Captain Pollard

Nantucket has played a major role in several areas. Gardner is one of the original (1/2 so) families.

With the recent release of Ron Howard's movie, a few links to related detail might be in order. The book that motivated the movie can be browsed via Google.

In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex (2000) Nathaniel Philbrick 

George Pollard, the captain, of the Essex was a Thomas Gardner descendant as were, probably, a lot of the crew. George's experience was an inspiration for Melville's Moby Dick.

The next ship commanded by the captain, the Two Brothers, had Eben Gardner as 1st Mate.

The Smithsonian Magazine had an article, recently: How Nantucket Came to Be the Whaling Capital of the World.

Remarks: Modified: 03/19/2021

12/22/2015 -- While researching for additional material concerning the book (see review in Article III of The Gardner Annals, Vol. II, No. 2), I ran across the child actors who were in Moby Dick with John Barrymore. Jay Berger was the nephew of one of the in-laws mentioned in the book. These types of circles make for interesting stories and can be found everywhere.

01/20/2016 -- Nantucket sendoff.

10/26/2018 -- Add this to the image index: TGSoc.org

03/19/2021 -- Essex Disaster via the Nantucket Historical Association. 

Find A Grave - Gardner

This fall, I saw that the findagrave.com page for a relative was wrong: not the right parents, etc. I got the information corrected by sending a note to the person who originally created in the page. This person ought to be commended for doing thousands of graves. In this case, the changes were made in short order as I had supporting material. Since then, I have several other requests pending.

Now, families need to step up and monitor the grave pages for those they know or care about. One can ask to have the findagrave record moved to one's control. Hopefully, we can collect the Gardner ones together for easy maintenance of the information.

So, let's start with Frank. A. Gardner (the Gardner author). The page is to be maintained by the Thomas Gardner Society, Inc. Notice that I have his death date which was not noted in the TEG and TGA articles on his grandparents. I found this date via Greenlawn Cemetery records where Dr. Frank is buried in lot 384-300.

In that large lot in Greenlawn are Dr. Frank's wife and daughter. Also, we find Ann's great-grandparents, grandparents, and several aunts, uncles, and cousins. Also, there are several in-laws.

The lot was bought by Joseph G. Dennett in 1880 when his wife died; he was buried there 1882. Ann's great-grandfather, Joseph D. Gardner, bought the lot in 1898. The latest burial was 1973; there are several open graves.

We have mentioned the cemetery several times, as Thomas Gardner, Sr. was moved there in the 1840s. Where Thomas is remains an open question.

Remarks: Modified: 11/11/2019

12/13/2015 -- Dr. Frank's SAR record; his sister (Lucy Marion Gardner): Lucy Marion Gardner was born in Salem, January 9, 1875, and graduated from Tufts College, A. B. in 1897. She was one of the Collaborators of the class of '97 who prepared the "History of Tufts College." She was a member and secretary of the Old Planters Society; ...

04/24/2017 -- John Lowell Gardner, Jr. This page has links back several generations.

02/28/2019 -- The interface on FindAGrave has changed. We now have thirteen memorials.

11/10/2019 -- Changed Harmony Grove to Greenlawn per information from Mark Stevens of Salem, MA.

11/11/2019 -- Removed old image that referenced Harmony Grove. We now have 17 Memorials which are profiles for which we are owner. We will have many more.

Some of the TGS Memorials at FindAGrave

The Gardner Annals, Vol. II

The second issue of this volume is under preparation. One article will be a review of Susan Hollingworth's book: Through One Family's Eyes.

It is about the half of John's family which left Ireland in the mid-1800s. The Irish siblings ended up in the U. S. and in Australia. Additionally, there is information about related colonial families.

As well, we will be looking at Dr. Frank and his work in order to complete the research effort that has been ongoing. With Dr. Frank being used to represent Samuel, we would like to feature a descendant of each of the other children of Thomas and Margaret from about the same time frame  (born late 1800s).

