I re-discovered something interesting while doing research for my post on Stephen Jenks.

Anna, the sister of Stephen Jenks,  is my 5th great-grandmother.  Anna married Joseph Braman, who is currently my earliest verified Braman ancestor.

I have known for a long time that the grandfather of Stephen and Anna was Dr. John Jenks (1710-1776) who married Rachel Lawrence. I had even read biographical details about him in the past that mentioned the fact that I re-discovered. I guess it stood out this time since I recently took a trip to Canada and I have been corresponding with a distant cousin in Canada about the Jenks and Braman families. The facts about the families and how they went their separate ways have been wandering around in my mind recently.

So, here is the fact that I re-discovered. Dr. John Jenks attended the first town meeting of Sackville, New Brunswick in 1762. Dr. Jenks was part of a group of settlers know as the New England Planters.

Due to the expulsion of the Acadians from New Brunswick in the 1750’s there was a lot of land available there. Many New Englanders moved north to New Brunswick to take advantage of the vacant land. Dr. Jenks moved to Sackville along with a group of settlers from Smithfield, Rhode Island.

Sackville, New Brunswick – Google Maps

Dr. Jenks’ son John also moved with him to Sackville. He is the father of Anna and Stephen. I have not yet been able to find out what year they returned to Rhode Island. I did find that Arke, who is the brother of Anna and Stephen, was born in Ellington, Connecticut in 1768. I have been searching for where Anna was born in 1764, but have not been able to find the location. John married Lydia Bucklin in 1759, so it is possible that Anna was either born or conceived in Canada. Does this give me Canadian ancestry? I need to do a lot more research. For now, I can at least say that my ancestors lived in Canada.

Of course, if they had stayed in Canada they would have upset the delicate balance of migration patterns that brought my ancestors together over time.

Sackville, New Brunswick – Google Maps

When looking up Sackville on the map I discovered that it is very close to Prince Edward Island. Sackville is only 120 kilometers from Green Gables. Someday I would like to visit Prince Edward Island and visit the Anne of Green Gables sites. Now I have another reason to make a visit.

Steven