My 4th great grandmother’s name is Charity. She is someone I’d really like to meet. She came to America on a ship by herself with ten kids. Her husband Samson had come about a year earlier to find work and a place to live. They were so brave. To leave home by herself and travel with all the kids makes me admire Charity’s tenacity, and her courage. She must have known there would be hardship, challenges and uncertainty. How did she do it? I’m sure life was very difficult in England. They were miners, and it wasn’t unusual for the miner to take one or two of his children to work with him to help bring in more money for the family. They had a big family, so I’m sure they were very lean on what makes life comfortable. Maybe life was so hard that leaving was the only option that would give them a future. At this time in history, I’m sure rumors were everywhere of the jobs, plenty and wealth, that could be found in America. However they came to the decision to leave home, they did, they came to America. She came to America on a ship with 10 kids by herself. What a committed and faithful woman. I’m sure that her children were very helpful and that she could count on them to make the trip as ordinary as possible. I admire Charity and I love her too. I am grateful she made the trip and blessed the lives of some many decendants.

 Charity had 15 children. How do we know? We know because she said told us. You might say, “how could she tell us, when she died in 1916?” She told us, on a census record. An important thing to remember about census records is that, depending on the year of the census, different questions may be asked. On two of the census records, the mother is asked “How many children did you have?” And “how many of them are still living?” The first time the questions are asked is on the 1900 census. Charity said she had 15 children, but only ten children were listed by name. That meant that 5 children were missing. They could either be old enough to be married, or they could have passed away. From this we could tell, those children needed to be found somewhere. But where? Other places to look, include: earlier census records, birth, and death records. We were successful in finding 4 of the missing children. They were born and died in England before she came to America. One was still missing, but her story will be told on the next FHF.
Happy Family History Friday! Love, Joy