The ones who went to America

 

Ancestry. Gloucestershire Marriages, 1844.

Looking at Ancestry's ThruLines tool, I can see two DNA matches on my Dad's results descending from daughters of Hannah Oyler. One match descends from Hannah Chapman, while the other descends from Fanny Chapman. Both daughters made their way to America, likely for opportunity. Hannah Chapman married David Fowler in the village of Frampton Cotterell outside Bristol in Gloucestershire on 3 October 1844. This is a little odd, as the village is on the opposite side of southern England from Hawkhurst, but maybe Hannah went to Bristol for work after the death of her father.

Hannah and David had a daughter, Mary Hannah (who later went by Anna), and she was baptized in Ticehurst, Sussex on 16 August 1846. In the Spring of 1849, the young family left England for America, and arrived in New York on 30 April 1849. They made their way to Rochester in Upstate New York, and appear in the 1850 US Census there.

Ancestry. New York Arriving Passengers, 1849.

Ancestry. 1850 US Census. Rochester, NY.

In 1851, Hannah's sister Fanny appears in the England Census living in Brightling, Sussex with her mother, sister Mary, and her mother's second husband George Oyler and his son Thomas. Perhaps Hannah sent word from New York back to England for Fanny to join her, and by April 1852, Fanny had made the journey across the Atlantic. On 13 May 1852, Fanny married Thomas Overy in Rochester, New York. The marriage was witnessed by Fanny's siblings George Chapman and Hannah Fowler. It is unclear how long George stayed in America, but it does seem that he returned to England.

 

Ancestry. Rochester, NY Church Records. 1852.

Hannah and family appear in the 1855 New York Census in Brighton, Monroe County. By this time, Hannah and David had added the following children to their household:

• David Fowler Jr (1851)
• Carolin "Carrie" Fowler (1853)
• Hannah (1854)

By 1860, the Fowlers had moved from Rochester to Genesee County, Michigan and they had three more children in Burton Township, Genesee County, named Frank, Josephine and Minnie. They appear in the 1870 US Census in Flint, Michigan. David Fowler died in 1871. Hannah passed away on 13 April 1900, and her obituary ran in the Flint Journal.

Flint Journal. 14 Apr 1900.

Back to Fanny, she and husband Thomas appear in the 1860 US Census in Calhoun County, Michigan, with their children Hannah (born 1854 in New York), Fanny (born 1856 in Michigan) and William (born 1858 in Michigan). George, also born in New York in 1854, does not appear in the 1860 US Census, but does in 1870. Thomas died in 1863, and Fanny remarried to Englishman John Skinner in 1867. John died on 26 December 1891 in Calhoun County, Michigan. Fanny died on 30 December 1901 in Calhoun County, Michigan. Our DNA connection is through Fanny's daughter, Mary Jane Overy (born 1862).