Thomas Gardner of Salem, MA

John Farmer

2013-05-19T13:45:00.001-07:00

Beacon "Vol. II No. 6" and "Vol. III No. 1" used an annals format to present material. We want to continue with that format for a few more times, as a chronological layout can be helpful for relating material and for determining places to fill in. And, we can see who said what when.

At the same time, as "Vol. II No. 6", we started a bibliography which has been updated a couple of times. The idea here is to make the references available through on-line access as much as possible. Where we cannot, we'll cut an image (see this example - I saw TAG 30:156 misquoted (it turns out) many places and decided to go look for myself one day -- we'll make it part of the procedure to show originals).

Farmer on Gardner

Today, I added John Farmer's book. He is the one who everyone has pointed to in studies that followed his. But, John published in 1829, so he was there long before later writers (for instance, Savage was 30 years later; Perley was 100 years later; on the other hand, Felt was two years earlier - he the one of the Salem Annals which has many references to the contributions of the Gardners; Folger says that the Gardners were from Dorset), and his work has some things are of interest to our endeavors.

Too, John shows his own set of references in the Preface (Hubbard, Hutchinson, etc.). Here is a pointer to the book: Farmer, John (1829) A Genealogical Register of the First Settlers of New England (digitized copy via Google).

The image on the right is from the book's page on various Gardners. The Gardiner entries were on the just prior page.

There are a couple of things to note. John said that Gardner came from Scotland. Note, though, that, he's talking two Thomas' in the sense that Dr. Frank mentioned in his book (see this post). I have seen many references to Thomas (the father of John, Richard, Samuel, Sarah, etc.) coming over with his father (note: I'll start to collect these in a later post).

---

At some point, the annals bits will be merged together. As well, there will be smaller ones devoted to a theme (sound like a database application in the making?). One on-going effort will be a survey of material and work by individuals. Suggestions (and help) are welcome.

Remarks:

05/19/2013 --

Modified: 05/19/2013

Endless genealogies

2013-05-09T14:13:00.002-07:00

Could have used the title: Anything new under the sun?

---

I got into the subject matter from reading a post at the Nutfield Genealogy blog about the Top 40 sites (of which NG is one) as rated by Family Tree magazine. I had earlier run across another site mentioned in the post: Dick Eastman's Newsletter.

As I revisited Eastman's site, I looked at a few posts. One that caught my eye mentioned Adam and Eve. We all have run across family trees that purport to go back that far. Eastman points to a couple of papers that ought to be required reading. Here, I must add a pointer to one important article: Robert C. Gunderson, Feb 1984 (scroll to the second article on the page). His message is to not go back prior to 1500 (AD, of course).

We can let scholars fill in the pieces earlier than that. However, at this time, the Merovingians (ca 450-752) are about as far back as experts can follow documented sources.

Gunderson also counselled that we ought to fill in our trees as much as possible coming forward.

---

As an aside, Gunderson quotes Paul (c. 5 to 67) which is where the subject comes in. Look at this page to see various translations of the Biblical text: http://bible.cc/1_timothy/1-4.htm What struck me was the "endless" concept used in the context of "genealogies" (showing just how old is the interest in ancestors - who begat whom).

But, we can see this interest even earlier, to wit Chronicles (350-300 BCE). But, even earlier, we had Genesis (written 500s BC).

---

So, if there was an interest 2500 years ago, what do we know, or have, now that is truly different. Science/Technology comes to mind. Anything else?

Remarks:

05/09/2013 --

Modified: 05/09/2013

Native Americans

2013-04-27T06:25:00.000-07:00

After running across several sites with pertinent information, I'll start to post these here.

http://www.nativeamericandeeds.com/default.html - "The specific purpose of this project is to bring focus to the subject of the Native American Deeds as recorded in Essex County and also to the Native American population, which was living here in the 17th Century. "
http://www.neara.org/ - The site for the New England Antiquities Research Association.

---

There will be lots to collect about the Gardners and the prior residents. For instance, the King Philip's war was a threshold event, many ways. During that troubled time, Nantucket was peaceful, with the Gardners playing a large role in this.

---

The focus remains the very early times. Lots to look at. Any volunteers want to cover other areas?

Remarks:

04/27/2013 --

Modified: 04/27/2013

Heritage Society communities

2013-04-09T07:06:00.001-07:00

We did mention the group before (see Ebenezer of Maine), but the group (HSC) needs its own post. They have met in April every year now (for awhile) in DC which is Cherry Blossom time. So, DC is a madhouse (in many more ways during the events). While many visitors are out looking at the blooming sites, others are holed up in meeting rooms talking ancestors and tasks related to their groups.

Or, they're talking the absence of youth in the meeting (or the lack of interest in the younger folks for these themes). Of course, the HSC events are held during the school year. So, that explains some of the absence.

Having been in the area during D.A.R. times (just before July 4, every year), though, makes one wonder if that would be not a great time, either. Hot and humid are the watchwords. A tradition talks about how those who were posted to DC (swamp city?), especially during the summer, required tropic's pay.

The HSC is on Facebook, and elsewhere, if someone wants more information.

---

Heritage has several meanings, and, with people, we have both nature and nurture. The prime focus here has the biological flavor, however the other aspect shows up to with all of the "step" relationships that one will find in almost every family. People died young; their spouses remarried; the left-behind kids still needed to be raised.

So, one could think of an "auxiliary" unit that ought to attach to all of these groups that recognizes the contribution of the ancestors to the offspring of their step-child. Of course, such would require dealing with various types of tangled relationships.

Here is an early example that I put for Thomas on Wikipedia (almost). Note that I put it under degrees of separation. In many cases, it is very close (as in, an infant spent his/her whole lifetime under the tutelage (supposedly -- hopefully? -- a good one) of a "step" parent through no choice), and, in many cases, that type of thing caused confusion in family tree work.

Remarks:

04/09/2013 -- Naturally, dealing with this type of thing would cause increases in cardinality and complexity. Yet, the world never has been a simple place.

Modified: 04/10/2013

Gardner's Beacon, Vol. III, No. 1

2013-03-20T16:34:00.000-07:00

See Vol. III, No. 1 of Gardner's Beacon for a continued look at the legacy of Thomas and Margaret () Gardner using an Annals format. This time the focus is on the period prior to the arrival in 1623/24, for the most part considering the context and motivations of the arrival. Future looks will be at the Dorchester Company and then at Thomas and Margaret, specifically.

---

The best known immigration event in the U.S., to many, is that of the Pilgrims and their Mayflower voyage. Too, Jamestown got recent recognition with the 400th anniversary of the settlement's start. In both of these attempts, the people involved endured a lot of hardship and suffering. It took years to become what might be considered successful.

We, across the distance of time, can easily ignore the troubles and look at the accumulated glory. After all, the majority of U.S. educated people can tell us the stories behind the first Thanksgiving, even if some of the details may be a little off the mark.

The fact is that New England, which was North Virginia, did not offer an easy time for any early settlement attempt. We will look at some of these over a fifty year period.

English transisitons

Aside: The original intent was to cover +/- fifty, but there is just too much information for that. So, we'll continue with this theme for awhile in the Beacon. Some of the views will cover a wide expanse of time while others are expected to zoom in on a particular period or series of events. There were many changes going on in England and the world. The image depicts changes on the throne for the period that would cover the life of Thomas and two generations before.

---

Comparatively, though it has been couched, by many, as being otherwise, the Cape Ann venture, led by Thomas Gardner, was successful in several ways. For one, those there made it through the winter. Then, they established themselves, built a great house, put up other dwellings, made plantings, and more. They were healthy enough to be rambunctious when relating to those who may have wanted to encroach (to wit, Roger Conant's peacemaking role). And, they did go on to found Salem.

In fact, when Winthrop showed up in 1630, he feasted on strawberries from Cape Ann. Most likely, these had been cultivated. He also was wined (or beer'd) and dined in a house (see Wikipedia) that was the first of its type in New England.

---

Be that as it may, to understand the origins, we need to look at those earlier times of exploration and of trial residence that went on for several decades. This look is not conclusive; to be comprehensive is beyond the scope of any Beacon issue. There is an intent to fund necessary research to fill in gaps about the lives of Thomas and Margaret including looks at the contexts, situations, and collateral families.

References: see Sources (Current Issue)

Remarks:

03/23/2013 -- Beacon issue, Vol. III, No. I, is available. 1st Edition still there in PDF format. This issue looks at events prior to the arrival. Looking at the arrival and early times in more detail makes it even a stronger thought that the group was overlooked and denigrated. That statement is not meant only in relation to Thomas. The whole group had their position in history lost. We'll re-look at all that has been said and reconstruct, as needed, a view that ought to be left for future historians to discuss.

03/21/2013 -- 1st edition (or draft) migrated in order to get all the pieces into place. The completion of edits will be noted by the removal of the watermark.

Modified: 03/23/2013

Origins - motivations

2013-03-06T13:23:00.003-08:00

We brushed upon origins a few times: Historical genealogy, How many wives?, and Black death.The first post of this blog asked about the ancestry of Thomas and Margaret.

As mentioned in the last post, we are looking at different periods that relate to lives of Thomas and Margaret. And the period right around the arrival (+/- 50 years) is a current focus.

