T H E J O U R N a L O F T H E N 0 R T H U Y B E R L An
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T H E J O U R N A L O F T H E N 0 R T H U Y B E R L AN D A N D D U R H A M F A M I L Y H I S T 0 R Y S O C I E T Y Vol 4 No 1 October 1978 CONTENTS NORTHUMBRIANS ALL J .K . Brown 2 SECRETARY'S JOTTINGS 4 SECOND TIME AROUND 5 CHANGES OF ADDRESS 5 THE TYNE IRON COMPANY I . Downing 6 MEMBERS AND THEIR INTERESTS 8 DEATH 9 DURHAM CATHOLIC PARISH REGISTERS BEFORE 1900 J.P . Eyre 10 OFFERS OF HELP 12 FUTURE PROGRAMME 12 INDEX TO VOLUME THREE 13 GENEALOGICAL NAMES 13 PLACES 24 ARTICLES AND FEATURES 29 All items in this Journal are the copyright of the Northumberland and Durham Family History Society or its contributors . Correspondence connected with the Journal should be addressed to the Editor, Mr G . Nicholson, 57 Manor Park, Concord, Washington, Tyne and Wear, NE37 2BU. All other correspondence should be addressed to the Secretary, Mr J .A . Readdie, 38 Archery Rise, Neville's Cross, Durham, DHl 4LA . PLEASE always include stamps for return postage when writing (two Inter- national Reply Coupons from overseas members and quote your membership number . Books from the Society's Library may be borrowed from, and should be returned to, the Librarian, Dr M.E . Wilson, 33 Archery Rise, Neville's Cross, Durham, DHl 4LA. NORTHUMBRIANS ALL J .K . Brown I have recently returned from an unforgettable and most enjoyable holiday in the Seneca district of New York State where I had the privilege to address the meeting of the Marcus Whitman Historical Society . The majority of the members who attended the meeting were the direct descendants of the original settlers of that area, who had left their native Hexham and the villages of Wark, Birtley in Tynedale and Otterburn and Elsdon in Redesdale, Northumberland,in 1800 . These tough hardy bred Nor- thumbrians founded the settlement in Seneca and there is a village named after one of the original settlers called Hall who was a direct descendant of 'Mad Jack' Hall of Otterburn Towers, an ill-fated Jacobite who was executed for treason in 1716 (for loyalty to the lawful Heir) . Asmy ancestors Browns of Elsdon were farming at the Raw in- 1800 and- before this at Laingshill, Hudspeth and Grasslee Miln, there is a very strong probability that my ancestors would be related to a William Brown who left his farm at Knightside Elsdon in 1800, who was one of the original settlers . My host and hostess in Seneca were Ernie and Janet Robson Wermuth. Janet being the direct descendant of two of the settlers - a Robson and a Brown . My talk was of Elsdon and the district from whence the members' ances- tors had left - its history - and of Northumberland . Janet Robson Wermuth, before my arrival, had written an article in the news letter of the Marcus Whitman Society, and I reproduce extracts from it : 'In 1799 or 1800 Edward Burrell settled on the Burrell Farm (on the Post Road, North of Hall) and sent back such glowing reports to neighbours in Northumberland, England, that approximately fifty families came to what was known as the English settlement (Hall) in the Town of Seneca, Ontario County, New York . 'Most of these early settlers came from the villages of Birtley, Elsdon, Hexham and Wark in Northumberland Shire in the North Eastern part of England about 15 - 20 miles from the Scottish Border) . They sailed from Greenock near Glasgow, Scotland) in the year 1801 and after 7 weeks on the water, arrived in New York city July 14th 1801 . They took a boat to Albany and then a kind of Stage or public conveyance to Schenectady . At some spot near Schenectady, Robert and Phyllis Straughan buried their small son, Robert, who had been ill with whooping cough all of the way across the ocean . It took the settlers one day to go between Albany and Schenectady . From Schenectady they entered the Mohawk River following the lovely and rapid river in batteaux . These long flat boats were propelled by taking long poles, placing one end on the bank bottom of the stream and putting the other end to their shoulders and then pushing while they walked from the bow to the stern of the boat . They travelled the entire distance from Schenectady to Geneva in boats with the exception of the distance between streams over which they were forced to carry both baggage and boat . They were 21 days and nights accomplishing this journey . 