Dec 16, 2020

McMillan/McGuffin Mayflower Ancestors - Stephen and Constance Hopkins

This is a quick place holder for a blog post that I will flesh out in the next few weeks with more details, for McMillan/McGuffin Cousins (Johnsons, Olsons if related to Grace McGuffin, Etc.)

Here's a basic list of your lineage back to Stephen Hopkins, starting with my grandmother. As mentioned in previous recent posts, I will come back and add more words to this once I finish this current set of Mayflower Videos.

How certain am I about this lineage? From Stephen Hopkins through Hannah Ransom is well documented. I need more documentation showing that David Hammond is Hanna Ransom's son. Then from David through Grace is also very well documented. David Hammond is our weak link right now. Altogether, I do think the lineage is quite likely (4 stars out of 5.)

Stephen Hopkins 1582-1644

Constance Hopkins 1606-1644, Daughter of Stephen Hopkins

Mark Snow 1628-1695, Son of Constance Hopkins

Nicholas Snow 1663-1754, Son of Mark Snow

Thankful Snow 1702-1755, Daughter of Nicholas Snow

Hannah Burgess 1726-1785, Daughter of Thankful Snow

Hannah Ransom 1744-1816, Daughter of Hannah Burgess

David Hammond 1773-1842, Son of Hannah Ransom

Esther Hammond 1809-1882, Daughter of David Hammond

Sophia Travis 1832-1890, Daughter of Esther Hammond

Mary Esther McMillan 1853-1932, Daughter of Sophia Travis

Grace Sophia McGuffin 1891-1935, Daughter of Mary Esther McMillan


Dec 3, 2020

Carver Mayflower Ancestors - James & Mrs Chilton and daughter Mary

Placeholder post to give Carver cousins the basics of their likely relationship with Mayflower passengers James & Mrs Chilton and their daughter Mary.

How sure am I of this relationship? It's well documented, but there isn't solid proof that Mary Washburn is daughter of Josiah Washburn and Hannah Latham. There are multiple Mary Washburns, and many trees get them confused. This Mary is presumed to belong to Josiah and Hannah by process of elimination. There are no other documented Washburns in the area at the time who might be her parents.

Hubbard Mayflower Ancestors - Chilton/Winslow

This is a quick place holder for a blog post that I will flesh out in the next few weeks with more details. Hubbard cousins, you are probably not a blood relative of Mary Chilton, but you are probably related to her husband, John Winslow. This means that John's brothers Edward and Gilbert Winslow, who both came on the Mayflower, are your great uncles. (8th great if you are in my generation.)

What is my certainty level? I'd say 4 out of 5, where 1 is "No way" and 5 is "very likely."

We have Ancestry DNA links via the "thrulines" feature up to John Thacher (1703-1787) and Content Norton (1713-1773). Is this proof that we are related? No. It is more of a pointer. You might say we are definitely related to other people who all think they are related to John and Content.

We also have good research at least partway up the line through the writings of our great great grandfather, Robert Parks, husband of Lucy Brookins, who wrote some family histories in his book, cowritten with Hyland Paul: History of Wells, Vermont, for the First Century After Its Settlement.

From John Thacher back, the line is reasonably well documented in published family histories. 

Nov 22, 2020

Carver Mayflower Ancestors: William Mullins Family and John Alden

    This is what I believe is my lineage back to John Alden and Priscilla Mullins. If you are one of my Carver cousins, and you don't know how you fit into this tree, contact me and I'll help you figure it out. (carverhistorical@outlook.com or mayflowermaybes@outlook.com.)

    This is one of our two most certain ancestors. 
    1. From Oliver Carver back it is documented in numerous published histories that have been extensively researched.
    2. I have proof that Barton is Oliver's son based on Oliver's will and various documents showing them living near each other and working together. 
    3. I do not have proof that Barton is father to Cyrus, even though he is the only logical person. Hoping proof will magically show up some time. (The power of positive thinking : )
    4. We have DNA links to other people who think they are related back up the line. (Either we're all related, or we're all wrong together.) This includes a YDNA link back up the male line to Robert Carver, who arrived in New England by 1638. 

