Where Have All the Front Porches Gone?

When I was younger, many houses still had front porches.  A lot of time was spent on them, especially in the days before the air conditioner.  People would go out on the porch for the fresh air, to catch a breeze and in many cases, to shoot the breeze with their neighbors.  Many neighborhood streets were lined with homes that had a front porch and it became a time where they could socialize with one another. 

Have you ever been on a front porch that had a swing, and just sat there rocking back and forth, enjoying the peacefulness of it.  There is something about time spent in a swing that is so relaxing and being on the front porch allowed you to see the happenings in the neighborhood.

I have been on many front porches and they were all different.  They may be as wide as the front of the house, just large enough for a couple chairs by the front door or just a stoop to an entryway.  My favorites were always the ones that spanned the length of the front of the house.  This was where family members and friends could gather and solve all the problems of the world.  Where you could watch for fireflies or hear the whippoorwill and bobwhite calling their names.  (As I write, the fireflies are very plentiful in my backyard.)  The pictures below are all of my mom on or by the front porch of the Garrison home.

                              

         
My all time favorite front porch was at my Grandma and Grandpa Garrison’s house.  It looked out on two majestic magnolia trees and had a view of the original family home.  Over the years, many people gathered there and lots of family pictures were taken and memories were made.  My mom was the youngest of twelve, and many of our family reunions were held right on the property where my grandparents lived.  Many of us would sit out on the porch and catch up, having not seen each other for great lengths of time.  For my family, being that my dad was Air Force, it was usually several years, depending on where we were stationed at the time. 

Grandma and Grandpa Garrison's house.

The Garrison Clan on the front porch.

This is the way the front porch looks today,
thanks to my Cousin Gwen and my
Aunt Gladys.

Chairs similar to ones on my
Grandparent's front porch.  

I can remember one reunion where we were sitting out there and my dad was in one of those metal chairs, and I went over and plopped down in his lap.  Well, that was a rude awakening moment as the chair collapsed under us, leaving us laughing and mortified at the same time.  I want to believe that the chair was weak and that it was not our weight that caused the damage. 

We played lots of outdoor games at those reunions and they would start and end at the porch.  Boo-boos were bandaged there and beautiful pictures were taken, sitting or standing with the porch as a background.

South Dakota, 1958 above, Alaska
early 60's below.

Have you noticed, though, that many of the houses being built today don’t have front porches?  Many have elaborate decks and patios behind the house, closed off from their neighbors.  The porch of yesterday has pretty much vanished.  I couldn’t get one chair on my porch, much less more.  It is more of an entryway, plain, not near as inviting.  But they just don’t seem to make them like they used to.  All the new fangled amenities have taken us indoors, computers, smart TV’s, air conditioning.   Are we missing out?  I think, to a certain extent, we are.  It was a part of the lifestyle…a little piece of Americana.  To the left are some of      the front porches of houses I lived in, growing up.  

There is a movement out there, (slowly growing) to bring back the front porch.  There are even organizations that are actively promoting it.  According to an npr.org article there is actually a “Professional Porch Sitters Union Local 1339” in Louisville, Kentucky.  The author of the article, Michelle Norris, titled the article, “Sitting on the Porch: Not a Place, But a State of Mind”.  I agree with that.  To see the full article, click here.   

House in Southern Pines,
NC, we lived in a short time.

How many times did you sit on the porch and watch a storm roll in?  Or watch the kids play in the street?  Those times were much more tranquil and quiet than now, with all the loud cars, stereos blaring, and revving engines.  But being out there is still so much better than sitting inside, with all those electronic devices we have become attached to.  (Myself included)  Would it be healthier to have that “down” time, fresh air, and neighborhood fellowship?  I can’t help but think it would be.  

So, here’s to houses with front porches!  If you have one, make a point to go out and enjoy it more.  If you don’t, figure out a way that you can accomplish the same type of experiences.  You won’t regret it!

Hello! It's me again!

Today marks two years ago that I wrote my first blog.  Where have I been, you might be asking?  Why haven't there been any blogs for the last 7 months?  Well, we were off making memories. We were blessed with lots of family and friend time, and great trips.  Our most recent trips were so fabulous that we mentioned several times that we wished we could stay in both places.

