Hi Everyone: I spent some of this weekend reading, which the blizzard here in Massachusetts gave ample time for. One book I started is Edward Rowe Snow's "Storms and Shipwrecks of New England," 1943. My local library has this old copy of the book, but I believe it has been reprinted in more recent history. Many of the stories take place in Cape waters, so is an interesting read. One story that is probably very familar to Thacher descendants is about the Great Hurricane of August 1635, in which the "Watch and Wait" was wrecked and all on board died, with Anthony and Elizabeth (Jones) Thacher being the only survivors. Although I don't descend from this couple directly, I'm related to Elizabeth as her sister Dorothy Jones (ca 1603-1679)who m. Richard Sears (ca 1595-1676)is my 9th great grandmother. Anthony was one of the founders of Yarmouth and most Cape Thachers descend from his son John. The island off Rockport/Gloucester that Anthony and Elizabeth washed ashore on is called Thacher Island and the lights put there to aid mariners are called Thacher Island Twin Lights. There's an interesting article online about the lights at http://www.lighthouse.cc/thacher/history.html. The second book I read is fiction, so not helpful in genealogy, but I really enjoyed it. "Blackbird House," by Alice Hoffman, published 2004, ISBN 0-385-50761-5. It tells the fictional tale of the many people who live in a Cape Cod house over a period of 200 years. Her stories always have a mystical quality, so not for everyone. I really enjoy finding the houses my ancestors lived in and thinking about their lives there, so it was very interesting to me. Just thought I'd give out a few suggestions for people looking for some reading this winter. Chris Chirokas Westford, MA

Loved the book suggestions, just ordered "Blackbird" from the library. One book I loved was this one by Henry Beston... *The Outermost House: A Year of Life On The Great Beach of Cape Cod Paul Green Bay, WI * David & Chris Chirokas wrote: >Hi Everyone: I spent some of this weekend reading, which the blizzard here >in Massachusetts gave ample time for. > >One book I started is Edward Rowe Snow's "Storms and Shipwrecks of New >England," 1943. My local library has this old copy of the book, but I >believe it has been reprinted in more recent history. Many of the stories >take place in Cape waters, so is an interesting read. > >One story that is probably very familar to Thacher descendants is about the >Great Hurricane of August 1635, in which the "Watch and Wait" was wrecked >and all on board died, with Anthony and Elizabeth (Jones) Thacher being the >only survivors. Although I don't descend from this couple directly, I'm >related to Elizabeth as her sister Dorothy Jones (ca 1603-1679)who m. >Richard Sears (ca 1595-1676)is my 9th great grandmother. Anthony was one of >the founders of Yarmouth and most Cape Thachers descend from his son John. > >The island off Rockport/Gloucester that Anthony and Elizabeth washed ashore >on is called Thacher Island and the lights put there to aid mariners are >called Thacher Island Twin Lights. There's an interesting article online >about the lights at http://www.lighthouse.cc/thacher/history.html. > >The second book I read is fiction, so not helpful in genealogy, but I really >enjoyed it. "Blackbird House," by Alice Hoffman, published 2004, ISBN >0-385-50761-5. It tells the fictional tale of the many people who live in a >Cape Cod house over a period of 200 years. Her stories always have a >mystical quality, so not for everyone. I really enjoy finding the houses my >ancestors lived in and thinking about their lives there, so it was very >interesting to me. > >Just thought I'd give out a few suggestions for people looking for some >reading this winter. > >Chris Chirokas >Westford, MA > > > > > >==== MABARNST Mailing List ==== >To visit the Barnstable message board, go to the RootsWeb message board home page at: >http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/script/main/rw >and click on "U.S. States," then "Massachusetts," "Counties" and then "Barnstable." Postings to the board will also appear on this mailing list, giving you "two for one" exposure to your post. > > > > >