Descendants of Jacobus van der Moere, born about 1780 in Middelburg, Zeeland, Netherlands
Six-generation descendant chart of Jacobus van der Moere, a sailor from Middelburg, born about 1780, and his wife Cornelia Eduardse de Smit
Author: Erika Ward Lopresti
Goeree-Overflakke, Zuid-Holland, Nederland: van der Slik, Kruithof, Elsevier, Schenck, Slis, and related families
Christina van der Slik was born on the island of Goeree-Overflakkee in 1839 to Johannes Pietersz van der Slik and Jannetje Kruijthof. The history of both families on the islands is documented back to the 1500s. The van der Sliks immigrated to America in 1855, settling in Ottawa County, Michigan. Christina married GIjsbert Haan from Hilversum, Noord-Holland, Nederland. He was the son of Gijsbert Haan, founder of the Christian Reformed Church in North America, and his wife Marretje Pos. Gijsbert died in 1869 of tuberculosis, leaving her with eight small children. In 1875, Christina married Jan de Groot from Menaldum, Friesland, Nederland, the son of Eeltje Aukes de Groot and Trijntje Teuniswas.
Gijsbert Haan of Hilversum, Noord-Holland, Nederland: founder of the Christian Reformed Church in North America
Gijsbert Haan was born in 1801 in Hilversum, Noord-Holland, Nederland. He was a carpet weaver and manufacturer, and lived on a farm at the corner of the Groest and the Herenstraat. As a part of Afscheiding (the Secession of 1834 from the Dutch Reformed Church), Gijsbert faced religious persecution and financial hardship. In 1847, he immigrated with his family to America, where he founded the Christian Reformed Church in North America.
The Family History of Wilhelmina Cooper née Behmenburg
Gertrud Wilhelmina Frieda Behmenburg, better known as Wilhelmina Cooper, was born on 1 May 1939 in Culemborg, Gelderland, Nederland. She was the daughter of a German butcher, “Willy” Wilhelm Robert Karl Behmenburg and Klasina van der Straten, a cigar-maker’s daughter from Culemborg, Gelderland. The Behmenburgs immigrated to America in 1954, where Wilhelmina worked as a model, eventually founding her own agency, Wilhelmina Models.
The Ancestors of Josephine Theresa Murray: County Waterford Ireland to Montezuma, Cayuga, New York, USA
Josephine Theresa Murray was born in 1908, the daughter of William Murray of Montezuma, Cayuga, New York, and Catherine Scanlon of Scartmountain, Waterford, Ireland. William’s parents John Murray and Mary Meehan had emigrated from Mountain Castle, Waterford, Ireland during an Gorta Mór.
The Hayes and Mulcahy families of Kilkeany, Waterford, Ireland, and Auburn, New York, USA
John Hayes and Johanna Mulcahy were parents of eight children born in Kilkeany, County Waterford, Ireland between 1842-1862: Timothy, John, Hanorah, Thomas, Catherine, Ellen, Johanna, and Maurice. Many of their children immigrated to Auburn in Cayuga County, New York.
The van der Moere family of Grand Rapids, Michigan and Wissenkerke, Zeeland, The Netherlands.
Jacobus van der Moere is the earliest confirmed ancestor in our line of the van der Moere family. He was a sailor or skipper by trade and lived in the town of Wissenkerke in the province of Zeeland. At the tail end of Napoleon’s occupation of the Netherlands in 1813, poorly-armed citizens of the small island of Noord-Beveland fought back the last of the French occupying troops. Surprised by the determined resistance, the French troops tried to flee back to their ships. Jacobus van der Moere was among the Dutch fighters defending Noord-Beveland. He survived a stab wound to side of his body from a Frenchman’s bayonet.
Henry Brooks and Mariah Fuller of Hancock County, Indiana and Stringtown, West Indianapolis
Henry Brooks married Mariah Fuller on 7 Jun 1838. Mariah Fuller was from Brown County, Ohio, where many original pioneers of Hancock County lived prior to settling in Indiana. In the 1850s, the Brookses moved to Stringtown or Indianola in West Indianapolis. They had 10 children, 41 grandchildren, and 83 great-grandchildren, with many living descendants today.
Misfiled Parishes in the Tithe Applotment Books: Carnew (Wicklow & Wexford), Graney (Kildare), Kilrush (Wexford)
Tithe Applotment Books help fill the gaps left by Ireland’s missing Censuses, but several parishes were filed in the wrong counties. Spelling variation and poor transcriptions make finding them difficult. Three of these misfiled parishes are indexed here with modern spellings and links to each townland page on The National Archives of Ireland website: Graney, Co Kildare; Kilrush, Co Wexford; Carnew and Crosspatrick in Counties Wicklow & Wexford; and Kinneigh in Co. Cork **Updated to add Crosspatrick and Kinneigh**
Abstracts of Leases on Earl Fitzwilliam’s Estate in Counties Wicklow, Kildare and Wexford, Ireland 1795-1808
Partial transcription of the manuscript “Abstracts of Leases in respect of the Estate of the Earl Fitzwilliam in the Counties of Wicklow, Kildare and Wexford, 1795-1797 and 1800-1808.” Transcribed by Erika Ward Lopresti. 50 leases extracted, mostly near Tinahely Co. Wicklow. Index of names and townlands.
