Monday, January 3, 2011

Governor Jerry Brown's Other Great-Grandfather

Greetings!

In today's Inaugural Address, Governor Jerry Brown told us of his German-born great grandfather, August Schuckman.  He told of his grandfather's journey in the 1852 from Missouri, traveling by wagon across the plains to Colusa county.  He read from his great-grandfather's diary of the hardships he endured getting here.  A few years later, August traveled back to Germany, married his wife, and they sailed around the Horn and returned to California.

The story was illustrative of the struggle by those who made California.  And the story could have also been illustrated by another immigrant ancestor of the Governor.  Charles Brown, a gardener from County Kerry, Ireland, and the Governor's great, great-grandfather, sailed to Port Philip, Australia on the Gilmore in the fall of 1841.  He met on the ship, and later married, Ann Child, of Pembrokeshire, England, and they raised four children in the Colony.  In 1851, they sailed to San Francisco at the time of the Gold Rush.  In the next 40 years, the Brown family became professional photographers, carpenters, boilermakers, and a cigar store owner, and contributed significantly to the building trades and retail commerce throughout the city.

   

Saturday, November 27, 2010

A Lot of Great Women

Greetings!

Ten men (eleven if you count me) married well in my family.  They were:

Churchill Jonathan Lary married Lucy Hall Watson.  Lucy's family line was the Anthoines.
Nicholas Anthoine married Rachel Hawkes.
John Hawkes married Sarah Cushman.
Thomas Cushman married Mary Allerton.
Isaac Allerton married Mary Norris
Edward Norris (1565-1603) married Elizabeth Norreys
Edward Norris (1465-1485) married Frideswide Lovel
John Lovel married Joan Beaumont
John de Beaumont married Eleanor Plantagenet
Henry II of England married Eleanor of Acquitaine

Gregory

Friday, November 26, 2010

Lucy Ellen Watson

My great great grandmother, Lucy Ellen Watson, can trace her ancestors back to the kings of England, Spain, and France.

Here's how it goes:

Lucy Ellen Watson is my great great grandmother.  Lucy's mother, Harriett Anthoine, is the 7th great granddaughter of Sarah Cushman (1641-1695).  Sarah's mother, Mary Allerton, is the daughter of Isaac Allerton and Mary Norris, two of the passengers on the Mayflower.  Mary Norris, is the 10th great granddaughter of Eleanor Plantagenet (1311-1372).  Eleanor is the 2nd granddaughter of Henry II, King of England (1132-1189).  Henry's children and grandchildren were the royalty of Europe during the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries.  One son was Richard I (the Lion-hearted) of England, and another was Geoffrey, Duke of Brittany. A daughter was Eleanor, Queen of Castille, and another was Joan, Queen of Sicily and Countess of Toulouse.

Henry II, is my 24th great grandfather.

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Churchill Jonathan Lary

Churchill Jonathan Lary, my great grandfather, lived far enough back in my ancestry to have had enough children and grandchildren whose lives left interesting legacies. He’s a good place to examine the English side of my family.

This week, I found another of Churchill’s descendants whom I believe is my 2nd cousin, once removed. She lives in Boston, and her family tree shows that her family traces their connection to Churchill from his son George (1880). Mine traces from George’s older brother Albert (1871). Their middle sister, Harriett (1875), completes the siblings of Churchill’s second family. Their mother, Lucy Ellen Watson, married Churchill in 1868, after the death of his first wife, Louise Anne Peabody. Louise and Churchill were married in July of 1850, and had three children: Frank (1852), Emily (1860), and Louisa (1863). Lucy lived on her own after Churchill died, in a house that she owned free of mortgage from 1896 until she moved in with her younger sister, Elizabeth Holden, on a farm in 1915. At 82, she moved in with the family of her son George until her death in Gorham, New Hampshire after 1930.

Churchill lived his entire life (1821 to 1896) on his father’s farm in Shelburne, New Hampshire. The son of a timber harvester, he made sure that his children all went through high school, and pursued occupations which provided well for their own families in the later part of the 19th century. My great grandfather, Albert, loved travel in his younger years.  His training at Worcester Polytechnical School in mechanical engineering led him into automobiles.  While starting a family, he used his knowledge to open an automobile garage, and to obtain a position as chauffeur for wealthy new England families, including one which employed him to ship and drive them in their car throughout Europe.  Later, he was hired as the Maintenance Manager for the Brown Corporation's Paper Mill in La Tuque, Canada, until his death in 1943.  Albert, and his wife Ida Marr, had two sons. His oldest son, Churchill, died as a young man. His younger brother, Everett, was the first of the Lary lineage to attend college. His love of science, encouraged by his brother, led to a degree in chemistry, to a specialization in chemical warfare in the military in World War II, and to a career in oil exploration and production. His daughter, Louisa, became a teacher. His oldest son, Frank, worked for the railroad all his life.

Churchill’s ancestors lived since the mid 1600’s in Rowley and Bradford, Massachusetts and in Sanbornton and Wolfesborough, New Hampshire.

Sunday, July 25, 2010

France Roots Trip Successful





Greetings!

I just realized that I forgot to post the results of our trip to France last fall. We had a wonderful time visiting 6,000 kilometers of France. Beginning with my ancestral home town of Mortagne au Perche, I found even more than I thought possible. The town's church (where my ggggggrandparents were married) has a stain-glass window depicting their landing in Quebec, and a wall placque with their names on it. There is also a museum in the area with an exhibit dedicated to the journey they took (with 98 others) to Quebec in the 1630's.

Here's a link to some posts I made to our travel blog: Mortagne au Perche

Our trip to France continued on to Normandie, Bretagne, and 12 other provinces before spending the last week in Paris. It was an adventure which strengthened my own sense of French history and my French heritage. History is always much more interesting when your own ancestors lived through it. To learn more about the adventure, visit our blog for each day after the link above.

And have fun exploring your heritage.

Gregory

France Roots Trip Successful

Greetings!

Friday, August 28, 2009

Finding my Ancestors in France

Greetings!

Zacharie Cloutier and Xainte Du Pont were married in Mortagne au Perche, where we're going to spend our first night on our trip to France in a couple of weeks. I'm going to see if I can geotag this post to the church location.