The marriage of Grace Abbot and Paul W. Fletcher in Warren, RI in 1917 joined two  old New England families. Growing up, my cousins and I heard tales of daring and bravery, as well as stories of simple and honest folks making their way in a new and fast developing country. Our forebears all contributed to the fabric of the family values that we grew up with.

As I’ve read and researched I’ve come across interesting new stories, or new slants on old ones – intrigues with Queen Elizabeth I, for example, or my great-grandfather’s friendship with a legendary rum-runner, Bill McCoy, to whom he had taught seamanship. Curiosity of the past led to discovering wonderful Norwegian cousins whom we never knew we had, all of us descended from a common 2nd-great grandfather.

Since I’ve gotten older I’ve come to appreciate just how interesting the lives of some of these ancestors really were, and in the value of preserving the record of where we came from. In the coming years I hope to further explore some of their stories and share them here. A brief overview of some of the people whose stories have been passed down, that I hope to explore and expand upon in coming years, are recorded below.

Among the nine Mayflower voyagers Grace was descended from was her 9th-great grandfather, Elder William Brewster, cofounder of the small group of worshippers who started meeting in secret in Scrooby, England in the early 1600s. Brewster would become a spiritual leader of the Pilgrims, and was likely the primary author of the Mayflower Compact, one of the earliest documents setting out the democratic ideal of a “civil Body Politick” for what would become America.

His teenage daughter Patience, left behind in Holland, joined her parents in the New World three years later and married Thomas Prence, who would serve as Governor of Plymouth Colony for many years during its formative period.

Another ancestor, John Howland, fell overboard from the Mayflower during a gale and it was only by chance that he managed to grab onto a piece of rigging and be hauled back aboard. A total of fourteen of Grace’s ancestors came over in the ships Mayflower (1620), Fortune (1621), Anne (1623) and Little James (1623), whose passengers are referred to as “First Comers” in early Plymouth records. Between the Abbots and Fletchers, another sixty or more came over prior to 1640 in the “Great Migration.”

The long-standing tavern in Plymouth Colony was founded by Grace’s 7th great grandfather, James Cole, on what is now Cole’s Hill in front of Plymouth Rock overlooking the harbor. The tavern developed a rather rowdy reputation – in stark contrast to the churchgoing community – almost reminiscent of those taverns which gave the American West a notorious flavor. Around the same time, Reverend George Phillips came with Winthrop’s fleet in 1630 and founded the first Congregational Church in what is now Watertown, MA. He was more tolerant than some of his compatriots and encouraged inclusiveness in the Church.

The founders of Concord, Massachusetts in the 1630s included Robert Fletcher, George Wheeler and Joseph Merriam on the Fletcher side of the family. Their offspring would be involved in the “shot heard ’round the world” more than a century later. Ebenezer Fletcher from New Hampshire served in the Revolutionary War. Wounded and captured by Burgoyne’s forces near Ticonderoga, New York, he escaped and made his way back home through territory controlled by the enemy. His published account of his weeks-long ordeal is a compelling story. Benjamin Williams, also on the Fletcher side of the family, was an orderly Sergeant at the Battle of Bunker Hill, and also fought at Bennington and Stillwater. I recently discovered family records that indicate his mother was from the Scottish Munroe clan, descended from William Munroe, a soldier taken prisoner at the 1651 Battle of Worcester (England) after Oliver Cromwell defeated Charles II’s Loyalist forces. Cromwell dispersed many of the prisoners to the New World. Munroe was sent to Lexington, Mass as an indentured servant.

General Nathan Miller, Grace’s 3rd-great grandfather, was a delegate at the 1786 Continental Congress and Brigadier General for Rhode Island in the Revolutionary War. He had a warm friendship with Count Rochambeau, and family lore recalls that Rochambeau, George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette were all entertained in Miller’s home in Warren. When the British attacked Rhode Island in 1778 they came after General Miller, who was carrying valuable state papers. He escaped with his wife and daughter by rowing across the river to Barrington, during which a British bullet whizzed through his daughter’s hair – another margin by which the family lineage survived. In the subsequent Battle of Rhode Island, Miller led the American forces in what LaFayette would pronounce “the best fought action of the war.” General Miller’s home in Warren, R.I. would become a family homestead and remained in the Miller and Abbot families until the 1950s.

