December 2014
Joseph and Emma Coming to America
(Joseph and Emma are Arthur H Bonsor’s
parents)
The steamship
plowed through the choppy waters of the Atlantic Ocean on its way to
America. It is 1862 and the newlyweds, Joseph
and Emma Bonsor are on board making the journey from England to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They must have been excited, apprehensive,
and adventurous people to make this journey as did hundreds of thousands of
immigrants before them. I have to wonder
why they decided to leave their family and home and travel right then, in the
middle of the Civil War, a dangerous period of time in American history. The United States declared war on April 12,
1861 with the first shots fired at Fort Sumter, South Carolina. It
must have been a torturous crossing in 1862 for the newlyweds with the Navel
blockades in place and war ships patrolling the coastline. Many records were destroyed in the war and I
have not found the specific documentation for Joseph and Emma’s crossing, but
there was a continued flow of immigrates even during the war. People migrated to this country, almost
exclusively to the northern or western states, the non-slave states because of
political values or because it was easier to get a job without the competition
of slaves.
Philadelphia
was one of the largest ports, and they probably landed there. The city was very industrialized by the
1860’s and teeming with people. It was one
of the largest cities in the United States and was often called an unrefined
and even dirty, because of all the factories stewing out smoke through their
tall chimneys, thousands of immigrant working class living in shabby buildings,
and the dirty streets filled with horse carts and trolleys. But this city was the heart of independence
and the soul of many immigrants’ dreams.
About 30 percent of the population was foreign born at this time in
history.
Joseph was
just 29 years old and Emma was a young 20 years old when they arrived into this
city. It is possible that Joseph had a
brother or cousin that lived in Philadelphia, named William. William Bonsor was well established as a
hosiery manufacturer in Germantown. Maybe
William helped Joseph and Emma get settled into their new home. During this period the Civil War was raging
and Philadelphia was booming. Drafts
were being held in each District of the city for Union soldiers. Factories were producing goods for the war
effort and everyone was reading the papers for the next report on the success
of the battles.
In 1864,
October 9 their first daughter Emma Maud Bonsor was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. That winter, Philadelphia set records for the
cold; on Jan 28, 1865 it was reported that the Delaware River froze over and
people actually skated over to New Jersey.
By April of
1865 the Civil War was over and Lincoln was assassinated. His funeral train came through Philadelphia
and Lincoln’s coffin was driven to Independence Hall by a horse drawn hearse. It was reported that the city streets were
filled with onlookers and there was a 5 hour wait to pass by the coffin for
viewing. I wonder if this family stood
at the curb watching the procession.
On November
24, 1866 their first son, Arthur Henry Bonsor was born at their home located at
1810 North 11th St., Philadelphia. It must have been difficult with
two babies in the house when Cholera swept through Philadelphia killing many
during this time but the family seemed to thrive. Joseph
was working hard and must have been a good business man because by 1866, just
about 4 years after arriving, he was listed in the Philadelphia City Directory
as owning a company producing Cotton Laps.
Joseph’s company was located at 3 South 6th St. By 1867, Joseph had a business partner
according to the City Directory Listing:
Bonsor & Ellis (Joseph Bonsor & Henry Ellis) cotton laps, 305
Market
Joseph’s
partner was, Henry Ellis, who was also from England and about the same
age. They established one of 7 businesses
in Philadelphia that produced Cotton Laps.
To produce
cotton laps, bales of raw cotton are opened with machines called “breakers”,
they pushed the cotton into another machine called “pickers”, which picked out
stones, sticks, seeds and other foreign objects. The cotton came out of the “pickers” in flat
sheets known as a lap. Workers rolled
the lap and moved it to the carding rooms.
Rolls of lap were heavy, they weighed several hundred pounds, and workers
usually transported them in large, wheeled carts. At this point, the laps were fed into the
cards, whose fine metal teeth brushed it so that all the fibers faced the same
direction. The cotton came out of the
cards in the form of long, thick strands of cotton known as “silver”.
