mermaidcamp

Daughter of Sarah

Daughter of Mercy

Son of Martha

Son of Abner

Son of Daniel Rowland

Son of Jason A

Son of Ernest Abner

Belle Grove Plantation Bed and Breakfast

I am the daughter of Richard Arden

What is normally found in the search for family history is probate records, documents, bibles, and census records. Every once in a while you come across a written piece about your ancestor. This one is not designated to a specific publication. It is unusual because it gives you a picture of his physical presence as well as his philosophy. I love the Longfellow at the end.

John was a man of about 5 ft. 10 in. in height, slim build and weighing about 155 lbs. His face was widest at the eyebrows and became narrower at the chin. His forehead was moderately high. He had a long, slender neck. Mentally, he was a conservative. One who took time to think over a plan or proposition before coming to a decision. He had a great, retentive memory and was a Liberal in religion. He was a Liberal when it took raw courage to proclaim it. His voice was pitched higher than the average person and did not carry far.
He was a student in the very limited area of his time and what he read, he understood. This conclusion must be sound because of the very large number of his descendants who have made outstanding records as students and as teachers. And the many who became competant in the legal and medical professions. He must have been very capable and worth while pioneer: one of that class of persons whom Longfellow had in mind when he wrote, “And departing, leave behind us,…Footprints on the sand of time.”

Christmas Customs in Colonial America

December 9, 2012 — 3 Comments

This gives us the history of the celebration of Christmas.

I have had several of you ask me about how true are the wreath decorations of Colonial Williamsburg. So true to form, I did some research to confirm their authenticity. In my research I came across some interesting information on customs and traditions of Christmas within the colonial period.

Book_of_Common_Prayer_(1662)

During the colonial period in Virginia, the Christmas season followed a four week period of Advent. Most Virginians were devout Anglicans and they would have observed a period of fasting, prayers and reflection. They would have read daily from the Book of Common Prayer. Fasting would have been only one full meal, which generally would have been meatless during the day. After the four weeks, they would end with a Christmas meal and the start of the Christmas season.

Did you know that most of New England didn’t celebrate Christmas during the colonial period? Christmas was outlawed in most of New…

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Greeting the Season

November 25, 2012 — 1 Comment

The feasting of Thanksgiving behind us, we are hurdling down the holiday barrel of laughs toward either a cheery/jolly time or a close encounter with debt and depression. Which do you have at holiday time? Since much of the shared consciousness of holidays takes place on screens now, rather than in person, we can more easily show a public facade of festive fantasy while freaking out in deep desperate disorientation. I personally am neutral. I don’t drive much any time of year, but for the next 5 weeks I will be in my car even less. I do not like all the high anxiety and consumer madness in the streets. There is more distraction than I would like on the road, so I stay home.

My parents used to send out letters in Christmas cards to establish a contact with people they knew around the world and basically mislead them about how happy they were. This copying and addressing by hand, then stamping and sending the revised versions of their lives was an important way they stayed tribal with all the accepted norms they wanted to keep. They lived in a time when the exterior show was of the utmost importance. Not sending Christmas cards would have made them uncivilized. I still have a couple of cards printed with my name on them that I sent to people when I was in elementary school. They are kind of non sectarian, with a picture of a fawn and Happy Holidays. I have never felt the need to send cards or give gifts as a social imperative. The big build up, the relatives crashing at the house, the decorate and mandatory clean up was not my style.

I like to cook special treats that remind me of winter to give to friends and neighbors at this time. I make some spaghetti squash latkes for Chanukah, and all kinds of ginger concoctions. This year I am featuring nuts and everything that I can buy at the Caravan Market. This specialty foods shop right down the street from my home has all manner of goodies and spices from the middle east and north Africa. I can bike there and bring back exotic extreme foods and spices in minutes. They have pistachio baklava, halvah, and Swiss chocolate for sweets. My own version of holiday cheer is a little extra money and effort spent on food and drink. Shopping local for me is fun and easy. I prefer supporting my neighbors in business to trying to find my car in the parking lot at the mall.

Underage Drinking on the Mayflower

November 22, 2012

There was no drinking water on the Mayflower voyage. Every man woman and child was issued beer to drink. This gave new meaning to the word sloshed. It also gives a new reason for the Pilgrims to be seriously thankful to end the trip. Ironically it is the Brits who are celebrating Alcohol Awareness Week while Americans prepare to guzzle all weekend in the name of thankfulness/football. The British are suggesting that the use of an alcohol unit calculator will shock most people. I am sure this is like the food list for eating awareness. Addictive eating and drinking is by definition kept unconscious. Much energy is spent giving holidays the power to force overeating and drunken excess. This illustrates the general state of mental decay we promote. A holiday honestly does not have the power to make you do anything. Turkeys and cocktails are not a force, they are symbols.

