Eli Hart, migrated England to US 1850 or 1857

[SLStephens]

Occupation "Notions variety store".

[lucymags]

Thank you so much, RJ, for finding all of those - that definitively links them together and confirms Frank's second initial. Brilliant. (I see that Eleanor is given an E. in one of those newspaper reports, but that's the only time I've seen a hint of a second name, so won't use that unless something else turns up, I think.)

And thanks to SL for interpreting that writing - looks obvious now that I know, of course! I couldn't make it out at all. :-)

Edit: I think that Findagrave must have sourced their information from the official DC death record, which also misspells Eleanor's name. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F7RP-XTR

[lucymags]

I can't believe how long I've spent on this family! 

I decided to create a summary for Eli's profile, which I will reproduce below. I think that it contains most of the important points, and at this point I will leave it for now, unless someone happens to be able to shed light on the death of Mary (first wife), anything about 2nd wife Ann, or anything further about the youngest offspring I could get to.

The burial card I refer to is something I stumbled across serendipitously, after going to the Glenwood Cemetery website. It turns out that all of their interment cards are (supposedly) online - although as I found, some of those mentioned on Eli's card don't have their own records for some uknown reason. (I did just shoot them an email in case they have anything else to help.)
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-99D6-N9ND-J?i=2070&cc=2170640&cat=2170640 - showing a "Mary A." - so perhaps she was Mary Ann?

So here goes, the summary:

Eli (b. Newick 1827) emigrates to America with wife Mary (birth unk.).

One of their daughters, Emily, is born in England (1856-7, but cannot pinpoint a likely birth record in GRO - nothing there in Lewes dist.), the other, Ellen/Eleanor, in Rochester, NY (Aug 1858 - no birth record).

Emily disappears off the radar after 1871, when she is recorded as aged 14 upon re-entry to the US at NY.

Eleanor (probably) has a child out of wedlock aged 18 in 1877, Bertha (later Smith), marries first James. A. Clark, who is a wastrel, divorces him and marries Frank A. Clark (not known if related). She has a son with Frank, Leonard Clark, who marries Katherine Martie and has a daughter, Elizabeth.

Bertha Smith is shown as daughter of Eli and Ann in one of the 1880 Census records, but grand-daughter (b.c. 1877, mother born NY, father Virginia) in 1900. It looks as if Eli and Ann (?) raise Bertha.

No death records are found for Mary, nor any other records for this second wife Ann(ie).

Bertha marries (? no record found) and has a son, Laurence N. Smith. (His only record is on the 1900 Census, with grandfather Eli and mother Bertha.) She dies young (25) of tuberculosis.

Eli remarries Lucy Bryant in 1886 but is widowed by 1900. [The 1890 Census records were apparently mostly destroyed by fire - nothing for this family remains available.]

In 1887 Eli and Eleanor are running a successful variety store, when Eleanor's husband James Clark shoots Eli in the abdomen. He is not expected to live, but pulls through.

At this point (Mar 2018), no further offspring have been found (of g-grandchild Elizabeth, or grandchild Laurence) - but not completely ruled out yet either.

Eli's burial plot, at the time of his death in 1904, also accommodated Bertha, Frank Clark (Eleanor's 2nd/3rd husband), Mary A. Hart (but no card is found for her, and no other details of death), George Clark(infant death? - nothing found), and a William T. Bryant (child of Eli's 3rd wife Lucy? - nothing found). Eleanor is later buried with Frank.

Edit: I forgot to add that one other loose end is that Eleanor's marriage to Frank in Virginia in 1886 (aged 30) shows her as a widow: https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XR7W-S6Y. And Bertha's later census record does show her as father born Virginia, but I haven't established whether there's a link there, or just coincidence. Perhaps Eleanor spent some time in Virginia.

Can't recall all whether previously shown on this thread, but there are also memorials on Findagrave for "Elnora", Frank, Eli and Bertha.

(Oops, just removed a note I made about possible burial for Emily, because it was in 1870, and there's a record for her with the family returning via NY in 1871!)

[lucymags]

Just for completeness, I'll add that Eli's history has grown again...

In 1853 he married a woman called 19 years his senior called Jane Court Stanway in Southwark (London), and her later records seem to suggest that they parted but not divorced. In 1861, Jane Court Hart is shown as a widow.

So it's quite possible that he and Mary never actually married, that Emily was born out of wedlock, and/or Eli was a bigamist at least with Lucy. 

Also found 1873 bank records at Freedman's bank which show Mary's second name as Ann, and Eli's signature, which matches that on his first marriage certificate! https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NSTZ-QWP.

Also obtained some additional burial records from Glenbrook Cemetery by email, which showed Mary Ann's death in 1883, showing that "Ann" in the 1880 Census is in fact Mary Ann, probably giving the wrong age to make it plausible that she's mother of Eleanor's child Bertha. And Eleanor's 1st child with James Clark, George, died young, and Lucy Bryant had a child calle William Bryant who also died young - all interred in Eli's plot.

I don't think I've ever found a family with quite so many twists and turns!

Edit: Are there any other sources for birth records in the US? Ellen/Eleanor is recorded with her family in Yorkville, NY in 1860, and another record gives DOB and place as August 25, 1858 in Rochester, NY - but I cannot see any records pertaining to her actual birth. (I see that FS has a number of church records for Rochester available at the LDS FHCs - but there are so many churches listed there, I could spend days and never find it!)

[RJ137]

Glenwood Cem.: http://www.rootschat.com/links/01lrm/

Death: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F7RF-86R


Obit (see attached)
Evening Star
Washington, District of Columbia
Tuesday, December 04, 1883 - Page 5

[lucymags]

Thanks again for that extra info, RJ - much appreciated.

I had found the Glenwood burial cards for Eli, Frank and Bertha online, but there weren't any for the others. Fortunately a helpful person at Glenwood Cemetery sent me a scan from a book which had the details for that plot (which Eli bought in 1884) and the people buried there, all on one page, and a few other details in the email. Now that you've reminded me that there are also those books indexed by date, I could probably find all of the others there too, now that I know their dates. (Another day! I have already more time on this somewhat peripheral family than many of those in my direct line. But the story just kept getting more convoluted, so I had to keep going until I at least knew who was whom in the story.  )

I learnt a few other things along the way too, such as about Freedman's Bank (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedman%27s_Savings_Bank), and it was interesting to see the huge mix of immigrants represented in those censuses, not having ventured into US sources before.

Thanks again to everyone who has helped me with this. I think that we can close the book on Eli's family for now. (Unless of course I happen upon some other oddity.  )

[lucymags]

Sorry, it's me again. This is not hugely important, but something has piqued my interest, after finding and recording all of the available records in the Glenwood Interment Register.

Eli's 3rd wife, who was Lucy Bryant, does not appear to be buried in Eli's plot, for some reason, although she died sometime between 1887 and 1900 (couldn't find a record, but she's reported to be sick in the reports about the shooting, and Eli is a widow in 1900). She was younger than Eli, calc. DOB 1848-9.

However, a child called William T. Byrant, who must be her son, was buried aged 9 years 4 months in Eli's plot, and the interment register says that he died of "fracture to the base of the brain" on July 26, 1887 (the same year as the shooting and Lucy's illness) - so born c. March 1878, in Virginia. His last residence is shown as 928 22nd St NW, which doesn't match any address on any of the Census records.
https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89DP-12JX?cc=2170640&wc=MNY4-3TG%3A1041047801 (near the bottom, lhs)

I'm just curious to know if there are any stories or death notices about Lucy Bryant or her son in the newspapers by any chance?