What's Your Ancestor Score?

This week's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun topic is your ancestor score. I created my table and determined my score the same way, Randy Seaver did in his post. I created an ahnentafel and counted the number of names to create a table. 
My ancestor score for 10 generations is:

• Number of known ancestral names = 500
• Number of possible ancestral names = 1023
• 10 generation ancestral number is 500/1023 = 48.8%

For extra credit - My 15 generation score is 3256 known ancestors out of 32767  for 9.9%

That means I'm a little under halfway for 10 generations and still have 90% for 15 generations to find. Yikes! I have thousands of names - how can I still have so much to do? 

I saw that someone had done this for two years in a row and could see her progress on her tree. I think I'll try to do that for next year. 

Standing Up to Persecution - 52 Ancestors #2 Thomas Spencer

The theme of the second week of the 52 Ancestors Challenge is "King." This can be interpreted in a couple of ways, including an ancestor who reminds you of Martin Luther King, Jr. I decided to write about a Quaker (or at least a Quaker sympathizer) ancestor who stood up in the face of persecution and lost a basic civil right (the right to vote) for holding firm to his beliefs. African Americans were also disenfranchised and the victims of violence, intimidation, and even lynching for standing up for their rights. There is a difference in that the persecution was based on skin color in one case and based on religion in the other but both groups faced intense hatred and persecution by certain elements of society. 

Thomas Spencer was my 10th great-grandfather and an early immigrant to the Piscataqua region. He was married to Patience Chadbourne, daughter of William, before 1629. Thomas was born in England about 1596 and died in York County, Maine (probably Berwick) in 1681. Thomas first came to Piscataqua in July of 1630 but he returned the England three years later and came back to settle in 1634. He was on the ship, the Pied Cow in 1634. It is unclear whether Patience came with him in 1630 or came later in 1634. Like many immigrants, he had a variety of occupations, from planter to lumberman to tavernkeeper. 

Thomas and Patience lived in Strawberry Bank (Portsmouth), Piscataqua (Kittery Point), and finally in Newichawannock (South Berwick). They also lived for awhile in Saco but ended their lives in Berwick. Patience died on November 7, 1683. 

The Quaker religion, or the Society of Friends, was established around 1647 by a man named George Fox. Quakers did not practice baptism, formal prayer, and had no ordained ministry. This quickly put the Quakers in conflict with the Puritan clergy in New England. Quakers were put in stocks and lashed with whips, some even had their ears cut off. In 1658, a law was passed in Massachusetts (which had authority over the province of Maine), that banished Quakers from the colony and instituted death by hanging for those who were found in violation of the law. In 1659, three Quakers were arrested and sentenced to hang. They were William Robinson, Marmaduke Stephenson, and Mary Dyer. The two men were hanged first and Mary was given a reprieve. Mary Dyer refused to be deterred from her evangelism and returned to Massachusetts the next year and she too was then hanged. I wrote about her death and my ancestor, Humphrey Atherton in this post. 

In 1659, Thomas lost his right to vote for entertaining Quakers. He was part of a larger group of Quakers and Quaker sympathizers who lived in the Berwick area. At one time, they gave shelter to three Quaker women who were driven out of Dover, New Hampshire after being stripped to the waist and whipped until bloody. 

The couple was frequently in trouble with the courts regarding their religious practices. In 1663, they were presented for "neglecting to come to the publique meeteing on the Lords day to heare the word preached for about the space of 3 Moenths." In July 1675, they were presented for the same offense. Thomas and Patience are not listed as being Quakers but they lived in an area with a large Quaker population, were obviously not interested in the local church, and were willing to sacrifice their own rights and comforts for the Quakers. 

Children of Thomas & Patience (Chadbourne) Spencer:

1. William b. abt 1630
2. Margaret b. abt 1632
3. Susanna b. abt 1636
4. Humphrey b. abt. 1638
5. Elizabeth b. abt 1640
6. Moses b. abt 1642

My Line: 
Thomas Spencer
Margaret Spencer
Elizabeth Goodwin
Elizabeth Emery
Benjamin Tarbox
Jedidiah Tarbox
Patience Smith
Sarah Shepard
Laura E. Emmons
Estes Gilbert Yates
Linona Alice Yates - my grandmother

Sources: 
Chadbourne.org

Tombstone Tuesday - Simeon Brown

The stories of the death of Simeon in the Civil War can be found here and here.

