Saturday, March 19, 2016

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - What Were You Doing in 1995?

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans: 

 It's Saturday Night again - 
time for some more Genealogy Fun!!



Here is your assignment if you choose to play along (cue the Mission Impossible music, please!):

1) Do you recall what you were doing in 1995?  Family, school, work, hobbies, technology, genealogy, vacations, etc?


2)  Tell us in a blog post of your own, in a comment on this blog, or in a Facebook or Google+ post.

Here's mine:


Family:  In 1995, we were empty-nesters here in Chula Vista, with Lori in her 3rd year at Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo and Tami n her first year at Azusa Pacific.  The Bank of Dad was open and was used often.  

Work:  Linda was teaching 4th grade at Montgomery Elementary in Chula Vista.  She enrolled in the Eisenhower Science seminar to enhance her science experience, and organized a science club at school last spring. Her class participated in ISTEP (International Student Exchange Program) and worked with an exchange student from Greece.
 
I was Chief of Aero-Thermo at Rohr, with a staff of 10 engineers.  I traveled a bit to customer sites in Long Beach, Cincinnati, Hartford, Derby in England, and Toulouse in France on business.

Hobbies:  Linda collected more angels at craft stores all over Southern California.  

My major non-work interest was genealogy research.  I had a major breakthrough finding a Salem Witch, Rebecca (Towne) Nurse, in my ancestry.  I  kept in touch with other researchers through access to Prodigy, Delphi, FidoNet and the Internet for genealogy data. Weekly FHC and library visits kept the data flowing, as did correspondence with people all over the country.  After a trip to Hartford, Connecticut on business in July, I spent a weekend in New England visiting libraries and graveyards, and had enjoyable visits with friends and cousins.

Technology:  We had a Windows 3.1 PC that was only about three years old, with a printer and a modem.  I had been on Prodigy since 1992, started using Delphi, and was starting to use the Internet for genealogy.  

Vacations:  1995 was our 25th wedding anniversary year, so we had a second honeymoon to Tahiti during Easter week, staying on the islands of Papeete and Moorea, with the beach just outside the room.  It was very beautiful, relaxing, and fun.  We did some sightseeing, a little shopping, some snorkeling, and a little canoeing (after flipping over and cooling off!).  The girls threw an anniversary party for us at our house with about 75 family and guests.  

For our summer vacation, we took a three week trip through eight Western states.  The itinerary consisted of:  San Diego - Las Vegas - St. George UT - Salt Lake City - Jackson WY - Yellowstone Park - Twin Falls ID - Boise ID - Reno - San Francisco - Morro Bay - San Diego.  We stayed with friends in St. George, visited Zion National Park, and I had two days of research at the Family History Library (first visit).  Grand Tetons National Park was awesome;  we took a boat across Jenny Lake and climbed up Cascade Canyon to a waterfall.  Yellowstone National Park was breathtaking;  we saw Old Faithful, many geysers, springs and colorful mudpots, the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, and Yellowstone Falls.  We also visited Gardiner, Montana, which was Linda's father's birthplace.  We enjoyed several ranger programs, especially one on the re-settling of gray wolves within the Park.  In Twin Falls, we stayed with the Reeves family, and we visited the Shangle's in Boise, and had a beautiful ride to McCall ID for sightseeing and shopping.  While in Reno, we took a drive to Virginia City and were amazed by the mines dug in the 19th century.  On the way home, we visited Papa Lee in San Francisco and Lori in Morro Bay.  It was a long, interesting, and fun trip.

In early September, Linda, Randy, and Tami flew to San Jose to enjoy a Leland family celebration of Papa Lee's 84th birthday and brother Paul's 50th birthday.  Linda was able to see cousins and friends that she had not seen for about 30 years.


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Copyright (c) 2016, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Share it on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.

Surname Saturday -- KIRTLAND (England to colonial New England)

It's Surname Saturday, and I'm "counting down" my Ancestral Name List each week.  


I am in the 8th great-grandmothers and I'm up to Ancestor #1263, who is Sarah KIRTLAND (1646-????)
[Note: the earlier great-grandmothers and 8th great-grandfathers have been covered in earlier posts].

