Modern techniques

TL;DR - Techniques related to research will continue to changte along with technology as it progresses by whatever means drives that energy. So, with respect to "origins", we are seeing an LLM used to ferret out information from that time based upon records that were digitized. Of late, information about the children was discoverd in recently digitized records. On the other hand, there was a house associated with Thomas Gardner. A proxy for this? Of course, the Fairbanks House, oldest wood structure in the US.  

--

Some background on the "Announcement" today at the Thomas Gardner (of Salem) Profile of WikiTree. 

Back in the beginning, I puzzled about missing information. Say, as compared to some families with respect to origins. The NEHGS series (Anderson) had come out before our time. Some of the information in that series conflicted with what we saw with Dr. Frank's efforts. We had started there, as he was 1st cousin of a grandfather. 

But, we had more than those 2 books, we had the articles in The Massaschusetts Magazine (principally from Dr. Frank's sister, Lucy Marion Gardner - Lucie following Sidney, May, 2017) where she picked up the work of Sidney Perley, the great walkabout of Essex County. There was more. Having started in 2010, the internet had only a few years of Web 2.0. Older material was there. I have pointers based upon general trolling back when the "search engines" were behaving. Too, there were notes from families about the material that they had accumulated (some living in the UK, and even near to Dorset). 

Early on, we knew that there would be the 400th. We'll look at that. How would it compare to the 300th and the Pageant of Salem (6 Jun 2018)? As we went to look at that effort where people of Salem played roles from 300 years prior, we added the Label of OpEd (Opinions count?, Dec 2023) as we explained after the 2023 reveal of data from Sherborne, Dorset, UK.  

As an aside, we added "OpEd" to this post in order to associate it with the ongoing research. Okay, to the gist of the matter. We look at two items which represent a slew of potential work and information. It's a matter of work. 

• Let's start with Gardner Family Trust (Apr 2026). In late Mar of 2025, we heard from DTG about his work with one of the GenAIs that had come on the scene in late 2022. 
• I was not paying close attention to that crowd (and still consider the release to be premature). The 400th of Gloucester was approaching and we were considering what to do. Having finally settled on the notion of featuring Margaret (wife of Thomas Gardner and mother of the children that we know), we were working on that set of material. On 1 Feb 2023, I heard of that release from a friend and went to look (mainly focusing on ChatGpt and Bard).This is all documented. 
• So, I knew of the AI/ML hype (biological pipedream); due to having known this stuff for decades I was amazed and appalled at the uses that people were discovering. So, mark that up for human creativity and the US as founded by those ones of Cape Ann. Anyway, DTG's work was along this line. He had found lots of information from digitized records in the UK; retrieved the scanned data, used OCR to transcribe, and then even worked translations (from Welsh, Latin, et al). It was remarkable. ... A little later, after some scrutiny, it was hard to tell the reality with most of the content being fictional. ... We discussed matters and decided for him to start over while concentrating on provenance. 
• Of late, DTG has switched to Gemini/Gemma. As such, he has been verifying the information. He confirmed the news about the Gardner involvements at Bosworth and Richard III's demise. There has been a lot of information on the London side of the family. Too, he found Thomas of Sherborne. ... Now, keeping this brief, for now, one bit of information deals with a bankruptcy of the Dorchester Company in which Thomas Gardner is involved. That has my focus, right now. 
• Thomas was here, at Cape Ann. Now, was Margaret and the three boys here. If so, John was born here. The family went back. Or if he came alone, she had John in the UK. His baptism was delayed until Thomas returned. We favor that the family came over. Thomas and family then came back with the children except for Seeth who was born in Salem. 

Now, technology will be the key. We are doing this right. Who knows what data will come to fore. The information of the births was a nice surprise as John, himself, said that his father had told that they came from Sherbourne. Sure enough. The response of WikiTree? The two person split is okay, for now. But, as we find out more, we'll make sure that it is published. 

A recent post looked at the Fairbanks house which is in Dedham, MA. It dates from the 1630s. The image is from the website for the Fairbanks House. 

Jonathan Fairbanks (WikiTree) came to Boston in 1633, stayed a few years, and settled in Dedham in 1636. 

Remarks: Modified: 08/30/2026

08/30/2026 --  Minor correction, will be back for more. 

Salem 400+

TL;DR -- During the time that we look back at the years from 1626 to 1629, the Thomas Gardner Society, Inc. will focus on the story of Cape Ann as well as that of Salem. 

--

It's here. Another 400th in the timeline of Massachusetts. This time? The movement from Cape Ann to Naumkeag which was renamed to Salem in 1629. 

Salem 400+ on Facebook

We have a lot of reseach to do that is related to this theme in terms of the stories accumulated over the years. In 2023, a thorough study of digitized records from Dorset, UK showed that Margaret and Thomas had all of their children in the UK, except for the last child, Seeth, who was born in Salem. 

The WikiTree page has a record of the research and discussion. The Thomas Gardner profile was split into two: the Thomas married to Margaret is one: the other refers to an unknown person. We have made many comments about what supports the notion that there was one person involved as Thomas Gardner.  

So questions abound: how long were he (or they) here?; if they, what conditions did they face?; .... 

An example is the gap between the births of John and Samuel which was sufficient to allow Thomas (with or without Margaret) to be here. Notice for John, there is a "minor" extra marking which may have indicated a later than normal report. As in, John was born here and was introduced into Dorset records when the family returned. 

John and Samuel Gardner

In any case, the Thomas Gardner (and Margaret) of Salem was here in 1636 and documented by many over the years, including Dr. Frank. Their children are in the records. 

Remarks: Modified: 03/22/2026

03/22/2026 -- Clarified the TL;DR section. 

Economics, 2024

TL;DR -- Economics? About time. We looked at the science and medicine awards earlier. We have a category of Nobel as the posts are stacking up. A discussion of ChatGpt brought the additional Nobels to attention. The gist of the work is that GenAI/LLM will have minimal impact which brings up questions, such as, why all of the wasted effort and hype? 

--

We just made a "Nobel" category since there are so  many posts and there will be more. Our last post on the subject was about a family member starting an organization that supports excellence for high school students. The focus is mathematics as it will become more important due to computing's use (misuse) of the phenomenality and to its role as supporting science and technology. Other posts dealt with awards this summer that brought to fore an awareness of machine learning (couched as an misnomer, via "AI"). 

Now, economics? On Ln, we saw discussion of AI what was mature where a remark noted that an expert at MIT suggested that gains from AI will be less than 1%. Wait? Sounds like our sort of argument. Besides, one of John's graduate advisors was from MIT. And, John McCarthy was there. It, with Stanford and Carnegie Mellon, was a noted academic resource back in the '70s and '80s, prior to the downturn that was due to several factors. The term for this was "AI winter" with this concept being brought forth now due to the hype-driven scene that we have seen for two years. 

