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Abraham Joslyn (abt. 1619 - bef. 1670)

Abraham Joslyn aka Jocelyn
Born about in London, Englandmap
Ancestors ancestors
Husband of — married 14 Nov 1646 (to 7 Apr 1670) in Lancaster, Worcester, Massachusetts Bay Colonymap
Descendants descendants
Died before before about age 51 in At sea on the ship Ye Good Famemap
Profile last modified | Created 6 Jul 2013
This page has been accessed 3,321 times.

Biography

Abraham Joslyn immigrated to New England as a child during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640).

Excerpts from The Jocelyn - Joslin - Joslyn - Josselyn Family, compiled by Edith S. Wessler. Produced by the Charles E. Tuttle Company of Rutland, Vermont and Tokyo, Japan. Copyright in Japan, 1961. Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 61-11559. First edition, 1962. (Consulted by H. DeVoe on Feb. 4, 1987, at the Library of Congress genealogy room, call number CS71.J66 1962.)

Thomas married, in 1615, Rebecca Marlowe, born in London, in 1592. After living in or near London a number of years, they moved to Barham, co. Suffolk, where their youngest child was born. April 17, 1635, Thomas embarked for New England in the ship "Increase," of London, commanded by Capt. Robert Lea. The passenger list contained the names of Thomas Jostlin, husbandman, aged 43, Rebecca, his wife, aged 43; Elizabeth Ward, a maid-servant, aged 38; and five of their seven children - Rebecca, 18, Dorothy, 11, Nathaniel, 8; Elizabeth, 6; and Mary, a year old.

On his arrival in New England, the ship docked at Boston. Thomas went first to Watertown, Mass. The settlers there heard the glowing reports of the Musketsquid valley, the long lush meadows, the tall swamp grass, the rolling hills with timber. The fish were plentiful in the stream. The natural clearings could be planted without the drudgery of stump-pulling and wood cutting. As shipload after shipload of immigrants arrived from England to settle in the seacoast communities, the inhabitants at Watertown were feeling the need of more meadow. Consequently, in 1637, the greater part of the Watertown inhabitants petitioned the General Court that they "might leave to remove and settle a plantation upon the River which runs to Concord."

Thomas became an original proprietor in the new settlement which in 1639 was given the name, "Sudbury." Other settlers who went with him were Nathaniel Treadway and John Howe. That same year Daniel Hudson came over from England.

On the east side of this new community lay Watertown; on the North was Concord. The south and west were wilderness, and in the ancient records it was called "wilderness Land."

Samuel Maverick, probably the town clerk in 1660, wrote - "They plant and breed cattle, and get something by trading with the Indians."

In 1640, the first Sudbury Church was organized, Congregationalist in government, and Calvinist in doctrine. It was called a "Meeting House." So bitter were the New England Colonists against the Anglican Church, that the word "church" was forbidden and excluded from common usage for a full century.

Like all the puritan houses of that day, we may assume that Thomas' first house in this new land was built on what we would term the medieval pattern; with huge chimneys, casement windows, sturdy doors, and many gables. He was a man of substance, and men of substance, especially Englishmen, did not live in log cabins in that particular period.

It appears that his sons, Abraham and Joseph, joined their parents between 1637 and 1645. Joseph probably remained in the family home in Sudbury, and Abraham went to Hingham, a town southeast of Boston, at the southern end of Boston Bay.

We find Thomas and his family in Hingham in 1645, where he was a proprietor and Selectman (town officer). He had bought land of his son-in-law Thomas Nichols. Since a number of the descendants of Thomas Josselyn grew up in Hingham, a few remarks about this town would not be amiss at this point in our narrative.

Hingham is one of the oldest towns in Massachusetts. There were settlers there as early as 1633. The town consisted of perhaps less than one hundred homes, and a half dozen streets such as North Street where the Josselyns lived, South Street, Main Street, Spring Street and Bachelor Row. These were not the kind of streets we have today. They were unimproved; merely grassy lanes with deep-cut ruts from farm wagons and other vehicles. There were no sidewalks. Paths led from house to house and from farm to farm.

All the families were large. The women wove the cloth that made their garments. We would say their clothes were homespun. Farming seems to have been their chief business at that time. Commercial relations were not always carried out by payments in money, but sometimes wholly or in part, in produce.

