Treasure Chest Thursday: Found the Land Again! And Lost It! Again!

Looking for lost land can be frustrating.  Did it exist?  Was it lost due to no taxes paid?  Was it demolished?  No, wait.  Obviously, the land itself existed and still does.  Who owns it now?

For years, I have been trying to determine what happened to the land in Hanover Row, Portsea, England.  This land that was mentioned in my immigrant's 1795 will.  This land, that was also mentioned in an 1842 will of John SYMMONS in Portsea.

I've seen maps and determined from kind helpmates over the pond that Hanover Row was demolished in 1874.  Now, that is an interesting date.  Why?

Just in the last week or so, I found yet another will from a grandson of the 1795 will of John SIMMONS.  This grandson, Charles William SIMMONS (1801-1874), will is written in 1871 and it specifically mentions the land in Portsea that he had inherited from his father.  By the way, his father was William SIMMONS (d. 1825), appointed by the President, yes, President George WASHINGTON as the accountant for the War Department.

Charles W Simmons, Probated Will in CA

But back to Charles---  his will is written in 1871 while he is still living in Boone Co, Iowa.  It is not probated until 1874, when he dies in Lower Lake, Lake, CA.

Close up of will documenting the land in question

For whatever reason, Charles thinks he has a share of the land in Portsea and another treasure trove in San Domingo, where his maternal grandfather, Jean Baptiste BERTRAND de LaSTRANGE de LaPOINTE was supposedly given something by the French government after some Revolution?  Boy, do I have homework to do!

I still can't find out what happened to the land in Portsea!  I guess I need to feel the dirt to finally find it!  Who authorized demolishing of Hanover Row?  Who agreed?  Or was it just done?

Ahh, genealogy.  Guess I need to sift that dirt through my fingers before I can really believe I found it.  But, wait....  does that mean my share of it is... lying in the grave?

©2017  AS Eldredge

Sources:
Probate Records; Author:  California Superior Court (Lake County); Probate Place; Lake, California

Tombstone Tuesday: Resting in an Unmarked Grave

Just last week, I gasped as I read the 1853 will of David SIMMONS, a prosperous merchant in Philadelphia.  He had grandchildren who he named!  And great grandchildren, too!

So off on another mission with my fin fans to see what I could find.  His children are not in the Hood Cemetery with David and his wife, Margaret CHAMBERS.  What to do?

Look at the most unusual name and see if any information can be found.  There it is in Washington, DC.  It's a marriage certificate and then interments at Glenwood Cemetery in Washington, DC!

Let me explain how I know the right bones have surfaced.

The 1853 will makes no mention of children.  Instead, it specifically mentions the following grandchildren:

Will of David P Simmons

William R SIMMONS
Elizabeth GODDARD
James SIMMONS
John B SIMMONS

and children of granddaughter, Margaret DOWLING:
David DOWLING
Marshall DOWLING
Julius DOWLING

There are the clues.

Granddaughter Margaret DOWLING is dead before 1853.

The marriage records in Washington, DC, confirm a Margaret SIMMONS married Patrick DOWLING 9 May 1939.  The 1850 census confirms Patrick b. Ireland and children are living in the household of Elizabeth SIMMONS, who we can assume is the mother of Margaret and the widow of William Clarke SIMMONS.

Now to finalize the information trail.  On Findagrave, we see a Margaret DOWLING with no marker, no death date in the Glenwood Cemetery.  We do, however, see the Plot listed.  This is crucial.

Section B, Lot 85, Site 7

Why look!  Here is Patrick DOWLING, b. Ireland d. 1864 in Glenwood Cemetery in Section B, Lot 85, Site 6.

BINGO!  His bio also confirms two marriages.  One in 1939 to Margaret SIMMONS, and the second to Drucilla MARKS in 1852.

Ahh, genealogy.  Remembering our beloved bloodlines who rest even if there isn't a marked grave to visit.

©2017  AS Eldredge

Sources:
Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, Wills and Probate Records, 1683-1993 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015.
Original data: Pennsylvania County, District and Probate Courts.
Ancestry.com. District of Columbia, Marriage Records, 1810-1953 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016.
Ancestry.com. 1850 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.
Original data: Seventh Census of the United States, 1850; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M432, 1009 rolls); Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29; National Archives, Washington, D.C.
Find A Grave Memorial# 165062964
Find A Grave Memorial# 165063464
Cemetery photo by Janet Greentree

Tuesday Tip: I'll Have English Will with a Twist of Land, Please

Following land ownership is not as easy as we today think it is.  Typically, if land is owned at the time of death, a description of it can be found in the will or probate records.  I have used this way of following the land in early America. However, there is a twist across the pond.

In old England, depending on what time frame one is searching, it can be downright difficult, if not impossible to trace land ownership.  In early England, all land was thought to belong to the Crown.  That slowly evolved to leases and titles.

Now for the twist of the day.

I have been diligently searching for land ownership in old Portsea, Hampshire, England, from the 1740-1800 time frame.

Apparently, all wills were probated by the church before 1858.  There are some indexes online, but you really have to research which of them might be the best place to look. The courts were organized in a hierarchy, which really boggles my mind.  Just the names of some of the courts sound foreign to my mind....Archdeaconry, Commissary, Prerogative, and so on.

The National Archives site has a great "how to" section to read.  They even offer a live chat for quick pointers.  I haven't tried this yet, but I may as I wander around hopelessly confused.  Looking at the National Archives site, I do find a 1763 will for James HILL, Mariner of Portsea.  I really need to see the will in the hopes of a land mention.

Another tidbit crossed my path today as I search for land.  In the Portsmouth Museums and Records Service which has been cataloged by the National Archives, this is seen:

Ahh genealogy. Pour me up another will with land.  Just can't get enough!


Source:
http://www3.hants.gov.uk/archives
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/wills-or-administrations-before-1858/

©2016 ASEldredge

Mappy Monday: Looking for Inherited Land

I'm rich.  I just know I am.  Or maybe not.

My 5th ggrandfather's will is dated 1794 and was probated in New York City.  In this will, he leaves his "lands, tenements, hereitament and estate"  in Hanover Row, Portsmouth Common, England to his children.

Now this is cool.  Only I have no idea whatever happened to the land.  Was it sold by the children? Did English authorities consider it abandoned?

In learning about the area, Portsmouth Common was built just outside the dockyard.  An email from David in 2009 when I inquired in Hampshire about it tells me the following about the land:

Hanover Row
1721-1845 ran from The Parade (which was parallel to Long Row) to
Sharps Buildings (at corner of Gravel Row)
1845 absorbed into The Dockyard, Marlborough Area
(presumably north of the Marlborough Gate)
1874 demolished.

So - your area of interest is Portsmouth Dockyard, and, narrowing it
down, north Portsea area (where there are still The Parade and
Marlborough Row) - a block east from where Mary Rose and the Victory are
berthed.

This is the only map I have found online (so happy myfamilymatters put this up) from the time close to 1794.  This provides a point of reference for me should I ever find someone across the pond who is willing to check it out for me at the land records office.
 

Ahhh, genealogy.  Mapping the past with the thoughts of today.

©2015 ASEldredge

Sources:
1794 Will of John Simmons
http://www.myfamilymatters.org.uk/page85.html
http://www.thedearsurprise.com/hearts-of-oak-portsmouth-and-the-royal-navy-in-the-18th-century/