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!

Preserving the Ha(y)worth Family History for Future Generations, Part 7

The next letter from George Haworth was written in 1715 and he tells his brother he is "hoping these few lines will find you in good health, as I and my Wife and child is at present blessed be the Lord for it...".  He recently saw his niece and nephew, children of Mary.  "Two of my Sister Mary's children, John and Mary came to see me this Spring and they are all in good health..."  (All italics are excerpts from George’s letters, as written.(1))     

We find out that Mary is a Quaker but her husband is not.  "Sister Mary owneth Friends, but her Husband holdeth more for the Church of England; but she hath brought up her children very orderly and they behave themselves very civilly amongst sober people, and their love is very respectfully desired to you all and they were glad to see and read the letters I received from thee."  It looks like many in the area were Quakers.  "...the greatest share of people in our parts is called Quakers and Meetings are kept in good order, there is a great many of meeting houses built, I can take my Horse and ride to any of 8 meetings in a morning before the Meeting begin."

George shares information about all the different religions in his area.  " There is of all sorts of Professions, as Church of England, Anabaptists, Presbeterians, Independents, Papists &c. and most of them hath houses or churches to meet together to worship in..."

I doubt the family in England ever had the chance to meet George's wife.  They were curious about her and it seems that his brother had married twice and George didn't know anything about his wives either.  "Further Brother thou desired to know what County my Wife was of; her parents were born in London and she was born in Pennsylvania, but thou hath had 2 Wives and never sent where thou married them nor who they were."

At this point it appears that George is still a weaver and a farmer.  "So concerning what calling I and my Wife doth follow we make our own cloth both linnen and wollen and sometimes I weave for wages I clears land and plows I count I have 100 bushels of Corn this year very good wheat Rye and Barley and Indian Corn, I plant trees and hath Apples Peaches and Cherries and I have good land and wants more hands to help me I have 4 Cows and 4 Horses and 31 Swine..."

George talks about the country and what it is like at this time.  Can you imagine Philadelphia only one mile long?  "...one thing more concerning the Country how it is settled Philadelphia is our greatest town we have; it is very large about a mile long with a great breadth might be populated a market twice a week and full of all Country business and Sea affairs the River full of Sloops and Ships, Bristol is a market town and there is a many more too tedious to set down. We have a fine large country with great conveniency in it."

By the time of this letter, George and Sarah have had their first child.  "My Son is 2 years and 5 months old his name is Stephanus..."  Stephanus is my 6th great grandfather and the start of the first generation of Haworth's, born in America.  There were other children too.  More on them later.  

Today's Terri's Tidbit:  I have been having so much fun using Google Books.  Have you been to this website?  Click here to check it out.  Try putting a family name in the search box and see if something comes up.  I put George Haworth's name in and lots of things came up.  I was surprised when I put my name in and two things came up.  Some of these books are free, some you can buy and some you can order to be delivered to your local library.  I am finding more and more interesting things, each time I go there to explore.  Happy Searching!
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(1)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

Preserving the Ha(y)worth Family History for Future Generations, Part 5

The next letter we have from George Haworth is dated March 1706, still based on the Quaker Calendar dates. He is very appreciative of the fact that he received something from home, “I have received your token with great comfort to bear of your wellfare and health to which I won myself obliged to you for the tenderness and care towards me which makes me desire to make a large acknowledgement to you …”  (All italics are excerpts from George’s letters, as written.(1))

I get the impression, from things he wrote, that it was not a letter he received from his family, “but I much admire that you are so negligent and soon forgotten me that you never writ to me since I left you, it makes me ready to weep often, when I think how I cannot have so much as one letter from some of your hands, I would desire some of you to write to me by the next opportunity and not to fail I would not have you to forget me, tho' I be far distant from you I have some thoughts of coming to England and see you but the Seas are so full of Enemies that there is no good coming as yet, I have sent 9 or 10 letters and my Sister hath sent but one and never received any…”  I have to wonder if letters were written but never received.

