Author: joel@jmhartley.com

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Investigating a New Frazer Theory at Ancestry

Recently, while looking for another match, I saw that my sister Sharon had a potential Frazer common ancestry with a DNA match:

My job is to evaluate the connection to see if it is likely or not.

The Philip Frazer line is important to me as I believe that I descend from Philip Frazer. I can’t prove it, but by naming patterns and process of elimination, I have come to believe that as the best Frazer genealogical theory.

I have built a Philip Frazer DNA tree:

It looks like I cut a bit off of the tree:

Basically, there were two Frazer brothers from County Roscommon. They were Archibald and James. The lived in the 1700’s. I descend from the elder brother Archibald. Actually I descend from both, but more directly from the Archibald Line. Archibald is believed to have had four sons: John, Philip, Richard, and Archibald. As mentioned, I think I descend from Philip.

I see that my sister Sharon’s DNA match David supposedly descends from Philip and George James Frazer. I am asked to evaluate George James. That means that even though he is on my DNA tree, he must not be in the Ancestry Tree. This is what my tree shows:

I also am missing a birth and death date for Philip Frazer son of Philip Frazer. One problem is this document:

This shows one Philip being married twice or perhaps two Philips marrying. I assume that the first Philip is the elder Philip marrying for a second time and the second marriage is for the son Philip marrying. Assuming that to be the case, I should change my tree. Of course the younger Philip could have married Jane Johnston first and the elder could have married Mary Taylor second. I see from my tree above, that the younger Philip’s first daughter appears to be Jane Frazer and she could have been named for her mother Jane Johnston. However, the first daughter should have been named for the mother’s mother which I do not think is known. I’ll just switch my tree to have the younger Philip married to Mary Taylor.

Now I have this situation:

Assuming the elder Philip was still alive, and that the younger Philip was either not very young when he married or was older than I think, I’ll say the elder Philip married Jane Johnston as his second wife and had Jane Frazer as a daughter.

Now I need to put Philip Frazer and Mary Taylor as being born around 1800.

Now it would make sense if Philip had a son named George James as his two brothers had those names (assuming my tree is right). I see that I have a Blog that mentions George James Frazer from 2020. 

In that Blog, Sharon had a match with LS. I see that LS also appears as a shared match between Sharon and David. I think that if I can validate David’s tree back to George James Frazer, I should be all set. Here is David’s tree:

Here is the photo David has of George James Frazer:

If my Frazer DNA tree is correct, he should be the first cousin of George William Frazer, my 2nd great-grandfather.

Of course, I am not very sure how much I look like my first cousins. At least his tie looks the same! My relative in Ireland said someone scribbled on my 2nd great-grandfather’s face. So that doesn’t help either.

My 2nd great-grandfather George William Frazer was born about 1838 and his first cousin George James Frazer was born in 1841. They both appear to be named for their Uncle George Frazer who died in 1831.

Evaluating David’s Tree

I like the chances of David linking up, so I will put him into my tree as a floating tree. That means not connected to my major tree. If I agree with Ancestry’s proposed common ancestor for us, then I will connect the two trees.  I also find it encouraging that David’s tree has George James Frazer born in Sligo, Ireland:

David’s father should be easy to find as he was born in 1929 in the US. Here is the 1940 Census with David’s father and grandfather:

David’s grandfather was an accountant with an insurance business.

James Alexander Fraser, Sr.

Here is William in the 1881 Census for Woodstock, Ontario:

Unfortunately, the father’s initials only are given. They should be G.J. for George James but are transcribed as G.B. In 1891, the father is more clearly G.J.:

G.J. works at the inland home? office:

 

According to AI:

Common occupations and roles from that era containing “inland” include:
    • Inland Revenue Officer: Government officials responsible for collecting excise duties, inspecting distilleries, and regulating weights and measures.

William’s birth record gives better information about his parents:

This gets me as far as David’s tree:

Philip Fraser in green above has a proposed birth date of 1815. That does not fit in well assuming that Philip married in 1822.

George’s birth date is given on a civil service list:

I believe that George was baptized in the Kilmactranny Parish in Sligo as that church is missing about a 10 year period of records from 1842 going back about 10 years. The 1881 Census shows that Philip was likely the first son of George James. By tradition, this could mean that George’s father was also Philip.

Here is George in 1861:

The fact that the name George is passed down seems to support this family structure:

However, I do not know where my 2nd great-grandfather got his middle name William from. Was there another brother named William or was this name from the mother’s side? There was supposedly a William who was the son of John Frazer (the elder Philip’s brother) who went to the US.

Connecting George James Frazer to My Ancestry Tree

I put George James’ father as Philip Frazer born about 1800. This also shows in my sister Sharon’s ThruLines now:

It looks like I have not attached Ann to Philip in my tree, so I need to do that also.

Updating My Frazer DNA Tree

It looks like I just need to add David:

One interesting thing about David is that he is a generation up from my other matches on the Philip Line. That means that he is my fourth cousin once removed rather than a 5th cousin.

Clustering Sharon and David

I created a custom cluster between Sharon and David and looked for mathes between 20 and 100 cM.

The first cluster had only three DNA matches:

Geraldine has no tree at Ancestry. Based on shared matches, Geraldine is LS’ half sister or Aunt.

Here is the next Cluster:

We already know about Geraldine, LS, and David. I am interested in YK. YK”s maternal side goes to Ramsey or Ramsay from Canada:

Just looking at the Cluster above, I see that LS and David are from the Philip . However, MY at the bottom of the cluster is also and probably Geraldine and YK at the top.

From memory, MY is actually Richard or Barry. But where is Jeanette? Perhaps she was a match to someone else, or matches at less than the 20 cM required to be in the cluster.

I was hoping that the Cluster would mirror what I have on my Philip Line DNA Tree:

Where:

  • Green is Philip to Philip
  • Yellow is Philip to James (and Violet Frazer) to Richard Frazer
  • Periwincle is Philip to James and Violet Frazer to James Archibald Frazer (my second great-grandfather)

However, in the second cluster above, I don’t see anyone from the yellow group. Perhaps I will make a guess why later.

It is interesting that Keith is in the Cluster as he is related on the McMaster side:

However, Fanny’s mother was also a Frazer from a different line. So it gets complicated. This could be the reason that the Richard Frazer Line is not included in the cluster. Or it could be that that the elder Philip married a McMaster which would put more McMasters in the Cluster to match. I’m not sure.

So in the Cluster above, I have accounted for two lines but not the Richard Frazer line. Also there are some that I do not know for sure how they fit in:

  • Shelly
  • Diane
  • Charles, and
  • Tim

The Final Cluster

This cluster is similar to the previous one with a large defineable James Archibald Frazer cluster. It seems like more could be done with these clusters as far as trying to track down the genealogy of the matches, but I am done for now.

More on Sharon’s Philip Frazer DNA

Sharon seems to be my only sibling tested at Ancestry who has a good match showing common ancestors with Philip Frazer of the 1700’s. Here is Sharon’s DNA Painter Profile:

Sharon has matches with Barry on the right side of her Chromosomes 14 and 15.

Here is Sharon’s DNA mapped out for Chromosome 14 mapped out with all her siblings:

Jim has all Chromosome 14 as Frazer, but he did not test at Ancestry. Sharon’s match numbers are here:

They are roughly 79-96 million. It looks like Lori should have Frazer DNA up to 96 also. So I wonder why Lori does not show as a match to David at Ancestry.

Here is Chromosome 15:

Here Sharon has a full dose of paternal Frazer DNA. Jim has nearly a full dose of Frazer DNA on his paternal side.

Sharon at Gedmatch

Barry is at Gedmatch and Raymond is a shared match between Sharon and Barry:

I will map that onto Sharon’s map. Here is Raymond:

Raymond also identifies part of Sharon X Chromosome:

The blue paternal first match is from Raymond’s sister. The second one is from Raymond. I have identified this DNA as from Margaret Mcmaster due to the way the X Chromosome is inherited.

Sharon got an X Chromosome from her dad. He got it from his Frazer Grandmother. She got her X Chromosome from her father James Archibald Frazer and he got one X Chromosome from his mother Margaret McMaster.

Summary and Conclusions

  • David was a good match who appears to connect with my 1700’s ancestor Philip Frazer
  • I looked at clusters between my sister Sharon and David
  • Those clusters showed a small Philip Line cluster and a cluster from my 2nd great-grandfather’s line.
  • I was a little surprised there was not more of a cluster from the Richard Frazer line. He was the brother of my 2nd great-grandfather George William Frazer.
  • More work could be done with working on the geneaolgies of some of the unidentified matches in the David/Sharon Cluster.
  • I made some guesses why there was not a Richard Frazer Cluster.My ancestor George married Margaret McMcaster. Someone in David’s Philip line may have married a McMaster. In addition, Margaret’s mother was Fanny McMaster. Fanny’s mother was a Frazer. This could account for the George Cluster and lack of a Richard Cluster.
  • I was also able to improve my FrazerTree at Ancestry.
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Where Did My Frazer Cluster Go at Ancestry?

