I've been blessed to have been born into a family that had at least its fair share of history and genealogy buffs, and from time to time records turn up from the research done years earlier. My maternal grandfather, Gregg David Reynolds, had a first cousin, David M. McFarland, who was his generation's historian and he was very interested in tracking the family lines. Though he was not as particular as I might like about sourcing his work, I've yet to find any serious errors in his research. His wife was a Bonsall and he tracked that family as well as his own. Over the years, one of his daughters has been sending me his files as they turn up during housecleaning efforts and these packages have often contained some real gems.
My latest find in this conglomeration of data is two very old pages from an old Bonsall family bible. These pages allow me, at long last, to feel confident about cousin David's assertions that Thomas Bonsall (1789 - 1875) was the son of Edward Bonsall and Hannah Gleave. I've transcribed the pages and uploaded them to Chester County Genealogy (under the Data Archives). David's files also include some old family letters, some of which I'll be transcribing as well. One of the more interesting of these letters is one from David to his father as he explains why he feels the need to enlist in the military during World War One, against his father's wishes. At the very least, these old files provide an interesting slice of history for modern readers.
Friday, December 26, 2008
Monday, June 2, 2008
Even the best ones make mistakes....
When you do a lot of research in any particular area, you get a sense after awhile of whose work is good and whose is not. In Chester county, PA and the surrounding areas, one of the trusted names in genealogy research has always been Gilbert Cope. He was also very prolific and his work is generally very high quality. But, even the best researchers can make mistakes, and Cope was no exception. The sad thing is, when a reputable researcher publishes a work with a mistake in it, that error gets compounded over and over again, as newer researchers take the older research as gospel truth. That is almost certainly the case with one Emanuel Grubb, son of John and Frances Grubb.
Actually, Emanuel isn't the problem -it's his wife who has the issues. Everyone agrees that her first name was Anne (or Ann) and nearly all seem to agree that her rest of her name was Hedge Cock (or Hedgecock or Hedges Cock, or Hedge Koch, etc, etc, etc). In Cope's case, he listed her in the Smedley Genealogy as Ann Hedge Cock, and that seems to be the most common variant. Her parentage seems to remain a total mystery. Poor Anne - destined to live in obscurity forever...or at least for as long as we continue to let others' research stand in for doing our own.
Luckily, Anne has been found and does have parents. Born September 27, 1691, she was the daughter of Thomas and Anne Hitchcock of Cecil county, Maryland. But, hey, don't take my word for it - let's look at some documentation:
First, we have the extract of Thomas Hitchcock's will:
Hitchcock, Thomas. Cecil Co.
12th Oct. 1707
To wife Anne, dwelling plantation, including 200 A., ____, during life; at her decease to son John.
To son Thomas and hrs., land ____, on which he lives.
To dau. Anne and hrs., "Swamp" and "Paradise" on s.e. side N.E. River.
To daus Anne, afsd., Millycent and son John afsd., personalty.
Wife, afsd., extx. and residuary legatee.
Test: John Coosyne, Wm. Dare,Sr., Andrew Rosenquist, Paul Phillips.
12.190
By itself, that doesn't prove much, except that Thomas had a daughter named Anne, who apparently was named after her mother. The land transfer below is the piece that pulls it together:
P. 243. Deed.
Emanuel Grubb of New Castle Co., upon Delaware, farmer, and Ann his wife, for £120, to Robert Story of Cecil Co., gent., a tract of 165 acres called the Swamp on the east side of the Shannon River (now called North East River) by land called Whitton's Forest. Said land is part of the land that belonged to George Talbot and was sold to him by Thomas Hitchcock by deed dated 11 Aug 1684, recorded in Lib. C, folios 159-160. Also a parcel of land called Paradise on the south side of the Shannon River adjoining the other tract and containing 150 acres. This was also part of George Talbot's land and sold by his wife Sarah Talbot to Edward Johnson by deed dated 27 Aug 1686 recorded in Lib. C, folio 434. By the Last Will and Testament of the said Edward Johnson and the said Thomas Hitchcock the lands became the property of Ann Grubb, one of the daughters of Thomas Hitchcock.
