McMurray Family (Click for Family Tree)

Star Trek on a family history blog?

Madness? No- it really does make sense, and it is good to connect our current world with that of the past. Studies have shown that children who have a sense of family and their family history have more resilience- and that is always good in this crazy world.

“Altruism” is a fairly recent word in our language- it comes from a French word in the 1850s. Most know that this word means an unselfish, caring devotion concerning the welfare of others. It is even used in a biological sense with animals, when their behavior does not contribute to their reproduction or longevity, but does help genes from a close relative get passed on. In popular culture, of course, the 1982 film, The Wrath of Khan (see 3:15 in clip), has Spock and Capt. Kirk finishing each other’s sentences: “It was logical. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. Or the one.” This epitomizes altruism.

“Cooperation” rather than “competition” is a way that altruism is put into practice. Edward B. Payne believed strongly in cooperation over the rampant competition of the late 19th century, with railroad magnates and big business making men rich while the middle classes and poor struggled. In 1893, the year that started a mostly-forgotten serious depression in America, William Dean Howells published A Traveller from Altruria. The book was a Utopian science fiction/fantasy, in which a traveller described his own home, where altruism flourished. The novel was a huge hit, and small societies of “Altrurians” sprang up, including in the San Francisco and Berkeley, California area. Edward B. Payne was a charter member of one of these groups in Berkeley. The groups discussed social reform, but the Berkeley group took it a step further- they wanted to put their altruistic ideals into practice by forming a colony in the Santa Rosa, California area. Rev. Edward B. Payne wrote and published a newsletter, The Altrurian, funds began coming in, land was purchased, and members of the group began to move to “Altruria” in October of 1894.

There were some management problems, and definitely financial problems- after all, the venture was started during an economic depression that would stun the nation for years. The project was abandoned in 1896, but Payne called it a “glorious failure.” The small cooperatives that had been selling produce from Altruria out in the community continued, and similar cooperatives continue today.

“Altruria” in Santa Rosa has been mentioned in many books, articles, and even dissertations in the years since. (See notes.) A 2009 book, The Utopian Novel in America, 1886-1896: The Politics of Form, by Jean Pfaelzer, discusses Howell’s two Utopian novels and states:

“A Traveller from Altruria and Through the Eye of the Needle launched no programs, newspapers, imitators, or clubs, although they did inspire a certain Edward B. Payne to found a short-lived community named Altruria.”

Madness? A wild idea? A lone voice acting on a hopeless idea? Maybe, and some of the newspapers at the time also suggested that the formation of the Altruria colony was madness and would not survive. But Payne was not a lone voice- there were many who wanted to follow an altruistic lifestyle then, and many continue to do that today, although most do not live in colonies devoted to cooperation.

Even though the above book quote is not entirely true- there actually were Altrurian clubs and newspapers across the United States- Edward B. Payne would most likely be very pleased that his own cooperative efforts are still noticed, and still a part of the conversation in our society.

Notes, Sources, and References: 

1.  Edward Bellamy’s 1888 Utopian novel, Looking Backward: 2000-1887 was likely also inspiration for the Altruria colony.
2. McMurray, Pamela M. “To the friends of cooperation…” The Quest for Cooperation and Edward B. Payne.” Russian River Recorder, Issue 124, Spring 2014, pp. 4-7. Healdsburg, California: Healdsburg Museum & Historical Society.
3. Pfaelzer, Jean. The Utopian Novel in America, 1886-1896: The Politics of Form. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2009, 75.
4. Hine, Robert V. (1953). California’s Utopian Colonies. San Marino, Calif.: Huntington Library. pp. 101–113
5. O’Connor, Peter Shaun (2001). On the Road to Utopia: The Social History and Spirituality of Altruria, and Intentional Religious Community in Sonoma County, California, 1894-1896. Ann Arbor, MI: UMI Dissertation Services.
6. LeBaron, Gaye, Dee Blackman, Joann Mitchell, and Harvey Hansen. Santa Rosa: A Nineteenth Century Town. Santa Rosa, CA: Historia, Ltd, 1985, 113.
7. Lewis, James R. The Encyclopedia of Cults, Sects, and New Religions. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 1998.
8. Goal, Iain, Janferie Stone, Michael Watts, Cal Winslow. West of Eden-communes and utopia in northern California. PM Press, 2012, pp. 4-5.
9. “Altruria” article on Wikipedia- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altruria,_California

