The last of my Blood family line is through that of Elizabeth Blood, daughter of Nathaniel and Hannah (Parker) Blood.
Elizabeth was born 21 February 1693/94 in Groton, Middlesex, Massachusetts. She married James Lakin on 12 February 1717/18, also in Groton.
The Lakin and Blood families had close ties back to the early 1600s in Ruddington, Nottinghamshire, England when James’s grandfather, William Lakin, stated in his 1633 will that if his two sons died young, then his estate was to go to the children of Richard Blood. That very likely indicates a close family relationship – either William’s wife, Mary, was a Blood, or, I believe more likely, that Richard Blood’s wife was William Lakin’s sister.
What became of James Lakin and Elizabeth Williams is unknown, just that they died after a land deed was created on 5 April 1765. They may have died in Groton, but no probate record has been found for either of them.
They were the parents of nine children (All births recorded in Groton):
- James, born 21 August 1718; no further information
- Robinson/Robertson, born 17 February 1719/20; died 16 August 1796, Pepperell, Middlesex, Massachusetts; married Hannah Dodge, 15 April 1746, Groton, Middlesex, Massachusetts
- Ambrose, born 30 April 1722; died about 10 March 1809, Lyndeborough, Hillsborough, New Hampshire; married Dorothy Gilson, 16 January 1751, Groton, Middlesex, Massachusetts
- Elizabeth, born 12 August 1724; married Josiah Lawrence, 3 December 1746, Groton, Middlesex, Massachusetts. Josiah died on 29 August 1758, probably of the “pestilence” occurring in Pepperell that summer. (2) Whitcomb Powers, 18 October 1759, Pepperell, Middlesex, Massachusetts. He was from Hillsborough County, New Hampshire and it’s possible that Elizabeth removed there after their marriage. Whitcomb was a Revolutionary War soldier. There is a Whitcomb Powers tho married one Meriam Bond on 21 April 1791 in Jaffrey, Cheshire, New Hampshire. If this is the same man, then Elizabeth died before 1791.
- Hannah, born 15 September 1726; died 24 December 1807, Pepperell, Middlesex, Massachusetts. She died at 81 years, of old age, and didn’t marry.
- Nathaniel, born 13 December 1728; died 1 March 1809, Pepperell, Middlesex, Massachusetts; married Sybil Parker, between 23 January and 20 February 1755, Groton, Middlesex, Massachusetts
- Susannah, born 24 September 1731; no further record
- Mary, born 26 April 1734; died 6 August 1757, Pepperell, Middlesex, Massachusetts; married Oliver Shepley, c1754
- Sibell, born 2 January 1736/37; died 2 July 1813, Pepperell, Middlesex, Massachusetts; married Eleazer Gilson, 30 October 1758, Pepperell, Middlesex, Massachusetts
No one has posted much about Mary Lakin. She is my ancestor and I wrote about my theory that she was the wife of Oliver Shepley.
Since 2014, when I first proposed my idea, I’ve run it by a genealogist at NEHGS, who believes I am correct. In the intervening years, I’ve come across no new facts that made me revise my theory.