WILLIAM LATHAM & JOHN ADAMSON from West Leigh

[Glen Field]

Mary Adamson married John Aspinall on 25/07/1825. Their elder daughter on the 1851 census should be Elizabeth (not Mary as I originally typed). I have amended the entry. GF

[Glen Field]

There seem to be more christenings for children of John and Alice Adamson.

Christopher 1799
Alice 1803

These two and that for Elizabeth, in 1800, took place at St Mary the Virgin, Leigh. All of the subsequent christenings took place at Wesleyan Methodist, Bedford.

Also, on one of the records for the christening of Joseph in 1821, his mother is actually specified as Alice Smith.

There was a marriage on 10/06/1798 in Wigan between a John Adamson and an Alice Smith.

Christopher seems to have moved from Leigh to Bolton and married Phoebe Higgington on 02/02/1818 at St Peter, Bolton le Moors. GF

[Mangano]

A letter from John Adamson of West Leigh England to his daughter and son in law in Lower Marion, Pennsylvania, United States as follows:

Wm Latham
Lowr Marrion
Post Office Montgomery
County Pennsylvania

WestLeigh

24 April 1852

   Dear Son and Daughter,
I Received your Letter of March 9 which gave Me Great pleasure to hear that you and your family Were in good health and doing well But I was sorry to hear that you had stopt Longer at Mr Plats to your disadvantage on account of Me not Sending to you personally Sooner But the Reason Why I did not doo so Was Because I believed that you would not stop Long at Mr Plats But you would remove to some other place and therefore not tell whether my son John would be Moved or not and so I directed to my daughter Mary thanks She was the likeliest to Remain where she was and she would forward my Letter to you as Soon  as she could

and that you would write back as Soon as possible and i anxiously Waited and Expected a Letter from you before Joseph Boden Went to America for if i had Got A Moderate favourable account from you of things in america I should have Come over with him but when the time of his embarkation took place and no information Whatever from you I then desired him to inquire the Cause as I had Resolved  to Write no more untill I heard from you as for My Self I have removed to my daughter anns near the parsonage Kinkall lane westleigh about 7 months Since and am Weving Silk which is moderately brisk at present

My daughter Ann has been sick two months or more but she is got better Considerably and all the others of my children and their families are in Good Health
Your Aunt Betty is living in hindley near Mr Piningtons factory but she has very poor health and is gone into a very little old Woman your aunts Mary and Betty are in moderate health at preasant but mary as had A bad house about Last Christmas her son Joseph died of fever in the brain and they had sickness in the house for Many Weeks there Was Several died of my acquaintance your uncle Samuel higson and old Thomas Waywell and Thomas Yates bens brother old ann waywell Jims mother John eckersleys Wife sister to Rbt boardman and Several others the last winter as been a very wet one and A vast Number died about Christmas but the weatheer has changed Since March came in and now While I am writing it is very dry and as been for six or seven Weeks and it makes the Spring rather Late

yesterday the Chatmoss got on near Worstley hall and is burning rapidly Now a Strong Wind never be a country fir for a labouring Country man to live untill the Whole of Urope is reformed the aristocracy of england tho they monopolize the principle part of the land in all the country they are Crying aloud for protection against other Countries bringing in their corn and causeing low prices and they are Wanting to put on another Cornland that the may Keep up their high Rents and be enables to revel and riot in all the imaginations of their hearts

I was to Send John & Rebecca word how I thought they could doo in england but I did not mention it in my last letter for I think you are much better of in america then you would be in england , if I must Judge for My Self I should prefer america far before england but thier is Some comes back and it gives it avery bad word I am not one of those that loves thier Country because it is thier country I love that country best that uses me best I have Well used amongst all my children

Since i am back and they all wish me to live and die with them or else I should have back long since I have not resolved yet what i shall do but as  regain my loom I could Wish you to look after that and not let mr plat have that for Nothing and Iwish you to doo the best you can Withit either by Selling or Keeping it untill you hear from me again

I have received three dollar news papers wich I thank you for they are a Great treat to me i hope you will write to me agian before long and let me know all the particulars and ask alice if she will Come and see her grandfather your ants and sisters all Send My love to my daughter Mary Adamson and her family and let me know how my friend thomas cantrell is going on for I shall want a new pair of shoes very Soon I havenothing more to Say at preasant but remains your affectionate father
                   John Adamson

[Glen Field]

In the last paragraph, he asks that his love be sent (by the recipients of his letter) to his daughter Mary, who has presumably also gone to America. If the family that I have shown is the correct one, then the Aspin(w)alls (as seen on the England 1851 census) should appear somewhere on the American records after 1852. Can you find them over there?

