A Mystery Solved. Mary Queen of Scots our 1st Cousin (14 Times Removed).

Mary, Queen of Scots. Painted while in Prison

From the Fortress of Solitude
Overlooking the Pleasant Grove

Dispatch to the Clan,

A Mystery Solved,

Every since I was a child I remember Grandma Mattson telling me that we were related to Mary, Queen of Scots. She couldn’t say how, she just knew we were. Today, that mystery is solved. This old family memory, passed from generation to generation is true and today I will explain how.

Our story begins with our 14th Great Grandfather King James IV of Scotland. He fathered our 13th Great Grandmother, the Lady Margaret through his mistress Margaret Drummond. After Margaret died, James IV married the English Princess Maragret Tudor, the sister of the famous Henry VIII. They had a child named James, who later became King James V of Scotland. Therefore Kings James V of Scotland was our 1/2 14th Great Uncle so to speak. From this point on I’ll not use the term 1/2 now that you understand the relationship.

Mary at 13 years old

Mary, Queen of Scots was the daughter of our Great Uncle, James V of Scotland. Therefore, Mary was our 1st cousin 14 times removed. She became Queen of Scotland at the age of six days. She was crowned nine months later.

Mary and Francis

In 1558 she married Francis, the crown prince of France. She was not Queen of France for long. She was widowed in December 1560. Four years later she married her first cousin Henry Stuart. He was murdered by an explosion in 1567. After that she married James Hepburn, who is believed to be the murderer of her 2nd husband Henry Stuart.

Mary with her young son James VI

Mary was forced to abdicate the throne of Scotland in after an uprising. Her one year old son James VI became King of Scotland. After an unsuccessful attempt to regain the throne Mary fled to England to seek protection from her first cousin, Queen Elizabeth I (a distant cousin of ours) whose kingdom she hoped to inherit because, as we all know, Queen Elizabeth (daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, Henry’s second wife who was later beheaded by Henry) never married and had no children.

Mry was arrested because of three plots to assassinate Elizabeth. Mary wanted to seize the throne of England and reestablish Catholicism as the religion of the land (remember, Henry VIII created the Church of England and turned England into a Protestant nation). Mary was tried and executed by beheading.

Contemporary sketch of the Execution

Her execution was a gruesome business. She spent the last hours of her life in prayer and also writing letters and her will. She expressed a request that her servants should be released. She also requested that she should be buried in France. The scaffold that was erected in the great hall was three feet tall and draped in black. It was reached by five steps and the only things on it were a disrobing stool, the block, a cushion for her to kneel on, and a bloody butcher's axe that had been previously used on animals. At her execution the executioners (one of whom was named Bull) knelt before her and asked forgiveness. According to a contemporary account, she replied "I forgive you with all my heart.” The executioners and her two servants helped remove a black outer gown, two petticoats, and her corset to reveal a deep red chemise—the liturgical color of martyrdom in the Catholic Church. As she disrobed she smiled faintly to the executioner and said, "Never have I had such assistants to disrobe me, and never have I put off my clothes before such a company." She was then blindfolded and knelt down on the cushion in front of the block. She positioned her head on the block and stretched her arms out behind her.

In Lady Antonia Fraser's biography, Mary Queen of Scots, the author writes that it took two strikes to decapitate Mary: The first blow missed her neck and struck the back of her head, at which point the Queen's lips moved. (Her servants reported they thought she had whispered the words "Sweet Jesus.") The second blow severed the neck, except for a small bit of sinew that the executioner severed by using the axe as a saw. Robert Wynkfield recorded a detailed account of the moments leading up to Mary's execution, also describing that it took two strikes to behead the Queen. Afterward, the executioner held her head aloft and declared, "God save the Queen." At that moment, the auburn tresses in his hand came apart and the head fell to the ground, revealing that Mary had had very short, grey hair.
It has been suggested that it took three strikes to decapitate Mary instead of two, a ritual devised to protract the suffering of the victim.

Mary's Tomb at Westminster Abbey in London

There are several stories told about the execution. One already mentioned and thought to be true is that, when the executioner picked up the severed head to show it to those present, it was discovered that Mary was wearing a wig. The headsman was left holding the wig, while the late queen's head rolled on the floor. Another well-known execution story related in Robert Wynkfield's first-hand account concerns a small dog owned by the queen, which is said to have been hiding among her skirts, unseen by the spectators. Her dress and layers of clothing were so immensely regal, it would have been easy for the tiny pet to have hidden there as she slowly made her way to the scaffold. Following the beheading, the dog refused to be parted from its owner and was covered in blood. It was finally taken away by her ladies-in-waiting and washed.

