Hibernian Roots

As St. Patrick's Day was just last week, I've been thinking about my Irish ancestry.  There are quite a few of my forebears who came across from the Emerald Isle, and it would be nice to learn more about their own lineage, though the Irish were notorious for not keeping records.  Those of us with Irish ancestors generally find a dead end in our research once we get to Ireland, and I could probably write an entire post about the various social and cultural reasons for the absence of information, though not today.

Moving forward, here are a few of the Irish ancestors I've found:



George Gamble
Circa 1860



George Gamble:  He was born on 16 October 1795 in Ballybay, Monaghan County, Ireland, the youngest of six children born to John Gamble and Elizabeth Kennedy.  He came to the United States in April 1811, aboard the Protection, with his parents and siblings William, Joseph, and James, as well as James' wife Isabella (Nesbit), and John Morrow, Jr., the son of George's sister, Nancy.  The rest of the family, including John Gamble, Jr., migrated over at different times on different ships, and they settled in Bradford County, Pennsylvania, to work as farmers.

On 16 October, 1818, George married Anne Keeney, a woman whose ancestry goes all the way back to William Bradford.  They settled on a farm in the town of Harford, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, where they spent the rest of their lives.  They had 4 sons and 6 daughters, including my 3x great grandfather, Theodore Beza Gamble.

James MacCain:  I don't know a whole lot about the MacCain side of my family, largely because it was disowned generations ago.  Since my great-grandfather Raymond Wilmer MacCain, Sr. divorced my great-grandmother Effie Kurtz Robinson, little has been said of them.  Attempts to contact different cousins on this side of the family have gone unanswered, though I'm still hopeful that somebody with information about the MacCains will contact me someday.

Here's what little I know.  James MacCain (grandfather of aforementioned Raymond) was born circa 1810 in Armagh County, Ireland.  He married Nancy Agnes Nixon and they came to America sometime before 1840.  Their daughter, Agnes, was born in Pennsylvania in 1839, and they later had 3 sons, Robert MacCain (1840), James Penn MacCain (1844), and William John MacCain (April 1850).  William was the father of Raymond, and 3 other sons.

Alexander Moore:  Here's the other side of my MacCain heritage.  Alexander Moore was born 15 March 1830 in the town of Ballygawley, Tyrone County, Ireland.  His father was also Alexander Moore, but it may be inaccurate to call them Sr. and Jr., as there seems to be a long line of Alexanders in the Moore family.  If the Irish had kept proper records (damn their defiant non-compliance with English record-keeping), I'd probably be able to tell who's who, but there were certainly a lot of "Alexander Moore, son of Alexander Moore" baptisms in the 18^th Century in Northern Ireland.  It is possible that my ancestor Alexander Moore born 15 March 1830 was the third, fourth, or tenth in his line.  There's no way to tell at the moment.

Alexander married Anna Jane Young the daughter of James and Elenor Young, also of Ballygawley, and they settled in Philadelphia, where they raised their 2 sons and 5 daughters, one of whom was my great-great grandmother, Mary Helen Moore, the wife of William John MacCain.

Thomas Nelson:  Moving over to my mother's side of the family, there are two families of Nelson.  One originates in England, and the other came from Ireland.  Thomas Nelson was born circa 1766 in Armagh County, Ireland.  He married Sarah Martin and they immigrated to the United States sometime during the 1790's.  It's uncertain how many children they had, but there are currently only two that I know of.  One was my 4x great-grandfather Joseph Nelson, who was born circa 1790 in Ireland.  The other child is a daughter, Lana Nelson, born September 1802 in New York.  Thomas died in Cambridge, New York, on 6 June 1808, though his wife lived until 1844.

Isaiah Rogers Nelson, son of Thomas, married Alice Jane Doughty, whose grandmother was also a Nelson, only from a branch that came over from England around 1640.  Of course, if you trace the English Nelson line back far enough, you eventually find yourself in Ireland again, when they spelled the name Nelleson.



