Curious – Am I Related to an Opera Singer?

 When I began my journey into genealogical research, I contacted one of my paternal 2^nd cousins who had been working on our family’s history. He very graciously shared some of the information he had found. This section of my family had been members of the Society of Friends, often called Quakers. Since our local genealogical society had a series of books in their library, entitled Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy, I eagerly began researching there. This was a 6 volume set, compiled through the efforts of William Wade Hinshaw. I was thrilled to find so many of my ancestors listed in these books. In doing more reading I found that Mr. Hinshaw had an earlier career as an opera singer. He was known as the leading American baritone singer with the Metropolitan Opera from 1910 to 1912.

Photo of W W Hinshaw, digital image from

The Musical Blue Book of America, 1916-1917, page 5

Accessed on Internet Archive, 25 Jan 2022

I continued to research my Quaker relatives in other sources. Eventually I learned that a sister (Elizabeth 1813-1882) of my 2^nd great-grandfather, Francis Hockett, had married a man named Hinshaw. Then I discovered that a sister (Elizabeth 1809-1866) of my 3^rd great-grandfather, Isaac Hockett, had also married a man named Hinshaw as her 2^ndhusband. Was it possible they were from the same family as the compiler of the books? Recently I found a pedigree chart for William Wade Hinshaw in the Family Search Family Tree. There I discovered that it was his grandfather who married my 3^rd great-aunt, so I am related to him by marriage.

Many people who have Quaker ancestors find they are related to other Quaker descendants. William was born in Hardin County, Iowa, in 1867. My Quaker great-grandparents, Nathan E. and Mary M. (Hockett) Albertson, were married in Hardin County in 1870. But, am I really related to William Wade Hinshaw by blood? Using that same pedigree chart, I found that not only am I related to him, I am related to him in two different ways.

First: William Hunt (1693-1746) and Mary E. Woolman (1692-1745) were his 3^rd great-grandparents. They were my 7^th great-grandparents, so we are 4^th cousins 4 times removed.

Second: John Beals (1685-1745) and Sarah Bowater (1689-1765) were his 4^th great-grandparents. They were my 7^th great-grandparents, so we are 5^th cousins 3 times removed.

Therefore I can say that I am related to an opera singer.

Ancestor Birthday - April 17th - John Beals 1717-1796

It was just 300 years ago today that John Beals, my 6th great-grandfather, was born in Chester County, Pennsylvania to John and Sarah (Bowater) Beals. His birth was recorded at the New Garden Monthly Meeting there as his parents, as well as his grandparents, were Quakers. Because 1717 was before the calendar change in 1752 and Quakers used numbers for months his birth is recorded as the 2nd month. Since March was the 1st month then, naturally the 2nd month is April.

As John had numerous descendants there are many writings out there about him. Because his father was named John as well as his grandfather, it is important to be careful about which John is being referred to. It does help that his grandmother was Mary and his mother was Sarah and he married Margaret Hunt. It is probable that John married Margaret at the Hopewell Monthly Meeting in Frederick County, Virginia about 1738. It is regrettable that the minutes there were lost due to a fire, so we can't be sure of the date.

We do know that the New Garden Monthly Meeting in Rowan County (now Guilford County) North Carolina recorded that John was received by certificate there 27 May 1758 from the Hopewell Meeting in Virginia which was dated 14 Apr 1758. Between 1760 and 1769 their 5 children were married there, including my 5th great-grandmother Hannah Beals who married William Hoggatt.

Some writers state that John and Margaret lived with their daughter Hannah in the southern part of Guilford County, near Polecat Creek. I wonder if they came to help her after her husband died in 1771 and she had small children. This was in the area for Center Monthly Meeting. The records from that meeting show that John died on his birthday, 17 Apr 1796, in his 80th year, and he was buried at New Garden. I guess that on your 79th birthday, you are beginning your 80th year. His wife Margaret also died in 1796 and was buried at New Garden.

If John and Margaret were living with Hannah, they would have known their grandchildren quite well, which would include my 4th great-grandfather Stephen Hoggatt. They would have been alive when Stephen was married in 1786 and were still living when my 3rd great-grandfather, their great-grandson, Isaac Hoggatt was born in 1791. Isaac would have been 5 years old when they died, so I hope they had a chance to play with him and the other children in the family.