My ancestral line back through three generations of this KIRTLAND family line is:


1. Randall J. Seaver

2. Frederick Walton Seaver (1911-1983)
3. Betty Virginia Carringer (1919-2002)

4. Frederick Walton Seaver (1876-1942)
5. Alma Bessie Richmond (1882-1962)

8. Frank Walton Seaver (1852-1922)
9. Hattie Louise Hildreth (1857-1920)


18.  Edward Hildreth (1831-1899)
19.  Sophia Newton (1834-1923)

38.  Thomas J. Newton (1800-????)
39.  Sophia Buck (1797-1882)

78.  Isaac Buck (1757-1846)
79.  Martha Phillips (1757-1820)

156.  Isaac Buck (1732-????)
157.  Mary Richards (1733-????)

314.  Joseph Richards (1703-1748)
315.  Mary Bowden (1705-1755)

630.  Michael Bowden (1673-1741)
631.  Sarah Davis (1676-1754)

1262.  John Davis, born about 1640 in England.  He was the son of 2524. Jenkin Davis and 2525. Sarah.  He married 05 October 1664 in Lynn, Essex, Massachusetts, United States.
1263.  Sarah Kirtland, born 27 September 1646 in Lynn, Essex, Massachusetts, United States.  

Children of John Davis and Sarah Kirtland are:
*  Sarah Davis (1666-1666).
*  Sarah Davis (1667-1667).
*  Mary Davis (1668-????).
*  Joseph Davis (1672-1673).
*  John Davis (1674-1752), married 1700 Ann Lewis (1676-????).
*  Sarah Davis (1676-1754), married 1697 Michael Bowden (1673-1741).
*  Ebenezer Davis (1678-????).
*  Benjamin Davis (1681-????).
*  Joseph Davis (1686-????).

2526.  Phillip Kirtland, born before 02 June 1611 in Sherington, Buckinghamshire, England; died before 13 June 1657 probably at sea.  He married  October 1639 in Lynn, Essex, Massachusetts, United States.
2527.  Alice, born 1618 in England; died before 21 October 1697 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States.

Children of Phillip Kirtland and Alice are:

*  Mary Kirtland (1640-????), married 1701 Thomas Root (1639-????).
*  Sarah Kirtland (1646-????), married 1664 John Davis (1640-????).
*  Susannah Kirtland (1652-1693), married 1677 Benjamin Thompson (1642-1714).
*  Hannah Kirtland (1654-????).
*  Ebenezser Kirtland (1654-????).

5052.  Phillip Kirtland, born in probably Buckinghamshire, England; died after 01 October 1652 in Lynn, Essex, Massachusetts, United States.  He married before 1607 in probably Buckinghamshire, England.
5053.  Rose, born in probably Buckinghamshire, England; died before 1638 in Buckinghamshire, England.

Children of Phillip Kirtland and Rose are:

*  John Kirtland (1607-1683), married Barbara (1610-????).
*  Phillip Kirtland (1611-1657), married 1639 Alice (1618-1697).
*  Nathaniel Kirtland (1613-1686), married 1643 Parnell Rand (1624-1694).
*  Susanna Kirtland (1616-1683), married John Westall (????-1683).

Information about this Kirtland family was obtained from:

*  Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration, Immigrants to New England 1634-1635, Part IV, I-L (Boston, Mass. : New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2005), pages 198-201.  

*  Thomas W. Cooper II, "English Ancestry of Phillip Kirtland," The American Genealogist, Volume 65, April 1990, Pages 65-69. 


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Copyright (c) 2016, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Share it on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.

Friday, March 18, 2016

How Many Records Are There For My Seaver Surname?

I wondered about this question today for some reason, so I thought I would go exploring on different websites.

I used the "Seaver" surname, spelled exactly, as my test case.  

1)  In FamilySearch, I received 62,985 results:


*  310 Birth, Marriage and Deaths - 29,629 results
*  89 Census and Lists collections - 17,978 results
*  50 Migration and Naturalization collections - 1,253 results
*  50 Military collections - 3,897 results
*  7 Other collections - 9,402 results 
*  20 Probate and Court collections - 826 results.

