Looking Back at 2020, Looking Forward to 2021

Posted on December 31, 2020 by SCblogger

2020 began at the Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center as many years have done in the past: with a successful program. Along with the Scott County Iowa Genealogical Society, we presented the “Jump into Genealogy” beginning genealogy education series. We also made plans to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, the 400th anniversary of the 1620 Mayflower voyage and subsequent founding of Plymouth Colony, and commemorations of other important historical events.

Over the following months the necessary closures challenged us to devise ways to offer safe remote access to our collections via online services, guides, and programs. Later, we adopted an appointment system in order to offer patrons safe access to our building and resources.

Despite these uncertainties, we were able to accomplish many goals and activities this year that we are proud to share with you all.

In July, the State Historical Society of Iowa awarded the FRIENDS of the Davenport Public Library with a $14,847 grant to digitize media from the Bix Beiderbecke Museum and World Archives Collection. The project involves digitizing media currently on inaccessible formats. The requested funds will be used to hire a professional digitization company to migrate 239 reel-to-reel tapes and other media formats to a more stable, accessible archival format. The media contains audio-visual content relating to Bix Beiderbecke and his jazz contemporaries. The project’s desired impact on the community will be to preserve and make accessible a piece of its musical history and influence. Once digitized and available for research, it will create educational opportunities for area primary, secondary, and post-secondary educational institutions. This collection will bolster understanding of the history of Jazz in Iowa. The grant is supported by the Historical Resource Development Program (HRDP) and funded through Resource Enhancement and Protection (REAP).

Currently, Media Transfer Services of Rochester, New York is migrating the data to a digital file format, giving future researchers the opportunity to study these reccordings. We are excited to continue this important project in 2021.

The Center also announced the launch of a new descriptive guide and search tool for its Archive and Manuscript Collections called ArchivesSpace. With this resource, the public can search hundreds of archival collection guides to learn about our holdings. It can be accessed at the following web address or by clicking on the image below: archives.davenportlibrary.com.

Over the course of the year, Special Collections staff offered a variety of virtual programs which are available on the Library’s Calendar of Events and the Library’s YouTube Channel: Special Collections Playlist. We continued to send out our eNewsletter, sharing information and updates from the Special Collections Center.

2021, we hope, is a year in which we can offer more educational programs, and more opportunities for our community and beyond to engage and interact with the collections held at the Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center. We appreciate your unwavering support and we look forward to sharing knowledge about our community’s wonderful history.

We’ve enjoyed seeing and chatting with those of you who have been in contact; we miss you all. If you wish to use Special Collections resources, please call or email us for assistance.

Happy Holidays and have a wonderful New Year! Start the year off with the fun of solving a jigsaw puzzle created from a photograph in our image collection. Click the image below to access it!

2003-09: Davenport Leisure Services & Facilities Parks Collection – Group of Silver Skaters winners holding trophies from [1950s]. Found in Box 75, Folder 771, Image 88.

(posted by Kathryn on behalf of the entire Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center Staff)

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In Memoriam: Loren “Ted” Sloane

Posted on December 26, 2020 by SCblogger

It is with great sadness we bid farewell to Loren “Ted” Sloane, our benefactor and one-half of the genealogical research power couple he and wife Alice Richardson made. Yet it is with great joy we remember his dedication to the local community and its history.

Loren “Ted” Sloane was born in Davenport, Iowa on August 28 1928 to Leland and Grace Sloane. He attended the city schools; in high school, he was a member of the Boys Quartet, (he “majored” in music) and the golf team.

Ted graduated from Davenport High School in 1946 and served in the army at the end of the Second World War.

He attended St. Ambrose University for a time, then studied law at Drake University. There he was a member of the choir and the Young Republicans.

While a student at Drake, he married Alice Richardson at her parents’ home in Davenport on December 20th, 1949.

Davenport Daily Times, December 21, 1949

After graduating from Drake in 1953, Ted and his family returned to the Davenport area and he worked with his father in the insurance business.

  • Democrat and Leader, February 20, 1959, page 2.
  • The Daily Times, January 7, 1961, page 7.

