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mermaidcamp

Keeping current in wellness, in and out of the water

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Soul and Spirit of History

May 13, 2013 — 5 Comments

Since I study history through my ancestors’ perspective when I can, my dreams have become full of the characters from whom I descend. The way war and conflict are taught in school ,winners and the vanquished   divide spoils and define conquest as history progressed.  Places, however, record, digest, and reflect history on a different level.  Environment and social structure result from human use of land and resources.  If ownership and preservation of historical culture is valued and given high priority, the place is subject to less wasteful development.  Pawtuxet, RI preserves history by keeping homes from the past in tact. Seeing places my ancestors have lived and died brings history to life for me, and fills my dreams with the struggles and joys they experienced.

The  village of Pawtuxet is a place where local residents function as the tourist board.  I was directed by local ladies at the cafe to drive up Post Road and start to look for Malachi Rhode’s home.  I found it right away and saw the current resident in his back yard.  I resisted the temptation to ask him if I could go into his back yard since my family had owned the home in the 1700’s.  I had visited the larger new cemetery with graves that included Rhodes in great number.  The small ancient graveyard on the Post Road was even more peaceful and special.  I found Malachi there, within walking distance of his house. His life is honored and his place in history kept as a treasure that belongs to the place.  Seeing and feeling the place put me in touch with the spirit of all my relations.

Anna Bursell, 9th Great Grandmother

May 13, 2013

Anna Bursell at rest

Anna Bursell at rest

Anna was born in Barnstable, Ma in 1640.  She died a widow in Barnstable in 1724, living through some heavy times.  She married Silas Sears:

Lieut. SILAS SEARS, son of Richard, died Yarmouth, Mass., 13 Jan, 1697/8; married ANNA ??(Bursell??) who died a widow in yarmouth, 4 Mar 1725/6.  They had children:

SILAS, born Yarmouth c. 1661;  RICHARD,  born in Yarmouth; HANNAH, born Eastham(?) Dec 1672, m. 8 Feb 1692/3 Thomas SNOW(son of Mark and Jane(Prence)Snow) she died prior to 30 Sep 1706; JOSEPH, born Yarmouth, c. 1675;  JOSIAH, born Yarmouth c. 1677; ELIZABETH, born Yarmouth, m. there 22 Nov 1705, John COOKE; DORRITY, born yarmouth c. 1687; m. there 8 Feb 1715/6 Joseph STAPLES she died 28 Feb 1753

Lt. Silas Sears lived in that part of Yarmouth known as the East precinct, now East Dennis; was “propounded to take up Freedom,” June 6, 1682; commissioned Ensign, 28 Oct 1681; Liet. 7 July 1682; chosen Representataive to the General Court at Plymouth, 1685-91; Selectman, 1680-94; Juryman, 1680-82.

25 Dec, 1689; “Silace Sears and other fined 20 shillings for not appearing and attending at Court, or disorderly departing therefrom;”–fines remitted latar, “it being first offense of the kind.”

1694; “Lt Silas Sears on Com. to seat men, women and others in the meetinghouse;”  an onerous duty in those days.

1 Nov 1676, Emott Bursell and Silas Sears appointed administrators of the Estate of James Bursell of Yarmouth.  It has been suggested that his wife may have been a daughter of James Bursell, based on the supposition of his being chosen one of the administrators.

Silas Sears left no will, and letters of administration were granted to his widow Anna, 1 May 1698.  The “settlement” of his estate was made 5 May 1698 and mentions sons Silas, Richard, joseph and Josiah; and daughters, Hannah, Elizabeth and Dorrity

Anna Bursell (1640 – 1724)
is my 9th great grandmother
Silas Sears (1661 – 1732)
son of Anna Bursell
Sarah Sears (1697 – 1785)
daughter of Silas Sears
Sarah Hamblin (1721 – 1814)
daughter of Sarah Sears
Mercy Hazen (1747 – 1819)
daughter of Sarah Hamblin
Martha Mead (1784 – 1860)
daughter of Mercy Hazen
Abner Morse (1808 – 1838)
son of Martha Mead
Daniel Rowland Morse (1838 – 1910)
son of Abner Morse
Jason A Morse (1862 – 1932)
son of Daniel Rowland Morse
Ernest Abner Morse (1890 – 1965)
son of Jason A Morse
Richard Arden Morse (1920 – 2004)
son of Ernest Abner Morse
Pamela Morse
I am the daughter of Richard Arden Morse

William Kirkcaldy of Scotland

May 11, 2013 — 7 Comments

William Kirkcaldy

William Kirkcaldy

My 13th great grandfather lived in Scotland when religion was making life very difficult for all involved.  Mary Stuart reigned as a Catholic.  Life was uneasy and brutal:

Biography from Wikipedia:

“Sir William Kirkcaldy of Grange (c. 1520 – 3 August 1573), Scottish politician and general, was the eldest son of Sir James Kirkcaldy of Grange (d. 1556), a member of an old Fife family. The house of the Grange lands was Halyards Palace.

