California Pioneer Harmon Higgins

L-R: James Alexander Howie, Clara Elnett Hand-Howie standing next to the post.
Flora L. Howie-Mayo sitting with Marjorie Mayo-Waage.
Sitting in the chair, Albert Gardner Parker. Standing on right post:
Helen Desdemonia Rider-Howie-Parker.
Sitting on step: Thomas Clay Mayo, holding Mabel Mayo-Somfelde.

I am going to tell a story now about cousin Annie Howie.  She was born April 18, 1884 in Potton, MISSISQUOI, Quebec, Canada, an area just north-east of Lake Champlain.  She was the second child of James Alexander Howie c. 1855 and his wife, Clara Elnett Hand.  The family were farmers in the Stanstead area of Canada for many years.  Her father James was the older brother to my Great Grand-father William George Howie, c. 1856.   At this point I am not currently aware of the how or the when, however Annie and her younger sister Flora Howie moved out west to Southern California.  Here is where my story begins.  Flora first appears in the 1900 U.S. Census taken in Compton California.  A young girl of 15 years.  Flora next appears November 16, 1909 on a marriage certificate to Thomas Clay Mayo.  Thomas was born to a farming family in Compton on August 27, 1885.  They had two children together, daughters Marjorie and Mabel in 1910 and 1911.  Thomas Mayo registers for the draft for WWI in 1917 at the age of 32.  In the 1920 Census data for his listed occupation, it has now changed from farmer to Ranch operator and we now see also appearing on the same census, Annie & Flora's younger brother Robert Maitland Howie, c. 1890, his wife Naomie Gaines-Howie and their newly first born son Robert Howie, c. 1920 living on the adjacent ranch.  Above is a four generation family photo above taken on the Mayo family farm in Compton in 1916 with James and Clara Howie in the back and Marjorie and Mabel in the front and Helen D. (Rider) (Howie) Parker standing besides her husband Albert Parker while he sits on the porch in a rocking chair.

Henry J. Mayo, the father of Thomas Clay, was born c. 1849, in Missouri. He was listed as a laborer in Lea's Summit Missouri, at the age of 21 on the 1870 U.S. Census. The tracks for the Missouri Pacific Railroad were being laid at the time, and the Lees Summit R.R.station was being built.  He may have even labored to get the railroad through Jackson County.  This was probably his ticket to California. As I next found him

registered to vote in August 1875, in Compton, California.
The date of marriage to his wife Augusta Ann Higgins is not yet known by me.  Augusta was born c. 1858 in the Oregon Territory.  She became a school teacher in Compton, and leaves her legacy today, as there is still a school named in her honor, and a street called Mayo.

Augusta Ann Higgins

Augustas' father was Harmon Higgins a farmer from Illinois, and her mother Melinda Durbin was from Missouri where her parents Daniel and Thersa (Fugate) Durbin were also farmers.


Harmon and Melinda Higgins were California Pioneer's.  Making their way west by wagon pulled by oxen along the Oregon Trail.  There are many books published, so I will let two pages of a historical biography on the Higgins journey tell their story. Let me begin with a photo of Harmon Higgins.

Harmon Higgins

 

I need to correct just a little bit of time line from the wonderfully written story above.  As the writer pointed out the 7 month journey on the Oregon Trail from Missouri to Oregon, the final journey to California was no easier.  We find the Higgins family in the 1850 U.S. Census, farmers in Napa, California.  Then ten years later we find the Higgins family in the 1860 Census, farmers in Visalia, Tulare, California.  Then 1870 & 1880 census finally reaching southern California to Compton and then on to Wilmington California.

From the story we can surmise they were survivors, and successful.  There are many books out there written about the Oregon trail.  Many of the stories mention Harmon Higgins, as he quickly became the Captain of the wagon team.  His young bride at the time Melinda must have been a strong woman.  Here is a photograph of Melinda in the early years.

Melinda Higgins, Mary E. Higgins, Harmon Higgins c. 1857

Malinda Frances Durbin-Higgins

It appears to me to be 1887 probably the funeral for Harmon Higgins

Probably sitting in the parlor of the home pictured below.

1st row L-R: James Polk Higgins (oldest son), Malinda F. Higgins (holding the photo of Harmon), Cassandra M. Higgins-Holman (Youngest). 2nd row: Dallas A. Higgins (2nd oldest), Josiah, (holds Harmon Jrs pix, Harmon Jr. Lived in Tucson AZ}, Mary E. Higgins, Augusta Ann Higgins-Mayo,  Stonewall Jackson "Wally" Higgins.

