Fingal Who?: The GP Family Project: Mother May

Monday, August 23, 2010

Mother May

Happy, as ever, for the reminders that family history is always a work in progress, that by sharing what information we have, we invite additions and revisions to the stories. It's always a bit of a guessing game as to what information might be correct, what might be "real" and what might be fabricated, or simply erroneously copied, drummed up, or imagined. But it's well worth the effort to make a stab at getting to the truth--it's a nice way to dignify a life.

I heard from my Great Uncle Mase regarding my story on Agnes Dunn, and he was able to fill in some of the gaps. His mother had extensive notes which she got from her mother, Eliza May Mason Gardner, whom Mase and my grandfather called Mother May. Mase is also going to send me the family tree that he put together after his Aunt Arlene went to England and Scotland and went sleuthing in graveyards and public records offices. It sounds like it was a fruitful expedition. I am excited to put more of the pieces together! And when I do, I'll revise Agnes' tale yet again--though I am certain it will not be the last time.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...: thanks for this nice post 111213; February 20, 2011 at 9:53 AM

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Fingal Who?

MacKirdy, of course! Fingal MacKirdy was our great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great , great, great, great, great grandfather. He was born in 1575 on the Isle of Bute in Scotland (with a name like that, where else?), the son of Donald MacKirdy (many of the mothers seem to have disappeared from the records), who was the son of another Donald Makurerdy (and a woman named Mary), who was the son of yet another Donald Makurerdy (and Mrs. Donald--imagine naming your baby girl Mrs. Donald!), who was the son of the Chieftan Gilkrist Makurerdy, who was born in 1425, and had four children: Gilkrist, Finlay (not to be confused with Fingal), John, and Donald. The Chieftan Gilkrist, who at the time in 1425+ owned most of the island, descended from Macruari and Ruari, or Roderick, and before them, quite possibly, the mound builders who first inhabited the island back in the days of the paleolithic. Fingal's father, Donald, was the founder of the "MacKirdys," and was the first to change his name from "Makurerdy" to "MacKirdy." Obviously, this changing of the family name backfired, as he was killed in 1600 in a battle with the Cameron Clan. His son, Fingal, our hero, was also killed. According to some records that state his birth year as 1598, this would have made toddler Fingal quite the fighter--and quite the little Gilgamesh, having already fathered at least one child. It makes more sense that he was about 25, already married, and father of Donald, who had six sons with Peggy Cameron, great granddaughter of James IV King of Scots (ah, see? royalty already!): Irven, Pethric, Fingal, Daniel, Gilkrist, and Alexander, three of whom seceded from the Presbyterian Church, while 3 remained loyal, including his son Daniel. Daniel's son, Daniel, fled to County Antrim, Ireland, in November of 1666 at the age of 18, with his brothers, and changed his name to "McCurdy." The McCurdy family motto, "Dieu et mon pays," or "God and my country," appears on the family crest, in black, yellow, and green. In 1682, he had a daughter named Janet McCurdy, born in Derry, Glendermouth County, Ireland. Janet married Robert Lithgow (b. 1676) in 1703 while still in Ireland, but soon left behind four McCurdy brothers for the coast of Maine with her husband and at least one young daughter, Martha, born in 1704. Martha married Lt. James Dunning in Brunswick, Maine in 1795. Their daughter, Mary, one of eight (!), was born in 1733 in Brunswick, married William Reed, Jr., and had a son, John Reed, in 1762 in Topsham, Maine. He married Lettice Orr (the list of strange names goes on!), daughter of Lettice Elliott of Boston and Joseph Orr, who settled Orr's Island, Maine, on September 15, 1785, in Harpswell, Maine. The couple's son Arthur Reed (no relation to the aardvark), born March 4, 1810 on Orr's Island, married Elizabeth Barstow Jacobs, the direct descendant of the poor, illiterate farmer, George Jacobs Sr., who was hung for witchcraft on Gallows Hill during the Salem Witch Trials on August 19, 1692. Captain Elias Reed, son of Arthur and Elizabeth, was born on June 11, 1843 on Orr's Island, and became a famous sea captain. He married Mary Merrill Purinton of the well-known Purinton and Merrill families of East Harpswell, Maine. Our great, great grandfather, and their son, Frank Purinton Reed, was born in 1869 on Harpswell and married Bertha Lucetta Fay, from Chester, Mass., on May 8, 1895. Their son, Carroll Purinton Reed, was our great-grandfather. He was an amazing man and married an amazing woman, Katharine Damon, on December 18, 1937. Together, they raised three daughters, Carol, Damon (our amazing grandmother, Damon Reed), and Stephanie, ran a successful ski shop and catalog business, and were huge influences in the lives of their six grandchildren, including our mother, Elizabeth Gardner, daughter of Damon and Donald Watt Gardner, Jr. Our mother married our father, James S. Poulsen, in North Conway, NH, in July of 1990. We, Luke and Dominick, were born on September 17, 1994 and February 28, 1999, respectively. This is just one of our many DNA trails & tales.

This GP Family Project is a work in progress. We hope to include more DNA trails & tales, with links that will take you to primary documents, family recipes and stories, pedigree charts, family photographs & videos, family news posts & contact information, and other interesting historical facts and stories about our ancestors. As well, this will be the place to go for information about our Inherited Traits Survey, which will be heading out to everyone soon. Check the blog for updates, photographs that will help you better understand some of the traits, and survey results. We hope you'll participate in this project by sharing stories of your own, posting comments, and staying in touch. Thanks!

For a blog devoted to the McCurdy's of Maine, head to kinfolk Michael McCurdy's blog: http://mccurdymicmacmex.blogspot.com/