The Total number of results =  35,717

2)  Ancestry.com had 380,739 total results:


I can't count all of the numbers of collections on Ancestry easily.  There were:

*  Census & Voter Lists - 23,087 results
*  Birth, Marriage & Death - 43,975 results
*  Military - 4,984 results
*  Immigration & Travel - 2,493 results
*  Newspapers & Publications - 130,566 results
*  Pictures - 12,662 results
*  Stories, Memories & Histories - 9,409 results
*  Maps, Atlases and Gazetteers - 402 results
*  Schools, Directories & Church Histories - 73,509 results
*  Wills, Probates, Land, Tax & Criminal - 4,208 results
*  Reference, Dictionaries & Almanacs - 352 results
*  Family Trees - 89,440 results

3)  MyHeritage had 118,143 results in 2,310 collections


*  Census & Voter Lists - 15,591 results in 51 collections
*  Family Trees - 32,706 results in 33 collections
*  Birth, Marriage & Death - 8,137 results in 418 collections
*  Photos - 290 results in 2 collections
*  Military - 1,191 results in 267 collections:
*  Immigration & Travel - 164 results in 13 collections
*  Newspapers - 3,120 results in 12 collections (note that this does not include the NewspaperARCHIVE collection which is not available at this time)
*  Books & Publications - 37,787 results in 9 collections
*  Public Records - 13,043 in 1 collection
*  Schools & Universities - 290 results in 53 collections
*  Directories, Guides & References - 1,878 in 337 collections
*  Histories, Memories & Biographies - 2,999 results in 1,027 collections
*  Government, Land Court & Wills - 439 results in 74 collections
*  Maps - 670 results in 13 collections

4)  FindmyPast has 27,559 total results:


*  Birth, Marriage & Death (Parish Registers) - 7,213 results
*  Census, Land & Substitutes - 15,965 results
*  Churches & Religion - 15 results
*  Directories & Social Histories - 1,318 results
*  Education & work - 72 results
*  Immigration & Travel - 1,076 results
*  Institutes & Organizations - 1,153 results
*  Military Service & Conflict - 747 results

These results don't include the British and Irish Newspapers, PERSI, or the US & World Newspapers (with 476,751 results).

5)  How can we compare these?  Perhaps by Census Records, Vital Records, Immigration Records, and Military Records.

A)  Census Records:

*  Ancestry = 23,087 (includes voter lists)
*  FamilySearch = 17,978 (includes other lists)
*  MyHeritage = 15,591 (includes Voter Lists)
*  Findmypast - 15,965 (includes land and substitute lists)

B)  Vital Records:

*  Ancestry = 43,975
*  FamilySearch = 29,629
*  MyHeritage = 8,137
*  Findmypast = 7,213

C)  Immigration:

*  Ancestry = 2,493
*  FamilySearch = 1,253
*  MyHeritage = 164
*  Findmypast = 1,076

D)  Military:

*  Ancestry = 4,984
*  FamilySearch = 3,897
*  MyHeritage = 1,191
*  Findmypast = 747

I'm not going to draw any conclusions from this, other than this:  There is a wealth of online resources for almost every surname you can use.  All four of the big genealogy data record companies have a variety of record collections, and each has some of the same collections as the others as a result of FamilySearch sharing some of their collections.

Have you done something like this for the surnames of your parents?  I may do this for my mother's surname at a later date.

One reason to do this was to save the lists by date and see what collections have gained or lost results over a quarter or a year.

Did I mention before that I love numbers?  You couldn't tell, eh?

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Copyright (c) 2016, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Share it on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.


New Records Available To Search This Findmypast Friday - 18 March 2016

I received this press release from Findmypast this morning:

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This week’s Findmypast Friday marks the release of a fascinating assortment of Royal Irish Constabulary and Irish Revenue Police records. Also available to search this week are indexes of births, marriages and deaths from Western Australia and new additions to our collection of historic British newspapers.

Over 2.3 million new articles and 12 brand new titles have been added to our collection of historic British Newspapers Articles. Substantial updates have also been made to 31 existing publications.
The 12 new publications included in this update come cover towns and cities across England, Scotland and Wales.  Amongst these new titles is the Illustrated Weekly News. Covering the years 1861-1869, the IWN provides you with a rare graphic insight into Victorian Britain before the widespread use of photography.


