Dick Eastman had several interesting new sources this week. For those searching in Canada try http://www.ourroots.ca Much of this is in French but if you find one of your family names you can copy it and have it translated. The NY Genealogy and Biography Society now includes in its membership access to Heritage Quest books which are usually only available to libraries. Of course, you have to join but it might be worthwhile for you. This is not only for those who have ancestors in NY. http://www.nygbs.org If you are interested in making a CD of your genealogical database or anything else, here is a good tutorial. http://www.AncestralAuthor.com/support/makecd.htm To hear a lot of good information as well as Dick Eastman, go to http://www.FamilyHistoryRadio.com This is a different concept and interesting with a lot of information. Bette

Cousins, My Bunker-L is working fine. Thanks to the many who responded gil

I remember the message about the man with the school named after him but can't find it for the life of me today. I believe that he was in California though. Bunker Middle School is located at 2312 Denmark St., Muskegon, MI, phone 231-720-2300 according to the internet. It does not tell where its name came from though. Bette -----Original Message----- From: gil bunker [mailto:gilbunker@snip.net] Sent: Saturday, February 22, 2003 10:46 AM To: BUNKER-L@rootsweb.com Subject: Bunker Jr High Sch, Muskegon MI Cousins, I have another case of CRS (can't remember stuff). Some told me about their father? (grandfather?) who had a school named for him. Is this the one? Pls contact me. I had to change from MS Outlook to MS Outlook Express, and I'm not sure this msg is going to the entire list. I could use at least one conformation. gil ==== BUNKER Mailing List ==== Post your information and queries. We love it. No BUNKER rock left untouched. Spelling variations ok - we don't "know" the original.

Cousins, I have another case of CRS (can't remember stuff). Some told me about their father? (grandfather?) who had a school named for him. Is this the one? Pls contact me. I had to change from MS Outlook to MS Outlook Express, and I'm not sure this msg is going to the entire list. I could use at least one conformation. gil

Nina, The only help I can provide is to forward your query to our members on line. gil Anybody know this Bunker family in Bloomfield Twp MI in 1958? gil ----- Original Message ----- From: nina bunin <nina.marie@verizon.net> To: <gilbunker@snip.net> Sent: Friday, February 21, 2003 11:48 PM Subject: Bunker inquiry > Dear Mr. Bunker, > > I am not related to any Bunkers, but rather had a 4th grade teacher > named Bunker, married to Bunker. This was in 1958 in > Bloomfield Township, MI. She was a very special person in my life and I > cannot seem to find her. Can you help? > > Nina Bunin > Arlington, VA > >

Dear Bette, Thank you for this message - you've sent us some really good information. mg > > > ==== BUNKER Mailing List ==== > Post your information and queries. We love it. No BUNKER rock left untouched. Spelling variations ok - we don't "know" the original. > > >

If you come to a Bunker ancestor who was born about 1800-1820 and cannot find his parents, you should look at the 1790 census. There were only 80 Bunker households listed in the 1790 census. The father of a child born between 1800 and 1820 should have been between 20 and 50 years old. If only 20, he was probably listed with his parents in the 1790 census and his name would not appear on any index or image. If he were older though, he may be listed as head of household. The 1790 census listed the names of the head of household with the numbers of males and females in the family in categories by age groups. Although your ancestor would not have been born yet, you can see if any Bunkers were living in the area. In 1790 most of the Bunkers were still in MA (31 households) or NH (21 HH's). There were 13 HH's in NY, 10 in ME, 2 in PA and 1 each in CT, MD, and NC. By looking at the 1790 census indexes, you can see the towns where these families lived and then go to those areas to look for more records. Barring a father who was a recent immigrant or did not get counted in the 1790 census, you have narrowed down you search considerably and can concentrate in these areas. Of course, there are those families who moved right about 1800 too so the father may have been in MA and the child born in NY. Still it is an aid to narrowing the search somewhat. Nearly all the genealogical databases have the census index on line and some have the images. You can probably get the index free everywhere but for the information about the members of the household, you will probably have to pay for a membership to the organization, or look at microfilms. Look also in Ontario, Canada as many Loyalist families moved there following the Revolutionary War and some Bunkers did as well. The Revolutionary War did not end until 1783 and the first federal census followed 7 years later. Many states and colonies had earlier census'. By 1790 some of the Loyalists were already in Canada too. Once you have narrowed your search, you need to go to early state records, church records, and cemetery records, probates, guardianships. One of the best sources is the New England Historic Genealogical Society. They have many free databases and if you are a member you can borrow from their circulating library of lots and lots of early record compilations. Many of the early records have been put on line but you usually have to pay for them. Be sure to look for entries that have strange spellings such as Buncker, Bunger, Benker, Banker, etc. Spelling was not too precise in those days and the Bunkers spelled their name in many different ways. If you haven't been able to find your connection on the internet, it will be in some early records that have not been put online or that you have to pay for access to. Also remember that the Bunker family historians and genealogists have been looking for our family members for 100 years and we still find new information every day. It takes some work to find it but that is what is fun with genealogy, solving the problems. Bette

