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Ancestors of John Humphreys

Generation No. 1

1. John Humphreys, born September 25, 1876 in Bethesda, North Wales; died May 24, 1933 in Utica, NY. He was the son of 2. Richard Humphreys and 3. Mary Williams. He married (1) Jane (Jennie) Pritchard July 16, 1903 in Ellis Island, New York ¹. She was born October 16, 1877 in Bethesda, N. Wales, and died December 1963 in Camden, NY. She was the daughter of David Pritchard and Margaret Eluned Parry.

Notes for John Humphreys:
John was born in Bethesda, but grew up in Mynydd Llandegai (which is "Douglas Hill" in English), a tiny community just outside Tregarth (across the creek from Bethesda). Ellen Humphreys, a great-granddaughter, visited there and says Mynydd Llandegai is a lovely hill covered with heather. John's sister Elizabeth's grandson, Stephen Haycocks, has sent me two photos that together give a panoramic view, although these were taken in March of 1996, so the heather was not in bloom. In the fall of 1996, he and Belinda sent two more photos, in which the hill is indeed covered with heather.

According to their daughter Margaret, John became a naturalized citizen after receiving his draft notice from Britain in WW I. He worked at Savage Arms, who sent a letter that he was involved in the defense effort here, and advised him to become a citizen, especially since he had so many children. The US would not draft a man with such a large family. However, the 1920 Census (taken on January 2) shows both John and Jane as "AL", alien, meaning they had not yet been naturalized.

From the Oneida County Courthouse Immigration and Naturalization office, I obtained a copy of John's Oath of Allegiance, Declaration of Intention and Petition for Naturalization.

The Declaration of Intent, no. 4973, was filed on March 4, 1918 and gives his occupation as Machine Operator. It describes him as 5'7" tall, 140 pounds, with light complexion, brown hair and blue eyes. His address at the time was Box 266, Yorkville, NY. It also says that he emigrated from Liverpool, England on the vessel Cymric, arriving in the port of New York about March 25, 1899.

On his Petition for Naturalization, dated March 8, 1920,he is still listed as a Machine Operator, living at 17 Brainard St., Whitesboro, NY. It also says that he left Liverpool on or about March 15, 1899, and lists his wife Jane P. and the seven children then living at home. (Bess was already married,; Eleanor was born in July 1920.) Jane would have obtained her citizenship through him, so there is no indication of when she and Bess immigrated, nor the ship or port of entry for them. The Certificate of Naturalization, No. 1373043, was issued on June 26, 1920.

The story in the family that we have heard is that John's mother did not approve of his intention to marry Jane, so she sent him off to America, where he married Jane at Ellis Island after working for awhile and then sending passage for her and their daughter Bess. The 1910 and 1920 Censuses indicate that Jane and Bess arrived in 1902; however, they also indicate that he arrived in 1900 or 1901, which is not so. He did emigrate prior to 1900, when the slate workers were on strike at the Penrhyn quarries. Lord Penrhyn would not negotiate with them, and the strike lasted for over three years.

My mother finally found a tattered "Marriage Contract" for Nain and Taid dated July 16, 1903. It says that Taid was living at Slatington, Penn., but for Nain "living at" was crossed out and "Arr S.S. Aurania July 16, 1903", so they actually did get married at Ellis Island on the day of her arrival here.

I obtained a ship passenger list for Taid's voyage. It gives his name as William, rather than John, but the age and other information are correct for John. The two pieces of information given that I did not have before were that his destination in Slatington was the home of his UNCLE... Evan W. Williams... and that he had a grand total of 4 Pounds (no proper British pound sign in this software...) with him. Evan Williams may have been Taid's mother's older brother or her uncle. The latter seems more likely as I have not found any other indication yet that he was her brother.

John worked in slate quarries in Wales, Pennsylvania and Vermont until January 1910. The affidavit of the witnesses to his Petition for Naturalization says that he had lived in the area since January 15, 1910. His statement says he had been a resident of the State of New York since September 24, 1908. The family is shown to be in Granville, NY in the 1910 Census, which was taken about January 2. Their son David was born in Granville in 1914, but son John was born in Yorkville in 1917. I have a postcard sent to Mrs. Jane Humphreys. Dayton Hill, Middle Granville, NY from her cousin, Anna Pritchard Carroll on Dec. 7, 1915.

John also worked for a time at Great Meadow state prison in Comstock, NY. During WW I, he worked for Savage Arms in Utica, NY. In the 1920 Census, he is listed as a laborer in a cotton mill.

The 1926 Utica City Directory lists his occupation as a shipping clerk, living at 924 Inman Place. In 1927, he is listed in the City Directory as retired, with the family now living at 2139 Whitesboro St., Utica (actually, it's in Yorkville) By 1928, they had moved to 2203 Whitesboro St., and at the time of his death were at 8 Calder Ave.

