Boston Diary - June 4

Today was a rainy day in Boston. Most of you know that I've now vowed to avoid breakfast here at the hotel, so I decided to give the Paramount a try. I knew from my research beforehand that it was one of the best places to eat breakfast in Boston. I had to walk through the Boston Public Garden to get there. Terry was bragging on his garden yesterday, but this one is just as spectacular in other ways. Here are a few pictures from this trip. I took a ton of them when I was here in September 2006 so I didn't snap quite as many today, especially since it was raining.

These swans were enjoying their little stay on the grass.

Make way for ducklings!

The real ducklings. There are three of them to the left of the bigger duck, but some of them were taking a dip so they are hard to see!

Look in the tree. What do you see? That little guy was enjoying that nut!

I love the buds!

What kind of tree is this?


My malted Belgian waffle with fresh fruit from the Paramount. It was absolutely wonderful!

I spent the morning researching at NEHGS. I utilized a few more Essex County records. Then I utilized some Grafton County, New Hampshire records including the towns of Plymouth and Hebron. I made a list of all the manuscripts that I knew that I'd want to look at in the afternoon. Most of what I discovered just reinforced what I already had.

Before long it was time for lunch. The last time I was in Boston I was only able to visit the gift shop at Cheers. I decided that it was time to really go "where everybody knows your name."

This was called Cliff's Cranberry something or other. It's a non-alcoholic drink made of cranberry, lime, and ice cream.
This was the Cheers Cheeseburger.

This, of course, was the bar area. (I think it was too early for Norm and Cliff to be there.)

Now, after lunch, I headed on back to NEHGS to hit the manuscript collection. I figured that it would take most of the afternoon, and it did take a good portion of it. Quite a few of the manuscripts were compiled genealogies done by others. Some did a better job than others. There were also some town records and some various other records that persons had transcribed in letters and such. After going through these, I went back up to the 6th floor reference room and told David Dearborn, the reference librarian, that I was working on a line with which I thought he was pretty familiar. I shared with him my Dearborn ancestry. He told me which of the larger manuscript collections that I'd avoided would be useful. Then he shared with me his research on my branch of the family. I, in turn, supplied him with some information on my immediate branch that he did not have. I went back to a table and read through his information which is well-documented.

A lot of the information that I need now is on microfilm which is LDS film. I will probably use some of it tomorrow, but I know that I can have access, even if it means a delay in receiving it through the local Family History Center.

I walked back to the hotel to put up my research before heading out for supper. Tonight's theme was Chinese (with a twist). I decided to hit Myers + Chang which is in the South End. I had read about it in two different publications that recommended it. This meant a new adventure for me. I took the Green line from Copley Square down to Boylston where I needed to transfer to the Silver Line (which is the bus). I took it to the E. Berkeley St. stop. My directions had said that this was the nearest stop. I thought that meant that I'd have to walk, but right there in front of me was the restaurant! I ordered Green Papaya Slaw for the dim sum and Chicken & Rapini Stirfry for the main dish. The slaw had 3 of those little spice indicators next to it. The stirfry had two of them.

This is the green papaya slaw. As you can see, green papaya is nothing like the fruit papaya. It was certainly a unique taste. It kind of grew on you, but the heat kept building as you ate it as well. By the way, if you are wondering, I did eat the entire meal with chopsticks!
These are some Chinese pickles that they brought out to me since I was a first-timer. I really only ate a few of the carrot ones, but I was glad they mostly tasted of vinegar and not dill.
This is the main course--chicken and rapini stirfry. It was quite tasty.
This was a ginger-lemon mini-custard that they gave you at the end to cleanse your palate. Very tasty!

Boston Diary - June 3

NEHGS Library didn't open until 9:00 so I had plenty of time beforehand to chart out what I wanted to accomplish on day 1. I looked at the list of resources that I definitely wanted to consult before I left town because I didn't have access to them otherwise and decided that there were several Essex County records that I could probably cover by just spending a few hours in the morning studying. There were several unique family titles that I wanted to peruse for clues but not necessarily use as proof. There were a few manuscripts that I wanted to use. Then there were some microfilm sources, some of which were also available in Family History Centers (although I understand that the delay in receiving those is getting to be quite long these days).

