Clashing Swords of Both the Cavalier and the Roundhead—Enemies

 

Tracing our family tree through the chaos of the English Civil War (1642–1651) reveals a fascinating, split-screen reality. Our family didn’t just experience this massive historical shift from one perspective—they were active players on both sides of the bloody conflict between King and Parliament.

While some of our ancestors were staunch Royalists ("Cavaliers") who fled England after the King’s defeat, others were ardent Puritans ("Roundheads") who actually traveled back to England from the colonies specifically to take up arms against the Crown.

Let's look at the incredible dual roles our 9th and 10th great-grandfathers played during this turbulent era.

1. The Cavalier Side: Colonel George Mason I (1629–1686)

Our 9th great-grandfather, Colonel George Mason I, was the absolute quintessential Virginia "Cavalier."

• The Clash at Worcester: George Mason was a staunch Royalist and a loyal officer in the army of King Charles I (and later Charles II). When the royal forces made their final, desperate stand against Oliver Cromwell’s Parliamentarian army at the Battle of Worcester in 1651, Mason was right there in the fray. The Royalists were utterly crushed, and Charles II famously had to hide in an oak tree to escape.
• The Flight to Virginia: Knowing that captured Royalist officers faced execution or forced indentured servitude in the colonies, George Mason fled the country. He boarded a ship bound for Virginia, a colony that remained deeply loyal to the Crown (earning it the nickname "The Old Dominion").
• The Frontier Legacy: Mason arrived in Virginia, used his resources to claim land along the Potomac River, and founded a powerful political dynasty. His fierce belief in individual liberty and deep distrust of unchecked government power was passed directly down to his great-grandson, George Mason IV, who penned the Virginia Declaration of Rights—the blueprint for our Bill of Rights.

2. The Roundhead Side: Captain George Denison (1618–1694)

While George Mason was fleeing Cromwell's army, our 10th great-grandfather, Captain George Denison, was doing the exact opposite—he was fighting for Cromwell.

• Returning to the Fight: George Denison had actually immigrated to Massachusetts as a boy in 1631. But when the English Civil War broke out in 1642, his deep Puritan convictions (and the heartbreaking death of his first wife, Bridget) prompted him to sail back across the Atlantic to join the parliamentary forces.
• The Battle of Marston Moor: Denison became a legendary cavalry officer under Oliver Cromwell. He was severely wounded at the pivotal Battle of Marston Moor in 1644, where the Roundheads decisively smashed the King's northern army. While recovering from his wounds at the home of a wealthy gentleman in Cork, Ireland, he fell in love with the daughter of the house, Ann Borodell.
• The New England Commander: They married in 1645 and sailed back to New England, where George used his elite military training to become the premier defender of the Connecticut frontier, leading troops in King Philip's War and building the historic Denison Homestead in Mystic, Connecticut, which still stands today.

📜 A House Divided: How the English Civil War Forged Our American Roots

Celebrating America 250

To understand the character of early America, you have to understand the fire in which it was forged. Long before our ancestors picked up muskets against King George III in 1775, their grandfathers were fighting a brutal, bloody civil war back in England—a war that split our own family tree right down the middle.

On one side of the campfire stands my 9th great-grandfather, Colonel George Mason I. He was a proud Cavalier—a loyal defender of the King. When Oliver Cromwell’s Puritan army crushed the Royalists at the Battle of Worcester in 1651, Mason found himself a wanted man. He fled across the Atlantic to the safe haven of Virginia, carrying with him a aristocratic pride, a love for the land, and a deep-seated fury against government tyranny that he would pass down to his great-grandson, Founding Father George Mason IV.

But on the other side of the fire stands my 10th great-grandfather, Captain George Denison. He was the ultimate Roundhead. Though he had already settled safely in Massachusetts, when the war broke out, his fierce Puritan faith called him back to England to fight against the King. He rode with Cromwell’s cavalry, bled on the battlefield of Marston Moor, and won the heart of his Irish bride, Ann Borodell, while recovering from his wounds.

When Denison returned to New England, he brought Cromwell’s strict iron discipline with him, using it to defend and map out the rugged wilderness of early Connecticut.

