Genealogical Gems

W. Henry Williamson and Lt. Samuel Williamson, Civil War soldiers, are buried together in the Cheyney Burial Grounds. The cemetery is located in Thornbury Township , Chester County . The Cheyney land, including the university that now stands there, crosses both Delaware and Chester Counties .   William Henry enlisted in the Co. D 124 th Regt. Pennsylvania Infantry. He was, according to his stone, just 19 when he died at the Stafford Court House in Virginia on 3 February 1863. He was also known as William Henry and William Harry, according to the National Park Service (NPS), which lists his rank as musician.   Samuel was a lieutenant with Co. D 5 th Pennsylvania Calvary (65 th Volunteers). He was, according to his stone, just 20 when he was killed on 7 February 1863 in an engagement in Williamsburg , Virginia .   Samuel enlisted as a Sergeant on 30 July 1861. He was promoted up to Full 2 nd Lieutenant on 26 January 1862 and to Full 1 st Lieutenant o...

The Chester County Historical Society recently sent out an email asking for help to save  Passmore Williamson's Prison Visitors' Book . The request states that over 500 people visited Williamson when he was in prison. So, who was Williamson and why is he so important? Passmore Williamson was an abolitionist. He spent 100 days in the Moyamensing Prison, having been committed on 27 July 1855. His crime was that he refused to cooperate in recovering Jane Johnson, a slave, and her two sons, Daniel and Isaiah. Slave owner John H. Wheeler brought Johnson and her sons with him while he traveled from North Carolina to New York then onto Nicaragua. He stopped in Philadelphia, presumably to visit his in-laws. While there, Johnson connected with some free blacks who got word to the Anti-Slavery Society on 18 July 1855. At that time, any enslaved person - such as Johnson - who was brought into the state was considered free under Pennsylvania law, if he or she so ...