Off to America, thank you dear uncle….

Johanna Carolina Hellsten was planning on traveling to USA and applied for a departure certificate from Sweden on 7 November 1867, right after her Uncle Manne Helsten said he would send the funds from her Uncle Eric to her Aunt Lovis when she was ready to travel. She then decided to delay her departure and returned her travel papers a week later, on 14 November.

By early November, the days are getting shorter as winter is approaching in Sweden and maybe Johanna thought that traveling in the spring might be a better idea.

Meanwhile, Uncle Eric is still awaiting Hannah’s (Johanna) arrival - he writes on 23 December 1867 to Carl and Hannah, it takes this letter at least a month to arrive in Sweden.  Then Carl writes back 3 weeks later saying that Hannah has delayed her trip.   Eric is patiently waiting in America for his niece, wondering where she is, maybe even concerned since he hasn't heard after getting the travel funds to her.  By the time Eric would find out her changed travel plans, it is probably close to March — about the time for her to actually come!

Örebro 
14 Feb. 1868

My dear brother Eric

I received your letter dated 23 Dec 3 weeks ago in which I find you are awaiting Hannah’s arrival.  We received the money from Uppsala last fall.  But since it was so late in the year they were sent back to Upsala again and the trip was started in the spring.  Wherefore she has decided to leave the coming April from Götteborg because she will then have travel company.  So God willing she will be in New York in 12 or 14 days.  If the trip will be somewhat postponed I will write you about it.

My dear brother, we will probably not see each other in this time [on earth] but how do you stand with God as well as your wife and children?  Please write to me about it.  Don’t forget to because it would be nice to know if we will meet up there in heaven.  Then we will see God and the lamb in the full glory.   It will be a blessed switch to be with an eternal glorious transfigured body there be allowed to see God face to face together with his holy angels and the blessed inhabitants of heaven.  That eternally be allowed to thank, praise and say his name that brought us here with his blood.  It will be blessed and glorified and precious there where the Lord God himself is.

Here in our Sweden the wind of the holy ghost has blown in all the counties so that many sinners have listened to the call and fled to the Lord Jesus.  But among our relatives has it unfortunately not been received. Only sister Marie has some inclination but she has not at all come to peace.  My wife and children and all the others seem to be dead in transgressions and sins.  Now you have heard dear brother how we have it in this most important matter; therefore please pray to the dear God for us if  you know Him the Christ reconciled Father -- because it is written in the Bible word in many places in John 16:24 it says “ask ye shall receive and  your joy shall be full.”

Greetings to your wife and children from us all.

You devoted brother Carl

Not sure who her traveling company was, but Caroline Hellsten is listed on a passenger list arriving in New York City on 22 April 1868.

Notice her father Carl wrote of a 12 or 14 day trip.  The transatlantic sailing trips when Eric came in 1845 and his wife Mary in 1848, took about 43 days.  The addition of steam ships definitely made the trip much faster, and most likely, safer.

Spring 1868, Eric was waiting for her Hannah.    He contacted the immigration folks alerting them of her pending arrival.

Office of the Commissioners of Emigration.
Castle Garden, New York, April 22nd, 1868
    5 oclock P.M.

E.A.Helsten Esq
  Sir
  In answer to your letter 
I respectfully inform you that your
niece Johanna C. Helsten arrived this
Evening pm Steamer Minnesota from
Liverpool we shall detain her here 
until you come or send for her

  Respectfuly ce
   Bernard Casserly
   Gen. Agent & superintendent
    Per T.m.d

You might recall that Hannah had written her uncle:

I, as a big, strong, healthy seventeen  year old girl, used to brewing, commerce, and rough work and who longs for work in an unknown country where no one finds fault with one’s honest work or despises the virtuous for his poverty.
This in addition to the fact that many of my acquaintances have already left for, the employer America, which is why I, too, this fall intend to go there, if some noble person would help me with travel money and good advice at the arrival.

Since I have heard that Uncle is rich and happy in the country to which many long to go, I now set my hopes and prayers to Uncle for a kind answer to:

Could my dear Uncle please be so kind as to via a postal order to Upsala or a letter give, or, if need be, loan me 200 Kr for travel money?

Could my Uncle have use for, or know somebody, me as hired help for anything?

Could Uncle extend a helping and protecting hand to me at my arrival and until I have a position?

Does Uncle believe that a poor, but swift and untiring, girl can in an honest way earn a meager living through the work of her hands? 
…


Well, dear uncle has provided passage to America as requested.

Dear uncle has “extended a protecting hand” upon her arrival.

Does dear uncle find a job for her?

