Notes:
There are conflicting sources of information for Deacon William Parke. "L.D.Miles" by Carol Cramer states that he was born 21 Apr 1607 in Preston, Lancashire Co., England. On file with LDS Church is that he was baptised 21 Apr 1607, Semer, England. Semer is in Suffolk Co. which is located on the opposite coast of England from Lancashire Co. so it would have been impossible for him to have been in both places on the same day. However, there is also a town of Preston in Suffolk Co. which is near to Semer but not near enough for a child to have born in the one place and baptised in the other all in the same day! Thus this compiler has assumed that he was either born or baptised in Suffolk Co., England in either of the towns of Preston or Semer.
Notes:
In the old records her family name is spelled "Holgrave".
Notes:
With 1587 reported as her birth year and 1598 as her marriage year it is likely that one or the other (or both) is off by a few years.
Notes:
Robert Blowgatt (Blogate/Blodgett) was described as a yeoman of Haughley. A "yeoman" was a small farmer, a class below a gentleman, or a man of small estate, or any countryman above the grade of a laborer. Before the 15th century, in early English history, a yeoman was a common menial attendant.
The will of Robert Blowgatt was dated 5 June 1602 and proved 3 August 1602. In his will he left to his son Thomas all of his land and tenements in Haughley; to his wife Marie 30 pounds to be paid within the porch or steeple of the church at Haughley; 30 pounds to his son John; 15 pounds each to his daughters Ann Beaumon, Frances Blogate and Margaret; 10 pounds to Margaret's daughter Ann when she shall become 21; 5 pounds to his daughter Ellen Weith; 40 shillings to Elizabeth Blogate his god-daughter (who was daughter of his brother Thomas) and 24 shillings to Giles Blogate, a son of said brother Thomas. His son Thomas was executor and was directed to pay all debts and legacies out of the household stuff and moveable goods; should Thomas default, then son John and Robert's friend John Sharpe of Haughley should administer the will. (Ipswich Probate Office: Arch. Sudbury. Book Copping 1600-1505; F. 142. Will of Blogate dated July 5, 1602, proved Aug 2, 1602.)
Notes:
Margaret had a child "Ann" by an unknown spouse.
Notes:
We are back here a long, long way now, Europe has been through a turmoil of king-switching and is just beginning to settle down but land disputes abound and record keeping is poor, probably even fraudulent; accuracy, at least, was not high on the list of life's essentials during the preceeding decades. Even so, Thomas Blodgett appears to have been a 10th great grandfather of Florence Bertha Miles.
Thomas was named "Blowgate" in the probate of his will but this family has used a variety of spellings over the generations, e.g., Blogett , Blowget, Blowgett, Blowgatt and Blodget. By the mid 1700's the spelling pretty much became "Blodgett", as the name is spelled here for consistency.
Thomas Blowgate is the earliest Blodgett ancestor who has been identified. His will, dated 1 November 1558, proved 5 June 1660, provided that his body be buried in the churchyard of St. Mary at Hawley. He gave "to Robert, my son, house and land where I now dwell, he to pay thereout legasies following: To every one of my children outcetp [except?] Andrewe and John my sons, 6 pounds ls 4d, namely to Johan my daughter, Thomas my son and Margaret my daughter, Johan to be paid first, Rose next, Thomas next, Marrgaret last, as the ferme (rent) of said house and land may bare. To John, my son, my house and land in New Street Hawley, he to pay 5 pounds 5 within a year after my decease in deeds of charity. If Robert my son depart, my sonne John to have house and to fulfill legacies and if John depart the world without heirs, then Thomas my son."
Executors were Robert Blowgate & Martyne Ruttman. Witnesses were Wm. Smythe of Haughley, Thomas Borrone and John Stannard.
(Ipswich Probate Office: Arch. Sudbury. Book 1560. Paynter Fol. 67)
Reference: Thompson, Rev. Franklin C. BLODGET-BLODGETT GENEALOGY, Descendents of Thomas of Cambridge. LDS Film # 0896868.
