Remember...

Ancestral energy lives in the stars above us, the stones beneath us. Their memory gathers in oceans, rivers and seas. It hums its silent wisdom within the body of every tree.

Wednesday, March 8, 2017

The Mothers That Bore Me

Whitcher sisters Ellen, Harriet, Emma*, & Frances.
Across the country today, women are standing up and stepping forward and being seen. In my heart I am thinking of the women who paved the way for me to be here, walking this earth and living in this beautiful world, fighting to be seen as a person wearing female skin. My thoughts are with the generations that came before me. My heart lives in the daughters and son of my sister and brother, who will inherit this world after me.

The First Generation above me is my mother, still living. She sacrificed a lot to give us a childhood free of worry, no matter what circumstances we found ourselves in. She’s the reason I believe in Santa Claus still. She always encouraged me to dream big. She is a deep well of conversations and dreaming, and she inspires me constantly in the ways she manifests her own dreams into action and gives them life. She instilled in me that the worst thing that can happen is you fail and have to try again, but if you never try, you’ll never win. She’s one of my closest friends and our summer time visits sustain me.

My mother’s mother is still living and my father’s stepmother is still living. Both women have had long, often difficult lives, and have courageously battled cancer. I have seen such bravery and quiet strength in the women I have known, especially my Great-Grandma Elsie. She was a guiding force for me as a child and she continues to be one for me through my dreams. I have to believe that spirit is embodied in some way in the women I never met. This is how I honor them.

Those Who Have Gone Before Me

Second Generation
maternal father’s line
Donna MacDonald (1938-2001) age 62
paternal mother’s line
Ruth Emma Ruston (1916-1959) age 42

Third Generation
maternal mother’s line
Margaret Loretta Burke (1899-1938) age 35
maternal father’s line
Elsie Elizabeth Durant (1904-1994) age 89
paternal mother’s line
Minnie Estelle Wicker (1890-1964) age 73
paternal father’s line
Hattie Eva Smith (1882-1969) age 86

Fourth Generation
maternal mother’s line
Eliza Conners (b.1866)
Katherine S. Pils (1871-1946) age 74
maternal father’s line
Emma Louise Burnah (1869-1939) age 69
Frances Gillette (1877-1963) age 85
paternal mother’s line
Emma Angeline Whitcher (1845-1929) age 83 [*photo above]
Ruth Ireland (1861-1940) age 78
paternal father’s line
Hattie Eva Dutcher (1857-1882) age 24 in childbirth
Theresa Cordelia Tenney (1850-1930) age 79

Fifth Generation
maternal mother’s line
Ellen unknown (b.1836)
Mary Dowd (b.1834)
Mary Burzee
Katherine Maria Schmeelk (d.1901) –or- Ana Catherine Blume (1833-1901) age 68
maternal father’s line
Jane Berry (1841-1901) age 59
Rosella LaValley (1843-1921) age 77
Sarah Clickner (1830-1876) age 45
paternal mother’s line
Ordelia De Lozier (1810-1888) age 77
Cynthia Lusk (1819-1888) age 68
Phoebe Lenton (1826-1887) age 60
Anna Richardson (b.1822)
paternal father’s line
Eliza Marsh Bird (1837-1926) age 88
Sophia Sears (1829-1909) age 79
Malvina H. Targee (1829-1852) age 23
Hannah Ann Treadwell (1817-1884) age 66

Sixth Generation
maternal mother’s line
Wilhemenia Wernersbach (b.1798 GER-US)
Ann unknown
Betsey unknown
maternal father’s line
Esther LaLonde (1811 PQ-1894 US) age 83
Rosella LaRoche (1805-1871) age 65
Elizabeth Ann Hill (1825-1899) age 73
Mary Ann Boots (1825-1899) age 73
Mary Ann Hayner (b.1793)
Abigail Chaffee (d.1829)
paternal mother’s line
Lucy Raymond (1789-1874) age 84 [**photo below]
Dorcas Kittredge (1774-1828) age 53
Rebecca unknown
Chloe Morgan (1792-1850) age 58
Mary Wilson (b.1785)
Jane Brooks (b.1794)
paternal father’s line
Irene Pond Marsh (b.1803)
Cynthia Ann Feagles (1814-1890) age 75
Clarissa DeBois (1806-1873) age 67
Betsey unknown
Ellen S. unknown
Esther unknown
Fermicy ‘Fanny’ Peters (1798-1875) age 77
Lucy Gould (1777-1840) age 62