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Note: 

An article referenced on FB that had a nautical theme caught our interests. See post, Water and Air. It told an old story with unknown provenance which is like much what we find nowadays. Going forward, we need to balance technology and discernment carefully. Per usual, we went looking further and saw the British reference which we are all more sensitive to with the passing of Queen Elizabeth III. Too, we were looking for Gardner family connections. That brought up the opportunity to make the collateral families topic more prominent which brought up the book as it has references to persons with nautical experience. Too, the English history, as we know, is long shared, by we Irish folks.  

So, some additional information is in order - TGA II: III. Reviews, III-A. Book: Through One Family’s Eyes. We want to help further this work. 

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Submissions of articles for consideration are encouraged: inquiries[at]TGSoc[dot]org.

Remarks: Modified: 09/22/2022

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

12/17/2015 -- Philbrick's book stands out for several reasons.

09/22/2022 -- Added note with link to the Review to bring things up to date. There will be more coming. Changed the email. The book relates to one side of John's family. A later post commented about "What's in a name" on the Switlik family of Polish origins. Put a pointer to Dr. Frank's work. 

Cape Ann, 1623

Below, we consider that Thomas was not with Margaret and their sons during the Christmas season in 1623.  That he was with the Cape Ann crew that winter ought to be brought to the fore.

While researching her book (c1930) on John White, Founder of Massachusetts (An Uncle?), Frances Rose-Troup did an exhaustive study and biography. She, subsequently, published details in her book on the Massachusetts Bay Company and mentioned that "a few men being left there as early as 1623 by the fleet send out by the Western Merchants." Further, she said that these men met, the next spring, the Zouch Phoenix and other ships.

Reference: Rose-Troup, Frances (c1930) The Massachusetts Bay Company and Its Predecessors The Grafton press, New York, pg 11

In his 1935 book, Dr. Frank gave a listing of the passengers in 1624 (Zouch Phoenix). These were the names with the Gardner party.

Thomas Gardner, Mrs. Gardner, George Gardner, Richard Gardner, Joseph Gardner (all either of Weymouth or of Martock, Somerset), ...

Mrs. Gardner was on the list. But, the list was puzzling in that there was also only one Thomas Gardner mentioned.  Everyone seems to have assumed that this was Mr. Thomas Gardner. However, where was son, Thomas? George and Richard are on the list. Also, there was a Joseph Gardner. But, the son named Joseph was born in the colonies.

Larry Gardiner of Minnesota who is a descendant of Thomas Gardner of Salem through son, Richard Gardner of Nantucket, recently offered his thoughts on this, and a related, issue. We present Larry's remarks (consider these to be conjectural) here and will add commentary at some future point.

Francis Rose-Troup states the Dorchester Co. sent the ship "Fellowship" in the summer of 1623 to Cape Ann. Fourteen men were left at Cape Ann, and the ship returned to England. Thomas Gardner, the man in charge, would most likely be one of the 14 men left at Cape Ann.

The ship "Zouch Phoenix" arrived at Cape Ann in the Spring of 1624. Among the passengers listed were: Thomas Gardner, Mrs. Gardner, George, Richard and Joseph. My theory is the father is already at Cape Ann. The passengers are Thomas (the oldest son age 6), Mrs. Gardner (the mother & wife), George (the 2nd son age 4), Richard (the 3rd son age 3) and Joseph Gardner (an adult relative that accompanied the mother and children to Cape Ann, and then he returned to England).

As for John, the 4th son, born in 1624, the mother/wife was pregnant during the trip, and John was born at Cape Ann. From Thomas leaving in the Summer of 1623 to the Spring of 1624 - just under 9 months(?). This would solve the names of passengers.

By the time the 5th son Samuel was born in 1627, the family had moved to Naumkeag (Salem).

So, who was this Joseph Gardner that came with the family? Larry continued. Again, we will comment later.

My theory on Rachel is the following. Thomas was the oldest child of (Thomas & Elizabeth White) if those were his parents. His brother Joseph was next, and he accompanied Thomas' family in 1624 - age abt. 23. Rachel was the 3rd child born abt. 1608. If she came to America at age 18, it could have been abt. 1626. She lived with brother Thomas in Salem. Married Mr. Noble in America. Their parents (Thomas & Elizabeth) have more children born in England. By the time all the children are old enough to travel to America, it would be 1626 plus. Rachel may have been the oldest child of the family on the ship. The father died in 1635 abt. 70 years old. The wife Elizabeth returned to England with remaining children. Rachel was abt. 27 years old and married.

