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.

They Came Across the Ocean, My Immigrant Ancestors

I am an English mutt. But don’t let the fact that they kept diligent records fool you. For as many names as you see here, there were so many more lines I could not trace out of America- I don’t have the international access to records on Ancestry. I am an equal opportunity mutt, mostly English and French and Dutch and Irish and German and Scottish.

Who are the people that gave this blood to me? The ones who travelled to an unknown world with little more than their bones and breath? They travelled across the ocean to an unknown world. They came with no guarantee of homes waiting for them. They came with what they could carry. They came across the ocean with hope and promise as their wealthiest possessions. I know from my research that they came as hired men, soldiers and freemen. They came as young girls, wives and mothers. They were all farmers and healers and teachers. They were what they had to be. They came across the ocean for freedom, for a chance.

I am,

that they were,

that they are,

that they will be.

I did a meditation this week where I copied all of their names and life information down into a notebook, and then typed it into the computer. It was an accidental meditation. It started as a necessity. But those names are etched into my skin memory.
I offer you the 261 names of my known immigrant ancestors. When I think about all of these names and how they belonged to people who lived and worked and loved and died, it is overwhelming. With the loss of just one of them, I would not be here. I call on them for strength in hard times.

I am Sarah Lyn,

Daughter of Margaret,

Daughter of Patricia,

Daughter of Margaret Loretta,

Daughter of Eliza,

Daughter of Mary, an immigrant from Ireland.

These are the names of those who immigrated before me, all crossing the Atlantic Ocean by boat:

My paternal grandfather’s line…

• [8x] James Skiffe (1610 Chelsea, London ENG – 1687 Sandwich, Barnstable MA) & Mary Margaret Reeves (1616 Chelsea, London ENG – 1673 Sandwich, Barnstable MA)
• [8x] Jonathan Hatch (1625 Sandwich, Kent ENG – 1710 Falmouth, Barnstable MA)
• [8x] Jan Willemszen de Duitscher (~1642 Einigen, Brabant NETH – 1689 Marbletown, Ulster NY)
• [8x] Guert Hendrickse VanSchoonhoven (~1634 Schoonhoven NETH – 1702 Halve Mann, Ulster NY)
• [9x] John Eaton (1611 Dover, Kent ENG - 1658 Dedham, Norfolk MA) & Abigail Gilson (1600 Faversham, Kent ENG – 1658 Dedham, Norfolk MA); they came to America in 1635.
• [9x] John Gay (born before 1612 Ashford, Kent ENG – 1687 Dedham, Norfolk MA) & Joanna Borden (born before 1612 Ashford, Kent ENG – 1691 Dedham, Norfolk MA); John crossed from Plymouth, England to Watertown, Massachusetts in 1630 at the age of 14. Joanna arrived at Watertown, Massachusetts in 1635.
• [9x] John B. Starr (1626 Ashford, Kent ENG – 1711 Boston, Suffolk MA) & Martha Bunker (1627 Odell, Bedfordshire ENG – 1703 Boston, Suffolk MA); she immigrated in 1634 with her parents.
• [9x] Robert Parker (1602 St. Edmunds, Suffolk ENG – 1685 Cambridge, Middlesex MA) & Judith Bugbee (1602 ENG – 1682 Cambridge, Middlesex MA)
• [9x] Thomas Hatch (~1598 ENG – before 1661 Yarmouth, Barnstable MA) & Grace <unknown> (~1608 WALES – ~1668 Eastham, Barnstable MA)
• [9x] Henry Rowley (1598 Parham, London ENG – 1673 Falmouth, Barnstable MA) & Sarah Palmer (1609 Parham, London ENG – before 1633 Falmouth, Barnstable MA); he immigrated in 1632.
• [9x] Samuel Allen (1596 Braintree, Essex ENG – 1669 Braintree, Norfolk MA)
• [9x] Sarah Tracy (1624 Holland, NETH – 1708 Duxbury, Plymouth MA)
• [9x] Edward Hazen (1614 Cadney, Lincolnshire ENG – 1683 Rowley, Essex MA) & Hannah Grant (1631 Cottingham, Yorkshire ENG – 1715 Haverhill, Essex MA); he immigrated in 1647.
• [9x] Thomas Crosby (1635 Spaulding Moor, Yorkshire ENG – 1702 Boston, Suffolk MA) & Sarah Ffytche / Fitch (1631 Bocking, Essex ENG – 1719 Fairfield, Fairfield CT)
• [9x] Wilhelm Jansen de Duitscher (1615 Einigen, Brabant NETH – 1673 Kingston, Ulster NY)
• [9x] Cornelis Leenderts (1615 Einigen, Brabant NETH – 1666 Long Island, Queens NY)
• [9x] Abraham Pietersen VanDeursen (1607 Holland, Noord-Brabant NETH – 1678 Albany NY) & Tryntje Melchoirs (1611 Groningen, Groningen NETH – 1678 NY, NY)
• [10x] William Gilson (1572 Freeing, Kent ENG – 1639 Scituate, Plymouth MA) & Hanah Tower (1577 Faversham, Kent ENG – 1649 Scituate, Plymouth MA)
• [10x] Comfort Starr (1589 Cranbrook, Kent ENG – 1659 Boston, Suffolk MA) & Elizabeth Mitchell (1590 ENG – 1658 Boston, Suffolk MA)
• [10x] George Bunker (1600 Bengeo, Hertfordshire ENG – 1664 Malden, Middlesex MA) & Judith Major (1604 Odell, Bedfordshire ENG – 1646 Charlestown, Suffolk MA); they immigrated in 1634 with their daughter Martha.
• [10x] William Palmer (1587 Parham, London ENG – 1637 Duxbury, Plymouth MA) & Frances Blossom (1591 Parham, London ENG – 1635 Duxbury, Plymouth MA)
• [10x] Benedict Arnold, Sr. (1615 Ilchester, Somerset ENG – 1678 RI) & Damaris Westcott (1621 ENG – after 1678 RI); he immigrated in 1635 at age 19 to Hingham MA. At the time of his death he was the Governor of Rhode Island. His son is the more famously known as a traitor of the Revolutionary War. So much so that his name became a synonym for it- my 9x great-uncle.
• [10x] Thomas Lawton (1614 Bedfordshire ENG – 1681 Portsmouth, Newport RI) & Elizabeth Salisbury (ENG – 1654 RI)
• [10x] Thomas Tenney (1615 Great Limber, Lincolnshire ENG – 1700 Rowley, Essex MA) & Ann Mighill (~1618 Rowley, Yorkshire ENG – 1657 Rowley, Essex MA); he immigrated in 1638.
• [10x] John Boynton (1614 Knapton, Wintringham, Yorkshire ENG – 1669 Rowley, Essex MA)
• [10x] Jonathan Hyde (1626 London ENG – 1711 Newton, Middlesex MA) & Mary French (1632 ENG – 1672 Newton, Middlesex MA)
• [10x] James Kidder (1626 East Grinstead, Sussex ENG – 1676 Billerica, Middlesex MA)
• [10x] Richard Sears (1590 Amsterdam NETH – 1696 Yarmouth, Barnstable MA) & Dorothy Jones (1603 Dinder, Somerset ENG – 1677 Yarmouth, Barnstable MA)
• [10x] Thomas Bird (1613 ENG – 1667 Dorchester, Boston MA) & Anne <unknown> (1617 ENG – 1673 Dorchester, Boston MA)
• [10x] Richard Williams (1606 Magna Witcombe ENG – 1662 Taunton, Bristol MA) & Frances Dighton (1611 Gloucester, Gloucestershire ENG – 1703 Taunton, Bristol MA); they immigrated in 1636, and lost their first son at sea.
• [10x] Capt. Roger Clapp (1609 Salcombe Regis, Devon ENG – 1691 Boston, Suffolk MA) & Joanna/Joan Ford (1617 Dorchester, Dorset ENG – 1695 Boston, Suffolk MA); they immigrated in 1630 on the Mary & John.
• [10x] Mary Dyer (1620 ENG – 1710 Dorchester, Boston MA); she immigrated in 1630 on the Mary & John.
• [10x] Simon Crosby (1608 Holme-on-Spaulding-Moor, Yorkshire ENG – 1639 Cambridge, Middlesex MA) & Ann Brigham (1607 Holme-Upon-Spalding-Moor, Yorkshire ENG – 1672 Quincy, Norfolk MA)
• [11x] Thomas Mighill (1575 York, Yorkshire ENG – 1654 Rowley, Essex MA) & Ellen <unknown> (1578 York, Yorkshire ENG – 1640 Rowley, Essex MA)
• [11x] Elizabeth Jackson-Boynton (1581 Wintringham, Yorkshire ENG – 1651 Salisbury, Essex MA)
• [11x] Elizabeth Jackson (1581 Wintringham, Yorkshire ENG – 1651 Salisbury, Essex MA)
• [11x] Joseph Bell/Pell (1599 ENG – 1650 Boston, Suffolk MA) & Elizabeth James Wright (1606 Hareby, Lincolnshire ENG – 1643 Boston, Suffolk MA)
• [11x] Francis Moore (1592 Maldon, Essex ENG – 1671 Newbury, Essex MA)
• [11x] Thomas Ford (1589 Bridport, Dorset ENG – 1676 Northampton, Hampshire MA) & Elizabeth Chard Cooke (1589 Bridport, Dorset ENG – 1643 Windsor, Hartford CT); they immigrated in 1630 on the Mary & John.
• [11x] Robert Pond (1597 Groton, Suffolk ENG – 1637 Dorchester, Boston MA) & Mary <unknown> (1596 Suffolk ENG – 1637 Dorchester, Boston MA)
• [11x] George Dyer (1579 Dorcester, Dorset ENG – 1672 Dorchester, Boston MA) & Elizabeth Capen (1580 Dorcester, Dorset ENG – before 1636 MA); he and his wife immigrated in 1630 on the Mary & John. George was employed as a weaver.
• [11x] Edward Wood (1598 Norwich, Norfolk ENG – 1642 Charlestown, Suffolk MA) & Ruth Lee (1602 Norwich, Norfolk ENG – 1642 Charlestown, Suffolk MA); he was a baker.
• [11x] William Hunt (1604 Halifax, Yorkshire ENG – 1667 Marlborough, Middlesex MA) & Elizabeth Best (1607 Halifax, Yorkshire ENG – 1661 Concord, Middlesex MA)
• [11x] Francis Moore (1592 Maldon, Essex ENG – 1671 Newberry, Essex MA)
• [11x] Thomas Crosby (1575 Holme-on-Spaulding-Moor, Yorkshire ENG – 1661 Rowley, Essex MA) & Jane Southron (1581 Holme-on-Spaulding-Moor, Yorkshire ENG – 1662 Rowley, Essex MA)
• [12x] William Jackson (1585 Hunsley, Yorkshire ENG – 1688 Rowley, Essex MA) & Joan <unknown> (1617 Rowley, Essex ENG – 1680 Rowley, Essex MA)

