A CT. Maritime Story from Geneology

     Digging through the reams of family tree material for a perfect story could be a needle in a haystack, but is more like a diamond in the rough.  From the start I had an idea that Uncle George would have a story to tell. He was eccentric - maybe, artistic - for certain, and lived over 100 years ago - perfect! Geneology can be a treasure to a storyteller!

     Now that I had a place to begin, the search narrowed to a singular branch in the family tree that was  vibrant in the times when our nation was struggling through the Civil War. It is part Connecticut history as well since Uncle George was born and raised in New Haven. The son of a sea Captain, George was raised on the docks of New Haven with the world at his front door. Early on he was allowed the benefit of the old sea salts stories as they gathered evenings  in the store near a crackling wood stove.  He had fishing pole, a small sailboat of his own, and free range of a world class harbor town. This boy, began his own life adventure when at 16 he set out to become his own man. Thrust from a carefree childhood into the need to make and pay his own way he began his story wandering the streets of New Haven in search of the inspiration that would seize his imagination and provide apprenticeship and keep.
 
     George lived a story that came down through time and left behind reminders of his talent and his determination. Like the lives of characters in books his father brought from ports all over the world he crafted a life worth remembering and sharing. I am working on several short pieces from his childhood right now. Preliminary tellings to try out a surprise entrance and a  twist at the end which I love to add to my storytelling have been done and the tweaking of George's story continues. Research continues of New Haven in his lifetime, and a comparative to today where Dunkin Donuts marks the corner of Church and Chapel street where his life was forever changed.

My stories have a goal performance, the first is the Mystic Seaport Sea Music Festival  with storytelling stage. I plan to share these Connecticut gems on that stage June 10 between 12 and 4. www.mysticseaport.org  Mystic Seaport in collaboration with the Connecticut Storytelling Center www.connstorycenter.org have come together to bring a number of tellers to a two day story stage at the annual event. I am excited to introduce these tales as part of the event when I share the stage with several storytellers all with sea story repertoires. I believe Uncle George would be delighted that his story is still being told and in a venue like Mystic Seaport that honors the heritage of Connecticut maritime history.

Parts of this performance will also be shared June 3 at Mansfield Historical Society opening day Rte 195 Storrs, CT. and at Scotland ( CT.) library July 12 at 6 p.m.Sea Stories and Sea Chanteys. I might even practice a piece at VoiceMail open mic storytelling on Tues ( special day) May 29,  at Mansfield General Store in Mansfield Center. https://www.facebook.com/update_security_info.php?wizard=1#!/pages/VoiceMail-Open-Mic-for-Storytelling-at-Mansfield-General-Store/197283876991691

Now I just have to tell you the final reason I was drawn to share a bit of Uncle George, and invite you to come hear the rest of the story. It is his name, George Story!

Civil War General Edward W. Whitaker CT. Hero

   Through storytelling, lecture, web promotion and sharing in conversation I am slowly spreading the word about the brave farm boy from Ashford and his heroic record in the Civil War.  His story like so many thousands of Civil War era stories is about a farm boy turned soldier, many of whom did not go home after the war. Edward Whitaker was indeed one of the lucky ones. His story is not his alone to share though. His is a family story, of how this family raised their children and the deep sense of duty and honor in them all.  Four Whitaker brothers enlisted  Edward and Daniel here in Hartford,Ct. for  three months as privates in the Infantry( Edward was 19 at the time). Older brother William was  in New Hampshire when President Lincoln's call for troops went out, he enlisted in the Infantry in New Hampshire. George, another brother was in California and served his time in the Civil War between California and New Mexico.

                                                                              
After the three month tour was over the Whitaker brothers knew the war was to last a very long time, they re-enlisted to see it through. Edward and Daniel decided they were not going to walk the rest of this war, they enlisted in the CT. Cavalry and their unit was attached to the Union, Harris Light Cavalry of New York.  The unit fought in most of the major conflicts all the way to  the end at Appomattox Court House. In telling the story of a hometown hero to school students and historical groups I paint a vivid picture of Edward riding  through the enemy lines with a small unit to capture the renowned Confederate spy Harry Gilmore. You would wince to hear the telling of his horse being shot out from under him as he charged and leaped over the Confederate lines at the battle of Five Forks.
    There is no way you can escape the pain of hearing how he escorted his brother Daniel's body home for burial after he was shot and died in the battle at Aldie, Virginia. How hard it must have been to return to battle without that brother at his side. How hard to be brave and know the toll it would take on his mother back in Ashford if he should lose his life in this seemingly eternal war.