Many of us are related to the Bachelders/Batchelders. You might be interested in http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~bachelder Bette

http://www.ancestorstuff.com/030226.htm is a site that has a lot of different things for sale that might be of interest to some of you. One that particularly caught my eye was "An Index to Pioneers from Massachusetts to the West, especially Michigan". The items on this site cost money but it is a good general one for things that usually are not online. Bette

To help celebrate the Yukon Rush Centennial in 1996, the 1901 Directory and Gazetter was republished with the 24,200 who were in/around Dawson City. Only 3 Bunkers were there: George D in Council City; George D in Nome and Solomon, also in Nome. There is no mention of A.L. Bunker in the directory. (See BunBan p.934). www.gold-rush.org gil ----- Original Message ----- From: Bette Richards <betterichs@earthlink.net> To: <BUNKER-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, February 18, 2003 9:12 PM Subject: A.L. Bunker/Alaska > Among the passengers leaving Fairbanks, Alaska on the Steamer Yukon on 18 > Jul 1916 was A. L. Bunker. Reported by the Alaska Citizen, Fairbanks, AK > > Bette > > > > ==== BUNKER Mailing List ==== > Want more information on the Bunker Family Association? Send an e-mail message to gilbunker@snip.net and receive our current newsletter, and a pedigree chart of your Bunker ancestors (if they can be located in our files). > >

Among the passengers leaving Fairbanks, Alaska on the Steamer Yukon on 18 Jul 1916 was A. L. Bunker. Reported by the Alaska Citizen, Fairbanks, AK Bette

Of course, I search with soundex but soundex does not always pick up all the spelling variations and when some are not I try those too. Bette -----Original Message----- From: Mary-Gene Page [mailto:mgpage@unlimited.net] Sent: Tuesday, February 18, 2003 5:52 PM To: BUNKER-L@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: newspaper research Bette Richards wrote: > This one is a problem. Since both Goebel and Beyer are so often misspelled > I tried several variations. Aren't you able to search using Soundex? In my opinion, that's why Soundex was invented! When you said you'd look up anyone I thought you meant just any Bunker. But - another good way to search is for the maiden name of a Bunker wife. Mary-Gene > > Bette > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Jarvis, Joy [mailto:JJarvis@ICOS.com] > Sent: Tuesday, February 18, 2003 1:08 PM > To: Bette Richards > Subject: RE: newspaper research > > > Bette, > > How wonderful of you to offer a "look up". Could you please look for > anything...marriage, birth, death... For Henry Goebel and Mina Beyer > between mid 1899 to February 1901 in Chicago, Ill (Lake Forest area). > They married sometime 1899 or 1900, she died late January 1901. > > Thanks again for your generous offer. > > Joy Jarvis > Executive Assistant > jjarvis@icos.com > 425-415-2252 > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Bette Richards [mailto:betterichs@earthlink.net] > Sent: Monday, February 17, 2003 4:58 PM > To: BUNKER-L@rootsweb.com > Subject: newspaper research > > > We have purchased a subscription to Ancestry's newspaper database. I > have been having a great time messing around in it trying to see how to > best search it. The best way is by using a first name to go with > Bunker. That way we do not get Bunker Hills all over the place and I > haven't gotten a reference to a war bunker yet or golf bunker either. > > Keeping in mind that most of these papers were published in the 1900's, > I will be happy to look up anyone you would like me to. I looked up my > grandfather and found 153 entries. He was a perfectly ordinary man. > The biggest share of the entries had to do with him being visited or > visiting someone. Still, in the process I have also found several > obituaries, references to accidents, jobs and businesses, weddings and > births. It is easier if you know the place to look. Even the state > will narrow down the hits some. > > Let me know if you want me to look up someone. > > Bette > > > > ==== BUNKER Mailing List ==== > Post your information and queries. We love it. No BUNKER rock left > untouched. Spelling variations ok - we don't "know" the original. > > > > > ==== BUNKER Mailing List ==== > Post your information and queries. We love it. No BUNKER rock left untouched. Spelling variations ok - we don't "know" the original. > > > ==== BUNKER Mailing List ==== Post your information and queries. We love it. No BUNKER rock left untouched. Spelling variations ok - we don't "know" the original.

