Lands of My Blood Ancestors

I am Sarah Lyn, 

last of my line,

daughter of Margaret,

daughter of Patricia,

daughter of Margaret,

daughter of Eliza,

daughter of Mary,

daughter of Betsey,

daughter of mothers of Ireland unknown...

My ancestor work has evolved over the last decade. I used to only climb the family tree via names and dates, hopscotching over holes and unverified truths. But I started getting a lot of e-mails from people who were adopted, thinking that it meant that ancestor work wasn’t possible for them. And, while I didn’t know any other ways of doing it at the time, I felt certain that the ancestral energy was available to everyone.

I spent time seeking new pathways, studying new ways of revering the ancestors. Only I didn’t want to just honor them. I wanted to work with them. And I found it easier to think of them as a stream of energy, like a highway anyone could get on.

That work led me to looking inward and backward while standing with my feet in the present. As I sank into my bloodstream, I wanted to know what ancestral DNA had passed through the generations into my breathing body.

What bits of my ancestors are alive in me?

What echoes of actual ancestral soil sing out in my blood?

If I didn’t have any names and dates, with the DNA tests I still have access to knowing the places some of my ancestors came from. I know what lands they lived on. I know where I descended from. It’s not exact but it gives me a place to put my gratitude, and allows me to offer culturally specific dishes and treats to set out on Samhain night.

What is remembered, 

even when still shrouded with things unknown, 

lives on within us.

[All photos screenshots from my ancestry.com results. The brighter colored area within the country is where my DNA most resembles deeply embedded generations of DNA, so is likely where my people most lived.]

Taking the Ancestry.com DNA Kit

I was excited when I got my Ancestry.com DNA test results. Due to my genealogy research there were no big shocks for me but it did verify and validate some of the intuitive leaps I took in assuming who my family members were. 

That’s exciting news, Ancestor Hunters!

The kit itself is straightforward. No drinking or eating for a half hour. Spit in a tube to the line. Package it in the packing they provide. Put it in the mail. Wait for an e-mail. They say 4-6 weeks for results. Mine came in 4 weeks.

These results are the 50% of DNA I received from my mother. I am curious now for my sister to take it because she may have received different maternal genes than me and her percentage make-up may vary. Because women are XX we can only map the X code. We have no Y to trace. If I want to know the paternal DNA, which I do, I have to poke the nearest and closest male relative on that side of the family. That’s my dad. The ideal option would be a brother but dad is second best. The further away you go the more variations that occur between what they got and what I got, so the percentages quickly become guesstimates. But it’s closer than not knowing anything.

Culturally, all of my ancestors are all of my ancestors. I only exist because they each existed. So to layer that with the concept that there is actual genetic code from some of them in my body now... I think that’s cool.

I should also note that men have a choice to do maternal or paternal or both as they have both the X and Y. I'm a bit jealous of that.

When you do the kit you have to activate it on-line first which involves creating an account on Ancestry.com. I hesitated to do it as I already had an account with my dad but it goes to his e-mail and he doesn’t check it often and I didn’t want to have to wait on him getting them to me- haha! Totally true. So I started a new account so I could get the results as soon as they were ready. And it afforded me the chance to try it out from a fresh perspective.

It’s free to do. And it ended up being better than I expected. When my results came in, they included a list of other people who have been tested and who allowed for their tests to be shared for this purpose. So my results came with a list of second and third and fourth and fifth and sixth cousins... Their messenger feature allowed me to send messages to some of my new-found cousins to see how we related to one another!

Then I was offered the ThruLines option. If I plugged in a family tree I’d be able to see what ancestors all those new cousins and I shared in common. Cool! I figured that this was going to be where they were going to asking me to join a membership. Nope. Making the family tree comes with the free account. It's researching their archives that costs money. 

[It might be worth it to do the family tree and then subscribe to the site for a month and do research on the names you have.]

Even without the ability to search the archives, the tree maker is fantastic and better than any other free ones on the web. Ancestry.com is constantly upgrading their applications and a new feature on the family tree offers you potential fathers and mothers for the names you plug in. You can accept or deny them, or even say 'maybe' so you don’t necessarily need to pay to search. Ancestry.com helps you do that.

