Joseph Pederick - Sarah Martin Family Group

What We Know About This Family

Noteworthy:

Richard and Sarah Martin Pedrick had four sons who served in the Revolution. They were the grandparents of Chief Justice Joseph Story. They were also the parents of a local legend, Major John Pedrick, and the parents-in-law of Nicholas Broughton, another Marblehead legend and the commander of the Hannah, the first vessel in the U.S, Navy.

An Overview of Their Lives

Joseph was described as a merchant by the administrators of his estate in his probate papers (he died intestate). He was the brother of our direct ancestor Richard Pedrick, who married Jean Merritt. Joseph's wife Sarah Martin was the daughter of Thomas Martin, one in a long line of Marblehead sea captains, and Eleanor Knott, the daughter of Hannah Devereux and her second husband, Richard Knott. The same Hannah Devereux and her first husband, Peter Greenfield, were the grandparents of Joseph's father, John.

The children of Joseph and Sarah Martin Pedrick were the children of the American Revolution, and four of their sons served in the fight for freedom. Marblehead at the point of the first Revolutionary action was second only to Boston in population and affluence. Marbleheaders had largely made their livings as mariners, and these skills made them a natural choice for some of the War's coastal activities. George Washington appointed Colonel (later General) John Glover to guard the coast, and the schooner named Hannah was outfitted for duty that was brief but nevertheless earned her place as being the first vessel in the U.S. Navy. Conflicting information exists about whether the Hannah was owned by John Glover or his father-in-law, John Gale (another of our direct ancestors), but it was named for Glover's wife, Hannah Gale. Hannah Gale was descended from John Devereux, Jr., who was the brother of Sarah's grandmother, Hannah Devereux. General Glover appointed Nicholson Broughton the captain of the Hannah during its brief career in the Revolution. Broughton, was the son-in-law of Joseph and Sarah Martin Pedrick and husband of their daughter, Sarah Martin Pedrick. Marbleheaders were instrumental in ferrying George Washington and his troops across the Delaware River, and are credited by many as saving the American side of the Revolution at a point when success didn't look optimistic. The Documents section offers several articles about some of these interesting events and people.

About the Children

Many of the children left wills, which provide a bit more information about their families than if they had died intestate.

• Mary and her husband Robert Girdler were our direct ancestors. They had several children and lived relatively long lives (particularly Robert, who was 94 when he died). They have their own family group page.


• Sarah Martin Pedrick was the wife of Nicholas Broughton. Broughton was appointed by fellow Marbleheader General John Glover, to command the Hannah during her short but notable career as the first vessel for the U.S. Reprimanded by George Washington for disobeying an order, Broughton resigned his Continental commission in December 1775. During 1776 Broughton participated in the New York campaign as major of Col. Timothy Pickering’s Massachusetts militia regiment. He later served on a privateer who was captured by the British, and he spent some time in an English prison before securing his release and returning to America. The documents section provides photos and information about Nicholas Broughton.


• Maj. John Pedrick was a shoreman and prosperous merchant before the Revolution. His ships sailed to nearly every port in England, Spain, and the West Indies, and his transactions were with some of the largest mercantile houses of Europe. At one time, it is said, he owned twenty-five vessels engaged in the foreign trade.  At the beginning of revolutionary activities, he supported the British government, but did serve in the Revolution for four months where he was assigned to protect the coast.
  
  "The Revolutionary War, which proved so disastrous to the merchants of Marblehead, bore with especial severity upon Major Pedrick. Several of his vessels were destroyed by British cruisers in Massachusetts Bay, and many others rotted in port. But through it all he proved himself a zealous patriot, and a firm friend to his country. When his son was drafted as a soldier, he charged him not to accept a dollar from the government for his services, and provided him with money to meet his expenses. His daughters made a silk belt for their brother to wear, in which the gold and silver coins were quilted for safety. 
  
