Emily Michaels: Daughter of the Commonwealth

Do you ever fall so far behind on so many projects that you become crippled with indecision about where to begin and how to catch up? And the inability to make a decision means you willingly chase down every distraction you can find?

That's where I've been for several months on sharing one of my newest and greatest discoveries... because it's not quite finished yet. And maybe never will be.

As I've mentioned previously, neither one of my grandmothers knew their biological fathers. I've just talked about my maternal grandmother and her Italian roots. Finding that family and getting to know their story has been in the works for fifteen years, and has been one of the greatest joys of my life. I was walking on air for weeks afterwards, burying myself as deep into Italian research as I possibly could until I couldn't do anything else.

I was so hyped up on that discovery, I couldn't be stopped. I decided that once and for all, I was going to solve the mystery of my paternal grandmother too. And having ruled out the cousin matches from a major section of my tree, I felt confident that there was no reason I couldn't succeed. I didn't care how many nights of sleep I lost. I would do it because fifteen years is long enough to stare at a gaping hole in your family tree. I wanted that part of my identity to be filled in, and I was tired of waiting.

 So I spent hundreds of dollars on additional testing. I worked the DNA Day sales to death. I won't tell you how many kits I purchased. But I'd learned from researching my Italian family that the drop-off rate for cousin matches over even a single generation was much more than I imagined. It was likely my sample just wasn't pulling in the cousin matches I needed to solve the problem. I needed to fish in someone else's pond who had DNA I just didn't inherit.

My sister was among the people I tested. And sure enough, she had the matches I was missing. None of what I'm about to share would have come together without her. And true to the same pattern I followed with my mother's family, I found the ancestors I had in common with my cousin matches, then worked forward through their descendants until I arrived at the correct family who is related to me.

The unique thing about this case is that, in the process of doing that, I was actually able to document various older branches of this tree long before I narrowed Emily's connection to any specific list of men. And in many ways, I'm much more sure of my great grandfather's ancestors than I am of his identity at the moment, having documented his lineage across the Commonwealth.

Emily Michaels: She's British!

Let's pick up in 1939 in Ontario, Canada. That's where my grandmother Emily Michaels was born. She was born to Muriel Ince Michaels, who was abandoned by her husband several years previously, which I've talked about before. And unlike the rest of her Caribbean family, Muriel was the only person living in Ontario province. Everyone else was in Montreal, having moved there together from Halifax, Nova Scotia during World War II. Living apart from the entire extended family was not typical for them. How she came to be in the area surrounding Toronto and why is a mystery I've not yet solved. But I do know she gave birth there.

I may not know who her birth father is yet, but I do know who his parents are--and by extension, much of his heritage. To get to this point, I had to find the relationship between several different cousin matches I knew had to be related to Emily because they weren't related to anyone else. And for a long time I couldn't find any relationship between those matches, even though they were all supposed to be related. Then I got a much closer cousin match who tied them all together, and started working from her tree. If I could find the relationship between her and all our shared matches, I could narrow down who in her tree had to be Emily's birth father.

So that's what I did. I made a copy of her tree and went to work. The closer I looked at her tree and our shared matches, the more certain I was that I was on the right track. Based on the amount of DNA we shared and our relationship estimate, I was pretty sure I'd found our common ancestors. The only way for us to share the cousin matches we had, spread across England and Canada, was if she and I shared Charles Newman-Jones and Ada Cheffins in our trees.

Charles Richard Newman-Jones was born in Kent, England, which he left as a young man to start a new life in Canada. He met and married Ada Maud Cheffins, who descends from an English father and a mother whose stock goes back to early settlers in Canada. Charles and Ada were married in Regina, Saskatchewan, where they had their children and spent their lives together. They moved to the Northumberland region of Ontario some time between 1921 and 1924. Charles died and was buried in St. John's Anglican Church Cemetery in Port Hope, Ontario, Canada.

Put a pin in that last piece of information. We're going to come back to it.

They had four sons: Eric, Lewis, Charles, and Elton. I'm still working out which one of them is Emily's father and how he would have come to know Muriel. My theories up until now have all centered around brief encounters and accidental conception, with no further contact and a birth father who had no idea my grandmother existed.

The one thing that makes me question that now is a single record I never saw until after my grandmother passed away.

