Wednesday, September 30, 2020

#79 - Mary Reynolds, a most typical Irish Immigrant of 1800s

Mary Reynolds (W of Lawrence Barnwell)

Of the many Irish immigrants to North America, my great great grandmother, Mary Reynolds, wife of Lawrence Barnwell is the typical immigrant of the 1800s. 

She immigrated to New York with her parents and married, lived and died in NYC, Brooklyn and was buried in Queens, NY. That's about all I know of her other than the bare facts. 

1892 NYS Census of Mary (Reynolds) Barnwell and John Barnwell

Birth, Marriage and Children.

Mary Reynolds born about 1860 in Ireland. 
She immigrated to New York City and married Lawrence Barnwell, another Irish immigrant. 
Their children: 
1 John Joseph Lawrence Barnwell (1881–1948) My great grandfather; born in Brooklyn, NY
2 Mary Ellen Barnwell (1885–1984) married a J. O'Brien
3 Lawrence Barnwell (1888–1889) 
4 Richard Barnwell (1890–?)
5 Alice Veronica Barnwell (1891–1918)

The family appears in a NYC directory, and in the 1892 NYS Census. There is no surviving Federal Census with them in it. The NYS census has much less detail than the Federal Census.

1892 NY State Census (Feb, 1892)
Brooklyn, NY
Lawrence, husband, born Ireland, Occupation: laborer
Mary, wife; Born, Ireland
John— 10 years, born USA
Mary— 8 years, born USA
Alice– 1 year, born USA

Mary drops out of sight. It's possible she lived with her husband's relatives--some of them were in Connecticut or with her married daughter and son-in-law. 

How do I know her Maiden Name was Reynolds?
There are two key pieces of evidence that Mary Barnwell’s maiden name was Reynolds: 
1 Death Certificate of son Lawrence Barnwell who lived less than 1 year, dying on 5 Mar 1889
Lawrence Barnwell the son of Mary Reynolds and Lawrence Barnwell
Born: 27 June 1888
Location: 1345 2nd Avenue, NY NY, USA
Father: Lawrence Barnwell
Mother: Mary Barnwell
Mother's Maiden name: Reynolds
Certificate Number: Birth 16883

and secondly, her own death certificate:
INDEX TO DEATH CERTIFICATES, NY, NY 1862-1948
Name: Mary Barnwell, maiden name: Reynolds
Female, Born: Ireland 
Spouse: Lawrence Barnwell 
Child: Alice Veronica [Barnwell] O'Connor
Death Certificate Number: 10114

Mary Reynolds Barnwell died on 3 Dec 1943 in Brooklyn, New York, at the age of 83, and was buried in Queens County, New York.

From Find A Grave (index)
Name Mary Barnwell (Female) 
Birth: 1 Jun 1860 in Ireland
Died: 6 Dec 1943 in Brooklyn, NY, USA 
Buried: Calvary Cemetery, Woodside, Queens County, NY, USA

-----------
All records obtained are on Ancestry.com.
The information on where to start looking is from documents I wrote or saved that my father gave me about his grandparents and great grandparents.