I sort of know the answer but would like to tease it out. Ancestry has a standard Cluster that you can run. This is mine:

My impression is that the standard clusters are meant to show you your DNA matches from your four grandparents sides.

Those sides are:

  1. Hartley
  2. Frazer
  3. Rathfelder
  4. Lentz

Hartley Cluster – Orange

I can tell by the match names that the orange cluster represents Hartley matches in the range of 2nd cousins. It makes sense that there are a lot of matches because my great-grandfather James Hartley had 18 children. However,

  • The second child Herbert died before age 1
  • My grandfather was the fourth born
  • The 6th child did not marry -Aunt Nellie
  • 8th born Henry married but had no children
  • 9th born William died as an infant.

That means that 14 of the children had offspring leaving me a lot of relatives.

Two Maternal Clusters

Cluster 2 – Rathfelder and Nicholson

Some of these matches are on the level of 1st cousin, so they would technically be both Rathfelder and Nicholson. Of the last three matches, two are Rathfelder only and one match is Nicholson only.

My mother’s father was one of 10 Rathfelder Children. However, he was born in Latvia and the DNA testing for Latvians tends to be more with MyHeritage. Carolyn who is from Nicholson and not Lentz has no Rathfelder connection but has connection with those in my first cousin range, so she is added in that Cluster.

Cluster 3 – Nicholson/Lentz

Carolyn from Cluster 2 descends from Nicholson. The other matches in Cluster 3 appear to all descend from Lentz and Nicholso

This is from my Nicholson DNA tree where Carolyn is on the right hand side. My Lentz grandmother was one of only four Lentz children:

I should in a photo of Agnes as I recall her visiting the house. Here is an old photo with a lot of the family:

Stanley is top left. Agnes is in the middle and Emma, my grandmother is on the right. It looks like my mom right below Emma. My mom was born in December 1921, so you can judge the photo as being around 1927 or so. Perhaps Gladys, my mom is 5 0r 6 in the photo.

The Missing Frazer Cluster

I have already established that my Hartley grandfather was one of 14 children who had offspring. My Rathfelder grandfather was one of 10. However, I do not know where all the children ended up (maybe a research project). I know of at least one family that stayed in Latvia and one that moved to England. The Latvian relatives tend to test their DNA at MyHeritage.

My grandmother was one of only two children:

Marion had two children and George had two children. I guess that it never occured to me that George William Frazer was named for James A Frazer’s father.

My point is to say that as far as second cousins go, the Frazer side was not very prolific. I think that I may find some Frazer clusters in my four siblings who tested at Ancestry.

Before I leave George Frazer, it seems strange that I don’t have a photo of him other than a child photo:

Also, he had two daughter, Jeanne and Shirley. Yet his 1960 obituary only mentions his step-children:

Some More on George Frazer

I don’t remember my grandmother ever saying anything about her brother. Perhaps that was partially due to the fact that he died when I was 4 years old. I do recall my grandmother mentioning Cousin Jeaane and Cousin Shirley. Of course, they weren’t her cousins but my father’s cousins.

George married Helena Victoria Marcell in North Carolina though both of them say they were from Norfolk, Virginia. I see now that Elizabeth City, where they married, was not far from Norfolk:

Did they elope?

In 1934, the couple are shown living in Quincy, Massachusetts:

They were also living there in 1930:

The couple apparently marry as George is married to a Margaret Edginton in 1940:

They are at 17 Wendover Street in Boston:

Here is Margaret’s obituary from the Boston Globe on February 14, 1999:

Again, Jeanne and Shirley are left out.

Cousin Jeanne and Shirley

 

It looks like Jeanne married later in life at age 56. Here is a photo of Jeanne’s husband:

I also see that someone posted this yearbook picture under Jeanne Frazer:

As this is better thana the nothing I have, it will have to do. I cannot verify it. So  my bio on ‘Cousin’ Jeanne is a little sketchy. It is unclear how she met her husband as he lived quite far away.

I see that I have even less on ‘Cousin’ Shirley:

I assume that she has passed away. I don’t know if she ever married.

Heidi’s Standard Clusters

 

The point I wanted to make above is that should be a correlation between clusters and DNA testing descendants.

  • Hartley grandfather – one of 14 child bearing siblings
  • Rathfelder grandfather – one of 10 siblings
  • Lentz grandmother – one of 4 siblings
  • Frazer grandmother – one of 2 children of my Frazer great-grandfather

However, I wll also look at my sister Heidi’s standart clusters at Ancestry. Her standard cluster has expired, so I will refresh it:

Heidi’s standard clusters seem more detailed than mine. I had 3 clusters and Heidi has 6.

Clusters one and two are on my Hartley side. I can only assume that as my grandfather’s parents were Hartley and Snell, one cluster is for Hartley and one for Snell. I see at least one match in the first cluster that I know is related on the Snell side and not the Hartley side:

 

The other four clusters are maternal clusters. I had written a Blog on Ancestry’s Standard Clusters in August of last year.

Lori’s Clusters

I’ll skip to Lori’s clusters as she was the only place where I found Frazer Clusters in the standard Ancestry Cluster last year:

The first person in the last cluster is Aimee. She is my first cousing once removed. Another reason perhaps, that there are so few standard Frazer clusters. My Frazer grandmother had only two children: my father and my Aunt. Aimee is my Aunt’s granddaughter.

Summary and Conclusions

  • I had recently looked at my standard Clusters at Ancestry and was reminded that I had no Frazer Cluster.
  • My assumption was that had to do with the fact that there were fewer Frazer descendants on that side to test from
  • I looked at the descendants and found that as the case. My Frazer grandmother was one of two and she only had two children
  • Along the way, I looked into my Frazer grandmother’s brother as I do not know a lot about him. I also tried to find out more about his two daughters: Shirley and Jeanne.

 

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Death of My Wife’s Ancestor Ellen Donovan Found

I have to again thank my wife’s niece Tina for her hard work. She found the elusive death record for Ellen Donovan Crowley Sullivan. When I go to Ancestry I see that I looked at her found record four days ago, but the name of her father threw me off:

I was thinking that her father’s name was Timothy (or maybe that was Florence’s father).

Here is the Ancestry hint for Ellen’s parents:

Here we are in Boston in 1883:

Here is Warren Street:

This is in Roxbury on a major Street.

In 1880, Ellen was living at 26 Joiner Street in Charlestown with her children William, Margaret and Julia. Tina tells me that Ellen was living with her son William on Warren Street. That means Tina must have found him in the Boston Directory.

OK, forget what I said about Roxbury. This is the problem with using Google maps. I had already found William in the 1883 Boston Directory, but he was at Warrent Street in Charlestown:

Here Chrsn. is the abbreviation in the Boston Directory for Charlestown. Here is the right map:

The move from Joiner Street would not have been very far at all:

This is where the old maps come in handy. The first arrow is where 43 Warren Street would have been in Charlestown and second arrow is where 26 Joiner Street was It is almost the same Street. Here are the Streets showing more area of Charlestown:

Assuming those parents are right, this Ancestry hint makes sense:

I would be wiilling to accept this hint based on Ellen’s death record. We see agreement with both parents and her correct approximate age at death.

However, I am inclined to use more traditional spellings for the names as I don’t think the person who took down the information in Cork was the best at spelling.

Where is Kilmain?

There is a Barony called Kilmaine but that is in County Mayo. There is also a Kilmeen Townland in Cork:

This is taxing my knowledge of County Cork, Ireland. Here is the reference for Ellen’s baptismal record:

Here is Drimoleague:

Kilmeen seems to be in the right area.

I’ll say the place is Kilmeen.

But to check, I will look at some other places on the Baptismal Register.

Lahanaght:

Angrum is perhaps Angram:

Leitry:

Tina Finds a Legal Notice for Ellen Sullivan

This is what I found based on looking for what Tina found:

For some reason, I could not find this under Ellen Sullivan’s name. Here is the one Tina found:

These notices appeared on several days. Perhaps there are records in the Boston Probate Court.

Here are some cases with Ellen Sullivan/Sullivant. I found these at American Ancestors:

It is possible that Case 69299 could be hers as she apparently had no will. Here is that case:

Now, how do I find Volume and Page? I found this record at FamilySearch. At the bottom of the index for cases, I see Volume and Page:

This was actually worth it:

This gives all of Ellen’s living children.

This says that Margaret is executrix and that no one objected. A $300 bond is set for Margaret and she is supposed to provide and inventory of the estate. I think that the inventory would be interesting if we could find it.

