Resources and more

While reading through Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors in the War of the Revolution (MS&S, a 17-volume compilation authorized in 1891 - see below for on-line access to all volumes), I was struck by several things. For one, how can we thank those who put together this wonderful resource? The page count is above 17,000 which represents the effort to identify the patriots in one area (Massachusetts). For instance, New Hampshire's patriots are not included, though Maine is well-represented.

Too, the Gardner listing (Volume 6) starts on page 258 with Aaron and ends with William on page 282 (not counting other spellings, such as Gardiner). Then, one has to wonder which of these are descendants of Thomas and Margaret (finding out can be put on the task list; the thing would be to start with those that Dr. Frank identified).

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I got to MS&S as I was looking for patriots who were identified in a tree but did not appear in the D.A.R. database (see below). D.A.R. adds patriots when a new application proves the pedigree and provides the service record. D.A.R. suggests that people who were born between 1710 and 1765, as a rule, might be eligible as patriots if they meet the requirements.

Given someone born mid-1900, that would be 8 to 9 generations back. Given that women can be patriots, too, there could be 256+ people on that person's tree who are possible D.A.R. patriots. Of course, various factors reduce that number to something like 30, or so, for the max (assuming that you can prove the lineage and afford the genealogical fees). The number is large enough to keep one busy for awhile (lifetime?). 

The D.A.R. effort at a database is nice in that it will provide proven lines and allow future researchers to do tree matches to fill in holes. The DB is available for search by the public at the following link.

      http://services.dar.org/public/dar_research/search/?Tab_ID=1

Searching with "Gardner" for 'Ancestor Last Name' brings up 162 hits. That's a good number as there are about 7 or so people per page, for 24 pages. Does that indicate that the Gardner descendants have been fairly active in applying to D.A.R., as a whole?

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Index to on-line volumes (thanks to archive.org - seventeen volumes)

       Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors in the War of the Revolution

       v1 (A - Ber), v2 (Bes - Byx), v3 (C - Cor), v4 (Cos - Dry), v5 (Du - Foy),
       v6 (Fr - Gy), v7 (Ha - Hix), v8 (Hm - Jy), v9 (Ka - Lsu), v10 (Lua - Mop),
       v11 (Mor - Paz), v12 (Pea - Raz), v13 (Rea - Sey), v14 (Sha - Sth),
       v15 (Sti - Toz), v16 (Tra - Whe), v17 (Whi - Z)

Remarks:

06/05/2018 -- Referenced in Gardner's Beacon, Vol. VIII, No. 1 (June 2018).  

01/20/2021 -- Of late, we are appreciating D.A.R. as of the middle. That is, we're 250 years from the rebellion; we are 400 years from the early entry which goes back a little further. We are interested in establishing family threads from 1775 both ways. By family, we are talking the whole of the colonial experience, north and south. Of late, Ann performed the duties of Registrar for a DAR Chapter, while being Treasurer, too. It was a learning experience with regard to process, time required to do it right, possible modes of computational support, and more. John's suggestions with regard to a common database, which was held in the framework of the Hereditary Society Community's discussion, pertained to proving once for future reference. The Societies don't seem to like that idea. But, we will get back to this discussion soon, as 2020 did get everyone's attention about cloud'd work and its need (as well, as it's lack of maturity). Too, taking DAR as an example, if each generation of applicants proved the first four of their heritage, it would not be long before a substantial amount of applicants would only need to do a generation or two. At the other end, the Thomas Gardner Society is interested in increasing the coverage of the Patriots with respect to the number in MS&S who have no DAR reference. 

Modified: 01/20/2021

400th, again

Jamestown has already had their commemoration. Other look backs loom; preparations abound.

We have had the 400th (again) in mind, too, for awhile. There will be many beyond Plymouth, Cape Ann, Salem and their peers, as each of the towns of New England will celebrate their beginnings. Here is the long list from Wikipedia's write up on the Massachusetts Bay Colony: Timeline of settlement.

Aside: Anyone with the usual mix has 1000s of relatives, and towns, to celebrate, so let the good times roll and roll and ...

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Today, I ran across a site about Rev. John White. Rev. John was a main motivator behind what became Massachusetts.

Rev. John White
in context

Aside: We have mentioned Rev. John several times. Some thought that he was Thomas' uncle. Rev. John did not come to this side of the pond, but some of his relations did.

The site, sponsored by the Benefice of Dorchester, was set up for the 400th anniversary of Rev. John's appointment as Rector of Holy Trinity and St. Peter's churches. 

There is a sub-menu that points to different categories of information about Rev. John. I really liked the timeline page (image from that page). Notice the major categories which relate Rev. John's time with events in England and the World.

Aside: We need to do more of these plus-minus types of things as we talk about origins and motivations.

The site has a nice bibliography. Also, the site looks at more than Rev. John's involvement with the Dorchester Company.

Aside: It was nice to see the recognition of Rev. John's (in-law) 400th.

Remarks:   Modified: 10/17/2022

09/23/2013 -- Example of celebrations to come: 375th of the First Congregational Church of Hampton, NH.

