Tag: Featherson

The Parkins Divorce and Jennie Updates

Posted on by Kathleen

Back in February, I mentioned that I was waiting on some records. Well, they are here! I have now confirmed that Jennie Featherston-Parkin and Sadie Featherston-Acker both got remarried. I even found some newspaper mentions that relate to what happened between John and Jennie.

Newspaper Articles are First!

On February 7th, 1902, Jennie was arrested in East Orange on a charge of neglecting her children1. We don’t get anymore details of what led up to the arrest. We know that the Children’s Aid and Protective Society was the complainant for the charge. We also know that in the 1905 New Jersey State Census, 3 of the 4 Parkin children are living in the Orange Orphan Society2. Likely the arrest is what spurred the children being sent to the society. Two months after her arrest, her husband is suing her for divorce3.

I have a feeling there is a deeper, more complicated story behind what is going on with the family. The article tells us that John was living with Jennie until January 7th4. That’s exactly a month before she was arrested for neglect5. I hope to get the divorce papers from the New Jersey Archives, whether its making a trip there myself or hiring someone to pull the records for me. That’s where this part of the story stops until I can take care of that. We don’t have to stop looking for Jennie though. We still had an order in for a possible second marriage record.

The 2nd Marriage of Jennie Featherston

This is definitely the Jennie I was looking for! It looks on this record like her husband’s name is James Relly6. Or some form of Reilly, you know how it goes. 😂 I also don’t want to think about the “William Moore” as witness. That’s going to go into the worry about later list.

There is some good news, bad news with this record. The good news first, to help digest the bad news. Jennie didn’t die between 1901 (her last known mention in her father’s obituary7) and 1905 (her children being in a children’s home8). That’s great. Bad news. This marriage happened in September of 19059. That’s after the 1905 census. That means, logically 😅, I should find Jennie at 394 Washington Street in the 1905 New Jersey Census10!

Yep, Not There.

Which means she moved in between June and September of 1905… maybe. I thought I might look up James, since his address is given too. One thing that had to be true, is they had to be in the same place at the same time at some point. Or they wouldn’t have gotten married. Maybe, if I find James in 1905, Jennie will be near.

It says 37 N Clinton Street, but that family is definitely living at 17 N Clinton Street11. Which I thought was James Reilly’s address. There is a James Reilly in that household but not my James Reilly and before you think I’m being stupid here. First, the “mother’s” name is Mary and not Nora. Which sometimes you can let go. This James is also 10 years younger than the James I’m looking for. Which to be fair, I’ve seen from the rural side of my mother’s tree, but not on my Dad’s side, they are usually more consistent on this side of the family.

I thought maybe I was going up the wrong tree for a few minutes. That is until I took a look at the city directory for 1905, that makes it clear there are two James J. Reillys12. One that lives at 17 N Clinton and one that lives at 14 N Clinton. Genealogy is fun isn’t it. 🤣 The older one is a motorman/hackman for the trolley, and the younger is a bookkeeper. At least they have separate occupations so that could help me keep them straight at least. Anyone else having a brief thought that Phillip Reilly (trolley man’s father) and Patrick Reilly (bookkeeper’s father) are probably brothers or cousins maybe? I can’t even say they are neighbors because for some reason the city directories list the bookkeeper’s family at 17 N Clinton but the census calls it 37 N Clinton. If I need to, I’ll circle back around to this Reilly conundrum, but not unless I need to.

Found James! His mother too13. At least James was less difficult then his future wife to find on the census.

So Back to the Bad News

I know you thought the bad news was already given. Turns out bad news likes to multiply. I still didn’t find Jennie in 1905. I would just chalk it up to she was missed in the census… except that I also can’t find her after 1905 under her new married name. 😂 I’m going to need more caffeine, snacks and records for this!

Even though I did not find Jennie, I did find her husband James in 188014, 190015, 1905, 191516, 192017 and 193018 censuses… In 1920 and 1930 he is listed as married but living with his sisters and he is the head of the household.

James and Jennie Reilly are IMPOSSIBLE 🤣

I know, nothing is impossible. I just haven’t found the right record yet. I also found James in the 190819, 191020 , 191221, and 191422 city directories at 14 North Clinton Street. He is supposed to be there in the 1910 US Census. This sent me searching for 14 North Clinton in 191023.

Well… 😒 Nora is there with two of her children, but neither of those are the one I am looking for. It’s very clear that Jennie did not spend any significant time living with her second husband. He’s not listed as divorced or a widower but is listed as married which is strange since they don’t seem to have lived together for long, if at all.

