Traveling through family history

Greetings!

Our travel to England and New England this month have had family heritage at its core.  After discovering a few months ago that my grandfather on my father’s side was born in England, and not Ireland as he told everyone, I’ve been using the trip to get a better sense of what that family history looks like.  In addition, I’ve been pursuing a long delayed dream to visit the pathway along which my Lary family made their way over a thousand years from France to England to America.


As a descendant of European royalty from the French Franks to the English Plantagenets, visiting Britain’s castles and churches has been an demonstration of family enterprise.  The country’s towns and cities were built by, and the characters and stories are about, the trunk of our family tree.  But following the lineage geographically isn't as simple as visiting Buckingham Palace.  First, our family route to William and Harry leads through both Diana and Charles.
The easiest and longest route starts where all modern monarchies begin, with Charles Pepin in France,  Father of Charlemagne, and an ancestor of William I the Conqueror.  When William I invaded England in 1066, his victory at Hastings carried at least 300 years of throne time to English soil.  Though our direct line from the throne ended when Henry III died in 1274, and his first son (Edward I) succeeded him (we're descended from his younger son, Edmund), the family line of our cousins continues to the present-day Elizabeth, Charles, and William and Harry.

Henry III tried to appoint Edmund to King of Sicily, and found the present King unwilling to give up the local throne.  So Edmund settled for being the first Duke of both Lancaster and Leicester.  The castle he took over, remodeled, and in which our family lived for 50 years is Grosmont Castle.    Edmund's grand-daughter, Eleanor, married into the Beaumont family (Viscounts of Maine, France) in 1250.  Her husband's grandfather had been the King of Jerusalem, Emperor of Constantinople, before his father emigrated to Aberdeen, Scotland and Lincolnshire, England in the early 1300s, where they stayed for almost 100 years.  
In 1480, a Beaumont granddaughter (Frideswide Lovel) married Sir Edward Norreys, head of a long line of Berkeshire Norreys.  Her great great granddaughter, Mary Norris, married Isaac Allerton, the 5th signer of the "Mayflower Compact". Mary and Isaac were among the Pilgrims to flee England to Leiden, Holland for religious reasons. They married there in 1611 and she was given the unoffical title of "Maid of Newberry" while living in Holland. In 1622, Mary and Isaac embarked on the Mayflower with 102 passengers, including three pregnant women. Mary was one of them. About a month after they arrived at Plymouth in the "New World", she gave birth to the first child born in the colonies, a stillborn child. She was still aboard ship in Cape Cod Harbor while houses were being built. Mary died about a month later.  She traveled to the Colonies with her husband and three children Barhlomew, Remember and Mary Allerton Cushman, who became the wife of Elder Thomas Cushman.  It is said that in the painting by Henry Sargent (1770-1885) entitled "Landing of the Pilgrims", Mary Norris Allerton is represented as having a fine face, rather beautiful, and as being of a "meek and quiet spirit". The painting was painted in 1818-1822 and is on permanent display at Pilgrim Hall Museum; Plymouth, Massachusetts. at the Cole Hill Monument.  It is reputed to be the scene of the secret night burials of those who died during the settlement's first bitter winter. Corn was planted over their unmarked graves so that the Native Americans should not know how many had perished.Mary Norris Allerton is the 2nd inscription on the monument.

Next week, we'll travel to New England, and resume the journey following my ancestors. They'll include the Cushmans, Hawkes, Coggswells, and Anthoines, before finding the Watsons and the Larys.  From English aristocracy to religious rebels to shipworkers to blacksmiths to farmers to mill workers to train and automobile mechanics to nurses and scientists to young professionals.

Gregory

William Walker Fearon Family Clues

Greetings!

Here are the clues which seem to lead me to believe that my grandfather might not have been telling the truth about his parents family's origins.  The only direct sources I have for his birthplace, and that of his parents, are his selective service registration in 1917, and what he reported to the 1920 and 1930 U.S. Census.  In all three, he said that he and his parents were born in Northern Ireland.  He also said that he had arrived in the U.S. in 1892, and become a naturalized citizen in 1893.  He would have been two years old, and would certainly have come with his family.

I have been searching for confirming evidence to no avail.  No birth records for William Walker Fearon, John Fearon, or Mary Walker in Ireland.  No marriage record for his parents.  No immigration or naturalization records for any of them from Ireland.  No record o them in the 1900 or 1910 Census.

Alternately, I have been exploring the possibility that he was the oldest son of John Fearon and Mary Linton Fearon of Ennerdale, Cumberland, England.  Here are the clues:

The 1861 English Census lists a family in Ennerdale headed by a 76-year old Mary Walker, her 35-year old daughter Margaret Walker Fearon and 49-year old son-in-law William Fearon, their 6-year old daughter Eleanor and 1-year old son John.

The 1881 English Census indicates John has moved out as a 21-year old, and is living on his own in Ennerdale.

The 1891 English Census lists John as living with his wife Mary L. Fearon, and their four children: Beatrice Ellen (8), Margaret (6), William (2), and George (1) in Whitehaven, Ennerdale, Cumberland.
Mary and Margaret are listed as being born in Workington, while John, Beatrice, William and George were born in Ennerdale.

By the 1901 English Census, Beatrice and Margaret have gotten married and moved out, making room for five more children: Marian (8), Rebecca (6), Mabel (5), John (3), and Mary L (8 months).

The 1911 English Census indicates that John is employed as a coal miner, William has left, 5-year old Edith has joined the family, and they are living in Frizington, Cumbelrand.

It is then possible to believe that the 18-year old William traveled to America, made his way by train across to Kansas, enrolled in the army, served for four years, and was discharged sometime after 1912.  He traveled north from Kansas to North Dakota, where he meets and marries Edna Leen, the daughter of a Norwegian farm family.  In 1913, he is hired as a police officer in Ray, North Dakota.  The 1915 North Dakota State Census indicates that William and Edna are living in Williams County, and have two daughters: Beatrice V and Edith Eloise, both under 5 years of age.  Laverna becomes his third daughter.  In 1917, he reports in his selective service registration that he is the Chief of Police in Ray, North Dakota, and has three children.   It reports that he had served for four years in the Army in Kansas Infantry, emerging as a non-commissioned officer.  The 1920 U.S. Census lists the family as including the fourth daughter, Helen, and living in Clark, Clark County, South Dakota.

The 1930  U. S. Census lists the family as adding a son, Floyd (5), and living in Benson, Swift County, Minnesota.  Floyd was my father.

I have become convinced that my grandfather was born into a family from Ennerdale, Cumberland, England.  I'm convinced by the fact that my grandfather's middle name is the family name of this William's grandmother, that his first daughter shares the same name as a sister in that family,  and that I've confirmed the married names of the three of his sisters (Edith, Rebecca, and Ann) in the family is the same names as my great aunts given to me by my Aunt Eloise ( Mrs. James D. Williamson, of 35 Wetheriggs Rise, Penrith, Cumberland; Mrs Robert Anderson, of 21 Napier Street, Auckland, New Zealand; and Mrs. Gordon William Stronach, of 1761 Great North Road, Avendale, Auckland, New Zealand.  I found a copy of their marriage licenses, birth and death certificates, and military records.

Thank you, Marjorie Gardner!!!!!  My cousin!!

Gregory

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