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USA Veterans Administration Pension Payment Cards
Name: Thomas Chatfield
Event Type: Pension
Event Date: 1907-1933
Event Place: USA
Form Type: Navy Invalid
Death Date: 17 Jul 1922
Affiliate Publication Title: Veterans Administration Pension Payment Cards, 1907-1933
Affiliate Publication Number: M850
GS Film number: 1634421
Digital Folder Number: 004694941
Image Number: 00278
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Find A Grave Memorial# 138510565
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New York, New York, Index to Passenger Lists
Name: Chatfield
Event Type: Immigration
Event Date: 1834
Event Place: New York, New York, USA
Age: 3
Last Place of Residence: Eng
Ship Name: Gratitude
Birth Year (Estimated): 1831
Affiliate Publication Title: Index to Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1820-1846.
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From Thomas Chatfield's Autobiography written at Cotuit, Mass. Mch.13, 1904.
http://www.churbuck.com/wordpress/the-reminiscences-of-captain-thomas-chatfield/

The whole document of 11 parts and many pages can be dowloaded from http://www.churbuck.com/wordpress/the-reminiscences-of-captain-thomas-chatfield/part-eleven-the-reminiscences-of-captain-thomas-chatfield/
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PART
Reminiscences of Captain Thomas Chatfield

Cotuit, Massachusetts, March 13, 1904.

Children: You have asked me to jot down the principal incidents of my somewhat varied life, and something in the nature of a history of my ancestors. I am afraid it will be anything but satisfactory, either to you or myself. Most of it must be from memory – some, even, tradition – and with my limited school education, both spelling and grammatical construction faulty.

I was born at Riverhead, Kent, England, May 30th, 1831, of British yeoman stock, and am – probably – of pure Anglo-Saxon blood. My paternal grandfather, John CHATFIELD, held the lease of a farm called Harris Lodge – a part of a manorial estate near Riverhead, which lease had descended from father to son for (May 30, 1831) nearly two hundred years; and was – a few years ago – still held by his son Jesse. In addition to cultivating his farm he was also Bailiff of the estate, a manorial office, having in part the functions of both a superintendent and a county sheriff of the present day; that is, he had a general oversight of the estate, saw that the tenants managed their lands in accordance with their leases, settled minor disputes between tenants, and cited those to appear before the manorial grand jury who committed more serious offences. This, together with the fact that he brought up a family of twelve children, gave them all a fair English education, and left some property, would go to show that he was among the superior men of his class.

Of my grandfather’s numerous family, three – John the eldest, and Walter the youngest, and my father Nicholas – came to America during the period between 1830 and 1840. John and Walter located in Illinois, not far from Fort Dearborn, on the site of which Chicago now stands. Both died soon after arrival. Walter died childless. John left six sons – presumably the numerous Chatfield in the middle west are descended from those six sons.

My parents with their six sons came to America in 1834, and located in Cornwall, Orange County, New York, and spent the remainder of their lives in that place, dying, Mother in 1880, Father three years later. Both were eighty at their death, and both are buried in the Presbyterian cemetery at Cornwall-on-Hudson.

Of the children, Walter, John, William, Nicholas, Thomas and George, who were born in England, and Mary Elizabeth, Howard and Norman, born in America, seven are now living. Walter died as a result of an accident when thirteen years old; William some years ago somewhere between sixty-five and seventy; John is now not far from eighty; Norman sixty-two or sixty-three.

My mother’s maiden name was Susanah Nye. I know but little of her antecedents, except that she was one of a numerous family, and that her father cultivated a piece of land, and was called a market gardiner. He must have been a man of good standing, as he have his children a good English education, and that in an age when there were no public schools in England, and people were obliged to educated their children at their own expense. As an illustration of the longevity of our race, all four of my grandparents died at over eighty years of age, and two of them were over ninety at the time of their death.
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Thomas Chatfield ran away from home, going to Albany, NY, and getting work on a ship going to New England using a pseudonym, John Thomas. The ship involved members of the Handy family of Cotuit, MA who were very active in coastal shipping and whaling. Thomas started working on ships with the Handys and became best friends with Bethuel Gifford Handy (my great-great-grandfather) and fell in love with Bethuel’s sister Florentine. When he proposed to her, he revealed his actual name and family background, which was a shock to the Handy family. Bethuel accompanied Thomas back to Cornwall-on-Hudson to check out the Chatfield family. During this visit, Bethuel fell in love with Thomas’s sister Mary Elizabeth. The two men married each other’s sister. Later in life, both worked as whaling captains. When Bethuel’s ship the Phoenix was lost in the Sea of Okhotsk in late 1858, Thomas was also whaling in the same area. After the ice broke the next year, Thomas went looking for Bethuel and his crew.

