Surname Saturday: Walker

 According to the Internet Surname Database, the surname Walker is of Anglo-Scottish origins and is either a locational name that comes from Walker, Northumberland, or an occupational name for a fuller, from the pre-7th-century word wealcere (which describes a fuller's work of scouring and thickening cloth by placing it in a vessel containing a water mixture and trampling on it).

According to Irish Ancestors, the surname Walker is common in all areas of Ireland, particularly in Ulster.

My 3rd-great-grandmother Anna "Ann" Walker was born on 28 February 1842 in Ireland. I do not yet know the identity of her father.

Thriller Thursday: Murder Near Tonawanda, New York

Atlas and Argus (Albany, NY), 20 October 1860, page 2

On 17 October 1860, a woman's body was found on the tracks of the Buffalo and Niagara Falls road, about a mile from Tonawanda, Erie County, New York. One person reported that the woman was standing near the track and fell over as a train approached. The train stopped, and it was discovered that the woman was dead. Her throat had been cut. Another person reported that the woman's body was lying on the tracks and was run over by a train. Her body was cut into two, but it was discovered that her throat had previously been cut. Either way, the killer apparently wanted the woman's death to seem to be the result of a railroad accident.

My 3rd-great-grandparents John and Ann (Walker) Winters were living in Tonawanda at the time that the murder took place.They probably heard about it.

Mappy Monday: Route of the Erie & Western Transportation Co. (Anchor Line)

Route of the Erie & Western Transportation Co. (Anchor Line) and connecting railroad and steamer lines, showing summer excursion tours. Traveler's Official Guide of the Railway and Steam Navigation Lines in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. New York: National Railway Publication Co. 32nd year, no. 10. March 1900. Page 462. Available from Google Books.

This map shows the route of the Erie & Western Transportation Co. (Anchor Line), as well as connecting lines (both railroad and steamer). Passengers could travel from Buffalo, New York; Erie, Pennsylvania; Cleveland, Ohio; and Detroit, Michigan to the summer resorts. They could connect at Mackinac Island and then take steamer lines.

I found this map interesting because it gave me an idea of how my ancestors John and Ann (Walker) Winters and their daughter Elizabeth may have traveled from Tonawanda, New York to Chicago, Illinois.

Sunday's Obituary: Zachary T. Mayo

Nashville Tennessean, 9 September 1907, page 9

         ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
                 ZACHARY T. MAYO
                       GONE TO REWARD

  ––––––––––––––––

           Liveryman Passes Away – Is Survived by 
                          Large Family Connection.

––––––––––––––––

Zachary Taylor Mayo, for many years one of Nashville's most prominent citizens and a descendant of one of the fine old Virginia families, died at a late hour Saturday night. In his death the community losses [sic] one of its most valued and generally liked citizens.
   Mr. Mayo's father, Samuel Lee Mayo, crossed the mountains from Virginia in the forties when a mere boy and settled in this county. He was the descendant of the old and well known Mayo, Lee, and Gordon families of the Old Dominion, who made her famous in war and peace.
  Mr. Mayo has for many years been engaged in the livery business and at the time of his death was connected with Wilkerson Bros. on Second avenue, north.
  He is survived by his wife and the following children: Wyley J. of St. Louis; Zachary Taylor, Robert Z., Mises Effie, Cora, and Eva Mayo, and Mrs. Howard Tanksley, all of this city. He also leaves four brothers, Dr. William D., Samuel Lee, Charles A., and Alonzo M. Mayo, and one sister, Mrs. W. J. Hudson, of this city.
  Mr. Mayo has been a quiet and honorable citizen, blessed with Chritsian [sic] fortitude and characterized by devotion to family and neighbors. Hiss [sic] loss will be felt by all who knew him.
  The funeral will take place this afternoon at 2:30 o'clock at McFerrin Memorial church.

       ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Zachary Taylor Mayo was the son of Stephen Lee Mayo and Amanda Ezell. He married Julia Frances Walker on 11 December 1873 in Yalobusha County, Mississippi.

Zachary's father Stephen Lee Mayo was the brother of my 3rd-great-grandmother Angeline Mayo. Their parents were Jacob Dillard Mayo and Eliza Gordon. This obituary gives me a helpful clue.  I know that Eliza's father was Chapman Gordon, but I don't know anything else about her ancestry. Maybe Chapman Gordon's unknown first wife was a Lee.