That meant I did not have to manually plug in the 2200 names I had already! It offered me about 1600 of the names I already had. I double-checked what they offered against my notes from the family tree my father and I have been working on together and what Ancestry.com suggested to me was 98% accurate.

That was a feature I did not expect.

Along with the percentage results you get a map with the countries your people are from highlighted. 

A cool feature with the maps is that if you click on the seemingly random century timeline on the bottom it will show you where your people were at the start of each century. You can see vague migration patterns. And if you’re very English, like me, and your people don’t move around so much, you can zoom in on the map and see it in more detail!

I am very happy with this test. It’s the only one I’ve taken so I can’t speak to any others. I would like to take the 23&me test to see what genetic anomalies lurk in my ancestral blood and see how the results compare.

As far as genetic privacy goes, you have options when you activate the kit. You can change those options anytime you want through your account settings. They were explained well. I should say that the more private your settings the less matches you will find yourself with. I risked it. I don’t like making choices-for-now based on what might happen in the future. But it's a personal choice. You can have your account and dna deleted at any time. 

I’ll be posting about some of the things I learned in the upcoming weeks. Happy hunting to my fellow genealogists!

A consumer reports article that walks you through how to delete dna results from 23&me, Ancestry, and My Heritage.

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.

Someday I Will Go to Europe

Someday I will go to Europe.

Many of my ancestors have walked these lands since the Mayflower landed. But before that, and after, they came from foreign, European lands. The cities in America, even the oldest ones, are young in comparison to their ancestral cousins on the other continents. At a recent retreat, we met a wonderful woman from Spain who attended our Ancestor Devotional. She said that her mother’s family has lived in the same city for one thousand years. One thousand years!

I almost can’t even imagine that… But I have experienced the layers of time overlap in a place that has held many generations. I have gotten a taste of that magic.

Years ago I visited Philadelphia for the first time, a city rich with history. Taking a night stroll through old city, I stopped in the middle of a cobblestone street. It felt as if I had crossed time zones. Only instead of hours of difference, it was decades. I opened myself to the moment.

While the street I walked down was dark and silent, I heard horses clip-clopping past me, as well as old cars chugging along. I heard three different kinds of music playing at the same time. Someone on the street was playing classical piano, someone strummed a guitar on a stoop, and somewhere a small jazz band performed a set. I couldn’t see any of them but I could hear them.

Time stitched itself together and I could feel in my flesh and bones, how many generations of people walked those streets. I could fell all those who have laid down their energy, and anchored it into the earth there. I dream about the lands where my ancestors layered their lives into the earth.

I keep a list of the countries, cities, and towns known to me. If I could feel the intersections and layers of time in a young place like Philadelphia, what could I tap into in England, France, Ireland, Scotland, Poland, Germany, Wales, the Netherlands, and Spain?

Someday I will find out. Someday I will follow the threads of those whose journey ended in me. I will go to Europe and find the spaces where their journeys began.

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. 

Answering for Our Ancestors

What happens when you discover an unsavory character attached to your family tree? It’s a topic that comes up during discussions about ancestor work, as if that discovery re-colors the shade of who you are. It doesn’t. Who you are hasn’t changed. What it does do, is add depth and dimension to your family history, of who your people were, and how they evolved over generations. How would we see the light without the darkness, too?

The reality is that many of us, were we able to trace our family lines fully enough, would find ancestors who fought against native peoples, owned slaves, fought against the suffragette movement, treated their wives and children like possessions, signed documents telling the local Jewish communities to move on, spent time in prison, etc. Serial killers have families, too. Everyone’s family history is riddled with ne’er-do-wells, because once upon a time, those things were the way people were in the world. They were accepted and normative of society. Slavery existed long before people started using other cultures instead of the weak and poor of their own. It doesn’t mean it is okay. But the fact that we believe slavery to be rightfully wrong now, doesn’t re-write how it was or what happened. I would love to believe that my family members have always been righteous, good people, who weren’t afraid to buck a bad system, but it’s just not true.