Sadie Featherston’s 2nd Marriage

This might seem like a random jump at first but let me explain. Jennie’s sister Sadie was married for the 2nd time in 190724.

The witnesses to this marriage were James and Jennie Reilly. So we know they were still together in 1907. This made me think, maybe if I find Sadie, I will find Jennie. This post is getting a little long so I will go ahead and share that I have found Sadie’s 2nd husband, William, with his family in the census in 188025, 190026, 190527, 191028 and 191529. He is listed as single in all of them. These four are really frustrating me now. 😂

Next Steps

  • Get the Divorce Documents for Jennie Featherston and John W. Parkin from 1902.
  • Figure out how or if the witnesses of Jennie’s second marriage have a connection to the family. William Moore especially.😭
  • Look for some type of divorce or separation announcement for James and Jennie.
  • Look for death records of Jennie and Sadie after January of 1907.
  • Find James, Jennie, or Sadie in 1910. All three are still missing in my research.

Source Citations

Sorry for the repeated citations. I’ve tried a few footnote plugins but I haven’t found a good one that allows me to repeat numbers easily. My posts take about a month of gathering sources and writing and I don’t want to overthink the citations. I just want to be sure I’m including them. 😂

  1. “Two Neglected Cases in East Orange,” Newark Evening News, 8 Feb 1902, p. 8, col. 1; digital images, Newspapers.com (accessed 15 Aug 2026). ↩︎
  2. 1905 New Jersey State Census, Essex County, New Jersey, population schedule, East Orange, p. 05-A, dwelling 77, family 78, line 40,53,61, Orange Orphan Society; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 12 Dec 2024). ↩︎
  3. “John W. Parkin Wants Divorce,” Newark Evening News, 4 Apr 1902, p. 8, col. 6; digital images, Newark Public Library (https://newark.historyarchives.online : accessed 8 Mar 2026). ↩︎
  4. “John W. Parkin Wants Divorce,” Newark Evening News, 4 Apr 1902, p. 8, col. 6; digital images, Newark Public Library (https://newark.historyarchives.online : accessed 8 Mar 2026). ↩︎
  5. “Two Neglected Cases in East Orange,” Newark Evening News, 8 Feb 1902, p. 8, col. 1; digital images, Newspapers.com (accessed 15 Aug 2026). ↩︎
  6. New Jersey New Jersey Bureau of Vital Statistics, marriage certificate 272 (1905), Relly-Featherson; New Jersey State Archives, Trenton. ↩︎
  7. “Featherstone,” Newark Evening News, 02 Nov 1901, p. 3, col. 1; digital images, Newark Public Library (accessed 4 Nov 2025). ↩︎
  8. 1905 New Jersey State Census, Essex County, New Jersey, population schedule, East Orange, p. 05-A, dwelling 77, family 78, line 40,53,61, Orange Orphan Society; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 12 Dec 2024). ↩︎
  9. New Jersey New Jersey Bureau of Vital Statistics, marriage certificate 272 (1905), Relly-Featherson; New Jersey State Archives, Trenton. ↩︎
  10. 1905 New Jersey State Census, Essex County, New Jersey, population schedule, Newark Ward 2, p. 28-A, dwelling 429, family 911, line 21, George Bauer household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 25 Aug 2026). ↩︎
  11. 1905 New Jersey State Census, Essex County, New Jersey, population schedule, East Orange, p. 15-B, dwelling 143, family 2, line 67, Mrs. Mary A. Riley household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 Aug 2026). ↩︎
  12. J. H. Baldwin, Baldwin’s Directory of the Oranges and Townships of Essex, 1905-6:, 302; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 Aug 2026). ↩︎
  13. 1905 New Jersey State Census, Essex County, New Jersey, population schedule, East Orange, p. 09-B, dwelling 152, family 1, line 92, Mrs. Nora Riley household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 Aug 2026). ↩︎
  14. 1880 U.S. census, Essex County, New Jersey, population schedule, East Orange, enumeration district (ED) 099, p. 511-C, dwelling 55, family 67, Phillip Rilley household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 Aug 2026); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T9, roll 780. ↩︎
  15. 1900 U.S. census, Essex County, New Jersey, population schedule, East Orange Ward 3, enumeration district (ED) 177, sheet 05-B, dwelling 87, family 105, Nora Reilly household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 Aug 2026); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T623, roll 968. ↩︎
  16. 1915 New Jersey State Census, Essex County, New Jersey, population schedule, East Orange Ward 3, p. 09-A, dwelling 132, family 158, line 45, Mary Reilly household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 27 Aug 2026). ↩︎
  17. 1920 U.S. census, Essex County, New Jersey, population schedule, East Orange, enumeration district (ED) 41, sheet 08-B, dwelling 95, family 170, James J. Reilly household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 Aug 2026); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T625, roll 1029. ↩︎
  18. 1930 U.S. census, Essex County, New Jersey, population schedule, East Orange, enumeration district (ED) 395, sheet 09-A, dwelling 77, family 190, James J. Reilly household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 Aug 2026); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T626, roll 1330. ↩︎
  19. J. H. Baldwin, Baldwin’s Directory of the Oranges and Townships of Essex, 1908:, 450; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 Aug 2026). ↩︎
  20. J. H. Baldwin, Baldwin’s Directory of the Oranges and Townships of Essex, 1910:, 483; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 Aug 2026). ↩︎
  21. J. H. Baldwin, Baldwin’s Directory of the Oranges and Townships of Essex, 1912:, 519; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 Aug 2026). ↩︎
  22. J. H. Baldwin, Baldwin’s Directory of the Oranges and Townships of Essex, 1914:, 567; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 Aug 2026). ↩︎
  23. 1910 U.S. census, Essex County, New Jersey, population schedule, East Orange, enumeration district (ED) 164, sheet 13-B, dwelling 209, family 234, Nora Rilley household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 Aug 2026); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T624, roll 883. ↩︎
  24. New Jersey New Jersey Bureau of Vital Statistics, marriage certificate 645 (1907), Dickson-Fetherston; New Jersey State Archives, Trenton. ↩︎
  25. 1880 U.S. census, Essex County, New Jersey, population schedule, South Orange, enumeration district (ED) 111, p. 220-A, dwelling 268, family 289, Richd. A. Dickson household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 25 Aug 2026); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T9, roll 781. ↩︎
  26. 1900 U.S. census, Essex County, New Jersey, population schedule, Newark Ward 6, enumeration district (ED) 60, sheet 22-A, dwelling 288, family 472, Richard Dickson household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 25 Aug 2026); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T623, roll 964. ↩︎
  27. 1905 New Jersey State Census, Essex County, New Jersey, population schedule, Newark Ward 6, p. 34-B, dwelling 482, family 765, line 58, Richd. Dickson household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 25 Aug 2026). ↩︎
  28. 1910 U.S. census, Essex County, New Jersey, population schedule, Newark Ward 13, enumeration district (ED) 108, sheet 13-A, dwelling 178, family 253, Richard Dickson household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 25 Aug 2026); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T624, roll 881. ↩︎
  29. 1915 New Jersey State Census, Essex County, New Jersey, population schedule, Newark Ward 13, p. 13-A, line 35, Richard Dickson household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 25 Aug 2026). ↩︎