My paternal grandmother’s line…

• [2x] Charles Evan Ruston (1847 Chatteris, Cambridgeshire ENG – 1933 Niagara County NY) & Ruth Ireland (1861 Doddington, Cambridgeshire ENG – 1940 Niagara County NY); Charles was from a wealthy family and Ruth was a maid in another home. They married for love in 1881 and he was disowned, and they immediately left for America. 
• [7x] William Wicker (1690 Seaton, Devon ENG – 1769 Leicester, Worcester MA)
• [8x] Thomas Whittier (1620 Millchill, Wiltshire ENG – 1696 Haverhill, Essex MA) & Ruth Rolfe Green (1626 White Parish, Wiltshire ENG – 1710 Haverhill, Essex MA); he immigrated April 1638.
• [8x] Capt. John Kittredge (1630 Oulton, Lowestoft, Suffolk ENG – 1676 Billerica, Middlesex MA) ; John was a ship captain known for his ability to set bones and he practiced his art without a medical license, which was illegal, so he was forced to flee to America to avoid prosecution.
• [8x] John French (1635 Halstead, Essex ENG – 1712 Billerica, Middlesex MA)
• [8x] Francois LeSueur (1625 Challe-Mesnil, Dieppe, Normandy, FR – 1671 Harlem, NY) & Jannatje Pietersen Hildbrand (1639 Reusel de Mierden, Amsterdam NETH – 1678 Kingston, Ulster NY); he immigrated in 1657 with his sister Jeanne. He was a Huguenot refugee and a civil engineer who helped design New Haarlem.
• [8x] Albrecht Zabriskie (1637 PRUSSIA/POLAND – 1711 Hackensack, Bergen NJ); he immigrated in 1662 on the Fox, fleeing from involuntary military service. Papers state he was from Eastern Silesia.
• [8x] Hendrickje Stephense Van Voorhees (1659 Hees NETH – 1692 Hackensack NJ); female.
• [9x] John Winslow (1597 Kempsey, Wocestershire ENG – 1674 Boston, Suffolk MA) & Mary Chilton (1607 Sandwich, Kent ENG – 1679 Boston, Suffolk MA); he arrived on the Fortune in 1621. She arrived on the Mayflower in 1620 as the youngest passenger. Both her parents died the first winter and lore says she was the first passenger to step on land. He was brother to the famous Mayflower Separatist, Edward Winslow.
• [9x] Sgt. Humphrey Johnson (1620 London, Middlesex ENG – 1693 Hingham, Suffolk MA)
• [9x] John Leavitt (1608 Beverly, Yorkshire ENG – 1691 Hingham, Suffolk MA) & Sarah Gilman (1622 Hingham, Norfolk ENG – 1700 Hingham, Suffolk MA)
• [9x] Hannah Smith (1638 ENG - 1666 Reading, Middlesex MA)
• [9x] Deacon John Pearson Sr. (1609 York, Yorkshire ENG – 1693 Rowley, Essex MA) & Dorcas Pickard (1621 Holme-on-Spaulding-Moor, Yorkshire ENG – 1702 Rowley, Essex MA)
• [9x] Daniel Thurston (1631 Cransbrook, Kent ENG – 1693 Newbury, Essex MA)
• [9x] Thomas Thurlo (1632 Holme-on-Spaulding-Moor, Yorkshire ENG – 1713 Newbury, Essex MA)
• [9x] John Rolfe (1589 White Parish, Wiltshire ENG – 1664 Newbury, Essex MA) & Joane Coles (1591 White Parish, Wiltshire ENG – 1638 Newbury, Essex MA)
• [9x] Francis Littlefield (1619 ENG – 1712 Wells, York ME) & Jane Hill (1619 ENG – 1646 Woburn, Middlesex MA)
• [9x] William French (1603 Halstead, Essex ENG – 1681 Billerica, Middlesex MA) & Elizabeth Godfrey (1605 ENG – 1668 MA)
• [9x] George Fowle (1610 Sandhurst, Kent ENG – 1682 Charlestown, Suffolk MA) & Mary Tufts (1613 Concord, Middlesex ENG – 1676 Charlestown, Suffolk MA)
• [9x] Capt. John Carter (1616 ENG – 1692 Woburn, Middlesex MA) & Elizabeth Kendall (1613 Hereford, Herefordshire ENG – 1691 Woburn, Middlesex MA)
• [9x] Hilldebrand Pietersen (1613 Amsterdam, Noord-Holland NETH – 1639 New Amsterdam NY) & Femmetje Albertse (1615 Noord-Holland NETH – 1667 Kingston, Ulster NY)
• [9x] Joost Huybertszen Vander Linde (1635 Wageningen NETH – New Amsterdam NY) & Fytje Roelofse Van Gelder (NETH – New Amsterdam NY); he was in America by 1661.
• [9x] John Washburn (1621 Worchestershire ENG – 1686 Plymouth MA)
• [9x] Robert Latham (~1623 ENG – before 1689 Plymouth MA); he showed himself to be a bad man. There will be a separate post about him later.
• [9x] Humphrey Johnson (1622 ENG – 1693 Plymouth MA) & Ellen/Eleanor Cheney/Chaney (1620 ENG – 1678 Plymouth MA)
• [9x] William Raymond (1637 St. Johns, Somerset ENG – 1709 Beverly, Essex MA); immigrated in 1651.
• [9x] John Kettle (1621 ENG – 1685 Salem, Essex MA)
• [9x] John Balch (1604 Kilmington, Somerset ENG – 1648 Salem, Essex MA) & Margery Lovett (1603 Wells, Somerset ENG – 1682 Beverly, Essex MA)
• [9x] William Blackmore (1640 Northam, Devon ENG – 1676 Scituate, Plymouth MA); he was slain by Indians in a raid.
• [9x] John Richmond (1627 Amesbury, Wiltshire ENG – 1715 Taunton, Bristol MA)
• [9x] Walter Deane (1612 Chard, Somerset ENG – 1693 Taunton, Bristol MA) & Eleanor Strong (1613 Chard, Somerset ENG – 1693 Taunton, Bristol MA); he worked as a tanner.
• [9x] Thomas Casswell (Somersetshire ENG – 1697 Taunton, Bristol MA); he was in America by 1643.
• [9x] William Throop (1636 Nottingham, Nottinghamshire ENG – 1704 Bristol RI)
