Introduction
The first boat of immigrants to arrive in New England was the Mayflower. It landed in November 1620. Subsequent immigrants who arrived before 1650 are grouped together as "Second Boat Ancestors." Marian Otis, through her father, Harrison Gray Otis, and her mother, Eliza Ann Wetherby Otis, is descended from many men and women who immigrated to America in the seventeenth century. I have identified over one hundred and twenty of these Second Boat ancestors.
Marian Otis was an eighth generation descendant of John Otis, the immigrant ancestor. She would be identified this way: Marian 8, Harrison 7, Stephen 6, Barnabas 5, Joseph 4, Joseph 3, John 2, John 1. She was an eighth generation descendant of John Wetherbee, the immigrant ancestor. She would be identified this way: Marian 8, Eliza 7, Charles Thomas 6, Ephraim 5, Ephraim 4, Paul 3, Ephraim 2, John 1.
John Otis was born in Glastonbury, Somerset, England in 1581. He embarked for America in 1630, settling in Hingham, Plymouth Colony, Massachusetts. The family lived in Hingham, Weymouth, and finally settled in Scituate, where they lived for two generations. Joseph Otis moved to New London, Connecticut, where the family lived for close to eighty years. The family then moved to northwest Connecticut to the village of Norfolk, and from there north to Rutland County, Vermont, Herkimer County, New York, and finally west to Washington County, Ohio. Stephen and Barnabas died in Ohio. Harrison Gray Otis, and his family came to Santa Barbara, California in 1876, the first in our family to do so.
John Wetherby is said to have been born in Yorkshire about 1642. He emigrated
to the New World in the 1660s, past the period known as the Second Boat immigration.
The family settled in Middlesex, Massachusetts, living in the towns of Sudbury,
Marlborough and Stow.
Later generations moved to the town of Lunenberg, Worcester, Massachusetts,
and from there to Fitchburg in Worcester County, and finally north to New
Hampshire. They moved to Washington County, Ohio in the 1850s.
Our family is eligible to belong to several genealogical organizations through
the Otis family. Two Mayflowers passengers, Richard Warren and John Alden,
are direct ancestors of Stephen Otis. Because of them, we can apply for membership
in the Society of the Mayflower. There are many ancestors who served in the
Revolution. Since Stephen Otis arrived in Ohio before 1820, we are eligible
for a group called First Families of Ohio. Sarah Dyer's family came from a
family of Loyalists, which makes us eligible for another group.
As I showed in the Chandler book, Moses and Emma Jane Chandler were fifth
cousins. Harry Chandler and Marian Otis were seventh cousins, through their
common ancestor, Nathaniel Merrill.
| Nathaniel Merrill & Susannah (__?__) |
||
|---|---|---|
| Nathaniel Merrill & (__?__) | brothers |
John Merrill & Sarah Watson |
| Peter Merrill & Mary Brown | 1st cousins |
Susannah Merrill & John Turner |
| Peter Merrill & Sarah Haseltine | 2nd cousins |
John Turner & Abigail Richards |
| Moses Merrill & Hannah Greenough | 3rd cousins |
John Turner & Mary Gillet |
| Hannah Merrill & Ebenezer Clark | 4th cousins |
Mehitable Turner & Barnabas Otis |
| Rosanne Clark & Joseph Chandler | 5th cousins |
Stephen Otis & Sarah Dyer |
| Moses Knight Chandler & Emma Jane | 6th cousins |
Harrison Gray Otis & Eliza Ann Little Wetherby |
| Harry Chandler | 7th cousins |
Marian Otis |