The Sons of Charles Cormac Annis

Colonial Men at work c.1685

Joseph Annis
1666-1758

Joseph Annis was born December 23, 1666 at Newbury, Massachusetts; died August 12, 1758 at Newbury; married circa 1692, Dorothy Osgood {1661-1740} at Newbury.

Joseph was very active in Church affairs, and was a petitioner, on January 28, 1711, to the Bishop of London, in which he asked for a minister to head the church that was to be built at Newbury (Queen Ann's Chapel). The request was granted, and the church was completed August 1, 1712.
Joseph was named in a letter dated August 31, 1909 by Reverend Rufus Emery of Newburyport, Massachusetts. Reverend Emery wrote the following to Dr. John McNab Currier, author of David Annis of Hopkinton and Bath, New Hampshire (1911): "In 1711 a mission of the Church of England was formed in Newbury. I have recently examined the record book of this mission. The name of Annis is frequently found in this record. Under April 15, 1718, Joseph was one of a committee to examine the accounts of that mission.

April 28, 1728, Joseph chosen Vestryman
April 15, 1734, Joseph chosen Vestryman
April 18, 1737, Joseph chosen Vestryman

Joseph chosen Warden of Queen Ann's Chapel in 1750, at the venerable age of 84.

Queen Anne's Chapel - 1711

The first building, Queen Anne’s Chapel, was erected in 1711 on the area known as the ‘Plains’ where Belleville Cemetery on Storey Avenue is now located. The corner stone of the present building was laid August 17, 1922 and is now known as St. Paul's Church. The Reverend John Lambton, Chaplain of Her Majesty’s Ship Phoenix, moored in Newbury Harbor, was called on November 14, 1712 to minister to the congregation at Queen Anne’s Chapel. He “…found a handsome building raised and finished at the sole expense of the inhabitants.” Mr. Lambton reported, “… over 200 souls and upwards, worshipping regularly at Queen Anne’s Chapel." Queen Anne's Chapel was the second Episcopal church erected in Massachusetts, and today is the oldest church in the diocese. The fact that Joseph was a very active member in the Church of England may lend credibility to the legend that his father, Cormac, was the son a English soldier at Enniskillen, Ireland.

Joseph continued farming on the homestead left to him by his father, but by profession he was a weaver. He inherited a considerable portion of his father's estate including one half of the home that his mother continued to reside in until her death.
Unfortunately, the records of Joseph's sons, Aquila and Jonathan have not been located.
His good wife, Dorothy Osgood, was born July 4, 1671 at Andover, Massachusetts, the daughter of Christopher {1643-1722} and Hannah (Belknap) Osgood. She died March 8, 1740 at Newbury.
Dorothy Annis, eldest daughter, was granted administration of her father's estate on August 28, 1758. It was initially ordered that the real estate be divided into eight parts, but after consideration it was decided to settle it all on Dorothy Annis, and she was to pay the other heirs their proper shares. The heirs in this large family were all women, and the receipts show that a double share was paid to the three daughters of Christopher Annis, "the only son to leave issue". A single share amounted to £46:13:4.

Children

1. Dorothy Annis, born Nov 1, 1692; buried Dec 6, 1763; never married.

2. Sarah Annis, born Mar 14, 1694; d. Before 1759; m. circa 1725, Mathias Keyes of Bolton, MA

3. Aquilla Annis was born Jun 14, 1695 at Newbury, MA. The only surviving record of this son of Joseph is a muster roll which lists him under the command of Captain Thomas Noyes during the Queen Anne's War. He is not mentioned in the Wills of his grandparents or his parents, and there is no record of any descendants.

4. Jonathan (Seaborne) Annis, born Jan 1, 1697.

5. Hannah Annis, born Nov 19, 1698; d. Sep 20, 1782; m. Nov 2, 1732, Thomas Eastman

6. Abigail Annis, born Sep 25, 1700; d. Before 1759; m. Dec 7, 1727, Robert Coffin

7. Joseph Annis was born Jan 14, 1703 at Newbury, MA; the Essex Antiquarian gives his occupation as that of a husbandman and states that he died on Dec 5, 1750. Newbury Vital Records gives his date of death as Mar 8, 1740. Considering the confirming date of the administration of his Last Will and Testament by his brother-in-law, Peter Merrill, on Mar 18, 1750, the Newbury record is most likely correct. There are no records of a marriage or children, but Joseph is mentioned in the 1706 portion of his grandfather's (Charles Cormac Annis) Will. He deeded land at Newbury to Samuel Poor on March 9, 1731, and land at Nottingham, New Hampshire to Joseph Gilley on Sep 30, 1737. The inventory of his Will mentions "part of a building" that he had started to erect on his father's land.

8. Christopher Annis was born Aug 31, 1704 at Newbury, MA; died before 1756 at Amesbury, MA; married Dec 3, 1730, Ruth Merrill at Newbury. Christopher was a cordwainer by trade, and his property was located on the Merrimack River, opposite the old Amesbury Ferry. This location was known as Annis Rock as late as 1909. On Aug 14, 1742 he and his wife Ruth deeded land at Newbury to John Eager. Christopher died intestate, and his estate was administered on Jun 23, 1760 by his widow. Ruth Merrill Annis married 2nd, Oct 28, 1756, Samuel Davis.