The family of Charles Courtneidge, coachman from Leatherhead, Surrey
Charles Courtneidge was a coachman from Leatherhead, Surrey. He fell from the box of his fly and died on the Upper Road to Richmond in Putney in 1860, leaving his widow Sarah Watson and six living children. Charles was born in 1807 to John Courtnadge and Hanna Clifton. Courtneidge (also Courtnadge, Courtnage) is a rare surname that originated near the hundred of Godalming in southwest Surrey.
James Watson, shoemaker, and Ann Copperthite of St. Luke, Chelsea
Sarah Watson was born on 1 Aug 1818 in the parish of St. Luke, Chelsea, then in the county of Middlesex. She was the first child of James Watson, a shoemaker, and Ann Copperthite. In 1842, the Watson family’s fortune took a turn for the worse. Ann Watson died of consumption at age 50 on 29 Sep 1842. James Watson died the next year from chronic bronchitis, followed by their youngest child, 6 year-old James. The other unmarried Watson children became inmates of the Workhouse.
Thomas James Ward, distillery worker and builder’s labourer from Battersea
Thomas James Ward was born on 9 Jan 1843 at Strand-on-the-Green in Chiswick. His father Thomas was an agricultural labourer at Edward Dean’s market gardens. Thomas married Sarah Hannah Lucy Courtneidge on 5 Aug 1867 at St. Paul’s Church, Hammersmith. Sarah was born in 1844 in Wimbledon to Charles Courtneidge, a coachman, and Sarah Watson, a shoemaker’s daughter from Chelsea. Thomas and Sarah had 12 children from 1863-1889. The family lived in Battersea, Wandsworth, Earlsfield, and finally Tooting.
George Ward of Aston and Cote, Oxfordshire, brother of Thomas Ward?
George Ward was the son of James Ward and Maria Willoughby of Aston and Cote in Oxfordshire. George moved to Mortlake in Surrey, where he married his Irish-born wife Bridget McCann. George and Bridget left for America in 1863, after their leaving-shop was investigated in a sting at the Woolwich Police Court. The Ward Family settled on a 40 acre farm in Mundy, Genesee County, Michigan. **Updated with new images and references**
Ireland Census Substitutes: Misc. 1840s-1870s, Counties Carlow, Kildare, Wexford and Wicklow
Meeting, petition, collection and subscription lists for various causes and funds in Counties Carlow, Kildare, Wicklow and Wexford, 1847-1876. All list donors of small amounts and include labourers and tradesmen, not just landholders or gentry. Areas included: Ballyhogue, Annacurra/Tinahely, Baltinglass, Castledermot. Addresses are given for most individuals in the lists. 1993 Names. Transcribed by Erika Ward Lopresti
Residents on the estate of the Earl Fitzwilliam in County Wicklow, Ireland: Part III, 1848 & 1850
Residents on Earl Fitzwilliam’s Coollattin Estate, County Wicklow, 1848 & 1850. Manuscript transcribed by Erika Ward Lopresti. Townlands: Ballyshonog, Carrickgalter (Whiterock, Cross, Mullannaskeagh) Carricknameal (Carrick), Coolboy Lower (Hillbrook, Parkmore), Coolkenno, Coolroe, Coolruss, Croneyhorn, Farnees
Residents on the estate of the Earl Fitzwilliam in County Wicklow, Ireland: Part II, 1839
Residents on Earl Fitzwilliam’s Coollattin Estate, County Wicklow, 1839. Manuscript transcribed by Erika Ward Lopresti. Townlands: Balisland, Boley, Ballyshonog, Carrickgalter (Whiterock, Cross, Mullannaskeagh) Carricknameal (Carrick), Coolboy, Hillbrook, Coolkenna, Coolroe, Coolruss, Corndog, Croneyhorn, Farnees, (Currevanish, Bridgeland and Rathinteigue), Killinure, Knockatomcoyle, Lugduff, Muskeagh, Toberpatrick, Tomcoyle
Residents on the estate of the Earl Fitzwilliam in County Wicklow, Ireland: Part I, 1827
Residents on Earl Fitzwilliam’s Coollattin Estate, County Wicklow, 1827. Manuscript transcribed by Erika Ward Lopresti. Townlands: Balisland, Boley, Ballyshonog, Carrickgalter (Whiterock, Cross, Mullannaskeagh) Carricknameal (Carrick), Coolboy, Hillbrook, Coolkenna, Coolroe, Coolruss, Corndog, Croneyhorn, Farnees, (Curravanish, Bridgeland and Raheenteige), Killinure, Knockatomcoyle, Lugduff, Muskeagh, Toberpatrick, Tomcoyle
Hopestill Armstrong and the Green Mountain Boys of Vermont
Hopestill Armstrong was a private in Capt. Elijah Dewey’s Co. of Col. Moses Robinson’s Regt. of the Green Mountain Boys of Vermont. Ensign Nathaniel Fillmore Sr. was Hopestill’s relative by marriage and the grandfather of the Thirteenth President of the United States, Millard Fillmore. Together they fought at the Battle of Bennington.