I expect to find some black sheep, and there probably are more than a few among the names I know already, but census reports and land deeds don’t tell you about the quality of a man. I know that if I were to discover, for example, that one of my wayward ancestors was a soldier who carried out the massacre at Wounded Knee, I would be heartbroken. I would feel as if some of that wrongness was part of me, in me.

That’s what makes free will so important. Our days are filled with choices and actions we take that could lead us along the light path or stray us towards the dark side of being human. Sometimes people fail and their presence in our family tree serves to remind us of that truth- sometimes people fall. And they encourage us to be the best version of ourselves we can be, now and here.

That’s the line of thinking that shapes my ancestor work. I believe that the early colonial settlers were wrong to come over, treat an indigenous culture like they were inferior, and take their land. Simply because my pilgrim ancestors believed they were appointed by God to be here, an entire indigenous population was almost exterminated. In this era, I would never agree with something like that. So what I take away from that chapter of my family history is that I shouldn’t treat other people like they’re beneath me or inferior to me just because they’re different. And I shouldn’t take anything that doesn’t belong to me just because I want it.

I honor those ancestors who came before me. But how do we accept these blemishes from the past and move forward?

I would hope that in this day, we would all agree that slavery is bad. The first slaves white men used were other white men who were poorer than them. And then when they started travelling and discovered white men who looked different from them, they became preferred resources for slaves. And then they found men with other skin colors and they became a preferred resource. And so on. Our ancestors used to treat people as less than them, just because their skin color or belief systems were different. That’s a very simplistic view of all of that history, but if we can look back on it and see those actions as faulty, as a wrongness that shaped Western thinking, we need to bring more tolerance and understanding to our cohabitation on this planet. That’s something we can do as individuals and as a people.

I don’t believe that we, personally, should take on guilt for the choices our individual ancestors made. That would be an exhaustive wave of guilt that would drown most of us out of living our own lives. We’re supposed to be living to make this world a better place. So if you have an ancestor who did a deed so horrible that it makes you feel ill inside, do something for yourself to find closure with that act if that’s what you need.

No one wants to know the blood of a murderer flows in them. Maybe the knowing suddenly feels like a curse. If it does, do something in your life for the world that feels like an appropriate counter-curse. Think about it like relieving that specific spirit of their burdens- whether that ancestor felt guilt over their own actions or not. Break the blood spell and put that family baggage to rest. Do something to better the planet as a means of learning from the mistakes of those who came before you.

The Bigger Picture

We can look at history and see patterns of behavior repeating over and over again, with different groups of people on the receiving end of discrimination and oppression, and in some cases murder and genocide: anyone who wasn’t Roman, Jews, Native Americans, Africans, Japanese-Americans, Jews again, Women, African-Americans, Interracial children, Homosexuals, etc. We slowly move through the pattern of understanding that our way of thinking is wrong. Slowly. I believe that by now we should be much more tolerant of the fact that we all share this world together and trying to force anyone to believe exactly what we believe is futile. Why do we need others to believe what we believe in order to believe it ourselves? We have to stop using what is different than us to define who we are not. Learn who you are, instead.

            I can also apply this pattern-weaving to my own family tree, watching the generations follow their forefathers and then suddenly make a change, move a great distance, switch vocations completely, or something that alters the static course of my bloodline. I am Sarah, born of English Kings and Knights, born of Norman Invaders and Viking warriors, whose own lines faded into merchants and tailors, woolcombers and carpenters, who merged with Irish farmers and Polish woodsmen to break ground in a new world. I am Sarah, born of English Kings, born of indigenous men living in caves in France, whose lines blended with the English and Dutch as refugees fled France, whose lines faded in the growth of a Canadian country and merged with indigenous blood, whose lines later merged with German and Irish immigrants, canal workers and day laborers, breaking their bones to build a new world. All of them, trickling down through the years, leading me here, in this space and time, sharing my work.

May we break the cycles of dis-ease with our fellow men, and find a way to peace and tolerance, that we may all work together to heal the earth that provides for us, without which our lives would fade into nothing more than memory.

