Matrilineal Monday ~ Nancy Rainey Freeland

I have written about long-lived maternal ancestors before. One third great-grandmother, Nancy (Rainey) Freeland, who died about 1903 was well into her 80's, if not 90 when she died. She outlived her husband by over 40 years.

Determining her birth date from census records is a challenge, as most of them indicate a different birth year.

In the 1900 U.S. Census, Nancy Freeland lives at 1415 Buena Vista Street in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania with two unmarried children.

This census record says that she was born in December 1813, is 86 years old and a widow. She was mother of 7 [?] children, of whom three are still living. (I'm only sure of five of these children-see below.) She was born in Ireland (and her parents were born in Ireland). She immigrated in 1831, and has been living in the United States for 69 years. She (as well as the others in the household) can read, write, and speak English, and she rents her home.

Her household includes her son, William J. Freeland, who was born in August 1854, age 45 years. His occupation is "Conductor R R" and he was not out of work in the prior twelve months.

Also in the home is her daughter, Anna C., born in February 1857, age 43 years, and a schoolteacher. She was out of work for 10 months in the prior year.

There is also a 23-year-old Pennsylvania-born servant, Myrtle Kniess.

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Twenty years earlier, in 1880, the U.S. Federal Census shows widowed Nancy Freeland living at 87 Buena Vista Street in Allegheny with three unmarried children.

In this census record, Nancy is listed at 65 years old, implying a birth year of about 1815. She has a mark in the column indicating she is a widow and her occupation is "Keeping House."

Her son William J. is 27 years old (born about 1853) and works as "R.R. Brakeman. One daughter is listed as Claude A., age 25 (born about 1855) and a School Teacher. I have long puzzled about whether Claude A. in 1880 is Anna C. in 1900, and I am pretty sure they are the same person. (I have found many names for this third great aunt.) A younger daughter, Emma, is 22 (born about 1858) and also a School Teacher. I lose track of Emma after this census, so she either married, thus changing her surname, or died.

And here are the Freelands as listed in the Directory of Pittsburgh and Allegheny cities, 1880:

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Workday Wednesday ~ 1850's Plumber

Imagine my surprise (several years ago) when, in looking up census records for my mother's side of the family, I found a 3rd great grandfather who was a plumber!

Following is the top of the page of the 1850 census where I found James Freeland and his family in Allegheny, Pennsylvania:

U.S. Federal Census. Year: 1850; Census Place: Allegheny Ward 2, Allegheny, Pennsylvania;
Roll: M432_744; Page: 76B; Lines 7-10: Record for James Freeland family

Line 7 shows James Freeland, age 35, with the occupation of Plumber. He owns no real estate and his place of birth is Scotland.
Line 8 shows Nancy Freeland, age 30 and indicates that she was born in Ireland.
Line 9 shows Mary Freeland, age 8/12, which implies that she was born in February of 1850, based on the date of this census, which is written in the header: twenty-ninth day of October 1850. She was born in Pennsylvania.

The official enumeration day of the 1850 census was 1 June 1850. All questions asked were supposed to refer to that date, but other information I have confirms that Mary was born in February 1850. Mary Freeland is my 2nd great grandmother. See a photo of her and her husband here.

Line 10 shows David Freeland, age 65, with the occupation of Weaver, and born in Scotland. Unfortunately, the 1850 census does not indicate the relation of members of a household to the head of household, but I am pretty sure that David is James' father.

From page 32 of Fahnestock's Pittsburgh directory for 1850, found at Historic Pittsburgh City Directories:

It looks like my third great grandfather was in the Freeland & Logan plumbing business on Federal Street in Allegheny in 1850. He is the only Freeland listed in that year's directory.

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Tombstone Tuesday ~ Ashbys in Rosehill Cemetery, Chicago

Mary Elizabeth (Gorin) Ashby is buried in Chicago at Rosehill Cemetery, along with her husband, Daniel Morgan Ashby, and several of her children.