Back Row: Benjamin "Buck" Higgins,  William Riley "Beadie" Higgins.

The Harmon Higgins Home c. 1890's

Photo from the South Bay Photograph collection CSU Dominguez Hills. 

Harmon Higgins had a sugar beet farm, and was the President of the Dairy Association. They had the largest property in Compton. 

The Higgins farm was near Olive St and Wilmington Blvd. in Compton, California.

 On top porch (l-r): Mrs. William Riley Higgins (Nancy), with four of H.J. & Augusta Mayo children: 

Mabel Mayo, Harmon Jefferson "Jeff" Mayo, James Monroe Mayo, (Thomas is downstairs) and William Riley "Will" Mayo. 

On lower porch (l-r): Mrs. Joseph Higgins (I believe this is Enola Gay, wife of Josiah Daniel Higgins), Dallas A. Higgins, 

Benjamin Buchanan "Buck" Higgins, Thomas Clay Mayo, and his mother, Mrs. Augusta Mayo. 

In buggy (l-r): Stonewall Jackson"Wallie" Higgins, Mr. Knowland (cousin from Missouri).In front of house window (l-r): unknown male in hat. Harmon Higgins Jr., Mrs. Harmon Higgins Jr. (Lucy C. Chamberlin).

Here is the genealogy, and our family connection to our not so distant cousins:

Cold Cream for Preservation

I just recently drove to Albuquerque New Mexico to celebrate my mother turning eighty years old.  It was great to see the family and old friends and catch up on new family additions and reminisce about the good ole days.  I drove around the city passing by my old elementary schools, and middle schools and I was even as adventurous to hike to the Sandia Man Caves that I remembered so fondly  from my childhood.  Like most cities, Albuquerque is no different with the passing of time.  Those brand new neighborhoods of yesterday have fallen into decay and crime as white flight and capitalism have the newer generations sprawling outside the city to new enclaves.  I drove down Texas Street where I lived seven youthful years.  The city plunge, once an Olympic size pool where I swam as a young boy with my friends was gone; the entire block was covered up by something new.  As I drove closer to my old house I could tell the neighborhood was not the same.  Paint was peeling, roof shingles were falling off or missing and some homes now have bars over the windows.  I think there was only one green lawn left on the entire block.  After all those good years where my father and I kept up with the neighbors to have the best looking front yards with manicured landscaping, had now been replaced with families that are too busy to enjoy their home.  I was positive that when I got to my old house it would still look as beautiful as I once remembered.  My hopes sank as I journeyed ever closer.  I could see that there were no trees; I mean none.  Not in the back yard, the side yard, the next door neighbors yard or the front yard.  The huge 100 year old cottonwood tree that I had climbed as a boy and appeared on the channel 4 TV show, Eyewitness News had been cut down.  The entire front yards of the homes had been covered up by concrete with cars parked everywhere.  Gone were the juniper bushes that framed the front entrance to my home.  Gone was the gas lamp that kept watch over our landscaped front yard day and night.  Gone were the tulips and the crocus that burst from the snow covered ground ever spring.  The current generation was showing to me that they cared little about preservation of my past.  I have only my memories and some 1970's photos to keep and preserve.


As I work on recording the genealogy of my family and travel back in time 200, 300, or even 400 years in one night, I realize that nothing lasts forever.  If you put cold cream on your face at night, or sun screen during the day.  Eat organic food, exercise or get plenty of rest.  What does that get us? A better sex life one could hope.  Preservation of our family history collection needs more work than just some cold cream.  As we get older we want to pass on our memory to the future generations, but again, nothing lasts forever. In my globe trotting I have seen some horrible preservation of ancestors in Peru that should really be classified as ruins, to some truly ornate mausoleums in Europe which have been spared through many wars, that reach the status of shrine.  In my research of the Lecka's, Pritchard's, Watson's, Starnes' and Chandlers of Tennessee I have read many a story online where cemeteries have been moved or family plots even covered up by a Walmart as there are no kin left who remember.  From the family grave plot on the forty acre farm to the wooden crosses left to mark the graves of our fallen soldiers, they have all gone back to the earth as nature intended. 

  We as the human race are driven to remember our ancestors and preserve the past. From the pyramids of Egypt, to sixteenth-century Mona Lisa in France, to the Indian petroglyphs in Albuquerque; we want to be remembered.  So how do we accomplish this task?  I find that churches have done the best job, as they tend to stand the tests of time.  Some of the best records I have found for source documentation have been kept by churches in Canada, England and Scotland.


