Re: The Bickerstaff familyGreetings from one of the few Bickerstaffs north of the Mason Dixon Line in the United States! And a descendent of the Alabama/Georgia tree with roots to the Bickerstaff Brick Company in Columbus, Georgia.
You may be interested in a written history of the Bickerstaffs as compiled in a genealogical study of the southern Bickerstaff, Lindsay, and Neill families. The limited edition, based on contributions from the aforementioned families. was published a number of years ago. My precious copy is under lock and key. I am willing to investigate if a copy is available, if anyone is interested.
Thanks for initiating the Bickerstaff Web Site. I look forward to hearing from our distant kin folk...
Doug
Douglas DuPree Bickerstaff, Jr.
1721 5th St.
Cheney WA 99004-1924 USADepartment of Computer Science
Eastern Washington University
Cheney WA 99004 USA
Holiday Greetings!
"Cousin" Jim expressed a deep interest in the book "Bickerstaff, Lindsay, Neill and Related Families" researched and compiled by Sara Bussey Bickerstaff, Lindsay Neill Bickerstaff, and Sara Glenn Crawford Privately published and copyrighted by Sara Bussey Bickerstaff in 1979.
According to my Mother, Norma Litten Bickerstaff, Las Cruces NM, Lindsay Neill Bickerstaff died in 1991. I am trying to contact his widow and descendents to see if any copies of the book are still available. I rather doubt it since family members purchased copies in advance of the printing.
The following quotation identifies the earliest ancestor known to the authors:
"William Bickerstaff
It is not known when or precisely where William Bickerstaff was born, but records in the University College, Nottingham, England, state that 'Bickerstaff, formerly "Bickerstath" (whence Bickersteth) is a Lancashire Parish near Ormskirk in England.' He sailed to America in 1720, and his first son was born at sea.
The date of death is unknown; however, his will was proved in 1803 in West Virginia Archives. He was married to Nancy Pope, about whom nothing is known.
Children:
John(ston) Bickerstaff, born 1720 at sea, died 1800 Franklin County, Georgia
William Bickerstaff
Hugh Bickerstaff
Samuel Bickerstaff""Cousin" Jim may be interested in knowing that the book references several James Bickerstaffs from Russell County, Alabama.
A joyful New Year to all of the Bickerstaffs!!
Doug
To contact Doug, write to dbickerstaff(at)ewu.edu
Greetings Bruce,I had just done a www search on the name Bickerstaff and found your business home page when you contacted me.
My name is Bryant Bickerstaff. I am 39 years old. I am a teacher of Computer-aided Design at Eastern Arizona College in Thatcher, Arizona, 85552. I have four children; David Benjamin, age 20; Michael Aaron, age 19; Philip Thomas, age 17; Mary Elizabeth, age 16. I have one younger brother, Benjamin Griffith Bickerstaff, age 36, who lives in Knoxville, Illinois. I also have a younger sister, Rebecca Lynn Bickerstaff, age 35, who lives in Apache Junction, Arizona (a suburb of Phoenix, AZ.).
My father, Alger Francis Bickerstaff Jr., location unknown, is the son of Alger Francis Bickerstaff Sr., and Dorothy Negus of Newport, Rhode Island.
At this point the records are somewhat fuzzy. I believe my Great-Grandfather is Thomas Bernard Bickerstaff. He was born in 1860, in Maidenhead, England to John Bernard and Hannah Bickerstaff.
Most of this information came from my cousin, Linda Mathinos, the niece of my father. She has done some research on our line of the Bickerstaff family.
I only throw this information out to see if I have any cousins out there.
This page is wonderful and look forward to hearing from you and any other Bickerstaffs.
Bryant
howdy Y'all
My name is Dave Bickerstaff, son of Bryant Bickerstaff who is also on this page. I am currently serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Atlanta, GA and was wondering if there were any Bickerstaffs if the vicinity. It seems like everywhere I go someone says that the name Bickerstaff sounds very familiar, but no one knows from where.