The Fab 4 in Liverpool, Englan

RAF Bar behind the Eagle
The Eagle Pub in Cambridge

First, we went on a cruise that circled the British Isles. My recent DNA testing said I was 97% from the British Isles.  A wonderful reason to see that area of the world.  We were blessed to be able to visit many wonderful cities in England, Scotland, and Ireland.  I always wanted to visit Scotland and Ireland and it is was great fun to go back to England. We stayed in London two nights before heading to Southhampton to get on the ship. One of the days we were in London, we took a train and went to Cambridge.  It was such a fun town, full of history, educational facilities, churches and restaurants. We had heard of The Eagle Cambridge  Pub from some friends, so we looked  for it and had lunch there. At the back of the pub is another bar where the  pilots used to hang out, back during World War II, called the RAF Bar.  They would write their names on the ceiling and to this day, the names are  still there.  A very nostalgic spot and the food wasn't too bad either.

 As we ventured around the British Isles, we visited Dublin, Glascow,  Liverpool, Edinburg, Belfast and Inverness.  Each having their own  unique  characteristics.  We liked them all but only had a short time in  each port.  I  would like to go back some day and spend more time.  We also visited  Stirling and Blarney Castles.  Stirling most famous for  Robert the Bruce of  Braveheart fame and Blarney for the famous  "Blarney Stone" that you  practically hang upside down to kiss.  There  is not enough antibacterial gel  in this world to get me to do it.  However we did do a photo op!  We had fun on that cruise!

Blarney Castle

We got to spend some time in Hawaii in January,  A really nice time to be there, even though the weather in Texas was pretty good during that time.  We were on the island of Maui and had lots of fantastic beach time and great seafood!

We loved these trips but our time spent with family was by far the best.  We have been from one end of this continent to the next over the last six months, for weddings, graduations, birthdays and more.  From Seattle, to Georgia, to Michigan, Missouri, Colorado, Nevada, Hawaii, and Houston.

Maui, Hawaii

So as you can see, we have been very busy and, unfortunately, my blog writing time went by the way side.  So did my genealogy research.  But I am back at it and hope to get some more blogs out soon!  In my spare time I have still been trying to find my great, great great grandfather on my maternal grandfather's side, father to John Garrison, Browntown/ Abbott's Creek, Davidson County, North Carolina.  I have searched, what I feel like is every possible place, and still have no proof of who he is.  We all speculate who we think he is, but I want proof positive.  I am going to have to spend some time at our local Family History Place because I have cancelled my Ancestry.com account, for now. (too costly)  Fact finding is tedious work but work I enjoy doing!

There are lots of other avenues I want to pursue, so I will be back soon!

Guilty or Innocent?

As promised in my last blog, I wanted to share the information on who the town thought murdered my Great, Great Grandmother. But before that, if you will recall from my blog called "Occupations in the Census", I wasn't sure which plant my Grandfather Garrison, the silk weaver, worked for. I was so surprised when I found his Military Registration Card this week and confirmed that it was Stehli and Company.

Found on FamilySearch.org.

They are putting more and more of these cards online, which have some very valuable information on them. It says that my Grandfather had black hair and gray eyes. That is so cool because when I knew my grandfather he was already white-haired. A beautiful head of white hair. This form also tells where he was born. If anyone has a question about their heir, as to their birth location and physical characteristics, this form would be very helpful.

Now, onto the death of my Great, Great Grandmother, Nancy Martindale Welch. After she left her daughters and didn't show up at her home place, people began searching for her. She would probably have had a regular route back, so people started looking for her there. It had begun snowing, which made the search time sensitive, too. They found her body, around 9:00 p.m., very close to the road she had been on. With her throat cut and a handkerchief stuffed in her mouth, they knew they were looking at a murder.

According to a 1959 article in the Goldsboro News Argus, this area was known "As a place and time where death seldom struck due to a small population..." "Caucasian farmers, small-grain growers, friendly and avid conversationalists."(1) So why Nancy Welch?

I may never know for sure why or for that matter who did this, but the citizens thought they knew who. It seems that a member of the community saw Nancy go by his house and a few moments later, a black man by the name of Hen Jones was seen passing the same way. It is important to remember that at the time of the murder there were no witnesses. Only speculations.

However, when word got out that Hen Jones had been in the area at the same time as Nancy, a group of men went in search of him. As the Goldsboro article stated, "this was a time of 'an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth'" mentality.

