Light a Candle: Rekindling the Flame

Probably the best part of genealogy is the process of discovery!  I started out with a pretty good knowledge base due to my grandmother sharing what she knew.  All that led to one discovery after another, and I’m still learning.  The coolest thing about all these discoveries, however, is rekindling the stories that have disappeared over time.  Some of these I’ve written about here, and some are just in my database.  Here are some of those discoveries:

• Charles Hendrick, brother-in-law of my ancestor Mary (Randall) Williams, took part in the Civil War in the US Navy.  There’s not as much out there about the naval battles, but I was able to find out that during 1862-1863 he served on three ships:  the Ohio, the Princeton, and the Augusta.  
• Learning that Jennie (White/Williams/Colomy) Starbard’s mysterious brother Joseph ended up in Washington Territory once he left Lynn, Massachusetts.
• The discovery of Job Raynard White’s ancestral line, especially the suspenseful story of his Loyalist grandfather, David White.
• My great-grandmother Eva (Lipsett) Atwell’s brother Claude apparently had a close relationship with her husband and my great-grandfather, Thomas Francis Atwell.  I found a newspaper article about his marriage to Clara MacWhinnie, and apparently Thomas served as best man!
• The discovery of my Filles du Roi and Filles a Marier ancestors really makes me want to learn more about their stories.  I’m going to have to splurge on the definitive books on these groups.
• What resonates most deeply with me is the fact that my great-grandmother Bertha (Colomy/French/Spratt) Pleau remained a dedicated pianist throughout the trials and tribulations of her life:  from her late childhood; to her indiscretion with Percy St. Clair; to her young adult years in church; through her three marriages and moves to Nahant, Brooklyn, Baltimore and back to Lynn.  Bertha continued playing at various performances and teaching others to play as well.  It’s no wonder that upon her death, my grandfather lived with another piano player, Benjamin Johnson.  Perhaps Benjamin was one of her students or at least an associate of hers in Lynn’s music scene.

Candles represent my genealogical discoveries!
(By Andrew Shiva / Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=52308084)

New Horizons: What Made Them Immigrate?

I have to admit, when I saw that this week’s #52Ancestors theme was “New Horizons”, my first thought was the 1972 Moody Blues song!  But from a genealogy context, I think of my ancestors gazing toward the horizon, about to embark on their immigration journey.  

Over at #genchat this coming Friday, we’re going to be discussing migration patterns influenced by history.  This got me to thinking about what may have influenced my ancestors to come to this country.  Although I personally don’t know for sure, I want to examine the possible “why’s”.

1600s  Since just about all of my ancestors settled in New England, history tells me that those people had some serious religious differences with the Church of England.  I know that a lot of my ancestors ended up being Congregationalists, as many from the Great Migration were.  At least one of my ancestors (Nicholas Wallington) seems to have been an indentured servant, so he was basically along for the ride.

On the French-Canadian side, I know that I have a number of Filles a Marier and Filles du Roi that came to Quebec, motivated to find a good husband and start a family to help populate the new land.

1700s  A good number of my ancestors from this time period were arriving in Nova Scotia directly as a result of the American Revolution.  I’ve written about my Loyalist ancestors (the Whites and Hurlburts) who just could no longer live in the United States, and some received land grants as a result of their military service for England (such as James Bruce).  And of course there was Catherine (Quinn) O’Brien who inherited land through her dead husband’s family in Nova Scotia and took advantage of the opportunity to give her children a better life.

1800s  Both my Quebec (Pleau) and a branch of my Nova Scotia ancestors (White) arrived in the US about 1869, just two years after the provinces of Canada confederated into a single country.  I have to wonder if there was some dissatisfaction with that.

Later in the century, my Polish (Markoski and Gazda) and Lithuanian (Valek) ancestors arrived along with thousands of others immigrating to America, escaping depressed conditions and unrest in their homelands. With the Industrial Revolution, America was becoming the land of opportunity, and they took advantage of that.  The Valeks were a classic example of chain migration, where one person (Adam) went ahead of the family, bringing them over at a later time.

What we often think about when we think of immigrants. Courtesy Library of Congress.

1900s  There were just two more immigrant journeys to be had before 1920:  that of my great-grandfather John Peter Biliunas from Lithuania, and of my great-grandmother Eva Christina Lipsett of Nova Scotia.  Both may be cases of chain migration also.  In John’s case, his passenger states that he was connecting with a brother-in-law (who I know nothing about).  In Eva’s case, she had many cousins already living in Essex County, Massachusetts.  Perhaps they had good stories of opportunity where they were living, I can’t be sure.

