A Family History Journey to Cornwall

Sometime during the year spanning May 1849 and June 1850, a 30-year-old miner and his growing family left their home in Cornwall, England and sailed west. Henry and Sarah (Kitto) Stephens said goodbye to everything they knew in search of opportunity.

The Stephenses, my fourth great-grandparents, joined the exodus of emigrants seeking work amid southern England's 19th century economic downturn. As Cornwall's tin and copper mines declined, skilled miners like Henry sought employment overseas.

By mid-1850, Henry had found work as a miner in Grant County, Wisconsin where iron ore was in great supply. He and Sarah were enumerated in the U.S. census with their three young children - all born in Cornwall - including my third great-grandfather Thomas K. Stephens. 

They weren't entirely alone. The neighboring household included Sarah's parents - John and Mary (Wearne) Kitto - and siblings. Their migration had been a family affair.

1850 US Census excerpt detailing the Stephens and Kitto
families in Grant County, Wisconsin

Eventually, Thomas K. Stephens (also spelled Stevens) would marry, move to Colorado, and continue the mining tradition in the Rocky Mountains. It was from here that I began to uncover my Cornish roots.

This summer, I had the opportunity to travel to southern England and decided to retrace my ancestors' footsteps in Cornwall. 

Finding my ancestors' whereabouts

A friend recently toured England with her family. Before her trip, she worked with a British genealogist to identify where her ancestors had lived. The researcher found sites relevant to her family's history and produced a report that guided her journey. 

She pointed me to the Association of Genealogists and Researchers in Archives (AGRA), where I was able to filter my needs down to a researcher specializing in Cornish genealogy. This is how I was connected with the wonderful Dr. Lesley Trotter - a historian specializing in Cornish studies who shares her expertise online at Humble History.

Dr. Trotter took what I knew about my Cornish ancestry and delved deeper into my family's history, searching for locations where I could visit. That culminated in a detailed report that shaped an incredibly memorable experience.

Following my ancestors' footsteps

With Dr. Trotter's report in hand, I worked with a fantastic local guide, Becky Frost, who owns and operates Penelewey Tours, to design a tailored family history day trip.

From my hotel in Penzance, we set out for our first stop, the Church of St. Germoe in the village of Germoe. The building has Norman origins dating to 1100 AD and replaced an earlier Saxon church. 

St. Germoe

It was within these stone walls at this baptismal font pre-dating the Norman Conquest, that Henry Stephens was baptized on April 30, 1820. In fact, Henry's parents, Henry and Elizabeth (Pope) Stephens (my fifth great-grandparents), were baptized here in 1795 and 1797 respectively. 

St. Germoe's baptismal font

Henry and Elizabeth were also married here in front of this altar in July 1819. 

St. Germoe's altar

Elizabeth died in 1838 and was buried in Germoe on September 20th, although I didn't find a gravestone for her in the surrounding churchyard. 

St. Germoe churchyard with a view of the church's tower

Home Along the Beach

From Germoe, we drove to nearby Pengersick Castle as my family were likely tenants of the manor home. Today, the building is a wedding venue and I wasn't able to visit the grounds (probably due to someone's pesky nuptials taking precedence).

Next stop was a stroll along Praa Sands - a beautiful stretch of beach running alongside Prah Green, a grassy hillside where my Kitto family lived in small cottages (sadly, the originals no longer survive). The sun was warm and brought out many shades of blue in the sea. 

It was an idyllic view, yet I wondered if my ancestors had mixed feelings about living alongside the sea. Becky shared that Cornwall's winters could be dreary with gray, cold, windy, wet weather blowing off the coast.

At Praa Sands with Prah Green (site of Kitto cottages)
on the hillside

St. Breaca Church

After a pub lunch at the Lion & Lamb, we spent the afternoon at three different churches. A highlight was our visit to St. Breaca Church in the village of Breage. The current granite structure was dedicated in 1456, replacing an older Norman building. 

St. Breaca

My third great-grandfather Thomas K. Stephens was baptized here on November 21, 1845. His mother, Sarah (Kitto) Stephens, was also baptized here in February 1822. 

St. Breaca's baptismal font

Sarah Kitto married Henry Stephens before this altar on April 20, 1844.

