Changing Names: Frances or Adelaide ~ 52 Ancestors #9

 

This week's theme is Changing Names.

 

My great-grandmother was named Frances Adelaide McAlpin, after her mother, Frances Adelaide (Rose) McAlpin. 

Charles McA. Pyle, Jr. and his paternal grandmother, "Granny Pyle" circa 1927

Heirlooms: The Chapin Genealogy ~ 52 Ancestors #8

 

This week's theme is Heirlooms, and the heirloom I am sharing is a copy of The Chapin Genealogy compiled by Orange Chapin and published in 1862. Exploring this book about 35 years ago, I was fascinated by the fact that through my father's mother, we could trace our ancestry back to one of the founders of Springfield, Massachusetts!

It is this book that started my interest in genealogy.

The 1862 book is not under copyright and can be found online in many places including the Internet Archive, FamilySearch Books, and Ancestry.com, among others. 

However, the one that I have is an heirloom because there were slips of paper bookmarking the pages of one line from Orramel Chapin (1791-1866) back to Samuel Chapin with handwritten notes on those pages. This book has likely been handed down in my family for 125-150 years!

Deacon Samuel Chapin is noted G. G. G. G. G. Grandfather (no. 1), but the line that has been tracked in the book, he should have been noted as the note-taker's 4th great-grandfather. (Depending on which line is traced, he is also a 5th great-grandfather.)

Immigration: Thomas Lord, 1635 ~ 52 Ancestors #7

 

This week's theme is Immigration.

 

I have previously shared a list of some of my Great Migration ancestors who arrived in New England between 1620 and 1635, though the Great Migration period covers twenty years from 1620 to 1640, when the political situation changed in England. The Wikipedia page for the Great Migration has a summary.

One of those ancestors was Thomas Lord, one of the founders of Hartford, Connecticut. There is a lineage society for these descendants, but I am not a member. Thomas's son-in-law, Thomas Stanton, was also a founder of Hartford.

Earning a Living: Firefighter John Hunter ~ 52 Ancestors #6

This week's theme is Earning a Living.

 

There is one firefighter in my family tree of about 6,900 individuals. Great-great-great uncle John Kirk Hunter, third child and second son of my third great-grandparents, Samuel Hunter and Catherine (Carr) Hunter, was born December 1, 1845, in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania (later known as Old Allegheny or North Side Pittsburgh).

He held a few odd jobs before joining the Allegheny City fire department in the 1860s, after serving in the Civil War. He lived and worked in Allegheny City (later Pittsburgh) for the rest of his life.

In 1870, he was living with his mother and working as Engineer, but I'm guessing that it was as an engineer for the local fire company. He was living with his widowed mother. (See Catherine Carr Hunter for more information about her.)

1870 U.S. Census Catherine Hunter household

Sometime in the very early 1870s, he married Emma Bailey and they had three or four children, only two living to adulthood. The 1880 census shows his household with two children (and a sister-in-law) and his occupation as a "City Fire Man."

1880 U.S. Census John K. Hunter household

Newspapers tell much more of the story than census records and city directories (which I'm not sharing here due to the already long post).