This would set up a rough timeline to explain that Thomas & Elizabeth did come to America, and that Thomas was buried in Salem. All of the family returns to England except Rachel who got married.

Thank you to Larry for offering his insights.

We have mentioned Rachel, as a possible sister of Thomas, before. The subject is definitely on our list of items to resolve. As well, there was an older Thomas Gardner who died in Salem early (1635). Has his identity been settled?

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One question to answer would be when the great house (that which caught Endicott's eyes) went up (1623?, 1624?). If the former, did help the first winter?

Also, the Plymouth folks had been using the Cape Ann area. We will mention the incident (1625) that brought Conant's fame of preventing someone from thumping Standish on the head. Thomas was not a participant; it would be good to hear his opinion. So, he was there two years before Roger's arrival with Lyford and crew.

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While researching, recently, I ran across a site devoted to Winston Churchill. There is a lot of the interest concerning his American side, through his mother, Jennie Jerome of Brooklyn. For me, their interest demonstrates that the families need to weigh in on this type of research.

Remarks: Modified: 02/28/2019

01/23/2016 -- Felt felt that Thomas' father came over, too.

08/29/2016 -- Cape Ann Retrospective.

02/28/2019 -- Margaret as first wife was resolved.

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

While researching, today, I ran across a site devoted to Winston Churchill. A lot of the interest has been placed upon his American side which was through his mother, Jennie Jerome of Brooklyn.

Winston's grandson, Winston S. (1940-2010) wrote of his genealogical interest being piqued (Churchill's American Heritage) while working on his volume, The Great Republic (1977).

The article is not dated, but Winston S. does write of using ancestry.com, so it is fairly recent. A later article examines some of the claims that had been made about the Churchill American ancestry (Mayflower Ancestry: The Case For and Against).

Several things stand out. One is that interest generates research. Then, results need to be studied with publication following. The web has evolved into a nice place to do this, as we see with the website for the Churchill Centre. And, the family needs to be involved.

The Thomas Gardner Society, Inc. offers that involvement and a commitment for sustaining the effort into the future.

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The current issue of Gardner's Beacon at the research interest and accomplishments for 2015. We provided material about Dr. Frank's paternal heritage: Benjamin Brown Gardner and Lucy Wilson Foster. Too, we are collecting information related to earlier work, pertaining to Gardner origins and relationships, which has spanned many decades.

One descendant has proposed a nice conjecture about the Cape Ann experience which will be written in a post soon (link).

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See Vol. V, No. 2 of Gardner's Beacon for a review of research to date.

Remarks: Modified: 03/15/2019

03/15/2019 -- Added image to the index on our portal to truth.

Wives and children of George

As in, George, son of Thomas, and father of Ruth who was wife of John Hawthorne and ancestor of Nathaniel, the author.

I pulled this image from the TAG (30, McCracken) article referenced by Anderson in his Great Migration write up about George. In that same TAG article, there was discussion of the wives of Thomas and the Shattuck family.

... more coming ...

Remarks:  Modified: 11/10/2015

11/10/2015 -- 

Wikipedia

This is one of several projects (also, Sherborne, Dorset) about which we will have a regular status update.

About a year ago, an issue tag (multiple) was put on the Thomas Gardner (planter) page on Wikipedia. See the Talk page for some discussion of this and for subsequent changes. The image shows the current state of the page.

There will be more editing. For one thing, the text is based upon Dr. Frank's view. Since his time, there has been a lot of research some of which has been covered by this blog. So, another section will be added to bring in the other viewpoints.

Remember, all things need (ought) to be sourced with good citations.

Too, we will be going to other informational sites, such as Quora (related post).

Remarks:  Modified: 10/23/2015

10/23/2015 -- See Talk page on clarification of unreliable references. Wiki doesn't like Higginson published works (which includes Dr Frank's books), family-oriented sites, blogspot, ... So, there is some work to do to find replacements. A lot of Dr Frank's stuff was quoted in Sydney's History of Salem. So, that will work. The others will take a little more effort. C'est la vie.