Roberts Roots & Branches

  I have been busily working on Where Our Roots Rest books.   I have finished writing and putting them together, and this past month have been working on indexes and proofreading. Indexes, oh my!   One of the problems with publishing has been a software-publishing program that I have been satisfied with.   I love Microsoft Publisher; however, it does not have an indexing feature.   After struggling with publishing in Microsoft Word, I decided I would go ahead, use Publisher, and create my own index.   As it turns out, that is much easier said than done!!!!   It ended up being a massive project and took so much time.   However, Word does not meet my publishing needs, so there is no easy answer.   Now that I have completed one index, I am hoping that future indexes will be a little easier albeit still time consuming. After pricing out publishing costs and deeming them too expensive, I purchased materials to self-print.     After a...

       As I reflect upon this past month and my blessings, I would be ungrateful if I did not acknowledge the many blessings I have, especially when it comes to genealogy.      I have been greatly blessed with the ability, resources and means to devote my time to research and writing.   I have been able to devote years and years to research at libraries, museums, repositories, cemeteries, colleges, and archives.   I have been blessed to learn technology, computer programs, digital photography, photo restoration, scanning, and other skills.        I have been blessed to take advantage of education within the genealogical community as well as community resources and college classes.   I am grateful for a personal collection of books, maps, and devices that allow me to research in my own home.      I have been blessed with family who are willing to share their time, information, photographs, documents...

           Mary Elizabeth Roberts, daughter of Hugh(1) and Margaret(2) Roberts was born 27 July 1872 in Staffordshire, England.           When Mary Elizabeth was 13 years old, she immigration with her family to the United States where the family settled in Pennsylvania.   After Mary’s father died, the family moved to Almy, Wyoming and then they settled in Rock Springs, Wyoming.             Mary Elizabeth married William D. Jones(20) in Evanston, Wyoming.   The date is unknown and the place of the marriage is from family records.   No official documents have been located at this time to prove the date or place of the marriage.           Mary Elizabeth and William had two children, Hugh Jones(22) who died as a baby in October 1891.   Two years later the couple had a second son, Thomas Jones(23) b...

 in 1887, the John Richard Roberts family immigrated to the United States. John Richard Roberts(8), wife Selina Parker(162),  daughter Martha Patricia(163) and son Isaac(165).

           According to family records, Margaret Roberts(13) was born 29 March 1870 to Hugh(1) and Margaret(2) Roberts in Staffordshire, England.   According to church records, Margaret was christened 25 May 1870!   So, her birthdate is probably incorrect.   Margaret is two years younger than her older brother Hugh Thomas(12).             In 1881, one-year-old Margaret lived with her parents, four older brothers, two older sisters and her maternal grandmother, Letitia.   The Roberts family lived on Greville Street in the town of Hanley.             Margaret was only seven years old when she was run over by a cart and died of her injuries.   The coroner recorded the death as an accident.   Margaret died in September 1877 in Hanley, Staffordshire, England.

           Hugh Thomas Roberts(12) was born 1 November 1867 in Staffordshire, England, to Hugh(1) and Margaret(2) Roberts.   Hugh was christened in May 1870 in Northwood.   In 1881 the age of 14, he was employed as a potter’s assistant working in the Staffordshire Potteries.   When Hugh was 18 years old, he immigrated with the Hugh and Margaret Roberts family to the United States arriving in June 1886 and then settling in Pennsylvania, where Hugh began work as a coalminer.   After his father’s death, Margaret and the remaining Roberts family then moved to Almy, Wyoming to work in the coalmines for a couple of years, eventually leaving and moving to Rock Springs, Wyoming.             Around 1894 Hugh moved with his sister, Sarah Ann(11) and her husband Joseph Jones(19) , to Oskaloosa, Iowa where he would eventually marry Esther Clough(203).    At their marriage, Hugh was 31 yea...