• [10x] Francis Cooke (1583 Kent ENG – 1663 Plymouth MA) & Hester Le Mathieu (1582 Caterbury ENG – 1666 Plymouth MA); he immigrated on the Mayflower with his oldest son in 1620. She arrived in 1623 on the Anne. She was a French-speaking Walloon. Her family was originally from Belgium.
• [10x] John Johnson (1595 River Lee ENG – 1659 Roxbury, Boston MA) & Margery Scudder (Darenthe ENG – 1655 Roxbury, Boston MA)
• [10x] Edward Lillie (ENG – America) immigrated in 1635 on the George.
• [10x] James Chilton (1560 Canterbury, Kent ENG – 1620 Cape Cod MA) & Mrs. Chilton (1564 Canterbury, Kent ENG – 1621 Plymouth Bay MA); they arrived on the Mayflower in 1620 with their 12 year-old daughter. He was the oldest passenger and one of the first to die during winter aboard the ship. She also died the first winter aboard the ship.
• [10x] William Cheney (1603 Lambourn, Berkshire ENG – 1667 Roxbury, Suffolk MA)
• [10x] Percival Levitt II (1580 Beverly, Yorkshire ENG – 1691 Hingham, Suffolk MA) & Margaret Linkley (1589 Beverly, Yorkshire ENG – 1691 Hingham, Suffolk MA)
• [10x] Edward Gilman (1587 Hingham, Norfolkshire ENG – 1655 Exeter, Rockingham NH) & Mary Clark (1590 Hingham, Norfolkshire ENG – 1681 Hingham, Suffolk MA); they immigrated in 1638.
• [10x] Deacon Thomas Parker (1609 Browsholme, Wiltshire ENG – 1683 Reading, Middlesex MA)
• [10x] Deacon Thomas Kendall (1614 ENG – 1681 Reading, Middlesex MA) & Rebecca Paine (1618 ENG – 1703 Reading, Middlesex MA)
• [10x] Edward Littlefield (ENG – MA) & Annis Austin (1596 Exeter, Devon ENG – 1678 Wells, York ME)
• [10x] Peter Tufts (1589 Wilby, Norfolk ENG – 1700 Charlestown, Suffolk MA)
• [10x] Thomas Carter (ENG – 1652 Charlestown, Suffolk MA) & Mary Parkhurst Dalton (1582 ENG – 1665 Charlestown, Suffolk MA)
• [10x] Edward Bishop (1620 ENG – 1646 Salem, Essex MA); immigrated in 1639.
• [10x] William Allen (1602 Allen Hall, Stratford WALES – 1679 Manchester, Essex MA); immigrated 1639.
• [10x] Richard Banks (1607 Dover, Kent ENG – 1692 York, York ME)
• [10x] Daniel Hovey (1618 Waltham Abbey, Essex ENG – 1692 Ipswich, Essex MA); immigrated 1635.
• [10x] John Richmond (1594 Crichlade, Wiltshire ENG – 1663 Taunton, Bristol MA) & Elizabeth Nicholas (1596 Camden, Berkshire ENG – 1642 Taunton, Bristol MA); immigrated 1637.
• [10x] John Rogers (1606 Watford, Hertfordshire ENG – 1692 Duxbury, Plymouth MA) & Anna Churchman (1618 Huntington, Hertfordshire ENG – 1673 Plymouth MA)
• [10x] Jacob Barney (1601 Bradenham, Breham ENG – 1673 Salem, Essex MA) & Elizabeth Catesby (1605 Buckingham ENG – 1673 Salem, Essex MA)
• [10x] John Witt (1612 ENG – 1675 Lynn, Essex MA) & Sarah <unknown> (1616 ENG – 1680 Lynn, Essex MA)
• [10x] Ralph Chapman (1615 Southwark, Surrey ENG – 1672 Marshfield, Plymouth MA) & Lydia Willis (1618 ENG – 1671 Marshfield, Plymouth MA)
• [11x] Lawrence John Cheney (1566 Lambourn, Berkshire ENG – 1643 Roxbury, Suffolk MA)
• [11x] Sir Edward Bishop (1601 Sussex, Suffolk ENG – 1695 Beverly, Essex MA) & Sarah Wildes (1601 ENG – 1673 Beverly, Essex MA); they immigrated in 1639.
• [11x] John Moore (1614 ENG – 1677 Windsor, Hartford CT) & Abigail Pinney (1618 ENG – 1677 Windsor, Hartford CT)
• [11x] John Bradley (1578 Gloucester, Essex ENG – 1642 Dorchester, Suffolk MA) & Katherine Bexwicke (1596 Gloucester, Essex ENG – 1633 Dorchester, Suffolk MA)
• [11x] Robert Andrews (1560 Hastings ENG – 1643 Ipswitch, Essex MA) & Elizabeth Franklin (1572 Suffolk ENG – 1671 Ipswitch, Essex MA); he immigrated in 1635.
• [11x] Robert Andrews (1593 Hastings, Sussex ENG – 1643 Ipswich, Essex MA) & Elizabeth Franklin (1595 Of, Suffolk ENG – 1671 Ipswich, Essex MA)
• [11x] Thomas Rogers (1572 Watford, Hertfordshire ENG – 1621 Plymouth MA); Thomas arrived on the Mayflower in 1620. He died in January aboard the boat. His wife remained in the Netherlands.
• [11x] Hugh Churchman (1592 Broomehall, Sussex ENG – 1644 Lynn, Essex MA) & Anne Mary Whistance (1596 Huntington ENG – Lynn, Essex MA)
• [11x] Isaac Willis/Welles (1595 Welches Dam, Cambridgeshire ENG – 1671 Barnstable MA) & Margaret Luce (1599 ENG – 1675 Barnstable MA); he immigrated in 1638.
• [11x] Thomas Moore (1584 ENG – 1645 Windsor, Hartford CT) & Elizabeth Young (1588 Southwold, Suffolk ENG – 1639 Windsor, Hartford CT)
• [12x] Thomas Moore (ENG – 1645 Windsor, Hartford CT) & Elizabeth Young (1588 Southwold, Suffolk ENG – 1639 Windsor, Hartford CT)
• [12x] Humphrey Pinney (1588 ENG – 1683 Windsor, Hartford CT) & Mary/Marie Hull (1596 ENG – 1684 Windsor, Hartford CT); she immigrated in 1630.
• [13x] Sir George Hull (~1580 Crewkerne, Somerset ENG – 1659 Windsor, Hartford CT) & Thomasina/Thamzin Mitchell (~1580 Stockland, Bristol ENG – 1655 Fairfield CT)
• [14x] Richard Elwin/Elvin (1555 Southwold, Suffolk ENG – 1647 Boston, Suffolk MA)