How much change can you create by choosing Thanksgiving as the day to begin knowing how much you really drink? This holiday has special meaning to me because it was at Thanksgiving that my dad got so publicly drunk that I was able to convince him to go to Betty Ford. He was 81, and the treatment did not work because he went right back to Texas to his supportive drunken environment. My parents had to be removed entirely from the state to begin to address the issue. This year while you do your holiday bar tending, filling your home with extra cheer, don’t kid yourself. Calculate.

Pilgrim Will

November 21, 2012

Plymouth Colony Seal

This is the will of my 10th great grandfather who arrived on the Mayflower. It is interesting to note how much they had and did not have. Bless the Plymouth colony for keeping good records:
The Plymouth Colony Archive Project[Go to Biographical Profiles • Wills • Probates • Search • Archive] James Bursell October 11, 1676Plymouth Colony Wills 3(2):61#P281The Inventory of James Bursell
An Inventory of the estate of James Bursell of yarmouth who departed this life on the third of October 1676, and this Inventory taken the 11th of October 1676
L s d
Item in Meate Chattle 25 08 00
Item a Cart & wheeles & yoakes & Chaines 01 09 00
Item in barrells & other wooden ware 02 02 00
Item in pailes and seiues 00 10 00
Item in pewter 01 13 00
Item in 1 morter and pestell 00 02 00
Item 1 pott of butter 00 04 00
Item in earthenware 00 02 00
Item in Iron kettles & 2 potts 01 04 00
Item in brasse kettles & other brasse 01 16 00
Item in one warming pan 00 08 00
Item in seuerall sorts of Iron tooles 01 16 00
Item in old brasse and one spitt 00 03 06
Item in tining ware 00 01 06
Item in Cheires tables and trenchers 00 10 00
Item in armes and amunition 01 00 00
Item in a paire of tonggs and old Iron 00 15 00
Item in Corne and meale sackes 01 00 00
Item 1 feather bed & furniture to it 06 06 00
Item in wheels and Cords 00 12 00
Item in flax and linnine yarne and a baskett 02 00 00
Item 1 feather bed and furniture to it 06 05 00
Item more 1 feather bed and furniture to it 05 15 00
Item in Table linnine 01 03 06
Item in pillow Coates 01 16 00
Item in a remnant of Cloth 01 04 00
Item 17 paire of sheets 18 12 00
Item more in bolster Cases and linnine 01 10 00
Item in Cours linnine Cloth 00 11 00
Item in a parsell of linnie Cloth 00 10 00
Item in wearing apparrell and linine 12 18 00
Item a bible 00 03 00
Item in sickells 00 05 00
Item in Cushens and penistone 2 yards 00 11 06
Item in Glasses and a lanthorne 00 02 06
Item 2 Chests & a Case with bottles 00 16 06
Item 1 bull 02 00 00
Item in Mony 09 04 00
Item in debs due to the estate 16 02 06
Item the estate is debtor about 10 00 00
Item in old lumber 00 06 00
Item in an house and land 25 00 00
Item due to estate for laying 02 10 00
[156 17 06]
Iohn Hiller
Ieremiah houes
This 15 of Nouember 1676 Emett Bursell the relict of Iamos Bursell late deceased made her appeerance and Gaue oath to the truth of this Inventory before Iohn Freeman Assistant

James Bursell (1600 – 1676)

is my 10th great grandfather

Anna Bursell (1640 – 1724)

Daughter of James

Silas Sears (1661 – 1732)

Son of Anna

Sarah Sears (1697 – 1785)

Daughter of Silas

Sarah Hamblin (1721 – 1814)

Daughter of Sarah

Daughter of Sarah

Daughter of Mercy

Son of Martha

Son of Abner

Son of Daniel Rowland

Son of Jason A

Son of Ernest Abner

Elizabeth Southworth (1645 – 1716)

I am the daughter of Richard Arden

He is not a famous Pilgrim. In fact, we do not know who his parents or his wife’s parents are…yet. We do know, however, what he owned when he died in 1676. 17 pairs of sheets seems like the most extravagant thing they had.

Pilgrims, Puritans, and Politics

November 6, 2012 — 2 Comments

Alice Carpenter, Pilgrim

There is some gross generalization presented in the Thanksgiving spectacle/history lesson of the colonies. There was turkey, lots of lobster, and headgear similar to the hats and feathers in school pageants, but the Pilgrims and the Puritans are not the same group of people. If one traces carefully the two thought forms still exist in America, but they are distinct. Pilgrims came from Holland on the Mayflower to bring their biblical faith to another part of the earth. They believed they were sojourners on the earth destined for the holy city, and only subject to worldly law when it did not conflict with religious directives. The Puritans, as the name implies, had been working in reformation to purify religion through political action. Puritans arrived after the Pilgrims in the Boston area. They had a different attitude toward the native people, since they were not sharing a divine sojourn with them, but making a political state that they believed aligned with pure reformation ideals. Both groups shared biblical Christianity as their standard, but in practice Pilgrims sought peace while Puritans sought to dominate through harsh purifying authority (think Salem/witches). None of this would have ever been done if the Bible had not been printed, causing Europe to become politically violent about reforming, restoring, separating, and purifying. Before printing presses political power and religious power were so obviously entwined as to cause…the Reformation.

