Category: Genealogy

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A DNA Match With Kristin Who Has Hartley Ancestry and a Possible Hartley Genealogical Breakthrough

I recently noticed that my daughter had a Shared Ancestor Hint with Kristin. Not long ago,  had my daughter Heather’s DNA tested. Kristin is Heather’s first Shared Ancestor Hint (SAH). An SAH means that two people have a DNA match and have a common ancestor or ancestors. Here is what that looks like for Heather:

This shows that Heather and Kristen are 4th cousins. Here is the amount of DNA that Heather and Kristen share:

AncestryDNA predicted that Heather and Kristen would be 4th cousins and they guessed right.

The Hartley Branch of Fall River

Many of my closer Hartley relatives are perhaps not aware of the Fall River branch of the Hartley family. They know that the Hartley family lived in Rochester, Massachusetts. Many know that Greenwood Hartley and Ann Emmet lived in New Bedford before that. However, not many know that Greenwood and Ann were first in Fall River for a short time. Here is the Hartley Family in 1870:

This Census record is very difficult to find in that the last names are all written wrong. Here is how Ancestry sees the name:

I’m glad the Hortcliffe name didn’t stick. Soon after this time, the Hartley family moved to New Bedford. They lived in Fall River for only one or two years.

Abel Burrows

Mary Ann Hartley married Abel Burrows on 12 February 1874- probably in New Bedford.

Abel was later to be a jeweller in Fall River, but at this time he was a weaver. Perhaps Abel and Mary Ann met while she lived in Fall River.

Here is the Burrows family in 1880 at 63 Pleasant Street, Fall River:

This appears to be Mary Ann Hartley Burrows at a Hartley family gathering in Rochester, MA around 1921:

Looking at the photo, my grandmother is to her right.

Connecting the DNA and the Family Tree

Here is the tree that I have so far:

The people in green have had their DNA tested and uploaded to Gedmatch where the DNA can be compared. Emily in yellow has tested at Ancestry, but has not uploaded her results to Gedmatch which is now Gedmatch Genesis. Mary Pilling at the top of the chart is Mary Wilkinson in the 1870 Census. I mentioned Emily here in a Blog on AutoClustering Joyce’s AncestryDNA results.

It looks like Kristin is a close relative to Emily:

Adding a Pilllng Line

Mary Pilling was a single mother before she married Robert Hartley and had Greenwood. Robert then died ans she married Robert Wilkinson:

Ruth is a Shared Match with Kristin and my father’s cousin Joyce.

Shared Matches Between Kristin and Joyce

Kristin may be the key to unlocking clues on my Hartley genealogy. Here are Kristin’s shared matches at AncestryDNA with Joyce, my father’s 1st cousin.

  • Jennifer – I messaged her. She has Williams ancestry and is checking on possible connections
  • Emily and Ruth – They are in the chart in yellow above.
  • Paul – shows two parents in his tree. This could be built out.
  • Luke – He has a private tree. I have sent him a message.
  • Sheryl – She has an ancestor from Colne

Colne is next door to Trawden where my ancestors lived. My ancestors were born, married and buried at the Colne Church.

Bracewell came up in another tree of a shared match of a shared match if that makes sense.

Building Out Paul’s Tree

At the risk of making this a long Blog, I’ll try and build out Paul’s tree. Paul’s parent’s were both from New Bedford, so that is interesting already. My guess is that my match with Paul is on his mother’s side. I wasn’t able to easily fill in all the names, but did make it back to a Hartley and a Bracewell. The Bracewell name is new to me but apparently common to some of these shared matches:

Robert Hartley is an ancestral name, so that is hopeful also. Robert Hartley in the tree above would be Paul’s 5th great-grandfather if I have the tree right. However, having said that, there still are many gaps in the tree and the connection is quite a ways back.

Sheryl’s Tree

This is the one with the Bracewell born 1778 from Colne:

This is as far as I got with the Ancestry suggestions. It seems like the father of Susy Hartley should be John Hartley like in Paul’s tree:

Combining Paul and Sheryl’s Trees

When I combine the two trees, it looks like this:

 

This means that, on paper, Sheryl and Paul are potentially 6th cousins with each other. I also see that Sheryl has potentially two Bracewell lines. All this gives me a lead to check into.

A Third Bracewell Tree?

I had mentioned above that I had seen a third Bracewell tree. This was from a Shared Match of a Shared Match. My father’s cousin Joyce and Kristin have a shared match with Luke. I mentioned him above, but his tree is locked. So I looked at Shared Matches between Between Luke and Joyce and came up with an additional Shared Match. This shared match is Mark and he is on a list of Shared Matches with Kristin, Paul and Sheryl, so he is in good company, so to speak.

Mark’s Bracewell Ancestors

Here are Mark’s Bracewell Ancestors:

This looks like Ellin Bracewell married John Hackin and they had a child named Margaret Hakin. Mark’s ancestral location map shows his ancestors in orange:

Margaret Hakin is Mark’s ancestor who was born in the area that I am interested in. Does it make sense that Margaret’s mother Ellin was born in New York?

This appears to be the marriage record for John and Ellin:

Here are a few choices for Ellin’s birth record. I’ll go with the more recent one as it has George as the father and it seems more reasonable:

Here is a hint for Ellin’s mother’s name:

Here is a guess for George’s birth:

Here is what I get:

This tree is more confusing as Reuben Speak is shown as the father of Susannah Cronshaw. There is no father’s name given on Susannah’s birth record. It is possible that this is right and that there is another link in Mark’s ancestry to Hartley/Bracewell. However, this route does not easily match with the same Hartley/Bracewell family as the other two DNA matches. The other possibility is that this DNA match is on the Bracewell side only and that Mark matches further back in his ancestrry.

Building Down from Hartley/Bracewell

The next logical step would be to build down from John Hartley born 1730 and his wife Anne Bracewell to see if I can link up my tree to this line.

Here is a tree from Ancestry with John Hartley born 1733 and Anna Bracewell:

This tree has two John’s as sons. A previous tree I looked at had three sons named John.

It looks like John and Anne were married on 23 September 1752 and they both lived in Trawden:

Trawden is good in that my known Hartley ancestors came from there. At this point, I assume that the family stayed in Trawden. I then looked for children born to John Hartley in Trawden:

If Anne lived long enough, she could have had children for 25 years or more. So, until about 1777. Here is the start of my tree:

Then I ran into a snag:

Here is another Robert. Also the mother is called Nanny now which could be a nickname for Anne.

Next is another John:

The mother’s name is back to Anne. If the first John died, then it would make sense if they have another John.

Finally, in 1772, we are back to Nanny:

I’ll add in the extra John above, just in case. I’m looking for a Hartley connection, so I’m more interested in the male Hartley’s.

James Hartley and Betty Baldwin

One of my top guesses for the parents of my ancestor Robert Hartley (father of Greenwood Hartley) is James Hartley and Better Baldwin. What if the James above born 1763 married Betty Baldwin?

One Holgate Tree I see at Ancestry has Elizabeth Southgate as the wife of James Hartley:

I don’t know if the creator had special knowledge of this marriage or if they were guessing.  I searched for this marriage at the Lancashire OnLine Parish Clerks Website and coud not find it.  I would follow up on the tree, but when I search for Elizabeth in trees, I find this:

Perhaps Elizabeth got attached to James above by mistake. It appears that the tree intended to have her married to John Hartley.

Did James the Son of John Hartley and Anne Bracewell Marry Betty Baldwin?

My best guess when I was researching Hartley genealogy was that James Hartley and Betty Baldwin were the most likely parents for Robert Hartley born about 1803. Now shared DNA matches with a good Hartley DNA matches Kristin and Joyce show a common ancestor of John Hartley and Anne Bracewell. This couple has a son named James. I’ll combine these lines and see how it looks:

  • Kristin and Joyce have a Shared Ancestor hint with Greenwood Hartley and Anne Emmet. This genealogical and DNA connection is quite certain.
  • Kristin and Joyce also have shared DNA matches with Sheryl and Paul
  • This shared DNA could be on the Hartley side (Trawden) or the Emmet side (Bacup). Sheryl and Paul have ancestors in the Colne/Trawden area.
  • Sheryl and Paul appear to have the shared ancestors of John Hartley and Anne Bracewell.
  • John Hartley and Anne Bracewell had a son James who could be the father of Robert who was the father of Greenwood Hartley.
  • This would combine my genealogical research with DNA evidence. There may be other explanations, but this one looks good right now – at least good enough to flesh out.

Fleshing Out the New James Hartley (Born 1763) Connection

One other item I see for James in Ancestry trees is his death:

This seems a bit sketchy to me. I have found no marriage record in Ancestry Trees for this James. Why would James be born in Trawden and die in Lancaster?

Lancaster is quite a ways from Colne. Unless, the record means to say that Lancaster represents the County of Lancashire.

Here is the record:

This does show that a James Hartley, son of John Hartley was buried in Lancaster. However, I’m not convinced that this is the same person.

Here is a James Hartley who was buried in Trawden in 1769:

and:

There are many other James Hartley burials in the Colne Parish. Here is another possibility:

This James was 82 in 1845, so he was born about 1763. Here is the same person in 1841:

Little Lather in the Burial record is better rendered on page 2 of the 1841 Census as Little Laith.

Another Elderly James Hartley Farmer South of Trawden Village

Just to confuse things, there is another elderly James Hartley South of Trawden Village:

 

Little Laithe is listed in the Census as near New Laithe and Hole is listed as near Naze End on Page 11 of the 1841 Trawden Census. These places would be a short walk from each other. I like the second James for a few reasons. One reason is that he is married to Betty, The second is that he lives near Seghole. Mary Pillng who married Robert Hartley was born in Seghole in 1802. I haven’t found death records for this James and Betty Hartley. Perhaps they moved to be with relatives after this time.