The hotel's breakfast was supposed to be served beginning at 7:30. Let me just say that I think that is very late for breakfast in the first place! They were 25 minutes late getting it out this morning. It was just a continental breakfast. I could have walked to Dunkin Donuts and back and stil had time to spare in the time it took for that! (Dunkin would have been better too.) This hotel served a hot breakfast when I was here in September 2006. They also had continental items, but that wasn't the only thing. Let's just say that I preferred the old breakfast! The continental breakfast has not been anything to write home about either time I've eaten there. They have changed the dining arrangements downstairs and now offer a French restaurant in the evenings (at least on some evenings). I have decided that I am going to try a breakfast place that I read about tomorrow rather than waiting on them to get breakfast out when I'm starved to death!

I walked down the street to NEHGS, arriving a few minutes before 9 a.m. I decided to spend the morning in published Essex County records and finding aids. I took many pages of notes, but one of the highlights was a transcription of a couple of wills. I plan to get copies of the originals later. One of the things that I had to keep reminding myself about is that in the old calendar the 1st month was March. In most cases, dates were written with the date, then the month, and then the year (e.g. 28: 1: 1665).

I will have to admit that my favorite find of the morning was the will of Alexander Knight, the father of Hannah who married Isaac Perkins. I'm not going to attempt to reproduce the will here even though the transcription was done in 1916. However, I will tell you why this will was my favorite of the morning. It's really quite simple. I have never run across a will that reads like a sermon before until I read this one! I also learned that Hannah was the "eldest daughter" and that her siblings were Sarah, Mary, and "Nathaniell". The will confirms that his wife's name was "Hanna" as well. Being the oldest child, Hannah (future wife of Isaac Perkins), received more land than her siblings. She got 6 acres of marsh land and 6 acres of planting land. Of course, her brother was to get the house after the death of his mother. The sermon was interesting to me. I wondered if he felt that some of his children were straying and that he was going to have one last chance to get their attention about spiritual matters during the reading of his will. The original can be found in the Essex County Probate Files in docket 15, 941. [The Probate Records of Essex County, Massachusetts. Volume 1, 1635-1664. Salem, Mass: Essex Institute, 1916. pages 439-441]

I had a "business lunch" with a member of the NEHGS staff. We ate at Tealuxe, a little tea and sandwich shop diagonally across from the library. The sandwich was very good. The service was great. I ordered an iced tea that had vanilla, peach, and apricot. I'll be honest. I didn't taste the flavors that much. They had an excellent tea menu though. It reminded me of Laura Childs' "Indigo Tea Shop" in her Theodosia Browning tea shop mystery series set in Charleston, South Carolina.

I spent the afternoon going through some unique Perkins family material that the library had. I went through all the issues of the Perkins Family Newsletter that the library owned. I found a few helpful items and recorded those. Perhaps the most interesting book that I ran across was one written by Robert A. Perkins, who appears to be a professor emeritus of social work from Louisiana State University. It is entitled Seeds of a Planter and appears to have been self-published in 1997. I would love to have my own copy of this book. Prof. Perkins did the most marvelous job of incorporating medieval history into the Perkins family narrative for the oldest known generations. The writing is a little to the academic side, but it really does a fantastic job of describing the family in the social context of the day, explaining what might have been happening that would cause them to want to leave England. I would exceed copyright if I copied the book so I really want to try to track this book down.

These tidbits are far from all I found today, but I just wanted to hit a few highlights.

I decided that it was time to try the North End and one of its Italian restaurants. I came back to the hotel room to do a little research. I knew that I wanted to do dessert at Mike's Pastry because EVERYONE keeps recommending it. I just didn't know which restaurant to try. I founds that the reviews for Giacomos were really good. In fact, I'm pretty sure that it is one that a lady on the plane mentioned to me as being really good. The reviews recommended lots of their items but one of them stood out to me in the reviews and on the menu itself--the butternut squash ravioli. Standing in line waiting to get in, there was a lady right behind me who was telling people "Yes, it's worth the wait; this is the best Italian place in Boston!" I will say that the prices seemed more reasonable than some of the others I had seen, and the food reviews were all really excellent.

Yes, that's asparagus. That's a mascarpone cheese cream sauce with a few bits of prosciutto in it. It was absolutely wonderful! The red sauces in various places in the dining room smelled divine with the aroma of garlic in the air!