Roots

The counties my ancestors lived in NY.

I can look at my family tree over and over and every time, I see something different. The more variant ways I take in the data- the list of names and dates and geographical locations- the more three-dimensional the tree in my brain becomes. I can see the migration trail that my ancestors took as if they are rippling across the top of a map, travelling from right to left, seldom back again. I can see them moving further to the ocean and then across and down. Until the last two generations, we hadn’t moved further west than Michigan. We are a season-loving people.

Maybe it’s the constant of the seasons changing that reminds me most of the fluidity of life. Everything always changes. The future is always in motion, always moving. I am not sure where life will take me. None of us are. Sometimes, the uncertainty of not knowing where I’m going is eased by the ability to reflect back on where I’ve been, and the reminder that, whatever the circumstance, I navigated through it to get to where I am.

I know where I come from. The people and places I come from. As I write this, I am sitting in my childhood home, celebrating the holidays with family I don’t get to see often enough. I watch my nieces and nephew and think about how much their lives have changed as they’ve grown. I remember what kinds of things played through my head at their ages. I remember at what skin my worldview was. I remember the events that shaped my perception and my life… and me. I take in their stories and how much their lives have shaped them into who they are, who they are becoming.

Where will they go? Where will their lives take them?

The earth is sleeping in this part of the world. And in her slumber I can feel the thick roots vibrating where the feet of my ancestors have travelled, toiled and trod. In the wintering of the world I open myself to the unknown path that lies ahead of me and reach out to touch those tendrils of ancestral memory.

In America…



The cities in Connecticut we lived.



CONNECTICUT… Fairfield Co: Stratford. Hartford Co: Hartford, Simsbury, Windsor. Litchfield Co: Bethlehem, Kent, Washington, Woodbury. Middlesex Co: Clinton. New Haven Co: Milford. Tolland Co: Tolland. Windham Co: Ashford, Windham, Woodstock.

FLORIDA… Pinellas Co: St. Petersburg. 

MASSACHUSETTS… Barnstable Co: Sandwich. Bristol Co: Taunton. Essex Co: Andover, Beverly, Lynn, Methuen, Salem, Salisbury. Franklin Co: Whately. Hampden Co: Brimfield, Monson. Hampshire Co: Northampton. Middlesex Co: Concord, Marlboro, Reading, Watertown, Woburn. Norfolk Co: Boston, Charleston, Dedham, Dorchester, Medfield, Sharon, Stoughton, Walpole. Suffolk Co: Roxbury.

The cities in Massachusetts my ancestors lived.

MICHIGAN… St Clair Co: Memphis, Port Huron, Riley.

NEW HAMPSHIRE… Grafton Co: Orford.

NEW JERSEY… Bergen Co: Hackensack, Paramus, Pemmerbogh.

NEW YORK… Cayuga Co: Auburn. Clinton Co: Clinton, Dannemora, Mooers. Columbia Co: Kinderhook. Dutchess Co: Dover, Nine Partners. Erie Co: Tonawanda. Fulton Co: Gloversville, Johnstown, Mayfield. Genessee Co: Alexander, Batavia. Greene Co: Cairo. Monroe Co: Clifton. Niagara Co: Barker, Beach Ridge, Cambria, Hartland, Lockport, Middleport, Newfane, Olcott, Pendleton, Royalton, Somerset, Wilson. Oneida Co: Vernon. Orleans Co: Eagle Harbor, Gaines. Oswego Co: Redfield. Steuben Co: Cohocton. Ulster Co: Hurley, Kingston. Old New York: Flatbush, New Amsterdam, New Utrecht.

VERMONT… Caledonia Co: Danville. Chittendon Co: Barre, Burlington, Charlotte.

And in other countries…

AUSTRIAN SILESIA… Engleburg.

CANADA… Quebec: Chambly, Contrecouer, La Durantaye, Lacadie/ St Jean, LaPraire, Montreal, Providence, Quebec City, Saint-Laurent/ I’le D’orleans, Varennes. Nova Scotia: Louisburg, Cape Brenton.