And, motivation for leaving is always a concern. This post looks at an issue that culminated around the time of Thomas' great-grandfather. The influence from the particular conflict was deep. In fact, about that time, over a century of conflict came to an end.

Of course, after the peace, turmoil continued which we'll get into. For now, let's consider the case of the bickering cousins. In a sense, all the conflicts on UK (and related areas on the continent) soil were of this type. However, this one had very close cousins at each other's throat (extreme sibling rivalry -- gosh, are we any better today?).

So, it was a blood war, but not between rival clans. No, it was cousins vs cousins. There is not any reason to see this as unusual, as we'll also look at many conflicts between brothers before we're done.

People beheaded
War of the Roses

Aside: In looking at origins, this particular topic is important but is not the only one. We're starting with it due to entanglements. I don't know just how much we appreciate the reality on this side of the pond. That gaming has taken up the theme, partly encouraged by the Game of Thrones series (I liked the first two books; am not a gaming type; haven't seen any of the TV stuff), may tell something. Go to Google (or Bing), and look at War of Roses (images) and note the gaming interest.

So, this image has a list of people who were beheaded during the period of the War of the Roses. It's not a short list, by any means (see the Wikipedia page). The two images on the side are the following: Choosing of the roses (below) and The execution of Edmund Beaufort, 4th Duke of Somerset (above). Edmund is in both of these paintings. He's on the right of the Choosing scene and the main character in the other. But, this is only a list of the noble class victims. There were many other casualties, such as the Two Princes. Too, what was the havoc wrought upon the general populace, of all of the classes?

---

This is one little example. Does England look to be a pleasant place to be? One can appreciate the dreams of freedom that pushed people off its shores, even if these were illusory at the time (did you know that there were early hippies - Merry mount). Yet, there was a less oppressive nature in group that came with Thomas and Margaret than later (of course, about now, we need to mention that Plymouth's involvement will be covered, to boot). It was not long before a hammer was sent over (another whole story). One can also understand the appeal of the Quaker point of view which figured heavily in Thomas' later life through the influence of his last wife and in the lives of some of the progeny.

So, we've barely kicked off a look at origins with a brief touch on motivations.

---

As said before, whatever the motive, Thomas came here, raised a family thereby leaving a legacy, supported the founding of the civilization that became the U.S., and has tales to tell about his life and character. It is for us to discover these and preserve them for posterity.

Remarks:

03/31/2013 -- The recent Gardner's Beacon issue looks at priors. On the War of Roses, not only were the participants blood relatives, they were Christian, ostensibly. So, an Easter thought is in order: was not their behavior as far from what Christ would have wanted as was possible? Then, again, how close to such an ideal was the Crusader behavior of their ancestors?

Modified: 03/31/2013

A few considerations

2013-03-02T10:22:00.001-08:00

We have had two posts dealing with descendants: The kids (Sept 2010) and Two generations (Oct 2010). Both of these posts used material from the work of individuals who have taken the time to post on rootsweb which has been around awhile. There are other sites, to boot. One can use these build composite trees.

Bevan's work is an example. He has merged multiple lines from the work of others. But, he does not have Thomas and Margaret.

Now, taking the work at rootsweb, a query on Thomas who died in 1674 brings up 822 trees. Of those, 722 have Margaret as wife. But, and here is the catch, of the 722, only 255 have sources. Following along with D.A.R. and the Hereditary Society Community (HSC), we ought to require sources. At the same time, we ought to allow expansions of a tree that are conjectural.

A lot of this rootsweb work may have been done by Thomas descendants. Many others may have been done by people looking at collateral families. Or, someone may have included the Gardners just to be complete. How much of it is believable?

One task might be to take Dr. Frank's numbering and then extend it to about three or four generations. Or, we could pick a time, say 1812, as the end of a span.

So, two basic issues are the technical aspects and verification. The former ought to leverage upon work that has been done on the computer for the past few decades. The latter may be more problematic.

In any case, one basic notion is to fund research on a continuing basis in a manner that persists across future generations. To accomplish that, it would be nice to have a reasonable starting point. Lots to look at and do.

---

So, a slow build via incremental means has been the focus so far. As suggested by the Backbone category, there are many lessons to learn of a varied nature that is not small in breadth. One focus of late has been looking back across the pond, mainly to get acquainted with things. Hence, the focus of the next Beacon will be along that line, albeit in a brief fashion.

Many see posts almost like twits (tweets?) which have a small temporal footstep. We could see them as something that, at some point, could be pulled into a book. Of course, to do such a thing right would require major editing, but that is part of the work (editors exist for that purpose). The content would be there, though, which is the key.

---

Too, there are several ways to communicate. Mass e-mailing will be limited. Annoucements will be by the TGS site and the TGS Forum. Right now, the TGS Forum is using a blackboard approach. Just like with the blog, there are several ways to support discussions. It would be good settle on a method that is effective with which to carry forward.

Remarks:

03/04/2013 -- Forgot to put the pointer to rootsweb. Today, there were 821 trees to this query: Surname (gardner), Given name (thomas), Death year (1674). Now, a slight change to the Death year of +/- 5 years increased the count to 897. If the TGS was going to be effectively used for this type of database entry, it would be by providing a place where one could get the facts, as they are best known. At this point, doing such a thing would require technical support as well as continuing scholarly work of a sponsored nature. Also, identify the Hereditary Society Community properly.

03/02/2013 -- What's New at the TGS site will post things of interest. The main page will provide the last change date for the What's New page.

Modified: 03/04/2013

Plus or minus the arrival

2013-03-01T10:36:00.001-08:00

With the last Beacon, we started an "annals" approach which will be useful for awhile. The next issue will follow the same format, looking at a period of time that covers 50 years on either side (so, we're talking a span of 100 years) of the arrival of 1623 or 1624. Most, such as the Great Migration Project, have used the latter, however there was a party left here to overwinter in the fall of 1623. Was Thomas with that crew? We'll have to collect the facts and opinions about that event.

Also, the whole general framework in (and from) which Thomas and Margaret lived (and left) will be of interest and will involve a lot of material, as we know from looking at history. Things to consider would be several: early looks over here (such as Florida, Maine, Virginia and places in-between), what was going on in England (how many transitions of power were there in that span? see image - with a normalized view, one would think about 4 or 5), the goings-on related to Rev. John White's Dorchester Company, and, of course, the family of Thomas and Margaret.

---

We started to list some of the 400th anniversaries that have occurred or will occur (thinking about preparation). Too, we can look forward to this year being the 500th of the founding of Florida.

---

Post-note: At some point, we plan to have a database that will be compatible with the current formats for genealogical data. In the meantime, we can have (develop) a web-based look at Gardners in the context of the unfolding of the past four hundred years or so.

Remarks:

03/02/2013 -- See a few considerations.

Modified: 03/02/2013

Meeting, again

2013-02-10T16:44:00.001-08:00

We have had several posts dealing with the 1692 events or making mention of such. There were two Beacon issues with the theme. The latest was this year, with a subsequent post with this topic: Imagine a meeting. The thing was to call together all of those ancestors on someone's tree who were there, even participating in certain roles. In short, those ancestors' roles covered the gamut.

---

One source for the Beacon issue in 2011 was Frances Hill's book about men of dangerous ideas. Her take on these matters made a lot of sense which will be discussed more fully with time. We intend to visit this theme a lot, since it does involve Salem which is Thomas' (and his peers') town, so to speak (yes, even the Village - they owned property there). So, we need to have continual interest; the events be-smirched the little place and left a lasting impact.

---

Recently, I read Frances Hill's book: A Delusion of Satan. The Google site has reviews of the book. Frankly, I think the book is underrated. Now, it may be that the reviewers have read other books on the subject and have had more exposure to the details than I have had (novice but learning the ropes). Nevertheless, it's the first rendition that made the (human side of the) reality clear to me, as one reviewer noted.

Frances is coming from another viewpoint, being British. And, those in that region, then, were, too, for the most part. The Puritanical mindset played heavily. I had run across the Porter and Putnam controversy before, since Dr. Frank mentions that John Hathorne's grand-niece (granddaughter of his sister, Elizabeth) married Abel Gardner. Frances made me aware that Gen. Israel Putnam was an offspring of Elizabeth (Hathorne) Porter. Israel's father was with the Porters (married into the family).

But, on the other hand, Ruth Gardner, as a mere teen, was married to John thereby being the ancestor of Nathaniel. Frances mentions this in her modern bad guy book.

---

All sorts of good souls, other than the Porters, tried to intervene with those who were the primarily involved with the mischief (we'll get back to Cotton Mather (cousin), Corwin (1/2 cousin), and others later). Yet, those good souls were not effective. Why? I asked before: what if Samuel Gardner (Corwin's brother-in-law) had still been alive? Thomas was gone, too.

The tragedy's real lasting effect is not the hanging. Rather, it's the jailing and torture of prisoners, many of whom were women of age. Or, men of age. Let's hear it for Giles, the man of iron, albeit one with his foot in his mouth (testified against his wife, or they aired their spats publicly).