Fun Facts: Same Date

In the course of doing your genealogy, did you ever come across a date in your ancestor’s timeline and say, “Hey!  That’s my birthday!” or “That’s my parents’ anniversary!” or something similar?  I decided to look up some events that are the same date as some of my favorites in my family history.  I probably could have looked up so much more, but I have to stop myself somewhere!

My Birthday (Jan 21):

• 1658 – Samuel Stebbins born (brother of ancestor Mary Stebbins), probably in Northampton, MA
• 1693 – Mehitable Billings born (sister of ancestor Stephen Billings), probably in Dorchester, MA
• 1898 – great-great grandfather William Armstrong Atwell performs at Central Falls Fireman’s Annual Concert & Ball at the Carole Jacques Cartier Hall (played a duet “Larboard Watch” with trombonist Roussie in Central Falls, RI)
• 1988 – Great-grandfather Thomas F. Atwell’s funeral in Lynn, MA

[Carole] Jacques Cartier Hall still stands in Central Falls, RI. Courtesy Google Earth

I couldn’t resist looking up where the Central Falls Fire Dept. had been! Just down the street from where the ball was. Courtesy Google Earth.

Paternal Grandparents Anniversary (Feb 8):

• 1641 – Thomas Ford (ancestor) served on Connecticut committee on livestock in Windsor, CT
• 1669 – Hannah Seward born (sister of ancestor Caleb Seward) in Guilford, CT
• 1670 – Abraham Newell (ancestor) wrote his will, probably in Roxbury, MA
• 1936 – Wallace J Atwell (half-brother of great-grandfather) and his wife Mildred were counted for 1935 RI Census in Providence, RI

Maternal Grandparents Anniversary (27 Nov):

• None

Christmas (Dec 25):

• 1637 – Thomas Olney (ancestor) granted ¾ acre in Meadow in Salem, MA
• 1637 – Stukely Westcott (ancestor) granted house lot of 1 acre in Salem, MA
• 1645 – ancestors Job Clements and Margaret Dummer married in Haverhill, MA
• 1651 – John Stebbins (ancestor) granted 3 acres in Springfield, MA
• 1931 – Victoria Eugenie Atwell (sister of ancestor William Armstrong Atwell) spent Christmas with nephew Wallace in Providence, RI

Great-grandmother Bertha’s birthday (Mar 26):

• 1661 – William Holton & John Stebbins & Henry Woodward (all ancestors) served on jury in Northampton, MA
• 1672 – Rowland Stebbins (ancestor) will proved at Springfield, MA
• 1714 – Thomas Goodwin (ancestor) wrote his will in Kittery, Massachusetts Colony (now Maine)
• 1748 – Stephen Billings (brother of ancestor Seth Billings) started to serve as a private under Captain Spencer Phips in the Castle William expedition in Boston, MA
• 1891 – Frank L. Colomy (great-great grandfather) organized the Rathborne Lodge No 6 of the Wonder of the World (a masonic organization) in Lynn, MA

Great-grandfather George’s birthday (Dec 22):

• 1914 – Antone George Valek (great-grandmother’s brother) was naturalized in Riverhead, NY
• 1939 – Beryl Sophia Lipsett (great-grandmother’s sister) – on passenger list Yarmouth NS to Boston, MA

Textile: Family Needlework

In 2020, I didn’t get a lot of genealogy work done, but I did turn my attention to cross-stitch, as noted on this post.  I’ve been interested in needlework since junior high school, where we had a Needlework Club.  Since then I’ve dabbled in needlepoint, crewel, embroidery, bargello, latch-hook and cross-stitch.  My interest must be genetic, because I find examples of needlework on both sides of my family, especially my maternal side.

Viola Markoski lace. Author’s collection.

Eva Atwell laces: top and left; Viola Markoski lace, right. Author’s collection.

I’ve written about how my great-grandmother Eva (Lipsett) Atwell would tat lace.  My maternal grandmother Viola (Biliunas) Markoski also made lace via crochet; but her talents extended to crocheting afghans and Christmas ornaments, making plastic canvas needlepoint pictures and ornaments and stitching beautiful crewel pictures.  (She would help me out in my struggle with French knots!)  Her husband Bruno Markoski took up the needle in his retirement years, working with her to make intricate pieces of a plastic canvas Christmas village that they would sell at a local craft shop.  He even took some time to make latch-hook rugs, one of which I still have.

