Re: Melvilles from Scotland
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In reply to:
Re: Melvilles from Scotland
Emily Pratt 6/21/11
Is that the Freehold, NJ in Marmouth county? If so, I would contact the county/ township Historical societies. As Marmouth was a major historical battle in the Revolutionary War. Looks like the township was established about 1693, and incorporated around 1798 by the New Jersey Legislature. You might also try for information from the state historical society. It has been often helpful to me to look at what was happening during a specific time frame to try to figure out where people might have been. During that period, when people married, they had a kind of 'marriage contract", which was usually kept in the church they were married in. "Bans" were usually posted prior to marriage, which would give the names of the bride and groom and generally their parents. Likely there weren't a lot of churches around (maybe church of England?) , but you might check to see what are the oldest churches in Freehold, and if they might have records, or they might know who does. you would be pretty surprised how folks keep track of that kind of history.
If he had land in Freehold, there would be some kind of "deed" or document that defined its ownership, and that might be at the local historical society (they like to keep that stuff for, well, historical purposes), and most likely some kind of will.
If you have his descendents names, it may be helpful to kind of work backwards, through wills, marriages and land documents. pretty time consuming, but a fascinating trip through history.
Ask yourself why he may have been sold into indenture? There would likely have been a contract of sorts. Indentures were for a limited time (sometimes to pay for passage) and, after the period was finished, had some sort of guarantees of land and property in exchange. If his land was in Freehold, likely his employer was fairly close by. Look at who established the township, there should be records of their servants, possibly listed as "property".
As far as the ship goes, you might see if you can find where it came /from/ as well as where it landed. ships manifests of that period often list passengers, but not crews. and even if he was traveling as an indentured servant, he was most likely listed. I think Rootsweb might have some kind of ship listing, or at least a link. and I'm pretty sure that Ancestry does, also try Cyndi's lists.
you can access census lists through Heritage Quest, but the ones that far back are really pretty sketchy, if they exist at all. they were all hand written (naturally) and copied several times over. there were copies sent to the "town seat", maybe one or two sent to the state government (and keep in mind there was no actual "state" at the time), and probably one or two sent off to England. They are more or less a head count. They can tell you a name sometimes, but not much more. They are a good compass point, but not always very helpful.
Another thing to think about might be the 'circumstances" of his marriage. Girls didn't just up and marry so much back then. he would likely have already been an established land holder. if he wasn't then he would have had to have some kind of permission from his employer to marry...and she would have had to have permission from her male relative. possibly she could have been another bond servant?
Maiden names in the US are not especially impossible to find..but it can be challenging. and it frequently has a lot to do with the establishing cultures. some did not change thier maiden names, some did. some of the native american cultures simply didn't have a "maiden name" and thier actual names were anglicized. It is a trip. Good luck!