So, speaking of the jailing, Dorcas Good was a mere 4+ years old. People were chained into uncomfortable positions. There were horrid actions on the part of bullies running the jails (err, dungeons). Corwin stole (a lot), essentially. When looked at with realistic eyes, there's nothing to romanticize (yet, this occurs on a particular day in a month during the fall of each year).

And, even worse, after Gov Phips said to knock it off, they kept people jailed until they could pay their way out (of course, their property had been stolen by the sheriff, many times). So, we have continuing bad straits for a while. Even restitution, obtained in some cases - like the Parker boys -- wasn't much consolation.

---

By the way, some in power still have this Puritanical blood (of course, we can show the genealogical link) which led to the atrocities. Frances made this, and related, points in her bad guy book.

---

The 1692 events have all been hashed out (in literature and in academic analysis - as well in popular expositions). What is (can be) new, though, is that we can look at modern descendants whose genes/memes are influenced (lastingly) by this thing. And, a particular interest might be of those whose ancestors were among the whole gamut of players of that time and turmoil. Such is the reality of the fan-in through time within a population.

Remarks:

03/10/2013 -- Samuel was married to the Corwin's 1/2 sister, Mary.

Modified: 03/10/2013

John Goff, Salem Preservationist

2013-01-25T07:11:00.000-08:00

In today's Salem Gazette, John Goff writes about "Some old Salem ties to Nantucket" and references the Thomas Gardner Society's website. In the article, John alludes to the peaceful nature attained on Nantucket as opposed to the more cantankerous mode (my usage) in parts of New England.

Earlier, John wrote about King Philip and about the turmoils related to his time. John and his co-author ask what-ifs about more peaceful approaches, albeit that the die seemed to have be cast earlier. Many left the old country to get away from violence (Laud's love of nose splitting and ear cutting off, as an example). Too, it was in the King Phillip's war that the Gardner family lost a son, Joseph, however Thomas and Margaret were already passed on.

Aside: Governor Simon Bradstreet married Joseph's widow, Ann, who had Gov. Simon sign a pre-nup that she drew up. The house is remembered by his name, though.

---

John Goff is one of the many modern descendants of Thomas. He will be the first in a series that we will start on descendants. We first ran across John's work (Salem preservation and newspaper columnist) on an early web search for Gardner which turned up the article on Gardner/White (the post was from 2011).

John's ancestor is Richard who was the third son (Dr. Frank's book) of Thomas and Margaret. Then, John's lineage continues with Richard's son, John, who married Mary Starbucks and, then, Elizabeth who married Stephen Gorham.

---

One planned activity will be to go through John's articles at the Gazette and create an index as part of our bibliography. For instance, this little bit on the Pioneer Village was a great read. It got me to look at Nathaniel's (a Thomas descendant) book, Grandfather's Chair (courtesy, archive.org). The Pioneer Village has a replica of the Great House (Cape Ann) that was taken over to Salem on orders of John Endicott (Winthrop dined there).

Also, John has written of the Salem historians: Joseph B. Felt, Harlan Horton Smith (worked on the Pioneer Village), and more.

This is the Google search result for "John Goff " at the Gazette site. The theme, for the most part, is Salem and early New England. Hence, these articles are of interest to the TGS.

Remarks:

01/25/2013 -- We need to design a framework for doing descendant bios.

Modified: 02/05/2013

Gardner and Conant families

2013-01-24T17:07:00.000-08:00

As we know, Roger came into the Cape Ann area at the request of Rev. John White (more below). We had an earlier post that considered some differences between Roger and Thomas. Too, the last Beacon issue looked in a Annals format (we're going to use this for awhile) at several things, one of which was John's (as in, Endicott's) relationship with Thomas (as in, John knew that Thomas was a "Mr" and related to him thusly). Thomas and Margaret were resident in the house when John had it knocked down and brought over to Salem.

---

Aside: By the way, we're going to document this more thoroughly on Wikipedia - Great House (Cape Ann). We have John Goff's expertise available to assist us. This house was the first of its kind in New England.

---

Uncle?

Now, there are relationships between the families of Thomas and Roger. Seeth married Roger's son, Joshua. No doubt, there are others. Let's look at one that is interesting. Take Rev. John White (please). His sister, Martha, married William Cooke. Then, their daughter, Elizabeth, married William Walton. Elizabeth and William and their kids came over to New England. And, their daughter, Elizabeth, married Lot Conant.

This would mean, given the association mentioned by John Goff (in his article), that the Elizabeth who married Lot was a grand-niece of Thomas. However, according to a UK page, dealing with the Dorchester Company, the sister, Elizabeth, of Rev. John White who married Thomas Gardner did not have a son named Thomas.

---

Aside: From an outsider's view, Rev. John White didn't act like much of an uncle, or did he? If he were, he sure sold his nephew done the river, IMHO.

---

As you can see by the links, we are, mostly, in an acquisition'l mode. The intent is to find out all of the sides and their supporting material. The hope would be to find some reasonable story that has good support. Now, when it is a case that is not so strong, we can make proper conjectures. To wit? About the number of wives of Thomas: we say two.

The beauty of newer methods (disparate view bridging in the cloud) will be to allow multi-faceted looks at something. We don't live in a black/white world. Yet, even fuzzy approaches can (must) de-fuzzify now and then. How to present the material with the proper richness will be a continuing challenge.

---

Aside: There are many such questions to work on.

Remarks:

01/25/2013 -- John Goff is noted for his Salem preservation efforts.

Modified: 01/25/2013

Blog of the year, 2012

2013-01-14T17:29:00.000-08:00

Earlier today, we got notice of the TGS blog being submitted for the award by Heather at Nutfield Genealogy (thank you, Heather Rojo Wilkinson). I have returned to the Nutfield blog many times while trying to untangle some of the genealogical knots that seem to lurk about.

---

The award is sponsored at the following link; the rules are posted at the link (and are provided below). For item 2, look after the rules.

http://thethoughtpalette.co.uk/our-awards/blog-of-the-year-2012-award/

1 Select the blog(s) you think deserve the ‘Blog of the Year 2012’ Award

2 Write a blog post and tell us about the blog(s) you have chosen – there’s no minimum or maximum number of blogs required – and ‘present’ them with their award.

3 Please include a link back to this page ‘Blog of the Year 2012’ Award – http://thethoughtpalette.co.uk/our-awards/blog-of-the-year-2012-award/ and include these ‘rules’ in your post (please don’t alter the rules or the badges!)

4 Let the blog(s) you have chosen know that you have given them this award and share the ‘rules’ with them

5 You can now also join our Facebook group – click ‘like’ on this page ‘Blog of the Year 2012’ Award Facebook group and then you can share your blog with an even wider audience

6 As a winner of the award – please add a link back to the blog that presented you with the award – and then proudly display the award on your blog and sidebar … and start collecting stars…

---

The following list contains my nominations.

Heather Wilkinson Rojo at Nutfield Genealogy,
Mark E. Miner at Miner Descent.
http://engineermemes.blogspot.ca/ which is fairly new, and very relevant, blog.
Rick Bookstaber at http://rick.bookstaber.com/, author of A Demon of Our Own Design
...
...

Remarks:

03/02/2013 -- Engineer memes is at blogspot.ca.

02/21/2013 -- Mark's blog has an interesting list of posts related to forebears prior to the 'puritan migration' that will motivate a few here (next post): Shakespearean ancestors. Evidently, Downton Abbey (I have not watched it, yet) has people thinking of the little realm of our ancestors. We can use the meeting meme (ala the 1692 turmoil) to cover the gamut from William's bit of ambition involving all sorts of inter-family squabbles. You see, Thomas' mixture (genes/memes) encapsulated that (as does all of our glorious selves, in one way or another). His life and choices exemplify much for us to try to know and understand.

02/07/2013 -- Found another blog of note: Gene expression (post at this time had a photo of John Quincy Adams). Note the criticism of The Seven Daughters of Eve. As I find them, I'll add 'em here.

Modified: 03/02/2013

TGS Forum

2013-01-08T15:11:00.000-08:00

Note: 03/02/2013 -- See Remarks this day, below.

To facilitate discussions, and activities, related to the 400th anniversaries and more, we have added a bulletin board to the TSG site. There is an easy registration step (or, browse and post as guest) including one little bit to verify that the one registering is a person (inhibit spamming).

For now, no moderation is planned; we assume the usual protocols of good conduct.

---

There are two threads now: birth order of the children (see the image which is cut from Dr. Frank's and Anderson's books) and initial entry of Thomas and Margaret. But we expect this list to grow. Anyone can add a thread.

It is expected that some facility like this can be used to coordinate a group's interaction and to keep things moving forward effectively.

Remarks:

03/02/2013 -- Putting in the agreement didn't help. Evidently, people don't read the things. So, the spam continued. As of a few days ago, the automated registration has been disabled. New accounts can be obtained by mailing jmswtlk[@]thomasgardnersociety[.]org. Specify desired ID and particulars about your interest in the TGS. Namely, family and friends are welcomed.

01/24/2013 -- Due to spam registrations, the TGS BB requires an approval. That is, go to the site's registration page, check that you read the agreement (note, for family and friends of Thomas and Margaret () Gardner of Salem), fill in the needed blanks, and then we'll get a notice. As mentioned in the What's New at the TGS BB, we intend to have a persistent site. However, there will be improvements as we go along. Data will carry forward.

