Lolosoli Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 Anyone else have a love of ancestry? My cousin and I began tracing our family roots about a year ago...and we love it! We are truly stumped though and I'd love the opinion of others that have experience or have some sort of possible answer/opinion!! :) Here is the exact wording and punctuation: "John and his wife Elizabeth Lowry established their homestead for his family and other Ball relatives: Francis Ball, and his wife Grace Flook and 3 sons, from 1839-1848, when they relocated to Harwich Township, Kent County; and his brother William's son Thomas, until John's death in 1877." So, are they all brothers? Is William only the brother of Francis or the only brother of John? We have had different researchers give different opinions. Are we missing something? Any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlett Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 Anyone else have a love of ancestry? My cousin and I began tracing our family roots about a year ago...and we love it! We are truly stumped though and I'd love the opinion of others that have experience or have some sort of possible answer/opinion!! :) Here is the exact wording and punctuation: "John and his wife Elizabeth Lowry established their homestead for his family and other Ball relatives: Francis Ball, and his wife Grace Flook and 3 sons, from 1839-1848, when they relocated to Harwich Township, Kent County; and his brother William's son Thomas, until John's death in 1877." So, are they all brothers? Is William only the brother of Francis or the only brother of John? We have had different researchers give different opinions. Are we missing something? Any thoughts? I read it several times.....I think William is the brother of John. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommaduck Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 William and Francis or William and John are brothers. You may need to look up more sources. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mélie Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 I read that John and William are brothers. Francis is another relative, but we don't know how he's related. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frugalmama Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 William and Francis or William and John are brothers. You may need to look up more sources. :iagree::iagree: You need another source to figure it out. I've come across that MANY times in my 15 years of doing family history :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momma2three Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 It's not clear how Francis and Grace are related to John, but I William and John are brothers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davysmom Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 Looking at the sentence structure, I would say Francis is William's brother. Don't know if that is historically correct, but the way the sentence is written leads me to think he is not John's brother. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetbasil Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 "John and his wife Elizabeth Lowry established their homestead for his family and other Ball relatives: Francis Ball, and his wife Grace Flook and 3 sons, from 1839-1848, when they relocated to Harwich Township, Kent County; and his brother William's son Thomas, until John's death in 1877." I read it this way: John Ball and his wife Elizabeth Lowry established their homestead for his family (meaning his nuclear family) and other Ball relatives: Francis Ball, and his wife Grace Flook and 3 sons, from 1839-1848, when they relocated to Harwich Township, Kent County; and John Ball's brother William's son Thomas, until John's death in 1877. So John & William are brothers. Francis is related somehow. Thomas is John's nephew. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justasque Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 I read that John and William are brothers. Francis is another relative, but we don't know how he's related. :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8circles Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 I read it this way: John Ball and his wife Elizabeth Lowry established their homestead for his family (meaning his nuclear family) and other Ball relatives: Francis Ball, and his wife Grace Flook and 3 sons, from 1839-1848, when they relocated to Harwich Township, Kent County; and John Ball's brother William's son Thomas, until John's death in 1877. So John & William are brothers. Francis is related somehow. Thomas is John's nephew. This is how I read it as well. I don't think its grammatically the only option though. You need more sources. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QueenCat Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 I read it this way: John Ball and his wife Elizabeth Lowry established their homestead for his family (meaning his nuclear family) and other Ball relatives: Francis Ball, and his wife Grace Flook and 3 sons, from 1839-1848, when they relocated to Harwich Township, Kent County; and John Ball's brother William's son Thomas, until John's death in 1877. So John & William are brothers. Francis is related somehow. Thomas is John's nephew. Same here... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jpoy85 Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 My dad did our whole family history on his side and my moms. Im related to Daniel Boone and Abraham Lincoln. My whole family came from London/Corbin, KY after they moved here from Europe (we know France but beyond there my dad lost reliable resources). My dad started on Ancestory.com, but branched from there. He would take pictures of family members at the cemetery and post it online (id have to ask where) and people would get in contact with him and then theyd connect the dots. Ive been to so many family reunions and grave yards its not funny. I am suppose to take it over when he passes away, which is fine but i hope he gets it organized before then! ***** Another note sort of related. Dh actually found his aunt via Ancestory.com because 20yrs ago she posted looking for him (his dad died when he was young and his mother denied everything about his dad and his dads death). Dh got in contact with her and we are suppose to see her next year! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillfarm Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 Definitely find another source to corroborate your suspicions. Because there's no guarantee that the person writing the sentence down had the same grasp of the English language as you do! Also, it might have been told to them 2nd hand, and the other person might have gotten the details confused. I work on my family genealogy in fits and starts. I will hit it hard for a couple of months and then let it languish for a couple of years. I have done all the "easy" stuff and now am at the point where I need to spend some significant money either traveling to look at local sources myself or hiring a trained person who can do it for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tap Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 Just to read the sentence makes me think that John and William are brothers. Looking at the punctuation, the colon makes me thing that William is one of the 'Ball relatives' and is thus the brother of Francis. More research is needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misidawnrn Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 "John and his wife Elizabeth Lowry established their homestead for his family and other Ball relatives: Francis Ball, and his wife Grace Flook and 3 sons, from 1839-1848, when they relocated to Harwich Township, Kent County; and his brother William's son Thomas, until John's death in 1877." I think John made his homestead and the Ball family are his wife's relatives. William is John's brother. JMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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