52 Ancestors: Poor Elsie, Orphaned at 9 Months and Pregnant at 19

Elsie age 15 in 1913
on her way to Canada

Amy Johnson Crow has a new challenge for geneabloggers called Challenge: 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. Amy challenges genealogists to write about one ancestor once a week. 

Elsie Phyllis Markham was my great-grandmother. She was born in London England in 1898 to parents Albert Markham and Edith Finch. At the age of 9 months Elsie was orphaned when her parents died within a month of each other. 

Elsie's mother Edith was an illegitimate child born in the St. Pancras Workhouse. There does not seem to have been much contact with Edith's mother Martha Finch who had a total of 3 illegitimate children born to her while she was in the Workhouse. 

Elsie and my Grandpa Bert 1918

Baby Elsie and her two year old brother Frederick Markham were lucky enough to be taken in by an Aunt and Uncle but her 8 year old brother Albert Finch was sent to an orphanage. Several months after being taken in, the uncle refused to pay for the children's upkeep any longer.  Little Frederick was sent to a different orphanage than Albert, and Elsie was adopted by an older couple. 

Albert, who himself was an illegitimate child born in the St. Pancras Workhouse to his mother Edith Finch, was 8 year old when he entered Barnardo's Homes and at the age of 11 was sent as a Home Child to Canada. Letters exchanged between Albert and Barnardo's reveal that he was not treated well and ran away several times from his life of servitude and beatings. Eventually Albert was placed in the home of Roy and Mary Skinner of St. Mary's Ontario and there he found a happy life where he was treated as a son.

Frederick Markham

Albert was determined to reunite the family and began saving his money as a young teen so that he could bring Frederick and Elsie to Canada to join him. In September 1913, 23 year old Albert sent for 15 year old Elsie and she joined him in St. Mary's Ontario. 

His younger brother Frederick was an inmate of Miller's Orphan House in London until March 1914. He was18 when his older brother Albert paid for his passage to Canada. Sadly Frederick enlisted in the CEF (Canadian Expeditionary Force) during WW1 and was killed overseas. 

Elsie, poor Elsie, got pregnant in August 1917. She was just 19 years old and alone in the world except for her brother Albert. One month later she married Bristol Holden but recent DNA tests have revealed that Bristol was not the baby's father. 

Elsie and brother Albert

That was a surprise but confirmed what my grandmother Luella always told me - that Elsie was "fooling around with the hired man Cooper and that is Bert's father, not Bristol Holden." We have narrowed the possible candidates to two men in the Cooper family. We do not judge Elsie harshly. She was young, alone and pregnant in 1917. What was she to do? Her options were limited! 

We do not know whether she told Bristol the truth before marrying him or whether she kept her secret and let him think he was Bert's father. It really doesn't matter because by all accounts they had a happy marriage. 

Coffin Plate Of Barnard Nichols 1883

Barnard Nichols

Barnard Nichols

Died April 13 1883

Aged 71 Years

See AncestorsAtRest for more coffin plates

Sharing Memories Week 6: Games I Played

Over at Olive Tree Genealogy blog is a Genealogy Writing Challenge. It's 52 weeks of writing your own memoirs.  Lorine will be posting a weekly prompt each Sunday on Olive Tree Genealogy blog under the topic Sharing Memories

The first week's prompt was about Kindergarten. You can read Lorine's blog post for the first week at Challenge: 52 Weeks of Writing Our Memories - Kindergarten Days

This week's prompt is "Games You Played"

I grew up in a family that didn't play a lot of games. We didn't play card games or board games but I do remember the first video games that came out. 

I remember playing "Pong" on a television at a friend's house and then when the Atari home game console came out all my friends wanted it. If you were cool you had an Atari. I didn't have one. 

The Video Game Arcades were a big hit. My friends and I would go at lunch time and after school to spend all our quarters. That was in the days of games like Asteroid, Donkey Kong and Pac-Man. 

I often wonder if I'd taken all those endless quarters I spent and invested them, how much money would I have now some 30 years later! 

52 Ancestors: Thomas Montgomery Taken Prisoner War of 1812

Amy Johnson Crow has a new challenge for geneabloggers called Challenge: 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. Amy challenges genealogists to write about one ancestor once a week.

One of my ancestors had a spot of tough luck during the War of 1812. Thomas Montgomery and his wife Mary Johnston with sons William, Thomas, Johnston, James,Frederick,and John and possibly Ann left Warrenpoint Ireland around 1810 in An American vessel headed for the United States to join their son Robert in New York State. They were apprehended by a British Man of War off the coast of Newfoundland and taken prisoners. They were kept in Newfoundland for a period of time before being sent on the Quebec†City. After the end of the war in 1814 they went on to† Toronto leaving William in Quebec. Johnston had already singed up with General Caldwell and fought in Upper Canada.Thomas Jr, stayed in Toronto and built Montgomery, Inn. The rest later went on the Bennington New York.

