Ebenezer Gardner of Maine

At the Micmac farm site, the history page states that the Gardner house in Machiasport, ME was built in 1776. Ebenezer, the builder, was a descendant of Thomas and Margaret through Samuel, and his son Abel.

Ebenezer had settled in Nova Scotia, but, in 1776, loyalists claimed the area forcing Ebenezer and his family south.

Ebenezer is #123 (pg 191) in Dr. Frank's book. His father died early, so Ebenezer was raised by his uncle Jonathan who was a forebear of the John Lowell Gardners. Ebenezer died at 97 which is remarkable given what he endured (descendants, St Croix).

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The Micmac website also has notes about the Gardner family and its Maine extension. Ebenezer's grandson, John (see Bryant tree), married Rachel Berry (see James tree) who was the granddaughter of John Berry. John was involved with the first naval skirmish of the Revolutionary war (British frigate Magaretta - ought John have his own page?). Some of John's ancestors were early entrants into Maine.

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The Hereditary Society Community (HSC) is a collection of genealogical and historical societies who work to preserve our history and heritage. The HSC sponsors meetings of most of the group, yearly in the spring, in Washington, D.C. One member group is the Order of the First Families of Maine whose site lists the early Maine entrants.

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Maine has an interesting history. A group came very early, into Popham, established a colony, and built a boat (Virginia) that was seaworthy sufficiently to cross the Atlantic several times.

Remarks:

02/27/2022 -- Belatedly, added Ebenezer Gardner to the list of Descendants of Samuel. Also, Ebenezer mentioned in a new study on the York Factory Express of Hudson's Bay Company. 

10/25/2018 -- We will use Samuel to get three generations, at first (two generations start).

06/08/2018 -- Interesting set of family overviews: Genealogical and Family History (Bowdoin College). The Gardner page is of Ebenezer (#123) son of Thomas (#76) son of Abel (#59) son of Samuel (#6).

10/26/2017 -- Gardner Family of Machias (Maine)

01/19/2015 -- Maine History Online: Popham and Gorges.

01/01/2013 -- Id at rootsweb changed; did a refresh.

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

04/06/2011 -- Stanley Israel Gardner published 'The Gardner Family of Maine' in 1986. Amazon.com reports that it is out of print. Here are a couple related links: Julie Etta Patterson and genforum.genealogy.com. At the Essex Institute, I saw a book written about son John's family. Hopefully, we will be able to get a bibliography filled in at some point to include all of these types of books.

Modified: 02/27/2022

Nathaniel Bowditch

The wiki page's descendants list has three categories: Patriot, Business, Academic/Scientist/Artist. Perhaps, there could be more lists. It might be interesting to pull together something like this page (we'll do it here, first, and then port to wiki).

On what subject? Well, I would argue for identifying those for whom the results of their effectiveness is of the type that persists (see Academic/Scientist/Artist). Nathaniel (see below) emerged early in the search for descendants, which was cursory. To date, we've been looking at the early times; a focus like this might help bridge the gaps and provide a thread coming forward.

Aside: Ever notice how mathematics builds incrementally (with the occasional big leap, of course)? That is, there may be current hot shots, but no theorem is ever repackaged such that the original thinkers are not given a nod for their work. As well, there is no leap except from a basis (to wit, Isaac's recognition of his predecessors).

Nathaniel (parents: Habakkuk, Mary - he descends from sons Thomas and George) is interesting, in this respect, for several reasons; one of these is his stature as an autodidact.

Aside: Another thing about mathematics is that one does not need a lab. Yet, there are more barriers to entry now than before. The whole of the jargon has expanded. Some think that Henri was the last of the polymaths.

As we can see, Nathaniel had the aptitude to learn without tutorage. Too, he was able to find an application that was, and continues to be, of usefulness. Then, he had the fortune to have access to the material (Richard_Kirwan's library). Of course, that he mastered Latin and French on his own ought to be noted.

Aside: There are several motivations for this tact which will be discussed further. But, as a preview, consider how computational mathematics can lead to a dampening of our soul's glory, if we are not careful. Too, the times of the mass influx, and the thinkings of those periods, are pertinent to understanding some of today's problems.

Remarks:

03/12/2022 -- Stolen Library that launched America's 1st Math Genius, Nathaniel Bowditch. 

07/22/2021 -- His attention got the Quaker grave desecration noticed by the public, which we must do for the similar events with regard to the gravee of Thomas Gardner and others. 