01/12/2013 -- Split TGS BB (forum) into public (can be read by guests) and private (requires registration and login) areas. For instance, the Social category has Water Cooler (public) and Break Room (private).

01/11/2013 -- Added link to TGS from FamilyTreeCircles. Found this while searching for Rachel, proposed sister of Thomas, after seeing her mentioned in another blog (Turn the Hearts). I had seen her in early browsings, but today I decided to look in more details.

01/10/2013 -- Added in a "water cooler" board, for general topics, a what's new board, and renamed the working category to Family focus. Some of this ought to be members only, perhaps, leaving only overview items as public.

01/09/2013 -- A BB is fluid, essentially. A blog is less so. One would expect that we would take information that comes in via the BB and structure it, with other information, into other formats. How this might be done will be discussed further, at some point.

Modified: 03/02/2013

400th anniversaries

2013-01-06T15:19:00.003-08:00

It's hard to believe that the 400th is right around the corner; it's close enough that we could start counting down now with 10, ... Also, which of the 400th anniversaries will we feature?

We could start with the marriage of Thomas and Margaret, though we don't know the date. We do have the birth years (approximate?) of Thomas, George, and Richard that would be prior to the Cape Ann venture. One goal might be to get the arrival time a little more clear (I've seen quite a range of guesses) even if we can only identify the time that has the most support (to be discussed).

For starters, the below list is to be taken as cursory (see TGS site for an early start on this), for now. There is a whole lot that could be done; and, a lot needs to be done once decisions are made. The bullet order does not imply priority. Some things may need more immediate attention than do others.

Set up a mailing strategy for Gardner's Beacon and for e-mail interchange and discussion, perhaps using a message center for the latter.
Given Dr. Frank's effort at publishing 100 years ago (we cannot thank him enough), our effort now ought to be to establish a cyber presence for Thomas and Margaret that is persistent, well cared for, and known to be the best source of information going forward. The current web-site (TGS.org) is only a minor step. There will be technical discussions, related to the approach to take, in regard to resources, trends, and best approaches. We are talking more than genealogical studies (we like that the NEHGS has both "H" and "G").
Document, thoroughly, the events related to Cape Ann and Salem in so far as they pertain to Thomas and Margaret. Some of this may be reasonable conjectures based what will be known once all the material is pulled together and organized. One might say that Anderson's (et al's) Great Migration (six pages for Thomas and family) is a little peek under the covers (so to speak).
Start with the first few generations (three to five) and fill in the tree for the children of Thomas and Margaret (early attempt at this for two generations).
The prior bullet (#3) was top-down. From the other direction, provide a means to collect information about current descendants, their stories, and tales of the sagas of their intermediate ancestors. Again, there are many ways to do this. Develop the descendants list further.
In regard to the prior bullet (#4), present the coverage maps like one sees nowadays (but, with a way to control the timeline). Link this with the effort of the next bullet.
Extending the idea of the first bullet (#1) and the prior (#5), develop a "game" approach (let's say, non-1st world (such as, Second Life) and educationally focused) that will allow Thomas and Margaret to be spokespersons for those times and more. This notion pertains to lessons to be learned from the experiences of those two (and, some of their cohorts) that are relevant to today (see Backbone series, as one person's opinion). One motivation might be to get the younger generations enthused about these "dead" people from their (ours') pasts. However, who knows what might flower out of new research efforts?
Accomplish various tasks related to this type of organization (membership, 501(c)3, application process, research support, scholarships, etc.).
Establish a regular publication schedule for Gardner's Beacon with themes determined in advance to allow for article calls.
Gardners and Gardners will be of continuing interest. Associated with this, summarize the disparate information that one can find, provide an overview, and maintain the data going forward. This, somewhat, overlaps the first bullet (#1). Support other Gardner efforts (see #12, below).
Organize, and maintain, a bibliography that facilitates efforts for the first (#1) and the prior (#9) bullets.
Push the window backward from the Cape Ann (1623/1624) arrival in a manner that carry forward. For starters, collect everything done to date (books, family information, websites, ...) and handle much like the Gardners and Gardners effort (prior bullet - #9).
DNA anyone (background, Gardner project)?
Provide for, and support, regular maintenance of TGS information, such as testing for missing items (and a whole lot more), on an on-going basis.
...

There can, no doubt, be more items added to this list. For instance, having a place for regular discussion would be nice. Too, a common method for submitting trees ought to be facilitated, at some point. The idea, now, is to start small and to build incrementally. Hopefully, if this is done, more or less, correctly, there would be fewer false steps.

Of course, technologies will change. Bridging these types of changes over time is an open issue. Perhaps, after the bursts of knowledge of the last 100+ years, or so, settles down, there will be better effort at preserving states of knowledge.

Actually, one talent that we humans have (not yet replicated by the artificial, yet) is creativity which can span across seemingly endless states without getting lost. So, our intent will be to foster the human side of creativity going forward. Perhaps, that might be one lesson of Thomas and Margaret.

Remarks:

01/08/2013 -- Added a forum to facilitate discussion, etc.

01/07/2013 -- There are many anniversaries to plan for. Also, to the above list, we ought to firm up the order of birth. Let's say that nine children is the agreed upon number. There will be a post on this, soon.

01/06/2013 -- Need to figure a good e-mail strategy that doesn't involve reply all.

Modified: 01/08/2013

Clamorous bunch

2012-12-27T06:21:00.004-08:00

Thomas sticks out because of the dearth of information about him. He did not leave behind anything of a glib, or even querulous, nature. No, he was there and effective; and, he left his progeny. We have already mentioned that being free with words was a trait that seemed to come to fore here, in the first land of freedom.

Hence, Thomas can serve as a proxy for our look backs. Just like the "WWJD?" question, we can ask: what did Thomas think?

---

On reading Thomas Prince yesterday, I marveled at his scholarship and energy. His 1736 publication (Vol. I of the Chronological History of New England) had several pages of references. Luckily for us, Prince had read Rev. Hubbard's manuscript (finished in 1680, it was almost lost in the mayhem related to the tax issue - at Hutchinson's house which was trashed and burned) and used it.

Hence, we have the first reference of the role of Thomas and John (Tylly, of course) in a look back that was only 100 years after the fact. Of course, all sorts had their memoirs. I'll keep looking for the first reference, but, right now, it seems to be Hubbard (printed first by Prince).

Now, coming over to this land brought out several latent characteristics that had evolved over centuries. Think of the youngsters now running off to college and parties (and dire straits, many times). Same sort of thing; yet, some were more mature about it (hint, Thomas and his ilk). Others took their new-found power a little to far (despots, essentially - who? do I have to enumerate the whole set for you?).

---

I will redo Prince's bibliography in a modern format. It's really impressive. Many of these are in digital form, hence we can read them (so, we'll link to the on-line material).

But, looking at his work reinforced some notion that I've rolled around [in my mind]: you have to go back to the original sources, folks, to see what the person said by reading it yourself. As we would know from information theory, we have people expressing their opinion, then that opinion generates a retort (many times the original source is not reviewed to see what is what) and so forth, ad infinitum (it seems). We have to go back to the original source (which implies having it available and not just quoted by some later dude -- now, there may be additional information about motivation, milieu, etc., which all can be facilitated with the internet -- listening Zuck? -- what is this crap of claiming territory and making oodles of money -- yes, the cyber realm's landscape is being as screwed up as was the 1st world's).

---

The coming Gardner's Beacon issue will provide, hopefully, a new start on some of this stuff. The original basis will be minimal (somewhat).

---

The clamor accelerated with the advent of New England's reality, prowess, (in Thomas Prince's work, the scope includes all, not just the northern part that was started by the errant Pilgrims of 1620). The clamor reached some peak around the War of Revolution. However, the internet age has caused a worldwide surge (that is, beyond the huge amount daily captured in the Congressional Record). Lord help us (as in, who can eat or wear this vaporous thing that does not even have any semblance of being? -- ah, money as an analog).

Remarks:

01/01/2013 -- David Goss' talk at the 1999 Essex Society of Genealogists gives a perspective that also motivates. See the TGS bibliography.

Modified: 01/01/2013

Gardner's Beacon, Vol. II, No. 6

2012-12-25T11:08:00.000-08:00

See Vol. II, No. 6 of Gardner's Beacon for a look at the legacy of Thomas and Margaret () Gardner using an Annals format and being accompanied by a bibliography (with links to digitized versions of references).

---

In 1995, the Great Migration series had its first publication. Over the next few years, the early settlers (1620-1633) were covered in three volumes. If we take the first three "governors" and their coverage, we have this: Thomas Gardner (six pages), Roger Conant (eight pages), John Endicott (seven pages). This publication covers what is known about the settlers at this time.

As such, though, there is a lot of material that is not referenced. Too, a look back, such as the Great Migration one, can cover 1000s of people and cannot get into as much detail as we might want. We have to go elsewhere, and, frankly, the sum total of information that I have seen can be less than clear, for many reasons. One such controversy is how many wives that Thomas had. There are others.

