Betty's Genealogy Wish List for 2010 Part One

The coming new year marks the tenth anniversary of my genealogical research. While I have learned a great deal about all branches of my family, there is always more to discover. Here in no particular order are some of my biggest brick walls that I hope to break through in 2010:

1) DANIEL BOLTON b abt 1794 Maine, died before 1860 Westbrook or Gorham, Cumberland Co. ME; married THANKFUL MORTON, daughter of EBENEZER MORTON & SUSANNAH IRISH of Standish, Cumberland Co ME. My maternal grandmother, Ruby Bolton Brown, has a genealogy that has been a joy to research, since the majority of her ancestors were emigrants from England, were the first and original settlers of Massachusetts, and were thus very, very well documented. In fact, DANIEL BOLTON b abt 1794 is the only weak link in an otherwise very solid family tree. Because DANIEL BOLTON b 1794 named his only son HOLLIS R BOLTON (b abt 1833 Cumberland Co ME), I strongly suspect he was descended from the Bolton family of Reading, Middlesex Co, MA (see books "Bolton Families of Ireland" and "Boltons of Old & New England, Including Descendents of William Bolton of Reading Massachusetts" by Charles Knowles Bolton). The only member of this Bolton family from the Reading, MA line who ever settled in Maine, so far as I have been able to research, was DANIEL BOLTON b abt 1747 Reading, MA who went to Hallowell, Lincoln Co ME in the 1760s and after fighting in the Revolutionary War, married RELIANCE PRATT, widow of EBENEZER HOVEY. My ancestor DANIEL BOLTON b 1794 could have been their son. However, my DANIEL BOLTON b 1794 also lived in Windham, Cumberland Co ME before 1846, and his marriage record to THANKFUL MORTON indicates that he was "of Windham"--which is where the family of THOMAS BOLTON & MARY McLELLAN CRAIG first settled (see book by Hugh Davis McLellan "History of Gorham, Maine"). So far I have not been able to find a definitive, documented link between my DANIEL BOLTON and either Bolton family in Maine. But, as I said, because of the DANIEL's only son being named HOLLIS R BOLTON, my best guess is that DANIEL BOLTON was descended from the Reading, MA Bolton family, likely from DANIEL BOLTON b 1747 Reading, MA, whose nephew EBENEZER BOLTON Jr ( b 1778, married LINDAY LELAND), and niece ELIZABETH BETSEY BOLTON (who married NATHAN TAFT) both named a son "Hollis".

2) JACOB HUBER Sr b abt 1740-1750 PA? Germany? married MAGDALENA unknown, died 1803 Berlin, Somerset Co PA as per his will. Only one son, WILLIAM / WILHELM HUBER (b abt 1779 possibly VA, married ANNA ELIZABETH KEFFER b Jan 2, 1780 Berlin, PA) and wife MAGDALENA are mentioned in the will. JACOB HUBER Sr was a member of the German Reformed Lutheran Church in Berlin, led at the time he was a member by the Reverend Henry Giese. According to his will, JACOB owned several lots and a house on the north side of North & Beck Streets in Berlin, Somerset Co PA, but was not living there before 1797, according to tax records and church records. See previous post on this blog for full discussion.

3) JOSEPH ISAAC THOMPSON b abt 1797-1800 probably Burke Co NC married JANE unknown; likely son of ISAAC THOMPSON (b abt 1754 VA; d June 9, 1838 Burke Co NC) and an unknown wife; ISAAC fought in the Revolutionary War as per his pension record, and was a prominent landowner and justice of the peace in Burke Co NC. I have not been able to find any marriage records or a will for ISAAC THOMPSON; neither have I found a marriage record for JOSEPH THOMPSON & wife JANE, which is odd since his likely father ISAAC was justice of the peace around the time they married!! JOSEPH THOMPSON is present in the 1820 & 1830 Burke Co NC census; he had an extremely large family, at least 15 known children (poor JANE!), with many girls. The 1820 & 1830 census records match correctly the approximate birthdates and sex of their offspring. According to Burke Co NC military records, JOSEPH took part in the war of 1812 and in the Cherokee Removal of 1838. Apparently JOSEPH took his family with him in 1838 and then deserted or mustered out upon reaching Tennessee. One of JOSEPH's eldest daughters, Melvina Priscilla Thompson b abt 1821 married James Mowery in Roane Co TN Oct 4, 1838. Another daughter Mary Lucinda Thompson b abt 1825, married Thomas Gaspaway Goodwin before 1840 in TN. All three families were living next to each other in the 1840 Bradley Co TN census. JOSEPH THOMPSON also sold land in Burke Co NC to his brother-in-law Joseph Baker in 1821, but the deed wasn't transferred until 1843, and by then the signatures had to be verified by Elrod Poteet, which suggests that JOSEPH was no longer living in the area (Likely father ISAAC THOMPSON is also mentioned in this record; the land probably originally belonged to him). By 1856, nearly the entire Thompson family moved from Bradley Co TN to Carroll Co Arkansas, leaving only a few family members back in Bradley & Hamilton Co TN. After the Civil War nearly the entire Thompson family in Arkansas moved again to Christian, Douglas & Taney Co, Missouri.