By the time he opened his own law practice in 1961 (also in the First National Bank building), Ted and Alice were living in Pleasant Valley with their two children, Suzanne and David.

Ted Sloane was featured in the local newspapers participating in some of his favorite life-long hobbies and activities. In the photo below, he is shown playing golf at Crow Valley Country Club during a tournament.

Quad-City Times, September 25, 1973

In addition to having fun, he made connections through playing golf. Bill Wundram wrote about the Sloanes numerous times over the years.

Quad-City Times, September 22, 1985, page 2.

Ted worked as an attorney and investor until he retired in the mid-1980s. He then began working as a professional genealogist alongside his wife Alice. They had an office in the Village of East Davenport. According to an article in the April 13th, 2010, Quad-City Times, Ted began his genealogical research on his own family and discovered that his ancestor John Sloane was the first treasurer of the United States. His “knowledge of court documents” complemented Alice’s long experience as a genealogical researcher. His expertise in genealogical research was frequently sought by the local press. He offered advice about the use of computers in genealogy in the February 28, 1997 issue of the Quad-City Times.

Alice and Ted Sloane were the recipients of the 1990 Quad-Cities Heritage League Pioneer Award. The Sloanes always supported the library:

Quad-City Times, February 28, 1987

In 1999, Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center at Main Street Library opened:

In 2005, they advocated for the Scott County library consortium:

Quad-City Times, October 11, 2005, page 3.

Ted Sloane’s impact on the Quad-Cities and the Davenport Public Library will be remembered for years to come. He and his wife, Alice, were active members of the community who wanted to make their communities better.

Bibliography

The Blackhawk Yearbook. Davenport High School: Davenport, Iowa. 1946.

Scott County Iowa Genealogical Society Scrapbooks

(posted by Katie and Kathryn)

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Mayflower Families: Edward & Samuel Fuller

Posted on December 18, 2020 by SCblogger

2020 marks the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower voyage and the founding of Plymouth Colony. Commemorative publications, programs, and tours are planned in the US, the UK, and the Netherlands by various organizations, including the General Society of Mayflower Descendants, the New England Historic Genealogical Society, and Plymouth 400, Inc.

In preparation for the festivities, we will be blogging about our resources for different Mayflower families throughout the year. This month we’ll explore the families of brothers Edward & Samuel Fuller! 

Edward Fuller was baptized in the Parish of Rodenhall, Co. Norfolk, England on September 4, 1575, to Robert and Sarah Dunthorne Fuller. He joined the Separatist Church in Leiden, Holland after his father’s death in 1614. He was married in England before 1605. His wife (name unknown) and son Samuel came with him on the Mayflower. Sadly, Edward and his wife died the first winter in Plymouth, ca. January 11, 1621.

The first generation of Edward Fuller descendants:

  1. Matthew, born ca. 1605, married Frances in England, died in Barnstable Co., MA in 1678.
  2. Samuel, born ca. 1608, married Jane Lothrop on April 8, 1635, died in Barnstable Co., MA ca. 1684. One of the last surviving Mayflower passengers.

Edward’s brother Samuel Fuller was born ca. 1580 in Redenhall, Co. Norfolk to Robert and Sarah Dunthorne Fuller. He was married three times; first to Alice Glascock ca. 1605, second to Agnes Carpenter in 1613 in Leiden, Holland; and third to Bridget Lee in 1617.

Samuel was a deacon of the Leiden Separatist church and studied medicine before his trip on the Mayflower. He became the colonists’ surgeon and physician, caring for the sick during the first winter and later epidemics. His wife arrived in 1623 aboard the Anne. Samuel went to Salem in 1629 to care for the sick and to help organize the local church. He was named an Assistant in the Governor’s Council in 1632. Unfortunately, Samuel Fuller died of smallpox in 1633.

