Twice blessed: Our dual lineage to Benjamin and Martha Waite

There are two historical novels I am aware of that discuss the lives of our direct lineal ancestors. Both are well-researched and have a lot of detail about the times and lives of the characters. But a pure non-fiction work often cannot capture the same sort of story as an historical novel, where the author takes license to flesh out the characters and action.

The first is Captives, 1677. This novel deals with my 8th great-grandparents, Benjamin and Martha Waite. Martha was captured by Indians in 1677 while pregnant with her third child. The Waites were living in Massachusetts; Martha and her two little girls were taken by the Indians all the way to Quebec.

Horseback, walking, canoes. The little girls were handed off to Indian women for their care, so Martha did not even know if they were alive. Martha was frantic about her babies, but knew resistance meant death for her, her unborn baby, and her little girls if they were still alive.

While in captivity, Martha gave birth to a third daughter, who was later named Canada. Canada Waite is my 7th ggmother. Canada had eleven children.

Here's how our descent works from Canada Waite:

So that's part one of the story: My 7th ggrandma, Canada Waite, was born an Indian captive in what was then part of New France.

Part two is where Martha's husband (my 8th ggrandpa) Benjamin Waite traveled up to Quebec in the dead of winter with another man, fighting much of the way with various French and Indian folk, and ransomed his wife and three daughters. It's all in the book (which I haven't read, but mom has, and Rita is reading it currently.)

Part three of the story is that Benjamin and Martha (with girls in tow) came back to Massachusetts, and proceeded to have three sons. That's where the book finishes, but not where our lineage stops.

The first son of Benjamin and Martha was John Waite, Sr. John is my 7th great-grandfather. Here's how I descend from John, Sr.:

See how that works? John Waite, Sr. and Canada Waite are brother and sister. 

Canada marries a guy named Smith* and they have a daughter Sarah, who marries another guy named Smith (likely a cousin); they have a daughter, Mary. Mary is Canada's granddaughter. 

While that's happening, John Sr. marries and has a son, John Jr. John Jr. has a son, John III. John III is John Sr.'s grandson. 

John III and Mary are first cousins. John III marries cousin Mary; and together they have a son, John IV, during the War of Independence. All who came before John IV are British or Dutch subjects. (Canada was born a subject of King Louis XVI.)

And here's what finally became of our valiant Benjamin and Martha:

Sgt. Benjamin Waite was killed in a French and Indian raid on February 29, 1704. He is called locally the Hero of the Connecticut Valley.

Martha died six months later.

So I descend from Benjamin and Martha Waite through two different lines. That's a lot of good, strong Waite blood.

*This is a different Smith family than Pompo's line. The Smith family into which Canada Waite married founded Smith College and a bunch of other institutions. Good folks, and obviously we're related to them through cousinage. You can read about them here.