Mary’s Story

Posted on by Kathleen

To say I’ve been struggling with Mary Johnson’s story would be an understatement. Since I returned to writing the blog, I’ve been taking a much more relaxed approach and just writing about what strikes me as I go along. I think researching and seeing so many sad events, it can get to you sometimes. I’ve got a few drafts that I’ve been working on but the last few weeks I just keep returning to Mary. That’s how I knew maybe I was ready to share the latest on her.

Waiting for New York

Last year, I updated about my Johnson research in a post, Spent My Weekend with the Johnsons. I mentioned it was 2 years and counting on waiting for that Mary Moore death record from New York State. Guess what? I’m still waiting. I’ve created a Google Sheet where I am tracking which records I’ve ordered and which ones I want to order. Mary Moore is now 877 business days and counting. 😂

A few months ago, I decided it was time to take the advice of fellow New York state researchers and request the same record from the town of death.

Ordering from the Town of Marcy

6 business days. S.I.X.

I want that to sink in. It took six business days for that record to reach me. I feel a little foolish for taking so long to request it if I’m honest.

Digging Into the Information We Received

I want to go over how I analyzed a lot of the information we got on this certificate.

36 Years, 10 Months, 28 Days

At the top of the certificate, right under Marcy State Hospital, is a calculation of how long Mary has been in the hospital. 36 years, 10 months and 28 days. My obvious next step was to calculate when her admission date would be.

Wow. 1908. There is one thing that immediately pops out to me. I know my Mary was enumerated with her family at 838 Hendrix Street in the 1910 United States Census1. Am I searching the wrong Mary?

Residence

I’m going to set aside that piece of information to come back to later and look at what else the certificate is telling us. It tells us that her normal residence was Brooklyn, Kings County, New York. That is true for our Mary too, when she disappeared from our records at least. From Robert J. Moore and Mary’s marriage in 1896, they lived in Brooklyn, New York. In 1945, our Mary’s sons were living in New Jersey and her daughter was living in Queens.

EventOur MaryNew Mary
1910 Residence838 Hendrix StreetInferred Marcy State Hospital⛔
Usual ResidenceBrooklyn, NYBrooklyn, NY✅

Vitals Statistics

Her birth year is listed as 1873 with an age estimated at 712. This fits with my Mary3. I haven’t been able to get a birth record for her but funny enough, all her census data is pretty spot on for a December 1873 birth date except for the 1910 census. In the 1910 census her age calculates to an estimated 1876 birth year4. Which isn’t crazy for a census difference, but it’s interesting that the one census year we are looking at as conflicting with our timeline is the one that also isn’t quite right.

Her birthplace being New York State fits with our Mary being born in Babylon, Long Island, New York5. Her parents were born in Ireland, just like the death certificate6. The death certificate says Unknown for their names so that doesn’t help us verify our Mary. We know our Mary was born to Arthur Johnson and Ann Moffott7.

Her marital status being a widow of Robert J. Moore is a perfect fit for our Mary. Our Robert died in 19258. He moved from Brooklyn to Caldwell, New Jersey either right before or right after his father’s death in 1923. I know this because his son, my great-grandfather, is mentioned in my great-grandmother’s diary for the first time on October 9, 1924.

EventOur MaryNew Mary
1910 Residence838 Hendrix StreetInferred Marcy State Hospital⛔
Usual ResidenceBrooklyn, NYBrooklyn, NY✅
Birthdatecirca 1873circa 1873✅
BirthplaceNew YorkNew York✅
Parents Birth placeIrelandIreland✅
Parents NamesArthur Johnson
Ann Moffott		Unknown
Unknown		⛔
Marital StatusWidowWidow✅

Informant

Quite possibly the most important information on any record, is the informant. We need to know who is giving the information so we can determine how reliable that information may be. In this case, it’s hospital records. Now a lot more becomes clear. If they are using information given at the time of admission, then it’s already 36 years old. We don’t know what records they are using but we know most likely her husband, Robert, was part of the admission process and he would have been listed as the next of kin. After his death it most likely was one of the children.

Place of Burial

This was probably the piece of information that I was most hopeful would come in clear. Of course it did not. I know from my own family records that Mary was buried in Evergreens Cemetery in the family plot. The death certificate says Richmond Hill.

First off, lets all admire the distraction free map that I customized and made on MapIt. It might be hard to tell without clicking the image to zoom it out to full size. Richmond Hill is a neighborhood practically next door to the cemetery. Walking from one point on the map to the other is about 5 to 6 miles. Depending on which route you take. I could just be trying to confirm my own theory at this point, but I really think the death certificate was using the field of Burial, Cremation or Removal Place to denote that she was transported to a funeral home in Richmond Hill. If you have ever done research in New York, or even talked to anyone in New York City or State, you know these are two separate entities for pretty much anything. It’s not just a locals tradition, legally they operate as two separate governing bodies. So NYC and New York State vital records are kept completely separate. This is like when my Grandpa Moore passed away in Washington, DC but we needed to transfer him back to Maryland for cremation. We had to wait for the proper permits and sign offs from DC before that could happen.

Long story even longer, this means that I don’t feel put off by the fact that it says Richmond Hill instead of Evergreens Cemetery. The one thing that I am kind of put off by is that it says the burial date was September 8th. My cemetery paperwork says that she was buried on September 7th. I’ve emailed the cemetery to confirm the burial details of that plot.

EventOur MaryNew Mary
1910 Residence838 Hendrix StreetInferred Marcy State Hospital⛔
Usual ResidenceBrooklyn, NYBrooklyn, NY✅
Birthdatecirca 1873circa 1873✅
BirthplaceNew YorkNew York✅
Parents Birth placeIrelandIreland✅
Parents NamesArthur Johnson
Ann Moffott		Unknown
Unknown		⛔
Marital StatusWidowWidow✅
InformantWe would expect one of her three surviving children.Hospital Records⛔
Place of BurialEvergreens CemeteryRichmond Hill⚠️
Date of BurialSeptember 7thSeptember 8th⚠️

Lets go Back to the Census Discrepancy

One of the first things people tell you about genealogy research is to make sure that you track the family through the census because it can show you where and when they move around. I looked up Marcy State Hospital and they didn’t actually open until 19229. This makes it impossible for Mary to have been there since 1908. That means we will have to backtrack through the State Hospital system until we get to 1908.

1940 – There are two Mary Moores at Marcy State Hospital for the Insane. One born about 1874, married, born in the United States and one born about 1894, single, born in New York. Both women are listed as being in the same house in 1935.10

1930 – Only one Mary Moore is there in the 1930 census. She was born about 1874, married, born in New York. There is a column on this census for the persons age at first marriage. The New Mary has her age listed as 23. Our Mary listed her age as 22 on her marriage record. While yes, Robert J. Moore has passed by this point. Mary being listed as married in the census still doesn’t shock me. It’s entirely possible… that the institution was unaware of Robert’s passing. I will get more into this in the wrap up at the end. Lets just continue with the analysis for now.11

EventOur MaryNew Mary
1910 Residence838 Hendrix StreetInferred Marcy State Hospital⛔
Usual ResidenceBrooklyn, NYBrooklyn, NY✅
Birthdatecirca 1873circa 1873✅
BirthplaceNew YorkNew York✅
Parents Birth placeIrelandIreland✅
Parents NamesArthur Johnson
Ann Moffott		Unknown
Unknown		⛔
Marital StatusWidowWidow✅
InformantWe would expect one of her three surviving children.Hospital Records⛔
Place of BurialEvergreens CemeteryRichmond Hill⚠️
Date of BurialSeptember 7thSeptember 8th⚠️
Age at first marriage2223✅

1925 – New York has state censuses! Mary Moore is living in Utica State Hospital. She is listed as born about 1873 in the United States. State censuses don’t always give us much information but its a nice check in spot between federal censuses. Marcy State Hospital was first created as a division of Utica State Hospital in 1922 and then in 1931 it was made into its own entity. So Mary being listed at Utica first makes sense for a long-term patient completely.12

1920 – We need to remember now that Marcy is not open yet. So we checked Utica State Hospital. No Mary Moore there. We know that Mary was in facilities since 1908 though. To move forward, we need to think about the information from the death certificate. Mary’s last known address was in Brooklyn. That means, if she is not in Utica State Hospital, she might be in a state hospital closer to Brooklyn. The most likely facility is Kings Park State Hospital in Suffolk County, New York. It was created to handle overcrowding happening at Kings County Asylum13.

We do find a Mary Moore, born about 1874 in the United States, married14. This is part of what has held me back from sharing Mary’s story, because I don’t know if this is even my Mary at this point. It’s likely yes. Researching these institutions is really hard. I’m not even talking about finding records which is extremely hard. Learning about what went on in these places is very upsetting. Knowing what I know now about mental health and what I know about Mary’s childhood, to think that this is how she might have ended up makes me very upset every time I talk about it. Which is why it’s still taking me so long to research it.

1915 – In Kings Park, there are two Mary Moores this time. One born about 1864 and one born about 187415. The 1864 Mary has a middle initial on her name which is either an R or an L. The Y in Mary above it kind of writes over it making it a bit hard to decipher. Being a state census there isn’t much more information to use. Both Marys are US Citizens and usually reside in Brooklyn.

1910 – Here we are back at 1910. We know our Mary was enumerated with her family, so lets look for the New Mary and see if we can find her.

There it is. Mary Moore, born about 1873, married, 3 children, born in New York, parents born in Ireland.

EventOur MaryNew Mary
1910 Residence838 Hendrix StreetKings Park State Hospital⛔
Usual ResidenceBrooklyn, NYBrooklyn, NY✅
Birthdatecirca 1873circa 1873✅
BirthplaceNew YorkNew York✅
Parents Birth placeIrelandIreland✅
Parents NamesArthur Johnson
Ann Moffott		Unknown
Unknown		⛔
Marital StatusWidowWidow✅
InformantWe would expect one of her three surviving children.Hospital Records⛔
Place of BurialEvergreens CemeteryRichmond Hill⚠️
Date of BurialSeptember 7thSeptember 8th⚠️
Age at first marriage2223✅
Children3 Children3 Children✅

1910 New Mary and Our Mary fit. I was confused what to do next and then I started searching the newspapers to see if I could find any notice of a hearing where she would have been institutionalized but so far I’m coming up blank. Searching for such common names in Brooklyn at that time is very tedious, so I decided to search for their address and see what I could find. Legal notices or funerals most likely would have an address listed.

What I ended up finding in the October 10th edition of The Chat was this classified ad. Looking for a housekeeper16.

The housekeeper ad would have appeared in the local paper 3 days after New Mary was placed in the first state hospital. Our Mary was already out of the house by the 1910 census.

My Conclusion for Now

For now, I am fairly certain that the death certificate belongs to my Mary. I don’t want it to be my Mary. I don’t want to think of her in mental institutions for almost 37 years. There was never any mention in my family about this. In fact, the Moore side of my family was rarely talked about at all. I don’t know if it was on purpose or just lack of knowledge of the circumstances. My Grandpa Moore would have been 15 years old when his grandmother died. He never once mentioned her though. I remember him talking about his maternal grandmother. Never his paternal grandmother though.