• ChatGPT (Feb, 2023) -- We had written on AI for a long while, using AIn't for the most part. We are dealing with buckets-of-bits that are "warping our imaginations, clouding our intuition" (as we wrote elsewhere). But, notice that this post is about three months late, since OpenAI released their toy/tool in Nov of 2022. I had not been paying close attention to them. Since that time, there are several other posts. And, we have written elsewhere on the matter. Needless to say, in this interchange, we asked about Thomas Gardner. And, instructed it on what we knew then, or thought that we knew. Irony? At that same time, while I was looking at Wolfram's use (Mathematica) of ChatGPT (and others), some research work was being done via WikiTree (see Currrent Status). With that work, the TGS, Inc. foundations were shaken. We did not fall and are in a repair state. Sherborne, UK records show all of the kids, but Seeth, being born in England. Now, we are keeping to the notion of Thomas going back and forth and explain our reasoning. 

---

For now, here are a few links to material about the award. 

• 
  MIT economists Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson share Nobel Prize -- The small reward (1%) does not support the hype or the ungodly amount of money and resources going into GenAI/LLM. Conversations are starting to emerge with more critical viewpoints being expressed.  
• Drawing a line from colonialism to artificial intelligence --  We like this as our whole outlook pertains to carry the tales forward about the history of the U.S., especially with respect to the early days. Then, it was the fifth generation that bore the onus of the Revolution. 

The unconstrained hype is normal for people. Newton (gravity and light guy) lost lots of money in some silly scheme. Bohr (more smart) said that the ca-pital-sino (our neologism) cannot allow winning without insider information. Oh? Yes, long ago, he said that. 

Too, where are the engineers? And, we will invoke KBE (knowledge based engineering) which allows the well-educated brains to qualitatively control the beasts of quantitative modes. GenAI/LLM for too long has adopted the aura of Einstein and his mathematics. Well, physics might win some battles with Ma Nature. It does not rule, yet. Nor will it. 

Computing? Out of mathematics via physics. Less than mature in so many ways. 

--- 

The Nobel's work can be used to analyze our progress over time as we consider those who got awarded and all of their compatriots, of their time. We will engage in that sort of discussion. 

Remarks: Modified: 02/16/2025

02/16/2025 -- 

Alice, of the Nantucket bunch

TL;DR -- Alice of the show (Brady Bunch - not that of Carroll nor of the others that we will look at from time to time) gives us a serious New England family history to study. Hang on as we put technology to proper use guided by the "true" spirit of the American experience which we will look at (again and again). 

--

Better late than never, one can say. With our technology focus, we have to look across the board, including the chain from marketing (those who would have us believe enough to spend money) down to fictional shows as we see on TV (those who would have us believe their story and spend money as led to the decision by the marketing folks). 

I have been slowly collecting descendants of Thomas and Margaret, as they become, more or less, proven, that is, their lineage. See Thomas and Margaret (Fryer) Gardner; Joseph Gardner (youngest son); Thomas Gardner II (eldest son); ... Notice, recent research (see Comment, this day) shows that Seeth was born here whereas the other children were born in Dorset, UK. 

Now, let's take one show that was heavy on the cultural horizon: Brady Bunch. Alice was a well-known figure due to her role. She was portrayed by Ann B. Davis (Wikipedia, Wikitree - to be researched). She passed on in 2014, as many may remember. Today, I saw that Famous Kin had a profile of her; here is Ann's link to Thomas Gardner through son, John who married Grafton. She has a serious New England background, including lots of families of Plymouth.  

The show did a good job of presenting the U.S. from the viewpoint of a city on the west coast. Too, it aired from 1969 to 1974 which puts it right in the middle of lots of cultural transformations. 

It might not need saying, but we are seeing something similar now with AIn't and its manifestation through GenAI with all of its faults. The next two years will be fun. 

In the meantime, we'll be researching the scope of associations for descendants of Thomas and Margaret in order to tie technology and its pretenses with the phenomenal aspects of people and their long history on the planet. 

Generations and their dynamics? Lots to learn on this folks. Perhaps, the computer can help. It can serve as an ultimate objectifier, as we watch the wannabe try to attain some state which we do not even know how to describe yet. Whether we can or not (attain what AI seems to have accomplished, by the estimate of ts purveyors and supporters) is a basic question needing attention. 

Remarks: Modified: 10/21/2024

10/21/2024 -- Lewis Carroll was a logician, mathematician (influenced by Boole). 

Why is 2024 quiet?

TL;DR -- 2023 saw Gloucester, MA celebrate its founding in terms of arrival of a crew from England. 2024 continues that activity, somewhat. 

--

We have had several posts on Gloucester, MA who did their 400th last year. The Cape Ann crew arrived in 1623, overwintered, and others showed up in 1624. 

So, the modern Gloucester continues their celebration into the 2nd year. What happened to the TGS, Inc. involvement? We support their lookback. Dr. Frank and Ann have ancestors who were with the original crew. Two that come to mind are Conant and Woodbury. There are other families. 

What of Thomas Gardner? In 2018, there was an article that we commented at: The Settlement of Cape Ann: What is the Real Story?

300th celebration of the
Cape Ann arrival

Recently, we commented again. Here is the content of our comment: 

A year ago, we were chasing information related to the appearance of GenAI. That kept us busy. In the meantime, a researcher found the birth records of all of Thomas Gardner’s children in Sherborn, Dorset, UK.

See https://thomasgardnerofsalem.blogspot.com/2023/04/in-summary.html (Apr of 2023).

We added a few more words this year as we absorbed news of a changing world.

See https://thomasgardnerofsalem.blogspot.com/2024/02/current-status.html (Feb of 2024).

The technology work continues. It’s time to get back to Thomas Gardner and Margaret Frier. On WikiTree, the profile of Thomas was split into two. Daughter, Seeth, was born here. So, did they arrive around 1636? That’s the 1st Thomas. The 2nd one is for the unknown Thomas Gardner who was here according to scattered pieces of information that we have seen.

I argue that there was time for Thomas to come over and go back between births of two of the children. There are various ways to continue the research. It’s time to get this on the plate, I would think.

https://thomasgardnerofsalem.blogspot.com/2023/12/thomas-gardner-puzzle.html

https://thomasgardnersociety.org/html/Research.html

....  end of comment .....

So, we have research to do. And, we are reconstructing our sites and blogs to fit the story. 

With respect to Thomas and Margaret, we will be looking for evidence that he came over here alone, at least twice, before he came over with Margaret and the children except Seeth who was born here. 

In the meantime, watch WikiTree for commentary and research results as well as our legacy site. 

Now, Chelsea, MA has its 400th this year. We will look at that shortly since the date is set for September 21. There have been activities so far this year that we can catch up on. 

Also, there are other towns to celebrate over several years: Quincy (2025); Salem (2026). 

