Finding an Australian transported convict's parents

Denise asked this question:

William Archer(born Plymouth) was a 14 year old chimney sweep who was sentenced to "Life & Transportation" on January 14, 1828 from the Shewsbury Gail, England. He was convicted at Salop Assizes and transported on the ship "Bussorah Merchant on 1 October 1829. Looking at the convict records in Tasmania, Australia (once Van Denman's Land) I can not find any mention of William's parents. Can you help?

Ask Olive Answer: Denise, I would hunt for a marriage record for William. That should give his parents' names. Failing that, an obituary might provide information.

Also look at the names of his children to see if a naming pattern emerges. If you know his wife's parents (assuming he married) then you can see if they followed a traditional pattern of naming their children after their parents. If they did, you can theorize as to what William's parents names might be, then have a hunt in Plymouth church records for a couple of those names having a son named William.

Also take a look at the website Blacksheep Ancestors to see if there are any records there that might be of help in your search.

Finding Ancestors in 1750s New Jersey

Some years ago, Lew asked about

Derek Tunison was born in 1754 to Denes Tunison and his wife Sarah, nee Hoglandt. I believe they lived in Bridgewater Twp. of Somerset Co., New Jersey. I am searchng for the wife and descendents of Derek. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

I responded on a mailing list to Lew's question but I think the process I used to find the answers may be helpful to other researchers of this time period. So I have edited and republished it here:

Olive Tree Answer: Dear Lew, I checked the will abstracts found in "Documents Relating to the Colonial History of the State of New Jersey" for you. These books are in 3 vols -- V. I Calendar of New Jersey Wills 1670-1730; V. II 1730-1750; V. III 1751-1760.

Denes Tunison did live in Bridgewater Tp. Somerset Co. He is named in the will of Robert BOLMER,farmer of Bridgewater, 30 Dec. 1754 in regards to Robert's farm -- "...lands adjoining Donies [sic] Tuneson and John Sebring"

With the names of two neighbours (Robert Bolmer and John Sebring) you should now be able to find quite a bit more from the land documents that survive.

Next, I found the will of Cornelis Tunison, who appears to be your Denes' father, in Vol. II - 1730-1750 p 475. The will was written 24 Aug. 1727 and proved 3 Oct AND 3 Nov. 1731. The original can be found in Lib. B, p. 238. It is written by Cornelius Teunissen of Raratan River, Somerset Co. His wife is Neelye. He names his 'home plantation' on the Raritan River.

His children are named as:oldest son Cornelius; eldest daughter Fenmeye widow of George Fairly; second son Tunis;youngest daughter Sarah; third son John; youngest son Dinis [sic]

Dinis is given 'that plantation between the first and second mountains bought of Jacob Sebring, on which my son Cornelius now lives" The importance of the land having been bought from a Sebring, and a Sebring being your Denes' neighbour in
1754 indicates to me that this is the correct man.

In this same volume, on p. 245 I found the will for the man I believe is your Sarah Hoogland's father. The will is of Dirrick Hoogelandt, written 21 April 1746 and proved 8 Aug. 1746. It can be found in Lib D p 399.

Dirrick Hoogelandt is listed as a farmer of Middlesex Co. with wife Annatie. His children are: Hendrick, Derrick,Annatie, Sarah and Maria. His wife is expecting a child. He names his sister Antie Quick; brother Adrian Hoogland;brother Adrian Hoogland's son Hendrick Hooghland [sic]. He mentions "legacies specified in the will of my father" His executors are his brother Abraham Hoogelandt and Dirrick Folckersen.

Adrian Hoogland also has his will on this page so you may wish to find these volumes in a library and read the wills for yourself. Although Derrick speaks of his father's will, I was unable to find any previous Hoogland entries.

If you do not have the Tunison ancestry you might want to check the records of the BOGART family (online book "Genealogical Notes of New York and New England Families" compiled by S.V. Talcott, mentioned many times previously on this list) which indicate that Neeltje Bogart bp 23 Aug 1665 to Teunise Cornelise Bogart and wife Sara Rapalje m Cornelis Teunis Denyse [sic] on 23 Aug 1687.

It appears then that your Denis Tunison may be the son of Cornelius Tunisson and wife Neeltje Bogart. Cornelis Teunise was the s/o Teunis Nyssen and his second wife Femmetje Jans aka Phaebea Faelix. This leads you to the infamous John Celes aka Jan Seals who was Phaebea's father.

For more information on these families, refer to the well documented articles:

"Jan Cornelis Buys (alias Jan Damen) and His Three Wives Eybe Lubbertse, Phaebea Faelix (alias Phebe or Femmetje Jans) WIllemtie Thyssen; Teunis Nyssen (or Denyse) and his wife Phaebea Faelix (alias Phebea or Femmetje Jans); Roelof Willemszen and his wife Willemtie Thyssen" by John Reynolds Totten in New York Genealogical and Biographical Record July 1935

"The True Identity of John Sales alias Jan Celes of Manhattan" by Gwenn F. Epperson in New York Genealogical and Biographical Record April 1992

This gives you quite a few new family names to research! For more help with early New Netherland (New York) genealogy, and online searchable databases for this era, see New Netherland Section on Olive Tree Genealogy.