Sir James was lord high treasurer of Scotland from 1537 to 1543 and was a determined opponent of Cardinal Beaton, for whose murder in 1546 he was partly responsible. William Kirkcaldy assisted to compass this murder, and when the castle of St Andrew’s surrendered to the French in July 1547 he was sent as a prisoner to Normandy, whence he escaped in 1550.

He was then employed in France as a secret agent by the advisers of Edward VI, being known in the cyphers as Corax; and later he served in the French army, where he gained a lasting reputation for skill and bravery. The sentence passed on Kirkcaldy for his share in Beaton’s murder was removed in 1556, and returning to Scotland in 1557 he came quickly to the front; as a Protestant he was one of the leaders of the lords of the congregation in their struggle with the regent, Mary of Guise, and he assisted to harass the French troops in Fife. He opposed Queen Mary’s marriage with Darnley, being associated at this time with Moray, and was forced for a short time to seek refuge in England.

Returning to Scotland, he was an accessory to the murder of Rizzio, but he had no share in that of Darnley, and he was one of the lords who banded themselves together to rescue Mary after her marriage with Bothwell. After the fight at Carberry Hill the queen surrendered herself to Kirkcaldy, and his generalship was mainly responsible for her defeat at the Battle of Langside. Kirkcaldy sailed to Orkney as Lord High Admiral of Scotland in pursuit of Bothwell, but his ship, the Lion, ran aground.[1] He seems, however, to have believed that an arrangement with Mary was possible, and coming under the influence of William Maitland of Lethington, whom in September 1569 he released by a stratagem from his confinement in Edinburgh, he was soon vehemently suspected by his fellows.

After the murder of Moray, Kirkcaldy ranged himself definitely among the friends of the imprisoned queen. About this time he forcibly released one of his supporters from imprisonment, a step which led to an altercation with his former friend John Knox, who called him a murderer and throat-cutter. Defying the regent Lennox, Kirkcaldy began to strengthen the fortifications of Edinburgh castle, of which he was governor, and which he held for Mary, and early in 1573 he refused to come to an agreement with the regent Morton because the terms of peace did not include a section of his friends.

After this some English troops arrived to help the Scots, and in May 1573 the castle surrendered. Strenuous efforts were made to save Kirkcaldy from the vengeance of his foes, but they were unavailing; Knox had prophesied that he would be hanged, and he was hanged on the 3rd of August 1573.”

William Kirkcaldy (1520 – 1573)
is my 13th great grandfather
Janet Kirkcaldy (1520 – 1572)
daughter of William Kirkcaldy
William Carr (1542 – 1655)
son of Janet Kirkcaldy
Benjamin Carr (1592 – 1635)
son of William Carr
Caleb Carr (1623 – 1695)
son of Benjamin Carr
Sarah Carr (1682 – 1765)
daughter of Caleb Carr
John Hammett (1705 – 1752)
son of Sarah Carr
MARGARET HAMMETT (1721 – 1753)
daughter of John Hammett
Benjamin Sweet (1722 – 1789)
son of MARGARET HAMMETT
Paul Sweet (1762 – 1836)
son of Benjamin Sweet
Valentine Sweet (1791 – 1858)
son of Paul Sweet
Sarah LaVina Sweet (1840 – 1923)
daughter of Valentine Sweet
Jason A Morse (1862 – 1932)
son of Sarah LaVina Sweet
Ernest Abner Morse (1890 – 1965)
son of Jason A Morse
Richard Arden Morse (1920 – 2004)
son of Ernest Abner Morse
Pamela Morse
I am the daughter of Richard Arden Morse

Postindustrial Chic

May 11, 2013 — 3 Comments

NYLO Hotel in Warwick captures history and postindustrial charm by using a repurposed factory as a new kind of guest accommodation.  It is popular with local business groups for meetings and conferences.  I was happy to be near many of my dead ancestors.  The use of the location right next to the Pawtuxet River adjacent to Historic Pontiac Mills makes the setting perfect for all kinds of travelers. It is near the airport, but is not an average airport style place.  The big windows give fantastic light, and the open floor plan is convenient and free of clutter.  I loved the high ceilings and treetop view from my room.  I will stay here again when I visit Rhode Island.  It is like no other hotel.

