1890s

The Arrival of George Groucutt

joelowry1982 1890s, Groucutt, Obituary

When I first found the obituary of my great, great grandfather, George Leo Groucutt, I was a bit confused. I’ve long known of his early years in New Castle, Pennsylvania, but there was a new addition to the story:

“… came to St. Louis in 1891 and to New Castle in 1892…”

This was the first I had heard of George or any of these Groucutts living anywhere except in western Pennsylvania and northeast Ohio. Why had he decided to go to St. Louis? Did he know people or receive information in England of available jobs? These questions are still unknown, but his travel information no longer is.

SS Nevada of the Guion Line.

George set sail from Liverpool, England, the busiest departure port in England around 1 September 1891. Aboard the SS Nevada of the Liverpool and Great Western Steamship Company, known commonly as the Guion Line, he was in steerage, traveling without his family. It was likely crowded, with open berthing. Whether we had a bunk, a hammock, or even just the floor, he would have shared this berthing space. His record in the ship’s manifest reads:

Number: 323 [of 679]
Name: George Growcutt
Age: 36
Sex: M
Calling: Laborer
Country of which they are citizens: England
Intended destination or location: St. Louis
Date and cause of death: — [thankfully!]
Location of compartment or place occupied: Forward steerage No. 1
Number of pieces of baggage: 1
Transient, or in transit, or protracted sojourn: Protracted

The SS Nevada arrived in New York Harbor on 10 September 1891. His view from the deck would have looked similar to this circa 1891 image of the Statue of Liberty. Imagine traveling alone, looking for work, and this image is one of the first things you see in America. It’s a beautiful sight!

The Statue of Liberty and New York Harbor in 1891. Source: Viewing NYC

From the SS Nevada, it’s likely that he boarded a tender to be taken to the temporary immigration station being run by the Federal government at the Barge Office at the Battery on Lower Manhattan. Winding through corrals, he likely would have received a medical screening. Eventually, after successfully completing the exams, he was released into Manhattan with his bag, any money he was carrying with him, and the expectation that he would soon move on to find work.

Barge Office, New York
Barge Office, New York. Library of Congress.

How did he get to St. Louis from Manhattan? We will likely never known, but it likely involved a train. Several railroads provided service from New York to St. Louis without requiring extensive transfers. The Baltimore & Ohio and Pennsylvania Railroad both provided this service.

Regardless, we do know that the SS Nevada didn’t wait in New York Harbor long before it’s next journey. On a transatlantic voyage just three months after George’s, 17-year old Annie Moore of Ireland was on the manifest. She would gain fame as the first person to enter Ellis Island, the replacement for the Barge Office that George passed through, beginning 32 years of immigration through this famous port of entry. The SS Nevada would make several more transatlantic crossings before being struck from the roster of the Guion Line in 1893.

Source:
“Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957,” database and images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7488/images/NYM237_575-0426 : accessed 26 Nov 2020) > 1891 > Sep > 10 > Nevada, passenger list, SS Nevada, Liverpool to New York departing abt 1 Sep 1891, entry for George Growcatt [Groucutt], image 8 of 16; citing “Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1897-1957,” Microfilm Publication T715, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.

The Bixler Family in 1891

joelowry1982 1890s, Bixler, Maternal
If your family member appears in a genealogy database, odds are that one type of record attached to that person is a city directory. A city directory, as stated in the famous Boston Directory, is “a list of the merchants, mechanics, traders, and others, of the town…; in order to enable strangers to find the residence of any person.” City directories predate the phone book by a few hundred years, as is the case in Boston. Most large city’s have published directories at some point in their history. No doubt with the internet, much of this information has transitioned to online. Still, many central business districts have published directories featuring the businesses and people in that area.
I have a love-hate relationship with the city directory. The two largest genealogy research websites, Ancestory.com and FamilySearch.com both have very large databases of city directories, covering hundreds of cities over 100 or more years. When I searched the online catalog on FamilySearch for ‘City Directory,’ I received 27,338 returns. When I’m conducting research on the larger genealogy websites such as Ancestry.com, city directories returns can cloud my results. Especially when published annually, a city directory is rarely going to be a groundbreaking document. Still, the city directory can be very useful to know what your ancestors are up to year to year. As the U.S. Census is only taken every ten years, city directories can fill in the gaps.