12/23/2018 -- Added Nathaniel's image from Wikipedia. For our main portal (TGSoc.org).

08/16/2011 -- The autodidact pages on wiki changed.

Modified: 03/12/2022

Great migration

Thomas Gardner in
Great Migration

Some may know of this project, but here is a link to the Great Migration study that is looking at New England, and all of the families that arrived, from 1620-1640.

Thomas Gardner has 6 pages (Vols I-III, pg 731).updated 06/17/2013 

The study proposes that Margaret was Thomas' second wife; we'll continue with Dr Frank A's hypothesis (Margaret arrived with Thomas at Cape Ann in 1624) until proven otherwise.

While looking at some issues with one family, one researcher referenced what was written by this project. In a sense, it may be the new bible concerning the early times.

Don't worry, we'll check this work out. In one case, I've already noticed an oversight. But, trying to address that type of thing will await some more review.

Remarks:

11/21/2019 -- Lots of updates on Dr. Frank: 1907 chart, WikiTree, Frank signed his father's copy of the 1907 book, and Dr. Frank's remains.

03/03/3015 -- Updated the link to the NEHGS copy of Great Migration. Seems that everyone is converting to please the mobile crowd (not always improvements). See, too, Zouch Phoenix.

10/03/2014 -- Dr. Frank A. will feature in the future. Was he right about Thomas and Margaret (their marriage record found, recently)? Why did the Great Migration Project ignore him?

06/19/2013 -- NEHGS rearranged their database. Today, updated the link for the 6 pages. Added the image of the first page.

07/21/2011 -- From whence? Coffin, from Nantucket, said Dorset (Sherborne).

Modified: 11/21/2019

Dr Frank A Gardner

A few notes (see Remarks, below, for log):

Finally got around to filling in Dr. Frank's tree, using WikiTree. His Gardner line is fairly complete, in terms of data entry. Starting to fill in his Woods (maternal) line using Dr. Frank's handwritten notes. The focus now for this work is having nodes (profiles) in place and linked (pick the Ancestors button). Then, we'll be adding bios, etc., plus verifying sources, as in, this will be the 'bible' of his lineage. We fill in sources as we go along adding profiles - to be extended later with further research by Gardner Research. However, we don't own all of the profiles, so we need to double check those. So far, finding interesting stuff, like - Dr. Frank is a descendant of Demaris, too, the last wife of Thomas.

Link to on-line versions of Dr. Frank's books and some of his publications:
                              1907 edition, 1933 edition
                          The Massachusetts Magazine

Gardner pedigree for Dr. Frank and his sister, Lucie M. (with ahnentafels of their grandfather, Benjamin Brown Gardner, and grandmother, Lucy FosterWilson).

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Several posts have mentioned Dr Frank A. We will use his line quite often as we fill in the tree.

Dr Frank's book is now available via the Internet Archive in several readable forms, including PDF. Here is the link:

• archive.org
• google.com

The 'Read online' option provides a nice interface that has a fast search; the results are given with easy to use bookmarks. See next, for an example.

Dr Frank's book gives descendants for Essex County and New England "lines to the eighth generation and Nantucket lines through the fourth generation" and includes his father's siblings (page 286 has information about Dr Frank's father, Stephen Wilson Gardner, and his mother, Marion Wallace Woods).

Fortunately for us, this book provides sources which is important for resolution of questions. In many cases, records are missing for a variety of reasons in many areas. Essex County seems to have been able to preserve a lot of their records.

The Gardner families were spread widely, according to the book. It will be interesting to see the locations mapped out as they were at the time of the book and at this later time.

Remarks:

12/28/2024 -- See "Restart, somewhat" from September of 2024 for a summary of the issues about early information and about technology which is our focus. 

11/11/2019 -- Got Dr. Frank's FindAGrave profile updated: Frank Augustine Gardner, Veteran's Day. Early, we had pointed to Harmony Grove Cemetery, but the Gardner / Dennett plot in which Dr. Frank's ashes were interned in in Greenlawn.

05/01/2019 -- Saw notes by Stephen Wilson Gardner in his personally signed copy of the 1907 book. SWG was the father of Dr. Frank. For the first time, saw the plate that had been reproduced. On further research, found a color copy. The area is significant in that it's near Gardner Hill. Looking for other material that has something to offer about the area.