Summary and Conclusions

  • Kristin’s DNA match with the Hartley family and especially with Joyce has been helpful
  • Kristin descends from Ann Hartley born 1855, so shared matches with her would be more likely to represent Hartley ancestors from England.
  • I looked at the Hartley’s of Fall River
  • I looked at shared matches between Joyce and Kristin. They had two shared matches that both had the same ancestors: John Hartley born 1730 and Anne Bracewell.
  • I started to build a case that John Hartley had as his son, James Hartley who married Betty Baldwin. They had Robert Hartley who was my 3rd great-grandfather born 1803 in Trawden.
  • I looked at two elderly James Hartley’s in the 1841 Trawden Census. I favored the elder one as a potential 4th great-grandfather because he was married to a Betty and because he lived very close to the birth home of Mary Pilling who was my 3rd great-grandmother.
  • Before I had this match with Kristin, I had no known DNA connection to my Hartley ancestors in Trawden, Lancashire. Kristin’s DNA results appears to have provided that DNA connection and given good evidence and direction for genealogical research.
  • This is a potential break in my genealogical brick wall that I have had for around 25 years. I will do some more work to see if this theory makes sense.

 

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My Children’s Maternal Genealogy – Part 5: Gately

In my previous Blog, I showed that John Edward Cavanaugh’s mother was Louisa Gately.

Louisa Gately is my children’s maternal 2nd great-grandmother. I find it interesting that many records I’ve seen for Louisa show that she was born in England and that her dad was born in the West Indies or Jamaica and her mom was born in Ireland.

Here is Louisa Gately in 1860 Lowell:

Even though I mentioned Louisa was said to have parents from the West Indies and Ireland, this census has them as being from England. Louisa was part of a good-sized family. There appears to be 24 years between the oldest and youngest child. This means that Mary married very young, or William remarried. This Census seems to indicate that her parents were both born in England.

Five years earlier in 1855, the family was living in the house of Thomas Freeman in Lowell:

In Louisa’s marriage record, she gives her mother’s name as Catherine. This is perhaps a different person than the Mary listed above.

The last Census Louisa appeared in was in 1920:

Here Louisa is with her Daughter Ellen and niece Ellen A Ryden or Byden. This Ellen may have been the daughter of Ellen Gately who was Louisa’s sister or half sister.

Ellen A Ryden

The older Ellen A Ryden died on March 1, 1901. Her parents were listed on that record:

This gives us a mother for Louisa.

Tracing the Gately’s Across the Ocean to England

The next step is to see where the Gately’s lived in England. This must be the family on Regent Road in Salford:

Here is current day Regent Road to the West of Manchester, England:

This record gives a further refinement on Louisa’s mother’s name:

It appears that Catherine Etherington died in Lowell 15 years after she married in Manchester, England:

William Gatley/Gately Born About 1815 in the West Indies

It appears that William Gately (or Gatley) married three times and died in Lowell on July 25, 1895. Here are his parents listed on his death record:

I see them as Joseph and Jane Savage. They were both born in England, so may be possible to trace. I’ll check William’s other two Lowell marriages. William’s third marriage was in Lowell in 1874. He married:

Elizabeth’s last name is transcribed as Kate. Interestingly her mother was a Hartley. William’s parents are just given as Joseph and Jane.

Here is William’s 2nd marriage:

This is the Mary we see in the Lowell Censuses. Again, William’s mother is Jane. Int means publishment of intention of marriage. Perhaps William’s mother’s name was given as Frances in that publication. I also see what looks like an ‘I.’. Perhaps this means Ireland. If that is the case, the William was from Ireland but in the intentions of marriage record, he is from the West Indies. I suppose that both could be true.

Here is part of William’s Oath of Allegiance:

It looks like William signed his name more as Geatley than Gately. Here is the family in 1850:

William’s Parents: Joseph Gatley and Jane Savage

In the 1841 Census for Salford, England, William was listed as a Gatley, so I’ll go with that. A logical place to look for Joseph and Jane is in a marriage record. Here is one possibility:

Here a Joseph Gatliffe married Jane Savage on June 5, 1808. The timing seems right and Gatliffe sounds close to Gatley.

Here is Leigh – 9.5 miles West of Manchester:

I searched for births to Joseph and Jane Gatley in Lancashire County and came up with one:

Perhaps the family moved to the West Indies, had William and moved back.

Warrington is between Liverpool and Manchester.

An Ancestry Clue

Here is an Ancestry Tree Hint for Joseph:

I have two choices here. I can accept the hint, or I can not accept it. If I don’t accept it, then I’ll have to do my own research. I think I’ll accept the hint. It seems reasonable. The names are right and I have already come across the places of Salford and Warrington. I can only assume that James had children and some of his descendants either looked up his ancestry or kept track of family history.

Once I entered James Gatley in the tree, I got this further hint:

It seems like James was a fustian cutter, so this occupation must have run in the family. I found a question on-line from Andy who was wondering what his fustian cutting ancestors did and he got this answer:

Hi Andy

Fustian Cutter / Weaver 
A person who lifted and cut the threads in the making of Fustian, formerly a kind of coarse cloth made of cotton and flax. Now a thick, twilled cotton cloth with a short pile or nap, a kind of cotton velvet. A long thin knife was inserted into the loops and the threads cut as it was pulled through, stretched between rollers. The cloth was then brushed to raise the pile. Fustian is the old name for corduroy / A weaver of Fustian 

best wishes & happy hunting 🙂
Lynda 

A Summary for Agnes Cavanaugh

In this Blog, I looked at Agnes’ father’s mother’s line which was Gately or Gatley in England. Possibly even Gatliffe.

I had shown previously that  John E Cavanaugh’s mother was a widow when he was born.

The Warren Family

My top guess for John’s father is John J Warren. I don’t like seeing the Potential Father above as it gives a bad hint, so I’ll add John Warren in:

Here is some more on John Warren:

John died two years after Louisa’s son John was born in an accidental drowning. The death was recorded in Amesbury and John Warren lived in Lowell. The death record gives John’s parents as Jeremiah and Mary Warren. They were both from Ireland.

James had an older brother Jeremiah. Here is the family in 1855:

There were no women in this house at the time of the State Census.

This also fills in all eight maternal second great-grandparents for my children, Heather and JJ:

 

 

Summary

  • My children have roots in Lowell
  • The Gatley’s or Gately’s were fustian cutters in the area of Manchester, England before coming to the US
  • I haven’t found records tracing Louisa Gatley’s father to the West Indies or records of her mother from Ireland.
  • William Gatley lived quite a long life. A bit of a sketch could be written up about him.
  • I’m starting to look into the Warren family. They appear to also have Irish roots.

 

 

 

 

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My Children’s Maternal Genealogy: Part 4 – Cavanaugh

So far in looking into my children’s Jarek genealogy, I had good results on the Jarek side, and then I got stuck on the Morrow French Canadian side. In this Blog, I’ll see if I can discover more about the Cavanaugh side.

The Mystery of John Cavanaugh

Agnes Cavanaugh Jarek’s father was John:

Here is apparently a different John Cavanaugh with a wife and daughter Agnes in 1930 Providence:

John was listed as a mechanical engineer. His father is listed as being born in the Irish Free State. This is to distinguish it from Northern Ireland. Here is the area of 40 Dover Street today:

Actually, it looks like there were two John Cavanaugh families. Here is John with “Laoner” in 1920 Providence, RI:

The family lived at 3 Hospital Road:

So where was the other John Cavanaugh family in 1920?

Here is John F Cavanaugh again at 40 Dover Street:

Checking Ancestry Trees

There is one tree with a John Edward Cavanaugh. However, that tree has a reference to John being 3 months old in 1870. The other John Cavanaugh’s were born around 1881.

Mystery Solved

I solved the mystery by searching for WWI Draft Registrations:

Here is the real John Cavanaugh with real signature. Now we have a birth date and a middle name. From the 1920 Census, John and his father were born in Massachusetts. His mother was born in England. Here is the rest of the Draft Registration:

So now it looks like all my previous research based on the wrong John Cavanaugh was also wrong.

I took out the top paternal part of the Cavanaugh Line. Now the bottom maternal part has to go also.

Here is my clean start:

Now I am left with three records. The first record says that John is John E. Warren. This is Leona’s marriage record. It also says that John E was born in Lowell to John and Louisa Gately. The big three records in genealogy are birth, marriage and death. So far, I have no birth or death record for John Cavanaugh. In addition, the marriage record where I would have expected him to be, had someone with the last name Warren.

A Short Sketch of John Edward Cavanaugh

John was born 1880 in possibly Lowell to possibly a John Cavanaugh and Louisa Gately. However, his marriage record has him as John E. Warren.

He was a wool sorter and had four daughters. The last we hear of John is in the 1920 Census.

This is possibly John in 1900 Lowell:

John was listed as a day laborer. If this is him, he has a brother Thomas and sister Mary. This looks to be the same family living on River Street, Lowell in 1880:

This John was born in October 1879.

Below, this is more clearly John, as he was listed as a wool sorter in 1910:

John was living on 16 State Street. If I can connect the 1910 John to the 1900 John, I will know his parents.

Looking at the Details

Here is a Lowell Directory for 1906:

 

John E may be John Edward. I don’t know who John J is. The other John could be the John E’s father. Maggie, Mary and Thomas were also mentioned in the 1900 Census, but we can’t be sure if they are the same. John J and Thomas F are boarding in the same place.

Cavanagh/Cavanaugh in Lowell in 1900

Here I see no John’s, but I do see a Louisa. Remember Louisa Gately came up in John Edward’s mother on Leona’s wedding record. I also see Louisa in the 1906 Directory. Here is Louisa in 1900 with her daughter Ellen at 24 Crowley Street:

Note that in the 1906 Lowell City Directory, John E was also living at 24 Crowley. This suggests that Louisa and not Maggie could be his mother.

