Seth Pope & Deborah Perry.

This is one of my early New England families.  Both Seth Pope and Deborah Perry are first generation descendants of immigrants  Seth Pope was born 13 Jan 1649 in Plymouth, Massachusetts to Thomas Pope and Sarah Jenney.   If you want to read more about Seth Pope specifically check out In their footsteps - Seth Pope.  

Seth Pope was the oldest son Thomas Pope and Sarah Jenney.  His father arrived from England as part of the "Mary and John" immigration and arrived sometime between 1630-1632.  Sarah Jenney was born to her parents in Jul 1623 on the ocean voyage to America.  Seth was the oldest 11 children. Remarkably, 10 of those 11 children lived to adulthood...which seems to be remarkable for the time period.

 According to the Pope genealogy, Seth Pope first appears as a peddler in Sandwich, MA.  He ended up buying a boat and settled in Acushnet, MA.  He was active in the coast wide trade and operated a wharf and warehouse.  By the time of his death on 17 Mar 1727, he owned farms, dwelling houses, a saw and grist mill as well as his store and warehouse.

Deborah Perry was the daughter of Ezra Perry Sr and Elizabeth Burgess.  Both were immigrants from England - Ezra Perry having arrived with his parents in 1637 to Massachusetts from Devonshire, England.  Elizabeth Burgess was born in Truro, Cornwall, England and also probably arrived in 1637 with her parents as well.  They were married on 15 Feb 1651 in Sandwich, MA.  Deborah was the second of 6 children, and the oldest daughter.

I don't imagine that Seth Pope and Deborah Perry's life was easy - but it must have been much easier than their immigrant parents.  I always think about the journey across the ocean being a particularly harrowing journey and when these new arrivals got to America - it must have been a very strange place to try to forge out a new life.

My line from Seth Pope & Deborah Perry is:

Elnathan Pope m. Margaret Pope (Daughter of Isaac Pope and Alice Freeman - Granddaughter of Thomas Pope and Sarah Jenney - They were 1st cousins)
Seth Pope m. Sarah Winslow
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 Marian Gage (my grandparents)

If you click on the links above, you will be connected to their Find a Grave profile.  This is one of best things that the internet has brought to modern genealogy.  The photos of some of these very old gravestones are being photographically preserved and made available to those of us who don't live close enough to visit these graves.  They stretch from old cemeteries in Massachusetts and Quebec, Canada to tiny cemeteries in North Dakota and Idaho.

The Winslow Connection

I still remember the first time I saw my great great grandfather’s name – Winslow Lonsdale Pope – and thought…if anything is a New England name…then that is.  Very quickly I found out I was correct.  Winslow was born in Weston, Drummond, Quebec but his family came out of Vermont and New Hampshire.  He wasn't even the first Winslow Lonsdale Pope in his family…he had an older brother with the same name who was born in 1839 but died in 1842.  My Winslow was born five years after his brother’s death on 1 Nov 1847.   I am always curious where names come from - and I knew the name of Winslow was pretty prevalent in New England.  After a bit of help from others and research on my own, I found out where that name came from.

Picture of Great Great Grandpa Winslow
 taken a week before he died in 1928.

Winslow Lonsdale Pope was the son of Francis Pope and Belinda Willey and Francis Pope was the son of Winslow Pope and Mary Wheelock.  This Winslow Pope was born 10 Aug 1770 in Rochester, Plymouth Co., MA to Seth Pope and Sarah Winslow.  So, as it was common to name a son from the mother’s surname, the Winslow name had a source and a New England source.  Now it was time to find out a bit more about Sarah Winslow.

 

Sarah Winslow was born on 19 Mar 1733 in Rochester, Plymouth Co., MA and married Seth Pope on 15 Mar 1752 when she was 18 years old.  She was the mother of seven children before she died on 20 Aug 1775.  She was the daughter of Edward Winslow and Hannah Winslow – 2^nd cousins who married on 14 Dec 1728 in Harwich Barnstable Co., MA.  Both are the great grandchildren of Kenelm Winslow and Mercy Worden.  I must admit that I am always a little dismayed to find ancestors who married cousins, but I've found a few who are much more closely related.  It seems that it illustrates the cruel fate that befell a lot of women – Sarah was only 42 when she died and her mother was only 34 years of age.  At least her grandmother, Bethia Hall (wife of Kenelm Winslow) lived to be 73 years old which was a grand age in 1745.  Unfortunately, Bethia’s daughter preceded her in death by just a few weeks.  When I look at the young ages of these women, it is hard to tell if their deaths were caused by childbirth, over work , or sickness – perhaps it was a combination of all three.

