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Sixteen angles into the paper
Pick a jelly bean — each opens a short narrative and reads it aloud, then points you to the chapter and the map. Follow Up next for a guided path through Dad's story.
What did each country want?
England, France, and the Dutch — three reasons to cross the Atlantic.
Two branches
Edith Powers from England; Mary Ann Goodwater from Québec — one tree, two doorways.
Powers — England to Massachusetts
George Alcock in Cambridge, 1581 — the English doorway to Massachusetts Bay.
Goodwater — France to Québec
Hébert, Bonneau, and a French name that became Goodwater.
Where they meet (1853)
Joseph Warren Coss marries Mary Ann Goodwater — the two branches join in Iowa.
Reformation & Atlantic doorways
Henry VIII, Luther, and the faith wars that pushed people toward the sea.
Puritans & the Winthrop Fleet
1630 — two thousand souls, eleven ships, Massachusetts Bay from Boston mud.
New France & the St. Lawrence
Champlain, Hébert, and a Catholic colony on a frozen river.
King's Daughters & Île d'Orléans
Filles du roi, founding families, and the island in the middle of the river.
Colonial wars
Pequot, King Philip's, and the Beaver Wars — frontier fire on both rivers.
Salem & witch panic
Martha Barrett Sparks in a Boston jail — a direct Powers-branch tie.
French & Indian / British North America
King William's through the French & Indian War — Québec becomes British.
West to Iowa
Vermont to Wisconsin to Winneshiek — the long walk before the wedding.
Dakota years
Grand Forks hotel, frontier towns, and Mary Ann's death in 1878.
Depression & Dust Bowl
Crowded households, roomers, and farms that would not yield.
Winifred
The paper is written for her — Winifred Eloise Coss, 1922–2000s.
Or scroll down for all 16 chronological chapters