Dr. Frank and WikiTree

Earlier, we mentioned that we had Dr. Frank's notes about his heritage from around the 1907 timeframe. The first exercise was to use his notes to check his Gardner pedigree against what Gardner Research had come up with starting from scratch almost 100 years later. The two views matched up. Of course, we had his books as reference. But, we have filled in the entire tree with the collateral families. In this day and age, we have a lot more information available since the www has forced things to an on-line mode. Too, communication is much faster (albeit, still errorful due to many reasons).

But, the question came up about public presentation since Gardner Research information is in a private, personalized environment, at the moment. Well, about the time that the marriage notice of Thomas and Margaret came up, we had gone to Wikitree to put in a link on the Thomas Gardner page. That was 2014. There had been a bit of discussion now and then, but, this year, the focus came back. So, this was accomplished: Margaret, anew. Essentially, we can declare that Thomas and Margaret were the parents of the children (notice that the first two nodes have the same information; the idea will be to merge these so that there are two spouses: Margaret and Demaris).

So, while that was going on, it seemed like a good time to try out WikiTree (what else? Not ancestry, for several reasons). If you look at the Profile of JMSwitlik (section on WikiTree), you will see the projects that are ongoing. Some of this was done by using ahnentafels from articles written in The Essex Genealogist or in The Gardner Annals to make profiles. In all cases, we got back to a Profile that already existed. In many cases, that Profile listed the known children. All we did was link in and bring up-to-date information related to a descendant.

But, Dr. Frank seemed to be a good subject (Frank Augustine Gardner (1861-1938)). The image is of his Profile and includes the first page of his ancestors graph ('Ancestors' button). To note is that we have 13 of 16 of his 2nd-great-grands. We have information about the others, however this needs checking before filling out the Profile.

With regard to the referenced projects, there are a lot more in process. However, with these, the focus was on Profiles in order to get familiar with the WikiTree ways (that is, get nodes into the tree). On each Profile, there is minimal source material; however, we have many sources and will be going back to fill in additional source material.

In doing Dr. Frank's biography (brief), we noted his sister, Lucie M. She picked up his work when Sidney Perley retired and published her work in The Massachusetts Magazine. Also, we noted that they were descendants of Nathaniel Eaton (as is Ann, TGS Secretary/Treasurer), and the link is there (pick Rebecca Knapp, wife of Simon Stacey Gardner). However, in doing his mother's line, we see that he is a descendant of Damaris Shattuck. So, he descends from both wives of Thomas. Lots more stuff coming.

For instance, taking Rebecca Knapp, we know her pedigree. For instance, she has Edward Woodman who was early into Newbury. This exercise tried to stay within things that have been proven by having been bumped up against a genealogist from one of the Heritage Society Community's groups that meet in D.C. each spring. That, folks, is about the best way to test these things. Our continuing issue? Even WikiTree has flim-flam. How to mark these would be something to figure out. In the meantime, note that the TGS will only put out things that have been scrutinized.

All and all, the work of the past few months has been a very good exercise. WikiTree has constraints in place that really help the genealogists. I like that. Too, they are Wiki in scope which is real nice (will discuss).

Remarks: Modified: 09/15/2018

09/15/2018 --

How close is close?

In the last post, we summarized several queries concerning the current state of Thomas (The remains of Thomas). What does state mean? Well, the norm would be for the remains to be in the ground under the stone. If they are not, usually there is some explanation.

The following is the start of some sleuthing that is needed to establish the 'state' of many others, not just Thomas Gardner (planter).

Modern (left), earlier (right)
Where is Thomas? III

1. In his earlier book, Dr. Frank (1907) wrote that court records indicated that Gardner Hill was around Main and Grove in Salem (lower red line, image). That means, too, the old burial ground. In other places, I have seen arguments that Harmony Grove touches where the Gardner plot was. Well, we will see. One opinion talked about a few yards of movement from the old plot to the corner where stones were thrown. Well, how few might few be? Of note, we have to consider the North River.