Thank you
I look forward to more contacts with other Bickerstaffs
Dave BickerstaffIn March 1999, Dave wrote again saying ... "I'm now in Phoenix, AZ going to Arizona State University. I'm majoring in Computer Information Systems and Accounting. I'm not sure what I'm gonna do with my life, but oh well...hopefully I'll figure it out soon. My new email address is davebick (at) asu.edu"
Date: Sat, 11 Dec 1999
Hi, Bruce. This is Bryant Bickerstaff. I just thought I should drop you a line and let you and the other Bickerstaffs know that I am alive and well still living in Phoenix, Arizona. I have changed jobs and with it my work email address. My new address is : ??? email address now invalid
There is a lot of excitement in this part of the Bickerstaff family. My son David, who has written you, is getting, married on January 7. He is marrying a lovely girl by the name of Katherine Johnson. I guess she will soon be a Bickerstaff.
My second oldest son, Michael, is now a member of the United States Marine Corps. He is currently in training in San Diego, California. He will ship out to some yet unknown location in early spring 2000.
My youngest son, Philip is probably going to join the United States Navy. He is still making up his mind.
My daughter, Mary, is attending college and living with my ex-wife in Safford, Arizona.
That is the latest update on this small part of the Bickerstaff clan. I hope all is well with our kin across the world. I wish all of you a very happy and safe holiday season.
Bryant Bickerstaff
Wed Jul 19, 2000
Hi, Bruce.
This is Bryant Bickerstaff, one of the U.S. delegation of Bickerstaffs. I just thought I would update you on a couple family items and give you my new email address (this address now invalid - ed).
This has been a year for marriages in our neck of the Bickerstaff world. My son, David, married a wonderful lady on January 7, 2000. Her name is Katy Johnson of Phoenix, Arizona. They are a wonderful couple and very happy together.
Also, my son, Michael, who was in the U.S. Marine Corps, got married to Erin Hazelwood on June 30, 2000. They are very happy and living in Phoenix, AZ also. Michael will be attending Arizona State University beginning the fall of 2000.
While it won't happen this year, I might even have a wedding announcement for myself sometime in 2001. At least that is how it is looking so far.
I look forward to hearing from you.
My name is Joseph Mencarini III and I live in Richmond VA. USA My mother's maiden name is Genevieve Joan Bickerstaff. I am quite interested in any information I can get on this side of my family. I was very happy to receive your e-mail on the subject and I am fascinated by the wealth of information available on your site. I am grateful that you took the time to set up the site and to maintain it.The Bickerstaff on my mothers side came over quite early in American history and fought in the American revolution and the Cival war. My grandfather and his brothers as children built one of the first, if not the first, automobiles in Richmond. The family owned a bicycle shop that later became an auto parts store. When I was growing up I can recall going to Sons of the American revolution meetings with my grandmother. So you can say that I am a Bickerstaff once removed. My gradmother is still alive and is now 82 years young, her full name is Genevieve Olivia Bickerstaff. She has 3 sisters who are still alive.
Thanks for the information and I look forward to hearing from you again.
Sincerely,
Joseph Mencarini III
Subject: update from Joe Mencarini re: Bickerstaff side of family
Date: Fri, 6 Feb 1998Bruce,
I am writing to give you a update and to submit corrections to my earlier posting to your webpage. In my original posting I spoke of my side of the family coming over to the USA early in the American history. I was basing this on what I had been told by family members as I was growing up. However as I have researched this it seems that they were speaking of other lines in the family. It was through these lines that they were in the Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution.
