A Search for Descendants of the Men featured on the America's Tapestry New Hampshire

 The needleworkers who created the America's Tapestry panel for the colony of New Hampshire for the 250th anniversary of the Revolutionary War want me to share this exciting news!  They are searching for descendants of the patriots depicted on their tapestry. If you are a descendant please email the Millyard Museum in Manchester, New Hampshire.  They are organizing a Descendant's Day in the spring of 2027 and would love you to participate! 

They are searching for descendants of the following patriots depicted on the tapestry:

Timothy Bedel
Chief Philip
Chief Don
John Langdon
Stephen Batson
Henry Langmead
Jude Hall
John Sullivan
Alexander Scammell
Ebenezer Mudgett
William Dustin

I previously blogged about this New Hampshire panel and the America's Tapestry project at this link HERE.  A group of local embroiderers and needle workers created this over several months this winter and spring.  Similar groups met in all the former 13 colonies that participated in the American Revolution.  All thirteen panels were mounted at the Smithsonian Museum and will travel to all 13 states starting this winter.  In the spring this amazing display will be at the Millyard Museum in Manchester, New Hampshire.  I can't wait to see all the tapestries displayed together.

Here are the patriots featured on the New Hampshire tapestry.  If your ancestor was one of the patriots featured here, or another patriot in some of the revolutionary events pictured (The raid on Fort William and Mary in Portsmouth Harbor), please contact the Manchester Historic Association and Millyard Museum.  

Thank you to the Millyard Museum and to the America's Tapestry museum for allowing me to photograph the panel and the needle workers in the spring of 2026, and thank you to the America's Tapestry New Hampshire Facebook group for the close up images of the patriots depicted in the panels.

For the truly curious:

The Millyard Museum at 200 Bedford Street (corner of Commerical and Pleasant Streets), Suite 103,  in Manchester, New Hampshire

    phone 603-622-7531     email  history@manchesterhistoric.org  

    Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/MillyardMuseum  

The America's Tapestry Project website:    https://www.americastapestry.com/  

My blog post from March 2026:   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/02/americas-tapestry-project-in-new.html   

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To cite/link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "A Search for Descendants of the Men featured on the America's Tapestry New Hampshire", Nutfield Genealogy, posted Ocotber 22, 2026, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/10/a-search-for-descendants-of-men.html: accessed [access date]). 

The Myles Standish Homestead in Duxbury, Massachusetts

SITE OF THE

HOMESTEAD OF

CAPTAIN

MYLES STANDISH

THE

MILITARY LEADER

OF 

PLYMOUTH COLONY

HERE STOOD THE

HOUSE WHERE

CAPTAIN

MYLES STANDISH

LIVED AND DIED

On the peninsula called "The Nook" in Duxbury, Massachusetts, on Mayflower Drive, is a small one acre property that looks like an empty lot over looking Duxbury Bay and Plymouth Harbor.  At one time most of this peninsula was owned by the Standish family.  This is the site of the original home Captain Myles Standish built in 1632.  He died here in 1656, and his home burned to the ground around 1665.  You can still see the cellar hole, marked by granite posts, with several commemorative markers.  This property was deeded to the town of Duxbury around 1930.  

There have been several archaeological digs here at this site, the first in 1832 by Rev. Benjamin Kent, and more in recent years. The artifacts that were found in an 1856 excavation by James Hall are now in the collections of Pilgrim Hall Museum.

Myles Standish was born about 1584 at an unknown location in England.  He was married first to Rose (maiden name unknown), and then married second to Barbara (also maiden name unknown) who was the mother of seven children.  He died on 3 October 1656 in Duxbury, and she died some time after 6 October 1659.  Myles was the Captain and the leader of the Plymouth Colony military forces until his death.  He also served in several civic leadership positions in the colony, such as assistant to the governor on 1 January 1632/3, treasurer in 1644, and deputy governor in 1653.  He was considered the first English person to settle in what is now the town of Duxbury. 

Captain Standish was buried nearby in the Myles Standish Burial Ground also known as the Old Burying Ground, which also the final resting place of several other Mayflower passengers (George Soule, John Alden and Priscilla Mullins).  Also on this peninsula is the Myles Standish Monument State Park, which a tower topped with a statue of Captain Standish. For a very interesting side trip, consider going to the nearby town of Halifax to see "Myles Standish's Boots", which were the only survivors of the granite statue of Captain Standish when his statue was hit by lightning in the 1800s (see the link HERE). 

 

For the truly curious:

Myles Standish Park at Wikipedia:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myles_Standish_Park   

"Myles Standish House Archeology", Pilgrim Hall Museum:  https://www.pilgrimhall.org/standish-archeology/  

My STANDISH lineage:  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/09/surname-saturday-standish-of-mayflower.html   

Myles Standish Monument:  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/05/not-so-wordless-wednesday-myles.html    

Myles Standish Burying Ground:    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/04/tombstone-tuesday-myles-standish.html    

A recent visit to see Myles Standish's boots in Halifax, Massachusetts!   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/10/myles-standishs-boots-very-weird.html  

-----------------------------

To cite/link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "The Myles Standish Homestead in Duxbury, Massachusetts", Nutfield Genealogy, posted October 20, 2026, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/10/the-myles-standish-homestead-in-duxbury.html: accessed [access date]).  