My maternal grandfather’s line…

• [3x] Albert Durant (1841 Quebec PQ – 1920 Chittendon VT) & Rosella LaValley (1843 Providence PQ – 1921 Burlington, Chittendon VT); he immigrated in 1850.
• [4x] Francois Xavier Lavalle (1818 LaPrairie PQ – 1889 Dannemora, Clinton NY) & Rosella LaRoche (1805 Lacolle PQ – 1871 Burlington, Chittendon VT)
• [5x] Josiah Boots (1796 Ewhurst, Sussex ENG – 1873 Royalton NY) & Harriet Gower (1806 Sussex ENG – 1886 Royalton NY); her parents were Welsh.
• [5x] Thomas Berry (1782 IRELAND – 1818 Mayfield, Fulton NY)
• [5x] Alexis Lavallee (1793 Chambly PQ – 1868 Rouses Point, Clinton NY)
• [6x] Thomas Riddle/Ridel (1739 Tyrone Co IRE – 1809 Monson, Hampden MA); he immigrated in 1758.
• [6x] John Berry (1762 IRELAND – 1820 Mayfield, Fulton NY) & Nancy Machet (1767 IRE – 1844 Mayfield, Fulton NY)    
• [7x] Baltus Goedemoet (1722 NETH – died in America)
• [7x] David Calhoun (1690 Donegal IRE or SCOTLAND – 1769 Washington, Litchfield CT)
• [8x] William Calhoun (1664 Crosh House, Donegal IRE – 1752 CT) & Alice Cunningham (1670 Donegal IRE – 1712 CT)
• [9x] Nicholas La Groves (1645 Isle of Jersey – 1701 Beverly, Essex MA); he was a Huguenot refugee.
• [9x] Thomas Chaffee (1610 Stepney, Middlesex ENG – 1683 Swansea, Bristol MA) & Dorothy Thomas (1620 ENG – 1683 Swansea, Bristol MA); immigrated 1635.
• [9x] Richard Martin (1609 Ottery, Devonshire ENG – 1694 Rehoboth, Bristol MA) & Elizabeth Salter (1616 Bicton, Devon ENG – 1649 Rehoboth, Bristol MA); immigrated 1659.
• [9x] Isaac Etienne Paquet dit Lavallee (1636 Clermont FR – 1702 Montmorency PQ); he crossed in 1665 as a soldier in LaMotte’s regiment. He helped clear roads, protect the civilians, and build multiple forts in what would become Quebec.
• [10x] Robert Moulton (1616 ENG – 1665 Salem, Essex MA) & Abigail Goode (1620 St. Helen, London ENG – 1666 Salem, Essex MA)
• [10x] Henry Francis Cooke, Sr. (1615 Doncaster, Yorkshire ENG – 1661 Salem, Essex MA) & Judith Anne Birdsall (1616 Yorkshire ENG – 1689 Salem, Essex MA); he immigrated in 1638 at the age of 22. She immigrated in 1635.
• [10x] Deacon Henry Baldwin (1623 Aston Clinton, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire ENG – 1698 Woburn, Middlesex MA)
• [10x] Obadiah Ward (1632 Clerkenwell, London ENG – 1718 Marlborough, Middlesex MA)
• [10x] Jeremiah Gillett (1608 Chaffcombe, Somerset ENG – after 1650 CT); he immigrated in 1630.
• [10x/11x] Thomas Wheeler (1620 Bourne End, Wooburn, Buckinghamshire ENG – 1676 Concord, Middlesex MA); he immigrated in 1637.
• [10x] Richard Holbrook (1618 Glastonbury,Somerset ENG – 1670 Milford, New Haven CT)
• [10x] John Smith (~1600 Hertfordshire ENG – 1684 Milford, New Haven CT) 
• [10x] Edward Lee (1610 Stoke Canon, Devon ENG – Windsor, Hartford CT) & Elizabeth Kelland (1610 ENG - Windsor, Hartford CT)
• [10x] Stephen Hart (1614 Ipswich, Suffolk ENG – 1683 Farmington, Hartford CT) & Elizabeth Symons (1617 Barnstable, Devon ENG – 1678 Farmington, Hartford CT)
• [10x] John Warner, Sr. (1615 Chelmsford, Essex ENG – 1679 Farmington, Hartford CT) & Margaret Earley (1614 Bishops Stortford, Hertfordshire ENG – 1679 Farmington, Hartford CT)
• [10x] Thomas Canfield (1623 Hitchin, Hertfordshire ENG – 1689 Milford, New Haven CT) & Phebe Crane (1626 ENG – 1690 Milford, New Haven CT)
• [10x] Nathaniel Briscoe (~1624 Little Missendon, Buckinghamshire ENG – 1683 Milford, New Haven CT)
• [10x] Mathurin Paquet (1610 Clermont FR – 1678 Chauteau-Richer PQ) & Marie Freemillion (1619 Poiton FR – ~1670 St. Jean de Montaigne PQ)
• [10x] ‘Joseph’ Mathurin Meunier/Lemonier (1619 Clermont FR – 1676 Chauteau-Richer PQ) & Francoise Fafard (1624 Argences FR – 1701 Beaupre PQ)
• [11x] Robert Moulton (1590 Southwark, Middlesex ENG – 1655 Salem, Essex MA) & Deborah Edwards (1599 Eastern ENG – 1656 Charlestown, Essex MA); Robert was hired by the English Company to build ships in New England. He and his wife crossed aboard the George Bonaventure in 1629.
• [11x] John Goode (1587 Ipswich, Suffolk ENG – 1609 Salem, Essex MA) & Abigail Downing (1590 Ipswich, Suffolk ENG – 1665 Salem, Essex MA)
• [11x] Edmund Cooke (1568 Northclay, Canterbury, Kent ENG – 1619 Salem, Essex MA) & Elizabeth Nicholls (1573 Northclay, Canterbury, Kent ENG – 1632 Salem, Essex MA)
• [11x] Henry Birdsall (1578 Birdsall, Yorkshire ENG – 1651 Salem, Essex MA) & Judith Agnes Kempe (1589 Walbrook, London ENG – 1632 Salem, Essex MA)
• [11x] Michael Sallows (1596 Shadingfield, Suffolk ENG – 1646 Salem, Essex MA) & Ann Wilson (1598 Bletchley, Buckinghamshire ENG – 1646 Salem, Essex MA)
• [11x] Peter Wolfe (1606 ENG – 1675 Beverly, Essex MA) & Mary <unknown> (1610 ENG – 1657 MA)
• [11x] Capt. Richard Walker (1592 Marlborough, Wiltshire ENG – 1687 Lynn, Essex MA) & Jane Talmage (ENG – Lynn, Essex MA); she and her husband immigrated in 1630. He was a soldier.
• [11x] Ezekial Richardson (1606 Hertfordshire ENG – 1647 Woburn, Middlesex MA)
• [11x] William Ward (1603 Warrington, Cheshire ENG – 1687 Marlboro, Middlesex MA) & Elizabeth Phillipus (1613 ENG – 1700 Marlboro, Middlesex MA); she and her husband immigrated in 1638.
• [11x] Andrew Warner (1595 Great Waltham, Essex ENG – 1692 Hatfield, Hampshire MA) & Mary Humphrey (1601 Great Waltham, Essex ENG – 1672 Hadley, Hampshire MA)
• [11x] Jeremiah Gillette (~1610 Chaffcombe ENG – Dorchester MA); he came to America on the Mary & John in 1630.
• [11x] Thomas Canfield (1596 Hitchin, Hertfordshire ENG – 1679 Milford, New Haven CT)
• [11x] Jasper Crane (1599 London, Middlesex ENG – 1680 Newark, Essex NJ) & Agnes Leave (1608 Bath, Somerset ENG – 1675 Newark, Essex NJ)

My maternal grandmother’s line…

• [3x] Adam Art/Arth (1828 Hesse-Darmstadt GERMANY – 1896 Pendleton NY); immigrated with his mother and brothers on the Columbia in 1853. His wife is either Ana Catherine Blume or Katherine Maria Schmeelk, both of whom immigrated from GER in 1848.
• [3x] John F. Pils (1827 GER – 1911 Lockport NY); he immigrated in 1855 at the age of 17.
• [3x] David Conners (1838 IRE – after 1903 Lockport NY) & Mary Dowd (1837 IRE – after 1903 Lockport NY); they possibly immigrated in 1850.
• [4x] Wilhemenia Wernersbach-Arth (1798 GER – Pendleton NY); she travelled to America as a widow with her three sons on the Columbia in 1853.
• [4x] Barney Dowd (~1800 IRE – NY)

I am Sarah Lyn,

Daughter of Margaret,

Daughter of Patricia,

Daughter of Margaret Loretta,

Daughter of Eliza,

Daughter of Mary, an immigrant from Ireland.

