Gardner's Beacon, Vol XII, No 3

This issue of Gardner's Beacon continues with the context of our previous issue with respect to a regular presentation of ongoing work as well as reviews of common interests. ...

Topics:

 Ipswich to Ohio

Peirce family

400ths plus

...

GB XII, 3 (PDF w/links)

New: Mobile-friendly issue of

GB XII, 3  

See Vol. XII, No. 3 of Gardner's Beacon for links to Sources.

Remarks: Modified: 12/30/2022

12/30/2022 --

Charles Sanders Peirce

TL;DR -- Our technology focus will get regular attention. Today, we mention the role that a cuz had in the development of some of the logic that drives computing, especially that which models complex systems. His family has been mentioned in several posts. It was time to feature CSP, himself. 

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This post is overdue and is motivated by current research related to the TGS, Inc. focus on technology is all of its aspects, particularly that which requires advanced computational support. We have had a few posts on the theme (results from search on 'technology' includes "How dumb is AI?"). As we have mentioned, our scope on this is a broad as is the Gairdner's handling of their medical research. The computer is more than merely ubiquitous, it's a phenomenal basis of sorts. 

Too, we have featured a few individuals, so far. This year, we noted Emmy Noether for several reasons. We have looked at Jedediah Strong Smith and some military people, such as Gens. Worth, Greeley, and a lot more. We considered the lives of religious folks. This is a continuation of that thrust. 

We mentioned Charles' father, earlier (see search results for "Charles Sanders Peirce", Benjamin is at the top). The early motivation was to focus on Thomas Gardner descendants, then we extended that to the collateral families. But, then, lots of in-law situations abound (that includes those events that lead to the "step" sibling). Then, we have friends of the family, such as Charles A. "Flagg" who worked with Dr. Frank on The Massachusetts Magazine. 

The motivation? Poking around the bowels of mathematics and logic (and their children, ala computational modes) will be an imperative chore, forever. It's about time to recognize this. And, arguing 'black' box opacity? AIn't (our little icon for AI ain't) gonna happen that this is allowed. We can sit back and reverse engineer thinking and hypothesize. Eventually, we'll get close. It's guaranteed. Oh? You bet. This is where CSP comes in. 

BTW, Wolfram's deal (his language and Mathematica and more) plus Lenat's several decades work (Cyc) are going to be on the plate as examples of how to do things. Anyway, Wolfram was, like everyone of late, reflecting on his long road. It was interesting that he used 'C' (the Bell Lab language) but worked sophisticated extensions (Lisp M-expressions). Part of Lenat's systems uses Lisp. There were good arguments for this approach. Wolfram was noting the logic modes that he supports (uses) and mentioned abduction. Well, CSP 'coined' that as he described sufficiently ways to work this (remember, he is from the late XIX century) so that Alfred North Whitehead was impressed, after the fact. 

Strange names? We'll set up a site to handle these discussion. Here, we're noting that CSP does not have Thomas Gardner as an ancestor. There are links to WikiTree material, below. Too, TAG was one source. And, WT did additional research. We have not considered the specifics, yet, but will weigh in at some point. In the meantime, CSP is still cuz via other families. 

Let's look at the guy through some bullets with comments. 

• 
  Charles Sanders Peirce - he worked in philosophy and mathematics. Actually, he was a true polymath. But, our interest in the beginning are his thoughts about things relating to cybernetics long before people even dreamt of control systems or computers. Then, he was a major force in several areas, with some thinking he was the greatest of American brains til then and probably a long time after. A. N. Whitehead, British mathematician, came to Harvard where he had access to CSP's material. There is an organization for him (The Charles S. Peirce Society). 
  
• Pragmatism - Let's note what Stanford says: Encyclopedia article. There are many more to chose from. 
• Mathematics - St. Andrews (UK) has a nice take on him. Lots of papers have been written on his work, but this one deals with his logic emphasis which lead to the conceptual/existential graph of Sowa.  

With respect to his wok, Wikipedia hosts an extensive bibliography (as a good example of its capability). We feel somewhat remiss in that the effort to collect and present this material started in 2006, and we just found it the other day. Has to do with focus and viewpoints, where there is no overarching view that encompasses all (one might say, no theory). Frankly, that CSP still gets attention in the modern world is appropriate. His worth will grow when we tame computation and their misuse of "metrically transitive operators." 

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Now, it was Benjamin's Memoir (see post) that noted the Thomas Gardner connection which was picked up by Dr. Frank. We went to look at the WT information on CS Peirce. There was a note about a G2G (study by genealogists) activity that established a different mother rather than the granddaughter of Thomas. As said, we have not reviewed this work, as of yet. On an initial look, per usual, there was not a complete edit/update with the new material. In fact, due to the discussion, the final decision was different than that proposed, at first. But, then, that is how these things go. 

