Month: March 2022

This blog is about my ancestors (10th great grandfathers) Mackum/Malcolm Downing and Alexander Innes. Two scottsmen soldiers who faught in the Battle of Dunbar on September 3, 1650.

The Battle of Dunbar  was a battle of the Third English Civil War . The English Parliamentarian forces under Oliver Cromwell defeated a Scottish army commanded by David Leslie which was loyal to King Charles II, who had been proclaimed King of Scots on 5 February 1649. military-history.fandom.com

Mackum and Alexander became prisoners of the english at the battle of Dunbar. These prisoners (thousands) were marched for five days without food. Those who could not walk or tried to escape, were killed. Many died after eating cabbage (dirt and all) along the way. We know now that eating too much after starvation can be deadly. The surviving men were marched on, until reaching the the Durham Cathedral in England. Legend has it, that the prisoners burned everything they could in the cathedral to keep warm. Except the thistle clock. Since the thistle is a Scottish symbol.https://assets.pinterest.com/ext/embed.html?id=541980136396962326&src=oembedhttps://www.pinterest.com/pin/541980136396962326/

After months of being imprisoned in the Durham Cathedral where many men and young boys age 12 and up died, my ancestors were put on a ship called the “unity” with 48 other men, shipped and sold to Saugus Iron Works in Saugus Massachusetts. They were eventually endentured and worked out their time. Both married and had several children. Mackum married Margaret Sullivan. Alexander married Katherine Briggs. My lines are through Mackum’s daughter Priscilla Downing and through Alexander’s daughter Elizabeth Ruth Innes. Both men never returning to Scotland, instead living their lives out in the State of Massachusetts.

www.worldhistory.org › video › 2707Battle of Dunbar 1650 – Third English Civil War – World …

spows.org › battle-of-dunbarAbout the Battle of Dunbar | Scottish Prisoners of War Society

photo by seantrue

This is the story of my 10x great grandmother Elizabeth Jackson Howe. Who was accused of witchcraft and hanged during the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. Elizabeth was born 1637 in Rowley England. She married James Howe Jr. April 13, 1658 in Ipswich Massachusetts. They had five children: Elizabeth, Mary, John, Abigail and my ancestor Deborah. At the time Elizabeth was accused by a neighbors teenage daugher, her husband James was blind. Incarcerated and waiting for trial, her daughters would bring their father to visit their mother at the jail in Salem. She had been arrested at her home in Topsfield Massachusetts and brought to the Salem jail after a warrent for her arrest was written by a judge. Her family brought her food and provisions. They never lost hope that Elizabeth would somehow be one of the lucky ones to be set free. But sadly, with five children, a blind husband and pleading from friends, neighbors and her family, the jury still hung her on Gallows Hill in Salem Massachusetts on July 19, 1692. Memorials are arrected around the town, large and small. Elizabeths name is included on several. In my opinion Elizabeth was an innocent hung in the witchcraft hysteria by superstitious, close minded, ignorant people. May my 10x great grandmother Elizabeth Jackson Howe rest in enternal peace.

salem.org/salem-witch-trials/

historyofmassachusetts.org/the-salem-witch-trials/

In this blog I will share my soldier ancestors with you. During my ancestral journey I discovered that my paternal line was full of soldiers! I am a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution Society. I have listed links to each society below. My lineage is as follows:

12 American Revolution War Soldiers (I have listed 5)

(Including my 5^th great grandfather Col. Joseph Durfee, pictured above, who was instrumental in saving the town of Fall River Massachusetts, See link below for full story).

