Like Father, Not Like Son

Applications for passports are digitized and offered online through sites such as Fold3 and Ancestry.  Even if you think that your family stayed in the same place and never left the United States, search for them in the passports.

I found the passport application for my great-great-great grandfather, John R Winterton.  This provided me with his date and place of birth:  December 3, 1831 in New York City.  We are also provided with his signature!  We share a birthday!

It is important to note that "Jr" follows John R Winterton's name.  Do not assume that this indicates that John shared a name with his father.

I John R Winterton Jr do swear
that I was born in the City of New York on
or about the 3rd day of December 1831,
that I am a citizen of the United States, and am about to travel abroad.
Sworn to before me
this 12 day of June
1849
Notary Public, New York.

The bottom of the page is the attestation from John's father that the above information is correct.  His name is Samuel Winterton.  We get his signature as well!

I Samuel Winterton do swear that I am
acquainted with the above named Jno R Winterton Jr (my son)
and with the facts above stated by him, and that the same are true, to the
best of my knowledge and belief.
Sworn to before me
this 12 day of June
1849.
Notary Public, New York.

Based on John R Winterton's use of "Jr," we can now look for a family member in an older generation with this name, such as an uncle.

I do not know if John sailed abroad.  In 1855 he married Sophia Walling in Raritan Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey.  In the 1860 federal census, the growing family was living in nearby Matawan.  (The names and borders of these locations have changed over the years and that is a study unto itself.)

Bishops of Morris County, New Jersey

For several weeks, on Amanuensis Monday, I posted pictures of handwritten records along with my transcription, of the contents of the family file for Bishop found at the New York State Library in Albany, New York.  As I uncover my Bishop line back in time, one generation at a time, I hope to link up with one of those documented Bishop lines (and continue researching).

The most recent Bishop in my family line was Minnie Caroline Bishop, my great great grandmother.  Minnie was born in Newark, New Jersey about 1866 and died in Newark in 1910.  She is buried with her parents and siblings at Evergreen Cemetery in Hillside, Union County, New Jersey.

List of burials in plot owned by William R Bishop
Courtesy of Evergreen Cemetery
located in Hillside, Union County, New Jersey

Minnie was one of several children born to William Reuben Bishop and Susan Jennie Marsh.

William Reuben Bishop was born in the 1840s in Morris Township, Morris County, New Jersey, to Reuben Bishop and Susan Ayers.  The earliest child I have found for this couple is Mary Bishop, born about 1836.  Reuben died in after the 1850 census.  I do not know where he is buried.  Susan remarried in 1860 in Newark to Enos Whitehead and died in 1890.

My strategy at this time is to uncover more records in Morris County on Bishops prior to 1860.  I need to find a record of the marriage of Reuben Bishop to Susan Ayers, probably in the mid 1830s.  There are some Bishop burials at the First Presbyterian Church in Morristown that I need to explore.  I have two possibly relevant wills probated in Morris County in 1823.  One is for Rachel Bishop, where she names two daughters, Elizabeth Smith and Mary Jones, and a son, William Bishop.  The other will is by Reuben Bishop and mentions brothers, Calvin Luther Mills and Abner Bishop.

Amanuensis Monday: John Bishop of Guilford, Connecticut 1639

Transcriptions continue for hand-written notes found in the BISHOP family file at the New York State Library in Albany.

John Bishop, one of the founders of Guilford 1639.

Probably born in England and was at least 45 years old when he came here.  He married Ann before coming.  Died in Guilford Jan 1660.  She in April 1676.  His son was

John Bishop Jr.  Died in Guilford Oct 1683.  His son was

Nathaniel Bishop.  Born in Guilford 1666.  Died in Guilford May 1, 1717.  His son was

Ebenezer Bishop.  Born in Guilford Sept 22, 1701.  Died Jan 26, 1788.  His son was

James Bishop.  Born in Guilford Jan 3, 1745.  Died Jan 16, 1832.  He was a Rev. Army Soldier.  His son was

Jonathan Bishop.  Born in Guilford Aug 28, 1783.  Died in Guilford Dec 20, 1852.  His son was

David C. Bishop.  Born in Guilford May 7, 1814.  Died in Branford Nov 18, 1884.  My grandfather.

Thanks to Jan Franco for posting headstones at Find A Grave.