Nearly 200 years ago, Gregor MacGregor pulled off one of the most brazen real estate scams in history.

https://thehustle.co/the-con-artist-who-sold-rich-investors-a-fake-country/?utmsource=join1440&utmmedium=email

BRITISH FLORIDA

The 1763 Treaty of Paris, signed after Great Britain’s victory over France and Spain during the Seven Years’ War, ceded Florida to Great Britain in exchange for the return of Havana and Manila. Although most Spanish colonists in the region left Florida for Cuba, Florida became Great Britain’s fourteenth and fifteenth North American colonies (West and East Florida). Because of the political sympathies of its British inhabitants, St. Augustine became a Loyalist haven during the American Revolutionary War.

After the mass exodus of St. Augustinians, Great Britain sought to repopulate its new colony. The London Board of Trade advertised 20,000-acre lots to any group that would settle in Florida within ten years, with one resident per 100 acres. Pioneers who were “energetic and of good character” were given 100 acres of land and 50 additional acres for each family member they brought. Under Governor James Grant, almost three million acres of land were granted in East Florida alone. Second stories were added to existing Spanish homes, and they built new houses. Cattle ranching and plantation agriculture began to thrive.

During the twenty years of British rule, Britain took command of the Castillo de San Marcos (renamed Fort St. Mark) and Fort Matanzas. They permanently stationed a small group of men at Fort Matanzas. Once war broke out, loyalist St. Augustine residents burned effigies of Patriots Samuel Adams and John Hancock in the plaza. Fort St. Mark became a training and supply base and a prisoner-of-war camp where three signers of the Declaration of Independence and South Carolina’s lieutenant governor Christopher Gadsden were held. Local militia composed of Florida, Georgia, and Carolina inhabitants formed the East Florida Rangers in 1776 and were reorganized to form the King’s Rangers in 1779. Spanish General Bernardo de Gálvez harassed the British in West Florida and captured Pensacola. However, fears that the Spanish would then move to capture St. Augustine proved unfounded.

The 1783 Treaty of Paris, which recognized the independence of the Thirteen Colonies as the United States, ceded Florida back to Spain and returned the Bahamas to Britain. As a result, some of the town’s Spanish residents returned to St Augustine. Refugees from Dr. Andrew Turnbull’s troubled colony in New Smyrna had fled to St. Augustine in 1777, made up the majority of the city’s population during the period of British rule, and remained when the Spanish Crown retook control. This group was referred to locally as “Menorcans,” even though it also included settlers from Italy, Corsica, and the Greek islands.

FROM THE BALTIC TO THE MISSISSIPPI

In 1710, Sweden lost Swedish Livonia, Swedish Estonia and Ingria to Russia almost 100 years later, by the Capitulation of Estonia and Livonia. The loss was cemented by 1721 the Treaty of Nystad. Charles Fred D’Arensbourg emigrated to Louisiana in 1721 with thirty officers. They would rather move to Louisiana, instead of living as Russians.

THE ENTERTAINING PATRIOT

During the American Revolution, when retreating from New York, Major General Putnam, at the head of three thousand five hundred continental troops, was in the rear and the last that left the city. To avoid any of the enemies that might be advancing in the direct road to the town, he chose a road parallel with and contiguous to the North River, till he could arrive at a certain angle, whence another road would conduct him in such a direction as that he might form a junction with our army. It so happened that a body of about eight thousand British and Hessians was at the exact moment advancing on the road, which would have brought them in immediate contact with General Putnam before he could have reached the turn into the other route. Most, fortunately, the British generals, seeing no prospect of engaging our troops, halted their own, and repaired to the house of a Mr. Robert Murray, a Quaker and friend of our cause; Mrs. Murray treated them with cake and wine, and they were induced to tarry two hours or more, Governor Tryon frequently joking her about her American friends. By this happy incident General Putnam, by continuing his march, escaped a rencounter with a greatly superior force, which must have proved fatal to his whole party. One-half hour, it is said, would have been sufficient for the enemy to have secured the road at the turn and entirely cut off General Putnam s retreat. Since then, it has become almost a common saying among our officers that Mrs. Murray saved this part of the American army.