The 1910 census discrepancy I think has something to do with the stigma attached to mental health. I think they told the census taker that Mary was still living in the household, that’s why her details are all a little off. The oldest of Mary’s children was 10 years old in October of 1908. I don’t think the children had many memories with their mother to share with the later generations. My great-grandfather was only 6 years old when this happened.

I think about this picture of Robert, his 3 children and one of the Moore cousins. This is years removed from 1908, I’m not sure how many years, at least 5 I think. The Moore cousin it lists on the back was born in 1910 and she is at least 3 years old there I think. The children were so young when they lost their mother.

I mentioned earlier in the post that I would talk about the marital status discrepancy through the census analyses. My current thinking is that since her husband died in 1925 and her children were so young when he died. They might not have even been aware right away that their mother was moved to new institutions further away. They might not have known they needed to update the records office that she was now a widow. These are all things I want to answer but might never know the answer. I’m going to try and see if I can get the admission records to Kings Park.

One thing I know for sure, I’m not giving up on trying to find Mary’s full story.

Source Citations

  1. 1910 U.S. census, Kings County, New York, population schedule, Brooklyn borough, Ward 26, Assembly District 22, enumeration district (ED) 985, sheet 01-B, dwelling 13, family 14, Robrt Moore household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 27 Feb 2024); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T624, roll 979. ↩︎
  2. Oneida County, New York, death certificate no. 202 (1945), Mary Moore; Marcy Town Clerk, Marcy. ↩︎
  3. 1900 U.S. census, Kings County, New York, population schedule, Brooklyn Ward 26, Election District 22, enumeration district (ED) 476, sheet 04-A, dwelling 57, family 64, Robt. J. Moore household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 1 Mar 2024); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T623, roll 1065. ↩︎
  4. 1910 U.S. census, Kings County, New York, population schedule, Brooklyn borough, Ward 26, Assembly District 22, enumeration district (ED) 985, sheet 01-B, dwelling 13, family 14, Robrt Moore household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 27 Feb 2024); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T624, roll 979. ↩︎
  5. Brooklyn borough, New York, birth certificate no. 2360 (1898), Mary Florence Moore; digital image, NYC Municipal Archives, Historical Vital Records (https://a860-historicalvitalrecords.nyc.gov/ : accessed 28 Feb 2024). ↩︎
  6. 1880 U.S. census, Suffolk County, New York, population schedule, Babylon village, enumeration district (ED) 311, p. 19-B, dwelling 418, family 454, Arthur Johnson household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 1 Nov 2024); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T9, roll 934. ↩︎
  7. Brooklyn Borough, New York, marriage certificate no. 2606 (1896), Moore-Johnson; digital image, NYC Municipal Archives, Historical Vital Records (https://a860-historicalvitalrecords.nyc.gov/ : accessed 28 Feb 2024). ↩︎
  8. New Jersey Office of Registrar of Vital Statistics, death certificate 221 (1925), Robert J. Moore; New Jersey Department of Health, Trenton. ↩︎
  9. https://findingaids.nysed.gov/do/14b2d198-fd95-58b7-ac7a-28013e069b44 ↩︎
  10. 1940 U.S. census, Oneida County, New York, population schedule, Marcy township, Marcy State Hospital, enumeration district (ED) 33-30, sheet 30-A, Mary Moore; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 31 Mar 2026); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T627, roll 2700. ↩︎
  11. 1930 U.S. census, Oneida County, New York, population schedule, Marcy township, Marcy State Hospital, enumeration district (ED) 177, sheet 09-B, Mary Moore; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 31 Mar 2026); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T626, roll 1620. ↩︎
  12. 1925 New York State Census, Oneida County, New York, population schedule, Utica, Utica State Hospital, p. 23-A, line 29, Mary Moore; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 31 Mar 2026). ↩︎
  13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kings_Park_Psychiatric_Center ↩︎
  14. 1920 U.S. census, Suffolk County, New York, population schedule, Smithtown, Kings Park State Hospital, enumeration district (ED) 137, sheet 23-B, Mary Moore; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 31 Mar 2026); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T625, roll 1269. ↩︎
  15. 1915 New York State Census, Suffolk County, New York, population schedule, Smithtown, Kings Park State Hospital, p. 74, line 13, Mary Moore; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 31 Mar 2026). ↩︎
  16. “WANTED,” The Chat, 10 Oct 1908, p. 18, col. 1; digital images, Newspapers.com (http://www.newspapers.com : accessed 3 Apr 2026). ↩︎

The Parkins Divorce and Jennie Updates

Posted on by Kathleen

Back in February, I mentioned that I was waiting on some records. Well, they are here! I have now confirmed that Jennie Featherston-Parkin and Sadie Featherston-Acker both got remarried. I even found some newspaper mentions that relate to what happened between John and Jennie.

Newspaper Articles are First!

On February 7th, 1902, Jennie was arrested in East Orange on a charge of neglecting her children1. We don’t get anymore details of what led up to the arrest. We know that the Children’s Aid and Protective Society was the complainant for the charge. We also know that in the 1905 New Jersey State Census, 3 of the 4 Parkin children are living in the Orange Orphan Society2. Likely the arrest is what spurred the children being sent to the society. Two months after her arrest, her husband is suing her for divorce3.

I have a feeling there is a deeper, more complicated story behind what is going on with the family. The article tells us that John was living with Jennie until January 7th4. That’s exactly a month before she was arrested for neglect5. I hope to get the divorce papers from the New Jersey Archives, whether its making a trip there myself or hiring someone to pull the records for me. That’s where this part of the story stops until I can take care of that. We don’t have to stop looking for Jennie though. We still had an order in for a possible second marriage record.

The 2nd Marriage of Jennie Featherston

This is definitely the Jennie I was looking for! It looks on this record like her husband’s name is James Relly6. Or some form of Reilly, you know how it goes. 😂 I also don’t want to think about the “William Moore” as witness. That’s going to go into the worry about later list.

There is some good news, bad news with this record. The good news first, to help digest the bad news. Jennie didn’t die between 1901 (her last known mention in her father’s obituary7) and 1905 (her children being in a children’s home8). That’s great. Bad news. This marriage happened in September of 19059. That’s after the 1905 census. That means, logically 😅, I should find Jennie at 394 Washington Street in the 1905 New Jersey Census10!

Yep, Not There.

Which means she moved in between June and September of 1905… maybe. I thought I might look up James, since his address is given too. One thing that had to be true, is they had to be in the same place at the same time at some point. Or they wouldn’t have gotten married. Maybe, if I find James in 1905, Jennie will be near.

It says 37 N Clinton Street, but that family is definitely living at 17 N Clinton Street11. Which I thought was James Reilly’s address. There is a James Reilly in that household but not my James Reilly and before you think I’m being stupid here. First, the “mother’s” name is Mary and not Nora. Which sometimes you can let go. This James is also 10 years younger than the James I’m looking for. Which to be fair, I’ve seen from the rural side of my mother’s tree, but not on my Dad’s side, they are usually more consistent on this side of the family.

I thought maybe I was going up the wrong tree for a few minutes. That is until I took a look at the city directory for 1905, that makes it clear there are two James J. Reillys12. One that lives at 17 N Clinton and one that lives at 14 N Clinton. Genealogy is fun isn’t it. 🤣 The older one is a motorman/hackman for the trolley, and the younger is a bookkeeper. At least they have separate occupations so that could help me keep them straight at least. Anyone else having a brief thought that Phillip Reilly (trolley man’s father) and Patrick Reilly (bookkeeper’s father) are probably brothers or cousins maybe? I can’t even say they are neighbors because for some reason the city directories list the bookkeeper’s family at 17 N Clinton but the census calls it 37 N Clinton. If I need to, I’ll circle back around to this Reilly conundrum, but not unless I need to.

Found James! His mother too13. At least James was less difficult then his future wife to find on the census.

So Back to the Bad News

I know you thought the bad news was already given. Turns out bad news likes to multiply. I still didn’t find Jennie in 1905. I would just chalk it up to she was missed in the census… except that I also can’t find her after 1905 under her new married name. 😂 I’m going to need more caffeine, snacks and records for this!

Even though I did not find Jennie, I did find her husband James in 188014, 190015, 1905, 191516, 192017 and 193018 censuses… In 1920 and 1930 he is listed as married but living with his sisters and he is the head of the household.

James and Jennie Reilly are IMPOSSIBLE 🤣

I know, nothing is impossible. I just haven’t found the right record yet. I also found James in the 190819, 191020 , 191221, and 191422 city directories at 14 North Clinton Street. He is supposed to be there in the 1910 US Census. This sent me searching for 14 North Clinton in 191023.

Well… 😒 Nora is there with two of her children, but neither of those are the one I am looking for. It’s very clear that Jennie did not spend any significant time living with her second husband. He’s not listed as divorced or a widower but is listed as married which is strange since they don’t seem to have lived together for long, if at all.

Sadie Featherston’s 2nd Marriage

This might seem like a random jump at first but let me explain. Jennie’s sister Sadie was married for the 2nd time in 190724.

The witnesses to this marriage were James and Jennie Reilly. So we know they were still together in 1907. This made me think, maybe if I find Sadie, I will find Jennie. This post is getting a little long so I will go ahead and share that I have found Sadie’s 2nd husband, William, with his family in the census in 188025, 190026, 190527, 191028 and 191529. He is listed as single in all of them. These four are really frustrating me now. 😂

Next Steps

  • Get the Divorce Documents for Jennie Featherston and John W. Parkin from 1902.
  • Figure out how or if the witnesses of Jennie’s second marriage have a connection to the family. William Moore especially.😭
  • Look for some type of divorce or separation announcement for James and Jennie.
  • Look for death records of Jennie and Sadie after January of 1907.
  • Find James, Jennie, or Sadie in 1910. All three are still missing in my research.