Think about the incredible irony of that. In the 1640s and 50s, George Mason and George Denison were mortal enemies. If they had crossed paths on an English battlefield, they would have drawn swords to cut each other down. One fought for the Crown; the other fought to overthrow it.

Yet, generations later, their independent, battle-tested bloodlines traveled down the long wagon trails of history, surviving the wilderness, crossing the prairies, and eventually blending together in the heartland of America to produce my grandparents.

As we look at America’s 250th birthday, I realize that our nation's unique spirit didn't come from just one way of thinking. It was hammered out by the clashing swords of both the Cavalier and the Roundhead—enemies in the Old World, but bound together as ancestors in the New World.

Thank you Gemini AI for your wisdom and research assistance. -- Drifting Cowboy

Voices from Hartford's Gallows Hill: Justice for Mary Barnes

 

It is wonderful to circle back to this poignant chapter of our family history. When I first wrote about your 10th great-grandmother, Mary Barnes, back in 2012, her story was a tragic, shadowy footnote in early New England history.

But a lot has changed in the historical record since then! Today, we know far more about her life, her final days, and a massive legal resolution that finally brought her justice.

⚖️ The Big Update: Official Absolution (May 2023)

For 360 years, Mary Barnes stood convicted in the eyes of the law as a condemned witch. However, in May 2023, following a passionate push by historians and descendants, the Connecticut State Senate officially passed a resolution absolving and clearing the names of Mary Barnes and the 33 other victims of the colonial Connecticut witch trials. Her name is formally cleared.

📜 New Insights Into Her Story

Recent deep dives into colonial archives—including the medical journals of Governor John Winthrop Jr.—have added incredible, humanizing details to Mary's tragic final year:

• The Governor’s Patient: Before she was an accused witch, Mary Barnes was simply a sick woman. Governor John Winthrop Jr., who was also a practicing physician, recorded treating Mary in his medical notebooks between 1657 and 1660. He tracked her physical symptoms and prescribed medicines. Sadly, when the community fractured into a religious panic in 1662, her physical vulnerabilities may have made her an easy target for scapegoating. 
• The Ultimate Irony: Mary was indicted on January 6, 1663, and hanged on January 25, 1663, on Gallows Hill in Hartford. Her husband, Thomas Barnes, was forced by the colony to pay the jail keeper, Daniel Garrett, a fee of 21 shillings for her room and board during her three weeks in prison. Just two months later, a grieving Thomas married his second wife—a woman named Mary Andrews. In an unbelievable twist of fate, this second Mary was the daughter of John Andrews, the town constable who had likely arrested the first Mary! 

📜 Out of the Shadows: The Vindication of Great-Grandma Mary Barnes

Celebrating America 250

A dozen years ago, I sat at my keyboard and shared a dark, heartbreaking secret hidden deep within our family tree: our 10th great-grandmother, Mary Barnes of Farmington, Connecticut, had been executed as a witch in the freezing winter of 1663. For centuries, her story was whispered in shame, a shadow cast across the grand frontier trail of our ancestors.

But as the campfire burns bright this July, I am proud to report that history has finally righted a 360-year-old wrong.

Thanks to the tireless work of modern historians who refused to let these pioneer women be forgotten, we now know so much more about Mary. She wasn't some mysterious figure casting spells in the woods; she was a mother of four young children, a neighbor, and a woman who suffered from real, physical illnesses. We found records showing that Connecticut’s Governor, acting as a doctor, treated her with medicine just a few years before the town turned on her.

In January 1663, caught up in a wave of religious hysteria that predated the famous Salem trials by nearly thirty years, Mary was led to the gallows at Hartford's Gallows Hill. Her husband, Thomas Barnes, was even forced to pay the jailer for the price of the shackles and bread she used while awaiting her fate.

For generations, Mary’s body lay in an unmarked grave, cast out by her community, intended to be erased from time. Her daughter Sarah—our 9th great-grandmother—had to grow up carrying the heavy burden of her mother’s execution, passing that resilient spirit down through the Scoville and Bailey lines all the way to my granddad, Franklin Jackson Bailey.

But history has a long memory. In May of 2023, the state of Connecticut officially stepped forward, signed a declaration of absolution, and completely cleared Mary’s name.