  Sarah Ann Roberts(11) was born 18 November 1865 in Staffordshire, England to Hugh(1) and Margaret(2) Roberts.  Her christening took place on 25 May 1870 in Northwood, Stoke upon Trent.  By the time Sarah was 16 years old, she was working as a transferer in the potteries.  Four years later, she immigrated with her family to the United States arriving 28 June 1886.  Sarah’s older sister, Letitia(9) passed away while immigrating four months earlier.  Sarah, her parents, 2 younger sisters, younger brother, and niece, Letitia’s daughter Maggie, all immigrated together.  Joseph Jones(19), Letitia’s widower, requested that Sarah immigrate and help raise his daughter Maggie.  Less than two months after arriving in the United States, Joseph and Sarah applied for a marriage license in Moosic, Pennsylvania.   Joseph was a Welsh coalminer from England.   The couple had two children in Pennsylvania, and then followed the rest of the Roberts fam...

          Hugh(1) and Margaret’s(2) son Isaac Roberts(10) was born 1 September 1863 in Stafffordshire, England.  Isaac was working as a sagger maker in the potteries, in the 1881 British Census.  Isaac was one of the first of Hugh and Margaret’s children to immigrate to the United States with his sister, Letitia(9) and her husband Joseph(19).  The three immigrated in February 1886.  Letitia died on the ship the day before it docked in the US, leaving Isaac and Joseph to travel to their destination alone.  The two men arrived in Pennsylvania, where Isaac’s uncle was living and working.  Isaac and Joseph sent word to Hugh and Margaret of Letitia’s passing and the family made arrangements to come to the United States and bring Joseph’s young daughter Maggie.           While in Pennsylvania, Isaac lived with his family and worked in the coalmines.  After Hugh died, the family traveled ...

          Hugh(1) and Margaret’s(2) first daughter Letitia Roberts was born 10 December 1862 in Staffordshire, England.   In 1881, a 19-year-old Letitia worked as a potter’s transfer in the potteries, where she would transfer patterns and designs onto the pottery before it went to the kiln.   Letitia married Joseph Jones(19) in 1882, she was 19 years old and Joseph was a 20 year old coal miner.    Letitia and Joseph’s only child was a daughter, Margaret Jones whom the family called Maggie.           Joseph and Letitia left their small daughter with Hugh(1) and Margaret(2) and with Letitia’s brother, Isaac(10), immigrated to the United States in January 1886.   According to records, Letitia died the day before their ship arrived in the United States, on 14 February 1886.   There is only one known record of Letitia’s death and that is the second marriage application for Joseph Jones. ...

             John Richard Roberts was born 1 November 1859 in Staffordshire, England to Hugh(1) and Margaret(2) Roberts.   By the time John was 11 years old, he was working in the local coalmine as a pit boy, and by age 21 John was a coalminer.   At age 23, John married a 20 year old Selina Parker(162) in Fenton, Staffordshire, England.   John and Selina had two children before immigrating to the United States in 1887, a year after Hugh, Margaret and the rest of the Roberts family.   John worked in the Pennsylvania coalmines before following Margaret and the rest of the Roberts family to Almy, Wyoming and then to Rock Springs. While living in Rock Springs, they had four more children and John worked for P.J. Quealy.   In 1897, John was asked if he wanted to help open a new mine near the Hams Fork River, so John left Selina and the children in Rock Springs and John helped open a new mining operation and establish the new tow...

  In 1901, a 44 year old widowed Robert was working in the coal mine “on (the) pit bank,” while living with his daughter Margaret, son Hugh and step son John(470).   Fifteen year-old Hugh(463) was working as an “office boy” at the “post” while John(470) was working as a “cabinetmaker.”   The last census record we have of Robert Owen, is in 1901 when he is living with his married daughter Margaret, her husband and family.   Robert Owen continues at age 54 to work in the “colliers” as a “labourer (sic).”   In addition to Robert living with Margaret and her family, his stepson John lives with them continuing his work as a “cabinetmaker.” Robert Owen Roberts(7) died in 1922 in Stoke-upon-Trent, Staffordshire, England at the age of 66 years old. According to family stories, Robert’s deafness was the reason he did not immigrate with the rest of the family.   It was probably difficult for Robert to remain in Staffordshire and have his family immigrate withou...