The first generation of Samuel Fuller descendants:

  1. child, died in Leiden ca. 1624, died June 29, 1615.
  2. child, born in Leiden ca. 1618-1620.
  3. Mercy, born in Plymouth ca. 1627, died after 1650.
  4. Samuel, born in Plymouth ca. 1629, married between 1663-1667 to Elizabeth (Nichols) Bowen, died in Middleboro on August 24, 1695.

Want to learn more about Edward or Samuel’s descendants? Stop by the Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center and browse through volumes 4 and 10 of Mayflower Families through five generations (SC 929.2 May)

Weblinks:

(posted by Cristina)

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In Memoriam: Sgt. Frankie Wilson

Posted on December 10, 2020 by SCblogger

We are deeply saddened by the loss of our friend and volunteer Frankie Wilson, who passed away on November 25, 2020, at the University of Iowa Medical Center in Iowa City.

Frances Edna Wilson was born August 4, 1955, in Keokuk, Iowa. Her parents were David Eugene Wilson and Anna Bell Hootman. The family lived in Brighton, Washington Co. and Farmington, Van Buren Co., where Frankie graduated from Harmony High School in 1973.

Frankie had an impressive 30+ year career with the Davenport Police Department. She was one of 3 women sworn in on July 27, 1977, and was part of the last class to go through Davenport Police Department’s in-house cadet training school.

She worked all 3 shifts throughout her career, starting as an officer, promoted to corporal in 1984, and sergeant in 1994. She was assigned to the first bike path patrol in 1978, was a crime scene technician, and Records Bureau supervisor. She was also president of the Iowa Association of Women Police.

Sgt. Wilson received a B.A. from St. Ambrose University in 1981 and an M.A. from Western Illinois University. She was a nationally certified defense tactics instructor, a CPR instructor, and gave talks to the community on self-defense, street awareness, and simple survival skills. After retiring from the DPD she taught classes as an adjunct professor at Purdue University Global.

Frankie was one of our dedicated volunteers from the Scott County Iowa Genealogical Society. She used her incredible detective skills to help our patrons with their family history research questions. She was kind and generous, and a joy to be around. We will miss her terribly.

Courtesy of the Davenport Police Historic Association
  • Quad-City Times, Wednesday, August 10, 1987
  • Quad-City Times, Thursday, July 28, 1977
  • Quad-City Times, Thursday, September 22, 1977
  • Quad-City Times, Sunday, June 4, 1978
  • Quad-City Times, Monday, April 13, 1987
  • Quad-City Times, Saturday, October 27, 1990
  • Quad-City Times, Thursday, October 31, 1991
  • Courtesy of the Davenport Police Historic Association

(posted by Cristina)

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Black Hawk in the Artist’s Eye

Posted on December 4, 2020 by SCblogger

The sheer number of sources on the Sauk leader Makataimeshekiakiah we’ve assembled for researchers and the library’s upcoming program on the contested whereabouts of his mortal remains testify to an enduring fascination with the man known as “Black Hawk.” This figure has not only piqued the curiosity of historians and biographers, but inspired these visual and literary artists as well.

These portraits are likely familiar; they have been reproduced often to accompany texts on  Makataimeshekiakiah, the Black Hawk War, Native Americans, and Quad-Cities-area history.

Charles Bird King, “Black Hawk (Sauk),” Thomas Loraine McKenney and James Hall. History of the Indian tribes of North America. Philadelphia: E. C. Biddle, 1836-1844.

James Otto Lewis, “MAC-CUT-I-MISH-E-CA-CU-CAC or Black Hawk; A Celebrated Sac Chief.” The Aboriginal Portfolio, 1835, hand-colored lithograph on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum.

From Benjamin Drake’s The Life and Adventures of Black Hawk, Cincinnati, 1838.

George Catlin, Múk-a-tah-mish-o-káh-kaik, Black Hawk, Prominent Sac Chief, 1832, Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Robert M. Sully, Black Hawk, May 1833, Wisconsin Historical Society.

James Weshall Ford, Black Hawk, 1833, Special Collections, Library of Virginia.

John Jarvis, Black Hawk and His Son Whirling Thunder, 1833, Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa.

