Morning Dove

As an adult, the curiosity of wanting to know more about my ancestors bit me. In 1996, I desired to trace my ancestry --- I didn’t quiet know how to begin. So, I subscribed to three History magazines, but they related mostly to tracing roots in the United States. Not much information was forthcoming about Bermudians. I had never been in the Bermuda Archives, but decided to give it a go. It had an image back then as kind of “o - limits” to the average person. However, having been an employee at Bermuda College for 14 years, I knew several professors from the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, who had been there researching. I learned that a west end St. Da- vid’s Islander was the archivist at that time. Her name was Karla Hayward. I knew she would assist me. Dr. Archie Hallett, former President of Bermuda College, had also compiled a book called 19th Century Church Registers of Bermuda that I had seen, but at that time I had no interest in genealogy. Another factor was that in 1996, I lived and worked in the United States when the “bug” bit me. I had little access to those records. During my vacation time, I visited the Bermuda Archives as a “tourist”, so to speak. I was utterly blown away on my rst visit there. There were massive amounts of documentation, and I felt as if I had found paradise. Quickly gathering as much as I could and seeing words associated with my immediate family history that I have never heard of before raised the curiosity bar a little higher. I was on a mission and as more evidence was found, I met with several relatives. Some were not interested at all. One uncle said to me, “Our family has been “on the rock” for centuries. We are not interested in going “beyond these shores”. After all, we have 387 years of history. Who would want to bother going back further than that? Furthermore, who cares?”

I was mostly advised to forget about it. Our families had achieved. They had been educated, had positions of importance, but in my mind, I was led to ask myself – what was wrong with this picture? There was nothing wrong with this picture except there was still a nagging need inside of me to know how we got to St. David’s Island in the rst place. Pushed back, but still not daunted and with many stories and traditions on my side I decided to share my thoughts with my mother, Ursula Mary (Fox-Foggo) Hinson. We called her Mama Ursula and she encouraged me to contin- ue. I actually interviewed my mother on tape. She had an excellent memory and gave me insight into some of the family secrets. My father, Oliver Milton Martindale Foggo or “Papa Son”, added to my treasure trove. They were both in their late 70’s. Another cousin, Carmen (Fox) Welch encouraged me. She was there with me right from the beginning and relayed to me that another cousin, Dora (Minors) Hollis, had visited some Native Americans in New England on several oc- casions. Two of them had traveled to Bermuda to research our archives over the years. Christine (Millett) Lugo as well as Dora’s son, Stuart Hollis had gone to New England in search of their ancestors and had found them, but has been turned away when they sought registration with a tribe there. I asked what tribe. Not knowing, Carmen o ered to take me to visit Dora and Stuart Hollis. I had known them all of my life, but with relocation, I had lost touch with them. Cousin Dora graciously shared some information with me verbally. She also presented a letter and a phone number she had received from a person named Tall Oak. She talked about Pequots, Pokonokets, Wampanoag, and Narra- gansett Tribes. Excitement was in the air, so during our conversation Dora o ered to call a Native called Lion Heart, who was her contact person in New England. We spoke brie y. We then called Tall Oak and an hour later he and I were still conversing. He told me many things of great interest. I was overwhelmed and wanted to learn more. I told him upon my return to the United States I would make contact. Before I left Bermuda, I went back to the archives because now I was armed with information and knew what to ask for. I only had birth, marriage and death records of my immediate family. During this research project, I discov- ered a folder with newspaper articles, letters, copies of sections of other les, wills, etc., that related to the words --- Pequot, Narragansett, and Wampanoag --- all tribes that were from New England. During that research I noticed there was no mention of the Mohawk. Had I been looking in the wrong places? My excitement heightened. Having already gathered the genealogy for my mother and fathers’ families, the Fox and Foggo’s, there was men- tion that the Fox/Minors families had intermarried. In particular, Jacob Minors, thought to be a Pequot had taken a second wife, Ruth Ann Fox. (Native/Irish). I had hit pay dirt. The light had come on! Could this be? Could our family roots be Pequot instead of Mohawk? ... To be continued - next issue.