For instance, on March 20, 1999, a talk at the ESOG (Essex Society of Genealogists) by David Goss looked at the Old Planters of Beverly (TEG, Vol. 19, pg. 123 -- our earlier take on the subject in 2011). He described how the term came about and to whom it applied. From the Beverly-group's perspective, the names are familiar as they've been used in many papers and books (Conant, Balch, Trask, Woodbury, Palfray). These were, in other words, the stalwarts of John White or the group led by Roger Conant (Reminder: the Beverly group did not get their land until 1635 - we need to talk about the time from 1624 up til then, more or less).

Along this same theme, we saw, in 1899, the founding of an Old Planters Society whose membership included those who had ancestors who came before 1630. That effort was led, in part, by Dr. Frank. A. Gardner. Dr. Frank A. is noted for his books on Thomas Gardner and his descendants using material that he had gleaned through a lifetime of research. It is of interest, that in the early 1900s, the group seemed to be a Balch/Gardner reunion (Benjamin Balch's/Sarah Gardner's descendants). The latest events have a flavor of the History of Beverly. The 1899 group talked about the injustice of history overlooking these early planters and wanted to correct the matter, ostensibly before the 300th anniversary. We're preparing now for the 400th.

---

David's paper, which I ran across recently, was the latest find during a three-year search and review, by the blogger, of all material related to the Cape Ann group. This long effort, essentially, looked in all corners and created a huge pile of material (searched with a very-wide net). Now, the task is sifting through the huge pile, developing a bibliography, laying out a timeline, and building a view that can go further as support for future research. That motive of this work is to honor Dr. Frank's work and to present a coherent, and as complete as we can, view of Thomas.

Too, many conjectures have been presented which do not fit the bill, otherwise there would not be the controversy (unless one expects that these types of things are not resolvable).

---

The current issue presents the material in a timeline by year, up until the present. In doing so, it hopes to show a view that makes sense. The timeline is not complete; rather, think of it as an outline from which we can define research projects that will clarify, fill in, information. If done correctly, this type of timeline would become more and more strong such that future people with interests in Thomas and Margaret can use it as a launch point.

That brings up a new view though. Thomas' crew put together a house their first year. Too, they did come prepared and were successful in establishing themselves. The only failure was not having sufficient output to send back to the capitalists in England. What White may have wanted was for them to send what they needed to sustain themselves, but reasonable folks do not do that without the threats of the taxman or strong arm (those who came here were not serfs, in other words).

When Conant showed up, he didn't find starving people. He found a boisterous group. The use of insubordinate shows White's failure (hey, the descendant of Thomas has White on the tree more than once). The effort was not a military expedition. It was a plantation building effort.

Here is the thing, though. When Conant and his group went down to Naumkeag, it was not an all-in-one trip. Whoever thought that has not had to deal with the real world. We're talking a trip that could be taken by a good man in a day. By water, the trip could be less in the right conditions (look at the image which shows an entry from Winthrop's diary - courtesy of Judy Jacobson - in which he talks of going to Salem, eating, then going to Cape Ann, for dessert, so to speak). Too, Thomas' group had established themselves at Cape Ann (which is a real nice place, by the way). There was the house and other dwellings. They had gardens. They had cattle. They could fish. There was game. Who the heck sees this as failure?

The movement over to Naumkeag took time and many trips. What ought to be considered is that Thomas had a presence at both places, but he was principally in Cape Ann. He could take care of (and feed) himself and his family very well. Now, when Endicott showed up and pushed Conant aside, he saw Thomas in the Cape Ann house. He liked the house and had it moved to Naumkeag.

Too, though, Endicott knew that Thomas was of the "Mr" variety. Hence, Endicott wrote about him (the 1629 meeting mention). Due to the lack of "press coverage" as we expect nowadays, Thomas might be considered peripheral by some, but so what? He was taking care of his own. Most likely, he helped other people, too. And, why would he follow Conant? Too, as said before, Thomas' proof of being is his progeny. And, being, folks, is still the reality (we have seen plenty examples, of late, of effective people who do not announce their deeds prior, or even ex post facto, to accomplishment).

Thomas was not a freeman (as if he needed someone to set him free) until 1637. He joined the Church the year before. But, he was signing things, like land grants, before this. In other words, he and Endicott got along, so Endicott gave him some responsibility. But, as we know how people are, the Church people noted that Thomas hadn't shown up (in modern parlance, took a boondoggle to Cape Ann to look at the crops when service time came around - okay?) so they had to rope him in. Also, Thomas knew that his kids would have to be of the social element in order to have any success. So, he deigned to join.

Not long afterwards, though, he married a Quaker. Do we hear of anyone threatening Thomas (Endicott would know better!) on this? We have not seen such documented. And, this type of thing would have been recorded. Also, it was not that Thomas was a bully causing people to fear him. Rather, his stature (I would presume from what I know of Gardners) was above normal; he have a solid, and large, character; and he was a man's man of the peaceful type (the Natives loved him).

In other words, the preeminent individual so loved by Emerson (in his mind - by the time of Ralph Waldo, too many of the elite had ruined things for the rest - that is part of the Thomas story) was here within the first generation (actually was the first generation).

---

That first group, all of them, had remarkable characters. They did not fail at Cape Ann. When Endicott got here, he did not find starving, helpless people. But, guess what? Not long after Endicott arrived, here came boats of people (too many) who swamped resources. At this time, Thomas would still have been house-sitting where they were well-provisioned. He probably helped move the great house (1628/1629) from Cape Ann to Naumkeag (at least, he probably was able to do this - of the many that we read about, they would be about as effective as a slug for any useful purpose -- unfortunately, history's details are about such and not those who can get, know how to get, things done).

The winters of 1628 and 1629 were dire due to the influx of the unprepared, and the results were catastrophic. We'll have to touch on this in our research. By the time Winthrop arrived, though, things were going great again, though, due to efforts of people like Thomas.

---

Aside: Salem, the wallflower? This little city ought to be as beloved as is San Francisco, for many reasons. Why is it not?

References: see Sources and Bibliography (further delineation, soon)

Remarks:

01/25/2013 -- By the way, we're going to document this more thoroughly on Wikipedia - Great House (Cape Ann). We have John Goff's expertise available to assist us. This house was the first of its kind in New England.

.01/08/2013 -- Added a forum to facilitate discussion, etc.

12/30/2012 -- 2nd edition, with changes, published today (see Afterthoughts & Modifications for this volume).

12/29/2012 -- In Afterthoughts & Modifications, mentioned the David Goss talk in 1999.

12/29/2012 -- Beacon issue uploaded with the start of a Bibliography with links to digitized versions of reference material.

12/26/2012 -- Someone else had the same idea: Balch Leaflets (1896): That Cape Ann was left utterly deserted at this time is very improbable; it could be plainly seen from their new abode and was distant but a few hours coast-wise by boat or canoe. ... There was a frame building there of considerable size and other property that demanded care. (This particular leaflet is dated 1877)

12/25/2012 -- The issue will be completed this week; this advance notice is a Christmas gift to Thomas descendants, and friends, who wondered about the times after Cape Ann.

Modified: 01/25/2013

No shadow over Thomas

2012-12-24T11:44:00.000-08:00

I'm researching for the next Beacon issue which will have a brief timeline of the lives of Thomas and Margaret (it does a grand sweep of their times and after all the way to today). Hopefully, it'll point to areas where we'll focus effort in the future in order to expand upon the theme so as to leave the proper legacy.

I can thank Rev. Felt for phrasing some thought (read today) that I've had for three years in regard to Thomas (see Backbone series). That is, Felt gave me the proper concept to use. You see, how is it that there is such a lack of information? How can all of the written literature be so sparse in regard to his life over all of this time (from the beginning down to recent publications)? Even Anderson, et al, (Great Migrations) seems to write begrudgingly.

The below image is taken from Thornton's (1854) The Landing at Cape which tries to document the experience at Cape Ann (which has a bunch of unknowns). This book references Thomas only once as the plantation overseer, with Tylly, at Cape Ann. And, it is in the beginning, as in, pre-Conant. Other than that, there is nothing (based upon quick scan - so I may have missed something - the issue would remain, even so).

---

Aside and disclosure: The wife of the blogger is a direct descendant of Thomas and Margaret, however she is also descendant of Conant and others of the old and new planters. One might say that I'm continuing Dr. Frank A.'s argument about the injustice, in general. We'll get to that in the Beacon issue.

---

Felt is talking about Roger's continuing displeasure at his treatment. But, the dear guy ought to have considered his treatment of Thomas and Margaret (he got the house!). The image quotes that Roger "retained a conviction of the great injustice done to him, even in his old age, and he could not refrain from reference to the neglect and ingratitude" referring to Endicott's arrival.

Notice that Felt says that "the new charter cast a shade upon Conant" which implies his followers (Balch, Palfray, Woodbury, Trask). A 1999 talk on the old planters of Beverly (we'll use this in the Beacon issue) said just that: Conant and his followers. These people worried that they might have been enslaved with the change in the power structure. It was so troublesome that Craddock had to address their worries, explicitly. Too, they were given the land in Beverly in order to bolster their spirits, so to speak.

And, old Thomas? Cool as a cucumber (as I've said, a guy who was effective, knew himself, and was the chief manifest'er of what was to become the American -- you think that London, et al, liked this?).

