A Mayflower Voyage Interrupted
By Roy W Short
After years of pounding Internet genealogy websites, visiting courthouses and
libraries I finally uncovered what I presumed to be a solid linkage between me
and a card carrying, Compact signing, Mayflower passenger. Preliminary checks
of fundamental birth, marriage, death and parental data encouraged me to give
the local Mayflower Society Librarian a call. I was apprehensive because my
fellow amateur genealogists warned me that the acceptance process was
arduous and the chances of success were minimal for someone (like me) who did
not know what he was doing. It might be worth the trouble though since
membership in The General Society of Mayflower Descendants (GSMD) is
reputed to be the “Holy Grail” and my appetitive was wetted.
It started off easy enough. The Librarian suggested I send her my proposed
ancestry to Mayflower passenger John Howland, along with some money. She
would then arrange to return to me the first six prior approved descendants of
Mr. Howland, which match my family tree. That would document at least six of
the thirteen generations and greatly reduce the effort, or so I thought.
True to her word a couple weeks later I received a formal application with the
first seven generations populated with content drawn from Mayflower Families
through Five Generations1 GSMDs official set of references (AKA “The Silver
Books”). The preliminary review validated the following generations:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
John Howland and Elizabeth Tilley – My Pilgrim & Wife
Desire Howland and John Gorham
Lydia Gorham and John Thatcher
Hannah Thatcher and Nathaniel Otis
Hannah Otis and Benejah McCall
Faith McCall and Asa Harris
Hannah Harris and Gamaliel Barnes
This was great because I had already received certification from the Sons of the
American Revolution (SAR) for my linkage to Rev. Gamaliel Barnes. I reproduced
my documentation from the SAR application and completed the Mayflower form.
The local GSMD Historian must review applications before they are passed on to
Plymouth so I sent it to her expecting a favorable response.
What I received back was a rejection.
1
Lainhart, Ann Smith, and Jane Fletcher Fiske. Mayflower families through five generations : descendants of the Pilgrims
who landed at Plymouth, Mass., December 1620. Edited by General Society of Mayflower Descendants. Vol. 23. No 2.
General Society of Mayflower Descendants, 2010.
What, how can this be? I had done everything right! She calmly explained that
the Mayflower Society pays no attention to what other organizations accept
and GSMD qualification standards are often much higher than others. In her
view, there remained one unproven link in my ancestry to John Howland - no
direct evidence was provided establishing Gamaliel Barnes and wife Hannah
Harris as the parents of Caroline Barnes, my ancestor. I had submitted the
following indirect evidence:
1.
2.
3.
4.
An extract from Landmarks of Oswego County, “The History of Parish,
NY”2 which established:
a. Gamaliel Barnes migrated to Parish, NY with his son-in-law Stephen
Morse in 1803.
b. They were among the first white settlers and built the first houses
there.
c. Elder Barnes subsequently started the Colosse Baptist Church in
Mexico, NY in 1806.
Another extract from Landmarks of Oswego County, “The Town of
West Monroe”3 which declared that Caroline Barnes was the first
schoolteacher in the town in 1810. According to the 1850 US Census4,
1855 NY State Census5 and the 1860 US Census6 she was born circa
1895 and was living in West Monroe, NY, which is 12 miles from Parish
and 20 miles from Mexico.
An extract from The Mexico Independent Newspaper7, which confirms
the schoolteacher story above.
A third extract from Landmarks of Oswego County “The Town of
Mexico”8 which listed Caroline Barnes among other “documented”
Gamaliel Barnes children (along with his wife Hannah) at an early
meeting of the Colosse Baptist Church in the same Parish, NY school
where Caroline taught. The actual Mexico church had not yet been
erected. She was sitting with her brothers and sisters!
Churchill, John Charles; Child, W Stanley; Smith H Perry, Landmarks of Oswego County, New York. Syracuse New York:
D. Mason and Co., 1895. “The Town of Parish” p.660-661, Facsimile reprint. Hathi Trust.
(http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89073125882;view=1up;seq=9); Accessed 24 Apr 2015
3
Churchill, John Charles; Child, W Stanley; Smith H Perry, Landmarks of Oswego County, New York.. Syracuse New York:
D. Mason and Co., 1895. “The Town of West Monroe” p.830, Facsimile reprint. Hathi Trust.
(http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89073125882;view=1up;seq=9); Accessed 24 Apr 2015
4
1850 U.S. Census, Oswego, New York, West Monroe, database-online, 365, dwelling 190, family 195, Edward Duerdin;
digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 24 Apr 2015); citing NARA microfilm.