From  "History of Wyoming County" 

"James MONTGOMERY was born near Petico, County Donegal, Ireland, in 1800. In 1824 he married Betsey PAGE of Herkimer County, NY, who died in 1879. He has served as overseer of the poor. His father, Thomas MONTGOMERY, was born near Enneskillen, Ireland, about 1769, and married Miss Mary Johnson of his native place. In 1812 the family took passage on an American vessel bound for New York, at Warring's Point, [Warren's Point, Co. Down?] in the north of Ireland. After a voyage of four weeks the vessel reached the coast of Newfoundland, where it was taken in charge by a British man-of-war, and all on board were made prisoners of war and taken to St. Johns, where they were detained four weeks 

Upon their release the MONTGOMERY's were obliged to make their way to Quebec, British subjects not being allowed to land on American soil during the continuance of the war; and until 1816 they remained in Canada, but came to New York State in the latter year, locating in Westmoreland, Oneida County, and removing from there to Bennington, Wyoming County two years later, when Mr. MONTGOMERY purchased one hundred and twenty five acres of lot 9, section 8, where he died in 1830, at the age of seventy three, and his wife in 1831, aged seventy one."

Thomas and Mary are buried in  Summit View Cemetery, Town of Bennington, Wyoming Co., New York

"Mary MONTGOMERY, d. 01/25/1831, Age 71y, Wife of Thomas MONTGOMERY and a native of Ireland

'Happy soul thy days are ended,  All thy mourning days below,  Go by angel guards attended,  To the sight of Jesus go"

Thomas MONTGOMERY, d. 03/10/1830, Age 73y, A native of Ireland, emigrated in 1812 'Although I sleep in dust, Beneath this silent clod, Ere long I hope to rise and smile,  And see my saviours God"

Over 1,000 bodies found buried on University of Mississippi Medical Center grounds

Over 1,000 bodies found buried on University of Mississippi Medical Center grounds. The graves are believed to have been patients at the Mississippi State Lunatic Asylum in the 19th century.
The State Lunatic Asylum opened on the site in 1855, housing 150 patients.

Read More about the graves 

52 Ancestors: Sam Sandercock and His WW1 Tragedy

Amy Johnson Crow has a new challenge for geneabloggers called Challenge: 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. Amy challenges genealogists to write about one ancestor once a week. I'm having fun with this and I hope you are too!

The Sandercott Family 1916

One of my ancestors was Sam Sandercock aka Sandercott. Sam was born in Cornwall England in 1870 and came to Ontario Canada in 1887 on board the ship Parisian. Eventually he married Ann Jackson and they had 7 children - 6 sons and 1 daughter (my great grandmother).

Sam was a proud patriotic Englishman and when WW 1 started in 1914 he was all for it. He could not join the military in 1914 as men his age were not really wanted. The Military only wanted young fit men in 1914 but as the war dragged on and casualties mounted they were forced to start taking older and far less fit men. So Sam enlisted in 1916 even though he was 46 years old and not in the best of health. His two eldest sons, Cecil and Bill, were now of military service age, also enlisted and the 3 went off to war.

Sadly Bill was killed in August 1917 in France. He was just 19 years old. His brother Cecil was right beside Bill when he was killed, and Cecil's postcard to his parents is chilling in its brevity:

Just a few lines, hoping you are well. I guess you will have heard the news of my brother's death before this letter reaches you. Bill and I went out on a working party on the night of August 23rd. We were both together working when a shell lit in the trench. Bill was killed. I got a slight wound in the knee. I was lucky i was not killed too. 

Almost exactly one year later in August 1918 Cecil Sandercock was also killed during some heavy fighting near Boiry France. He was just 20 years old.

Sam himself never made it into the trenches. The damp cold conditions in England got the best of his health. He was invalided with asthma in 1916 and sent home to Canada in April 1917 as medically unfit. Such a sad tale for 3 family members to go off to war and only one returned. 

Don't Miss Today's Live Broadcasts from RootsTech

The streamed sessions at RootsTech include a sampling of technology and family history presentations. Following are the broadcasted sessions and speakers. All times are in mountain standard time (MST):

Saturday, February 8
10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., Become an iPad Power User by Lisa Louise Cooke
1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m., Information Overload: Managing Online Searches and Their Results by Josh Taylor
2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., A Beginner's Guide to Going Paperless by Randy Whited
4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., How to Interview Yourself for a Personal History by Tom Taylor
5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., Five Ways to Do Genealogy in Your Sleep by Deborah Gamble

Don't Miss RootsTech Live Broadcasts!

