Gathering Roots

James Arthur Rushby (1869-1923)

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to reflect further research and information from extended family. Originally, we reported that James Arthur married Betsey Ellis in England and emigrated to America. This is true. However, we have discovered that was not his first and only marriage. We have rewritten portions of the story below to include James’ first marriage and additional children that remained behind in England. As always, please let us know if you know something we don’t!

James Arthur RUSHBY was born in August of 1869 in Fulstow, Lincolnshire, England. He was the oldest child of William and Naomi (CRAGGS) RUSHBY. His father was a machine maker who had also been born in Fulstow to John and Mary (LARDER) RUSHBY; his mother was born in nearby Tetford, about 20 miles away, to James and Eliza (BASNIP) CRAGGS.[1] Both families go back in that region many generations.

Situated on the coast of in the Eastern Midlands of England, Lincolnshire is a rural area – the nearest large town would be Nottingham in the Midlands, then Leeds. Fulstow, and the surrounding towns, are listed in the 1086 Domesday survey. This survey was done at the behest of William the Conqueror to record the value of land, resources, and labour forces. It was the first and only survey of its kind until the Modern Domesday in 1873.[2] In 1901, the Times newspaper referred to Fulstow as “Britain’s most lawless village” due to the drunken violence and self-policing nature of the community. People from this region refer to themselves as “Fulstownians.” As it is remote, it is scarcely populated and not a busy tourist destination.[3]

James lived in Fulstow with his parents and his aunt – his mother’s sister Belinda CRAGGS, age 13 – in a house on Church Thorpe Road.[4] In summer of 1874 his sister Annie was born, followed by his brother William in 1876.

By the 1881 England Census, James’s father, mother and siblings lived at 30 Yarborough Street in Grimsby.[5] James was living in Fulstow on Chapel House Road with his paternal grandparents, John and Mary RUSHBY, and his aunt Fanny.[6] Meanwhile, his aunt Belinda had moved home with her parents to act as a nurse to her mother who had been paralyzed 4 years earlier.[7] There is no documentation as to why James loved to his grandparents’ home, but we can gather that he likely remained in Fulstow to continue his education while his parents stayed on in Grimsby for work. Grimsby was the second largest town in Lincolnshire; a fishing community that supplied one tenth of all fish consumed in the United Kingdom originated in the area.[8]

In January of 1883, James’ mother Naomi died at the age of 36. In July of 1884, William remarried Hannah (Anna) Jane LILLEY. Just a few years prior, Hannah had been living in Bourton on the Water, Gloucestershire, working as the lady’s maid for Maria Carnac, the wealthy daughter of the chairman to the East India Company, and her three children: Arthur (a Roman Catholic priest), Henrietta, and Anna. According to John Henry Carnac, in his Notes on the Family Rivett-Carnac, “Henrietta (Missy) and Anna Maria (Nana) did not marry and lived together where … ‘their Pug ruled the roost.’”[9] James’ new mother came to the new family at the age of 29. Over the years, William and Hannah’s union would give James five more half siblings – Fred (b. 1887), Tom (b. 1889), Fanny (b. 1892), Jack (b. 1895), and Harry (b. 1899, died at 6 months).

In 1889, James registered to marry.[10] This author had assumed that registration led to the marriage of James and Betsey. However, further research has led to the marriage record of James and Sarah Ann LEARY. James and Sarah Ann (b. 1869) were married on November 25, 1889, in Louth. They can be found living as a married couple with their one-year-old son James on the 1871 England Census in the town of Great Grimsby.[11] James, just 21 at the time, was listed as a bicycle maker. Also in 1891, a Betsy ELLIS was living in Great Grimsby with her family.[12]

Betsy was the youngest daughter of Joseph ELLIS, a groom, and Ann DRURY. Her mother died when she was just four years old. Her siblings – William (b. 1856), George (b. 1859), Water (b. 1862), Thomas (b. 1864) and Ann (b. 1866) – were out of the home before she was ten years old. She grew up in a home about 4 miles from Sarah Ann LEARY.

At some point during this, presumably around 1892, as that was when they reported being married on the 1900 U.S. Census, James Arthur RUSHBY and Elizabeth “Betsey” ELLIS were married. The exact marriage date for James and Betsey is not registered, only that of James and Sarah. That December, Betsy’s father died. We can speculate that perhaps James married Betsy before her father passed away to “legitimize” the child on its way.

On February 25, 1893, James and Betsy delivered their first child, a son they named Joseph Henry.[13] He was born in Grimsby, likely in the new hospital which sat on a site in the West Marsh area. The hospital opened in 1877, and a new ward had just been built in 1885.[14] 

It seems that during the period of the 1890s James continued to maintain both marriages. In June of 1895, James became the father of a daughter, Lillian, with his first wife Sarah.
In October of 1896 James and Betsey welcomed another son, Harold, nicknamed “Hap.”[15] In August of 1897, Sarah LEARY RUSHBY bore James another son, William.

