Thursday, February 27, 2014

Declaration of Stephen Ford

On November 5, 1833, Stephen Ford made the following declaration about his service during the Revolutionary War to the Burlington County Inferior Court.  He did so “in order to obtain the benefits of the Act of Congress passed June 7, 1832,” the most liberal service-pension act passed to date.  This Act removed the previous requirement that the pensioner be “in need.”  Stephen Ford was about 77 years old at the time of this declaration.  He was Paul’s 4th-great grandfather.

That he entered the service of the United States under the following officers and served as herein stated.  The declarant was born in the Township of Little Egg Harbour in the said County of Burlington and resided there until some time in year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy five when he turned out under Captain Joseph Estell of the Militia of New Jersey and served under him as a militia man, for the space of three or four months.  This declarant at this distance of time has no distinct recollection of the day or moth of the year when he first entered the service, nor hath he any record or memorandum from which he can ascertain it.  This declarant during his first tour of service was stationed for some time at the Village of Slabtown [now called Jacksonville] in the Township of Springfield in the said County of Burlington, and was in the battle near that place, sometime called the battle of Petticoat bridge, between the Americans and the Hessians.

While stationed at the said village of Slabtown, and at a time when this declarant was standing as a sentinel, he was wounded in the knee by a Hessian.  After the battle at Slabtown and the wound in the knee, this declarant having been three or four months in service, and being disabled by his wound from active service, returned home with the permission of his said Captain.  Some three or four months after this declarant had returned home and after the wound in his knee had been so far cured as not to disable him from active service, he was solicited to enter the service again as a militia man, but being unwilling to do so, he went to Philadelphia and enlisted as a marine or musket man under Captain John Hamilton who commanded the ship Mifflin belonging to the State of Pennsylvania.   John Farenor[?] acted as the first Lieutenant of the said ship.  This declarant has no distinct recollection, nor any means within his power of ascertaining the precise time when he so enlisted to serve on board said ship Mifflin, nor the precise period when she sailed from Philadelphia, but distinctly recollects to have understood at the time he sailed in the said from Philadelphia, that the British were still in possession of the City of Boston [April 19, 1775 to March 17, 1776]. 

The Mifflin sailed toward the Island of Jamaica, and continued to cruise off that Island, and in other places on the West Indian Station, and off at sea, and made many prizes.  The declarant recollects that (among other vessels) the Mifflin captured a Schooner called the Locust and took her into Cape Franḉois, where she was disposed of.  John Stibbins, the commander of The Locust when taken by the Mifflin, after her capture took the oath of allegiance to the United States and became Second Lieutenant of the Mifflin.

This declarant remained in service as a marine on board the said Ship Mifflin from the time she sailed from Philadelphia until she returned to the United States of America, comprising a period of two years and six months.  During the latter part of this period, the Mifflin attacked a British Letter of Marque [a cargo ship] commanded by Captain John Marely.  She was carried by boarding.  This declarant was the first of the crew of the Mifflin that boarded the Letter of Marque, and his right arm was broken in the conflict in a personal contest between this declarant and the Captain of the said vessel.  Falling in with a British fleet of twelve vessels, shortly after the said capture, the letter of Marque was retaken by the enemy, but the Mifflin escaped.

On the return of the Mifflin to the United States she landed her crew at Kenney’s Wharf [in or near Charleston] in South Carolina.  This declarant then and there received a written discharge under the hand of the said Captain Hamilton, and a pass was signed and delivered to him by a Colonel of the Militia of the State of South Carolina, whose name this declarant has forgotten.

Upon receiving his discharge from the Captain of the Ship Mifflin this declarant retuned home, and shortly after his return, he again entered the service of the United States as a militia man under the command of the same Captain Joseph Estell of the Militia of New Jersey under whom this declarant has served before at the commencement of the war, and served under him in that capacity in the State of New Jersey opposite Mudfort [Fort Mifflin on Mud Island] for the space of four months.  During a part of this last tour of duty this declarant was stationed opposite to Mudfort, and was there at the time the fort was taken by the enemy [November 16, 1777].  After this the declarant was in the service a year at Batsto furnace where he was employed in aiding to make cannon guns and balls, chain shots, and other things for the use of the Army of the United States.

