Dear friends and family, Jim Dempsey and I have been doing research on Francis Norwood and other related early Gloucester people and their families. We have been focusing on Christine Hyerman's theory that Francis was a Quaker. So far, we have found that second son Francis was a Quaker and daugher Elizabeth, who married John Potter. Jim recently found a record in the Narragansett Monthly Meeting in Providence of the marriage of Joshua Norwood to Sarah Aldrich, which indicates that Joshua Norwood, Sr. and family may have been Quakers as well, giving us three out of ten of Francis Norwood, Sr.'s children practising Quakers at some point in their lives. Jim and I with most Maine Norwoods are descendants of Joshua Norwood and Sarah Aldrich (we are son Solomon's descendants) and would like to learn more about Sarah Aldrich and her family. One possible way to find out about her would be through the minutes of the meeting in which she and Joshua were married. If anyone lives near Providence, RI and could get to the Quaker records there to read the minutes, it would be a big help, and we are asking for a volunteer. Otherwise, we have been combing the Essex County Court records (Mass.) for all that we can find out about Francis and his neighbors. From what we have read so far, it would appear that the cluster of families in the Goose Cove/Long Cove area near Annisquam was characterized by dissent from the local authorities, including the Congregational establishment, and the King after the restoration. Singularly, so far, Francis Norwood and family never appear in the court cases. We wonder why. Left to read are many records between 1663 and 1709 that would be of interest to us. The ultimate goal of our research is to find Francis Norwood's English origins; however, this has proven to be elusive. We are still trying. Collateral goals are to flesh out the family by learning more about their beliefs and business and the families they intermarried with. The Quaker theory has stronger evidence now and is interesting for being new information--or at least overlooked. Any help anyone can offer would be deeply appreciated. It would be great to involve more of our cousins in this work. Thanks for your "ear". Dick Norwood http://www.geocities.com/~rnorwood/tnfpexp.htm