Jacob D. Mayo's household was enumerated in Davidson County, Tennessee in the 1840 United States Census. Samuel Lee Mayo probably "crossed the mountains from Virginia" in the thirties, not the forties.

Travel Tuesday: Elizabeth (Winters) Mapplebeck and Granddaughter Vivian Visit Toledo, Ohio

In 1907, my 2nd-great-grandmother Catherine Elizabeth (Winters) Mapplebeck and her granddaughter Vivian briefly visited Alton, Madison County Illinois. They had moved from Alton to St. Louis, Missouri in 1906. They probably visited Elizabeth's friends. They then went to Toledo, Ohio for a few weeks.

Alton Evening Telegraph, 3 June 1907, page 5

Elizabeth's son Garfield Graham was living in Toledo, Ohio in 1907. They must have been going to visit him.

Polk's Toledo Directory for the Year Commencing July 1907, page 646. Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.

Those Places Thursday: Conley's Patch

Catherine O'Leary's cottage on DeKoven Street in Chicago, 1871. By A.H. Abbott, Photographer (Stereoptican card) [Public domain]. Available from Wikimedia Commons.
 
Conley's Patch was a poor shantytown in Chicago, Illinois that was built by Irish immigrants in the 1850s. Monroe and Wells Streets were at the center of the neighborhood. The Encyclopedia of Chicago calls Conley's Patch the most notorious of the communities of boardinghouses and saloons. The community was known for its high crime rate as well as its poverty. The majority of the saloons, houses of prostitution, and gambling dens were located in Conley's Patch. Macaulay (2007) reported that only four percent of Conley's Patch residents were homeowners.

From 1858 to 1868, Roger Plant ran brothels on the northeast corner of Monroe and Wells Streets. The area was called "Under the Willow" because of the willow tree on the corner. It was also known as "Roger's Barracks." It was considered to be the center of corruption in the city.

Patrick and Catherine O'Leary's residence on 137 DeKoven Street, at the corner of Jefferson Street, was in the vicinity as well. 144 years ago today, on 8 October 1871, a fire started in the O'Learys' barn. It spread rapidly, resulting in the Great Chicago Fire.

My 3rd-great-grandparents John Bennet Winters and Anna "Ann" (Walker) Winters and their daughter, my 2nd-great-grandmother Catherine Elizabeth Winters, moved to Chicago in the mid-1860s. They lived at 247 S. Jefferson, where John ran a grocery store. His business failed in 1871, and he applied for a free peddler's license. His petition was granted in June 1871. They lived at the edge of the district that was burned by the Great Chicago Fire, and probably had to move as a result. They were not listed in the city directory that was published after the fire.

According to Gangland Chicago: Criminality and Lawlessness in the Windy City, 1837-1990, Catherine O'Leary was "the milk woman of Conley's Patch" and sold milk to the neighbors who lived on Jefferson Street. Perhaps the Winters family knew her.

References
The Chicago Crime Scenes Project: Monroe Street 
The Chicago Crime Scenes Project: Under the Willow 
Lindberg, Richard. Gangland Chicago: Criminality and Lawlessness in the Windy City, 1837-1990. Lanham, MD: Rownan & Littlefield, 2016.
Macaulay, Dendy. The Importance of Neighborhood Ties: Relocation Decisions After the Chicago Fire of 1871. Diss. University of Chicago, 2007.
Mack, Edwin F.  Old Monroe Street: Notes on the Monroe Street of Early Chicago Days. Chicago: Central Trust Company of Illinois, 1914. Available from Internet Archive.
"Multicentered Chicago." Encyclopedia of Chicago. Ed. James R. Grossman, Ann Durkin Keating, and Janice L. Reiff. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004. 548-553.
Sawislak, Karen. Smoldering City: Chicagoans and the Great Fire, 1871-1874. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995.

