Ancestor Birthday - March 31st - Elizabeth Moores 1734 - 1817

On February 3rd I wrote about Reuben FitzRandolph, who was the husband of Elizabeth Moores. They are my 5th great-grandparents. Neither of them have much information on their person pages on my website.

Looking further at Elizabeth I can see things that made me happy and sad about her. I was happy when a fellow researcher provided me with copies from the family history, Ancestors and Descendants of Lewis Ross Freeman with related families by Patty Barthell Myers. I was glad because it included Elizabeth with 3 generations of her Moores ancestors.

But I was sad when I read about her life. At first it wasn't sad. Elizabeth was born 31 Mar 1734 to John and Mary (Brittain) Moores in Woodbridge, New Jersey. On her 20th birthday in 1754 she married Reuben FitzRandolph. Here is a timeline for about the next 15 years for her children.

• 1754 John is born
• 1757 Frances is born
• 1758 Martha is born
• 1760 Frances died
• 1761 Mary is born
• 1763 Mary died
• 1764 Reuben is born
• 1765 John died
• 1766 Elizabeth is born
• 1767 Elizabeth died

So in that length of time, six children had been born and four died, so Elizabeth had only two surviving children.

It was probably after the beginning of the Revolutionary War that her one surviving daughter Martha, my 4th great-grandmother, married Elias Marsh around 1777. I have not found any more information about her son Reuben, other than he was apparently still alive when his father died in 1784. Elizabeth, Martha and Reuben shared the inheritance. I have not seen any record that Elizabeth remarried.

The family history states that Elizabeth died 17 Mar 1817 at New Garden, Ohio. This was just 2 weeks short of her 83rd birthday. She probably was with her daughter and family who had moved to Ohio in 1806 and eventually were members of the Quaker New Garden Monthly Meeting in Columbiana County, Ohio. So maybe the latter years of Elizabeth's life were not so unhappy.

One More Reason

#15

In 1994 I gave a talk at the Genealogical Council of Oregon Statewide Conference held at Bend, Oregon. The title was "Why Research All Those Brothers and Sisters?"

I presented the following fourteen reasons:

1. May be the only living members of that generation you can question.
2. Probably have the same parentage, but may discover multiple marriages or some "family secrets."
3. May have researched or compiled a family history.
4. May have married into a family with a written family history.
5. May have been more famous, so can find written biographies.
6. May have lived in the "old hometown" longer, so can be found in the local history book.
7. May have kept a diary or journal which has survived.
8. May have written letters which have survived.
9. May have died without descendants, so probate records list the other siblings.
10. May help determine migration patterns.
11. May help sort out who belongs to which family.
12. May provide clues for maiden names.
13. May provide clues of ancestry by naming patterns.
14. May provide clues for health history.

Now in 2017 I can give one more reason to research the brothers and sisters of our ancestors.

15. Their descendants will probably be our DNA matches.

So now you can get busy and research all those brothers and sisters.

What are the Names of Joseph Jewett's Children?

As I mentioned when I wrote about Joseph Jewett on his birthday, March 24th, I have some questions about the names of his children.

The state of New Hampshire has birth cards apparently copied in 1905 from the original town records. In these for Lisbon (originally Concord) there are five children of Joseph: David 1791, Lydia 1793, Warren 1798, James 1800 and Sally 1802. However a family history by George Anson Jewett, who was a descendant of Joseph, was published in 1914. He lists the following children: David 1791, Lydia 1793, Bert 1794, Warren 1798, Louisa 1800 and Hannah 1802. I have underlined those which are different. The 1914 history also lists two children born in New York: Francis Fenton 1806 and John 1808.

Can we find more information about these children?

There is only one Joseph Jewett listed in the 1800 census in Grafton County, New Hampshire. He is listed in the town of Bath, which corners on Lisbon. That entry shows 1 male age 26 to 44, (would be Joseph) 1 female age 26 to 44 (would be Joseph's wife Huldah) 1 female under 10 (fits Lydia) and 5 males under 10. This is where it is a problem. They should be David and Warren, probably Bert and even James, but there is still one more. There is a space in 1796 for another child. The Lisbon records do show a John Jewett born in 1796, the son of John. But in the 1800 census for Grafton County, in Haverhill the only John Jewett is age 45+ with a female age 45+ and no others.

A Hayes family history lists Bert as a son of Joseph and Huldah. In a paragraph about one of  Bert's sons, Alanson or Addison, it states Alanson probably came to Oregon in 1847 and settled a donation land claim in Clatsop County as well as Alanson's uncle John Jewett. There definitely is a John Jewett in Clatsop County Oregon who is listed as age 54 born in New Hampshire in the 1850 census. That John had a very large family. It is probably 2 of his children who are living with Seth and Lydia (Jewett) Hayes in the 1860 census in Linn County Oregon. The John born in 1796 remains a mystery to me and I'd really like to know who his parents are. If he is the son of Joseph and Huldah, then the John listed in the family history as born in 1808 would not be correct.

