Two Brick Walls or the Forgotten Post

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I read a post by another blogger recently, who was frustrated by the lack of sources quoted by others posting family trees online and was reminded of my two brick walls, Patience Watson and Wilson Parker. When I first joined Ancestry and found them listed as the parents of Mary Ann Belle Parker, in others’ family trees, I wondered how these people knew this. There were no records posted proving the relationship. I remember thinking the difficulty in researching this particular couple might lie in the possibility that these were not, in truth, the parents of Mary Ann Belle Parker. Or, perhaps, the names and birth dates were a little off?

Fast forward a few months. I made a connection on Ancestry with one of the descendants of Wilson Jesse Parker, Mary Ann Belle’s brother. My new connection sent a lot of information my way, including the death certificate of Mary Ann Belle Parker. Hers was the first death certificate I had ever seen. Listed on that death certificate were the names of her parents -- Wilson Parker and Patience Watson. So now there was a source document for Mary Ann Belle’s parents. However, the problems with Mary Ann Belle’s parents do not end here. Birth years for Wilson Parker and Patience Watson are listed in these trees as 1792 and 1796 respectively. Where did this information come from? I have yet to find a source. In fact, lacking actual dates for their births, it is my opinion these birth years are estimates at best and wild guesses at worst.

Not being one to give up, I recently went over my research on Wilson Parker. I have since listed his birth place as Pennsylvania. My source is the 1880 U.S. Federal Census, not for Wilson Parker himself, but for his daughter, Mary Ann Belle, whose father is listed as having been born in Pennsylvania. The problem is, this is a secondary source and may be inaccurate. I myself take it with a grain of salt and recommend others do as well. Pennsylvania makes an excellent starting point for research, but if and only if Wilson Parker was actually born in Pennsylvania. The problem is not knowing which area of Pennsylvania to look in for evidence. Further aggravating the problem is the lack of knowledge regarding which religion Wilson Parker was born into. (Which church records do we search? All of them!? I don’t think so! None of us live long enough to do that, and I would prefer a more efficient method.) Better would be to search probate records. I would love to find Wilson Parker’s “death records.” However, I do not know when or where he died, so I do not know which state to begin in. The last census I have been able to find Wilson Parker in is the 1849 Minnesota Territory Census. He is living next door to son-in-law, W.C.D. Harrington, in Marine Mills, Washington County, Minnesota. In the 1850 U.S. Federal Census, W.C.D. Harrington and family are still living in Marine Mills, but Wilson Parker is gone. Nor have I been able to find Wilson Parker in any other part of the 1850 U.S. Federal Census... or any subsequent U.S. Federal Census for that matter. Yes, there are other Wilson Parkers in these censuses, but further research proves they are not my Wilson Parker - they are all different individuals with the same name. At least one was even born the same year as Mary Ann Belle’s father, but if you look at earlier censuses, that same man is listed in the federal census in the Carolinas in years when he would have been in Illinois or Minnesota if he were the right Wilson Parker. He was also married to a woman named Margaret. The Wilson Parker I am looking for was married to Patience Watson and, later, possibly, Sarah Nesler. No Margaret there. I believe Carolinas Wilson Parker can be eliminated as a possibility.

There is a Wilson Parker that shows up in the 1854 Iowa State Census living next door to Wilson Jesse Parker’s brother-in-law, John Terrell. The problem is, the Wilson Parker listed is more likely to be Wilson Jesse Parker himself rather than Wilson Parker Sr. Why? The town and county of Iowa “Wilson Parker” is enumerated in border the town in Hancock Illinois, where Wilson Jesse Parker is enumerated in in the 1850 census and to which he subsequently returned and died. Both of Wilson Jesse Parker’s children were born in Illinois. In fact, Wilson Jesse Parker is listed in the 1855 Nauvoo, Hancock County, Illinois Census. There are three people in the household - himself, a female child under 10 years of age, and a female between 20 and 30 years of age. Wilson Parker himself is listed as being between 20 and 30 years of age. So this is Wilson Parker Jr. Furthermore, LDS records list Wilson Parker marrying Rebecca Terrell on 29 March 1849 in Hancock County, Illinois -- Hancock County Marriage Register, License number 1396.

In truth, Wilson Parker Sr. only shows up in two censuses -- the 1830 U.S. Federal Census and the 1849 Minnesota Territorial Census. We know he was living in White County, Illinois in 1820 because this is the year he married Patience Watson -- source, marriage record. He may also be the Wilson Parker listed as being from Carmi, White, Illinois in McHenry’s Company of Spies in the Black Hawk War, 1832. By 1841, a Wilson Parker had married Sarah Nesler in White County, Illinois. Which Wilson was it? This particular marriage record has been sworn to secrecy.