    I will come back later this evening, fill this out better, add video links, etc. Meanwhile, this line is fairly well documented here, along with more explanations about DNA.

    John Alden 1599-1687
    8th great-grandfather
    Son of John Alden
    Daughter of Joseph Alden
    Daughter of Elizabeth Alden
    Son of Elizabeth SNOW
    Son of Joseph Carver
    Son of Oliver Carver
    Son of Barton Carver
    Son of Cyrus Hoyt Carver
    Son of Orland William Carver Sr
    You are the daughter of Orland William Carver Jr

May 8, 2020

God Bless the Missionaries and Colporteurs

Related Link: God Bless the Missionaries and the Colporteurs - Video (Not up yet; will circle back around shortly.)

The only thing separating Mary from John is the kitchen table. “You will not join that church!” John lunges to his right. Mary edges away, eyeing the butcher knife in his hand.

“Rotten religion.” His voice slurs as he lunges again. Tomorrow he won't remember this incident, but that doesn't help her much today. He lunges one more time, and loses his footing. As he falls, Mary fleas out the kitchen door, yanks it shut behind her, and makes a beeline for the barn.

John and Mary McGuffin were my mother's mother's parents. John's drunken rage on this particular day stemmed from Mary's decision to join the Seventh-day Adventist church. At one point he also got her best dress out of the closet, dragged it out to the yard, and set it on fire. I guess he thought if she didn't have the dress, she couldn't go to church.

I've heard this story from several branches of the family, and while I can't confirm exact details, I can confirm that Mary did join the church. There were no 12-step programs back then, so it's reasonable to believe that Mary reacted to John's drinking by seeking solace in the arms of a church community where nobody drank alcohol.

Mary raised her younger children in the church, and in doing so, she ensured a lasting legacy. When you join the church, you become a member of a tribe. You have your own dialect, your own rules, your own unique shared history. Even if you leave the church, you never really leave the tribe. And the tribe will reinforce your life values through weekly church services, daily church school, church scout groups, church periodicals. It will teach you to help the sick, the poor, the elderly, to take care of your own health. And it will keep doing this from generation to generation.

Here’s a photo of Mary from 1876. She's 23. She married John when she was 18. I don’t know how long it took her to figure out that life with him might be dangerous, but at some point her father helped her leave.

Mary Esther McMillan (McGuffin, Houser) 1876, age 23

Eventually she took a homestead in South Dakota. This mid-life photo doesn't have a date written on it anywhere.

Mary Esther McMillan (McGuffin, Houser) - Date Unknown 



Here’s a photo from later in life, with son Ewen and grandson Jack. Jack was born in 1914, so this is probably around 1922?

Mary Esther McMillan (McGuffin, Houser) with son Ewen and grandson Jack, est 1922

When I was a kid, we would often end our prayers with "God bless the missionaries and the colporteurs." A colporteur is a person who sells religious books door to door, and this is what Mary did for many years. She did it to supplement her income, but she also did it because every book she sold introduced the Lord’s word to another person.


The Adventist church has an online archive of old periodicals, and when I search them, I can track her progress.

In 1912, she says she is making an average of one dollar per hour.
With permission from adventistarchives.org. Northern Union Reaper, March 5, 1912

In 1916,  she still loves the work, and Lord willing she will continue it. You can see here that she worked 28 hours last week and made 52 dollars.

With permission from adventistarchives.org. Nortnern Union Reaper, July 25, 1916
In 1920, she is 60 years old and still strong and healthy. This is a small excerpt from a larger article.