So I have taken on the daunting task as a historian and genealogist.  Burden with newspaper clippings and manuscripts of once famous authors in my family.  Photos fading, and newspapers decaying from their own acids.  I asked librarians and museum staff what do I do?  I turned to the internet where I found two interesting articles on the preservation of old documents and here are the links.
The Library of Congress.
Ancestry.com


So I will see what I can do about getting some of these keepsakes preserved for future generations so they in turn can do the same, and so on, and so on.  But for now, I am also still going to trust a Church.  See, I am addicted to Ancestry.com for help in my genealogical research and have a feeling that what ever names, dates or photos that I store to their website using today's current technology will be left to future generations to figure out how they want to preserve our past.

"The United Empire Loyalist"

 

I have mentioned before that I am a descendant from Canada and hold many kinship's still with Canada, and yet I still do not know much about Canada.  As I do my research I am perplexed with location of Lower Canada and West Canada and Upper Canada.  I have probably missed many opportunity to find my ancestors because some source document stated that the family was from West Canada.  West Canada is truly "Ontario" today which by the way is still the most populated province in Canada.  So yes, I probably discounted someone along the way thinking that the family had moved to the Pacific "West" side of the country, when really they had just migrated north with the Loyalist migration.

In my post of Thursday, October 14th, "The American Revolution" I described the many parties such as Patriots and Loyalists and how we have ancestors on both sides.   Many settlers to Canada in the 18th and early 19th centuries were Loyalists who had left America and the thirteen colonies prior to the American Rebellion.  While others were British Soldiers who were given land grants in Canada by the British forces, because at that time West Canada was part of British North America.

Before I go on I want to give credit to Sherry Koshney Downward for all her efforts to research and document the Loyalists.  Another online source I used was by author Wilbur H. Sherbert vol. VII.

As I pour through family letters passed down to me, and thumb through our family cookbook an unknown term catches my eye.  Pennsilfaanisch Deitsch, "Pennsylvania Dutch" associated with the surname Ruiter.    

What identifies one as Pennsylvania Dutch I asked myself?  So I went to Wikipedia and here is what they had to say: "Recently due to loss of the Pennsylvania German language (among others) in many communities, as well as to intermarriage and increased mobility especially in the more secular communities, Pennsylvania Dutch ethnic  consciousness is often very low, especially among younger Pennsylvania Dutch. Many young Pennsylvania Dutch consider themselves only descendants of Pennsylvania Dutch and it is not part of their personal identity. Additionally, as a result of two wars against German enemies, many older Pennsylvania Dutch have deemphasized any Germanic traditions or influences they inherited from prior generations. However, many of those raised in the immediate area, or those who have close ties there, still hold those ties close even if their parents do not emphasize those ties. In some communities the Pennsylvania Dutch name is reserved only for members of the Amish and traditional Mennonite communities."

Now just to remind you of my prior post "What is it to be an Immigrant." I went on a rant about our choice to pick an ethnic identity.  No where did I see where I could have made the choice for Pennsylvania Dutch.  This isn't anything new by the way.  I have looked at all the census data going back to the first census in 1790.  Back then it was just a matter of Black or white.  Well this isn't a posting about the census, let me get back on track, on with the story.

So in my current language, Pennsylvania Dutch was just another way of saying "Those People" someone who was different and spoke funny.  Wow!  All the above copy just because Great Great Grandfather Philo England c. 1833 married Margurite Eunice Ruiter c. 1832 and my 2nd great Grand Uncle George England c. 1828, brother of Philo,  son of Fredrick England c. 1789 married her sister Elizabeth Ellen Ruiter c. 1828.

