Interviewed on The Genealogy Professional

Marian Pierre Louis interviewed Lorine of Olive Tree Genealogy a few weeks ago for her ongoing podcast series called The Genealogy Professional. If you haven't been listening you should. Marian has interviewed some fascinating bloggers and genealogists around the globe. 

Her Podcast interview and biography can be found at TGP 18 Lorine McGinnis Schulze – Focus on New Netherland

Bernville, Berks County, Pennsylvania 1863 to 1870 Haag, Kline & Co Ledger

Bernville, Berks County, Pennsylvania 1863 to 1870 Haag, Kline & Co Ledger

I now have the Bernville, Berks County, Pennsylvania 1863 to 1870 Haag, Kline & Co Ledger online in PDF format. This great old ledger book is from Haag, Kline & Co in Bernville, Berks County Pennsylvania. Bernville is a borough in Berks County, Pennsylvania. The ledger starts in 1860 and ends in 1870 and has over 300 names. I had a look in the 1860 United States Federal Census and found a few of the folks that are listed in this ledger. Some of the Berks County names you will find in the Haag, Kline ledger are Adams, Becker, Burkhard, Bright, Bressler, Baus, Bickel, Boyer, Bassler, Brossman, Bentz, Bean, Bear, Berger, Conrad, Cummings, Derr, Daniel, Ernst, Fisher, Fox, Groff, Haag, Hix, Kalbach, Kauffman, Miller, Reed, Shutz, Shade, Snyder, Taylor, Weaver to name just a few.

 If you want to have a look go to
 Haag Kline Ledger Book

If you would like to see the index to all my ledger books go to
 Ledger Books Index

Coffin Plate Of Mary J Hodson 1862

Mary J Hodson Died 1862

 

Mary J Hodson

Died Mar 17th 1862

Aged 26 yrs 7 mos 15 days

I went and had a look in the 1860 census and found a Mary Jane Hodson living in Somersworth, Strafford, New Hampshire but more research is needed to see if its the right Mary.

500 More Coffin Plates On My

Coffin Plate Index

52 Ancestors: Richard Boniwell Loses Everyting to his Creditors in 1849

I'm writing about my 4th great-grandpa Richard Rufus Boniwell or Bonewell, as part of Amy Crow's Challenge: 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Richard was born in 1809 in Southwold, Suffolk England, the son of Richard Rufus Boniwell. Richard Jr. was well-established in the little community and is written about in James Magg's Diary on Ancestry.com 

Luckily for me, his marriage to Harriet, daughter of James Martin who owned The Red Lion Inn in Southwold, is mentioned in the diary. That gave me his wife's maiden name and her father's name. 

A carpenter by trade, Richard was the owner of The White Swan Inn and in 1841 he was living at Cliff's End with his wife Harriet Martin and 4 young children. A prominent man in the small community, he was elected a Councillor of Southwold in 1845. Then his luck changed.

1849 finds Richard bankrupt. A notice appeared in the Ipswich Journal dated February 1849 for an auction of all his posessions in order to pay his creditors - carpentry equipment, tools, household effects and so on. You name it, he lost it. There were 4 feather beds and all bedding listed in the effects to be auctioned for his creditors. He and his wife were given 3 months to gather all their possessions together for the auctioneers. 

Then in October yet another blow struck Richard. His inn, The White Swan, was repossessed and sold to pay his creditors. 

1851 finds Richard and his family living in much poorer conditions in the town of Southwold itself. I have to wonder how Harriet coped!   

In the end Richard and Harriet had 8 children, the last born in 1856. In 1886 Richard died. 

Schuykill, Pennsylvania Tax Collection Ledger 1913-1922

Schuykill, Pennsylvania Tax Collection Ledger 1913-1922

I now have the Schuykill, Pennsylvania Tax Collection Ledger 1913-1922 online in PDF format.
This Ledger Book is a fantastic genealogy resource for Schuykill, Pennsylvania.

 To take a look at the Schuykill, Pennsylvania Tax Collection Ledger 1913-1922 go to
Schuykill Pennsylvania Tax Book


To see my list of ledger books go to the
Ledger Books Index.

The Coffin Plate of Daniel Underwood 1868

Daniel Underwood 1801 ~ 1868

Daniel Underwood

Died Sept 9th 1868

Aged 67 Yrs

5 mos 14 days

I had a look in the 1860 Census for Daniel.

1860 United States Federal Census results for Daniel Underwood.

Daniel Underwood Living in Tewksbury, Middlesex, Massachusetts. Born abt 1801 in New Hampshire.

I have 500 more Coffin Plates on my

Coffin Plate Index

Ladonia, Fannin County, Texas 1908 to 1915 Jackson McFarland Store Ledger ONLINE

Jackson McFarland Store Ledger, Ladonia, Fannin County, Texas

I now have the Ladonia, Fannin County, Texas 1908 to 1915 Jackson McFarland Store Ledger online in PDF format. This is a original ledger book with assorted documents that came from the Jackson McFarland store in Ladonia, Fannin County, Texas. Ladonia is located in the southeast corner Fannin county.The city limits border on Delta and Hunt Counties.