At least a few sources, Eleanor Humphreys Graham, Margaret Humphreys Burke and Elaine Humphreys Colacino, have said he was crippled after being hit by a trolley. Elva Harrington Zajac doesn't remember anything about a trolley; she thought he just suffered from severe arthritis, even needing help to eat. She remembers he was once treated with a rubber tube with an electric current, which didn't help! She also remembers that he had all of his teeth pulled. Elaine said her father used to tell her how he and his brothers would cross arms to form a seat to carry their father from room to room. John's sister Elizabeth's daughter, (Mary) Edith Richardson Haycocks also believes that he was crippled from his arthritis.

Elaine's brother Bill says that Taid was not hit by a trolley, but that he drove a trolley. After work he would meet an Irish friend who was a policeman, and they would go for a beer before going home. The two of them were hit by a hit and run driver; the cop was killed and Taid was crippled. Well... I'll have to see if the Oneida Count Historical Society has anything on hit and run accidents or policemen's deaths. It does seem apparent that whatever the cause, this occurred about 1926. My Aunt Sarah Humphreys Scholl says Taid was crippled for 7 years before he died, which agrees with the information found in the City Directory. Not having a better date, it would be very time consuming to search the Utica paper for an article on an accident, so that is something I probably won't try for awhile...

More About John Humphreys:
Burial: Forest Hill Cemetery, Utica, NY.
Cause of Death: Bronchitis
Occupation: Shipping Clerk

Notes for Jane (Jennie) Pritchard:
Jane grew up in Pen y Bryn, Tregarth, North Wales. She moved with her husband John to Slatington, PA, Granville, NY, then NY Mills, NY and later to Calder Ave in Yorkville, NY, where John died.

She had gone to school in Wales with Evan, and met him again at the Welsh church. They lived at 1111 West St. in Utica after marrying in 1951. After Evan's death, she lived with her daughter Eleanor's family for seven years. She also stayed with Jessie on occasion and had stayed briefly with her daughter Sarah before going to the Genesee Nursing Home and then to a nursing home in Camden. Prior to marrying Evan, she had lived with her son William for several years.

Once when she was visiting with her daughter Margaret on the St. Lawrence River, Margaret noticed a snake coming down the driveway, but decided not to mention it as she didn't know how her mother would react. Soon the snake went into the brush, and without looking up from her sewing, Jane commented "Hmmph, snake went in the woods..."

She used to tell us that when she was a child, her father gave her a calf. She named the calf Julia, after her best friend, and couldn't understand why Julia did not feel honored!!

Before she married Evan, when I was nine years old, she sometimes took me to the Blatt's house, where she did ironing and such. She also used to take me to downtown Utica by bus. We would go to Woolworth's, where she would buy me some wonderful, warm roasted peanuts. Then I would ride the escalator upstairs to the housewares department, and she would trudge up all the stairs, because she was afraid of the escalator with her bad legs.

Elaine Colacino remembers Nain telling that Buffalo Bill Cody was on the ship when she and Bess came to the U.S. and that he paid quite a bit of attention to pretty little Bess. She also told of seeing an iceberg during the trip. Buffalo Bill's troupe did go to Europe on tour back around the turn of the century, so this could well be a true story.

In volume I of John Cowell's "Pictorial History of Bangor" , I have found a photograph of the train car used by Buffalo Bill and his troupe, taken in May 1903 in Bangor, Wales, where two performances were given. Bangor is only a few miles from Tregarth. Since Nain and Bess emigrated in July 1903, the story seems quite credible.

Further verification of the story came from Nain's sister Nell's daughter Iris in an e-mail message to me dated 17 April 1998:

" I do remember my mother telling us the story and how sad my grandparents were when they waved little Bess and your grandma good bye, on the docks, and how they all waved till the ship went out of sight! There were tears in her eyes as she was telling us all about it. Then she said, rather sadly, how my grandfather died of a broken heart after losing little Bess, whom they both loved and adored as any grandparents would. My mother always said how much they missed them both. I also remember Mother telling us that Buffalo Bill was on the ship, too, and your grandma told her in her letter to Mam that he adored little Bess, and that both got on well throughout the voyage. So what Mother told us must be true, Jane, and I have always believed what Mother said, because they were writing to each other for years after your grandma left Wales. I hope you have some news from the passenger list regarding Buffalo Bill being on that ship. Jane, I still believe what Mother said is true, and if anyone should know, Mother would, because she was at the dock where the ship sailed from, and she always cried after little "Bess". She adored her, Jane."

I have sent for passenger lists for both Nain and William F. Cody.

More About Jane (Jennie) Pritchard:
Burial: Forest Hill Cemetery, Utica, NY., section 59

Marriage Notes for John Humphreys and Jane Pritchard:
I have a postcard sent by Jane's cousin, Anna Pritchard Carroll, dated 12/7/1915 to her at Dayton Hill, Middle Granville, NY. Their son John was born on 11 Feb. 1917 in Yorkville, NY, so they apparently move to Yorkville in 1916.

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