A couple of months ago, I wrote about my troubles confirming the parents of Mary Elizabeth Prince. I had found a census record from when Elizabeth was young, in which she was living with her parents, but I couldn't be sure it was the right family, because I didn't have anything definite linking her to her parents. I'm happy to say that that has changed.
On FamilySearch, I found a death record for an Elizabeth Peterson, who's father's name was Henry Prince. This is definitely my ancestor, since she has the right birth last name, married name, and birth year, and died in an area of Ontario that many of my ancestors on that side of the family lived in. And the father's name is Henry Prince, which matches the name of the father on that census record I'd found.
As further confirmation, that death record says that Elizabeth's mother's name was Elson. The census only had the first name, Sarah Jane, so this didn't prove anything right away. But then I found this 1881 census record for the family. It includes Henry and Sarah Jane, along with a bunch of their children (not Elizabeth, since she was already married), but it also includes two other people, whose relation to the family I can't be sure on since the 1881 census doesn't specify this. Their names are Mary Elson (age 75) and James Prince (age 33). Now we have the connection to the Elson surname. I wonder if Mary is Sarah Jane's mother. It certainly seems promising! And James could be a brother of Henry's, perhaps.
So, in conclusion, Henry Prince and Sarah Jane Elson are my great great great great grandparents! And I'm a tiny bit German! Neat! Genealogy can be such a satisfying hobby. :-)
No comments:
Post a Comment