The saying goes that we are our stories. If that’s so, I’d like to be a Watts, specifically a descendant of Hannah (Watts) Weston, who at 17 carried ammunition through the woods to help the patriots fight the British in the Battle of the Margaretta, the first naval battle of the Revolutionary War. (More about the Watts family in a minute).
With a young heroine like Hannah, no wonder the Daughters of the American Revolution chapter in Machias is named for Hannah Weston.
I remember taking my sons, now in their early 30s, to visit the chapter-owned Burnham Tavern in Machias. The hearth, the stairs, the Revolutionary War soldier’s helmet brought home to me that these were real people who fought to make this a country separate from England.
The sixth annual Margaretta Days Festival will bring countless people to Machias from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, June 12, on the mall at the University of Maine at Machias. Black-smithing, weaving, timber framing, colonial cooking and trapping will be featured.
The Machias Historical Society will sponsor the event to remember the Battle of the Margaretta, and also the Battle of the Rim, when the British returned and were beaten again, thanks to assistance from Passamaquoddy Indians.
The parade will form at Helen’s Restaurant, then proceed at 10:30 a.m. up Main Street and College Hill. Participants will include the Robert Treat Paine Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, members of the Passamaquoddy Tribe and colonial re-enactors.
Now that I’m a grandmother — Memere, as the little ones call me — I think everything should be a children’s book.
The Machias Historical Society agrees with me, having asked longtime English teacher Leonard Hooper to write a book about Machias’ role in the American Revolution.
Hooper turned over the manuscript to MHS and, sadly, died about a month later in early 2008. But the book is a reality, a wonderful piece of Hooper’s legacy.
Hooper’s “Machias Patriots and the Margaretta,” illustrated by Patricia Sharp of Milbridge, will be available for purchase at the Machias Historical Society booth on the mall on June 12. The cost is $12 plus 60 cents sales tax.
To order this children’s book, designed for youngsters age 8-10, send a check for $14.60, tax and postage included, to Machias Historical Society, PO Box 754, Machias, ME 04654.
The foreword was written by Dr. John H. Ahlin, author of “The Maine Rubicon.” The preface is by Valdine Atwood, past state regent of the Maine DAR; and acknowledgements by Katherine Cassidy.
“Suffice it to say that we of the MHS are indebted to Katherine’s mother, Lois Williams, for making all this possible,” Atwood said. The members of MHS are rightly proud to make this special volume available to youngsters of all ages.
The Burnham Tavern will be open noon-4 p.m. Saturday, with docents in colonial dress. The museum is well worth the trip, and the Margaretta Days Festival makes Machias the place to be on June 12.
At the end of the day, join the SAR in Jonesboro for laying wreaths at 4:30 p.m. at the graves of three Revolutionary War patriots in the Watts family — first Hannah (Watts) Weston; then to Rose Hill Cemetery, where her brother Samuel Watts Jr. is buried. And if either of these two is your ancestor, so is their dad, Capt. Samuel Watts.
Several people have proved their line to one or more of these courageous people to join DAR or SAR. You do not need to be a Watts relative to attend the wreath ceremonies.
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Genealogists aren’t the only ones who have questions about the new law restricting access to vital records that are less than 100 years old.
The Maine Department of Health and Human Services, which has been directed to adopt rules to implement this, will meet with municipal clerks at 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. Thursday, June 10, in the third-floor conference room at KeyBank Plaza, 286 Water St., Augusta.
Stakeholders will not have another formal opportunity to make their points until the draft of the rules is made public for review and comment later this year.
One of the topics is expected to be the definition of “immediate family” to ensure that family members are not accidentally excluded from access to the records.
Keep in mind that during any sessions on rules, participants will not be debating the new law, which has been passed, but only discussing rules to implement it.
If you disagree with the new law, you can discuss the possibility of a new bill for the next session with one of the state legislators, who will be elected in November.
If you want a voice in which candidates will be on the ballot in November, vote in the primaries tomorrow, June 8, in your town.
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Moosehead Roots will meet at 10 a.m. Saturday, June 19, at the Center for Moosehead History in Greenville.
I will speak on “Franco-American Research and Migration Patterns.” This will include both Quebecois and Acadian research, from marriage records to census records.
Betty Ryder says mark your calendars, plan to attend and bring a friend.
Send genealogy queries to Family Ties, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor, ME 04402; or e-mail queries to familyti@bangordailynews.com.
