Digging Up Your Family

Using mtDNA to Break Down a Brick Wall

I can’t say that the brick wall that was broken is my brick wall necessarily, however it does include my ancestors. And therefore, my extended family.

Several years ago when I was researching Ezekiel Currey and Elizabeth Brownlee I came across a website that has a lot of Currey information (genealogies HERE and notes HERE).  It was through this website that I was able to get into contact with Imogene Bennett, an absolutely lovely woman with whom I speak with roughly twice per year.

Imogene has searched for so many years for evidence that Ezekiel and Elizabeth had a daughter named Jane who married a man named David Wood. Not having found any documentation to prove that Jane was a Currey, I mentioned that mtDNA could be used IF we could find a direct maternal descendant of Jane. Enter in Doug Wood and Michael Kenning.

Now, I don’t want to give the whole story away here.  Doug wrote a wonderful piece explaining everything, with charts and everything!

You can read more at his website Tangled Wood, and see a picture of the beautiful Imogene!

Samuel Currey Death

I kept seeing dates given for Samuel Currey’s life on Ancestry but nothing to back them up.  So I decided to have a looksee and find something, anything, to support these dates.  Here is what I have found:

Birth – I have seen dates ranging from 1700 to 1717.  According to the Currey Family website, both he and his wife Jane were born before 1710.  That makes sense to me because Samuel and Jane received their letter of dismissal from the Rosemary Street Third Presbyterian Church in Belfast dated June 6, 1729 (though it appears to have been transcribed as 1727 at one point).  Either way, the likelihood of Samuel being married at 12 years of age (if you believe the 1717 date of  birth) and coming to America is very, very slim.  SO, I agree with James Currey, the owner of the Currey Family website, that they were both born before 1710, most likely in Northern Ireland.  I also keep seeing that his some people have names for his parents, but again…no sources.

Marriage – This is one of the more amusing things I have seen.  James Currey does point out that on several records Jane is listed as just Jane, and sometimes “Elizabeth (Eliza) Jane”.  At some point someone decided her name was Eliza Jane Grey.  I can’t help but wonder if the surname is just being mixed up with their grandson Robert Brownlee Currey’s wife, Jane Grey Owen.  I have seen no source for this name yet.  As I understand, with the exception of the letter of dismissal containing permission to join a colonial church, all of the records for the Curreys from Rosemary Street were destroyed by the Germans in 1941 in the Belfast Blitz.  Now, the reason I mention that they were given permission to join a colonial church is because a lot of people have this attached to their tree as proof of marriage:

This is where fact checking comes in, people.  The dismissal letter, which I stated was signed in 1729 starts “I hereby certify that the bearer hereof, Samuel Currey, and his wife, Jane…”  They were already married.  And if their son Ezekiel was born ca. 1735 in Pennsylvania…I could go on, but I think the point is made.

Death – I was most interested in finding sources for his death.  And I did!  Well, what I really wanted was to find his will, and I almost kinda sorta did…in a way.  On Family Search in Decedents records 1744-1782 and 1804-1810 B-C, Chester County, Pennsylvania, Probate Records, 1683-1994 I found a receipt document dated June 21, 1763 that reads:

The Accompt John Currey and Samuel Currey Administrators of all and singular the Goods and Chattels Rights and Credits of Samuel Currey – late of Londonderry Township in the County of Chester, yeoman, deceased…

Other names listed on this receipt:

Robert Allen

John McDonnell

Mary Wiley

William Steel

David Long

Archibald W Michael

Robert Bines

David Hughs

William Johnston

William Miller

Robert Griffin

Thomas Montgomery

James Willson

Samuel McMullan

John Strawbridge

William Alexander

Samuel Young

John Deal

Susanna Barry

Thomas Miner

John Campbell

Archibald Anderson

James Todd

Samuel Smith

Evan Rice

James Satimore

Alex Johnston

Catherine Rice

Henry Viney

Thomas Strawbridge

Ezekiel Corry (Samuel’s Son)

John Todd

Samuel Houlton

Now, the reason I have pointed out Ezekiel in red is because that name Corry is pretty important.  This might be why there is such a problem finding much information about the family.  It is generally thought that the surname may have been variations of Currey/Curry/Currie.  However, it was pointed out to me by a woman named Imogene that most of the information she has found for the family contains the surname Correy, or variations.  Even though the receipt starts out as Currey, John and Samuel (administrators, and Samuel’s other two sons) signed their surname as Corry.  And, according to the date the will was originally filed (April 21, 1758):

Correy, Samuel April 21 “ (1758) John and Samuel Correy

So, to an certain extent I have a death date for him.  And if I had to take a guess I would assume that he, and his wife Jane, are quite possibly buried in the cemetery or around the Fagg’s Manor Presbyterian Church (founded as the New Londonderry Congregation of Fagg’s Manor in 1739, source).