1911 Directory

Here is Louisa Cavanaugh. This Directory gives the name of her deceased husband, Michael. Her home is at 24 Crowley still and a Nellie A Cavanaugh lives with her. There seems to be a connection with Cavanaugh, US Bunting Co. and 24 Crowley Street.

More On Louisa Gately Cavanaugh

Louisa is mentioned in the Veteran’s Schedule of 1890:

This shows that Michael served in the Civil War and that Louisa was a widow in 1890.

Here is Louisa’s marriage to Michael Cavanaugh:

This was in 1864, so before the Civil War was over.

In 1880, Louisa lived at 38 Bleachery Street, Lowell:

Here she is with her daughter Ellen. The Census was taken June 8, 1880. If John Edward was born August 24, 1880 he wouldn’t be in this Census. However, Louisa was already a widow at the time. For MIchael to be the father of John, he would have had to have died while Louisa was pregnant. Possible, but not likely.

Louisa in 1870

There are trees at Ancestry which use this Census to show that John Edward’s parents are Michael and Louisa. This Census was taken in July of 1870. This John Cavanaugh was born about April, 1870. This raises some questions as John Edward gave his birthday as August 24, 1880. Perhaps he was off 10 years. But then I don’t see this John in the 1880 Census with Louisa, so where did he go? Perhaps this John passed away.

Here is a record from May 13, 1871:

Lizzie is close enough to Louisa for me. Based on his age at death, this John would have been born about April 3, 1870 which is the same month the John in the 1870 Census was born.

Here is this short-lived John’s birth record on April 3, 1870:

This means that the clue that Ancestry is giving me for John Edward Cavanaugh’s father is not looking good:

Before I put Michael to bed, I wonder when he died. Michael died July 13, 1872 of consumption:

This means that MIchael is ruled out as a father for John Edward Cavanaugh. Assuming that John Edward was born in 1880 or close to it, that was 8 years after Michael Cavanaugh died.

Who Are John Edward Cavanaugh’s Parents?

Right now, I have two top contenders:

  • Louisa Gately Cavanaugh and an unknown father. Louisa was 38 in 1880, so she was of child-bearing age. This theory is supported by the confusing marriage record listing her as the mother of John E. Warren, the husband of Leona Morrow.
  • John and Margaret Cavanaugh. They had a son named John born around the time that John Edward was supposed to have been born. This is supported by the dates. The marriage record for “Leoner” Morrow gave her husband’s father’s name as John.

Who do you vote for? There is always a third alternative, but let’s focus on these two first. If the first option is true, there should be a birth record.

Going Down the Rabbit Hole – John and Margaret

This appears to be the birth of John and Margaret’s son:

Sometimes you need to be creative on the spelling. This corresponds to the 1880 Census:

I would like to browse the Lowell Birth Records for Aughust 24, 1880 as that is when John Edward Cavanaugh stated that he was born. I looked and I couldn’t find anything that looked like a John Cavanaugh’s birth.

Next Steps

One way to do this is to wait until Heather and JJ’s DNA tests come in and see if this sorts anything out. I think that those DNA results will be helpful. Another strategy would be to build two trees. One would be with Louisa Gately Cavanaugh as the mother of John Edward. The other would be to build a competing tree with John and Maggie Cavanaugh as competing parents. Another possibility is that John Edward Cavanaugh could have been adopted.

Back to the City Directory

It occurs to me that if I could find a death record for John Edward Cavanaugh, that might clear some things up. Here is the 1927 Directory:

Laoner is at 263 Thorndike and I don’t see John Edward Cavanaugh. The latest John Edward sighting I had was for the 1920 Providence Census.

Here is the 1931 Directory:

Here Leona is not called a widow, but also there is no sign of John Edward. There are other Cavanaugh widows listed. Agnes is now working where her mom used to work. Louise and Helen are also listed but not the other Leona.

1936 Lowell

This is similar to the 1931 Directory except that the daughter, Leoner, is listed separately. I don’t see Louise this year. I didn’t see a Leoner or Leona in the 1946 Lowell Directory.

Here is a different look at the 1940 Census:

From this, I might infer that John Edward died between 1936 and 1940.

Here is a John Cavanaugh in 1930 in Providence County, Rhode Island:

This John is working and living at the race track. He is married and married at an older age (33). He is also the right age.

Here is Burrilville, Rhode Island where this John was living:

 

William and Maggie Cavanaugh

Perhaps a further look at William and Maggie will reveal something. It appears that William and Maggie Cavanaugh had a son John Kavaney but he died in 1908:

Michael Cavanaugh and Louisa Gately

So far I have shown that Michael and Louisa Cavanaugh had a son John but that he died young. They also had a daughter Ellen. According to the 1900 Census, she was born in 1865.

Ellen Cavanaugh Born 1865

So far, I have not found a birth record for Ellen. Here she is in 1865:

 

Ellen is assumed to be the daughter of Michael and Louisa above. Ellen McNabb is perhaps a relative of Louisa as they were both born in England. Fast forward to 1920. Ellen is with her mom and her mom’s niece (Ellen Ryden):

Ellen lived at 24 Crowley Street with her mother:

The two Ellens were book keepers at a Bunting Mill.

Here is Ellen in 1940:

Now her mother Louisa is dead. Ellen lives at 22 Crowley Street. She is now a payroll clerk at the bunting company. This is likely US Bunting which made bunting for the US Flag.

Bleachery Street, Lowell in 1880

Here is Ellen when she was in school in 1880:

Ellen and her mother lived on Bleachery Street in Lowell. Louisa is listed as being born in England. However Louisa’s father is listed as born in Jamaica and her mother is born in Ireland. Here is Bleachery Street in 1881:

Finally, this is from the Find A Grave Website:

A Brief Summary of John Edward Cavanaugh

  • I haven’t found a birth record for John
  • John’s marriage record gives his own name as John E Warren. It gives his father’s name as John [Warren] and his mother as Louisa Gately
  • I don’t have a death record for John
  • John was listed as boarding at the same house as his Louisa Gately Cavanaugh in 1906

I am beginning to think that perhaps John Cavanaugh was really John Warren but was raised as a Cavanaugh.

John Warren Father of John Edward Cavanaugh?

Next I will look at the possibility that John Warren was John Cavanaugh’s father. Here is a John J Warren on Bleachery Street in 1880:

He is widowed and has four children. In 1880 Louisa Gately was living at 38 Bleachery Street and John J Warren lived at 7 Bleachery Street. Seem like John J. is at least a possible father. At least he seems like a better candidate than Michael Cavanaugh who died 8 years before John Edward Cavanaugh was born.

Here is John J’s marriage in Lowell in 1866:

This is probably John’s birth record:

This means that I have come full circle. I originally thought that Leona Morrow’s marriage record was mistaken in saying that she married John E Warren. Now I see that it was probably the truth in who John Edward really was.

Summary and Conclusions

  • Initially, I was having trouble figuring out who the correct John Cavanaugh was. A WWI Draft Registion card straightened that out.
  • I was able to eliminate two potential Cavanaugh father’s for John Edward Cavanaugh.
  • It appears that the marriage record for Leona Morrow that had her husband as John E Warren was actually right.
  • I chose John J Warren as a father for John Edward Cavanaugh. John J Warren lived on the same street as John Edward’s mother who was Louisa Gately Cavanaugh
  • If I am right, John Edward and Nellie Cavanaugh were half siblings. John would have had Warren family half siblings also.
  • I would assume that John Edward was raised by Louisa Cavanaugh and her daughter Nellie. Nellie would have been about 15 when John Edward was born.
  • The records have Louisa Gately born in England and that her father was born in Jamaica and mother in Ireland.
  • Of course, I have been wrong before and would accept any corrections.

 

 

 

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My Children’s Maternal Genealogy: Part 3

In Part 1, I got started on Heather and JJ’s maternal genealogy. In Part 2, I went deeper on the Jarek side. Heather and JJ’s mother’s tree now looks like this:

Next, I will look into the Cavanaugh branch. This branch is 1/4 Irish, 1/4 English and half French Canadian. I am curious about the French Canadian side. I’m also suspicious that Morrow may actually be Moreau or something similar. Also Tacy may be Tessier, though that may not be as obvious. The Canadians have good genealogical records, but the problem is in making the link between the US and Canada when names get Americanized.

Morrow

Leona Morrow is the most recent of my children’s direct ancestors:

I didn’t find a birth record for her, but found one for her three siblings. Leona’s parents married in Lowell on October 30, 1889.

Joseph F Morrow’s Naturalization

This looks like an application for Naturalization:

This gives some details of Joseph’s life. He was a shipper in 1900. He was living in Portland, Maine at the age of 3. He now lives at 444 Gorham Street in Lowell. This should be in the circled area of the map below:

Joseph F. Morrow from 1866 to 1889

If Joseph was in Portland, Maine, where are the records? If I could find a birth record for John Morrow, I would be happy. I did find a record for 1888:

These are all the Morrow’s in Lowell in the 1888 Directory.

Joseph Morrow Going Forward

Here is Joseph in the 1910 Census:

Here there is a distinction between Canadian English and Canadian French. Joseph’s birthplace was English. His father’s birthplace was Canadian French and his mother’s birthplace was English. The family has also added two new children.

Joseph in 1920

This is a little different than the 1910 Census as here Joseph speaks French as well as his mother and father. Now his wife is Helen H. – which may come in handy later. Also Joseph’s arrival date to the US is now listed as 1887 rather than 1866. That is quite a difference if it is accurate.

I’m stuck on the mysterious Morrow family for now.

