Everything must go: Walter Humphry sells out and sets sail

Walter Humphry
1788-1869

Often I find myself researching so many facets of the family tree at once that I feel manic. I can't focus on one thing, one story, one person, one branch long enough to make a difference. Other times, I find myself so laser focused on an individual or family group that it consumes me. It's all I can think about. I want to know every last detail about his or her life.

This week, that person is Walter Humphry, my fifth great grandfather.

Walter was born in Cornwall, England, in 1788 and came to the U.S. in 1849 with his wife, Ann (Truscott) Humphry, and his children. My fourth great grandmother, Frances (Humphry) Foxwell, was 16 at the time. The Humphry family settled in Illyria Township, Fayette County, Iowa, where many of the deepest roots of my family tree are planted. They are both buried in the Illyria Church cemetery and I have been to their gave, touched the headstone, and paid my respects.

Walter died in 1869, but Ann lived on to 1888, reaching the venerable age of 94. Her obituary from a local newspaper is below:

The West Union Gazette March 30, 1888, p. 8

DIED.

HUMPHREY. - Near Volga, Clayton county, Ia., March 18, 1888, Ann Truscott, wife of Walter Humphrey, Sr., deceased, was born in Falmouth county, Cornwall, England, April 5, 1793, consequently was nearly 95 years of age. Deceased emigrated from England with her husband and six children in 1850, settling in Racine county, Wisconsin, removing from there to Fayette county in October, 1852, and has since lived in this and Clayton counties. Five children, twenty-four grand-children and thirteen great-grand-children are the living descendants of the deceased. She lived long beyond the time allotted to human beings, and none seemed to realize it more than she. Often had she expressed herself as ready and willing to die, only waiting the time of her Lord.

“Asleep in Jesus, blessed sleep,
From which none ever wake to weep.”

I have spent a lot of time researching my immigrant ancestors on my German lines, but for some reason I had not looked into my English immigrants to find out exactly when they arrived. Fortunately many of them were very specific in their record keeping and in family histories, obituaries, and other documents tracked details down to ship names. For the Humphry clan, they came on the Java, which arrived in New York Harbor Nov. 28, 1849.

But what about life before that trip? What was happening in the home country? When did they decide to leave Cornwall? Some of these things may never have concrete answers (a fact I am slowly and reluctantly growing to accept), but some things I can discover. Thanks to the power of the Internet and online archives I can get a glimpse at life in the "old country" and perhaps glean a little understanding.

Recently I joined a UK Newspaper Archives website. It was something like $15/month, which I found more than reasonable considering it has issues of the Royal Cornwall Gazette dating back to 1800. I did a cursory search for the Humphry name and found many variations spanning decades, so I narrowed my focus to 1849 - the year they left for America. It was a long shot and I wasn't sure what I'd find if anything, but I feel like I hit the jackpot.

Published in the Gazette in September 1849 is an auction list for the Parish of Mawnan. One Mr. Walter Humphry, a farmer, was selling his entire stock in preparation to leave the country. The listing details every worldly good the Humphry family owned, from livestock to household goods. I couldn't think of a better way to learn about their life before America other than visiting their farm myself.

The Royal Cornwall Gazette Sept. 14, 1849, p. 4

BOSKENSOE AND CARLIDNACK ESTATES,

PARISH OF MAWNAN,

Sheep, Bullocks, Horses, Pigs, Corn with its Straw, Husbandry Implements, Household Furniture, &c., for Sale.

MR. CORNFIELD begs to notify that he has received instructions from Mr. Walter Humphry to SELL BY AUCTION, at BOSKENSOE and CARLIDNACK ESTATES, in the parish of Mawnan, on MONDAY the 17th of September instant, at Twelve o’clock at Noon, the whole of his superior Live and Dead

FARM STOCK, HOUSEHOLD FURNITURE, &c.

LIVE STOCK COMPRISES

2 Working Oxen (6 years old),

2 Two-years old Steers,

7 One-year ditto,

4 Dairy Cows well seasoned in Calf,

4 Heifers ditto,

4 Yearlings.

17 Fat Ewes,

13 Fat Lambs,

7 Excellent Labour Horses,

1 Two-years old Colt,

1 One-year ditto,

9 Pigs.

Dead Stock. – About 3 Acres of prime Barley with its Straw, well saved, and in arish Mows; about 1 acre of Sweet Turnips; about 2,000 fagots of Furze (stacked); Winnowing Machine, Wain and Wheels, Market Cart and Wheels, Ox Butts and Wheels, Double and Single Ploughs, Harrows, Rollers and Frames, Scufflers, Idiots, Ladders, set of Fore and Shaft Harnesses, Whips and Traces, Barn-boards, Sieves, Pikes, Sacks, with a great variety of Agricultural Implements.

Household Furniture. – Bedsteads, Chests of Drawers, Washstands, Swing Glasses, Mahogany and Deal Tables, Mahogany and other Chairs, Carpets and Carpeting, Fenders and Fire Irons, Boilers, Saucepans, Crocks and Kettles, with numerous domestic requisites, together with an excellent Apparatus, &c., &c.

An early attendance is particularly requested.

The Auctioneer invites the attention of Farmers, Breeders, and others, to the above valuable Live Stock, which are well worthy of attention; the Proprietor being about to leave the country, the whole will be sold unreservedly.

May be viewed the morning of the day of Sale; and further information obtained on application to the

AUCTIONEER, Penryn;

Dated September 5, 1849.

Next, to find the actual date of departure from England. On the index to the New York passenger list it says they are from Ireland by way of Liverpool, so I'm thinking they sailed from England to Ireland and then to New York. There is an advertisement for the Java in the Gazette in October 1849 listing its departure as October 6. Now, I have to verify that the Oct. 6, 1849, trip was the one that eventually found its way to New York on Nov. 28.