St. Patrick's Day

Since today is St. Patrick's Day, I am posting newspaper items from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle that were published on St. Patrick's Day between 1851 and 1870. My 4th-great-grandparents Hugh Winters and Mary Bennet and their children arrived in New York in 1849 and settled in Brooklyn. Their son John, my 3rd-great-grandfather, left Brooklyn (he was in Tonawanda, New York by 1859), but Hugh and other members of the family remained in Brooklyn. They had come from Leith, Scotland, but Hugh was born in Carrickmacross, County Monaghan, Ireland, and Mary was also born in Ireland.

Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 17 March 1851, page 3

Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 17 March 1860, page 2

Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 17 March 1865, page 2

Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 17 March 1870, page 13

Other Irish ancestors of mine are Anna "Ann" Walker and her mother Ann, Mary Nevins, and Michael Dyer (from County Roscommon) and his wife Mary.

52 Ancestors: Week 11 "Luck of the Irish": Ann (Unknown) Walker

None of my Irish ancestors seem to have been particularly lucky; they experienced many difficulties throughout their lives. But I got lucky when I finally learned more about my 3rd-great-grandmother Anna "Ann" Walker and discovered her mother Ann.

When the 1855 New York State Census became available online, I was able to locate the Walker family. They moved from Seneca, Ontario County, New York to Buffalo, Erie County, New York that year, and were enumerated twice. That was definitely a lucky find! The Buffalo enumeration states that the family had lived in Buffalo for 1/12 of a year.

1855 New York State Census, Seneca, Ontario County, population schedule, enumeration district 1, page 20. Available from FamilySearch.

1855 New York State Census, Buffalo, Erie County, population schedule, enumeration district 8, page 50. Available from FamilySearch.

According to the census records, Ann was born about 1811 or 1812 in Ireland. There were four children in her household: her son James, born about 1837 in Ireland; her daughter Ann (my 3rd-great-grandmother), born about 1842 or 1843 in Ireland (according to the Winters family Bible, she was born on 28 February 1842); and twins William and Dora (born about 1851 and 1852).

Since there was a ten-year age gap between my 3rd-great-grandmother and the twins, I wonder if there were children that died. Another possibility is that Ann's husband, who had apparently died by 1855, may have left for North America before the rest of his family.

There is one big discrepancy between the two census records. According to the Seneca enumeration, William and Dora were born in Ontario County, New York, and the family had resided in Seneca for 9 years. According to the Buffalo enumeration, William and Dora were born in Canada.

In 1860, Ann was still living in Buffalo with her children James, William, and Dora. My 3rd-great-grandmother Ann had married in 1859 and was living nearby in Tonawanda with her husband, John Bennet Winters.

1860 United States census, 9th Ward, Buffalo, Erie County, New York, population schedule, page 635. Available from Ancestry.com. 1860 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. 

Ann's son James is the only member of the household who is listed with an occupation, so he was probably supporting the family. The twins are listed as being born in Canada. I suspect that they were born in Canada, since I cannot locate the family in the 1850 United States census. Perhaps the enumerator in Seneca was told that the twins were born in Ontario and he misunderstood, since Seneca is in Ontario County. 9 years may have been the length of time that the family lived in North America. I have not located the family in the 1851 Census of Canada either, but that census was actually taken in 1852, and perhaps the family left for New York shortly before the census was taken.

Ann probably left Ireland with her family during or shortly after the Great Famine. She may have lost several children. She was likely widowed (unless she and her husband separated, or she was never married). Her husband may have died after the family arrived in North America, or he could have died while she was pregnant, either in Ireland or on the way over on the ship.

I have not been able to locate Ann or her children James, William, and Dora after 1860. Her daughter Ann was in Chicago by 1866, and died in 1872.

Tombstone Tuesday: Vivian Evelyn (Boe) Schaefering

My great-grandmother Kathleen Graham's oldest child, Vivian Evelyn, was born on 9 August 1901 in Alton, Madison County, Illinois. Vivian's biological father was Samuel R. Bowen. She was known as Vivian Walker until her mother married John Boe;  Vivian then took his surname and was raised as his daughter. Vivian married Erwin Edgar Schaefering on 7 February 1922 in Obion County, Tennessee. Vivian died on 12 December 1978 in St. Louis, Missouri. Her ashes are interred at Hillcrest Abbey Crematory and Mausoleum in St. Louis.

