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AmericanRomanichals
I must first say a big big thank-you to Sandy Buckland as she has spent endless hours trawling the Census & American Newspaper Archives!! looking not just for her Buckland ancestors but all the related lines as well!! she has generously sent me her findings to share for all researchers, and without her input this USA site would have taken much longer to develop so SANDY your a star and a true friend, thanks for all your help!!!!
We would love to hear from our American cousins so please send in some stories or pictures as it would be great to follow the old folki and learn what they got up to across the Seas!!!! good or bad !!
Their successes and where they settled and wether the old "stories" of their homeland have survived into the present descendants !
Kushti Bokt.(Good Luck)
We would love to hear from our American cousins so please send in some stories or pictures as it would be great to follow the old folki and learn what they got up to across the Seas!!!! good or bad !!
Their successes and where they settled and wether the old "stories" of their homeland have survived into the present descendants !
Kushti Bokt.(Good Luck)
Reasons for Immigration
Gypsies have been in America from at least the mid 1600s ,1650 being the last known execution for being Gypsies was in Suffolk.
Others were transported to America. when entire families of English Gypsies Romanichals were, for the crime of being Gypsy, enslaved or "indentured for life" alongside Africans on the Virginia plantations.
German Gypsies arrived under similar duress. But Gypsies had been given additional reason to emigrate.
Since 1577 anti-Gypsy legislation had forbidden them to do business or settle.
By 1710 flogging, branding, separation from kin and exile became the standard punishment for Gypsy men and women with no criminal charges against them,the same fate was also handed out to " Beggars, Dissolute Women, Sorners, and Vagabonds in fact any one whom the Country felt was undesirable !! With the introduction of the Enclosure Acts:- (Enclosure and Open Fields)
Before enclosure, much of the arable land in the central region of England was organised into an open field system.
Enclosure was not simply the fencing of existing holdings, but led to fundamental changes in agricultural practice.
Scattered holdings of strips in the common field were consolidated to create individual farms that could be managed independently of other holdings. Prior to enclosure, rights to use the land were shared between land owners and villagers (commoners). For example, commoners would have the right (common right) to graze their livestock when crops or hay were not being grown, and on common pasture land)
This had a big impact on where the folks could pitch their camp and thus it became increasingly hard to "atch their tan"
Many fed up with constantly being "moved on" by the Police and losing many of their regular stopping places sought the freedom and wild open spaces of America with all that it promised them it must have been a real adventure setting forth in a brand new Country and also of course being seen by their Countrymen as somewhat as celebrities as they played upon the old "Gypsy Kings & Queen" from the old Country!!.
However this is just a brief background to the very early Emigrants , for me what started me looking at American Romanichals was the connections that led back to many of the well known English families:-
Ayres/Boswell/Broadway/Buckland/Cooper/Palmer/Scamp/Stanley/Smalls/Hicks/Lee/Lovall/Harrison
to name but a few! and what was more interesting was the fact that many went of their own free will in the mid 1800s, dates being 1820s and and a large group in the 1850s .
Many fed up with constantly being "moved on" by the Police and losing many of their regular stopping places sought the freedom and wild open spaces of America with all that it promised them it must have been a real adventure setting forth in a brand new Country and also of course being seen by their Countrymen as somewhat as celebrities as they played upon the old "Gypsy Kings & Queen" from the old Country!!.
However this is just a brief background to the very early Emigrants , for me what started me looking at American Romanichals was the connections that led back to many of the well known English families:-
Ayres/Boswell/Broadway/Buckland/Cooper/Palmer/Scamp/Stanley/Smalls/Hicks/Lee/Lovall/Harrison
to name but a few! and what was more interesting was the fact that many went of their own free will in the mid 1800s, dates being 1820s and and a large group in the 1850s .
Method of Immigration - Ports of entry
Prior to 1820, there were no requirements to maintain passenger lists.
Most of the sailing ships were primarily cargo ships and the passengers may be listed on the ship's cargo manifest. These lists vary broadly in the amount and type of information they contain. The lists may possibly contain information for the passenger:
Therefor the information on these pages will mainly be from 1820 onwards ,apart from some historical articles that predate these dates.
From 1892 to 1954 over 12 million immagrants passed through the portal of Ellis Island a small island in New York harbour and entered the United Sates of America.
Prior to January 1, 1820, the U.S. Federal Government did not require captains or masters of vessels to present a passenger list to U.S. officials upon arrival in America.