As we look toward America’s 250th birthday, we don't just celebrate the triumphs; we honor the survival of our people through the darkest chapters of the early wilderness. Mary Barnes is a shadow no longer. She stands tall as a cleared, vindicated pioneer mother whose blood still flows proudly through our veins today.

Happy trails, Great-Grandma Mary. You are finally home.

Connecticut's Last Witchcraft Execution: Mary Barnes and the Greensmiths provides an in-depth look into the historical and cultural factors that led to Mary's trial and the breakdown of the Farmington community.

Thank you Gemini AI for your wisdom and research assistance. -- Drifting Cowboy

The Firebrand and the Financier: How Our Family Bound the Revolution

 

Discovering that our family tree bridges both sides of the most dynamic, mismatched, and crucial partnership of the American Revolution—Samuel Adams and John Hancock—is almost unbelievable.

What makes this genuinely magical is that our lineage doesn't just connect to them from a single common ancestor. Instead, Samuel Adams connects to our grandmother's side, and John Hancock connects to our grandfather's side. Our grandparents' marriage literally united the two family lines of the duo that ignited the revolutionary war in Massachusetts.

Breaking Down the Dual Lineages

Look at how these two very different family branches wind their way down to our grandparents:

1. Grandmother’s Side (The Adams Connection): Our 3rd cousin 8x removed is Samuel Adams. We share the common ancestors Thomas John Thurston (1601–1685) and his wife. His daughter Mary Thurston married into the Fifield line, producing Samuel's mother. Meanwhile, his son Thomas (the immigrant) became the root of our Plympton and Brown lines, leading directly to our maternal grandmother, Lydia Corinna Brown.
2. Grandfather’s Side (The Hancock Connection): Our 7th cousin 6x removed is John Hancock. This line goes incredibly deep, back to the Tudor era through the Alleyne/Allyn family in England. While Hancock’s branch intermarried with the Bulkeleys and Clarks to produce the wealthy merchant-statesman, the immigrant Samuel Allen's branch stayed a rugged pioneering path, eventually hitting the Ellsworth, Rood, and Rogers lines to produce our grandfather, Franklin Jackson Bailey.

📜 The Firebrand and the Financier: How Our Family Bound the Revolution

Celebrating America 250

If you want to understand how a ragtag group of thirteen divided colonies managed to stand up and defy the greatest empire the world had ever seen, you have to look at two men from Boston: Samuel Adams and John Hancock. History paints them as icons, frozen in stone or oil paintings. But to look closer at their lives—and at our own family tree—is to realize they were real, flesh-and-blood men whose fiery partnership sparked a nation.

And as it turns out, their historic bond is written right into our own family history.

You see, Sam Adams and John Hancock were the ultimate political odd couple. Sam Adams—who connects to my grandmother, Lydia Corinna Brown’s line—was a man of pure, austere principle. He didn't care about money, wore frayed coats, and spent his nights in smoky taverns organizing the working-class Sons of Liberty. He was the master of grassroots rebellion, the man who dreamed of American freedom before almost anyone else.

John Hancock—who connects to my grandfather, Franklin Jackson Bailey’s line—was the exact opposite. He was the wealthiest merchant in New England, loved fine velvet coats, rode in a bright yellow carriage, and had a flair for the dramatic.

Sam Adams knew that if the Revolution was going to succeed, it couldn't just look like a mob of angry citizens; it needed legitimacy, and it needed funding. He took young Hancock under his wing, mentoring him in the politics of liberty. Hancock threw his immense fortune behind the patriot cause, smuggling goods past British customs and paying for the very printing presses and supplies that kept the rebellion alive. Together, the firebrand and the financier became the twin engines of the Massachusetts resistance.

Their partnership was so dangerous to the British Crown that on the night of April 18, 1775, King George’s redcoats marched out of Boston with a specific mission: find Adams and Hancock and hang them for treason.

The two cousins were hiding out at the Hancock-Clarke House in Lexington when a sweat-soaked Paul Revere burst through the door in the dead of night, warning them the regulars were out. As they escaped into the darkness, the very first shots of the Revolutionary War rang out on Lexington Green just a short distance away.