  Robert Owen Roberts(7) was born 7 September 1856 in Kelloe, Durham, England.   From the 1851 census, we find Robert living with his parents in Staffordshire, England and we find out from the census record that Robert was “deaf.”   We do not know if Robert was born deaf or if an illness caused his deafness.   We do know that there is some sort of issue because; Robert was not christened until he was 7 years old.   He had two siblings christened and it was not until the christening of his third sibling when Robert was finally christened on 11 October 1863 in Northwood. According to the 1871 census, fourteen-year-old Robert Owen was working in the potteries as a “potters (sic) gilder.”   Robert continued working in the potteries as a potter’s guilder for the next ten years, through the 1881 census.   During this time, he married a widowed, Alice Leese(459).   Alice was born about 1841 in Burslem, she married William Moulton(471) on 12 March 1865...

Hugh(1) and Margaret’s(2) children: Edward Roberts(5) Robert Owen Roberts(7) John Richard Roberts(8) Letitia Roberts(9) Isaac Roberts(10) Sarah Ann Roberts(11) Hugh Thomas Roberts(12) Margaret Roberts(13) Mary Elizabeth Roberts(14) Jane Roberts(15)   According to numerous family records Edward Roberts(5) was born 18 December 1850, well that is possible but not probable!  Why?  Because Margaret would only have been 13 years, two months and 12 days old!  Margaret was living with her parents in the 1851 census and there is no Edward or younger child listed with the family (Edward is not listed in Hugh’s family either, which would have been unusual.)  Another strange behavior is that if Edward were born in 1850, it would not make sense for Hugh and Margaret to wait three years to get married.  After much research, I have never been able to locate a record, document, or source for Edward.  It is possible that Edward was a stillborn, ...

Jane Roberts(15) & Andrew Hamilton(45) were married today, 7 October 1892 in Rock Springs, Sweetwater, Wyoming.  They had 7 children and lived in various places in Wyoming including Rock Springs and Cumberland.  Andrew served two terms in the Legislature as Sweetwater Representative and he was coal miner. 

  Birthday & Let Me Introduce You! Margaret Roberts(2) was born 6 October 1837 in Mostyn, Flintshire to Edward Roberts(482) and Letitia Jones(417).   Margaret married Hugh Roberts(1) on 26 November 1853 in Flintshire County, Wales.   (Yes, Margaret’s maiden and married surname are the same!   Which is not unusual in Wales where Roberts is as common as Smith in the United States!)   After the couple married they immigrated to County Durham, England, where Robert Owen Roberts(7) was born.   There years later, Hugh and Margaret had their son John Richard Roberts(8) in Staffordshire County where the family lived for the for over 20 years.   Margaret had 10 children (maybe 11 children, more on this complex research issue later) and immigrated to the US when she was 48 years old.   She was widowed by the time she was 52 years old, and then traveled out west to Wyoming at age 53.   By the time she was 55 years old she was settled in Rock Sprin...

  Margaret Roberts(2) was born 6 October 1837 in Mostyn, Flintshire, Wales.  She married Hugh Roberts in Wales and then the couple immigrated to County Durham, England.   Eventually the Roberts family moved to Staffordshire and lived there for over 20 years.  Margaret had 10 children and immigrated to the US when she was 48 years old.  She was widowed by the time she was 52 years old, and then traveled out west to Wyoming at age 53.  By the time she was 55 years old she settled in Rock Springs, Wyoming where she would live the rest of her life.   Margaret then married Samuel Caulton and she was 56 years old when she was widowed a second time.  Margaret spent her remaining days in Rock Springs, Wyoming, dying when she was 87 years old. 

