175 Years Ago: The start of the Thomas family in America

Wait, I thought as I looked at that ship's register transcription on USGenWeb by Pat Thomas, that's 175 years ago! This week! My Thomas ancestors sailed on the Barque Tiberius from Newport (or New Port) Harbor in Wales headed for Baltimore exactly 175 years ago this Sunday. At 109 feet long, it carried 76 passengers and took 46 days to reach Baltimore, Maryland, which they did on 11 Sept 1838.

When I visited Mom last fall we went to the Frostburg Museum in lovely little Frostburg, Allegany, Maryland, and I took a photo of their replica of the ship's passenger list. When I got back home and looked very carefully at it, it jumped to life. Imagine what their journey was like!

Benjamin Thomas, my 3rd great grandfather, head of the family and 45 years old at the sailing, had been recruited out of the coal mines of South Wales by the George's Creek Coal company, which is referenced on the manifest, as you can see below. He came with wife Hannah (Evans), and eight children ranging from an infant, Jane, to four boys who were colliers (William, Benjamin, James, and John) as well as my 2nd great grandmother, Diane (or Diana) age six. Joseph, age three, and Phillip, age two, were also listed. That's a family of 10 people.

George's Creek Coal Company had its headquarters in London and Baltimore and was the owner and operator of their mine in Western Maryland, near Frostburg. They recruited skilled miners from Wales and then paid for their passage with the proviso that the cost was to be deducted from wages. There were 29 "colliers" on that ship and that would mean 29 good and strong men who were immediately available, well trained and experienced, who could go to work in the coal mines. And that strong work force would be tied to the company for however long it took to pay off the cost of the passage.

There were two Thomas families on that ship who came and worked in the mines and prospered. Lewis, Watkins, Reese, two Williams families, two Davis families and a Treasure family were there as well. I'd love to find out more about them all, especially that other Thomas family. Were they related?

The legacy of our Benjamin Thomas is broad and deep, and there are many avid genealogists amongst their descendants. And all of my Thomas cousins are the nicest folks! Benjamin and Hannah would be proud, I think, to know that here we are 175 years later, scattered from coast to coast, all communicating and sharing what we know of them... and wishing we knew much more!

I recently was enticed to find out more about the South Wales coal mines, especially those of the Rhondda Valley, when I came across a web page by one of the descendants of the Lewis family, also on the Barque Tiberius sailing, Debbie Lewis Allen. You can see her blog here. Debbie's posts about the Lewis surname, the preponderance of Welsh surnames amongst African-Americas, and especially the coal region of South Wales got me thinking and googling around. Debbie has some nice information about where her Lewis people lived and maybe worked and I got to thinking that all of the coal mining families who were on the Barque Tiberius were likely recruited out of close-by mines. And, that I should probably know more about where exactly that was if I ever hoped to make any progress in finding locations for my Thomas ancestors. More on that in a later post:)

Here's what Debbie posted about her ancestor on the Tiberius, and note that she has a birthplace for him:
John F. Lewis, Born October 31, 1802 - Died November 7, 1885, He was born in Merthyr-Tidwil Wales.

Hey, what's a "barque" anyway? Off to Google. It's a three masted sailing ship. Interestingly, the barque was also used as a collier or coal ship. Now I'm wondering if the Georges Creek Coal company owned it? The barque was faster and required a smaller crew than other vessels of the day. There were even four-masted barques and they were faster still. San Diego's own Star of India was a full-rigged ship converted into a barque.

Typical three-masted barque.

 

Star of India, the oldest active sailing vessel in the world.

(Both images above, Wikimedia Commons.)

 

So today I'm imagining my Thomas ancestors of 175 years ago, saying their goodbyes to family and friends knowing that they would never see them again. Leaving loved ones behind, that would be the hardest part. Then packing up what they could in trunks, gathering the children, little Diane and baby Jane, too. The older boys hoisting the trunks to start the journey. Did they take a rest in Newport before the journey? I do not know. There is too much that we do not know. But we do know that on the last day of June 1838 the Thomas family sailed out of Newport Harbor set for Baltimore and a brand new life in the coal mines of Western Maryland. And Mom still lives there, and Aunt Betty and Cousin Daniel, and all the rest! Ahhh-mazing!


