I began in 1996 to research the Blanchard line of my family, starting with my father Robert Winslow Blanchard, b. 1927 in Newton, MA., using information from the family gravesite in Forest Hills Cemetery and a small handwritten record of the Robbins family of New Bedford I found among my father's effects after he died. I found many Blanchards in the Boston area, in Dorchester, the North End and Newton. My great-great grandfather John Wheeler Blanchard, Jr. was a millwright, and either he or one of his sons (Frederick or Winslow, both MIT graduates) invented the Blanchard grinder, which is still in use. I have also found direct lineage to the Brewers of Brewer, ME and indirect lineage through Frederick Blanchard to the Mayflower Aldens. I am still actively working on my research, and have come to a dead end at my great-great-great grandfather William Blanchard, b. about 1771 in Stoughton, MA (or what was originally part of Dorchester), m. Abigail Wheeler of Boston on May 1, 1800, and d. in Boston Oct 23, 1807. Any help that people can offer me with him would be greatly appreciated!
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