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From 28 September 1840 to 18 November 1851, Nicholas Adolphus Sterne kept a diary of his daily activities, which is a valuable source of information on the period of the Republic of Texas . . . and the names of some of our kith 'n kin are scattered through these pages . . . regarding this date in our family history . . . the 14th day of March . . . here are the words Sterne penned in his diary in 1844 . . .
Thursday the 14th very hard shower of rain last night Clear this morning, worked a little in the garden sold Dap a Poney I purchased of Dan. J. Toler to Mr Parsons to pay my debts Mr Barrett who had gone to San Augustin returned this Evening my old friend ELISHA ROBERTS stops with me to night from his place on Trinity, on his way home [to San Augustine].
This Elisha Roberts is a 4th great-grandpa to the Keeper of this family history blog . . .
How long after you are gone
will ripples remain as evidence
that you were cast into the pool of life?
G.M. Bright
According to family tradition, 25-year-old Phoebe gave birth to a baby girl on the 17th day of January in the year 1874, presumably on the Merrill family home place in Maine . . . at that time, Phoebe had already been married and had a son, but for reasons we will probably never know, the new baby girl went home with Phoebe's older sister, to be raised by Lizzie* and Peter as their own daughter . . . that baby girl grew up to become the woman my Mom still refers to as her "Grammie Smith" -- Eva May Smith nee "Brackett" . . .
Eva was raised in the household of a veteran of the war between the states, who was himself a son of a Revolutionary soldier . . . as a result of her adoptive father's service in the Fifth Maine, Eva and her family had access to one of the sleeping rooms in the Queen Anne Style cottage built by the Fifth Maine as a reunion hall and summer cottage on Peaks Island . . . and there they went on frequent outings during the summers of Maine . . .
Eva married in 1894, and was partners with her husband in the family landscaping and florist business . . . Eva's "mother" (i.e., Aunt), Lizzie -- aka Elizabeth -- died in 1911, and in 1912 Eva gave birth to her 2nd surviving child, a baby girl she named Elizabeth Marilla . . . Eva continued to run the florist business following the 1920 death (at his own hand) of her husband . . . even after 1920, Eva would load up her widowed father and her children in the family car for a trip to Peaks Island . . . Eva's father, Peter Brackett, died in 1927 . . .
In July of 1929, a few months shy of her 17th birthday, Elizabeth married a handsome sailor from Texas . . . in 1930 their son was born in Lynn, Massachusetts . . . in 1931, following a 4-year stint in the U.S. Navy, her husband came "home" to the apartment they shared with Eva in Lynn . . . early in 1932 Elizabeth gave birth to her 2nd child, a baby girl named Roberta Mae . . . and three days later, Elizabeth was dead . . .
Roberta and her brother and father continued to make their home with "Grammie Smith" at least until the father remarried late in 1934 . . . Grammie Smith -- aka Eva May -- died in 1936 in Lynn . . . she was laid to rest beside her husband and daughter in Saco, Maine . . .
The ripples are still spreading, Eva . . .
Thanks for being a pebble in our family pool . . .
This blogography was prepared during National Women's History Month as A Tribute to Women for the Carnival of Genealogy which is being hosted over at Creative Gene.
Remembering . . . on this date in our family history . . . the 13th day of March . . . in the year 1821, Olive Jane Goodwin is born in Saco, Maine . . . she is the mother of Phoebe (Merrill) Morse Tripp who gave birth to Eva May [Brackett] Smith . . . and Olive is also the mother of Elizabeth (Merrill) Brackett who raised Eva May as her own child . . .
*P.S. . . . the image of the lady identified as "Lizzie" in the collage (above) was shared by a cousin in Maine . . . this woman was identified as "Lizzie Merrill" but the cousin is not sure if it is the Lizzie who married Peter Brackett . . . please do contact benotforgot if you are able to positively identify this woman . . .
Other things may change us, but we start and end with family.
This is an undated photo of my mother, Roberta, and her brother, Robert, Jr., who were born in Massachusetts in 1932 and 1930 respectively.
Their 19-year-old mother, Elizabeth, died three days following Roberta's birth, and the children lived with their father, Robert, Sr., and maternal grandma, Eva, until their father remarried late in 1934.
