Abraham and Robert

TL;DR - There have been several attempts to link Lincoln with Lee (Civil War guys, different sides). One researcher is a descendant of Lion Gardiner. This post is with respect to an article in the periodical of the NEHGS that looks at popular genealogy and history. And, it affords an opportunity to reference earlier posts. 

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Last time, we looked at some analysis, of earlier work (Hectoring) that was done 100 years ago, which was reported in an article that noted how easy it is for creative moods to influence data interpretation. This is fine in some cases, not so in history. In this case, 1902, and later, work was revisited and reviewed using modern analytical techniques. Okay. That type of thing is expected with scholarly work. The avenue for reporting these findings was the Winter 2021 issue of the American Ancestry of NEHGS. 

That same issue had another article with the subject of the relationship between Abraham Lincoln and Robert E. Lee. First, we have to mention that FamousKin passed the test with flying colors as they pointed to this article. Their words were "finally ... put this question to rest" in a recent post at the Famous Kin site.  

What got us to look further was that the son of John Tyler (President) challenged the report of a relationship not long after it was first published. The son was Lyon Gardiner Tyler. And, he wrote in the William & Mary Quarterly. There are two things here. First, Gardiner in the name raises a question. Turns out that Lyon is a descendant of Lion Gardiner through his mother. With respect to the family of Lion, some have written about their pedigree. But on WikiTree, Lion's profile shows his parents as being unknown. Meaning, as I have discussed with a known author, Gardner/Gardiner research opportunities are wide open. That means, too, that the Great Migration Project at WikiTree has raised issues that need to be addressed. So, we will look at that. 

So, we will look into this research further at some point as All Things Gardner is the appropriate view. Taking this further, there is plenty research to do as we go toward the 400th of Cape Ann. We have spent a lot of time studying New England of the north, however there are the southern influences. 

We first got an opportunity for looking at the South through our work on Chloe Porter. Her father was of New England and of Mayflower descent. Her mother was from early Virginia which gave us a chance to look at the situations and families involved. 

Remarks: Modified: 04/09/2021

03/31/2021 -- Added link to Lion's WikiTree profile plus added image of Lyon Gardiner Tyler.  

04/09/2021 -- Added the TL;DR. 

Hectoring

TL;DR - Tongue in cheek? Perhaps. Academic look at something from 400 years ago had an impact of several varieties on my self. The Hector? 1637 trip. Davenport was one passenger. Another, Theophilus Eaton. Who? Bro of Nathaniel Eaton of Harvard fame (or infamy to some) about whom we will wax eloquent at some point. And, Nathaniel? In the lineage of Dr. Frank and Ann and many more. Anyway. Winthrop's observation at the time is of essence to the discussion. 

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The recent American Ancestor (NEHGS), per usual, had timely and interesting articles. One of the articles motives this post for a number of reasons. First, the post and author are as follows: 

• Deconstructing the Hector "Passenger List" by Dr. Andrian Brockett. 
• See details of the research at this site:  The Hector 'Passenger List' 

The author's career had a "paleographical and historical" interest. One of his goals is maintaining his "rigorous academic approach in genealogy" which is nice to see. I have been looking for an opportunity to raise the sights of genealogists to consider more than their plodding ways. 

Actually, from where I sit, some genealogists think that their collection of papers prove an existence. Whereas, we really need to have more respect for those of the past in ways not considered. The issue is what does this mean and how do we attempt such a thing. 

Earlier, I had a post in which I referenced Ichnology (see Remarks 04/25/2014) in which I alluded to the fact that we build large models of the old and gone beasts even to the extent of postulating motion. And, from the minimal of fact. Imagination at work? Yes, same goes from mathematics and all of the science based upon it. Some might use magical (you have to listen closely to catch this as it is anathema in the academic world); myself, I would prefer creative. 

Now, after that bit of an introduction, there was the boat, Hector, that arrived in 1637. Two passengers were Rev John Davenport and Theophilus Eaton. Theophilus is kin being the brother of Nathaniel who had a run in with the Massachusetts folks. Stories remain to be told (Gardner Research citation). Actually, we have a  lot more than this to discuss with Harvard, in time. 

Too, one might mention that Winthrop only noted five as those were of his class and recognized as such by himself, albeit with some tension that bears a little attention. 

In short, bring on the academic flavor. At the same time, let's get into advanced logic and more. 

Remarks: Modified: 04/20/2021

04/20/2021 -- For more about this issue, see post on Abraham and Robert. 

