In 1456 there was ongoing conflict among England, Wales, and the Welsh Marches which was an area that bordered England and Wales. The Welsh Marches were created earlier by King William. He granted Marcher Lordships which allowed the lords to rule as they chose and not be accountable to the king. This encouraged a state of independence that the English did not appreciate. The conflict that resulted from this often resulted in violence. These were indeed tumultuous times.
On Easter Day, 1456, Watkin Vaughn was shot through the heart by an arrow at Bredwardine Castle.
Welsh laws traditionally proclaimed that that it was the “duty of kinsmen to respond to the death of one of their own.” (https://vilgage.blogs.bristol.ac.uk) In keeping with this tradition, William Herbert (half-brother of Watkin) and Walter Devereux avenged the murder of Watkin. They found the six culprits and convinced the local citizens to conduct a trial and convict them of the murder. Family justice was achieved when these men were hanged.
In a twist, the wife of one of the men who was hanged sued because she thought her husband was innocent (after all, he pleaded not guilty) and wanted members of the Herbert, Devereux, and Vaughn families prosecuted for his death. John Glover was from Kent, England. He married Agnes Southwyn in 1435. The lawsuit was unsuccessful. In fact there was great local support for the family and friends of Watkin Vaughn.
“Watkin Vaughn was commemorated by praise poets and avenged with impunity.” (Judging a Hereford Hanging by Professor Gwen Seabourne) Watkin was famously memorialized in an elegy “a poem of serious reflection, typically a lament for the dead” by Hywel Swrdwal.
Our line runs through John Watkins of Court Robert, son of Richard Watkins and Jane Edmunds Watkins (located in the center of the pedigree). On the pedigree it shows that John was married to Anne, daughter of Sir Charles Jones. However, our line goes through John’s first wife, Agnes and their only son, John.
Posted inGenealogy, Watkins|Comments Off on Crime and Punishment – Week 18 of 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks
So how did Bugscuffle get its name? The origin began at Tate School. (In the late 1800s, Mr.Tate donated land for a school and a cemetery.) One theory claims that during a pie supper at the school, Homer Coker lamented that they were inundated with bugs and it was “just a regular bugscuffle.” Another anecdote maintains that a man was passing by the school and exclaimed that the students were “scuffling in the dirt like bugs.” Regardless, it is definitely an interesting name and stokes the imagination.
Bugscuffle was a rural area near Strickler, Arkansas. It basically consisted of the school, a cemetery, church, and Bugscuffle Road.
Bugscuffle Road today is on the U.S National Register of Historical Places. Bugscuffle Road was one segment of the Butterfield’s Overland Mail Company from 1858-1861. According to https://encyclopediaofArkansas, “it was the longest stagecoach line in world history at approximately 2,812 miles and was a major factor in the settlement of Arkansas and the American West before the Civil War. When gold was discovered in California in 1849, bringing over a quarter of a million people to the West Coast, there was a huge demand for transporting mail and passengers. At the time, the usual route was by boat, either around South America or with an overland crossing in Panama, both of which were time-consuming, expensive, and dangerous. After California threatened to secede if a faster mail service was not established, Congress voted in 1857 to subsidize a mail run from the Mississippi River to San Francisco. It required that mail be safely carried in twenty-five days or less.”
My great grandfather, Marshall Vandyke, was a farmer and the family lived in the Bugscuffle, Strickler, and Cove City area of Arkansas for several years. His son Elliot Cecil was born in the Bugscuffle area in 1907 and died in Bugscuffle in 1917. Marshall died in Bugscuffle in 1922. Both Elliot and Marshall are buried in the cemetery.
When I heard that some of my ancestors were from Bugscuffle, I was intrigued by the name. I’m looking forward to visiting in person this summer when we are in the Bentonville/Rogers area for our nephew’s wedding.