4) MOSES WHITECOTTON b abt 1804 Knox Co KY; died before 1840 Bledsoe Co TN & HAPPY unknown b abt 1804 VA? TN?. MOSES was the son of ISAAC NEWTON WHITECOTTON (b abt 1774 Stafford or Hampshire Co VA; died aft 1830 Jackson Co AL) and ELIZABETH STUMP (b abt 1779 Hampshire/Hardy Co VA now W VA; died aft 1860 Madison Co AL). MOSES is present in the 1830 Jackson Co AL census, living next to his father ISAAC, and near his brother JAMES "JIM" WHITECOTTON b 1811 Knox Co KY who married LOUISA TURNER. In 1840 census, HAPPY WHITECOTTON, widowed wife of MOSES, was living alone with her children in Bledsoe Co TN. HAPPY can be found in the 1850 Decatur, Morgan Co AL census with her children, living near her son JAMES MONROE WHITECOTTON b Oct 1825 AL (my gg grandfather). Another son LINDLEY M. WHITECOTTON, married and remained in Bledsoe Co TN before moving on to Arkansas. I have not been able to find a marriage record for MOSES WHITECOTTON & HAPPY in Alabama, or a death record or will for MOSES in TN. Never have been able to discern a maiden name for HAPPY, although several have postulated that is is either "Happy" or "Lindley". I have not been able to prove or disprove either of them. It is likely they were married in Jackson Co Alabama around 1822. Would like to find a will for ISAAC NEWTON WHITECOTTON who died after 1830 in Jackson Co AL.

5) JAMES BRUTON/BREWTON b abt 1720 Lawnes Creek Parish, Surry Co VA, who possibly married MARY BRANCH, daughter of FRANCIS BRANCH and ELIZABETH NORWOOD. JAMES BRUTON/BREWTON was the son of WILLIAM BRUTON (b abt 1690 d Lawnes Creek Parish, SurryCo VA) and an unknown first wife, and the grandson of JAMES BRUTON (b abt 1660 d 1735 Lawnes Creek Parish, Surry Co VA) who married MARY SEWARD and who mentioned grandson JAMES son of WILLIAM BRUTON in his will. I strongly suspect that JAMES BRUTON/BREWTON b abt 1720 was the father of my ancestor DAVID BRUTON/BREWTON Sr (b abt 1736-1740, died 1816 Spartanburg, SC) and his brothers GEORGE BRUTON/BREWTON Esq (b abt 1742, died 1815 Spartanburg SC ) and CAPT JAMES BRUTON/BREWTON (b abt 1743-1745, died 1816 Madison Co AL) all of whom lived in Spartanburg, SC from the county's inception until their deaths or in Capt James' case, removal to Alabama. These three gentlemen were literate and possibly well-educated, especially GEORGE, and all were involved in the judicial system in Spartanburg SC, GEORGE being a grand juror and justice of the peace, and DAVID & JAMES being jurors, grand jurors and gentlemen arbitrators on various cases in the courts. They were all landowners; letters, land deeds and wills show an obvious kinship between the three men. One sticky wicket is the fact that the area in which they lived in Spartanburg SC was previously Anson Co, Tyron Co and Mecklenburg Co NC before becoming the Ninety Six district and then Spartanburg Co SC. Another problem is the propensity for transcribers to mistake the surname for "Burton" rather than "Bruton" in records. The biggest problem is attempting to trace JAMES BRUTON/BREWTON b 1720 Surry Co VA, who is mentioned in his grandfather's will, but not his father's; who was in line to inherit land from his grandmother MARY SEWARD BRUTON in Surry Co VA, but no record can be found of the dispersal of the land; who likely went to North Carolina before the Revolution, but can't be traced there; who is absent from Spartanburg SC records except for one tantalizing land deed in 1786 indicating that JAMES BRUTON and his wife MARY sold land on Ferguson's Creek near the Tyger River, the very same area where DAVID Sr, GEORGE Esq and CAPT JAMES BRUTON/BREWTON all lived. Unfortunately, there is the possibility that the JAMES and MARY of this land deed may be CAPT JAMES BRUTON/BREWTON and a first wife; in his 1816 Madison Co AL will he names his wife as ELIZABETH, but she may have been a second wife. Clearly much more research needs to be done, and more records need to be found. Brian Nilsson has organized a DNA project for the Brutons/Brewtons, and one of the latest tests shows that DAVID BRUTON Sr, CAPT JAMES BRUTON and another, different GEORGE BRUTON of Montgomery Co NC all stemmed from the same male ancestor. I personally believe that all North & South Carolina Brutons/Brewtons descended from the immigrant ancestor JOHN BRUTON/BREWTON (b 1600-1610 England, died 1669). His descendents lived for several generations in Lawnes Creek Parish, Surry Co VA. They were first indentured servants and then tenant farmers, and then the family owned the land in Surry Co VA that had been bequeathed to MARY SEWARD, wife of JAMES BRUTON b 1660, from her uncle ROBERT CAULFIELD's estate. Fascinating but frustrating family history!!!!

