The Litch Family of Granville Township
The tiny fishing hamlet of Litchfield on the Bay of Fundy shore is named for the Litch family that once lived in Granville Township. Much of the village lies on the “back land” of the Litch land grant in Lower Granville, Lot #12. Like other grants in Granville, it was a narrow swath of 500 acres stretching from the Annapolis River across the North Mountain to the Bay. And like other New England Planter families, the first generation or two of Litches lived in the valley. Most early members of the family are buried in Stony Beach Cemetery in Granville Beach. Crossroads over the mountain after 1810 opened the “back land” of these grants to settlement. As with other families, younger Litches occupied these lands in the early 19th century to prosecute the fishery, and communities coalesced around the streams that run into the Bay of Fundy.
The Litches arrived in Nova Scotia as part of the New England Planter migration of the 1760s. John Litch, however, was a naturalized New Englander; he was born in Ireland of Scottish parents in 1720 and came to Lunenburg MA as a young boy in 1731 with the rest of his family. As a young man he was a mariner and may have served aboard a vessel involved in deporting the Acadians in 1755 and the Seven Years War that followed. A decade later many New Englanders who had served during this time would take up the Acadian lands that had so impressed them.
The Litches, John and wife Abigail with two children, were living in Granville by 1770.
Like other New Englanders, they retained ties with family in the United States, despite the fact that the American Revolution had disrupted normal communication so soon after their settlement here. (A son born to the Litches in the spring of 1776 was named Washington!) Of their eight children, only three lived to marry and have families of their own. Lydia (Litch) Worster and Manasseh Litch would be the only children of John and Abigail to leave descendants in Nova Scotia. In 1814 youngest son, John Litch, married in Newburyport MA, a thriving seaport at the mouth of the Merrimack River. Even earlier, members of the family had begun the migration back to the US. Lydia’s daughter Abigail had married in Newburyport in 1806. Through these contacts, a number of the next generation of Nova Scotian Litches also settled at Newburyport where they worked as ship carpenters and spar makers. The family name no longer exists in this part of Nova Scotia, although descendants are numerous.
John Litch, b. c. 1720 Ireland s/o James and Jennet Litch m. 7 Sept. 1766 Lancaster MA Abigail Phillips, chr. 28 Oct. 1750 Lancaster MA d/o John and Lydia Phillips.
Children:
i.Lydia Litch, b. 12 Jan. 1768 Lunenburg MA, m. 16 May 1784 Granville NS Jacob Worster, b. 1 Jan. 1761 Boston MA. Children: a. George Worster, b. 8 July 1785, m. 6 Jan. 1812 Margaret Bogart; b. Abigail Worster, b. 15 May 1787, m. 4 Nov. 1806 Samuel Smith of Newburyport MA; c. John Worster, b. 22 Nov. 1789; d. Christopher Worster, b. 12 Sept. 1791, drowned 7 Oct. 1817; e. Rebeccah Worster, b. 10 May 1794; f. James Worster, b. 27 Dec. 1796, d. in infancy; g. Elizabeth Worster, b. 19 Jan. 1798, d. in infancy; h. James R. Worster, b. 1 June 1800; i. Joseph Worster, b. 28 May 1802, d. in infancy; j. Joseph Worster, b. 21 Nov. 1803;k. Washington Worster, b. 30 Dec. 1805, d. at sea 1840 between ‘Attackapas and Mobile’; l. Samuel Worster, b. 6 March 1808, drowned 16 Nov. 1824; m. Quin Worster, b. 5 May 1811, m. 11 Jan. 1844 Mercy Cronin; n. Mary Worster, b. 27 Apr. 1814, m. 8 March 1837 Thomas Holden.
* ii.Manasseh Litch. b. 15 Sept. 1769 Lunenburg MA, m. Patience Ricketson.
iii.James Litch, b. 6 Aug. 1771 Granville, d. 18 March 1799.
iv.Rebekah Litch, b. 29 Apr. 1774 Granville, d. before 30 Dec. 1806.
v.Washington Litch, b. 20 Apr. 1776 Granville, d. before 30 Dec. 1806.
vi.John Litch, b. 1 Aug. 1778 Granville NS, d. 12 May 1780.
vii.Elizabeth Litch, b. 26 Sept. 1780 Granville, d. 9 July 1812 Newburyport MA.
viii.John Litch, b. c. 1782 Granville, m. 31 March 1814 Newburyport MA Sally Coffin.