Source Citations

Sorry for the repeated citations. I’ve tried a few footnote plugins but I haven’t found a good one that allows me to repeat numbers easily. My posts take about a month of gathering sources and writing and I don’t want to overthink the citations. I just want to be sure I’m including them. 😂

  1. “Two Neglected Cases in East Orange,” Newark Evening News, 8 Feb 1902, p. 8, col. 1; digital images, Newspapers.com (accessed 15 Aug 2026). ↩︎
  2. 1905 New Jersey State Census, Essex County, New Jersey, population schedule, East Orange, p. 05-A, dwelling 77, family 78, line 40,53,61, Orange Orphan Society; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 12 Dec 2024). ↩︎
  3. “John W. Parkin Wants Divorce,” Newark Evening News, 4 Apr 1902, p. 8, col. 6; digital images, Newark Public Library (https://newark.historyarchives.online : accessed 8 Mar 2026). ↩︎
  4. “John W. Parkin Wants Divorce,” Newark Evening News, 4 Apr 1902, p. 8, col. 6; digital images, Newark Public Library (https://newark.historyarchives.online : accessed 8 Mar 2026). ↩︎
  5. “Two Neglected Cases in East Orange,” Newark Evening News, 8 Feb 1902, p. 8, col. 1; digital images, Newspapers.com (accessed 15 Aug 2026). ↩︎
  6. New Jersey New Jersey Bureau of Vital Statistics, marriage certificate 272 (1905), Relly-Featherson; New Jersey State Archives, Trenton. ↩︎
  7. “Featherstone,” Newark Evening News, 02 Nov 1901, p. 3, col. 1; digital images, Newark Public Library (accessed 4 Nov 2025). ↩︎
  8. 1905 New Jersey State Census, Essex County, New Jersey, population schedule, East Orange, p. 05-A, dwelling 77, family 78, line 40,53,61, Orange Orphan Society; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 12 Dec 2024). ↩︎
  9. New Jersey New Jersey Bureau of Vital Statistics, marriage certificate 272 (1905), Relly-Featherson; New Jersey State Archives, Trenton. ↩︎
  10. 1905 New Jersey State Census, Essex County, New Jersey, population schedule, Newark Ward 2, p. 28-A, dwelling 429, family 911, line 21, George Bauer household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 25 Aug 2026). ↩︎
  11. 1905 New Jersey State Census, Essex County, New Jersey, population schedule, East Orange, p. 15-B, dwelling 143, family 2, line 67, Mrs. Mary A. Riley household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 Aug 2026). ↩︎
  12. J. H. Baldwin, Baldwin’s Directory of the Oranges and Townships of Essex, 1905-6:, 302; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 Aug 2026). ↩︎
  13. 1905 New Jersey State Census, Essex County, New Jersey, population schedule, East Orange, p. 09-B, dwelling 152, family 1, line 92, Mrs. Nora Riley household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 Aug 2026). ↩︎
  14. 1880 U.S. census, Essex County, New Jersey, population schedule, East Orange, enumeration district (ED) 099, p. 511-C, dwelling 55, family 67, Phillip Rilley household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 Aug 2026); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T9, roll 780. ↩︎
  15. 1900 U.S. census, Essex County, New Jersey, population schedule, East Orange Ward 3, enumeration district (ED) 177, sheet 05-B, dwelling 87, family 105, Nora Reilly household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 Aug 2026); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T623, roll 968. ↩︎
  16. 1915 New Jersey State Census, Essex County, New Jersey, population schedule, East Orange Ward 3, p. 09-A, dwelling 132, family 158, line 45, Mary Reilly household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 27 Aug 2026). ↩︎
  17. 1920 U.S. census, Essex County, New Jersey, population schedule, East Orange, enumeration district (ED) 41, sheet 08-B, dwelling 95, family 170, James J. Reilly household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 Aug 2026); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T625, roll 1029. ↩︎
  18. 1930 U.S. census, Essex County, New Jersey, population schedule, East Orange, enumeration district (ED) 395, sheet 09-A, dwelling 77, family 190, James J. Reilly household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 Aug 2026); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T626, roll 1330. ↩︎
  19. J. H. Baldwin, Baldwin’s Directory of the Oranges and Townships of Essex, 1908:, 450; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 Aug 2026). ↩︎
  20. J. H. Baldwin, Baldwin’s Directory of the Oranges and Townships of Essex, 1910:, 483; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 Aug 2026). ↩︎
  21. J. H. Baldwin, Baldwin’s Directory of the Oranges and Townships of Essex, 1912:, 519; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 Aug 2026). ↩︎
  22. J. H. Baldwin, Baldwin’s Directory of the Oranges and Townships of Essex, 1914:, 567; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 Aug 2026). ↩︎
  23. 1910 U.S. census, Essex County, New Jersey, population schedule, East Orange, enumeration district (ED) 164, sheet 13-B, dwelling 209, family 234, Nora Rilley household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 Aug 2026); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T624, roll 883. ↩︎
  24. New Jersey New Jersey Bureau of Vital Statistics, marriage certificate 645 (1907), Dickson-Fetherston; New Jersey State Archives, Trenton. ↩︎
  25. 1880 U.S. census, Essex County, New Jersey, population schedule, South Orange, enumeration district (ED) 111, p. 220-A, dwelling 268, family 289, Richd. A. Dickson household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 25 Aug 2026); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T9, roll 781. ↩︎
  26. 1900 U.S. census, Essex County, New Jersey, population schedule, Newark Ward 6, enumeration district (ED) 60, sheet 22-A, dwelling 288, family 472, Richard Dickson household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 25 Aug 2026); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T623, roll 964. ↩︎
  27. 1905 New Jersey State Census, Essex County, New Jersey, population schedule, Newark Ward 6, p. 34-B, dwelling 482, family 765, line 58, Richd. Dickson household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 25 Aug 2026). ↩︎
  28. 1910 U.S. census, Essex County, New Jersey, population schedule, Newark Ward 13, enumeration district (ED) 108, sheet 13-A, dwelling 178, family 253, Richard Dickson household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 25 Aug 2026); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T624, roll 881. ↩︎
  29. 1915 New Jersey State Census, Essex County, New Jersey, population schedule, Newark Ward 13, p. 13-A, line 35, Richard Dickson household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 25 Aug 2026). ↩︎

My Review of Ancestry Preserve

Posted on by Kathleen

I Tried Out AncestryPreserve and This is How it Went

Note: I was not asked to do this, I didn’t receive any compensation to do this. It’s just my own money, trying out this process and seeing how it went. I expect nothing in return for writing this review.

The initial kit was $20 when I purchased it. It comes with a variety of plastic bags and some bubble wrap to protect your items. The instructions were simple. Just pack up your items and send them back in the box provided. You are free to put an AirTag or comparable device in the box for added reassurance. I didn’t feel the need for that, but I can understand if some do, it’s a big practice in trust to send such valuable items.

The box you are sent to send back has the tracking number that you are able to track the box back to Ancestry and they give you a tracking number as soon as your items ship back. An AirTag would provide extra comfort to keep a 24/7 eye on your items.

Lets Get Started

I started to sort my slides and that was a task to say the least. There is a very faint date on most of the slides edges. This isn’t going to be when they were taken in most cases, but when it was processed or “developed.” It gives me a general timeline in any case. The next problem I have, is that I have to decide if I’m just sending them all or if I’m going to send a smaller batch of the better images.

The thing about the slides is they start with William and Llewellyn’s vacations and parties. They evolve to my Grandpa Moore and his second wife’s vacations and parties. I’ve digitized most of these slides once already using the Wolverine F2D Digital Converter. I’ve noticed though, these slide scanners don’t always get the whole image. My goal was to make sure I have high quality scans of William and Llewellyn’s group photos so I can possibly identify more people in them.

It took some time to figure out which ones I wanted to send and which I didn’t. Once I did I put them in ziploc bags to send them in the box. For reference, the usual storage boxes for the slides is in the bottom portion of the picture. I didn’t even send half but my count was 190 slides sent for digitization. The price per photo is 49 cents. Once I was sure that was all I wanted to send, I closed up the box and dropped it off at a UPS store to get it back to Ancestry and I waited.

In the timeframe of this whole process, I started having some computer issues. Looks like a new computer is in store for me soon. Which isn’t bad since my last one was purchased in September of 2013. 😂 The computer issues had me tracking my order on my phone, so that’s why there aren’t any computer screenshots, just ones from my phone.

I was notified by email and in the Ancestry app that my kit had arrived and that my quote would be ready soon. July 1st, I was scheduled to leave for a week long visit to Ohio. The morning of the 1st, my quote came in and I missed getting a screenshot of it. 😂 This is what happens when you check your email at 6am.

There were 5 slides not in the quote, I’m not sure why, but we will revisit that in the end. I opted for the AI-enhancement. Since I’ve digitized the slides already before, I wanted to see how much the enhancement would do for the slides. I didn’t get a screenshot of how much the enhancement added but if you divide $118.40 by 185 you get 64 cents. So about 15 cents per slide for enhancement. I will say the pricing I am talking about is just for photos. Film and Audio have their own pricing! Be sure to not blurry eye accept your quote at 6am without being sure of what you are reading. 😂

Then all I could do was wait… but not long.

The Results

I was sitting on my cousin’s couch the next day, checking my emails for the first time since I left home, and I had already received notice that my digitization was complete! When I logged into my email to check the timing, On July 1st at 6am, I finalized the quote. By 3:30pm the same day, my files were ready to view! Wow!

I was able to get a screenshot on my laptop now that I’m home. The albums were created by the organization I setup with my ziploc bags. They told you when you received the box that they aren’t able to put things in order for you, but they can keep the organization you set up by using albums. I would suggest putting some thought into that if you are sending a bunch of items like this.

One Downside

One thing I am currently having problems with, is tagging people in the photos. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. I’ve tried on my phone in the app, and I tried on my laptop. Before this project, I didn’t do a lot of work in the galleries. Usually one photo at a time uploaded to someone’s profile. I noticed it will let me tag people in general in the photo, but it’s not recognizing when I try to use the Who is this person? that pops up for facial recognition.

For example, on this picture of my father and his brother, Stevie, I used the Who is This? to tag them in the photos. However, it does not recognize that I’ve already identified them, but they are tagged in the photo. Just today, I untagged them and tried using the Who is This again and that worked. So maybe its a glitch that has been worked out now. Also, you might notice, it’s also picking up their sister’s face in a photo on the side table. 😂

That’s the only slight complaint I have so far. It’s not that big of a deal for me right now because I haven’t really been trying that hard to tag people yet and it does work for me eventually.

The Difference between Wolverine F2D and AncestryPreserve

I’m sure you are all wondering what kind of difference there is between a slide scanned with the Wolverine Converter and having Ancestry scan them. Great news is I have 185 examples! I won’t show you all of them obviously, but I will show some that I’m super happy about! I should also say there are tools on the Wolverine converter to adjust the images but I never felt comfortable enough to use them. I don’t believe those tools would have made these kind of differences though, just the coloring and contrast/highlights/shadows adjustments you see on most basic photo editing softwares.

Wolverine F2D
AncestryPreserve

This is one of the pictures that shows I could get the people in the photo with slide scanner, but there was some obvious clipping on the edges. Which in other pictures, could be a huge deal. Also, does anyone know what is covering the light switch on the wall behind my Aunt Barb? 😂 I’ve never noticed that in any other pictures before.

Wolverine F2D
AncestryPreserve

It looks like the Wolverine Converter picked up more picture to the side of Llewellyn on the right but in the Ancestry version, a path is visible. Ancestry’s enhancement has helped the focus and coloring of the image, while the Wolverine version is a bit over saturated. This is the first time I’m realizing that Llewellyn’s Aunt Agnes and Aunt Belle are in this picture. I labeled these August of 1962. In 1962 they would have been the last two surviving Love siblings. Their brother Percy died in 1961 and Llewellyn’s mother in 1960. That makes me wonder if these are cousins in the picture with them. There is another picture of this same group, but the Wolverine and Ancestry ones were pretty identical except for coloring.

