WDTT?

Or, we could have WWTT? And, then, closer to the modern theme, WWJD?

Say what? In other words, What did (would) Thomas think? What would John (or Joseph) do? As in, Gardners coming forward to fill in a meme.

Who are the Gardners? They have many threads, a lot of which have been touched upon, briefly, in this blog. In particular, we are talking two generations. That is, there is the gentleman who was the patriarch of the family and his wife, Margaret. Then, there are the kids who numbered nine in total.

Of those, we pick two in the order of birth. John is the first (Quaker and more); his brother, Joseph, was military and was a casualty of an early conflict with the American Indians. Which, by the way, no Gardner was responsible for seeing it come about.

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So, let's get anecdotal a minute, using Thomas as an example, first. See Written out of history. Thomas was here in the 1623/24 time frame. Then, there were all of these machinations, here and abroad. For the Gardners, they ought to be happy that Thomas and Margaret and their kids made it through all of that. We have to realize that Thomas was effective (physically, he would have been large, strong and very much capable; mentally, he was no slouch, as we have seen people argue when talking about his home-schooled sons, John and Richard).

So, we used "deign" to characterize Thomas taking the oath in 1637. That is thirteen years later. Of course, he did this for his kids. That same year, the ruling folks in Salem voted that he would go with Hathorne (ggp) to see the mucky-itty-mucks in Boston (or, wherever they were meeting at the time). Well, doing this gig got Thomas the temporary label of Deputy to the General Court. But, what happened next?

Was one time enough? Thomas saw that such was not for him (great decision). After that, he was very much involved in affairs in Salem and elsewhere. BTW, he was there when Endicott pulled his power trip on Mary Dyer and others. What Did Thomas Think?

Too, Thomas had no shadow over him; rather, he and Margaret enjoyed, until JE came along, a blissful life on Cape Ann.

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Now, we'll look at John and Joseph. John was another big guy who was involved in a lot of activities that supported the new society. He may have been young, and providing the muscle, but he was with the crew that mapped the Merrimack. No doubt, he learned a lot. ... Later, we see he and his brother going to see Gov. Lovelace in New York. The name of Sherborne on Nantucket came about from this visit. Lots to look at there.

And, Joseph? He married Ann Downing and has the house, that came to have Bradstreet's name, associated with him and his bride. Ann got Simon to sign a pre-nup after she lost her husband. Joseph was killed during the King Philip war. He, again, is an example of being taught well by his father and his mother.

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Again, we are looking at only two generations, here. The American experience, though, is the sum total across all of the years and the accumulation of experiences by the generations, thereof. In a spiritual sense, genealogy is missing several boats. And, the problem is worse than just running after DNA and encouraging some bad practices (as money, not truth and knowledge, is the focus).

Remarks:  Modified: 04/05/2025

06/27/2020 -- What would Thomas think? This will come into play more.

04/05/2025 -- Add "OpEd" label. Will explain. 

Auras, genealogical and otherwise

Please, please get off of my cloud. Or something like that was ranted by the strutting graduate of the London School of Economics and Political Science.

In genealogy, it seems that things can be strict if you are dealing with someone else's lineage. For one's own, there is (can be) an aura.

And, that is as it ought to be (how one responds to that will depend upon the belief and views). People existed; those better documented are not of any better worth (do not read "worth" in the usual money-valued sense).

And, irrespective of the nature and characteristics of that aura, there is a lot more to it than has been considered. Trying to excel in their operational imperatives (they think) via the western mindset, genealogists seem to have descended to numbers (and DNA, think of it, would this analysis even be possible without computational assistance?).

Before casting aspersions my way, just consider, if you would, Dawkins' "meme." It's delicious that he used the term, as one can easily step to me..me (where me[ta]..me and a whole lot more ensues).

However, let's pause a minute and note that memes are all the rage in the Internet's milieu (just like many of the notions related to some advanced computational approaches have a flavor close to Lamarck's ideas - ah, so wonderful). We could talk this issue thus (as in, memes) and keep from that which might be uncomfortable to many. What use is there for this concept in genealogy? Anyone want to propose memes to discuss?

I propose "aura" but am willing to change the term as it gets better understood.

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However, that genealogy is Exodus 20:12 in action, without transitive limits, seems to not get much recognition or respect - to wit, all of these people/companies (oh yes, ancestry.com) running after big bucks.

In short, genealogy is only one of several modern disciplines that could use a few, good gentleman/lady scholars/scientists (and, they are extant). It is where the domains of these disciplines of interest intersect that we need to have some attention placed. ... To be discussed, further.

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There was an earlier comment in regard to this subject: Endless genealogies.

Remarks:  Modified: 06/28/2015

06/25/2015 -- Throwback Thursday, a social media meme. Leary's influence (also, his iconoclastic self's rewards - albeit, late - let's hear it for Berkeley as that which allowed his salvage). Referenced this from that (on auras).

06/25/2015 -- Was this tongue in cheek? No, only suggestive.

06/28/2015 -- Corrected Larmarck's name. On auras, all sorts of operational aspects need to be brought to the fore so that we can have a proper discussion leading to experiments, etc. Put link to London School of Economics.

Benjamin Peirce

TL;DR -- We note the memoir of Benjamin Peirce which gives a little of his heritage on which he put Thomas Gardner as well as other New England families. We were familiar with the work of his son, Charles S. Peirce, and looked further at Benjamin who graduated from Harvard in 1829. Benjamin was later head of the mathematics department. Also, he was there when the inheritance from Count Rumford was processed and helped determine the decision on expenditure of the gift.  

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We have Benjamin's son, Charles Sanders Peirce, the logician and pragmatist, on our descendants list. I had run across the work of Charles in my younger years in an academic environment and found his work to be useful throughout my working years. So, Charles had to be on the list when I ran across his name while doing descendants searches a while ago.

Memoir of Benjamin Peirce
Essex Institute Historical Collections

Today, while researching the Quaker involvement of the Gardners (note earlier John Goff article), I ran across this memoir by Charles' father, Benjamin Peirce. The memoir can be found in the Essex Institute Historical Collections. Benjamin Robert S. Rantoul read this memoir at the May 16, 1881 meeting. Here is a link to the digitized version (points to pg 172, where the charts start) of Memoir of Benjamin Peirce [1881, Essex Institute Historical Collections], at Google.

The image shows part of page 172 which deals with the earliest generations in colonial New England. I thought the whole chart to be interesting due the familiar families. But, the Gardner part of the tree is especially interesting.

I'm doing this post to add to the material related to the early Thomas Gardners (see last post). In fact, there may be several of these as we look at what is behind the different viewpoints and assess how to clarify the matter for future researchers.

