A Facebook Social Media member recently contacted my person, inquiring if I had ever checked out Monique Fordham. I had been informed that she had been one of the original people who fought for Vermont State Recognition of the “Abenaki”. This person who inquired had long suspected Fordham of being a fraud, yet Fordham had been working for the Federal Government, out of Vermont. I was informed that Monique had been “good friends” with Charles Lawrence “Megeso” Delaney Jr. who also claims to be “Abenaki” and a Judge, but he is neither, according to the informant.
Thus, began my curiosity as to who Monique Fordham was, where she came from, her ancestors, and her own “Abenaki” claims. A simple google search for her began subsequent to the Facebook communication to my person. Monique had been one of the co-founders of the Friends of Wissatinnewag (FOW), now the Nolumbeka Project, along with Howard Clark. Knowing that the Nolumbeka Project had given space, platform and benefit to Vermont “Abenaki” groups.
Monique Fordham piqued my interest, yet had not been on my investigative research ‘radar’ previously. Thus began my own research into Monique Fordham:
Using google search, I quickly learned that Monique had a number of “footprints” across the internet in varied website pages:
Monique Fordham - Native American Program Specialist
Monique Fordham (Abenaki) is a freelance videographer, radio producer, and University of Massachusetts alumna.
1993 -
Monique Fordham (1993) states that “The quest by Indian peoples for religious freedom often seems like an unending one. For Native Americans incarcerated in U.S. prisons, it has often been a struggle waged in imposed silence. However, the voices of Indian people inside the “iron houses” across the country are finally being heard, and their right to exercise their traditional religions in dignity is slowly being recognized as a pressing concern by peoples of all races and faiths” (p. 170).
1998 -
The Politics of Language and the Survival of Indigenous Culture: From Suppression to Reintroduction in the Formal Classroom
Equity & Excellence in Education, Vol. 31, No. 1, Special Issue, 1998, pp. 40-47. Monique Fordham
Monique Fordham
Native American Program Specialist on the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation Washington, District of Columbia, United States
2009-
Monique Fordham, who has been working with the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP), is our new Program Specialist, starting on January 19, 2009. Ms. Fordham received her
Master of Education degree in Cultural Diversity/Curriculum Reform from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 1998. She received her Juris Doctor and Master of Studies in Environmental Law degrees from Vermont Law School in 2004, where she was President of the Native American Law Society and worked under Professor Dean Suagee in the school’s Indian Country Environmental Justice Clinic. She also worked as a legal intern at the Association on American Indian Affairs on sacred site issues. She was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar in 2004. Ms. Fordham is the founder and president of Friends of Wissatinnewag, Inc., an all-volunteer non-profit organization that worked for several years to successfully purchase and protect the site of the ancient Pocumtuck village known as Wissatinnewag in order to save it from proposed development. Located in western Massachusetts, Wissatinnewag was the site of one of the earliest massacres of non-combatants in the colonial history of the northeast, when over 300 Native women, children, and elders were killed there by a colonial militia.
Ms. Fordham has worked closely with the Tribal Historic Preservation Office of the Narragansett Indian Tribe on the protection of Wissatinnewag and surrounding properties for over a decade.
She is the author of published journal articles on the reintroduction of Native languages into primary educational settings, and on the struggles of incarcerated Native Americans to practice their traditional religions in prison. During the 1990's, Ms. Fordham worked as a “stringer” reporter for National Native News, and hosted a weekly Native music and affairs radio program, “Kita,” on WMUA radio in Amherst, MA.
Ms. Fordham is of Western Abenaki descent from Quebec and the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont.
https://conference.ifas.ufl.edu/aces16/documents/ACES_2016_Program_Book.pdf
Three Native American speakers will give 20-minute presentations on these impacts specific to their Tribes and regions, as well as perspectives on the significance they have on tribal spiritual practices and how this affects the first Peoples of our country. The Panel will be moderated by USGS National Tribal Liaison Monique Fordham, Esq. (Nulhegan Abenaki).
