Too Many Trotters

I started out in genealogy research the way many do. While creating my family tree online, I would connect with other trees, and if their additional information made sense I added it to my tree, especially if the information was in multiple trees. (Many of you are gasping or shaking your head right now! So am I!) I soon learned that accepting data without documentation will get you in a lot of trouble. Unfortunately, I didn’t learn it quite quickly enough.

Last month I took a day trip to the Los Angeles Public Library with a group from the San Diego Genealogical Society. I began the trip with a couple of research goals in mind, but when none of those panned out, I just started searching records regarding the surnames and geographical locations found in my tree.

I found many maps showing locations of property in central Illinois that family members owned in the 1800s. I found cemetery transcriptions from Shelby County, Illinois and marriage and death record transcriptions from Hardin County, Ohio. But the biggest treasure trove turned out to be a couple of biographical sketches I found in an 1887 biographical album for Champaign County, Illinois.

I already had in my possession a transcription of the Bailey and Trotter family history as told by Henry E. Bailey, my grandmother's grand uncle. Henry was 83 when he set out to tell his family’s story, and I found it a little difficult to follow in places. It didn’t help that he didn’t always use the same name for a given relative. But it is also telling when several times in the narrative he says, “Do you get me?” I love that he took the time and found it important to write this history for us, though, and will always be grateful to him for it.

The two biographies I brought home from LA were for Jefferson and Hiram Trotter. I knew that Hiram was the brother of my 3rd great-grandmother, but I wasn’t sure if Jefferson was related. I started re-reading Henry’s account and was startled to find Jefferson listed. He was not a direct relative, so his relationship to Henry’s parents was described in one of those “Do you get me?” paragraphs. But his story is important nonetheless because he was with Henry’s father Silas when he died. They and a 3rd relative were trying to make it home from an aborted trip to find gold in California, when Silas was taken ill. Medical help was too late and Silas never made it home to his wife and seven children. He was only 38.

Henry explained that Jefferson was his mother’s cousin. Jefferson’s father was Matthew Trotter, brother of William Trotter, his mother’s father. That’s as far back as we had been able to take our Trotters—to the brothers, Matthew and William—until I put my tree online, that is. Most of the other trees I found listed another William as William’s father. I didn’t notice then that there was no mention of Matthew in those trees. And I was enough of a "genealogical newbie" at the time that I didn't track down sources before adding the elder William to my tree.

However, the biography of Jefferson that I found last month lists his father as Matthew, as Henry said, but it goes further and lists Matthew’s father as Matthew, who was born in Ireland in 1717. Since the younger William was Matthew’s brother, the elder Matthew was his father also. (Do you get me? LOL) I have spent the last few days removing the elder William and those connected to him from my tree--about 30 people. But I am now getting the correct Trotters (and source citations!) added.

I’m laughing as I read over what I just wrote. It sounds like one of those brain-teaser puzzles. I guess I should be asking, “Can anyone figure out Jefferson’s relationship to me?” (Sorry, I can’t offer a prize, except bragging rights!)

The Gift

The year was 1823. Peter, a farmer and father of 9, living near Pitney, Somerset, England, was struggling to make ends meet. The Napoleonic Wars had ended and England was flooded with soldiers and sailors looking for work. Agricultural labor was becoming less and less sufficient to support a family. It was time for a change. But the change he had in mind was not one easily undertaken and was fraught with risks. Yet, there were significant risks either way.


He needed to take care of his family. Others had left and found a better life. He could not possibly know what lay ahead, whether they stayed or left. But conditions were worsening. He decided it was time to go.


Ann trembled with excitement as she opened the gift from her sister. In fact, the whole family was excited these days--yet a bit nervous and sad too. But for the moment, this young woman of 18 was occupied with the book in front of her—her own prayer book! It was beautiful and new . . . and waiting.


You see, it was up to her to get the most momentous family events chronicled in her new book. Not like a diary or a journal, mind you, just a notation for each--mostly births, marriages and deaths. She set to work writing them in.


“I shall note the birth dates of Father and Mother first,” she told herself. “December 20th: 1774, Was Born Peter Spracklen,” she wrote. Then she wrote an entry for her mother, Elizabeth, followed by one for each of her siblings, in order of their birth.

She had to get everything entered soon. In just a few hours--the following day, in fact--there would be yet another entry, one including most of the family. And it would be life-changing for them all. It read simply:

It must have been a bittersweet journey. The land of opportunity was their destination. Yet all they knew as “home” at that moment was growing smaller and smaller behind them in the distance. With the money Peter’s grandfather had left him and the few belongings they could take with them, they made their way to the coast--all of them, except the family’s 3 oldest.