Posted inGenealogy, Vandyke|Comments Off on Favorite Place – Week 17 of 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks
“Life is lived forwards, but understood backwards.” Soren Kierkegaard
DNA results are most accurate when examined in conjunction with genealogical research. According to https://www.livescience.com, DNA findings are not an exact science because groups of people moved and mixed with other groups of people. Boundaries changed. War affected who lived where. People moved where the work was or to have a better life. Information found on Family Tree states that “Scientists can make inferences about your ancestry based on trends among populations, but they currently can’t say for sure that your ancestors lived in a specific country, much less a specific town.” Ultimately, the companies that provide DNA testing are actually providing estimates that are based on a combination of statistical data, historical information, and known migration of the populace. Most people have autosomal DNA testing done which can provide information up to 6 generations (Y-DNA and mtDNA can provide information up to 10 generations).
I had my DNA testing done through Helix as part of the Healthy Nevada Project. This is a large-scale genetic screening and research initiative. My results show that my heritage is 99.9% European and identified 6 of 26 regions in my genetic makeup. I am:
58.6% Northwestern European (United Kingdom, Ireland, Belgium, Netherlands, Northern France, Northern Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Iceland)
16.9% Southeastern European (Albania, Austria, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Yugoslavia/Macedonia, Greece, Hungary, Serbia, Montenegro, Slovakia, Slovenia, Moldova)
3.5% Southwestern European (Portugal, Spain, parts of France, Italy, Malta, Andorra, Monaco, San Marino, Vatican City)
1.2% Ashkenazi Jewish (European Jews from the area between France and Russia)
0.1% Austronesia – Filipino
The theme of the Healthy Nevada Project is “Empowering every person to improve their life through DNA.” This project studies how genetics affect health. Participants may be asked to complete surveys and even partake in specific studies if their genetic markers warrant it. ( So far, I have been asked to complete two surveys related to COVID-19.)
In addition to information on where my ancestors may have lived, Helix also provided some health characteristics based on my DNA. I am likely to drink more coffee than people in some populations and my weight is less likely to be affected by saturated fat. I am able to digest lactose and have no problem with gluten. My calcium and vitamin D levels tend to be average.
On the other hand, I am likely to have a higher BMI (body mass index) than would be expected. Because of this, I really need to focus on healthy eating and exercise.
Years and years ago in the early 1980’s, Linda and I decided to become certified aerobic dance instructors so that we could offer classes and make some money as well as improve our fitness levels. In addition to taking classes and learning the routines, we had to take a CPR class, run a mile in a certain amount of time. (I don’t remember how long we were allowed but since we never ran it was a definite challenge; however both Linda and I were able to succeed.) We also had to have our BMI calculated. They used hydrostatic body fat underwater testing. While it was very interesting, this was the first time that I realized that my BMI was higher than expected even though I was thin.
“There are centuries of human history coded into our genes. From our ancestors’ migration paths to their dietary habits, the results from our DNA testing kits can tell us a lot about the people that came before us.” https://www.helix.com/collections/ancestry
Our DNA results may help us discover cousins and other relatives that we may not have known about otherwise and can reinforce that our genealogical research is on the right path and makes sense. It may help us keep our options open as we discover ancestors that we originally did not expect (I’ll be looking for those Southeastern and Southwestern European ancestors). It can also be helpful as we strive to live the healthiest lives possible.
Brick walls in genealogical research are inevitable. Families tend to remember some things that are not actually factual. Over time, stories may become embellished (I have plans to tell a story later that my great grandfather told his children that seems to be greatly exaggerated). Often things just weren’t talked about. Details changed as different people shared their memories of events and by the time several generations passed no one knew what really happened. People moved; names were changed; multiple people had the same name; there are multiple spellings for the same person; people remarried; records were lost or never existed; records haven’t yet been digitized or are otherwise unavailable.
My grandfather Malcolm McLeod was the son of John McLeod and Sarah Jane Liggett. John’s parents were Malcolm McLeod and Mary Stewart McLeod. Mary has been one of my brick walls. Malcolm’s wife was named Mary but I was only able to find her maiden name Stewart in John’s California Death record.
