FINDING SUSANNA

George and Susan (Sherwood) Ashdown

In going through old family photos from the Sherwood family, I came across this photo of a man and woman. On the back of the photo it says that this is George and Susan Ashdown and that she is Richard, James and John's sister.   I knew that Richard, John and James were the Sherwood brothers who had come to the United States in the mid-1850's along with their father, Samuel, from Kent County, England.  I had known of the brothers for many years and have a few letters about them in the stacks.  This was the first indication that there had also been a sister. She has been a bit of a mystery. 

 

I recently traveled to Salt Lake City on the sad occasion of Homer Sherwood's death.  Homer was a beloved first cousin to my parents.  Attending the service marking the celebration of his life also provided an opportunity to connect again with many cousins from several generations.  I got to catch up on some of their lives and also to introduce some of them to our interesting shared family history.  Another blessing was also that I got to meet and visit with another Vandervort distant cousin with whom I am friends with through the internet. This very hospitable family also works at the LDS Family History Library in Salt Lake.

I only had a little time to spend at the Library but was able to document a little more information about the distant great aunt who is pictured above.  I knew that Richard, James and John had come to the US from Kent County, England in the mid-1800's.  I also knew that Richard and John had fought for the Union during the US Civil War. But I had never heard anything of the sister until this photo surfaced.  Being at the FH Library, I was able to access international records which I can't do from home since I don't want to pay the extra fees.

 Richard William Sherwood 1829-1889 - 1 of the 3 brothers of Susanna Sherwood Ashdown.

As I have worked my way through the various census and family records, it appears that what happened is that John, the oldest brother, was the first of the three brothers to emigrate to the US.  He must have emigrated in late 1846 or very early 1847 as on September 19th of that year he married Ann Williams in Palmyra, New York.  Their first child, a girl, was named Harriett.     

Richard Sherwood, John's brother, married Mary Ann Gulvin on January 3, 1851 at the East Sutton church in England, ceremony performed by Rev. George William Watson.  They left for America four months later and it appears that the younger brother James moved with them.  Samuel Sherwood shows up in the 1851 as a widower.

  William Richard Sherwood 1859-1929 - son of Richard William Sherwood, nephew of Susan  Sherwood Ashdown and brother of Susannah Sherwood Pratt.

Susanna Sherwood Ashdown had a niece, Susannah Sherwood, born in America, who it appears was named for the Susanna who stayed behind.  The younger Susannah, who went by Susie, married Arthur Pratt of Johnstown Center, Wisconsin.  Due to her chronic illness (consumption?) she only lived to her early 30's and had no children.  The link above will take you to a letter that she wrote to her step mother (and aunt) talking about her life.  Her husband Arthur was reported to be a loving and thoughtful man who later married again and had several children from that marriage. Susannah had one sister older than herself, Esther, named for her maternal grandmother.   Esther and Susannah were born in Marion Township, NY which was just a few miles from Palmyra.  When the Richard Sherwood Family joined the John Sherwood family in America, they stayed for 4-5 years in New York.  During the spring of 1856 the Sherwood Families moved to Lemonweir, Wisconsin and after the Civil War they moved to the farm just outside of Kendall where members of the family continued to own the land for about 150 years.

I found that the 1841 English census is the last time the family is seen together.  Samuel, the father and the two older children, Susannah and John, are shown living in Cucumber Hale cottage.  Harriett and the two younger children, Richard and James, are next door at what looks like Ransom Park cottage.  I know that when the census takers came around they listed people wherever they happened to be at the time.  So perhaps Harriet worked next door for the homeowner and the younger children were with her. 

1841 census with all known family members.

Harriett doesn't seem to appear in the 1851 census and Samuel is listed as a "widower" so this seems to be why she did not emigrate with the other family members.  Having to take care of estate details could also be the reason that Samuel did not leave at the same time as his sons.  Susanna doesn't show up in the 1851 census although George appears to be listed as married but no wife is named at that residence. We do not know if Susanna Sherwood Ashdown was married before she married George Ashdown and had grown children that had homes of their own at later census takings, or whether they simply had no children.  So far I haven't found her in the 1851 or 1861 English census and by the time she shows up in the 1871 and 1881 censuses, married to George, a lot of time has passed since she is last found in the 1841 census.   

1871 census with George and Susan Ashdown 

1881 census with George and Susan Ashdown

 All these old pioneering families are hearty souls who faced a myriad of trials in search of their goals.  I imagine that originally Harriet planned to travel with them.  Or maybe the loss of their anchoring wife and mother was the catalyst for the men seek better fortunes here in America.  The Sherwood sister Susanna stayed in England, but it's nice to be able to reach across the miles and the and the one and a half centuries and acknowledge her place in the family!

1952 Salt Lake City Flood

This letter below was written by my Great Aunt and Uncle, George and Atha (Farnham) Sherwood and sent to my Grandparents, Herman and Susan Sherwood Weber who lived in Kendall, Wisconsin.  The letter mostly talks about the Salt Lake City Flood of 1952.  The letter describes their first-hand experiences and observations.  This is a public domain photo of the Jordan River that was the route of the flood waters. It's not too relevant, but it's always nice to have a photo on a blog post : -).   The scattered references to Orry (Orion), Homer, Richard and Georgie, are regarding their sons.  Great Uncle George worked for the post office and, although it is likely obvious to most, his reference to ship is aircraft. 

