Hi Jeff and All --
Hmmm, how interesting that you have ongoing contact with the Evan and Benjamin Hughes
family.
Evan and Benjamin indeed had a sister named Sarah. She's listed as
14 in the
1841 census of Brynmawr. She is not, however, with them in the 1851
census.
By that time Benjamin was already in Pennsylvania. I also have the Hughes
family in the 1861 and 1871 census of Brynmawr.<
Very interesting. The Sarah Hughes who married my great-great-uncle George Powell (BTW,
her middle initial may have been J.) would have been of the next generation. Her dates
appear to be 1856-1913. Does any of that ring a bell with anybody? Of course, Hugheses
were even more prevalent than Powells in both Brynmawr and the eastern coalfield of
Pennsylvania so there may be no connection whatever, but I've long had a strong hunch
that she was from a family "from home."
My wife and I will be researching in Scranton this coming October. Of
course we'll be visiting the Washburn Street cemetery too.< Ooooey, so you're
heading to Washburn St., too??? I'm jealous. If you have any chance to look at my
Powells' stone in the Avondale plot, I'd be so grateful. Bill Evans of
Harvey's Lake, Luzerne Co., PA has written me two very interesting letters offline in
response to my earlier post here (his family roots are in the part of Plymouth, PA which
is now called Edwardsville) and he has also kindly offered to look for the stone when
he's next there -- so maybe with several good pairs of eyes we can decipher it. Even
with Kathleen's original photo, not the online version, it's impossible to read
anything but the names -- I can't even tell whether the rest of the inscription is in
English or Welsh!
The news of the vandalism at the cemetery is really distressing. I do not understand
people like that. >I have a contact in Scranton who says that the records for Washburn
Street are in the process of being transcribed. This was news to me, because I thought
they had all been destroyed...< That's wonderful news, as Kathleen had no luck at
all prying the cemetery records out of the current custodian. Please keep us all updated
on this, will you?
As you probably know, the Albright Library there is a great resource
for 19th newspapers (obits), birth and death certificates, etc. I'd be happy to look
up a few things for you.< How kind of you! Would love to know more about this, but
this maillist is not the proper forum so we can pursue that elsewhere.
Will write more about Calvary records in a separate post.
Cheers,
Judith Sylte
Whidbey Island, WA
USA