Finding Living Relatives

It has been a while since I last posted, I have not been doing much research lately. It is nice though to have your family tree posted online, as even if I am not actively researching, others can use the tree. A couple of people have contacted me regarding my tree, one was a close cousin, another a distant one still living in England (from my husbands family tree). They again have spurred my interest in research, so I hope to start finding more information. I started with Lucy A Holbrook Torrey again - looking into the lives and families of her siblings. I also have upated my last entry on her with some information - or lack of information - here.

Back to Ann; searching in the Scottish Death Index

A couple of posts back, I went into detail about Ann Hutchison, born around 1833 probably in Tealing, Forfarshire, Scotland. My 3rd great-grandmother. I could not find her death record in the Statutory Death Index on Scotlandspeople, but I knew she should be there. My next step was to not restrict my search parameters with a date. As I mentioned before, I suspected she died between 1895 and 1901, but after searching without dates, I found that she actually died in 1905! I am not sure why I was limiting the death years as I had enough specifics on Ann to limit my search in other ways so as not to get too many hits. I really thought however, that she died before 1901 as her husband is not living with her in 1901. This to me is very interesting, now that I know she was still living. Then I thought, maybe she was sick, and living in a hospital, not able to take care of herself. I searched for Ann in the 1901 census and found she was living "on her own means" with son James and daughter Susan. She seems to be living in the house she and her husband raised their family in. It was John Cox, her husband, that moved away. She was living at 40 Perth Street, district of St. Peter, Dundee, Forfarshire, Scotland. John was living in Blythswood area of Glasgow, Scotland. According to google maps, these two places are about 82 miles apart. Not sure why they lived separately, but very interesting.

OK, back to the reason I was looking for Ann's death record in the first place, to find my 4th great grandparents. Yay, they are listed on her death record, and it does show they are Peter Hutchison and Christian Hill. Finding Ann's death record inspired me to do some more searches in the death index, which for some reason I had ignored before. Now I have gone back even further, which means I have even more to write about in future blog entries. My next step; however, will be to find some more interesting information on the locations and history of where my Scottish ancestors lived.

My First SS-5 application arrives

For a long time, I have been wanting to order Social Security Applications for my ancestors, but never actually did it; until a couple of months ago. I think I just did not want to wait impatiently for the mail every day until it came, so I never bothered to start the process. In early April, I ordered three applications from the SSA, from my husband's side of the family. Today I received one of them, Aldina Pereira Francisco. I have her maiden name of Pereira from the Rhode Island Marriages database on Ancestry.com. I also have her father's name of Antonio Pereira from her passenger record into Boston, MA with her brother Anibal.

I was hoping to find further evidence of her father and mother's name from the SS-5 application, as there is some confusion with last names on my husband's Portuguese side of the family. I have found numerous occasions of families switching between two different surnames. I need to look into surname traditions on the Azores for further clarification, but I believe sometimes the maternal surname was used.

I also have some research that was done from one of my husband's distant cousins who went to the Family History Library and looked up records from their parish of Our Lady of Estrela - Nossa Senhura do estrela - in Ribeira Grande on the island of St. Michael (San Miguel) Azores. According to her research, Aldina's father's name is Antonio Amaral Pereira and Aldina's mother's name is listed as Maria da Paixao Moreira Pereira. She also lists the children, including Aldina, with the last name of Amaral, not Pereira. Perhaps Antonio's mother's maiden name is Amaral?

According to the SS-5 application, Aldina's parents are Antonio Amaral Perry and Mary Moreira. Obviously these names are Americanized, but they do clarify that this family probably went by Pereira or Perry once they came to the United States, and not Amaral. Eventually when I begin looking in the parish records from the Azores I will have to look under both Amaral and Pereira.

Another interesting piece of information found on the SS-5 application is that Aldina was working at Westminster Jewelry store at 158 Pine Street in Providence, RI, which was filed November 24, 1936. She was about 52 years old.

To Do:
1. Find naming customs for Azores, Portugal
2. Search parish registers at FHL

Scotland Research - finding Ann's parents

Familysearch.org recently listed a new research guide on Scotland, so I thought I would read it to see if I could find some new research tips for my Scottish ancestors. They did not add much new information for me, but I did find their map with county information useful. Also, they stated naming traditions in Scotland of naming first son after the father's father, and second son after the mother's father. This goes for the girls too, with the first daughter named after the mother's mother, etc. Basically, after reading this guide, it spurred my interest in my Scottish ancestry again.