52 Ancestors: #46 Kathleen Graham

My great-grandmother Kathleen Graham was born on 31 October 1879. She was the daughter of James Graham and Catherine Elizabeth Winters. Her birth name may have been Catherine; earlier records list her by that name. She was either born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, or was born in Chicago, Illinois and came to Montreal as a baby. I think that Montreal is the more likely birthplace; her mother's father John Bennet Winters was living in Montreal at the time of her birth.

After 1883, Kathleen's father James Graham either died or left his family. Kathleen's mother Elizabeth claimed to be a widow, but the family story is that James Graham had been a Catholic priest and had returned to the priesthood. I have not yet confirmed the family story, but because of it, I think that James may have left his family, even if he did not leave for the priesthood.

On 20 November 1885, Kathleen's mother Elizabeth married James Mapplebeck. Kathleen and her younger brother Garfield took his surname. They may not have been legally adopted by him, but Kathleen thought of James Mapplebeck as her father. He was the man that raised her.

Between 1891 and 1892, sometime after the 1891 Census of Canada, the Mapplebeck family moved to Alton, Madison County, Illinois. James Mapplebeck was a glassblower, and the Illinois Glass Company was located in Alton. James Mapplebeck had left the family by 1898; he went to California. Kathleen had lost another father.

On 9 August 1901, Kathleen gave birth to a daughter, Vivian. Vivian's father was Samuel R. Bowen Samuel had worked at the glass company, and then had gone to Olean, Cattaraugus County, New York for the summer, while Kathleen was pregnant. Kathleen had him arrested, and he was brought back to Alton, Illinois. A young widow, Lulu (Fox) Masterson, came back with him. Although she had only known him for two months, she paid his bail. They returned to New York while Samuel was out on bail, and he married her on 22 July 1901. In October 1901, he returned to Alton, accompanied by his wife and stepson. Kathleen had him jailed for illegitimate parentage, but he was released on a writ of habeas corpus. He was to be tried on another charge, but I have not yet found any additional information on him. Kathleen showed remarkable strength, especially for her time. Many women would not have had the courage to stand up for themselves the way that she did.

Kathleen was known as Mrs. K. G. Walker, and her daughter was Vivian Walker. I suspect that she adopted this name to pass as a widow because of the stigma of illegitimacy. Walker was her mother's mother's maiden name.

Kathleen moved to St. Louis. At the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair (where, according to my mother's first cousin Marie, she got paid for talking), she met John Boe. He was already married, but by the time their son John (my maternal grandfather) was born on 28 April 1908, he and his wife had separated and he and Kathleen had married. They moved to Williston, Williams County, North Dakota, and their daughter Florence was born there on 22 November 1909. In the 1910 United States census, the family was enumerated in Kathleen's mother's household in St. Louis. They were in Williston, North Dakota in 1901. Their son James Jorgen was born on 27 September 1911, and their daughter Theodora Catherine was born on 9 February 1914. The family moved back to St. Louis in March 1915, and their daughter Geraldine Edith was born in St. Louis on 29 July 1916.

Kathleen's husband John was president of the St. Louis Motor Car Company. The company failed in the late 1920s, and the family moved to Sarasota, Florida for a year. They then returned to St. Louis. In 1929, John left Kathleen; he had a daughter with a much younger woman, who he later married.

Kathleen worked for Pevely Dairy. According to her 1930 United States census enumeration, she was educational director. She filed a patent for a design for a scorecard on 4 April 1927, and the patent was granted on 16 October 1928. The design included milk bottles; she probably created it while working for Pevely Dairy. According to my mother, Kathleen was responsible for the introduction of milk into the St. Louis public schools. Free milk programs were established in the St. Louis Public Schools; these are probably the programs she was involved with. By 1936, she was working for the U.S. Census Bureau.

Kathleen was a member of Eastern Star. She attended the Presbyterian Church.

When she was older, Kathleen lived with her children. According to the "Flag of the Day" article in the 30 August 1966 issue of the Chicago Tribune, a flag was flown every day at the home of her son-in-law William A. Paley (husband of her daughter Geraldine) in Wilmette, Illinois, and Kathleen took the flag down at sunset.

Kathleen died in Brentwood, Missouri on 17 November 1967. She was cremated, and her ashes are interred at Hillcrest Abbey Crematory and Mausoleum.

