Introduction to The Bussell Family

aka "the Bussells of my family and many others"

Bussell...the other half of the Lachance and Bussell Family. This is my Bussell Heritage on the maternal side of Larry Lachance & Family.

Tracing our Bussell roots has been a far greater challenge than that of the paternal side of this family. I have been trying, seemingly endlessly, to put this side of the family together since I began my research. In fact, it was the Bussell line that really started it all after my stint in the Air Force in 1976.

In the course of my research I have uncovered other connected families, some predating the arrival of the pilgrims. Other families I've found, with the same name, I can honestly say I have no idea where they came from. After this many years of searching I sometimes believe I'm no closer than when I started. While that is not true, it does feel like it is!

My search has not, however, been without reward. I made contact with John C. Bussell in southern England and the very first thing I learned is that WE (at least our part of the Bussell family) do not pronounce the name the same way as they do across the pond. Here we say "Bus" like a school bus "Sell" like I want to sell you a new car (or a used one for that matter). Correctly said, at least where the name comes from it would be "Buss" same as the school bus thing but the rest sounds more like "ul". I believe the word for the Victorian ladies framework for a dress and is pronounced the same way - as in "this bustle is too heavy for me to drag around". And so we have a picture ... just to be sure you can picture this!

And, it turns out, John is also related, a descendant of the same couple, John Hare Bussell and Mary Grabham, who married in May of 1781 at Staple Fitzpaine, Somerset, England. I've listed much of his research here as well and I'd love to get to England to meet this family one day!

Is there anyone else out there in the U.S. or anywhere else descended from this couple? John Hare Bussell's parents were Benjamin Bussell and Susannah Hare. I'll take all the help I can get with this family so don't be shy!

Immediate Ancestors
Richard Harson Bussell married May Eleanor Eshleman (my maternal grandparents) at Grace Episcopal Church, Epiphany Chapel, in Washington, DC on 14 OCT 1919. Before my grandfather died of Tuberculosis, when my mom was just 4 years old, they were raising a family of three children in the Bradbury Heights area of Washington, DC. More on this later. For now, let's get into some known, related names, on both the Bussell and Eshleman sides. All of the names are in the database - at least what I know so far.

All Saints Church - Curland, England
rebuilt by Benjamin Ferrey in 1856

Our Family - The Bussell Beginning

Until I can get some help from England, I have to start at a point in time that I know exists. That point will be my third great-grandfather, George Bussell, a son of John Hare Bussell and Mary Grabham, who was baptized at All Saints Church (see photo) in Curland, Somerset, England on 25 December 1788.

Curland (Curland, was Curiland in 1252. It means land belonging to Curry) is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, located just 6 miles (9.7 km) south of Taunton and today is in the Taunton Deane district. The village, in 1801, had a population of 157. Today, the population of 225 is not significantly different. The distance from where George's parents married to this church is less than 1.5 miles so I am making an assumption that the Bussell family lived very close, perhaps in the farmlands of Somerset between the two villages.

George, from what I've been able to assemble, is from a large family of at least 16 children. It also appears that at least one brother, Benjamin, had a son Edward, that ended up in Nebraska in the US as well.

My efforts with the family have, for the most part, been concentrated closer to home (and in lineage as well). It is George's family that most of what I have found (or not) is about. George died in New York City, 14 APR 1851 and is buried at Green-wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, NY.

New South Dutch Church on Washington Square

Richard Bussell and Mary Elizabeth VanBuren (Van Beuren)

On July 14, 1844, Richard Bussell (son of George and Elizabeth Daw) married Mary Elzizabeth VanBuren at the New South Dutch Church on Washington Square, New York, Manhattan, New York after having been previously disowned from the Quaker Society for marrying outside of the church (Society).
Mary Elizabeth was the daughter of Henry Van Beuren and Ann Harsen

Richard X3 - The Story Continues

The family of our line of Bussell's are an elusive bunch of family and one which I continue to have limited success finding. This line has changed since beginning this quest yet some "brick walls" remain.

As a child, my grandmother, (MAY ELEANOR nee ESHLEMAN BUSSELL) had some limited information and a handful of names. She wrote about a few family members in her bible. My mother Ann, and her brother, my Uncle, Richard also remembered hearing some names during the course of their lives. They even remembered visiting with "someone", but who it was they weren't sure. It seemed all anybody thought they knew was that records for Richard Bussell (my grandfather) were destroyed in a fire in New York in the early 1900's. As it turns out, this was not true.

Ames, Iowa rang some bells, the names Betty and Victor came to mind, but little more information was known. With these bits and pieces of to start me out with my search, I began the task of finding the roots of this Bussell family. I've been actively working on assembling this family since January of 1998 with some preliminary work done in 1976.

Certainly much progress has been made as we now know our ancestral history back to England (as you've already seen). BUT, there is still much to do.