'The Crosier Family History, written about 1870, states that they passed up the Mohawk River and Wood Creek . When passing from Wood Creek to Oneida Lake, it became necessary to use other means . The streams were damned and the water kept back until the dam was full . When the water was permitte d -to ru sh out, the boat wentwith it, and sotheywould float down until another dam was reached . In this wav they reached the lake . In crossing the lake, sails were used and here they came near to losing their lives, a storm striking them while it was passing over causing their sails to give way. They finally gained the shore in safety . Then they followed the outlet to the Oswego River, then went up that and the Seneca River . At Seneca Palls they had to unload the boat and push and draw it up the rapids . They reloaded and made for Geneva, where they landed after about a three week voyage from Schenectady . This Village of Geneva must have presented a very scanty appearance, as there was only one bakery, proprietored by McKenzie, three stores kept by Messrs Colt, Evans and Dot, and one hotel ; the Reverend Mr . Chapman preached in a school house near the present Pulteney Park . 'The names of these families were as follows : Azchariah Garbutt George Wood John Hadley John Robson John Dixon Robert Watson Foster Sinclair John Wood Edward Hall Edward Hall Jnr . John Hall Thomas Lowry Jack (John) Robson and Brother - Joseph Robson Thomas Robson and six sons : Thomas, Jnr ., Gowen, Robert, Andrew, James and John James Beattie (Scotch) Robert Crosier Robert Straughan Matthew Robson George Caward Adam Crosier Thomas Vartie Frank Wilson James Blake William Brown John Renwick Adam Turnbull William Wiles Daniel Fowls Powell Carpenter Mathias Aram Edward Stokoe Thomas Stokoe George Gray Benjamin Fowls Benjamin Moody (1) William Allen George Crosier The following settled out of the English Settlement but were nearby : John Charlton William Whirlow William Watkinson Thomas Griswold William Barron Thomas Young Thomas Charlton Henry Oxtoby Robert Oxtoby John Atikinson William Hanley 'In the years which followed, each family made their own history in the new land, but this meeting of the Marcus Whitman Historical Society is con c erne with d the family of William and RobertStraughan.Teir descen-dants and refatives in Northumbria England and in Salt Lake City, Utah, and in Buffalo and Hall, New York, have put the pieces back together again . 'Jane Straughan, daughter of Robert Straughan, married William Brown Snr . and the sixth of their eleven children William Brown Jnr . joined the Mormons or Church of the Latter Day Saints when they first left Palmyra (I believe in the late 1830's). lie eventually became a Bishop of the Church . .' During my visit to the Hall district, I visited the 'Little Church', built in 1863 to replace the 'Log Meeting House' built by the original settlers in 1807 . I strolled through the cemetery, the final resting place of these tough hardy breed of Northumbrians and reading the headstones, I could have been strolling through any small cemetery in the Redesdale or Tynedale except for the newness, the cleanliness and the loving care which is taken by the present descendants in looking after the grave yard . Headstones read 'Robson', 'Brown', 'Straughan' (now pronounced in the States as 'Strake-hen', 'Charlton', 'Turnbull', 'Wilson', 'Reed', 'Crosier' and 'Stokoe' (now pronounced by the descendants as 'Stock-key') . I gazed at the headstone of 'Armstrong' and thought - "was not the first man on the moon an Armstrong" . What memories lie in that far off cemetery . Stories of their endurance and fortitude, their struggle to find a new life - what hardships . All was later to prove worthwhile, as now all are in a fertile and prosperous farming area . From the hill farms in border country to the plains of Seneca . I was greatly impressed by the tender care taken in looking after the cemetery -- no overgrown weeds and the grass is regularly cut . Everything reflects the fact that the present day Robsons, Halls, Browns, Charltons, etc ., cherish their heritage and are continually paying tribute to the memory of their ancestors . In the English settlement area, a rural area of wheat and pumpkin grow- ing there is still a link with distant Tyne and Redesdale . There is a Robson Road, Reed Road and Armstrong, Wilson and Johnson Roads and Burrel Creek, named after the very first Northumbrian settler of 1799 . I was somewhat moved to have people come to meet me individually, welcoming me and saying in an American accent 'I'm a Reed', or 'I'm a Turn- bull' . Although I had never met these people before, I did not feel among strangers . SECRETARY'S JOTTINGS A Advance notice has been received of a World Conference on Records, to be held 12-15 August 1980 in Salt Lake City, Utah . There will be more than two hundred seminars, plus exhibitions, tours, etc . Details from World Conference on Records, Genealogieal Society of Utah, 50 East North Temple Street, Salt Lake City, Utah 84150, USA.