Rebecca (Bevan) McGrew (abt. 1832 - 1886)

Born about 1832 in Swansea, Glamorgan, Wales

Daughter of Abraham Bevan and Mary (Davies) Bevan

Wife of Henry Granville McGrew — married 7 Jun 1864 in Cincinnati, Hamilton, Ohio, United States

Descendants

Died 4 Aug 1886 at about age 54 in 227 W. 5th Street, Cincinnati, Ohio

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Jeffrey McGrew [send private message]

Biography

Rebecca was born about 1832^[1] into the Welsh speaking Bevan Family, which have a long heritage as miners in a place called Cwmbwrla, Fforestfach, Swansea, Wales^[2]. At 17 years of age, she accompanied her older brother John, his wife, Mary, and their infant daughter, Catherine, to Liverpool where they boarded the ship William Penn as third class passengers bound for Philadelphia, PA, with the intention to begin a new life in America^[3]. Her older brother chose to settle in Belle Vernon, PA with his young family, but Rebecca eventually chose to travel further west perhaps after gaining some proficiency in English, landing in Cincinnati, Ohio. There she met Henry G. McGrew, a carpenter and budding contractor with plenty of ambition, and started a family^[4]. They married in the county courthouse^[5], but this was only just before Henry went to serve in the Navy for the remainder of the Civil War^[6]. About the time of the birth of her third son, Abraham, is a record of a Rebecca Bevan travelling aboard ship from Liverpool, England to New York, arriving on 28 Jul 1869^[7]. She would already have been a McGrew, so this might not be her. But she was travelling with a number of Bevan children including an infant. Could it be possible she returned to Wales with the primary goal of taking orphaned Bevan children with her back to America? My Welsh cousin tells me, "at that time there were many children without fathers or mothers due to the death rate associated with the mining industry in South Wales." Also, Rebecca grew up in a household in Wales that included two orphaned boys, a William Collins and John Williams, as recorded in the 1841^[8] & 1851^[9] Wales Census. So it would not be unusual for her to do a thing such as this. Not only that, the infant child she returned with quite possibly may have been a child of one of her relatives that she raised as her third son, Abraham, my grandfather. Little else is known about Rebecca other than a sister of hers also emigrated to Pittsburgh, PA with her husband and that she kept in close contact with her siblings in America until her death in 1886.^[10].

Sources

1. ↑ 1841 Wales Census, Class: HO107; Piece: 1424; Book: 32; Civil Parish: Swansea; County: Glamorgan; Enumeration District: 11; Folio: 8; Page: 7; Line: 14; GSU roll: 464332, accessed online at Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006
2. ↑ First-hand information from cousin Anthony Ferrier of Swansea, Wales
3. ↑ Philadelphia Passenger Lists, 1800-1945, Roll: M425_68; Line: 3, accessed online at Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006
4. ↑ 1860 U.S. Federal Census,Year: 1860; Census Place: Cincinnati Ward 5, Hamilton, Ohio; Roll: M653_971; Page: 445; Image: 398; Family History Library Film: 803971, accessed online at Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2009
5. ↑ Ohio, County Marrieages, 1774-1993, accessed on-line at Ancestry.com on 20 Mar 2020
6. ↑ The National Archives at Washington, D.C.; Washington, D.C.; Record Group Title: Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, 1773 - 2007; Record Group Number: 15; Series Title: U.S., Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934; accessed on-line at Ancestry.com on 20 Mar 2020
7. ↑ New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957, Year: 1869; Arrival: New York, New York; Microfilm Serial: M237, 1820-1897; Microfilm Roll: Roll 315; Line: 38; List Number: 873, accessed on-line at Ancestry.com on 20 Mar 2020
8. ↑ 1841 Wales Census, Class: HO107; Piece: 1424; Book: 32; Civil Parish: Swansea; County: Glamorgan; Enumeration District: 11; Folio: 8; Page: 7; Line: 14; GSU roll: 464332, accessed online at Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006
9. ↑ 1851 Wales Census, Class: HO107; Piece: 2465; Folio: 551; Page: 23; GSU roll: 104213-104214, accessed on-line at Ancestry.com on 20 Mar 2020
10. ↑ Cincinnati, Ohio, Spring Grove Cemetery Index, 1845-2012, accessed online at Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2013

DNA

• Maternal relationship is DNA confirmed by a triangulated group consisting of Paul McGrew GEDmatch T828084, Tim McGrew GEDmatch T042525, and Karen Sexton GEDmatch A041006 sharing a 25.2 cM segment on chromosome 14 from 23142564 to 37412427 and a 37.6 cM segment on chromosome 20 from 17439874 to 51071450. Karen has confirmed by genealogy that she is the great great granddaughter of Sarah Bevan the sister of Rebecca. Therefore, Rebecca's parents are DNA confirmed.