Whitehead birth certificates arrived

I ordered a few birth certificates from the GRO a couple weeks ago and they arrived Saturday.

I am most excited about the one for my great-great-great grandfather Charles Whitehead. Based on census records and his Ontario death record, I knew he was born about 1840 in Kent, England. I assumed it was in Halstead, located in the Sevenoaks district, as this is where his family lived at the time of his birth, but I was unable to find him in the index. Recently, I realized I could search for a last name without a first name and up popped "Male Whitehead" born 1840 in the Sevenoaks district. Luckily it is him! Born 10 Oct 1840 in Halstead to Charles and Emma (Bond) Whitehead. This also confirms Emma's mother being Mary Bond who was with them in the 1861 census (she was listed as grandmother to the head, which is incorrect. Should be mother-in-law).

I also ordered the birth certificates for his two sons born in England before they immigrated to Canada. Benjamin was born 31 Oct 1866 in Halstead and Joseph was born 2 Nov 1869 in Halstead to Charles and Mary (Hayman) Whitehead.

If only I could find Charles and Mary Ann's marriage certificate.

Listed on the same page as Joseph was an Elizabeth Whitehead, born in the same quarter, same district and I found her death record about a year later. Wondering if she was his twin, I ordered the certificated. Turns out she was born 10 Nov 1869 in Shoreham to Joshua and Elizabeth (Beeching) Whitehead. She later died 22 Oct 1870 from convulsions from teething. As far as I know, there is no relation, but if anyone is related, let me know and you can have the certificates. I like knowing that her short life is now documented and here for a relative to find.

Ancestors to search doubled...

On Friday night, my boyfriend proposed!!! I am, of course, tremendously excited!  Plus, this gives me a whole other family to start researching:-)

Wodless Wednesday: New York, in lots of miles

Here is a picture my grandfather took while in the airforce (I believe it's in Korea) and a picture of me in South Africa under the same type of sign.

Tombstone Tuesday

William Fred Eichhorn

1874 - 1931

Mason

Acacia Park and Resthaven Cemetery, Tonawanda, Niagara, New York

New York Gravestones

Lamb's Tree, Two has a fantastic link today: http://newyorkgravestones.org/.  They are trying to get all the tomb stones for New York state.  Part of the Gravestones Photo Project (GPP), there are also sites available for Massachusetts, Oregon and Utah.

According to their site: "The mission of this project is to capture digital images of gravestones of our ancestors. As decades pass-- many stones are becoming harder, if not impossible, to read the inscriptions they originally contained. 

By archiving the images, we can help save these important records and also assist researchers using this valuable resource."

I do not see any of my ancestors yet, so time to start editing my photos to their specifications and adding them.  The specifications alone are worth visiting the site: http://www.sampubco.com/gpp/crop.htm.

I only wish that all the tombstone project sites would get together to form a comprehensive site, instead of having to check and add to all the known sites.

The Erie Canal

"Map of the Canal, and Profile of the Canal" -- from: Marco Paul's Voyages & Travels, Erie Canal / by Jacob Abbott. (Harper & Brothers, New York, c1852) -- frontispiece.  From http://www.eriecanal.org/maps.html

In writing a post on local history, I thought it interesting to connect my current location, Syracuse, NY with where I grew up, Buffalo, NY.  Buffalo is also where my ancestors settled and stayed for generations.

The Erie Canal is well known in upstate and western New York as the reason cities such as Buffalo, Albany, Utica and Syracuse became prime trade locations and grew so large.  Connected to each other by 363 miles of hand- and horse-dug canal.  The Canal ended at the Hudson River, where ships head to New York City.

Known as Clinton's Folly, then governor DeWitt Clinton dreamed up the project and used his political savvy to have it created.  No one believed something of that mass could be created.  The canal was built between 1817 and 1825.  The Erie Canal is what made New York City America's largest and busiest port as it connected it to the west.  According to http://www.epodunk.com/routes/erie-canal/start.html, "Cities along the route boomed. The population of Syracuse, a swampy settlement of 250 people in 1820, grew to more than 22,000 by 1850. The city's salt industry supplied half the nation's salt.

The Erie Canal lasted until the 1920's, due to the rise of railroads and highways.  In Syracuse, the Erie Canal is now Erie Boulevard and is has the Erie Canal Museum.  Other parts have trails for hiking, biking and snowmobiling.  One can also take a canal boat ride which even goes up and down on the locks.  I highly recommend taking a trip if you ever get the opportunity.

Just this week I learned from my great-great-great grandfather Gottlieb Finck's death certificate that he was a canal lock tender.  It is thrilling to know that my family played a part in such an important part of our country.

Sources:

http://www.epodunk.com/routes/erie-canal/index.html#

http://www.nyscanals.gov/cculture/history/

http://www.nycanal.com/recreation/nycanalrec.html

(No) Tombstone Tuesday - Adam Fleeman

My 4th great grandfather, Adam Fleeman, does not have a stone.  The top photo is around his final resting place and the grass above is where he is located.  Died 25 Nov 1889. Buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery, Buffalo, NY.