Alice Hackett-Hammell, A Little More Info

Posted on by Kathleen

In the process of researching another entry, Welcome to the Family Hammells!, there was a little bit of information going further back that didn’t quite fit into that post. It involves the mother of Jennie Hammell-Featherston. I do find it a little interesting I’m filling in the information for generations after and before Jennie before I am able to do it for her. I’ll take whatever information I can get though, so no complaints here.

Where We Left Off

In the previous entry we really only knew the names of Jennie Hammell-Featherston-Nagel’s parents. Bernard Hammell and Alice Hackett. My next steps are to try and gain as many records as I can that will give me more information on her parents. Even a little bit of new information will help me start narrowing things down and maybe even finding people who went missing in the census in later years. Here is where the family stood at the end of that last entry:

Author’s Note: For the purpose of keeping this family easier to follow, I will refer to Jennie Featherston-Parkin as “Jennie” and her mother Jennie Hammell-Featherston-Nagel as “Jane”. With quotes, to further distinguish who we are talking about. Not just for this entry but all entries going forward.

New Record – But Unreliable For Now

I was able to find a church birth index entry for “Jane” on both Ancestry and FamilySearch1 but I still need to try and see the actual record for that. It seems to be a very robust Catholic Church register though, so I have quite the to do list for that record set. The original record set isn’t searchable on FamilySearch but it is included in the New Jersey Births and Christenings record set. This index has actually been very beneficial to me for getting the exact location of my New Jersey records to order from the Archives. This exact one will have to wait until I can make it to a FamilySearch center, which I should probably try to do soon.

