Getting steeped in the History of the West
Interested In Maine History? July 4, 2017
Here’s the book for all history enthusiasts. In a book store in Mystic Connecticut, I found this book about the history of Maine – titled The Lobster Coast, Rebels, Rusticators, and the Struggle for a Forgotten Frontier, by Colin Woodard. As one would expect, there’s quite a bit of detail about fish and the fishing industry, particularly lobsters. But there is also a lot to make one think about the rights of Native Americans and the rights and relationships between the original settlers and the subsequent waves of “newcomers”, right up to the present day transformations of land use and the questions of distribution of wealth.
In my genealogy research I have been able to trace most of my ancestors back many generations. At present I am trying to concentrate/focus on the immigration experiences of these branches in my family tree. These would be the 6th-9th great grandparents. About 90% of these forebears came to New England. I have one case of an abrupt end of the trail with my 3rd great grandparents Joseph Reed and Sarah Maddox. They were each born in Maine in the late 1700’s. Joseph died in Maine in 1850. Their daughter Abigail was my great great grandmother. She was born in Gloucester in 1804. But I do not have any information re Joseph and Sarah’s forebears, my 4th great grandparents etc. Did they come to Maine as immigrants? What happened to them in this remote and harsh part of the American frontier. Did they perish in an encounter with one of the many tribes of Native Americans who raided the settlers villages and isolated dwellings. I wonder.
All Things Nantucket June 17, 2017
Working on my genealogy this morning I found a reference remotely connecting an ancestor to Herman Melville’s novel Moby Dick. And this novel of course makes me think of that magical island of Nantucket. One of the daughters of Isaac Morrill, my 9th Great Grandfather, married a Folger and Mary Morrill Folger is mentioned in the novel.
Current Reading – June 2017 June 6, 2017
Non fiction – full of footnotes – fascinating reading! Increasing my knowledge and understanding of the early settlers of Essex County Massachusetts. And I’m finding a number of familiar names which I will follow up and see if they are actually my ancestors.
A Lady In Virginia April 19, 2017
Lady Lucy Higginson Burwell
Lewis Fairfield Burwell
Early settlers in the area that later became Williamsburg Virginia
These are my 8X Great Grandparents
A New Angle April 5, 2017
My grandmother’s self-published book of her poems
What does my paternal grandmother’s family tree look like. My paternal grandmother, Mary Elizabeth Murdoch, was born in 1863. The Civil War was raging. She lived to experience 4 more wars in her lifetime, the Spanish American War, World Wars I and II, and the Korean War. She married a Civil War veteran and bore 5 children. She became a widow while the children were still young and at home. She was an educated woman, she loved reading. She wrote poetry. I propose to explore her life in as much as I can from the genealogical records and what few scraps I have of her personal letters and family memories.
My grandmother’s home in Newark Ohio where she raised her children
My grandmother and my father, 1943
My grandmother and me, 1948, in Raleigh North Carolina
My grandmother as a young woman
Wicked Puritans December 29, 2016
How to pass time – I read this book to the end, not realizing noon came and went and it is now 1:30 Wicked Puritans of Essex County
I had planned to spend the morning writing Christmas cards. I wrote one before I took a break and picked up this book.
Janet's thread 