This person is my { } great grandparent or

Will Miller b. 1850

/ Kirstin Miller

Will Miller 3rd great uncle on RootsMagic tree

Miller, William

Will Miller, a public photo shared on Ancestry

Will was born February 2, 1850 in Elkhart, Indiana, the 8th of 10 children of Jacob and Sarah Davis Miller. On the 1850 census, the Miller family was living on a farm, Will was just born. The 1860 census shows Sarah as a widow with her youngest 6 children living with her, an older daughter has married and moved to Iowa. By 1870 William was in Black Hawk County, Iowa with his mom and siblings. Will worked on a farm, was 20 years old and attended school sometime during the year. In 1880 Will lived with his mom age 66 and his niece Ellen Mitchell age 21. The next record for Will is not until 1920 when he was in Seattle Washington, 70 years old, a night watchman.

This move across the country seems a stretch but a residence source and then a death record in Seattle in 1930 confirm his move to the west coast. Will was born during the creation of the western states. When he lived in Iowa in 1870 the state was 20 years old. When he was in Seattle, Washington the state was about 20 years old with a population of 300,000. If his missing years 30 from 1890 to 1920 were spent moving west, he saw the country created and maybe lived in new states and kept moving further west.

Will didn’t marry and lived to age 80, he died in 1930. He died of heart disease his parent’s names are on his death record and he was cremated.

Sources

Martin Roose b. 1891

/ Kirstin Miller

Martin Roose great uncle on RootsMagic tree.

Martin Roose was named after his grandpa Martin Wisbar and born on July 14 1891, the 2nd of 7 children of Johann and Lena Wisbar Roose. Martin’s older brother was George Roose, dad of Stanley Roose, Stanley and Martin shared a birthday. George, Martin and siblings grew up on their family farm, with their St Bernard dog Watch, in Jackson Township, Butler County, Iowa.

On June 12, 1917 Martin married Lillian Sinram. They had a daughter, Leona, in 1918 and a son, Harlan, in 1919, both children died young. Two daughters were born in 1923 and 1931. Their dad bought them a pony in 1936, “Dorothy and Margery Roose are the proud owners of a pony purchased Saturday by their father, Martin Roose for their pleasure and enjoyment.”

The 1930 census shows Martin, sister Minnie Roose Hahn, sister Mattie Roose Harms and brother George, all neighbors in Jackson township ‘1 mile north of primary 10’. Martin is No. 51, Minnie 52, George 54 and Mattie 55.

In 1939 youngest brother Joe Roose held a cornhusking contest on his farm. Martin, Joe and George Roose all competed in the contest, a man from Parkersburg won, “husked a net load of 1020 pounds of corn during the 80 minutes”.

Martin died in Clarksville November 16, 1950 age 59. He had heart trouble for a few years, cause of death was a heart attack. Both Martin and Lillian Sinram Roose are buried at Lynwood Cemetery in Clarksville, Iowa.

Roose, Martin 1929 Hart Parr tractor

1929 Hart Parr tractor

1929 Hart Carr tractor in full color

1929 Hart Carr tractor in full color

In 1989 Martin was in the Clarksville newspaper when his 1929 Hart Parr tractor was featured at the Cedar Falls Threshers Reunion. HIs daughter Dorothy and her husband kept the tractor then sold it, the new owner completely restored it. Black and white photo is from the 1989 Clarksville Star newspaper, a copy, the color photo is from a website, not Martin’s actual tractor but a similar model.

Sources

Rebecca Gaines b. 1688

/ Kirstin Miller

Rebecca Gaines 8th great grandma on RootsMagic tree.

Rebecca was born in Connecticut in 1688 or so, one of 10 children of Samuel and Anna Burnham Gaines. On August 1, 1704 Rebecca married Samuel Risley in Hartford, Connecticut where they set up a home. Around 1710 Rebecca’s mom deeded land to Rebecca’s husband, “Anna Gaines of Hartford, widow, for 30 shillings, conveys to her son-in-law, Samuel Risley of Hartford, all her right and interest in land formerly sold to her father, Thomas Burnham, late of Hartford, by the Indian sachem Totonimo, which lands are undivided among the children of Thomas Burnham, [Signed] Anna Gaines, her mark..