Another possible connection is that a Samuel Higson married an Ann Smith on 12/08/1802 at St Mary the Virgin, Leigh. If Ann was the sister of Alice Smith (John Adamson’s wife) that would make Samuel an uncle to John’s children. GF

ps In the second paragraph of his letter had he “removed from or to my daughter ann’s”? You said “from” when you first quoted it but “to” on the second occasion.

[Mangano]

Thank you for pointing that out. It is "to". I corrected it. Some of the family may have moved back to England and he was only "thinking" of coming to his family in America.

The letter is sometimes difficult to read being that sentences run together and a few words are spelled alternately.
It's also a wonder to whom is he speaking? His daughter Maria(Mary) Latham or his son in law William Latham?

I've been to the graves of William and Maria Latham and her marker states: Mother, Maria Latham, however, one death certiicate has her as Elizabeth Adamson but I'm sure this was a mistake.


{should be noted: Alice Latham Wenzell(1844-1929) kept the letter from her grandfather John Adamson in 1852 for her entire life. We're just fortunate to have it here for us to ponder!}

[Mangano]

I still can't find out much about WILLIAM LATHAM ca. 1819-1886. He was a wweaver by trade and came to America around 1830, to the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area....
 He became a citizen on the 27th of September 1844, from what I understand. His daughter Alice Latham was born on the first of September in 1844....
 There was a son named James Latham born on 6 May 1846...perhaps this may give a clue...
Other children: Hannah Margaret Latham born ca. 1848, Ellen Sarah Latham born 26 February 1850...

[Mangano]

I am not sure about this but I think this John Adamson was married to Alice. There are various christenings* on http://www.familysearch.org/eng/default.asp (including the two daughters shown on the 1851 census) but I cannot find a daughter called Maria Adamson. GF

*
Elizabeth 1800
Mary 1807
Ann 1809
Margaret 1811
Sarah 1813
Eliza 1815
John 1818
Joseph 1821
Rebecca 1825

As to the name Maria not being found, not only does this ancestor have varied dates of birth, but in at least one instance she is called Elizabeth Adamson. Her death certificate reads Maria as do the buril records. She may be christened with a different name that she normally used, but she definitely is the daughter of John Adamson and Alice Smith.

[Mangano]

A 5th cousin of mine, Derek Adamson of Manchester, informed me that he had found some more information on William Latham.
He may have been born in 1815 in Leigh, the son of Harry(born 1778) and Hannah Latham(born 1780) and emigrated to America on board the ship Brunswick from Liverpool, landing in Perth Amboy, New Jersey  on 12 July 1830. The Ships' Captain: William Stanwood.
 From the research I had done some 30 years ago, I know that William Latham became a U.S. citizen on 27 September 1844, and that the estimated year of entry was 1830, as records show.

[Mangano]

I have been trying to get more information on my ancestor, William Latham, who I believe was born in Leigh or Westleigh, Lancashire, England around 1815. His parents, a cousin discovered, were Harry and Hannah Latham. William and his parents emigrated to America in 1830 from Liverpool, arriving at Perth Amboy, New Jersey on 12 July 1830 aboard the Brunswick. I believe the ship's captain was William Stanwood.
 I believe that William may have had a brother named Peter Latham and perhaps there was a sister named Betty.
 The approximate years of birth  for Harry Latham are 1778 and 1780 for Hannah his wife.
 Their son William Latham settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA and married Maria Adamson before 1844. It is unknown whether or not Harry and Hannah returned to Westleigh or not.