Mayflower Ancestry - William White & Susanna Jackson

William White and Sussana Jackson would be my 10th great grandparents.  Here is the line through the Tannahill family.  The first 5 generations are in the Mayflower Families - Through Five Generations - Vol 13 (Silver Books)  There are a few comments on a few interesting ancestors.  I have several ancestors who were on the Mayflower.  I suppose most people who have early New England ancestry probably share the same claim.  

William White (10 Nov 1591 - 21 Feb 1621) m. Susanna Jackson (1592 d. 01 Oct 1680 )

William, Susanna and their son Resolved were 3 of the 102 passengers of the Mayflower. They also brought along two servants.  In late November, Susanna gave birth to their son Peregrine having made the voyage in the latter stages of her pregnancy.  The two servants who came with the White family both died that first winter with Edward Thompson being the first to die amongst the passengers.  William Holbek also died soon after they landed. Both were indentured servants.

There were also 30 crew.  They dropped anchor near the tip of Cape Cod Massachusetts on November 20, 1620.  During that first winter, most stayed on board the ship because of a lack of shelter and food.  There was an outbreak of scurvy, pneumonia and tuberculosis.  Only 53 passengers and half of the crew survived that first winter.

Susanna was the only surving widow and went on to become one of the first brides, marring Edward Winslow in May of 1621, having 5 more children in addition to her two sons with William White. It has only been the past few years that we have actually known her last name thanks to persistent research by some descendants.

Resolved White (1615 d. aft 19 Sep 1687)  m. Judith Vassall (b. 1619 d. abt 3 Apr 1670)

Anna White (b. 4 Jun 1649 d. 26 May 1718 ) m. John Hayward (b. 20 Dec 1640 d. 22 Nov 1718)

David Allen b. 1675 d. bef 1752) m. Sarah Hayward (b. 16 Jun 1689 d. bef 1748)

David Allen (9 Feb 1713 d. 1799-1800) m. Sarah Baker (27 Sep 1715 d. Aft 1762)

Interesting point - I worked with Lucy Kelly Simpson trying to find the connection between Adoniram Allen and Ethan Allen (Green Mountain Boys - Revolutionary War).  We never could make the connection through the Allen family  and it turned out the connection was through the Baker's.  Their mother's were sisters.   David traveled to either NC/GA likely after 1762 and ended up in North Carolina.  Both David and his son Adoniram fought in the Battle of King's Mountain in 1780 which would have made David around 67 and Adoniram at 46 years of age.

Adoniram Allen (b. 1734 d. 1838) m. Elizabeth Morris b. 1777 d. 1815)
Adoniram is possibly one of my favorite ancestors.  He was born near the New Hampshire border in 1734 moved to Georgia and then North Carolina with his father.  He then got a land grant and moved to Kentucky and started a mill there in 1807 at 70 years old.  His nickname was "Teges" because he was "particular" and the creek near that mill is called "Teges" in his honor.  Adoniram retired at 102 and died two years later at 104 years of age.  

Morris Allen (b. 1794 d. 4 Nov 1864) m. Rachel Bishop (b. 1805 d. aft 1870)

Ailey Allen (b 12 Apr 1823 d. 5 Apr 1890)  m. William Kelly (1818 d. 9 Jun 1899)  - on the right is a photo of Ailey Allen.  According to family stories, this was a tintype that was nailed to the wagon that carried John Ward Kelly and family to Kansas and Oklahoma.  The nail hole is still in the upper right hand corner.

John Ward Kelly (b. 8 Aug 1849 d. 20 Feb 1910)  m. Melvina Robertson (b. 19 July 1849 d. 22 Dec 1890) John Ward Kelly and Melvina Robertson had 14 children.  Melvina died in childbirth with that child.  They moved to Kansas around 1885 near the Oklahoma border.  

Sarah Rachel Kelly (b. 17 Dec 1877 d. 21 Jan 1966)  m John Lyons Tannahill (b. 28 Apr 1873 d. 21 May 1945)

They were the parents of:

• Samuel Ward Tannahill (1897-1973)
• Earl Sylvanis Tannahill (1898-1942)
• William Sylvester Tannahill (1900-1988)
• John Theodore Tannahill (1902-1987)
• Goerge Carter Tannahill (1904-1971)
• Elvina Almira Tannahill (1907-1972)
• Rachel Olive Tannahill (1912-1984)
• Oliver Richard Tannahill (1912-1947) (my line)

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!

My Mayflower Ancestry - Pt 3

It is fun to study one’s maternal lines – you never know what you’ll find or where they will end up.  In our search for information on my Mom’s Allen line – we kept running into research that just wasn’t quite right.  The family story was that we were related to Ethan Allen of the Green Mountain boys from the Revolutionary War…so everyone was trying to make the Ethan Allen’s line mesh with our Adoniram Allen line…and they never worked.  It turned out that the tie was not with the Allen line but rather with their mothers…who were sisters.  It was a lesson well learned and I have found some interesting family lines on the maternal side of the family…and here is one that ties my father’s family and mother’s family together by marriage!