By 1940, Robert and Roberta were living in Texas with their paternal grandparents, Edgar and Berta Mary, and there they stayed until they finished school and went out into the world.
Robert, Jr., like his father before him, joined the Navy, and then spent his entire life looking for something to fill the emptiness inside him.
Roberta married her knight in shining armor -- whom she first spotted when he rode horseback by the home she shared with her grandparents -- and together they raised four children.
Robert, Jr. returned to the state of his birth only once -- that being the year following the death of his father -- when he accompanied myself and my mom to New England. We took photos of the house in Massachusetts where Robert and Roberta were born, and where their Mother died. In Maine, we snapped shots of the family home where Elizabeth spent her childhood, and where her father took his own life in 1920.
And tears were shed in the autumn of that year as we stood beside the unmarked grave of the eternally-19-year-old Elizabeth . . . on what would have been her 65th birthday . . . tears for Elizabeth, whose life was cut so short . . . and tears for the children who were deprived of their Mother's love . . .
This "Brothers & Sisters" photo collage and story was prepared for the 11th edition of "Smile for the Camera."
Heidi Snow is founder and executive director of AirCraft Casualty Emotional Support Services . . . . and she is a 4th cousin to the keeper of this geneablog. Our common ancestors are William Thurston Merrill (1816-1898) and Olive Jane Goodwin (1821-1895).
The Buffalo News
Updated: 03/01/09 1:47 PM
Peer counselors can help those who lost loved ones
By Heidi Snow
Thirteen years ago, I lost my fiance aboard TWA Flight 800. After we exchanged our final “I love you’s” and he set off for Paris, I turned on the TV to find the Flight 800 debris burning on the dark Atlantic Ocean. . . .
Click > HERE < to read the rest of the story . . . and click > HERE < to read another recent story about Heidi and her family.
Jasia over at Creative Gene blogged that, In keeping with the month of March being National Women's History Month, and March 8th being International Women's Day, the topic for the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy will once again be: A Tribute to Women. Write a tribute to a woman on your family tree . . . go to Creative Gene: Carnival of Genealogy, 67th Edition for more info.
FYI, previous entries may be found at the following links --
It is a winter's Tuesday in Civil War Texas when Josephine Wingfield Davis becomes the bride of William Paschal Henry, then a young Confederate soldier . . . the ceremony takes place on the 1st day of March 1864 . . . somewhere in Brazoria County on the Texas Gulf Coast . . .
The youngest of five children of Milton Grant Davis and America James Fears, Josephine was born the 10th of May 1842 in Morgan County, Georgia . . . sometime after the death of her Mother in 1857 . . . and before the 1860 Texas census . . . Josephine and all of her siblings, along with their widowed Father, join the westward movement to Texas . . .
According to an entry on a photocopy of Josephine's Family Bible . . . William Paschal Henry was born on the 19th of February 1836 . . . it has been said that he was born in Greensborough [sic], Kentucky . . . the handwriting for said Bible entry is the same as on their marriage record, which was found in Brazoria County by Pam (Pounders) Bryan . . .
In October of 1876, Mr. and Mrs. W. P. Henry and their five surviving children arrive in Milam County, Texas for a visit with Josephine's sister . . . Mrs. Milton G. (Margaret Davis) Antony . . . the Wm. P. Henry family soon move to Milam County, settling on land in the Bethlehem Community north of Rockdale . . .
Josephine dies tragically in October of 1899 . . . and William P. dies in February of 1912 . . . they are buried side-by-side in the Murray Cemetery north of Rockdale, Milam County, Texas . . . this Josephine and Wm. P. Henry are 2nd great-grandparents of the Keeper of this family history blog . . .
- BeNotForgot.com
- GoneToTexas.proboards.com
- The Family Bible
This ca. 1938 image is a photo of Mary Annie Mollie Nettles nee West holding one of her great-grand-daughters . . . as of ca. 1932, this Mollie (1852-1939) still had very specific memories about what was happening on the 22nd day of February during the 12th winter of her life (1864) in Oktibbeha County, Mississippi . . .
Closer came the fighting until one day we could hear the cannon booming as a battle was fought over a bridge maybe twelve miles from our home. I remember what they called that bridge, though I don't know how you would spell it ... Sookietoncha, it sounded like [i.e., Sakatonchee].
