Flyover country

Last post, we mentioned a lonely grave. It is in Nebraska. This is a photo. As suggested, it's out in the middle of nowhere. And, the type of cemetery is a common thing in this part of the country. People drive by, at a high rate of speed. The stones sit.

But, this is not entirely wilderness. It is highly productive farm land.

Back east, settlement was dense, in terms of area being covered. Essex country in Massachusetts has no really open areas. That is, everything is identified by one of the communities. Granted, through time the boundaries of those communities changed, say as new ones were defined. But, no place was left untouched by human feet. 

Out here, it's wide open. The past century plus, things have been mapped. We have counties that cover the territory. These collect into states. And, given the recent situation (for instance, look at the red/blue map by county), these areas, and their residents, need some attention. You know, the "red" folk love it out here. Americans really ought to know this part of the country better. And, we can use New Englanders as the main thread in order to do this. 

As an aside this area is near the Oregon Trail as it wound its way from Gardner, KS to the Platte River. So, this area saw the travelers going by. Lots to tell, there. 

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Now, the grave is of a descendant of John Porter of Salem. Buried here was Lyman (d 1898) who was born in Wendell, MA (he is also a descendant of John Alden - his offspring, who precipitated the work, is also descendant of old guy Brewster and others). Why, and how, Lyman ended up here is a story that will be told, in part, in the next issue of The Gardner Annals. The story has more appeal in that his children represent a merge of lines from northern and southern New England (that part which we know as Virginia and its neighboring states - see Albion's Seed). This happened post the revolution, however the Virginian folk were from the very early times, to boot. In this case, the joining up was via Kentucky.

In terms of the Society, Lyman's ancestor (Joseph) married a daughter of William Hathorne. Joseph's brother married another daughter. These two lines merge in a descendant of Lyman. As well, one of William's sons (Joseph's brother-in-law) married a granddaughter of Thomas Gardner. That couple gave us Nathaniel Hawthorne. Joseph's sister married a granddaughter of Thomas Gardner. Joseph's niece (daughter of his brother) married a grandson of Thomas Gardner. And, this is not the whole shebang. So, you see, all of this relates from the beginning to what we are interested in. 

And, that little bit is only one of several other (actually, very many) threads that we can follow.  

Before, we mentioned the long arm of New England. Lawrence, KS ( Final migration, remember that, Jayhawk'ers) was formed in order to bring anti-slavery settlers out west. There were armed Quakers out here having fun. There were Quakers in Virginia (and other southern states). In short, a whole lot of American History was not (has not been) told, properly. New England researchers can help fill in. 

So, we get a chance to add to the mix. And, having these long threads of 100s of years are going to be important. All along, new folks were coming in, just as we see now. So, the fabric of the American people is a lot more than has been described.

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Aside: I have an interest due to being born in the west, having attended KU (whose students do not, for the most part, realize that their hill overlooked the major campground of the Oregon-bound trains), living all over the country, working in all aspects (government, business, non-profit) of our economy, seeing the interplay twixt us and the world (especially Europe), following the mischief of finance, and then falling into the opportunity to see the fleshed version of the long American experience.  

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It is interesting that Lyman's brother is already in the Mayflower organization roll. Too, one of his daughter's is in the roll. The thread that we researched was the eldest daughter of Lyman and his wife, Caroline. That daughter (d 1872) is the 3rd-great-grandmother of root of the thread being used for the study.  

Remarks: Modified: 11/01/2021

11/22/2016 -- Discussions (questions) on another forum brings up just how much this relates to the red/blue split that is dividing the country. So, we need to get to that, at some point next year.

12/18/2016 -- Article published in The Gardner Annals, Vol. III, No. 1.

11/20/2017 -- We will be looking more closely at the south.

11/01/2021 -- So, now the MF people have a database of those in applications to 1900. And, guess who is there? Lyman and his daughter, Anna. These are the father and sister of Chloe. And, the applicants who were in their 90s? Deceased. 

Mayflower pure

I have been at this stuff now since 2009 (the blog started in 2010). In that time, I have run across a few Mayflower lines. I have run across many that are not so linked.

