There I met Ruth Pringle and her brother Andrew Britton. Both of them are descended from Eliza Oritta Blanchard of County Hampshire.
I am descended from William W. Blanchard, Eliza's brother. Eliza and William last saw each other in July of 1818, when William emigrated to the United States.
Ruth and I have been working as part of a Blanchard genealogy group, and we had a great time reconnecting our two family lines. If you ever get a chance to do that, I recommend it highly.
Sidebar: There is an Indianapolis connection here. William Blanchard, Jr., son of the immigrant and my g-g-g-grandfather, owned several city lots in Indy in the 1870-1880 period [documents in the State Archives]; his daughter Mary Elizabeth, my g-g-grandmother, inherited some of them [tax records in the Recorder's office]; and Mary's brother Frank A. Blanchard was the Deputy City Treasurer of Indianapolis in the 1880's and owned a funeral business here in the 1890's.
 |
| Ron on left; Ruth in middle; Andrew on right |