Simply,
Victor

Our 14th Great Grandmother, Margaret Drummond, Mistress to James IV. Murdered?

James IV King of Scotland. Our 14th Great Grandfather.
Grandma Mattson to her father and along the Pierce Line

A Dispatch from the Fortress of Solitude
To the Clan

Tonight I tell a tale of woe. It is the story of our 14th Great Grandmother Margaret Drummond. She was born in 1475 to John Drummond the 1st Lord Drummond. In 1495 Scotland’s King, James IV (our 14th Great Grandfather) beheld her beauty and sought a relationship. They fell in love. She became his mistress. The King was unmarried at the time. In 1496 she lived in the royal castle at Stirling. Together they had a child named Margaret Stewart, our 13th Great Grandmother.

It is widely believed that James IV secretly married Margaret. There are no pictures of Margaret.

Tragedy

Margaret died of food poisoning in 1501 along with her two sisters Eupheme and Sibylia while staying at their parents’ residence. Normally the fact that someone died of food poisoning during this time in history is common. Standards of food hygiene are unlikely to have been very good then, and cases of accidental food poisoning have happened in any period. However, with three people who presumably died shortly after eating the same meal, the claim of poisoning gains serious merit.

Murder Theories

It is suggested that our Great Grandmother was murdered either by English agents or pro-English elements in the Scottish nobility. If she was married to James IV then her death was necessary in order to allow, or force the King to marry the English princess Margaret Tudor (Henry VIII’s sister). The plaque on her grave in Dunblane Cathedral says she was “privately married” to the King and that she was murdered by Scottish nobles who supported the English marriage.

Dunblane Cathedral

The marriage of James IV and Margaret Tudor brought about the Union of the English and Scottish Crowns 100 years later when their great grandson James VI claimed the English Throne upon the death of Queen Elizabeth I (daughter of Henry VIII).

If James IV and our great grandmother were married then the Union of Crowns might never have taken place and Scotland might have remained an independent country. Of course this is a theory. No one can be sure.

Serious historians doubt she was poisoned, believing the poisoning was an accident.

Our 13th Great Grandmother, Margaret Stewart, now without her mother, was raised at Edinburgh Castle as Lady Margaret. She was supported throughout her life by her father James IV.

Mother and Kevin. October 1961.

Luella Williamson, age 22. Kevin Williamson, age 3 months. October 1961
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From the Fortress of Solitude.

The Lady Luella called me to her chamber this evening. On my orders she fumbled through a file of old pictures looking for tonight's postings. A gleam from her eye brightened the room as she pulled this photo from the file. The original was small, the kind you get from the old photo booths of another era. Remember them, you found them at Kmart, Gibsons and the super markets. You put in two quarters, sat on a spinning stool, looked at a mirror and waited for the flash to take 4 pictures of you. After the pictures, you waited outside the booth for the pictures to drop into the receptacle. All they could afford in those days I'm sure.
"This is my favorite picture of me," mom said smiling as she placed this snapshot into my hands.
"Don't I look a treat?"

I know Kim and I were present when this was taken because there is a a series of pictures of the two of us in the same booth, to be posted another time. I decided to let this picture stand alone, considering it's importance to our old Ma.

Simply,
Victor

And Now, The Mattsons and McCrillus.

From the Fortress of Solitude

Family,
This evening we peer into the past, capturing visions of ancestors long dead. Tonight we meet John Albert Mattson, my Great Grandfather and father of Walter Mattson (Luella's father). He was born August 6, 1873 in Fjaras, Halland Sweden. He is 16 years old in this picture, taken in 1889, the same year South Dakota was made a state. The picture was taken in Scranton PA.

John Albert Mattson. Age 16
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John Albert Mattson. Age Unknown
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This picture is of John Albert and his wife Ida was taken on the Mattson ranch in Montana. They moved from Lead where they owned 5 houses. They sold the houses, bought a homestead in Montana and moved the family. The homestead was one mile from the town Pinele. Our grandfather Walter was 10 years old when they moved. Walter was their only child.

Click to enlarge

This was written on the back of the picture. It is written in his own hand in Swedish. I'm guessing it was written to his sister Josephine in Lead.

John Albert Mattson died on May 16, 1955 in Belle Fourche South Dakota.

