Miriam Amelia (Roberts) Meares (1804 - 1890)

Born 4 Sep 1804 in Harbour Island, Bahamas

Wife of William George Meares — married 17 Apr 1820 in Harbour Island, Bahamas

Descendants

Died 3 Feb 1890 at age 85 in Anona, Hillsborough County, Florida, United States

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Biography

Miriam (Roberts) Meares is part of a Bahamian family.

This profile is a collaborative work-in-progress. Sourced changes welcome.

Miriam and six children (excluding Harriet & Elizabeth) immigrated from the Bahamas to Key West on 6 Jun 1838. Arriving on the same day were D?nna Bell (age 40) and Emalia Mares (age 35).^[1] According to information recorded on a page from the Meares Family Bible, Elizabeth was born and died in 1827, having lived only one day. Harriet may have married in the Bahamas prior to 1838, thus not immigrating with her mother and siblings. The Bible page shows a Harriet Turtle Beebe dying on 12 Oct 1846, aged 25 years. This would have been Harriet's age in that year; more research is needed.^[2]

Marion was still in Key West through the 1850 Census and had four of the children still living with her.^[3] By 1860 Meriem, Richard, William, Laura and their families had migrated to Hillsborough County, Florida.^[4]

Miriam was living with Laura D Lowe, her husband John Lowe, and their children Jefferson, Wesley and Mary by the 1870 US Census^[5] and continued to do so through the 1885 US Census.^[6][7]

Miriam died on 3 Feb 1890 and is buried in the Anona Cemetery, also known as the Pioneer section of Serenity Gardens, Largo, PInellas County, Florida.^[2][8]

Research Notes

• The middle name Turtle given to the first male and female child of William and Miriam Meares may be attributable to the Methodist Missionary Rev John Turtle who arrived in the Bahamas in 1818. William and Miriam were married in 1820, possibly by Rev Turtle.
  • Findlay, George Gillanders and William West Holdsworth, The History of the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society, Volume 2 (London, England: The Epworth Press, 1921), pg 233; GoogleBooks.

• Immigration:^[1]
  • Determine what vessel provided passage from the Bahamas to Key West in 1838 for Meriam Mares and six children (ages 1-15 years old) as well as two others: Emelia Mares age 35 and Dinna Bell age 40.
  • Determine the relationship between Meriam Mares and Emelia Mears, if any.
  • On the same page, the May 3 list of passengers includes Caroline Mears age 16 as well as a number of people with the surname Bell. Determine relationship between Meriam and Caroline, if any.
  • Determine the relationship between Meriam Mares and the Bell family.
• Genealogical Databank of the Bahamas (http://members.aol.com/bahamadatabank/), last updated Jan 2003, was an AOL homepage that is no longer online. Review of the URL on http://web.archive.org revealed the following information:
  
  • A listing of current transcriptions being undertaken by members of the Bahamian genealogical community.
    
    • RPRussell at aol.com - Births, marriages, seperations and deaths as reported in early Bahamian newspapers (1784-1850).
      
    • Index entries for Bahama Papers 1784-1821
      
      • "Royal Gazette and Bahama Advertiser"
        
        • 22-Apr-1820 Meares William Groom's Index
          
        • 22-Apr-1820 Roberts Miriam Bride's Index
          
      • "Royal Gazette and Bahama Advertiser" 1819-1821, which would have contained the marriage announcement, no longer exists and was not saved to the internet archive. The film is available through several libraries according to WorldCat.
• The St Johns Parish mentioned in the See Also section may be St Johns Parish of the Anglican Church in the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands (http://www.bahtcianglican.org). From their History page:
  • "On September 6, 1734, the entire Bahamas was erected into one parish of Christ Church. In 1768, St. John's Parish was created a second Parish which was made up of Harbour Island and Eleuthera. This can be attested to by visiting the Parish Church of St. John at Harbour Island dating back to the early eighteenth century."

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Key West, Florida Territory, Passenger List for Quarter ending 30 June 1838, Miriam Mares family, 6 June 1838; image 118 of 411, "Key West, Fla. 1837-1868," FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9YK-F7QC-6 : accessed 1 Jun 2016); citing "Copies of lists of passengers arriving at miscellaneous ports on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts and at ports on the Great Lakes, 1820-1873 : NARA RG36 M575; FHL microfilm number 830234."
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Harllee, William Curry, and Bessie B Pryor. Kinfolks: A Genealogical and Biographical Record of Thomas and Elizabeth (Stuart) Harllee; Andrew and Agnes (Cade) Fulmore; Benjamin and Mary Curry; Samuel and Amelia (Russell) Kemp; John and Hannah (Walker) Bethea; Sterling Clack and Frances (King) Robertson; Samuel and Sophia Ann (Parker) Dickey [...] Vol. II. 4 vols. New Orleans, Louisiana: Searcy & Pfaff, 1935. Page 1940, Image of a page from the Meares Family Bible.
3. ↑ 1850 US Census, Florida, Monroe County, population schedule, page 12 (written) between pages 155 and 156 (stamped), Household 111, Family 115, Marion Mears family; database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-267-11087-9685-22?cc=1401638 : accessed 4 June 2016), Florida > Monroe > Monroe county > image 22 of 58; citing NARA microfilm publication M432, roll 59.
4. ↑ 1860 US Census, Florida, Hillsborough, population schedule, Tampa Post Office, pg 61 (written) 694/3 (stamped) [694 was stamped, then a 3 was handwritten over the 4], dwelling 591, family 451, John T. Low household [including Mary and William Mayors]; database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-0000-00000-0000-00?cc=1473181 : accessed 1 June 2016), Florida > Hillsborough > Not Stated > image 49 of 54; "1860 U.S. Federal Census - Population," database, Fold3.com; citing NARA microfilm publication M653, roll 107.
5. ↑ 1870 US Census, Florida, Hillsborough County, population schedule, Tampa Post Office, page 71 (written) 147 (stamped), dwelling 561, family 561, Laura D and John T Lowe family, line 26 Marion A Meares age 66; database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-000-00000-00000-00?cc=1438024 : accessed 31 May 2016), Florida > Hillsborough > Hillsborough County > image 71 of 82; citing NARA microfilm publication M593, roll 130.
6. ↑ 1880 US Census, Florida, Hillsborough County, population schedule, Precinct 2, ED 61, Page 8D, dwelling 77, family 77, John T and Laura D Low, line 10 Miriam Meares age 75 mother-in-law; database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9YBS-H3S : accessed 31 May 2016), Florida > Hillsborough > Precinct 2 > ED 61 > image 4 of 4; citing NARA microfilm publication T9, roll 128.
7. ↑ 1885 Florida Census, Hillsborough County, population schedule, page 44D, family 452, John T and Laura D Lowe family; database with images, FamilySearch ((https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-267-11806-131366-75 : accessed 2 June 2016), Hillsborough > Population > image 148 of 168; citing NARA microfilm publication M845, roll 4.
8. ↑ Butts, Lesleigh Laite. Serenity Gardens Volume 1 - Old Anona Pioneer Cemetery. Pinellas Genealogy Society, Inc. (Largo, Florida). 1999. OCLC 45031523

See Also:

• St. John's Parish Birth Records.
• "United States Index to Passenger Arrivals, Atlantic and Gulf Ports, 1820-1874," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KD51-ZP3 : 4 December 2014), Marion Mares, 1838; citing Immigration, NARA microfilm publication M334 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 418,268. [Nationality "Bah" from the card incorrectly indexed as born in Bohemia.]
• A Meares-Lowe historical biography. Source: Evening Independent, page 13, December 18, 1967. By Hazel Geissler. Google News Archive of article.