Charles Bosomworth and Ann Dickenson

Charles Bosomworth and Ann Dickenson
courtesy of Sarah Schorfheide Erwin

The parents of my great grandmother, Anna Belle Bosomworth--Charles Bosomworth and Ann Dickenson, were both born in Thorton Dale, North Yorkshire, England. They both came with their parents to the same county in Illinois within four years of each other. Charles was born October 23, 1834 in Pickering, Thornton Dale to Robert T. Bosomworth and Hannah (a.k.a. Anna) Porter. He was baptised on November 23, 1834 in Thornton Dale. He was the fourth child in a family of eight, which also included George, John, Robert, Mary B., Alice B., William P. and James. Charles arrived in New York on December 19, 1853, on the ship, the "George Washington", with his parents, his siblings, and his uncle, John Bosomworth, and John's family. The Robert Bosomworth family first settled in Morgan county, Illinois, where Charles married Ann Dickenson on May 24. 1856. Ann was also born in Thornton Dale, Yorkshire, but on May 5, 1837, and was baptised there on May 7, 1937. Both Charles and Ann are living in Pickering in the 1841 census. Their families are therefore likely to have known each other in England. Her parents were Thomas Dickenson and Mary Piercy. She was the sixth of ten children, including John, George, Joseph, Thomas, Francis, Hartas, Samuel, Piercy and Hannah.

Ann arrived in New York on June 7, 1849, with her parents and siblings on the ship, Tyringham, having left England on May 3, 1849. They travelled via the Erie Canal, the lakes, and the Illinois River, to Naples, Illinois. From there the family settled in Lynnwood, Morgan, Illinois, where Ann married Charles in 1856. Her father bought a farm there, and her older brothers bought land adjoining, for a total of three hundred acres. Some of her brothers fought in the Civil War, including Hartas and Piercy, Piercy having fought at Vicksburg.

Ann had been something of a "brick wall" on my family tree for quite a while. The Bosomworths were all "low hanging fruit", particularly as several other researchers had already found out a great deal about them. The Dickenson family remained a great mystery until I started searching all permutations of the name "Dickinson" and "Dickenson" and even "Dickins", particularly on www.familysearch.org. I had had her as "Dickinson", but started having more success with "Dickenson". I was able then to find more records, including the whole family's passenger records. I even found a biography of her brother, Piercy, in a local history, Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Morgan County, in which the family's journey from England was described, and his mother's maiden name was given, "Piercy".

Charles, known as "Charl" (pronounced "Sharl"), and Ann continued to live in Illinois until after the birth of their first child, Albertus Hartas, likely named after Ann's brother. They had a total of seven children, the others being Alice, Mary J., Irene B., Joana, Anna Belle, and Jessie. They moved to Springfield, Clark, Ohio by 1858, where Charles worked as a blacksmith, which was his lifelong occupation. They moved back to Illinois by 1867. In 1870s, they are living in Jacksonville, Morgan, Illinois, in 1880 they are living in Chesterfield, Macoupin, Illinois, and just before Charles's death, on July 17, 1905, he is living in Modesto, Macoupin. They apparently had lived there for several years, and Charles had acquired the village blacksmith shop. He was sandy-haired and known for his quick temper. He was said to be a good workman, and "would put shoes on the meanest horses in the county". Ann died on February 24, 1904 near Rohrer, Macoupin, at the home of her daughter, Mary J. Bosomworth Shepherdson, of the effects of a paralytic stroke incurred the summer before. They are buried together in the Blue Grass Cemetery In Modesto. (You can view the headstone at: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=BO&GSfn=c&GSpartial=1&GSbyrel=all&GSdyrel=all&GSst=16&GScntry=4&GSob=n&GSsr=1601&GRid=42915882&df=all&.

Many thanks to Sarah Schorfheide Erwin for providing the above photo, and for the delightful details about Charl from the text from her wonderful scrapbook.