Now, think back to the time of Dr. Frank. That is, the 300th anniversary. BTW, Calvin Coolidge participated, as did a lot of other of the New England elite. We can expect that the 400th will be even more fun (if each town celebrated, we are talking decades of partying). Also, we would like to remind everyone of the 200th which is as important: just as the pilgrims crossed the sea, so too did many of the descendants, as pioneers, pass along the prairie (there was a poem to this effect).

So, with respect to the 300th (plus/minus, okay, a few years), there were organizations started. Of which, one acknowledged the Mayflower folks. We have their annual recognition coming up this week (hence, this post's timeliness). I just found out that early on only descendants of the males were allowed. But, think of those who could not join, for any number of reasons.

In fact, one of these would have been Dr. Frank. At least, for his paternal side, it is "pure" with respect to the Mayflower. That is remarkable. We are talking 300 years of non-association even though there were close calls.

As an aside, because there was some aura involved, many may have tried to flim-flam the Mayflower folks in order to get in (you know, human nature). So, the Mayflower organization got defensive (more below). Yet, they lost reason, too.

Below, I will briefly look at two examples. As well, we can propose various measurements. And, to make it worthy of attention, the most remote would get the prize. Why just celebrate almost there?

Closeness? There are many ways this can happen. A sibling might have married a Mayflower descendant. Or, as I like to see, the step-sibling situation is very important (lots of these due to early deaths and remarriage of a partner). Want to know why? Well, we'll get there as an upcoming The Gardner Annals (Vol III, No 1) will expand upon the topic. Let's just say that genes are not solely where it's at. Rather, memes (in a more full sense) do more to carry civilization (and, this year, we ought to have learned all sorts of lessons).

So, here are a couple of examples.

• On the Blessing (1635) were two young women. They were sisters. One married Richard More (Nutfield Genealogy). Now, this is being used due to the 300th time frame. None of the More descendants would have been able to celebrate. Why? He had not been identified. Now, the other sister married a New Englander who was of the time of Thomas and Margaret. They have lots of descendants; one of these is "Mayflower Pure" as far as I can see now. We will go into this further. This split is early. As is known, there would be intertwining of families all through U.S. (and colonial) history.   
• Out on the western prairie there is a lonely grave. It belongs to a New Englander who was a pioneer in several states. And, one of his brothers and one of his daughters are already on the roll (as in, their descendants are on the roll). Why not this guy? Well, the effort has been made. I will write this up in The Gardner Annals (down to about three generations ago). Quite frankly, the attitude, as I experienced it, was that snootiness was more important than recognizing one's ancestors (John Alden, by the way). So that observation is another motivator for this post. One set of circumstances may be a contributing factor, too. You see, in one generation, a girl's (actually, she was an infant) mother died (the mother was a daughter of the one with the lonely grave). The girl's father remarried. The father died. But, the step-mother didn't want the child. So, the uncles and grandparents raised her. She was an only child. Now, when the girl married (by the way, she was a graduate of Monmouth College), she had a girl. Then, the mother dies young. The father was off somewhere with the railroad. So, this girl is raised by her elderly grandmother. Before the grandmother died, she arranged for the girl to be adopted by friends. She well remembered that day as she was 10 years old. Also, she wrote this up for her own daughter. And, granddaughters of this woman are still here. One is terminally ill with cancer. I did not tell that to the Mayflower person who seems to not reason properly (yes, it's all documented - I blame genealogists who ought to re-examine themselves; by the way, we'll help with that). And, again, we can show association with someone of this line who is cousin of a Mayflower pure cohort. That is, there were splits early. Splits could happen anywhere along the temporal line. And, along the line, there were close calls (hence, pure). This example applies to the 200th. You know how many people were buried along the trails going west? Does anyone in New England care? 

So, let's introduce a Mayflower pure metric. Then, those who are not of such lines can quibble among themselves about who is closest. To me, perhaps, the furthest away might be more worthy of a crown. Going years and years and generations and generations without getting touched is a remarkable feat.

