Gardner's Beacon, Vol. III, No. 2

All who came over the big pond had some type of yearning for freedom, after all it's arguably one sign of maturity for humans. The recent celebration of American Independence pertains to that common urge. But, the actuality was long coming, and issues related to this urge continue to this day. Some claimed freedom early, such as the crowd at Merry Mount. But, it was way too early for such a thing.

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As we add to the Annals collection, it looks as if a "History, Gardner viewpoint" would be a good theme for a series of papers and, even, books. That is, several authors have tried creative methods in writing about history. One example is a history written from the viewpoint of the common man in which events, usually ignored, come to fore.

Most history tells the tale of the winners. Or, you might say, those who controlled the message. But, we all know that reality deals with millions and billions of people. Are their lives of little substance (again, arguable from several sides)?

With Thomas and Margaret, we do not have the blank slate that some might think, not that there is a lot of information to use. That gap leaves much to fill in; doing so will allow a new look at what happened. We'll be more specific about this as we go along.

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One thing to cover will be goings-on of note in the "Mother Country." So, we itemize the changes in power over the time of Thomas and his immediate ancestors. Charles I, for instance, lost his head during Thomas' time. Felt's Annals is a good read in the context. Earlier, we noted that Thomas dared to marry a Quaker, without repercussions. George, on the other hand, had to flee to Connecticut. Well, looking at the Annals can remind us that Charles II wrote to those in power here and told them to lay off the Quakers, more or less.

Methinks that Thomas could handle the pressure. Endicott respected him.

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Now, too, it looks like time to tell the Gardner story coming forward from those early times. Thomas and Margaret have descendants across the U.S. and the world. Some are interested in specific trees and relationships.

As well, the total of the information would add to the story. So, there is a lot to do (with no real end in sight).

1881 Expedition team (left)
Relief team (right)

An interesting little tale involves two cousins. Both were Thomas and Margaret descendants, but they met in the polar region. Greely led the expedition
team which was stranded for a couple of years. Coffin commanded one of the relief vessels that finally got the remainder of the expedition team rescued in 1844. Greely's team did hold the farthest north title for a few years, getting past 83 deg north.

Recently, photos have been added to the Wikipedia page about the expedition and the relief effort. Coffin and Greely are next to each other. Did they know of their cousin-hood?

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See Vol. III, No. 2 of Gardner's Beacon for a look at some events of Thomas' time. Too, read a little more about the cousins.

References:  see Sources (Current Issue)  


Remarks:

07/07/2013 --

Modified: 07/08/2013

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

Origins, again

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). 

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To date, sources for the blog post and Beacon issues have been textual. The technical resource for these were several, including databases. That is, digitization projects have made many books available. There are several different copies of Dr. Frank's book (my favorite is at archives.org). Various groups, including collateral families, have websites. Some of these use database technology. rootsweb is another example.

A few days ago, knowing that we need to upgrade the TGS site to use more modern techniques (let's say that it is now, being generous, late 1990s). I started to look at options. Too, media types abound; genealogy might be dragging its feet (On blogs and other modern means), however presentation of this material will need to grow with advances. The NEHGS' emphasis of the relationship between history and genealogy gives more than enough motivation.

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So, what if there were something presented about Thomas and Margaret using modern methods. Videos come to mind; too, though, gaming needs serious attention. So, I went looking to see what might be on youtube with regard to the Planters of New England.

Essentially, it was disappointing. Here are some examples why: Naumkeag, Syracuse series, Endicott, etc.

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But, then I got side-tracked. I ran across a BBC series on the History of Scotland. I started in the middle and bounced around. Now, some experts harp at the series. To me, it was an eye-opener. As I listened, I went and researched what I was seeing. As well, trying to understand what it might have been like to live then. That is, preparing to address Thomas' decision to leave and to make a live elsewhere.

Here are links to the Scotland series on Youtube (the first part) and a Wiki page that summarizes the videos.

Is there something similar about Ireland? Yes (Youtube, Wiki).

England? Yes, again (Youtube, Wiki). Actually, I was looking at England first. Someone had a series that had little introductions to the Monarchy, in sequence. When I got to Ed I, the Hammerer, I searched on that. The above Scotland series popped up in that the presenter (Scottish) said Hammerers (plural). He added in Alexander (knocking the heads of his own people).