It made cold chills run over you to hear that cannon. We had already had several wounded soldiers to take care of . . . Aunt Mary [Mary Valentine nee Carter (1814-1892)] and Mother [Sally West Thomas nee Carter (c. 1820-1868)] were fine nurses ... but now they really poured into the house.
I remember that Col. [Jeffrey] FORREST had come by the day before and asked Aunt Mary for a horse to ride. She had told him to take his pick, only leave her old Tom to ride, since he was real gentle. But he insisted on using Tom, and in anger she told him, "I hope he does you no good, Sir!"
Late the next day, after the battle at the bridge, old Tom came home riderless with blood all over the saddle. Col. FORREST had been killed on him. Aunt Mary wept in remorse and never again rode old Tom. Col. [Jeffrey] FORREST and Gen. [Nathan Bedford] FORREST were brothers, and we saw them often.
Assuming the above family story is true . . . then Old Tom is mayhaps depicted in the painting, Vengeance at Okolona, by John Paul Strain . . . these recollections of the years of the war between the states were told to Ruby Vance nee Nettles (1910-2003) by her paternal grandmother, Mollie . . . this same Mollie is a 2nd great-grandma to the keeper of this family history blog . . .
In this ca. 1952 photo, Robert E. Henry (1905-1976) . . . aka Grandpa Henry . . . is holding the Keeper of this family history blog . . . the lady in the photo is Ann (Howard) Henry (1904-1994) . . . Robert's 1st wife, Elizabeth Marilla Henry nee Smith (1912-1932), is actually my maternal grandma . . . but she died when my Mom was born . . . and this Ann was always my Grandma Henry . . .
On this day in 1846 . . . the 19th day of February . . . the First Legislature of the state of Texas convened in Austin. The flag of the Republic of Texas was lowered, and the flag of the United States was raised. The Lone Star Republic had become the Lone Star State.
The Evolution of a State Or, Recollections of Old Texas Days
By Noah Smithwick, Nanna Smithwick Donaldson:
". . . The first legislature met on the 16th of February, 1846, and three days later the curtain fell on the last, and in many respects, the most touching scene in the brief drama of the republic, when Anson Jones, its last president, standing on the steps of the old capitol, lowered the old flag from the mast and reverently furling it, announced amidst breathless silence,
"The republic of Texas is no more."
Many a head was bowed, many a broad chest heaved, and many a manly cheek was wet with tears when that broad field of blue in the center of which, like a signal light, glowed the lone star, emblem of the sovereignty of Texas, was furled and laid away among the relics of the dead republic.
But we were most of us natives of the United States, and when the stars and stripes, the flag of our fathers, was run up and catching the breeze unrolled its heaven born colors to the light, cheer after cheer rent the air.
Methinks the star in the lower left hand corner should have been especially dedicated to Texas. . . ."
Assorted ancestors of ours who are known to have been in Texas during this time period include . . .
Also in 1846 . . .
- ICE CREAM FREEZER. New Jersey. Americans' love of ice cream should soon become an everyday affair thanks to a new hand-cranked ice cream freezer for home use. With some ice, rock salt and a little muscle, anyone can now make ice cream. The portable, hand-cranked ice cream freezer was invented here by Nancy Johnson.
- Washington, D.C., September 10th. Elias Howe granted patent for sewing machine with eye-pointed needle.
- Failure of potato crop sends thousands of poor Irish to America.
- Boston. October 16th. Surgery performed with use of ether. Dr. William T. G. Morton plans to patent the method.
- Washington, D.C., May 13th. The U.S. has declared war on Mexico.
On this date in our extended family history . . . the 12th day of February . . . in the year 1885 . . . Colonel Thomas Buford dies in the Central Kentucky Lunatic Asylum . . . this Colonel Buford was a 2nd cousin once removed to my 2nd great-grandpa, William Paschal Henry (1836-1912) . . . Colonel Tom was born on the 18th of September 1824 . . . in Woodford County, Kentucky . . . and would have been 11 years old when our William was born a few counties to the southwest . . . in Green County . . . in February of 1836 . . . Tom's parents were 1st cousins, and he was one of the youngest of 13 children believed to have been born to William Buford, Sr. (1781-1848) and Frances Walker Kirtley (1787-1866) . . .
