The Brambley Letters: The Brambley Family Archive- Letters, Documents, and Photographs, 1814 to 1928

By Grace Alice Brambley Jackson

The letters include tragedies of Dickensian nature and scale, but unlike Charles Dickens’s tales, they’re not fiction. They are supplemented by eighty-six documents, photographs, and ephemera. With one exception, the letters have not been subjected to historians’ interpretations and inferences. This provides inquisitive readers the opportunity to form their own inferences and conclusions from primary source documents.

Ebenezer Brambley (1815–1884). Described as a

• Language: English
• Publisher: Newman Springs Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jan 31, 2020
• ISBN: 9781640963269

Book preview

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The Brambley Letters: Unpacking the Family Treasure Chest

Kenneth Lee Jackson

Copyright © 2019 Kenneth Lee Jackson

All rights reserved

First Edition

Newman Springs Publishing

Red Bank, NJ 07701

First originally published by Newman Springs Publishing 2019

ISBN 978-1-64096-325-2 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-64096-326-9 (Digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

To my great-grandfather, Samuel Brambley, who valued his father’s Bible and letters above the family’s silver service

Brambley Bible Family Register: Parents’ Names

Brambley Bible Family Register: Children’s Names

Brambley Bible Family Register: Marriages

Brambley Bible Family Register: Deaths

Preface

A pointillist painting with many—or even most—of the dots missing, and with inference filling in some of those missing dots, seems a good analogy for much of what we know as history.¹ The dots placed with the greatest certainty of color and placement generally come from primary sources. This collection of primary source documents is extensive, but has many missing dots, so it can be understood as an enormous inference exercise.

I believe these primary source documents will prove both interesting and useful to a wide variety of readers and researchers in both America and England in nearly every social science discipline studying the period 1869–1928. This is not history from below or people’s history, although much of the material could support research in that field. As these materials have not yet been subjected to the historian’s craft, they don’t meet my definition of history above—yet.

The collection is supplemented by family oral history in five places where deemed helpful to the reader or where no other source exists. My own conclusion regarding why this family immigrated to America knowing the first seven states had already seceded from the Union is near the end of the book. It is included, in part, because I reached the same conclusion years ago in my undergraduate Immigrant and Ethnic History class.

The editors leave analyzing the details of the contents and inferring missing dots to readers and researchers. We do not offer explanations for references that are readily found on the Internet. We have instead focused on providing the reader with information not readily available elsewhere, particularly relationships between correspondents.

My mother is Grace Alice [Brambley] Jackson. Her interest in family history was first sparked when two of her father’s first cousins Hattie Pearl [Brambley] Dungan, the family historian of her generation, Phebe Eliza [Brambley] Utt, and their sister-in-law Ruth [Gifford] Brambley visited her parents when she was in high school.² With the exception of one document near the very end, my mother is the source of all information identified within as being from family oral history. As the only person interested in family history in the generation after Hattie’s, Hattie made arrangement for her collection of documents, photographs, and letters to be passed to my mother upon Hattie’s death. Documentary evidence begins in 1814 England, the first photograph is from the American Civil War, and the letters begin in 1869.

Family oral history holds the sole explanation for the survival of any of the letters published here. My maternal grandfather Frederick Maurice Brambley told my mother that at the death of his paternal grandmother Phebe [Kilsby] Brambley, while his father Samuel’s siblings were fighting over the silver service, Samuel stuck the family Bible and his father Ebenezer’s collection of letters under his arm and left. Family oral history also says Samuel never threw a letter away, so the collection continued to grow during Samuel’s life. I have chosen to close this work shortly after Samuel Brambley’s death in 1928.

The letters were almost universally formed as single paragraphs. They have been reformatted into paragraphs to improve readability. Aside from that, great care has been taken to transcribe the originals exactly including the original spelling, punctuation, and grammar. Occasionally, when a typographical error is found in law, law books will insert an asterisk and an inferred explanation like So in original. Probably should be _____. Aside from the massive numbers of spelling issues, sometimes my mother and I as coeditors and stewards of the collection just cannot speculate Probably should be _____.

There are a few words and terms that readers will find offensive. One appears three times in 130,000-plus words. I was surprised by how rare such language is among the 200-plus letters. One letter used D --- D when the author was unwilling to write damned, while another says a person is either a L _ _ R or he dont know what he is talking about when unwilling to call another person a liar. Many words are misspelled, misused, incorrect (e.g., there, vice, their, etc.), obsolete, or used in obscure ways. Still, I believe preservation of the original form is necessary to preserve the collection’s value to readers and researchers.

