Musings of a Genealogy-Nut

Family History Month is OFFICIALLY over at The Digital Scrapbook Place, but the interest was so high that the forums, a chat or two, and challenges will continue.  YAY!

The forum for those involved in the planning has evolved into a sharing gen-adventures email list.  There are some professionals sharing searching techniques with some who are just starting their own searches.  "Start with what you know." has been the advice passed on again and again in forums and chats.

I finally pulled out a "book" written in the 1960s by my mother's first cousin on their Hodges line.  I glanced through it before and grabbed a few dates and names but I have come so much farther since then.  The cousin was a professional history textbook writer for the state of Michigan so he was meticulous in his research and footnotes.  That made it easy on me.  The last half of the folder of papers was pertinent pages from another book written by a different ancestor, "The Benjamin Family in America" .  When the cousin xeroxed his manuscript for my mother, the title page and cover page were not included so I don't really know the name of his book OR the publication date.  I am guessing it is "For the Descendants of Alice Benjamin and Abraham Hodges" or something like that.  I also do not know if copies were submitted to any libraries or to the Gen Center in Salt Lake City.  Their similar books are indexed according to the last name anyway, so I know where and how to search for it.  Now if I could just see my way clear to return to that library some day.

St. Dunstan Church in Canterbury, England

I became fascinated with the reference to the Reverend William Eddye who was the Vicar of St. Dunstan Church in Canterbury, England in the late 1500s.  His daughter, Abagail, and some of her siblings made the voyage to America within a few years of his death.  The Vicar is my 7th great-grandfather.

When I searched for his name on the Internet, there were a lot of writings by others descended from his line.  Some great research has been done and wonderful tidbits are out there, like his last will and testament.  One excellent writing is here.    He lived in Elizabethan time, the time of Shakespeare so wording of the will is exotic to us today.  I assume that his daughter, Abagail Eddye, my 6th great-grandmother, and her siblings took their inheritance and bought land in "The New World" for whatever reason.  I am now searching for more information on the children of The Rev. Eddye and, hopefully, a description of their voyage to America.  They are described as among American's first Puritan stock.

Parsonage of St. Dunstan Church in Canterbury, England

There is also an inventory of the Reverend's estate which describes the inside of his house in detail.  Now I have a great desire to travel to Canterbury to see, not only the church, but see if I can find the Parsonage, if it is still standing.

I also wonder if there is a sketch or painting of the Reverend tucked away somewhere in the church store rooms.  So far nothing has surfaced on the Internet, but I am still looking.


My own descent from The Reverand William Eddye is:
 1. William Eddye (1568-1616) married Mary Munn Fosten (1568-1611)
 2. (daughter) Abigail Eddye (1601-1687) married John Benjamin (1598-1645) Immigrated to America aboard the ship Lyon in 1632. Settled in Mass...Puritans, Patriots 
 3. (son) Joseph Benjamin (1633-1699) married Sarah Clarke (1639-17??)
 4. (son) Joseph Benjamin (1673-1738) married Elizabeth Cooke (?-?
 5. (son) Joseph Benjamin (1699-1803) married Deborah Clark (1710-?)
 6. (son) Elija Benjamin (1725-1752) married Hannah Taft (1747-1802
 7. (son) Elias Benjamin (1750-1863) married Rhoda Paddock (1785-1858)
 8. (son)Edmund Benjamin (1806-1887) married Dyantha Bayne (1816-1878)
 9. (daughter) Alice Jane Benjamin (1851-1909) married Abraham Hodges (1837-1923)
10. (daughter) Laura Hodges (1873-1931) married Louis Oehring (1873-1932)
11. (daughter) Eunice Fay Oehring (1911-2004) married Clifford Scarlett Anderson (1907-1995) 
12.  (daughter) me