Another cousin for whom I did some free research back in the day, was my second cousin, twice removed, Nancy. Unlike Edna Mildred Smith, Nancy had already had much of her ancestry traced. We were all Smith descendants, Nancy, the granddaughter of John Wesley Smith. Nancy was in twenty or so heritage societies such as the DAR and the Daughters of Colonial Wars. Most people know only two big heritage societies: the DAR and the Mayflower Society. However, Nancy was a member of the Colonial Clergy, the Cask and Flagon (Descendants of Colonial Innkeepers), Old Plymouth Colony Descendants (those people not on the Mayflower, but in Plymouth before 1630), Founders of Newbury, Mass., Piscataqua Pioneers, and the list went on and on.
My job was to find her ancestors so that she could qualify for the two societies she wasn't in: The Mayflower Society and the Huguenot Society. Here we differed on what genealogy was about. I loved the research and loved finding wherever it would lead. She wanted a definitive ending. As I told her then, you are either a Mayflower descendant or not when you are born. The question is can you prove it or not.
Needless to say, we had a falling out since I couldn't accommodate her wishes. Her paternal ancestry had been partially traced and she was of solid Essex County, Mass. stock with lines to the Porters, Putnams, and Hathornes. She was a Salem Witch victim descendant (Martha Scott) and connected to all the major players of that historical drama. However, she wanted what she wanted and I couldn't find such ancestry due to two reasons (maybe three): I was in graduate school and working at the time and had little free time; I didn't care; and she was convinced of certain things that in retrospect weren't true.
So, now in the era of Internet genealogy, I decided to take another look at her ancestry and wouldn't you know that in a matter of an hour or so, I found her a Huguenot ancestor! Well, as the title of the post suggests, it is too little too late. She was always looking on her paternal side in her Marblehead ancestors such as Collier, Currier, and Grush. Collier and Currrier may sound French, but are English surnames based on occupations. However, Nancy's maternal grandmother was Mary Olivia Snyder, born in Nova Scotia. Her parents were Napthali Snyder and Sophia Elizabeth Thompson. It turns out Sophia's parents were Zenas Thompson and Eleanor Catherine Vienot. The Vienots were French and were being baptized at an Anglican church for 100 years, so I'm guessing they were Huguenots. So, Nancy's own umbilical line is Huguenot.
The Mayflower line is still not there. Some of her paternal lines are still problematic. She descends from Aaron Porter and Eunice Hathorne. This Eunice has been confused with another Eunice and not a descendant of the Judge John Hathorne as Nancy thought. More research is needed for her. Another Salem line is Job Trask of Marblehead who married Martha Gray. Job is from the William Trask family somehow. Lastly, there is an Anna Noyes of Newbury who married Thomas Boardman who cannot be placed in the Noyes family. Any of these deadends could lead to additional and new ancestry. If they hit the right combination in Salem you can find a Mayflower ancestor since Richard More and Winslow and Allerton descendants moved there.
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