When I visited Boston for the first time as a child, I fell in love with the place. I returned several times during my teen and college years. My dream was to live there. When it was time to choose a graduate school, I knew I wanted to go to Boston University. My one-year master’s program along the banks of the Charles River was a fulfillment of that lifelong dream.
In recent months, I’ve been researching my mother’s side of the family. I’ve been discovering ancestors I never knew about. My maternal grandfather’s family history wasn’t discussed much while I was growing up. I’m amazed to watch as that branch of the family tree comes into focus.
While researching my maternal grandfather’s line, I discovered our ancestors lived in Boston in the 17th century. What a surprise! No wonder I felt so drawn to that place. I had no idea our family had lived in New England.
I found a manuscript compiled by an ancestor in the mid-19th century. The manuscript traced our family roots back to colonial New England and on back to England. I was thrilled to discover those milestones like births and marriages, and especially to find so many descriptions of daily life. That’s the kind of history I love.
From those pages, something jumped out at me. Until that moment, my 7th great-grandfather was a name on a family tree. The manuscript described how he had purchased a homestead in Boston. Right where I went to school. Right where I lived.
During that year I spent earning my MA at Boston University, I rented an apartment a short T-ride away from campus. I had no idea I was living on land my ancestor had purchased centuries earlier.
Before that moment, that apartment was simply where I had lived as a graduate student. Now, it’s a family connection across the generations. My 7th great-grandfather chose to live on that land. He must have believed it was a good place to build toward his family’s future there. Centuries later, I also chose that place because it appealed to me. His vision extended further than he could have imagined.
I often wonder what my 7th great-grandpa would have thought if he knew one day, a granddaughter would return home and live on that land he had purchased for his family. I think he would have been pleased. And slightly appalled at the amount of rent I was paying.
The manuscript went on to say my 7th great-grandfather became a freeman of the colony exactly 300 years before my birth, to the precise year. Seeing that number made it easier to picture the moment. It wasn’t just a year in the 17th century. It was exactly 300 years before I was born. I could picture that in my mind. I could count it back. The connection felt solid.
It’s amazing how family history can change the way we see familiar places. Before researching my family history, Boston was a favorite city, a place I wanted to live, the location where I chose to go to school. Now, it’s also part of my family’s story. In fact, my life in graduate school in Boston was already a part of my family’s story. I just didn’t know it yet.
Exploring Generations 