400ths for Massachusetts 

Remarks: Modified: 07/14/2024

07/14/2024 -- Aside: the Salem History for the 400th does not mention Gardner. The 300th had a focus on the old planters who were not of the group associated with the Beverly land grant. The 200th would have been after the Revolution and 1812 Conflict and probably muted. The 100th? Worth looking into. And so, for the 500th, will we have something to add? As in, look to fill in some of the missing pieces. 

More than STEM, we need MSET+

TL;DR -- STEM ought to be MSET+. Too, we see science in practice everyday. A Thomas Gardner descendant was recently honored at LSU. On the other hand, an old name from Harvard is apropos to analyzing the times and their turmoils with respect to computing. It's time to raise the level of discussion. 

-- 

The conglomeration of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) has gotten a lot of press, of late. Magic ensues when one considers the potential based upon the proficiency of the practice. 

Wait, nope. Nope. AIn't is all of the evidence that we need. The main mess is attributable to mathematics. You know, the sequence ought to be this: Mathematics, Science, Engineering, Technology (MSET). Okay? 

So, this post is to start a discussion and the followup actions, over a large scale. First, though, we will mention two parties. Second, we will have a brief look at how the two mix in this day and age. 

------------

In this photo, we see Alfred L. Gardner, Ph.D. giving his acceptance speech for the award. To the right is the Dean of the College of Science, LSU: Cynthia Peterson. The award dinner was held on 19 Apr 2024, at the Baton Rogue, LA campus.  

LSU COLLEGE OF SCIENCE CELEBRATES
20 YEARS OF HONORING TRAILBLAZERS
IN RESEARCH AND EDUCATION

Alfred is Ann's twin brother; they are descendants of Thomas Gardner and Margaret Fryer and are 1st cousins of Dr. Frank in being descendants of Samuel. Alfred has been supportive of our efforts with regard to accomplishing the mission of the TGSociety. 

-------------

The second person is Benjamin Peirce (SEP article) whose son, Charles Sanders Peirce, we have paid attention to. Today, we honor Benjamin, himself. We have had lots of posts on technology over the last decade and many just from the last year. GenAI and its foibles were the theme. Mainly, the problem is that AI is not some creature. Look, we are dealing with buckets-of-bits. Even if there is the robotic side of things, those are buckets-of-bolts, albeit plastic many times. 

So, let's clarify the issue using Benjamin's work. First, observing over the past two decades has shown a decline all around. Quality has gone away. The only way to find it now is with the "bespoke" methods that are custom done by those who care. Companies are whole-hog adopting AIn't with deleterious results that can be seen all around. 

They are forcing their customers into untenable situations. Actually, they are treating their workers even worse. And, at some point, the illusional mindset that is allowing this will burst its bubble. We'll see tears all around. 

So, may we prepare? No less an authority than Bourbaki noted the importance of the Peirces. As said, we ran into C.S. Peirce long ago in the context of computational intelligence. But, his father is noted as being instrumental in taking Hamilton's notion (quaterions) and bringing it forward. Look, this was in the mid-portion of the 1800s. What happened since then? We will look at that. 

For now, here are two sites offering Benjamin's paper: MAA Mathematical Treasure; Linear Associative Algebra. We will focus on Benjamin and his son, for a bit, as we get the situation described. 

Benjamin and his son are Thomas Gardner descendants, too, with two children in their pedigree: George and Seeth. So, we will be looking at that further, too. 

----

Now, to a brief bit of the necessary discussion, our last post was the forebear of the message: map-territory. That is partly philosophical in nature. But, mathematics threw out the old way. Let's bring it back. 

The reason for these two being tied together stems from our interest in truth engineering which will be another piece of work on the table for taming AI which is computing and mathematics going aground. That is, they got grounded but in an improper way. 

Remarks: Modified: 12/21/2024

04/28/2024 --  Added pointers: Quora article on quaternions; the SEP article on Benjamin. 

12/21/2024 -- Updated quaternion image (the old one had disappeared). 

Boston Tea Party

TL;DR -- This party got its name later. But, the event was 250 years ago. We know specifics about the event and its participants. Modern folks have an organization to fete these folks by identifying descendants. Overall, though, the times leading up the Revolution need more attention using the resources and technology of the modern age. 

--

The motivations for this post are several. For one, we're only nine days late. Then, we have been watching the approach of the 250th of the U.S. As well, since our start, we have had lots of posts dealing with D.A.R. and S.A.R. which are organizations, for females and for males, respectively, whose focus is the descendants of those who supported the Revolution. Dr. Frank's sister, Marion Gardner, was a member of D.A.R. through her Gardner great-grandfather. 

Of late, we have been distracted by technology but are back to the history and lineage focus. As well, we have spent time since the start of the pandemic on researching the other countries who were here: Spain, France and more. As we close out this year and start the next, we will be summarizing our work, recent and before. Then, we'll have categories of activities. This blog will continue as will our portal: TGSoc.org. 

Aside: Since April, we have quietly researched the topic discussed in the "In summary" post. As mentioned, WikiTree's profile on Thomas Gardner starts from 1636 when Seeth was born here. She was the last child. Lots of work needs to be done which we will help lead and get things resolved as we determine what the data shows. Otherwise, we'll adjust the narrative to illustrate unknowns needing attention. That seems to be an appropriate bit of work in 2024 as we commemorate the Cape Ann effott which was feted this year in Gloucester. Based upon our research, we have not real reason to declare that Thomas was not in Cape Ann in the early period as mentioned by  Rev. Hubbard in his book written in the latter half of the 1600s. 

---

Boston Tea Party

So, what and when was the Boston Tea Party? It was a protest about taxes in which a group poured tea in the water on 16 Dec 1773. There has been much written over the past 250 years. Now, we can look back and see how descendants of those who took part fared. Who were the participants? As expected, Samuel Adams was one. We will look at this topic later. For now, there is an organization aptly named Participants in the Boston Tea Party that we will pay attention to. 

The Daughters of the American Revolution held a tea in Washington, DC on the 16th of this month. We support this group's effort for over 125 years, in particular their focus on the upcoming 250th. 

Following are a couple links from organizations who provide good information. 

The Coming of the American Revolution: 1764 to 1776 -- Massachusetts Historical Society - This post is part of a regular series that started to look at the earlier situation. Also, it provides links to associated documents. The Port of Boston was closed for a while by London because of this incident. But, later, in Mar 1774, a brig came into Boston on the way to London. Turn out that it was carring tea. When the Sons of Liberty found out, they had another party and destroyed the shipment which was smaller but helped make the point clear.  

The Many Myths of the Boston Tea Party -- Smithsonian Institution - Not every one was happy with the event and its unfolding. It did make an impression as over 300 chests of tea were dumped. In today's dollars, the value would be about 1.5 million of U.S. dollars. 

One thing that we will consider over the next two plus years will be the state of the colonies prior to 1776. We can look at the general scope. But, family concerns will be addressed, as well. 

Remarks: Modified: 12/25/2023

12/25/2023 -- 

What do we know?

TL;DR -- So, what happened in 2023? Lots. The world has changed, and it has not. People showed their seemingly limitless capacity to bow to the machine. 