*Manasseh Litch, b. 15 Sept. 1769 Lunenburg MA s/o John and Abigail (Phillips) Litch m. Patience Ricketson, b. 4 Apr. 1770 Granville NS d/o Abednego and Phebe (Tucker) Ricketson.
Children:
i.John Litch, b. c. 1791 Granville, m. (1) 4 July 1818 Bethiah McKenzie, d/o William and Hannah (Corning) McKenzie; m. (2) c. 1834 Mary Haynes, m. (3) Amelia Haynes- daughters of Daniel and Lois (White) Haynes. Children: a. Hannah Litch, b. 24 May 1819, m. 8 Dec. 1836 Francis Halliday; b. Susan Litch, d. in infancy; c. Manasseh Litch, b. 16 Apr. 1824, m. 27 Aug. 1846 Elizabeth Frances Turpel; d. Susan Litch, b. 1825, m. Thomas Mussels; e. Ebenezer Corning Litch, b. 10 May 1827, m. Newburyport MA 10 May 1853 Henrietta Furbish; f. Edwin Ruthin Litch, b. 10 Aug. 1829, m. Mary O. Peters; g. James Litch, b. 10 Jan. 1832, m. 6 Jan. 1853 Isabella Clark; h. Bethiah Litch, b. 10 Dec. 1833, m. (1) 30 Dec. 1852 John Johnson, m. (2) 22 Dec. 1860 Rev. George Sederquist; i. Mary Litch, b. 30 July 1835, m. Samuel Sproul; j. Eunice Litch, b. 23 Apr. 1837, m. 31 Oct. 1859 William C. Woodworth.
ii.Phebe Litch, b. 19 Oct. 1793 Granville, m. 18 June 1818 Joseph Stearns Hunt.
iii.Rebecca Litch, b. c. 1799 Granville, m. (1) 15 Jan. 1816 James Merritt, m. (2) 16 Sept. 1850 Frederick Roach.
iv.Nancy Litch, b. c. 1801 Granville, m. 7 July 1820 Samuel McGrath.
v.James Litch, b. c. 1803 Granville, m. 27 Oct. 1824 Hannah McKenzie, d/o William and Hannah (Corning) McKenzie. Children: a. William Henry Litch, b. 3 Apr. 1825, m. Mary Durland; b. Mahalla Corning Litch, b. 7 Nov. 1828; c. John Litch, b. 17 May 1830, d. 9 Aug. 1835; d. Sarah Ann Litch, b. 24 June 1831, m. 6 Jan. 1853 Andrew Clark; e. James Litch, b. 5 Feb. 1833, m. Newburyport MA 25 May 1856 Jane b. Curtis; f. Armanilla Litch, b. 12 Feb. 1835, m. 7 Dec. 1853 James Eli Messenger; g. Elizabeth Matilda Litch, b. Oct. 1837, m. Newburyport MA 2 May 1859 Abram E. Gurney; h. Selena Litch, b. 6 Apr. 1840, m. 23 Oct. 1861 William Henry Halliday; i. Hannah Alice Litch, b. 7 July 1842, m. Amesbury MA 21 Oct. 1869 Surrill Flint; j. John Litch, b. 19 May 1845, m. Newbury MA 7 July 1871 Mary Tilton; k. Mary Elizabeth Litch, b. 6 Feb. 1847, m. Newburyport MA 31 Jan. 1869 Lemuel Hicken.
vi.Elizabeth Litch, b. c. 1806 Granville, m. 7 Jan. 1835 William Halliday.
vii.Manasseh Litch jr., b. 4 Nov. 1811 Granville, m. 1835 Eleanor Worster, d/o George and Margaret (Bogart) Worster. Children: a. Margaret Litch, b. 11 Apr. 1836, m. Alexander Turpel; b. Abigail Litch, b. 23 Nov. 1838, m. (1) 1864 Isaiah Sproul, m. (2) 2 Sept. 1869 Abraham Young jr., m. (3) 15 Sept. 1880 Joseph Hall; c. George Worster Litch, b. 2 June 1840, m. 1860 Eleanor Ann Sproul; d. John Litch, b. 29 Apr. 1843, m. 25 Dec. 1865 Alcesta Sproul; e. Lydia Worster Litch, b. 18 July 1847, m. Newburyport MA 18 Oct. 1875 James Albert Rand; f. Eleanor Worster Litch, b. 1 Oct. 1849, m. 23 March 1865 Elias Halliday; g. Manasseh Litch, b. c. 1855; h. Edward Litch, b. c. 1858.
