52 Ancestors - Richard Lyman - One of the founders of Hartford, CT

I am extremely fortunate to have long family lines in New England.  Because of this I have found many ancestors that were founders of cities and towns and my 11x great grandfather, Richard Lyman, is no different.

Richard Lyman was born in 1580 is Essex, England to Henry and Elizabeth (Rande) Lyman. Richard married Sarah Osborne and they, along with their 5 living children made the voyage over to America in 1631.  They traveled on a ship called the "lion" along with 60 other people.  It appears that they landed in Roxbury, MA, but I'm not certain of that and settled in Charlestown, MA.  In 1635 they family left Massachusetts with Reverend Thomas Hooker to be able to practice their Puritan beliefs.  They landed in Connecticut and was one of the founders of Hartford, CT.  He would die 5 years later in 1640.

Richard's daughter, Phillis (my 10x great grandmother) married William Hills Sr. who was also one of the founders of Hartford.  A few generations down the line, William Hills great grandson, Pelatiah Loveland married Mollie Sparks who is the great, great granddaughter of John Skinner who is another founder of Hartford.

52 Ancestors - Camilla Gaye Beard

While going through the records of the thousands of relatives I have discovered, nothing breaks my heart more than seeing the death certificate of a child.

Camilla Gaye Beard was born in September of 1939 to Jimmy Beard and Mildred Beard (Bearden). She died on October 27th 1944 due to "Fall from moving automobile" according to the death certificate.  She had just turned 5 years old.  It breaks my heart what this family had to go through and I'm curious the situation surrounding the accident.  Was it very easy for a child in the backseat to open the car door?  Were there convertibles around back then and maybe that's how she fell out?  Either way, my heart breaks for my 4th cousin 2x removed.

52 Ancestors - Nancy Crisp

I found a wealth of information for my 4x great grandparents Nancy Crisp and James Monroe Bailey, but I'm having a hard time going back further.

Nancy Elizabeth Crisp was born November of 1830 in Kentucky. She married James Bailey in 1846 in Texas and had 9 children together.  Since she was only 16 at the time, I'm unsure as to how or why she moved from Kentucky to Texas, as I'm unsure of any brothers or sisters.  The earliest census I can find is from 1850 and she is already married at that time.

Her parents might be William Walter Crisp and Elizabeth Matthews and I also believe that she had a brother, John Crisp who was hanged, in Gainesville, Texas after being accused of being a Union sympathizer during the Civil War.  Just reading some of the names of his relatives leads me to believe I am on the correct family line.  Some of the names were carried down throughout my family and they are not common names.

I know what my next genealogical project will be!