Granville Bowman - Kentucky Politician and Postmaster

In preparing the sketch for my 4th great-grandfather, Granville Bowman, last week, I found some additional information about him.

According to Collins' Historical Sketches of Kentucky: History of Kentucky, Volume 2 (found at GoogleBooks), by Lewis Collins, Richard Henry Collins, published in 1878, Granville Bowman was a State Representative from Cumberland County in 1816.

A few years later, he decided to try for the State Senate. Also from GenealogyBank.com - a newspaper notice announcing his run for the Kentucky State Senate:

Frankfort Argus, 26 April 1821

We are authorised to announce Granville
Bowman, Esq. a candidate to represent the
counties of Cumberland and Wayne in the
Senate of Kentucky.

It's hard to tell from the first image when Wm. Wood's term ended. (It reads 1814- )

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Nancy Rainey of Ireland - 52 Ancestors #11

For this week's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks writing challenge from blogger Amy Crow Johnson of No Story Too Small, the theme is "Luck of the Irish." Do I have a favorite Irish ancestor? Actually, I only have three (possibly four) immigrant ancestors that I believe were born in Ireland.

The one I know most about is the one who lived into the 20th century, mostly from census records, city directories, and her children's death certificates.

Nancy Rainey was born in Ireland sometime between December 1813 (1900 U.S. Census) and 1821 (1860 U.S. Census). I wrote about her in census records here. She married Scottish-born James Freeland before 1850, when her oldest child, my 2nd great-grandmother, Mary was born in Pennsylvania.

Four children followed, all born in Pennsylvania:
William J. Freeland (1852-1918), who worked as a railroad conductor
Anna Claudine Freeland (1854-1952), who worked as a school teacher
Edward C. Freeland (1858-1877), twin
Emma L. Freeland (1858-1893), twin

Her husband, James, died in March 1863.

Granville Bowman of Kentucky - 52 Ancestors #10

For this week's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks writing challenge from blogger Amy Crow Johnson of No Story Too Small, the theme is "Stormy Weather." I couldn't find an appropriate ancestor to write about under this theme, so I am writing about an ancestor from my Kentucky branch.

Bowman vital records in
Gorin family bible

Granville Bowman is my 4th great grandfather who was likely born in Virginia and lived in Kentucky most of his adult life.

According to the Gorin Family Bible that I have, (see several family pages here and a closeup at left), Granville was born on March 21, 1786, and he died on August 11, 1841. (Note that this bible was published in 1856, which means that these birth and death dates were entered much later than the event.) Based on some Kentucky land grants given to a Granville Bowman in 1799, there is either another man by the name of Granville Bowman (possible), or my 4th great grandfather was born by 1778 (maybe 1776).

Granville was born in Virginia, probably Chesterfield County, where his father owned land and was listed in tax records. Kentucky became a state in 1792 and I believe Granville Bowman arrived in Cumberland County, Kentucky within a decade of statehood.

Cumberland County, Kentucky
Courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Granville married Polly Walthall on May 16, 1809, presumably in Kentucky. I find Granville Bowman in Cumberland County in each of the decennial United States censuses from 1810 through 1840, which list only the head of household and tick marks for the other household members. Following is a summary of what those censuses contain:

Surname Saturday ~ Townsend of England, Massachusetts and Maine

My Townsend line is a crumbling brick wall. I am working to find additional primary source evidence confirming the following line.

Norfolk County, England
Courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

The immigrant Townsend ancestor appears to be Thomas Townsend. He was the third son of Henry Townsend and Margaret, baptized at Bracon-Ash, Norfolk County, England, on 8 January 1594/95.

He probably had at least two and possibly three wives.

He was in Lynn, Essex County, Massachusetts by 1638, when he was granted 60 acres at Lynn, Essex County, Massachusetts. He arrived too late to be included in the Great Migration Study Project (which goes through 1635).

He is found in various records in Lynn, serving on a jury, signing various petitions and deeding land to a couple of his sons.

Thomas Townsend married Mary (possibly Newgate) as his second or third wife but it's unclear as to who is the mother of the children:
Thomas (b. about 1636 or about 1640)
Samuel (b. 1638)
John (b. about 1644)
Elizabeth (b. about 1648)

Mary is identified as mother of youngest son Andrew, born in 1654.

(Interestingly, there is also a theory (note: only a theory, no evidence) that he might be the father of Lydia Townsend, who married Lawrence Copeland, the immigrant Copeland ancestor. See Surname Saturday ~ Copeland. And Lawrence and Lydia's first child was named Thomas.)

Lynn, Essex County, Massachusetts
Courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Immigrant Thomas Townsend died in Lynn on December 22, 1677. His wife, Mary, died February 28, 1692/93. I descend from his son Thomas.

This Townsend line seemed to move to a different community in every generation. Following is my Townsend line which includes a series of maps showing Thomas' descendants' westward movement within Massachusetts.

Close to Home - Joseph May of Boston - 52 Ancestors: #9

For this week's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks writing challenge from blogger Amy Crow Johnson of No Story Too Small, the theme is "Close to Home."

I have lived most of my life in suburban Boston, Massachusetts. My parents, my grandparents, and my great-grandparents all were born outside of Massachusetts. Only three of my 16 2nd great-grandparents were born in Massachusetts. (See my "heritage pie chart" for those sixteen here.)

Joseph May

However, I do have plenty of earlier Massachusetts ancestors. One prominent Boston ancestor is Joseph May, a 4th great-grandfather (and my 5th great-grandfather; I descend from him two ways).

He was born in Boston on March 25, 1760, one of thirteen children of Samuel May and Abigail Williams. He lived his entire life in Boston.

He attended the Latin school and was there until the outbreak of the Revolution. At that time, his family began to associate themselves with Old South society which identified with the patriot movement. Joseph was a talented singer from a young age and supposedly sang at Old South as a youth (as well as enjoyed music and singing throughout his lifetime). Joseph's father moved his family from Boston to Connecticut for a short time during the war for their safety.

The Old South society used King's Chapel for its services between 1777 and 1783 (because the Old South Church was being used by British troops), and when Old South returned to its own church in 1783, Joseph remained at King's Chapel, becoming very involved with the church and close friends with the ministers who served here.