Mary Ann Hall's Marriage to "Tho" French Most Likely Incorrect

For years it has been recorded in Hall family records that Thomas Hall's sister, Mary Ann Hall, married a "Tho" French. I searched for the marriage record and found it. A Mary Ann Hall and a Tho French were married 28 May 1826 in Newton Longville, Buckingham, England.[1] I looked at a map of England and noticed that Buckinghamshire is a fair distance away from Liverpool. I found it unlikely that a twenty-year-old girl would have married a man as far away as Buckinghamshire, especially when it is much more common for a couple to marry in the wife's parish. Therefore, I decided to disprove that this marriage record was pertinent to our Mary Ann Hall (1806).

The first step I took, which proved successful, was to search specifically for another Mary Ann Hall, but this time I searched for her in Buckinghamshire. I found her! She was christened 15 Jul 1804 in Newton Longville, Buckingham, England. Her father was listed as Rob. Hall and her mother as Eliz.[2] It is understandable that someone may have assumed this was the same Mary Ann since the parent's names are the same. But, all the evidence together, including the distance between the two locations, makes a very good case that our Mary Ann Hall was not married to Tho French. Therefore, we are back at square one in our search for Mary Ann.


[1] 28 May 1826 marriage for Mary Ann Hall and Tho French, Newton Longville, Buckingham, England. Familysearch.org, accessed 12 Sep 2013.  Film number 599898.

[2] 15 Jul 1804 christening for Mary Anne Hall, Newton Longville, Buckingham, England, Familysearch.org, accessed 12 Sep 2013. Film number 599898.

Picking Back Up

After a summer break from research on the Hall Family I am finally picking it back up. This semester I will be focusing on the siblings of Thomas Hall. There are just a few pieces of information about them, aside from their christening records which I have already found, that we know. It may be tricky finding them since they have common first and last names, but hopefully we will have a couple of breakthroughs!

Here is a list of Thomas' siblings:

Thomas Hall: born/christened: 18 Dec 1801/ 17 Jan 1802

William Hall: born/christened: 17 Jun 1804/ 8 Jul 1804

Mary Ann Hall: born/christened: 21 May 1806/ 26 Sep 1806

Joseph Hall: born/christened: 4 Oct 1808/ 30 Oct 1808

Robert Hall: born/christened: 19 Dec 1810/ 6 Jan 1811

Mary Jane Hall: born/christened: 1812 or 1813/ 19 Jan 1813

Henry Hall: born/christened: Abt. 1815/ 13 Aug 1815

Thomas Hall (ours): 1 Sep 1816/ 29 Dec 1816

Robert Hall: born/christened: Abt. 1818/ 2 Nov 1818

Mary Ann Hall supposedly married "Tho" French and Joseph Hall supposedly married a "Catherine". Joseph also died about 1847. I will begin researching these two siblings since the most is known about them.

Henry Hall and Robert Hall (either or both) supposedly died young. There is a chance the first Thomas (1801) also died young which is why there is another child named Thomas (1816). This may be the case with the first Robert as well. Death and burial dates given for the second Robert and Henry have not been verified.

If you know anything about this family, please let me know!

Cheers!

Research Goal: Robert Hall's Parents

At the beginning of this semester I mentioned that my primary goal in researching the family of Robert Hall was to find who his parents were. I have not had success with my research as far as that goal goes. One piece of information I find interesting is in Pioneers and Prominent Men of Utah, by Frank Essholm. In a short paragraph about Thomas Hall is says that his father was Robert Hall, of Scotland.[1] I am not sure what Essholm's source was. The book was published in 1913. It is a possibility that Robert did come from Scotland, which is why Thomas Hall didn't know his grandparent's names. I am not certain if there is a way to track Robert back to Scotland, probably in the 1790s, but that would be a project after I learn more about researching in Scotland.

Even though I have not been successful in finding Robert's parents yet, I do feel I had success in finding William Hall, the second child of Robert and Elizabeth. It is a privilege to help complete a family! Hopefully, I will have further success in the future in following the other children of Robert and Elizabeth. Cheers!

[1] Essholm, Frank, Pioneers and Prominent Men of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, Utah pioneers book publishing company, 1913. Pg. 909.

Interesting Tidbits about Thomas Hall (1816)

There have been a few pieces of information about Thomas Hall floating around the internet that I couldn't see a source for, but then I was able to find the information on a single piece of paper labeled "History of Thomas Hall", written by his son, Samuel Parley Hall. I was going to type the whole history here, but it is long enough that I have decided to wait to put it up on a website that will be created for the Robert Hall family. I will, however, quote from it here and add in some links and background information relating to the subjects.

"Thomas Hall was born in Liverpool, England, September 1, 1816 of humble parentage. He never attended school a day in his life. His education came from the school of experience, which was a hard one."

