Book Shelf: Letters from Alabama on various subjects

My paternal fourth great grandfather Henry Avery's name appears on a "List of Letters, 9 Jan 1819, remaining in Huntsville Post Office" so my eye was caught by Donna R. Causey of Alabama Pioneers recent reference to Anne Royall's description of "some settlers of Huntsville & Madison County, Alabama," in her 1830 book Letters from Alabama.

[Book digitized by Google from the library of New York Public Library and uploaded to the Internet Archive by user tpb.]

I've already posted about Phillip Henry Gosse's eyewitness account of life in Alabama in 1838 in his book with the same name and now I'm looking forward to reading what Mrs. Royall had to say about the state.

[Alabama. Drawn and Published by F. Lucas Jr. J. Cone, Sc. (1822). Source: David Rumsey Historical Map Collection.]

[Detail of above 1822 map of Alabama, showing location of Huntsville.]

Here's a description of her I found at the Library of Congress's website:

"Early in the 19th century the newspaper Paul Pry dedicated itself to exposing political corruption and religious fraud. It was edited by the audacious Anne Newport Royall at a time when few women were newspaper editors and even fewer were willing to take on the establishment. 

The Library's collection of the works of Royall include nine volumes of travel books, one novel and two newspapers that together span more than 30 years -- from Presidents Monroe to Pierce. Royall's travels took her from Louisiana to Maine, and her observations of the people and places she encountered provide a rich glimpse into antebellum America. As the self-appointed guardian of democracy, Royall exposed graft and corruption wherever she went. Her boldness and tenacity were remarkable in an era when society was obsessed with the trappings of gentility."

© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Family Friday: Slater

The handsome fellow posed here with my birth mother Alta Mae Slater Norville is Maximilian, also known as Max, who was a member of her brother James's family. Behind them you can catch a glimpse of Cousin Susan heading for the sliding glass door.

[Courtesy of Olive Slater-Kennedy]

Apparently Alta's husband Pete took this photo with his "secret lapel camera" on a Christmas morning in about 1959.



© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Some Notes on Early Burnights from New Jersey

I continue to be stumped by the origins of my 5th great grandfather, Jeremiah Burnight (1779-1839).  The family story has been that he immigrated from the "highlands of Scotland" about 1799/1800, arrived first in New Jersey, and then went across the Delaware River to Delaware/Chester County, Pennsylvania.

I have not found any immigration/naturalization record for Jeremiah in the time and place he was supposed to have arrived in the United States.  The place in the federal censuses (1820: "Foreigners not naturalized", and 1830: "ALIENS—Foreigners not naturalized"), were left blank, indicating that he had either naturalized or simply wasn't foreign-born in the first place.

Only one of his children, Fletcher Burnight (1820-1906), can be traced to the 1880 Census, where parent's origins are first answered, and he had his father Jeremiah from New Jersey.

And then, I find a number of Burnight's on Ancestry in Cumberland County, New Jersey, at least as early as 1793:

There is a Lewis Worrell in the 1793 tax list for Maurice River.  I don't know who this is, but I do know that Jeremiah married Phoebe Worrall from Chester/Delaware County, Pennsylvania.  Is Lewis related to Phoebe, and maybe this is how she met Jeremiah?  There are more questions than answers.

There is a Joseph Burnight who had an inventory taken about 1826 in Cumberland County, so this could be the same man as above.  Furthermore, I find a John Burnight who has Joseph Burnight as father:

John Burnight, laborer, (b abt 1811-18 Jan 1857), abt 46
born in Cumberland County, New Jersey
died in Millville, Cumberland, New Jersey
father: Joseph Burnight
mother: Rachel Burnight

It is possible that this Joseph Burnight is the same person as Joseph*Burr, taxed in 1781 in the same place, pushing back the possible Burnight inhabitation in the area even earlier:
Name: Joseph* Burr
State: NJ
County: Cumberland County
Township: Maurice River Township
Year: 1781
Record Type: January Tax List August Tax List
Page: 003
Database: NJ Tax Lists Index 1772-1822


I also find a Peter, Jas (James?), and Wm (William) Burnight who were born in the late 1700's/early 1800's and who died in Cumberland County, New Jersey, and are possibly related to the above-mentioned men.

Peter Burnight (b abt 1792-22 Jun 1871), abt 79
born in Cumberland County, New Jersey
died in Hopewell Township, Cumberland, New Jersey

Jas. Burnight, laborer, (b abt 1796-25 Dec 1879), about 83
born in New Jersey
died in Towne [Downe Township], Cumberland, New Jersey
parents born in the US

Wm. Burnight, widowed, (b abt 1816-8 Oct 1893), about 77
born in the United States
died in Lawrence Township, Cumberland, New Jersey
parents born in the United States

A number of people descend from these Burnight lines, as evidenced a look around Ancestry trees.   Unfortunately, none of those trees provide any more leads, beside an alternative spelling, "Burneitt".  It's not clear to me that any of the owners of these trees have done their DNA tests.

I feel like the evidence is leading to Jeremiah Burnight being from New Jersey, or possibly was born in Scotland and immigrated at an early age to the United States.













© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

"For Fifty Years She was Faithful"

Philadelphia Inquirer
7 Dec 1900
page 5


For Fifty Years She was Faithful

Death of Miss Elizabeth Foster Recalls the Tragedy of her Early Life

With the death on December 3 of Miss Elizabeth Foster, who resided at 1312 Ritner street, a fragment of hope, cherished for over fifty years, also died.  For in her heart alone lived the hope of seeing again her betrothed, who more than a half century ago sailed on an ocean voyage never to return.