Here are two other posts about the Thomas Family. This first is mostly about the Barque Tiberius and the second is a Surname Saturday post tracing back from me to this Thomas family.
http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/02/treasure-chest-thursday-barque-tiberius.html
http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/04/surname-saturday-thomas-family-from.html
UPDATE: Next blog post about the Thomas family in America here:
http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/06/more-about-thomas-familys-new-home-in.html

In the Frostburg Museum, The ship's register of the Barque Tiberius!

(Here's a link to the transcribed version of the manifest on the Imigrant Ships Transcribers Guild.)

 

The heading for the ship's register mentioning the George's Creek Coal company.

 

My Thomas ancestors on the ship's list.

The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/06/175-years-ago-start-of-thomas-family-in.html

Surname Saturday: Ann, who married William Price, and that's all we know

I usually enjoy using one of my favorite blogging prompts from GeneaBloggers called Surname Saturday because I get to reacquaint myself with one part of the family tree and cover ground that's both familiar as well as unfamiliar. But this one and ones like it make me pensive and melancholy because my female ancestor, this great grandmother of mine, has no surname. Gotta say, I don't like it one bit.

We're back in the 3rd great grandmothers, having already covered the earlier grandmothers and a bunch of the grandfathers in previous posts. As the title states, we'll be looking at what's known about the wife of William Price, who also brings his own ball of yarn all tangled, when it comes to his pedigree. The man's heritage is not neat and tidy!


1. Diane Kelly Weintraub

2. Francis Patrick Kelly 1916 - 2007
3. Virginia Williams, living and loving it!

6. Cambria Williams 1897 - 1960
7. Emma Susan Whetstone 1897 - 1956

12. Daniel Williams 1852 - 1920
13. Jane Price 1862 - 1939

26. William Price 1829 - 1872
27. Diane Thomas about 1832 - 1871
William Jr. was born in Bedfordshire, England, why we do not know. He died in Aux Sable Township, Grundy County, Illinois. Our working theory is that they went west, possibly mining, and to be with family. He's listed in the 1841 English Census living with his mother, Ann who is a lace maker. In both the 1850 and 1870 US Census he is listed as a miner and then more specifically, a coal miner.
Williams' wife Diane was born in Wales. She died in Mount Savage, Allegany County, Maryland. Mom believes that she traveled back to where family was to have her last child and died in childbirth or shortly thereafter.
They had these children:
William Henry Price 1852 - 1910. William was born in Frostburg, Allegany, MD and died there. He married Julia Elizabeth Koegel.
Benjamin Price 1854 - 1906. He died in Streator IL.He married Hanna "Annie" ?.
Diane Price 1856 - ????. She married Charles Busch and they lived in Brooklyn, Kings, NY, and presumably died there.
13. Jane Price 1862 - 1939. She was born in Mount Savage, Allegany, Maryland and died just up the hill in Frostburg.
Ellen Nellie Price 1864 - ????. She married the musician Buford Alley, born in Indiana.
James H. Price 1856 - 1933. He married Elizabeth Hiller and died in Streator IL.
Mary Price 1869 - ????
Victoria Price 1871 - ????

52. William Price ???? - before 1860
53. Ann (Last Name Unknown) ???? - ????
William was born in Wales and died before 1860 in Annapolis, Maryland. We don't know a thing about Ann. Obviously we need to get going on this couple, and in particular, Ann!
Some preliminary work looks like Ann went to Illinois and that's why her son William went there and died there... but is it the same Ann Price, that's the question?
These are the children we've found so far:
26. William Price 1829 - 1872
John Price 1821 - ????

See what I mean? This line-up leaves me wanting more. It's not so very far back in the records that it won't be there, somewhere, some place. Perhaps the place to start is with the MSA, or Mayland State Archives. They have a nice selection of genealogy resources. So it's back to Maryland again for me!



The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/06/surname-saturday-ann-who-married.html

Surname Saturday: The Thomas Family From Wales

It's off to Wales once again for Surname Saturday, the blogging prompt from GeneaBloggers. We've been to Wales a couple of times before as we explored the roots of the Williams, Price, and James clans before these Thomas folks. Unfortunately for Mom and I the records only go back too short a ways for us, in spite of the old saying that a proper Welshman could recite his ancestry back nine generations. Imagine: if all of our Welshmen could have done so how happy Mom and I would now be!