09/15/2018 -- Gardner Research published four articles in The Essex Genealogist. These were republished in The Gardner Annals which just released Vol. IV. Last fall, we printed TGA Vols I and II. Soon, we will print Vols III and IV. Included with the TGA were Gardner's Beacon issues. Of late, we have experimented with one approach to a database, namely WikiTree using Dr. Frank's information. As mentioned in that post, we have established that Thomas had two wives as we found information about the marriage of Thomas and Margaret in Sherborne, Dorset, UK.

09/07/2018 -- Added note at the top about the WikiTree work.

09/08/2016 -- People in Dr. Frank's book.

12/17/2015 -- Life of Dr. Frank is featured in The Gardner Annals, Vol. II, No. 2.

12/13/2015 -- Find A Grave - Gardner.

05/21/2105 -- We will feature Dr. Frank in our research. For now, we have the ahnentafels (fully sourced) for his paternal grandparents. One of his activities was editing and promoting The Massachusetts Magazine.

03/20/2015 -- Add links to the on-line copy of the books (1907, 1933). Fix a stale pointer.

03/12/2015 -- Image from 1933 book (7 pages) on Gardners.

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).

02/27/2015 -- Dr. Frank's paternal ancestry completed. Turns out that Dr. Frank is a descendant of Nathaniel Eaton. Being degreed in the theological framework, as well as having the M.D. and a general Ph.D., puts him in a different light, one might think.

01/03/2015 - Note, Dr. Frank A.'s Gardner Memorial book is digitized and on-line (Hathi Trust).

10/03/2014 -- Dr. Frank A. will feature in the future. Was he right about Thomas and Margaret (their marriage record found, recently)? Why did the Great Migration Project ignore him?

08/29/2014 -- Dr. Frank's grandmother's ahnentafel (six generations, fully sources for births and deaths).

04/29/2014 -- Dr. Frank's grandmother, Lucy Foster Wilson.

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

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

12/25/2012 -- Added Google Docs version.

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.

08/07/2011 -- At a later time, we'll look more fully at Dr. Frank's tree, such as this one of his grandmother, Lucy Foster Wilson (Goldthwait, Adams, Conant, ...).

05/08/2011 -- The image is from page 74 of Dr Frank's book where he mentions notes for a future book. It would be interesting to see these notes. Where might they be?

Modified: 12/28/2024

Sarah (Gardner) Balch

As mentioned before, we want to spend a little effort getting information about the earlier times before coming toward the current era. For instance, we can take some time to look at each of the kids and their offspring.

Sarah, the oldest daughter, married Benjamin Balch whose father, John, was one of the early planters who came over with Thomas Gardner. This group helped establish the area around Salem.

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There is a house in Beverly, called the Balch house, that has been dated to about 1680. Part of it may have been built by John. Sarah and Benjamin were occupants, to boot.

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Notes from Balch family reunions, some of which were attended by Dr Frank A Gardner, provide stories of interest. For instance, Benjamin, born in 1743, was the first Chaplain of the Continental Navy.

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Another descendant, John Henry Balch, was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions in WWI.

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One pedigree for Rev. Benjamin, who descends from Sarah's son Freeborn, includes the Woodbury (another planter) family (Kappus). The Vaut pedigree has an interesting extension for Thomas.

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Children (according to the NEHGS and the Great Migration Project - as represented by WikiTree): Thomas, George, Richard, John, Sarah, Samuel, Joseph, Miriam, Seeth.

Remarks:

03/09/2023 -- Updated link to Descendants of Sarah (see 12/13/2020). 

12/13/2020 -- Descendants of Sarah. 

12/05/2019 -- We updating material on WikiTree in order to get the first generation settled down as we work coming forward.

05/21/2011 -- One of the cousins was a descendant of Sarah.

04/23/2011 -- There will be additional posts on Sarah's descendants.

03/17/2011 -- Another descendants list (Langsdorf, et al).

02/20/2011 -- See Dr Frank's book, pg 20, for information about Sarah. Also, Sarah and Benjamin's offspring are covered in the Balch genealogy book.

Modified: 03/09/2023

Two cousins

The descendants list for Thomas and Margaret holds a lot of potential stories, from the early times onward. As mentioned before, we want to look at some of these before coming forward with Dr Frank A.'s tree (RD, et al). In some cases, we have separate lines merging back together.

So, we can talk about the meeting of two cousin lines. The first of the cousins, General Adolphus Greely (ancestors) is from John and Sarah (Gardner) Balch through their son, Freeborn. After serving in the Army in the Civil War, he became an explorer. He led, as a First Lieutenant, the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition (1881-1884) that found itself stranded because of the inability of supply ships to reach their location. There were follow-up attempts, but his wife succeeded in her efforts to keep the interest up. What was left of the team was rescued by Admiral Schley.