Saturday, September 19, 2020

#78- Mapping the Moves of Reynier /Reynear Tyson

Reynear Tyson & Margaret Strypers
Where Did They Live?
On the 11th of Jun, 1683 (William), Penn conveyed to Govert Remke, Lenart Arets, and Jacob Issace Van Bebber one thousand acres of land each, providing  that a certain number of families should go to Pennsylvania within a specified time.  
Very soon thirteen men, with their families, comprising thirty-three persons, nearly all of whom were relatives, were ready to embark from Rotterdam for London.  Through James Claypoole, a Quaker merchant in London, passage had been engaged for them and the money paid in advance.
Krefeld, Germany
The ship "Concord" sailed from England 7 mo. 24, 1683, and arrived in Philadelphia on 10 mo. 6, 1683.  
One member of this little band was Reynier Tyson, a young man, and believed to have been unmarried.  
With his companions he settled in Germantown, and later removed to Abington
When in Germantown, under the Penn Charter, he was one of the Burgesses, 1692, 1693, 1694, 1696.  
Base of Founder's Statue, annotated
He was one of the signers of the certificate, issued by the Quarterly Meeting in Philadelphia, addressed to the London Yearly Meeting, which Samuel Junnings bore with him to London, 1693, concerning the Keith controversy.  
In Abington he was a large landowner and an active businessman.
In a memorial published in the "Friend," Vol, XXX., page 229, it is recorded that: 
"Reynier Tyson was born in Germany in the year 1659.  
He was convinced of the truth whilst living there, and for his faithfulness thereto suffered persecution. 
He removed to Pennsylvania a few years after William Penn first obtained the Province, and settled himself within the limits of Abington Monthly Meeting, then called Dublin. 
He continued faithful to the manifestations of truth received, and grew in the esteem of his friends to a father in the church.  In the year 1725 he was appointed an elder, and continued faithful in fulfilling the duties of the station until prevented by age and indisposition.  His friends say he was innocent and inoffensive in life and conversation, and diligent in attending his religious meetings. 
He lived, beloved and honored, to a good old age, dying on the 27th of the seventh month, 1745, aged about eighty-six years." 
----------------------------
In the drawing for lots which took place in the riverbank cave of Pastorius, Reynier Tyson drew No. 5. 
He had purchased fifty acres in the Germantown township and lot No. 5 was laid out along the east side of the Main Street of Germantown, extending southwardly from where Bringhurst Street has since been opened. It reached in front of the highway 231 feet and extended back to the township line. It contained about 18 acres, undoubtedly his first home was erected on this lot. 
To the north of him was the home of Leonard Arets, from whom he had bought, and next towards the city was the lot of Jan Lucken.
Toward his fifty acres he was also given the corresponding No. 5 of the “side lots towards Bristol,” which contained twenty-two acres, lying just north of the present Washington Lane, and extending from the present Chew Street to Stenton Avenue, which was the township line. (See Map in History of Old Germantown). 
To complete the fifty acres there were 18 ¾ acres “broad thirteen perches and twelve feet” in the side land towards Pymouth betwixt the said inhabited part and the land of Jonas Potts.
This land Tyson held by virtue of a deed of sale from Leonard Arets, a first purchaser of 250 acres. 
Tyson's Lot in Germantown, PA 
The deed was dated October 10, 1683, and acknowledged in open court in Germantown, held Eighth Month 8th 1692. These three tracts Tyson sold in 1708 to one Isaac Van Sintern of Philadelphia for one hundred pounds (Philadelphia Deed Book E 5, Vol 7, p. 78).

Reynier Tyson, as he prospered, bought other lands in Germantown.
1st: Two parcels of land adjacent one to the other being both in breadth 14 perches and four feet and in length 11 perches and fifteen feet, being bounded southeasterly with the lot once of John Streipers and now Reiner Tison, westerly with the land of the liberties of the City of Philadelphia, and northward with the lot formerly of Herman op den Graeff and eastward with the eleven acres of Dirck op den Graeff. (Bought November 20, 1692, and November 13, 1683, and sold to John Henry Kuston, April 30, 1709.)
2nd: Two other pieces: “One situated in the inhabited part of the said town, being the very first lot of the same on the west side, containing 23 1/2 acres, making both 50 acres. (Bought of the Trustees of John Streipers, Crefeld, Germany, confirmed on open court in Germantown 12th Mo. 8th, 1703/4. 
Sold April 30, 1709, to John Henry Kuston. (Philadelphia Deed Book E 5, Vol. 7. p 205, etc.)
3rd: Two tracts in Crefeld in the German township, fifty acres of which he bought of Herman op den Graeff 3rd Mo. 1684, and sixty-six acres likewise in Crefeld which he bought of Dirck op den Graeff, 9th Mo. 27th, 1683. 
These were sold to William Strepers, "Leather Dresser" for 35 pounds, January 16, 1699 (Recorded Philadelphia Deed Book G, Vol. 10, p. 301, etc.)