Tom Buford was known all over Kentucky. He belonged to the proudest of the proud aristocracy of the blue-grass region, and he inherited a fortune. The Bufords were a historic family, scarcely less famous than the Breckinridges, the Clays, or the Marshalls. He was a typical Kentuckian in his powerful physique, his handsome face, his intellect, and the prodigality of his life. Few men were better read than he; his manners were the perfection of grace and courtesy, and he was a brilliant conversationalist. He was an old bachelor, devoted to the ladies and to wine. He played cards and bet on horse-races with the boldness and dash so characteristic of Kentuckians, and whether at poker or on horses he won and lost with a touch-and-go freedom. [This is an excerpt from the New York Times article of 09 June 1884 (see link below).]
By the time the following incidents occurred, our grandpa William had been living in Texas 20+ years, and was married with children . . . I do wonder if he ever knew of these tragic family happenings . . .
[Update as of February 2018 . . . the New York Times articles linked below are now behind a paid wall . . . I am currently able to find them via ProQuest as well as Newspapers dot com.]
- Click > HERE < to read a March 1879 newspaper article regarding the assassination of Judge John Elliott by Col. Thomas Buford [THE RECORD OF MURDER.: ASSASSINATION OF A KENTUCKY JUDGE. JUDGE JOHN M. ELLIOTT SHOT DOWN BY COL. THOMAS BUFORD THE CAUSE A DECISION AGAINST THE MURDERER BUFORD'S STORY OF THE CRIME HISTORY OF THE MURDERED JUDGE.
New York Times (1857-1922); New York, N.Y. 27 Mar 1879]
- Click > HERE < to read a 10th July 1879 newspaper article regarding the beginning of the 1st trial of Tom Buford [COL. BUFORD'S TRIAL BEGUN.: AN INTIMATION THAT THE PRISONER'S SANITY WILL BE QUESTIONED. New York Times (1857-1922); New York, N.Y. 10 July 1879]
- Click > HERE < to read a 19th July 1879 newspaper article about the day-long speech of Col. Breckinridge during the trial of Col. Buford [COL. BUFORD'S TRIAL.: THE ARGUMENT OF COL. BRECKINRIDGE SPECULATIONS AS TO THE VERDICT. New York Times (1857-1922); New York, N.Y. 19 July 1879]
- Click > HERE < to read a 20th July 1879 newspaper article regarding the murder trial of Tom Buford [A CHIVALROUS MURDERER: NEAR THE END OF THE TRIAL OF COL. BUFORD. THE ARGUMENTS NEARLY FINISHED THE CASE PROBABLY TO REACH THE JURY ON TUESDAY BUFORD'S CRIME REMARKABLE EVIDENCE AS TO INSANITY. New York Times (1857-1922); New York, N.Y. 20 July 1879]
As mentioned above, on July 20, 1879, on page 1, the N.Y. Times wrote about the "chivalrous murderer," Col. Buford, who stood trial for his life after killing Judge Elliott. The Judge had before him an appeal involving the loss of the family farm which had been operated by Buford's sister, who died after protracted litigation. The N.Y. Times wrote that "the trial which has been thus ended will take a prominent place in the history of criminal jurisprudence in Kentucky, not simply on account of the social positions of the prisoner and his victim, and the more than dramatic circumstances attending the killing of Judge Elliott, but also because, in the progress of the trial, the insanity plea on behalf of the murderer has been carried to what may be deemed its extreme limit."
- Click > HERE < to read a 9th December 1879 newspaper article about the 2nd trial of Tom Buford [NEW TRIAL FOR COL. BUFORD.