Wolverine F2D
AncestryPreserve

Ancestry also was very consistent in remembering to flip the images. I was not consistent at all. 😂 In fact, 80% of the time, I completely forgot unless my Dad went to look at the photos and told me his Grandma’s couch was on the wrong side of the picture. Oops. Also, here was another great example of the colorizing of the photos. I had not edited the photo at all except to size it down from 4000px. So that is raw, straight from the converter. I probably could have figured out how to colorize it eventually, and maybe I will, but its not high on my priority list of things to get done right now.

How They Got Sent Back

This is what I saw when I opened the box! It had a number above my name on the outside of the box. That number matched the little barcode stickers on each ziploc bag. There was also a little orange sticker on each bag with the number of items in each bag that matched the count I wrote on each bag. There were two exceptions. On one bag, I had 18 slides written on the bag, and their sticker said 13. When I checked that album against the slides, all 18 are there. The second exception, the bag and sticker both said 27 slides but the album on Ancestry says 28 pictures. Once I checked, it looks like they scanned one slide twice.

I’m not sure what happened in those instances, just being transparent! In both instances, the error was not in detriment to the process at all on my side. In fact, by my math, I might owe Ancestry Preserve about $3.84 for the six extra scans I got. 😂

Overall Opinion

I loved the experience if I’m honest. It was nerve wracking for me to send my slides away. However, last year, we had our painting of Lewis Thorward professionally framed behind museum glass. So I had to let go of that for a couple weeks as well. The added security of being able to send an AirTag with it is awesome. I didn’t have one to use and since we have been having a lot of family issues popping up, I never made it as far as purchasing one to use. If I had one, I would have probably used it just for added reassurance.

The quality of the digitization and the ease of already having them added to my Ancestry Gallery is great. I’m happy with the overall process as well. On both the website and the Ancestry app, I had very easy access to where I was in the process and when they estimated the next step to take place. Overall, the process took me about a month to complete. A month and a half if you include from when I actually purchased the initial kit. It took me a couple weeks to sort through the slides and actually send them off.

Would I Do It Again?

Yep, in fact, I’m thinking the next project will be sorting through the big box of pictures Llewellyn passed down… It’s going to take a bit to sort through those though.

The West Chronicles

Posted on by Kathleen

Recently, I asked ChatGPT to go through my blog and give me ideas for what I could do to make my website more accessible to new visitors. It suggested a welcome page. After I did that, it told me I didn’t need a curation of posts on the welcome page like it suggested because of the sidebar widgets that do the same thing. 😂 Alright then.

One of the things that post showed me though, was that all of my recent posts focused on my Dad’s side of the family. That didn’t seem fair, so I decided, freshly healed from an AI migraine, to give myself a West family migraine. 🙃

Where Did We Leave Off?

It looks like my last West post was when I was figuring out about Isaiah and his Z-ladies. This is where we realized that Isaiah West was married twice and both wives names started with Z 1 2. I started to fill in the children information but then I didn’t move back from Isaiah. In fact, I am still frustrated with not having found any death record for Isaiah or his wives. I know about when all of them died but no record pinpointing a date.

FamilySearch, Kentucky Vital Records Wiki Page

According the FamilySearch Wiki, statewide registration didn’t start until 1911 and general compliance wasn’t achieved until 1917. This about sums up my experience on the matter. The counties I am researching were generally pretty good at record keeping. Usually I can find something in the county records. For deaths though, until 1912-ish, there just isn’t much luck for Bracken and Pendleton counties in Kentucky.

For Pendleton County, the local newspaper, The Falmouth Outlook is digitized and on Newspapers.com so that has helped tremendously. The West records have mainly been in Bracken County though and the newspapers online are spotty. I guess I should mention that I’m looking for online sources for now and making a list for a future genealogy trip. I know I usually show a heavy focus on online records but I do look in person too eventually. This is the curse of living so far from my ancestor origins. I’m sure anyone reading this knew that, but it’s always good to be clear. 😂

The above chart shows how the family looks when you have Isaiah West, his two wives, and then his children with each wife (so far). The reason I say so far is I’m not sure I have all of Zerelda or Zemiah’s children. The gray boxes indicated children who died without having been married or had children. Zemiah was recorded as having given birth to 10 children, with 5 still living in the 1900 US Census 3. As you can see in the chart, the five living in 1900 are accounted for and so are the two who died before 1900. Isaiah M. West only appeared as a 7 month old infant in the 1880 US Census 4. Charles R. West was listed in the 1875 Bracken County death returns 5.

In our Z-Lady timeline we mentioned Sally Ann West-McClanahan, Isaiah’s sister. We know Isaiah and his son, Henry, were living with Sally’s family in 18606. Right next door to the woman he would marry in 18617. We know about her will where she leaves her property to Jackson West 8. We know she was listed as living with him in 1900 and her relationship also said Aunt 9. So where else have we found some extended family cross-overs when filling in the basic information of Isaiah’s children?

Henry A West

In 1900, Henry and Lafayette West were living in Hazelwood, Missouri. It’s important to also note that they married sisters. In Henry’s household there is a cousin living with them, Henry A. Harrison, born Jun 1843 in Kentucky 10.

McClanahan Sightings

When you are searching your family, some names just keep popping up and McClanahan is one of those for me. I knew that Isaiah’s sister was a McClanahan by marriage, so I tend to want to track down every mention of a McClanahan and figure out which branch they are from, and there are a lot of branches.

I had found this article for my Great-Grandma Lula’s marriage and happened to notice that it said officiated by Rev. J. F. McClanahan 11. I want to say I saw his name on the marriage record too but I just didn’t put it together at the time. I know, I would save myself so much time if I would have done all this the first go round. 😂 Can’t dwell on that though, just have to blunder on and do it right this time around. So Rev. J. F. McClanahan was actually related through Zemiah Black’s side through her sister Lucy, who also married a McClanahan 12. Another Black sister also married a McClanahan by the way 13. So there is either a McClanahan section coming up here, or in another blog post soon. 🤣 Undecided yet, as I write.

In Michael West’s obituary they mention a cousin, B. F. McClanahan 14. I’m fairly certain this is the son of Sally West-McClanahan.

I’ll be honest, I have not tracked down all these connections yet in this family reunion article 15. 🙃 I am in a little over my head with all the new leads.

What Have I Recently Found?

So what have I been looking at the has me writing an update on the West family? Well, FamilySearch Full Text Search is to blame once again.

This is a Deed record16 and I’m unfamiliar with a lot of the older records, which is why I am currently watching a ton of webinars to add to my knowledge on how to really use these records. However, in this records, Joseph West and Benjamin C. West are acting alongside James H. Murray to handle the estate of Isaiah West, deceased. This is not the Isaiah I am familiar with though, because this record is from May of 1835. My Isaiah would be under 10 years old at this time. It lists the “infant heirs” of Isaiah West, deceased. Infant just means not of full age, not an actual infant.

In this record it lists the infant heirs by name: Rebecca West, Edith West, Sarah Ann West, Mary West, Isaac West, Hannah West, Isaiah West, & Alexander C. West.

Isaiah and Sarah/Sally West are familiar to me but how will I know if this is the correct family? I had 26 hits in Full Text Search to go through so bare with me. 🤣

In the Settlement of the estate in 1837 17, there is payment listings for Elizabeth West, Rebecca West, William McClanahan (Sarah/Sally’s husband), Benj. C. West and then Jacob Stroube acting as guardian on behalf of the “infant children.” There were many entries of Jacob reporting to the court for these guardians. In the 1841 and 1842 reportings, I found mention of Edith and Mary by their married names mentioning their husband’s names as well.

Remember that Henry A. Harrison, cousin, living with Henry A. West in 1900? That is the son of Hannibal and Edith Harrison. Hannibal and Edith settled in Harrison County, Missouri and had at least 9 children.

Joseph West

There is still a question mark about Joseph West. My wonderful cousin, Christy, says she thinks he was another sibling of the West children and he did sign Marriage Bonds for Sarah/Sally’s marriage to William McClanahan18 and Mary’s to Abraham Free 19. I think she is most likely right. Joseph and Benjamin are listed in one of the estate records as acting “for themselves” and “as commissioners together with James H. Murray for the infant heirs of Isaiah West20. Its most likely this means they are sons as opposed to brothers of Isaiah. It’s less likely brothers would inherit alongside Isaiah’s children unless they were co-owners of the land that is being sold. I haven’t found the answer to this yet, so I’m cautiously going to start tracking the records for Joseph and Benjamin while keeping it as a possibility they are brothers, though most likely they are sons.

Conclusions

This chart shows where the connections stand as of today for me. I am also fairly certain that the random headstone I got from Johnsville Cemetery in the early 2000s is Isaac West (brother of Isaiah and Sally) and his wife. It’s taken me a long time to get this much written up though, so it will have to wait for another time.

I also am making an effort to get all my sources up on the database section of the site. I am trying to add sources here, but I am sure I missed some and it’s already taken almost a month to write up all this. 🤣 I am leaving for a quick trip to visit family in Ohio in a couple days, so it’s best to just post this and hold the rest for another entry. I have put up almost all of the records I have recorded so far on the website, but I find myself out of time for now until I am back from Ohio.

What’s Next?

  • Research the rest of the West siblings if possible
  • Fill in information on descendants of the known West siblings
  • McClanahans. So many McClanahans.
  • Make a list of things I need to research on site or order.
  • Map DNA Matches on this line