By 1820 some of the Jewetts are in Geauga County, Ohio. Lydia (my 3rd great-grandmother) was married to Seth Hayes in 1818. Seth is on the 1820 census in Burton township, with both a male and female in the age 26 to 45 column, plus some female children. Bert Jewett is also in Burton township in the 16 to 25 column. David Jewett is in Mentor township marked in the 26 to 45 column.

In 1826 there is a Hannah Jewett in the marriage records for Geauga County marrying Parley Green(e) and in 1829 a Louisa Jewett who married William Manley. Louisa's record lists her father as Joseph Jewett.

In the 1830 census for Geauga County I found Parly Green in Concord township with a female age 20 to 29. Seth Hays was in Burton township with a female 30 to 39. Enumerated next to him were Burt Jewet 30 to 39 and David Jewet 30 to 39. In Mentor township was a Joseph Jewet age 60 to 69 and next to him John Jewet age 30 to 39.

I still don't have firm conclusions for this family, but tend to believe the Jewett family history is probably closest to correct, except maybe for John. Is there anyone out there who can give me more information?

Who Were Mary Walker's Parents?

Last week (March 25th) I wrote about my 4th great-grandmother, Mary Jane Walker. I noted that she was born in South Carolina in 1801. She died before 1880 so the census does not give a clue about where her parents were born. Since there are over 100 men named Walker in the 1800 South Carolina census that does not seem the avenue to take to try to find her parents.

A Martha Walker married Joseph England (brother to Mary's husband William) in the same county where Mary and William were married, Gibson County Tennessee, not quite a year later in 1828. It seems reasonable to me that Martha could be her sister. Martha is said to have been born in 1806 in Christian County Kentucky. So that opens up looking at Walker families in Christian County Kentucky. I believe it is very probable that the England family were living in Stewart County, Tennessee, for the 1820 census. This borders the part of Christian County that became Trigg County in 1820. A few years ago I was able to visit Trigg County and check out the genealogical materials in the public library in the county seat, Cadiz Kentucky.

William and Mary (Walker) England were living in Illinois from about 1830 to 1847. First they were in Montgomery County and then Greene County. There were several Walkers living in Greene County. There were some Walkers in their marriage records. One which interested me was Eliza Serena E Walker (born about 1817 in Kentucky) who married Thomas A. Bell in 1834. According to an England family history there was a family story that one of the England sisters married a Bell. It seems more probable that it was a sister of the Walkers (who married Englands) who married the Bell. Then in the 1850 census there is a Rachel Walker, age 70, born in South Carolina, who was living with the Thomas Bell family in Greene County. Could Rachel be Mary's mother?

If Rachel was the mother of Mary, Martha and Eliza, she should have been in Christian/Trigg County around 1810 and 1820. Of course the census in those years only listed head of household. But there were Walkers there. In 1810 in Christian County there was an Elijah, 2 James, 2 Johns, 2 Richards and a Samuel. In 1820 in Trigg County there was a James, a John and a Samuel, very likely some of the same men from the previous census. John had six daughters with ages to include Mary, Martha and Eliza. Among the publications I found at the Cadiz library were books of transcribed deed records. Among these I found a deed from John Walker and his wife Rachel in 1822. By 1830 there is a John Walker in Greene County Illinois who matches the age of the John Walker in Trigg County and there is a daughter the correct age to be Eliza.

Mary and William England named their oldest son John and their youngest daughter Rachel. I have concluded that her parents were probably John and Rachel Walker.

Writing a Blog Can Cost Me Money

Yesterday I posted a table of some of my immigrant ancestors. To make the table complete before I posted it, I had to look up a couple of items. So naturally, I Googled (the name) to America and the date.

One of the hits was to a page in a fairly recent book about early settlers in New Jersey. It included more of my ancestors, so I looked to see if there was an online version. No such luck, just a few preview pages. A link was provided to World Cat and I discovered that the nearest library listed there was hundreds of miles away.

But, there were links to some booksellers. I checked Amazon.com first and their price was higher than I would pay. But Lulu.com had a more reasonable price, so I yielded to the temptation and within a few weeks a new book should arrive in my mailbox.

Maybe it will help me in writing future blog posts. I'll try to let you know. 

Some of My Immigrant Ancestors

(with probable immigration information)

Name	Gen #	Ship	From	To	Date
Thomas Blossom	13	Mayflower (not 1620)	England	Plymouth	1629
Richard Kimball	13	Elizabeth	England	Boston MA	1634
Henry Kimball	12	Elizabeth	England	Boston MA	1634
William Law	12	Planter	England	MA	1635
Maximilian Jewett	12	John of London	England	Boston MA	1638
Henry Reynolds	10	Kent	England	Burlington NJ	1676
William Clayton	11	Kent	England	Pennsylvania	1677
William Woolman	12	Shield	England	Burlington NJ	1678
John Borton	12	Griffin	England	NJ	1679
Benjamin Acton	10	Lion/Lyon	England	Salem, NJ	1683
Ludwig Falk	4	Wieland	Posen/Bremen	Baltimore	1858

Are any of you related to these men? Maybe we can compare and share information.