F. Eligible U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Programs
The mission of the USGS is to collect, analyze, and provide information on biology, geology, hydrology, and geography that contributes to the wise management of the Nation's natural resources and to the health, safety, and well-being of the American people. This information is usually publicly available and includes maps, data bases, and descriptions and analyses of the water, plants, animals, energy, and mineral resources, land surface, underlying geologic structure, and dynamic processes of the earth. The USGS does not manage lands or resources. Self-governance Tribes may potentially assist the USGS in the data acquisition and analysis components of its activities.
For questions regarding self-governance, contact Monique Fordham, Esq., Tribal Partnership Coordinator, U.S. Geological Survey, 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive, Reston, Virginia 20192, telephone (703) 648-4437 or fax (703) 648-6683.
Taking the genealogical investigation one step further back, Monique Allyn Fordman’ father had been the late Robert Austin Fordham (1928-2016), and within his obituary, it had been shared that he had been “proud of his Abenaki heritage”. Her mother, and his wife (at the time of Monique’s birth December 27, 1960) had been Ingrid (nee: Palmberg) from Finland. The alleged “Abenaki” ancestor came through paternally, not maternally to Monique Fordman it had had been quickly ascertained. Monique had two younger sisters, Sonja Viveka (nee: Fordham) born in 1964 and Robin Annika (nee: Fordham) born in 1967, both at the Mary Fletcher Hospital in Burlington, Vermont, to Monique’s parents Robert and Ingrid.
In a matter of steps, Robert Austin Fordham’s parents were detected. Austin Lyle Fordham (1891-1943) and Marjorie Jane (nee: Spaulding) (1899-1949). Doing the genealogical mapping at this point was simply a matter of putting each ancestor into their respective order, and creating a folder of vital records, and misc. as I moved backwards through Monique’s father’s ancestors, both paternally, and maternally. Again, using google search and Ancestry.com it was within a matter of a day, and I had already ascertained and mapped into a genealogical program RootsMagic, a genealogy software program, Monique’s paternal ancestry.
Marjorie’s husband, Austin Lyle Fordham (1891-1943) had ancestry who derived out of Brooklyn, New York, on both sides of his parentage who ‘identified as’ and/or were ‘identifying as’ non- Indigenous. Thus, I began to focus on Marjorie Jane Spaulding (1899-1949) and her parentage and ancestry. Her parents were Frank Ellsworth Spaulding (1861-1927) and “Adoree” (Dora) L. Astle (1864- 1887).
Dora’s mother had been Rachel Olney (nee: Nutting) who had married to James Thomas Astle on December 12, 1843, in the Congregational Church in Shipton, Richmond, Le Val-Saint-François, Québec, Canada. Using google search once again, I found other descendants of Rachel Olney Nutting having retrospectively researching genealogically.
March 07, 2002
http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/o/l/s/Joan-E-Olsson/GENE3-0498.html
Notes for RACHEL OLNEY NUTTING:
Subject: Olney, Nutting, Astle/Doying
Date: Thu, 07 Mar 2002 23:47:36 -0500
From: Monique Fordham maf@nativenewengland.org Reply-To: maf@rickbragg.net
To: j_olsson@pacbell.net [Joan Hersey Olsson of Hayward, CA 94541-3223]
Hi Joan,
I was pleased to find your records since I feel somewhat exhausted in my search for more info about my great-great grandmother, the "other" Rachel Olney Nutting (of John Jr, who is son of John and Rachel) ... she was born circa 1827, and was adopted by John Jr. and Hannah Doying, who lived in Shipton/Warwick, Quebec, Canada. My ancestor Rachel married James Thomas Astle (marriage certificate in Drummondville, PQ, I believe it was 1843 or so...); they had some kids in Quebec and others when they moved to Lower Waterford, VT about 1861, where they are both buried. One of their daughters was Amanda Astle who married Alphonse Brooks in Sheffield, VT. I was contacted by one of their descendants if you are interested in that information.
I'm a granddaughter of Amanda's sister, Adora. While I've tracked down descendants of some of the other siblings (one sister who married a Babcock, a brother Ashley) I'm still looking for descendants who married Mitchel and Brown.
Our histories agree that Rachel was an adopted Abenaki (which makes sense since the Odanak Abenaki Reserve is not too far away from Shipton/Warwick) - I've searched and searched but have never found a birth or baptism certificate for her. Know anything about this?
I'm sure you've bumped into Barbara Doying and others who have cornered the market on Astle/ Doying/Olney/Nutting info, but my branch seems to be a mystery....