    Hugh Roberts(1) was born 10 July 1832 in Mostyn, Flintshire, Wales, to two people with the most common names in Wales!   (Because of continuing research and the inability to “prove” their names, I am not releasing their names.)   The 1841 census was taken on 7 June 1891.   When I thought I found Hugh Roberts as a child, I was surprised to see a set of triplets.   Hugh’s three older siblings were listed as each child being 15 years old!   Well, after exploring the family for multiple births, and being somewhat surprised that a set of triplets survived in the early 1800’s, I furthered researched the background of the census’ which is where I learned the census taker usually rounded the ages of those over 15 down to a multiple of 5 years.   For example, a 17 year old, a 19 year old and a 16 year old would all be listed as 15 years old.   All three of Hugh’s siblings had their ages rounded down to 15 years old.      Hugh’s fa...

What ARE those numbers? Record Identification Numbers! I know they are annoying when you are reading (and writing) about our relatives, but they are essential because of the large number of repeated names. Hugh(1) & Margaret(2) have: 10 John Roberts 9 Mary Roberts with different middle names 7 Edward Roberts 7 James Roberts 6 Margaret Roberts (plus Margaret(2) herself) 5 Thomas Roberts 5 William Roberts 5 Isaac Roberts 4 Hugh Roberts (plus Hugh(1) himself) 4 Sarah Roberts Some of these names are family names, others are names that were popular at the time, and some are both of these. So Hugh(1) and Margaret(2) are numbers 1 and 2.   All of these numbers are computer generated from my genealogy software program.  

             Welcome everyone to a new project I am going to introduce on our Roberts Roots & Branches Facebook Group.  I want everyone in this group to know their ancestors and I want to share all the information I have.            Invite your family members to join our group.   If you invite them, I do not require them to answer all the questions.           I will begin at the beginning and I will share everything I have learned about our ancestors.   I want questions, inquiries, and challenges to my research.   I want you to know them and learn about them as I have.   I want you to share what you know about our ancestors so I may learn from you.              I will be setting up some foundational information as I set up this new project to get it up and running. ...

 "Let Me Introduce You" is my new project for our  Roberts Roots & Branches  Facebook group and blog.   Invite your family member for this fun event  of getting to know our ancestors.

  How well do you know your ancestors? "Let me Introduce You"

  My two helpers finishing up "Where Our Roots Rest" Progress on my two cemetery books are still in the works as I am still editing.   I was able to add more research after I printed out the sloppy copies and there were several serendipity events that helped me write a complete and accurate book.   I have had to temporarily shelf the project just to rest my brain and breathe.   In addition to finishing the editing, I need to compile an index and add it to each book. My first trip to Kemmerer Cemetery was hot and sunny,  however my second trip on October 10th, looked like this!!! I took some time to go back and work on the Frontier Mine No. 1 disaster.   I searched the Kemmerer Cemetery and was able to locate all of the coalminer’s buried there and obtain the grave GPS coordinates.   The Sexton’s office was so much help, and I have been working with them sharing my documentation and sources for their records. After I completed my fieldwork at the ce...

 

  Isaac Roberts(10) and Janet Howie(16) along with their 7 children arrived in  the United States of America.  The Isaac Roberts family boarded the SS Friesland, 5 September 1906, in Liverpool, England.  Many of the family member suffered with seasickness and were ill long after they arrived in Wyoming. 

Happy birthday Robert Owen Roberts(7).  Robert was born 7 September 1856 in County Durham, England , 164 years ago today.  He is the son of Hugh Roberts(1) and Margaret(2) Roberts.  He married Alice Leese and together they had two children.  He worked in the potteries and then was a coal miner.  He died in England, never coming to the United States.  Robert was deaf, and it is unknown if he was born deaf or became deaf as a small child.  His wife, Alice was also deaf, as was one out of their two children.  His deafness was why he didn’t immigrate and why he he wasn’t christened until he was older. 