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Earlier this week we published a post noting that Edward B. Payne’s writings are still referenced today by modern authors. We have found another instance- a 2016 book that uses the same quote as in our previous post, from 1899 about Edwin Markham’s poem, “The Man with the Hoe”:

“Clergy made the poem their text, platform orators dilated upon it, college professors lectured upon it, debating societies discussed it, schools took it up for study.”

The new book that includes this reference to Payne’s work is Anything That Burns You: A Portrait of Lola Ridge, Radical Poet, by Terese Svoboda, IPG, 2016.

Lola Ridge was an anarchist poet, social reformer, and human rights activist (including women’s and worker’s rights). She ran the Ferrer Center in New York City, and invited authors, artists, philosophers, and other reformers to lecture. Described as “…a community center for anarchists and freedom-loving writers and artists,” the Center opened in June, 1910.  Edwin Markham was an invited guest, and apparently Jack London was a visitor to the center, too. London was a close friend to our Edward B. Payne and a declared socialist at one point; he and his wife Charmian (Kittredge) London were friends of Markham as well. Markham  lived on the west coast for some time, so he and Edward B. Payne may have known one another, especially since Payne wrote the article published in the Overland Monthly about Markham’s most famous poem.

Before this time, in 1907, Lola Ridge had emigrated from Australia to San Francisco, so it might be possible that Edward B. Payne met her in person on the West Coast before the Ferrer Center period. More research revealed that her first poem was published in the Overland Monthly (OM) magazine in 1908, making the likelihood even stronger that they met. Edward B. Payne had been an OM editor in the 1890s, although not when Lola’s poem was published. (Also, in the April 1908 issue, the OM editor was described as bald – that would definitely NOT describe Edward B. Payne, who had a beautiful head of white hair until his death in 1923.)

Payne travelled among the literati and socialists of San Francisco and Berkeley, so may well have met Lola Ridge during her early years in the US. Unfortunately, his letters and library burned in the Great Berkeley Fire of September, 1923, so it is currently unknown if they communicated with each other. Although there were quite a few years difference between them, their social and political views, as well as their similar talents as writers and poets, may have brought them together in one or more of the great liberal gatherings of the West Coast. Edward did not take socialism all the way to anarchy, as did Lola- in fact, he resigned the Socialist Party due to their movement toward that spectrum with violence, but he would have very much appreciated the human rights work of Lola Ridge.

Notes, Sources, and References: 

1.  Anything that Burns You: A Portrait of Lola Ridge, Radical Poet, by Terese Svoboda, IPG, 2016. Possibly p. 78- GoogleBooks no longer shows page numbers, but the search function can be used to find the reference in Chapter 9. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=b7-zCwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PT11&dq=%22Edward+B.+Payne%22&ots=sUSR_em1H_&sig=R-gOGmFtTENDAf1Mvj9iB0oavL8#v=onepage&q=Payne&f=false
2. Lola Ridge, Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lola_Ridge
3. “The Te Katipo Extended” a poem by Lola Ridge, Overland Monthly, Vol. 51 , No. 3 , Pages 298-9, March 1908. Jack London’s “In a Far Country” was published in that same issue, p. 270-8.
4. “The Song of the Bush” a poem by Lola Ridge, Overland Monthly Vol. 51, No. 6, P. 540, June 1908.

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Edward Biron Payne (1847-1923) prided himself on his words, whether spoken or written. Trained as a minister, he was a powerful speaker for first the Congregational Church, then the Unitarians, and finally as a Christian Socialist and learned man. He was a powerful writer as well, and his writings and activities are still referred to, even today.