Oliver Armstrong: militia general and abolitionist
Oliver Armstrong of Bennington, Vermont came into this world with big shoes to fill. He was born 26 Apr 1783, at the tail end of America’s war for Independence. His father Hopestill, along with uncles John, Lebbeus and Hezekiah Armstrong, were veterans of the Battle of Bennington in the Revolutionary War.
Scandal from the Vicars of Bampton: “Mary, base childe of that incestuous whore Mary Touse”
Mary was baptized in Bampton, Oxfordshire on 10 Jul 1702. Her arrival was clearly not an occasion of joy for whoever recorded it. Illegitimate children are nearly always noted as such in parish records. The terms vary but include bastard, base child, or filius populi, “son of the people.” Describing a mother as “that incestuous whore” definitely was not standard terminology.
The Styles Family, The Land War, and the shooting by Rev Usher of Baltinglass
“Margaret Styles, examined by Mr. McInerney, said she saw the Rev. Mr. Usher and Martin Flinter running on the night of the 26th of August. The Rev. Mr. Usher cried “stand” and then he fired and said, “Now, I have you.” There was another shot fired in the lane. There were three shots fired altogether.”
Edward Styles: a lawless ruffian from Ballyshonog, County Wicklow
The Styles moved south of Baltinglass in 1834. Newspapers gave a fascinating account of the Tithe War in the area, “BARONY OF RATHVILLY—Mobs are daily patrolling the country BLOWING HORNS, and threatening with death any person who attempts to serve a law process. That part of the country is completely under the dominion of those lawless ruffians.” I am certain this is exactly how Edward Styles would have wanted to be remembered.
Frederick Wünsch: American Civil War veteran, a mind unseated by tragedy
“The enemy pressed us, and we were ordered to retire in haste. We all ran as hard as we could go, and when I had ran only a few yards, my foot struck against a dead man, and I was thrown headlong to the ground, on my face, with considerable force.”
The Story of the USS St. Mary’s
“Can I take it? The older men had met and recognized this fear, had accepted it and wasn’t ashamed of it. They had found that a man can do a lot when he is scared. To these men who had felt the weight of exploding bombs weaken their knees, who had watched tracers zip over and around them and who had seen the death and destruction that a torpedo can cause, came the thought that maybe the odds would catch them tomorrow.”
Lopez Mumaugh: drunken cigar maker and murderer
She was denying him the regular opportunity to abuse and openly terrorize his family, and this enraged him…Lopez turned the gun to his temple and fired. Death took its time, as if repaying him in kind for all of the agony and humiliation he had inflicted on his family over the years.
The Caddies of Walton Heath Golf Club, 1904-1924
The history of the caddies at Walton Heath in these early days includes strikes, riots, murder, illegal gambling and organized theft. In response came significant labor reform and important contributions to the British war effort in WWI. Both are a testament to the integrity of the club and its employees.
Family heirloom on eBay: Alf J Ward, Special
Two years ago, I made a spectacular find related to my family’s history. A simple Google search let me to an eBay listing for a putter stamped with “Alf. J. Ward, Special”…They were definitely my great-grandfather’s clubs, family heirlooms that found their way back home after 90 years.
The Styles Family comes to America – Baltinglass to Auburn, New York
On 12 Nov 1888, Edward and Margaret Styles arrived in New York on the SS Adriatic with their five youngest children: William, Edward, Mary, Margaret and Thomas. The four older Styles children Robert, James, Anna and Katherine had emigrated from Ireland one at a time to find work in Auburn, New York, sending their earnings home to Baltinglass for their siblings and parents.
Alfred John Ward – Golf Professional – Part II “Slender Englishman” builds Pleasant Run Golf Course
In April of 1923, a “slender Englishman” named Alf Ward walked into the office of Indianapolis mayor Lew Shank. He introduced himself as the new golf professional for city’s municipal club. The mayor sent Alfred out to Irvington with shovels, horses, and a few men. He was to build Pleasant Run, the “finest municipal golf course in the country.”