With renewed energy, I took a look at my ancestors to see if there were some gaps in my tree. Most of my Scottish heritage arises from my father's grandmother, Ann Hutchison Ferguson, who came to the US in 1920 after World War I, where; according to my father, she served as a nurse and met her future husband, Alfred Labrecque, also fighting in the War (see earlier blog entry). Ann was born 1895 in Glasgow, Scotland to James Fitchie Ferguson and Grace Stewart Cox. I have basic information on both James and Grace's parents, and even further back to the early 1800s to my 4th great grandparents for James family. Grace's line was not as easy to find, but I did get back to my 4th great grandparents on her paternal side. When I researched her maternal line, I could only find Grace Cox's mother, which is my 3rd Great Grandmother, Ann Hutchison.

The place to look for Scottish records is Scotlandspeople, which has parish registers from 1553 and census records for 1841-1901. When I searched here in the past, I could not locate Ann Hutchison's (Grace's mother) birth record; which would have given me her parents' names. I have an estimated birth date of 1833 for Ann, from her 1871 census record with her husband, John Cox and children. I decided to look in the "Old Parish Registers", from Scotlandspeople one more time for her birth record. Unfortunately; I could not find an Ann Hutchison that matched these parameters in the Old Parish Registers. The Scottish were not required to register births or other vital information until 1855, so I am not that surprised I did not find her. Next, I tried searching for any Hutchisons who had children around that time living in Tealing, Forfarshire in the 1851 census; which is where her marriage in 1852 took place (the county of Forfarshire later changed to the county of Angus). Since Ann was married in 1852, I was hoping she would be listed with her parents in the 1851 census, still in this location. I was also looking closely for any William Hutchison's, as according to naming traditions; may be her father's name as that is what John and she named their second son. I could not find a William with a daughter Ann in Tealing. My next step was to search the 1841 census in Tealing with the last name of Hutchison. Finally, I found an Ann who is 8 years old. The age seems to match my ancestor, making her born around 1833. The father's name; however, is not William as I suspected, but Peter. There is a William listed on the same census page though, which could be Peter's brother. Maybe Peter's father's name is William. Peter Hutchison is married to Christian with a son David, and two other daughters besides Ann, a Jean and an Elizabeth.

I went back to the Old Parish Registers to look for birth records of the children of Peter and Christian. I found Christian's last name is Hill. The registers account for David, Elizabeth and a Jane Hutchison as children to Peter and Christian, but still no Ann. I am fairly confident that this is her family; as I know she is from Tealing, born around 1833, and there are no other Ann Hutchisons in the 1841 census. However, I still need some more evidence to prove this family line.

My next step was to look for Ann's death record, which would also list her parents. I know Ann is still living when her daughter Grace (my 2nd Great Grandmother) marries in 1895. I also know that she has died by the 1901 census, as her husband is listed without her and living with his two sisters. I was very hopeful I would find this information, as at this point in Scottish history, her death would have to be recorded by law and should be listed in the "Statutory Death Index" at Scotlandspeople. I searched in the Death Records database between these time periods for Ann Cox, but did not find her. I will not give up searching for her death record, as I know she is in there somewhere. Soon I will have proof her parents are Peter and Christian.

To Do:
1. Find Peter Hutchison's family in the 1851 Scotland Census
2. Find Ann (Hutchison) Cox's death record. UPDATE: found death record - read entry here
3. Look for information on Tealing and other areas of Scotland where my ancestors live to get a feel for their lives. A good place to start is the FHL Research Guidance; spefically, Scotland, How to Find Information About the Place Where Your Ancestor Lived

Lucy

I recently read somewhere (I wish I remember where) that there is an additional schedule to the 1880 US Federal Census which would be of great interest to me. It is the Supplemental Schedules 1-7 - DDD Schedule Defective, Dependent, and Delinquent, which may list information such as type of illness, length of illness, residence, homelessness, etc. to those individuals listed as insane, idiotic, etc.

I have been looking for more information on one of my ancestors who was listed as insane beginning with the 1870 census, Lucy Ann Holbrook Torrey, my 3rd Great Grandmother. In the 1900 and 1910 census she is living at the Worcester Insane Asylum. I am not sure how to obtain her medical records, if they even still exist, but it may involve a court order. I have not obtained her death record either, as she died in 1912, past the date the NEHGS covers in their online database. She is buried in Weymouth with her husband at the Elmwood Cemetery.

Now I have some more options for obtaining information on Lucy's medical condition. I now just have to locate a copy of the 1880 DDD schedule for Massachusetts. It does not seem to be at the FHL, so I cannot order the microfilm from their library.