I don't know much about Hen Jones. A Greensboro Record article stated that "a six foot negro whose age was estimated only as 'in his forties.' Little is remembered of his life except that he did not live with his wife and was continually looking for a meal or money."(2)

Mr. Jones was found in a home near Harpers Crossroads, the intersection of State Highway 902 and Siler City/Glendon Road. The Chatham Citizen wrote that he was "a colored man of bad character" and "he was found and arrested, having blood on his clothes and a bloody razor concealed in his coat. He confessed the crime."(3) An article in the Durham Morning Herald said when, "dragged from the house and faced with the mob, Hen “owned up to the killing.”(4) In the early morning hours of January 11, 1898, "he was tied to old Doc Street's two-horse buggy and drug clear from the crossroads," to the local hanging tree. Here the search party mob, which had grown to "a crowd of some 40 or 50 men"(3), lynched him.

In a paper titled "Without Due Process: Lynching in North Carolina 1880-1900", by Sarah Burke, East Carolina University, she wrote, "Between 1880 and 1900, North Carolina recorded fifty-eight lynchings." "Many North Carolinians were not only skeptical of the state's legal system, but also deeply vested in the ideas of self-governance, honor and communal justice."(5)

The Chatham Citizen said that "lynching of course is to be deplored, but in such cases as this it is to be deplored most because of the crime which caused the men of that community to take the law into their own hands - a crime too atrocious and horrible not to arouse the indignation and passions of any civilized people."(3)

A January 19, 1899, article in The Chatham Record, stated "So shocked was everybody by the brutality of the murderer that no one (white or black) would furnish a coffin in which to bury him."(6)  So I don't know what happened to Hen Jones when he was taken down from the tree, but I do know what happened to my Great Great Grandmother. She was laid to rest in a little cemetery, with only 14 graves, and a tombstone that read "Nancy Martindale, wife of James Welch. Born Jan. 28, 1841, died Jan 10, 1898. A light from our household is gone."(1)
_______________________________________________________________

(1) Goldsboro News-Argus, Thursday, November 26, 1959, "Age-Old Story of 'Hanging Tree' Near Durham Almost A Legend"
(2) Greensboro Record, Greensboro, NC, Thursday, November 26, 1959, Page 12
(3) Chatham Citizen (Pittsboro, North Carolina), Wednesday, 18 Jan 1899, Page 4
(4) Durham Morning Herald, 1959
(5) "Without Due Process: Lynching in North Carolina 1880-1900", Sarah Burke, East Carolina University, accessed online at http://uncw.edu/csurf/Explorations/documents/withoutdueprocess.pdf

(6)  "Horrible Crime", The Chatham Record, Thursday, January 19, 1899, Page 3

Occupations in the Census

While doing some genealogy research, I happened upon a census form that contained my Grandfather Garrison. It was one of the years that listed the occupation of the head of household. This particular year, it stated that my grandfather had been a weaver in a silk mill. Really? I never knew that. It got me wondering about the name of the company. The census that year was in High Point Township, Guilford County, North Carolina. So, I decided to do a little digging to see if I could find out the name.

Well, that area of the country had a lot of industry, including cotton, hosiery and silk. The silk mill that is talked about a lot in that area is the Stehli & Co. Silk Mill. According to the High Point Historic Industrial Architecture Survey, "A departure from various types of cotton textiles came with the construction of the Stehli Silk Mill in 1906 on the block bounded by East Green Drive, East Russell Avenue, Cable Street, and Park Street. High Pointers had invited Swiss silk weaver Emil J. Stehli to come to High Point to establish a silk mill there. He had already established a successful silk mill in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in 1898. Initially the High Point silk mill was a throwing plant that converted raw silk imported from Japan into yarn, which was then sent to the Lancaster plant to be woven. In 1912, the company abandoned another plant in Paterson, New Jersey, and moved all its silk production machinery to High Point. This resulted in the Stehli Silk Mill in High Point becoming one of the largest plants in the world for the exclusive manufacture of broad silk. At that time the company had 600 employees who could produce six million yards of silk in one year. By 1918, the company had built four additions. The Stehli Silk Mill made a strong impression on the city of High Point not only by the silk it produced, but also as a model mill."(1)

I don't know for sure, but I would bet, based on the time, place and type of business that this was where Grandpa Garrison worked. He went on later to be a tobacco farmer in West End, NC. For a previous story on that subject, click here.

