Saturday, January 19, 2013

A Possible connection to the Mayflower


Last night my author was working on her genealogy. According to her mother, she has a distant relative who came over on the Mayflower. So far in her research, she has not yet found that connection. The closest she has come to it was this Last Will and Testament of Hugh Parsons. His daughter married Henry Matteson. Donna Swanson's (my author's birth name) grandmother was a direct descendent.

The reason this connection is so interesting is that Hannah's mother's name was Elizabeth, and we do not know her maiden name. She however did have two daughters from a previous marriage, again, we do not know his name, however, we do know that the other daughter's names were Susannah Carpenter and Elizabeth Doty. Doty was one of the names of the families who came over on the Mayflower. Is this our connection to the Mayflower?

Notes for Hugh Parsons:
Source:
1. Mattesons in America, H. Porter Matteson, 1948-1955, Typewritten & signed edition, page 1
Henry Matteson married at Portsmouth, Newport County, Rhode Island 1670 to Hannah Parsons daughter of Hugh and Elizabeth Parsons of England.
2. Newport, Rhode Island Town Council & Probate Volume 2, page 229.
Will of Hugh Parsons
Dated January 10, 1683, Proved March 14, 1684
I Hugh Parsons inhabitant of the Towne of Portsmouth on Road Island in the colony of Road Island and Providence in New England do make this my last will and Testament in minde and following.
First my minde and will is that all my just Debts which I of Right owe or am indebted to any person or persons by justly and truly paid by my executrix hereafter named in som convenient time after my decease; also I make my Loving Wife Elizabeth Parsons sole Executrix to all my estate and after mine and my Wifes Decease, my will is, that Hugh Bayly, my Grandson possess and injoy, this, my house and Land I now Live on to him and his heirs forever; with one-third of my store, and moveables that shall be there left; but in case Hugh Bayly shall die before his coming to injoy what I have here bequeathed to him, then my will is that what I have here bequeathed to him shall be and remain to his heires and next of kin which shall be found surviving after mine and my Wifes deceases and further my will is, that my Wife Take Care for the bringing up of my Grandsonn, and that he Live and be subject and helpful to hir during hir natural life and after hir so charge my said Grandsonn, Hugh Bayly to have and injoy what is hereto bequeathed to him and his heires forever and in case my Wife should Dye before my said Grandsonn come of age or capable to manage for himself- Then I leave him with his estate bequeathed to him in the Care and Trust of my overseers hereafter named. They to improve it for his best Advantage and behoofs of my Grandsonn, paying them also out of said estate for their care and trouble thereon.
And to my daughter Hannah Mattison I give one shilling and to my Grand-Daughter Hannah Mattison foure eue sheeps to be delivered to her at the day of sixteen years or day of marriage by my Executrix or overseers in Trust.
And the Remaining part of my Estate undisposed of I freely give and bequeath to my Wifes two daughters, Living on Long Island near Oyster Bay, namely Susannah Carpenter and Elizabeth Doty.
Lastly I desire my Loving friends, James Baker of Newport and William Cadman of Portsmouth and George Lauton of Portsmouth to be my overseers of this my last Will and Testament to see it performed after my decease.
In witnee-- I have on the day and year first above written set my hand and seale. Hugh Parsons
Signed sealed and owned
In the presence of
Wm Cadman
Joseph Martin
William Cadman and Joseph Martain Witness that upon their solemn engagement do testify that they saw the above said testator Hugh Parsons sign and seal the above written and heard him declare it to be his last will and testament and that then he was of a disposing mind to the best of their understandings taken before us this 14th of March 1683 John Albro assistant
More About Hugh Parsons and Elizabeth Unknown:
Marriage: 1626, Newport County, Rhode Island.
Children of Hugh Parsons and Elizabeth Unknown are:
  • +Hannah Parsons, b. 07 Aug 1646, Newport County, Rhode Island, d. 1685, Providence, Providence County, Rhode Island.

Saturday, January 12, 2013

Taxation without Representation

http://www.indiana.edu/~liblilly/history/images/e215-2-g68_00001.jpgIn 1765 Parliament passed the Stamp Act. According to many historians, this was the major cause of the American Revolution, however, the reason that Parliament passed the act was because the French and Indian War had left a huge national debt. It only seemed right to Parliament that the American colonists, whose protection the British army provided during the war, share in some of the responsibility in paying back those debts. Therefore, in a very major way, the French and Indian War caused the American Revolution because with out it, the Revolution may never have taken place.
      In the novel Soldiers Don't Cry, the Locket Saga Continues (by my creator--Cygnet Brown) My brother-in-law's friend  Samuel Matthew Gray (who Peter always called Matthew) was especially angered by the Stamp Act. (Personally I think he was just looking for something to fight about because he loved to pick fights.)
      Matthew was one of the original members of the Sons of Liberty, the name of which originated from a speech that Colonel Isaac Barre gave against the Stamp Act in the House of Commons. The Sons of Liberty were secret organizations formed int the provincial towns in order to organize against the Stamp Act and other British legislation they did not feel was in their best interests.
      The Stamp Act was the first event that organized the colonists against the British government. Delegates from 9 f the 13 colonies met in New York to formally protest the Stamp Act. The formal protest was heard because on March 18, 1766, Parliament repealed the act. However, the issue wasn't completely taken off the table because the same day Parliament  passed the Declaratory Act which gave Parliament the right to make any laws they wished.
       Because of the growing unrest in the colonies, British troopers were sent to Boston to quell the growing unrest in the colonies. This did not however quell anything, but simply reinforced to the colonists that the British government was not interested in allowing the colonists in on the decision making process on how British national debts should be paid.
       I hope you have enjoyed this background research that was used when writing the novel in which I am the protagonist (sometimes antagonist) in Soldiers Don't Cry, the Locket Saga Continues by Cygnet Brown

Saturday, January 5, 2013

When Fort Presque Isle closed



http://www.mccordfamilyassn.com/FrIndnWar100.jpg

There is some misunderstanding concerning why forts like Fort Presque Isle closed in 1763. 

      Some people thought that the reason the forts closed was because of the Indian attacks during The Conspiracy of Pontiac. This occurred while the French and English were negotiating for peace at the end of The French and Indian War. With the fall of the French domination in the West, the Indians were left unprotected. An Indian conspiracy soon formed in to kill all the garrisons and settlers in the frontier settlements in Pennsylvania and Virginia and along the Great Lakes. They were lead by Pontiac, an Ottowan, probably the most able Native American of the time. Nearly every Algonquin tribe  and the Seneca of the Six Nations participated in the conspiracy. 

       Every English fort fell into the hands of the Indians except for Fort Detroit, Fort Pitt and Niagara. Detroit which had been attacked by Pontiac was successfully defended by Major Gladwyn. Colonel Bouquet protected fort Pitt and Niagara had not been attacked. 

       Not every Fort was attacked and overcome by Indians. Some of the frontier forts like Fort Presque Isle, were abandoned because the British were not willing to foot the cost of defending them since their quarrel was with the French, not the Indians. 

      When the war ended in 1763 with the Treaty of Paris, and the redistribution of European colonies, the cost of the war left a huge national debt hanging over the British government which a young King George had discover a way to resolve.
       
      In the book Soldiers Don't Cry, The Locket Saga Continues, the message that came telling the commanding officer to abandon the fort came when it did because the British government ordered it closed for financial reasons, not because of the Indian invasion that killed the members of Philip's supply party and my family.

         Soldiers Don't Cry is available on Amazon.