---

This post serves two purposes. For one, it looks at AI (usual sense) over the past year and collects material pertinent to ongoing discussion and work. The first list contains links with some commentary for each of item. This collection points to different periods over the last year. OpenAI made their announcement on 30 Nov 2022. At that time, we had these two posts which pertained to our continuing topics of research which includes technology.

• Family Search (29 Nov 2022) - we have used this site form the beginning. It represents the efforts of descendants of those who went west. Over the past few years, our focus was on the Interior of the country for several reasons.   
• Perspective, a necessity (1 Dec 2022) - the post looked at veterans from Ipswich, MA (after the Revolution) who went out to Ohio and created a settlement. The trip was well-documented and even repeated later in the 1900s. At the time, that was Michigan Territory. It was only 40 years later that the Santa Fe Trail was formed out of St. Louis, MO. A mere half-century after that, the railroad allowed easier coast to coast travelling. 

The image shows a copy of the "All time, popular" count by post. The topmost, related to the marriage of Thomas and Margaret, comes from the 2014 timeframe. The next one is 2021 as is the one titled "St Louis MO to San Francisco CA" which has spawned several of posts and discussions. The "San Francisco" post is from 2023. 

So, we will continue this area of research as there is plenty questions that are open. Our FAQ will be updated in 2023 to account for new information. In the post titled "A(rtificial) I(Intelligence) researched properly", we go through our own work over the past decade and make some predictions about the future. Given that this work carries on prior research allows a longer time frame that seems to be normal now. So, we will continue to describe things from the historical viewpoint, both technolically and phenomenonally (which is how we view the U.S.). 

Disclosure: We did not get involved with the xnn/LMM, generative material until after a couple of months had elapsed.  As noted above, our timeframe is much longer than normal; and, we need to slow things down in order to establish a little bit of maturity. All of this will be discussed. 

So, going forward, the second list deals with the major change in 2023. We will also use this to start a summarization of our positions on the subjects. The list follows a sequential timeline and uses posts from this blog and related material. 

• Introducing ChatGPT (30 Nov 2022) - there is a thorough overview of the motivation and what was being offered. But, access to the OpenAI system was announced. It did not take long for millions of people to sign up. We did see references to this activity on sites like Quora (who offered POE, later; the head of this organization is on the Board of OpenAI - mentioned them, in yesterday's post - Little Exeter NH).
• ChatGPT (2 Feb 2022) - we heard of the system from a colleague (a linguist) in late Jan and finally got around to doing a query on the 2nd (Groundhog Day). We asked about Thomas Gardner and thought that we were enlightening the thing with a suggestion. In this post, we mentioned that the output did not read correctly. That is a result of the techniques used and can be controlled, somewhat. On the other hand, there is a "omni" and "know-it-all" nuance that is obvious. The New York Times review, How ChatGPT Kicked Off an A.I. Arms Race (3 Feb 2023), looked at some of the issues which were to get increasing attention over the year.  
• Square one? (19 Mar 2023) - Gloucester MA had kicked off their 400th. We were supporting from a distance without bringing in the crew as that would be a 2024 issue, we thought. Our thought was, too, to emphasize Margaret (Fryer) Gardner's contribution. We had not been paying attention to the feeds from WikiTree, however a researcher in Feb of 2023 went through the load of images from the digitized files of Sherborne, Dorset. In doing so, he discovered birth records for about all of the Gardner children, as having been born in the old country. Seeth was born in Salem. So, the family did come over. Did Thomas come over to support the Cape Ann effort? Rev. Hubbard suggested such. Remember, he talked to the principals. But, one thing noticed a while ago was that the Conant family's book did not mention Gardner. Nor did the Woodbury writeup. This feat of technology is interesting in itself, for various reasons. The current state of affairs? There are two Thomas Gardner profiles on WikiTree. One is our Thomas; the other has no information about him. So, one or two? It's like being back at the questions of two or three wives. We settled that in 2012 using the same records. So, Gardner Research opened the door. In the meantime, we did research on California families (the long reach of New England). 
• Research notes (2 Apr 2023) - using our new WP site, we summarized the situation and provided a copy of the list of names and births. There is a gap between the birth of John and Samuel which might show Thomas being away. John was born in December. Thomas could have left without knowing that Margaret was with child. Supported conjecturing will be allowed and supported by technology. Note: at some point, let's discuss how an imaginary basis (of several types) supports science.  
• Technology, computing (May 2023) - after some reading and discussion, I contacted the head of the former Sperry Univac Knowledge Systems Center. He wrote a brief article on how Univac got involved with the effort in the mid-1980s. Lately, one hears more of this, but our contention then and now was that the machine learning solely approach is unbalanced. Hence, we see that the output is not to be taken without some bit of salt (perhaps, a whole lot). But, that is not how it ought to be. Stay tuned. There are several other approaches that can bring maturity. A recent survey points to the diminishing in trust which has been ongoing for a while. But, ChatGPT and its ilk are accelerating the downward slide. Fact? Not there. Fiction? Have at it. Except, one caution (rule) would suggest that "fake" results be tagged as such (analog, truth in advertising). 
• Intro to Bard (7 Jul 2023) - after some time with ChatGPT and looking at issues all around, we finally tried Bard. That activity was all research including things like evaluating how the generative approach performed with mathematical problems. One thing to note is that Wolfram tied this approach to his mathematics system early one, mostly to have more full interchange with users. We need to see how this work is progressing. But, there is a lot more. Bard, basically, was more palatable as it did not try to be argumentative nor did it spout out just to hear itself speaking, so to speak. The post, To Bard or not, summarized some of the issues. For instance, we ran into a PhD thesis that looked at concepts from Kant (the philosopher) being brought bear during training. A known downfall is that the xNN, as being used, squashed nuance. One cannot expect to retract either input or its influence; definitely, there is a need to honor the requirements for footnotes and other referencing modes. In Dec of 2023, Bard was updated significantly. We tried it, but the issue of more fiction than fact remained. One noted improvement was that Bard now stresses teaming, human and machine (rather the "omni" status mentioned above). That was significiant as it changes the tone of the interchange. 
•  ChatGPT a year on: 3 ways the AI chatbot has completely changed the world in 12 months (30 Nov 2023) - we don't agree with the list, as a huge result is trust and its diminishing. What to believe? All of these purveyours suggest checking the results give by their system. Oh, we all have time and energy for that? 
• AI not solely ML (4 Dec 2023) - this is our retort and focus for the future. We need to bring to awareness the knowledge work done in the industrial world. There are many varieties. But, the focus needs to be on humans and their abilities. Enhancements would not be of the machine and its dominance; no, human would obtain an extremely useful tool if this were to be done right.  

So, themes abound. But, what is America about? The dream? Technology can be both a boon and a bane. Why has the latter been more prevalent? We still say AIn't about the emergence of "intelligence" of note. On the other hand, phenomenal mathematical processing has been done by the computer. That could be and ought to be our focus going forward. 

