Friday 18 September 2015

A Pair of Doctors.

I have been diving back into researching my American ancestors and thought I would introduce you to the two Doctors in the family. Both of them are my Great Great Great Grandfather's. From my understanding, they were both family doctors - general practitioners.

1. Dr William Simpson Robinson

He was born on November 6th, 1823, in Tennessee to parents James Robinson and Catherine Mann. In Navarro County, Texas, he married Mariah Adelaide Riggs on September 21st, 1852. They had 13 children. William passed away on January 4th, 1887 in Dresden, Texas. He is buried in Dresden Cemetery.

Dr William Simpson Robinson
Dresden, Texas, 1848
[Source: Family Collection]
Grave of Dr William Simpson Robinson, Dresden Cemetery
[Taken by Caitie on July 8th, 2009...the day I caught the genealogy bug!]

2. Dr George Washington Spencer

He was born on January 6th, 1832 in Alabama, to parents Peter Spencer and Mary Cooper. By 1840, the family had moved to Itawamba, Mississippi. On March 14th, 1855. he married Frances Elizabeth McWilliams in Mississippi. They had at least nine children - I'm still confirming if there were more. Come 1870, George, Frances and their children had moved to Texas. George passed away on May 24th, 1904, in Frost, Texas. He is buried in Frost Cemetery.

Dr George Washington Spencer
Frost, Texas, 1880s
[Source: Family Collection]
Grave of Dr George Washington Spencer, Frost Cemetery
[Taken by Caitie on July 8th, 2009]
I'm still learning about the lives of my American ancestors. I know the Australian side like the back of my hand. The American side, not so much. I find it much harder to research them when I'm not there among the physical records my family has. My Uncle is currently going through all of my Grandma's genealogy stuff. Oh how I wish I was there with him!

Were any of YOUR ancestors Doctors or Medical Specialists?

Tuesday 15 September 2015

Mackay Family Portraits

I was recently sent this photo of my Great Great Grandparents Alexander Mackay (1856 - 1937) & Elizabeth Lucilla Gill (1867 - 1905) with four of their five children. It was taken at some point in 1901 in Bowraville, New South Wales. I had never seen this photo before, so I was thrilled to receive it!

Alexander Mackay with wife Elizabeth Lucilla Gill
Daughters L-R: Lottie Mabel, Eva Florence, & Alice Jane
The baby is Archie Burton
[Source: 3rd Cousin]
Eva Florence was my Great Grandmother. Until I saw this photo, I had never seen a picture of her that young. She is just beautiful.

Elizabeth Lucilla Gill died giving birth to her fifth child, her namesake, Elizabeth Lucilla Mackay, in 1905.

The photo below is one I have had for a while now. It is of Alexander Mackay with his five children, but much later in life.

Alexander Mackay with his children L-R: Elizabeth Lucilla, Alice Jane,
Eva Florence, Lottie Mabel, & Archie Burton.
Date Unknown
[Source: Personal Collection]
I'm so excited to put these two photos together!

Thursday 3 September 2015

Ancestor Hunting in Kempsey - Mission #1

Back in May, I posted the Will of my 4x Great Grandmother Elizabeth Wright nee Graham. Her Will was like treasure to me in that she was very detailed and provided street names of the land she owned in Kempsey, New South Wales. This was the first time I had come across any record of where exactly she lived and owned land in Kempsey. If you'd like to read the transcription, please do so. Elizabeth's Will is one of my favorites.

In my transcription of the Will, I inserted screenshots of the relevant streets from Google Maps. To refresh your memory, the locations Elizabeth mentioned were -

1. Allotment of land with cottage and outhouses having frontage to Sullivan Street & William Street, East Kempsey.

Sullivan Street & William Street, East Kempsey, New South Wales
[Source: Google Maps]
2. Half an acre having frontage to Lord Street and Innes Street, East Kempsey.

Lord Street & Innes Street, East Kempsey, New South Wales
[Source: Google Maps]

3. Eight acres of land having frontage to Washington Street, East Kempsey.

Washington Street, East Kempsey, New South Wales
[Source: Google Maps]
Earlier in August, while my Aunt and I were visiting family nearby in South West Rocks, we decided to have a day out in Kempsey ancestor hunting. Mission #1 was to find the streets mentioned in the Will. Funnily enough, we ended up taking the scenic route to Kempsey instead of the Pacific Highway. I did not have any phone reception either and could not get on Google Maps to follow our route or provide directions once we got to Kempsey. We simply followed the signs with no idea of which part of the town we would enter. When we saw a sign telling us that we had indeed arrived in Kempsey, my Aunt started calling out streets we were driving past in the hope that with my now working phone reception, I could get the directions to East Kempsey. 

A second later, my Aunt is saying "Washington Street, Sullivan Street..."

ME: "THIS IS IT! STOP THE CAR! THOSE ARE THE STREETS!"

We pulled over on Sullivan Street and took a few moments to confirm our location on Google Maps, and yes, we were exactly in the area we wanted to be in. It was really interesting wandering around and thinking that this was the area my ancestors lived in. I was walking the same streets they walked on. The numbers in the captions below corresponds to the number of the relevant map above. 

1. Sullivan Street, East Kempsey
Corner of 1) Sullivan Street & 3) Washington Street, East Kempsey
1. Corner of William Street & Sullivan Street
My Aunt wanted to knock on the door of the house at the corner of Sullivan and William Streets, but I am not a fan of knocking on random people's doors. I decided instead that I will write the residents a letter to see if they know anything about the history of the land. Is the house on the corner still owned by Wright's? Who knows! 

2. Lord Street, East Kempsey
2. Innes Street, East Kempsey
In my previous post, I had wondered if Wrights Lane that runs off Washington Street was named after my Wright ancestors. Another mystery to solve!

Wrights Lane, East Kempsey
Wrights Lane, East Kempsey
Caitie at Wrights Lane, East Kempsey
It was a very exciting day so far, but we still had more to do. Stay tuned for Mission #2 of our Ancestor Hunting day in Kempsey.