Therefore, for pre-1820 passenger lists, researchers must rely on surviving ship cargo manifests which have been scattered among archives, museums, and other historical agencies.
The good news is that most of these surviving passenger manifests have been published, and several indexes have been compiled to these pre-1820 published passenger lists.
Prior to 1820, there were no requirements to maintain passenger lists.
Most of the sailing ships were primarily cargo ships and the passengers may be listed on the ship's cargo manifest. These lists vary broadly in the amount and type of information they contain. The lists may possibly contain information for the passenger:
Therefor the information on these pages will mainly be from 1820 onwards ,apart from some historical articles that predate these dates.
From 1892 to 1954 over 12 million immagrants passed through the portal of Ellis Island a small island in New York harbour and entered the United Sates of America.
Prior to January 1, 1820, the U.S. Federal Government did not require captains or masters of vessels to present a passenger list to U.S. officials upon arrival in America.
Therefore, for pre-1820 passenger lists, researchers must rely on surviving ship cargo manifests which have been scattered among archives, museums, and other historical agencies.
The good news is that most of these surviving passenger manifests have been published, and several indexes have been compiled to these pre-1820 published passenger lists.
The Five Major Ports of Arrival :-
The five major U.S. arrival ports in the 19th and 20th Centuries were:
New York, Boston, Baltimore, Philadelphia and New Orleans.
New York was by far the most commonly used port, followed by the others.
You can use these links to find information about the available indexes for these ports...
New York Passenger Lists
Boston Passenger Lists
Baltimore Passenger Lists
Philadelphia Passenger Lists
New Orleans Passenger Lists
Don't Overlook The Smaller Ports Some immigrants also arrived at a number of smaller ports. You can find a list of nearly every U.S. arrival port at... US Ports of Arrival & Their Available Immigration Records 1820-1957.
It would seem by the records found ,that the Stanley & Buckland family who were related by marriage many times over were travelling back and forth from America from mid 1850s onwards, some members returned to England and remained here while their grown up children remained and married often with in their own kin, and settled and reared their family Stateside.
Between the Buckland Cooper,Wharton,Bryer,Harrison,Lee,Lovall,Broadway and Hicks families,their seems to have been many accounts written in the American papers of the English Gypsy "Kings and Queens" and by their accounts as said far better than me by Felix Cooper in an article
30/12/1888 in the The Sunday Herald:- sent in by Sandy Buckland.
New York, Boston, Baltimore, Philadelphia and New Orleans.
New York was by far the most commonly used port, followed by the others.
You can use these links to find information about the available indexes for these ports...
New York Passenger Lists
Boston Passenger Lists
Baltimore Passenger Lists
Philadelphia Passenger Lists
New Orleans Passenger Lists
Don't Overlook The Smaller Ports Some immigrants also arrived at a number of smaller ports. You can find a list of nearly every U.S. arrival port at... US Ports of Arrival & Their Available Immigration Records 1820-1957.
It would seem by the records found ,that the Stanley & Buckland family who were related by marriage many times over were travelling back and forth from America from mid 1850s onwards, some members returned to England and remained here while their grown up children remained and married often with in their own kin, and settled and reared their family Stateside.
Between the Buckland Cooper,Wharton,Bryer,Harrison,Lee,Lovall,Broadway and Hicks families,their seems to have been many accounts written in the American papers of the English Gypsy "Kings and Queens" and by their accounts as said far better than me by Felix Cooper in an article
30/12/1888 in the The Sunday Herald:- sent in by Sandy Buckland.
""“ Its amazingly amusin to ear talk about gypsy queens drawled Felix Cooper when approached on that subject “ that's only chin to hoax the gillies with, we sets no person over us Its but abit of chaff, the gillies they always want to know something about us wot we don't know oursleves, they askin and pryin and it serves them right to give em the hoax.”Tilly Cooper his sister tall angular with her shining jetty hair in curls an excellent and honest spinster of 55 took up the subject of Gypsy Queens.