We have a super abacus and slide rule at our disposal now. That is, if only we can understand the need for maturity and the capabilities that it brings. 

Remarks: Modified: 04/04/2025

12/22/2023 -- Dartmouth '99; New Frontier, 21st Century Type. ... THE FUTURE OF AI IN SCIENCE AND MEDICINE, talk at Gairdner Foundation, Oct 25, 2023. 

12/28/2024 -- See updates in GB, XIV, 1 for 2024 updates. 

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. 

Gloucester, 2nd year

TL;DR -- Gloucester did their 2023 lookback. Now, we're heading toward 2024. We have more information and will be taking a re-look at research. Were there two Thomas Gardners? Some have suggested this, over the years. But, that notion never shuffled up in attention. This and other questions are on the table for Gardner Research. 

---

Of course, we know that there was a party that over-wintered in the winter of 1623/4. Then, there were parties who came over in 1624. Plus, there would have been regular traffic from here to there. This year, Gloucester 400 looked at the original arrival. Except, it was not as there had been regular fishing expeditions sent here for several years before that. 

This year, fishing was a large focus, especially as it pertains to generations over the years since 1623. We expect that this will continue with the second year, as the 1624 party is recognized with less hoopla as is expected after the exhilaration of the the first year. In other words, now, let's get down to business. For one thing, we will be scrutinizing our posts (this blog) and editing/'updating with the new information. As well, as research continues, we will point to the work of others. 

Looking forward, by 1626, the failure of the effort was known. By then we will be looking at Roger Conant's move over to Naumkeak with part of his crew where he overwinterd at Massey's Cove. This was when the first controversies about Thomas Gardner cropped up, according to our records. He was not on the list of Roger Conant's for the old planters which we called Old Planters, Beverly.  

On the other hand, we did a recap of what we knew (based upon twelve years of browsing the material with respect to Thomas Gardner) in December 2022. We mentioned our FAQ and the work related to "whence" which was still open. We delayed digging further until March of this year when we had decided that Thomas' wife (Margaret, equal partner;  Margaret (Fryer) Gardner) was to be the focus. 

Why the delay? Our initial thrust in the year was historic (see January 2023). Then, we found out about ChatGPT which had been released by OpenAI in Nov of 2022 (our first post on the subject was 2 Feb 2023). While we were getting familiar with the new AI and discussing issues, Bob Dunlap who is a Thomas and Margaret descendant, was wading through scores of images that were the digitization of the records of Sherborne, Dorset, UK. In doing this work, he found interesting information. We summarized this in a post: New not old planter. In summary, he found records about Thomas and Margaret plus all of their children, except for Seeth who was born in Salem, MA in 1636. 

After looking at the material, we proposed this: Old, and new, planter. We have many reasons for this point of view. Rev. Hubbard was the source for Thomas Gardner being involved with the Cape Ann venture. His reference does not suggest that it was not the Thomas extant in Salem when Hubbard was doing his work. Too, Thomas could have come over a couple of times. One of these would have been in 1624. In the records, there are gaps between children that would have allowed Thomas to have been away. But, the issue is open. 

Margaret, and the children at the time, would not have come over. Or, "may not" as we have to dig into this. In the meantime, we will report the determination of the Great Migration project at WikiTree. They pulled out another node and created two "Thomas Gardner" records. Here are a few words from each of the profiles. 

• Thomas Gardner (abt. 1592 - 1674) - Thomas Gardner has recently been proven to be from Sherborne, Dorset, England with the discovery of the baptism of seven of his children.[1] He was baptized on 30 October 1591 in Sherborne.[2] This fits well with his deposed age of "about 69 years" on 26 November 1661.[3][4] Anderson states that Thomas Gardner's origins are unknown, but that was of course before the discovery of the baptism of his children.[5] Anderson also equates him with the Thomas Gardner who immigrated in 1624, though this is certainly incorrect as this Thomas Gardner had children born at Sherborne continuously until 1633. ... 
• Thomas Gardner (1600 - aft. 1625) - Thomas came to New England as part of the Dorchester Company's failed attempt to establish a fishing colony on Cape Ann. The effort was funded by the Dorchester Company of Adventurers whose chief advocate was the Rev. John White of Dorchester, England.[1] Gardner was appointed as one of the overseers of the fishing colony.[2] It is not known if Thomas Gardner was among the first 14 men who arrived in Cape Ann in the fall of 1623; it is more likely he was in the group of 32 that arrived in 1624. ...

In short, we will start a major update in 2024 of our records and posts. Many issues remain to be researched. Until those are resolved, we will assume that there was one Thomas. That he was here more than once will be looked at thoroughly. 

On the other hand, that there were two Thomas Gardners in early Salem is not a new subject (Two Thomas Gardners in Salem; Back to DNA). What happened was that technology allowed access to the records. Bob Dunlap ought to be congratulated for wading through the non-indexed material. 

Remarks: Modified: 07/14/2024

07/14/2024 -- See updated comment: Why is 2024 quiet?

Research and consequences

TL;DR -- Research in February found records for all of the children born in Sherborne, Dorset except for Joseph. But, Seeth was born here, in the mid-1630s. How is this? Right now, the solution is to split the Thomas Gardner record into two. The first deals with the father of the children and the husband of Margaret Fryer. The second is for the Dorchester Company's man who participated in the venture in 1623/24. Same guy? Other questions abound. This is a status.  

--

The "In summary" post pulls together an overview of recent events and our status. Our response to the findings of a record search was one month late. How did this happen? We look at that below. But, we did get the research going as this image shows. It can be found in the "Research Notes" section of the Thomas Gardner profile on WikiTree. The original find was in 2014 by John Cook who was browsing ancestry[.]com's report on digitization. 

At that time, we did the post and redid the commentary in this blog as well as noting that we were expecting more data as transcription work progressed. Our next involvement was to argue that Margaret ought to be the mother of the children. That was done via a G2G where people discuss matters after looking at the data. Once things settle on an action, the change is done. See "Should all of the children of Thomas Gardner-159 be detached from his second wife, Margaret ____? [closed]" on WikiTree. Yes, that discussion was about the 2nd wife who was Margaret and her status as mother.  

About Margaret, wife
and mother of the children

That was settled. Then, in February of this year, we had this G2G: Comments on Thomas Gardner of Salem 1591-1674. Bob Dunlap had taken the time to browse transcribed records by the 100s. Earlier, we had records for the first three boys. After that, did the family come over to Cape Ann as Dr. Frank and many others thought? 

Well, Bob's search found records for the other children, except for Joseph and Seeth. The time of the baptism of Joseph had smudgy records. But, the following child was recorded. On the other hand, Seeth was not there, but she has records in Salem MA. So, they came over later? 

The WikiTree project in charge of the profile of Thomas Gardner decided to split out into two profiles. One is for the father of the children and husband of Margaret. The other profile is mostly without information awaiting more information on the Cape Ann adventure. 