Source Citations

  1. Pendleton County, Kentucky, Marriage Bonds, 1799-1871, 1851-1855 (Bonds Only): 114, West-McClanahan, 30 Apr 1853; digital images, FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed 6 Jun 2026). ↩︎
  2. Pendleton County, Kentucky, Marriage Bonds, 1799-1871, 1849-1869: 205, West-Black, 4 Nov 1861; digital images, FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed 6 Jun 2026). ↩︎
  3. 1900 U.S. census, Bracken County, Kentucky, population schedule, Berlin township, enumeration district (ED) 24, sheet 04-A, dwelling 65, family 65, Isaiah West household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 6 Jun 2026); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T623, roll 510. ↩︎
  4. 1880 U.S. census, Bracken County, Kentucky, population schedule, Berlin township, enumeration district (ED) 15, p. 568-A, dwelling 260, family 260, Isaiah West household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 6 Jun 2026); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T9, roll 404. ↩︎
  5. Bracken County, Kentucky, “Death Records, 1852-1965,” 1875 section, Charles R. West; digital image, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com: 26 Jun 2026). ↩︎
  6. 1860 U.S. census, Pendleton County, Kentucky, population schedule, Falmouth post office, p. 671, dwelling 1648, family 1616, Sallie McLanahan household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 5 Jun 2026); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M653, roll 392. ↩︎
  7. 1860 U.S. census, Pendleton County, Kentucky, population schedule, Falmouth post office, p. 671, dwelling 1649, family 1617, John Black household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 5 Jun 2026); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M653, roll 392. ↩︎
  8. Pendleton County, Kentucky, Wills, 1841-1967, will of Sally Ann McClanahan (1900); digital images, FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed 29 Jun 2026). ↩︎
  9. 1900 U.S. census, Pendleton County, Kentucky, population schedule, Falmouth, enumeration district (ED) 61, sheet 13-B, dwelling 246, family 248, Jack West household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 Jun 2026); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T623, roll 547. ↩︎
  10. 1900 U.S. census, Webster County, Missouri, population schedule, Hazelwood, enumeration district (ED) 136, sheet 08-B, dwelling 110, family 112, Henry A. West household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 19 Jun 2026); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T623, roll 908. ↩︎
  11. “Windy Heights,” The Falmouth Outlook, 11 Jan 1918, p. 8, col. 1; digital images, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-falmouth-outlook-taylor-applegate/195546889/ : accessed 29 Jun 2026). ↩︎
  12. “Baptist Minister Dies in Bracken,” The Falmouth Outlook, 05 Aug 1960, p. 13, col. 3; digital images, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-falmouth-outlook-obituary-for-jf-mc/195549475/ : accessed 29 Jun 2026). ↩︎
  13. Pendleton County, Kentucky, Marriage Records, 1799-1962, McClanahan-Black, 24 Jun 1858; digital images, FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed 8 Jun 2026). ↩︎
  14. “Michael West,” The Falmouth Outlook, 9 Aug 1912, p. 5, col. 5; digital images, Newspapers.com (http://www.newspapers.com : accessed 25 Jun 2026). ↩︎
  15. “Family Reunion,” The Falmouth Outlook, 26 Sep 1930, p. 5, col. 4; digital images, Newspapers.com (http://www.newspapers.com : accessed 25 Jun 2026). ↩︎
  16. Bracken County Court, Kentucky, Order Books, 1792-1924 B: 474, deed transfer by Isaiah West estate, 18 May 1835; digital images, FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed 28 Jun 2026). ↩︎
  17. Kentucky, Bracken County Wills, 1797-1866, settlement for Isaiah West estate (1837); digital images, FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed 4 Jun 2026). ↩︎
  18. Bracken County, Kentucky, Marriage Records, 1786-1915, McClanahan-West, 7 Nov 1836; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 5 Jun 2026). ↩︎
  19. Bracken County, Kentucky, Marriage Records, 1786-1915, Free-West, 30 Dec 1840; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 20 Jun 2026). ↩︎
  20. Bracken County Court, Kentucky, Order Books, 1792-1924 B: 474, deed transfer by Isaiah West estate, 18 May 1835; digital images, FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed 28 Jun 2026). ↩︎

The Will of Joseph Frith

Posted on by Kathleen

The Will

This will of Joseph Frith was found through FamilySearch’s Full Text Search*. There were multiple scans of the will, making it appear a few different times but I chose this copy as the most legible to transcribe.1

* The images for these records are still viewable on FamilySearch but are no longer able to be downloaded. The images can now be downloaded on Ancestry.

The Transcription

In the Name of God Amen I Joseph Frith of Werneth in the County of Chester being sick and weak in body but of sound disposing mind and memory do make and publish this my last will and testament in manner and form following that is to say I Give devise and bequeath unto Hannah my loving wife during her natural Life the occupation of a small dwelling house and its appurtenances , situate , standing and being in Werneth aforesaid which is now in occupation together with the use of all my household goods furniture and other usables whatsover provided she be not married again but if she shall happen to be married again then instead of the said premises and goods I give and bequeath to my said loving wife the yearly sum of Ten pounds to be paid her out of all my Houses Lands and Tenements during the then remainder of her natural life by half yearly and equal portions I give and Devise all those my messuages, dwelling houses , lands , tenements and hereditaments situate and being in Werneth aforesaid with the rents , issues and profits of all and singular the said premises ( except the above dwelling house and its appurtenances now in occupation unto Hannah Frith Thomas Howard and John Boyer as my Trustees and Executors and Executrix

To have and to hold the said messuages , dwelling houses , lands , tenements , hereditaments and premises ( except before excepted ) unto them the said Trustees and Executrix and Executors their Executors , Administrators and assigns from and immediately after my decease for and during the term of ninety years from thence next ensuing and fully to be complete and ended In trust nevertheless and to the intent and purpose that they the said Trustees above named their Executors , administrators and assigns do out of the Rents , Issues and profits thereof or thereby arising or by assignment of the said premises or any part or parcel thereof during the said Term or by Mortgage or grant of the said premises or any part thereof raise and levy so much money as shall be sufficient for the discharge of all my lawful debts , funeral expenses and charge of the probate and execution of this my last will and testament and that they may and discharge the same therewith and after payment and the discharging thereof that they then upon this further Trust that they the said Hannah Frith Thomas Howard and John Boyer Their Executors and administrators do take the overplus of the said rents , profits and levies ( if any ) as the same may arise until the decease of my said loving wife ( if she hapens to be married again ) and the same to improve in the best manner their prudence may direct during that time . And at the decease or marriage of my said loving wife as the same shall first happen the same overplus so improved to pay equally amongst and to my seven children Harriet the wife of Thomas Booth, Charlotte the wife of Alexander Oldham, Joseph Firth , Hannah the Wife of John Cartright, Amelia Frith , Mariah Firth and Sarah Firth or their representatives . And from and immediately after and as soon as my said wife shall have been married again ( if that happens) I do hereby give and devise all and singular the premises aforesaid and the remainder and remainders reversion and reversions of all and singular my said messuages , dwelling houses , lands , tenements , and hereditaments aforesaid with the appurtenances together with my said Household goods furniture and usables equally amongst my said seven children Harriet Booth , Charlotte Oldham , Joseph Firth , Hannah Cartright, Amelia Firth , Mariah Firth , and Sarah Firth their heirs and assigns for ever share and share alike charged nevertheless and I do hereby charge the whole of the same premises with the payment of the said yearly sum of Ten pounds the same to be paid unto Hannah my said wife during the then remainder of her natural life by half yearly equal portions But if my said loving wife shall not of happen to be married again then immediately after her decease I do hereby give and devise all and singular the premises aforesaid and the reversion and reversions remainder and remainders of and in all and singular my said messuages , dwellinghouses , lands , tenements and hereditaments with the appurtenances together with the said household goods furniture and usables equally amongst my said seven children Harriet Booth , Charlotte Oldham , Joseph Firth, Hannah Cartright, Amelia Frith , Mariah Firth and Sarah Firth their heirs and assigns for ever share and share alike And further in case the husbands of my said daughters or either them or any person or persons to whom any legacy or benefit might or may accrue out of from or by reason of this my Will shall commence any suit or suit in any court of law or Equity or other court whatsover or by any ways or means sue or disturb or cause to be sued or disturbed my Executrix and executors or trustees hereinafter named or any other person or persons whatsoever to whom any thing is by me given in this my will from the receiving , quiet enjoying and possessing what is by me herein given as is therein mentioned in order to obtain more for themselves than what is hereby grant to be given or devised to him her or them , then it is my will and mind that such disagreeing legatee or legatees share or shares , benefit or benefits , in this my will shall cease , determine and become void and his , her or their share or shares , benefit or benefits herein which might otherwise have accrued to him , her or them be equally divided amongst such of my legatees as shall remain contented and satisfied herewith . And I do hereby nominate and appoint my said loving wife executrix and the said Thomas Howard and John Boyer Executors of this my last will and testament hereby revoking all former and wills by me heretofore made In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal ( this wrote on two sheets of paper to one of which I have put my name and my name and seal to the other ) Eight Day of March 1823 Joseph Frith Signed Sealed Published pronounced and declared by Joseph Frith the Testator as and for his last Will and Testament in the presence of us who at his request and in his presence and in the presence of each other have set to our names as Witnesses thereto John Booth Henry Booth Peggy Booth

The Family According to the Will

I created this chart by just adding in the names of the seven children listed, no other research done. I added in the husband’s names since the will specifically mentioned them. The will is dated in 1823, so before the 1841 UK Census but still in the time frame where our favorite Reverend was creating gorgeous baptism records. So my next step was to see if I can add in any children of these seven children from those baptism records.

Now you see why I kicked myself for not creating a separate file for the parish as I went page by page for the Booths. 😂

The Family After Searching for Baptisms and Census

The fun thing with wills, is I’ve noticed they usually, but not always, list the children in birth order. I wasn’t going to assume that about the children of Joseph and Hannah but it was interesting to see it play out through the records. Now full disclosure, only about 90% of the baptisms came from our dear Reverend Brooks. The rest are from different parishes. This means I don’t have such detailed information on the mothers. However, because Joseph and Hannah’s children were having children right before and during the time civil registration began, when I put things together with census records. I was able to have some real fun with these guys.

It has also taken a lot of time to get this entry done because of the amount of information flowing. 😂 It was also interesting for me to find all the daughters before Joseph Frith Jr. There are a few Joseph’s hanging around Cheshire at this time but I can’t be sure of which one is the correct one. I’m hoping once I fill in the others it will give me more clues about Joseph.

Joseph Frith Family after searching baptisms, birth records, and quick census searches.

For the first time I’ve even updated the database section of the site to show my sources for all those people in the chart.

What Is Next

  • Birth Records: Make a list of the children who would be born during the civil registration period and order a few at a time. I tended to overdo it on the ordering and then fall by the wayside. My goal is to have a list of main line records to order, then collateral lines. If I have no main line records to order that month, I will spend my records budget on the collaborative ones.
  • Census Records: Fill in the census records I can for all these families.
  • Check the big sites for Official and Church Records.
  • Probate Records: Check for any wills that will add to what I’ve already found.
  • Tax Lists: Learn more about tax lists and how they can help me. I see many results for Tax Lists in the FamilySearch Full Text Search but I don’t know how to use them so that’s next on the list to learn.
  • I need to look into the Booths that served as witnesses to Joseph’s will. It’s very likely those are Thomas’ relatives.

Source Citations

  1. Cheshire, England, Probate Records of the Diocese of Chester, 1547-1857, will of Joseph Frith, dated 08 Mar 1825; digital images, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed 22 Jan 2025). ↩︎

Paul Sutcliffe, It’s Your Turn!

Posted on by Kathleen

Who Were Paul Sutcliffe’s parents?

This is the question I’ve been asking for a long time. In search of the answer I’ve been collecting records like they are Pokémon and each one just adds to the confusion. I shouldn’t be surprised, it is the way it goes in genealogy research. Paul is one of my immigrant ancestors so any information I can find about him can help me narrow down the search.

What Information Did I Start With

I know Paul was born in England around 1839 to 1842. This comes from various sources. His tombstone gives the date of 1839. The other sources just give his age in years and I’ve calculated from that. I also have some Civil War Records that I ordered through CivilWarRecords.com. Those put his age in the general 1841 range.

We know Paul died in 1874 of consumption1. He is only present on one United States Census, which was the 1870 census2. This census while useful for many reasons, is very unproductive in terms of a birth month/year or even his parents birthplaces like other censuses. It does however give us some information. So we are all grateful for that. From his death record, I know his parents names are John and Elizabeth Sutcliffe3. That’s it, that’s all I’ve got. Genealogy is fun right?!

What Searches Have I Done

I did do a quick passenger list search and there is a Paul Sutcliff, who was born about 1839, arriving in New York City on July 25, 1859 from England4. Of course that is all the information the record gives, so it isn’t really a great start. Once I saw that passenger list date I tried to find any Paul Sutcliff/Sutcliffe in the 1860 United States Census and wow, I’ve never seen so few results on such a generic search. 🤣 If anyone has any better luck, please let me know!

