Uncle Peg’s Chronicles
September 15, 2022
“May Flights of Angels Sing Thee to thy Rest”
Having some issues with my data, as I purchased access to the cloud for my Family Tree Maker program and well, it's complicated. I need to work on it sometime, but not right now.
In the header photo is my daughter, Julie, representing Nature Conservancy of Canada, with Prince Charles, now King Charles III.
~
I am quite frustrated. I see King Charles III’s wife mentioned as the Queen Consort. In my recent research, I came upon a wife named as the consort of her husband. I looked the word “consort” up in the dictionary – in this case, it means the husband or wife of a ruler; or at another dictionary, a wife or husband, especially of a ruler. As a verb, its meaning is not savory.
I am positive that our Holly cousins
were not royalty. I haven’t found that they were unsavory characters, although
a couple of them took the side of the British in the battle for independence,
with the blessing of their father, Ebenezer Holly. Depending on how you look at
it, you might say he consorted with the enemy.
But who was the consort mentioned in
our tree? Now I can’t find her.
~
At choir
practice, we sang, on the evening of the day of death of Queen Elizabeth, “God
Save the King.” This was a first for me and probably most of us. With a group
of fine singers, in a small room with good acoustics, it sounded awesome. Most
Canadians admired and respected the Queen, although many do not support the
monarchy, and in Canada, the reigning monarch is now a figurehead. I found the
Facebook scroll interesting and for the most part, positive. I feel sad at her
passing. I knew it was not possible, but it really seemed to me that she and my
mother would live forever. Mum loved the Queen, and was looking forward to
receiving a special card from her for her 100th birthday, the
anniversary of which is coming right up. Instead, they passed seven months
apart.
~
It is now
Saturday, and I have accomplished very little except to decide that I didn’t
have enough evidence that one Marcy Holly married Samuel Lines and bore five
children. I deleted them all. There were several Mercy, Marcy, and Mary Hollys,
and one died in the year that this particular Marcy was born. She was listed as
a daughter of Eliphalet and Mercy (Penoyer) Holmes, so they must have had two
Marcys. I had to put them (and all their sources) back in. Silly me. I now
begin at Martha Holly and Cary Leeds. They are done so this is a review.
Being September,
and being a member of the newly formed Program Committee of our branch of the
NB Genealogical Society, I have some work to do for them. Should you care to
join us on Saturday, I’ll be one of the ten speakers. Each of us has five
minutes. I have a rough draft done but must pull it together and make sure of
my time, so I don’t get muted. So far, I have five speakers lined up. Hoping
five more will volunteer so I don’t have to twist arms. (Later – we are ten,
but I’m waiting for one confirmation.)
I’ve also spent
some time scrolling. This morning, I laughed at the queens ten witty remarks
post and sniffled a bit at King Charles’ speech about his memories of his Mama
and promise for the future. I loved his concluding quote, taken from Hamlet I
believe: “May flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.”
Without further
ado, I will take a few minutes to work on Cary and Martha.
~
As promised to Jeff to give him seven
articles for News and Notes, on the theme “Where There’s a Will,” I have sent
him a copy of my Israel Smith article that I shared with you last week. I am
now working on John Holmes, son of Stephen Holmes, and grandson of our
immigrant ancestor, Francis Holmes.
Here’s my start – tentative – subject
to several revisions. What shows up in red is a note to self.
WHERE THERE’S A WILL
John Holmes
- 1703
“.
. . any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind,
and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls
for thee.”[1]
“Mariage, John
Homes & Marcy Bell was maryed ye 15th of Jenuary 1701/2.”[2]
Hopefully, after
a hearty breakfast at their cozy hearth that July morning, Marcy sent John off
with an embrace and he hugged his infant son.
Their sparsely furnished house held few belongings, but there were pots
and kettles a’plenty, and enough furnishings that they wanted for little. The
young family had no idea of the tragedy that awaited them. Had John had an
inkling, he no doubt would have penned his will, but what strong, healthy young
man in colonial New England gave much thought to his imminent demise? Weren’t
wills for men like his father,[3] and his
grandfathers before him? I wondered what would happen to someone who died
intestate [without a will] in the early eighteenth century.
Like John and
Marcy’s fathers and grandfathers, John did his share in caring for the meeting
house. Long had the congregation
desired a new, bigger building for their Stamford meeting house. The time was
nigh to raise the heavy bell into the belfry, and he volunteered his services.
Perhaps he was to be paid; that I do not know.
The story is told by Rev. Huntington, in his History
of Stamford. Pages 125, 126.