I certainly can provide that info on Alphonse/Amanda for you if you'd like!
More on Ancestry.com Tree from vam5506:
Indian origin: For some reason, apparently the Veazy's had asked Richard de Gruchy to search for info that Abigail Doying was the Indian connection. He did not find any connection to her.
Report of hired genealogist Richard De Gruchy of Canada dated 4/4/1995. Author: 4328 Parthenais St in Montreal Quebec H2H 263
Date of Adoption: Family tradition has her as being an Abenaki Indian adopted by the Nutting family.
Cousin Monique Fordham believes the "adoption" had occurred in Wheelock, Vermont but found that all records were destroyed by fire in 1857. The marriage records of Sarah (nee: Doyen) Nutting shows her as the second daughter of John Nutting, so I presume that the "adoption" occurred after that date - or at least the "adoption" was not recognized by the church at the time of the wedding.
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Nutting-129
Adopted by John Nutting and Hannah Doying from the St. Francis mission from Abenaki parents who died in the cholera epidemic. (According to David A. Babcock)
June 04, 2011
The Babcock family in Vermont
By Virginia (vam5506)
1. I am a descendant of Jason Badcock whose baptism was recorded in the Diary of Rev. Parkman
as an illegitimate boy presented for baptism by a man named Joseph Wheeler in 1726 at Marlborough MA. The same Joseph Wheeler mentions Jason in his will as the "boy he brought up". The same Jason apparently later lived in Athol, MA. This Jason was my 4th Great Grandfather. Jason's descendants later lived in Concord VT and my father's family lived in St Johnsbury, Caledonia County VT. My Daddy was born there in 1895. I have DNA for the male Babcock's. I would like to compare it to another Babcock DNA. Any takers?
2. My Daddy's maternal tree goes from Adwina Minerva Babcock back to James Thomas Astle (my Great Grandfather) born about 1819 in Warwick Quebec Canada. James Thomas married Rachel Olney Nutting.
The family tradition is that Rachel Olney Nutting was an Abenaki Indian girl adopted by Hannah Doying and her husband John Nutting. We believe Rachel was born somewhere around 1827.
Many different branches of the family who only recently re-connected each have passed down the same tradition. I read recently a posting made several years ago made by someone trying to trace a Native American and Babcock connection. Does this fit anyone's searching?
Virginia (nee: Babcock) Myers piqued my interest. Who was she? How was she related to, in genealogical descent, etc., to Monique Fordham of Vermont (and her sisters Sonja and Robin) as well my curiousness as to whether or not Rachel Olney Nutting (ca. 1825-1883) had been, in fact, of Abenaki descent.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/18PEijYmIFpQ-5ijTNw8wFs1anxHfx6XG?usp=sharing
Looking at the Census Records for Rachel:
1861 Census of Canada:
(Warwick, Arthabaska, Canada East, Canada) Mrs. R. Aslle
1870 United States Federal Census: (Littleton, Grafton, New Hampshire, USA)
Rachel (Nutting) Astle: WHITE (as were her children)
1880 United States Federal Census:
(Waterford, Caledonia, Vermont)
Rachel (Nutting) Astle: WHITE (as were her children)
All Vital Records for all of Rachel and James Astle’ ten children and grandchildren indicated they had been non-Indigenous identifying. No discerned Abenakis had died of cholera within the area of Shipton, and Warwick, had burial records within the Congregationalist Churches of the area in which Rachel had been born (July 17, 1825, calculated as per her age as provided at her death).
I then proceeded to calculate mentally how I could discern Rachel’s true parentage. Was there a way to do it, without depending on a multiple set of persons descended from Rachel? Had the descendants of Rachel considered or had already genetic tested themselves to attempt confirmation of her alleged indigenous descent? And if so, how were I to go about detecting such testing, of her descendants, without being detected? I proceeded to ‘think-out-side-the-box’ regarding genetic testing.
IF Rachel’s parent’s descendants had been genealogically mapping in Ancestry.com, I surmised they would have Trees of their genealogical descent from Rachel and her husband James, as would the descendants of her alleged white “adoptive” parents John Nutting (1794-1870) and Hannah Doyen/Doying (1805-1880).
