Ancestral Characters...

I enjoy watching programs like “Who Do You Think You Are” and Henry Louis Gates series “Finding Your Roots!”  I was bitten by the genealogy bug many years ago….probably even when I was a child because I loved listening to the stories of my grandparents and various other relatives.  The guests find that their family mysteries are seemingly solved with a short TV episode, although I must say they are missing out on all of the fun.

Genealogy is a journey!  There are a lot of interesting stops along the way, but always something new on the horizon.  There are even walls that may take years to tear down if ever.  Every few years there seems to be some new tools to add to the treasure chest.  Like those programs, I am picking and choosing some “interesting ancestors.”  My great great grandfather who had 17 children.  He was married to one sister, ran off with another sister and after she died, married a “widow” who turned out to be a divorcee.  In the early 1900’s, this was somewhat of a scandal.  Here are the blogs I wrote about George Christian Shawver:

George Christian Shawver - 1st Family

George Christian Shawver - 2nd Family

George Christian Shawver - 3rd Family

My 10th great grandfather has all of the credentials of a hero and significant figure in history.  He was the first man to navigate Boston harbor.  That probably doesn’t sound all that important to today’s generations but to someone in 1630 it was significant.  Ships could navigate in a safe passage in and out of Boston, which could arguably be called one of the most important cities in Colonial America.  He really was one of the more important people of his generation.

John Gallop - 10th Great Grandfather

John Gallop - The rest of the story

I have Mayflower ancestors that came on that first ship. Elizabeth Tilley was a teenager whose parents died during that first winter and she ended up marrying one the two bachelors who made the trip, namely John Howland.  There are a lot descendants who can claim ancestry to John Howland and Elizabeth Tilley.  (Mayflower Ancestry - Part 1)

Then there is John Billington.  He was considered to be the troublemaker of the group causing constant tension among the passengers.  His two boys nearly blew up the ship during the journey playing with flint around gun powder.  John Billington also turned out to be the first man hung for murder in the new world.  (Mayflower Ancestry - Part 2)

William White was one of the nearly ⅓ of the passengers who died that first winter.  There is a lot to be admired anyone who undertook the journey on the Mayflower.  These people didn’t know what they would face and took the hazardous trip to be able to practice their religious beliefs without the interference of a government.  William White’s wife, Susanna ended up marrying the first governor of the colony, Edward Winslow..who turns out to be my 9th great grandfather’s older brother.  (Mayflower Ancestry - Part 3)  Kenelm was quite an interesting fellow as well…(Coffin Make in New England)

My father’s great grandfather (Washington Abraham Johnson) was a 1st cousin to Pres. Andrew Johnson which is interesting enough.  However, his younger brother Nicholas Johnson was interesting in his own way.  If you talk to his family members, Nicholas disappeared after the Civil War and ran off to California abandoning his wife and children as well as aged father.  I am not sure I will ever find what happened  to him. (Nicholas Johnson - Man of Mystery)

There are a lot more characters in my ancestry.  I had ancestors who were among the first settlers here and as far as I can find, I don’t have an ancestor who arrived any later than 1810.  I have been very lucky, I have known 3 great grandmothers, 2 grandmothers, 2 grandfathers, and a great grandfather.  Every one of these people have made me who I am.  I am not like most of those celebrities in those TV shows because I do know a lot about my history.  When I began doing research more formally, I did it with my mother. Mom was my best resource for stories about her family and many years ago she took the initiative on long ago conversation with her father in law to give us a great starting point on his family. We lost Mom back in 2005 - I know she is breaking down all those brick walls...sure wish she could tell me what she has learned. This is my favorite picture of my Mom...in her signature red, her favorite color.

A Few Scoundrels in the Family Tree

The other day my father and I were watching a program about Facts and Fiction about American History. The first two stories that they highlighted were very familiar to me....and I didn't even need to hear the stories to tell Dad jokingly...that they were about to air some of the family's dirty linen!