What IS known is that Richard Bussell (born in England) had a son Richard and a daughter Elizabeth. There may have been more children however, if there were, it appears they all would have died before reaching marriageable age. Richard (my great grandfather) married Antoinette "Nettie" Louise Carlow at Poughkeepsie, (Dutchess), NY on 05 AUG 1888. They had 7, maybe 8 children. Nettie died at the age of 32 during a premature birth of the 7th child, an infant girl on 22 MAR 1898 at 631 Walton Ave which I believe was in the Bronx at that time.

Together they had six children. It is possible that they had more, but I have no information leading to this possibility. Five of the six children (3 boys and 2 girls) survived long enough to have families of their own. Each of those five survivors, (Richard [my grandfather], Philip, Victor, Bessie and Rosalie) are included in these pages.

Let's begin before they were married. Richard H. Bussell - born 19 Oct 1854, New York, Manhattan, New York, baptized 30 Apr 1857 at the Thirteenth Street Presbyterian Church, New York, Manhattan, New York. Today the address is 143 West 13th Street, New York, NY and the building is a 15 unit condominium project.

FIRST CLUE - My first clue came by way of the 1870 New York Federal Census of Orange County, Town of Cornwall, New York State found on February 16th, 2003.

It was here that I located young Richard (Richard Jr. who married Antoinette Louis Carlow (across the Hudson River from New Hamburg, NY and readily accessible by ferry at that point). The father Richard is listed as "lumber merchant". It is here I also bound evidence that our Richard Harson had an older sister, Elizabeth Bussell. Click button to view.

THE MARRIAGE - RICHARD HARSON BUSSELL married ANTOINETTE LOUISE CARLOW, daughter of ISSAC PURDY CARLOW and MARY REBECCA KING, on August 5, 1888 at Poughkeepsie, NY. It is from the marriage certificate that I learned the names of Richard's parents. Also gleaned from the marriage certificate is the following:

Certificate Number - not legible
     1.      In the Town (Village) City of Poughkeepsie County of Dutchess
     2.      Full Name of Groom: Richard H. Bussell
     3.      Place of Residence: New York City
     4.      Age next Birthday 34 Years

MORE CLUES - In the case of this family, it appears naming patterns DO help. My grandfather's birth certificate listed his name as "Richard HARSEN Bussell", not Richard Harold Bussell as we all believed growing up. Three of the other four children had the middle names, VanBuren, King and Romaine. This has proven to be helpful as all of the "middle" names are, in fact, related families. Van Beuren seems to have corrupted to Van Buren at some point in time.

The first two generations after Richard Bussell and Mary VanBeuren are here, click below.

RICHARD HARSEN BUSSELL - BIRTH - Richard was the second child born, after Rosalie. Both of them were born in "Camelot" New York. As with everything else involved with this family, it took a while to figure out where this was. From a research trip to Dutchess County on August 28, 1999, I found a story about the area known as Camelot at the Adriance Memorial Library in Poughkeepsie. I have copied this story here, just in case someone else has the same question.
(I don't know if I'm violating copyrights or not, if I am and someone needs this removed, simply contact me) For more about Camelot, click below.

I already know that RICHARD HARSON (or HARSEN) BUSSELL, was born on October 19, 1854 in Manhattan, New York. I also know that he married ANTOINETTE "NETTIE" LOUISE CARLOW. Nettie was born on November 13, 1865 in New Hamburg, New York.

New Hamburg is an area of Dutchess County near Wappinger Falls and Poughkeepsie, New York. I've amassed quite a lot of information about the CARLOW (also known as CALLOW) family and it's a given that they are married in to the PURDY family of Dutchess County.

New Hamburg is a small hamlet along the Hudson River in Dutchess County, New York, best known as home of a popular marina and a busy Metro-North Railroad Hudson Line station. It is located in the southern corner of the Town Of Poughkeepsie.

From a history of New Hamburg at the New Hamburg Yacht Club website:

In the early 1820's, New Hamburg had acquired a new industry. It would prove to be of greater importance than either the landing or the lime kilns. Charles Millard, who owned a lumber business based in Ulster County, he expanded his business by opening a lumber yard in New Hamburg. Since most of the lumber and log shipments were made by water, Millard's son, Walter, branched out into ship building and freighting. He and a partner, Uriah Mills, built the barge "Lexington,” which carried freight up and down the Hudson River and the steamer, "Splendid,” which carried both freight and passengers.

It may well be at this time that the residents of the area decided to change the name of the community from High Point to New Hamburg, after the European port of Hamburg, Germany.

