Genealogy Packages and Discoveries

The past couple of weeks have been a whirlwind of activity on the genealogy front around here.  My best day was last Monday when I received two items in the mail.  One, a letter from a cousin helping me research my Combs family line, and two, books from my parents.  Boy, it was like my birthday at the mailbox ripping open packages.  The kids, once again, thought mom had completely gone off her rocker.

In the letter there were two marriage certificates.  These certificates are needed to complete the DAR and the GSMD lineage society applications I am still working on.  She had to do battle with an unfriendly court clerk to get these, and I am very thankful that she put up with lady to further our research.  I am sure I am going to get to do that the next time I get back to Indiana.    Oh course, there were a couple of surprising elements to the marriage certificates.

First was the certificate for William Hall and Malira Price.  They are my 3^rd great-grandparents who were married in Greene County Indiana on 25 February 1854.  It is a short form marriage register, so no good genealogical information for previous generations, but at least I have something for them.  From the form I see they received the license on the 23^rd and had the marriage recorded on March 1^st.  There isn’t any other information, not even a pastor’s name, but like I said I won’t be complaining.

Next was the certificate of their daughter Mary Margaret Hall.  She married Willis Franklin Combs in Greene County on 5 September 1877.  I stopped cold in my tracks, because something wasn’t adding up with that date.  I read, and re-read, and read a third time.  Then I went to look at my information on their oldest son Ira in my database.  Ira was born 29 October 1877.  Huh, that is interesting.  Now I wonder all sorts of things:  did they just wait a long time, was this "shot gun", was Ira his son?  I could go on and on.  Oh a puzzle and a family mystery!

The books were equally exciting, and proof that my parents spoil me.   A few weeks back I received two books through inter-library loan that have a significant amount of information on early colonial generations of my family.  I talked excitedly over the phone to my dad about it and he found a gently used copy online and bought them for me.  I jumped up and down with delight when I opened the package.  Tuesday I spent several hours reading and placing tabs in the book for each of the generations to make future look-ups easy.  It is going to take me a while to read and digest all the information presented, but boy is t going to be fun.  I particularly love that there are footnotes, sources, and a bibliography.  If you have any of the following lines check out this 2 volume book set.

It is going to be interesting to read about my ancestors who were from New Amsterdam.  I had no idea I had roots to Norway through one family.  Or that my family owned property in what is now Manhattan (60 acres…imagine what that would be worth today!).  Most unusual, “a husband selling his wife into Adultery”, I can guess what that meant.  I foresee several more days of night time reading in my future.

My most common recent ancestor with the author of this book is William Hayden.  William was born in Braintree, Massachusetts 5 October 1727 and died in Fayette County, Pennsylvania 18 July 1823.  He married Lydia Kierstede who was baptized 14 February 1725 in Staten Island, New York and died 1794-1795 in Hampshire County, Virginia.  This is the listing of their ancestor’s surnames that are covered in the book, all of whom are on my father’s side. 

Alden

Bass

Dey

photo credit: Bunches and Bits {Karina} via photopin cc

Duyts

Hayden

Holmes

Hyde
Jan

Jansen

Johnson

Laurenszen

Molenaar

Mullin

Neale

Pray

Pullen

Roelofs

Satyrs

Savil

Scott

Stillwell

Webb

A Mayflower Family or Not

There was a sense of awe in me as a child when I thought about the Pilgrims; with their bonnets and starched white collars sharing a meal with the friendly Indians.  Yes, as an adult I know how unrealistic this was, but as a child it was the image of the Pilgrims and their friends that permeated all you saw, and knew, about those historic events.  Imagine my glee when I was told by my Grandmother how our family was related to people who sailed on that ship!  She read to me the poem by HenryWadsworth Longfellow, TheCourtship of Miles Standish,   and seared into my memory the line “speak for thyself John.”  My world was crushed when I learned it was a fictional account.

According to the article Mayflower Descendants by Jim Faber, 25% of Americans think they are descended from the 26 surviving Mayflower passengers.  Best guess is that actually only 35 million people worldwide have a Mayflower ancestor; much less that the 25%, or 70 million who think they do.   The odds looked like they would not be in my favor from the outset, but that is no reason to quit!

One of the first long-lost-cousins I connected with online had grown up with the same story about John and Priscilla, which made me think that there had to be something to the story.  She also had a clue, which family line the connection was to be through!  That was something I could work with.  According to her family source (which I later found out was the same source my grandmother had, Aunt Eliza Jane) the connection was through our 3^rd great-grandmother Mary Jane Hayden. 

 Thanks to many different societies, organizations, and published works on the subject many of the lines are well documented and proven.  My task was to connect my line into the ones already proven.  Easier said than done I have to admit.  Almost a year later I think I am pretty sure of my research, but not completely.  I think it will take a trip to New England, or a really good genealogy library, to make me feel 100% confident in my work.  I found this website just a few days ago, and it helped me confirm my line past Mary Jane. 

The working hypothesis for my family line is:

1.       John Alden and Priscilla Mullins
2.       Ruth Alden
3.       Ruth Bass
4.       Priscilla Webb
5.       William Hayden - Revolutionary War Soldier
6.       Noah Hayden
7.       Noah Gilpin Hayden
8.       Mary Jane Hayden
9.       Franklin Willis Combs
10.   Everett Combs
11.   Paul Combs
12.   My Dad
13.   Me

Of course, this little endeavor left me looking  sideways at my Texan husband; the one with deep roots in New England.  He had to have someone in that web of New England genealogy that could trace a possible lineage back to a Mayflower passenger.  My bloodhound instincts have been working on this for well over 6 months.  Finally I had a break through, and I am a little more confident in his line than mine.

The working Hypothesis for his family line is:

1.       Stephen Hopkins
2.       Giles Hopkins
3.       Mary Hopkins
4.       Mary Smith
5.       Mary Hamilton
6.       Elizabeth Mayo
7.       Slathiel Nickerson -Revolutionary War Soldier
8.       Polly Nickerson
9.       James Cunningham
10.   Eliza Cunningham
11.   Charles Greeley
12.   Frances Maude Greely
13.   Elsie Crabb
14.   His Mother
15.   Him

Our families appear to have come over on the same boat!  My oldest child can't wait to get to school on Monday and tell everyone.  Especially the story of dear Stephen Hopkins, a Mayflower Compat signer and a Jamestown Settler.  Thankfully his teachers humor his history obsession and just go with it.

Well, there it is.  Anyone have any ideas, suggestions, or comments for me about how to completely prove this lineage?  I have twiddled with the idea of actually going on and submitting both of us to one of the many lineage societies for the Mayflower, like the General Society of Mayflower Descendants.

*wikimedia commons:   Sculpture of John Alden and Priscilla Mullins: "Why Don't You Speak for Yourself, John?"

*Photograph taken by me at Jamestown archeology site, Jamestown, Virginia.