 

    The Same Thing That Drives Us!!!   Love and money are the great motivators and directors of our lives.  Finding love and romance drives us to search for our lifelong companions.  Dating, courting and courtship are the driving forces of young adults.    After the first search is completed, our second search begins; money--to support that love and the offspring that come from that love!  We need money to feed, clothe and house our families.  Money comes from work; occupations that will give our family the sustaining substance that is required to survive.    Love of our family unit is not limited to our own family but also our parents and siblings.  Where they live influences our decisions on where to locate; we want to be close to those we love.  Love of God and our belief and faith also drive us.   We usually worship as we were taught as children, and as our families worshiped.    Catastrophic lif...

  A Light in the Darkness: The Miner’s Lamp The thick and dense darkness of a coalmine requires a miner to use a source that illuminates his work place deep within the earth.  Light within a mine is not a luxury or a comfort, but rather a necessity.  Miners need to see both the roof and the ground where they are working, to protect themselves from dangerous cave-ins.  In addition to safety, the better the illumination, the more productive the miner.  The coroner’s inquest found that the cause of the Frontier Mine Number One disaster that occurred 14 August 1923 was the fire boss relighting his lamp (Corner’s Inquest).   Early in the mining industry, the necessity for light within the mine was neither safe nor easy.   Originally, coal miners used a candle with an exposed flame.   However, an open flame and methane gas, or firedamp as it is called, was the cause of many catastrophic explosions leading to the first safety lamps.   Accor...

16 August 1886 marriage anniversary of Sarah Ann(11) Roberts & Joseph(19) Jones. Sarah Ann is the daughter of Hugh(1) & Margaret(2) Roberts Joseph(19) is the widowed husband of Letita(9) Roberts (daughter of Hugh & Margaret and sister of Sarah Ann)

Ninety-seven years ago, the Frontier Mine No. 1 disaster killed 99 men including Isaac Roberts(165), son of John Richard Roberts(8) and Selina Parker(162).  Selina had died the previous week and was buried just days 5 days before that fateful day.   John Richard and his son Isaac went to work that day.  Isaac went into the mine while John Richard worked outside the mine as a coal mine dock boss.  One hundred thirty seven men went into the mine that morning and 99 men had to be carried out and buried. You can read more here at my project for these miners:   https://fronterminedisaster.blogspot.com/

Knowing what someone did can be important when fleshing out our family histories, but understanding how that occupation impacted their  community could be more important in explaining how they were and why they did what they did. If we truly wish to understand what makes us who we are today we need to study the history of the village, town and even the county or country.  Here are some resources for our ancestors occupations. Hilary Gadsby, Sunday, Feb 16, 2014, Occupations of our Ancestors, Blog:   The Edge of Snowdonia, online at   http://genemeet.blogspot.com/2014/02/the-occupations-of-our-ancestors.html   Baer, Drake, “9 Bizarre Jobs of our Ancestors that no longer exist.” Business Insider, March 17, 2014  https://www.businessinsider.com/bizarre-jobs-that-no-longer-exist-2014-3   Geni.com   https://www.geni.com/blog/5-jobs-our-ancestors-had-that-are-no-longer-around-383731.html   Cyndi's List all inclusive links for our anc...

Janet Howie(10) born 11 August 1871 in Durham County, England wife of Isaac Roberts(10) and daughter-in-law of Hugh(1) & Margaret(2) Roberts

5 August 1882 Staffordshire, England marriage of Letitia(9) Roberts & Joseph(19) Jones 5 August 1899 Pittston, Pennsylvania marriage of Hugh Thomas(12) & Esther(203) Clough Letitia and Hugh are the children of Hugh(1) & Margaret(2) Roberts

I printed out a sloppy copy of my two cemetery books, "Where Our Roots Rest Vol. I & II" and I am working on editing, correcting and formatting.   What a project!   It is a more work than I imagined, but I am learning so much.  It will make future books easier to print and publish. More than anything from this project I have learned so much; about our ancestors, about their final resting places, about writing and about publishing. I am blessed and grateful for this project. Look here on this blog for updates on this project, future projects and current research.

Happy birthday William D. Jones(20) born August 1862 1st husband of Mary Elizabeth Roberts(14) and father of  Thomas Griffin Jones(23) son-in-law of Hugh(1) & Margaret(2) Roberts