Grizel Carey Fletcher

There is something that is interesting about the name Grizel...perhaps it reminds me of one of Cinderella's stepsisters, Grizelda.  Whatever the case, it isn't the usual name.  I haven't even seen it much in the early colonial times.  So I was interested when I came across her name.

Elizabeth Baldwin would have been my 6th great grandmother.  She married Jesse Swan on the 24 Nov 1766 in Stonington, New London Co., CT.  My line to her is as follows:

Nathaniel Swan m. Harriett Shutter
Cynthia Swan m. Potter Gage
Gilbert Gage m. Phoebe Allen
Orlando Gage m. Edith Phoebe Gallup
Ora Silas Gage m. Florence Christine Shawver
Helen Marian Gage m. Frank Stewart Johnson (my grandparents)

I have found the Swan family line to be a very interesting line to pursue.  I have found a lot of interesting tidbits through the years.  From all the research that I have done through the years, I have the realization that an awful lot of my family comes from New England.  I have family living in Connecticut and Massachusetts from the mid 1600's to the late 1700's.  With that small of a geographic area there is a high likelihood that there are a lot of tangled family connections...and that is certainly the case.

Elizabeth's parents were John Baldwin and Eunice Spaulding and she was born in 1745 in New London Co., CT and died in 1803 Berne Co., NY.  Elizabeth and her husband Jesse Swan migrated to NY probably in the late 1790's.  I have a few other more family lines who moved about the same time.  Anyway, you take Elizabeth's family back a few more generations you end up with Grizel Fletcher.

John Baldwin m. Eunice Spaulding
Thomas Spaulding m. Mary/Mercy Welch
Joseph Spaulding m. Mercy Jewell
Thomas Jewell m. Grizel Fletcher

Thomas Jewell was born about 1607 in England, immigrated to Massachusetts in 1635 and married Grizel Fletcher around 1640.  Grizel was born about 1618 in Chelmsford, Essex, England.  Her father was Robert Fletcher and her mother is unknown.  I have seen Robert's second wife Sarah Hartwell listed, but since they didn't married to 1631, I find that doubtful.  Thomas and Grizel were the parents of the following children:

Thomas Jewell b. 1639
Joseph Jewell b. 1642
Hannah Jewell b. 1643
Nathaniel Jewell b. 1648
Grizzell b.1651
Mercy b. 1653 (My 9th great grandmother)

Thomas Jewell dies on 21 Jul 1654 in Braintree, Norfolk Co., MA.  I don't know if women were in a shortage or if Grizel needed protection and help, but Grizel marries about six months later on 9 Jan 1655 to Humphrey Griggs.  (He was b. 1610 and d. 1657)  He must have died before 8 Aug 1657, because Grizel marries Henry Kibbee on that date.   Henry passes away on 10 Aug 1661.  They have three children:

Edward b. 1659
Sherebiah b. 1659
Joshua b. 1661

Then, on 12 Nov 1661, Grizel marries John Gerney.    I don't have any birth and death dates, but I would make the assumption that he died before 1667, because that is when Grizel marries John Burge on 3 Jul 1667.  Grizel dies herself on 9 Jul 1669 in Chelmsford, Middlesex Co., MA. 

There is no judgement on my part as to the many marriages.  It would have had to be very difficult to support young children as a woman.  The husband's all had young children and they needed wives to provide food and care for them as well.  Grizel was the mother of nine children by two different husbands and also married two more times.  Grizel was about 21 when her first child was born in 1639 and about 43 when she had her ninth child.  When she died  in 1669, she was 51 years of age.  She left behind 5 children below the age of 16.  I am fairly sure those children were absorbed into other family members families.  My 9th great grandmother (Mercy Jewell) married on 9 Dec 1670 to Joseph Spaulding. 

If the data I have found is correct, it doesn't paint a very pretty picture.  It does paint a picture of woman who was a survivor and did whatever she could to keep hearth and home together.  How difficult it must have been to face the death of three husbands and have nine children to look after and make sure they were clothed and fed.  I am not sure how anyone could call that period of history the "good old days!" 

Genealogy Wanderings - William Booth Van Aucken

I have been lucky that there has actually been a lot of genealogical work done on some of my family lines...like the Gage and Gallup families.  Before, I ever started researching, there was already very good research that had already been done.  Every once in awhile, I go through and try to fill in information on a female line.  So, I was wandering around my database and started looking at the family of Susan Gage.