Volume 549, Page 151:

We are only up to May 10, 1883 and Margaret has three months to come up with an inventory. I wonder if it was ever done?

According to Google:

So I guess we are out of luck there.

Summary and Conclusions

  • Tina does a good job at tracking down information.
  • This death record lead to a likely baptismal record in County Cork for Ellen Donovan
  • With a death date, it made it easier to search for other probate court records
  • This gives me an idea to look into other death records for family.

 

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The Butler/Crowley Connection Part 2

In my previous Blog, I tracked the life of Timothy Crowley born in St. John, New Brunswick. He was the oldest brother of Mary E Crowley Butler. She was my wife’s 2nd great-grandfather. His life was quite sad, marked with loss of all his children and his wife. Plus he never seemed to work or have an occupation. Yet, he often seemed surrounded by his younger brother William John and some of his sisters in the Boston area. That was a long Blog, but in tracking Timothy, I aslo looked at some of his siblings as they often lived together or in close proximity.

Mother Ellen Crowley and Other Family Members

Ellen and Some Children in 1880

Here they are at #26 in Boston:

In 1880 Ellen was widowed a second time. The one in the third column is for widowed/divorced. The #26 is Joiner Street in Charlestown. My wife’s niece Tina had figured this out. I had found Joiner Street in a previous Blog:

My wife’s 2nd great-grandfather, Edward Butler, who was a Mariner lived at 35 Joiner Street in 1883.

I could not find Edward in the Directory for 1881 and 1882. Perhaps he was living in the house of his mother-in-law Ellen at 26 Joiner Street?

More About 1880

Mary E Crowley marries Edward Butler in St. John, New Brunswick in 1855. In the next few years, Mary has 2 children in St. John, but then the family moves to Cininnati for over 10 years. Sometime between 1870 and 1880, it is believed the family moves to the Chicago area where the two sons are believed to have been born: George and Edward Henry Butler. That means that Ellen Crowley has not seen her oldest child Mary for about 18 years and gets to meet her two grandsons.

Also Mary lives on Friend Street in 1880 which is close to her other brother Timothy (see last Blog). Then she moves to Charlestown where I assume her mother, brother and two sisters are living. Family reunion time!

Son Michael is listed as a machinist. This is interestng as he has the same profession in 1920 working for a razor manufacturer.

Let’s see how long Ellen Sullivan was living at Joiner Street. Unfortunately, I am sure there were a lot of Ellen Sullivans in Boston. Here are the widows Ellen Sullivan in the 1883 Directory:

I looked up Chan. in the Directory under abbreviations and this means Charlestown. 157 Chelsea is a possibility as Joiner intersetcts with Chelsea. Putnam Street was close also. I do not know where Everett Court was. Or, perhaps Ellen was living with the Butlers this year at 33 Joiner Street?

William F Crowley

I will take a look at William. I am looking at his Naturalization papers:

The Census records gave different times for his immigration, but this gives a more specific date. This also gives a date for his birth.

Some Ancestry Hints

Ancestry gives some easy hints. Here is one for 1883:

Here we see Timothy and William on the same page. Here is 43 Warren Street on Google Maps:

Look how close 15 Putnam Street is:

This appears to be William’s Obituary from 22 August 1937:

I don’t think that I had this daughter before. Perhaps as a nun, she had a different name? Interesting that William had at least 6 children but only the nun is mentioned and the wife that had died 40 years previous.

Here is a child who died young:

I think this is the right 294 Fourth Street:

Here are some Crowleys listed in the Boston Directory in 1911:

Here is some specific information on William’s son who died in Texas in 1963:

The St. John, New Brunswick/Boston, Massachusetts Connection

Perhaps a chronology of St. John events would be helpful. There is a lot of imissing information, but much can be implied where records are missing:

17 April 1838, Mary Crowley is baptized at St. John, New Brunswick

Notice that Timothy is crossed out before Elen Donovan. Could this be a hint that she is the daughter of Timothy Donovan (or that Florence is the son of TImothy Crowley)?

In that same Register, I see this marriage:

I wonder if Mary Donovan was the sister of Ellen Donovan Crowley as Ellen Crowley is a witness at this wedding.

1 Nov 1840 – Julia Ann Crowley is baptized in St. John:

About Nov 1846 – Timothy Crowley is born in St. John

2 Feb 1850 – James F Crowley born in St. John

About 17 Nov 1851 – Margaret Crowley born in St. John

About 29 Nov 1854 – William F. Crowley born in St. John

31 May 1855 – A young Mary E Crowley marries Edward Butler in St. John

14 Apr 1857 – Julia Ann Butler born to Edward and Mary Butler in St. John

About 1859 – Ellen Butler born to Edward and Mary Butler in St. John. The family moves to Cincinnati from St. John shortly after this time.

1863 – This is the latest day given on the Census for Timothy Crowley’s arrival to the US. Other dates are 1855 and 1861. Timothy was 9 in 1855, so that is a more unlikely date.

1871 Census – I was not able to find any of this Crowley family so far in the 1871 Census.

About 1871 – Anna Eliza Butler Smith, sister of Edward Butler has a child Henry Smith so of George Smith born in St. John.

Here is a George Smith and Mary Smith in St. John in 1871:

I know that George is supposed to be married to Anne Eliza. However, there was a George and Mary Smith who had a Henry Smith in the 1880 Census of Watertown, MA:

It seems too coincidental that an English George Smith would be married to an Irish born woman with a son named Henry born in New Brunswick in 1871. My assumption is that they could have married in St. John, New Brunswick.

7 Nov 1878 – Marurpy Ann Butler marries Thomas Murphy in St. John. Mary A is the daughter of George Butler. George moved from Ireland to Cincinnati and is the oldest brother of Anna Eliza and Henry Butler:

It is unclear whether Mary Ann and Anna Eliza’s time in St. John overlapped.

1881 – Mary Elizabeth born to Mary Ann Butler Murphy in St. John

1885 – George Edward Murphy born to Mary Ann Butler Murphy in St. John

1886 – Mary Ann Murphy born to Mary Ann Butler Murphy in St. John

1888 – Joseph Bernard Murphy born to Mary Ann Butler Murphy in St. John

1890 – Katherine Isobel Murphy born to Mary Ann Butler Murphy in St. John

1891 – Irish Immigrant ancestor Edward Butler dies in Boston. The obituary says to copy St. John.

1895 – Thomas John Murphy born to Mary Ann Butler Murphy in St. John

28 Aug 1917 – Anna E Smth Wharton (nee Butler) dies. Obituary says to copy St. John, Newspapers.

This was my attempt to put together some events in St. John, Nova Scotia. It is unclear why Mary Ann moved from Cincinnati to St. John. It was her father’s brother’s Aunt Mary Crowley Butler who was from there. Perhaps there were also other Butlers living there? However, at her wedding, I see no Butler names. There was a Minnie O’Brien. However, I do not see any easy connection between Minnie and the Butler family.

DNA Clues?

When I look for people with Crowley ancestry who match my wife’s Aunt Lorraine, I find this interesting match. Kara has Butler and Crowley ancestry:

Some of these ancestors were also in St. John, New Brunswick.

Summary and Concusions

  • In some cases, when families moved from one country to another, the whole families would move. This  makes it easier in those cases to track people
  • Each new discovery or each correction of a previous mistake in research leads to a fuller picture of the story of our ancestors.
  • This Blog also points out some gaps in the research. Some records in St. John are only available if one goes to a FamilySearch center or affiliated library.

 

 

 

 

 

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The Butler/Crowley Connection

In my previous Blog, I was looking at a newly found sister of Edward Butler, my wife’s immigrant second great-grandfather. The sister’s name was Anna Eliza Butler. She had a son born in St John, New Brunswick where Edward Butler married Mary E Crowley.

My wife’s niece has been doing a great job of genealogy also. She had mentioned how the Crowleys had lived closely to the Butlers in the Boston area. I questioned her about that and she wrote back:

For the Crowley connection living near Edward and Mary – I have her brother Timothy living on Lancaster Street in the 1880 Census, which is two from Friend Street. 

Her mother, brother William, and sisters Margaret and Julia are living in Charlestown at that time…

We further figured that that they were living on Joiner Street in Charlestown which I had previously located as a place where immigrant Edward Butler lived.

Timothy Crowley

This is what I have at my Crowley web page:

I already have Timothy in my Ancestry Tree in the 1880 Census, but I didn’t make a connection on where he lived:

It looks like Timothy is listed as a hostler, but had been unemployed for 12 months. I am sure life must have been difficult with no income. According to the online Dictionary of Old Occupations:

Hostelier: kept or owned an inn.

Hosteller: manager or owner of an inn.

