Job Whysall: from Derbyshire to Pennsylvania.

[John Whysall]

Family-history problems are like tooth-ache: sometimes agonizing, others a mild nag. This one refers to a collateral limb of my family tree. It should not greatly worry me, but I find it constantly there (enough of that mixed-metaphor). So, any thoughts and contributions greatly welcome.

I was originally intrigued to come across this: from http://members.tripod.com/~Write4801/ohio/ttaug.html
"The Tribune Telegraph, Pomeroy, Meigs County, Ohio
Wednesday, August 18, 1897
"Capt. Job Whysall, one of the pilots of the Iron Age, which arrived yesterday, is one of the best known Ohio river steamboatmen. For several years he was in command of the towboat AJAX, the largest coal towboat on the rivers until the JOE WILLIAMS came out, and was the first captain to take 500,000 bushels of coal down the rivers at one tow. In 1870 his boat grounded on a sand bar near Lake Providence, La. A towhead formed there, which is still known as Ajax towhead."

Now, I have various and over-lapping “Job Whysalls” on my rough-and-ready data-base, of which the main suspects are:
[1] Born in Pentrich, about 1776, married to Rebecca [surname unknown]. I am pretty sure about one son, Joseph, christened 12 Aug 1804.
[2] Showing up in the 1880 US census is just the one Job Whysall, farmer, born “England” abt 1797, living at Pulaski, Beaver, Pennsylvania, with a wife, Sophia.
[3] IGI throws up another: "Male Christening: 27 AUG 1799 Pentrich, Derby, England. Parents: John Whysall & Maria". He seems to marry Mary Booth at Pentrich in 28 Sep 1823. I guess he may be the death recorded [Mansfield District, 7b 42] for the final, December, quarter of 1878.
[4] Belper Primitive Methodist Chapel has a christening (8 July 1837) of a Job Whysall, born 28 July 1831, son of Job Whysall and Ruth Hutchinson.
[5] Then there is a birth recorded Belper District, quarter to September 1842.
[6] One of the witnesses in the Royal Commission Reports on Children in the Mines, 1842, is No. 125, Job Whysall. See http://www.cmhrc.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/derno.htm
If anyone has a text of this evidence, I should be grateful.

We have something more about Captain Job Whysall from http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/r/h/e/Joseph---P-Rhein/PDFGENE2.pdf, under the heading More About ELLEN JANE HUSTON:
"Fact 1: Bet. 1866 - 1867, Was staying with the Whysalls. May have been working as a maid or housekeeper.
Fact 2: September 1867, Whysalls bought a house and lot in New Brighton.
Fact 3: 1870, Job Whysall, born in England in 1832, is listed as a resident of 3 Wd, New Brighton, Beaver County, Pennsylvania
Fact 4: James Wilson Houston, in a letter to his sister Ellen Jane Huston, inquires as to the health of “Captain Whysall”. As he was living in New Brighton on the Ohio River, he may have been captain of a river boat."

Again, from the History of New Brighton, 1838-1938, in the Pennsylvania State University Library and on-line at: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/do/digitalbookshelf/28055636/28055636_part_05.pdf:
"The year 1884 saw the burning of the Standard Horse Nail Works in Fallston. It had been started by C. M. Merrick and Job Whysall in 1872. In 1880 E. E. Pierce, an eastern man, succeeded Whysall, and his inventive genius perfected the nail making machinery which hitherto had been more or less experimental. Upon its destruction the proprietors decided to rebuild in New Brighton, which they did the following year. This factory has since been in continuous operation."

Similarly from pages 198-9 of The Story of Pittsburgh, on line at http://www.libraries.psu.edu/do/digitalbookshelf/29893570/29893570.part_11.pdf:

"STANDARD HORSE NAIL COMPANY – The present members of the Standard Horse Nail Company are C. M. Merrick, president; E. D. Merrick, vice-president; Fred S. Merrick, secretary; E. H. Seiple, treasurer.  The directors are C. M. Merrick, S. C. Merrick, S. H. Seiple, C. M. Russell and E. E. Pierce, gentlemen all favorably known in the business world.
The company manufactures hot-forged horse nails, its factory being located at New Brighton, Pa. It has both foreign and domestic trade; the foreign business, unlike most American manufacturers, is done on the absolute same price as it gets in the United States. The company is capitalized at $720,000.
The business was established in 1872 as a private partnership under the name of the Standard Horse Nail Company. The partners were C. M. Merrick, Job Whysall and Samuel Farmer. After six months of experimenting with the invention of Samuel and Job Farmer, Samuel Farmer sold his interest to the remaining partners, who continued experimenting with machinery to make horse nails. E. E. Pierce purchased Job Whysall’s interest January 13, 1880, and Fred S. Merrick was admitted as partner January 1, 1881."

There is, perhaps, both too much and too little information in all this. Essentially, what I want to know is:
(a) which Job is which (and are some of them alternatively "Joseph") so I can string the essential narrative together;
(b) when Job emigrated.

