Pets I remember

  

Muffin.

 As I searched for earlier pets, or those of ancestors, I did enjoy finding these of the animals (ha all cats) that I've been around in the last, mmm, 20 years.

Panther

Martha's foster cat, I think.

Martha's 3 legged lovely

Ellie in times past...though I fed her just a week or so ago, she remained in hiding most of that time!

Ellie eating her kibble.

Sharing with Saturday's Critters on Elaine's site.

Pets in my family of origin (and others)

For 52 Ancestors, 52 Weeks, suggested meme: "PETS," and Sepia Saturday, suggested meme: "Crawl"

Oh! You mean the pets of my ancestry, or at least sepia photos of early days in my life. OK, I can do something if I search and search...

The Hillyer's of Michigan lived on a farm, and had at least one dog as a pet. This is my ex-hubby's family. I think the dog in the photo with the sailor was named Pete. And the sailor, Louis Hillyer was my ex's grandfather.

Our first pet, Spot. He was just a puppy, but we didn't know about walking him several times a day...vs. the newspaper thing. And my parents wouldn't very well let us go out downstairs on the sidewalk in St. Louis without one of them accompanying us. So we didn't have Spot very long.

We had a big dog, which was supposed to be good with children, but he didn't like being closed up in the apartment while we were at school. So that also didn't last long.

Then we got little calico cat, Jenny, or Jenifer. She was mostly my cat, and we moved to a house by the time she had her one litter of kittens. One of them became my sister's cat Panda. She also had one litter. I don't know what happened to her, but Jenny was with me until I married and moved away leaving her with my parents. My parents didn't believe in doctors, nor veterinarians except to get female cats spayed. So she disappeared many years later, and my parents never said anything about it.

By then I had adopted our first dog, Bingo, a black cocker spaniel, (didn't work out) and then another, a Keeshond, (didn't work out) and then finally cats. I'm just not a dog person. Something about not wanting to go for a walk twice a day, might have something to do with it! I'm a fair weather walker.

But I do have more photos of some cats more recently in my life (mine and others)...to be shown on another blog.

This week's Sepia Saturday

I guess all those little four legged pets were in about the same position as these children.

Also sharing with Saturdays Critters! 

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks prompt this week is Pets. Mine and other's contributions are at FB Generations Cafe' - which I just noticed is a group for members only. Can't say I like that at all!

Next week's pompt is Bald! I have several applicants for that post.

Western New York settlers

The five nations of New York as of the 1650s.

As of 1715 the Tuskarora from North Carolina joined these nations

B

The Six Nations. Because most of these Natives sided with the English, after the Revolution they fled to Canadian areas. Treaties were also signed to allow the American settlers to come and claim the land.

Livingston County was formed out of the larger Ontario County, New York.

Betsy (Elizabeth McNeal Clark) McElhany (1768-1849) and her husband, William McElhany (1766-1815) moved between the birth of their daughter, Jane McElhany in 1794 to Ontario County, NY by the 1810 census. Their first son Matthew William McElhany who was a year older than Jane had also been born back in Dauphin County, PA.  They had their next son, Robert Clark McElhany in 1811.

Ontario county ...

Land-hungry settlers from New England swept into upstate and western New York after the Revolution, as nearly five million acres of new lands were available for purchase since the Iroquois were forced to cede most of their territories to the United States. Four tribes had allied with the British and were mostly resettled in Canada: the Mohawk, Onondaga, Seneca and Cayuga.

Transfer of what is now Ontario County to New York formally took effect in 1789, when native title was extinguished and the county was formally established to govern the lands of the Phelps and Gorham Purchase the year prior. The territory first organized as Ontario County was much larger than at present and ran south from the shore of Lake Ontario. As the area was settled, new counties were organized. SOURCE: Wikipedia

 The 1800 census entry at Ancestry (on my tree) used to say the McElhany's lived in Hartford, Ontario County, NY.  Then I read that their household was listed at the bottom of the page, and the total occupants for Hartford was in the middle of the page, with a line drawn and then the Town of Geneseo's residents were started.  So I've now changed my own direction of research about their new home in NY.

The town [of Geneseo] was established in 1789, before the formation of Livingston County [in which it is now situated]. The settlement of Geneseo by the colonists began shortly after the arrival of James and William Wadsworth in 1790. The brothers came to the Genesee Valley from Connecticut as agents of their uncle, Colonel Jeremiah Wadsworth, to care for and sell the land he had purchased. (Wikipedia)

 
Betsy is on the censuses in Geneseo, Livingston County, NY for 1800, 1810, 1820  and 1830.  In 1818 Betsy's parents (the McNeals) both died in Geneseo, NY, so they had also moved from Pennsylvania.