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Black Forest Nussbergers

My German immigrant ancestors are Casper Nussberger and his father, Johann Nussberger.  Johann Nussberger came to the United States with two of his sons - Casper and Conrad - aboard the Belgique on 27 October 1856.  He brought no wife with him and married, by 1870, Cecilia Ebener.  In the 1860 U.S. Federal Census for Bear Creek, Wisconsin, Johann Nussberger heads a household with four boys - no female lives in the household.  The boys are 14 year old Casper, 9 year old Conrad, 3 year old Hans, and an unnamed 1 month old male, indicating Johann Nussberger may have remarried sometime after arriving in the United States and before he married Cecilia Ebener.  (Or he had two children out of wedlock before marrying Cecilia Ebener.)  In any case, we have two possible mystery mothers.  By 1860, Johann had dropped the an in his name and started calling himself "John."  Clearly, the mother of Hans and the 1 month old male of the 1860 census are not the same person as the mother of Pauline, Mary, and John Jr., who are born in the years 1861-1865.  We have three wives here - the first one lived and died in Germany before October 1856, the second who died before June 1860, and Cecilia Ebener, the third wife, who had her first child with John/Johann Nussberger in 1861.  Judging by the age of the baby boy in the 1860 census (one month), the mother of that child - if legitimate - likely died in early to mid June of 1860, given the census date of 29 June 1860.  The baby is likely Benedict Nussberger and, if that's the case, the 1900 census with a birth date in March of 1858 may be incorrect.

However, Benedict Nussberger is not the individual I am interested in at the moment.  My concern is with the identity of the woman who bore my direct ancestor, Casper Nussberger, the first wife, who died in Germany.  For a long time, I could find nothing on her.  Let's face it, I didn't even know where to look or where to begin.  My first thought was Ancestry, but there was nothing there.  They have only recently begun to put German records on the site and I don't have the World Deluxe Membership that would grant me access to those records.  There was nothing on the LDS site, Family Search, at the time.  The German sites I knew of were not much help either.  I found Johann Nussberger's immigration records on Auswanderer, but nothing of course on his wife.  Not having a knowledge of German does not help me, but my thought was that I initially had no knowledge of Norwegian when I began researching my Norwegian ancestors on Norwegian sites - I learned to read a little Norwegian.  I learned to read Gothic handwriting.  I could learn a little German, too.  Why not?

Then, this last week, I visited Family Search Labs, an experimental LDS website.  Family Search Labs has a record search project that you can enter and type in names of ancestors and find records.  You can even view actual images of some of these records online and if you haven't tried this site, I highly recommend you do.  I typed "Johan Nussberger" in the name fields and by the end of the night had my German ancestors back to the 18th century.

Best of all, I had found the mother of Casper Nussberger -- Magdalena Spiegelhalter/Spiegelhalder, daughter of Andreas Spiegelhalter and Maria Siebler, born 31 August 1819 in Holzschlag, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany.  I found the marriage record of Johan Nussberger and Magdalena Spiegelhalter after finding the baptism records of their children and the marriage record had the birth dates, christening dates, marriage date, and parents of both spouses.  Johan Nussberger and Magdalena Spiegelhalter had more than two children, some of whom died in childhood or married before Johan left for the United States.  So Nussbergers of Wheeler, Dunn and Durand, Pepin, Wisconsin, you have relatives who were left behind in Germany!

The caveat is the German records online are merely indexes, so must be checked against the original records for accuracy.  I sense a major project coming on...

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Ancestors What Shares My Birthday

Nellie Butterfield is descended from a long line of Colonial American ancestors, among them the Deans, who would found the town of Westmoreland, Oneida, New York.  Nellie's grandmother was a Dean - Thankful Dean, who married the physician, Amasa Harrington, and lived and died in Laurens, Otsego, New York.  In fact, Thankful Dean, is buried in the Laurens Village Cemetery, having died on her birthday - April 9th - in 1866.

However, I do not share a birthday with Thankful Dean.  Thankful Dean shares a birthday with my Norwegian great grandfather, Ole Martinsen Fjeld, and is one day short of sharing a birthday with my mother.

No, the Dean that I share a birthday with is Gaius Dean, Thankful Dean's father.  Gaius Dean was born 26 September 1755 in Salisbury, Litchfield, Connecticut, but he would not tarry long.  Most of his life, he bounced between Canada and New York, living in Montreal, Kingston, and the Newcastle District in Canada and in Hillsdale, Columbia and Westmoreland, Oneida, New York.  Gaius Dean died 15 February 1821 in Westmoreland, Oneida, New York.

Gaius Dean served in the American Revolutionary War, enlisting as a private in Captain James Spencer's Company of Albany, New York, a regiment of foot under the command of Colonel Jeremiah Hogeboom.  My great grandmother's great grandfather ended his military career serving as a captain under Brigadier General Robert Van Rensselaer in the Columbia County Militia of New York State.   Of Van Rensselaer's Brigade, it has been stated that "Everything except the soil is destroyed from Fort Hunter to Stone Arabia."

Other Ancestors who share my birthday:  my 3rd great grandfather, Knud Knudsen Stigen, born 26 September 1820 on Ager farm in Lunder, Norderhov, Buskerud, Norway.  But he's not a Tiffany Creek ancestor...