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Aside: I recently ran into an error that is in a known book. This error has been propagated widely. Now, I have established the problem. From a brief search, some know of the problem; many others seem to not to have stumbled upon it. But, you know, those who have skirted the problem didn't leave any marker for later travelers. Why do we have to let people fall into the quicksand themselves? There ought to be some published errata that is available for access (perhaps it exists already somewhere). Of course, web-based presentation is implied here. I still rankle at the notion that Gutenberg's technology is the forever means for publication. It may be that people are saying that fluidity is only one state of matter; as in, we need to solidify things (which is what print does) now and then, even if it just allows a snapshot of a point-in-time state of knowledge.

Remarks: Modified: 12/29/2022

08/29/2013 -- WDYTYA episode has an estimate of 1000 person hours having been used for research.

07/15/2015 -- We have a project that is looking at Sherborne, Dorset (note references to records of a marriage of Thomas and Margaret plus baptism of the kids - also, note reference to abductive reasoning which Benjamin's son, Charles, helped establish) as place of origins. As one would expect, there have been many views on this subject over the past 350 years. One of these is expressed in the above image, from Benjamin's perspective. It has son, Thomas, as the one whose wife was Margaret Fryer (see Number of wives and John Farmer's view). ... Not only is Benjamin a descendant of Thomas through his first son, he is also a descendant of Seeth (see Table IV, pg 175). ... An analog of the required method might be paleoichnology (large tales from little data).

08/03/2017 -- Benjamin Peirce was instrumental in getting the Harvard school of science and engineering started when Jacob Bigelow resigned as the Rumford chair.

12/03/2017 - Benjamin died in 1880. The Memoir was read by Robert S. Rantoul. We will see him, again, as he was a contributor to Dr. Frank's The Massachusetts Magazine.

12/29/2022 -- Charles S. Peirce, Benjamin's son, was featured in a post about TGS, Inc. plans to focus on technology. Benjamin was at Harvard (Class of 1829) and is listed as one of the few mathematicians from the USA in the XVIII Century. Benjamin could not afford to go to Europe for further education and stayed in the area. Eventually, he got back to Harvard where he was head of the mathematics department. But, from our view, his life is even more interesting than earlier as this is the time of the western expansion driven, largely, from New England. It will be nice to have a Harvard tie in. 

A Thomas here and a Thomas there

This post continues our look at Gardner families and considers only the Thomas Gardners who arrived early.

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But, first, here are four posts dealing with the subject of Thomas of Salem. They are in order with the latest post first. However, the book that is the principle focus of each post has an inverse order (somewhat, this is the result of taking data items back to their source; if we can grab the complete view, then the correct telling of the story will come to fore).

• Thomas and Thomas (Jun 2013) - Felt suggests, from his review of the materials, that the Thomas of Salem came over with his father, who was also named Thomas.  Felt also notes that the older Thomas came from Scotland. 
• John Farmer (May 2013) - Farmer has two Thomas Gardners in Salem. The older one was the lead at Cape Ann, Farmer says. And, the son who was the husband of Damaris died in 1674. 
• Stories and Unwindings (Oct 2010) - One expects to find misinformation on the web; it's a different thing when such is published. But, first, one has to establish what is misinformation and what is not. Mention is made of Dr. Frank's books and one by William Folger about Nantucket settlers. Too, though, a 1999 article by the Jamaica Plain Historical Society mixes the Thomas Gardners. 
• Gardners and Gardners (Sep 2010) - Dr. Frank's book had a list of the early Gardner families in which there were two Thomas Gardners: Salem (1624), Roxbury (died 1638). Dr. Frank also mentions what he considers an error: that there were two Thomas Gardners (of Salem), the earlier of whom died in 1635 (see image on post from Dr. Frank's book; elsewhere, he used 1638, but are people talking two old Thomas Gardners?). 

Note: Statements, by earlier writers, that turn out to be less than correct ought not be suppressed. Rather, we need to bring these to fore so that the reasons for their incorrectness is accessible. The cloud/web seems to allow such methods with its large storage capacity. The problem? Given that the proper view is established, where does one put it? Where does a researcher go to find the most-supported view?

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Roxbury to Salem
Massachusetts

Now that we have reviewed what has been gathered so far, let's look at the early arrivals, and we can point to the two Thomas Gardners who are mentioned in Dr. Frank's list (Salem and Roxbury). Some researchers have suggested a relationship between these two families. Others seem to have their descendants mixed up. The map is included for those who may not be familiar with the area.

Note: The crow distance must be about 14 miles or so. Yet, the terrain would have slowed any movement. Perhaps, the fastest way would be to get down to Dorchester and take a boat to Salem. Nowadays, these two are on an arc, somewhat; one can take a highway in an almost circular path around Boston. That distance is 50 miles or so.

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What is the true picture? How can we find out? Well, data gathering, analysis, and discussion is one mode that we will continue to pursue.

For now, let's use the NEHGS-published Great Migration books. The format of this material that has been followed for all of the principle arrivers is Origin, Migration, First Residence, Return Trips, Occupation, Church Membership, Freeman, Offices, Education, Estate, Birth, Death, Marriage, Children, Associations, and Comments. People who are not handled separately are still mentioned along with a reference to source of the material. As we have said, this series' look at hundreds of people is exemplary in presenting only items that can be supported. That being said, there are other sources that might have enough weight to make a reasonable stab at filling in gaps (as long as they are not too big - formally, interpolation).

• Thomas Gardner of Salem (died 1674) is covered in the early volumes: 1620-1633, Vols. I-III, pg. 731 (6 pages). His children are as noted by Dr. Frank, albeit with a different placement for Richard. 
• Thomas Gardner of Roxbury (died 1638) is mentioned several places. He is noted as the father of Peter Gardner (died 1698): 1634-1635, Volume III, G-H, pg. 14 (4 pages). (Note: Thomas had several children, including Thomas Gardner of Muddy River who married Lucy Smith). 

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The next thing to look at will be all of the Thomas Gardners that were in the area up to about 1700. To get an idea of how many there were, we can look at Savage: Before 1692, Volume #2, Gardner-Garven. Just in this section, Savage mentions seven Thomas Gardners.

Of course, there are other works to consider.

Remarks:

01/18/2019 -- Added to the index at TGSoc.org.

03/11/2015 -- Sourced ahnentafels (published in TEG and The Gardner Annals): Thomas Gardner of Salem descendant (Benjamin Brown Gardner - grandfather of Dr. Frank) and Thomas Gardner of Roxbury descendant (Susan Charlotte Graves Gardner - aunt of Dr. Frank).

10/13/2014 -- Tabula raza, and more, will be of concern.

