(III) Samuel, son of Joshua and Elizabeth Shackford, was born in Newington, New Hampshire, and was a mariner, sailing from Newbury, where he made his home. He married, July 19, 1740, Mary Coombs, of Newbury, Massachusetts. Having been brought up to the life of a sailor, he followed that calling and brought up his boys to the same hazardous and exciting vocation. The children of Samuel and Mary Shackford were 1. Capt John (q. v), born in 1753. 2. Levi, a soldier in the American Revolution, wounded in the battle of Bunker Hill. 3. William, a sailor in the privateer service and a prisoner of war for three years and afterward served in the navy under John Paul Jones. 4. Mary, who married Caleb Boynton, for whom Boynton street and the Boynton school in Eastport are named. Captain Samuel Shackford died in Newburyport, Massachusetts.
As mentioned in an earlier article about Levi, he would have been eight or just barely nine years old during the Battle of Bunker Hill, however Samuel Shackford of Chicago who was probably the original source of the information in this book was Levi's grand nephew and was a thorough researcher so we don't want to deny that this event occurred but we do hope to someday find Samuel's research to see if he had any notes or documented sources regarding this statement. This same Samuel Shackford of Chicago who published Kilby's Eastport and Passamaquoddy's chapter on Capt John Shackford states that Samuel Shackford who was his great grandfather was a seaman and lists children: Mary, Sarah, William, John, Rebecca, Levi and Susannah.
We do believe he is the Samuel Shackford listed in a newspaper article supporting Rev. Jonathan Parsons as a preacher in Newbury in 1745, who signed a petition for the creation of Newburyport in 1762, and who is listed in the 1790 Census.
All we know of Samuel's wife Mary Coombs is that they were married in Newbury, Massachusetts Colony on July 9, 1740. In 1912, Samuel Burnham Shackford, a genealogy researcher published this notice in the 1912 Genealogical article in the Boston Evening Transcript: "3. Coombs, Shackford. Who were the parents of Mary Coombs, married Samuel Shackford at Newburyport, July 9, 1740? ... S. B. S." This question remains unanswered today.
We'd love to learn more about what ships Samuel sailed and see if we can find any probate records for him but will probably have wait until we can travel to Massachusetts to find more records about this gentleman.
CHILDREN:
Susannah Shackford - (abt 1741 - aft July 1802) believe she married Joseph Connick or McConnick or McConnie and moved to New Brunswick, Canada, S. Robbins has written about this and in 2018 I have found DNA matches to two of Joseph's descendants.
Rebecca Shackford - no other source information found
Mary Shackford - (1741-1828) - married Caleb Boynton
William Shackford - (abt 1753-????)
John Shackford (1753- 1840) - married Esther Woodwell and Eliza Haddon
Sarah Shackford (abt 1760-1786) - married John Carr
Levi Shackford (1766-1833) - married Tamson Greenleaf (my ancestor)
All posts on this website are a work in progress. We’d love to learn of any corrections or additions to the information shared. Also we’d love it if you’d like the post here or at http://www.facebook.com/shackfordgenealogy) as that helps share the post with others. Thanks!
SOURCES:
1790 United States Federal Census, Essex County, Massachusetts, population schedule, Newburyport, Samuel Shackford; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 24 July 2014).
Columbian Centinel (Name: Boston;), 1796-01; Vol XXIV; Iss: 38; Page 3
Currier John J, Ould Newbury, Historical and Biographical Sketches (Boston: Damrell and Upham, 1896), page 510; digital images, Hathi Trust (http://hathitrust.org : accessed 12 April 2015
"DEATHS," Impartial Herald (Newburyport, Massachusetts), 12 January 1796; digital images, America's Historical Newspapers (http://infoweb.newsbank.com : accessed 15 July 2014).
"DIED," The Oracle of the Day (Portsmouth, New Hampshire), 20 January 1796; digital images, Godfrey Memorial America's Historical Newspapers (http://infoweb.newsbank.com : accessed 8 April 2014).
"DIED," Political Gazette (Newburyport, Massachusetts) America's Historical Newpapers, 12 January 1796, In this town, Mr. Samuel Shackford; digital images, America's Historical Newspapers (http://infoweb.newsbank.com : accessed 15 July 2014).
Federal Orrery, Date: 1796-01-18; Vol: 3; Iss: 26; Page: 103.
"Genealogical," Boston Evening Transcript (Boston, Massachusetts), 17 July 1912; digital images, Google News (http://neww.google.com : accessed 12 April 2015).
Kilby William Henry, Eastport and Passamaquoddy: A Collection of Historical and Background Sketches (Eastport, Maine: Edward E Shead & Company, 1888), page 444-451; digital images,, Chapter, XIV. CAPTAIN JOHN SHACKFORD AND FAMILY. By Samuel Shackford, of Chicago, Ill., Google eBooks (http://books.google.com : accessed 31 October 2013
Vital Records of Newburyport Massachusetts to the End of the Year 1849 Volume II Marriages and Deaths (Salem, Mass: The Essex Institute, 1911), page 783; digital images, Archive.org (https://archive.org : accessed 12 April 2015
Copyright 2018 Joanne Shackford Parkes (sharing a link to this post is appreciated but please do not copy this material and paste it elsewhere)
Updated 10/8/2016 to remove relationship between this William Shackford, son of Samuel and Mercy Rose, updated 1/3/2018 to add more info re daughter Susannah's marriage. Updated 6/26/18 to add information about daughter Susannah, updated 10/23/18 to identify my ancestor Levi (jsp)