Now, one place that has been recommended to me at least a half dozen times since I've arrived in Boston is Mike's Pastry. I've heard that I should get the ricotta pie and that I should get a cannoli. I decided to get both and box them up and bring them back to the hotel. This is the package that rode with me on the subway. I decided to try the ricotta pie first because I'd heard Rachael Ray talking about what a bargain this was and how good it was at one point. It's in my del.icio.us bookmarks for that very reason. I ate part of it. It was very good.
However, I had to try the cannoli. Someone at NEHGS told me that I absolutely had to try the cannoli, but they failed to tell me that they offered many varieties that all looked equally decadent. I settled on the Florentine Cannoli. Let me just say that I intended to only eat part of it after eating part of that ricotta pie, but it was so decadent that I just kept eating and kept eating and kept eating until it was all gone! They supposedly ship their goods, and I may have to take them up on this.
I noticed that they also had gelato, marzipan, and other goodies. I will definitely stop here again before I head home. Besides - I get to use that Charlie Card that I've got too much value on!

Italian night was very tasty!

P.S. Jasia has the 49th edition (a.k.a. the Swimsuit edition) of the Carnival of Genealogy posted.

Boston Diary - June 2

This morning I got up early and stopped by Dunkin Donuts for breakfast rather than waiting until the hotel serves breakfast so that I could get on my way for the day's adventure.

My next stop was Enterprise Rent-A-Car in the "Pru" where I picked up this Kia to assist me in getting around to my destinations.

I started in Massachusetts. My day's travels would take me to two other states.


I decided to go to the most northerly point and work my way back down the coast so I headed up I-95 to Portland. My real destination was Cape Elizabeth, home of the famous Portland Head Light. I love lighthouses and was tempted to buy one of those lighthouse passport things, but then I thought of all the lighthouses that I'd already visited that wouldn't get stamped so I decided against it. Besides - a picture is sometimes worth a thousand words.


As I was driving down along the coast to the next place, I noticed that Thornton is a very popular street name. I suppose that they are really honoring Matthew Thornton, the signer of the Declaration of Independence, who is not related to our Thorntons. However, it's fun to pretend that they named it just in your honor! When I passed this place in Saco, I think, I couldn't help but wonder if was name in my honor, Terry's, or both.

Lunchtime found me in a well-known Maine town, Kennebunkport.

I had lunch at The Clam Shack, which looked like a great place to eat judging by the crowds there. It apparently has one of the best lobster rolls in all of New England; however, since I had lobster roll yesterday, I decided to try the clam strip roll instead. Without a doubt, those were the best clam strips I'd ever had in my life! The scenery over the bridge was gorgeous as well!


Now, if you make a trip to Kennebunkport, you know where you have to go. This isn't it, but it's along the road that leads there, and I thought it was a great picture!

Here is a picture of some of the seaweed that has washed upon the rocks. I loved this picture too!
Here are a few other homes in Kennebunkport. Can you tell that I fell in love with this quaint little town, and I hadn't even seen the reason for my detour along this road yet!
Here it is! The Bush summer home on Walker's Point. It was breathtaking. I didn't see George or Barbara (or even the secret service), but it was worth the drive.
It had taken so long to follow the coast from the Portland Head Light to Kennebunkport that I decided that if I was going to make it to my ancestral town in the next state down and have any time to look around that I'd better hop back on the toll road. I headed back to I-95, and before I knew it, I was crossing into New Hampshire.
My destination was Hampton. I loved the town of Hampton but I mostly spent my time driving around the town. I thought I would surely find the library or a historical society or museum or something, but before I spotted that I found Hampton Beach. I went to two different locations to take picture along the beach. This first one doesn't have white sand, but the second one does. Maybe Amy can tell us more about the beaches or locations.

When I got to the boardwalk area, I saw this sign which immediately reminded me of Bill and Janice. I didn't stop for one because I had a huge drink in the car that I'd picked up at a convenience store and because I'm holding out for the best (as recommended by Bill).
This is the beach along the boardwalk area of Hampton Beach. You can see that it has white sand.

This is part of the boardwalk area. I believe that Ashworth by the Sea is a well-known hotel because I've actually heard of it before.
This little fellow kept me entertained. He kept pecking at the little girl's beach toys bag. He would move around from one side to another. I think he wanted to play with some of the toys! I was just getting ready to put my camera on movie mode to capture him when the little girl noticed and ran up and frightened him away!
Did I mention how COLD the Atlantic was? BRRRR . . . One lady told me that it doesn't really get warm enough to swim there until July. That wasn't stopping surfers at the one beach though. I don't see how they could stand the water as cold as it was.


