William F. and Nancy A. Pritchett - 1870 US Federal Census

Nothing to report on the 1870 US Federal Population Census. I couldn't find the Pritchetts in the census. I will keep looking. This would be the census that would have my great grandmother, Margrett E. Pritchett Gilley, listed. She would be about 10 that year. It would also list any other children born since the 1860 census.  I think at least 3 other children would be listed on that census as well.

William F. and Nancy A. Pritchett - 1860 US Federal Census

I found out some things about William Franklin Pritchett and Mary A. Pritchett, maternal grandparents of my grandmother, Annie Gilley Jowers. My first source is the 1860 US Federal Population Census. William was listed at 34 years old. The Gilley Bible record shows he was born 10 Feb 1820, which I tend to go with. That would make his age 40 years. Mary A. was listed as 30 years old. If that is accurate, she was 30 years old with a possible birth year of 1830. A box is checked for the column "Married within the year" for William. He was born in Alabama and his wife was born in Georgia. They lived in Dale County, Alabama (Post Office - Newton).

At the time of this census they had two sons, Thomas, age 10 and James, age 8. It looks like both boys were born in Arkansas (Ark written in the census.)

William was a farm laborer who did not own property but had a "Personal Estate" valued at $390.

I will need to add to my To Do list: Was William F. Pritchett married before? When did he live in Arkansas? Was Mary A. Pritchett married before and are the boys her sons?

You will find the Pritchetts at the bottom of the census.

William Franklin and Nancy A. Pritchett

Today I've been busy researching William Franklin Pritchett and Nancy A. Pritchett, grandparents of my grandmother, Annie Gilley Jowers. Her mother was Margrett E. Pritchett Gilley. I've found them in some US censuses and also found where William Pritchett bought some land. Will post more details later.

Gilley Family Loving Remembrance Card

Here is another treasure from Cousin Jane and the collection of her parents. When used in connection to the transcribed Gilley Family Bible Births page, it gives more information on the children of Thomas Gilley, Jr. and Margrett Pritchett Gilley.

Three of Thomas and Margrett Gilley's children died as infants or a toddler: William, Addia (Addie on the Births Family Bible page), and Isom. Their other children grew to adulthood, although Green Gilley died in his 20's in the early 1920's.

Thomas Gilley, Sr. is first on the remembrance card, so this card was probably made following his death in 1898.

This is some information I found on the internet about remembrance cards:

With a long tradition both in the United States and Europe dating back to the 1800's, funeral cards (also sometimes called mass, mourning or remembrance cards) are an excellent source of information for genealogists. While not a traditional "vital record", they often provide great clues like death and birth dates, name of the cemetery where the deceased was interred, name of the funeral home, and sometimes even a photo of the ancestor.

Transcribed Births - Gilley Family Bible

I decided to transcribe the Births page from the Gilley Family Bible I wrote a post on previously. It starts at the top.

Thomas Gilley Was Borned Oct 29 AD 1858 (Friday in pencil)
Margrett E. Gilley Was Borned November (or maybe Oct - it looks like a combination) 21 AD 1860 (Wednesday in pencil)
William H. Gilley Was Borned June the 11 AD 1878 (Tuesday in pencil)
Marvin Gilley Was Borned November 28 AD 1879 (Friday in ink)
Addie Gilley Was Borned December The 11 AD 1882 (Monday in ink)
Ernest Gilley was Born May 13th 1884 Thursday Evining
Isom Gilley was Borned Oct the 3rd (?) AD 1886 Sunday evening
Ader Gilley was Borned February the 23rd 1888 thursday at Sun Rise
Lee Gilley was Borned May the 20 1889 (Thursday)
Ann Gilley was Borned March the 31st 1892 Thursday at 4 PM
Warren Isaiah Gilley was Borned Jan the 18th 1894 Thursday 1-30 PM
Green Gilley was Borned Nov 27th 1897 Sat. at dusk
May Gilley was Borned Sept 13th 1902  Sat night 8 oclock
Luler B Gilley was Borned June the 22 18?4 (1874?)
Thomas Green Gilley was Borned Oct 9 1906
G (?) M Gilley was Born April 15 1879 or 1889 (written in pencil)
Lizzie Adell Gilley was Born mch. 3. 1909 (written in pencil)

A few thoughts . . . I think Luler B Gilley is Lula Bell Jowers Gilley who married Marvin Gilley. The the two Gilleys on the list born in 1906 and 1909 may be grandchildren of Thomas and Margrett Gilley. I don't know who G? M Gilley is (yet). I also think Ader is Ada and that the name was pronounced as Ader. I remember seeing Aunt Ada and Aunt May at Grandmama Jowers' birthday dinners from time to time. Here is a photo of them, date unknown.