Extended Spring

May 11, 2013 — 1 Comment

I had the super fine opportunity to extend the season of spring this year in the most pleasant way.  By visiting New England I had the chance to study my ancestors in the places they lived and died.  One of the strongest impressions I have of my visit is of the flowering trees.  The botany of the ancestors reminded them of spring and hope in a way that was dramatic every year.  To witness the return of color, warmth and spring fashion unfold before my eyes was a treat that stays in my memory. Hope is the motto of Rhode Island.  I have a dreamy set of images that express hope through blossoms.  I will not forget how happy all the flowers made me feel.  I am comfortable and at home with all the people I met in Rhode Island.  I love the way Jamestown, an island where my ancestors had dairy farming business in the 1600’s, is still a place for dairy and produce farming.  They are completely rural and close to town at the same time. Hope springs eternal.

Magic Word

May 10, 2013

Carl Jung carved a Latin inscription above the door of his house in Kusnacht, Switzerland: “VOCATUS ATQUE NON VOCATUS DEUS ADERIT.” This means: “Called or not called, the god will be there.” To actively call and later, be still and know is the heart of meditation. The call can be music, nature, yoga, chant, movement, or poetry.  The goal is emptiness gained through insight. This free time beyond the word, beyond the concept, and beyond imagination is free time with no boundaries of space and time. The ultimate reality is unlike the one in which our ego goes and does and consumes all the time. It has infinite qualities, at which words merely take a stab at defining. Words and chants are used to create liturgy and forms of reverence. Group voice has a magical quality that lifts spirit and satisfies the soul. Words and sounds resonate as well as drive the memory deeper, creating more meaningful images of past and dream life as a collage.

Rarely do direct and useful insights arrive like lightning bolts.  I notice that visual cues stimulate my contemplation, but often a single word has great and continued meaning.  Last week I heard the sound of a name I have often read, Hecate.  I noticed that my mental pronunciation had been incorrect.  Perhaps for this reason the name and her meaning came back to me a few times over the weekend.  As we learned discernment between soul and spirit, her name was mentioned as the night goddess of magic.  Her meaning is all about soul, in the living and the dead.  She stands at the crossroads and is a guide to the underworld. At the end of our group’s time together we got to gaze into Tom’s obsidian mirror to stimulate our intuitions.  The small shiny mirror was passed around from student to student as we said our goodbyes to each other.  I moved about with my reflective image,  finally settling on a shot of the ceiling , which was covered with acoustic tile.   I gazed for a few moments and again Hecate came faintly into my mental focus.  Days later I remembered the image of that cross of the intersecting ceiling tiles.  This time the metaphor of my question as a crossroads, and Hecate is the ruler of the place was clearer.

All decisions are not life or death.  I take from this contemplation on my own soul and spirit the idea that life is finite, but the soul is not.  Hecate is a symbol of darkness, death, and magic.  Called or uncalled, she will be there at the crossroads.

Be Passionate and Determined

May 8, 2013 — 5 Comments

Ninth on the Zappos list of core values is a description of attitude. To be passionate and determined to please customers buying products is one thing, but this means passion to deliver happiness to all concerned.  I just read that the average American employee spends 24% of the time they are paid at work cruising the internet for personal reasons.  The sapping of energy and time that this represents also creates, I think, a big deficit in the happiness quotient. Both individual workers cheating the company out of work, and the ultimate customer experience for the client is cheapened when the employees are feeling cheated themselves.  Sticking to core values that uplift, support and reward the staff has to result in higher fun factors all around.

When I invented Floatli training systems I thought I wanted to teach people how to use them.  I have changed my mind.  Now I want to provide this naturally entertaining and useful aquatic equipment to everyone and let them do whatever they care to do.  I have abandoned the idea of teaching teachers, party because it would mean finding passionate and determined instructors to certify.  I want to present it like a hula hoop or a water gun, something any and everyone can use in the way they like.  The arm floatation units provide security for those as yet uncomfortable in deep water, and the full arm and leg combination is a challenging workout if used as such.  I am passionate and determined to convince Zappos to adopt Floatli as the official company sport.  That is how I picture everyone having the maximum amount of fun. Zappos markets better than anyone, and the product itself provides happiness to those who buy it.  I am determined to get an audition to demonstrate why Floatli and Zappos are an excellent match.  It soon will be hot and nothing will feel better than a romp in cool water.

East Greenwich Preservation Society

May 7, 2013 — 1 Comment

Marion Helwig is president and probably the  hardest worker at the Preservation Society.  I went to learn about my ancestors, and she was loaded with data.  She has the old graves collected in a book with maps.  She goes around asking for donations that are documented with dates and some information from anyone who will give.  She is a busy bee.  I was so lucky to find her on the job and ready to take me on a tour of the jail.  I really appreciate Marion, preserving the history of the town.  I want to return to East Greenwich to do some more exploring and research.  Now I now exactly where to start.  She knows all there is to know, and if not, can direct me.

