LAUREL ROOTS Spencer/Lewis/White/Howell

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SPENCER, LEWIS, WHITE, HOWELL

Gloucestershire and Wiltshire, England, to
Illinois, Kansas, and Wisconsin, USA

GRANDFATHER	GREAT-GRANDPARENTS	2ND GREAT-GRANDPARENTS	3RD GREAT-GRANDPARENTS
Ralph Edward Spencer 1894-1955 Chicago, Ill. Athelstane, Wis. Oakland, Ore.	Joseph Tyndal Spencer 1860-1939 Cambridge and Stroud, Gloucestershire, England Chicago, Ill. Athelstane, Wis.	Joseph J. Spencer 1833-1909 Wotton-Under-Edge, Gloucestershire Reading, Berkshire Cambridge, Glos. Stroud, Glos., England	Jacob Spencer 1798-1880 Wotton-Under-Edge, Glos., England DESCENDANTS ANCESTORS
+Gertrude Seehawer PHOTO		PHOTOS OF JOSEPH AND MARY ANN	+Hannah Howell Abt. 1797–1863 Wotton-Under-Edge, Glos., England
	PHOTO OF JOSEPH AND SARAH	+Mary Ann White 1827-1919 Newbury, Berkshire Reading, Berkshire Cambridge, Glos. Stroud, Glos., England	James White Abt. 1804–1882 Newbury, Berkshire Reading, Berkshire, England DESCENDANTS
			+Esther Payne Abt. 1804—1884 Newbury, Berkshire, Reading, Berkshire, England
	+Sarah Ellen Lewis 1858-1941 Bisley, Glos. Stroud, Glos., England Chicago, Ill. Athelstane, Wis.	David Lewis About 1832-1910 Bisley, Glos. Stroud, Glos., England	John Lewis 1800– Bisley, Glos., England DESCENDANTS
			+Elizabeth Driver 1801– Bisley, Glos., England
		+Lydia Watts Abt. 1827– Calne, Wiltshire, England Bisley, Glos., England Stroud, Glos., England	Samuel Watts Abt. 1793– Melksham and Calne, Wiltshire Stroud, Gloucestershire England
			+Eleanor Buckland Abt. 1798– Melksham and Calne, Wiltshire Stroud, Gloucestershire England

Jos. T. Spencer family on the list of passengers arriving in New York City on the ship Dorset April 5, 1882. Sarah's middle name was "Ellen" or "Eleanor." "Opee," age 17, was Joe's brother Opie.

MISSING PIECES (Do you have one of them?)

Is the Spencer family story that we're related to Charlie Chaplin true?
Are any descendants of Joseph J. and Mary Ann Spencer living in England now?
What happened to the descendants of Florence Spencer Biehl (Albert Biehl and Delores Biehl Schultz) and Millie Spencer Rasmussen (William E. Rasmussen, Jr.)?

LINKS

Spencer Photos
Joseph J. and Mary Ann (White) portrait, wedding portrait of Gertrude Seehawer and Ralph E. Spencer, Joseph T. and Sarah (Lewis) Spencer with some of their children and grandchildren, four Spencer sisters.

Mary's Spencer Photos
Gertrude Seehawer Spencer’s papers and photos ended up at my aunt’s house after Gertrude’s death. My cousin allowed me to scan these photos.

Debbie's Spencer Photos
Sarah (Lewis) and Joseph T. Spencer and some of their children.

Susan's White Photo
George Beaumont White (brother of Mary Ann) with his son and his son's family.

Unidentified Spencer or Lewis Photos from England
Can you help? Having old portraits and not knowing who the subjects are is so frustrating!

Transcription of Spencer Bible
One of my father's cousins has Joseph and Sarah Spencer's family Bible. She let me copy the names from the front of it during a visit in 1984.