Identifying relationships between correspondents was complicated by writers who identified fellow Christians, brothers-in-law or sisters-in-law, or members of fraternal organizations such as Masons, Odd Fellows, and Knights of the Maccabees as brother or sister whether there was a blood relationship or not.³ In addition, many names were used generation after generation, many did not have middle names, and several used nicknames. Therefore, maiden names and surnames from previous marriages will be inserted in square brackets when known and applicable (e.g., Mary [Brambley, Bowen] Downs). If relationships can be described briefly, they will be explained in italics, and excerpts of genealogical charts will occasionally be included. Genealogical chart excerpts generally only include names necessary to identify relationships, rather than including all children and spouses in each generation. Most of the unidentified names are of neighbors, friends, or professional associates, but those we do know or surmise with confidence are included.

Kenneth L. Jackson, MA, Second Editor

The Book of Samuel

11/24/89

The old man’s hands shook as he gently placed the ribbon-tied box on the table. On an earlier trip to the dark recesses of the closet, he had brought out his parents’ big Bible. The box and the Bible now lay side by side on the dining table.

His eyes misted a little as he thought of the fate of his possessions. Over the years he had added letters, newspaper clippings, souvenirs, and other memorabilia to his box. Would anyone care about his treasures when he was gone? He had one grown son, but as yet no grandchild or namesake. At almost eighty, not much time was left to him.

Many years ago—at the present he couldn’t recall just when—he had had two nephews named for him. Neither had lived to grow up. Was his name, Samuel, a jinx? He had questions without answers.

The house was silent. He was not usually alone and had taken advantage of the absence of his son and relatively new daughter-in-law to peruse his memories. It was different with a woman in the house again. He was pleased to find she made few changes in the daily routine and that she was a good cook. In the two years he and Fred had batched after the death of his Laura, the meals had suffered. Oh, they had managed all right, but the cooking was better now. He also considered the prospect of a grandson and smiled to himself.

He reached above his head and turned the two switches on the chandelier. A soft light now fell across the objects on the table, tinted by the rose-decorated shades over the light bulbs. Laura had picked out the shades when electricity was brought to the house. She was gone now, as so many others of his loved ones were. Why should I be spared? he thought.

As he opened the heavy Bible, his eyes fell on the gold engraving. He read aloud to himself, Presented with a purse of gold to Brother Ebenezer Brambley on his leaving England 18 March 1861. This brought back to mind the day of the presentation. He leafed through a few pages and found what he was looking for—the faded newspaper. He read the article, as interested as if he were reading it for the first time.

The Wellingborough Telegraph and Commercial Gazette

Saturday March 23, 1861

On Monday last, a number of friends of the Wellingborough Reform Wesleyan circuit sat down to a public tea in the Town-hall, given on the occasion of Mr. Brambley’s a well known local preacher, leaving for America. In the evening at 6 o’clock the hall was quite filled by the members of the above church and other friends. The Rev. J. Roberts, superintendent of the circuit opened the meeting by singing part of a hymn, which was joined in by the assembly, after the rev. gentleman engaged in a brief and appropriate prayer. On the motion of Mr. Parker, of Finedon, seconded by Mr. Wright, Mr. Blott was unanimously elected chairman. On taking the chair he requested all the local preachers to occupy the platform, and then in a suitable address introduced the evening’s proceedings, by calling on Mr. Wright, Finedon, to present the following testimonials. viz. a large family bible, a hymn book, and a purse of gold to Mr. Brambley, and a very elegant silver teapot and coffee pot to Mrs. B. as tokens shewing appreciation of past services as well as sympathy on the present occasion. Mr. Wright gave a humourous and animated speech in which he dilated on Mr. B’s. character, as a man, a christian, and as a preacher, feelingly presented the testimonials. Mr. B. with deep emotion thanked his friends for the kindness shown, and the sympathy manifested, hoping still to have an interest in their prayers. The other speakers were Messrs. Lack, Parker, Wallis, Reves, and Hilton, all local preachers. Mr. Dearn, being repeatedly called on, at last walked up to the platform amidst great applause, and in an eloquent address captivated the audience for some time. The chairman then briefly addressed the meeting on the present state of America. The proceedings were terminated by singing a hymn, and by the chairman pronouncing the benediction.

Aloud he said, I wonder what became of Mother’s tea set? The last time I remember it being all together was at West Webster when we returned from the graveyard after Mother was buried. Some of my sisters were quarrelling over it when I put this Bible under my arm and walked out. It was several years later before anyone thought to ask what became of the Bible. Some of us value things differently.