Then, Dr. Frank (1933) wrote that Samuel Pickering Gardner, ancestor of the John Lowell Gardners, had visited the place (1830s?) and noted that Samuel had written his observations which Dr. Frank got to read. The place was being used for tanning operations which caused some stones to have already been thrown aside, including that of Thomas, the planter. In this image, I rotated the old and the new views to almost agree. The markings map to a few landmarks. Notice that this has the hill on the other side of the river from Harmony Grove Cemetery. That is, looking up river, to the left. So, we do have to consider the river. Too, we have to look at Trask's property and burial site as it is germane to the topics to discuss.

Perley's view
Nutfield Genealogy

2. So, I have been poking around. We can start with Perley's map that shows Salem in 1700 based upon Sidney's study of the documents (Sidney Perley 1858-1928). Also, we are talking about Frank A. Gardner, MD (1861-1938). So, these two are cohorts. When Sidney got ill, Lucie, Dr. Frank's sister, picked up his work (Lucie following Sidney). Lucie and Dr. Frank published a whole lot of material in this regard in The Massachusetts Magazine.

The image comes from the Nutfield Genealogy post on Trask (see prior paragraph for link). Notice that Gardner's Hill is next to the Trask cemetery. That is, on the same side of the river. Note, too, the bulging of the river at that point.

3. Now, if we jump ahead to a view that is later, we can see Harmony Grove on the other side of the river which has been reconfigured. If you follow the history of the river, it has been encroached upon, and polluted, to support industry. And, tanning of leather for shoes turned out to be a huge deal (for a while). Samuel, above, saw the beginning of this. In the below image, I put a red circle about where Trask's (South) burying place was. Notice the difference in the shape of the river?

Trask, now and then

All of this is preliminary to a greater study that we will do. What happened to the bones of the 150 or so souls who were buried? It is a subject worth digging into (no pun). And, Gardners have to do this work with help.

4. Finally, let me show what a little sleuthing does. We need to do a lot more. I found a map at a Brit source that was with an article on glass making in the colonies, namely in Salem: Glass blower at Salem. The article is not very old; the map seems to be of the time (however, I do not know its provenance - if it was done in 1985, then that's worse than what Sidney (who was quite thorough) did a hundred years ago).

Salem, 1692? 

There is a lot more to learn. However, we intend to push to get this settled in the sense of the most reasonable answer that we can do given what we can gather as data. There are 150 souls, perhaps, looking from some type of recognition.

We ought to, as well, get a list of the names of those buried at Gardner's Hills.

Remarks: Modified: 08/17/2018

08/16/2018 -- Added a virtual cemetery to findagrave: Gardner's Hill. With this, we can have people put memorials for those who were known to have been buried at Gardner's Hill and, at the same time, reference where they or their stones were moved. MHC Report: some hills approached 200 feet.

08/17/2018 -- Gardner's Hill on findagrave is now Gardner's Hill Burial Ground (Defunct). It points to Harmony Grove Cemetery with a few words. Also, the rule is there will be no memorials connected to this. So, we'll need to figure out another method to have a virtual view of who was buried there. For starters, we can start with a page here on this blog and improve as we go. Gardner's Hill was in the same family through seven generations. It was sold at the eighth generation. We'll be writing more about this. However, it's a gain, as when one looks at cemeteries in Salem, MA, they will see Gardner's Hill.

The remains of Thomas

Yesterday, finally, I learned the real state of the remains of Thomas. Or, let's say, we can use the observation of Samuel Pickering Gardner to establish some notion prior to the road work of the 1840s. Then, what might have happened post that bears some attention. To me, the least that we can do is build some type of 'virtual' view of Gardner Hill with its grave sites. To that, then, can be attached the large set of data points that will accrue to analysis.

For starters, we need to see overlays of old and new maps so that we can point out what might have happened over the period of the first raking off of the gravestones until now. Essentially, it is unclear how many gravestone were moved, whose bodies may have been re-interned, or just how many graves were left to be scraped by the road work or to be covered over by the progress of building. More research is to be done. Dr. Frank talked to George Augustus Gardner about, and read the, notes that George had that had been written by Samuel Pickering Gardner who had visited Gardner's Burial Ground sometime prior to the period of the road work and reported his observations.