Ancestor Birthday - March 25th - Mary Walker 1801 - 1873

Mary Jane Walker's birthday on March 25th is just a week after her husband, William Logsdon England, whose birthday was March 18th (posted on March 19th). However her birth happened almost a year before his as she was born in 1801 and he was born in 1802. Mary, my 3rd great-grandmother, was born in South Carolina according to census records. I believe that her parents were probably John and Rachel Walker. I plan to write another post next week explaining why I believe that.

Mary and William were married in Gibson County Tennesee. The bond is dated 27 Feb 1827 and family information indicates the marriage took place 2 Mar 1827. The bond gives her name as Polly Walker, which is the very common nickname for Mary. After their first son John was born, they moved to Montgomery County Illinois in 1829. They lived there until about 1847 when they moved to Davis County, Iowa with their six children.

While living in Davis County, Mary saw five of her children married there:

• Margaret married Commodore Perry O'Neal 23 Feb 1858
• Rachel married Hezekiah Redenbaugh 7 Oct 1858
• James married Angeline Sutten 17 Mar 1859
• David married Eliza Hopkins 29 Mar 1860
• John married Eliza Goodson 29 Apr 1865

This last marriage took place just before the family left to go to California. James and his family left the year before and Rachel and her family stayed in Iowa, so Mary, still unmarried: Margaret and family; David and family; and John and his new wife joined the wagon train and went with Mary and William to California.

Mary and William lived in California about six years until 1871 when they went north to Oregon. It was there in Lane County, Oregon about a month before her 72nd birthday that Mary Jane (Walker) England died on 27 Feb 1873. She was buried in the Cogswell-Gay Cemetery which was less than 5 miles from her daughter Margaret's home.

Ancestor Birthday - March 24th - Joseph Jewett 1765 - c1837

This is the day, March 24th, to celebrate the birthday of my 4th great-grandfather, Joseph Jewett. This Joseph Jewett had a 2nd great-grandfather also named Joseph Jewett, who was my 8th great-grandfather. Today's Joseph was born in 1765 in Hopkinton, New Hampshire to John and Hannah Jewett. When he was about 20, the family moved about 95 miles north to Lisbon.

A 1914 family history notes that Joseph was mentioned in the town records of Lisbon. Among these were that in 1785 his sheep mark was registered: "Hole in the left ear," and then in 1795 he was the chairman of a town meeting.

It was 10 Aug 1789 when he married Huldah Fenton from Landaff the next town to the south. They may have lived close to the line since he was recorded as of Landaff when he signed a petition for road in 1798. There are at least five children recorded at Lisbon from 1791 to 1802.

The family history lists a sixth child in Lisbon then goes on to say that the family moved to New York about 1805 and two more children were born there. Then it was about 1818 when Joseph moved to Mentor in Geauga (now Lake) County, Ohio, where he probably died around 1837.

I have some questions about the names of Joseph's children, so plan to write about that next week.

Related to a Grocery Store

When I say that my maiden name was Albertson, often people ask me if I am related to "Old Joe Albertson" the founder of Albertsons grocery stores. It is fun when I can say Yes. My grandfather and Joseph Albertson were 6th cousins, so I am a 6th cousin twice removed. Below is the chart showing the relationship.

Ancestor:

Nathaniel Albertson

of Perquimans County, North Carolina

c1659-1752

Aaron Albertson 1710-1782	Siblings	William Albertson 1724-1784
Benjamin Albertson 1739-1800	1st Cousin	Benjamin Albertson 1749-1802
Benjamin Albertson 1775-1820	2th Cousin	Benjamin Albertson 1784-1845
Nathan Albertson 1801-1883	3rd Cousin	Oliver Albertson 1826-1879
Benjamin Albertson 1826-c1908	4th Cousin	Albert Albertson 1854-1946
Nathan E Albertson 1849-1917	5th Cousin	Earl Albertson 1881-1957
Oran J Albertson 1882-1948	6th Cousin	Joseph A Albertson 1906-1993

Plus I purchased a few shares of stock in the company, so I can truthfully say, I am a part owner of the store.

My 2nd Great-grandparents in 1849

Yesterday I wrote about my great-grandparents in 1864, so today I am going back one generation and 15 years, back to the time of the California Gold Rush. As far as I have been able to determine, none of these 2nd great-grandparents went to California until later.

If I knew about all of my 2nd great-grandparents there would be 16 in this listing. However, I don't, so there are only the 12 who were living in the United States at that time. The other 4 were in Prussia, probably Posen.