They were brothers-in-arms, but like any real family, they had their share of massive rows. Sam hated John’s flashy, opulent lifestyle, and they had a bitter falling out during the war. Yet, when the dust settled, their shared love for the country they built brought them back together. Hancock became the first Governor of Massachusetts, and when he died in office in 1793, it was none other than old Sam Adams who stepped up to finish his term.

For generations, the Thurston bloodline of Sam Adams and the Allyn bloodline of John Hancock traveled their own separate ways across the expanding American frontier. They crossed through Ohio, settled the farmlands of Iowa, and faced the trials of pioneers. But a century later, those two legendary colonial paths finally crossed again when my grandfather, Franklin Jackson Bailey, married my grandmother, Lydia Corinna Brown.

When they exchanged their vows, they didn't just start a new family—they reunited the two halves of the great Boston partnership that gave birth to the United States.

Thank you Gemini AI for your wisdom and research assistance. -- Drifting Cowboy

"Write something worth reading or do something worth writing"

What a spectacular July 4th gift from FamilySearch! Discovering a connection to Benjamin Franklin is the ultimate genealogical prize. Franklin is arguably the most versatile, brilliant, and iconic figure of the entire Revolutionary era—the scientist, diplomat, writer, and humorist who quite literally flew a kite in a thunderstorm to tame electricity and then went on to help tame an empire.

Let's look at the historical layout of this incredible 14-generation trail and see how the blood of an old English family binds our grandfather, Franklin Jackson Bailey, to America's favorite philosopher.

The Deep Lineage: Our 5th Cousin 9x Removed

Our connection to Benjamin Franklin goes back to the Tudor era in England through a common ancestor: John Lawrence (1500–1752), our 13th great-grandfather.

• The Franklin Branch (The Folger Line): John Lawrence’s daughter, Margaret, was the ancestor of Peter Folger, one of the earliest and most influential settlers of Nantucket, Massachusetts. Peter's daughter, Abiah Folger, married the Boston soap-and-candle maker Josiah Franklin, and together they gave the world Benjamin Franklin in 1706.
• The Bailey Branch (The Pioneer Trail): John Lawrence’s other daughter, Susan, stayed on a path that eventually crossed the Atlantic to the early colonies. Her descendants married into the Booth, Allen, Ellsworth, and Rood families. Eventually, Rosemanty Rogers (whom we just met as the wife of our War of 1812 veteran, Smith Bailey) brought this deep Puritan lineage right into the Bailey family line, passing it down to Orange, David Solomon, David Jackson, and ultimately our grandfather, Franklin Jackson Bailey.

The Spark of the Common Ancestor: The Shared Blood of Benjamin Franklin

Celebrating America 250

Every now and then, the old family trail takes a turn that leaves you absolutely breathless. As I’ve been sitting by the digital campfire this July, digging into our deep roots for the Celebrating America 250 series, FamilySearch dropped an absolute thunderbolt of a gift on my desk. It turns out that the blood flowing through our family veins doesn't just trace back to farmers and frontier militia captains—it connects us directly to the most famous lightning rod in human history: Benjamin Franklin.

To find the bridge between our family and Old Ben, we have to travel all the way back across the ocean to the early 1500s in England, to the home of our 13th great-grandfather, John Lawrence. John was a man of the old world, but the spirit of his descendants was destined to reshape the new one.

John Lawrence had two daughters, Susan and Margaret, whose lines split like two great rivers. Margaret’s branch produced the famous Folger family of Nantucket—hardy, independent thinkers who produced Ben Franklin's mother, Abiah. Susan’s branch produced a line of stubborn New Englanders who eventually packed their wagons and married into our Bailey line through Great-Grandmother Rosemanty Rogers.

When you look at Ben Franklin—the self-taught printer, the legendary inventor who mapped the Gulf Stream and invented bifocals, and the diplomat who charmed the King of France into saving the American Revolution—you are looking at a 5th cousin 9x removed.

But for me, the most beautiful part of this discovery is looking at how that name echoes down through the generations to my own granddad, Franklin Jackson Bailey (1886–1968).

