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Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Memories of Arcadia


I’ve been digging around the roots of the family tree, and discovered an ancestor from the 1640s in Virginia who had a wee farm. Of 2,000 acres. Don’t get too excited—he probably came over as an indentured servant, and a lot of the farm was marshy—more sea than land. We aren’t talking royalty here-- He was a tobacco and sustenance farmer. Aside from farming, he must have loved the sea, since he dwelt within sight of it until the end of his days.

His name was Richard, and he had three wives over his long life. Wife one was Dorothy, definitely an indentured servant, according to the records. How desperate was an Englishwoman like Dorothy, to indenture herself to live in the dangerous, god-forsaken colony that was Virginia? Richard agreed to buy her freedom from another planter, by “replacing” her with a servant from the group due to arrive on the next ship. She gave him the son from whom I am descended.

The next wife was Ruth. She was a pistol, and Richard must have loved her to put up with her wild ways. Ruth was convicted of fornication, and had two sons “from the other side of the blanket.” Richard stood by her and got along so well with the two illegitimate sons they eventually took Richard’s surname. Now that’s being broadminded, all the way around, for the 17th century or any other time.

Wife three was Elizabeth, a much younger woman, who was with him to his death. Richard referred to her in his will as his loving wife, leaving her a life estate on his farm. The will mentions distribution of the acreage, cows, sheep, horses, tobacco, bedsteads, and a few other basic, household goods among the five children. Not a bad estate for a man who had arrived in the New World with nothing and did not own slaves.

In those days, conditions in Virginia were so harsh, that many, especially indentured servants, did not survive their first two years in the colony. The first year, called the “seasoning,” would have included scorching, blistering heat, followed by an icy winter, when water drawn in buckets for the livestock was frozen by morning. Clouds of biting insects, diseases, back-breaking work, crop-failure, and scant food for many years was the lot of most colonists. Setting traps for game, netting fish, eating venison, turtle, wild duck, geese, and mud-hens, and glad to get them.

Richard, who’d been converted to membership in the Society of Friends by an itinerant preacher, noted in his will that he was departing this life with much more than he deserved. He committed his soul to God, his body to Mother Earth. I can find no known remnant of his dwelling place or his grave. Much of the land is still under cultivation, right down to the marshy edge of Gargathy Bay, with its outlet to the Atlantic Ocean.

The place names from Richard’s day fascinate me. The creek near his homestead he’d named “Long Love Branch.” The plantation--no, not Tara—it was probably originally one room and a dirt floor-- was called “Arcadia,” a reference to a district in ancient Greece, a symbolic, lost, rural place of innocent bliss, as the dictionary tells me. A school near the site of his farm bears the name Arcadia to this day.

You may have heard a Latin expression:

Et in Arcadia ego.

Roughly translated, it means “I too lived in Arcadia,” and as an inscription on a grave marker meant the departed one had also enjoyed the metaphorical pleasures of an idyllic place, his own personal Arcadia.

I too lived in Arcadia.

Learning about Arcadia, Richard’s farm, explains a lot to me. In high school my group of friends joked a lot about running away to live on an island. I was the one who actually did, when I slipped off to live for 15 years on Ocracoke Island, on North Carolina’s Outer Banks. I worked as a commercial fisherman for years, and I’m sure that Richard took what fish, clams, crabs, and oysters he could from the teeming waters near the farm. Although I have never raised enough food to sustain me, I’ve dabbled in gardening, dirt under my fingernails, since I was a child. I have had a compulsion to plant flowers, herbs, and vegetables, even when I lived on sandy Ocracoke.

My years on the remote island were often idyllic, although not without struggles and heartbreak. Yet, there I was free. The simple kind of free that comes from not owning much, having few bills, being able to walk to work or the grocery store, futzing around in a garden, having a few books and the time to read them.

So when I discovered Richard's Arcadia, I was not entirely surprised. Not to get all New Age-y, I believe some of us have a genetic memory that may affect our lives in ways we don’t fully understand. These memories pull on us, giving us dirty hands at the end of a summer day, calling us to live near the sea, and making our ears prick up at the sound of Canada geese flying overhead.

As their 10th generation granddaughter, Richard’s and Dorothy’s blood is present in me, even across four centuries.


24 comments:

  1. My grandfather came across the Atlantic Ocean, from Germany by himself, when he was twelve years old. He didn't speak a word of English, but wrote an account of his journey, later on in his life. Such fascinating people, our ancestors! Thank you so much for sharing the valuable treasure you found, while digging through the roots of your family tree.

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    1. Our ancestors were a brave and sometimes rowdy lot! I have more to say about the search for roots and how we are all descended from survivors we can take pride in. Thank you so much for your support, Mark. I would love to hear more about your grandfather-- at 12, by himself-- quite incredible!

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  2. This is a fantastic post, Melanie. Now I feel the need to one day own a home again, just so that I can call it Arcadia. (And, yes, I might want it to be an island - but one close enough to civilization that I don't go crazy.)

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    1. What a great idea-- I love it when people name their houses, and I see no reason why we can't name our apartments or our campers. Thank for for your kind words, Renae-- I'm behind in my blog reading but have your latest posts saved for when I can get caught up! Hope you find your island!