Hostler: the original and more commonly meaning is the person who tended horses at an inn. This definition dates back to the 12th century. Occasionally Ostler / Hostler means the innkeeper himself. The word Ostler is still in use today, referring to a stable groom who cares for horses.

The third definition seems to fit best what I see as Timothy’s occupation on the 1880 Census.2

Lancaster Street is short but it is close to Friend Street where Edward Butler and Mary Crowley lived in 1880:

Here is Friend Street where Timothy’s sister Mary lived in 1880:

This shows that Timothy was born in New Brunswick:

Timothy in 1900

Here is Timothy Crowley in 1900 when there was a lot more information on the Census:

Sadly the three oldest living at 72 Dorchester Street were widowed.

One column that is interesting to me is the year of immigration. Timothy and Julia Ann came to the US in 1863 (during the Civil War) and William came in 1872. The other interesting thing is that Timothy and William both show that they were naturalized.

Here is 72 Dorchester Street where they were living in South Boston:

Timothy in 1910

Here the family is still in the same neighborhood:

Now Timothy says he immigrated in 1855:

I don’t think that is right as he would have been quite young. It seems like I’ve gone over these Census Enumerations before, but I don’t have them recorded in my Ancestry Tree for Timothy.

Timothy Crowley in 1920

Unfortunately, the family name is transcribed as Rowley which could be a fair assumption. Timothy is still going for an early immigration to the US at 1861. That would have made him about 15. I don’t think you can be naturalized at that age unless you lied about your age.

Brother William works at a Razor Factory as a machinist. My guess is Gillette.

Here is 425 Sixth Street in Boston – not far from Dorchester Street:

#425 is on the right.

A Brief Sketch of Timothy Crowley

About 1846, in St. John, New Brunswick, Timothy is born. He is also the eldest known son. He is the fourth of eight children.

Timothy probably arrives in the US around 1863 at the age of 19.

Timothy marries Mary Clinton in Boston in 1866. Timothy is still quite young, depending on which birthdate we choose, he could between 19 and 21.

11 Feb 1867 Son William Florence Crowley born in Boston

11 June 1868 – Daughter Mary Ellen Crowley is born at  Boston at Gouch? Street.

Here is Timothy in the 1868 Boston Directory at 10 Gouch Street:

I cannot find a Gouch Street on Google Maps. This is from the 1868 Boston Directory:

This is from the 1867 Sanborn Map of Boston. It appears that Timothy lived in this area for quite a while.

15 Feb 1870 – Daughter Julia Ann Crowley born in Boston

1870 Census – It would be great to find Timothy in the 1870 Census. Both his first two children should be alive for that Census. Roman Catholic records give us some more information about Timothy’s first son:

Here is William and family in the 1870 Census:

Timothy’s wife is listed at the top, so apparently the head of household. I think that Timothy had some mental illness that kept him from working. This is my recollection from previous research, but I may be off. Still, it appears that some disability keeps him from working as his occupation is listed as “No Business”. I wonder how the family survived if this was the case.

3 Jan 1871 – Daughter Mary Ellen dies of pneumonia at 1 Chapel Street, Boston

28 Jan 1871 – Son William F. Crowley dies from bronchitis. The family was living at 1 Chapel Place as below.

15 Feb 1871 – Julia Ann dies at Chapel Place, Boston. Cause of death: “Hydrocephalus”.

I don’t see Timothy at 1  Chapel Place in the 1871 Boston Directory, but I do see a Mary Crowley, widow:

Along with four other Mary Crowley widows in Boston. Could it be that Mary was Mary Clinton and mistakenly recorded as a widow?

There were also many Timothy Crowleys in Boston:

I will try the 1872 Directory.

So I don’t see Timothy at Chapel Place.

31 Jan 1872 – Son William John Crowley born. The family is still at 1 Chapel Place. In the 1872 Directory, I see this note:

That means that there were two Chapel Places apparently. And one is near Friend Street where Timothy’s older sister was living as Mary E Butler in 1880. Here is 167 Friend Street:

Here is a faint Chapel Place and above there is a small street named Crescent. That name has come up before in Newton, but just a coincidence. Here is a more detailed look at Chapel Place from an 1867 Sanborn Map:

A lot has happened to this family. Timothy does not work and their three children died in a span of less than a month and a half in 1871.

1879 – Edward Butler, Mariner, is found in the Boston Directory at Battery St. I assume that he brought his family with him at that time. His wife was Mary E Crowley Butler who was Timothy’s older sister. The family is found in 1880 on Friend Street in Timothy’s neighborhood. Perhaps Mary even persuaded to move to Boston where many in her family were living.

1880 Census – Timothy is living with his wife Mary and Son William John on Lancaster Street which was between Gouch Street and Chapel Place.

15 Dec 1885 – Timothy’s wife, Mary Clinton Crowley, dies of consumption while living at 26 Lancaster Street. She is listed as 42 years old. This leaves Timothy to take care of his son William John who is now 13.

I am not so sure why Timothy’s mother would die in Andover. This may not be right.

1895 – Timothy is living at the same address as his sister Margaret Crowley at the time of her death.

1900 Census – Timothy is head of household at 72 Dorchester Street. No occupation listed.

I don’t see Timothy’s son listed either in the 1900 Census or the 1910 Census as living with his father.

1913 – Timothy’s son, William John dies:

His address is given as 74 Dorchester St., but as I mentioned, he wasn’t seen there in 1900 or 1910. He is shown as being 37, but I have him as 41 years old.

It is interresting that her brother Timothy is not mentioned in the obituary.

In 1917, Timothy was living at Sixth Street. That is also where he is living with William in 1920. In 1910, William was a fireman. In 1920, William is a machinist at a razor manufacturer. I have not found any record of Timothy working. I am not sure when Timothy died.

Mother Ellen Crowley and Other Family Members

Ellen and Some Children in 1880

Here they are at #26 in Boston:

In 1880 Ellen was widowed a second time. The one in the third column is for widowed/divorced.

I am trying to fix my Ancestry Tree for Ellen Donovan Crowley:

I had that the Margaret Crowley born 1855 was born the daughter of Timothy Sullivan in Nova Scotia. I think that must be wrong and that she is probably the same as Margaret E Crowley. Unfortunately the Census lists the children being from N.S. instead of N.B. Sadly, Ellen could not read or write, so she must have depended on others for that.

I will continue with the Crowleys in a subsequent Blog.

Summary and Conclusions

  • I was able to find quite a bit of information about Timothy Crowley
  • He certainly had a life with a lot of sad events.
  • I suspect that he was handicapped in some way physically, mentally or emotionally as I could not find a record of him had worked – at least in the 4 census enumerartions he was listed in.
  • I like how othe Crowley family stuck together – though I wonder what happened to Timothy’s son William John. Perhaps he was institutionalized?
  • It is interesting to think about what life was like for this Crowley family. Irish and Canadian, they move to the Boston area.

 

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More on Butlers and Crowley in the Boston Area

It has been helpful to me to be working in conjunction with my wife’s niece Tina. She writes:

1891 is when our Edward Butler Jr. shows up in Newton living at his aunt’s house as a boarder. (Right around the time we know EB Sr. passed away)

This Boston address places them about two streets over from Mary Crowley’s brother at the same time in history. 

These are a few things that I was either not aware of or did not conect the dots.

Newton in 1891

Here are the people listed being at 220 California Street, Newton in the 1891 Directory:

I should point out that Edward H Butler would have only been 16 years old in 1891 assuming that his birth date of 28 April 1875 is correct. That brings us to the Boston Globe of December 17, 1891:

My guess is that St. John would have been notified due to Edward’s widow Mary E Crowley. We know that Edward Senior was a Mariner or Longshoreman at the time of his death living at Clark Street in the North End of Boston. Therefor, we believe that the Edward H , clerk listed at 220 California Street would have been his son.

Edward’s Sister Anna Butler

My curiosity got the better of me, so I asked Tina who was Edward Junior’s Aunt who owned the house at 220 California Street in Newton. Here is her reply:

I researched Anna Smith, who was listed as the owner of the boarding house at 220 California Street in Newton and found that she was a Butler. I found a marriage reord for her second marriage to Joseiph Wharton and it shows her parents as Henry Butler and Ellen Russell. But then George acutally is the infomrant on her death certificate and wakes her when she passes in 1917. Interestingly, he doen’t know her mom’s name – making me think Anne died young. He knows Henry is the dad. 

Here are the children I have for Henry Butler of Wexford:

Perhaps she is the Mary Anne Butler born 1834? I see that Tina has this tree:

Tina’s Anna is Anna Eliza Butler the youngest child. Tina also has Edward Butler and Adam Butler as two separate people. I can see where this could make sense. My guess is that these two were the same person.