Tacy or Tacey

I was able to find out more about Helen or Nellie H. Tacy’s family. Here are Nellie’s parents in 1860.

Nellie grew up in Fort Covington which is a border town:

Here is Nellie in Lowell, right before she married:

Here is where Nellie lived on a current Lowell map:

I wonder how and why Nellie made her way from Fort Covington to Lowell, MA.

Joseph Tacy in the Civil War

These were the people from Fort Covington who were subject to do service in the Civil War:

I’m not sure if Joseph served in the Civil War or not.

Phoebe – Joseph’s Wife

This is possibly Phoebe:

So, I didn’t find much new about the Tacy side either.

Summary and Conclusions

  • I turned over some stones on the Morrow and Tacy French Canadian sides.
  • I found out more of what I don’t know.
  • It is possible that the DNA testing for Heather and JJ will turn up something on the French Canadian side.
  • Next, on to Cavanaugh and Hulme.

 

 

 

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My Children’s Maternal Genealogy: Part 2 -More Poland and Jarek

Here is Part 1. In Part 1 I started a framework to my children’s maternal genealogy and came up with some things to check on.

The Jarek Side

I only got as far as my children’s great grandparents on their Jarek side. In 1920, Francis was living with his younger brother John in Lowell. My idea was to see if I could find anything about John.

One good source of information is from naturalization papers. This says that John arrived in 1902 and was naturalized in 1908. Francis was one year behind John.

Here is John’s marriage record for 1904:

Here are John and Marya’s parents:

Now I had that Francis married a Wosniac. Perhaps they were sisters.

Here is John’s WWII Registration Card:

This gives a birthplace, if I can read it. The transcription says, “Odrzykoy, Poland”. This is possibly in Southeastern Poland:

Now we have a place in Poland for Heather and JJ to visit. I cut off the Ukraine which is to the east of Odrzykoń. Here is a castle in Odrzykoń

I didn’t find Naturalization records for John or Frank, but I did find some interesting things.

After searching for Antonina Wozniak, I found her marriage record:

The couple married in 1905 in Lowell with Francis now listed as Frank. Antonina’s parents are similar to Frank’s brother’s wife Marya’s, but not quite the same:

I added the Priest’s name as a bonus. I assume that Jacenty may be the same as Jacynty. However, if he is, he had a different wife when Antonina was born. Here Josef’s wife looks to be Agnes Letkowiez (or Letkowicz?). I guess I can keep Jacenty and Jacynty separate for now.

Now Heather and JJ have some new, mysterious 2nd great-grandparents on the Jarek side:

I did a Google search and came up with this 1999 genealogical post:

I am looking for anyone that may have information on the following surnames:
Franciszek JAREK b. 3/27/1879 Odrzykon, Poland (nr. Krosno) Came to the US in 1903 and settled in Lowell, MA.
His parents’ names: Jozef & Mary Ras
His grandparents’ names: Antoni Jarek & Marii Such/Antoni Ras & Reginy Grzybala

Franciszek married Antonina WOZNIAK 11/4/1905 in Lowell, MA. Antonina was born 5/9/1889 in Mecinka, Poland.
Her parents’ names: Jacenty & Agnieszka Letkowicz
I would love to hear from anyone with a connection.
Thank you, Laurie

I think Męcinka is here:

Laurie’s message was from 1999, but still quite interesting. Laurie appears to have found another generation somehow. Assuming Laurie is right, I now have this:

Searching Ancestry Trees

Next, I looked for Jarek’s on Ancestry Trees. I found this interesting WWI Registration:

This gives a birth date for Frank Jarek. It also tells us he was a milk dealer in 1918.

Frank’s Passport

Frank’s passport is interesting as it gives some description:

Here is his passport photo:

Here is more information about Frank:

This confirms where Frank was born. This also gives information on his Naturalization.

It looks like Frank was visiting Poland on business. At the time of the passport application he was working in a mill.  It appears that he was to visit France and perhaps other countries. I am not sure why. I would think that there would be shipping records to follow up on.

Information from Linda

My daughter forwarded my previous Blog to her mom, Linda, who sent me this:

This is a tree that she got from a Jarek family reunion. This Wozniak part was helpful:

I had that Antonina was from Męcinka. I wonder if they are the same? I had also read that there was more than one Męcinka in Poland. Here is Podkarpackie:

This is the same Province that Odrzykoń is in.  In fact, these two places are a few miles from each other:

It appears that Męcinka is the correct spelling. This place is called Jedlicze Męcinka on the map. The other Męcinka I had earlier in the Blog was about 300 miles Northwest of Odrzykoń. My guess is that the Wozniaks were from the Męcinka in the map above.

Ship Records and Antonina

I had mentioned ship records above. I think that I have found Antonina:

She arrived in New York City on March 28, 1905 from Brussels on the Ship Kroonland. Here is where Antonina listed that she was from and where she was going:

She was fron Modersowka and was going to Redwood or Bedwood – looks like Mass. I know that there is a Bedford, but I’m a bit stumped. Here is some more information on where and who she was to stay with:

It appears that she had a brother named John Kalesiuk. Perhaps he was a brother in law?

It turns out that Moderowka is close to Męcinka and Odrzykoń.

I would imagine that it was quite a trip for a single girl of 16. She was listed as 18 on the ship but I don’t think that was quite right. Antonina traveled from Moderwoka to Brussels to New York City. Then she made her way to Massachusetts. Less than nine monts from getting off the ship, she married Frank or Francis Jarek.

Summary and Conclusions

  • I was able to get back another generation on the Jarek side by initally looking at records for Frank’s brother John.
  • I also found a birthplace for John and Frank Jarek. This can be very difficult to find.
  • A simple Google search got me back even one more generation on the Jarek side. The message I found in the search also confirms the work I have done.
  • An Ancestry Tree search got me some more interesting information about Frank Jarek.
  • I find the Ras name interesting as it does not appear to be obviously Polish. Such does not come across to me as Polish either.
  • Some information from a Jarek reunion may have cleared up an issue dealing with two Męcinka’s – where the Wozniaks were from.  This was further confirmed by ship records.
  • I found out a lot more than I thought I would about the Jarek line.

 

 

 

 

 

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Some Genealogy for my Children’s Maternal Side: Jarek and Cavanaugh

I’ve been behind on my children’s maternal genealogy. I have written a lot about my own side. I was divorced from my Heather and aJJ’s mother before I got into genealogy, so I hadn’t thought of looking up their genealogy. Now with DNA sales, I have ordered DNA kits for them and would like to find out more about their maternal genealogy.

Jarek

I remember my former wife’s father’s name as Julius K Jarek. He had a Polish background. I can’t remember my former wife’s mother’s name. I just remember that she was Irish. Perhaps it will come back to me or I will find some information on her.

I’ll just add a father to Linda on my tree:

Next, I do a search for Julius K Jarek and I see this:

All of a sudden, I remember the name of my former mother-in-law.

Here is Julius’ birth record:

Here Julius’ mother is Antonina and Julius’ father was said to be born in Russia. I suppose parts of present Poland were taken over by Russia or Austria in the past.

Julius in the Census

Here is Julius in the 1910 Census on Mill Street in Dracut:

It looks like Julius’ parents were born in Polish Austria. I suppose the Austrian empire included Poland at the time. Julius’ dad came to this country in 1902 and his mom in 1905 according to this census. In 1910 the family was living near a Russian family who spoke Yiddish.

When I add Julius’ father, I get a hint for a potential mother:

Here are the details on the potential mother:

I think that this looks like a reasonable person based on her place and time of birth and her place of death.

Julius in 1920

In 1920, Julius was living in Lowell. It looks like Francis’ younger brother who owned a vegetable store was the head of the household. Julius now has a younger brother and sister.

Julius in 1930

Now the family owns their own house. The names have been Americanized. Francis is listed as a retail merchant of groceries.

That gives a short sketch of this immigrant family. Julius went to Lowell Technological Institute. Here he is with Delta Kappa Phi in 1929. He was in the class of 1931:

Cavanaugh

Perhaps I will find more on the Cavanaugh side. I know that Agnes had been married before she married Julius. Here is Agnes in  1940 living in Lowell with her daughter and mother:

Agnes’ first husband’s name was Rawbathans according to the Census. Perhaps Rowbotham is a more accurate spelling:

I wonder why Julius and Agnes married in Florida. Perhaps it had to do with WWII.

It looks like Julius became a commissioned officer 1 week before he married Agnes at the Flamingo Hotel in Miami, Florida.

More Cavanaugh History

Here is the 1930 Census. Here we see Agnes had three sisters. The parents of her mom, Leona, were born in New York.

In 1920, the family was in Providence, RI:

Now we have a father for Agnes. He is John, E., a wool sorter. This time Leona’s mother is said to be French Canadian.

Here is Agnes’ birth record:

I think it says her mom is Leona Moirow. Without the mark over what may be the ‘i’, it could be Morow. Here is a suggested father for Leona from Ancestry:

I’m not sure if Morrow is a French Canadian name. That would be something to look into. However, it seems like my former wife’s maternal side should be easier to trace compared to her paternal side:

John  Cavanaugh

John Cavanaugh was my children’s great grandfather. John was born March 4, 1881 in Templeton, Massachusetts. On his birth record, he appears to be John Francis:

His father was William Francis born in Ireland and was a loom fixer. His mother was here:

She was born in Providence, RI.

I decided to take the Ancestry hints and came up with this:

Ancestry gives me four new potential ancestors. These would be my children’s third great grandparents.

William F Cavanagh

John’s father William was also listed as a loom fixer in the 1900 census:

He immigrated in 1855, so when he was about 7. That means that he could have come to the US with his parents. Here is William in 1870 in Woonsocket, RI:

William was part of a large family. It looks like the family was living in Massachusetts for a while also. This record suggests that William was born in 1851.

