Margaret Walch & the Drew Family of Caldwell, Kansas – Part I

Margaret Walch was born on January 27, 1850 in Liverpool, England. She came with her family to Connecticut at the age of one and moved with them after a few years to Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, where she grew up. At about the age of 23, Margaret, who was known as Maggie, met and married Thomas William Drew, a young mason who had recently immigrated from Paignton, Devon County, England. They had two children in New York: Stephen Howard Drew in 1874 and Alfred Henry Drew in 1876.

In about 1878 the Drews moved to Caldwell Kansas and are believed to be the first in the family to have moved there. Maggie's older brother Jimmie visited them that year. Her two younger brothers, William and Isaac, also stayed with the family at about this time. By 1880 Jimmie had moved east to Cowley County and William had moved west to Harper County. In that year, only Isaac, who was known as Ike, was living with the Drew family.

In order to get a feel for their life at that time let's turn to a brief description of Caldwell, provided by the Legends of America website, www.legendsofamerica.com/ks-kansascowtowns.html:

“Caldwell, Kansas, known as the Border Queen, saw wild days as a Kansas cowtown, as well as serving as a jumping off point to the Oklahoma Land Rush days.

Located just north of the Oklahoma border, the town was established in 1871 and named in honor of United States Senator Alexander T. Caldwell, of Leavenworth, Kansas. The first building was erected by Captain C. H. Stone, one of the founders of the town site, who built a log house which was used as a store and the first post office. Stone became the fledgling city’s first postmaster. Other buildings soon followed including a hotel, other businesses, and the Red Light Saloon, which thrived with both Indian and cowboy customers.

Situated along the Chisholm Trail, the town catered to the many cowboys who passed by with their large cattle herds on their way to Abilene and Wichita. However, it remained little more than a trading post up until 1879, when it had about 260 residents.

However, when the Santa Fe Railroad extended its line to Caldwell, Wichita investors soon took notice and formed a town company in 1879, selling lots for $125. The city was soon incorporated and quickly promoted its opportunity as a cattle shipping point. The town grew quickly and soon boasted some 1,500 people.

As the cowboys began to drive the cattle up the Chisholm Trail to Caldwell, the town took on all of the elements of a lawless frontier settlement. These many drovers gave the town its nickname, the "Border Queen."

As the town sprouted saloons, gambling dens, and brothels, the first town north of Indian Territory, provided a place where the cowboys could go wild after months on the dusty and treacherous trail. Gunfights, showdowns, general hell raising and hangings soon became commonplace.

During its reckless cowtown period between 1879 and 1885, Caldwell “boasted” a higher murder rate, and loss of more law enforcement officers than other more famous cowtowns. During this period, violence claimed the lives of 18 city marshals, leading a Wichita editor to write, "As we go to press hell is again in session in Caldwell."’

The 1880 photo of Caldwell above is from the of Legends of America website.

The “Walch Addition” - Cowley County, Kansas

Whenever my mother, Geraldine May Walch, recounted old stories of her father's days in Kansas, she would mention the “Walch Addition.” She knew it was a place name, but didn't know its location. She only knew that it was a place her father had gone to meet other family members. I have since learned that the Walch addition is the title for a parcel of property west of Winfield in Cowley County Kansas. I suspect that James Walch owned it and that was the site for many family reunions. Recently, I e-mailed the Register of Deeds in Cowley County offering to pay for their assistance to do a land search. They replied that they will research the property when they have down time. I'll let you know when or if I ever hear from them again. I had planned to go to Winfield and Arkansas City this or early next year and do the research on my own. But with my multiple sclerosis symptoms flaring these days, I may never have the chance to visit there.

In any case, Cait (Hendron) Sullivan sent me several photos of Walch reunions that most likely took place at the Walch Addition. They are from a collection of photos in the possession of her mother Mary Louise Mackensen, a great-granddaughter of James Walch. They have only been able to identify a few people in the pictures. In the top picture: The small man in front is James Walch. Cait believes that his wife Mary is in the center, in a black skirt. Behind her to the left is her daughter Grace. The little girl with the X is Grace’s daughter, Dorothy Benkendorf. The girl next to her is her best friend Louise. Cait doesn't know who the others are. I've misplaced my notes on the other two photos but Dorothy and Grace are evident in both.

Double-click on the photographs to enlarge.

If you can identify any of the other Walch clan members, please e-mail me. My address can be found in my profile on this site.

Uncle Jimmie Walch of Winfield, Kansas

I received James Walch's obituary last week from a volunteer genealogist at the Winfield Public Library. It was a front page news article published by The Winfield Daily Courier on October 08, 1932. A follow-up article on his last rites also made front-page; but I won't include it here due to its length. They certainly knew how to write obituaries in those days.