If you are curious as to what happens next, click on Read More...
 On the left is a photo of Philip Lampman Ruiter c. 1804 - photo courtesy Pam Wood Waugh.  It is written that he was the first white child born in Cowansville an area just west of Lake Brome between Beebe Vermont and Montreal Canada.  In the book, "The History of Eastern Townships" chapter II.  It begins with a geographical description of Missisquoi and the land grant petition for Dunham which was issued April 28, 1795.  The following historical names follow.  The first is Thomas Dunn, as this hamlet is the land of Dunn's, "Dunham!"  Then we have his associates where I find my ancestors highlighted below. "Joseph Buck, John Heilker, Jacob Heliker, George Saxe, Mathew Hall, William Ferrand, David Ferrand, Joshua Chambers, Amos Woodard, David Reychart, John Clark, Thomas Best, Daniel Mills, Jeremiah Reychart, Daniel Trevor, Alexander McDougall, Thomas Pell, Andrew Ten Eyck, Henry Ten Eyck, Archibald Henderson, Henry Hall, Elisha Dickinson, Jacob Best Senior, George Waymore, Abraham Lampman, John Mills, Stephen Jenner, Jacob Best junior, Adam Deal, Frederick Streit, Samuel Mills, Philip Ruiter, and Jacob Ruiter.  It is said that Dunham was the first township erected in Lower Canada.
Philip Ruiter c. 1766 and his brother Jacob Ruiter c. 1772 were both land agents for Thomas Dunn, and in 1794 Mr. Dunn gave Jacob a land grant.  These two brothers were born in Hoosick, Rensselaer, New York.  They were Loyalists and left New York as they supported the Crown, and removed to Quebec.  They arrived with their families, and settled in Caldwell Manor (Clarenceville) before moving to Missiquoi Bay.  Do you like history? I hope you do as much as I.  "In the early French regime the area now known as Clarenceville was then called the Seigneurie de Foucault . After the Treaty of Paris signing in 1763, the lands in New France were transferred to British rule. In 1774 the area was leased to Col Henry Caldwell and the area became known as Caldwells’ Manor . and at a later date Allard's Manor It is only in 1822 that we find the area after government proclamation being called Saint Georges de Clarenceville . It must also be noted that once the religious element became involved in this area we find the Parish of Saint Thomas and the Parish of Saint George , segmenting the area of the Seigneurie de Foucault even further. "  If you want to read more on this subject, The above paragraph was written by: J C McCorkill.

During the summer of 1798, Jacob Ruiter left his family at Missisquoi Bay and went to claim his land granted to him by Thomas Dunn. He built a temporary shelter where we find today the seniors residence, Manoir Cowan, on Main Street. He went back to his family for the winter, returning the following spring with his wife Eunice Freeman Ruiter c. 1780, his first born son John c. 1778 and daughter Elizabeth c. 1800.  They settled on the south side of the Yamasaka River near what is today the bridge at South street.  Back then the area was covered by a thick forest, so during that summer, 26 year old Jacob built his home of logs.  In the early 1800's, Jacob built a flour mill and saw mill that was used by the people in the surrounding areas for several years. This place was known then as "Ruiter's Mill".  In 1805, Jacob named this new settlement, Nelsonville, it is told that this was in honor of the British Admiral Lord Nelson who died during the Battle of Trafalgar during the Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815).  At this time I cannot prove nor disprove this fact, however there was another founder in the area with the surname Nelson.   Then in 1811, Jacob gave a piece of land for the building of the first school and later he gave another lot for the Union Cemetery on Main St.  He and his wife had twelve children in this area. Their son, Philip Lampman Ruiter was born March 29, 1804 and as I mentioned above, he is probably the first white (as in skin color) child to be born in Cowansville. 
Do you have time to read more...?

Founder of Hartford Connecticut

After my posting yesterday on the Lee family I was going to write today about the Indians and how my ancestors affected and were affected.  That story is going to have to wait.  After opening the mail last night from my Uncle Arthur Howie and receiving the genealogy sheets on the Smith family I was awake almost all night.  I was first excited by the relationship with Benjamin Wright and his wife Thankful Taylor.  Benjamin was a Captain and son of Samuel Wright who was killed by Indians.  As I researched more, what I have found is Andrew Warner and his wife Mary Humphrey.  Andrew Warner was a maltser, born in Great Waltham in Essex, England.  He and Mary immigrated to Cambridge Massachusetts in November 2, 1631 along with their son John; daughter Mary; son Robert and son Andrew.  He took the freeman's oath in Cambridge in 1632.  On May 14, 1634 he joined Thomas Hooker's trek to Connecticut to found Hartford where Andrew was a surveyor.  Here is a link to the founders of Hartford.  The records show that he owned large plots of land as he went on to help settle Farmington.  He had become a deacon of the church and due to a dispute with other church leaders he removed with his new wife Esther Wakeman to Hadley.  The Warner family were prominent in the area and are listed in the book, "The History of Northfield.  Here is my genealogy connection to the Warner's and the Humphrey's of England and Hartford Connecticut.  They are my 7th Great-Grand Parents on my fathers side:

Here is a page from the book, "History of Northfield"

Ancestors of Rev. Clarence Philo England & Nettie Martha Smith

Today I received a letter from Arthur England Howie who turned 90 years old on July 30, 2010.  He thanked me for sending him the newspaper article on the author George Allan England and said that he and his wife Jeanette are in the process of down-sizing over 50 years of genealogy collection that includes photos and other memories.  He sent me a letter he kept from Arthur Emerson England and a genealogy of the Smith family.  There are 10 pages in all.  I hope by down-sizing I am to take it that he is passing on these treasures to one of his children.

