Friends of Friends on Saturday

  I got such positive response to yesterdays post on my Delaware Wills that I went and looked for more this morning. I came across a couple for North Carolina and decided that would do for today.
Next Friday I will do some more until I exhaust the wills and books that I have here. I have a lot of Delaware books that list slaves in the indexes as well as Maryland will abstracts. Additionally I myself have abstracted three books of Colonial York County VA Court Records that are in print for the years 1720-1729. I was very careful to list all names for this particular reason

Abstracts of Wills and Other Records, Currituck and Dare, North Carolina (1663-1850) compiled by Gordon C. Jones in 1958. From the DAR Library in DC.Found while looking for some NC Carrows.
Spence Chaplain, July 1826 Son Hillary ( 2 negro boys and property in the hands of Mr.Luke Gregory after the decease of his wife) Daughter: Director Chaplain. ( Old black woman Siller freed from control of my son or daughter and that she have 25 acres on the NE side of the plantation   where I now live inclosing the high ground where I formerly have fed hogs and in complying with my will that she devote one half of her time in weighting on my daughter as long as she lives)

In The Name Of God,Amen! Abstracts of Hyde County, North Carolina Wills Probate 1709-1775
 Ellen Louise Amidon Williams 1989.DAR Library same as above.
John Jennett, Planter Hyde County 20 February 1774
Wife Sarah: I give one negro woman Cate which I bought of Joseph Jones, one Negro Man named Toby & one named Cannada.
Son Robert: I give  one negro Man named Peter & one named Jiem,one negro boy Called cuff one negro woman Named Dina , one negro garl(girl) named Bett.
Son John: I give one Negro woman Called Sal & one Negro man called Porter, one boy Sam & one boy Sharper & one called Ishmael.
Daughter Luranah Jennett:  I give one negro man named Isaac & two other negros which I bought of Richard Sylvester one a negro woman called Cate and the other a boy called Lewis.
Daughter Mary Jennett: One negro woman named Tamer, one negro or mustee called tony & one negro boy called Butcher
Daughter Ann Sparrow: I give one negro garl Called Patience together with  shair of land above devised.

Friends of Friends Friday

This is such a good idea, I am so glad I saw the Geneabloggers post about it on Twitter this morning. I have thought about doing this for a very long time and was not sure where or how to start.

So I pulled out some wills and here is what I found this morning..more another time.

William Carrow who dies before March in 1823 in Murderkill Hundred Kent County Delaware,in the last census I find him in, indicates that there are three "all other free persons" living in his household.

However the inventory  lists "1 Black Boy Coled Daniel ", " Ditto Called Jamiz" and " 1 Black girl Patty"  at a total of  $290 .00. That being said however John Craig mortgaged 1 Black man for ten years $100 and paying $60. This either means that Daniel was really only indentured or that he ( John Craig) had 10 years to pay the other $100.

My own ancestor William Keys upon his death in October 1796, Dover Hundred, Kent County lists a Negro man Richard valued at 30 pds. and a Negro woman Misery valued at 37. William Keys had originally lived in Queen Anne MD but came back from the Revolutionary War in 1783 and raised a family in Delaware. By 1797 no slaves could be sold out of state from the state of Delaware so it is unclear what might have happened to Richard and Misery.

In Dorchester County MD as well as Kent County Delaware between 1800 and 1820 there were free families of color with both surnames found on the census. William Carrow living in the Vienna District of Dorchester County had 5 family members, was a free person of color and apparently also owned slaves.

I am not sure whether any of these named in these two wills had terms to their servitude or not.

Surname Saturday Again .. repost

Captain Charles Swanson and his brother Andrew

Two men named Swanson are in the Southwark Philadelphia area in the 1830 census.

Andrew Swanson and his presumed brother Charles come in 1813 according to records.These same records indicate that the men are from Goteborg Sweden. Charles Swanson at least very likely served in the Swedish Navy in their war against Russia : "While the War of 1808-09 is not to be considered being of world historical proportions, it certainly was an important event in both Swedish and Finnish history" as when the war ended 110 ships were delivered into Russian hands as was Finland after 600 years the Swedish-Finnish union was dead.