I also noted that their are two gaurdianship records from the Norfolk County Probate Court; one for 1869, the year before she was marked as insane on the census; and another gaurdianship record for 1898 - the year her husband died. These records for a Lucy A. Torrey most likely are hers. It will be interesting to obtain these to unravel more of Lucy's medical conditions.

To Do:
1. find a library that houses the 1880 DDD schedule for Massachusetts. UPDATE: this schedule is now on ancestry - but I realized Lucy is not living at asylum at this date and therefore not listed in the DDD. They do not have the DDD schedule for the 1900 census.
2. order norfolk probate guardianship records from court for Lucy. UPDATE: obtained these records, did not provide information on Lucy's diagnosis, just information on who had rights to her land, etc.
3. find out more about the Worcester Insane Asylum and if records are obtainable.

Torrey Family

The line I first started working on way back when are the Torreys from Weymouth, MA. This family, among many others, is documented in History of Weymouth, Massachusetts... by George Walter Chamberlain. This book is very helpful with much information and documentation; however, I like to start researching on my own before I look to this book for guidance.

I have documented back to Deacon Samuel Torrey (my 5th Great Grandfather), born around 1760 according to his gravestone in Highland Cemetery, South Weymouth, MA. He died December 22, 1819, in his 59th year. I also know that Samuel was born in Weymouth, according to his son Joseph's death record. Knowing that Samuel Torrey was born around 1760 in Weymouth, I searched in the Massachusetts Vital Records to 1850 database on the NEHGS website. There was a Samuel Torrey born to a David and Elizabeth Torrey on February 13, 1761 in Weymouth. This date and place matches well to the approximate birth date on Samuel's gravestone. Also, out of Samuel's eight children with his wife Dolly Blanchard, they named a son David and a daughter Elizabeth (perhaps after Samuel's parents). Although this evidence is not conclusive, it is a start in the right direction.

Next I head to Chamberlain's book to see who he has written as Samuel's parents. According to him, David and Elizabeth are Samuel's parents. Chamberlain states that the probate record of David Torrey mentions a son Samuel (norfolk probate 18581). We do already know from the vital records that David and Elizabeth have a son Samuel, so it is not surprising there is a Samuel mentioned in David's will. The question is though, is this Samuel the one we are looking for. If David's will mentions a Deacon Samuel we would have more proof of his parentage.

Next, I looked at the 1790 census (David's will written in 1792) and found that there was only one Samuel Torrey living in Weymouth at that time. Therefore, if David's will mentions Samuel, living in Weymouth, it would be strong evidence that indeed David is Samuel's father, as Chamberlain states in his book. The number of children from the 1790 census also match our Samuel, as having 2 boys under the age of 16 (which would be Samuel and Noah) and two females living with Samuel. The two females would be his wife, and his daughter, Elizabeth. Also on the census, there is a parenthetical mark linking David and Samuel - perhaps which means they were living on the same land.

UPDATE: Familysearch.org now has the Norfolk County Probates online.  David Torrey's will does mention his late wife Elizabeth and four sons, Samuel, David, Jacob and Reuben.  It also mentions a 4th son, Noah, who is lost at sea and presumed dead.  The will also mentions his daughter Margaret Joy.  I am confident that this is the father of Samuel Torrey in my direct line.

To Do:
1. Obtain David's probate record - Norfolk 18581- UPDATE - now online.
2. Search for land records for David and Samuel. Once I find record numbers, files are online at Norfolk County Registry of Deeds.

Edmund Quincy

In the letter referenced in my last blog written by Anne Warren Weston, a Mr. Quincy is discussed. I wanted to find out who Mr. Quincy was, so I looked closer at the article for some more clues. It does state that Mr. Quincy wrote parts of the Annual Reports for the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, specifically for the years 1842 and 1843. Looking at the annual reports for those years, the only Quincy mentioned is Edmund Quincy.

I found a little bit of information on Edmund. It seems he would take charge of the newspaper, The Liberator, when William Lloyd Garrison was absent. Here is a link to the Liberator Files website, with articles written by, or referencing, Edmund Quincy. I also looked into his genealogy, and found a page on his immigrant ancestor - Edmund Quincy. I did a quick family tree from this information. It looks like the immigrant Edmund Quincy is the 5th great grandfather of our anti-slavery writer Edmund Quincy.

Weymouth Female Anti-Slavery Society

I went back to reading the article in Family Tree magazine on the top 101 websites, and decided to try out genealogybank.com this time. I did not have much hope in finding much, as I have searched newspaper archives in the past and have not found any interesting information.

