Fearless Females: Brick walls

Brick walls go hand in hand with female ancestors and I am sure many of you can relate. There are many little stubby branches off of my main tree trunk because I have the name of a woman and as of yet no clue to her identity before marriage. These lost heritages, sometimes due to the lack of importance placed on woman at those times, make my mind go numb on occasion. 

photo credit: Malenkov in Exile
via photopin cc

I have written on this blog repeatedly about the walls I have encounter through my scant three years of research.  I have even celebrated with you as I have watched a wall crumble down and I was able to watch new branches develop on my tree.  Those celebrations are fewer now, but I am still determined to make them happen.  Even if it takes my whole life.

But that is just it, isn't it? This is now my life’s endeavor. I am also sure it is yours as well.

I want to know more about the people who came before me.  I want to pass that knowledge on.  Not just to my descendants, but to the world. There are stories to be told, lives to be shared, and walls to be scaled. I know that some may never be breached, but that is no reason not to try.  Right?

Below are my most frustrating female brick walls, on my and my husband’s lines.  The ones that, well, let’s just say bug me the most.  They needle me when I try to sleep. I hear them whispering to me from my computer. Come find me… you know you want to… Maybe, just maybe someone out there has the key to unlocking their secrets.

While a person is more than just facts and figures, I didn't want this post to go on for pages and pages so stuck to the basics.  Yes, I only listed a few tid-bits but you and I both know there is more to these women.  If I am lucky there will be follow up posts with stories of discovery and stories of them in the future.

Philena L. Brown

She is my husband's 4th great-grandmother.  Born abt 1810 in Maine and died bef 1880 in Swanville, Waldo County, Maine.  She married twice: James Cunningham and Joshiah Emmerson.  Her sister Mary married James's brother William, also in the Swanville / Belfast, Maine area.  There are family rumors are that the Brown sisters were of Scottish decent after a stop over for a couple generations in Northern Ireland, eventually making their way to New England.

Margaret Ann Brundage

She is my husband's 2nd great-grandmother.  Born 25 Dec 1851 in Illinois, died 15 March 1930 in Portland, Washington, and is buried in Pioneer Cemetery.  She married Stephen Crabb 8 feb 1872 in Putnam, Missouri.  They traveled west to the Washington Territory and were among the first settlers in their area of the future Washington State.

Jane DeVault

She is my 3rd great-grandmother, and most of the following information was given to me (with documents and sources!) by a recently found cousin.  Thank you Sue!  Born 7 May 1830 in Harrison County, Ohio and died 5 Jan 1910 in Lost River Township, Martin County, Indiana.  From her death certificate I know her father's name was Strausbaugh and she was buried in Waggoner Cemetery.  She married Andrew Jackson Davisson in Ohio about 1853.

Mary Amelia Dishinger

She is my 3^rd great-grandmother.  Born 11 December 1835 in Baden-Wurttemburg and died 21 November 1921 in Washington, Daviess County, Indiana.  She arrived in this country with her parents, who are unknown to me, and settled in Dubois County, Indiana about 1847.  Mary, or Amelia as she went by both names, married another German immigrant, John Miller, in 1855 at Jasper, Dubois County, Indiana. 

Dorothy Ann Jent

She is my 5th great-grandmother.  Born 1742 at St. Mary's, Maryland and died in 1812 at Nelson County, Kentucky.  She married Rodolphus Norris in 1765 at St. Mary's, Maryland.

Eliza Johnson

She is my 3rd great-grandmother.  Born in Indiana abt 1842 and died before 1900, perhaps all in Orange County.  She married Willis Mayfield Freeman 7 Feb 1861 in Orange County, Indiana.

Maria or Mary Meier/Meyer

She is my husband's 3rd great grandmother.  Born 1853 in Germany and died 30 April 1900 in New York, New York.  She married twice: Augustus Heinritz and Emil Jahnke.  You can read a post about her and my discoveries here.  

Sally Padgett

She is my 5th great-grandmother.  Born abt 1757 in Maryland and died 1817 in Port Tobacco, Charles County, Maryland.  She married Edward Arvin (Harvin/Harbin/Harben) abt 1785.

Agatha Reichter

She is my 3^rd great-grandmother.  Born about 1822 in Baden-Wurttemburg and died before 1900 in Indiana (most likely Dubois or Daviess County).  She married Hubert Negle (Nagley/Nagali/Naigly) 19 May 1855 at St. Celestine Church in Dubois County, Indiana. 

Mary Rice

She is my 5^th great-grandmother.  Born abt 1770 on a plantation in Tennessee and died in Harrison County, Indiana 24 June 1835.  She married 5 times: Job Poteet (a Frenchman), Mr. Whitaker, Eliasen Goodwin, and Mr. McCaslin (I list them as Mr. because I don't have a first name for them).  You can read a letter written about her at this post.

