Part 88s – Smith Records – 1815 GG-Grandfather James Smith

Morning again,

And following on the heels of his older sister, gg-grandaunt Eley Smith, I was to locate in the same Parish Register of St. George the baptism entry for great-great-grandfather James Smith. From the microfilm FHL[1523656], Anglican Church Parish Records, 1784-1971.

You know this genealogy thing at times can be really strange. I know my name is Jim, James Smith, and before I started this lifetime project I never knew that I had two grandfathers also named James; ggg- and gg-grandfathers James. But my name James is not of a family tradition, that is, of naming the eldest son of the eldest son. I was named for my uncle James Robertson, my mother's Brother Jimmy. (See my posting on May 25, 2009.) The discovery of my two grandfathers, with the same name, albeit the most common name in the English language, ties me to both lines of my ancestry; Smith and Robertson.

Sources: Parish of St. George, Anglican Church, Grenada 

and Family History Library

Examining the baptismal entry for gg-grandfather James and with today's PC software tools available, I have been able to clean the page up somewhat.

As you can see from the age of the original document, from 1815, 194 years ago, the page which was microfilmed is in good condition. From the newer softwares, and using a gamma function, allows me to reduce the amount of visible bleeding from the back page which was a part of the actual filmed copy. A contrast function then helps me to highlight the part of the document that I want to read and transcribe.

My transcription of the last entry on the page is as follows –

222?

A.D 1815

1282

James son of James Smith and of Mary Anne Doral born 20^th of March 1815 and Baptised 23^d of April 1815

Sponsors

Louis Grenade
Elizabeth Grenade
Martha _____

Francis McMahon

If you compare this baptism entry to the one made in 1814 for gg-grandaunt Eley Smith, you'll notice that gg-grandmother Mary Ann's name is entered somewhat differently. ( See Part 87s.) In 1814, it is Mary Ann Doret, and in the above one of 1815 it is what appears to be Mary Anne Doral. In both cases the person who made the entries appears to be the same, Francis McMahon.

A new question comes to mind regarding the two of the names of the sponsors: Louis Grenade and Elizabeth Grenade. Based on the discovery of the name of "my Sister Betsey La Grenade" as written in ggg-grandfather James' Last Will and Testament, entered 21 February 1843, (see Part 61s), and the possibility that "Betsey" could be a diminutive form of Elizabeth, could this Elizabeth Grenade be gg-grandfather James' aunt and his father's sister? And then the next question… Is the sponsor Louis Grenade her husband? Something to think about…

Enjoy,

Jim