Genealogy Bucket List

I am not one for the whole bucket list idea, but as we pass from one year to the next I recognize there are some genealogical mysteries I would like to solve in my lifetime.  Here is an incomplete list in no particular order. Some are things that are likely never to be answered. Some are only a matter of time.

1. The disinheriting of Charles H. Ware.  In his will, Uriah Ware very explicitly excluded his son Charles. For the longest time, I was unable to prove the whereabouts of Charles after he left home. I have since discovered him in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania which seems a long way from Camden County, New Jersey. How did he end up there and why did his father disown him? I may never know.

2. What happened to Frances Funston? Joseph Funston was married twice according to his Civil War pension file. His first marriage to Frances ended in divorce. She was the mother of his children and according to what was found in the pension file, did not appear to contest the divorce. Joseph remarried right away. I have never found Frances in any record after the divorce in 1872, not alone or with any of her children who were by then grown. She likely remarried, but to whom I have no idea. (Update 7/17/14: I found her!)

3.  May Whitaker? When talking about her family, my grandmother always said there was a Whitaker in there somewhere. On death and marriage records for her uncles and mother, it was their mother who was listed as May (or Mary) Whitaker. I have her on the 1880 census with her husband Joseph and children, and with a Mary Partington who is identified as Joseph’s Mother-In-Law. Then she died in 1886. Did her mother remarry a man named Partington? Was the family wrong and May’s last name was really Partington? I have found no other records of her or her mother, under Whitaker or Partington. May was born in England around 1852. I have no immigration date so I do not know if she came over as a child or adult. Based on the ages of their children, she and Joseph married around 1871. There is still a lot more searching to be done on this one.

4. What ethnicity and religion were the Carmans? There are several Carman lines in the eastern United States. There was an Englishman who settled in Long Island and his ancestors stretched south into New Jersey and east into Pennsylvania. There was a German who landed in Philadelphia whose name became anglicized as Carman. My Carmans have been in the Philadelphia area a long time. My latest research suggests they were in Montgomery County in the late eighteenth century and likely well before that. Are they connected to the Germans, the English or some other Carman line? My 3rd great-grandparents were Catholic and their church was set on fire during the Riots of 1844. From what I read, it was the two Irish churches which were targeted while the nearby German church was left untouched. Were they Irish? My 2nd great-grandfather married a German Protestant. Was this when the Carmans became Protestant? The more I learn about this family, the more questions I have.

5. French! My grandmother had no idea where her Carmans came from and she knew there was a Whitaker but not who it was. Another thing she always used to say was that she had French in her, but she did not know from which line. My family ethnicity is fairly boring: lots of German, English, Irish, Scottish and way back on my father’s side a bit of Scandinavian  But mostly just lots and lots of Germany and British Isles. What I am trying to say is that French would be exotic. Ironically, the closest I have come to finding it has been through the only ancestors I have traced back to Germany: the Hornefs.  The area of Germany they lived in was near the border which by the little I have read moved around a bit. There was also the movement of people as Protestants sought safe havens. I have found church record indexes with their names in German and French. (Georg Peter/George Pierre) Is this the French my grandmother heard about? Since most of my grandmother’s ancestry has brick walls in the United States I may never know for sure.

6. The princess in the hogshead. I’ll end on this one, because it’s a bit silly. In the seventeenth century a young Swedish princess had to flee her home due to political troubles. She stowed away on a ship by hiding in a hogshead. The ship wrecked off the New Jersey coast and she washed up alive but destitute. A trapper, John Garrison, found her and eventually married her. And thus, all Garrisons in Southern New Jersey are descended from Swedish royalty. Or, so we claim. Who is ever going to prove otherwise? 🙂

John FUNSTON: Death Certificate 1927

FUNSTON, John: Death Certificate 1927
Abstracted from a certified copy

Certificate of Death
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Department of Health
Bureau of Vital Statistics

Full Name: John Funston
Residence: 6414 Argyles St.
Sex: male
Color or Race: white
married
Date of birth: Nov 18th, 1873
Age: 53 yrs, 3 mths, 26 days
Occupation: Foreman
Birthplace: Philada.
Father: Joseph Funston
Father’s Birthplace: Philada.
Mother: May Whitaker
Mother’s Birthplace: England
Informant: Josephine Funston
Date of Death: March 25th, 1927
Place of Burial: Greenmount Cemy.
Date of Burial: March 29th, 1927
Undertaker: J.L. Wildey