I am now in the process of doing the family genealogy, here is what I know to be correct at this point. I am having trouble linking up with the Bickerstaff's in England or the rest of Europe. If anyone can help me with this please feel free to write me at:
Joseph Mencarini III
13300 Harrowgate Road
Chester, Virginia 23831 USA
(1)James Bolton Bickerstaff b. May 14, 1842 England, (Liverpool ?) May Stewart abt. England b. abt 1843 Married May 17, 1864 Manchester, England (2)Joseph Lawrence Bickerstaff b. April 8, 1867 d. December 25,1923 Mary Theresa Becker b. abt.1870 d. November 1919 (3)Joseph Lawrence Bickerstaff JR. b.December 18, 1892 Richmond, VA. USA d. November 13, 1948 Richmond, VA USA Pansey Marigold Limerick b. July 23, 1893 Baltimore, MD. USA d. November 13, 1948 Richmond, VA USA (3)John James Bickerstaff b. July 9, 1895 d. July 22, 1948 Marie Sharp child: Mary Virginia Bickerstaff (3) James Henry Bickerstaff b.October 25, 1897 d. September 15, 1954 Louise Sharp (3) Henry Franklin Bickerstaff b. January 31, 1903 d. October 28, 1958 Theresa Rudolf b. December 22, 1904 d. June 23, 1981 (3) Annie Catherine Bickerstaff b. March 11, 1900 Stallings (3) Rosalie Alice Bickerstaff b. June 13, 1906 d. December 8, 1995 Mount Steriling, KY USA John Foster Birch (4) Joseph Lawrence Bickerstaff III b. January 18, 1914 Richmond, VA USA d. May 10, 1977 Richmond, VA USA Genevieve Olivia Hazlewood b. November 14, 1913 Richmond, VA USA Married November 9, 1935 Richmond, VA USA (4) William Bickerstaff b. June 29, 1917 d. December 5, 1972 Basye, VA USA Doris Doeppe child: Janice Bickerstaff (4) George Allen Bickerstaff b. May 4, 1922 d. January 10, 1985 Richmond, VA USA Gloria Hastings Married October 11, 1947 Richmond, VA USA child: Susan Bickerstaff child: Cheryl Bickerstaff (4) Anne Marie Bickerstaff b. June 2, 1920 Richmond, VA USA d. September 22, 1995 (Ireland) buried Boston MA. USA (5) Genevieve Joan Bickerstaff b. July 7, 1937 Richmond, VA USA Joseph Mencarini JR. b. August 20, 1934 Richmond, VA USA Married December 28, 1954 Richmond, VA USA (6) Joseph Mencarini III b. August 30, 1955 Richmond, VA USA Renee Beth Sanger b. July 3, 1964 Married: March 23, 1985 Richmond, VA USA Divorced: Feb. 1996 (6) Vicki Lynn Mencarini b. November 16, 1956 Richmond, VA USA (6) Dawn Andrea Mencarini b. April 10, 1970 Richmond, VA USA (7) Joseph Mencarini IV b. February 10, 1986 Richmond, VA USA (7) Andrea Joan Marie Mencarini b. December 31, 1987 Richmond, VA USAIf you could post this information hopefully someone will be able to help me link up with the Bickerstaff's in United Kingdom/ Europe
Sincerely,
Joseph Mencarini III
Bruce Bickerstaff wrote:I have just turned up your name in a search of a genealogy research database. Apparently you are interested in the surname "Bickerstaff"? Anyway I'd be interested to hear what you've turned up and in return you might like to visit our page at http://www.burning-bison.com/bick
... and John responded:
G'day,
My folks are all from the Bretforton, Worcestershire area in England. Here is a descendant chart for my connections:
John BICKERSTAFF & Elisabeth [BICKERSTAFF]
John BICKERSTAFF (About 1766 - )
Jonathan BICKERSTAFF (About 1768 - ) & Elizabeth JELFS
Thomas BICKERSTAFF (About 1770 - )
Mary BICKERSTAFF (About 1770 - ) & Job JELFS (About 1769 - )
Hannah JELFS (About 1792 - )
Thomas JELFS (1794 - ) & Rebecca HUNT (1792 - )
Rebecca JELFS (24 Feb 1797 - )
Job JELFS (5 Jun 1799 - )
Mary JELFS (1 Nov 1803 - )
Elisabeth BICKERSTAFF (About 1772 - )
George BICKERSTAFF (About 1777 - )
Joseph BICKERSTAFF (About 1774 - ) & Ann JELFS
Isabella JELFS ! (About 1793 - )
Charles JELFS ! (About 1795 - )All dates in Bretforton, WOR, ENG.
