Eleanor Knype and James Norris

      James Norris and Eleanor Knype Norris are my 4xGreat-grandparents.  I first came across them when they were mentioned in a Union County History¹.  On a trip to Harrison County, Ohio, we visited The Harrison County Genealogical Society, which is located in The Historical Society's building in Cadiz, Ohio.  These societies had rescued a large number of documents from the dump, among which was the 1820 Naturalization Record for James Norris.

The body of that record reads:

        James B. Norris aged fifty years Born in the County of Wilshear [sic] , England & Parish of Dunhead [sic], Removed from that to Novoscota [sic] and from thence to New York, arrived at New York within The United States of America from Novo Scota [sic] on the twentieth day of May in the year of Our Lord one thousand eight hundred & seventeen owing allegience to George the third King of the United Kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland and intending to settle in the State of Ohio hereby reports himself for the purpose of being admitted to the rights of Citizenship within the United States, and prays that a record may be made of the same

July Ten 1820   J B Norris

     Last weekend, I was able to track down some new birth and marriage records. (new to me)  I haven't really done much research across the Atlantic, primarily because I was busy filling in the holes in the USA portion my existing family tree.   Findmypast.com (a British genealogical website) had a free weekend access and so I decided to give it a try.   I didn't find any original records but I found transcriptions of a number of vital records.  Among them was the Marriage License Bond record for James Norris and Eleanor Knype of Donhead St Mary, Wiltshire, England.    It is sort of nice when records match. 

     

   

1.  Durant, Pliny A. The History of Union County, Ohio,. Chicago: W.H. Beers, 1883.

Delayed Birth Certificate: Viva Pickett

     Delayed birth certificates are needed when a birth was not registered at the time of birth. Birth records in Ohio were kept at the county level starting in 1867 although some counties started earlier.  Records were kept sporadically until state registration started in 1908.  

     Around the time of the birth of my grandmother, Viva Mabel Pickett Hugus, births were recorded in a ledger.  Part of the page showing her birth is shown below¹.  Two things should stand out.  First, the entry shows quite different handwriting and ink  as well as a blank line before the entry. Secondly, how in 1887 when she was born, did people know her married name?

     Obviously, this was recorded much later.  The second image is shows when the entry was really recorded.  In 1940 two people who claimed to have known Viva and her parents at the time of her birth, came to court and testified when and where she was born.

     The result of the testimony was a birth certificate created in 1940. This explains why her married name was entered in the record.  Viva was 53 years old. She was already a grandmother.       

     So why did Viva need a birth certificate in 1940?   I think the answer is located in the packet of papers where I originally found the certificate.  Viva's husband worked for the railroad and this was found in his retirement records.  This was about the time when Social Security was created.   Railroad employees were eligible for the Railroad Retirement System instead of Social Security.   I imagine that Viva and Lloyd Hugus were getting their papers in order and proof of age was needed.

     The documents also gave us other information even though that wasn't the purpose of the document.  Viva's father's middle name is identified as Robert.  Other document that I have uncovered only use the 'R'.

     Of course we can't discover a document without coming across a new question.  Why didn't she have her middle name, Mabel, included in her birth record?  Her signature in the same packet of papers includes the 'M'.  Her nice handwriting probably came from the fact that she was an elementary school teacher.  Does anybody remember getting a grade in 'Penmanship'? 

1. "Ohio, County Births, 1841-2003," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/X6NS-SM4 : accessed 23 Sep 2013), Viva Pickett, 1887 Delaware County, Ohio, Vol. 3, p 313

The Barn is Gone

The Home of Henry Fox, 2007

     My mother's maternal grandparents grew up in Jerome Township, Union County, Ohio.  Since they are buried there we decided to visit Jerome during a trip to Ohio in 2007.   In the years prior to that trip I had ordered a copy of a county atlas in order to try to locate the farms of my ancestors.  In the atlas they had an image of the Farm and Residence of Henry Fox¹ and as well as its location.   Henry Fox is my Great-Great-Granduncle.

The Barn of Henry Fox, 2007 

    What a surprise we had when we arrived in Jerome.  The house and barn were still standing and in reasonably good condition.   I knocked on the door to contact the owners but to no avail.  Later I learned that a real estate developer owned the house.
     Today as I was trying to create a new map to share on this blog,  I noticed on Google Maps that there was some construction in the area.  The barn was gone.  By using Google Earth's historical imagery I was able to determine that the barn was taken down sometime between 2007 and 2009.  I wish that I could have gone inside the barn back in 2007.   It is disappointing that we can't save all our old buildings.  In the name of progress, I guess.  There is something about walking in the same place that your ancestors once walked.