William White was a passenger on the Mayflower and he died on 21 Feb 1620.  Beyond that there really isn’t much more information.  He was married to a woman named Susanna and traveled on the Mayflower with his son Resolved.  Susanna White gave birth to a son named Peregrine on board the Mayflower while it was docked off of Cape Cod while the Pilgrims were trying to find a place to place their colony.  William White was one of the passengers who died on during that first winter leaving his wife with two young children to care for.  I don’t that anyone has found anything concrete on William White’s ancestry – White has to be almost as common of a name as Johnson to research.  There were a few Whites in Leiden, Holland who were possibilities, but they have been discounted.  No one knows what Susanna White’s maiden name was either.  So, she remains Susanna, wife of William White and Edward Winslow.  After the death of her husband in February, she married another widower who had lost his wife as well, Edward Winslow. 

Edward Winslow was one of the leaders of the Plymouth colony and was in fact its’ third governor.  Edward came on the Mayflower with his brother, Gilbert and his wife, Elizabeth.  Elizabeth died soon after arrival and Gilbert went back to England.  Edward married Susanna in May of 1621.  They had five children but only two lived to adulthood and had children.  Several of Edward’s brothers came within a decade, one of whom was Kenelm Winslow, my 9^th great grandfather.  So…with all of the research that Mom and I did…the only tie we ever found between my parents was when Mom’s 9^th great grandmother married Dad’s 8^th great-granduncle.  Susanna lived to be an old woman and died almost 50 years after the arrival of the Mayflower in 1680.  Edward died in 1655 while on journey to Hispaniola and was buried at sea.

Here are my lines is my line to William White & wife, Susanna.

• William White m. Susanna
• Resolved White m. Judith Vassal
• Anna White m. John Hayward
• Sarah Hayward m. David Allen
• David Allen m. Sarah Baker
• Adoniram “Teges” Allen m. Elizabeth Morris
• Morris Allen m. Rachel Bishop
• Ailey Allen m. William Kelly
• John Ward Kelly m. Melvina Robertson
• Sarah Rachel Kelly m. John Lyons Tannahill
• Oliver Richard Tannahill m. Capitola Friddle
• Betty Jean Tannahill m. Eugene Johnson
• Me!

Here is my line to Edward Winslow’s brother, Kenelm – both were sons of Edward Winslow and Magdalene Ollyver…

• Kenelm Winslow m. Eleanor Newton
• Kenelm Winslow m. Mercy Worden
• Kenelm Winslow m. Bethia Hall & Edward Winslow m. Sarah
• Hannah Winslow m. Edward Winslow (yes they were first cousins)
• Sarah Winslow m. Seth Pope
• Winslow Pope m. Mary Wheelock
• Francis Pope m. Belinda Willey
• Winslow Lonsdale Pope m. Nancy Ann Marie Lyons
• Shirlie Louisa Pope m. Ulpian Grey Johnson
• Frank Stewart Johnson m. Helen Gage
• Eugene Johnson m. Betty Tannahill
• Me!

Both of these lines were branches off of maternal lines in my family.  My advice is to not forget the women in the family.  You might find some of your most interesting ancestors!

My Mayflower Ancestry - Pt 2

Not all the Mayflower families were of sterling character.  While most seemed to upstanding folk – there were a few that didn’t quite meet our view of a Pilgrim.  John Billington was one such Pilgrim.  As an amateur genealogist it is quite exciting to find that Mayflower connection…until you find out he was hung for murder!

The Billington family were the troublemakers of the Plymouth colony.  On the trip over, John Billington’s son, Francis shot off his father’s musket showering sparks among open barrels of gunpowder.  With that one action, the entire ship could have easily burned down.  Later in March 1621, John Billington’s son, John wandered off and was found by the Nauset Indians and was later brought home.  According to Caleb Johnson, Billington “was implicated in the Oldham-Lyford scandal (a failed revolt against the Plymouth church).”  He claimed that he knew nothing about it.  The final nail in the coffin occurred in 1630, when John Billington shot and killed John Newcomen…John Billington was tried and hanged in September 1630. John Billington was one of the signers of the Mayflower Compact and he was also the first to be hanged for a crime in New England.  He wasn’t a member of the separatist’s church but rather left England to escape creditors…so not all the Pilgrims were Puritan separatists.  After Billington’s death, his wife Eleanor or Helen couldn’t stay out of trouble either.  She was found guilty of slander, was fined and put in the stocks and whipped as punishment. 

After John Billington’s death, Helen or Eleanor (both names are reputed to be her name) deeded her land to her remaining son, Francis, and remarried Gregory Armstrong in 1637.  Francis Billington had married a widow named Christian Penn, who was a widow of Francis Eaton.  Christian Penn brought with her 4 children including one step child – she and Francis Billington had nine more children.  Francis’ older brother, John, died in the late1620’s and so all of John Billington’s descendants come through Francis.  Francis lived to be an old man and died in 1684 nearly 80 years old, his wife Christian preceded him in death a few months before his own.  Here is my lineage from John Billington:

• John Billington m. Eleanor/Helen
• Francis Billington m. Christian Penn
• Mary Billington m. Samuel Sabin
• Mercy Sabin m. James Welch
• Mercy/Mary Welch m. Thomas Spaulding
• Eunice Spaulding m. John Baldwin
• Elizabeth Baldwin m. Jesse Swan
• Nathaniel Swan m. Harriet Shutter
• Cynthia Swan m. Potter Gage
• Gilbert Gage m. Phoebe Allen
• Orlando Gage m. Edith Gallup
• Ora Silas Gage m. Florence Shawver
• Helen Gage m. Frank Johnson
• Eugene Johnson m. Betty Tannahill
• Me!