The silence of the night was broken with a soft pawing sound at the kitchen door. Samuel arose and slowly walked to peer out through the screen door. Do you want in, Mudge? he asked. The big brown and black dog answered back with a bark and was admitted to the house as she felt was her right. She made a straight line for the woodstove in the corner and found it cold. On this warm June evening, no fire would be needed.

Nevertheless, it was her favorite spot, fire or no fire. After making several circles on the rug, she lay down in her usual spot and rested her head on her paws.

The old man sat down again and resumed his interest in the big book. He carefully turned to the family history record between the Old and New Testaments. Here he found the births, marriages, and deaths of his parents’ family, mostly written in in his father’s careful script. The later entries were in Samuel’s own handwriting as he felt it his duty to carry on the tradition after ownership had come into his hands.

I’ll have to speak to Fred about the six remaining deaths to be recorded as they happen—my own and those of my five remaining sisters.

His mind drifted back to his parents, Ebenezer and Phebe.

Father was baptized January 24, 1816, at Little Brington, Northamptonshire, England. His parents were John Brambley and Alice Shellard Brambley. Grandfather Brambley was a tenant farmer who worked a good part of his life for the Earl of Spencer. Grandmother Brambley was the daughter of Stafford and Alice Shellard. She was born in Shennington, Gloucestershire, and her people were shopkeepers, tailors, and butchers.

Mother was born October 6, 1814, at Weedon, Northamptonshire, the daughter of John Kilsby and Frances Green Kilsby. Her family were in the shoemaking and brickmaking trades. Due to a family quarrel, we did not know Mother’s people as well as we did Father’s.

Father was the patriarch! His word was law! Mother grew up expecting her husband to take charge, and in that, she got no surprises.

Mother and Father were married in Weedon Beck. They moved to Castlethorpe in Buckinghamshire before the birth of my older sister, Phebe, March 22, 1843, then to Bradwell, Buckinghamshire, before John Rechab’s birth, September 10, 1844. By my birth, Allhallows Eve 1845, they had once again moved, this time to Turvey in Bedfordshire.

The twins, Thomas and Sarah Ann, were born July 5, 1847, in Yardley Hastings, Northamptonshire. We soon moved again to Wollaston where Rebekkah Temperance was born February 27, 1850. I had three more little sisters: Mary, June 21, 1853; Charlotte, July 19, 1854; and Alice, September 22, 1856, before Rebekkah Temperance died at age eight and was buried at Wollaston churchyard May 10, 1858. Another little sister, the second Temperance, was born almost a year later, on May 6, 1859. This made ten children my mother bore in sixteen years.

My father was a brick and tile maker and ran his own yard employing several men. On Sundays he preached at the Methodist Chapel.

He never really told us why he made the decision to leave England for America, but it was at least partly due to the difficulties of being a Methodist and being called a Dissenter or Nonconformist, as all but the established Church of England members were called. We must have been Methodists back into the early times of the Wesleys, but it never got easier. Finally, in the winter of 1860–61, he made plans to sail for New York.

My family sailed from Liverpool aboard the Mail Packet Dreadnaught in March of 1861. All eleven of us. It was the fastest sailing ship on the Atlantic, and we made it in twenty-eight days. The captain was the famous Samuel Samuels. We left behind a country where religious freedom was an issue, to come to a country where freedom was an issue. Fort Sumpter was fired on, to begin the American Civil War, the week we arrived.

Brother John, being an adventuresome sixteen-year-old, soon ran away from home to join the Union Army. Father went after him and brought him home the first time but gave up when John left again in 1863. While in the 22nd Regiment New York Cavalry Volunteers, he was wounded near Richmond, Virginia, in June of 1864. In an attempt to ford the Nottoway River on his horse, he was thrown on rocks. He never fully recovered from the effects of his wounds. He limped for the balance of his life.

John was the first of us to marry. He married Marian Patchen, whom he called Mate, at her parents’ home in Brighton, Monroe County, New York, April 3, 1867. Her parents were Thadeus Harvey Patchen and Eliza Billinghurst Patchen.

Father renewed his interest in the Methodist Church after we came to America. He was licensed as a local preacher in the Free Methodist Church. His alliance was not always a pleasant one, and he quarreled with the trustees of the Chili Seminary over an agreement to make bricks for the structure. He suffered a great financial loss, and even if he forgave them, he never forgot. He made 200,000 bricks as agreed upon, but they only took delivery on 160,000. I am sure there were many times he doubted that he had made the right decision in leaving England.

The old man’s reverie was broken by the big dog who got tired of being ignored. She put her head on his lap and refused to be put off. He finally responded to her and said, Is it time for your gingersnap? By way of reply, she wiggled from her nose to the tip of her tail.