We're here in the 5th generation back sitting amongst the 2nd great grandmothers.

1. Diane Kelly Weintraub

2. Francis Patrick Kelly 1916 - 2007
3. Virginia Williams, living and loving it!

6. Cambria Williams 1897 - 1960
7. Emma Susan Whetstone 1897 - 1956

12. Daniel Williams 1852 - 1920
13. Jane Price 1862 - 1939

26. William Price 1829 - 1872
27. Diane Thomas about 1832 - 1871
They had these children:
William Henry Price 1852 - 1910.
Benjamin Price 1854 - 1906.
Diane Price 1856 - ????.
13. Jane Price 1862 - 1939.
Ellen Nellie Price 1864 - ????.
James H. Price 1856 - 1933.
Mary Price 1869 - ????
Victoria Price 1871 - ????

54. Benjamin Thomas (1793 - 1846)
55. Hannah Evans (1798- 1868)
Too little is known about this family for our liking. Benjamin Thomas is the founding member of this family and I previously blogged about them all here.
Benjamin and Hannah were born in Wales but we don't know where. They made their way to America in 1838 with the intention that the males work for the George's Creek Coal company. They landed in Baltimore on 11 Sept, 1838 after a voyage of 46 days. Here's the list of their children followed by an image of the  manifest. As you can see there are five able-bodied men willing to go to work as coal miners, or "colliers".
The children are:
John W. Thomas (1817 - ????) Born in South Wales, John married Lucinda Rice on 29 Aug 1846 in Allegany County, Maryland.
Benjamin L. Thomas (1818 - ????) Also born in Wales, Benjamin L. married Catherine Jones on 20 Feb 1840. She also was born in Wales. They both died in Mt. Savage, Allegany, MD.
James Benjamin Thomas (1822 - 1884) Born in Wales. He married Margaret Lewis on 17 June 1840 in Allegany County, MD.
William Benjamin Thomas (1823 - 1885) Born in Wales, he married Elizabeth Lewis, also born in Wales.
27. Diane Thomas (about 1832 - 1871)
Joseph Thomas ( 1835 - 1915) Born in Wales and died in Eckhart, Allegany, MD, he had three wives: Martha Davis, Rebecca Mosser, and Jane Watkins.
Philip Thomas (1836 - 1885) Also born in Wales, he married Ann Davis.
Jane Thomas (1837 b- 1917) Born in Wales, she married Joseph Scott Robertson.
Ann Eliz Thomas (abt. 1839 - ????) Born in Ocean Mines, MD, she married John Howells.
Maria Ellen Thomas (1841 - 1908) Born in Lonaconing, she married John James Anthony.

Well, there you have it. Obviously, Mom and I are not done here! And a new-to-me cousin, Robert, contacted me through Ancestry.com messages and we chatted so now we'll be working on this line together. So much to do, so little time!

Manifest from the Barque Tiberius, landing in Baltimore 11 Sept 1838.

(Photo by me taken in the Frostburg Museum, Frostburg, Allegany, MD, October, 2012.)

 

 

The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/04/surname-saturday-thomas-family-from.html

Sentimental Sunday: I Hardly Know Ya'

 But what were they like?

 

Was watching the live stream from RootsTech online and listening to Ron Tanner's presentation about FamilySearch Family Tree. He said a lot of fascinating things and one of them struck me hard. He said that after four generations no one knows us.

Oh sure, they can research the facts of us, but will they be able to answer that question we've all as family history buffs asked of living relatives: what was he or she like? "He was a tall bear of a man with big strong embracing arms." "She was a small woman who was the strongest person I ever met." "He was ill most of the time, but he had a wickedly good sense of humor. It kept him going." When it all boils down, that's the stuff we, or at least I, want most and is hardest to come by. I'll give up more than a couple of records to hear the answer to that one question: What was he or she like?

