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The Children of William Brimlow

Two Wives – Nine Known Children

Children with Ann Chaddock.

1. George – previously discussed.

2. Jane E., born 31 Jan 1823 Winstanley, baptized 9 Mar 1823, St Aidan, Billinge. Jane married William C. Austin (1818-27 Feb 1860) in about 1843/44 in New York. William’s death record stated he was interred in Green-Wood Cemetery, however he was not found in their burial records. They had two know children: Josephine (Austin) Wilson (Nov 1845-2 Jul 1893) and William F. Austin (abt 1849-Nov 1854) both of whom are buried in the Brimlow family plot of Cypress Hills. Jane is last found at the age of 47 on the 1870 Census. I have not found a death record or notice for her, nor have I found a second marriage record. The search continues.

3. Margaret, born 31 Jan 1823 Winstanley, died 2 Feb 1823, Winstanley, buried 3 Feb 1823, St Aidan, Billinge.

4. William, born 8 Jul 1825, Ashton in Makerfield, baptized 19 Jul 1825 St Thomas, Aston in Makerfield. He appears to have worked for his father in the coffee and spice trade for some time. On 11 Nov 1861, he enlisted as a private in Co. F, 87th N.Y. Inf., “Brooklyn Rifles” 11 Nov 1861 and participated in the Peninsular Campaign, including the Seige of Yorktown (5 Apr-4 May 1862) and Battle of Williamsburg, where on 5 May 1862, he was wounded in action. According to his compiled service record, Pvt Brimlow remained at Camp Pitcher in a field hospital and was then transferred to the division hospital near Falmouth, where he eventually died as a result of his wounds and disease. (*Note- his CSR states Falmouth, but the History of the NY Volunteers by Sergeant Fred Flood states Alexandria.) Remains from both those areas were transferred to Fredericksburg National Cemetery. On 3 May 1846, he married Sophia Emeline Barker in New York, the daughter of John Barker. They had at least 6 known children together: Mary Alice Brimlow (1847-1914) – m. Jacob Coutieri (Feb 1842-27 Nov 1903), Henry Brimlow (23 May 1849-2 Feb 1904) m. Henrietta Sophia Pieman (1848-1939), Elizabeth Ann Brimlow (17 May 1851-Mar 1854), Sophia Emeline Brimlow (13 Apr 1853-17 Feb 1880) m. John Day Smith (1850-?), and John L. Brimlow (27 Feb 1857-30 Sep 1935) m1.& div. Elen Harkin (1854-bef 1900) m2 Jennie Scheffler (1878-?). Fredericka (abt 1863- bef 1870). Fredericka appears only on the 1865 New York state census as age 1, so her birth could be anytime between June 1863 and June 1864. She is not in the death records, nor is she in the Brimlow family plot.

Sophia remained in Brooklyn near William’s family and did not remarry. Throughout the rest of her life she appears in the Brooklyn city directories and in the census records as a tailoress. In 1872, she had a son named William Lewis Brimlow (10 Nov 1872-17 Oct 1930). His death certificate states his father was William Brimlow of England. This has caused some confusion for some people, but it’s simply a case of Sophia naming a child born out of wedlock for her late husband. Young William no doubt knew that William had died in the Civil War but the informant on his death certificate still named him as father. William Lewis Brimlow m. Catherine E. Hans (Feb 1871-29 Sep 1946). On the 1900 census she stated she had a total of 9 children (I can account for 7) with 4 still living – Mary, Henry, John, and William. She was with William’s family and they were residing next door to John and his children after his divorce from Ellen. Sophia died 12 Dec 1905 and was buried in the Brimlow family plot.

5. Henry, born about 1826 was not found in any records or by any other name in Lancashire. I swear to you that I have one in every family who doesn’t make it into the church records and isn’t counted, but they appear later on passenger lists and in census records. I don’t know why. It is possible that he’s not their child, but was being raised by William and Ann and named by them. Henry can last be accounted for on his William’s 1840 census records (age 14-15), but even that’s iffy as it’s not a by-name census. He is not found on the 1850 census, in any city directory, or in the family plot. It is possible that he died prior to the plot acquisition and was not moved into the plot with the family. I believe he died quite young, but it is also possible that as a young man of 18 or so, he simply went west with the thousands of other young men from New York. I’m still looking.