Lovis writes to Eric, 19 December 1868:
Thousands of thank yous for your dear letter that we received on May 19 and all goodness you proved Hannah in many different ways.  I would be a joy if Hannah always remembered this and is thankful towards you.  The gold ring was lost was sad they have not found it[.]  ... My man with me joins in hearty greetings to you yours and Hannah

Sounds like Eric provided not only for transportation all the way to Gaylordsville, Connecticut from Örebro, Sweden but also helped her find a job nearby.

Hannah goes to work for the Bostwick family in New Milford. Gaylordsville is part of New Milford, so it could be a couple miles away or next door.
In the 1870 US Census for New Milford, “Johanna Helston" age 20 is listed as a domestic servant.

This might not have been the kind of work that she was used to at home when she described herself as “used to brewing, commerce, and rough work.”
She probably has plenty of opportunity to "earn a meager living thru the work of her hands" working as a domestic servant.  She has agreed to work for the Bostwicks for two years.

So, did Johanna live happily ever after in America as she dreamed?
Stay tuned!

©2015, Erica Dakin Voolich
The link to this post is http://genea-adventures.blogspot.com/2015/05/off-to-america-thank-you-dear-uncle.html

Dear Uncle!

Eric Adolf Helsten immigrated to the United States in 1845.  He married Mary Hearty, an Irish immigrant, in 1849.  They worked hard and raised a family in Gaylordsville Connecticut.  None of his dozen siblings followed him, however, he kept in touch with letters that were shared back home between his mother and siblings.  One can only imagine how life in the the USA must have looked from afar to the children of a brother who was not doing very well back in Sweden.

Eric’s niece Johanna Carolina Hellsten decides to write to her uncle, appealing for funds to travel:

Sweden, Mosås and Södrabro
24 May 1867

Good Day, beloved Uncle!

Please be so good as to pardon me that I, as the daughter of Uncle’s Brother Carl, with this our taking the liberty to write these lines, which my father does not have time to do, to divulge my heartfelt wish and to beg for an affectionate and happy answer to the questions below, that for me are extremely important and have bearing on my future.

As my dear Father this last year has ceased his work as a brewer and country shop owner and now lives in reduced circumstances and therefore can not afford to keep all four of us children at  home, I, as a big, strong, healthy seventeen  year old girl, used to brewing, commerce, and rough work and who longs for work in an unknown country where no one finds fault with one’s honest work or despises the virtuous for his poverty.
This in addition to the fact that many of my acquaintances have already left for, the employer America, which is why I, too, this fall intend to go there, if some noble person would help me with travel money and good advice at the arrival.

Since I have heard that Uncle is rich and happy in the country to which many long to go, I now set my hopes and prayers to Uncle for a kind answer to:

Could my dear Uncle please be so kind as to via a postal order to Upsala or a letter give, or, if need be, loan me 200 Kr for travel money?

Could my Uncle have use for, or know somebody, me as hired help for anything?

Could Uncle extend a helping and protecting hand to me at my arrival and until I have a position?

 Does Uncle believe that a poor, but swift and untiring, girl can in an honest way earn a meager living through the work of her hands?

Please be so kind and make me  happy with a longed for answer mailed to my or my father’s address “Sweden Mosås and Södrabo”, which will decide my future fate, because if I receipt travel money and good advice, I plan to leave this fall.

My parents are, thank the Lord, in good health despite all their trouble and ask to send their heartfelt greetings in this letter, and also with loving thoughts for my future give me permission to leave.

In sincere hopes of Uncle’s loving kindness to me, with much respect, the grateful niece now persists.

Johanna Carolina Hellsten

Such a heartfelt appeal.  It turns out it came along with a letter from her father, Carl Robert Hellsten (Karl, Calle).  He confirms their desperate situation and appeals for both of them to come to the USA.

Örebro and Yellersta 
26 May 1867


Brother Eric

It is many years since we last exchanged letters and many things have happened since then.  You know from my last letter that I was thinking of going to America.  Now this trip has again come to my mind and even my oldest daughter Johanna wishes to do the same trip.  Wherefore she here encloses her letter to you.  

It is our wish since we hear many tempting letters from America from the ones how have gone there.  I do know that everybody is not lucky in America but that hard work and frugality is a way to blessing.  But here in Sweden it is a dishonor to work because vanity has taken over.  I have now been on my own for eighteen years and during this time made myself know to be frugal, sober and to work hard but this is not enough here.  Under this time of 18 years, I have  had a general store and during the last 10 years also had a brewery but in spite of all this I had to declare bankruptcy last fall and during this last winter have started to do cork cutting.  But loss in circumstances are such her that it is not worth it for the poor to try since [if] he has [declared] bankruptcy [and] if he manages to work, everything up again he loses whatever he inherits or earns without mercy. What then do you have for all the work you do?  