HEART ATTACK CLAIMS PIONEER STONE MASON

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"Uncle Jimmie" Walch Helped Erect Many Buildings Here

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James Walch, 84, lovingly known to his many friends as "Uncle Jimmie" Walch died at his home Friday night at 11:10 p.m. Although he had suffered from serious heart trouble for a long time, he spent Friday sitting up and visiting with his family, saying that he felt better than for a long time. At about 10 o'clock he suddenly became worse and died slightly more than an hour later.

He was a stone cutter and one of Winfield's oldest and best-known residents. So closely allied with the buildings of the city has been his life that from time to time accounts of his work have been recorded in The Courier. The one which pleased him the most is the following, printed July 12, 1923:"’Hello, up there, Daddy. Are you just learning the trade?’"A passing man looked up at an aged stone cutter chipping steadily away at the front of the old Stuber building."' Yes, just learning,' he chuckled back good-naturedly.“Another pedestrian, an old-timer, notice the bent figure at work."' Well I’ll be ----------, he ejaculated, rubbing his eyes in astonishment. "I thought you retired 10 years ago.'"A third passerby, a young man in the flower of youth, caught sight of the grizzled old workmen, swinging his mallet in the hot sun. A puzzled look in his eyes melted under a film, then flashed into a determined glint as he straightened his shoulders, clenched his hands strode out. By the eternals there was the acme of service – a ‘never-say-die' spirit personified.

Plied Trade Determinedly

"The old stone cutter was “Uncle Jimmie” Walch, 76 his next birthday, a veteran builder pioneer of Winfield. Bowed under the weight of three quarters of a century, undaunted by nature's decree that man shall live three score and ten then like the grass of the field, scorning the ease of retirement, he ‘carries on' day after day, plying his trade with the determination to be envied by the gods.
"At the age of 21, “Uncle Jimmie” finished his apprenticeship as a stone cutter in the east. In 1876, ’centennial year,’ he helped fit stones in the piers of the greatest engineering achievement of the time, the famous Brooklyn bridge. Later he worked on the capital of New York at Albany. When Winfield was still in swaddling clothes, in 1878, the young tradesman came west and made his home in the city.

Help Build City

"If any one man may rightfully say ‘I help build this city,’ that man is “Uncle Jimmie” Walch. With his own hands, he placed stones in the First National bank, North hall at Southwestern, St. John's administration building and the smokestack at the school, the old Catholic Church, old Grace Church, Baptist church, Episcopal Church, United Brethren church, virtually every school building and a hundred others stone structures too many to name.“Who can match such a record?“A stone cutting trade is rapidly dwindling as machinery takes the place of human hands. ‘Uncle Jimmie’ is much in demand for special cutting, but the big jobs are now all finished at that the quarry by power. He is one of the few surviving representatives of this trade in Winfield.“’ Uncle Jimmie’ is far down the long, long western trail where the sun slips down over the horizon into the valley of the shadow. By the fading twilight rays with unfaltering hand he swings his mallet, soon to be exchanged by the Great Architect in the land of a glorious rising sun for the working tools of an apprentice to help build that wonderful house not made with hands -- eternal in the heavens.”This fitting description of the character of James Walch, tells of some of the outstanding pieces upon which he worked in Winfield. He helped cut the stone for the present building in which the Courier office is located. The last building upon which he worked was the nurses’ home at the state training school.

Born in England

James Walch, son of Stephen Walch and Elizabeth Walch was born in Liverpool, England, on December 19, 1847, and came to America with his parents when a small child. He spent his childhood and young manhood in Yonkers, New York.

He was united in marriage to Mary Ann Hoare, November 1, 1875 and came to Winfield in 1878, where they have since made their home. He has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church for the past 70 years, attending when he was able. He was a charter member of the men's Bible class. He loved his home, his family, his friends, flowers and, all of the outdoors. Only last Sunday he went for a ride and remarked how lovely everything looked, and how he enjoyed it all. He stopped for a while and marvel at the change been made in the riverbed of the Walnut at the Consolidated mill. He was one of the workers on the old dam at the mill.

He is survived by his widow, two daughters, Mrs. J. W. Mendenhall of Las Animas, Colo., who arrived Thursday evening to be with her father, and Mrs. Grace Hickerson of the home; four grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren, besides a number of nieces and nephews and a host of friends.

Funeral services will be held from the first Methodist church Sunday, October 9, at 3 p.m. Rev. R. P. Crawford, pastor of the church, will officiate. Burial will be in the Union cemetery.

The photo of James & Mary (Hoare) Walch’s 50th Anniversary courtesy of Cait (Hendron) Sullivan. Double click on picture to enlarge.