My next try was baptism records in England. It was the best I could think of and I happen to really enjoy looking through them.

This entry for Elizabeth Sutcliffe and her son Paul was very interesting for me. Usually they will give the father and mother’s name in a baptism record. When there is no father’s name, it most likely means that she was unmarried. The key detail to show she was not married is that her “Quality, Trade or Profession” listed her as a “spinster.” This was term they used in this era for unmarried women on records.

The information we get from this record is Paul, son of Elizabeth Sutcliff who lives in Black Abbey was born Aug 1, 1839 and baptized on Aug 18, 1839 in the St. James, Accrington Parish Church, Lancashire, England5.

It was at this point I got overwhelmed and took a break from the Sutcliffes. I tend to jump around on which family I’m researching quite a bit. I think anyone who actually is still reading my blog at this point knows that. 😂

Then Came the DNA

What brought me back to them you ask? It was the DNA of course. Right now, I am working through the Shared Matches of Matches DNA class from Your DNA Guide. I don’t even remember how many times I’ve worked through this class at this point. It’s not that I didn’t understand, I just didn’t understand completely. 😂 So I keep working through it again when I get the urge to try. I won’t go into the whole process, because I am nowhere near qualified to teach it for one. Also, the classes there are so top tier, I think everyone should invest in them when possible. I’m saving up for my next one already.

Once I started using Pro Tools on my Shared Matches in Ancestry, I noticed a Wilson family kept popping up. Not the one I was used to from Yorkshire. Its very vital to mention that Paul Sutcliffe’s mother-in-law was Elizabeth Wilson, whose family is from Yorkshire. This means I wasn’t shocked to see a ton of Wilsons pop up in my matches, but I was shocked to see them in Lancashire. That’s when I decided to check my Dad’s Thrulines.

You will have to use your imagination a little. When I first came into this ThruLine the Wilson kids were green dotted line connections and showing as half siblings. It’s a bit of a spoiler that they are no longer showing as half siblings now that I added them to my tree, but that’s alright, we are all friends here. 😂 Basically, 16 cM and 11 cM are low amounts and according the Shared CM Project and What Are the Odds? it’s not impossible that Paul is either the full sibling or half sibling of these two Wilsons.

I started to build out the Wilson siblings trees to see if more matches would populate. There are 12 children total, including Paul and only one died as a child. That’s a lot of genealogy to do. It’s also worth noting that all of the Wilson children were baptized and many were married in the same church that Paul was baptized in. Just more circumstantial evidence to add to my case.

These two ThruLine matches trees did check out. That’s another green check in my column.

It’s Complicated but Not Really

When I say it’s a bit complicated, it’s really only because I am still missing some gaps at the beginning of Paul’s life. That’s not a complete shock since he was born before his mother was married. Let me give a timeline to show what I have found so far.

1839 Birth Certificate

On the 10th of August 1839, Elizabeth Sutcliff registers the birth of her son, Paul. He was born the 1st of August 18396. The location was given as Black Abbey in New Accrington. At first I had trouble finding this certificate until I realized that the General Register Office indexes the name of the child as the father’s name if the father’s name is given. Searching for Paul Wilson is what got me this certificate. Interestingly, it did not give the mother’s maiden name in the index.

1839 Baptism

On August 18th, 1839, Elizabeth has her son baptized in St. James Church, Accrington7. The location and birth date all match the official birth certificate.

1840 Marriage Record

One year after their sons birth, John and Elizabeth are married in Manchester on August 31, 18408.

1841 England Census

In the 1841 Census, we should see Paul with his parents if I’m right, but I just couldn’t find a match. We only have John and Elizabeth by themselves9. I did find a one year old named Paul Sutcliff living in the household of a Betty Sutcliffe in Black Abbey🤪 10. I’m going to dig deeper into both families before I will confirm it is a family member. So this is more like a yellow pending checkmark for my case.

1841 Birth Certificate

In September of 1841, John and Elizabeth had another child11. This certificate differs only slightly from the last one. You’ll notice Elizabeth is now listed as “formerly Sutcliffe”. They had a lot more children if I’m honest, but I haven’t gotten all the certificates yet. 😂 This one is basically to show the difference between Paul’s certificate before John and Elizabeth’s marriage and what one looks like after.

1851 England Census

In 1851, I found the family together in Accrington, except for John12. I believe I found him in another Wilson household, but I got overwhelmed with so much new information and decided to not investigate it yet. The big win is that Paul, aged 12, is in the household after being absent in 1841. Once I started filling in this part of the tree, there is a lot of information coming in very fast. I’m doing my best to go through it methodically and not make any mistakes. Hopefully this means I have a few more generations back I can go.

1861 England Census

Like I said, lots of kids. 😂 John is back, but on the previous page so we will have to just use our imaginations again13. Paul is now missing, which actually adds weight to the passenger list I mentioned earlier in the entry. Maybe that was actually him immigrating to the United States.

1870 United States Census

Paul married Mary S. Senior in 1863 in Bloomfield, New Jersey14. Mary’s mother was also a Wilson, so this is why I’m trying to be very careful as I go. I want to make sure if the lines cross, I get it correct and don’t get things too messed up. In 1870, Paul’s family is recorded living in Bloomfield, New Jersey15. His daughter, Alice, is on the next page. This family sure knows how to end up on the bottom of a census page. 🤣

1871 England Census

Our last census for John and Elizabeth is the 1871 England census and 6 of their 11 living children are with them16. Both John17 and Elizabeth18 died in 1879 and the children spread out after.

My Conclusion

I think it’s fair to say I believe that John Wilson and Elizabeth Sutcliffe are Paul’s parents. When I first discovered this I thought that maybe Paul immigrated to America to escape the stigma of being illegitimate. His parents did end up marrying but he did go by Sutcliffe in America. I’m not positive but I think for all intents and purposes that his English surname was Sutcliffe too unless they went to court and changed it. I know in America in the 1800s, they weren’t exactly checking birth certificates for identification, but I have no idea about England in that era. I can’t imagine Elizabeth would have put John’s name on Paul’s birth certificate unless he was the biological father.

My first thought of Paul escaping England due to stigma, I’m not so sure anymore. At least four of his siblings also came to America, so maybe they were just looking for fresh starts overall.

What’s Next?

Next is to keep researching Paul’s siblings down the line and see if I can identify more DNA matches. I’m sure there is plenty more to find and maybe I’ll cover the DNA aspects in its own entry. I also want to check out the parents of John and Elizabeth. The tree tangles and twists quite a bit together at this point. It reminds me a bit of my Mom’s Kentucky side. Where the same 5 or 6 names repeat a bit.

Below is just a rough graphic showing my progress on the siblings research.

  1. New Jersey State Archives, Birth, Marriage and Death Records, 1711-1878, AW 1874: 172, 14, Paul Sutcliffe; digital image, “Deaths, Atlantic-Hudson Co.,” Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com: 18 Jan 2025). ↩︎
  2. 1870 U.S. census, Essex County, New Jersey, population schedule, Bloomfield township, p. 77-B, dwelling 428, family 482, Paul Sutcliff household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 18 Jan 2025); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M593, roll 860. ↩︎
  3. New Jersey Birth, Marriage and Death Records, 1711-1878, AW 1874: 172, 14, Paul Sutcliffe. ↩︎
  4. Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957, online images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 16 Dec 2025), manifest, Guy Mannering, 25 Jul 1859, Paul Sutcliff. ↩︎
  5. St. James (Accrington, Lancashire, England), St. James Parish (Accrington), Births and Baptisms, 1813-1909, “1830-1839,” Paul Sutcliffe baptism (1839); digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 6 Apr 2026). ↩︎
  6. England and Wales, birth certificate for Paul Sutcliff, born 1 Aug 1839; citing 21/399/153, Sep quarter 1839, Haslingden registration district; General Register Office, Southport. ↩︎
  7. St. James (Accrington, Lancashire, England), St. James Parish (Accrington), Births and Baptisms, 1813-1909, “1830-1839,” Paul Sutcliffe baptism (1839). ↩︎
  8. Cathedral (Manchester, Lancashire, England), Marriages and Banns, 1754-1930, “1840,” John Wilson, Elizabeth Sutcliffe marriage (1840); digital images, Ancestry (http://ancestry.com : accessed 31 Mar 2026). ↩︎
  9. 1841 census of England, Lancashire, Accrington, folio 28, page 7, John Wilson household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 31 Mar 2026); citing PRO HO 107/506/2. ↩︎
  10. 1841 census of England, Lancashire, New Accrington, folio 10, page 14, Betty Sutcliff household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 25 Apr 2026); citing PRO HO 107/506/4. ↩︎
  11. England and Wales, birth certificate for Mary Ann Wilson, born 8 Sep 1841; citing 08E/410/357, Sep quarter 1841, Haslingden registration district; General Register Office, Southport. ↩︎
  12. 1851 census of England, Lancashire, New Accrington, folio 601, page 10, Elizabeth Wilson household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 1 Apr 2026); citing PRO HO 107/2250. ↩︎
  13. 1861 census of England, Lancashire, New Accrington, folio 33, page 27, John Wilson household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 1 Apr 2026); citing PRO RG 9/3064. ↩︎
  14. New Jersey State Archives, Birth, Marriage and Death Records, 1711-1878, J: 237, 9, Paul Sutcliff, Mary S. Seniour marriage (1863); digital image, “Essex County, Marriages, Deaths, 1848-1867,” Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com: 18 Jan 2025). ↩︎
  15. 1870 U.S. census, Essex County, New Jersey, population schedule, Bloomfield township, p. 77-B, dwelling 428, family 482, Paul Sutcliff household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 18 Jan 2025); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M593, roll 860. ↩︎
  16. 1871 census of England, Lancashire, Old Accrington, folio 59, page 3, John Wilson household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 1 Apr 2026); citing PRO RG 10/4142. ↩︎
  17. England and Wales, death certificate for John Wilson, died 16 Jun 1879; citing 08E/125/289, Jun quarter 1879, Haslingden registration district; General Register Office, Southport. ↩︎
  18. England and Wales, death certificate for Elizabeth Wilson, died 1 Mar 1879; citing 08E/157/87, Mar quarter 1879, Haslingden registration district; General Register Office, Southport. ↩︎

Identifying Some of Llewellyn’s Friends

Posted on by Kathleen

One of the goals I’ve had for a long time is to identify the un-named people in the collection of pictures I inherited. I’ve always known this is a very uphill battle. Every now and again though, I make a bit of progress. I told my Dad tonight that even if I only identify 15%, it’s better than nothing and a huge deal. The second part of that goal would be to put faces to all the names in the Diary of Llewellyn. Today I will add four identities to that goal! All thanks to Ancestry’s Yearbook Collection if I’m honest. All these people are also added into my Public Ancestry Tree under my Diary of Llewellyn Network.