 L to R Annie Gilley Jowers, Ada Gilley and May Gilley. (I don't know their married names.)

Mama's Side of the Family

When a person researches his/her family, there are (hopefully) many "hallelujah" moments. Moments when you're so excited because you've found something of great value concerning your family. I've had many of those in the past few years. One came when Mama, Frances Langdale Jowers, showed me copies of her mother's birth certificate, her father's birth certificate, her father's death certificate, and her parents' marriage certificate. Her brother, Charlie, who lives in England, sent them. I don't remember why Mama said he sent them. I just remember being so excited the first time she showed them to me.

Ten or so years ago I asked Mama about her family, her grandparents and any others she remembered. She told me she didn't know her grandparents. She didn't even know their names. Sometime later she gave me a paper where she had written down what she knew about her family. Her family lived in England. On the Langdale side, she mentioned an Uncle Charles, Aunt Maggie, Aunt Pat, and Uncle Fred. She mentioned a cousin, Harriet and 3 sons of Aunt Maggie and another girl. On the Kirkpatrick side, she mentioned Uncle Sydney (aka Sidney), his wife Bertha, one unnamed daughter, and a granddaughter, Wendy. At the top of the page she wrote "Unknown before 1892."

The certificates listed in the first paragraph changed everything! The birth certificates (certified copies) told us the names, addresses, and occupations of Mama's grandparents and the maiden names of her grandmothers. The marriage certificate gave her parents ages, addresses, occupations, fathers' names, and the date they got married and where. I now had something to go on.

I didn't start researching the families until about 2009. Using the Murphy, NC Library internet access to the Library Edition to Ancestry.com, I had access to records in England, mainly censuses and parish records. Since then, I've traced my direct line of Langdales to my third greatgrandfather (1700's, birth year unknown) and to my fourth greatgrandfather (1700's, birth year unknown) on the Kirkpatrick side. All have been sourced.

I've often wondered what Mama would have said to what I've found out about her family, and I've discovered a lot. I wish she knew. I plan to share some of my finds as time permits.

These are my grandparents, Thomas Henry Langdale and Maud Kirkpatrick Langdale. The photo was taken at the wedding of Margaret Maud Langdale and Henry (Harry) Norris in 1942. My grandfather was 45 and my grandmother 49 when the photo was taken. My grandfather looks tall in the photo but he's standing on a step. He was actually 5 ft. 1 1/2 inches tall and my grandmother stood under 5 ft.

Additional Pages of Thomas Gilley, Jr.'s Family Bible.

Family History transcription:

A Record of Important Events

My Mother Winnie Ann Gilley Died June the 11th 1891 66 1/4 years old
My Father Thomas Gilley Died Mch 2nd 1898 75 years 6 months 2 days old

My Father-in Law William Franklin Pritchett was born
Feb. 10th 1820 and Died Aug. the 5th 1912.
(Note: William looks more like Hilliam but William is the correct name.)

Marriages transcription:

Marriages

Thomas and Margrett E. Gilley Was Married July The 5 AD 1877
(In pencil) Marvin and Lula B. Gilley was married July the 27 AD 1902
Note: Lula B was Lula Bell Jowers, my grandfather, Hilliard Edgar Jowers' sister.

Deaths transcription:

 Deaths

William H. Gilley Died Oct The 31 AD 1878 (in pencil - Thursday)
Addie Gilley Died February the 23 AD 1883 (I think) (in pencil - Friday)
Isum (?) Gilley Died Oct the 8th 1886 (in pencil - Friday)
Thos. Green Gilley Died Oct the 18th 1906
Green Gilley Died June the 9th 1923
Margarette Emmaline Gilley Died Aug. 15th 1926 2.30 AM
(In pencil) Thomas Gilley Died Nov. 3, 1938 8:45 PM

Note: My great grandmother's name was written as Margrett on the Marriages page above.