The Walch Migration to Kansas

During the 1870s the four older Walch children married and began raising families in New York. In the late 1870s, James and Margaret moved with their families to Kansas along with William and Isaac. Their mother, Elizabeth (Charnock) Walch, stayed in New York as did her daughter Lizzie and son John. In 1800, Elizabeth, then a widow, continued to live in her home in Hastings-on-Hudson with their daughter Lizzie and family. John Walch was working and living in Yonkers, but he too would eventually migrate to Kansas.

As the second generations of Walchs take their separate life paths we will follow each in the order of their birth. Elizabeth (Charnock) Walch’s later life will be included in the story of her daughter Lizzie, for the two were deeply entwined.

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My grandfather Stephen Fletcher Walch used to say that three Walch brothers came to Kansas together. As a youth I had a romantic notion that they rode horses to get there, looking much like the Ponderosa brothers. But in actuality, they took the train just as James Walch did, who is the subject of our first story.

James Walch’s migration and early settlement in Kansas was chronicled in a Winfield Courier news article. His great-granddaughter Mary Louise Mackensen has an undated clipping of it. While I did not read the article, her daughter Cait (Hendron) Sullivan of Phoenix, Arizona gave a summary of it:

In 1878 James Walch, who was called Jimmie, left his wife and baby daughter in New York and took the train to Wichita, Kansas, where the railway ended. He slung a bag of stone cutting tools over his shoulder and walked 60 miles southwest to Caldwell to see his sister Margaret. After a brief visit with Margaret and her family, he walked 47 miles north east to Winfield. On the way Jimmie was given a nights stay by a farm couple. The next morning after breakfast Jimmie dressed a stone for the home’s front door in repayment. Once he found work and housing in Winfield, Jimmie sent for his wife and daughter who took a train to Wichita and a stagecoach to Winfield to join him.

Jimmie became a pioneer stonecutter in Winfield, as we shall soon read. He was also widely called “Uncle Jimmie,” possibly because of his avuncular manner. But, it may have started with his role as the Walch family patriarch in Kansas. The widows of two of his brothers moved their families to Winfield, where Jimmie was quite literally an uncle and likely a surrogate father to many nieces and nephews living there. Although he was the oldest, Jimmie outlived all his brothers and sisters by many years. His obituary, which we will read next, gives us a glimpse into this remarkable man's life.

The photo of the James Walch family courtesy of Cait (Hendron) Sullivan.

The Walchs of Hastings-on-Hudson

After arriving in New York, the Walchs went to Connecticut, where Stephen Walch most likely worked in a quarry. We know nothing of their life there, except that their next three children were born in Connecticut. There were no civil registers of birth then. The only way to track birth is through baptismal church records that have yet to be found. If they were active in a church at that time, they most likely were attending a Methodist church.

The three Walch children born in Connecticut were: Elizabeth, called Lizzie, in about 1852; Stephen Jr. in about 1853; and John W. in 1854. Three children in three years! It appears that the Walchs were optimistic about their future. Sometime between 1854 and the birth of their next child in 1857, the Walchs moved west across the Connecticut state line to Hastings-on-Hudson in Westchester County, New York.

On November 8, 1857 their sixth child, William Fletcher Walch, was born in Hastings-on-Hudson. William was named in honor of Rev. John William Fletcher, an early Methodist theologian, whose early piety writings were popular among Methodists at that time. Some of the Walch children were active in the Methodist Church for the rest of their lives. And, William Fletcher Walch even briefly worked as a Methodist minister in his early adulthood.

By 1860 Stephen and Elizabeth Walch had done well for themselves. In the nine years since their arrival they added four healthy children to their family and owned their own home in the village of Hastings, (‘Hastings’ is what the locals call Hastings-on-Hudson). The house was located near Washington Avenue and adjacent to the Croton Aqueduct. The schoolhouse was immediately north on adjoining property. The “S. Welch” home is clearly identified on the 1868 Frederick Beers map. Stephen Walch continued to work as a stone cutter at a quarry located at about quarter of a mile south of the house. (Incidentally, the family was referred to as “Welch” in both the 1860 and 1870 census. Jack Arnett Walch, a grandson of John W. Walch, said that the use of Welch was a conscious decision by some family members and not simply a misspelling.)

In 1870 Stephen, 50, and Elizabeth, 49, were approaching their middle years, and their three oldest children were nearing their marriage years. The population around Hastings had grown large enough for the post office to be moved from Tarrytown to the neighboring village of Dobbs Ferry. The census of that year also gives us an indication of the size of the Walch home. There were now seven Walch children, following the birth of Isaac Peter Walch in 1863. Ruth Hines, 26; Elizabeth Clark, 22; Ophelia Burroughs, 22; and Jenny Clark, 18, teachers from the school, rounded out the household – 13 in all!. One can only wonder how 23-year-old Jimmie Walch felt about the addition of these four young “spinsters” in the house. Perhaps he was already smitten by his future wife Mary Hoare who lived in nearby Yonkers.

