in the New Hampshire Gazette in 1778, she wrote to her husband, “My Dear . . . we hear there has been a general Battel in the Jersies, and our army Drove the enemy some miles with Considerable Loss, and 1200 of the enemy Desarted the next Day and Came to our army. I wish it may be true.”

The dangers of travel and safety confronting her husband due to his political positions plagued Bartlett. It took at least 10 days to travel between Philadelphia and New Hampshire, all the while uncertain weather, lodging, conveyances, and unexpected encounters with loyalists placed her husband in constant danger. Bartlett’s concern is also documented in her correspondence. “My Dear . . . I hope you will prepare your self for your journey both for your health & and for your Defence [and] If you have a mind, I could send a man to meet you in Cambridge, watertown or Connecticut. . . .”  In another letter she stated, “My Dear . . . I hope by this time you have arrived as far as Philadelphia in health & without Difficulty & may you be kept from all Evil; tho’ I hear some British Lord’s have Laid a Plan to attack Philadelphia by Land if Impraticable by Sea. . . .”

Josiah left Congress in 1778 and returned to New Hampshire. Mary was both pleased and impressed when he became active in new judicial responsibilities. At the New Hampshire Constitutional Convention in 1788, when ratification of the U. S. Constitution seemed doubtful, her husband stepped forward and called for a postponement. After further debate, New Hampshire voted in favor of the Constitution by a small margin. Because New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify, this ensured that the U.S. Constitution was adopted. Following years of service, initially to the Crown and then to the emerging country, Mary Bartlett was undoubtedly proud of her husband’s wisdom and action which led to ratification.

The eight children Bartlett bore who lived to adulthood lived happy and productive lives. A detailed image of the Bartlett children provided by Frank C. Mevers follows.

Mary Bartlett’s first child, also named Mary, was born in 1754. Sometimes referred to as “Polly,” she often helped her mother write the letters to Josiah when he was in Congress. Polly married Jonathan Greeley in 1780, and they had four children. She died in 1826 at 72 years of age.

Bartlett’s second child, Lois, was born in 1756. She never married and died in 1798 at 42. She is buried in the Kingston cemetery with her parents. The headstone inscription reads:

“The sweet remembrance of the just shall flourish when they sleep in dust.”

Daughter Miriam was born in 1758 and later married Joseph Calef. He was a descendant of Robert Calef, who vigorously contested Cotton Mather’s support of the Salem witch trials. Calef provided much support for the Bartlett family during Josiah Bartlett’s absence while serving in Congress. Miriam died at the young age of 27 in 1785. Both she and her husband are buried just a few feet away from the tomb of Josiah and Mary Bartlett. Miriam’s inscription follows.

Here lyes buried the body of Mrs. Miriam Calf, consort of Mr. Joseph Calf,

daughter of Josiah Bartlett Esq. who departed this life August 27, 1785 Aged

27 years 2 months & 8 days

Bartlett’s daughter Rhoda was born in 1760 and married Robert True in 1789. The couple settled in Salisbury, Massachusetts, where she died in 1795 at the age of 35. Her headstone is the oldest in the Salisbury cemetery and is inscribed,

Stop my friend and take a second view,

The dust that’s here was once beloved like you.

Levi was Bartlett’s first son born in 1763. He attended the Drummer Academy in Newbury. After completing a professional course on the science of medicine with Dr. Thomas Kittredge, a distinguished physician in Andover, Massachusetts, Levi Bartlett established himself in Kingston. He was a skillful and successful surgeon. When Levi Bartlett married his second wife, Abigail Stevens, they had three children. Levi Bartlett filled many stations of public trust. He was a Justice of the Peace throughout the state, Colonel of the militia, and Postmaster. He frequently represented Kingston in the Legislature, and was Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas. He died in 1828 and is buried in an impressive red brick vault near the tomb of his mother and father.

Josiah, Jr., was the second son born to Mary Bartlett in 1768. After graduating from Phillips Exeter Academy in 1784, he studied medicine and established a medical practice in Stratham, New Hampshire. Following the family tradition of both medicine and public service, Josiah Bartlett, Jr., was named a Presidential Elector in the 1792 election supporting George Washington, and served in the State Senate from 1809-1810. He represented New Hampshire in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1811-1813, and in 1811 he was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. After his Congressional service, Bartlett resumed his practice of medicine. In 1824, he served as a Presidential Elector in the 1824 election, supporting John Quincy Adams. Josiah Bartlett, Jr., died in 1838 and was buried in the Stratham cemetery in Stratham, New Hampshire.

Bartlett’s son Ezra was born in 1770. When he graduated from Dartmouth in 1790, his father delivered the commencement address, and was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Medicine that same day. Ezra Bartlett became the third son of the couple to become a doctor. He married Hannah Gale in 1799, and set-up his practice in Warren.  There they raised a family of 10.

The historian of Warren, stated of Ezra:

Dr. Ezra Bartlett, when a young man, came to Warren in 1798, and commenced practice. He built the large two-story house on the place now owned by Russell K. Clement, on Beach Hill. Dr. Bartlett was a man of fine abilities, and held many responsible offices. In the year 1804, he was elected to represent the towns of Warren and Benton in the Legislature. In 1809, he was appointed a Justice in the Court of Common Pleas for the county of Grafton. In 1812, he moved to Haverhill, and a few years after was elected a Senator to the State Senate for a number of years, after which for one or two years he was Councillor.