Having initiated genetic genealogical testing and learning the processes of research in such field, I had a list of genetic testers within AncestryDNA I could ‘see’ if they genetically matched to the descendant of John and Hannah, and or Rachel. And perhaps even their genetic percentile predictions given by the DNA testing company, in comparative to another genetic tester.
As luck would have it, a descendant (Phillips’ descendant) did in fact match to John and Hannah, at 9 cM (centimorgans) across 1 DNA segment, a small amount of genetic contribution. Enough to make the match between Kristy and the Phillips descendant. Kristy was the 2nd great-grand niece of Rachel Olney Nutting and in fact Kristy is a 3rd great-granddaughter of John Nutting and Hannah Doyen/Doying.
The Phillips descendant is a ‘cousin’ of Donald Warren Stevens Jr., orchestrator of the CPAIN group created in 2004 that became the Nulhegan-Coos, in Orleans County, Vermont.
I had tested genetically this particular Phillips descendant, and their sibling in pursuit of Don Stevens Jr.’s ancestor Peter Phillips Sr.’ paternal ancestry several years ago.
Kristy has descended from John and Hannah’s daughter Lois Philura (nee: Nutting) 1837-1922 and Charles Stoddard (1840-1910), to their son Frederick Eugene Stoddard, to his son Charles Matthews Stoddard, to his son Richard Armand Stoddard, to (of course) Kristy herself.
I began to formulate a ‘working theory’, that (as yet) I didn’t know would work (or not). As a genetic genealogical researcher, if wondered if WITHOUT Kristy or Virginia sending me access to their DNA Matches, could I discern A. Whether one or the other, or both, had done a DNA test through AncestryDNA B. If I could discern their ethnicity prediction percentiles C. Detect if both of them matched to one another within AncestryDNA.
I have no access to Kristy’s AncestryDNA Matches within any genetic testing company at any time. From Kristy’s genealogy mapped tree, I could see she did not have the Astle surname in her ancestors.
Kristy was perfect to begin testing my ‘working theory’ in my attempt to confirm or deny the subjective ‘oral tradition’ within several lines of Rachel’s descendants, that she (Rachel born in 1825) was either adopted by a white couple (John and Hannah) or had been actually their daughter.
Following my steps in a "working theory" ...
I found within an Ancestry.com Tree a woman named Virginia (vam5506) an email from Monique Fordham dated March 07, 2002 [See above dated communication to Joan Hersey Olsson] and thus I began research and comparatives within Ancestry.com, the same as I had done regarding Kristy.
I discovered to my surprise, that my two siblings and I, matched to Virginia (nee: Babcock) Myers (vam5506) within AncestryDNA at 9 cM across 1 DNA segment. Thus, providing the necessary awareness that Virginia had also done a AncestryDNA test as well.
I also have no access to Virginia's AncestryDNA Matches within any genetic testing company at any time.
Doing an ethnicity percentile % comparative between Kristy and the Phillips descendant, I could see that the percentile for Kristy, of John and Hannah’s daughter Lois P. (nee: Nutting) had added up to 100% percent. Adding up the numbers, 3% + 63% + 4% + 19% + 7% + 4% = 100%, there was no genetic contribution in Kristy’s DNA ethnicity result prediction indicating Indigenous Native American DNA percentile and that piqued my interest.
Though Kristy is a 3rd great grand daughter of John and Hannah, as such, I surmised she might have at least shown indication of very remote Indigenous % contribution, yet it was ZERO %.
John Nutting was son of John Nutting (1770-1844) and Rachel Olney (1775-1865).
John Nutting (Lois P.’s father) had descended from the surnames of Nutting, Pickman, Pasca, Woods, Spaulding, Barrett, and Lindall.
Rachel (nee: Olney) Nutting (born in 1775) had descended from the surnames Olney, Dexter, Young, Coggeshall, Smith, and Reynolds. These ancestors all were from Europe.
Rachel (Olney) Nutting husband John’s ancestor, that being Elizabeth (nee: Pasca) Pickman (ca. 1714-1761), had been born in Tortoia, British Virgin Islands, baptized in 1715 at Saint Dunstan and All Saints, Stepney Parish, Tower Hamlets, Middlesex, England, and died in 1761 in Salem, Massachusetts.