And this declarant further saith that he has not nor ever had any record of his age, but is satisfied that he was twenty one years of age or thereabouts when the British took Philadelphia during the revolutionary war [September 26, 1777, making his birth c. 1756], from the information given to him by those with whom he was brought up; that has always continued to reside in the Township of Little Egg Harbour and the adjoining Township of Washington, in the County of Burlington aforesaid, except during the period of time while he was in the service of the United States during the revolutionary war, and still resides in said Township of Washington; that during the latter part of the revolutionary war this declarant’s house was burnt and all his papers destroyed and among the rest of his discharge under the hand of said John Hamilton, Captain of the said Ship Mifflin, and the pass he received from the Colonel of the Militia of the State of South Carolina.

This declarant is known to Nicholas Sooy, Jesse Richards, and Jesse Evans and others in the neighborhood where he now resides who can testify to his character for veracity and the belief of his services in the revolutionary war as a soldier and marine; but this declarant cannot produce any witnesses to prove his actual services during the revolution, all those who knew him in actual service being dead, or if living, having removed to places not within the knowledge of the declarant except only those ___ whose affidavits are herewith attached; that there is no clergyman residing within the immediate vicinity of the declarant and acquainted with him upon whom he can call to testify in his behalf. 

He hereby relinquishes every claim whatever to a pension or annuity except the present, and declare that his name is not on the pension role of the agency of any state.

After some further inquiries by the Court, the document is signed with Stephen Ford's mark.

The term “marine” has a different meaning than today.  At that time, their most important duty was to serve as on-board security forces, protecting the Captain of a ship and his officers. During naval engagements Marine sharpshooters were stationed in the fighting tops of the ships' masts, and were supposed to shoot the opponent's officers, naval gunners, and helmsmen.

Ultimately, Stephen Ford’s request for a pension was denied.  The ship Mifflin was not a part of the Pennsylvania State Navy or the Continental Navy, and was likely a privateer. 

Sunday, February 23, 2014

William Tooker

It seems that Paul has no end of 16th century English churchmen (see also Cranmer Family).

William Tooker (sometimes spelled Tucker) was born in Exeter about 1566 and passed in Salisbury on the 19th of March 1620/21.  He is interred in the Salisbury Cathedral.

Tooker attended school at Oxford where he completed his master's degree in 1583.  In 1585 he became the Archdeacon of Barnstaple in Devonshire. 

During that time, he wrote a book dedicated to Queen Elizabeth I (see Tudor Monarchs and the Church) defending the power of kings to cure diseases, particularly Scrofula.  As a result, Elizabeth I appointed him as a chaplain, a role he continued under her successor, James I.  It is this monarch for whom the King James translation of the Bible is named.

Tooker achieved his Doctor of Divinity degree in 1594.  he was widely recognized as an excellent Greek and Latin Scholar.

In 1604 he published a treatise called Of the Fabrique of the Church and Churchmens Livings, dedicated to James I, in which he attacked the tendency of puritanism towards ecclesiastical democracy because it paved the way for spiritual anarchy.

William Tooker's son Robert (1595-1687) was also a churchman, becoming the rector of Vange in Essex in 1625.

William's grandson Henry Tucker (1619-1694) came to the Massachusetts Colony before 1651, going first to Sandwich on Cape Cod.  Henry was a member of the Society of Friends (a Quaker).  He eventually moved to Dartmouth to avoid persecution by the Puritans.

William Tooker was Paul's 11th great grandfather, Henry Tucker Paul's 9th great grandfather.

Saturday, February 22, 2014

Cranmer Family

Paul is connected to the Cranmer family through his paternal third great grandmother Hannah Ford (1812-1884) of Washington Township, Burlington County.  Hannah was the daughter of Jeremiah Ford (c. 1791-1845) and his wife Sarah Jane Cranmer (1795-1860).

The Cranmer family first came to the new world from England before 1640.  William Cranmer (1620-1689), the progenitor of the New Jersey family, first lived in Southold, Long Island, where he married Elizabeth Carwithy.  They moved to Elizabethtown, New Jersey (now the City of Elizabeth in Union County), in the 1660s.  Sarah Jane (Cranmer) Ford was the third great granddaughter of this William and Elizabeth (Carwithy) Cranmer.

