Related to a Museum

I enjoyed the time in the past when I visited the Maryhill Museum in the State of Washington, along the Columbia Gorge. I found it interesting that the man who was credited as the founder was a Mr. Samuel Hill, known as Sam Hill. Why I found it interesting was that the information about him stated that he had Quaker heritage. Since I have a Hill in my Quaker ancestry, I wondered if we might be related. It took until now to do the research and I was glad to find that he was my 2^nd gt-grandfather, Benjamin Albertson's 4^th cousin, so he is my 4^th cousin 4 times removed. This chart shows how we are related.

Ancestor:

William Hill

of Pasquotank County, North Carolina

Mary Hill 1705-	Siblings	Aaron Hill 1707-1761
Nicholas Nicholson 1741-	1st Cousin	William Hill 1740-1792
Nathan Nicholson 1776-	2th Cousin	Samuel Hill 1782-1859
Phariby Nicholson 1801-1883	3rd Cousin	Nathan B Hill 1817-1895
Benjamin Albertson 1826-c1908	4th Cousin	Samuel Hill “Sam” 1857-1931
Nathan E Albertson 1849-1917	4th Cousin 1 time removed
Oran J Albertson 1882-1948	4th Cousin 2 times removed
Lester O Albertson 1907-2004	4th Cousin 3 times removed
Me	4th Cousin 4 times removed

Maryhill Museum

By Cacophony - Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=37978

Ancestor Birthday - June 7th - Nicholas Nicholson - 1741

He was my great-great-great-great-great-grandfather, Nicholas Nicholson. It all sounds a little repetitive. He was born 7 Jun 1741 in Pasquotank County, North Carolina to Thomas and Mary (Hill) Nicholson. It was 17 Nov 1762 when he married Sarah White, the daughter of Thomas and Rachel (Jordan) White.

Note that the Quaker record shows his birth date as 7th day of 4th month in 1741. Remember this is before the calendar change in 1752, so the 4th month was June. It also gives his parents as "dittos." This is in a series of the children of Thomas and Mary Nicholson.

Last month, May 2017, I wrote about some of his close family. His granddaughter, Phariby Nicholson, daughter of his son Nathan, was on my blog 12 May 2017. Then his niece, Miriam Bell, the daughter of his sister Miriam appeared on 23 May 2017. On 24 May I featured Rachel Jordan, who was his mother-in-law. I enjoy seeing how these family members connect to each other.

Apparently Nicholas was active in the Quaker Pasquotank Monthly Meeting as he signed as a witness for 10 marriages there plus 2 more from neighboring Perquimans County. Of course it didn't hurt that he had a number of relatives getting married. I was able to identify the relationship for 10 of these: his father's 2nd marriage, 3 sisters, a brother, a brother-in-law, 2 nieces, and 2 daughters. A family history does state they lived in Perquimans County.

Nicholas was the 4th child of 7 born to Thomas and Mary and then he had 3 half-siblings from his father's second marriage to Sarah (Smith) Nixon, widow of Thomas. This Sarah was a 1st cousin once removed to Nicholas' wife, Sarah White. Sometimes the relationships can get confusing.

In the abstracts of deed records in Perquimans County it shows a deed from 1777 where Thomas Nicholson deeded for "love I bear my son Nicholas, do give 100a[cres]." Then again in 1784 for "love I bear my son Nicholas Nicholson of Perq. do give 100a." It is good to have a father who loves you enough to give you 200 acres.

In their 30 plus years of marriage Nicholas and Sarah had at least 9 children. Their 7th child, Nathan Nicholson, was my 4th great-grandfather. When Nathan was married in 1799, his father was not listed as one of the witnesses, but the record did not state that Nicholas was deceased. Some family researchers have given his death date as 1800. Sarah died 22 Apr 1800. I have not found a record for Nicholas.

Ancestor Birthday - May 23rd - Miriam Bell 1773

I'll interrupt the Early Oregon Cousins series for a couple of days to post ancestor birthdays beginning with my 4th great-grandmother, Miriam Bell.

Miriam was one of my northeastern North Carolina Quakers. She was the daughter of Lancelot Bell and Miriam Nicholson. Her father had immigrated from England about 1758 and married Miriam Nicholson in 1759 in Pasquotank County, North Carolina. They had 7 children and Miriam was the youngest, born 23 May 1773. Miriam was not yet a year old when her mother died in January of 1774. I wonder how Lancelot, who worked as a shipwright, cared for his 7 children. I have not found a record of Bell relatives of his in North Carolina. The oldest daughter Mary had just had her 14th birthday. But there was quite a large family of Nicholsons there and they were a part of the Quaker congregation. Lancelot was chosen as an elder of the Pasquotank or Symons Creek Monthly Meeting in 1780.

It was in January of 1781 when Lancelot died. Miriam was now 7 1/2 years old. In the abstracts of the Pasquotank County Wills, Lancelot had entrusted the care of his youngest children to older ones and Miriam was in the care of her sister Sarah, who was 17.

The Quaker meeting minutes reported on 16 Sep 1797 that Miriam had married Benjamin Albertson of the Suttons Creek Monthly Meeting in neighboring Perquimans County. She and Benjamin had two children Mary in 1798 and Nathan in 1801. Miriam had died before 1810 as there is no one of the correct age in the census. Also Benjamin married for a 2nd time in 1811.

I feel a little sad that Miriam had to grow up without her mother and my ancestor Nathan also lost his mother at a rather early age.

Am I Related to Buster Keaton?

Buster Keaton is a pivotal figure in the life of the town where I live, Cottage Grove, Oregon. In 1926 Buster came to Cottage Grove with a crew of movie makers and it was here that the silent movie, "The General" was filmed. At the Cottage Grove Museum where I volunteer we have had a featured exhibit of photos taken by local residents during the filming in 1926.

Our Cottage Grove Genealogical Society also did an exhibit at the Cottage Grove Community Center about Buster, his life and his ancestry. When I read about his ancestry I recognized an early place name, Pasquotank County, North Carolina. So I did more research and found Buster and I apparently had no common ancestors. However, our families certainly knew each other and we were connected by marriage three times.

In 1753 his 4th great grand aunt Susanna Morris married my 5th great grand uncle, Christopher Nicholson.

In 1762 his 4th great grand uncle John Morris married my 5th great grand aunt, Mary Nicholson.

In 1768 his 4th great grand uncle Aaron Morris married my 5th great grand aunt, Margaret Nicholson.

So you might say we are related by marriage.