Susan was the daughter of Potter Gage and Cynthia Swan and would be my 4th great aunt.  Her brother Gilbert Gage is my 3rd great grandfather.  Susan was born 14 Feb 1832 in Knox, Albany Co. NY and died 29 Dec 1914 in Albany, Albany Co., NY.  Susan married Edward Miner Van Aucken (b. 9 Mar 1833 d.20 Apr 1901) around 1860.  They had three children:

• Wilbur Eugene Van Aucken b. 5 Nov 1859 d. 7 Mar 1951 m. Margaret Ann Hall
• David Orville Van Aucken b. 21 Mar 1862 d. 1 Feb 1929 m. Ada Goetz
• Sarah Frances Van Aucken b. 23 Oct 1864 d. 25 Oct 1878

Things get a little interesting when you look at the family of Wilbur Eugene Van Aucken.  Wilbur was married to a Margaret Ann Hall in 1887.  Margaret was born in Londonderry, Ireland in 1863 and immigrated in 1885 according to the 1900 census.  Wilbur and Margaret had the following children:

• Susan May Van Aucken b. 17 May 1888 d. 25 Apr 1968, never married.
• William Booth Van Aucken b. 1 Oct 1890 d. 20 Feb 1968 m. Marie-Louise Magdaleine Goubet
• Eva Florence Van Aucken b. 19 Aug 1893 d. 17 Nov 1894

The most interesting one is William Booth Van Aucken.  First, I find a record that he was a Corporal in the New York, Mexican Punitive Campaign Muster Rolls for National Guard, 1916-1917 (Name of source) William seemed to serve in the National Guard during World War I and was primarily stationed near Ft Bliss TX.  Sometime in the following years after World War I, William is stationed in Germany and has married a Marie-Louise Goubet and is now a Captain when he marries Marie-Louise in 1920.  See below a clip from U.S., Consular Reports of Births, 1910-1949 which listed the birth of their daughter Marjorie Ann Van Aucken plus a lot of great info about the parents.

It would be wonderful if you could look at his service record and see what he did and where he did it.  I have found little bits of information.  The area of Germany that William and his wife lived in was a supply depot for the American soldiers still stationed in Germany after the war.  I also found a listing from an online book called “Review of the American Forces in Germany” with a listing on William Booth Van Aucken that discusses his early military history in the National Guard and mentions involvement in the Masons as well as involvement in a military prison at Coblenz, Germany.

I also found notation that William Booth Van Aucken retired in 1950 as a Colonel and had served in World War I and World War II.   The last notation I find is that William died 20 Feb 1968 in Washington DC and both he and his wife are buried at Arlington Cemetery in Washington, D.C. - William Booth Van Aucken's Find-A-Grave listing.

His wife lived 13 years longer and died in 1981.  I can’t say that William Booth Van Aucken is glorious hero who had many great feats.  He may or may not have...I most likely will never know.  However, it is clear that he and his wife must have had an interesting life.  Look at the timeline - he served in World War I and likely did well enough that he went from a Corporal in 1916 to a Captain in 1920.  He married a Frenchwoman who had been born in Indochina who had already probably traveled more than most people.  They had two children and he served in another World War.  William Booth Van Aucken just happened to be the grandson of Susan Gage and to have been buried in Arlington Cemetery.  Those details alone prompted me to pursue him further.  

Miner, Palmer,Avery - Interesting Connection

I have spent a lot of time looking at a lot of allied families of the Gallup family.  Possibly because it was probably one of the first families that I felt that I had pretty good sources to reference…primarily the Gallup family genealogy.  During my research, there are several allied families that I became quite familiar with such as Avery, Denison, Stanton, Palmer, Chesebrough, and Miner.  While I don’t seem to have direct connections to these families through my Gallup family…my interest in these lines has provided some unseen benefits for some of my other family lines.

Nathanial Swan and his wife Mahitable Brown would be my 7^th great grandparents.  Both were born in Stonington, New London Co., CT in the early 1700’s.  Nathanial was born in 1709 and Mehetable was born in 1712.  Their son, Jesse Swan was married to Elizabeth Baldwin, and they were the family that moved from Stonington, New London Co., CT to New York and their granddaughter Cynthia married Potter Gage and are my 4th great grandparents. (Cynthia Swan & Potter Gage).  While taking this family back a few more generations I found some interesting tie in’s with my Gallup family.  Which make me fascinated with some of the marriage patterns within my larger family tree.

Thomas Miner Grave

Grace Palmer Grave 

Thomas Miner - Memorial

I ran into one of those first interesting names when trying to find the ancestry of Mehetible Brown.  She married Nathaniel Swan on 13 Jan 1730 in Stonington.  She was the daughter of John Brown and Elizabeth Miner…and this is where the connections really became interesting.  John Brown was a second generation immigrant to the New World and while they were interesting – John Brown’s parents Thomas Brown and Mary Newhall didn’t really strike any familiar chords with me.  However, to find out that Elizabeth Miner was the daughter of Ephraim Miner and Hannah Avery – those were very familiar family names in my research.