By the early 1700s, or perhaps slightly before, William Cranmer’s son William (1664-1716) moved further south to West Creek, then in Monmouth County but now in Ocean County.  His son John Cranmer (1696-1760) moved even further south residing in Bass River, Burlington County.  The large Burlington County branch of the Cranmer family descends from John.  Many of those descendants rest either in the Bass River Methodist Cemetery or further inland at the Pleasant Mills Cemetery near Batsto.

Many of the Cranmer men who lived near the coastal waters became sea captains.  It has been said that there were more captains with the name Cranmer than for any other surname.  Those who moved further inland were likely involved in the bog iron industry and later in glassmaking.

Looking back to the family history in England extremely interesting.  William Cranmer’s great-great grandfather was a man named Thomas Cranmer (1467-1501).  Thomas and his wife Agnes Hatfield, Paul’s 13th great grandparents, had three sons – John, Thomas, and Edmund.  John inherited the modest family estate while Thomas and Edmund were educated at Cambridge.

The younger Thomas Cranmer (1489-1556), at right, took his Master of Arts degree at the College of Jesus in 1515 and was elected to a fellowship at the college.  Soon after, he married Joan Black.  Although he was not yet a priest, he was forced to give up his fellowship as a result.  When Joan died during her first childbirth, Thomas’ fellowship was restored.

Thomas began studying theology and by 1520 had been ordained.  His received a Doctorate of Divinity in 1526.  For a time, he was assigned to England’s embassy in Spain.  On his return in 1527, he was given a personal half-hour interview with the English king, Henry VIII, who he described as “the kindest of princes” (see Tudor Monarchs and the Church).

From 1529 to 1532, Thomas accepted various appointments on the continent including a team set up in Rome to study the possible annulment of Henry VIII’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon so he could wed Anne Boleyn.  Later, he served as the resident ambassador at the court of the Holy Roman Emperor.  While traveling with the Emperor, he was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury, the senior bishop and principal leader of the church in England.  This appointment was secured by the family of Anne Boleyn, and was quite a surprise because Cranmer had previously held only minor positions in the church.

In May 1533, Cranmer pronounced the judgment that Henry's marriage with Catherine was against the law of God.  He even issued a threat of excommunication if Henry did not stay away from Catherine.  Cranmer also validated Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn’s secret marriage and personally crowned and anointed Anne as queen.  This had the effect of

As archbishop, Thomas appointed his brother Edmund, Paul’s 12th great grandfather, as Archdeacon of Canterbury in 1534/5.  Unlike other English Archdeacons, the Archdeacon of Canterbury is usually a relative of the Archbishop and has special duties related to enthronement.  Thomas also proceeded with the reform of the Church of England under both Henry VIII and his son Edward VI, including allowing ordained priest to marry.  Both Thomas and his brother Edmund did so, Thomas producing two daughters with his second wife Margaret Ann Osiander and Edmund producing at least one son and one daughter with his wife Alice Sands.

Upon the ascent of the Catholic Queen Mary I (also known as Bloody Mary) to the throne in 1553, Edmund Cranmer was confronted because of his marriage.  Because he would not forsake his wife, he was suspended from executing the priestly functions and required to abstain from the marriage bed.  Wisely, Edmund fled to Germany and later to Rotterdam where he died.  His children eventually returned to England under the rule of Queen Elizabeth I (again see Tudor Monarchs).  Edmunds eldest son Thomas Cranmer (1535-1604) became the grandfather of William Cranmer of Elizabethtown, New Jersey.

Edmund’s brother Thomas Cranmer was imprisoned for his role in the reformation of the Church of England.  Needless to say, Thomas sent his wife and children away for their safety.  He was convicted of treason and condemned to death.  In 1556, Thomas Cranmer recanted his break from the church in Rome, which normally would have resulted in his absolution.  But Queen Mary I would have none of it, and ordered Thomas burned at the stake as depicted below.


Cranmer was given the opportunity to make a final public recantation from a prepared speech before he was burned.   At the pulpit on the day of his execution, he deviated from the prepared script, renouncing the recantations that he had signed with his own hand and stated his hand would be punished by being burnt first.  As the flames drew around him, and as shown in the scene above, Thomas fulfilled his promise by placing his right hand into the heart of the fire while saying “that unworthy hand.”  His dying words were, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit... I see the heavens open and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.”

Tudor Monarchs and the Church

Both Paul’s and Marjory’s ancestors had interactions with the kings and queens of England during the 1500s.  This post serves as background for other posts about those ancestors.

