John Watkins WILCE b. 1841 (General)

by wilcer, Saturday, August 29, 2009, 22:20 (5639 days ago) @ admin

Slowhands,

I believe we should make John Watkins WILCE the starting point. Now can you tell us more of how you obtained his birth year and the date he arrived in the US? Who came with John to the US? Was he married and did he have any children at that time?

I have his exact birth date only from the notes of my grandfather James MacLynn Wilce Sr.'s phone conversation with his cousin Bob Desmond, a professor at UC Berkeley, on 5 Jul 1981 in Ruardean. Bob gave his birth date as 13 Aug 1841. FreeBMD does confirm that he was born between July and September of 1841:

Name: John Watkins Wilce
Year of Registration: 1841
Quarter of Registration: Jul-Aug-Sep
District: Ross
County: Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Hereford and Worcester
Volume: 26
Page: 201

He went to the U.S. twice, according to Bob's research: alone in 1867, to New York, where he worked as a stonecutter for a year before returning to Oxford in 1868 and marrying Elizabeth Grubb 26 Mar 1869 at New Road Baptist Church in Oxford. They returned to the U.S. together in April 1869, this time to Chicago, where JWW worked as a stonecutter again. Elizabeth, however, had relatives in Milwaukee, so she talked him into moving there (Bob Desmond says) in 1873. He remained there until his death in 1929.

Confirmation of these details given by Bob Desmond, as much as I could find, is as follows:

You found a record of Thos. Wilce arriving on the Queen to New York in 1867, correct? I see the passenger listing you mean, on 10 Apr. I can't find a passenger list for The Queen on 28 Apr 1867, but the clipping I have, from the New York Times 29 Apr 1867, p. 8, says "J. Wilce" arrived on that steamship from Liverpool on 28 April, along with Mrs. Auch, Mrs. Buckell and daughter, Mr. Bridgall, Mr. Moreley, Mr. Shaw, Mr. Robinson, Mr. Barber, Mr. Stevens, Messrs. J. and Henry Allaway, E. Burke, and 723 in the steerage.

Censuses of 1900 and 1910 in Milwaukee also list JWW's arrival date as 1867.

I don't have a confirmation of his return to England in 1868, but FreeBMD does list his marriage sometime between January and March of 1869:

Name: John Wilce
Year of Registration: 1869
Quarter of Registration: Jan-Feb-Mar
District: Oxford
County: Berkshire, Oxfordshire
Volume: 3a
Page: 746 (click to see others on page)

I also can't find a confirmation of their return together to the States in Apr 1869.

I do have copies of the certificates wherein he renounced his allegiance to Victoria Queen of Great Britain and Ireland and declared his intent to become a citizen of the U.S., sworn 1 Feb 1870 before the clerk of the Milwaukee County Circuit Court, and of his petition for citizenship, sworn 19 Feb 1892 before the Milwaukee County Municipal Court, both stating that he "emigrated to the United States, and landed at the Port of New York on or about the month of April in the year eighteen hundred and sixty seven." In the latter, interestingly, he had to swear "that he ha[d] never borne any hereditary title, or been of any of the orders of nobility in the kingdom whence he came or elsewhere."

I believe they must have stayed for some time with Elizabeth's relatives in Milwaukee before moving to Chicago, as the 1870 census shows them in Milwaukee on 16 Jul:

Name: John Wilce
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1841
Age in 1870: 29
Birthplace: England
Home in 1870: Milwaukee Ward 4, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Race: White
Gender: Male
Post Office: Milwaukee
Household Members:
Name Age
John Wilce 29
Elizabeth Wilce 27
Richard Collens 25
Mary Collens 30
Amy Collens 1

I don't know if the Collenses were in some way related to the Grubbses.

Although they were by this point older by the standard of the times, they did not have their first child until 1871 (Elizabeth Wilce, b. 1871, d. 1872, no record yet). Their second child, Lillian Amy Wilce, was born 22 Dec 1872 in Illinois, according to her death record in California:

Name: Lillian Amy Desmond
[Lillian Amy Wilce]
Social Security #: 0
Sex: FEMALE
Birth Date: 22 Dec 1872
Birthplace: Illinois
Death Date: 21 Jun 1959
Death Place: Alameda
Mother's Maiden Name: Grubb
Father's Surname: Wilce

So they must have spent some time in Illinois, at least.

Elizabeth died due to complications of childbirth, I believe, as there was an unnamed child born and died 3 Jan 1884:

Birth Record Details
Last Name: Wilce
First Name: Unnamed Female
Day: 03
Month: January
Year: 1884
County: Milwaukee
Reel: 0153
Record: 002406

Death Record Details
Last Name: Wilce
First Name:
Day: 03
Month: January
Year: 1884
County: Milwaukee
Reel: 061
Volume: 04
Page: 0013
Image: 0340
Index Vol: 02
Sequence #: 419102;

and she died 6 Jan 1844 in Milwaukee:

Death Record Details
Last Name: Wilce
First Name: Mrs Elizabeth
Day: 06
Month: January
Year: 1884
County: Milwaukee
Reel: 061
Volume: 04
Page: 0013
Image: 0340
Index Vol: 02
Sequence #: 419103

I could continue (other children of John & Elizabeth, second marriage to Rosetta, birth of my great-grandfather, etc.) but think I'll spare you all!

Thanks for your help, and for encouraging me to get all the facts straight. My family has also been very helpful, and I've received packages of certificates, clippings and notes from two cousins in the last few months.

Best,

Bekah