Ephraim Miner was the son of Thomas Miner and Grace Palmer.  Thomas was born in Chew Magna, Somerset, England in 1608 and immigrated to the America on the “Lion’s Whelp” a ship that arrived in 1629.  By 1634, he had married Grace Palmer.   Grace Palmer was the daughter of Walter Palmer who emigrated with this family in 1629 from Gravesend England on the “Four Sisters” arriving in Salem, MA.  Not too long after he arrived, he along with a few other settlers moved to a new area and helped build the community of Stonington, CT and his considered as a founder of the town along with William Chesebrough, Thomas Minor, and Thomas Stanton.  These are families that are predominant with any family that you research in the region.  Walter Palmer must have been an impressive man.  He was reputed to be an unusually larger man of about 6 ‘5 which must have been quite impressive. 

Walter Palmer Wolf Stone

Walter Palmer Memorial - Erected much later

Walter Palmer died in 1661 and the age of 78 and a large Wolfe stone covers his grave to this day.  Close by is the his son in law, Thomas Minor buried with his wife. 

These four men established the town of Stonington despite what must have been a great deal of hardship and certainly required lot of fortitude.  Through Mahitible Brown’s mother, Elizabeth Miner, I can count Thomas Minor as my 9 great grandfather, James Avery as my 10^th great grandfather and Walter Palmer as my 11^th great grandfather through his daughter, Grace was married to Thomas Minor.  So in Wequetequock Cemetery, their ancient gravestones dating back to the late 1600’s remain as a tribute to these families who chose to be pioneers and build a new home in Stonington, Connecticut away from the closest thing that those settlers had to a comfort zone. Everyone once in a while, I spend some time looking at the Avery’s, Miners, Palmer’s and remember how these men helped build a new settlement.  Their descendants are scattered amongst many of the New England families that connect to many of my other New England families and it is certainly interesting to learn that some of my ancestors of long long ago, helped establish communities that are still thriving to this day!.  

New York Roots

As I got older, I knew the story of Granddad Gage coming out west with his sibling from New York State to Nebraska in 1908.  Their parents had died, and their maternal grandmother wanted them to come and live with her.  Granddad Gage had a genealogy history of his Gage family that showed some surprising information for me.  His paternal family had pretty much been in the same region of New York State for about a 100 years.

Granddad Gage and some of his siblings - Left to Right
Alice, Phebe, Pete, Ora (Granddad) Nellie & Burt.

The first New York Gage was Joseph Gage.  He was born on 3 May 1734 in Freetown, Bristol Co., MA to William Montgomery Gage and Hannah Davis.  Joseph married Mary Jane Huddleston on 13 Sep 1756 in Dartmouth, Bristol Co., MA.  I would love to say that I have a lot more generations preceding Joseph Gage…but that is not the case.  His father, William Montgomery Gage, is the first Gage that we are sure is a direct ancestor.  William Montgomery Gage is thought to have been born around 1696 based on some land documents that he signed.  He served in a militia from Maine for six months in 1722 which I assume involved some war between the Colonists and the Native Americans.  His line of work has been recorded as schoolmaster and any Gages that believe they are descended from the William Gage of Freetown, MA – this is the Gage that they are descended from.  Joseph Gage married a few years after his father’s death in 1756 and within a few years moved to New York State.  According to his second son’s birthplace, he was in Otsego Co., NY in 1759, in Dutchess Co., NY in 1762, and in Duanesburg, Schenectady Co., NY by 1764 which is where he lived the rest of his life.

Joseph and Mary had at least 10 children, nine of whom were sons.  Some of those sons spelled their names Gage and some spelled it Gaige…but they were from the same family.  Joseph died on 23 May 1811 in Duanesburg, NY and Mary died a few years later on 27 Jan 1814.  Their fourth youngest son was William Gage b. 20 Aug 1770 in Duanesburg, NY and d. 18 Jan 1865 in Knox, Albany Co., NY.  He married Ruth Macomber in 1790.  Four Gage siblings married four Macomber siblings which leads me to believe that the families probably lived near each other.  William Gage and Ruth Macomber's fourth son, Potter Gage was born 25 Dec 1798 in Knox, Albany Co., NY.  Potter Gage was my great grandfather’s great grandfather.