Many marriages through the years included newcomers. Usually, that would have an impact on possible Mayflower association. The closer to now that this happens, the greater the impact.

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For the 400th, the society could look to identify some of these folks. What I have seen is that if there is no descendant who is around to apply to an organization, then the person gets ignored. I like how Heather (Hunter relates to the first bullet) identifies the siblings in Generation 1.

BTW, we started a forgotten series here: John Tylly, Joseph and Ann, the almost forgotten, and more.

As an aside, one of the first oversights that I found (2009 timeframe) was in a family book. Yes, this book is acceptable. In one generation, one son is noted as moving away from the area. You know. He was only a little to the west, but somehow there was no connection. But, then, I know of a generation where two siblings were out west (left coast) with their sister-in-law (a widow) in the same area. Yet, no connection.

Me? I have no qualms or motivations other than research being done well and to the extent that we can. My people are all mid-1800s. My bit is to keep the fire under those who go back further. Keep things respectful as well as honest.

Remarks: Modified: 06/27/2020

12/18/2016 -- Article about subject published in The Gardner Annals, Vol. III, No. 1.

11/20/2017 -- I am looking at a pedigree from New England that has no Mayflower line. However, there are the close calls which I will collect here and write about:

• Elizabeth, sister of Christian Hunter who married Richard More; 
• Francis, brother of William Paybody who married Elizabeth Arden (now this is funny) Alden; 
• ...  

05/01/2019 -- The 400th of Plymouth concerns has started. Now, we see Gloucester planning their 400th (which we will support). Wrote the second part about the poor lonely soul out in Nebraska (TGA Vols. III and IV, GB Vols. IV, V, VI, VII). Have done more work on lineages for people. Still see idiocy which I will address at some point. Folks, the 'mayflower pure' was not meant to refer to whose of that set; no, it deals with those who have been here from the beginning (with 1000s of New Englander ancestors) with only loose ties to the Plymouth founders. Loose, as in in-laws, and such.

 06/11/2019 -- Changed 'Arden' to 'Alden' which is a typo that was introduced a couple of years ago.

06/27/2019 -- The lady for whom I was doing this research turned 100 years old this month.

Posts of interest - 2016

While reviewing post activity, we noticed that one of the summary posts had been recently of interest. The image shows a snap from the page that was taken today.

We usually do these as a summary around the New Year time but wanted to start early. This has been some year all around.

The image shows the order in number of reads for the past 30 days. Here are the titles with date of original publication.

• Plus or minus the arrival (Mar 1, 2013)
• Posts of interests - 2011 (Dec 31, 2011)  
• Henry Gardner, the Loyalist (Oct 12, 2016) 
• Another trail (Oct 14, 2016)
• NEHGR (Oct 11, 2016)

Several are from last month which is to be expected. The prior posts are from much earlier. Doing this type of review gives an opportunity to see if some corrections need to be made, or, more usually, to determine whether or not some new information might need to linked in.

Recaps: 2018, 2017 (missing), 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011.

Remarks: Modified: 12/15/2018

12/15/2018 -- Added links to recaps from the beginning.

Recent readings of interest

Recently, we mentioned Albion's Seed in which Thomas and cohorts (all areas) are consider part of the early reconnaissance. There were four pathways covered in the book. That continues our interest in things from four centuries ago, onward to now.

Then, there was the revolutionary period after which there was an expansion west. We looked at one family who was loyal to the crown. That got us to looking at motivation in which we see Thomas Gage missing an chance to get the patriots early on in Salem.

After Lewis & Clark returned from their expedition, people started to move further west of the Mississippi. By then, Indiana and Illinois were starting to get settled. As we see with the Nebraska-Kansas bill, there were still open issues related to slavery that transported themselves out west with the settlers. The last post looked at Lawrence, KS. It was started by New Englanders who were supportive of abolition. Many New Englanders who can west were Quakers.

In the west, we saw armed conflict with some Quakers involved. That caused contention within the faith about which a lot has been written. As well as being out west, Quakers from New England had gone to the South and were there as the hostilities heated up.

Following are links to further material.

