© 2014 - 2021 William B. Hillanbrand. All rights reserved.

Sunday, August 8, 2021

In my mother's family lineage, there is one branch, unlike all other branches, that transcends the emigration in the 19th century, but harkens back to the late 17th century. This line follows the Bittle family and the Quakers that followed William Penn to the New World. My ninth Great Grandfather, William Sharples, is mentioned in a transcription of records of the Radnor Monthly Meeting, "...in the Welcome Committee, a record of early arrivals at William Penn's Colony which had a footnote quoting John Bevans certificate of removal from Treverigg, Glamorgan, dated September 10, 1683, issued by the men's meeting both at Cardiff and Treverigg and filed at Radnor Monthly Meeting. It speaks of the loss we and others have sustained in the removal of our dear freinds to wit, John ap Bevan and Barbara, with their tender family along with them. In like manner a certificate bearing the same date was issued for Ralph Lewis of Eglwysilan, Glamorgan, and his family passing ye same time with our friend John ap Bevan, for Pennsylvania, and one for John Richard of small ability, for William Sharples, who was looked on as a harmless man, low-in-the-outward, and for John Lloyd ye goeth as a servant to John ap Bevan." The Quakers would issue certificates that vouched for the standing of a person to traverse the seas to the New World. William Sharples was not a Quaker, but must have endeared himself to travel along and be worthy of having a spot on the ship overseas to Philadelphia. Our family also decends from the Bevan family. My eighth Great Grandfather, William Bevan, was the brother of the aforementioned John ap Bevan. More about the royal line of the Bevan's will come later.

Sunday, May 9, 2021


For Mother's Day, I thought I would post some photographs of my Grandmother, at one of her favorite places to visit, Wildwood, NJ. My Grandparents owned a bungalow at 420 West Burk Avenue. There is a picture of my Grandmother in front of the house and subsequent pictures of what it looks like today. Enjoy! And happy Mother's Day to all!!!












Friday, April 9, 2021

In 1846, my Great, Great, Great Grandfather, William Bennett and his family left Leeds, Yorkshire, England for America. Below, you will find the home that they left from, in Providence Place, Stanningley, Leeds and settled at 4725 Umbria Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Bennett's were in the textile business for generations. The row homes look so similar. They must have been prosperous, for they came across the ocean in first class, not in steerage, with an abundance of personal property listed on the manifest.




Sunday, March 28, 2021

On Saturday, July 7, 1882, my Great, Great Grandfather Frank Boyle, was working in the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company's No. 9 mine, in Lansford, PA. At the time, there were over 200 men at work within the mine. An accident occurred, wherein a fall of coal breaking a safety lamp of the fire boss caused an explosion. This caused the caving in of one breast and destroying a shute and a portion of a monkey gangway. There were 16 men at work in this section of the mine, when the explosion occurred. Nine of the men were more or less severely injured, including my Great, Great Grandfather. He had suffered a dislocated thigh with his face and body being severely burned. Two of his sons, John and Daniel were also employed at the mines at this time. John, my Great, Great Uncle, started as a slate picker, at the age of eight years of age. His employment record is shown below, along with a photograph taken with him and other slate pickers, taken in 1875.




Tuesday, September 22, 2020

During the National Suicide Prevention Month and In remembrance of those that we have unnecessarily lost to suicide, I am posting this story about my Great, Great Uncle Charles Bennett. He was a very rich person, but lacked the understanding to reach out to others when despondent. He and my Great Grandfather founded Bennett & Co. If you find yourself in need to talk to someone, please call the national suicide prevention hotline, 1-800-273-8255.





Friday, June 19, 2020

On October 22, 1847, the emigrant ship "Ocean" docked in Philadelphia. Among the passengers were the Knoll family from Schielberg, Karlsruhe, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany. Father Francis, mother Francisca (married on April 29, 1833), brothers Gus, Englebert (my great, great, grandfather), Joseph and sisters Agnes and Theresa settled on Conarroe Street in the Manayunk section of Philadelphia with other German immigrants. Pictured is Gus Knoll (1838 - 1899). His brother, Joseph, was killed in a horrible accident in one of the woolen mills in the early morning hour of 8:30 AM on August 17th, 1864. His left leg got caught in one of the belts and his leg was torn out of the socket, instantly killing him at the tender age of 17.




Wednesday, May 13, 2020

This morning, after nearly 55 years, I was finally able to find and visit my grandfather's grave in Tamaqua, PA.