A Fresh Start - 52 Ancestors #1

Amy Johnson Crow is restarting her 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge for the New Year. This time she will provide some prompts for blog ideas. I will start off trying to use the prompts but if it becomes too burdensome to find an ancestor who fits, I'll venture off on my own tangent. I know the 52 in 52 aspect got me really back into blogging when I was flagging a bit last year. I finished with the same number of posts as the previous two years.

So prompt #1 is called "Fresh Start" and it took me a bit to find my inspiration. I actually had the next three prompts all written before this one...

"Three studies of fishermen" by William Henry Pyne,
Royal Museums Greenwich is licensed under CC BY 2.0

I settled on Nicholas Edgecomb, an early Maine settler and my 9th great-grandfather. Nicholas came to about 1638 to Richmond Island as a fisherman in the employ of Mr. Robert Trelawney. Mr. Trelawney was a merchant from Plymouth, England. Nicholas appears on the books of Mr. Trelawney off and on for the next several years. In 1640 he is found living at Blue Point on the patent of Mr. Thomas Lewis and Capt. Richard Bonython in the area now known as Scarborough, and by 1660  he had moved to Saco. Later his son, Robert, would marry the granddaughter of the patent holder, Thomas Lewis.


Nicholas Edgecomb's wife, Wilmot Randall, also had a fresh start in a new country. She came from England to work as a maid for Mistress Trelawney. In fact, she was in Maine less than a year before she married Nicholas and he had to repay her contract to the Trelawneys. According to records summarized by Walter Goodwin Davis, he paid a little over 6 pounds to the Trelawneys on her behalf.

Although they lived very modestly, Nicholas & Wilmot (Randall) Edgecomb made a fresh start and secured a life for themselves and their children on the Maine frontier. During King Philip's War all of his sons served in the garrison at Black Point (later combined with Blue Point to become Scarborough). His great-grandson, Gibbins Edgecomb served in three campaigns in the Revolutionary War at Falmouth, Maine (1776), Fishkill (1778) & West Point, New York (1778-1779).

Nicholas Edgecomb
Robert Edgecomb
Thomas Edgecomb
Gibbins Edgecomb
Thomas Edgecomb
Mary Edgecomb
Benjamin Perley Philbrick
Lizzie Philbrick
Ray Everett Cotton
Fern Lyndell Cotton - my grandmother

2014 Accentuate the Positive

Jill Ball who writes the blog, GeniAus, has issued her annual reminder to genealogy researchers to focus on all you have accomplished in the past year. I didn't write a post for last year but I decided I should do one for this year. Those who participate in this challenge delete or modify the prompts depending on their personal circumstances so check out all her original ideas of things to celebrate! 

An elusive ancestor I found was Ellen Pell who turned out to be connected to my tree in three different ways. 

A precious family photo I found was a picture of my grandparents that my cousin, Justine, sent to me. Later my mother went through her pictures and gave me a bunch to scan during the coming year. 

Clayton & Linona "Peggy" Blake

An ancestor's grave I found was that of Harriet May Blake, my grandfather's mother. 

An important record I found was my 5th great-grandfather's name on a list of Revolutionary War participants. He was a Revolutionary War surgeon and trained his son-in-law, my 4th great-grandfather. 

A newly found family member shared some DNA. Okay, maybe that is stretching the meaning of this one abit but I am thrilled to actually be getting some genuine matches on my Ancestry DNA. I also uploaded my results to Family Tree DNA and Gedmatch but I'm still trying to figure it all out. 

A geneasurprise I received was my Christmas present from my sons, daughter-in-law, daughter-in-law-to-be, and grandson. They paid for 2 nights in the Providence Biltmore with parking and my registration to the New England Regional Genealogical Conference! I am so excited because I didn't think I would be able to go but they thought of and arranged everything. 