New York Times (1857-1922); New York, N.Y. 09 Dec 1879]
- Click > HERE < to read a February 1882 newspaper article about Tom's brother, Abe, which mentions the results of Tom's 2nd trial [GEN. ABE BUFORD OF KENTUCKY. New York Times (1857-1922); New York, N.Y. 10 Feb 1882]
- Click > HERE < to read a December 1883 newspaper article regarding Tom's escape from the Central Kentucky Lunatic Asylum [TOM BUFORD AT LARGE.: FEARS THAT HE HAS MURDEROUS INTENTIONS AGAINST THE BENCH. New York Times (1857-1922); New York, N.Y. 21 Dec 1883]
- Click > HERE < to read an 09 June 1884 newspaper article regarding Tom's return to the asylum [TOM BUFORD'S SURRENDER.: BROKEN DOWN IN BODY AND SPIRIT JUDGE ELLIOTT'S SLAYER RETURNS TO THE ASYLUM. New York Times (1857-1922); New York, N.Y. 09 June 1884]
- Click > HERE < to read a 10 June 1884 newspaper article about the suicide of Tom's older brother, Brig. General Abe Buford (1820-1884), which is partly attributed to the choices made by Tom [SUICIDE OF ABE BUFORD: REVERSES AND FAMILY TROUBLES TOO GREAT A BURDEN. SENDING A BULLET THROUGH HIS HEART WHILE VISITING HIS NEPHEW AT DANVILLE, IND. New York Times (1857-1922); New York, N.Y. 10 June 1884]
- Click > HERE < to read a February 1885 newspaper article about the death of Col. Tom Buford [DEATH OF COL. THOMAS BUFORD. New York Times (1857-1922); New York, N.Y. 14 Feb 1885]
On this date in our family history . . . the 31st day of January . . . in the year 1872 . . . Edgar and Emma Henry are born at Old Independence in Washington County, Texas . . . Edgar and Emma were the 4th and 5th of eight children born to William Paschal (1836-1912) and Josephine Wingfield (Davis) Henry (1842-1899) . . . Edgar and Emma's parents took up residence in Milam County, Texas c. 1876, when the twins were about 4 or 5 years of age . . .
Edgar married Berta Mary Sharp (1873-1955) on 02 January 1895 in Crockett, Houston County, Texas . . . Berta was born 10 November 1873 in Houston County, the 5th of six children born to Samuel Houston and Mary Alexandrien (Lemaire) Sharp . . . FYI . . . Edgar's twin sister, Emma, had married Berta's older brother, Sam Houston Sharp, Jr., a few years earlier . . .
Edgar and Berta set up housekeeping in Milam County where Edgar's parents lived until their deaths (1899 and 1912) . . . they then moved to West Texas for a while early in the 20th century, but returned to Rockdale ca. 1939 shortly after two of their grandchildren moved in with them on a permanent basis . . . Edgar and Berta both died in Rockdale, and were laid to rest at Oaklawn Cemetery . . . Edgar is the paternal great-grandpa of the Keeper of this family history blog . . . a goodly number of Edgar and Berta's descendants still live in Rockdale and Milam County at this time, and others from across the state sometimes return to Milam County in the Autumn of the year for a family reunion . . .
FYI . . . the above collage was created by very carefully placing a torn and crumbling ledger page on a flat-bed scanner . . . and then layering on top of it a floral file folder from a local discount store . . . those two items were scanned together as one image . . . then using Picasa . . . that image was cropped . . . a second collage was created by adding the photo of Edgar . . . the text was also added using Picasa . . .
That fragile handwritten page came from a ledger belonging to Edgar Henry, and contains lyrics to old folk songs . . . this particular page contains a version of a set of lyrics to a song called The Package of Old Letters . . . as you can see, part of this page is missing, so I'm guessing at the closing lines, but here are the words I think my great-grandpa penned on these pages . . .
In a little rosewood casket
That is resting on the stand
There's a package of old letters
Written by a cherished hand
Won't you go and get them, Sister
And read them o'er to me
I have often tried to read them
But for tears I could not see
You have brought them sister
Come sit down upon my bed
And lift gently to your bosom
This poor aching throbbing head
Tell him that I never blamed him
Or a word of censure spoke
But oh tell him sister tell him
That my heart his coldness broke
When I'm dead and in my coffin
And my shroud about me wound
And my narrow bed is ready
In the pleasant churchyard ground
Place the letters and the locket
Both together on my heart
And the little ring he gave me
Never from my finger part.
From September 28, 1840, to November 18, 1851, Nicholas Adolphus Sterne kept a diary of his daily activities, which is a valuable source of information on the period of the Republic of Texas. The names of some of our kith 'n kin are scattered through these pages, including the following mention of Mrs. Elisha Roberts, who is a 4th great-grandma of the Keeper of this blog. Mrs. Sublett is one of her daughters.