11/13/2013 --  Phippen would be part of the slate fill.

06/06/2018 -- Need to prepare for 2023/4. Some, of literary inclinations, have looked back 200 years: American Jeremiad. But, we need to go back to the Cape Ann times and before.

12/30/2018 -- The 400ths will be one theme next year.

07/17/2019 -- Changed to using commemoration.

10/17/2022 -- Removed errant links, for one the "dorchesteranglican" one. 

Essex recollections

Note: See below, for Table:The Dane Family and Extended Kinship from TEG 19:221.

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With the turn toward fall that comes with September, all sorts of things loom on the calendar. For one, those festivals related to harvest, such as apple cider (ah, Johnny Appleseed ought to be remembered every year) and such. Too, Salem rises to public attention, again.

Would not Thomas (Beacon Vol. I, No. 4) want us to be interested in anything dealing with his town?

There was more than Salem Village involved with 1692. For instance, Andover was an important town, too, which we'll get to below.

The Dane Family and Extended Kinship
The Essex Genealogist.
(Online database. AmericanAncestors.org,
New England Historic Genealogical Society,
2011.)

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It might be nice to stop, recognize the Associated Daughters of Early American Witches and look at their accepted ancestor list (not considered complete). The ADEAW list was used for the "Imagine a meeting" post from 28 Oct 2012 (follow up post on 10 Feb 2013). That first post commented on, and showed examples of, the inter-relationship between ancestral families on one person's tree (it was not a complete listing and was presented only for discussion purposes).

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Today, while searching on NEHGS (it's nice to find well-researched papers), I ran across a paper by Marjorie W. Otten (1999 - TEG 19:221) who was writing about the Ingalls/Dane families. Of course, Rev. Francis Dane (see list from 28 Oct 2012) was mentioned.

On looking at the article, I found an interesting little chart in which Marjorie enumerates those in Rev. Francis Dane's extended family who were accused of witchcraft (and, for the most part, imprisoned) during the time of the craze. Now, we know that Rev. Francis Dane was critical of the authorities. From the list, one might get some notion of why this was so. His cohort, Rev. John Wise (another person on the tree), was on the opposition side, too.

From what I've seen, Marjorie has studied, and written a lot, about the events of 1692. So, given her expertise and scholarly way, it was good to see a listing like this. Perhaps, we would learn something if we had this for all of the families who were there (say, think of an exercise to help fill in one's tree - or, get a new respect for those who were tormented).

Not only were families persecuted, so too, their associates and friend would have been deeply troubled.

Aside: Think of the six-degrees analysis associated with Kevin Bacon to get an idea of the magnitude of relationships that could be collected if transitivity were carried out beyond immediate ones.

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It's early, but, we'll have to consider the Salem Village theme, again, this year.

Remarks: Modified: 09/21/2021

09/04/2013 -- Again, the scene is built as follows. Those who came over are from the 10th to 15th generations back (for the most part) for someone alive now. By the time of 1692, lots of the earlier arrivals had passed on. So, that left the second generation (again, for the most part) as the elders. Now, taking a cohort mix (generational cut) round or about 1692 would give us someone on the current person's tree who would have about three generations living (including the level of their own cohorts). So, we would see siblings/cousins, parents/aunts/uncles, and the greats. In other words, it's a composite person that is built from that cohort mix (meaning, of course, that being on the tree implies ancestry) for which we can identify relationships blood (including 1/2 blood), in-law, and even friends. What Marjorie's chart does is to take someone who is in the mix and look at extended relationships. Now, consider what we would have if we did that for a large part of the composite mix. Would it not be an interesting view?

10/15/2013 -- The article was about the extended family of Rev. Francis Dane. The image can be updated for other families. Doing one of these would be a interesting exercise, say for a Dane descendant. That is, someone from about three generations ago who is a descendant of Rev. Francis' father, Dr. John.

10/20/2013 -- Added note at top, which is referenced from Wikipedia article on Francis Dane.

10/30/2013 -- I am in the process of reading Katherine Howe's book, The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane. Dane, as in being related to Francis, of course. I wondered if there would be motivating material for a Beacon issue (we did have 1692 as a theme in 2011 and 2012). It is an interesting plot, especially the balancing of the characters, and their interactions, in two time periods is nice. The description that Katherine provides of little Dorcas Good in the underground cell surely depicts the poor, young thing's misery and shows Katherine's grasping of the horror. One wonders, from some of the modern views and comments, if people really understand the dire situation. Too, the main hypothesis might have some truth, in a slightly altered construction. You see, science has not shown as much light on human matters as some might think. But, then, for any knowledge that we have gained, we have also seen that the unknowns do not diminish. It's just that we get better able to cover (as in, remove from awareness) the holes in which lurk the demons.

04/ 29/2014 -- Aftermaths.

09/01/2014 -- Gardner Research announced. "The Trials of the Wilson Family" published (TEG (2014) 34:155).

05/16/2015 -- anceSTORY's article on Mary Perkins Bradbury.

10/10/2018 -- Pulling together the posts related to the witch trials for future discussion.

09/21/2021 -- This will be a regular theme: See Pressing day updated.