I have linked the family members at Find-A-Grave, and the kind Find-A-Grave volunteer, Jim Craig of Under Every Stone (if you haven't checked out his blog - you must), notes on his Find-A-Grave page that he gives permission for his photographs to be used for any non-commercial purpose, so below are photos of my second great grandparents' gravestones, courtesy of Jim Craig.

Mary E. Ashby
1833-1891

Daniel M. Ashby
1828-1907

I appreciate the last photo which shows the gravestones of the family plot in relation to each other.

Amanuensis Monday ~ 1891 Death Certificate for Mary E. Ashby

An Amanuensis is a person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another. Not only do the documents contain genealogical information, the words breathe life into kin – some we never met – others we see a time in their life before we knew them.

Mary Elizabeth (Gorin) Ashby, my second great grandmother, died on July 7, 1891, in Chicago, Illinois. FamilySearch.org (Free!) has Death Certificates for Cook County, Illinois, 1878-1922 which is where I found the following.

Illinois, Cook County Deaths, 1878-1922 (index and images, FamilySearch, https://www.familysearch.org,
from Illinois Department of Public Health, Division of Vital Records, Springfield, Illinois, accessed 5/8/2011),
Mary E. Ashby, died 7 July 1891. Citing Death Records, FHL microfilm 1,030,967.

Handwritten entries are in blue. My editorial comments are bracketed.

 1. Name: Mary E. Ashby
 2. Sex Female  Color White
 3. Age 58 years - months 7 days [Implies birth date of June 30, 1833; family bible has June 28]
 4. Occupation None
 5. Date of death July 7th, 1891 11:50 PM [I think]
 6. Married
 7. Nationality and place where born American  Glasgow, Kentucky
 8. How long resident in this State Residence Louisville [Kentucky]
 9. Place of death 455 Elm St, Chicago [Residence of her daughter, Mary, and son-in-law, who had only just married in the previous October]
10. Cause of death Hemiplegia [Paralysis affecting one side of the body]
11. Duration of disease Fifteen hours
12. Place of burial Rose Hill Cemetery
13. Name of undertaker Jordan [See their full page advertisement below.]
14. Dated at Chicago, July 7, 1891. G. E. Richards, M.D.
                                                 Residence 44 1/2 Bellevue Place [See his directory entry below.]

1891 Chicago City Directory, page 1918, Fold3.com

1891 Chicago City Directory, page 3045, Fold3.com

Matrilineal Monday ~ Mary Elizabeth Gorin, 1833-1891

More than a year ago, I participated in a Saturday Night Genealogy Fun blog post where I listed all 16 of my second great-grandparents. See Heritage Pie Chart for the basic details - names, dates, locations and parents of this generation of my ancestors.

I have blogged about 15 of these 16 second great-grandparents. The 16th of these ancestors I want to write about is Mary Elizabeth Gorin (1833 - 1891). I have written about her husband, Daniel Morgan Ashby, and shared an ambrotype of her father, Thomas Jefferson Gorin.

Much of what I know about Mary Elizabeth Gorin is found in the Gorin Family Bible that was passed down in the family and is now in my possession.

She was born on June 28, 1833, in Glasgow, Barren County, Kentucky, where Gorins had been for several decades. Based on the bible entries, Mary E. Gorin was the oldest of seven children born to her parents, Thomas Jefferson Gorin and Mary Ann (Bowman) Gorin.

Image from Gorin Family Bible, Births page

According to U.S. Census records and city directories, she spent just about all of her life in Glasgow, except for her last few years, when she lived in Louisville, Kentucky. In 1850, the first U.S. Federal census that lists the names of all household members, she is enumerated in her parents' household as 17-year-old Mary E. Gorin.

According to the family bible, Mary Elizabeth Gorin married D. M. Ashby on February 11, 1857.

Image from Gorin Family Bible, Marriages page