Col. Thomas S. Durfee (he was also a Judge) Buried: Oak Grove Cem., Fall River MA. (6^th GGF)

Pvt. Elijah Borden Buried: Borden Cemetery Pompey, N.Y. (6^th GGF)

Pvt. Alpheus Crippen N.Y. (Mayflower Descendant) (5^th GGF)

Reverend Daniel Hemenway Sr. Buried: Mtn View Cemetery Shrewsbury, MA. (7^th GGF)

 Daniel Hemenway Jr. of Barr, Worchester, MA. (6^th GGF)

1 Civil War Soldier:

Andreas (Andrew) Mathias Metzger Jr. Immigrated 1847 from Bavaria. Buried: Oak Grove Cemetery Medford, MA. (3^rd Great Grandfather)

2 War of 1812 Soldiers:

Henry Brightman Jr. Buried: Brightman Farm Cemetery Fall River, MA. 5^th GGF

Sgt. Edmund Hawes III. Nye’s 1^st Regiment Militia (descendant of 5 Mayflower Men). Wellfleet MA.  (5^th GGF)

Vietnam War Soldier:

Bruce B. Collins Coast Guard Soldier 20 yrs. Buried: Greenville Junction, Maine. (My Father)

Battle of Dunbar (Scotland):

Alexander Innes. Scotchman taken prisoner by the English & sold to Saugus Iron Works, Saugus, MA. 1653 (10^th GGF)

Mackum/Malcolm Downing. Scotchman Taken prisoner by the English & sold to Saugus Iron Works, Saugus, MA. 1653 (10^th GGF)

Article about American Revolution War Soldier Col. Joseph Durfee of Fall River, MA.

Daughters of the American Revolution Society

www.dar.org

Daughters of the Union Veterans of the Civil War Society

Home

Home

www.suvcw.orgSons of Union Veterans of the Civil War – Fraternity, Charity …About

Sons of the American Revolution Society

www.sar.org

National Society United States Daughters of 1812 Society

usdaughters1812.org

Scottish Prisoners of War Society

spows.orgScottish Prisoners of War Society – SPOW

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY

Welcome to how I found my personal Pilgrim ancestor’s history.

One day I asked my father about our family lines. He told me he thought we were related to Peter Brown of the Mayflower. I decided to join ancestry.com and that’s how my genealogical journey started. Soon I was hooked. Completely addicted to researching family lines. After much research, I discovered I had deep New England roots. Roots that went all the way back to the year 1620!

I was elated when I discovered: John Howland, a man servant to the first governor in the new world, was my 11x great grandfather. Howland had fallen overboard during the Mayflower journey, but was rescued by the crew. He later became a fur trader on the Kennebec-river and married another Mayflower passenger Elizabeth Tilley whose parents died in the first winters sickness when half the pilgrims died.

As I continued to research: I discovered a total of 10 lines to 10 men who signed the Mayflower Compact. Along with wives, future wives and children who were also aboard the Mayflower on the Pilgrims journey, in total 19 passengers are my ancestors. This was quite astonishing to me. Considering there were 102 passengers aboard the Mayflower, 18.62% are my ancestors. By proving my ancestral lines, I was able to join the Mayflower Society and the John Howland Society as a life member. Ironically however, I never did find a line to Peter Brown.

My Mayflower Ancestors:

John Howland                   Giles Hopkins                                  

George Soule                     Mrs. Brewster

Elizabeth Tilley                  Richard Warren                                              John Alden

John Tilley                          Edward Fuller                                                  Priscilla Mullins

Joan Tilley                          Mrs. Fuller                                                        William Mullins

Stephen Hopkins              Samuel Fuller                                                  Alice Mullins

Constance Hopkins          Thomas Rogers                                               William Brewster

https://www.ancestry.com/                                       https://themayflowersociety.org/                            https://pilgrimjohnhowlandsociety.org/index.php

This is the story of my maternal great grandmother

Roseanna Coulombe Jolicoeur. Roseanna gave birth to

11 babies in her lifetime. Including one set of twins. Born

French Canadian. Married: Lewiston Maine to Adelard Jolicoeur

in the early1900’s. The twins as well as two other

Babies Prudence and Norman, died in infancy. Her remaining

Seven children grew to adulthood. She lived through her oldest

daughter being burned when her dress caught on fire at a

neighborhood Bonfire. The doctor telling her one evening that he

was not going to change the bandages because her daughter would

not live through the night. Neighbors and friends would have to

help hold Roseanna’s 9 year old child down to change the bandages

as she screamed in pain but she lived. That child was my great

grandmother Jeannette. Later, Roseanna would die having her 11^th child.

