And so we come to the last post with the family history Eric has written. As you have no doubt noticed, it is in more of a formal genealogical format, intending both to trace as many ancestors of our Haley family as we could find, and to briefly tell some of their famous stories. This is by no means all there is to say about these people, and nowhere near all the pictures we have of them. In some cases, we are left with more questions than answers, as we wonder what life would have been like for them when they were young or when they were “my age.”
This one is kind of fun, though, with both a “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” and a Mohawk princess in my ancestry … but I’ll let Eric tell the stories.
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BURDICK AND PEAK FAMILIES
The Burdick family was from Independence, Missouri. While little is known about Bernard Burdick, family stories suggest that he died in a trucking accident, which could explain his burial at the Los Angeles National Cemetery, far away from home. His gravestone simply reads, “Ben Burdick, Bugler, U.S. Army, Died 11/07/1936.”
Bernard Burdick was the son of Ira Oscar Burdick and Lydia Celia Farrow. He was married at age 19 to Audentia Bell Peak and died at the age of 34. We have a photocopy of a picture of him on the beach with Audentia while dating, which suggests that they may have both lived on the West Coast at that time.
Ira Oscar Burdick was born in Minnesota in 1872, the son of Jackson Burdick of New York and Zina Jerusha Diantha Anderson (bn. 1841) of Nauvoo, Illinois. Jackson was the son of Carey Burdick of the Netherlands. The Andersons were from Ireland and have been traced back to the 16th Century.
The Peak family is one that appears to have been connected with the Reorganized Church of the Latter-Day Saints. There were family stories told about a close connection with the leadership of the RLDS, and that Mary Peak or her daughter Audentia lived in a house owned by the church. Audentia II was given a “Mormon funeral.” It is also interesting to note that the name Audentia, though rare, is a more common name within the RLDS families of the early 20th Century, being the middle name of the daughter of Joseph Smith III, the founder of this early breakaway group that chose not to follow Brigham Young.
L to R: Margie Linda Atanacio Haley, Margaret Lee Ware Atanacio, Audentia Bell Burdick Ware,
Audentia Bell Peak Burdick, and Mary Davis Peak
Thus far, I have not found any official connection with the RLDS church involving the name Peak but have found a significant connection with the parents of Mary Peak and the LDS (Mormon) church. Mary Peak’s mother was Catherine Arthur Davis (or Davies) and her grandparents were Evan Arthur and Catherine James of Blaenavon, Wales.
Catherine Arthur and John T. Davis
Evan Arthur and Catherine James
Evan and Catherine left the Baptist church, joined the Mormons, and sailed for America and Utah in 1863. They were already in their mid-fifties by this time. Upon arrival they agreed to become missionaries of the Mormon Church to Wales. Evan is buried at the Saint John Cemetery in Rush Valley, Tooel County, Utah.
Mary Peak’s father was Warren Elmer Peak, the son of Bird Willis Peak. Warren was born in 1838 in Glasgow, Scott County, Illinois, not far from Nauvoo, the famous Mormon town.
The spelling of the Peak name is spelled Peek from there on with Samuel Peek (Bn 1795), son of Jacobus Hendrickse Peek, son of Hendrick Jacobus Peek (bn. 1734 in Schenectady, New York.). Hendrick was the son of Jacobus Michael Peek and Margarita Cornelise Van Slyke (bn. 1696). She was the daughter of Cornelis Jacques Van Slyck, son of Jacques Cornelise Van Slyck, a Dutch fur trader (bn 1640), who married a Mohawk princess by the name of Kanien kaha ka (or Otstoch) of the Turtle Clan.
Here is what we know so far about the heritage of Margie’s mother’s family:
Ware–English / Native American (Chowan / Algonquin)
Riley– Welsh / English
Burdick–Dutch / Irish
Peak – Welsh / Dutch / Native American (Mohawk)
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The story of Ots-toch, daughter of the “Queen of Hog’s Island,” is my favorite one in this post. There is a legendary poem attributed to her. There’s no way to prove that she wrote it, and apparently she had a disdain for religion, but her children grew up to be prominent Christians. Here’s an excellent article about her, as well as a whole slew of comments from people who are probably my relatives, most of them in Canada. https://omfrc.org/2017/05/mystery-legacy-ots-toch/
The poem was deleted from Wikipedia because of lack of evidence, but it embodies the missionary spirit of many of the early white European settlers on this continent and why I am grateful to them for sailing to the New World, befriending my Native American ancestors, and winning some of them to the Lord Jesus Christ. It gives me hope that Ots-toch did finally convert to Christianity, and that someday I will meet her in Heaven, where time, space, and language will not be barriers anymore to our friendship and kinship. But if she is not there, I’ll just have fun meeting her descendants instead.
Here is the poem:
“O’er the dark woods and forest wild
My father in his wild nature smiled
with tomahawk and bended bow
to slay the reindeer and buffalo
My brother in his bark canoe
across the lake so gaily flew
to catch the whitefish in the lake
and shoot the wild ducks in the brake
my mother in her wigwam sat
with copious work and curious chat
and I poor little Indian maid
with acorn shells and wildflowers played
and I beside my mother all day
to weave the splintered baskets gay
to pound the samp and tan the skins
and mend my fathers moccasins
I could not read, I could not sew
my Savior's name I did not know
till white man to the forest came
and taught poor Indian Jesus name
He built a church and school house near
with Holy hymns and wildwood cheer
Now I can read, now I can sew
My Savior's name I’m taught to know
Now my Redeemer I implore
God bless the white man forever more.”
The last chapter hasn’t really been written, though, concerning our family. There are both stories of our ancestors yet uncovered, and stories of descendants yet unborn. There are others’ memories of those of whom we’ve already written that did not make it into my blog posts. So this will not be the last post about “family,” after which I must dream up something else to write!
Not to mention the fact that our own story continues as well. What will be our projects, as Eric and I progress into our senior citizen years? I got an advertisement for a life insurance policy yesterday, that promised $5,000 to $10,000 upon my death, or when the policy reaches maturity, they would pay me its cash value -- that is, when I attain the age of 120!
Will Margie make it to 120?
Will anybody care in 55 years if she bought a life insurance policy worth $10,000?
Or will the Lord return long before 2076?
These questions and many more are yet to be answered, so stay tuned.
In the meantime, if you have a Haley family story you’d like to see me talk about in a post, let me know. There are many things of which I have no personal knowledge, that would be, perhaps, of interest to my readers, and would be, certainly, of interest to me.
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