Month April 2019
On May 11, 1917, my paternal grandfather, George Bradley French (1898-1983) sailed to London as a Private in the American Expeditionary Force assigned to U.S. Army Base Hospital No. 5, referred to as the Harvard University Base Hospital Unit. Base… Continue Reading →
On April 25, 1898 the United States declared war on Spain following the sinking of the Battleship Maine in Havana harbor on February 15, 1898. A quest for adventure and patriotism spurred over three thousand four hundred men Connecticut men… Continue Reading →
Margaret Stilson, the granddaughter of John Brown (Samoset and John Brown – Maine), was born in 1679 in Marblehead, Massachusetts. Margaret, my 7 paternal great-grandmother, married William Hilton III on June 2, 1699. They had one child, Benjamin, during their… Continue Reading →
It all started, quite innocently while researching a friend’s family history. I came across the tragic death, by suicide, of Lucey Martelina (Toluca, Illinois). I learned that the means, ingesting rat poison, was a popular and common way to end… Continue Reading →
On July 15, 1625, my 10th great paternal grandfather, John Brown of New Harbor, Maine, was the beneficiary of what was likely the first land sale transaction between the Native Americans and the colonists. John Brown was deeded 12,000 acres… Continue Reading →
John Cotton, my 9th paternal great-grandfather, was born in 1585 in Derby, England and died in 1652 in Boston, Massachusetts. He was, according to many accounts, the preeminent clergyman and theologian of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Cotton studied five years… Continue Reading →
In 2017, I had the chance to see my great-grandmother Mary “Minnie” MacEachern French for the first-time! Thanks to the genealogical community and an exchange of emails, I was able to learn a little more about her life and see… Continue Reading →
Two of my posts highlighted relatives who lived in New England in the mid-1700’s. They describe how my 8th great-grandfather Humphrey Atherton persecuted Quakers while my 7th great-grandfather’s step-brother, Benanuel Bowers was persecuted for being a Quaker. Researching and writing… Continue Reading →
Humphrey Atherton (1608-1661) is my paternal eighth great-grandfather. At the time of his death he was considered a powerful leader who was very active in the political affairs of the colony. However, through the lens of history, his persecution of… Continue Reading →
In 1641, Massachusetts was the first colony to legalize slavery and was a center for the slave trade throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The 1754 slave census listed more than 2,720 slaves in Massachusetts. 1754 – Billerica reported eight… Continue Reading →