6. John, born 25 Oct 1829 Pemberton, baptized 2 Nov 1829 All Saints, Wigan. John was still with his parents on the 1850 census and then appeared in the 1853 New York City directory with his father and brother George at the same home and business addresses. In about 1852 he married Sarah Mariah McGowan (Jul 1835-?). About 1855/56 when his family was relocating to Brooklyn, John moved to Connecticut, where Sarah was from. John died 16 Sep 1869 in Grenwich, Fairfield, Connecticut and was interred in the Stanwich Congregational Church Cemetery. His will was entered into probate on 13 Oct 1869. John and Sarah had four known children together: Anna J. “Jennie” (Mar 1853 NY – ?) m. William B. Hubbard; William F. Brimlow (16 May 1855 Manhattan – 12 May 1882 Fairfield, Connecticut) listed as divorced on the 1880 census. He’s buried with his father. Sarah Brimlow (abt 1857 Conn – ?). John Howard Brimlow (Mar 1866 Conn – 17 Oct 1902 Bronx, NY) m. Catharine Carroll (Mar 1870 – 12 Dec 1909).

Children with Deborah Gedney:
7. Arthur W. born about 1853 New York, died 22 Aug 1896, buried 25 Aug 1896 in the Brimlow family plot. He was a printer by trade. On 5 Dec 1877, Arthur married Ella F. Vail (1860-?). Together they had 2 known children: Edith G. Brimlow (1880-?) 1 Edward Gorman Barker (1872-?) m2 Edward Everett Markes (1869-1939) and Florence Ella Brimlow (16 Aug 1893-10 Feb 1960) m. Lawrence Wolcott Markes (1893-1957). Sometime between 1910-1920, Ella (Vail) Brimlow married Albert P. Whitman (1858-?).

8. Frederick Austin born 9 Mar 1855, died 27 Jul 1922, Kings, buried 29 Jul 1922 Cypress Hills Cemetery. Frederick was also a printer by trade. On 18 Jun 1879, he married Caroline Hobson (1858 Ireland – 5 Jun 1947 Brooklyn, New York). Together they had 13 known children: Frederick Hobson Brimlow (1880-1880); Robert Hobson Brimlow (9 Oct 1881 – 29 Nov 1962) m Anna Alida Tryon (25 Sep 1889 – 13 Jul 1973); Joseph Arthur Brimlow (23 Jul 1883 – Jun 1975) m. Grace Nancy Potter (26 Apr 1890 – Dec 1975); Leander Woodhull Brimlow (24 Jun 1885 – Dec 1973); Ella Deborah Brimlow (30 Jan 1887 – Mar 1975) partner Frances Reafler (1907 – ?); William John Brimlow (19 Oct 1888 – aft 1953); Rebecca Alice Brimlow (5 Feb 1892 – 8 Feb 1892); Frederick Austin Brimlow Jr. (3 Apr 1893 – 12 Jan 1957) m. Anna Louise (Lulu) Grant (12 Oct 1896 – 30 Aug 1963); Sarah (Sadie) Abigail Brimlow (12 Dec 1894 – Nov 1972) m. Joseph McCrum (2 Mar 1895 – 30 Apr 1967); Henry Howard Brimlow (29 Sep 1896 – 15 Dec 1896); Eugene Brimlow (25 Jan 1898 – ?); Howard Brimlow (24 May 1899 – 26 Oct 1899); Irene Caroline Brimlow (19 Apr 1901 – 25 Oct 1942) m. John Phillip Yrizarry (1 May 1896 – 20 Nov 1939).

9. Ella Helen, born about 1858, died 29 Aug 1916. Married Governor K. Desmond (1857 – 21 Oct 1883) on 30 Jun 1880. Both are in the Brimlow family plot in Cypress Hills Cemetery.