Northern Wisconsin's Cutover Lands
In the first few decades of the 1900s, both sets of my grandparents and some of my great-grandparents tried to develop farms on land that had been cut over by lumber companies in northern Wisconsin (Marinette County). They hoped to achieve the same kind of success as homesteaders in the Midwest in the previous century, but the odds were against them. Here are some links with more information:

"1870-1940: Defining a Region" by Robert Gough

"Richard T. Ely and the development of the Wisconsin cutover" by Robert Gough

"Colonizing the Cutover: Wisconsin's Progressive-Era Experiments in Rural Planning" by Susan O. Haswell and Arnold R. Alanen

Photos of Cutover Lands from the Wisconsin History Society

LDS Ancestral File compiled by Carol Oldroyd (going further back than Jacob)
You can find it by going to the LDS search page and searching for Jacob Spencer in England and then choosing the file for the Jacob Spencer in Wotton-Under-Edge, Gloucester.

Laurel Roots Amazon Associates Store
Books about Stroud, England, in the 1800s, the history of Chicago, and trying to farm cutover timber lands in northern Wisconsin.

To go to the main Amazon site or to see information about your privacy when ordering through my store:

Lost Cousins

The Lost Cousins site uses the 1841 England and Wales, 1881 England, 1881 Canada, and 1880 US census to match family history researchers. The way it works is entering relatives (including ancestors, other blood relatives, and those who have married into your family) who are found in those censuses. What makes this site unique is that using census entries gives you exact, accurate matches with other relatives of the same people. Entering the names is very easy, and the site will search automatically for matches and put you in touch with cousins researching the same names as you.

Tourist information about Wotton-Under-Edge
A wonderful way to pay a virtual visit to the birthplace of Joseph J. Spencer. Lots of history and photos.

My Charlie Chaplin Musings
All of us Spencers have heard the story that one of our aunts ran off and had a baby who became the famous movie star named Charles Spencer Chaplin. Is it true? Here's all I've found on the subject.

LATEST ON THE SPENCER AND LEWIS BRANCHES

Sept. 10, 2011
Updated White Descendants Page
An English cousin just sent me some new information about descendants of Mary Ann White Spencer's brother, George Beaumont White. I've just added them to the White descendants page.

Aug. 13, 2011
Updated Descendant Pages
I've just added the first name of Delores Biehl Schultz's husband: Clarence. It wasn't easy, but I finally tracked him down in the 1930 census.

July 16, 2011
Updated Descendant Pages
I've just updated the Spencer, White, and Lewis descendant pages. I've added information about Harry Spencer, Alice Spencer, and Hannah Spencer Avens' family.

Feb. 10, 2011
Alice Mary Spencer, 1935-2011
Alice Mary Spencer, daughter of Gertrude (Seehawer) and Ralph Edward Spencer, passed away this morning.

CREDITS

1965: My grandmother, Gertrude Seehawer Spencer—The foundation of my research—names of my Spencer great-grandparents, second great-grandparents, and all their children; photos.

1966-1982: My grandfather’s sister, Blanche Spencer Kiefer Cannon—Information from Spencer family Bible; memories of her siblings and parents; identification of people in old photos.

1999 to present: My cousin Carol Oldroyd, great-granddaughter of Joseph T. Spencer’s brother Opie—Jacob Spencer's parents and children; descendants of Opie Spencer and John George Beaumont Spencer; maiden name and father's name of Mary Ann White Spencer; copies of records; and much more.

2000: Mary W., a cousin who is the descendant of my second great-grandfather David Lewis’s sister Charlotte—Confirmation of their parents’ names and name of their grandfather Giles Driver; information on Charlotte’s branch.

Brian Blackwell, a descendant of Charlotte Lewis’s husband’s brother, Richard Blackwell: Information on Bisley. Please use the link on Brian’s name to contact him if you are researching Richard Blackwell.

2002: Carol M., a cousin who is a descendant of Opie Spencer and Beatrice Spencer Morast—Information on that branch.

2003: Kendall, a cousin who is a descendant of my great-grandfather's brother, John George Beaumont Spencer—Information on that branch.

2007, 2011: Susan, a cousin who is the descendant of Mary Ann White's brother George Beaumont White—Information on James and Hester (Payne) White and their descendants.
2010: Richard, a distant cousin by marriage—Information on the family of Hannah Spencer and Frederick Avens.

OTHER SOURCES

www.familysearch.org—IGI, free access to the 1881 English census; FamilySearch Record Search.

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Updated 9/10/11