A curious thing about the 1870 census is that Stephen Jr., 17, and his brother, William Fletcher, 13, were absent from the household at that time. Perhaps they were working out or were off for a summer adventure? There is any number of possibilities for their absences, one of which is that Stephen Jr. had died for he has yet to be found in public records after 1860.

In any event, Stephen Walch Sr. died sometime between 1870 and 1880 and was most likely buried in a cemetery in Hastings-on-Hudson. One might think that a stone cutter’s gravestone would survive in a Hastings cemetery today. The next time you're up that way, check it out and let us know.

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The picture above is Quarry Works, Hastings on Hudson, a watercolor by Samuel Colman, 1850–1920, at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

The Walchs Cross the Big Pond

It is late winter 1851. Stephen and Elizabeth (Charnock) Walch have decided to immigrate with their family to America. Their move was most likely shaped by two outside forces: the concentration of Irish immigrants in the Liverpool area during the potato famine; and the development of inland railroads in Connecticut.

Immigrants where prohibited by English law to work in the skilled and trade occupations. This resulted in keeping the wages for unskilled jobs low, while at the same time creating a larger pool of English workers competing for skilled jobs.

In Connecticut, the early railroads were laid out along low land and coastal routes. Around 1850 railways were beginning to reach inland stone quarries that previously served only local needs. These quarries were now being developed to serve the demands of the booming New York and New England populations. Because skilled quarrymen were in short supply, recruiters were sent to England to find them.

The use of skilled immigrants served the quarries well. Emigrants typically signed a three to five year contract for passage and a fixed wage. With the continuing replacement of immigrant workers who fulfilled their contracts, quarry owners ensured a large competitive labor pool which would result in continued lower wages.

We cannot say for sure that Stephen Walch signed such a contract. But a large group of men on the ship he boarded were quarrymen who likely were signed by the same recruiter. So now that we know the Walchs have decided to go to America, let's find out how they got there.

Ship passage to America was perilous, particularly during the Irish immigrations of the 1840s. Unscrupulous ship owners crammed steerage class passengers into retrofitted cargo holds and cutback such amenities as adequate food and sanitary facilities. Because so many people died in passage, Parliament passed a series of laws in the late 1840s to regulate conditions aboard ships. The minimum allotment of physical space and other health concerns were regulated. All passengers had to have a physician’s certificate verifying that they were fit to travel. This resulted in physician’s opening offices at dockside to fulfill the need.

The Walchs were fortunate to have booked steerage passage on the ship Vanguard. The Vanguard was a packet newly built by William Webb, a respected shipbuilder who also built the Yorkshire “the fastest packet of her time." Originally, a ‘packet’ ship referred to a vessel used by Britain to deliver mail packets to and from its colonies and outposts. The term was later applied more generically to a class of vessels that were fast and reliable. The Vanguard was a 796 ton vessel captained by Master Parker B. Norton of Liverpool. And, while it was considered a good ship the Walchs may have known that during its last trip to New York five passengers died at sea and six were born. Travel to America was not a sure thing.

The Walchs’ date of departure was Wednesday, February 26, 1851. Passengers were allowed to board ships the night before and lined up to reserve a suitable spot for themselves in steerage. Steerage passengers were housed below deck, usually in and one or two large rooms. Women with children and older people usually shared a dormitory, while men shared another. Often the dormitories were only curtained off as were other sections like toileting areas. Berths were usually three tiers high. And, most passengers brought supplemental food, if they could afford it.

Friends and relatives usually gathered on the dock to say farewell. Often the goodbye parties went on through the night. But this was February, so the goodbyes may have been brief. This was a difficult time. Most people understood that this was the last time they would see their loved ones.

In the early morning after the Vanguard pulled away from the dock, all passengers were required to come on deck for a final health inspection by a government physician. While passenger inspection was taking place, the crew was busy below deck looking for stowaways. Stowaways and ill passengers were removed to a pilot boat before the Vanguard reached the open sea.

The ship’s manifest showed Elizabeth “Walsh”, 30, accompanying James, 3, and Margaret, one year old. There was no charge for children under 12 months old. Stephen “Welsh” is listed in the company of 131 quarrymen from England. Overall, there were 510 passengers on the Vanguard, including 18 children and seven first-class cabin passengers.

The Vanguard arrived in New York City on Monday, April 14, 1851. A New York Times article said that the Vanguard took 47 days to cross and "had light winds all the passage." After they arrived in New York, the Walchs may have taken the train or a coastal boat to their final designation -- Connecticut.

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If you want to get a sense for the dress and conditions of that period as well as the kind of welcome they may have received from New Yorkers, watch the movie “The Gangs of New York.”

