Great-Great-Great-Grandmother Rachel GRICE: Update

I'm still working through the Weaverthorpe microfilm.  I've already renewed it once and still haven't made it all the way through for the first time!  The film does not have its own index, but the FamilySeach entries online have helped me find some of the entries.  Otherwise, I'm basically reading the entire film page by page.  I've certainly seen films with poorer quality images, but some of this film is very hard going.  So, I'm expecting to renew the film again next week; and, that will keep it at my local FHC indefinitely.  

There are several GRICE entries and I am extracting each one.  I've started to make family group sheets for them all in an attempt to confidently sort out all the Grice's.

The baptism of Rachel Grice

Online, unsourced notes show her birth and/or baptism on 2 June 1816 in Weaverthorpe or West Lutton.  With this film, I now have my own real source for Rachel for a specific event with a specific location!

This image is fairly easy to see on the microfilm reader; my photo here does not do it justice.  Transcription of the entry on a page of baptisms for the Weaverthorpe parish, Yorkshire, in 1816:

June 2 / Rachel Daughter of / John & Sally / Grice / (abode) West Lutton / grocer / (performed by) Abm Ashworth

Perhaps the most significant information here is that specifying an occupation for her father John.  There are clearly two John Grice's in town in this time period and this entry will certainly help correctly determine Rachel's line.

The Marriage of Rachel Grice and Joseph Ethell

Again, all I had here were unsourced notes from other genealogists.  But, now I have this beauty:

I've read about 60 years' worth of Weaverthorpe BMD entries now, and this is the only ETHELL in the lot!  Joseph may have been "of this Parish" at this time, but he was not part of any extended family raised here!  This entry is unusual in Weaverthorpe in that, where only one of the couple signs their own signature, it is usually the groom.  I'm assuming the witness, Charles Grice, is Rachel's older brother, but that could change as I proceed with all the other Grice's!

 Conclusions

• I think I will still need to look at the original parish records, rather than relying only on these Bishop's Transcripts.  The original entries could well have additional or even different information.
• I'm feeling more confident about the potential for keeping the different Grice families straight. I think I am going to be able to present a fairly solid line of evidence to confidently identify Rachel's parents and at least her paternal grandparents.
• I'm still proud that I've stayed focused on Weaverthorpe for several weeks now.  But, I must admit, even with all this success, I am getting bored and am eager to change to researching and writing about something else!

Related Posts

Research Diary - Weaverthorpe, Yorkshire
First Friday Folder - Joseph Ethell & Rachel Grice

Source

Bishop's Transcripts for Weaverthorpe, 1631-1852. Church of England. Parish Church of Weaverthorpe (Yorkshire). FHL # 990,896. Item 3. [There are very few page numbers, but the images are generally in chronological order.]

Elopement of Ben Hegwer & Bertha Carr and Genealogical Kindness

[from the Ely Daily Mining Expositor, 11 September 1912, p. 1]

I treasure this newpaper clipping.  Luckily, the entire, original issue has been handed down.  Otherwise, I doubt if I would have ever looked for an article, let alone found this 4-page newspaper.  The paper is starting to crack, but it does give a legible image from a scan or photo.  Clicking on the image should give you a larger image so that you can easily read all the exciting details of the chase!  My research does verify Bertha's being of legal age.

The family legend was that great-grandfather John Henry CARR sent the sheriff's posse after Ben & Bertha.  I had always assumed it was just a legend, and was very pleasantly surprised to find the newspaper in the things my dad left.  I'm not sure Dad knew he even had this paper. 

John Henry and at least two of his other children were working at the mine in White Pine, near Ely.  Ben worked for the related power company.  [A previous post has a photo of this couple many years later.]  

Other news of the day

Other front page news that day included articles on the rebellion in Mexico, election campaigning, violations of banking law, rebuilding New Orleans, and hostilities in Turkey.  I guess some things never change...

Interestingly (at least to me), there were two more articles about local weddings, and here's where I get to the Genealogical Kindness.  First, the article immediately adjacent to Ben & Bertha's was about the lovely, planned wedding (with breakfast and guests!) of Katherine Graham and Elmer Porter.  Was it just a coincidence that they left on the same train for the same destination as my grandparents?  It could well have been: the train didn't come by daily and Salt Lake is where it went; there weren't that many options.  But they must have all known each other.  Maybe the wedding and departure of the Porter's helped prompt Ben & Bertha to plan the elopement and join the ride?!

