William Trindle came to America from (Wales, Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man) with his two older brothers in an as yet undisclosed year. William was still underage so the two brothers left him in an undisclosed city and went on to further adventures.
I find this story fascinating in the Trindle genealogy, not because it is an uncommon tale but because it is told thru many lines always about a William but the place of origin, destination, and time frame change. There is no telling for sure where the story belongs.
Over the years Trindle researchers have shared stories with limited research. Only as we started doing extensive census and pre-census research have family lines started to come together.
I do admire the research of Helen Trindle. She refused to make connections that were not proven, instead gathering information and presenting through her newsletter. Unfortunately, Helen's original research has gone missing, but at least there are the newsletters and the collections she left in various libraries.
Most prevalent of the Williams to which the story is attached is William Trindle bn abt 1709 died 1874 in Trindle Springs, Pennsylvania. This is the William that everyone strives to find a connection to as his life is relatively well documented. But, we do not know his country of origin or the date of his arrival in Philadelphia. Supposedly he was apprenticed to a tailor there, but I have not found the records to prove this.
It seems likely that William had brothers as there is a John Trindle Sr. in Cumberland County, PA at a time when John the son of William was still young.
A second William that came with the story attached is William Wesley Trindal born 1802 in New Jersey. Now this William comes with the further complication of the following note....
"Our Great Grandpa William Wesley Trindal sent to England money for our Great Grandma Harriet Spaulding to return to the United States. This was shortly after his first wife Agnes (McCurdy) Trindal died (1851). He remarried to Harriet a few months later in 1851. He and his first wife had 12 offsprings, while he and our great grandma had 10 offsprings." 1987 Lucy Bolser
Problems....Well, although Agnes McCurdy died in 1849 (not 1851), William is listed with his son William in Indiana County PA in 1860. This presents a bit of a problem with the listing in 1860 with Harriet in Wisconsin. Further complications are introduced by the story written in "The Ligonier ECHO" issue of 3 February 1892: OLD-TIME RECOLLECTIONS No. XXVII. by Francis McConaughy, "A Neighbor"
The account states that Agnes (Nancy) died young when she was in fact her tombstone gives her age as 65.
That account goes on "Of this number William Trindle is a representative and has a pleasant home on section 32, West Point township. He comes of Scotch ancestry, the family having been founded in America by his grandfather, William Trindle, and his two brothers, Andrew and John, who crossed the Atlantic and settled in Pennsylvania. John, who remained single, secured a position in connection with government surveys and at the time of his death left a large fortune, but the family could not establish a claim to it ; for the records of his two brothers had been destroyed."
Are the two men the same, well they could be, but I sincerely doubt it. William of Wisconsin was supposedly born in 1802, William of West Point Township was born by 1795. He first bought land in 1815 which suggests a birth by 1794. William of PA supposedly died (no sources) in 1864, William in Wisconsin was still alive in 1880 (no death sources to date). There is nothing that absolutely contradicts them being the same person as we know the census can be inaccurate.
The Ligonier added names for the two brothers, John and Andrew. And the back story for John. John's back story is of interest as we know there was another John in Cumberland County. If, however, he had no children then who is John in Westmoreland County. The only records likely to help us solve these problems are probates. I keep hoping they exist and that I will eventually find them.