Showing more of what Tina has on Anna:

Interesting that she has Anna’s mother as Anne Ellen Russel as one of the records below lists her mather as Ellen Russel.

This shed a whole new light on things. Edward’s funeral was not hosted by his young  son Edward Junior, but by his sister. Here is the baptismal record for Anne or Anna:

Here is a marriage of Anna’s son Henry in Newton in 1896:

Henry is an insurance agent born in New Brunswick:

Here is Anna’s obituary:

Where are the St. John, New Brunswick Records for Anna Smith and Family?

Did they go to the same church that Edward got married in? I have that Edward Butler and Mary Crowley were married at the Church of the Immaculate Conception in 1855. I had found their daughter Julia Ann’s Baptismal record there also in a blog from 2023. Julia Ann was baptized on the 26th of April 1857. However, in 1857, Anna Butler would have only been 15.

FamilySearch has additional information, but apparently it involves traveiling to one of their affiliate libraries:

Perhaps there is a hint in the 1889 Newton Directory:

I am guesseing that this is Anna above. And that below is the location of Crescent Street:

Now, I also have that Edward Butler lived at 26 Crescent Street, Newton in 1900.

1887 Newton Directory

Perhaps we can learn more of Anna by going back through the years – assuming she was still in Newton, MA.

This says Crescent is near California, which makes me think I have the wrong Crescent Street above. The one above is not near California Steet:

The red marker is at 220 California Street and the other Crescent Street was near Auburndale.

1885 Newton Directory

I am hoping to get an idea of when George Smith died. I see that from researcher Tina’s Tree, she has that George Smith dies about 1884:

Interesting. I wonder who Mrs. M Moody is:

I am assuming tha the M. stands for Martha, widow of Bradstreet D Moody. Here are Jewett and Pearl Streets

1884-1885 Newton Directory

I don’t see Anna or George:

I don’t think George was a coachman. There was a George Smith who was a coachmen in 1889 when Anna was listed as a widow:

1883

The Newton Director has three Georges this year including the coachman:

Of course, at this time, we do not know where the Smith family lived.

1881

Here is the Directory for Newton two years earlier:

Unfortunately, this is the wrong George Smith. This one was born in Readfield, Maine and had a wife named Elizabeth W Smith.

1879

The George Smith, laborer, was probably this single, 25 year old, farm laborer born in Maine also:

I think this is the family in 1880 in Watertown:

But why is the wife Mary instead of Anna? A mistake?

According to this Census, the son is born in New Brunswick, the mother in Ireland and the father in England.

Ann Eliza’s Second Marriage

Some time between 1880 and 1890, George Smith dies. Anna Eliza and Joseph Wharton marry in Newton in 1890:

Anna gives her age as 41, but she is acually 48, so 15 years older than her husband. Anna’s mother should be Ann but is listed as Ellen which seems a little odd.

So this means that Anna was Anna Wharton when her brother Edward dies in 1891 and she hosts his funeral at the house where she is living at 220 California Street in Newton. Here is Joseph listed in the 1891 Director for Newton:

The 1891 Newton Directory is a little behind with the times:

This apparently represents a time before October 3, 1990 as Anna is still listed as a widow. So Joseph Wharton is a gardener and Henry G Smith is a florist. This also appears to be that Edward H is living on his own at age 15 – albeit with his Aunt Anna.

Here is 1893 at the same address:

So Anna is probably living there, but not listed as she is now married to Joseph.

Pretty much the same in 1995:

Here is 220 California Street, Newton in 1997:

Anna’s son Henry Smith gets married and Joseph Wharton and Anna move out.

A Brief Sketch of Anna Eliza Butler 1849-1917

A month ago, I did not know that Anna existed. Thanks to my wife’s niece, Tina, I now know some about my wife’s 2nd great-grandfather’s sister. It is often more difficult to track women in history as they left fewer records. As seen above, Anna disappears in the Directories when she is married.

February 5, 1842 – Anna is born Anne Eliza Butler in Wexford, Ireland to Henry Butler and Anne Russel.

20 February 1849 – Older brother George has a son George Butler with future wife Sinnott

12 June 1849 – Anna’s older brother George marries Mary Whitty of Mountain Gate, Wexford, Ireland. Here is Mountain Gate:

George has a daughter Ann born in Ireland in 1850 in Wexford and a daughter born in Cincinnati in 1868.

1855 – Anna’s brother Edward marries Mary E Crowley in St. John, New Brunswick. Two daughters are born to the couple in New Brunswick in 1857 and 1859. By 1860, Edward is living in Cincinatti where his brother George lives.

1870 – Around this time Anna has a son born in St. John, New Brunswick by her English Husband George Smith. The son is named Henry George Smith. That means that Anna likely traveled to New Brunswick before this time and married George Smith there.

1880 – I believe that Anna is living in Watertown with her husband George and son Henry. Unfortunately, the enumerator of the 1880 Census has her name as Mary which I beieve to be an error.

I do not see this family in the 1880 Directory for Watertown:

A George J is listed, but he lives in Boston. The George I have in the Watertown Census was listed as a laborer, so he is not likely a clerk.

2 Octobert 1890 – Anna marries Joseph Wharton in Newton. Prior to this time Joseph, Anna’s son Henry and Anna’s nephew Edward H were living at the same address at 220 California Street in Newton. Here is the Roman Catholic record:

I should note even though the records have Josheph Wharton being born in England, there are Watertown Roman Catholic Parish records showng he was baptized there.

16 Decembert 1891 – Anna’s brother Edward Butler dies and the funeral is held at 220 California Street

1896 Anna’s son Henry George, an insurance agent, marries Elizabeth A Leonard in Newton. The couple move to New Hampshire and have children there.

Anna’s Son Henry Smith dies before 1900 when his wife is listed as a widow.

1900 – Anna’s grandchildren are living with their mother and mother’s parents at Lincoln Court, Newton:

Here is a photo of Leonard Smith from Ancestry:

1917 – Anna dies in Watertown, a widow. Her nephew George Butler is the informant for the death record. I could not find a death record for her husband Joseph Wharton.

Summary and Conclusions

  • As mentioned, I am grateful for fellow Butler researcher, Tina
  • It is interesting that this person Anna Eliza Butler existed all this time, married, had a son in St. John, New Brunswick, moved to the Boston area and we did not know about her until recently.
  • It would be interesting to find out if any of her descendants have taken a DNA test.
  • There are still many things to fill in for Anna – many missing records that have not been found.

 

 

 

 

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Butler DNA and the 1880 Census

I have been having a good working relationship with my wife’s niece Tina. She has been enthusiastically looking at the Butler genealogy that I have been looking at for many years. Before me, my wife’s Aunt Lorraine has been looking at the genealogy. Unfortunately, she had picked one of the wrong Edward Butlers’ death records which threw me off the track for many years. Tina picked up on the mistake which has helped a lot.

The 1880 Census

As I mentioned in my previous Blog, Tina also found the Butler familly in the 1880 Census. I had them in the 1860 and 1870 Census in Cincinnati. I had them in the Boston areas based on City Directories, but I could not find the family. Tina found them transcribed as Edward Butter and family. Here are the parents at the bottom of the page listed at Friend Street, Boston:

I am sure I have walked down Friend Street near North Station many times and not realized my wife’s 2nd great-grandfather and family lived there.

Tina has questions about the two sons in the 1880 Census:

I believe that both sons were born in the Chicago, Illinois area as shown on the marriage and death records. However, we have not been able to find their birth records. Assuming they were both born in Illinois and the parents should show as the father born in Ireland and the mother born in N.B. (New Brunswick). However, that is not the case.

  • The elder son George shows that he was born in Illinois and that his father and mother wAunere born in Ireland where the mother should be born in New Brunswick.
  • Son #2, Edward shows as born in New Brunswick where he should show Illinois and his parents are shown correctly as being from Ireland and New Brunswick.

To me, that was a simple slip up by the enumerator. Tina, however, feels that this means that the two sons had a different mother. And that Edward was indeed born in New Brunswick. She seemed to think that her DNA results corroborated this view as she shows as a 1/2 third cousin to a George Butler Descendant.

Edward and George Butler DNA

It should be easy to look at matches between the Edward Butler and George Butler descendants to see if this is the case. I have in the past taken DNA samples of my wife’s two Aunts: Lorraine and Suzy. Ancestry gives ranges of likely relationships given the DNA matches. I can put those matches into a spreadsheet and see what comes out. I also have access to my wife’s DNA results.

Aunt Lorraine

Aunt Lorraine has 7 matches to known descendants of George Butler:

Here are the first three matches:

 

These all show as 1/2 relationships which seems to support Tina’s theory, but that often happens when Ancestry is unsure of relationships. I do not take these literally in most cases.

