Category: Parkin Family

The 1940 Census – Part 2

Posted on by Kathleen

Last time I posted about my 1940 Census search list, I only did two of the surnames in my family tree. This time I’ll be writing about two more. In fact, these are the last two big names on my Dad’s side of the family tree.

REDFORD FAMILY

Harry William Redford: Harry was living in Los Angeles, California in 1930. I wish I could have found him in city directories to be sure of where he is, but I don’t have that. All I know is from 1910 through to 1930, he was living in the Los Angeles area. I have addresses for him for those years, but we’ll just have to see if he’s at the last one in 1940 too.

Herbert Redford: My 2nd Great Grandfather died September 11, 1940. He was most likely counted in the 1940 census. He was living in Los Angeles at the time also.

Herbert Redford Death Certificate

Clifford Herbert Redford: I’m unsure when my Great Grandfather died. I am sure he was alive in 1942 to register for the WWII Draft and his wife, Jane Parkin, didn’t pass away until 1957. So they should be found in West Orange at 166 Watson Avenue.

Howard J Redford: Clifford’s brother was last seen in the 1930 census, living in Maplewood, New Jersey. Even if he’s not there, he’ll most likely be somewhere in Essex County, New Jersey.

Edith Redford-McKane: Edith and her husband Thomas were living in Linden, New Jersey from at least 1930 through their deaths in the 1980s. So I think it’s a safe bet to look for them there.

Lillian Redford-McClane: I’ve only JUST found Lillian’s married name. I haven’t been able to locate her in the 1930 census yet either. I do know she passed away in 1988 in Inyo County, California. So my guess is she’s somewhere in California in 1930 and 1940. Now to find her!

Sarah Redford-Tinston: Sarah was one of the first to make the move to California with her husband. I first located them in Los Angeles in the 1910 census. Unfortunately I haven’t located them in 1930 yet, so I’m going to have to try and locate them in a directory at least to figure out their 1930 and 1940 locations.

Lillian Redford-Stemmle: This is where I was having problems before. Since there are two Lillian Redfords. Luckily they are far apart enough in age to distinguish them from each other. This Lillian and her husband were living in Los Angeles in 1930 and they both passed away there in the 1950s. So I’m pretty sure they’ll be in the Los Angeles area in 1940.

PARKIN FAMILY

Hazel Parkin-Geldhauser: Hazel and her husband will most definitely be living in Newark, New Jersey in 1940.

Walter Parkin: It will be interesting to see Walter in this census. He will most likely be living in Newark, New Jersey. However, I’d like to see if he started a family or if he is still living with one of his sisters.

Anna M Parkin: Sister to Hazel, Walter and Jane. Anna disappeared on me after 1900. However the year 1910 would put her at 19 years old. She’s most likely married and I haven’t found the marriage record yet. So her status in 1940 is unknown. I will keep a look out in the family households though, for clues.

Mary Ann Parkin-Spencer: Mary Ann is the aunt of the Hazel, Walter, Anna, and Jane. In almost every census, Mary Ann has taken in multiple members of her family. Whether it be nieces, nephews, brothers or mothers, there is always at least one. Her family was last recorded in Monmouth, New Jersey so that’s where I’ll be looking next.

William M Parkin: William’s family disappears from the radar after 1910. I don’t know if they moved or if something happened to them. The Parkin family doesn’t seem to be lucky in life. They had a lot of early deaths in the family. I’m hoping that maybe I’ll find a spark of him in a city directory or in 1940.

Joseph Parkin: Joseph was unmarried throughout his life, from what I can tell. The last I saw of him was in 1930. He was living with his niece and her family in East Orange, New Jersey. That’s a good place to start. If I don’t find him there, he will most likely be living with another member of his family. It was his habit.

This concludes my Dad’s side of the family tree! I haven’t even finished entering Mom’s side back into my database so it’ll be interesting to take notes on that as I go through my facts and sources. I already feel very prepared for my first peak at the 1940 census.

Clifford and Jane Redford’s Wedding

Posted on by Kathleen

This scan was sent to me from my Aunt a few years back. It was one of my first and only clues about the Parkin family. Their name has constantly changed through all my years of researching them.

Family Record of Clifford and Jane Redford's marriage

Having this allowed me to send away to New Jersey for an official record of Clifford and Jane‘s marriage.

Official Record of Clifford and Jane Redford's marriage

This record had much more information for me to digest. I already knew Clifford and Jane‘s estimated birth years and residences. I had known from the 1930 census that Clifford was a plumber by trade. I also knew that his father’s name was Herbert and his mother’s was Sadie. However I did not know that his mother’s maiden name was Putcliff or is that Sutcliff? To this day I’m still not sure!

On Jane‘s side it was all knew information. This record actually broke down my Parkin/Parker/Perkins brick wall. It most definitely is Parkin now and I learned that her parents names were John Walter Parkin and Jennie Featherson. I have a lot more information on John Walter Parkin now, but before her marriage Jennie is still a mystery to me.

I’ve had this record for a number of years and still I come back to it for clues every once and awhile. It’s always good to look over things you’ve had awhile. You never know what you might have missed in the excitement.

Parkin Progress

Posted on by Kathleen

Sometimes I get so engrossed in my current “treasure trove” that I forget small progress is still progress. Sometimes a record that just confirms what you already know is just as great as one filled with new insight. Then sometimes you end up in the middle of those two.

In the case of William R Parkin‘s death certificate, that’s what I ended up with. I found a little bit of new information and a little bit of verification. Nothing too spectacular though. The only bad part about this record is it almost got lost in the shuffle because it happened to arrive in the same envelope as the George Yohn/Josephine Doremus marriage record.

