52Ancestors: Richard PARSONS 1704-1767, Warwickshire England

Continuing the #52Ancestors [52 weeks] challenge by genealogist Amy Johnson Crow, here is the 7th great-grandfather of my son-in-law, Richard PARSONS of Warwickshire England. 

Luckily for this particular challenge, images of the parish registers of baptisms and marriages for St. Mary's Church of England, in Warwick Warwickshire, are available on FindMyPast, some also on Ancestry. See image on right: [2006-02-10 M.Field:St. Mary's church in Warwick UK the tower as viewed from the top of Warwick Castle, taken and uploaded by Matthew Field http://www.mattfield .com]

Parts of this very large church are approximately 1,000 years old, with old gravestones on one side of the church grounds. 

Richard was the third of 4 children found to date of Robert PARSONS and Susanna [unknown].He was baptised November 25, 1704 - baptism register snippet is on the left. He had an older brother, Robert, an older sister Mary, and a younger brother Samuel. There may be other siblings, but they have not been found clearly in baptisms. Several possible siblings include perhaps a Thomas and a Samuel, who both show up having children baptised in the same church, around the same decade/s.  Richard's father, Robert also seems to have two or three possible siblings living in Warwick, a Thomas and a Samuel, which common names seem to indicate a relationship to be researched if possible.

On May 13th, 1727, Richard married Sarah JEFFS, daughter of William JEFFS & Mary [unknown] at St. Mary's church. Sarah was the eldest daughter, with sisters Alice and Ann, and brothers, William, Thomas, and Richard.  This is a little difficult to read, but hopefully clear enough.  It is a poor copy and I need to do more work to clarify it - this was taken from Ancestry, but I have a copy from FindMyPast, which is the same image.

Only 2 children are found on baptism registers for Richard and Sarah:
   1.  Thomas, [ancestor] bap 2 Jun 1728, d. possibly before 12 Feb 1786; m. Mary [unknown], approx 1752, in Oxhill, a tiny village about 14 miles south of Warwick; only 1 child known [ancestor].
  2.  Mary, bap 9 May 1730; no further information found to date. 

Below is a snippet of Thomas Parsons in the church register:

It is possible that Richard's wife Sarah died within a few years after Mary was born in 1730, which would explain why I cannot find any further children. However, I need to dig further in burial records to be sure. I found that he church burial register has more info about the costs of : the burials, opening the ground, passing [the coffin] through the church, etc., than clearly writing down the names and dates of the deceased!  I've put this on my to-do list.

I have no information about Richard's occupation nor his father's.  Living in the city of Warwick, population about 96,000 in 1700, this family likely were involved either in trade of some sort, or farm work. I had hoped to find a will with some details that would indicate his occupation [work tools, land].  Perhaps the Hearth Taxes would give details.  More items on the to-do list.

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If these are your ancestors, I am happy to share what little I have on these ancestors. And if there are errors, please do let me know, via calewis at telus dot net, or in the Comments below and I will get back to you either by email or in the Comments. I appreciate the opportunity to correct any issues in these family trees.

Blogger - or my computer - is still not letting me "reply" to your comments, for some unknown reason. If I don't reply to your Comment, please know that I'm totally thrilled you came to read my post and commented!  You truly make my day.

52Ancestor: William A GHOLSON 1705-1795, Virginia

Today my focus is in my ex-husband's maternal RICE line, William A[nthony] GHOLSON.  William is the 6th great-grandfather of my children and their Lewis first-cousins. The Gholson surname seems to have morphed from Goldstone, and the spellings are varied: Golston, Gholston Gulston, etc.

Gholson and Allied Families, written/published in 1950 by Virginia Baker Mitchell before her untimely death, and edited by Margaret Ann Scruggs, has a wealth of details and collected possibilities in regard to the relationships between the Gholson/Gulston families who moved to Virginia. I have it as an e-book on my computer. Here is a snippet from one page - someone wrote all over this, which I find both annoying and yet, very interesting!

