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…
Category: Genealogy
When Bill Met Essie
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…
Slew His Brother for a Horse
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…
Who was Henry Lewis?
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…
Hercules Hills
Hercules Hills (1625-1696/7) was an early immigrant to Scituate, Massachusetts. He has been proposed as one of the earliest known non-white immigrants (Stratton 1986: 187-88), but the identification is demonstably wrong (Stott 2018: 2, note 2). Hercules Hills was not the same person as Hercules the servant of William Hatch, of Scituate. Clifford Stott’s 2018…