Since I have been working on my tree for some years now, I knew which family would probably make the news back then. The Cowings. According to the 1870 census, my 5th great grandfather, Balch Cowing, had a personal estate valuing much more than his neighbors. He also married Cynthia Bates, the sister of Joshua Bates, first benefactor of the Boston Public Library. (Side note: I also found an interesting association to the above mentioned Joshua Bates from Wikipedia - his great granddaughter is supposedly Sylvia Brett, the last Rani of Sarawak - apparently a very dramatic woman.)

Getting back to genealogybank, I did a general search on the Cowing last name in any newspapers in Massachusetts with the keyword of Weymouth. It turns out that many articles came up, mostly on Balch's children. One was about the 90th birthday party of his son Francis H. Cowing. Most of the articles were on the following children who belonged to anti-slavery societies in Weymouth: Henry, Lucretia, Sarah and Susan; acting as either treasurers or secretaries to the societies in the 1830s through the 1850s. One of the more interesting articles in the newspaper (April 23d, 1844 (Letters) Date: 1844-05-10; Paper: The Liberator) was a letter written by Anne Weston and Cowing (probably Sarah) of the Anti Slavery Society to Mr. Perkins, their minister, asking why they would not permit a Mr. Quincy to lecture at the meeting house on anti-slavery. In response to their letter, it seems Mr. Perkins and the assessors of the meeting house give the following reason, "we refuse the use of the house, not because we wish to close the ears of a whole parish to the cries of outraged humanity, but because we object to the sentiments of the individual whom you wish to give the lecture." The response goes on to say the Mr. Quincy attacks Christianity, the Sabbath, the government, etc.

I can only imagine the courage it took for these women to stand up to their minister and question a decision that he made. I can picture them sitting at a table for hours laboring over every word before they published the letter. The meetings and discussions they had over these issues must have been most interesting. It is also interesting to note that Lucretia, Susan and Sarah never married, unusual for that time period. Perhaps they were so dedicated to the anti-slavery cause that there was no time for marriage.

I am not sure who Mr. Quincy is in this letter, but he certainly has peaked my interest.

Here is a small excerpt that mentions Maria (Cowing) Willey, from The New England Magazine. Boston: [New England Magazine Co, 1887. Vol. 34.





To Do:
1. Find out more about Mr. Quincy - I think they are referring to Edmund Quincy after preliminary research. He seems to be in association with William Lloyd Garrison - publisher of The Liberator. Also, Maria Weston Chapman and her sisters referred to in blog entry are friends with William Lloyd Garrison. This group was somewhat controversial, not all abolitionists agreed with them. The Weston sisters were known to attend different churches to get a sense of the church's views on slavery. Maria stopped attending the Federal Street Church in Boston as she did not agree with the minister's sermons and views.
2. Find the members of the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society - formed in 1834 by the Weston sisters, were any of the Cowings members?
3. Search on genealogybank.com for Bates family.

Links On Topic
1. Annual Reports of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society from Internet Archive.

Smallpox

I know I am suppose to be moving on to researching my Torrey ancestors in Weymouth, MA; but I have been interested in writing about one more aspect of the John Adams miniseries I am watching. One of the more interesting scenes for me so far as I watch this miniseries is when Abigail Adams inoculates herself and her children to the smallpox virus so that they may have a higher probability of surviving the disease.

I wanted to look into the history of the smallpox for that time period. Obviously; at that time, the vaccine had not been discovered (not until about 1796), but it was found to be less dangerous to have part of the live smallpox virus ground up and inserted through a cut of the person being inoculated (a process called variolation) than getting smallpox from another sick person. A smaller percentage of these inoculated people died compared to those that developed the smallpox through exposure. These inoculated people did develop symptoms however, and it was still considered dangerous.

I thought next I would look into the letters that Abigail wrote to John to see if she did mention the smallpox and their exposure to the disease. In the miniseries, she had a doctor come to the house with an infected patient (who is outside lying very ill in a wagon). The doctor is the one who seems most concerned about the procedure and with Abigail for not having spoken to her husband about the decision. The movie also shows the eldest girl getting the most sick.