The four others below appeared in this special issue of the Palimpsest:

The image on the lower left (the other three are unknown to this writer) appeared in Elbert Herring Smith’s Ma-ka-tai-me-she-kia-kiak, Or, Black Hawk, and Scenes in the West, New York, 1849.

The 1848 edition featured a rather grumpier Black Hawk:

Smith’s work is, as the subtitle reads, a “national poem in six cantos.” The artist’s image of Black Hawk is here evoked in epic verse.

Two other examples of long-form poetry detailing the exploits and character of Black Hawk may be found here at the Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center. James Craighead’s Black Hawk: A Romance of the Black Hawk War (Creston, Iowa, 1930) is also inspired by Italian epic poetry by way of English poet Edmund Spenser. These pages from our copy show the use of the Spenserian nine-line stanza in a work heavier on the romance between an American officer and a Sauk maiden than a portrait of Black Hawk:

In contrast, Amer Mills Stocking’s 1926 poem employs a mishmash of styles and is meant as an accurate historical account. Note the use of footnotes!

(posted by Katie)

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Mayflower 400: The Wampanoag and the Myth of the First Thanksgiving

Posted on November 26, 2020 by SCblogger

The story of the first successful harvest and the celebratory feast that followed is told by Edward Winslow in a letter he wrote to a friend in 1621. This letter is part of a pamphlet that was published in London in 1622 that is often called Mourt’s Relation or A Relation or Journal of the Beginning and Proceedings of the English Plantation Settled at Plimoth in New England.

“our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling, that so we might after a more special manner rejoice together, after we had gathered the fruit of our labors; they four in one day killed as much fowl, as with a little help beside, served the company almost a week, at which time amongst other recreations, we exercised our arms, many of the Indians coming amongst us, and among the rest their greatest King Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed five deer, which they brought to the plantation and bestowed on our governor, and upon the captain, and others.  And although it be not always so plentiful, as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodness of God, we are so far from want, that we often wish you partakers of our plenty.”

Edward Winslow’s letter to a friend in England, December 11, 1621

This story was republished in the book Chronicles of the Pilgrim Fathers by Alexander Young in 1841. In the annotations, he refers to this event as “the first Thanksgiving.”

The Wampanoag: People of the First Light

The Wampanoag people have lived in North America for 12,000 years. They believe it is an island on the back of a turtle shell. They are a matriarchal society, each community having a clan mother. The word for “mother” translates to “she who has the final say.” The women would grow and gather corn, beans, squashes, nuts, roots, shoots, berries, and eggs, which made up most of their diet.

In Wampanoag culture, the town archives are kept by families of storytellers. This includes oral records, pictures, belts, and weavings that are passed down through the family for generations.

The Great Dying

When the Pilgrims arrived in Patuxet in 1620, they found the remains of a Wampanoag community which had been decimated by disease. There was no one to care for the sick and no one to bury the dead. An estimated 90% of Wampanoag people died of a mysterious plague known as “The Great Dying” between 1614-1619. It was brought to the new world by European fishermen, traders, and explorers who frequented the area.

In 1614 Captain Thomas Hunt took 20 Wampanoag people to sell as slaves in Spain and England. One of these men was Tisquantum, who was given his freedom in 1619 and returned to Patuxent by Captain Thomas Dermer. Because of Tisquantum’s experience as Dermer’s interpreter, he was able to communicate with the Pilgrims.

Who was Massasoit?

Massasoit Ousamequin (Yellow Feather) was the sachem of the Wampanoag community at Pokanoket (now Bristol, RI), which was 2 days walk from Patuxet (Plymouth Colony). He was invited to the Plymouth Plantation by Tisquantum to establish a war alliance/peace treaty with the Pilgrims in March 1621. The terms of the treaty stated Massasoit’s men would not harm the Pilgrims or else they would be sent to the Pilgrims for punishment, and that the Pilgrims would aid Massasoit in the event of an unjust war against them. They also agreed that, when trading, the Wampanoag would not bring bows and arrows and the Pilgrims would not bring their guns.

