IsabelC

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Everything posted by IsabelC

  1. I found them in 1851 Macclesfield! Interestingly Mary is living with Thomas Allen, a 2nd husband (I think)-ALONE, and the girls are with their Grandparents, Richard and Elleanor Burgess. So that got me somewhere. But in 1841, Mary and Elleanor (Ellen) Allen were living with the Burgess' Thomas Allen was in a boarding house alone, and Maria apparently belongs to another family !!! So who knows who Ellen Allen's real father was, or why Maria comes to live with Mary and Ellen... The other interesting point, is that always, on every record, Ellen is listed as born in Ireland, and everyone else (except Thomas, who is also from Ireland) is from Macclesfield... My husband says that that's odd, that an English woman would have fathered a child in Ireland and then come home to Macclesfield, since Ireland was extremely poor (like we would think today of a "third world country") And 1841 is as far back as census' go. I guess that's as far back as I can take it. I'll keep looking though.
  2. Thanks James and Smudge. Yep, I have all of that, and found today the actual log book from the Horizon, saying the three women were all widows (43, 21 and 18!) and they came from Macclesfield, Cheshire, England, even gave a street address! So I have something to go on, but what gets me is if they are all widowed then were the girls' husbands related to Mary Allen or is this their maiden name? I found somewhere that the Father's name was William Allen, but that's like being named John Smith! I'll have to start looking at the census'. Yes, apparently she was the second (of two or three) wives of George Neal, which means she was a polygamist but apparently didn't go for it so divorced him. LOL, I had to laugh, we have all sorts of interesting characters in my family! I hope I can find something. I also need to figure out how to get around on FamilySearch.org and I hope there's a way to contact people who have put up info...someone has posted something for one of Eleanor's children, so there may be living relatives in at least one other branch. Oh, just by some odd chance...There's a movie called "Sweetwater Rescue" Willie Martin Handcart Story" and in it, there's a photo showing people ready to board ship, and there's a woman that looks strikingly like my mother! Eleanor would be her great grandmother...I wonder how I would find out where/who that photo is or came from..I tried a Google image search but no luck. Ah, it's fun to look for these people! Thanks again for all of the ideas everyone!!
  3. Thanks Eowyn! I just signed up for Family search. My ancestor shows up on there, but only info since the Horizon trip (mother, sister) and nothing before. I'd love to find their English/Irish locals and ancestry, and also hopefully find some living cousins. I just think a handcart pioneer is too important not to be researched! Isabel
  4. Hello everyone, I have been looking around on the web for an Mormon based forums in hopes of learning more about the genealogy workings of the LDS church and in finding out more about my ancestor, Eleanor Allen, who was a handcart pioneer with the Martin Handcart Co. in 1856. I am fairy new to genealogical research so if anyone knows of any good resources for searching for free (I don't have the income for Ancestry.com) please let me know. I would really love to connect with anyone who has connections to the Allen Family from the Horizon. There were several family groups, all headed by women, and I suspect they may have been related-since they all bear the last name Allen, but since they were almost all widows that may mean they are related by marriage. I just think that any Handcart Pioneer should have a full genealogy, and I'm hoping there's one out there somewhere, but if not, I'm hoping I can find it! Thanks, Isabel