Page 1 Smith

Page 2 Smith Genealogy

Page 3 Smith Genealogy

Page 4 Smith Genealogy

Page 5 Smith Genealogy

Page 1 England ltr

Page 2 England ltr

Page 3 England Ltr

Page 4 England Ltr

Page 5 England Ltr.

General Robert Edward Lee (1807 - 1870)

In search of my ancestor Robert Edward Lee.
This story has been past down through generations that we are related to Gen. Lee.  It has only been 200 years since his birth, however the link has been very difficult for me to make.  So that I am not recreating the wheel, if anyone has already made the link to our family through Dorothy Ann Lee please take the time to comment to let me know and help me out.  I have made a few trips to the library and I am sure I will make a few more.  Here is a story I found on another blog out there that I found interesting.

Robert E. Lee was born Jan. 19, 1807, at Stratford Plantation on the Northern Neck of Virginia and was the seventh child of Revolutionary War hero Henry "Light Horse Harry" Lee. He attended West Point and never received a demerit. By all accounts enormously handsome, tall, charismatic and humble, he had a long and illustrious career in the U.S. Army. In 1861, as Southern states contemplated secession, Lee privately ridiculed the idea. Still, when he was offered command of the Union Army, he turned it down once Virginia -- his "country" -- seceded.

During the Civil War, Lee's troops were often vastly outnumbered but managed to win or fight to a stalemate for years. Once the war ended, Lee resisted calls to continue the fight in the hills as a guerrilla and instead encouraged his soldiers to go home and begin rebuilding the nation. He retired to what was then Washington College, where he set about innovating the offerings, including the first classes in the country in business and journalism.

In other countries, leaders of failed civil rebellions are often reviled. But a strange thing happened to Lee after he died. He became beloved by many. Over the years, he has been praised by the likes of Theodore Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Dwight D. Eisenhower, who had a picture of Lee hanging in his office.

Northerners, seizing on Lee's early ambivalence about the war, his gentlemanly sense of honor and duty, and his distaste of slavery -- he once wrote that it was a "moral and political evil" -- embraced the Confederate general as a way to foster reconciliation, said John Coski, a historian at the Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond. In 1901, he was one of only 29 Americans inducted into New York University's Hall of Fame. Julia Ward Howe, who wrote the lyrics for the Battle Hymn of the Republic, composed a poem in Lee's honor.

At the same time, his former generals wrote of him as so perfect and his cause so noble that Lee became fixed as the tragic hero of a romantic "Lost Cause" and that cause became synonymous with white Southern identity.

"There's an old saw in the South of a little girl asking, 'Mommy, is Robert E. Lee from the Old Testament or the New?' " Coski said. "Lee has been so praised and distorted that they made him more than human, and in so doing, made him less than human. He's a complex figure. If we want to understand history in its complexity, we have to understand Robert E. Lee."

Like many military hero's there are many families out there pointing their family genealogy toward Robert Edward Lee.  Here is a link to Robert the Bruce of Scotland who was able to make his link.

Woman Suffrage "Iron Jawed Angels"

The post below are not my own words they came from an email sent to me by my mother for this up-coming election week.  While in college at the University of California, Davis, while working on my degree in Sociology I had many great professors lecture on woman suffrage and this part of our history. 

Thomas Woodrow Wilson (1865-1925) served as President of the United States (1913-1921).  He was a Democrat.  He graduated from the College of New Jersey which is today Princeton.  He died three years after leaving the White House.  Why am I explaining all of this?  No, I have not recently linked our family to this president, however I am close to linking to Lincoln so stay tuned on that.  I find it interesting that history shows we have not come that far.   The Democrat party and the media is creating witch hysteria over Republican candidate for the special 2010 Delaware election for Senate, Christine O' Donnell.  Politicians losing sight that they represent everyone in their district.  

So my word here today is to urge everyone to get out and vote for some politician they feel represents the people, all the people!
 
A TRUE STORY EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW!

This is the story of our Mothers and Grandmothers who lived only 90 years ago. 

 

 

 Remember, it was not until 1920 that women were granted the right to go to the polls and vote.