I have absolutely no problem accepting all known dates as correct. The approximate date of 1628 could indeed be his date of Birth; the baptism in Slapton in 1633 could very well have happened when he was about 5 years old - perhaps because he was actually born in some country town away from Slapton; the service on the jury of 1646/7 would be certainly feasible if he were 18 years old - no other machinations need explain that because he'd be old enough. I don't see a great problem in accepting it all. If, however, we found another James elsewhere in Devon, I could also accept that it might be this second man - if such a man existed. Now that I've firmly come down on the side of anything's possible ... Mary-Gene Bette Richards wrote: > Martin has been doing some research to try to pin down the parents of James > of Dover, NH. There is a baptism in Slapton in 1633/4 which most of us > believe was our James. The problem is that we have a James Buncker serving > on a coroner's jury in Kittery, Maine in 1646 when this James would have > been possibly 13 years old. We also have a deposition of James of Dover in > 1678 saying he was 50 years old indicating that he was born in 1628. James > said he was from Devon but we find no specific place in Devon that he may > have been from. > > In addition, James lived with Mrs. Trueworthy in 1648/9 in Kittery, Maine > and worked for Shapleigh's Mills. In the court record Mrs. Trueworthy's > name is spelled incorrectly. Her name was actually Treworgy and she was the > daughter of Nicholas Shapleigh who owned ships, a sawmill and a mercantile > store. His ships regularly traveled back and forth from Dartmouth, the only > Devon port deep enough to dock ships. > > The coroner's jury was to determine the cause of death of a man accidentally > shot by Charles Frost, the son of Nicholas Frost, a business associate of > Shapleigh. > > These are my thoughts on the possible explanations for James of Dover being > the one baptized at Slapton in 1633 and also serving on the coroner's jury > in Kittery, Maine in 1646. > > 1. Any one of the dates may be incorrect, but other evidence seems to > support them. > 2. The baptism of James may have been delayed for some reason and he was > not baptized as an infant. > 3. There were few men available to serve on the coroner's jury so in spite > of James' young age he was chosen as it was only to determine cause of death > and not guilt or innocence of a possible crime. > 4. James was deliberately chosen to be on the jury by Shapleigh and Frost > as they were commissioners at the time. There is abundant evidence of > chicanery by both of these men and "stacking" of juries in order to get a > favorable verdict. Shapleigh and Frost were very powerful and there were > great plans for Charles Frost. The man shot was not from a prominent > family. > 5. James was mistaken in his deposition and his age was actually 45 in > 1678. It was so common for people to state in depositions their age to the > nearest decade that this is a very likely possibility. It also may have > been recorded wrong. At any rate, based upon the numerous depositions that > I have read, I would say this is not the best evidence of anyone's age. > 6. I think is very possible that James came to America as an apprentice to > the Shapleighs or may have worked on the ship for his passage here. Mrs. > Treworgy did not run a boarding house. She was really quite rich. I can > find no other record at that time indicating anyone else lived with her > except James. James lived in Kittery about 5 years, which would have been a > reasonable time in which to work off his fare over here. > > I believe the Slapton James is the same one as the Dover, NH James. Even as > late as the late 1800's boys of the age of 10-12 were working at men's jobs > and doing things that grown men did. He was young to be on a jury in 1646/7 > but it is entirely possible that he did serve at that young age. Especially > since he worked for Shapleigh and Frost who was Shapleigh's manager. Also, > the date of the court record might be wrong. Those records are rather mixed > up and not always in chronological order. The transcriber may have > transcribed the date wrong. It appears that James was in Dover by about > 1650 and definitely by 1652. > > What do you guys think? > > Bette > > > > > ==== BUNKER Mailing List ==== > Post your information and queries. We love it. No BUNKER rock left untouched. Spelling variations ok - we don't "know" the original. > > >

