Gateway Ancestors, redux

 TL;DR -- Hereditary societies co-mingle regularly. Technology comes in and complicates matters. We cope with whatever in this sense, but there are ways to ease the burden. We look at the update of the HSC website and its list of gateway ancestors. 

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We have had a lot of posts dealing with things going back to former times as this search on "Hereditary Society" shows. Our first one was in 2013 (Hereditary  Society communities) when we had come back from attending meetings for the third year. 

There are two things to look at today. The HSC has a new website and an updated page for Gateway Ancestors. As we might expect with continuing research, their list has been and will be kept up to date. People are added; sometimes, they take a name off the list. 

Also, Heritage is nothing new to the U.S. or the colonies from which it sprang. A list of the organizations under the HSC includes one from 1637: Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts (A&HAC). It's the oldest chartered military organization in the U.S. Last year we had a post on this organization.  

AHAC in London with
English Peers
1896

The A&HAC was founded in England in 1537 (during the time of the long bow) by a royal charter from Henry VIII under the name of Honourable Artillery Company (HAC). "It's the oldest regiment in the British  Army." And, it "can trace its history back as far as 1087." Many colonists were members before coming over and sought to preserve the heritage. 

An associated organization is the Order of Descendants of the AHAC which is open to males who have a genealogical lineage back to one of the original members of the AHAC. The group for women is National Society Woment Descendants of A&HAC. This is the list of the "eligible ancestors" from the colonial times. 

There are other organizations related to the start of the U.S. that we will get back to in the near future, such as D.A.R and S.A.R. The 250th of the Revolution has been in the news for a year. Come 2033, we will be looking for the start of peace which was broken by the 1812 event but eventually the two sides of the English heritage settled their differences.

Now, to the second item, way back in 2010 (in our third month of blogging for TGS), we had this post: RD example, using gateway. This is an old post and needs some update, but looking at the HSC's updates brought this to mind. The post mentions the Brookfield Ancestry Project which deals with the Magna Carta legacy. We liked this site. However, nowadays, one finds that on WikiTree, the Maga Carta Barons have been getting attention. The project has been proving "gateways" who formerly were identified by independent research and publication. Some of these books became out of date; many might be in need of some moderization. 

But, we can compare these two efforts, as in Brookfield and Wikitree side-by-side. We know of some newer names on the gateway list that come from recent findings. On the removals, there is no place to go to find out the final story. Right now, the HSC can be considered up to date. On the other hand, the in and out of the situation is situational. A publication on the Plantagenets, for instance, will have many who have a wide-range of ancestors. However, those who do not have as much right to look for confirmation via publication. 

With technology changing and the emergence of AI/ML (or GenAI/LLM), it will be interesting to see how things like provenance play out in terms of necessary source references. We are neutral on that at the moment and conform to the organization's wishes. 

But, we also did our "portal to truth" with respect to tackling now only the gateways, but heritages on this side of the waters. I got shot down for suggesting a national database. D.A.R. provides one with respect to their membership. And, they do have a "Passenger to Patriot" project (Mayflower). We started one titled "Cape Ann to Patriot" to go back further. 

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As an aside, we looked at the Society of Cincinnati which is U.S. based and founded right after the Revolutionary War ended. We have had several posts on different subject. For instance, two of the houses of the organization are associated with Ann's family. 

Remarks: Modified: 02/01/2026

02/01/2026 -- 

Kansas Day, 2026

TL;DR -- 29 Jan 1861. That was the day that Kansas came into the Union. We look at some information about the history. But, other States will get some attention, too. 

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In this blog, we have mentioned many states, mostly those of the colonial period. But, the state of Kansas has been mentioned a lot, for various reasons. Its neighbor, Missouri, has featured as well. Then, Calfornia has had more than its share of mentions. Of the other states, Texas has come up several time. And, there are many others that we ought to consider. 

A category related to States would not be a bad idea. We'll add it. Meanwhile, here are some of the posts with a Kansas theme. 