John, age 28, had already left about 6 years earlier; they were following his footsteps. Sarah, age 27, may have been married, with children of her own by this time. Whatever her circumstance, there is no record that she accompanied the family. And Mary, age 25—the one that had given Ann the book—it appears she also stayed behind. The book must have been a farewell gift, given the day before departure. The inscription reads:

Ann Spracklen’s
Book the gift of her
Sister Mary Spracklen
August 12th in 1823
Old England –
Now Let our bodys part
to difrent Climes repair
and serve the Lord with all our heart
and live to him by Prayer--


At Bristol, Peter, Elizabeth (who was called Betty) and 6 of their children boarded the ship Earl of Liverpool. The ship arrived in New York, September 29, 1823. The Peter Spracklen family had made it to AMERICA!


The family settled in Ohio, near the oldest son, John. A few years later, Ann married Sylvanus Cook and noted their wedding date in her prayer book. Peter and Elizabeth lived out their years in Ohio, as did most of their children. Their son Peter may have moved to New Jersey, but I haven’t been able to prove that the Peter Spracklen I find there is him. Circumstantial evidence makes is look like him, though.


The family’s youngest son George was only 9 when he arrived in New York. At age 26 he married Arloa Turner Miner. Around age 50 (give or take a couple of years), he left Hardin County, Ohio, moving his family to Shelby County, Illinois. One of the children that moved with him was my great-great grandfather, Marvin.


Ann’s prayer book is disintegrating with age now. After all, it was 188 years ago that she made the first entry. Who knows if Mary or Ann intended that the prayer book would stay in the family for generations. But it has, and now is in the hands of a 3rd great-grandson of Ann’s brother Alfred. It is giving Peter’s descendants a little insight into their ancestors’ lives--a gift that keeps on giving, I’d say.

Still looking for Sam

♫ "Sam Bailey, won't you please come home . . ." ♫  


Oh, wait.  That song was about Bill Bailey, not Sam.  Well, since Sam was Bill's grandfather, surely he can come along?  I’d certainly like to have a word with him!

Sam, Sam, Sam.  What happened?  Records of you and your family are elusive.  There is an appearance that your family was large, but far from close.  Any descendants of yours that I have found, have been looking for you for years.  You actually had TWO families (at least?!), but none of your 18 (or more?) children seems to want to give any clue about where you came from or where you ended up.  It’s been hard enough just finding your name.  You are Samuel J. in almost every record I’ve found--never J. Samuel.  I wonder why I was originally told your name was John Samuel?

It seems you were probably born in Kentucky, maybe Pendleton County?  Someone said they thought you died in Champaign, IL.  But I have developed some pretty good sources there, and cannot locate your death record.  Several of your children lived in Champaign, but I can’t find that you lived with any of them.  It isn’t helpful at all that the last Federal Census before you died was mostly destroyed in a fire.

Many of your children never left Kentucky, though.  I suppose that is also true of your first wife—her name was Nancy, correct?  I found Kentucky birth records for some of your children listing you and Nancy Black (once as Blake) as the parents.  But once you were listed as James (“Jas”).  It seems that Kentucky birth records at that time left a little to be desired when it comes to accuracy, huh.  These birth records and the 1850 & 1860 Federal Censuses where she is living with you are the only records I have of her.  (Hmm.  Maybe your name wasn't even Samuel John.  Was it Samuel James?)

Was Minerva your 2^nd wife?  She is listed on both the 1900 and 1910 US Federal Censuses as living in Champaign, IL with some of your children.  But in 1900 she is listed as Mary.  Was that a mistake or a nickname--or someone else?

Oh, and to add more confusion, your son Rudolph’s death record lists his mother’s name as Mary Black.  So was he Nancy’s son or Minerva’s?  Or was Mary your 2^nd wife, and Minerva your 3^rd?

Yikes, Sam!  I have more questions than answers, here!

Finding Gertie

She died young--just 33, I found out later--and left 7 children for Bill to raise without her.  One of those children was my grandfather.  But now even my grandfather and his generation were also gone.  All my mother could tell me was that her grandmother’s maiden name was Endicott and she died of double pneumonia.  For some reason, finding her became an emotional quest for me.  I was determined that she would not be forgotten.

But I live thousands of miles from where she lived, so I had to start my search online.  Could I really find her that way?  I was just starting out in family history research, but I had to try.

I easily found the family in Champaign, IL in the 1920 & 1930 US Federal Censuses but she was not listed.  So that told me she died prior to 1920.  But at that time I could not find the family on any earlier Censuses.  

I also could not find the related marriage or death records at first. Part of the problem is that her husband’s name is very common—William Bailey.  On top of that, Illinois official records are a pain to research online.  They are in bits and pieces in different data bases—if they are online at all.

But then I located the historical archives website for the county where my grandfather was born.  There I found the following index entry for a newspaper obituary.

Title: OBITUARY FOR SARAH GERTRUDE (NEE ENDICOTT) BAILEY

Comments: PRINTED IN THE APRIL 3, 1917, CHAMPAIGN DAILY NEWS (PAGE 6)

Name(s): BAILEY, SARAH GERTRUDE       ENDICOTT, SARAH GERTRUDE

I emailed my mother and she confirmed--this is the obituary for her grandmother!  I was so excited!  The same site also had this entry. 