William's parents were known to be Anthony GHOLSON Sr. and wife Jane. Both Anthony and Jane appear to have lived in Virginia all their life, from the late 1600s. I have not yet found detailed histories or documents of their parents or other past ancestors, except from this book, plus a will and several land records. However, it is widely thought that they may have been related to the original Gholson settlers from England to the Virginia region, several generations earlier. There are many spellings for Gholson, although Gholston is the more common variant in this family line in Spotsylvania county.

William, the eldest child of Anthony GHOLSON/Gholston, was born approximately 1705 in the region of what is now Spotsylvania County, in Virginia. At that time, Virginia was known as the Colony of Virginia and statehood was declared in 1788.  He was the eldest of five known children.

About 1728 or so, William married Susanna COLLINS, one of the daughters of Capt. Joseph COLLINS and Susanna LEWIS. Currently I know very little details about William, although he was a farmer and land-owner, owning several large plots of land. His name has been found in the Virginia Land Record Deed Books, regarding a number of records of buying and selling land.

William is not mentioned in any way in regard to the Revolutionary War, although he may have supported the militia. His relatively advanced age would have limited his ability to join the militias in active campaigns.

Known children of William and Susanna, born in Spotsylvania County, VA:
    1.  [Sgt.] William Gholson, b. abt 1728
    2.  John Lewis Gholson, b. 1730
    3.  Anthony GHOLSON jr [ancestor], b. 1733, d. abt 1815 Steubenville, KY;
              m. abt 1759 to Elizabeth [unknown surname]; 12 children
    4   Frederick Gholson, b. abt 1735
    5.  James Gholson, b. abt 1743
 
The birth order of William and Susanna's children is not necessarily correct, but is assumed by other records, marriages, etc. There is a single girl sometimes attached on online trees to William and Susanna, named Philadelphia, b. abt 1754, but this has not been confirmed as far as I have been able to find online.

Tax records show that in 1782/3 William was permitted to conduct an ordinary [pub].  In addition, in  Order Book 6 of Orange County between 1747-1760, there are a number of records of his numerous slaves.  Note his property was around the boundary line for Orange County and Spotsylvania County. He held a great deal of land, with a number of records of buying and selling land. However there has not been found a probate or will, to date.

Searching through Virginia Road Record Books [for road maintenance mainly], I have not found William mentioned, only a John Gholson - and there is more than one John in each generation of the Gholson children.

In 1786, William's wife Susanna died.  Apparently, shortly after, William took a second wife, Jane/Joan Perry, who  outlived William.  In approximately 1795 before 1800, William died. I have not found a will or probate as yet for either William, Susanna, or Joan.

Although William, Susanna, and Joan were most likely buried in either Orange County or Spotsylvania County, no gravesite/cemetery has been found as yet for any of them.

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I would love to find more details about William GHOLSON, and if you have any information and/or sources on this early Virginia family, I would be very happy to learn more!  My blog is not allowing me to reply directly to your comments, but aside from commenting, you could email me using the email address at the very bottom of the line of blogs [several blogs below today's blog post].

Thank you so much for reading today's blog post in the #52Ancestors challenge.

52 Ancestors: Favourite Photos [2]: BEGINNINGS 1968, 4-generations

Summer 1968, my first baby Lewis, 5 days old, stopping off from hospital on the way home to see my mother [on the left], and her mother aka GrandPete, holding daughter Pia.   

Summer 1924, another 4 generation photo: the little girl [2 yrs old] in her

mother's arms [aka GrandPete] is my mother! GrandPete's mother is on the left,
 and her mother is turned talking with her. Love this photo!

Love these photos showing women at different ages, clothing styles, and more.  

If you are a relative of these people, feel free to contact me through the email at the very bottom of the posts here, and I'm happy to send a copy to you.  

52Ancestors - a Filles du Roi in New France, 1668

Continuing the #52Ancestors [52 weeks] challenge by genealogist Amy Johnson Crow, the theme for this week is "Long Line."

I have a few very long lines from early New England on my mother's side, but my most recent discovery of a fairly long line in Canada, is the discovery of a King's Daughter, a Fille du Roi. I've always known of this group of single women who came to New France in the 1600s as brides for the mostly single men who trapped and lived in the colony, under contracts. Watching the rapid growth of New England, France decided it was necessary to accelerate the population growth of New France, strengthening their claim for the region. The map above shows how the Spanish, French, and British claimed areas of North America. There were constant skirmishes and wars, many involving the various Native Indian tribes in their battles.

