NewTowne Beginnings

For this week’s prompt, I wanted to select an individual whose initials closely paralleled my own, if possible, and luckily enough, there was exactly one gravestone that fulfilled each of the listed requirements for the discussion— this was really exciting, especially as someone who deeply enjoys the study of history through a material, personal lens and more intimate perspective. The woman I found, Deborah Wright Patten, was born November 21 of 1678, in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, and passed away at the age of 37 on March 9th, 1716. Her later years seem to have been spent in Cambridge, which is where she is buried. According to FindAGrave, the inscription on the tomb reads as follows: “Here lyes ye body of Deborah Pattin wife to Nathaniel Pattin Aged 38 years & 10 Days : Died March ye 9th 1716”. I believe that even the inscription of the tombstone itself is a reflection of the community’s social and religious views of the time, which were characterized by a heightened sense of Puritan traditionalism and strict gender roles. Deborah is remembered not as a daughter or as a mother or even as her own “self”, but rather, what is emphasized on the tombstone is her life as “wife to Nathaniel Pattin”.

Deborah Patten's grave at the Old Burying Ground, c. 2009.

I looked through the comments and interactions associated with Deborah’s page on FindAGrave, and was fascinated to find comments by a couple of individuals leaving digital flowers in remembrance of her. A comment dating back to September of 2013, left by an individual by the name of Bob Spear, reads “In memory of my 6th great grandmother”, and is accompanied by a pair of yellow digital flowers. I find this to be a touching reflection of how digital accessibility to records and archives can help individuals not only learn about their community’s history and its previous inhabitants, but of their own history and family tree. 

Bob Spear pays respects to his ancestor, Deborah.

 I moved towards WikiTree to find more information on Deborah’s genealogical history and her connections to figures away from Cambridge itself. WikiTree provided more specified information on her parents, siblings, and children, yet seemed uncertain about her date of death and even location of death, despite the tombstone information being accessible on FindAGrave. WikiTree was even able to provide a reverse genealogical analysis of Deborah’s relatives and their connections to more contemporary and modern figures, and it turns out that she has only 12 degrees of separation from Winston Churchill, as pictured in the accompanying genealogical chart. I think this chart is a perfect example of how unexpectedly expansive genealogical lines can be, and I think it is also an adequate reflection of how ties between Anglo-American communities remained present well into the 20th century.

Churchill's connection to Deborah Patten.