The Cradle Roll certificate for Emily Michaels
From Saint John's Anglican Church in Port Hope, Ontario, Canada

It took me a long time to figure out what this certificate was because I'd never heard of a Cradle Roll before. An archivist explained to me that it was a children's auxiliary in the Anglican church, and this certificate would have been issued after she was baptized. And you'll notice the church it was issued from is...

(Wait for it)

...Saint John's Anglican Church in Port Hope, Ontario, Canada.

Charles Newman-Jones was buried at the same church where my grandmother was baptized. Whatever the full story is, it's not as simple as a connection between two people who never saw each other again.

Getting Closer

The only way to narrow down the situation from here is to analyze DNA from descendants of each Charles and Ada's children. And to date, we've been able to document DNA from two of them. It may not be possible to obtain a sample from the youngest because he has no known biological descendants, having lived as an openly gay man. That is not to say he has no descendants. It would be inappropriate to exclude him from consideration based on his sexuality alone. Gay men throughout history have been involved with women and conceived children. But based on the conversations I've had with members of his extended family, they know of no children he may have had. And for all we know right now, my grandmother could be his only descendant.

It's strange to think that it's possible to fill in our family tree with perfect certainty around and beyond this one person because of DNA. Everything I've learned from traditional research is screaming at me that it shouldn't be possible to just skip a generation like this. But I've said it before and I'll say it again: DNA doesn't care about your feelings and hang-ups. All it can do is tell the truth.

And the truth is, the story that's emerging is stranger than fiction. And I can only hope that more answers are out there, just waiting to be uncovered.

The Disappearance of Alfred Michaels

Finding Alfred Michaels has been for me an exercise in chasing shadows. Every time I think I've got what I need to figure out how he disappeared, he disappears again.

I recently discovered Alfred on eighty U.S. passenger lists coming in and out of Boston from 1933-1937. And needless to say, they've painted a more complete picture of his life.

Postcard from the RMS Lady Somers, Canadian ocean liner

Alfred worked on the Lady Somers, a cruise ship that traveled between Canada and the Caribbean. It made frequent stops in Boston, but also included stops in Havana, Cuba; Nassau, The Bahamas, and Kingston, Jamaica. As you can imagine, making port in this many countries greatly increases the chance of finding passenger lists. Ancestry.com has the lists as they made port in Boston, and Alfred appears on lists for both the Lady Somers and the Lady Hawkins.

Alfred's career begins aboard the Lady Hawkins between 1929 and 1930, but the records pick up in January 1931, beginning with making port in Boston after setting sail from Halifax, Nova Scotia. He is listed here as a general steward, among the bottom of the cruise line hierarchy. But notice that all of the General Stewards are not listed together on this list. They are organized by what part of the ship they work in--and Alfred is a General Steward somewhere in or around the garden lounge.

"Massachusetts, Passenger and Crew Lists, 1820-1963," Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=8745 : accessed 13 November 2014), digital image, "List or Manifest of Aliens Employed on the Vessel as Members of Crew" [Vessel: Lady Hawkins, arriving at Boston, Mass. on January 22, 1931], p. 3; citing NARA T-938, roll 132

These particular rooms on the ship gave Alfred access to the passengers--a responsibility which was only given to those who were well-trained in terms of social etiquette, grooming, and personal refinement. While the stark social separation between blacks and whites would have been felt in these positions, we can also determine that Alfred was not a typical manual laborer. He likely had some education, and previous experience which would have gotten him the job. He also would have been reasonably well-trusted in terms of access to the guests.

The story continues in much the same way throughout 1931 until Alfred begins to change positions in that section of the ship. His first change happens when he becomes a smoke room steward in May, then a lounge steward in August, and eventually as the garden lounge steward in September. The higher up on the passenger list you were, the closer you were to the captain. The separation was not only one of distance on the ship, but of pay and skin color. The social order of the 1930's becomes tangible through this crew list, and we see that Alfred was concerned about getting ahead.

Imagine a roll call in which a man with a ledger passes systematically through the ship. That's the way this list is organized. We see check marks next to the names as the roll was taken. Also notice that the garden lounge room and the library are next to each other. This becomes relevant as Alfred continues moving his way up the passenger list.

Alfred remains a garden room steward for a year, between December 1931 and December 1932. We can also question whether it was a position of authority, whether the general stewards answered to him through a chain of command. If so, this was one of the few positions of its kind available to him because of his race.