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While looking at the videos on Scotland, I was paying attention to changes that were coincident with Thomas' time here. I had mentioned that before, several times, such as motivations. Given the annals framework that is being used for the Beacon, we can now do an issue pulling together some of this in a year-by-year fashion. That is, relate things at home to what was going on here.

Keeping in mind, please, that we're are still trying to figure out the ancestry of this couple.

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While looking at the Ireland series, the presenter talked about how James I/VI sent Planters to Ulster. The idea was to colonize the incorrigible Irish and teach them how to be civilized.

Disclosure: the tone is set from a mixed heritage, including Irish -- from what I've seen, there are not saints in any of these people - except for St. Margaret, perhaps - but, we still must honor (Commandment - way back to Moses) -- nod to the U.S. Father's Day which is approaching. Too, today it's like the same old thing over and over again. What lessons may we learn from Thomas and Margaret?

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Finally, but this is just a start, how the English (Elizabeth's bad side was quite apparent, too) thought of the Irish seemed real similar to me to how some settlers felt about the Natives as they arrived here. A lot of these opinions were written, so we have a record.

But, recall, if you would, that the Gardners, early on were on a friendly basis (story of John, for instance).

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Too, are there other videos that we can add to our list? Games were mentioned. Think how the Game of Thrones books spawned off all sorts of things. Our purpose would be to teach the proper history (whatever that might be).

Remarks:

06/20/2023 -- Added note about the narrative situation. 

08/11/2020 -- We have used categories in the post. We also have used pages which allow some structure. Then, we have the other media to consider. One thing is definite, we will have lists of important topics. On these, we will find Origins and Motivations.

07/16/2016 -- Related work: Gardiners and Gardners.

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.

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]

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.

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

08/07/2103 -- During a period of browsing classes, documentaries, and the like, I have run across many videos (youtube) that apply to our themes. One that I have not watched in its entirety deals with re-creating a Tudor Christmas feast using techniques and tools from the period: BBC UK. I'm putting it here as it nice to think of the cooler holiday period during the heat of August (say, put a snow scene on your desktop). Too, in 2011, the December Gardner Beacon issue had a theme of Tudor Christmas but also asked the question of Thomas' and Margaret's first Christmas here. That Christmas would have been before the heavy Puritan (wet) blanket descended upon those who were able to get themselves free from the old country.

06/17/2013 -- In the Great Migration write-up, Thomas' origins are noted as unknown.

06/15/2013 -- Was there a Thomas and a Thomas?

06/15/2013 -- Speaking of the NEHGS, what we are doing is historical genealogy (as of today, that post is the all-time most-read post). Coming in second is Old Planters, Beverly. Looking at origins would encompass the whole bit, out of which would then come the real story. That has not been done, that I can see, as of 2013 is not troublesome. Things come forward all the time. Too, has anyone surveyed the work to date in a comprehensive manner (meaning, of course, scholarly)? One goal will be to start, and sustain, such studies that would augment what has already been done as well as explore holes (which have to be defined, for starters). In the meantime, we'll try to document Thomas' life (such as, pulling out things related to character) and progeny. Also, we ought to look more closely at Damaris Shattuck and Thomas. That he married a Quaker and didn't suffer the wrath of the likes of Endicott says something (Mary Dyer was hung in 1660).

06/14/2013 -- As an afterthought, I ought to have used Barbarian in this post. Wiki has a nice little write-up on the term and its usage. While mentioning Wiki, please visit the Thomas Gardner page. It's a little over three years old and needs to be modernized (brought up to date - civilized?), too.

Modified: 06/20/2023

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

Endless genealogies

Could have used the title: Anything new under the sun?

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I got into the subject matter from reading a post at the Nutfield Genealogy blog about the Top 40 sites (of which NG is one) as rated by Family Tree magazine. I had earlier run across another site mentioned in the post: (stale pointer to Dick Eastman's Newsletter removed).