Rebecca was a widow in 1752. In her husband’s will, “I give and bequeath to my Beloved Wife Rebecca one hundred and fifty pounds out of my moveable Estate old Tennor and also ye free use and improvement of ye one half of my dwelling house and cellar and three acres of land by said house as long as she shall Remain my widow.”

There’s no date, no record for Rebecca’s death and her burial place is unknown. She was a widow at 68, probably died fairly soon after her husband. He has a headstone at Old Eastbury Cemetery in Glastonbury. Rebecca is probably right by him.

Sources

Ann Borodell b. 1615

/ Kirstin Miller

Ann Borodell 9th great grandma on RootsMagic tree

Ann was born in Cork, Ireland on May 20, 1615. Her dad John Borodell was a land owner, her mom is unknown. Ann married George Denison of England in abut 1645. There is a story of how George and Ann met, published in several sources. George had sailed to America with his family at age 11, met and married his first wife, she died within a few years, he was heartbroken, returned to England to fight in the English Civil War, was injured in the Battle of Naseby, on June 14, 1645 and sent to John Borodell’s home to recover. John’s daughter Ann nursed George back to health, they fell in love, married and sailed to America. George and Ann lived in Stonington then Mystic, Connecticut and were described as “remarkable for magnificent personal appearance, and for force of mind and character”.

  • Ann Borodell image at FindaGrave memorial

Ann was a widow in 1695. From her husband’s will, “First I give and bequeath unto my dear and loving wife Ann Denison, my new mansion place, to wit the house we live in, the barns and buildings, the orchards, and the whole tract of land, and improvements thereon, as far as Mistuxet, eastward, and as it is bounded upon record South, West and North, … all the household stuff that was, and is, properly belonging unto us … to be wholly at her disposal, to bequeath to whom she pleaseth, at her death”.

There’s a Denison Homestead Museum and a Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center on the grounds in Mystic, CT. The house is not the 1663 original that George and Ann built. That house burned down, another was built on the land and was in the Denison family for generations.

Sources

Arabella, How unevenly the world is divided

/ Kirstin Miller

This book, The burying place of Governor Arnold by Alice Brayton, I found  while researching Christiana Peake who married William Arnold. Benedict Arnold, the Governor was their son. Alice Brayton purchased land that was/is the Governor Benedict Arnold Graveyard in Newport Rhode, Island and she set the cemetery’s restoration in motion then wrote the book, documenting “the establishment, destruction, and restoration of the Burying Place of Benedict Arnold, first Governor of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations”. The book contains thousands of small stories and facts. 

One story is Arabella Cowley’s, great-great-granddaughter of Governor Arnold and Damaris. Arabella’s mom Mary Cowley married Mr. Sweet, then Joseph Cowley, they had 3 daughters and a son. One daughter Elizabeth Sweet was blessed with four husbands, and beauty. Half sister Arabella Cowley, as plain as Elizabeth was beautiful said to Elizabeth, “How unevenly the world is divided; you have had four husbands, I have had none.”

The gravestone photo is in the book at HathiTrust.

Entje Frerichs b. 1871

/ Kirstin Miller

Entje Frerichs 3rd great aunt on RootsMagic tree.
Entje was born March 26, 1871 in Aurich Lower Saxony Germany also called East Frisia, Ostfriesland, Germany. She was the 4th of 5 children of Casjen and Kunna. Entje was 12 when she and her family sailed on the ship America, to America. They landed in Baltimore on October 10, 1883 and went straight to Iowa.
In 1890 in Parkersburg, Iowa, Entje and her sister Hilka were confirmed at Ebenezer Lutheran Church in Butler Center, Iowa. On March 12,1891 Entje married John Henrichs, His family was also from Germany, and Entje’s brother Enno married John’s sister Antje. Entje and John farmed in Jefferson Township near Butler Center and Ebenezer Lutheran Church, both the church and town are no longer around. Entje and John had 5 children. A daughter was named Kunna after Entje’s mom. All were baptized in the Ebenezer Lutheran Church. Kunna’s baptism record and Entje’s confirmation record are mix of written German and English words.