There are simply too many sources to include here – all of William’s children and grandchildren are fully sourced on the BurgraffScott family tree on Ancestry and in Family Search

McLean/Frith/Brimlow/Brown

Across The Pond

William and Ann Brimlow in England

Thanks to the family plot and cemetery records we’ve known about William and Ann Brimlow along with their 5 children for a long time. What I knew when I began the English part of the research:

William Brimlow 1800 – 6 Feb 1873
Anne abt 1797/98 – 10 Mar 1851
1. George 1820 – 30 Dec 1880
2. Jane 31 Jan 1823 – aft 1870
3. William 1825 – 25 Jan 1863
4. Henry 1826 – aft 1840
5. John 25 Oct 1829 – 16 Sep 1869

The nagging questions have always been “What’s Ann’s maiden name?” and “Where in England?”. We had two possible options: William to Ann Wood in London or William to Ann Chaddock in Lancashire. Figuring out which one was ours would provide the location. 99% of the family trees I had seen claimed Ann Wood. I had her in my family tree for some time as hers was the only record out there and I hung on to her for research purposes. Sadly, during that era, I’m as responsible as everyone else – I should have just kept her in a research folder, but I was using my Ancestry tree for leads not realizing everyone took my tree as gospel. So down she came until I could dig into the records.

In researching Ann Wood, who was supposedly married to William Brimlow in London on 5 Mar 1819, I found no true source record for this marriage. What I found were multiple unsourced family trees and some old IGI and One World Tree references with these names and this date, but no actual marriage record. Not that this means it doesn’t exist since there are many records not yet online and some of the search engines are pretty crappy at turning up things that are actually there. What it means is that I didn’t locate it. Even without a marriage record, I elected to search for the birth/christening records of the 5 known children in London and found a record for a George Bromley, but his birth was Feb 1819 (a month prior to the supposed marriage), and his mother was a Sarah Ann. FamilySearch is big on giving you a list of people with “sounds like” names and there simply wasn’t anything close to matching up with the known family members and these dates. I searched for each child under multiple spellings, but came up empty.

I had much better luck researching the Ann Chaddock connection in Lancashire. I found the marriage record for William Brimalow and Ann Chaddock in Lancashire, England, for 5 Sep 1819.¹

As much as you may not want to do it – you have to look at each and every one of the records offered. Out of the 5 records that I found on Ancestry, four stated Wigan, Lancashire, but only ONE listed the actual church as All Saints in Wigan.

Why is this important? There are over 400 parishes in Lancashire, and over 30 churches within the parish of Wigan, so knowing exactly where the record came from gives me a starting point. I want to pull the film of the originial records and see them for myself to make sure the information is right, and I want to search that churches records for other family members. As it was, I still wound up going through all 30 churches looking at every birth, marriage, and burial record for all spellings of the name before writing this post.

Utilizing a combination of Ancestry, FamilySearch, and the Lancashire OnLine Parish Clerk Project (I love this site), I began looking for John Brimlow, the youngest child of William and Ann. The reason for choosing John was that his tombstone had provided an actual birth date of 25 Oct 1829. I located this record on Ancestry:²
Sadly, the image (as shown here) is from the Bishop’s Transcripts – it states this right on the record page: “Register Type: Bishop’s Transcripts”. The Bishop’s Transcript is a copy of the records that were made and sent to archdiocese. They are frequently riddled with errors. This is why I love the Lancashire OnLine Parish Clerk Project – they either used the original register or films of the original registers from the parish to create their database. Here’s the information they have for the event:³
Notice the original contains a birth date that matches his tombstone and it also states he’s the 3rd son. I have him as the fourth son, but I don’t get too excited about the numbers. Sometimes they’re right and sometimes they aren’t. They are generally useful in at least telling me that this is not a first child, which can be a discriminator if you have two sets of parents with the same names at the same time in a parish. In this case, I definitely have the right kid, with the right parents, and an occupation for the father that matches the passenger list. We’re in the right place.

I spent a good bit of time searching the online parish records and comparing the records found on Ancestry to those on Family Search and those on the Lancashire OnLine Parish Clerk Project. I encourage you to do the same thing. Many of the records found on Ancestry were Bishop’s Transcripts. In the research I did, I found mother’s names that did not match the original records (they did match the record above them in each case) and missing child numbers (2nd son 3rd child of) and names left out – a small number of years in one parish provided the name of the wife’s parents in the baptismal record which took us back another generation. If all I had used was Ancestry, I would have missed out on a lot of information – always check the original records.

