Help - John LEVIS

[dave192]

I have maneged to trace back to my gggg granddad, but I am starting to think I may have the wrong name.  The info I have is below:

John Levis b 1784 Huntingdonshire and died 1825 in the same place. He married Rachel ? she was born about 1785 in Huntingdonshire and died about 1850. They married about 1806.

They had the following children:

Thomas Levis b 1808 in Sawtry d 1864
Charles Levis b 1816 Sawtry d 1887
Charles Levis b 1812 Sawtry d 1816
John Levis b 1814 Sawtry d 1815
Catherine Levis b 1818 Sawtry d 1828
John Levis 1821 Sawtry
Reuben Levis b 1824 Sawtry d 1864

The children I have confirmed and Reuben in my ggg granddad.

[c-side]

Hi Dave,

Welcome to rootschat.

I'm not familiar with Huntingdonshire but we can at least start this.

Presumably you can trace your roots back to Reuben with good evidence that you are correct to that point.  So why do you think you have the wrong father?

Christine

[dave192]

on another site someone did a check and found no John Levis marring a Rachel and I can not find anyone by that name around that date. 

As for the link to Reuben after 2 years searching and with some help I found my great granddad and then using Census records (i did a 14 day free trail, no money spare at the mo) I was able to confirm all the info i was given apart from two odd balls and this John.  One thing i will say is traditionally within the Levis family the third son born is given the farthers name.

If I can confirm John and find is farther I should be able to trace back to a Samuel Levis who went to America with the Pilgrim farthers.  This Samuel stated the Levis family in America, and I should be able to go a further two generations back from Samuel.

[Maggie1895]

Hi Dave,
I just did a very quick search to see what I could find on Reuben and certainly there has been a wide variety of spellings of both his names, even between the 1841, 51 and 61 census.
You say 'two odd balls and this John'.   Leaving aside the oddballs, what is the original source that led you to believe that the parents were John and Rachel?   Was it a family story or a document or record?
I'm not in any way implying they aren't Reuben's parents, but if we can start with what you have confirmed and go back from there?  A very quick search for John didn't bring up anything obvious so far.
It is a big jump from the 1841 census to the Pilgrim Fathers, and you probably need to trace it back one step at a time.

[c-side]

I'm with Maggie on this - one step at a time.  Trying to make things fit is not the right way to go.  If you want an accurate family history it can be very painstaking at times.

When you say someone on another site did a check - did they actually check parish records or simply use their subscription to search a genealogy website.

I've heard people say (not on here  ) that 'it's all online now' but trust me - it isn't.  Loads more than when I first started but not complete by a long way.

Where did the list of children (Reuben's siblings) come from.

I know there's more questions than answers at this stage but to get the best out of us we need to know as much as you do and the sources of that information.

Christine

[dave192]

OK lets start at the beginning.  About 2 years ago I was given a list of names, some with dates of birth and deaths and some missing.  It took two years but I finely found my dads mum and his dad farther.  This was found by a nice lady on a well known site.

With this new data I went back from my great granddad and was able to link all the pieces of paper together right back to John.  This was more difficult but on a well known site there were about 5 different people with the Levis tree and all had the info I had and some with extra which I noted and confirmed before I added to mine, but they all had the samething in common they all get to John and Rachel ? and stop.

On another site people have checked other sources and I have even checked Huntingdonshire Family History web page and they don't hold the Levis surname at the moment, I know we come from here because of the Census.

Onething I forgot to say is we be live John is from Sawtry and I have being told that they are not on line yet.  I have check every source I can.

Hope that helps you all to under stand what I have so.

[Maggie1895]

Dave, it does help and thanks.
The trees that you found on other sites can be a huge source of information, and give you useful pointers as to where to look, but the decision you have is around whether you take what is on other people's published trees as definite.
You say you compared and confirmed, which is great, and by that I assume you went and checked the details by Parish Records, Births, Wills, Census etc?
On that basis can I ask what is the oldest fact you have on Reuben and/or his father John?   I saw last night that Reuben was certainly in the 1841 census, do you have any sourced/confirmed birth details or anything earlier than that?
Everyone here will try to help - it's just establishing exactly where we start from.
Maggie1895

[Maggie1895]

Dave, I didn't want to sound discouraging or negative in my previous post, so I've just gone to see what I could find that was a definite place to start from.

First, Reuben's death.
I've found Reuben Levice's death recorded in Q3 (July-Aug-Sept) in 1864 in Huntingdon so that part is spot on.   (Volume 3b, Page 145)   Interesting that it's recorded as Levice not Levis, so we definitely need to be open on the spelling!
Second, the census:
1841 census:  Reuben, again spelt Levice, is 15, (and the ages were often rounded up or down to the nearest 5 in 1841).   In the same household is Ann Gregory age 55 and a second Ann Gregory age 25.  The elder Ann is listed as a Butcher.  They are living in Sawtry St Andrew, and all were born in Huntingdonshire.
1851 census: Reuben Levis is 25, and married to Mary.   They are living in Sawtry with their children Alice, William and Rachel (which helps support your belief that his mother was Rachel).    In the same household are John Shareman or Shoreman, with his wife and son.  They are Lodgers. 
I think the address is Horn Drove, and Reuben is an Agricultural Labourer.
1861: Still in Horn Drove.  Reuben, Mary, William, Rachel, and younger children Mary Ann, Emma, Sarah and Reuben age 2.    Alice is not listed and whilst that may mean she has died it could equally mean that she has moved out because by now she will be 15, and could possibly have gone into service or similar.
1871:  Reuben has died, and Mary is Head of the household.  The family has moved to Ramsay, and Mary is working as a Charwoman.   Children still at home are William, Rachel, Sarah, Reuben, and two younger ones Aaron age 9 and John age 6.   All the children are working as Agricultural Labourers, apart from John.  (hopefully that's an error in regard to Aaron)
Finally, Birth, 1859:   No doubt all the children's births are listed but I just searched Reuben's.  First quarter of 1859, named Reuben John Levice.  Vol 3B, P. 255.

Where to go from here?  My suggestion would be that you start by ordering a copy of Reuben's death certificate from 1864 and hoping that there is a reference to his father on that, because that would get you off to a start for your search to confirm his parents.  Good luck.

[bedfordshire boy]

What's your evidence that John Levis was born in Hunts? That other online trees show it is not evidence.

Forget about linking John Levis born c 1784 to the Pilgrim Fathers, 1620, at least until you're a lot farther back than where you are at the moment.

I've never seen a death cert of an adult with a reference to a father on it. Just the name of the informant. In 1841 instructions to enumerators were that ages over 15 should be rounded down, not up, to the nearest 5 below. So 15 in 1841 should cover an age range of 15 to 19.

I don't believe John Levis was from Hunts. He didn't marry Rachel in Hunts (unless his surname is so mangled it doesn't show on Hunts Marriage Index). He died in 1825 at Sawtry Hunts, so doesn't appear in a census.

I repeat, why do you think he was born in Hunts?

BB