Ann Carney Littlefield
w/ daughter Anna L. Forthman
New Orleans, 1912



Ann Carney:  Last Mother's Day, I wrote a little about my great-great grandmother, and over the last year I've uncovered a few more details about her.  Ann (or Annie) Carney was born 22 April 1853 in Roscommon County, Ireland.  Her parents were John Carney and Anna Nesbitt.  The particulars of her arrival in America are not certain, though she may have come aboard the Edith in 1868.  She ended up in Chicago, Illinois, where she met and married Henry Littlefield, Jr., an Iron Smelter whose father was an Irish sailor.  They were married on 19 February 1873 by a Catholic Priest, presumably in a traditional wedding ceremony, and they had 5 sons and 2 daughters, including my great-grandmother, Anna Louise Littlefield, the wife of William Edward Forthman, Sr.

Although her husband Henry died before 1900, Ann lived until 29 September 1930.

So, there you have it, a whole bunch of Irish ancestors that made a better life for themselves in the land of opportunity.

Winter Fun at Jackson Park

Here's a look back in time.  These are a few old pictures from my Forthman collection, taken at Jackson Park in Chicago during the winter of 1915.  Pictured is Anna Louise Littlefield Forthman (my great-grandmother) with her five older children (this was 4 years before my grandmother was born).  The top photo is handily labeled, so you can tell who's who.

Those with a keen eye may notice a thumb print on the middle photo.  I'm not sure who left their mark on the picture, but it was undoubtedly some relative of mine, and it occurred long before I ever saw the print, probably before I was even born.

While not the clearest or most pristine photos, they're a fascinating relic of the family's past.  Have fun out in the snow!

Another Forthman Photo

Here's an interesting photo from the vault.

Taken about 1940, here we have my great-grandparents, William Edward Forthman, Sr., and his wife, Anna Louise Littlefield Forthman (left).  The other ladies in the picture are two of their five daughters.  The one standing behind them is my grandmother Nadine (about 20 at the time), and the one sitting is Aunt Anabell.  I recently discovered that Anabell got married on January 10, 1945 to Martin L. Dawson.  I don't know if they had any kids, but they were both in their early forties at the time of the marriage.

Vacation Destinations

Yes, it is Sunday, and yes this is a Family Sunday posting.  In my continuing ancestral research, numerous locations pop up, places where different branches of my family originally settled, or called home in the past centuries.  It is my hope to visit a few of these someday, but at the moment it is fairly impossible for me to get away.  Perhaps future years and fortune will give me the opportunity.

Today, I'll share a few of the places I'd like to visit at some point.  Mind you, these aren't liable to be hot tourist destinations, and are only interesting to me because of my familial ties.

Bridgeton, New Jersey:  Really, all of Cumberland County would be on the tour, but Bridgeton is the center of it all.  Hendersons, Ballingers, Robinsons, and other assorted ancestors came from this area, and it would be interesting to have a look around.

Baldwin City, Kansas:  Home of the Counts family.  My great grandfather, George Sylvester Counts, was born and raised with three brothers and two sisters on a farm outside of town, and it would be interesting to drop by for a visit.  I know there have been a few "cousin reunions" held at the old homestead, though I've never had the pleasure of an invitation.  Maybe someday I'll get out there, reunion or otherwise.

Old Saybrook, Connecticut:  It was here that Joseph Ingham the weaver first settled in America around 1640.

Cato, New York:  Another site of Ingham interest, this is where William Ingham set up shop around 1814, and he made a fortune running a general store.  Later on, his sons overextended themselves and lost pretty much everything.  William's youngest son, Albert, was the grandfather of my adopted great-grandfather.

Hagerstown, Maryland:  It was here that the Forthmans first settled in America before the Civil War.  My great-grandfather, William Edward Forthman, was born here in 1863.  His mother, Ann Creager, was also from Hagerstown, and her ancestors settled there before the Revolution.

There are plenty of other locations of note in my family, though these are a few that stand out the most.  It may be little more than a daydream to think of visiting these distant towns and cities, though perhaps I'll go one day.  Only, what ever will I find when I get there?