Mary Jane Hulme

I don’t know if my children knew they descended from the Hulme family. Here is Mary in North Providence in 1860:

Mary’s dad Samuel was born in England.

Here I accepted Mary’s mom as Eliza Jackson:

Assuming I have the right couple, here is their marriage record from an area near Manchester, England:

Samuel was a dyer and Eliza was a spinner. Here is Collyhurst:

 

According to Google:

Collyhurst is an inner city area of Manchester, England, 1.5 miles northeast of the city centre on Rochdale Road and Oldham Road. The River Irk passes through the area. Prominent buildings include two Roman Catholic churches, St Patrick’s and St Malachy’s.

The Cavanaugh Side

The suggested parents for John Canvanagh are from Galway, but I don’t know if I have enough evidence to add them yet.

The Morrow Family

Now I’ll go back to Morrow. I had hesitated as I wasn’t sure that name sounded French Canadian. I’ll put in Agnes’ mother Leona in as a Morrow:

 

A Morrow Problem

Here is a record that is confusing:

This shows that “Laoner” Morrow married John Warren on January 16th, 1911. I have that Agnes Cavanaugh was born February 5, 1911. Either I have the wrong family, or something strange was going on. Actually, we know that John E. Cavanaugh was a wool sorter. I think that the records person just wrote the husband’s name down wrong. John was quite a bit older than “Laoner”. As he was 30 in 1911, he was born around 1880. I’m not sure how Cavanaugh got changed to Warren in the marriage record. The other confusing part is that John’s parents are not right. My guess is that “Laoner” was about 8 months pregnant when she married. At any rate, I think that the Cavanagh ancestry could be confirmed by the DNA tests.

More on Laoner/Leona Morrow

Even the death record lists her name as Laoner. Was that the original name that got normalized to Leona?

Here Laoner died in 1969 at age 79.

Here is Leona in 1900:

This shows some of Leona’s siblngs. Her dad, Joseph, was a music teacher.

I couldn’t find the birth record for Leona, but found birth records for her siblings. The birth record for Jeremiah is the most detailed. It gives the mother’s maiden names and birthplaces for the parents:

What About Tacy?

Here is what I have so far on the Tacy side:

The ancestry hints said that Nellie’s parents were also from Canada.

Many Roads Lead to Lowell

Nellie Tacy married Joseph Morrow in Lowell on October 30, 1889.

Joseph was a jeweller and Nellie was a dress-maker.

The Tacy Family in Fort Covington, NY

When Nellie married in 1889, she said that she was 29. That would mean that she was born about 1860. Here is the Fort Covington Census for 1860:

 

This Ida may be Nellie. Here Joseph was a Baker. He appears to have a young wife. Solomon may have been Joseph’s father.

So Where Are We?

Here is the tree for my children’s maternal side:

I’ve gotten a lot further on the maternal grandmother’s side (Cavanaugh) compared to the Jarek side.

My children, Heather and JJ have ancestry here:

The Jarek side appears to be all Poland. The other side is Ireland, England and French Canadian.

Next Steps

While I’m waiting for the DNA samples:

  • I can look more into the French Canadian side. They have good records there. I suspect Morrow may actually be Moreau.
  • The name Tacy is probably not French Canadian either. I looked this up on Google and one suggestion was that the name may have been Tessier.
  • I need to be more sure about the Hulme connection to Manchester.
  • I’d like to check the Cavanagh connection to Galway.
  • Julius’ Uncle John Jarek may give more clues to the Polish heritage. I don’t have experience with Polish genealogy.
  • Some of Heather and JJ’s maternal ancestors were jewellers, dress makers, wool sorters, loom fixers, bakers, grocers and laborers. As I recall, Julius worked in a paper mill.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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My WWI Relatives

I recently had a question from my sister about any of our relatives who may have served in World War I. There are possibilities from 3 out of 4 of our lines. My mother’s father came to the US by jumping ship i 1916, so it appears that he was under the radar as far as the military.

Frazer

My grandmother’s only brother George William Frazer served in WWI:

This is an application for a headstone marker. This gives an idea of the type of work George did, but not a lot of details other than he received a Victory medal.

Hartley

I would think that with all the Hartley’s born in Rochester, that one or more must have served in WWI.

Daniel Emmet Hartley

Daniel was 32 when he registered for the Draft:

In 1918, Daniel had three children.

James Hartley Born 1891

My understanding is that James did not serve as he was married.

My father was born the following February.

Greenwood Hartley Born 1897

Here is a photo submitted by cousin Beth:

Here is some basic information on his service:

Greenwood sailed out of Hoboken on November 1917:

Greenwood returned on the Ship Patricia from Brest, France back to Hoboken:

It looks like he was in a “colored” battalion.

I assume that Greenwood saw some fighting in Europe.

Henry Bradford Hartley Born 1900

The second page of this Registration says “No certificate given”. I’m not sure what that means. I didn’t see any record of his service. The other Hartley brothers would have been too young in WWI to serve.

Lentz

My mother’s mother’s family was Lentz.

William Nicholson Lentz Born 1892

William was married with two children at the time of his 1917 Draft Registration.

 

Stanley Lentz Born 1894

Stanley was single on June 15, 1917 and had no claim on a draft exemption. However,

On January 1920, Stanley had a daughter who was 2 years, three months old. That would mean that she was born about October of 1917. Interesting, if I have this right. Here is a marriage record for Stanley in New York City.

I don’t think that Stanley served in WWI, but I am a little mixed up as to where he was in 1920. I think he was the one in the 1920 Census as he was also at 1346 East Eyre St, Philadelphia. Interesting.

Summary

It looks like I have two relatives who served in WWI. One was my grandmother’s brother and the other was my grandfather’s brother. It would be interesting to learn more about what they did in WWI.

 

 

 

 

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Many Generations of Gary’s Taylor Ancestry in Pennsylvania

I bumped into Gary recently at the local coffee shop. Gary mentioned that he was interested in his family history. Family lore has it that his family goes back to the William Penn land grants in Pennsylvania. Due to my weakness for genealogy, I offered to look into his history.

Gary’s Parents – Social Security and the US Census

Gary is from my generation. This is good, because I should be able to find his parents in the US Census. These are available beginning 1940 and going back.

Gary’s Dad

Gary’s dad is William Sproul Taylor of Media, PA. First I create a tree for Gary at Ancestry.com. I had asked Gary for his parents’ birth dates, but he gave me their Social Security Numbers. Let’s see if I can find Gary’s dad using just his name. Ancestry gives “leaf” hints when it thinks it knows who people are. I didn’t get any immediate leaf hints even when I added Gary’s mom.

Next, I did a search for Gary’s dad at Ancestry. I got Social Security results, but the number didn’t match what Gary gave me. Then I went to Ancestry’s S.S search page:

This had a SSN box. Putting in Gary’s dad’s SSN gave me this first:

Genealogy involves getting over some initial hurdles. This was the first hurdle. William was born early in 1920, so he should appear in the 1920 Census. Good genealogial research also involves going from the known to the unknown, so I will be going backward in time for much of this Blog.

I then tried the SSN Gary gave me for his mom, but got no results.

My next new hint for Gary’s dad was for a gravestone application from his mom. Here is part of it:

I get the impression that Gary’s dad was a Navy Gunner in World War II.

The Taylor’s 1940 Census

Here the family was living on 36 West Street in Media, PA. Gary’s father was a sales clerk at a produce department store and had worked 28 hours prior to the week of the census. William’s parents were John Q? and Florence Taylor. William’s dad was out of work in 1940. The mother was doing housework and earned $200 the previous year. William contributed about $128.

Now Gary’s tree looks like this:

Gary’s paternal grandparents were both born in Pennsylvania.

Here is some more information on Gary’s dad William about a year later. This is from his WWII Draft Card:

Back a Generation to John and Florence Taylor

Here is the family in 1930:

It looks like there was a separate family in the house. This could have been Florence’s parents. John Q was again listed as a policeman working for the railroad. The value of the house was $20,000 which would have been a substantial house for that time. John Q. Jr. was a cigar store merchant. Florence was listed as 15 at the age of her first marriage. Florence must have been a child bride if this was right.

Taylors in 1920

The 1920 Census rounds out the family picture:

John Q. and Florence had six children.

The family is listed at 36 East Street. In 1920, the Ormsby’s were the head of the household. It is clear that they were Florence’s parents. All people above were born in Pennsylvania and their parents were born in Pennsylvania, so it does appear the family has deep Pennsylvania roots.

A Taylor/Ormsby marriage record gets us back to the 1800’s:

It looks like Florence was from Media and John Q was from Concord (something?). From this record, The marriage date has the year first, so they married on August 18, 1904. I have elsewhere that Florence was born in 1889. Doesn’t it look like the record shows 1882 above? Was that a writing error or a fib?

Here is some more on John Quincy from Social Security:

Concord Turnpike is in the red box below:

It looks to be about 7 miles from Media.

Here is John’s WW I Registration card from 1918:

Here is a photo I get when I put 36 West State, Media into Google Maps:

I suppose the family could have lived in this block.

Now there is some symmetry in Gary’s line back to his paternal great-grandparents:

Sticking with the Taylors Back to the Civil War.

Francis or Frank’s wife’s parents were from Ireland according to her death certificate. She was born in New Jersey in 1857. That gets us before the Civil War. Francis and Mary married at the Media Presbyterian Church on December 30, 1875.

This looks like it could be old enough to be the right Church.

Here is at least part of the family in 1900:

Frank is a government official. I wonder what kind. Bessie was a sales woman and John Q was an insurance agent.

Who Was Francis or Frank I. Taylor?

Here is Francis in 1870.