 The women were innocent and defenseless, but they were jailed nonetheless for picketing the White House, carrying signs asking for the vote.

 (Lucy Burns)They beat Lucy Burns, chained her hands to the cell bars above her head and left her hanging for the night, bleeding and gasping for air.


 And by the end of the night, they were barely alive. Forty prison guards wielding clubs and their warden's blessing went on a rampage against the 33 women wrongly convicted of 'obstructing sidewalk traffic.'

 (Dora Lewis)
They hurled Dora Lewis into a dark cell, smashed her head against an iron bed and knocked her out cold. Her cell mate, Alice Cosu, thought Lewis was dead and suffered a heart attack. Additional affidavits describe the guards grabbing, dragging, beating, choking, slamming, pinching, twisting and kicking the women.

 Thus unfolded the 'Night of Terror' on Nov. 15, 1917, when the warden at the Occoquan Workhouse in Virginia ordered his guards to teach a lesson to the suffragists imprisoned there because they dared to picket Woodrow Wilson's White House for the right to vote. For weeks, the women's only water came from an open pail. Their food--all of it colorless slop--was infested with worms.

 (Alice Paul)
 When one of the leaders, Alice Paul, embarked on a hunger strike, they tied her to a chair, forced a tube down her throat and poured liquid into her until she vomited. She was tortured like this for weeks until word was smuggled out to the press. 

  
  Mrs Pauline Adams in the prison garb she wore while serving a 60 day sentence. 

 
Miss Edith Ainge, of Jamestown, New York  

 

  (Berthe Arnold, CSU graduate)

 
 Conferring over ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution at  National Woman's Party headquarters, Jackson Place , Washington , D.C. 

 Left to right: Mrs. Lawrence Lewis, Mrs. Abby Scott Baker, Anita Pollitzer,  Alice Paul, Florence Boeckel,  Mabel Vernon (standing, right)) 

In the current HBO movie "Iron Jawed Angels" It is jarring to watch Woodrow Wilson and his cronies try to persuade a psychiatrist to declare Alice Paul insane so that she could be permanently institutionalized. And it is inspiring to watch the doctor refuse. Alice Paul was strong, he said, and brave. That didn't make her crazy.

 The doctor admonished the men: 'Courage in women is often mistaken for insanity.'

 
  Helena Hill Weed, Norwalk , Conn.   Serving 3 day sentence in D.C. prison for carrying banner, 'Governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed.'

Getting help from David Lepitre

I want to introduce you to David Lepitre.  He has been of great help to me in my research of my family from Vermont and Canada. He is a fellow genealogist, printer and writer of the column "Your Ancestry" in The Log Cabin Chronicles.  I have sent to him a few digital copies of old family photos and he has worked miracles to help in my research.
David has also been able to locate and get me in touch with Lillian Rider and Penny Tetreault.
I recently sent him two photos that had no description other than a photographer stamp.  He quickly responded with information on the photographer and a possible date and location of the photos.
A big thank you to David Lepitre for all of his help.  Here is a link to his website if you are interested.

Le Château Witch Bay

Ghosts, Goblins and Witches, oh my!

Isn't Halloween a wonderful time of year?

If you believe in them or not is another story.  The history is a story that will be told again and again.
In my last post I introduced to you Stephen England and took you back to the late 1700's.  Today we just might go back a bit further.  Hold on tight!

This post is titled "Le Château Witch Bay,"  I thought this would be appropriate not only for the season, but for the story I am about to tell.  Above you will see a photo of a very beautiful castle.  Note the weather vane, it is a witch riding her broom stick.   Does this castle look familiar to you?  Well if you are a Howie maybe not so much, but if you are a Rider it should.  This castle was once the home of Timothy Byron Rider.  He built this home in Fitch Bay Quebec, where it still stands today.  The Rider family still owned it until the year 2000 when it was sold.  The new owners have really put some love and hard work into the restoration, which was completed in just over 8 years.  The home is more than just an attraction for those Harry Potter fans.  This home stands as a museum to the once booming town of Fitch Bay and the Rider family.  I am told by Penny, the manager of the property that the furniture though not original,  is antique Victorian and correct for the era, and there are photos of Ezra Rider hanging on the wall.  (Pictured on left)   Now that name should ring a bell to a Howie.  Ezra Bartlett Rider was the father of Helen Desdemonia Rider.  Ezra B. Rider was from Haverhill New Hampshire, born in 1798.  He married Fanny Chandler and had three children in New Hampshire before Fanny died at forty-two years old in 1843.  Ezra moves north to Quebec to start his grist mill and meets Dorothy Ann Lee.  They are quickly married on October 18th, 1843. (That was 167 years ago to the date).   Together Ezra & Dorothy had four children.  Two sons and two daughters.  Timothy, Hamilton, Helen and Clara.  Timothy, the oldest of the four was a hard worker.  He had a farm, a saw mill, a grist mill and was buying up real estate, and built the home pictured below in 1880 after his children had grown.  Timothy was also the postmaster and joined political office.  He was elected to the House of Commons in the Parliament of Canada on March 5th, 1891 and held this office for 1,937 days.  That is 5 years, 3 months and 20 days.

