For years, I’ve been trying to unravel the mystery surrounding my mother’s great-grandfather’s civil rights status at the close of the Civil War. I believed I had finally solved it: Was he among the thousands denied property and civil rights due to specific criteria? These categories included former Confederate civil and military officers above a certain rank, individuals who had abandoned U.S. government or military … Continue reading Reconstruction Recall
The book, “Pickering Genealogy,” provides detailed information on ten generations of Pickerings, but my direct lineage extends only to the third generation covered in the book. After that, my branch left Salem. Benjamin’s son, Edward Pickering (6x great-grandfather) was born in November 1701 in Salem and died in Mendon, Massachusetts. In 1724, he married Hannah Bancroft in Lynn, Massachusetts, and shortly after that, he relocated … Continue reading PART X – CHAPTER 3
This coming Saturday, April 19th, marks the 250th anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord. Given the current circumstances of tyranny, this anniversary holds even greater significance. I have revised my previous list of ancestors who served during the American Revolutionary War. It now contains ten individuals: six ancestors of my father’s great-grandmother, Cordelia Pickering, and four of my maternal grandfather, James M. Dobbs, … Continue reading Ten Patriots
Growing up, I had no idea I had Colonial American ancestors on both my parents’ sides. My mother’s colonial ancestors settled in the South, from the Carolinas to Georgia. My father’s ancestors were YANKEES! These are all ancestors of my father who settled either in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the Plymouth Colony, the Rhode Island Plantation Colony, or they are the ancestor of ancestors who … Continue reading Massachusetts Ancestors with Wikipedia Articles
Gathering Leaves 