Counties in England inhabited by ancestors. 

ENGLAND… County non-specific: Armounderness, Cambridge, Chester, Cranefield, Devonshire, Doncaster, Gloucester, Hertfordshire, Hunterdon, Lazenby, Lea Hall, Preston, Lidel, London, Northumberland, Sussex, Totteridge. Berkshire: Bray, Eaton Hastings, Sulham. Buckinghamshire: Bourne End, Little Missendon. Cambridgeshire: Chatteris, Needingworth, Wimpole. Cheshire: Barrow, Clifton, Doddington. Cumbria: Kendal, St Olaf. Derbyshire: Sawley. Devon: Plymouth, Salcombe Regis, Sidbury, Sidmouth, Stapleton. Dorset: Bridgeport, Cadle Hadden, Dorchester, Piddlehinton. Glouchestershire: Witcombe Magna. Hampshire: Winchester. Hertfordshire: Minsden. Ipswitch: St Mary’s Tower, St Nicholas. Kent: Dover, Faversham, Headcom, Northclay, Turnbridge. Lancashire: French Lea. Lincolnshire: Crowland. Lincolnshire North: Barton. Norfolk: Hemsby, Norwich, Ormesby, Scratsby. Northamptonshire: Cottingham, Daventry, Long Buckby. Nottinghamshire: Worksop. Oxfordshire: Buford, Mollington. Shropshire: Eyton, Eyton on the Waldmores, Little Withiford, Leighton, Moreton Corbet, Oswestry Castle, Upton Cresset. Somerset: Chaffcombe, Glastonbury. Staffordshire: Cresswell Manor, Ford Green. Suffolk: Beccles, Groton, Moulton. Waltshire: Wighill. Warwickshire: Warwick. Wiltshire: Marlborough, Salesbury. Yorkshire: Bedale, Bracewell, Brideshall, Carleton, East Riding, North Riding, Norton, Norton Conyers, Skelton, Skipwith, Wighill. Yorkshire North: Knaresborough Castle, Tadcaster. Yorkshire West: East Haddlesey, Kirkburton.

Isle of Jersey. Isle of Man.

FRANCE… Abbey of St Grestain, Aix La Chapelle, Argences (Caen, Bayeux), Beaumont, Bretagne, Castle of Ambrieres, Challe Mesnil, Clermont (Lemans, Maine), Cleuville, Estouteville, Falaise, Fecamp, La Carite-Sur-Loir (Nievre), Lens (Artois), Liseux, Notre-Dame (Rouen), Saye, St-Jean-de-Montaigue, St Jean Baptiste (Caen), Toulouse/Haute-Garonne, Valognes, Y/Somme/Picardie.

GERMANY… Hesse Darmstadt.

IRELAND… Bannockburn, Tyrone County.

NETHERLANDS… Amsterdam, Enigen, Hees, Wageningen.

NORWAY… Maer, Nord-Trondelag.

PALESTINE… Damietta.

SCOTLAND… Orkney Islands.

TURKEY… Nicea.

WALES… Aberffraw, Dendaethwy and Malltraeth in Anglesey, Glamorganshire, Powys.

Our Ancient Ancestors

We’re nearing harvest time in the Northeast. I have already plucked handfuls of green and purple beans from our small garden and am readying for the plump green tomatoes that will ripen red and yellow soon. The land is rich and verdant with life at this time of year and the whispering voices of my ancestors find me more easily as centuries of lives overlay across each other in a shared body memory of readying for harvest.

Knowing so much of my genealogy has been a blessing for which I am grateful. I understand now that even if I was not gifted the ability to trace my line back through documented lives, I would feel the tug and pull in my blood back to a time when man lived off the land, before houses, before settling in a fixed spot. I would feel it as surely as a body cannot help but feel the pull of the tide as the water carries it out to sea.

There are many times in my adult days that I have felt an internal emotion of being lost or feeling adrift. A buoy lost in the ocean. It’s the gravity that opened my mind up to wanting to know my place in the world and motivated me to find my place in the world by quieting myself and discovering what was happening in the world around me, right now.