Winters family Bible

1881 Census of Canada. Hochelaga Village, Hochelaga, Quebec. Ancestry.com; reproduced by courtesy of Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa, Canada. (James Graham is enumerated on the previous page.)

W. H. McCoy's Alton City Directory, Including the Towns of Upper Alton, North Alton and East Alton. 1901-1902. Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.

  Alton Telegraph, 24 October 1901

Alton Evening Telegraph, 18 May 1905

Boe, Kathleen. Design for a Score Card.Patent USD76601. Application filed 4 April 1927. Patented 16 October 1928. Available from http://www.google.com/patents/USD76601. 

 St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 17 November 1967

52 Ancestors: #28 Catherine Elizabeth Winters

My great-great-grandmother Catherine Elizabeth Winters was born on 12 November 1861 in Tonawanda, Erie County, New York. She was the daughter of John Bennet Winters and Anna "Ann" Walker. By 1866, Elizabeth had moved to Chicago, Illinois with her family. Her younger siblings Hugh, Alice, and David all died between 1866 and 1868. Her family was probably affected by the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. On 19 September 1872, Elizabeth's mother Ann died.

Elizabeth married James Graham. The family story is that he had been a Catholic priest. I have not yet found their marriage record, but they probably married before 31 October 1879, when my great-grandmother Kathleen (probably born Catherine, because earlier records show her with that name) was born. Elizabeth's father John died in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on 25 December 1879. The Graham family was definitely in Canada by 1881, when they appear on the 1881 Census of Canada, living in Hochelaga, Quebec, Canada (near Montreal, and now part of Montreal). Their son Garfield was born on 26 May 1881 or 1882. After 1883, James Graham disappears from the records. The family story is that he went back to the priesthood. On 20 November 1885 in Montreal, Elizabeth married James Mapplebeck, a glassblower who was originally from Ontario, Canada. Their marriage record states that she was a widow. However, considering the family story, I am not sure if she was really a widow. Although I am skeptical of the story that James Graham returned to the priesthood, he may have abandoned the family.

The Mapplebeck family (Elizabeth's children used their stepfather's surname until the early to mid-1900s and appear to have been at least informally adopted by him) moved from Montreal to Alton, Madison County, Illinois sometime after the 1891 census, between 1891 and 1892. By 1898, James Mapplebeck had left the family and gone to California.

Elizabeth moved to St. Louis, Missouri in 1905. Her daughter Kathleen was already living there. By 1908, her son Garfield had moved there as well. In the 1910 United States Census, Kathleen and her family were enumerated in Elizabeth's household, possibly visiting from North Dakota. Elizabeth ran a boarding house in St. Louis.

On 2 March 1942, there was a fire at the Brantwood Nursing Home in Lemay, St. Louis County, Missouri. The 3 March 1942 issue of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch stated that Elizabeth Mapplebeck was one of the patients who was at City Hospital after the fire. Elizabeth died on 4 March 1942. According to her death certificate, the cause of death was coronary sclerosis due to chronic nephritis. There was no mention of the fire, but surely it played a role in her death. Elizabeth was cremated on 5 March 1942, and her ashes were scattered on 27 April 1942.

 

Birth record, Catherine Elizabeth Winters. Winters family Bible.

St. Mary's Church, Hochelaga, Quebec, Canada. Marriage of James Mapplebeck and Elizabeth Winters, 20 November 1885. Drouin Collection. Montreal, Quebec, Canada: Institut Généalogique Drouin.

Alton, Illinois city directory, 1901-1902.

Alton Evening Telegraph, 20 October 1905, p. 4

 

St. Louis, Missouri city directory, 1923

Elizabeth Maplebeck death certificate. Missouri State Board of Health.

Joplin Globe, 5 March 1942

Canada Day

"An Act of the Imperial Parliament for the Union of Canada, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, and the Government Thereof; and for Purposes Connected Therewith."  [British North America Act, 1867.] Ottawa: Hunter, Rose & Co., 1867.

On 1 July 1867, the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick were united when the British North America Act, 1867 (now called the Constitution Act, 1867) was enacted, and Canada became a kingdom. On 15 May 1879, the anniversary of the occasion was established as a holiday and was originally called Dominion Day. On 27 October 1982, the name of the holiday was changed to Canada Day.