This record set also found a brother named James2 who is five years younger than “Jane.” This led me to fill in some more information. It turned out that James married a woman named Louise Widasech in 18833. They had one child named James. He also formed a “James Hammell Association” which really confused me for awhile until I realized it was some sort of club that James formed, they gathered regularly, formed a shuffleboard team, and took annual rides. The earliest mention I saw of it was 1888, and one last mention in 1904.

In the 1885 New Jersey State Census, Alice is even living with James, his wife and son4. Sadly James’ son would pass away in 1888 of diphtheria5. After his death the family would take in a foster daughter, but I haven’t been able to track down much information on her and where she came from. She appeared in the household in the 1900 United States Census6 and would live with Louise for a short time after James’ 1903 death78.

How Do I Know This James Is Connected?

You might be thinking I’m in danger of adding a random family to the tree without verifying things just based off this information. That’s not the case though, there are a few more things helping me to decide this James is the actual brother of my “Jane”.

In Jane’s second marriage certificate to William Nagle, the witnesses to the marriage are a Louise and John Hammell, whose address is 163 Summit Street9. I am inclined to think John is meant to be James. It is about 8 months before James’ 1903 death and I haven’t found any evidence of a John Hammell but it’s still possible I am missing something. 163 Summit Street is associated with James and Louise for a very long time and he ran a pub at the location10. This address is also where the James Hammell Association would have their regular meetings.

The 1890 Death of Alice Hammell

The biggest piece of evidence I found linking James Hammell to “Jane” and Alice is the loose probate papers found in the FamilySearch Full Text search11. In those papers we have first James Hammell, son and Jennie Featherston, daughter informing the Surrogates Court of Essex County that their mother died intestate. This means she had no will.

The second is a hand written letter from Jane. I repeat. A handwritten letter from “Jane“. In the letter Jane is protesting the letters of administration being assigned to anyone before some other legal matters are settled. This letter is dated the 31st of January 1890. Then finally, just one day later we have James and Jane both renouncing their rights to be appointed as administrators of the estate.

Lastly we have Alice’s death certificate12. It gives us a little more information and another new address. If you were wondering if I’m logging these addresses and who is living with who in what years, you’d be thinking the same thing I am. 277 Warren Street is new for me in my tracking but it’s possible it’s a hospital, especially considering there is so little information given about her personal circumstances. The cemetery where she was buried is an Irish Catholic burying ground which fits with the Catholic baptismal records we found before.

My Next Steps

I am currently waiting for two more marriage records from the New Jersey archives. They will maybe help clear up “Jennie” and Sadie’s timelines but we won’t know until the records come!

Footnotes

  1. St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Catholic Church, “St. Patrick’s Pro-Cathedral Parish registers, 1850-1926,” database, FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed 30 Oct 2025), entry for Ann Jane Hammell baptism (1852). ↩︎
  2. St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Catholic Church, “St. Patrick’s Pro-Cathedral Parish registers, 1850-1926,” database, FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed 30 Oct 2025), entry for James Hammell baptism (1857). ↩︎
  3. New Jersey Bureau of Archives and History, New Jersey index to records of births, marriages, and deaths, 1848-1900, 8 1883-1884: Louise Widasech, James Hammell marriage; digital image, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, “Marriage, Atlantic-Warren,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/312728: 1 Nov 2025). ↩︎
  4. 1885 New Jersey State Census, Essex County, New Jersey, population schedule, Newark, Ward 4, p. 193, dwelling 727, family 1118, line 5782, James Hammell household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 1 Nov 2025). ↩︎
  5. New York State Department of Health, “New York, U.S., Death Index, 1852-1956,” database, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/61535 : accessed 1 Nov 2025), James Hammell death (1888); citing City of Yonkers Register of Deaths, 1884-1889, p. 75. ↩︎
  6. 1900 U.S. census, Essex County, New Jersey, population schedule, Newark Ward 7, enumeration district (ED) 66, sheet 12-A, dwelling 160, family 281, James Hammell household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 1 Nov 2025); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T623, roll 964. ↩︎
  7. “Hammell,” Newark Evening News, 30 Apr 1903, p. 13, col. 1; digital images, Newark Public Library (https://newark.historyarchives.online/ : accessed 1 Nov 2025). ↩︎
  8. 1905 New Jersey State Census, Essex County, New Jersey, population schedule, Newark, Ward 6-8, 4th and 5th District, p. 14-A, dwelling 204, family 310, line 38, Louisa Hammell household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 1 Nov 2025). ↩︎
  9. New Jersey New Jersey Bureau of Vital Statistics, marriage certificate 12738 (1901), Naegel-Hammell; New Jersey State Archives, Trenton. ↩︎
  10. “Office of the Board of Excise Commissioners of the City of Newark; list of names applying for liquor license,” Newark Evening News, 19 Aug 1902, p. 14, col. 3; digital images, Newark Public Library (https://newark.historyarchives.online/ : accessed 1 Nov 2025). ↩︎
  11. Essex County, New Jersey, Probate Records, 1794-1902, unrecorded estate papers of Alice Hammell (1890); digital images, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed 17 Feb 2026). ↩︎
  12. New Jersey Bureau of Vital Statistics, death certificate H197 (1890), Alice Hammell; New Jersey State Archives, Trenton. ↩︎