 Reynier Tyson Moves to Abington
On Holmes Great Map of 1684, in the section which is easily identified as the modern Abington Township, is a five hundred acre tract extending from the Cheltenham Township line to the Susquehanna Street Road and labeled “Isaac Hobbs.” 
This is roughly described as being along certain lines of marked trees 480 perches, just a mile and a half in length, and 167 perches, or a little over one-half mile in width. This was patented to Hobbs in 1684 (Patent Book A, Vol 1, p. 259) 
This tract Hobbs sold in 1699 to John Colley, a hatter of Philadelphia, and he, in the following year, sold the half of it lying next to Cheltenham Township to “Reynier Tyson of Germantown, Yeoman.” (Penna. Archives, Second Series, Vol XIX, Minute Book “G,” p. 423.)
Just when Reynier Tyson moved from Germantown to Abington is not clear. 
It was not until 1708 and 1709 that he sold his home and the considerable other property he had accumulated in the Germantown Township, and the presumption would be that he moved to Abington about that time. 
He continued to live on his Abington farm the remainder of his years. 
His family became closely identified with the social life of Abington Meeting and most of his children intermarried with the members and attenders of that Meeting.
In 1727 he and his wife Margaret conveyed the Abington farm to their son Isaac, reserving to themselves, in the quaint language of the deed, “One room, commonly called the stove room, and also the kitchen, and free ingress and egress to the rest of the rooms in the said messuage, during the remainder of their lives.” 
This home farm descended from Isaac to his son Isaac (see Partition proceedings, Orphans Court, June 11, 1770), and again to an Isaac and his sister Sarah who in 1830 sold it out of the family to Samuel Schofield. 
This land may be roughly identified as lying north of the Germantown and Willow Grove Turnpike (or the Plank Road), and extending from Cheltenham Township line on the northwest to the road leading from Jenkintown to Fritzwatertown, called in some of the deeds, Jenkintown Road, on the southwest. 
The growing village of Glenside was spread over its western portion, and old property lines have long since disappeared. The land lay gently to the south on the lower slopes of Edgehill, and is underlaid with limestone. 

The lime which was used to build the State House in Philadelphia is said to have come from the kilns on the Tyson place, whether this is some other Tyson farm in Abington is unclear. A little stream crosses it southwestwardly, flowing eventually into Frankford Creek.

In the tax list of 1734 are the following assessments in Abington Township:
John Kirk -----250 acres
Isaac Tyson---100 acres
Rynier Tyson  100 acres
John Tyson -----60 acres
Peter Tyson ----200 acres
Abraham Tyson—60 acres
In Upper Dublin, Dirick Tyson –100 acres
In Northern Liberties, Richard Tyson—100 acres
In Perkiomen & Skippack, Matthias Tyson ---200 acres

