Rosa's Cousins - Irene Chase

Rosa's cousin Irene makes me sad. Irene was born about 1863 (the same year Rosa was born) in Ashtabula County Ohio to James and Sarah (Chase) Chase. Sarah was the oldest sister of Rosa's mother Lucy Jane. It makes research a little harder when someone named Chase marries someone else named Chase.

Irene only appeared on one census, 1870, in Dorset, Ashtabula County. She was 7 years old in the household of her parents James and Sarah along with her older brother Eugene, age 17, and an older woman, Esther Hance, age 70. Some researchers have assumed that Esther was the mother of Sarah, so have listed Sarah's surname as Hance. However we have the marriage information for James Chase and Sarah Chase from Connecticut.

Irene died just 8 years later, 5 Jul 1878, and was buried at Dorset Cemetery. I always find it sad when children die as teenagers. But I feel her death more keenly because among our family papers is a letter Irene wrote to Rosa about a year before, 29 Jul 1877. I will quote my transcription of her letter.

Dear Cousin Rosa,

I received your letter day before yesterday and was very glad to hear from you. Jennie Peters stayed with me last night she got a letter from you yesterday. We are pretty well at present and hope these few lines will find you the same. Gene [Eugene] took Hatt [his wife Harriett] up to her folkes yesterday to stay a week or so, so we are all alone. I have got a little niece, she will be 4 weeks old tomorrow. she weighes 10 3/4 lbs. I will send you one of my pictures just as soon as I have some taken you send one of yours in your next letter and I will send one of mine as soon as I can get some taken. Aunt Mary Chase says that you & I look enough alike to be sisters. I am 5 feet and 6 inches tall and weigh about 115. I went to a partie week ago Saturday night and to one last Tuesday night and I am a going to one next Thursday. I wish you was out here. I have got a new white dress and a calico one. I will send a piece of each. We got a letter from Aunt Emily Anderson the same time we got yours stating that Grandpa Chase was dead. We have got our wheat and grass and part of our oats cut. We had good crops. The grasshoppers are trying to eat our oats all up The grasshoppers are very thick here. have you got any out there. my school is out it was out a week ago last Saturday. I got the prize for being there the most days and whispering the less time, the prize was a silver napkin ring with my first name printed on it. I is very nice. You wanted to know where I went the fourth. I stayed at home in the forenoon and went over to Jennie Peterses in the afternoon. Well, I must close for the time, write soon as you get this. I thank you ever so much for your card, please send your picture you shall have one in return as soon as I can get some. I am a goin to go to singing school. It commences a week from next Tuesday. Write soon.

Yours Truly Irene J. Chase

Dorset, Ohio

The Children of Benjamin and Mary Albertson?

If you have been following this the past few days you know that my 5th great-grandfather, Benjamin Albertson had two wives named Mary. I believe that Benjamin married Mary Small in 1760, then married a second time to Mary Wyatt in 1769. Yesterday I showed how I determined that my 4th great-grandfather Benjamin Albertson was born after 1769.

Today I want to look at the rest of the children of Benjamin and Mary. Since the births of the children of Benjamin and Mary (both of them) are not recorded in the Quaker records, I need to try other avenues. I have one good source to use. Both Benjamin and Mary (Wyatt) left wills.

However they don't list the children in exactly the same order, so I can't be sure of the order of births. This will take a lot more research to try to determine who was born when and if any are the children of Mary Small.

I transcribed the will of Benjamin on June 24th & 25th. The children named are Benjamin, who received half of the land. Then Aron and Joshua who shared the other half. Joshua received another bequest. Next he lists Phariby Albertson who received personal property. Then Miriam Anderson (who had married in 1790) and Joseph Albertson who received an amount of money. The rest of the estate was to be divided between his wife Mary and daughter Sarah Albertson (she had married an Albertson cousin in 1798).

Mary wrote her will in 1807 and gave a money amount to each of the following: Joseph, Benjamin, Aaron, Sarah's children, Pharaby Griffen. The balance was to go to Joshua. You may notice that Miriam is not mentioned. It is possible that she had died, but I don't know why she wasn't mentioned.

So I still have questions about the children in this family and more research needs to be tried. Maybe I will never know for sure.

Trying to Transcribe - Will of Benjamin Albertson - Pt 1

Day before yesterday, 22 Jun 2017, I began a series of my transcriptions of handwritten records for some of my ancestors. I started with a recorded copy of the will of my 6th great-grandfather Aaron Albertson from Perquimans County North Carolina. Today I am doing part 1 of the will of Aaron's son, my 5th great-grandfather, Benjamin Albertson, written 21 Sep 1800 and probated at November term in 1800. If you find any errors please contact me.