A 2012 book, Downwardly Mobile: The Changing Fortunes of American Realism, by Andrew Lawson, Oxford University Press, 2012, mentions Edward B. Payne’s criticism (‘criticism’ here used with the meaning of “analysis,” not a disapproval) of the poem by Edwin Markham called, “The Man with the Hoe.” As discussed in previous posts on this subject (see links below), Payne’s article was actually concerned with social as well as literary criticism of the poem, rather than his own thoughts on the work. In his recent book, Lawson  quotes Payne as writing,

“[t]he clergy made the poem their text, platform orators dilated upon it, college professors lectured upon it, debating societies discussed it, schools took it up for study.”

This was all true, as in 1899, when the poem was published, there was great economic and social disparity in America, and it began to be discussed more loudly.

Just as today.

In Downwardly Mobile, Lawson mentions the 1896 Presidential election, in which William Jennings Bryan was defeated because he was a Democrat-Populist. There had been a terrible depression in the US- the ‘Panic of 1893’- and, as Bryan was quoted in the book, “The extremes of society are being driven further and further apart.” Ambrose Bierce even used the term, “class hatred” when referring to the feelings of the nation as the poem brought the covered-up inequality of our society to the public for large discussion.

In “The ‘Hoe Man’ On Trial,” published by Edward B. Payne in The Arena, we can see our country today reflected in many other comments made in those discussions of 1899. Payne’s article distills both sides of the conversation- er, often ‘argument’- and shows us the context of those times.

Payne’s article itself is not totally unbiased- it was, after all, printed in a magazine dedicated to addressing social and ethical dilemmas of the day. As a journalist, he did lay out the facts of both viewpoints, and left much of the analysis up to the reader. Payne was a Socialist- declared as such on the voter rolls for a few years, and he devoted his worklife to helping people better themselves, rather than giving them a handout. He always emphasized “cooperation” rather than “competition,” with the idea that more would be provided for if we all worked together.

Edward B. Payne struggled himself- after all, a minister was not a highly paid profession (he would be sickened at the wealth of today’s big church evangelists), and he had to retire from the ministry due to health reasons, plus reasons of changed ideology. Thereafter he made his living by lecturing and writing, neither of which made him a wealthy man. He worked long past normal retirement age, and his meager Civil War invalid pension of $6 per month granted in 1902 at age 55 likely made a huge difference in whether or not the rent could be paid.

“History repeats itself” as they say, and economy and society have their own repeated cycles. Edward B. Payne would most likely be saddened by the obstacles that we still face in our society, more than a century after the “Hoe Man” became famous, as well as infamous. In “the next world” or wherever he is, however, Edward probably would smile to know that his writings on the subject still matter, that scholars still read his work, and that his talented words still bring something to the conversation.

Notes, Sources, and References: 

1. Downwardly Mobile: The Changing Fortunes of American Realism, by Andrew Lawson, Oxford University Press, 2012, page 130.
2. “The ‘Hoe Man’ On Trial”, The Arena, Vol. XXII, No. 1, July, 1899. pp. 17-24. https://archive.org/stream/ArenaMagazine-Volume22/189907-arena-volume22#page/n0/mode/2up
3. “The Man with the Hoe,” Edward B. Payne, and Labor Day, Part 1. Published on HeritageRamblings.net on 1 September 2014.
4. “The Man with the Hoe,” Edward B. Payne, and Labor Day, Part 2. Published on HeritageRamblings.net 4 September 2014.

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“Hopefully, John Sales, a “Black Sheep” in 1633 in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and his daughter Phebe, had a better life in New Netherland.”

Those were what I thought were words to finish up the saga of John and Phebe. However, the New York Genealogical & Biographical Society (NYG&B) has some articles in their NYG&B Record that mention John and Phebe, and I was finally able to gain online access to that article. So here are a few more tidbits about the family- some that answer questions in our previous posts, and some that flesh out the story a bit more.

Back in England, the parish registers of Little Waldingfield, Suffolk, England, included an entry for a marriage on 11 August 1625 of John Sales and Philip Soales.” Philip was a name used by women named “Philippa,” which is the feminine of Philip in Latin, the language used in the churches in those days.