Rynear Tyson’s Will
I, Rynear Tyson, of Abington in ye County of Philadelphia in ye Province of Pennsylvania, yeoman, being tho’ the Divine Mercy in Health of Body and of sound Mind and Memory & calling to mind that is is appointed for men once to die do make this my last Will and Testament, revoking & hereby disannulling all & every will & wills, Testament & Testaments heretofore by me made & declared either by Word or Writing and this only to be taken for my Last Will & Testament and none other & touching such Temporal Estate as it has pleased God to bless me with. I do hereby order, give & dispose of ye same in manner & form following. 
That is to say: First I will that all my Just Debts & funeral Expenses be honestly paid & discharged out of my Estate by my Excr, hereinafter named. 
Then I give, devise & bequeath unto my Grandson Matthew Tyson (son of my son Matthias Tyson) the sum of six Pounds current money of Penna. to be paid unto him out of my Estate by Executors at ye end or expiration of one full year after my decease which said Six pounds shall be in full  Barr against all or any of my said son Matthias Tyson’s Heirs claiming any further right to any other part of my estate. 
My Said Son Matthias Tyson having allredy in his life received of me his full share of my Estate. 
Then I give, devise, and bequeath unto my sons John Tyson, Abraham Tyson, Derick Tyson & Peter Tyson ye sum of Six pounds current money of Penna to each of them to be paid unto each of them, their Heirs or Assigns out of my Estate by my Executor at ye End and Expiration of one full year after my decease. 
Item. I give unto my son Henry Tyson the sum of Eight pounds of like lawfull money the aforesaid which said Eight pounds is to be allowed by him to be the Eight pounds that I answered for him to Benjamin Lay. 
Item. I give unto my Daughters Elizabeth Luken and Sarah Kirk ye sum of Six pounds Lawfull money of Pennsylvania to each of them to be paid unto them or their assigns by my Executor at ye Expiration of one full year after my Decease and over and above what is above Devised I give unto my daughter Elizabeth Luken all my Dutch [Deutch?] books. 
Also my mind and will is that all goods Remaining in ye Stove Roome (except ye stove) shall be equally divided between my sons John, Abraham, Derick, Peter and Henry and my Daughters Elizabeth Lukens and Sarah Kirk. 
Share and Share alike and further it is in my mind and will that on ye receipt of the aforesaid legacies or sums by me bequeathed hereby, that all and all manner of writings that in any wise belongeth to me or that is in any wise relating to any affairs of mine being in ye hands or keeping of any of my aforesaid Children shall without delay be given and delivered up unto the hands of my Executor. 
Item. I give unto my Granddaughter Abigail Tyson my Riding hors to ye use of her and her assigns forever and my mind and will also is that what Remains of my estate over and above ye aforesaid Legacies by me here in before bequeathed that the same shall be and continue in ye hands of my Executor to be ye use of him and his Heirs and Assigns forever.
And lastly, I do hereby nominate, constitute and appoint my son Isaac Tyson to be my Executor of this my Last Will and Testament. In Witness Whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal the twenty first day of December in ye year of our Lord 1741.
Be it known y’t: it is ye mind of y testator that no more of his goods but what is in ye Stove Rooms is to be divided among ye above Legatees inserted before signing.
His

   Reynour       ✘       Tyson (seal)

Mark
Published pronounced and declared
by ye sd. Reynour Tyson

SOURCES for this post:
1 The settlement of Germantown, Pennsylvania, and the beginning of German emigration to North America by Hon Samuel Whitaker Pennypacker, LLD; Printed: William J Campbell, Philadelphia, 1899, New Era Printing Company, Lancaster, PA  (Internet Archive.org; Sept 2020)
Genealogy of the Shoemaker family of Cheltenham by Shoemaker, Benjamin H, 1827 Pub 1903, J. B. Lippincott, Philadelphia PA pp 13 and 14 (Internet Archive, Sep 2020). 
3 Reynear Tyson's Will: from Ancestry.com (accessed Sept 2019)
4 Descendant Information from: FamilySearch.com; Ancestry.com and Archives of Margaret B Walmer and Edwin C Tyson

Descendants of Reynear Tyson

Reynear Tyson & Margaret Streypers

Their children

Mathias 1686–1727

Isaac 1688–1766

Elizabeth 1690–1765

John1  1692–1775

Abraham 1694–1781

Derrick 1696–1776

Sarah 1698–1780

Peter 1700–1791

Henry 1702–1738

 John Tyson1 (1692–1775) M Priscilla Naylor (1697–1760)

Their children

Reynear Tyson 1721–1797

*John Tyson 1730–1768

Susanna Tyson

Mary Tyson

Sarah Tyson

Margaret Tyson

Elisabeth Tyson

 John Tyson2 M. (1730-1768) M Hannah Cleaver (1737–1811)