National Day of Mourning

In 1970 Wamsutta, an Aquinnah Wampanoag was invited to speak at a Mayflower 350th anniversary dinner. When the organizers read a copy of his speech they rescinded the invitation. He instead gave his speech on Thanksgiving day at noon on Cole’s Hill and declared it as a National Day of Mourning. For the last 50 years, the United American Indians of New England have gathered at Plymouth on the 4th Thursday in November to demonstrate against the Pilgrim mythology.

Learn more about the Wampanoag then and now:

(posted by Cristina)

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Turkey Notes for 2020

Posted on November 20, 2020 by SCblogger

Large family gatherings for Thanksgiving may be canceled this year, but Turkey Notes will trot on forever! Here is our annual batch of poultry poems submitted by subscribers of our bi-monthly eNewsletter.

Turkey gobbler
Turkey stuffed
Turkey, I say
Gobble you up!

from Gretchen

Turkey Green
Turkey Grey
Have a Happy
Thanksgiving Day
 
Turkey red
Turkey blue
You are my grandma
And I love you
 
Turkey red
Turkey blue
Turkey says
Eat beef stew
 

Turkey green
Turkey pink
Life goes by
Just as you blink
 
Turkey green
Turkey pink
Your dirty dishes
Go in the sink
 
Turkey blue
Turkey gold
In making you
They broke the mold

Turkey yellow
Turkey black
Hawkeye colors
 Are what you lack
 
Turkey orange
Turkey pink
Clean those dishes
In the sink
 
Turkey orange
Turkey yellow
Eat your yams
With marshmallows

Turkey orange
Turkey white
Turkey says
“Have a good night”
 
Turkey red
Turkey navy
Keep your sleeves
Out of the gravy
   
Turkey red
Turkey green
Don’t forget to 
Floss between

Turkey blue
Turkey green
Lick your plate 
And wash it clean
 
Turkey red
Turkey gold
Cover your mouth
Don’t share a cold
 
Turkey green
Turkey red
Let’s eat turkey
And go to bed

Turkey blue
Turkey green
Lick your plate 
And wash it clean
 
Turkey red
Turkey gold
Cover your mouth
Don’t share a cold
 
Turkey green
Turkey red
Let’s eat turkey
And go to bed

Turkey red
Turkey white
Save on energy
Turn out the light
 
Turkey green
Turkey white
Life goes fast
So hold on tight
 
Turkey red
Turkey yellow
Mind your manners
And eat your jello

Turkey yellow
Turkey teal
Let’s give thanks
For our meal
 
Turkey blue
Turkey red
Turkey says
Use your head.
 
Turkey blue
Turkey gold
You are my grandpa
On you I’m sold

from Susan

(posted by Cristina)

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In Memoriam: Dr. Roald D. Tweet

Posted on November 6, 2020 by SCblogger

If you were to ask a local Quad Cities resident what Roald Tweet did for a living, you would probably get several answers. A college professor. An author. A radio personality. Each of those answers would be correct, but he was so much more to many of us.

Dr. Roald Dahl Tweet passed away on Wednesday, November 4, 2020 leaving behind an amazing legacy and impressive body of work that will educate and entertain us for years to come.

Born September 1, 1933 in Fountain City, Wisconsin to Reuben and Dorothy (Dahl) Tweet. The family moved to Jackson, Minnesota when he was very young. A younger brother, David, was born in Minnesota in 1938. By junior high, the family had moved to nearby Mountain Lake, Minnesota where Roald graduated from Mountain Lake High School in 1951.

Mountain Lake High School Yearbook, Mountain Lake, Minnesota, 1951. Ancestry.com

After high school, he attended St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. Upon graduation, he briefly taught English at St. Olaf. While teaching there, he married his college sweetheart, Margaret Knudson, in 1957.  By 1960, he moved his small family to Rock Island, Illinois and began teaching English at Augustana College.

Augustana College Yearbook, 1963. Ancestry.com

In 1967, Roald completed his doctorate in American Literature from the University of Chicago. He would teach at Augustana from 1960 through 1999. He was a celebrated teacher known for his humor and creativity. Many of his students remember his support and encouragement to be themselves and never stop writing.

