Ann Hill Hughes of West Hartlepool, England

     

     Yesterday I pulled the trigger and upgraded my Ancestry membership from US Discovery to the World Explorer plan and I was off and running :-)

     Perhaps the blog on my paternal 3 great grandfather, Samuel Hughes, pushed me onward to find more information on my English roots.  My UK friend, Heather, who I have mentioned countless times on Flipside as my European go to genealogical friend, has been a valuable assistant in piecing my UK family together.  Now I can also begin researching them from here in the US.

St. Peter's Church, Kinver, Staffordshire, England

     Ann Hill Hughes, wife of Samuel, and my paternal 3x great grandmother was born about 1832, the daughter of William Hill and Ann Parry.  Ann Hill and Samuel Hughes married on February 12, 1849  in St. Peter's Church in Kinver, Staffordshire, England.  They relocated to West Hartlepool, England by the 1871 UK census. 

     Untangling the Hughes family in West Hartlepool has been comparable to piecing a puzzle back together.  There are several different Hughes families who made their home in West Hartlepool and I have not been able to determine if they are related generations back.  Then there is the inevitable genealogical issue that the same forenames are found generation after generation.  Fortunately, in my family, some of the members also are referred to by their first and middle names, which is a help.  Although I have several George Henry Hughes' in my line.  My paternal grandfather, my 2x great grandfather, a first cousin 3x removed and several more who I have yet to place on my family tree.  Hopefully having access to the World Explorer and UK census reports will assist in my Hughes detective work.

     The name Ann Hughes is no different....so many to untangle.  The ability to follow UK census reports and also the combination of  the Tees Valley Indexes website and the Durham Records Online have made me almost 100% certain that I have located the death information for my paternal 3x great grandmother.

     Samuel and Ann Hughes were enumerated with one of their married daughters, Anna Marie Hughes Hussey and her family in 1891.  Following Samuel's death in 1895, it appears that Ann continued to stay with the Hussey family as she is enumerated with them in 1901.

1911 United Kingdom Census Report for Ann Hill Hughes

     I already had a copy of the UK BMD index which lists an Ann Hughes, age 80 dying in Hartlepool in April, May or June of 1911.  I was able to locate a 1911 UK census report for Ann Hughes, with the correct birth and number of children information.  She was living at 11 Bowser Street in a 4 room house as an invalid.  A Durham County death record that I found shows that an Ann Hughes on Bowser street died in 1911.  This is the only Ann Hughes to have died in Hartlepool from 1901-1911.

     I am hoping to be able to secure her death record from the Tees Valley Index and also am hoping it might give me the further proof I need to nail this down.  Either listing her deceased husband or having a family member sign the form.

Ann Hill Hughes Death Certificate

     Heather to the rescue.  She reached out to the Hartlepool records office and voila!  As always.....THANK YOU Heather.

     Now I have an exact date of death for my paternal 3x great grandmother.  Ann died at her home, 11 Bowser Street, West Hartlepool, England on June 14, 1911 at eighty years old.  Her son, my paternal 2x great grandfather and Ann's son, George Henry Hughes, was present at his mother's death.  The certificate also lists Samuel Hughes as her deceased husband.  

     Senile decay might be comparable to dementia or Alzheimer disease today and syncope is a loss of consciousness due to a lack of blood flow to the brain--fainting.  The 1911 UK census lists her as an invalid who was living in a 4 room dwelling, alone.  The  kitchen was counted, so there was probably a living room space a bedroom and perhaps a room comparable to a dining room.  

     There certainly were numerous adult children and older grand children living nearby.  I wonder if Hughes family members took turns staying with Ann to assist her with the daily personal and housekeeping duties?  I hope so.  Having a father who had dementia, it would not have been remotely possible, as the disease progressed, for him to have fixed a meal, done any toileting procedures, etc.  In fact, he was not able to transfer by himself from his bed to the floor.  Fortunately, he was properly cared first, in an assisted living facility and finally, in a nursing home.  

     

I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU. All comments are welcome; however, if they are inappropriate, they will not be published.    PLEASE post your e-mail in the comment section if you would like to network about a particular surname or topic. I will capture it for my use only and not include it when I publish your comment.

© 2018, copyright Linda Hughes Hiser



Another Brick Wall Crumbles--Albert Frederick

HAPPY DANCE TIME AGAIN. Down goes another Frederick Brick Wall. This time it is Albert L. Frederick also known as Burt L. Frederick. Yep, I couldn't contain myself...find one Frederick at FamilySearch...had to add another to the search engine.

Albert has been illusive. My mother had no knowledge Albert. Her mother, Albert's sister, simply told my Mom that her brother was dead and had been for some time. I knew he was alive when my great grandmother, Lucinda Orr Frederick died in 1909. In the obituary he was listed as Burt L. Frederick, which lead me to search under that name. I found him on the 1910 Chicago Illinois census.