Pre-Civil War, San Antonio to San Diego

TL;DR - We had our head in New England for a long time. Much to learn. Then, we lifted our sights to New France as they quibbled quite a bit with the English colonies. And, of course, being a westerner (the huge heart of America north), New Spain came forward. So, crossings is a theme that we will continue. And, how about three weeks from San Antonio TX to El Paso TX? In a stage coach? And, then, heading to San Diego CA partly through the area hosting El Camino del Diablo. Lots to discuss. BTW, this route was traveled one hundred and more years prior to the pre-Civil War period. 

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This post looks at a couple of southern routes. One was for mail and has been described quite thoroughly. The other was a stage coach route carrying easterners to the So Cal coast and points in-between. The motivation is to fill in a more full picture of the U.S. as we get ourselves out of the New England bias. 

Earlier, we wrote of the first recorded cross-continental trek. Turns out that it was across lower Canada where the individual went from Montreal to British Columbia. The time? 1793. This is not long after the Revolution and before Clark and Lewis. Now, the context of this was western expansion where we realized that we had to include New Spain and New France into our work to be thorough. As mentioned in earlier posts, people went west almost immediately both in northern and southern New England. Up in the north, the Northwest Territory was a limit at one time. Today, this area is noted as being the mid-west. A lot of the western movement went by water. We are looking at the various ways that the crossing was done by land which was difficult.  

However, there were efforts that were quite successful. The Santa Fe and the Oregon Trails are good examples. But, we wanted to look at the lower areas of the country. As well, we always want to note routes that were known to American Indians. An example of that might be El Camino del Diablo. There are other old trails down in that area.  

As we look around, we try to establish a New England connection. We found one with George Henry Giddings. Actually, we found several through the collateral families. But, George and his brothers went from the TX area from PA, however they are descendant of the Giddings family from Ipswich MA. However, the family was successful in Texas, too (Giddings Family papers). 

• San Antonio-San Diego Mail Line -- This route took over a month using mules and wagons. This graphic shows some of the places that the line went through using modern roadways. Note the distance of over 1300 miles with a time of 22 hours where a lot of it is the U.S. Interstate system. 

The Texas part of this road was over 580 miles. It was used from 1849 to 1882. One variant was called the San Antonio - El Paso Road which Giddings developed. We must look at the stage coach line that existed at the same time as the mail route. It was a different company, but they ran over the same trail in part. This was the Butterfield-Overland line that went from St. Louis MO to San Francisco. Here is the time table and mileage on the return trip. The route was by coach except for a short bit between St Louis Mo and Tipton MO. 

Mark Twain went out to see the sights and described his long journey by coach. Jedediah, and his kind, did it by foot or horseback. 

Remarks: Modified: 06/01/2021

03/24/2021 -- Add the TL;DR. 

06/01/2021 -- Need to add this image with regard to the schedule of the Butterfield-Overland run. Notice that the animals were run at the "highest speed" supposedly without injury. There is more detail about the intermediate legs of the journey. 

Given that, here is Mark Twain's description of his jaunt on the northern route. It was such a bother that he delayed his return trip. 

Foreign incursions

TL;DR - We had our head in New England for a long time. Much to learn. Then, we lifted our sights to other areas. There were many incursions over time, from the view of the American Indian population. How they mapped back to the Old World differed but in interesting ways. For New Spain, we don't usually think of the Pacific Northwest. Anywhere is Spain is like this? Of note, is while the quibbling was being done in the East (the Revolution), a Loyalist was making his way west out of New France. Took several trips, including a sojourn in London. But, he got coast to coast in the real way, on foot. Listen up, those who see the heart of America as flyover country. 

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We know that this continent was populated prior to the incursion by Europeans. Our focus, from the beginning, has been efforts related to the establishment and development of New England. Of late, we decided to broaden our scope for the future which got us looking at the other colonial experiences, such as New Spain and New France. There were other countries involved early on which we will get to. The motivation, though, is to have a more full picture across time and space. 

We are taking New Spain first, since it is less known. England and France have a history going way back: Edward III had a claim to the French throne. William I invaded England from France. And, in the New World, France diddled with the English from the beginning. As well, the Magna Carta times involved activity by King John and his family with respect to property rights in France. 

We have thought of New Spain, mostly, with respect to the Louisiana Purchase which dealt with the middle region of the country. But, there was also the southwest and the west coast that we need to consider. In this post, we will take a look at the Pacific Northwest. Using Wikipedia, we see the history view starting with the indigenous peoples. Then, there is some coverage of European exploration starting with Drake for the English. New Spain paid more attention to area. 

