Old Sturbridge Village, Sturbridge, MA

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Thursday, July 22, 2010

 I wonder why I feel so comfortable in the "past", in 1800's era buildings and towns.  Maybe it's because my family spent many happy hours when I was very young at Knott's Berry Farm, which at the time was just the old Ghost Town, the Indian Village, Old MacDonald's farm, and the Chicken Dinner Restaurant.  Maybe my most recent "previous life" was lived in the second half of the 1800's.  I just know that when I'm in a historical setting of that era, I'm happy.  On this hot, sunny day in Massachusetts I was very happy indeed.

Old Sturbridge Village is the most complete reconstruction and re-enactment of a past time that I have ever visited.  Consisting of over forty original buildings brought to the site from all over New England, the village includes shops, places of worship, homes, farms, mills and more.  Knowledgeable, costumed staff go about their daily chores and lead tours of the buildings.  One of my favorite things about Old Sturbridge Village was the children; day-campers dressed in period costume, learning period farming and manufacturing techniques, and playing period games.  The sight, sound, and enthusiasm of these young people gave the village a "complete" feel that I haven't experienced in other historic reconstructions.

 Young women baking from an old recipe book in the Small House, the first structure one comes to approaching the village.

View toward village from Small House, showing back of Fenno barn.

Center Meetinghouse

Tin Shop demonstration

Day-campers in period dress eating lunch and playing games

Yarn dyeing demonstration at Fenno Barn

 Circular garden near Fenno exhibit.  I would like to copy this format in my own small yard.

I love roosters.

Quinebaug River Boat Ride

I came across this girl leading the calf twice during my visit.  The first time she told me that she was "socializing" it, getting it used to being around people so it would be able to grow up there.  The second time I saw her she was trying to get it out of this pasture, and I asked if I could take their picture.  She said "of course", but was then very apologetic that her eyeglasses were not of the period!  I thought she and the calf (which I think was named Betsy) were very sweet.

The Freeman Farmhouse

After visiting the Freeman Farmhouse I took the Pasture Walk, which climbs up above the village.

The rail fence ended at this lovely stone post.

The view from the top of the Pasture Walk.

I returned to the village via the Woodland Walk.

 The kiln at the pottery.

After my slow-paced and quiet day spent at Old Sturbridge Village, I drove about 135 miles southwest, through the state of Connecticut to Fishkill, New York.  I expected the Connecticut countryside to be beautiful, but I saw very little of it.  The toll highway went through a corridor of trees most of the trip.  Nothing to see but pavement, cars and trees.  Whoopee.  On top of that it's a toll road, so no interesting little towns to go through, just manufactured stops with chain gas stations and burger joints.  Yuck.  I could have taken a much more scenic route, I'm sure, but it would have taken much longer to drive and I was on a tight schedule.  The next day, I would be at the races at Lime Rock Park!

Taunton, MA (Day Two)

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

The Old Colony Historical Society library didn't open until 10am, so I had some time in the morning to explore Taunton.  I drove to the area where most of the family lived, known as "The Wier."  I had found information from the 1970's in the "Burt box" about an old family house that was still standing.  After spending some time being thoroughly lost I located the spot but the house was long gone.  "Still standing" in the 1970's didn't mean it would still be standing in 2010.  Oh well.

On my way back to the library I suddenly saw an old cemetery, and then saw the sign, "Neck-O-Land."  I was amazed.  I had planned to visit the cemetery while I was in Taunton, but I didn't expect it to be where it was.  It's a tiny little plot of land right next to the road with houses all around it.

From across the street it looked like the gate was chained and locked, but of course I had to find a way in.  When I got to the gate I saw that the chain ended in pliable links that could be opened by hand, so in I went.  This is a very old New England cemetery, the kind of place I've wanted to see for a long time.  Family historians love cemeteries for the information found on the stones, and just for the sense of being in a place that is linked to their ancestor.  I had found this place listed as the last resting place of a number of early Burts.

I only found one Burt stone still legible, that of my 7th-Great Grandmother, Grace (Andrews) Burt.  It reads "Here lies the body of Grace Burt the wife of Abel Burt aged 43 died 179 (possibly 1709) Sept. ye 19."