After her nightly treat, she again lay down near him. He opened the box and began searching through the bundles of letters and clippings.

Acknowledgments

I am grateful to a long line of my ancestors and relatives of ancestors who made this possible:

My great-great-grandfather Ebenezer Brambley, who kept some of his personal correspondence and who ensured all his children could read and write.

My great-great-grandmother Phebe [Kilsby] Brambley, who did not discard the letters her husband, Ebenezer, had kept.

My great-grandfather Samuel Brambley, who valued his father’s Bible and letters above his parents’ silver service, who kept in touch with his siblings, who, twenty-plus years after moving to California, travelled to New York twice to see them, and who, according to family oral tradition, never discarded any letter he received.

My grandfather Frederick Maurice Brambley, who did not discard the letters his father had collected and who helped maintain his family’s oral history.

Two of my grandfather’s first cousins, Hattie Pearl [Brambley] Dungan, Phebe Eliza [Brambley] Utt, and their sister-in-law Ruth [Gifford] Brambley, who sparked an interest in family history in my mother when they visited California in 1949.

My mother, Grace Alice [Brambley] Jackson, who not only preserved the letters collected by a grandfather whose death preceded her birth, but transcribed the letters into one of her first personal computers. Hattie was the family historian in my grandfather Fred’s generation. As my mother tells the tale, my mother was the only one in the generation after Hattie with an interest in family history, so Hattie donated her collected photographs, letters, and documents to my mother. Nearly seventy years after meeting Hattie, Phebe, and Ruth, my mother’s genealogy database has 12,831 ancestors, siblings, and descendants of ancestors and their siblings. Those years of research and the ability to search the database and make custom reports has greatly assisted identifying relationships between correspondents.

Kenneth L. Jackson, MA, Second Editor

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¹ Pointillism uses small dots of color from which the viewer’s mind blends patterns into pieces of a recognizable whole with tonal ranges that are not normally displayed in the individual dots.

² Everyone within has been identified with as complete a name as we know. We used thus, outside of the directly quoted materials, refers to my mother and myself. Use of square brackets herein is limited to maiden names, editor’s notes, and completion of names where the source had initials (e.g., E[benezer] C[lark] Brambley).

³ The family has a Knights of the Maccabees ceremonial sword and kepi, but the original ownership is unclear. We have a receipt for Knights of the Maccabees membership dues sent to Samuel Brambley in 1912, but that does not necessarily mean Samuel was the original owner of the sword or kepi.

Chapter 1

Before Emigration from England (1814–1861)

Introduction

This is the story of real people—my England-born grandfather’s family. The tale is principally told with old letters, news clippings, Bible records, documents, and other mementos. They tell the story of successes, troubles, and strong family ties, spanning more than a century. Unless noted, my son Kenneth or I have the originals. I have tried to keep the original spelling and grammar.

Ebenezer, son of John and Mary [Shellard] Brambley, and his wife, Phebe, daughter of John and Frances [Green] Kilsby, with their nine children, sailed in March 1861 from Liverpool bound for New York aboard the Mail Packet Dreadnought. They left their English homeland for a new life in America, a country on the brink of a civil war. They arrived twenty-six days later, the second of April, at the port of New York, ten days before the firing on Ft. Sumter. Their granddaughter, Hattie Pearl [Brambley] Dungan said the family did not leave England until after A. Lincoln was elected president of the U.S. [They] waited purposely to see if he were elected as their son John said they would not have come if he (L) were not elected.

They settled in Brighton, Monroe County, New York, not far from Phebe’s sister and brother-in-law, Sarah and Edward Williams. In the spring of 1864 they moved to Adams Basin, then to North Chili where Ebenezer set up a brickyard and made the bricks for the Chili Seminary.

Grace Alice [Brambley] Jackson

Baptism from the records of Weedon Beck Church:

BAPTISMS solemnized in the Parish of Weedon Beck in the County of Northampton in the Year 1814. Oct 9th, Pheby D (daughter) of John (and) Frances Kilsby, (abode) Lower Weedon Beck, (trade) Mason, (by) Wm. Fallowfield.

[In England the name given this baby was most often spelled Phoebe. Whoever entered in the record above appears to have spelled it phonetically or simply misspelled it. In America it was most often spelled Phebe. We will use whatever form is found in the original documents. Editor.]

[In the genealogy chart excerpts, the earliest generation in the excerpt is at the top left. sp is short for spouse. Each subsequent generation is indented to the right from the previous one. Maiden names are in square brackets. In general, only names of individuals introduced in the previous document or letter are shown in the chart excerpts. Editor.]