While watching RootsTech I was struck by how much emphasis there was on images (photos and video) as well as narrative, the stories. In the past I've heard a lot of folks be dismissive of "soft" information as compared to records. But now it seems the world is balancing out. We want those records but as human beings we need those photos and stories. They warm our hearts and sustain us.

Let's touch our collective toe in the water with my GGF, Daniel Williams (1852 - 1920). He was Mom's father's father and three generations back for me. He died a couple of years after Mom was born, and I'm guessing he held her in his arms. I can feel the soft information slipping away as I try to document his life. He's right there on the cusp and because of him, I get it how exactly people are forgotten by the fourth generation.

Now let's go just one more generation to that elusive and too easily forgotten fourth generation back and the 2nd great grandparents, another way to put it, my grandparent's grandparents. I'll list who is there and what I know about them in the way of soft info. Here's the line up, first with Mom's side and then with Dad's. Maybe some cousin out there will search and find me so we can connect. Maybe they will have a photo. Hey, a girl can hope:)

Here are Mom's people starting with her paternal grandfather, Daniel William's parents:

Thomas Williams (1815 - 1868)
He was a coal miner in Wales and lived in a small market town of Strata Florida, Cardiganshire. We think he died about 1868. He had seven children. What was he like? Probably strong and maybe big because all of his sons were large men. You'd have to be strong to work in a coal mine. No picture of him yet found.

Jane (James) Williams (1815 - ????)
Small, sturdy. Jane was the one who birthed those seven children, kept the house, made do when times were hard in the Welsh mine fields. After Thomas died she immigrated to the US and was in Upstate New York. Where she lived and died is still a mystery to us. But what was she like? In the one photo of her she looks delicate and frail but she's old.

 

 

Daniel William's wife was Jane Price and here are her parents:

 



William Price (1829 - 1872)
William Jr. was born in Bedfordshire, England, and died in Aux Sable Township, Grundy County, Illinois. Our working theory is that they went west, possibly mining, and to be with family. He's listed in the 1841 English Census living with his mother, Ann who is a lace maker. In both the 1850 and 1870 US Census he is listed as a miner and then more specifically, a coal miner.
Here's another coal miner who was likely strong and sturdy. But I still don't know what he was like.

 

Diane Thomas Price (1832 - 1871)

Diane was born in Wales. She died in Mount Savage, Allegany County, Maryland. Mom believes that she traveled back to where family was to have her last child and died in childbirth or shortly thereafter. That's very little to know about a person. And there's no photo of her in our possession so I can't look into her eyes and wish I knew her.

Mom's mother was Susan Whetstone Williams (1897 - 1965). Here are her grandparents.

Joseph Edward Whetstone (1816 - 1997)
We know quite a bit about my grandma Williams' grandparents by comparison to some of the others listed here. There are stories and some photos too. Here's Joseph E, Whatstone who started working as a blacksmith in conjunction with his father in law, Peter Yeast, who owned an roadhouse on the Old Pike going west near Grantsville, Garrett County, Maryland. He later became a stone mason and enjoyed a nice career in that work. Here's his photo. He looks strong and stone masonry was probably work for a very able-bodied man then. But look, he's holding a book. He was literate and my guess is that it's a bible. And look at those eyes!

Sarah Waggoner Whetstone (1825 - 1880)
Sarah was the step-daughter of the roadhouse and inn owner mentioned above, Peter Yeast. We have no photo of her but we do have an amazing letter written by Sarah to her daughter, so I'll post that instead. As you can see, she was literate and that was quite an accomplishment for the time - about 1869 - and place - extreme wilds of Western Maryland. Perhaps it was from her that Mom and I got our love of reading and writing.

Samuel Albert House (1832 - 1917)
We know a lot about Samuel Albert House and you can see it here. He's just that far out of immediate reach but somehow he imposed his presence down through four generations. Maybe you have to be quite the character in order to do that? I feel as though I'd know him if he walked into the room today, and that's saying something.

Mary Elizabeth Farrell (1835 - 1919)
We know about Mary Elizabeth by way of her husband and in many regards she has been defined by him. She had 16 children with him and that couldn't have been easy given his life. Well, at least we have a photo of her, for which I am very glad.

Here's Dad's line up starting with his father's grandparents.

