Our Mayflower Ancestors

I vaguely remembered I was related to William Bradford, but I couldn't remember exactly what he did or what early American settlement he led - my early American history knowledge is definitely lacking. This Thanksgiving season, however, I checked out some books on the pilgrims to read with my kids and I was awakened to this exciting family connection. Through Relative Finder and FamilySearch I found out he is my ninth great-grandfather and those websites also revealed I'm related to five other individuals who sailed on the Mayflower! (Relative Finder really is super cool to see what famous people you're related to - or even if you're related to the people you know. Through creating a family group with my in-laws, I found out I was 4th cousins with my sister-in-law!) Now I feel some definite celebrity status because of my relationship to the pilgrims. Wow! The material out there on these Mayflower Ancestors is vast, but for teaching my kids, I was excited to see there's one of those classic Living Scriptures videos about Bradford ;)

We're related to all these people through Bradford's gr-gr-gr granddaughter, Wealtha Bradford Hatch. Wealtha was a friend to the numerous Indian tribes living near her home of Farmersille, NY and in 1832 at around 28 years old, she joined the Mormon church after reading the Book of Mormon and feeling convinced of its truthfulness. She was so anxious to join, she was baptized in a hole in the ice rather than waiting for spring. She was married to Orin Hatch and died in 1841 in Nauvoo, Illinois. 

Photo source

For your information, here's a little blurb you can use to brag about them at the Thanksgiving table ;)

William Bradford - 9th great-grandfather. He was one of the first to sign the Mayflower Compact and went on to serve as Governor of the Plymouth Colony. "His journal Of Plymouth Plantation covered the years from 1620 to 1657 in Plymouth....and is regarded as the most authoritative account of the Pilgrims and the early years of the colony they founded." Photo source.

William Brewster and Wife Mary who came with their nine-year-old son and our ancestor, Love. William Brewster and his wife Mary are my 10th great-grandparents. In England, William Brewster lended books to teenage William Bradford who was exploring the beliefs of the Puritans. In Plymouth, he became the senior elder and religious leader of the colony and eventually an advisor to Gov. William Bradford. Brewster was the only university educated member of the colony and preached often. It was said of him, "He was tenderhearted and compassionate of such as were in misery," Bradford writes, "but especially of such as had been of good estate and rank and fallen unto want and poverty."^[5]  Photo source

Mary Brewster "was one of only five adult women from the Mayflower to survive the first winter in the New World, and one of only four such to survive to the "first Thanksgiving" in 1621, which she helped cook.^[3][4]"  photo source


Francis Cooke - 11th great-grandfather. Like the others, he came over as a separatist and was an active member of the community, although he did not participate on religious leadership or politics. His wife Hester and children came to America 2 1/2 years later to join him. We are descended from their son Jacob, who married Stephen Hopkins daughter Damaris (see below).

Stephen Hopkins - 11th great-grandfather. Lots to read about him. According to Wikipedia, he was "one of forty-one signatories of the Mayflower Compact, and an assistant to the governor of Plymouth Colony through 1636.^[2] He worked as a tanner and merchant and was recruited by the Merchant Adventurers to provide the governance for the colony and assist with the colony's ventures. He is known as the only Mayflower passenger with prior New World experience, having been shipwrecked in Bermuda in 1609 and then serving for several years under Capt. John Smith at the Jamestown Colony." Whoa, cool! His daughter Damaris married Francis Cooke's son Jacob Cooke (see above).

Signing the Mayflower Compact. Photo source

What a heritage! I won't ever think about the Mayflower Pilgrims the same way again, and I can't wait to visit Plymouth Harbor, MA someday to see the replicas and museums there!

Happy birthday Chelsea Christine!

Chelsea Christine Moncur was born March 20, 1980 in Lewistown, Montana. It's hard to deny what a beautiful little girl Chelsea was. I don't know much about this angel who died at two years old - what her temperament and personality was like, what her home life was like, but I'm aways seeking to know more. I believe Chelsea's spirit is alive and thriving right now - busy and happy and full of purpose at this very moment. I believe she knows about each of us and when allowed, can assist and minister to us from the other side. I can't help but believe she is also touched that we still remember her and her short life on earth. I can't wait for the moment we embrace and to be able to see her grow and reach her full potential as a resurrected woman someday. I love you my sweet cousin!

Our ancestors' missing children

As I've been researching the Larson family over the years, I've come across a few death records of children of John and Caroline Larson that were not in their family tree and not sealed to them. I was never quite sure whether these children belonged to them or another John and Caroline because I hadn't researched it further and so I kept it on the backburner.

However this week as I was watching this very moving experience (34:43-42:25) of a woman who discovered a sweet little girl who was missing from a family's record and hadn't been sealed to them, I had the impression that I needed to go back and figure out whether those children I had previously found belonged to the John L. Larson family. That very night I looked at the records more closely and in a death register for a little boy - Loderick Yorgo (George) Larson - I saw he lived in the 19th ward in Salt Lake City. That was a huge clue because I knew John L. and his first wife Caroline lived there. Based on this residence, I was able to feel confident enough to add Loderick to the family - a little boy almost two and a half years old who died of measles. There was another child, Caroline Victoria, who died at 13 months old from marasmus, which in the historic medical literature referred to not being able to absorb nutrients from food. She was born in Brighton, which matches John L.'s second wife Caroline Ramstrom's residence, and her birth date was perfectly in between two other siblings, but I still was feeling like I needed to be more sure before I added her. Then Sunday morning as I was listening to this beautiful song, I was thinking about how the Savior invites us to come to know him one by one - "with hands they did feel and with eyes they did see" - and how each person in this life has or will have that opportunity. I thought about the healing that may be taking place in heaven for the Larson family who waded through so much trouble and heartache here on earth as they come to know the Savior better. I thought about the innocent children born to that troubled family and Caroline Ramstrom Larson's love for her children despite her circumstances. Then, this message came powerfully to my mind "My little girl, she is mine! I love her. Please seal her to me". I was overcome with emotion and I replied, "I will!". I knew then that Caroline Victoria Larson was Caroline Ramstrom Larson's daughter and I could add her to the family and have her sealed to them. How joyful and beautiful is a mother's love for her child and the very thought that our children can be ours forever thanks to our Savior is something more than beautiful.