The theme of this week’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge is “Plowing Through”
Plowing through and documenting census, church, and immigration records in order to find supporting evidence to confirm a family lore, has been tedious, yet a quite interesting task.
Although the Bough family has been on St. Croix, Danish West Indies since the 18th Century, family lore has it that the ancestors were living in County Cavan, Ireland before coming to St. Croix. As was typical during the 18th and 19th Centuries; the St. Croix population was mostly of English, Irish, and Scottish descent.
The St. Croix Free Males and Militia Combined 1807-1808 report; listed a George Bough as a White Male in private business and a member of the St. Croix Volunteer Company in Christiansted. Nothing in genealogy research is so exciting as discovering a link. Looking at this document and seeing the name of the patriarch of the family led me directly to my 4th Great-Grandmother. I was satisfied that the search led to a George Bough, but disappointed that it leads no further. Still, without the mere vital facts (date and place of birth) the search continued. Seeking a clue, I searched through Irish databases, Irish Genealogy guides, and bits of history on County Cavan, Ireland. Thus far, the plowing has not reaped many fruits. Therefore, I set my plowing tools down.
Not until my Gen-Friend Ricki Marshall called me to watch “Who Do You Think You Are” which featured Kim Cattrall who was searching for an ancestor, with the same name I was searching “George Baugh”, did I pick up my plowing tools again. Although the spelling of the name was different by one letter, the name variations rule applied. I watched intently her search, which eventually led to Liverpool England. I’ve watched this “wdytya” episode a couple of times for hints and clues. However, there was no mention of her ancestors heading to the Danish West Indies but the possibility exist.
If anyone runs into Kim Cattrall please text/email and inform her that the Bough family, of the US Virgin Islands formerly the Danish West Indies, arms are open wide to welcome her to St. Croix. We can simply sit under the palm tree on a sugar sandy beach with a tall cool glass of coconut water and have a chat about the Bough/Baugh ancestors.
Resources:
Virgin Islands Social History Associates (VISHA), comp. U.S. Virgin Islands Census, 1835-1911 (Danish Period) [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2009.
Virgin Islands Social History Associates (VISHA). St. Croix Free Males and Militia Combined 1807-1808 (Danish period)
My Genealogical Journey: 
Hi Shelley–as usual, love it. Mary Gustafson
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Thank you for the visit.
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I am so impressed with your perseverance as you continue to research and then report your findings with these lwonderful & very informative posts. Thank you so very much for helping to establish our ROOTS 🙂
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Cool…Pray you have that chat with Kim sooner than you think !
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Hi
I dont know how I ended up on this thread. Anyway I am from Cavan in Ireland. A little town called Virginia. Anyway the story goes that there were two Baugh families living across the river from each other. This caused issues with post so my grandfather Charlie changed his last name from Baugh to Bough. He was born 1914 or something so it was after your George. So some of my cousins are Baugh and some are Bough.
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Hello Stephen:
I am very happy that your search landed you on my genealogical journey. I’m so excited to read about two Baugh/Bough brothers and the reason for the letter change. The link and the information are quite helpful and perhaps this is the support I need for the oral history that was passed down throughout the generations. Thank you for the visit and stop back anytime.
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