Upon retirement, Dr. Tweet would receive the recognition of Professor Emeritus of English at Augustana College. Some highlights from his years at Augustana include:

  • English department chair from 1967 – 1984.
  • In 1998, appointed to the Conrad Bergendoff Chair in the Humanities.
  • Served on the faculty for the graduate program in regional studies.
  • Faculty advisor for the Observer and the Writer’s Club.
  • 1990 recipient of the Sear-Roebuck Foundation Teaching Excellence and Campus Leadership Award.

Throughout his years in Minnesota and the Quad Cities, Roald was surrounded by water, specifically the Mississippi River and its tributaries. He embraced the river and its history in both his writing and later on his radio show, Rock Island Lines, which ran on WVIK, Augustana’s National Public Radio station.

In 1999, Dr. Tweet retired from Augustana but remained busy with speaking engagements, writing, and many other projects. He was a well-respected source of information on the Quad Cities and the Mississippi River.

Some of his works held in the Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center at the Davenport Public Library – Main Street branch include:

  • A History of the Rock Island District U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 1866 -1983. SC 977-3393 Twe
  • The Quad Cities: An American Mosaic. SC 977-7 Twe.
  • Colonial Davenport Historical Foundation Wildcats Wily inner: a Pourquoi story from the Shawnee Indians. SC Fic Col Dav.
  • A History of the Rock Island District Corps of Engineers. 186 – 1975. SC 977-3393 Twe.
  • Joined By a River: Quad Cities. SC 977.7 Qua.
  • Taming the Des Moines River. SC 627.1 Twe.
  • Rock Island Lines. SC CD NF 977.3393 Tweet ROA

In honor of all his work, in 2006, Dr. Tweet received the Studs Terkel Humanities Service Award from the Illinois Humanities Council. Recipients for this prestigious award are nominated by mayors across the state of Illinois.

We offer our condolences to his family on his passing. And we thank Dr. Roald Tweet for his amazing legacy. He taught his students well, those in the college classrooms, and those who learned through his many books, articles, radio show, and speeches.

He was a wonderful teacher and we are all his grateful students.

Resources:

  • Ancestry.com
  • Augustana College. www.augustana.edu
  • The Dispatch-Argus, November 5, 2020. qconline.com

(posted by Amy D.)

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Celebrating Family History & American Archives Months

Posted on October 31, 2020 by SCblogger

The month of October allows the Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center to celebrate its genealogical collections and its local history collections because it is both Family History Month and American Archives Month. Many archives, libraries, and museums celebrate these months to highlight their collections, their services, and more. The Special Collections staff would like to share a few resources that they have found useful for their work and research.

Cristina’s Picks


Schlueter, Beverly DHS, File Name: dpl7805

J. B. Hostetler Glass Negatives on Upper Mississippi Valley Digital Image Archive

One of the most visually appealing resource are our glass negatives. This collection was created in the Hostetler Studio in the early 20th century. It features portraiture of local residents, panoramic photographs of organizations, and more. We have digitized these negatives to make them accessible on the Upper Mississippi Valley Digital Image Archive (UMVDIA). On the site, one will find a digital scan, a description, and more information about the image for your perusing and research pleasure!

City Directories on HeritageQuest Online

City Directories are always one our go-to resources. When you unable to go to a library to use these materials, there are options to view them online. One way Davenport Public Library patrons can access city directories is through HeritageQuest Online.

Karen’s Picks

Archival Research Guide from the Mina Rees Library, City University of New York

This is a helpful website for someone not too familiar with archives: https://libguides.gc.cuny.edu/archivalresearch/archives. It has compiled many resources and guides for novices and experts.

Resources in the Family!

During the upcoming holidays, with COVID-19 still present, families could use Facetime or Zoom to talk to family members about old pictures of family members past and present. Also, it is a great time encourage grandparents to talk about past family traditions and memories. Sharing these stories and histories now is even more important to help us stay connected!