In the letters (Letter from Abigail Adams to John Adams, 13 - 14 July 1776 and Letter from Abigail Adams to John Adams, 21 - 22 July 1776 ) to her husband, Abigail does speak of these inoculations. The family goes to Boston to an Uncle's house to receive the doctor. Abigail states she did not bother to write John earlier about the decision to inoculate, as she knows his opinion on the matter. I would imagine; though, that it was a difficult decision to make, and a worry that was always on their minds. Abigail states in her letter, "I had many dissagreable Sensations at the Thoughts of comeing myself, but to see my children thro it I thought my duty, and all those feelings vanished as soon as I was innoculated and I trust a kind providence will carry me safely thro." (I often wonder what parents thought about these illnesses in that time period as I go through many death records of children who die from diseases that we no longer have to worry about. I have anxiety over less serious illnesses, I cannot imagine their fear!) Another interesting aspect of the letters is she states one of the children, Tommy, did not get many symptoms at all from the virus, so the doctor decides to inoculate him again. Everyone else in the family; however, does get the other symptoms associated with the disease, such as vomiting, fever, and postules. Abigail also writes about going to hear the Declaration of Independence read during this time that she has been "carrying" the virus. I was surprised by this as she would be risking exposure to other people by being in the crowd. It seems unlikely that she would not know she could pass the virus on to others.

To Do
1. Search for families in my ancestry living around 1770s to identify those that lived during the times of these letters, as they would have faced similar decisions as Abigail and John Adams.

Links on Topic
1. Encarta Encyclopedia article on smallpox
2. Boston 1775 : blog on the "history, analysis, and unabashed gossip about the start of the American Revolution in Massachusetts" - searched for entries on smallpox - link here

John Adams

I have started watching the John Adams miniseries on HBO and was inspired to look at the Adams family tree. Since John Adams had connections to Weymouth, MA; where many of my ancestors are from, I thought it would be fun to see if our families were connected, even if only distantly. From my memory of doing research some years ago, there is at least one connection of my family to Abigail Adam's family in Weymouth. The Reverend Samuel Torrey (who's relationship to my family I will look into in my next entry - but I believe he is some sort of great grand uncle - generations back!) built Abigail Adam's family's house. Samuel was the Reverend of the First Church of Weymouth preceding Abigail Adams' father Reverend William Smith.

Getting back to John Adam's family though, I found a family tree for John Quincy Adams online (click on view tree), and looked for names that were similar in my tree. (I also found another Adams family tree from the Massachusetts Historical Society.) There was really only one surname, White, that may connect our families, so I went to ancestry and tried out their "find famous relatives" link under the One World Tree database. I first had to find one of my White ancestors in One World Tree, so I searched for Jeremiah White (my 6th great grandfather) who married Hannah Canterbury. I found him, clicked on the famous relatives link, and hoped for something interesting to come up. (side note - "find famous relatives" is a search function that links your family with famous people, but uses data that has been entered by other users, so further research would be involved to verify the accuracy of data.) I browsed quickly and did not see a John Adams link come up, but did see his cousin, Samuel Adams, on my famous relatives page. According to this data, Samuel Adams is my 6th great grandfathers (Jeremiah's) 4th cousin, 2 times removed. Kind of neat. Of course this led me to do some other research on my White family - so I started looking into Jeremiah White's parents. I have found in many family trees online that Jeremiah is the son of Samuel White, a deacon in Weymouth; I guess I was looking for more verification - such as a reference to a probate record or something. The closest I came to such a reference was on google books website; page 373 in the book: The Vinton Memorial : Comprising A Genealogy of the Descendents of John Vinton of Lynn, 1648, which states Samuel White died intestate and insolvent, August 18, 1760, age 84 - so if this source is accurate, there is no will to find. Perhaps land records will lead me to prove that Samuel White is Jeremiah's father. If this is Jeremiah's line of descent - the immigrant ancestor is Thomas White of Weymouth who came to Massachusetts around 1635. I did a quick look at the Great Migration project to see if a sketch had been done on Thomas. At this time the Great Migration series is only up to The Great Migration: Immigrants to New England: 1634-1635, Volume V, M-P; so I will have to wait to read about Thomas White.

To Do
1. Look into the Torrey line again - find the link to Rev. Samuel Torrey in Weymouth
2. Find out what county Weymouth was in for early 1700s - I think it was Suffolk County.
3. Find any deeds on Samuel White which ties him with Jeremiah White (at probate court - or indexed in this book Suffolk County, MA deeds, 1639-1885 [microform] at NEHGS library and FHL. Also the Massachusetts State Archives has this book Record books, 1629-1800.

Links On Topic
1. John Adams timeline from the Massachusetts Historical Society
2. John Adams manuscripts from the Massachusetts Historical Society

McConihe

I love Google Books - it always leads me to books I probably never would have come across that may have my ancestors in them. One such book is Drawn To Art by Diana Korzenic (1984). This book is about the role of art in the lives of 19th century Americans, through the Cross family of New Hampshire. On page 205, she mentions a name that is familiar to my family tree. A family I have been looking into since I began genealogy about 5 years ago. The McConihe family. I waited patiently for this book to come in through Interlibrary Loan at my local library and was very excited when it arrived. I don't remember if I went straight to the page the McConihe's were listed on or browsed through the book to get the gist of the subject matter, but I quickly came to the conclusion the McConihe she writes about on page 205 is not the Samuel McConihe I was looking for. I was a bit disappointed but still took the opportunity to read most of the book to get an idea about the lives of my ancestors who lived in the same area as the Crosses.