What I am really hoping for is to come across his actual will.  It has a number, along with the book it is actually in, but either that page has gone missing or my eyes haven’t caught it yet.

Timothy Demonbreun Part Ten: Aristocrats, Royalty, and Religion

Note:  It has taken me a bit to get Part Ten put together, not because of researching the information, but because I am coming to a close in my current class and, of course, they put all the really difficult stuff at the end.  Luckily the final is near, so then I can concentrate on my genealogy research more!

Dates ranging from 1796 (Early History of Nashville by Lizzie P Elliott,1911) to May 1797 (A Genealogy and History of Jacques Timothe Boucher, Sieur de Monbreun by Mrs. Kathryn De Monbreun Whitefort, 1939) to 1798 (the Timothy Demonbreun Society) are to be found for the arrival of exiled Louis Philippe I, Duke of Orleans (later to be be Louis Philippe I, King of the French) and his two younger brothers Louis-Charles and Antoine Philippe.  During this time Timothy Demonbreun, being proud of his French heritage, hosted the three brothers.  I am uncertain as to whether he took the brothers down the river to New Orleans, but I have seen that in several books and websites.  By this time Timothy had traded in his hunting clothing for finer clothing, what would be found worn in France by gentlemen.  “Not only for royalty but everyday Timothe DeMonbreun wore his white ruffled shirt and black knee breeches with silver buckles.  He was adorned with his large gold watch, and any day he could be seen walking along the streets of Nashville, though he owned several carriages.  He favored the old time clothes and wore them to the end, showing off his plump well-shaped legs (I suppose they are no longer spindly), and his square shoulders.” (Whitefort)

On May 7, 1825 Nashville hosted Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roche Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, aka General Lafayette.  In the Enquirer (Richmond, Virginia) on May 31, 1825: “Between seven and eight o’clock the banks of the Cumberland were thronged with anxious spectators, awaiting the approach of the steamboat with its precious freight.”  A parade was held and Lafayette sat in a horse drawn carriage (white horses, of course) and General Andrew Jackson sat by his side.  During his visit in Nashville a dinner was hosted at The Nashville Inn (there is a little history on The Nashville Inn here, and I know it’s an online store, but the historic information they offer is pretty neat) and toasts were made.  One toast made in honor of Timothy was “The Patriarch of Tennessee – our fellow citizen – who is now present, and the first white man that settled in the country.”  By all accounts it was Lafayette that made this toast; however, the newspapers reported that Colonel Andrew Hynes, the founder of Elizabethtown, Kentucky, made the toast.  Either way, that was a nice way to be honored.

Something that made me do a double take was a few paragraphs down in the article: “By R.B. Currey. Cuba: A New Star reported to have appeared on our Southern Hemisphere – may it, in union with the Republic of Columbia, harmoniously and perpetually perform its revolution round liberty and equal rights as a common centre.”  It isn’t the toast that caught my eye.  RB Currey is Robert Brownlee Currey.  Readers that have been following my blog (and distant cousins) will recognize Robert Brownlee Currey as the son of Ezekiel Currey and Elizabeth Brownlee, my 7th great-grandparents, and brother to Susan Currey, my 6th great-grandmother.  I think it’s pretty neat that he and Timothy ran in the same circles, rubbed elbows, and whatnot.