The town was established in 1789, before the formation of Livingston County. The settlement of Geneseo by the colonists began shortly after the arrival of James and William Wadsworth in 1790.

A year after their third (and last) son was born, the War of 1812 broke out, again against the British.   William McElhany was in "The Pennsylvania -- 22nd Regiment Infantry" (HERE) and he died in 1815 and is buried in Williamsville, NY in a veterans cemetery.

Their oldest son, Matthew (1793-1845) was of age 22 by that time, and he took over the head-of-household for his mother and little brother, and sometimes his sister, Jane.

My cousin, Cheryl Richardson (3rd, 1 time removed) says this about him:

"Matthew was obviously the caregiver of the family.  He never married. He had his mother, Elizabeth and brother Robert living with him on 1820 census;  his mother Elizabeth with him on 1830 census;  his mother, and his sister Jane’s children, Charles, Lucinda and Daniel Booth lived with him on the 1840 census.  Upon his death, in 1845, he willed a portion of his property to Isaac and Jane Booth’s children and his brother Robert and his mother, Elizabeth.  He named his brother Robert as the administrator of his estate."

The McElhanys were in the midst of a geographical area with a spiritual movement known as The Second Great Awakening.

This frontier area was part of the evangelistic activities during the Second Great Awakening of the early 19th century, when Baptist, Methodist and Congregational preachers traveled and organized revivals and camp meetings. In addition, independent sects developed in central and western New York during this period, including the Church of Latter Day Saints and the Shakers.  (Wikepedia)

By the 1840 census Betsy had moved with her son Matthew to Ohio, Sandusky County, and had other relatives around her.  

I found an interesting (but long) video about Livingston County, NY, which is where Geneseo is located.  Beautiful scenery, and historical information.

Elizabeth (Betsy) McNeal Clark McElhany was my 5 times great grandmother.

Sharing this week with Generations Cafe' on Facebook and Sepia Saturday.

Should Be a Movie (Apr. 16-22):

Lancelot Granger (just being named such makes him a good subject of a movie!) was my 8 times great grandfather. My father's mother's family had the Grangers marry the Swaseys, and eventually there was me! His oldest son, John Granger was in my lineage.

Here's the blog I wrote about Lancelot Granger (Jr)  A repost from 2018...

Lancelot Granger's (Jr.) First Home Kent's Island, Newbury, Mss, Built A.D. 1653

Lancelot Granger Jr

1637–1689

Birth 25 JUNE 1637 • Shillington, Bedfordshire, England

Death 3 SEP 1689 • Suffield, Hartford County, Connecticut

Lancelot had a lot of interesting stories told about his life, which must have been handed down through the generations, as he's my 6th great grandfather.  He's also the father of Captain John Grainger.

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Lancelot was kidnapped...

Launcelot was kidnapped at the age of 12 or 14, from his mother (his father being dead) in the "west country" of England, and brought as a cabin boy on shipboard to Plymouth Plantation. There he was appenticed for two years to pay for his passage.

Launcelot's First Home at Kent's Island, Newbury MA was built in 1651. He moved there with his wife in 1653/54. It stood until 1888. Kent's Island is a rocky island of about 200 acres.

[According to James N Granger as reported to him by Sarah Granger Harmon (1731-1830)]. 

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A brief history of ...

Launcelot Granger, the son of Launcelot Granger of Shellington, England, came to America from England about 1648.  He settled in Ipswich, Mass.  It is thought that he returned to his home in England to settle his mother's estate, returning to Newbury with the financial means to marry and build a home.  He then removed to Newbury, Mass. in the Massachusetts Bay colony.  On January 04, 1653/54, Launcelot married Joanna Adams, the daughter of  Puritans, Robert Adams and Eleanor Wilmot Adams.   Launcelot and Joanna lived at Kents Island, Newbury, Mass., where they had eleven children.  These children were John, George, Robert, Elizabeth, Rebecca, Dorothy, Hannah, Samuel, Mary, Abraham and Thomas.

In 1674, they removed to Suffield, Conn., where they were allotted land, living in a house on High Street.  He was land measurer in Suffield for several years, and held other public offices.

In 1676, Launcelot was wounded by the Indians in King Philip's War,  receiving a ball in his leg, which he carried for life.  Launcelot Granger died on September 3, 1689 in Suffield, Conn.