6) FREDERICK WILLIAM SHRIVER b abt 1770s Adams Co PA, son of LEWIS SHRIVER b abt 1750 Maryland & MARY SHEETS; wife's name unknown. There were several "Frederick William"s down through the generations in my branch of the Shrivers. This particular F. W. is listed in the 1815 Adams Co PA will of his father LEWIS SHRIVER, who fought in the Revolutionary War. I have not been able to trace my F. W. in MD or PA records after 1815. He is NOT the same F. W. that married Catherine and died 1840 in Tiffin, Senaca Co Ohio, as was indicated in the publication "The History of the Shriver Family with Particular Reference to Jacob Shriver (1714-1795), son Lewis Shriver (1750-1815) and Descendents" by Harry C Shriver published privately 1962. The FREDERICK WILLIAM SHRIVER that I am researching likely had at least two sons, the first possibly the above-mentioned Frederick William Shriver b abt 1786 who married Catherine unknown and ended up in Tiffin, Seneca Co OH; and second, my ancestor LEWIS SHRIVER b abt 1790 who married SUSANNAH LUCKHART/LUKEHART, and ended up in Ross / Hocking Co OH, where he died April 1831 as per his will. LEWIS SHRIVER b abt 1790 & SUSANNAH LUCKHART named one of their sons Frederick William Shriver; he was born 1810 Hocking Co OH and married Elizabeth Schreckengaust. The surname can be spelled Shriver, Shrivour, Schreiver and Schreiber in records.

As usual, your comments are appreciated! Happy New Year!

Betty

Some Random Observations on Genealogy Research

I get a lot of requests from fellow genealogy researchers asking for help, or ways to overcome the "brick walls" in their research. I don't claim to be particularly wise. However, over the last ten years that I have been researching my family tree, I have learned a few things from the process. Here are some random observations for you to enjoy.

1) YOUR GRANDMOTHER'S TREASURED FAMILY STORIES ARE NOT GOSPEL.

I am probably going to step on some toes here, but here goes.

A few years back I was at a meeting with several women, all of whom are well-educated, and family history somehow came up in the discussion. Several of the women expressed the opinion that the best, most wonderful way to learn one's family history would be at grandmother's knee, listening to her recount the stories of her life and her ancestors' lives. Everybody nodded sagely (except me; I was preoccupied with biting my tongue), and a warm fuzzy glow descended over the group.

The truth is, your grandmother's treasured family stories are just that--stories. It IS wonderful to spend time with our elders and hear them talk about their lives. But consider this: memory does not serve us well, at any age, and the older we get, the more it is "out of service."

(I have seen a great deal of misinformation passed on as gospel truth by well-meaning relatives)

Besides, you may not be getting the whole story. You are getting one person's view. Someone else in the family may have a completely different perspective. There are many many reasons why people omit, sanitize, embroider or even fabricate what they tell their children and grandchildren. Embarrassment over illegitimacy is one of the most common I have found.