I have not been able to locate a census report for him for 1900 or 1920. Years back a fellow family researcher sent me a copy of a family reunion booklet that was probably printed in the early 1900's. Albert is listed with a son, Raymond; however, no wife is listed. Raymond Frederick has brought me no leads...there are too many of them to narrow down the search.

The 1910 census did tell me that Alfred (Burt L.) was married twice. His new wife Louise M. (maiden name unknown) and little daughter, Sarah and Burt are living at 5303Dearborn Street in Chicago, Illinois.

Where do I go from here....CHICAGO!!! I have to have those two obituaries.

What I learned from the death information:

Burt L. Frederick

Death Date: June 26, 1924 (NEW INFORMATION)

Death Place: Chicago, Cook County, Illinois (NEW INFORMATION)

Birth Date: July 21, 1871

Birth Place: Columbiana, Ohio (Columbiana County)

Mother: Leucinda Bell (the Bell is NEW to me--Lucinda Bell Orr Frederick)

Father: Alfred Frederick

Occupation: Railroad Man, Yard Master

Spouse: Louise M. Frederick

Burial Date: June 28, 1924 (NEW INFORMATION)

Cemetery: Beverley (NEW INFORMATION)

Thank you Family Search.org.

© 2010, copyright Linda Hughes Hiser

Brick Wall Shattered--Alfred Frederick

     

     Happy Dance and Hallelujah!!! I have been looking for this information for over a decade....the birthplace and death place of my maternal great grandfather, Alfred Frederick. Something so easy has been so mysterious. 

     I have been to the cemetery where Alfred and my great grandmother, Lucinda Orr Frederick are buried. Lucinda was easy....she died in Bellevue, Pennsylvania and I was able to obtain her death certificate and even her obituary on a visit to Bellevue years back. Alfred lived in Bellevue and Avalon, Pennsylvania...small towns outside Pittsburgh...during the later years of his life. There are photos of my Mom as a young child with her maternal grandfather in Avalon. All of his children, except one lived in that area. His oldest son I tracked down to Chicago in 1920. I have checked both Pennsylvania and Ohio death certificates to no avail.     

Tonight, on a whim, I put his name into the Family Search Org. search engine and presto....there before my eyes was his death information. Sure enough, he died in Illinois. The information I found: Alfred Frederick Date of Death: February 9, 1927 Death Place: Highland Park, Lake, Illinois (NEW INFORMATION) Age: 90 Birth Date: May 1, 1837 (we share the same birth date!!!) Birthplace: Washington, Ohio (NEW INFORMATION) **Actually, I think this should be Washingtonville, Salem Township, Columbiana County, Ohio and not Washington** Occupation: Retired Brakeman Residence: Rail Road Men's Home Burial Date: February 12, 1927 (NEW INFORMATION) Burial Place: Columbiana, Ohio 

    Lesson Learned: Keep checking back at Family Search Org. New records are constantly added. Now please excuse me....I have some updating to do on my Family Tree Maker.

Other Blogs on Facebook

-FREDERICK, ALFRED and LUCINDA ORR--Biography

-FREDERICK, ALFRED and LUCINDA ORR--Marriage Record--Fearless Females #4

-FREDERICK, ALFRED and LUCINDA ORR--Tombstone Tuesday

-FREDERICK, ALFRED--Train Accident 77th Carnival of Genealogy

-FREDERICK, ALFRED--Monday Madness

-FREDERICK, ALFRED--Place of Death

-FREDERICK FAMILY--Pittsburgh City Directories

-FREDERICK, LUCINDA  BELL ORR--16th Smile for the Camera--Bling

-FREDERICK, LUCINDA BELL ORR

I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU. All comments are welcome; however, if they are inappropriate, they will not be published.    PLEASE post your e-mail in the comment section if you would like to network about a particular surname or topic. I will capture it for my use only and not include it when I publish your comment.

© 2010, copyright Linda Hughes Hiser

Genealogy Happy Dance--My Stark Family

It's been a couple of months since I was doing the happy dance. Well, let me amend that....the genealogy happy dance. I was doing the summer vacation happy dance during June, July and August.

Last week I received an e-mail from someone who wanted me to have a look at their ancestry site. While I was out noodling around I somehow landed on my cousin Kent's pages. Kent is related through my maternal Grandfather Stark's family.

Charles Edward Stark and his mother, Wilhelmine Schwartz Stark

My fingers were flying over the keys when I saw our great grandmother, Wilhelmine Catherine Schwarz Stark's, profile page. Kent had scanned and uploaded 22 NEW old photos of the Stark family that I had never seen before. Some included my grandfather, Charles Edward Stark, her oldest son.

Kent was kind enough to send me full resolution jpg's of some of the photos for me to enlarge and explore further. Now the challenge will be identification. Are these all Stark family members or might some be from Wilhelmine's Alsace-Lorraine roots or perhaps some neighborhood family friends.