Granddad was born in Nebraska, a son of the prairie who knew the value of hard, honest labor, good humor, and a deep devotion to family. I don't know if his parents, David Jackson Bailey and his wife, fully realized the deep colonial magic they were tapping into when they named him "Franklin" back in the late 19th century. Maybe it was just a popular American name at the time, or maybe, just maybe, an old family whisper had survived the long wagon trails from Connecticut and Pennsylvania, carrying a quiet memory of our connection to the great philosopher of Philadelphia.

Ben Franklin once famously said, "Write something worth reading or do something worth writing." As I look at our long family line—stretching from the Tudor halls of John Lawrence, through the ink-stained printing shops of Revolutionary Philadelphia, all the way to the honest, hardworking life of my granddad Franklin Jackson Bailey in the American heartland—I reckon our family managed to do both.

Thank you Gemini AI for your wisdom and research assistance. -- Drifting Cowboy

Happy 250th Birthday America

 

Happy 250th Birthday, America!

By: Drifting Cowboy aka Jerry England

Celebrating America 250

Welcome back to the campfire, friends.

Today is no ordinary Fourth of July. As the morning sun rises across the spectacular landscapes of this great nation, we are hitting a monumental milestone—the 250th birthday of the United States of America. For two and a half centuries, this grand experiment in liberty has weathered storms, crossed rugged mountains, and pushed the boundaries of human freedom.

If you’ve been following along with my Celebrating America 250 series, you know that history isn't just something trapped in dusty textbooks for me; it’s alive in our veins. Lately, I’ve been tracing our family trails back through the centuries on FamilySearch, and the deeper I dig, the more I realize that our ancestors were right there in the thick of it. From the old Dutch pioneers clearing the wilderness of early New Amsterdam, to the brave minutemen of the Albany and Pennsylvania militias standing watch on perilous frontiers, and even to a self-taught cousin named Samuel Huntington who boldly scratched his name onto the Declaration of Independence—our family blood helped clear the fields, fight the battles, and write the very words that built this country.

So today, let’s pull up a chair, tip our hats to the patriots, farmers, and pioneers who blazed the trail before us, and look ahead at the long, open road still before us.

Happy 250th, America. Let’s dive into today's post...

Happy trails!

The Barrel-Maker’s Quill: The Shared Blood of Samuel Huntington

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/07/the-barrel-makers-quill-shared-blood-of.html

• Jul 4

A Cycle of Bloody Retaliation: La Prairie vs Deerfield

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/07/a-cycle-of-bloody-retaliation-la.html

• Jul 3

The "ghost trial" of 1673

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/07/the-ghost-trial-of-1673.html

• Jul 3

Our Ancestors’ Contribution to The Bill of Rights

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/07/our-ancestors-contribution-to-bill-of.html

• Jul 2

They Came Seeking Spiritual Liberty, Peace, and Self-Determination

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/07/they-came-seeking-spiritual-liberty.html

• Jul 1

Moving To The Edge: Iowa Territory In 1845

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/07/moving-to-edge-iowa-territory-in-1845.html

• Jul 1

Patriot of the Upper Hudson: The Life and Legacy of Captain James Wilson

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/patriot-of-upper-hudson-life-and-legacy.html

• Jun 30

The Boylston Bloodline — From Colonial Surgeons to a Founding Father

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/the-boylston-bloodline-from-colonial.html

• Jun 30

Lt. William Smith: Climax at the Siege of Yorktown

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/lt-william-smith-climax-at-siege-of.html

• Jun 29

Celebrating America 250: Jackson Bailey, an American Farmer

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/celebrating-america-250-jackson-bailey.html

• Jun 29

The Skirmisher of the Delaware: The Story of Sergeant Joseph Hallowell

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/the-skirmisher-of-delaware-story-of.html

• Jun 28

The Coast Guard of Lake Erie: The Story of Smith Bailey

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/the-coast-guard-of-lake-erie-story-of.html

• Jun 28

Daniel II Denison: New London County Style Cabinetmaker

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/daniel-ii-denison-new-london-county.html

• Jun 27

From the Wallabout to the Jersey Hills: The Long Trail of Peter Monfoort

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/from-wallabout-to-jersey-hills-long.html

• Jun 27

🇺🇸 The Watchman of Rensselaerwyck: The Story of Peter Wyngaart

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/watchman-of-rensselaerwyck-story-of.html