08/25/2013 -- On a site dealing with descendants of Alice Freeman, Abigail Gardner is on the list due to marrying John Wise. Hence, her father and grandfather are there, too. Thomas (before 1595 to 1638), father of Thomas and Peter. The site, by Chris Chester, is wonderful in its use of sources; too, I really like the format. We need to do something similar for the Thomas Gardners.

08/22/2013 -- Forgot to mention: nothing new under the sun.

08/21/2013 -- Other works would include contributions by researchers, such as we find from Heather Rojo: Nutfield Genealogy: Amanuensis Monday - A mystery from Rev. Bentley's diary. On-line is not bad, by definition, old genealogists (gosh, I'm 71 and know better than that).

Modified: 01/18/2019

Thomas and Thomas

Doing research for the next Beacon issue (Spirit of Independence - during Thomas' time) involved a re-look at Felt's work. That is, his Annals has some interesting remarks about interactions of the colonists, in the sense of Salem's crowd, with the old country. Of course, some of his remarks cover the general area, such as goings-on in Boston.

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The last post, here, dealt with Origins which is a continuing theme. Whence Thomas (and Margaret) is an open issue. Farmer mentioned Scotland; he published in 1829.

Felt on Thomas
and Thomas

Felt mentions Scotland and talks as if Thomas' father was here, too (see the image, pg 246). Curious.

Now, Felt was a little earlier, 1827, than Farmer. Was Farmer quoting Felt? But, he had sources of several sorts. He was looking at the records and talking to people. Felt's work would have been 150 years after Thomas' death.

We'll have to sort all this out. Right now, the idea is to gather. Think of it like using the brainstorming rules of thumb. Such as? Don't knock something during the collecting of ideas round. I'm doing that specifically due to the fact of all of the stuff that seems to have been done, disparate and disjoint as it seems to be.

With our access to technology, it's time to do a proper analysis. Too, ex post facto, there won't be book burning. No, anything shown to be without substance will be presented and its faults documented.

Aside: Perhaps, the one from Scotland is the senior Thomas. I have looked at material from Dorchester Company. The sister of John White, who married a Gardner, is not shown as having a Thomas. But, is this site the final authority?

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On several pages early on, Felt reports book burning. Too, there is a lot about interaction with the Friends. Note the Remarks (06/15/2013) in the Origins post where Damaris is mentioned. She may have been excommunicated. Charles II's caution about handling the Friends may have been timely. Thomas' and Damaris' marriage will be looked at, as research for the next Beacon issue will cover the same ground.

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John Goff has written about Felt.

Remarks:

10/13/2014 -- Tabula raza, and more, will be of concern.

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

08/25/2013 -- On a site dealing with descendants of Alice Freeman, Abigail Gardner is on the list due to marrying John Wise. Hence, her father and grandfather are there, too. Thomas (before 1595 to 1638), father of Thomas and Peter. The site, by Chris Chester, is wonderful in its use of sources; too, I really like the format. We need to do something similar for the Thomas Gardners.

08/22/2013 -- The start of a look at what was what in early Salem (and New England) as far as Gardners is concerned.

06/17/2013 -- In the Great Migration write-up, Thomas' origins are noted as unknown. The next Beacon issue will have a theme of the spirit of independence (early look).Also, Anderson, et al (in Great Migration) say that Banks has Thomas coming from Hurst, Martock (supposedly, Banks quoted no source).

Modified: 10/13/2014

John Farmer

Beacon "Vol. II No. 6" and "Vol. III No. 1" used an annals format to present material. We want to continue with that format for a few more times, as a chronological layout can be helpful for relating material and for determining places to fill in. And, we can see who said what when.

At the same time, as "Vol. II No. 6", we started a bibliography which has been updated a couple of times. The idea here is to make the references available through on-line access as much as possible. Where we cannot, we'll cut an image (see this example - I saw TAG 30:156 misquoted (it turns out) many places and decided to go look for myself one day -- we'll make it part of the procedure to show originals).

Farmer on Gardner

Today, I added John Farmer's book. He is the one who everyone has pointed to in studies that followed his. But, John published in 1829, so he was there long before later writers (for instance, Savage was 30 years later; Perley was 100 years later; on the other hand, Felt was two years earlier - he the one of the Salem Annals which has many references to the contributions of the Gardners; Folger says that the Gardners were from Dorset), and his work has some things are of interest to our endeavors.

Too, John shows his own set of references in the Preface (Hubbard, Hutchinson, etc.). Here is a pointer to the book: Farmer, John (1829) A Genealogical Register of the First Settlers of New England (digitized copy via Google).

The image on the right is from the book's page on various Gardners. The Gardiner entries were on the just prior page. 

There are a couple of things to note. John said that Gardner came from Scotland. Note, though, that, he's talking two Thomas' in the sense that Dr. Frank mentioned in his book (see this post). I have seen many references to Thomas (the father of John, Richard, Samuel, Sarah, etc.) coming over with his father (note: I'll start to collect these in a later post). 

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At some point, the annals bits will be merged together. As well, there will be smaller ones devoted to a theme (sound like a database application in the making?). One on-going effort will be a survey of material and work by individuals. Suggestions (and help) are welcome. 

Remarks:

07/12/2015 -- Okay, turtle speed. But, we get there. Announcing a new project: Sherborne, Dorset. No doubt, it is about time. When finished with the data collection and analysis, we will present the strongest story (the prerogative of the family) that the facts, and abductive reasoning, will support. As such, we hope to demonstrate some very much needed research viewpoints.

10/13/2014 -- Tabula raza, and more, will be of concern.

08/25/2013 -- On a site dealing with descendants of Alice Freeman, Abigail Gardner is on the list due to marrying John Wise. Hence, her father and grandfather are there, too. Thomas (before 1595 to 1638), father of Thomas and Peter. The site, by Chris Chester, is wonderful in its use of sources; too, I really like the format. We need to do something similar for the Thomas Gardners.

08/22/2013 -- The start of a look at what was what in early Salem (and New England) as far as Gardners is concerned.

06/15/2013 -- John Farmer wrote that Thomas was from Scotland. Origins are, and will be, a focus.

Modified: 07/12/2015

Old Planters, Massachusetts

As suggested in the Wikipedia article, Old Planters (Massachusetts), there are many types of old planters. In the case of New England, this Wikipedia article needs to be expanded to include many other places, such as Boston.

Earlier, we mentioned Old Planters with the context of a reunion at Beverly. Too, we broached the subject while asking about the history of the area, essentially Essex county. Research, to date, seems to indicate that a recap of mentions of Thomas from early times on might be an appropriate undertaking.

