Straight maternal lines..... they tend to be hard for genealogists to trace, as written records for women are less complete (England is just now getting around to adding mother's names to marriage records) and surnames have tended to change every generation.
So, in honor of Labor Day (yeah, I know it's not that kind of labor the day is in honor of.....but I needed some sort of 'hook' here.....), let's talk about maternal lines.
Note: diary title is a take-off on 'turtles all the way down.'
My genealogy task this summer has been working on cleaning up my genealogy database. Over the years (and with changing the program used about a decade ago), errors have crept in ~ typos in dates and place names, information from when I was new to family history and too accepting of printed sources, and incomplete data on siblings because I got distracted by another line on the tree, among common issues I've found.
One of the places I found several errors that I've now corrected was my straight maternal line. Many new genealogists I've met over the years get all excited about their straight paternal line (father, father's father, father's father's father, and so on), but I admit I'm just as fascinated by my maternal line ( and, anyway, my paternal line disappears in the early 19th century that is the black hole {grin} of genealogy ~ Ireland).
My maternal line has been in Massachusetts since the 1630s or so. Not as easy to research as Scotland (where mother's maiden names have been on marriage records since 1855, and where there are regions where married women continued to use their maiden names after marriage, so it's in their children's baptismal records) but easier than many places ~ records were fairly well kept (yeah!).
How far back have you gotten on your straight maternal live?
Who are you stuck at?
Anyone you have great stories about?
(Yes, I wish I had more stories,
instead of just dates, for most of these women!)
So, that's the end of the commentary. Without further blather from me.... straight maternal line, starting with my great-grandmother:
Grace Coffin Bosson
b. 29 November 1880 Salem MA (as Grace Bosson)
d. {spring} 1969 Salem MA (aged 88)
m. 14 September 1908 Roger Augustus Poor (2 children)
Note to self: can't believe I don't have exact date for her death and she's not in the SSDI. Guess I need to force myself to take a trip to Boston to look it up {very big grin}.
My great-grandparents just before she died:
Lizzie Lee McCartney
b. 11 August 1856 Manchester MA
d. 1 February 1895 Salem MA (aged 38; cause of death ~ pelvic abcess)
m. 26 July 1880 Harvey Lincoln Bosson (2 children)
Hhhhmmmm..... yup ~ dates are right. My great-great grandparents anticipated their wedding a bit, and their first child Grace (above ) was born just four months after the wedding. Oops.
Abigail Carter Dow
b. 7 September 1818 Manchester MA
d. 31 May 1893 Salem MA (aged 74; cause of death ~ bronchitis)
m. 14 December 1840 William McCartney (4 children)
Abigail Carter
b. 14 February 1797 Manchester MA
d. 5 June 1854 Manchester MA (aged 57; cause of death ~ dropsy)
m. 10 September 1816 Thomas Dow (8 children)
Nabby Lee
b. 14 May 1774 Manchester MA
d. 15 August 1858 Manchester MA (aged 81)
m. 3 December 1795 Nathan Carter (8 children)
Sarah Hooper
b. 19 February 1738 Manchester MA
d. 26 February 1776 Manchester MA (aged 38; 1 mo. after birth of last child)
m. 8 July 1756 Solomon Lee (11 children)
Lydia Allen
b. 23 February 1713 Manchester MA
d. 15 June 1750 Manchester MA (Lydia Leach, wife of Paul; aged 37)
m. 12 November 1730 William Hooper [died about 1739] (5 children)
Lydia married second 20 July 1742 Paul Leach (3 children).
Abigail Hill
b. 21 September 1670 Salem MA (in vital records)
According to the Findagrave.com entry, her gravestone says Abigail died in her 42nd year, which would be consistent with a birthdate in about 1678, which fits better with her marriage date and the birthdates of her children (youngest child in early 40s, instead of 49.....), as well as her husband's age. Date in VRs ~ mistake? older sister who died?
d. 30 March 1720 Manchester MA (aged 42; 19 days after birth of last child)
m. about 1704 Deacon Benjamin Allen (9 children)
Deacon Benjamin Allen's will (dated 8 July 1746, proved 1747) mentions his daughter Lydia Leach.
I am also descended from Benjamin and Abigail's son Benjamin Allen, b. 13 September 1706, who married Remember Stone, daughter of John Stone and Sarah Gale ~ which means that (since Benjamin was older) every time I try to do a report of how I'm related to Abigail or her mother, it defaults to going through Benjamin :-(
Elizabeth Dyke
b. about 1636
m. 16 November 1651 Zebulon Hill (10 children)
Zebulon Hill's will mentions daughter Abigail Allen.
Agnes Tybott
m. ------ Dyke
Agnes married secondly Edward Clarke.
Mary
m. Walter Tybott
(Walter Tybott's will mentions granddaughter Elizabeth Dyke and her husband Sabulone {Zebulon} Hill)
Is it 'cheating' if I only know her first name?