My grandfather, Charles Edward Stark is on the right

Talk about excited!!!!

HAPPY DANCE--Monongalia, West Virginia Marriage Docs on Line

Time for another genealogy Happy Dance for Flipside. I swung by one of my favorite West Virginia websites, the West Virginia Division of Culture and History Vital Research Records Search, and checked on the marriage information and Monongalia County's are posted. I was so excited, I couldn't figure out which surname to plug into the search engine first. So far, the best find is an actual scan of my paternal great grandparents actual marriage license--George Ethelbert VanGilder and Jessica (Jessie) Pool.

The curiosity was the minister--Hough Houston. George VanGilder's maternal grandmother, Sarah Hill's maiden name was Houston. I have a Hoffman Houston in my FTM and he would be a second cousin to George. I went to one of my new best friends--Google Books--and was able to find many resources for Hough, but no where have I found his parent's names. An educated guess is that Hoffman and Hough are one in the same, but I plan to continue my search. Stay tuned, there will be a blog for him in the near future.

I’m “moon walking” to the Genealogy Happy Dance!

A few months ago, while googling a couple of my ancestor’s names, I happened to find the Google book site. And what a grand find it was. New and useful information is to be had in the old books that Google has scanned. I was lucky this time around to have access to the entire book. I have also found that there are times when all you are able to see is what Google refers to as “a snippet”.

Now, I regularly plug in my direct ancestor names just to see what has been added AND this week up came my paternal great grandfather, George Ethelbert VanGilder. Two early 1880 catalogues from West Virginia University had been scanned and added and there he was, part of the student body enrolled in the Preparatory Department for 1881-1882 and 1882-1883.

We have an 1888-1889 autograph album belonging to George VanGilder. Numerous signed pages are addressed to him as “Teacher” and from some of the pages I have determined that he taught at Woodland School #2, north of Morgantown, West Virginia. Not knowing what the educational requirements for a teacher were back in the 1880’s, I was not certain whether or not he took advantage of a college education. Thanks to Google Books, I now know! The VanGilders were residents of Morgantown and lived just up the hill from WVU--an easy walk for my great grandfather.

I have been researching for almost two decades and have spent hours of concentrated time on my direct line. Often I think there is nothing else to find until a name pops up on the screen from a search engine and I’m off happy dancing again.

George Ethelbert VanGilder The Noble Life

A Genealogy Happy Dance--John George Hughes

     I am a day late and a dollar short on this Carnival topic, but have decided to write on it anyway. When I first saw this as a genealogy topic to blog about, I was curious as to what it meant. After reading several blogs, it made sense to me. That feeling of elation a researcher feels when something you have been looking for is found…when your heart stops a beat….oh glory…..eureka! 

     I have welcomed it often over the 15 years of working on my roots. With the computer age of genealogy and all the various documents that are now available on line, the frequency of having a Happy Dance seems to have escalated. 

     My paternal great grandfather, John George Hughes, died relatively young at age 47. The Hughes family was from West Hartlepool, England arriving in the United States in 1906. John worked in the Jones & Laughlin Steel mill on the South Side of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and around 1915 the family moved into a new home in Woodlawn, Pennsylvania. There John was a millwright and foreman working for J & L’s Aliquippa Works.

     Photos of the family from back in the early years in America are precious and rare. Those that I have found are taken on the front steps of 131 Spring Street in Woodlawn. 

     I have photos of my Great Grandmother Hughes, in fact, I knew her. She lived until 1961.  I was fourteen when she died. 

     The mystery is John George Hughes. There were no stories passed down about him and I didn’t have the foresight to ask about him when there were family members alive who would have an answer. 

     He was tall, over 6 foot….like his only child, my grandfather. He opened his home to various family members from England over the years. Hughes family children back in West Hartlepool were named for him. He was asked to stand up for weddings and christenings. I believe Great Grandfather Hughes had a personality similar to my Grandfather Hughes, his son. 

     My grandfather would talk to anyone who passed him on the sidewalk. He invited numerous folks home for dinner, usually unannounced. He had friends everywhere, was high spirited, and always had a good joke and a hearty laugh. The traits had to come from somewhere, and I think he patterned himself from his father, John George Hughes. 

     The Happy Dance moment came a couple of weeks ago. I was doing my usual searching on ancestry.com, decided to put in John George Hughes and up popped something new. It was his application for a passport. I had looked at these applications on ancestry for some other family members and knew that there should be a photo on the second page. With trembling hands I hit the key. And there was my Happy Dance--A new photo of my Great Grandfather staring back at me from the screen. YAHOO

I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU. All comments are welcome; however, if they are inappropriate, they will not be published.    PLEASE post your e-mail in the comment section if you would like to network about a particular surname or topic. I will capture it for my use only and not include it when I publish your comment.

© 2010, copyright Linda Hughes Hiser