Your reading
Ready when you are
0 of 11 chapters opened · pin sections to build a custom path
Start here
Sixteen angles into the paper
Pick a jelly bean — each opens a short narrative and reads it aloud, then points you to the chapter and the map. Follow Up next for a guided path through Dad's story.
What did each country want?
England, France, and the Dutch — three reasons to cross the Atlantic.
Two branches
Edith Powers from England; Mary Ann Goodwater from Québec — one tree, two doorways.
Powers — England to Massachusetts
George Alcock in Cambridge, 1581 — the English doorway to Massachusetts Bay.
Goodwater — France to Québec
Hébert, Bonneau, and a French name that became Goodwater.
Where they meet (1853)
Joseph Warren Coss marries Mary Ann Goodwater — the two branches join in Iowa.
Reformation & Atlantic doorways
Henry VIII, Luther, and the faith wars that pushed people toward the sea.
Puritans & the Winthrop Fleet
1630 — two thousand souls, eleven ships, Massachusetts Bay from Boston mud.
New France & the St. Lawrence
Champlain, Hébert, and a Catholic colony on a frozen river.
King's Daughters & Île d'Orléans
Filles du roi, founding families, and the island in the middle of the river.
Colonial wars
Pequot, King Philip's, and the Beaver Wars — frontier fire on both rivers.
Salem & witch panic
Martha Barrett Sparks in a Boston jail — a direct Powers-branch tie.
French & Indian / British North America
King William's through the French & Indian War — Québec becomes British.
West to Iowa
Vermont to Wisconsin to Winneshiek — the long walk before the wedding.
Dakota years
Grand Forks hotel, frontier towns, and Mary Ann's death in 1878.
Depression & Dust Bowl
Crowded households, roomers, and farms that would not yield.
Winifred
The paper is written for her — Winifred Eloise Coss, 1922–2000s.
Or scroll down for all 16 chronological chapters
Ask anything
People, places, events, years
Type or say a question — Salem, Goodwater, 1853, witch trials, and more.
Interactive Storybook
The full family story
16 story topics above, then 11 chronological chapters (1485–1950) with 34 photographs. For a spoken overview, start from Home. Use the Document tools (sidebar or below) for topics, format rules, the name index, and sources.
Document tools
Jump to topics, format rules, the name index, or sources — each opens its own page.
All chapters
Read straight through — or use the topics above as your guide. Pin stars for My Path.