Finding this out about Grandpa G. made me curious about what some of my other ancestors did for a living. As I mentioned in a previous blog, my 7th Great Grandfather, George Haworth, worked on a plantation or farm at one time. He talked about what he got paid and the tools you needed to bring if you wanted to do that kind of work. In the next blog, he talked about becoming a weaver. His grandson, Micajah, built a mill on Abbott's Creek, NC and it stayed running for many years. Many of his descendants went on to be farmers in different areas of North Carolina.

My paternal Great Grandfather, Jacob Monroe Hatch and many of his children, worked on the golf links in Moore County, North Carolina, where Pinehurst is located. Unfortunately, I do not know which course they worked on. In 1930, my Grandfather Plinny, Jacob's son, at the age of 18 was a grocery store clerk and went on to manage grocery stores around North Carolina, including A & P.

According to the 1870 Census, my maternal great grandfather, William Franklin Garrison and maternal grandmother, Ida Welch, lived next door to each other. Their fathers were both farmers.

The 1910 Census for my Great-Great Grandpa Garrison showed he was a farmer, most of his life, but it also indicated that he served in the Confederate Army. That is so awesome that you can find out info like that from the census! That vital piece of information helps those looking to join one of the societies, such as United Daughters of the Confederacy.

So as you can see, there is lots of fun information to discover in the different census forms. I am still finding cool stuff, as I dig deeper into my family history. I'll share more as I find it.
_______________________________________________________________
(1) High Point Historic Industrial Architecture Survey, Prepared by Laura A. W. Phillips, Architectural Historian, 59 Park Boulevard ,Winston-Salem, NC 27127 336-727-1968, August 2014, lawp@bellsouth.net

Tombstones and Graveyards and Churches, Oh My! Pt. 2

If you have not been to North Carolina, or if you have, but not to the High Point, Lexington area, treat yourself and go! All of North Carolina is beautiful and I have been fortunate enough to see a lot of it but had never been to this region. It is beautiful! And we were there when it was raining! I can't imagine what it would have been like on a bright, sunny day!

Where better to spend a rainy day than the State Archives. This building is full of treasures for anyone wanting to do their family history. There are several floors, full of books, microfiche, and computers with access to all the major genealogy sites. I could have spent days perusing the Newspapers.com site. I found so many fun articles on several members of my family and know there was much more there to be discovered. I think the Newspapers.com website might be a very worthwhile investment for my research.

The family history book collection, books that were written or contributed by families, containing information on their lineage, had some verbiage on my surnames. Unfortunately, some of it was not what I was hoping to find.

One of my fact finding missions was to find my Great, Great Grandfather's father. Everywhere I have searched, I have come up empty. I found a publication in the Archives that, although fun to find, didn't give me the results I was hoping for. As I mentioned in my previous blog, there is speculation that a Jesse Garrison is the father of my Great Great Grandfather John W. Garrison. However, that has not been proven. One of the books I found, "The Family of Isaac Garrison, 1732-1836, Frontiersman and Soldier of the American Revolution"(1), states that a James Garrison had brothers by the name of Jesse (who was married to Mary Bodenhamer) and possibly an Edmund Garrison. Unfortunately, there is no record of their parentage and it does not indicate the families of either brother. Drats!!!

I was also looking for a paternal Great, Great, Great Grandfather's parentage and came up disappointed there too. In a book by James M. Coffee, Jr., "Marley Families of North Carolina", I was looking for the parents of Nathaniel Green Smith Marley. Mr. Coffee states that "N.G.S. Marley was born about 1818 and his parent have not been identified."(2) Double Drats!!!

But also in that same book, it speculates that a Joab or James Marley could be the possible parents, so at least those are a couple clues to look into. So, all is not lost. We'll see what we found down that rabbit hole. More to come on that at a later time.