There is technology related to genealogical studies (including those dealing with biological issues), but our focus on technology is across the board. Somewhat, we are pursuing a thrust dealing with truth engineering as being a necessity in the computer age. Nothing new here as the computer has been evolving for decades, now. It is more the case that how things unfold make the need obvious from certain viewpoints. 

Looking at CSP's life show parallels with what we see now. In fact, one wit said that the 'whole family' was crazy (perhaps, jokingly); yet, dynamics related to knowledge and its use are not new to us. We just have the advantage (or misfortune) of being around when things got more gnarled than anyone thought could be. 

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Note: There will be more information, in the technical forum, about Wolfram (Mathematica) and Lenat (Cyc). The parentheses provide a link to their work via Wikipedia.  

With respect to CSP, he and his wife had no offspring. So, they are on our growing list of those forgotten ones that we will pay attention to, going forward. 

Remarks: Modified: 12/29/2022

12/29/2022 -- Added in pointer to the bibliography on Wikipedia, started in 2006.  Benjamin was at Harvard (Class of 1829) and is listed as one of the few mathematicians from the USA in the XVIII Century. A cuz at Clark University has created a chronology of mathematics which will be useful for a quick look at the generational aspects. 

New Hampshire

TL;DR -- ME has been in sight since the beginning. NH only has had passing reference as we studied Cape Ann in relation to 400 years. They have 2023 for their commemoration, as does Gloucester. We look at a few of the posts over the years that mentioned our scope. In our future research, we will balance the view across the local territory and further, in this context: the long reach of New England.  

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We have had a 400th focus for a while as we watched other celebrations (Plymouth - 2020, Weymouth - 2022). Gloucester comes up in a few days. Our start was with a focus on Cape Ann and Essex County. 

Then we extended our view to MA and New England. Incidentally, ME was involved due to its association with MA. After looking at the long reach of New England in the interior and the west of the U.S. and around the world, we now have a U.S. focus through the 400 years where we consider details through time of the other colonies (like New Spain) as well as the events related to populating the interior (Frontier century).  

Recently, while looking at the Northwest (as seen in the time of the Revolution), we saw Rhode Island being represented out west, in the form of a Governor of the Territory of Michigan. Having looked at the family involved and tying things back to Massachusetts, we thought to fill in the gap by looking at a family that had long been in RI (see H.P. Lovecraft). We had mentioned that we needed to bring in the surrounding States, such as CT (a little later), NH (which we had already touched upon), ME (which we have covered many times) and VT (already noted in looking at western movement). We will get these posts better categorized and related as we work the 400s going forward. RI and CT do not come up on the 400th list yet, that we know of. We should have looked north, again. 

Today, we saw (on FB) that the northern neighbor whom we associate with Rev. Bachiler is on the 2023 list. That was good to find out. We will spend more time researching the Rev. and his cohorts, but he was mentioned recently in this post (see Two Houses) which was motivated by research on New Hampshire families where it was noted the Gilman family was of interest with regard to the Revolution (both sides, plus the Society of Cincinnati). Nathaniel Ladd was one of the builders. We also had looked at the Dudley family who hung out there. 

Rev. Hubbard, friend of the family, weighed in on the controversy of when did NH start. John B. Sanborn (several posts) was born in NH. Sam Webber, Head of Harvard, was born in Essex Co, MA, but his family moved up north. Lots of Ann's folks did the same. 

Hence, in a few days, we'll have another commemoration to add to the list. As well, we need to find a time line for NH similar to the one for MA. 

This was a great reminder as it expands the scope at a good time, that is, when Essex County starts its long-awaited commemorations. 

Remarks: Modified: 12/25/2022

12/25/2022 --

H. P. Lovecraft

TL;DR -- We look at an author from the earlier part of last century. His parents were of the 10th generation and have lives that are of interest to several of our themes. The main locale is Rhode Island which we will pay more attention to, plus adding in a regular look at CT and VT (both involved with the western movements). 

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The name of H.P. (Howard Phillips Lovecraft - Wikipedia, WikiTree) came up recently in a discussion. Per our norm we try to find associations with the themes of the TGS, Inc. For context, he is an author with view similar to the modern author, Stephen King (Wikipedia, WikiTree), who acknowledges the influence of H .P who was born in Rhode Island; Stephen is from Maine. Both of New England. We need to look further at RI but will defer that. Lots of interesting families were involved in the founding and were instrumental in getting the state to this date. 

