It is time to play again! ;D
Particularly Zenobia and Becky!
Have been doing a little work tonight (including a re-read of previous postings on this thread) and have formed some conclusions and also come up with some new ideas.
But I have also come up with some work for the pair of you. (And anyone else who is interested and may have something to offer.) ;D
I believe I have now solved a large part of the problem of Joseph Trewhella (Trewella) but there are still some things that need checking. (Which is where Zenobia and Becky enter the fray again).
As mentioned, I have re-read all the postings on this subject and aligned things with one or two other little items I have recently discovered.
FIRST REQUEST - I need to CT marriages checked:-
Joseph TREWHELLA m. Elizabeth CURNOW at Meriden, CT, July 21st 1867
Matthew CURNOW m. Ann TREWHELLA at Cheshire, CT, April 12th, 1863
SECOND REQUEST - (follows above) - Matthew CURNOW apparently died in NV June 5th, 1884 and was buried in the Masonic Cemetery at Virginia City.
Information can be found in another part of the thread but the first two children were apparently born in Newfoundland and then Eugenie (c. 1876) bn. NV.
I would like to know what happened to Ann (Trewhella) Curnow.
It is believed that Matthew and Elizabeth CURNOW were siblings which is why I always laboured under the impression that, as they both married TREWHELLAs, that their spouses were also siblings.
It now looks more and more likely that the latter is certainly incorrect - and it may be possible the former could be in question.
Without filling this posting with 'quotes' I will allow readers to check back through the postings and merely refer to items.
1880 Census, Cumru Twp., Berks Co., PA we find a Joseph TREWHELLA who was then aged 33, was married, and was a miner living in a boarding house.
1880 Census, Randolph, Morris, NJ we find an Elizabeth TREWHELLA, head of house, age 32, born Sco., who was a married woman keeping house.
Inference is that this was Joseph Trewhella (1) who married Elizabeth Curnow (2) and that they were separated at the time because of the employment situation.
The ages of the two parties reflect on the previous information so this is quite likely.
From here things get a little interesting.
The 1890 Census is obviously a non-event unless you are lucky enough to have someone you are looking for who appears in the remnants of it.
Now - working backwards from the 1920 Census:-
COOS, Oregon (North Marshfield Precinct)
Joseph Trewella, 72, wid., b. England, no occupation
Mathew Trewella, 24, son, bn. PA, father bn. Eng., mother bn. PA
Now this one is really interesting because it states that Matthew Trewella's mother was born in PA. (keep note of this)
1910 Census for the same place on COOS, OR
Joseph Trewella, age 63, wid., laborer, cold storage, b. Eng, both par. b. Eng.
Mathew Trewella, son, age 18, driver, express wagon, b. Penna., f. b. CANADA, English, m. b. Penna.
1900 Census (Again same place)
Joseph Trewalla, age 59, coal miner, b. Jan 1846, Eng, bohth par b. Eng, imm. 1864
MARGARET Trewalla, wife, age 41, b. Jun 1859, Pa., both par b. Pa. 3 ch. born, 2 living
Josie Trewalla, dau, age 9, b. Dec 1890, Pa.
MATHEW TREWALLA, son, age 7, b. Oct 1892, Pa.
To quote from Zenobia:-
"The only odd thing about the last is it says the couple was married for 40 years! (I think it should have been 10, and someone changed it - most of the census sheets available are second clerk's copies, not the originals).
And here is the important point that needs to be checked:-
The mention in 1910 where Matthew Trewhella states that his father was born in CANADA made me think again.
The implication occurred to me that I may still be dealing with two separate Matthew Trewhellas and that this fellow was indeed connected with Matthew Trewhella and Juliana Lanyon given there are, I believe, other possible Canadian connections there.
HOWEVER - there is one more VERY SALIENT point involved in all of this!
In one of Zenobia's notes was mentioned the possibility of two marriages for Joseph Trewhella but then this notion was rejected.
Well - I am now going to RESURRECT that same notion and I believe I may now have enug information to support it. (Information that has been sitting in front of us for quite some time now, as I discovered tonight.)
I believe I have made mention that if Matthew was born about 1892/3 then both parents would have been about 47.
Although 'possible' it is stretching things quite a lot in this case when we consider that the parents were married in 1867 - at least 25 years before.
In 1880 we have Joseph Trewhella and (probably) his wife living separately and probably due to the economics of the time which required Joseph to live where he worked for a while.
There is, to my knowledge, no evidence of children, at least there were none mentioned in that Census.
As mentioned previously, the 1890 Census appears to be of no use to us because most of it was lost in a fire.
BUT - pay particular attention to the information provided in the Oregon Census of 1900.
Joseph is aged 59 but now has a wife named MARGARET who is aged 41 and who was born in PA.
They have two children - Josie (9) and MATTHEW (7).
Referring back to the above quote regarding (... says the couple was married for 40 years...)
I agree that 'this couple' would have been married not much more than 10 years.
BUT - Joseph would have originally been married about 33 years previously.
In other words - Margaret was Joseph's second wife which now makes sense with the other records that have been uncovered.
What we need now is to find the DEATH/BURIAL of Joseph's first wife ELIZABETH and also the marriage of JOSEPH and MARGARET.
And then, of course, is to find out something about daughter Josie.
OK kids - go and play and I will see what else I can work out from other notes I need to respond to.