This Joseph Portas Wasn't Hiding

As I've stated before, my main family history focus is the PORTAS family from Lincolnshire, England. I have been hunting and gathering PORTASes for the past 15 years or so. I have many families in my database from around the world – most are in Lincs. 

I'm back to my 5x great grandfather Joseph PORTAS, bp. abt. 1720-ish. I can only speculate who his parents are. I haven't found Joseph's baptism record...yet. Right now that is my brick wall. Advice was to leave it alone for a while, then come back to it with a fresh look. I'm taking that advice and working on updating information in my tree program Reunion 10, tackling the "piles" of printouts and photocopies, sorting and scanning images, spring cleaning (now?) my genealogy files on the computer. I'm finding information that didn't mean much a couple years ago, but now as my research has progressed, this stuff means a lot more and can be plugged into family data.

LOOKING AT MY PATERNAL LINEAGE

Since I don't have a lot of information on William 1754, and Joseph 1720-ish, I can show you Joseph 1786. He's not hiding information from me <grin>. He is the first Portas who I have recorded on the census starting with 1841.

JOSEPH 1786-1874

BAPTISM

My 3x great grandfather Joseph was baptized 7 May 1786 in North Coates, Lincs. It was a chore finding this record. The image below was the first inkling I had found it. I was in the Lincolnshire Archives, Lincoln, Lincs, England when I spotted this on one of the films with North Coates transcriptions. I put the "[Joseph son of]" in there several years later when I discovered the next image in Bishop's Transcripts of parish register. BTs are copies of the actual parish register.

Quiet fireworks went up inside me as I sat starring at the image projected downward from the film reader in the Family History Library – "I found him!" I said, proud of myself in my discovery. There it was squeezed between the word "Baptisms" and the first entry, "Joseph son of William and Elizabeth Portas was bapt. May 7th." It looked like the entry on the BT was a last minute entry before the BT was sent to where they were deposited.

St. Nicholas, North Coates, Lincolnshire, England
http://www.wparkinson.com/Churches/   Photo by Paul Fenwick

Now I have established where and when he was baptized. The census you'll see later shows he was born in Marshchapel, that could be true also since it wasn't mandatory to register births until 1837 in England. North Coates and Marshchapel are very close to one another. As it is, Elizabeth was from Marshchapel. It was common for a daughter to go to her mother's for the birth of her children. This could be true in Elizabeth case.

MARRIAGE

Joseph married Mary DENNIS on 15 May 1809 in Alford, Lincs. They were married by Banns. I have to get the published Banns. On their marriage record it states Joseph is from Ludborough instead of North Coates or Marshchapel. That was curious. I would think he had been working there, but I haven't found any proof yet if he had settlement papers or apprentice papers, etc. He could have met Mary during that time. I haven't come across any records showing where he was employed. Manorial Records might tell the tale.

Joseph was 23 when he married Mary who was of the Alford Parish.  Don't let anyone tell you there wasn't mobility back then. There was, especially in Lincs. Alford is about 20 miles south east of Ludborough. That is a decent distance to travel for work.

St. Wilfred, Alford, Lincolnshire, England    Photo by me.

CENSUSES

Joseph and Mary had been married 32 years. They are both 55 and born "Y" which means he was born in the county. Joseph was an agricultural labourer. John 30 is first son of six. John was widowed as I later found out. Benjamin 8 is the son of John. Mary 6 is the illegitimate daughter of Elizabeth, Joseph and Mary's first daughter. She had a son Thomas who would have been 4, but I don't know where he was on census 

night 6 Jun 1841.

1851

This is the first census that shows were people were born, marital status, and relationship to head of household. We now can see Joseph is born in Marsh Chapel, he is the head of household, married, 66 (10 years later from 1841 should be 65), and an agricultural labourer. Wife Mary born in Mareham le Fen, is 69 (should be 65), living with them is grandson Benjamin 17 and is a labourer, born Bolingbroke. John I find out later had gotten married and is living out of this household. Granddaughter Mary is a house servant in the John Ellwood household on census night 30 Mar 1851.

1861

This census is the really my family, which did throw me a little when I saw Mary is now shown as Sarah! Everybody is listed as born in Mareham le Fen – "Do" equals Ditto which refers to a person several families above. Benjamin is still living with them and is now 29, unmarried agricultural labourer. They are living on "The Green" this census night 30 Mar 1861.

1871

On April 2, census night, Joseph and family are still living on the Green in Mareham le Fen. Joseph is still the head, 85, Pauper, and now showing he was born in North Coates. Mary isn't Sarah now, wife, 85, born Mareham le Fen. Their first daughter Elizabeth is now living with them at age 46. She is now a SANDERSON and is widowed. With her is daughter Hannah 15, and son William 9, both born in Burgh. William is listed as an "Idiot"! This is the first census which gives a medical status using the old descriptive words like idiot, blind, deaf and dumb, imbecile, lunatic... some of those words wouldn't be used today.