Made and Ackn: 19 Oct 1736. Wit and JPs: Wm. Rumsey, Thos. Johnson, Jr.
Rec: 11 Dec 1736.
Wm Knight, Clerk.
Taken together, these two documents make it clear that Anne was the wife of Emanuel and the daughter of Thomas Hitchcock. Now, all I have to do is convince the rest of the researchers...OK, I won't hold my breath on that idea...
Actually, Emanuel isn't the problem -it's his wife who has the issues. Everyone agrees that her first name was Anne (or Ann) and nearly all seem to agree that her rest of her name was Hedge Cock (or Hedgecock or Hedges Cock, or Hedge Koch, etc, etc, etc). In Cope's case, he listed her in the Smedley Genealogy as Ann Hedge Cock, and that seems to be the most common variant. Her parentage seems to remain a total mystery. Poor Anne - destined to live in obscurity forever...or at least for as long as we continue to let others' research stand in for doing our own.
Luckily, Anne has been found and does have parents. Born September 27, 1691, she was the daughter of Thomas and Anne Hitchcock of Cecil county, Maryland. But, hey, don't take my word for it - let's look at some documentation:
First, we have the extract of Thomas Hitchcock's will:
Hitchcock, Thomas. Cecil Co.
12th Oct. 1707
To wife Anne, dwelling plantation, including 200 A., ____, during life; at her decease to son John.
To son Thomas and hrs., land ____, on which he lives.
To dau. Anne and hrs., "Swamp" and "Paradise" on s.e. side N.E. River.
To daus Anne, afsd., Millycent and son John afsd., personalty.
Wife, afsd., extx. and residuary legatee.
Test: John Coosyne, Wm. Dare,Sr., Andrew Rosenquist, Paul Phillips.
12.190
By itself, that doesn't prove much, except that Thomas had a daughter named Anne, who apparently was named after her mother. The land transfer below is the piece that pulls it together:
P. 243. Deed.
Emanuel Grubb of New Castle Co., upon Delaware, farmer, and Ann his wife, for £120, to Robert Story of Cecil Co., gent., a tract of 165 acres called the Swamp on the east side of the Shannon River (now called North East River) by land called Whitton's Forest. Said land is part of the land that belonged to George Talbot and was sold to him by Thomas Hitchcock by deed dated 11 Aug 1684, recorded in Lib. C, folios 159-160. Also a parcel of land called Paradise on the south side of the Shannon River adjoining the other tract and containing 150 acres. This was also part of George Talbot's land and sold by his wife Sarah Talbot to Edward Johnson by deed dated 27 Aug 1686 recorded in Lib. C, folio 434. By the Last Will and Testament of the said Edward Johnson and the said Thomas Hitchcock the lands became the property of Ann Grubb, one of the daughters of Thomas Hitchcock.
Made and Ackn: 19 Oct 1736. Wit and JPs: Wm. Rumsey, Thos. Johnson, Jr.
Rec: 11 Dec 1736.
Wm Knight, Clerk.
Taken together, these two documents make it clear that Anne was the wife of Emanuel and the daughter of Thomas Hitchcock. Now, all I have to do is convince the rest of the researchers...OK, I won't hold my breath on that idea...
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Setting the record straight
Perhaps the most aggravating experience for an active genealogist is to come upon records that are just plain wrong. It may take a fair amount of work to straighten these things out, but it is very satisfying to do so.
In the process of doing some research on my Todd line, I came across a number of online genealogies linking John Todd, first husband of Dolley Payne who later married James Madison, to my line of Todds who originally settled in Montgomery County, Pa. Though there are lots of interesting people attached to that line, including Mary Todd, wife of Abraham Lincoln, John Todd, husband of Dolley, is not one of them. There are also some genealogies stating that John's mother was Martha Wilson.