Verified Information:

  • William’s middle name is definitely Richard. I was already almost positive of that since his widow is listed in the city directory as “Richard’s widow” after his death.

New Information:

  • Stone Cutter being his Primary Disease. I’m sure it’s his occupation which contributed to his death. In 1880 he was listed as working in a Sand Paper factory.
  • Burial at Rosedale Cemetery. I had no idea where any of the Parkins or Redfords are buried, so this gives me a place to start!

More Verification

Posted on by Kathleen

Can you tell I’ve been obsessed with city directories? Well I am. I’ve hit many roadblocks while researching my father’s side of the family. It comes from being the only person that I know of researching them. This doesn’t mean other people aren’t researching them, it just means they may not be googling me. I guess I’m not surprised at that. ha. One of the familial lines I’m going solo on is the Parkin side of the family. I have suspicions once I link this family to England, the heavens might open and I’ll be showered with information… No? Well a girl can dream.

1900 US Census, Newark, NJ

The way I’m preparing for my heaven opening experience, is that I’m gathering as much information as possible on the family. I’m scouring all the resources available to me to find out about their time in America. In fact, I’m going to start planning a research trip to Jersey and this family is on the top of my list. I have a lot of New Jersey families on my list in fact. I’m already looking forward to July. My first step in documenting the Parkins was to find them in the census records, which wasn’t easy. Their surname is often misinterpreted. I’ve found it under Parkin, Parkins, Perkin, Perkins, and Parker. Really it depends on how it sounded to the person doing the records.

Census records are great because they give you a great overall view of the movement your families may make. They can also give you little clues to try and flesh out where they came from. Whether is their parents birth place, or even a spouse’s birthplace. For me and my research of the Parkin family, even initials are a big find for me. It’s just one more step to finding out who these people were. I also have to face the facts, my family liked to name people William so a middle initial to me is a way of distinguishing one William from another. The family in the census above is Ann Parkin and her children. By 1900[1. 1900 United States Census. Newark Ward 11, Essex, New Jersey. Page 9B. Dwelling 133, Family 202], her husband William R Parkin is already deceased.

Holbrook's Directory - Newark, 1900

When looking up the Huff Photo Studio in city directories, I decided to look up the Parkin family since I was already there. The Parkins didn’t always live in Newark, so I wasn’t going after a complete history. Really I was just looking to verify the address given in the 1900 census and see what other information I could find. Much to my surprise, I found a little clue that will help me on future record searches.

Anne is listed as widow of Richard. This is big for me. William was only on one census before he died. The family immigrated to America in 1875[2. 1900 United States Census. Newark Ward 11, Essex, New Jersey. Page 9B. Dwelling 133, Family 202] (William in 1874), and he died in 1881. So the information on him was very scarce. Now I know that the R initial stands for Richard. This could help me distinguish him on all kinds of records! What if he went by Richard because he also had a son named William? Trust me, I’m well versed in the William dilemma. Think about the possibilities. Say I’m going through English parish registers and I find two William R Parkins born in the same month/year. What if one is listed as William Richard and the other William Robert. My William has a son named William Matthew Parkin. So if one of the father’s name is Matthew, I’ll have another hit. All this from one tiny mention in a Newark city directory after William’s death.

I love city directories.

Surname Saturday: Parkin

Posted on by Kathleen

This is the last surname I’m highlighting on my Dad’s side for the blog! I didn’t mean to take so long in getting this written up but I had an early wake-up today and decided to get it done.

Where does the Parkin name originate from?

This surname has been a source of frustration for me for a long time. First we thought it was Perkins, then Parkins, and finally Parkin. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was completely wrong at this point and I ended up with the surname of Parker. My Parkin family originates in England. The father of my “first family” came to America through Castle Garden in October of 1874 and his family followed in July of 1875.  According to the Public Profiler Surname Distribution Map, in 1881 the Parkin surname was most concentrated around the midlands of England. That would make sense because my Parkin family departed England by way of Liverpool.

Did the Parkins stay in New Jersey?

Yes. I haven’t found all the girls after they married yet, but it looks like the Parkin family was a small but close one.

Overview of the Parkin Family

Father: William R Parkin (about 1842 – 02 Aug 1881[1. Records of Births, Marriages, and Deaths of New Jersey, 1848-1900, v10])

Mother: Ann ? (Sep 1839 – ?)

Children

  1. John Walter Parkin (Dec 1863 – before 1910) My 2nd great grandfather
  2. Mary Ann Parkin (Apr 1870 – ?) married Edward E Spencer, had 2 daughters
  3. William Matthew Parkin (Sep 1871  – ?) married Ida ?, had 1 daughter
  4. Joseph B Parkin (Dec 1874 – ?)

The men in the Parkin family seem to live short lives from what I can tell. Both John and William’s children were living with their mother in 1910. The grandchildren bounced between the families a lot. This fits well with what my Aunts tell me about the Jane Parkin (John’s daughter). They told me that they had the impression she lived a very hard life. To be frank, her parents were dead by the time she was 14. That can’t be easy in any respect. Then to add that they were bounced around between family members. Joseph seems to be the exception to the early death rule in the Parkin family. I have him all the way through 1930 on the census records.

Records to get for the Parkins

  • I need to get birth and death records for my great grandmother Jane. I have her marriage record already.
  • I need to find a marriage record for Jane’s parents John Parkin and Jennie Featherson. FamilySearch gives their marriage date as 17 Jun 1890. Hopefully this helps me find the New Jersey record easier.
  • I really am curious to get the death records for both John and Jennie. If they were both dead by the 1910 census, I want to see what would take them from their children. I feel like there’s a story there in my gut.

Parkin Links

Sources