Here we have Francis’ parents: John Q. and Martha J. John Q is a brick mason and it looks like Francis was an apprentice at the brick mason trade.  However, later Francis becomes a ‘government official’. The family lived in Westtown which was not too far from Concord Turnpike and Media:

We are now at almost 150 years ago. I need to get us back at least another 150 years to colonial times if Gary is right about his family. So far they have not moved around much. However, I will be running out of useful Census Returns soon. The earliest useful Census is for the year 1850.

Before John and Martha Taylor

Martha’s maiden name was Frame. Here is Gary’s father’s tree so far:

Gary’s grandfather John Quincy was named for his grandfather who appears to be another John Quincy Taylor. So far, I’m following the Taylor Line.

John Q Taylor in the 1850 Census

Before the elder John Q was a brick layer, he was a farmer like his father, John B. John Q’s parents just get us to the edge of and over into the 1700’s. In 1850, the family were farming in Thornbury – still not too far from Media.

There are two more children on the next page of the census, so the family had at least six children.

Gary’s Taylor Ancestors in the 1700’s

OK we made it. Here is the death record fo John Q’s younger sister Hannah. In her death certificate, we find out a little more about her parents:

Her dad was born in Thornbury and her mom’s maiden name was Ingram.

It looks like John B died in October, 1860 of typhoid.

Back before John B Taylor and Sarah H Ingram

At this point we have run out of useful Census returns. I can now do some independent research by traveling to Pennsylvania or cheat a little and look at some other family trees where hopefully the research was well done. When I search for John B Taylor at Ancestry, this tree pops up:

This gives a father for John, a middle name for John and a mother for John. When I look at this Taylor Tree, I can put things in to fast reverse back to 1602:

A Summary of the Copped Taylor Tree

John Bailey Taylor’s father was Stephen Taylor. He was born in 1771 in Pennsbury Township while the country was a British Colony. Here is Pennsbury on the Delaware border:

John Taylor, born 1743 in Thornbury Township, died in Pennsbury Township in 1812. John would have been around for the Revolutionary War. He married Dinah Baily. The Baily name would come out two generations later in Gary’s third great-grandfather John Baily Taylor.

Philip was born and died in Thornbury and lived between 1714 and 1762 all under British rule.

Philip’s father Philip was born in 1680 in Wales and died in Thornbury Township in December, 1732. There have to be some stories about Philip.

Thomas Taylor born about 1628 Wales – Did He Come to Pennsylvania?

However, it appears that Philip came to the New World with his father Thomas who this tree has as follows:

Here is a sketch about Thomas written in the 1800’s:

Theref is some indication that Thomas arrived in Pennsylvania prior to William Penn:

Here is another reference found at Ancestry. However, I don’t see a source listed:

This appears to be some of the goods that Thomas Taylor brought with him to Pennsylvania to start a new life. As Thomas preceded William Penn and brought oatmeal, that meant that he brought Quaker Oats to the New World before William Penn.

Finally, there is John Taylor born 1602 also from Worthenbury. Here is Worthenbury who lived about 25 miles South of Liverpool:

When Gary goes to visit his ancestral lands, he can stay at Worthenbury Manor:

William Penn

As many people know, Pennsylvania was named for William Penn, a prominent Quaker. Quakers would have been attracted to Pennsylvania. However, Wiiliam Penn offered religious freedom to all who would settle in Pennsylvania.

 

Philip Taylor (1680-1732)

Philip is Gary’s 7th great-grandfather. Here is the Quaker record of his marriage from 1705:

I am not used to looking at Quaker records. However, I find it interesting. Their simple Quaker philosophy of marriage comes through in the record, “..they are left to their liberty to accomplish their marriage according to the good order of truth.” Philip is listed as the son of Frances Worrell. Philip’s dad died soon after coming to the New World and his mother remarried.

Philip’s Land Holdings

Philip had an immense amount of land. Here is some information from his will dated 1732:

Gary’s 6th great-grandfather Philip made out well, inheriting 300 acres. It seems clear from the will that the elder Philip bought the land that he left to his son Philip from Richard Clayton. This land is on a branch of the Brandywine River.

Philip Taylor and Mary Gilpin

These two also married in a Quaker assembly in 1736:

The note taker got in quite a bit of detail for this wedding. My guess is that, as a Quaker and a pacifist, Philip would not have fought in the Revolutionary War.

John Taylor and His Wife Dinah Bailey

The tax man caught up with John in 1768:

It appears that John had a tannery in Pennsbury.

Here is John’s will:

 

He only left 5 Pounds to his son Stephen, Gary’s 4th great-grandfather. Fortunately the will explains the reason why. Otherwise, questions may have arisen.

Stephen Taylor

Stephen is listed in the Quaker records along with the rest of his large family:

Dinah had children over a 25 year span.

John Baily Taylor

Here is a Certificate of Removal from the Quakers:

The title sounds bad, but it appears to be a transfer from one meeting to another. I suppose John was moving at age 16. This shows that the Taylors were Quakers for at least 100 years. I hope I have the right John B Taylor here.

John Quincy Taylor

I wonder if John Quincy was the first in his line to make a break from the Quakers. It appears that he got married in a Baptist ceremony.

Summary

  • I was able to get Gary’s Taylor Line back 11 generatioms to 1602 in Wales.
  • Gary’s ancestors were early settlers in Pennsylvania and large landowners in the Thornbury area  west of Philadelphia.
  • It appears that Thomas Taylor did not buy land from William Penn, because he preceded William Penn’s arrival to Pennsylvania.
  • Gary’s early Pennsylvania ancestors were Quaker. However, at some point in the 1800’s they left the Quakers to become Baptists and later Presbyterians.
  • Gary is an 11th generation Taylor from Pennsylvania. When he left the State, there must have been some loud tearing and ripping sounds.

 

 

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Men’s Breakfast Genealogy: Bob, Part 2

In my last Blog about Bob, I got his father’s side back to the early 1800’s or earlier in Nottingham, New Hampshire. I was able to do that with some pretty scanty information, as I didn’t even know who Bob’s dad was. Now I have more information on his mom’s side and will see what I can do with it.

Bob’s Mom’s Side

This side of the family sounds interesting. Family lore is that his mom’s dad jumped ship while traveling from Denmark to Stamford, CT. I told Bob, my mom’s dad also jumped ship. He was a Latvian sailing from Archangel to New York City. I now also know that Bob’s dad’s name was Virgil. So I’m excited to get started. The first record I found for Bob’s mom was the WWII Draft registration for her husband Virgil. This said he was born in Stamford, CT, instead of Maine as I had, but I’ll ignore that for now as I’m looking at Bob’s Kessler side.

Kesslers of Denmark

This little tree is the start. The leaf for Dorothy was for her husband’s WWII Draft Registration.  No other leaves are showing up. I don’t like looking for women in the Census due to name changes, so I’ll start with Lewis. Bob said he saw the name also as Lorin in a Census. I like starting with the Census as they cover everyone and have a lot of information in them. My first try for Lewis didn’t get me what I was looking for. Then I added that he lived in Stamford, CT. This helped.

Even the summaries of the search results are helpful. Now we have an idea when Louis was born and when he arrived. There is also a new middle initial.

Here is the family in 1920:

This is just some of the information. Louis had a mortgage and was a millwright at a furniture factory. It looks like Louis was 37 and his wife was 45.

Let’s jump forward 20 years:

Louis and Elizabeth are living by themselves. I forgot to mention that Louis was listed as an alien in 1920 and he appears to be one also in 1940.

Here is Louis’ WWI Draft Registration:

This was from September 12, 1918. The next page shows he had medium height and build, black hair and green eyes. I think that a non-declared alien meant that he hadn’t filed any papers to become a citizen. I’m not so clear on the middle name – either Henwick or Henrick. The transcriber went with Henwick.

I didn’t know but  there was also a Connecticut Military Census in 1917. Here Louis lists some of his skills:

The Louis Kessler Family in 1930

This is the record Bob mentioned. The transcriber has Louis’ name as Lorin Kessler or Loris Keasler. Watch out for transcriptions. The transcriber also has Louis speaking “Jewish” but I see it as Danish. Louis owns his own $6,000 home by now and is working as an auto mechanic. Handy guy. The Kessler family look to be on Givens Ave, Stamford, CT. Now his immigration is listed as 1904 rather than 1900 as per the 1920 Census. One obscure fact about the 1930 Census is that there was information on whether there was a radio set in the household. There was. Dorothy and Raymond are there, but Raymond went on to a new page, so I won’t copy the record.

Danish or jewish?

 

So far, I see a hard working Danish man that came to the US and was able to buy a house and raise a family. He was had skills in different trades and willing to try different occupations. I’m fresh out of easy hints except for a family tree hint. I tend to be wary of those as they can be either accurate or inaccurate.

North Omme, Denmark

The information is trickling in on Bob’s maternal grandfather. Louis’ World War II Draft Card shows he was from North Omme, Denmark:

By 1942, it appears that Louis Americanized his middle name to Henry. According to Google Maps, this is Omme. I didn’t have much luck with North Omme. [Edit: I show later in the Blog that Louis actually lived in the Parish of Norre Omme in the area of Ringkobing to the North of Esbjerg.]

Lewis or Louis?

Bob tells me that his grandfather moved to Florida after his wife died:

Louis Keseler in MA?

I tried searching at FamilySearch.org and found a Louis Keseler in Agawam, MA:

This ‘Keseler’ seems to meet all the right requirements. Agawam, MA is on the border of Connecticut and on the Connecticut River. This Louis was working on a horse farm in 1910. [Edit #2: I show later in the Blog that Louis’ family name in Denmark was actually Kæseler.]