To finish up the line…Potter Gage m. Cynthia Swan – their son, Gilbert Gage m. Phoebe Allen, and their grandson, Orlando m. Charity Hotaling and Edith Gallup.  So from about 1759 to 1908 – Granddad Gage’s paternal line had lived in New York State.  His mother’s family (Gallup) had come from Connecticut in 1796.  The Swan’s were in New York by 1800 (they also came from Connecticut), the Allen line had actually been there probably since the early 1700’s (See Palantine Families)  At some point, I expected to find an immigrant who arrived after 1800…but I never found one in Granddad Gage’s family.  His family lines had actually been some of the early settlers of Connecticut and moved westward to New York State.  The family line that I originally had the most information on (Gage) actually turned out to be one of the more difficult lines to locate the immigrant ancestor.  I don’t know if we will ever find the documentary evidence…but I believe that science does offer some hope. 

By the time Granddad had left New York in 1908 – his family had been living in the same area (give or take a few miles) for almost 150 years.  I don’t know how many descendants of Orlando Gage are still in the New York area.  I know that there are a few that I am communicated with that still bear the last name of Gage.  I wonder how many of them know that their family has been there since the mid 1700’s.  That seems quite unique for me as I live in a town that has only been in existence since 1861 and I live in a state that has been a state only since 1890.  (I live in Lewiston, Idaho)  My family has only been in Idaho since the 1920’s (maternal side) and 1930’s (paternal side).  I suppose that it is one of the exciting things about genealogy – it is a lot of fun to try and figure out where your family came from…and how your family ended up where they are.  In my Granddad Gage’s life time – he traveled from New York to Nebraska to Iowa to South Dakota to Idaho and then to Oregon – that is quite a journey for a 98 year lifetime!

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!

Eastman Research

One of my favorite pastimes is to take a second look at some favorite ancestors or relatives.  I live in Lewiston, ID and have not had too many opportunities to study most of my ancestry first hand nor do I have the availability of a world class genealogical library to reference.  What I do have is a computer and the persistence of searching for information and an eye for what is good info…and what isn’t.

Back around 2000, I discovered one of my favorite characters in all of my genealogical research, Susanna Eastman. Susanna is my 8^th great grandmother…here is my lineage.

• Susanna Eastman m. John Swan
• Nathaniel Swan m. Mahitabel Brown
• Jesse Swan m. Elizabeth Baldwin
• Nathaniel Swan m. Harriet Shutter
• Cynthia Swan m. Potter Gage
• Gilbert Gage m. Phebe Allen
• Orlando Gage m. Edith Gallup
• Ora Silas Gage m. Florence Christine Shawver
• Helen Gage m. Frank Johnson
• Eugene Johnson m. Betty Tannahill
• Me!

Now Susanna lived a long and interesting life.  As a young woman she married Thomas Wood and had a daughter with him.  Both he and her child were killed in an Indian attack in 1697.  Susanna remarried in 1699 to John Swan.  They had 7 children including my ancestor, Nathaniel.  In the history of Haverhill, MA there is a story about an attack that was made on her and John Swan’s home.  They were pushing against the door and had started to enter the home when Susanna skewered them with the baking spit.  In the History and Genealogy of the Eastman Family of America there is also the story of when Susanna and John moved to Connecticut.  Susannah put her young son down in a basket and told her husband that the basket needed to be loaded onto the wagon.   Sometime later (about 2 miles down the road) it was discovered that the baby had been left behind.  I imagine the 2 mile return trip to retrieve the sleeping child had to be a difficult one for both parents with the father getting the majority of the dirty looks.  Susanna lived to be 100 years old which is pretty remarkable.  She was born about 1673 and died in 1772 – right on the cusp of the Revolutionary War.

So…every once in a while I do a search on family members.  Sometimes I don’t have their full dates or perhaps I don’t have the maiden name of the mother.  There is new information that is being put on the Internet all of the time and more and more primary documents that have been posted.  In addition there are also old genealogy books that are posted.  So, when I did a search on Susanna Eastman tonight I found some additional information. 

• The History and Genealogy of the Eastman Family of America  published 1901, is published online at http://www.archive.org/stream/historygenealogy01inrixg/historygenealogy01inrixg_djvu.txt - I will be going back and filling in some details on Susanna’s family sometime soon!
• Another link netted me a photo of Susanna Eastman’s tombstone.  This was located on my good friend Midge Frazel’s blog at http://granite-in-my-blood.blogspot.com/2010/06/tombstone-tuesday-susanna-eastman.html - I can’t believe I missed that posting in 2010.  I would have been very excited to see it.  Midge also posted the page that gives the story about Susanna.  You can actually look at the book online on Google books.

You can also spend some time looking at different websites that might have information.  This whole process can be time consuming but also very rewarding.  So – occasionally sit down at the computer and go to your favorite search engine and see what you can find.  You might find something new like a photo of the grave or new cousin.  This can be truly a rewarding experience!

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.