I feel like I'm just spinning around in circles. I find a new (to me) name to trace, map out the parents, siblings, spouses, children, grandchildren and down the rabbit hole I go.
I've pretty much figured out who are NOT my people, to a point, and that does save me some time. At least I can sometimes recognize that a path I'm following is leading in the wrong direction before I get too far along.
It's so completely baffling when I reach a point where, as it often goes, names are passed down for 3 or 4 generations, and within them they've married the siblings of another family that has done the exact same thing. We could have, for example, a William, William jr, William III, etc in one family and they and their siblings marry generations of a similar nature. Well, that's not confusing at all!
Last week I was busy with other commitments and didn't go digging at the library for at least 4 days -- in a row! I figured it was probably a good idea to let it lie for a bit, take a step back and get some perspective. Or not. Anyhow, once my time freed up somewhat and I got back to it I was no clearer than before.
I am, however, finding some patterns that are bringing up some new questions. Let's break down some of what we know.
Capt Jesse was born sometime between 1747 and 1760. There's some debate on that, but I lean towards 1760. He was supposedly born in Carolina, North or South we aren't sure of. I've also found indications that he may have been from Virginia. I know where he ended up, where he's buried, where some of his kids and their families are buried. I've been trying to get a list of occupants in various cemeteries in Nova Scotia but no such list exists in the ones I want, so I may have to spend a day making such a list the next time I'm out there.
Brother Samuel fought in the war with him, was a slaver like/with him. I've found hints that there was probably also a brother Isaac, James, and John.
In recent months I've been focusing on Samuel, hoping that maybe he'll lead me where Capt Jesse won't. So far no such luck.
What I have found is a lot of Boston. Some Maine and New Hampshire, but mostly Boston. Jesse jr, Samuel, James and a few of Capt Jesse's other offspring and grand-offsprings moved to Boston for no obvious reason. My own Aunt Carrie and Uncle Merrill lived in Boston for a time. So right now my main question is: Why Boston? If Jesse's family was in Carolina or Virginia it would make sense that his new family might return there. Surely he has cousins or other siblings left behind from when he moved out. So why are they so attracted to Boston?
If it was to make a new start, they already had that in Nova Scotia. But if their extended family - like Capt Jesse's siblings - lived there, it would make perfect sense.
So for now I'm looking at Boston. We'll see how that goes. One of these days I will have my aha! moment. Until that day, I keep on digging and reading and chasing down numerous rabbit holes over and over again.
