William Lovell & Mercy Robinson

Sandwich Glass factory

William Henry Lovell, father of Gorham Lovell, and my 4th great grandfather was born about 1790 in Sandwich, Mass.   Sandwich is the oldest town on Cape Cod, and one of the oldest towns in America. Until 1825 Sandwich was a small close-knit community of farmers and fishermen. At that time it underwent it's most dramatic change when Boston businessman Deming Jarves built a glass factory by the site of the current Boardwalk. The factory grew rapidly into one of the largest producers of glassware in the country. Over 500 workers produced over five million pieces of glass annually by the 1850s. Many of the skilled workers were imported, some from Ireland, creating the Cape’s first Catholic population and establishing its first Catholic Church.

William married Mercy Robinson from nearby Harwich on March 22, 1823.  Mercy was born about 1800.  They had at least three children, Gorham who moved to Taunton, Henry who continued to reside in Sandwich, and Eunice who stayed in Sandwich until at least 1850.  They may also have had an eldest daughter named Mary.

William appears on the US census of 1790-1840 but not afterwards, and although I have not definitively found his date of death, it is likely between 1840 and 1850.  Mercy likewise does not appear after 1840, although it is possible she remarried.