St. Breaca's altar

During a Victorian era restoration, centuries of whitewash were removed and revealed medieval paintings survived on the church's walls. Painted over in the 16th century during the reformation of Edward VI (who ordered the destruction of idolatrous figures countrywide which included paintings and stained glass windows), the illustrations depict a number of characters who may represent St. Christopher, Christ, King Henry VI, and St. Thomas Becket.

A modern sculpture of St. Breaca with St. Christopher
painting on the wall

The churchyard included the graves for several men who shared my family surnames, including a John Kitto, William Kitto, Richard Stephens, and William Stephens (who had great real estate with his grave right outside the church's doorway). While I'm sure we're family, I don't presently know the exact relationship to these men.

John Kitto died May 12, 1865 aged 52 years

William Kitto died May 28, 1878 aged 81 years

Richard Stephens died 1834 and was a son of
William and Mary (according to a census of burials)

William Stephens died 1834 and his wife Philippa died 1838

Wheal Trewavas

The last great highlight of my family history road trip was to a site where my ancestors may have worked. Mining dominated Cornwall's economy throughout the 18th and early 19th century. Its mark still dots the Cornish landscape. Today, the ruins of engine houses (used to house the mechanics that ferried men into and out of the mine shafts and pumped out water) with their towering smokestacks are telltale signs of the area's recent history.

Near Prah Green, we hiked a trail from the Rinsey headlands that snaked along the coast atop a cliffside with breathtaking views of the sea below and on out to the distant horizon. A determined wind blew off the sea at a persistent clip. A 15-minute hike brought us to a promontory at the Trewavas headland.

From Trewavas Head looking back at Rinsey Head

Operating while my ancestors were still in Cornwall, Wheal Trewavas opened in about 1834 with men exploiting copper lodes that ran out under the sea. The mine closed in 1850 when the sea flooded the tunnels displacing a workforce of 161.

Wheal Trewavas engine house ruins

It was a moving experience to imagine my ancestors at work carving out their livings (literally). After generations of dangerous backbreaking work, it must have been heart wrenching to watch the local mining industry collapse and leave them feeling they had no choice but to emigrate. I admire the guts it took to leave everything familiar and known and move a world away to something uncertain and with no guarantee of success. 

Posing with Wheal Trewavas ruins

Their move west put them on a collision course with my other ancestral lines. They would meet, marry, and create new generations. It never ceases to boggle my mind how their decisions (some small and others big with seismic ramifications) all led to each of us existing. A different step or a choice not taken and the whole slate of history would change. 

I'm invested in learning about my ancestors' journeys - many of them arduous - that led to me and my place in the world. I'm grateful I had the privilege to visit Cornwall and gain some understanding of what their lives were like. Tremendous thanks to Dr. Trotter and Becky for their roles in making this experience happen. 

The Kindness of Strangers

When I woke up this morning, I started scrolling through email. A message from Ancestry.com alerted me that I had a new comment on my family tree.

Someone commented on my tree?

Commenting on family trees is a handy feature that allows Ancestry users to add input to ancestor profiles in public trees. I use this feature when I find inaccurate information in someone's tree that's ripe for proliferation and threatens the truth of my family history (e.g., wrong family relationships; incorrect birth, marriage, or death dates; or even the misattributed identity of an ancestor in a photograph). 

When these trees are made public, many users blindly add the falsehoods to their own tree, never pausing to discern whether the facts are correct. The bad information goes viral and spreads like wildfire. A comment, which travels with the falsehood each time it's re-shared, can help dispel the propagation of the myth.

Naturally, when I saw that a comment was added to my tree, I immediately wondered if someone found a mistake in my research. Was there a comment intending to set me straight?

The Truth Shall Set You Free

The comment was attached to the profile of Sarah Kitto, my fourth great-grandmother. Born in January 1822 in Cornwall, England to parents John and Mary (Wearne) Kitto, Sarah married Henry Stephens in April 1844. Soon afterwards, the family emigrated to America. In 1860, not long after they arrived in the United States, Henry died and Sarah was widowed at the age of thirty-eight. 

After Henry's death, tracing Sarah's paper trail became an arduous task. A few years ago, a distant cousin shared that Sarah remarried, but she was unsure how the new husband's surname was spelled. Mylcarane was her best guess. 