You can see that there were 4 different states and 8 different counties where these ancestors lived back in 1849.

Name	Age	Residence: County, State
Benjamin Albertson	23	Hancock County, Indiana
Sabina Marsh	16	Hancock County, Indiana
Francis Hockett	31	Henry County, Iowa
Rebecca Hartley	31	Henry County, Iowa
John Wilson Smalley	17	Adams County, Ohio
Rachel Ann Hemphill	12	Adams County, Ohio
Joshua Rodney Shipman	9	Ashtabula County, Ohio
Lucy Jane Chase	10	Litchfield County, Connecticut
Solomon Bond	30	Marion County, Iowa
Huldah Hayes	22	Marion County, Iowa
Commodore Perry O'Neal	14	Bartholomew County, Indiana
Margaret Jane England	16	Davis County, Iowa

My Great-grandparents in 1864

Sometimes I find it interesting to consider how old my ancestors were at certain periods of history and where they were living. Over 150 years ago, 1864 was in the latter part of the Civil War, but it would be the next year before it ended.

You might notice that my great-grandparents ranged in age from 49 to 1. They lived in 5 different states and 6 different counties. But their locations were all in the North.

Name	Age	Residence: County, State
Nathan Elias Albertson	15	Hardin County, Iowa
Mary Magdalene Hockett	9	Hardin County, Iowa
Lafayette Pierce Smalley	6	Adams County, Ohio
Rosa Ella Shipman	1	Mercer County, Illinois
Ludwig Falk	49	Grant County, Wisconsin
Anna Louisa Boehm	32	Grant County, Wisconsin
John Howard Bond	9	Linn County, Oregon
Mary Ann O’Neal	6	Davis County, Iowa

Happy First Day of Spring

Another postcard from the past

from the Lester Albertson Collection

Ancestor Birthday - March 18th - William England 1802 - 1893

Today is the second day for a March 18th birthday. William England is today and yesterday I did John Bond. These two 3rd great-grandfathers of mine had descendants in common, since William's granddaughter, Mary Ann O'Neal, married John's grandson, John Howard Bond. They were my great-grandparents.

The two men had some other similarities. Both were born in Kentucky, although in different areas of the state, about 5 years apart. Both spent some time in Illinois and then went to Iowa to live. John left Iowa in 1853 to go to Oregon and William left Iowa in 1865 to go to California. But William didn't stay in California and moved north to Oregon about 1871, after John had died.

After William and his wife Mary (Walker) England had lived in Oregon for a little over a year, Mary died in February 1873 and William became a widower. He never remarried. He and his oldest son John purchased land in August 1873 east of current day Cottage Grove, Oregon. The deed records that they had 753.5 acres more or less. When the Dorena Dam was constructed in the late 1940s it was on a portion of their land. I really enjoy driving by the Dam and thinking that was land once owned by my ancestor. It was only after I began doing genealogical research in the mid 1980s that I realized that when I moved to Cottage Grove in 1961 it was to a place where an ancestor had been.

William lived a long life, being 91 when he died in 1893. The Eugene newspaper gave a brief account of his death: His demise was sudden, the old gentleman falling from his chair dead. William was buried in the Cogswell-Gay Cemetery northwest of Creswell, next to his wife. You have to go through private property to reach where the cemetery is located. A number of years ago I received permission and was able to visit it. I am thankful I was able to do that.

Ancestor Birthday - March 18th - John Bond 1797 - 1866

March 18th is another day when two ancestors had birthdays, so I am choosing to do the oldest one today and tomorrow I will do the second one.

There is quite a bit of information about John and his family on my genealogy website.

His person page is here http://www.joanneskelton.com/p16.htm#i387

From the main page the menu item for maps shows the general locations of the family Donation Land Claims. The menu item for charts includes a listing of two generations of his descendants.

But as also seems to happen, when I review the information posted there, I discover that I need to add more. For instance, his father's recorded will from 1850 has been digitized and placed online and John is named in that. It makes me wonder if John used some of the proceeds from that inheritance to help pay for their trip to Oregon in 1853.

Another item I haven't entered into the database is the listing from the Umatilla Agency in northeastern Oregon in 1853 of the travelers on the Oregon Trail. Among those listed on August 28 was Bond, J. , w. This would be John and his wife Sarah (Chastain) Bond.

I think it is fun to know that my 3rd great-grandfather came to Oregon so I have 5 generations of ancestors who lived here, making me a 6th generation Oregonian.

Was Thomas O'Neal Born in Ireland?

Since today is St. Patrick's Day, it seemed appropriate to check for Irish ancestors. I am not aware of any "for sure" Irish in the family.

Thomas O'Neal does seem one possibility. Thomas shows up in Indiana with a couple of children from a previous marriage and then he marries a widow, Sarah (Lollar) Brown, and they have at least 14 children together, including my ancestor, Commodore Perry O'Neal, who was born in 1835, and eventually moved to Oregon.