 

Since Charles Swanson as well as Andrew were born in Goteborg they surely were Swedish but possibly had ties to Finland.To me the men of the family appear more like Finns as they are short and dark a trait that goes on for generations. ( see attached pictures of Richard Johnson Swanson and youngest son Addison)

Andrew Swanson identifies his birthplace in his death certificate in 1862.He is a merchant.

Andrew may leave only one child Catherine B. who marries Cyrus Wilson Foss a merchant who is born in Maine.Catherine B.Foss has two children and memorializes her parents with their names I suspect, Andrew Swanson Foss and Annie Waterman Foss. Andrew and Annie and their families remain in the Delaware Valley for generations.

 

Charles Swanson dies August 1850 of cholera and that document describes him as a pilot on the river.Posthumously at least he is called "Captain Charles Swanson" in his daughter Hannah Swanson Jackson's obituary.

 

His sons who followed his career continued to live in South Philadelphia and later Camden NJ these were James and Andrew.

The three men who are found in Beverly NJ seem to be involved in transportation and merchandising perhaps and this combination of occupations may reflect their origins.

The ship type listed in their 1813 passport is "Angare" which means steamship although that is surely not possible?

Civil War records for the Beverly NJ brothers are confusing.From what I have read many men from the Burlington County area went for the bonus money; some actually went to PA for the larger bonus( Bob Knoll has information on that). All three brothers, Edward, William and John may have served in some capacity in the conflict as records exist for all. although not an actual Civil War packet.I have ordered one for each of them from NJ Archives which is offering vouchers for a very reasonable sum.

I continue to try to piece together the Swanson in America tale.

Surname Saturday Dugan/Doohan repost

Another generation has been documented of the Doohan/Dugan family of Crossroads Donegal.

Mary Dugan Faunt and Rose Doohan Coyle, first cousins died young and left young children with no clear story of their origin.

A very small group of cousins have connected in this electronic age and are piecing together the family.

My Grandfather Ed Faunt who was 4 when his Mother died belonged to the "Sons of Donegal" and often sang a song about it. His cousin Jimmy Coyle has a memory of walking up Broad Street with his mother at 3 or 4 and no other recollection of her.

Norah Doohan McFadden of Crossroads sold Irish Sweepstake tickets to her cousins until her death after 1965. Her sister Catherine Doohan worked at Mt.Carmel Rectory 3rd and Snyder when she immigrated in 1928 and later moved to Norristown.

Rose Veronica Coyle granddaughter of Rose Doohan Coyle was Miss America in 1936. Everyone in our family has always been aware of this astonishing fact but not one of us could figure out how Rose Coyle is related to us. Now we do.

Patrick, Denis, Bryan(Bernard) and John Dugan/Doohan were brothers in Ireland. Just past Crossroads (now Falcarragh) is the 'Bridge of Sorrows' that took them out of the valley toward the port at Derry and left their families behind.John Dugan and his newly married wife emigrated to Philadelphia in 1865.They had no children and he prospered and one by one many of his nieces and nephews joined him there.

Granddaughter's DNA

I am a firm believer in Genetic Genealogy..yes with capital letters. I am am member of ISOGG and have been testing someone or other's DNA in my family since 2005.Faunt.Carrow.Ulmer.Morrison and extended family.

I have tested two of my sons and now one of their children each, my granddaughters. The girls were enthusiastic about the idea although I am sure the genealogy involved is not a teen age pastime.
One of my grandsons has also tested but his is not back from the lab yet.

The company I prefer is 23andme.com for a variety of reasons that are meaningful to me.One of them is displayed on this blog. The geographic analysis or Ancestry Composition as they now call it is superb. Many fine and well know geographic genetic analysts think highly of it.It was a long time in the making. I actually was a Beta Tester more than three years ago when they first promoted their Relative Finder to the world.

The database they possess is large and varied and this "universe" of testers is very high on my list of "must haves". Most if not all of us have ancestors and relatives from many countries.This is important to me.

Less important but still a draw is the health portion of the test, included in the price. Over the years they have explored having just genealogy or just health in the test but there is value in both. Financially it is essential as a large potion of their business is the health industry. Other companies test health but as an offshoot test.