Tuesday the 17th January [1843] weather still moderate-- Concluded not to go any further East, Sabine very high-- Mr Hoya went on with C. H. Gibson to Natchitochez-- and myself returned to San Augustin, Stopped on the Road to see my old friend and acquaintance Mrs Elisha Roberts also Mr and Mrs Sublett, arrived at San Augustin at 11 A. M. Dined with Deyoung. heard Miss Morange perform on the Piano-- herself and her Brother performed a Duet composed by Braham it was a treat indeed, such a one as I do not expect again in Texas-- left San Augustin at 2 oclock P. M, and stopped all night at Walter Murrays
Forrest Lee Pounders
born in Texas on 10th October 1927
died in Texas on 17th January 1996
Remembering . . .
Fifty years to the day before his death on 17 January 1996, a form letter was being prepared for then 18-year-old FORREST LEE POUNDERS of Rockdale, Texas. That form letter, dated & mailed 17 Jan 1946, was an Order to Report for Induction, & it was signed by M. N. Stricker, representing Local Board No. 1, Milam County. The letter read, in part, as follows.
Having submitted yourself to a local board composed of your neighbors for the purpose of determining your availability for training & service in the land or naval forces of the United States, you are hereby notified that you have now been selected for training & service therein. You will, therefore, report to the local board named above at City hall, Rockdale, Texas at 1:30 p.m., on the 3rd day of February, 1946.
POUNDERS (aka Fuzzy) was inducted into the U.S. Army on 04 Feb 1946. Six months later, at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, he received an Honorable discharge for C of G to enlist in the Regular Army. His mustering out pay was $200.
One year later, POUNDERS received his second Honorable Discharge at Camp Stoneman, California. At the time of his separation, his Military Occupational Specialty & No. was Message Center Clerk 667. He received a World War II Victory Medal as well as an Army of Occupation Medal - Japan. His mustering out pay was $100.
His Report of Separation indicated that POUNDERS had attended Signal Corps School while at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, as well as Message Center School in Kokura, Kyushu, Japan. This same report listed his prior employment at Jones Grocery & Market in Rockdale in 1945.
As a Message Center Clerk, POUNDERS had . . . Received & logged incoming & outgoing messages, communications & publications in a message center & distributed them in accordance with the prescribed procedures. Coded & decoded secret & confidential messages in accordance with standing operating procedures.
On this date in our family history . . . the 2nd day of January . . . in the year 1895 . . . Berta Mary Sharp marries Edgar Henry in Crockett, Houston County, Texas . . . they are the parents of Rubie and George and Frank and Milton and Robert and Oscar and Nellie . . .
Oak Lawn Cemetery
Rockdale, Milam County, Texas
Edgar Henry
born 31 January 1872
Old Independence, Washington County, Texas
died 25 June 1950
Rockdale, Milam County, Texas
married 02 January 1895
Crockett, Houston County, Texas
Berta Mary (Sharp) Henry
born 10 November 1873
Hall Plantation, Houston County, Texas
died 06 December 1955
Rockdale, Milam County, Texas
FYI . . . Edgar and Berta are maternal great-grandparents of the Keeper of this family history blog . . . and this collage was created in the same manner as > this < collage . . .
On this date in our family history . . . the 30th day of November . . . in the year 1710 . . . Thomas Waring is born in Maryland . . . "Thomas son of Basil Waring & Martha his wife was born the 30th of 9ber 1710" [9ber = November] . . . this Thomas Waring is a 3rd great-grandpa of Berta Mary Henry nee Sharp (1873-1955) . . . who is a great-grandma of the Keeper of this family history blog . . .
(IV) Thomas Waring, eldest son of Captain Basil and Martha (Greenwifled) Waring, was born September [sic] 30, 1710, died January, 1752 [sic*]. He resided in Nottingham district, Prince George's county, Maryland. He married (first) December 12, 1734, Jane Oxford, by whom he had two children: Martha, born 1735; married Richard Duckett Jr., and Basil, see forward. Married (second) Lucy, daughter of Thomas and Sarah (Mason) Brooke. His widow, by whom he had no children, married (second) Clement Wheeler.
from
Baltimore Its History and Its People
By Clayton Colman Hall, Lewis Historical Publishing Co.