  In addition to his other losses, Major Pedrick suffered severely by the depreciation of Continental money. At a critical period of the war, he furnished the government with valuable military and naval stores, for which he was obliged to receive a large amount of paper money. In a short time this money became utterly worthless and the entire amount was lost." (From The History and Traditions of Marblehead by Samuel Roads 1880). Major John Pedrick was credited with taking heroic action by warning the Marbleheaders about an impending attack by the British. The story appears in various places and is thought by some to be a highly romanticized version told by his daughter, Mehitable. Mehitable Pedrick gained some measure of recognition herself by marrying Dr. Elisha Story, a widower with six or seven surviving children. Dr. Story had relocated from Boston where he had participated in the Tea Party and then served as a physician to the Revolutionary troops. He and Mehitable had an additional twelve children. The first died as an infant and their son Frederick was lost at sea. The others survived well into the 1800s. The oldest surviving child was Joseph, who became a U.S. Supreme Court Justice. Joseph and his wife had seven children, five of whom died very young. Justice Story's surviving son was William Whetmore Story, who graduated from Harvard with an artistic leaning that took him eventually to Europe. He completed several sculptures which exist today in various museums. He sculpted a beautiful angel weeping over his wife's grave in Rome, and it is located there today. He also did some writing (and solicited a biography) in which he described the romantic and sometimes whimsical stories of his grandmother, Mehitable Pedrick Story.

  After Major John's first wife, Mehitable Stacey, died he married a woman named Hannah who was named in his will. She outlived her husband by 20 years. The Documents section has a photo of his house as well as other mansions in Marblehead at that time. Of special interest to this ancestors in this tree is the relationship of all these people to our direct ancestor, Hannah Devereux and her parents John and Ann.
  

• Captain Thomas, shoreman, was widowed twice (his first wife, Mary Peach, died only 10 days after their marriage), and outlived his third wife, Mary. He had no children and died intestate with an estate that was deemed insolvent.
  


• William, yeoman, served in the Revolutionary War under John Merritt and Colonel John Glover. He and his wife had many children. He died intestate and Mary administered his probate. Her daughter, Hannah, and her husband Elijah Roberts challenged the inventory. A cow, a hog, and 16 spoons had been omitted. The share for the Roberts was credited for $11.50.


• Benjamin served in the Revolutionary War young enough to be referred to as "boy." He was captured and held at Halifax until he was exchanged for a British soldier held by the Colonists. He was lost at sea at some time before 1805. I was not able to find anything else abut him.
  


• Richard, a shoreman, possibly served briefly in the Revolution. (a Richard "Penderick" has the record). He married twice. His first wife Mary Bartoll died at age 21 when their two daughters were toddlers. He then married Elizabeth Carder. They had six children, but only their first two survived their father. Their son John's daughter Elizabeth Carder Pedrick married Francisco Beltran de la Casas, and their son William is credited with having helped develop many parks in the Boston area. Richard's will left bequests for his four surviving children with special consideration for his daughter Sarah in case she needed funds for her comfort. She died a year and a half after he did.


• Samuel marred Sarah Stacey, daughter of Ambrose and Mary Vickery Stacey. Ambrose was the grandson of our direct descendants Deacon John and Agnes Pedrick Stacey. Mehitable Stacey, who married Samuel's brother John, was the granddaughter of the same direct descendants. Samuel died intestate. His widow then married William Courtis.


• Knott was a shoreman and a merchant. He married Mary Dixey and they had twelve children. The first Ann (the second was baptized as and named in her father's will as "Nancy," but was recorded in her marriage record as "Ann" Was not named in her father's will in 1805. Their son Benjamin was also not named, so the assumption is they died before 1805. Knott Pedrick and his vessel bound for Cayenne were captured by a French frigate in 1799, and he and his crew were soon after murdered by their captors.

  The eight surviving children and the heirs of the two deceased were named in his will. He asked that his sons John and Joseph serve as administrators, but John was lost at sea and Joseph "removed himself from this government" without having completed the probate. The estate included two schooners, the Sally and the Polly. Knott left his estate to his widow for her lifetime, then 1/11th to each: son Joseph; son John; daughter Sally, wife of Edmund Bray; daughter Isabella, wife of John Russell; daughter Nancy, wife of Samuel Russell; daughter Eleanor; daughter Emmy; daughter Tabitha; the children of his late son, Knott, deceased; the children of his daughter, Mary Scobie, deceased; and to his grandson Thomas Pedrick. His will did not specify who Thomas's parents were, but the only grandson Thomas I could find was the son of his son, John.

  Be sure to visit the Douments section for aticles about this notable family.
  

Proof of Relationship

Proof of relationship can be found in the vital records, deeds, and in the genealogical information published.

What Else We Need to Learn

The goal of this project is to trace every line of ancestry to the arrival of its first immigrant to America. The basic information of each couple is considered complete when we know the dates of birth, marriage, and death for both spouses. their parents' names (or whether they were the immigrant), and the child or children in our ancestry line.

The research on this family is complete.