So I want to ask Thomas if he was born in Ireland. He didn't want to cooperate and died in 1847 so never appeared on a census where they asked for place of birth. But since he had so many children, maybe one or more of them listed their father's birthplace on the 1880 census or later.

When I checked Commodore Perry's listing, I find he stated his father was born in New York. In looking at others in the family I found a number agreed with the New York birth: Rebecca, Sophronia, James, Thomas, George, Mary and one of the children from the first marriage, Jesse. But there were two who were different. The oldest two girls from Thomas and Sarah's marriage, Martha and Leatha. both stated their father was born in Ireland.

So if majority ruled, New York would win. But the two girls would have been at least 20 years old before their father died, so why would they claim an Irish birthplace if there wasn't some basis for it. I may never know.

Ancestor Birthday - March 15 - Huldah Hayes 1827-1903

Since I had two ancestors who were born on March 15th, I did the oldest one first yesterday and am writing today about the second one.

Huldah Hayes was one of my 2nd great-grandmothers. She has a quite a lot of information about her life on my genealogy website on her person page.

http://www.joanneskelton.com/p15.htm#i371

There also is an article about events in her life in the one year 1876 on the site.

http://www.joanneskelton.com/e179.htm

From these we learn that she was born 15 Mar 1827 in Geauga County Ohio to Seth and Lydia (Jewett) Hayes. The family moved to Jefferson County, Iowa, before 1840 and it was there she married Solomon Bond on 6 Jan 1842. The family is listed in Marion County Iowa on the 1850 census and it was in 1853 when they traveled over the Oregon Trail to settle in Oregon Territory. They received a Donation Land Claim next to where Halsey Oregon is now.

She and Solomon had 11 children and at least 40 grandchildren. Here is a photo of her with some of her grandchildren, probably about 1901.

When Huldah died 26 Jun 1903, her obituary stated about her:"She was a woman of excellent character, a good citizen in every respect."

Ancestor Birthday - March 15 - Elizabeth Stanley 1761

Elizabeth Stanley was one of my 4th great-grandmothers. She was born in Rowan County, North Carolina, 15 Mar 1761 in the section which later (1770/71) became Guilford County.

It is believed that her parents were John and Ann (Ballard) Stanley.

Elizabeth married Francis Frazier about 1783. Her sister Susanna married James Frazier and her sister Marjorie married John Frazier, who were both brothers of Francis. This makes a number of possible double cousins.

Francis and Elizabeth were members of the Quaker church in North Carolina and as many others did, they moved to Ohio with their nine children about 1810. It was in Highland County, Ohio, where a daughter (my 3rd great-grandmother Sarah) and two of their sons married children of Stephen and Margaret (Thornburgh) Hockett, making another set of double cousins for me.

The family moved on to Indiana about 1817 and it was there that Francis died in 1830. As so often happens in this time period, I haven't yet found information about Elizabeth's death.

I wrote about Margaret (Thornburgh) Hockett on 10 Jan 2017. Then I noted that there were 21 DNA matches to her on the DNA circles on Ancestry.com. Now I checked today and from her circle there are 7 matches who. from their family trees. are also descendants of Elizabeth. Since that DNA might have come from any one of the four (Francis, Elizabeth, Stephen or Margaret) and it is rather far back, I still like to think that maybe it was some of Elizabeth's DNA that was passed down to me.

Looking at Samuel Nicholson's Land Records

In the early days of settlement in northeastern North Carolina where Samuel Nicholson came to live, the "Lord Proprietors" wanted to encourage settlement of their colony, so they gave land to new settlers, usually 50 acres each. If you brought someone there you also got 50 acres for bringing them.

Since the Nicholson family came around 1670, Samuel, who was born in 1665, would have still been a small child at the time. But it took almost another 25 years before they received the patent for their land, and by then, Samuel's parents had died, so as the oldest son, he received the land. There is a notice in Feb 1693/94 that six rights were certified: Christopher Nichols, Hannah his wife, Deliverance Sutton Saml. Nicholson, _____Symons, Hannah Nicolson. In that same month it was recorded that Samuel assigned one of the rights to Hannah Gosby, which was the married name of his sister Hannah Nicholson. Then in April 1694 Willm Jones proved a right for himself, then assigned it to Saml. Nicholson. So Samuel ended up with six rights, and did receive a patent for 300 acres.

Weynette Parks Haun transcribed the description in her book, Old Albemarle County North Carolina Book of Land Warrants and Surveys 1681-1706:

"begining at a beech by the side of Suttons Creek Swamp thence west twenty three degrs. North a hundred and fifty pole to a beech then North forty four degrs East three hundred and fifty poles to an oake, then East twenty three degrees South a hundred and Sixty poles to another beech by the sd. Swamp then down the sd. Swamp by various courses to the first station."