Pacing around the kitchen table one morning, 9 months pregnant, Roseanna’s

oldest daughter Jeannette age 22 is told to go to work. Roseanna waits

for a cab to take her to the hospital. This is the last time her daughter

Jeannette would see her mother alive. Roseanna hemorrhage’s giving birth.

The doctor brings in his medical students. Her husband is sent out of the room,

much to his dismay. He is furious when Roseanna dies having their last son.

Distraught, Adelard blames the doctor and the fact that he brings his medical

Students into the room when Roseanna is dying. Adelard falls heavily into alcohol. With

six children at home and one brand new baby Adelard was not able to cope well.

The baby is adopted by Roseanna’s sister Alice Coulombe Rybicki and her husband Bill.

They raise the child, naming him Joseph William. Affectionately called “Willie”, he was

adored by his adoptive parents. His adoptive parents making sure that Willie was able

to grow up around and know his siblings. All seven of Roseanna and Adelard’s

surviving children grew to adulthood and raised families of their own.

www.genealogybank.com

www.connectionsadoptiveservices.comEditBlog #4 My maternal Great Grandmothers life

This is the true heart-breaking story of my

great aunt “Little Alice”.

During WWII Little Alice was dating a U.S. Soldier.

He wrote her many letters

(that I now possess). He writes about how

they will get married and buy a little

house when the war is over. How they will

have children and how he loves her. Over and

over he writes this love for her in his letters.

Until one day he sends her a letter to tell her that

he is going to have “leave” from the Army for 2 days

and for her to meet him at his mother’s house on a

specific day at a specific time… What he must go

through during WWII to get a 2-day pass from the

war is lost in time, because Alice does not show up…

In the next letter the soldier writes little Alice:

I waited for you, but you didn’t come. Why didn’t you

Come….

We will never know who the soldier marries,

or even if he survived the war, because what that

soldier did not know (the reason she did not show up)

was that Mary Alice Amada Jolicoeur (age 21) was dying of

tuberculosis/T.B./Consumption in Tewksbury hospital,

Boston Massachusetts. July 21^st 1944.

http://asylumprojects.org/images/thumb/e/eb/TewksburyConsumptiveHome.JPG/240px-TewksburyConsumptiveHome.JPG

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tewksbury_Hospital

https://www.heirloomsreunited.com/2010/04/Published February 16, 2022By vcollinslibbyEditBlog #2 The story of my great aunt Mary Alice and her WWII SoldierCategorized as Geni Stories

Welcome to the ArtGeni777 blog spot. Compiled of ancestors past experiences. This first post is a poem about my mothers passing of Covid 19. It was a raw, true, and honest experience. My posts to come will also tell the raw experiences of my ancestors.

When the Covid Reaper Came

It crept into our lives one day.
Like a slow-moving snake in the grass
It slithered around us.
Missing me, missing my brothers,
Touching my sister...
And then silently wrapping itself
Around my mother.
When the covid reaper came.

Five of us, trapped in an ICU room.
Gowned and gloved
And masked and sheilded.
We watched our mother
As she slowly suffocated to death.

When the covid reaper came.
I wanted to run!
I wanted out!
Like a trapped animal I paced.
I wanted to scream!
When the covid reaper came.

As it savagely, coiled itself
Tighter and Tighter,
Whispering, enchanting, choking.
We soon realized
There was no hope...
When the covid reaper came.

So, we said goodbye to the mother
That brought us into this world.
The one we loved and laughed
And cried with...our whole lives.
When the covid reaper came.

The morning after is the worst.
You wake up and for 2 seconds
Everything is normal.
Then like a swift kick in the gut
It hits you
And you remember...
When the covid reaper came.

You bury, you mourn
You cry...
But you never forget
When the covid reaper came.