10 Comments

Wow, wow, wow!! Gripping story. Told beautifully! Looking forward to the next chapter.

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Just finding you...fascinating story!

Personally stopped in my tracks to learn that May Street in Worcester had such a home, and that it became a historic district. I lived at 137 May Street in the mid-1980s, so the opening in Chapter One brought me right back there through the lens of time -- the story's and my own. Then all that talk about the Parkers...in 2000, we bought what we call "The Parker House" in Orange MA. Am riveted by your story on its own, and for me there's an overlay that I don't quite know what to call.

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OMG, I can't help myself. With a Parker line in my family dating way, way, back, I had to check to be sure there wasn't any connection. Well... not directly anyway. I don't think it'll spoil the story to reference Mary Martha Parker b. 8 March 1864 from FamilySearch ID: KZL5-FW4 https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/KZL5-FW4

😮‍💨 She's not a direct ancestor. 6th cousin, 3 times removed.

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Oh that would be cool! I know there were a number of Parker families in MA pre-revolution, and not all of them were related. But that would have been fun if you were!

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Judging where this is going I'm not so sure about “cool.” Looking back into my own family tree and up the family tree for Mary Martha Parker, it appears not. It was a very common name coming from England.

For a genealogy catfight, the collaboration page of Richard Parker I 1630-1677 references six different Richard Parkers in Virginia at the time. It puts Wikipedia fights to shame: https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/collaborate/LVK5-QKZ

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Fascinating story. How cruel to tell her she has to bear the sin of her parents.

By the way, Christmas in Baltimore has a inconsistency. After saying she has gone to Baltimore the next paragraph implies she was in Boston, not Baltimore. Here is the quote "It's not known how long Aimee stayed in Boston with Mary Martha and Archibald, or what conversations took place."

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Thanks for the catch - I've made the correction!

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I just reread chapter 2. What was the Greek war? I am unfamiliar with an US conflict by that name.

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Good question! I just double checked the original article, and it definitely says Greek. then I did some searching, and it might be a reference to the Greek War for Independence (1821-1832). Here's an article about American support for the war, tho it doesn't seem to involve direct military assistance or intervention. https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/17764. I'll do some more checking, very curious!

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Could it be a misspelling in the original? Maybe Creek War?

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