At age 21 Joel Abbot, Grace’s grandfather, was asked by Commodore Thomas Macdonough to sneak behind enemy lines on Lake Champlain and destroy the spars for Britain’s powerful new frigate Confiance. His successful mission, for which Congress awarded him a sword, delayed the British attack and enabled the under-manned Americans to reinforce their fleet. Their ensuing victory at Plattsburgh Bay on September 11, 1814 prevented the British from marching to New York and severing New England from the rest of the country. Later in his career Commodore Abbot would captain the USS Macedonian as 2nd in Command on the 1850s expedition to Japan under Matthew Perry and took charge of the fleet after Perry’s departure. Two US Navy ships were named for Joel Abbot, including the destroyer USS Abbot (DD 629) which Grace christened at its 1943 launching at Maine’s Bath Iron Works.

During the Civil War the Union wanted to close down the Mississippi from Confederate shipping and transport. Grace’s grandfather, George Marcellus Ransom commanded the steam gunboat Kineo and participated with Farragut’s fleet in several memorable battles. While forcing their way past New Orlean’s forts the Kineo was set on fire by a red-hot shot. Ransom is credited with coolness and alacrity in saving the ship and participating in the capture of New Orleans, and later played a key role in defeating Breckinridge at Baton Rouge.

Paul Fletcher’s great-grandmother Malena Rasmusdatter grew up on the small island of Midbrod on Norway’s southwest coast. In 1811, during the Napoleonic War, the Norwegians captured a British ship full of valuable rope and tar and hid it in a small cove on the north side of Midbrod. The waters were too narrow to bring in their warship, so the British sent an armed expedition of small boats to rescue the ship. The local men were out fishing, but Malena rallied the local woman and boys and fought off the attackers, garnering her a cover photo as a sort of “Joan of Arc” in a recent Norwegian history magazine.

Malena’s son Peter Christian Asserson left Midbrod as a teen and made his way to the US where he became one of the few foreign-born sailors to attain the rank of Rear Admiral. He commanded various ships during the Civil War, and after the war was in charge of removing war time obstructions including the famous gunboat Merrimack. He also raised the Delaware and donated its figurehead, portraying the Indian chief Tecumseh, to the USNA where it became a prominent feature on campus. Asserson’s biggest contributions came after the war, when he introduced concepts that transformed the efficiency of US shipyards.

Asserson’s daughter Malene married William B. Fletcher, who would himself become a Rear Admiral and led a fleet of converted sailing yachts in the Atlantic during WWI. Fletcher’s sons served with distinction, including Rear Admiral William B. Fletcher, Jr. who commanded ships at the battles of Midway and at Guadalcanal, and John A. and Paul W. Fletcher, both of whom died while on active duty.

The Fletcher and Abbot families were active in other fields, some more savory than others. Joseph Smith of Warren, RI, lost money on his first whaling voyage, but made money on the second. He would eventually have 23 ships at sea. The Abbot Family helped found the town of Andover and the prestigious schools located there. One of the family patriarch, Benjamin Abbot, testified against Martha Carrier at the witch trial for which she would be hanged, claiming she had infected his leg. Shipowner Caleb Eddy undertook a voyage for slaves in 1795 with mixed results.

The families continue to make contributions, and sacrifices, to our country. John A. Fletcher Jr., 4-year captain of the USNA wrestling team and a member of the 1948 and 1952 US Olympic teams, was lost in 1953 flying a Navy plane off Norfolk. In 1968 Peter Fletcher lost his life while serving in Vietnam.

We owe the late Abbot Fletcher, Grace’s son and himself a truly remarkable person, a great debt for preserving many of these stories and associated documents and for assembling the roots of the family tree upon which this effort builds. In his Eulogy to his mother, Abbot described the New England heritage of which his parents came: “These families were for the most part deeply founded in and participants in the Puritan work ethic of hard work, service to God, strong family ties, free enterprise, patriotism and the independence and strength that alone retain freedom.”

It is my goal to record and preserve some of these interesting stories, and to uncover more, for the benefit of future generations and other interested parties. This blog will be a work in process over the coming years as opportunity allows. I welcome comment, support, and additions.