Seventh Generation
maternal father’s line
Marie Amable Langevin (1795-1840) age 44
Gertrude Dixon (1783-1855) age 71
Harriet Gower (1806-1886) age 80
Abigail Hannah (b.1780)
Elizabeth Weager (d.1844)
Engle ‘Angelica’ Coonradt (1746-1833) age 87
Deborah unknown
Mary/Polly Thomas (b.1760)
paternal mother’s line
Lucy Richmond (1755-1841) age 86
Eleanor Erkells (1767-1789) age 22
Mary ‘Molly’ Bailey (1730-1815) age 85
Elizabeth Dow (1735-1776) age 41
Mary A. ‘Polly’ unknown (1795-1895) age 100
Susannah Parker (1750-1825) age 75
Elizabeth Wright (b.1748)
paternal father’s line
Mary ‘Polly’ Coleman
Jane “Jennie” Palmer (1762-1815) age 52
Abigail Andrews (b.1776)
Abigail Darby (1765-1837) age 72
Delilah unknown
Anne Arnold (1752-1833) age 81
Hepsibah Skiff (1733-1800) age 66

Eighth Generation
maternal father’s line
Amable DuClos (1766-1795) age 29
Marie Agathe Charland (1751-1800) age 48
Nancy Machet (1767-1844) age 76
Margaret Anthony (1773-1819) age 46
Mary Glyde (1760-1812) age 52
Mary Calhoun (1732-1798) age 65
Julianna Merchant
Rhoda Cady (1739-1799) age 60
Rebekah Moulton (b.1742)
paternal mother’s line
Hannah Caswell (1729-1756) age 27
Elizabeth Blackmer (1716-1765) age 49
Fytje Sophia Zabriski (b.1707)
Sarah Fowle (1696-1739) age 43
Martha Hanniford (b.1721)
Jemima Davis (1706-1753) age 47
Jane Pearson (1724-1811) age 87
Abiah Washburn (1726-1812) age 86
Elizabeth unknown
Elizabeth Porter (b.1715)
paternal father’s line
Silence/Celenia Lyon (1755-1821) age 65
Jemima VanDeusen (1744-1831) age 87
Helena “Lina” Eleanor Van Deusen (1713-1769) age 55
Susannah Townsend (1740-1782) age 42
Lucretia Cleveland (1736-1824) age 88
Mary Bingham (1734-1821) age 87
Tabitha Luther (d.1746)
Elizabeth Brooks (1731-1815) age 84
Elizabeth Hatch (1697-1743) age 46
Elizabeth Parker (1700-1739) age 38

Ninth Generation
maternal father’s line
Marie Agathe Bourgault (b.1745)
Marie Madeleine Coulon (1732-1799) age 66
Katherine Coe (1700-1732) age 31
Margaret unknown
Mercy Smith (1720-1793) age 72
Abigail Lee (1703-1782) age 79
Jemima Chadwick (1686-1759) age 73
Rebekah Walker (1717-1802) age 84
paternal mother’s line
Elizabeth Barney (1691-1757) age 66
Mehitable Deane (1697-1745) age 48
Mary Mercy Brickett (1698-1725) age 27
Deborah Balch (1693-1717) age 24
Antje Terhune (1681-1758) age 77
Tryntie Catherine Slote (1671-1708) age 36
Susanna Blaney (1673-1711) age 38
Hannah French (1664-1755) age 91
Jemima Eastman (1677-1760) age 83
Mary Hoyt (1664-1723) age 59
Jane P. Noyes (1704-1773) age 69
Sarah Lillie (1702-1775) age 73
Hannah Johnson (1694-1780) age 86
Rebekah unknown
Sarah unknown
paternal father’s line
Lydia Perry (1729-1763) age 33
Lena Vosburgh (b.1714)
Rachel Fowler (1702-1780) age 78
Jacomyntje VanSchoonhoven (1678-1777) age 79
Jannetje Hendrickse Bondt (1677-1721) age 44
Huldah Hopkins (d.1731)
Desire Tobey (1707-1781) age 74
Dorothy/Deborah Hyde (1702-1769) age 67
Elizabeth Spaulding (1698-1770) age 72
Ruth Post (1711-1796) age 85
Abigail Wood (1700-1776) age 76
Ann Coggeshall (1699-1726) age 25
Mary Bateman (1696-1726) age 22
Priscilla Bateman (1687-1730) age 43
Amy Allen (1663-1709) age 46
Hepsibah Codman (1658-1696) age 38
Thankful Hemingway (1668-1736) age 68
Lydia Gay (1679-1748) age 68


I am that they were.
**Lucy Richmond, married DeLozier, my 4x great-grandma and one of the oldest generational photos we have.

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