Salem and the loyalists 

• Thomas Gage
• Salem Houses of William Gray
• Thomas Gage papers
• Weld and Henry Gardner
• Revolutionary-war.net
• Hidden History

Western expansion (Quakers)  

• Indiana, Magazine of History
• A Quaker in the Military
• Quakers in Loudoun Rangers
• The Loudoun Rangers
• Iowa Peacemakers
• Waterford, Virginia
• The Gettysburg Compiler
• Levi Coffin
• Quakers, their war resistance
• Herbert Hoover
• Divergent paths, Iowa Quakers
• North Carolina Quakers
• Quakers, Eschatology, and Time
• Floyd County, VT
• Quaker Guns

Remarks: Modified: 11/02/2016

11/02/2016 --

Final migration

The first would be that covered by NEHGS via its Great Migration Project (pages on Thomas Gardner). We see the 400th anniversaries of these New England areas coming up soon.

At the same time, we can look at the 200th of the great movement west. This is called the final migration as it started to fill in the interior of the country that was shown us, in part, by Lewis and Clark via their expedition. The trails got explored and established. People got off of the trails at various points in order to set down roots. There are several stages to this long bit of history which we will look at.

Right now, and given the current turmoil, we wanted to provide some material about the long reach of New England (a favorite topic). In particular, we will look, in depth, at New England's involvement with what became bleeding Kansas, namely in the period prior to the Civil War (War between the States).

We just found out that a nice presentation of A History of Lawrence Kansas is available on the web. We will use this book a lot. The author, Richard Cordley, D.D., arrived in 1857 and wrote the history in 1895. Below are some excerpts.

To set the stage, let's do a quote. This is from Chapter 1 in which Cordley quotes from Whittier's poem, "Song of the Kansas Emigrant:"

We cross the prairie as of old
The fathers crossed the sea,
To make the West, as they the East,
The homestead of the free.

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Remember, the context was after the Kansas-Nebraska bill was passed in 1854. The issue of slavery in new areas was still unresolved. So, New England took it west.

It was decided to establish a presence in the new region. Some had liked, or heard good things about, the area around what was named Mt. Oread. So, several parties were organized.

Now, remember, this is 1854. The trails had now been in use for over 20 years. So, there were modern means available to those who could pay. And, the New England parties were well funded.

After the first party left the Boston area by train, they went to Albany, New York to get Lake Erie passage to Chicago. The next step was traversing land to St. Louis. From STL to Kansas City, they could go by water. Then, they were back to the frontier experience.

"We prepared ourselves at once for starting. An ox team was purchased to transport the baggage and at ten o'clock Saturday evening we started on foot for our destination across the prairie. We traveled as much as possible during the night as the weather was very hot during the middle of the day. We saw occasionally a log house as we passed along, inhabited by farmers, of whom we obtained milk, etc. On the evening of Sunday we encamped on the lands of the Shawnee Indians. On Monday morning we started early, and in the evening arrived at the Wakarusa river, within ten miles of our destination. Here we camped, and the next day reached our new home."

They would have passed through Gardner Junction.

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Of course, only a couple days of travel is nothing compared to the 1000+ mile trek of the Mormons, yet one has to give these gentle people some credit. They did it on foot.

And, these are all cousins. We'll be looking closer into that. There was one Conant. A lot of other old families were represented.

But, let just quote about their first day.

This party arrived August 1st. They ate their first meal on the hill where the old University building now stands. Of course they held a "meeting" and "organized." Someone has said that "wherever two or three Yankees are met together there they hold a meeting and organize." The meeting chose Ferdinand Fuller as chairman. They were in good position to


"View the landscape o'er," 

which they proceeded to do. They also had some speeches, and discussed the merits of the location and the best methods of procedure. The situation seemed to please them, and they voted to "stay here." They named the bill on which they met "Mount Oread," a name which it bears "unto this day." They remained on the hill a day or two, and then moved down, and camped near the Kansas river a little west of where the bridge now crosses that stream. The members of the party spent several days "claim hunting," and selected claims all around the proposed town site. After this was done, about half the party returned east, with the intention of bringing their families in the spring.

