I’ve now reached a total of 6,700 ancestors in my genealogy research. People ask me what I’ve been doing lately or in the past few months. I sort of fumble for an answer and then only after the conversation has moved on do I think of how I have spent my days – GENEALOGY RESEARCH.
And this work has sparked a great interest in reading history books. the last is Alison Weir’s The Life of Elizabeth I. 
A bit of a slog but well worth it in the end.
Henry VII, first in the Tudor line
In connection with my genealogy research, I’ve been reading a lot of history, both American and English. I’m contemplating documenting a number of my ancestors in more detail, particularly those who lived in the 16th century. The Tudor period stretched from 1485 with the crowning of Henry VII to 1603, the death of Elizabeth I. A momentous century in English history.
Here’s the book for all history enthusiasts. In a book store in Mystic Connecticut, I found this book about the history of Maine – titled The Lobster Coast, Rebels, Rusticators, and the Struggle for a Forgotten Frontier, by Colin Woodard. As one would expect, there’s quite a bit of detail about fish and the fishing industry, particularly lobsters. But there is also a lot to make one think about the rights of Native Americans and the rights and relationships between the original settlers and the subsequent waves of “newcomers”, right up to the present day transformations of land use and the questions of distribution of wealth.
In my genealogy research I have been able to trace most of my ancestors back many generations. At present I am trying to concentrate/focus on the immigration experiences of these branches in my family tree. These would be the 6th-9th great grandparents. About 90% of these forebears came to New England. I have one case of an abrupt end of the trail with my 3rd great grandparents Joseph Reed and Sarah Maddox. They were each born in Maine in the late 1700’s. Joseph died in Maine in 1850. Their daughter Abigail was my great great grandmother. She was born in Gloucester in 1804. But I do not have any information re Joseph and Sarah’s forebears, my 4th great grandparents etc. Did they come to Maine as immigrants? What happened to them in this remote and harsh part of the American frontier. Did they perish in an encounter with one of the many tribes of Native Americans who raided the settlers villages and isolated dwellings. I wonder.
Immigrant Ship
From the piles of papers I’ve accumulated in my genealogy research I am now compiling a list of my immigrant ancestors who came to America – who, when, what year, etc.
Following is my draft so far: Sorry, I’m having trouble copying the Word document
The Man Who Stole Himself, The Slave Odyssey of Hans Jonathan.
A most interesting book for anyone who wants to learn more about genealogy, the history of slavery and slave relations and freedom. Hans Jonathan was born to a slave mother in St Croix in the West Indies. He was transported to Copenhagen and later escaped to Iceland. And the tale goes on from there to trace his descendants in Iceland and North America. A powerful piece of research, which is still ongoing.
My paternal grandfather Major Charles Dana Miller – this is the man my grandmother Mary Elizabeth Murdock married in 1882. He fought in the Civil War – Mary Elizabeth Murdock was born in 1863. So the man who was to be my grandfather was a soldier fighting in the Civil War when my grandmother was born.
Mary married a man many years her senior. How did this come about? Family rumor has it that she went West in 1880 from Crown Point New York to Mt. Vernon Ohio to look after Charles’s young children after their mother died.
Mary Elizabeth Murdock, 1882 (?)
Charles was born in 1836. So he was 27 years older than Mary. He was a widower with 2 children. They married in Chicago in November 1882.
Questions – how did this sequence of events happen?
Well, Mary went West shortly after her own mother died and also her younger sister. A time of sorrow and upset. Mary had recently graduated from Albany Normal School (State Teachers College) – so she was a qualified teacher.
But my research in ancestry.com reveals that when Charles’ wife died the children were young teens, age 14 and 13, not infants needing a carer. So if she went West to be a carer she would have been more of a housekeeper than a nanny, and possibly a tutor for the children.
And furthermore, there were Murdocks who had previously migrated from Crown Point New York to Mt Vernon Ohio.