The Good Old Days

It's another rare family photo from the vault!  Here's one that originally came from my great-aunt Kathryn Forthman-Porlick-Watson-Kimball (she was married 3 times during her life, hence the 4 surnames).  Here's the picture and what she wrote on the back of it:

"The Good Old Days.  Miami, FL, about 1933-34?  In the bow I see me (Kathryn-Pogy), Stormy Sr., Anabel, + Ethel.  I think Stormy Jr. is looking over my shoulder."

Anabel and Ethel are Kathryn's older sisters (also my grandmother Nadine's older sisters).  Here's a close-up of the scene featuring 3 of the five Forthman sisters:

The Maternal Line

It's mother's day, and that means everyone expects me to devote my Family Sunday post to my mother in some way.  I don't really feel like expounding upon memories of her that much, as she passed less than a year ago.  Perhaps someday I'll relate a few tales about her, but for the moment we'll go into a related tangent, my maternal line.



Annie Carney Littlefield
with sister Bridget (left)

Going strictly from mother to mother, my discoveries end with my great-great grandmother Annie Carney.  She was born circa 1853 in Northern Ireland, and immigrated to the United States after the Civil War.  Her parents were John Carney and Anna Nesbetter, and she had an older sister Bridget (who married a man surnamed Monteeth).

Annie married Henry Littlefield II (b. 1853), on February 19, 1873 in Chicago, Illinois.  The marriage license is signed by a Catholic Priest, which isn't surprising, since they were both Irish, and most Irish were faithful Catholics in those days.  Henry was the son of immigrants who had come over from the Emerald Isle sometime in the 1830's.  Henry and Annie had at least five sons: Joseph Henry (b. 1877), Alexander (b. 1884), John (1885), Alfred James (b. June 19, 1888), and Edward (b. April 1894).  They also had two daughters:  Anna Louise Littlefield (my great-grandmother, b. 1880), and Mary (b. Jan 1891).

We'll go over a few of the different Littlefield off-shoots some other time.  Today, we'll focus on the maternal line.



Grandma Nadine as a baby.



Anna Louise Littlefield married William E. Forthman sometime around 1900.  You can read about their numerous offspring in my previous Forthmans blog post here.  Their youngest child was my grandmother, Mary Nadine Forthman.

Nadine married John Julius Kirton in the early 1940's, and their daughter was my mother, Diana Elizabeth Kirton.

That's about it for now.  Everybody have a happy mother's day!

A Fistful of Forthmans

This "Family Sunday" post is all about the Forthmans. My mother's mother was one, so I can relate what I've been able to learn over the years, and from recent research.

The name originates from Germany. Common variants are Fortmann and Vortmann. The earliest ancestor that I've found in my particular line is Christoph Gebhard Forthmann, born sometime during the latter half of the 18th century in Lower Saxony, Germany. He married Anna Cathrine Brummerloh and they had a son also named Christoph (born circa 1804) in Bremen.

Christoph Forthman married Margaretha Schmidt (born 1806), and they had at least 7 children (Generation 3):
Christoph Gebhard (b. January 28, 1831)*
Frederick Christian Heinrich (my 2x great grandfather, b. June 9, 1832)**
Anna Margaretha (b. November 6, 1834)
Lucie Wihelmine (January 6, 1837),
Christoph (b. April 2, 1841)*
Ludwig (b. August 23, 1843)
Johann (b. February 23, 1845)

*The fact that two different sons were named Christoph may allude to the elder's early death, though I have not been able to determine if this is the case. There are instances where multiple children are given the same name (like Heavyweight Champion George Forman's 5 sons, all named George, but with different middle names). I have found that it was a common practice in many families to name their younger children after ones that had previously died. It no doubt helped them to cope with their loss.
---
**Recent discoveres have shed doubt on the lineage of Frederick Forthman.  There were apparently 2 men of the same name born in 1832 in Lower Saxony, so I cannot say with certainty that the above data pertains to my line.  The below data is more concrete and assuredly my family.  I welcome further insight into the origins of Frederick Forthman.

Okay, getting back to the Forthman family history...