TheGrangerFamily originally shared this on 14 May 2013 to Ancestry

Sources: 
Launcelot Granger of Newbury Mass., and Suffield, Conn., by James N. Granger, 1893 
Documentary History of Suffield.  Second Period, 1682-1715, by Hez. S. Sheldon, 1882 
Chart of Roger Granger's Descendants, H. H. Granger, M. D., January 1, 1907.

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Old Center Cemetery-Suffield, Connecticut

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A second brief history...

Launcelot and Joanna lived in Newbury Mass & Suffield CT .
This is a short version of the story which was passed down through the generations. He was born in England, but may have been of Scottish descent. After his father died, he was kidnapped and taken on a ship bound for Plymouth, MA. where he was made cabin boy. When he arrived in the USA he was sold (apprenticed) for 2 years to pay for his passage. He was about 12 - 14 years old when he was taken.

Once he was released from his service, he made a trip back to England to try to reclaim his inheriatance as he was firstborn. Walking on his way from the ship to his home, he met with theives who attempted to steal what little he had with him. They both had swords. He told them if they intended to rob him they would have to kill him first. He fought them off with his quarter-staff. He killed one and the other ran away. In the next town he confessed to the magistrate, and they released him.

When he arrived at his home he found his younger brother had already claimed his inheritance for himself, and he was not pleased to see Launcelot. He must have returned with some of the fortune though, since when he came back to the USA he was living quite comfortably.

He married a Puritan named Joanna Adams, daughter of Robert Adams. Puritans frowned upon anyone marrying someone like Launcelot who was of a different faith, so he must have been very well to do. They overlooked the fact that a person was not a Puritan if they had riches.

After marrying, Launcelot leased a very desirable property - Kents Island . They had a very nice home there. They lived there for 20 years, from 1654 to 1674, and raised their children there.

Around that time Rev Parker was making life in Newburyport very uncomfortable for anyone who was not a "freeman." Launcelot is believed not to have been a "freeman" since he was not a Puritan, and only Puritans were allowed to be "freemen". That's when they made the move to Suffield, CT, where he was the given the position of Land Measurer.

"Launcelot was a man of great resolution; was of full medium height and stockily built."

Source : Launcelot Granger of Newbury, MA and Suffield, CT, by James Nathaniel Granger (Lockwood and Brainard, 1893).

He was one of the first settlers of Suffield, Ct. and all the Grangers that lived there in the early years were his descendants. One of those descendants was Gideon Granger , who was Postmaster General.
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Excerpt 3: Launcelot Granger of Newbury, Mass., and Suffield, Conn.: A Genealogical History (1893)

Blogger's note:
 According to the Ancestry trees, Lancelot's father, Lancelot Sr, lived till 1687, and his mother lived till 1677.  And Lancelot was the younger son, with his brother Alexander being 7 years older than he was.  So some of the details of these wonderful stories might be a bit of embellishment. 

"Cemetery in Suffield, Mass, where Launcelot and Granger descendants are buried. SDN Marks the general area where Launcelot Granger is believed to have been buried in 1689." I don't know the identity of SDN.

Genealogical and Personal Memoirs Relating to the Families on the States of Masaschusetts
Volume III, pp 2084-