Isabella "Bella" Ruddy

She is my husband's 3rd great-grandmother.  Born abt 1838 in Ireland and died between 1920 and 1930 most likely in Hartford, Connecticut or Westchester, New York.  She married James Bennett either in Ireland or in New York City.  

Ann Tachell

She is my husband's 2nd great-grandmother.  Born 1846 in Coates, Sommerset, England and died before 1874 in Wales (most likely in Llwynypia, Glamorgan, Wales).  She married Thomas Pittard before 1869 most likely in Somerset.  Thomas went on to marry her younger sister Jane Tachell after Ann's death.  Thomas and Jane immigrated to the United States with their and Ann's children through New York in 1883.

Cousins to the Rescue!

A cousin of my mother-in-law contacted me this morning and filled me in on some information that I did not know. In the letters I published from Carrie to Maude last Friday 4/20/2012 I did not list her married name. To be honest, I didn't know it. Now I do!

Here is what was sent to me this morning:

"Just checked to see the latest on your genealogy blog and read the letters from Carrie to Maude. Carrie's married name was Bradford. She married Horace Bradford, born in 1841 (and so quite a bit older than she). He was supposedly a descendant of William Bradford of Plymouth Colony. His parents were Alexander and Charlotte Bradford. Carrie's middle name was Philena (after her grandmother, I suppose) and she was a chiropractor in the Concord, New Hampshire, area."

Carrie's maternal grandparents were Philena Brown and James Cunningham from Waldo County, Maine.  He was a ship captain who was given his first schooner by his uncle (a Nickerson from Chatham, Mass) and was sailing around the world by the time he was 18.

*Image: Linda Cronin via photo pin cc

A treasure trove of letters

Late last week I received 13 letters from a cousin of my Mother in Law.  They are from 1902-1941 and were correspondence between her grandmother in Washington State and members of the family back in Maine.  Over the next few weeks I am going to transcribe these for the family and see what I can glean of the family history from them.

Last Spring I received 5 letters from my mother in law, which were written to her grandmother.  2 were from her grandmothers, and one from her father’s brother.  These letters proved very useful as they were full of names, dates and places that lead me to find 4 more generations of the family. 

Without these letters I would have been unable to make the leap into the prior generations as I had no idea how/where to look.  I knew Frances Maude Greeley’s grandmothers had the first names of Eliza (Elizabeth?) and Julia, but who were they?  Marriage records didn’t appear; birth records listed no maiden names.  I was stuck.  Then I read, and re-read the letters.  Finally I typed them out, and here are some of the things I found:

Letter from Grandma Greeley Smart to Frances Maude Greeley Crabb; Swanville Maine February 20, 1897:
 “But I know you will have charity for your grandmother when I tell you my Father died when I was a little girl, in Havana Cuba leaving my mother with four little girls and we did not have many school privileges.” 

 Letter from Julia Bartlett to Frances Maude Greeley Crabb; Swanville Maine April 1906:

 “I think of all my brothers and sisters.  They are all gone.  One brother only left there were 10 of us.  5 girls and 5 boys.  9 of us lived to have families of our own.”

Letter from Philip H. Greeley to Frances Maude Greeley Crabb; December 13, 1937:

“The Bartlett family were a strong NE race that were English stock and among the early settlers.  One was once governor of NH many of the them have information psrtim (?) like chaplain Bartlett of the Pearry polar expedition.” 

Letter from Phillip Greeley to Frances Maude Greeley Crabb; Tampa Florida January 19, 1941:

“On mother’s side the Cunninghams, Browns, and Nickersons are in the picture.  Sometime the latter part of the 18^th century John Cunningham went from Edgartown Martha’s Vinyard to Cape Cod and married the daughter of Slathiel Nickerson.  Two sons were all that resulted from this marriage.  William who lived in Belfast Maine.  The two brothers married sisters.  I think they were Scotch and belonged to that gang that England induced to go to Northern Ireland and made great promises for their prosperity and never kept them”

“The other son of John Cunningham was James who was you great grandfather. His home was in Belfast Maine.  [unknown] he reached the age of 10 yr when he went to sea with his mother’s brother, a Nickerson of course.”…“ Aforesaid James went around the world twice before he was 12 and continued to sail the seven seas till his death aged 40.  When he was 18 an uncle fitted out a schooner for him after which time he was Capt. Cunningham.  When about 40 he made a trip to Havana Cuba where he contracted yellow fever recovered started for N.Y. had a relapse died buried at sea.”

I have 13 more letters to read, and I can’t wait to see if they have any more confirmation on what my research has dug up!  Stay tuned…

*The image of Maine is from Classroom Clipart