Overflowing With Thanks ~ 8 Thankfuls In One Part Of The Tree

THANKFUL is this week's prompt.

I immediately thought about having seen a person whose name was Thankful in our Bramble Bush. 

When I went searching I discovered we have 8 Thankfuls in our Bramble Bush. 

Noticing that all of them were female I started wondering about the origin of the name. 

"The name Thankful is a girl's name of English origin.

In the Plymouth Colony of the seventeenth century, Thankful was the third most popular of the abstract word names. It disappeared after 1700 and has virtually no chance of returning."1 

It was the moment I read this that I realized my ancestors were part of the origins of Thanksgiving. 

This week was American Thanksgiving. We are Canadian. Our Thanksgiving was a month ago.

BUT the origins of Thanksgiving are connected.

As a child I loved hearing about Plymouth and the origins of Thanksgiving. I would have loved to have known I had ancestors there. 

In the years since I have viewed the story through a different lens. 

If you want to learn more about the origins of Thanksgiving click the History.com article sourced below. 

Back to the Thankfuls in our tree. 

None are our direct ancestors or super close, but they are ours to claim through my mother's maternal line.

My 1st cousin 10x removed 
Thankful Strong
BIRTH 25 JUL 1663 • Northampton, Hampshire County, Massachusetts, USA
DEATH 5 MAR 1726
her parents were
John Strong
BIRTH 1610 • Taunton, Taunton Deane Borough, Somerset, England
DEATH 14 APR 1699 • Northampton, Hampshire County, Massachusetts, USA
and
Abigail Ford - my 9th great grandaunt
BIRTH 8 OCT 1619 • Bridport, Dorset, England
DEATH 6 JUL 1688 • Northampton, Hampshire County, Massachusetts, USA

My 2nd cousin 9x removed (and niece to Thankful above)
Thankful Strong
BIRTH 15 APR 1672 • Northampton, Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States of America
DEATH 16 APR 1742 • Coventry, Tolland County, Connecticut, United States of America
Her parents were
Jedediah Strong - my 2nd cousin 9x removed
BIRTH 7 MAY 1637 • Hingham, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States
DEATH 22 MAY 1733 • Coventry, Tolland County, Connecticut, USA
and
Freedom Woodward
BIRTH JUL 1641 • Dorchester Suffolk County Massachusetts, USA
DEATH 17 MAY 1681 • Northampton Hampshire County Massachusetts, USA

My 1st cousin 10x removed 
Benjamin Lyman
BIRTH 10 AUG 1674 • Northampton, Hampshire, Massachusetts
DEATH 14 OCT 1723 • Northhampton, Hampshire County, Massachusetts, USA
his wife
Thankful Pomeroy
BIRTH 31 MAY 1679 • Northampton, Hampshire, Massachusetts, USA
DEATH 18 SEP 1773 • Northampton, Hampshire, Massachusetts, USA
Her parents were
Medad Pomeroy
BIRTH 19 AUG 1638 • Windsor Hartford County Connecticut, USA
DEATH 30 DEC 1716 • Northampton Hampshire County Massachusetts, USA
and
Experience Woodward
BIRTH 10 NOV 1643 • Dorchester Suffolk County Massachusetts, USA
DEATH 6 JUN 1686 • Northampton Hampshire County Massachusetts, USA
Benjamin's parents were
John Lyman (my 9th great granduncle)
BIRTH 16 SEP 1623 • High Ongar, Essex, England
DEATH 20 AUG 1690 • Northampton, Hampshire, Massachusetts, USA
and 
Dorcas Plumb
BIRTH 12 JAN 1635 • Weathersfield, Hartford, Connecticut, United States
DEATH 20 APR 1725 • Northampton, Hampshire, Massachusetts