Bette Richards wrote: > This one is a problem. Since both Goebel and Beyer are so often misspelled > I tried several variations. Aren't you able to search using Soundex? In my opinion, that's why Soundex was invented! When you said you'd look up anyone I thought you meant just any Bunker. But - another good way to search is for the maiden name of a Bunker wife. Mary-Gene > > Bette > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Jarvis, Joy [mailto:JJarvis@ICOS.com] > Sent: Tuesday, February 18, 2003 1:08 PM > To: Bette Richards > Subject: RE: newspaper research > > > Bette, > > How wonderful of you to offer a "look up". Could you please look for > anything...marriage, birth, death... For Henry Goebel and Mina Beyer > between mid 1899 to February 1901 in Chicago, Ill (Lake Forest area). > They married sometime 1899 or 1900, she died late January 1901. > > Thanks again for your generous offer. > > Joy Jarvis > Executive Assistant > jjarvis@icos.com > 425-415-2252 > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Bette Richards [mailto:betterichs@earthlink.net] > Sent: Monday, February 17, 2003 4:58 PM > To: BUNKER-L@rootsweb.com > Subject: newspaper research > > > We have purchased a subscription to Ancestry's newspaper database. I > have been having a great time messing around in it trying to see how to > best search it. The best way is by using a first name to go with > Bunker. That way we do not get Bunker Hills all over the place and I > haven't gotten a reference to a war bunker yet or golf bunker either. > > Keeping in mind that most of these papers were published in the 1900's, > I will be happy to look up anyone you would like me to. I looked up my > grandfather and found 153 entries. He was a perfectly ordinary man. > The biggest share of the entries had to do with him being visited or > visiting someone. Still, in the process I have also found several > obituaries, references to accidents, jobs and businesses, weddings and > births. It is easier if you know the place to look. Even the state > will narrow down the hits some. > > Let me know if you want me to look up someone. > > Bette > > > > ==== BUNKER Mailing List ==== > Post your information and queries. We love it. No BUNKER rock left > untouched. Spelling variations ok - we don't "know" the original. > > > > > ==== BUNKER Mailing List ==== > Post your information and queries. We love it. No BUNKER rock left untouched. Spelling variations ok - we don't "know" the original. > > >

Tamara: I can't find James Bunker Cook in our database so am not able to help you right now. I am sending a copy of this to the list as there may be people out there that live near you that can help. The latest Bunker Banner newsletter is in the mail and we should be getting our copies soon. I am not familiar with the forms for DAR membership but I am sure there are others that are. I'm sorry but maybe someone else can help. Bette -----Original Message----- From: txsamiam@juno.com [mailto:txsamiam@juno.com] Sent: Tuesday, February 18, 2003 8:51 AM To: betterichs@earthlink.net Subject: Re: Help I am attempting to fill out paper's for the DAR-Daughter's of the American Revolution. Is there anyone out there that can help me. I am handicap and my writing is poor and slow. My older brother in Texas has our geneology/history. I'm not sure under what branch I am even in. My father recently passed away in December-James Bunker Cook, married to Normajean Furlong Cook. I am fourth out of eight children. There is a lot of us! The obit for Dad was suppose to be in the Bunker Digest in the latest newsletter, I have not gotten mine. Can you help me or know one of our cousins that is also familiar with the DAR, that may be able to help. Thanks Tamara Cook Smith 7981 W. 114th Terrace Overland Park, KS 66210 kstamiam@hotmail.com txsamiam@hotmail.com Tam txsamiam@hotmail.com kstamiam@hotmail.com kstamiam@yahoo.com ________________________________________________________________ Sign Up for Juno Platinum Internet Access Today Only $9.95 per month! Visit www.juno.com

