Funny How It's All Connected

Way back at the beginning of this blog, I mentioned Trudy Lamb Richmond and Enduring Traditions, writing about how history is recorded, often from a biased perspective. On page 110 of her section of the book, she mentions ancestors named Cotsure (Cogswell). The next page has a photo of Will and Sarah Mauwee Cotsure (Cogswell) in 1865. I've written about one of the Mauwees, the founder of Schaghticoke.

That name Cotsure has gone through some transformations and has been recored with many different spellings. Here's one from Orcutt's History that mentions a fence that belongs to "Cocksure," a spelling of the name that is uncomplimentary to say the least.

But here's a record of a Native American fence, built by the ancestor of a Schaghticoke Elder that I know.

The name later transformed to the one found on this deed, "Cotsure":

Hmm...this is not as clear as I had hoped.

It's the third one down...

But anyway, he had a fence in the years around 1700...

Is this better? Yes it is!

And:

That John Minor who witnessed the deed was probaly the person who began building the house my family lives in...