What's Wrong With Women?

In genealogy, researching women can prove challenging. Women didn't leave as many records as men, which makes them difficult to trace. They had fewer rights, so before marriage their fathers would have acted for them, and after marriage their husbands would take over that duty. I have also found that there were way too many women named Mary! 

So, what's wrong with women? Patriarchy! 

Here's to hoping I'll learn more about my biggest mystery women someday:

1. Margaret (possibly Weiss or Whyle), born about 1854 in Missouri. She had at least three common-law husbands who were Albert Friend or Freund, Joseph Guyot, and Valentine Appel. She had children with each man. She died in St. Louis on 26 December, 1932.

2. Mary Ann Ware, born about 1822 near Ottery St. Mary, Devon, England (where she was baptized). She married John Dunsford, a rope maker, in 1841 at Upton Pyne, Devon. They had four children, two sons and two daughters, and lived in Clifton, Bristol, England. They immigrated to the United States in 1851, arriving at the Port of New Orleans. Mary Ann and the two girls then disappeared, never to be located again (yet). John remarried in St. Louis before 1854.

3. Malinda Ann Hembrey, born in North Carolina in 1824. She married James Thompson in Rowan County, North Carolina in 1844. The couple moved to Tennessee before their first daughter was born in 1846. They lived in Gibson County, Tennessee, then Obion County, Tennessee. Her husband was murdered in 1864. Malinda died in June 1876 in Obion County, Tennessee.

3. Mary [unknown], married Henry Barkley before 1753. They lived in Rowan County, North Carolina. They had 6 children. Some people say her surname was Knox, but I have found no proof of that although there were several Knox families near them. They all had daughters named Mary. Henry and Mary attended Thyatira Presbyterian church. Henry was either Scottish or Scots Irish. His origins are also a mystery.

Our Adventure In Search of Henry Barkley of Rowan County, North Carolina

Our Adventure In Search of Henry (Hendry) Barkley 

of Rowan County, North Carolina

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Week 14 Theme: Brick Wall

Generation 11
My 6th Great Grandfather

Rigsby, Kienlen, Aden, Thompson, Cowan Barkley

Henry Barkley has been a puzzling subject. Most online family trees show Henry as the son of Robert Barkley and Margaret Kerr. Others think his parents were Robert Bartley and a woman named Leah. Robert W. Ramsey, in his book Carolina Cradle, cites a source claiming Henry was from Pennsylvania, but we have been unable to locate the original record he had found.

Some researchers connect Henry Barkley to the Barclay family near Stonehaven, Scotland through the Robert married to Margaret. There is no proof. He was called Hendry in his will, which is the Scottish form of Henry. Does this mean he was Scottish, or was the person writing the will Scottish? I don't know. He was certainly living in the samelocation as other Scots and Scots-Irish. Also, he was Presbyterian.
I also have no proof that he's not related to the famous Barclay family of Stonehaven. Maybe he wasn't an heir to the Ury lairdship, but he could have been a nephew or cousin of some sort.

In 2016 I went to Scotland with my daughter, Jennifer. We knew of the Barclay mausoleum near Aberdeen and planned a visit. You can guess how the reasoning behind this went. We didn't know if we were related to this family at all, but thought a visit was in order, just in case. It turned out to be quite and adventure.

It was a drizzly day, as usual for Scotland. We had some GPS coordinates for the mausoleum, and some very basic directions. The google map above shows the location, kind of in the middle of nowhere. When we got to a dirt road in the general area, I stopped at a house and asked for directions. The nice woman told us to go up the dirt road where we would find our destination at the top of a hill. She said it was a lovely place and that she visited there often with her dog.

Jennifer and I headed up the muddy road in our little rental car. There was some construction along the road, and the ruts left in the road were so deep that I was afraid the car would get stuck. So we parked and headed up on foot.It seemed like we walked forever, and it was a miserable walk. We were wet. We were muddy. I couldn't see a hill, and it looked like a ravine blocked our path. I lost hope and suggested we give up.

Jennifer was undaunted. She went on ahead so far that I lost sight of her. I was kind of mad because I had no idea where she was.  I called a couple times and she didn't answer. She was likely mad at me for giving up so easily. A bit later, I received a text message: "I found it." 
So I went on up the road through the mud.

There it was, at the top of a hill covered in grass much taller 
than it appears in this photo. 

The door to the mausoleum was securely locked with a little twig. We removed it and headed in to check it out.

There were two rooms with dirt floors. Some grave markers were in the wall, and others on the ground. In one room was a large plaque outlining the history of the Barclay family from 1110 - 1610.

I don't know if I am related to this Barclay family, but this muddy little adventure is one of my favorite memories of Scotland. I also learned from my daughter to never give up. The answer is somewhere.

In hindsight, it was pretty amazing to be out on our own, 
 just exploring, even if these aren't our ancestors.

What I actually can prove of Henry Barkley's life follows:

Captain Thomas Cowan's Family

Captain Thomas Cowan's Family52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Thomas and Mary Elizabeth Barkley Cowan

Week 11 Theme: Large Family

Generation 10
My 5th Great Grandparents

Rigsby, Kienlen, Aden, Thompson, Cowan


I come from what is considered an average-sized family. I have two sisters. I only have cousins on my mom's side. I remember spending time with my cousins growing up, and we were all about the same age, or I should say most of us were born within the same decade, except the youngest who still likes to remind us he is the youngest (You know who you are!).

My mom's family was a bit different. I always thought it was funny that she was the same age as her Uncle Ray. They graduated from high school together.

I recently learned that she was the Maid of Honor at her Aunt Martha's wedding.

There is a lot of overlap in large families, and relationships were not always what we 
expect them to be based on today's perspective. 

Thomas Cowan and Mary Elizabeth Barkley had a large family of fourteen children.
It must have been a struggle to raise such a large family during an exciting
but difficult time in our nations's history.
This is a fairly well-researched family, given the number of descendants
that exist today.  Even so, there are still mysteries to be solved.