#176--George Augustus Cochrane--Where Are You?

This week’s theme was out of place  One ancestor that was not where he should be was George Augustus Cochrane.  George was born in Rochester, New York on December 15, 1838.  His parents were William and Emma (Merrett) Cochrane.  He had five siblings.  The family is in New York Census for 1855 in Rochester, but by 1860 had moved to Brooklyn, New York at 125 Fort Greene Place.  George married Ella Brinkerhoff on January 2, 1861.

I could not find George and Ella in the 1860 or 1870 census, but I could find all his siblings and his parents—all still living in Brooklyn.  George, however, was missing from the census and was not buried in the family plot in Green-Wood Cemetery.  He was definitely out of place.  I was able to find him and his second wife, Charlotte Atkinson, in Woburn, Massachusetts in the 1900,1910 and 1920 Census.   He was working as an inspector.


So where was he for those 20 something years?  What place was he in? I now know. While looking at his mother’s will, I found him.  Papers of Administration indicated he was in Montreal Canada along with his wife and his three children—Grace Brinkerhoff, Charles Augustus, and Ella Louise. George Augustus Cochrane died on March 31, 1931 in Woburn.

I would like to talk to George and find out what he was doing in Montreal, why he moved there, and why he returned.

#174--Andrew Jackson Hannah and his brick wall

This week’s theme is a brick wall, a spot in your genealogy where you can go no further with a particular ancestor.  Sometimes that is not a problem as I do not want or need any more information and sometimes it is.  I have several brick walls and my most current one is Andrew Jackson Hannah (1818—19xx).  I found him while I was looking at my DNA matches.  Another woman and I share 22 centimorgans across two segments, making us fourth cousins to sixth cousins, according to Ancestry DNA.  As I understand it,that means that our common ancestor could be at the least at the great great great great grandfather level.  That also means I have been look in all the wrong places,

e.g. not far enough back.  Unfortunately, that is further back than either of the trees with Andrew Jackson Hannah in it goes, but provides me with a clue that I need to look at my 3rd great father and see what I can find in terms of his parentage.

But first, what do I know about Andrew Jackson Hannah?  What I know may help me figure out where to look.  He was born in 1816 in either Brown County, Ohio or Kentucky, although one person

thought it might be Pennsylvania.  He had a brother William, who was born in Ohio, and perhaps a sister, Jane.  He married Margaret C. Dunlap in Robinson, Pennsylvania, in 1850.  Margaret died in 1856.  She and Andrew Jackson Hannah had three children.   He then married Martha Jane Weaver and they had 11 children.  He lived in various counties in western Pennsylvania until 1875 when he moved to Ohio, Kansas.

So now I have three places to look—Brown County, Ohio, Kentucky, and Western Pennsylvania. All places where folks in my Hannah line have lived.  I have looked at all the Hannahs in Brown County and the two adjacent counties and can find no connections.  I have started reading A History of the Hanna Family by Charles Elmer Rice about the family of Robert Hanna and Elizabeth Henderson, who came to the colonies in 1763 and settled in Pennsylvania.  Several of their sons settled in Kentucky and Indiana.

It will take me a while to sort this group out, but I may find something useful.  There are two clusters of Hannahs in western Pennsylvania, one cluster is found in Hannastown, founded by John and Robert Hanna, and the other in Westmoreland/Armstrong county.

So I am slowly making a little progress, mostly by eliminating people.  Just wish I could talk to Andrew Jackson Hannah and ask him about his parents.