When I arrived back at the library Andrew was true to his word and brought me the "Briggs box."  I should explain that these boxes are filled with research done by both amateurs and professionals, and donated to the Society.  Within this box I found a copy of an article published in The New England Historical and Genealogical Register from April 1971 entitled "Richard, William, and Hugh, Sons of John Briggs of Taunton, Massachusetts."  This fascinating article shows that before 1660 there were at least five men in the Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay Colonies who bore the name "John Briggs."  By careful examination of records including wills and land records, these five men can be distinguished from one another.  This article gives the descendents of John Briggs of Taunton, which include one Thomas Briggs whose children include: SARAH, b. 10 Dec. 1693; d. 22 Nov. 1783; mar. ABEL BURT.  Genealogy Happy Dance!  I had found "my" Briggs line, and from a well-respected source!

The unexpected extra day spent in Taunton forced a change of plan.  I had planned to spend that day in Wrentham and Upton, exploring more family history.  But the treasure trove that is the Old Colony Historical Society was well worth the extra time spent there.

Taunton, MA

[It's taken me a long time to get back to this blog. Part of the delay was from trying to figure out how to present the time spent in genealogical research. Hopefully, things will flow better now.]

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

I love family history because:

1. I love my family.
2. I love puzzles and mysteries.
3. I love research, and research environments.
4. I love figuring out how to find a tiny thread of information and follow that thread to new discoveries.
5. I love the interesting people I meet along the way.
6. I love the discovery that history was made by real people, in real places, living their lives the best they could and sometimes doing extraordinary things along the way.
7. Etc., etc., etc.

A short review of the steps that brought me to Taunton, MA:

1. Many hours spent reading reels of microfilm at the Santa Barbara Family History Center, pouring over the births, marriages, deaths and censuses for Eaton County, Michigan, where my Dad was born and raised.
2.  Discovering from those reels that my Dad was descended from Jonathan Searles and his wife Sally Burt who were among the first settlers in the area, and the first to settle on the prairie that is now Charlotte, Michigan.
3. Discovering in the Michigan State Library in Lansing, a book entitled "They Left Their Mark", about William Austin Burt who surveyed much of Michigan, in the process discovering the rich iron ore deposits in the Northern Peninsula.  He also invented the solar compass and the first typewriter.
4. Discovering from "They Left Their Mark" that William Austin Burt was the brother of "my" Sally Burt (#2 above), and therefore the lineage of William Austin that was included in the book applied to Sally (and me) as well.  That ancestry led back to Burts in Taunton, MA in the early 1630's.
5. Verifying through internet sources that the ancestry presented in the book is generally accepted and therefore possibly correct.  Discovering that there is a book that includes a section on "The Taunton Burts", but not having immediate access to the book.

So, visiting Taunton (about 40 miles south of Boston) was one of the key goals of this trip.  I discovered through the AAA Tour Book for the area that the Old Colony Historical Society Museum and Library had genealogical holdings, so I checked them out online and found that they specialize in Southeastern Massachusetts and particularly the Taunton area prior to 1850.  Just what I was looking for!

As soon as I entered the building I was greeted by a very nice woman, and told her I was there for genealogical research.  She asked me what family I was researching and I told her "Burt."  Her immediate reply was, "You've come to the right place."  She then showed me into the office and introduced me to their Director, Jane Hennedy.  She gave me a handout regarding their rules and holdings to look over while she called their archivist to let him know I was there.  When she got off the phone with him she said, "I don't want to scare you, but he said he'll get out the Burt boxes."  Scared by boxes of materials?  I was delighted!

Soon the archivist, Andrew D. Boisvert, arrived.  He asked me which Burt I was descended from, Richard or James.  When I immediately responded "Richard" he seemed pleased that I had some familiarity with the subject.  He led me up a beautiful staircase (oak?) to the library, gave me a place to work, and showed me where the items he thought would be of use were shelved.  I was in heaven.

My workspace with my laptop and the "Burt box."

I spent the morning and early afternoon entering data from town vital records books directly into my laptop (a great time saver), poring through the Burt box, and reading "The Taunton Burts" section of the Burt book mentioned earlier.