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For this post, we'll make use of what might be the first publication of the Old Planters Society that was active during the early part of the 20th century. The book is on-line (archive.org, Google Docs): The Alliance between Pilgrim and Puritan in Massachusetts, 1900, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Salem, MA.

The book contains an address by Thomas, the President, to the Society in which he looks at cooperative efforts, and the influence thereof, between parties who ventured over. These parties would not have been so inclined to such behavior across the pond. In essence, the coming over brought forth means to establish a new society, albeit troubled in many ways. The topic will arise again, in regard to Thomas' and Margaret's lives, so we'll leave it at those few words.

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The real interest, at this point, is the summary of the Society which was instituted in 1899 (our task will be to pull together a more full history). Evidently written by Dr. Frank, the summary explicitly mentions Thomas. One thing in vogue then (many references which will be collected) was to cure the oversight of many people who were in the parties. That is, the historically covered people shadow the reality of the others (always has been the case - but, changes, such as we see with technology, indicate that this will not be so much so in the future).

See page 13; it says that "injustice" was done to some planters. It also uses sympathy which is not the intent here; rather, the focus is to establish a more full interpretation that removes the oversights, or, at least, explains their longevity.

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The book has the Constitution of the Society. Article III, Sect. 1. defines an old planter as follows: lineally descended from, in the male or female line, a proprietor, a planter, or other settler in New England prior to the transfer of the Charter of the Massachusetts Bay Company from England to New England, in 1630.

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The book lists the Officers and Members of the Society. Higginson was President. The VP was Dr. Frank. The following list is taken from the members' list and includes those who have Thomas on their application.

• Francis Ellingwood Abbot
• William Crowninshield Endicott, Jr   **
• Arthur H. Gardner
• Augustus Peabody Gardner
• Frank A. Gardner
• Maria T.A. Gardner
• Lucy Hall Greenlaw
• Henry Cabot Lodge   **
• Eben Putnam
• Frederick Ward Putnam

Some of the others may also be descendants (marked as **, we'll scrutinize the list, at some point) as they may only be listing a primary ancestor and not considering supplemental applications via other ancestors.

Remarks:

01/18/2025 --  Pageant of Salem is an exmple of the events from 1924. It provides a good view of the thinking at that time. Now, 100 years later, we know more since we have digitized copies of old documents coming on line. See this post: 250th and more. 

03/13/2023 -- See "New not old planter" post with regard to research findings. Thomas and Margaret have children registered in England until 1633. 

01/12/2019 -- Col. Higginson supported Kansas as a free state.

01/06/2019 -- At the 300th, there was a Pageant of Salem represented. In Volumes III and IV of The Gardner Annals, we printed the Table of Contents for all issues of The Massachusetts Magazine which last printed in January of 1918.

11/26/2016 -- In the next issue of The Gardner Annals, we will look at the editors, such as Lucie. M. Gardner. She was the sister of Dr. Frank.

04/02/2016 -- Last summer, we went through The Massachusetts Magazine (Vols I thru XI) versions that are available on-line. "Old Planters" was a regular section.

01/08/2013 -- Added a forum to facilitate discussion, etc.

01/01/2013 -- David Goss' talk at the 1999 Essex Society of Genealogists gives a perspective that also motivates. See the TGS bibliography.

12/25/2012 -- John Endicott knew Thomas to be exemplary (though, not military).

12/24/2012 -- Thomas, unlike Conant, was not overshadowed in the world of being. We'll spend some time characterizing this fact and what it means to reasonable folks. 

Modified: 01/18/2025

How many wives?

This post continues the discussion about the wives of Thomas (see About Margaret). Were there two or three?

As mentioned in the prior post, Dr. Frank wrote that Thomas had two wives (as did Savage). Of course, he was writing 100 years ago (Savage even further back), and, surely, there has to be more information at this point about the matter. The question then becomes, given the current state, can we really know?

Or, to put it another way, was Dr. Frank wrong? That has not been shown, in our opinion.

Let's look at a couple of studies that are of interest. There are, of course, more of these which we expect to get to, in time. Too, we might add as a preface, some of the needed information is awaiting us in the old country. So, that means that we'll need to look into what genealogical studies might have been done in England about Thomas.

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The fact is that we're dealing with events that are long past and about which we have little information, at this time, for various reasons. Many views have been expressed about the relationships between the Gardner families (or see Savage) that came here. Too, one sees various proposals that have come to fore.

The modern study, mentioned below, does not broach the subject of origins at all.

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In regard to genealogy in general, just in the past week I've run across scores of books that have been outdated yet are being quoted. It is very easy for misinformation to be propagated via web pages. Our intent is to have material that can be considered reasonable and supportable.

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Now, for starters, let's put two studies together, side by side, and make a few comments. Then, we'll rephrase our current position, until there is further information.

TAG 30:156 plus Great Migration material

This image brings together material from The American Genealogist and from the The Great Migration Begins. The former had an article in 1953 that was written by George E. McCracken and that was titled "The Salem Gardners: Comments and Clues."  Topics covered in the article include origin, Margaret, Seeth, the first wife of Thomas the son, the wives of George (very long), The Salem Quakers, the Flight to Connecticut, and the Salem Shattucks. The latter is a recent book in which Thomas has six pages written by Robert Charles Anderson  and published by the NEHGS.   

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So, if we take the TAG article first, it goes a lot into areas that needed some study. The section on Margaret is small. The author, essentially, agrees with Dr. Frank about two wives. However, we don't know Margaret's family name. What I note is the author's insistence that these studies would greatly benefit from looking further into the collateral families. That being said, the work of Dr. Frank is phenomenal and greatly appreciated. 

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Now, the Anderson study is looking, potentially, at 1000s of families and doing this with an eye to being correct. The best way to do that is to only use sourced material. Did Anderson make an exception in this case? I would like to consider further his hypothesis and proof after seeing the material that he is quoting. 

I don't buy the church reference. Thomas did not become a freeman until 1637. That is more than a decade after coming over. How could this be? Basically, we would suggest that he was able to get by using his own mode until his sons were older. And, he and Margaret could have easily done this together. Then, he would have had (deign to join) to be more of a "conformist" (to the puritanical thought and behavior) so as to not handicap their futures. From what we can see looking back, Thomas' and Margaret's children did well. 

Aside: There is no record of a first wive's death or of another marriage. We basically know about Thomas and Damaris, who was a widow in 1641, through his will. Hence, the conjectures abound.  

That Thomas married a Quaker tells us much about his character, especially in comparison to some. We'll forgo that analysis for a time. In any case, Thomas would have had to be in the church, and active, to be a freeman. He was shown on the rolls early; but, was he regular in attendance? In the case of Margaret, just picture a women dragging a bunch of kids to the Sunday service. Again, did she need that?  