There is a map included in the back of History of Perquimans County North Carolina, by Ellen Goode Winslow. It shows where many of the original patents were and Samuel's name is on the map. It appears to be on the east side of the Perquimans River across from the current county seat, Hertford. When I visited Perquimans County in 1996, we stopped in Hertford and looked across the river. Maybe, just maybe, I was gazing at the land once owned by my ancestor.

Looking at Samuel Nicholson's Will

Because some of my family lived in northeastern North Carolina from about 1670 until the 1830s I have collected a number of research materials for that area over the years.

The book, North Carolina Wills, by J. Bryan Grimes, originally published in 1912, has a transcription of Samuel's will. In 1993 Dr. Stephen E. Bradley Jr. published abstracts of Early Records of North Carolina, from the Secretary of State Papers. Volume 5 was wills from 1723-1736 and included Samuel. I checked today and found that Ancestry.com has a database of North Carolina will abstracts from 1690 to 1760 and Samuel is in that also. They don't agree exactly, but are close enough to show the will was written about 1727 or 1728.

Samuel gave "the whole Use and Benifit of all my Lands and houses and plantation" to his "dear and well beloved wife, Elizabeth Nicholson'' during her life. When she died they were to go to his surviving married daughter, Elizabeth Anderson. Elizabeth was also to receive a Negro woman "called bes." To his other surviving daughter, who was unmarried, Sarah Nicholson, he left a Nego boy "caled Sesor." He also left Sarah a feather bed and furniture. Each of his grandcchildren were to receive 40 shillings.

He gave one other bequest that is puzzling to me: "I also give to my Friend, Sarah Gloster, as much good fine Silk Crape as will make her a Suit of Close, a pare of good Stays, three yards of muslin, a pare of worsted hoes, two Yards of Holen, as much fine Garlick, as will make har a Shift." She is probably the same as Sarah Glauster named as an underage daughter in the will of Joseph Glaister of Pasquotank (neighboring County) from 1718/19. She and her sister Ruth were to receive land in North Carolina and Virginia when she came of age. I find it interesting that her sister Ruth received a bequest in 1724/25 from a Nathanel Setton (probably Sutton) for muslin for an apron.

Wills can made interesting reading. It reminded me that even though he was a Quaker, Samuel did have at least two negro slaves that he willed to his daughters.

Ancestor Birthday - Samuel Nicholson - 12 March 1665-1727

I have been reviewing my information on Samuel Nicholson, my 8th great-grandfather, and find that I need to do some more work on him. So I will try to write more tomorrow.

Some of what I have found is: Samuel was the son of Christopher and Hannah (Redknap) Nicholson. He was born 12 March 1665, probably in Massachusetts. His parents were married in Lynn, Massachusetts in 1662. From the listing of which Nicholson children were "imported" into North Carolina, it appears they came between 1667 and 1670. The family settled in Perquimans Precinct in the northeastern section of the state.

I discussed on my blog on 9 Jan 2017 about which Elizabeth Charles is was that Samuel married in 1688.

Various Nicholson genealogies give different lists of children for Samuel and Elizabeth, numbering from six to eight. All seem to include my 7th great-grandmother, Abigail Nicholson, born in 1689, who married Nathaniel Albertson.

History of Perquimans County by Ellen Goode Winslow, published in 1974, notes that at the January court of 1696/97 the justices present included Samuel Nicholson. He was also listed again in April 1697 and April 1701. So I believe he did have a political presence there.

I can blame the date today for not getting more written, since I lost an hour, due to the beginning of daylight savings time.

Ancestor Birthday - Jonathan Jewett - 11 March 1678/79-1745

One of my Jewett ancestors was my 7th great-grandfather, Jonathan Jewett, who was born in Rowley, Massachusetts 11 Mar 1678/79. He was the oldest of four children to parents Joseph and Rebecca (Law) Jewett.

Jonathan probably knew his grandfather, Maximilian Jewett, who had emigrated from Bradford, England, in 1638. Maximilian died in October 1684 and Jonathan would have been about 5½ years old when his grandfather died. Maximilian's will left the homestead to Joseph, Jonathan's father. I wonder if the family including Jonathan ever lived there.

It was 24 Jan 1699/1700 when Jonathan married Mary Wicom. They had 9 children, who all lived to adulthood and married. Jonathan became a widower 21 Jan 1741/42 when Mary died while visiting in Exeter, New Hampshire. They lacked 3 days of being married 42 years.

It was a little less than a year later, 27 Dec 1742, when Jonathan, at age 63, remarried to a widow, Rebecca (Hale) Poore, from the neighboring town of Newbury. He lived about 2½ years more before he died 26 Jul 1745.

Genealogical Research Principles

A number of years ago, I compiled a listing of five principles for genealogical research, so want to share them today.

1. Continue from known to unknown.
2. Analyze the time and place.
3. Multiply your sources.
4. Evaluate the evidence.
5. Look for the whole family.