Back when I was in high school and certainly old enough to know of some the peccadillos of the Pilgrims, don’t you think that it would have interested kids my age to know some of what really happened.  There were babies born before prerequisite nine months after marriage, there were those who didn’t agree with their leadership and were put in stocks or whipped, and even some who committed murder.  I never heard of any these stories…and I think that if we had the chance to learn about some of these things, perhaps we would remember their history better.  These people were all too human and their experiences are more interesting because of their problems as well as their successes.

My Mayflower Ancestry - Pt 1

If you have New England ancestry and your family has been in this country for generations, you most likely have Mayflower ancestry.  The search is much easier for some because someone has gone through the process of researching and documenting those lines.  God Bless those someone’s…because I know it is hard work.  My friend Midge is one of those who has completed the documentation!

One of my favorite researchers and Gallup cousins is the fabulous Midge Frazel, her Granite in My Blood blog has been a great resource for information about cemeteries and gravestones…especially those in New England as well as many New England families.  Midge was kind enough to share many of her Gallup cemetery photos to post on my website and through the years we have shared many stories, laughs and information. Through our communication about the Gallup family - we discovered our shared Mayflower line…here is my line:

• John Howland m. Elizabeth Tilley
• Desire Howland m. John Gorham
• Elizabeth Gorham m. Joseph Hallet
• Lois Hallet m. Henry Cobb
• Eunice Cobb m. Benadam Gallup, Jr.
• Nathan Gallup m. Sarah Giddings
• Sarah Gallup m. Silas Gallup (yes she married her 2^nd  cousin)
• Ebenezer Gallup m. Susan Harden
• Silas Gallup m. Phebe Montanye
• Edith Gallup m. Orlando Gage
• Ora Silas Gage m. Florence Shawver
• Helen Gage m. Frank Johnson
• Eugene Johnson m. Betty Tannahill
• Me…

So…I began in earnest studying a part of history that I had never had a great deal of interest in before.  During my years in school, I had been inundated with the story about the Pilgrims and the Mayflower that had been taught in a staid and boring way.  These people were stuck on a pedestal by many of my teachers…and they were therefore boring.  So, I began the process of learning about my Mayflower ancestry and learned that these Pilgrims were all too human and faced hardships that I have a difficult even comprehending.  I wish my teachers had taught me more about the reality of what they faced and that they were flawed people trying their best to make a new life.

Elizabeth Tilley was a 13 year old girl who traveled with her parents on the Mayflower in 1620.  She was one of 11 girls who ranged in age from 1 to 17.  When the Mayflower left on its historic voyage it was already near winter.  Most of the women and children stayed on the ship while the men began the process of constructing the colony.  By the time the Mayflower left for England in early April a third of the Mayflower passengers had died.   Elizabeth lost both of her parents and her aunt and uncle.  Almost all of the girls who came over with their families lost them during that first winter.  It must have been frightening for Elizabeth…13 years old and literally all alone with the only family she had an ocean away.  She was taken in by the Carver family but even they died during that first year in the colony. 

John Howland journeyed over on the Mayflower as a manservant for Governor John Carver.  During the voyage over, John Howland fell overboard but managed to grab ahold of the topsail rope and was fished out by the crew with a hook.  He was likely 21 years old – but his true age is unknown.  He was one of two bachelors who made the voyage. John Howland signed the Mayflower Compact and served as a Committeeman in the General court of Plymouth.  He became a freeman in Plymouth in 1633 and he and Elizabeth became major landholders in the area.  

John Howland and Elizabeth Tilley married about 1623 when Elizabeth was 16 and John was abt 24 years old.  They shared 10 children and a long life together.  John Howland died about 1672 at his son’s house in Plymouth.  Elizabeth went to live with her son, Jabez, in Plymouth and later lived her daughter Lydia, the wife of James Brown in Swansea (now East Providence, RI).  Elizabeth died on Dec 22, 1687 and is buried at the Little Neck Cemetery in East Providence, RI. 

According to the John Howland Society, there are over 10 million living descendants of the 52 surviving Mayflower Pilgrim.  There are certainly some notables among John Howland and Elizabeth Tilley’s descendants including three Presidents (Franklin Delano Roosevelt, George Herbert Walker Bush, George W. Bush) notable actors such as Humphrey Bogart and poets such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. 

If you are interested in more info – I encourage you to check out:

The Pilgrim John Howland Society

Caleb Johnson’s Mayflower History.com

Thru the Looking Glass – Mayflower Families