Writing the articles
in Hidden Treasures gave me the
chance to look closely at some of the research I had already done. The information
in my files is so varied that it readily lent itself to illustrating a wide
range of documents that can be used to tell more about the people who went
before us.
The women
I highlighted came from such different backgrounds: Jane Tripp, a pioneer and American
Revolutionary War pension applicant; Sarah Arment, a London wife and mother
desperate to save her menfolk from the punishment of the courts and Mary
Rideout, a Dorset widow who had a child long after her husband’s death. Then
there were the Strange ladies, Mary and Charlotte whose lives were separated by
more than 50 years. By Charlotte’s time the Strange family had to work for a
living and Charlotte carried on the family business. Mary, who lived many years
earlier, lived the life of a lady and was able to keep in touch with far flung
relatives through her correspondence.
Some examples
of that correspondence are in my files. One letter, written in 1837, is of
particular interest. Mary Strange wrote it to her nephew Norton Townshend who
was living in Avon, Ohio. She wrote to
him about friends, neighbours and family; items that I will enjoy puzzling out.
There was also talk of the weather and his request for information about Van
Diemen’s land. The most interesting parts of the letter touched on social
changes: the abolition of Church Rates and the coming of the railway to Kilsby,
Northamptonshire. This would have been of interest to both Mary Strange and
Norton Townshend as both used to live there. It was a reminder of how the
sweeping changes of this time period affected individuals, including our
ancestors.
But it was a
particular statement that really caught my attention. Mary wrote, “We are glad
to find that the slave question is become the subject of discussion in your
part of the world, hope you will by perseverance accomplish so desirable an
object as well as constitute consistency of character.” Was this a provocative challenge
from one person to another or a directive from an elder to a much younger
family member?
Whether
challenge or directive, it appears that Norton Strange Townshend was a worthy kinsperson
who shared his aunt’s concerns about the slave question. He was one of about 50
delegates from the US to the World’s Antislavery Convention in London, England
in 1840.* Mary Strange must have been proud of her nephew for this and for his
other accomplishments, or at least, those which she lived to see. His biography
is available through the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
1774 – present. His achievements were many and I am happy to add this
unexpected connection to my family tree.
The Church in Kilsby where Mary Strange's father preached
Sources:
Biographical
Directory of the United States Congress 1774 – present http://bioguide.congress.gov/biosearch/biosearch1.asp
*World
Antislavery Conference of 1840 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Anti-Slavery_Convention#Victuallers