Title: MARRIAGE LICENSE 2552 (1903)

Comments: LICENSE ISSUED JULY 2, 1903

Name(s): BAILEY, GERTRUDE    BAILEY, WILLIAM C.    ENDICOTT, GERTRUDE

This was a great start!  At least I had her full name now!  But could I find her birth date or her parents?  I ordered copies of the marriage license and obituary from the website.

Oddly enough, Bill is listed simply as “the widower” and nowhere named, but the children’s names were enough to identify this as Gertie’s obituary.  Now I had her father’s initials and her brothers’ names.    

From the marriage license (which is too poor quality to post here), I got full names of both sets of parents (including maiden names), and the 2 witnesses—which were also family.  The license listed Gertie as 20 years old when she was married.

[I should mention here that this site has been a gold mine for me!  If you have research to do on ancestors that lived in Champaign County, IL, this is where to go: http://ccha.tufl.org/ccha/cchadb.htm  There is a form for requesting documents, and there are fees involved, but I can often find out important information just from the online index (like I posted above).  The index lists business names as well as individual names.]

I soon located a surname site for Endicotts as well as their Yahoo! group.  http://www.endecott-endicott.com/   http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Endicott_Gen/   
As I worked my way through the family information, I kept running across the name of a book.  The author, Mabel McFatridge McCloskey had compiled years of research on Endecotts and Endicotts, and I was becoming more and more curious as to whether any relatives of mine were in her book.  It was out of print, but I found one online and purchased it.

Meanwhile, my research was leading me in circles.  It seemed that Gertie had an interesting little twist in her lineage.  Both sides of her tree were tracing Endicott lineage.  It appeared that her parents were first cousins! 

To confirm this, I made a post on the Endicott Yahoo! group site asking if anyone else had come across this.  Yes, I was told, it is true.  And that response also confirmed that my great-grandmother was an 8^th generation descendant of Governor John Endecott of the Massachusetts Bay Colony! 

By the time the book arrived, I already had the facts, but it was a treat to see my great-grandparents, as well as my grandfather and his siblings listed in print!

So what I thought was going to be my hardest branch to research, turned out to be the easiest since Mabel and others had already done it for me.  Unfortunately, Gertie’s husband’s side is my REAL brick wall.  I’ll tell you about Bill’s family soon!

It is true that one never knows what family research can lead to.  With finding a marriage of first cousins just 4 generations before me, anyone that knows me now has an explanation for any of my little quirks!

At the root of it all - how I got started in this madness

Honestly, I was just going to collect in one place all the information I'd been given from previous researchers in the family, source it, document it, and make copies for safe-keeping.  Thinking that would take a couple of months or so (every family historian is at least cracking a smile at this point), I started out with a 14-day trial on a popular genealogy website.  Of course, I must tritely say, the rest is history.


What keeps me going?  I admit that I enjoy a good puzzle.  It's the thrill of the conquest, the finding of that lost ancestor or record.  And the stories.  The human stories.  I am no longer just a child of my parents, a grandchild of my grandparents.  I am the product of so many lives lived, obstacles overcome, tragedies triumphed and celebrations commemorated.  Were there a broken limb anywhere in my tree, I may not be here writing this.  Any different twist to a branch and I could be a very different person.


I am a numbers person, very detailed.  Doesn't it make sense there would be others like me in my tree?  Where did my "bean-counter" mentality come from?  I found a bookkeeper a couple of centuries back.  I wonder if there are more.  What about my looks?  I've been told I look Finnish.  How far back can I trace my blonde hair?  Well, my father's family seem to have descended from Vikings that invaded England. Where else did my ancestors live?  Hmm.  It seems that nearly every line I trace goes back to Merry Ole England.  Maybe something there should tell me why tea is my hot drink of choice.  Though I've tried several times, I've never been able to learn to like coffee.


Next question: How soon did I hit my first "brick wall"?  Very quickly.  I'll tell you about her in my next post.

A new blogger

Unbelievable, isn't it.  Well, it is to me anyway.  Not that there is a new blogger, of course.  I can't believe it is me stepping into the world of blogging.  I've never been one with a lot to say and one of the first words I would use to describe myself is "quiet."

Bloggers are not necessarily noisy people, mind you, but they are people with some understanding or knowledge they think others want (or should want) to read, consider or respond to.  But I've rarely felt compelled to put anything in my head "out there."

However, recently I've been enjoying reading stories others have found in their family history, and as I've found a few stories in my own, I thought maybe someone else would enjoy them too.

Maybe I'll also share my journey as I learned how to research my family.  Maybe I'll write on other topics.  Maybe I'll write 2 or 3 times, run out of anything to say and delete the whole blog.  We'll see, I guess!