• Kansas and Lawrence (2017) -- This post reminds us that the State was a project of New England. Some of those involved are mentioned, such as Col. TW Higginson. Another post describes the trip from New England of the folks who came here and got Lawrence and the University of Kansas going. 
• Kansas Day (2024)  -- Theme of the 29 Jan 1861 entry of the State into the Union. 
• 3 Trails (2019) -- This post was about Gardner, KS where the trails split after having started in Independence, MO. They went in different directions to Sante Fe, Colorado, and Oregon (California). Hundreds of thousands of persons passed through the site. 
• KATY- western railroad (2021) -- Looks at the spread of the railroad through the southeast corner which has its own history. Several New England families who passed through or settled are mentioned. Holbrook is one example. 
• Coronado of the early times (2023) -- The Spanish explorers were into northern Kansas back in the 1540s. So, the 400th of this place happened almost 100 years ago. A related story involved Arkansas and its river. As well, Pike of the peak passed through. 

Well known area that impeded 
the travel along the Sante Fe trail
(courtesy of the Friends of Flint Hills)

What is this about? We will look to celebrate State anniversaries. Perhaps, we might look at the Northwest Territory first. That's the area around Michigan, by the way. In The Massachusetts Magazine published by Dr. Frank and friends, there was a regular report of families that moved to the area. 

Remarks: Modified: 01/29/2026  

01/29/2026 --

Knox, again

TL;DR -- Knox and his crew spent 56 days in the late fall and early winter of 1775/76 bringing tons and tons of gear from Fort Ticonderoga to the Boston area. Of late, a large swath of the U.S. has seen winter weather which might make appreciation of this deed a little easier. The British left Boston, shortly after this. We have several years to look at details in the modes allowed by technology hoping that we do more of the good than badish (as evidenced by the past three years of AI/ML).

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Anyone in the US who was under the long 2,000 mile storm of late ought to appreciate what Knox and his crew did. They left the Boston area so as to arrive in upper New York by 9 Dec 1775 and selected military equipment at Fort Ticonderoga to bring back to Boston. This equipment included 59 artillery pieces that together weighed about 120,000 lbs. 

The 56-day trek back to the Boston area was over 250 miles through rain and mud and snow and ice using boats, sleds, ox carts with oxen, horses, and men doing the heavy pulling. The last of this train arrived back in Cambridge on January 24. Then, the focus was to get the equipment in working condition. 

On March 4th, Knox placed his heavy guns on a hill overlooking Boston. Out of sight, he had armed many others. The Patriots fired some of these which covered "the sound of the construction, American cannons, besieging Boston from another location, began a noisy bombardment of the outskirts of the city." This the attention of the British. What resulted then, on March 17th is called the Evacuation of Boston. 

We wrote of this earlier which was before the start that is celebrated at the 250th this year. Also, we wrote of the ending through our recent study of General Nathaneal Greene who was so overlooked that the effort to gather his papers did not gain any speed unto 1976. That's 200 years of being ignored. 

1775 to 1783 or so? There were activities before. And, we all know of later, say 1812. 

But, there is a wrinkle now. We will bring provenance to the front of concerns and take extra care to keep the historical perspectives and facts thereof within the bounds of truth representations. 

Remarks: Modified: 01/27/2026  

01/27/2026 --

Small world, technology

TL;DR -- Again, the holiday issue in 2025 of The Economist has an article that is apropos to our research. This one has a focus on "El Segundo" which is a town known to us for several reasons. Anyone going into or out of LAX flies over the town. It was a technology town for WWII and before and somewhat after. For a time, it was derelict until efforts at the real side of technology came to town with a new motto: Bits to atoms. Or is it atoms to bits? In any case, we'll feature the location regularly for a while as we take the focus from that Valley up north which is so famous. 

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This is the fourth series.  So far, we have looked at science, literature, and economics. Two of these were motivated by the holiday issue of The Economist this year. This post picks up the thread of technology which has been our focus for a while which became more visible with the release of GenAI/LLM (or AI/ML) three years ago. So, we will pause the usual focus and move the looking glass at culture and technology which is imperative. 

Motivated, again, by this article: America’s fight back against China starts in Los Angeles—in flip-flops to be found in The Economist. 