So, a theme here is that we have a basis with Essex County of MA and then MA but New England follows. We will note the various categories that will come into play as we continue our research. We have lots of post under the category of the Revolution where the 5th generation is the focus. We have not looked at Rhode Island very much nor paid suitable attention to Connecticut. We will. Also, VT will be brought into the mix as it was on the pathway as well as being settled early (example of families ratcheting westward  over time, leaving traces for us to look at - modern example: Coleman). 

Most of the Rhode Island material was about someone of the George Gardiner family. Examples are Henry and his brother plus Dr. Silvester and his wife. Now, H.P. will be another example as most of his lineage has folks who came into Rhode Island and stayed there. Of course, there are connections to families in the whole of New England. 

H.P.'s father was Winfield Scott Lovecraft who had been named for the General; his mother was Sarah Susan Phillips. Both are New England families Lovecraft was a fairly recent family in terms of arrival, but the collateral families of th Philipps have a history in the colonies. Both Winfield and Sarah are of the ninth generation which we need to look at further. That makes H.P the tenth. 

Another theme? This one has been in abeyance from the beginning except for minor remarks, here and there. Without pointing to specific posts, we saw that the Cape Ann crew was well capable in taking care of themselves. But, Conant came; later, we saw Endicott. It was not long after that when more people came in than the local environment could support. Typical then, as we see now. That is the major aspect of the theme. Economics, for one, as the common reality across time. Too though, generation after generation saw the rise of affluence (please do not compare to the supposed glories that we see now) and then its decline (oh yes, modern world's crypto - gaming as one huge factor). 

H.P. got attention to this theme brought to bear, finally. His family was wealthy (again, we will only briefly touch upon extremes of richness (which is stupidity, somewhat) and its opposite (as demonstrated with tens of thousands of homeless in the LA (that is, in CA) not considering all of the other areas that we need to pay attention to). First, his father took ill enough to be institutionalized. His grandfather and mother raised him. Then, his grandfather's business world experienced problems. 

H.P. has quite a following. One enthusiast pulled together a view of the family and published a book on H.P. parents (see image). The author gathered information about the business activity of H.P. maternal grandfather that is available via a blog (inactive since 2014): Whipple Van Buren Phillips. Rather than take an involved look at this, we can provide a few interesting pieces of information with commentary. 

• The researcher and book author, Kenneth W. Faig, Jr., published the book in 1990. Later, with the cloud coming to fore (Google's release of digital copies of documents), further research was possible by what are known as Lovecraftians. We like this as an example of what we will continue to see. Lots of this work was done in the earlier days of computing with some of that work gone but some recoverable. Such activity will be more commonplace. 
• The Panic of 1873 was one factor in H.P.'s grandfather business. Such events are a part of human life, as we can see with the more than a handful which have occurred within the past 30 years. Granted, these dynamics pertain to the whole country, but pulling to focus the New England aspects will be an ongoing bit of work. 
• Whipple was involved with several other ventures, but we wanted to look at the dam on the Bruneau River, in Idaho, that took time and money. Considering the time, the terrain, the technology, and local culture, this effort was extremely bold (Musk'ish?). The C.J. Strike Reservoir can be thought of as the result even if this was not accomplished in Whipple's time. The Snake River comes out of the area where we have researched and made mention of the years spanning from early trapper all the way to the ski resort offerings of the mid-20th century. Idaho is far afield from Rhode Island.

What we see here is the long reach of New England that will continue to be of interest. Also, we see two themes related to our interests that came about from looking at a New England author. As such, this represents several things of which we want to mention two: 

• over the 400 years from Cape Ann and the 250 years from the Revolution, history has weighed in from its view which we can discuss. However, families got themselves through those times and have tales to tell. We want to facilitate that all around especially by verifying information and getting it out to the world. As said, McCollough can be a model.
• at the same time, technology is of interest in its ceaseless mode of offering more and more (with less and less impact?).  

Remarks: Modified: 12/17/2022

12/16/2022 --

Wartime Quartet

TL;DR -- WWII gave Oxford (and Cambridge) the opportunity to focus on the women students. We point to four who were known as the Wartime Quartet. The subject? Philosophy. The context? Say, FB to Meta? Is this something of value and what type? Or not? Our focus on technology puts this type of discussion squarely on our table that is 400 years in the making. But more, underlying issues of consciousness and reality are where the issues lie, for many. Not for all. How do we lift this bit (pun) of shambles into some mature, rational framework?

