After a long period of inactivity, I’m finally writing a new post. The inactivity is due to the fact that my research focus has shifted to other branches of my family. In addition, I’ve researched and written extensively about the Casbon line and just haven't had that much new material to write about. That said,… Continue reading An Unexpected Inheritance
Tag: Emma Scruby
Two New Birth Records; 2022—Year of the Census?
With this post I want to update readers on some recent activities, beginning with two birth records I recently acquired and ending with some exciting census news. Two Births We tend to think of official records of births, marriages, and deaths, i.e., vital records, as something that have always been around. However, that isn't always… Continue reading Two New Birth Records; 2022—Year of the Census?
Five Families, Eleven Weddings
Slocum … I’ve heard that name before; I wonder if she’s related? Today’s post is an outgrowth of the two previous posts, in which I explored the connections between the Casbon and Aylesworth family trees. While conducting my Aylesworth research, I came upon the name of Martha Slocum, who married Philip Aylesworth, a member of… Continue reading Five Families, Eleven Weddings
William Scruby … or, “Aha,” Continued
In my last post I presented this news item from the Porter County (Indiana) Vidette of 27 August 1891. I explained how finding this article had been an “aha” moment for me because it proved that Mary (Payne) Casbon and Emma/Rachel (Payne) Slocum were sisters. With this post I want to show how the article… Continue reading William Scruby … or, “Aha,” Continued
A Visit to Ohio
aha moment noun informal. 1. a point in time, event, or experience when one has a sudden insight or realization.[1] Most of the time, genealogy research is fairly routine. You ask a question—“when was so-and-so born?”—and look for records that might answer the question. You either find the answer or you don’t, and then you… Continue reading A Visit to Ohio
The Deaths of Thomas and Hannah Casbon
This is my fifth post in the Guild of One-Name Studies blog challenge 2020. One of my favorite sources of information about the Casbons who left England and eventually settled in Porter County, Indiana, USA, is The (Valparaiso, Indiana) Vidette-Messenger, or The Vidette, for short. For most of the twentieth century The Vidette was the… Continue reading The Deaths of Thomas and Hannah Casbon
A Practical Guide for Emigrants
What was it like to emigrate from England to North America in the mid-1800s? How would you travel? What kind of supplies would you need? How would you go about planning for such a trip and where would you go for answers to these questions? These are questions that Thomas Casbon faced when he decided… Continue reading A Practical Guide for Emigrants
Going, Going …
The sister villages of Meldreth and Melbourn in Cambridgeshire are my ancestral homeland. Records of Casbon ancestors in these villages go back to the mid-sixteenth century. Families occasionally moved from one village to another, or to other nearby villages, but there was little reason or incentive to go further. The situation remained stable for over… Continue reading Going, Going …
Was my Third Great Grandfather a Convicted Thief?
Sometimes there are long gaps in records, especially for people who lived before censuses were taken. You might only have records for birth (or baptism), marriage, and death (or burial)—commonly referred to as “BMD” records, with no information about what happened in the intervals between these major life events. Such is the case with my… Continue reading Was my Third Great Grandfather a Convicted Thief?
The Family Bible of Charles and Mary Casbon
My pursuit of family history began in the early 1990s as a collaborative effort with my father. He had received an offer in the mail to purchase The World Book of Casbons, published by Halbert’s Family Heritage. We didn’t know it at the time, but this company was named as a purveyor of "scam" genealogy… Continue reading The Family Bible of Charles and Mary Casbon