George Washington’s military genius is undisputed. Yet American independence must be partially attributed to a strategy for which history has given the infamous general little credit: his controversial medical actions. Traditionally, the Battle of Saratoga is credited with tipping the revolutionary scales. Yet the health of the Continental regulars involved in the battle was a product of the ambitious initiative Washington began earlier that year at Morristown, close on the heels of the victorious Battle of Princeton. Among the Continental regulars in the American Revolution, 90 percent of deaths were caused by disease, and Variola, the smallpox virus, was the most vicious of them all.

On the 6th of January 1777, George Washington wrote to Dr. William Shippen Jr., ordering him to inoculate all of the forces that came through Philadelphia. He explained that: “Necessity not only authorizes but seems to require the measure, for should the disorder infect the Army . . . we should have more to dread from it, than from the Sword of the Enemy.” The urgency was real. Troops were scarce, and encampments had turned into nomadic hospitals of festering disease, deterring further recruitment. Moreover, both Benedict Arnold and Benjamin Franklin, after surveying the havoc wreaked by Variola in the Canadian campaign, expressed fears that the virus would be the army’s ultimate downfall.

At the time, the practice of infecting the individual with a less-deadly form of the disease was widespread throughout Europe. Most British troops were immune to Variola, giving them an enormous advantage against the vulnerable colonists. Conversely, the history of inoculation in America (beginning with the efforts of the Reverend Cotton Mather in 1720) was pocked by the fear of the contamination potential of the process. Such fears led the Continental Congress to issue a proclamation in 1776 prohibiting Surgeons of the Army from inoculating.

Washington suspected the only available recourse was inoculation, yet contagion risks aside, he knew that a mass inoculation put the entire army in a precarious position should the British hear of his plans. Moreover, Historians estimate that less than a quarter of the Continental Army had ever had the virus; inoculating the remaining three quarters and every recruit must have seemed daunting. Yet the high prevalence of the disease among the army regulars was a significant deterrent to desperately needed recruits, and a dramatic reform was needed to allay their fears.

Weighing the risks, on February 5th of 1777, Washington finally committed to the unpopular policy of mass inoculation by writing to inform Congress of his plan. Throughout February, Washington, with no precedent for the operation he was about to undertake, covertly communicated to his commanding officer’s orders to oversee mass inoculations of their troops in the model of Morristown and Philadelphia (Dr. Shippen’s Hospital). At least eleven hospitals had been constructed by the year’s end.

Variola raged throughout the war, devastating the Native American population and slaves who had chosen to fight for the British in exchange for freedom. Yet the isolated infections that sprung up among Continental regulars during the southern campaign failed to incapacitate a single regiment. With few surgeons, fewer medical supplies, and no experience, Washington conducted the first mass inoculation of an army at the height of a war that immeasurably transformed the international system. Defeating the British was impressive, but simultaneously taking on Variola was a risky stroke of genius.

https://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/GW&smallpoxinoculation.html

THE BEST CHRISTMAS PRESENT EVER!

The good news is you are not George Washington and you do not have to make decisions regarding a new nation’s fate!
I hope you enjoyed the collection of vintage ads where the government worked to encourage inoculation. There were ads that we have shared in the past from other groups sharing their perceived pitfalls with inoculation.

Whatever choices you make in regards to vaccination. I hope you and your family are in good spirits and health as we find ourselves coming out of the 2021 holiday season and starting up the new year.
By the time you read this, you will have already enjoyed too many big plates of food, given thanks, and hopefully spent time with your loved ones, family, and friends. AND you survived Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, New Year’s Eve, and Return Sunday!
After so many years of trying to purchase thoughtful and creative presents for your loved ones, do you find yourself feeling like “you didn’t quite hit the mark” when it came to the uniqueness and personalization of your gifts? Do you find yourself wishing you could find a better gift?
It’s sort of interesting that, as our income grows and our available time shrinks, we often try to increase the price tag to cover that wishful gap between what we’re able to provide and do settle on.
The greatest joy I have felt is when I provided my family and others the pleasure of opening a book containing their story.
There is no more unique and personalized gift than capturing one’s family legacy in the form of pictures, stories, and historical documents in an easy-to-read, enjoyable fashion.
The bookmark will be well-used as the family repeatedly picks up the book and looks through it, getting a sense of their origin and identity.
Take the easy steps now on January 8, 2022; and instead of sitting there feeling a bit disappointed on Return Day 2023, you can click below, reach out to me and get into the queue with Dancestors and we can create your families’ story over the next year. So have your shopping done early with a timeless gift!

