Day 70

Well it is official. I have been on the road for 10 weeks. The time is flying by and I can't believe that the journey is half over.

I spent the morning straightening the Brocklebank-Dole mess. Turns out I had all the right players just not aligned correctly. Samuel Brocklebank (10th GG) came from England in 1638 as a child with his widowed mother Jane and brother John. He became a surveyor and married Hannah Rolfe in 1659. They had a number of children and in 1668 built a house in what is now Georgetown, MA. Samuel was killed with his entire company of men in Sudbury during King Philip's War (Indians vs Pilgrims). Hannah Rolfe married a widower from nearby - Richard Dole. He had 10 children from his first marriage and 5 of them married 5 of Hannah's children. This is what I didn't know yesterday and caused a stumbling block in sorting out the lines. Hannah's daughter Mary married William Dole. They begat Samuel Dole who begat Samuel Dole who begat Samuel Dole who married Hannah Little and who begat little Sarah who married Rev. Wm Bradford Dodge - whew!

On the way to this new information I found that the home Samuel Brocklebank built in 1668 still exists and is a museum. It is open 2 half days a month and of course today was NOT one of those days but the weather was fine and called for A ROAD TRIP! Off I went. The house is quite large and grants from local historical societies are refurbishing the exterior. Wish I could have gone inside but it was wonderful to walk around the old family homestead. FYI - in the 1750s the home became a tavern - owned by Solomen Nelson whose daughter Lucy married Phinneas Dodge. This means two lines of the family leading to Dodges had connections to this house. What it really shows is how close the communities and how interwoven the families were.

From Georgetown, I drove to W. Newbury and found Capt. Samuel Dole and Hannah Little Dole's gravestones. They are well preserved although Samuel's stone is difficult to read. They sit on a hill under a lovely oak tree. Hannah was born in 1757 and lived a long 86 years (see stone). Then it was on to First Burying Ground Cemetery in Newbury. I searched for several hours but no luck finding Richard Dole or Hannah Rolfe Brockelbank Dole's graves. Lots of other familiar surnames - just not the 2 I was looking for.

After a long day, I met Doug and Cynthia for a nice waterfront dinner in Essex. This was our last meal together as they are staying in Boston to work and I will be in Acton for 2 nights before moving to CT.