He seems to be quite elegant in his wording, and although to us it may seem a bit choppy, I think he got his points across to his family.  "Seeing the distance between us, I desire you accept of my goodwill and dutiful affection towards you, together with my desire for your prosperity and wellfare and hoping these lines will find you in good health as I am at present the Allmighty be praised for it. Remember my dear love to my Brother and to my loving Sisters and all relations in general…"

Sometime in the recent past, George’s cousin James had passed away, as he mentioned his widow in this letter. “James Haworth's widow and her little daughter are in good health and she hath married one of my shipmates one George Clough..” She remarried a man who came over on the ship Britannia, with George, from England.

A lot has happened to George and America, since his arrival in 1699.  What does the future hold for him and the Haworth family?

Today's Terri's Tidbit:  Check out this fascinating website called "The American Civil War, then and now".  It is a fun, interactive website.  To view, click here.
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(1)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

Preserving the Ha(y)worth Family History for Future Generations, Part 4

It would be three more years (1704) before the next letter, that we know of, was sent by George to his mother. We are so fortunate to have these letters to add to our family history. In this letter, it is very apparent that George is homesick and wishing to get a letter from home to see how everyone, in England, is fairing. “I received your tokens which was half a crown from thee, and a shilling from my loving Brother, which I received very gladly, but I should have been more glad to have received a letter with it, I do much admire that I never receive no letter from you since I came here it makes me think you have all most forgotten me; I am very sorry and sore troubled that you so neglect writing to me, I desire you to write to me by the next opportunity and not to fail.” (All italics are excerpts from George’s letters, as written.(1))

At the time of the letter, George is well but he tells the family that during the previous winter he was ill. "…hopeing these lines may find thee in good health as I am at present, the Allmighty be praised for it and hath been mostly since I left you but last Winter I had the Fever and ague 5 months...”

We learn from this letter that he has two sisters and a brother that are still living in England. “Remember my love to my loving Sister Sarah and to Brother James and to my sister Susannah and all my Relations and to Friends and neighbours.” As you might remember from a previous blog entry, George had five siblings. Four sisters and one brother. One sister Mary, had come to America before George. Alice had started the trip over on the Brittania with him, but died in route. He mentions Mary again in this letter. “Two Months ago I was with my Sister Mary where she doth dwell, and she was in good health and her Husband and their children, They have had six children but the youngest is dead, John, Mary, Sarah, James, and Elizabeth, but George died of Small pox. They live about 172 miles from me near Maryland upon the Sea coast and I live up the country near Delaware river 20 miles above Philadelphia.”  I find it interesting that Mary named many of her children after her siblings; James, Sarah and George. Also that sister Mary lives so far from George but he still went to visit. That had to be a long trip back then.

During 1703 George purchased 450 acres of land, 200 from one person and 250 from another and is not yet married but works as a weaver. “…it is a great deal better living here than in England for working people doth live as well as here, as landed men doth live with you thats worth 20L a year, I live a single life and hath builded a Shop, and doth follow weaving of linnen cloth, but I have bought 450 acres of land in the Woods, but doth not live on it yet…”

Info on location comes from the Haworth Association website. (2) 
Click to make larger.

What will this mean for George - buying land, making himself a new home?  More on the life "the Immigrant" Haworth in the next blog.  

Today's Terri's Tidbit:  A friend sent me a link to a Undergraduate speech that Lou Holtz did recently at Franciscan University of Steubenville.  It is awesome and well worth watching.  Treat yourself and take the time to watch.  You won't be sorry.  Click here to watch.  
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(1)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
(2)Haworth Association Website: http://haworthassociation.org/

Preserving the Ha(y)worth Family History for Future Generations, Part 3

After spending a week at his sister's, recouping from the trip across the ocean, George “the Immigrant” Haworth headed to Philadelphia, and then on to Buck’s County, Pennsylvania, where his cousin James Haworth lived. He "...dwelleth near to him being about 250 miles from my Sister. James Haworth and his wife is well and hath one daughter." (Text from George’s letters are quoted and in italics as written.)(1)

We don’t know a lot about the first couple of years that he was in Pennsylvania. One thing we do know is that when he arrived they were dealing with a yellow fever epidemic spreading across the area. As if he had not seen enough illness on the “sick ship,” he was now surrounded by this.