You see, and I verified this yesterday, lots of references on-line mention words like 'graves moved' or 're-interned' or any other of the number of things that a civilized society does to its cemeteries (from my perspective which can be explained, as needed). On the other hand, after yesterday, I thought of the Salem Fire (retribution - after all, we're talking Salem) which came out of an industrial area related to shoes. The first desecration of the grave sites relate to the push for commerce in that industry. As such, by the time the roadwork was done in the 1840s, graves had already been disturbed with stones scattered about. 

Dr. Frank did see Samuel's notes and made a brief comment (see pages 17 and 18 of Gardner Memorial - 1933). That is a good place to start. In the meantime, here is a history of posts of the Thomas Gardner Society, Inc. devoted to the subject. 

• Where is Thomas? - (Oct, 2010) On a visit to Harmony Grove, we got familiar with the layout and found the graves of Ann's Gardner ancestors. Dr. Frank is buried in the same plot as her grandfather and great-grandfather. Also, we saw the area where people are directed. It didn't make sense. Later I called and heard 'graves were moved' (but there was no clear indication where Thomas' remains were). 
• Where is Thomas? II  - (May, 2011) Not hearing from anyone any story that made sense, I continued to search. Notice that there is an aerial view of the area where the stones were, supposedly. I did not see that myself. Too, in 2015, I noticed that Dr. Frank, in the 1933 book, does not mention 'move.'
• Where is Thomas? III - (Aug, 2015) Motivated by a Wikipedia edit, I did further looking. One addition was a map by Perley put next to a modern aerial view where landmarks can be identified. I noted that the 'burial issue' was open and needs to be resolved. In my mind, that involved, mainly, finding where bones may have been thrown in Harmony Grove and identifying this. 

But, now I see that it is going to be more involved. Yes, bones were cast to the wind, if you would. There are many things that could be done, so expect that we will continue this discussion. Today's purpose was merely to set the record straight.

We do not know the status of the remains of a whole lot of people. Too, stones were thrown about. Well, the argument is that they broke. Okay. At least, Seeth was given some notice. Also, Buffum is noted as having the earliest stone over grounds that do not contain his remains. 

Remarks: Modified: 08/28/2018

08/28/2018 -- After some research, the fact that the stones were moved arose. So, we added a page for this cemetery, now defunct, on findagrave. Also, we can plan several tasks related to important issues, such as who was buried there, what stones stand, how many were broken, etc. As well, we can model the area as of 1640s, to get an idea of the size. 

Margaret, anew

From the beginning, we have used Thomas and Margaret, following Dr. Frank. An example is looking at the 'great house' that John Endicott had brought over to Salem from Cape Ann: Thomas' house. About the same time, Gardner's Beacon, Vol I, No. 3, looked at Margaret, in particular, and I used "Margaret's house" in terms of that structure.

We were newbies, back then, but I had noticed that some later genealogist actually agreed with Dr. Frank, too. However, the Great Migration Begins of R.C. Anderson suggested another wife who was the mother of the children. I got several emails pointing that out to me. So, I dug in and pulled out those things being referenced. Someone has to do this now and then, as many citations follow someone else (many times, without doing their own verification).

Gardner Research will go back to first principles, if you would.

• My first response (Sep 2012) - About Margaret - as the next bullet shows, the argument mentioned a 1639 entry in the church record. But, to me, it was Margaret; Thomas didn't align himself until 1637. Their kids were growing up, so they had to smooth the way.
• My second response (Nov 2012) - How many wives? This post puts TAG side-by-side with the Great Migration material. The conclusion was that the NEHGS was looking at 1000s of people. The Gardners would dig into one or two, with regard to this issue. And, in the meantime, we would honor good old Dr. Frank. 

Now, in 2014, John Cook came across the marriage record of Thomas and Margaret at which point we put out the blog post. Too, I went to WikiTree as there was a profile for these two (Thomas Gardner) or should I say three? As, 'unknown' was there. At that time, I did a few things and went on as I was writing several articles (The Essex Genealogist) which have given us ahnentafels for Dr. Frank (his father's side, I now have his hand-written lineage on his mother's side which I'll key in) which includes Benjamin Brown Gardner and Lucy Foster Wilson. We're first cousins, in that sense. 