Now, none, nor any incident, that I can see, cast a shadow over Thomas. References to him imply dignity, respect, and more. On the other hand, he was ignored in writings, perhaps to put him in his place, as if that could happen.

Too, Thomas' stance was of the true American that we were to see develop over the succeeding centuries. One attribute of that stance was to be distant from the Churches (yes, plural -- ah, we can go on about that ad infinitum, but won't). Thomas was no follower; his blood and pedigree prevented that.

Now, too, his sympathy toward the Quaker thought, and the fact that his last wife was of that faith and that some of his sons were, to boot, talk of a mind that encompasses the shebang (put it this way: the every man view with both breadth and depth -- the latter, of course, meaning all classes -- those higher casting a shadow over the lower - hey, only those that you allow can cast a shadow over you). Yes, the Quakers were forward thinking and exhibited more than any a spirit of inclusiveness and peace (we'll have to get back to John Goff's take on King Philip -- we overlook, too much, our mistreatment of the natives - starting with whom? Endicott?).

However, we do not to want steal thunder from Gardner's Beacon. These topics all deserve careful study so that going forward we can have the proper view and respect for this UNKNOWN couple. As it says: honor thy father and thy mother (albeit transitively if necessary).

Remarks:

03/02/2013 -- This may have appeared in another post, or Beacon. However, we'll repeat the thing here. When Thomas took the freeman oath, that is, that year, he was voted to the General Court with Hathorne (see above, another great-grandfather) who was a swashbuckler. It is interesting that Thomas, after that, kept a more local focus. There may be many reasons. But, getting up close with the clamorous ones may not have fit his mindset. You see. Throughout history, certain people get written about. Yet, in any situation, there are teeming amounts of more people who are not in the spotlight. Now, do you think that not having attention diminishes your being? If you say yes, let's have a little discussion. Of course, we would have to define, up front, whose attention. Social media comes to mind; frivolous content that invokes brain altering reactions (say what? -- I'm happy that I'm not susceptible, being too many decades old, long-in-tooth, if you would) to those who participate. So, back to Thomas and William. You see. John Endicott knew Thomas. John picked on poor Mary Dyer and others. William probably did similar deeds. Thomas? There are not bad tales. Too, and this is a big too, he deigned to be involved with people who were outcasts, namely the Quakers, as were his sons. Now, the sons left. Thomas was right there in Salem, of major stature in the phenomenal sense. Actually, his recoil (my take which can be explained) from the politicking tells a lot; it has a lot of meaning, not unlike George (the first Prez) stepping down even though he was adulated sufficiently for people to want him to be sovereign (thank you, George - for showing us that term limits ought to be part of the deal - professional politicians? say again?).

02/10/2013 -- Having finished a book on the 1692 events and doing a post on the subject, I can add to this look at Thomas. I've mentioned that he didn't queue right up to join the church and that he was recognized by Endicott. As well, he married a Quaker without any repercussions that we know of. Of course, his sons left the area due to the Puritanical (hypocritical) mindset.

01/01/2013 -- David Goss' talk at the 1999 Essex Society of Genealogists gives a perspective that also motivates. See the TGS bibliography.

12/25/2012 -- John Endicott knew Thomas to be exemplary (though, not military).

12/24/2012 -- We'll also point to academic studies, such as that shown in the image (Essex Institute and Johns Hopkins University). It says, don't look at the character (ah, John White? uncle? who needs enemies with family like that?) but consider the place as not appropriate (no aspersions meant for the lovely Cape and its environs).

Modified: 03/02/2013

Old Planters, Massachusetts

2012-12-21T16:17:00.001-08:00

As suggested in the Wikipedia article, Old Planters (Massachusetts), there are many types of old planters. In the case of New England, this Wikipedia article needs to be expanded to include many other places, such as Boston.

Earlier, we mentioned Old Planters with the context of a reunion at Beverly. Too, we broached the subject while asking about the history of the area, essentially Essex county. Research, to date, seems to indicate that a recap of mentions of Thomas from early times on might be an appropriate undertaking.

---

For this post, we'll make use of what might be the first publication of the Old Planters Society that was active during the early part of the 20th century. The book is on-line (archive.org, Google Docs): The Alliance between Pilgrim and Puritan in Massachusetts, 1900, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Salem, MA.

The book contains an address by Thomas, the President, to the Society in which he looks at cooperative efforts, and the influence thereof, between parties who ventured over. These parties would not have been so inclined to such behavior across the pond. In essence, the coming over brought forth means to establish a new society, albeit troubled in many ways. The topic will arise again, in regard to Thomas' and Margaret's lives, so we'll leave it at those few words.

---

The real interest, at this point, is the summary of the Society which was instituted in 1899 (our task will be to pull together a more full history). Evidently written by Dr. Frank, the summary explicitly mentions Thomas. One thing in vogue then (many references which will be collected) was to cure the oversight of many people who were in the parties. That is, the historically covered people shadow the reality of the others (always has been the case - but, changes, such as we see with technology, indicate that this will not be so much so in the future).

See page 13; it says that "injustice" was done to some planters. It also uses sympathy which is not the intent here; rather, the focus is to establish a more full interpretation that removes the oversights, or, at least, explains their longevity.

---

The book has the Constitution of the Society. Article III, Sect. 1. defines an old planter as follows: lineally descended from, in the male or female line, a proprietor, a planter, or other settler in New England prior to the transfer of the Charter of the Massachusetts Bay Company from England to New England, in 1630.

---

The book lists the Officers and Members of the Society. Higginson was President. The VP was Dr. Frank. The following list is taken from the members' list and includes those who have Thomas on their application.

Francis Ellingwood Abbot
William Crowninshield Endicott, Jr **
Arthur H. Gardner
Augustus Peabody Gardner
Frank A. Gardner
Maria T.A. Gardner
Lucy Hall Greenlaw
Henry Cabot Lodge **
Eben Putnam
Frederick Ward Putnam

Some of the others may also be descendants (marked as **, we'll scrutinize the list, at some point) as they may only be listing a primary ancestor and not considering supplemental applications via other ancestors.

Remarks:

01/08/2013 -- Added a forum to facilitate discussion, etc.

01/01/2013 -- David Goss' talk at the 1999 Essex Society of Genealogists gives a perspective that also motivates. See the TGS bibliography.

12/25/2012 -- John Endicott knew Thomas to be exemplary (though, not military).

12/24/2012 -- Thomas, unlike Conant, was not overshadowed in the world of being. We'll spend some time characterizing this fact and what it means to reasonable folks.

Modified: 01/08/2013

Aunts, Uncles, Cousins

2012-12-19T06:39:00.001-08:00

1675: December 19 - Captain Joseph Gardner, who set out from his home on the present site of the Essex Institute, is killed. (pg 28, Chronicles of Old Salem, F.D. Robotti).

On that day, the colonists lost a lot of officers. The Great Swamp Fight was an engagement in the King Philip war. At this particular fight, 220 colonists were killed or wounded. John Goff and Julianne Jennings wrote about King Philip and the conditions that led to the war, earlier this year. As we noted, the Gardners, and others, had peaceful relations with the native population on Nantucket.

---

Looking at family history, and genealogy, can by transitivity be seen as obeying the 5th Commandment. In a more full sense, that would include all of the children of a couple. Many folk do not have progeny who are here now that would remember them. So, we'll be sure to start that, perhaps as a meme.

So, given the honoring of those without issue, we would have the aunts and uncles. Perhaps, by extensions, cousins without issue would be remembered, too.

Finally, friends of the family deserve attention, as we show below, with one example.

---

Gardner's Beacon featured Joseph and his bride, Ann Downing, in the Valentine's issue. The couple lived in a great house that they received as a gift from her parents, Emanuel and Lucie (Winthrop) Downing. Joseph and Ann did not have issue.

When he died, Joseph left a widow, Ann. As the Beacon issue noted, Ann was very well educated. Yet, she, and her house, are now mostly known as having been associated with Gov. Bradstreet. It's interesting to note that Ann, prior to her second marriage, presented Simon with what was essentially a pre-nup. Was this the first of its kind on this continent?

---

We have mentioned many times the fact that Thomas and Margaret have been written out of history (my take, personally -- various motives will, eventually, be conjectured for this). The tone of the current post is remembrance. One friend of the family is John Tylly who came over with Thomas and Margaret to Cape Ann. John was a co-leader. He was killed in 1636, as an early casualty of conflicts with the native population.

---

Genes and memes seem to be topics of increasing attention nowadays. Perhaps, the interest might be cyclic, such as the up rise in publications at century markings. Around the 300th anniversary of colonial times (plus or minus, of course), books on family and genealogy came into vogue and appeared in droves. Any large library has several thousand of these. We are coming up on the 400th anniversary. It'll be interesting to see how celebrations of the event unfolds.

Memes (to be discussed further) will be one key thing, IMHO.

Remarks:

12/24/2012 -- Thomas, unlike Conant, was not overshadowed in the world of being. We'll spend some time characterizing this fact and what it means to reasonable folks.

12/22/2012-- We need to differentiate between Old Planters of Beverly (see The Old Planters of Beverly in Massachusetts, 1930, Alice Gertrude Lapham, The Riverside Press) and the Old Planters of Massachusetts. One could even talk, Old Planters of New England.