With permission from adventistarchives.org. Northern Union Reaper, April 6, 1920

Eventually she remarried to a man named David Houser. Here is her obituary in 1932. She was a faithful believer in the advent hope for 45 years.
With permission from adventistarchives.com, North Pacific Union Gleaner, Nov 29, 1932

Did future generations find Mary’s religion to be a blessing or a curse? I think it depends on who you ask. The church was a great comfort to some, and a source of unrelenting guild for others. And I remember times when I was young where social interactions with nonbelievers felt awkward, because we were used to interacting mostly with other church members, in a little Adventist bubble. But we did have a shared vision and a clear purpose, and many family members are still part of this church, six and seven generations after Mary and John. That is a lasting legacy.

The other day I watched a TEDx video called "Building a 7-Generation World." In this video, Susan Bosak encourages us to view our life stories in the context of the three generations that come before us, and the three generations that come after us, making a "me" story a "we" story.

As I look back at my great grandmother's life, I wonder what I can do to touch the future the way she did. I’m not going to join a radical new religion, but I hope to tell my great grandchildren about hers. I would like for them to live lives of service and purpose.

If I could choose just one thing that really stands out about Great Grandma Mary, it was the way she just stuck to things. She chose her spiritual path and stuck to it. She chose to sell books, and she went to door after door, year after year. She believed in that advent hope for 45 years.

For my friends and family with Adventist roots, you can find all sorts of interesting things at adventistarchives.org. Click on "Historical Archives" and then select "Magazines and Journals".

If your family came from a different tribe, go hunting. Other church organizations must have historical records as well. Find those legacies. Carry them forward. Transform your life experience from a "me" story to a "we" story.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

Apr 22, 2020

The Next Grandpa Back - Video

Related Link: https://carverhistorical.blogspot.com/2020/04/the-next-grandpa-back.html
A video about getting to know Cyrus Hoyt Carver using last century's best social media platform.


Treasure Chest - Written Word

Related Link: Treasure Chest - Video

When I was a preschooler, my mother kept a box in her closet. It looked like a miniature pirate's chest. She let me reach in there and pull things out — old photos, Grandma's scrapbook, a very old game of pick up sticks. Mom called this her treasure chest. I asked her why.

"Because, sweetheart, my mother died when I was 14. These were her things, and they helped me feel close to her when I was sad.” 

I thought that chest was almost magical, and I wished I could meet Grandma Grace. It didn't seem fair that some of my friends had grandmothers nearby to rock them and kiss them and make them yummy cookies.

As I got older I forgot all about the treasure chest. We adopted a baby boy, and I was busy helping him learn to play baseball and important things like that. Then in 1971 we lost my little brother to an accident. I was 12, just two years younger than Mom was when Grandma Grace died. I remember being really lonely. I tried to stay busy with school, but then came Christmas vacation - long days in that quiet house. 

One day I found that old box on my bed with a note in Mom's handwriting: "Nancy's Treasure Chest." I reached in and pulled out Grandma's scrapbook. The front cover was missing. The whole thing was faded and hard to read. A blurry photo fell out of the back of the book. It's hard to make out, but this is my Grandma, Grace Sophia McGuffin, with her twin brother Edgar and their mother, there in the snow with the horses. 

Mary, Edgar, and Grace McGuffin around 1910-15, Line, SD
Back behind them you can see the faint outline of a sod house. I looked through the box for more photos. Here's a better photo of that sod house. Doesn't Uncle Edgar look dapper? 

Mary and Edgar McGuffin, early 1900s.
And here’s a better photo of the twins. They were born in Michigan in 1891. Grace attended Battle Creek college and taught school in South Dakota until she married my grandfather, Elmer Olson, in 1915. They started a family and moved to Portland, Oregon, where Gramps worked as a carpenter. They attended the Sunnyside Seventh-day Adventist Church. Two of their children died in infancy -- one a few days after birth, and the other from pneumonia at 14 months. My aunt told me that Grace first found out she had breast cancer in 1931. After surgery, it seemed to be gone, but then in 1934 it came back, taking her life in January of 1935. She left behind six children ages three through sixteen.


I started reading the scrapbook. The first page is filled with poetry. Here's the first stanza of a poem by Robert Whitaker. He was a Baptist minister in the Pacific Northwest. I remember being enchanted with her handwriting.