John may have been older at his marriage than expected, (possibly not born ~1600) since his property was called “Old Jan’s Land” after his death in 1645- even in that time, 45 was not “old.”.

Those parish registers also included baptisms for “Phoebe Sales, daughter of John” on 1 May 1626, and for another daughter of John, “Sarah Seales,” who was christened 27 July 1628. No other mention of this family is made in these registers.

John Sales, his wife, and daughter Phebe did sail with the Winthrop Fleet in 1630, as surmised in our first post. The wife is not named, nor was she listed as a member of the First Church of Boston when John was noted as #21. Wives were listed for some members, however, so this may indicate that she died on the voyage or shortly after landing in the colony. Little Sarah may have died while they were waiting to sail and not in their own parish, or even once on board, since she only has the one entry in the parish register.

In 1664, colonist John Greene made a transcript of the Charlestown, Massachusetts town records. He noted that John Sales stayed and became an inhabitant of Charlestown in1629- though it was actually 1630- his was listed as #13 out of the 17 names recorded. The transcript goes on to explain how the colonists were in such dire straits:

“The summer this year [1632] prooving short, and wett, or [our] Crops of Indian Corne (for all this while wee had noe other) was very small and great want threatened us…”

The transcript goes on to describe the crimes of John Sales, and that he was openly punished, all his goods were to be sold to pay restitution, and he would be bound to Mr. Coxeshall until the year 1636.

Phoebe was to be bound out until 1647, and, if the above baptism is indeed the same Phebe, she would have been 21 when she gained her freedom, along with a “cowe cafe” from Mr. Coxeshall. Becoming an apprentice was a way to protect Phebe while her father was bound out, and it would teach her a trade so that she would not follow in the criminal footsteps of her father. This action does lend credence to the idea that she had no mother living, nor siblings.

John Winthrop, the Governor of the Colony, gave some details in his writings concerning John running away to the Indians. Winthrop states that Sales ran away to “… a place twelve miles off, where were seven Indians, whereof four died of the pox while he was there.” John must have been immune to smallpox since he survived, but the Indians did not have immune systems strong enough to fight the new disease brought by colonists to their lands.

John and Phebe Sales were not the only Massachusetts Bay Colonists who wished to remove themselves from the strict communities of the Puritans. Others also left for New Netherland, and John is first found in those records in 1638. As “Jan Celes” he was given a lease or permission to live at a plantation north of a place later called Rutgers Swamp. This area became known as “Old Jan’s Land” and his son-in-law took possession of some of the land, in the midst of Manhattan, after John’s death.

Phoebe is listed with a variety of first names and a variety of spellings of her last name in the Dutch records, but she was married 11 February 1640 to Theunis Nyssen. Thus she would have been only about 14, which was legal in New Netherland at that time. She had at least seven children, and they lived in Gowanus, Flatbush, and Brooklyn. There are no known daughters named Philippa, which would have been the Dutch custom, to name a daughter after the wife’s mother. If Phebe’s mother had died when she was very young, as was earlier hypothesized, she might choose to forego the custom. She did have a daughter named Mary, however- possibly after her step-mother, Mary Roberts?

Of course, we wondered what life was like for John and Phebe in the Dutch Colony, and this excellent article in the NYG&BR gives us more information concerning their daily life. (Our Helbling-Springsteen ancestors lived in Dutch New York possibly in this time period, too, so this information can give us some context to their lives.)

Apparently, Jan Celes made a number of court appearances due to various conflicts with neighbors. The first of those was when Jan was called in for “damage which the defendant’s hogs have caused the plaintiff.” He also still had some legal dealings in Massachusetts, as on 28 December 1639 he gave a power of attorney to a man from New Plymouth, and it was noted that John was living on Manhattan at that time.

“The fiscal vs. old Jan Selis” was a court case recorded on 26 November 1643. Neighbors testified that “old Jan drove many cows and horses into the swamp” and that he had “cut the cow of little Manuel with a chopping knife.” He was required to pay a fine, pay damages to his victims, and court costs for “having chased and wounded cattle.” Jan was also told that if committed such a crime again, he would be banished.

