52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 3 - Out of Place - Peter York Carter #52Ancestors

 My great uncle, Peter York Carter, is a perfect study for being out of place.  He was the son of my 2nd great grandparents, William Furlsbury Carter and Sarah York.  He was born in Maine in 1832 and ended up in Utah in 1851.  

A few years ago I realized no one had really done much in the way of researching him so I decided to see if I could put together a complete life story on him.

The basic story is that when his father, William Furlsbury Carter, returned from his mission to India in 1853, his son Peter decided he had had enough of the LDS church in general and Utah in particular and left for the greener hills of California.  He followed the path of the brothers of one of his father's wives hoping to strike it rich in California.

My research was progressing fine until I hit a brick wall about 1857 when Peter seemed to just disappear.  I just simply lost him until about 1865 when he again surfaced. I let things rest for a while and one day a hit appeared at Ancestry for Peter and of all things it was a reference to San Quinten Prison Records!

Yes, Peter disappeared when he as convicted of Grand Larceny and sent to San Quinten on October 6, 1857 on a sentence of 5 years. Obviously Peter had some issues and so to compound his problem, on August 7, 1861 (with a little over a year to go on his sentence) he actually escaped from prison.  His freedom didn't last that long as he was rearrested on April 27, 1862 and sent back to prison.  He was finally discharged on June 7, 1863 almost a year later than his original release date.

So Peter, you win the prize for being out of place - more than once it appears!

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 2 - Favorite Photo- My Dad #52Ancestors

 

My favorite photo is a photo of my father, Joseph James Givens, as he went to work at the Bingham copper mine in Douglas, Arizona in 1929.  Fortunately he was a miner for only a short time.  I mean his father had been a hard rock gold miner and had died in a mine explosion about 11 years earlier.

Why this outfit?  I would imagine it was to keep him from breathing the rock dust and getting miner's lung.  My mother's father got miner's lung working in coal mines as a young man.  Let's just say mining was a dangerous business.

In any case this unique photo has to be my favorite!

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 1 - I'd like to Meet - Hannah Eck

 So why would I want to meet my 3rd great grandmother - Hannah Eck?  Because I don't know who her parents are and it is driving my crazy.  Hannah Eck was born 13 Feb 1791 and died on 1 May 1862 in Columbia County, Pennsylvania.  She married my ancestor John Sands (1788 - 1858) about 1810 and were the parents of 7 children that we know of.   The Sands were a prominent family in Columbia County and several of her grandchildren were written up in Battle's History of Columbia and Montour Counties (1887).  She is even mentioned in some of the articles and in one it states she came from an early Briar Creek family and her father was a plasterer before he moved there and retired.

I have searched dand searched for her family and have gethered a ton of Eck/Egg genealogy but have no conclusive evidence of her family.  But...well I do have some guesses that my dear ancestor Hannah could verify for me.  I have found one Eck family in Columbia County - a woman I presume is the mother (Catherine) and 4 sons:

John Eck b. about 1774 and d. 8 July 1833 in Loyalstock, Lycoming, PA

Joseph Eck b. abt 1777-1787 and d. about 27 Oct 1855 in Berwick, Columbia, PA

David Eck b. about 1780

Samuel Eck b. 15 Nov 1786 and d. 12 Jul 1870 in Catawissa, Columbia, PA

This family is found in a series of land grants that were given out by the Penn family to early settlers of the colony.  This family filed several ajacient claims along Fishing and Loyalstock Creeks.  The following hand-drawn map shows these properties.

This map show the 5 adjacent grants given out to Catherine, John, Joseph and a Peter Eck.  I have no idea who Peter is at this point.

But since this is the only Eck family in Columbia county in the time of Hannah Eck they have to be related to her.

So Hannah - when you are ready for me just say the word and we will get together!

#52Ancestors