Read to the bottom for How to Use this Blog . I have been exploring genealogy since I was little, listening to all the stories told by Aunts Connie and Helena, Cousins Ann and Howie and Maurietta, Uncles Leonard and Arthur. There were m ore dead people in the stories than live ones, and they were lots more fun. This was way before it was anyone's hobby, when I was the only one who was interested. Sneaking into the Archives underage and running around graveyards. I was lost to the present, either reading books about Pilgrims or building stories in my head. Always asking, asking, asking. "How is he related to us? Who is their mother? What was her name, and her name, and her name? " While Aunt Anna said, "I don't want to find out anyone was arrested for stealing sheep." Now I find I know more stories about more people than anyone else. And I have more photos of other people's grandparents than anyone else, thanks to a mother who started taking pictures wh...
When a war starts in a divided town, which neighbors do you trust? Good day to you! My name is Mary Coon Rushton, (see Rushton Pedigree Chart, see Rushton Family - Mary Coon and John Rushton Descendant Chart) and here I am, an old widow more than 90 years on this earth. 1 I tell my story humbly, as best I recollect, if any care to hear what went on last century, when one country turned itself into another. I was born in 1727, 2 probably in Rye, New York Province, and brought up with my brothers Jeremiah and Jacob, and some sisters too. 3 Rye 'twas a small but up-and-coming town back then, 2400 people just before the War, on the Boston Post Road, real close to New York City. Any hard-working person could make a good living. 'Twas a good place for tradespeople to make money, with so many travellers going back and forth to the city from Boston. If the travelling slowed down, a body could always go into the city to buy and sell. 4 My father, Hanness Coon, oft said he c...