Bruno Markoski latch-hook rug. Author’s collection.

Their daughters also dabbled in needlework, like free-form cross-stitch and quilting.  My mom had gone through quite the quilt phase during my early teen years, experimenting with different patterns and getting rid of some outgrown or worn out clothing from the 1970s.  Some looked like very traditional quilts, but the one that I inherited looks very groovy!

My mom’s groovy quilt. Author’s collection.

For me, I found that needlework was a good way to be creative, keep my hands busy and even soothe the nerves.  I’m sure my forebears found that to be true as well!

Crewel by Viola Markoski. Author’s collection.

Plastic canvas gingerbread house by Viola Markoski. Author’s collection.

Travel: Genie and Tom Go To Nova Scotia

This week’s #52Ancestors prompt is “travel”. My paternal grandmother, Eugenie (Atwell) Pleau, told me the following story when I was an older child or young teen:

As discussed in these previous posts, my great-grandmother, Eva Christina (Lipsett) Atwell, came from Manchester, Guysborough County, Nova Scotia and eventually settled and started a family in Lynn, Essex County, Massachusetts. Just about every summer, the family would visit Eva’s family in Manchester.  Apparently, the place in Nova Scotia was pretty rustic, which meant going to the bathroom in an outhouse.  Eva made sure to bring extra rolls of toilet paper with them on the trip.

Aug 1952. Manchester, Nova Scotia. Author’s collection.

Example of the plumbing situation at the family cottage. Author’s collection.

One time when my grandmother and her brother Tom were young (it had to be during the 1930s), the family made the long drive up to Nova Scotia.  The two of them must have gotten bored, because they took the toilet paper & let it unravel out the car window, streaming behind them as the car went along.  They must have been really quiet in the back seat, because my great-grandparents didn’t notice anything was amiss until they saw cars pass them, with the passengers pointing & laughing.

Eva turned around and saw what Genie and Tom were doing.  My great-grandfather pulled over the car, and the kids got in DEEP trouble for wasting all that toilet paper!  Yet my grandmother laughed the whole time she told the story.

Family cottage in 1952. Now imagine a car 20 years prior with the family in it! Author’s collection.

Paternal-Side Christmas: Party!

Growing up, we lived in the next town over from my paternal grandparents, George and Eugenie (Atwell) Pleau. My sister and I saw them often, and every year our family was invited to their annual Christmas party.

Actually, everyone was seemed to be invited to their party, which was held on or right before Christmas (I can’t remember). It was an early exercise in genealogy, as many members of my grandmother’s family were there: Great-grandfather Thomas Atwell, Great-great Uncle Claude Lipsett and his wife Clara, Great-Uncle Thomas Atwell and his second wife Helen, Uncle Tom’s two adult children (both of whom are still living) and my second cousins, who were a little younger than my sister. I remember my grandmother’s cousin, Carolyn Lipsett and her mother Marion. There may have been – no, there probably were – others at the party as well.

An early incarnation of the Christmas party – my first! Pictured are Uncle Claude, myself and Great-Grandfather Tom. Author’s collection.

My grandparents’ house was always decked out in 1960s Christmas kitsch. Giant glowing electric candles at the front door, orange-light candlesticks in each window, a choir of red-robed ceramic angels on the mantle over a fake fire, pretty curly ribbon candy in Christmas dishes on the end-tables. Their small fake tree, decorated with sparkly red and gold balls, stood in the corner where my grandfather set it up under my grandmother’s changing instruction.

At some point in the evening, us kids (me, my sister and the second cousins) got to open our presents. Perhaps it was early in the evening, to keep us occupied for the rest of the night. It was clear that the presents were from my grandparents, not Santa. No matter what the toys were, we’d always get a net sack of chocolate coins in our stockings (which I later learned was a popular Hanukkah thing). I can still hear the sounds of the empty gold foils hitting each other.

Then the grown-ups would talk and talk. There were probably appetizers on the dining room table that they’d eat. For my immediate family, this continued until I was ten, and then we’d moved away the following summer, too far to visit at the holidays. I wish I could time-travel back to the parties to hear what the grown-ups talked about; I bet I’d pick up a lot more family stories!