That name was a dead end and turned up no positive leads. Soon, my attention was drawn to other research priorities and Sarah was quietly tucked away for another day.

That day was today!

I logged into my tree and opened the comment. Straight shooting in its brevity, the Ancestry user revealed that, "Sarah died in Ishpeming, Michigan in 1895. Recorded last name is Mulcrone."  

The user also brought the receipts, sharing FamilySearch URLs that linked to Sarah's death record and provided evidence that my Sarah did indeed die in Michigan in 1895 and that her second husband's surname was Mulcrone. 

Sarah (Kitto) Mulcrone 1895 Michigan death record

The user also pointed me to Sarah's location in the 1870 census and turned a once cold research trail red hot.

This morning, I am thankful for a fellow genealogist who was willing to reach out and share clues that reignited research into this long neglected family line. Sometimes, when we are at a roadblock, we are all dependent on the kindness of strangers. 

London Calling For My Cornwall Ancestors

Work brought me to London, so I added a few personal days to revel in one of my favorite cities.

Oh, and of course, delve into some family history!

London calling in search of my British ancestors

My English Roots

It was just last summer that I discovered the origins of my most recent British ancestry.

My third great-grandfather Thomas K. Stevens (spelling on his headstone in Colorado) was baptized on November 21, 1845 as Thomas Stephens in the small town of Breage in Cornwall, England (See A Felled Genealogy Brick Wall Paves the Way to Cornwall).

Thomas - who was killed in a Colorado mining accident on November 22, 1886 - was the son of Henry and Sarah (Kitto) Stephens. But who were their parents? Henry and Sarah's marriage record gave me names.

Henry was the son of another Henry and Elizabeth Stephens. Sarah was the daughter of John and Mary Kitto.

Could I learn more about my fifth great-grandparents?

RootsTech Research Pointers

Earlier this year, I attended a RootsTech presentation that featured Else Churchill, a genealogist with the Society of Genealogists in London. Since discovering Thomas Stephens' ancestral home village, I haven't spent much time researching the Stephens family line. This session equipped me with a lot of ideas on what to do when I returned to the investigation.

Else Churchell speaking at podium, RootsTech 2019

Finding myself on the other side of the pond, I decided I'd pay a visit to the Society of Genealogists in London and see what I could turn up on my recently-discovered English ancestors.

A Two Hour Search Yields New Clues

I checked in with the front desk and paid a nominal fee, affording me two hours of research time. After locking my bag in a locker, I found myself descending into the "lower library."

The clock was now ticking! Would I learn anything new?

Family Sleuther outside the Society of Genealogists in London.

I settled in front of a computer and began using the library's access to a handful of online databases, including Finding My Past (which I don't presently subscribe to) and the Cornwall Online Parish Clerks' database, which I have snooped in a bit.

With dedicated time focused on the Stephens, I found that the name was very popular. Not only the surname, but also the forename of my fourth and fifth great-grandfathers Henry. I took notes on all the Henry Stephens for further scrutiny at a later date when I wasn't under the pressure of the counting clock.

I soon landed on an exciting find: England's 1841 census for the town of Breage in Cornwall.

Enumerated were the households for Henry Stephens and John Kitto, my fifth great-grandfathers. In those respective households were Henry Stephens Jr and Sarah Kitto, my fourth great-grandparents.

Perhaps most exciting was the discovery that both heads of household were also miners. Their occupations were given as "copper miner." Apparently, Thomas K. Stevens carried on a tradition after immigrating to the United States as he continued in his grandfather's professional footsteps.

1841 England Census for Breage, Cornwall

The census also provided me approximate ages for my fifth great-grandfathers - information that will help guide my continued research at home. John Kitto, aged 45, was born in about 1796. Henry Stephens, aged 40, was born in about 1801. The record also confirmed both men and their households were born in the county. 

I now had time frames and geography to guide future research.

Alas, as I found this record my research time was drawing to a close. Ages and occupations: not bad for a couple hours in London.

My next visit to England will have to include a trip to Cornwall, where I can walk the footsteps of my ancestors at Land's End.