In the enticing letters I have read from America they testify to the one who wants to work there does not need to starve.  I think I know that all who go to America do not have luck there but it is even so an advantage that you do not have to be ashamed over earning a living in an honest manner.  If my information about America is not complete, I ask  you to inform me about this but judging from the information I have received, America has big preferences for Swedes.  Why should one then bind oneself then to this meager country?  

Some of my neighbors have now gone to America and others plan to but we don’t have the money to go.  Please give us a complete information as possible and if you consider it reasonable for us to try to work in America and then help us both with the money that  you have here in Sweden to lend us as travel money to America.  Our brother Theodor Emanuel in Upsala has them.  We want to work off the money when we come to you.  This is the only security I can give you if you would be kind enough to help me us.

Write an answer soon and  help us if you find you would like to do so.  Let me also know if brewing beer is profitable in America and also if cork cutting is profitable.  If the trip there happens, I would prefer to work in a brewery or, if that’s not possible, in another kind of factory.  I assume that  you  have some Swedish acquaintances in New York that you could be kind enough to address us to when we arrive.

Now dear brother I have written about all that concerns the trip to America.  We can have much to write about but it is much better to be able to have a real conversation about it.  I will also mention that all of us siblings are alive and as far as I know everyone is in good health.  

Lovis is married to a shop owner 20 Km from here whose name is A Nelzon.  Mari is close to Stockholm, Lina is in Upland and not far from Upsala Erica and Wennström are well.  Tilda is in Stockholm.  Ottiljana is in Upsala with our maternal aunt.   Now as before, Edla is a manager (director) at the Upsala Hospital.  Manne is a watchmaker in Upsala.  Frans is a goldsmith in Upsala Oskar is a watchmaker in Stockholm.  Knut is a teacher in the big school in Upsala.  Everyone has it well except for me and Oskar.  Oskar declared bankruptcy the same time I did and now I don’t know how he has it.

I hereby end this letter for this time with a kind greeting for yours from us.

Your brother, Carl

Carl Hellsten, Johanna's father

Such heartfelt appeals to Eric, uncle and brother in the USA who must have wealth and success from his hard work, doesn’t everyone?

Does Eric send the requested funds as his niece suggested and bring over his niece and brother?
Or, does Eric let then use the funds that their brother Manne is holding for Eric in Uppsala?

Erica does write in pencil on the bottom of Carl’s letter “From L there are two steamers leaving or more every week.”  He checks out the costs and availabilities for travel.  Travel is much better in 1867 than when he and his wife came in steerage in the equivalent of the “coffin ships” — no steamers for their earlier, much longer, trips.  The travel across the Atlantic Ocean has improved in the last couple of decades.

The letter beloe from his brother Manne (Theodor Emanual Hellsten) indicates Eric’s decision and the means of funding the trip, instead of just sending the suggested 200 Kr each to cover the trips.

Upsala 29 October 1867


Best Brother Eric!

From our heart I wish your daughter and son-in-law happiness and blessings.  We’d also like to thank  you for the pictures that you sent us.  As you promised in a letter to our brother Carl that he or his oldest daughter Hanna could borrow your inheritance from our parents to pay for the trip to America and Hanna decided to go, I have now sent the money to Lovis, she is married and living in the neighborhood of Örebro as you probably know with a request to her that she give the money to Hanna when she is ready to travel.  The reason why the sum of money isn’t bigger can be explained by the following statements.  While our mother was alive, she lent Calle 700 crowns which including interest 6% counted up to the day of dividing up the estate 3 November 1864 adds up to 77 crowns 37 öre which sum he has not been able to pay back.  When you subtract from this sum his inheritance he still owed each and everyone of his siblings 36 crowns, 45 öre.  About a year ago he had to go bankrupt without any assets.  At the time of the partition of the inheritance, we siblings did decide to send you at some time a gold ring that belonged to mother and she used and also a teaspoon since we wanted you to have a tangible memory from our parents’ home.  These things I will send to Lovis at the same time as the money and ask her to give them to Hanna to bring to you after a safe trip.  I now have to end these lines with many loving greetings from all of us to you and yours.

Your brother Manne

My wife sends many greetings to you and promises to write at another time.

So Eric will fund one of his two family members to travel at this time.
His mother Lovisa Charlotta Robert Hellsten died in 1863.  There was a small estate which brother Manne was the executor.  Eric’s share has been held in Uppsala and managed by Manne. BUT, the funds are not as large as Eric expected because there was a debt: brother Calle had borrowed 700 Kr from their dear departed mother and never repaid her and now that debt is shared equally among the other 12 siblings.

