In my recent posts, I shared information about where the Dickinsons were when the U.K. census was taken in 1861. Ann (Loy) Dickinson, wife of William Dickinson, was living with her son, Joseph, and daughter, Martha, on Portland Street in Nether Hallam, Sheffield. William wasn't listed in the home, so one might assume William had died, but Ann's marital status was given as "Married", not widowed, so I searched to find other men named William Dickinson on the 1861 census and found "W. Dickinson", the Tilter, was at the Ecclesall Bierlow Union Workhouse, age 72.
William and Ann's son, Joseph, married Matilda Broadhead in December of 1861 and they left for America in 1863, in the middle of the American Civil War. Ann either went with him or she went soon after, because she was counted on the 1870 U.S. census in Joseph's home in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Joseph and Matilda already had four young children in the home: Ann, William, Joe, and Charles.
Ann died there two years later, on February 20, 1872, and even though she was a mere 67 years old, the cause of death was "Old Age". No contributing factors were given, and her doctor's address was 635 Penn Street, two doors down from the Dickinson home at 631 Penn Street, in Pittsburgh.
Her death certificate states that she was "Married", even though by all other appearances, William had died back in England eight years prior, in 1864. This leaves me wondering if the one who died in 1864 was the right William, but as mentioned previously, the one who died in 1864 was a Tilter, and although there were many men named William Dickinson in Yorkshire, he was the only Tilter I have found among the records.
How can we be sure this is the right Ann Dickinson? In this case, another record, one which we might easily overlook as irrelevant to our research, confirms it is the right Ann. It is the death certificate of Joseph's daughter, Jennie Baker Dickinson, who died at the age of 17-months, just six months after Ann died. Both certificates are shown above. The address given for Ann's residence was 631 Penn Street and the address given for her granddaughter, Jennie, was the same. This confirms that Ann who died February 20, 1872, was the same Ann who lived in Joseph & Matilda's home in 1870, and who he had lived with back in Sheffield in 1861, his mother, Ann (Loy) Dickinson. She was born in Bradfield, England, abt. 1806, and she was my 4th great-grandmother.
Ann was laid to rest in Allegheny Cemetery in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in Section 32, Lot SP, Grave 241. Her sons, Joseph and John, and several others of the family rest there with her.
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