Ireland, Irish Revenue Police 1830-1857 contains over 37,000 records that list the details of men who served with the Irish Revenue police between 1830 and 1857. The Irish Revenue Police were formed to work with the Customs and Excise Service to prohibit illegal distillation or liquors and spirits or poteen (poitín) making.
Each record consists of a transcript and a scanned image of the original document held at National Archives in Kew. Transcripts will include a combination of your ancestors name, station or address and the date the records was taken. Images will provide further particulars about your ancestor. There are various types of documents available to view such as lists of new appointments, which will give you the date of your ancestor’s appointment, which corps he was assigned to and who appointed him. Minutes of appointments, which recorded transfers of privates between stations or parties and dismissal records are also included.


Royal Irish Constabulary pensions 1873-1925 contains over 112,000 records.  The R.I.C was the armed police force of the United Kingdom in Ireland from the early nineteenth century until 1922. The force was responsible for keeping the peace through the detection and prevention of crime and suppressing rebellions and agrarian disturbances. They enforced laws related to food, drugs and fishery and took over the duties of the Irish Revenue Police, which had previously enforced the laws against whiskey production. In areas that lacked a fire brigade, they were also called upon to stop the spread of fires.
This unique collection comes from The National Archives in Kew and consists of the records for pensions and allowances given to officers, men and staff of the RIC and their widows and children. The collection includes registers of pensions along with registers of deceased pensioners and pensions paid when the RIC was disbanded in August 1922. Many of the records show whether the individual paid into the Constabulary Force Fund. This fund, which was formerly called the Reward Fund, was used to reward RIC members monetarily after acts of achievement and/or bravery. For example, in July 1875, Constable John Daly was awarded £6 for gathering evidence by visiting infected houses and families. The evidence gathered was sufficient to arrest a swindler doctor.


Royal Irish Constabulary History & Directories contains over 1,670 pages from 6 different publications printed between 1871 and 1920 that provide further insight into the daily operations of the police force and the history of the organisation. Included is a history of the force, lists and directories for 1889, 1915, 1918 and 1920 and The Royal Irish Constabulary Guide to the Discharge of Police Duties.


The Western Australia Birth index contains over 106,000 transcripts. Civil registration of births, marriages, and deaths in Western Australia started 1 September 1841. Prior to this, churches had the responsibility to record all baptisms, marriages, and burials. Each records consists of a transcript of the original birth register entry. Each record will list your ancestor’s name, birth year, birth place and registration number. Once you have located the relevant birth transcript within our record set, you can order the birth certificate itself from the Western Australian Registry of Births, Deaths, and Marriages.

The Western Australia Marriage index contains over 527,000 records. Marriage records can provide you with useful information in your family history research. Each records consists of a transcript of the original birth register entry. Transcripts will reveal when, where and to whom your ancestor was married as well as the marriages registration number.


The Western Australia Death index contains over 450,000 transcripts. Death records can be vital in your family history research. These death records can be particularly useful as they will sometimes provide parents’ name. This allows you to link your ancestor back to a previous generation. Each records consists of a transcript of the original document. The amount of available information provided varies from transcript to transcript, but most will include your ancestors name, birth year, death year, place of death, registration number and the names of their parents including mother’s maiden names.
Don’t forget to regularly check our dedicated Findmypast Friday page to keep up to date with all the latest additions.
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The URL for this post is:   

Copyright (c) 2016, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Share it on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.



52 Ancestors - Week 116: #139 Mary (Guild) Plimpton (1735-1800)

Amy Johnson Crow suggested a weekly blog theme of "52 Ancestors" in her blog post Challenge:  52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks on the No Story Too Small blog.  I am extending this theme in 2016 to 156 Ancestors in 156 Weeks. Here is my ancestor biography for week #116:

Mary (Guild) Plimpton (1735-1800) is #139 on my Ahnentafel list, my 5th great-grandmother who married #138 Amos Plimpton (1735-1808) in 1756.


I am descended through:

*  their daughter 
#69 Mercy Plimpton (1772-1850), who married 
#68 Aaron Smith (1765-1841) in 1795. 
*  their son, #34 Alpheus B. Smith (1802-1840) who married #35 Elizabeth Horton Dill (1791-1869) in 1826.
*  their daughter, #17 Lucretia Townsend smith (1828-1884), who married #16 Isaac Seaver (1823-1901) in 1852.
*  their son, #8 Frank Walton Seaver (1852-1922), who married #9 Hattie Louise Hildreth (1847-1920) in 1874. 
*  their son, #4 Frederick Walton Seaver (1876-1942), who married Alma Bessie Richmond (1882-1962) in 1900.
* their son, #2 Frederick Walton Seaver (1911-1983), who married #3 Betty Virginia Carringer (1919-2002) in 1942.
*  their son, #1 Randall J. Seaver (1943-....)