Granger
The earliest mention of the surname Granger in England is in the Roll of Battle Abbey, 1066.  The word Grange is of French origin and was applied in England to the farm house or homestead, and the bailiff who presided over a farm was called Ate Grange, and afterwards, Granger.  There are several crests know to have been borne by the Granger family, the most common being a dexter arm couped and embowed, in hand three wheat ears all proper.  The Grangers of Staffordshire born: a griffin passant; and the Essex family born; a dexter arm bearing a portcullis.
  I.  Launcelot Granger, immigrant ancestor, came from England to New England, was a resident of Ipswich, Massachusetts, in 1648.  There is a tradition conerning him which appears in several diffent branches of the family thus giving the story some measure of probablity.  The story is as follows:  "Launcelot Granger was born in the west of England, and when a lad of twelve or fourteen years of age, he was stolen from his mother (his father being dead), and brought to Plymouth, Masachusetts, where he was sold (apprenticed) to serve two years for his passage.  He had served on ship as a cabin boy.  He afterward married a lady named Adams, and settled east of Boston, where he lived until two children had been born.  Being the eldest of his family, he returned to England to obtain his inheritance.
On the way from the place where he landed to his mother's house, to which he travelled on foot, he had to pass through an uninhabited country, and just before night, stopped at a little cottage.  The old man of the house told him that frequent robberies had been committed on the road a short distance ahead, and advised him to put up for the night.  But, not knowing but what he would be in as much danger at the cottage as on the road and being in haste he determined to proceed.  After he had advanced some distance into the woods he perceived by light of the moon a man step into the road before him and  moved on slowly until a second one joined him.  When he came up to them they demanded his monty.  He told them he had but one crown, which was barely sufficient to pay his expenses to his friends, who lived at some distance.  They, however, told him he must give up his money or they would take his life.  He replied that if they got his money they must fight for it, on which they attacked him with their swords, while he defended himself with his quarter staff.  With the butt end of this he knocked down one and dispatched him and the other ran away.  When he arrived at the next village he made an oath before a magistrate to what he had done, and was suffered to proceed on his journey.  The inhabitants of the village found the man who was slain to be one of their "honest" citizens.
When he arrived at his mother's house he found his younger brother to be in possession of the estate, and very much displeased to see him, and, it is supposed, hired assassins to dispatch him.  He walked out with them under the pretense of viewing hte farm, and when behind a piece of woods, they attacked him with their swords, but he defended himself so manfully with his quarter staff that he killed two of them and the other fled.  He returned and made known what he had done to the magistrates, who upon investigation, acquitted him of all blame.  Meeting, however, with difficulties in obtaining his inheritance, he abandoned it and returned to America.  Launcelot was a man of great resolution, was of full medium height and stockily built.
Launcelot Granger removed from Ipswich to Newbury at the time of his marriage in 1654 and leased the farm of Stephen Kent on Kent's Island.  The site of his house there may still be seen.  The house was torn down in 1884.  About 1674 he removed to Suffield, Connecticut, and on September 14 of that year (1674), received a grant of sixty acres, and forty acres each for his two sons.  He did not settle there permanently, however, until after the Indian hostilities were over, and in 1678 he was living on High Street.  During King Philip's war he lived at the stockade in Westfield.  Rev. Mr. Taylor in a narrative regarding the Indian fight at Westfield, October 27, 1675, says that a Mr. Granger was seriously wounded in the leg.  There is scarcely any doubt that it was Launcelot Granger, as the circumstances is well authenticated by the family.  He lived in Suffield until his death in 1689.  A large maple tree which was planted by him still stands in front of the site of his house, and is known at the present itme as the "Launcelot Granger Tree".  He was a prominent man in the town and served as land measurer for several terms.  He died September 3, 1689, and was buried in the graveyard which was opposite the meeting house on High street.  He married, January 4, 1653-54, Joanna Adams, born in England in 1634, died 1701 in Suffield, daughter of Robert and Eleanor Adams.
Children born at Newbury:
  1. John, born January 15, 1754-55
  2. Thomas; married Mindwell Taylor; died March 14, 1729-30
  3. George, born November 28, 1658; married Lydia Younglove
  4. Robert; died unmarried, August 8, 1709
  5. Mary; married John Burbank, Jr.
  6. Elizabeth, born March 13, 1662; married Vicary Sikes; died March 30, 1692
  7. Dorothy, born February 17, 1665; married Dr. Robert Old
  8. Rebecca; married Joseph Woolcot.; died July 27, 1693
  9. Samuel, born August 2, 1668; married Esther Hanchett; died April 22, 1721
10. Hannah; married Thomas Taylor; died September 9, 1729
11. Abraham, born April 7, 1673; married (1) Hannah Hanchett; (2) Hannah...
"Genealogical and personal memoirs Relating to the families of Boston and Eastern Massachusetts." MaryGraingerHarper http://archive.org/stream/genealogicaland00cuttgoog/genealogicaland00cuttgoog_djvu.txt  

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Some History of the Granger Family

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It reads: THE GRANGER MAPLE. Planted by Launcelot Granger, who died 1689

. "An unremembered Past Broods like a presence 'mid the long gray boughs Of this old tree, which has outlived so long The flitting generations of mankind." 

Planted 1674, it was removed in 1922. Suffield, CT.  It lived 248 Years

Sharing with Sepia Saturday, and Generations Cafe' on Facebook, the site of 52 Ancestors, 52 Weeks.

Does a spinster live in solitude?

I thought a spinster would be someone who lived in solitude, or perhaps she lived with various relatives throughout her life.

So let's explore the life of Lucinda (Cinnie) Booth  (1854-1920), my second great Auntie.
Born in Groesbeck, Limestone County, Texas, on June 8 1954, she was the fourth of six children born to Hannah Conn Booth, second wife of William Lewis Booth. William had a close brother, Charles Marcalus Booth, who had moved with him from NY state to Illinois and then to Texas, but I haven't worked to find many records that connect the families.

 Cinni's youngest sister, the last of Hannah's children, was Anna Booth Attaway, the mother of my two cousins (three times removed) who made hand embroidered and smocked clothes for me and my sister. Here's some info about their lives.

