Marriage bond between James Daniel and Sarah Cocke

James Daniel and Sarah "Sallie" Cocke were married in the North Carolina colony in 1772. Here's a copy of the marriage bond:

Text:

"Know all men by these presents that we James Daniel & William Cocke of Granville County in the Province of North Carolina are held and firmly bound unto our Sovereign Lord the King his heirs and Succesors in the sum of Fifty pound Proclamation Money which payment will and truly to be made We bind ourselves & each of our heirs jointly & severally firmly by these presents sealed with our seals & oaths this 30th day of November Anno Domini 1772. The Condition of the above obligation is such that whereas the above bound James Daniel hath He early of the date hereof made application for License for a Marriage to be Celibrated between him & Salley Cocke and hath Abstained the same No wife if it shall not thereafter appear that there is any Lawful cause to obstruct the said Marriage then this obligation to be Void otherwise to Remain in full force power of Virtue. Signed Sealed & Delivered James Daniel in the presence of Wm Cocke William Rardon"

(William was Sarah's father)

Leona May Bradley was the daughter of Malcolm Pleasant Bradley, who was the son of
Mary Z Daniel, who was the daughter of
Jacob Pryor Daniel, who was the son of
Elijah Daniel, who was the son of
James Daniel and Sarah Cocke.

Percy's siblings

Percy Hirst Grindrod Smith was the sixth of at least seven children born to Thomas and Eliza Smith.

Like Percy, Leopold, Louis, and Lilian all immigrated to the US. (The others may have also.) I believe Leo was the first to make the trip, in 1899. Percy followed in 1902. Louis (Leo's twin brother) and Lillian came over with their Aunt Theresa in 1903, although Lilian must have returned to England. She recorded her year of immigration as 1907 in Census records, and was married and had her first child in between 1903 and 1907.

Here's a copy of Leo's passport application, with a photo:

Note that Percy also signed the application for Leo. (Also note that in old passports that had to describe things like their face shape (oval) and nose type (Roman). I didn't know there were different classifications for noses.)

Here are some photos Grammy sent of Percy's siblings. In the upper left is Leo with his wife Nellie. They lived in Tujunga, California for a time, and may have also lived in New Orleans (see the passport application above). In the upper right is a photo of Charles T Smith, who was the second oldest of the siblings. In the bottom left is Louis Smith (Leo and Louis must have been identical twins with those matching Roman noses). The photo on the bottom right is Lilian Beatrice T Smith and her husband, Percy Hallet. Percy was also born in England, where he and Lilian were married before moving to California. Together, Lilian and Percy Hallet had six children (I think). The first was born in England, and the rest were born in California.

John and Martha Mark

John and Martha Mark were my great-great-great-great-great grandparents. At Leslie's suggestion, I searched and found the following summary of these ancestors who were among the first pioneers on the Oregon Trail:

Most of the emigrants on the Oregon Trail were between the ages of 15 and 35. John Mark was a 52 year old veteran of the War of 1812, and his wife Martha was 50 when they set out for Oregon in the spring of 1847. They were the family elders, the nucleus of a small party of family and friends from Johnson County, Missouri, consisting of between 16 and 20 people in five wagons. Traveling with John and Martha were four of their children, aged 11 to 25. Two more Mark daughters, Mary Ann and Elizabeth, came along with their husbands, as did a group of neighbors from the Mulkey family.

The Mark party pulled out from the family homestead in Johnson County on May 2, 1847. They had their fair share of hardship and tragedy along the Oregon Trail -- Elizabeth lost her husband of six years, Jack Howard, during the journey. The location and cause of his demise are lost to us.

There was also cause for celebration in the group when Luvina Mark married a family friend traveling with the party, James Shirley, in a ceremony at Fort Laramie on June 20, 1847. The newlyweds marked the event by carving their initials in the bark of a tree growing along a nearby stream.

The party passed through the Whitman Mission at Waiilatpu shortly before the murders and kidnappings that put an end to the missionary era in Oregon. At The Dalles, they decided to pool their money and pay for passage over the Barlow Road rather than risk boating down the Columbia River. Like thousands of other overlanders, they inched their wagons down the infamous slopes of Laurel Hill by rope. On September 17, 1847, they reached the Trail's End in Oregon City.

Family lore has it that John Mark traded either a wagon or mare for a 643.39 acre claim in the Willamette Valley. It was claim number 63 on the books in Oregon City, making it one of the earliest land claims in Oregon. Mary Ann and Luvina took up neighboring land, claiming 640 acres with their husbands for each of their families. Elizabeth, who lost her husband on the Oregon Trail, remarried in September, 1848, and settled nearby. The area where they settled is known as Marks Prairie to the present day.

John Mark's eldest son, Alexander Kesterson Mark, was unmarried, and under Oregon's land laws he could claim only 320 acres. On his claim, which was part of the Marks Prairie neighborhood, he operated and dairy and planted an orchard of apple, peach, and pear trees. He drove his wagon to Oregon City regularly to sell cheese, butter, and, when the orchard came in, dried fruit. There are no records of any Mark family members joining the California Gold Rush when the news reach Oregon in 1848, but Alexander's butter and cheese no doubt brought in a tidy sum from merchants looking to the farms of Oregon to supply the miners.

