Gardner Research and discussion

Report on Gardner Research, results and The Gardner Annals (TGA).

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The latest issue of The Essex Genealogist (TEG), Vol. 35, No. 1, completes the look at Dr. Frank A. Gardner's paternal ancestry. See the following two ahnentafel charts for his paternal grandparents; the related TEG articles are noted.

• Benjamin Brown Gardner - TEG, Vol. 35, No. 1, Pg. 51 (TGA, Vol. II, No. 1)
• Lucy Foster Wilson - TEG, Vol. 34, No. 3, Pg. 160 (TGA, Vol. I, No. 2)

All of the TEG articles are published, as well, in The Gardner Annals.

Turns out that Dr. Frank is a descendant of Nathaniel Eaton. Nathaniel was degreed in the theological framework and, as well, had M.D. and Ph.D. degrees. That might put him in a different light, one might think. Say, misunderstood nerd. 

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Dr. Frank wrote two books on the Gardner family; this table lists the persons mentioned in the two books with their number. The page has links to on-line copies of the books.

The 1907 book filled in Dr. Franks's tree (descendant of son, Samuel) with cursory mention of the collateral families. The referenced TEG articles provide more details about these families.

The 1933 book covered the descendants of son George (book is available on-line).

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A discussion area has a brief overview of documenting lineage (one example). See related post.

Remarks: Modified: 10/10/2021 

02/27/2015 - On page 52, there is a footnote, 48 - NEHGS, GBR, *************. Ah, how did that get through? Well, we all know NEHGS. GBR? The cousin researcher, of course. ... Late last year, NEHGS let out a re-configured site. Now, as we have seen with the web/cloud, things change. In fact, we have providers pushing out changes (seemingly willy-nilly) without any (am I wrong?) consideration for ramifications (see nonmonotonic logic). But, then, free it is (so, suffer users). ... Anyway, there is a lot of misinformation, as we all know, that proliferates. Who was the mother of Anthony Potter's kids is an example. Many said Elizabeth Whipple. But, Elizabeth Stone it is. And, GBR had a note to that effect to which I had a pointer at the NEHGS site (the link, then, became bad). And, I have not gone to refresh the information, yet.

05/08/2015 -- The Essex Society of Genealogists has a FB page.

05/21/2105 -- We will feature Dr. Frank in our research. For now, we have the ahnentafels (fully sourced) for his paternal grandparents.

09/23/2015 -- Content for the GBR ******* footnote can be found here: American Ancestors, Static pages.

10/10/2021 -- The Count features in our history of Harvard (a special project dedicated to Nathaniel Eaton). 

Web/cloud presence

While browsing yesterday, we ran across a cached link that was out of date. In the news, of late, we have seen arguments about whether the web/cloud ought to be forgetful (or forced to be such). However that discussion turns out, sites need to be aware that links persist long beyond the expectations of some.

In fact, the link was from 2010: Gardner's Beacon, Vol. I, No. 1 (actually, the URL was technically addressing an ASP file which no longer exists). When picked, yesterday, the link went to a standard 404 (not found) page which surprised me. So, I went looking. Sure enough, there was a missing line in the control/configuration files at the new site.

Well, the transition was in 2012 (documented here). At that time. MS, our friend, pulled the plug. I blogged all sorts of issues related to this (for instance, unsuspecting little companies had put the system into their process - yikes).

Now, though, as you will see if you pick this (404 Not found), the error page is a little more instructive. The message is general as it supports a throw from many places. At some point, perhaps, we will be a little more specific.

As you will recall, we had a go on the content/configuration stuff last summer as we moved from the 2012 time frame to something a little more modern (CMS, again). And, if you look at Status, top of page, you'll see a link to our technical blog as we work issues. Why? Well, it has to do with the fact that there are lots of open issues with regard to the web/cloud and more. Only those who are raking in the dough (or, those who we must forgive because they might not know better) seem to not care; as is the case with every age, we are at various crux points. Thankfully, Thomas Gardner's life can shine a light, yes even after so many centuries, on how to better handle our choice mixes.

Aside: People, quote us on this. All sites (oh, gosh, supposed smart folks) have updated themselves to be more friendly to mobile devices. Guess what, people? They made it hard to find information, in general. ... But, as this old guy knows, we get the pendulum swinging back and forth with technology. Right now, its manic, again. He only hopes that some semblance of sanity returns before his time is up.

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Last year, we converted to using CSS more fully. This year, we are toying with introducing more scripting. However, as we do so, expect that we will be discussing the pros and cons which get trampled under who is first (no matter the consequences on the populace) and who can make more money (as if that is a sign of smarts - and, in a supposed Christian society? - Harvard (we will have to introduce Nathaniel Eaton as the first nerd) going secular was not a step up).

Remarks: Modified: 10/10/2018 

02/27/2015 - Example of how stale links come about.

10/10/2018 -- As we review our growing collection of material, we will improve the ability to browse and search. First step is to have images pointing to content. We will add more, such as a search button. Content vs configuration is a continuing theme (relates to the core of computer-aided knowledge). 

Wikipedia page

Namely, Thomas Gardner (planter). When you visit the page, you will see the following warning (of course, "multiple" means two).

Pray tell, what gives? Wiki is an open society. As such, opinions abound. If you would have looked at this last summer, there would have been a third bullet, NPOV (Neutral Point of View). That is, someone took exception to some of the material on the page. Since that time, the offending material is now on the Talk page, so the button went away.

The two remaining buttons deal with the list of descendants. Some of these are sourced by books. Some were from web sites. Now, if the web is suspect in general, so, too, is Wikipedia. Hence, Wiki people should not use that argument (I have already weighed in on that).

Aside: I have used Wikipedia from the beginning and have edited for about ten years now. I started the Thomas page in 2010 as there was NO (as in, nada) presence for Thomas, and many others, on Wiki whereas the other historicals were vociferously visible. At the time, I used the page to get some notion of the breadth of descendants and have kept at it. Note, you see similar for Lowell (and others). The Talk page has comments related to the expansion of this page from its inception.

So, if you look at the Talk page now, you'll see this, among other things.

I am jmswtlk (oldest wiki'an until proven otherwise). Note the second paragraph. Someone took exception to the tags (see above image); I agree in part. But, the Wiki way is to work toward consensus. Too, I will admit that some of the earlier stuff had attitude about which I intend to write in detail. But, I'm older now and want this page to be reflective of Thomas and his Gardner's Beacon^TM (the varieties of connotations - including allusions to John W's little declaration - is not a small set) in an enduring manner.

So, as the last sentence says, it's on the plate. But, to date, the work has been done by mostly one editor. Besides this page, there are auxiliary pages to support. So, where is the support?

Aside: Wiki represents the real essence of Web independence. Personally, it is my first place for research (look at the material that has been added about Magna Charta in the past year or so - one can track relations between the Sureties - themselves - and their progeny, for instance). On some subjects, Wiki provides an irreplaceable framework - if you would like to discuss this, let me know -- that is provided by experts. So, the TGS, Inc. will continue to keep the pages current. However, any new material is welcome as long as it follows the Wiki rules.

Remarks: Modified: 02/08/2015 

02/08/2015 - Note the use of "web independence" rather than net neutrality which, while related, is different. The web allows self-publish and more much to the chagrin of many as we then need to endure the output of the bad as well as that of the good (talking content and rating thereof).