This is the fifth installment of Generation Two of our two-generation study and our twelfth installment overall. This generation is concerned with Mark Hall Shearn born 1800 in Midsomer Norton, Somerset, England and his family. The first generation was concerned with Mark’s son Charles Hall Shearn born 1830 in Radstock, Somerset, England. If you like, you can also read the previous installments:
- Two Generations Son / Father
- Short Marriage Short Life
- Building a Life Together
- Long and Prosperous Marriage
- Career and Will
- Children of Charles Hall Shearn
- Charles Hall Shearn Conclusion and Recommendations
- Mark Hall Shearn - Father of Charles Hall Shearn
- Children of Mark Hall Shearn and Sarah Ann Parfitt Part 1
- Children of Mark Hall Shearn and Sarah Ann Parfitt Part 2
- The Family Together and The Disappearance of Mark Hall Shearn
Client research suggested that Mark Hall Shearn left England in 1835 to immigrate to the United States with a young woman named Ellen Booth Gittoe. Several records together help confirm the family story. First, a ship record was found with Mark Hall and Ellen Hall as passengers.[1] It is possible that this is the ancestral couple. Ellen's age was listed as 30 years old. She would have been nearer to 18 years old in 1835. She may have lied on the ship manifest. The record indicates that the couple was married or claimed to be married before they left England.
Mark Hall Shearn. Left the premises. Struck out.
Second, in an 1835 Bath newspaper the revision of voters said, “Mark Hall Shearn. Left the premises. Struck out.”[2] Mark Hall Shearn had left and was no longer on the voter roll. The newspaper report indicated that he left as opposed to died. So he was still loving and he was no longer present to vote. He had gone somewhere else though where he had gone was not indicated in the record neither was why he had gone.
No record was found for the marriage of Mark Hall and Ellen Hall née Gittoe, or for that matter, for a divorce of Mark Hall Shearn from Sarah Ann Shearn née Parfitt.
Third and finally, Ellen’s obituary fills in a bit of the story, “Mrs. Hall was born in Bristol, England [27 August 1817], and was married before leaving that country, when in her 16th year. She was the mother of 5 children.”[3] Given the date and age, Mark Hall (Shearn) and Ellen Booth Gittoe were married about 1832, in England. Though, Mark Hall Shearn and Sarah Shearn née Parfitt’s youngest child, Mary Parfitt Shearn, was born in early 1833. The date of Mary Parfitt Shearn’s birth does not preclude Mark Hall Shearn from being the father nor does it mean that Ellen Hall née Gittoe and Mark Hall (Shearn) could not have been married in 1832. Still no record was found for the marriage, or for that matter, for a divorce of Mark Hall Shearn from Sarah Ann Shearn née Parfitt. Mark Hall (Shearn) and Ellen Hall née Gittoe’s daughter Marcia Hall was the obituary informant. Anything she knew of her parents’ marriage was told to her by someone else, probably her parents. It is possible that she was ill-informed or even lied to. It is also possible that Mark Hall (Shearn) and Ellen Hal née Gittoe were never married.
No records were found in England or Wales for a person named Ellen Booth Gittoe or any combination of the name, including varying spellings.
No records were found in England or Wales for a person named Ellen Booth Gittoe or any combination of the name, including varying spellings. No birth record, no marriage record was found. With the exception of the ship record with a different last name, there was no found evidence to determine what happened to Mark Hall Shearn. However, DNA matching showed that Mark Hall Shearn and Mark Hall were the same person. Several individuals had DNA matches with Mark Hall and Ellen Hall née Gittoe’s children and Mark Hall Shearn and Sarah Shearn née Parfitt’s children. Mark Hall Shearn did not die in England. He left his family there and made a new one in Michigan in the United States. Did he know his sisters immigrated to very nearby Ontario, Canada?
DNA matching showed that Mark Hall and Mark Hall Shearn were the same person.
There are many census, birth, marriage, and death records for Mark Hall and Ellen and their children. However, U.S. records have been left off of the report because the scope of the research and report was limited to records of England and Wales. Details have also been left out including names and dates of DNA matching information because they would all be marked as private since the people are still living. There are DNA matches showing connections with BOTH of Mark Hall Shearn’s families including the client's paternal line from Ellen, but also from Mark and Sarah’s children.
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Sources
[1] "Ellis Island and Other New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957," MyHeritage (myheritage.com : 6 July 2020), Mark Hall, Ellen Hall, Arrival 1836, New York, New York, United States, Ship Caspian, document 67.[2] "REVISION OF VOTERS, BOROUGH OF BATH," Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette 08 October 1835, 8 October 1835, page 3, column 3, St James, document 68.
[3] "Transcription of Obituary, Ellen Hall," Three Rivers Tribune, 2 November 1883, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 7 July 2020), Peter Clark transcriber, document 93.
