Margaret "Martha" (Brown) Casborne - One Tiny Branch of "Recent" Immmigration (Part 1)

It gets boring to see that most of your ancestors came in the 1600's to America.  Oh another Early Colonial American line (no offense to those that would love to have a Mayflower ancestor).  Can't I have some diversity!  Well, I began making my way up a branch of my maternal grandmother's line that I had ignored for far too long.  I became fascinated with my Gram's grandmother, Martha Jane Casborne.  The first premarriage record found for Martha Jane was the 1880 census where she was residing in the household of her parents, Joseph H. and Martha Casborne.  AND she was listed as working at the age of 10 in a cotton mill.  Seriously!? 

After I got over the shock that my 2x great grandmother was child labor in a mill, I next discovered a possible female Irish immigrant!  Now we are talking!  Martha's mother was listed as being born circa 1842 in Ireland.     

The person in question....  Margaret "Martha" Brown

Martha arrived in the United States circa 1864 possibly from Ireland.  A few years after her arrival, she married Joseph Henry Casborn/Casborne on 8 Dec 1867 in Warwick, Kent, Rhode Island at the age of 26.  Joseph was an immigrant himself from England, however came to New York aboard a ship named Julian on 13 Apr 1833 at the age of 16 as an apprentice.

First thing, I did to learn more about Martha and her family was check out the 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930 and 1940 US Federal Census and the 1875, 1885, 1915, 1925 and 1935 Rhode Island State Census. 

By 11 Jun 1870, Martha was the mother to George H. (b. 2 Oct 1868) and Martha Jane (b.20 Apr 1870), and the family was residing in Warwick at the Centreville Post Office area of town.  On 1 Jun 1875, the family was residing on Natick Hill Road in Warwick along with another son, Archibald "Archie" Brown (b. 1 Aug 1871). 



1870 U.S. census, Kent, Rhode Island, Warwick, population schedule, p. 234A (stamped), dwelling 392, family 369, Joseph H. Casborn household; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : 11 Mar 2014); citing National Archives micropublication M593, roll 1471. 

1875 Rhode Island State Census, Kent, Rhode Island, Warwick, census district 3, p. 183 (penned), dwelling 193, family 333, Joseph H. Casborn household; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : 11 Mar 2014); citing New England Historic Genealogical Society microflim.

The family appeared to have come on some hard times by 1 June 1880 because George, age 12, and Martha Jane, age 10, were working in a cotton mill.  Joseph is reported to have blindness, and Martha remains at home with Archie and Annie/Anna (b. 30 Jun 1876).  The family was residing in Pontiac section of Warwick.  On 1 Jun 1885, the family remains in Warwick, however has suffered the loss of Joseph (census document image not included in blog post).  Martha, age 44, is working as a housekeeper.  George, age 17, is working as a laborer for a mule[?] room.  Martha Jane, age 15, is working as a cotton spooler.  Archibald, age 13, is working as a cotton spinner.

 



1880 U.S. census, Kent, Rhode Island, Warwick, population schedule, Enumeration District (ED) 32, p. 313A (stamped), dwelling 22, family 39, Joseph H. Casborne household; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : 11 Mar 2014); citing National Archives micropublication  T9, roll 1209. 

On 16 Jun 1900, Martha and her son, Archie, are residing in Warwick.  It appears from the 1900 census that Martha never naturalized.  On 27 Apr 1910, Martha is residing Coventry, Kent, Rhode Island in the household of Archie.  Martha could not be found in the 1915 state census.  This is most likely due to an indexing error or her removing from the area during this time period.  On 5 Jan 1920, Martha and her son, Archie, are boarders in a Coventry household.  It appears from the 1920 census that Martha may have naturalized, however the year of naturalization is unknown.  Martha was not found in the 1930 and 1940 federal census nor the 1925 and 1935 state census. 



1900 U.S. census, Kent, Rhode Island, Warwick, population schedule, Enumeration District (ED) 203, p. 18B, dwelling 288, family 325, Martha Casborn household; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : 11 Mar 2014); citing National Archives micropublication  T9, roll 1504. 