Abbott's Creek, Davidson County, NC

As I mentioned earlier, while at the Archives, I did some newspaper research too.  I had family members that lived in a little town called Orinoco, North Carolina.  I had never heard of it before finding a small blurb on Ancestry about one of my relatives and it listed Orinoco in the article.  So I did a little more research and found that my Great, Great Grandfather on my mother's side lived there. Daniel Martine Hayworth and his wife Dora (Vandora Jane Green Hayworth), along with Dora's parents, Robert and Margaret Green, all lived there.  
So where is Orinoco?  Good question!  Well, it is thought to have been in Davidson County, NC, and possibly in Abbott's Creek Township but I can't find it on any maps.  The articles I found were from 1904, so it was alive and well then.  It was fun to read some of these articles because they listed everything about everyone.  One stated that my Great, Great, Great Grandmother Margaret was sick with typhoid fever and that my Great, Great Grandfather DM Hayworth went to Lexington with a friend.   His wife, Dora, had been sick for two weeks and they wished her a speedy recovery.  The next week it said she was recovering.  I love newspaper articles like these.  There were many others like them too.  They give you a true picture as to what life was really like back in the early 1900's.  Fun stuff!

_____________________________________________________________
(1) "The Family of Isaac Garrison, 1732-1836, Frontiersman and Soldier of the American Revolution", Issac Garrison Family Association, Schoonmakers Publishers, 1980.

(2) "Marley Families of North Carolina", James M. Coffee, Jr., Genealogy Publishing Service, 2001

Tombstones and Graveyards and Churches, Oh My!

At the Family Reunion with cousins Linda 
Garrison Sessoms (l) and Kolby Garrison (r) and
her precious guide dog Amelia.

I had the opportunity, recently, to attend the Garrison Family Reunion, in Wilmington, NC.  This is my mom's side of the family and as I have mentioned in prior blogs, she was one of 12 children, which produced many grand and great grand children.  Unfortunately, only two of the 12 are still with us but both were at the reunion!  What a blessing that was!  There were probably 35 or so relatives there, which is a smaller number than when we had the reunion years ago, but still a great turnout, considering how busy everyone's lives are.

We had the reunion at my cousin's house which had the perfect backyard for such an event.  It was a gorgeous day and everyone had a great time.  We talked about reunions of the past, and special memories of those we have lost.  It was so nice to see everyone. Thanks to my three cousins, Delores, Debi and Gwen, who put it together.

One of the subjects we discussed was our family history, the genealogy we have worked on, and trying to find out who the father of my Great, Great Grandfather John Wesley Garrison really was. Several of us have looked into it and have found no definitive answer, but more on that in a later blog.

Mittie Hayworth Garrison's family home, before it was 
taken down.   The gentleman who owned it was going 
to renovate but must have thought it was too far gone.  

Our first adventure, after the reunion, was to try to find my grandmother's family home near High Point, NC.  We had an address, put it into the GPS and off we went.  Sadly, when we arrived at the address, we realized that they had recently torn it down.  You can't image the sadness when we made that discovery. Thank goodness, my cousin Anne and my Aunt Gladys had visited there not long ago and taken some pictures, so we do have a visual record.  After leaving the location where Grandma's home had been, we started hitting the cemeteries that were close by, where some of my relatives were buried.  

I had always heard tales of Abbott's Creek Primitive Baptist Cemetery and how beautiful the tombstones were.  The way they were intricately carved, showed pride and workmanship by the person who created them.  Unfortunately, many were very old and well covered with moss or lichen, which made them very difficult to read.  Some of the different styles are shown above.  

It was cold and rainy that day and my husband was a real trooper, marching through the graveyards with me, during that week of Halloween. We visited about six cemeteries that day, including two where my Quaker relatives were buried, Deep River Friends Meeting (est. 1754) and Springfield Friends Meeting (est. 1773). The gravesites we visited in these two places went back to the 1700's and 1800's. 

While visiting the Springfield Friends, and looking for Micajah Haworth's gravesite, I met the new Pastor, who had just started weeks before.  He was a very nice man and was very helpful in helping us locate the tombstone. He also gave me the name of someone higher up, should I need further help in the future.  

I couldn't make it to all the cemeteries that day, but I got to a lot of them and enjoyed seeing many of the family plots for myself.  It became obvious, very quickly, that I could spend weeks, trekking around the state, walking through many more burial grounds. But that will have to take place at a different time.  I will share more about this fact finding trip in the next blog.  Needless to say, being this close to where my family members lived, just reignited the fire to find those elusive, long lost relatives!

