Putting the pieces of the scattered paper trails together is the fun part of genealogy. We find bits and pieces of our ancestors' lives and do our best to put it together to learn and share their story.
One of the brick walls in my family tree is Ezekiel Mayo, an ancestor of my maternal grandmother, Margaret (Dickinson) Reese. I suspect Ezekiel descends from Rev. John Mayo of Barnstable, Massachusetts, but have yet to find the connection.
A piece of Ezekiel's life is documented in Centennial history of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, by R. M. Stocker, 1887. (You can find this book on Archive.org here).
From this we learn that Ezekiel moved to Great Bend in 1832, cleared the land of the forest of trees, and built a stone house "where his son Leroy now lives". This book was published in 1887 so I knew I could probably find the location. Sure enough, at historicmapworks.com, I found a map from 1872, showing the plot belonging to "L. Mayo". It was located on what is now called "Tarzan Road" in Great Bend, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania.
Immediately, I went to Google Maps to see if the house was still there. Unfortunately, there is currently no street view for the location, but you can see the aerial view here:
You can bet next time I'm passing through the Great Bend area, I'll be driving by to get a video of my 5th great-grandfather's property. Hopefully there's an old stone house there. Stay tuned!
Note: In 1897, Charles Decker and his new bride, Lydia (Mayo) (Ames) Decker were living just four miles from the Mayo home - in Hickory Grove (Great Bend Township). See my previous blog here.
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