My Dad, Old Methodist Theologian, has been researching our genealogy for over 25 years. He's come across all sorts of interesting characters. One of the more notable was my 8th great grandfather, Thomas Fitch. He was a governor of Connecticut back in the colonial days. He had a daughter named Elizabeth (my 7th great grandmother) and a son named Thomas. Those two also made some history.
Another branch of the family tree leads to my 11th great grandfather, Edward Doty. He was the "Bad Boy" of the Mayflower. You can view his rap sheet here.
As exciting as those discoveries were, nothing compared to the thrill in my Dad's voice when he called me last week. "Rowdy, get a pen and paper and write this down." "Okay, shoot."
When I was done writing, my paper read as follows:
1. Rowdy Theologian, his father is
2. Old Methodist Theologian, his father was
3. Grandpa Theologian, his father was
4. Great Grandpa Theologian, his mother was
5. Amy Perrine, her father was
6. Henry Allen Perrine, his mother was
7. Marguerite Ridgeway, her father was*
8. Joseph Ridgeway, his mother was
9. Hannah Burr, her father was
10. Henry Burr, his mother was
11. Jane Abbott, her mother was
12. Anne Mauleverer, her father was
13. Edmund Mauleverer, his father was
14. James Mauleverer, his father was
15. William Mauleverer, his father was
16. Edmund Mauleverer, his mother was
17. Alice Markenfield, her mother was
18. Dorothy Gascoigne, her mother was
19. Margaret Percy, her father was
20. Henry Percy, his father was
21. Henry Percy, his mother was
22. Elizabeth de Mortimor, her mother was
23. Philippa Plantagenet, her father was
24. Lionel of Antwerp, his father was
25. Edward III, his father was
26. Edward II, his father was
27. Edward I, his father was
28. Henry III, his father was
29. John, his father was
30. Henry II, his mother was
31. Empress Matilda, her father was
32. Henry I, his father was
If this line is correct, then William the Conqueror is my 30th great grandfather! Each link in this chain is substantially researched and all but one is well resourced. But there's some doubt up there on line #7 and her connection to #8, hence my asterisk.
Grandpa?
We know Marguerite (aka Maria) was born about 1829 and the daughter of a Joseph Ridgeway (aka Ridgway), but there were about 4 Joseph Ridgeways in this region at the time of baby-bearing age. Several years ago my Dad was researching these Joes up in New Jersey and thought this one was the most likely for one reason or another (long before he knew anything about his connection to the royal line.)
But now that the stakes are higher, we're applying more scrutiny.
We've got Marguerite's death record; she died 4 Feb 1864 in Barnegat, Ocean County, New Jersey. We've got her marriage record to Jesse Perrine; they married 10 Feb 1848 in Toms River, Monmouth County, New Jersey. Other than that, there's not much of a public record on her. But there are some additional facts that bolster the arguement that she's this particular Joseph Ridgeway's daughter. Marguerite's son was named Henry Allen Perrine. Joseph Ridgeway's father (Hannah Burr's husband) was named Henry Allen Ridgeway whose mother was Hannah Allen. The other Josephs don't have Henrys or Allens in their linneage, let alone the combination of the two.
But there are problems. There are published geneologies of the Joseph Ridgeway of royal descent with a daughter named Mary Ann born in 1807 and a son named Charles born in 1829 (the same year as Marguerite.) This Joseph had 13 kids total, and according to the publication, most of them were born in Philadelphia. This is a secondary, if not thirdary, source, but troubling nonetheless. Marguerite's death record doesn't state her place of birth, so she could have been born in Philadelphia. The 1850 census places the family in Camden, New Jersey. We also know Joseph Ridgway was born in Burlington County, New Jersey. These folks were Quakers and there was a lot of movement between New Jersey and Pennsylvania at the time.
It seems at this point we lack enough information to make a determination. Anybody out there with information on Marguerite Ridgway's paternity please comment. If you don't have info on her, feel free to comment anyway.
Holy crap! That's awesome! I hope more research, or providential information, reveals it to be true.
Posted by: CBK | February 23, 2007 at 12:50 PM
This explains quite a few things about you.
Posted by: E. McPan | February 23, 2007 at 09:10 PM
jesse perrine was my great great grandfather but with his second wife kate soper they had 6 girls. my great aunt told me that his first wfe had at least 2 boys. one was samual furman perrine whow was drowned when they went to save passangers from a distressed boat. he was a life saver. the perrine genealogy is quite interesting. and they came over from france in the 1660s. jesse perrines family is buried at the masonic cementary in barnegat. Where the family has been for ever
Posted by: f. brodbeck | August 13, 2007 at 10:40 PM
anne mauleverer was my great great grandmother............
Posted by: mary mattis | August 14, 2007 at 08:01 PM