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Comments on research and resources
Gramma Knox's Legacy is a historical narrative fiction, although much of it is fact. Rev. Sumner Gilbert Wood, also a descendant of founders of Blandford, wrote several town histories, for which I am indebted. Most all quotes are from his books. Rev. Wood was an impeccable researcher, leading me to other sources, which lead me to other sources. Gale LaScala, retired librarian at Porter Memorial Library in Blandford, gathered the Blandford vital records for the Knox family. A letter to the Westfield Evening News brought me new cousins-Glenn and Marilyn Knox of Huntington, Massachusetts-with all the genealogy papers and books gathered by his sister, the late Francis Knox Childs. Among them was a book, written in the nineteenth century by Charles Rogers, Genealogical Memoirs of John Knox and the Family of Knox, showing that my line of the Knox family lived in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was my first grandfather in this country, William, who migrated to Belfast, Ulster, Northern Ireland, confirmed by Rev. Wood in his book Ulster Scots and Blandford Scots. Judith Little of Illinois was so generous in sending me a cd-rom of Nathaniel Foote's book William Knox of Blandford, Massachusetts and His Descendants. I had already obtained the vital stats of Blandford, and knew Mr. Foote's book was wrong regarding the Adam, William and John, and their arrival in the Massachusetts colony. He also was wrong in writing Elizabeth Chubb Knox was the mother of John, William, Adam, Griswold, and perhaps Agnes. Elizabeth Chubb Knox was William's second wife. Mr. Foote acknowledges his confusion when he found the marriage of William Knox and Elizabeth Chubb on March 3, 1725 in Boston, Massachusetts.
I made every effort to find out the name of my grandmother, William's first wife, but the Hopkinton Church records had been destroyed by fire, and the old tombstones had also been destroyed. So, using literary license, and to create the story line, I gave her the name of Griswold. In my "Notes" section, in addition to citing sources for the chapter, I also let the reader know whether a person or event is fact or fiction.
After finishing the first three chapters, I knew something wasn't quite right. It took me a long time to figure out what it was-I had the Scots of Northern Ireland speaking the King's English. They didn't. So, obtaining a Doric-English dictionary, I have tried my best to have the Scots speaking in their own language. I have included a glossary so you can understand what my Scottish characters are saying. In addition, over time, the name of familiar things have changed. I have included the meaning of words in the eighteenth century when they differ from our modern meaning.
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