Here is the relationship to H.O:

Here is a predictor from the Shared cM Project 4.0:

Here I have highlighted what I think the relationship should be and what Tina thinks it is. This first match supports the 1/2 2C1R. One for Tina!

Another interesting thing is that Ancestry has 25% of a 1/2 relationship and a 7% chance of a full relationship whereas the Shared cM Project Relationship predictor has 12% and 4% respectively. For my spreadsheet, I used the Shared cM Project Relationship Predictor as it was easier to use.

Here is my spreadsheet:

By the time I fill it all in, I should know if the DNA is saying that George and Edward were full brothers or half brothers.

Here is the Lorraine filled in for what she has a ThruLines:

 

I plugged in the predicted relationship as above and where the 1/2 relationship was more likely than the full relationship, I chose that. This was the case for all of Lorraine’s ThruLine matches. There are other matches, but these are the matches with trees. This matches with what Tina says she is seeing with her DNA results. This makes me more convinced with what Tina is saying but not completely yet until I look at Suzy and Marie. Lorraine may have inherited less of the George side DNA for some reason.

Aunt Suzy AKA Virginia

Aunt Suzy also has 7 matches to the George H Butler side:

However, her matches are much larger. Now the tables have turned:

For H.O. and Suzy, there is a 50% chance they have a 2C1R relationship and 7% chance of a half 2C1R relationship.

The results are not totally convincing for Aunt Suzy:

More matches suggest the full relationship, but Lorraine’s result strongly favor the 1/2 relationship. One thing the chart does not represent is how strongly the match favors a half or full relationship. However, that would be more difficult to show and evaluate. For example in Lorrine’s example with H.O., the half relationship was only 12% likely and and the full relationship was 4% likely. I do not know how that compares with Suzy and H.O. where the full relationship was 50% likely and the 1/2 relationship was 7% likely.

Marie

Marie would have to have a lot of full relationships indicated to overturn Lorraine’s results.

Marie only has 2 George Butler side matches and those matches are quite low.

So for 16 matches, 12 favor the 1/2 relationship. To me, that says that there is a 75% chance that George and Edward are half brothers. Still, there is a 25% that they could be full brothers. I think that I would be more convinced if I saw all pink on the chart above.

Still, Tina has a theory and the DNA certainly give more credence to her theory.

Summary and Conclusions

  • I checked the DNA matches between descendants of the George Butler who was born 1872 and my wife and her two Aunts
  • I used the relationship predictor at the Shared cM Project. At the level of relationship, say 2nd cousin 1 removed the predictor would favor a full relationship or 1/2 relationship.
  • I put the results of a full or 1/2 relationship in a spreadsheet. 3 out of 4 DNA matches favored the half relationship. That suggests that it is three times as likely that the George H Butler born 1872 and Edward Henry Butler are half brothers. However, that does not rule out the 25% chance that they were full brothers.

 

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My Wife’s Butler Family Found in Boston in 1880

My wife’s neice Tina is a great researcher. She sent me a text saying that she found my wife’s Butler ancestors in Boston in 1880. That is great news as that period of the family’s genealogy has been a blank until now.

Tina writes:

I traced the “Mariner” from the Boston City Directories and found he first showed up in 1880. And at his address in 1880, I found Edward, Mary, George, and Edward in the census.

Here is what I have at Ancestry:

The Edward with the four children above is my wife’s 2nd great-grandfather and immigrant ancestor. He appears to have had two daughters born earleir in his marriage and later two sons – George and Edward.

1880 in Boston

There are a few problems with this 1880 Census.

One problem is that Edward and Mary are at the bottom of the page and the two children are on the next page. I cannot really read what Edward’s occupation is under sailor. I think it says something like and works out? Mary is correctly listed as being born in N.B. (New Brunswick) and her parents were both born in Ireland. Edward is listed as being born in Ireland and both his parents born there also. Edward would have been born about 1835 and Mary born about 1839 based on their ages given. However, I believe that Edward was actually 41 in 1880 based on when I believe he was born and based on his death record.

Here are the two boys:

I can’t make out the address but when I hover over it, it says Friend Street. So they were at 256 Friend Street. However, so were many of the other families on the preceding two pages of the Census. If I have it right, here is 256 Friend Street, not far from North Station in Boston:

Here is another problem with the Census:

The elder brother George is shown as being born in Illinois. However, the younger (Edward) shows as being born in New Brunswick which contradicts his marriage and death records. Also George’s mother should be shown as being born in New Brunswick. My belief is that this is an error in the Census.

Here is Page 164 of the 1880 Boston Directory:

Here is an 1880 map of Friend Street:

This is possibly Edward Butler in 1879 in Boston at 28 Battery Street:

This could be as I recall him being at Clark Street at the time of his death.

There are a lot of Edward Butlers in Boston in 1878, but I don’t see any that are mariners:

 

1881 in Boston

 

Where is Edward? A logical place to look would be Friend Street.

1882

I am not seeing him still. Perhaps he is living in a neighboring Town?

1883

Edward mysteriously appears this year:

Interestingly his middle initial appeaers also. I could not find a Joiner Street listed in Boston, but it may be in Charlestown. According to AI:

33 Joiner Street, Charlestown, MA sits right on the corner of Chelsea Street and Joiner Street in the historic heart of the neighborhood, just a short distance from the Charlestown Navy Yard and the Boston Harbor. 

Here is Joiner Street, if I have it right:

The above map is from an 1885 Atlas of Boston. I believe the landscape is different today and I do not think a modern map would have a Joiner Street. Perhaps with all Edward’s moving around, the directories had trouble keeping up with him!

I suppose the red arrow could be 33 Joiner Street:

1884

Time to spin the roulette wheel again:

You can move all your want, Edward H., but the 1884 Directory found you in E.B. which I take to mean East Boston. Here is a modern map of 107 Everett Street in East Boston:

Here is a current street view from Google Maps:

Here is a 1901 map of the area:

1885

I wonder if Edward’s wife got tired of moving:

Just a short move this time:

Here is what street view is showing, but of #18 Emmet Place:

I suppose that things have changed over the years:

So, perhaps same job, different house?

1886

Here is a surprise:

Edward H. is living at the same address. I guess he liked this place.

1887

Who knew that Edward H. lived in East Boston for so long?

This is probably the place:

Possibly the last house on the right. There is a faint 5 above the S in Sumner Court below:

I guess it is also called Sumner Court (see above):

1888

If Edward was still listed as a mariner, I don’t see him. It is possible he is listed as a laborer.

1889

Edward has again gone missing from the Boston Directory. I believe that he could have been living with one or both of his sons in Newton around this time.

1890

In a previous Blog, I had noted this entry for Edward the Mariner:

I found this entry:

It was in this document:

Here it is:

On current maps, this appears to show as Coppersmith Way:

Here is the view of Coppersmith Way from Border Street:

Edward seems to like to live in these places between streets:

The 1890 Census

My understanding is that the 1890 Census was lost. But there was a veteran’s schedule that survived:

This means that even though Edward was in the Boston Directory for 1890 at least on June 1, 1890 Edward Butler was in Newtonville, Massachusetts. Perhaps he was at the house of his son or sons. This Census also confirms Edward’s Civil War service as a Marine on the Milwaukee Ship.

1891

Edward passed away in December 1891.

It is unclear if Edward is in this year’s Directory.

The Death of Edward Butler in 1891

Here is part of Edward’s death record from December 16, 1891:

He died of pneumonia.

Edward is listed as a ‘longshoreman’:

I believe that a longshoreman was one who unloaded boats. According to AI:

Birth of the Unions: Abysmal conditions catalyzed labor organization. The Boston Longshoreman’s Provident Union (founded in 1847) was the first of its kind. Later, groups like the Association of Lumber Handlers (1877) evolved to establish the International Longshoremen’s Association in 1892.

An 1890 Hanover Street Mistake?

In a previous Blog, I had guessed that Edward was the laborer living in 1890 at Hanover Street:

Boston City Hospital was not at 24 Clark Street, so I assume that is where Edward lived prior to his death. According to Google maps, 24 Clark Street is the address of the Society of St James. However, that Society began in 1958. The Society of St James is part of St Stephens Church:

Ancestry has this listing for Edward Butler in the Boston Directory of 1890:

Part of my reasoning was that Hanover Street was so close to Clark Street which was the address given for Edward Butler prior to his death. However, I now see that Hanover address as being coincidental and would like to say the real address for Edward was the one given above in East Boston at 1 Erin Alley where he is listed as a mariner.