Sarah Was Named in Stephen's Will

Yesterday, March 8th, I wrote about Sarah Champion, my 7th great-grandmother. She had married Stephen Scoville in 1705 and apparently they were happily married until Stephen died in 1752. They had ten children and nine of them lived to be married, so Sarah would have been a grandmother a number of times. There are over 40 named in the Scovell genealogy.

I was pleased to see how Stephen included Sarah in his will of 1752. Quoting from it as published in the Scovell genealogy. "Unto my Beloved wife Sarah Schoval I do give and bequeath the use of my House and Lands and Tenements During her Remaining my widow......to be understood that she keep sundry moveables as she shall judge needful for Her to keeping House so long as she lives." I checked the dictionary for the word moveables and found it is just as it says, capable of being moved, but often used for wares, especially furniture.

The genealogy also gave a transcription from the inventory of Stephen's estate. I really enjoyed reading the furniture and housekeeping utensils included. Wouldn't they be what

Sarah had been using? Here are a few of what was listed: 

Great chair, 2 small chairs, 1 brass kettle, 1 pewter quart, 

2 pint basons, 1 pewter platter, 5 pewter spoons, 1 wine

 glass, 1 earthen platter, 4 wooden dishes, 6 wooden plates, 1 iron skillet, 5 pairs of knitting needles, 1 churn, 1 iron pot and hooks, frying pan, 2 sheets and a tablecloth, 1 linen sheet, 1 flannel blanket, 6 coverlets.

It is fun to think that Sarah shared a craft with me, as we both have knitted.

Ancestor Birthday - Sarah Champion - 8 March 1687/88

Sarah Champion was a 7th great-grandmother of mine. She was born in March of 1687/88. I have found her in two older genealogies: the Champion genealogy first published in 1891 and the Scovell genealogy first published in 1941. They both give her birthdate as March 8th. However the Barbour collection of Connecticut vital records shows her birthdate as March 3rd. They all agree that she was born in Lyme Connecticut to Thomas and Hannah (Brockway) Champion.

I was hoping that the Champion genealogy, which I was able to download from archives.org, would give me more information about Sarah than just her parents, date of birth and who she married. Wrong. Most of the female descendants in this book only have those facts. So I looked elsewhere.

Sarah married Stephen Scoville 4 Nov 1705, probably in East Haddam, Connecticut, since that is where their children were born. It was in the Scovell genealogy where I found a little more about Sarah. In discussing the church membership for Stephen, the authors note that "Mrs. Sarah Scoville was admitted to full communion in the First Church of East Haddam Dec. 19, 1731". It was about 1742 when there was a church at Hadlyme and she became a member of it.

Sarah was named as Stephen's wife in his will and I plan to write more about that tomorrow. Again with women in these very early days, I have not yet found death information for her.

Some Things I Did Not Know About My Grandfather Albertson

That is I didn't know these until I read them in the old local newspaper of Goodland Kansas.

Before he was married to my grandmother--

1898 Sept: Ora Albertson (my grandfather) along with his brother Artie (Arthur) used their saddle horses to help a neighbor pull his wagon after his horses had run away. It's good to know an ancestor was helpful.

1900 Apr: He got a new bicycle when he was almost 18 years old. I wonder how many others in the area had bikes.

1902 Mar: He bought a horse from the section foreman. Maybe he got tired of riding his bicycle.

1903 Oct: He returned to Kansas after a visit to his brother Arthur in Oregon. Then he started to work in the railroad shops at Goodland. I hadn't really understood that he had been to Oregon before the family came in 1911.

1901-3: He received bounty payments from the county three different times for coyote scalps at $1.00 each.

After he was married in April 1906

1906 Oct: He and his wife purchased a strip of land for $37.00, then sold it for $50.00. It looks like he made a profit of $13.00.

1906 Oct: He received bounty payment from the county for coyote scalps for $10.00. As a married man he needed to make a little more money.

1906 Oct: He was an employee in the shops, [probably railroad] and was recovering from an attack of typhoid fever. I'm so glad he was recovering.

Again I'll state that I truly enjoy reading in old newspapers and founding out those "little" things about my family.

Some Things I Did Not Know About My Mother

That is I didn't know these until I read them in the old local newspapers.

Before she was married to my father--

1928 May: Wilma Falk (my mother) belonged to a 4-H cooking club in Harrisburg. Maybe that is the reason she encouraged me to join a 4-H sewing club.

1929 Jun: She participated in a Harrisburg newspaper subscription contest and won 4th prize, a white sapphire set bracelet. It sounds like even 4th prize was profitable.

1932 Apr: She attended a surprise birthday party for her friend Alice Curtis. Among the other guests were her sisters, Lois Falk and Erma Falk, and my father, Lester Albertson. I'm glad she was able to attend parties with her friends.

1932 Apr: She and my father acted in a one-act play for the Christian Endeavor fund raiser. It was The family Flivver, she played Maw and he played Paw. I had not thought of her as an actress.