So, now it is obvious that my great great grandfather’s name comes from a well established and known family of New England.  While he was not descended from the Edward Winslow who was on the Mayflower, he was descended from his brother, Kenelm who  arrived a few ships later.  So, here is my Winslow line:

• Kenelm Winslow b. 1599 d. 1672 m. Eleanor Newton b. 1598 d. 1681
• Kenelm Winslow b. 1635 d. 1715 m. Mercy Worden b. 1640 d. 1688
• Kenelm Winslow b. 1668 d. 1729 m. Berthia Hall b. 1672 d. 1745 (Father of Hannah)
  & Edward Winslow b. 1681 d. 1760 m. Sarah Clark b. 1682 d. 1767 (Father of Edward)
• Edward Winslow b. 1703 d. 1780 m. Hannah Winslow b. 1711 d. 1745
• Sarah Winslow b. 1733 d. 1775 m. Seth Pope b. 1729 d. 1821
• Winslow Pope b. 1770 d. 1847 m. Mary Wheelock b. 1778 d. 1854
• Francis Pope b. 1812 d. 1888 m. Belinda Willey b. 1817 d. 1880
• Winslow Lonsdale Pope b. 1847 d. 1928 m. Nancy Ann Marie Lyons b. 1855 d. 1906
• Shirlie Louisa Pope b. 1881 d. 1927 m. Ulpian Grey Johnson b. 1881 d. 1927
• Frank Stewart Johnson b. 1914 d. 1975 m. Helen Marian Gage b. 1920 d. 2011 (My grandparents)

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!

"Coffin Maker" in New England

Mom and I agreed that Kenelm would have been a dandy name to keep in the family.  After all, neither one of us ever knew a Kenelm while we were growing up and before we saw the name on a family tree, we had never heard of the name.  Kenelm’s older brother was famous for being the third governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and arriving on the Mayflower in 1620 and beings the third signer of the Mayflower Compact.  Kenelm to leave England for the New World until and held the dubious title to those of us in the modern world as coffin maker.

Kenelm was the third son of Edward Winslow and his wife Magdalene Ollyver.  He was born in Droitwich, Worcester, England on 29 Apr 1599 as the fourth of eight children.   Both of his parents were dead by 1620 and of the eight children in his family, two daughters died very young, a sister and brother remained in England and brothers Edward, John, Kenelm and Josiah lived out their lives in the America. Edward lived in Plymouth, John settled in Boston, Josiah in Marshfield and Kenelm became one of the founders of Assonet, MA or Freetown, MA as it is known today.  There must not have been much left for the brothers in England and the opportunities in the New World must have been irresistible.  We learn in history that many of the earliest immigrants came to America in search of religious freedom.  I’m sure that this was a main component for most, but after those first few colonies were established, I’m sure word got back about the opportunity for land and so called riches that were available for any willing to take the risk.  England is a small island with a generation of sons looking for these new opportunities.  By the time, Kenelm and his brother Josiah arrived in 1629, there was already a thriving English community on American soil.

I’m sure that Kenelm probably enjoyed his status as being the brother of an important man in the colony.  He probably had some responsibilities that arose from his brother’s position.  I know that Kenelm was a surveyor of highways for a time and was fined for neglecting his job.  His name also appears on a few legal matters where he didn’t come out the winner.  One of the more interesting things that I read about Kenelm that he was committed to prison for “uttering opprobrious words against the church at Marshfield, saying that they were all liars.”  Kenelm ended up in jail and probably offended most of the town of Marshifield…which might explain why he moved to Assonet, MA. 

I found it rather fascinating to see Kenelm Winslow labeled as a coffin maker.  As it turns out, it meant that he was an excellent carpenter.  In fact, he was probably one of the first carpenters that had been trained in England to bring his craft to the America and train other craftsman here.  There is an interesting article online on at http://www.antiquesandfineart.com/articles/article.cfm?request=835 that talks about Kenelm Winslow.  There is supposedly some furniture that was made by Kenelm Winslow in the Metropolitan Museum of Art but as I read it, there is no proof that Kenelm was the actual carpenter. 

