Brick walls

This is my "Can anyone help? I'm desperate..." page,
presenting entire families as well as individuals whose details have eluded me.

 

This concept worked well for me many years ago when my website had a different "Mystery" page. I received several letters from researchers who graciously gave me information that helped. So, I'm trying again.

 

For many of these mysteries the details I'm showing here are all I know about them. For some,  I have more information about their families on a family page in this web site and I'm showing a link to that page.

 

No. 1 - Edmund, Elizabeth and Daniel Leedom,  Upper Darby, Delaware Co PA

My most frustrating brick wall is the entire family of my 6th great-grandparents, Samuel Leedom and Hannah Staats. Samuel was born about 1737 but I have no record of his birth. After their marriage Samuel and Hannah lived first in Bucks Co where two children's baptisms are recorded, later in Bristol Twp, Philadelphia (1774 tax list). They then moved to Upper Darby, Chester Co., where Samuel was taxed in 1779-1781. By 1785 the family had moved to Haverford, where Samuel and Hannah spent the rest of their lives. Samuel died in Haverford before 8 Apr 1816 when his will was recorded and Hannah died before 23 Feb 1831 when she was named as "deceased" in Hinshaw's record of the marriage of her son John to his second wife Elizabeth Collins.

 

Samuel and Hannah had at least the four children mentioned in Samuel's will. The baptisms of two of them, Elizabeth and John (Johannes), are found in PA Vital Records in the Register of Baptized Children in the Reformed Low Dutch Community of Bucks Co. PA. In a change of pace, the one child I know the most about is my 5G grandfather, John.

 

I'm looking for any clues to the families of three of their four known children:

1. Edmund Leedom - b. 1764, d. 1848; m. Sarah S. Worrell
   
   I can find no documentation for Edmund's birth or death nor can I find anything supporting the claim in The Leedom Family that he served in the Revolutionary War. I can find no listing for him in Upper Darby or anywhere else in 1810-1840. No Worrell or Worrall researcher I've corresponded with can identify his wife Sarah.
   
   I have collected a fair amount of information about an Edmund Leedom who was probably Edmund and Sarah's son (or possibly a son of his brother Daniel). This younger Edmund was born about 1805, married a Sarah E. Powell, and was listed in Haverford in 1850 and then Upper Darby 1860-1880.
    

2. Elizabeth Leedom - bap 3 Nov 1765 Low DRC of North & Southampton, Bucks PA, d. aft 9 Mar 1814; m. ___ Kirk.
   
   That she married a Kirk is known only from her mention in her father's will as "daughter Elizabeth Kirk". An Elizabeth Leedom married Joseph Kirk, cordwainer, on 10 Apr 1783, St. Michael's and Zion Church, Philadelphia, listing in Record of Pennsylvania Marriages Prior to 1810.
   
   I haven't been able to identify this Joseph Kirk though I suspect he is the son of Samuel Kirk and Mary Smith of Upper Darby, Delaware Co. I can find no record of his and Elizabeth's family.

Carol Sundeen is also looking for the Leedom-Kirk connection. She is looking for a Lydia Kirk's parents. Lydia was born about 1788, married Walter Harris and had children named William, Sarah Ann, Thomas Kirk, Samuel Leedom, Joseph Kirk, Mary Elizabeth, and Hannah Sisler Harris. It seems likely though not proven that Lydia would have been a daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth. The middle name of Leedom for one of her sons is most telling.

There is a John Kirk and family listed in the 1860 census of Upper Darby one entry above the listing of Edmund Leedom. John is aged 61, his wife Mary A. is aged 56. John's birth in 1799 makes him a possible candidate for a son of Joseph and Elizabeth.

3. John Leedom - my direct line and the child about whom I know the most. His second wife Elizabeth Collins is still a mystery, though. She was the daughter of James and Elizabeth Collins of Monmouth  NJ according to their marriage record.

4. Daniel Leedom - b. 1 Jan 1771 prob Bucks Co  PA, d. 27 Dec 1851 Upper Darby, Bucks  PA; m. 19 Nov 1798 Elizabeth Worrall, b. abt 1780, from the docket of Edward Hunter, J.P. Newtown Twp, Delaware Co PA.
   
   Daniel is listed in every census 1800-1850 in Upper Darby, Delaware County with a growing family of 3 sons and a daughter. In 1850, when family members are finally named, Daniel Leedom and wife Elizabeth are listed alone. I have no clue as to any of their children's names. His death notice appeared in the Delaware County Republican 9 Jan 1852 where Daniel is stated to have died at his residence in Upper Darby on the 27 Dec 1851, aged eighty-one years. There was no mention of his wife or children.

    

 

No. 2 - Jane A. Bishop, Easttown, Chester Co PA

Searching for parents of Jane A. Bishop, my 4th great-grandmother - b. abt 1777, d. 3 Jul 1869 in Haverford, Delaware Co at the home of her son-in-law Samuel Leedom; married Robert Steel on 20 Dec 1798 at St. Paul's Church, Philadelphia PA. Robert Steel died 3 Oct 1830.