Not all the children were found in All Saints. They appear to be scattered throughout the parish of Wigan and also in Ashton in Makerfield and they were found under a variety of spellings. A 9 Mar 1823 baptismal record for daughter Jane (abode Winstanley) was found in St Aidan’s in Billinge with the spelling of Brimelow. The other surprise for Billinge came when I was looking through the death records and found this:⁴
It appears Jane had a twin sister. The family is full of twins so this comes as no real surprise. However, once again, without the online parish records, I would likely have missed this.

After some work, this is what I now know about the William and Ann:

William Brimlow (1800-1873) married Ann Chaddock (abt 1797-1851) on 5 September 1829 in All Saints, Wigan, Lancashire, England. Together they had the following six known children:
1. George, born 12 Feb 1820 Pemberton, baptized 2 Apr 1820 All Saints, Wigan.⁵
2. Jane, born 31 Jan 1823 Winstanley, baptized 9 Mar 1823, St Aidan, Billinge.⁶
3. Margaret, born 31 Jan 1823 Winstanley, died 2 Feb 1823, Winstanley, buried 3 Feb 1823, St Aidan, Billinge.⁷
4. William, born 8 Jul 1825, Ashton in Makerfield, baptized 19 Jul 1825 St Thomas, Aston in Makerfield.⁸
5. Henry/Harry, born about 1826 was not found in any records or by any other name.
6. John, born 25 Oct 1829 Pemberton, baptized 2 Nov 1829 All Saints, Wigan.⁹

William appears on the records first as a weaver and then lastly as a miner. A change of occupation is not uncommon – I found one man with four different occupations, but he’s the only man with that name in that abode. Once again, I’m confident that the weaver and the miner are the same person based on the fact that this is the only William and Ann Brimalow/Bromilow/Brimelow in the parish of Wigan during this period.

While here, we need to talk about location because it matters. We have a tendency to think that our ancestors didn’t move much until they made “the big move” either across the pond or across the country. The truth is that some of them moved frequently if not a great distance. Our Brimlow line proved that in within New York City and Brooklyn, and they were the same way in Lancashire. Below are three items. First is a map of the parish locations within Lancashire and some of the older churches within those parishes. After that is a pin map of all the locations I found people within this family group, including William’s brother, parents, and grandparents. Yes, I know who some of them are and that post is coming. Finally, there is a map that shows Wigan (where my search began) with a 5-mile radius circle. All of these locations are within 5 miles of Wigan. Why baptize a child in different places? When you are walking to church with a baby in arms and a 2 year-old on your hip – the closest church wins. So look for records in all the area churches and use all the spelling variants.

1. Marriage Record, Wigan All Saints Lancashire, Marriage Registers 1816-1819 p258 entry 773, 5 Sep 1819 William Brimalow to Ann Chaddock, Witness James Ainscow, Saml Vizard, Curate Edwd Hill LDS Film 1885691.
2. Lancashire, England, Births and Baptisms, 1813-1911, Ancestry.com, John Bromilow, baptism 2 Nov 1829, Wigan, Lancashire, son of William and Ann Bromilow, Bishop’s Transcript.
3. Christening records (accessed 5 Dec 2015), All Saints, Wigan, Lancashire, Baptismal Registers 1827-1830 p.213. John Bromilow, born 25 Oct 1829, bap 2 Nov 1829, 3rd son William & Ann Bromilow, Pemberton, Miner.
4. Burial Record, St Aidan, Billinge, Lancashire, Burial Register 1813-1851, p28, entry 221, Margaret Brimelow, burial 3 Feb 1823, age 2 days, abode Winstanley.
5. Christening records (accessed 24 Nov 2015), George Brimalow, b. 12 Feb 1820, christened 2 Apr 1820, 1st son of William and Ann Brimalow, abode Pemberton. FHL Film 94,032.
6. Christening records (accessed 27 Nov 2015), St. Aiden, Billinge, Lancashire, Baptism Registers 1813-1840, p64 entry 511, Jane Brimelow, bap 9 Mar 1823, dau of William & Anne Brimelow, abode Winstanley, occ. weaver. Twin Margaret Brimelow buried 3 Feb.
7. Burial Record, St Aidan, Billinge, Lancashire, Burial Register 1813-1851, p28, entry 221, Margaret Brimelow, burial 3 Feb 1823, age 2 days, abode Winstanley.
8. Christening records (accessed 5 Dec 2015), St Thomas, Ashton in Makerfield, Lancashire, Baptismal Registers 1813-1827, p 230 entry 1835, William Brimelow, bap 19 Jul 1825, born 8 Jul 1825, 3rd child & 2nd son of William & Anne Brimelow, LDS Film 1885658.
9. Christening records (accessed 5 Dec 2015), All Saints, Wigan, Lancashire, Baptismal Registers 1827-1830 p.213. John Bromilow, born 25 Oct 1829, bap 2 Nov 1829, 3rd son William & Ann Bromilow, Pemberton, Miner.

