Welcome To Pilgrims and Pioneers!

After many years of researching my family geneaology I have been lucky enough to discover actual information about my relatives that lived in the Pilgrim Era and the Pioneer Era- while many people also have realtives from those eras- many do not know their names or where they lived- actually seeing the proof in print makes you much more aware of who they really were.
After discovering these relatives it of course made me curious to learn more about the eras that they lived in and what their lives were like as, the history I learned in grade school had long since been forgotten.
I decided to start this blog for others who are also interested in these eras.
Some of the information here will be actual facts about my realtives and some will be information about the eras in general that I have found on the web.
I hope you will enjoy traveling back in time with me!

Friday, February 25, 2011

Anna Dickerson's Two Sarah's

I do not have a pict


ure of my ggg grandmother Anna- I sure wish I did.
How ever I do have a picture of her daughter Sarah and one of her half sister Sarah.
Her daughter Sarah is on the left(1856) her half sister Sarah is on the right( date unknown).

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Anna Dickerson- A True Pioneer Woman

For some reason out of all of the ancestors I have researched my ggggrandmother Anna Dickerso fascinates me to most;
She was born in 1818 in Abermarle, VA to Charles and Ellen Dickerson. Her gg grandmother was Mourning Lewis b 1694 in Abermarle, Va a true Colonial woman (who is very popular in family history research).
My research shows that Anna married a Parmenus Jones and had three children. The two youngest children died as young adults. This was the first tragedy she had to bear. She also had a set of twins that did not survive.
The next is when her husband Parmenus died.
She remarried to Paterson Aber and together they had one child. After a few short years of marriage Paterson went to California during the gold rush- he died there in 1850 of cholera. In her 32 years she had given birth to 6 children and lost 4 of them and had buried two husbands.
Her next marriage was to Lodowick Underhill a widower with a son.
This marriage produced three more children.
In 1861 Lodowick and his first son joined the Army and fought in the Civil War- leaving Anna alone with 5 children.
Lodowick was injured in the war and discharged in 1862.
After that her life seemed to be stable for awhile.
My research found that in 1890 the family had moved to ten Mile, Macon Co. Missourri. I am sure the move was made by covered wagon. Anna was now 72 years old.
At some point Anna and the rather large family moved to Chicasaw Nation Indian Territory, Oklahoma as they were there on 1900. I have not found out much information there and do not know why they went there except land was very cheap and possibly her son John W. Aber wanted to go.
Lodowick died there on December 3, 1897 and Anna applied for his Civil War pension. She died there in 1898 at the age of 80 years old.
I am sure that I could not have endured all that she did or moved to Indian territory im my late 70's when the atmosphere in that land was extremely dangerous.
Was she ever frightened in all of her trials and tribulations? I would assume she was but her pioneer strength served her for 80 years. I honor you grandma Anna!
This photo shows her first born child Sareh Ellen Jones Dow ( my gggrandmother sirttin in chair) a true pioneer woman in her own right>

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Blackbeard the Pirate- a Part Of American History



I never really thought about pirates in American history but an article on the radio a few days ago led me to do some searchin the wb. I found many articles but I thiought this was one of the best. The photos show the house Black beard lived in in Beaufort, NC

In New Providence, Teach met Capt. Benjamin Hornigold whose crew he joined in 1716. In very little time, he became Hornigold's protégé, and soon was given a captured sloop with six cannons to command while still serving under Hornigold.

It was during the latter part of 1717 that Hornigold and Teach encountered a large ship off St. Vincent flying the French flag. Hornigold and Teach both fired from their sloops across the bow of the French boat and killed many on board. The ship, known as the "Concorde" surrendered. She was actually a dutch built 'flute' that had come into the possession of a St. Malo frenchman. The boat was rich in booty, and with Hornigold's hold now filled with treasure, Teach asked if he could be given the command of the captured ship. Hornigold knew he was reaching the end of his pirating days, and with the wealth he had accummulated, he could retire. He agreed to give the ship to Teach and to retire to New Providence. It was the last time he would see the man he had trained well to become the vicious pirate Blackbeard.