When the railroad was built, one of the toughest problems facing workers was drilling and blasting the 900 foot New Hamburg tunnel. Rail service, both north and south, was established in 1849, before the tunnel was finished. Passengers were carried in a small boat from one train at Old Troy, just south of the mouth of the Wappingers Creek, to another, at what was to be the north end of the tunnel. Rather than ruining New Hamburg's shipping trade, it continued to expand, as did the Millard Company and its related activities. The limestone was shipped from the Lime Dock and two other docks were doing a big business in passengers and freight.

Nine boats stopped there every day. Some carried freight while others carried both freight and passengers. The glamorous river passenger boat of that period, the "Mary Powell," stopped there, as well as other night boats.

Now..here's what happened. On March 22, 1898, Antoinette Louise "Carlow" Bussell, died. According to her certificate of death, the cause was "Pleuro Pneumonia, Premature Birth (8) months, cardiac failure". The child she was bearing was stillborn. Both mother and daughter are buried in Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery in an "as yet" unmarked grave. An infant child by the name of Philip Henderson is also buried in the same plot, having died at age 2 months in 1917.

Mary Rebecca Carlow, Antoinette's mother, purchased the lot but there is, yet, no evidence of Richard (her husband) being buried in this cemetery.

From the records of the Home for the Friendless, on April 8, 1898, just 17 days after Antoinette died, Richard, Philip and Victor Bussell were "surrendered" to the orphanage for outplacement. The "cause of surrender" was "Death of mother. Father not able to support them. Miss H. Rhoades, 2 W. 36th St. interested in case and will pay the board. $15.00 per month." "Bessie - Nov 20, 1896 - is boarding with Mrs. Jacob Miller, Van Siclen Ave. Brooklyn, N.Y."

Rosalie is not mentioned but we know she went to live with her grandmother (Mary Rebecca Carlow). Why this happened is not known.

The three boys, Richard, Phillip and Victor, became a part of American history that most Americans know little about...

The Orphan Train Movement

Between 1854 and 1929, nearly a quarter of a million orphaned children were resettled by the movement. More can be learned at the National Orphan Train Complex

Visit the National Orphan Train Complex

WHERE DID THEY GO?

From a 1906 advertisement in the Daily Nonpareil in Council Bluffs Iowa, we read about "pretty much" what happened all around the country. Our Bussell boys were placed as follows:

Richard was first sent to Inavale, Webster, Nebraska on September 1, 1901. He was later removed to Red Cloud, Nebraska in July 1904, moving to the Henry Wilmot family. The reason had something to do with some sort of abuse but there is no record of exactly what that meant. For a while at least, he lived with Edwin M. and Anna Cooper.

Victor went to Leon, Butler, Kansas, on April 4, 1904 and was placed with the John G. Thompson family. Mr. Thompson writes to Children's Aid in October 1904 advising of the sale of his farm and requested the society take charge of him. In March 1907 he to was removed to William Rothgeb family of Inola, Oklahoma

Phillip ‘BRESSELL’ at the age of 9, was taken in by David E. Powell and his wife, Antha of Leon, Butler, Kansas, April 30, 1904. By 1910 they had moved to Prospect, Butler, Kansas.

Published on Jun 18, 2015 by Prairie Public Broadcasting of Minnesota this video explains a lot. Still, I cannot imagine being given up by my father and sent away, never to see him again.

The Orphan Trains

Christina Baker Kline (author “Orphan Train”)

There are many videos on YouTube about the Orphan Trains. Simply use the site search function with the words "Orphan Train" to find them.

Out Placement Paper - Victor and Philip Bussell

William Bugbee's Group

Victor and Philip Bussell - Off To The Midwest

Philip and Victor Bussell - somewhere in this photo
but I don't know which ones they are.

In April of 1904, both 11-year old Phillip and 9 1/2-year old Victor, along with a group of 16 other boys, were dressed in their finest clothing, gathered for a group photo (seen at left), ushered on to a train and "shipped" to the Midwest to find new homes. A list of the children in Mr. William W. Bugbee's group appears to the left of the photo.

While Phillip's name IS spelled correctly in this log book, his indenture papers had his name spelled "BRESSELL". This spelling stayed with him the rest of his life.

On Aug 5, 2018 we observed the 130th anniversary of the marriage of Richard Harsen Bussell and Antoinette Louise Carlow. If they could have seen the future of the family they started, would they have thought any of this possible? We can only speculate about their thoughts about family. This page is not the end of this story as there is much more to be found and told. Not only with the Bussell name but with the other families that we are all a part of as well.

With just our ancestors including the names VanBeuren, Harsen, Carlow, King, Purdy, Viele, Rider, Freer, Daw, Grabham, Hare and Moore, plus, on my grandmothers side, Eshleman, Goss, Lokey, Newman, Dalum, Lucas, Groff, Barr, Herr, Brackbill and Kendig, we've come a long way.

Who will take over as the descendants of all of these families continues to grow - just imagine how big the next reunion might be!
While I may not be updating pages as often as I should have, I DO update - stay tuned for future revelations!