My Mom's dog, Toby (back in the day).




Thursday, April 16, 2020

Heinrich Frey, my 8th Great, Grandfather was born on June 17, 1663 in Altenheim, Bas-Rhin, Alsace, France from his parents Jacob and Anna (nee Hirtzeller) Frey. Heinrich had emigrated to America before Pennsylvania was established. Jacob had wrote a letter from his home in Heilbron to his son, Heinrich, who was then in New York, in which he said:

"Dear Son: Your letter from far away America reached us and gave us great joy; and when, a few days later, the father of your true friend came to see us, our joy knew no bounds." He speaks next of the persecution in Germany, and says that thousands would gladly leave the Fatherland if they had the means of doing so. "A merchant from Frankfurt was with us last week and informed us how along the Rhine a number of families have banded together to accept the invitation of an Englishman named William Penn, who had recently visited that community, to settle in that beautiful land and there establish new homes."
The elder Frey's letter continues: "After I had received this information, I went at once to our minister, whose parents live at Worms on the Rhine, and begged him earnestly to learn what truth there was in these reports and to find out if possible if there would be any opportunity for us to join them and go to the New World. He then informed me that these reports were all true and that he had been informed by one who had inside knowledge that in a place called Kriegsheim near Worms many were preparing themselves to go to the New World. When I gave the good man your letter to read, he was greatly surprised and said that you were on the land to which these emigrants were going. It is the providence of God that has shown these burdened people so glorious a land. We, as also the Platenbach family, are only awaiting a good opportunity when the dear Lord will take us to you. Your brother Peter is learning shoe-making and will soon be free (from his apprenticeship). America is the only dream of Elisabeth. Catherine, only six years old, asks us daily, 'Will we soon be going to our brother in America?'"
Only Heinrich's brother Peter, the shoemaker's apprentice, had his ambition satisfied. He came as an indentured servant to Germantown in 1685.
I thought I would share the above letter with you all, so that you may appreciate what transpired with our family, so that it would not expire from history.

Sunday, August 11, 2019

View from my Great, Great Grandmother's residence (located on right side of this picture) in Drumirrin, Inishkeel, Donegal, Ireland. Mary Givens left, at age 11, with her 7 year old brother to America in 1852 after her parents had died.



Thursday, April 4, 2019

Yesterday, I visited the Schuylkill County Archives, perusing the Molly Maguire files. I come across testimony regarding my Great, Great Grandfather, Francis Boyle. Apparently, on the 4th of July, 1875, he and Barney Boyle went to the field next to the High School in Lansford, PA and set off rounds from a "cannon" (actually, a small powder tester, as shown). They did it so much, that the cannon eventually broke! Neat little story, that I never knew!





Thursday, March 14, 2019

I am flying both of the flags, this year, of Ireland and County Donegal, for the Boyle family. Today, I had visited the grave of Barney and Hannah Boyle in Hanover Township. They both testified in the trial of James Boyle. Barney was found guilty of perjury and spent three years in prison. He later moved from Lansford, PA to Wilkes-Barre, PA, where he died on Penn Street. RIP




Wednesday, December 19, 2018

The video below contains aerial videography of the house of my 4th Great Uncle, Thomas McTeague. His son, Daniel, took my 3rd Great Grandmother, Mary Givens, at the age of 11, to America in September of 1852. The McTeague household is in between the ruins of the Abbey and the Church (best seen between 1:45 and 1:55). This is in the town of Kilmacrenan, Donegal, Ireland.



Tuesday, July 10, 2018

The house on the left was the home where my Great, Great, Great Grandparents, Great, Great Grandparents and Great Grandmother lived in Lansford, before they moved to Philadelphia. The house on the right is where their cousins lived, including James Boyle. The brick building to the extreme right is newer, which had replaced the residence of my Great, Great, Great, Great Grandparents, Patrick and Hannah (Sharpe) Boyle.



Saturday, June 30, 2018

Below is a painting of the Ship "Houghton", which brought my Great, Great, Great Grandfather Patrick Boyle and my Great, Great Grandfather Frank Boyle, as they emigrated from Donegal, Ireland to New York City on November 13, 1849 during the Irish Potato Famine. They eventually settled in Lansford, Carbon County, Pennsylvania. Patrick's wife, Margaret, along with another son, Patrick, followed on another ship and arrived, a day later. In the photo to the right, is the Ship "Houghton" in the New York City harbor.