I ran back into Hampton but I really didn't find much. I saw a cemetery, but I was not sure if it was the historic one where my ancestors were buried, and I suspected they'd be closing the gates soon. I tried to find the Lane Public Library, but I couldn't find it either. I don't think they believe in using those little blue library signs they have in the rest of the country in New England. I knew that I was really going to have to come back when I had time to stay and really research them. However, I accomplished what I set out to do--to visit the town in which my ancestors had lived.

Now I'm ready to see what I can find at the NEHGS library over the next few days!

Boston Diary - June 1

Before I get started on the events of the day, let me just say that this is my 800th post! It's too bad it's not the 4th of July here in Boston. I'd be able to have all sorts of fireworks along the Charles River to celebrate that!

I went to the early service at Trinity Church this morning. I discovered the early service lacks music, and I really missed that element of worship! I, however, chose to go to an early service so that I could head out to Ipswich.

I purchased a Charlie Card at the Copley Square T station. I put more value on it than I needed for this trip because the lady at the station told me that you could use the Charlie Cards on the commuter rail. I found out that you couldn't when I got to the North Station. I immediately knew that I was going to have more riding that I'd possibly need on this trip so I'm going to have to come up with a bunch of extra trips to make up for it!

I took the green line from Copley Square to the North Station where I grabbed some coffee at Dunkin Donuts while waiting on the commuter rail (purple line) to arrive which would take me to Ipswich, the home of some of my ancestors.

I did an awful lot of walking around town. They didn't seem to have any type of local public transportation or tours. In order to go to some of the places I wanted to see, I'm going to have to rent a car or bike. Considering how out of shape I am, I think a bike would be a better option. I did see a lot of the town though.





Many of the town's early settlers are buried in the Old Burying Ground. The cemetery dates back to 1634, and I had ancestors there as early as 1632. You may be able to tell that the stones are in varying stages of readability. It's amazing how well-preserved some of the stones actually are. I did not spot any of my ancestors' graves; however, my feet were dying and I just couldn't walk much by the point I made it to the cemetery. I was also a little afraid to depart from the path in that particular cemetery without checking with the historical society to make sure it was okay. I did see the graves of many names that I recognized from reading about the area though.

This is a view as I'm walking from the T stop into the heart of Ipswich. Sorry about the power lines, but I'm too lazy to edit them out!

This is a view over the side of the Choate Bridge. The bridge, which dates to 1764 is the oldest stone arch bridge in continuous use according to the tourist literature.

Whipple House dates to 1677. I have distant aunts and uncles who married some of the Whipples, but I don't know if they lived in this house or not. I just haven't researched the Whipple connections.

A very nice lady who lives in the Whipple house told me that I should walk up County Street to Green Street even though it wasn't part of the "walking tour." This is one of the gorgeous views on that street. There were also many historic homes on the street, and I really loved these views of the Ipswich River along it.

This is the Perkins house. This house dates to the 1860s and is, therefore, a little late to have belonged to one of my direct line ancestors. The builder was probably a distant cousin thoug

I found this sign very interesting simply because I had an ancestor who was imprisoned by Governor Andros and sent to the Tower of London for a time. I appreciated the memorial to this earlier "American Revolution."
Lunch was at the Choate Bridge Pub. I had seen a recommendation on Lara's blog for this place. I decided that I needed to try the lobster roll since I'd never had one. It was very tasty, and it's a lot easier to eat lobster when someone else has already cracked it and gotten the meat out for you!

These are some of the historic homes on High Street. I believe that the white home is dated 1658; the red home is 1666; the yellow home is 1769. (I looked at my single pictures of them for the dates.)

I had really planned to stay in Ipswich until the 6:00 train; however, my feet were worn out before the 3:00 one so I went to the T station and waited . . . and waited . . . and waited. It arrived about 40 minutes late. (Actually the outbound train arrived about 45 minutes late at the time ours was supposed to depart so we knew it would be late.) Apparently there had been a fire right along the tracks between Chelsea and Lynn that held them up. The good news is that our fare for the return trip was free because it was so late.

I went back to the hotel and rested my feet a bit. I looked at some reviews on Yelp.com and discovered that the tapas place across from my hotel had excellent reviews so I had the evening meal at Tapéo. I had Pechuga Rellena (chicken with asparagus and goat cheese), chicken empanadas, and for dessert a very tasty flan! I didn't take pictures so I won't torture you with those!

I plan to read and relax this evening because I have another special adventure for tomorrow since the NEHGS library isn't open on Mondays!