BURIAL

Joseph was buried in Mareham le Fen on 26 May 1874 at age 89, having died three days earlier. I'm still looking for settlement papers and records declaring he is getting parish support when he was considered a pauper. Mary did in 1876. Both are buried somewhere in St. Helen's churchyard.

St. Helen's, Mareham le Fen, Lincolnshire, England   Photo by me.

CHILDREN

Joseph and Mary had seven known children: John 1810, Elizabeth 1814, Joseph 1816, William Dennis 1817, David 1822 died at three days old, David 1823, and Richard 1826. William Dennis is the only child I know of who has a middle name. William is my 2x great grandfather who emigrated from Lincs in 1875 and settled in Kansas in around 1878.

The naming conventions weren't practiced. If they were, William Dennis would have been the first born son's name instead of John. Normally you can go back one generation based on the naming practices.

This blog thing is fun. Thanks for getting this far without falling asleep!

Don't rock the boat...find it!

According to the letter in my previous post, John and Mary Ann Porteous emigrated from Lincolnshire, England sailing to America and eventually settling in Lake County, Illinois, April 19, 1870, aboard the mail steam ship SS Malta. 

A drawing of the SS Malta, found on [http://georgemacdonald.info/other.html].
She was a passenger cargo vessel, which was launched 1865 and
was found wrecked in 1889 off Cape Cornwall, near Lands End, England. 
[Shipping Times, Clydebuilt database - www.clydesite.co.uk/clydebuilt/viewship.asp?id=6484 ]

Knowing this back in the 1990s when my brother gave me a copy of a copy of that original letter, it wasn't easy to find the passenger list. I was new to genealogy and internet searching. At the time, there wasn't much online or maybe I just didn't know where to go or how to search the limited sites. Today, Ancestry.com and other such sites which carry the census and ships lists make the job ever so easy.

Anyway, I was looking for John PORTUS, then PORTEOUS; Malta; 1870. I didn't realize I could narrow my search. After a few failed searches, I just put it aside in frustration and didn't pick it up again for quite awhile. 

Much later, through some creative search criteria on a more advanced Ancestry.com, I finally found my great grandparents family. I didn't expect the family listing to be so different from what I knew! Even though, they were my family! 

I felt so good finding this document. I just sat back and admired it. I just substantiated the information on the letter! It was tangible. It all added up! Wow!

THE MANIFEST

Even though their surname was written on the manifest as PORTEUS, they were indexed on Ancestry.com as PORSENS – Jno Porteus 28, M.A. 28, Georgina 4, Wm 3, and Jno (Infant).

SS Malta sailed from Liverpool and arrived New York on 3 May 1870. This manifest was delivered by Robert McDowall to the Collector of the Customns of the Collection District of New York.
Ancestry.com Source Citation: Year: 1870; Arrival: New York; Microfilm Serial: M237; Microfilm Roll: M237_326; Line: 57; List Number: 336 

The first page gives general information about the ship, its arrival place and date, where it sailed from, etc. 

The voyage took 16 days – from April 19 to May 3. I’m not sure it was a terrific voyage since the family was booked in steerage. 

My family was found on the second page. They are listed below the center fold about 12 lines where you see four check marks together. I searched the rest of the manifest for any other familiar Lincolnshire families, but none were found.

ONCE IN AMERICA

The family arrived at Port of New York which was Castle Gardens prior to Ellis Island. They probably took a train to Chicago and from there came out to Lake County to settle close to “Hunckle” [ John] and “Aunt” [Matilda] who arranged a place to for them to live until they were “on their feet” and could buy their own land.

John, Mary Ann, and their three children Georgiana, William Dennis (my grandfather), and John Henry made it to Fremont Township just in time for the 1870 census. Finding them in the census was also a task – looking page by page, line for line. Later I found them indexed as PORTOS. I suspect it was the heavy rural Lincolnshire accent that explains the different surname spelling. 

By the end of 1870, infant son John Henry, had died. The1880 census shows four more children were born into the family: Jesse J., Alfred, David, and Lillian. Of these four, only Jesse J. would live to adulthood. There would be two more sons born: Charles D. in 1883 and Benjamin F. in 1885. Ann Elizabeth, John and Mary Ann’s first born, died in 1864, and was buried in St. Michael's churchyard in Coningsby, Lincolnshire six years before the family emigrated.

In 1875, John’s parents William & Elizabeth immigrated to America. With them came John’s sister Jane (Jennie) and nephew William M. They would move on to settle in Garfield, Kansas. Three of Mary Ann’s brothers, John, James, and Henry Vamplew, followed several years later.

John & Mary Ann eventually bought land in Lake County, Ill. west of Diamond Lake and also land in Kansas south of Garfield along the Santa Fe Trail.

THINGS LEARNED
Looking back on the early research, I can say I have learned a couple things. Spellings aren't always what you expect, be conscious of variations. The spelling PORTEOUS was first seen as my surname in Illinois after 1870. In England the most common family surname spelling was PORTAS, John spelled his surname in that letter as PORTUS. 

Expect the unexpected while looking for family history.