Lizzie Borden took an ax... (Hopefully, no relation...)

I have a follow-up to the DISH saga to share with you... but first, I'm working on my genealogy project again/still ... and since at least one of my blog readers is in Rhode Island, I thought I'd share this little family history tidbit with y'all. The deeper I dig, the more roots I find "up north" which may dispel my Southern Belle personna... however, in the interest of full disclosure, I'll go ahead and share these "shameful" confessions of my Yankee roots.


Soooo... I'm still following the Gant lineage... which, up until my dad's birth, was either in the Northeast part of America or "across the pond", mostly Anglo-Saxon-ish.


My dad was born in Atlanta in 1949. He is the son of
Bruce B. Gant, Sr, who was born in New Jersey in 1924. He is the son of
Theodore S. Gant, who was born in New Jersey in 1884. He is the son of 
Elias Gant, who was born in New Jersey in 1843. He is the son of
Deborah Ann Clayton, who was born in New Jersey in 1816. She is the daughter of
John Clayton, who was born in New Jersey in 1774. He is the son of 
Cornelius Clayton, who was born in New Jersey in 1746. He is the son of
David Clayton, who was born in New Jersey in 1725. He is the son of another
David Clayton, who was born in Rhode Island in 1695. He is the son of 
Anna Amey Cooke, who was born in Rhode Island in 1672. She is the daughter of
Mary Borden, who was *probably* born in Kent, England in 1632. I say, *probably* because although some records show her as born in Rhode Island, we have more reliable information that her father, 
Richard Borden, emigrated to America in 1635, settling in Rhode Island and that her brother, Matthew Borden, was the first child of English descent born "upon Rhode Island". 



America's Successful Men of Affairs: An Encyclopedia of Contemporaneous Biography
Volume I
B
Matthew Chaloner Durfee Borden
(page 100).......The Borden family is of original French stock, and is traceable back to Bourdonnay, an ancient village in Normandy, from which it probably takes its name. The first of the family found on English soil entered the British Isles with William the Conqueror. After the overthrow of Harold and the Saxon regime, they were assigned estates in the County of Kent. Giving their name to the estate, they founded a religious parish there, which also bore the name of Borden. In 1635, Richard, then the head of the family, emigrated to America, settling in Rhode Island. The birth of Matthew Borden, in May, 1638, is mentioned in the Friends' Book of Records, and he was the first child born of English parents on Rhode Island soil, thus fixing the date of the first settlement at Portsmouth. From this point, the family descent is authentically recorded down to the present time.


So... "Friends' Book" = Quakers.
there's also this record... copied from http://blog.bordenfamily.info/ 

The following text is take from the definitive work on the family of Richard Borden, written in 1899 by Hattie Borden Weld: 
The place first selected for settlement was about half a mile southeast from Bristol Ferry, at the south end of a pond that opened into Mt. Hope Bay, which the settlers dignified by the name of Portsmouth Harbor. The pond still retains the name of the town pond, and ebbs and flows as it did then. The town spring has not ceased to send forth its crystal stream, as in days of yore, to gladden the hearts of men, notwithstanding the crowd of settlers have turned their backs upon it, and left it alone in its glory.

To the northeast of the spring a neck of land extends about two miles, which was nearly separated by creeks, marshes and the town pond from the rest of the island. This strip of land, called by the natives Pocasset Neck, was set off by the settlers as a common by running a fence from the south end of the pond to a cove on the east side of the island. This common was called the fenced common, to distinguish it from the lands outside to the south and west of it, which were all commons and the north point then received the name of common fence point, which it still bears, though the reason for its name ceased soon after it was given, and it is now a matter of wonder in many how this name could have originated.

These different objects enumerated point out the location of the first settlement upon Rhode Island and the birthplace of Matthew Borden, the third son of Richard Borden, who was born May, 1638, and shows very nearly the time when the first families arrived there. His birth, and those of Richard’s other children, born on the island, have been handed down in ours times by the records of the Friends’ Monthly Meeting at Newport, which further tell us that Matthew Borden, son of Richard, was the first child born of English parents upon Rhode Island. It will here to be noted that the birth of Matthew occurred so early in 1638 that it must have be at the homestead of Richard, since known as the MacCorrie Farm.

In 1639 the settlers concluded to change their location about one and one-half miles farther south, on the east side of the island which they called Newtown. There they laid out house lots for a numerous settlement, but the speedy division of the island into farms soon absorbed all the population then in Portsmouth, and the settlement at Newport this year attracted a large portion of the emigrants to that locality.
Historical and Geneological Record of the Descendents as far as Known of Richard and Joan Borden who settled in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, May, 1638. Hattie Borden Weld. 1899.

