Deborah Harvey : The Red Dress of Poetry ...: Bristol Poetry Festival so far and a visit to Well...

Deborah Harvey : The Red Dress of Poetry ...: Bristol Poetry Festival so far and a visit to Well...: The Bristol Poetry Festival is galloping into its final week. The last seven days have seen fantastic sets from Tara Bergin, Liz Berry, Hele...

A Bristol man in the American Civil War

In the 1790's Stephen Bevan was born. More than that I cannot say about his origins. He is a brick wall ancestor.

Stephen was alive until 1850, he lived in Redcliff, Bristol with his wife Ann (also of unknown background). Stephen had 3 sons. The two youngest Edwin Verry Bevan and Henry Verry Bevan were both born in Bristol, but his eldest son John Bevan (born on April 4th 1823) was not. I have no place of birth for him either.  

John married Martha Lucas (b.1825) on 19 Jul 1843 at St Mary Redcliffe Church in Bristol. Their eldest son William Stephen Bevan was born a year later, followed by a daughter, Emma three years later and two more sons, John born in 1846 and Samuel Lucas born in 1851 shortly after the death of father Stephen Bevan.

The family then decided they would start a new life in America, so boarded a ship together. Sadly, the youngest of their children Samuel would die during the voyage.

William Stephen Bevan enlisted in the 127th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment in Statton Island in 1862 and fought under the command of Col. William Gurney until the cessation of the American Civil War.

The following detailed information about the 127th is taken from Wikipedia.
"Left New York for Washington, D.C., September 10, 1862. Duty in the defenses of Washington, D.C., until April 1863. Moved to Suffolk, Virginia, April 18. Siege of Suffolk, April 20 – May 4. Dix's Peninsula Campaign, June 24 – July 7. Ordered to Washington, D.C., July 10. Pursuit of Lee to Berlin, Maryland, July 13–22. Moved to Folly Island, South Carolina, August 1–8. Siege operations against Forts Wagner and Gregg on Morris Island and against Fort Sumter and Charleston, South Carolina, August 9 – September 7. Bombardment of Fort Sumter, August 17–23. Operations against Charleston and duty on Folly and Morris Islands, South Carolina, until October 1864. Assault on Fort Johnson and Battery Simpkins, James Island, South Carolina, July 3, 1864. Duty at Beaufort, South Carolina, until November 1864. Hatch's Expedition up Broad River, November 28–30. Battle of Honey Hill, November 30. Demonstration on Charleston & Savannah Railroad, December 6–9. Deveaux's Neck, Tullifinney River, December 6. Tullifinney River, December 9. Charleston & Savannah Railroad, December 19 and 29. Duty in the Northern District and at Charleston, South Carolina, Department of the South, until June 1865."

A tale of two siblings

This may strike you, as a far cry from my usual posts about villeins, vicars, heroes and other such family tree members, but it is just as interesting in its own way.
Eliza was born in 1820 and grew up in Lydeard St Lawrence, a village between the Quantocks and Exmoor. 18 years later her youngest brother Abraham was born.

Eliza in 1863 gave evidence at a petty sessions trial, where a baker was accused of selling bread without weights and measures being used, but it turned out the loafs he gave to her were a gift with no payment being asked.

A year later, Eliza is back in the paper, this time having won a shilling in a "Best ornamental devices in flowers and evergreens" cottagers contest.

When Abraham grew up he stayed with his sister. Through 3 census returns in 1871, 1881 and 1891 they are together and both still single, with Eliza as the head of the household and various lodgers, obviously to supplement Abraham's low income as an agricultural labourer.
In 1871, Eliza had two lodgers but no other income and Abraham was working as an ag lab.
In 1881, both Eliza and Abraham were described as annuitants, so may have had a small income after the death of their parents perhaps?
By 1901 sadly Abraham dies at 63 years of age. This was before the census of that year was taken. But we can find Eliza there, sadly, in the Taunton Workhouse. She lasted just a year following the death of her brother.
I need to follow up on this and do some research, I am really hoping that they were laid to rest together.
This is a beautiful tale, even though some may think it mundane. It makes a change from doom and gloom to see an every day life being lived, with a brother and sister who had a bond from birth to death.

You can chose your friends....

There is an old saying, "You can choose your friends, not your family" - Today that really didn't work for me, as one person I'd 'chosen' as a friend, turned out to be family (albeit, from a shared ancestor of many generations). This was discovered through the medium of DNA rather than through more traditional research.
I've read articles, debated and discussed the issue of inherited memory for a long time now, being fascinated by it, and the thought that we are attracted (or, indeed, repelled) by places and people because of something that happened to an ancestor. Sometimes on your journey, you run into an unexplained series of events that could be written off as coincidence if they were singular, but because there were so many, you feel they cannot be. This has been the case with my friend/cousin and I.
Also the other closer cousins I've connected with on the journey and I, have lots of interests and traits in common, and are friends now.