My Grandfahter, William Oliver Baketel Little
As I do with all questions genealogical, I wrote to Cuzzin Ralph when a community neighbor asked if we were related. For once it wasn’t a question regarding Espys. The neighbor had found an ancestor named Patience Little back in the 18th century and wondered if I, also, could trace my father’s side back to her.
His question reminded me yet again that I often talk of my mother’s forebears but seldom of my father’s. I guess the main reason for that is that Espys and Oysterville are tied to my interest in local history, but Littles and New England are another side of things altogether. However, my maiden name was Little and, though I was pretty sure that Patience and I were not connected, I dutifully asked Ralph, the family genealogist, to scope it out. Here is what he answered:
My Dad, William Woodworth Little
… I think Patience Little’s family (she was born 1761 in Plymouth Co, MA) was a different one. Hers is an old New England family with multiple relations to ancestors who came over on the Mayflower in 1620, while your Little ancestors came quite a bit later in the 1860’s from No. Ireland to New England (more specifically it was your Great grandpa Henry Little and his wife your Great grandma Margaret Johnston/Johnson who came from the old country)…. I also note that your Little ancestors came from Enniskillan in No. Ireland, which was infamous in the 1960’s thru 1990’s as one of the places in Northern Ireland that was a hotbed for “The Trouble.”
Little Gravestone, Enniskillan
I already knew most of that and I was sorry that I had bothered Ralph about it. On the other hand, I hadn’t realized that I’d never told him about my own trip to Enniskillan in 1968. I went in search of my Little family, found them – I discovered they were the “merchant Littles” as opposed to the “farmer Littles” of Enniskillan – and was taken by them to the cemetery where I photographed the gravestones of my ancestors.
What sticks in my mind about that visit, though, is that we had to travel through a checkpoint going into and out of Northern Ireland and just a week after our visit that very checkpoint was blown to smithereens. As Ralph points out, it was indeed the time of “the troubles!”
So I should have realized, in the first place, that Patience Little and I probably have no connection. Besides, it’s more likely that I’d be related to someone with the name ‘Little Patience,’ not the other way around!
One of our favorite shows to watch on PBS is “Finding Your Roots.” It is fascinating what Ancestry.com and DNA can dig up. My uncle did tons of leg work on my father’s side of things, but my mother’s is a little more sketchy. I’m working on it.
Thank you for your blog. I built a beach cabin a few years ago in Surfside and developed a big interest in the history of the area. I really enjoy reading your blog every morning.
Thank you!
I was glad to be of help, even if not that much. It is quite interesting that you were able to visit the home of your forebears in Enniskillan, and it seems from what you said to have actually met some of your distant cousins there. Have you traced any further back? It’s likely that your Little/Lytle family originally came from Scotland, following a similar trail as our Espy ancestors. Have you looked at the webpage for the Clan Little Society North America?
No and no. The Enniskellan Littles said we came from England during one of the potato faminines (presumably, an English famine not an Irish one.)
You are Precious Little!