Thomas is listed in the Colonial records as "husbandman and pioneer;" as a man of "business ability and generous disposition."

Thomas and his son, Nathaniel, sold their other property [in 1653] . . . and removed to the new town of Lancaster (Mass.) on the "western outpost of civilization" . . . Thomas purchased fifty acres of upland and twenty acres of swamp-land . . . on the west side of what decades later became known as Main Street in Lancaster. He signed the covenant for a local government, September 12, 1654, and is listed as one of the original proprietors of the town. He died there January 3, 1660/1, aged 69 years . . .

Abraham, mariner, oldest son of Thomas and Rebecca Josselyn, was born in London, England, in 1619; died at sea in 1670. He attended Corpus Christi school in London; married and had a child which died before September 1, 1644. His wife probably died soon after. He is recorded in the early history of our country as having been in Salisbury, (a shire town belonging to New Hampshire and Massachusetts) April 1, 1647, where he was witness to a deed executed that day, regarding his house in Salisbury. He was with his father in Hingham, Mass., in 1647.

According to the diary of Rev. Ralph Josselyn [relation to Abraham not identified], Abraham was with him at Earl's Colne, March 5, 6, 7, and 8, 1644/5, at which time they discussed the "purchase of the Canaryes." Rev. Ralph recorded, "It was a sad, long journey and one tedious fight with a Kings pyratt." He also mentioned New England as having "this summer, divers losses at sea, and scarce any before."

Abraham remained in England until sometime in 1646. While there, in 1645, he married Beatrice Hampson, born 1623, died, 1712, daughter of Philip Hampson, clothier, of London.

Abraham was largely interested in commerce, and probably owned several ships sailing between Plymouth and England. He was a proprietor of Black Point (Scarborough) Maine; a member of the Grand Jury there in 1659, the year he sold his property and went to Lancaster, Mass., where his father lived.

"Abraham, Scarborough, with wife, sold 200 acres of land 27 October 1659; deed witnessed by Henry and Margaret Jocelyn; removed to Boston with wife, Beatrice; sold land at Scarborough which had been in his possession for "divers years past." This land was sold to Mr. Scottow, 8 June 1660. It included "Josselyn's great hill, later known as Scottoway's Hill."

By 1663, Abraham had rejoined the rest of the family at Lancaster, where he maintained his residence until his death. He was a man of enterprise and some wealth . 'An abstract of his will on file in the Surrogate's office, in New York

"Abraham Jossling, Nashay (Indian name for Lancaster) being very sick, leaves to wife, one house in Nashaway, with land thereto belonging. To eldest son, Abraham, one farm that goodman Kittle lives on. And good wife, I would not have you remain where you are with any of my children, but my desire is that my children may be put out to trades where they are. To son, Henry, 20 shillings, and I desire him to be kind to his brothers, and to take one of them to himself to learn his trade, as he hath promised me. Dated: March 16, 1669/70. Witnesses: Christopher and Thomas Spicer. Proved and confirmed: April 17, 1670."

From the Middlesex Court files:

"Whereas Abraham Joslyn dyed not long since at sea, of from ye coast of Virginia, in ye ship `Ye Good Fame' of New York, but before his decease made a will, the which hath been approved by ye oath of two persons who are witnesses thereto, wherein he disposeth of his estate in Nashawaye and elsewhere in his Magesties Colony of Massachusetts, unto his wife and children . .." Beatrice, widow of Abraham . . . died at Boston, . . . January 11, 1711/12, aged 88 years

Notes

Maine Historical Magazine

Abraham Josselyn, son of Thomas Josselyn. He was in Hingham in 1647, when he had a grant of land, and probably was there some years previous to that time. He was in Boston in 1652, and the same year at Blue Point, Scarborough, Me., when he was admitted an inhabitant. He bought that year two hundred acres of land there of Henry Josselyn, Robert Jordan and Henry Williams, Assistants. He was on the Grand Jury for York County, and signed the act of submission to Massachusetts at Scarborough, July 3, 1658. His deed* or bond to Thonu's Beard, Oct. 28, 1659, was witnessed by Henry and Margaret Josselyn, and Rebeccaf, wife of Abraham Josselyn. He removed to Boston in 1660, where June 18, 1660, he and his wife Betturus, late of Scarborough, sold Joshua Scottow of Boston, merchant, for £80 sterling his houses and lands in Scarborough, which he bought of Henry Josselyn and others about 1652J, there being two hundred acres of land. Up to this time his farm had been called Josselyn's Hill. In another deed, Sept. 19, 1659, land was described as being on the "northernmost river that

York Deeds, Hook 1, Vol. 91, The late W. H. Richardson wrote me that it was plain "Rebecca" on the records. It must have been an error as I know of no other wife but Beatrice. York Deeds, Book 1, Folio 93.