1.  Atlas of Union County Ohio,  A.S. Mowry, C. E.,  Harrison, Sutton & Hale, Philadelphia, 1877

2. Google Maps Engine, Google Imagery 2013 Digital Globe, State of Ohio / OSIP, U.S. Geological Survey, USDA Farm Service Agency.

Becoming a Citizen in 1820 Harrison County, Ohio

Harrison County Courthouse, Cadiz, Ohio

     A Union County, Ohio history pointed me towards some ancestors who might have lived in Harrison County. So when we were visiting relatives in Ohio, we arranged a side trip to coincide with a day when the Harrison County Genealogical Society was open.  After a drive through rural southeastern Ohio, with a stop at a cemetery, we arrived in Cadiz. I was blown away with the original documents that were filed with the genealogical society.  Evidently the local government had thrown many original documents in the dump but the society members rescued these papers.  Holding pages that were written between 1820 and 1850 was an experience.
     One of the documents was a request for citizenship by James B. Norris. The document was loaded with important genealogical information. Below is an image of the page with a transcription.

State of Ohio
Harrison County

To the Honourable the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas in and for the County of Harrison and the State of Ohio.   
Now Sitting
 James B. Norris aged fifty years Born in the County of Wilshear (Wiltshire?), England & Parish of Dunhead, Removed from that to Novoscota [sic] and from thence to New York, arrived at New York within The United States of America from Novo Scota on the twentieth day of May in the year of Our Lord one thousand eight hundred & seventeen owing allegience to George the third King of the United Kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland and intending to settle in the State of Ohio hereby reports himself for the purpose of being admitted to the rights of Citizenship within the United States, and prays that a record may be made of the same

July Ten 1820    J B Norris

     Finding this type of document certainly proves that local societies and archives are an essential resource for researchers.  It is also a shame when agencies (governmental or otherwise) are unable to store documents and artifacts with historical value.  

An Abolitionist Ancestor

   Last night's episode of the genealogical television show, Who Do You Think You Are followed the search for Zooey Deschanel's ancestor who had been involved in the abolitionist movement.  I have ancestors who were on both sides of the slavery issue so John G. Norris holds a special place in my family tree because of his opposition to slavery.  
     The obituary of John Gilbert Norris appeared in the Marysville Tribune on May 20, 1874 page 2 Column 3.  In part it says, 

"Rev. John Gilbert Norris ... was reared in the Episcopalian faith but June 25, 1822 he joined the M. E. movement. In October 1829 he left the Methodist Episcopal  because they censured him for preaching against slavery. In 1830 he united with the Protestant Methodists but as they commenced to affiliate with slavery, he helped organize several churches in Ohio called Anti-Slavery Methodists."

     Preaching against slavery got John G. Norris into trouble in 1829 - more than thirty years before the Civil War.  It must have been difficult to speak out in opposition when you know there might be a severe cost for that opposition.  I'm glad that I had such ancestors.    

A Tempest of Shooting Stars

       Last night’s talk on the news about the Perseids meteor shower reminded me of a story about my Great-great-grandmother Elizabeth Homan.  Elizabeth was Lizzie Fox Pickett’s mother.     
     In 1833 Elizabeth Homan’s father, Joseph, a blacksmith decided to move his family from Rockingham County, Virginia to Ohio.  He settled in Muskingum County for five years, before moving to Licking County for ten years and eventually to Delaware County.  He traveled rather late in the year because we know that the family was on the road to Muskingum County on November 12, 1833.  We know the exact date they were traveling because of the family story about shooting stars.  
     The Grundy County, Illinois History¹ states 
     “. . . while en route [the family] witnessed the remarkable phenomenon of shooting stars which occurred that year. They made their journey westward with team and wagon, and one night took refuge in a school-house, in which place they saw the wonderful astronomical display. . . ”
     It is because of this astronomical display that we know exactly when they were traveling.  Contemporary accounts tell of the shooting stars falling about half as frequently as  flakes of snow in a snowstorm.  It was estimated that about a quarter of a million meteors were visible during the night in Boston.  There were at least 40 per second.  It frightened people half to death.  Nov 12, 1833 is still considered to be the greatest astronomical display in recorded history.  This was the Great Leonid Meteor Shower of 1833.
     In the summer of 1969 I participated in a sailboat race from Los Angeles to Honolulu.  About 2:30am on the morning of July 15, I spotted an incredibly bright shooting star.  As I wrote in my log, "spotted brilliant shooting star...lit up the whole sky... and left a huge vapor trail".  I remember that I could have read a book, it was that bright.   It left quite an impression on me. 
     I think that if I had seen that starry night in 1833 that it would have made quite an impression also.

NASA article regarding Nov 12, 1833
1.  Biographical & Genealogical Record of LaSalle & Grundy Counties, Illinois, Volume II, Chicago, 1900, p708-711