But, it is nice that the Wikipedia's page looks at the first crossover from the east. This was done by Alexander Mackenzie and was fairly late, considering the early activity related to the fur trade. Mackenzie was Scottish and returned there after his trek. He came over before the Revolution and was sent north to Montreal as his family were a loyalist. We have looked at one Gardner loyalist family. 

As we have seen, New France ventured much further west than New England. They had water that they would travel on going west. It was from that region that Joliet and Marquette ventured down to what is now Arkansas. Later, it was from the western end of Lake Superior that MacKensie went west to Alberta. The first excursion from there to find the Pacific got to the Artic Ocean. That was in 1789. After going back to Great Britain in 1791 and returning the next year, to attempt to get to the Pacific. Ignoring some details, for now, he ended up in what is now British Columbia and can be known to have made the first coast to coast trip across the interior (that is, north of Mexico - and we might add, New Mexico - not the State, but the whole southern region). 

Next up, we need to look at southern New Spain as there was regular traffic from Florida all the way to California, by boat and foot. We will do a few of these posts, using old maps: Maps of Early America 1400-1800.

Remarks: Modified: 09/25/2021

03/18/2021 -- For starters, let's look at two routes: San Antonio TX to San Diego CA and the Butterfly-Overland route that took over three weeks to go from San Francisco CA to St Louis MO. We can look at these both ways: back to the American Indian trails; the modern highway system as we did with Jedediah Strong Smith. 

03/24/2021 -- Added the TL:DR. 

09/25/2021 -- We can look further at Oregon, by water and by land. 

Victory Gardens

TL;DR -- Yes, the long reach of New England, never shortens. The first effort called, even a motivation for, the Victory Garden was in Detroit MI more than a decade before the time of WWI. 

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The New England Historical Society got this started with an article: A Maine Shoemaker's Potato Patch Plan Feeds the Poor. The timeframe is 1893 which is post the Civil War and during a financial panic. In short, a New Englander, Hazen Stuart Pingree, who went west was in the Civil War and stayed west. He became the Mayor of Detroit, MI. We have mentioned how Dr. Frank's The Massachusetts Magazine had a regular feature on pioneers where Michigan featured as well as Ohio. 

So, Pingree gets attention since we have wrote of the Gardner-Pingree house in Salem. Same family? We need to explore that further. Before getting into politics, Hazen worked as a shoe cutter. He was successful enough to have found Pingree and Smith, a shoe company. This is being resurrected under the name Pingree Detroit. 

1895 opinion

WikiTree's profile for Hazen will be studied further mainly to see his relationship, if any, to David Pingree who bought the house in Salem. Its fame is partly due to a murder where a Crowninshield and a Knapp (link is to a Smithsonian Magazine article) murdered a White, all old Salem families. However, there are other families in Hazen's tree who are New England, too. 

Now to the gist of this post which looks at an event in the 1890s that foresaw the efforts at national gardening during WWI and WWII. This was a well-documented program conceived by Hazen S. Pingree. We will provide a few links to articles and books with some commentary as a way of introducing the subject.

• Report of Agricultural Committee ... Cultivation of land by the poor and unemployed - This report to Hazen is from the committee in charge of the effort. It provides details about the project, including tables of costs and accomplishments. A consultant, Capt Cornelius Gardener is mentioned. He was stationed at a local U.S. Army fort and helped steer the project. We need to find out more about this gentleman (photo of the Capt with Hazen). The writer of the report was Capt John Conline of the Detroit Police. 
• Potato Patches - The name caught our eye. This article from Hour Detroit gives a very good overview of the situation and the motivation for Hazen. 
• Facts and Opinions - This book by Hazen gives us his view of the times and the need for the project. Pages 161 to 177 provide a report by Capt C Gardener. Not only was the project successful, it got a lot of attention. Many cities duplicated the effort. 

This is an example of the long arm of New England as the U.S. interior filled. There were many New England families in that area, as we mentioned, so we need to pay a little more attention with respect to All Things Gardner. 

Remarks: Modified: 03/24/2021

03/15/2021 --  This relates to an earlier post: American Dream. 

 03/24/2021 -- Added the TL;DR. 

Edward III

TL;DR - Some in the U.S. like to compare their heritages, especially when royals lurk there. This has gone on from the beginning with some families making claims very early. Some of these were confirmed later. Some went out of style. Imagine that: make a claim, then have to retract. One ought to have kept quiet (like a current pair are not doing - but they have the pedigree). But, we're above all of that (thankful for no connection at all - Irish/Polish). On the other hand, we notice good research reporting and want to encourage this, even adopt the best ones. WikiTree stands out for many reasons. 

