Friday, September 19, 2014

Surname Saturday: TROWBRIDGE and BRISTOL


TROWBRIDGE AND BRISTOLS (on my mother side) 

I got curious and went and found the "TROWBRIDGE" Genealogy Book that I downloaded at the Salt Lake City Library. There sure is a lot of history along with the genealogy aspect too.

5th Great Grandparents:
Benjamin BRISTOL (1720 New Haven , CT-1790 Washington, NY)  married (1744 Waterbury Connecticut) Thankful TROWBRIDGE (1729 New Haven, CT-)

So you can see where the TROWBRIDGE family entered the picture with my BRISTOL family. From all I have read, the Trowbridge family appears to be a very prominent, and wealthy family in England as well as in Massachusetts and into Connecticut.

The Trowbridge Genealogy Book, The History of the Trowbridge Family in America by Francis Bacon Trowbridge.  It is compilation. (1110 pages) The physical book was originally owned by the Seattle Genealogy Society and then they sold or gave it to the Salt Lake City Library who in turn digitized it. YEA!!!

                      ================================================
From the Preface of the Book.........  a couple of paragraphs to get things into context........

About the year 1850 the first attempt was made to collect and arrange in genealogical order the descendants of Thomas Trowbridge, the first of his name in this country, who emigrated from Exeter, Devonshire, England, to Dorchester, Mass., as early as 1637, and soon after went with the early settlers to the
colony of New Haven. Those who were most interested in this undertaking were Thomas R. Trowbridge of New Haven, Philo M. Trowbridge of Woodbury, Conn., and Otis Trowbridge of Newton. Mass. As the result of their efforts, most of the descendants in the male line of Thomas, the second son of the settler, were collected by Rev. William S. Porter, who was employed for that purpose by Mr. Thomas R. Trowbridge; many of the descendants of William Trowbridge, the third son, were collected by Deacon Philo M. Trowbridge; and of the descendants of James Trowbridge, the youngest son, the records of several
hundred were collected and printed in a pamphlet in 1854 by Deacon Otis Trowbridge. John, the oldest son of the settler, did not come with his father to this country and died unmarried in early manhood in Taunton, England. The subject then rested until the summer of 1869, when Mr. Thomas E. Trowbridge employed Rev. Frederick W. Chapman to take the materials collected and gather such other records as might be found and prepare a book for publication. As a result of his work the "Trowbridge Family" was published in 1872.

The compilation of the present book was begun early in 1898. The genealogical standard has advanced materially since the "Trowbridge Family" was published, and the compiler of the present book decided that he would obtain the best results if he should disregard all printed records of the Trowbridges and
proceed as if no history of the family had ever been published. He has followed this plan throughout the compilation of this book, and all statements made are based on public records, examined by himself in nearly every case, or on correspondence with members of the family.
                      =================================================

Following the Trowbridge family back from Thankful Trowbridge.............

Thankful's Parents:
6th Great Grandparents
William Trowbridge (1700New Haven, CT-1793) and Mehitable Blakslee (1702 New Haven, CT- )

William's Parents:
7th Great Grandparents
Thomas Trowbridge(?) and Abigail Beardsley (1664 Stratford, CT) -1770 (West Haven, CT)

Thomas's Parents:
8th Great Grandparents
William Trowbridge (1633- ) and Elizabeth Lamberton

William's Parents:
9th Great Grandparents
Thomas Trowbridge (1600 Taunton, Somerset, England) -1672 Taunton, Somerset, England) and
        Elizabeth Marshall (1602 Exeter, England - )

       Thomas: b Taunton Somersetshire, Eng 1610, settled Dorchester Mass, 1636, removed New Haven Con 1639, returned to Eng 1641and died in Taunton Somersetshire England in 1672  (BIRTH DATE is off by 10 years........  I am fairly certain that this is the same person but not sure which date is correct.
NOTE: 1610 birth date came from DIRECTORY of the Ancestral Heads of New England Families 1620-1700 HOMLES. The 1600 birthdate came from the Trowbridge Genealogy Book

But there is the connection to Massachusetts from England, continuing to Connecticut and back to England.