Manne has forwarded the travel funds to their sister Lovis in Örebro who lives near Calle and Johanna and Lovis will give the money to Hannah (Johanna) when she is ready to travel.  He did not forward the funds directly to his bankrupt brother.

Eric’s sister Otillia writes him on 29 October 1867:
Hanna who has the courage to travel to America[,] yes god[,] let her happily and well arrive there

This letter from Manne was written to Eric at the end of October 1867.
So, did Johanna immediately leave for the USA in the fall of 1867?

Maybe waiting till spring might make for a more pleasant transatlantic crossing.
Stay tuned.


©2015 Erica Dakin Voolich
The link to this post is http://genea-adventures.blogspot.com/2015/05/dear-uncle.html

That Elusive HEARTY Clan!

I joined TIARA's annual research trip to Northern Ireland for a week in May searching for the ancestors of Mary Hearty, my great great grandmother.

Owen Hearty was the father of Mary Hearty who traveled as a single woman on one of the “coffin ships” bringing Irish immigrants to New York in 1848. She married Swedish immigrant Eric Adolf Helsten in 1849.  They lived in Haviland Hollow NY until they bought a tannery and moved to Gaylordsville CT.  She received two letters from her father (1849, 1851), signed “your father Owen Hearty” and the return address said he was from Dorsey (letters mailed from the neighboring parish Newtownhamilton).  Her marriage certificate says she was born in Dorsey Townland, Creggan Parish, County Armagh. Dorsey is located in the Barony of Upper Fews and Union of Castleblaney.

Her father’s letters do mention various cousins: Owen Mooney, Peter Garvey, Ellen Mooney and Francis Hearty.  There is also a sister Elizabeth (Betty) mentioned.  But no mother.

The above is what is known from information on "this side of the pond."  What can be found in the Irish records about Mary's family?  Some the following,  I determined before my trip and confirmed when in Belfast.

∞∞∞

We have Owen Hearty in the Tithe Applotment list, in 1828 in Dorsey.  Owen is no. 91 and has 4 Acres, 2 Roods, 12 Perches and a half yearly Rectorial Tithe of 3s. 8 1/2 d., he is listed along with Arhur Heatey and Patt Heatey in Dorsey.  

The tithe applotment is a list of farmers.  If he was included in that list, he wouldn’t have been included in the Ordnance Survey taken in 1837 because he didn’t own at least 5 acres [only two properties were listed for Dorsey].  

The Griffith’s Valuation was taken in the Dorsey area in 1864.  There are 5 Hearty families listed in Dorsey:  Bernard Herty Sen, Francis Herty, Mary Herty, Mary Herty and Patrick— but not Owen Hearty.  If he were still living and living WITH someone, he would not have been listed because, only the “leasee” was included.  

The Cancellation Books update the ownership of the lands listed in the Griffiths.  Dorsey Electorial Division, Union of Castleblayney, Parish of Creggan, Barony of Upper Fews, pages 10, 11 includes the handwritten notations of “(Owen)” after the name Patrick Herty.  It also includes, the second “Mary” crossed out and “Patrick” written above and “(Mary)” right after that.  The crossed out names mean that land was next leased to the person whose name was written above it.  The name in ‘(,)” is an unexplained notation.

∞∞∞

I went thru the rent leases from the landlord,  Walter MacGeough Bond in the family Estate stored at PRONI — there were two Hearty leases:

[D301/2/211]

(1) Terence Hearty (Acreage: 8.3.10), 1 Nov. 1800

• in the part of Dorsey called Tulinlavin, yearly rent 8.8.2

• length of lease: 3 lives, including himself, his eldest son James, and princess Amelia

(2) John Hearty, Tulllinlavin, 1 Jan 1801,

• written on front: Terence Mackin and Pat Hearty “Mary”

• the map inside includes land bounding the property of Bernard Hearty.

• length of lease: 3 lives including himself, his eldest son Patrick (age 10), and princess Amelia

Most of the extensive MacGeough Bond family files were not for Dorsey or didn’t included any leases related to Owen Hearty [I don’t know his parents, so don’t know if these two leases apply to Owen — a father, cousin, uncle, possibly.]

∞∞∞

I went thru the only Catholic Register from that time period in that area that is still in existence:

Creggan Parish Upper, Crossmaglen, Marriage Records and Baptisms 1796-1803, 1812-1829, 1845-1881 [MIC 1D/43/1]  [The current Dorsey townland is 4 miles northeast of Crossmaglen.]