Summary and Conclusions

  • It has been great working with Tina on this project as she adds so much to the research of the Butler family.
  • This find fills in so much of the missing years for my wife’s immigrant 2nd great-granfather Edward H Butler
  • With all the Edward Butlers around in Boston, it seems to clarify which one we are looking at in the Boston City Directories
  • It appears that the Edward H Butler family lived quite often in East Boston.
  • Tina has further questions based on the 1880 Cenjsus as to whether Edward H’s sons George and Edward H were full brothers or not which I hope to address by looking at the DNA in a subsequent Blog.
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Tracing the Property Where I Live

I thought that it would be fun to trace my propert back in time to see what I could find. Here is the Assessor’s Map:

I can tell my property as there is a long property behind it which was divided off at some point. Here is my house:

Next, I go to the Plymouth Registry of Deeds. I register myself and search for my name. There I find my deed. Here is the second page:

I am getting a watermark as I am not paying for an official copy. I suppose I have one somewhere already.

Next, instead of searching by name, I search by Book and Page. This is part of the first page of the deed:

I bought the propert from Mr. Southworth. He bought his from Mabel A.. Brunelle who died in 1975 (when I was in college). Note that this was part of the premises conveyed to Arthur L. Brunelle. So at some point the property was subdivided.

My Property in 1944

I will shortcut a little and look for Book 1866 page 210.

So the Brunelles buy the land and house which at that time went down the Sippican River and was a much larger property. I see that Arthur Brunelle had to pay unpaid taxes on the propert. It is also interesting to see who the neighbors were in 1944. I can’t say I have ever heard the name Archbow before. I believe that our house was built around 1934, so it was still pretty new then.

In 1950, Arthur was a Doctor living in New Bedford, so I suppose he rented out the property:

I had previously assumed that, as they were the owners, they lived here. But I see now that was not the case. I have tried to find out who lived here during the 1950 Census, but so far, I have not figured that out.

Archbow L. Hoyle

Archbow sold to Brunelle who was a New Bedford Doctor. Brunelle apparently bought the property as an investment. In fact, his two sons were real estate agents. One interesting thing about the previous deed is that Washburn and Ellis were neighboring owners as well as the ones who sold the property to Archbow.

I did find Archbow (transcribed as Archboro) in the 1930 Census on Rochester Road, Marion:

However, I believe that this would have been before my house was built. In addition, Archbow was Renting on Rochester Road. Another odd thing is that this Census skips all over. On this page are:

  • Front Street
  • Ryders Lane
  • Water Street
  • Vine Street
  • Point Road
  • Hiller Street
  • Rochester Road
  • Mill Street

Water Street is over 2 miles from where I live. Here is Archbow’s Mason’s Card:

I believe that the person who built my house was a carpenter, so perhaps this is the guy. Here is Archbow in 1940, recorded as Archibald:

If Archbow built the house in 1934, he would have been about 72 years old. That means he was born in about 1862. It looks like Archbow was renting a house nearby when he built the one I live in. The street is now listed as Front Street but with no street numbers. Listed 3 above Archbow is Ezra Washburn mentioned in the deed. Right above Archbow is the Dexter family. This could be from the Dexter Farm across from my house:

Living in a Genuine Archbow House

I do not believe that many people can say they live in a genuine Archbow house. So I will say a little more about Archbow. I will make a small Tree for Archbow to see if I get a little more information on him. Andrew is born in Webster, MA in 1871 and marries Hannah Fernald in Boston in 1892:

At the time, Archbow was a florist and Helen a violin teacher born in Milford, One thing I didn’t catch before was that Helen dies in the same year in Boston due to premature labor:

Three years later, Archbow marries Hattie Jache in Webster, MA.

MA. In 1900, the couple are living in Webster, MA:

Archbow or here Archibald was now a carpenter and Hattie was born in Germany. Here is Archbow in Webster earlier in 1880. Archbow’s father was a shoemaker:

In 1920, Archbow is listed as a lodger in Boston:

Probably, Archbow was originally an Archibald. Here is his birth record from Webster, MA:

Above, I showed that Archbow was Renting on Rochester Road, Marion in 1930, where I assume he built my house from once he purchased the land. In 1940 Archbow and his wife were living in his new house at age 78.

In 1950, Archbow has not aged much as he is listed as being 78 and living in Southbridge:

This brings up an interesting point:

When Archbow wa building our house in 1934, he was actually only 63 years old. That makes me feel better. According to my wife, she was told by one of our neighbors that the builder of our house was always borrowing tools to build the house from one of their relatives!

So that is the story of Archbow, perhaps a corruption of Archibald who is the likely builder of our house. I have no photos of Archbow, he has no known living descendants but his house remains.

1932: Pre-House

This brings us back to Ezra R. Washburn and Ella R. Barden. My guess is that Ella was perhaps a Washburn and married a Barden. Ezra was 64 in 1940, so that means he was born about 1876.

Washburn is certainly a local Marion name. Washburn Park is not far from where I live:

Favorite Place is where I live and the red arrow is the access road to Washburn Park.

From this familly tree at Ancestry, Ella must be Ezra’s sister:

I see that their grandfather was a Reverend.

This lot was part of a lot the was conveyed from Myra Handy.

Myra Handy Deed from 1919

This gets us back over 100 years ago:

Here we are at the age of the personal touch handwritten deeds.

If I read this right, Myra L. D. Handy is from Raisin California. She is married to Jabez H Handy.  Apparently Jabez was a carpenter as was Ezra:

Myra’s maiden name was Parlow. She married Jabez in 1894. Myra was probably born around 1867. Here is Myra in 1880:

Myra is living in Marion with her parents and her mother’s parents. Myra’s mother’s father is listed as a former sea captain.

I see the connection. Myra is Myra Parlow. Ezra and Ella’s mother was born in 1852 as Ella Parlow.

Other names I see on adjoining properties are:

  • Paul W? Briggs
  • Charles H. Briggs
  • Jonathan Rider

One problem with this deed is that I do not see an earlier deed referenced. That makes tracing the land back past 1919 very difficult.

Anybody Dying to Give Myra Land?

If there was no transfer of deed mentioned, perhaps Myra inherite the land I live on. So far I have:

  • Myra L. D. Parlow Handy transferred my land and more to Ezra Washburn and Ella R Washburn Barden in 1919.
  • Ezra and Ella transfer the land to Archbow and Hattle Hoyle in 1932
  • Archbow builds a house on the property, retires apparently and sells the house in 1944 to Dr. Brunelle of New Bedford. Dr Brunelle does not appear to live here.
  • The Brunelles sell to the Southworths in 1977 who live at the property
  • My wife and I buy the house from Southworth in 1996

So that is a short 77 year history of the property that started 107 years ago.

It would be best for me to start a short Washburn Tree to see what was going on in that family. The home person for my tree is Ezra Washburn:

Here I have not brought many of the Parlows in yet, but they seem important.

Here is Charles in 1900:

There is a lot of information on this page, but I see Ella B’s mother Almira Parlow. I see Paul W Briggs mentioned in one of the deeds and I see Jabez and Myra Handy living close by. Paul Briggs was born in 1832. I have a map of Marion that is dated 1855:

At the top right of the map there is a Grist Mill and Saw Mills. Also notice an E. S. Parlow. That must be the Ezra Parlow of the 1880 Census above (father of Myra). Ezra was 54 in 1880 so must have been born about 1826. In 1880, Ezra was an Agent for the Parlow Mills. I assume that could be the saw mills shown on the map. The Methodist Church apparently moved from where it was in 1855 to where Mrs. M. Briggs is shown on the map. I live across from the Dexter Farm, so that must be right across where Rufus Dexter is shown. So here I am getting a short history of North Marion.

Interestingly, someone at Ancestry posted this house for Ezra Smith Parlow’s profile picture:

This house looks familiar. I hope that it is still around. I finally found it right where it should have been on the 1855 map, facing County Road:

This is from Google Maps. So Myra, the daughter of Ezra Parlow, Parlow Mill Agent had a part in the ownership of the land I live on.

Now Almira dies around the time that Myra transfers the land to her nephew and niece, Ezra and Ella.

After looking at a lot of Probate Records, I went back to the Plymouth Registry Search web page and found this entry:

Here is an 1899 Deed from Almira Parlow to Jabez Handy:

I think that this 1899 Deed may be the one I was looking for. However, it is only 2 Acres and I think that the lot I am on was originally a lot more. This land, however, is bordered on the West by Rufus Dexter which I show as the Dexter Farm.

Here are some other deeds which mention Myra Handy:

Summary and Conclusions

  • I thought that it would be fun to try to trace my property back
  • I was able to get back to 1919 which is aboiut 15 years before my house was built.
  • Before 1919, I ran into a dead end. That deed did not refer to an earlier deed and the Parlows and Washburns and Handys had many deeds.
  • As part of the Blog, I found out some intersting history of North Marion where I live.
Posted on

Some Genealogy for Val and Family

My wife and I went on a run with Val and family and Val mentioned that one of her ancestors was a whaler and that they lived on land where his house used to be. That interested me and I thought that I might look up some of her information. This family was on her mother’s side, so I got some basic information from Val on her mother and her mother’s parents.

