Gregg Family Researchers Should Avoid This Book

II’m talking about the Gregg family in this article, but it could about any family we are researching. It would be nice if all books that we consult when doing genealogical research could be totally trusted by, sadly, that’s not always the case. Usually, though, it’s not because the author is trying to fool anyone. Sometimes, it’s just sloppy research on their part. Let’s talk about one I’ve used and the resulting frustration encountered.

Gregg Family Research

I’ve done a good bit of research into some of the Gregg lines besides my own lately and recently, while searching for the name of Elsie Gregg’s husband, I found a ridiculous number of records online in Rootsweb’s World Connect Project that showed that she married first a Mr. Eves, and then second, Willard S. Gregg. Since I had just found the death record for Willard online, which clearly showed his wife as Emma and his parents as Samuel Gregg and Margaret Chandler, I knew there had to be a mistake, especially since Samuel and Margaret just happen to be Elsie’s parents as well. By no particular surprise, none of the World Connect records happened to list a source for this particular mess, but it wasn’t hard to figure out where it started – the infamous Hazel May Middletown Kendall book on William Gregg’s descendants. I’ve had problems with ‘facts’ cited in this book before. Sure enough, on page 167, the mistake was there.

Kendall lists the children of Samuel and Margaret as follows:

(1) Elsie, m(1) ____ Eves, m (2) Willard S. Gregg, had Eleanor m. ___ Barnard, Elizabeth C.

(2) Elizabeth G., m (1) ____Wilson, m (2) Irwin W. Gregg, had Gertrude, Elwood

(3) Joseph C. Gregg, m (1) Sarah Gregg, m (2) Josephine Gregg, had Helen Gregg m. Henry Wilson, had Margaret m. ___Hancy, and Mary Hope

Setting the Record Straight

So, let’s set the record straight, using information found on the death certificates and census records for this family group. I also have them all listed in my online genealogy record for the family.

A. Elsie
B. Willard
C. Elizabeth
D. Irwin
E. Joseph C.
F. Helen

A. Elsie was the oldest child, born 9/21/1868, m. Henry Eves, and died 3/21/1927. She was buried with Henry at Lower Brandywine Presbyterian, as he died later that same year. Her obituary names all five of her siblings.

B. Willard S. came next, born on 5/15/1870, m. Emma in 1894, and died 12/11/1951, a widower. He is also buried at Lower Brandywine Presbyterian, along with his wife, Emma.

Before I move on to the rest of the children, I need to point out that the transcription on Ancestry for the 1880 Census shows Daniel rather than Samuel on the record, but the actual image shows Samuel. On that census listing, we see:

Daniel Gregg M 37 [actually Samuel]
Maggie A. Gregg F 32
Elsie Gregg F 10
Willard S. Gregg M 9
Lizzie Gregg F 7
Irwin W. Gregg M 5

Elizabeth (C.) (Lizzie on census above) married Thomas Y. Wilson and is buried with him at Lower Brandywine in the Gregg plot.

Next comes Irwin (D), that Kendall shows as the second husband of Elizabeth. Irwin married Lena Cloud and they were the parents of Elwood and Gertrude. Irwin, Lena and their son Elwood are all buried at Union Hill Cemetery in Kennett Square.

Joseph (E) was next in line, born 11/16/1882, m. Mary A. Casey 9/23/1911, daughter of Michael and Sara Casey, and died 3/19/1931. They had a stillborn infant on 6/14/1913, the death certificate identifying the mother as Mary A. Casey. His death cert lists him as being married, but does not name his wife. He and Mary had two daughters – Sarah and Josephine

The 1900 census shows Willard and his wife Emma living with his parents along with his younger brother Joseph C., and a sister Helen L.(F) [that was listed as a daughter of Joseph C. Gregg in the Kendall work].

Helen(F) first married Henry Wilson and they had two daughters, Margaret (who married Mr. Hanby) and Mary Hope. Henry died in 1924 and Helen later married William F. Miller

So, after looking at some actual records for the Gregg family, it’s pretty clear that Kendall really made a hash out of this particular group of Gregg family members, and not just with one record out of the group. She had sister Elsie married to her brother Willard, as well as Lizzie married to her brother Irwin, and Kendall has Joseph married to his own daughters! While the Kendall book might be able to provide some clues to start a search, I would verify EVERY item before using it.