TalesOfTheSevenSeas

Correction, the line above that says "One of John's American children..." should have been "One of Joseph's American children"

Sorry for the delay, for some reason I never got notifications that there had been responses to this topic. I got some help from the rare book curator at West Michigan University. deciphering these inscriptions and a couple of others that are on other pages has been very helpful in tracking the course that this Bible has followed over the last 400 years. Here is a synopsis: Lets take the upper portion first. Remember that spelling had not been standardized and that in the 17th century spellings were phonetic and there were letters and abbreviations that are no longer used today. At the top we have clearly, "Tho Bolles His Bokk". The line below it says "That som (or Son) Sayest givves of s---igence Ld." What you need to know here is that "Ld." is the old abbreviation for "Lord" used in the 17th century. So loosely translated, this appears to say "Tho Bolles that son sayest (or some sayest) given of significant lord." This would make sense since Thomas Bolles 1576-1635 was "landed gentry" owner of a large estate in Osberton, Nottingham England. On several other pages we see "Mary Bolles, her Book". This is Mary Wytham Bolles, Thomas Bolles second wife. She later became a barontess (only woman ever given this title independent of her husband) and heir to her father's estate. She is rumored to still haunt the estate she inherited from her father at Wakefield. Upon Thomas' death, his lands and Osberton Hall passed to his son John. John Bolles died and unexpectedly his younger brother Joseph Bolles inherited the Osberton estate. However Joseph had immigrated to America years earlier, and his family was established there. So he returned to England to settle affairs, sold the estate at Osberton, and upon his return to America, it appears that he brought the Bolles Bible with him. One of John's American children was Thomas Bolles (1644 - 1727). Thomas was living in New London CT when his wife Zipporah Wheeler Bolles and his two eldest children were the victims of an axe murder while Thomas was away from home. The murder went unsolved for several months, until another child was axed by his elder brother, survived the attempted killing and implicated his older teenage stepbrother in the crime. Under questioning by New London Commissioner Daniel Wetherell, The deeply disturbed teen admitted to having killed Zipporah Bolles and two of her children. He spared her baby John because he was too little to identify him as the killer. The bible was then apparently gifted in thanks to Daniel Wetherell. On a different page it says "D Wetherell his Book" and then there is a line "Living in ---?" Going back to the first page we have "Tho Bolles his Book, 1696" This appears to be when Daniel Wetherell gifted the bible back into the Bolles family. Below that we have "John (B?) (stricken out)" "John (or Folow?) ----- good his ---- God gives him grase ----- fond so loke" This is the baby John who survived the axe murder and was found clinging to his mother's body, but otherwise unharmed. He grew up to be intensely religious and believed that he had been spared for some greater purpose. He joined a religious group known as the Rogerenes, known for shunning the requirement to attend church services on Sundays, so they would interrupt the services and make arguments throughout the service. Consequently they spent a fair amount of time incarcerated for these activities. In the inscription above, John is talking about God giving him grace, apparently in reference to being spared from death. So there we have it. Not precise transcriptions I'm afraid, but I think we can understand the gist of what our these ancestors were saying. Fortunately there was a lot of written history on the Bolles family and once I got some help deciphering the text, it fit right in with the known history. Thanks VERY much for the additional input and I hope you enjoyed the story!

Ahoy mates, I understand there are some of you here with experience in deciphering handwritten 17th century documents. I recently acquired my family bible, (another interesting story there!) which had a couple of lines written in it that I cannot decipher, even after reading a tutorial on 17th century manuscripts. I am hoping someone here can help. Here is some helpful background information: This is a Geneva bible, published in England in 1615. It definitely belonged to my ancestor Thomas Bolles (1644-1727) and he signed it clearly, "Tho Bolles his Book 1696". The line of descent runs like this: Thomas (1576-1635) English baron, born in Osberton Nottinghamshire England Joseph (1607-1678) born in Nottinghamshire England, died in Maine USA Thomas Bolles (1644-1727) Clear signature dated 1696, born in Winter Harbor, Hancock, Maine, died New London CT. John (1677-1767) born in New London CT, survived an axe murder in which his mother, brother and sister were killed, died in New London CT. I see two Thomas's, a John and maybe a Joseph in there, but can you help decipher the two lines of text? Here it is: Here is the Bible of Thomas Bolles: And if you're curious about how I got this family treasure I'll be happy to share the story. Thanks very much for your help!