• Jun 27

🇺🇸 Guardians of the Open Sky: The Flight of Fred and Helen Morgan

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/guardians-of-open-sky-flight-of-fred.html

• Jun 26

The Call of the High Country: Why the Bailey Brothers Crossed the Border

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/the-call-of-high-country-why-bailey.html

• Jun 26

The Last Pioneer: The Grace and Grit of Velma Veda Bailey

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/the-last-pioneer-grace-and-grit-of.html

• Jun 26

Out of the Monongahela Mist: The Legacy of Lydia Waggoner

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/out-of-monongahela-mist-legacy-of-lydia.html

• Jun 25

⚔️ The Crucible: Our Ancestors' Civil War Engagements 

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/crucible-our-ancestors-civil-war.html

• Jun 25

From Kennebec County to the Mud of the Argonne

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/from-kennebec-county-to-mud-of-argonne.html

• Jun 24

Colonel William McDonald: High Sheriff of Somerset County

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/colonel-william-mcdonald-high-sheriff.html

• Jun 24

Cockpit of the Revolution: Jersey Blues to the Ohio Frontier

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/cockpit-of-revolution-jersey-blues-to.html

• Jun 24

The Plymouth Colony Trial of Dinah Silvester (March 1661)

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/the-plymouth-colony-trial-of-dinah.html

• Jun 23

From the Governor's Staff to the Beat of a Patriot's Drum

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/from-governors-staff-to-beat-of.html

• Jun 23

The Fatal Cliffhanger: Matthew Beckwith & His Descendants

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/the-fatal-cliffhanger-matthew-beckwith.html

• Jun 23

Our Yankee Diaspora, “Go West, Young Man”

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/our-yankee-diaspora-go-west-young-man.html

• Jun 22

🏆 The 1930 World Cup & The American Pinnacle

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/1930-world-cup-american-pinnacle.html

• Jun 22

The Unyielding Pen: Our Kinship with Founding Father George Mason

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/the-unyielding-pen-our-kinship-with.html

• Jun 21

Our Dutch-French Descent & Historical Milestones

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/our-dutch-french-descent-historical.html

• Jun 21

Rev. Samuel Fuller: Genealogical Goldmine with a Major Plot Twist

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/rev-samuel-fuller-genealogical-goldmine.html

• Jun 21

When the Sparks of Liberty Ignited into Open Rebellion

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/when-sparks-of-liberty-ignited-into.html

• Jun 20

The Block Island & Onrust Connection

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/the-block-island-onrust-connection.html

• Jun 20

From Block Island to Narragansett Plantations & Maritime Elite

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/from-block-island-to-narragansett.html

• Jun 20

Ensign Gerard Spencer: The Military Anchor of Haddam (1614–1685)

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/ensign-gerard-spencer-military-anchor.html

• Jun 19

The Iron Ring of Saybrook: How Engineer Lion Gardiner and the Backus Line Secured Connecticut

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/the-iron-ring-of-saybrook-how-engineer.html

• Jun 18

From the Atlantic Surf of Gloucester to the Flathead Valley of Montana

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/from-atlantic-surf-of-gloucester-to.html

• Jun 18

American Patriots: From the Shores of Rhode Island to the Carolina Woods

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/a-few-more-of-moms-revolutionary-war.html

• Jun 18

Thomas Shailer: Lost at Sea in the West Indies (1706)

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/thomas-shailer-lost-at-sea-in-west.html

• Jun 17

The Timber Barons of Kittery: Nathan Lord I

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/the-timber-barons-of-kittery-nathan.html

• Jun 17

The Frontier Crucible: Our Littlefield-Stevens Family in Maine

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/the-frontier-crucible-our-littlefield.html

• Jun 17

The Tragedy at Old Providence (1641)

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/the-tragedy-at-old-providence-1641.html

• Jun 17

The Mythic Legacy: Isaac Potts and the Praying Washington

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/the-mythic-legacy-isaac-potts-and.html

• Jun 16

Burying the Guns: How Our Potts Cousins Saved Washington’s Artillery

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/burying-guns-how-our-potts-cousins.html

• Jun 16

🇺🇸 Plymouth Rock 1620 to "We the People" 1787 & Beyond: Our Family’s Footsteps Through the American Story

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/plymouth-rock-1620-to-we-people-1787.html

• Jun 15

Did you ever wonder what the differences were between Pilgrims and Puritans?