I will give a little background on the family I am looking for. In June of 1808, James McConihe was born in Bedford, NH. (birth date is estimated from his death record, town of birth is from his children's vital records). On James' death record, it states his father was Samuel McConihe and Elizabeth Campbell. This is were I get stuck. I have found a Samuel McConihe and Isabel Campbell in Bedford NH - but not Elizabeth. Even if this were his correct parents and the vital records mistold his mother's name as Elizabeth instead of Isabel, I have not come across where Samuel McConihe came from - who his parents were. To make matters more confusing, there seems to be two, maybe three, Samuel McConihe's from New Hampshire. One of the Samuel's is well documented and easier to trace. I am sure that my McConihe and these other McConihe's are most likely cousins, but I have to find more evidence to find where they all fit in. Eventually, I will need to go to NH to look more closely at cemeteries, vital records, and deeds. In the meantime, I have been tracing both families to keep them all straight. So you can see why I was excited to see a Samuel McConihe in this book I found. Even if it did not lead me to my ancestor, it would still provide information on the other McConihe line I am tracing.

I have to return this book tomorrow, so I thought I would note the important genealogical information I obtained through it. The Cross family moved to Merrimack, NH on a farm in 1874. She writes, "The Farm was located on the old Daniel Webster Highway, now Loop Road, whose narrowness even today shows its age. At the time the Crosses acquired their place, houses on either side dated back to the eighteenth century. Their neighbor to the north, Samuel McConihe, had already been there some fifty years. He had acquired his property from John Clapp, who purchased it in 1808 from a family that had owned it for two generations. The houses to the south are believed to have been millhouses back in the 1700s."

I am assuming she got the information on the Cross's new neighbors from land deeds; but unfortunately, she does not state this. The problem with this information; however, is that the Samuel she is referring to was actually deceased by 1853, according to cemetery transcriptions in Merrimack, NH. Looking at the 1870 Census for the McConihe's in Merrimack, it seems Samuel's son Massena is living on his farm with a Reed family. By the time the Crosses move in though, even Massena has passed. In the 1880 census; however, on the same page as the Crosses, the Reeds seem to be still living on the McConihe farm. The wife of the family is Carrie Reed. I will have to look into this more closely, but Massena had a daughter Carrie - and it seems highly likely that Carrie married a Reed and is now living on her father's (Massena's), and previously grandfather's (Samuel's), farm. I guess the interesting part of all this is that Carrie very well knew the Cross family which Diane writes about. So where were my McConihe ancestors in the 1880s. My Samuel McConihe is also deceased, and his son James McConihe dies in 1881 in Abington, MA. James' son James is living in the Hanover, MA and Rockland, MA areas in 1880 and 1890. Unfortunately for me, it does not seem likely that my McConihe ancestors new the Cross family that is living in Merrimack NH near their cousin McConihe's (if they are even cousins). Still, I find this connection to this book interesting!

WWI Draft Cards

After doing the research on naturalization, I realized that I did not have the WWI draft registration card for Arnaldo. I did a quick search to find it on ancestry and nothing came up. I tried the space in the name and still nothing. I knew it had to be in there - so I tried to search for all the Arnaldo's in MA born between 1872-1882. Success again with Arnaldo! The record for an Arnaldo DiNicola came up. It still amazes me that I have missed some of these records in the past.

To Do
1. Enter any new information from WWI draft registration into family tree
2. Create a list of any other men born in this time frame that should have a draft record

Naturalization Again

Now I am on a naturalization kick. I decided to move on to the Francis side of the family and look into Ernesto Francisco's naturalization status. I know I will not be able to find his records in footnote, as he would have filed in Rhode Island, or perhaps VT, but at least this will be a first step in the research process. So I start with his WWI draft registration card, which states in 1917 he is an alien, but next to his status is a date of 1909. I am assuming this date refers to the date that he started the naturalization process, so I am guessing in 1909 he declared his intentions. I then looked into the census records I have found for Ernesto. In both the 1920 and 1930 census it states pa under naturalization, which supports the draft registration information of perhaps starting the process in 1909. Apparently though by 1930, he has not been fully naturalized, so he may not have even filed his petition for naturalization at this point.