Treaneth by the Great Hill of Abraham Josselyn's and goeth northward."

Scottow moved on to this farm and it was afterward called Scottow Hill Farm, and in 1853, it contained the original two hundred acres, "no more, no less."* Abraham Josselyn and wife Beatrice sold E. Tyng, Josselyn's Island, at Sheepscott.f

He removed to Lancaster about 1653. In a deed, May 29, 1663, he, "mariner" and wife Bettris conveyed land in Lancaster which was formerly granted his father, Thomas Josselyn, deceased, to Henry Kemble of Boston, f His wife's name was Bettris, Betturus or Beatrice. I have tried in vain to find when and where he married her, but I think in Hinghatn or vicinity, prior to 1640. William Kerby of Marl borough, by consent of Widow Beatrice Josselyn sold Abraham Josselyn, the oldest son of the widow, eighty-six acres of land in Lancaster, July 9, 1670.§

Abraham Josselyn, Jr. was appointed administrator of his father's estate, April 2, 1672.

I have a letter from Mr. Edward D. Harris of New York, son of Rev. Dr. Thaddeus M. Harris, Jan. 14, 1892, in which he says: "I have found the will of Abraham Josselyn here in New York, dated March 16, 1669-70, on board ship Good Fame off coast of Virginia, proved April 13th following."

The widow Josselyn married second Benjamin Bosworth of Hull, Nov. 16, 1671. In 1682 they removed to Stow and afterward to Boston, where he died November, 1700. She died January, 1712, Judge Sevvall in his diary under date of Jan. 11, 1712 records her funeral.IT

This was found on Google Books

The Fate of Abraham Josselyn aboard Ye Good Fame of New Yorke Abraham Josselyn is noted by many historians as having lost his life aboard the ship Ye Good Fame of New Yorke sometime between the making of his Will on 16th March 1669 and the proving of that Will on or about 17th April 1670. His Will, as recorded in the records of the Surrogate's Office of New York, indicate he was "very sicke & weak" at the time of the making of the Will. It is doubtful he survived long after rendering and signing it.

Long fascinated by the rather romantic place of dying ("seventeen miles off the coast of Virginia, aboard the ship Ye Good Fame of New Yorke"),my research has disproven many of my favorite theories as to the cause of his death: 1) that the ship was capsized by a storm; 2) that the ship sank after colliding with an obstacle at sea; or 3) that the ship was fired upon by Dutch sailors and Abraham Josselyn lost his life as a result of battle. Thus, my research into the history of the ship itself.

The history of Ye Good Fame is enmeshed with the history of the State ofNew York . New Netherland, as New York was called by the Dutch in 1664, was taken by the Englishman mariner, Colonel Richard Nicolls. It was the opinion of the Crown of England that the Dutch were "encroaching" upon the land which belonged, by right, to England . Although Col. Nicolls' personal account of the retaking of New Amsterdam ( New Netherland ) was lost at sea, other versions have survived. One of those documents was entitled Original Papers (penned by the Duke of York who later became King James II) and provides the following history of this event:

"The Duke of York, borrowing of the king two ships of war, sent Sir Richard Nicholas, groom of the bed-chamber and an old officer, with three hundred men to take possession of the country; which the Dutch gave up on composition, without being blockaded..., Colonel Nicholas remained there in peaceable possession of the country; and then called it New York and the Fort of River Albany. All this happened before the breaking of the first Dutch war." [Autobiographical notes of James II]

Colonel Nicolls was named first Governor of New York for his troubles. The son of a lawyer, his mother was a daughter of Sir George Bruce. He was "splendidly educated" and spoke Dutch and French as well as he did English. He served the Crown well in settling disputes among the various nationalities, including the Dutch and English settlers; and quieted unrest among the Native Indian tribes; established the first laws and organized the colony so that ongoing discussion could be had to settle new disputes. It is said of Nicolls:

"Nicolls was just then reconstructing the government of his province along English lines; and, laboring more conscientiously, more intelligently, and with more patience, cheerfulness, tact, and good-will than could have been expected of a soldier charged with a civilian's tasks, an Englishman set to govern Dutchmen, a courtier not yet forty years of age exiled from Whitehall to the edge of the world, he had almost finished the work before he heard that war had been declared in Europe."