Notes:
The marriage of Lynn and Hattie is thought to have ended in divorce about 1942.
Notes:
We are fortunate that Marjorie (Bymers) Wright, a sister of Hattie who is still living at this writing (2003), is one who kept good records of the family and has even done a bit of genealogical research to trace her ancestry in Holland. Nearly all of my Bymer information comes from Marjorie but some of it is corroborated by the memories of Carolyn (Miles) Cambre and Jessamine (Miles) Nicholson, both daughters of Hattie. The Historical Society of Wisconsin was most helpful in providing birth records of several of the Bymers which corroborates the information from Marjorie. In addition we have the recollections of Johanna (Keizer) Swain (the first grade school teacher of Carol Cramer) who roomed in the home of Cornelius Bymer, brother of Hattie. She is 94 years old at this writing, 2003, and is of sound mind. It was Johanna who remembered that Marjorie was still living and kept records on the Bymer family.
The preponderance of family lore establishes that Hattie's name was just that, "Hattie", not Harriet or Harriette. According to her sister, Marjorie, by the "rules" of naming children in Holland, Hattie should have been named after her great grandmother, Hijke (pron. "Hi-kee"), but as this was not "American name", "Hattie" was the nearest phonetic equivalent her parents could come up with. She was called "Hat" by her family, and she occasionally complained that if she had been given a "real" name, like Harriet, they would never have started calling her "Hat". Hattie's place of death, Canoga Park, CA, is from her daughter Carolyn but her sister Marjorie reports Tarzana, CA instead. These towns are now nothing but adjoining areas within Los Angeles so one of them might have been where she died and the other where she was buried.
There is a persistent story about Hattie which has it that she was furious over Lynn's infidelity with Lucille Gardner (which precipitated the divorce of Lynn and Hattie); so furious, in fact, that after Lynn died and was buried according to his wishes next to his son Jim, Hattie returned to have Jim's body exhumed and re-buried at the rear of the cemetery.
This story seemed incredible to me and I was keen to check it out during my visit to Wayland Township, Michigan in June of 2004. Together with Dave and Doug Miles (children of Lee and VaLois), what we found was Jim's gravestone in a tightly packed row of the Wayland Cemetery with just barely enough empty space to the right of it for another body. However, directly in front of Jim's stone in the next (newer) row we found a second stone for him, but this stone had the words "In Memory of" engraved at the top of it. To the left of this was a dual stone for Lynn and Lucille which was decorately engraved and matched the memorial stone forJim.
We concluded that when Lynn died, Lucille wanted a dual stone for herself and Lynn but there was no room next to Jim's stone for two bodies. Therefore, she did the next best thing. She picked a new plot directly in front of Jim's stone for his memorial stone and had Lynn laid to rest next to it. This was a perfectly reasonable compromise, and one probably without any kind of involvement or interference by Hattie.
Notes:
The marriage of Lynn and Hattie is thought to have ended in divorce about 1942.
Notes:
Marjorie (Bymers) Wright has it from the Archives in Washington, DC that Hessel [and Klaaske?] immigrated into America at the age of 17 on 1 April 1884. He arrived on the S.S. Scheidam, 2085 tons, out of Rotterdam, Capt. Hamecourt the Master, with 279 passengers aboard. Marjorie recalls that Hessel always said he was 16 when he arrived but he might have given his next birthday for the ship's record. She believes he was travelling as the member of a group, some of whom he knew. Family lore has it that Hessel remembered his birth date based on a particular day of celebration in Holland, but it was one of those dates, like Easter, which changes. When he was required to give his birthdate for the official record in this country, the celebration was two days later. Thus his actual date of birth was probably July 31, 1867.
Notes:
Klaske, being born in Holland, was named in Dutch as Klaasje.
Note:
A "Jun 1922" birthdate for Bud has also been found.