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This was a trip my family took out West, from Southern Illinois, to see Mom's Aunt Loreas and her husband Vernon in the Summer of 1964. I was only three years old but I remember Uncle Vernon's car. The reason I remember it so well was that I got to ride in the front seat, (remember when three people could actually fit comfortably in the front seat?), because it was over the "hump," and was good enough for a kid. The adults all got to sit by doors where there weren't any humps. But, Vernon had one of those "add-on" air-conditioner units that fit under the dash just above the hump and I got to enjoy the cool air the best of anybody. This particular trip was a visit to the White Sands military base that was fairly close where Loreas and Vernon lived in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Aunt Loreas, really my Great Aunt Loreas, was my Mother's Mom's sister and she collected salt and pepper shakers. Her house was literally full of display cases full of them. Great Uncle Vernon had been a cook in his younger days on cattle drives and liked to go down to dog-racing tracks in Mexico and bet on the races. My family, this time just after my brother Matthew was born, was again visiting with Loreas and Vernon the day Elvis died in 1977.
My Mom's not in the picture, because as usual, she was the family photographer and hated getting her picture taken anyway.
My Great Uncle on Leave from The Western Front. Taken in my Great-grand Parents' garden in about 1917.
I've colourised it.
This is my Great Grandfather Tom, his wife Sophia and their family of seven boys and five girls. Tom and Sophia were my father's father's parents. I used to know which one was my grandfather but I don't like to say right now. (I'm pretty sure it was the chap sitting right beside my Great Grandfather Tom in the second row.)
Tom
Great grandfather Tom was in the English army and was a veteran of the Crimean War (1853-1856). It is said in the family that he met Florence Nightingale during the war. To the best of my knowledge there are no other surviving stories of his service. He immigrated to Canada circa 1860 and married Sophia whose maiden name was Trott.
Postscript: (August 2008) I was going through some of mother's stuff over the last few days and came across a newspaper clipping from 1980 in her effects. This clipping gave a bit more information regarding Great Grandfather Tom's service during the Crimean War.
It is a historical fact that dysentery was rampant among the British troops in the Crimean War and many British troops died from dysentery. According to the newspaper clipping, Great Grandfather Tom did contract dysentery but he managed to recover.
It is also a historical fact that sanitary conditions for the British soldiers in hospital in the Crimea were atrocious, and it was because of these atrocious conditions that many soldiers were dying. Florence Nightingale made her name by coming to the Crimea, taking control and improving these conditions. She undoubtably saved the lives of many British soldiers. Arguably, I wouldn't be here except for Florence Nightingale.
The newspaper article also said that at one point Great Grandfather Tom had been Florence Nightingale's mailman. Reading that kind of jogged my memory as I do recollect hearing that fifty or so years ago when I was visiting relatives in the Hillsburg area.
Sophia Trott
Sophia Trott was a member of two interconnected families (Toby and Trott) who came from England about 1840 to the Hillsburg/Erin area of Ontario where they remained for about thirty years until about 1870. At that time the whole extended Toby and Trott families moved to the Midwestern U.S. (Wisconsin sounds about right). When they moved they left behind only two members of the family. These were my great grandmother Sophia and her brother Will.
My great grandmother, Sophia, was left behind because she was already married to Thomas. Sophia was only seventeen and Thomas was forty-one when they married.
Will Trott was also left behind when the Toby and Trott families moved to the U.S. He was left behind because he had become a successful businessman by that time, and later became the Mayor of the town of St. Thomas in Ontario.
Tom (Sophia’s husband) lived to a reasonably old age but because of the difference in their ages Sophia was still fairly young when he passed on. She remarried after Tom died and the curious thing about that is that she remarried to a man who had the exact same name as her first husband – both the first and last name. This gentleman had also been previously married and had had a large family as had Sophia. The last name which I won’t mention just now is a fairly common one and I often think I am probably related to a lot of them either through Sophia’s first or second marriage.
Hello, Doug:
I am also a grand-grandson of Thomas Hall and Sophia Trott.
Briefly, Sophia's parents, James and Susan Trott, came from England as part of the Toby family, headed by Charles and Lydia Toby.Susan (Toby) Trott was the eldest daughter, and was already married to James Trott.The family settled in Hillsburgh, Erin Township, Wellington County, around 1850 and remained in the area for about 30 years.James and Susan had nine children, including Sophia.About 1880 most of the extended Toby and Trott family moved to Wisconsin, except for Sophia, who was already married to Thomas Hall and had a family, and William, an older brother who was already established in business, and who later became mayor of St. Thomas.