There seems to be something there to look at in this regard. In fact, it's a story (or many stories) waiting to be told. 

By the way, the above is not a criticism. The Great Migration work has been really helpful and takes the right tact in the case of unknowns, or little knowns. That is, if you don't have something definitive, then just punt it down the road. But, this work does not relieve families of their duties to honor their fathers and mothers. 

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Which then brings up the family and efforts of Thomas' descendants. I can see someone taking TAG 30:156 and the Great Migration work further. It may be that there is a lot more information available that needs to be looked at and digested. This is so especially with the booming cloud'd informational sources which cause more stuff to appear all the time. 

In the meantime, though, we say two wives. But, then, it could be three. You know it does not matter, right now. For anyone doing Gardner genealogy, the use of either has no impact on the tree unless one wants to branch out with the first (and/or second) wife. 

It is nice that the Shattuck family has their information filled in.  

Remarks:

04/04/2025 -- David T. Gardner has been exercisting Grok with prompts and reports finding documents that support his claim about Wyllym Gardynyr (see King Slayer Court blog). ... We have begun to incorporate changes into the structure and context of the blog. See Restart, somewhat. 

08/28/2018 -- After some discussion, we settled that we had Margaret's folks, her baptism record, the marriage announcement, and baptism of their kids, prior to them leaving Sherborne. So, we have the post "Margaret, anew" which updates "How many wives?" Now, the question moves to whether or not we have the right couple (Children with what wife?, Further discussion).

08/01/2018 -- The past few days, I have been on WikiTree. We are looking at settling issues for the profile of Thomas (and his spouses): Gardner-159. These profiles are being set up and maintained by the Puritan Great Migration. Expect an update blog post within the next day or so. Notice the recent comments (the 'unknown' is because I juggle many email accounts and was in the wrong one - it's not that I'm old).

07/12/2015 -- We mention abductive approaches (my career was spent in advanced computing - software and modelling, essentially). Please refer, at least, to C.S. Peirce's (we mentioned him in an earlier post - Benjamin Peirce) work in the area. [Love it: From Ugly Duckling to Swan]

07/12/2015 -- Okay, turtle speed. But, we get there. Announcing a new project: Sherborne, Dorset. No doubt, it is about time. When finished with the data collection and analysis, we will present the strongest story (the prerogative of the family) that the facts, and abductive reasoning, will support. As such, we hope to demonstrate some very much needed research viewpoints.

05/05/2015 -- The Winthrop Society has Margaret as second wife. They allow submittal of additions and corrections concerning early arrivals.

10/13/2014 -- Tabula raza, and more, will be of concern.

10/03/2014 -- Notice that McCracken mentions Felt, Dr. Frank A., and Moriarty and that he mentions we need to know more. Now, why was this record missed? Well, for one, it is rather smudgy. That it was found can be attributed to the digital age and people using newer tools. Too, to have found this, one would have had to page through lots of paper. Of course, indexing helps with that, assuming that those who do the transcription that led to the indexing were careful. One has to ask, though. Were researchers blind (many senses meant - to be updated)?

09/28/2014 -- A week ago, the record for the marriage of Thomas Gardner and Margaret Friar was discovered in Sherborne by John Cook of Minneapolis, Dorset files. This sets a type of focus. Looks as if some transcription work might be in order.

01/08/2014 -- We added Earlier Settlers of Nantucket to our Bibliography. It's interesting to see the Folger stories of the early Gardners. ... In another place, we saw both Richard and John being described as well-educated. From whence that education? The parents? If you say no, you're not very much insightful about human nature. A child's first teacher is the mother, then the father. So, if Richard and John were Quaker, well-educated, and good citizens of their community, the mother deserves a lot of credit. Now, who was she? In Hinchman's book, Margaret is noted as the mother. We'll have to look to see the source for that. If it does come down as family history, then one would think that the children would have known their mothers. In any case, Margaret, or whomever it was, needs to have recognition as being early-Quaker (definitely, before Fox made his splash upon history).

Anderson's Great Migration

12/31/2013 -- The arguments against three continue. Anderson, in his write up of Gardner, has Richard's death as 1724 (see image). This information was picked up from TAG, yes, but the death year applies to Richard's wife. Richard died in 1688.

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

08/22/2013 -- The start of a look at what was what in early Salem (and New England) as far as Gardners is concerned. --- Also, added a caption to the image (which will be standard henceforth - plus edit of existing posts to make sure that images are clearly marked).

11/28/2012 -- It becomes even more curious as Lemuel Shattuck suggests, in his Memorials (via Google), that Damaris and Thomas got married after 1641 (no indication of it being long afterward). By the way, I found this book by reading TAG 30:156's other sections. McCracken mentions Lemuel who I had not run across before. Aside: the amount of digitized work has expanded almost without bounds of late which gives me hope that we can find out more about Thomas and Margaret (yes, I'm talking UK books, to boot).

11/27/2012 -- Let's itemize what we know (including use of the Great Migration sketches), re-iterate some basics, and the proceed constructively.

11/27/2012 -- One thing that I've noticed while pursuing information is that some sites assign a rating to what they have. Usually, it's a simple integer. However, we could get a little more precise. Perhaps, modern material can have a certitude of 1.0, but how could one obtain something other than the high 90s for older information? And, information from 400 years ago will be highly variable. Yet, one could classify the material and then rate within that. Complicated? The one thing that we would hope would be that later studies raise the rating rather than lower it. But, then, that is not necessarily the fact.  

Modified: 04/04/2025

About Margaret

We said early on that we'll base our views on Dr. Frank's books that will be updated as necessary. Dr. Frank, who was thorough and careful, noted the two wives of Thomas. Since then, the matter is still open to interpretation.

Irrespective of her last name, Margaret is most likely Thomas' first wife and arrived with him and their kids on these shores.

Why do we say that?

The Great Migration leaves it open, as do other genealogy works. Remember, genealogists have lead feet. We don't.

The studies, to which people point, all reference TAG 30:156 which does not make a definitive statement about the matter. The argument is that a church record of 1639 has Margaret showing up.

Consider, Thomas may have shown up at the Church in 1629, but he didn't deign to show up to be a freeman until 1637. Margaret may have decided to join much later, for the future of her family who did turn out to be successful in their own right.

---

Margaret was definitely ahead of her time and needs more attention to be given to her life.

---

Now, there is also a suggestion, in these studies, of a death of the first wife with Seeth's birth. This is not documented. It's pure speculation, folks, as far as we know (to wit, Great Migration, et al). TAG 30:156 does not tell us to not refer to Margaret.

The matter is open until there is further information that can be documented. In the meantime, we'll honor Margaret, with Thomas, as our ancestors.

