I'm finding that this is quite the "work in progress."
Today at the Family History Center I worked on the Strange family (see - I do have a "Strange" family!). Robert Strange and Mary Franklin were married on November 6, 1720 in Tockenham, Wiltshire, England - and I verified that in the Bishop's Transcript records for Tockenham today. I'm not sure why they were married in Tockenham because it doesn't appear that Mary is from that parish (at least I didn't find any Franklin/Franklen/Franklyn entries within 5 years either side of 1700). Lots of Taylor families, but no Franklins.
I was able to find their children (6 that I'm aware of) in the parish records in Brinkworth: John Strange, Mary Strange, Margaret Strange, Robert Strange, Mary Strange, and Anne Strange (my ancestor). I also verified that the father, Robert Strange was christened on Oct 19, 1790 in Brinkworth, Wiltshire, England (really not that far from Tockenham). His parents were Matthew Strange and Mary... I think Smith, but I'm not sure where the name "Smith" came from as I haven't found a marriage for Matthew and Mary anywhere. More looking...
I ordered today from the great GRO (General Register Office in England) death certificates for William Sumbler and his wife Margaret Dixon Sumbler... in fact my email confirmation from the GRO just hit my inbox. It will take several weeks for them to get to my place, but since I don't know either's death information, this is a great opportunity to learn what I can.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Friday, September 16, 2011
Joining the Church - Calne Branch Records
The Calne Branch Records (microfilm #87034 item #8) give us some information about the Williams family living in Calne.
According to branch records the Williams family was baptized in 1849 into the LDS Church.
Robert Williams - baptized April 8, 1849 by George Hatt, confirmed April 11, 1849 by John Halliday.
Jane (Beasant) Williams - baptized April 9, 1849 by George Hatt, confirmed April 11, 1849 by John Halliday.
Their sons:
George Williams - baptized June 8, 1849 by Philip Westwood, confirmed June 8, 1849 by Philip Westwood.
Edwin Williams - baptized April 9, 1849 by George Hatt, confirmed April 9, 1849 by John Halliday.
A future family member, Harriet Sumbler, was also baptized April 8, 1849 by George Hatt, confirmed April 11, by John Halliday.
George and Harriet married (according to family records I have) on July 30, 1849. I didn't see it mentioned in the branch records (since I think the branch records that were microfilmed were created quite a bit after their baptisms into the branch took place).
In 1857, George's sister, Eliza Williams, was baptized on April 1, 1857 by Samuel Neslen and confirmed on April 2, 1857.
In the branch records, George's younger brother Edwin is listed as one who had emigrated to Utah. He is listed in the branch records with his emigration year as 1855. I have found Edwin going to the United States. He sailed on the Ship Siddons which traveled from Liverpool on February 20, 1855 and arrived in Philadelphia on April 20, 1855. From the Mormon Pioneer Overland Trek database, it appears that Edwin probably traveled to Salt Lake City with the John Hindley Company of pioneers, arriving in the Salt Lake Valley on September 3, 1855.
I don't know anything about this brother. According to the ship data, he was a mason - just like George and just like their father Robert.
So, where would a 22 year old single stone mason have been sent when he arrived in the Salt Lake Valley?
And when George and family came to Utah in 1864... why is there no mention of this brother Edwin?
According to branch records the Williams family was baptized in 1849 into the LDS Church.
Robert Williams - baptized April 8, 1849 by George Hatt, confirmed April 11, 1849 by John Halliday.
Jane (Beasant) Williams - baptized April 9, 1849 by George Hatt, confirmed April 11, 1849 by John Halliday.
Their sons:
George Williams - baptized June 8, 1849 by Philip Westwood, confirmed June 8, 1849 by Philip Westwood.
Edwin Williams - baptized April 9, 1849 by George Hatt, confirmed April 9, 1849 by John Halliday.
A future family member, Harriet Sumbler, was also baptized April 8, 1849 by George Hatt, confirmed April 11, by John Halliday.
