May 23rd - May 25th, 2018

May 23, 2018

We spent today in Topside, another community of Phil’s ancestor’s, the Boardman’s. Spent most of our time was spent at the library, which was much bigger than the one we were at the other day, and the lady in the research section was much more helpful!! Phil found a lot of information on the Boardman’s and I even found some information on immigration dates on some of my ancestor’s. So, it was a productive day.

After the library, we found Boardman Lane, and the big surprise of the day was that next door to the Boardman on Boardman Lane was Joseph Smith, Sr’s house. Joseph Smith, Jr is the one who married my many times great aunt, Emma Hale, and co-founded the Mormon Church. Joseph Jr was born in Topside, then shortly afterwards, the family moved to Vermont, then on to north Pennsylvania. On Boardman Lane where the Smith house used to be, there is a monument to Joseph Smith, Jr.

May 24, 2018

Today we took off to some sight-seeing that didn’t include family research. We headed for Salem, home of the famous Witch Trials. We visited the Salem Witch Museum, it was very interesting. They used mannequins to tell the story of why people we suspected of witchcraft, different tests were used on different people. One may was pressed to death under huge stones, some were hung. Most were just suspected, and lived to tell the tale of being kept in dark dungeons till they were nearly crazy. The victims of this Witch Hunt came from all over the area, not just Salem. We were both happy not to recognize any of the names of the accused. Walking through the historical district of Salem was an experience of a mixture of history and keeping up the theme of the Witch Trials. It was a fun afternoon.

There were ship's heads like this all up and down the old shopping area, they are done by local artist.

One of the older buildings, a mixture of archtitechture.

The site of the beginning of the National Guard.

One of the many fountains throughout the historic district

This is the Witch Museum. Could you get more Goth than this??

If you can make these pictures bigger, you can see the names of the accused, Hanged, pressed, etc. Will you find one of your ancestor's here??

May 25, 2018

Today we traveled to our stopover for the Memorial Day Weekend.  We are camped at Tuxbury Pond Campground, just over the border of New Hampshire. The place is packed and there are hundreds of kids running around. The season has caught up with us!! Up to this point, the campgrounds have been quiet and almost empty, but Memorial Day marks the beginning of the summer season. Suddenly spring is over, the high today was 84, and the campground is noisy.

Oh well, it had to happen sometime. Oh, and I almost forgot…it’s suppose to rain most of the weekend.