FUNSTON (PA) Census 1850-1930

1850 Census: PA Phila
5th Wd, Kensington, p807/403
Date 23 Jul 1850

Funston, Joseph 31 M Carter Penn
        Frances 21 F        Penn
         Hannah  3 F        Penn
         Joseph  1 M        Penn
Haggerty, Catherine 65 F    Penn
1860 Census: PA Phila
18th Wd, p206
Date 26 Jun 1860

1310 1469 Joseph Funston 40 M Carman 100(personal) Penna
          Fanny          31 F                      Penna
          Hannah         13 F                      Penna
          Jos.           12 M                      Penna
          Sarah           9 F                      Penna 
               (attending school)
          John            4 M                      Penna
1870 Census: PA Phila
11th Wd, p58
Date Jun 1870

762 992 West, John 49 M W Iron Moulder     NJ
         Elizabeth 50 F W Keeping House    NJ
            Lillie 17 F W [indecipherable] PA
   Funston, Joseph 57 M W Foreman, C&A RR  PA 
                      (father of foreign birth)
  Rhinehardt, John 45 M W Shipsmith        NJ
     Vanaman, Mary 18 F W Corset maker     NJ
           Rachael 16 F W Corset maker     NJ
1880 Census: PA Phila
T9-1189, p325A

  Joseph Fonson Self    M M 33 PA PA PA    Boxmaker
    Mary Fonson Wife    M F 28 ENG ENG ENG Housekeeper
 William Fonson Son     S M  8 PA PA ENG   At school
    John Fonson Son     S M  6 PA PA ENG   At school
Annie M. Fonson Dau     S F  4 PA PA ENG
Mary Partington MotherL W F 58 ENG ENG ENG Nurse
1900 Census: PA Phila
ED784, p2B
Date 2 & 6 Jun 1900
1910 Firth St.
117 118 Funston Joseph Head W M Nov 1849 50 M        PA PA PA  
                            Foreman Box Factory R H
                  Mary Wife W F May 1862 38 M 18 2/2 MD CA GER
1910 Census: PA Phila
ED320, p3B-4A
Date 19 Apr 1910

2422 Fifth Street
Funston, John H. Head    M W 36 M1 12     PA PA ENG  Boxmaker Wood W
       Josephine Wife    F W 33 M1 12 2/2 PA GER GER None
     John Joseph Son     M W 11           PA PA PA   None
Walter Frederick Son     M W  7           PA PA PA   None
          Joseph Father  M W 62 Wd        PA PA PA   Boxmaker Wood W
         William Brother M W 37 S         PA PA PA   Cloth [ ... ]
1920 Census: PA Phila
ED1557, p3B
Date 7 Jan 1920

4619 A Street
73 75 Funston, John H. Head     O M M W 46 M PA PA PA  
                    Foreman/Factory
             Josephine Wife         F W 44 M PA PA GER 
                    None
               John J. Son          M W 21 S PA PA PA  
                    Electrician
             Walter F. Son          M W 16 S PA PA PA  
                    Salesman/Jewelry (attending school)
            Mildred E. Daughter     F W  8 S PA PA PA  
                    None (attending school)
               William Brother      M W 47 S PA PA PA  
                    Examiner/Cloth
1920 Census: PA Phila
ED940, p4B
Date 7 Jan 1920

2314 [National?] Street
73 74 Funston, Joseph H. Head O M M W 39 M PA PA PA 
                    [work indecipherable]
         Funston, Amelia Wife     F W 32 M PA PA PA 
                     None
            Funston, Ira Son      M W 13 S PA PA PA 
                     None (Attending School)
         Funston, Eugene Son      M W 12 S PA PA PA 
                     None (Attending School)
1930 Census: PA Phila
ED28, p38B
Date 15-16 Apr 1930

6414 [Argyle?]
501 560 Funston, Josephine P. Head       O $6500 R No F W 52 Wd 
                          PA GER GER None
                      John J. Son                     M W 31 S  
                          PA PA PA   Clerk Railway
                      William Bro-in-Law              M W 57 S  
                          PA PA ENG  [indecipherable] Cloth
1930 Census: PA Phila
ED28, p14B
Date 17 Apr 1930

1819 [street indecipherable]
145 146 Funston, Joseph Head O $7650 R No M W 50 M 24  PA PA PA 
                     Assembler Electric Power
                 Amelia Wife              F W 42 M 17  PA PA PA 
                     None
                 Ira D. Son               M W 24 S    PA PA PA 
                     Foreman Electric Power
                 Eugene Son               M W 23 S    PA PA PA 
                     Assembler Electric Power