William and Sarah Lenny

Today I found my 3rd great grandparents (as in great great great grandparents) in the UK 1861 census!!! They are William and Sarah Lenny. It's a female line - Lenny - who married into the Kirkpatrick family. Their daughter, Maria, married James Kirkpatrick December 22, 1850. James and Maria Kirkpatrick are my grandmother's grandparents.

William Lenny was born about 1807 in Hursley, Hampshire, England.  He was 54 at the time of this census. He was a tailor. Sarah Lenny (maiden name unknown to me at the present) was born about 1801 and was 60 at the time of this census. There is no occupation listed for her. She was born in Panton, Kent, England. No children were living with them in 1861.

They lived at 243 Edward Street, Regents Park, London, England.

Look for them in the census below.

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.