This is the Britannia, a replica of the Columbia, the ship my German Arth ancestors took to America.

My Mother's Irish Ancestors

The birds are singing their spring songs outside and St. Patrick's Day marks the turning to the equinox. The days are lengthening and in my little garden, the tiger lilies are peeking out of the earth with bright green shoots. I am thinking about my Irish heritage. I was surprised to discover today that all of my known Irish ancestors are buried beneath my mother's family tree.

The first to step on American soil was my 7x great-grandfather David Calhoun, born in Dongeal in 1690. He settled and died in Connecticut. I feel I have to admit that David's grandfather was from Scotland, so his family blood was Scotch-Irish.

Thomas Riddle, also found spelled Ridel, was born in Ireland in 1739. He was my 6x great-grandfather. He hailed from Tyrone County, where he appears on a 1796 list for Irish flax growers. He fought for the colonies in the Revolutionary War as a Private in 1775.

My 6x great-grandparents John Berry, born in 1762, and Nancy Matchet, born in 1767, came to America from Ireland and settled in a small town called Mayfield, in New York. There are still Berrys in Mayfield.

My other Irish ancestors all immigrated to New York, where the Erie Canal was being planned. The unknown parents of my 3x great-grandfather Thomas Burke came to America via Canada, where Thomas was born in 1832. He is listed as living in Lockport in 1855 with his widowed mother Ann. He was employed in "boating."

My 4x great-grandfather Barney Dowd came over from Ireland with his daughters and their families, including my 3x great-grandmother Mary Dowd, born about 1837 in Ireland, as was her husband, David Conners, my ancestor, too.

My Lockportian ancestors all lived in the areas of Lowertown where the Irish who worked on the canal had set up their homes. So in honor of St. Patty's day, I'll set out a bowl of warm honey and milk over bread, and I'll pour a pint of ale for those who left their homelands for a country where they were treated like vermin, but where they persevered and planted roots.

My Ancestral Dead, My Beloved Dead

My ancestors are pillars of ice-blue fire, breathing in seasons like stars, stones and trees. The Ancestral Dead are firelight that blazes but doesn’t burn. This is the energy source I connect into when I work with my Ancestors. That is not so for the Beloved Dead. The energy of those who you have known in this physical plane, those you have touched, held, hugged and lost is not cool and calm.

Hot salty tears burn my cheeks with a fever as the grief washes over me. The recent dead are changeable water, tumultuous with grief in one minute, still with acceptance in another, and then raging against the feel of loss… they are uneasy waters. Unless you feel called to step further on the path of this work, I recommend stating with clear intention that you are honoring the Beloved Dead and asking nothing of them in return. I routinely call on the energy of my forebears to watch over my nieces and nephew, but I do not ask that of the Beloved Dead.

It may seem strange that I do not ask the spirits who knew me to help watch over us. That’s the good thing about generations though- we keep coming. There are plenty of lives to call on that allow me to leave the recently deceased be. It’s my belief that the Beloved Dead are transitioning what was left of themselves through the process of dying and moving on. I have experienced the moment of death with a loved one, and it opened something in me. When he died and his spirit left his body, when the life of him left the room, the air about me wavered and changed, as if a warm flame had been blown out. His body was not him anymore.

I do not claim to know what comes next or what happens to that bit of life. I don’t know what happens. But I have faith that something does.

My Ancestral Dead

You can’t discuss spirit without being metaphysical. As far as I’m concerned, spirit is energy and science has proven that energy exists. The way I talk about it is more romantic but that doesn’t remove the science; after all, I’m a writer, not a scientist. I believe what I believe because it makes sense to me based on what I’ve experienced. I am always open to adapting my beliefs. As I change and grow and evolve, so too will my concepts of faith and spirit.

Anyone who came before me that I did not personally know is an ancestor. Most of my known ancestors are a list of names with little known substance, but I bridge that by speaking their names aloud. It is a song that sings the story of my bloodline, calling in the four lines of my parents, known through the first seven generations:

Margaret Loretta Burke and Robert Joseph Art, Eliza Conners and Frank Burke, Katherine S. Pils and George Art, Mary Dowd and David Conners, Thomas and Ellen Burke, Mary Burzee and John F. Pils, Ana Catherine Blume and Adam Art, Barney Dowd, Wilhemenia Wernersbach and George Art…

Harold Lafayette Riddle, Emma Louise Burnah and George Francis Durant, Frances Ann Gillett and Lafayette Riddle, Rosella Lavalley and Albert Durant, Jane Berry and Levi Gillette, Sarah Clickner and Marquis DeLafayette Riddle, Rosella LaRoche and Francois Xavier Lavalle, Elizabeth A. Hill and Frances Berry, Mary Ann Boots and Ezra Wheeler Gillette, Mary Ann Hayner and William Clickner, Abigail Chaffee and Freeborn Moulton Riddle, Marie Amable Langevin and Alexis Lavallee, Gertrude Dixon and Thomas Berry, Harriet Gower and Josiah Boots, Abigail Hannah and Eliphal Gillette, Elizabeth Weager and Petrus Haner, Engle Angelica Coonradt and Johannes Georg Gloeckner, Deborah and Charles Chaffee, Mary Thomas and Joseph Riddle…

Ruth Emma Ruston, Minnie Estelle Wicker and Frank William Ruston, Emma Angeline Whitcher and Hiram King Wicker, Ruth Ireland and Charles Evan Ruston, Ordelia DeLozier and Bailey Harrison Whitcher, Cynthia Lusk and Thaddeus Rice Wicker, Phoebe Lenton and William Ireland, Anna Richardson and Richard Ruston, Lucy Raymond and Peter DeLozier, Dorcas Kittredge and Simeon Whittier, Rebecca and Elizur Lusk, Chloe Morgan and Pliny Wicker, Mary Wilson and John Lenton, John Ireland, Thomas Richardson, Jane Brooks and Edward Ruston, Lucy Richmond and Daniel Raymond, Eleanor Erkells and Oliver Peterson Lozier, Molly Bailey and James Kittredge, Elizabeth Dow and Abner Whittier, Mary and Elisha Lusk, Susannah Parker and William Wicker, Elizabeth Wright and Thomas Lenton…

Hattie Eva Smith and Royal Levant Eaton, Hattie Eva Dutcher and Silas Parker Smith, Theresa Cordelia Tenney and Bennett Eaton, Eliza Marsh Bird and Reuben Feagles Dutcher, Sophia Sears and Ammi Smith, Malvina H. Targee and Philetus Tenney, Hannah Ann Treadwell and Solomon Gould Eaton, Irene and Manly Bird, Cynthia A. Feagles and Martin Dutcher, Clarissa DeBois and Heman Sears, Betsy and David Smith, Ellen S. and Thomas Targee, Esther and Hiram Tenney, Fermicy Peters and Solomon P. Tredwell, Lucy Gould and Joshua Eaton, Molly Coleman and Edmund Bird, Jane Palmer and David Dutcher, Abigail Andrews and Isaac Sears, Abigail Darby and Reuben Tenny, Delilah and John Peters, Anne Arnold and William Gould, Jr., Hepsibah Skiff and Benjamin Eaton…

So many names, so many lives. And I now know so many more. These names are the direct line of people whose children bore children who eventually bore me. Were it not for them, I would not be me. The magnitude of that realization could feel like pressure bearing down, waiting for me to be something special or do something special. But standing in honor of these people doesn’t feel like pressure. Those lives are stones beneath me, giving me firm footing. I am because they were, whether they were people of good character or not.

One step towards strengthening your ancestral ties is to begin writing down the names of your family tree you know. Ask your parents who their grandparents were if you didn’t know them. Ask your Grandparents who their parents were. Get as much information as you can. Where were they born? Where did they live? What did they do? Where did they grow up? When did they marry? How many times? How many children?