*before 30 April 1761
On this date in our family history . . . the 16th day of November . . . in the year 1740 . . . Basil Waring is born in Prince George's County, Maryland . . . this Basil Waring is a 2nd great-grandpa of Berta Mary Henry nee Sharp (1873-1955) . . . who is a maternal great-grandma of the Keeper of this family history blog . . . the following bio sketch is from a Google ebook entitled Baltimore Its History and Its People . . .
Basil Waring, only son of Thomas and Jane (Oxford) Waring, was born in Prince George's county, Maryland, November 16, 1740, died about 1800*. He was called Basil Waring the third, to distinguish him from his uncle and cousin who were his elders and bore the same name. After the death of his uncle he was sometimes addressed as Basil Waring Jr. He was active in efforts to induce the people of his county to resist the demands of Great Britain, and his name is frequently mentioned as participating in the proceedings of the various meetings held at Upper Marlboro by the citizens who assembled to perfect arrangements to resist the enemy. After the war commenced he was commissioned captain of a company of militia, and served in the southern campaign in Virginia and the Carolinas. He married, 1766, Anne, daughter of Thomas and Eleanor (Hilleary) Gantt, of White's Landing. . . .
The Edward Gantt Waring and Catherine Waring mentioned in the above book-clip are the parents of Elizabeth Lemaire Beale nee Waring . . . who is the mother of Mary Alexandrien Sharp nee Lemaire (1843-1876) . . . who is Berta Mary's mother . . .
* According to Colonial Chesapeake Families, "He died intestate by 30 October 1798 when his eldest son Thomas Waring filed his estate inventory."
The Sampson Waring mentioned below as one "who governed Maryland" is a 6th great-grandpa of Berta Mary Henry nee Sharp (1873-1955) . . . who is a maternal great-grandma of the Keeper of this family history blog . . .
A List of those who governed Maryland before it was made A Royal Province (Penna. Mag., Vol. XXII. p. 98).—My attention has been called to the fact that in my "List of those who governed Maryland before it was made a Royal Province" I had overlooked the fact that the Commissioners appointed by the Parliamentary Commissioners on July 22, 1654, claimed the right to add to their numbers. Shortly after their appointment they added Captain Robert Slye to the list; on June 26, 1655, they increased it by the names of Thomas Meeres and Thomas Marsh; on August 13, 1655, they further added Michael Brooke, Robert Pott, Sampson Waring, and Woodman Stockley; before March 12, 1656/7, they had added William Parker and William Parratt, and Philip Thomas and Samuel Withers were probably chosen members at some time before March 16, 1657/8. — "Council Proceedings," Vol. I. pp. 315, 316, 317, 318, 335.
Bernard C. Steiner.
from
The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography
By Historical Society of Pennsylvania
On this date in our family history . . . the 11th day of August . . . in the year 1676 . . . Thomas Brackett is one of numerous people (including his brother-in-law, Nathaniel Mitton) who are killed at Old Falmouth in Maine . . . this Thomas Brackett is a 9th great-grandpa to the Keeper of this family history blog . . .
Brackett Genealogy
by
Herbert Ierson Brackett
Thomas Brackett, the 2nd son, and perhaps the 3rd child of Anthony Brackett, the immigrant (see Chapter II), was probably born at Sandy beach, then of the town of Strawberry Bank (Portsmouth), now a part of the present town of Rye, in New Hampshire, about the year 1635, if not earlier, and removed to Casco, ME, soon after 1662.
Little is known of him prior to his marriage to Mary Mitton, daughter of Michael Mitton. Subsequent to this event he became prominent in the town, was one of the selectman of 1672. His wife's mother, Elizabeth Mitton, daughter of George Cleeve, married for her second husband a Mr. Harvey. Mrs. Harvey lived with Thomas in 1671; during that year he entered into an agreement for her care and maintenance, and in consideration received from her a deed of land. The tract was situated on the southerly side of the upper part of the Neck; it had been occupied by Michael Mitton for several years. The house stood near to where the gas house is in Portland.
