Category: DNA General

My sister has an interesting possible Nicholson common ancestor with a match at Ancestry. This is how it looks:

Maybe I have looked at this before as it appears I must have Edward Percy Fenn in my Ancestry Tree. However, I do not see this in my Nicholsono DNA Tree:

My DNA Tree only shows descendant from three children of Matthew Nicholson born 1798. Those are Henry, Lydia and William.

I was able to find a better Nicholson Chart on my laptop which I emailed to my home computer:

In addition to William Nicholson, this Tree has the Matthew children Henry, John, Sarah and Lydia. This probably explains why I was researching the John Clayton Nicholson Line in the past.

Working on AE’s Genealogy

Here is the paternal part of AE’s tree:

One of AE’s great-grandfathers is listed as Edward Penelope Fenn. I’m not sure the Penelope part is right as I have Percy as a middle name. At this point, I have a two generation gap between AE and Edward Fenn. I would recommend finding out more about Edward Fenn. This is what I have now in my tree:

Death records would be helpful:

As the mother and father information mathces with what I have, I feel like I am on the right track. This seems to be about all I can find easily.

Updating the Nicholson DNA Tree

This is how I see it:

When I check AE and Lori’s shared matches, I don’t see MR but I do see someone who has no tree with the surname of Colton. That shows up a typo on my Nicholson DNA Tree. George Cotton should be George Colton.

Summary and Conclusions

• AE’s two missing generation of ancestors between him and Edward Fenn made the analysis a little difficult
• However, I did not have to go back many generations. I already had the genealogy up to Edward Fenn but with not many details.
• The more branching I have, the more likely the Nicholson DNA Tree is right.
• The tree is also supported by shared matches.

 

 

I have a lot of fun looking at proposed Ancestry Common Ancestors. Sometimes they are obvioius. Sometimes they bring me through murky genealogical areas. Let’s see where this one brings us:

The match is not close and the common ancestors go back to the 1700’s. This shows that Ed and I are 5th cousins once removed. Here is Ed’s part of my Snell ThruLines at Ancestry:

Ed should be E.G.’s 2nd cousin twice removed. This shows E.G. is as shared match between Ed and me:

That means the DNA supports the theory that Ed should also descend from Anthony Snell. Ed should fit in on the right side of this part of my Snell DNA Tree:

Here is Ed’s Ancestry Tree:

It looks on the surface to be a well researched tree.

Ed’s Floating Tree

The proper way to evaluate Ed is to create a floating tree for him in my tree and then connect him when I see that the connection is appropriate. Based on the shared DNA, it seems likely that he would be connected. According to Ed’s tree, his father was born in New Jersey and died in Germany:

I don’t see Ed listed in the obituary. Is he the same as Derek? Edward T was listed as Edward W in the 1950 Census:

At this point, we need to follow wife Marie’s line going back. Marie’s obituary gives me a head start:

I highlighted the most interesting part to me for the purposes of this Blog.

Here is Marie in 1930:

Marie’s father worked at an iron foundry. Notice that Marie’s Uncle Chester Snell lived with them. He was an attendant at a service station.

Here is an odd marriage article from 1920 that highlights the pastor instead of the bride:

Ruby was a newborn in 1905. Her father was a farm laborer.

Ruby remarries in 1951 and gives her parents’ names:

I see her father as Percy E Snell, but it is transcribed as Percy Ednell.

Here is the 1900 Census for Landis, New Jersey:

Unfortunately, it straddles a page. Percy’s father was a farmer.

This shows as E. Landis Ave., but I think it is the right vicinity:

Here I have built out Ed’s tree to Charles Snell:

That is the floating tree. I have to connect this to my tree:

Just to make sure, here is Charles’ marriage record from 1860 in West Roxbury when he was an iron monger:

I successfully merged the two Charles Snell.

Updating the Snell DNA Tree

Summary and Conclusions

• It is interesting to see how different Snell lines diverged
• It looks like I am missing a line under the Anthony Snell 1802 line. This is due to my computer and laptop not being synced.

• My only question in the connectiion is between Ed and his father. However, I do not usually question these relationships as I assume that people know who their father is.
• A shared match between Ed and EG made it highly likely that this connection was correct even before checking the genealogy.

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

 

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.