Preserving the Ha(y)worth Family History for Future Generations, Part 9

George Haworth was the fifth Great Grandfather of my
Grandmother, Mittie Ethel Hayworth Garrison.  

I would not be here today if it were not for George Haworth and his many descendants.  The Haworth line has continued for many generations in our family and will live on for many more. My Grandmother, Mittie Hayworth Garrison, was the 5th Great Granddaughter of George.  She was almost 92 years old when she passed away.  I felt very blessed to have her around that long.  The picture to the right was taken just a couple years before she died.  Four generations. My mom is on the left, holding my daughter Stephanie.  

So, we are all thankful to George for coming to America, risking his life on the ship Brittania, and starting a family.  He died in January of 1725 (Quaker calendar) and was buried in Buck's County, Pennsylvania.  At the time of his death, he and Sarah had had eight children.  The children were, in birth order:
1.  A son who died in infancy
2.  Stephanus Haworth, born in 1713 and married Rachel Beeson
3.  Rachel V. Haworth, born in 1715 but died young
4.  Absalom Haworth, born in 1716 and married Elizabeth E. Payne
5.  John Haworth, born in 1717, married Mary Garner
6.  James Haworth born in 1719, married Sarah Wood
7.  Mary Haworth born in 1721 married John Michener
8.  George Haworth Jr. born in 1724 and married Mary Brown

Buckingham Friends Meeting House still stands today.  

George had been a weaver and a farmer. He and Sarah were Quakers and belonged to the Falls Member Meeting and they were charter members of the Buckingham Friends meeting.  

Three of George and Sarah's sons, Stephanus, Absalom and James, left Pennsylvania and headed south.  They landed in Virginia, where they set up their new homes and started their own families. Stephanus later moved to North Carolina.  

Today's Terri's Tidbit:  Were you a Little House on the Prairie fan?  Did you read the books, watch the show, or both?  There is a new book out by Laura Ingalls Wilder, and edited by Pamela Smith Hill.  It is called Pioneer Girl:  The Annotated Autobiography.  It is a beautiful book that would be worthy of your coffee table.  Check it out here!

Preserving the Ha(y)worth Family History for Future Generations, Part 2

James and Isabella (Isabelle) Haworth had six children. Four girls and two boys. Three of the six decided to make the very difficult journey to America, leaving behind their family and friends, hoping for a better life, away from religious persecution. Mary was the first to head to the New World. It is not clear when she left England but there is a documented court case in Delaware, in March 1693/94, with her as a witness. So she must have arrived before that.

There is some evidence to the fact that Mary had been married twice.  Once to a Thomas Haslum (Hazelum) and then to John Miers (Myers, Mires).  Unfortunately, there is not much information out there on Thomas. 

Mary and John settled in an area that, at the time, was near the Delaware Bay in Maryland. That town no longer exists.  George makes reference to it in letters to his family as Hurbills. Don Haworth, a family member who has done a lot of research on the Haworths, wrote this about the town, "I became intrigued by the location where George visited his sister Mary. Since I could not locate any place called Hurbills, Harbills, or Whorkill (as James Rodgers Haworth wrote it in his book), I decided to do some research and find out where it was located. I soon discovered that the place was actually called and spelled “Whorekill”, which was anglicized from the Dutch name for the same place. The Dutch name was “Hoerekill” which translates as “Harlot’s River”. Whorekill has a long and interesting history under both Dutch and English rule, including the origin of the name, but that is another story. For a brief period of time the village name was changed from Whorekill to Deal. Later William Penn permanently changed the name of the village of Whorekill/Deal to Lewes, after Lewes in Sussex County, England. After the village name was changed to Lewes, the village was often referred to as Lewestown, although the name was never official. Use of the unofficial name Lewestown eventually ceased and the village was thereafter known as Lewes but often pronounced and misspelled as Lewis or Louis. Therefore, George’s sister Mary was living at the current location of Lewes, Sussex County, Delaware, in 1699 when George visited her."(1)

So George and his pregnant sister Alice, along with her husband John Kenworthy (Kencerly) (Kennerly), set sail to America in 1699 and George's letters gave a pretty detailed account of their journey. The original letters have been lost or misplaced but thank goodness, they were reproduced in several books, which have been a wonderful resource for our family history. (2)