It is no doubt that Timothy, having been a fairly well-known man at the time, probably partied with many other famous men (and women…ha-ha) in his time.  But one of the more interesting things he did was help to found the first Catholic Church in Nashville.  According to the Timothy Demonbreun Society, Timothy had donated land for the Catholic Church to use, however it was not.  It was either 1812 or 1821 in that Timothy hosted the first ever Catholic mass in Nashville at his home, conducted by Benedict Joseph Flaget, First Bishop of Bardstown (Kentucky).  I believe it may have been 1821, because in the October 28, 1820 edition of the Nashville Gazette is found the following request:

THE SUBSCRIBERS

REQUEST a meeting of their Roman Catholic Brethren in the city of Nashville, and its vicinity, at the house of Capt. Timothy Demumbrune, college st., on Monday 6th November, for the purpose of taking into consideration, the propriety of erecting a Church, and appointing trustees.

A. REDMOND.

T. DEMUMBRUNE.

A Catholic Church was soon built, with the help of Father Robert A Abell of Bardstown, on the hill where the Tennessee State Capitol now sits, though from what I read that church was actually begun in 1820 (immediately after the advert above was published?).

It is said that Timothy Demonbreun kept in his home a silver crucifix which he had carried from Quebec to remind him of home.  I wonder if perhaps he is buried with it?  You know, if it wasn’t a HUGE crucifix.  If so, it should be helpful in determining where he is buried.  But that will be Part Eleven.

Samuel & Jane Currey, Letter of Dismissal

My relationship to Samuel and Jane Currey:

Me

Virginia Marie Stalls (my mom)

Ruth May Craft (grandmother)

Katie Clady Cathey (g-grandmother)

Margaret Elizabeth “Lizzie” Summers (2nd g-grandmother)

Amanda Summers (3rd g-grandmother)

Emily Jane Duffel (4th g-grandmother)

Susan McCarroll (5th g-grandmother)

Susan Currey (6th g-grandmother)

Ezekiel Currey (7th g-grandfather)

Samuel and Jane Curry (8th g-grandparents)

 

 

In honor of St. Patrick’s Day I have decided to post (with permission from Fred McCord and Jim Currey) the dismissal letter for Samuel and Jane Currey from the Third Presbyterian Church of Rosemary Street, Belfast, Ireland.  The church had been established about 1722.  Unfortunately, it was destroyed in 1941 during the Belfast Blitz and the Masonic Hall sits on the site today.

 

I hereby certify that the bearer hereof Samuel Currey and his wife Jane have been Members of the Third Congregation in Belfast from its Erection to the date of November 1727 & have behaved themselves Soberly and Christianly, free from all publick scandal known to us and were admitted to all Church privileges as occasion offer’d so that we have the great freedom to recommend them to the Good acceptance of any Christian Society where Divine Providence may order their Lott. Subscribed in the absence of our Minister at Belfast this the 6th day of June 1729.
                                                                                   Robert Blair Sessions Clerk

A Few Marriages in Delaware 1759-1760

I started  putting all of the genealogy records I have into file folders this morning and was pretty disappointed that the marriage record for Ezekiel Currey and Elizabeth Brownlee is on ledger size paper, forcing me to fold the paper.  I’m not prepared to do that yet, so I will just put it back in the envelope it was delivered in and keep it that way for now. 

I decided to make a list of every marriage listed on that page.  When I came to the bottom of the page I discovered that the third from the last listing is for the marriage of Samuel Nail and Margaret (written as Margrete) Brownly on August 14, 1760.  I started wondering:  could this Margaret be the sister of Elizabeth Brownlee?  Elizabeth’s first daughter was named Betsey, a nickname for Elizabeth.  Her second daughter was named Margaret.  So it’s possible she named her second daughter after a sister.  This might give me a lead to who Elizabeth Brownlee’s parents are and where they are from.  This also gives me another spelling of Brownlee to search!

I have transcribed the names on the page as well as I could.  I know that they are all listed on Family Search, but some of the names don’t look as that website transcribed them (example:  the handwriting clearly says “Buttington”, yet it is transcribed on Family Search as “Bussington”).  Names that I just couldn’t make out at all I put a note beside.  If anyone has any information on any of the parties listed below feel free to comment or contact me!  I love stories!