To set the record straight, we will start with John Todd himself, or more correctly, John Todd, Jr. From his will in 1793, after he died from the Yellow Fever that ravished Philadelphia, its clear that this is Dolley's husband:
Name: John Todd
Residence: Philadelphia, Philadelphia Co., PA
Description: Decedent
Date: 2 Jul 1793
Prove Date: 21 Nov 1793
Title: Jr.
BookPage: W:585
Remarks: Todd, John, Junior. City of Phila. Wife and Exec: Dolly Paine Todd. Child: Payne. Advisaries to Wife: Edward Burd, Edward Telghman.
Born in 1763, John's parents were John, Sr. and Mary Durborow, both of whom also perished in 1793 from the Fever, as did John, Jr's son, William Temple Todd. John, Sr. and Mary were married in the Arch Street Friends meeting on 12/9/1762, as documented in the records for Philadelphia Friends Meeting. John is shown in the record as being the son of John of New London twp., Chester Co. Among the witnesses were Rebecca and Samuel Durborow, Jane and William Todd, and John and Elizabeth Blair. Rebecca was Mary's mother, her father John having passed away; Samuel is most likely a brother to Mary. William and Jane Todd were siblings of John, or Jane may have been William's wife.
John's will, also filed in 1793, shows the relationship clearly:
Name: John Todd
Residence: Philadelphia, Philadelphia Co., PA
Description: Decedent
Date: 21 Sep 1793
Prove Date: 14 Nov 1793
BookPage: W:594
Remarks: Todd, John. City of Phila. Wife: Mary. Sons: James, John. Brother: James, of Chester Co.Grandchildren: John Payne Todd, William Temple Todd, Sons of Son John.Samuel Poultney Todd, Deborah and Mary Todd, Children of Son James. Nephew: William, Son of Brother James Todd. To Elizabeth Blair, Wife's Sister's Daughter. Friend: Margaret Taggert.Exec: Samuel Jones, John and James Todd.
John, Sr. and Mary had three children, listed in the Philadelphia meeting records: John born 11-17-1763, James born 4-3-1766, and Deborah born 4-7-1771. Deborah died the following year, and because of this, does not appear in her grandfather's will, written in 1774.
Racing back one step further, we move to Chester County, to find John, Sr. Born about 1700, John the father married Margaret Cane (or Cain) at New Garden Friends meeting on 8/28/1720.
Name: John Todd
Description: Decedent
Date: 16 Jul 1774
Prove Date: 18 Aug 1775
Remarks: John Todd. New London. 7/16/1774. Aug. 18, 1775. To son William Todd now supposed to be in Carolina £100. To daughter Jane wife of Henry Hayes £35. To son James £15 and all wearing apparel having advanced him to the value of £115 in my lifetime. To daughter Margaret wife of James Willson £15. To grandsons John and James, sons of John Todd, £30 each. To 3 grandchildren Martha, Mary and Sarah Willson £20 to be divided. To daughter Sarah McKee £10 and to grandson John McKee £15. To daughter Elizabeth Hodgson £5. To grandson John Willson £5. To grandson Isaac McKee £5. To grandson Wm. son of Jas. Todd £5. To daughter Margaret wife of son James £10. Reversion of legacy to son Wm. to sons-in-law John Morton and Wm. Hutton of York Co. Executors: Son John of Phila. and son-in-law Henry Hayes.
As is often the case, there are other records that confuse the issue. In this particular case, the New Garden records show a marriage on 8/12/1749 between John Todd of New London and Martha Wilson of Londongrove. This gives us two basic possibilities - either this John Todd is no relation to ours, or Martha was John's first wife. I consider this a distinct possibility as John's sister Margaret married James Wilson of Londongrove and John didn't marry Mary Durborow until 1762, after which his three children were born.
Even if Martha was his first wife, it does not change the fact that mother of his children was Mary Durborow, with the family having its roots firmly in Chester County and Philadelphia.
In the process of doing some research on my Todd line, I came across a number of online genealogies linking John Todd, first husband of Dolley Payne who later married James Madison, to my line of Todds who originally settled in Montgomery County, Pa. Though there are lots of interesting people attached to that line, including Mary Todd, wife of Abraham Lincoln, John Todd, husband of Dolley, is not one of them. There are also some genealogies stating that John's mother was Martha Wilson.