John Albert came over from Sweden when he was 16 years old. He didn't speak English. His family came over one at a time. One would come and get a job, save money, send the money back to Sweden so another family member could come. His oldest sister was the first to come to America. He saw a fruit pie for the first time in America and thought it was an omelet. He helped in the San Francisco 1906 earthquake recovery. He eventual moved to Lead South Dakota. He met his wife in Lead and that's where they settled.

He moved to Spearfish with mom and the family in 1954. He lived with them until he died. He was 72 when he died of Leukemia.

Also Tonight you are fortunate to meet Isabelle Deanora Helgerson McCrillus. She was Grandma Mattson's Grandmother, my Great Great Grandmother. She was born in 1851 in Vermont and died the day after Christmas in 1896. The McCrillus line is where we trace most of our royal blood all channeled into your bloodstream by Great Great Grandmother D. Bell (as she was known).

She was married before to a Helgerson. Later she married John Dennis, mom's Great Grandfather. He worked on the Salt Lake Tabernacle.

Now, we end for the evening. There will be more to come.

Simply,
Victor

Janice and Jon Join the Williamson Family. 1963

Hello Family,
This picture was taken in 1963 just after Jon and Janice were born. Kim was 6 years old. I was 5 and Kevin was 3. This picture was taken at our home at 39 East Signal Drive, Rapid City. We just came home from church. Notice how nicely Kim and Kevin are dressed. Now notice what I'm wearing. Yea, let's let the 5 year old wear whatever. How typical. Its the story of my life - always getting the shaft. Ah, give him whatever, it doesn't have to match and who cares if the shirt doesn't even fit! :)

Mom was 26 years old with five children when this picture was taken. No one gave mom a baby shower for Jon and Jan so she had to make do with two outfits apiece, at least for awhile. One outfit was in the wash while the other was on their backs.

I predicted the birth of twins before anyone else, including the doctor. I also predicted they would be a boy and girl. I had unique powers of observation even at the young age of 5. I mean how hard was it to see that mother looked like she had swallowed several basketballs. She was huge.

We had an oversized playpen for the twins. You see, in those days the play pen was your home. You got fed, you got your nappy changed and then straight into the play pen to entertain yourself with whatever was tossed in, a bowl a cup a stuffed animal, whatever. Mom remembers Jon and Jan loved their play pen. She also remembers they played nicely together. They were really good babies. Kim took it upon herself to help with Janice. I took responsibility for Jon. As for Kevin, he spent most of his time trying to escape. Every time the front door was opened little 3 year old Kevin made a break for it - out the door and running down the street as fast as his little legs would carry him.

Simply,
Victor

Jilane's Birthday Party and a Christmas Shot. 1972 - 1973.

Hello Family,
More pictures taken at 2214 38th Street, Rapid City. I'm guessing these pictures were taken in 1973. I'm basing the guess on Lisa's age. I'm sure Jilane recognizes everyone in this picture. There are a few I know. I see Janice and Jilane. In this series of pictures I feel it necessary to apologize for Jon. Enlarge the picture by clicking on it and look at him. Yes, I'm sorry for Jon.
I think Paula Thomas is in these pictues. I think I see Shelley Burnett as well.


Here's a question for my 7 siblings. Do you recognized the KoolAid tupperware container? We kept that filled. It was our watering tough. We drank the stuff by the gallons. What else do you remember about these pictures? What else comes to mind when you see them? Send along your comments.

Lisa

And Another Lisa

And a picture of the famous heater vent in the living room. Lisa is just learning to walk.


Wow! This may be the only picture left of our 1958 blue station wagon with the hole in the floorboard. This is the car mom and dad used a vice grip to shift gears with. We held the windows up with clothes hangers. It's horn blew everytime you turned a corner. It belched poisonous clouds of blue oil smoke. And in its last days it wouldn't reverse. Ah memories.....
Christmas 1972. Look at Kevin's clothes. Such style! I'll bet he won't show this picture to anyone. Quick, copy it, call him and ask for money or it gets distributed.

Simply,
Victor

And Now, a Drop of Scottish Blood. Robert the Bruce, King of Scotland, Our 20th Great Uncle

Robert the Bruce, our 20th Great Uncle

Hello Family,
For today's journey in our family Way Back Machine we travel to Scotland. Before we do, let's review what we know about our ancestors so far.