Identity One: Roswell Winans

It’s hard to tell from the group shot but I was able to spot Roswell Winans and Walter Wilkes from this image. I didn’t know it at the time, I just knew they were familiar from Llewellyn’s images. It wasn’t until I found their individual pictures that I was able to identify who they were. I will be clear, so far I have not been able to make the Face Search find anyone in my images. I think it is possible but I think the people who I am searching have high quality images available yet in the Ancestry database to really find them. Once I had already identified Roswell, it did identify him. However, I made the connection first.

I will be using these two images from Llewellyn a couple times, as there are numerous people identified in them. Roswell is easy to tell in both images once you’ve seen his Senior Picture. He is a regular participant in Llewellyn’s Epworth League and is mentioned in her diary many, many times: here.

Identity Two: Ernest Smith

Ernest wasn’t identified with a yearbook. I actually was curious if I could find him after having such great success with the others. I stumbled on a member photo (the third image) of Ernest and thought I for sure recognized him from Llewellyn’s pictures. He makes many appearances in Llewellyn’s diary.

The first image is the best image I have of any of the group I think. It contains L to R: Ernest Smith, Llewellyn Thorward, Roswell Winans, Unknown Girl, and Hugh Long. The middle image is actually on one of the church trips and that is Grant’s Tomb in the background. The group is on a boat in the Hudson River going past the Memorial.

Identity Three: Hugh Long

I will admit I was just paging through the Caldwell High School yearbooks when I noticed Hugh in the group picture. Then I found his name once I went into the Senior Pictures. I quickly identified him in a few of Llewellyn’s pictures and he too has made some appearances in her diary related to the Epworth League.

Identity Four: Walter Wilkes

For Walter, I cropped him out of the big image so we could see what struck me so much about this group image. This was my last identification and I think it was his posture that made me stop and take notice first. I was actually looking up people from Llewellyn’s wedding gift list and noticed Walter and his parents listed and decided to see if I could find him. The group picture came up for me first. His class picture isn’t as convincing, but I think it’s hard to argue with the other two pictures once placing them side by side. Walter appears in Llewellyn’s diary one time that I know of and of course the wedding gift registry.

This is fun right? 😂

Alice Hackett-Hammell, A Little More Info

Posted on by Kathleen

In the process of researching another entry, Welcome to the Family Hammells!, there was a little bit of information going further back that didn’t quite fit into that post. It involves the mother of Jennie Hammell-Featherston. I do find it a little interesting I’m filling in the information for generations after and before Jennie before I am able to do it for her. I’ll take whatever information I can get though, so no complaints here.

Where We Left Off

In the previous entry we really only knew the names of Jennie Hammell-Featherston-Nagel’s parents. Bernard Hammell and Alice Hackett. My next steps are to try and gain as many records as I can that will give me more information on her parents. Even a little bit of new information will help me start narrowing things down and maybe even finding people who went missing in the census in later years. Here is where the family stood at the end of that last entry:

Author’s Note: For the purpose of keeping this family easier to follow, I will refer to Jennie Featherston-Parkin as “Jennie” and her mother Jennie Hammell-Featherston-Nagel as “Jane”. With quotes, to further distinguish who we are talking about. Not just for this entry but all entries going forward.

New Record – But Unreliable For Now

I was able to find a church birth index entry for “Jane” on both Ancestry and FamilySearch1 but I still need to try and see the actual record for that. It seems to be a very robust Catholic Church register though, so I have quite the to do list for that record set. The original record set isn’t searchable on FamilySearch but it is included in the New Jersey Births and Christenings record set. This index has actually been very beneficial to me for getting the exact location of my New Jersey records to order from the Archives. This exact one will have to wait until I can make it to a FamilySearch center, which I should probably try to do soon.

This record set also found a brother named James2 who is five years younger than “Jane.” This led me to fill in some more information. It turned out that James married a woman named Louise Widasech in 18833. They had one child named James. He also formed a “James Hammell Association” which really confused me for awhile until I realized it was some sort of club that James formed, they gathered regularly, formed a shuffleboard team, and took annual rides. The earliest mention I saw of it was 1888, and one last mention in 1904.

In the 1885 New Jersey State Census, Alice is even living with James, his wife and son4. Sadly James’ son would pass away in 1888 of diphtheria5. After his death the family would take in a foster daughter, but I haven’t been able to track down much information on her and where she came from. She appeared in the household in the 1900 United States Census6 and would live with Louise for a short time after James’ 1903 death78.

How Do I Know This James Is Connected?

You might be thinking I’m in danger of adding a random family to the tree without verifying things just based off this information. That’s not the case though, there are a few more things helping me to decide this James is the actual brother of my “Jane”.

In Jane’s second marriage certificate to William Nagle, the witnesses to the marriage are a Louise and John Hammell, whose address is 163 Summit Street9. I am inclined to think John is meant to be James. It is about 8 months before James’ 1903 death and I haven’t found any evidence of a John Hammell but it’s still possible I am missing something. 163 Summit Street is associated with James and Louise for a very long time and he ran a pub at the location10. This address is also where the James Hammell Association would have their regular meetings.

The 1890 Death of Alice Hammell

The biggest piece of evidence I found linking James Hammell to “Jane” and Alice is the loose probate papers found in the FamilySearch Full Text search11. In those papers we have first James Hammell, son and Jennie Featherston, daughter informing the Surrogates Court of Essex County that their mother died intestate. This means she had no will.

The second is a hand written letter from Jane. I repeat. A handwritten letter from “Jane“. In the letter Jane is protesting the letters of administration being assigned to anyone before some other legal matters are settled. This letter is dated the 31st of January 1890. Then finally, just one day later we have James and Jane both renouncing their rights to be appointed as administrators of the estate.

Lastly we have Alice’s death certificate12. It gives us a little more information and another new address. If you were wondering if I’m logging these addresses and who is living with who in what years, you’d be thinking the same thing I am. 277 Warren Street is new for me in my tracking but it’s possible it’s a hospital, especially considering there is so little information given about her personal circumstances. The cemetery where she was buried is an Irish Catholic burying ground which fits with the Catholic baptismal records we found before.

My Next Steps

I am currently waiting for two more marriage records from the New Jersey archives. They will maybe help clear up “Jennie” and Sadie’s timelines but we won’t know until the records come!

Footnotes

  1. St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Catholic Church, “St. Patrick’s Pro-Cathedral Parish registers, 1850-1926,” database, FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed 30 Oct 2025), entry for Ann Jane Hammell baptism (1852). ↩︎
  2. St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Catholic Church, “St. Patrick’s Pro-Cathedral Parish registers, 1850-1926,” database, FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed 30 Oct 2025), entry for James Hammell baptism (1857). ↩︎
  3. New Jersey Bureau of Archives and History, New Jersey index to records of births, marriages, and deaths, 1848-1900, 8 1883-1884: Louise Widasech, James Hammell marriage; digital image, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, “Marriage, Atlantic-Warren,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/312728: 1 Nov 2025). ↩︎
  4. 1885 New Jersey State Census, Essex County, New Jersey, population schedule, Newark, Ward 4, p. 193, dwelling 727, family 1118, line 5782, James Hammell household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 1 Nov 2025). ↩︎
  5. New York State Department of Health, “New York, U.S., Death Index, 1852-1956,” database, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/61535 : accessed 1 Nov 2025), James Hammell death (1888); citing City of Yonkers Register of Deaths, 1884-1889, p. 75. ↩︎
  6. 1900 U.S. census, Essex County, New Jersey, population schedule, Newark Ward 7, enumeration district (ED) 66, sheet 12-A, dwelling 160, family 281, James Hammell household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 1 Nov 2025); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T623, roll 964. ↩︎
  7. “Hammell,” Newark Evening News, 30 Apr 1903, p. 13, col. 1; digital images, Newark Public Library (https://newark.historyarchives.online/ : accessed 1 Nov 2025). ↩︎
  8. 1905 New Jersey State Census, Essex County, New Jersey, population schedule, Newark, Ward 6-8, 4th and 5th District, p. 14-A, dwelling 204, family 310, line 38, Louisa Hammell household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 1 Nov 2025). ↩︎
  9. New Jersey New Jersey Bureau of Vital Statistics, marriage certificate 12738 (1901), Naegel-Hammell; New Jersey State Archives, Trenton. ↩︎
  10. “Office of the Board of Excise Commissioners of the City of Newark; list of names applying for liquor license,” Newark Evening News, 19 Aug 1902, p. 14, col. 3; digital images, Newark Public Library (https://newark.historyarchives.online/ : accessed 1 Nov 2025). ↩︎
  11. Essex County, New Jersey, Probate Records, 1794-1902, unrecorded estate papers of Alice Hammell (1890); digital images, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed 17 Feb 2026). ↩︎
  12. New Jersey Bureau of Vital Statistics, death certificate H197 (1890), Alice Hammell; New Jersey State Archives, Trenton. ↩︎

Finding Sarah Booth’s baptism and the Friths of it All

Posted on by Kathleen

In my last entry, Thank You Reverend Cooper and Reverend Brooks, I talked about how Reverend Brooks style of logging baptisms was unusual for the time but also a huge help in advancing my research.

Context, I am guessing you are wanting some

It all really started with the family history “book” I am writing. My family members have always been so supportive of my genealogy journey, and so interested in seeing the records and findings. I had been wondering how best to share it with them. One random day I just opened Power Point, yes Power Point 😂, and just started making a book. This allowed me to start actually putting my research together and see things taking shape. I noticed things I either didn’t see before or I was seeing it again after a long time.

Sarah Booth

When I’ve been entering my records into my clean file, I’ve added any addresses or identifiers of places. I also know that you are supposed to look a few pages around each family to make sure that there isn’t someone important very close. However, 😂, I don’t always have access to the image version of the England or Scottish censuses. So I can’t even say how many times I have looked at the actual census record for this, I know I’ve seen it, just not often. When you are using just indexes, it’s almost impossible to really know who the neighbors are. So this time, I’m making sure to see the actual images.

Below is the 1851 England census1 image for William and Sarah Travis. Their daughter Frances Wright Travis is my 3rd great-grandmother. I know from Frances’ birth certificate2 and death certificate3 that Sarah’s maiden name was most likely Booth. I also knew that William and Sarah had a son named Thomas Booth Travis and that name was used more than once by their descendants.

If you look at the 1851 census, right next to William and Sarah Travis is Thomas Booth and wife Harriet with their children. What I noticed first about this Booth family was the 14 year old son Ammon Booth. William and Sarah had a son Ammon Hayden Travis born in 18604. Ammon is enough of a unique name that it made me stop and take notice. I decided to go back to the 1841 England census and find this Thomas Booth family and see what information was there.

1841 England Census

The Thomas Booth family was living in Hyde at Mount Pleasant House5 (I think) in 1841. When we look back to Frances’ birth certificate it lists her place of birth as Mount Pleasant Hyde! WHAT!? Frances and her parents are living with the Travis side of the family in 18416 at Ralph Fold, now called School Lane next to the Hyde Chapel where the baptisms of all these children will take place. I plotted these locations into Google Maps and they are 9 minutes walking distance apart. Maybe what happened is Sarah stayed with her parents while she was waiting for the baby and then once the baby was born they moved to her husband’s family home. I’m not sure of the circumstances but it seems plausible to me.