Although he served the colony and the Crown well, he became tired and frustrated at the entanglement of rules that drained not only his mental and physical energies, but his pocketbook as well. One constant complaint: the little colony needed ships to maintain commerce among other colonies in order to sustain itself. The Crown, not wishing to provide too much freedom among these independent and tough-minded colonists, resisted. Those ships which did sail between the colonies were, ultimately, forced to sail to England with their cargo, permit inspection, pay the fees and taxes levied, and only then deliver their goods to the intended colonial port. New York merchants, eager to find markets for their goods, determined to build their own ship(s) to this end. The first ship, the King Charles, was followed shortly by a ship whose name was not noted and is lost to history. A bit of history concerning the King Charles helps to understand the plight of those merchants:

Jacob Janse Schermerhooren was commissary to the General Privileged West India Company, and was also one of a court of three commissaries (magistrates) at Beverwycke and Fort Orange (Albany ), in 1652, 1654, 1656, 1657, 1664, 1666, 1674, and 1675." The records of this court also show that in 1654 he visited Amsterdam , where his father, Jan Schermerhooren, was then living.' He again visited his native land in 1668, and there loaded the ship "King Charles" with goods for the Colony. The ship was prohibited from sailing to New York, and on December 11, 1668, Schermerhooren petitioned King Charles II for his permission to depart with his ship from the Trexel, " where it hath lain many days ready to sail, and now lies there at great hazard on account of the season of the year." The permission was subsequently granted by the orders of the King, through the Duke of York, Lord High Admiral ofEngland . [Genealogy of a part of the third branch of the Schermerhorn family in the United States, Author, Louis Younglove Schermerhorn, 1840.]

The colonists also resisted a plan by the King to permit two Scottish ships to sail into their harbors, fish in their seas and carry cargo bound for their markets.

Ultimately, Nicolls was permitted to step down from the position of Governor. His successor was one, the "Right Honorable Colonel" Francis Lovelace. Lovelace was about 38 when he accepted this post. It was believed he was, like Nicolls, a single man but history has shown he may have married "beneath his place" and been forced to leave his wife in England . He brought with him two of his brothers. It is recorded that, "although in every way a weaker man than Nicolls", Lovelace attempted to maintain the double thrust of Nicolls' success: "mingled conciliation and firm justice." Lovelace is reported to have served his post well, all in all, as he was both an amiable and intelligent leader.

Appointed in 1668, he interested himself in better ferriage, roads and transportation by land and water, and the regulation of trade and extension of commerce. He instituted the first merchant's exchange and the first haven master of the port. He promoted shipbuilding and himself owned a fine ship, The Good Fame of New York. He extended settlements and laid out new villages and townships, and by purchase for the Duke, freed Staten Island from Indian control."

Lovelace continued the work begun by Nicolls in fortifying the settlement by strengthening of the fortifications themselves and by raising foot companies and troops of horses which were constantly in training. His last effort on behalf of his growing settlement was to establish a continuous post road between New York and Boston , thus instituting the first postal service as well as setting forth the means for management of the system: a postmaster with a small amount of monies raised to pay his salary.

Unfortunately, this last effort on behalf of the young settlement cost Lovelace the respect of the Crown, in fact earning him a trip to the Tower of London and dishonor. For, during Lovelace's trip to Boston in 1673 to cement the final arrangements for that fledgling postal service, the Dutch moved into New York , overtaking the settlement in his absence. He was granted full blame. He contracted dropsy after lengthy incarceration in the damp and drafty Tower of London and died two years later in full disgrace, penniless and wrongfully blamed.