            It has often made me wonder what it would feel like to not be able to trace any of my ancestry. What if I was adopted? What if there simply weren’t any names or clues? In some of my research into the lesser-known side of my family tree I discovered that another descendant of one of my ancestors, one more directly descended, participated in a DNA research program produced by National Geographic that traced Captain Samuel Walker’s genetic ancestry.

            According to the Genographic Project, descendants of Samuel Walker belong to a specific genetic Haplogroup based on a Y-chromosome test. The Haplogroup is I2b1 (M223+). According to other information they have acquired, this specific Haplogroup originated in northern France 14,000 to 18,000 years ago and is found most commonly within Viking and/or Scandanavian populations in northwest Europe.

            This Haplogroup could be further separated into three subclades. For example, I21b1a (M284+) originated specifically in the Bristish Isles, between 3,120 and 3,700 years ago. Unfortunately, Samuel Walker tested negatively against the three known subclades so any further tailoring won’t occur without more samples, though the known information posits that the line is of Viking origin.

            What does that mean? Per the test results, if this were my direct line, I would know that the M223+ strain was a genetic mutation that occurred in a single man living in what we now know as southern France. As the glaciers retreated north, so did the animal herds and so did the hunters with this strain. Their descendants founded the Gravettian culture known for their voluptuous Venus figurines. Which would give me a visual group of humans to reach backwards into history to connect to.

The National Geographic Genographic Project

The National Geographic Society began the Genographic Project in 2005 with the purpose of working collaboratively with different indigenous groups around the globe to collect DNA samples with the intention of learning more depth as to where we came from in our evolutionary migrations. This project allowed the Society to open it up to the general public as well, as a means of supporting the Genographic Legacy Fund.

The Public Participation Kits are expensive at $99 per kit, but are completely inclusive and cover the cost of processing the lab results and the proceeds go towards the Legacy Fund to help indigenous people revitalize their cultures. It is “directed primarily toward education initiatives, cultural conservation, and linguistic preservation and revitalization efforts” per the project director, Dr. Spencer Wells.

There are two separate kits, for two separate tests. If you are a woman you can only take the mitochondrial DNA test which traces your direct maternal ancestry. Men can take the mitochondrial DNA test or the Y-chromosome test, which traces your direct paternal ancestry. If you are a woman, and you have a close relative in your paternal line, like a father or brother, you can swab their DNA and get results that would be accurate for you as well.

It’s not going to tell you who you’re related to or who your ancestors were. It is going to tell you where your DNA links to groups and where they were and when they were there, like a general migration story back into history, with a professional portfolio detailing al of the information for you. And your results are constantly updated with more information as more samples are collected. The project samples are being collected until the end of 2011, but the Public Participation Kits will be available long-term, with the purpose of collecting more data and continuing to finance the Legacy Fund.

If you are someone who has no information with which to seek out personal ancestry, and it feels important to you to have a picture of your bloodline to help you tap into those energies, the Genographic Project might be a worthy investment to give yourself some tangible information to meditate with. The mysteries of our past live in our blood and are no longer so far out of reach.

Link: For more information, visit the National Geographic Genographic Project page...

Ancestral Migrations

2011-1820: New York, United States

My mother is the last Riddle in our line, according to how the Western world understands genealogy. The truth is that the blood will continue to travel down in the lives of my nieces and nephew, and their children, and their children. Just because the name will fall out of use on our tongues doesn’t erase the blood.

It always comes back to the blood. Over a century, Riddles moved westward from the Massachusetts coast into the unsettled lands of Western New York. They were soldiers and farmers and family men.

1820-1759: Massachusetts, America

In America, we can trace the Riddles back to Thomas Ridel who married Rebekah Moulton in Monson, MA in 1759. He emigrated from Tyrone County, Ireland. Beyond that, there is no documentation as to who his parents were or when he actually came to America (barring a trip to Ireland to hope to root through old documents). I could have assumed this was the end of the trail, which it is, if the names of my ancestors are the only goal I am concerned with.