Louis’ Brother Chris

Bob tells me that Louis/Lewis had a brother named Chris:

his brother Chris ran a large junkyard in Camden NJ – I think i have the right town, may have been Elizabeth NJ

A brief search did not reveal anything. On to Frick(e).

The Frick(e) Family

The information appears to be a bit sketchy here also:

Wife Elizabeth, I found a reference once to Lizzie Frick(e), may be in an old bible.  Pretty sure she is German.  Was married and had Joseph ? a cop in Fordam, NY. Remarried Lewis.

Sketchy, but specific, so that part is good. In genealogy, it is good to go from more recent to less recent. Here is the death record for Eliza Kessler:

That’s a start. It would be nice to have a marriage record. I actually did take a peek at one Ancestry Tree for the family and that tree had the ‘Eliza’ above listed as Lizzie Fricke. A search at ancestry came up with the important 1880 census that I was looking for.

It looks like Lizzie’s dad Henry was a Copper Smith. All the children except for Antonia were born in New Jersey. Antonia was born around 1867 in New York. Both parents were from Prussia.

In 1889, the family lived at 38 Pine St., in Jersey City:

If the family had arrived at Ellis Island, they could have walked to Pine Street. However, Ellis Island was built out about 30 years after the family arrived in the US.

New Jersey had an 1895 Census:

This family, transcribed as ‘Frecke’ goes on to the next page:

August is apparently now Gustav.

Searching for Hermine/Minnie, I found the 1900 Census at FamilySearch.org. The family was transcribed as Fricker there. Now they are at 114 Pine St., Jersey City. Hopefully, this Census will yield some important information:

This answers some questions I had. First, Lillian was a late arrival daughter, born March, 1888. Now I have a birth of Henry on December 1834. This should be helpful as there were many Henry or Heinrich Fricke’s born in Germany.

Hermina has been married 34 years, so that brings us to 1866 – probably after they arrived in the US. However, that would be cutting it close. Hermina had 8 children, but only 6 are living in 1900. The Census further shows that Henry and Hermina arrived in the US in 1866. Henry is listed as NA which I believe means naturalized. He is shown as a cooper smith (copper smith?). Herman is a laborer. Lottie(?) is a boxmaker. Her twin Gustav is a blacksmith and Lillian is at school.

Unfortunately, within 5 years, Hermine would be a widow. New Jersey had a well-documented populace. Here is the family in 1905 at 285 Pine Street:

The family is transcribed as Friche this year. Now Hermine is shown as being born in Germany which reflects changing country borders over time. This Census gives some more precise birth months and years. This census says that Hermine entered the country 45 years ago. That would be 1860.

Ancestry gives me a hint for ‘Minnie’ in 1920:

She is living as a widow at 548 Jackson Ave, Jersey City with her single son, Herman. This also shows she arrived in the US in 1865 and that she did not speak English.

Perhaps Hermine and Herman lived in and rented one of these houses in 1920. If I’m reading the Census right, it looks like there were 8 families living at this address. Can that be right? Perhaps addresses changed over the years?

Go Hermine: 1930

I was surprised to see Hermine in the 1930 Census at age 85. She is still at Pine Street, but now living in the suburbs of Cranford, NJ with her youngest daughter Lillian:

A Fricke Summary

So far, we have a lot of information about the Fricke family in the US, but not so much in Germany or Prussia. I don’t have a maiden name for Minnie aka Hermine/Herminia. I don’t have there marriage record or death records. All this would be helpful. It appears that the family pulled together to help out their mom Hermine in her late years. Herman who never married apparently spent his time with his mom from when his dad Henry died around 1903 to when Hermina died around 1933 or so. Also the youngest daughter took in both Hermina and Herman.

Spotlight on Lizzie Fricke

It looks like I got a bit side-tracked following Lizzie’s Fricke family. The last single record I have of Lizzie was in 1895 when she was about 21 years old. Here are the missing years for Lizzie:

They are between when Lizzie was about 21 and 42. A search for a marriage for Lizzie found this:

Note that Elizabeth has a C for her middle initial. Bob says she was married before. Perhaps C is the start of her first married name.

A Foray Into Danish Geneaolgy – Kessler

It turns out that Danish Genealogy is online. The problem is that it is mostly in Danish. I thought that I would take a look and see what I could find. It helps to know what parish the Kesslers were from. I took a wild stab that Louis Kessler was from the Norre Omme Parish. Remember on his draft registration, he said he was from North – Omme. Sound similar, right? Here is what I found on the second page of the Norre Omme Parish Records under births 1881-1882:

Turns out the Norre Omme Parish is in the Ringkobing District, a bit further North than I had before:

Here is Norre Omme Parish in the Ringkobing District in case Bob wants to visit (kind of in the middle):

This looks to be the Church:

If you were buried at the Norre Omme Churchyard, you would have a well maintained plot:

I think I see why Lewis/Louis was having trouble with his name:

None of his names would be familiar with people in the US. I’m guessing at Lavrids Henrik Kæseler. [Note: the census transcription below is Laurids.] I like the use of exclamation point. Imagine yourself being born in Denmark with different names, letters and a language that people don’t understand in the US. Yikes. I’m thinking there is one of those funny stuck together ae’s in the name Kæseler. If I can find two parents in this record, I’ll be happy.

Is there a Danish handwriting specialist around? I see three names and then probably Kaeseler. I don’t have good feelings about the first name, then Theodor, Wilhelm or Vilhelm. I’m afraid I don’t have a good point of reference for the mom’s name. This is where a good transcript would come in handy. The good news is I found the parents. The bad news is I can’t read a lot of what is there. I suppose the rest of the names on the right (seen below) are sponsors:

Norre Omme, Denmark Census

The Danish online Census is pretty cool. They have a button for viewing and searching for surnames. In the 1890 Census there are 14 Kaeselers and one Kaeisler. I’ll go with the Kaeselers.  Here is Laurid’s family:

Teodor is listed as a tomrer. My online dictionary has that as a carpenter which was one of Laurids’/Louis’ skills. Here there were two boys and two girls in the family. I’m guessing that the mother kept her maiden name and in this case it looks like it got passed down to the eldest daughter. Teodor was born in Tyskland and Jensine was born in Tvis. The place they lived in 1890 appears to be Fjalde By. It looks like Teodor and Jensine had a small window in which to get married. That being right around 1879. However, here is Teodor in 1880:

It looks like Teodor was living with his older sister. There is also a subtle difference unless there was a transcription error. The sister’s last name is Kaeselev with a ‘v’.

Norre Omme in 1870

This brings us a new set of parents:

Back 10 years to 1860:

I suppose Elisa’s husband was away in 1860. That would mean that Elisa Kæseler was the same as Margrethe Elisabeth Johanne Beise. At any rate, there are now two older brothers for Teodor or Theodor: Joahann and Erik Christian.  I don’t see any Kæselers in the 1855 Census. So I would have to look elsewhere. As the place of birth is given in the census, it would not be too difficult to trace these families back.

More Kæselers in the Danish Census

I wanted to check on the family in the 1901 Census, but that Census has not been indexed, so it would be too difficult to find them. I did a search at the Dansk Demografisk Database

I found many Kæselers there. However, in order to search on the name I had to enter the correct ‘æ’ symbol which on the keyboard is alt 0230. When I searched for Kæseler in Norre Omme, I got 30 matches.

Danish Census 1906

Most of what I did not have was the Danish Census of 1906. This would be after Louis aka Laurids emigrated to the US. One surprise is that Laurid’s grandfather is still alive at age 91. Another good thing is that birthdays are listed in 1906:

He is listed as tenant [Logerende]. Enkemand means widower. Ane Margrete may look familiar from above. She would be Jakob’s daughter. She shows as married, but Soren is a widower also, so perhaps she is there to help out. Landmand means farmer. A Hyrde is a shepherd or herder.

Can I get back before 1860 with the Kæseler name?

Here are the details for Jaob Henrick Kæseler in 1870:

The most important information as far as going back is his birth place.  Slesvig would be in English – Schleswig. There was a Schleswig war in 1864 fought between Prussia and Austria. This resulted in Denmark losing its land to the South:

By this time the readers will fully understand Danish, so no further explanation of the map above is needed. I assume that 1864 was a bad year for Denmark. Fortunately Jakob moved his family North before the War began. Hertugdømmet means Duchy, so I just need to find Heiligenhafen. Here it is below:

If it wasn’t for that war, perhaps Bob would have been boating out of Heiligenhafen today.

I found that searching on a site called https://www.danishfamilysearch.com was the most helpful. I found out that Heiligenhafen is in the area of Ostholstein which has 96 Parishes. Four of those Parishes are in Heiligenhafen. The fourth Parish is Heiligenhafen Stadt which I think is the downtown area. Stadt is a German word.

Heiligenhafen Stadt Census 1803

It appears that the only indexed Census for Heiigenhafen Stadt is for 1803. I was hoping to find a later Census as 1845 is the first year where people’s place of birth is given.

The other unfortunate aspect of the 1803 Census is that we have skipped a generation. However, as Baldric from Blackadder said, “I have a cunning plan”. If I can find the birth record for Jakob Henrik Kæseler b. 1814, then I should be able to link him to his parents. It appears there should be a link to from our early 1800’s Jakob Henrik to these Jacob Hinrich’s from the 1700’s. This is almost too much fun.

As expected, Jacob Hinrich was the son of Jacob Hinrich. What a surprise.

I suppose that Christian could have been Jacob’s brother in this other Heiigenhafen Kæseler household:

It looks like the Census is now in German as weber is weaver in German.

