Whence came Thomas and [Margaret]

One goal, all along, has been to tackle this issue. There has been a whole lot written about the subject (see comments on a massive collection) that I have seen the past few years. Anderson punted (Great Migration), but that he did was correct (the bracket around Margaret is a nod to the open issue) given what is known, definitely, at this time, and the genealogists' bailiwick. Some of the thoughts and talks were re-addressed when the Richard III discovery was in the news (and later).

We have been considering origins from various angles: motivation, the times, and more. Given the interest, and the amount of material, we will make it a regular topic.

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Today, I ran across this findagrave page about the Thomas Gardner who died in 1635 (see Farmer and Frank). By the way, I really like the site and its intentions. Notice that the subject that we had multiple Thomas Gardners has been addressed (see summary in this post).

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When putting together the annals look at Thomas' time for Gardner's Beacon, Vol. II, No. 6, it was interesting to see how references to Thomas, and opinions, changed over the years. Too, seeing the material in this format suggested the usefulness. Expect a more full "annals" to be collected.

Similar to this, there will be a list of things on the web. This work is for informational purposes only. Analysis will come later. Without a proper structure and indexing, there is just too much which can complicate matters more than necessary.

Much of the web material points elsewhere, so we will track those. Sound like a lot of work? Yes, but, taking incremental chunks will allow regular report. Of course, the question of resource comes up: yes, we'll collect elsewhere and point there from the blog.

Now, one benefit will be to collect look backs that were done in good faith. Notice that the annals report (see Beacon reference, above) lists various look backs that happened over the years. Fortunately, we had some that were almost current. Actually, Rev. Hubbard was of the time of Thomas' offspring. Some of these look backs go back across the pond.

Some proposals (conjectures?) appear to be interesting. Some have a lot of supporters. We will get these laid out, even those that have been shown to not have much (or little or no) support.

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If you would like to contribute to the collection of material, please send an email. Especially, I would like to hear thoughts about Thomas' ancestry (John Goff's take, for instance). Actually, across the breadth of progeny, are there stories, etc., that ought to be brought forward?

Which brings up resource, again. We attempted, unsuccessfully, a Forum approach (see summary) last year. What method would be good to use (robust, secure, friendly, etc.)?

Remarks: Modified: 08/11/2020

05/22/2014 - Removed the redundancy from the title; kept it on the file (emphasis).

06/25,26/2014 -- rootsweb is back. Listing of 303 trees for Thomas (those with sources, showing descendants and providing the death year). ... Of the 303, 181 trees have parents for Thomas. ... Then, there are 43 trees with George being the grandfather of Thomas. ... See Whence came ...

07/02/2014 -- Featured in Gardner's Beacon (TM) Vol. IV, No. 2.

09/28/2014 -- A week ago, the record for the marriage of Thomas Gardner and Margaret Friar was discovered in Sherborne by John Cook of Minneapolis, Dorset files. This sets a type of focus. Looks as if some transcription work might be in order.

07/12/2015 -- Okay, turtle speed. But, we get there. Announcing a new project: Sherborne, Dorset. No doubt, it is about time. When finished with the data collection and analysis, we will present the strongest story (the prerogative of the family) that the facts, and abductive reasoning, will support. As such, we hope to demonstrate some very much needed research viewpoints.

08/06/2016 -- More on All things Gardners.

09/25/2018 -- Recently the Profile for Thomas Gardner on WikiTree changed to only have the two wives. This was due to research and discussion to which Gardner Research contributed. Earlier, there was a post that summarized the issue and accomplishment: Margaret, anew. Thanks are extended to all who made this update possible. The Profile is managed by the Puritan Great Migration Project sponsored by the NEHGS, publisher of the Great Migration books. So, Sherborne, as John said (see this page for images of documents).

08/11/2020 -- We have used categories in the post. We also have used pages which allow some structure. Then, we have the other media to consider. One thing is definite, we will have lists of important topics. On these, we will find Origins and Motivations.