My 3rd cousin 7x removed 
Aaron Dewey
BIRTH 25 AUG 1734 • Lebanon, New London County, Connecticut, USA
DEATH 4 FEB 1805 • Mount Tabor, Rutland County, Vermont, USA
his mother in law
Thankful Babcock
BIRTH 1686 • Hadley, Hampshire, Massachusetts, USA
DEATH 20 JAN 1736 • Coventry, Tolland, Connecticut, USA
her parents were
Jonathan Babcock
BIRTH 07 MAR 1652 • Dorchester, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA
DEATH 05 JAN 1732 • Coventry, Tolland, Connecticut, USA
and
Mary Curtis
BIRTH 09 JAN 1655 • Scituate, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States
DEATH 28 MAR 1710 • Windham, Windham, Connecticut, United States
Aaron's wife (and Thankful's daughter)
Maria Porter
BIRTH 18 JUN 1731 • Coventry, Tolland, Connecticut, USA
DEATH 1778
Maria's father (and Thankful's husband)
Thomas Stanley Porter
BIRTH 1 APR 1683 • Hadley, Hampshire, MA
DEATH 7 AUG 1752 • Coventry, Tolland County, Connecticut, USA
Aaron's parents were
Jonathan Dewey - 2nd cousin 8x removed
BIRTH 6 MAR 1710 • Lebanon, Conn
DEATH 23 DEC 1759 • Lebanon, Conn
and 
Mary Collier
BIRTH 1714
DEATH 19 DEC 1800 • Pomfret, Windham, Connecticut, USA

My 3rd cousin 8x removed (and daughter of Thankful above)
Thankful Root
BIRTH 4 AUG 1700 • Northampton, Hampshire, Massachusetts, United States
DEATH 16 APR 1750 • Torrington, Litchfield, Connecticut, United States
Her parents were
Thankful Strong - 2nd cousin 9x removed
BIRTH 15 APR 1672 • Northampton, Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States of America
DEATH 16 APR 1742 • Coventry, Tolland County, Connecticut, USA
and
Deacon Thomas Root
BIRTH 11 APR 1667 • Northampton, Hampshire County, Massachusetts, USA
DEATH 13 NOV 1758 • Coventry, Tolland County, Connecticut, USA

My 2nd cousin 8x removed 
Thankful Marsh
BIRTH 15 MAR 1728 • Sunderland, Franklin, Massachusetts, USA
DEATH 19 FEB 1817 • Montague, Franklin, Massachusetts
Her parents were
Ebenezer Marsh - 1st cousin 9x removed
BIRTH 1 MAY 1687 • Hatfield, Hampshire, Massachusetts
DEATH 9 SEP 1747 • Montague, Hampshire, MA
and
Elizabeth Gillette
BIRTH 1 MAY 1689 • Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut, United States
DEATH 8 MAR 1753 • Sunderland, Franklin, Massachusetts, United State

My 3rd cousin 7x removed (and daughter to Thankful above)
Thankful Gunn
BIRTH 17 AUG 1754 • Montague, Hampshire, Massachusetts, United States
DEATH 10 JUL 1808 • ,, Massachusetts, United States
her parents were
Thankful Marsh - 2nd cousin 8x removed
BIRTH 15 MAR 1728 • Sunderland, Franklin, Massachusetts, USA
DEATH 19 FEB 1817 • Montague, Franklin, Massachusetts
and
Asahel Gunn
BIRTH 16 NOV 1730 • Montague, Franklin, Massachusetts, USA
DEATH 11 JULY 1796 • Montague, Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States

My 3rd cousin 6x removed 
Thankful Skinner
BIRTH 1785
DEATH Unknown
her parents were
Jonathan Skinner
BIRTH ABT 1748 • Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut, USA
DEATH ABT 1808 • Pompey, Onondaga, New York
and
Jerusha Merrill - 2nd cousin 7x removed
BIRTH 24 AUG 1760 • West Hartford, Hartford Co, CT
DEATH Unknown

As you can see my family line took the name Thankful into the 1700s in defiance of the quote above. So far I haven't found any record of it in the 1800s, but I haven't been looking!

Organizing the Thankfuls into this week's blog in a way that seemed to make sense was challenging. 

I hope I have managed to include it in a way that makes some sort of sense to someone besides me.

Trying to keep track of all the Thankfuls!

This is why I search - 

Cause ... 

You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family you know!

***Any errors are my own. Please send me any updates or corrections via the comments at the bottom of this blog post***

Footnotes:

1 Thankful Origin and Meaning, Baby Name, Retrieved November 26th 2021 from https://nameberry.com/babyname/Thankful

Sources:

History of Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving 2021, History.com. Retrieved November 26th 2021 from 
https://www.history.com/topics/thanksgiving/history-of-thanksgiving

Links:

Amy Johnson Crow, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge
https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/

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