One such city directory is the 1891 directory for Youngstown, Ohio. As most of the 1890 U.S. Census was destroyed in a 1921 fire, an 1891 directory provides much needed information on this time period. Opposite an advertisement for the Youngstown Iron and Steel Company were several groups of Bixler’s. The Bixler’s are the family of my maternal great grandmother. Listed in the directory are:
  • Bixler August, clerk Lakeshore Ry, res 333 Meadow
  • Bixler A M, bakery and confectionary 245 W Federal, res same
  • Bixler Miss Bertha, res n s Mahoning ave w of Creek
  • Bixler Charles F, driver A M Bixler, res n s Mahoning ave
  • Bixler Frederick, farmer, res n s Mahoning ave w of Creek
  • Bixler George P, painter, res 360 W Rayen ave
  • Bixler Miss Louisa R, res 333 Meadow
  • Bixler Miss Minnie, clerk L Osborne & Co, res 360 W Rayen ave
  • Bixler Nicholas, painter, res 360 W Rayen ave
  • Bixler Phillip, butcher, res 121 Stull
  • Bixler Miss Sophia, res 121 Stull
  • Bixler William, wks Lloyd Booth Co, res 333 Meadow
  • Bixler William G, laborer, res 333 Meadow
  • Bixler William J, wks Cartwright, M & Co, res 121 Stull
Based on the addresses listed, we can assume several of those listed are related to each other in some way. I’ve added my relationship where I know it.
  1. Bixler August, clerk Lakeshore Ry, res 333 Meadow – My 2nd great grand uncle
  2. Bixler Miss Louisa R, res 333 Meadow – My 2nd great grand aunt
  3. Bixler William, wks Lloyd Booth Co, res 333 Meadow – My 2nd great grandfather
  4. Bixler William G, laborer, res 333 Meadow – My 3rd great grandfather
121 Stull Street (Lower West Side) – renamed West Avenue, mapped address is approximate.
  1. Bixler Phillip, butcher, res 121 Stull
  2. Bixler Miss Sophia, res 121 Stull
  3. Bixler William J, wks Cartwright, M & Co, res 121 Stull
  1. Bixler George P, painter, res 360 W Rayen ave
  2. Bixler Miss Minnie, clerk L Osborne & Co, res 360 W Rayen ave
  3. Bixler Nicholas, painter, res 360 W Rayen ave
245 W Federal Street or Mahoning Ave (W of Creek is presumed to be Mill Creek)
  1. Bixler A M, bakery and confectionary 245 W Federal, res same
  2. Bixler Miss Bertha, res n s Mahoning ave w of Creek
  3. Bixler Charles F, driver A M Bixler, res n s Mahoning ave
  4. Bixler Frederick, farmer, res n s Mahoning ave w of Creek
There are only one of the four family groups for which I’ve identified a relationship, but I believe I can probably work to tie all of these people together in some way. As I am fond of writing, there’s more research to do!

Source:
Youngstown City Directory, 1891-1892. Akron, Ohio. The Burch Directory Company, 128. Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Accessed 28 Jun 2015.

Photo of the Day – May 25, 2015

joelowry1982 1890s, Maternal, POTD, Witt

I’m going to get back into the swing of posting here, I promise. I actually enjoy sharing my family discoveries and have been quite active in my genealogy work. I just haven’t been posting anything to the blog. I hope to change that in the coming days and weeks. You can certainly expect some great daily photos in the very near future. Mary Catherine Sanders (nee Witt) provided me some amazing photos of my 2nd great grandfather and his family that I can’t wait to scan and share. I’ve also made some discoveries involving Civil War records and closed a very big loop regarding Edward Lowry, my 2nd great grand uncle from Washington state. So stay tuned, there’s more to come!

Today’s photo of the day is the wedding photo of John Albert Witt and Johanna Thaner. They were married on 22 May 1890 in Saint Mary’s Church in Pittsburgh. John is the brother of my 2nd great-grandfather Joseph Witt. I’ve written about John’s unfortunate death here.

Source:
John Albert Witt (1863-1942) and Johanna Thaner Witt (1862-1949), photograph, taken in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on 22 May 1890; digital image, photocopy of original, scanned by Mary Mathewson; privately held by Mary Mathewson, [address for private use], Rocky River, Ohio. Man seated in suit and woman standing in wedding gown. Provenance is Mary Mathewson to Joseph Lowry.