3 -- Coffin, 22 -- Greely
July 1884, USS Thetis

Now, the second of the cousins commanded one of the rescue vessels. He was Captain George William Coffin (ancestors). He is a descendant of Richard and Sarah (Shattuck) Gardner through their son, John. George was a US Naval Academy graduate and spent much of his career at sea. For the rescue, George captained the HMS Alert which had been lent to the US by Britain for the specific purpose of the relief mission.

Needless to say, the Schley attempt was successful, as one descendant, of Thomas and Margaret, came to the aid of the other in an event that was five generations removed from the early times.

Remarks:

04/18/2023 -- While researching Donner Pass and the California Trail, we ran into Horace Greeley's writeup of his trip west in 1859. ... He shares an ancestor with Adolphus. Also, here is the Naval Career for Capt. George William Coffin. 

06/03/2021 -- Sir Franklin had been in the area in the 1840s while looking for the Northwest Passage. He and his crew disappeared. In the 1850s, a rescue attempt was made that included the ship, H.M.S. Resolute which got stuck. It was abandoned and discovered later by a whaling crew. And, the Resolute was returned to England. Queen Victoria had its timber used for ceremonial furniture. A desk in the White House was one of the pieces.  

02/18/2018 -- Written seven years ago, when I was still a newbie. Such as, I didn't know the different towns of Essex County. I had to wonder what North Shore meant. In the western part off the U.S., towns are far apart. What is it like to live cheek to jowl with your neighbors? 

10/31/2014 -- AnceSTORY archives (02/18/2018, this blog is no longer around).

07/06/2013 -- While researching for Gardner's Beacon, Vol. III, No. 2, I ran across this photograph (Wikipedia) that has both of the cousins in close proximity on the USS Thetis. The team lost several men (there is another photo of the team in 1881), but there were some accomplishments. For instance, a new farthest north was attained by two of the members: 83°24′N 40°46′W.

05/21/2011 -- Sarah (Gardner) Balch.

Modified: 04/18/2023

South (east and central) Essex County

How can we look at Thomas and Margaret and not include something about the area? A whole lot went on in Essex County (note the dragon -- ca 1812), so we'll separate it further. The sister blog centers itself on Newbury.

The original point of entry was on Cape Ann, namely Gloucester. Then, the group moved close to the mouth of the Naumkeag river and started a settlement that would become Salem.

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By the way, the Massachusetts Bay Colony page has a timeline for the settlements. As we look at the Gardner family, and its related families, we'll cover about all of these.

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The following is a list of web-accessible information about Salem and the 'Old Planters' of whom Thomas was a member.

• Sidney Perley -- The History of Salem Massachusetts -- a fairly extensive three volume set. The document is categorized under research related to the trials of 1692, yet its extent is much more than that. Perley's ancestor came over with the Winthrop fleet (with about 700 others) in 1629. Also, Perley has Anthony Potter as a forebear (as well, as Dudley, Bradstreet, et al).
• Trials of 1692 -- cannot have Salem without its warts -- we'll have a post from time to time about this, as a couple of generations dealt with this matter. Just as a point in reference, recognition, and appreciation, of Giles Corey was ought to be more universal. The connections: Mary White, Samuel's wife, was 1/2 aunt (Bailey, et al) of George Corwin. Also, according to Samuel Sewall, the Court asked Capt. John Gardner (who had served as Chief Magistrate of Nantucket, descendants) to try to persuade his friend, Giles, to capitulate.

• This week in Salem history -- seems to be stale -- yet, here is a nice photo that relates the nautical character of Salem's past (The "Friendship", Derby Wharf, and the Custom House. Photo by Erik Smith.)
• John Goff -- Looking at Salem's Beginnings: The White and Gardner family contributions -- reminding us of Thomas and his uncle, John White, and of 12/29 being the date of Thomas' death.
• ...

We will update this list with new information from time to time.

Remarks:

06/02/2019 - Profile of Sidney on WikiTree.

05/20/2011 -- Salem Roll Call. Salem on Facebook.

01/18/2011 -- We'll be looking at the northern and the middle parts of Essex County.

01/14/2011 -- Should have known. Follow Salem on Twitter.

08/20/2020 -- Recently, wrote on little Essex County's involvement with the evolution of Gerrymandering. 

Modified: 08/20/2022