This is a shot in the dark, but last September Diane
Boumenot posted her top ten genealogy research problems
HERE and she has
already solved two of them. Readers and
Google searchers found her post and sent her enough information or clues to
break down those genealogical brickwalls.
So… here is my list. I’m hoping
for a reader or distant cousin to read this and help me to solve a few
genealogy mysteries, too!
Diane listed the skills and strategies she thought she might
need to solve her research problems.
This is a good idea, and working through this list has got me thinking
of new ways to attack these mysteries.
Maybe I’ll solve them at least one brickwall before I get a mysterious “cousin
connection” email or comment?
My 10 “Brickwall” ancestors:
1. Elizabeth Lambert
(about 1775 – 1834) is my 5x great grandmother.
She married Owen Jones, a native of Wales and son of a British customs
officer, on 11 May 1793 at the Second Baptist Church in Boston, Massachusetts. They lived in the North End, and had six
daughters who were described as debutantes and all married very well. I’m hoping she is from a well-connected,
wealthy family in Boston who left lots of good records. Unfortunately, there were many
Lambert/Lombard/Lumbard/Lamport families in Boston at this time, and I have
searched them all for Elizabeth. A
consultation with a professional genealogist at a conference leads me to
believe I should search probate and deeds for Elizabeth among the many Lambert
families.
One clue- Elizabeth had a sister, Sarah, who married John
Dark/Dargue on 1 December 1793 in
Boston. Elizabeth (Lambert) Jones named
her first daughter Sarah Dargue Jones in her honor. The sister Sarah (Lambert) Dargue died on 3 September
1796, no parents listed.
Problem- I’ve never really done probate or deed research, so
this will be my first test case with these types of records. Searching for Jones records in the courthouse
won’t be fun, neither will it be fun searching through all those
Lambert/Lombard/Lumbard/Lamport etc. variations. Elizabeth Lambert was born at about the time
of the Boston siege during the American Revolution (many residents fled the
city), so she may have been born somewhere else in Massachusetts or New
England.
2. Margaret Welch
(about 1796 – 1860) is my 4x great grandmother.
Her death record in Chichester, New Hampshire does not name her
parents. She married Richard Locke on 21
October 1823 in Chichester. Her
children’s marriage and death records say she was born in Kittery, Maine. Census records say she was born in Maine.
Problem - I cannot find a Welch/Welsh family at all that
might be her possible parents or ancestors.
This is the opposite of the Elizabeth Lambert above where I have too
many possibilities. Perhaps searching
York County, Maine probate and deeds would work, like my brickwall #1?
3. Nancy Thompson
(about 1804 – after 1847) is my 4x great grandmother. She married Jonathan Batchelder on 11
February 1822 in Belmont, New Hampshire.
Her children’s marriage and death records say that she was born in
Gilmanton, New Hampshire. There were
several Thompson families in Gilmanton and Belmont (contiguous towns) but no
record of Nancy/Ann/Hannah. Jonathan Batchelder
died in the Concord State Hospital after being declared insane. I have his account book, and inside it I
found guardianship papers dated 1847 making “Nancy Batchelder” the guardian of
her minor daughter, Pauline. No further
trace of Nancy can be found in the New Hampshire vital records or census
records.
Problem – Did Nancy remarry? Pauline’s death record name’s
her mother as “Nancy Tompson”. Is that a
clue? The Gilmanton Historical Society is stumped. I’ve searched all the Thompson/Tompson
genealogies and vital records. Perhaps I’ll
need another probate and deeds research trip to Belknap County, New Hampshire?
4. Hannah Phelps (1728 – 1805) is my 5x great grandmother. She married George Flint on 13 November 1753
in Andover, Massachusetts. I’m not even sure of her surname, it was
given as “Phelps” in a compiled Flint genealogy. This is a real stumper. I’ve very little information on George Flint,
too, except what was found in the Flint book.
5. David Lyons (about 1759 – 1812) is my 5x great
grandfather. He was from Connecticut and
removed to Cornwallis, Nova Scotia where he appears in many land records. He was married in Cornwallis on 25 May 1779
to Elizabeth Ratchford. I have no idea
where he came from in Connecticut, and few clues. I don’t know if he was a planter or a
Loyalist. Another real stumper.
6. James Radsford/Ratchford b. about 1719 is my 7x great grandfather. He married Margaret Ball on 26 December 1738
in East Bridgewater, Massachusetts. They
had five sons and all their births are recorded in the Bridgewater vital
records. This surname seems to have a
lot of variations, and perhaps it was a corruption of some other name
altogether? There are no Radsfords or
Ratchfords in earlier Massachusetts records. No death record has been found.
7. Margaret Ball (see
above) I have no birth or death record
on Margaret, just a marriage and her name listed on her children’s births as “Margaret”.
8. Amelia Unknown (born about 1790 – 1860) is my 4x great
grandmother. Her death record lists her
birthplace as Stoughton, Massachusetts but no birth record has ever been
found. She died as a pauper in Wayland,
Massachusetts the same year as her husband, who was also listed as a pauper. Amelia had a colorful life with at least three
husbands as listed below….
#1 Amelia gave
birth to twins in Salem on 26 June 1825 as Amelia Lewis, no husband
listed. Her son’s death records list
their father as “Captain Thomas Lewis” but I haven’t found a marriage record. Her twins were possibly born after he died. Did he die at sea? No record has been found for him in Massachusetts.
#2 Amelia
remarried to Thomas Johnson in 1827 in Salem
#3 Amelia
remarried third to John Adams in 1843 in Topsfield, Massachusetts. Her death record lists her parents as “unknown”. Both
sons died very young before 1853, and their records do not give her maiden
name. She married often, so perhaps
there is even another earlier marriage I am missing here?
9. James Phillips
(about 1792 – 1820) is my 4 great grandfather.
He married Sarah Cree on 6 August 1815 in Topsfield, Massachusetts. His death record in Topsfield says he was a “native
of Rowley” but I cannot find him in the Rowley records. There is a James Phillips enumerated in the
1820 Census in Andover, Massachusetts, which may or may not be this James. Again,
Phillips is a common surname in Essex County, Massachusetts, which makes this
as difficult as the Jones brickwall #1.
10. Mary Hovey (about 1751- 1832) is my 5x great grandmother. She married Nathaniel Treadwell on 1786 in
Ipswich, Massachusetts. I have no clue
as to her birthdate, birthplace, parents or ancestry. Mary is listed on my lineage papers to the
Mayflower Society, showing my descent from Mayflower passenger Isaac
Allerton. No one at the Mayflower
Society can find her parents either! There is plenty of information on her
husband, who served in the American Revolution and was from a noted Ipswich,
Massachusetts family. I’d love to beat
the professionals who have attempted to identify Mary Hovey, but so far I’ve
been unsuccessful, too.
Please read Diane Boumenot’s blog post at this link, she inspired my list!:
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Copyright 2012, Heather Wilkinson Rojo
