• Uncategorized

    Family Reunion Postponed until 2022

    We’re a bit late in sending this out but hopefully no one is surprised that we’ve postponed the family reunion until next summer. While many of us will in Maine and are looking forward to post vaccine gatherings, we just felt that travel was too complicated to have a large gathering. We hate to let another year go by but will look forward to 2022. More to come next year.

    In the meantime, please send us any photos you have – we’d love to post them here for people to enjoy until we can be together in person.

    • Dan, Anne, Duncan, Bill and Helen
  • photos

    Happy Thanksgiving!

    Hope you all had an enjoyable holiday, in what was clearly a different kind of year.

    Until we can all gather again, here are some pictures from Thanksgiving 1968.

  • dunham family,  history,  photos

    Samuel Woodward Dunham

    Found this amongst Nancy Nivison’s records and thought it was interesting enough to share. It is an original photo (on metal) of Samuel Dunham, 1828-1918, with his son Linneus. The inscription on the back reads

    Samuel Dunham with Linneus who died young – Samuel was father of Francis D. Hamilton.

    Linneus was born in 1855 and died at 9 years old, so believe this photo is from between 1855 and 1860. Linneus was Samuel and Rachel Andrew’s 3rd child of 9. His youngest was our own Frances (Fannie, Gramma Hammie) Dunham.

    Also added this to the Documents section.

  • history

    Mayflower Lineage

    Our family descends from multiple Mayflower passengers. That said, Deacon John Dunham was not one of them – he was rumored to have traveled on the Mayflower under the name of John Goodman, but that has since been debunked. He was part of the separatist group that left England for Holland, but didn’t arrive into Plymouth until 1631. It appears to have been a bit of revisionist history by Isaac Watson Dunham in his treatise of the Dunham family (which is unfortunate, as it rendered the book less reliable, even though his treatment of our family branch is largely accurate). An aside – we have an original version of the Dunham Genealogy in the Family Library, if interested.

    That said, we do descend from John Alden, through the descendancy listed below. Hat tip to Duncan who was kind enough to give me the roadmap. Alden was the last surviving signer of the Mayflower Compact, and there is a replica of his home at Plymouth Plantation.

    If anyone else is interested in joining the Society of Mayflower Descendants, or for that matter the Alden Kindred of America, let Danny or Duncan know and we’d be happy to help with your application.

    And it’s a fun year to celebrate (in a year in need of things to celebrate) as it’s the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower voyage.

    John Alden m Priscilla Mullins
    Joseph Alden m Mary Simmons
    John Alden m Hannah White
    Thankful Alden m Francis Eaton
    Joseph Eaton m Hannah Crossman
    Abigail Eaton m Abner Shaw
    Lucy Shaw m Nathaniel Pratt
    Abigail Pratt m David Andrews
    Ziba Andrews m Thankful Washburn
    Rachel Andrews m Samuel Dunham
    Fannie Frances Dunham m Harry Hamilton

  • dunham family,  history

    John Dunham

    Deacon John Dunham was an early settler of Plymouth (but *not* on the Mayflower, as had at times been rumored). He was however one of the original separatists who left England for Leiden, Holland. His first wife passed after having 3 children, and we descend from his second wife, Abigail Barlow via their son, Joseph Dunham.

    You can learn more about him from the John Dunham Society, as well as join their membership by demonstrating your connection to him.

    John-Dunham-Society-Membership

  • carter family,  history

    You are a descendant of William the Conqueror!

    We’ve talked in the past about James Carter, our original Blue Hill ancestor who arrived on Blue Hill Neck in February, 1771. His Granddaughter is Sukey Carter, wife of Thomas Hamilton and progenitor of the Tribe of Tom.

    James’ parents were John Carter, of Scarborough, Maine and Hannah Sands of Biddeford (which is right next door). They were married 27 Jan 1738 in Biddeford.

    Hannah comes from a long line of nobility, including William the Conqueror. He is my generation’s 28th Great Grandfather.

    This is sourced from the Carter Family History, which we’ve posted in the Documents section. It’s a fun read about that branch of our family.

    ~ The Royal Ancestral Lineage of Hannah Sands ~

    Hannah, the daughter of James Sands Jr and Emma Jepson
    He, the son of James Sands Sr and Patience Gibbons
    She, the daughter of James Gibbons II and Dorcas Seeley
    He, the son of James Gibbons I and Judith Lewis
    She, the daughter of Thomas Lewis and Elizabeth Marshall
    She, the daughter of Roger Marshall and Katherine Mitton
    She, the daughter of Edward Harpersfield-Mitton and Anne Skrimshire
    He, the son of John Harpersfield, Esquire and Joyce Mitton
    She, the daughter of John Mitton II, Esquire and Constance de Beaumont
    She, the daughter of Sir Henry de Beaumont III and Lady Eleanor Sutton
    He, the son of Sir Henry de Beaumont II and Lady Joan Herronville
    He, the son of Baron Henry de Beaumont I and Lady Elizabeth Willoughby
    He, the son of Baron John de Beaumont and Lady Catherine Everingham
    He, the son of Baron Henry de Beaumont and Lady Margaret De Vere
    He, the son of Baron John De Beaumont and Countess Eleanor De Lancaster
    She, the daughter of Earl Henry De Lancaster and Lady Maud De Chaworth
    He, the son of Edmond the Crouchback and Blanche De Artios
    (Brother of King Edward I of England)
    He, the son of King Henry III of England and Eleanor Beringer
    He, the son of King John of England and Isabella De Taillefer
    (Brother of King Richard the Lionheart)
    He, the son of King Henry II of England and Eleanor De Anquitaine
    He, the son of Geoffrey V and Matilda the Empress
    She, the daughter of King Henry I of England and Edith of Scotland 
    (Brother of King William II. Edith is the Widow of Holy Roman Emperor Henry V)
    He, the son of King William I of England and Matilda of Flanders
    (aka William the Conqueror)
    He, the son of Duke (King) Robert I of Normandy and Gunnora
    He, the son of Duke (King) Richard II of Normandy and Judith of Brittany
    He, the son of Duke (King) William I of Normandy and Luitgarde of Vermandois
    He, the son of Duke (King) Rollo of Normandy and Poppa of Bayeux 
    (The Viking King who conquered Normandy, France) 

  • carter family,  hamilton family,  hamilton shores,  history,  photos

    Thomas and Sukey Hamilton

    Hi all, been a bit quiet here as I have spent the last 6 weeks on Hamilton Shores. While here I raided my Mother’s basement which has all of Nancy Nivison’s (Aunt Nancy to many of you) records. She saved everything and was active researching our genealogy so lots of great stuff that I am slowly scanning into the Documents area of the website.

    But perhaps the most interesting find were these pictures of Thomas Hamilton and Susan (Sukey) Carter, who together started the Tribe of Tom. Neither Duncan nor I have come across photos of them to date4 so we believe this is the first and only set in existence.

    Both look like photos of pictures hanging on a wall. Anyone recognize them and know where they were (or are)?

    Thomas Hamilton, 1810 – 1891
    Susan (Sukey) Carter, 1806 – 1881