Our First Thanksgiving in Plymouth

Pilgrims and Indians sat down to a feast peacefully around this time of the year in Plymouth, Massachusetts in the early 1600s as the "first" Thanksgiving. According to a letter from Plymouth colonist Edward Winslow dated December 11, 1621, the colonists wanted to celebrate their first good crop of corn and barley grown with generous …

America’s First Murderer

I gathered the following information from Plymouth's Governor William Bradford's Bradford's History of Plymouth Plantation, 1606-1646, The Human Tradition in the Atlantic World, 1500–1850, and https://history.howstuffworks.com.  America's first murderer, his victim, and his execution are revealed in these histories: My 12th paternal great-grandfather, John Billington, was a Mayflower pilgrim.  As one of the 41 signers …

My Cousins Declare America’s Independence

Many Americans take for granted our annual July 4th Independence Day.  While working in my genealogical databases, I came across the name of John A. Hancock, a familiar name from America's history.  I decided to compare our family's John Hancock (my second cousin, seven times removed), to the list of 56 signers of the Declaration of …

Forgotten Mulberry Island

On the north shore of the James River, 20 miles west of the Chesapeake Bay, the marshy plains of Mulberry Island rise above the gentle tide. Actually a peninsula bound by the James and Warwick Rivers. Mulberry Island is a picturesque fixture of Virginia’s Tidewater region whose natural beauty is enriched by thousands of years …

From My Family Tree–

Founding Father Fables & Folklore I received three gifts from the Ages of Enlightenment (1700-1800) and Reform(1830-1850).  My family tree revealed that I am descended from three distinguished founding fathers -- our first, third, and 12th presidents: George Washington (1732-1799) My 6th paternal great-granduncle was Virginia's Robert Bolling IV. His wife, Sally Washington, was the …

My Genetic Genealogy: 1775-1825

Continuing on through my genetic genealogy timeline, my DNA has been found to match with 1,000+ 4th cousins or closer relatives who now live as far north as Vermont, span southward down the eastern coastline into Georgia, and inland to the now midwestern states of Illinois, Indiana, Kansas,  Minnesota, Missouri, and Ohio.  We also can …

My Genetic Genealogy 1750-1775

"When the ships have for the last time weighed their anchors in England, the real misery begins with the long voyage. For from there the ships, unless they have good wind, must often sail eight, nine, ten or twelve weeks before they reach Philadelphia...But during the voyage there is on board these ships terrible misery, …

“Jury Finds Mary Bliss Parsons Not Guilty of Witchcraft”

Mass Moments is a project of Mass Humanities, whose mission is to support programs that use history, literature, philosophy, and the other humanities disciplines to enhance and improve civic life throughout the Commonwealth. Mass Humanities receives support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Massachusetts Cultural Council as well as private sources. This project …

Back From the Future – Part 3 (With John Rolfe and Pocahontas)

I wish to thank my dear friend, retired College Lecturer, and fellow Pocahontas research enthusiast, Christine Dean, for her ongoing updates about happenings in and around her hometown of  Heacham, Norfolk, England.  From her undaunting energy and perseverance, while delving into local legends about Pocahontas and John Rolfe, I am able to bring you new posts …

Alarming Witch Hunt – Another Ancestor Accused –

Thirty-seven or so years into researching my family's history, I still remain committed to it.  Some days my findings seem to be the same old stuff and on others, I am literally knocked out of my seat by them--like today!  I am reviewing hints about family members that I haven't spent much time with and I stumble …

Sleepy Hollow: To be, or not to be

Regular readers of my posts quite likely already have noticed that these writings are about the histories of people, places, and things that I have recalled, researched, or fact-checked to the best of my ability and chronicled here because I hold something about their existence near and dear to my heart.  Infrequently though, I add …

Back From the Future – Part 2

 A Quote from the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, June 2014: Christopher Columbus never reached the shores of the North American Continent, but European explorers learned three things from him: there was someplace to go, there was a way to get there, and most importantly, there was a way to get back. Thus began the European exploration of …

John Rolfe Letter to Governor Thomas Dale, 1614

Continuing to further document and understand the lives of our earliest ancestors - emigrants from England to Jamestown, Virginia, I have included below, the 1614 letter  (transcribed and updated to today’s word usage and spellings by me--I made no changes to word choices or punctuation and kept present-day English spellings).  My  11th great-grandfather, John Rolfe, …

America’s First Entrepreneur

A Documentary about Pocahontas and the man who changed her life--Jamestown Virginia's settler, Captain John Rolfe.

The Killing Spree . . . Our Ancestral Legacy

Attributing our traits to our ancestors Some days when I look at myself in the mirror, I can see glimpses of my ancestors. My once beautifully brilliant blue eyes; I remember seeing these same eyes in my maternal grandfather, Roy (a Ford from Raleigh, Wake County, North Carolina).  Unfortunately, I also get my thick midriff from either or both--my …

The Times, They are a Changin…

Bob Dylan--an American singer, songwriter, artist and writer He has been influential in popular music and culture for more than five decades.  Dylan was born Robert Zimmerman on May 24, 1941, in Duluth, Minnesota.  In 1997, Bob Dylan became the first rock star ever to receive Kennedy Center Honors, considered the nation's highest award for …

Six Unbelievable, But True, Facts About Colonial Life

The following post, which seems a departure from her normal subject matter, was written by Sandie Angulo Chen. It appeared in Ancestry.com's Family History Month on October 15, 2015, and honors colonial life. Sandie is known for her writing about movies, books, pop culture, and entertainment at EntertainmentWeekly.com starting in 1998. In 2007, she moved …

Salty as the Sea–Sweet as Wine–Another Story from Jamestown

Back to Jamestown and Unearthing Yet Another Notable Ancestor Because of my ancient Bolling family lineage, I have long been following anything and everything published related to Pocahontas, her marriage to Thomas Rolfe, their cultural and genealogical histories in England and Virginia.  Among the vast resources available, I also have followed the archaeological endeavors of …

First National Day of Mourning, Thursday, November 26, 1970

Reblogged from MassMoments eMoments (emoments@massmoments.org): On This Day...in 1970, a group of Native Americans attending a Thanksgiving feast in Plymouth walked out in protest. The Indians and their supporters gathered on a hill overlooking Plymouth Rock near a statue of Massasoit, the Wampanoag leader who had greeted the Mayflower passengers 350 years earlier. The protesters …

What’s on the Thanksgiving Table in your Home State?

My Blog's Second Year Anniversary Two years ago this week I wrote my first blog post.  My purpose was to collect, clarify, authenticate, preserve, and publish all relevant genealogical information intended as a legacy to my family.  I want to leave them with as complete and accurate an accounting of our family's past; to honor those who came before …