Lately I’ve gotten back into doing genealogy research. When I was going through some of my notes I came across an email from you from 2000. In it you talked about what people were writing for the “family book” and you mentioned that you were reminiscing about your childhood memories, etc.
In my latest search I found some interesting information. To give you some background – I always wondered why Aunt Esther started the family history with the marriage of Howard and Cornelia because obviously there was history before that. Several years ago when I found Howard Griffith in the 1880 federal census, I noticed that he was listed as “step-son.” Jackie Griffith Blevins says she remembers her mother Elizabeth Rayburn Griffith telling her that Howard was adopted.
I wondered how I would ever find out the circumstances without knowing any more. Anyway, last week when I was in Lancaster I visited the Lancaster County Historical Society resource library. I told the researcher what I was looking for and he led me to a database of court records that shows that a man by the name of William H. Bryson plead guilty and was convicted of “fornication and bastardy on the body of AnnaMargaret Houck” in 1876. Bryson was convicted and spent time in jail. He was also ordered to pay expenses and support of $1.00 per week until the child turned the age of 7. Howard was born on April 7, 1877. Anna Margaret Hocuk and Harry Griffith were married about 1880.
I’ve attached the copies of the court record. The last file is a little hard to read as I have to take pictures of it.
So the bottom line is, we have a new family name to research!
Deborah Lutchkus
COURT FILE 2 William H Bryson
COURT FILE for William H Bryson 2
Court prison record for Wiliam H Bryson @1877