Great-Grandfather Thomas Francis Atwell I: Beyond the Navy

I’ve already touched on my great-grandfather’s life with respect to his time in the navy and partly through writing about his wife (my great-grandmother), Eva Christina Lipsett. Now it’s time to dig a little deeper.

Thomas Francis Atwell I was born on October 4, 1891 in Providence, Providence County, RI. He was the fifth child and third son of William Armstrong Atwell and Altie May Williams. I don’t know much about his childhood, other than that his schooling ended with a ninth grade education and that his parents divorced sometime between 1900 and 1905. I’m told that Thomas’ father William could be difficult to get along with, but in spite of that, all the children seemed to remain with him as opposed to Altie after the divorce. When William re-married to Ethel Fane in 1905, Thomas got along well with her and later his half-brother Wallace.

There is a family story that says that things were so bad at home that Thomas lied about his age to join the navy. However, from what I can tell, he enlisted in 1909 when he was eighteen, so I don’t know about the part about lying about his age. Perhaps joining the navy was Thomas’ best option for leaving home once he turned eighteen? In any case, he seems to have begun his naval time at the academy in Newport, Newport County, RI.

We already know that Thomas married Eva on June 30, 1920 in Salem, Essex County, MA. I would love to know how they met; perhaps he had some shore leave in Boston and ran into her somehow? Whether he had any prior relationships, I do not know. I’m sure it would have been difficult to maintain a relationship for very long, being stationed on a ship for great lengths of time. In any case with Eva, it was love; this was obvious in the way my great-grandfather spoke of her even after her death.

Eva + Thomas Atwell in Swampscott, MA, 1959. Author’s Collection.

As I’ve written before, Thomas and Eva started their family in the 1920s. After a brief time out of the navy in the 1930s, he worked as a superintendent in an office building. Then after his time back in the navy during World War II, Thomas again returned to civilian life and began working for the Lynn Institute for Savings (a bank) in 1947 and continued there until retirement in 1967. Since Eva had died in 1963, the house on Timson Street in Lynn must have seemed too big for him, so he put the house on the market in November 1964 and bought the tiny home on Bulfinch Road that I remember. A few months later, the house on Timson Street was sold.

Although he was retired and downsized, Thomas in no way checked out of life. He still drove around town, and attended Christmas and other family parties that his daughter Eugenie threw. One thing that I discovered was that during the 1970s, he wrote a few letters to the editor of the Boston Herald-American. (I suppose that he also must have written to the Lynn Daily Item, but those archives are not yet online.) Many of the short, pointed letters had a political bent to them, such as properly addressing the President of the United States and anti-union sentiments. One outlined eight ways to “save the U.S.A.”, which would be seen as very conservative (and probably politically incorrect) today. He also wrote about his beloved Boston Red Sox, who he often watched on the TV set in his living room. Mind you, this was deep in the years during the “Curse of the Bambino”.

Thomas lived on his own for many years, but spent the very end of his life in a Lynn nursing home, passing away at the very respectful age of 96. He is buried with Eva at Pine Grove Cemetery in Lynn.

Atwell-Pleau grave, Pine Grove Cemetery, Lynn, MA. Author’s collection.

Vienna Fingers and Ginger Ale

Vienna Finger. Courtesy Wikimedia.

What in the world does this strange snack have to do with genealogy? To me, everything!

I was lucky to grow up knowing my great-grandfather, Thomas Francis Atwell I; in fact, I was 23 years old when he died (though sadly I did not see much of him after we moved away when I was 11). When we lived in Massachusetts, my family would often visit with Grampy Tom. Inevitably, my sister and I would ask him for a snack and he’d give us what were probably the only sweets in the house: Vienna fingers and ginger ale.

Grampy Tom’s house in Lynn was very small, only four rooms as I recall, but that was all he needed after the death of his wife, Eva (Lipsett) Atwell. Besides the kitchen (where the snacking occurred), we spent most of our time in the sparse living room. Grampy would always sit in a fanback Windsor chair (I don’t think it even had a cushion!) as he spoke with my parents. I don’t remember much of the decor, but I do know he had some pieces of the USS Constitution from when it was refurbished in the late 1920s.

Grampy Tom was partly deaf; whether it was from age or some other reason, I don’t know. We always had to shout to be heard, and even then, it was difficult for him to understand (he never did get my youngest sister’s name right, despite numerous corrections). Another thing that made Grampy unique was the tattoo on his arm. I don’t even remember exactly what it looked like (an eagle?), but I remember staring at it, wondering how old he was when he got it. If memory serves me correctly, he got it sometime during his navy years.