The pictures below are of a model of the packet ship Shenandoah was built in 1840 by John Vaugn & Son at Philadelphia, Pa. for Thomas P. Cope & Son, better known as the Cope Line. Wealthy Philadelphia Quakers, the Copes transported about 60,000 passengers—mostly Irish immigrants—from Liverpool to Philadelphia from 1820-1870. Of these passengers, our GGG Grandfather, William Bennett, brought his wife, Elizabeth Scholefield Bennett and their two sons, Samuel and our GG Grandfather, Benjamin Franklin Bennett, from their home in Calverley (Leeds), Yorkshire, England via Liverpool to Philadelphia on December 26, 1846.

Measuring 143’ long and 738 tons, the Shenandoah spent nearly its entire career on the Philadelphia–Liverpool passage. It made 14 voyages for the Cope Line from 1839-44. In 1845 it sailed for the Dunham & Dimon Liverpool Line out of NY, but the following year it returned to Philadelphia for the Black Diamond Line. By 1847 it served the New Line, clearing Philadelphia on the 1st of the month and leaving Liverpool five weeks later, on the 8th of the following month. In the late 1840s, it lost its popular captain to the new Collins ocean steamship Atlantic. Many of the old sailing packet companies lost their captains to the newer and faster transatlantic steamship lines. The Shenandoah was abandoned at sea in August 1854.






Sunday, May 14, 2017

On Mother's Day, I wish to thank my Great, Great Grandmother, Mary Givens, who left Glenties, Donegal, Ireland in 1852. The following is a contemporary news article of the conditions she left at the age of 11, bringing with, her little brother, John, 7 years of age.
In 1845, when the great Famine of that and following years was about to break upon Ireland, "The Times" newspaper appointed Thomas Campbell Foster as its "Commissioner to report on the condition of the people of Ireland". In this article, there appear extracts from his letter written at Gweedore on September 3, 1845, in which he described the towns he passed through, namely, Donegal, Glenties, Dungloe, and the island of Arranmore.
From Donegal town, he "proceeded to Glenties, a village which is the property of the Marquis of Conyngham, whose chief managing agent is Mr. Benbow, M.P. for Dudley. The whole of the country for many miles in the direction of Dungloe, and beyond that town--in fact, almost the whole barony of Boylagh--belongs to this nobleman, together with the island of Arran, or Arranmore, on the west coast. Once in the course of his lifetime--two years ago--the Marquis of Conyngham visited this estate for a few days. His chief agent, Mr. Benbow, usually comes once a year, and the sub-agents visit the tenants every half year to collect the rents. At short periods of a few years the farms are visited to see what increased rent they will bear, and this is the extent of the acquaintance of the Marquis of Conyngham with his tenants.
This nobleman, himself, bears the character of a kind-hearted, generous man--fond of yachting and amusement, and having an excessive distaste for every kind of business or trouble. From one end of his large estate here to the other, nothing is to be found but poverty, misery, wretched cultivation, and infinite subdivision of land. There are no gentry, no middle-class,-- all are poor--wretchedly poor."
"Every shilling the tenants can raise from their half-cultivated land is paid in rent, whilst the people subsist for the most part on potatoes and water....Every rude effort that they make to increase the amount of the[ir] produce is followed immediately by raising their rents in proportion--as it were, to punish them for improving; they are, naturally enough, as discontented and full of complaints as they are wretched in their condition."
Foster reported in minute detail what he found when he visited some of the homes, if such they could be called, of the noble marquis's tenants.
"Into these cottages I entered. They were stone-built and well-roofed, but the mud-floor was uneven, damp, and filthy. In one corner was a place for the pig, with a drain from it through the wall to carry off the liquid manure, like a stable. Two chairs, a bedstead of the rudest description, a cradle, a spinning-wheel, and an iron-pot constituted the whole furniture. An inner room contained another rude bedstead; the mud-floor was quite damp. In this room six children slept on loose hay, with one dirty blanket to cover them...The father, mother, and an infant slept in the first room, also on loose hay, and with but one blanket on the bed. The children were running about as nearly naked as possible, dressed in the cast-off rags of the father and mother; the father could not buy them clothes. They had not been to mass for a twelvemonth for want of decent clothes to go in.
"These men assured me that their whole food was potatoes, and if they had a penny to spare they bought salt or a few sprats, but very seldom these. Instead of buying salt they sometimes bought pepper and mixed it with the water they drank. This they called 'kitchin'--it gave a flavour to their food."