Thomas and Bethuel both became officers in the Union Navy during the Civil War. The Union had a lot of trouble getting enough ships together to create a real blockade of the South and recruited mariners to staff the ships, many of which were converted commercial ships, like ferries or cargo ships. I recall that Thomas commanded a small boat which blockaded Tampa, Florida, then a very small place. Bethuel served on the Mississippi River fleet as an Acting Master.
Jim and Carol Russell.
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USA Census, 1860
Name: Thomas Chatfield
Event Place: The Town Of Barnstable, Barnstable, Massachusetts
Gender: Male
Age: 29
Race: White
Race (Original):
Birth Year (Estimated): 1831
Birthplace: Massachusetts
Page: 29
Household ID: 280
GS Film Number: 803486
Digital Folder Number: 004231346
Image Number: 00393
Household Gender Age Birthplace
Thomas Chatfield M 29 Massachusetts
Florentine Chatfield F 27 Massachusetts
Susan M Chatfield F 6 Massachusetts
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Massachusetts, State Census, 1865
Name: Thomas Chatfield
Age (Expanded): 33 years
Birth Year (Estimated): 1832
Gender: Male
Birthplace: New York
Marital Status: Married
Event Place: Barnstable, Barnstable, Massachusetts
Family Number: 56
Line Number: 4
GS Film number: 0953966
Digital Folder Number: 4286753
Image Number: 00041
Household Gender Age Birthplace
Thomas Chatfield M 33y New York
Florentine Chatfield F 31y Massachusetts
Millie Chatfield F 11y Massachusetts
Mary A Handy F 54y Massachusetts
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USA Census, 1880
Name: Thomas Chatfield
Event Place: Barnstable, Barnstable, Massachusetts
District: 11
Gender: Male
Age: 49
Marital Status: Married
Race: White
Occupation: Mariner
Relationship to Head of Household: Self
Birth Year (Estimated): 1831
Birthplace: England
Father's Birthplace: England
Mother's Birthplace: England
Sheet Number and Letter: 184A
GS Film Number: 1254519
Digital Folder Number: 004241685
Image Number: 00372
Household Gender Age Birthplace
Self Thomas Chatfield M 49 England
Wife Florentine Chatfield F 46 Massachusetts
Dau Marion Chatfield F 24 Massachusetts
Dau Maude Chatfield F 14 Massachusetts
Dau Belle Chatfield F 10 Massachusetts
Dau Daisy Chatfield F 16 Massachusetts
Dau Florantina Chatfield F 6 Massachusetts
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USA 1890 Census of Union Veterans and Widows of the Civil War
Name: Thomas Chatfield
Event Type: Census
Event Date: 1890
Event Place: Barnstable, Barnstable, Massachusetts
GS Film number: 338172
Digital Folder Number: 004679077
Image Number: 00019
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USA Census, 1900
Name: Thomas Chatfield
Event Place: Barnstabel (part of West Precinct) Marstons Mills village, Barnstable, Massachusetts
District: 2
Gender: Male
Age: 69
Marital Status: Married
Race: White
Relationship to Head of Household: Head
Years Married: 47
Birth Date: May 1831
Birthplace: England
Marriage Year (Estimated): 1853
Father's Birthplace: England
Mother's Birthplace: England
Sheet Number and Letter: 16A
Household ID: 366
Line Number: 21
GS Film Number: 1240631
Digital Folder Number: 004113816
Image Number: 00090
Household Gender Age Birthplace
Head Thomas Chatfield M 69 England
Wife Florintine Chatfield F 67 Massachusetts
Daughter Bell Chatfield F 30 Massachusetts
Daughter Flora Chatfield F 24 Massachusetts
Daughter Daisy C Fisher F 35 Massachusetts
Granddaughter Mildred H Fisher F 13 Massachusetts
Grandson Thomas C Fisher M 11 Massachusetts
Daughter Maud C Knight F 32 Massachusetts
Granddaughter Anna C Knight F 7 Massachusetts
Grandson Hugh C Knight M 3 Massachusetts
Mother-in-law Mary Ann Handy F 91 Massachusetts
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USA Census, 1910
Name: Thomas Chatfield
Event Place: Barnstable, Barnstable, Massachusetts
District: 2
Gender: Male
Age: 78
Marital Status: Married
Race: White
Relationship to Head of Household: Head
Birth Year (Estimated): 1832
Birthplace: England
Immigration Year: 1835
Father's Birthplace: England
Mother's Birthplace: England
Sheet Number and Letter: 15A
Household ID: 294
GS Film number: 1374584
Digital Folder Number: 004330040
Image Number: 00104
Household Gender Age Birthplace
Head Thomas Chatfield M 78 England
Wife Florentine Chatfield F 76 Massachusetts
Dau Daisy C Fisher F 44 Massachusetts
Grnddau Mildred H Fisher F 22 Massachusetts
Grandsn Thomas C Fisher M 20 Massachusetts
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USA Census, 1920
Name: Thomas Chatfield
Event Place: Barnstable, Barnstable, Massachusetts
District: 4
Gender: Male
Age: 88
Marital Status: Widowed
Race: White
Can Read: Yes
Can Write: Yes
Relationship to Head of Household: Head
Own or Rent: Own
Birth Year (Estimated): 1832
Birthplace: England
Father's Birthplace: England
Mother's Birthplace: England
Sheet Number and Letter: 3A
Household ID: 74
Line Number: 32
GS Film number: 1820679
Digital Folder Number: 004301045
Image Number: 00101
Household Gender Age Birthplace
Head Thomas Chatfield M 88 England
Daughter Daisy C Fisher F 54 Massachusetts

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