Modified: 12/24/2012

Summary, 2012

2012-12-14T12:35:00.002-08:00

The blog got its start on September 25, 2010. We're a little late with a two-year look back (see Posts of Interest - 2011), however it might be appropriate to review some of the statistics over the period. Before today, there were 75 posts. These have generated six categories, the largest of which is Descendants who have mostly been of earlier times. Perhaps next year, we can feature some recent descendants.

Past 30 days All time

The image shows two lists which contain the most-read posts which can also be taken to be the most popular.

Of late (left column), the How many wives? subject has been of interest. Some say that there were three. The post explains why we say that there were two.
Since the beginning (right column), there have been two popular posts. Historical genealogy tells the story of the demise of Richard III and the involvement of a Gardner. Gardners and Gardners is an ongoing effort to identify all of the Gardner families, say before 1700, and their relationships.

From time to time, we will do a snapshot like this so that we can show interest by time. Based on the above, Gardners and Gardners post might be the most popular as it is on both lists.

There were 13 posts in 2010 over a three month period. Last year (2011), there were 38 posts. So far this year (2012), we've had 25.

Remarks:

02/26/2013 -- See Wikipedia for a discussion about William Gardner whose page has been deleted.

Modified: 02/26/2013

What we know

2012-11-27T07:05:00.001-08:00

We'll start with Dr. Frank's work and the Great Migration sketch (including a wiki counterpart) as part of the foundation. From there, we'll build a sketch that has support. From this, we'll start to fill in the pieces in a reasonable fashion. Where things are conjectural, of course, this will be noted.

Aside: All progress comes from testing hypotheses which are framed from a good basis. Too, there is always the mainstream. That off the mainstream is not, by necessity, quackery. Of course, the smell test is useful when other means don't exist for proper analysis.

We'll summarize the Dr. Frank and Great Migration material, as one task. However, to set the tone of the overarching guideline, please consider the following as a list of key items.

- Thomas was put in charge as Overseer of the Cape Ann venture, at least, that part related to planting on the new soil. This implies several things, such as that he was known to Rev. John White and the Dorchester Company, that he had a good character, that he capable of carrying out the plan, and a number of other things. We'll expand upon these as we go along with our efforts to describe Thomas as the quintessential American, albeit a little early for his times.
- Thomas was referred to as 'Mr' in a London meeting in 1629 which, again, suggests several things, such as that he came from a good family, that he was educated, that he had social stature (but we could bet that he had a large physical stature and a character that was bigger than life), and a lot more. We'll collect more information about this and what it might mean.
- Thomas brought his wife and family which means that he was committed. Of the Cape Ann crew (old planters), he and Margaret were the exception. And, their resolve is proven by their children and their descendants. Of course, collecting information about this is an on-going effort. Another committed individual was John Balch who brought his wife. Many Balchs are descendants of Thomas through his daughter, Sarah.
- Thomas became a freeman later than he could have which implies several things, such as that he was effective in his own manner during the period before he signed up, that he decided to join in order to participate in a larger scope and to take care of things that needed to be done for the community, that he compromised for the well-being of his children and more.

In short, we're talking about a story that ought to have wide interest if done properly.

That Thomas was above history is a known fact. What we want to capture is the spirit of the remarkable pair who survived troubling times and who left a definite legacy that needs to be studied and documented. Lessons from their, meaning Thomas' and Margaret's, lives are applicable in today's society in ways that we have not even begun to address.

Taking on the task of introducing history to Thomas is one task of the Thomas Gardner Society. That was one motivation behind the Backbone series.

Remarks:

01/24/2013 -- We know a whole lot. We ought to map the unknowns to what we know. Then, unknown unknowns will start to fall out. Sound like fun?

12/24/2012 -- Thomas, unlike Conant, was not overshadowed in the world of being. We'll spend some time characterizing this fact and what it means to reasonable folks.

11/27/2012 -- We need to tell the negative tales too, such as Rev. John's disrespect of those who put their lives and well-being on the line and more. The Maypole allusion grates several ways. Poor Thomas had to deal with three Johns: White, Endicott, and Winthrop.

Modified: 01/24/2013

How many wives?

2012-11-26T17:30:00.001-08:00

This post continues the discussion about the wives of Thomas (see About Margaret). Were there two or three?

As mentioned in the prior post, Dr. Frank wrote that Thomas had two wives (as did Savage). Of course, he was writing 100 years ago (Savage even further back), and, surely, there has to be more information at this point about the matter. The question then becomes, given the current state, can we really know?

Or, to put it another way, was Dr. Frank wrong? That has not been shown, in our opinion.

Let's look at a couple of studies that are of interest. There are, of course, more of these which we expect to get to, in time. Too, we might add as a preface, some of the needed information is awaiting us in the old country. So, that means that we'll need to look into what genealogical studies might have been done in England about Thomas.

---

The fact is that we're dealing with events that are long past and about which we have little information, at this time, for various reasons. Many views have been expressed about the relationships between the Gardner families (or see Savage) that came here. Too, one sees various proposals that have come to fore.

The modern study, mentioned below, does not broach the subject of origins at all.

---

In regard to genealogy in general, just in the past week I've run across scores of books that have been outdated yet are being quoted. It is very easy for misinformation to be propagated via web pages. Our intent is to have material that can be considered reasonable and supportable.

---

Now, for starters, let's put two studies together, side by side, and make a few comments. Then, we'll rephrase our current position, until there is further information.

This image brings together material from The American Genealogist and from the The Great Migration Begins. The former had an article in 1953 that was written by George E. McCracken and that was titled "The Salem Gardners: Comments and Clues." Topics covered in the article include origin, Margaret, Seeth, the first wife of Thomas the son, the wives of George (very long), The Salem Quakers, the Flight to Connecticut, and the Salem Shattucks. The latter is a recent book in which Thomas has six pages written by Robert Charles Anderson and published by the NEHGS.

---

So, if we take the TAG article first, it goes a lot into areas that needed some study. The section on Margaret is small. The author, essentially, agrees with Dr. Frank about two wives. However, we don't know Margaret's family name. What I note is the author's insistence that these studies would greatly benefit from looking further into the collateral families. That being said, the work of Dr. Frank is phenomenal and greatly appreciated.

---

Now, the Anderson study is looking, potentially, at 1000s of families and doing this with an eye to being correct. The best way to do that is to only use sourced material. Did Anderson make an exception in this case? I would like to consider further his hypothesis and proof after seeing the material that he is quoting.

I don't buy the church reference. Thomas did not become a freeman until 1637. That is more than a decade after coming over. How could this be? Basically, we would suggest that he was able to get by using his own mode until his sons were older. And, he and Margaret could have easily done this together. Then, he would have had (deign to join) to be more of a "conformist" (to the puritanical thought and behavior) so as to not handicap their futures. From what we can see looking back, Thomas' and Margaret's children did well.

Aside: There is no record of a first wive's death or of another marriage. We basically know about Thomas and Damaris, who was a widow in 1641, through his will. Hence, the conjectures abound.

That Thomas married a Quaker tells us much about his character, especially in comparison to some. We'll forgo that analysis for a time. In any case, Thomas would have had to be in the church, and active, to be a freeman. He was shown on the rolls early; but, was he regular in attendance? In the case of Margaret, just picture a women dragging a bunch of kids to the Sunday service. Again, did she need that?

There seems to be something there to look at in this regard. In fact, it's a story (or many stories) waiting to be told.

By the way, the above is not a criticism. The Great Migration work has been really helpful and takes the right tact in the case of unknowns, or little knowns. That is, if you don't have something definitive, then just punt it down the road. But, this work does not relieve families of their duties to honor their fathers and mothers.

---

Which then brings up the family and efforts of Thomas' descendants. I can see someone taking TAG 30:156 and the Great Migration work further. It may be that there is a lot more information available that needs to be looked at and digested. This is so especially with the booming cloud'd informational sources which cause more stuff to appear all the time.

In the meantime, though, we say two wives. But, then, it could be three. You know it does not matter, right now. For anyone doing Gardner genealogy, the use of either has no impact on the tree unless one wants to branch out with the first (and/or second) wife.

It is nice that the Shattuck family has their information filled in.

Remarks:

11/28/2012 -- It becomes even more curious as Lemuel Shattuck suggests, in his Memorials (via Google), that Damaris and Thomas got married after 1641 (no indication of it being long afterward). By the way, I found this book by reading TAG 30:156's other sections. McCracken mentions Lemuel who I had not run across before. Aside: the amount of digitized work has expanded almost without bounds of late which gives me hope that we can find out more about Thomas and Margaret (yes, I'm talking UK books, to boot).

11/27/2012 -- Let's itemize what we know (including use of the Great Migration sketches), re-iterate some basics, and the proceed constructively.

11/27/2012 -- One thing that I've noticed while pursuing information is that some sites assign a rating to what they have. Usually, it's a simple integer. However, we could get a little more precise. Perhaps, modern material can have a certitude of 1.0, but how could one obtain something other than the high 90s for older information? And, information from 400 years ago will be highly variable. Yet, one could classify the material and then rate within that. Complicated? The one thing that we would hope would be that later studies raise the rating rather than lower it. But, then, that is not necessarily the fact.