• We have several English Kings and Queens in our ancestral line.
• We discovered we are descendants of Roman Emperors.
• We are descendants of Holy Roman Emperors.

I'm currently researching direct family ties to Irish and Welsh Royal lines but while I do that let's meet someone from our royal Scottish family line.

His name is Robert the Bruce. He is, without a doubt, one of Scotland's greatest historical figures, a George Washington of Scotland so to speak. Robert is our 20th Great Uncle. His sister Marjoie Bruce Princess of Scotland is our 20th Great Grandmother.

This is therefore our Bruce family Scotish tartan:

This is our Bruce Family Coat of Arms: Fuimus means "We Have Been"



And Now, a bit of the Bruce Family History:

Robert I, known as Robert the Bruce, was the king of the Scots who secured Scotland's independence from England.

Robert was born on 11 July 1274 into an aristocratic Scottish family. Through his father he was distantly related to the Scottish royal family. His mother had Gaelic antecedents. Bruce's grandfather was one of the claimants to the Scottish throne during a succession dispute in 1290 - 1292. The English king, Edward I, was asked to arbitrate and chose John Balliol to be king. Both Bruce and his father refused to back Balliol and supported Edward I's invasion of Scotland in 1296 to force Balliol to abdicate. Edward then ruled Scotland as a province of England.

Bruce then supported William Wallace's uprising against the English. After Wallace was defeated, Bruce's lands were not confiscated and in 1298, Bruce became a guardian of Scotland, with John Comyn, Balliol's nephew and Bruce's greatest rival for the Scottish throne In 1306, Bruce quarrelled with Comyn and stabbed him in a church in Dumfries. He was outlawed by Edward and excommunicated by the pope. Bruce now proclaimed his right to the throne and on 27 March was crowned king at Scone. The following year, Bruce was deposed by Edward's army and forced to flee. His wife and daughters were imprisoned and three of his brothers executed. Robert spent the winter on the island off the coast of Antrim (Northern Ireland).

Returning to Scotland, Robert waged a highly successful guerrilla war against the English. At the Battle of Bannockburn in June 1314, he defeated a much larger English army under Edward II, confirming the re-establishment of an independent Scottish monarchy. Two years later, his brother Edward Bruce was inaugurated as high king of Ireland but was killed in battle in 1318. Even after Bannockburn and the Scottish capture of Berwick in 1318, Edward II refused to give up his claim to the overlordship of Scotland. In 1320, the Scottish earls, barons and the 'community of the realm' sent a letter to Pope John XXII declaring that Robert was their rightful monarch. This was the 'Declaration of Arbroath' and it asserted the antiquity of the Scottish people and their monarchy.

Four years later, Robert received papal recognition as king of an independent Scotland. The Franco-Scottish alliance was renewed in the Treaty of Corbeil, by which the Scots were obliged to make war on England should hostilities break out between England and France. In 1327, the English deposed Edward II in favour of his son and peace was made with Scotland. This included a total renunciation of all English claims to superiority over Scotland. Robert died on 7 June 1329. He was buried at Dunfermline. He requested that his heart be taken to the Holy Land, but it only got as far as Spain. It was returned to Scotland and buried in Melrose Abbey.

Janice and Steve Cover Under the Milky Way Tonight

The Williamson Family Reunion 1975. And Other Things.

Hello Family,
Our first stop in tonight's venture through the Twilight Zone of memory is Spearfish Park in July 1975 for the Williamson Family Reunion. Click on the picture above to enlarge and see if how many of our family you can recognize. Please send me your official entry. I'll post all their names on Monday. No cheating and calling mom or dad. Do this yourself.

Our picnic tables where near Spearfish Creek. I got these two shots of three year old Lisa near the water's edge. I kept telling her to "move closer to the water". She hesitated - remembering mom's warning about staying away from the water. Well, I tried my best but try as I did she wouldn't go just those few extra steps. Darn it. Well, one can only do one's best.

I remember sitting her on this log, right on the water's edge. I planned on taking the picture then shouting "SPIDER!" thinking the sudden shock would send her right over but, darn it, look how cute she was back then. I couldn't bring myself to do it. I had my chance and blew it. Well, Caden, Draker, Aidea and Bob can thank me for it. You four owe me big time!Our final snapshot comes from my old white Polaroid Instamatic camera. Can you see the talent in this snapshot? No... I'm not talking about the malnourished "Feed the Children Poster Children" in the picture above. I'm talking about the professionalism of the picture. Remarkable for one my age. Notice how I caught Kevin in mid swing. Notice I captured Jon with a decent face. That's rare indeed. I apologize, as I always do for Jilane. What can one say. She's just Jilane. Janice tried that cosmopolitan look (notice the slight turn of the head and Mona Lisa smile). Unsuccessful as it was it was still a good attempt from someone that, even on her best days, struggled to make a good picture.