My Beloved Dead

As for my Beloved Dead, I remember those who have passed on from this world. For my work, I keep a list to remember those I was very close to, classmates I grew up with, people who helped shape and mold me, and people who affected a change my life in an important way:

Mark Eaton, Melinda Tanner, Elizabeth Fricke, Jeff Patterson, Willie Lingenfelter, Elsie Durant Riddle, Gabe Reynolds, Joel Pelletier, Victoria Eaton, Trent Illig, Edward Jerge, Donna Riddle, Jurgen Banse-Fey, Charles “Sienna Fox” Duvall, Jack Singer, Tommy Amyotte, Paul Seeloff, Richard James Riddle, Brett Elsess, Andrew Begley, Coswald Mauri, Norm Herbert, Jad Alexander, Princess Leather Falcor (beloved pet), Dr. August Staub, Martha Dayton, Melvin Chausse, John Simeon Croom, Karl Weber, Lunabelle the Jackalope (beloved pet), Charles Littman, Ellen Fitzgerald.

            Since I initially wrote this post in 2010, my list of Beloved Dead has grown: Thomas E. Malinowski, Michael Pullano, Albert Gritzmacher III, Joshua Verity, Freya Moon, John M. Rosenburg Jr., Gary French, Patches (beloved pet), Barbara Jean Schiffert, Bella the Bear-Cat (beloved pet), Russell S. Whitmire, Ken Koch, Soja Arumpanayil, Jane Palmer-Poole, Paul Slomba, Tracy Lee Flint Jr., Christina Adkins, Harry Brashear, David Ruston Eaton, Constance Salisbury, Ralph Hall, Arawn (beloved pet), and Carol Quagliano.

Remembering the Dead

Each Samhain night, I call out the names of my Ancestral dead to come and bear witness as I honor those that I loved, that I have known and held. I speak the names of the Beloved dead to remember them and hear memories stir within me at the sounds of familiar words on tongue. And then I add the names of those Recent dead, that have died since last Samhain, and welcome them into my Beloved dead, wishing their spirits peace.

            I know, as I age, that my list of Beloved dead will only get longer. It is the price of living and loving and I hold it close to my heart as proof that love is stronger than any magic. May you always remember that those who walked this earth before you walk with you still in the echoes of places their feet once touched the earth. [Revamped from a post originally published October 6, 2010.]

Genealogy and Health Histories

Roy in uniform, Elmira NY.

One of the side benefits to genealogy work is discovering how your ancestors died, and what that might tell you about your family genes. Three years ago I had an accident. In the course of getting treated, my sugar was discovered to be startlingly high. The next day, when my dad and I were distracting me by going through some family stuff, he was talking about his Grandpa Roy, who was a prison guard at Auburn NY. My great-grandpa Roy was injured in a small prison riot. But his official death lists that he died from complications to his injuries due to his pre-existing condition of diabetes.

And it was like an unwanted lightbulb went off. I changed my diet. I changed my lifestyle, hoping to avoid a similar diagnosis, but just before Christmas, thanks to finally having health insurance, I found out that I am also diabetic. Thanks, also, to the concern Roy’s story prompted, I have/had already done the majority of lifestyle changes, and those changes saved me from being sicker than I was.

I know that my Grandpa Mark, Roy’s son, died of cancer that was so advanced when they discovered it, it had already spread to his bones and throughout his body. He was 67. My Grandma Ruth died of cervical cancer at the age of 43. My Grandpa Dick died at 72 of lung cancer caused by asbestos from his stint in the Navy.

I know my great-grandpa Harold Lafayette Riddle (1903-1975) had a heart attack at age 72 and his wife, my beloved Elsie Elizabeth Durant (1904-1994), died of old age at 90. My great-grandma Margaret Loretta Burke (1899-1938) died of renal cancer at 39 and her husband Robert George Art (1892-1974) died of bladder cancer at age 82.

I’ve discovered other stories along the way of my other various levels of great-grandparents that lend themselves to more research:

• 3x Bailey Harrison Whitcher (1799-1865) had become deaf and was hit by a train crossing the railroad tracks when he was 66. His wife Ordelia deLozier (1810-1888) died tragically after falling down the stairs at age 78.
• 4x Peter de Lozier (1786-1849), Ordelia’s father, died of cholera at age 39, after abandoning his family to return to the sea. He was a Prisoner of War at Tripoli.
• 9x William Blackmore (1640-1676) was “attacked by Indians” in Scituate MA and killed at age 36.
• 10x Sgt. William Pond (1622-1690) died “unexpectedly” at age 68.
• 10x Robert Sallows (1626-1663) drowned at sea at age 41, while living in Salem.
• 11x James Chilton (1562-1620) and his wife died the first winter aboard the Mayflower. He was 58 and the oldest man on board. Her age and name are unknown. Their 12 year old daughter Mary survived them.
• 11x Thomas Rogers (1572-1621) died the first winter on the Mayflower at age 49.
• 15x Sir Henry Norreys (1491-1536) was beheaded at the Tower of London for an alleged adultery with Anne of Boleyn. He was 45.
• 23x Sir Edmund Fitzalan (1285-1326) was beheaded at age 41.
• 25x Robert of Artois (1216-1250) died at age 34 “leading reckless attack on Al Mansurah.”
• 28x Frederick Bararossa (1122-1190) drowned at age 68 while on crusade in Silifke, Turkey.

In my research, I pay homage to my ancestresses who are known to have died in childbirth, for their mortality and their sacrifice in birthing those who made me possible:

• 2x Hattie Eva Dutcher (1857-1882) at age 25.
• 10x Ruth Lee (1602-1642) at age 40.
• 13x Anne Walgrave (1495-1530) at age 35.
• 19x Agnes Daubeney (1307-1335) at age 28.
• 19x Aubigny Creake (1335-1355) at age 20.

On a happier tone, I also made note of twenty-nine of my known ancestors who lived to me more than ninety years old:

• 3x Ammi Smith (1824-1918) age 94. 
• 5x Desire Tourgee (1752-1845) age 92. 
• 6x Patience Thomas (1732-1822) age 90. 
• 6x Thomas Boots (1761-1852) age 91. 
• 7x Mary Smith (1701-1800) age 98. 
• 7x Nicholas LaSueur/Lozier (1668-1761) age 93. 
• 8x Lydia Starr (1652-1744) age 92. 
• 8x Elizabeth Williams (1671-1771) age 100. 
• 8x Hannah Latham (1651-1750) age 99. 
• 9x John Bird (1641-1732) age 90. 
• 9x Thomas Andrew Hovey (1648-1739) age 91. 
• 10x Richard Sears (1590-1696) age 106. 
• 10x Anna Reeve (1590-1685) age 95. 
• 10x Mary Clark (1590-1681) age 91. 
• 11x George Dyer, weaver, (1579-1672) age 93. 
• 11x Sir Edward Bishop (1601-1695) age 94. 
• 11x Capt. Richard Walker (1592-1687) age 95. 
• 11x Jean Fafard (1598-1696) age 98. 
• 11x Elizabeth Franklin (1570-1671) age 101. 
• 12x William Jackson (1585-1688) age 103. 
• 12x George Raymond (1538-1632) age 94. 
• 12x Humphrey Pinney (1588-1683) age 95. 
• 12x Maria Hatton (1573-1670) age 97. 
• 13x John Whicker (1452-1556) age 104. 
• 14x Richard Elwin (1555-1647) age 92. 
• 16x Edward Morris (1455-1556) age 101. 
• 17x Katherine Wallcott (1368-1460) age 92. 
• 24x Eleanor/Alianore de Gorges (1270-1375) age 105. 
• 25x Petronella de Gresley (1147-1249) age 102.

The Irish Who Built the Canal

When doing genealogical research, I often turn to census reports for information, as they consist of data compiled by takers going house to house. But these listings are a good showing of the neighborhood your ancestors lived. When looking up my mother’s maternal ancestors, I noticed that my 2x great-grandparents lived in a neighborhood predominantly made up of Irish names. And I noticed that many of their neighbors were either born in Ireland, or their parents were born in Ireland.

Many of the Irish men who worked on the Erie Canal in Lockport, NY ended up settling there. I am currently (until I prove otherwise) running under the theory that my maternal Irish ancestors were among these settlers. Born after the canal opened, my known Burke ancestors worked on or near the canal. This family lived numerous places but settled in a small house around the corner from where I grew up.