Modified: 11/28/2012

Black death

2012-11-18T15:56:00.001-08:00

We always look back and wonder about the motivations behind picking up from a known situation and venturing, whole heartily, into something new. Much has been written about the religious and political factors which we'll get to at some point.

---

And, there are reasons for looking back as we can try to discover origins of Thomas and Margaret. As an aside, that Thomas was referred to as Mr. Gardner at a meeting in London (ca 1629 -- see Hubbard or Perley, for the exact year) speaks much.

---

R.H. Britnell
The Commercialisation of English Society, 1000-1500

The economic influence will be important, to boot. And, there is much to look at in this regard. Britnell in his The Commercialisation of English Society, 1000-1500 (Manchester Medieval Studies, 1996, Manchester University Press ND) takes a deep look at this 500-year period. Toward the latter part, workers were allowed to move between cities (as opposed to the law that forbade movement - consequences were dire - if caught outside one's parish, one could get whipped, lose an ear, or be executed).

One reason for moving might have been to join a group of free men, according to Britnell. On seeing that, I thought of my remark about Thomas not needing to join. There is a lot to discuss there.

---

However, a real factor that is not talked about much, and there were outbreaks in the 1600s and 1700s, was the black death. Britnell's table shows the size of the English economy at three different times. What stands out is the drop in population between 1300 and 1470. A lot of this was from the plague.

A plague in Weymouth, England says that the plague entered England in 1348 through its port and killed up to fifty percent of the population. By the way, 1470 would be about the time of the start of Thomas' grandfather's life.

Any look back that connects us to Thomas' or Margaret's ancestry, and any of the other 1000s of immigrants, would run into its influence on the populace.

Remarks:

11/18/2012 --

Modified: 11/18/2012

Afterthoughts & Modifications

2012-10-29T12:26:00.002-07:00

As with any publishing, there needs to be a way to make changes to Gardner's Beacon issues after the release. Several are pending, but we're starting with the recent release and its counterpart from 2011. Entries will be separate, with a header. But, they will be in reverse order.

See, Afterthoughts & Modifications at the Beacon site.

Vol. II, No. 6 -- Following changes incorporated into a 2nd Edition on Dec. 30, 2012: Page 1, change 1592 to 1492. (Before 1623/24), Son, Richard, was born in 1621. Page 2 (1623/24), Thomas, George, and Richard came with their parents. Page 3 (1630), Winthrop went southwest rather than west. (1635), remove that Richard was born in 1632. Page 5 (1935), change to John Lowell Gardner II. (1999 New entry), On March 20, David Goss talked to the ESOG about the old planters who received land in Beverly. Thomas Gardner was not in that group see (Discussion).
... This Annals view is sketchy, at this point, and not complete. It will be filled in (and edited) so as to provide a sound point of reference.
Vol. II, No.5 -- In regard to the 1992 exoneration, it should read that, in that year, the Massachusetts House of Representatives issued "a resolution honoring those who died" during the time of the trials. In 2001, Governor Jane Smith signed an exoneration for the remaining five: Bridget Bishop, Susannah Martin, Alice Parker, Wilmot Redd and Margaret Scott. Others had been exonerated,earlier.
...
Vol. I, No. 4 -- Where there is reference to Giles Corey's sons (2nd page, 1st column, last paragraph), it ought to have been his sons-in-laws (and his daughters).
...

Remarks:

12/30/2012 -- More corrections added. Set up for, and publish, the 2nd edition.

Modified: 12/30/2012

Imagine a meeting

2012-10-28T18:03:00.001-07:00

In the context of the last Beacon (Vol. II, No. 5) which considered the roles involved with the unfolding of the events of 1692 in Salem, the point was that many, who are alive now, have a mixture of ancestors who would have been, collectively, in all of the roles. So, then, one might think of calling a family meeting to discuss what was going on, in their heads, at that time.

This type of gathering could not have happened at that time. The 'family' is a larger collection, having been built up through time. And, it's the insulation of the years, and generations, that allows our viewpoint and creates the fan-in of influence from several converging family lines.

---

Victim &
Bullies

At the meeting, we would not invite the accused or executed to sit at the table. They are those who bore the consequences. We'll let them observe, quietly. Not that those who were accused are a small group.

For a modern individual's tree, the accused group could contain tens of people, with more than a handful having paid the ultimate price. Some of the families might be like the following list: Aslet, Ayer, Barker, Bradbury, Bradstreet, Clements, Dane, Dutch, Hawkes, Hooper, Howe, Jackson, Johnson, Lord, Marston, Osgood, Parker, Perkins, Pratt, Solart, Wardwell, Wilson, Wright.

---

01/26/2013 -- Reading Frances Hill caused me to re-look at this page. It's obvious that we need to mention Sarah Solart Poole Good who was an aunt and who needs special mention due to the ordeal of her young daughter, Dorothy, who was less than five years old and who was seriously abused by the elders that she had the misfortune to live under. (see Wikipedia: Sarah, Dorothy)

---

We want to talk to those who felt that they had to mete out the consequences.

What about the accusers? That's a whole different issue.

---

What we want to do is gather together those who were responsible for damaging lives plus those who were very much vocal in opposition to what ensued. Perhaps, some understanding might come forth. Plenty has been written about the subject, including several well-known literary pieces.

---

By the way, a modern collective viewpoint would not have been possible at the time that Nathaniel was considering the role of his ancestor and possible invitees.

Invitees? Suppose that we took a cut across a tree at a certain generation (plus or minus) of that time. Tree? Yes, starting with a modern person, such as yourself, you have your parents, then their parents, and so forth (a power of two). We can pick any generation and collect the people who were alive then. We would select a number of young adults (which would be large group given how far back we are talking). For each of these young adults, we could consider a relationship with the person who [would] be invited to the meeting. Remember, these young adults, being on the tree, are great-grandparents of the current person who is anchoring the tree and that they were alive during those times.

Hence, that young adult would have parents and grand-parents. As well, there would be aunts and uncles and cousins (usual affair, with siblings of parent and niece/nephew of the parent). The prior generation for this young adult (or these young adults) would have 'great' attached to it with the usual meaning (great-grandparent or great-aunt or great-uncle). Now, great-cousin, of course, would be the cousin of the parent.

The Invitee list, shown below, is an example of what could come off of a modern tree.

---

02/01/2013 -- Aside: As far back as are these times of turmoil, everyone has over a thousand ancestors in the mix. So, having a large fan-in from all of these players is not unusual. Being able to document the fact is where the issues arise.

---

The table is not meant to be complete or considered as such. Rather it is to illustrate a point and to facilitate the look backs that will be coming. Too, it shows the mixtures that are possible and that are of interest.

Invitee	Relationship	Role
John Hathorne	Great-uncle	Judge
Jonathan Corwin	Uncle	Judge
George Corwin	Cousin	Sheriff
Cotton Mather	Cousin	Supporting minister
Deodat Lawson	In-law	Supporting minister
John Dane	Grandfather	Juror
Joseph Eveleth	Grandfather	Juror
Henry Herrick	Great-grandfather	Juror
Nicholas Noyes	Uncle	Officiating minister
Thomas Perkins	Cousin	Juror
	The following were critical of (opposed to) the proceedings
Francis Dane	Great-uncle	Critical minister
Elizabeth Hathorne	Grandmother	Critical laity
Israel Porter	Grandfather	Critical laity
John Wise	Grandfather	Critical minister

What a mix! We see plenty who sat in judgment. Too, there are those who provided the rationale, usually with the devil as a central theme. Then, we have four who were anti-trial, God bless their souls.

There are many other mixtures that it would be interesting to hear about.

In this case, it is nice to see the opposition set, that was quite vocal, yet ineffective sometimes (not in all cases, as there were successful attempts to save the accused). There are many ways to look at these types of mixtures; but, each time that there is a re-look, it's not hard to find parallels with today's problems.

Perhaps, that is part of the eternal fascination with Salem of 1692. Looking at this event speaks some type of truth.

Remarks:

02/10/2013 -- Fan-in from the turmoil of all types of ancestors.

02/01/2013 -- Hill's book is a great resource for the newcomer. There was some history to discuss prior to the event, and she lays things out in an almost chronological framework. Not sure that I agree with her assessments in a few areas, but that's to be discussed later. Turns out that here may be some associations (primarily, in-law) with the accusers in the above context of a meeting but haven't seen any as ancestors, as of yet. It's interesting that Gen. Israel Putnam was a son of Joseph who sided with Israel Porter who is mentioned a few times as voicing opposition.

01/26/2013 -- Special mention of Sarah Good and her daughter, Dorothy (toddler).

11/14/2012 -- Throughout history, witch hunt occurs so much that we can consider it to be a meme (we'll get back to that theme).

11/12/2012 -- Added in the names of some of the families of the accused as family members would have experienced the turmoils, too; also, friends would have felt an impact. It's hard to image this type of thing in our generally peaceful times, at least domestically. Yet, we see 'witch hunt' used quite a bit nowadays. The image shows one harmless victim being harassed along the road to trial or to jail.

Modified: 02/10/2013