Ladonia was first settled by James McFarland and Daniel Davis before 1840. The book starts in May 1908 and ends in 1915. The book contains the names of many locals that charged goods on account. This ledger book is great genealogy resource for this area of Texas. It paints a nice picture of life in Texas in the first few years of the century.

To take a look at the ledger go to Jackson McFarland Store Ledger

To see my full index of Ledger Books go to Ledger Books For Genealogy

1858 Bucks County Pennsylvania Ledger Now Online

I now have the 1858 Bucks County Pennsylvania Ledger online. The ledger book is freely available as 5 pdf files which you may download to your computer. This ledger book for Bucks County Pennsylvania is a fantastic one-of-a-kind genealogy resource for Bucks County Pennsylvania. If you had ancestors living in Bucks County in the 1850s you may find your ancestors are in this book.

1858 Bucks County Pennsylvania Ledger Book

If you want to take a look at the ledger go to Bucks County Pennsylvania Ledger Book.

Or if you want to take a look at the other ledger books I have on line go to Ledger Books

Ireland Is In My Blood

It's not too late for you to search for your Irish ancestors for free today. Ancestry.com is offering Open access to the Irish Heritage Collection from March 13 to March 17, 2014

Get Your DNA Tested

I self identify as Irish. If someone asks me what country my ancestors came from I don't say England, France, Belgium, Germany or any of the many Countries my ancestors came from. The first Country that comes out of my mouth is Ireland. Now to be sure I do have many Irish ancestors but the reality is much of my DNA is not Irish. Yet Ireland is the place that speaks to me. If I had to move across the ocean I would feel most comfortable heading for Ireland yet I have never been there. I love Irish music. I am interested in Irish history. I have spent way more hours searching my Irish ancestors than any of my other lines. And for some strange reason I trust anyone with an Irish accent.

I think perhaps that Irish DNA has a homing signal encoded in it. Its in my blood as they say. 

52 Ancestors: Edith & Martha Finch - Life in the Workhouse in England

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. 

A few weeks ago I wrote about my ancestor Elsie Phyllis Markham and the hard life she had, orphaned at 9 months old, pregnant in 1917 at 19...... Today I want to talk about her mother Edith FINCH and grandmother Martha FINCH and their lives in the Workhouse.

Elsie's mother Edith Finch died in November 1898 in London England at the age of 28. Her husband Albert Markham had died just one month before Edith. They had both fallen victim to Typhoid Fever. Three young children were left behind - Albert, Frederick and Elsie (9 months old)




Brighton Workhouse


Edith's life had not been without difficulties. She was born in 1870 in the Brighton Workhouse in London England to Martha Finch, an unmarried inmate of the Workhouse. No father's name was given on little Edith's birth registration but at her marriage to Albert Markham in 1895 she gave her father's name as Lionel and his occupation as Commercial Traveller. I've never been able to find out if this is true. 

Edith Finch - Albert Markham Marriage 1895

1871 Census

The census of 1871 finds Martha, age 32, listed as a pauper in the Cuckfield Union Workhouse with her 6 month old "pauper child" Edith. Martha has work outside the Workhouse as a cook in a family home. 

Race Hill Workhouse and Brighton Industrial School

1881 Census

In 1881 the family is still in dire financial circumstances. 43 year old Martha is living in the Race Hill Workhouse with another illegitimate daughter Esther age 23 and Esther's illegitimate son Arthur 1 1/2 years old. Edith is not with the family at this time. She may be the Edith Finch age 12 in the Brighton Industrial School in Sussex but the birth location for this Edith is not consistent with the actual birth location of my ancestor. However I believe the birth location is simply an error and that this is my great-great grandmother. 

The Brighton Workhouse (also known as Race Hill Workhouse) sent pauper children to the new Warren Farm (aka Brighton Industrial School) in 1862 and it seems almost certain that Edith was sent there from Race Hill where her mother is found in 1881. [Source: http://www.workhouses.org.uk/Brighton/ ]

The lives of Martha and her daughters in the Workhouse and the Industrial School would not have been easy. People ended up in the Workhouse if they were too poor to support themselves, or if their family would not help them during difficult times. Often unmarried pregnant women were forced to enter the workhouse because their families disowned them.

Workhouse inmates were forced to do hard physical labour to help offset the cost of providing them with lodging and meagre food rations. For the most part, the inmates worked 12  hours of each day. Meals were simple with breakfast consisting usually of tea and bread or tea and gruel (a watery oatmeal). Lunch was their main meal of the day and it was usually a watery soup with bread, or a thin stew made of tough mutton or beef with a few carrots and potatoes. Their last meal of the day was tea with bread and butter. [Source: http://www.workhouses.org.uk/life/food.shtml]

1891 Census

1891 finds Edith Finch still living in the Workhouse but working as a housemaid. She too has an illegitimate son named Albert, age 5 months. It is not known who Albert's father was but he too was born in the St. Pancras Workhouse. Edith's mother Martha appears to have finally left the Workhouse after 30 or more years. Martha entered the Workhouse sometime before 1861 when she is found working as a dairymaid but with an illegitimate daughter born in the Workhouse. I suspect it may have been the birth of her daughter that forced Martha into the Workhouse. 