To set the record straight, we will start with John Todd himself, or more correctly, John Todd, Jr. From his will in 1793, after he died from the Yellow Fever that ravished Philadelphia, its clear that this is Dolley's husband:
Name: John Todd
Residence: Philadelphia, Philadelphia Co., PA
Description: Decedent
Date: 2 Jul 1793
Prove Date: 21 Nov 1793
Title: Jr.
BookPage: W:585
Remarks: Todd, John, Junior. City of Phila. Wife and Exec: Dolly Paine Todd. Child: Payne. Advisaries to Wife: Edward Burd, Edward Telghman.
Born in 1763, John's parents were John, Sr. and Mary Durborow, both of whom also perished in 1793 from the Fever, as did John, Jr's son, William Temple Todd. John, Sr. and Mary were married in the Arch Street Friends meeting on 12/9/1762, as documented in the records for Philadelphia Friends Meeting. John is shown in the record as being the son of John of New London twp., Chester Co. Among the witnesses were Rebecca and Samuel Durborow, Jane and William Todd, and John and Elizabeth Blair. Rebecca was Mary's mother, her father John having passed away; Samuel is most likely a brother to Mary. William and Jane Todd were siblings of John, or Jane may have been William's wife.
John's will, also filed in 1793, shows the relationship clearly:
Name: John Todd
Residence: Philadelphia, Philadelphia Co., PA
Description: Decedent
Date: 21 Sep 1793
Prove Date: 14 Nov 1793
BookPage: W:594
Remarks: Todd, John. City of Phila. Wife: Mary. Sons: James, John. Brother: James, of Chester Co.Grandchildren: John Payne Todd, William Temple Todd, Sons of Son John.Samuel Poultney Todd, Deborah and Mary Todd, Children of Son James. Nephew: William, Son of Brother James Todd. To Elizabeth Blair, Wife's Sister's Daughter. Friend: Margaret Taggert.Exec: Samuel Jones, John and James Todd.
John, Sr. and Mary had three children, listed in the Philadelphia meeting records: John born 11-17-1763, James born 4-3-1766, and Deborah born 4-7-1771. Deborah died the following year, and because of this, does not appear in her grandfather's will, written in 1774.
Racing back one step further, we move to Chester County, to find John, Sr. Born about 1700, John the father married Margaret Cane (or Cain) at New Garden Friends meeting on 8/28/1720.
Name: John Todd
Description: Decedent
Date: 16 Jul 1774
Prove Date: 18 Aug 1775
Remarks: John Todd. New London. 7/16/1774. Aug. 18, 1775. To son William Todd now supposed to be in Carolina £100. To daughter Jane wife of Henry Hayes £35. To son James £15 and all wearing apparel having advanced him to the value of £115 in my lifetime. To daughter Margaret wife of James Willson £15. To grandsons John and James, sons of John Todd, £30 each. To 3 grandchildren Martha, Mary and Sarah Willson £20 to be divided. To daughter Sarah McKee £10 and to grandson John McKee £15. To daughter Elizabeth Hodgson £5. To grandson John Willson £5. To grandson Isaac McKee £5. To grandson Wm. son of Jas. Todd £5. To daughter Margaret wife of son James £10. Reversion of legacy to son Wm. to sons-in-law John Morton and Wm. Hutton of York Co. Executors: Son John of Phila. and son-in-law Henry Hayes.
As is often the case, there are other records that confuse the issue. In this particular case, the New Garden records show a marriage on 8/12/1749 between John Todd of New London and Martha Wilson of Londongrove. This gives us two basic possibilities - either this John Todd is no relation to ours, or Martha was John's first wife. I consider this a distinct possibility as John's sister Margaret married James Wilson of Londongrove and John didn't marry Mary Durborow until 1762, after which his three children were born.
Even if Martha was his first wife, it does not change the fact that mother of his children was Mary Durborow, with the family having its roots firmly in Chester County and Philadelphia.
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