 

Jane and Robert had three children that I know of: Ann Steel who married Davis Smith; Eliza Steel who married Samuel Leedom (my direct line) and Emmor Steel who married Mary Worrall.

 

There is a record of a Thomas Bishop and Elizabeth Wood marriage on 3 Nov 1763 at St. Paul's Church, Philadelphia. The date and place of this marriage makes them promising as potential parents for Jane as she married her husband in the same church. This Thomas is believed to be a son of Peter Bishop and Ann Wetherill of NJ. Bishop researchers I've contacted so far cannot identify this Peter Bishop or his son Thomas.

 

Jane's birth year is according to the last census she is listed in, residing with her son-in-law Samuel Leedom in 1860 Haverford, Delaware Co.

 

Any of the following Bishop records in Chester County may relate to the family of this Jane Bishop:

 

File	Last Name	First Name	Middle Name	Suffix/Prefix	Township/Borough	File Date	Occupation	Will	Admin Bond	Inventory	Accounts
1478	Bishop	Charles				1753		No	Yes	Yes	No
13978	Bishop	Elizabeth			Easttown	1861		Yes	No	No	Yes
13269	Bishop	Hannah			Uwchlan	1859		Yes	No	Yes	Yes
17913	Bishop	Jane	T.		West Chester	1875		No	Yes	No	No
3313	Bishop	Joseph			West Caln	1781	Yeoman	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
3465	Bishop	Joseph		Jr.	West Caln	1783	Yeoman	Yes	No	Yes	No
15154	Bishop	Joseph			Upper Uwchlan	1865		No	Yes	Yes	Yes
6935	Bishop	Mary			Willistown	1821		No	Yes	Yes	Yes
751	Bishop	Samuel		Jr.	Nantmeal	1741	Yeoman	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
775	Bishop	Samuel			West Caln	1741	Yeoman	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
3764	Bishop	Samuel			West Caln	1786		No	Yes	Yes	Yes
14247	Bishop	Sidney	W.		Easttown	1862		No	Yes	Yes	Yes
3571	Bishop	Thomas			Edgmont	1784		No	Yes	Yes	Yes
6077	Bishop	Thomas		Jr.	Willistown	1814		No	Yes	Yes	Yes
10316	Bishop	Thomas	P.		South Coventry	1842		No	Yes	Yes	Yes
11020	Bishop	Thomas			Easttown	1846	Farmer	Yes	No	No	No
16294	Bishop	Thomas			West Chester	1870		No	Yes	Yes

Source: Chester County Archives
 

 

No. 3 - Mary Ella Conroy, Philadelphia Co PA

Looking for information on the parents of Mary Ella Conroy, my great-grandmother - b. 10 Dec 1857 Philadelphia, died perhaps about 1927 Trenton, Mercer Co NJ.

 

According to my only paternal aunt, now deceased, Mary Ella died in 1927, maybe in February. My aunt also cautiously said, "there was a divorce in there somewhere." According to my dad's notes Mary Ella was the daughter of Christopher Conroy and Anna Elizabeth Nace. I have found no marriage record for Christopher and Anna and no divorce record, either, although Anna was married a second time to Robert S. Williamson of NJ. They are listed in the 1870 and 1880 census records.

 

There is no record of Christopher in the 1880 census index so he was probably living with someone else at the time and was not head of household. The Philadelphia City Directory of 1890 does list a Christopher Conroy, shoemaker, living at 140 S. 6th.

Christopher was born in Ireland according to the notation of parent's birth by his daughter Mary Ella in the 1920 PA census, Philadelphia. (May or may not be correct, as census information varies so much from one to the next.)

 

 

No. 4 - Lydia Pritchard, probably Abington, Montgomery Co

Born about 1741, married 13 Apr 1768 to William Leedom, born 1 Apr 1746 Southampton, Bucks Co, youngest son of John Leedom and Susannah Lancaster. Lydia outlived her husband by 37 years and was 99 years old when she died 8 Jan 1840.

 

Named as Lydia Pritchard in The Leedom Family, no parents given. "Marriages and Deaths in Montgomery County" names her as Lydia Richard and her parents as Thomas and Mary. A Thomas Prichard was a witness to the will of William Leedom's father, John, written in 1743 and proved 1750 in Southampton, Bucks Co. It is likely that her family was Welsh with the name Pritchard deriving from ap Richard. Richard and Pritchard-Prichard appear to be used interchangeably in many records.

I am entering Lydia's parent's given names here as found in the marriage notice but am keeping the surname as Pritchard while searching for any additional records.

Signed her name as "Lydia Pritchet" in the list of those attending the marriage of Hannah Leedom and Jacob Gummere in 1763. Hannah's brother, William Leedom, was also in attendance at that wedding and would marry Lydia Pritchard five years later.

 

I have found virtually nothing about William and Lydia's first two children, Isaac (b. 10 Jan 1769 Abington) and Mary (b. 12 Apr 1771 Abington) though the others, William and Jonathan are fairly well documented.