Thursday, March 23, 2017

Part 7 - From a contemporary news source from March 11, 1876 regarding James Boyle - "James Boyle is in the Pottsville jail on a charge of complicity in the murder of Police Chief Benjamin Yost. Looking at Boyle as he sat facing Kerrigan testify against Boyle, we wondered that if it were possible that such a manly, handsome-looking specimen of manhood could possibly by guilty of the terrible crime of murder, and we concluded in our own mind that if the evidence against him was not simply conclusive that we would be induced mentally to give him the benefit of the doubt, for a more happily innocent-looking face we never saw occupy such an unfortunate position."

This article had the same euphemism that my grandfather would use, "A fine specimen of manhood". He must of got it from his mother. The picture below is of James Boyle. The picture to the right is the gallows that he was to hang on June 21, 1877.





Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Part 6 - So what happened at James Boyle's trial? So many different versions and viewpoints, I will copy from Wikipedia. The first trial of defendants Hugh McGeehan, James Carroll, Thomas Duffy, James Boyle, and James Roarity for the killing of Yost commenced in May 1876. Yost had not recognized the men who attacked him. Although James Kerrigan has since been described, along with Duffy, as hating the night watchman enough to plot his murder. Kerrigan became a state's witness and testified against the union leaders and other miners. However, Kerrigan's wife testified in the courtroom that her husband had committed the murder. She testified that she refused to provide her husband with clothing while he was in prison, because he had "picked innocent men to suffer for his crime". She stated that she was speaking out voluntarily, and was only interested in telling the truth about the murder. For the prosecution, Franklin Gowen cross-examined her, but could not shake her testimony. Others supported her testimony amid speculation that Kerrigan was receiving special treatment due to the fact that Pinkerton Detective James McParland was engaged to his sister-in-law, Mary Ann Higgins. This trial was declared a mistrial due to the death of one of the jurors. A new trial was granted two months later. During that trial, Fanny Kerrigan did not testify. The five defendants were sentenced to death. Kerrigan, although implicated in two murders, was allowed to go free. Below are the two men that testified against defendants. Top photo is James McParland and bottom photo is James Kerrigan.





Tuesday, March 21, 2017

Part 5 - It seems as if the Boyle family had paid a dear price during the period of violence in the middle 1870's in the coal region. Yesterday, I told you that two of James Boyle's cousins were sentenced to prison for testifying on his behalf at his trial, for perjury. Let me relate to you what happened to James' brother. Dennis and Margaret (Gallagher) Boyle had five children - Bridget, John (Jack), James, Mary and Anna. James was found guilty of the murder of B.F. Yost in Tamaqua. Before his sentence was carried out, his brother Jack, left Lansford for the village of Eckley, in Luzerne County. Today, the village of Eckley is preserved as it was in the old times, as a coal town. It was used for many scenes in the Sean Connery and Richard Harris movie film in "The Molly Maguires". Jack was a miner and would travel back and forth on the train to work in the mines. One month before his brother was to hang in Pottsville, I found this article in the contemporary newspaper - "Jack Boyle, of Eckley, a son of the widow Boyle and a brother of James Boyle, to be hung on the 21st day of June, in Pottsville jail, for the murder of Policeman Yost, was killed at Stockton, Monday. He was thrown off the No. 1 train on the Lehigh Valley railroad, and fatally injured. He was taken to Hazleton, where he died about two o'clock in the afternoon". How does one get "thrown off" a passenger train? There is only one possible way, that I see it. The train was run by the Lehigh Valley Railroad. They were patrolled by the Coal and Iron Police. I will soon be traveling to the Luzerne County Coroner's Office to ascertain and collect any information into the cause and manner of death into John (Jack) Boyle. I believe that the Coal and Iron Police may have committed a homicide and threw Jack Boyle off the train, in retribution of what his brother was accused. I don't know what became of James' sister, Bridget, other than she married a John Boyle and they had seven children in the Borough of Lansford. As for James Boyle's other two sisters, Mary and Anna, they escaped the violence of the coal region and settled in Philadelphia, Eerily, their home was located at 405 Ripka Street, in Philadelphia. That is only a half of a block away from my house where I was born and raised. Below are pictures of the town of Eckley, where Jack Boyle lived.




