James B Battles

The Sea Beggar Series of four historical novels is about the life and times of a privateer during the period of Queen Anne's War and its immediate aftermath. It is the story of Ephraim Bogardus a Hudson River mariner who uses his New York built Hudson River Sloop for privateering and trading in commodities like tobacco, flour, and coca in North Carolina and the Caribbean. In this fourth novel in the series The Sea Beggar: Pirates, Ephraim has decided that he wants to retire from privateering and concentrate on only doing peaceful commodities trading and give up privateering. Queen Anne's War is over and many former privateers have turned to piracy. Ephraim has been able to continue to do privateering with a letter of marque he has been able to acquire from the King of Denmark. Ephraim wants to make a few more cruises before retiring but must deal with pirates that may put a stop to his well laid plans.

The Sea Beggar: Going for Gold is the third in the Sea Beggar series of historical novels about the life and times during the period of Queen Anne's War and its immediate aftermath. The series tells the story of Ephraim Bogardus a Hudson River mariner who uses his Hudson River sloop to do privateering in North Carolina and the Caribbean. In this third book in the series, Ephraim finds himself in a dilemma, Queen Anne's War has ended and his letters of marque from New York and North Carolina are now null and void. He solves the problem by obtaining letters of marque from the Danish Crown which allows him to take Spanish prizes and continue to do privateering as well as trading in commodities such as tobacco and coca with the Dutch on the island of Sint Eustatius in the Caribbean. Along the way Ephraim and his brother Conelius discover the wreckage of a great Spanish treasure fleet along the coast of Florida.

Sometimes family history merges our national or state histories. In my case the story of my ancestors can help understand the founding of Connecticut. I have three of my ancestors who helped found the colony of Connecticut in the early 17th century. This is the story of the Phelps, Porter, and Avery families who helped found what is now the state of Connecticut. By telling their real stories can help one understand the early days of the Connecticut.

Knight of the black leg or The Legend of Cilmin-Troed-Dhu is a Welsh medieval tale dating back to 830 AD. The story tells of a brave young knight Cilman who has to free his town from evil demons and a hideous giantess who live in the nearby mountains. It is the Legend of Cilmin-Troed-Dhu that forms the basis of the family crest of the Gilman family. Even if you are not a member of this family you will enjoy the story none the less. The illustrations by David Carl make the story come alive.

This book is the story of the ancestors of June Scott Battles. It tells the story of her rich Scott/Irish heritage and connections to the Scott Clan. June's children, grandchildren and great grandchildren all share this Scott heritage. The Scotts have a tradition handed down from our Border Reiver ancestors that we should be proud of and share this family story.

Mary Chilton was the first Pilgrim to step on Plymouth Rock. The First Step tells the story of Mary Chilton Winslow who along with her parents came to the new world aboard the Mayflower and settled in Plimoth Planation. Mary tells how and why she and her parents left Leiden in the Netherlands to settle in the new world and of her experiences in the early days of Plimoth Plantation including being the first person on Plimoth Rock and participating in the First Thanksgiving. With the death of both her parents, Mary at 13 had to make her own way in the wilderness that was America in 1620. She was able to build her life in the new world and could well be considered one of our founding mothers. Mary is played as she would have been in the year 1671, a grandmother, at age 64 and living in Boston 50 years after her arrival on the Mayflower.

Clinton Delos Bundy was the youngest child of Peter Bundy III and his second wife Charlotte French Bundy. He was born in 1849 in Andover, New York and died young at the age of only twenty six in 1875 in Lima, New York. Clinton serves as a bridge between his rich Pilgrim and his present day decendants. His ancestor was Mayflower passenger James Chilton. The Bundy connection comes when John Bundy married James Chilton's grandaughter, Martha Clandler, in 1646.

This is a two act play which is the story of James Chilton, the oldest pilgrim passenger on the Mayflower. He was born a Roman Catholic in Canterbury, County Kent, England and died a committed separatist off Cape Cod in the new world. His wife Susanna was the only pilgrim female to have been excommunicated by the Church of England. James and his family were harried out of the country in the words of King James because of their religious beliefs and fled to Leiden in the Netherlands. James, his wife Susanna and his youngest daughter Mary were passengers on the Mayflower leaving their two older daughters behind in Leiden. The challenge of his life repents that of many of our pilgrim fathers and explains how and why they came to America. The second act of the play tells the story of the Pilgrims first years through the voice of Mary Chilton.