Here is a yearbook photo of Val’s mom Suzanne:

Ancestry gives these potential parents for Val’s grandparents:

I see that Val’s maternal grandfather’s mother was a Gibbs, so that would be a likely place to look. Here is a photo from March, 1946 from the Birmingham News of Mildred. I know she’s not in the line, but interesting anyway:

William Brainard Greene Born 1923

Here is part of William’s marriage license:

William, a student born in Middletown, NY, marries Suzanne, a dietician born in Detroit. They are married by a Baptist Pastor in Alabama:

In 1930, we see William at age 7 and his mother is listed as a widow. Val tells me William had a twin sister on the next page of the Census for that year:

Note that Myrta’s parents were listed as being born in Massachusetts. So that gets us from Alabama to Massachusetts going back in time. Myrta’s occupation was listed as newspaper reporter in 1930:

In 1925, the father was alive and the family was living at Jackson Ave, Middletown, New York:

Here is a current view of the property shown on Google Maps:

I wonder why William’s father died at such a young age?

Here is Middletown, NY:

In 1940, Myrta is listed as the executive secretary for the American Red Cross:

The family is still living at the same house they lived at in 1925.

Here is some more information about Lawrence Greene posted at Ancestry:

Here is another, much later, account from 1976:

It is interesting that the family was able to stay in the same house despite the fact that Lawrence Greene drowned.

Myrta Gibbs Born 1887

Here is Myrta’s marriage record from Orange County, New York:

Here is Myrta:

According to Ancestry:

Taken from class picture of Middletown Graduating Class – June High School Play, 1909

Myrta Gibbs (Greene) age 13; taken at Mitchell Art Studios in Middletown NY

James Edward Gibbs Born 1857

I decided to accept Ancestry’s hints for Myrta’s parents as the names were the same ones on Myrta’s marriage record:

Here is Edward’s grave stone in Middletown, New York:

This article was posted at findagrave.com:

This notes his father as a whaling captain out of New Bedford. His mother is said to have descended from the Plymouth settler of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

Here is James’ wedding record in Middleborough from 1880:

James lists his birthplace as Middleboro and marries at what appears to be a Baptist Church, though in his obituary he is listed as belonging to a Universalist Church.

Here is the 1870 Census where James’ father is listed as a Mariner:

Stephen B Gibbs Born about 1811

On Stephen’s death record, his brithplace is given as West Wareham though I think it should be East Wareham:

He is listed as being a sea captain.

Here is the growing tree:

Here is the marriage of Stephen and Judith:

If I have it right, Stephen is born in Wareham and at some point moves to Nanatucket. At the time of the wedding in 1836, both Stephen and Judith were listed as being ‘of Nantucket’.

This record brings into question Stephen’s middle name:

This lists lists Stephen’s birthplace as East Wareham and shows that he has a son named Stepen Bourne Gibbs.

Here is Stephen in the 1850 Census in Nantucket:

Here is a reference from a Cole genealogy book:

Here is a book from 1912:

Here is another book:

The 1840 Nantucket Census lists Judith as the head of household as Stephen was away at the time of the Census:

This would have been quite usual in Nantucket as there were so many men at sea.

This was the trip where “Capt. Gibbs came home sick”. It is difficult to imagine an ocean voyage under wind power, no electricity or refrigeration lasting nearly 4-1/2 years. During this time, Stephen was away from his wife and son most of the time. I was wondering why Stephen showed up in the 1850 Census in Nantucket if his ship came back in 1851. In another record I saw that Stephen came home early due to his sickness. So that would explain the discrepancy.

Here is the family on June 1, 1855:

I am not sure who the other people were who were living at the house. I assume that Judith is sick at this time. At any rate, she dies 4 months later and is buried in Nantucket:

#3 above is the location of the New North Cemetery.

Judith died of consumption. This is what we would call today tuberculosis.

According to the Stephen Gibbs Bio above, Stephen had two wives named Judith. Sometimes these older genealogies can be a bit inaccurate, but this one seems quite detailed.

I have added the two different marriages to Ancestry:

A year later Stephen is living in New Bedford where he marries his second wife.

Here is an 1840 Registry record of a transfer of property from James Gibbs to Stephen Gibbs:

This is from Book 40.

Book 43 has a complicated deed:

Here is the Gibbs to Gibbs deed:

The property was bounded on the West by New Mill Street. Here is an 1869 Map of Nantucket showing a Mill Street next to a New Milk Street:

The 1887 Sanborn maps are easier to read:

Here we see Mill Street, MIlk Street and New Mill Street in close prozimity to each other. This would give a more precise location to the house abutting New Mill Street.

Here are a few houses on New Mill Street from Google Maps:

It looks like the house to the left had a widow’s walk on the roof.

Where Does the Bradford Fit in?

Val said that her ancestor was Stephen Bradford Gibbs. Yet, I have seen his middle name as also Bates or Bourne. Here is a marriage record from New Bedford in 1856:

This also lists Stephen’s birthplace as Nantucket, which I do not believe to be right.  Also of interest is that Stephen is said to be living in New Bedford at the time of his marriage. Here is the rest of the story:

Judith was married to a Bradford previously. This is her second marriage and her parents are listed as Cole.

Also note that the bio above has him dying at his home on High Street. This is a way from Assowompsett Pond where he was believed to have built a home. This does not mean that he did not build a home there, but at the time of his death he was not living there according to the bio.

Here are some records as to the money that Stephen B Gibbs had at the timem of his death. It looks like Stephen believed in spreading out his savings.

It appears that this is likely where he lived:

Here is the intersection of High Stree and Pearl Street:

He must have lived at one of the four houses. This may be the house at 9 High Street:

It looks like I guessed right. Here is Stephen and his wife in 1900 at 9 HIgh Street:

One surprising thing is that Judith reported that she had 10 children, but only three are living.

So Where Are We?

  • We have traced Val’s famiy from Alabama back to Middletown, NY and then back in Massachusetts. We found an account of Val’s
  • We found Val’s third great-grandfather Stephen B Gibbs
  • Stephen was likely born in Wareham, MA and moved with his family to Nantucket where by accounts he was a successful whaler and became a captain.
  • Stephen became ill at some point perhaps on one of his trips to the Pacific Ocean and settled down in Middleborough after a brief stay in New Bedford, where he married his second wife.
  • I was unable to link Stephen B Gibbs with the property that Val is on by Assawompsett Pond. However, this was just a first look at Val’s genealogy.

Some Things to Look into

These are just a few things I would find interesting:

  • A lot more could be  done with Registry of Deeds information.
  • It would be possible to trace Val’s property back through various owners, assuming that they went through the Registry
  • One account of Stephen B Gibbs had him buying a house for his father in Nantucket. It would be interesting to find that record and find out where the house was and see if it still exists.
  • It would be interesting to trace some other ancestors back to colonial times to see if Val has any Pilgrim ancestors as Stephen was from Plymouth County.

Gibbs and the NEHGS Register

This is the New England Historical and Genealogical Society Register. They are an important source of good genealogies. Volume 123 from 1969 has a lot on early Gibbs. The article ends at Stephen’s father who was James Gibbs:

James is listed as the fourth child above. Jonathan would have been the right age to serve in the Revolutionary War. I accepted James’ parents hints at Ancestry based on the above:

Here is a burial card for Jonathan:

This would seem to confirm the East Wareham location for this branch of the Gibbs family. Here is some more information from Massachusetts, U.S., Soldiers and Sailors in the Revolutionary War:

Here is Jonathan’s grave stone:

Here is where the Agawam Cemetery is in East Wareham:

I am sure that I have driven by this Cemetery.

Micah Gibbs Born 1701

The NEGHS Register from 1969 has a lot of information on Micah:

As Jonathan appears to be the only surviving son, he inherited the father’s lands in Agawam.

Job Gibbs Born 1676

John Gibbs Born 1644

Thomas Gibbs Born 1615

Here are the ancestors of Stephen B Gibbs the whaling captain:

That means that Thomas Gibbs is Val’s 9th great-grandfather.

Summary and Conclusions

  • Val has a lot of interesting ancestors. I traced only a few of them.
  • I found some connections between my family and Val’s. I had some ancestors who lived in Nantucket also.
  • I also had a pilgrim ancestor who lived in Sandwich at the time that Val’s ancestors lived there, so they likely knew each other.
  • I focused a lot of Stephen B Gibbs as Val mentioned that he was a whaling captain. Sometimes these family stories turn out to not be true. But this story certainly was true.
  • The best way to trace back the land Val lives on is through the Registry of Deeds. This would be through a series of transactions.