McLean/Frith/Brimlow/Brown

Barking up the Right Tree

Making Sure You’ve Got the Right Family & Place

From the mailbag – “How can you be so sure you have the right people?”

In this particular case it’s pretty easy. Every “Brimlow” in New York City or Brooklyn that appears on the 1840, 1850, and 1860 Federal Census is part of this family group by birth or marriage. In fact, they are the only Brimlows at all on the 1840 and 1850 in the United States. The Brimlow in Orange, New York (1840) is actually a Timlow. There are Bromlows in Kentucky (both English and German), Bramlows in Ohio, as well as Brumloo and Brumlows in several southern states. I found no Br?malows, Br?melows, or Br?milows. The ? = any single letter. By 1860 there are only about 30 people named Brimlow who show up on an Ancestry search – some of whom are from Germany. There are only 18 who show up on FamilySearch. There’s one Bromilow (Edwd E. 1834 England in Chicago) and a John Brimelow in New York City that I chased far enough back to know he’s not ours. That’s it other than the Bram and Brum crowd.

So, yeah… I’m sure I have the right people.

As for the location – I used to think I was really put-upon by having family in New York City. Just five years ago, there were few online records available. Researching BMD (birth, marriage, death) meant a trip to Salt Lake City because you had to go through the those indexes on film to locate the dates and certificate numbers, and then go to the film that held those dates and numbers. I spent days doing something that now takes me minutes thanks to combining the indexes on Ancestry and the records transcribed on FamilySearch. I’m also lucky enough to be in a place that did the mid-decade census so there is a New York State Census online at Ancestry for 1855, 1875, 1892, 1905, 1915, and 1925. God bless that 1892 census. And there is also The Brooklyn Daily Eagle – free and online through the public library at this link.

Also, Fold3 has decades of city directories for New York City and Brooklyn. I was able to follow the family and track their business and home addresses. Google Maps allows you to create maps so I pinpointed the locations on a modern map.

This led to questions about the address of 16 James Slip. Many people have transcribed the directory address as “street” but it’s clearly “slip.” So it was off to do more research. The slips are well known in New York and were the small wharves and docks that extended into the East River. The larger ships in the harbor would discharge their cargo on barges or lighters and those smaller ships would deliver the cargo to the slips.

Most of the slips were filled in as land prices skyrocketed, but the names remain. Here are some great links to more information and some terrific pictures. Ephemeral New York and untapped cities have some great pictures and illustrations along with terrific information.

I also became fascinated by the family’s move to Brooklyn. The commute between Brooklyn and Manhattan in the 1860s was accomplished utilizing any of a number of ferries that plied their trade. Even though he didn’t live to see its 1883 completion, I have no doubt William Brimlow watched the beginning of the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge in 1869 with more than a little interest. Perhaps there was also a mixture of excitement and sorrow as some of the addresses occupied by his family or used for his business disappeared with the building of the Brooklyn Bridge.

Once again, the more you look, the more you learn, and the more you look.

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Two Wives – Nine Known Children

William and Ann Brimlow in England

Making Sure You’ve Got the Right Family & Place

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