In 1898 James and Betsey decided to emigrate to America, and they sailed on the S.S. Californian out of Liverpool on September 9, 1898, captained by John Brown and destined for Quebec. The ship arrived in Quebec on September 17.[16]

The James and Betsey’s first daughter, Elsie Stella, was born in Montreal on July 2, 1899.  Before June of the following year the family had emigrated south to Clinton County, New York. They were living in the town of Ausable, renting a home in Ausable Chasm.[17] James’ occupation is listed in the 1900 census as being a “machinist” and his neighbors are pulp mill machinists and laborers, specifically, so the family was likely living very near the Ausable River Chasm for the work.  The Grand Canyon of the east, in the late 1800s the Ausable River was used both as transportation and for powering paper and grist mills.[18]

Son Albert Edward was born in 1902 in Ausable, and baptized, the following year, on September 4, 1903 at the First Congregational Church in neighboring Keesville. James Arthur was also baptized in the same ceremony with his son.[19] In April of 1904, son Theodore Roy “Cork” was born.

Meanwhile, in England, the family that James left behind was split up. His wife, Sarah, took her youngest children – Lillian and William – and went home to live with her parents in Clee, where her father was the town postman.[20] Eldest son James Jr. went to live with the RUSHBYs – he is on the 1901 census living in Fulstow with his grandmother Mary and his uncle William, James Arthur’s younger brother, who was an Evangelical minister.[21]

In 1905 the American RUSHBY family had briefly migrated south to the suburbs of the state capitol and were living at 311 Jacob Street, Troy Ward 4, in Rensselaer County.[22]  However, they were back in Essex County for the births of sons William George “Buster” and Walter Thomas “Bip” born around 1907 and 1910.

By 1910 the family was again living to the south of Ausable Chasm, now residing on Plank Road in the town of Chesterfield. James was working as a machinist in an Iron Ore Mine, and his son Joseph – now 17 – was working as a pressman at a pulp mill. At this census it is worth noting that Betsey reports she has birthed 9 total children as of 1910, but only 7 are living and listed on this census – Joseph, Harold, Elsie, Albert, Theodore, William and Walter. [23] There is no record to indicate what gender the other children were, or when they were born, but we know that it was sometime after the 1900 census. In July of 1911, Albert Edward died at the age of 9.[24]

In 1911, James’ son with his first wife, Sarah (William, age 13), was reported in The Daily Telegraph of London as being part of a juvenile crime wave – he was charged with breaking and entering and given six strokes of the birch rod as punishment.

He is listed later that year on the registry of the Humber Industrial Schoolship “Southampton” as an “inmate” schoolboy. This ship, docked at Sculcoates in Hull, was one of several used in the late 1800s and early 1900s, to educate persistently truant or criminal children. Boys trained aboard the ship often went on to merchant service, or joined the Royal Navy. Also, in 1911, James – the oldest son – is listed as a boarder in the same area, Sculcoates, working as an engineer at sea. Lillian and Sarah Ann remained in Clee. In this census, however, Sarah Ann lists herself as a widow, likely because she has given up on James Arthur returning to the family; no death record exists for James in England. Sarah died in December of 1912 at the age of 43.

James and Betsey moved the family to Moriah, NY sometime prior to 1915.[25] In 1916, their eldest son, Joseph living in Port Henry, would marry Mabel Reed in Ticonderoga, just after Christmas 1916.[26] The Rushby’s only daughter, Elsie, married Peter Dragoon in early 1918.

Joseph and Mabel RUSHBY did not have long to build their new home after marrying in late 1916. Mabel became pregnant the following year and gave birth on April 26, 1918, to a baby girl the couple named Marion. Two weeks later, on May 9, Mabel died, likely from childbirth complications. A little more than year later, in November 1919, Joseph remarried to Ethel Mae BOLTON in the Baptist Parsonage in the Brant Lake town of Horicon and they immediately began building their family. Meanwhile, Marion RUSHBY lived with her grandparents, the REEDs, in Moriah, taking their name. She died at the age of 26 and was buried next to her mother.

James and Betsey continued to live in Moriah. In 1920, the family lived in a rented home on Back Road. Theodore, William and Walter remain at home.[27] Next door were Elsie and Peter and their newborn daughter, Helen. Joseph and Ethel would welcome, and then lose, a son in September of 1920. In 1922, both Joseph’s wife, Ethel, and Elsie were blessed with daughters – Eleanor and Rita. In December of 1923, James was in Middlebury, VT, driving with family and friends when he suffered a cerebral hemorrhage while driving.

James’s cause of death was a combination of Uremic Chronic Nephritis and Cerebral Hemorrhage. He was 53 years old.[28] He left his wife, five sons, one daughter, and three granddaughters. The family remained close – Elsie and her husband and children moved into the home with Betsey and the boys for a time. 