1759

John Martin and Anne Larkin

John Smith and Hannah Otlay

James Bennet and Jane Henry

John Skelton and Mary Bush

Matthew Wilson and Catherine Kerson

Stephen Bennet and Margret Buddon

Francis Rork and Mary Pryer

George Chandler and Jane Cannelly

Albert Skeer and Patience Trevel

Peter Springer and Catherine Anderson

William Miller and Sarah Hall

Evan Morgan and Margret Morgan

Francis McMullon and Margret Gallohun

Edward Taylor and Rebecka McClour

Joseph Tatford and Susanna Wooliston

Joseph Buttington and Mary Serv. (not sure about this one)

John L Loyd and Mary Moore

Patrick Kelly and Anne Hide

John Crampton and Sarah Barnet

Petter Gallorhon and Flora Camee/Camel (not sure)

Alexander Moore and Elizabeth Moore

David Anderson and Agnes Mitchel

John Bell and Mary Stran (not sure about his one)

Andrew Rees and Anne Alderwood

William Cook and Rachel Morgan

James Underwood and Ester Matson

James Buttington and Mary Blackly

James Kear and Else Taylor

George Stalker and Sarah Thornburry

George Hall and Phoebe Thomas

James Carr and Else Taylor

Jacob Dawson and Anne Harris

Thomas Barclay and Mary Chapman

John Elliot and Clon Fits Randal (not sure about this one)

Barne Miles and Martha Moore

John Wallarlou and Mary Gray

John Bell and Margaret Mayer

Thomas Williams and Martha Rowland

Robert Wilson and Mary Wilson

James Shields and Margret Bentley

Thomas Monks and Mary Mace

James Little and Sarah Laird

William Henry and Sarah Rallston

Valentine Ofwerdorff and Agnes Peperelly

John Cann and Catherine James

Charles Springer and Margret Springer

Nathan Scutteron and Hannah Twigg

James Gibson and Mary Thomson

Evan Lewis and Margret Davis

Michel Murduck and Brigit Springer (cut off)

William Clark and Anne Bauldin

Christopher Karrl and Catherine Faril

Joseph Rafton and Jannet Parten

John Larvler and Darkeys Barker

Jacob Staahlman and Catherine Chersherin

Charles Larra and Anne Saulter

William Chapman and Elizabeth Byshop (crossed out)

Ezekiel Currey and Elisabeth Brownlees

Patrick Gamble and Jane Nosette

Abraham Springer and Christine Anderson

 

1760

William Chapman and Elizabeth Bishop

James Wilson and Mary Moore

Peter Peterson and Abiah Garrison

William Peoples and Jane Haag

John Siddon and Jane Robert

Francis McCulley and Susanna Patton

Friedz. Warner and Rebecka Robeson (not sure about this one)

James Hasting and Susanna Justice

Jacob Stilley Jr and Anne French

John Dixson and Susanna Pryer

Thomas Wilson and Agnes Young

Joseph Mea and Martha Hill

Mardechay Woodward and Bridgette Knowles

James Garman and Phoebe Bradford

Lawrence Flinn and Elizabeth Gordon

William McKea and Sarah Smith

Thomas Allen and Catherine Vaneman

Robert Adair and Isabel Douglas

Jonathan Hays and Elizabeth Horten

John Gottfied Charley and Anne Mary Reilerin

Abraham Swang and Alse Pyle

Samuel Heald and Ruth Harlan

Thomas David and Rebecca Long

Peter Gallohar and Mary Halom

Joseph Cloud and Chanty Tally

Sven Colesberg and Annah Torner

Joseph Paerce and Beata Grimes

Andrew Hall and Annah Maxel

John Webb and Sarah Green

Joseph Ball and Hannah Brackin

John Chalfint and Matire (not sure about this one)

Mathias Kaler and Annah Euklingen

Hans Peter Harale and Margrete Leana

Samuel Nail and Margrete Brownly

Cornelius McDannel and Chery Dely

Archibald Grey and Charrine/Chatrine Clark (not sure)

Ezekiel Currey and Elizabeth Brownlee Marriage Record-This Ain’t Mississippi

Sometimes getting historic records is more difficult than pulling teeth.

Back in mid-September I sent off a money order for $25 to the Old Swede’s Foundation to get a copy of the marriage record for Ezekiel Currey and Elizabeth Brownlee.  I had put in a note along with the money order that I wasn’t sure if they had married in November or December of 1759.  About two weeks after I mailed it, on September 30th, I realized that I couldn’t remember if I had included my email address, so I emailed the Foundation, knowing that they would probably prefer to contact me that way if they were unable to find the record.  I never heard back from them. 