It is Lovelace's efforts to provide the merchants of infant New York with a means to conduct commerce that we will now explore. He entered into a joint venture with sixteen merchants to have Ye Good Fame built, at a very dear cost for that time and place. One Samuel Maverick had been enticed to settle there by Nicolls who induced the Duke to gift Maverick with a house confiscated as part of the property of the West India Company. It was on 'the broadway' as the former Heere Weg was then called. After Nicolls' return to England , Maverick wrote to him of newsworthy events, including the building of the Good Fame.

"The governor with some partners is building a ship of 120 ton by Thomas Hall's house...another of 60 or 70 ton is building at Gravesend ."

A few months later, Maverick reported to Nicolls that the governor's ship had been recently launched and named The Good Fame of New Yorkand that it was a "very strong and handsome vessel, but costly." Used initially in continuance of the West India trade routes, the ship was sent to Virginia and then to England . (*)

It may be assumed that it was during this trip to Virginia that Abraham Josselyn met his Maker aboard Ye Good Fame of New Yorke. The timing would be right and it is documented that the Good Fame was taken by Dutch privateers in 1673 after this voyage:

The last of the Anglo-Dutch wars put a temporary stop to Lovelace’s involvement in foreign trade, when Dutch privateers took the Good Fameat either Trexel or Sandy Hook in 1673. That same year Steenwyck lost his ship James; Thomas Delaval lost the Margaret, and Frederick Philipse lost the Frederick . But these and other losses, including the surrender of the city to the Dutch for one year, only underscored how vital the Dutch trade could be for supplying the city. Indeed, many of the city’s Dutch paused long enough with English residents to consider which mother country was, as Capt. John Manning put it, the greater “enemy in our Bowells.“ [The Hollander Interest and Ideas about Free Trade in ColonialNew York : Persistent Influences of the Dutch, 1664-1764 by Cathy Matson, History Department, University of Delaware .]

According to “THE JOCELYN-JOSLIN-JOSLYN-JOSSELYN FAMILY”, Compiled by Edith S. Wessler, Produced by Charles E. Tuttle Company of RutlandVermont and Tokyo , Japan , copyright in Japan , 1961. Library of congress Catalog Card No. 61-11559. First edition 1962. Page #81, family #35 reads as follows:

Abraham was largely interested in commerce, and probably owned several ships sailing between Plymouth and England . He was a proprietor of Black Point (Scarborough) Maine ; a member of the Grand Jury there in 1659, the year he sold his property and went to Lancaster , Mass. , where his father lived. “Abraham, Scarborough, with his wife, sold 200 acres of land 27 October 1659; deed witnessed by Henry and Margaret Joselyn; removed to Boston with wife Beatrice; sold land at Scarborough which had been in his possession for “divers years past.” This land was sold to Mr. Scottow, 8 June 1660. It included “Josselyn’s great hill, later known as Scottoway’s Hill.” By 1663, Abraham had rejoined the rest of the family in Lancaster , where he maintained his residence until his death. He was a man of enterprise and some wealth, and evidently a daring and hearty mariner, considering the size of the ships of that day. Sloops and ketches measured more than fifty or sixty feet in length, and ranged in size from forty to sixty tons."

It is not known whether Abraham Josselyn shared in the ownership of Ye Good Fame, but it is doubtful since his Will makes no mention of it. However, one other assumption may be made concerning Abraham's position aboard the Good Fame. Considering the level of education which may be assumed by Abraham's delayed trip to the New World in order for him to complete his education, coupled with the social position he and his father Thomas Josselyn (the Immigrant) enjoyed, it may be assumed he was no common mariner. Those facts and other common sense suppositions indicate that Abraham Josselyn was probably the Captain of Ye Good Fame of New York. This assumption is bolstered by the following notation found in a study of the Joslin, Joceline, Josselyn, Joslyn family which, in a footnote, includes the following:

14 "My Great Grand-Father Capt Abraham Josselyn was Born inEngland in Essex . . . Uncle Joseph took this acount from his Cousin Rebecca Clark Octr. 18th 1759." Diary of Thomas Josselyn, 1743–1775, Mss C3489, NEHGS.