John Kelly (1821 - 1891)
Born in Shannonbridge, Clonmacnoise Parrish, County Offlay, Ireland and died in Eckhart, Allegany County, Maryland. We have no idea why or when he came over . And the only photo we have for him is his grave marker, a lovely Irish cross, in St. Michaels Cemetery, in Frostburg, Allegany County, Maryland. I have no idea what he or his wife were like.

Bridget Cockrane (1830 - 1910)
Bridget married John Kelly on 21 June 1846 in Cumberland, Allegany County, Maryland. We know she was born in Ireland but don't know where. And we don't know when she died or where she's buried. It's a mess. And lastly, very sad, we have no picture of her even though she lived till 1910. Why?

John Eckhart (1831 - 1917)
Mary Myers Eckhart (1837 - 1909)
I think of these two as a couple because the visual I have for them is a couple graphic made by a cousin I found through facebook. I just did a post about them and you can see it here. I know where they lived and what work he did, but other than that, I don't know what they were like.

Dad's mother's grandparents were:

Charles William Zeller ( 1829 - 1901)
We have a nice portrait photo of Charles William and you see it below. There's a very recent post recapping all that's known about him and his wife Anna Mary. But it's not enough. I deduce that he was resourceful and ambitious having brought his candy making skills from Germany then moved his them from the little mountain town of Frostburg in Western Maryland and finally to the metropolis of Chicago where real money was to be made. He does look prosperous in this photo, don't you think?

Anna Mary (possibly Breuning/ Browning/ Bruning) Zeller (1834 - 1906)
Because of the comment to the post mentioned under Charles above, I now want and need to go research Anna Mary! She is probably not the woman I think and now I'm not sure what I think. But never mind because I love a mystery:) Do I know her and what she was like? No way.

When family stories were told, the exotic Zellers often took the spotlight and the couple below were left in the shadows.

Elijah Workman (1816 - 1864)
Nancy Ann Troutman (1826 - 1882)
I know very little about either person of this couple. Both families have long lines that go back to the earliest frontier days in the area now known as Allegany County, Maryland. But personal information that would help a descendant know what they were like? Forget it. A photo? No way. One tiny story? Forget it.

So there you have it. It's sad really, and that's why it's here on Sentimental Sunday. Four generations back and forgotten about. I can do better for them. How are you doing with your fourth generation back? Do you know what they were like?

NOTE: I finished this post Saturday late and checked it out later to edit. Blogger, it seems, had eaten the whole last half of my work here. So if you see something that needs a bit more polish, please have mercy. Sorry.

The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/03/sentimental-sunday-i-hardly-know-ya.html

Talented Tuesday: Mom Sings in a Choir

Last week on Tuesday I continued writing about the musical talent on Mom's side of the family and you can read that post here. Talented Tuesday is a blogging prompt from the fascinating folks at GeneaBloggers, and you can click through and see all about here: Talented Tuesday.

Mom's family is almost entirely Welsh on her Dad's side. Her grand father Daniel Williams (1852 - 1920) was born in Wales and her family attended a church founded by Welshmen, The Congregational Church of Frostburg, Maryland. The original founding documents are mostly in Welsh. They were found in an attic, given to Aunt Betty who is a member there, and she gave them back to the church.

There's Mom in the church choir in the photo below, seated third from the left in the front row. Looks like she was in her teen years. And there's her best friend next to her on the left, and on the end her sister, Dot. Mom liked choir... she said so.

In doing some general background research on the Welsh people who immigrated and landed in upstate New York -- in hopes of understanding enough about them so that I could get a clue and find Daniel's siblings and mother who we have a photo of, taken possibly in the 1890s -- I googled around. What I found was a really nice write up from the Oneida County Historical Society about the Welsh community there. In it was this: "Pomeroy Jones wrote in 1851 that the Welsh are a nation of singers." And I learned about Welsh singing societies and their spring competitions called Eisteffods.

The Welsh immigrants who came to the Frostburg, Maryland area brought this love of music, and particularly singing, with them. Sometimes in the tiniest of details, the entire character of an ancestral line is revealed.

When I look at this photo and then look at the other musical folks in this line in particular, I can feel their love of music... and think it might be part of the Welsh character. How else do you explain that an immigrant coal miner, Daniel Williams, supported his son Joe's interest in music and somehow got him into one of the most prestigious music schools of the day? Amazing!