 RootsTech Live Broadcasts Today

RootsTech list of live broadcasts today. The live broadcasts will give those unable to attend in-person worldwide a sample of this year's conference content. Interested viewers can watch the live presentations at RootsTech.org. The fourth-year conference has attracted over 10,000 registered attendees in-person, and leaders expect over 20,000 additional viewers online.
 
The streamed sessions include a sampling of technology and family history presentations. Following are the broadcasted sessions and speakers. All times are in mountain standard time (MST):
 
The streamed sessions include a sampling of technology and family history presentations. Following are the broadcasted sessions and speakers. All times are in mountain standard time (MST): 
 
Thursday, February 6
10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., Top 10 Things I Learned About My Family from My Couch by Tammy Hepps
1 p.m. to 2 p.m., FamilySearch Family Tree: What's New and What's Next by Ron Tanner

2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., Intro to DNA for Genealogists by James Rader

4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., Genealogy in the Cloud by Randy Hoffman
5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., Sharing Your Family with Multimedia by Michael LeClerc

Sharing Memories Prompt: Naughty Things You Did as a Kid

Over at Olive Tree Genealogy blog is a Genealogy Writing Challenge. It's 52 weeks of writing your own memoirs.  Lorine will be posting a weekly prompt each Sunday on Olive Tree Genealogy blog under the topic Sharing Memories

The first week's prompt was about Kindergarten. You can read Lorine's blog post for the first week at Challenge: 52 Weeks of Writing Our Memories - Kindergarten Days

This week's prompt is to talk about something naughty I did as a kid. Well I never liked physed, and I would use any excuse I could think of to get  out of it.

One winter day in Grade 7 I went to Physed class and my physed teacher Ray Brien noticed I was wearing my work boots. I never wore anything else - workbooks and jeans, that was my daily "uniform". He wasn't pleased and told me to get my running shoes. Not a big deal, right? Except my running shoes were at home and home was about 4 miles from the school.

So I went home. And oops I neglected to tell my teacher that my running shoes were at home and I had to leave to get them. It was a long walk and by the time I got home it was lunch time. I was hungry so I made myself some lunch. After I finished lunch I headed back to school. By the time I got back to school I'd been gone almost 4 hours and school was just about over.

My classroom teacher asked me where the heck I'd been and when I told him that Mr. Brien sent me to get my running shoes, and here they were, he just shook his head and said "Ok Brian go sit down". I never got into trouble at all because the teachers all considered me a bit of an oddball.

52 Ancestors: Jonathan Butler, A Black Man from Pennsylvania

Upper Canada Land Petition
Jonathan Butler
envelope

Amy Johnson Crow has a new challenge for geneabloggers called Challenge: 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. Amy challenges genealogists to write about one ancestor once a week. I'm having fun with this and I hope you are too!

Since February is Black History Month I've decided to talk about my black ancestor, Jonathan Butler. It's been a challenging search for Jonathan. Here is what Lorine McGinnis Schulze of Olive Tree Genealogy blog and I have been able to discover:

ca 1808 Jonathan arrives in Upper Canada (present day Ontario), possibly coming directly from Pennsylvania (as per his land petition) Whether he came as an adult or a child with parents is not known.

March 1816. Jonathan is found in Etobicoke (just west of the city of Toronto), possibly leasing land from Col. Samuel Smith (as per Character Certificate). Jonathan was almost probably at least 21 years of age at this time, thus a very rough estimate of his year of birth would be 1795 or earlier.

March 1819. Jonathan is a farmer with 50 acres in Toronto Township (as per his land petition). Toronto Township has the Etobicoke River on its eastern boundary. I believe this is possibly land he leased from Col. Smith.

April 1819. Jonathan is granted 100 acres of land in the Wilberforce Settlement (black settlement area) in Oro Township. (as per Land books) It does not appear he actually settled there (as per Gary French)

ca 1822-1838. 2 sons and 3 daughters are born in this time period. Names are not known (as per Assessment records)

1824. A son Allen is born in Toronto Township to Jonathan and wife Elizabeth Jenkins or Ginkins (as per 1851 adult baptism in Waterloo)

ca 1829 A son Harry aka Henry is born, location unknown

1832. A son George is born in Toronto Township. 

1834, 1837, 1838, 1839, 1840: Jonathan is found with 100 acres in Woolwich Township, Gore District which was part of the Queen's Bush settlement area for blacks. He lives "west of the Grand River" and may be on Lot 88 (as per Assessment Records)

Miscellaneous Details

We find no trace of Jonathan after 1840. It is not known when his wife Elizabeth died and the only record of her is the mention in the 1851 baptism of their son Allen.