The cause of Abraham's death may never now be determined. From the section of the Will where he indicates he is both "very sicke & weak," indications are that he had contracted a fatal illness. It is known the New York colony was wracked by epidemics of unidentified fevers in both 1668 and 1669. Gov. Lovelace proclaimed "days of humiliation" on September 8 and 22, 1668, to atone for the sins he believed had caused the epidemic to be visited upon the populace. In a letter from Samuel Maverick to former Governor Nicolls in October of 1669, he noted, "The flux, agues, and fevers, have much rained, both in cittie and country, & many dead, but not yett soe many as last yeare." Some historians believe the 1668 epidemic may have been caused by an outbreak of yellow fever. Abraham Josselyn was 54 years of age when he died aboard his ship, Ye Good Fame of New Yorke.

(*) Based upon calculations by Francis Turner which are contained in a separate story here, Francis Lovelace and his sixteen merchant partners paid a dear price for this "strong and handsome vessel." One Egydius Luyke, a Dutch merchant who participated in the joint venture documented his indebtedness to Lovelace with a debt instrument which has been preserved among the historic papers of the State of New York . The debt instrument, although the manuscript is torn in a number of places, is in surprisingly good shape such that Luyke's one-sixteenth share of the cost may be read. Assuming the tears in the manuscript are minute (which appears to be the case, given the balance of the text), Luyke's 1/16th share cost him "Six thousand, three hundred and nineteen Guild (manuscript torn here) Stiv's Seaw't or the Equivalent Value thereof" (manuscript torn here). In 1632, one Guilder would be equivalent to $36 US Dollars. That would make Luyke's portion equivalent to $227,484 and the full cost of the ship, assuming equal portions for each of the sixteen, would be equivalent to $3,639,744 in today's currency.

Sources

  • Hobart, Benjamin,. History of the town of Abington, Plymouth County, Massachusetts : from its first settlement. Boston: T.H. Carter and Son, 1866.Original data: Hobart, Ben "Memorials of families in Abington": p. 343-453.
  • Lincoln, Waldo,. History of the Lincoln family : an account of the descendants of Samuel Lincoln, of Hingham, Massachusetts, 1637-1920. Worcester, Mass.: Commonwealth Press
  • Whittemore, Henry,. History of the Sage and Slocum families of England and America : including the allied families of Montague, Wanton, Brown, Josselyn, Standish, Doty, Car
  • Mayflower Births & Deaths, Vol. II
  • Waters, Henry F.. [G]enealogical gleanings in England. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1901.Original data: Waters, Henry F.
  • French, Miss Elizabeth. Genealogical Research in England, The New England Historical & Genealogical Register (NEHGS, Boston, Mass., 1917) Vol. 71, Page 254
  • History of the City of New York in the Seventeenth Century, Vol II; by Schuyler Van Rensselaer; published by The Macmillan Company 1909;
  • History of the city of New York ; it origin, rise, and progress by Martha Joanna Lamb, Burton Harrison, published by A. S. Barnes, 1896
  • The Hollander Interest and Ideas about Free Trade in Colonial New York : Persistent Influences of the Dutch, 1664-1764 by Cathy Matson, History Department,University of Delaware .
  • Original Papers, Duke of York, later King James II, autobiographical notes;
  • The Genealogical Advertiser: A Quarterly Magazine of Family History, edited by Lucy Hall Greenlaw; published by Lucy H. Greenlaw, 1901;
  • Wikipedia: Col. Francis Lovelace, with Annotations;
  • State of New York , Historical Papers, Surrogate's Office, compiled.




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Comments: 9

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This profile could use a good reworking, it's full of unsourced information. Would one of the PMs or someone from the trusted list, or other interested party like to take it on?
posted by Bobbie (Madison) Hall
This person immigrated to New England between 1621-1640 as a Minor Child (under age 21 at time of immigration) of a Puritan Great Migration immigrant who is profiled in Robert Charles Anderson's Great Migration Directory (or is otherwise accepted by the Puritan Great Migration (PGM) Project).

Please feel free to improve the profile(s) by providing additional information and reliable sources. PGM encourages the Profile Managers to monitor these profiles for changes; if any problems arise, please contact the PGM Project via G2G for assistance. Please note that PGM continues to manage the parent's profile, but is happy to assist on the children when needed.

posted by Bobbie (Madison) Hall
This profile is quite long and appears to have a lot of copy /paste from existing sources. We seek a single, originally-written, chronological narrative, appropriately sourced. Do any of the profile managers or folks on the trusted list want to take this on? Thanks!
posted by Jillaine Smith