After she was married to my father--

1933 Dec: They won a prize at a church gathering for being the couple attending who had been married the shortest time. This was just a month after they were married.

1936 Feb: She and my father, along with other young people from Halsey and Brownsville, attended a chicken house party at Union Point. I have no idea exactly what a chicken house party was.

I truly enjoy reading in old newspapers and founding out those "little" things about my family.

Ancestor Birthday - Lydia Norton - 5 March 1739/40

Lydia Norton was a 5th great-grandmother of mine. I seem to have very little information about her. Her entry on my website shows that she was born on 5 Mar 1739/40 in Durham, Connecticut, the daughter of Isaac Norton. She married John Howe, the son of Jeremiah Howe and Elizabeth Gaylord, on 15 Apr 1766. There is one child listed for her: Ichabod Howe. And that is all that is there.

What more can I tell about her?

Well, I can add her mother's name: Mary Rockwell.

From her father's will: she had at least 4 brothers: Silvanus, Isaac Jr, Aaron and Joel.

and she had at least 4 sisters: Abigail, Mary, Anna and Deborah.

Her marriage was recorded at Goshen, Litchfield County, Connecticut.

She was John's second wife, so became a step-mother to at least 2, maybe 4 young children.

The birth of her first child, John, was recorded at Goshen.

Her second son Ichabod was said to have been born in Canaan, Litchfield County, Connecticut.

She probably had about 7 children.

Now there needs to be some effort on my part to get this information entered into my database so it can be uploaded to my website.

But as seems to often be the case from this time period, I don't have information about her death. I need to keep looking.

A Favorite Column on the Census -- 1940 #14

On the 1940 census, column 14 asked for the highest grade of school completed for that individual. Of course, I was too little to have gone to school but the listing for my parents showed that my father had completed the 8th grade and my mother had graduated from high school. That agrees with my records and recollection of what they told me.

I looked at the listings for my grandparents and found one grandfather had completed 7 grades and the other grandfather and two grandmothers had finished 8 grades. By 1940 only two of my great-grandparents were still alive. My great-grandfather had completed 4 grades and my great-grandmother had completed 5. However, I wonder if that is accurate because I know she taught school. Maybe all you had to do was pass a test to do that. Looks like more research is needed.

So I looked at my parents siblings and my grandparents siblings that I had located in the 1940 census (there are still some to find) and found 19 more entries. So I added the 19 to the 2 parents, 4 grandparents and 2 great-grandparents for a total of 27 individuals. Then I gathered the statistics and found the following.

Number who completed 4 years of high school = 3

Number who completed some high school = 4

Number who completed the 8th grade = 10

Number who completed less than 8th grade = 10

I am afraid that I took for granted my opportunity to complete high school and then go to college. Many of my relatives in the past didn't get that same advantage. Now that I am more aware, I can appreciate getting to go to school.

A Favorite Column on the Census -- 1930 #9

On the 1930 census, column 9 asked if the household had a radio set. I checked my Falk family as I already had a notebook showing all the children and grandchildren of Ludwig Falk that I could find in the 1930 census.

I was surprised at how few of the group had radios.

Here are some statistics:

Of the descendants of Ludwig and Anna Louisa (Boehm) Falk that I found, there were 7 children and 59 grandchildren in 44 households. There were only 13 of these households who had radios, or less than 30%.

Radios are something we take for granted now, less than 90 years later. Most households today have more than one radio and a radio is listed as a suggested item for an emergency kit. When I thought about this further I remembered that in most of Western Oregon, rural locations did not get electric power until the mid-1930s. It would be probable that other rural areas would also be affected with the lack of electricity. Since many of the Falk family members lived in rural locations, this might help explain why radios did not show up on the 1930 census. I wonder how many had radios by the 1940 census. There is no way for me to answer that question.

Farming in the Past

These photos came from a collection from my Grandmother Falk, Florence (Bond) Falk. It is fun to look back at these old photos showing horsedrawn implements, an old tractor and the old threshing machines.

Looking Back -- Looking Ahead

Now that two months of the year 2017 are completed, I can look back at the blog posts I have written this year -- a total of 59 (31 + 28) -- once each day.

There are some things this has helped me to realize:

• Each ancestor is unique.
• My ancestors lived in a number of different localities
• I have many more ancestors in each succeeding generation going back.
• There is a lot more research I could do on most of them.
• My entering information into my database is not keeping up with my blog writing.
• Organizing information is an ongoing task.

What are my plans for the coming month of March? I won't try to look ahead any farther than that now.

There are 11 birthday ancestors to review and write about. So that leaves 20 other days to fill (Today is one of those 20, so it's really 19).

Some ideas I am considering:

• Favorite columns on the census
• Using maps
• Considering cousins
• Newspaper finds
• Family photos

Now I guess you will have to just read what I write to find out which subjects I chose.