I joined the United Empire Loyalist Association as a descendant of Anthony Walliser. I’ve been wanting to do that for a long time. As we approach the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, a reminder that many old American families have ancestors who fought on both sides of the Revolutionary War. The Wallisers had an interesting history. Anton was born in Germany in 1739. He...
My great grandparents Wilford “Bill” Luce (1864-1948) and Essie Wilson (1878-1927) got married October 24, 1898 in Champaign, Illinois. So, where did a Wyoming rancher meet this woman from south central Illinois? I’m afraid I might have been responsible for a bit of erroneous information here. I answered an email off the cuff many years ago, saying I seemed to remember they met...
Great grandpa Will Luce married as his first wife a woman who was daughter of a local rustler and the local madame. Grandpa Will later divorced her for adultery after he came home and caught her in bed with one of his ranch hands. She stayed in Big Piney, never re-married, and continued using her married name Luce. The connection annoyed my very proper grandmother, who used it as as example of...
Researcher Cody Luce recently called my attention to the interesting problem of Henry Lewis. Henry appears, so very briefly, in a 1649 court record at Salem, Massachusetts, then seemingly disappears forever. Court held at Salem, 11: 5: 1649. Danyell Rumball, presented for bringing Henry Lewis into the town contrary to order, was discharged (Records and Files of the Quarterly Court of Essex...
Hercules HIlls (?-1696) was an early immigrant to Scituate, Massachusetts. He has been proposed as one of the easliest known nonwhite immigrants to New England, but there are problems with the identification. Stratton suggests Hercules Hill was the unknown “blackamore” who appears on the 1644 List of Men Able to Bear Arms at Plymouth (Stratton, 187-88). Instead, I suggest he was the...