• 15 February 1814: Owen Hearratty and Cath^e McKenna

wits Felix Hanratty and Patk M^cVeagh

• 16 March 1823, Mary and Brid^t of Edward Herherty

and Mary Herherty of Thomas Rubb

and Anne Callaghan and Mary Herherty

• 23 July 1824, Anne of Jam^e Heart and Mary Quin

Gs Owen Heaherty and Brid. Owens

• 26 Dec 1824, John of Edw^d Keane and Mary Gregory

Gs Owen Heaherty and Brid^t McNally

• 6 August 1819, Owen Heaherty and Rose McConnel

Wits Bryan McCauve and Mary Megill

• 29 July 1818, Edm^d of Owen Heaherty and Cath^e Kelly

Gs Pat^k Hearherty and Sara Humphy

• 23 Oct 1797, Pat^k Heaherty and Cathe Nouds

Wits Adam Lamb and Anne Reilly

• 2^d July 1797, Peter s. to Owen Heaherty and Cath^e Holland

Gs Edm^d Heaherty and Bridget Heaherty

• 9 Dec 1796, Pat^k. s to Th^s Murry and Mary

Heaerty Gs Patt M^cShory and Anne Ronghan

• 23 Oct. 1796, Anne of Michael Hearty and Marg^t Donoehy 

Gs Thomas Hearty and Marg^t Callaghan

It is hard to tell if Owen Hearty married 3 times or if this is three different people.

There was no birth record for Mary Hearty in this parish register.

Parts were very hard to read.  Maybe this wasn’t the part of Creggan Parish that she was baptized.

∞∞∞

I checked the Workhouse records for County Armagh and did not find Owen Hearty, Mary’s father in them. 

I looked for the school records — none survived for Dorsey when Mary Hearty or her sister Betty Hearty would have attended. The Dorsey description page in the Ordnance Survey said that Dorsey had a National School (1837) which the sisters  could have attended.  

∞∞∞

The Hearty family/clan has been in the townland Dorsey for many years. 

According to the Dorsey page on the Creggan Historical Society’s site, Turlagh O’Heartye was in the 1664 Hearth Money Rolls valuation, and James Herety & Owen Herety were in the 1766 Census of Creggan.  So the Hearty family [O’Hearty clan] has been there for hundreds of years.  Mary and her father Owen Hearty were most likely descendants of Turlagh, James and Owen, but I could not find any connection between the generations.

My great great grandmother Mary Hearty Helsten was the daughter of a poor tenant farmer, Owen Hearty.  We do not know who was her mother or grandparents. We do know she had Garvey and Mooney cousins.  Possibly she had Garvey and Mooney grand or great grandparents along with Hearty grandparents.  But that is unknown at this point.  Unfortunately, as a poor tenant farmer, there is a lack of records.  They were not part of of a wealthy family like the MacGeough Bonds who were the land owners of the small plot Owen farmed and lived on.  That family is well-documented with thousands of pages of family and business records archived at the Public Records Office in Belfast (PRONI).  

The few records that do exist for all the folks living and working the land are actually ways to document in order to “tax.”  The Hearth Money Rolls (1664) were to tax folks based on how many hearths they had — taxing for warmth and cooking ability in your cottage!!  The Tithe Applotment Rolls (1828) was valuing the piece of land for collecting tithes for the official church, whether you were a member or not!  I guess as much as my ancestors probably felt unfairly taxed, hundreds of years later, I can be thankful that the officials kept good records!

∞∞∞

After a week of searching in the Public Records Office (PRONI) in Belfast, Northern Ireland, my elusive HEARTY and  RICHARDSON ancestors remain elusive.  If you think I don’t know much about the pedigree of my HEARTY family — I know even less about my RICHARDSON pedigree in Ireland!

©2015, Erica Dakin Voolich
The link to this page is http://genea-adventures.blogspot.com/2015/05/that-elusive-hearty-clan.html

More on Mary Curtis and Thomas Richardson

Last month I posted this picture and wrote about it with the caption on the back:

"Robert Richardson

(father of Thomas Richardson

who married Mary Curtis)"

I still not know how Robert is connected to my Richardson family, but maybe the wording indicates that Thomas Richardson married the "well-known of their day" Mary Curtis.

One of my readers from the RICHARDSON roots web list pointed out that there was a Mary Curtis in one of the RootsWeb's World Connect who was married to Thomas Richardson.

Mary Curtis:

b. 9 April 1848 in NYC daughter of Lucien Curtis and Celia Carlton Perkins, 

d. 1 Nov 1931, San Francisco

m. Thomas Richardson, 15 May 1869, San Francisco

On 10 February, I e-mailed the person who posted this information, but have not heard back from that person.