Thanks to Aunt Betty for this image.

The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/02/talented-tuesday-mom-sings-in-choir.html

Talented Tuesday: Musicians on Mom's Side

Here goes with a try at a different (for me) blogging prompt from the wonderful folks at GeneaBloggers, and this one is Talented Tuesday! As a new-to-me prompt, it gets me thinking along a different track and that's good.

I am drawn to the visual arts and often forget about the substantial musical talent in the family on both sides. I recently blogged about the Zeller Ensemble on Dad's side which you can see here. But Mom has some musicians on her side so let me tell you about them. She played the organ for many years and both of us confess to a liking for the Hammond b: her liking leans to standards and liturgical and mine to Booker T and the MGs.

The first professional musician is Mom's Uncle Joe Williams (1895 - 1948). Uncle Joe, and I've come to think about him this way even though he's my grand uncle, was a musical guy. He studied at the Peabody Institute in Baltimore. I can not imaging the hoops a miner and his son would have had to jump to get him situated in such a prestigious place in the very early 1900s.

Upon graduation he performed professionally in Cumberland and Frostburg, Maryland.  At some point he married Bessie Carwell (1895 - 1918). They were both born and raised in the same community, Ocean Mines, Allegany, Maryland. They had one daughter, Hilda, born 1915. Little Hilda was only 3 years of age when her mother Bessie died. Uncle Joe and Hilda were living with his parents at that point and so Hilda was pretty much raised by her Grandma Williams.

Mom remembers that Hilda had a piano in the home and Mom was a tad jealous at the extravagance and easy access to such an instrument because Mom always wanted to play. Eventually, in the mid 1960s Mom got an organ and studied. She became quite good. Not too long ago that old organ was donated to a local small church and refurbished by them. (A 50 inch TV now occupies the space where the old organ sat in Mom's house.)

Mom also remembers that all of Uncle Joe's brothers went to work in the coal mine where their father, Daniel, was a supervisor. My grand father, Cambria Williams, hated being underground and he especially disliked the cramped quarters and admitted to being a tad claustrophobic. He always loved the great outdoors. Uncle Joe didn't work in the mines because his pursuit was music. The boys always kidded him, "Joe can't do real work because he has to save his hands." In a house with all boys, one can only imagine the ways the boys "tortured" Uncle Joe:)

Uncle Joe played the organ in movie theatres of the day showing silent films. Try a sample here on Amazon. Saw a documentary about the large and complex organs made just for movie theatres and they looked hard to play. Here's a photo of the console of one from Wikimedia Commons, below. I imagine Uncle Joe was respected and admired in a small town environment, and being the man behind the music in the darkness of romance and adventure at the "movin' pitures", a bit envied! After all he got to see every movie for free!

When talkies came out, as Mom says, Uncle Joe taught music where he could and took any work available. He married again to Helen Gillette (1900 - 1989) and had two children, Marshal and Josephine.

Unfortunately, Uncle Joe Williams died in a car crash in 1948, in Mt. Savage, Maryland, coming home from a music lesson.



Mom's Uncle Joe Williams (1895 - 1948)

OK, here's a photo I had to include when talking about the musical people in the family: Buford Alley (1854 - ?). Buford married Ellen Nellie Price Alley (1864 - ?), the daughter of my 2nd great grandfather, William Price (1829 - 1872) and 2nd great grandmother, Diane Thomas Price (1832 - 1871). Have to confess that we don't know too much about this couple and the only reason the photos are here is that they're kinda cool:)

Buford Alley (1854 - ?)

His wife, Ellen Nellie Price Alley (1864 - ?)

The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/01/talented-tuesday-musicians-on-moms-side.html

SNGF: How Popular Was Your Name?

Randy Seaver and his excellent blog, Genea-Musings puts out a challenge each week called Saturday Night Genealogy Fun, or SNGF. I do it whenever time allows and I have the ability to complete the task... which is not too often. This week's challenge is at : http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/11/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-baby-name.html

The challenge directs you to a web site where you can see how popular your own name has been over the years. Go here: http://www.babynamewizard.com/

On Randy's post he gives us his chart, but I can't figure out how to do that and copy it so that it appears in my post here. My screen shot key simply won't cooperate and copy and paste eludes me.

