Baxter and Waterbury, Winthrop's Fleet 1630

I've accumulated a really nice personal genealogy book collection over the years, including such wonderful resources as "Directory of the Ancestral Heads of New England Families 1620-1700" compiled by Frank Holmes, "Maryland Revolutionary Records" by Harry Wright Newman, and "Kentucky Obituaries 1787-1854" by G. Glenn Clift.  I typically purchase the books for a specific research goal, and unfortunately, don't usually go back and review the book again.
After attending last night's Illinois State Genealogical Society's webinar "Some Seldom Used Resources:  A Genealogical Potpourri," (thank you, Tim Pinnick!), I was inspired to revisit my bookshelf resources.  I pulled out "Directory of the Ancestral Heads of NE Families," and while doing a quick scan using my list of surnames, I discovered my ancestors and my husband's ancestors both arrived in America aboard Winthrop's Fleet in 1630!!  It's more than likely the two men knew each other, and survived many hardships together.  I wonder if they ever dreamed their descendants would come together more than 350 years later.
Recheck  your bookshelf resources, and who knows, you might discover a piece of genealogical serendipity like I did!

Names Are Not Always What You Expect Them To Be

One of my favorite volumes in my personal genealogy library is "Directory of the Ancestral Heads of New England Families 1620-1700,"  compiled by Frank R. Holmes in 1923. It 's a treasure trove of early New England information.  In the book's Foreword, Mr. Holmes briefly discusses one of the most vexing problems a genealogist can face, the dreaded name change:

Though the custom is widespread for all males to bear the names of their parents, common law sanctions a change of name when made in good faith.  There are no serious consequences growing out of an adoption of a new name, except the possibility of confounding the identity.   Many who have become famous in history, arts, and literature, have adopted a new patronymic in whole or in part....The baptismal name of General Grant was Hiram Ulysses, but was changed when he was nominated for a cadetship to the Military Academy at West Point, where he was recorded as Ulysses S. Grant, in which form it ever since has remained....Similar illustrations are found among worthies in European literature and art...Rembrandt's family name was Gerretz, which he changed to Van Ryn, on account of its greater dignity....Even Bonapart altered his name from Buonaparte to disguise his Italian origin.

Moral of the story:  names are not always what you except them to be.

Now back to the book.  The entry for my Waterbury ancestors:

Waterbury
John, hotel-keeper Watertown, Mass., 1646, removed Stamford, Conn., where he died 1658.  William, came in Winthrop's fleet 1630 to Boston, Mass., died soon after on return to England.

If anyone has a surname they want me to look up in this volume, send me a quick email or post a reply!  I love to share resources.

(Not So) Wordless Wednesday - Sitting In The Outhouse

This photo makes me laugh every time I see it.  The young lady on the left is my grandmother, Mildred Robertson Gannan.  The other young lady is her future sister-in-law, Belle Robertson.  They are sitting (for some unknown odd reason) in their grandfather's (William Yager Waterbury) outhouse.

Wordless Wednesday - October 26, 2011

My great grandmother, Melinda Jane Waterbury Gannan, probably around 1910.

Military Service

I have found very few of my direct ancestors who served in the military during what I'll call "modern times" (after the Civil War). My great great grandfather, Allen Robertson, served in the Union forces during the Civil War and never attained a rank beyond Private. George Isaac Gibson, my Irish immigrant fifth great grandfather, was a Major under George Washington at Valley Forge during the Revolutionary War. His father-in-law, Zechariah Smith (my sixth great grandfather) served under Captain Thompson in the French & Indian War. Our family was also represented in the War of 1812 by Josiah Oaks, my fifth great grandfather, and Joel Waterbury, my fourth great grandfather. Joel Waterbury's two grandfathers, Daniel Waterbury and Jacob Travis, also served in the Revolutionary War. Oddly enough, my original impetus for picking up my mom's genealogy was a desire to join the Daughters of the American Revolution, which I've yet to do.