My 2014 blog post that I was particularly proud of was The Importance of Family because it was so difficult to write about losing my uncle and little did I know that I would lose his younger brother, my favorite uncle, just a few weeks later. I still haven't been able to write about him but maybe this year. 

My 2014 blog post that received a large number of hits or comments was Humphrey Atherton's Quaker Curse?

A new piece of software I mastered was RootsMagic. I'm not sure I've mastered it but I was looking for a program that was similar to Legacy but would run on a Mac. RootsMagic came out with a "bridge" version so I can run it on my computer. I still really love Legacy Family Tree but they need a Mac version. 

A social media tool I enjoyed using for genealogy was Facebook because I get lots of comments there on the blog posts that I share, the groups for various genealogy topics, and it helps me find new connections to others researching the same areas or ancestors. 

 I am proud of the presentation  (direction) I gave to my students who chose to research their families for their end-of-the-year project in my U.S. History class. You can read some of their accomplishments in research in my post, Family History Project 2014. 

A genealogy book that taught me something new was A Storm of Witchcraft by Emerson W. Baker. I'm not finished reading it yet but many of my ancestors are part of the history of this time.  

A new genealogy/history book I enjoyed was A Knock At The Door: A Mother's Survival of the Armenian Genocide by Margaret Anhert. It was painful to read at times but it was an important reminder of listening to the stories of our parents and grandparents and trying to understand them before it's too late. 

It was exciting (for my grandson) to finally meet my grandmother and to get a five- generation picture taken. 

Five Generations

Linona "Peggy" Blake, seated
Cameron Stephen Taylor, Pamela Carter, holding Samuel Owen Taylor, and Myrna White

A geneadventure I enjoyed was revisiting the Pemaquid Museum. I know now that John Cogswell, whose trunk survived the wreck of the Angel Gabriel at Pemaquid in 1635, is my 11th great-grandfather. 

2014 Visit

2012 Post

Another positive I would like to share is that I love the interactions with other geneabloggers! They are such a friendly bunch and so helpful. I really enjoy the inspiration they give me to continue to tell my ancestors' stories. 

Jill Ball's blog, GeniAus Accentuate the Positive Challenge

2014 Blog Recap - Happy New Year!

These stories received the most views: 
#1 - 09/14/14 - 470 Views - Humphrey Atherton's Quaker Curse

#2 - 05/10/14 - 361 Views - James Cole & the Horse in the Parlor

#3 - 11/30/14 - 235 Views - Happy St. Andrew's Day

#4 - 09/21/14 - 210 Views - Revolutionary War Surgeon

#5 - 03/29/14 - 154 Views - James Gibbons

#6 - 06/18/14 - 153 Views - Religion in Schools & Spanking Other People's Kids

#7 - 06/10/14 - 145 Views - Family History Project 2014

#8 - 03/29/14 - 118 Views - Thomas Lewis

#9 - 03/29/14 - 111 Views - Samuel Andrews

#10 - 02/21/14 - 102 Views - Christopher Grant

The three stories that were the most memorable or meaningful to me 

#1 - Five Generations Times Two!
#2 - The Importance of Family
#3 - Family History Project 2014








The stories that were the most interesting for me to research and write

#1 - Butcher Pirate and Ghost or Respected Fisherman?
#2 - The Original Bachelor
#3 - The Interesting Deaths of Thomas & Mary (Parker) Totman
#4 - She Wore the Pants in the Family
#5 - Squire of the Little Village
#6 - Love Letter to a Future Wife
#7 - The Homefront
#8 - Even the Drunkards Thank Us!
#9 - Two Murderers, One Gallows
#10 - A Pirate's Life and Ironic Death

52 Ancestors #51 - Thomas Bull & the Pequot War

Thomas Bull came from England on the Hopewell and settled in Hartford, Connecticut with the followers of Thomas Hooker. He spent much of his time as a soldier. In the Pequot War of 1637, his exploits are found among the notes of Governor John Winthrop. 

Winthrop wrote:
Bull of Hartford Church filled with faith in entering the Pequot fort, he put off his arms, he was attacked by 3: Indians he laid hold of one of their arrows &c. & cut the other 2: bowstrings, & cleft one of their heads, & broke his sword, & by that occasion rescued a wounded man out of the fire, & used his sword, his piece of hard cheese received an arrow he killed 22.

