25Nov

1638: Chapter 5: Massachusetts Bay Colony

Reverend Robert Peck (1580-1658), a Whittington great grandfather, arrived in New England on the ship, Dilligent of Ipswich, captained by John Martin, the ship’s Master. The Dilligent sailed from Ipswich, Suffolk, in June 1638 and arrived August 10, 1638 at Boston, with about one hundred passengers, principally from Hingham, Norfolk (England), destined for Hingham, Massachusetts. […]

25Nov

1638: Chapter 6: The Great Migration From Europe

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When Jenny Geddes (Chapter 1) tossed her chair at the Bishop in St. Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh, Scotland she had no idea she was firing what could be called a first shot in the war against King Charles I and Archbishop Laud. Plenty of martyrs had fired their own verbal shots over the years. And, since […]

25Nov

1638: Chapter 7: New Sweden

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1638: New Sweden and New Netherlands This is a chapter within an anthology (1638) that collects all of my son’s ancestors under one umbrella, one roof so to speak. This chapter (7) relates specifically to the role of a Smith ancestral grandfather in the Stille line and his impact on the new world. While […]

25Nov

1638: Chapter 8: New Netherlands

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DUTCH ANCESTORS ON MANHATTAN ISLAND This is a chapter within an anthology (1638) that collects all of my son’s ancestors under one umbrella, one roof, so to speak. This chapter (8) relates specifically to the role of Smith ancestral grandparents in the Stille-von Couwenhoven line and their impact on the new world. Wolfert Gerritse von […]

25Nov

1638: Chapter 9: Our Tree Becomes a Forest

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Wolphert Gerrittsen von Couwenhoven, lived behind a palisade of upright timbers that fortified his dwellings and kept his family somewhat safe from the attack of local tribes on Long Island, New Amsterdam. He did lose a son and possibly his wife in a war with the Indians. But Indians were not the only threat to […]

25Nov

Mayflower Passenger Connections

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Our Mayflower Ancestors There is always more research to be done whenever folks decide they are going to establish a family tree. People around the world are using data now made available on the internet. Family trees posted online provide a variety of information and records, some more accurate than others, some downright misleading. […]

14Nov

MAP of POPHAM COLONY (MAINE 1607)

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This map below shows the early settlements, French and British, in the region now known as Maine. The Popham Colony in 1607 is highlighted in red. If you know anything about clothing for the outdoorsman then you know that Popham (Freeport) is the present day site of LLBean. James Davis had an eye for marketing […]

13Nov

PLYMOUTH AND MASSACHUSETTS BAY

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Many of Nancy’s ancestors, in the Whittington branch flooded into the Massachusetts Bay Colony and left quite an impression before they ditched their digs in Boston and made a pilgrimage across the land into Connecticut and then New Jersey. Their travails in Boston are legend. A Smith branch has a start in Plimouth and Scituate, […]

13Nov

MAP of JAMESTOWN (1607)

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Map of Jamestown Colony, Virginia in 1607. Maps will enlarge if you click on them for better viewing. Use your back button to return to this page. The end result of the labor of Sir Thomas Symth and his investment company, Jamestown was both success and failure wrapped up in one colossal effort. This map […]

12Nov

MAP of NEW NETHERLANDS (1645)

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NEW NETHERLANDS 1645 New Netherlands in 1645 included settlements and forts that extended from Schenectady in the north to Swaanendael on the Delaware River estuary in present day Delaware. The Dutch referred to the Delaware River as the South River and the Hudson River as the North River. New Amsterdam was considered the capital and […]

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