The Great Unwelcome
As always, historically unedited.
Okay, I confess. I get bored. Let's face it; not having a genealogical problem, unusual family tale, or some mysterious ancestral conundrum on my plate just doesn't make for a happy camper. Enter one bored old man with too much time on his hands and not a normal hobby, like, say, butterfly collecting. Or maybe it's just that sometimes those dang dead folks don't seem to want to leave me alone? Who knows? So I guess that's why I just couldn't resist. I had to reach out. I couldn't leave it be.
You see, the recent discovery that my lineage to William Buckman (1650-1716) who arrived on the good ship Welcome alongside that industrious Quaker character of history, Mr. William Penn – is quite traceable, has nagged at me a bit. Remember that genealogical boredom I mentioned? And seeing as its been awhile since I attempted to join a lineage society (which is basically an organization where membership is based on proving descent from a specific historical person or group) I knew I was gonna go out on a limb. So when I noticed that the Welcome Society of Pennsylvania was within the realm of possibilities for submitting to and joining up with, "well-come on" (lol), I jumped off the boat at the chance.
I quickly scanned their requirements, which consist mostly of the usual blah, blah, blah about providing sufficient original documentation in relation to secondary sources to "satisfy the society's genealogist." Yeah, whatever. I don't see a problem there. I mean, it's not like I'm not serious. However, when I read the next requirement: "For those who live out of the area, three letters of recommendation from prominent members in their respective communities or from other lineage societies," I felt the Welcome start to take on a bit of water.
Seriously? To even apply? Yeah, no thanks. I followed up with a brief email to that revered society asking if there was any room for wiggling out of the three letters. Um, in a word, "no." The Welcome Society requires their applicants to be unequivocally without any "wiggle."
Most unwelcoming.
This was interesting to me. Having submitted to and been approved by other lineage societies several times over, I'd never encountered this need for "Letters of Recommendation." One would have thought they might have accepted "three proofs of previously accepted lineage society applications" instead. But no... And all this for the wannabe Quaker Oats guy? While I laughingly applaud the wonderful elitism and hobnob snobbery of it all, the idea of having to grovel for "letters" like a Gen Z job seeker seemed a bit too pedantic for the process. (No offense to Gen Z intended).
Yeah, they can kiss my grits.
So, in light of this (or because of it), I have decided to demonstrate, by as much original documentation as I can successfully post here, my line to William Buckman and the good ship Welcome on my own and for myself. As far as that particular lineage society goes, they should keep their rubber chicken lunch forums and pseudo-superiority complex unto themselves and the 'Great Unwiggled.' (It's not like they offer anything particularly unique, and given that my line to "Grandpa Bill" is quite easily traceable) Indeed, I will simply sew my Quaker oats elsewhere. It all sorta makes me wonder if Mister William Penn would have approved of such an "unwelcoming"...but as usual, I digress.
So let's get started: I figure the best way to do this is to take it generation by generation in hope of finding a confluence of documents (one or two) that connects each to the next. (Did ya get all that?)
In a way, it kind of goes like this:
Generation One: "William Buckman and Elizabeth Wilson"
Generation Two: "Elizabeth, daughter of William Buckman and Elizabeth his wife, who married Zebulon Heston II"
Generation Five: Margaret, daughter of John Heston and Elizabeth, his wife, who married Henry Schooley.
I've pretty much stopped here. I mean going on down my paternal "Record" line while required for any lineage society application seems redundant for the purposes of this blog post. I just wanted to show that the line from William Buckman really doesn't have a lot of holes in it. Yes, I can see where there needs to be more connective tissue between this generation and the next, but quite honestly, if it proves out this well...it looks pretty stinking good.
No comments:
Post a Comment