There is no doubt that Thomas prospered in his undertakings; how well is shown by his marriage into the Cleeve-Mitton family and by his having been chosen as selectman. The office at the time was an important one, as the selectmen of the town were authorized to make grants of land in the town. While he held the office in 1672, his brother Anthony received a grant of four hundred acres. As to how long he held the office or as to what other office he held, nothing is known, as the records of the town covering the period, are not extant. Probably there were few men in Casco who had brighter prospects before them or were more happily situated than he, when the fateful year, 1676, brought ruin, desolation and death to his and him.
When, on the capture of Capt. Anthony Brackett and his family, August 11, 1676, the Indians divided, a part passing around Back cove and a part onto the Neck, the first house in the course of the latter was Thomas Brackett's, on the southerly side of the Neck. Between the houses of the two brothers, was an unbroken forest. The accounts relative to their line of march are conflicting. It is thought that the Indians went along the northerly side of the Neck until they had passed the farm of Thomas Brackett. In their course they met John, the son of George Munjoy, and another Isaac Wakely, and shot the two. Others who were with or near them, fled down the Neck to give the alarm, and thereupon the Indians retreated in the direction of Thomas Brackett's house.
That morning three men were on their way to Anthony Brackett's farm to harvest grain. They probably rowed over the river from Purpooduck point and had left their canoe near Thomas Brackett's house. From there they crossed the Neck towards Anthony's house, to where they went near enough to learn of the attack by the Indians on his family; the three hastened onto the Neck, perhaps over the course pursued by the Indians, to give the alarm. On their way they heard guns fired "whereby it seems two men (perhaps Munjoy and Wakely) were killed." Thereupon the three fled in the direction of Thomas Brackett's house to reach their canoe.
The Indians reached the farm, nearly at the same time as did the men, who saw Thomas Brackett shot down while at work in his field. Two of the men succeeded in reaching the canoe; the third, not so fleet of foot, hid in the marsh and witnessed the capture of Thomas Brackett's wife and children. The three men escaped. Among the Indians who were concerned in the killing of Thomas Brackett, was Megunnaway, one of the braves of King Philip. All of the residents on the Neck, except Thomas Brackett, his family, John Munjoy and Isaac Wakely, succeeded in reaching Munjoy's garrison house, which stood on Munjoy's hill at the end of the Neck. From there they passed over to Bangs' island, then called Andrew's Island. . . .
The Story of Old Falmouth
By
James Otis Kaler, James Otis
THE ATTACK ON CASCO NECK. On the 9th of August, 1676, a well-known Indian named Simon, who had been imprisoned at Dover awaiting his trial on the charge of murder, appeared at the farm-house of Anthony Brackett [brother of Thomas], and was accused by him of having stolen a cow a few days previous. Simon denied the charge, but promised to bring the culprits to Mr. Brackett's home on the third day. Agreeably to the promise he came, accompanied by five other Indians, and was admitted to the house by Mr. Brackett himself, who had no suspicion that mischief was intended. Then began the work of murder, and the settlement was alarmed.
Regarding this attack by the savages, there is in the collection of the Massachusetts Historical Society, a letter from Thaddeus Clark, written in the year 1676, to his mother in Boston. In this letter the unfortunate man says . . .
On Friday morning your own son with your sons-in-law, Anthony and Thomas Brackett, and their whole families were killed or taken captives by the Indians. It is certain that Thomas was slain, and his wife [Mary Mitton] and children carried away, but of Anthony and his family we have no tidings, therefore think they may have been captured the night before, for, as you know, they live at a long distance from any neighbor. Mr. Corbin and all his family; Mr. Lewis and his wife; James Ross and family; Mr. Durham, John Murphy, Daniel Wakely, Benjamin Hadwell and his family were all killed before the sun was an hour high in the morning. Mr. Wallis's house was the only one burned. There are of men slain, eleven; of women and children killed and taken, twenty-three. We that are alive are forced upon Mr. Andrews on his island to secure our own and the lives of our families. We have but little provisions, and are so few in number that we are not able to bury the dead until more strength comes to us. We entreat the Governor that forthwith aid may be sent to us, either to fight the enemy out of our borders that our English corn may be planted whereby we may live comfortably, or remove us out of danger that we may provide for ourselves elsewhere. Desiring your prayers to God for His preservation of us in these times of danger, I rest
Your dutiful son,
THADDEUS CLARK
"