Welcome to the Family Hammells!

Posted on by Kathleen

You might be wondering who the Hammells are. That’s because I have never mentioned them before! They are new to you and me. That means I’ve added another surname to my direct family tree. This is really exciting! It’s always exciting to go back another generation but it’s even better when you can rediscover a female line. To get you familiar with where the Hammells will come in. I’m giving a little tree as a hint on where they fall into the family.

The last time I posted about this family was way longer than I realized. In 2017, I was working on figuring out what happened with the four Parkin children. I’m still trying to find some records that might help me learn exactly what happened with the children. I contacted the Orange Orphan Society, who said they no longer hold records for the orphanage as they are now a foundation who assists non-profits and not the actual orphanage.

I also asked the New Jersey Archives, and they do not have records for that orphanage or the Newark one. The archives was also concerned I might run into some privacy issues when trying to research. Needless to say, this will require more learning about the available records sets before I take another shot at that.

Where do we go from there?

Well, there is still so many question marks surrounding the Featherston daughters and their parents. So my next step was to search newspapers on the Newark Public Library website. If you have any kind of Essex County, New Jersey research, this website is a godsend. The years between 1904 and 1919 are missing from the New Jersey death indexes. Which happen to be the ones I am most in need of. This means finding obituaries or anything that can narrow my search down is a big deal. Once I have at least a small window, I can send to the archives for a record search.

I found news of William Featherston’s death by chance, searching for mentions of Parkin. It gave a new address for Jennie Featherston-Parkin in 1901. My last known mention of her is the 1900 US Census. There she was living at 568 Orange Street. Just down from her mother at 578 Orange Street. At the time of the 1900 US Census Jennie’s mother listed herself as widowed. Looks like William didn’t pass away until January of 1901. Looking at the articles it seems they were separated at the time of his death. So with these articles, I’ve gotten the date needed to send away for a death certificate for William. I also have a new address to search for Jennie in the 1905 New Jersey census. Hoping to get more information about her. Remember in 1905, Jennie was missing from the census and 3 of her children were living in an orphanage. Their father was living with his mother with the fourth child, but Jennie was missing from the household.

*Note: I do have William’s death certificate now but as it has no information regarding the Hammells, I am not posting it on this entry. The certificate does confirm the new address for Jennie though.

How does this say anything about the Hammells and who they are?

I’m glad you asked. I am showing the thought patterns that I had for getting one more generation back. Once I realized that the family was announcing things in the paper, I got more creative with my search terms. Trying to pick up every piece of information I could think of. Sometimes you do generic searches and think to yourself, well my family just wasn’t in the newspaper. How can you really be sure though. You can’t.

This image shows the events I’ve recorded for Jennie Featherston-Parkin’s mother, Jennie. So many Jennie’s I know.

Looking at the 1900 US Census entry for her had some interesting results. You can see a son Charles Fetherstone listed for her. Not impossible of course. However, we already know that Jennie had 3 daughters and her children born, children living columns match that. One line down from Charles is Sadie, the middle daughter. If you look at her marital status, it lists her as widowed and having 1 child with 1 child living. So let’s dig deeper into Charles and see if we can’t figure out what was going on with him.

Charles

Oh. So we have Sadie Featherstone as the mother of Chas. Jas. Acker. Sadie is interchangeable with Sarah/Sallie, so this is a good sign that we are on the right track. You are probably thinking to yourself, you should look for a marriage between Charles Acker and Sadie Featherstone!

I’m right on top of that Rose!