Antonio Pompeo

I decided again to try to look further into Antonio's naturalization. First I looked more closely at the information I do have for Antonio, specifically the census records and his WWI registration for the draft. In his 1918 draft record, he states he is a non-declarant alien. Looking into this, it seems this means he has not made the declaration of intent on becoming a US citizen, which also seems to mean that he could not be drafted in WWI. So I know in 1918, there should not be any naturalization records for Antonio. I then looked again at the 1920 census. It does seem to state under naturalization - pa: which I have found to mean he has started the paper process of becoming naturalized, which means there should be records for him before January 1, 1920 (date census enumerators went by for their questions). I decided now to go back to footnote to see if I could find his records in 1919. I browsed the documents and searched using name variations, but still no luck. I am not sure where to go from here in locating these records, but I will keep trying. I also noted in the 1930 census his wife Angelina (Antonio is deceased) is listed as being naturalized. Either she was automatically naturalized because her husband eventually became a citizen or she went through the process herself. So I have some more searching to do.

To Do
1. Find out if footnote database is complete for naturalization records for MA (as of 4.1.2008 - it was 99% complete)
2. Order microfilm from FHL - Norfolk County naturalization records if footnote's database is not complete.

Naturalization Records

I decided to do some catch-up with reading my back-log of magazines. I started with the September 2007 issue of Family Tree Magazine. It is their issue with the 101 best genealogy sites. I like these issues because I always hope their is some great website out there that I do not yet know about, even though deep down I assume I already know all the important sites.

So I start reading with hope that one of these sites will inspire me to find something I have not already found. I have not even read pass the first page, when I saw a website I should try out. Footnote. I have been here in the past, so it is not really a new site for me; however, the article reminded me that they have naturalization records for MA (and some other states).

I have searched for my ancestor's naturalization records on this site before, but have been unsuccessful. I decided to give it another try, knowing that it is very likely one of my Italian ancestors must be in here somewhere. My first attempt was to look for Antonio Pompeo, my great grandfather. No luck. I browsed through all the Pompeos listed, and no match. I am not even sure he did file for naturalization. On the 1910 census he is listed as AL for Alien, on the 1920 census he may be listed as AL or perhaps PA -which could mean pending (the writing is difficult to read). I have to look into this information with more detail.

Anyway, I moved away from searching for the Pompeo family to the DeNicolas. I typed in "Denicola" hoping to find anything. Nothing. I did not want to give up just yet. In the past I have found records on the DeNicola's by searching with a space in their name - "De Nicola". I thought I would give this a try, and YAY! Arnaldo popped right up - my great grandfather! At first I was surprised I had not searched this way before on this website, but I guess it does not hurt to revisit sites after time to try new techniques or in hopes new records were indexed. In this instance, I am guessing I never did search this way on Footnote and the records were always there, I just missed them. Back to the records I found. What a great feeling to find something you have been looking for!!! So these documents led me to 5 naturalization documents for Arnaldo.

declaration of intention 1909
petition of naturalization 1916 - denied for lack of knowledge of government
declaration of intention June 16 1920
petition of naturalization July 20 1920 (accepted)
oath of allegiance July 21 1920

It was nice to have these records of naturalization, but they did not actually give me much new genealogical information on Arnaldo. Some things I did learn though were his and his wife Louisa's actual birth dates; I only had the years before this record. I found some contradictory information on their birth places though. I found previously from their passenger records that Arnaldo was born in Raiano, Italy and Louisa was born in Prezza, Italy. The naturalization records state they were both born in Rome. I am hoping that the passenger records are correct, as searching through all of Rome parish registers will prove more difficult than searching through the smaller areas of Raiano and Prezza (I am guessing as I have not started this task yet). However, on the 1930 Census, it also states that Arnaldo was born in Rome, Italy, while Louisa's simply states Italy. Looking more closely at the passenger records, the column for birth for Arnaldo could be read as Roma, which I mistook for Raiano?

To Do
1. Look into census records more closely for Antonio Pompeo
2. Search for naturalization records for Antonio on Footnote - if they exist
3. Find Arnaldo DeNicola's birth record in Raiano Civil Registration Records - order microfilm from the FHL library.
4. Find Louisa Terragnoli's birth record in Prezza Civil Registration Records - order microfilm from the FHL library.

Links on Topic
Naturalization Timeline from Family Tree Magazine

Canadian Expeditionary Force WWI

I spent a good part of today looking into the history of the Overseas Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) to help me understand where my ancestor, Alfred N. Labrecque fought in WWI. I have been meaning to do some research on this since my trip to the Quincy Public Library in November of 2006 (yikes, over a year ago!).