Me & Grampy Tom at my first Christmas. Author’s collection.

I remember on one of our visits, my mom told me I should really listen to the stories Grampy Tom told; after all, he was in two world wars and he’d seen a lot of history! That sounded like a good idea to me. I liked stories! So I tried – I really tried to sit and listen. But I didn’t understand, and the little girl in me would rather go outside and play. How I wish that I could go back now and absorb some of the things he said!

So now, nearly thirty years after his death, I have to satisfy my curiosity by searching for Grampy Tom’s stories as I’ve done for my other ancestors, as well as talking to the very few relatives left who knew him personally. From here, we will look into my great-grandfather’s life, family and ancestors, based on my findings.

Fourth Great-Grandmother Sarah (Scranton) McMasters: Born in the USA

Just three years after the end of the Revolutionary War, Sarah Scranton was born on August 11, 1786 in Durham, Middlesex County, Connecticut to David Scranton and his second wife Loraine Strong. Sarah was Loraine’s first child, but David’s second. His first was Phebe, who was born on May 11, 1782, to David’s first wife Phebe Curtis. The elder Phebe died less than three weeks after her daughter’s birth on May 30, 1782.

David was a mariner of his own sloop called Nancy that dealt in trading. His hometown of Durham was a landlocked rural town, at least twenty miles from the Connecticut shore and about ten miles west of the Connecticut River. Every time he was to make a trip on the Nancy, he would probably need extra days just to travel to and from wherever she was docked. (I have to admit that as I drove to Durham last summer, I was surprised just how far it was from the shore. “No wonder David didn’t stay here!” I said to myself.)

Durham, Middlesex County, CT. The southern border of Connecticut is its shoreline. Courtesy Wikipedia.

On one of David’s trips to Quebec, he had stopped in Chadebucto Bay in Nova Scotia, which runs along today’s Guysborough County’s southern shoreline. Apparently he was quite impressed with the area, for when the Hallowell Grant in Nova Scotia opened up for settlement, he took the opportunity to find a new home that was more convenient to his occupation. (A great description of the Hallowell Grant can be found here on the “From Maine to Kentucky” blog.)

In mid-1787, Sarah was only one year old when she made the voyage with her parents and fourteen-year-old cousin Henry Scranton (who was recovering from a “fever-sore in one limb”) to Nova Scotia; she likely never saw the country of her birth again. Other settlers came with them on the Nancy, some of whom had been Loyalists during the war. The Scranton family settled on a farm in the newly formed town of Boylston* on east side of Milford-Haven River, a tidal river that empties into the Chedabucto Bay. This seemed to be a perfect location for David, who could easily split his time between his travels and the family farm.

Left behind in Durham was Sarah’s five-year-old sister Phebe, who was being raised by Phebe’s maternal aunt (whose name I do not know). I have to wonder if this aunt may have stepped in to help raise the newborn Phebe after her mother’s untimely death. Perhaps the two formed a mother-daughter-like bond that David could not break up. In any case, I am sure Phebe and her father kept in touch; one of her children was named after him, after all.

Cousin Henry’s illness did not get any better with time. On December 21, 1787 (just a few months after his arrival), Henry passed away. I have to wonder if his was one of the first deaths in Boylston. So Sarah became the “oldest child” of the family, having nine younger siblings that were between one and a half and sixteen years younger than herself, all born in Manchester. (I will detail them in a later post.) As such, Sarah probably helped her mother run the household and take care of the children; perhaps she even helped out on the farm.

Meanwhile, in 1790, a Scotsman named John McMasters arrived in Manchester and was deeded 172 acres of land. The two books that mention him say that his parents were John McMasters and Ann Cummings. I assume that John must have been close to twenty years older than Sarah. John and Sarah were married on November 20, 1808 in Manchester. They had nine children, all born in Manchester:

• George Henry, born October 10, 1810; died August 1812 of rheumatism
• Lauraine, born November 16, 1811; died September 11, 1838
• Ann Charlotte, born October 26, 1814; married Thomas McKeough December 19, 1848; died sometime after 1891
• John, born December 9, 1816; married Catherine J. Cummings before 1855; died 1906
• Catherine, born November 8, 1818; married A. Henry Partridge before 1843
• David, born April 19, 1820; married Margery E. Fox 1855; died 1903
• Samuel, born February 25, 1823; married Margaret Pyle October 2, 1873; died 1903
• Christina, born May 26, 1826; married Robert Bruce Lipsett January 8, 1859; died June 15, 1891
• Margaret, born June 23, 1829

John died somewhere between 1838 (where he appeared as a farmer on the census) and 1861 (where Sarah seemed to be living as a widow with her son David). Sarah died of old age on March 23, 1865 in Manchester. (Her son David was the informant of her death.) I assume both are buried in Manchester, but I don’t have any records of that yet.