Sometime before 1850, Frederick Forthman came to America from Lower Saxony. He first settled in Maryland, around Hagerstown, where he met and married Ann Creager. Ann died during the 1870's and Frederick then married Sarah Ellen Keefer (b. 1853) before 1880. He was working as a Hatter at that time.

I do not know how many of Frederick's siblings also immigrated, as I have not been able to positively identify any of them. It is possible they "Americanized" their names when they moved here, which only makes it harder. There was a "Christopher Fortman" living in Baltimore, MD in 1860, born circa 1832 in Hanover. This could be a match for Christoph Gebhard (census data is often imprecise), though there is insufficient data to tell for certain.

I do know that Frederick's mother, Margaretha, did move to the States at some point, as she was living with him in 1870.

Generation 4:



Frederick and Ann had the following children:

William E. Forthman
Circa 1940

Anna M. (b. 1860)

Frederick Bennard (b. October 17, 1861)

William Edward (my great grandfather, b. July 26, 1863 /Died 1947)

Ida May (b. December 6, 1865)

Sally (b. 1870)

Frederick and his second wife, Sarah Ellen Keefer, had the following children:

Ella Keefer (b. November 1, 1880 /Died March 23, 1884)

Ethel Adella (b. April 21, 1882)

Mabel Leona (b. February 2, 1885 /Died February 2, 1965)
Samuel Earle (b. February 28, 1887 /Died February 1970)
Lynn Keefer (.b August 29, 1892 /Died July 1975)

Generation 5:

Anna M. Forthman married Theodore W. Fahrney, and it doesn't appear they had any children.



William Edward Forthman moved to Chicago and married Anna Louise Littlefield (b. 1880). They had the following children:

Anna L. Forthman,
w/ William, Ethel, Anabell,
Kathryn, & Ruth
1911

Ethel O. (b. January 5, 1901 /Died April 1, 1988)

Anabell (b. January 22, 1903)

Ruth (b. September 18, 1905)

Kathryn Creager (b. October 6, 1906 /Died August 27, 1992)

William Edward, Jr. (b. August 7, 1910 /Died January 2, 1998)

Mary Nadine (my grandmother b. 1919)

Ethel Adella Forthman married William H. Burhans (b. 1884) and they had 3 sons:

William H. Jr. (b. September 11, 1909 /Died February 10, 1994)
Winslow (b. March 31, 1913 /Died September 4, 1990)
Frederick F. (b. 1917)

Lynn Keefer Forthman married Genevieve Harrison (b. February 14, 1898 /Died July 1974) and they had several children.

Generation 6:


Ethel Forthman Rassmusson
holding baby Ethel,
Christmas day, 1922
Houston, Texas.



Ethel O. Forthman married Harold Rassmusson, and they had at least one daughter, Ethel D. Rassmusson (b. November 13, 1922).

Kathryn Creager Forthman married Frank Porlick (b. September 18, 1894 /Died October 2, 1930). They had at least 2 children:

Renee Kathryn (b. September 10, 1928 /Died 1963), married Jack Carroll Dillon, Jr. (b. August 19, 1925 /Died 1997).

Robert (b. 1927)

After Frank Porlick's death, Kathryn married Blair Watson (b. February 18, 1899 /Died April 1965). After Blair's death, she married John Frederick "Fred" Kimball (b. March 16, 1912 /Died April 18, 1999). Though I never had the chance to meet Aunt Kathryn, I did have the opportunity to meet Fred back in the early 90s.

Mary Nadine Forthman married John Julius Kirton (b. February 4, 1918 /Died April 1967) and they had three children:
Clifton Wesley (b. August 8, 1944 /Died April 21, 2003)
Diana Elizabeth (my mother, b. December 8, 1945 /Died August 13, 2010)
Stephen (March 13, 1947 /Died September 19, 1998)

I have some interesting stories about Uncle Stephen, which I'll be sure to share at some point.

This is not the most comprehensive list, and like all of my other gene lines, it is a work in progress. Anyone with additional information is welcome to share it with me, as I continue to piece together my family history.