Kenelm married in Jun 1634 to a widow, Eleanor Newton Adams.  He and his wife had three sons and a daughter who all lived to adulthood.  Kenelm, himself lived to be 73 years old and died on 13 Sep 1672 while on a visit to Salem, Essex Co., MA.  His wife died in 1681 in Marshfield, MA.  So…thanks to the immigration of my 9^th great grandparents and their four children, there are many Winslows in America who can trace their lineage back to a coffin maker in New England.

Descendants of Kenelm WINSLOW, Esq.

Generation No. 1

1.  KENELM⁹ WINSLOW, ESQ.  (EDWARD⁸, KENELM⁷, WILLIAM⁶, THOMAS⁵, THOMAS WILLIAM⁴, WILLIAM³ WYNCELOW, JOHN² WYNSLOWE, WILLIAM¹ WYNCELOWE) was born 29 Apr 1599 in Droitwich, Worcester, England, and died 13 Sep 1672 in Salem, Essex Co., MA.    He married ELEANOR NEWTON Jun 1634 in Assonet, Freetown, MA.  She was born Jun 1598 in Hertferdshire, England, and died 05 Dec 1681 in Marshfield, Plymouth Co., MA.

     

Children of KENELM WINSLOW and ELEANOR NEWTON are:

               i.   KENELM¹⁰ WINSLOW, b. 29 Apr 1635, Plymouth, Plymouth Co., MA; d. 11 Nov 1715, Harwich, Barnstable Co., MA; m. (1) MERCY WORDEN, 23 Sep 1667, Yarmouth, Barnstable Co., MA; b. Abt. 1640, Yarmouth, Barnstable Co., MA; d. 22 Sep 1688, Dennis, Barnstable Co., MA; m. (2) DAMARIS EAMES, Bef. 1693; d. Aft. 27 Mar 1729.

More About KENELM WINSLOW:

Burial: Nov 1715, Winslow Cemetery, Dennis, Barnstable Co., MA

Military service: King Philips War

More About MERCY WORDEN:

Burial: Sep 1688, Winslow Cemetery, Dennis, Barnstable Co., MA

              ii.   ELEANOR "ELLEN" WINSLOW, b. 1637, Plymouth, Plymouth Co., MA; d. 27 Aug 1676, Marshfield, Plymouth Co., MA; m. SAMUEL BAKER, 29 Dec 1656, Marshfield, Plymouth Co., MA; b. 02 Oct 1638; d. 14 Feb 1699, Marshfield, Plymouth Co., MA.

More About ELEANOR "ELLEN" WINSLOW:

Burial: Winslow Cemetery, Marshfield, Plymouth Co., MA

             iii.   NATHANIEL WINSLOW, b. Abt. 1639, Plymouth, Plymouth Co., MA; d. 01 Dec 1710, Freetown, Bristol Co., MA; m. FAITH MILLER, 03 Aug 1664, Marshfield, Plymouth Co., MA; b. Abt. 1645, Yarmouth, Barnstable Co., MA; d. 09 Nov 1729, MA.

More About NATHANIEL WINSLOW:

Burial: Burying Hill, Marshfield, Plymouth Co., MA

             iv.   JOB WINSLOW, b. 1641, Marshfield, Plymouth Co., MA; d. 14 Jul 1720, Freetown, Bristol Co., MA; m. RUTH CHASE COLE, 1673, Swansee, Bristol Co., MA; b. 15 Apr 1651, Eastham, Barnstable Co., MA; d. Aft. Jul 1720.

Grandpa Winslow

I have found my great great grandfather to be a fascinating character.  I don’t think he ever had any fame or was anything special to society.  However, what I have read about him tells me that he was a good man who wasn’t afraid of hard work or a challenge.  He also was remarkably good humored and stories that I have read a great story teller.  Winslow Lonsdale Pope was born 1 Nov 1847 in Warwick, Drummond, Quebec and died 2 Oct 1928 in Weston, Middlesex Co., MA.  He was the son of Francis Pope and Belinda Willey and the grandson of Winslow Pope and Mary Wheelock.  Winslow was the second child in his family to be named Winslow Lonsdale Pope – he had an older brother who was born in 1839 and died in 1842.  I’ve never understood giving a child a name that had been an older deceased child’s name.  I’m sure I look at the situation with a modern interpretation. 

