Long gravel roads wind through the hills around River Philip, Nova Scotia. My ancestors had plots of land up here that are easy to find on old maps, but hard to reach in reality. Rocks and black flies kept me from driving or walking to my destinations — turning me back around. While my great-grandparentsContinue reading “Following Back”
Category Archives: Fillmore
Royal Fencible American
The story of my grandmother’s family, the Colburns, starts here in the barracks of Fort Cumberland in Aulac, New Brunswick, bordering Nova Scotia. Richard Colburn was listed as a “Private” here in 1783, serving with a local militia called the Royal Fencible Americans. The “Fencibles” were among the British defenders of the Fort from aContinue reading “Royal Fencible American”
Presidential Connections
President Millard Fillmore (1800-1874) and I are related. It’s true. Really. The 13th US President’s great-grandfather, Captain John Fillmore II (1701-1777), who lived in this house in Norwich, Connecticut, is also my great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather. It’s that simple. Captain John II was the son of an English immigrant, John Fillmore, who came from Manchester, England andContinue reading “Presidential Connections”
Visiting the Relatives 