If you're from that area, I'd love if you could help me determine what that actual geographic location is... I mean, Rhode Island isn't that big, right?

More info from this same website is as follows (and I find it INCREDIBLY interesting, as I hope you will!)

Many members of the Borden family in America can trace their ancestry to Richard Borden who emigrated with his family (and his brother John and family) to Boston in about 1635 from the village of Headcorn, Kent County, England.  The ancestors of Richard and John Borden can be traced back another eight generations to Henry Borden, born in the 1370′s, who was the first Borden to live in Headcorn.  Henry was likely a descendant of a Borden from the village of Borden, about 12 miles north of Headcorn.

From ships records, John Borden and his family sailed on the ship Elizabeth and Anneabout 20 June 1635. John was 28, his wife Joan 23, son Matthew 5, and daughter Elizabeth was 3. There is no indication that Richard and his family were on theElizabeth and Anne, or on another vessel, but they do appear in Boston by the next year.

When Richard Borden arrived in Boston with his wife and two sons,Thomas and Francis, fifteen years after the Mayflower had landed in 1620, there were approximately 10,000 settlers in New England. The Puritans in Boston under Governor Winthrop had become a new religious authority that accepted no dissent. Many who had fled English persecution did not share their beliefs. Anne Hutchinson, the daughter of a minister, was just such a person. As a woman, she was barred from being a minister herself, but she began to counsel and teach women in her own home and nursed them in theirs.

In March 1638, Anne Hutchinson was put on trial in Boston, excommunicated and banished. Anticipating the outcome of the trial, Anne’s husband Will and a number of followers and friends of the Hutchinsons, decided to find a new location to settle. Before departing Boston to seek a new site, they signed the Portsmouth Compact, considered by many as the first declaration of religious freedom in the colonies.

The Will Hutchinson party first traveled to the new settlement of Providence, and with the help of Roger Williams, purchased land from the native Americans at Aquidneck, which would soon become the site of Portsmouth and then Newport, Rhode Island. By April, Anne and her family and some friends were welcomed by Will and other members of his party at Aquidneck. Richard Borden and his family were members of this group and Richard’s third son, Matthew, was the first child of English descent born on Aquidneck in May 1638. Richard was to become a leader in the Portsmouth community, and became one of the founders of the Society of Friends in Portsmouth (known as Quakers).

Richard’s family finally totaled ten children, seven boys and three girls. His oldest son Thomas moved to Providence, Francis was one of the first settlers of New Jersey in Shrewsbury, and Samuel and Benjamin also went to New Jersey. Sons John and Matthew stayed in Portsmouth. However, the Borden family quickly spread just across the bay to Massachusetts and the area that would become Fall River. Fall River is home to the largest population of Bordens in America.

Richard’s brother John and his family eventually left for New London, but there is no trace of his descendents beyond there. There is little or no evidence that other persons with the Borden name came to America, however the Borden family name was adopted by some immigrants who arrived from a number of other countries such as Ukraine, Italy, Greece, Poland and Turkey in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. However, many who carry the Borden name in the United States can trace their ancestry to Richard Borden. 

How cool is all that? 

Ok... so about DISH... they were set to ding my anemic checking account on the 22nd for $130 for "early termination of contract", you know, the one I had for three and a half years but because I had to move after two and a half years, they restarted... anyways.... AND... I had to turn in my equipment (one receiver is lost/in storage) within thirty days or they would ding me for another $400 per receiver... and if I returned them, I could only do it by mail and I would have to pay the shipping charges. So... if we're keeping a running total, that's about $550 to DISH in one month. Although it pained me to do it this way... I called and reinstated my account and went on the "DISH pause" program for $15, which will cover me for three months, then I have to pay $5 per month for the next three months and then... if I'm still not receiving DISH service (I won't be)... I have to pay $15 a month to finish out my contract and return the equipment. Maybe procrastination is a bad thing... but the hope is that I'll be in a better financial situation by then and/or, will have emptied out the storage place and found the missing receiver, if it's still in my possession. So... I'm still getting ripped off and DISH is still the devil but I can pay my car and life insurance this month. 

And... as it turns out... Lizzie Borden and I do share a common ancestor, this same Richard Borden. He was her six times great-grandfather and my nine times great-grandfather, so she's something like a 5th cousin, four times removed or something to that effect.