The story of these monarchs is interwoven with the story of the Church of England, with the country switching official religions four times.  Even under the Church of England, there were swings between the Puritans who sought even more reform and the more conservative churchmen.

The Tudor dynasty began after the War of Roses with coronation of Henry VII in 1486.  A Roman Catholic like his predecessors, he is viewed as having returned stability to a war-torn country while taxing the noble class far too highly. 

Henry VII was followed by his son, Henry VIII (at right), in 1509.  Besides his six marriages (the first three discussed here), he is known for his role in the separation of the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church. 

Henry VIII first married Catherine of Aragon who, after a stillborn daughter, produced a son Henry in 1511, a daughter Mary in 1516, and another stillborn.  The young Henry passed after only seven weeks.  As Henry VIII became more impatient for a male heir, he attempted but failed to have the pope annul his marriage to Catherine on various grounds.  He wanted instead to marry Anne Boleyn. 

In 1532, Thomas Cranmer (at right) was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury with the approval of the Pope.  Thomas Cranmer was Paul’s 13th great uncle (see Cranmer Family).  The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the church in England.  Cranmer, loyal to the king rather than the Pope, annulled the marriage to Catherine and validated Henry VIII‘s marriage to Anne Boleyn.  Soon after, in 1533, Anne produced a daughter Elizabeth.  The Pope excommunicated Henry VIII as well as Thomas Cranmer, and the Church of England became a protestant denomination separate from the church in Rome.

Still anxious for a male heir, and with Anne Boleyn producing only miscarriages, it was arranged for her to be accused of incestuous adultery.  Despite a lack of evidence, she was convicted and executed in May 1536.

Ten days later, Henry VIII married Jane Seymour.  It was Jane who gave Henry his male heir Edward.  On the death of his father, the son ascended to the throne at the age of 10 as Edward VI.  It was during Edward’s reign that Archbishop Thomas Cranmer moved the Church of England event further from Catholic rituals and practices.  However, Edward died at the age of 15 with no heirs, and Henry VIII’s eldest daughter Mary (with Catherine of Aragon) was enthroned in 1553.

Mary I was a Roman Catholic, and restored that church as the official religion.  She also executed at least 280 protestant leaders, including Paul’s uncle Thomas Cranmer, earning her the nickname “Bloody Mary.”  A man named William West was involved in a plot to overthrow Queen Mary.  He was convicted of treason, but his execution was not carried out.  In 1557, he was somehow pardoned by Queen Mary. This William West was Marjory’s 13th great grandfather (see West Family).

Mary I ruled only five years before passing from influenza.  Her half-sister Elizabeth became the next Monarch in 1558.  Quite different from her predecessor, she became known as "Good Queen Bess."  Elizabeth I restored the Church of England as the official religion.  She knighted Marjory’s ancestor William West and created for him the title of Baron De La Warr in 1563.  William West descendants later became governors of Colonial Virginia.  She also appointed William Tooker as one of her chaplains.

Following the death of Elizabeth I in 1603 without issue, the Scottish king, James VI, succeeded to the English throne as James I, the first English monarch from the House of Stuart.  James was descended from the Tudors through his great-grandmother, Margaret Tudor, the eldest daughter of Henry VII.  William Tooker was also a chaplain to James I.

Nearly all of these monarch practiced a ritual called the Royal Touch.  It was believed that, as a gift from the Divine, English monarchs could heal a disease called Scrofula by the laying on of hands.  Scrofula (technically tuberculous cervical lymphadenitis) is an infection of the lymph nodes in the neck.

Henry VII touched seven or eight infected people annually. Henry VIII touched 59 people between 1530 and 1532. The Protestant Edward VI apparently did not perform the ritual, but the Catholic Mary I took it somewhat more seriously.  Early in her reign, the Protestant Elizabeth I was reluctant to participate but resumed the practice to prove her legitimacy after the Roman Catholic Church alleged she had lost her healing power.  The Protestant James I wished to end the practice, he found himself having to touch an increasing number of people.  The same William Tooker wrote a historical vindication of the curing power inherent in the English sovereign.

 

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

West Family – Barons, Scoundrels, and Governors

Marjory’s 13th great grandfather was a man named William West who lived from c. 1520 to December 1595.  He was the 1st Baron De La Warr of the second creation. 