William Arnold, 11th Great-Grandfather

May 7, 2013 — 2 Comments

I was in Pawtuxet yesterday looking at old houses and graves.  I missed a few, and will probably need to go again.  William Arnold is, no doubt, buried in the old grave yard I was in, but I did not bring all my tree info…too much information. He was another governor of Rhode Island..that makes three in my ancestry, of which I am very proud.

William Arnold (1586 – 1676)
is my 11th great grandfather
Joanna Arnold (1617 – 1692)
daughter of William Arnold
Malachi Rhodes (1650 – 1682)
son of Joanna Arnold
Malachi Rhodes (1676 – 1714)
son of Malachi Rhodes
Dorothy Rhoades (1705 – 1705)
daughter of Malachi Rhodes
MARGARET HAMMETT (1721 – 1753)
daughter of Dorothy Rhoades
Benjamin Sweet (1722 – 1789)
son of MARGARET HAMMETT
Paul Sweet (1762 – 1836)
son of Benjamin Sweet
Valentine Sweet (1791 – 1858)
son of Paul Sweet
Sarah LaVina Sweet (1840 – 1923)
daughter of Valentine Sweet
Jason A Morse (1862 – 1932)
son of Sarah LaVina Sweet
Ernest Abner Morse (1890 – 1965)
son of Jason A Morse
Richard Arden Morse (1920 – 2004)
son of Ernest Abner Morse
Pamela Morse
I am the daughter of Richard Arden Morse

William Arnold (24 June 1587 – c. 1676) was one of the founding settlers of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, and with his sons was among the wealthiest people in the colony. He was raised and educated in England where he was the warden of St. Mary’s, the parish church of Ilchester in southeastern Somerset. In 1635, along with family and associates, he immigrated to New England, where he initially settled inHingham in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, but soon relocated to the new settlement ofProvidence with Roger Williams. He was one of the 13 original proprietors of Providence, appearing on the deed signed by Roger Williams in 1638, and was one of the twelve founding members of the first Baptist church to be established in America.

After living in Providence for about two years, Arnold moved with his family and other relatives and associates to the north side of the Pawtuxet River forming a settlement commonly called Pawtuxet, later a part of Cranston, Rhode Island. He and his fellow settlers had serious disputes with their Warwick neighbors on the south side of the river and as a result separated themselves from the Providence government, putting themselves under the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. This separation from Providence lasted for 16 years, and as the head of the settlement, Arnold was appointed as the keeper of the peace. He died sometime during the great turmoil of King Philip’s Warin 1675 or 1676. Arnold’s son, Benedict Arnold, succeeded Roger Williams as President of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations in 1657, and under the royal charter of 1663 became the first Governor of the colony.

Highly unusual for a 17th century American settler, Arnold began a family record based on entries from the local parish registers in England and brought this with him to New England; this family record would eventually span more than 200 years and six generations. Nearly 300 years after his birth, a fabricated pedigree for Arnold was published, claiming his descent from 12th century kings living in Wales. Three and a half decades later, in 1915, his correct ancestry was published, but not before the misinformation had been printed in an important source for Rhode Island genealogy.

Good Thrift Hunting

May 7, 2013

I am technically on restriction from all thrift stores since I do not need or want anything.  On holiday I do fall off the wagon from time to time, thinking I need a souvenir of the place. Yesterday I discovered a palace of super fly thrift in East Greenwich, RI, where I went to check on my ancestors.  On Main Street, right next to the Town Hall, is  Worth Repeating Consignment Boutique.  I knew right away I had to do it.  I had in mind to find something for my neighbor Heidi to give a a gift, but she has very specific fashion needs.  I asked Arlette Cornwall, the shop curator and owner if she had any chicken specific gear.  It turned out that, tragically, she had just sold a fabulous purse featuring a Rhode Island Red…it would have been the bomb for Heids, because she is so into her chickens.  We also checked out a very cool turban hat that Heidi might have worn, but it was very small and I have no idea about my neighbor’s head size.  Having exhausted the gift search I knew from the feel of the place that I had to succumb to the call of the vintage.  I have only bought one thrift item in the entire two weeks I have been on the Rhode Island rode.  I did score a fun lightweight silk skirt and then hightailed it before I went any deeper. If you are not on restriction from thrift shopping I highly recommend a visit to Worth Repeating.  If you are, well the, like me, you probably need to cheat once in a while in a very worthwhile, and perhaps historical setting.  Arlette is there to make your shopping fun complete.  She knows her stuff and prices things in a very attractive way.  I left town without the graveyard visit to my dead peeps, so I can almost feel myself being drawn back for another visit.  Arlette is a siren..be careful…she can read your mind.