My great-grandmother Margaret Loretta Burke (1892-1938) grew up in that house. My 2x great-grandparents Frank Burke (b.1863) and Eliza Conners (b.1866) lived there. My 3x great-grandparents Thomas Burke (1832-1885) and Ellen [unknown] (1838-1897) lived in Lockport, where he held a number of city jobs, including sailor, boater, policeman, hostler, livery, and a state worker along the canal. Thomas’ mother was born in Ireland. Eliza’s parents, 3x great-grandparents David Conners (1838-1903) and Mary Dowd (1837-1903), were both born in Ireland, a decade after the canal was finished.

At the very beginning of the Canal project to dig 363 miles across New York State, they found they lacked the heavy man power to keep their desired pace towards progress. No group wanted to work on the canal, as it was backbreaking labor, from sun-up to sundown, and the pay was low. And so, the project managers looked to the group of people no one wanted for help. In 1818, the New York government started recruiting Irishmen straight off the boat in New York City.

While the majority of the Irish immigrants came over during the potato famines of the 1840s and on, according to the first census taken in 1790, there were already 44,000 people of Irish birth registered out of a total population of 3.9 million. We might not think that sounds like a lot of people today, but that was more Irish than anyone wanted in America.

Of all the cultures immigrating to America, author George E. Condon writes in Stars in the Water that the Irish were lowest of the lot. Anyone with a hint of brogue was considered a foreigner, no matter how long they’d been in the country. In fact, many job ads throughout the 1800s closed with the line “Irish need not apply.”

And yet, according to Lionel D. Wyld, in Low Bridge, “the Irish turned ‘Clinton’s Folly’ into the Grand Western Canal.” By the end of 1818, there were 3,000 Irish at work on the canal. About 2,000 of them were working in Lockport, where the biggest drop in the canal’s elevation was.

The temporary workers lived in small dirt-floor shanties along the canal. What was it like for these strange men who found themselves in a stranger land? What did they make of the darkness of the unfamiliar nights? What did the large island men think of the wild forests?

According to Samuel Hopkins Adams, a well-known muckraker, “The country at the end of the voyage was rougher than anything the men had known in Ireland. Owl and wildcat music in the woods kept them awake and scared at night. The first time a snake came into camp, the whole lot nearly deserted. There are no snakes in Ireland. They thought this one was the devil.”

It was not uncommon for men to disappear during the night. But those who stayed worked hard. For their long shifts of extreme labor, they made between 37 and 50 cents a day, depending on their skills. Despite popular mythologies about the Irish being natural laborers, they were not used to such work in their native country. But their wage on Irish soil amounted to a mere 10 cents a day. So they adapted and acclimated, and accepted the whiskey that went around as part of their keep. It kept their muscles loose as they labored and sweated it away in the hot sun before it could intoxicate them. Condon writes that the Irish moved quickly, filling the land with work songs as they toiled for low wages and whiskey.

When I came to this wonderful empire,

It filled me with the greatest surprise

To see such a great undertaking,

On the like I ne’r opened my eyes.

To see a full thousand brave fellows

At work among mountains so tall

To dig through the valleys so level,

Through rocks for to cut a canal.

So fare you well, father and mother,

Likewise to old Ireland, too,

So fare you well, sister and brother,

So kindly I’ll bid you adieu.

Many locals, themselves children of immigrants, were scared of the strange sounds of the Irish tongue. They worried their homes would be pillaged, as if the workers moving across the state were a band of beggars and thieves. Sometimes, they did not help their reputation. On Christmas Eve 1822, a fight broke out in a tavern between the townspeople of Lockport and drunken Irish canal workers. A man by the name of John Jennings died, and eight Irishmen were indicted for his death.

Cultures may have clashed, but humanity won out. In the fall of 1823, two runaway slave hunters from Kentucky arrived in Lockport, procuring a warrant to arrest Joseph Pickard, a local black barber. Pickard was a runaway who had found his way to freedom and independence. In the judge’s office, he became so spooked at the thought of being sent back that he leapt out the open second story window into the throng of canal workers who waited below to see how the judge would rule.

Lockport was heavily peppered with Quakers and anti-slavery sentiments. When Pickard jumped into the crowd of workers, the hunters came after him with their pistols drawn. The Irish engulfed Pickard and held the hunters fast until order could be restored. The judge dismissed the warrant, as the men could not produce proof that Pickard belonged to their client. On this issue, the townspeople and the workers found common ground.

            The workers continued construction on the canal that would ultimately be responsible for the city that Lockport would become. On October 26, 1826, my 3x great-grandmother Ordelia Whitcher (paternal side) was on board the Seneca Chief with Governor DeWitt Clinton as it passed through the locks, cut and carved from the limestone by Irish hands. 

The Time Capsule

Yesterday, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts opened up a time capsule that was recovered from a cornerstone of the Boston State House building during a water leak in the building last month. The small box weighed 10 pounds and measured 5.5 x 7.5 x 1.5 inches. The box was buried in 1795 by Samuel Adams, then governor and brewer, Paul Revere, the metalsmith and engraver who overlaid the state dome with copper, and William Scollay, a local developer.

It’s not the first time the capsule was opened. In 1885, when the building was undergoing repairs, it was removed and the artifacts were cleaned, before being reburied. A few items were added to it and the contents of the box were noted in historical records. Last night was the second time, the first in 130 years.

The time capsule contained five folded newspapers that the museum is not sure will be unfolded due to their desire to preserve them. There was one folded title page from the Massachusetts colony records and a paper impression of the Seal of the Commonwealth. There were a collection of coins including half-cent, one-cent, half-dime, 10-cent, and 25-cent pieces. There was a pine tree shilling from 1652 and a copper medal with George Washington on it. Conservationists think the large number of copper coins helped protect the artifacts, all in amazingly good condition, as copper inhibits fungal growth. The final artifact was found at the bottom of the box, a silver plaque possibly inscribed by Revere himself. It commemorates the placement of the cornerstone on July 4, 1795.

On that day, George Washington was our country’s President, and would be for two more years. My own ancestors were heavily invested in America at this time. They were scattered across Massachusetts, Connecticut, trickling into New York. There’s something to the thought for me, that two centuries ago when the box was initially buried, so many of my blood relatives were invested in life in this country.

6x Great-Grandparents:

Thomas Riddle & Rebekah Moulton… of Monson MA.

James Chaffee & Rhoda Cady… of Monson MA.

Wheeler Gillette & Julianna Merchant… of Milford CT.

Alexander Hannah & Mary Calhoun… of Bethlehem CT.

Walter F. Dixon & Annatje Goedemoet… of Mayfield NY.

John Parker & Jane Pearson… of Worchester MA.

Mary Bingham… of Wheatfield NY, widow of Asa Tenney.

Lucretia Cleveland… of Wells VT, widow of Jedidiah Darby.

Patience Thomas… of RI and New London CT, widow of Phillip Tourjee.

Knowles Sears… of Ridgefield CT, widower of Susannah Townsend.

Enoch Bird & Silence Lyon… of Whately MA.

5x Great-Grandparents:

Joseph & Mary Riddle… of Monson MA.

Charles & Deborah Chaffee… of MA.

Eliphal Gillette & Abigail Hannah… of CT.

Gertrude Dixon… of Kinderhook NY. Her future husband was still in Ireland.

William Wicker & Susannah Parker… of Hardwick MA and later Orwell VT.

Abner Whittier, Jr. & Elizabeth Dow… of Amesbury MA and later Danville VT.

James Kittredge & Mary Bailey… of Tewksbury MA.

Daniel Raymond & Lucy Richmond… of Cohocton NY.

Benjamin Eaton & Hepsibah Skiff… of Tolland CT.

Willard Gould & Anne Arnold… of CT, MA, and NY.

Reuben Tenney & Abigail Darby… of Norwich CT.

Phillip & Desire Tourgee… of Kingston RI and Saratoga NY.

Isaac Sears & Abigail Andrews… of Danbury CT and Olcott NY.

David Dutcher & Jane Palmer… of CT and NY.

Edmund Bird & Mary Coleman… of Whately MA.

4x Great-Grandparents:

Pliny Wicker & Chloe Morgan… of Hardwick MA, then VT, then NY.

