Misfortune

This week's prompt of Amy Johnson Crow's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, "Misfortune",  offered up many options.  But one stood out more than any other, I think you'll understand why.

Owen Coffin was born August 1802 on Nantucket Island, to Hezekiah and Nancy Coffin.  He was born into a family of "whalers", men who hunted sperm whale for the oil, and at the age of 17, he set off on his first whaling voyage on the whaleship Essex.  His cousin, George Pollard, was the captain of the ship.

On November 20, 1819, a pod of whales was spotted. Two of the whaleboats had each harpooned whales, the first mate had remained on the Essex repairing a damaged whaleboat.  He noticed a whale acting strangely.  It suddenly started heading straight for the Essex at a very fast speed and smashed into the ship head-on.  It disappeared under water only to reemerge minutes later heading towards the ship again.  There was nothing they could do but try to save as much as they could - navigational instruments, bread, water and supplies - before the ship sunk.  By the time the whaleboats had returned, the Essex was almost completely gone.  The men and the supplies were divided up between the three whaleboats.  Owen remained with George.

They were challenged from the start.  Saltwater had saturated much of the bread and the men began to dehydrate as they ate their daily rations.  The boats were not made for long voyages and leaks became a serious concern.  In mid-December they landed on an island.  They found a small fresh water stream and many different things to eat but within a week they had eaten most of the island's food resources.  They decided to set out again, three men choosing to stay back. By January, the meager rations began to take a toll on the small whaleboats.  One man went mad and died.  The crew separated the limbs from the body and stripped the flesh from the bones.  They roasted the man's organs and ate them.  The body was committed to the sea.  Over the next few weeks, more men died and their bodies were also eaten.  The boats eventually lost sight of each other and were separated.

On Pollard's boat, the four men became weaker and weaker.  It had been nine weeks since they lost the Essex when they reasoned that without food they would all die.  On February 6, 1891, it was decided the men would draw lots to determine who would be eaten next.  Owen Coffin drew the black spot.  His cousin is said to have offered himself in place of Owen, but Owen wouldn't have it, saying the lots were chosen fair and square.  His friend drew the lot that required him to shoot Owen, and after a long pause, Owen rested his head on the boat's side and the trigger was pulled.  Owen's body was consumed by the remaining three men.  A week later, another died and was consumed.  The boat was rescued February 23, after 95 days at sea.  Only two men on Captain Pollard's boat were found.  Three men were found alive a week earlier on the first mate's boat.  Years later, the third boat was discovered, three skeletons aboard.  The three men who chose to stay on the island survived for nearly four months before being rescued.  First mate, Chase Owen, wrote a book.  It is said that his story inspired the book Moby Dick.

When I started researching my family history, I met with a woman who shared this story with me.  She is also a descendent of the Coffin family (from a different branch).  She shared with me the book "In The Heart of The Sea" by Nathaniel Philbrick, the story of our ancestor, Owen Coffin, who sacrificed his life at sea to save others.  Books and songs have been written. In 2015, the movie "In The Heart of The Sea" was released, starring Chris Hemsworth as Captain George Pollard.

What an unfortunate life for young Owen to have lived.  Shipwrecked.  Lost at sea for two and a half months.  Choosing the losing lot and sacrificing his life.  Their boat being found less than three weeks later.

Lucky

When I read that week 11's prompt for Amy Johnson Crow's 52 Ancestor challenge was "Lucky" I had no idea what I was going to write about.  I don't know of anyone in the family that is particularly "lucky" or fortunate.

And then it hit me...I am the lucky one!!

I am lucky that I have been able to connect with so many distant cousins.  Cousins who have been researching our family for many, many years.  Cousins who have been willing to share photos and stories of our ancestors.  That I have had people answer my messages on Ancestry.  That I have had people answer my messages through Facebook.  I am lucky to be getting to know these distant cousins I would never have known if it weren't for my family search.

I am lucky that I have a trunk full of photos from my grandma Phyllis.  Photos of her parents and her mother's parents.  I am lucky that I received a bunch of letters my grandpa Roger had written to my grandma while he was in WWII.  I am lucky that my dad picked up a box full of documents belonging to my grandparents and my great grandparents.

I am lucky to live so close to the Minnesota Historical Society and to have a best friend who has also caught this genealogy bug and is willing to spend hours searching for birth certificates, death certificates, obituaries and newspaper articles with me.

I am lucky to be getting to know the men and women who came before me and helped make me who I am.

Strong Women

Week 10's prompt for Amy Johnson Crow's 52 Ancestors is Strong Women.