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1)  PERSON (with source citations as indicated in brackets):


*  Name:                          Mary Guild[1]
*  Alternate Name:         Mary Plimpton[2-4]  
*  Sex:                             Female   

*  Father:                        Nathaniel Guild (1712-1796)   
*  Mother:                      Mary Boyden (1708-1776)   
  
2)  INDIVIDUAL EVENTS (with source citations as indicated in brackets):
  
*  Birth:                          1735, Walpole, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States   
*  Distribution:               4 October 1796 (about age 61), father's will proved; Dedham, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States[2]   
*  Deed:                          6 April 1798 (about age 63), Walpole, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States[3]   
*  Death:                        20 March 1800 (about age 65), Medfield, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States[4]   

3)  SHARED EVENTS (with source citations as indicated in brackets):
  
*  Spouse 1:                   Amos Plimpton (1735-1808)   
*  Marriage 1:                9 December 1756 (about age 21), Walpole, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States[1]   
*  Child 1:                      Molly Plimpton (1758-1813)   
*  Child 2:                      Elizabeth Plimpton (1761-1766)   
*  Child 3:                      John Plimpton (1763-1765)   
*  Child 4:                      Amos Plimpton (1770-1770)   
*  Child 5:                      Mercy Plimpton (1772-1850)   
  
4)  NOTES (with source citations as indicated in brackets):   

Mary Guild was born in about 1735, probably in Walpole, the oldest child of Nathaniel and Mary (Boyden) Guild.  There is no birth record available in the Massachusetts town or vital records for Mary Guild.  She is listed with her married name in the will of her father in 1795[2]

Amos Plimpton of Medfield and Mary Guild of Medfield, were married in Medfield in 1756.  The Medfield Vital Records book says[1]:

"Amos Plimpton and Mary Guild, Dec. 9, 1756"

Amos and Mary (Guild) Plimpton had five children between 1758 and 1772, and all of the births were recorded in the Medfield Vital Records book.  Only two children survived to adulthood - daughters Molly and Mercy.

Mary (Guild) Plimpton was to receive an equal share, with her five siblings and her step-mother, of one half of her father's estate, as described in her father's 1795 will[2]:


"Also I give and bequeath to my beloved wife Anna Guild, to the heirs of my son Nathaniel Guild deceased, to my son Samuel Guild, & to my daughters, Mary Plimpton, Mercy Hewins, Susanna Morse & Mehitable Guild one half of all my estate both real & personal, during the natural life of my daughter, Mehitable Guild, and after the decease or marriage of the said Mehitable, I give unto them the whole of my estate to be equally divided among them, after one hundred dollars has been paid out of the same to the said Mehitable, in case she marrys."

On 6 April 1798, the heirs of Nathaniel Guild, father of Mary (Guild) Plimpton, sold land in Walpole to Harman Guild[3].  The deed says, in part:

"Know all Men by these Presents, that We Amos Plimpton Yeoman, and his wife Mary Plimton Spinster, both of Medfield and Ebenezer Hewings Yeoman and Mercy Hewins his wife Spinster, and Ezra Morse Esq'r & Susanna Morse his wife Spinster, and Mehatable Guild, spinster, all of Sharon, all in the  County of Norfolk, and Samuel Guild of Easton in the County of Bristol Esq'r,  and heirs of the Estate of Nathaniel Guild late of Walpole dec'd for and in consideration of Sixteen Hundred & seventy one Dollars and forty three Dollars paid us by Herman Guild of Walpole in the County of Norfolk Yeoman, the receipt whereof we do hereby acknowledge, do hereby Quit and have by these Presents, have Quited to him the said Harmen Guild and to his heirs and assigns, all our rights & title in and unto all the real Estate lying and being partly in Sd Walpole and partly in Sd Sharon and partly in Foxborough, being all that is contained in the Inventory that was taken of the real estate of s'd Nathaniel Guild dec'd dated Nov'r 15'th 1796 and for further description and Perticulars of the Boundaries of s'd real Estate, reference is had to the Plan taken by the appraisers of s'd Estate." 