George and Harriet married (according to family records I have) on July 30, 1849. I didn't see it mentioned in the branch records (since I think the branch records that were microfilmed were created quite a bit after their baptisms into the branch took place).
In 1857, George's sister, Eliza Williams, was baptized on April 1, 1857 by Samuel Neslen and confirmed on April 2, 1857.
In the branch records, George's younger brother Edwin is listed as one who had emigrated to Utah. He is listed in the branch records with his emigration year as 1855. I have found Edwin going to the United States. He sailed on the Ship Siddons which traveled from Liverpool on February 20, 1855 and arrived in Philadelphia on April 20, 1855. From the Mormon Pioneer Overland Trek database, it appears that Edwin probably traveled to Salt Lake City with the John Hindley Company of pioneers, arriving in the Salt Lake Valley on September 3, 1855.
I don't know anything about this brother. According to the ship data, he was a mason - just like George and just like their father Robert.
So, where would a 22 year old single stone mason have been sent when he arrived in the Salt Lake Valley?
And when George and family came to Utah in 1864... why is there no mention of this brother Edwin?
Thursday, September 15, 2011
James Edwin Williams #2 (read previous entry first)
As I was doing a bit more research earlier in writing my previous post... I came across a website that I'm sure has been around awhile... but today it became a treasure - http://lib.byu.edu/mormonmigration/index.php it's the Mormon Migration website that's hosted through the library at BYU. Wonderful!
So... as I was reading TONS of details about the Ship Hudson and it's voyage from June 3, 1864 to July 20, 1864 on this page http://lib.byu.edu/mormonmigration/voyage.php?id=169&q=hudson%201864 I found one sentence that answered my question about little James Edwin Williams. This is pulled from the very end of a letter written by John Kay the president of this company headed to Utah to President Cannon,"Wednesday, July 20th, in Castle Garden, died of measles, James Edward, son of George and Harriet Williams, from Calne Branch, Bristol Conference, aged 10 months and 6 days."
James Edwin (even though he's called James Edward above) died of measles at Castle Garden on July 20th. More than likely he was buried at Wards Island in New York which was the public/potters field of that time.
An additional mention of this death was mentioned by Matthew McCune in his diary (on this same webpage), "Wednesday 20th July 1864, New York - Landed today at Castle Garden. About 11 o'clock a.m., a young of Brother Williams died of repercussion of measles after landing."
So go visit http://lib.byu.edu/mormonmigration/voyage.php?id=169&q=hudson%201864 and read the details about this voyage. Lots of kids died of the measles and were buried at sea in this huge group of LDS immigrants.
So... as I was reading TONS of details about the Ship Hudson and it's voyage from June 3, 1864 to July 20, 1864 on this page http://lib.byu.edu/mormonmigration/voyage.php?id=169&q=hudson%201864 I found one sentence that answered my question about little James Edwin Williams. This is pulled from the very end of a letter written by John Kay the president of this company headed to Utah to President Cannon,"Wednesday, July 20th, in Castle Garden, died of measles, James Edward, son of George and Harriet Williams, from Calne Branch, Bristol Conference, aged 10 months and 6 days."
James Edwin (even though he's called James Edward above) died of measles at Castle Garden on July 20th. More than likely he was buried at Wards Island in New York which was the public/potters field of that time.
An additional mention of this death was mentioned by Matthew McCune in his diary (on this same webpage), "Wednesday 20th July 1864, New York - Landed today at Castle Garden. About 11 o'clock a.m., a young of Brother Williams died of repercussion of measles after landing."
So go visit http://lib.byu.edu/mormonmigration/voyage.php?id=169&q=hudson%201864 and read the details about this voyage. Lots of kids died of the measles and were buried at sea in this huge group of LDS immigrants.