The visuals they present for their product I feel is the very best of any company currently out there.
I do have two of my family in Family Finder at Family Tree DNA but their software pales in comparison, at least for this autosomal "cousin test". Family Tree DNA does hold the edge in Y  testing overall, using strs as well as snps. These are  large and small segments of DNA both necessary for analyzing genetic distance. Ancestryby DNA has a new product which I have used but not tested at. I feel that one is anemic in many ways, sort of "dumbed down" and basic. My opinion is that it lacks accuracy and depth. A Genographic 2 is out there also but the jury still seems to be out on that one, cousin matches not yet working and the geographic array of populations is said to be not quite there yet.

The graphics I have on this blog is perhaps the best reason for using this particular test. 23andme utilizes  " phasing" to show which side of  the family traits and ethnic composition are received from.It is neccessary for at least one parent to have tested. I guess that is why I am writing today as I am so very excited about what we now know in my family.

                                                        

Early Delaware Edenfield Family- repost

Early Delaware Edenfield family

The trusty and accomplished researcher who assists me with my Delaware and Maryland family lines has brought back an amazing amount of data.It is still a work in progress and maybe always will be but much of it is entrancing. In the Carrow family there are other lines and relatives, of course, including Edenfield, Maloney and Jones.


William F.Carrow who is a Civil War Veteran married Margaret Edenfield.Actually both he and Margaret married others during the war but were both widowed. They married in 1878 and she brought a child to the marriage.

I was hoping to find a way back to the first Edenfield, John who comes from Yorkshire and marries in Kent County Delaware by 1702 without hitting a minefield. The minefield comes in the person of Jonas Edenfield who has been called the"Pirate of Bombay Hook" for his enterprenurial efforts with the British warships during the Revolution and the sale of beef and rum.

However it seems at this point that the line goes from Thomas Edenfield who is father to my Margaret Carrow through another Thomas and then..guess what..Jonas and then another Jonas before the immigrant.

Good news here is that the first Jonas seemingly marries Tabitha Stedham who is of the "Old Swedes" Stidhams which is a plus. Another upbeat bit of news is that Jonas Sr.'s niece Lydia marries William Clayton which is the family of Caesar Rodney.

Jonas Stidham's partner in this endeavor on the marshes off Delaware was a Lucas Stedham who went on to "take the Oath" of allegiance to the new country and thus got off the hook.Jonas however may have only paid a minuscule fine which probably speaks to conflicted loyalties in the area.

There are a couple of decades of tax records to be scrutinized before my Thomas Edenfield who is orphaned quite young is officially in the Thomas, Thomas,Jonas, Jonas line but it is looking like a sure thing.The mists of time are being penetrated slightly for me to peek in.

Delaware is Week 1 in Genealogy by the States

This is a repost from my former blog which has gotten separated from me..I am bringing the older posts  to the new blogsite when they fit. A prompt for Genealogy by the States-Week 1 by Jim Sanders of Hiddengenealogynuggets.com website is just such a time.. I am bringing on Delaware an ancestral site for myainfolk.blogspot.com

Posted 3 years ago in January 2009

Today I posted this at a semi-private DNA website for the Carrow family.I think it has relevance so I am copying it here also.

We have 2 lines currently looking like a possibility both in Delaware and North Carolina in their Y (male) DNA. This leads me to look back at some men we have "tucked into" the family of John Carrow (Dorchester and Queen Anne) and John Carrow the Patriot for convenience sake actually.

Possibly more than one of the men in Accomac lived long enough to father a child.That was NOT always the norm in early Tidal Maryland and Virginia when the life expectancy was short.

We had these men early on:

Evan Carrew/Cariow who is found in records between 1666-1683 in both Accomac and Maryland.He is an educated man and worked as an accountant.He is last found in Cecil County MD very close to Kent Island as Under Sheriff. He does not seem to have lived in the household of John Carrow Constable.He is in Maryland by 1672 but defintely in Accomac records where he served as Deputy Constable between 1666-1669

Thomas Carrow who goes to North Carolina in 1663 and his descendants match in DNA ( in 2 cases) to Delaware Carrows. The line of John Carrow.