"Massachusetts, Passenger and Crew Lists, 1820-1963," Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=8745 : accessed 13 November 2014), digital image, "List or Manifest of Aliens Employed on the Vessel as Members of Crew" [Vessel: Lady Hawkins, arriving at Boston, Mass. on September 3, 1931], p. 3; citing NARA T-938, roll 140.

The library steward position is one he would have had easy access to observe, if not receive some mentoring from the library steward on the Lady Hawkins. For the duration of the time that Alfred was the garden lounge steward on Lady Hawkins, William Dixon was the library steward. They would have seen a lot of each other throughout this time, and might have been friends. William Dixon was between 5 and 8 years older than Alfred, and had been on the ship between 3 and years. While William Dixon's entries vary widely, it's clear that he had been around longer than Alfred. Assuming he didn't want to take his friend's job, the only way for him to continue his upward momentum was to seek work elsewhere.

In December 1932, Alfred changes ships. Whether this was through reassignment or a voluntary change, we can't say based on these records. But once Alfred begins his service on the Lady Somers, he is working as a library steward.

On these lists from 2-3 January 1935, when some new details emerge. Alfred has also dropped 20 pounds, and now has a tattoo on his left forearm. There's no more mention of the mole on his forehead that was his only defining feature on the lists from the Lady Hawkins. And life, as they say, appears to be smooth sailing from here on out. He makes no more changes in position for the duration of his time aboard the Lady Somers. Whether he could not advance or simply didn't want to, the records don't give any hints as to the reason.

"Massachusetts, Passenger and Crew Lists, 1820-1963," Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=8745 : accessed 13 November 2014), digital image, "List or Manifest of Aliens Employed on the Vessel as Members of Crew" [Vessel: Lady Somers, arriving at Boston, Mass. on January 3, 1935], p. 3; citing NARA T-938, roll 180.

In 1935, Alfred is attempting to enter Halifax, Nova Scotia. He petitioned for entrance into Canada on the grounds of meeting his fiancee, Muriel Ince. The record is dated 31 January 1935, so by that time we can see that they've met and become engaged. But how long they've known each other or how they would have met is still a mystery. We also see that he has been denied entrance, for reasons that the records do not make apparent. They've provided codes that correspond to reasons, but I've yet to find a resource that will explain them.

"Border Crossings: From U.S. to Canada, 1908-1935," Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=1344 : accessed 13 November 2014), digital image, "Canadian Immigration Service, Report of Admissions and Rejections at the Port of Halifax, N.S., for the Month ending January 31, 1935" , p. 12; citing Library and Archives Canada RG 76-C, roll T-15390.

Here is an interesting story as we read between the lines. Recall the record of his marriage to Muriel Ince. They were married on 1 February 1936, a year and a day after he was not permitted to see her.

Nova Scotia Historical Vital Statistics, digital images, Nova Scotia Archvies, (https://www.novascotiagenealogy.com/ItemView.aspx?ImageFile=80-43&Event=marriage&ID=223308 : 13 November 2014), Entry for marriage of Alfred Michaels and Muriel Ince, citing Halifax County, Nova Scotia, "Registration Year 1936, Book 80," p. 43.

I have a passenger list that states Alfred was aboard the Lady Somers in Boston on 30 January 1936--just two days before he was married in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Muriel must have been a nervous wreck wondering when he'd show up. And we see that a major aspect of their relationship would be his repeated and prolonged absence because of being aboard the ship.

The last record I have of Alfred aboard the Lady Somers is from 11 December 1937. It's also the last record I have of him alive. Beyond this point he disappears, and I've never had any clue as to where he went. But if you look closely at this list, you can see there's a scribbled word next to his name.

"Massachusetts, Passenger and Crew Lists, 1820-1963," Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=8745 : accessed 13 November 2014), digital image, "List or Manifest of Aliens Employed on the Vessel as Members of Crew" [Vessel: Lady Somers, arriving at Boston, Mass. on December 11, 1937], p. 3; citing NARA T-938, roll 219.

Deserted.

Vincent Lambert has the same word and some additional details next to his name. I didn't know what to make of this. His notes almost seemed like legal notes in relation to some sort of case. I don't know why I thought that, or where I got the idea to explore the other images Ancestry.com had in this collection. But I decided to scroll through the other images to see if they didn't say something else about Alfred's desertion.