Mr. Timothy Byron Rider was a very wealthy and influential man, also an inventor which I have located his government patents and a business man.  He was a merchant in the area, and when his sister Helen D. Rider married William George Howie, he gave William a job as a store clerk.  According to the the 1881 Census of Canada, William & Helen were also living in this beautiful new Château. From this early photo above on the right you can see how big it is compared to his brother Hamiltons' house behind.
 
Timothy amassed his fortune by acquiring real estate. He purchased the saw mills, the grist mills and two mercantile operations.  Like many of my ancestors, Timothy Byron Rider was also a Mason, the Masonic order I do not yet know at this time.  A secret society that I know very little of, other than it is a social organization. By 1912, Peoples telephone of Canada then became Peoples & Rider.  In 1933 Mr. Rider was one of the first wealthy people that could afford to have electricity in his home.

Penny informed me that Timothy was also friends with Sir Wilfrid Laurier, the seventh Prime Minister of Canada, and who was also a guest in the home.   Timothy B. Rider went on to become Mayor of Fitch Bay and served for 19 years.

When I received the email this week from Penny with the photos of the house with a witch for a weather vane I could not be more surprised nor wait to reply to tell her about his ancestors.   Turn back the time now to 1688 Salem Massachusetts.  In November, Rev. Samuel Parris preaches in Salem Village for the first time.  October 1691, Joseph Porter, Joseph Hutchinson, Joseph Putnam, Daniel Andrew and Francis Nurse become the elected majority to the Salem Village committee.  January 20, 1692, Samuel Parris' nine year old daughter, Betty, falls ill. More young girls in Salem Village also fall ill.  The Salem Village physician, Dr. William Griggs, concludes the girls are bewitched. Parris' servant/slave, Tituba, and her husband, John Indian, are advised by Mary Sibley to bake a witch cake.  She hopes the cake will help the girls identify the person(s) who are bewitching them. On March 1st Tituba confesses to witchcraft. Later, Sarah Osborne, Sarah Good and Tituba are sent to a Boston prison.  Then one of the afflicted girls, possibly Mercy Lewis, accuses Elizabeth, wife of John Proctor of witchcraft. On April 11, 1692 Sarah Cloyce and Elizabeth Proctor appear before the Salem Magistrates.   John and Elizabeth Proctor, Rebecca Nurse, Sarah Cloyce, Martha Corey and Dorcas Good are sent to a Boston prison on this night. Then on May 21, an arrest warrant is issued for John and Elizabeth Proctor's daughter, Sarah and two days later their son Benjamin. Then on May 28th an arrest warrant is issued for John and Elizabeth Proctor's second son, William.  By now almost the entire wealthy Proctor family are in prison for witchcraft.  In September nine accused are put to death.  Elizabeth and the children are later set free.  However Elizabeth Proctor does not inherit her late husbands wealth and continued to fight in court over the property rights.
John Proctor is my link to the Salem Witch trials and ends my story.  If you want to research more on the Salem Witch trials there are many good websites from which I took the above time line.  If you want to know more about the Rider and Howie family continue to follow my blog.  For avid research you can also check for this book:  According to Moore, Stephen A., T. B. Rider and the Rider Family of Fitch Bay, 1850-1960 . . ., M.A. Thesis, Bishops University, Lennoxville, Quebec, 1992 (especially Chapter 10, pp [218]-232) the Rider family was involved in a number of social groups to include the Masons.
In conclusion my Great Grand Uncle, Timothy Byron Rider who built "Le Chateau Witchbay" is related to John Proctor of Salem MA, who was put to death by hanging during the witch trials in the late 1600's.