[John Whysall]

It is, I am sure, bad form to reply to one's own posting. However, by one of those coincidences that should only appear in Dickens, I have just come up against a posting on the ancestry.com site, which partly answers my point.

Carol B. Jewell says "I have just recently discovered that my American Whysall branch arrived in New York City 2 July 1850 aboard the "Constellation" which sailed from Liverpool. "Joh" (perhaps a misprint for Jos. or Job) Whysall aged 50 arrived with Joh aged 18 and Joe (Joseph) aged 14." [See http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/message/an/surnames.whysall/5.1?m=5.1.1].

Can anyone add to any of this, please?

[spendlove]

Hi
Re Your First Post.

Joseph Whysall Bpt 12.8.1804 was the son of JOHN & Rebecca Whysall, with
other possible Children Samuel 1808, Marian 1816 & German 1821.

Job is quite a common name, not to be confused with any abbreviations of Joseph
or John.

RE Second Post.

The two Joh listed I think should be Job, using the ages given I think you will
find that
Job   Whysall  B 1800, and his sons Job born 1832 and Joseph born 1836
are on the 1841 Census Ho107/857/2
Job Snr was married to Ruth born 1806, with children Ann 1826, Catherine 1828,
Ruth 1830, Mary 1837 Sarah 1839, Job 1831 Joseph 1835

Ruth  Snr Died Sept Quarter 1847 Basford 15 291,
I can find none of the Males on the 1851 Census, Had they sailed in 1850?
however some of the girls are on HO107/2126 Folio 165, Catherine now married to Jonathan Longdon, and living with them are Ruth 1830, Sarah 1839 and a Fanny born 1842.

Consider that your Job born 1832 is son of Job & Ruth.
Although living in Eastwood Nottinghamshire in 1841 they originate from Ilkeston
Derbyshire.

Horse nails were made in this area for hundreds of years, mainly in Belper Derbyshire,
and no doubt their ancestors would have made nails.

Spendlove

[John Whysall]

Thanks and humble genuflections to you, Spendlove, as usual. Essentially the problem is one of a limited supply of first-names (John, Joseph, Job, Rebecca …. ad nauseam): I thank goodness, then, that I am not dealing exclusively with Smiths or Browns.

What follow is not all instantly a part of my original point. For the record, and possible benefit of other labourers in this vineyard, my rough scratch-file has some confirmations:
Job Whysall (born Pentrich, about 1776) married Rebecca (surname unknown). Like Spendlove, I see three known children:
•   Joseph, christened Pentrich 12 Aug 1804;
•   Samuel, christened Pentrich 23 April 1808;
•   Marianne, christened Pentrich 13 October 1816.

Then it gets interesting and problematic:
I have a John Whysall (born Pentrich, about 1795) married Rebecca Smedley (born Pentrich about 1796-9). I link five children with them:
•   John Whysall. I has one note indicating he marries Sarah Arnold. The 1881 Census shows someone of that name, born about 1819 at Ripley, living at Market Place, Ripley, married to Elizabeth. There are heavy uncertainties here, but they do not upset the main point of this particular thread;
•   German Whysall (christened Pentrich, 13 May 1821) marries Harriet Walters (24 July 1848, All Saints, Derby). In the 1851 Census they are at Little Hays, Alderwasley, with a 2-year-old daughter, Rebecca [see http://www.wirksworth.org.uk/C51-01.htm]. They also are on the 1881 Census, living at Kirkby Woodhouse, Notts;
•   Rebecca Whysall (born Marehay, Ripley, 17 Feb 1823; christened 28 March 1823; buried 15 November 1826);
•   Francis Whysall (born Marehay, Ripley, 19 March 1825; christened 20 March 1825; buried 22 March 1825) — allow an unsuppressed shudder after those two entries;
•   Isaac Henry Whysall (christened Ripley, 22 Oct 1826), who marries Harriet Cooper. They are on the 1881 Census, living at Back Street, Ripley.

If I am right, it looks as if this German is the product of a different marriage to the one Spendlove suggests. I acknowledge the thread “The Germans are coming” in http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/DERBYSGEN/2000-04/0955898738, and I can account for at least six German Whysalls, including a great-uncle, over three centuries, on my lists.

As Spendlove prudently says, there is the problem of hand-written “Joh”, “Jos” and “Job” being often indistinguishable. I shall now have to try to reconcile the second half of Spendlove’s posting with what (I think) I already know ….

The Carol B Jewell posting (see above) would establish Job (aged 50) and two sons Joh/Job (aged 18) and Joe/Joseph (aged 14) arriving at New York, from Liverpool, on the “Constellation”, 2 July 1850. I know of the “Constellation”:
•   New York built in 1849, and “At the time of her launch, she was the largest sailing vessel in the New York-Liverpool packet service” [see http://www.geocities.com/mppraetorius/com-co.htm]
•   as a “famine ship” on the Irish emigrant sites [I seem no longer to be able to access www.immigrantships.net, which would confirm the 1850 date];
•   and as “that celebrated old packet ship … of New York … which had conveyed many thousands of passengers across the Atlantic” [see http://www.old-merseytimes.co.uk/constellation.html].