Hannah (Doyen/Doying) 1805-1880, had been the daughter of John Doyen (1781-1814) and Mary P. Rollins (1785-1854).
John Doyen’ parents had been Francis Doyen and Mary (nee: Fife). John Doyen’s grandfather Francis Michel Doyen had been born in 1701 in Rennes, Ille-et-Vilaine, Bretagne, France, marrying in Haverhill, MA, and dying ca. 1774 in Pembroke, N.H., having married Abigail (nee: Whittaker) in 1726.
Mary P. Rollins had been descended from Rollins, Sanborn, Cram, Sherburne, and Drew ancestors. All coming from Europe.
In the ancestry of neither parent of Lois Philura (nee: Nutting) there had been no surname Astle ancestor. This was important to ascertain genealogically for my ‘working theory’ to function.
Virginia (vam5506), as previous mentioned, descended from Rachel Olney Nutting (1825-1883) and is a great-granddaughter of Rachel herself. Virginia, as aforementioned, also matched to my two siblings and myself, within AncestryDNA genetic testing. I could also do an ethnic percentile % of Virginia in comparative to myself (as well as my two siblings).
Virginia (vam5506) had 27% + 37% + 5% + 26% + 5% = 100% to European Ethnicities, leaving no room for genetic contribution indicating Indigenous Native American DNA percentile.
I found this to be quite intriguing, in light that Monique Fordham seemed, in early March of 2002, convincing herself she was of Abenaki descent. That, since she stated, in light of some of or most of Rachel’s descendants’ familial oral “tradition” had been that Rachel herself “was an adopted Abenaki” used PROXIMITY between Odanak (formerly known as the Saint-François-du-Lac / “St. Francis” Mission of Abénaquis / Abénakis) and Shipton and Warwick, PQ as “proof” to her (Rachel) allegedly being Abenaki and thus Monique herself, of Abenaki descent.
Remember Kristy the 3rd great-granddaughter of John and Hannah who tested through AncestryDNA, that matched to the Phillips descendant, who had also tested through AncestryDNA at a mere 9 cM across 1 segment match?
As part of my “working theory’ I proceeded to communicate through Ancestry.com’ messaging system with Kristy, knowing she was a descendant, not of Rachel (b. 1825 d. 1883) but of the alleged “adoptive” white parents, John Nutting and Hannah (nee: Doyen).
December 09, 2021
“Has anyone from Rachel done DNA testing Kristy, to substantiate that Rachel Olney Nutting b. 1825 was Indian? I am studying this woman and her ancestors from Smithfield, RI.?”
“Do you have any matches from Rachel Olney Nutting (1825-1827) descendants? There is a "tradition" that she was Indian, but IF the woman's descendants are matching to you from Rachel ... Hoping to hear from you. I would love to solve this mystery about Rachel...”
Kristy replied back: “I haven't found anything about Rachel Olney Nutting if she was Indian. I tried looking up it and only found what the Babcock family of Vermont had wrote. John and Hannah’s daughter Lois is my 2nd great grandmother on my father side.”
December 10, 2021
I had inquired yet another question of Kristy:
“vam5506 ... do you (Kristy) have this DNA tester in your matches? She matches to my sister, my brother and myself.”
December 11, 2021
Kristy responded: “Yes, vam5506 shows up as my 4th cousin, with 53cM across 2 segments.”
BINGO! My ‘working theory’ genetically was functioning perfectly, though I had no access to either Kristy or Virginia’s AncestryDNA Matches to do my own direct comparatives with either of their genetic matches.
I subsequently proceeded to begin communication with Virginia (Babcock) Myers (vam5506), her being a great-granddaughter of Rachel “the Abenaki Indian” “orphaned due to a Cholera epidemic” “adopted by a white family (John Nutting and Hannah Doying” ...
I asked her if she had any objective evidence of Rachel being an Abenaki Indian? Did she have Odanak Abenaki surnames (such as Obomsawin, Sadoques, Watso, Benedict, et al) within the AncestryDNA Matches genealogically mapped trees of whom that she shared genetic contribution with?
December 11, 2021
Virginia (Vam5506) replied: “Douglas: I am an 87-year-old widow living in Texas. I really don’t do much work on my family tree anymore, but I have not lost any of my interest. So, I was excited to get your message, however, I quickly scanned my DNA matches and did not see your name. I am curious to know the names of your siblings.