I'm not sure who these people are: William H. Gilley, Addie Gilley, Isum Gilley, Thomas Green Gilley. They will be added to my To Do list to find out who they are.

Green Gilley is my grandmother Annie Gilley Jowers' brother who is thought to have died in a sawmill accident.

I believe my great grandfather, Thomas Gilley, Jr., wrote most of the entries in these pages. He had beautiful penmanship.

Thomas Gilley, Jr. Family Bible

Here is the Births page from Thomas Gilley, Jr.'s Family Bible. At the top is Thomas Gilley who was "Borned Oct 29 AD 1858 (Friday)" and his wife Margrett E. (Pritchett) Gilley who was "Borned November (or maybe Oct - it looks like a combination) 21 AD 1860 (Wednesday). My grandmother, Annie Gilley, is written where the taped part is in the middle of the page. It reads:  Ann Gilley was borned March the 31st 1892 Thursday at 4 PM. This page is the first time I'd  ever seen my grandmother's name as Ann.

More about Uncle Syd . . .

Here are some things I learned from the Canadian Immigration document.

He was 34 years old when he arrived. Bertha was 40 years old. Her sister, Mrs. A. Bragg, 952 Norman Rd., Ford City, Windsor, Ontario, paid their way to Canada. Both intended to permanently reside in Canada. Ford City, Windsor was right across
water (river?) from Detroit, Michigan. They were planning to travel to their destination by train.

Uncle Sid's occupation was listed as a roadman, which meant he worked on roads. His intended Canadian occupation was listed as Agriculture. Aunt Bertha was a housewife. They had a total of 10 pounds (English currency) when they entered the country. I'm not sure how much that was in 1928 or today's equivalent.

I did find a document (Detroit Border Crossings) that shows they went to Detroit to the theatre (movies?) for a few hours on March 7, 1931. Other information showed he lived Blenheim, Ontario and was a farmer. He had been in the US before. He had $10 when he crossed into the country. Uncle Syd was 5 feet 3 inches tall with a medium complexion, light brown hair, and blue eyes, and 34 years 8 months old. 

They were in Canada about 2 years 7 months.

I found where he and his wife and baby daughter, Mary, left Canada to return to England in 1931. They sailed on the Ausonia (Cunard Ship Line) - port of embarkation, Halifax; port at which they landed, London, on August 4, 1931.

Some facts from the passenger list:
Uncle Syd - 34 years old, occupation - laborer
Aunt Bertha - 40 years old, no occupation
Mary - 4 months old
Proposed address: 38 Watson Ave, St. Albans

Uncle Syd

Today is one of those whoop and holler days! I was looking on Ancestry.com at their Immigration and Passenger lists. A few days earlier I found Cousin Gill's dad on a 1957 list coming from England to Canada. She suggested I look for our great uncle Syd who immigrated to Canada a long time ago. I FOUND HIM! He and his wife, Bertha, went there in 1928. Not only did I find that. I also found that Uncle Syd listed his brother, John, as his closest kin and . . . it gave John's address in St. Albans, Hertfordshire. Great information. I didn't have anything about John past the 1911 census when he lived in the house where my grandmother was a servant. He was about 13 years old at the time. I was also trying to find out if Aunt Peggy went with Uncle Syd to Canada. Haven't found any evidence of that yet. (It was believed that she had gone to live with them in Canada for a while when she was a child.) Now I need to see when Uncle Syd and wife left Canada and moved back to England. I met Uncle Syd as a child when visiting in England and saw him again as an adult.

That made me wonder if I could find when Aunt Peggy came to the States to visit Mama after I was born. I FOUND HER! She arrived in late August, 1948. I also have evidence of where my family lived in Tallahassee at that time.

Exciting discoveries, for sure, as I try to learn more about my English family.

Here are the two documents I found. Left document: Uncle Syd (Sid) and his wife, Bertha, are at the bottom of the page. Right document: Aunt Peggy is Line 3.