9. Charles Annis was born Feb 15, 1705 at Newbury, MA; died 1741. Charles was a blacksmith by trade and purchased land at Nottingham and Exeter, NH in 1734 and 1735. His brother Christopher administered his estate on Oct 28, 1741 and the real estate was appraised at £391. Charles never married.

10. Priscilla Annis, born Nov 1, 1706; m. Mar 10, 1729/30, Peter Merrill

11. Esther Annis, born 1707; died unmarried, May 13, 1762

Abraham Annis was born August 18, 1668 at Newbury, Massachusetts; died abt 1737/1738 at Haverhill, Massachusetts (now Salem, New Hampshire); married circa 1692, Hannah Badger.*
Abraham was a weaver, husbandman and farmer. When the first European settlers came to America, they brought with them a type of loom that had been used in Europe since before the 1300s. It was a horizontal frame loom, one that hand-weavers still use today.

Colonial weaving

Abraham also served several periods of military duty during the Queen Ann's War (1708-1709), and is on the muster rolls of Captain Thomas Noyes in 1688. It is also recorded that he was paid 18 shillings by Lieutenant Caleb Moody for services during a scouting expedition to Haverhill, Massachusetts between August 18-31, 1708. An account of the march to Haverhill, by Lt. Moody and his company, is recorded in the Vermont Gazeteer (Volume 4).
There does not appear to be many church records concerning Abraham, unlike his elder brother Joseph, but his link to the church can be found in the record that states that on May 13, 1718 Abraham, and several others, were granted liberty to use the Flats near Hall's (or Holt's) Rock for fishing on condition that one salmon per year be given to Rev. Christopher Toppan and Rev. John Tufts, the pastors of the First and Second churches " if they catch them". Hall's (or Holt's)Rock is now East Haverhill, Massachusetts on the Merrimack River.
Abraham spent all but the last year of his life at Newbury. In 1736 he purchased a farm of 100 acres at Haverhill, Massachusetts (now Salem, New Hampshire). This move was no doubt prompted by his son Abraham, who had moved there some years previous.

* There is some conflict as to the name of Abraham's wife. According to the genealogies of Alonzo Lawson Annes and Verle Lincoln Annis, Abraham was married to the widow of John Carleton, Hannah (Osgood) Carleton, daughter of Christopher Osgood and sister to Joseph Annis' wife, Dorothy Osgood. The unpublished and undocumented manuscript of G.O. Courser of 1938 claims that Abraham was married to Hannah Badger by 1692. She was the daughter of Sergeant John and Hannah (Serett) Badger, and was born at Newbury on December 3, 1673. To further complicate this issue, the published French Family Genealogy, states that John Carleton was married to Hannah Osgood, but she was not widowed early, and that they both lived to an old age. It must be remembered that the above mentioned sources, as well as the Ordway Genealogy are "compiled" genealogies, and no documentation on Abraham's marriage or his wife's name has yet been found.

Children:

1. Charles Annis was born Feb 10, 1693 at Newbury, MA; died Jul 18, 1769 at Wells, ME; married Oct 18, 1716, Mary Morrison at Newbury. Charles removed to Wellstown, (Wells) ME shortly after the birth of his first child.

2. Elizabeth Annis was born Sep 1695 at Newbury, MA; married Aug 9, 1733, Joseph Martin at Andover, MA.

3. Hannah Annis was born Mar 20, 1696/97 at Newbury, MA; married Benjamin Rollins (Rawlings) Nov 20, 1716 at Newbury, MA.

4. John Annis was born May 1, 1700 at Newbury, MA.

5. Stephen Annis was Dec 1, 1701 at Newbury, MA.

6. Sarah Annis was born Sep 9, 1703 at Newbury, MA; died Jun 25, 1724 at Ipswich, MA.

7. Samuel Annis {probably) was born abt 1705. There are three marriage records of Samuel Annis. He was of Haverhill in the first record, of St. George's in Maine, but recorded at Wells, ME, where he would have been with his brother Charles.

8. Abraham Annis was born Mar 4, 1708 at Newbury, MA; died 1787 at Salem, NH; married Dec 11, 1735, Abigail Sawyer {1709-1741} at Newbury, and had three children; married 2nd, Dec 28, 1742, Mary Hilton at Haverhill, MA, and had seven children.

9. Daniel Annis, born Dec 1, 1711

10. Tabitha Annis was born Mar 5, 1713 at Newbury, MA; married March 9, 1737, Daniel Woodman at Newbury.

11. Anne Annis was born Jun 21, 1715 at Newbury, MA

Aquila Annis was born June 4, 1672 at Newbury, Massachusetts; died in infancy on April 17, 1672 1712, five days after the birth of his younger brother Isaac, at Newbury.