Mary Ellen Lewis b April1842 in Guilsfield area.

[amberly]

One of my rellies named Mary Ellen Lewis b in April 1842 & bap 18 April in Guilsfield d/o James Lewis of Broniarth, innkeeper & Mary of Pentre Broniarth Upper who married in Guilsfield in 1836.  Mary Ellen was their first child but I have never been able to find her living with them.   From Family Trees on Ancestry I found her married & living in the US. 

According to the 1900 US Federal Census she immigrated to the US in 1848 & she would have only been 6 years old at the time. I've searched passenger lists etc & cannot find her emigrating at all.  At 6 years of age she wouldn't have gone alone would she & why??  It also said she'd lived in the US 52 years so therefore her given age of 58 would be correct.

On the 1920 US census it says she immigrated in 1860 & naturalized in 1890. Have searched but can't find trace of these either.

However she married on 4 December 1864 in Knox, Ohio to a man named Morton Hugh WILLITTS, had several children & the last one was named Edward Cureton Willitts & this really caught my eye as this Mary Ellen's grandmother was Mary Ann Cureton & she had a father & a brother both named Edward Cureton.  So I'm pretty sure this is the Mary Ellen I was searching for BUT can anyone shed light onto her emigrating in 1848 when she was 6???   Any suggestions please as this seems to be quite a conundrum.
Thanks to anyone who replies with any info.
Amberly.
 

[Dundee]

Who were the other children of James and Mary?  I can't easily see birth registrations.

Debra 

[maddys52]

Is this  Mary -    Jun qtr 1842  Montgomery (27/113)  mmn DICKEN

[Gadget]

Good Morning 


Information from parish records for  background:~

In 1941 the parents were in Guilsfield
Pentre, Broniarth Upper
James Lewis , 25, Publican
Mary, 25,
Mary Griffiths, 15, Female servant
All born county - note 5 year rounding of age in the 1841

Baptism of Mary Ellen in Guilsfield
18 April 1842, Mary Ellen Lewis d, of James (Innkeeper) and Mary Lewis of Broniarth

By 1851, they are in Bangor on Dee, Flintshire
New Inn, Bangor
James, 33, Innkeeper, b. Llansantfraid, Montgomeryshire
Mary, 35, b. Whitchurch, Shrophire
John, 5, b. Bangor/Dee
William Davies, 55, general servant, b. Bangor

The family must have moved to Bangor on Dee by 1846 - John, aged 5, b Bangor

(no burials for her in the period 1842 -1851found so far)

I have Cureton ancestors from Shropshire and have a book about the group who migrated  to USA. I'll dig it out and see if there are any clues.

Gadget

[Gadget]

Have you verified that the Mary Ellen who emigrated to USA is the same one as the Guilsford one ( i.e. is there anything in the records that says her parents were James and Mary and she was born Montgomeryshire) or have you used the Ancestry tree for your initial info?

Gadget

[*Sandra*]

Death Certificate for Mary Ellen Willitts born 1843 and passed away 27 March 1928 - parents James Lewis and Mary Dickins.

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N3PL-J5P

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:HVDL-CCN2

Certificate :-

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-6QH4-2F?i=1598

Sandra

[*Sandra*]

It is possible that the passenger list did not survive in that era. 

James may have travelled before his wife Mary and daughter Mary and son John.
The husband sometimes went ahead and the wife and family followed later.
So they could also appear separately on passenger lists.

Sandra

[Gadget]

In the 1880 census (which has her immigrating in 1848) she is given born England, father b. England and mother b. Wales)

Her death record gives her mother and father correctly in that a James Lewis married a Mary Dickins in 1836 Ive also found a birth registration for a Mary Ellen Lewis, Q 2, Montgomery, with mother's maiden surname as Dicken.

I'll keep looking for anything that might be relevant.

Gadget

Drinking so early, Sandra 

[*Sandra*]

No, sorry. Rarely have a tipple these days.


If Mary was older and travelled by herself .............??

The nationality may not be correct, they loved to use "ditto" on those passenger lists so it doesn't mean she was "Irish"
Sometimes, the earlier passenger lists don't give enough information to positively identify someone.
Lewis would be a common name. So unless you find all 4 together, it might not be possible to find them.

This one fits 1860 but the information a little ambiguous to positively identify Mary.

New York Passenger List - Mary Lewis - 1844 - aged 16 years -  (origin says Ireland but notice a lot of "ditto")
Gender:   Female - Ethnicity/ Nationality:   Irish -
Departure Port:   Liverpool, England
Arrival Date:   5 May 1860 - Arrival Port:   New York, New York, USA
Ship Name:   New World

Sandra