Colonial New England/West Indies Links
I am looking for information on families connected to the colonial trade triangle (imports to New England of finished goods; rum, lumber, pelts, slavery, molasses and sugar to England from the West Indies and New England.) I have a suspicion that some Rhode Island families that interest me engaged in the triangle trade. During the wars of the colonial period, some New Englanders were also engaged in privateering in the West Indies, especially out of Rhode Island ports. Might these two situations overlap? Where can I find FS records to prove or disprove?
Answers
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I don't know about privateering, but in British Colonial America the shipping families did a lot of traveling to and from the Caribbean. Shipping to and from Europe seems to have been reserved to European firms.
Generally a first step is to determine if your family was engaged in shipping. It seems to have been a very closed shop, with the exception of the whalers during the whaling boom period. During the boom even a farm boy who could not swim could get signed on to go whaling.
What surnames, please?
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I’m sorry I didn’t see your reply before now! Surnames:
Garratt, Potter (I know a Potter daughter married a DeWolfe, but apart from this link)
Thomas Garratt m. Mary Potter in 1742. He is a total mystery.
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Your Thomas Garratt appears to be here: https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/GWSN-NB1
Basic strategy when you are at a brick wall is to go over, under, around. So, work on the spouse, children, children's wives. Work on anyone else with the same surname in the same community at the same time. Work all hints. Attach historical records to all persons mentioned on those records.
Also, don't guess. I see no historical record attached to GWSN-NB1 that shows he was born in England, so remove that detail.
The Puzzilla tree of GWSN-NB1 shows he has a lot of descendants, and that means a lot of FamilySearch Family Tree contributors. You can message any of them.
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Thanks for the solid tips and leads!
JB
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