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Using an informal survey, it looks like Ed III has a place of being the last of the royals on pedigrees. There are some who have later characters, however, Ed III seems to stand out. We can go back to Richardson's work (or that of others) to confirm. 

Or use WikiTree. Recently, while looking at the Magna Carta work, we mentioned progress that is observable. Today, following up on some controversy that seems to bifurcate further those on either side of the big waters, we went to look at the status of dealing with Ed III's descendants. Let's just look at two sources, for now.

• Wikipedia - Edward III of England - according to this write up, he had 8 sons and 5 daughters. One thing that the Magna Carta event helped come about was the linkage in Wikipedia between generations which was a nice feature for a researcher to find. For the recent event, Lionel, Duke of Clarence, was the precipitator of a line that had a later member coming to New England. 
• WikiTree - Ed III past five gens - this effort pulls together work from disparate groups. We like the approach as it could be used for documenting early colonials, such as Thomas Gardner of the Dorchester Company's efforts at Cape Ann. 

As an aside, in Ed III's time, there still was a claim to the French throne (see image). A few centuries later, the arena was in the New World: New France. 

It is always good to see the internet used as it ought to be. This work is an example. 

Remarks: Modified: 03/08/2021

03/08/2021 --  

 

Prior and next

TL;DR -- Opinions always follow a spectra mode. How these look in the aggregate can be a thing of beauty. There is never any nestling around a center point, for long. A recent event (one-sided deal, per usual, via the idiot tube - never had a TV until later in life). Turns out, that someone claiming a lowly mode (poor is me) actually has Ed III in the past. To some, in the U.S., that means something. But, rather than diving into that, we bop over to the Magna Carta which is of interest to more people. Again, though, this is from the English experience. And, during the 2000s, there will be many times for us to consider the document, its meaning, those who were there then, and what happened later over the centuries. 

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So, a duality of several that we will always see. There are lots of these, such as those things that cause controversy. Such as? The US and UK conflict that seems one-sided, with an American citizen dissing HTMQ. Turns out that the one has a link back to Ed III (we wrote of him earlier). This heritage review was developed by Gary Boyd Roberts and Christopher C. Child of the NEHGS. The page has a link to a graphic which is interesting. On a further note, since the graphic is only of one of her lines, we thought to provide an ahnentafel courtesy of Famous Kin. So, there is a lot to discuss as we will be working with our kin there as the 400ths come up just as did the Plymouth folk the past few years. 

So, the prior? About seven to six years ago, there was much interest in the Magna Carta for which we had post here (John and his friends). That event came and went. HTMQ made several appearances during the festivities. Then, the thing was done but with another round in 2025 to celebrate the involvement of Henry III. For Americans, there is a special interest since it is noted that the related thinking was an influence upon the U.S. Constitution 800 years after the fact. And, there will be many more occurrences as we go through time of looking back at this document. 

So, that is the next, with 2025 being on the horizon already. What does this mean? Well, in the U.S., people can find out their family's connection by looking at gateways who are those who came over with this pedigree in their knapsack (or the equivalent). Of those, some already knew 400 years ago. Some were recently discovered to have a connection. Two examples are Mary (Gye) Maverick and Richard More. She was the wife of a Rev. on Winthrop's fleet whose name is now associated with actions, say like the one alluded to above. Richard More, as a kid, was on the Mayflower with his sisters. He married in Salem and is an in-law. There are many more examples. 

WikiTree has what it calls the Magna Carta Project. Using the gateways, they have Magna Carta Trails which go from the gateway to someone involved in the 1215 activity, as a Surety (see list on this page). One thing the team does is work the Magna Carta Base Camp. They have completed trails for many gateways of which there are several hundreds. They have a bunch that are in the process and some being prepared to be scrutinized. 

Why the interest? These are documented lines when they are done. Where else can one go to find this on-line? For Mary, this is her trail. Notice that her nodes for Bigod are 100% verified. However, therre are other trails. For Richard, his trails are in progress. Lines from both of these are in this graphic. 

So, another reason to show this. It's an example of very good work which is what we expect from Gardner Research when doing comparable types of things. One goal might be to do this for the first three to five generations starting from Thomas and Margaret. 

Remarks: Modified: 03/08/2021

03/07/2021 --  Updated Richard's line to show Bigod. 

03/08/2021 -- Put in the TL;DR, later better than never.