James Edwin Williams
According to the Williams family bible, James Edwin Williams was born in Studley, Calne, Wiltshire, England on 8 August 1863. He is listed on the Hudson ship's manifest as being 9 months old... which would have been correct if the boat left England sometime in May or early June 1864. Since the passage took about 6 weeks at that time, that's easily acceptable. Ship manifests were recorded usually at the beginning of the trip or sometime during the trip. Then the manifest was dated when the boat arrived in the United States and often it was used as people came off the ship to check names, health, etc.
In the family bible, James Edwin's (known as Edwin on the ship manifest) death is listed as 3 July 1864. That date seems a little off just 'cause they didn't arrive in New York until July 20th... and on the manifest there is no "Died at Sea" next to Edwin's name (as there are next to others). The family bible (which Jean Nelson Tuckfield has in possession) offers another clue. It says that he died at Castle Garden. Well... I had learned about Castle Garden mainly from www.castlegarden.org. Castle Garden was the "Ellis Island" in 1864. All new immigrants came through Castle Garden, purchasing tickets for further travel, exchanging currency, etc. So... if he died at Castle Garden - that would not have happened on July 3, 1864 since they didn't arrive in New York until July 20th. Two options - he either died on July 3rd on the boat and his body hidden until they arrived at Castle Garden or the July 3rd date is off. I'm willing to go with the second option. Just creeps me out a little bit to think of hiding the body of an 11month old (by this point) for more than 2 weeks. Not saying it's impossible, but highly improbable.
More a bit later... just in the last 15 minutes I've found some answers about Edwin. Thank you Heavenly Father for answering my prayers.
In the family bible, James Edwin's (known as Edwin on the ship manifest) death is listed as 3 July 1864. That date seems a little off just 'cause they didn't arrive in New York until July 20th... and on the manifest there is no "Died at Sea" next to Edwin's name (as there are next to others). The family bible (which Jean Nelson Tuckfield has in possession) offers another clue. It says that he died at Castle Garden. Well... I had learned about Castle Garden mainly from www.castlegarden.org. Castle Garden was the "Ellis Island" in 1864. All new immigrants came through Castle Garden, purchasing tickets for further travel, exchanging currency, etc. So... if he died at Castle Garden - that would not have happened on July 3, 1864 since they didn't arrive in New York until July 20th. Two options - he either died on July 3rd on the boat and his body hidden until they arrived at Castle Garden or the July 3rd date is off. I'm willing to go with the second option. Just creeps me out a little bit to think of hiding the body of an 11month old (by this point) for more than 2 weeks. Not saying it's impossible, but highly improbable.
More a bit later... just in the last 15 minutes I've found some answers about Edwin. Thank you Heavenly Father for answering my prayers.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Coming on the Ship Hudson
I'm thinking this may be a very good way for me to keep track of where I've looked and what I've found...
Today's report - George Williams and family coming to the United States on the Hudson.
Thanks to ancestry.com, I was able to find George Williams on the Ship Hudson. It arrived in New York City on July 20, 1864. George is listed on page 19 of the ship manifest. This image is probably hard to see, but George is the 2nd name on the second section of the list. It appears that the top part of this page is a list of those that were on the Lower Deck and the section that George is in is in the "forecastle deck". The list also has George's occupation as a "cook" - but that was not his occupation in life (he was a stone mason). I'm beginning to think he was a cook just for the voyage.
Harriet and her three sons are listed on page 5 of the ship manifest. They are listed on the Upper Deck. Here we find Harriet Williams, Hyrum Williams, Roland Williams, and Edwin Williams.
So... that's the boat crossing.
Tomorrow we'll work on what happened to Edwin (the 9 month old)... and I'll keep working on the Dixon line (that I started working on in earnest yesterday).
Today's report - George Williams and family coming to the United States on the Hudson.
So... that's the boat crossing.
Tomorrow we'll work on what happened to Edwin (the 9 month old)... and I'll keep working on the Dixon line (that I started working on in earnest yesterday).
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