Wow I can hardly believe I can go back that far but I have!! .......and I can go back a couple more generations to my 10th & 11th Great Grandparents on the Trowbridge family but right now I have my hands completely full and fumbling to keep it together..........

Looking at the dates I think my earliest BRISTOL, Henry (7th Great Grandfather) was born around 1625 in England and he was in CT around the same time as the early Trowbridges. I always wonder if the families knew each other back in early 1600's in England........ (or is that like saying to an Englishman, I have a cousin in the Lake District, do you know her? More than likely NO is the answer. Just like someone saying to me, Oh your from California, do you know Joe Blue in the LA area?

I don't find any indication that one knew the other before American but I always wonder anyway.














Sunday, September 14, 2014

Motivation Monday - NEHGS comes West for the Day


I was very fortunate to attend the "New England Historic Genealogical Society"  NEHGS Comes West: Navigating New England and New York Resources" It was held at the famous Hotel Shattuck Plaza in their Crystal Ballroom.........

,...... California Genealogical Society and Library partnered with NEHGS to put on this event.

I renewed my CGS membership and received a free copy of  "A Most Dreadful Earthquake, a first hand account by Dorothy Fowler ". I also renewed my NEHGS membership.

The Crystal Ballroom was a large room, very elegant with the old world look & feel, comfortable chairs, fake windows with mirror inserts (gave the room a much roomier space than it was)  ......  unfortunately the room was hard to cool down (it was warmer than usual in Berkeley)  ..........  coffee, tea and water were available all day and in the afternoon SURPRISE cookies appeared.






The four sessions that Chris Child
and Alice Kane
both from NEHGS presented ..............

Migrations Into and Out of New England, 1620-1900, Chris Child

Boston in a Whirlwind: A Primer Tour of 10 Repositories, Alice Kane


NEHGS Sources for New York Research, Chris Child


I Had Him in My Sights, and POOF! Strategies for Relocating the Disappearing Ancestor, Alice Kane

....... lots of good information and resources for me to follow-up with and investigate further. No, New York is not one of the New England states but it is a border state, it has a big impact on New England,  and many migrated there from one of the other New England states so they are doing a concentration on New York too.(and I am so glad) Since I have New York ancestors I was thrilled and very interested in the third session. I do have ancestors from Connecticut (and Massachusetts -I think). I think that part of the Connecticut ancestors originally came down from the Massachusetts Bay area, so I am wondering is that where they entered the United States.  You can see I am really looking forward to checking out their catalog to see what they do have and how they can further my research.

For some reason I have a hard time remembering which states make up the New England area..... I had to look it up again and the 6 states New England refers too are ........  Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut.

As far as I know right now I have one line (TROWBRIDGE) that I believe came down from the New England area - Massachusetts to New Haven Connecticut. I believe that they enter the US through Boston but need to research and find some documentation.

My fifth (5) great grandfather Benjamin BRISTOL (1721 New Haven CT-1790 Washington NY) married my 5th great grandmother Thankful TROWBRIDGE (1729 New Haven CT- ?unknown). They married 1744 in Waterbury CT before coming to New York.  I believe the TROWBRIDGE line goes back through Massachusetts to England. AND the other way from New Haven, to New York - Washington, Argyle, Summerhill, and eventually to Cortland all in New York. My research for the BRISTOL line begins in New Haven, Connecticut starting around 1625 ........  maybe there is a connection in Massachusetts. I will be looking there next, along with the TROWBRIDGE line.  I did download a TROWBRIDGE book through the Salt Lake City Library so that may have some basic information I am looking for.

Any BRISTOL'S and TROWBRIDGE'S out there?

And I am off.....................


