Help in figuring out where ancestors came from...

[jeanieluigi]

We know my ggg-grandparents immigrated from Wales to the US sometime between 1830 and 1836, ending up in Carbondale PA for a period of time.  We also know he was a miner.  I have two questions:  1.  Could anyone give an educated guess as to where in Wales they might have come from based on his occupation?  2. His name was Daniel Moses (born around 1803), and appears to have been a fairly common name.   In searching on Ancestry.com I was unable to come up with anything in terms of immigration records.  Any tips or thoughts on how I might track that information down?  Thanks so much.

[Sandgrounder1]

Hello and welcome to Rootschat

If he was a miner he was likely to be in South Wales, but he could have been born anyhwhere, moving near the mining areas for work.

I checked the IGI for Wales and there were only 2 entries for a Daniel Moses.  One was added by a member of the LDS church and doesn't contain much information.

The other could be him:

Daniel Moses, birth/christening 1807, Llandissiliogogo, Cardigan, although I'm certain the place name is likely to be wrong.  Father's name John.

I also found a marriage - John Moses and Elizabeth, 1798, Llangeitho, Cardigan.  Llangeitho is probably the correct spelling and likely to be the place of birth.

You might find Daniel's birthplace if you look at the US censuses for all the years  he was listed.  Otherwise it would have to be a case of looking for emigration records from Wales or using US immigration sites.

Someone on this site may have access to some US immigration sites and could possibly help you.

Good luck with your search

Sandgrounder

I

[Sandgrounder1]

Hello again

There's one private family tree on Ancestry with Daniel Moses b. 1803, Wales, on it.  As it's private you can't access any more information, but there is a facility to contact the member via the site.  It's worth a try.

Sandgrounder

[osprey]

what's wrong with Llandysiliogogo?
http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/wal/CGN/Llandysiliogogo/

not very near Llangeitho, though.

When searching on the IGI in many parts of Wales before 1813, you need to allow for the names being entered as if they were patronymics. There is a Daniel baptised Llandysiliogogo 18/10/1802 son of Enoch Moses. The Daniel baptised 1807 is the son of Moses John, so would more likely be known as Daniel John.

There's a possible Enoch Moses in Llanina in 1841 with family, he's a farmer, no Daniel with him.

Do you have any clues to father's name from later records? Any clues from the names of his sons? Can I assume Carbondale was concerned with coal mining? Cardiganshire is more associated with lead mining. What about religion? Much non-conformity in Wales, so many baptisms not on the IGI.

When & who did he marry?

[jeanieluigi]

thanks so much for your responses.  Unfortunately I don't have much to go on.  I can only find one possible census report in Pennsylvania for 1840.  But at that time the census reports told you nothing more than the head of household's name and number of boys/girls by age range.  He had died by 1850 as some of his girls are living with an older sister who had married.  We understand there was one son who died young in Wales, but the rest are girls.  We know from one of the girl's marriage certificates that parents were Daniel and Margaret Moses.   From the reading I have done, I had presumed that they were non-conformists based the surname of 'Moses'.  We do know that one of the daughters married as a Methodist; but another became a Catholic once she had children and we presume that was an influence of her husband who was Catholic.  We also know there was either a paternal brother or nephew by the name of David Moses.  It's hard to know if you can make any progress with so few threads, but I keep plugging away.  Thanks again for the information.  For those of you that are more familiar with this website, it there a particular forum I might go to to obtain more 'coaching' on how to explore immigration/ship records?  Jean

[maidmarion]

Hi Jean,
I certainly wouldn't rule out North Wales, lots of mining in that area too. 

For immigration use this link
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/board,136.0.html

maidmarion 

[Gadget]

  He had died by 1850 as some of his girls are living with an older sister who had married. 

Hi

Are you sure that he died by 1850 as there is a Daniel Moses, aged 50, a miner from Wales on the 1850 census in Carbondale, Pen.


Page 329B  Family No. 261

Moses
Daniel, 50, miner, b. Wales
Martha, 46, b. Wales
Ebenezer, 17,
Martha, 15,
Daniel, 14
David, 8
Anna, 7

Children all b. Pennsylvania



Gadget

[Gadget]

 

Also there in 1860, aged 59.

I'm not sure about what reference to give for US censuses but it's Lackawanna,  Page 415



Gadget

[osprey]

well, I've checked marriages for Cardiganshire, Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire & Glamorgan and there's only one Daniel Moses to Margaret marriage and it's in Aberporth parish church in Cardiganshire.

Daniel Moses of Blaenporth married Margaret Evans of Aberporth March 1st 1827.

Is that marriage early enough to allow for the children? No sign of the couple in the 1841 census.

http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/wal/CGN/Blaen-porth/
http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/wal/CGN/Aber-porth/index.html

Parish records are held at the record office and the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth. Unless, they've had their photocopier fixed, the record office can't do copies.  
But you can get a copy from the National Library
http://www.llgc.org.uk/index.php?id=nlwenquiries

This couple is a possible, but they could be from elsewhere in Wales.

 

Gadget, you posted as I was typing - good finds!