Wikipedia has an article about Mary Curtis Richardson, the impressionist painter who married Thomas Richardson from Canada:

Mary Curtis Richardson (9 April 1848, New York City – 1 November 1931, San Francisco) was an impressionist painter and known as the "Mary Cassatt of the West". Her father, Lucien Curtis went overland to the gold fields of California in 1849. The following year, Mary, her sister Leila and her mother went to California via the Isthmus of Panama to join her father and settled in San Francisco.

Her father was a professional engraver and taught both his daughters to draw and engrave. At age 18, Mary went to New York City and attended Cooper Union for two years. She returned to San Francisco and attended the School of Design.[citation needed] In 1869, she married Thomas Richardson who came to San Francisco from Canada and was in the lumber business. He died in 1913. Mary and her sister Leila established a wood engraving studio. Mary dabbled in painting, but friends encouraged her to seriously take up painting full-time.

An impressionist, she painted landscapes but is probably best known for her portrait paintings with a mother-and-child theme. One of her highly praised paintings, "The Sleeping Child" was eventually acquired by the Legion of Honor. Another child subject, "The Young Mother" won a silver medal at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition (1915).

Her other portrait work included that of David Starr Jordan (first president of Stanford University), Susan Tolman (Mrs. Cyrus) Mills, (co-founder of Mills College) and University of California language professor F. V. Paget.

Richardson was a member of the Worcester Group in the 1890s, which met regularly for informal discussions and to socialize under the leadership of Reverend Joseph Worcester (also an amateur architect). Included in this group were artists such as William Keith and Bruce Porter, architects Willis Polk, Ernest Coxhead, John Galen Howard, Charles Keeler and writer Gelett Burgess.

Mary Curtis Richardson died 1 November 1931 at her Russian Hill studio and home.

The Rootsweb and Wikipedia Mary Curtis and Thomas Richardson, seem to be the same couple.

Thomas Richardson comes from Canada and is "in lumber."  Not much more information on him -- yet.

But why would my Richardson family have Thomas's father's picture?  Was he a relative?

There is another Robert Richardson, who may or may not be related to my family -- but might be a "colleague" of my William Richardson, so of my Robert Richardson.   Not sure if their paths crossed, but they did both work for the Bank of Montreal in Ontario.

When I wrote the archives inquiring about William and maybe Robert Richardson working for the Bank of Montreal, I received a letter (8 November 2005) listing two people's employment:

William 1854 - 1876: starting in the home office in Montreal and then going to various branches (Cobourg, St. Mary's Waterloo, Goderich) all over Ontario, then to St. John NB, finishing in Chicago 1871-1876 (setting up after the Chicago Fire).  He left in 1876 to start an insurance agency in Chicago.

Robert 1845 - retirement in 1897: Port Hope, Perth, Peterborough, Belleville (all in Ontario).

Possibly this Robert Richardson, working in various bank branch offices in Ontario, had a son named Thomas who married Mary Curtis.

Based on starting dates, Robert might have been about 10 years older than William.   Could Robert have a son who was married in 1869, possibly born about 1849?  That would mean he had a son Thomas born about 4 or 5 years after he started working at a bank.  It works age-wise.

Would the paths cross for Robert and William?  They didn't seem to work at the same branch of the Bank of Montreal, but possibly they did meet in some professional capacity.  The Bank did seem to move folks around a lot, maybe they did have some training at the home office.

Or maybe they were also related as cousins, since I have no information on our William's father, Robert Richardson ancestors or siblings or cousins.  As Irish, they did name the eldest son after the paternal grandfather, so possibly Robert Richardson the bank employee was named for the same Robert Richardson who William Richardson's father, Robert Richardson.
Or maybe not --  it is a pretty common name!

Still wondering why my family would have the picture -- after all, photographs then were not like photographs today where you can get multiple copies of different sizes to send to all the relatives for a relatively cheap price.  I would expect there to be a reason to have a ambrotype (1855-1865) photograph of someone else's relative in the mid-1800s.


The link to this post is http://genea-adventures.blogspot.com/2015/03/more-on-mary-curtis-and-thomas.html

©Erica Dakin Voolich, 2015

"Taken with a Large Grain of Salt"

Take a look at that wonderful family pictured above.

They are the case study for my talk: "Taken with a Large Grain of Salt" -- Verifying Family Stories.

I can tell you that the Richardson family did not make it easy to verify the family stories, but I found success with other records beyond the usual (vital, census, immigration, land, probate, etc.)