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  3. I've always been a city girl - though raised in the suburbs, I spent a lot of time in NY City, and it's stayed with me all these years as a Californian. There's no place I feel more at home than in NY City. My grandparents and some of my great-grandparents were native New Yorkers, city dwellers, so I can see how that genetic imprint works.

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    1. Thanks, Sharon, I don't know if there is any scientific basis for my feelings, but I can feel in my bones if a place is "right" for me. I get a kick out of imagining how our ancestors lived in conditions that seem so harsh to us now.

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  4. I love this. I can't trace my lineage back more than two generations (genocide and all) except through fuzzy narratives told by orphaned and expatriated children. Apparently there was this bible in which all births, marriages, and deaths were recorded but it too is gone for good. Which is my long and tangential way of saying that I love this :)

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    1. Our family bible has gone missing, too, last heard of in Florida. I can't take credit for most of the research-- other people did most of the work for me and posted it online. My mother's side of the family is proving much more difficult to trace.
      One thing I've learned is that we are all a lot more closely related than we realize! Thank you so much for the comment!

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  5. Reading this today, Melanie, transported me to another time. What a ride, Amiga! And now you've got me wondering just how much digging I can do to find out about my ancestors from my birth father's side. I already know about my mother's (she would like me to document her story, as a matter of fact).

    Ever since I saw the movie "A Walk in the Clouds," if I ever have a home of ours again, I want to name it "Camino en las Nuves." And that is what I would call this place we now rent, if it were mine. :)

    Thank you for this post, my dear friend, I enjoyed it very muchly! Love & hugs...

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    1. Hope one day you get the house that you and Robert deserve. That would be one great house warming celebration. Hugs to you.

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    2. *Tearing* thank you, my friend, I appreciate the warm and caring thought. Love you Amiga!

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    3. Love that "Camino en las Nuves!" Such a beautiful name for your future home.
      Have fun with your research-- the internet can make it so easy if distant relatives post their information online like part of my family did. I would love to read about your mama's roots.
      Hugs and love to you today, mi amiga!

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  6. Totally enjoyed this post because it told me so much about you and your beautiful heritage. Love the ocean and that you fished and love the attitude of your relation. Wish I could find out more about my family, but with name changes and being kicked out of countries due to political hate, not much remains. Hope you do another post about your fisherwoman days, as I would love to hear more about that part of your being.

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    1. Our Nurse Elaie is right, because I second that request to know more. :)

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    2. Thank you so much for reading, Elaine. Poking around in the past has reminded me that we ALL came from the same people/family, really, and that they had to struggle to survive, or we would not be here.
      You are so kind to support me the way you do, sweet lady!

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  7. How wonderful that you know this family history! I've no such knack for gardening. I'd love to have an acre of land used for home gardening, as long as someone else managed it and did all the work. I'd simply like to prep and cook the spoils! I'd also love to know my family history, but I don't think that will ever happen...sadly.

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  8. When I first read "he had three wives", I thought, "OK now we're definitely kindred especially now that we have the proof of our ancestral polygamy" as my great-great-grandfather was a Mormon polygamist and had 3 wives...at the same time. Alas, no. Hee hee.

    Also? I don't recall the book now but, ever since I read it as a teen, I've always wanted to visit/live in the outer banks. Weird? I'm kind of envious knowing that was your life for such a long time.

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    1. Well, it does sound like Ruth had more than one "husband" at a time.... I don't think any of our forebears were immune from lust, or we wouldn't be here, lol.

      I wonder what book that was-- someday when we get together, I'll bend your ear about the Outer Banks.

      It's a place where it can be said about finding a mate that the odds are good, but the goods are odd. :-)

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  9. Melanie, I can't believe I haven't visited your blog for so long. I am happy to now have time remedy that...

    I would love to eventually take the time to trace my family's history. You never know what characters you will find in your digging.

    He sounds like he was a strong and forgiving man who must have loved as passionately as he worked. I loved his selection of women that he chose to marry.

    Your post also reminds me of one of my favorite non-fiction novels "Sisters in the Wilderness" by Charlotte Gray. It really gives you a perspective of what it was like to be an early settler and survive the elements with such tenacious spirit.

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    1. Hi Darcy-- Somehow your comment got put in blogger jail for weeks! You are too kind-- Richard does spark my imagination. I will look for Sisters in the Wilderness, since I'm on this colonial track these days! Thanks for the comment!

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  10. Melanie, it has been such a long time since I have visited your blog. I am glad to finally have remedied that...Now if only I can figure out how to change my google name. lol.

    Your post reminds me of one of my favorite non-fiction novels "Sisters in the Wilderness" by Charlotte Grey. It is about the tenacious spirit of two young women as they faced the harsh elements to build a life in the new colonies.

    It must be wonderful to know so much about your family history! He sounds like he was an interesting man who was passionate and forgiving. I can only imagine the secrets he whispers from his grave.

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    1. Yes, Richard must have been forgiving to deal with a woman like Ruth. I adore your line about his whispered secrets-- perhaps his example is a lesson for me! Thanks so much for stopping by to read.

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  11. I love this post and think it's fabulous that you were able to find so much information about a relative so far back in the family tree. I've been fascinated with genealogy for a year or so now and I've always found the concept of genetic memory to be compelling. Thanks for sharing this. :)

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  12. that is great to find out the relatives. thanks for sharing this. if you use some affordable grave markers, they will look awesome. but the main thing is that you are getting familiar to your family tree as Masked Mom said.

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