Friday, September 12, 2014

Those Places Friday ........... Hanging Out in Berkeley, California



So here I am away from home again......... but just overnight,  I am attending a one day event in Berkeley California with the  New England Historical and Genealogical Society (Boston MA) who partnered with the California Genealogical Society (Oakland CA). Two  really good society's to be a part of ,,,,,, to be a member, They are both very active groups that offer their members quality,

I spent several hours getting to Berkeley today. I started in Sacramento with the Amtrak to Richmond, then took the BART to the Downtown Berkeley station. I guess it has been at least a year maybe longer since I have taken the AMTRAK. Seems a simple enough task, Buy ticket, get on train and off you go- not this time, I almost missed the train because I thought it came up right behind the station, so I am sitting waiting and then the announcement about the train being boarded. Oh my goodness, it now dawned on me where the train actually is and where I had to be, The trains themselves are now over closer to the old rail yards a long ways a way, I was and am so thankful that my hubby waited there with me and helped me get over to where I needed to be. Thank You Chuck.

Luckily the station is right across the street from my hotel......  Hotel Shattuck Plaza. It was built right after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, and opened in 1910, It changed hands many times over the years and actually had a name change for a short time - Whitecotton Hotel but it was soon renamed Hotel Shattuck. In 2007 it was purchased again, closed for a year and underwent an extensive multimillion dollar renovation. The outside was originally built in the mission style which represents California's Architectural heritage.

I took a walk around the block., getting some fresh air and looking for some POP well I found both sort of. Berkeley has not changed in 50 years. Coming out of this boutique hotel on to the streets of Berkeley is like going from day to night. Outside on the sidewalks are all types of characters- some high, some getting there, some sleeping, some selling whatever, playing and singing and asking for money,  Nothing changes. It takes me back to my high school/college years,

You can see below that the inside does not match the inside of the hotel. The elevator does not move unless you are a guest and insert your room card, (some of the hotels over this summer worked the same) but then as you enter your room, the lights and temperature controls do not work till you put your room card into a card docking system on the wall of the room, Hummm!! Cool!! and different,

Tomorrow will be a busy full day with the conference starting at 9am and ending at 3:30p. But somewhere  during lunch I will check out of my room but continue with the conference, And then at the end, return back to BART & then AMTRAK but this time getting off in Roseville.

This ride home will offer time to reflect and think about the conference. What if anything did I take away from the day, what can I use for my own research, what will help me........... and of course knitting all the way.





Both of these two hallways are on my floor.....  this first hall is at the end of the hallway to the left of my room,,,,,,,  that is a mirror you see at the end, and then you turn to the left,right and the walls change back to the orange brown color again........  the hallway below is my hallway but if you look to the end you will see another mirror where the hallway stops and it turns to the right with the with the white walls........ My door faces the elevator doors and so far so good with extra noise from people and the elevator sounds itself.


Main floor hallway from FIVE restaurant out to the interior outside patio area............

Very colorful and different inside the hotel than the outside of the hotel.

Dinner was a burger from the FIVE and it was excellent. I brought pitcher of ice water back to my room, I like this.





NiggggZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Wordless Wednesday (almost) Wild & Wooly- "A Night at Old San Antonio"


                       Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) Conference in San Antonio Texas
 

I just wanted to share another the day of the FGS Conference in San Antonio Texas. In  particular the wonderful evening event A Night at Old San Antonio 

If you click on the link you will see the classes I took that day but more important is the "Night at Old San Antonio" in words and pictures & a video. The volunteers and members of the San Antonio Genealogical Society and members of FGS put this together for a majority of the conference goers......  THANK YOU     I  hope you felt it was worth it  .......it was so much fun and very relaxing............. food was excellent, and the entertainment was outstanding. Thank You for the wonderful gift......love LOVE the fan... did I mention that it was very HOT and HUMID, well if I didn't, it was HOT and HUMID. I could have used it from Tuesday till I left on Monday. Thanks for the air conditioned comfy buses to transport us to and from.

Excellent all around conference.