John Kilsby

sp: Frances [Green] Kilsby

Phebe Kilsby

Baptism record of Phebe Kilsby

Parchment Baptism Certificate:

Ebenezer, the son of John Bramley of Little Brington in the Parish of Great Brington in the County of Northampton, labourer, and of Mary his wife, who was the daughter of Stafford and Alice Shellard was born at Little Brington on the twenty ninth day of April in the year of our Lord One Thousand Eight Hundred and fifteen at whose birth we were present, Caroline Lasher, Brington, Mary Battison, Brington.

The first above mentioned Ebenezer Bramley was solemnly baptized with water, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, on the twenty fourth day of January in the year of our Lord One Thousand Eight Hundred and Sixteen at the Methodist Chapel, Little Brington by W. Pearson.

We, the Parents of the above named Ebenezer do hereby attest the truth of the above Record of the Birth and Baptism of our said son, John Bramley Father, Mary Bramley Mother.

Registered at the Methodist Register Office, No. 66, Paternoster Row, near St. Paul’s Church, London, this twenty seventh day of May in the year of our Lord One Thousand Eight Hundred and twenty by me, Thomas Blanchard, Registrar. Folio A76 No. 606

[As with the differing spellings of Phoebe/Phebe above, Bramley is the common spelling of the surname in England while it’s commonly spelled Brambley in America. Editor.]

[If, as below, two columns of names are in a genealogy chart excerpt, there is usually one name that crosses over into the other column by marriage, as with Mary Shellard below. Editor.]

John Brambley

sp: Eve [Jackson] Brambley

Thomas (1) Brambley⁴

Ann Brambley

Thomas (2) Brambley Stafford Shellard

Mary Brambley sp: Alice Shellard

John Brambley Mary Shellard

sp: Mary [Shellard] Brambley

John Brambley

James Brambley

Ebenezer Brambley

Mary {Alice} Brambley

Elizabeth Brambley

Thomas Brambley

Samuel Brambley

Baptism record of Ebenezer Brambley

Marriage record from the records of Delapre Abbey, Northampton:

In the Consistory Court of Peterborough. On the 21st Day of April One Thousand Eight Hundred and Forty one Appeared personally Ebenezer Brambley of the Parish of Brington in the County of Northampton, Brickmaker and made Oath that he is a Bachelor of the Age of twenty one Years, and upwards and prayed a License for the Solemnization of Matrimony, in the Parish Church of Weedon in the County of Northampton, and Diocese of Peterborough, between him and Phebe Kilsby of the Parish of Weedon aforesaid, spinster of the Age of twenty one Years and upwards. And the said Ebenezer Brambley further made Oath that he believeth that there is no Impediment of Kindred or Alliance, or of any other lawful Cause, nor any Suit commenced in any Ecclesiastical Court, to bar or hinder the Proceeding of the said Matrimony, according to the Tenor of such License. And he also made oath, that she the said Phebe Kilsby hath had her usual place of Abode within the Parish of Weedon aforesaid, for the space of fifteen days immediately preceding the granting of the License now prayed for. (signed) Ebenezer Brambley Sworn before me, George Baker, DD. Chan (unreadable).

Ebenezer Brambley Phebe Kilsby

sp: Phebe [Kilsby] Brambley

1841 census of Little Brington, Northamptonshire (transcribed from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS) microfilm of census. Ages were given in five-year increments. Editor.):

Brambley, John aged 60, agricultural labourer. (This is the John Bramley in the second-generation column of the genealogical chart excerpt between Ebenezer’s baptism certificate and the marriage record of Ebenezer Brambley and Phebe Kilsby above.)

Brambley, Mary aged 60 (Mary [Shellard] Brambley).

Brambley, Samuel aged 15, agricultural labourer. (Samuel is in the third-generation column of the genealogical chart excerpt above.)

Local preacher’s certificate:

WESLEYAN METHODIST LOCAL PREACHER’S MUTUAL AID ASSOCIATION (Established Oct’r. 1849) This is to certify that Ebenezer Brambley became a member of the Wellingborough Branch on the Day of November 1850. (signed) Isaac English, President; William Harris, Hon. Sec.; Branch Sec. William Beech Strong. No. 1342

Marriage certificate of Ebenezer Brambley and Phebe Kilsby

Ebenezer Brambley’s Wesleyan Methodist local preacher certificate

1851 census of Wollaston, Northamptonshire, page 37, #37 Turnpike Street (copied from LDS microfilm of census. Editor.):