MORGAN'S RAID! It's that time of year again, time for Tales of the Seven Seas annual Morgan's Raid pirate party at Cameron's Inn in Half Moon Bay! Enjoy an evening of piratical feasting and festivities with your brethren pirates! Jacque Beaufort, aka Lady Jaxx, once again is our Event Captain for Morgan's Raid 2009. Music will be provided by the ever-popular Bloody Scupper Plunder Club! Below are the details you will need for this event. DATE: Saturday January 31st 2009 TIME: 5:00pm LOCATION: Cameron's Inn 1410 S. Cabrillo Highway Half Moon Bay CA CAMERON'S INN WEB SITE: http://www.cameronsinn.com/ DIRECTIONS TO CAMERON'S INN: http://www.cameronsinn.com/Directions%20to...meron's.htm WHAT'S GOING ON: We're celebrating the anniversary of Captain Morgan's infamous raid on Panama! Enjoy dinner, drinks, music and festivities with the pirates! We'll be holding the "Black Pirate Gift Snatching Fiassco"! Draw a number and either choose a gift from the locker, or better yet, STEAL ONE from a fellow pirate! Each costumed pirate will get a free raffle ticket for the door prize drawing. First time pirates and pirate kids are welcome as always! The more the merrier! Pirate parents should just be aware that alcoholic beverages are served and that the humor may at time be... well, piratical! Mums ye be warned! WHAT TO BRING: Cash or credit card to pay for food, drinks and to tip your server and bartender. Cash to tip the band. A wrapped gift that is either a pirate treasure or a gag gift, valued at $15 or less. WHAT TO WEAR: Pirate attire of course!! WHERE TO STAY THE NIGHT: Cameron's Inn has just a couple of rooms, if none are available, ask for a recommendation of a nearby hotel. There are several within about a mile. HOW TO SIGN UP FOR THIS EVENT: Email Jaxx at beaujaxx@hotmail.com and let her know how many pirates are coming with you, or post on the forum. See ye there mates!

Aye, Tales is alive and well, but making a few changes in order to hunker down and weather the current economic storm. We're still doing all of the fun gigs, but with a club status. We have unincorporated for the time being and will not be doing any paying events for at least the next year. We'll focus on fun, crew and charitable gigs for now and review our options in a year's time. We're tossin' the shackles o' responsiblity overboard and throwing a party to mark the occasion... Morgan's Raid, our annual pirate party in Half Moon Bay will be held at Cameron's Inn in Half Moon Bay on January 31st 2008. Email talesofthesevenseas@hotmail.com for details, we love to have new pirates join us!! -Poison Quill, the Pyrate Mum

Thank-you so much mates, the Paypal link is up and functioning. CLICK HERE TO HELP ROYALISTE Royaliste has long served the pirate community. Gary and Kathy have been extraordinarily generous with Royaliste for many years. They have made her easily accessible to anyone that expressed a desire to learn the art of sailing a tall ship. Now this beautiful ship needs our help. Please spread the word and share this information with anyone and everyone who can help her. Thanks a million mates, you guys are rockin' pirates

Thanks everyone for posting your best hopes for Royaliste and her crew. They haven't confirmed that the PayPal link is ready yet, but I'll let you know as soon as it is posted and will keep the news updated HERE as it comes in.

You might remember that the pirates of Tales of the Seven Seas granted the wish of a 13 year old boy who wished to be a pirate and act on film, through the Make a Wish Foundation. The first part of the wish was granted and he had an awesome pirate adventure aboard the Royaliste on the San Francisco Bay. It was all captured on film and edited into a high-tech 30 minute swashbuckling adventure! On April 16th, we will be presenting the DVD to our wish kid and his family for the first time. The premiere will take place in Ontario CA at 6:00pm. WE WELCOME ALL PIRATES WHO WOULD LIKE TO ATTEND!! Please email me for more details at talesofthesevenseas@hotmail.com -Claire aka "Poison Quill"

Aye, it was a fun movie, even with the black powder silliness. A question for ye history buffs- I noticed also that they were popping round nails out of a supposedly 18th century item. (can't recall what the item was, I was looking at the nails. It was hand held and wooden) I don't know for sure, but I believe most (or all?) nails from the Revolutionary War era would have been square- correct? I tried to find some info on this and did find several references who said that most square nails were out of use by 1880 (Nice to know for confirming my estimated date on my violin case!) I also found THIS ARTICLE by Bob Villa talking about nails from the 1700's being square.

Ahoy pirates! Any of ye who would like to join us in downtown San Jose, CA we'd love to have you with us for the San Jose Holiday Parade! Live TV coverage will begin on NBC11 at 9:00am on Bay Area television. We'll be sailing the Land Shark, our pirate ship parade float through the streets of downtown!! Come out and join us as we celebrate the holidays pirate style!! Email me for details! talesofthesevenseas@hotmail.com -Claire aka "Poison Quill"

CLICK HERE FOR THE PHOTOS

Grow up and stop living in a fantasy world? Methinks this wench needs to take a look at our business books sometime and perhaps Disney's too! Grow up says she? Hell no says I!! 'Tis farrrrrrrrr to much fun!!

See previous posts for more photos

See previous post for more photos!

Ah, what a fine night it were...