One More Time - Looking for Information on James Alphus Hamon - 1853-1896

[lizajean]

Hello All,

I am still on a brick wall researching my great grandfather - James Alphus Hamon (1853-1896).  Through the research I've done and my Ancestory DNA, it seems he was born on Jersey Island abt. 1853.  He lived and died in San Francisco (where I am from) in 1896.  I have searched on Ancestry, My Heritage, Family Search, Jerripedia, Jersey Archives, and Find My Past and still, no luck.  My Grandfather's Name is Philip Thomas Hamon, so I think those names might be significant. I am also starting to think that he could have changed his name.  The name James Alpheus is very unique and rare and actually has history in the bible.  Who knows, maybe he was the creative type!  For many years I thought his father was Thomas Hamon (1815-?) and Caroline Cooper, but there is no confirmed evidence to support this. 

James was a mariner, I do know that. 

Any ideas/thoughts or suggestions of places to look would be appreciated.


Also, many records in San Francisco were lost in the fire of 1906, and this would have included birth and marriage records of my grandfather and great uncles and aunts, which makes this more challenging.

Thank you all!

Elizabeth Hamon

Here is the link to an earlier thread on this topic:

https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=858524.0

[Lisa in California]

Thank you for referencing the prior topic.    I will look through your prior thread tonight.  I lived in San Francisco many years ago.  Would you like a second set of eyes to look for any San Francisco documents or are you fairly certain none will be found?  Thank you, Lisa

[lizajean]

Thank you for referencing the prior topic.    I will look through your prior thread tonight.  I lived in San Francisco many years ago.  Would you like a second set of eyes to look for any San Francisco documents or are you fairly certain none will be found?  Thank you, Lisa

Hi Lisa!  I would be VERY appreciative of any help!! This has been the focus of my research for a few years now and any new information would be helpful!!  Thank you for your response

[Lisa in California]

Great, I will look around a wee bit this afternoon and then within a couple of days.  Perhaps others may find something as well.  I’m looking forward to the search as I lived in the Bay Area for a number of years and it’s always fun to research there.

[Lisa in California]

Hi Elizabeth,

I briefly looked through your previous thread.  Perhaps the following was mentioned, but I didn’t notice the items.

Have you tried contacting the Holy Names Cemetery office to see if there are any helpful details recorded in James’ burial records?  If not, possibly his exact birthplace was recorded and with luck there may be additional details.  I contacted the office several times when researching my husband’s relatives; the staff was always very polite and tried their best to help.

1849 was mentioned for his immigration date.  I have yet to find most of my ancestors sailing to North America.  You stated
“But I think my GGF came to America in 1849 with his Mom and Dad, Thomas Hamon and Caroline Cooper.  At least, this makes the most sense at the moment as I can't find any other records of a James Hamon immigrating in those years.”
Perhaps I’ve just been unlucky with my ancestors but I think it’s more likely that his sailing would not be found rather than actually finding him on a passenger list.  Perhaps you checked Canadian passenger lists as well?

1896 James A Hamon, 133 Chestnut Street. Source: FindAGrave
California Voter Registration
1896 James Alphus Hamon, 133 Chestnut Street. Born England. Watchman. Naturalized: SF, Dec 14 1888
1890 James Nalphus Hamon, 2128 Stockton. Born Ireland. Reporter. Naturalized: SF, Dec 14 1888

1889 SF, California Directory
James Hamon. Location 2 - 133 Chestnut
Business Name - Merchauts' Exchange, Meigg's Wharf.  [Merchants’ rather than Merchauts’?]
Occupation - marine reporter

1887 San Francisco Directory
James A Hamon. 133 Chestnut.  Occupation - Master Mariner
Michael R. Carr.  133 Chestnut.  Occupation - Bartender
Philip Carr.  133 Chestnut.  Occupation - Weaver
Jacob Hamon.  1818 Steiner.  Occupation - Clerk

I just briefly searched, but I didn’t see any other results for Jacob Hamon, so possibly he was not related to James.

Added:  again, perhaps this was previously mentioned but could this be Delia’s father:
1887 San Francisco Directory
Thomas Carr, liquor saloon, r. 357 1/2 Clementina
   Perhaps Michael was his son, who worked in the saloon?

[lizajean]

Hi Elizabeth,

I briefly looked through your previous thread.  Perhaps the following was mentioned, but I didn’t notice the items.

Have you tried contacting the Holy Names Cemetery office to see if there are any helpful details recorded in James’ burial records?  If not, possibly his exact birthplace was recorded and with luck there may be additional details.  I contacted the office several times when researching my husband’s relatives; the staff was always very polite and tried their best to help.