Reading old handwriting on Ships Passenger Lists

M. R. asked

I have found Taube Regent on the "Record of Detained Aliens" (line 195) on the Kaiserin Auguste Victoria, arriving in NY on July 2, 1914. However, I am unable to locate the name on the actual passenger manifest. I found line 27 (as the manifest line listed on the "Record") but the passenger's actual name is unlisted. It looks as though she is joining her husband but the information in the "friend/relative/who/where" column appears illegible to me. HELP!

Olive Tree Answer: Hi M.R. I had no trouble finding Taube Regent's name on the passenger list on Ancestry.com, but it was not the line number you gave above. Here is a graphic of the right hand side of the entry (beside her name which I have not copied)

The 4th entry down is for Taube Regent. By looking at the other entries you can see that the first word of each is the abbreviated form of the relationship person - Bro = Brother; Husb = Husband; Sis = Sister. Taube's entry says "Fath" for Father.

Following that is his first name, which I read as "Moritz", his address is 89 Pitt St, NYC (presumably New York City)

Finding the Bailey Family in Alabama or Georgia

Mike asked

Lorine, you were such a great help with my British ancestry question. I do thank you for that. I have a mystery now. My mother's grandfather (my 2x grandfather), David Hayne Bailey. I have information on David Hayne, all three of his wives and all 21 kids. I even have his Civil War information. The mystery is that I can't find anything about him before his marriage to his first wife, Emma Louiza Tucker, 25 Nov 1856 in Clay County, Georgia. We have no idea who David Hayne's parents are.

David Hayne Bailey b. 20 Apr 1834 - supposedly Alabama d. 26 Sep 1922 - Trinity County, Texas

Emma Louiza Tucker b. 1848 - Georgia d. 1884 - ?? m. 25 Nov 1856 - Clay, Georgia

Caledonia Tucker (yes, sisters) b. 1850 - Georgia d. ?? m. 13 Jan 1884 - Calhoun, Arkansas

Artie (Artimisia?) Mae Gibson b. 04 May 1868 - Oak Grove, Kaufman, Texasd. 29 May 1937 - Trinity County, Texas m. 10 Nov 1890 - Falls County, Texas CSA Pension application

I'm hoping that you might know of a path that we're not taking.

Olive Tree Answer: Hello Mike. You've done a lot of work on your family but I did notice that you do not have them in the 1870 census. I found David's first wife and some of their children living with Emma's parents Robert & Leanna Tucker:

1870 United States Federal Census Militia District 431, Clay, Georgia Post Office: Fort Gaines

Household Members: Name Age
Robert Tucker 55
Leana Tucker 54
Melissa Tucker 24
Emma Tucker 22 (David's first wife)
Caledonia Tucker 20 (David's second wife)
Virginia Tucker 18
Milton Baily 10 (David's child by wife #1)
Lee Baily 5 (David's child by wife #1)
Martha Baily 2 (David's child by wife #1)
Emily Baily 1/12 (David's child by wife #1)
William McCook 10
Robert McCook 6

The Bailey children were all born in Georgia. David is not with them. Now the odd thing is that in the 1870 census for Bullock Alabama there is a David Bailey of the right age, born Alabama, living with his wife Caledonia and son Bradford. I would track this second family forward to make sure it is not your ancestor!

You can view this record for free at US GenWeb Archives or see the image on Ancestry.com

It is interesting to note that David and Emma named their first daughter LeeAnn (after Emma's mother) and their second son Robert (after Emma's father). My suspicion is that they named their second daughter and first son after David's parents - and this might be a theory you want to work towards proving or DISproving. This of course would make David's parents Hartwell (or Milton!) and Martha. I'd look for a Hartwell or Milton Bailey in the 1850 census when David would be about 16 and hopefully still living at home. Before 1851 Clay Co. did not exist so yo u may have to look in Early or Randolph Counties for the family.

Where to get help with German Genealogy translations

Doug asked:

Who can help me find information on relatives that lived in Germany. I have names and addresses but need help. Where to write and interpret German.

Olive Tree Answer: Hello Doug, FamilySearch.org has a German Genealogical Word List. You might also want to try The German Letter Writing Guide and a German to English translation service I've never used this service and am just providing a suggestion, not a recommendation of their work.

Finding an ancestor in Castle Garden Ships Passenger Lists

Geralynn's Question:

I just found out that my Grandparents came through Castle Gardens from Hungary. How can I find any info?

   
Olive Tree Answer: Geralynn, you haven't said what information you are looking for - a ships passenger list? I'll assume that's it.

Castle Garden existed as a processing station for immigrants between 1855 and 1890. There is no separate set of records for Castle Garden, as there is for Ellis Island.

Passenger lists for the Castle Garden time period are available on microfilm so if you know a date of arrival or a ship name you can order the microfilm or have NARA do a lookup for you.

Check the complete list of film numbers (NARA or FHC) for ships going to New York after 1820. Find your date(year, month, day if known) and write down the NARA or Family History Centre film number you need

You can also search the online Castle Garden era Ships Passenger Lists on Ancestry.com

There is a Castle Garden website but beware! It is not complete and it includes ports of arrival other than New York (Castle Garden). These are not noted as such so it can be a bit confusing

For more help with this see Castle Garden:Ships Passenger Lists to New York 1 Aug.1855 - 18 Apr. 1890