California Death Record
Name
John McLeod
Gender
Male
Birth
Sep 7 1863 Canada
Death
May 23 1942 San Bernardino, California, USA
Father’s last name
McLeod
Mother’s maiden name
Stewart
In the 1920 census, it says that John’s mother was born in Canada and that she is Scottish. Finding more information is proving to be very difficult. Mary Stewart and/or Mary McLeod are extremely common names. I am also struggling to find more information on her husband, Malcolm McLeod. Malcolm McLeod is also a very common name and I am having trouble matching anything new with what I do have. I think his father was also named Malcolm McLeod and his mother may have been Mary Chisholm. If so, they were both born in Scotland and emigrated to Canada. I do know that my branch of the McLeod’s lived in Canada until they emigrated to the United States in 1902 when they settled in San Bernardino, California. (According to the Manifest of Alien Passengers Applying for Admission – Port of Sumas, Washington, Seattle, passengers were required to provide the name and address of the nearest relative or friend in the “country whence alien came.” John McLeod gave the name of John Stewart who was a cousin (possibly Mary’s). John’s final destination was given as Del Rosa which became part of San Bernardino.)
Another brick wall I have is identifying the Vandyke ancestors before they settled in the United States (New Jersey, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana). Vandyke has had many spelling throughout the years: Vandyke; Van Dyke; Van Deyck; Van Dijk. My 4th great grandfather, Dominicus Van Dyck was born in 1761 in Neshanic, Somerset, New Jersey. The Harlingen Dutch Reformed Church records show his baptism on March 22, 1761. His father was Dominicus Van Dyck and his mother was Marigreita Cock (Cook). Beyond that I know very little.
One of my research goals is to learn more about my ancestors before they immigrated to America (the Netherlands; County Armagh, Ireland; Bitburg, Germany; Baiersdorf, Germany). I’m really not sure what records are available and how easy they are to use.
A more current brick wall is that of my father’s aunt and uncle, Freddie and Jacque Williams, and their children. As a child, I understood that Freddie and Jacque had two sons who were born with muscular dystrophy. Every year we would watch the Jerry Lewis telethon and it would have significant meaning because of the family connection. (I never knew the sons’ names and now I question if there were two sons and if anyone had muscular dystrophy.) Freddie and Jacque later adopted twins who were born in 1955 in Germany. Freddie, Jacque, and the twins came to visit us when we lived in Bartlesville, Oklahoma (they were living in Salinas, California at the time) and Sandra and I became pen pals for a couple of years. Imagine my surprise when I recently discovered that one of Freddie and Jacque’s sons, Richard Williams, died in 2020 at the age of 77. He had four children and multiple grand children and great grandchildren. His obituary lists his parents, Freddie and Jacque, but does not list any siblings including the twins. I have only found death notices for Freddie, Jacque, and Sandra – no obituaries. If there was another son, he was probably born in Wichita in the 1940’s. I am hoping that when the 1950 census is released on April 1, 2022 that I might be able to gather more information.
When I joined the genealogy club at our community, I was surprised to learn that a couple of members had been researching their ancestors for over 20 years and one man had been involved for 30 years. Now that I am actively researching, I have discovered that the more I find out, the more there is to learn. New records are continually being released and people often point me in new directions. And so the journey continues.
Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandfather Joseph Bond
Life in colonial America had its challenges. According to https://historyofmassachusetts.org, “These early colonists faced many hardships including disease, famine, brutal winters, hot and humid summers, warfare with local Native-American tribes as well as with other countries that were also trying to colonize North America and political struggles due to political instability in England.” This is the world that my 7th great grandfather, Joseph Bond was born into. Joseph’s father John was born in 1624 in England (possibly Bury St. Edmonds) and emigrated to colonial America and settled in Newbury, Massachusetts where he was a proprietor. He married Hester Blakeley on August 15, 1649. “Joseph ye son of John Bond was borne Aprill 14,” 1653 in Newbury, Massachusetts. (Massachusetts, U.S. Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988)
Joseph married Sarah Williams (daughter of John and Rebecca “Colby” Williams) on November 26, 1679 in Haverhill, Massachusetts. (After Joseph’s father, John died, Joseph’s mother married his wife Sarah’s father so Sarah’s mother-in-law also became her step-mother and Joseph’s father-in-law became his step father.) Joseph and Sarah had 10 children: Abigail (my 6th great grandmother), Esther, John (who sadly drowned in 1721), Sarah, Joseph, Hannah, Sarah, Mercy, Lydia, and Rebecca. The family were Methodists and attended Lynn First Methodist Church.