                                                                                 
    Four sisters were as heroic as the men of the Whitaker family. Four sisters who packed bags right at the end of the war. Four sisters who went beyond what was so recently enemy lines to open schools for freed slaves. The Civil War is rich with the tales of heroism and sacrifice, courage and resolve.  Sharing a family story of all these noble traits is a not a gift, it is what we owe!
     150 years since the Civil War ripped this nation into bloodied halves and 150 years for healing the gaping wound. Sharing the stories is the best way to insure we never never take these advantages, passions, courage and freedom for granted. General Edward Whitaker rode out onto the field at Appomattox with allguns aimed, galloped across under the white flag of surrender carried by a single Confederate soldier. Edward, the once farm boy of Ashford CT., accepted the unconditional surrender of Lee's Army of Northern Virginia from General Longstreet and went  on to be forgotten by history.
    Please visit our page on FACEBOOK  "Family Tree of General Edward Whitaker". We will be adding more info and items and looking for descnedents of any of the Whitaker family lines. Edward was one of 16 children raised here in Ashford. Descended from the Whitakers of Rhode Island and his mother's family, the Colegrove's whose family line goes back to Roger Williams founder of Rhode Island. This is a family of Old New England as I researched the geneology I even found members of the Allen family which are also my ancestors. All the more reason to honor the memory of these family members thrust onto the field of battle from a humble begining along Horse Hill in Ashford, CT.

In The Vault We Found........

The phone call came a couple months ago from Wisconsin. The caller, Laura found my name on the town website listed as the Cemetery Sexton and she was searching for records. On a long quest to follow her family genealogy she soon discovered the Mayflower Society and how to trace back and show your roots as founders of the Nation. Their acceptance is pending and the strength of the tie dependant on finding some pertinent dates for a few members of the family tree, and the missing link is in my jurisdiction.

So I get a few of these a year and know the town family names well so I ask , "which family are you trying to follow?" Her reply Crane, makes me laugh. "well hello cousin!" We discuss the lineage and sure enough the town isn't and never has been that big, it just has to be, and we find the common ancestor for indeed some sort of cousin we are.( actually my husband's side) She asks what I know of the Crane family, my husbands grandmother was a Crane, and we lived in the big farm house with them for 10 years. She was born on her parents farm and it is still there. Laura is looking for particular people and headstones, info and any dates that might help n the quest to put her missing Daniel here in Mansfield at about 1820. She thinks it should be at a cemetery called Attwoodville. Well that one is closed and I don't have the records but assure her it's not that big, I will go look.

I send photographs of a variety of family stones and what info I can. Finding John and Abigail's stones at Pink Cemetery dating 1765 and sending that along the grim angels from many stones staring out through time in the photos. To support her quest which is so close to completion they planned the family vacation in the east.

Yesterday towing the pop up camper and with three travel weary kids in the van they arrived in town. Laura and I headed to the vault of town hall and the incredible record of our town and its people. Dad and the kids went off in search of a hotel and swimming pool. We emerged from the vault a couple hours later when their closing sent us on our way. We found land and deed transfers, we found births, deaths and marriages. We found many references to Daniel and Ebenezer but no actual proof it is the one and only we are looking for and no record of dates of birth death or marriage surfaced yet.

I was paging through the yellowed text with the fancy script writing and the name Baldwin popped up, here is a tie we are looking for could we find him in the group? We have several sir names to follow depending on which generation and the women's maiden names so I am scanning lists looking for Baldwin's Crane's, Eldredge, Hall, Swift, there are a lot of all of them from 1690 on into the present. Here is a Daniel Baldwin and what is this roll of names for, why does he have a Beaver?!!!! I begin to really read the page and laugh right out loud. "your kids are going to love this....the family dog was named Beaver! Sure enough I stumbled on the record of dogs kept by the ancestors of 1860 and there was the Baldwin family owning a mid size black and white spotted dog named Beaver! How funny and they had to pay a $2.00 tax on that dog! Just for fun I read a bunch of the descriptions and bounding off the pages come long lost hounds, best buddies and herd dogs. So long forgotten and joyfully frisking in heaven but recorded and preserved forever in the town vault a testimony to man's best friend.

Today we will return to the vault seeking that lost link to the family tree, just a date or absolute record of our Daniel, where he was and where he went that somehow led that branch of the family out of town and into the nations heart. They didn't go so far that we can't find pieces of their lives and know that trotting along side the family was a faithful dog named Beaver!

After the vault today an auto tour with stops to see the Crane farm, the family swimming hole the old cemeteries, the general store, the church our farm where the family name continues in a sign over the barn door - CRANE BARN. Beaver is coming with me,there is a story there and I think I will work on that after the pop up camper heads west to Wisconsin and the road dust settles.