Also found in Accomac or at least Virginia records are these men:

Rowland( 1666) and Allen( Sept 1664 are each found once.

Henry Carrow serves in the Maryland Militia in 1678 and lays claim to 350 acres in St.Mary's.
He is NOT the Henry Carrow from Kent Island who lives 1685-1762 and leaves money in his will to John the Patriot of Kent Delaware as his "cousin' which denotes a blood relationship such as nephew.

Nor is he the Father Henry Carrow who is in St.Mary's in 1672 and is superior of the Maryland Mission and dies enroute back to England 5/16/1677.

James Carew sailed October 1678 from Waterford Ireland on the "St.George of London" into Maryland.

None of these men is linked to John Carrow Constable of Accomac but could surely be ancestor of a later generation of Carrows in the Chesapeake area including Delaware and North Carolina.

Not to be forgotten either is Timothy Carow/Cariow who is in Kent County Delaware in 1680 or before.He has cattle earmarks in 1686 is listed as a titheable for Richard Willson in 1693 and serves as Constable in Duck Creek in 1698.He dies in October 1700 and leaves his personal property to the children of "Widow Clifford": Thomas,John,Mary and Parnell. He did not leave his "real property" so possibly had issue. There were others of course like another Thomas in Accomac, Andrew who is likely a brother to John in Dorcester and a family which includes another John ( Carrel), wife Eliza and children John , Richard and Mary in Isle of Wight county shortly after Thomas Carrow goes to Carolina.
Of the possible patriarchs here besides John Carrow whose line ends up in Delaware and Thomas Carrow who seems to have gone and stayed to the Carolinas (specifically of the Hyde/Beaufort border)two more appear significant to me:
Timothy Carrow Constable in Duck Creek Delaware and Evan Carrow who traverses from Accomac to St.Mary's to Cecil County MD north of Kent Island. Both of these men are alive long enough to amass property (cattle and land) which would enable them to marry and procreate.Neither seem to have lived until a child reaches adulthood.
John Carrow who is at Tackett's Lott in Dorchester County MD seems to be owner of that land for a reason on the Chicanicomico betweeen 1722-1734 when Thomas Tackett dies without an heir of his body.
DNA continues to add to the story and illuminate dark places.

Repost from a prior time..for Surname Saturday

Surname Saturday - Boe and Olsen

Several new ancestral surnames have bubbled to the surface for me in December.Most important for me I believe is what I have now deduced to be my paternal surname.
In November I wrote about my "Search for My Grandfather" an event which actually had propelled me into both genealogy and DNA in retirement. 'Holes' in a pedigree is what many of my genetic genealogy compatriots have in common and surely understand and I have written about that already.

With 209 current cousin matches on "Relative Finder" at 23andme, my closest matches are turning out to be from Norway. On this, the second exploration of my autosomal profile, but the first of the full genome ( all 23 chromosomes) a Baltic area native element like Saami continues to be evident.

Dad's stepfather Sigurd Boe twice alluded to being Dad's father in my hearing.My Dad, although he referred to his mother and stepfather as "my parents" was less sure of this fact and he legally was named Carrow after his Grandparents adopted him. Four years ago for the first time I received Dad's birth certificate naming "Louis Saybold" as the father but the document was stamped "illegitimate" and also gave his name as William Charles Carrow.

Yesterday I found a link from another Blogger of the Digital Archives of Norway. Grandpop Boe's death certificate as reported to the Norwegian consulate called him "Olaf Boe.His given name was Sigurd Boe and sure enough I find Ove Sigurd's birth and his confirmation as Ove Sigurd Boe in Bjarkoy Troms Norway.Thrilling to me of course!

His father is indicated as Oskar Ludvig Bremer {Oleson} and his mother Lorentse Sofie Kristiansdotr. His paternal grandfather is listed as both Lars Oleson Boe and Peder Oleson Boe which I suppose points to the patronymic of Olesen or 'son of Ole' and a place or origin name of Bo/Boe? I am not at all sure of that but I am sure it is him as he is born in Bjarkoy Troms as found in his first visa to the US in 1920.He seems to have retained his Norwegian citizenship although I know he received Social Security and a pension from a Philadelphia bank building where he was their operating engineer.