The point of the piece was about some of the misconceptions about the Pilgrims and the Mayflower.  They talked about the near death of one of the passengers when he got knocked off the ship during a storm.  He was fortunate that they had put the sails down to protect them from the storm.  John Howland was one of the two bachelors who was on board the Mayflower.  The program pointed out that if he had been killed there may never have been a Franklin Delano Roosevelt or George H. W. Bush or George W. Bush....and there never would have been my father which I obviously find a little more personally significant.

John Howland was born about 1599 in Fenstanton, Huntindon England...and died on 23 Feb 1673 at Rocky Nook, Kingston, Plymouth Co., MA.  A photo of his grave can been found at Findagrave.com - John Howland.  He was married to another Mayflower Passenger, Elizabeth Tilley who lost her parents during the first harsh winter in Plymouth.  Elizabeth was born 30 Aug 1607 at Henlow, Bedfordshire, England and died on 31 Dec 1686 at Swansea, Bristol Co., MA.  Her grave can also be found at FindaGrave.com - Elizabeth Tilley.  I am descended from John Howland and Elizabeth Tilley through their daughter Desire Howland Gorham.

Desire Howland m. John Gorham
Elizabeth Gorham m. Joseph Hallett
Lois Hallett m. Henry Cobb
Eunice Cobb m. Benadam Gallup, Jr.
Nathan Gallup m. Sarah Giddings
Sarah Gallup m. Silas Gallup
Ebenezer Gallup m. Susan Harden
Silas Gallup m Phebe Montanye
Edith Gallup m. Orlando Gage
Ora Silas Gage m. Florence Christine Shawver
Helen Marian Gage m. Frank Stewart Johnson - my grandparents!

Now the other line that the program highlighted didn't really even tell the whole story.  During the voyage over,  the fourteen old Francis Billington caused some trouble.  He was shooting a musket off in the hold of the ship among barrels of gunpowder...in one spark, he could have set the entire ship on fire and the Mayflower descendants might never have happened.  Once they had landed in Plymouth, Francis and his brother went missing for several days and were brought back to the settlers by the Indians.  However, their exploits can be explained as teenage boys and everyone can understand that.  However their father was known as a "knave" and "foul mouthed miscreant" and within 10 years, his temper got the best of him.  He shot a fellow colonist and killed him and became the first man hung for murder in the New England...not quite what you want to be known for.  I am descended from John Billing through his son, Francis.

Francis Billington m. Christian Penn
Mary Billington m. Samuel Sabin
Mercy Sabin m. James Welch
Mercy Welch m. Thomas Spalding
Eunice Spalding m. John Baldwin
Elizabeth Baldwin m. Jesse Swan
Nathaniel Swan m. Harriet Shutter
Cynthia Swan m. Gilbert Gage
Orlando Gage m. Edith Gallup
Ora Silas Gage m. Florence Christine Shawver
Helen Marian Gage m. Frank Stewart Johnson - my grandparents!

I enjoy the scoundrels in my ancestry.  I find them interesting to research and fun to find new details.  My father enjoys a good story and always pokes a bit of fun at people who are inordinately of their ancestry. We have our share of famous and impressive antecedents, but we also have a few scoundrels in family tree that show themselves every once in a while.  So while I can admire what John Howland and Elizabeth Tilley personify as Mayflower ancestors...I still enjoy the good story of a problematic teenager and his criminal father!

Happy Thanksgiving

I didn't appreciate the significance of the history of Thanksgiving when I was young.  I knew the general stuff about the Pilgrims because we got to color pictures of them and talked about them in a general sense.  When I got older, teachers only seemed to want to spent a few minutes on the most general and unexciting of details.  History is a story that needs to be taught like a story and not a bunch of names and dates.  I didn't have an appreciation for significance of the Pilgrims and those other early settlers who arrived in the next ten years.  I didn't understand the deprivation that they suffered or the loss of people.  There were a lot of these new settlers who in a few months lost husbands, wives, and children to sickness in those first few months.  I'm not sure that most teachers really know that story to be fair...they probably received the same type of education that I did on the subject.