In Ottawa, Canada Day festivities last all day long and take place at Parliament Hill, Major's Hill Park, Jacques Cartier Park, and at national museums and institutions. Activities include performances, games, physical activities, exhibits, a flag-raising ceremony, and fireworks. Other Canadian cities also have fireworks displays.

Celebrating Canada Day with a laser light show on Parliament Hill in Ottawa. Photo by Jeanne18 (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]. Available from Wikimedia Commons.

Some members of my family were born in Canada or at least lived there. My Graham and Winters ancestors spent time living in Montreal, Quebec. James Mapplebeck, my great-grandmother's stepfather/adoptive father, was from Ontario. My Walker ancestors may also have spent time living in Ontario.

References
Canada Day
Canada Day - Canada Day in the Capital
History of Canada Day

52 Ancestors: #3 Anna "Ann" Walker

According to the Winters family Bible, my 3rd-great-grandmother Anna "Ann" Walker was born on 28 February 1842. The family Bible does not give her place of birth, but according to census records (the 1855 New York State Census, the 1860 United States Census, and the 1870 United States Census), she was born in Ireland. When the 1855 New York State Census became available online, I finally learned more about Ann's family. Because she was only 17 when she married John Bennet Winters in Tonawanda, Erie County, New York on 10 October 1859, I thought it was likely that she had come to the United States with family. I found an Ann Walker of the right age and birthplace and in the right geographical area, and when I located her family in the 1860 United States Census, she was not with them, which fit well with her being Ann Winters, enumerated in the household of her husband John Winters, and married within the year.

I got really lucky when I found two enumerations for the Walker family in the 1855 New York State Census; they moved at the time that the census was taken, and were enumerated before and after they moved. The first enumeration was in Seneca, Ontario County, New York. Ann was enumerated with her widowed mother Ann, her older brother James, her younger brother William, and her younger sister Dora. William and Dora were the same age, apparently twins. The twins were born in Ontario County, New York, and the family had lived in Seneca for 9 years.The family was living with Miranda Waters, born in Otsego County, and her daughter Matilda, born in Ontario County. Miranda and Matilda had lived in Seneca for 7 years.

The second enumeration was in Buffalo, Erie County, New York. The family had lived in Buffalo for 1/12 of a year. According to this census record, William and Dora were born in Canada. Although it is possible that the enumerator confused Ontario County with Ontario, Canada, I suspect that they were actually born in Canada. According to the 1860 United States Census, they were born in Canada. I could not find the Walker family in the 1850 United States Census. The family may have come to North America 9 years earlier and settled in Canada (probably Ontario) first, and then gone to New York.

By 1866, Ann had moved to Chicago, Illinois with her husband and children. After losing three of her four children and probably being displaced by the Great Chicago Fire, Ann died at the young age of 30. According to the Winters family Bible, she died on 19 September 1872 at Lake Side between Highland Park and Glencoe, State of Illinois and was buried at Lakeside Cemetery, close by the head of Lake Michigan. I have not found a Lakeside Cemetery in that area. I am not sure if the cemetery name is correct, and the cemetery may not exist any more. It may have been in the area that is now Lincoln Park. I am still trying to determine precisely where the Winters family lived in 1872, and I am looking for more information on her burial site.