Sadie Featherstone. ✅

William Featherstone. Born in England. ✅

Jennie Hammell… Oh that’s new!

If you were wondering if I plugged that name into the newspaper website to search… I sure did!

Oh dear. We have a Jennie Nagle now. We have a new address of 46 Hunterdon Street. She is the wife of the deceased William Nagle?? William Featherston? I’m confused.😂

Let’s check out some census information to see what it will tell us about Charles Acker, Sadie, and Jennie. We might as well look up this new address as well and see what happens.

At that address, 46 Hunterdon Street, in 1915 and 1920 we have Anna/Jennie Nagel/Nagle living with her grandson, Charles Acker. In 1915, they have no relationships provided but in the 1920 census, he is listed as grandson. All this is fitting for Jennie Hammell/Featherston/Nagel to be the same person. We just need to something to bridge the gap between names.

I will say this. It never gets old does it. Seeing it come together in records. It doesn’t always happen like this. You can’t always just hop from one vital record to the other. When it does though. It’s amazing.

So now we have potential parents names for Jennie as well. I am still looking for her marriage to William Featherston and any birth records for her children. Those are elusive still.

Jennie’s final record. I’m know that something must have happened to Sadie, as she is not listed in the census with her son or mother after 1900. Whether she re-married or she passed away is still not known at this time. I will have to do some more looking for those answers.

I’m Not Done Yet

So now we know that Jennie Hammell, Jennie Featherstone/Featherston, and Jennie Nagel/Nagle are the same woman. So lets see if we can’t find some more information about that third daughter.

Here we have Carrie Jenneta “Nettie” Fetherston getting married in 1900. Her address of 578 Orange Street fits right in with known family information and we also have Hammell listed as her mother’s maiden name.

Where does this leave that family tree we started with?

We’ve added quite a bit to it with plenty more left to work on. I have a few more findings for the Hammells but I’ll save that for another day.

When to Change the Spelling on a Name?

Posted on by Kathleen

One of the problems I still struggle with is when to change a spelling for one of my families. Usually it’s not an issue. 90% of my families stay pretty consistent. There is that other 10% though. My latest example being the Featherson/Featherston family.

I first became aware of the Feathersons on my great-grandparents marriage certificate.

0284-CliffordHerbertRedford-MR
New Jersey Office of Vital Statistics & Registry, marriage certificate 4422 (1923), Redford-Parkin; New Jersey Department of Health, Trenton

My 2x great-grandmother’s maiden name on this record shows Jennie Featherson. Now in indexes, it usually comes up as Peatherson just like Sutcliffe usually comes up as Putcliffe. I really believe that is an F on this record.

Continue reading “When to Change the Spelling on a Name?” →

Marriage Record of John Walter Parkin

Posted on by Kathleen

My website has migrated to its new server and there should be zero downtime! That is definitely good news. Usually something always goes wrong for me in these things. 🙂

0310-JohnWParkin-MR

To celebrate here is the marriage record for my 2x great grandparents John Walter Parkin and Jennie Featherson. I had hoped to get the maiden names of their mothers with this record. I have to say 50% is much better than 0%!

Lucky for me Find My Past had some sort of promotion going on and I was able to find census records for Ann Maltis’s family. More about that later though. 😉

Clifford and Jane Redford’s Wedding

Posted on by Kathleen

This scan was sent to me from my Aunt a few years back. It was one of my first and only clues about the Parkin family. Their name has constantly changed through all my years of researching them.

Family Record of Clifford and Jane Redford’s marriage

Having this allowed me to send away to New Jersey for an official record of Clifford and Jane’s marriage.

Official Record of Clifford and Jane Redford’s marriage

This record had much more information for me to digest. I already knew Clifford and Jane’s estimated birth years and residences. I had known from the 1930 census that Clifford was a plumber by trade. I also knew that his father’s name was Herbert and his mother’s was Sadie. However I did not know that his mother’s maiden name was Putcliff or is that Sutcliff? To this day I’m still not sure!

On Jane’s side it was all knew information. This record actually broke down my Parkin/Parker/Perkins brick wall. It most definitely is Parkin now and I learned that her parents names were John Walter Parkin and Jennie Featherson. I have a lot more information on John Walter Parkin now, but before her marriage Jennie is still a mystery to me.

I’ve had this record for a number of years and still I come back to it for clues every once and awhile. It’s always good to look over things you’ve had awhile. You never know what you might have missed in the excitement.