While an impressive title, Barons are the lowest rank in the English Peerage – Duke, Marquess, Earl, Viscount, and then Baron.  All of these Peers were required to sit in the House of Lords of the English Parliament. 

The term “second creation” (above) means there was a previous line of Barons De La Warr.  The first Barony was created in 1299 and ended in 1554 with the death of William’s uncle Thomas West.  Uncle Thomas was childless and had adopted his nephew William as his heir and the next Baron.  However, William was accused of being impatient and poisoning his uncle, and was sent to the Tower of London in 1548.  An Act of Parliament in 1550 prevented him from inheriting the title.

Two years later, William was involved in a plot to overthrow Queen Mary, also known as Bloody Mary.  He was convicted of treason, but his execution was not carried out.  In 1557, he was somehow pardoned by Queen Mary.  (Paul’s kin also had contact with this queen, but the result was less fortunate.)  Later, because of his service to the first Queen Elizabeth, William West was knighted and the title of Baron De La Warr was recreated.  He thus became the 1st Baron De La Warr of the second creation. 

William West’s descendants continued to carry the title of Baron until 1761, when King George III (America’s nemesis) created William’s fourth great grandson as the 1st Earl De La Warr.  The 11th Earl De La Warr sits today with his eldest son and grandson in waiting.  The family’s Buckhurst Estate is shown below.


William’s son Thomas West (c. 1556 to March 1601/02), Marjory’s 12th great grandfather, became the 2nd Baron De La Warr on his father William’s passing.  Thomas was also a member of Queen Elizabeth I’s Privy Council and High Sheriff of Hampshire

Thomas had six sons and eight daughters.  Three of those sons became either governor or acting governor of the Virginia colony.

Thomas West’s eldest surviving son, also named Thomas West, succeeded his father in 1602 as the 3rd Baron De La Warr.  He was also a member of the Privy Council.  This Thomas West (1577-1618) headed a contingent of 150 men who sailed to Jamestown, Virginia, in 1610 – just in time to persuade the original settlers not to give up and return to England.  He successfully put down the Powhatan Indians and, as a result, was appointed governor-for-life and Captain-General of Virginia.  Leaving his deputy in charge, Thomas returned to England in 1610 or 1611 to report on conditions in the colony.  As he returned to Virginia 1618, he died at sea.  He was once thought buried in the Azores, but it is now believed he rests in the colony at Jamestown.

It was this Lord De La Warr, the 3rd Baron and Marjory’s 11th great grand uncle, for whom the river, the state, and the Indian tribe were named.  De La Warr has always been pronounced “Delaware.”

The 2nd Baron’s son Francis West (1586-1633/34), another of Marjory’s 11th great grand uncles, served as Acting Governor of Virginia from 1627 to 1629 while awaiting the appointment and arrival of Crown Governor Sir John Harvey.  The Honourable Francis West also served as Commandant of Jamestown and Captain-General of Virginia.  He was an appointed representative to the first House of Burgesses.

The 2nd Baron’s younger son John West (1590-1659) served as Acting Governor during 1635 and 1636.  This was at a time when the Crown Governor Sir John Harvey (above) was suspended and impeached by the House of Burgesses.  Sir John Harvey returned to England where he was restored to his post by King Charles I.

The Honourable John West, Marjory’s 11th great grandfather, was also a member of the House of Burgesses.  In 1630, the decision was made to plant a settlement along the York River.  John West received one of the first grants of 600 acres, which he subsequently sold.  He later acquired over 3,000 acres at the fork of the York River (at the confluence of the Pamunkey and the Mattaponi) that became known as West’s Point.  That land is the site of the present town of West Point, Virginia.

This John West’s son, also named John West (1632-1691) and Marjory’s 10th great grandfather, served in the colony’s militia from 1652 to 1673 ending with the rank of lieutenant colonel.  In 1685, he too sat in the House of Burgesses as representative of New Kent County, Virginia.

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Civil War Pensions

During the Civil War, soldiers who became totally disabled received a pension of $8 per month.  For soldiers who died, their widows could collect that $8 per month plus $2 for each of the soldier’s children under age 16.  At first, the pensions for widows terminated when the widow remarried though the children were still compensated.  Later, a widow who remarried could still receive the $8 per month, but only until her children were grown.  Payouts were made twice each year by a government paymaster.

