Recap, again

TL;DR -- There is a lot to technology which will always be on the table due to its importance. In terms of the sea, Cape Ann folk know a lot. But, plenty went west to the huge interior and beyond. There, technology has different emphases. The railroad is one theme that we run into quite a bit. Too, communications will be more on the table as we get the early years settled. In any case, as we move forward, we have plans for how things will expand, however we do need some feedback. 

--

From time to time, we like to stop and look. Old folks would remember when we used to end 

that with listen, as in "Stop, look, and listen" which was an admonition to youngsters for the most part. It had to do with the railroad which cut through towns and created heavy traffic. Though, the train whistle at night did have some appeal. 

We have had a few railroad posts. Here are a few: 

•  KATY, western railroad (2022) - looking at the middle of the country. 
• South Danvers Church (2019) - had a copy of Dr. Frank's 1907 book in hand which brought the illustrations to fore. The area was near the bridge over Gardner's brook. Also, this church was featured in a painting referenced in the book. After some research, we learned some history. But, of interest to this theme, there was a choo-choo visible in the background of a later painting of the area. 
  
• Which railroad? (2019) - turns out that there were two possible RRs that could have been painted in (prior post). One of Sidney's maps showed the railroads in the area. 
  
• Alpheus P. Blake (2019) - while researching a veteran buried in the Saugus cemetery, we looked at the collateral families some of whom are relatives. One gentleman (uncle) had been involved with the founding of the Boston, Revere Beach & Lynn RR. 

Railroads, once they were established, were important to commerce and culture and a lot more. Several of the events that we have studied were prior to the incursion of the iron horse. For instance, clever New Englanders had created regular traffic across Texas and further west long before the Civil War interrupted the flow. Example: St. Louis MO to San Francisco CA. 

This is an example of technology helping to change the world which was unsettled already due to the times. We face similar issues, now, except they may have grown to be more complicated.  

---

Switching gears a little, we have a wide range of topics to cover. The following consists of two lists that contain the most read posts in a rank order. The timeframe differs. For one, it is all time; for the other, we look at the last 30 days. 

For the "All time, popular", these are older posts which have had more time to accumulate reads. The post that reported on our research about the marriage of Thomas and Margaret was from 2014 and has been on top, for a while. The 2011 post is interesting as it summarizes what we knew back then. The "Plus or minus the arrival" is one of those post dealing with origins which we report is still open, though we have a whole lot more information to weed through. 

 We have recently written of Essex County, mainly due to Gloucester's plans for 2023. The "400th finally" has a photo of a painting done by a Conant relative who lives in England and who was motivated by reading about Cape Ann and after. BTW, Caleb Haskell was with Benedict Arnold and so relates to the 250th of the U.S. which will be in our sight. Along with that is the 400th list (which is long) and the 800th (Magna Carta - 2025, Henry III attaining adulthood). The 8th generation involves the Civil War just like the 5th generation bore the brunt of the Revolution. 

And railroads, it was this and the 9th generation who did the majority of the work there. Despite continual influx of immigrants over the frontier century, New England had a long arm. We find that influence everywhere, including associations with the Cape Ann crew and Essex County and, of course, Massachusetts. 

Remarks: Modified: 08/30/2022

08/30/2022 --