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Hi David. Thank you very much.
I'd like to offer a little background on my grandmother.
My grandmother was reportedly a "foundling" in Boston, MA, in 1889 and was adopted by John and Mary (CLARK) DEXTER in 1892. This John was the man I mentioned in my old posting, b1837 in Killingly, CT, the son of Marvin and Mary (ALLEN) DEXTER.
This is a long, complicated story, so I'll just mention the "educated guess" about my grandmother's birth mother. John and Mary DEXTER had 3 daughters, but 2 died as children. The surviving daughter, Clara, married Abner YOUNG in Killingly. They had 2 children, but their daughter died young, and they had a son, Earl YOUNG. I believe that Clara had an "unwanted pregnancy" in the "summer of 1888." IF some miracle happens and I can prove this, then my grandmother's grandparents were John and Mary DEXTER.
Continuing this, Mrs. Mary (CLARK) DEXTER's mother was Mrs. Rhoda (MANCHESTER) (LAVARE) CLARK of Westport, MA. Rhoda was born 1800 and married twice. She had 3 LAVARE children and then the daughter, Mary Anna CLARK, b1836, who married John DEXTER.
A lady in CT who is descended from the LAVARE sons has just told me this week that Rhoda's mother was a TOMPKINS, and thus was descended from the ALDEN family on the Mayflower. (I'm saying this from memory, so I can't offer details at this moment.)
So, my grandmother, who lived with my family, when I was school-age, lived her whole life - never knowing who her birth-parents were. She didn't even have a clue. But, she knew that her adoptive parents knew, and they told her a lot of "falsehoods." She died in 1967.
So, according to her family, she was a "foundling" in 1889, and had no known ancestors. But, my research, added to my mother's research, shows the good possibility that Mrs. Clara (DEXTER) YOUNG was her birth mother. And, if so, my grandmother was descended from 2 Mayflower families.
IF Clara either had "an affair" or was raped, etc., I will probably never find out who the birth father was. But another guess is she could have had more good ancestors.
Clara went to her dying day proclaiming that she didn't even know her parents had adopted a little girl. But, both she and her son visited the home in Melrose, MA, and her parents visited their "home town" of Killingly many times. (John and Mary moved from Killingly to Melrose ~1885.)
(The DEXTER's also go back to the 1600's.)
I hope you don't mind my telling you this story.
Betty (near Lowell, MA)
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