  • Entje and Hilka Frerichs confirmanden!!
  • Kunna Henrichs 1892 baptism

The Ebenezer Lutheran Church congregation talked through the years about which language to use in church services. In 1921 they voted for German language services, by 1930 services were alternate Sundays one in German, one in English. A pastor resigned: he’d been a pastor for 40 years, he spoke both High and Low German, but didn’t speak much English. By 1940 the church held one German service and two English services.
Entje died at age 65 and is buried at Butler Center Cemetery with her husband. They have a large Hinrichs [Henrichs] stone and a smaller Mother and Father stone. Entje’s 1936 obituary in the Clarksville (Iowa) Star newspaper included her husband, 2 sons, 3 daughters and 14 grandkids.

Sources

  • U.S. Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Church Records, 1781-1969. Congregational Records Iowa Parkersburg Bethel page 10 image 16 of 173. Ancestry . com
  • U.S., Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, Records, 1875-1940. Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, Iowa Parkersburg Bethel page 60 image 35 of 298. Ancestry . com
  • Clarksville (Iowa) Star, 1872-2017, 1936 Jul 2 page 1 of 8 column 4 top.
  • Find a Grave memorial 111232991 

William Holdridge b. 1610

/ Kirstin Miller

William Holdridge 11th great grandpa on RootsMagic tree

William Holdred or Holdridge was born in London, England in 1610. In 1635 he sailed on the Elizabeth to America. He lived in Ipswich until 1640 when he married Isabelle, last name unknown, and they moved to Salisbury, Massachusetts. He was in Haverhill, MA in 1650, and Exeter, New Hampshire by 1671. William was a tanner, he turned animal skins into leather. He was also a planter, landowner, farmer. He and Isabelle had 9 children. His life story is big with lots of movement, land deeds, purchases and sales, appearances in court for different reasons some good some not so good.

  • 1635 Wm Holdred age 25, a tanner


Most fascinating is his parish in London, St Alphage, built in the 1100s. The parish was built right on the London Wall, a defensive wall built by Romans between 190 and 225 in Roman Britain. Through the centuries St Alphage changed names, was built up and torn down, damaged in WW1 and WW2 and now the remaining ruins are in between two modern concrete, steel and glass office buildings. In 2018 the ruins were opened to the public with new garden areas and walkways: St Alphage Garden.

  • St Alphage Garden

Sources

Richard Mockford b. 1802

/ Kirstin Miller

Richard Mockford 4th great grandpa on RootsMagic tree.

Richard Mockford was born June 1, 1802 in Brighton, Sussex, England. In Brighton on February 13, 1830 Richard, a bachelor  married Elizabeth Green, a spinster. Elizabeth and Richard had 8 children. The Mockford family lived in Brighton, Sussex, then Burdock, Cornwall, England. On the England  1851 and 1861 censuses Richard was a miller.  

By 1863 Richard and his wife were living in New York state. They joined their sons Henry and William who migrated earlier. They all settled in western New York, Monroe County, near Rochester on Lake Ontario about 30 miles east of Niagara Falls.
In 1863 Richard was on a New York tax list, “Richard Mockford of Brockport, Retail dealer, 6.67 in taxes”.

A Rochester, NY business directory from 1863 has Richard Mockford listed as a baker and flour broker. The same directory described Monroe County, the towns of Batavia and Brockport, where the Mockfords lived, known for its ‘fine wheat’. Also in the same directory: a House for Idle and Truant Children and the Rochester Home for the Friendless.

