Thomas Black 1747-1807

Today I start in Antrim Parish, Nothern Ireland along the Lough Neagh where Thomas Black was born in 1747. Thomas would make his journey to the America before the start of the Revolution and settle along Raccoon Creek in Swedesboro, New Jersey. He would marry Frances Howell, a Quaker from Chester County, Pennsylvania. They would have 12 children in total. Their 9th child Benjamin Howell Black was born in 1791 on the farm in Swedesboro and he would remain their until he married Martha Hannah Hewes of Gloucester, New Jersey in 1812. Benjamin and Martha would have 13 children of their own. Their 1st child was Phebe who was born today in 1815. In 1835 she would marry Thomas Holton. They would have five daughters and then two sons. They also remained in the Swedesboro but eventually after Thomas passed away she would live with her daugther Mary for her remaining years in Oldmans near the Delaware River in Salem County, New Jersey. Most of Phebe's family lay in rest together at Trinity Episcopal Church Cemetery in Woolwich Township. Phebe's Younger brother Thomas(1827) would father Amos(1861). Amos would have a daughter Emily(1884). Emily would marry WIlliam Donnelly(1880). They would have a son Walter (1908) and he would name one of his son's after him(Walter Jr. 1948) and he would have a daughter Michelle Donnelly-Kelleher who would marry my cousin Christopher Kelleher and from there, they would ride their bicycles everywhere.

Paul M Lawrence 1892-1965

(From the Lake Pake News - Lake Park, Iowa 1965)
Paul M Lawrence
Funeral services for Paul M Lawrence, 73 year-old Lake Park resident who died April 27, (1965) were held Friday at the First Presbyterian Church at Lake Park.
Mr. Lawrence, a farmer and partner in the S & L plumbing Co., at Lake Park, died at the Dickinson County Hospital.
The Rev. Ray H. Willemsen officiated at the services and burial was in Sliver Lake Cemetery. Pallbearers were Bob Worrick, Kenneth Boyer, Buster Sjostrom, Harold McCauley, Kenneth Myrick and Harold Bahl. Vocal music was by Mr. and Mrs. Allan McClain, accompanied by Mrs. Richard McClain. Harpole Funeral Home of Spirit Lake was in charge of arrangements.
Paul Lawrence was born Dec. 20, 1892 in Whitten, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Lawrence. He farmed near Lake Park and later moved into town where he became a partner with H.G. Shaffer in the plumbing business.
Paul Maynard Lawrence was born Dec. 20, 1892 at Whitten, the son of Charles Edward and Emma Etta Price. He moved with his parents to Lake Park in 1897 where he attended high school. He was employed in a blacksmith and implement shop in 1911 and 1912 and farmed north of Lake Park until 1946. He and Mary Lucille Nicholas were married at Lake Park on August 11, 1915. He entered the plumbing business in partnership with H.G. Shaffer in 1946 and retired in 1960 because of an accident.
He and his wife sang many duets at the church until her death five years ago (1960). He was a great flower gardner and woodworking enthusiast and he gave many woodworking gifts to the Lake Park Presbyterian Church.
Mr. Lawrence is survived by one daughter, Mrs. Harvey(Phyllis) McClain of Hayward, Calif.; two sons, Leonard of Sacremento, Calif,. And Charles(Skeeter) Lawrence of Lake Park; and eight grandchildren. Besides his wife, he was preceded in death by one son.
Both his daughter and son in California were able to return here for the services.

Margaret Quigley Courtney 1829-1910

January 2nd 1829, Margaret Quigley was born in Ireland. She would marry Patrick Courtney and they would come to America in 1873. Patrick would die during the voyage but as the Obit reads she and her three children would settle in South Bethlehem, PA.
When I reviewed the DNA matches for Margaret's children I found a name that stood out, Nuss. My brother works for Nuss Printing so I wanted to see if there was a connection. So I worked down the tree to see if they are related. It appears that all the male sons moved West so there is no direct connection chase but still an interesting way to start the new year of family history.

Edward & WIlliam Birdsall 1830-

Edward Birdsall and his twin brother William were born in late 1830 in Yeadon, Yorkshire, England, their father, Joseph, was 29, and their mother, Mary, was 25. He married Martha Ingleson on November 26, 1855, in his hometown. They had six children in 14 years. He would be a farmer for many years and would see a few of his children make the move to the United States. He died on March 6, 1890, in Yeadon, Yorkshire, England, at the age of 60. Edward's estate value was the equivalent of 80K pounds($100k USD). The Birdsall family was still a known family name in 1970 as shown by a index of wills from Yeadon.

Bridget Morgan 1836-1863

Bridget Morgan was born 1833 in Derrynoose, County Armagh, Northern Ireland. On the 6th of October 1855 Bridget boarded the ship Calliance in the Southampton port of England. Margaret was 19 and Bridget 21. They boarded with 313 other people making their way to Melbourne, Australia. The ship would arrive on the 31st of December (86 days) and only suffer one loss of life during the voyage.
The sisters were going to be staying with their brother John and sister in law Margaret Kelly Morgan. More likely than not they would be staying at John and Margaret’s Cross Keys Hotel.
In 1859, she would marry Bernard Clarke, originally from County Meath just northwest of Dublin, in Melbourne. Bernard and Bridget would live in Inglewood about 60 miles north of Melbourne. They would have two children Margaret(b.1861) and Peter(b.1863).
Bridget would die in August 1863 from what I can only guess is complication from her pregnancy with Peter.
You can read more about the Morgan's who migrated to Australia on my cousin Kerryn’s website linked below.
https://ancestorchaser.blogspot.com/search?q=bridget+morgan

Pasquale DeGeorge 1894-1964

Pasquale De George was born today in 1894 in the Province of Pescara, Italy. In August of 1920 Pasquale and his little sister Mariangela DeGeorge arrived in New York on the LeHarve emigrating from Collecorvino, Italy to make his way to Ashtabula, Ohio. They would later move to Philadelphia.

Frederick Gross Kurtz 1873-1948

 William (b1848) and Ruth Steveson Kurtz(b 1849) gave their son Fred(b1873) a gold watch as a 21st birthday gift. It has been a great motivation for me to find out all I can about those who came before me. I hope that my posts about the family show that they were just regular people like you and I living through sometimes extraordinary circumstances.You may not have ever heard of them until you read one of my posts but when you do, you may realize how amazing it is that these people are part of why you are here and maybe they will inspire you to be as strong as they were.