Monday, March 20, 2017

Part 4 - I had said that other members of the Boyle family had received the ire of the justice system of the coal region. James Boyle was on trial along with three others, for the murder of B.F. Yost in Tamaqua. Two cousins were witnesses for the defense to provide an alibi for James. Bernard N. Boyle swore he was with his cousin, on the night of the murder. Bernard had testified that both he and James were drinking at another cousins tavern. Upon cross-examination, the prosecutor asked Barney his age. When Barney replied, that he was 19 years of age, the prosecutor asked what year was he born. Barney had to count backwards in order to figure his birth year. The prosecutor slammed Barney for not telling the truth. It's easy for an attorney, learned in the art of argument and logic, to disparage a person with a sixth grade education. The prosecutor tore up the witness on the stand, accusing him of perjury. Kate Boyle, 16 years of age, also testified as knowing that James Boyle was drinking that night. She was also vilified on the stand and accused of perjury. At the end of the trial, during the closing arguments, both Barney and Kate were arrested for perjury and sent to Schuylkill County Prison. On September 27, 1876, both Barney and Kate were found guilty of perjury. Barney was sentenced to 36 months of hard labor. Kate was sentenced to 30 months of hard labor and solitary confinement. Below is a picture of Bernard P. Boyle, where Barney and Kate swore James was drinking in his tavern.



Saturday, March 18, 2017

Part 3 - As I told you yesterday, my Great, Great, Great Grandmother, Margaret Boyle ran a boarding house on Bertsch Street, Lansford, Pennsylvania. One of James Boyle's friends, Hugh McGeehan, which you will hear more of later, was targeted by the Lehigh Coal and Iron Police and was shot and wounded in 1875. He lived, but was a targeted man. Later in the year, the LC&IP tried to assassinate him again and shot up his house. McGeehan fled with his whole family and was protected within our GGG Grandmother's boarding home. When McGeehan and James Boyle were arrested for a murder of a policeman in Tamaqua, our GGG Grandmother testified at the trial. The prosecutors and the press were vicious. The Philadelphia Inquirer, in 1876 described her as, "McGeehan's boarding mistress". Others described my GGG Grandmother as, "...having the appearance of the harlot...who tried to provide his alibi for the night of July 5". The prosecution was determined to discredit anyone, regardless of consequences. They were the ones in power and providing alternative facts. This is personal, This is family. During this time, our GGG Grandmother remarried a gentleman, with the last name of Burns. McGeehan had married someone else. Margaret Boyle's other son, Patrick Boyle (my GGG Uncle) did marry Hugh McGeehan's sister, Margaret. Our GGG Grandmother paid the price of testifying, through humiliation and ostracizing throughout the press. Other family had testified and paid a different price. That will be another story. The picture below is one of the prosecutors of the case against James Boyle, Franklin Gowen. He was relentless against discrediting our GGG Grandmother.



Friday, March 17, 2017

Part 2 - How are we related to the Boyle's of the Molly Maguires? In the picture below, in the middle, is my Grandfather, John Warren Smith. His mother, Mary, to the left, her maiden name is Boyle. She was born on May 7, 1863 in Lansford, Carbon County. Her father, Frank Boyle was married to Mary Givens. Our Great, Great, Great, Grandmother's name was Margaret Boyle. She was also known as the Widow Boyle, because our Great, Great, Great Grandfather died early. Margaret Boyle ran a boarding house to make ends meet, to put food on the table, since she was a widow. My Great Grandmother, my Great, Great, Grandfather and my Great, Great, Great Grandmother lived in a house owned by Margaret's brother-in-law, Dennis Boyle. Dennis lived in another house next door with his family. Dennis' son was James Boyle, who was hung in Pottsville on June 21, 1877. So Frank Boyle, my Great, Great Grandfather and James Boyle were first cousins. And they lived next door to one another. In the 1875 map, below, you can see the Boyle's homes, next to one another, with James Givens, next door. Now that you know how we are related, tomorrow, I will continue to discuss some astonishing and not so pleasant stories about our family.






Thursday, March 16, 2017

With St. Patrick's Day tomorrow, I will be discussing, over time, about our relatives in Carbon County. One in particular, James Boyle, was hung 140 years ago, on June 21, 1877, in Pottsville, Schuylkill County. Several other family members were killed, injured or jailed, because they assisted other immigrant Irish/Irish-Americans. So today, and over the weekend, I'm flying the Irish flag outside my home.




Monday, February 16, 2015

This is one of my favorite pictures, taken 100 years ago, of my grandmother, in 1914.