“ It is true, she declared , that never de we ave King, Queen nur ruler. Ow wat may ave been in long time ago gone I know not.Seems like I recollect my great-gran-dad when I was but a wee a lass and was bidden my time in in the South of England tellen me of a far off day when the Romany had a King and houses and said lands all like the white folks , Then he took to tellin tales about old romany times and Gypsy Kings & Queens I know nothin about it, but I does know we ain't got no such now.but poor old man was nigh daft before he died". ""
“ It is true, she declared , that never de we ave King, Queen nur ruler. Ow wat may ave been in long time ago gone I know not.Seems like I recollect my great-gran-dad when I was but a wee a lass and was bidden my time in in the South of England tellen me of a far off day when the Romany had a King and houses and said lands all like the white folks , Then he took to tellin tales about old romany times and Gypsy Kings & Queens I know nothin about it, but I does know we ain't got no such now.but poor old man was nigh daft before he died". ""
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AMERICAN GYPSIES : By Albert Thomas Sinclair Reprinted 1917This band consisted of the following persons: Cornelius Cooper, twenty- seven years old, strongly and handsomely built, six feet in height, black hair and eyes, beautiful teeth, and complexion not very dark. Richard Stanley was not quite as tall as Cornelius, but darker, and pitted with the small-pox.
Both of these men had an extraordinary muscular development, and were fine-looking, polite, agreeable, bright and witty. The wife of Cornelius was a pretty young woman, rather delicately formed, and quite lady-like. She was dark complexioned, dressed in gaudy colors and looked the real Gypsy.
The wife of Stanley was a magnificent looking matron of fifty. She was quite tall and large in build, had a handsome figure, but was rather coarse in her manner. Still she was jolly and good-natured. Her daughter, Celia, seventeen years old, was a strikingly beautiful girl, both in face and figure, with clear red and white complexion. Another good-looking young woman of twenty dressed with much taste, and always wore a rose or some becoming flower in her dark hair. Then there was a boy of seventeen, another of twelve,
and two small children. All these people had the Gypsy look. Their eyes and smile particularly had a distinctive, unmistakable Gypsy expression.
Oct. 15, 1882. I visited a Gypsy camp near Spy Pond, Arlington, Mass. There were three families: ( 1 ) Thomas Stanley, a rather good-looking Gypsy of twenty-six years of age, with dark curly hair and about the medium size; his wife, Emma, eighteen years old, a pretty plump flaxen-haired woman, and their baby, seven months old, also light-haired. Emma insisted that she was a real Gypsy and her father and mother before her, in spite of her light com- plexion. (2) William Stanley and his wife, who were away to-day visiting
some Gypsy friends in Somerville, and their children, Venie, eighteen years old, beautifully formed, erect, pretty face, nice teeth, dark hair, rosy cheeks and very bright. Merrilis, thirteen years old, a bright handsome, lively miss, and two boys, not very attractive in appearance, one about nine and the other about seventeen years old. (3) Treshiah Stanley, also away (his wife had
died recently), and his daughter Elizabeth, twelve years of age, and Joe aged ten, Jimmie nine, and Henry aged seventeen. The boys were unattractive in appearance. When I arrived and greeted them in Romani they seemed a little surprised, and asked me to sit down in their tent.
From Somerville I walked to Warren Street, where I found Richard Cooper and his wife Fannie, Carrie Stanley, a married sister with
two small children, her mother, Ann Stanley, and two boys. They too, were very glad to see me and called me Romanichal. Ann's mother, named Hicks, an old woman of eighty-two, joined the Mormons some twelve years ago. I read to them a letter from her which indicated that she was very happy and wished them all to come out [to Utah?] and become Mormons.
But as the letter was written in such a pious strain and the handwriting was so good I suspected the old woman had little to do with it. I also read for her a letter from her daughter in Toronto.
Sept. 17, 1882. I called at the corner of Broadway and Lincoln Street, East Somerville, Mass. There I found three families of Gypsies: (1) Samuel Cooper, his wife, and nine children.
(2) Richard Cooper and family, and
(3) his son and the son's wife and three children. They all live in the house together, and keep a sale-stable adjoining the house. There is a sign on Broad- way: "S. Cooper & Brothers, Sale Stable."
I have very rarely, if ever, seen or heard of a Gypsy family in America which did not get on comfortably. Sometimes the rom [husband] drinks, or is shiftless, but then the romni [wifc] seems always to support the family well.
One such I know dukers [tells fortunes] at fairs given for churches, hospitals, etc. She receives one-half the profits, and her share is often as much as twenty- five dollars a night. Selling baskets at houses and telling fortunes also brings her a good deal of money. Relatives always assist if necessary. The men deal in horses principally, and do well at the business. They have learned by experience that a reputation for fair dealing is a valuable asset. A news- paper item, some years ago, stated that a Gypsy furnished all the horses for the horse-car lines in San Francisco, and made a large fortune through his ability and honesty.. Many have accumulated handsome properties. In Boston, Somerville, Fall River, Providence, Worcester, Hartford, New Haven, Springfield, in New England, and in many other cities of the Union, Gypsies own real estate, free and clear, worth from twenty to a hundred thousand dollar^.