In my previous 3 Blogs on the 1926 Census, I looked mostly at my Frazer relatives who came from Ballindoon descending from George William Frazer and Margaret McMaster. In this Blog, I will check to see if I have missed any other relatives.

McMaster

Of these, all the siblings of my second great-grandmother Margaret died before 1926 except Hubert. In 1911, Hubert was living in Culnagneragh:

I think this was called Clarkwood in English.

Here is Hubert and family 15 years later:

Hubert is now 77 and his wife has died. There are still three children living on the farm. I assume that George and Mary J are married to each other. Unfortunately, I cannot make out where Mary J was born.

Here is my best guess:

This was likely not far from where my Clarke ancestors lived in Carrownacarrick:

I have that George had 4 children, but they must have been born after the 1926 Census:

When I compare the 1911 with 1926, this is what I get:

Eliza dies in 1923.

Here is a record for James:

James enlists in Sydney, Australia for World War I. According to someone else’s tree at Ancestry, James dies in WWI in France.

I am not sure what happened to Robert William. Here is a different Robert William – perhaps named after the earlier Robert William.

I think that I have met Dorothy before in England. It is tricky to keep track of all these relationships. This Robert William is the grandson of Jane who was a brother of the elder Hubert.

Margaret Lillie McMaster

I have that he married my great-grandfather’s youngest brother John Edward Frazer in 1917. I also have that she died in 1918.

John Edward had much tragedy in his life as his daughter dies at about age 1. These records were transcribed and sent to me from the Kilmactranny Church:

Add to this James McMaster who died in WWI in 1917:

McMaster DNA

I have built a McMaster DNA tree for DNA matches with many McMaster descendants:

I am not sure if this is up to date. From the yellow image above, I have matches with two descendants of George Ernest McMaster born 1894:

For my own ThruLines at Ancestry, I also match Karen and Matthew:

I did not put them on my McMaster DNA Chart because they are more closely related on my Frazer side.

I see my brother Jon has a match with Melissa:

This is a confusing one also as William McMaster who was my great-grandfather’s uncle, married my great-grandfather’s sister Catherine Clarke. That means that I cannot tell if I am related to Melissa on the Clarke or McMaster side!

What is interesting here is that William names Frances his daughter after his mother Fanny. Then Frances gives her daughter Joan as her middle name, the maiden name of her mother (Clarke).

Back to McMaster Genealogy

I wonder if Robert Hyde was any relation to Douglas Hyde, the first President of The Republic of Ireland?

Here is the family in 1901 in Cashty, Baronscourt, Tyrone, Ireland:

So soon after their marriage. I have this note from a researcher friend in Ireland:

Aug 06, 1899   Edward Wynne Frazer (Widower), of Carrondargrey, son of Archie Frazer

                                         Emma Martha Thompson of Carrandargrey, daughter of George Thompson

                                             Witnesses:  Robert Hyde, James McCormick (his mark).    Robert Hyde (from Cork) was recently appointed manager of the newly established Kilmactranny Dairy Co-operative with which the McMaster families were closely associated.     On June 29, 1899 he had married Frances Jane McMaster of Clarkwood who died the following year.

However, I do not think that the note is right concerning Frances Jane as she appears to be in the 1901 Census.

I wonder who the McMaster visitor was:

This must be Frances’ younger sister Margaret Lillie visiting. Here is Cashty:

Robert is listed as a Creamery Manager in 1901.

Here is the family in 1911, still on the move:

Frances Jane appears to rely heavily on her McMaster side for naming her sons (George Ernest, Hubert). Robert is still a creamery manager, now in St. Johnstown, County Donegal:

Robert and Frances stay put through 1926 and have another child:

Summary and Conclusions

• I was able to review, consolidate and expand my knowledge of the McMaster family of the Kilmactranny, Count Sligo area
• I was able to expand my knowldege of the Robert Hyde family. He married Frances Jane McMaster. A former researcher had thought that she died soon after marriage, but apparently not.
• Expanding the net could result in more information, but what I have is already a bit overwhelming.
• Robert Hyde was probably not a relative of Douglas Hyde. as Robert was born in County Cork. Douglas Hyde, the first president of the Republic of Ireland was the son of the Church of Ireland Rector who married my 2nd great grandparents George Frazer and Margaret McMaster.