The way was now clear for a new house, and without needless delay, it was doubtless completed. It must have been a great improvement upon the old one, in size at least, if not in architectural proportions . . . For more than half a century it was the only house of worship in the town. In it, six ministers . . . none of them unworthy the sacred trust, made proof of their fitness for their work. About two generations of the entire town, and four of the congregation of the first church of Christ in Stamford, here received their spiritual training, and from its training went to their final account.
It
must have been in this meeting house that the first bell in Stamford was hung.
There is no record, I think, of this transaction now existing, but tradition is
very distinct as to an accident which occurred at the hanging of the bell. It
hung over the center of the house and had to be raised up through the building.
Just as it had reached the frame which was to support it, the rope which held
it gave way and the bell fell to the floor, killing instantly Mr. John Holmes .
. .[4]
John Holmes was
born, according to Ancestry trees but with no sources, c. 1675. The time seems
about right. As his father, Stephen Holmes, lived and died in Stamford,
Connecticut, it is probable that John was also born and lived his entire short
life in Stamford. His wife, Marcy, also known as Mercy, was born in Stamford on
November 5, 1675, as recorded in the Stamford Town Records. So was his son,
Jonathan, renamed John after his father’s demise. Footnote Huntington.
One of the items
in John Holmes’ inventory was a porringer. I had to look it up. See it on the
left.
Antique
Early New England American Colonial Primitive Pewter Porringer Bowl Dish.
Cost on ebay - $195.
Here’s
a link to a history of porringers.
https://www.acsilver.co.uk/shop/pc/History-of-the-Silver-Porringer-d124.htm
~
And now,
for my final piece . . . my mini-presentation for our Saturday genealogy
society meeting. It’s to take no longer than five minutes, a zoom presentation.
There will be ten speakers. I am delighted with the response; one I’m wait on
for confirmation.
LEARNING TO READ ALL OVER AGAIN
I. During the pandemic, I decided to go for my dream to do a
descendant chart from my immigrant ancestor, Francis Holmes, down to us.
Francis was born in England, about 1600, and died in Connecticut about 1675. He
wrote his will in 1671; the probate was dated 1675.The youngest that I know of
is a baby named Charlie, who was born in August. There are 393 descendants in
my program so far, which by default does not number spouses and their offspring
who have no children.
II. The descendant chart is the skeleton of my project that I
call, “A Colossal Collection of Cousins.” It’s a tongue-twister taken from a
letter written by a late cousin, in which he stated to his recipient, “You and
I have a colossal collection of cousins.” I divided it into counties and eras.
The completed introduction is called “Yorkshire,” as in England, and is 18
pages. It has been distributed to my family. They are welcome to print it if they
wish.
I am now working on
“Fairfield,” as in Connecticut. It is many rough draft pages, some organized
and some an information dump, and covers the 1630s to the 1770s, ending with the
American Revolution. My direct line were Loyalists, although most in collateral
lines were not. I cannot possibly write stories for everyone – I choose those
individuals for whom I find interesting stories to share.
Still to come are
“Westchester”, as in New York; “Cumberland,” as in Nova Scotia; “Westmorland,”
as in New Brunswick; “Jefferson,” as in New York; “Cattaraugus,” as in New
York, and, because I cannot pin us down to a specific location any more, “All
Over the World.” I took that last title from an eight-year-old boy, Nathan, who
attended our 2016 Holmes family gathering and sent me a hand-written thank you
card afterwards. He wrote: “Thank you for making the reunion so we can have
family all over the world.”
III. In the process of doing this genealogy and project, I found
old colonial wills, testaments, inventories, and distributions that were on
line but not transcribed. For some, there are abstracts, but those are just
there to tease me. Actually, they are a great help; you just need to be careful
with them. I undertook the self-study of paleography, the study of old
handwriting, which, for me, goes back to the 1600s.
It has been a rewarding
work in progress and learning curve. I love doing it – I must be a sucker for
punishment. Old handwriting is so different than the cursive we know and the
current use of printing rather than writing. The journals contain ink blots and
tears galore.
IV. These three things make up my project. I wrote about the
wills and testaments and how I learned to read and transcribe these old legal
documents in the 2022 Spring and Summer issues of Generations. I have
promised Jeff seven articles for News and Notes called “Where There’s a
Will.” It’s based on a play on words of the cliché, “where there’s a will,
there’s a way.” I’ll choose seven examples, some for their typicalness and some
for their uniqueness. Watch for the first one in October.
I might need to live until I am 157 in order to finish my project. That is the reason for doing the genealogy as I go – in case someone who comes after me must complete my work.
[1] Donne, John. Meditation XVII.
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/23772/23772-h/23772-h.htm
[2] Familysearch. Stamford Town Records.
Image 234, page 155.
[3] Note: His father, Stephen Holmes, wrote his will on September 6,
1707, at the approximate age of 75.
[4] Huntington, Rev. E B. History of Stamford . . . . Pages 125, 126.
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