New Cousins

Greetings!

One good thing about doing research on your family in the various genealogy websites is that you periodically find cousins.  People who share one of your ancestors often post their family trees on these site, and a feature of the sites is usually that they can connect you with them.

Recently, I connected with a cousin in England who provided new information on the ancestors of my father's father.  Next fall, I'll be traveling to England to see if I can continue the research.  It also spurred my energy to check on what the website had on several other grandparents and great grandparents where my information was incomplete.  As a result, I found three new cousins who share connections with me on my mother's father's line.

But even if you find that someone's family tree contains the same great grandfather, privacy controls in these online family tree websites usually prevent you from knowing much about them, and require them to respond to a website inquiry in order to connect.  That's the case with these three cousins: Daniel and Chris Holton, Mommebird, and Debrob22 (known only to me by their user names), who share with me a family line which finds its way to Samuel S. Watson, Lucy Ellen Watson, or Joseph Lary.  I've sent messages to each to see it they're interested in sharing information.

New England Ancestors

Greetings!

My ancestors, the Larys, Watsons, Cobbs, Anthoines, Hawkes, Cushmans, and Allertons have lived in New England for almost 400 years.  In Massachusetts for most of that time, they settled in the coastal towns of Barnstable, Scituate, and Lynn.  The first, Isaac Allerton, his wife Mary, and their 3 yr-old daughter Mary, arrived on the Mayflower.  The younger Mary was the last surviving passenger when she died in 1689.

Another set of ancestors arrived in the 1650's, and spent most of the next 300 years in New Hampshire and Maine.  I've recently found a key cousin who wrote a great narrative about the Larys, and have the possibility of expanding my contact with cousins in the line of my ancestors.

This fall, Pat and I will be traveling through both New England and the Lake district of England to visit the places of these ancestors.  Hopefully, the research will be useful to more than just us, and I'll be trying to solicit ideas about what key information in our shared histories needs our time and efforts.

If your ancestors are from these areas, and these family names ring a bell, contact me and keep an eye on this blog (and our travel blog - http://gfpktravels.blogspot.com)

Gregory

  

Five Great Women

Greetings!

My great-great-grandmother, Lucy Ellen Watson, had an amazing life in the mid-1800s in Maine and New Hampshire.  She also had two amazing great-great-grandmothers, in the 1700's in Massachusetts and Maine (Elizabeth Phinney and Rachel Hawkes).  They had two amazing great-great grandmothers (Mary Allerton and Patience Hurst), who arrived in Massachusetts in the 1600s aboard the Mayflower and a sister ship ten years later.

All five women led extraordinary lives, and I'll be writing their stories in the near future.

William Walker Fearon

Greetings!

My grandfather wrote in 1917 on his selective service application that he was born in Belfast, Ireland on November 7, 1891. Fifty-five years later, his second wife indicated that he was born in Kansas on his death certificate, and advanced his date of birth to 1896. Also indicated were his parents names: John Fearon and Mary Fearon, of Ireland. On the 1930 U.S. Census, he indicated that he and his parents were born in Northern Ireland.

My father's older sister, Eloise, wrote me in August of 1995 to tell me that she had corresponded with her father's three sisters, and gave me their last known addresses: Ann Stronagh of 1761 Great North Road, Avendale, Auckland, New Zealand; Mrs. R. Anderson, of 21 Napier Street, Auckland, New Zealand; and Mrs. J. D. Williamson, of 35 Wetheriggs Rise, Penrith, Cumberland, England. I wrote to all three, and the letters were all returned indicating they were not known at those addresses. I've been looking for two decades for any confirming evidence of this information with no luck.

Last year, however, I was contacted by Marjorie Gardner, of Leicester, Leicestershire, England, who wrote the following text in a message within Ancestry.com:

Hello Gregory, Happy New Year to you! Ancestry has given me a link to my entry for Beatrice Ellen Fearon to assist your request for information. I am not sure why as I have no William Walker Fearon in my tree. But to give you some information about Beatrice....she was born 1882 in Cumberland....St Bees. She is the daughter of John Fearon (b 1860) and Mary Louisa Linton (b 1863). My link is with Mary L Linton. She is the daughter of George Linton (b 1836 d1910) and Rebecca Williamson (B 1843 d1924) and George is the brother of my great great grandmother Mary Linton. George LINTON is the son of Henry Linton of Workington, Cumberland (b 1810 d 1838 and Mary Mullen (b1814 d 1898) If I can be any other assistance to you, please let me know. best wishes. Marjorie

There is a listing for George and Mary Linton in both the 1841 and 1851 English Census. They are living in Workington, England with their mother Mary Linton. In the 1851 Census, their mother has taken the last name of Lewthwaite.   By the 1881 Census, George has grown up, and married Rebecca Williamson. Their oldest daughter, Mary Louisa Linton, was born in 1863, and has moved out and married John Fearon by then. The 1891 English Census lists John and Mary L. Fearon living in St. Bees, Ennerdale, Cumberland with their children: Beatrice Ellen, Margaret Walker, William, and George. Mary's younger siblings are living with her parents at 51 Edkin Street, Workington. Margaret dies in 1898, and John and Mary have six more children: Anna, Marian, Rebecca, Mabel, John, and Mary. Both families continue to live in the same area in the 1901 English Census.

Sometime after 1901, the oldest child of John and Mary Fearon (William Walker Fearon) leaves for America. In the 1911 English Census, the coal miner John Fearon and his wife are listed as living in Frizington, Cumberland, with their 21-year old son George (also a coal miner), and his siblings Rebecca, Mabel, John, Mary, and Edith. The record indicates that this couple had 14 children, ten of which were living in 1911.  I now believe this to be my grandfather's family, and I'm going looking for their descendants next August.

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.

   

Gilmore Passenger List

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

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.