After that there were several pages of grammar rules. I wonder if she wrote these as a student, or if she used them when she was teaching school. Based on all the things my mother and aunt told me, Grace didn't stop teaching when her employment ended. She just changed from a classroom of pupils to a house full of children, so I wouldn't be surprised if Mom got an ear full of these grammar lessons.


The book has page after page of newspaper clippings. Here's a handy tip. "Did you know that gum may be removed from cloth if the spot is saturated with gasoline?" 


After the tips were recipes. I took the book to the kitchen. "Hey Mom, can we make this apple pie recipe from Grandma's book?" We ended up making the pie and some peanut butter cookies. And it felt like Grandma was in the kitchen with us as we sliced and stirred. I hadn’t had that much fun in weeks!

We did not try to make this recipe. This is for fake meat. It calls for a pound of peanuts and five pounds of flour. 

Then I found a list of books. "Hey Dad, will you take me to the library to check out these books that Grandma recommends?" 

We got Little Women and Little Men, and as I was reading them, it felt like Grandma was sitting next to me, like I could lean right up against her while I read. Way up at the top of this list it says "1918." That's when the Spanish Flu was killing people all over the world. It's my family's pandemic reading list for the 20th century.


Here are some riddles. Why is it illegal for a man to possess a short walking stick? Because it can never be long to him. Har Har. I tried that one on Gramps, and I thought I could hear Grandma Grace whisper in my ear, "See there? He almost smiled!"  


Thanks to my mother, I’ve been using this scrapbook to get acquainted and re-acquainted with Grandma ever since. And I've learned a lot too, as I looked up the authors of her poems, read the books on her list, rolled my eyes at her riddles, played some of the sheet music, and scanned through her household tips.

You people who run out to the store and pay money for Sudoko, here's how Grandma did it.


And finally, I came across a page of my mother's handwriting. How old do you suppose she was here?

If you inherit a scrapbook, I have a few suggestions. If it's fragile, make a good copy. Then go through it slowly, so you don't hit information overload. Ask some questions. Do you see trends? What subjects did the creator find the most fascinating? When was the book made? What was going on in history then?

What is Grace Sophia McGuffin's legacy? From her book, I would say she was fond of pickles, and potatoes, and really bad puns. She liked to collect ideas, write things down, read great books, and use good grammar. Her children and extended family tell me that she was kind and had a gentle sense of humor. She sewed all their clothes. They liked the potatoes she made for dinner after church. They liked her to butter their toast all the way to the edges. They liked it when she set up a little salon in the dining room and cut their hair.   

If I were to choose one thing about her, one thing that really stands out, it's the fact that her teaching career was over in 1915, but her lessons still live on. Years after her death, she had a tremendous impact on my life, thanks in part to the contents of that Treasure Chest.


Apr 4, 2020

The Next Grandpa Back - Written Word

Related Link: The Next Grandpa Back - Video

In times of uncertainty I like to look back in history to identify things that remain constant from generation to generation. It helps me feel grounded. And it occurred to me the other day that social media is one of those constants.

Think about it. Through the ages people have tried to connect -- with writing on cave walls, writing on bathroom walls, the town crier, the town gossip, newspaper ads, bulletin boards, Facebook, and Twitter.

My favorite social media platform of last century is the community news section of small town newspapers. Here's an example from the Creighton News, July 4, 1912. It's a small Nebraska paper.

  • Adolph Raff was in town Sunday and dropped in to say hello to the news. 
  • Cool underwear for hot weather at the Simon Clothing Company.
  • Mrs. Alice Norton has a small chicken that has four legs and four feet.
  • Instant Postum requires no boiling. 25 and 50 cent packages available.

These little tidbits tumble down the columns, paragraph after paragraph, no headings, filling most of page 3. They remind me of my Facebook news feed, without the photos or memes. And yet, each of these paragraphs provides a small snapshot in time that can help us understand the people who lived then.