What may often be dismissed as dry genealogy in society journals can really help us learn more about our family. These articles can add much context, as in the case of John and Phebe Sales and the New York Genealogical & Biographical Record (NYG&BR). These articles also give us an idea of how the investigation progressed to learn the facts of a life, something we all might be able to use when researching other ancestors. Some say that societies are dead in this age of the internet, but societies provide valuable information for all who pursue the stories of their family- or even, those crazy people who become entranced by the stories of other families.

Notes, Sources, and References: 

1. “The True Identity of John Sales Alias Jan Celes of Manhattan” by Gwenn F. Epperson, New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, Vol. 123, No. 2, Pages 65-73, April 1992.
2. Additions and Corrections to “The True Identity of John Sales Alias Jan Celes of Manhattan,” New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, Vol. 124, No. 4, Pages 226-7, October 1993.
3. “Jan Cornelius Buys (Alias Jan Damen) and Teunis Nyssen (or Denyse) and Roelof Willemszen,” by John Reynolds Totten, New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, Vol. 66, No. 3, Page 284, July 1935.

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Family historians are often stricken with BSO- Bright Shiny Object syndrome. Basically, that means we are working on one thing, find an interesting tidbit that makes us do a few extra online clicks, then a few more just to check one fact, then another, and then it is 3am…

That happened when writing the post for Monday, 25 July, about the birthdate of Edward Byron Payne (affectionately known as EBP in our household). Somehow- I actually know how, but won’t bore you, dear reader, with the details- I ended up on Find A Grave (FAG), looking at the memorial for Harvey Deming. Gazing at the headstone photo for Edward B. Payne’s maternal grandfather, the date of death jumped out– 26 July 1847. That was the day after Edward, called Biron in his first census (1850), was born! (And today is the 169th anniversary of his death.) So poor dear Nancy S. (Deming) Payne, age 34, was ‘lying in’ (giving birth) as her father was dying. Truly the circle of life… and sad that Nancy would not have her father for more years to watch his grandchildren grow, and EBP would never know his maternal grandfather.

So many take for granted the wonderful folks who take photos and create memorials for our ancestors on FAG. Today was a good reminder about how useful they can be in helping us to tell our stories. Noticing that the day after EBP was born, his grandfather died, makes our family history a story, rather than dry dates and ‘begats.’

But now, look closely at the additional photo that FAG Volunteer Alan Lathrop also posted on Harvey’s FAG memorial:

A close look shows that the headstone on the left is for John Deming, the father of Harvey, and grandfather of Nancy S. (Deming) Payne, EBP’s mother.

Nothing terribly special about that, as family members are often buried close to each other. But look closer at another of Alan’s photos:

And note the date of death for John Deming: 26 July 1815.

He died on the same day as his son, but 32 years earlier! Nancy was only about 2 years old, so she likely did not remember her paternal grandfather.

John had died in Crown Point, New York per FAG (but cannot find the source of that information), and Harvey in Middlebury, Vermont, about 45 miles from where his daughter Nancy had given birth to Biron (EBP), in Middletown, Vermont. John and Harvey were both buried in Salisbury, Vermont, about 10 miles from where the Payne family was living in 1846-7.

One more BSO-type Heritage Rambling… Family researchers believe that Janna Deming was the father of John Deming. But get this- he died on 24 July 1796- the day before EBP’s birthday (and 51 years earlier). This cluster of late July deaths in the Deming family is very interesting. Definitely a BSO.

Notes, Sources, and References: 

1. Vermont Vital Records for 1720-1908 on Ancestry.com indicate the death of Harvey Deming as 6 July 1847 on one card, and 26 July 1847 on another. John’s card has the 26 July 1815 date; these cards were completed in 1919.
2. The place of death of John Deming needs to be verified. Crown Point, NY is about 30 miles from Salisbury, VT, so it would be possible for them to move the body that far, though it would have been challenging in July of 1815.
3. Find A Grave memorials– http://www.findagrave.com
   John Deming: Find A Grave Memorial# 103144340
   Harvey Deming: Find A Grave Memorial# 103143906

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