Katie’s Picks

The Ament, Inc. Early Scott County, Iowa surveys and plats, Accession#2010-01  

The block- and lot-level survey plats of Davenport in this collection visually represent city properties described only in words in the Scott County deed books. These are useful for understanding a family’s acquisition of “Town Lots” for residences and businesses over time in relation to the growth of the city as a whole!  An example is LeClaire’s 7th Addition Subdivision.

Amy’s Picks

Annual Reports of the City Officers of the City of Davenport, Iowa. SC 352.0777 Dav

A great way to quickly look into local government history. You will find the names of city officials and committee members along with changes to local government over the years.

Cross-checking Tip!

Always cross-check obituary burial information when possible. We have found several instances in older obituaries of burial information not matching where the actual burial took place. You can cross-check bound copies of cemetery listings created by headstone readings and burial logs. Also, death records sometimes contain the cemetery.

Kathryn’s Picks

Angeline Petskeyes Personal Items, Accession #2006-03

In this collection, there are several dairies created by Davenport resident Angeline Petskeyes. They span the years 1943-1972. They provide a unique glimpse into her life and what life was like in Davenport during that time. Dairies are great examples of manuscripts and primary sources!

New England Genealogical Resources

In Special Collections, we have genealogical resources broken into geographical regions by the Dewey Decimal Classification we use for our call numbers. I would like to feature one section SC 974 about the New England or Northeastern, United States region. These books are great resource for those of us with ancestors from this region or are interested in its history. In addition, this year we are celebrating the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower voyage and the founding of Plymouth Colony.

Next time you are online or visiting Special Collections by appointment, make a point to check out these great resource to help celebrate Family History and American Archives Months!

(posted by Kathryn)

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Mayflower Families: Myles Standish

Posted on October 23, 2020 by SCblogger

2020 marks the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower voyage and the founding of Plymouth Colony. Commemorative publications, programs, and tours are planned in the US, the UK, and the Netherlands by various organizations, including the General Society of Mayflower Descendants, the New England Historic Genealogical Society, and Plymouth 400, Inc.

In preparation for the festivities, we will be blogging about our resources for different Mayflower families throughout the year. This month we’ll explore the family of the Mayflower’s military captain, Myles Standish! 

Myles Standish was born ca. 1584 in Lancashire, UK. He was stationed in Holland as part of Queen Elizabeth’s army and was hired by the pilgrims to be their military captain.

Myles and his wife Rose were passengers of the Mayflower. The couple did not have any children and sadly, Rose did not survive the first winter at Plymouth colony. Myles then married Barbara (last name unknown) who arrived on the Anne in 1623.

Standish helped care for the sick and dying during that first winter in the colony. He organized the deployment of cannons and construction of the first fort in Plymouth colony. He led trading and military expeditions with the Native-American tribes.

Standish was one of the founders of the town of Duxbury. He was deputy governor from 1624-1633 and was colony treasurer from 1644-1656.

Myles Standish died on October 3, 1656, in Duxbury.

The first generation of Myles Standish descendants:

  1. Charles, born in Plymouth ca. 1624, died ca. 1634.
  2. Alexander, born in Plymouth ca. 1626, married Sarah Alden ca. 1660, then married Desire Doty Sherman Holmes ca. 1688, died July 6, 1702, in Duxbury.
  3. John, born in Plymouth ca. 1627, died ca. 1650, unmarried.
  4. Myles, born in Plymouth ca. 1629, married Sarah Winslow on July 19, 1660, in Boston, died at sea after 1661.
  5. Lora, born in Plymouth ca. 1631, died ca. 1655, unmarried. 
  6. Josiah, born in Plymouth ca. 1633, married Mary Dingley on December 19, 1654, in Mansfield, then married Sarah Allen after 1655, died in Connecticut on March 19, 1690. 
  7. Charles, born in Plymouth ca. 1635, died ca. 1655, unmarried.

Want to learn more about Myles Standish’s descendants? Stop by the Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center and browse through volume 14 of Mayflower Families through five generations (SC 929.2 May)

Weblinks:

(posted by Cristina)

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