Bottom line is that I have spent hours and hours researching whether there is any substance to our family legend that we are descended from an Abenaki child who was adopted by a couple in Canada. To hear that you have done a lot of research into the Abenaki Indians seems like a dream come true.
I also have another cousin, Monique Fordham (whom I originally met due to our mutual interest in tracing our Indian heritage) who has actually spent an immense amount of time on this very subject. She Monique Fordham, too, will be excited over knowing what you can add to our knowledge of our Indian heritage.
I invite you to find out more about me by looking at my public tree on Ancestry. You will see there that my own Father (William Albert Babcock) was born in St Johnsbury VT. His mother was Adwina Minerva Astle and she was born in Arthabaska County, Quebec, Canada. Adwina’s father was James Thomas Astle, and her mother was Rachel Olney Nutting.
We believe Rachel was an Abenaki Indian child who had been adopted by Hannah and John Nutting. The amazing thing is that as my cousin Monique Fordham and I have discovered various descendants of Rachel who are living today, and we have found that fragments of this same legend abound all through our families that have long since lost all communication with each other. I would love to communicate further with you.”
MY Conclusion:
My ‘working theory’ had worked quicker than I had anticipated in confirming (or contradicting) the Nutting – Astle Familial legend / “oral tradition” having been passed down amongst the descendants of Rachel Olney (nee: Nutting) Astle (1825-1883) being allegedly an “Abenaki Indian” “orphaned due to a Cholera epidemic” “adopted by a white family (John Nutting and Hannah Doying” ...
For (Kristy) ... Lois Philura (nee: Nutting) Stoddard’s 2nd great granddaughter to have genetically matched at 53.4 cM across 2 DNA segments to (Virginia Myers) as a predicted 4th Cousin, via Rachel Olney (nee: Nutting) Astle’ daughter Adwina Minerva (nee: Astle) Babcock (1851-1926), Rachel (born in 1825) had to be passing down to Virginia (nee: Babcock) Myers, the genetic contribution, not from the Abenakis, but rather from John Nutting and Hannah Doyen/Doying’ ancestors!
The genetic contribution could have been coming from James Thomas Astle’ mother, Abigail Doyen, granddaughter of Francis Doyen Jr. and his wife Mary (nee: Fife).
Abigail’s father Daniel Doyen (1763-1851) had been an older sibling of John Doyen (1781-1814). Thus, the genetic contribution between Kristy and Virginia could likely have been inherited from the Doyen and Fife shared ancestry.
For Virginia to match with my two siblings and myself, it was Hannah (nee: Doyen) husband John Nutting’s mother Rachel (nee: Olney) Nutting’s maternal grandfather, James Young, who had been a sibling brother to Ann Young (ca. 1709-aft. 1762), of Providence, Rhode Island who had married to Thomas Woodward (1702-1779) in 1727.
It was through James and his sister Ann’s parents, Robert Young and Sarah (nee: Reynolds) that Virginia Myers and we three siblings of the Buchholz cluster, are genealogically 7th cousins 3-times- removed-related, thus accounting perhaps for the 9 cM across 1 DNA segment. In AncestryDNA, Virginia Myers and myself are predicted to be 5th to 8th cousin relationship.
Though how I digress.
No. 1
IF Rachel Olney Nutting were ‘brought into’, becoming the ‘adopted’ daughter of the Nutting-Olney couple, to her alleged “Abenaki parents having died from Cholera”, then those two Abenaki parents would have been very likely recorded within the Catholic diocese in or around Shipton/Warwick, (or within a 52-mile radius from Odanak) one would surmise.
Abenakis within Odanak were predominantly of the Catholic faith, that is, until Henry Lorne Masta’ father, Pial Pol Wz8khilain had, after 1829, brought Protestantism into Odanak from Dartmouth College, and establishing both a Protestant church and an English-speaking school for the Odanak Abenakis.
Remember, Rachel had been born just before John Nutting and Hannah Doyen had married in August 1825 in the Saint Georges Anglican Church, in Drummondville, Arthabaska County, Québec, Canada.