El Segundo? Of California? Los Angeles area? Near LAX? Gosh, it's about time that we mention the place. As we have had lots of posts on DTLA (Downtown Los Angeles) where we find a neighborhood with the name of Bunker Hill West where the U.S. and its 250th have a long history. And, it is technology focus that got our interest shifted. 

Though, it could have been the SoCal beach culture that was the focus. We are talking about a place that is north of the more known beaches (say, those mentioned in song by the Beach Boys, Redondo Beach). Too, it's north of Long Beach. But south of the LaLa land up north starting with Venice up to Malibu. Lots of history to cover.  

The new kids on the block have an adage that is important to our discussion of technology: Bits to atoms. This is interesting as a good meaning deals with grounding the work of making digital twins with something real, in the world. Turning the concept around, atoms-to-bits is interesting too in the sense of how to come of with the digital twin (MRI, CT_Scan, ...) and knowing the essential differences that ensue in order to not get lost (which seems, many times, to be of concern with the present situations with AI/ML). 

Example: MRI

In other words, physics and mathematics come to fore and get attention. 

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Both of us have family history in the area, going back to before WWI. The technology focus will include firms in the El Segundo/Hawthorne area. Some say that the area is blue collar. The major industry were oil (Chevron) and aerospace (Douglas), and computers (Silicon Beach). As said, LAX is right there. But, Defense work was a prime contributor, too, over the years. 

In terms of culture, Hawthorne is named for cousin, Nathaniel, who is also important to New England's reach. That will be a topic of a future post. Prior to WWI, the area was agricultural. By the time of WWII, the technology focus grew abound. And, looking at such ought to give us pause with respect to recent manias, but that's an old topic still under discussion with respect to the future focus that we ought to take. 

Finally, stepping back to the time of New Spain and Mexico, this land was part of Rancho Sausal Redondo. Formed earlier by the new Mexican government, it was granted to the Avila family in 1837. 

Remarks: Modified: 01/17/2026

01/17/2026 -- Brought in the comment from WikiTree. Also, here is a record from the Pacific Coast Architecture Database on Rancho Sausal Redondo, Los Angeles County, CA (1837). 

Small world, economics

TL;DR -- For the 250th and the 400th, we are doing "small world" posts which will look at events on both sides of the English pond. Adam Smith, of Scotland, is almost as popular as Karl Marx. Smith was born 250 years ago and is considered the saint of a market economy; though, he wrote on ethics and morals, as well. The 2025 holiday issue of The Economist featured him in one of their articles.

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This is the third series. So far, we have looked at science and literature. This post picks up the thread of economics. This time, again, the holiday issue of The Economist of 2025 is the source. Here is a quote from an article on Adam Smith (Wikipedia): 

Marx inspired socialist revolutions across the world; Smith inspired liberal ones, including the turn to free-market economics in America and Britain in the 1980s.

A famous metaphor is attributed to Smith, namely the "invisible hand", which has been used to describe market activity on the one hand and to depict "Divine Providence" on the other. The latter usage was prior to the former. 

There are many ways to go with respect to this topic. But, let's stay with the Scottish theme. Something interesting are those who were cotemporaries of Smith in Scotland. Naming a few: John Mill (father of John Stuart Mill); George Turnbull; and Robert Burns. The eclectic mix is purposeful due to the breadth of U.S. and those over there. 

Remarks: Modified: 02/01/2026

02/01/2026 -- Finished the article.   

Small world, literature

TL;DR -- The Economist does a double issue each year right before the Holidays. This year, one of the extra articles dealt with Jane Austen. We saw that her birth was 250 years ago in December. We want to pay attention to the Old Country and thought to do it various ways. This is an example of one method. 

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The U.S. has a 250th this year which really started in the spring of last year with the Lexington/Concord conflict. We have posted on that theme for a few years. Now, we are approaching date of the Declaration of Independence and started a series, in the last post, based upon events in people's lives. We want to continue that theme. 