Miss Foster was the daughter of Captain Daniel Foster, the master of one of the early clipper ships.  She was an acknowledged belle of the period, and was betrothed to John Cantrell, the first mate of a big sailing ship.  On a voyage to South America, which he had determined would be his last, his ship was struck by a heavy storm and sunk off Cape Hatteras.  None of the crew was ever heard of again.  But year after year the bride-to-be hoped against hope for his return.  During the Civil War she was among the most active in relief work.  She was also prominent in church circles.  Her funeral occurred yesterday afternoon.

Elizabeth was a granddaughter of Mary Gwinnup, through Mary's second husband Antonio Oneto.

My 2nd great grandfather James Monroe Hartley was a grandson of Mary Gwinnup, through Mary's third husband Solomon Joseph Hartley (1775-1815).

This is the obituary I found in the Philadelphia Inquirer for my 1st cousin 4x's removed, Elizabeth "Lizzie" A Foster (1828-1900).

From the records I found on her it seemed she lived most of her life in Philadelphia, and lived with her parents and family, and worked as a seamstress.  According to her death certificate she died of "general debility."  I don't know who wrote this obituary, possibly her younger sister Mary G (Foster) Flint (1832-1905) or brother-in-law, William Flint (1830-1908), a book publisher, or even maybe an unnamed friend.

I am assuming her long-lost beloved John Cantrell died in the 1840's, as there are a few different newspaper reports of lost ships off Cape Hatteras in that time, and that would make the 1900 "more than half a century ago" qualification.

Cape Hatteras, at the bottom of the closeup, is part of the "Graveyard of the Atlantic," and area in the outer banks of North Carolina.  Image taken from the blog post "Ghostship Off The Outer Banks" at Never Stop Learning by Ken Harbit (Pogi).

I found a possible lead for this John Cantrell in an 1823 "Proof of Citizenship Used to Apply for Seamen's Certificates for the Port of Philadelphia" for a John A Cantrell, b 1804 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who was witnessed by Frederick Wacker.  This would make him 24 years Elizabeth's senior, so I'm not sure it is the right guy, plus there is a "John A Cantrell" in early 1840s city directories that indicate he was a druggist.  Maybe Elizabeth John Cantrell was this guy's son?




© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Tuesday's Rant: Ancestry, Get a Chromosome Browser Already!

Come ON.

The potential for finding connections is tremendous due to their large database of DNA testers and trees, but for some reason the chromosome browser remains elusive.

Why?

Now, you can actually see how much total DNA in centimorgans across 1 or more segments you share with any cousin match:

What exactly am I supposed to do with this info?

But so what??  Shouldn't you see WHERE you match??



So, what can you do now on AncestryDNA?

You can search your cousin matches by last name and/or location:

Actually, this is a great function.  I wish it would allow custom locations for the search (you have to use whatever is in the preset locations, and not locations actually that have been added by users to their trees), but otherwise it is very handy.

Since 2014 Ancestry has provided "DNA Circles," which shows how many people have trees and shared DNA around certain of your own ancesters:

These are basically "confirmed" matches, although if everyone is claiming the wrong ancestor it can be wrong on that level, but this shows not only your cousin matches with ancestor hints, but also people that your cousins might match up with that you don't have on your cousin list directly.  SERIOUSLY, I could really use a chromosome browser with this one--so I could start my chromosome mapping in earnest.  Arghhhh.

Since 2015, Ancestry has provided "New Ancestor Discoveries," which shows people that are not on your tree but might be related since you match so many other people who do have them as ancestors:

I'm related to people who claim these people as ancestors.  Gee, I sure could use a chromosome browser to analyze these!

Last week "AncestryDNA’s Cutting-Edge Science Gets Even Sharper" apparently applied refinements to all the cousin matches, a move which I am agnostic about, but has upset a lot of people (most due to lost cousin matches, which at least can be downloaded for now).  I actually would prefer to "lose" matches instead of having too many false ones.


But you know what I really want?  A chromosome browser on Ancestry!

Why does this have to be like squeezing blood from a stone?  I know Ancestry has smart people doing really interesting stuff with the DNA, but why not a chromosome browser?

Yes, I'm on GEDmatch, which is insanely brilliant.
I've transferred my DNA to Family Tree DNA (which has a chromosome browser and a limited amount of trees).
I've transferred my DNA to DNA.LAND, which is limited (but interesting, and free).


But my genealogical tree is on Ancestry, and I have loads of cousin matches on Ancestry.



Ancestry, Get a Chromosome Browser Already!





© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Fantastic Find: "Historical Maps Reveal Much More Than We Think"

This is Google Earth/David Rumsey layer map from 1733: "The first large scale map of North America and the most accurate at the time. It shows the extent of the British, French, and Spanish colonial possessions."  I might take a little tour tonight and see what this old lens on the world might show me about my ancestors back then.  Google Earth Pro offers a few of these layers, you can go to the David Rumsey site and find more maps to overlay on Google Earth.

Ancestry Blog had this nice tidbit today from Pamela Boyer Sayre and Rick Sayre about a few great sources they use for historical maps, and you know I love maps!

Edited to add: I am disappointed that the mapping function on the University of Virginia Census Browser that they recommended isn't working.  Is it just me?




© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Celebrations: Mother's Day

Mother's Day as we know here in the United States is only a little over 100 years old, not becoming nationally celebrated until 1914.*

[Mother's Joy. New York, N. Currier, c1846. Source: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.]

In the badly faded image below taken in about 1918 you can barely make out my maternal grandmother Anna Delilah Webb Slater (1891-1973) on the left, it's easier to see my mother Alta Mae Slater (1917-1986) and great grandmother Rufina Ellen Tomlinson Slater (1863-1943).

[Courtesy of Olive Slater-Kennedy]

The note was added by my grandmother. I'm not sure of the location of Camp Dix, but it certainly isn't the ones in Kentucky or New Jersey.


*You can read more about its history here.


© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.