An Interesting Time

My brother sent some Wyman family history from the Revolutionary War.  Menotomy is now called Arlington, and on the battle day of Lexington and Concord, April 19, 1775, more people were killed in Menotomy than in the more celebrated towns. This was later in the day as the British were attempting to get back to Boston along the Battle Road, now Massachusetts Avenue. Militiamen from many towns positioned themselves along the road to harass the British. The video is a detailed description of the deaths on Jason Russell's property and in his house. It is also notable for the magnificent Coastal New England accent of the presenter. You should click through to hear a couple of minutes of her, anyway.

 

No Wymans are mentioned in that video because the Wyman who was killed in Menotomy, Jabez, met his end in Cooper's Tavern nearby, drinking with Mrs. Russell's cousin and sure that they had time to finish their "flip" before the British arrived. (They didn't.) All the Menotomy deaths were incredibly bloody. Other Wymans acquited themselves more admirably, that day and throughout the Revolution, mostly in the vicinity of Woburn, where the two Wyman brothers had originally settled in 1635. One Hezekiah Wyman was one of those legendary gray-haired men on a white horse that show up in old war stories, nicknamed "Death on a Pale Horse." I recognised as soon as I saw the names that they were not direct ancestors of mine and wondered how close they were. As it was 3-4 generations after the immigrant ancestor they could have been as far as fourth cousins to my line, which seems distant now.

Yet it probably didn't seem so then. If you ran into someone with the same surname they would almost certainly be a relative at that point, as the Great Migration was essentially 1625-45 and then stopped. It would usually take only a minute or so to ask about towns and grandparents to have a good idea where they fit in relation to you. Americans were exposed to many fewer people in their lifetimes then, which would make the connections even tighter. Ephraim Wyman and family headed for Nova Scotia shortly before this, where the same process would be replicated. 140 years later around 1915, if you ran into a Wyman in Yarmouth County NS you would be certain it was a relative and likely able to nail it down pretty quickly. I don't think that process replicated nearly as well after that. 140 years ago would be 1886, and if your immigrant ancestors showed up then, they had a lot more America to move around in and could easily end up more that three towns away. If you ran into your somewhat-common surname you might be sure it was some kind of relative, but until quite recently your ability to track that down would be hampered.