For us, Rev. Hubbard's reference to these being the same guy has some credence. So, we will see. 

But, why the month's delay?  In November of 2022, OpenAI let loose ChatGPT upon us. John did not pay attention to that until February since there are plenty of other areas needing attention. Besides, he has established a position on AI and its current status as well as weighed in on the abundance of hype that is mostly unsupported. 

The Society had adopted technology as a focus for several reasons. One of the important ones is the growing influence, good and bad, of computing: technology search on this blog. ChatGPT came at a time of bifurcation and has acted as a Rorschach test: toy or tool. That is, what is this thing? John has been involved in research and discussion with respect to the OpenAI release and its aftermath. 

This post allows those two themes to be looked at together. The former deals with Origins which has been part of our quest from the beginning. One of our first steps will be to get back to the review of "What do we know?" with the additional information part of the research. 

Remarks: Modified: 05/11/2023

05/11/2023 -- 

In summary

Note (02/27/2024): See Current status. 

---

TL;DR -- Research continues on origins with a different focus. Now, we can look over the waters and see what happened over there during the time of the Dorchester Company. 

--

Recently, we found more information about 'origins' that shuffled the stack a little. As noted in the FAQ, we have found records about the baptism dates and place for more of the children of Thomas and Margaret. The indications are that most were born in Sherborne, Dorset, England. 

Earlier, we were able to settle the marriage issues. The Great Migration Project of NEHGS had proposed that Thomas had three wives with the mother of the children being UNKNOWN. In our research, we found that child John had noted that his father had told them about Sherborne being their prior home. Too, researchers had noted that Margaret Fryer had been mentioned over the years. 

As this icon shows, the marriage record had been digitized and indexed. A U.S. researcher found the record on AOL in 2014. See the post (Margaret, anew) which was written in the 2018 timeframe when WikiTree discussions led to having Margaret as the first wife and Damaris as second. 

We have changed the header graphic to remove Cape Ann. 

Thomas and Margaret
Planters of Salem, MA

Due to the recent work, there are now two profiles on WikiTree for Thomas Gardner. One is for the Salem family who seemed to have come over after the birth of Miriam who was born in Sherborn and that of Seeth who was born in Salem. 

The other profile is blank but for the Thomas Gardner who was here. Rev. Hubbard, and others, suggested that this was the same person. The Rev. is important as he talked to the principals and wrote of his findings, albeit his manuscript was two centuries in peril (went through the Revolution) prior to its publication. Too, some researchers in England noted that there was a relationship between the Thomas Gardner involved with the Dorchester Company's effort and a sister of Rev. John White. 

Many questions will be formulated and answered. If there were two Thomas Gardners, were they related? If so, how? 

Remarks: Modified: 12/28/2024

05/11/2023 -- A few typos corrected.  

12/27/2023 -- Add link for WikiTree Profile which has the details of this work. Don't agree with the interpretation nor the language of Joe. But, for now, we can work with the two records. 

02/27/2024 -- Added link at top for the "Current status" post. 

12/28/2024 -- See updates in GB, XIV, 1 for 2024 updates. 

New not old planter

TL;DR -- When we found the marriage record of Thomas and Margaret back in 2014, we also noted that records were being digitized. Of late, a researcher has gone through these records and found out that most of the children of Thomas and Margaret were registered in the records of the parish in Sherborne, Dorset, UK. There last child born that was in 1633. Seeth was born here in 1636. Shocker that this is, there are lots of open questions. So, we have research pending with regard to these. 

---

The title catches the eye. Consider, it might (ought to) read: Old, and new, planter. The below sets the stage for discussing the future work .

---

In 2014, researchers found a marriage record of Thomas Gardner and Margaret Fryer, in church records in a parish in Sherborne, Dorset, UK. At the same time, there were birth records found for the first three sons plus. Too, Margaret's family seemed to have been found. 

After letting the information sit in, we finally updated the profiles for Thomas (Gardner-159) and Margaret (Fryer-892) on WikiTree. That was prompted, too, with discussions about removing Margaret as the mother of the children. 

This is a list of what are known as G2G studies where people discuss issues and make determinations about how to update WikiTree. Then, they do the edit. These can be accessed from the WikiTree Profile of Thomas Gardner. 

Now, coming forward, this year a study was finished that went through the parish records. What was noted was that most of the children of Thomas and Margaret are listed in the parish records. How could that been if the family was in New England? The last child in England was 1633. Seeth was born here.

 

After some discussion, the Profile was rewritten in Feb of 2023 to remove associations of Thomas with the Dorchester Company. Too, it is assumed that the family came over around 1635 so that puts them in the Great Migration. 

So, look at Thomas' Profile to see what has been accepted as the genealogical record until we know otherwise. There are questions to answer. A main one is who was the Thomas Gardner who was here, before Roger Conant arrived at Cape Ann? 

We will get back to that. In the meantime, we will update material after we figure out a good approach to handling the change. His Profile is Gardner-924. 

Note: Bob Dunlap did the digging and reported on WikiTree. Joe Cochoit edited the profiles. 

Now, we titled this post "New not old planter" to point to continued work and discussion. We had two types of "old planters" with respect to Essex county. 

• Old Planters, Beverly -- were the group with Roger Conant when he moved from Cape Ann to Naumkeag. Gardner's name was not on that list. They got land. That always raised questions, some of which we will discuss, later. 
• Old Planters Society -- this group was started by Dr. Frank and Col. T.W. Higginson. They had regular meetings and reported via The Massachusetts Magazine. One way to characterize them to differentiate from the other group was by using Old Planters Of Massachusetts. This group was of those who were here prior to Winthrop's arrival in 1630 while not being associated with the Plymouth colony. 

One task will be to reorganize our information in order to ask the right questions for research. Some things will be known. Seeth was born here to Thomas Gardner and Margaret Fryer. Her record in in the Salem VR. 

Recently, we wrote of Margaret as a focus for research. That is still the case. Along with questions about Thomas, we have plenty to ask about Margaret and her family, too. For instance, was her brother in Gloucester? 

We have asked the question: Were there two Thomas Gardners? 

Remarks: Modified: 04/02/2023

03/14/2023 -- Pushed this to FB: TGS, Inc. page and the New England Family Genealogical and Historical group. ... Too, we will be updating, and redoing, the research topics and the rest. Cape Ann families still apply as a theme due to 2nd generation marriage of daughters of Thomas and Margaret to sons of these families. Too, some lineages will have these families. 

03/15/2023 -- We need to let this new information sink in. There are many more questions to replace those that might be answered. The FAQ will be updated. Does the gap (three years) between the birth of John and Samuel allow time for participation in the activity of the Dorchester effort at Cape Ann? Too, could Thomas Gardner not being in the "old planter" list indicate his status of having left after being at Cape Ann? Associated with this would be: what was the status of Margaret and the kids (Thomas, George, Richard, and John) while Thomas was away from Sherborne? Did the bap record for John indicate a delayed report by Thomas after he (or even they) got back? ... There will be more questions.