I've been researching my family's genealogy for 15 years.  During that time, I've come across mostly common people who have made their way in the world - each in their own unique way.  However, so much of my family comes from the New England area and I knew that it was likely that I had a few Mayflower ancestors.  Last year I wrote about these ancestors in:

• My Mayflower Ancestry - Pt 1 - My Gallup line tracing back to John Howland & Elizabeth Tilley.
• My Mayflower Ancestry - Pt 2 - My Swan line going back to John Billington.
• My Mayflower Ancestry - Pt 3 - My Allen line going back to William White and my Winslow line.

You might say that now when I sit down to our Thanksgiving table with family and friends that I have a new appreciation of who has come before me.  

I think that this was my second Thanksgiving ..as I am the toddler sitting in the high chair.  So much on the table is familiar from my childhood - from the candle holders, the china, salt and pepper shakers to the Turkey in the center.  As I place that Turkey on our table once again, I know that it has been our family since about 1948 and has been on every Thanksgiving table during my lifetime.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Presidential Trivia

One of my curious activities a few years ago was writing an article for the Pennington Pedigrees on Presidential genealogy.  I have to say that it was a fun article for me to write.  If you are interested in Presidential genealogy, the first and best resource that you should look at is the work of Gary Boyd Roberts.    I believe that he is the expert on all things genealogy related to our Presidents.

Here are some interesting facts to consider…there are two presidents who share more lines in common than any other with 18 lines.  It is no surprise that it is George Herbert Walker Bush and his son George W. Bush.  They probably share genealogy with a lot of people.  I share several ancestors with the two of them including: John Gallup & Hannah Lake, John Howland & Elizabeth Tilley, Thomas Pope and Sarah Jenney.  When you throw Barbara Pierce Bush into the mix, I also share the ancestors of Fernando Thayer and Huldah Hayward. 

Calvin Coolidge, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Gerald R. Ford share 17 ancestral lines in common.   I share a common line of Edmund Rice and Thomasine Frost with Calvin Coolidge.  It is no surprise that many share lines with Franklin Delano Roosevelt – I have the following: John Howland & Elizabeth Tilley.  I also share a line with Gerald R. Ford (aka Leslie Lynch King) of William Wilbore and Martha Holmes.

I could go on with several Presidents and common ancestral lines…but you will find if you have New England ancestry then you probably can connect to a President of the United States. Also of interest is that the fact that there are several who share no common lines with any other President.  These Presidents include:

• Thomas Jefferson
• James Monroe
• Andrew Jackson
• James K. Polk 
• James Buchanan
• Andrew Johnson
• Chester Arthur
• William McKinley
• Woodrow Wilson
• Dwight David Eisenhower
• John Fitzgerald Kennedy
• Ronald Reagan
• William Jefferson Clinton

You might find it interesting that our current President shares ancestral lines with seven other Presidents including:  James Madison, Harry Truman, Lyndon Baines Johnson, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and both George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush.

Our Presidents have come from a lot of backgrounds and families both wealthy and poor.  They have been lawyers, Police Commissioners, Generals, tailors, and farmers.  You may like some better than others – but they are an interesting lot to look at.  You might find it curious that President Obama is not the first President to have his nation of birth questioned.  Chester Arthur was thought by some to have been born in Canada and not the United States.  Chester Arthur’s father owned a farm 15 miles across the border and some speculated that he was not a natural born citizen.  Chester Arthur went so far as to change his birth year to 1830, since his father was well established in Vermont at that time.  

It is also interesting to note that when Grover Cleveland first became President, he was bachelor.  He married a younger woman named Frances Folsom who was 21 years old and the youngest first lady we have ever had.  They had five children and four lived to be quite old, the last one died in 1995.   We know of the two sets of fathers and sons (Adams & Bushs) but there was also a grandfather and grandson – Benjamin Harrison was the grandson of William Henry Harrison.  

There was also one President who was administered the oath of office by his own father in a Vermont farmhouse.  Calvin Coolidge’s father was the local notary public and the oath was done early in the morning after hearing of Warren G. Harding’s death.  Everyone knows that John Fitzgerald Kennedy is buried at Arlington Cemetery, but did you know that William Howard Taft was as well.  Taft was also the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court after his term as President and he himself administered the oath of office to two Presidents.

So as many of us enjoy a day off on President’s day – you might look up one or two on your computer and learn something about them.  You might be surprised at what you find!