In 1668, three DesCHALETS sisters arrived in Québec, orphaned by the deaths of their parents, François and Jacquette Chevallereau. The older sisters, twin girls, born in 1651, were Claude [nickname Blandina] and Madeleine, with their younger sister, Elisabeth, b. abt 1653. Claude is my ancestor through my TERWILLIGER line.  Most details are taken from the (a)  Gagné book, King's Daughters and Founding Mothers: The Filles du Roi, 1663-1673, by Peter J. Gagné; and (b) Dictionaire Genealogique des familles du Québec by C.Tanguay, as well as in Olive Tree Genealogy [online].

Claude apparently was a bit of a mischief-maker along with her twin, and the two were brought up before the authorities on the ship from France, as well as in the community, for slandering another woman. Interesting. And what was the reason for targeting that particular person? Some details we'll never know.

Relatively soon after arriving in New France in Québec, Claude married Siméon le ROY, dit Audy, a master carpenter, on 3 Sep 1668. Note: "dit" names further identify surnames, often reflecting something about a geographic feature, or other details. Siméon's parents were Richard le ROI, dit Audy, and Pilette JACQUET de Créance; he was baptised on 1 Oct 1637.

On the same marriage date, one of Siméon's close friends, Jean Giron, a tailor, married Claude's twin, Madeline DesChalets. Several months later, 26 Nov 1668, Elisabeth married François Paris, a shoemaker.

Siméon and Claude had the following children, [bap usually several days after birth]:
    1.  Oliviér, bap. 30 May 1669, Québec
    2.  Jean, bap. 7 Sep 1670, Québec
    3.  Augustyn, bap. 18 Dec 1671, Québec
    4.  Marie-Anne, bap 11 May 1673, Québec
    5.  Léonard-Rémi Le ROY, [ancestor], bap. 15 Sep 1674, Québec;, died abt 1760 in Schoharie NY; m. 28 Sep 1703 to Maria ZIELLE in Kingston, Ulster, NY
    6.  Pierre, bap. 2 Apr 1676 Québec
    7.  Charlotte-Gertrude, bap. 22 Feb 1677/78, Québec
    8.  Jeanne-Elizabeth, bap. 29 Mar 1679, Québec
    9.  Marie, bap 2 May 1681, Montréal, died 28 May 1681
  10.  François, est 1683, Kingston, NY
  11.  Sara, est 1685, Kingston, NY

The second son, Jean, is the only child to remain in Canada. When Siméon moved the family to Albany, New York, he sent Jean to live with his godfather/namesake Jean Giron, living then at Charlesbourg, New France with first wife, Madeleine. Jean and Madeleine Giron had no children. Jean Le Roy descendants in Québec carry the surnames of either Audy or Roy.

In Albany county, on November 28, 1682, Augustyn aged 11, was apprenticed for six consecutive years to Adam Winne to learn the trade of rope-making. No other records are found for him. It is possible he is listed under a variant of his surname, dit name or, Adam Winne's name.

I have not researched the other children's spouses, occupations, and so on, after they lived in New York. This family has a long to-do list!

Siméon and Claude did not do very well in New York, and in February 1707/08, aged 57, Claude died apparently of pneumonia. Siméon received some financial assistance around this time. He died about two years after Claude, aged 73. Note that all his children were old enough to marry at that time, but I am not certain if he lived in the same area of any one of the adult children. No cemetery/burial record is available as far as I have found.

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If these are your ancestors, I am happy to share what little I have on these ancestors. And if there are errors, please do let me know, via calewis at telus dot net, or in the Comments below and I will get back to you either by email or in the Comments. I appreciate the opportunity to correct any issues in these family trees.

Blogger - or my computer - is still not letting me "reply" to your comments, for some unknown reason. If I don't reply to your Comment, please know that I'm totally thrilled you came to read my post and commented!  You truly make my day.