Apparently, in 1921, Americans who were primarily descendants of the Europeans were asserting their superiority over them. Remember that we recently came through World War I and the Spanish flu epidemic, and we’re entering the roaring 20’s.

History Does Repeat Itself!

The 4th of July and the pulling down of objectionable statues in protest have coincided before!

The Declaration had thrust all blame onto the king, and its public proclamation set off an open, symbolic murder, and funeral, for the king—an inversion of a King’s Birthday celebration. People in New York City tore down the equestrian statue of George III and hacked it to pieces. A legend was that metal bits from the figure became bullets. In other places, the crowds burned and cut at the monarch’s picture and royal arms.
You can read more here:
https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-resources/essays/invention-fourth-july

You can find tremendous fulfillment in capturing your family’s history. Let’s ensure your family’s legacy isn’t lost. Reach out to Dan at 214-914-3598 or click on the red button to go to the website. We can create a beautiful heirloom book for your family to enjoy together!

If Genealogists were in charge of headstone carvings…

They would all be as thorough as Bezeal Haye’s headstone.

In case your family’s history is a little less documented, reach out to Dancestors by going to the red website button below or calling me at 214-914-3598.

Have a safe and sane 4th of July. My 7th Great Grandfather Dirck “Wooden Leg” Van Vliet got in the way of some New Year’s merriment, but at least he got a nickname out of the deal.

Circumstantial evidence points to Dirck Van Vliet as the elusive Dirrick “Wootin Legg.” The reasons for this conclusion are as follows:
(1) His first name was Dirrick (Dirck is another form of the given name).
(2) Dirck Van Vliet had one leg. A brother-in-law, Gysbert Krom, accidentally shot off Dirck’s left leg at a New Year’s Eve Party in 1678. A wooden or “peg” leg was the usual artificial limb for the time.
(3) “Wooden Leg” is not a proper Dutch surname. The derivation of Dutch surnames at this time was either from the father’s given name or their hometown back in the low countries. Wooden leg, therefore, was a kind of nickname, possibly a cruel pejorative nickname.

Reach out to Dancestors by clicking the red button below, and let’s see what I can find out about your ancestors. Call or text me @ 214-914-3598.

Here’s another story of a bad day at a celebration.

A.J. Cotton wrote this in his book Cotton’s Keepsake “At the jollification of the erection of the toll-bridge over Tanner’s Creek here, a cannon exploded, mangling and killing my neighbor and friend, John Rounds.”

The lesser-known quote- “Those remarkable stories slip away quickly if you do not take steps to preserve them”- Dancestors.

You can find tremendous fulfillment in capturing your family’s stories. Let’s ensure your family’s legacy isn’t lost. Reach out to Dan at 214-914-3598 or Dan@DancestorsGenealogy.com. We can create a beautiful heirloom book for your family to enjoy together!

Will your DNA contribute to the cure for COVID?

Armed with massive data pools, genealogy companies Ancestry, 23andMe begin COVID-19 research.
With 16 million people who’ve already spit in vials and sent them to Ancestry for genetic testing, the company knew it had a potentially useful data set.

Read in USA TODAY: https://apple.news/A04EbfhLPQdGAgRrT_zd-Dg

Don’t lose those great photo memories.

How to organize your old photos and digital memories before they get lost
Is your family lineage built upon a love of photography, sentimentality, and occasional hoarding?

Read in Well+Good: https://apple.news/AS0atLoc-RkGf_WqRaJCEww

Are you sanitizing your mail?

Mail Handlers Used to Poke Holes in Envelopes to Battle Germs and Viruses. The postal service and scientists say there’s no need to sanitize the mail today.