This one is a problem. Since both Goebel and Beyer are so often misspelled I tried several variations. Most Goebels I found in Indiana and in the Ft. Wayne paper. Most of the things in the paper were about the trial for the shooting of William Goebel in Ky. He was an Indiana native though I believe and was shot by a senator when William ran for Gov. Interesting. I found in the Ft. Wayne, IN paper 4 Sep 1900 an obituary for Mrs. Mary Goebel. She was survived by two daughters, Margaret and Regina. Don't know if that sounds like it might be her. Her parents name was not Beyer though. There were both Goebels and Bauers in Indiana. Henry Goebel married Sophia Bauer in Indiana in 1856. I found a reference to Henry Goebel as the secretary treasurer of the Ft. Wayne Business School in 1897. I am afraid this is not much help. Whenever you are looking for people in the Chicago area you need to look in Indiana as so many crossed the line to be married there. With these two names you need to do soundex searches as the spelling is all over the place. I suspect the record is there someplace but misspelled. There are no Chicago area newspapers on line as yet but there are numerous Indiana ones. I checked also birth, death and marriage records for Henry Goebel from 1850-1910 in every state. I am sending this to the list so maybe others can help too. Bette -----Original Message----- From: Jarvis, Joy [mailto:JJarvis@ICOS.com] Sent: Tuesday, February 18, 2003 1:08 PM To: Bette Richards Subject: RE: newspaper research Bette, How wonderful of you to offer a "look up". Could you please look for anything...marriage, birth, death... For Henry Goebel and Mina Beyer between mid 1899 to February 1901 in Chicago, Ill (Lake Forest area). They married sometime 1899 or 1900, she died late January 1901. Thanks again for your generous offer. Joy Jarvis Executive Assistant jjarvis@icos.com 425-415-2252 -----Original Message----- From: Bette Richards [mailto:betterichs@earthlink.net] Sent: Monday, February 17, 2003 4:58 PM To: BUNKER-L@rootsweb.com Subject: newspaper research We have purchased a subscription to Ancestry's newspaper database. I have been having a great time messing around in it trying to see how to best search it. The best way is by using a first name to go with Bunker. That way we do not get Bunker Hills all over the place and I haven't gotten a reference to a war bunker yet or golf bunker either. Keeping in mind that most of these papers were published in the 1900's, I will be happy to look up anyone you would like me to. I looked up my grandfather and found 153 entries. He was a perfectly ordinary man. The biggest share of the entries had to do with him being visited or visiting someone. Still, in the process I have also found several obituaries, references to accidents, jobs and businesses, weddings and births. It is easier if you know the place to look. Even the state will narrow down the hits some. Let me know if you want me to look up someone. Bette ==== BUNKER Mailing List ==== Post your information and queries. We love it. No BUNKER rock left untouched. Spelling variations ok - we don't "know" the original.

