Agnes Bennallack/King - Michigan

[shellyesq]

1900 census with Agnes and husband T.J. - https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-267-11108-170855-15?cc=1325221  Just below them is Thomas King, b. Feb. 1869 in Michigan and his family.

[Brentor boy]

Thank you, shellyesq and jorose for such incredibly helpful references. It looks as if my hunch was correct and Agnes Gilbert/Bennallack/King/Williams was one and the same person. Quite a girl!

My prime interest is in the Bennallack line. James in California is a good match, but Bennallack was quite a common Cornish name, to be found wherever there was mining. IF he is my man it looks as if he and Agnes ignored the minor technicality of their English marriage and went their separate ways.

Still questions to be answered.

[jorose]

Regarding the 1864 death in the UK - there's also a 1863 birth of a James Bennallack in Tavistock, have you placed him? Wonder if they had a child who died young.

Given that William Bennallack (James' brother? cousin? other relative?) was in attendance at Agnes' second wedding, it would make more sense to me if James had died young (perhaps on the trip over? or just badly misindexed somewhere?), and Agnes had stayed with his relatives until she remarried.

[shellyesq]

You're welcome & glad we could make some progress.

Regarding the James Bennallack in California, he seems to show up in a lot of California voters' registration lists with fluctuating ages.  http://www.rootschat.com/links/01eet/

There is a possible burial for him here - http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Bennallack&GSiman=1&GScid=2151013&GRid=100254065&  Maybe something can be found to rule him in or out.

[shellyesq]

If this is the same James, maybe he left too early?  http://www.cagenweb.com/nevada/data/ncreunion_A-J.html

[shellyesq]

The death certificate for John Henry King also lists his mother as Agnes Gilbert.  It says he was born 23 Feb. 1868 in Pontiac, Michigan.  If that date is accurate, it would have come before William & Agnes' marriage.

[shellyesq]

I wonder if this William Bennallack was the one who was the witness - http://genealogytrails.com/colo/gilpin/bios_01.htm 

1880 census - https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MFDF-1WQ

1900 - https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MQMC-54P

1910 - https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MK4W-49J

A possible burial for him here - https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVVR-S8XP

The date of birth from the burial seems a possible match for this William - https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2N9R-D2J

[Brentor boy]

Again ,jorose  and shellyesq, you have given me much to think about.

In 1900 Agnes gives her year of arrival as 1864 and 1910 as 1868. Not sure what to make of that but it is strange that 1864 coincides with the death of the James Bennallack in Tavistock and 1868 is the year in which she married Thomas King. My instinct is that James never reached America. I shall have to invest in a certificate before I go much further. The possibility that Agnes was "adopted" by the Bennallacks does have some credibility.

I am satisfied that the James of California is not mine. His place of origin is shown as Redruth, West Cornwall, an area from which my James's family migrated in 1800 before settling in Devon.

William of Gilpin, Colorado is much more interesting. He is my James's cousin. More than that, his family is known to have been in Michigan around the time of Agnes's marriage to Thomas Henry King. William's brother, Ralph, (and James's cousin), married in Negaunee, MI in 1872 and James,'s uncle, Thomas, died in Ely, Marquette, MI in 1878. Neither place is particularly close to Eagle River or Clifton, but a possibility exists that William was the witness although it is strange it should be him, having to come from Colorado.

In 1870 John King is shown as aged 0 years which would be consistent with birth in February 1870. I believe the later record is in error.

[Brentor boy]

Shellyesq - I have just noticed from your reply #5 that Albert King was born in Marquette, which is where Agnes's Bennallack cousins-in-law were settled. I'm satisfied that is as close as we are likely to get to identifying William the witness, but why him, who had already moved to Colorado, and not one of his brothers? Guess we'll never know.