Let me know if anything looks familiar to you.
Thanks,
John Salter
In a posting in the newsgroup soc.genealogy.surnames Bruce Bickerstaff wrote:Hi. Just thought I'd enquire as to whether anyone has turned up anything on the Bickerstaff family. I'd be particularly interested in tracing the descendants of John Bickerstaff born 14 March 1849 in New Cumnock, Ayreshire, Scotland, who subsequently migrated to the USA.
Robert responded as follows:
Hi Bruce,
Bickerstaff is in my line (grandmother). Your John is not a direct tie according to date of migration.
My Bickerstaffs are all from the area of Jefferson County, Ohio. There are lots there but not all related according to my aunt...quote "there were four families of Bickerstaffs living within a mile of grandpa's store and none were related according to grandpa." Have only been able to trace back thus far to:
Augustine Bickerstaff, born about 1767, place unknown. His known children were William, Augustine and Mary (Polly). The identity of Augustine snr. was initially a guess based on 1850 census, Cross Creek Township, Jefferson County, Ohio which showed Augustine living with his (assumed) son Augustine on the neighboring farm to William Bickerstaff & this was subsequently verified through reference to William's death certificate.
William Bickerstaff, born 1807 in Ohio, married Susan (Pearce?) b.~1811
children: Augustine b.1832
Enos 1833
Mary 1835
Elizabeth 1837
Ellis 1840
William N. 1844
Ann 1845
Rebecca 1847
Jacob 1850
John W. 1852
Lewis B. 1856
Emiline 1857
Isabella 1858If you have a tie to any of this, I would certainly appreciate any info.
Robert Schoppe
Dear Bruce
A lot has happened since my last message to you. Vicky and I have recently completed a book on the Bickerstaffs of Jefferson County, Ohio. So far, it has been distributed only to members of the immediate clan. We have established conclusively that Augustine Bickerstaff was indeed the patriarch of this particular clan, having settled in Jefferson County in 1798. Unfortunately, we have not yet been able to trace him back any farther, except for some evidence that he spent some time in Maryland and may have been born there.
Take care
Robert (30 Dec 1997)To contact Bob, write to vschoppe (at) swbell.net
(Readers note that this letter was written to my sister Anne in 1992. Art emailed me in late 2000 and is now on the net - see address below)"Dear Anne B:
It was a very pleasant surprise to receive your note 4 March regarding Bickerstaff family history. While I am most interested in it, my information on it is rather limited and I would greatly appreciate any material available.
I (Arthur) was born in Toronto, Ontario in 1914 and my parents Arthur Bickerstaff Sr. and Alice Falla emigrated in 1912 from St Helens, Lancs. which is very close to the village of Bickerstaffe. My father (1883-1970) was born there and was the son of John B-- and Elizabeth Maustin who had four children: Edward, Albert, Lillian, and Arthur - all of whom were born and lived in St Helens or vicinity.
Other than the book from which you got my name, the only other material I have is:-
-- Enclosed photocopy of "Family of Bickerstaff 1100 to 1735" prepared by the Bickerstaff parish church, undated but probably in the 1980's
-- Photocopy of a 1928 edition of a 1845 Ordnance Survey map covering the Parish of Bickerstaffe at a scale of 6 inches to 1 mile which is large enough to show much detail and names of farms, halls, woods, mines, etc. If of interest I could get a copy made for you.
My only "on the spot" knowledge of the parish was driving through it in 1945 when in the RCAF and again in 1955 on a brief visit to St Helens. Bickerstaff families in Canada are not common and I have never met or corresponded with any of them, although there are several in Toronto and at least one in Alberta.