I am sending this to the list as others may have some good ideas too. Mary Ann Thompson unfortunately missed the two most important census' taken in her life time, 1850 and 1880. These were the ones that listed all the household members. She might appear on the 1851 Canadian census but I do not have access to that. You might find it by searching the internet and http://www.cyndislist The following is all that I could find. It looks like this is the correct Mary Ann Thompson but does not give you a lot of information. On the Ship Sea out of Liverpool arriving in New York 8 Dec 1846 were the following Thompsons traveling in steerage in transit to Upper Canada. Upper Canada at that time was more or less what is now Ontario. John Thompson age 50, workman, born Ireland as were all the others. No city listed in Ireland. Mary age 30; William age 24 workman; Sarah age 11; John age 9; Mary Ann age 7; Thomas age 5; James age 3; and Eliza age 1. Doing research in Ireland is difficult but much easier if you have a location and you do. You have Mary Ann's birth place as Ulster. Irish internet sites: http://www.cyndislist.com and look under the topical index for Irish http://www.genuki.org.uk/ http://www.nationalarchives.ie/gen_researchers.html http://www.rootsweb.com/~irish/index.html I am sorry that I cannot help you much. It would be nice to find an obituary for her. Ancestry did not have any Oregon newspapers for that period. Try Oregon state archives at http://arcweb.sos.state.or.us Go to the bottom of the page where you will see a link to genealogy. Bette -----Original Message----- From: J. Snyder [mailto:snyder@nwrain.com] Sent: Monday, February 17, 2003 7:43 PM To: Bette Richards Subject: Re: newspaper research Dear Bette, Oh, than you so much.,I am stumped. My great-grandmother, Mary Ann Thompson, born Ballycastle, Ulster Ireland July 12 , 1839, died Hillsboro, Oregon, September 22, 1878, was married to Henry Alfred Bunker June 2, 1868 in Oswego, Oregon. Mary Ann died when my grandmother, Annie Elizabeth Bunker Stearns, was only six. However, at our family picnics every August, Annie would always stress to me that we were Scots and not Irish! I would dearly love to trace back to Europe but haven't even found Mary Ann on a census. The MacTavish clan claims that many of their number settled in Ulster and changed their name to Thompson. but I have found no way of proving this. Thanks for looking, Jo Ann Snyder ----- Original Message ----- From: "Bette Richards" <betterichs@earthlink.net> To: <BUNKER-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, February 17, 2003 4:57 PM Subject: newspaper research > We have purchased a subscription to Ancestry's newspaper database. I have > been having a great time messing around in it trying to see how to best > search it. The best way is by using a first name to go with Bunker. That > way we do not get Bunker Hills all over the place and I haven't gotten a > reference to a war bunker yet or golf bunker either. > > Keeping in mind that most of these papers were published in the 1900's, I > will be happy to look up anyone you would like me to. I looked up my > grandfather and found 153 entries. He was a perfectly ordinary man. The > biggest share of the entries had to do with him being visited or visiting > someone. Still, in the process I have also found several obituaries, > references to accidents, jobs and businesses, weddings and births. It is > easier if you know the place to look. Even the state will narrow down the > hits some. > > Let me know if you want me to look up someone. > > Bette > > > > ==== BUNKER Mailing List ==== > Post your information and queries. We love it. No BUNKER rock left untouched. Spelling variations ok - we don't "know" the original.

We have purchased a subscription to Ancestry's newspaper database. I have been having a great time messing around in it trying to see how to best search it. The best way is by using a first name to go with Bunker. That way we do not get Bunker Hills all over the place and I haven't gotten a reference to a war bunker yet or golf bunker either. Keeping in mind that most of these papers were published in the 1900's, I will be happy to look up anyone you would like me to. I looked up my grandfather and found 153 entries. He was a perfectly ordinary man. The biggest share of the entries had to do with him being visited or visiting someone. Still, in the process I have also found several obituaries, references to accidents, jobs and businesses, weddings and births. It is easier if you know the place to look. Even the state will narrow down the hits some. Let me know if you want me to look up someone. Bette