Simeon Whittier & Dorcas Kittredge… of MA and then Danville VT.

Peter DeLozier & Lucy Raymond… of Clinton CT and Lockport NY.

Joshua Eaton & Lucy Gould… of CT, NY, and MI.

Thomas Targee & Martha Smith… of CT and Monroe County NY.

Image: print of the Boston State House from Moses King’s Handbook of Boston, 1885.

Family Veterans

[Post updated from last year, including members of my family tree newly discovered who were veterans.] 

My grandfather, Mark Dutcher Eaton, didn't see battle, but he was drafted into the U.S. Army during WWII, already married and a father. I have had the privilege to read the letters he wrote to his beloved sister Dorothy about his time there. He was released from service when the war wound down, something I am grateful for, or my father might not have later been born.

War is in our history. It’s in every rise and fall of culture. The ghosts of battlefields long forgotten are littered with the blood of our ancestors. On Veterans Day, I honor my ancestors who both waged war and stood defense, in service, so that I might be here.

Early Settlement

• Capt. Roger Clapp (1609-1690), born in Salcombe Regis, England, sailed to Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1629 on the Mary and John. In 1665 Capt. Clapp took charge of the Dorchester Company stationed at Castle Island in Boston Harbor, the oldest fortified military site in North America. He held the post for 21 years and was given a nine gun salute upon retirement.
• Sgt. William Pond (1622-1690) of Dedham, Massachusetts, of the colonial militia, was the first generation of his family born in the new colony.
• Lt. Peter Wolfe (1606-1675), an immigrant from England, of Beverly, Massachusetts, served in the colonial militia in 1646, in defense of Salem, Massachusetts.
• Sgt. Jeremiah Gillette (1650-1707), another immigrant from England, was the first generation born in America. He served in the colonial service of Connecticut.
• Isaac-Etienne Paquet dit Lavallee (1636-1702) arrived in Canada, at age 28, in the Compagnie de LaMotte, Regiment de Carignan-Salieres in 1665. These first French regular troops arrived to aid the colonists of New France in dealing with the Iroquois. They were responsible for construction of the forts of Saint-Louis and Saint-Therese, as well as the roads between them. In the spring of 1666, Isaac’s company built Fort Saint-Anne at Lake Champlain. They were dispatched into Iroquois country in September of 1667, but could not rouse the Indians into battle. The Iroquois brokered peace and LaMotte’s famous regiment was disbanded. Isaac was one of 400 soldiers who elected to stay in the colonies.
• Sgt. John Parker (1640-1699)… it is assumed he took part in the Indian Wars, probably King Philip’s War (1675-1676) in MA.
• Francios LeSueur (1625-1672), a French civil engineer who immigrated with his sister. He moved to Esopus, NY in 1663 where he served in the Second Esopus War.

1754-1763 French & Indian War

• Lemuel Lyon (1728-1781), of Stoughton, Massachusetts, served in Timothy Walker's company in 1755. He is on muster with Capt. John Carpenter’s regiment in August of 1757. He saw action in the 1758 Battle at Fort Ticonderoga, where he kept a 35 page journal, which has been published in, Narratives of the French and Indian War (2): the Diary of Sergeant David Holden, Captain Samuel Jenks, Lemuel Lyon, French Officer at the Siege of Quebec.

1775-1783 American Revolutionary War

• Oliver Lozier, also Delozier, (born 1747) was a Bombardier, a noncommissioned officer, in Capt. John Doughty's company, in Col. John Lamb's regiment (2nd continental artillery). He was on the muster roll for April 1781 at West Point. Oliver enlisted for the duration of the war and was discharged April 4, 1783.
• Capt. Freeborn Moulton (1717-1792) of Massachusetts, was charged a company of Minute-men of Monson. They were part of Col. Danielson’s regiment, which marched at the Lexington alarm of April 19, 1775 to Cambridge, where they remained until May 6, 1775.
• Thomas Riddel (1739-1809), an Irish immigrant, was a Private in Capt. Issac Colton's company, Col. David Brewer's (9th) regiment, enlisting in 1775.
• Joseph Riddle (1759-1847), son of Thomas Riddel and grandson of Capt. Freeborn Moulton, enlisted young and served almost the full duration of the war. He was a Private in Capt. Isaac Colton's company, Col. David Brewer's (9th) regiment enlisting in 1775. In 1776 he moved to Capt. Joseph Munger’s company, regiment of Col. Robert Woodbridge, the “Massachusetts Line.” By 1777 he shows as a Fifer in the 4^th Massachusetts regiment under Capt. Caleb Keep and Col. William Shepherd, and later as a Drum-Major in Gen. Glover’s brigade. He was at the battle of Burgoyne, guarding the road to Albany, as well as the battle of Monmouth, NJ in 1778. A year later he served the Continental Army in the 9^th company for Col. John Bliss’s 1^st New Hampshire regiment. He was discharged from the Continental Army in June of 1780. Pension records list him as a cripple, so he was likely wounded.

1801-1805 The Barbary Wars

• Peter De Lozier (1786-1849) was born in Connecticut. He joined the Navy and was on board the USS Philadelphia in 1803 when the government moved to end piracy on the Barbary Coast. Comm. Edward Preble commanded the Mediterranean Squadron into a blockade in October. On Halloween, the USS Philadelphia ran aground on a coral reef. The entire crew, with their Captain, William Bainbridge, was captured and the ship was used by the opposing Navy as a gun battery. Peter De Lozier and his crew spent 30 months in a Tripoli jail. When the conflict was over, he mustered out of service and claimed residence outside of Lockport, NY. He married, took up cabinetmaking and had a daughter, but eventually left his family to return to the sea. He died of cholera in Connecticut without ever seeing his family again.

1812-1814 War of 1812

• Martin Dutcher (1796-1872) was a Private in Capt. Andrew A. VanDerzee’s “New Baltimore” company, Col. Barnabas Carver’s 61^st regiment in the War of 1812. He fought in the Battle of Plattsburgh, 1814. After the war he retired to Somerset, NY.
• Joseph Riddle (1759-1847), though older, served in the War of 1812, as well as the Revolutionary War.
• Pliney Wicker (b.1781) was a Private in Sumner’s Regiment in the Vermont militia.
• Elizur Lusk also served in the War of 1812, from Lockport, NY.

1861-1865 American Civil War

• Adam Art (1836-1896) immigrated to New York from Hesse Darmstadt, Germany, and served in the Civil War under Capt. Levi Bowen, 29th Congressional district.
• Thomas Burke (b.1835), of Lockport served under Capt. S.F. Bowen, 29^th Congressional district.
• Marquis DeLafayette Riddle (1825-1898), of Pendleton served under Capt. S.F. Bowen, 29^th Congressional district.
• Three of my 2x Great-Grandmother’s brothers, Daniel Raymond Whitcher (1831-1914), George Harrison Whitcher (1841-1863) and Orville Bailey Whitcher (1843-1864) served in the Civil War. Both George and Orville gave their lives in service to the Civil War. George died at Cemetery Ridge on the field of Gettysburg, fighting with the Michigan 7^th. Orville was 21, and a painter before the war. He died of a gunshot wound to the left knee in battle at Alexandria, Virginia in June of 1864. Daniel served as full Sergeant in the Batty B company of the Michigan 1^st.

1914-1918 World War I

• Royal Levant Eaton (1873-1931), a New York state prison guard, served in the National Guard during WWI.

Honoring Roots and Freedoms

I believe in peace and practices of non-violence. I know that I am able to believe in peace because I have known peace, and that I have known it because of the sacrifices men and women made to acquire it for our country. Soldiers are men of principle and purpose who believe that the side they are fighting for is a just cause, no matter what history will later decide.

My ancestors were farmers, ministers, soldiers, crusaders and Norman invaders. In all of our histories, our ancestors were defenders and colonizers, pawns and pillagers, and brave men and women facing uncertain futures. They faced those futures for us, whether they knew it or not and we can honor them today by learning from our own history. They are more than regiments and companies. The most important thing I can remember is that an army of fighters is made up of men and women who have names and families. They are men and women who are husbands, wives, mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters. They are people of flesh and blood, of dreams and desire.

I am,

that they were,

that they are,

that they will be.