Into the Parish Records 1814 for Heiligenhafen Stadt

When I look for Church Books at www.danishfamilysearch.com I come up with nothing. That means I go back to the Danish web page which is /www.sa.dk/en/. I didn’t have luck there either. I’m guessing that I will have to go to German records? At this point I’ve gone full circle and am back at the Ancestry Search. After many attempts, I found this record at Ancestry:

So here we have yet another spelling change. I don’t think that Anna Catharina was also a Käseler. It appears that Ancestry saves some work and time by giving the husband’s name to the mother. Here is the original record:

I see the two last names as similar but not the same. Her name looks more like Kolfin or something. Fortunately, I get another crack at her name. Here is the marriage record:

I have looked at this original record also and the name is clearly Kulsen.

The way it looks is that the Kaeseler family was in Heiligenhafen for at least 100 years.

Summing Up

  • Thanks to Louis’ specific statement giving his home parish in his WWII Draft Registration, I was able to track the family back to Denmark.
  • I have not yet been able to get back to Germany for the Fricke Family. That would take knowing some more Fricke parents or getting other information as detailed ship records, naturalization records or marriage or death records. Right now there is not an easy way to trace the Fricke family back to Germany.
  • Is Bob part Danish or part Schleswigian?

 

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Men’s Breakfast Genealogy: Bob

Bob is someone I see at a weekly men’s breakfast that I go to. When I mentioned my interest in genealogy, he told me about his great grandfather Ansen Davis from West Haven. I said that I could look to see if I could find out more about the Davis family. I recently wrote a Blog on Fred from the breakfast group. After over 160 Blogs on genetic genealogy, the Blog about Fred was my first on just genealogy. Neither Fred nor Bob have taken a DNA test.

Looking for Ansen

I had thought perhaps Ansen should be spelled Anson. I also thought that Ansen sounded Norwegian, but Bob said the family was from Wales. My first look at Ancestry.com for Ansen Davis produced people all over the US. Then I added that he was from West Haven and got this.

I went a way down this route only to find that this was the wrong Anson Davis family. This is why genealogists go from the present to the past. I should started with Bob’s grandfather rather than his great grandfather.

Wilbur Perry Davis

I just figured out from my notes that Bob mentioned that his grandfather was Wilbur Perry Davis. A search at Ancestry for Wilbur Perry Davis shows this:

This makes more sense as Bob mentioned Maine and West Haven. My guess is that this would be Bob’s grandfather, but let’s check.

Here is Wilbur’s marriage:

Here is the reference:

It appears that Eunice was baptized at this Church3 years before she married Wilbur:

Here is the Wilbur Perry Davis family in 1920 way up in Bangor:

According to this Census, Wilbur was born in New Hampshire as was his dad. His mom was born in Connecticut. Hmm… This also shows Virgil as a daughter, which I would have thought would be a male name.

Here is the Bangor Directory for 1923:

1930 – A Few Changes for the Davis Family

It looks like Wilbur moved to Greenwhich, CT, remarried and had two children by a second wife. Now the wife is Elizabeth born in Missouri. Now Virgil is correctly shown as a son. This even shows a son Wilbur born in Illinois. So a lot happened in 10 years. Wilbur, the head of the household is a salesman, but I can’t quite make out the name of the company.

Who is Wilbur Perry Davis’ Dad?

Here is a family tree clue from Ancestry:

 

Here is the paternal side Bob’s revised Davis Tree. I don’t know anything about Bob’s mother.

Wilbur Perry Davis: The Early Years

It looks like Ansen may have died young. Here is the 1900 Census:

I assume that Wilbur’s mother remarried a Frederick Smith. Wilbur is now listed as a stepson. Perhaps Wilbur’s mother’s maiden name was not also Smith. The 1890 Census was destroyed, so some important information is missing. Wilbur’s step-dad was a carpenter. This couple was married for 10 years as of 1900, so they married around 1890. That means that it is not likely that Wilbur knew his dad.

In 1910, Wilbur was a book keeper for a Wholesale Grocer in Orange:

My guess is that Wilbur had a good step father as Wilbur stayed in the house for quite some time. In 1910, Wilbur’s father is listed as being born in New Hampshire. Going back to check the 1930 Census, Wilbur’s father is said to be born there also.

Back to Ansen Davis

I still know little about Ansen. I did learn that Wilbur was born in Lee, NH. Ansen appears to have died when his son Wilbur was quite young.

Here is Lee:

Backing In To Ansen Via Alice

Let’s look at Wilbur’s mother Alice. Remember the 1900 and 1910 Censuses. That showed a Frederick J(?) Smith married to an Alice I(?). I see this promising record at FamilySearch.org. It has Fred and Alice’s daughter Eva:

My working theory is that Ansen married Alice Kelley and had Wilbur. Ansen died. Alice remarried Fred and Fred adopted Wilbur. All these middle initials and details play an important part in the research. Another thing I notice about Alice is that she was born in Connecticut but both her parents were born in England.

Summary at Mid-Point

  • First I found a few Anson Davises in the West Haven area. They were well documented and had a farm in Oxford, CT.
  • So far I have found no connection between Bob and this Connecticut Anson Davis family except by name
  • Bob’s grandfather Wilbur Perry Davis is fairly well documented. However, I am having trouble finding a birth record to confirm that he was indeed born in Lee, NH.
  • I have so far found no primary record linking Wilbur Perry Davis to Ansen Davis

Concerning the last point (and perhaps second), here is a Social Security record for Wilbur’s son Benjamin Anson:

I mention this because Wilbur’s first son’s middle name was Anson. This would be one of the only physical links I have found to the name Anson (or Ansen). There is also one family tree reference at Ancestry, but that lists the name as Benjamin Ansin Davis.

More on Wilbur Perry Davis

In order to find out about Wilbur’s father, we should find out more about Wilbur. This could be a record of his daughter, Elizabeth:

Could Eunice have been named for Wilbur’s first wife? And Possibly the E in the Mary E Chamberlain could be the Elizabeth I had previously for Wilbur’s second wife. Apparently so. Here is Wilbur’s entry in the 1930 Greenwich directory in bold:

Greenwich is one town to the West of Stamford.

A Major Breakthrough with Anson

After many searches for Ansen/Anson, I tried searching for Ansen Davis born in New Hampshire at FamilySearch.org. I came up with a lot of good information.

It was beginning to be a personal thing between Anson and me and I was determined to find him. Here he is as Anson B. Davis. I think he works at Shoesmith(?). Now I’m getting somewhere. I have a whole family with parents and children. They were living in Durham, NH in 1880. Not only that, according to this Census, Levi’s parents were both born in New Hampshire.

Just to be confusing, there appears to be another Anson B. Davis living in Farmington, NH in the same year – 1880. I don’t know who he is. He also works in a shoe shop. Is it possible that Anson was enumerated more than once?

This appears to be the record of Anson’s death:

I would have thought that Anson’s mother would be Lucy, but perhaps Lucy was Levi’s second wife. It is sad that Anson died so young. This also shows his birthplace as Nottingham, NH.

This is the document that I first found that appears to pull it all together.

Unfortunately, Anson had a son named Levi, apparently named for Anson’s father that died young. This clearly shows that Allice J. Kelley was the mother and Anson was the father. This confirms some of my research above. Interestingly, Allice Kelley was born in No. Waterbury, CT and Levi was born in Ansonia CT. This means that this family must have moved from CT to NH in 1886. Or, Allice went to Ansonia temporarily that year for the birth of her son, Levi.

Here is the marriage record for Levi and Henrietta:

It looks like there was some confusion as to the year of marriage. Here is the birth record for Henrietta:

Levi’s birth record appears to say that he had a Davis mother and father.

Now we can see more of Bob’s father’s tree:

This should get us to about the year 1800 in Nottingham, NH.

Here is the death record for Levi:

This shows that Levi’s mother was not a Davis, but a Burnham from New Durham, NH.

1857 Nottingham Map

Here is a spot where the Davis families likely lived in 1857:

Now compare that map with the 1860 Census:

  • J.E. Fernald is John E.
  • J. Davis I would have thought would be Jacob Davis, but perhaps Levi Davis is living here now. Perhaps Jacob passed away prior to 1860
  • Rev A Tuttle is Alexander Tuttle and father in law of Levi Davis. His occupation on the census appears to stand for First Baptist Clergyman
  • A Lucy is likely Alexander Lucy

That means that one of Bob’s ancestor was a Baptist Pastor.

The 1850 Census clears things up a little:

This brings us to the 1700’s for the Davis family. The Sarah in the 1860 Census was actually the daughter of Jacob, probably living in her father’s house.

The Tuttle Family

Here is an excerpt from a 1906 called “The Native Ministry of New Hampshire”

Genealogy gets easy when an ancestor is a bit famous. Here, we see that F.B. was actually Free Baptist. Browsing on Google, it appears that the Free in the name could refer to Free Will, an issue of theology relating to Arminianism. I note that there was also a Calvin Baptist Church in Nottingham which I suppose held an opposing view.

The Tuttle family is further documented in this book:

The Freewill Baptists and Anson

Is this reference more than a coincidence? This is from the same book on the history of Nottingham and mentions Rev. Ebenezer Scales:

Anson is a Town in Maine where there was a quarterly meeting of the Freewill Baptists. Hmm…

While I’m on the topic of Anson, his son Wilbur Perry Davis thought that his father was from Lee, NH. Lee is close to Nottingham:

The Free Baptist Church is above the large ‘M’ on the map for reference.

Anson’s New Hampshire Tree

This is just a skeleton. For example, I know the father of Stoten Tuttle but haven’t written that in.

Summary

  • There are more Anson’s out there than I knew
  • I had never heard of the name Stoten until now
  • Bob is descended from a Freewill Baptist Minister, Alexander Tuttle
  • The Tuttle’s were a prominent family in early Nottingham, NH
  • Less has been written about the Davis family, but they were apparently early residents of Nottingham, NH also
  • It doesn’t hurt to come up with theories on ancestors when all the facts aren’t known. Further information will show those theories to be right or wrong