Too, I got involved in getting further informed about England and that whole environment. Of late, I got back to looking at Sherborne, for several reasons (son, John; Folger; Dr. Frank, and others). Or, I ought to say Dorset. King John loved his Corfe Castle. Queen Elizabeth is shown in a painting being carried by noblemen at Sherborne Castle (the painting is there). 

I also stopped by WikiTree to see what was happening. Well, a query had been made in 2016 as to whether the kids ought to be taken from Margaret's profile and moved to that of the unknown. So, I weighed in and mentioned the marriage record from 2014. And, I mentioned the arguments for this: Sherborne, Dorset. I mentioned the Peirce family (for more than Charles Sanders Peirce) as many families have been poking around. We are trying to gather all of this stuff. Like that of the Paine sisters. This will all be documented, and we'll put a link to the material (shortly).

As well, we need to look at references to Thomas and Margaret. One known first reference is 1827 by Felt, working in Salem, who talked to a lot of people. We may find more. Too, records are being scanned in all of the time, transcribed, and indexed. So, that will help.

Margaret Friar, baptism

After seeing the discussions, I went back to look at my records and found that John Cook had sent to me a baptism record for Margaret (see image), the marriage record of her parents (close enough in time to be her parents), and the will of Margaret's father which mentions her plus a few other things. However, her father died in 1610 so the will mentions Margaret Friar not Gardner. But, we also have birth/baptism records for the first three kids with the names matching. As an aside, we will be looking further at (introducing here) Walter Friar and Grace Mullins of Sherborne. 

About WikiTree. I found out that the genealogists hang out there. Too, they are trying to stay true to the NEHGS work plus newer stuff, as the entry on Thomas dates from the 1980s. So, the Gardner Research work is considered to be after that. 

Essentially, there was an agreement that this is the Margaret and Thomas. But, there are lots of other questions to look at. I set a time frame of five years or sooner as that would match up with the 400th of the 1623 entry. A major researcher noted that first year over 100 years ago. That is, a boat arrived in 1623 with a crew that overwintered; another came in 1624. Margaret was on the later one, according to Dr. Frank. 

Still things to settle. 

But, the purpose for this post? Well, it has been decided to merge unknown and Margaret together. So, the profile for Thomas will have Margaret and Damaris as his wives.

Again, everyone. Use, please, Thomas and Margaret without worrying about being dumped on. 

That is a first step. One of many to come. So, please stay tuned. 

Remarks: Modified: 089/07/2018

08/07/2018 --  

Another western movement

Since an earlier post (and several others) mentioned western movement, we need to pause and look at the environment in the 1830s. Jedediah Strong Smith went west as a young man from New England (of course, our main focus) a little earlier. As such, he was an early explorer and lived the life of a mountain man. Before Jedediah went west, we had the conflict with England. One person to study further will be Hector St. John who wandered, as a foreign visitor, at that time and went home to write about it.

Turns out that there were others of such capability. Namely, the natives already on the continent. This post looks at events in the south, which was populated from England. However, many from New England went south, too. We will be looking at that (one of many examples). Then, some went west from the south.

A lot of the west has strong New England influence. Related posts: Gardner Junction, Final Migration, Gardner CO.

Today, we want to present the words of a native leader. The words come from the address of George W. Harkins to the American People dealing with removal of the natives (related legalese).

• It is with considerable diffidence that I attempt to address the American people, knowing and feeling sensibly my incompetency; and believing that your highly and well improved minds would not be well entertained by the address of a Choctaw. But having determined to emigrate west of the Mississippi river this fall, I have thought proper in bidding you farewell to make a few remarks expressive of my views, and the feelings that actuate me on the subject of our removal.... We as Choctaws rather chose to suffer and be free, than live under the degrading influence of laws, which our voice could not be heard in their formation.

Western movement, example

Popularly, people talk of the Trail of Tears. But, it deals with much more than that. Notice his words about wanting to be free of degrading laws. Does that not sound American?