I then waited about a month and called them them the last week of October asking about how long it would normally take to receive the record.  I was informed that they had sent me an email letting me know that they never received my money order.  I told them I would pay over the phone and that I wanted the record.  I was told it would be about two weeks until they could get to it because of how busy the Foundation was at that time. 

I waited two weeks, until November 7th, then cancelled the money order (because when I checked it still hadn’t been cashed) and sent another email asking how the search was going.  I didn’t hear back from them. 

I called the following Wednesday, November 9th, I was told it would be another two weeks.  So I waited. 

On November 30th I called again, asking the progress of finding the record and attempting to pay for it over the phone again, thinking that perhaps that was why they were taking so long.  I was told that she (the executive director) had been about to email me to let me know that they were going over the next day to make the copy.  She asked if I wanted it sent through the mail or through email, to which I told her if they claimed to be sending me all of these emails I wasn’t getting then perhaps snail mail might be best.  She sent me a test email, which I got, and so I waited to hear back from them regarding payment (she had told me that once they had the record in the mail they would send me a message so I could pay). 

I waited two days and sent an email asking about the progress of the record, and I was sent a short email telling me that she was working on the accompanying letter.  So I waited.

Finally, on Friday, December 9th, seven days after I was told that the accompanying letter was being written, I still had not received the record, nor had I received an email or phone call regarding payment, so I sent an email to the Old Swede’s Foundation letting them know how disgusted I was with their lack of service.  I let them know that I was considering a complaint to the Chamber of Commerce, the BBB, not to mention any other organizations that they may be, or may in the future be, involved with.  I received a phone call within an hour, but I was unable to get to my phone, and no voicemail was left.

Then yesterday, December 16th, eleven weeks after my first email to the Foundation and roughly 13 weeks after I initially sent in my request, the record arrived (with an accompanying letter), stamped by the United States Postal Service as having been mailed December 12th.  No apology, of course.  As soon as it arrived I sent an email asking how they wanted me to pay for the record and I have yet to hear from them.

So let’s go through the time line:

about September 16-money order and request mailed

September 30-emailed Foundation, no response

about October 28-called, told wait two weeks

November 7-cancelled money order, sent email and never heard back from them

November 30-called, was sent test email, was told it would be a couple of days

December 2-sent email, was told accompanying letter was being written

December 7-sent email of disgust

December 12-record finally mailed

December 16-record received in my hot little hands, emailed them asking how to pay, no response yet

Dear Record Keepers of the World:  this experience with Old Swede’s Foundation is an example of WHAT NOT TO DO.  The whole experience left a bad taste in my mouth and, honestly, I will never deal with Old Swede’s Foundation again.  If I ever need another record from them I will hunt down someone who might be willing to share the record they have from that place, or just go without.  If you want a good example of WHAT TO DO, just look at Lauderdale County Department of Archives & History Inc., Lauderdale County, Mississippi.  They have been overwhelmingly helpful and quick to respond and send out records.

Anyway, I present to you the long awaited marriage record of Ezekiel Currey and Elizabeth Brownlee, Old Swede’s Foundation, Wilmington, New Castle County, Delaware dated November 6, 1759.  Something I found interesting about this record is that Elizabeth Brownlee’s name is recorded as Elisabeth Brownlees, which leads me to think that I should start researching Brownlees, rather than Brownlee.  I know that Ezekiel Currey's family is from Belfast, County Antrim/County Down, Northern Ireland.  Now I need to find where Elizabeth and her Brownlee family is from!

Bring Out The (figurative) Bloodhounds

Trying to track the maternal line of a family is pretty difficult (unless you are royalty, in which case you probably aren’t making your family tree since it’s been recorded throughout the years anyway).  Pretty much women weren’t as important to keep up with back in the day.  Really, up until 1850 when everyone in the household was required to be listed by name on the census records, the only place you could find a woman’s name was in a family Bible, marriage and divorce records and/or possibly wills. So, in an effort to keep the maternal lines of my parents fresh in your mind, I decided to list them along with the information I have (and the information I don’t have yet).  Enjoy!