Maybe it was divine providence, because I finally got an answer:

"Massachusetts, Passenger and Crew Lists, 1820-1963," Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=8745 : accessed 13 November 2014), digital image, "Letter from Patterson, Wylde & Co. Attn: Mr. Ambrose," [dated December 15, 1937], p. 177; citing NARA T-938, roll 219. [Unindexed, Image 249 in Ancestry.com viewer]

Alfred Michaels was reported of participating in a robbery. And here's where we need some legal help. In our current English vernacular, theft is theft. We treat robbery and burglary as synonyms for theft. But the actual legal definition of robbery (as provided by Dictionary.com) is, "the felonious taking of the property of another from his or her person or in his or her immediate presence, against his or her will, by violence or intimidation."

These records do not reveal if Alfred is guilty. Perhaps exploring Vincent Lambert's final outcome would reveal more details of the incident. But it certainly explains why Alfred doesn't show up in any aspect of his family's life on paper beyond that point.

But the question of where Alfred went beyond this day in Boston becomes very interesting. Did he return to Jamaica to his family? Did he flee from Boston and remain in the US? Did he return to Halifax to be with his wife? Each possibility carries with it certain risks of discovery.

Sometimes being a genealogist requires us to think like a fugitive-weighing pros and cons we would never imagine in any other way. In the meantime, I have to use what I know. Vincent Lambert is a perfect stranger to me, but finding out more about him may be my only chance of finding Alfred from here.

Finding Alfred Segree Michaels: "Possibly Jamaican"

My research on this family today has pretty much been like:

Which is to say, THIS HAS BEEN THE BEST GENEALOGY DAY EVER! Why? Because with the names I just found, I can now complete a 4 generation pedigree chart for the first time in my life. That's right--I've made it clear back to the end of the US records at least half a dozen times, but still didn't know all of my great grandparents... until today!

So as it turns out, my ancestors couldn't have picked a better place to meet in Canada than Nova Scotia. The Nova Scotia Vital Statistics page pretty much just changed my life.

So with Muriel's new birth and death information, I decided to start from the beginning to start looking for her family. Because she was born in Nova Scotia, I decided to see what Nova Scotia would have available. After Google searching "Nova Scotia genealogy," I ended up here. I typed in her information, and found her marriage record.

So from here, we learn that her husband's name is Alfred, not Albert. Normally I would be skeptical about just taking up this record when the first name is different. But the names are similar, her name and birth information match what I've been told, and there is a family legend about these people being Jamaican. How many other Michaels families of Jamaican/Nova Scotian descent can there be in Canada in 1936?

So, let's just ask the pink elephant question I've had for most of my life: is Alfred Segree Michaels black? The only answer I've gotten from anyone about my grandmother's origins is "possibly Jamaican." And at the heart of that secrecy, from what I can tell, has been the unspoken story of how my grandmother could be "passing" for white in plain sight.

This record doesn't provide any definitive statement in that respect. But now because of the marriage record, I have his parents' names and where to find them: Saint Mary Parish, Jamaica.

These lines are the first time my family history research has ever left the United States. I'm descended from original settlers all across the board except on this one line. How do I go about researching Jamaican ancestry?

Please. I'm a Millennial. When I don't know something, I Google it. "Jamaica genealogy" it is.

From what I've gathered, doing Jamaican genealogy gives you two basic options. You either use the resources in Jamaica (i.e. pay someone in Jamaica to research it for you) or you use FamilySearch.

To FamilySearch we go. After adding the new names into Family Tree, I looked for Alfred and found a record of his birth in Belfield, Saint Mary

He was born on 13 September 1911 in Belfield, Saint Mary's Parish, Jamaica to John Michaels and Amy Morris. Still no indication of his race. But this really should be enough information to keep searching for him in both Canada and Jamaica.

For now I have to take a break because I don't have access to Canadian records on Ancestry.com. It requires a membership I'm simply not going to pay for, because I can get access to it for free. I can either go to the Delaware Archives, who I'm sure must have it, or I can go to the Family History Center at my church in Dover. I've already seen quite a few records on the Canadian side I'm dying to explore. 

Hopefully next week I'll be able to make the trip. When I do, this story will definitely continue, and is bound to get even more interesting from here.