I feel I have been surrounded by strong women my entire life.  My grandma, Iris, helped my grandfather open a market and continued to run it after he died.  My grandma, Phyllis, returned to the working world after losing my grandpa to be able to provide for my uncle who was only 16 at the time.  My mom has taught me love, family first, and work ethic.  My aunt, Char, raised her kids alone on her teacher's salary and has always been an inspiration of strength to me.  Many immigrated to the US, some with their parents, some without, looking for a better life.  My great aunt, Grace, helped to raise almost every single one of her younger brothers and sisters.  Many of my ancestors had many children and worked the farm.  Not an easy life. But one story of a strong woman in the family is that of my great grandmother, Caroline.

Caroline Charlotte Mickelson was born July, 1890 in Hanley Falls, Minnesota.  Her father, Lewis, was a farmer.  Her mother, Rakel (Ree) had immigrated to the US at the age 29 with her sisters.  She was the middle child of three.  He older brother, Melvin, was two years older and her sister, Josie, was four years younger.

Caroline, far left, and other women she worked with

By 1920, Caroline had left her family in Hanley Falls and moved to Minneapolis, where she was working as a telegrapher.

In February, 1924, Caroline married Ambrose Lewis.  Their son, Roger (my grandfather), was born in November of that same year.  The marriage did not last long.  By 1930 Caroline and Ambrose were divorced and she was raising Roger alone.  Ambrose was a soldier in WWI and rumor has it that he was gassed during the war, causing him to get angry and sometimes abusive.  He lived the rest of his life in and out of VA Hospitals.  If they knew then what we know now, I would guess he had some form of PTSD.  He was not really a part of my grandpa's life.

Caroline was a master seamstress.  She worked making dresses in a department store.  She owned her own home in Minneapolis and boarded out rooms.  I recently met a granddaughter of Josie's who told me she remembered she had a large home and a fancy car.  My dad does not remember a fancy car.  He remembers when he and my uncle Craig would spend the day at her house, she would walk them down the street to a hobby shop and let them pick out a model car that they spent their days working on.

Caroline passed away in April of 1959.  I never had the pleasure of knowing her. But I figure to have the strength to leave your husband and work in a time when that was not always common for women, she must have been a strong woman.  She raised a good man, who loved his wife and children and worked hard to provide for them, on her own. 

Where There's A Will...

The prompt for week 9 of Amy Johnson Crow's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge is "Where There's A Will...".  I struggled with this one for the past week (that's why I'm a day late in posting).  I don't know much about reading wills and the legal jargon.  The only will I knew of at the time was written by my 5th great grandfather in 1852.  

Nicholas Speak was born March 1782 in Charles County, Maryland.  In 1804, he married Sarah Faires.  They settled in Rose Hill, Lee County, Virginia and had 11 children together, seven sons and four daughters.  Nicholas was a pastor, who had donated one acre of land for a meeting house to be erected.  The meeting house later became the Speak s Chapel Methodist Episcopal Church.  Nicholas died in 1852, Sarah 13 years later in 1865. 

His will can be found on Ancestry.com and I have also received copies from a couple distant copies (thank you Dolores, Carol and Lola-Margaret).  The writing is sort of difficult to read but what I gathered from his will is that everything would be left to his wife if he passed before her as long as she remained a widow and did not remarry.  If she remarried she would be "endowed of my estate as though I had made no will".  At the death of his wife, 150 acres of land, including the mansion house and out buildings, were to go to his daughters, Fanny and Rebecca, and their heirs.  Another 150 acres was given to his sons, Samuel, John, and James and their several heirs.  To his son, Jesse and his heirs, he left 93 acres.  It was written that if Samuel, John and James could not agree upon lines of division for the 150 acres they inherited that the Court of Lee County appoint three commissioners to lay off lots as nearly equal in value, quality and quantity being considered and then the sons would need to decide ownership.  There was one condition upon the land he gave to his sons, they had to pay in a sum of $750 - from that money $150 was given to daughter Sarah (Speak) Bartley, $150 was given to the children of his deceased son Charles to be divided equally among them, $150 to his deceased son Joseph's heirs to be divided equally among them, and $150 to the heirs of his deceased son, Thomas, to be divided equally among them.  The will was written in 1852...I found it difficult to understand but I believe these were his wishes.

Nicholas and Sarah Speak's "mansion" house

Last night, while trying to work on this post, I started digging through a box I received from my uncle shortly before Christmas.  Inside I found the wills of both my grandfather, Roger Lewis, and my great grandmother, Dora Bartley.  These were much easier to understand - pay funeral expenses and any debt, the remainder to my grandmother or divided equally among my dad and brothers if my grandma passed first.  My great grandmother's was the same - pay funeral expenses and any debt, the remainder to be equally divided between my grandmother and her brother. 

While there wasn't a lot to be learned by finding the wills of my grandpa and great grandma, there were some other amazing finds in that box.  But those are for another day!!