We only have eight of the letters that George wrote to his family. There may have been more but they either didn’t survive or have not surfaced, at this time. It was two years before the next letter was sent from George to his mother. It was dated May 14, 1701, (Quaker calendar date) but it is not certain when it arrived in England.  At the time he wrote the letter he was well and explains to his family what he had been doing during this time. He once again was encouraging everyone to come to America. "I hired myself for a year and had about 19L wages in the year and since I was free I work by the piece or by the day, and hath 2/6 a day and victuals, and in harvest 3/6 a day and if we take our work we commonly get more, So if any of my relations have a mind to come to this country, I think it is very good country and that they may do well, but be sure to come free, but if you come servants, they must be sold for 4 or 5 years and work hard, so be sure to come free and bring such things as will suit plantation work, as Horse chains plowgears and all things suitable to work withal as ploy irons and things for selling: bring stores of good cloth and good sarge and bedding of all sorts with good store of silk to sew withal and good ticking and good stockings and shoes and good Ivory combs and knives very good ones, and good Alchymy buttons and good light Hats and Iron pots."

He described what the land was like and what types of crops they grew, the animals they kept and those they used for food. I love how he described the different things; in a way his family could envision it. "And as for the land there is both good and bad, both Hills and also Vales and the common product of the land is Wheat, Rye, Barley, Oats, Beans, Pease and Buckwheat and Indiana corn and Apples plenty often and Cyder and Peaches and Cherries: Cattle and Horses there is plenty, and store of hogs and there is sheep, and victuals is good and plenty all over the Country as far as I know: there is fishes and fowl is pretty plenty, and this last Winter there was a great Snow and some got store of Deer 8 or 10 in a weeks time; and what varmant we have, as Wolves I have seen some but they have not hurt me tho' I have been near them, there is a few panthers and Bears, but they hurt nobody as I know of, and land is dearer than it was when we first came. There is several sorts of grapes and strawberries plenty and mullberries and whimberries, but they grow upon stalks 3 foot high, there is many sorts of wood, as Black Oaks, White Oaks, Red Oaks, and other sorts and many other sorts of other Trees as Chesnuts, Walnuts, and many sorts of things. We have Turkeys wild in the Woods, Pheasants and Partridges, with many other sorts of birds of divers colours and strange colours and notes; and thus much for the Country and its product."

We found out the names of Mary’s children as he shared a little more about them. “…there found my Sister and she hath 4 children 2 Sons and 2 daughters John, James and Mary and Sarah…”

Family seemed very important to George. In each of his letters you sense a homesickness for his mother and siblings. "I have sent one letter and something in another and heard nothing from you, but I desire you in all love to hear from you as soon as possible you can, for I could be glad to hear from you especially of your wellfare and if any of you come I desire you to send me word hard." This homesickness grew with each letter.

He asked that they send their letters to "Phineas Pembertons in the county of Bucks". Out of curiosity, I researched that name and found that this was a prominent person in Buck's County, at that time. He was Buck County's first Clerk of the Court and remained in that position until his death. Phineas was married to Phoebe Harrison, daughter of James Harrison, who was held in high esteem by William Penn. To this day there is still a Phineas Pemberton House, or Bolton Farm, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, in what is now Levittown, PA.

Today's Terri's Tidbit: When William Penn decided to name the 40,000 square miles he was granted in the New World, he named it New Wales. The King didn't like that, so William suggested Sylvania, which means forest or woods. The King took that one step further and added the Penn, in honor of William's dad, the senior Admiral William Penn.
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(1)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