The Walchs of Hopwood Street, Liverpool

July 23, 1850, Liverpool England -- Last night there were thunderstorms and heavy rains. Thank God! The rain helped to wash down the grime and the stench of human garbage and waste. They say you get used to the smell if you live here long enough. But on a hot and humid day, like yesterday, the smell is overwhelming. Let's hope a cooler western wind prevails over the Liverpool port today.

We woke up to the cry of our newest cousin, seven-month-old Margaret Walch who was born on the 27th of January of this year. She is called Maggie. Her 2 ½ -year-old brother, Jimmie Walch, also is up and is playing on the floor with a small wooden boat his father made from scrap lumber. This is the Hopwood Street residence of our 2nd Great-Grandparents Stephen Walch and Elizabeth Charnock. They have been living here for at least four years, since 1846 the year they were married in St. Nicholas, the seamen church, which is not far from here.

Our great grandfather Stephen, a stone getter, has already gone off to work. Perhaps his route to the quarry is similar to the one we took last night. As you recall, we walked the 15 miles from Upholland to Liverpool in our new shoes. It was early evening as we turned south on Scotland Road. Scotland Road runs along what once was the old coach route from the town center of Liverpool to the north. The locals call it Scottie Road. As we walked down Scottie, we passed by scores of workshops, pubs, and doss houses (flop houses). The stores and sidewalk merchants were selling goods of every description and kind, including themselves. The road was teeming with people – beggars, hawkers, drunks and people just coming and going.

The narrow side streets are packed with poorly built cramped houses, many of which are crammed into dark courts. Hopwood Street is no exception. Hopwood is about eight blocks long, stretching between Scotland Road and Vauxhall. Three blocks beyond Vauxhall is the port of Liverpool.

The population of Liverpool from 1841 to 1851 skyrocketed to 360,000. This was primarily due to the Irish potato famine of the 1840s. 1847 was the peak year when an estimated 300,000 Irish immigrated. Many went on to America, but many others remained in Liverpool because they could not afford the passage. Irish families are crammed into the nooks, crannies and basements of the houses and tenet buildings between Scotland Road and Vauxhall. As a result, the strip of land between Scottie Road and Vauxhall is said to be the most densely populated land in the civilized world.

The boom creates its own special excitement, but it also fosters cholera and typhus. The proliferation of diseases, the poverty, cold and hunger prompts one health official to declare Liverpool to be the unhealthiest town in England at this time. It is of little wonder that Elizabeth and Stephen Walch are looking for a new place to raise their fledging family.

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Above is a photo (top) taken of the rear of numbers 48-74 Hopwood Street and 1-45 Benledi Street. Notice the latrines below. Another photo (middle) shows a typical court along the strip. Both photos were taken in the 1930s. The street photo (bottom) shows Scotland Road in 1908. Much of the strip described above was razed in the 1960s during urban improvement projects.

The Walchs of Hopwood Street, Liverpool

My brother Jim e-mailed me his homework assignment. He was the only one to respond. But that's not unusual in the family that doesn't cotton to other you know, they had two guys molls a with a people’s expectations. And homework falls in that category. Jim is a possible exception, and perhaps the most conscientious of my siblings. If you recall the assignment was to come up with the name for a bunch of Brach's. His entry is a Rack of Brachs. I like that. It'll allow future generations to pronounce the name properly: Brach rhymes with rack.


The only thing I could think of was a Box of Brachs, in reference to the candy company of the same name. Family members have always wondered if we are related to the “Palace of Sweets” Brachs. Belle (Hodder) Brach, the wife of my Great Granduncle Lou, was perhaps the first in the family to actively pursue that question. Maxine (Brach) Talbert, a granddaughter of Lou Brach, related the following story to me.


When Lou Brach was working for the Grand Trunk Railroad in Chicago in the early 1900s, his wife Belle called upon the founder and president of the company, Emil Brach, at his headquarters in Chicago. Emil, a candy man at heart, graciously escorted them into his office. While the boys sampled candy, Belle and Emil traded family information looking for a connection.
Emil J. Brach was born in 1859 in Schoenwald, Germany. He immigrated with his family at an early age to Des Moines, Iowa. As a young man he ventured off to Chicago, where in 1904 he opened his “Palace of Sweets.” Emil soon outgrew that store and moved to Des Plaines Street on the west side of Chicago in 1906. The fledgling candy company quickly grew to become one of the largest candy companies in America. Emil continued to work in the business until the day of his death in 1947.


After his discussion with Belle, Emil could not say for certain that he was related. But, he reasoned that because both Brach families came from the same part of West Prussia, near Strasbough; that both families used many of the same given names for their children; and, that the Brach name itself was so rare, that the families must be related. In fact, he thought the likelihood was so great that he asked the children to call him “Uncle Jolly” and, now that they were family, to be sure to visit him again.