Okay But Where Do The Friths Come In?

Right, back on track. How did this all lead me to the Frith family. Here is where FamilySearch’s Full Text Search came in.

I started with just a simple search for “Thomas Booth” and Ammon. Notice I did not even try using Sarah. When there is a unique name that stands out for a family it really is best to use that to cut down on false positives. Yes, you will eventually want to search every nook and cranny you can. I was just on an adventure down a rabbit hole while trying to write up a family history. I didn’t want to dig too deep yet. In hindsight, I probably went too far but c’est la vie, am I right? 😂

Thomas Booth Will

You might wonder why I am breaking things up so much? It’s because WordPress tells me I get too wordy and this improves readability. Anyway, Thomas Booth’s will is the first record that came up for my full text search. What did I find there?

I found Sarah, wife of William Travis, that’s what I found and also the married names of Sarah’s sisters and the names of her brothers and a nephew. I do love when they are all listed so clearly. I know this is for sure the same Thomas because this 1864 will starts off with Thomas Booth of Bowker Street and I have the family recorded in the 1861 census7 at Bowker Street, right down to the grandson Henry Booth living with them.

I’m Still Not Seeing How The Friths Are Involved

I know, I know. 😂 Like I said, WordPress does not get me and my writing tone. Further down on the Full Text Search Results was a result for Ammon Booth’s baptism8. From the same book as, the Thank You post.

There it is! Harriet, the daughter of Joseph and Hannah Frith. The problem remaining is that Ammon is not Sarah. However, Reverend Brooks took over records in 1806, and started recording baptisms this way almost immediately. Thomas Booth and Hannah Frith were married in January of 18179. So, on to the records for me and yes. I went page by page. Full Text search does pick up some of the children but not all. So I went full speed on doing a full search. My only regret is not creating a new file and documenting the whole parish. In fact I don’t rule it out for later.

The Children of Thomas Booth and Harriet Frith

I’ve never felt the true meaning of “If it was easy, everyone would do it” before this moment. I went page by page, found 8 children of Thomas and Harriet Booth. Susannah is missing because she was born after the FamilySearch images ran out. That’s understandable but why, oh why is my Sarah missing. 🤦‍♀️ Have I spent all this time on the wrong family? Did I miss something?

So What Did I Do?

I went back to Ann’s 1818 baptism record and I looked closer at each one and I was determined to go all the way until I reached Mary in 1822. To be really sure that I hadn’t missed her. What would I have done if I didn’t find Sarah then? No idea, because I found her10. 😂. I most likely would have checked one more time the whole record set between 1817 and 1838. If she still wasn’t there I would have checked other surrounding parishes. After that I would have added this event to a growing list of bad luck when it comes to records of my ancestors surviving.

Let’s Unpack What Happened Here

Rev. Brooks was amazing, but also still human. If you look, it gives Thomas’ name as Thomas Hyde but the wording is very strange. Usually he would say Sarah daur. of Thomas Booth of Hyde by Harriot his wife daur. of Joseph and Hannah Frith… In this record, he has just missed adding in the “Booth of” part of the transcription. Anyone just skimming will just assume this is Sarah Hyde, daughter of Thomas Hyde. The addition of Joseph and Hannah Frith as the parents of Thomas’ wife was the bit of information that made me see that this is very likely my Sarah.

Without Rev. Brooks making this change and sticking to it for so many years, I have no idea how long it would have taken to figure out that this is my Sarah, if ever. In fact who knows, maybe new information will come to light and I will learn it’s not my Sarah. Genealogy is Fun isn’t it? 😂 The rollercoaster of emotions is so exhilarating for me.

What’s Next?

Well, I have found the 1831 Will of Joseph Frith which also lists his children, including Harriet Booth. So that is next to analyze. Including what might be a connection between a Frith daughter and the Mount Pleasant House that Frances was born in. I also need to hunt down leads on the Booth children that I was given clues for in the Thomas Booth Will. A family historian’s work is never really done and I would have it no other way. So now you guys know why I was so inspired to write a Thank You post for a Reverend in a long ago parish in England that wasn’t even related to me.

Footnotes

  1. 1851 census of England, Cheshire, Werneth township, folio 640, page 9, William Travis household; digital images, MyHeritage (http://www.myheritage.com : accessed 15 Jan 2025); citing PRO HO 107/2154. ↩︎
  2. England and Wales, birth certificate for Frances Wright Travis, born 10 May 1841; citing 19/274/170, Jun quarter 1841, Stockport registration district, Hyde sub-district; General Register Office, Southport. ↩︎
  3. California Department of Health Services, death certificate 5899 (1921), Frances W. Redford. ↩︎
  4. England and Wales, birth certificate for Ammon Hayden Travis, born 6 Sep 1860; citing 08A/20/275, Sept quarter 1860, Stockport registration district; General Register Office, Southport. ↩︎
  5. 1841 census of England, Cheshire, Hyde parish, folio 7, page 8, Thomas Booth household; digital images, MyHeritage (http://www.myheritage.com : accessed 21 Jan 2025); citing PRO HO 107/111/8. ↩︎
  6. 1841 census of England, Cheshire, Hyde township, folio 14, page 21, William Travis household; digital images, MyHeritage (http://www.myheritage.com : accessed 15 Jan 2025); citing PRO HO 107/111/14. ↩︎
  7. 1861 census of England, Cheshire, Hyde parish, folio 153, page 34, Thomas Booth household; digital images, MyHeritage (http://www.myheritage.com : accessed 21 Jan 2025); citing PRO RG 9/2558. ↩︎
  8. Hyde Chapel (Hyde, Cheshire, England), Hyde Chapel Records: Births, Baptisms, and Burials 1710-1838, record for Ammon Booth baptism (1836); digital images, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed 21 Jan 2025). ↩︎
  9. St. Mary’s Church (Stockport, Cheshire, England), Marriage Registers, 1584-1901, “Marriages, Oct 1800-Feb 1819,” Thomas Booth and Harriott Firth marriage (1817); digital images, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed 21 Jan 2025). ↩︎
  10. Hyde Chapel (Hyde, Cheshire, England), Hyde Chapel Records: Births, Baptisms, and Burials 1710-1838, record for Sarah Booth baptism (1820); digital images, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed 21 Jan 2025). ↩︎

Thank You Reverend Cooper and Reverend Brooks

Posted on by Kathleen

When researching in the 1800s, you inevitably come across the issue of trying to find out the maiden name and parents of your women ancestors. It’s just a fact of genealogy that it wasn’t well recorded for a very long time. When you can find any glimpse of information, it’s so exciting. There are tons of work arounds and tricks you can use to determine the name but nothing beats something that gives you the information without having to spend years finding it… I mean, that’s fun too, I won’t lie to you.

Baptism and Christening Records

Of the types of records where I would tell you to look for a mother’s maiden name. Baptism records usually would be very low on the list for the early 1800s.

The above image is from the Hyde Chapel parish records on FamilySearch.org. This group of images spans from 1705-1838. It contains mostly births and baptisms. It’s wonderfully legible, gives the first name of both parents and the date of birth, which wasn’t always given in English baptism records. The image above shows Reverend Bristowe Cooper is the clergy member who is keeping record of the baptisms in 1785.

“A Register of Christenings commencing among the Protestant Dissenters of Hyde Meeting, under an Act made in the twenty third year of the reign of GEORGE Third, & bearing… Date from the first Day of October, One thousand, Seven Hundred and Eighty Five._

Bristowe Cooper._”

February the 1st, 1805

I start with Reverend Cooper because without his meticulous record keeping, I’m not sure I would have had the fortitude to page through every. single. page. of these records. Yes, every single page. For 20 years, Reverend Bristowe Cooper kept beautiful records.

On February 1, 1805, Rev. Cooper passed away after a lingering illness. His successor, Rev. James Brooks, finished recording the last baptisms for his predecessor. For about one year after Rev. Cooper’s death other clergy members filled in at the church and Rev. James Brooks made note of that also. If I hadn’t been paging through one page at a time, I don’t think I would have even noticed these events unfolding until Rev. Brooks next decision.

January 1806

It’s obvious once you see how organized the baptisms are after a change of clergy that they were tracking the baptisms elsewhere and this was the final product. After so many years of having these kind of records jump around in dates and not keep any kind of order, it’s really so refreshing. Anyway, the fact that this is information transcribed from another source is important to note because it means there is chances for errors when the transcriptions were being made. This comes in handy to know when I found a small error in the baptism record for one of my ancestors in this record set.

In January of 1806, Rev. Brooks marks down that he has taken over the baptisms for the parish.

Going by the handwriting, I can’t even be sure when Rev. Cooper ceased keeping his own records. The handwriting never changed dramatically. I couldn’t even really see signs of the illness that eventually claimed Reverend Cooper’s life. Rev. Brooks continued using the same exact format as Rev. Cooper used for about 5 pages… Yep 5 pages in he made a huge change. A change that I will be forever grateful for.

Absolutely Necessary… I agree!

“Having lately had the Register consulted on very important business, and finding a more particular form of Registry in many cases absolutely necessary to a clear distinguishing of names, I have for the future resolved to notice the maiden name of the mother, and the names of her Parents, & also the places where the father and mother of the child were registered.”

Excuse me, I’d like all of us to take a moment and just let that sink in. He did not always record where the parents were registered but I’m not even worried about that. I’m too grateful for the wealth of information and context that we are getting just knowing the maiden name of the mother and her parents names. I don’t know what important business inspired him to make this change, but I am so thankful it did.

You might think to yourself, wait, I’ve seen English baptism records and they have those boxes to fill in. Not just a blank piece of paper.

Yeah, Rev. Brooks wasn’t a fan…

One page. He got through one page of that and decided it just wasn’t for him. If you can see on the bottom right there is a hand pointing to another note from him. Why am I falling in love with a minister who was alive in 1827. If you want to see it bigger, No worries! I have it right here.

“I shall for the future write through the lines, and enter the Baptisms as above (namely the same as in my former register) putting down the time of birth as well as baptism and also noticing the parents of the wife. In this country where the same surnames are very common, noticing the maiden name of the wife & comes quite necessary.”

I agree Reverend Brooks. I definitely agree. Me and my 5 Thomas Booths and 5 William Travis’ absolutely find it necessary as well. Reverend Brooks continues this all the way through where the FamilySearch images stop in 1838. Do you want to know why it’s not devastating to have it end in 1838? Because civil registration began in England in 1837. Which means I can use the General Register Office website for anyone born after 1837.

So if you have anyone you are researching who used Hyde Chapel then have some fun searching through Reverend Cooper and Reverend Brooks meticulous notes.

Because of him, I need to introduce you to the Friths…

Using these records and FamilySearch’s Full Text Search, I have been able to go back another generation past Sarah Booth, to her mother Harriot Frith, daughter of Joseph Frith and his wife Hannah. Oy vey. I really have to update the blog on my research. Soon! You can bet I’m also searching through these Hyde Chapel baptisms for William Travis and Thomas Booth!