What the chart tells me about my own name is curious. Here are the rankings by year and popularity listed below. Curiously, the chart starts with 1910.

1910     205 on the popularity list
1920     453 Whoops, Diane isn't too popular!
1930     115
1940     22
1950     17
1960     36
1970     123 Looks like the party for naming babies Diane is over!

OK, so I was born in the 1940s. About 10 years before there was song "Diane" that enjoyed popularity. You can read about the songs of that title here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diane_(song)

Mom said that I was named after that song, which she thought was beautiful. She also liked Charmaine and you can read about that here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charmaine_(song) .
I'm glad she picked Diane over Charmaine. She admits that she did not name me after any Dianes on the family tree.

What we both have come to realize is that there are Diane's of many spellings going way back on her family line! My 2nd GGM is Diane Thomas (1832 - 1871). Diane, Diana, and even a Dianah litter Mom's side of the tree.

Diane's meaning - because Randy asked - goes back to Greek mythology and Diana the Huntress, a virginal figure of towering female strength. (No comment.)


The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2012/11/sngf-how-popular-was-your-name_27.html

Ya Never Know Till You Look: Benjamin Thomas (1793 - 1846)

Was working on my tree on Ancestry.com this morning. It's the really short and abbreviated version of the GEDCOM that Mom built (hers with over 60,000 individuals on it!) Specifically, was adding photos to the small handful of ancestors there because I think it's nice when people find old photos of their ancestors, and maybe they didn't know what they looked like or didn't have that particular picture.

So there I was and you know how those little green leaves go wagging around at you... and I started wandering off task. I knew that Benjamin Thomas (Abt. 1793, Wales - 1846 Lonaconing, MD) came over on the Tiberias in 1838 into the port of Baltimore but I personally didn't have a copy of the ship's manifest. And one of those leaves was wagging about that so I had to go check it out.

Let me tell you who Benjamin Thomas is to me. My Mom's Father was Cambria Williams (13 JUL 1897 Ocean Mines MD - 13 SEP 1960, Frostburg MD). Everyone called him Camey and he was named after the Cambrian Mountains of Wales. His Mother was Jane Price (5 May 1862 Mt. Savage MD - 2 Feb 1939 Frostburg MD), and her Mother was Diane Thomas (Abt 1832 Wales - 17 Jul 1871 Mt. Savage MD). Benjamin Thomas was her Father and my 3rd GGF.

OK, back to Ancestry and those leaves and the Tiberias. The search result had it at "Liberias" but his name was spot on as well as the birth year so I had to take a closer look. There he was: Benjamin Thomas, 45 and wife Hannah, 40 with children: John 23, James 20, Benjamin 18, William 15, Diana 6 (my GGGM), Joseph 3, Phillip 2 and little Jane an infant. A party of ten!

His occupation was listed as collier. But wait! Look at the rest of the men on the ships list: all colliers!! Now what was a collier? Googled and Wiki said that anyone who worked with coal was a collier. That seems about right for the region at the time. Then I took a zoom look at the ship's list page and saw a notation in modern hand that said " Invitation (? perhaps) is Georges' Creek Co. for all except Mary Bannista of Baltimore." And I do know about Georges' Creek Iron and Coal Company. See this link for real interesting bits about it from the site, Western Maryland's Historical Library, or WHILBR: http://www.whilbr.org/GeorgesCreek/index.aspx



So that was the deal: the Georges' Creek Co. recruited Welsh coal miners and shipped them with family over to staff their booming coal and iron business. Benjamin Thomas was 45. Was he a miner all his working life? Probably. Am thinking that they wouldn't have paid him to come all that way if he didn't know the business. However, he was long-in-the-tooth for a coal miner when they started kids working at about 16 years old and even younger.  But his son was coming too and he was a strong young man of 23.

I'm still amazed at how one thing leads to another in this genealogy stuff!

Photo of the day from Aunt Betty's archive.

And mother to my Grandfather, Cambria Williams.

The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2012/02/ya-never-know-till-you-look-benjamin.html