I can give you considerably more information off-line in the form of a GEDCOM file sent to me from relatives in Wisconsin - apparently the source of the family history was a lady named Rowena Larson in Wisconsin who wrote down what her older relatives told her.(The Ontario and Wisconsin branches of the family had lost touch entirely for almost a century - my mother, now 89, could remember a visit from a great-aunt from Wisconsin - until we made contact via the Internet last year.)My mother also knew "Uncle Will" Trott from several visits to Hillsburgh.
I have gotten behind in my family history research for the past year or so but would like to pick it up again.I now live in Toronto but spent part of my youth in Hillsburgh and have many relatives there.I would also be interested in any information you might have about Thomas Hall - I have
confirmed that he was born in Knapton, Norfolk, England to parents John Hall and Abigail Lynn in 1832, as this is recorded in the 1851 Norfolk census and matches the info on his death certificate in 1919, and I also know he was married to Sophia in 1870 and their first child soon followed (he was 41 while she was 17 at the time of their marriage), but there is a "gap" in between 1851 and 1870 - my mother says that family lore had him at Scutari Hospital with Florence Nightingale during the Crimean War as a kind of handyman or servant or assistant, but I haven't been able to confirm this.Good to hear from a second cousin!
This is a picture of my dad's family when he was a little boy. It was taken sometime in 1921 in Wahoo, Nebraska.
My grandfather, Albert Syverson, was Norwegian. My grandmother, Selma Larson was Swedish.
The children in the picture are my Aunt Irene in the upper center, my Aunt Edna to the right and my dad, the little boy in the front.
My grandparents would later have two more boys.
Please note that the copyright for this material remains with Library and Archives Canada. I have obtained a worldwide permission to display this material on my flickr website.
This Land Grant Petition does seem to confirm what has been passed down in the family – that Jesse Tarzwell was an English soldier who was wounded at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. In the application Jesse states that he was a private soldier of the 1st Foot Regiment. It is recorded here, www.britishbattles.com/waterloo/waterloo-casualties.htm that the 1st Foot Regiment fought at the Battle of Waterloo and had fifteen officers and one hundred and twenty-eight men killed and wounded. My understanding is that there were only about 23,000 British troops at the Battle of Waterloo. From what I have read the 1st Foot Regiment was also known as the Royal Scots. Jesse’s association with Chelsea Hospital would confirm that he was wounded. The Royal Hospital Chelsea, located in the Chelsea region of central London, England, is described here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Hospital_Chelsea.
There is a bit of a mystery in the Petition. According to the Petition, Jesse emigrated to the Colony six years before he made his land petition (i.e. in 1823) and it states that during that six years he married. I had always previously assumed that he had married in England before he emigrated. I have a feeling that he had a woman follow him here from England which would sort of be the same thing but the possibility is certainly raised that he met a woman here in Canada that he married. This would not be in keeping with the family’s oral history however which states that Jesse Tarzwell was the first of our ancestors to emigrate to Canada. At present I do not know either the given or maiden name of Jesse Tarzwell's wife or where she may have come from.
The Petition appears to have been prepared by a lawyer or perhaps some other learned person and affixed with Jesse’s signature. I have found it somewhat hard to understand in places and have done my best to transcribe it below. York is the former name of Toronto, Ontario.
To His Excellency
Sir John Colbourne (H,C,B,?) Lieutenant-Governor of the Province of Upper Canada and Major General commanding His Majesty’s Forces
Therein ? ? ?
Incouncil
The Petition of Jesse Tarzwell of the Township of Erin, in the County of Halton, in the District of ________, Pensioner,
Humbly ___________,
That your petitioner is a discharged private soldier from the 1st Rgt. of Foot and an out pensioner of Chelsea Hospital. ___________ which he receives from the proper office at this ____________ the directions of the Lords and Commissioners of said hospital.
That your petitioner emigrated at his own expense from England about six years ago to this colony with a view of settling therein since which period of time he got married and has a young family to support by his honest industry in addition to his small allowance of pension.
That your petitioner has not heretofor made application for land in this colony and being desirous of applying himself to the improvement and culture of wild land such as may be set apart for the location of claimants of his description. Therefore most humbly beseacheth your Excellency to make him a gratuitous grant of the usual allowance heretofore bestowed on disbanded soldiers of his description.
And as in duty bound with war pray (That's what it looks like to me anyway.)