 

My direct maternal line (beginning with my grandmother):

Ruth May Craft

b. August 9, 1925 Gibson County, Tennessee

d. January 14, 2007 Clarksville, Montgomery County, Tennessee

Katie Clady Cathey

b. December 18, 1897 Indian Bayou, Lonoke County, Arkansas

d. November 25, 1935 Trenton, Gibson County, Tennessee

Margaret Elizabeth “Lizzie” Summers

b. March 15, 1870 Tennessee

d. October 20, 1952 Martin, Weakley County, Tennessee

Amanda Summers

b. abt 1852 Tennessee

d. abt 1889 Tennessee

Emily Jane Duffel

b. abt 1822 Tennessee

d. aft 1880 Tennessee

Susan McCarroll

b. abt 1800 North Carolina

d. aft 1860 Tennessee

Susan Currey

b. abt 1770 Rockingham County, North Carolina

d. aft 1830 Williamson County, Tennessee

Elizabeth Brownlee

b. ?

d. aft 1790 Rockingham County, North Carolina

(note: I have spelled Currey as Currie in other posts and on the sidebar. It has come to light that it may actually be Currey. Also, Elizabeth Brownlee’s last name might have actually been Brownlees. I am awaiting confirmation before I change them, though.  Another important note to add concerns Emily Jane Duffel.  Though she seems to be listed everywhere on the internet as Susan McCarroll’s daughter, I haven’t actually seen any confirmation on it.  I mean, I pretty much assumed since the census records for Susan’s husband, Allen Duffel, list an extra female-older than the rest of the children-that the Houston County, Tennessee: History and Families (Turner Publishing Company, 1995) failed to list (which isn’t surprising, considering the book is trying to tell me that Emily Jane Duffel and Basil Pinkney Summers married in 1830, which would mean Emily was about 8 years old…in reality they married about 1839).  Also, there wasn’t another Duffel family in the area that I have found.)

 

My father, Roger Dale Ray (Robert Jewell Vincent)’s, direct maternal line, beginning with his mother, my grandmother:

Louise Rose

b. March 20, 1923 Muhlenberg County, Kentucky

d. January 9, 2004 Owensboro, Daviess County, Kentucky

Nellie Lillian Claxton

b. abt 1893 Kentucky

d. abt 1962 Indiana

Willie Melton

b. abt 1873 Kentucky

d. aft 1920 Kentucky?

Hepseba Powell

b. abt 1848 Indiana

d. ? Kentucky?

Alice Bean

b. abt 1824 Virginia

d. aft 1880 Indiana?

(note: as you can see, I don’t have much information on this line at all. I haven’t found the death records of Lilly Claxton or Willie Melton yet, mainly because I haven’t figured out what mix of first, middle and married names might be on the records. I haven’t found Hepsy on a census after 1880 yet.)

Elizabeth Brownlee

Through my research I have been able to follow my direct maternal line all of the way back to my 7th great-grandmother, Elizabeth Brownlee.

The information that I have so far for Elizabeth Brownlee came from Houston County, Tennessee: History and Families (1995, Turner Publishing Company).  I have seen a few websites that mention her, along with further information, but I have yet to gain permission from them to use their information, nor do I know exactly where their information came from.  I have contacted the Delaware Historical Society to see if they have any further information, so now it’s just a waiting game!

Elizabeth Brownlee (birthdate unknown, parents unknown) married a merchant and farmer named Ezekiel Currie (birthdate, place unknown, died sometime after 1800 in Nolensville, Tennessee).  The marriage took place in Wilmington, Delaware at Holy Trinity Church on December 6, 1759. 

The children born to Elizabeth and Ezekiel were:

Samuel (1761-sometime after 1830)

Ezekiel (1763-1851)

Margaret (1764-1858)

Elizabeth “Betsy” (1764-1850) (Margaret and Betsy were either twins, or Elizabeth Brownlee got pregnant really soon after giving birth to Margaret)

Sarah (1766-1843)

Nancy (1768-1840)

Susan (1770-sometime after 1830) (my 6th great-grandmother)

Robert Brownlee (1774-1848)

Mary (1775-death unknown)

Isaac (birthdate, death date unknown)

Mattie (birthdate, death date unknown)

Elizabeth Brownlee died in Rockingham, North Carolina sometime after 1790.

I am awaiting the arrival of the Houston County book so I can see if there is anymore information in it.  And, of course, waiting to hear back from Delaware.  And hopefully I can track down information on her death.  It would be pretty marvy if I can find who her parents are!

If you have any information on Elizabeth Brownlee, contact me!