However, Alexander was a religious man and lived frugally. When he built a large, two-story house -- a mansion for its day -- he did much of the work himself, even pitching in on the two-man whipsaw to help with the tedious job of sawing logs into planks. When his house was complete, he reserved a ground floor room for the use of local circuit riders, traveling preachers who rode regular routes through the countryside. In later years, the house became the focal point for the extended Mark family, and to this day a handful of the trees planted by Alexander Mark are still bearing fruit.

Source

Percy Hirst Grindrod Smith

Percy Hirst Grindrod Smith was born in Worthing, Sussex, England on April 9, 1881. Percy's parents were Thomas Smith and Eliza Sarah Gear. (Percy's father is erroneously listed in some places as Frederic John Smith. This is incorrect--Frederic was Percy's brother.) Percy was the sixth of seven children (whom we know about).

Percy's father, Thomas, was listed on census records as a surveyor and contractor. He was born in 1822 in Rickmansworth, Hertforshire, England.

Percy's mother, Eliza, died in 1895. For some time after, Percy lived with his aunt, Theresa Gear, who had never married and who had been living with Percy's family for many years. At the time of the 1901 England Census, Percy was living in London with Theresa, his older brother Louis, and little sister Lilian. Eventually, Percy left England for the United States, where he made his way to California.

In 1903, Theresa, Louis and Lilian came to America aboard a ship called the St. Paul. Louis, who was 23 at the time, listed his profession as "architect." They listed their final destination as Long Beach, California, where they possibly planned to meet with Percy, who had made the voyage in 1902.

At the time of the 1910 Census, Louis was living in Long Beach, California, with Aunt Theresa. By 1920, Louis and Theresa were living in Corona, California.

Percy was married to Bessie Flagg Losee on April 25, 1905, in Long Beach, California. For a copy of the LA Herald article that mentioned their wedding, click here. Percy became a successful real estate developer in the Long Beach area.

Percy and Bessie had three children for whom we have a record: Dorothy (born in September 1905), Walter (born in August 1907) and Winifred (born around 1915).

Percy passed away in Fullerton, California, on May 2, 1950.


Baptismal record of Percy and his siblings. Except for Lilian, who would be born later, all of the Smith children were baptized on September 8, 1881 in St. Marylebone, Middlesex, England.

Bessie and Percy Smith.

Mary Peer

As shown in the last post, Alice Flagg's mother was probably Mary Pier or Mary Peer.

I found Mary's information. Mary was born on January 29, 1820 to John and Elsha Peer. (John was John Peer, Sr., so the John Peer, Jr. at Mary's wedding was her brother.)

Here's the recording of the birth in the church registry in St. Armand Parish, Quebec:

Alice Amanda Flagg's parents

Judson Losee was married to Alice Flagg, who was born in Quebec. According to the 1870 US Census, Alice was born around 1851.

For a long time, on our genealogical records her mother was listed as Mary Ann Derick. However, Mary Ann Derick died in 1848. At the time of the US Census in 1870, Alice's father, Isaac Flagg, was still listed as being married to a woman named Mary. Was this Mary Ann Derick, and her date of death was recorded incorrectly?

It turns out that after his first wife died in 1848, Isaac Flagg remarried a woman named Mary Pier in 1850. Unfortunately, we have no information about Mary Pier's ancestry at this time.

But here's an electronic version of the record of the marriage between Isaac Flagg and Mary Pier:

From the registers of the Anglican Church serving
St. Armand East, Quebec (now called Frelighsburg), register for
the year 1849 on the front of folio 21, Quebec National Archives
microfilm #124.4:

On this ninteenth day of March one thousand eight hundred and
fifty Isaac Flagg, widower, of the Parish of St. Thomas, Farmer,
andMary Pier of this Parish, spinster, both of major age, were
married by dispensation of Licence bearing date the fourteenth day
of the present month of Marchin presence of John Pier Jr. and
Abby A. Pier both of this Parish, who hereunto set and subscribed
their names by me
(signed) James Reid, Rector
(signed)
Isaac Flagg
Mary Pier
John Peer Jr.
Abby A. Peer

Source. Notice how Pier is also spelled "Peer" by the clergyman. Were John Peer and Abby Peer the parents of Mary Pier?

And here's a link to the diary of the clergyman who married them, where he records, on March 19, 1850, "I married a man of the name of Isaac Flagg, of St. Thomas, and Mary Pier today."

UPDATE: According to the 1861 Canada Census, John and Abby Peer were married, but not old enough to have been Mary's parents. Perhaps John was Mary's brother?

UPDATE 2: Here's a copy of the recording by the clergyman:

Agrippa + Caty

The marriage record for Agrippa Parker and Catherine "Caty" Cox. Married June 12, 1838 in Washington County, Missouri.

Now if we could just find info about Agrippa's parents...

We don't know anything about Agrippa's parents, except that they were English. Agrippa died a few months before his son, James, was born. James fought for the Union in the Civil War. It is known that Agrippa was born in Tennessee and had brothers and a sister named John, Joe, and Lucina.