Jesse Tarzwell
York, 25th March 1829
I have also found the following information from the National Archives of England:
Royal Hospital Chelsea: Soldiers Service Documents WO 97/237/60
JESSE TARGWELL Born MARK, Somerset Served in 1st Foot Regiment Discharged aged 25 . JESSE TARGWELL Born MARK, Somerset Served in 1st Foot Regiment Discharged aged 25 1st Foot: Sta - Twi
Date: 1813 - 1818
Source: The Catalogue of The National Archives
Royal Hospital, Chelsea: Discharge Documents of Pe... WO 121/220/109
JESSE TARGWELL. Born [Not Known]. Served in 1st Foot Regiment . Discharged aged [Not Known]. Original certificate of discharge missing. See film image 107. . JESSE TARGWELL. Born [Not Known]. Served in 1st Foot Regiment . Discharged aged [Not Known]. Original
Date: 1830
Source: The Catalogue of The National Archives
Jesse has signed his name Targwell on the Land Petition document as well. Somehow over the years the name has changed to Tarzwell. More information may become available since it is presently in the process of being digitized.
Jesse would have been thirty-seven years old when he applied for land in the then colony of Upper Canada.
I came across this on the Internet:
"During the Napoleonic Wars the (Royal Scots) Regiment was increased to a strength of four battalions. The 1st Battalion spent the entire period of the war in the Americas and the 2nd Battalion took part in the capture of Egypt (1801), then moved to the West Indies (1803-05), before travelling to India, the first time that any part of the Regiment had been there. They were to stay until 1831. In contrast the 3rd and 4th Battalions remained in Europe, with the 4th Battalion on home service until 1812 supplying drafts for the other three battalions. The 3rd Battalion first saw action at Corunna in 1808 and then took part in the Peninsular War. There followed the Battles of Quatre Bras and Waterloo which cost the battalion 363 casualties out of a strength of 624. Two years later it was disbanded; the 4th Battalion having suffered a similar fate the previous year."
It follows that Jesse Tarzwell was in the 3rd Battalion of the 1st Regiment of Foot or the Royal Scots and that he also likely saw action at the Battle of Quatre Bras which was fought just two days before the Battle of Waterloo. Three hundred and sixty-three casulaties out of a strength of six hundred and twenty-four (fifty-eight per cent) would appear to be a rather high casualty rate
And another snippet from the Internet:
"The following year, the 3rd Battalion the Royal Scots participated in the historic battle of Quatre-Bras and they were also engaged at Waterloo, where they recaptured from the French one of the key positions on the battlefield, the farmhouse of La Haye Sainte."
Postscript (September 2017)
Some months ago I was contacted by a chap whose surname was Tarzwell and whose grandfather had come from Hillsburgh. He stated that he could not say for sure that Jesse Tarzwell was one of his forebears but given that his grandfather came from Hillsburgh my feeling is that he is almost certainly descended from Jesse Tarzwell.
Regardless he stated that he had done a paper on Jesse Tarzwell some twenty years previously while he was attending university and he gave me some information he had uncovered while researching the paper. He stated that the information came from the Archives of Canada and from a lady in Ann Arbour, Michigan. He encouraged me to contact this lady in Ann Arbour and I did make some attempts to find a phone number but to no avail. He, himself, had not spoken to this woman for twenty years, so I assumed in the meantime she had moved, or had obtained an unlisted number or perhaps passed on.
Regardless he gave me information that I found interesting and I very much thank him for providing this information. The information is as follows:
•Jesse married a lady called Mary Mariah Ried in Kingston On in the late 1820's.
•She appears on the Censuses in 1850 from Hillsborough (sic), ON, which is just outside of Erin, ON.
•Mary was born in Ireland, as indicated on the census picture. They met in Kingston.
•Jesse looked for land around Perth - Perth Military Settlement, and Kingston, before settling in Erin.
•Jesse was an out pensioner from Chelsea, which means he had a monthly pension. What happened is it didn't follow him to Canada, and the records mostly relate to his years of pleading to have it started, and then after it was reinstated, more pleading for his back pay, which was never granted.
Some two hundred years later I have to admit to some pangs of sympathy for my ancestor given that it seems he never received his back pay.
I was rather glad to get the information regarding Mary Mariah Ried as I previously knew nothing of her. She may have been born in Ireland but Ried (or as it is more commonly spelled, Reid) is a Scottish surname and was common around Aberdeen in Scotland according to the limited research I have done.
Once again I thank my Tarzwell benefactor for taking the time to send me this information.