James Arthur RUSHBY is buried in the Moriah Union Cemetery in Essex County, New York.[29] His second wife, Betsey, lived another 38 years and died in 1961. She is buried beside him. Their son William died young at age 41 and is also buried here.[30] “Buster,” a Detective in the Yonkers Police Department, married and had no children.[31] James and Betsey’s daughter, Elsie, and granddaughters, Helen and Rita, and their sons Theodore – young “Cork” the first born in the United States, who had gone on to be in the U.S. Navy in World War II – and Walter “Bip” and his wife are also buried in Moriah Union Cemetery.[32]

James’ family that remained in England continued to grow. His daughter, Lillian, married and lived many years in the same part of England. His eldest son, James Jr., married in 1915 and joined the Royal Navy. In 1939 he was admitted to Anlaby Road Hospital “incapacitated” and died two years later at the age of 50 of multiple sclerosis.[33] He left no children.

His youngest son, William, joined the Royal Navy. In 1918 he was married in Dun Laoghaire, Ireland, south of Dublin.[35]  William had 8 children, but would not live to meet his grandchildren. William was working as a lead fireman aboard the S.S. Isolda in 1940. The Isolda was a lightship tender owned by the Commissioners of Irish Lights registered in Dublin – a ship that carried supplies and facilitated crew changes to lightships at sea.  At 9 a.m. on December 19, 1940, the ship headed out to sea for the Coningbeg Lightship.[36] She was attacked and bombed by a German aircraft three miles out at sea. William died in the bombing.

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Footnotes

[1] Census Returns of England and Wales, 1871. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK (TNA): Public Record Office (PRO), 1871.

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domesday_Book

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulstow

[4] Census Returns of England and Wales, 1871. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK (TNA): Public Record Office (PRO), 1871.

[5] Census Returns of England and Wales, 1881, Class: RG11; Piece: 3271; Folio: 79; Page: 26; GSU roll: 1341780. http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=uki1881&h=12822004&ti=0&indiv=try&gss=pt

[6] Census Returns of England and Wales, 1881, Class: RG11; Piece: 3266; Folio: 112; Page: 20; GSU roll: 1341779

[7] 1881 England Census; Class: RG11; Piece: 3266; Folio: 112; Page: 20; GSU roll: 1341779; Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

[8] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grimsby

[9] https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Davis-37917

[10] England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1837-1915

[11] The National Archives of the UK (TNA); Kew, Surrey, England; Census Returns of England and Wales, 1891; Class: RG12; Piece: 2612; Folio: 120; Page: 2; GSU roll: 6097722

[12] Ibid

[13] The National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; World War II Draft Cards (Fourth Registration) for the State of New York; Record Group Title: Records of the Selective Service System, 1926-1975; Record Group Number: 147; Box or Roll Number: 526

[14] Grimsby: Making the Town, Alan Dowling; https://slha.org.uk/photogallery/index.php?thislocation=Grimsby

[15] U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942

[16] https://www.norwayheritage.com/p_ship.asp?sh=calig

[17] Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1900; Census Place: Ausable, Clinton, New York; Roll: 1018; Page: 12; Enumeration District: 0003

[18] https://considerthesourceny.org/activity/boating-Ausable-chasm-c-1900

[19] Presbyterian Historical Society; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; U.S., Presbyterian Church Records, 1701-1907; Accession Number: 111101 63g 2

[20] 1901 England Census; Lincolnshire, Great Grimsby, Clee; Piece 3093/Folio 75; Page 23; Household 155

[21] 1901 England Census; Lincolnshire, Louth, Tetney, Fulstow; Piece Class: RG13; Piece: 3087; Folio: 84; Page: 4

[22] New York State Archives; Albany, New York; State Population Census Schedules, 1905; Election District: E.D. 03; City: Troy Ward 04; County: Rensselaer; Page: 24

[23] 1910; Census Place: Chesterfield, Essex, New York; Page: 10a; Enumeration District: 0039.http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1910uscenindex&h=17206503&ti=0&indiv=try&gss=pt

[24] New York Department of Health; Albany, NY; NY State Death Index

[25] http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1915nystatecensus&h=11557444&ti=0&indiv=try&gss=pt

[26] The Post-Star; Publication Date: 29/ Dec/ 1916; Publication Place: Glens Falls, New York, USA; URL: https://www.newspapers.com/image/442257242/?article=22da4113-2165-41a7-87ce-7467b3a9e756&focus=0.5724797,0.84245056,0.70582443,0.9646081&xid=3398

[27] Year: 1920; Census Place: Moriah, Essex, New York; Roll: T625_1111; Page: 2A; Enumeration District: 53

[28] Vermont Death Records, 1909-2003. Vermont State Archives and Records Administration, Montpelier, Vermont.

[29] https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/152632780/james-rushby

[30] https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/66555/moriah-union-cemetery

[31] The Lake Placid News, July 27, 1951, Page 6

[32] https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/66555/moriah-union-cemetery

[33] The National Archives; Kew, London, England; 1939 Register; Reference: Rg 101/3143g

[35] Ireland, Civil Registration Marriages Index, 1845-1958

[36] https://www.mariner.ie/isolda/; https://coastmonkey.ie/ss-isolda-1940/