Andrew came by to check on my progress, and I asked for help on one item I'd found in the Burt book.  Regarding George Burt it said, "He settled on the easterly side of Norton avenue in Taunton, about 1757, on part of the farm of his grandfather, Thomas Briggs, having bought the rights of two of his mother's sisters."  I knew that George's parents were Abel Burt and Sarah Briggs, so this Thomas Briggs must be Sarah's father.  I was having trouble linking him to the Briggs family in several published Briggs histories on the shelves.  Andrew suggested that I check the Probate Records.  There I found the will of one Thomas Briggs of Taunton, naming his wife, sons, and daughters, including "Sarah Burt."  Voila!  This was clearly the "right" Thomas Briggs, but he still didn't link to the published Briggs material.

When Andrew stopped by again at the end of the day I told him my dilemna.  He said the Briggs books were mostly about the Briggs families further north, but if I came back the next day he would bring me the "Briggs box" that contained items more local to Taunton.  Oh yeah, I would definitely be back tomorrow!

Boston, MA

Monday, July 19, 2010

I had a day free to enjoy Boston.  I'd been to Boston once before, for only a few hours during a layover of a coast-to-coast train adventure back in 1984.  On that visit I walked much of the famous Freedom Trail, a walking tour that includes many of the historic sites we all learned about in grade school.  This time I wanted to revisit the same general area to enjoy the modern city bustle with wonderful colonial buildings being dwarfed by skyscrapers, all at a walkable human scale.

I'd spent the night before just northeast of Boston, in Saugus.  I wanted to avoid driving in downtown Boston, so I parked the car in a garage near the Charlestown Navy Yard for the day.  The Navy Yard was established in 1800, and served the fleet until 1974, when 30 acres of it became part of Boston National Historical Park.  It is probably best known for the ship I went there to visit, "Old Ironsides", the USS Constitution.

Built in Boston, she was first launched on October 21, 1797.  She is the world's oldest commissioned warship afloat.  One has to pass through security to enter the adjacent museum building, and from there one can walk up to the ship.  I was disappointed to learn that I would not be able to board her for a tour, since she was under restoration to return her to her 1812 appearance for the bicentennial of the War of 1812, in which she defeated four English warships.  The restoration was completed November 6, 2010.

After seeing what I could of the ship, I passed the dry dock, which dates to 1833 and was first used by USS Constitution.

I wandered around the navy yard a bit more, trying to imagine what it was like in its heyday.  Then I walked over to the dock for the water shuttle, and enjoyed the Boston skyline while I waited for its arrival. 

Old North Church (white spire) and Boston skyline

The water shuttle was a great deal - $6 round trip.  I sat on the open top deck, enjoying the wind, sun, sea air, and just being on the water.  The shuttle docked at Long Wharf, and I decided to try Legal Seafood there for lunch.  I had a yummy tuna wrap, and a very nice young waiter offered to take my picture.  He got the big tip he was trying for!

After lunch I walked over to Quincy market, an old city market building with internal vendor shops and sidewalk cafes, outdoor cart vendors, and live music.  This was one of my favorite spots on my 1984 trip, and I was really looking forward to it.  This time, however, it was very crowded, hectic, and I found the music unpleasant and much too loud.  It had also become surrounded by large chain stores, not my cup of tea.  Oh well, I still have my memory of the 1984 version.

From Quincy market I followed the "Freedom Trail" to Boston Common, enjoying the busy street scape along the way.  I didn't make any of the historic stops along the trail, mostly because they were very crowded.  I had visited them on my previous trip, and this day I was just out to enjoy the city's ambiance.

The grasshopper wind vane atop Faneuil Hall

The lovely Old State House (red brick just right of center) surrounded by skyscrapers of various eras.

Old South Meeting House

I really enjoyed my walk through Boston Common, a great spot for people-watching.  Tourists, locals, business people, nannies with strollers, snack vendors, etc., etc., all enjoying the open green space it provides.  According to the Freedom Trail guide book, this land was never built on, having first been used as pasture, and then as common open space.  My goal was at the far end of the common: the Swan Boats.  This was something I hadn't had time for on my first trip, and I always wanted to return for a ride.  They are unique in all the world, paddle boats powered by foot, with a swan figure covering the mechanism.  I just learned from their website that they started in 1877 and are still owned and operated by the same family!

The lads operating the boat, one pedaling, one poling.

During the ride a light rain started to fall.  I didn't feel like walking all the way back to the dock, so I took the subway.  I enjoyed the water shuttle return trip, once again sitting on the upper deck, and attempting to take a decent self-portrait.  Pretty funny.

Below is my first attempt to insert a map.  Please forgive me if it goes awry.

View Boston Day in a larger map