My Newfoundland ancestry is a nightmare to research. So I have this ancestor, William Stone. His son Jabez was my 2x great-grandfather.
Here's what I know:
Jabez was born around 1848. He was a fisherman, and married my 2x great-grandmother, Frances Jane Anderson, on 24 Sep 1876. His father, William, was a witness at his wedding, along with whom I am assuming was William's second wife, Sarah. Jabez and Frances Jane had 4 children--Alice Bertha (b. 1877), Rosa Valetta (or Valletta? b. 1879), William Robert (b. 1881), and my great-grandmother, Harriet (b. 1883). Jabez died in 1898. A researcher I hired pointed out that it's strange the children stopped when they did, so I am wondering if Jabez was ill for the last 15 years before his death.
There was a family legend surrounding Jabez about him being a Rhodes scholar from a wealthy family who didn't want to marry the woman his family had arranged, so he jumped ship and went to Newfoundland. Obviously this is nonsense, but I have to wonder if there's a grain of truth in it somewhere, as there is also a family legend (new to me) surrounding his father, William.
Okay, now about William, I know even less. It is my understanding that he was born around 1823. I am not sure where he was born...whether it was Newfoundland, or England. He was also a fisherman. The family legend surrounding him was that he was a seaman's apprentice from England who may have stowed away on a ship, or jumped ship in Newfoundland. I'm not clear on the details. But the rumour is that he arrived in North America, if not in Canada, in 1835 or thereabouts.
Another researcher on Ancestry, who has since passed away, had him as having been married first to an Esther or Hester Cutler (who, if this is true, would be Jabez's mother), and then to a Sarah St(r)ickland. I have no idea where he came up with this information, and I can't ask him now, unfortunately.
I personally hired a researcher who thought all the family stories were utter nonsense. He said these were all Dorset people, which is entirely possible. Another thing he thought was they may have come from the Jersey Islands.
There were some other little details that I've come across along the way that I'm hesitant to post, but what the heck. One was that the surname was something other than Stone, originally. I can't for the life of me remember what else it was supposed to be, though, and now I can't find mention of it anywhere. Another was that some of the family was involved in some strange-sounding religion...the name escapes me but apparently they buried their dead in the sides of cliffs?
I just looked it up-- "Go Preachers," that was what they were called.
Okay, so what I'd like to know is to confirm if Jabez's mother's name was Esther or Hester Cutler. I'd also like to trace back William Stone to England, if that is possible. Also, I'd like to either confirm or refute the family legends altogether.
One more thing--I have done DNA tests pretty much everywhere and I get a lot of matches from the Eastern US--particularly Kentucky. I have NO idea where they fit but I suspect they are connected to my Newfoundland ancestry somehow. If anyone has any insight on that, I'd love to hear it.
Can anyone help?
