I was recently sharing some information that I learned with my Mom and she said to be sure to get this in writing! A fine idea, Mom!
MESSAGE FROM A DISTANT COUSIN
I recently received an Ancestry notification from a Douglas MacFarlane, born in Montreal, Canada, and now living in California. He graciously sent me a message stating that he noticed that Parthenia Burch was in my family tree, as well as his, and he had detailed information on Parthenia's ancestry! Specifically, he said that based on this connection, I was related to Prince William! So the hunt was on!
SO WHO IS PARTHENIA BURCH AND HOW IS SHE RELATED TO US?
Parthenia Burch is one of my 16 great-great-great grandmothers. She was born about 1791 and died in Vankleek Hill in the Ontario province of Canada, 3 years after the death of her husband William Johnson. As a result, Susan Johnson, my great-great-grandmother was an orphan at age 15. When I researched her earlier, I suspected that her grandfather might have been a Benjamin Burch who was mentioned in the History of Waitsfield, Vermont, as receiving 3 different lots of land in Waitsfield. This helped me understand why Susan would have come to marry George Benjamin Carroll, who lived near Waitsfield.
The eldest son of George and Susan, George Eden Carroll (my great-grandfather), married Emily Louise Stackhouse in 1876. Emily had been born in Ste-Justine-de-Newton, Province of Quebec, Canada. So a lot of our early Carroll ancestors had a lot of back and forth activity between Vermont and Canada! Again, I wondered what brought Emily down to Vermont? First, Emily's mother, Samantha Munson, was born in Duxbury, which is very near Waitsfield. Furthermore, many of Samantha's cousins still lived in Duxbury. But the second factor is even more curious. Samantha's first husband was Eden Johnson, the brother of Susan Johnson. (Both Eden and Susan were born in Hawkesbury, Canada.) Thus, Samantha would have had occasion to visit George and Susan Carroll, because Susan was her former sister-in-law! So it would have been easy for Emily and George Jr. to meet! (Congratulations if you have followed this!)
George Eden Carroll moved to Danbury Village in Woodbury County, Iowa, between about 1877 and 1880. While in Danbury, he owned a store and worked as a merchant. In 1890, my grandfather, Ira Munson Carroll, was born in Danbury. In about 1893, George Eden's family moved into Sioux City, which became Ira's home base. In Sioux City, George Carroll worked as a traveling salesman for different companies, including the Sioux City Marble and Granite Works and a wholesale grocer. Between about 1908 and 1910, the family moved to Chicago. If Ira went to Chicago, though, he did not linger long. He does not appear in the 1910 census with his family and must have been in Sioux City at that time. In 1914, Ira Carroll married Lillian Blanche Kaufman, my grandmother. In 1920, their third child, Lois Elizabeth Carroll, my mother, was born.
NOTE: For those in my immediate family, photos of the following persons mentioned above are displayed on a wall in our parent's bedroom: George B. Carroll and Susan Johnson, George E. Carroll and Emily Stackhouse, Samantha Munson and Charles Stackhouse, Ira Carroll and Lillian Blanche Kaufman. (George B. Carroll and Susan Johnson are in a picture together. George is sitting and Susan is standing. Parthenia Burch is Susan's mother.)
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SO WHO WERE PARTHENIA'S ANCESTORS?
I then looked at Doug's Ancestry Family Tree and concluded that Doug and I are 5th cousins, once removed, which he confirmed! He is descended from a brother of Parthenia Burch.
Doug has identified Parthenia's parents as Benjamin Burch and Sarah (Sally) Strong. This is consistent with my circumstantial evidence that Benjamin Burch was Parthenia's father. He also located a reference in 'History of the counties of Argenteuil, Que., and Prescott, Ontario' that mentions a Johnson as the son-in-law of Benjamin Burch. He names 8 children for Benjamin and Sarah, most of them being born in Windsor County, Vermont.
When I look at Sarah Strong's ancestors, I see that she is descended from Governor John Webster and Agnes Smith. This makes John Webster my 9-great grandfather through Ira Munson Carroll, my grandfather! This is very curious to me because I visited the gravestone of Governor John Webster in Hadley, Massachusetts, in the fall of 2011. At the time, I was researching the Marsh Family that lived in Hadley for about 150 years and were descended from John Webster. But the Marsh Family is on my grandmother's side (Lillian Blanche Kaufman, aka Gramie). John Webster is my 10-great grandfather through Lillian Blanche Kaufman. This means that my grandfather Ira Carroll and my grandmother Lillian Kaufman were 8th cousins once removed!
While reviewing my notes on John Webster's tombstone, I relearned that the monument was erected by Noah Webster, his descendant. So we are also related to Noah Webster of Webster dictionary fame!
RELATED TO ROYALTY
Based on Doug's tree and information concerning Princess Diana's heritage, I determined that Princess Diana and I do share a pair of 8-great grandparents, Jedediah Strong Sr. (1637 - 1733) and Freedom Woodward (1642 - 1681). (Freedom Woodward died in Hadley, home of so many of my ancestors.) Diana's ancestry is listed at:
http://famouskin.com/ahnentafel.php?name=6102+princess+diana
This means that Princess Diana and I are 9th cousins! (As it turns out, we are also 10th cousins, because two second cousins in her lineage married each other. Diana is also descended from Thomas Strong, the brother of Jedediah Strong Sr.)
The nature of the connection between Princess Diana and me is not what I would have expected. Diana's great-grandmother, Frances Eleanor Work, was descended from Jedediah Strong Sr.'s father, Elder John Strong, who immigrated to Boston in 1630. Frances Work, daughter of a wealthy American banker, married James Boothby Burke Roche, an Englishman, in 1880, but divorced him in 1891. Their son, Edmund Maurice Burke Roche, returned to England in 1921, to take his hereditary place in the House of Lords. Edmund was Diana's grandfather.
RELATED TO A PRESIDENT
We are also related to Franklin Delano Roosevelt via the Strong family! Elder John Strong and Abigail Ford were 6-great grandparents of FDR. John and Abigail are my 9-great grandparents, so FDR and I are 7th cousins 3 times removed! John and Abigail both died in Northampton, Massachusetts, which is about 4 miles from Hadley, Massachusetts, which is where my Marsh and Webster lines lived. In fact, Abigail's sister, Hepzibah, married John Marsh. However, we are descended from John Marsh's first marriage to Anne Webster, daughter of Governor John Webster. (What a small interwoven world!)
RELATED TO A PATRIOT
We are also related to Nathan Hale, a Revolutionary War patriot who is famous for the quote, "I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country.". (Jedediah Strong Sr. is his 2-great grandfather, and my 8-great-grandfather, which makes us 3rd cousins 6 times removed.)
LOTS OF RELATIVES
Because Elder John Strong (1609 - 1699) and Abigail Ford (1619 - 1688) lived so long ago, they left lots of descendants! It appears that I am also related to Glenn Close, Brooke Shields and even Sarah Palin. Through Abigail Ford, I am also related to Wilbur Wright, the aviation pioneer.