Rounding out this found information in 2010 is the place of residence of my Great grandparents
of Slagstad Troms Norway which is either part of or near to Bjarkoy. My paternal GGrandmother ( can you believe this!!) is Elisabeth Martinsdatr also of Slagstad Troms Norway.

North Shore in Penns Grove NJ for Aunt Jean

My Aunt Jean, Regina O'Donnell Faunt Biggio, is the last of my parents generation in my family.
When I visit in New Jersey during the year we try to spend a little time together.

This was my Christmas card to her, a giclee image of an oil pastel I drew this year.Aunt Jean was very excited about it and we talked about who used to live there and what it was like at that time.Houses were close to the Delaware River in the 1940s and 1950s but now it is just rivershore as seen in my drawing.

Aunt Jean said that the houses were mostly summer houses for people from the City ( Philadelphia to us).My Dad also grew up in a very small house on Risnor Row, sort of close to this.Risnor Row was almost North Shore, a term used to describe anything north of West Main Street,but not quite there. Borden Avenue called Borden Beach was almost on the North Shore and the Romanskys lived there.Aunt Jean and I both knew many of these families.

Her family lived there, Marion Shellenberger O'Donnell, with her children and her father Henry. Next door per the 1940 census was Ruben Maxwell  who was the census informant for the O'Donnells who were not at home.Nearby were her friends the Pagnottos, where she lived when she married my Uncle Francis Faunt.

She said she wants to ride up and look at it and I promised to send the photograph I took last fall.

We had a great chat and both were gossiping about people who lived many years ago, she who lived then and I who as the family genealogy nut has gathered this information.

Repost of a Wordless Wednesday from February 2010

Wordless Wednesday (sort of) - Autosomal DNA,cousins and me

In addition to testing my autosomal DNA at 23andme in their 'Relative Finder' and finding out my unknown paternal ethnic background I have had two REMARKABLE cousin matches.We each share a segment of a chromosome, part of a larger segment passed on by our Carrow ancestors all three of whom were siblings born between 1814 and 1830 in Duck Creek Delaware.

Family Tree DNA will also begin a similar testing program called 'Family Finder'. I have been a surname group administrator there for a few years.Instead of words today I will include links to what I am talking about. Carrows please join the Ancestry.com group! Also there is a Faunt, Rementer, Swanson and Norwegian group.

http://groups.ancestry.com/signup/respond.aspx?invid=AHgfBfwdUVd484DebDOSiQ

https://www.familytreedna.com/landing/family-finder.aspx

https://www.23andme.com/

Snowy Night From the Past

                                              Broadway Carneys Point Village 1990

I sketched this twenty years ago in pencil on a bit of scrap paper from the second floor of the house my children were teenagers in. Why? Although ten years before I started most of my genealogical journey, I knew my grandparents on both sides had lived nearby. That snowy night I felt I was looking back in time.

This year I reworked it as an Oil Pastel drawing and had it digitalized. It will always be in my mind and now it is being shared.

Genealogy Goals for 2013

Happy New Year..Here we are in 2013 and what are my goals, plans and hopes? Let me clarify to  say goals and hopes for genealogy and what it might take to achieve them.My resolutions this year have to do with courage and perserverence and that applies here.

I made a start by beginning a new tree on Ancestry just for my Fant/Faunt line in Tipperary and Limerick. I have had fairly recent preconceived goals about who they were and where they lived.
Newer records from my Irish researcher need to be heeded and changes made in that area.For expedience sake I sort of linked them all into one big messy family. That is not really good enough and I am making changes.

DNA kits for a granddaughter and grandson are in and cooking at 23andme.I plan to be very busy making very good use of all these tools to try and untangle their heritage for them. Their kits will make half of my six grandchildren tested and half of my four children. I will keep on keeping on with this.

The DNA  cousin matches I have so far takes a lot of time to work with.I have been blessed to be able to test thirteen family and friends. I will try to make sure I spend as much time at it as it needs or as I did at the beginning of my DNA journey.

I will keep working on my lines in the US and in Europe.I will keep up with new releases of records and continue to work with the researchers .

I will make it the best it can be.