From 1867
through 1871 Joseph and Henry were in business together as cited in the City Directories
of the period. Their company moved
several times because their business address changed. This could be in part due to numerous fires
in the neighborhoods according to reports in the newspapers. During part of their partnership, Henry Ellis
lives with Joseph Bonsor and his family at the 1312 South 11th St
address. The 1870 Census lists Joseph
and Emma with their children Emma (5), Arthur (4) and now they have their
second daughter, Katie (Catherine) born about 1868. Also living with them is Ann Cowley, probably
a servant. The census listed his
occupation as a “dealer in twine”. Joseph
had a personal estate valued at $3,000, and rented his home. This amount of money was very respectable for
the time period and he would be considered well-off. March 28,
1871, Frank Bonsor a second son, was born to Joseph and Emma at their home.
This makes 4 children for the family.
In 1872, the
partnership with Henry must have dissolved because Joseph is listed as the sole
owner of the cotton laps manufacturing company. His home is now located at 1810
N 11th St and Henry Ellis no longer lives with the family. A third son was born on Aug 29, 1872, Charles
F. Bonsor according to Philadelphia birth certificates. Joseph continued to manufacture Cotton laps
until 1874 and then at that point the City Directories indicate he started a
business involving Willowware, plates and serving dishes that are painted with
blue ornate designs.
Their sixth
child is born in 1874, William Edgar Bonsor, in their home at 1810 N 11th
St. By 1875 the family had moved to
Palmyra, Burlington County, New Jersey because their seventh child Walter
Bonsor was born there that year. Joseph must have commuted to Philadelphia
everyday because he continued to run his Willowware business located on Market Street
for the next several years. In 1876 Joseph purchased a home at 739 Cinnaminson
Ave. in Palmyra for his family. He was
now a land owner.
The
Centennial Exhibition of 1876, the first official world’s fair, was held in
Fairmont Park, Philadelphia and over 10 million visitors attended this
spectacular display. I would like to
think that the Bonsor family walked the fair, visited the displays such as Alexander’s
Graham Bell’s telephone, the first typewriter, the Electric Dynamo, the
precursor to electric lights, and watched the huge “John Bull” Steam Engine
from Pennsylvania Railroad display. They
might have even sampled new food products such as Heinz Ketchup or Hires Root
Beer for the first time. Another child,
Herbert Bonsor, was born on June 11, 1878 in their Palmyra home.
By 1880, Joseph
no longer ran the willowware business in Philadelphia, he had now established a
grocery store in Cinnaminson, Palmyra that he and his wife ran. Palmyra was described in the 1881 Burlington
City Directory as:
A beautiful village of 400 inhabitants, situated on the left shore of
the Delaware river, and on Camden and Amboy division of Penna. R. R., 10 miles
west from Mt. Holly, the county seat, and 26 miles from Trenton. Merchants buy their goods principally in
Philadelphia, shipping by above railroad, it being only about 30 minutes’ ride
from Philadelphia. It has a large
population doing business in that city.
The family
must have been well established and accepted in this town because Joseph is listed
in the City Directory as the Postmaster and Emma, his wife, runs the general
store in this pastoral village.
There is
more to the story, more children, lots of grandchildren and more interesting
details, but I must stop here. I have
not found all the facts about Joseph and his family, but I surmise that he was
a mature, assertive man that had some means when he traveled to
Philadelphia. He established himself and
made good business decisions to become successful. He positioned himself by starting or
purchasing the cotton laps company and was able to earn a good living and
support his family perhaps producing cotton for his brother/cousin the hosiery
manufacturer. After building his family
and his wealth he moved to Palmyra at the age of 44 to run a general store and
raise his family in a tranquil village. I plan to continue my research on him
and his family and explore more about each of his children and their successes.
So there will be more stories to come in
future blogs about Joseph and his family.
Stay tuned for part 2.
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