RootsChat.Com
Research in Other Countries => United States of America => US Lookup Requests => Topic started by: fletch001 on Sunday 21 March 21 14:56 GMT (UK)
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Hi All,
This could be a tricky one for you. I am trying to help out my distant relatives in the USA with trying to find a Thomas Robert Fletcher, he was born in England around 1843/5 and went to the USA around 1860, he lived in Watertown, Jefferson, New York, and died in 1908.
Apparently, one US census says he was born in 1845 in Ireland then another census states he was born in England 1843. He is well documented in the USA but trying to find the correct Thomas R Fletcher and who his parents were.
Most of the census just gives his first Name as Thomas, no middle name. Also, he was married twice, first to Ellen Powers and then to a Mary Wylde.
Any help anyone can give to find his correct details and parents would be very welcome, thank you for your time.
Kind Regards
Mike Fletcher
Scotland UK
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Perhaps if you give us details for him when you first have him on US census
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I'll send you Thomas's obit. It states he is a native of England. Besides mentioning his surviving children, his obit also mentions his brother in England. Perhaps with his brother's name you can tie the family together in England?
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Familysearch - shows - Watertown Daily Times - Date 6 Jan 1908
Residence Date 1 Jan 1908 - Death Date 1 Jan 1908
Sadly doesn't tell us where he was born
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q5MR-TXF5
Sandra
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Nauralization doesn't help with his place of birth in the UK - its blank.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KFXD-KWV
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L9M8-GWWC?i=3530&cc=1999177
Sandra
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Like with anyone you are researching you work backwards finding every real record they generated during their lifetime so if they have primary records eg his marriage and secondry records like census which you say shows some conflicting infomation ( as it is given or assumed information in census ) then if I was researching I would be looking for passenger ship records in the US and finding primary information of his name used which is cross referenced with his ID when he booked, the date he travelled, who he travelled with, where from and which ship...some have information about last address before travel, nationality and it helps to know what religion he was, so it gives some starting point.... but many Irish travelled from English ports and many English travelled from Irish ports and there is no passenger records between Britain and Ireland back then or now
It is impossible to blanket search Ireland or England........many assisted emigrants came from Ireland and Britain especially during that time which means the US was flooded with immigrants from Britian/Ireland.
In Ireland alone there are 32 counties and more than a thousand parishes. It is possible to find dozens of people by the same name and in the same time period as this person.... easier to find in Britain ( England) because of civil birth records started eariler and census is available but still a very difficult task, both places it would at this point with limited information an impossible task and it would be down to what 'fits' and that is not research it is guess work
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Nauralization doesn't help with his place of birth in the UK - its blank.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KFXD-KWV
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L9M8-GWWC?i=3530&cc=1999177
Sandra
Good find!
On the index card it states his country of birth is 'England' it is just the index and secondary information but a great start and at least having details of that the full naturisation record can be looked for which might give more details
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There is an ancestry tree which suggests the parents are :
George Fletcher 1804–1881
born 1804 - Redbourne, Hertfordshire, England died 7 APR 1881 - Hertfordshire,
and Ann Almond 1805–1872
born 1805 - Kings Walden, Hertfordshire died 1872 - Kings Walden, Hertfordshire.
Sandra
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Sadly his certificate of marriage to Ellen Powers 6 th June 1869 at St Patricks Church Waterwown NY offers no other clues to parentage.
Sandra
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There is an ancestry tree which suggests the parents are :
George Fletcher 1804–1881
born 1804 - Redbourne, Hertfordshire, England died 7 APR 1881 - Hertfordshire,
and Ann Almond 1805–1872
born 1805 - Kings Walden, Hertfordshire died 1872 - Kings Walden, Hertfordshire.
Sandra
Just Thomas, no middle name -
FLETCHER, THOMAS mmn ALMOND
GRO Reference: 1842 Dec Quarter in THE HITCHIN UNION Volume 06 Page 511
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Marriages Sep 1866
CLARIDGE Silena
FLETCHER Thomas
Hitchin 3a 375
Marriage at Offley has father as George Fletcher though George is 22. - Still in the UK in 1881
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First wife Ellen Powers - parents names Michael Powers and Julia McGarrick.
Ellen died 21 December 1881 - Watertown, Jefferson, New York.
The children born to Thomas and Ellen were Joseph Michael (died as inf) - Thomas Mark (died as inf) - Julia Mary - William Francis - Ellen Elizabeth -
https://www.familysearch.org/tree/pedigree/landscape/LVPD-HBZ
Nothing in the naming pattern of the children to link George and Ann
Sandra
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Another question with additional information https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=846009.0
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There is a memorial card on one of the family trees - Thomas R Fletcher died 5 Jan 1908 - aged 60 years.
This would make his birth 1848 ish ? As the poster said birth date varying.
Nice pics of him
Sandra
Added The obit info - mentions a brother Robert living in England.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q5MR-TXN3
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Seems a lot of this has already been covered on the other thread ::)
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Linking Rosie so we don't do any further duplication
https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=846009.0
Sandra
iluleah also linked above. :)
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Hi All,
Thank you all, Fay asked me to put this up on the USA side of Roots due to not much info on the England side.
George Fletcher & Ann Almond have been used in approx 74 family trees stating that Thomas Robert Fletcher is their son. Unfortunately, George & Ann's son was named Thomas and he married in England a died in England in 1916.
A very difficult task to ask for help when we cannot find what ship etc he went across to the USA in approximately 1860, he was about 17 years old.
As stated it is an impossible task trying to trace his correct mother & father when no one has found any records. His brother is Robert Thomas Fletcher which when they corresponded they both used their middle names which is strange. I think there is a lot of information that is correct for Thomas R Fletcher States side, it's just his mother & father who looks like it is not the correct one.
Hope this helps
Regards
Mike
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A passenger list in that era would only give basic details for Thomas, sadly, it would not give his parents names. (it is always best to link the threads (we can help if you don't know how to do that or a moderator could do it for you - it helps so that we can see what people have already found)
Sandra
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Would marriage certificates/registers (for both his marriages in the US) show Thomas’s parents names.
Fay
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Hi All,
I have asked my relatives in the USA regarding all your questions, unfortunately, they have given all the information they know/have. It's a needle in a haystack situation and I don't know if this will be resolved in finding the correct parents of Thomas and his brother Robert.
Regards
Mike