The following Christmas the family received a package from the Brach candy company. It contained a large box of their finest assorted chocolates. The accompanied greeting was signed “Uncle Jolly.” Every year until his death the family received a box of chocolates at Christmas from Uncle Jolly.


It's of interest to note that Emil agreed that the original German pronunciation was closer to Brack then the pronunciation his company now officially uses – Brach, rhyming with sock. But in most areas of Wayne County, Illinois, where our Brachs settled they still call the candy ‘Brack.’

James Charnock, Engine Tender

Last night we stayed over at Grandpa Jim Charnock’s house on Cinnamon Brow. Out in the kitchen his wife and our 3rd great-grandmother Elizabeth is cooking oatmeal for breakfast. We don't know much about her. We don't even know her last name. She said on several occasions that she was born in Upholland, but there is no marriage record for her in the Saint Thomas the Martyr Church there. That is the only record by which we can obtain her maiden name.

While we puzzle that problem over, let's learn a bit about our surroundings. Our map (attached, double click on photo to enlarge) shows that Cinnamon Brow is located on the south side of Upholland, near a fork in the road. One road leads down to the village proper, the other up on Cinnamon Brow. The cluster of homes up the ridge is where we are this morning. Now let’s learn more about Upholland from a tourist guide. Again we will use John Marius Wilson’s Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72) as a guide:

“UPHOLLAND is a township, village and ecclesiastical district in the parish of Wigan and Hundred of West Derby, four miles west from Wigan. The church is dedicated to Thomas a-Becket, and dates from the 14th century. It was formerly attached to a priory of Benedictines. There are registers from A.D. 1600. The living is of the annual value of £299. The Rev. F. D. Cremer has been recently appointed to the living. There are chapels for Wesleyans and Primitive Methodists. The village is situated near the summit and centre of the ridge of which Billinge and Ashurst Beacons are the termini, and there is the same extensive view. Lord Skelmersdale is Lord of the Manor. Here is a grammar school dating from 1668.” Another tourist of the time simply described Upholland as a charming village.

Our Grandpa Jim Charnock was up early this morning and already walked to work. Let's catch up with him. His job as engine tender requires that he be among the first men to come to work. The new work rules laid down by Parliament in 1857 required that “The engine tender shall always be at his engine in sufficient time before the hour fixed for the colliers [coalminers] to commence work, to enable him to have his engine ready to start, and to let down the person whose duty it may be to examine the state of the workings previously to the pit commencing work, and shall, before letting any person down, examine carefully the winding gear, and run the rope or chain once up and down the shaft ; and shall not permit more than eight persons to ascend or descend at the same time, nor let any person down the pit, in the absence of a banksman, nor leave the hand-gears whilst men are ascending or descending, except in case of immediate and urgent necessity,” (Rule: 5).

The overall responsibility of the engine tender was to move miners up-and-down the mineshaft safely; and a banksman was employed to help him do so. The banksman used flags connected to ropes and pulleys to signal the engine tender when the elevator was reaching the bottom of the shaft. Reaching the bottom safely was not a given in mines at that time, more than once elevators full of miners plunged to their deaths on the mine floor because either the signal or elevator mechanics didn't work properly. That is why we're only watching Grandpa Charnock from outside the engine house. “The engine tender shall not, except by special authority, allow any working collier or other person to be in the engine house for any purpose, nor without such authority shall he leave his engine in the charge of any other person,” (Rule: 7). While it might be tempting to say there was no Bring Your Son to Work Day for James, two of his sons William and John became engine tenders as well.

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James Charnock died on Cinnamon Brow on February 14, 1857 at age 67. He died of bronchitis, which had been in an acute phase for five months. His wife Elizabeth died on Cinnamon Brow on May 26, 1867 at the age of 76. She died of hepatitis, which was under treatment for 10 days. Her certificate of death, which I incidentally received today, describes her as the widow of James Charnock, a master shoemaker. It appears that James had more than one occupation. And we will leave it at that for now.

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After an exhausting day at the mine, let’s walk in our new shoes 15 miles west to the city of Liverpool. We can rest up there before we tag along with Elizabeth Charnock and Stephen Walch on their journey to America.

The Charnocks of Cinnamon Brow

When I received Elizabeth Charnock’s marriage certificate, I was not surprised to find that her father’s name was James. While there were other Charnocks in the Wigan area, I suspected James, simply because she named her oldest child James and there was a likely James about. The tendency for children to name one of their children after their parents was more common back then. Perhaps it had something to do with fewer public records and heredity rights. In any case, I later found that James also named his first born after his father, Edward.