Not surprisingly, there were problems with the pension system.  Many people were illiterate at the time, making the application process cumbersome.  The paymasters operated only in larger cities, requiring travel or the use of a proxy (who usually charged a fee).  For widows in particular, there may have been no official record of marriages or the birth of children, requiring many sworn affidavits to provide the required proof. 

With no enforcement mechanism, widows did not always report new marriages or chose to live “adulterously” to keep their pensions intact.  As a result, a law as passed in 1882 requiring pension recipients to be “of good character.”

In an earlier post, I discussed two of my great grandfathers who did not return from the Civil War.  John George Molz was killed during the Battle of Wilderness in 1864 while Isaac Reed succumbed to typhoid fever near Fredericksburg in 1863.  The families of both of these Union soldiers benefited from military pensions, but not without some difficulty.  Their pension case files, now online at Fold3, tell interesting stories.

Sophia (Gampper) Molz (at right in later years) promptly applied for and received a widow’s pension of $8 plus $2 for each of her four children (Ernstine, John George Jr, Carolina, and Susanna) in Bridesburg, Philadelphia.  While the pension for her children continued, Sophia’s reported her marriage to Jacob Yoos in 1865 and her stipend was terminated.  When Yoos became insane, she left him and lived with her sister in New York.  Five years later, and after serving as his housekeeper, Sophia married Joseph Meier, another Civil War veteran and a widower with four children.

After a change in the pension law in 1901 and after Meier’s death, Sophia could apply to have her pension from John Molz reinstated.  This request was denied because of her failure to divorce Yoos before marring Meier.  Sophia requested several rehearings claiming variously that she thought Yoos was dead when she married Meier, and later that Yoos’ actual death legitimized the union with Meier.  Again, her claims were denied.

While the pension examiner described her as “uneducated,” she was not to be cheated of the pension she thought she deserved.  Sophia applied again as the widow of Joseph Meier.  This too was denied on the basis that her marriage to Meier was bigamous and therefore invalid.  Sophia’s pension-related documents total 294 pages and includes copies of many family documents as well as depositions of her children.

Sophia continued to live in Bridesburg in the house that she and Joseph Meier built until her passing in 1920.  She and Joseph rest in the nearby Bridesburg Presbyterian grounds.

Mary Jane (Coleman) Reed (known as Jane) also requested a pension for herself and her three children with Isaac – Richard, Reuben, and Sarah Jane – in March 1863, less than two months after Isaac’s death.  However, this claim was abandoned because of Jane’s marriage to Henry Parker in September 1863. 

With the change in the law allowing benefits for widows with children even if they had remarried, Jane renewed her request in early 1869.  Perhaps because she was illiterate, Jane began by appointing Thomas S. Miller of Batsto as the guardian of her children.  Miller then applied for and collected the pension benefits retroactive to September 1863.  The first payment to Miller in May 1869 was a huge sum at the time – $683.25.  Through 1870, Miller was paid a total of $935.25 for the benefit of the children.

In October 1870 there must have been a falling-out been Jane Reed Parker and Thomas Miller.  Jane dictated a letter to the pension agency claiming that Miller had not made any payments in over a year and had spent the pension moneys to buy a horse and for drink.  She asked that he be removed as guardian.  The next month, Miller countered that he had made payments to various parties for the benefit of the children.  Among others, he paid Josiah Ford, Jane’s uncle, $100 for board and clothing.  This suggests that the children did not always live with their mother Jane and stepfather Henry Parker. 

Miller offered that he did not pay directly to Jane and Henry Parker because they would have spent the money for rum.  This disagreement resulted in an accounting by Miller that was accepted by the Burlington County Orphan Court as accurate.  It appears that pension benefits continued to be paid through Miller until 1877 when the youngest child, Sarah Jane, reached the age of 16.

Interestingly, the only known birth record for Sarah Jane Reed (at right in 1909), my father’s maternal grandmother, is the affidavit from midwife Elizabeth Moore contained in the pension case file.  While her brothers’ births were officially reported, Sarah Jane was somehow omitted. 

By 1900, Jane and Henry Parker had moved to Brookville in Ocean Township, Ocean County.  Jane passed there in 1902 followed by Henry in 1910.  They rest in the Reevestown Cemetery in what is now Barnegat, New Jersey.