There is someone who thinks they may be descended from Jacob Bunker b. 1747, the son of Clement Bunker and Rebecca Drew, but I have forgotten who it is. I am looking for male descendants of Jacob who would like to take part in the DNA test project. I want to compare them with other descendants of Clement. At this point, if someone does not know for sure who their Bunker ancestor was, we can probably tell you if your ancestors came from Devon or Bedfordshire, England. James of Dover came from Devon and the two George's came from Bedfordshire. If anyone is interested in joining in with the test look at http://www.bunkerfamilyassn.org and click on the surname project. I am particularly interested in finding another descendant of Jacob to be tested. My father is supposed to descend from Jacob but his DNA does not match the DNA of the Devon Bunkers and does not match the DNA of a descendant of Clement's son, Joseph. There are several possibilities for why he does not match the Devon Bunkers. There may be a hidden adoption at Jacob, Isaac, Thomas, Hollis, Willis or Frank which is the line of descent from Clement for my father. Since Jacob only had known male descendants through Thomas I can pin point the adoption a bit easier with other descendants being tested. However, there is also the possibility that Jacob was not Clement's son. Jacob was captured as a boy by the Indians and did not return until he was a grown man. Maybe the man who came back was not Jacob. We have no direct connection between Clement and Jacob. Clement and Rebecca's daughter Lydia had a grandson named Jacob Bunker Hawkins. This led the early Bunker genealogists to believe that Jacob was Clement's son. One of Joseph's grandsons said his grandfather had two brothers, Francis and Dodavah. He did not mention Jacob. Jacob married a woman named Anna and it is believed that she was an Indian. Her last name is not known. When she was baptized shortly before she died, her parents names were given as Clement Bunker and Rebecca Drew. Jacob and Anna had two known children, Isaac and Rebecca. It seems likely that Jacob was Clement's son. But I read somewhere that another man's descendants felt that he was a son of Jacob too. I would really like to find a male Bunker who believes he is descended from Jacob to take the DNA test and see if the results match my father's. So far as we know, Isaac's only surviving son was Thomas. Thomas had 12 sons. I would like to find descendants of Thomas who would be interested in testing too. Please check out the website or contact me if you are interested. Thanks. Bette

Martin has been doing some research to try to pin down the parents of James of Dover, NH. There is a baptism in Slapton in 1633/4 which most of us believe was our James. The problem is that we have a James Buncker serving on a coroner's jury in Kittery, Maine in 1646 when this James would have been possibly 13 years old. We also have a deposition of James of Dover in 1678 saying he was 50 years old indicating that he was born in 1628. James said he was from Devon but we find no specific place in Devon that he may have been from. In addition, James lived with Mrs. Trueworthy in 1648/9 in Kittery, Maine and worked for Shapleigh's Mills. In the court record Mrs. Trueworthy's name is spelled incorrectly. Her name was actually Treworgy and she was the daughter of Nicholas Shapleigh who owned ships, a sawmill and a mercantile store. His ships regularly traveled back and forth from Dartmouth, the only Devon port deep enough to dock ships. The coroner's jury was to determine the cause of death of a man accidentally shot by Charles Frost, the son of Nicholas Frost, a business associate of Shapleigh. These are my thoughts on the possible explanations for James of Dover being the one baptized at Slapton in 1633 and also serving on the coroner's jury in Kittery, Maine in 1646. 1. Any one of the dates may be incorrect, but other evidence seems to support them. 2. The baptism of James may have been delayed for some reason and he was not baptized as an infant. 3. There were few men available to serve on the coroner's jury so in spite of James' young age he was chosen as it was only to determine cause of death and not guilt or innocence of a possible crime. 4. James was deliberately chosen to be on the jury by Shapleigh and Frost as they were commissioners at the time. There is abundant evidence of chicanery by both of these men and "stacking" of juries in order to get a favorable verdict. Shapleigh and Frost were very powerful and there were great plans for Charles Frost. The man shot was not from a prominent family. 5. James was mistaken in his deposition and his age was actually 45 in 1678. It was so common for people to state in depositions their age to the nearest decade that this is a very likely possibility. It also may have been recorded wrong. At any rate, based upon the numerous depositions that I have read, I would say this is not the best evidence of anyone's age. 6. I think is very possible that James came to America as an apprentice to the Shapleighs or may have worked on the ship for his passage here. Mrs. Treworgy did not run a boarding house. She was really quite rich. I can find no other record at that time indicating anyone else lived with her except James. James lived in Kittery about 5 years, which would have been a reasonable time in which to work off his fare over here. I believe the Slapton James is the same one as the Dover, NH James. Even as late as the late 1800's boys of the age of 10-12 were working at men's jobs and doing things that grown men did. He was young to be on a jury in 1646/7 but it is entirely possible that he did serve at that young age. Especially since he worked for Shapleigh and Frost who was Shapleigh's manager. Also, the date of the court record might be wrong. Those records are rather mixed up and not always in chronological order. The transcriber may have transcribed the date wrong. It appears that James was in Dover by about 1650 and definitely by 1652. What do you guys think? Bette