Brambley, Ebenezer, 34, brickmaker, born Little Brington, employing 5 men

Brambley, Phebe, 34, born Weedon

Brambley, Phebe, 8, born Castle Thorpe

Brambley, John Rechab, 6, born Bradwell

Brambley, Samuel, 5, born Turvey, Bedford

Brambley, Sarah Ann, 3, born Yardley Hastings

Brambley, Thomas, 3, born Yardley Hastings

Brambley, Rebecca Temperance, 1, born Yardley Hastings

Will of John Brambley (excerpt of abstract from photocopy, in my files, of original on LDS microfilm. This John Brambley is the one in the third-generation column above. Editor.):

Will of John Brambley late of Daventry, Shoemaker deceased. Proved the 12th day of September 1856.… I give and bequeath all my Household Goods and Furniture, Plate, Linen, China, Books, Pictures, Wearing Apparel, Stock in Trade, money and securities for money debts, books of account and all other my Personal Estate … equally between my dear Wife Sarah Brambley and my dear Daughter Mary Brambley.… All that my Freehold Estate consisting of a Brick Yard and several Cottages thereon situated at Wollaston in the said County of Northampton now in the occupation of my Brother Ebenezer Brambley.… All that my Freehold Estate consisting of a Messuage and premises situate in the Sheaf Street in Daventry … also all that my Messuage or Tenement and premises situate at Flecknoe in the Parish of Wolfhampcote in the County of Warwick.… Incase my said Daughter Mary Brambley shall depart this life without leaving lawful issue … then I give and devise all my said Real Estates.… Unto and To the Use of all and every my Brothers and Sisters who shall then be living and the issue of such of them as shall be then dead and to their heirs and assigns forever as Tenants in Common and not as Joint Tenants.… I nominate and appoint my said Wife Sarah Brambley Executrix … set my hand this twentieth day of February One thousand eight hundred and fifty six.

John Brambley

sp: Mary [Shellard] Brambley

John Brambley

sp: Sarah [Fennell] Brambley

Mary Brambley

Ebenezer Brambley

[In April 1860, a pamphlet written by William H. Pullen entitled The Blast of a Trumpet in Zion, calling every son and daughter of WESLEY, in Great Britain and Ireland, to aid their brethren in America in purifying their American Zion from Slavery, published by Webb, Millington & Co., 6 Wine-Office Court, London, for a multitude of antislavery societies in England, was sent to every Wesleyan minister in Great Britain and Ireland. Letter to the editor of the London Star from Edward Matthews, published 13 April 1860. Editor.]

Newspaper report of the Brambleys preparing to leave England from the Wellingborough Telegraph and Commercial Gazette.

Saturday, 23 March 1861:

On Monday last, a number of friends of the Wellingborough Reform Wesleyan circuit sat down to a public tea in the Town-hall, given on the occasion of Mr. Brambley’s a well known local preacher, leaving for America. In the evening at 6 o’clock the hall was quite filled by the members of the above church and other friends. The Rev. J. Roberts, superintendent of the circuit opened the meeting by singing part of a hymn, which was joined in by the assembly, after the rev. gentleman engaged in a brief and appropriate prayer. On the motion of Mr. Parker, of Finedon, seconded by Mr. Wright, Mr. Blott was unanimously elected chairman. On taking the chair he requested all the local preachers to occupy the platform, and then in a suitable address introduced the evening’s proceedings, by calling on Mr. Wright, Finedon, to present the following testimonials. viz. a large family bible, a hymn book, and a purse of gold to Mr. Brambley, and a very elegant silver teapot and coffee pot to Mrs. B. as tokens shewing appreciation of past services as well as sympathy on the present occasion. Mr. Wright gave a humourous and animated speech in which he dilated on Mr. B’s. character, as a man, a christian, and as a preacher, feelingly presented the testimonials. Mr. B. with deep emotion thanked his friends for the kindness shown, and the sympathy manifested, hoping still to have an interest in their prayers. The other speakers were Messrs. Lack, Parker, Wallis, Reves, and Hilton, all local preachers. Mr. Dearn, being repeatedly called on, at last walked up to the platform amidst great applause, and in an eloquent address captivated the audience for some time. The chairman then briefly addressed the meeting on the present state of America.⁵ The proceedings were terminated by singing a hymn, and by the chairman pronouncing the benediction.

Newspaper report of the Brambleys preparing to leave England

[The newspaper, the Bible mentioned above, a copper luster creamer, and Phebe’s wedding ring are the only items known to have come with the Brambleys from England and still in the family’s possession. Editor.]

[Note that while Ebenezer Brambley was licensed by the Wellingborough Wesleyan Methodists in November 1850, his family’s departure tea was given by friends of the Wellingborough Reform Wesleyan circuit. Therefore, it cannot be definitively concluded that Ebenezer received the pamphlet mentioned in the previous editor’s note, but it seems likely he would have learned of it in the ten months or so between the publication of the pamphlet and the Brambleys’ departure for America. Editor.]

