In November 2017, Prince Harry chose an American for his bride-to-be, and the media coverage over this announcement was, of course, overwhelming. What sparked my interest in this news story were the local (New Hampshire) newspapers (and other media outlets) reporting that Meghan Markle had ancestral ties to some early Hampton, NH settlers. Myself having numerous ancestors from there, I took a look at her family tree (one was posted on the American Ancestors website), and compared it with mine. While I don't have a (known) blood connection to Christopher Hussey, an ancestor of Meghan's who was the main focus in the news articles (see: http://www.seacoastonline.com/news/20171130/future-british-princess-meghan-markle-has-ancestral-ties-to-hampton), there were numerous others I was linked to. I ran with a couple of surnames we had in common, to calculate our MRCA (most recent common ancestor). Here are a few families that I charted out:

Through the ROBERT PAGE family (I descend from 4 of his children!), and the Capt. HENRY DOW line, I am 10th cousins to Thomas Markle. 

Through the line of MORRIS HOBBS, I am a 10th cousin, 1x removed, from Meghan.

Here is my connection with the ANTHONY TAYLOR common ancestor. Again, on the 10th cousin line.

I know I also have a common ancestor with the Rev. STEPHEN BACHILOR, but with him being probably the most well known of all the early Hampton names, I chose instead a few other lines. Perhaps I'll chart out my connections to all of his famous descendants (see his Wikipedia page) in another blog entry! 

"Cemetery" is the Week 17 challenge for #52Ancestors.

Since the passing of my grandparents in 1979 and 1980, I had always accompanied my family on many trips to the Riverside Cemetery in New Castle, New Hampshire, to visit their graves and refresh the flowers kept there. Having not yet delved into my paternal ancestry at that time, I had not known that many of my ancestors were buried there, and I had been walking by them for so many years. 

The following are the grave stones of my direct ancestors which currently stand in Riverside Cemetery. There are other relatives here that do not have stones, nor are their plots known. The amount of cousins buried here number in the hundreds, with the family names of AMAZEEN, LEAR, MELOON, PRIDHAM, and YEATON being a part of this community since the 1600-1700's.  

Nathaniel and Keziah Lear, my 5th Great-Grandparents.  He died on April 5, 1824, Aged 57. She died April 6, 1844, Aged 78. Considering the dates of death, they were likely buried elsewhere, perhaps on their old property, and moved to this cemetery after it was opened.
See also: Nathaniel Lear of New Castle, NH 

My 4th Great-Grandparents:
William A. Meloon, 27 Nov 1795 - 27 Nov 1842
The son of Abraham (Abram) and Elizabeth (Marden) Meloon
Mary (Lear) Meloon, his wife, 25 June 1800 - 28 Feb 1873
The daughter of Nathaniel and Keziah (Amazeen) Lear

Note: ALL of these photos were taken by me, between 2008 and 2012, and I have posted many of the same ones onto "Find a Grave", and also to my Flickr account. Some of them have since found their way onto Ancestry family trees, which is fine, so long as an original source is indicated. So, to my cousins who have found their way here, I say "Hello!"

Update: Since starting this page two weeks ago, I traveled down to New Castle, and revisited the cemetery. Glad to see the Barnabus Yeaton stone is upright again!   

In memory of my Great-Grandmother, DOROTHY MELOON YEATON, who was born in New Castle, New Hampshire on 11 Jan 1870, the daughter of Nathaniel B and Louisa M (Meloon) Yeaton. She died in Portsmouth, NH on 2 Dec 1927, and was buried in Riverside Cemetery, New Castle.
​

She was married, in Portsmouth, NH on 14 Sept 1889, to JOHN TAYLOR DOW, the son of John T.H. and Mary A (Riley) Dow.  They had seven sons and two daughters while they lived in New Castle and Portsmouth.

The above photo was taken at Harold Dow's house in South Eliot, with Dorothy and John T Dow in the background. Three of their sons are in front, along with Harold's wife Lora.

An earlier blog entry on this family can be seen here: John T Dow of Portsmouth, NH

As the old family photo albums that once belonged to my grandparents contained several pictures of my Great-Uncle Lawrence T. Dow, I thought I'd write a blog post about him on this Veterans Day (not finished until Jan '18)

LAWRENCE TAYLOR DOW, the son of John Taylor and Dorothy Meloon (Yeaton) Dow, was born in New Castle, New Hampshire on 8 July 1896. He moved with his parents to Portsmouth, NH a few years later.

On 22 March 1917, he enlisted with the army, and was a private in the Coast Artillery Corps (CAC), stationed at Fort Constitution in New Castle. The following year, the government began sending companies of CAC over to Europe. Lawrence departed New York on 17 Sept 1918, but was only overseas a few months, as he left Saint Nazarre, France on the USS Antigone on 21 Dec 1918. The US Army Transport Service Records listed him as being a private in Battery B, 52nd Artillery (CAC). His obit said he was a corporal, so his promotion must have been received following his return to the States. He was discharged from the army on 24 Jan 1919. When the Emerson Hovey VFW Post was organized in Portsmouth that year, Lawrence was a charter (and life) member.

On 21 June 1919, in Portsmouth, he would marry Isabel (or Isabelle) Goggins, and they had a daughter Dorothy. He worked as a shipfitter/shipwright at the navy yard in the early 1920's, was a manager of the Arcade Bowling Alleys on Daniel Street circa 1926, and would become a Portsmouth police officer by 1928. He served the city until 1945, when he resigned from the police force. By then, he and Isabel had divorced, and he remarried in 1942, to Marguerite Monroe. He had a daughter Susan with his 2nd wife.

He returned to the navy yard by 1952, and was listed as retired in the 1961 city directory. He died on 2 Apr 1976 in Portsmouth, and was buried in St Mary's Cemetery in Dover, NH.

See also blog posts for:
John T Dow of Portsmouth, NH
In Memory of...Dorothy M (Yeaton) Dow

The photo on right is of my great-grandparents, John T Dow and Dorothy M (Yeaton). Except for a brief time following their 1889 marriage, when they stayed with her father in New Castle, they lived their lives in Portsmouth, NH. They didn't own a home, they were renters, and stayed in at least eight different addresses within the city.

These two pictures from the family photo album were clearly taken at the same location. But, where was it? I have looked at all their known living places on the Sanborn fire maps, and didn't find a matching residence. I have looked at the same places from Google's street and satellite views, but can't seem to locate this spot! It may be the backside of 28 Blossom, but photo I do have of Dorothy that was marked "Blossom St" shows her a lot younger than this one. The brickwork does look similar to the back part of the building.