1910 U.S. census, Kent, Rhode Island, Coventry, population schedule, Enumeration District (ED) 10, sheet 18-A,, dwelling 232, family 335, Archie Casborn household; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : 11 Mar 1814); citing National Archives micropublication  T624, roll 1436. 

 

1920 U.S. census, Kent, Rhode Island, Coventry, population schedule, Enumeration District (ED) 15, sheet 5-B, dwelling 97, family 107, Susan E Kane household; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : 11 Mar 2014); citing National Archives micropublication  T625, roll 1671. 

	Age	Birthplace	Birthplace of Father	Birthplace of Mother
1870 Federal Census	32 (b. ~1838)	England	-----	-----
1875 State Census	33 (b. ~1842)	Ireland	-----	-----
1880 Federal Census	38 (b. ~1842)	Ireland	Ireland	Ireland
1885 State Census	44 (b. ~1841)	Ireland	-----	-----
1900 Federal Census	48 (b. ~1852)	Ireland	England	England
1910 Federal Census	60 (b. ~1850)	England	England	England
1915 State Census	?	?	?	?
1920 Federal Census	75 (b. ~1845)	England	England	England

As you might have noted, I wrote earlier "possibly from Ireland".  We have no clue who provided the information about her age and birth location to the enumerator.  How old really was Martha?  And which is it?  Ireland or England?

I don't believe anything I read until I have put all the pieces together and analyzed the evidence.  Sorting through the conflicting evidence of her year of birth and location is key.  Maybe her children's birth, marriage and death records will provide further clues. 

To Be Continued....

What To Get A Genealogist For Their Birthday - Civil War Pension Files

Genealogy is a passion of mine, and has been since I was a little girl.  It is a passion that has been passed down in my family for over 70 years from my great-great Aunt Hazel to my father and to me.  Since my Aunt passed almost ten years ago, my father and I make it a regular habit to email back and forth about online finds, new cousins found, and discussions about our ancestors.  In fact,  you could probably say that we have this secret language.  We will have conversations that drive my mother crazy sometimes because she can't always figure out who we are talking about.  Many times we may only mention the person we are discussing by their first name, as we know them personally. 

Recently, we have become more interested in some of our ancestors that served in the Civil War.  We have spent time learning about these men and finding what we could about their lives.  All the men that fought and survived received pensions in my family, which is just wicked awesome.  Many of the men, particularly my ancestors from the Sullivan County, New York and Wayne County, Pennsylvania area, we know very little about.  Yes, there are a few trees with information online completed by others, but no sources.  I don't trust those trees when there are no sources cited.  We do have one distant cousin we talk with who has done an incredible job with the family tree, and has incredible sources!  I can't wait to meet her one day in person! 

My father's birthday was coming up, and I had no idea what to ever get him.  The love of my life, Jason, and I could not figure out what to get him.  We went back and forth for the longest time.  In bed one night, I had a thought that what if I got a pension file from the NARA for one of our civil war ancestors for my father's birthday gift.  I shared this with Jason, and we thought it was a great idea.  This is like a dream come true gift for a genealogist!  So, I ordered the file the next day from the NARA using the online form.

Well, two days later I get an email from NARA stating that the file could not be found.  WHAT!  NOT FOUND!  I didn't give up!  Well, I can't go to the NARA because I live in New England and it is located in Washington DC.  So, I contacted another professional genealogist I know that might have someone she uses to get files from the NARA.  Sure enough, she did and I contacted that person.  This was the best gift ever, and I was not going to take a "file not found" answer.  I was going to have to wait a few weeks until the lovely lady was going to visit the NARA, and not only was I going to get the one file I originally wanted, but I could get ALL the pension files for just a little more than what NARA charges for one.  YES ALL OF THEM!  I was in genealogy heaven!!

I woke up this morning (knowing she went yesterday) to an email from her, and a photograph of every piece of paper in each file!  No better way to start the day off!!  I am so excited to be able to give my father this birthday gift!!  If you ever can't think what to get a genealogist for their birthday, how about a set of documents from NARA or another repository.

Side Note:  The file NARA couldn't find.  They told her it was checked out, and they are looking into where it went.  I hope they find it, since this is the file on Samuel H. Slater that I have begun writing about in this blog.