Remarks:

08/28/2018 -- After some discussion, we settled that we had Margaret's folks, her baptism record, the marriage announcement, and baptism of their kids, prior to them leaving Sherborne. So, we have the post "Margaret, anew" which updates "How many wives?" Now, the question moves to whether or not we have the right couple (Children with what wife?, Further discussion).

08/01/2018 -- The past few days, I have been on WikiTree. We are looking at settling issues for the profile of Thomas (and his spouses): https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Gardner-159. These profiles are being set up and maintained by the Puritan Great Migration. Expect an update blog post within the next day or so. Notice the recent comments (the 'unknown' is because I juggle many email accounts and was in the wrong one - it's not that I'm old).

07/12/2015 -- Okay, turtle speed. But, we get there. Announcing a new project: Sherborne, Dorset. No doubt, it is about time. When finished with the data collection and analysis, we will present the strongest story (the prerogative of the family) that the facts, and abductive reasoning, will support. As such, we hope to demonstrate some very much needed research viewpoints.

05/05/2015 -- The Winthrop Society has Margaret as second wife. They allow submittal of additions and corrections concerning early arrivals.

10/13/2014 -- Tabula raza, and more, will be of concern.

09/28/2014 -- A week ago, the record for the marriage of Thomas Gardner and Margaret Friar was discovered in Sherborne by John Cook of Minneapolis, Dorset files. This sets a type of focus. Looks as if some transcription work might be in order.

12/31/2013 -- See Remarks, this day, in the How many wives? post. In that Remarks, we see that Anderson, et al, have the wrong year and age for Richard.

06/15/2013 -- John Farmer wrote that Thomas was from Scotland. Origins are, and will be, a focus.

11/27/2012 -- We visit the theme, one more. Anderson didn't leave it open. He actually made a hypothesis and stated a proof for his thoughts about a third wife. However, we don't agree with his analysis and will pursue the matter further.

TAG 30:156

09/25/2012 -- Added in a snap of TAG 30:156 (George E. McCracken, Ph. D.) with red markings about the author saying that he would continue to agree with Dr. Frank. So, we can, at least, call her by her first name, even if we can't say for sure what family she was born to. There is a question pending (comment earlier, sorry about the delay, will work a process to respond to comments) about George's wives which is covered in the same article. We'll look at that. We posted earlier about George's daughter, Ruth. ..., Also, added the emphasis below. TAG 30:167 covers the 'flight to Connecticut' which had been a mystery to me. Expect a further post on TAG 30 after I've had a chance to digest its contents and to study its motivations (and see what Felt and Moriarty were saying).

09/16/2012 -- Of course, another reason that Margaret may not have been at church could be her maternal duties. I've not seen any depictions of kids in Puritan gatherings, except for older ones. Margaret, throughout the period of interest, had several young ones to care for. And, Thomas would have been there protecting them. Ideal couple, so to speak. 

Modified: 08/28/2018

Written out of history

Foreword (or forewarn): This is one of the backbone series. The post is motivated by thoughts related to material used for the coming Gardner's Beacon issue, which will be on houses from the early start.

---

The effort at learning about Thomas and Margaret is about three years old. The main issue seemed to be that not much was known in the sense of mentions, in the writings, being sketchy, at best. That is, even though Thomas led the group into Cape Ann, not much was recorded. Mention of his effort came later with an early 18th century publication by Rev. Hubbard (saved from a fire, thank God for that!). John White mostly denigrated the crew (ah, we can write a bunch about that). What we hear about is the arrival of Conant (and Lyford), the move to what became Salem, and then post-Endicott times.

This message was apparent in retrospectives by several families, such as Woodbury, Trask, and more. The site for the John Balch house was a reminder. That is, on the write-up of this house, nothing is mentioned of Sarah, Thomas' and Margaret's oldest daughter. John's son came to Cape Ann with the party. As well, Sarah was born at Cape Ann (pre-Endicott Massachusetts). Sarah married Benjamin Balch. John Sr. gave the couple the house. Hence, I'll refer to it as Sarah's house.

Actually, the Beverly oversight (wake up!) is more appalling when you consider that John's wife came with him to Cape Ann. She and Margaret represented the females. And, they went through all of the same crap (perhaps more than) as did the men.

Also, we find this: When the company was recalled to England, the Balches, Roger Conant, John Woodbury, Peter Palfry, and others stayed in Massachusetts and moved south to Naumkeg, now Salem, in 1626.

Four families are mentioned here. Trask was left out. The 'others' would have included the Gardners. That story needs to be told; it's part of our task list. The Paine sisters, Thomas descendants, wondered if the family had gone back to England for some period of time. Had that been so, Woodbury, who did go back and forth, might have mentioned this. However, the Woodbury lookback doesn't mention Gardner, at all.

Too, Thomas' kids would have said something about going back. John, the Magistrate, would have known. So, too, would have his older siblings.

We ought to try to document the fact that, after the group moved, someone would have gone back and forth between Cape Ann and Salem. What is it? 17 miles or so? Look, the house was nice enough for Endicott to want it moved.

Too, and this is a big TOO, the group was NOT unsuccessful. Did Conant report that he found starving people? On the contrary, they were bolsterous enough to want to tangle with Standish and his crew. They had their food sources, dwellings (however meager), and themselves (true independent souls of the American which was to be).

What the group did not achieve was the capitalistic dream (and John White's, to boot) that, essentially, tries to get something for nothing. Yes, folks. The success of the model requires an unending supply of hapless exploitees. So, Cape Ann's little group was not able to ship back produce or seafood. But, they fed themselves.

In fact, that Thomas and Margaret got their nine kids to adulthood is evidence enough. They were very good parents. And, each of their kids was a healthy, and effective, adult.

---

Another topic deals with the regime, and regimen, imposed upon the freedom-loving people. We all know the stories. But, Thomas' life, as a focus of study, will allow a re-look.

In 1637, when Thomas deigned (yes, used purposefully) to get himself drummed into the group mindset -- freeman's oath -- he did it for his kids. His boys were adults and needed the social involvement. You see. That is a long time after the 1626 move. Thomas had class, abilities, and showed self-reliance long before Emerson wrote about it.

It's telling that Thomas was made Deputy to the General Court, with Major Hawthorne, in the year when he took the oath. People wanted his involvement since he was an elder by action and more. For some reason, post 1637, his effort was local to Salem and the area. We can, and might, speculate about why this was so.

Again: Not a descendant. Objective third-party. However, married to one who has a whole slew of these folks in the ancestral tree.