A Sailing Ship for Weathervane Wednesday

 This unique weathervane was photographed in Duxbury, Massachusetts

Whilst wandering around Duxbury, Massachusetts to visit the historical sites associated with Captain Myles Standish of the Mayflower we saw several very interesting weathervanes on homes.  This one caught our eye because of the colors and the intricate masts and rigging.

Duxbury is a sea side town, and Myles Standish lived on The Nook peninsula, overlooking Duxbury and Kingston Bay.  There are some lovely homes here, all traditional New England style.  This weathervane was installed above a cupola over a detached garage.  The weathervane features a three dimensional ship with a gilded hull.  There are three masts and a bowsprit, all decorated with rigging, colorful flags, and one sail. It's a very appropriate weathervane for the neighborhood! 

For the truly curious:

My lineage from Capt. Myles Standish of the Mayflower:   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/09/surname-saturday-standish-of-mayflower.html  

Click here to see over 550 more weathervanes featured here on Weathervane Wednesday:  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/search/label/Weathervane%20Wednesday  

-----------------------

To cite/link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "A Sailing Ship for Weathervane Wednesday", Nutfield Genealogy, posted October 14, 2026, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/10/a-sailing-ship-for-weathervane-wednesday.html, accessed [access date]). 

Myles Standish's boots - A very weird roadside attraction

 

On a clear day with blue skies on 26 August 1922, lightning struck the statue of Captain Myles Standish on the tower in Myles Standish Monument State Reservation in Duxbury, Massachusetts.  The strange phenomenon destroyed the top half of the statue, and the arm holding his sword. Native Americans in the area considered this retribution, and gather at the site of the legs annually. 

70 years after the freak storm, in the 1990s, the legs of this statue were discovered cast aside in a granite quarry in Quincy, Massachusetts.  You can see these seven foot boots at 20 Dwight Street in Halifax, Massachusetts.  This strange landmark is located in front of the residence of Marc Valentine, a local artist, near the Monponsett Lake where Sachem Massasoit (Ousamequin) had his hunting lodge on White Island. Halifax was in the center of many of the conflicts during King Philip's War.  

One of the catalysts for King Philip's War might have been when the English at Plymouth worried that Wamsutta, Ousamequin's son, was planning an attack.  Josias Winslow went to the lodge on White Island and arrested Wamsutta.  But after a few days in custody, Wamsutta fell sick and died.  Wamsutta's brother, Metacoment (King Philip) thought he had been poisoned by Winslow.  This event was end of five decades of peace between the English and the Wampanoag peoples, drawn up by one of Ousamequin's treaties.  The resulting war (1675-1676) was one of the most deadly and destructive wars in American History. 

Captain Myles Standish

Here stand the legs of Captain Myles Standish

first military leader of the Plymouth Colony 1620 - 1642

... from atop Captains Hill in Duxbury, Struck down 

and destroyed by a "Violent Lightning Bolt"...

...taking his sword, the Charter... and his head,

August 26, 1922... known by many then and today

as a Powerful and Significant Event.

Myles Standish also owned property here in town,

the land where the Halifax Elementary School

now stands.

A 400th anniversary Salute

Monponsett

7,000 years ago, at the time

of the Great Pyramids, early

Indians camped here along the 

northern shore of the lake.

... but it wasn't until May 20, 1927

that Charles A. Lindbergh got

a "birds eye" view when he flew

directly over the town of Halifax,

and this neighborhood at 100 ft on his

historic first solo flight across the 

Atlantic.  Even today planes flying 

the North Atlantic routes to Europe

pass over head "Bearing NNE". 

The original 14 foot Myles Standish monument in Duxbury was build between 1872 and 1898, on land that was once Captain Standish's farmland.  After the 1922 lightning strike, it was replaced with an entirely new statue in 1930, carved by sculptor John Horrigan. The monument is still standing on top of a 116 foot tower in Duxbury.  Visitors can climb the 125 steps to a viewing platform on top with views of Duxbury Beach, Plymouth Harbor and the Blue Hills.  Captain Standish is buried nearby at the Myles Standish Burial Ground. 

For the truly curious:

My lineage from Myles Standish of the Mayflower:   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/09/surname-saturday-standish-of-mayflower.html   

The Myles Standish Burial Ground, Duxbury, Massachusetts:   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/04/tombstone-tuesday-myles-standish.html  

"How Myles Standish Lost His Head", Drew Archival Library, March 6, 2013,  https://drewarchives.org/2013/03/06/how-myles-standish-lost-his-head/  

"A New Head and Shoulders for Miles Standish Statue", The Duxbury Rural and Historical Society,  https://duxburyhistory.org/pilgrim-history-duxbury-massachusetts/coming-to-a-pilgrim-town/a-new-head-and-shoulders-for-miles-standish-statue/ 

Myles Standish Monument website:   https://www.mass.gov/locations/myles-standish-monument-state-reservation  

"The Suspicious Death of Wamsutta: Prelude to War", from the official website of the Pokanoket Tribe, https://www.pokanokettribe.org/articles/suspicious-death-of-wamsutta   

-------------------

To cite/link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Myles Standish's boots - A very weird roadside attraction", Nutfield Genealogy, posted October 6, 2026, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/10/myles-standishs-boots-very-weird.html: accessed [access date]).