Their children

*John Tyson Abt 1760 Abington, Philadelphia, PA D 1794

Rebecca Tyson 1763–

Isaac Tyson 1765–1835

 John3 Tyson 1760-1794 M Mary Kirk B Aug 1757

Their children

*John Tyson 1787–1847

Mary Tyson 1789–

Seth Tyson 1792–

Hannah Tyson 1794–1875

John4 Tyson 1787-1847 M. Sarah Comly 1787-1818

Their children:

John K Tyson 1813

Calvin Tyson 1811 (?)

*Edwin Comly Tyson 1809-1886

 

My 3rdgreat grandparents

Edwin Comly Tyson 1809-1886 M Susan (Susannah) Griffith 1807-1875 

Their children:

Seth Tyson 1835-1835

Isaac Griffith Tyson 1833-1913

Rachel Griffith Tyson 1836-1874

Ruth Anna Tyson 1840-1913

*Charles John Tyson 1838-1906

Rebecca Watson Tyson 1842-1923

2nd great grandparents

Charles John Tyson  M Maria Edith Griest 1840-1927

Their children:

Edwin Comly Tyson 1864-1945 

William Cyrus Tyson 1879-1953

Mary Anna Tyson 1866-1931

*Chester Julian Tyson 1877-1938

Great Grandparents

Chester Julian Tyson 1877-1938 M Bertha Charity Hawxhurst


Thursday, September 10, 2020

#77 - Chester J Tyson's Labor of Love (and Why A Building is Named after Him)

LABOR
It's easy to list jobs but it's hard to know what it takes to actually do those jobs.
Then there is volunteering. I spent many, many hours of my life on boards and committees and receiving no reward nor recognition for it--but I don't expect it.


My great grandfather Chester J Tyson was a farmer and he held many interests in his field of horticulture. 

Chester Julian Tyson 1920s

In addition to his own business and orchards, he helped the (read this post for more:) US government send the first food aid to starving Europeans after World War 1, but he also served on a Board at Penn State at State College (now called "University Park")
Rarely does one have a published document about one's own family members' activities and habits. 

Chester Tyson (2nd frm R) with 3 US Presidents and Food Aid Comm. 1919
But I am lucky enough to have a full description from a magazine about Chester's activities as a Board Member at State College, and what made him so distinctive as a Board Member that the school named a building after him. 
The article below appeared in “Pennsylvania Farmer”  It's a summary telling readers why buildings are named after people. (It has to do with sacrifice).  
After reading this, I can see why they named a building after him. (I believe his own children didn't know half of this information at the time). And, he's in that list of forebears I would have liked to have known. (The copy of the article is from my aunt Margaret B Tilton Walmer's archives.)
I transcribed it so it would be easier to read:

Penn State Remembers
"This Adams County fruit grower gave much to the College. And it was never forgotten. 
This year a building was named in his honor.
By a recent action of the Board of Trustees of the Pennsylvania State University the building formerly known as the Plant Science Building is now Tyson Hall
Older subscribers to the Pennsylvania Farmer do not need to be told who Chester J Tyson was, but for the younger generation it is well to give a bit of his history, as his life was a fine example for public service.
Gabriel Hiester was a prominent fruit grower in the vicinity of Harrisburg. At A delegate meeting at the College in 1879, he was elected to the Board of Trustees. He was appointed to the Executive Committee of the Board in 1908 and served on the Agriculture Advisory Committee until his death in 1912. During Heister’s period of service the delegates from the county agricultural and engineering organizations were largely from the county horticultural societies and Hiester was regarded as representing the horticultural interests on the Board although he was too broad a man to confine his efforts to any one branch of agriculture.
SEVERE LOSS
Gabriel Hiester’s death in 1912 was a severe loos to the Board of Trustees and presented a serious problem to the delegates to appoint a replacement of his caliber. At the meeting in 1912 Chester J Tyson was selected.
The Tysons, an old Quaker family, had moved from the Philadelphia area into Adams County at Flora Dale near Biglerville and established a fruit nursery and commercial planting of apples. Chester grew up in these surroundings and later with his two brothers he expanded the orchard plantings and organized an orchard supply company which became well known throughout the Cumberland-Shenandoah orchard area.
TYSON A TRUSTEE
Chester Tyson came to the Board of Trustees at a critical time. Penn State was just beginning to recognize its future role as a land grant college and to realize the importance of the School of Agriculture in that development. In 1912 the School had an enrollment of 514 regular four-year students and a faculty of 60. The recent development of the agricultural extension division and establishment of the country agricultural extension agent service was bringing the school in much closer contact with the farmers of the state. The general increase in college enrollment following the close of the first World War was necessitating a very rapid development of the School of Agriculture along with a large increase in the entire College. 
To aid in securing new staff members, to get increased appropriations for new buildings and to expand the college area, especially the College farms, to keep up with this growth, required dedicated service from the Trustees both at State College and at Harrisburg. 
In those days there was no Nittany Lion Inn and only a horse-drawn carryall for transportation. A meeting of the Board of Trustees could mean three to four days away from home and uncertain accommodations at State College.
Chester Tyson took all these responsibilities very seriously. The rapid expansion of campus buildings was overrunning the areas formerly used by the Horticulture Department. When New Beaver Field took the land where the second College orchard was planted, one of the last acts of Gabriel Hiester was to secure the area now called the Hiester Farm for the future use of the Horticulture Department. 
Tyson followed the development of these orchards very closely and during nearly every Board meeting took time to go over plans and to visit the area. Frequently he persuaded Dean Watts to go with him. 
The close friendship between Watts and Tyson many times worked to the advantage of the School of Agriculture during Board Meeting.
TYSON AND BAYARD
Chester Tyson and Ed Bayard believed it was their responsibility to know personally the staff of the School of Agriculture. Bayard kept close watch of agronomy and the animal industries; Tyson’s special interest was horticulture. 
Hardly a Board meeting went by without these men spending some time with staff members in their particular fields. Also they were always interested in the problem of selecting new members. Although it was not his particular field, Ed Bayard was responsible for bringing Frank Fagan to Penn State.
These visits did not stop with the department head. The staff was small in those days and Bayard and Tyson together knew practically all in the School of Agriculture. No new farms were purchased without the careful study of these two. They knew the research program and followed its development closely. Their shrewd but kindly criticism and suggestions encouraged many a young staff member through very trying times.

Practically all of the research program of the Horticulture Department had its beginning during Tyson's period of service. He served on the Executive Committee of the Board from 1924 until his death in 1938. In this position he was able to secure budgetary recognition of the needs of the Department at a time when money was very difficult to secure.

His standing among commercial growers was a great help in establishing contacts for field studies. The limited facilities and restricted finances at State College made it necessary to conduct many field tests with the fruit and vegetable growers of the state. Any of the Tyson orchards was always available for such tests.

FINANCIAL SACRIFICE
Very few people, even staff members, realize the financial contribution the early trustees made in long service on the Board. Ed Bayard once said it had cost him $10,000 during his period of service and this did not include loss of time spent on College business. 
Tyson’s expenses were probably very close to Bayard’s. To carry on the half dozen experiments in his own orchards was no small addition to this expense.
Institutions are notoriously forgetful of their benefactors. In a College generation the services of its pioneers are all but forgotten. The least that could be done was to dedicate a suitable building to one whose services have meant so much to the growth of the University."
   ~ B. D. Anthony; Pennsylvania Farmer, November 10, 1956

Sources:
Margaret B Walmer Archives (photos)
And photocopy of this article:  B. D. Anthony; Pennsylvania Farmer, November 10, 1956