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/did-you-ever-wonder-what-differences.html

• Jun 15

The Sword and the Surveyor’s Chain

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/the-sword-and-surveyors-chain.html

• Jun 14

                  

Simon Weeks and Bellinger’s Regiment of New York Militia

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/simon-weeks-and-bellingers-regiment-of.html

• Jun 14

Samuel R. Brown and Ball's Squadron of Light Dragoons

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/samuel-r-brown-and-balls-squadron-of.html

• Jun 14

The Frontier Defender: Solomon Brown’s Revolutionary Service

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/the-frontier-defender-solomon-browns.html

• Jun 13

The Drummer and the Dragoon: A New York Frontier Legacy

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/the-drummer-and-dragoon-new-york.html

• Jun 13

America 250 Thematic Anthology

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/america-250-thematic-anthology.html

• Jun 12

Putnam Catlin: The Teenage Drummer of the Revolution

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/putnam-catlin-teenage-drummer-of.html

• Jun 12

Cousin George Catlin: American Artist 1796-1872

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/cousin-george-catlin-american-artist.html

• Jun 12

The Revolutionary Anvil: John Catland (Catlin) (1718–1808)

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/the-revolutionary-anvil-john-catland.html

• Jun 12

The Phantom of New Haven: The Tale of Captain George Lamberton

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/the-phantom-of-new-haven-tale-of.html

• Jun 11

The Lineage of the Compass and the Square: 1853 to 2013

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/the-lineage-of-compass-and-square-1853.html

• Jun 11

Jonathan Brewster, Master of the Coastal Frontier

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/jonathan-brewster-master-of-coastal.html

• Jun 11

John Gardner and the 1778 Battle of Rhode Island

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/john-gardner-and-1778-battle-of-rhode.html

• Jun 10

Rhode Island: The most rebellious colony in British America

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/rhode-island-most-rebellious-colony-in.html

• Jun 10

1710 Palatine Migration: Harrowing saga of early American history

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/1710-palatine-migration-harrowing-saga.html

• Jun 10

The New Netherland Ancestry of Charity Winegard (2026 update)

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/the-new-netherland-ancestry-of-charity.html

• Jun 9

Transactions Between Job Babcock And Ninigret II Sachem Dynasty

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/transactions-between-job-babcock-and.html

• Jun 8

The Voice on the Border: Job Babcock and the Language of Survival

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/the-voice-on-border-job-babcock-and.html

• Jun 8

The Forge and the Pulpit: The Armed Defiance of Westerly

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/the-forge-and-pulpit-armed-defiance-of.html

• Jun 8

The Loom of Aquidneck: The Shared Destiny of the Tylers and Havens

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/the-loom-of-aquidneck-shared-destiny-of.html

• Jun 8

The Convergence of Empires: From Manhattan Fortresses to Narragansett Fields

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/the-convergence-of-empires-from.html

• Jun 8

The Current of the Bay: The Maritime Tapestry of Portsmouth and Exeter

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/the-current-of-bay-maritime-tapestry-of.html

• Jun 7

The Engine of the State: The Uncompromising Hand of Timothy Pickering

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/the-engine-of-state-uncompromising-hand.html

• Jun 7

The Fortress and the State: The Structural Mastery of the Wingate Bloodline

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/the-fortress-and-state-structural.html

• Jun 7

The Coggeshall Dynasty: Pillars of the Patent

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/the-coggeshall-dynasty-pillars-of-patent.html

• Jun 6

The Unyielding Spirit of the Rhode Island Bull Family

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/the-unyielding-spirit-of-rhode-island.html

• Jun 6

From the Potomac to the Prairies: The Unstoppable Arc of the Mason-Boyd Line

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/from-potomac-to-prairies-unstoppable.html

• Jun 6

The Master of the Shifting Tides: Jan Cornelissen DeZeeuw

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/the-master-of-shifting-tides-jan.html

• Jun 5

Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/ethan-allen-and-green-mountain-boys.html

• Jun 5

Dr. Zabdiel Boylston and the 1721 Smallpox Crisis

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/dr-zabdiel-boylston-and-1721-smallpox.html