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One focus that we have deals with all aspects of technology; we are taking up the challenge in a vogue similar to that which the Gairdner Foundation used as they supported research for many years, in biomedical research. And, technology in this sense is much more than the 'T' of STEM. 

Of late, we have been looking at various computational modes that marvel the minds of people and that brings up discussion about consciousness and intelligence using an endless gauntlet of material that accompanies any attempt to adequately consider how technology has not only changed our lives but also can easily be seen to portend troubles in the future. At some past point, science split from philosophy though physics was known once as natural philosophy. Same goes for mathematics which is a core entity (almost foundation in its scope) and which has little room for philosophy. 

Discussions of a necessary nature have been on-going the past century and were there earlier. Take the topic of consciousness, there are loads of opinions that abound with regard to what is involved with this phenomenon with which we are all familiar, but there is no real theory extant, yet. Will there ever be? 

Or, we find ourselves stuck in the mode of demonstrative prowess which has been the most common approach that we have seen. Power orientation arises from this. Granted, technology when it works is great as, again, we all know. When it does not? Oh yes, let's talk that, later. 

And, examples are there, too, say Google's offspring doing things that marvel the like of which when coupled with marketing suggest something like the 'second coming' (this concept is very much part of the worldview associated with how the U.S. came to be). In other words, miraculous events pend (are anticipated) due to perceived (or the expectation of new) potential lurking, waiting around the corner. Yet, is the stuff real? Lots of it is not, unfortunately. We can deal with that. Ought to.  Have to given the state of the web/cloud/internet.  

John will say this (does not apply to robotics which has a different set of dilemmas) with regard to huge portions of what is called machine learning: AIn't can't Kant. This will be one of many memes. Should the reader want to add to the list, let us know. 

Now, again, examples? Take the morph of FB to Meta. This is a very sketchy overview, but FB is a 'soc med' type of system that is about eighteen years old, has billions of users worldwide (those in the U.S. are a small percentage), is there 24/7, has led the way in both good and not-so-good ways (will not talk 'bad' as we really are dealing with science and its responsibility beyond twiddling with quantum bits or dreaming of cosmological takeovers), and a lot more. In 2022, there was a change to have a focus that merges augmented reality, virtual life, 3D modeling of an extreme manner, artificial intelligence (all types), and development of a commonality which bridges all of these silo'ic modes into something integrative, useful, and, perhaps, even of great power for the world and its people. 

Aside, you all know of the crypto bust of late. Also, that approach is hugely expensive and not by any ilk to be considered mature. Yet. It ran and reigned minds. What came from this event of late will be discussed? Seriously, we need viewpoints that encompass the totality as much as we can. Science is disparate in nature, by choice, How can it get back to a healthy state? 

 

Reminder? Philosophy used to be an assistance. It has not gone away. Now, that things have become so murky with respect to who is doing what, why, and 'is it real' are only a small set of a large space of confusion. America (norte) started this stuff. It is this culture that will recognize the consequences and work to make it much better, for everyone. 

Publications of a philosophical nature quote from the older crowd that is familiar, say the Greeks and early Europeans, as well as with the names of those who thought of this stuff all the way down to the 20th century. Even later authors have weighed in. Being that this work has a technical nature, lots of the discussion does deal with mathematics and computer science as well as computer engineering. But, humanities, business and all of those realms? Yes, they are paying attention. 

In fact, one concern is that of late we find business types releasing 'machine learning' models upon the public, usually arguing that it's for their customers' and clients' benefit. Yet, take it from an informed observer, lots of these things are causing even more problems of a nature that is painful to watch. We had a post on this: Why is AI so dumb?  There have been other posts. But, our focus is not just on AIn't. 

 

For one thing, this issue does not deal with trivial subjects, by any means. As we know, there are loads of universities around the world with departments dealing all sorts of topics, and these represent 'knowledge' in some manner. Too, we have humans who can demonstrate expertise of other types that are not of any academic category. In short, humanity consists of almost unbounded talent which we see demonstrated from time to time. 

We, in particular, want to show how the 400 years since the colony started plus the 250 years of the U.S. can be used to establish threads for discussion that help bring technology into a proper light as required by accelerating expansion of technical modes. We are not in a simple world. Never were. But, we came from an older culture. We pick England as an ancestral hub, however the continent comes into play, too. 

Take universities? We wrote of the influence of Cambridge with a minor mention of Oxford. We will flip that in the following paragraphs. This year, we took a closer look at women's history month. One person of note mentioned was Emmy Noether. We will be getting back to her. 

As mentioned, there is active philosophical discussion now about computing, more than seen before. Some are looking at whether we are experiencing a Kuhnian paradigm shift. In this discussions, there was mention of a suggested change to the reading list on the subjects. 

