It all started with a gravestone...
Passenger Records take a lot of analysis. They are often hard to read, even the ones that are typed. Dates and sequences of numbers are written above the names, below the names and in the margins obliterating the information.
The first Cromptons in this family to come here must be my uncle Jack (John) and his father. Uncle Jack was only 19 and it looks like his father left him here and returned to England to bring more family over. They went to the coal mines in West Virginia. This first trip was in the fall of 1921. [Which makes it in-between US Census years, darn!] Father and son went to Williamson, WV. from their landing at Ellis Island.
In the fall of 1922, Uncle Jack's father, James William Crompton, his mother Rebecca and their teen sons Frank and Harry came together. This left behind their oldest son Fred and only daughter Doris who were adults and married by this date. The record says the father was here 8 months ago, so he must have only stayed 4 months in WV.
Next, Fred (Steve's ancestor) and his wife Ethel and their daughter and son arrived in the fall of 1923. They are listed as going to see Fred's parents in WV.
In 1924, son Frank arrived in NY going to WV. He is 19 and is still single.
I think the family now intended to stay here permanently with only visits back to England to see Doris. She married a man named Mr. Jackson and they might never have come to America. Steve tells me that the parents returned to England, died and are buried there.
Uncle Jack is listed in the 1926 Westerly RI City Directory as living in the Bradford section of Westerly at 4 Bowling Lane. This is at the opposite end of the same street as his future wife lives. Annie and Jack married in 1929 and moved away from Westerly.
This is the end of the adventure for this Christmas season. Steve is going to talk to his mother and grandmother and find out more. Isn't he lucky that they are still living?
Showing posts with label Crompton. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Crompton. Show all posts
Monday, December 22, 2008
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Crompton Christmas Adventure Post 3
It all started with a gravestone...
While my counterpart Steve works in retail by day, I am trying to keep the flow of Crompton information moving along. He's done a great job adding in the earlier generations and now I have to connect my Ancestry tree to his so that I have the same data and census records as he has found.
I keep a desktop genealogy application besides the one I host at Ancestry. I have to set aside time to add what I discover at Ancestry to my database and back it up. I keep private notes in it and questions for future ideas. I have to do that now while we wait for Christmas to be past.
Here's the basic family we started with:
James William Crompton and his wife Rebecca Wolstenholme had 5 children. Steve and I only knew about 4 of them. From the passenger lists, we discover that a child named Doris stayed behind in England while the rest of the family went adventuring to America. She marrried a man named Mr. Jackson. It must be that James William and Rebecca returned home to be with their daughter and died there. It would be nice to find out where they are buried.
John (Jack) Crompton's brothers, Fred (Steve's ancestor), Frank and Harold (Harry) came to America with their mother after my uncle Jack and his father came here first. But, wait! Fred was not listed with the younger boys and the mother. As I reported earlier, I found that he was married and came here to Boston later. So many passenger lists to go through to get it right!
The discovering is great fun but the recording is WORK. That's what I must do now. More Crompton adventures follow...
While my counterpart Steve works in retail by day, I am trying to keep the flow of Crompton information moving along. He's done a great job adding in the earlier generations and now I have to connect my Ancestry tree to his so that I have the same data and census records as he has found.
I keep a desktop genealogy application besides the one I host at Ancestry. I have to set aside time to add what I discover at Ancestry to my database and back it up. I keep private notes in it and questions for future ideas. I have to do that now while we wait for Christmas to be past.
Here's the basic family we started with:
James William Crompton and his wife Rebecca Wolstenholme had 5 children. Steve and I only knew about 4 of them. From the passenger lists, we discover that a child named Doris stayed behind in England while the rest of the family went adventuring to America. She marrried a man named Mr. Jackson. It must be that James William and Rebecca returned home to be with their daughter and died there. It would be nice to find out where they are buried.
John (Jack) Crompton's brothers, Fred (Steve's ancestor), Frank and Harold (Harry) came to America with their mother after my uncle Jack and his father came here first. But, wait! Fred was not listed with the younger boys and the mother. As I reported earlier, I found that he was married and came here to Boston later. So many passenger lists to go through to get it right!
The discovering is great fun but the recording is WORK. That's what I must do now. More Crompton adventures follow...
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Crompton Christmas Adventure Post 2
Remember, it all started with a gravestone....
To effectively help someone else out with their family, you have to stay organized and keep communicating. Communication is easy these days but you have to find time to work with each email! I pulled all I knew about this family and put it in a notebook.
I keep an ordinary index card file on each "client" like Steve with the surname, the client's name and contact information and their email. I jot down what they asked in their first email and if they are related to me which ancestor we have in common. In this case, I made a list of the gravestone, places where other family members may be buried and any work I have done previously to this line.
At one time, I taught a workshop on Ellis Island after doing a lot of reading and listening to lectures given by John Coletta and Sharon Carmack. I researched my own family and anyone else that was related to them. That's why I already had a file on my uncle.