As I revisited Eastman's site, I looked at a few posts. One that caught my eye mentioned Adam and Eve. We all have run across family trees that purport to go back that far. Eastman points (stale pointer removed - time limit) to a couple of papers that ought to be required reading. Here, I must add a pointer to one important article: Robert C. Gunderson, Feb 1984 (scroll to the second article on the page). His message is to not go back prior to 1500 (AD, of course).

We can let scholars fill in the pieces earlier than that. However, at this time, the Merovingians (ca 450-752) are about as far back as experts can follow documented sources.

Gunderson also counselled that we ought to fill in our trees as much as possible coming forward.

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As an aside, Gunderson quotes Paul (c. 5 to 67) which is where the subject comes in. Look at this page to see various translations of the Biblical text:
             http://bible.cc/1_timothy/1-4.htm
What struck me was the "endless" concept used in the context of "genealogies" (showing just how old is the interest in ancestors - who begat whom).

But, we can see this interest even earlier, to wit Chronicles (350-300 BCE). But, even earlier, we had Genesis (written 500s BC).

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So, if there was an interest 2500 years ago, what do we know, or have, now that is truly different. Science/Technology comes to mind. Anything else?

Hint: Based upon your world view, you would answer, lots of things. The question is do any of these have anything to add to the genealogists' mixed bag?

Remarks:

05/04/2020 -- It's time to grasp the bullet and lay out the new ideas that are so much wanting. To do that, we have to reflect on the past: Vanity genealogy.  Then, we can go forward wisely.

06/23/2015 -- Gosh, a couple of years between posts: Auras, etc. Removed links to stale pointers; updated others.

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

Modified: 05/04/2020

American Indians

After running across several sites with pertinent information, I'll start to post these here.

• http://www.nativeamericandeeds.com/default.html - "The specific purpose of this project is to bring focus to the subject of the American Indian Deeds as recorded in Essex County and also to the American Indian population, which was living here in the 17th Century. "
• http://www.neara.org/ - The site for the New England Antiquities Research Association.

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There will be lots to collect about the Gardners and the prior residents. For instance, the King Philip's war was a threshold event, many ways. During that troubled time, Nantucket was peaceful,  with the Gardners playing a large role in this.

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The focus remains the very early times. Lots to look at. Any volunteers want to cover other areas?

Remarks: Modified: 02/27/2021

02/27/2021 -- Changed to using American Indian. 

Heritage Society communities

We did mention the group before (see Ebenezer of Maine), but the group (HSC) needs its own post. They have met in April every year now (for awhile) in DC which is Cherry Blossom time. So, DC is a madhouse (in many more ways during the events). While many visitors are out looking at the blooming sites, others are holed up in meeting rooms talking ancestors and tasks related to their groups.

Or, they're talking the absence of youth in the meeting (or the lack of interest in the younger folks for these themes). Of course, the HSC events are held during the school year. So, that explains some of the absence.

Having been in the area during D.A.R. times (just before July 4, every year), though, makes one wonder if that would be not a great time, either. Hot and humid are the watchwords. A tradition talks about how those who were posted to DC (swamp city?), especially during the summer, required tropic's pay. 

The HSC is on Facebook, and elsewhere, if someone wants more information.  

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Heritage has several meanings, and, with people, we have both nature and nurture. The prime focus here has the biological flavor, however the other aspect shows up to with all of the "step" relationships that one will find in almost every family. People died young; their spouses remarried; the left-behind kids still needed to be raised.  

So, one could think of an "auxiliary" unit that ought to attach to all of these groups that recognizes the contribution of the ancestors to the offspring of their step-child. Of course, such would require dealing with various types of tangled relationships. 

Here is an early example that I put for Thomas on Wikipedia (almost). Note that I put it under degrees of separation. In many cases, it is very close (as in, an infant spent his/her whole lifetime under the tutelage (supposedly -- hopefully? -- a good one) of a "step" parent through no choice), and, in many cases, that type of thing caused confusion in family tree work. 

Remarks:

04/09/2013 -- Naturally, dealing with this type of thing would cause increases in cardinality and complexity. Yet, the world never has been a simple place.

01/12/2019 -- Added in an image for the HSC so that we could add the post to the image index.

Modified: 01/12/2019