Until now, I had no record of the Job, born 1800, whom Spendlove locates on the 1841 Census. My nearest match would be the Job, christened Pentrich 27 Aug 1799, son of John Whysall and Maria Cook, and who marries Mary Booth in 1822 [that’s all IGI, admittedly]. Obviously another avenue to explore.

However, I do have a one-and-only Catherine Whysall on my file, christened Pentrich 17 Feb 1828, but daughter (I believed until now) of Jacob and Mary Ann. There is, though, a further twist here: I believe another child of this marriage to be Bamford Whysall, perhaps born 5 April 1830, christened Ripley 26 Feb 1837 (OK, OK …). Now, he turns up as another emigrant: by 1859 he is a blacksmith, (“Bamfordth Whysall”) living at 133 Market Street, Paterson, New Jersey [see http://www.distantcousin.com/Directories/NJ/1859/Patterson/W.html].

The horse-nails and black-smithing thing bugs me a trifle. According to the Pigot’s Directory for 1828 [see http://www.belper-research.com/places/belper/pigot1828.html], John Whysall is a maltster and publican at the “Jolly Nailers” (sounds as much of an oxymoron as “military intelligence”) in Gutter, Belper!

So, back to the electronic filing cabinet. As the great President Jed Bartlett once said: “Welcome to the show that never ends”.

[spendlove]

Hi John,

Re my post 1841 Census for Job & Ruth Whysall + Children.

Job Whysall = Ruth Hutchinson 23.6.1823 Ilkeston M055141, however you will
discover that he is not listed as Whysall but Wizzer obviously an error in transcription
which would need to be checked with the actual Parish Register.

There is some proof, in that their Children Bpt., Primitive Methodist Ilkeston,
Batch No.,137411 Ann 1827, Job 1837 but actually born 1831, Joseph 1837 but
born 1835 and Mary 1837 but born 1836, together with Catrine Whysoell and
Ruth Whysall on Batch C067021 Shipley Wood & Beverley Prim. Methodist.
are all listed on the 1841 Census as per my previous post.

Note on your original post item 4  Job Whysall you have Bpt Belper but is obviously
the Job Bpt Ilkeston and you have an incorrect entry in your system.

You do not say who you are actually connected with, are you searching for your
family or doing a one name study?

Spendlove

[John Whysall]

Again, grateful thanks, Spendlove. I shall adjust records as you show.

Until now I had not addressed the non-conformists much beyond Belper (to where many of the Pentrich lot seem to have defected): I will now have to do so.

I suspect that the original query about the various Jobs and their emigration is now “sorted” as far as it can be at this end. I shall (probably) have a further go at it from the US end: it is all within the time range of the US records (even though they tend to be localised before the more recent censuses and arrival of social security).

As for your philosphical point in your final paragraph, the honest answer is "I only wish I knew". The thing started when my father was approaching his end. I wanted, somehow, to record his personal history. He was the last of his generation, and wanted to regain some contacts. In point of fact, that never happened in his lifetime. When he died, I found myself wondering "Who am I?" -- particularly with a mass of grand-children suddenly appearing on the scene. I temporarily lost interest when my whole PC-database went belly up; then regained the urge with an Apple-Mac system. The PC-database (it's still around here, somewhere, on floppies) was more evenly-weighed between my side and my wife's (Ulster-Scots, in the main).

So far in my recent endeavours I have not got much beyond the Whysalls: distinctive name, controllable numbers, little geographic spread before the mid-19th century. So I thought that would be easy: well, my name-files are well into four figures, and include at least four hundred Whysall files (males and maiden-names) alone -- many duplications, no doubt. So, it looks as if it's becoming a very amateurish name-study (with dollops of social history on the side) -- which at least, to my mind, is one step up from names as a substitute for stamp-collecting.

The link for me is at the Job (born 1800) level. If I ever untangle the Pentrich connections of the late 1700s, all will be clear. I cannot yet fully establish whether he would be a sibling of my direct line in that generation or the previous one (it's the quadruplication of first names and the lack of maiden-names that does it). The Spendlove revelations will certainly help with all that.

A more obvious spur for this present emigration thread was when my eldest daughter married and moved to New Jersey. When we visit her, the commuter train into Manhattan takes us past where a namesake had a forge 150 years ago. It's things like that which pique my curiosity.

Again: thanks for all your input. I am sure we shall cyberspacially brush against each other again sooner or later.

[John Whysall]

Small (and pathetically so) detail about 10 July 06 12:46 BST posting above.

Original at http://www.spanglefish.com/awalkthroughderbyshirespast/index.asp?pageid=283984

[E339653]

There is a document available on-line (Phillimore's Parish Registers), the earliest records are 1538 and continue until 1812. If you search in Derbyshire you will find the records of many Whysall marriages. I have traced my branch of the Whysall family back until about 1800 - I have browsed Phillimore but not traced the ancient history yet. I plan to go to see the parish records in Pentrich shortly.

Mike Whysall