The historian of Warren

Following in the footsteps of his father and brothers, Ezra filled a number of important political positions—Judge of the Court of Common Pleas in 1811, Judge of the Circuit Court in 1816. Chief Justice of the Court of Sessions in 1820, Presidential Elector for James Monroe in 1820, Councilor from 1822-1824, and Presidential Elector in 1828 for John Quincy Adams. He died in 1848 in Haverhill, Massachusetts.

Sarah Bartlett was born in 1773 to Josiah and Mary Bartlett, and she married Amos Gale, Jr., in 1796. The couple had seven children, five of whom become physicians.  Sarah Bartlett Gale died in 1847 in Kingston, New Hampshire, at the age of 74.

The Bartlett children enjoyed a close relationship with both parents throughout their lives that was fostered in part due to the love between Mary and Josiah. The final recorded letter Mary wrote to Josiah was nearly 10 years before her death on October 14, 1778. In that letter, her concern for his welfare was evident as she wished him a safe journey. The familial devotion is apparent on the day Mary died, July 14, 1789, when Josiah wrote their daughter, Rhoda, stating “I am very much afraid her [Mary] disorder will prove mortal . . . Your mother’s disorder is of the apopletic kind.” Mary Bartlett was laid to rest across the street from the family home in a granite tomb in the Plains Cemetery in Kingston, New Hampshire.

Just prior to his own death, Josiah declined re-election to public service noting he was “broken down, according to his own declaration, by grief and the double duties and responsibilities imposed upon him since her [Mary’s] death.” Her husband, Josiah, who passed away just six years later lays by Mary’s side. The substantial granite surface which covers the tomb bears the inscription memorializing the couple.

This Monument Is Erected Over The Sacred Relics

Of His Excellency Josiah Bartlett Esq

Late Governor Of New Hampshire

Who Died May 19th, 1795 In The 65^th Year Of His Age

And His Virtuous And Amiable Consort Mrs. Mary Bartlett

Who Died July 14^th 1789 In The 59^th Year Of Her Age”

Fragrant is the recollection of friends
the most delightful flowers shall be
scattered upon their valuable remains.
When we recall the sacred spot to mind
the congenial tear shall sparkle
in the eye of sympathy
their virtues shall be
embalmed in the warm
bosom of affection

Josiah and Mary Bartlett Tomb Epitaphs

It is obvious during the 35 years of their marriage Mary Bartlett was an equal partner in a mutually beneficial exchange of ideas, familial labor, and devotion to their family and one another. Generations of biographers such as Henry Clinton and Mary Wolcott Green stated of Mary Bartlett,

. . . Mary Bartlett had been the closest friend and counselor of her husband. Just as he had consulted her over his troubles as a young physician, helping to bear the home burdens of his patients and personal friends in their little community, so now he consulted her about the greater troubles and dangers that menaced the country. And always she was the true helpmeet, always the ready and sympathetic friend and judicious adviser. Her patriotism was as ardent as his and burned with as steady a flame, and when their home lay in ruins and the family were driven to seek shelter and safety elsewhere, she took their numerous brood and retired to their little farm, which she managed thereafter, leaving him free to devote himself almost entirely to the public business.

Henry Clinton and Mary Wolcott Green, biographers

Mary Bartlett’s character is revealed further in their comments,

In all her letters to her husband and her children, there is not one word of regret at his course or pity for herself, left alone to bear the double duties incumbent upon her; no complaints, only a spirit of living, helpful sympathy in all his acts.

Henry Clinton and Mary Wolcott Green, biographers

As seen previously, her beloved husband, Josiah, sought her council, entrusted her with paperwork of extreme importance, and valued her advice on a multitude of matters both domestic and in Kingston. DSDI Scholarship entrant, Risa Lewis, stated of her distinguished great-grandmother,

The correspondence between Mary and Josiah reveals her role as personal confidant and advisor for both the everyday troubles and political matters, with Josiah enclosing actual newspapers to her and relating news about the Congress, different people working with him, and progression of the war. Mary mentioned the movements of the militia, interest payments, crop updates, ship launchings, and all the details involved in running the family farm established after their house was burnt down by Tories.

Risa Lewis, DSDI Scholarship Applicant

Frank C. Mevers, editor of The Papers of Josiah Bartlett stated, “Mary’s letters, composed while managing the farm and a growing family, show not only that she had acquired some education, but also that she can be included among the women who vigorously supported their husbands and the Revolution.” Cokie Roberts noted in reference to Mary in Founding Mothers:  The Women Who Raised our Nation that, “It was not just that they [speaking of the founding mothers] were making it all work at home, they were also passionate patriots themselves, engaged in the government and the war just as their husbands, sons, brothers, fathers, and friends were.”

The lively correspondence between Mary and Josiah Bartlett rivals that of John and Abigail Adams. The couple provided subsequent generations with a clear window into colonial life, the Revolutionary era, and revealed the challenges and successes, joys and sorrows, yet bolstered by a firm faith in Divine Providence. When Josiah Bartlett penned his name on the Declaration of Independence, he in essence signed his wife’s name as well, and with her willing acquiesce, because Mary Bartlett stood firmly beside her husband for the cause of independence and patriotism, all-the-while fulfilling her domestic duties as wife, mother, and confidant, with love, fortitude, and grace. 

Thornton Calef Lockwood, Descendant