This Land is Their Land — Part Two
My Ancestors — Pacifists and Puritans
Last week, I posted a long essay reflecting on the book, This Land is Their Land by David J. Silverman.
In part one, I explained how a few personal interests converged in January. I am a big believer in integrated thinking, drawing from several disciplines of thought, to discover synergies that might be capable of resolving our most complex and persistent wicked challenges. The convergence involved my efforts to understand my ancestors (through ancestry.com), an analysis of the rising signs of fascism in the United States, watching the attempted American Revolution (the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 5th), and the threat economic inequality presents to our democracy.
In part two, I reveal details of my early immigrant ancestors as they settled in New England as part of the Great Migration.
Thirty-five of my ancestors arrived in the Massachusetts Bay Area during the Great Migration (between 1630 and 1650). Their surnames include Buttrick, Hastings, Bateman, Blood/Bloud, Harrison, Willard, Wood, Flint, Bradell, Oakes, Post, Raynsford, Bassett, Ryder, Clement, Gifford, Reed, Mills, and Gregory. Many were Puritans or Separatists, as they were called in England. Some were indentured servants to wealthier immigrants.