See The women who brought philosophy into everyday life by Dr Clare MacCumhaill and Dr Rachael Wiseman as an example. Four women philosophers, listed below, were added to the list. Another example is the commemoration that the Durham University Philosophy Society did in their journal. 

BTW, the group was called the Wartime Quartet since they were women students at the time when most of the male students were off, involved with WWII particularities. In one of the overview essays, it was noted that the women did not try to outdo each other. Lesson for males? Rather, they tried to get to the bottom of problems and to look at solutions. 

Aside: that's the way in the business world where the owners set the pace; as opposed to the academic milieu's issues (observed many PhDs who worked in both environments). 

This is cursory, again. But, let's start with the names plus a little information about the scholars, especially noting that which applies to our themes with respect to history and technology. 

Mary Midgley --  quote: I do think that in normal times a lot of good female thinking is wasted because it simply doesn't get heard.

Philippa Foot --  granddaughter of U.S. President Grover Cleveland (needless to say, of New England heritage)

 Iris Murdoch -- Irish philosopher and author who studied at both Oxford and Cambridge. 

 G.E.M. Anscombe -- In 2010, philosopher Roger Scruton wrote that Anscombe was "perhaps the last great philosopher writing in English".

 This is more than an advanced post for next year's WHM. This quartet was brought up in a talk about whether we ought to follow Zuckerberg (FB, Meta) to his new environment. In that same discussion, Berkeley and Descartes were discussed. We didn't see Kant, except for some implicit reference. In any case, after reviewing material from the quartet, we are ready to bring them into the discussion as 20th century examples. Albeit Philippa is the only American, but these minds are of the culture that was the foundation of the colonies and the subsequent Nation; and so, this material needs more exposure. 

Oh yes, all along, we have talked about the internet and the new information modes and how they will help us improve the historical look at about any situation over the past 400 years. This is another example of that endless bit of tasks which will be on the plate going forward. 

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Note: Where I saw the Wartime Quartet referenced. Video lecture from UMass: Should We Plug In To The Metaverse? 

Already, I like Mary due to her interchanges with Dawkins. 

Remarks: Modified: 12/14/2022

12/14/2022 -- 

19th Century details

TL;DR -- Earlier we took a look at transcontinental travel in the early 19th century and its ardors. There was nothing easy about the ordeals, but people took up the gauntlet. Here we look at one site where travelers made their presence known and link to a map that has local details of interest. 

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We have had several posts on trails. Recently, we looked at a well-known trail (to Santa Fe) as it was the terminus of another trail in New Spain which provided other trails such as that which provided a route used by the Butterfield Overland Mail Company in carrying mail, freight, and passengers from the east coast, through St. Louis and to San Francisco. This was pre-Civil War and was interrupted. Further north, the Pony Express went from St. Joseph, MO to California carrying mail. Butterfield established a new route up north using coaches. Mark Twain wrote of his journey on this route. 

There was another Butterfield in that area who was not related and who had a  Butterfield Overland Dispatch (using a post at the Legends of America site) through Kansas. Both of these Butterfield gents had investors back east. The amount of stations, equipment, horses and people required to have regular routes was tremendous. As we know, the rails of steel were going to play havoc with these routes. But, that was enough later for history to be made. 

As a reminder, at the same time, there was regular traffic from New England which moved south by sail to the area of Panama which involved going across land from ship to ship and then sailing back north. Of course, one could go around South America. We looked at this briefly when writing of the Bostonian (barque) that wrecked along the Oregon coast in 1850. The barque left Boston in July and arrived at San Francisco the following January. It was later seen in New Zealand and, evidently, carried goods to San Francisco before venturing north to its fate. Gardiner, OR resulted from that incident. The overland trails had as many dangers; but, even without those happenstances, the travel was arduous. 

Besides looking further at the specifics of these overland efforts where we find the two Butterfields, we want to bring in more detail as is required for doing history of the events better and for considering the people involved in a more respectful light. Also, the area in the center of the U.S. was very busy. For comparison, we looked at a railroad town and its specifics from the early 1900s (see KATY - western railroad). 

Let's start with a map that comes from KDOT (see 19th Century Kansas Trails). Notice that the Santa Fe and Oregon Trails come into the area in the northeast corner. The Oregon Trail splits off and heads northwest. Another trail in that area is the Butterfield Overland Dispatch which terminated in Denver, CO. The other Butterfield route would have been north of this area. 

