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Hello!
I'd say the chances are very good there is a connection here.

There is a William Haslett in the 1850 US Census that is living in Joliet, Illinois with wife Ellen, born in Ireland, and a number of children, with a John born in New York. William is listed as a Soapmaker which is the business John Ludby was in.

Do you know who William's parents were and where they were from? Peter Haslett, my great great grandfather was born in 1820 to Peter and Ann Haslett in Petworth, Sussex, England. Ann was the brother of John Ludby. Peter came to Chicago sometime between 1836 and 1839 as part of the Petworth Emigration Scheme, I believe. He ended up marrying John Ludby's daughter Sarah in 1839. William Haslett, Peter's brother, came to the US in either 1834 or 1842 via New York (which matches your William) as part of the Petworth Emigration Scheme. This information comes from the Petworth Emigration Project website and the book Assisting Emigration to Upper Canada by the Petworth Emigration Project. There are several Williams that we are dealing with which makes things a bit more confusing. My Peter Haslett had a son named William R and according to the 1850 US census, your William also had a son named William who was 2 years old when the census was taken.

Does any of this match other evidence you have? I have attached a few documents that may help. Thanks for reaching out! I think we can both learn a lot about our family history with this. Tom.

PS. Are you from the UK or US?

My name is Thomas (Tom) Haslett and I live in a suburb of Chicago, IL US. I am trying to pick up where my sister left off in her genealogy study of our family. She was able to trace our family back to a John Ludby who crossed from England to either Canada or the United States in 1819 most likely with his wife Ann, and 3 children, Sophia, Rachel and William. They ended up in Chicago in June, 1833. Peter Haslett arrived in Chicago somewhere around 1838-1843 and he married John Ludby's daughter Sophia. As vital records were destroyed in the Chicago Fire of 1871 we were not able to determine marriage date.

Based on names and dates/ages, I have a developed the hypothesis that both John Ludby and Peter Haslett were from Petworth. John arrived in the US prior to the Petworth Emigration in the 1830's to Canada, but it is very possible that Peter was part of this migration. There was a Peter Haslett that was part of that initiative and I am working with someone who has access to these records to potentially determine if Peter ultimately settled in Chicago.

I'd like to see if there is anyone on this forum who may have any information that could either support or rule out this hypothesis based on family history along with any specific information they may have or where I could turn to look for more detail.

Thanks for any assistance you may be able to provide. Tom.