5
1855 New York State Census, USA, population schedule, Constantia, [Page], dwelling 20, family 99, for Caroline
Duerdin; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=General7181&h=1655341823&indiv=try : accessed 24 Apr 2015); Citing Microfilm. New York State Archives, Albany, New York..
6
1860 U.S. Census, Oswego, New York, West Monroe, database on-line, 20, dwelling 173, family 173, O F B Duerdin;
digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 24 Apr 2015); citing NARA microfilm 803838, roll 838.
7
Smith, Elizabeth. "Let's Reminisce-West Monroe." Mexico Independent 19 May 1960. p 10. : Accessed 24 Apr 2015.
8
Churchill, John Charles; Child, W Stanley; Smith H Perry, Landmarks of Oswego County, New York.. Syracuse New York:
D. Mason and Co., 1895. “The Town of Mexico” p.600-601, Facsimile reprint. Hathi Trust.
(http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89073125882;view=1up;seq=9); Accessed 24 Apr 2015
2
5.
An excerpt from The Genealogist9 journal, which listed many of the
children of Gamaliel Barnes and Hannah Harris, but regrettably omitted
a couple of them - including my Caroline. The article did however allow
that there might have been other children. Although negative
evidence, I included it because it did show their birth years and
Caroline’s presumed 1895 slot was not filled.
This seemed to me (and SAR) to be a compelling circumstantial case that
Caroline was the daughter of Gamaliel Barnes and Hannah Harris. She lived in
the same town(s) and was born about the right time per the Census records.
There was however no document showing direct linkage. Unfortunately, Gamaliel
and Hannah did not leave wills and the Barnes land records in the area did not
reveal her name connected to this family.
In the months following the rejection I performed many more searches and
returned to the Salt Lake City LDS Library. It was there I discovered I had
apparently missed a reference to Caroline in another book The History of
Oswego County, New York10. In the book there was a poorly worded biography
of one of Caroline’s sons, Oscar Dwerdin [Duerdin]. It not only linked Caroline to
Gamaliel Barnes, but also confirmed the schoolteacher story again. I had to read
it many times to figure out what the author was saying, but it finally made
sense. Here is the passage:
“Dwerdin, Oscar F. B., was born in West Monroe in 1826, son of Edward
[husband of Caroline], a native of England, who came to Constantia
[another nearby town] in 1820, and three years later removed to what is
now West Monroe. His first wife was Martha Hepworth, and their children
were Anna, James, Betsey and Martha.
His wife died in 1822, and he married second Caroline, daughter of Elder
Gamaliel Barnes, a Baptist minister who settled in Mexico in 1815. She
was the first schoolteacher in the portion of Constantia, which is now
West Monroe. Their children were Sarious, Antoinette, Oscar F. B.,
Hannah, Rosetta, William and Victoria. Rosetta, Oscar and William are the
only survivors of the family. The father [Edward] was prominent in local
church affairs, and served in many of the town offices. He died in 1861
aged seventy-six years. His wife [Caroline] died in 1867. At the age of
nineteen subject [Oscar] began teaching school, at twenty-one was
elected town superintendent of schools, which office he held three years.
About 1851 he assumed full charge of the farm and cared for his parents
till their death.”
9
Stover, Margaret Harris, and Gale Ion Harris. "Asa and Anna (Ely) Harris of Connecticut and Nova Scotia." Edited by
Pinchon Press. The Genealogist (The American Society of Genealogists) 20, no. 1 (2006): 99-100.
The History of Oswego County, New York with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent
Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers. Philadelphia: Published by L.H. Everts & Co., 1877.
10
This was my “smoking gun”. I repackaged the application and sent it back to the
Librarian. She thought this helped, but was doubted it would be enough to
satisfy National since it didn’t mention the Mayflower descendant Hannah Harris
(Gamaliel’s wife) in the passage. I encouraged her to submit it anyway because
there was no evidence that Gamaliel had ever married anyone else and her grave
was in the Colosse Churchyard11. Hannah had to have been her mother.
Low and behold, it was approved, although they couldn’t resist declaring the
Caroline Barnes-Hannah Harris connection as “weak”. It didn’t matter, I was in
and that is what was important at the time. I must admit I am now a little
unsatisfied however and will continue searching for better direct evidence. I
don’t like the feeling that the approval came with reservations.
It was a frustrating experience (and it took nearly ten years) but it was worth
every minute. I proudly display my certificate for all to see.
11 1829 - Find A Grave, Database And Images (Http://Findagrave.Com : Accessed 24 Apr 2015), Memorial Page For
Hannah Harris, Find A Grave Memorial No. 20138272, Citing Colosse Cemetery, Colosse, Oswego, NY.