A Felled Genealogy Brick Wall Paves the Way to Cornwall

Over four years ago I wrote about my third great-grandfather Thomas K. Stevens who was killed in a grisly mining accident.

Born in England in 1845 and married in Nova Scotia in 1868, he worked in Colorado's mines until his untimely death in 1886.

I knew a fair amount about his life in North America, but who were his parents? I was at a loss.

A newspaper account reporting his death noted that he had an "aged mother who also resides" in Colorado, but she wasn't enumerated with his family in the 1880 census and, well, we all know what happened to the 1890 census. I couldn't identify a candidate who met his mother's profile.

Like his wife Susan Day, Thomas' parentage was unknown. My Stevens family line was stuck at a seemingly insurmountable brick wall yielding few clues.

My research attention turned elsewhere and the Stevens mystery sat neglected. For years. Until earlier this month...

Brotherly Love Goes Digital

While writing about my most recent immigrant ancestors, I profiled Thomas' son, my second great-grandfather, William John Stevens. Reacquainting myself with the Stevens family prompted me to reevaluate the evidence gathered. I've learned a lot in the past four years about genealogy dos and don'ts and there were a lot of very loose ends left unexplored with the Stevens line.

In 1880, Thomas' first appearance in a US Federal Census that I was aware of, showed that he and his wife Susan along with their four children were living in Idaho Springs, Colorado with his brother Richard and his wife Matilda.

1880 US Federal Census: Idaho Springs, Clear Creek, Colorado

Curiously, the census noted that Thomas was "Maimed, Crippled, Bedridden, or otherwise disabled." Had there been a mining accident in Newfoundland - where the family was last documented before Colorado - that necessitated a move to be with his family?

The census indicated Thomas was born in England as were both of his parents. His brother Richard, though, was a different story. Like Thomas, Richard's parents were both born in England. Unlike Thomas, Richard was born in Wisconsin. Aged 23 in 1880, Richard would have been born in the Badger State in about 1857.

Was I understanding this correctly: the Stevens brothers' - or at least Richard - were in Wisconsin in the mid-19th century?

Clearly, I needed to examine Richard more closely.

I quickly learned that sometime after the 1880 census, Richard and his wife Matilda left Colorado for Iowa where they appeared on that state's 1895 census. In 1902, Matilda passed away leaving Richard a widower.

Five years later, an Iowa marriage register (recently digitized) recorded the nuptials between Richard and Sarah Parish. The later-in-life wedding was quite fortuitous because Iowa began documenting the parents of both the bride and groom.

Excerpt from 1907 Iowa marriage register

Richard's second turn at love gave me his parents' names: Henry Stevens and Sarah Kitto.

These were also quite possibly Thomas' parents and my fourth great-grandparents. My only hesitation was whether either parent had died and the other remarried resulting in the brothers actually being half-siblings. But with names in hand, perhaps I could answer that question.

Tracing Family to England's Land's End

I searched Ancestry's online database of English marriages dating back to 1538, and struck gold. A text-only transcription detailed a marriage between Henry Stephens and Sarah Kitto that was solemnized on April 20, 1844 in the village of Breage, Cornwall.

To my great delight, FamilySearch had digitized the parish registers, including the Stephens-Kitto wedding. After trawling through the unindexed images, I found what I was after.

Stephens-Kitto marriage in Breage, Cornwall, England April 20, 1844

The marriage record also provided the names for Henry and Sarah's fathers, my fifth great-grandfathers: Henry Stephens (Sr.) and John Kitto. The family tree was in full bloom.

Knowing that Thomas K. Stevens was born in 1845, I began paging through dozens of baptism records. At last, there he was!

My third great-grandfather Thomas Stevens/Stephens was baptized on November 21, 1845 in Breage, Cornwall. Like his brother Richard, he was the son of Henry and Sarah (Kitto) Stephens.

Thomas Stephens baptism in Breage, Cornwall, England November 21, 1845

The English marriage and baptism records were just the beginning. I now have an entire branch of my family tree rooted in Cornwall, and wonderfully comprehensive church records are helping me bring them back to life. There's plenty to keep me busy for the foreseeable future.

In the meantime, I think I'll savor this discovery. Excuse me while I binge-watch the British historical television drama Poldark, and imagine my ancestors living in the beautiful Cornish landscapes!