Tags: birthday, Dean, Stigen, Canada, New York, Revolutionary War

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Getting to Joseph Bartlett of Newton

I thought it would be helpful to publish a five generation pedigree chart leading to Joseph Bartlett of Newton, then a suburb of Boston, in Massachusetts:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/6213013/Am-as-a-Harrington-Pedigree

Am as a Harrington Pedigree - Upload a Document to Scribd

The line leading to Joseph Bartlett of Newton is highlighted.

Jehosephat Bartlett, Son of Robert Bartlett and Mary (Mayflower) Warren

Debunking Joseph Bartlett...

One such former ancestor is Joseph Bartlett, son of Robert Bartlett and Mary Warren and grandson of Mayflower passenger Richard Warren.  In fact, this is a common genealogy, which you can find on various sites online as well as in family history books.  Don't let me catch it in your family history book!

This particular mistaken lineage is everywhere.

One look at the most recent publication of Mayflower Families, Volume 18 (Descendants of Richard Warren) forever debunks this lineage and, once you have seen the true lineage of Richard Warren and son-in-law Robert Bartlett, there is no going back.

Mary Warren, daughter of Mayflower passenger, Richard Warren, did indeed marry a Robert Bartlett.  However, these are the children of Mary Warren and Robert Bartlett:

1. Benjamin Bartlett, born 1633


2. Rebecca Bartlett, born 1634


3. Mary Bartlett, born circa 1634


4. Sarah Bartlett


5. Joseph Bartlett, born circa 1639


6. Elizabeth Bartlett, born circa 1643


7. Lydia Bartlett, born 8 June 1648


8. Mercy Bartlett, born 10 March 1650/1

"What's the problem?" you say?  "Joseph Bartlett is child number five!"

The "problem" is the Joseph Bartlett born to Mary Warren and Robert Bartlett was born around 1639, five or six years earlier than our Joseph Bartlett.  Furthermore, the Joseph Bartlett born in 1639 was born in Plymouth and never left Plymouth.  Our Joseph Bartlett was a well-known early settler of Newton, Massachusetts, who was known to have been born in England.  Dorset, England, to be exact.  Our Joseph Bartlett lived in Cambridge Village, Newton, Massachusetts until his death on 26 December 1702.

Furthermore, Joseph Bartlett of Plymouth married Hannah Pope around 1662 and died in Plymouth on 18 February 1711/2.  Children of Joseph Bartlett of Plymouth and Hannah Pope are:

1. Robert Bartlett, born circa 1663


2. Joseph Bartlett, born circa 1665


3. Elnathan Bartlett


4. Hannah Bartlett


5. Mary Bartlett, born circa 1672


6. Sarah Bartlett


7. Benjamin Bartlett, born circa 1679


8. Thomas Bartlett, baptized 1683

Joseph Bartlett of Newton married Mary Mercy Waite and had a son, John Bartlett, who married Patience Cady and had a son named Nathaniel Bartlett, who married Sarah Thompson.

Children of Nathaniel Bartlett and Sarah Thompson are:

1. Patience Bartlett


2. John Bartlett


3. Mary Bartlett


4. Lucy Bartlett


5. Sarah Bartlett


6. Nathan Bartlett


7. Submit Bartlett

Our ancestor is child number 5, Sarah Bartlett, who married Ephraim Harrington, who fathered approximately twelve children, among them, the physician and surgeon, Amasa Harrington, who married Thankful Dean.  Amasa Harrington and Thankful Dean are the parents of W.C.D. Harrington, who married Mary Ann "Belle" Parker, who are the maternal grandparents of my great grandmother, Nellie Butterfield.

Jehosephat!

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Former Ancestors

I have literally thousands of former ancestors, most of whom I have never heard of I am sure - some of them waiting in the wings for their 15 minutes in the branches of my tree, others whose 15 minutes will find them on the branches of someone else's tree... lying in wait, with a single-minded and tenacious audacity of purpose, salivating over the opportunity for confounding yours truly and anyone else lured into their traps by an obsessive desire to put one more leaf on the tree, reaching into antiquity as the Tower of Babel reached into the Heavens.  The Butterfield tree is full of such creatures.  But....

Like the Tower of Babel, these former ancestors will be struck down!

With relish.

By me.

[Evil laughter in the background.]

Tags: ancestors, former ancestors, Tower of Babel

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Tea Leaves and Coffee Grounds

As you will see in the interests portion of my profile, I have an interest in "occult" subjects as well as in family history.  What better place to put an entry in the old folk practice of reading tea leaves and coffee grounds than in a genealogy blog?

Reading tea leaves and coffee grounds to predict the future was - and still is - generally practiced by women and, as it turns out, my great grandmother, Nellie Butterfield, used to read both.  Mother tells me her preference was for coffee grounds, though.

Apparently, the practitioners of this art use shapes formed by the coffee grounds or tea leaves to create a story about the drinker's future, once the drink itself is gone and the dregs remain, of course.  In my opinion, complete nonsense, but possibly an entertaining way to break the ice at a tea party or kaffe klatsche!

Powered by QumanaTags: coffee, tea, future, occult