I have spent years trying to verify stories from parents, grandparents and other relatives. Often there is a kernal of truth--sometimes barely even that. And you have to be careful WHO you ask. When I approached one family member, who was particularly gifted as a "story teller", I was told the tall tale that one of my great grandmothers was a Cherokee Princess (not true), her father a renowned Cherokee chief who was arrested & imprisoned for selling bootleg whiskey while attempting to cross the Mississippi River (not true), and that my great grandmother and her sister were orphaned at a very young age and raised in an orphanage (only a teensy weensy bit true). It made a great story, but most of it wasn't true!!

So go ahead, enjoy Grandma and her stories. Sometimes those stories are all we have to go on. Just be ready to play detective and find out "the rest of the story".

2) YOUR ANCESTORS ARE NOT SOLELY YOURS. Maybe you have already noticed this. It was one of my first big realizations when I began researching, and it is especially true the farther back you delve into your family tree. Your great great grandmother-- who you may have come to think of as your own, somehow a distinct part of YOU-- may have had ten siblings. She may have had ten children, and each of them may have had ten children. You get the picture. There are probably multitudes of people related to her, and thus to you. This is something you can use in your research. Perhaps there is someone out there who knows far more about your great great grandmother than you ever dreamed. The Internet has been very very helpful. Find a way to publish your family tree or genealogy research online. You might be surprised at the response.

3) YOUR ANCESTORS DID NOT EXIST IN A VOID. This goes along with number two. Sometimes beginning researchers tend to view ancestors & their families as tidy little domestic units, somehow distinct & separate from the rest of the world. The thing is, our ancestors lived lives nearly as complex as our own. Think of how many friends, acquaintances and relatives you yourself have at any given moment, how many clubs or organizations you are active in, how many jobs/careers/occupations you have held during your lifetime, what military service, which schools you have attended, which churches you have attended. Perhaps you have even been married more than once. Well, the same can be applied to your ancestors. So if you get stuck, consider this: Who did your ancestors live near when they settled in a particular region? Was there extended family living nearby? Did they have strong church affiliations? Fight in any wars? I have gone so far as to research ALL the families in a particular community, because I discovered that nearly all the families had come from the same place originally, were deeply intermarried, and had all migrated together, along with my ancestors.

4) CONSIDER THE LARGER HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE. PLEASE. Several years ago, a fellow researcher contacted me with the exciting information that he had just found the name of the wife of my great X 4 grandfather Isaac Thompson. I had been looking for this information for a very long time! But when I examined the marriage record that he sent me, I was sorely disappointed. My great X4 grandfather Isaac Thompson lived in the mountains of western North Carolina, and was a soldier in the Revolutionary War in NC. This marriage record had him marrying a woman in England in 1780. Clearly the man who sent me the record did not even stop to consider the historical ramifications of that marriage record. For starters, the Revolutionary War was not officially over until 1783. And the idea that a Rev War soldier in the mountains of western North Carolina would drop everything during the middle of the war, make his way to the coast, sail across the ocean to ENGLAND (!!) in order to take a bride, then sail back and resume his fight against the British is, well, just plain ludicrous!

Besides, I'd already seen Isaac Thompson's Rev War Pension papers. He had other things on his mind in 1780.

Which is what I told the other researcher. Politely, of course.

5) YES THERE ARE MISTAKES IN PUBLISHED GENEALOGIES AND RECORDS. Even US census records. There is no holy grail in genealogy. Unless it's the DAR. I'll have to check with them.

6) DON'T GET TOO HUNG UP ON EXACT SPELLING IN RECORDS. Especially if your family had an unusual surname. Or a German, Swiss or Dutch surname. I have a Siegfriedt that was anglicized to Saferight. Van Arsdale was transformed to Vanosdall in Kentucky. Huber can be found as Hoover, Hoober, Hover & Huver. Lueckhardt morphed into Luckhart, Lukehart, Lookhart and even Lockhart. You get the picture. It's tedious, I know. But it helps to be tenacious and check out all variant spellings.

7) THERE WEREN'T THAT MANY PEOPLE LIVING IN THE US COLONIES IN THE 1600s.

You'd be surprised how many people just don't get this. Sometimes it's hard for us, living in the 21st century, to realize that the first North American settlements were very very small. And pretty well documented, historically speaking. So if your ancestors weren't mentioned in available records or lists of original first settlers living at Plymouth MA, or Jamestown VA, or on the Mayflower, then, for goodness sakes, they PROBABLY WEREN'T THERE. No matter what your Aunt Mabel says

OK. enuff said for now. Maybe you have more observations to add to this-- your comments appreciated!

Betty