These pages helped me get acquainted with my great grandfather. Dad told me stories about his father, but we didn’t know much about the next grandpa back. All Dad could remember was that he was really old, and he had a gruff voice. 

I can see him now, Cyrus Carver, standing in the kitchen of his son Bart’s house. He's been visiting, but it's time to go home. His lunch is packed. He gets his coat and looks outside. Oh no! Bart is talking to the newspaper man. That man is a busybody. He spends all his time gathering neighborhood gossip and printing it!

Bart waves. "Pops, come talk with us!" With a sigh, Cyrus steps outside.

"I don't have time for no stories. I have pressing work in the shop." He keeps his head down and tries to walk past them, but Bart takes his arm.

"Pops! People want to hear about your life. You set a good example. Talk to the man. Be neighborly!"

Well, if you put it that way. He sets his things on the porch and talks about the old days on the homestead, when the boys were young and his wife was alive. He talks about Saturday night dances at his place. They had some good times. Somebody would play the fiddle. They would make popcorn, play cards, tell stories.

The nearest doctor was miles away, and many a night some neighbor would knock on the door and ask for his wife. "Grandma Carver, my mother is sick. Please come help!" Sometimes she was able to save a life. Sometimes not. Early on, Cyrus set up a cemetery on a hill at the corner of his property. He built the caskets. How many? He wasn't sure.

The boys are all grown now, with children and grandchildren. None of them have much money, and if he doesn't work, they will have to feed him. He isn't having any of that, so he grows onions to sell. He takes orders for blacksmith and carpentry work. And now he really needs to get back. As he explains to the newspaper man, "I'm a self-sustainer. I will work till the day I die."

Cyrus Hoyt Carver was born in St. Lawrence County, New York in 1810. Around 1840 he married a local girl, Mary Allen, and they moved to Wisconsin, where they raised eight children. 

In 1864, despite his age, he was drafted into the civil war at Prairie du Chin, 3rd Dist Wisconson. After a few weeks he was sent home, due to epilepsy.

In 1877 they moved to Nebraska to take up a homestead. 

In October, 1879 the Neligh Republican reports that he built a two-story stone house, 16x26, built of fine, grey limestone.

According to a 1965 article in the Creighton News, he nearly lost his life in 1880 in a well but was saved by a neighbor. This deserves further study and a separate post.

Here he is in 1906 with some grandchildren and their dog, Shep.

Cyrus Hoyt Carver, (1810-1914) with grandchildren Ethyl, Eldon, Gilbert, Chester, and dog, Shep. About 1906. Age 96. Photo courtesy Carly Smith.

The 1910 Country Correspondence section of the Creighton News says that Cyrus had a stroke, but he bounced back.

Creighton News, Page 5 -January 27, 1910

Here he is in 1911, celebrating his 101st birthday. He used to grow tobacco, and he is spry.
Nebraska Liberal, Page 1 - August 11, 1911

In 1912, age 102, he's walking 14 miles against the strongest winds of the season to visit Bart. Can that really be true? Or is this some of that fake news? At any rate, he is still spry. I like that word. Spry.
Nebraska Liberal, Page 4 - October 11, 1912

And finally, here's his obituary in 1914. He lived to be 103 years, 10 months, and 26 days old, and he died in his workshop.
Creighton News, Page 1 - June 4, 1914
Wife's name Mary Jennette Allen. Boys' names: Dorr, Orin (Nickname Shib), Loren (nickname Nin), Donley, Oliver (nickname Oddie), Barton, Orland (nickname Professor). Daughter who died age 11, name unknown. 

What was Cyrus Carver's legacy? He was a husband, father, blacksmith, homesteader. He hosted dances and built caskets. He was a self-sustainer. He was spry. And if we could travel back in time and ask him what one thing he wanted to be remembered for, I think he would say, "I was a good neighbor."

If it weren't for last century's social media, I would know a lot less about Great Grandpa. I'm glad he took the time to tell the papers a little bit about his life. I want to be a self-sustainer. I'd really like to be spry. And we all want to be good neighbors. Don't we?