Click for detailed 
map from KDOT

The map includes other trails of interest including those used by indigents and that related to the cattle trade where heads were brought as herds to a rail terminus for loading. As one looks at images, the wild west was in this area (see Dodge City). "Hell on the plains" might apply to our few decades of the web. 

Looking at some of the details, there was a military road (double green) that went from Ft. Leavenworth to Ft. Scott and further south. This was there early. We mentioned a Mission in the southeast corner (see Memorial Day 2022). Nathaniel Boone (son of Daniel) was in the area. Col. T.W. Higginson was in Lawrence and Topeka. Lawrence was founded as part of the abolitionists' interest in keeping Kansas free. Take a close look and note a trail (blue dashes) from Leavenworth which was originally for supplying Army posts as they expanded westward but ended up with a California connection. 

In a recent post, we looked at how Ipswich MA got Ohio going. That was not long after the Revolution and was similar many ways with what happened later out west. In fact, we included a graphic (map) showing both areas. So, we could look at this type of detail across the whole of the region. 

One of our interests is the long reach of New England. Both Butterfields were from New England (their relationship, if any, needs to be researched). For the most part, we will be taking time to link with both genealogical and historical information (see Lorenzo and Peggy). As well, we have a technology interest and want to include specifics of the reality of the earlier times. After all, everyone here had forebears who were alive then. The particulars of the American west are such that we can see the transitions clearly over the frontier century's span. We mentioned it before, but this map brings up the fact: going from the northeast (Kansas City) to Ft. Larned (south central, look for Great Bend) took three weeks of daily work on the Santa Fe Trail. 

One more detail, Jedediah Strong Smith was last seen in the area of Point of Rocks (lower left - southwest). He was killed by an indigent part. 

Remarks: Modified: 12/12/2022

12/11/2022 -- 

1623 to 2023

TL;DR -- It has been twelve years since we began our effort. The 400th is now showing on the horizon. It's time to stop, reassess, and prepare for the future. Definitely, we can compare what we know and how versus the comparable periods in the past. At the same time, the 500th and its requirements can be considered. As, a 100-years focus for a project has come forth as necessary for us to do technology correctly. That is one focus that we adopted. 

---   

In Massachusetts, Gloucester is starting their 400th in a mere 22 days. Can you believe it? Here is a link to the stories that they have been collecting at their site (www.gloucesterma400.org). 

When we started this work a decade ago, we had a lot to learn which entailed reading, on-line, in libraries, general books and articles, plus visiting places to get acquainted. Along the line, we have posted here plus put out the Gardner's Beacon and The Gardner Annals. And, we have corresponded with lots of people. We have two websites and several blogs. We wrote on existing topics (Charles Olson, Worcester born and of Gloucester by choice) and ventured into other areas, such as technology. 

Back then, our timeline started with 1624 as that is what Dr. Frank used in his books following work being done in England. Since then, there has been other work done that added more flavor. A crew stayed over for the winter of 1623/24 with an arrival the next spring of another group of ships (one of which was the Zouch Phenix). Thomas Gardner is mentioned as being on a passenger list, however there are arguments that claim no such list existed. Margaret Gardner was noted for not being the mother of the children mentioned by Dr. Frank. That was clarified further. 

We have more tools now, such as WikiTree's support for genealogy. But, we saw lots of other work and must gather these to create a view of the knowns as of this time, the 400th. We can remind ourselves that the 200th was coincident with the start of the new country, U.S. In that regard, we have been setting up means to know how New England's influence has evolved over the whole period since the colony started and from the beginning of the country that we know. That involves knowing more about the interior and its history. 

But, as we came through the years, things stood out so as to allow us to categorize. We will get into that further. But, let's mention some that will have continuing attention with a little commentary. 

• What we know -- We wrote on this, first, in 2012. It precipitated the creation of a FAQ.  We will continue that effort and keep this collection up to date. 
• What's new - This was an early effort and has been through several changes. One aspect that will be continued is the Recent finds overview. 
• Gardner's Beacon - We started with a PDF and a web page and have started to convert over to a database driven by one of the known platforms while keeping control via our own rented virtual server. The Gardner Annals has incorporated issues of Gardner's Beacon in a printed format. But, other approaches are being explored as we look for a good way to go toward the future. In any case, we will balance various media yet keep the printed variety present for several reason, such as support for research and its necessity for handling provenance. 
• Long reach of New England - This entails keeping aware of the many ways that life and changed over the periods since Cape Ann and the later Revolution. Not only must we consider the vast interior and its lure, but the scope is international as well. 
• But, Cape Ann and specifics - From details of Rev. John White to the families and their descendants (John Goff), there will be research to be done. Our interest runs from providing funding to coordinating presentation and analysis of results. 
• The Massachusetts Magazine -- Dr. Frank and friends published this periodical for over a decade which was to be the official voice of the Old Planters Society. Here are a few links to posts related to the Old Planters: Old Planters, Beverly (2011); Old Planters, Massachusetts (2012); "Old" in New England (2021). 

