Yesterday I got two calls from museums in Connecticut in regards to the claim by Royal Rosamond he descends from Captain Isaac Hull who restored the U.S. Constitution that he captained against the radical Muslims of his day. He offered the old planking from Old Ironsides as a memento, but only the Custom House Maritime Museum responded. The doors to this muesum are made from planks off America’s oldest warship. I was told this by the curator we see in video below. I told him about Janette’s Catholic graveyard and that I was interested in getting the DNA of the dead. He told me about the exhuming of Venture Smith, ad gave me the names of those who would be interested in examing the DNA of the Hart sisters, and the allged black slave buried with this famous family of Bluebloods.
After this call, I got a call from the Old Saybrook Historical Society who found more information for me and are going to put it in the mail.
Jon Presco
The Custom House Maritime Museum, which is open year-round, is a local, independent, community museum that tells that stories of New London’s waterfront. Located in the 1833 Robert Mills building, this nonprofit historic site is the nation’s oldest, continuously-used U.S. Custom House. The New London Harbor Light was added in October 2010, which now serves as an area icon. The lighthouse, which was established in 1759, is the first and tallest lighthouse to be built on Long Island Sound. The lighthouse is still used as an active aid in navigation. The museum features a variety of exhibitions and offers educational programs, which promote, interpret and protect the maritime history and current life of the port of New London and surrounding areas.
Touch an actual piece of history as you enter the Custom House, whose front doors are made of oak planks taken from USS Constitution, the world’s oldest commissioned war ship, during one of her early restorations. Checkout the special exhibits like the Amistad, and stop by for entertainment, educational events, and interesting workshops organized by the New London Maritime.
During the summer of 2006 and with permission from over a dozen of his descendants, scientists dug up Smith’s grave to look for artifacts and take DNA samples from Venture Smith’s remains to be compared with DNA from communities on the west coast of Africa in an effort to understand Smith’s history and background better. The effort stopped when Nancy Burton, a disbarred Connecticut lawyer without relation to the family, filed legal action to stop the dig. Burton claimed that the dig was disrespectful to Smith and his memory. The case was dismissed because the family had made application to the East Haddam Probate Court and the town’s probate judge, Paul Buhl, had granted custody of the remains to Venture Smith’s oldest living relative who qualified as next of kin. Town clerk Debra Denette had, upon application based on the Probate Judge’s findings, issued exhumation permits authorizing the dig. This project was followed by a BBC Television team, which produced the documentary A Slave’s Story, which aired on March 2007. (See external links below to view.)
After extensive consultation with the documented relatives of Venture Smith, an archaeological team exhumed the graves of Venture and his wife and some of their descendants. Unfortunately, the soil in which his family had been buried was so acidic that almost no bones remained. They were able to obtain some DNA evidence from the forearm bones (the only bones remaining of the entire family) of Venture’s wife. However, the DNA obtained is weak and inconclusive.[1]
http://www.beecherhouse.org/documentingventuresmith/venture07/index.html
http://www.saybrookhistory.org/
Trace your Family Tree
A five-session beginners class in genealogy is being offered by the Old Saybrook Historical Society, Thursday evenings at 6:00-8:00 pm, on March 12, 19, 26, April 2, and 9, 2013.
“Learn How to Trace Your Family Tree” will introduce participants to genealogy records, useful forms for record keeping, interviewing relatives, interviewing techniques, where to find and how to use vital statistics, military and church records, immigration and naturalization records, probate and land records, online databases and genealogy programs.
The instructor is Gregory E. Thompson, a professional genealogist specializing in Early American and Native American Research. He is the Archivist of the Old Saybrook Historical Society, the Ct Society of Mayflower Descendants and a member of the Ct Professional Genealogists Council.
Cost for participation which includes all materials is $65 for Old Saybrook Historical Society members and $75 for others which includes a free one-year membershsip in the Society. All sessions will be held at the Society’s Archives. Space is limited. For further information or to register contact the Old Saybrook Historical Society at 860-395-1635.
https://rosamondpress.wordpress.com/2013/01/31/stephen-hart-princess-diana/
http://www.saybrookhistory.org/
https://rosamondpress.wordpress.com/2013/02/06/sarah-hart-got-divorced/
https://rosamondpress.wordpress.com/2013/02/01/sleeping-beauty-heart/
http://www.ctgenweb.org/county/comiddlesex/Old%20Saybrook/OSHS%20families.html
Rosamond Press 
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