Richard died in 1867, his wife Elizabeth lived 10 more years. They both lived to see many grandchildren born in Monroe County, New York including Richard Mockford who made the 1,000 mile journey to Iowa where he married Matilda Flood and they had a child Philippa Mockford, mom of Elizabeth Speedy.

Sources

  • England Sussex parish registers 1538-1910 database. There’s an image, copyrighted and viewable at FamilySearch.org. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-DRP3-Z3B?i=185
  • 1863 U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 page 37 at Ancestry
  • 1851 and 1861 England census databases at FamilySearch.
  • US IRS Tax Assessment Lists 1862-1918 New York District at Ancestry. 

Sarah Bulkeley b. 1640

/ Kirstin Miller

Sarah Bulkeley 8th great grandma on RootsMagic tree

Sarah was born in Concord, Massachusetts in 1640 to Thomas and Sarah Jones Bulkeley. Both grandpas were pastors, VIPs of their time, their writings, lives, arrival, all documented in detail. In 1640s Concord there was trouble, disagreements about religion, Sarah’s grandpas were on opposite sides. Sarah’s family was one of several that followed Pastor Jones and joined Pastors Davenport and Eaton in New Haven, Connecticut. Sarah’s dad Thomas was in his dad Peter’s will so even though Thomas chose the Jones side instead of the Bulkeley side he was still family. Sarah married Eleazer Brown in 1663, they had 7 children and stayed in New Haven. Sarah’s mom died in 1683, her will left books to her daughter Sarah: Graham’s Works 3 vols. Walker’s God’s Providence, and A View of False Christianity.
Sarah and Eleazer were most likely buried in what is no the Center Church on the Green Churchyard. This burial place has changed over the years, their headstones aren’t there anymore. There’s a memorial plaque at the site. “From the Settlement of New Haven 1638 to 1796 the adjoining ground was occupied as a common place of burial the a new burying ground was opened and divided into family lots and city squares. In 1813 this church was placed over the monuments of several whose names are engraved on tablets in the vestibule. In 1821 the remaining monuments were by consent of survivors and under direction of the city removed to the new ground. In a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trump.(et) The dead shall be raised”.  The current church has a crypt, in the basement burials and headstones and they offer tours and a few photos here: https://centerchurchonthegreen.org/history/crypt/ .

Sources

Leydia Connable b. 1795

/ Kirstin Miller

Leydia Connable 4th great grandma on RootsMagic tree.
Leydia Connable was born in Bernardston, Massachusetts on April 23 1795. She was the third of John and Sarah Dewey Connable’s 8 kids. She also had 5 siblings from her dad’s first marriage. Leydia married Obed Gaines in 1815. They have 2 marriage records. One dated August 10 and another dated September 23. The August record was probably an ‘intention of marriage’.

By 1820 Leydia and Obed had 5 kids, 3 of them triplets. So Leydia was caring for 3 infants, a 2 year old and a 4 year old- all at the same time! The 1820, 1840 and 1850 censuses show Leydia and family in Cazenovia, New York, then Steuben, Indiana, then Van Buren, Indiana. Leydia’s 6th child William Gaines, great grandpa of Faber Miller, was in Bremer County, Iowa in 1850. In 1854, probably in August, most likely in a covered wagon with a coupe horses, Leydia, husband and 2 kids made the 500 mile trip to Iowa. They would have traveled 10-20 miles per day probably for about 37 days. When the family entered Iowa they’d traveled 1,200 miles and 6 states.

Connable, Leydia d.1854

Headstone Leydia wife of Obid Gaines

A Connable family history book tells that Leydia died of cholera October 23, 1854. Her death date is verified in Iowa Cemetery Records. She is buried in Old Barclay Cemetery near Dunkerton, Iowa. Leydia is the only Gaines buried in the cemetery. Her family would have arranged a funeral, buried Lydia, then kept moving on to son William’s location about 50 mile north near Plainfield, Iowa. When Leydia was buried in 1854 Iowa was 80% native prairie. Barclay township was founded in August 1854, so the town was just beginning when Leydia was buried there.