I went to ancestry.com and found 5 family trees including the Graham/Porter couple.  None included a marriage date/location nor did they include Katherine's siblings.  So, using ancestry's connection option, I sent brief emails to all 5 tree owners, offering to send a copy of the article.  In just 4 days, I've received replies/requests from 3 of the 5.  I feel very good about sharing this info!

Second, there was a very brief social notice about Louis Cononelos of McGill leaving (on the same train as everyone else mentioned here!) for New York to meet his fiance, Nina Chakopoulou, who was arriving from Athens.  The couple would be married in New York and return to McGill.  I did not find any family trees for this couple, but I posted a comment on their 1920 census record and gave her birth name and the newspaper citation.  I hope that info will help someone someday.

Disclaimer

I subscribe to ancestry.com, but otherwise still have no connection to these companies and receive no special consideration from them.

Note

I have no reason to believe that Elmer Porter is any relation to my own Porter line.

First Friday Folder: Richard ETHELL & Mary BEETHAM

I'm taking it easy this month: I know this is a very thin folder!  I selected this couple because they are (probably? hopefully?) the parents of Joseph ETHELL, the subject of last month's FirstFridayFolder and my recent Weaverthorpe post.  I'm still working on the Weaverthorpe/Helperthorpe microfilm and I just don't want to change gears right now.

The Couple

I am very hesitant to post this information at all: I have no primary sources and there are clearly problems with what I do have. Please do not add this data to your database, but for this discussion, here is what I have right this minute:

Richard ETHELL was born 17 March 1784 in Rillington cum Scampton, Yorkshire and died 18 December 1845 in Low Hutton, Yorkshire. Mary was born 10 September 1774 in New Malton, Yorkshire and died 26 June 1856 in Huttons Ambo, Yorkshire. They were married 23 November 1801 in High Hutton, Yorkshire.

The Problems

Oh, dear, where do I begin?!

• Richard seems a bit young to be getting married and what is the likelihood that a 17-year-old would marry a woman 10 years older than he?
• I have to be very careful about the town names, given the possibility of confusing the script for 'Hutton' versus 'Lutton' or 'Sutton.'
• The first child I have for them, Thomas Beedison ETHELL, was born (or is it a baptism?) before the marriage date and before Richard would have turned 16 years of age.
• I have a number of variant surnames for Mary: Beedam, Beedison, Beetham, Betham.  If the Thomas I just named goes with this couple at all, perhaps Mary was a widow and has another surname all together.
• The biggest problem is my complete lack of anything I can honestly call 'evidence.'  Some of my info is from two family researchers who are generally very thorough, but their conclusions are conflicting and not all their pieces are sourced.  That's why I'm working on their son's generation and reading the Weaverthorpe/Helperthorpe records for my self right now.

The Folder

It's hard to have organizational problems in a folder that only contains a few items, but there were still a couple of things to do.  I had not printed a new family group sheet for 4 years, which isn't so bad I guess since I have not been working on them in that time.  There were two copies of the 1841 census image and no annotation to explain why I had two!  And, neither of them had been entered in my database.

The Good News
The best thing I have going for me here is Richard ETHELL himself. Noted English genealogist, Pauline Litton, is an Ethell/Ithel descendant and has used the family research as examples in her publications and speeches. It is her reputation that gives me confidence that the other two family researchers and I do indeed have the right people and that we just need to tidy up around the edges!  I've seen two of Litton's articles and would like to find more.  Also, she has registered the ETHELL surname at the Guild of One-Name Studies.  What I really need to do is to write to her! And, I'd like to buy her book,too! 

Conclusions
There are certainly problems with my Ethell/Beetham couple, but I can't really do anything here before I thoroughly deal with my Ethell/Grice couple!

It's nice to be able to use the research of others as a help in my genealogy, but my ETHELL line is a good example to show that there can still be conflicts and problems.  Clearly, I still need to find and study the sources and build my own solid evidence trail.

I'm proud of myself for staying focused on Weaverthorpe.  I'll be even more proud if I can stay focused until I've finished the film, analyzed it, and made a thorough plan for what to do next....  

Disclaimers

I have no connection to nor do I receive any special consideration from The Guild of One Name Studies or Litton's Swansong Publications.