I also found that the James Charnock family did not live in Wigan, but 4 miles northwest in the town of Upholland. The 1841 census taker reported that the Charnocks lived in the “Village of Cinnamon Brow” on the outskirts of Upholland. But the census taker was being generous in his designation for the “Village” of Cinnamon Brow contained only five homes. The census of 1851 and all future censuses list Cinnamon Brow as part of Upholland, which it still is today. Incidentally, the word Brow refers to the crown or high point of a hill; the English use it in much the same way that we use the word Ridge in the United States.

It is fortunate that the Charnocks lived in Upholland because the parish of St. Thomas the Martyr was one of the first to go online with their baptismal, marriage, and burial records. Through baptismal records we learn that James and his wife Elizabeth had nine children: Edward, Mary, our Elizabeth, George, James, Anne, Ellen, Charlotte, and Henry – the last two being twins.

The St. Thomas records also reveal that James Charnock was baptized in Upholland on August 15, 1790. He was the son of Edward Charnock, who in turn was born in Upholland and was the son of Edward Charnock, Sr. Both Edwards worked as “husbandmen” or, as more commonly referred to today, as farmers. The first St. Thomas Church record for the family was the baptism of Edward’s son John in 1737, which means the family was residing in or near Upholland by at least that date. Edward, Sr. would eventually father 8 children and his son Edward, Jr. had 11 of his own.

We don’t know where the Edward Charnocks lived prior to Upholland, but like all Charnocks they obtained their surname from either Charnock Richard or Heath Charnock, which are two settlements 7 and 11 miles northeast of Upholland, respectively. The name itself is thought to have derived from the Celtic carn from ‘cairn’, a pile of stones raised as a boundary marker or a memorial.

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We will return to Cinnamon Brow in the next blog. I've been asked to keep these blogs short -- so I will. But before I go let me leave you with this inanity: when I was writing this blog I wanted to say there were a lot of Charnocks living in the area. I was looking for a dressier word than ‘lot,’ but less pretentious than a ‘plethora’ of Charnocks. Then it hit me - if a group of steers are called a herd, what should a group of Charnocks be called? Answer: a Pile of Charnocks. Cute, huh? Why stop there? Question: What is a group of Walchs called? A Pod of Walchs – coming from Wales. A Flock of Storks is easy. And, so is a Fleet of DeFords. Your homework for tonight: What is a group of Brachs called?

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Lineage: Edward Charnock, Sr., Edward, Jr., James, Elizabeth, William F. Walch, Stephen F. Walch

Peter Walch, Quarryman - Family History

I was surprised to learn that Peter Walch was the name of my 3rd great-grandfather. I think of Peter as a name frequented more by the Roman Catholic than the Protestant English. I was glad at least in one regard - its rarity might help in researching the Walch name. The surname Walch, like Walsh and Welch, is a variation of Welsh, which simply means that a person originated from Wales. Walch is the least common among the variations but when taken together the surname is the most common in the British Isles. Researching this name is very difficult.

So what has my research revealed since learning his name? I found only one Peter Walch in the online databases that fit his estimated years of birth, occupation and locale. In the 1851 English census, we find: Peter Walsh, 55, a quarryman, born about 1796 in “Writington,” Lancashire, England. He was residing in Aspulll Township in the Registration District of Wigan. His wife is not listed and is presumed dead, but he is living with his daughters - 15-year-old Mary and 10-year-old Ellen, both born in “Writington.” There is no Writington, England, but there is a Wrightington near Wigan and my guess is that Writington was a misspelling.

This is what we learned from John Marius Wilson’s Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72): “WRIGHTINGTON, a township-chapelry in Eccleston parish, Lancashire; at Appleby-Bridge r. station, and 4 miles NW of Wigan. It has a post-office under Wigan. Acres, 3,876. Real property, £7,423; of which £41 are in quarries. Pop., 1,618. Houses, 305. W. Hall is the seat of T. Dicconson, Esq.; and Harrock Hall, of Mrs. Bolton. The living is a p. curacy in the diocese of Manchester. Value, £128. Patron, the Rector of Eccleston. The church was built in 1857. There are Independent, Primitive Methodist, and Roman Catholic chapels”

Is this the right Peter Walch? My guess is that he most likely is. Only further research will tell. Currently there is a project in Lancashire County in which the parishes are putting historic birth, marriage and death records online. When the churches in the Ecclestone parish go online in the next few years perhaps we will be able to prove this family line.