Needless to say, for the 300th, there was a lot of effort put into genealogical research and publication. As said, the 200th was overshadowed by concerns for getting the U.S. going properly. The 400th will be about history and bringing information into a better mode for continued work down the pike, which implies 100 years plus (we will cover this under technology, in contexts such as discussing content versus configuration). 

We are using 1624 as our date while being cognizant of the overwintering party. But, we have other commemorations that will ensue, such as the arrival of Roger Conant (1625) and the movement to Naumkeag/Salem (1626) with parallel efforts applied to the other locations where collateral families were involved early on (say, Ipswich).  

Remarks: Modified: 12/20/2022

12/20/2022 -- Gloucester is preparing for the kickoff of 2023. 

Theirs is the first commemoration in Essex County, MA. Which is our original focus, like this: Cape Ann (Glouceser), Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts, New England. 

Perspective, a necessity

TL;DR -- Ipswich has been a topic from time to time. It had shipwrights. Of course, different size of vessels were handled. There were no biggies like Boston (MA) or Bath (ME) or Norfolk (VA). Other examples of industry and technology can be used. But, Ipswich led the way to the expansion across the interior that we saw for over a century. We will be looking at that, as after all, New England has a long reach. Ipswich has done well for itself. 

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As technology runs toward the future, we always get to states where we get locked in. We cannot go back. Technology is great, except for when it doesn't work. If the problem is solvable, then we have a glitch and a correction. If the problem is systemic or not resolvable within a reasonable timeframe and costs, we have adjustments rise as imperatives. Learning drives technology; unlearning drives recovery from technology's failures. 

The U.S. is about the best example that we have for several reasons. We have already addressed technology as being our main focus. We have 400 years of data to ponder, in this regard. But, just those pieces of evidence from the past 250 years is worthy of study, too. And, commemorative moments, such as we are having now which will last decades are a time to reflect and learn from the past. We are surely in a different mode than the generation of the recognition of the 300ths. 

Today, we are featuring Ipswich which does not come to bear until later, but it does involve Essex County. Reminder, Cape Ann (Gloucester) has their moments in 2023.  It was from Ipswich that a group went west. Gen. Rufus Putnam (Wikipedia, WikiTree) was one of the leaders of the effort. Let's look at some particulars. 

Historic Ipswich is a website that has been quite a motherlode of information. Of course, we are interested due to the many families in the heritage who had Ipswich connections. For one, Rev John Wise has an interesting bunch of  events in his life that we can learn from. We have been looking at shipbuilding in little Ipswich as well as similar work in the County (see Newbury Essex County MA).

The website has looked at Putnam's effort: Ipswich to Marietta, December 1787. First, they show the result of contention between the States with regard to this unsettled land to the west. We mentioned that in the last post about Family Search and their great support for research. Then, the post has the photo of a plaque that notes the endeavor. What? That got our attention, as we have been looking at the western expansion and its frontier century, including lost generations that plague genealogists who have no imagination. Why say that? These people were. Some were newcomers, true. Many were representative of the long reach of New England. Along with technology (and its specifics), our interest deals with identifying the examples of that reach plus the evidence now of its continuing existence. 

Then, the post looks at an effort in 1937 to redo the trek while documenting the effort. For one thing, they provide the map that gives details of the geography. That was great to see as we have looked at the west and its rivers and its great expanse and the carving that was inevitable. Lots of this was with a focus on St. Louis, the gateway. Putnam kept a journal. There were other reports written. In short, it was a great find that was more special since it involves little Ipswich (influence a huge multiple of its size). 

Now, let's look at perspective. Technology makes people lazy; oh, managers will say that it increases productivity. In terms of the former, heard of AI? It's a huge scam which we will show as we go along. Yes, balancing mathematics with knowledge with respect to culture that the broad history of U.S. allows. After all, we are a nation of immigrants. Luckily, we have two broad scopes, related to the colonial times versus later. Too, we have cultural associations with the old countries, for the most part. The list goes on and on. So, expect this theme to be recurrent. BTW, that which is being touted as AI is merely fancy math being exploited by computational prowess that came via modeling founded on (guess what?) mathematical modeling and the detailed work over the centuries. Yes, we will to touch upon all of that. 

For the time being, we will present the following map with some commentary afterwards. 

