A Friend Provides an Early Morning Serendipity Moment

Sometimes I just don't feel like writing and I am not even sure why. I often get caught up in the project of the moment, losing focus on every day things. Then along comes a serendipity moment or hot topic and I can fill pages. This week I had one such experience with the Gates family. On Wednesday morning I awoke to find an email from a friend with whom I have collaborated on some New England research. This is what she sent:

"Check this out I think you will find something of interest."

http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ski/scott/diligent.html

Created by Scott and Kathyrn (Leedom) Ives

It provided the following information:

Passenger List of the Diligent 1638Ipswich, Suffolk England to Boston Harbor

STEPHEN GATES

Stephen emigrated with his wife Ann (___) and two daughters Elizabeth and Mary. The family moved to Cambridge in 1652 and the year after that to Lancaster, then back to Cambridge before 1662. Stephen died in Cambridge in 1662 (will made 9 Jun 1662, proved 7 Oct 1662). Ann married in 1663 to Richard Woodward and she died 5 Feb 1683 at Stow MA. Stephen and Ann had seven children, all but the first two were baptized in Hingham MA:

 1.Elizabeth b. in Eng.; d. 3 Aug 1704 in Hingham. She married on 29 Nov 1647 in Hingham to John Lasell and they had eleven children.

 2.Mary b. in Eng.. She married John Maynard in Hingham on 5 Apr 1658.

3.Stephen b. ?. He moved to Boston and then to Stow where he died about 1707. The name of his wife was Sarah and they had eight children.

 4.Simon bt. 3 May 1646; d. before 21 Apr 1693 "of Boston". He lived in Cambridge, next at Lancaster then back to Boston. Simon married and had at least seven children.

 5.Thomas bt. 3 May 1646. He lived at Marlboro, Sudbury and Stow and finally Norwich (CT?). He married in 1670 to Elizabeth Freeman of Sudbury and they had at least eight children.

 6.Isaac bt. 3 May 1646; d. 3 Sep 1651

7.Rebecca bt. 3 May 1646; d. Jan 1650

This happens to be the ancestors of my husband through the son Simon and the John Maynard who married the daughter Mary happens to be the ancestor of my friend. The list was created based on town records and the following book:

Charles Edward Banks, The Planters of the Commonwealth, published by Houghton Mifflin Co. (1930), pages 191-194.

Then she sent me the following link:

http://freepages.books.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~blackwell/ma/Hingham1893/h1settlers.html, By John D. Long, History of Hingham, Massachusetts, 1893, pages 201-209.

In the past few months I used the following resources, many at my friend's home and the Genealogical Forum of Oregon, to compile information about the family of Stephen Gates:

Torrey's New England Marriages, NEHGS Boston, 2011, page 604.

Charles Edward Banks, Topographical Dictionary of 2885 English Emigrants to New England 1620-1650, Genealogical Publishing Co., INC., Baltimore, 1876, page 119.

Meredith B. Colket, Jr., Founders of Early American Families, Emigrants from Europe 1607-1657, The General Court of the Order of Founders and Patriots of America, Cleveland, Ohio, 1975, page 119.

Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration, Immigrants to New England 1634-1635, Volume VII, T-Y, NEHGS, Boston, 2011, pages 529-531, 462-469.

Ellen D. Larned, History of Windham County, Connecticut, Volume 1, 1600-1760, Worcester, Massachusetts, 1874, pages 188-191, 212.

Silvio A. Bedini, Ridgefield in Review, The Ridgefield 250th Anniversary Committee, Inc., Ridgefield, Connecticut, 1958, pages 44-45, 53-61, 68-73, 76-77, 150-151, 198-199, 206-207, 232-233,

Joe Sapfford and Alfred Smalley, History of the Town of Hinesburg, http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~vermont/ChittendenHinesburg.htm

Frederick J. Seaver, Historical Sketches of Franklin County (New York) and Its Several Towns with many Short Biographies, Malone, New York, Albany, J. B. Lyon Company, Printers, 1918, pages 399-400, 426-427, 590-602, 608-610, 614, 621-626.

Franklin B. Hough, History of St. Lawrence and Franklin Counties, New York, from the Earliest Period to the Present Time, Albany, Little & Co., 1858, reprint 1970, pages 154-159, 506-513, 617, 634-637.

Well we did the happy dance together over the phone when I called to thank her for helping to start my day off with such a wonderful serendipity moment. Collaborating with others makes genealogy work more successful, less stressful and just plain fun and exciting. Making connections through this blog and other resources seems to be an ongoing process. With all of the material available to explore, it is so nice when we share with someone else who truly appreciates family history and its many treasures. Thank you Janice.