Salt Lake City, UT;
May 15, 1952

[Begins with Atha’s handwriting]

Dear Susan:-

Just got back this evening about 6 o’clock from W.S.C.S. convention in Montrose, Colorado and was glad to find a letter from you but sorry not to have written you sooner about the floods etc. Hadn’t found time to write Orry and Barbara much so asked Hattie if she would call them as she went through Chicago and relieve their minds until I could get a letter off to them.

Have been trying so hard to get a few things done which have been hanging on so long and been a big worry since I just couldn’t seem to ever get at them to get them out of the way. Will tell you all about them when I get back there as it’s easier to talk than write and I’ll probably have more time then. Have two more projects I’d like to complete so very much before our vacation and the one at the Church just about must be done before I leave.

We have all been so very fortunate in that none of us have been damaged by the floods though it came within a block north of us and the neighbors, including George, worked until late into the night damming it off with sandbags and turning it back into the river still raging about 3 ft deep and about the width of the street down 13th South. They have now built a bridge across 13th South and Main street so the traffic can get through without going so far around as they had to do for several weeks. They have also made banks of sand about 5 feet high all along 13th South now in hopes it will take care of anything coming down from now on.  Have also had a few cold days and nights which have slowed up the thawing of snow in some places and helped a great deal.

They have dredged the Jordan river (and also the surplus canal) to lower the bottom and piled it along the banks to raise the height of the banks so they will carry all the water possible and have the situation pretty well under control now so we are hoping it will not spread to damage any more than it already has. It really is just too bad for the many homes and places who are flooded and evacuated and I feel so sorry for them but am so glad that all of the evacuees places did not get it as was feared when they were ordered to evacuate.

One night it came up into Richard’s front yard but not bad and their neighborhood was able to sandbag it off and now it isn’t bothering in that neighborhood.

Homer was fortunate enough to be a block north of the district evauated so he hasn’t had any flood trouble and only trouble with the water table rising so that it raised through the floor in his basement but again he was very fortunate as he and Dad hadn’t had time to pour a cement floor in his basement yet so they made a sump and put in an automatic sump pump and it is taking care of it very nicely.

Will explain in more details about it all when we see you. But unless something unexpected happens things seem to be under control now so that it is hoped it will not spread farther to do more damage.

As to how things are going to work out for Georgie so we can plan accordingly we will not know yet for a few days.

[Switches to George’s handwriting]

Dear Susan, Herman and all. On my lunch time at the airport and must hurry if get this off on trip 134. If this is pretty disconnected forgive as the boys have radio on pretty loud and it ain’t music either.

Anyhow, we still plan to leave here for Wisconsin June 7 as early as possible. Sort of expect to come through via Casper Wyo and through Sparta, but may decide to reverse and come in via Chicago and go back that or some other way. Will depend on how much time – if any – George has to be with us and when. Orion & Babs can come up to Kendall for a weekend if at all. So far not at all sure that there will be more than the old folks -- Dora, Guy, Atha & I. And reason I have not written sooner is partly uncertainly of my own position. An order forbidding further extension of annual leave privileges during June and rest of May came out, but our office expects to be able to accommodate me since I made verbal application over 2 months ago and posted probable dates of absence on the sheet at the Airport. This may still not work out if conditions of finances for balance of fiscal year becomes tighter.

As ship will soon be here must hurry on. We expect to have funds available for trip east so suggest you wait until we arrive then if we run into difficulty we can perhaps borrow what we need for return trip. Ha! Ha! Sounds ominous for you, if you are ever to get rid of us. That that way we can better gauge requirements and will not be carrying all eggs in one basket. Thanks for offer of loan – may have to after we arrive in Kendall, but hold until we see.

Bye - bye - ship here

Lovingly,

George, Atha and Family

New Immigrants Fought for the Union

One of the surprises that I have had in learning about my family's past is that my father had two grandfathers who had immigrated to Wisconsin in the mid-1800's who fought for the Union in the Civil War. They must have had some pretty strong motivation in the middle of making their way in a new country to put down their plowshares to pick up swords. Both men were farmers near what is now the Kendall and Elroy part of Wisconsin.

Richard William Sherwood, my grandmother's grandfather, Enlisted in Co. E, 1st Wisconsin Heavy Artillery on August 19, 1864. He mustered out on June 5, 1865. Philip Weber, my grandfather's father, enlisted in Co. B, 17th Wiconsin Infantry. He was in from November of 1864 to July 29,1865.

Richard Sherwood had come to American from Kent County,England in 1851 when he was 21 years old. He was first married in England to Mary Ann Gulvin with whom he had seven children, and later in Wisconsin to her sister, Grace Gulvin, with whom he had three more. Philip Weber had come to America from Germany in 1853 when he was 22 years of age. He also had consecutive wives, Alberdian Doerning and Louise Retzloff and had four children with his first and seven with his second. Apparently there was slightly less risk to survival if you went off to war than if you were staying at home raising children (she says tongue-in-cheek).

These families converged when my grandmother Susan Sherwood, granddaugther of Richard, married Herman Weber, son of Philip Weber. They had a much smaller flock of only four children.

In both cases the pioneering families had come to American and had rented or bought farms in which they had invested much of their resources in the decade before they were called to serve their new country.

They must have seen something worth preserving when they looked at the civil war tearing at the fabric of their adopted homeland. Each of them answered the call. Fortunately both lived to turn their swords back into plowshares and lived long lives, surrounded by family in the green, rolling hills of Monroe and Juneau counties in wonderful Wisconsin.