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Our theme, again: Culture, History, Technology (of which are the gene related things). In our broad sweeps, we will be sure to gather information about interaction with the natives. Thomas had peaceful relations, as did Richard and John in their leadership roles on Nantucket. But, we know issues are not simple. Yet, the stories will be told, especially given the web. We can have a more in-depth coverage from time to time.

Remarks: Modified: 07/22/2018

07/22/2018 --  

Whole views

People have been interested in genealogy for a long time, to wit, the Bible (from 2013, Endless genealogies, quoting Timothy). But one bogs down quickly with more than the mere brick wall. What were these people up to? What were their times like?

Oxford view

Having just gone through Dr. Frank's Massachusetts Magazine (2018, all issues) from cover to cover, I have acquired a little more understanding of one-hundred years ago, more or less. The last post (on Jedediah Smith - true mountain, and desert, man) looked at activities regarding western expansion which was post the jaunt of Lewis & Clark. Also, that post brought up the notion of a larger focus, namely: culture, history, technology (which includes genetics/genealogy). We will be discussing this, however a quote from an Oxford book of 1850, gives the proper view.

A review of posts in this blog will show many devoted to issues of Whence (2014) and What we know (2012 - definitely needs to be updated). Since the start, we have had several of these types of posts on a subject that will still need some attention. One approach will be to gather what has been found so far so as to evaluate the information and sources. Nothing new there. It is work, but fun. There is a lot of material on the web regarding Thomas and Margaret and variations thereof. For instance, did Thomas have a sister named Rachel? In that case, I looked at this and tried to establish sources (2015, Rachel (Nobel) Gardner).

One post looked at the period around the arrival, briefly (2013, Plus or minus the arrival - I call this the cigarette posts as the time view of the reigns look like ascending smoke). That image shows the long reign of Elizabeth I. Her time overlapped the life of Thomas' father and his birth. Recently, I have started to dig deeper. Frankly, I was motivated by seeing an article on Elizabeth and the Spanish armada incident. In other publications, I read of the various players and places. But, I also noticed Dorset (2015, Sherborne) which is where son John said that they had come from. That lead to a bunch of reading, especially to get familiar with the counties involved, Dorset and the surrounding, such as Somerset, Devon, Wiltshire, and Hampshire.

But, too, I got a better appreciation for the geography of the War of Roses (2013, Origins - Motivations). I do not like how Game of Thrones has warped  the story (only read 2 1/2 books - put it down, never watched any of the Hollywood renditions). But, then, I learned today that Shakespeare is considered a propagandists for the Tudors by historians. Nothing new, as the saying goes.

Dorset countryside

Before ending, that is Alfred the Great's territory. Of course, the Romans were there, earlier. There was a Sherborne Castle build in the time of William the Conqueror. I think Edward II had some type of confab there. It decayed and was destroyed during the Civil War. Oh yes, the next county has Stonehenge.

Let's stop with a photo out of Dorset.

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We expect to move this blog to be under TGSoc.org. Once we get the new blog set up, volunteers who want to help to move things over would be gladly acknowledged.

Remarks: Modified: 07/30/2018

07/17/2018 -- As we look at things related to western expansion, we need to remember the ones who were here prior to that event.  

Jedediah Strong Smith

We commented on the wonderful job that is being done for the Mayflower events and mentioned the work being done by the NEHGS. That will be something to watch. Of late, after reading of Judge Thompson spending time out west, I have been paying attention to events of the past 200 years. As, we have the opportunity to celebrate those while the 400th stream of fetes rages for several decades.

The Judge's sojourn to the left coast and back, plus Col. Higginson's travels out to the wild west, are examples from a long period of history leading to now. I was just digging yesterday into the 'Sooner' events that were associated with the 1983 Land Rush where the Cherokee Territory was parceled out to a greedy bunch of people. There are tales to tell; fortunately, the www allows people to publish what they know. The usual caveats are in order, albeit that the Thomas Gardner Society would like to be involved with efforts a providing a 'clean, safe' web source.