03/26/2023 -- See not Square one? We will rearrange the knowns and the discussion of the unknowns and what to do. Then, proceed from that place. We' ll put more effort into the 1st generation and the connection to the families of the time. 

Margaret, equal partner

TL;DR -- 100 years ago, Margaret got some attention. Then, modern research threw her out. We got her back. Now, we'll make her presence ubiquitous (normally used for computing, of late). Too, the women of Cape Ann will get attention this month to establish a basis for future work. The order goes, Cape Ann --> Essex County --> Massachusetts --> New England, and then a long reach across the U.S. over time and a huge interior. All having been noted here will be further explored. 

---

As time goes by, so too do the Awareness Months. March is Womens History Month. So, this month, we are continuing that theme as we started last year by bringing women into the discussion. We will be looking at another mathematician later, as we did last year with Emmy Noether. Too, we will be adding a post about a Native American tribe that Yankees going west encountered. 

Today, we think that it's time to bring Margaret some attention. Hence, we have changed our header at both sites (traditional, portal) to read as this image says. 

It notes that the Society is "For ... Thomas Gardner (implied &) Margaret Fryer ... Planters (Cape Ann, Salem)" as both were instrumental in getting the thing done. We're here. Also, we will be looking deeply at the history of Cape Ann and its families (many modern sites with photos of paintings done in the area of Gloucester will be linked below - coming soon).  

Too, after looking at Gloucester's 400th commemoration activities this week, we started to research possible topics to represent what the Society is about. And, per usual, Roger Conant's theme came up which was the focus 100 years ago. He is mentioned in a huge plaque plus some smaller ones in the Gloucester area. Too, he is in lots and lots of write ups as the first name of the effort. There was the theme of Beverly Planters as an example.

That is, in terms of history, we pinpoint a few to carry forward the message. But, some, like Rev. Hubbard, actually talked to Thomas Gardner and mentioned him and John Tylly. Lots of the pruning was due to technology and other limits. 

So, our theme being technology, we have to think about how we can tame the beast for the future where a sustainable mode is left for the progeny. Can we do it? Yes. But, pondering all of the possible stories, we settled on featuring Margaret, mother of the children. BTW, there is no issue with Conant taking the heat. That let's us do our own truth assessment using means outside of the normal. 

After all, Roger is on Ann's ancestors' list. Too, Seeth married a son of Roger and had a child. He married a daughter of Richard More, that puzzle of the Mayflower mindset. Other stories abound some of which we have covered in posts, like James Bryant Conant of Harvard. 

But, back to Margaret, she had another wife on board with her. Roger was here, single. Thomas Gardner and John Balch brought their families. Margaret, the mother of nine children (start with Thomas and follow the links), eight of whom had progeny. Sarah (Gardner) Balch's mother-in-law came with Margaret on the same ship in 1624. 

We are researching progeny of each child, for Sarah:

• Benjamin Balch (c. 1730s) – first Chaplain, Continental Navy; William Balch (c. 1770s) – first Chaplain, U.S. Navy. His father was first chaplain of the Continental Navy; his grandfather had been a chaplain in the Royal Navy; Adolphus Greely (c. 1840s) – American Polar explorer, recipient of the Medal of Honor; John Henry Balch (c. 1890s) – United States Navy, World War I, Medal of Honor, Lieutenant, World War II. 

Seeth (Gardner) Grafton married (first) Joshua Conant, son of Roger Conant. Their sister, Miriam (Gardner) Hill married twice. One of her progeny was the namesake of the Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, KS about which we have written a lot. 

There were later arrivals in time before Endicott came over. Some of these families went over with Salem. We'll be looking more thoroughly of pre-and-post-Massey's Cove in more ways than merely noting that Cape Ann was close to paradise or the Glory of Cape Ann. 

Remarks: Modified: 03/13/2023

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

 

Roger Conant

TL;DR -- All along, we have intended to look deeper into the Cape Ann families. First, we have to get a good list. That may take some work. So, let's dive into the families that we know of now. This post gets us to start to become familiar with Roger Conant's family and progeny. For starters, we look at known relationships with the Gardners. 

--

Children of 
Roger Conant

One of our goals is to document Cape Ann families and their descendants beyond our look at the progeny of Thomas and Margaret Gardner and their collateral families. Recently, we looked at John Tilley (Tylly, Tilly) who was a co-lead with Thomas in the early party; the post was motivated by a research article published in the latest NEHGR. A little earlier, we stopped to consider the Woodbury family, again due to the NEHGR. There are several other posts that dealt with Cape Ann as it will be a common theme for us. 

The next post will consider a member of the Conant family. In the 700-page History of the Conant family, which can be viewed via archive.org (as PDF) - as we noted a while ago with respect to researching the Cape Ann Great House, there are thirty-four references to Gardner. In Dr. Frank's 1907 book, with 365 pages, there fourteen references to Conant. 

As well, Dr. Frank noted that his grandmother, Lucy Foster Wilson, was a descendant of Conant. It is time that we look at these two families and fill in the pieces based upon material collected over the past 150 years. 

As a reminder, we had an earlier page that used the Conant book (using Google's format): James Bryant Conant. The family studies seems to have covered a lot of material which is commendable. 

Joshua Conant 
and
Seeth Gardner

The following images are from the Conant book which dates from 1887. We will also bring in the NEHGS Great Migration material, as we map out how the families related. 

Joshua Conant 
and
Christian More

With respect to Roger (WikiTree: Conant-34) and his spouse, Sarah Horton, the first list identifies his children. Then, we see that Joshua Conant married Seeth Gardner, daughter of Thomas and Margaret. They had a son.  

Their son, Joshua (WikiTree: Conant-54), married Christian, the daughter of Richard More (WikiTree: More-108) of the Mayflower, as his first wife. Christian died young; Joshua married Sarah Newcomb.  

Just now, stopping to look at WikiTree shows that there are many descendants that have been documented for Joshua and Seeth which motivates us to take another look at Seeth and her sister Miriam. 

But, that is one purpose for having this type of focused look at the material. It can found the basis for further research; doing research can help get the material updated. Never-ending process. Technology, today, provides some interesting tools, albeit there was plenty of material available in the earlier forms. We will be looking at that on a recurrent basis, too, 

Remarks: Modified: 04/15/2022

04/12/2022 -- With respect to sourcing via the Conant book, this image shows that JB was penciled in. 

04/15/2022 -- Richard Perry Conant, the riverman, is a descendant. 

Joseph and Seeth

TL;DR -- As we fill in descendant trees for all of the families that interlocked in the early times via marriage, we want to remember those who had no progeny. Joseph and Ann (Downing) Gardner are an example. He was killed in the early troubles with the American Indians. She married an old governor after that while getting Bradstreet to sign a pre-nup. Joseph's sister, Seeth, had children and grandchildren. One Conant line ended early. There are many more to add to the list as we find them and remember to do the recording.  