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⁴ Thomas (1) died at less than 2 years of age. As was tradition then, after a child died the next child born of the same gender was given the name of the child who died.

⁵ The election of Abraham Lincoln was certainly known in England by then, and the secession of the first seven states. The Republican party platform, which included anti-slavery planks, may well have been known by those in the United Kingdom with anti-slavery interests.

Chapter 2

From Arrival in America to the Deaths of the Parents (1861–1889)

Dreadnaught Manifest:

District of New York, Port of New York. I, Samuel Samuels Master of the Ship Dreadnaught … list of passengers taken on board … at Liverpool from which port Dreadnaught has now arrived.… Sworn to this 2 April 1861.

Passengers No. 208 through 218:

Ebenezer Bramley 45, male, Merch (Merchant), England, U. States, Upper Berth Deck Steerage

Phebe (ditto) 46, female, wife

Phebe (ditto), 18, female, daughter

John (ditto), 16, male, son

Sam’l (ditto), 15, male, son

Thomas (ditto), 13, male, son

Sarah (ditto), 13, female, daughter

Mary (ditto), 7, female, daughter

Charlotte (ditto), 6, female, daughter

Alice (ditto), 3, female, daughter

Temperance, 9 (months), female, daughter

Arrival of ship Dreadnaught in New York, New York

Roster of Dreadnaught’s passengers showing members of Brambley family

[The reason Rebekah Temperance was in the 1851 census but not in the Dreadnaught manifest is found in the Brambley family Bible: Rebekah Temperance died 10 May 1858, aged eight years, buried in Wollaston Churchyard, Northamptonshire, England. Funeral sermon by Rev. W. Boyden. Editor.]

John Rechab Brambley’s Union Cavalry Record

Family oral history says John ran away from home and enlisted in the Union Army and that his father, Ebenezer, went after him and brought him back only to have him run away again.

Records obtained from the General Services Administration show he enrolled on 2 December 1863 in Company A of the 22nd Regiment of New York Cavalry Volunteers. John was discharged 1 August 1865 as a corporal. On 24 June 1864, he received a severe injury to his head and back by being thrown over the head of his horse, which was wounded. His injuries included loss of memory, a rupture on his left side, and damage to his kidneys, stomach, and nervous system.

Ferrotype (also known as tintype) photograph of John Rechab Brambley, circa 1864.

John Rechab Brambley in Union Army uniform

[As with the letters and documents, photographs are inserted in chronologic order based on either the best information available or on the best guess of the editors. Editor.]

Local Preachers License:

This certifies that the license of Ebenezer Brambley, as a local preacher in the Free Methodist Church, was this day renewed by vote of the quarterly Conference of the Genesee District, at our house of worship at North Parma. Good for one year. Sept. 21st 1867. (Signed) A. Abell, Chairman

Ebenezer Brambley’s Free Methodist local preacher’s license

Ebenezer Brambley to the Trustees, Free Methodist Seminary, Chili, New York (undated).

Dear Brother:

Having sustained a serious loss in making bricks for the Chili Seminary, the crushing weight of which I feel to be more than I know how to bear, and I believe much more than the Lord wants me to try to, Bro. Roberts advises me to bring the matter before the Trustees, and as I can not incur the expense of seeing you all, I write to ask your candid attention to this statement of the case.

After looking for and finding clay, on the 27th of April 1868 I agreed with Bros. Roberts, Brainard, Hart, Smith, and Walstead, to make 200,000 bricks at 8 dollars per thousand. I, making new yard and finding all. The Rochester Market price being then 9.00. They were to be taken and paid for as soon as I could get them ready, and money advanced before if I needed it. Soon after I got started damageing reports were circulated, that there was no Charter Confidence. Summer gone and I learned from Bro. Roberts and the Brethern above named, that they, excepting Bro. Roberts, declined all responsibility in the matter. I talked with Bro. Roberts, and being satisfied he had done all he could in the matter, and that all would be right I pressed on the best I could, both in the brick yard, and at the building. When no one else took hold, Bro. Roberts being away, under these circumstances scarcly any money came in. Some of my hands left, not getting paid, and I stopped making several weeks, and when a kiln was ready it was several weeks before any of them were used, and getting so little money, I could not make tiles, as I intended, only making about 230,000 bricks for which I had to make new yard, brick a well, buy team, machinerary, lumber and which I had to sell at a great loss.