122  State of North Carolina }

        Perquimans County } I Benjamin Albertson Sen^R of this place

        aforesaid being weak in body, but of Sound and disposing mind &

        memory, do make and ordain these presents to be & contain my

        last Will & Testament in the following manner & form

First It is my will that all the Just debts which may be owing from one

        at the time of my decease & all necessary Expenses be Well & truly

        paid out of my estate in due time.

Item I give to my beloved wife Mary Albertson during her natural

        Life the use of one third part of my plantation [ ]what Houses

        she shall have need of with privledge of fire wood & Rail

        Timber for her necessary use.

Item I give to my said Wife & her disposal, Two feather Beads & furniture

        One Horse & Saddle Two Cows & Calves & one Heifer two years old and

        all my Hogs, Three Ewes & Lambs, all my pewter, One Chest, one

        Trunk, One Linning Wheel, One Iron pot with hooks and trammel

        one large Bible, one Table, Six Chairs, one horse cart, and Mare,

        only for my son Joshua to have the two first Colts which the

        S^d Mare Shall Bring ----

Item I give & bequeath to my Son Benjamin Albertson & his heirs &

        assigns forever, one half of my plantation & Land, the part

        joining Richard Sanders line, to be divided by a straight line

        from the River to the head--

Item I give & bequeath the other half of my plantation & Land unto my

        sons Aron & Joshua Albertson, to be equally divided between them

        to them their heirs & assigns forever.

Item I give to my [ ] Son Joshua Albertson one feather Bed & furniture

        and one Heifer --

Item I give to my daughter Phariby Albertson one feather Bed & furniture

        One cow & Calf one Saddle & One Linen Wheel.

Item I give to my daughter Miriam Anderson Forty Shillings

Item I give to my son Joseph Albertson Forty Shillings.

[to be continued tomorrow]

Ancestor Birthday - June 1st - Elizabeth Kent 1667 - 1748

There were two 8th great-grandmothers born on June 1, so since Rebecca Law was born 12 years before Elizabeth Kent, Elizabeth had to take 2nd place. However, I did write about Elizabeth before when I discussed which Elizabeth had married Samuel Nicholson. (See post of 9 Jan 2017)

I still believe that my 8th great-grandmother, the wife of Samuel Nicholson and the mother of my ancestor Abigail Nicholson, was Elizabeth Kent, born 1 Jun 1667, the daughter of Thomas and Ann Kent, and also the widow of William Charles.

Most researchers agree that Elizabeth Kent, daughter of Thomas and Ann, did marry William Charles on 8 Nov 1683. She would have been 16 years old. William and Elizabeth had a daughter Jane born 1 Oct 1685. Then William died between 4 Apr 1687 when he made his will and 23 Sep 1687 when the will was probated. William named his wife "Elezabath Charles" and his daughter Jane Charles in his will as well as his brother John and other legacies.

Then the question is, who did the widow Elizabeth Charles marry? I believe it was the Quaker Samuel Nicholson who did marry an Elizabeth Charles 6, 10m, 16[88?] as recorded in Gwen Boyer Bjorkman's book of Quaker Marriage Certificates in northeastern North Carolina (pg 85). In Weynette Parks Haun book of transcriptions of Perquimans Precinct Births, Marriages, Deaths and Flesh Marks 1659-1820 she lists their marriage 16 Dec 1688. Since this was the time for the old style calendar, December was the 10th month. One of the reasons why I believe this was Elizabeth Kent was that 2 of the witnesses for that marriage were Mary Kent and Hannah Kent, the only mention of any Kents in Bjorkman's book.

So, if this Elizabeth is my ancestor, who were her children? The Perquimans birth records show that Samuel and his wife Elizabeth had at least 4 daughters: Abigail, Hannah, Jane and Elizabeth. There were probably a few more. This may indicate that Elizabeth's daughter, Jane Charles, had died before this Jane was born in 1694. I haven't been able to find any further records for the Jane Charles born in 1685.

Elizabeth became a widow again when Samuel died 28 Mar 1728. He had made his will a few days before he died and gave to his wife "Elizabarth" "my whole estate during her life." It was then to go to his daughter Elizabeth Anderson. He also gave a bequest to his daughter, Sarah Nicholson.

Apparently Elizabeth then married for a 3rd time to widower Zachariah Nixon. And again she became a widow when he died in 1739. Elizabeth left a will, dated 19 Mar 1747/48 and probated January Court 1748. (This should probably be 1748/49) She named her son-in-law John Anderson and daughters Elizabeth Anderson and Sarah Jones, as well as grandchildren and others.

Elizabeth has been difficult to research and I am certainly not 100% sure that I am correct about which Elizabeth is my ancestor. But at the moment this is my belief about her.

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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.