--

Of late, we have been looking at the wide expanse of people related to Thomas and Margaret. For a time, we were looking at the interior which was carved up under the guise of Manifest Destiny. Before that, and now in a more balanced mode, we had the nautical focus. After all, Salem was a port. 

Many heritage society communities focus on descendants. How else can they keep their membership? But, we have kept an interest in those who had no progeny. While reviewing the portal today which pops up some random text, we got this page. The text showed two of the children: Joseph and Seeth. 

Joseph Gardner and Ann Downing did not have children. Seeth? She did with her later husband. Her son, Joshua Conant, who married a daughter of Richard More, did not have grandchildren. That got us to a recent post of someone with no progeny: JB Conant. 

We get sensitive to this while looking at pedigrees related to application to heritage societies. Of the children in a family, many times only a few are in the database due to no application being submitted for the others. To us, that would be something that the heritage society ought to look at. Why? Many claim biblical leanings. If so, transitive 'honoring of the parents' might suggest that. In any case, we intend to keep with the focus on those who are lost in history. 

BTW, in our look at the frontier, we see many who are lost just due to genealogists being obtuse in so many ways. We are ready to discuss those issues, as required.  

Remarks: Modified: 09/03/2021

09/03/2021 -- 

James Bryant Conant

TL;DR -- A New Yorker article was looking at diversity with respect to the smarties of the land. That is, who gets into Harvard. They bring up James Bryant Conant who also got into the Roxbury Latin School on testing. He was a chemist. On looking further, there wasn't any good information about his New England lineage (both sides). So, we started to make the links. Oh yes, that got us to Cape Ann, Count Rumford (whose money Harvard loved to get), JB being trained as a chemist at Harvard as part of their practical education, the SAT (and its influence by the AGCT), and more. Turns out that JB being under the radar is good for Gardner Research. We'll lift him to awareness as it allows us to have a focus on how Harvard behaved over the 400 years. 

---

Several times, we have mentioned someone who ought to be better known in a genealogical sense but who is not. One reason? No descendants to remember the guy or gal. So, if they are not famous, who will do the research? But, JB is noted (as we see below). 

We can use Joseph Gardner and Ann Downing in this regard. Ann was the owner of that which became the Bradstreet house. She married Bradstreet after Joseph was killed in a conflict with the American Indians. And so, the house got Simon's name associated with it. 

Today, we were reading about diversity versus meritocracy in college, and James Bryant Conant came up. So, Conant? That's Cape Ann. Too, he was head of Harvard for a long while. And, he introduced the SAT which type of testing was pioneered by the U.S. Army (John started this page after a bit of research post retirement) as it tried to cope with the massive inflow associated with the WWI draft. 

So, per usual, after browsing Wikipedia, we went to find out about JB's pedigree. Nothing. What? So, we have provided a link from him (Conant-639) to his grandfather (Conant-1769) on WikiTree and will fill in the missing generation. 

Here are the steps that were taken. James Scott Conant was mentioned in Wikipedia and in WikiTree. However, there was not much found on the web about JS. Well, there is a Conant Book via Google Books: A History and Genealogy of the Conant Family. Turns out that JS is mentioned. And, JB is penciled in. Only his oldest sister is mentioned. But, using the book, one can track back to  Roger. 

This image does that as well as provide the Mass VR Project record on JS as son of Thomas.  

James Bryant Conant

in the Conant Book

But, on WikiTree, an exercise would be to see how far the book agrees with what modern researchers know. But doing that, we ended up at the Profile of JB's grandfather. So, now, it's a matter of looking at the detail a little more. 

Now, there are several Gardner connections. Roger came in to replace Thomas. Too, Seeth, daughter of Thomas and Margaret, married Joshua Conant, son of Roger. The book has several other references to Gardner/Gardiner.

BTW, Harvard? We have lots of references here, so far, and will have more. For one, JB was two administrations after CW Eliot who had expected to win the Rumford Chair (see Heads of Harvard and History of Harvard). 

We have Seeth marrying a Conant. Ann has Conant in her pedigree as did Dr. Frank. So, there are lots of associations to look into, as well as further diving into things pertaining to the Dorchester Company. 

Remarks: Modified: 09/11/2023

08/27/2021 -- With regard to JB Conant, Frontline did a show on the subject: A Brief History of the SAT. They used a photo of JB and described his influence in getting the testing industry set up. ... With respect to not much being documented about JD's family's history in the U.S., it looks like a subject worth pursuing. He worked on mustard gas as a chemist. As mentioned, he was trained at Harvard which would have him as a beneficiary of Count Rumford's money which was given to Harvard to establish something other than counting angels on a pinhead. We'll go into that more. 

08/29/2021 -- JB can be a good example of how to handle Cape Ann descendants with respect to the 400 years that followed their arrival. We need to gather the names and start to start a close look at these families.  

08/30/2021 -- In the TL;DR, changed Boston Latin School to Roxbury Latin School where JB got entry through his test scores. 

12/11/2021 -- Added link to Heads of Harvard and History of Harvard.  

04/07/2022 -- Changed Native Americans to American Indians. 

04/12/2022 -- JB penciled in under James Scott Conant, Google book. 

05/05/2022 -- We started the series after reading of the cuz and learned a lot by looking at the perspective of 400 years. As a 17-year- old, the one posting this was in the U.S. Army in the time period right after the Korean incident where the U.S. was licking its wounds. On the other hand, Conant who was precocious hung around Harvard while young. He was well behaved, obviously. Back to Eaton (1st head - more educated than most of his peers of the time), for a moment. Let's compare then with this time of JBC's being in the vicinity. Not with judgment; rather, autodidact humanity studies coupled with computers and physical sciences might be the framework. First, look at the original complaints, with respect to the myriad ships that were afloat at the time. Then? Consider the treatment of the regular sailor (if you don't know this, we'll explain). Also, we'll get more detailed as needed. But, "much ado about not much" comes to mind. As the poster has noted earlier, John Gardner's time out with the surveying crew was cotemporaneous with early Harvard experience. That's another type of comparative study. Conant, though, served militarily. He was involved with some of the modern methods that need types of review, too. It's interesting that besides bringing in testing, Conant is associated with the movement of the institution from serving the pampered of the U.S. to looking for all of the "best and brightest" everywhere. That is, from the pseudo-Brahmin (all societies have this) to the real thing. For now, here are three links, mainly for markers. Conant is not alone in the 400 years. Lots to look at.

• Dew of death ... 
• The hawk from Harvard ... 
• The Bombing and the Breakthrough ... 

07/09/2022 -- Updated the prior remark, slightly. We are starting to use the generational theme more and will include Conant as an example family: 1900 forward. Ran into another Conant: The American Character. 

09/11/2023 -- This summer, a movie came out about Oppenheimer. The Manhattan Project had Harvard involvement with the technical team. ...