I learned more about stone getters, Peter’s occupation listed in his son's marriage certificate. It comes from the website of the John Wainwright/Moons Hill Quarry. The history they give is more recent than Peter's time in the quarry, given the jackhammers were not available then. But still, I think there is enough in common to give us insight into the labor of our ancestor:

“At the quarry face, stone getters worked in gangs varying in numbers from two to four, each gang being responsible for its own particular "piece" to work, the method of working the stone was simple, but arduous. Each gang undertook its own blasting, breaking and haulage within the quarry. The removal and excavation of a face was affected by a form of benching system employing relatively short holes drilled by a hand-held jack hammer or wagon type machinery. The fireman responsible for boring and firing would use black grain powder, which was poured into the drill and well bedded with the fuse. The fuse was sometimes simply wheat straw filled with a similar explosive, damped to give a slow burning rate. Following the blasting, the loose stone was barred down by the fireman, broken or crushed with hand tools by the gang and loaded into skips, drums or drays which were then pushed on narrow gauge light rail tracks or hauled by horses to loading bays within the quarry. Little or no secondary crushing of the stone took place. Where the stone was required for road purposes the material was stacked into lay-bys outside the quarry or at other prearranged places until required for use, when it was further crushed down by the roadmen into sizes for road works.

It is of interest to note that every quarry man had to provide his own tools, whether sledges, bars or shovels and was even required to pay for all explosives used by the gang.”


This is the ancestral extent to which the Walch surname line has been researched. In the next few blogs we will learn about the Charnock family and follow Elizabeth and Stephen Walch to New York and their children across America.

Getters & Takers - Walch Family History

The General Registry Office recently sent me the marriage certificate for my 2nd Great-Grandparents, Stephen Walch and Elizabeth Charnock. They were married on the 23rd of November 1846 in The Church of Our Lady & St. Nicholas With St. Anne in England. That would be a fitting name for the Church of the Indecisive, but it is instead the sailors’ church at the main port of Liverpool. It was extensively damaged by bombs in World War II but has been reconstructed to look much like the church in which our ancestors were united.

The marriage certificate was important for several reasons. Not only is it the gold standard “proof” that genealogist seek, but more importantly we discover for the first time the names of the couple’s fathers: James Charnock and Peter Walch, (although on the certificate it was spelled ‘Walsh’). Another important proof is Elizabeth’s use of the surname Laithwaite and her designation as a widow. Further research shows that Elizabeth was previously married three years before to John Laithwaite, a young coal miner.

One of the more interesting fields of information on the certificate is Occupation. James Charnock was an “Engineer,” which later research would clarify him to be an Engine Tender at a colliery. I am not positive what this occupation entailed but it was part of a coal mine operation, most likely operating steam engine elevator lifts and the like.

The occupations for Stephen and Peter Walch were the same – “Stone Getters.” I know that Stephen worked as a stone cutter for most of his life, but the word “getter” was puzzling. It became clearer after I read George Orwell’s The Road to Wigan Pier (1937). This is a free Google book which can be read in its entirety online. I perused it to familiarize myself with Wigan, a town in Lancashire County, England, west of Liverpool. It was the town in which Elizabeth Charnock was first married, and therefore the likely parish of her parents. I wanted to get a sense for the daily life in the area. But the book written almost 90 years later, portrayed the average life in Wigan as one of subsistence living in an environmentally polluted town. Due to the popularity of the book, Wigan became a national symbol in England for the over industrialized town.

Orwell also wrote extensively about the work of miners, and at one point describes the literal cutting edge of the operation. In a dark and dust filled opening and with ceilings of only three to four feet high, miners knelt side by side ramming their shovels in the coal face then tossing the coal over their shoulders. In a hot mine they worked nude except for knee pads and they worked continuously for seven hours with only a brief 15 minute lunch break, which they ate where they paused. This was the most laborious and dangerous work of the coal operation. These men, covered in coal dust and sweat, were called the “getters.”


I later learned that “getters” in a quarry served in the same capacity. They were the men who loosened stones at the quarry face with chisels and dynamite. Their work too was the most laborious and dangerous and, thus, like the miners, the highest paid.


The word getters in this context made me think of Daniel Quinn’s “takers.” In his book Ishmael (1992) Quinn divides humankind into the Takers and Leavers. Takers believe "the world was made for man, and man was made to rule it. In this context, the gods gave man two choices: a brief but glorious life or an uneventful life in obscurity. I would guess that we are all takers at some level of our existence, but I like to think that takers refers primarily to the capital-T Takers, or the truly wealthy whose greater existence depends on the number getters under their control.

Most of our ancestors have been getters in one form or another: farmers, lumberjacks, fishermen, quarrymen, and factory assembly men. Even social workers are getters, according to my old economics professor. He called us the ambulance drivers and the stretcher barriers of the capitalist system.

And what is Quinn's prescription for a sustainable world in the new millennium: "The story of Genesis must be undone.” The world was not made for humankind. You are not the endpoint of evolution. “This is essential if you're to survive. The Leavers [cultures more in harmony with nature] are the endangered species most critical to the world- not because they're humans but because they alone can show the destroyers of the world that there is more than one right way to live. And then, of course, you must spit out the fruit of the forbidden tree. You must absolutely and forever relinquish the idea that you know who should live and who should die on this planet."