Remarks:

06/25/2019 -- We have a few more examples of the forgotten (early on, we had Aunts, Uncles, Cousins). Of late, there was Lt. Benjamin West who was killed at Bunker Hill and forgotten. Prior to that, we were trying to count the number of lost graves in Essex County. Then, we have the travelers out west, such as Jedediah Strong Smith, except he did post some reports back east by courier. There were many lost a sea over the years.

07/12/2015 -- Of course, when Roger brought his people to Salem, Thomas was not there. Why? He and Margaret kept the Cape Ann house. Of course, when John Endicott came over, he saw Mr. Gardner in his nice house. John said, that is mine. Take it over to Salem. So, by splitting his time (Salem is not that far), Thomas had an idyllic time with his wife and kids; too, he had time to get himself and his family settled in the new realm.

07/12/2015 -- Okay, turtle speed. But, we get there. Announcing a new project: Sherborne, Dorset. No doubt, it is about time. When finished with the data collection and analysis, we will present the strongest story (the prerogative of the family) that the facts, and abductive reasoning, will support. As such, we hope to demonstrate some very much needed research viewpoints. ... This is a case of two Quakers being ignored.

10/13/2014 -- Tabula raza, and more, will be of concern.

07/17/2014 -- The book about the Invisibles (the unsung heroes) offers another viewpoint. Of course, it is set in the modern context. But, we all know that history covers only a fraction of reality. What we see now is that technology will allow us suitable ways to go back and fill in the blank slates.

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

11/06/2013 -- While working on the next Beacon issue, I ran across some books. The one by Staloff was timely; imagine, I was wondering why the backbone series? Has the talented set ever allowed the lessors to have some semblance of a good life? Oh, you say yes? Winthrop, et al, were against this from the beginning. The stalwart of what could be (or could have been)? Thomas Gardner, of course.

09/09/2013 -- Forgot to update this earlier. But, the post related to Gardner's Beacon, Vol. II, No. 6, discusses that Thomas had no shadow over him as was feared by some old planters (would Dr. Frank, today, still want to include Thomas in the group?).

06/15/2013 -- John Farmer wrote that Thomas was from Scotland. Origins are, and will be, a focus.

02/10/2013 -- Having finished a book on the 1692 events and doing a post on the subject, I can add to this look at Thomas. I've mentioned that he didn't queue right up to join the church and that he was recognized by Endicott. As well, he married a Quaker without any repercussions that we know of. Of course, his sons left the area due to the Puritanical (hypocritical) mindset.

01/01/2013 -- David Goss' talk at the 1999 Essex Society of Genealogists gives a perspective that also motivates. See the TGS bibliography.

12/24/2012 -- Thomas, unlike Conant, was not overshadowed in the world of being. We'll spend some time characterizing this fact and what it means to reasonable folks.

12/22/2012-- We need to differentiate between Old Planters of Beverly (see The Old Planters of Beverly in Massachusetts, 1930, Alice Gertrude Lapham, The Riverside Press) and the Old Planters of Massachusetts. One could even talk, Old Planters of New England.

12/19/2012 -- Sarah married Benjamin, son of John.

11/27/2012 -- Let's itemize what we know, re-iterate some basics, and the proceed constructively.

10/28/2012 -- September issue had a theme of houses.

09/13/2012 -- About Margaret. We'll honor her as the ancestor, with Thomas, of the Gardner family.

09/01/2012 -- Vol. II, No. 4 of Gardner's Beacon deals with houses.

Modified: 06/25/2019

Maypole

The day almost got away from me, but I ran across a Bing photo of a maypole in Wolznach, Bavaria, Germany. As we know, May 1 is celebrated throughout the world.

--

For this post, though, Nathaniel's tale (Maypole of Merry Mount) is the thing that we need to recall. Seems that some took their new-found freedom a bit too far. Oh, ever look at some college freshmen these days (as in, there being no 'in loco parentis')? The Johns, and others, did not like the 'so called' debauchery of the Merry Mount'rs.

The reason to bring this up here is that Rev White (uncle, of sorts) seems, from reading his stuff, to have characterized some at Cape Ann thusly. What? I always wondered about his motivation for this.

--

In short, here was a guy (Rev John), across the pond, casting judgment against a group who were braving the elements, attempting to survive, and trying to produce for the "fat cats" back home. Ah, just like modern office workers and managers who drive production workers by computer (sheer idiocy, in the 'optimization' context, when we think of the 'near zero' aspects). So, those back at home were expecting  more production. Ah, again, modern views of management that seem to think of obtaining something from nothing (very much analogous to hoping for a perpetual motion affair -- look, folks, all types of colonialism are just that -- Steve, you didn't pay attention? -- suicides related to modes for producing your product?).

In other words, arm chair quarter- backing (17th century style).

As history tells us, the expectations (as in mis-planning) were way off base.  Yeah, blame the workers. Too, New England did produce when conditions were right, for a long time.

--

In actuality, as said before, Thomas' character can be seen, in part, in his kids and progeny. Enuf said, for now, on that.

--

So, Thomas was not a Merry Mount'r. We'll have to attempt to sketch the proper picture, as I have not seen the tale told yet. I've thought up plenty of scenarios, though, that could have unfolded in those times.

Nathaniel (cousin that he is) did cover Roger (see, as well, Poor Roger gets no respect -- ggp, by the way). We ought to do something analogous in some postings, here (for Thomas, these will be under the Backbone category). Perhaps, the house deal was a practice piece.

Remarks:

02/09/2021 -- Larger picture: True stories, Fur traders. 

06/19/2018 -- Maypole that infuriated the Puritans. A month late, but this post has been updated.

05/02/2016 -- Recently, I caught a PBS conversation. The author being interviewed mentioned this occasion about which Nathaniel wrote. We need to take another look, this year, with regard to the current situations.

05/01/2014 - So, there may not have been the first hippies at Merry Mount, however we can argue this point. Cape Ann was ideal for a couple of years, perhaps longer: (Not) far from idyllic, Beacon Vol. IV, No. 1. The theme will continue.

11/06/2013 -- While working on the next Beacon issue, I ran across some books. The one by Staloff was timely; imagine, I was wondering why the backbone series? Has the talented set ever allowed the lessors to have some semblance of a good life? Oh, you say yes? Winthrop, et al, were against this from the beginning. The stalwart of what could be (or could have been)? Thomas Gardner, of course.

11/27/2012 -- Let's itemize what we know, re-iterate some basics, and the proceed constructively.

09/21/2012 -- Another Backbone post. As an aside, we didn't hear Conant talk about finding a starving people. Rather, they were doing well, locally. Actually, they were quite rambunctious.