Winslow married Martha Rutherford in Barnet Co., VT on 30 May 1868.  They were married 11 years and had 4 children, 2 of whom survived to adulthood.  Martha woke up one night with severe abdominal pains as bad pains in the back of her head and neck.  She slipped into a coma and died shortly thereafter.  Winslow was left with two children to care for and must have been desolate with his wife’s death.  He married Nancy Ann Marie Lyons on 19 Mar 1881.  At 26 years old, she must have been considered to be an old maid.  Within 5 years, they had left New Hampshire and had traveled to Dickinson Co., IA.  There they had 4 of their seven children.  Here is a list of their children:

·        Shirlie Louisa b. 14 Jul 1881 Burke, Caledonia Co., VT d. 14 Apr 1927 Dunn Center, Dunn Co., ND

·         Anna May b. 5 Nov 1883 Bath, Grafton Co., NH d. 30 Nov 1935 Wing, Burleigh Co., ND

·         Mattie Winnova b. Jan 1886 Lake Park, Dickinson Co., IA d. 21 Jul 1901 Sioux Valley, Jackson Co., MN

·         Verna Myra b. 1 Mar 1889 Lake Park, Dickinson Co., IA d. 18 Sep 1946 Turtle Lake, McLean Co., ND

·         Hazel Bell b. 17 Dec 1891 Lake Park, Dickinson Co., IA d. 8 Jul 1921 Turtle Lake, McLean Co., ND

·         John Francis b. 26 Nov 1895 Sioux Valley, Jackson Co., MN d. aft 1934

·         Plumer Elwood b. 24 Nov 1897 Lake Park, Dickinson Co., IA d. 8 Nov 1981 Wells River, Orange Co., VT

The older children were:

·         Male Pope b. Jul 1869 Landaff, Grafton Co., NH d. Sep 1869, Danville, Caledonia Co., VT

·         Addie C. b. 20 Nov 1870 Haverhill, Grafton Co., NH d. 16 Aug 1872 Danville, Caledonia Co., VT

·         Francis Hooker b. 22 Jan 1873 Greenbank’s Hollow, Danville, Caledonia Co., VT d. 21 Dec 1934 Auburndale, Middlesex Co., MA

·         Viola Belinda  b. 15 Sep 1875 Danville, Caledonia Co., VT d. 2 Feb 1892 Lake Park, Dickinson Co., IA

Winslow with Shirlie and Anna May

Winslow and Nancy moved to McLean Co., ND sometime around 1905.  Not too long after their move, Nancy died of tuberculosis.   After the 1910 census, Winslow left ND and went back east.  His oldest son, Francis or Frank as he was called had moved to Middlesex Co., MA by 1897.  Winslow joined him after 1910 and married for the third time an older woman who was caring for her two nieces.  Winslow was settled in MA but still made several trips back to North Dakota to visit his family.  He had a good enough relationship to carry on a correspondence with his granddaughter, Nan Johnson.  We have copies of many of those letters. 

I suspect that Winslow had a pioneer’s heart.  He enjoyed the challenges that life offered and wasn’t afraid to move somewhere else if he saw an opportunity.  Winslow was recorded I Landaff, Grafton Co., NH in 1870, Bath, Grafton Co., NH in 1880, Sioux Valley, Jackson Co., N in 1900 and Washburn, Mclean Co., ND.  He was recorded for the last time in 1920 in Weston, Middlesex Co., MA.  We know that he was in Minnesota by 1885 because of the births of his children.    During his lifetime, he worked as a farmer, a lumberman and a cook.  He died at the age of 81 of a cerebral hemorrhage. 

Winslow - Taken about a week before he died.

When you consider the timeline of his life – it is sad to note that of 11 children – he outlived all but 5 of his children as well as two wives.  He also outlived all but one of his 10 siblings.  Yet when you read his letters there is a sense of humor and kindness that is evident to his granddaughter.  It is obvious that he was a good man and well beloved by his family.  This is pretty good epitaph for a lifetime, don’t you think?

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!

Grandpa Frank...

How did my obsession with past relatives begin...it seems so long ago that it is hard to pinpoint exactly.  Back around 1996 or so Mom bought Family Tree Maker and we installed it on our computers.  We then put in everything that we knew about the family.  Dad's side was and is huge and complicated.  Mom's side is still complicated but not nearly as large.  Mom had taken the time to talk to my grandfather back in the early 1970's before his death in 1975.  My memories are very dim of my Grandpa Frank - hazy images of being taught how to peel an orange and trips to the store for candy are my clearest memories.  I was just 8 years old when he died, and had never had the opportunity to spend much time with him.

