This year's challenge includes optional weekly themes, which will hopefully help me choose an ancestor to write about each week.
I have written about many of my ancestors already, so I will try to use this challenge to find ancestors about whom I have not already written.
Thomas Cutler Whitman is my 3rd great-grandfather. He was born of Loyalist parents (George Whitman and Esther Atwater) in Guysborough County, Nova Scotia, on April 2, 1803. He married Diana Morgan in Guysborough, Nova Scotia, on March 13, 1827, and fathered nine children with her. I shared what I know of my Whitman line in a Surname Saturday post.
I don't have any more information about Thomas C. Whitman in Nova Scotia. He did, however, make a fresh start in 1857 when he immigrated from Nova Scotia, arriving in Boston on September 26, 1857, on the Steamer Eastern State, of Yarmouth, N.S. Following is the passenger list showing Thomas and presumably three of his sons: Judson, Ira, and what looks like "Ridout" but could represent Charles or Gordon. His wife and a couple of daughters are listed together on the following page. Eldest daughter, Esther (my second great grandmother), immigrated from Nova Scotia to Boston (to New York) in 1849.
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| Ancestry.com, Boston, Passenger and Crew Lists, 1820-1954 [database on-line] (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2006), www.ancestry.com, Database online. Record for Thos Whitman. |
The family ultimately ended up in New York, where he is found in the 1860 U.S. Federal Census as a farmer in Jamaica, Queens, N.Y.
I wrote about finding his death date at this Tombstone Tuesday post, where I included the following New York Herald death notice:
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| New York Herald, July 23, 1870 |
Thomas Cutler Whitman died on July 22, 1870, in New York and is buried at Elmont Cemetery, in Elmont, New York. Most of his children ended up in the U.S. and many can be found on FindAGrave.com.
I descend from Thomas Cutler Whitman as follows:
Thomas Cutler Whitman
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Esther Abigail Whitman
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James Tolman Pyle
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Charles McAlpin Pyle
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Charles McAlpin Pyle, Jr.
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Me
It's interesting how one member of a family relocates--and then other members follow. I've seen similar migrations in my family.
ReplyDeleteI suppose this has happened for centuries - there are so many different reasons. I love how the obituary notes that Nova Scotia papers are to copy the death notice - there were still family and friends there.
DeleteThanks for reading and commenting.
Immigrants were the ultimate Fresh Starters. It seems we can all trace our roots back to an immigrants fresh start....thankfully. It was interesting to see the obituary and it's notation for the Nova Scotia papers. Aren't old obits so interesting? I feel lucky when I find one from my Georgia ancestors. A good start for a new year.
ReplyDeleteVisiting from 52 Ancestors recap post. Here are links to my blog and this weeks post.
Sue at Tracks Of My Georgia Ancestors
52 Ancestors#1Firsts and Fresh Starts
Yes, I love to find old obituaries, the longer the better.
DeleteThanks for reading and commenting.