alexander

A Quick Note

Just a quick note to say that I have taken down my genealogy (surname) database due to security concerns. This has broken many links on my website which will take a long time to repair. In the meantime, you can find a copy of my genealogy database at http://sites.rootsmagic.com/ctgc/index.php

Good news / bad news

I found a new ancestor. Yay!
He owned slaves. Boo!

This is the first slave owning ancestor I have found. I suppose it was inevitable being of European descent and with so many of my lines reaching back to colonial days, but I thought the poverty of most of my ancestors would prevent it.

Thomas Moore was the father of Charlotte Moore, wife of Howard Ogle. Here is how he is related to me:

Thomas Moore (abt 1770- 1820)
- Charlotte Moore (1793-1856)
  - Benjamin N. Ogle (1815-1889)
    - Lucy H. Ogle (1848-1932)
      - Olivia Rush Moore (1869-1955)
        
        Susan Lippincott Todd (1904-1998)
        
        Charles Edward Conrad (1937-1999)
        
        Me

I found this ancestor thanks to a source on an Ancestry Family Tree*. It is his will as recorded in New Castle County, Delaware. The evidence for his connection to Charlotte is from this part of the will:

I give and bequeath to my Daughter Charlotte the one third of my Estate subject to the deduction of the charges on my Books against her Husband Howard Ogle.

Further down is the evidence of his being a slave owner:

My negro man Joseph, I will to be [sold?] for the term of six years after my decease and then to go free. My negro girl Matilda to serve until she is twenty eight years of age and then to go free.

I have mixed feelings. Excitement at having found evidence that supports this relationship. Disappointment because my ancestor was involved in something so horrible.

* Ancestry Family Trees are a mixed bag. For example, many have confused/merged my Thomas Moore who clearly died in Delaware in 1820 with a Thomas Moore who died in Pennsylvania in 1819.

Source: Wills of New Castle County, Delaware, 1682-1854; Index to Wills, 1682-1885. Ancestry.com. Delaware, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1676-1971 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Original data: Delaware County, District and Probate Courts.

Occupations Part 1: Conrads

It being Labor Day, I thought I would write a post about the occupations of my direct ancestors. I quickly realized it would become very long, and so have broken it down into my four main lines which I will post during this week. First, the Conrads.

Here is the line, starting with my grandfather and working back.

Edward Charles Conrad (1905-1981): hosiery worker, merchant
Nicholas Conrad (1867-1942): warper
Nicholas Conrad (c1824-1874): box maker, barrel dealer, cooper

Hosiery Mill workers at their machines. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. — Hosiery Mill Workers, Philadelphia, c.1937-1938. Wikimedia Commons.

My grandfather, Edward Conrad, like many of his neighbors in Kensington, worked in the hosiery mills after leaving school. In the 1930 census, he was listed as a knitter and in his 1940 World War II draft card he indicated his employer was International Hosiery at 1200 E. Venango Street in Philadelphia. He later owned his own business at the corner of H & Ontario Streets. He closed the business before I can remember, but I know he sold ice cream among other things.

Illustrative photo of a warper at his machine. — Warper at his machine, Newton, NC, 1908. Wikimedia Commons.

My great-grandfather, Nicholas Conrad (1867-1942) was a warper at the hosiery mills. This is the only occupation I ever saw listed for him.

He worked in the mills at least from age thirteen in 1880 to his death in 1942 at the age of 75.

My father told me he was very thrifty, and would walk to work rather than pay a nickel to ride the streetcar.

Illustrative photo of a barrel maker. — Barrel Maker in the 1850’s-1860’s. Wikimedia Commons.

My great-great grandfather, Nicholas Conrad (c1824-1874), likely immigrated in the early 1850’s. I have not found him in the 1850 census, and he was married in Philadelphia in 1853. This means I only have 2 census records for him. In 1860 he was listed as a box maker and in 1870 as a barrel dealer. His 1874 death certificate records his occupation as cooper, which is someone who makes barrels and similar containers.