Frank Stewart Johnson was born in 10 Oct 1914 in Dunn Center, Dunn Co., ND to Ulpian Grey Johnson and Shirlie Louisa Pope.  He had three sisters and two half brothers.  His mother died 14 Apr 1927 of pneumonia and his life was forever changed.  Grandpa Frank's father literally fell apart, and it fell to Frank to take care of the family.  He quit school and got a job and did his best to provide for his family.  Dunn Center today is experiencing a bit of an oil boom - back in the 1920's and 30's it was probably one of the most inhospitable places to live.  Hot summers with vicious thunder storms and egg size hail and horrible winters where a rope from the barn to the house was the only way to find your way.  Frank joined the CCC's (Civilian Conservation Corps) and traveled and worked his way through the late 1930's.  In 1939, he visited Idaho with his friend Lawrence Chandler and met a local neighbor and friend, Marian Johnson.  On 01 Oct 1939, Marian and Frank married at the parsonage at St. Mary's Church, in Moscow, ID.  At that point, they went back to North Dakota, where they lived in a tiny two room house with Frank's father, Ulpian, and his sister Mary.  Mary had been born with a dislocated hip and was also somewhat mentally challenged.  Marian and Frank quickly had three children and it must have been a tight fit in the house.  There was little money and few jobs and by 1943, they made the decision to return to Idaho and Hatter Creek which was where Marian's family lived.  By the time, mother married my father (Marian & Frank's oldest child and only son) Marian and Frank lived up in at a small farm in Mountain Home (near present day Potlatch) 

Mom loved her father-in-law!  He was a gentle man who loved his family deeply.  She appreciated his devotion to his family and humor.  Marian and Frank moved to OR in 1965 and during one his visits to our home in Lewiston, ID - Mom sat down with him with some pencil and paper and asked him questions about his family.  Grandpa Frank complied and we had our start to our genealogy research.  He remembered his grandparent's names and all of his father's siblings as well as the name of his great grandmother and some of his grandfather's siblings.  He left us with "Unknown" Johnson as the name of great grandfather...but it was a start.  

Grandpa Frank never really felt that his family history quite measured up.  My grandmother's family had a genealogy that extended back to some of the earliest families in this country.  He felt that my grandmother had a heritage to be proud of...and he didn't think he did.  Grandpa Frank died in 1975 - but when Mom and I started researching, it was on his family that we made the most progress on our early efforts.

We had that basic genealogy that Mom had written down from many years ago.  Our first goal was to find out who "Unknown Johnson" was which we found fairly early with a marriage record.  We then found someone else who was researching the same family and made contact.  Turned out that the cousin was just a few weeks older than my father and had also been researching for a long time.  Then my parents took my grandmother on a trip back east where they visited my Grandpa Frank's sister.  They got copies of letters that had been traded back in the early 1920's between Grandpa Frank's sister Nan and their grandfather, Winslow Lonsdale Pope.  Everything opened up on that family at that point.  In reality, Grandpa Frank's family probably had more prestige than my grandmother's family and he never knew.  The Popes had been in the United States since the 1620's and while his ancestor, Kenelm Winslow wasn't here on the Mayflower, he was soon after.  He followed his brother, Edward Winslow, who was on the Mayflower and who was the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.  Grandpa Frank was also descended from Rev. Ralph Wheelock who you might say began the first public school with a free education in the United States.  

It took a several years more until we were able to piece together his Johnson family.  My father had heard since he was young that we were related to Pres. Andrew Johnson.  My mother and I could not find any proof of the relationship or where the actual connection might be.  An article was sent to us by another Johnson researcher that spelled out the relationship.  "Unknown Johnson" was actually Moses Johnson - which we discovered through a marriage record.  Moses Johnson turned out to be the younger brother of Jacob Johnson - who was Pres. Andrew Johnson's father.  The article quoted a letter written by Henderson Johnson  (my great great grandfather's older brother) that was addressed to Cousin Andy.  The letter was included in the papers of Pres. Andrew Johnson.

Frank Johnson in 1939 - getting ready to drive John Bernard Gage's car in the Tin Lizzy Derby in Lewiston, ID

Grandpa Frank never really knew the history of his family and I'm not sure he thought there would be anything to be proud of.  That was a regret that my mother and I had - that Grandpa Frank never knew anything about where is family came from or the long and rich history that they had.  Now, I am at the point that I can't share the research with my mother; she died almost 6 years ago of lung cancer.  Their have been some wonderful discoveries that I have not been able to share with her - but somehow I think she knows...and I think that Grandpa Frank knows as well.