William Webb - Brooklyn NY

[SilenceWebb]

Curious as to what may have happened to one of my ancestors, William Henry Rablin Webb, born 1871 in Plymouth, Devon.

In 1897 he married Mary Jane Coles (1870-1947) in Plymouth.
They had three children: William Henry Rablin Webb (1898), Fred George Webb (1901-1904), and Charles Ernest Webb (1905).

The 1901 Census shows William, Mary, and their son William Henry Rablin Webb living at 16 Mutley Plain, Plymouth. William’s occupation is listed as being a Carpenter.

William Henry Rablin Webb (1871) arrived in New York from Southampton aboard the Saint Paul on April 2nd 1905. He is only listed as William Henry Webb, but is English, last place of residence is Plymouth, is married, and his profession is listed as being a carpenter.

Mary Jane Webb arrived in New York from Southampton aboard the Saint Louis on July 6th 1907. She traveled with two sons, William Henry Rablin Webb (8yrs) and Charles Ernest Webb (2yrs). Last address is given as 11 Alexandra Road, Mutley, Plymouth. Listed as intending to stay with husband W. H. Webb in Brooklyn, New York (219 Halsey Street).

Mary later returns to England with the two boys and they are listed in the 1911 Census of England and Wales as living at 11 Alexandra Road, Mutley, Plymouth with Mary’s parents William H. Coles and Emma Coles and with her sister Elsie.

So my question is: what happened to William Henry Rablin Webb (1871)? Did he die in Brooklyn? Did he return to England at a later date?

I would really appreciate any tips or suggestions as to how I might go about tracing what happened to him.

Thank you

[shellyesq]

The site isn't working for me at the moment, but www.italiangen.org has a death index for New York City up to 1948.

[SilenceWebb]

Thanks shellyesq I found a possible match:

Surname     Given Name     Age     Month  Day  Year     Certificate  County    Soundex

Webb      William             77 y   Apr      17   1948      8643       Kings      W100

Although I can't imagine why he would still be in America... if this starts to look like a definite possibility at least now I can order a copy of the death certificate.

Really appreciate the assistance

[shellyesq]

No problem!

1910 Census, Brooklyn, New York, 112 Johnson St.
Webb, William Henry, lodger, male, white, age 39, married once for 13 years, b. Eng., parents b. Eng., immigrated 1905, papers filed for naturalization, carpenter - buildings

He's with 3 other lodgers and a family named Crowe.

[SilenceWebb]

Wow! So it looks like, presuming this turns out to definitely be my chap, that they got a divorce. I don't think anyone in the family is aware of this! But then, somehow, I seem to have become the family historian by default.

Very interesting Looks very promising that he is the one given that the age and length of marriage seem to match the rest of the information. I know that his wife Mary came from a large family in Plymouth (Frederick Coles of Messrs F J Coles & Company Ltd, tea merchants was her uncle) so if William wanted to stay in America and she wanted to return to England they may well have decided to divorce.

Thanks so much again for your kind help!

[Erato]

“married once, 13 years”   This does not imply that he was divorced, quite the contrary.  The questions are:  marital status [single married, widowed or divorced] and number of years in present marriage. 

[SilenceWebb]

That's true Erato... but if this is my ancestor it doesn't speak well for the state of their marriage that he remained in America while his wife and two children returned to and remained in England. I can find no evidence that she even visited him again, which seems very sad to me.

[johnnyboy]

There's a U.S. World War II draft registration for William Henry Webb, born 1881, Plymouth, England, on the FamilySearch Pilot Website. The birth date is off by ten years, but it's your guy. Maybe he lied or the registrar made an error.

To go directly to the draft registration page, click this:
http://pilot.familysearch.org/recordsearch/start.html#c=fs%3A1339071&s=waypointsOnly&w=0&p=waypoint

Then: Select "New York, Brooklyn," then "W," then scroll down and select "Webb, Otis Greenleaf," then put  "19" in the image number box and hit enter with your cursor still in the box. The back of the card is image 20.

William was living at 657 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn. The person who would always know his address was George Crowe, 235 Adelphi Street, Brooklyn. Maybe of the Crowe family that William Henry Webb boarded with when the 1910 census was conducted.

The passenger manifest for William Henry Webb in 1905 appears to have an annotation (written just to the right of his occupation) that he was naturalized as a U.S. citizen on April 9, 1937. The manifest also says that he was going to 272 West 36th Street, in Manhattan, to a friend, Thomas Legossick (?).

Perhaps someone can find William Henry Webb in the 1920 and 1930 censuses.

John 

[SilenceWebb]

It wouldn't surprise me if he lied so that he could go to war and, having looked at the birth registrations in Plymouth, there seems to be only one William Henry Webb registered in the first quarter of 1871 and that is William Henry R Webb my ancestor [although there is a William Henry G Webb registered slightly later that year], and I can't find one for 1881, so this really is looking more likely.

I know my grandfather lied to make himself a year older so that he would be eligible to join the RAF during WWII as he was underage, and I know that happened a lot during the war, so that wouldn't be surprising.

What I really can't understand is why this ancestor stayed in America when his family returned to and stayed in Plymouth, Devon, (right down to my own Grandfather who was born and raised there) ... and nobody in the family seemingly knew he was even still alive. Is that common? Does it lend credence to the idea that he and Mary divorced or at least parted ways for good?

It's interesting to find that I'm not the first person in my direct line to come to America