• Jun 5

The Weaver of Medfield: Mary Smith and the Blueprint for Survival

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/the-weaver-of-medfield-mary-smith-and.html

• Jun 4

The Seeds of the Boylston Line: From London Planter to Frontier Fortitude

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/the-seeds-of-boylston-line-from-london.html

• Jun 4

Susannah Eaton: The Collateral Cost of the War For Liberty

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/susannah-eaton-collateral-cost-of-war.html

• Jun 4

The Guardians of the Frontier: The Pierce Legacy

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/part-1-sorting-out-two-thomas-pierces.html

• Jun 3

The Fortress of Louisbourg: The "American Dunkirk"

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/the-fortress-of-louisbourg-american.html

• Jun 2

Captain Adriaen Crijnen Post and The Peach Tree War

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/captain-adriaen-crijnen-post-and-peach.html

• Jun 2

ADIOS OLD PAINT — AN OLD COWBOY'S LAMENT

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/a-cowboys-lament-thoughts-about-valley.html

• Jun 1

The Architects of the Republic: Cousin Roger Sherman and the Sherman Spirit

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/the-architects-of-republic-cousin-roger.html

• Jun 1

Our New Netherland Dutch & President Martin Van Buren

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/our-new-netherland-dutch-president.html

• Jun 1

Our high-stakes, blood-soaked world of Scottish Clan Royalty

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/our-high-stakes-blood-soaked-world-of.html

• Jun 1

The Year the Earth Stood Still

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/the-year-earth-stood-still.html

• Jun 1

The Winthrop Tapestry: Boston Iron to Long Island Peace

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/the-winthrop-tapestry-boston-iron-to.html

• Jun 1

The Sovereign Ground: How the Ellsworths Anchored the Connecticut Valley

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/05/the-sovereign-ground-how-ellsworths.html

May 31

Fort Stanwix, Zepheniah Rogers and the Road to Ohio

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/05/fort-stanwix-zepheniah-rogers-and-road.html

May 31

Our Plimpton family and the geographic expansion of early America

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/05/our-plimpton-family-and-geographic.html

May 31

Major General Nathanael Greene our 3rd cousin 7x removed

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/05/major-general-nathanael-greene-our-3rd.html

May 30

The Brown Family Great Migration Out of Massachusetts

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/05/the-brown-family-great-migration-out-of.html

May 30

The Patriotic Legacy of our Townsend Line

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/05/the-patriotic-legacy-of-our-townsend.html

May 30

Rebel Daughter of the Winthrop Dynasty

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/05/rebel-daughter-of-winthrop-dynasty.html

May 29

Early American Medical Folklore and Revolutionary Heroism

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/05/early-american-medical-folklore-and.html

May 29

The Great Swamp Fight plot thickens into an unbelievable, high-stakes drama for our Tefft family

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/05/the-great-swamp-fight-plot-thickens.html

May 28

The Disarming of Philip Sherman: How Colonial Tyranny Forged the Second Amendment

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/05/the-disarming-of-philip-sherman-how.html

May 28

The Great Swamp Fight, The First American Ranger, and the First Born Pilgrim Child

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/05/the-great-swamp-fight-first-american.html

May 27

The Blacksmith of Freedom: The Ordeal of Richard Maxson

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/05/the-blacksmith-of-freedom-ordeal-of.html

May 25

The Thirty Coats: The Forging of Haddam, Connecticut

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/05/the-thirty-coats-forging-of-haddam.html

May 24

The Keepers of the Castle: A 600-Year McNeill Odyssey

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/05/the-keepers-of-castle-600-year-mcneill.html

May 23

Great-Granddad Minted America's First Coins: The Remarkable Story of Joseph Jenks (Jenckes)

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/05/great-granddad-minted-americas-first.html

May 22

Prince Henry Sinclair and his Alleged Voyages

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/05/prince-henry-sinclair-and-his-alleged.html

May 16

Robert the Bruce and the Tale of the Brave Heart

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/05/robert-bruce-and-tale-of-brave-heart.html

May 15

Captain Donald MacDonald: from the Highlands to the Battlefields of Quebec

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/05/captain-donald-macdonald-from-highlands.html

May 14