52 Ancestors: #2 John Bennet Winters

My 3rd-great-grandfather John Bennet Winters was born on 19 December 1831 in Leith, Midlothian, Scotland. He was the first child of Hugh Winters and Mary Bennet, who were both born in Ireland. On 8 January 1832, he was baptized at St. Mary's Roman Catholic Cathedral in Edinburgh. Leith did not have a Catholic church at that time. He was baptized by John McPherson, and the sponsors were Owen Winters (probably Hugh Winters' brother) and Bridget McMahon. The Winters family lived in the parish of South Leith until 1849, when they immigrated to the United States. John, his father, and most of his siblings sailed from Glasgow to New York City on the Pursuit; they arrived on 12 June 1849. John's mother and his sister Margaret (the youngest child born in Scotland) did not sail with them, but were with the family in 1850, so apparently they traveled separately. The Winters family settled in Brooklyn, New York. At the time of the 1850 United States Census, John was not employed. By 1859 he had left home and was living in Tonawanda, Erie County, New York, where he married Anna "Ann" Walker on 10 October 1859. The couple was enumerated in Tonawanda in the 1860 United States Census. The record indicates that they had married within the year, which is consistent with the marriage date given in the Winters family Bible. John's occupation was "drudger." He was probably working on the first enlargement of the Erie Canal. John and Ann's first child, daughter Catherine Elizabeth (their only child to survive to adulthood) was born in Tonawanda on 12 November 1861. The family had moved to Chicago, Illinois, by 1866. John ran a grocery store at 247 S. Jefferson, in the Conley's Patch neighborhood. Within two years, three of his children passed away. In 1866, his daughter Alice died at the age of two weeks, and his son Hugh died at age 3 years, 8 months. His son David died in 1867 at the age of three weeks. All three children were buried in a single grave at Graceland Cemetery. In 1871, John petitioned for a free peddler's license. His grocery business had failed, and his only chance of making a living was by peddling tea and coffee. His petition was granted by the mayor and Common Council of Chicago in June 1871. A few months later, after the Great Chicago Fire in October 1871, the Winters family probably had to move. They had lived at the edge of the burnt district, and John was not listed in the 1871 Edwards' Chicago Directory, Fire Edition, which was compiled after the fire. On 19 September 1872, John's wife Ann died. By 1878, John had moved to Montreal, Quebec, Canada, where he married Elizabeth Buise on 18 May 1878 at St. Gabriel Street Presbyterian Church. In the 1878 and 1879 Montreal city directories, John was listed as a watchman. He lived at 24 Bronsdon Lane. John died of pneumonia at Montreal General Hospital on 25 December 1879. He was buried in a common grave in Mount Royal Cemetery on 27 December 1879. Robert Campbell of St. Gabriel Street Presbyterian Church was the minister officiating at his burial. W. S. Wright and R. A. Morrison were witnesses. His burial record stated that his occupation was fireman, which had also been his father's occupation when the family lived in Leith.

John B. Winters death notice, Montreal Daily Witness, 27 December 1879

Irish Ancestors

Since it's St. Patrick's Day, it seemed an appropriate time to write about my Irish ancestors.

My 3rd-great-grandmother Mary Nevins was born about 1835 in Ireland. By 1855 she was in Davidson County, Tennessee, where she married William Dow Gatlin. Mary had a very difficult life. She probably left Ireland because of the famine, and her marriage was not a happy one. Her husband physically abused her. She became close to a boarder in the family home, Samuel Haslam, and they had an affair. He was going to help her divorce her husband, but then he was murdered in their home, killed with an ax. William Dow Gatlin was tried for murder but was acquitted due to insufficient evidence. However, based on the newspaper articles, he sounded very guilty, and he had motive and opportunity. Mary remained married to him. Her oldest daughter Florence passed away in 1881 at age 24, which must have been a difficult loss for her. Mary died on September 9, 1888 in Nashville, Tennessee.

My 3rd-great-grandparents Michael and Mary Dyer were also born in Ireland. Michael was born about 1830, and Mary was probably born about 1835 (she kept getting younger in records as the years passed!) By 1860 they were living in St. Louis, Missouri, and by 1863 they were in Nashville, Tennessee. Michael had passed away by 1870. The family ran a saloon in Nashville. Mary married John Cox in 1871, and by 1880 she was widowed again, and raising seven children on her own. Mary died on November 10, 1906 in Nashville, Tennessee.

My 4th-great-grandparents Hugh Winters and Mary Bennet were both born in Ireland. Hugh was born about 1810, and Mary was born about 1814. By January 1831 they were in Leith (now part of Edinburgh), Midlothian, Scotland, where they married. Mary’s father, Peter Bennet, was living in Airdrie, Scotland at that time. Hugh was a clothes broker and fireman. Their son John Bennet Winters (my 3rd-great-grandfather) was living in Tonawanda, Erie County, New York by 1859, where he married Anna “Ann” Walker, who was born on February 28, 1842 in Ireland. They moved to Chicago, Illinois in the mid-1860s. Only one of their children lived to adulthood. Two infants lived for 2-3 weeks, and another child died at age 3. Ann died in Illinois on September 19, 1872.