I will be giving the talk as a webinar on Tuesday 3 March 2015, at 2 p.m. (EST).

I will be giving a longer version of the talk at the Worcester Chapter of the Massachusetts of Genealogists (MSOG) on Saturday 7 March 2015, at 10 a.m.  Non-members are welcome to attend but there is a $3 visitor's fee.

Here is the sign-in information from the National Institute for Genealogical Studies (NIGS) for the Webinar on Tuesday:

Join us on Tuesday, March 3rd at 2:00 PM EST when Erica Dakin Voolich presents "Taken with a Large Grain of Salt" - Verifying Family Stories".

Presenter: Erica Dakin Voolich is an author, blogger and teacher who has transitioned from using her problem solving skills in the mathematics classroom to solving family history problems.

Presentation Description: We collect family stories, but we can't assume veracity. Traditional sources don't always confirm the legend. Doing a case study, we look at other sources to verify the family information.

Time zones: Tuesday, March 3rd - 2:00 PM Eastern; 1:00 PM Central; 11:00 AM Pacific; 7:00 PM in London, England; Wednesday, March 4th - 6:00 AM in Sydney, Australia

MEETING LOCATION: http://genealogicalstudies.adobeconnect.com/lecturing/
(NOTE: No user name or password required. Please type in your first and last name; then click "Enter as a Guest".)  Please sign-in about 10-15 minutes early so that you are all ready to start at 2.

I hope you will be able to join me at one of the venues.
Erica


The link to this page is: http://genea-adventures.blogspot.com/2015/03/taken-with-large-grain-of-salt.html
©2015, Erica Dakin Voolich

A Genealogy Angel! a RAOGK* in action!

In a blog post on A Family Legend and The Rest of the Story
I mentioned:

"When I asked my mother about her Richardson family, she said they came from Belfast Northern Ireland to Canada.  After she died I found her 8th grade autobiography where she said 'the Richardsons were great landholders in the north of Ireland.  After awhile they came to Canada and settled in Quebec.'"

In that blog post I mentioned that:
I found the wedding of Robert Richardson and Sarah Allen, the parents of William Richardson in the Anglican Cathedral Holy Trinity Church in Québec on 25 May 1832.  William was born on 5 November 1835 in Québec City.  Robert was a cordwainer.  Sarah had four children before she died 28 January 1843, in Québec City.  Robert remarried, this time to Harriet Isabella Birch on 20 September 1843.  They had nine children.  Not all of his 13 children made it to adulthood.  In the 1851 and 1871 censuses, Robert says he was born in 1810 in Ireland.

I have not verified the "great landholders" or the "Northern Ireland." Robert did work as a cordwainer in Québec, he sounds like someone who is working for a living rather than managing an estate of some kind in Québec.  I have not found any passenger records bringing Robert to Québec -- so I don't know if he came as a young adult or as a child.  I haven't found any potential Richardson parents for him in Québec.  I have noticed there are many Richardsons in Northern Ireland, many of them named William Richardson and some own land.  Robert's first son was named William.  So, maybe that part of the story is true.  That is left to be investigated further.

This has been a challenge without much success for a number of years.

Then out of the blue, a genealogy angel appeared unexpectedly.  On 28 January, I received an message on Ancestry.com's Message Board.

From: Maria XXXX
Subject:  Hi from Ireland
My name is Maria XXXX and I live in Dublin.  I am currently
researching old newspapers in the hope of gathering information for
the family trees of several friends I am currently trying to help.  If I
happen across any that might be of interest to another family tree
then I try, where possible to track down that tree on ancestry so as 
to match them. ....

I do not know Maria, never heard of her, she's not related to me, she is searching for her friends and then doing this wonderful random act of kindness "If I
happen across any that might be of interest to another family tree
then I try, where possible to track down that tree on ancestry so as 
to match them."
So Maria is helping her friends AND the owners of their trees when she finds relevant obituaries.
Such a surprise.

So continuing with Maria's message:
... I believe the following death notice that appeared in 
The Montreal Daily Witness on the 26th Jan in 1875 belongs on
your Richardson Family Tree: "RICHARDSON -- In this city, on the
morning of the 26th January, Mr. Robert Richardson, aged 66 years,
a native of Cork, Ireland, and for many years a resident of Quebec. ...

A NATIVE of CORK!
Not exactly Belfast or Northern Ireland, But a place to start looking.
Maybe his family came from Northern Ireland Richardsons and moved to Cork and then he moved to Québec as a young man (before he married in 1832 and after he was born in 1810).
This opens up possibilities for searching.