I reviewed what I knew about them from the oral interview I took to finding them in cenus records. I sent Steve the Ellis Island Passenger lists I found and we went over them. He questioned, rightly so, the generation above Uncle Jack's father, James William Crompton. It was a wrong guess. Steve worked successfully on creating a tree at Ancestry, adding in his family and mine and seeing where they overlapped. He worked on possibilities for the earlier generations while I searched the Rhode Island City Directories. [I LOVE city directories!]
With both of us toiling away and concentrating on specific tasks, we have accomplished much! I started a list of what we still did not know and spent a morning looking for his ancestor's passenger list. He was so excited that I found it. That's so rewarding for me! It was a big missing piece.
His ancestors stayed in England longer than my uncle and his father. We knew they were there at a certain date because they had a child born there. The 1881 and 1891 British census records helped with that. Finally, I found them coming into Boston (not Ellis Island). The passenger list is fairly clear as it is typed. But, some of the places of birth are hand corrected and are very faint. Steve's eyes are younger than mine so I have him working on that.
The adventure continues. Fortunately for us, Steve's mother is still living and is excited by what we have found. He may find out more from his family over Christmas. That will be fun for me.
My aunt and uncle were very special to me and I do this in their memory and to further my ability to be a professional genealogist. The quest continues...
To effectively help someone else out with their family, you have to stay organized and keep communicating. Communication is easy these days but you have to find time to work with each email! I pulled all I knew about this family and put it in a notebook.
I keep an ordinary index card file on each "client" like Steve with the surname, the client's name and contact information and their email. I jot down what they asked in their first email and if they are related to me which ancestor we have in common. In this case, I made a list of the gravestone, places where other family members may be buried and any work I have done previously to this line.
At one time, I taught a workshop on Ellis Island after doing a lot of reading and listening to lectures given by John Coletta and Sharon Carmack. I researched my own family and anyone else that was related to them. That's why I already had a file on my uncle.
I reviewed what I knew about them from the oral interview I took to finding them in cenus records. I sent Steve the Ellis Island Passenger lists I found and we went over them. He questioned, rightly so, the generation above Uncle Jack's father, James William Crompton. It was a wrong guess. Steve worked successfully on creating a tree at Ancestry, adding in his family and mine and seeing where they overlapped. He worked on possibilities for the earlier generations while I searched the Rhode Island City Directories. [I LOVE city directories!]
With both of us toiling away and concentrating on specific tasks, we have accomplished much! I started a list of what we still did not know and spent a morning looking for his ancestor's passenger list. He was so excited that I found it. That's so rewarding for me! It was a big missing piece.
His ancestors stayed in England longer than my uncle and his father. We knew they were there at a certain date because they had a child born there. The 1881 and 1891 British census records helped with that. Finally, I found them coming into Boston (not Ellis Island). The passenger list is fairly clear as it is typed. But, some of the places of birth are hand corrected and are very faint. Steve's eyes are younger than mine so I have him working on that.
The adventure continues. Fortunately for us, Steve's mother is still living and is excited by what we have found. He may find out more from his family over Christmas. That will be fun for me.
My aunt and uncle were very special to me and I do this in their memory and to further my ability to be a professional genealogist. The quest continues...
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Crompton Christmas Adventure Post 1
On December 5, I started an adventure in genealogy research. Since joining the APG, I have accomplished much in the way of thinking about myself as a genealogical researcher with a specialty in technology. Joining the Genea-Bloggers group at Facebook, becoming a Graveyard Rabbit and generally organizing my personal research and learning in this field has helped me define my goals.
In my email inbox, popped an email from Steve, who is a Crompton descendant. He found this gravestone in my Flickr account, labeled "Uncle Jack and Aunt Annie" and a few photos that I have there some from my personal collection, some donated by Aiken family members and some donated to my hopefully growing photos of Victor Cleansing Co.
Steve inquired about Uncle Jack (who was my uncle and godparent with his wife Annie) and if I knew anything about this family named Crompton. [Remember this is NOT a blood relationship, it is Jack's wife who is my father's sister.]
What a December collaboration we have had! I have learned so much and I'd like to share the process and why it is meaningful to me over a few blog posts.
Remember, it starts with this gravestone....
In my email inbox, popped an email from Steve, who is a Crompton descendant. He found this gravestone in my Flickr account, labeled "Uncle Jack and Aunt Annie" and a few photos that I have there some from my personal collection, some donated by Aiken family members and some donated to my hopefully growing photos of Victor Cleansing Co.
Steve inquired about Uncle Jack (who was my uncle and godparent with his wife Annie) and if I knew anything about this family named Crompton. [Remember this is NOT a blood relationship, it is Jack's wife who is my father's sister.]
What a December collaboration we have had! I have learned so much and I'd like to share the process and why it is meaningful to me over a few blog posts.
Remember, it starts with this gravestone....
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