Sound like the Plymouth experience? In fact, the "please them" refers back to Winthrop's early comment on the Boston area after he was turned off by Salem.

There are so many themes to follow in this regard. For one, many of the New Englanders had already settled in states going west, such as Indiana and Illinois. This year, we had the opportunity to look closer at some of these folks. Some families had gone south prior to their westward movement.

Remarks: Modified: 06/24/2022

08/13/2017 -- Posts on Lawrence (and surrounds): Trails West, Westward Ho, Blogging and such, Final Migration, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Kansas and Lawrence.

12/30/2018 -- The 400ths will be one theme next year.

09/03/2019 -- More on the 3 Trails.

08/07/2020 -- In this post, we are looking at two disparate spots that share a name, however there are many points in-between. Like Eudora, KS. Where "The Wakarusa meets the Kaw" is on their history site and is an example of local lore getting some attention. See "Along the Western Trails."

06/24/2022 -- Updated links to Eudora's website as topic continues to be of interest: A Ride to Kansas. 

Another trail

Earlier, we looked at the western movement (Westward Ho) that started after Lewis & Clark let the easterners know about the huge country to the west. As well as going on land, there were ways by sea. One was long and around the Cape. The other consisted to two sails with an arduous crossing in Central America.

There was another trail. That followed by the Mormons (Mormon Trail). It had some commonality with the Oregon Trail, however the mode of travel was somewhat different after the earlier trips. Putting together proper supplies for the trip required funds.

There were many who wanted to go west, yet they could not afford to do it in the normal manner. So, they went on foot, pulling hand carts: Mormon handcart pioneers.

While researching the western flow, I ran across a book that provides information about those who took the journey. There is genealogical information; plus, their arrival and with what company is noted. Each year, people formed groups that traveled together.

• Esshom, Frank (1912) Pioneers and prominent men of Utah (this points to Vol 2) 
• Esshom, Frank (1913) Pioneers ... with Photographs, Genealogies, Biographies

Both of these reference Gardner/Gardiner families. Some of the families came from Europe. We will look at that further. The later issue of the book has more information with photos.

There were many New England families, such as Herber Chase Kimball. Herber was the grandfather of Spencer W. Kimball (LDS President 1973-1985).

The launching point for this moving over land was western Illinois. There were many New England families that were involved in the development of this and surrounding states. We will look at some interesting aspects of that.

Meanwhile, some links to further material.

• State of Iowa - The Place of Mormon Handcart Companies in America's Westward Migration Story 
• LDS - They Came by Handcart 
• Historynet - Mormon Handcart Horrors  
• FamilySearch - Handcart Pioneers 
• BYU - Book Review 
• Denver Post - Review of Devil's Gate 

An example of movement by sea is the Brooklyn that sailed New York to San Francisco in 1845.

Remarks: Modified: 10/15/2016

10/14/2016 -- 

Henry Gardner, the Loyalist

The last post, we wrote about Abigail, wife of Silvester. This was of the George of Rhode Island family. That suggested a re-look at the Gardner book (1907).

pgs 218-220
Thomas Gardner (planter) and descendants ...
F.A. Gardner, MD. 1907

Dr. Frank wrote of Henry and Weld Gardner, both Loyalists. Why caps? We think that we need to hear about the other side of the story, again, and will help facilitate another, personally filled out, look at those early moments. We all know that ex-post-facto considerations throw out a whole lot of detail.

The History of Massachusetts site wrote about General Gage a few years ago (Was General Thomas Gage Born to Lose?). They looked at his family history which is unusual in several ways. For one, it is nice to be able to have that ability to trace the past, as such following of links back is not typical.

There have been many other studies. One of note deals with houses in Salem. In particular, this look at William "Old Billy" Gray who was mentored by Henry and Weld's grandfather. General Gage and Hon. William Browne, Esq (whose house Gray obtained later - see page 4) dallied while the patriots met in their subversive manner.

Expect further posts on this matter.

Remarks: Modified: 09/15/2021

10/12/2016 -- Comment at History of Massachusetts.

09/15/2021 -- We will look at Loyalists and houses and families.