#52Ancestors: Hannah BROOKS, 1726-1759, Connecticut

Another in the year-long challenge, #52Ancestors by genealogist Amy Johnson Crow. I am a little behind, but every post is another post!  Here I am writing about  my 5th great-grandmother on my maternal TERWILLIGER line:  Hannah BROOKS, born in Wallingford CT

Hannah was the eldest child of Stephen BROOKS & Hannah BARNES, and was born April 5, 1726 in Wallingford, New Haven, Connecticut. Siblings were Stephen jr (1728), Jerusha (1731),  Martha (1735), Thomas (1738), Lois (1740, and Abraham (1743).  The first BROOKS immigrant seems to have been Henry BROOKS, who married in 1676 in Wallingford. Hannah would be the 4th Brooks generation in Connecticut.

Hannah's first husband was John Clark, (1727-1749), whom she married Sep 9, 1747 in Waterbury Connecticut. Their child was John Clark jr, born May 11, 1748; her husband John died Oct 1, 1749 scarcely 5 months later. 

On May 1st, 1751, Hannah married Cornelius GRAVES (1724-1812), in Waterbury. Cornelius was a farmer, owning a "considerable amount of land at New Cambridge," paying taxes 1749-1776. For information and genealogy details of the GRAVES line, The Graves Family Association online shows the first immigrant John GRAVES (abt 1605-after 1650), #166 in the numerous Graves lines listed on this site.  

Hannah and Cornelius had 4 sons:

    1.  Stephen Wells [ancestor], b. Feb 2, 1752, East Plymouth, CT, d. Jun 6, 1828 Harwinton CT; m. Dec 8 1778 in Harwinton CT to Ruth JEROME; 7 children.

   2.  Benjamin, b. Mar 12, 1754 New Hartford CT d. Nov 29 1836 Perrysville NY; m. Aug 15, 1776 in Durham CT to Eunice [Jerusha] Hale; 3 children known.

   3.  Cornelius jr, b. Mar 1756 in New Hartford CT, d. Oct 7 1781 in the Revolutionary War. 

   4.  Jacob, b. Sep 1, 1758, New Hartford CT, d. 26 Nov 1758. 

I'm uncertain why their eldest child was the only one to be given a second name, Wells. It keeps niggling at me to do more research on this issue. 

As you can see, Hannah's 4th son died Nov 26, 1758, scarcely 3 months old.  At aged 33 years, Hannah died the week before Jacob, on Nov 14, 1759, in Waterbury CT.  She is apparently buried in Green Hill Cemetery, in Bristol, Hartford, CT.

Cornelius married for a second time on Aug 13, 1761, to Phebe Prindle (1733-1821), and had one more son, also named Jacob, b. Jul 12, 1762, likely born in New Cambridge CT. 

As is sometimes the case, there is little information on the women in this time period.  Their birth, their parents, marriage, and death: with possible dates/places. I found a few more details this time through several websites [including Amazon, AmericanAncestors, FindMyPast, FamilySearch], but of course there are other sources I also need to dig deeper in - archives, town clerks, and more. 

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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!!

#52Ancestors: Thomas PICKTON, 1791-1853, Cheshire England

Continuing the #52Ancestors year-long challenge by genealogist Amy Johnson Crow, here is Thomas PICKTON in the PERRY line, a 4th great-grandfather to my son-in-law, 5th to his children. 

It is rather challenging finding details of Thomas' life in and around Weaverham Parish in Cheshire in the west of England. I have a possible christening, a marriage, a death. I'm comfortably sure of his spouse, and their names on the 6 children's christenings.  But there are very sparse details of his and his family's daily lives, interests, social network, and so on. 

Thomas was born about 1791 in Cuddington, a hamlet which had about 200 inhabitants in 1800. In searching the Parish Register for the region, I have only found his children's baptisms, and his marriage. No Picktons before that time - although I did find one William Pickton in early-mid 1600s in Whitegate a few miles away with a small family. For Thomas and his family, census records of 1841 and 1851 provided additional information of birth county, estimated age.

Thomas, a farmer, married Mary SAVAGE, daughter of George SAVAGE & Hannah LEE [not yet verified], on August 6th, 1811, in the village of Frodsham, in her parish church, St Laurence Church.   

They had 7 children that I have been able to find in the Parish Registers for Weaverham, which covers Cuddington. Not all life details have been found as yet for each child. 

All were born in Cuddington:

    1.  Mary, bap 30 May 1813; m. abt 1839 to William Podmore, 1 dau known

    2.  John, est 1816

    3.  Elizabeth, bap 12 Jul 1818; m. Jun 15, 1854 to James Gaskins [widower]

    4.  Hannah/Ann [ancestor], bap Feb 11, 1821, d. Nov 27, 1889,;
              m. Dec 239 Dec 1841 to George BOSTOCK sr.; 8 children

    5.  Thomas [jr], bap Jun 8, 1823

    6.  Sarah, bap Feb 12, 1826

    7.  Ellen, bap Feb 14, 1830; m. Mar 6, 1855 to Jesse Moss; 3 daughters

I managed to find a note that there was a two-storey grammar schoolhouse* in Weaverham, which may mean their children attended. Perhaps they all were able to do basic reading, writing, and arithmetic perhaps along with a few other topics such as history. I noticed that the 7th child, Ellen, signed her name at her marriage in 1855, while her mother had only made her mark at her marriage in 1811. (*Some Aspects of Education in Cheshire in the Eighteenth Century, by Derek Robson, pp134-135.) 

 Thomas died Aug 12, 1853 and his death was registered in Northwich, Cheshire.  His wife Mary, died a few years later, in 1859, registered in Northwich. It is possible that they were living with one of their children in Northwich, with either/both of their sons taking over the farm at this time. More research to do.  

PICKTON is not a common name at all in this parish in the 1700s and early 1800s, and rare or absent in nearby parishes. It is possible that Thomas moved to this parish as a young man, perhaps for work on a farm, and stayed. So many possibilities. So little actually known.

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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!!