Comments for a genealogist's sketchbook

Comment on an early private English grant of arms: Mackworth by Nat Taylor

Nat Taylor — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 01:01:08 +0000

No, I can’t write to the current baronet: the baronetcy of Mackworth of Normanton went extinct in 1803, when Sir Henry Mackworth, 7th Baronet, died in London (at the Charterhouse, a famous almshouse sited in the old Carthusian monastery). I’m not sure who the heir general of the Mackworths of Normanton is, but it would be a good exercise to figure it out.

Comment on Instant Heirlooms: an early Taylor will (sort of) by Nat Taylor

Nat Taylor — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 00:52:34 +0000

One postscript: I did exercise due diligence to be sure this was not recently pilfered from a Virginia archival collection. The colonial probate files from Richmond County are still held by that county’s Circuit Court (seat: Warsaw, Virginia), but what survives is a series of ledger volumes (’Will Books’) with transcriptions and court actions only–no originals. Some loose originals were sent from Richmond to the Library of Virginia many years ago (perhaps mid 20th c.), but (a conversation with an archivist at the LoV revealed) this material is only post Revolution: there is no run of colonial documents. So I’m satisfied that this document was in private hands in recent decades–possibly ever since it was recorded in 1748 (a copy does exist in the appropriate Will Book); or perhaps it was among loose original probate papers kept by the county but lost or alienated too long ago for any knowledge of it. It is odd that the clerk did not endorse the document itself (an original will often bore an attestation that the clerk recorded it–which was also transcribed into the Will Book version at the end of the will), but this document exactly fills two sides of the page and the clerk may have simply left it off, or it may have been put on a second leaf of a bifolium which was later cut down to a single leaf.

Comment on mystery man in a mourning brooch by Nat Taylor

Nat Taylor — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 17:52:10 +0000

Joey066, thank you for this comment. I don’t have a good reference that dates styles so precisely (things I could find online, and in one of Maureen Taylor’s books on dating photographs by clothing styles, seemed vaguer than the detail you’re giving). Can you recommend a good source on this, for men’s styles, women’s styles, or both?

I should say the mourning brooch has a beveled clear-glass back, but all that’s visible beneath it is black fabric. Not sure whether that’s a memento of the man, or something put there in place of the lock of hair or whatever.

Comment on mystery man in a mourning brooch by joey066

joey066 — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 01:30:52 +0000

I think you are off about 10 years on the first picture. With the hairstyle (covering the ears), and the oversized jacket, this photo I suspect is circa 1858-1864. Any earlier a beard and the longish hair would be unusual, and any later the tie would be more loose fitting, with a smaller jacket.
–Great pics, thanks!
Joe Cook

Comment on cousin Wilbur’s B-24 nose art — update by a genealogist’s sketchbook › more on ‘Lady Lightning’

a genealogist’s sketchbook › more on ‘Lady Lightning’ — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 04:05:36 +0000

[…] posting this picture of Lady Lightning, a B-24 that went down over the Netherlands on 15 August 1944, I have heard from two people near […]

Comment on Samuel Harmon’s commission by a genealogist’s sketchbook › Instant Heirlooms: an early Taylor will (sort of)

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 03:39:41 +0000

[…] also bears a fine British crown watermark (similar to the one on my wife’s ancestor’s colonial militia commission) which shows the paper may well have been made under contract for use in colonial courts or by […]

Comment on Alexander Magruder — how strong is the case for his parentage? by Nat Taylor

Nat Taylor — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 17:21:03 +0000

Thanks, Amberleigh. Yes, I know something of the ‘fighting’ that goes on to get various immigrants — especially ones with highfalutin names like ‘Howard’ or ‘Neville’) recognized as having noble ancestry. I also descend from Matthew Howard of Maryland, whose putative Tudor ancestry is expounded in a bad historical novel.

No, I haven’t read Sue Emerson’s book, which is:Sue Emerson and Don McGrouther, Wha’s Like Us? Magruders in America; MacGrouthers in Scotland before 1855 (Kent, Washington [?], 2007). Hopefully I will get a chance to. From what I see about it on line, she successfully refutes the old idea that the Magruders are McGregors (this was already disproved by Kurz & Magruder, but they soft-pedaled it because of the implications for the ‘American Clan Gregor Society’). What’s less well done by Kurz & Magruder is to build the circumstantial case connecting Alexander Magruder of Maryland to Alexander Magruder of Craignech and Inchiffray, and more explicitly to Margaret Campbell. I look forward to seeing Sue’s book.

