This blog is intended to record progress in family history research, record interesting sources of information, and to describe solutions to dead ends.
Van Cooten Voices
Van Cooten family history progress and collaboration
This blog is intended to record progress in family history research, record interesting sources of information, and to describe solutions to dead ends.
Thank you for putting up this website. I am a descendant of Charles Parker Massiah and Frances Culpeper listed in your the database of personages linked to your site. I live in Berkeley CA near where their daughter lies buried in Oakland.
The newspaper articles on the site are particularly interesting, describing the legal and commercial affairs of my ancestor Alleyne Culpeper.
You refer to a birth at Bendington, near Wallingford. I have a birth certificate too, bearing the same place. I came across your blog when I was trying to find out where it is. After a complete lack of success, I looked more carefully at the certificate, and realized that it says Bensington. “s” in the handwriting looks like a “d”.
Refer to http://www.oldtowns.co.uk/Oxfordshire/bensington.htm and you will find that Bensington is longhand for Benson. Now I know Benson near Wallingford, and that makes sense to me at last.
Regards,
John Gardner
Thanks for tip on this, John. I’ve had a closer look at the birth certificate and you are right – what I’ve read as a “d” really is an elongated “s”.
My ancestor John Christopher Reuter born in Demerara is on your site.I am a direct descendent,but am unable to go back further in time. Do you have any suggestions on further research.