The Medfield, Massachusetts Vital Records book lists Mary Plimpton's death[4]:

"[PLIMPTON] Mary, w. Amos, Mar. 20, 1800."

There is no gravestone available for Mary (Guild) Plimpton in Medfield cemeteries.

5)  SOURCES
 
1. Vital Records of Walpole, Massachusetts to the Year 1850 (Boston, Mass. :New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1902), Marriages, page 161, Amos Plimpton and Mary Guild entry.

2. "Norfolk County, Massachusetts Probate Court Records, 1793-1881," court clerk manuscript, Volume 2, Pages 502-503, will of Nathaniel Guild, 1795, accessed on FHL US/CAN Microfilm 0,843,573.

3. "Massachusetts, Land Records, 1620-1986," digital images, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org :, accessed 4 March 2016), Norfolk County, Mass., Volume 13, pages 81-82, deed for land in Norfolk County from heirs of Nathaniel Guild to Harman Guild, 1798; citing original records in County Courthouses, and on FHL Microfilms .


4. Vital Records of Medfield, Massachusetts to the Year 1850 (Boston, Mass. :  New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1903), Deaths, page 230, Mary Plimpton entry.


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Copyright (c) 2016, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Share it on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.


Thursday, March 17, 2016

A Kirby Family Genealogical Windfall From Susanne

The genealogy world is composed of some really - really! - wonderful people who don't mind sharing records, documents, photographs and more that they have in their possession.

One of them is Susanna Nisbet of Wake Forest, North Carolina.  She found the Ichabod Kirby profile on WikiTree (http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Kirby-130) and wrote this note in a private message:

"I am in possession of original papers dealing with births, deaths marriages, etc. of Ichabod Kirby Jr. and Sr., David Kirby, Robert Kirby, Rachel Allen and her father and mother, Joseph Allen and Rachel (Wait ?). Included in my collection is the record of the marriage of Ichabod Kirby to Rachel Allen on "this first day of the first month called March and in the year according to the English account one thousand seaven hundred and thirty two or three" - It is signed by those who witnessed the event. These papers - among others - were in a leather - covered box shaped like a domed trunk and lined with newspaper dated 1710."

Susanna is a 7th great-granddaughter of Ichabod and Rachel (Allen) Kirby and I am a 6th great-grandson, so we are 7th cousins once removed.  

In a subsequent email, Susanne explained how she came into possession of them.  She wrote:

"When my Grandmother could no longer live by herself, she moved in with my Mother for 24/7 care.  When she died, my Mother found two shoebox-size boxes with her belongings, both full of tax receipts, wills, settlements of wills (including Ichabod), lists of births and deaths, etc.  The oldest were in the domed box I described."

Susanne offered photographs of these documents to me, and very kindly permitted me to use them in my blog and family tree, and has provided 22 images to date of wonderful material, including the 1733 marriage agreement between Ichabod Kirby and Rachel Allen.  

I need to transcribe some of these and I will use some of them in future Amanuensis Monday and Treasure Chest Thursday posts.  

Here are two examples of the records from this treasure trove:


1)  The top document says:

"Westport     may the 29  day  1793
then received of David Kerby Executor to the
Last will and testament of my onered
Grand father Ichabod Kerby late of sd Westport
decesed the some of five Dollers and one Shep
it being in full for a Lagarsie Given me
in sd will I say Received in full
by me                                        David Sowle
Peleg Potter
Robert Kerby  £1-17-6"

2)  The bottom document says:

"Westport may the 29 Day 1793
than Received of David Kerby Executor to
the Last will and testament of my onered
Gran father Ichabod Kerby late of sd Westport
decesed the some of five Dollers and one
sheep it being in full for Leagacie given
me in sd will  say Received by me
                                          Humphrey White
Peleg Potter                       Sibel White
David Sowle    £1-17-6"

Needless to say, I never expected to receive records dating back to about 1700 and up into the 1850 time for this or any other ancestral family.  

There is a lesson here - if you put your family history information online (in this case, the Ichabod Kirby profile on WikiTree), then wonderful people with a sense of history and some ancient records may find your family tree contribution and contact you.  

The best part of all of this is that Susanne found a distant cousin and shared our mutual family history!  Thank you to Susanne for her kindness, and to her mother, grandmother and earlier ancestors back to the 18th century Kirby family for saving them.  

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Copyright (c) 2016, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Share it on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.