Brice Clagett, who died just within the last few months, had prepared a massive book documenting all his ancestry for 20 generations, including seven or eight generations behind Alexander Magruder. I have seen this in manuscript and it’s well done. Unfortunately no one in the genealogical community knows whether any plans were put in place for posthumous publication of Brice’s painstaking work.

Comment on Sutton & Clonard: a case study in genealogical fantasy by a genealogist’s sketchbook › More on the Conde de Clonard

a genealogist’s sketchbook › More on the Conde de Clonard — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 05:50:03 +0000

[…] Conde de Clonard has penned a predictable response to an earlier entry in my blog in which I made note of his absurd genealogical claims. The best part of his rant is that it […]

Comment on Alexander Magruder — how strong is the case for his parentage? by amberleigh

amberleigh — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 18:12:02 +0000

Hello, I am a distant cousin. I am related through a daughter of Joseph Magruder (wife Catherine Fleming) a son of Samuel Magruder (1708-1786) and Margaret Jackson. My line went south into Tennessee.

Anyways, I have about given up on the Magruders because no one seems to agree on anything! I like the idea that Alexander was a Magruder and a Drummond, not a MacGregor (that just makes more sense historically), but now the dispute on who Alexander Magruder’s parents were really gives me a headache. That was the only line I thought I had 100% back to the old country. (I also have Nevilles, Bacons, Warrens, Liddalls, and Howards so you can imagine the fighting that goes on in those lines to get them back to royalty)

Honestly, I don’t care if I am royal or not. I just want it correct. (I’d prefer to be merchant class and bourgeois, Chaucer is more interesting than the Black Prince in my opinion) Who do you think is the best authority concerning the Magruders and when will all of this finally be put to rest? Have you read Sue Emerson’s book?

Comment on Proofs of nobility for British abroad: the Hepburn diploma by Nat Taylor

Nat Taylor — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 18:17:51 +0000

@onthefringe: Thanks for your comment and the link to Fritz Loll’s page on the Hepburn/Hebrons. I am not sure it will be possible to discover the calumnies mentioned in the letter, which may have been something of a conventional justification for creation of the testimonial.

Comment on Proofs of nobility for British abroad: the Hepburn diploma by onthefringe

onthefringe — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 06:07:44 +0000

I came across your fascinating blog while attempting to find out more about the Hepburn connection with Damnica, Poland (German: Damnitz Hebron)in connection with a book which I have been traslating into English. According to the author, this Hebron branch died out towards the end of the 18th century. I will find out when I next meet the author, what this is based on, but there is an interesting article in German available online http://www.loll-fritz.de/hebron.htm, and I suppose that the Museum of Central Pomerania in Slupsk http://www.muzeum.slupsk.pl/i1uk.htm might be a good source of information. I should be very interested in knowing more about the calumnies against Daniel Hepburn.

Comment on Proofs of nobility for British abroad: the Hepburn diploma by a genealogist’s sketchbook › Sutton & Clonard: a case study in genealogical fantasy

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 19:15:42 +0000

[…] 1616, allegedly issued by King James VI & I for use in the duchy of Stettin-Pomerania, see another blog post here. This image, from Clonard’s website, is of a typical 18th-century-style rendering of the […]

Comment on cousin Wilbur and the ‘Scrubbed Goose’ (NSFW [!]) by a genealogist’s sketchbook › cousin Wilbur’s B-24 nose art — update

Tue, 11 Mar 2008 15:00:01 +0000

[…] to my post and queries about cousin Wilbur’s (S/Sgt Wilbur F. Whiting, USA) sketch for the Scrubbed Goose, the helpful folks over on the message boards at armyairforces.com haven’t been able to […]

Comment on sewing for the 8th Air Force by a genealogist’s sketchbook › cousin Wilbur and the ‘Scrubbed Goose’ (NSFW [!])

Fri, 08 Feb 2008 18:20:00 +0000

[…] Wilbur’s Air Service Command patch got me to go back over the fragments of his war memorabilia to flesh out his service. He was in […]

Comment on [De] Vere Stapleton: a bolt from the blue by a genealogist’s sketchbook › new html register-style reports

a genealogist’s sketchbook › new html register-style reports — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 18:36:42 +0000

[…] recently written a brief report (not for publication) on the descendants of Vere Stapleton (on him see previously in this blog). Thought I’d post a separate link to it since I’ve been working on its style & […]