It was not unheard of, that a baptismal record for a daughter born before the parents had been officially married, would not have been made, because of the stigma of illegitimacy. Certainly, it was not that uncommon for a new couple to start having children before they could get married, because of the lack of priest or preacher within a geographical area in those times.
The proximity of Shipton-Warwick to Odanak (approximately 52 miles distance) did not make Rachel Olney (nee: Nutting) Astle an Abenaki Indian. Nor did her having lack of a birth/baptismal record ca. 1825 to her marriage in 1843.
To imply that such dynamics eluded to her being an Abenaki, along with an ‘oral familial tradition’, is merely a John Scott Moody tactic.
No. 2
The reason Rachel O. Nutting (born approximately July 27, 1825 BEFORE her parents John Nutting and Hannah Doyen's marriage the following month) did not have a Baptismal Record on or after birth, was there are TWO dynamics that have been going on: Traveling Preacher for the Congregationalists of the area, and he wasn't around, or lost the book and/ or Reason No. 2, is that if Rachel was born before the parents had married, then that meant recording such birth would have very likely labeled Rachel as "illegitimate" (which had implications for not only themselves as a couple but for their daughter as well). Therefore the likely the parents didn't bother to have a baptismal record made for their first born daughter, Rachel, was negated.
No. 3
IF Rachel Olney (nee: Nutting) Astle was the daughter of John Nutting (1794-1870) and Hannah Doyen/Doying (1805-1880), that would make perfect sense, genealogically speaking, because Rachel was John and Hannah’s first-born daughter, thus being named after John’s mother Rachel (nee: Olney).
Also, it must be mentioned that Rachel (1825-1883) had a paternal aunt, Rachel Olney Nutting (1808- 1905) who had married to Gaby Guy Richardson, the first day of January in the Protestant Church of Louisville, in Trois-Rivières, Saint Maurice, Québec, Canada.
No. 4
IF Rachel Olney (nee: Nutting) Astle was indeed an Abenaki, most assuredly, Virginia being Rachel’s great-granddaughter, would have genetic ethnic detected % percentile and showing matches to indigenous surnamed (and or descendants thereof) within her own AncestryDNA matches.
No. 5
IF Rachel Olney (nee: Nutting) Astle was indeed an Abenaki, then her great-granddaughter, Virginia (nee: Babcock) Myers, would NOT genetically be matching in AncestryDNA to Kristy Leigh (nee: Stoddard) Allard at 53 cM across 2 DNA segments predicted to be a 4th cousin.
Kristy and Virginia are 3rd cousins once removed to one another, genealogically speaking.
According to DNA Painters tool, Shared cM Project 4.0 tool v4, the percentile cM at 53 is 22% likely to be a predicted genetic relationship between the two testers being 3C1R, dependent on how the DNA has been recombined and inherited through each line of descent, and of course the dynamic of endogamy has to be considered in these Nutting-Olney-Astle ancestral dynamics as well.
Obviously the DNA testing proves that Rachel had not an Abenaki Indian, contrary to passed- down oral stories and long-held beliefs that were shared amongst descendants of Rachel Olney (Nutting) Astle.
Monique Fordham apparently post-2011 (or before) sought membership in the Nulhegan group led initially by Luke Andrew Willard and then followed by Don Stevens Jr. She also seemingly sought to benefit from such membership in her career within the Federal Government. These varied agencies subjectively also concluded that she was of Western Abenaki descent, based on her getting that membership card from the Nulhegan.
Question is, was Rachel Olney Nutting who married James Thomas Astle an Abenaki Indian girl, adopted by the white couple of John Nutting and Hannah Doyen, or was she their daughter, before they had legally been married by the Church of their faith in 1825? And if she was Abenaki, WHY does the DNA contribution cause the DNA match in Ancestry with both Kristy and Virginia?
If Rachel were indeed "Abenaki" these two, Kristy and Virginia would not be matching (yet they do); Virginia would have Indigenous Ethnic Prediction percentile % (yet she doesn't) and importantly, there ought to be DNA matches to people who have Abenakis from and of Odanak showing up in Virginia's matches per the AncestryDNA (yet she doesn't).
URL Link: Monique Fordham and MY Research
So what does all this that tell you about Monique Fordham et al, her and their "Abenaki-ness" and her Nulhegan Coosuk membership in 2016 ?