Thomas Southworth was born a Pilgrim in Holland. His father died there. His mother, Alice Carpenter , sailed from Leiden on the Mayflower with her second husband, Gov. William Bradford. After Plymouth was established as a Pilgrim colony Thomas joined his mother and stepfather. William Bradford was a shoe merchant, and many other Mayflower Pilgrims were also in clothing, hat, and fashion trades. They had spent years in Holland being influenced by the fancy colorful costuming of the Dutch. It was politically not cool to starch your ruffs (ruffles like QE I wore up around the neck). The large collar draped rather than stiff said you were so New World 1620. That explains the white scarf look we see in costumes. Almost no real Pilgrim clothing remains from the period, so the current stereotype is not accurate. Black and grey may have been worn, but were not standard. These Pilgrims were fashionable religious adventurers (with stylin’ footwear) bonding with the natives in the new commune/colony of Plymouth when the Puritans arrived. Thomas spent his career as a (well dressed, I am sure ) politician.

Thomas Southworth (1617 – 1669)

is my 10th great grandfather

Daughter of Thomas

Elizabeth Howland (1673 – 1724)

Daughter of Elizabeth

Eleazer Hamblin (1699 – 1771)

Son of Elizabeth

Sarah Hamblin (1721 – 1814)

Daughter of Eleazer

Daughter of Sarah

Daughter of Mercy

Son of Martha

Son of Abner

Son of Daniel Rowland

Son of Jason A

Son of Ernest Abner

Malachi Rhodes (1650 – 1682)

is the daughter of Richard Arden

This year if you think about Pilgrims, or use little figures decoratively get something historically correct. There was no water on the Mayflower. Every man woman and child was issued beer each day of the trip. Imagine the hangover a child might get from a long sea voyage drinking nothing but beer. As sojourners of the earth they felt it was all part of the mission. Get over the concept that these people (Pilgrims) sailed across the sea to wear black and stuff turkeys. They came here to tune in, turn on, and drop out of the religious struggles in the old country. They were all about debunking the folly of corrupt authority posing as religion. Pilgrims were the big proponents of separation of church and state. They believed that they had a personal connection to providence that was more important and powerful than any civil institution. Puritans, on the other hand, had interest in reforming civil institutions. Can you link these beliefs to today’s political landscape?

Dreaming of the Dead

November 1, 2012 — 2 Comments

As we prepare for the dead to visit earth over the weekend I daydream about all my relations. In the study of my family tree I become infatuated by the various ancestors as I learn about their lives and times. I love it when they have left a picture of any kind, even of the grave they occupy. I also become excited when I see the handwriting they used. All original documents or photos of their homes give me a connection to their styles. I am a huge enthusiast of all that I discover and learn through the study of genealogy. It may well be true that I prefer the dead to the living at least part of the time.

I am also studying the archetypes that play in the dramas of our lives, interior and exterior. We know that our unconscious is influenced by the books we read, the shows we consume, even the conversations we enter. I don’t work on my family tree each day, but there is not a day that passes without thinking about some of my dead peeps and their adventures on earth. My conscious and unconscious is involved in the ghost of everything past. I never have the urge to join the DAR or reenact battles, but have started to plan travel around the dead peeps who lived in the areas I will visit. This month I am focused on my Pilgrims, the beliefs, the hardships and the failures they encountered. At the moment I am discovering Jeremiah Rhodes. He was a wild thing of a Pilgrim.

Zachariah Rhodes (1603 – 1665)

is my 10th great grandfather

Son of Zachariah

Malachi Rhodes (1676 – 1714)

Son of Malachi

Dorothy Rhoades (1705 – 1705)

Daughter of Malachi

MARGARET HAMMETT (1721 – 1753)

Daughter of Dorothy

Benjamin Sweet (1722 – 1789)

Son of MARGARET

Paul Sweet (1762 – 1836)

Son of Benjamin

Valentine Sweet (1791 – 1858)

Son of Paul

Sarah LaVina Sweet (1840 – 1923)

Daughter of Valentine

Son of Sarah LaVina

Son of Jason A

Son of Ernest Abner

Philippa Plantagenet (1360 – 1415)

I am the daughter of Richard Arden

He drowned in the river near his home after all kinds of major adventures, which included founding Rhode Island. He was opposed to the law in Massachusetts that obligated citizens to support preachers financially. He was thrown in jail briefly for making public statements about this conviction. This fabulous rebel archetype had the right circumstances and energy to live out his ambitions without abandoning his beliefs. He married Benedict Arnold’s sister, Joanna Arnold. I can picture my own fantasy movie of the lives of these early settlers. As I turn my attention to dreaming I hope to be visited this week by these and all the other relations who contributed to my existence. I invite all these saints to come marching through my dreams. I am wishing for some period costuming of a dreamy nature, but am okay if you decide just to visit as a ghost.