In 1639, Thomas Bull testified in the colonial courts "that a musket with 2 letters I W was taken up at Pequannocke in pursuit of the Pequatts which was conceived to be Jno. Woods which was killed at the river's mouth." 

Author of this image is unknown - Source: Wikipedia

The Pequot War was the first major conflict with the Native Americans in New England. One of the most brutal aspects was the massacre of 400-700 men, women and children in the Pequot fortification at Mystic, Connecticut. The attack was over quickly and the death toll so high, in part, because the colonists set fire to the village. A few years ago a documentary was made about the conflict. Unfortunately, I have been unable to find a place to view this film but the trailer makes it look pretty amazing. The website for that film has this to say:

"It is a moonlit pre-dawn in May 1637. English Puritans from Massachusetts Bay Colony and Connecticut Colony, with Mohegan and Narragansett allies, surround a fortified Pequot village at a place called Missituck (Mystic). In the village, the Pequots sleep. Suddenly, a dog barks. The awakened Pequots shout Owanux! Owanux! (Englishmen! Englishmen!) and mount a valiant defense. But within an hour, the village is burned and 400-700 men, women, and children are killed.

Captain John Underhill, one of the English commanders, documents the event in his journal, Newes from America :

Down fell men, women, and children. Those that 'scaped us, fell into the hands of the Indians that were in the rear of us. Not above five of them 'scaped out of our hands. Our Indians came us and greatly admired the manner of Englishmen's fight, but cried "Mach it, mach it!" - that is, "It is naught, it is naught, because it is too furious, and slays too many men." Great and doleful was the bloody sight to the view of young soldiers that never had been in war, to see so many souls lie gasping on the ground, so thick, in some places, that you could hardly pass along.

The massacre at Mystic is over in less than an hour. The battle cuts the heart from the Pequot people and scatters them across what is now southern New England, Long Island, and Upstate New York. Over the next few months, remaining resistors are either tracked down and killed or enslaved. The name "Pequot" is outlawed by the English. The Puritan justification for the action is simply stated by Captain Underhill:

It may be demanded, Why should you be so furious? Should not Christians have more mercy and compassion? Sometimes the Scripture declareth women and children must perish with their parents. Sometimes the case alters, but we will not dispute it now. We had sufficient light from the word of God for our proceedings."

Thomas Bull was married to a woman named Susanna. She died at Hartford on August 12, 1680. Thomas died between April 20 and October 24, 1684. 

The eight children of Thomas & Susanna Bull were:

1. Mary, born about 1639, no further record.
2. Joseph, born about 1641, married first about 1671 Sarah Manning and married second Hannah Humphrey about 1697. 
3. Ruth, born about 1643, married Andrew Bordman on October 15, 1669. 
4. Susanah, born about 1645, married Thomas Bunce. 
5. Thomas, born about 1647, married first Esther Cowles on April 29, 1669 in Farmington, CT and married second Mary (Cheever) Lewis on January 13, 1692 in Farmington, CT. 
6. Jonathan, baptized March 25, 1649, married Sarah Whiting on March 19, 1684/5. 
7. David, baptized February 9, 1650/1, married Hannah Chapman on December 27, 1677 in Saybrook, CT. 
8. Abigail, born about 1653, married in Salem, MA, Rev. Thomas Barnard on April 28, 1696. 

My line is:
Thomas Bull
Joseph Bull
Nathaniel Bull
Tabitha Bull
Samuel Ackley
William Ackley
Sarah Ackley
Mary Jane Abbott
Fannie May Capen
Thomas Richard Carter - my grandfather

This week was interesting for me. Between the revision of the DNA matches on Ancestry.com and the deep discount that allowed me to place my DNA on Family Tree DNA, I am finally getting matches that are meaningful. This week I connected with a man who grew up on Maine but now lives in Florida. He is also a descendant of Thomas Bull. We share the line through Samuel Ackley, making us 5th cousins, once removed. We discovered some other common ancestors too. 

Additional Source:
Great Migration 1634-1635, A-B (online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2008.)