Blackbeard honed his piracy skills, selecting bigger and better targets. But his greatest feat was yet to come. In May 1718, Blackbeard decided to blockcade the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina. He stretched his vessels across the harbor and made demands of the town for money, supplies and medicine. The blockade wore on for weeks, and without firing a shot, Blackbeard slowly received what he came for. The humiliation of the town at the hands of pirates made the citizens determined to stop piracy and send a lesson to any who practiced it. Four months later, they got their hands on Stede Bonnet, Blackbeard's sometimes pirate friend. The people of Charleston hanged him.

Blackbeard gave his new ship the name "The Queen Anne's Revenge". He sailed the vessel until June of 1718, when he sailed it into the Beaufort Inlet, known at that time as the Topsail Inlet. It was there that he intentionally ran the ship aground under the pretense of cleaning off the hull. In reality, he was plotting yet another theft of booty, but this time it was from his own crew and his then ally Stede Bonnett. He took the treasure and his favorite crew members and abandoned the ship in the inlet to be taken by the tide.

After Abandoning "The Queen Anne's Revenge" and the smaller vessel "Adventure" in the inlet, Blackbeard ane the remaining crew took the other ships up Pamlico Sound to the town of Bath. There he received a pardon from the Royal Governor and lived in Bath for a time making friends with the locals and the wealthy planters.

The lure of piracy was too much for Edward Teach, and he soon fell back into sailing the North Carolina and Virginia coast looking for ships to plunder. He had settled on Ockracoke Island, near Cape Hatteras, as his outpost. It was here that Lieutenant Maynard of the Royal Navy found Blackbeard anchored at his favorite spot on the south side of the island. His ships crept up on Blackbeard's and a fierce battle broke out between them. Both sides took heavy casualties, and eventually Blackbeard was killed in battle overwhelmed by the training and firepower of the Royal navy. Blackbeard's head was cut off and his body thrown overboard where legend has that it swam around the ship several times before sinking.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

New Blog! Come Take a Peek!

Tattered Stitches and Tags
http://tatteredstitches.blogspot.com
Be sure to sign up as a Follower so you can be updated of new items and snag the latest freebies!!

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Happy Belated Birthday Mr. President

Tonight I watched a program on the History channel about Ronald Reagen.
As I watched it brought back to me how in awe I am of this man.
I am not very politically oriented so I can not tell you that he was the best president nor can I tell you he was the worst. Just the fact that he was the president is enough.
He was born Feb. 6, 1911 to Jack and Nell Reagen in Tampico, IL

Tampico is where most of my relatives were from and where my father was born- almost 10 years after Ronald Reagen. It is about 15 miles to the South of me. Tampico is defintely podunk America- a blink your eye and it is gone kind of town. It has not gained much by being his hometown and still remains very small.
Ronald Reagen was not born into a prosperous life. His home in Tampico was an upstairs apartment with an alchoholic father and a religious mother.
His father could not hold a job due to his drinking and the family moved from small Illinois town to small Illinois town so his father could get work.
Dixon, Il ( 15 miles to the East of me) seemed to be a better place for the Reagen's. In high school he worked at Lowell Park - a park along the Rock River- working at the concession stand and as a lifeguard saving many lives from the mighty Rock!
He left Dixon and became a radio announcer in Des Moines, IA and then onto Hollywood! His dashing good looks and his talent soon made him a famous actor.
He also hosted a tv program for General Electric for many years.
In 1966 he beacame Governor of California and was Governor until 1975.
Of course the rest is History as he served two terms as President of the United States.
It is sad that this man was afflicated by Alzhiemer's diesease but the accomplishements he nade in his lifetime are nothing short of amazing.
To think that he was born in such a small town in a one room apartment over a tavern to parents who had huge financial struggles is a tribute to his greatness.
And so I wish a Happy 100th birthday Mr. President- may you always rest in peace.

Prairie Wild Morning Glory

Prairie  Wild Morning Glory

Prairie Phlox

Prairie Phlox

Prairie Sundrops

Prairie Sundrops

The Famous Rock!

The Famous Rock!
Plymouth Rock dated 1620

Plimoth Plantation

Plimoth Plantation
The Village

Plimoth Plantation

Plimoth Plantation
A Keeping Room