Defining Moments in History
Per Descendants of John Williams by Cornelia Bartow Williams, “Joseph Bond served in King Philip’s War under Lieut. Benjamin Swett in June and August, 1676. In the assignment of wages for ‘Haverhill-towne’ 24 Aug., 1676, his allotment was £0.13.6. He took the oath of allegiance and fidelity in Haverhill 28 Nov., 1677. In 1680 he was on Thomas Dustin’s garrison, one of the six organized for protection against the Indians. He also was one provided with snow-shoes for the same purpose.”
King Philip’s War (1675-1678) was also known as the First Indian War. King Philip’s War was particularly significant because the colonists went to war and dealt with their adversaries without any support from the British government (or any other European government). Thus, the colonists began to develop an “independent American identity” which therefore enabled them to begin separating from Britain. According to www.history.com “King Philip’s War is considered the bloodiest war per capita in U.S. history. In the space of a little more than a year, 12 of the region’s towns were destroyed and many more were damaged, the economy of Plymouth and Rhode Island Colonies were all but ruined and their population was decimated, losing one-tenth of all men available for public service.” Life in the colonies may have taken a different turn if the British had provided the expected support.
A Twist – Interesting Neighbors In Haverhill, Massachusetts
Joseph Bond, Thomas Dustin (or Duston), and their families all lived in Haverhill, Massachusetts. Both Joseph and Thomas were soldiers under Lieutenant Benjamin Swett in 1676. Joseph later was on Thomas Dustin’s garrison in 1680 as the conflicts against the Indians continued. (King Philip’s War was in 1675-1676 and King William’s War was in 1689-1697.)
Thomas had married Hannah Emerson and according to Find a Grave, they had 10 children. {Hannah had an interesting family background. Her youngest sister, Elizabeth, was hanged for infanticide and both her cousin, Martha Toothaker Emerson and her uncle, Dr. Roger Toothaker were tried at the Salem witch trials after they were accused of practicing witchcraft. Martha was eventually released due to lack of evidence and Roger died in prison.}
In 1697, Hannah Emerson Dustin, had a quite tragic and horrific experience and took matters into her own hands. This gruesome and violent event began when Hannah, her week old baby, the nurse, Mary Neff, and some other neighbors were captured by the Abenaki, a local Native American tribe. (Hannah’s husband, Thomas and the rest of their children fled to the garrison house that Thomas was building.) About two weeks into their capture… “One night when the Indian family was sleeping, Duston, Neff, and Leonardson—who were not guarded or locked up—armed themselves with tomahawks and killed and scalped 10 of the Indians, including six children. They wounded an older woman, who escaped. A small boy managed to run away. Duston and her fellow captives then left in a canoe, taking themselves and the scalps down the Merrimack River to Massachusetts, where they presented them to the General Assembly of Massachusetts and received a reward of 50 pounds.” https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history
“Hannah became a minor celebrity, her story was recorded by Cotton Mather in his Magnalia Christi Americana. The governor of Maryland sent her a pewter tankard to congratulate her on her escape. Her story has been retold in History of Haverhill, in Notable American Women, in Thoreau’s A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, and most recently in Laurel Ulrich’s Goodwives.” https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/4667/hannah-duston
Hannah is likely the first American woman to have a statue built to memorialize her.
Life was often difficult for these early colonists, but they persevered. Throughout the year, I will follow the path from Joseph and Sarah to Susanna Osborn (Joseph and Sarah were the great-great-great grandparents of Susanna) and see how her journey led her from Pennsylvania to Virginia to West Virginia to Plum Grove, Kansas which today is a ghost town.