Many have thousands of dollars in ready money, and some are money-lenders.
I have full details of such cases. The very large proportion are temperate, much more so than formerly, I think. They are nearly always on good terms with every-one who comes in contact with them, and the old prejudice against their race has largely disappeared.
If you wish to read more : if you click it should take you there:
http://www.archive.org/stream/americangypsies00blacgoog/americangypsies00blacgoog_djvu.txt
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| Started By | Thread Subject | Replies | Last Post | ||
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| sandeyb | Small Family USA (page: 1 2) | 31 | Mar 31 2013, 2:54 PM EDT by KentuckyRomany | ||
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Thread started: Jul 14 2009, 1:48 PM EDT
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This is about Joshua Small He went to the USA with his family :
Here are some articles about his life in America : Regarding Joshua Small in 1890 Auburn Newspaper New York Chief Davis (Police) is in receipt of a telegram inquiring for a Gypsy named JOSHUA SMALL, who is supposed to be in this vincinity- His Mother is dying in Maryland 1891 Rochester New York GYPSY ENCAMPMENT A Band of Wanders stopping near Genesee Valley Park Encamped on the western bank of the upper river a short distance above Elmwood Avenue is a band of gypsies under the leadership of JOSH SMALL better known as GYPSY JOSH there are about 15 men and women in the band and they all have equipment of a small army with the exception of arms. During the day they occupy tents and at night sleep in their covered wagons, they have a number of good horses and appear prosperous in all ways, it is said BILL WELLS the best known Gypsy in the country will join with his band in a few days. The Gypsies have been in this encampment about 2 weeks. |
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| sandeyb | Boswell | 1 | Jan 5 2013, 8:06 PM EST by sabrina1964 | ||
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Thread started: Jul 26 2009, 10:35 AM EDT
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Noah Boswell 1854 horse -trader of Pennsylvania was accused of stealing from a farmer
California Gypsies 1875 Amador Sutter Creek County Passing up main street Sutter ,the other day just on the outskirts of town,we noticed a low tent. A wagon stood in the roadway in which was a small grinding bathe and on the end of which was painted a pair of scissors a razor and pocket knife. A fire was burning in front of the tent,around which sat some 5 or 6 persons preparing a rude repast. We made our way to spot and entered into conversation with the head of the group consisting of a man woman and 4 children, the olive complexion black piercing eyes and general appearance indicated they were foreign decent. The Chief or Old man as he was referred too was inclined to be communicative ,but his wife was reserved and moved away. We soon discovered that the group was a family by name of Boswell and came from Cornwall England and had been here 12 years, they had landed in Canada and proceeded at once to this coast,where they had continued to live in the same manner as they lived now. Asked how they lived ,the Gypsy said I sharpen knives,razors and so forth and the old woman tells fortunes. |
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| sandeyb | Wharton Family USA | 8 | Nov 26 2012, 5:56 AM EST by raeg | ||
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Thread started: Jul 14 2009, 1:16 PM EDT
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In 1851 A Wharton family came over on SS Connecticut September 5th from England Liverpool to New York
Uriah Wharton b 1816 aged 35 b 1816 Says origin Egypt ? Mary aged 24 b 1827 John aged 38 b 1813 James aged 13 b 1838 John aged 11 b 1840 Cornation aged 9 b 1842 Louisa aged 7 b 1844 Caroline aged 5 b 1845 Eliza Infant Thos aged 30 b 1821 ( I would think this is Uriah Brother ) Eliza aged 19 b 1832 Dinah aged 12 b 1839 Thos aged 10 b 1841 Eliza aged 8 b 1842 Sarah aged 4 b 1846 |
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| dicker159 | mitchell devon | 19 | Sep 4 2012, 10:49 AM EDT by Tikno | ||
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Thread started: Apr 15 2012, 12:58 PM EDT
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hello im researching my ancesters and wondered if anyone could help..william mitchell born 1814 newton poppleford married harriott holland they lived in aylesbeare devon.farm labourers and lace maker .parson and small in tree also .also john ferguson born 1812 wife jane both born ireland on census with young horse keeper anderson in coke place north east .any info please most grateful
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