The funeral will take place from his late residence of No 42 St.
Charles Barromee street, on Thursday, the 28th at 2.30 o'clock p.m.
thence to Mount Royal Cemetery.  Relatives, friends and
acquaintances are respectfully invited to attend without further
notice.  Quebec papers please copy."  I hope this helps with your
research.  Slan, Maria"

I followed Robert Richardson in the church records in Québec City for his two marriages and the births of his 13 children, and the deaths of a few of them.  I followed him in the local directories as a shoemaker, until he wasn't there any longer.  Then I found him and his wife Harriet Isabella Birch living with one of their children in Montréal and did have his death and burial there in 1875 -- matching exactly the information here.

But, I did not have his final address in Montréal, the fact that he told people that he came from Cork.
So, this was a wonderful gift from Maria in Dublin!

The other gift was Maria also took the time to transcribe a document from the Montreal Daily Witness (26 January 1875, page 3) that was not easy to read (she generously shared the link too in another message):

 

Thank you Maria from Dublin, you are a wonderful genealogical angel to be finding and sharing these obituaries with unsuspecting folks around the world who need your help!



*RAOGK = a "Random Act of Genealogical Kindness" -- just not from that very special website which was recently revived after the death of it's original site manager.

The link to this page is http://genea-adventures.blogspot.com/2015/02/a-genealogy-angel-raogk-in-action.html
©2015, Erica Dakin Voolich

One More Scrapbook Revelation and a P.S.

Who is this sweet little girl?  

Why is her picture on a cover of a magazine including an article about "Blind Man's Bluff"?

This is Martha Elnora (Mattie or Nora) Worthington Richardson.
Either Mattie or her mother, Elnora Esther Cobb Worthington, created a beautiful scrapbook full of pictures from the DeMorest's Monthly Magazine that I wrote about in a series of blog posts.

In my third post about the scrapbook, I wrote:

Since initially posting about my family's scrapbook initially in A Scrapbook with a Surprise, little did I know how this would challenge me to find out more.  I had no idea that so much could be learned from what looked like a simple scrapbook full of period pictures.  I shared some of that adventure in Some Logic, Some Help, and "Ask a Librarian" or two ... Gives an Answer.   Well the adventure continues and, as the blindfolded person in the above picture, I feel as if the clues are all around me -- IF I could ONLY see them!

Here's my latest update on the adventure.

Discovering that the scrapbook was made from a copy of the Congressional Record (45th Congress, 1877-1879) led to one question after another about not only the Congressional Record but also the history of scrapbooking in an attempt to date the album.

The help of many people made this story possible:
Gena Philibert-Ortega (http://philibertfamily.blogspot.com), Ellen Gruber Garvey (author Writing with Scissors: Am. Scrapbooks from the Civil War to the Harlem Renaissance), Madaleine J Laird (www.kinfolit.com), Connie Reik (Tisch Library, Tufts U), George D Barnum (Agency Historian Government Printing Office), and John J Devine (Boston Public Library, Social Sciences and Governmental Information Department).
Thank you.

Now, you can read the whole story in one article in the Winter 2015 issue of Crossroads, or in my series of blog posts:
A Scrapbook with a Surprise
Some Logic, Some Help, and "Ask a Librarian" or two ... Gives an Answer
Blind Man's Bluff ... Is that What this Scrapbook Playing with Me?

The conclusion, included in the article but not in the above posts is this:
In order to date the scrapbook, just finding the year of publication of the pictures in it and year of publication of the Congressional Record that was being used was not sufficient.  We needed to know when the volume became available to the general public.  The congressional sessions that it covered, ended in February 1879.  After editing, reviewing, etc. it would then go to press.  Now, the turn around is about 18 months.  How long it was then, is unknown.  The clue would be when would it have arrived at the Depository Libraries around the country.  The congressmen would have had it to share with constituents about the same time.  So, checking with the Boston Public Library, the date it was checked into the BPL collection was 2 September 1884 -- 5 1/2 years after it the congressional session ended.

A post script:
I thought my blog post ended there, with knowing the possible date of the acquisition -- what else was there to learn?

Well, George D Barnum, after seeing the article in the Crossroads, emailed me:

Erica,
I just looked again at the article, and I couldn’t resist passing this thought along: I don’t believe I’d seen a photo of the binding of your scrapbook before.  It’s a very standard GPO binding of its time. The marbled paper on the boards of the front and back cover would have been made here at GPO (believe it or not, we still do it for some things, although not the bound Record any more).    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiDPY3wprkQ

GB

Thank you George for that last clue and interesting video.


©2015 Erica Dakin Voolich
The link to the page is http://genea-adventures.blogspot.com/2015/02/one-more-scrapbook-revelation-and-ps.html