Benjamin Bodfish and Lydia Crocker (7th G-Grandparents)

Benjamin Bodfish was born on July 20 1683 in Barnstable Massachusetts. Benjamin was the third son and fifth child born to Joseph Bodfish and Elizabeth Besse.

Lydia Crocker was born in September of 1686 in Barnstable Massachusetts. Lydia was the eldest of nine children born to Jonathan Crocker and Hannah Howland.

On November 10 1709, in Barnstable Massachusetts, Lydia and Benjamin married. Benjamin's Grandparents and Lydia's Great-Grandparents were Robert Bodfish and Bridgett Sugg, making Lydia and Benjamin first cousins once removed. Benjamin and Lydia would have nine children, five sons and four daughters, all born in Barnstable Massachusetts.

In 1713 Benjamin and Lydia purchased a 10 Acre parcel with a home upon it in Barnstable Massachusetts from Lydia's father Jonathan. The couple would spend the remainder of their lives on this 10 acre homestead. Benjamin died on March 25 1760 at the age of seventy-three. Lydia died on March 29 1780 at the age of eighty-four. Both are buried at West Barnstable Cemetery in Barnstable Massachusetts.

For Genealogy See:
http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=m-leblanc&id=I223

Etienne LeBlanc (A childhood in captivity)

Etienne LeBlanc, my 4th G-Grandfather, was born about 1753 in Grand-Pre Acadia . He was the third son born to Joseph LeBlanc and Marie Madeleine Melanson.

In September 1755, Etienne, his family, and most of his neighbors were deported from their homelands by the British based on their French Heritage and Catholic Religious beleifs.

Etienne and his family were shipped to and interned in Sutton Massachusetts for the duration of what was to be called "The French and Indian War". Etienne's family of five would grow to become a family of ten with the addition of five siblings while in captivity.

After release from captivity, it is speculated that the family may have gone to St-Dominigue, as there is no additional records of anyone of the family other then Etienne after the Massachusetts internment. The record of Etienne's life would continue after 1776 when he shows up in records in Yamachiche Quebec. See a previous blog post.

For earlier blog on Etienne see:
http://leblancroots.blogspot.com/2011/01/etienne-leblanc-revolutionary-war.html

For family genealogy see:
http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=m-leblanc&id=I908

Anthony Anniball (Early New England Settler)

Anthony Anniball, my 10th g-Grandfather, was born in Kent County England in the year 1599. Anthony married a Jane Momford on April 26 1619 in Cambridge England and the couple would have one daughter born in England, before the family left for "The New World"

The family traveled to Plymouth Massachusetts in 1623 on "The Anne" which was the third ship to Plymouth Colony. The family lived in Plymouth for their first ten years in "The New World" A reproduction of their Plymouth house is represented today in present day "Plymouth Plantation"

In 1633 Anthony moved his family to Scituate,a more liberal outpost of the Plymouth Colony, where Anthony was appointed the Scituate Constable on January 1 1633. Anthony would organize the building of the first church in Scituate and he and his wife were listed as the 3rd and 4th members of the church. Anthony would serve as one of the leading lawmakers of Scituate, which became a town of its own in 1636.

Around 1639, Anthony once again moved on, this time to Roxbury Massachusetts where he would remain the remainder of his life. Anthony would die in Roxbury at the age of 75 in 1674

For Family Genealogy See:
http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=m-leblanc&id=I7505

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY (INDEPENDENCE DAY)

In honor of July 4th, I want to point back to my two ancestors who fought in the American Revolution

Etienne LeBlanc, an Acadian who volunteered in Quebec in 1776 and fought for the Americans till the end of the war.
http://leblancroots.blogspot.com/2011/01/etienne-leblanc-revolutionary-war.html

Joseph Nye, a Mayflower decendent, who went to war on the night of Lexington-Concord in 1775
http://leblancroots.blogspot.com/2011/01/joseph-nye-minuteman.html