By Beth Purinton Gamache
I knew all my close and immediate family members—including aunts, uncles, cousins, and others—growing up, but I never realized how big my family truly was until I joined MyHeritage and, months later, Ancestry. What an eye-opener that was for me.
In 2018, I went to a cemetery in West Bowdoin, Maine, where my sister-in-law told me that many of my ancestors were buried. 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—any of them were related to me.
I remember my mom and dad going to West Bowdoin, Maine, and Bangor, Maine, to visit my dad’s Purinton cousins. At the time, I wasn’t interested in relatives because they were my dad’s cousins, and why would I want to see them? That brings me back to the day at the West Bowdoin cemetery, where I saw gravestones with Purinton names on them—some spelled Purington or Purrington. I recognized some of the names, but not all. My question then was: how are they related to me?
After a year or more of research on MyHeritage and Ancestry, my questions were answered—well, almost all of them.
During that time, I joined the Lisbon Historical Society and met some wonderful people who helped me with my search and answered many questions about my family. One person in particular, Charlie Hall, had been on Ancestry for more than 20 years and 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 working on the Goddard family tree, the Croteau family tree (my grandmother on my mother’s side was a Croteau), and the Day family tree. My grandmother Purinton’s maiden name was Day. I spent a year researching those family trees.
I can trace my Purinton family history back to Devonshire, England, and to a town named Puddington—a small village about eight miles west-southwest of Tiverton, England. It is believed that this is how Andrew Puddington, born in 1588, got his name. My family descends from Andrew, and over the years the spelling of our surname changed from Pudington to Purrington, to Purington, and eventually to Purinton, which is how my family spells the name today. There are still families who spell it Purington, and I am convinced we are all related.
I am fascinated by genealogy and Ancestry and can easily get lost in research—documents, birth, death, and marriage certificates, among other things. An important thing to remember, at least for me, is the use of multiple software platforms to achieve my goals and find answers to my questions. I have found similar—and sometimes identical—information on Ancestry and MyHeritage. I have also used FamilySearch for historical information.
I take lots of notes with names, dates, and any additional information I can find to make the best and most accurate conclusions possible and 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 much with the Elcik family tree because I was focused primarily on my own family. Thank goodness John and I have been collaborating on that tree, because I’m certain I wouldn’t have been able to do it 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 am able to go to cemeteries and take pictures, which, by the way, I love to do. I have also reached out to my friends at the Historical Society for help. There are still families living in Lisbon Falls whom I’ve contacted for assistance and have even “tested their memories” about their ancestors.
When John uses the phrase “We Have Travelled Far,” he is absolutely correct. Not only have our families travelled far geographically, but we have also travelled far in our research.