Read in Smithsonian Magazine: https://apple.news/Air2_muMnSj6Vb3odusgyMw

Can you get sick and then find the cure by reading an old medical journal?

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/during-great-book-scare-people-worried-contaminated-books-could-spread-disease-180972967/

Even in a pandemic, there can be an inspiration that leads to treasured art.

“The interior of a hospital tent” by John Singer Sargent. Late in September 1918, while gathering material for ‘Gassed’ near Peronne, Sargent was struck down with the Spanish Flu and taken to a hospital near Roisel. Here, he spent a week in a hospital bed.

Reach out to Dan@DancestorsGenealogy.com, and let’s see what I can find out about your ancestors. Call or text me @ 214-914-3598.

As successful people, one of your responsibilities is to not let your families pictures, stories, and historical documents be lost forever. You have the means to preserve those legacies forever in print and electronically.

Don’t leave your legacy as a burden to your heirs. That’s often the missing piece to your estate planning efforts. You come up with a great plan for a distribution of your tangible assets, but does nothing for your intangible assets, your character, your families legacy.  When you think about your ancestors do you think about how they left money or such they left to so and so, or about the rare and valuable stories about how they lived their lives?

Dan-cestors can discover and preserve the legacy for you, and not have everything be forgotten or end up in a dumpster.

Remember a few months ago that I explained how your Native American ancestry of generations ago, stayed with a cousin, but disappeared from your DNA?
I had a personal experience in that regard that takes it from theory to an actual example. My grandfather Nelson was 100% Swedish. Therefore on average each of his grandchildren would end up with 25% Swedish ethnicity in their DNA.  My dad only ended up with 34% Swedish DNA, so he got 66% of his DNA from his mother’s side (she had no Swedish ancestry).  I ended up with only 8% Swedish DNA. That doesn’t mean that I didn’t end up with 50% of my father’s DNA as he and my mom had lots of shared ethnicities, just not much of the Swedish part.  My kids both ended up 4% Swedish, but that likely was boosted by my wife having about 4% Swedish ancestry.  It’s likely that one of my grandchildren has less than a trace amount of Swedish DNA, so in a matter of 5 generations, 100% of an ethnicity disappeared from the DNA.

Have you wondered why DNA kits keep getting cheaper?
Part of it is that the lab’s fixed cost investment is already paid for, so much of the incremental revenue goes to the bottom line, the other part is that they are also looking at the ability to package (hopefully anonymously) your DNA and health history.

23 and me asks you a substantial amount of health history questions to complement the DNA you provide and Ancestry just announced that they were going to get into health care. You can read more about both companies strategies in the attached link: https://www.businessinsider.com/ancestry-reveals-expansion-into-healthcare-2019-8

The Truth About DNA Kits
At-home DNA test kits are so ubiquitous that it’s easy to forget how insane the technology is. For around $100, you get a peek inside your genome—something that once required a roomful of PhDs and a supercomputer. But don’t be fooled: The big push to increase the numbers of customers isn’t entirely about revealing your ancestry, even whether you’re a descendant of Abraham Lincoln. It’s a way to get your DNA‚ then sell it to companies making everything from pharmaceuticals to face lotion. So here

Read in Men’s Journal: https://apple.news/A3Oqk9ewsRUWLCyEJefi4DA

By Anna Diamond

SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE JULY 2019

Q: Why don’t people smile in old photographs?
Although we tend to think the subjects had to hold their faces still for an uncomfortably long time, exposures from the early days of commercial photography only lasted about 5 to 15 seconds. The real reason is that, in the mid-19th century, photography was so expensive and uncommon that people knew this photograph might be the only one they’d ever have made. Rather than flash a grin, they often opted to look thoughtful and serious, a carry-over from the more formal conventions of painted portraiture, explains Ann Shumard, senior curator of photographs at the National Portrait Gallery. When George Eastman, founder of Eastman Kodak, introduced hand-held cameras in 1888, it made photography more accessible and casual. Photos from around the turn of the 20th century include a lot more candids and a lot more smiles.