It was May of 1699, when George, Alice and John, boarded the ship Brittania, in Liverpool, England. This ship was chartered on behalf of the Lancaster Quaker Meeting (George was a Quaker) and was bound for Philadelphia. The ship was commanded by a Richard Nicholls (Nicholas) and it was thought to have left Liverpool sometime in May (Quaker calendar - July on our traditional calendar) and stopped in Cork, Ireland to take on provisions. After this stop, they headed for America. (3)

The voyage from east to west, during that time period, usually took about eight weeks. However, the Brittania was overloaded, winds were probably unfavorable and the ship was considered a "dull saylor". Several publications, referring to ships, indicate that when they are large, with lots of people and goods, they tended to be "dull saylors", and would go slower than other vessels. So it should not have been a surprise that the voyage took 14 weeks instead of eight. It should also not have been a surprise that the food brought on board for eight weeks would not stretch for 14.

The Brittania was later dubbed the "sick ship" because sometime during the passage across the ocean, an infectious disease broke out onboard. Many died and others were very ill and in a weak state when they arrived in America. It is interesting that most of the deaths were adults. It seemed to hit them harder than the children. The passengers were dropping ill fast and many started writing their wills, should they not survive. George's brother-in law died and then his sister, Alice, gave birth to a child that died and then she passed three days later.  According to a letter from George to his mom, sisters and brothers, after arriving in America, "My Brother in law is dead and child died also about 3 days before my Sister, She was indifferently well most of the way but about 100 Leagues of sight of land she bore a child and it died and then she died.."   Note:  All italics are quotes directly from George Haworth's letters, as written.  

"We were about 14 weeks at Sea after we left Liverpool a long and tedious Journey we had, for we being over many throng'd in the Ship, I believe hurt many, for we had many distempers among us, as Fevers, Flux, and Jaundice, and many died at Sea about 56 and at Shore there died about 20."... "if my brother or any of my Neighbours do incline to come into this country, let them be careful that they do not come too many in the Ship as we did; for being throng, and then come into the hot weather and the smell of many, then many fainted away and died, we wanted Water and Beer to drink, for having salt Beef, we were much athirst and could not get enough to drink, for the seamen stowed the Hold so full of Goods that they had not room for Water and Beer, and then wanting such things as might have nourished us we suffered hardships. But if any come, let them bring for themselves over and besides the Ships allowance Spices and Brandy and cheese let the Seamen pretend what they will; or else victual themselves and bargain for being carried over and goods and then bring for yourselves but a little Beef and some bacon, and wheat flour is very good, and cheese and Butter and Eggs, or any mild sort of food, and as for your goods you bring let them be Bed ticks very good with all sorts of bedding bring no hats except very good, and hard wares so be careful of being thronged in the Ship on a Summers Journey, lest you be hurt as we were, we had a very hard passage, we were brought to allowance of Water and Beer, and for every 4 we had 2 Cans of Water and 1 1/2 so no more..."

George wrote, "I got well on shore at a place 100 Leagues short of Philadelphia, where I was informed that my Sister dwelt there at a place called Hurbills, and so in much weakness I got to the place and quickly found her, and staid there one week."  

He reported to his family back in England that his "Sister was in good health and she hath four children 2 Boys and 2 Girls and her Husband being well allso, and is a Hatter to his trade. They have few Cattle but live indifferently well of his Trade."  
 
A week after arriving at his sister's, George "set sail in a Sloop for Philadelphia for which I paid 5s".  His journeys to this point had been very eventful.  What would await him in Philadelphia? 

Today's Terri's Tidbit:  While doing my research on the Ha(y)worth family I found that George Haworth, who was my 7th Great Grandfather, was also the 4th Great Grandfather of President Herbert Hoover.  George's son Stephanus was the connection in my line to my Grandmother Mittie Ethel Hayworth Garrison.  Another son, John, was the connection to President Hoover. So, we're sort of related to a Past President.  
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(1) Mary Haworth Miers, by Don Haworth. After further research by Mr. Haworth, this was a revision from
      previous information.  It was updated April 2012.
(2) George's letters can be found in many publications but most notably in: 
      Early Letters from Pennsylvania, 1699-1722
      George Haworth The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography
      Vol. 37, No. 3 (1913), pp. 330-340
(3) George Haworth's Voyage to America, by Don Haworth, revised November 2012