It’s just as important to me to know where my people came from, where they travelled, what they struggled through. I ran a search for the “history of Riddles in Tyrone County Ireland.” In the 1700s, many Presbyterian Scots were pushed to move out of the country, resulting in five great migrations of Scots-Irish to the New World. I assume one of the first four migrations were when Thomas came over:

• 1717-1718 (drought)
• 1725-1729 (poverty)
• 1740-1741 (famine)
• 1754-1755 (disastrous drought)
• 1771-1775 (poverty)

1759-1687: Tyrone Co., Ireland

The Riddles who settled in Tyrone Co. did so during a time in Europe when William and Mary, Protestants, were fighting the Catholic King James to keep England from falling back under Catholic rule after he gave birth to a legitimate Catholic heir. Protestant landowners began seeking out others willing to move to Northern Ireland and push out the Catholics there. The Riddles settled in Ulster and Tyrone Co. and for just over a century, taking on the description of Scots-Irish.

1687-1100: Lothian, Scottish Lowlands

The people of the lowlands were not Scottish, nor were they English. They did not wear kilts, speak Gaelic and they didn’t live in clans. They were descended of Viking blood, the children of Normans who interbred with Scottish families.

They were Northmen who became Lowlanders, existing in between political and geographical countries in lands that were difficult to farm and subjected to multiple cattle raids that eventually left them no option but to attempt the same. The Ridels were among the first Normans to hold estates in Scotland.

In 1125, Walter Ridel received the oldest charter gifted from a King to a layman, in the lands originally called Lilliesleaf. They were called by the name Riddell in the 1400s. Because of this original charter, Riddell became a denotation of lands held by families not of Scottish heritage (i.e. Cranston Riddell and Glen-riddell).

Walter Ridel was thought to be a brother or nephew of Gervasius/Gervase/Geoffrey Ridel, both of whom travelled to Scotland with David I, Prince and Duke of Cumberland. They were both favored friends of the court. Gervase was appointed High Sheriff of Roxburghshire in 1116. The Ridels lived in the lowlands for generations.

1100-1066: England

Where did they come from, if they weren’t Scottish or English? Thanks to historians, I found an answer. The Sieur de Riddel, and his brothers, accompanied William the Conqueror in the Battle of Hastings and was a man of importance to William, who appointed him Lord-Chief-Justice of England. They were Norman invaders, come to conquer the island. Gervase was granted lands there, perishing at sea in 1120 on return trip to France. His sons stayed on in England.

1066-940: Normandy, France: Land of the Northmen

In 910, the Viking Jarl, Thorfinn Rollo the Ganger, invaded France. Rollo is considered to be the first great Norman invader (and is an unverified paternal ancestor of mine). The Vikings were explorers who began their raids in search of food. When they discovered the fertile lands of France, some of the Scandanavians decided to stay. My ancestors were among these men.

940-unknown: Rugdale or Ryedale, Scandanavia

The Ridels were Scandanavians who are believed to have originated in Rugdal or Ryedale, known as the Valley of Rye. It was thought that the spelling changed in the pronunciation of Rye-dale on the Scottish tongue. Another theory is that the meaning of the name never lost its original meaning.

A riddle was a tool, or instrument, used to clean and winnow rye and other grains. The surname Ridler or Riddler denoted one who winnowed grain.

Variants of the surname are: RIDEL, RIDDELL, RIDDLE, RIDDEL, RIDALL, RIDDEL, RIDDAL, RIDAL, RIDALE, RIDDELLE, RIDDELS, RIDDLETON, RIDDLEY, RIDELEIGH, RIDLAND, RIDLE, RIDLER, RIDLEY, RIDLON, RILLY, RUDDELL, RUDDLE, RUGDAL, RYDDLAND, RYDLEY, RYEDALE

Ancestral Migrations

How many other families would find themselves traced back to the same Scandanavian people? The lesson in this for me is that we cannot afford to define ourselves by who we are- all those labels and boxes- because we all were the same people at some point in time. Remember that the next time you are walking about your city, and look around at your human kin.