Modified: 02/09/2021

White and Gardner family contributions

The motivation for this post comes mostly from a nice article written by John Goff, a descendant of Thomas. John heads Salem Preservation, Inc. Fortunately, there has been this type of effort as, at one time, Salem was disappearing due to progress and re-building.

When I first read this article a few months ago, I thought that we need to put December 29 on the calendar. That was the day of Thomas' death in 1674 in Salem. So, let's not forget to get something on Salem's Twitter roll, or even their Facebook page, on that date.

---

We earlier looked at where Thomas is now.

---

John Goff talks about the family of John White who was one of the supporters behind the efforts of the Dorchester Company. Many do not think about White when they consider the development of New England and the U.S.A. Too, Thomas is more than under the radar. John's article helps us to overcome that deficiency.

---

Roger Conant got his statue, finally, the last century. He had been known as the 'forgotten' founder (with Endicott, of course, taking the limelight).

---

John Goff, then, mentions a little about the Gardner contribution, which is large. I like to point to the descendants list, as an example. Expect that this list will grow as research continues.

For instance, John mentions a few families who are not on the list, yet, such as Gedney, Parkman, Greenough, and, of course, Goff. We'll be looking into that.

Remarks:

08/06/2016 -- More on All things Gardners.

09/05/2013 -- Nice site with information related to Rev. John White.

06/15/2013 -- John Farmer wrote that Thomas was from Scotland. Origins are, and will be, a focus.

10/27/2012 -- John Goff looks at the Corwin House in his book which mentions Rev. John White.

05/01/2012 -- We ought to remember Hawthorne every year, on this day.

08/21/2011 -- Added in some comments about the house built on Cape Ann and about the party's description by White (in his Planters' Plea). Seems to me, from this write up (the badly led and ill-disciplined landsmen left at Cape Ann), that Rev John threw Thomas into a group that included those at Morton's shindig at Wollaston.

Modified: 08/06/2016

Old Planters, Beverly

Note: See this post: In summary. We have new information about the baptisms of the children and are in the process of researching to establish a proper narrative. For now, see comments at the WikiTree profile for Thomas Gardner. We will start with Rev. Hubbard who was there (1680 manuscript). 

--

As mentioned in this Wiki article, there are many types of 'old planters' that are worthy of attention. In New England, an early Maine group was particularly effective: came very early (into Popham), established a colony, and built a boat (Virginia) that was seaworthy sufficiently to cross the Atlantic several times. There are more examples. Time lines (Wiki article) show several settlements in the Massachusetts area prior to 1630.

In particular, we might ask about the Dorchester group that came in under Thomas Gardner and John Tilly, in 1623/24. For this, we can collect, and comment on, reports related to the topic. As a reminder, let's use The Winthrop Society's list of names (1623-27, where is Tylly?).

• Allen, Balch, Conant, Cushman, Gardner, Gray, Jeffrey, Knight, Lyford, Norman, Oldham, Palfrey, Patch, Pickryn, Winslow, Woodbury

We can find some reports that do not reference Thomas Gardner, such as this one -- Woodbury family's book (in the context of old planters, four are named): Hubbard is precise that Mr. White solicited Conant, Woodbury, Balch and Palfrey because of their character, to undertake a new settlement at Nahumkeag, promising them men, goods and supplies, a commendation sustained by his associates. Neither did Mr. White reference Thomas in his Plea.

Now, we do find later references to Thomas, such as that of Rev. Hubbard who had talked, it is believed, to all of the principals and such as this 1869 Bulletin (George D. Phippen) of the Essex Institute. Felt's look at Salem has many references.

There was an Old Planters Society concurrent with the attention brought by the 300th celebration. The group seemed to have met regularly (meeting notice June 28, 1905 -- Dr Frank A. in attendance). Lucie M. Gardner (Dr Frank A's sister) wrote this report (notice the mention of pre-1630 for membership) for the Massachusetts Magazine.

Aside: A Balch family reunion (see Sarah) was recently hosted by Beverly Historical Society.

Remarks:

04/06/2026 -- We added "Oped" to this post and will be updating it. 

03/13/2023 -- See "New not old planter" post with regard to research findings. Thomas and Margaret have children registered in England until 1633. 

03/19/2022 -- Nice to see research on the family of John Tilly. NEHGR, Winter, 2022 has an article on John and his family by Clifford L. Stott. The title is "Rev. William Tilley of Broadwindsor, Dorset, and His Sons in New England: John, Nathaniel, and William." Identifies his child and more. 

01/12/2019 -- Dr. Frank (and Ann) are descendants of  Roger, to boot, through Lucy F. (Wilson) Gardner who had lots of Salem madness connections.

10/13/2014 -- Tabula raza, and more, will be of concern.

06/15/2013 -- John Farmer wrote that Thomas was from Scotland. Origins are, and will be, a focus. ... As of today, Historical genealogy is the all-time, most-read post. Coming in second is Old Planters, Beverly.

12/22/2012-- We need to differentiate between Old Planters of Beverly (see The Old Planters of Beverly in Massachusetts, 1930, Alice Gertrude Lapham, The Riverside Press) and the Old Planters of Massachusetts. One could even talk, Old Planters of New England.

05/01/2012 -- We'll need to talk singularity in the context of Alan. The computer has as many holes as do we; however, we can cut out of the fog. Genealogy (historic, biologic, and more) will be a basis for looking at this concept and its importance. That is a forward look. Going backward, we'll find a way to adopt memes, as a necessity. We are, one might say, meme readers. Too, we express what they convey. That is supposed to suggest something that we need to understand: parallel to we being expressions of our genes. Now, within that framework, our look back at Thomas is apropos.

05/01/2012 -- Will pull together sketches for those on the list. John Tylly has been mentioned, in brief. We'll try to find more about John (no offspring?). There is a lot of material about Woodbury, Conant, and Balch. I have seen some things about Norman and Allen, who both had offspring. It'll be interesting to read about the rest. Of course, verifying this list (or, at least, justifying it) is one necessary task.

05/01/2012 -- Backbone, in particular, this overview. Two things to be thankful for: Rev Hubbard's look back (his brief mention is sufficient) and the fact that the manuscript was not lost (otherwise, would Thomas had been even more unknown?).

04/30/2012 -- Major update to the post. Is the topic of interest in the context of the HSC?

04/26/2012 -- The sketches from the Great Migration data will be an interesting collection.

11/30/2011 -- Good description of the early voyages, including Popham's.

08/22/2011 -- John Tylly.

08/15/2011 -- Balch News link at the Beverly Historical Society has been removed. Added link to published minutes at Internet Archive.

05/24/2011-- capecodtoday (in The 'other' cape)  mentions Thomas Gardner.

05/15/2011 -- We will collect a representative example that will support future discussions.

Modified: 04/06/2026