Timothy's mother was Dorothy Ann Lee, wife of Ezra.  Her father was Ede Lee of Willington, Connecticut, and his father was Daniel Lee, who's father was Elias Jedediah Lee.  Elias' mother was Lucy Dodge, her father was Josiah Dodge (1665 - 1714) of Beverly Massachusetts.  His mother was Sarah Proctor of Salem and her brother was John Proctor (1632 - 1692).  He was hung on Gallows Hill, Salem, Massachusetts on August 19, 1692 for witchcraft.

Historian's and genealogists are still working on proof at this time and more source documentation.  More data is always coming forward on John Proctors descendants.  A new reference book was just published titled: Records of Salem Witch-Hunt, by: Bernard Rosenthal. 2009.  I used this book to verify my data.

Sarah Proctor Dodge is believed to have lived from (1646 - 1706) and by the way was later married to Captain John Dodge who served in King Philip's war of 1675. But that is a blog for another day.

American Revolution ( 1775 - 1783)

Starting with myself and then going back twelve generations I find that I am a descendant of Nathan Hurd, a Captain during the American Revolutionary War. While I am not the son of an American Revolutionary War hero, this story is about my genealogical links; the year, 1776.

On April 18, 1775 the British commander in Boston sent soldiers to Concord to find guns and powder. They were also ordered to arrest Samuel Adams and John Hancock who were hiding in Lexington. Paul Revere made his famous midnight ride from Boston to Lexington, Massachusetts to warn the citizens that the British army was on its way. Revere was captured, but he escaped safely.
John Hancock who signed the U.S. Declaration of Independence was elected President of the Second Continental Congress on May 24 1775.  John Hancock had just established the first Colonial Post Office of which was appointed by Congress, Postmaster General Benjamin Franklin, Esquire who was unanimously chosen.  On the other side of the pond, King George III was the King of Great Britain and Ireland and the ruler over the colonies.

Captain Nathan Hurd joins at the beginning of the war; leading the eighth company of the first battalion toward Fort Ticonderoga New York where the nearest city is Burlington Vermont.  Joining on along this long march from Connecticut to Northern New York are the Green Mountain Boys and militia volunteers from Massachusetts and  Connecticut.  The battle begins in May 1775 and under the direct command of Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold these Americans are able to capture the fort from British control by a surprise attack.

Prior to this battle, the Second Continental Congress chose in 1775 as Commander-In-Chief of the Continental Army General George Washington.  Above I used the term "Americans.”  Inhabitants of the thirteen colonies that supported the American Revolution are primarily referred to as "Americans,” with occasional references to "Patriots", "Whigs", "Rebels," or "Revolutionaries.”  Colonists who supported the British in opposing the Revolution usually referred to as "Loyalists" or "Tories”.  Keep note of this in the future as you read my blog you will find we are descendants of both sides sometimes splitting families and thus possible name changes.

Upon a call for reinforcement for Washington's army in the summer of 1776, the Connecticut assembly ordered the enlistment of seven battalions for the service of the command of Brigadier General James Wadsworth of Durham Connecticut.  Colonel Gold Selleck Silliman of Fairfield Connecticut was in charge of the first battalion, which was comprised of eight companies.  As mentioned above, Captain Nathan Hurd led Company Eight.  These same young men lived to fight again in the Battle of Long Island on August 27, 1776.  This was the first major battle if not the largest in The American Revolution following the United States Declaration of Independence July 4th 1776.

It is hard for me to get a grasp on the command of Captain Nathan Hurd.  In 1775, he marched his men north, over 200 miles from Litchfield Connecticut to Ticonderoga New York for the now famous battle of Ticonderoga.  Then in 1776, the Eighth Company marched south, over 300 miles to Harlem New York for the Battle of Long Island.

In July 1776, British General William Howe landed on Staten Island New York to plan an attack that General George Washington was not prepared for.  General Howe defeated the Americans in Manhattan New York when on the night of August 29-30 General George Washington evacuated all men and property and retreated through New Jersey into Pennsylvania without loss of a single life. Genealogy of Nathan Hurd to myslelf:

Beginning in July 1775, Ticonderoga was used as a staging area for the invasion of Quebec to begin in September.  The war moves northward.More of a direct link to being a son of the American Revolution was Sergeant Stephen England.  On 22 May 1775, Stephen England was just 16 years old when he was called to duty to fight in Captain Pillsbury's Company.  This Company went on to fight at the Battle of Bennington Vermont on August 16, 1777.  This was an American victory.  Today the tallest monument in Vermont is at the Battle of Bennington.
Here is my genealogy link to Sgt. Stephen England:


After the American Revolutionary War Stephen England went on to be the owner of the first hotel in Fairfax.