You see, from the research mode, there are many things to discuss. However, a triad of culture, history, and genetics/genealogy rises to fore, in our opinion. These will be discussed further, as we go along. Culture is a human trait of long-standing interest. So, in a sense, memes trump genes? Well, lots to look at, however history does have a huge role. Actually, it deals with people and their dealings. People, of course, are the major players, but each generation comes and goes. We have to look at the broader scope of things. Humans have many cultures, most of which are age-old.

Both Thompson and Higginson were late, comparatively, to the subject guy. They were around during the pre-Civil War times. And, both were heavily New England in pedigree. One thing to remember is that after the Revolution, we had lots of people coming here. In fact, D.A.R. has many members whose patriot ancestors came sometime in the 18th century prior to the uproar. But, we also had the Spanish here for a few centuries by that time. And, people came from all over.

Just like now. And, given some of the discussions that I see, we really need educational thrusts related to the hidden history of the U.S. So, let's go back a few decades prior to these two guys. One of the early explorers, a mountain man, was out west in the 1820s. He started in St. Louis working in the fur trade business. Then, he went west and covered a whole lot of territory. He took notes, drew maps, and even wrote letters. And, he has a New England pedigree which needs to be researched further. I looked at some reports and provide a brief list of families: Smith, Strong, Partridge, Mather, Ingersoll, Langley, Adams, Kilborne, Foote, Eddy. Like many, he has oodles of cousins.

Jedediah did not have descendants, but his siblings did.

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Now, let's switch to an example society that is doing very good work. In 1957, a group in California decided to found a group to research this guy and others like him and more. This is their website.

• Jedediah Strong Smith, Society

It's partly based in Berkeley (CA). They use WordPress nicely. But, their research work is real nice. There is some discussion, below. But, they have a Rendevouz that is planned and allows people to walk in Jedediah's steps, if you would. And, he covered a whole lot of western states, as an early traveler. I will look at one, below, a little.  

Being brief, just like the NEHGS helps lead the way, the JSS shines, too. Jedediah Smith was born in 1799, so he's a post-Revolution baby. His parents were in New York. They both have New England pedigree. By 1822, he was in St. Louis. Mind you, this was before the trails kicked in (see Gardner, KS at the split). After that, he went many places. He helped establish the Oregon Trail's route.

As we look at the filling in of the middle of the U.S., we can look at what was going on in New England. Like we know of Higginson, that he was one of the secret supporters of John Brown. By that time, there was regular publishing in eastern papers of articles sent from the west. Jedediah was before any of that.

His death was in 1831, in Kansas. There is a river that runs out of New Mexico into Colorado and then wanders east until it meets with the Arkansas River that comes out of Colorado, too. He was killed while drinking water from the Cimarron River during a parched time. His body was never found, however reports of this death traveled back quickly. In that area, they were laying out the Santa Fe trail

Area where Jedediah was killed, 1831

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It might be of interest to mention, now, that Jedediah and his crew were the first U.S. citizens to cross the Mojave Desert. And, this was in the summer.

After being detained and questioned by the New Spain Governor, Jedediah went north.

Jedediah maps out the Interstates

I had to include this map, which came from the JSS website. For those who may be familiar with the area, the long south to north line is, essentially, today's I5. Then, in the lower area, we see what is now I15. And that northern line is I80 which goes across the whole continent ending up in New York City.

There are similar maps of other areas created by researchers who have been studying Jedediah and his times.

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As an aside, the JSS still uses checks for their membership payment and contributions. They have a nice newsletter, too, and published papers.

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Jedediah was forgotten for a long while. One article is noted as having been written in 1922 by a grand-nephew who live in Kansas not far from where Jedediah was slain. But, once the JSS was formed, it has been in action to get Jedediah recognized.

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We see a similar role with regard to Thomas Gardner and the Cape Ann crew, especially with regard to the Old Planters Society. That is, do not let the world forget early New England. Lots of research has been done the past 100 years or so. Too, there is a huge stack of pending research. Using the www for coordination goes along with its purpose and facilities. 

Remarks: Modified: 07/17/2018

07/17/2018 -- Continuation of the theme: culture | history | technology.