In the 1891 census Martha Finch lists herself as a widow even though there is no evidence that she ever married. She is working as a cook in a family home and no doubt had to say she was widowed since she had at least 3 illegitimate children. A proper Victorian family would not have allowed her to be part of their family life if she were not considered "respectable". It appears she may have been a live-in cook which was probably her only opportunity to escape the Workhouse life. 

As for Martha's 3 children, her son John (born 1863) was taken in by Martha's parents and appears to have lived with them his entire life. As to why they took in John but not Martha's daughters, I can't say. However there was contact between Martha and her parents as in 1871 12 year Esther Finch is staying with her grandparents and brother John. 

Esther Finch had yet a second illegitimate child, Ruth, born circa 1887 in the Workhouse but in 1900 Esther married a widower named William John Arrow. William had been left with 5 young children when his wife died in London in 1898, possibly from the same illness that took Esther's sister Edith and brother-in-law Albert Markham.

Timeline:

It's a confusing family to follow, full of misfortunate and sad circumstances. Because of this I created a timeline summary to help me in my research.

1838: Martha Finch, my 3rd great-grandmother, is born to Charles Finch and Keziah Harding. Charles is a bricklayer. Martha is one of 10 children. 

1861: Martha Finch is a dairymaid but living in the Workhouse. Her illegitimate daughter Esther is born that year.

1863: Martha Finch has an illegitimate son John born in Brighton Sussex OR is he the son of her younger sister Anna? 

1871:

• Martha is a pauper in the Cuckfield Union Workhouse with her illegitimate 6 month old daughter Edith Finch, my 2nd great grandmother. 
• John Finch and Esther Finch, Martha's two children, are living with grandparents George and Keziah

1881: 

• Martha Finch is an inmate in the Race Hill Workhouse with her daughter Esther and Esther's illegitimate son Arthur, age 1 1/2 
• Edith Finch is 12 years old and an inmate in the Brighton Industrial School which is part of Race Hill Workhouse.
• John Finch is living with his grandparents George & Keziah Finch

1891: 

• Martha Finch is employed as a cook in a family home. She doesn't appear to be living in the Workhouse
• Edith Finch is in the Pancras Workhouse. She has an illegitimate son Albert born in the Workhouse 5 months previously.
• Esther Finch is in the Race Hill Workhouse with her 4 year old illegitimate daughter Ruth.
• John Finch is  living "on his own means" at Hollycombe Stable in Sussex
• Arthur Finch, Martha's grandson, is living with a nurse in Brighton Sussex

1894: A John Finch born 1863 dies in Brighton Sussex. I do not have proof this is the grand son of George and Keziah but I do not find John in 1901 or 1911 census records.

1895: Edith Finch marries Albert Markham

1898: Edith Finch and her husband Albert Markham die of Typhoid Fever leaving 3 young children orphaned, including my great grandmother, 9 month old Elsie Markham

1900: Esther Finch marries John William Arrow, widower with 5 children

1901: 

• 62 year old Martha is a servant in Portsmouth Hampshire England
• John Finch - not found
• Arthur Finch is on board a ship of the Royal Navy as a musician
• Esther (Finch) Arrow is with her husband and daughter Ruth Finch in Brighton Sussex 

1909: Esther (Finch) Arrow dies

1911:

• Arthur Finch is living in Portsmouth, Hampshire England. He is a musician in the Royal Marine Artillery Barracks And Infirmary
• Ruth Finch is a maid in the house of Fanny Masters in Sussex England
• John Finch - not found

DNA Specials on Ancestry for St Patrick's Day

Time to get your DNA tested. Ancestry.com is offering 10% off DNA kits during St. Patrick's promotion. March 13-23

This special price begins TODAY March 13 at 6:00am ET and ends on March 23 at 11:59 ET 

The Coffin Plate of Jacob Willsey 1819 ~ 1884

Jacob Willsey

Died June 2nd 1884

Aged 65 years

I went to Ancestry.com and had a look for Jacob. In the 1880 census I found a Jacob Willsey born 1819 living with his Wife Matilda in Berne, Albany, New York.

To see my index of over 500 coffin plates go to ancestorsatrest.com

Coffin Plates Of Delia Cardinal

A sad story

I have a feeling that the two Coffin Plates on this page represent a rather sad story. The Coffin Plates are for Delia Cardinal age 23 and Delia Cardinal aged 1. The Coffin Plates have no dates but it is apparent that they were made around the same time. I would guess from the style that the plates were from the 1880s or 1890s.I can only guess that the plates are for a mother and daughter or perhaps two sisters.

Delia Cardinal

Age 1 year 18 days

Delia Cardinal

Age 23 years -- Days

For more coffin plates see AncestorsAtRest.com 
Perhaps you will spot an ancestor.

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