[1] Thomas Hall's christening record

"When he was eleven years of age his father died, and he was forced to go out to work."... "Thomas Hall joined the Methodist Church and served as an apprentice for seven years. His trade was that of an Iron Molder"

*In between these two facts it relates that Thomas married Ann Cory (Ann Correy) in 1832, when he was 16. I have found the marriage record for Thomas and Ann "Currey" which was in 1835. He would have been 19. Often times, if a family was in need of help from the local parish because they were destitute, the sons (and perhaps some daughters) would be apprenticed out through the church. I wonder if Robert Hall died leaving the family very poor. Thomas then would have been apprenticed out (being eleven at the time) to an Iron Molder for seven years. Not until his apprenticeship was completed could he have married Ann "Currey". The timetable appears to fit like this:

1. About 1827-28: Robert (father) dies. Thomas is eleven
2. Thomas is apprenticed out for seven years to an Iron Molder
3. After he completes his apprenticeship he marries Ann "Currey" in 1835 at the age of 19

"In 1840 he joined the Latter Day Saint Church. In November, 1843, they came from Liverpool to New Orleans on a vessel which was named "The Fanny."..."They arrived at New Orleans and there found a small steamboat called "The Little Maid of Iowa." This boat belonged to Joseph Smith of the Mormon Church. It was being held for a debt by the Captain, Dan Jones. My father and other immigrants collected the necessary sum of money and paid off the attachment on the vessel in order that they move on in their journey."

*On Mormon Migration there is a small list of passengers (must be incomplete as account mention 200+ saints) who traveled on The Fanny. Thomas Hall is listed, though Ann (his wife), and their two children at the time, were not. There are a few personal experiences to read about which give a great account of what the Thomas Hall family's experience would have been like on board The Fanny and the Maid of Iowa.

"James H. Haslam came to Nauvoo with father and was like a son to him. He aided in caring for our family, and we were very poor and had little to eat."

*If you notice the passenger list on The Fanny James Haslam is on board along with Mary Haslam, perhaps his wife.

"In the Spring of 1851, we emigrated to Utah. A wealthy lady, Mrs. Gillam, offered to assist father in securing an outfit to come. This father accepted. He purchased a team, two yoke of oxen, and a yoke of cows. He also purchased for Mrs. Gillam two teams and hired two drivers for her."

*Thomas Hall traveled in the James W. Cummings Company. There is a Caroline Hooper Gillam traveling with them. I would assume that the "wealthy" Mrs. Gilliam was Caroline.
*There are Haslams traveling in that company as well, though James is not listed.
*Those from Thomas' family include: Ann Hughes Hall, Samuel Parley Hall, Joseph Smith Hall, Thomas John Hall, and James Hyrum Hall.


I hope you enjoyed a little extra information!

[1]Church of England, St. Peters, St Peters, Liverpool, Lancashire, England, Christenings, 1815-1820. FHL microfilm # 0,093,874 Vol. 4 p 10 #74.

Possible Marriage Record for Mary Jane or Mary Ann Hall

While I was searching for the Hall family members on Ancestry.com I found a marriage record for a Mary Hall who married a James Grewer on 1 Dec 1839 at St. Philips, Liverpool, Lancashire, England. Mary's father was listed as Robert Hall, a shoemaker, and who was dead at the time of her marriage.[1] This information matched up with our Robert Hall since he had been a cordwainer (shoemaker) and had supposedly died in 1828, more than a decade before this marriage. The piece of information that lends more  support to the possibility of this being a record for either Mary Ann or Mary Jane is that one of the witnesses was a Thomas Hall!

Ancestry.com Marriage Record for Mary Hall and James Grewer

Here is the trick, we have two Thomas Hall's born to Robert and Elizabeth. We presume the first one had died before the second, which is why the name would be used again, though I have not been able to verify that assumption. If this witness was our Thomas Hall (1816) then this marriage would have been on the same day that the banns were read in Wales for the first time three weeks before Thomas' own marriage to Ann Hughes. Was it required that Thomas be present at the reading of the banns on the first week? Apparently the banns were read in both the husband's and wife's parishes, which may mean that it wasn't requisite for Thomas to be present in Wales on 1 Dec. 1839, but could have been in Liverpool for this marriage.

Another option is that this Thomas Hall, the witness, was an uncle or other relative to Mary. And still, another possibility is that this record does not belong to our family at all. I have been searching for them in the England censuses and so far have found no matches. I will continue to follow up this lead until I find evidence that this record is pertinent to our family or not.

If I were to make a guess at which Mary this record belonged to, I would think it was Mary Jane's. I have seen it listed that Mary Ann married a Thomas French, though I have not been able to verify that information. Mary Jane would have been about 26 and Mary Ann would have been 33. Considering the average ages at marriage around this time,I believe Mary Jane would have fit more with the trend.

[1] Church of England, St. Philips, 1 Dec 1839 marriage of Mary Hall and James Grewer, Ancestry.com accessed 17 March 2013.