GenealogyStuff.com Blog

Most mornings while drinking coffee, I surf the Internet. I usually start with the Weather Channel Web site to check the day’s forecast, and then I move on to CNN for national headlines. After that, it depends. Some mornings I’m focused on genealogy, some mornings on something else.

This morning I ran a search on Google for “Unity BOOMER.”

Unity was the daughter of Eliza and James FORTON and the sister of Esther FORTON. Esther married H.E. (Harlon) WINCHESTER, father of Birdie WINCHESTER. I guess that makes Unity a step-aunt to Birdie.

In any event, I ran the search to see if my post from yesterday had been indexed by Google. Unity was mentioned in yesterday’s post because she had been listed in Eliza FORTON’s will, and sure enough, my post was the first return for that search this morning.

The third of three returns was a link to information about a tombstone for Unity BOOMER, wife of Benjamin BOOMER Jr. The tombstone is located in Bristol Cemetery in Genesee County, Michigan, so the location was right for it to be the same Unity BOOMER.

After doing some additional searches and checking my records, it appears the link I found this morning is indeed for the tombstone of Unity FORTON BOOMER. I said “appears to be” because the information about the tombstone lists her death date as 20 July 1916, and I have an obituary for Unity FORTON BOOMER that was published in April 1916.

Unity BOOMER’s obituary, published in the 20 April 1916 issue of the Flint Daily Journal:

“Mrs. Unity Boomer of Flint Twp. Dead

“Mrs. Unity FORTON BOOMER died this morning at 7:30 o’clock at her home in Flint township of the infirmities of age. She was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James FORTON of London, England, and was born in London in 1835, coming to America when a child. Her parents made their home in Detroit and after residing there for three years they came to Genesee county and made their home in Burton township. She was married to Benjamin BOOMER on November 16, 1854. She was a member of the Bristol M.E. church and was very active in church affairs.

“Mrs. BOOMER leaves two sons, Clarence and Clement of Flint township, one daughter, Mrs. Florence GOTSHALL of Mundy township, three sisters, Martha YOUNG and Victoria SHATTUCK of Corunna and Esther WINCHESTER of Detroit, and four grandchildren.

“The funeral will be held on Easter Sunday. Fifteen years ago on Easter Sunday a daughter of Mrs. Boomer was buried.”

One of the most surprising items among the papers that may have belonged to Birdie WINCHESTER was a will written by Eliza FORTON of Genesee County, Michigan.

The will, dated 12 Jan. 1876, was written when Eliza was 70 years old. It lists Eliza’s son Ebenezer; daughters Eliza, Esther, Martha, Mercy, Unity, and Victoria; and a grandson, Frederick L. ARNOLD. All of the daughters, except Esther, appeared to be married; they were listed as Eliza JACKSON, Mercy ARNOLD, Unity BOOMER, Martha YOUNG, and Victoria YOUNG POWERS.

I didn’t recognize any of the names, and I wasn’t aware that any of my ancestors had lived in Genesee County. Yet my dad had found the will, along with a package of letters and other information, in his home after my mom’s death.

I zeroed in on the will, thinking it would have some important clues for my family history.

This is what I have discovered so far about Eliza FORTON and her family:

1. Eliza’s husband, James, died on 8 Oct. 1873, about three years before Eliza wrote her will.

2. Eliz died on 28 April 1881.

3. Eliza and James FORTON were both from England.

4. The family first appears in the Genesee County, Michigan, census in 1850.

5. A James FORTON, possibly the same one who ended up in Genesee County, appears on the 1840 Michigan census for Wayne County.

6. According to the 1850 census, Unity was born about 1836 in England. All of the older children – James Jr., Mercy, and Ebenezer – were also born in England.

7. Daughters Martha, Esther, and Victoria were all born in Michigan; Martha, the oldest, was born about 1838.

8. The above birth places and dates narrow the date of this family’s arrival in Michigan to about 1837.

9. Son James Jr. wasn’t listed in the will because he died on 7 Nov. 1875 in Saginaw County. That was about two months before Eliza penned her will. According to his death record, he was born 2 April 1834 in London, England.

10. Daughter Esther, who was not married at the time the will was written, later married H.E. (Harlon) WINCHESTER, Birdie WINCHESTER’s father. This means, of course, that Esther FORTON was Birdie’s step-mother, and Eliza FORTON was Birdie’s step-grandmother.

The bottom line in all this is if my family is somehow related to the WINCHESTERs, I am not related to the FORTONs – and vice versa.

None of these clues have helped me figure out why my mom had this information in the first place, but I’m enjoying the mystery nevertheless.