Royal Lovers

October 23, 2012

Katherine Swynford

I found one woman from Manhattan who was my ancestor twice. When her first husband died, she married and had another child. Both a daughter from her first and her second marriages became my ancestors. I have been thinking how odd it was that the step sister’s issue married 5 generations later. I decided 5 generations was enough genetic mixing, and since they were Knickerbocking there were few other fancy Dutch reformers to marry. This is not so odd. The truly striking coincidence in my tree is a royal Brit named John of Gaunt ( born in Ghent).

I have discovered that John of Gaunt is my ancestor three different ways, with three different wives, and of both of my parents. He was involved in a famous royal love affaire more bizarre than Charles and Camilla. He had a mistress, Katherine Swynford, who later married him. They had four children together, and as his last wife she acted as step mother to the children of his two previous marriages. Katherine and John had a daughter Philippa, who is 6th great-grandmother to Gov. Thomas Dudley of Massachusetts Bay Colony, my 10th great-grandfather.

John Gaunt Lancaster PLANTAGENET (1340 – 1399)

is your 18th great grandfather

Daughter of John Gaunt Lancaster

Beatrix DePinto (1403 – 1447)

Daughter of Philippa

John Fettiplace (1427 – 1464)

Son of Beatrix

Richard Fettiplace (1460 – 1511)

Son of John

Anne Fettiplace (1496 – 1567)

Daughter of Richard

Mary Purefoy (1533 – 1579)

Daughter of Anne

Susanna Thorne (1559 – 1586)

Daughter of Mary

Gov Thomas Dudley (1576 – 1653)

Son of Susanna

With his Spanish wife he had a son John who also became the 8th great grandfather of Gov Thomas Dudley, by way of Scotland

John Gaunt Plantagenet (1340 – 1399)

is your 19th great grandfather

John Marquis Somerset BEAUFORT (1374 – 1410)

Son of John Gaunt

Joan Beaufort (1407 – 1445)

Daughter of John Marquis Somerset

Joan Stewart (1428 – 1486)

Daughter of Joan

John Gordon (1450 – 1517)

Son of Joan

Robert Lord Gordon (1475 – 1525)

Son of John

CATHERINE GORDON (1497 – 1537)

Daughter of Robert Lord

Lady Elizabeth Ashton (1524 – 1588)

Daughter of CATHERINE

Capt Roger Dudley (1535 – 1585)

Son of Lady Elizabeth

Gov Thomas Dudley (1576 – 1653)

Son of Capt Roger

Anne Dudley (1612 – 1672)

Daughter of Gov Thomas

John Bradstreet (1652 – 1718)

Son of Anne

Mercy Bradstreet (1689 – 1725)

Daughter of John

Caleb Hazen (1720 – 1777)

Son of Mercy

Daughter of Caleb

Daughter of Mercy

Son of Martha

Son of Abner

Son of Daniel Rowland

Son of Jason A

Son of Ernest Abner

Joan DeBeaufort (1375 – 1440)

the daughter of Richard Arden

His first marriage was a happy one, that produced another ancestor, on my mother’s side. After 15 generations my parents met in Houston Texas and married. What are the chances of this happening?

John of Gaunt – Duke of Lancaster – Plantagenet (1340 – 1399)

is your 16th great grandfather

Daughter of John of Gaunt – Duke of

Duchess of York Lady Cecily DeNeville (1415 – 1495)

Daughter of Joan

Henry Holland (1485 – 1561)

Son of Duchess of York Lady Cecily

Henry Holland (1527 – 1561)

Son of Henry

John Holland (1556 – 1628)

Son of Henry

Francis Gabriell Holland (1596 – 1660)

Son of John

John Holland (1628 – 1710)

Son of Francis Gabriell

Elizabeth Holland (1652 – 1737)

Daughter of John

Richard Dearden (1645 – 1747)

Son of Elizabeth

George Dearden (1705 – 1749)

Son of Richard

George Darden (1734 – 1807)

Son of George

David Darden (1770 – 1820)

Son of George

Minerva Truly Darden (1806 – )

Daughter of David

Sarah E Hughes (1829 – 1911)

Daughter of Minerva Truly

Lucinda Jane Armer (1847 – 1939)

Daughter of Sarah E

George Harvey Taylor (1884 – 1941)

Son of Lucinda Jane

Ruby Lee Taylor (1922 – 2008)

Daughter of George Harvey