(Above) Hand embroidered blouses by Alice and Gertie Attaway - worn by myself and my little sister, Houston TX,  before we moved to St. Louis that summer.

William Booth had had a first wife, Mary Ann McManus Booth, who left two very young sons when she, as well as her infant daughter, died in 1842.  William married Hannah Conn in Indiana within 7 months.after the loss of Mary Ann. 

Though Cinnie great up in a large family in Hillsboro TX, she was the daughter who didn't marry. Her first entry in a census appears in 1860 when she was 6. Her father's home was the first listed on the census in Hillsboro, TX, and he was an Attorney at Law, with his son Charles studying under him at 20 years old. 

By the 1870 census the household is somewhat smaller, as several of the adult children have married. Cinnie at 15, Charles (30) and Annie (11) are still living in their parent's household. Strangely enough 3 persons are also included, without any last names, John, as laborer, Phillis and their daughter Eliza (10,) as domestic servants. Isn't it likely these are freed slaves? But their racial identifcation is white, and the transcriptionist even called John a lawyer rather than laborer, which the handwriting clearly enough gives.

Isn't it fun to see what happens on census records?

In 1880 for the Hempstead TX census, Cinnie (22) and little sis Annie (18) are in still their parents household. I believe the lawyers came to Hempstead where courts were handling many cases. Charles was married and also a practicing lawyer in Hempstead TX.

My gg-grandfather, Cinnie's elder brother Richard R. Booth had been practicing law also in Hempstead, when he had been killed in 1879. So this census of the WIlliam and Hannah Booth household included his 3 children: Willie 13, Ed 9, and E. A. 7.  Eugenia Almeta Booth was E. A., who became my great grandmother when she married to Charles Herman Miller much later. These grandchildren had lost their mother back in 1875, so they probably had been raised in the William and Hannah Booth household since then.

There were no available 1890 census due to loss to fire.

But Ancestry lists family births and deaths under Cinnie's details. Hannah, her mother died in 1885 back in Hillsboro TX.  Cinnie's half brother, Charles died in 1886.

Her father William Booth died in 1894, in Hillsboro, TX.

 

The William Booth home was still standing in the 1993 when the following photo was taken.

The next census available is 1900, and it finds Lucinda Booth, age 45 as a head of household, living in the Booth family home, 208 N. Waco, in Hillsboro TX, with her nephew Edwin Booth, 29. I go scrambling back to Ancestry to look at her tree. None of her brothers or half brothers had a son, Edwin. Well that's someone I will look for another time!

Interestingly enough, in 1910, there's no listing for 208 N. Waco, but Cinnie (56) is listed as Jinni Booth, a boarder at 206 Waco, living with a family of four with Ray Churchill as the head of the household. His occupation is a laundry marker. I can't find his wife's family which was probably related to her somehow.

No more information is available until the 1920 census, which finds her in Dallas TX. She is listed as Dinni now, (it could have been written Sinni), age 65, and aunt to the family of James O. Wright, 50, a secretary in an oil business. His wife was Ellen L. age 48 and they had 2 children. Who were the Wrights to Cinni?

Uncle Charles (her father's brother) had a daughter named Lucinda Ellen Booth. And she married James O. Wright. Of course she might have changed to her middle name at some time. But they were (at least when the census was taken) the caregivers for Cinni in her old age, after the boarding situation next door to their old home in Hillsboro.

But when she died June 22, 1920 she wasn't in Dallas! She was with her great neice, Allice F. Attaway (my cousin who embroidered my blouses) in El Paso TX. And dear Alice didn't know her year of birth, but knew her birthday, because they had probably just celebrated her 66th on June. 9. Alice was the informant for the death certificate, but also didn't know her grandmother Hannah Booth's name, who had died when she was very young.

From Find-A-Grave: 

"Miss Cinnie Booth was 66 years, 13 days old and a beloved pioneer citizen of Hillsboro. She was born in Grosbeck and moved in early childhood with her parents, Col. Wm L. Booth and wife, Hannah Conn Booth. Cinnie was a cotton buyer for a local firm. She was eulogized by a life-long friend of the family, Captain WM. A. Fields who paid tribute to her noble character. She was buried next to her parents.

She and her father followed the faith of Spiritualism.

She was buried in the Booth family plot in Hillsboro, TX.

A cotton buyer! Well, there's a woman who found something to do with her time. Not very solitary either! 

Sharing with Sepia Saturday, and 52 Ancestors, 52 Weeks on Facebook group, Generations Cafe'.