* Harriet Cunningham Hart’s “History of the County of Guysborough” indicates that “Boylston did not thrive as a town” and became a part of Manchester township. Therefore, the Scrantons did not move, but their residence became known as Manchester. The town of Boylston was later re-established in 1874.

Behind the Brick Wall: Third Great-Grandmother Christina (McMaster) Lipsett

When I was fifteen, I was on my first quest to trace my family tree (just like Alex Haley!) and I was in name-collecting mode! My paternal grandmother Eugenie Beryl (Atwell) Pleau was a wealth of ancestral information. She had given me dozens of names and relationships of not only her family, but my grandfather’s as well. My recent forays into family research have (so far) proven all her memories correct.

When telling me about her mother’s people, my grandmother named Lipsetts, O’Briens and Bruces. She was able to get me back to Robert Bruce Lipsett and his wife, Christina McMaster. Later I was easily able to find more information on Robert, thanks to online records and yes, some online trees.

I did find a little information on Christina: born in 1826 (I later found out it was on May 26); married Robert Bruce Lipsett on January 8, 1859 in Manchester; died June 15, 1891 and was buried in Manchester Cemetery. Some alternate spellings of her name were: Christiana and Christeana. On the 1891 Census, her father’s place of birth was listed as Scotland and her mother as the United States. Being an unlikely (in my mind) match, I was sure the census taker did not make a mistake. But who were her parents? And if her mother was from the USA, where was she from and what could her maiden name possibly be? Even online trees had no clues for me. I could find other McMasters in Guysborough County who must have been related to Christina somehow, but I couldn’t make the connection.

In May of 2013, I turned my annual trip to my favorite genealogy society, the Essex County Society of Genealogists, into a genealogy pilgrimage. Arriving the night before, I visited Pine Grove Cemetery in Lynn, MA and stayed overnight in the affordable and historic Hawthorne Hotel in Salem. I took advantage of being in the area by visiting the genealogy room in the Lynnfield Public Library, which ESOG maintains. I was hoping to find all kinds of information on my New England ancestors! Little did I know that I would find a golden nugget for my Nova Scotian ancestors…

The genealogy room not only has a lot of information on Essex County, MA, but information on other New England States and some on Canada as well. One tiny little booklet caught my eye: “1838 Census of Nova Scotia Consolidated Index of Heads of Guysborough County Families” (Prepared by Mary Elizabeth Koen, Swampscott, Massachusetts, 1985). I took pictures of the pages with my surnames on them, and there on page 21 was “John McMasters, Farmer”. He was the only McMaster/McMasters in the book!

Snippet from Mary Elizabeth Koen’s census compilation.

At that point, I knew enough not to merely accept at face value that John was Christina’s father. Now that I knew a first name, I scanned online trees to see if they could lead me to further clues. Out of all the sites I knew to search, I only found one tree on myHeritage that connected John to Christina, and named a mother: Sarah Scranton (a new name!). I emailed the tree’s owner to find out where she got her information, but she never got back to me. So I hit Google with the search terms “John McMasters” AND “Sarah Scranton”.

Google Books came back with a hit: “A Genealogical Register of the Descendants of John Scranton of Guilford, Conn., Who Died in the Year 1671.” Yes, John McMasters was in there. He was a Scottish immigrant who was an early settler of Manchester. And Sarah Scranton was there, daughter of David Scranton and Loraine Strong of the United States. (So far, it’s lining up with that census information!) The book also listed their children, which included Christina, listed as Christiana.

But the awesomeness does not stop there. Although I could find nothing further on John McMasters, Sarah Scranton was quite a different story. Her roots go deep back into colonial Connecticut and beyond. There will be many more stories from her lines in the future!

So what is the moral of this story? Not everything is online, and although not everything online is true, it can help you get to the truth. The truth can put a crack in the brick wall, which can lead to an avalanche of information!