At the library I found a newspaper article from the Patriot Ledger that states Alfred telegraphed to the US from Canada on Nov. 23 1916, to say he was leaving to Halifax, England to train for the war and then going to the front in France as part of the 171st regiment of the Overseas CEF.

Further research into the 171st regiment confirmed that this regiment did go to England in November, 1916. (from wikipedia) It looks like wikipedia's source of information is this book: Over the Top! The Canadian Infantry in the First World War. From this article, I also learned that the 171st regiment was absorbed into the 148th regiment (apparently most of the CEF were absorbed into other regiments - so most regiments did not fight on the front lines with their original group). The 148th regiment in turn was absorbed into the 20th Reserve battalion.

Now I needed to find out where the 20th Reserve fought. I found a website from the Canadian Expeditionary Force Study Group "The Matrix Project" that the 20th Reserve was sent in to reinforce the 13th and 42nd Battalion in France. Lots of moving around going on. I could now look into which battles the 13th and 42nd Battalion fought, but I think I will wait to see which unit Alfred was actually sent to after he was sent to England as part of the 171st Overseas CEF. In order to do this, I need to either visit the Library and Archives Canada in Ottawa, or order a copy of the documents. I probably will end up ordering the documents.

I searched the Library and Archives Canada database on WWI soldiers, and found the record for Alfred, so that I may order the entire set of service documents when I am ready. On the attestation papers that are digitized online, I found that Alfred stated he was from the 87th regiment of the Active Militia. I was surprised to see this regiment listed, as he noted earlier that he was part of the 171st CEF. This is the way I understand it after reading about the Militia from The British Empire website. Alfred joined the Canadian Army under the militia, which raised troops to join the CEF, where eventually he ended up. The only thing that seems a bit confusing to me is that according to the newspaper article mentioned above, Alfred went to England in November of 1916, and his attestation papers online are dated 1917. Hopefully the actual service documents will clear this up.

Some interesting notes on Alfred that I have discovered looking into his records. His attestation papers for the CEF state that his birth name was Louis Henry Alfred Labrecque, but he put his name as Alfred Napoleon. It seems that some French Canadians named their children after their godparents - and may not necessarily go by the first two names on their birth record. So Alfred went by Alfred, I am not sure where the Napoleon part came from. Also - on his attestation papers, he states his birth is July 4, 1884, when his birth on the parish register for Louis Henry is July 1887. I have not found a birth record for an Alfred Napoleon Labrecque for July 1884. With these differences I was not sure I had the right Labrecque in the parish register (the attestation papers state his alias as Lois Henry and birth date as 1887 at parish of St. Pierre de Becquets, so they concluded that Alfred Napoleon and Louis Henry were the same person). Either way, I know from Alfred's marriage record to Edna Brown that his parents are Achilles and Augusta - which are the same parents for Louis Henry. Perhaps Louis Henry could be a brother of Alfred's and not actually Alfred, but there is not a Louis Henry in the US 1900 census living with Achilles and his other children. So I think it is most likely that Louis Henry is indeed Alfred Napoleon - as stated in the attestation papers. Again, hopefully there will be further clarification in his actual service records.

I also found it interesting that Alfred, who migrated to the United States as an infant with his family, decided to join the military in Canada. He was one of many who did not want to wait for the United States to enter the war, so decided to go to Canada to fight.

To Do:
1. Order Alfred Napoleon Labrecques service records from Library and Archives Canada
2. Determine which regiment Alfred fought with from the service records
3. Research where Alfred's regiment fought - good place to start is Wikipedia's article on List of infantry battalions in the Canadian Expeditionary Force and Canadian Expeditionary Force Study Group"The Matrix Project"
4. Search the War Diaries at Library and Archives Canada for more information on the unit Alfred fought with

Books on Topic:
1. A call to arms : the organization and administration of Canada's military in World War One
2. Over the Top! The Canadian Infantry in the First World War
3. Official History of the Canadian Army in the First World War: Canadian Expeditionary Force 1914-1919 by Colonel G. W. L. Nicholson, C.D.

Family History

A family history blog has been on my mind for a couple of months now, so I have finally decided to go for it. My hesitation was that I would not have enough things to post. I am not sure why I thought this as I spend most of my free time researching my family history. This blog is a good way to keep track of my thoughts and research notes, and maybe someone will find information they are looking for too. There will be periods of time when I am not researching, which will probably start to happen in the summer. February through April seems to be when I get back into researching, so hopefully I will have lots to say this month.