Looking closely at the the letters written by Theodore we can infer: He has a father named Walter Barrell, alive in 1799 He has sisters Abby, Polly and Charlotte He has an uncle Theodore His mother is deceased in 1799 … Continue reading →
Great great grandfather William Thomas, in his handwritten autobiography of 1926, refers to his time on the railways in Wales in the early 1870s, and using the “Spagoletti speaking instrument.” This turns out to be a form of the Single … Continue reading →
The will of Hendrik Van Cooten (transcript) in 1825 implies that Hendrik had two sons, Cornelis and Hendrik, born out of wedlock, prior to his marriage to Dorothea Nicols. The will says that Hendrik junior has “absented himself from Holland … Continue reading →
In searching the 19th Century English Newspapers for Maggie’s Gormans, we came across the following intriguing item in the Hampshire Telegraph and Sussex Chronicle for July 13 1861: William Taylor a respectably dressed young man, was charged with stealing a … Continue reading →
A name that I occasionally do a search for is that of William Eaton Rusher. John Hughes Van Cooten was Mr Rusher’s “amanuensis” for about four years from about 1870 (when John would have been about 15) to 1874 (when … Continue reading →
Someone contacted me recently trying to determine if he was connected to the Annie Jones lurking in the Van Cooten tree. The information I had for her was sparse, so the contact prompted me to do a little more research. … Continue reading →
Anna Maria Van Cooten was the eldest daughter of John Van Cooten and Martha (nee Smithers). According to the 1851 census she was born in Newport, Monmouthshire, which is where her parents were married. Ida Gorsuch lists her as Anna … Continue reading →
Again with assistance from family in the UK, I have obtained a copy of the will for Anna Maria Van Cooten dated 6 September 1872. Anna Maria (or Maria Anna) was the sister of John Lucius Van Cooten. I have … Continue reading →
With assistance from family in the UK (you know who you are!), I sent away for copies of the Smithers articles that I found in the online indexes to ‘The Cambrian’ newspaper. Unfortunately the text contains little more information than … Continue reading →
John Van Cooten, eldest son of Hendrik, married Martha Keane Smithers. Ida Gorsuch wrote in 1893: He [John] married a London merchant’s daughter (rather to the disgust of his father & his royal mother). She his wife was a “Miss … Continue reading →