For personal information; I lived in Toronto until leaving University and my career was with the Canadian Forestry Service in forest research and surveys that took me to most parts of Canada and a few other parts of the world including Australia and New Zealand in 1967. We live about 25 miles from Ottawa on a forested property overlooking the Ottawa River, still frozen, to the hills in Quebec. Our daughter lives nearby and our son near Toronto.
Thank you for writing and keep in touch, best wishes
Sincerely
Arthur (Art) Bickerstaff
Woodlawn ON K0A 3M0
20 March 1992"Email: art (at) caspar.net
Subject: And yet another Bickerstaff surfaces Apr 28 1998
Hello Bruce
This is going to be quick as I have a pile of work to get done today and will converse later. I have a business web site at www.synagent.com which is new to the net and I was checking key words for registration, one being my name when I found your site.
I am John Bickerstaff, son of Arthur who is listed on your site through a letter. Arthur lives in the Ottawa area, and I am happy to say is alive and well in his 83rd year. My email address is john.bickerstaff@synagent.com.
Address is 5412 Torbolton Ridge Road, Woodlawn, ON, K0A 3M0, Canada
phone 613-832-1122, fax 613-832-1227.John Bickerstaff
Email: John.Bickerstaff (at) synagent.com
The (now solved) mystery of "Bickerstaff.com"
The domain "Bickerstaff.com" has been assigned to a web server known as @sig.net in Austin, Texas . While it seems the name was reserved by a Bickerstaff (Heath & Smiley), we haven't been able to contact them to get the inside story. We have sent an email to @sig.net to which we await a response (a familiar experience these days). Notice how if you rearrange sig.net you end up with get.sin. What have they done to poor Heath & Smiley? This could be one for the X-files. Stay tuned.
... and then lo and behold on the eve of Christmas the solution came tingling through the undersea cables to my Sydney skull-cave, as follows:
Bruce,
bickerstaff.com is registered to the law firm in Austin Texas for which I work. The name of the firm is Bickerstaff, Heath, Smiley, Pollan, Kever & McDaniel. We just added some partners last month. The Bickerstaff involved is Steve (Robert Stephen) Bickerstaff. He was born & raised in Texas, attended the University of Texas, was an Assistant Attorney General in Texas before joining with Bob Heath & Martha Smiley to form BHS in 1980.
Your mail to bickerstaff@sig.net probably didn't get through because we don't have any users with that name. Also, our net connection is a tad flaky sometimes. It's something we're working on, but being lawyers, there are more pressing matters.
I'm not actually a lawyer. I'm a librarian by profession & a records manager because I gotta. In addition, I'm the default net person at the firm because I'm the only one who had any previous knowledge & the current interest.
Does this solve the mystery? Your page is fun. I enjoyed visiting!
Roberta Becker
beckers (at) bga.com (at home)
On Sun, 24 Dec 1995 bruce bickerstaff wrote:
Hi Roberta & Thanks very much for your recent informative email message which - yes - solved the mystery. How did you find out about our page though? Can we expect your colleague Steve to grace our page with a message for the assembled masses?
Roberta replies:
I'm glad it solved the mystery. I was doing some web searches just to see if any word of our home page had leaked out. It seems that in Texas the bar association considers web pages to be a form of public advertisement & since it's not legal to advertise before getting it approved by the bar, I wanted to make sure that it was still unavailable to the public.
I've printed out the world-wide bickerstaff page for Steve & will deliver it to him after the holidays. It would be nice if he wrote something to you guys 'cause it's a fun idea. Don't tell him I said so, but he's not the most computer-literate guy in the world. Until very recently the whole staff thought the computer on his desk was really a giant paperweight.
Have a great holiday season!
Roberta
(Hey, Your secret is safe with a Bickerstaff ... BB)
To go to Steve's company's home page
Hello Bruce,
My name is Lynn Bickerstaff and I am an extremely recent subscriber to the 'Net' (since Anzac Day in fact). My first instinct was to check out the likelihood of other 'Bickerstaffs' being out there in 'space'. I was overwhelmed by what I found and thrilled to read the various messages from other (albeit distantly removed) family members, and have a lot of my own research confirmed by others of like ilk.