This graphic shows a map from the prior post which has one view of the partitioning before the carving that was involved in establishing the States. 

1) deals with the Michigan Territory (again, the prior post) that we just offhandedly dismissed as practice for the carving. Our only excuse was that we were dealing with the broad expanses beyond the Mississippi River, but that was not correctly assumed. We have to step back given that the focus of DAR/SAR is the upcoming 250th of the U.S. Besides, we have to give generations credit. This deals with the fifth and the sixth where the latter is the first of those that were heavily in the lost side of things. 

After all, people moved and did so quickly, once the way was set. Say, thanks to the likes of Daniel Boone and Jedediah Strong Smith. The former was doing his exploration prior to the Revolution. The latter was directly connected with St. Louis and its influence. We will go into that deeply. 

A point to make is this: that trek from Ipswich was difficult. Hence, there were real reasons why it took months. In fact, it was practice for the challenges of going even further which was all the way across the continent. On the right is a modern image with routes and times. Even today, travel is difficult. Try driving diagonally across West Virginia. It's fun; but, don't expect to make record time (except, perhaps, max time which is open). Those mountains run further north. By the time that they would use the Ohio, they had already trekked some distance. 

We will take the time to go into this further, since it does set the stage for later developments out west. 

2)  This view trails the other by only a couple of decades. Missouri, the starting point, was a State in 1821. By then, most of the issues related to the green area had been resolved. But, it was 1804 when Lewis & Clark did their venture from D.C. through St. Louis to the west coast. At that time, mountain men (trappers, explorers) and American Indians were mostly in the area. Except, that had been activity from the west coast in (New Spain), some of which got away from the coast. Too, the northern explorers had been more adventurous than those of New England. Boone in the south went further west than did those up north. Lots to discuss. 

Taking the same approach, notice that we are now in the middle of the country covering only a fraction of the area. Here, the issue is that folks would have followed a similar path down the Ohio River to the Mississippi River and then St. Louis and finally the Missouri River west. But, that was on to a starting point. There were several trails. This example uses that which went to Santa Fe in New Spain. One thing to note is that Santa Fe was the terminus of another trail that came up from the south. Too, there were trails out of the east through Texas to consider. 

But, taking that one small portion which involved about four hours of driving now, it took three weeks for a wagon train to cover that area with a daily grind of a few miles. Notice, too, that we are talking the plains portion which is supposedly flat. It isn't. You can still hurt yourself by falling off of a cliff at various places.  

In all of this travelling, rivers were both a barrier and a boon. In these graphics, they are not shown with any clarity, but, even recently, we have seen examples of traffic snarl ups due to bridge damage. One time, we were across the river from where we wanted to go. Okay. There was no ferry. This is a form of technology to note. So, the solution, since we didn't have a helicopter that would pick up the car and deliver us to our destination, was to backtrack to where we could follow a road that went over the river and then get back to where we needed to go which was a stone's throw (well now, as it was broad). 

During the times before bridge technology really advanced, one waited out water. Incidentally, here in the west, there are uncountable number of places where high water will stop traffic. And, in many others, the water comes up to the edge of the road. One hopes that the road engineers did a good job with the base. And, that's not mentioning storms such as we will be seeing with winter setting in. It does not even have to be like the recent dump on Buffalo, NY. A few inches can be catastrophic. 

 Oh yes, real examples. There is a method to that madness. AI and other computer has gone off the rail since a proper basis was lost. Yes indeed. We have seen so many examples of modeling gone wild (like the kids at spring break) due to a lack of grounding which comes about for several reasons. One of these is a lack of respect for the need. Some of that might be generational; a lot of it has to due with the computer being too new for us to really have a grasp of how truth engineering is necessary. Too, what John von Neumann wrought will bitt us until we learn several lessons that have been pending for a long time. 

You know, we are looking at the U.S. and its growth. But, at the same time, the world of thought was changing. There and here. Say, for the latter, Charles Sanders Peirce. But, parallel to the U.S. and its experiences, the world was changing, too. There is not end to that type of analysis. 

Remarks: Modified: 06/08/2023

12/16/2022 -- Rutland VT is hosting the Smithsonian's roving display:  The Smithsonian comes to Rutland. They are reading and discussing McCoullough's book The Pioneers as Rutland is on the pathway west. 

06/08/2023 -- Updated the URL for the Historic Ipswich post. It was originally dated in 2019. The 2022 update removed the older post. One of the technical concerns is that source linked by an URL can disappear or have some other issue, like the information changing drastically. Or, as we might wish not happen, contain undesirable information. In this case, an easy fix.