Immigrant Ship
From the piles of papers I’ve accumulated in my genealogy research I am now compiling a list of my immigrant ancestors who came to America – who, when, what year, etc.
Following is my draft so far: Sorry, I’m having trouble copying the Word document
The Man Who Stole Himself, The Slave Odyssey of Hans Jonathan.
A most interesting book for anyone who wants to learn more about genealogy, the history of slavery and slave relations and freedom. Hans Jonathan was born to a slave mother in St Croix in the West Indies. He was transported to Copenhagen and later escaped to Iceland. And the tale goes on from there to trace his descendants in Iceland and North America. A powerful piece of research, which is still ongoing.
My paternal grandfather Major Charles Dana Miller – this is the man my grandmother Mary Elizabeth Murdock married in 1882. He fought in the Civil War – Mary Elizabeth Murdock was born in 1863. So the man who was to be my grandfather was a soldier fighting in the Civil War when my grandmother was born.
Mary married a man many years her senior. How did this come about? Family rumor has it that she went West in 1880 from Crown Point New York to Mt. Vernon Ohio to look after Charles’s young children after their mother died.
Mary Elizabeth Murdock, 1882 (?)
Charles was born in 1836. So he was 27 years older than Mary. He was a widower with 2 children. They married in Chicago in November 1882.
Questions – how did this sequence of events happen?
Well, Mary went West shortly after her own mother died and also her younger sister. A time of sorrow and upset. Mary had recently graduated from Albany Normal School (State Teachers College) – so she was a qualified teacher.
But my research in ancestry.com reveals that when Charles’ wife died the children were young teens, age 14 and 13, not infants needing a carer. So if she went West to be a carer she would have been more of a housekeeper than a nanny, and possibly a tutor for the children.
And furthermore, there were Murdocks who had previously migrated from Crown Point New York to Mt Vernon Ohio.
A most interesting read – To the Edge of the World, the story of the Trans-Siberian Express, the World’s Greatest Railroad by Christian Wolmar
This is All Saints Church in England where my 9X Great Grandparents were married in 1619. They emigrated to North America in 1623 on the ship “Anne & Little James”. They were early settlers in Plymouth Colony.
Very appropriate reading at this point in time in our country.
How to pass time – I read this book to the end, not realizing noon came and went and it is now 1:30 Wicked Puritans of Essex County
I had planned to spend the morning writing Christmas cards. I wrote one before I took a break and picked up this book.
