I knew all my close and immediate family members, including aunts, uncles, cousins, etc., growing up. Still, I NEVER realized how big my family was until I joined My Heritage and then Ancestry months later. What an eye-opener that was for me.
In 2018 I went to a cemetery in West Bowdoin, ME, where my sister-in-law told me lots of my ancestors were buried. So one sunny day, off we went with my camera in hand and what a surprise I got. I took lots of pictures of gravestones that day, not knowing who or how many of them were related to me.
I remember my mom and dad going to West Bowdoin, ME, and Bangor, ME, to visit my dad’s Purinton cousins. I wasn’t interested in relatives then because they were my dad’s cousins, and why would I want to see them. This brings me to that day at the West Bowdoin cemetery, where I saw gravestones of families who spelled their name Purinton, Purrington, and Purington. The Puddington spelling had been changed to Purrington, then Purington, and eventually Purinton by most family members. I recognized some of them but not all. My question at the time was, HOW are they related to ME. After a year or more research, most of my questions were answered thanks to information I obtained on My Heritage and Ancestry.
During that time, I joined the Lisbon Historical Society and met some wonderful people who helped me search and answer many questions about my family. One person, in particular, Charlie Hall, had been on Ancestry for 20+ years, and he became a valuable source of information for me. He even researched some of my Purinton family members that I was having trouble with. He also discovered that he and I are related through the Goddards (my mother’s maiden name is Goddard.) After my Purinton family tree was complete, I started doing the Goddard family tree, Croteau (my grandmother, my mom’s mom was a Croteau), and Day family tree. My grandmother Purinton’s maiden name was Day. I spent a year doing their family trees.
I can trace my Purinton family history back to Devonshire, England, and to a town named Puddington, a small village 8 miles west southwest of Tiverton, England. It is also believed that is how Andrew Puddington b 1588 got his name. My family descends from Andrew, and our surname’s spelling was changed over the years to Pudington, Purrington, Purington, and eventually to Purinton, which is how my family spells our name. Some families still spell it Purington, and I’m convinced we’re all related.
I am fascinated by genealogy and Ancestry and can get lost in research, documents, birth, death, and marriage certificates, among other things. An important thing to remember, for me anyway, is the use of multiple software platforms to achieve my goals and to “find answers” to my questions. I have found similar and sometimes the same information on Ancestry and My Heritage. I have also used Family Search for historical information. I take lots of notes with names, dates, and any added information I can find to make the best and most accurate conclusion I can to connect people to the correct family.
Fast forward to 2020, and here I am, helping John Elcik IV write an eBook about the Elcik family. (My husband’s mother’s maiden name was Elcik.) I hadn’t done too much with the Elcik family tree because I was focused primarily on my family. Thank goodness John, and I have been collaborating on that tree because I’m positive I wouldn’t have been able to do so by myself.
What an interesting journey it has been for both of us. We work well together, John as the writer and me as “the go-getter/editor,” if you will. I live in Lisbon Falls and can go to cemeteries, take pictures, which by the way, I love to do, and I have also reached out to my friends at the Historical Society for help. There are still families living in Lisbon Falls I’ve reached out to for help and have “tested their memories” about their ancestors.
When John uses the phrase “We Have Traveled Far,” he’s absolutely correct. Not only have our families traveled far geographically, but we’ve also traveled far in our research.
Word. Beth deserves the last post, but I take the last word. – John, IV