So, I decided to drop you a line and let you know that there is one more Bickerstaff branch on the 'Net", however, I must point out that I do not fit the preferred criteria. On the contrary, I "have heirs and am desperately searching for vast sums of money!"
I will give a brief rundown on our branch's background (at least what I know to be fact).
I am a Bickerstaff by marriage, and my husband's name is Ron. We have two daughters Kylie and Fiona, 24 and 21 years respectively. We too, are Sydney-siders and more than likely have links with a number of the Queensland "Bickerstaffs".
From what I have ascertained so far, the lineage reads as follows:
Thomas Bickerstaff b. 1.5.1806 in County Down Magheralin IRE m. Mary Bickerstaff 24.7.1839 Down i. Thomas b. 14.6.1840 Down John b. 2.2.1842 Down Samuel b. 19.8.1843 Down Joseph b. 8.10.1846 Down Nancy b. 6.4.1849 Down James b. 3.2.1851 Down Mary b. 12.2.1853 Down James Edmund Bickerstaff b. 3.2.1851 in County Down IRE m. Caroline Ellison Belfast IRE 1875 ?) i. Walter b. 27.4.1878 Rockhampton Louis b. 25.12.1879 Rockhampton Augustus b. 17.4.1883 Rockhampton Henry b. 17.2.1883 Rockhampton Isabel b. 10.3.1885 Adelong NSW James b. 28.7.1886 Wagga NSW George b. 23.4.1888 Tumut NSW Herbert b. 2.7.1890 Tumut NSW Eva May b. 27.11.1896 Grong Grong Henry Thomas Bickerstaff b. 17.2.1883 Rockhampton m. Annie Julia McGlynn (nee Bryant) 17.10.1923 i. Myra } Caroline } twins b. 1924 Ronald Henry b.17.6.1928 Ronald Henry Bickerstaff b. 17.6.1928 Tullibigeal NSW m. Elva May Jones 15.11.1951 i. Ronald Kevin 19.12.1953 Cheryl Ann 16.3.1968 Steven Norman 10.2.1960 Jeffrey Owen 19.4.1961 Ronald Kevin Bickerstaff b. 19.12.1953 m. Lynn Shepherd 22.7.1972 i. Kylie Louise b. 2.2.1973 Fiona Gaye b. 23.1.1976I have been researching the family name for over ten years (in fits and starts) and have gathered a plethora of information, names, places and dates, I have yet to tie in to our immediate family. Through genealogical societies I have had contact with a number of other Bickerstaffs in New Zealand, Queensland, the UK and USA.
Perhaps now with the acquisition of the 'NET' resources, I may be able to make swifter and more fascinating progress.
Our branch of the family appears to have been heavily slanted toward the educational arena with James Edmund and a number of his offspring being teachers.
As for our immediate family, I am at present employed as a Marketing Co-ordinator for a Pharmaceutical based marketing company, my husband runs his own business as a distributor for Brunswick (a US organisation), after 25 years in the banking industry. Our older daughter (Kylie) is Corporate Functions Co-ordinator in the tenpin bowling industry, whilst studying psychology part-time, and our younger daughter (Fiona) is currently travelling the globe, based in London at present, where she intends to visit the township of "Bickerstaffe", having met a traveller here in Australia who told her it was only a stones-throw from where he lives. So I look forward to some pictures of the "homeland" shortly.
For a name that is unique, there certainly are a heap of us out in the world. I cannot count the number of times people have asked me about my surname and whether or not we are related to so and so Bickerstaff.
Well, I guess I have prattled on long enough, however, thank you for the opportunity to "touch base" with you and to learn more about our kind. The Web site was an inspiration. I look forward to writing again.
Best regards,
Lynn Bickerstaff
To contact Lynn, write to pelatron(at)ozemail.com.au
To go back to the WW Bickerstaff web site entry page
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Last updated June 2010