The Economist's Holiday double-issue had a piece on Jane Austen who was borrn in 1775. The article looked at her publications and compared the economic realities of her characters with a chart depicting a fictional annual income: How Jane Austen revealed the economic basis of society. Never having read anything of Jane, the article reminded me of the ties that were across the water which were somewhat severed by the split that followed the Revolution. That points to possible stories about families and histories of locations of interest to the New England colony. 

Too, I am reading (again, as I first went through the novel years ago) Irving Stone's "Those who love" which is a novel about Abigail and John Adams. Abigail was of Quincy heritage; we will look at her later. John was cousin of Samuel (of the beer) and a farm kid who got into Harvard. Later, he became a lawyer. And, we know him also as the 2nd President of the U.S. Stone's handling of characters and conversations does very well in protraying the times and ordeals experienced by those there. 

Ignoring that until later, we have had several posts on generations. For instance, we wrote earlier that the 5th generation did the Revolution with leadership being provided by the 4th. John and Abigail were of the 5th. And, their son, John Quincy Adams, is, like Jane, a member of the 6th generation. So, we can pay attention to this generation's existence over the beginning and early years of the U.S. 

By the way, the 8th generation was the core of the U.S. Civil War. We mention this as there are threads from the beginning (the 400th) by the entries during the colonial period to the major, internal conflict. 

Getting back to the 250th, the internet/web will allow publication of information from families and other sources that were never pulled together into something cohesive. Of course, technology now will be more of a hindrance and asset for several reasons. But, provenance as a keything will help and will definitely be necessary. 

Remarks: Modified: 01/10/2026  

01/10/2026 -- Modified font, at this section. 

 

Small world, science

TL;DR -- The U.S. is at its 250ths in 2026 with the festivities and lookbacks starting in 2025. That was the time of the Declaration of Independence. The conflicts started the prior year and continued until 1783 giving us now several years to use to study specifics. While, we might add, dancing around the mischief to be expected from wide-spread use of this AI/ML thingee. And also, looking at going-ons in France related to Independence and science. 

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We have been posting on the 250th for a few years with lots happening in 2025: Gardner's Beacon, Vol XV, No 2. This year, we see the thing that brings fireworks. What was that? Well, as we go along, we will pull forward associations with history and genealogy plus ties to science. 

We will introduce Rev. John Wise, inspiration for The Declaration of Independence. At the same time, we need to remind everyone of the extent of the conflicts. We will be addressing that mostly in the context of General Nathanael Greene and his Southern Campaign. 

All along, we have mentioned the 400ths and stressed the three major cultures: Spain; France; and the English. The first and last have been covered a lot. With the events of the 250th being followed by similar activity in France, we will be more regular in bringing in that cultural influence. 

Again, all of our activity will be influenced by history, genealogy (implying family, extended family, regions, and more), and science (starting with computational aspects which are now at the core of information and knowledge). 

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One thing that we can do is bring into focus the U.S. contributions over the years. Let's take thermodynamics which is a core subject, too. We have addressed several persons: Count Rumford; and Josiah Willard Gibbs. Both are kin. The former, as a Loyalist, made his name in Europe where he went when things got hot here. But, he sent back money to Harvard. We will look at that further. The latter is a descendant of Thomas Gardner and is known for his mathematical contributions. We will mention him more.

For example, there is someone to know: Lazare Carnot. He was a French Army officer with a cool head. In the heat of their revolution, he was there and influential: French Directory. This topic will be of interest later. Now, let's look at his son: Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot. His work in thermodynamics was only recognized posthumously. In this sense, he is like Galois who was  misunderstood during his time. Carnot probably needs more credit than we have seen; that is one of our goals - namely, research and report on this. 

In another venue, we are setting up a series of articles that will tie all of these notions together as we can use the time of the U.S. Revolution as the control and basis. Say, a classical view of substance. Then, we will come forward to the time of those in the boom era of Levi-Civita and Planck. Oh yes, do we need to mention Einstein? 

Too, we will bring in New Spain and the other major contributors to what became the U.S. 

Remarks: Modified: 01/10/2026  

01/10/2026 -- Reminder: Jane Austen was born 250 years ago. Same generation as John Quincy Adams.