This picture was taken in our back yard at 2214 38th Street. I believe that is Frosty the mutt in the background. Remember Frosty - our street accident of a dog with the matted fur and host to the world's greatest collection of flea circuses? I still laugh when I see that miserable barrier we called a fence. Yes Friends, the boards do go different directions. Sheezzzzze........

I'm guessing this picture was taken around 1973. Kevin looks to be around 11 years old. I love this picture.

Simply,
Victor

Mark Antony, Roman Emperor. Our 58th Great Grandfather

Hello Family,
We've all heard of Mark Antony and Cleopatra. Well, now we find that Mark Antony was our 58th Great Grandfather through a line of Kings and Queens tied to Charlemagne. His wife, our 58th Great Grandmother was Octavia Minor. She was the sister of Caesar Augustus (He called the world to be taxed in the Christmas Story). So Caesar Augustus was a Great Uncle. Hold on to your socks on this, but through another line, Caesar Augustus was another Great Grandfather (another post for another day). History suddenly comes alive doesn't it?

Mark Antony (left) on a Roman Gold Coin. Caeser Augustus (Octavian) is on the Right. Two Great Grandfathers on a single coin.

Here is a brief outline of Mark Antony's life:

• 83 B.C.E.—born in Rome
• 54–50 B.C.E.—joins Caesar's staff in Gaul and fights in the Gallic wars
• 50 B.C.E.—Tribune of the Plebeians
• 48 B.C.E.—Serves as Caesar's Master of the Horse
• 47 B.C.E.—Ruinous administration of Italy: political exile
• 44 B.C.E.—Forms the Second Triumvirate with Octavian and Lepidus
• 42 B.C.E.—Defeats Cassius and Brutus in the Battle of Philippi; travels through the East
• 41 B.C.E.—Meets Cleopatra
• 40 B.C.E.—Returns to Rome, marries Octavia Minor; treaty of Brundisium
• 38 B.C.E.—Treaty of Tarentum: Triumvirate renewed until 33 B.C.E.
• 36 B.C.E.—Defeated by the Parthians
• 35 B.C.E.—Conquers Armenia
• 34 B.C.E.—The Donations of Alexandria
• 33 B.C.E.—End of the triumvirate
• 32 B.C.E.—Exchange of accusations between Octavian and Antony
• 31 B.C.E.—Defeated by Octavian in the naval Battle of Actium
• 30 B.C.E.—Antony commits suicide in the mistaken belief that Cleopatra had already done so

Marcus Antonius (Latin: M•ANTONIVS•M•F•M•N)^[1] (c. January 14, 83 B.C.E. – August 1, 30 B.C.E.), known in English as Mark Antony (also spelled Marc Anthony; Latin, Marcus Antonius), was a Roman politician and general. He was an important supporter of Gaius Julius Caesar as a military commander and administrator. After Caesar's assassination, Antony allied with Caesar’s adopted son Octavian and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus to form an official triumvirate which modern scholars have labeled the Second Triumvirate (43–30 B.C.E.). The triumvirate broke up in 33 B.C.E. Disagreement between Octavian and Antony turned to civil war in 31 B.C.E., after Antony formed a personal and political alliance with Queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt, and used her support to invade Parthia. Antony was defeated by Octavian at the naval Battle of Actium and then in a short land battle at Alexandria. He committed suicide, and Cleopatra killed herself soon afterwards.

Mark Antony was especially criticized in Rome for betraying his Roman citizenship by forming an alliance with a foreign queen. His plans for collaboration between the Roman Empire and Greece were put to rest by his defeat at the Battle of Actium, and the Roman Empire continued a policy of attempting to bring its neighbors under central control for the next three centuries. Shakespeare made Antony and Cleopatra the subject of his famous tragedy, “Antony and Cleopatra,” and gave him a role delivering the funeral oration for Julius Caesar in another tragedy, Julius Caesar.

Please visit the following link to learn more about this ancestor:

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/p/index.php?title=Mark_Antony&printable=yes

Keep in touch with the blog. There are many more to come.

Simply,
Victor