The building only took 160,000 leaving 40,000 of the 200,000 and 30,000 I made to order but was prevented selling by the delay, the Bretheren thought they were under no obligation to take the 40,000 as I had no written agreement, although two of them remembered that 200,000 was the number agreed for, hoping as I did that it would be as Bro. Roberts designated it, a Salvation School, I had such confidence in the Bretheren, and that it was of the Lord, that we omited a written agreement which no one would have objected to then, the refusal to take the bricks agreed for much confused and deeply grieved and pained me, and the efect on my family I deeply deplore, the Bretheren proposed to give one hundered dollars and I keep the 40,000 brick or they take them at 6.50 instead of 8.00.

Believing this to be so utterly at nuance with the Golden Rule and knowing that I was not able to bear such an additional loss I refused the offer, I then presented my bill for the 200,000 to Bro. Roberts. Showing number used, cash received, ballance to which he accepted, advising me to dispose of what I could as best I could. The next Spring 10,000 more were used making about 170,000. The others I have disposed of as best I could. I agreed to make the bricks as low as I could and live, which I could have done by Gods help had the contract been fulfiled, I expected my daughters to attend the school, instead of which, they had to do farm work and to repent being troubled for payments and by Free Methodist, I had to give a 2nd mortage on my place.

After employing an average of 5 or 6 men for upward of 15 years, had to hire out by the month, in the midst of all the Lord had been very good, blessing us with health so that by industry economy and self-denial, we have kept a home. I am glad & rejoice to see so good and substantial a building completed & occupied & that it realy is a Salvation School which I humbly pray it may continue to be; where many will be Baptized with the Holy Ghost and Fire; and go forth to Bles the Church and world, an order to which I belive. It is very important that all conected with it act according to the Golden Rule, and as I do not believe its the will of God, or the Free Methodist people if they knew it, that a burden so light for the whole, should crush one of the least.

I thus present the case to you as advised by Bro. Roberts, hoping you will let me know your mind on the subject, as I want to, and feel I must, have the matter settled. My loss is about one thousand dollars.

Praying God will give us all the direction we need, I am your afflicted Bro. in Christ Jesus.

(signed) Ebenezer Brambley

[The references to April 1868 in paragraph 2 and the next spring in paragraph 4 suggest this was written in the summer of 1869. The letter is signed E. Brambley, so this may be a duplicate of the original, kept for his own records, vice a draft of a letter. Editor.]

⁶John Rechab Brambley, Union Springs, Cayuga County, New York, to his brother Samuel Brambley (undated, but from the circumstances, it was likely written about October 1869. Editor.).

Dear Brother:

I received your letter one day last week and was very glad to hear from you but I was sorry to hear that you was sick. We are all well and enjoying ourselves as well as any poor folks can. We have managed to get enough to eat so far but I must say I am suffering for something to wear. I have not got a decent coat to wear to work in, not under or over coat and in 10 days I shall have a store bill to pay some $20 and I guess I can scare up $10 to meet it if I have good luck. Sam if you can press a pretty good over or under coat send her along by express, Merchants Union. Any thing else in the clothing line would be very acceptable at the present time.

Now for the particulars. I went to work over there in the spring, at Canoga and burnt 3 kilns, just got my head above water and then the snot of young Fulton said he thought he could burn himself and he wanted me to work for less wages. He was only willing to pay me 2 dollars per day so I thought I would work for that while I might be looking for another place. The young son of a bitch burnt the first kiln, not a hard tile in her, so he set fire to her again without empting her and he melted her down, arches and all. I could not find any place yet for any better wages but the man that ran that yard across the lake where we went when you was here offered me the same as I was getting but did not stand in need of any man. He wanted me to run the yard for him next summer. He would like me to work for him so as I could get used to his way of making tile. I went to work for him and are working still for 2 dollars per day but he has hired me for 12 shilling per day all winter.

Sam, you must not get out of patience with me. I will pay you the $5.00 next summer if I am spared. Father has been to see me since I worked here but not since I moved here. He thinks that Mr. Wood is as sound a man that he ever met in this county. Lots of money. I never seen any one to commence with him in tile making and Father says the same. Now Sam, my position or rather my prospects look direty dull. Little Jennie has not got clothes warm enough for her and God only knows where they are coming from. Try and get Tom to send me $5.00. I lent him my last dollar when he sent for some money and now I have sent several times for him to help me but he refuses. I would not ask if there was no one else suffering but myself. If he or you have some old wollen shirts that are wore out Mate says she can cut some skirts out for little Jennie. Send all in a bundle.

Sam, my head has been kept under so long that I scarcly see any hopes to ever raise again but I hope next summer will make all straight.