Ancestry

It was a combination of finding this grave in the middle of a blueberry barren and questions from my son about our family that drove me to look at Ancestry.com. It didn't take long to figure out that a lot of what I'd been told about my family simply wasn't true. I've been told all my life that we are Canadian, English, and Scottish. Well, the first two are most definitely true. I easily followed one side back one generation to find them in Toronto. The other side rattled around New England for a while before I saw the first generation that made their way over from England. But, I never could find any Scottish in my family. I did find a lot of Irish, however. Mostly it seems I come from Cornish and Irish stock. There seem to be a few Welsh mixed in there as well. I found photos of the church where my greatgreatgreatgreatgreat.... grandmother and grandfather married in Cornwall. I also found a registry of my greatgreatgreatgreat.... grandfather's apprenticeship to someone. Unfortunately I have no idea what the trade was and his name -- Upjohn-- leaves no clue. 

The grave that I found in the blueberry barren is one of four high on top of the hill behind our house. The graves sit crooked and moss-covered, but still completely legible. The oldest dates back to 1776, which is amazing. It's humbling to think of the people who used to live here back then. It must have been an incredibly hard and lonely life. Obviously they were made of sterner stuff than I. 

(Posted Jul 19th, 2016)