1849 was mentioned for his immigration date.  I have yet to find most of my ancestors sailing to North America.  You stated
“But I think my GGF came to America in 1849 with his Mom and Dad, Thomas Hamon and Caroline Cooper.  At least, this makes the most sense at the moment as I can't find any other records of a James Hamon immigrating in those years.”
Perhaps I’ve just been unlucky with my ancestors but I think it’s more likely that his sailing would not be found rather than actually finding him on a passenger list.  Perhaps you checked Canadian passenger lists as well?

1896 James A Hamon, 133 Chestnut Street. Source: FindAGrave
California Voter Registration
1896 James Alphus Hamon, 133 Chestnut Street. Born England. Watchman. Naturalized: SF, Dec 14 1888
1890 James Nalphus Hamon, 2128 Stockton. Born Ireland. Reporter. Naturalized: SF, Dec 14 1888

1889 SF, California Directory
James Hamon. Location 2 - 133 Chestnut
Business Name - Merchauts' Exchange, Meigg's Wharf.  [Merchants’ rather than Merchauts’?]
Occupation - marine reporter

1887 San Francisco Directory
James A Hamon. 133 Chestnut.  Occupation - Master Mariner
Michael R. Carr.  133 Chestnut.  Occupation - Bartender
Philip Carr.  133 Chestnut.  Occupation - Weaver
Jacob Hamon.  1818 Steiner.  Occupation - Clerk

I just briefly searched, but I didn’t see any other results for Jacob Hamon, so possibly he was not related to James.

Added:  again, perhaps this was previously mentioned but could this be Delia’s father:
1887 San Francisco Directory
Thomas Carr, liquor saloon, r. 357 1/2 Clementina
   Perhaps Michael was his son, who worked in the saloon?

Good Morning Lisa,
Thank you for all your work here!
That's interesting about immigration - the 1 record I found is very inconclusive as it seems like some of the other potential sibling names/ages were incorrect as well.  This is the only information I have connecting him to Thomas/Caroline. 

The other information you have about James in San Francisco is all correct to my knowledge.  He was a sea captain, but then became a "marine reporter".  Thomas Carr died in 1871 so this would be a different Thomas Carr. 

I've had my DNA tested and Ancestry says that I have "very strong" DNA connection to the Channel Islands, so I am still certain that at least one of his parents came from that area.

I just looked on the Holy Cross Cemetary website. They will research your ancestors information for $35 so I am most likely going to try that to see if there is anything there!  I have looked for the marriage records between James and Delia in San Francisco, but have not found anything.  Any suggestions on where I might find these?  I think many were lost in the fire.  I do know that they were catholic.

Thank you for all your work - very much appreciated!

Elizabeth

[Lisa in California]

You are welcome, Elizabeth.

I’m surprised that there is a cost to access burial records.  The last time I called (over five years ago) no fee was involved.  Perhaps the fee is for a more detailed report?

Unfortunately, I have not yet found anything about James’ marriage.  I believe it was previously mentioned that (regional) records were not mandatory at the time?  If so, that could be one of the reasons.

Churches were mentioned in the newspaper reports.  Have you tried contacting the diocese to try to locate James’ marriage certificate?  There understandably would be a fee for that, of course, as it would be more time consuming.  Perhaps you could give them the approximate range for the marriage (1878-1883) and the churches mentioned in the newspaper obituaries.  I’ve never tried contacting the diocese; I don’t know if it would be possible to fulfill your request or if there would be a less expensive way to research.

You also mentioned that James’ first child was born in 1883.  There is a slight chance that there could have been an earlier birth (and the child sadly passed away).  There is also a chance that they married after 1883.

I haven’t finished having a look around for more details.  I might suggest holding off paying for research as there could be a clue out there somewhere.  I hope to have another look around tonight.  Thank you, Lisa

Added: I wonder if James became a mariner at a young age and therefore might not show up on any immigration records? 

Is anything known about any siblings?

Have you researched Delia’s family?  If so, can it be determined that some of James’ and Delia’s children were possibly named after her relatives, leaving the other children to possibly be named after his relatives?

Have you tried researching the DNA matches who could be descended from a Hamon (and using various surname spellings)?

[lizajean]

Hi Lisa,

Thank you for all your great suggestions!  Much appreciated.  I have "looked" in many of these areas, including churches mentioned in his obituary, for marriage and birth records but so far have found nothing. 

I do spend quite a bit of time researching DNA matches and am part of an ancestor project on GedMatch for Jersey Island and also in East Galway.  I do have some matches there, but more have come up on Ancestry.  Tracking ancestors through DNA is very challenging, but I think that's my best path now. 

I am not certain if he had siblings, as I can't find anything from the siblings that I thought were his with Thomas Hamon/Caroline Cooper.  But I will revisit this. 

Thank you very much for all your suggestions!!  You never know what will unlock an important clue!!

Elizabeth