Basil Alsop Chronology and Worksheet
Research goal: Learn who the parents were of Basil Alsop. One problem is
that his name may have been an adopted name, or bought name (if he was
a run away slave). It would also be good to learn the maiden name of his
first wife (my 2nd great grandmother), and who her parents were.
Family Group Sheet:
Basil Aslop
b. Ca 1835 Maryland (one record says England)
d. 24 Dec 1895
buried Marysville, Perry Co., Pennsylvania
married probably ca 1858
Mary ____________
b.
d. between, 1870-1880
married 2nd between 1870-1880
Harriet Cowen
b.
d.
Children, all born to first wife, Mary; all named as his heirs in the 1896 deed selling
land in Marysville, Perry Co. Pennslvania.
Oscar Aslop b. Oct. 1859, Pennsylvania; 1896 res. Philadelphia; he appears to
remain single.
Joseph Aslop b. 1861; 1896 res. Newark, NJ, wife: Ida He appears to remain in NJ.
Anna Elizabeth Aslop b. 17 June 1863 Marysville, Perry Co. Pennsylvania d. 4 Dec.
1932 Fremont, Saginaw Co., Michigan ; 1896 res. Beulah, Clayton Co. Iowa, husband
Fred Froelich
Mary H. Aslop b. ca 1865 Pennsylvania; 1896 res. Philadelphia. She remains with
her step mother 1900, 1910. Perhaps she never marries.
Urban Aslop b. ca 1868 Pennsylvania; d. 2 April 1930 Tioga Section, Philadelphia,
PA.; 1896 res. Philadelphia. In 1920 he is married, with 10 year old son.
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Chronology and Worksheet :
Birth of Basil Alsop ca 1834-1835; most (not all) records agree that he was
born in Maryland.
He is mulatto, which makes us suspect slave ancestry. Why? Because there
were strict laws against marriage of whites and blacks, especially in the south.
(There were not, however, laws against sexual relations by white men with black
slaves.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-miscegenation_laws_in_the_United_States
But we will want to follow up with more detailed research into Maryland laws and
practices. If he the man is an indentured servant, might the situation be
different?
1790-1830
He is not born yet, but because of the possibility of slavery, we want to see if
there any free Aslop (Aslup etc.) families in Maryland prior to1840 . Searching
Ancestry.com, I find…

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1790 none
1800 – if the family is not white, there will not be a breakdown by age
groupings; instead only a number of “other free men” and “slaves” in the
household
o John Alsip Anne Arundel, Maryland 4 – this family is white and there
are no “other” or “slaves in the household.
1820 This is the first census in which we get a breakdown of ages for “Free
Colored Persons”
o Hosley Allsip District 1, Anne Arundel, Maryland
8
 All 8 in household are Free colored
o Thomas Allsip
District 1, Anne Arundel, Maryland
4
 All 4 in household are Free colored
o Joseph Alsoup
Election District 3, Frederick, Maryland 5
 All 5 in household are white.
1830
o Joseph Allscop
District 1 Washington, Maryland
8
 All 8 in household are white.
o Jacob Allsop
District 6, Washington, Maryland
10
 All 10 in household are white
o John Alsup
District3 Baltimore, Maryland
6
 All 6 in household are white.
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All I’ve done above is give us some background. If we follow standard procedure
we will work from the known to the unknown and work backwards.
After we work our way back to 1850, 1840 etc. is when we will start working with
this information.
Now let’s look at 1840 and 1850 to see what we can learn:
1840 age 5.
Let’s assume he is in Maryland. The search engine at Ancestry.com is acting
funny, but here are the Als?p entries I find for Maryland in 1840:


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
Hezikiah Alsop
Calvert, Maryland
1
o free colored, male, age 24-35, employed in agriculture
o all families on this page are “free colored” It is not a mixed area.
Some research will help us learn more about the neighborhoods.
Holsworth Alsop
Calvert, Maryland
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o Enumerated next to Hezikiah, above.
o All free colored; Holsworth age 24-35, employed in agriculture
o There is also a female age 24-35, 4 males <10 (one would be the Basil
of the 1850 census record below, probably), a male 10-23 and a
female 36-54.
o Because of the name Basil in the family, born the same year, this
interests us.
John Alsop
Calvert, Maryland
5
o All free colored; John is 36-54, employed in manufacture and trade
o The female is also age 36-54, 2 males under 10 and one female under
10.
o This family is enumerated several households away from Hezikiah
and Holsworth (on the next page) but also on a page that enumerates
free black households.
o Because the children were all born in the last 10 years, we might think
they married en the early 1830’s (let’s say ca 1833) and had 2 boys
and a girl born between the marriage and 1840.
 This makes John a candidate to be father of the 2nd Basil born
1835 in Maryland.
Thomas Alsop
Calvert, Maryland
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o While also in Calvert Co., this family is on page 132, several pages
away from the other Alsop families.
o In an area of both white and free black families, but more white than
free black.
o Thomas is age 24-35; a female age 10-23 and 5 males under 10.
 This is a difficult household to explain, but we must note that
one of the males under 5 in this household could also be the
Basil who appears in Pennsylvania in 1850.
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1850
Should we try to follow up on census records for the Calvert Maryland Alsop
families of 1840. ? Maybe… but I’m not going to do that right now.
I’d like to concentrate on finding the Basil who appears in Harrisburg in 1860, but
I fail to find him.
We do, of course, find the Basil who remains in Calvert Co.
District 3, Calvert, Maryland?
Head of Household: Holesworth Alsup age 65
Basil age 15
Checking Harrisburg, to see if there are any Aslop families there, we find this
family: all mulatto; the older members from Maryland.
No occupation noted but on this page occupation seem to be noted only for
household owner. In this case he is living with an Aquilla Amos age 27 barber;
the families share a house.
Thomas Alsop
Elizabeth Alsop
William Battis
Mary E Chilton
Thomas H Alsop
78 b. MD
62 b. MD
12 b PA
10 b.PA
38 b.PA
Shall we try to follow up on this family? Quick preliminary searching is not
productive. This is a cost/benefit decision.
I believe there will prove to be some connection, but we may not want to
put time into it until we have worked backwards to this point.
Ca 1858
Basil Alsop marries Mary _______ (who appears as his probable wife in 1860
and 1870). She too is mulatto.
Notice Mary of the 1860 record appears to be born ca 1840 – as does
Mary Chilton in the above record. Might we have a clue?
However Mary in 1870 is listed as 35, not 40, so we will restrain our
hopes. It was just speculation anyway.
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Ca 1859, probably Sept. or Nov., birth of son Oscar, who is 8 months old as of
June 1, 1860.
Because they are living in Harrisburg in 1860, we might believe Oscar
probably born there.
1860 Census is the first record we have of this Basil Alsop…
Harrisburg 4th Ward, Dauphin Co., PA
Bazel Alsop 26 Mulatto laborer b. MD
Mary Alsop 20 Mulatto b. PA
Oscar 8 months Mulatto b. PA

(The Calvert Co. MD Basil Alsop, age 30, black is in 2nd Election District,
Calvert Co. – a farm laborer in a household headed by Benjamin Harne. --the age of 30 for him is probably a guess on the part of whomever answered
the census taker’s question.)

In my opinion the 1850 and 1870 census links to Basil Alsop in Maryland
should be removed from those online family trees in Ancestry.com. I believe
he is established as 2nd Basil Alsop and should not be included in this
research.
1860 Harrisburg – Boyd City Directory
Bazel Alsop – Laborer – Corner of South and West Alley (across the street
from Wesleyan AME Church). Neighborhood (Tanner’s Alley) known for
Underground Railroad.
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Between 1860 and 1870 Basil and family remove to Marysville. How can we
learn more about this?
They did not move that far…
“Marysville is a borough in Perry County, in the Harrisburg-Carlisle metro area.”
Epodunk
Marysville is about 8 miles north of Harrisburg. Harrisburg is in Dauphin Co. and
Marysville is in Perry Co.
“Marysville is a borough in Perry County, in the Harrisburg-Carlisle metro area.”
Epodunk
History of Perry Co. tells us that Maryville was formed as first Haley (1866), then
Marysville (1867). It was taken from Rye Twp.
History of Marysville pp. 1000-1007; includes information on churches and the industry
in Marysville, including the building of the forge and the buildup of the town in the early
1860’s. People moved in to take the newly created jobs.
http://archive.org/details/historyofperryco00hain
(searchable copy also on Ancestry.com)
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Let’s get our bearings… where in Pennsylvania are they and how close to
Philadelphia, where Basil goes next. ?
1870 Federal Census
Marysville, Perry Co., PA
Bazel Allsup 35 Mulatto Forge man
Mary 30 Mulatto Keeping House
Oscar 11
Joseph 9
Lizzie 7 (must be my great grandmother Anna Elizabeth)
Mary 5
B_____2 (Must be Urban/Irvin)
Between 1870-1880 we believe that his wife Mary dies; probably in Marysville
and that is probably where she is buried as Basil was brought back to Marysville
to be buried. Perhaps closer to 1870 as there are no children born after 1868.
1877 Perry County Atlas
Bazel Alsup – middle of 5 properties south of railroad.
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1880 Federal Census – Marysville, Perry Co., PA
Bazel Alsup 46 Forge man b. MD, fa b. MD, mo b. MD
Harriet 35 Keeping House b. PA, fa b. PA. mo b. PA
Osker 20 Forge man b. PA fa b. MD mo b. PA
Mary 15 b. PA fa b. MD mo b. PA
Irvin 11 b. PA fa b. MD mo b. PA
Irwin is probably the Urban who shows up in Philadelphia with his father
and brother.
All in household are marked “C” for colored. The enumeration instructions for
1880 specified that the enumerator was not to distinguish between black and
mulatto, but to label anyone with any black ancestry as “colored”
When did they move into Philadephia? And why? To join relatives? Job? Other?
We will want to investigate this.
They are NOT in Philadelphia in the 1886 City Directory Philadelphia (No Aslup
entries)
Also in 1886 son Joseph marries in New Jersey.
Name: Joseph E. Alsup Birth Date: 1861 Age:
25
Spouse's Name: Ida C. Riley Spouse's Birth Date: 1866 Spouse's Age: 20
Event Date: 25 Aug 1886
Event Place: Newark, Newark, Essex, New Jersey
Where are Urban and Mary in 1886?
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We can pinpoint Basil and Oscar moving to Philadelphia circa 1886 -1887
because they are not there 1886, but are there 1887. He does not sell his land in
Perry Co. There are Alsop families in Philadelphia; we see his name as Alsup.
1887 Philadelphia
1888 Philadelphia
Note that in this 1888 directory dau Lizzie (Elizabeth A.) appears to be still with
him, working in Philadelphia as a dressmaker. This is interesting. How does it
happen that she removes to Iowa and marries there the next year? Where is
Urban?
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1889
His dau Elizabeth A. Alspup dau of B. and Harriet Cowan Alsup marries in
Beulah, Clayton Co., Iowa Fred Froelich. She is 27 he is 39.
1890 Philadelphia City Directory (1890 Census destroyed in fire)
2927 Lawrence
Basil Alsup
Irvin, Salesman
Oscar, Driver
1892 Philadelphia City Directory – there are also Alsop, Allsop, Alsopp entries.
To be thorough, we should get all city directory entries…
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We know he dies in 1895 because we already have a few of the pertinent
records.
When a person dies, we want to find four things: Death record, obituary,
probate, burial. Let’s look more closely at each:

Death record
Philadelphia Death Certificates are available as images from FamilySearch; this
one is in 3 parts:
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Obituary (we have a death notice from Philadelphia)
o On the 24th Bazel Alsop aged 61 years. Services on Thursday evening,
at 8 o’clock, at his late residence, 2931 Lawrence Street. Interment at
Marysville, PA, Friday.
o There may be something in another Philadelphia paper that we haven’t
found)
But we also know he lived and is to be buried in Marysville
o What newspaper served Maryville in 1896?
o http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/ (use the directory)
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
Find owners at http://www.worldcat.org
o
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Probate record (there isn’t always one)
o Pennsylvania probate records are online at FamilySearch (browse
images)
o https://familysearch.org/search/collection/list#page=1&countryId=23
o We find no indication of a probate in Perry Co.
o I suppose we should check Philadelphia, but those are not online
because they are kept at the city, not county level. (and this database
was from county records)
o 1896 deed transferring the property to new owners names all heirs; it
appears they signed the document in Clayton Co., Iowa. This is
important because it ties the Bazel Alsop who died in Philadelphia to
the family line going forward. This may be the closest we get to a
probate record.
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
Burial place (we know the city; have not found the cemetery)
o What cemeteries are in Marysville?

 I found this list at the U.S. Genweb for Perry Co.
http://files.usgwarchives.net/pa/perry/cemeteries/perrycemlist.txt
Let’s find if there is a Perry County Historical or Genealogical Society that might
help use.
 Use my web page for Pennsylvania…the Societies Archives & Libraries Section
http://www.barbsnow.net/Pennsylvania.htm
o Perry Historians – which I think includes the office of the County
Historian
o http://theperryhistorians.org/
o http://theperryhistorians.org/2.html
1900 Philadelphia City Directory (no Alsup entries)
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1900 Census
Philadelphia, 3624 17th street Ward 38
Hariet Alsop
Oscar Alsop
Mary Alsop
Urban Alsop
59 b July 1840 wid 5/5 39 is crossed out PA PA PA .
40 b. Oct 1859 single PA PA PA machinist
35 b. ??? 1865 single PA PA PA weaver
31 b. Sept 1868 single PA PA PA store salesman
This is an interesting census record.
 Note that everyone in the household is b. Pennsylvania and gives birthplace
of parents as Pennsylvania.
o Inexact places of birth of parents is not that unusual, but there is no
reason to believe anyone in the household did not know of the
Maryland birthplace of Basil. The person who gave the answers knew
the month and year of birth of everyone, so was not uninformed.
 Also that Harriet indicates she had 5 children, all of whom are living. There
are 5 children of Basil living, but we believe Harriet to be a second wife and
not the mother of the children.
o In this census it is not common that the number of births of a woman
included those children not naturally born to her.
 The 39 that is crossed out is number of years married and it is crossed out
because that number is not given when a person is widowed. However, the
39 was obviously the answer given and that is not consistent with a second
marriage.
 We also know that when Anna Elizabeth died, the record named her mother
Harriet Cowan, who we believe to actually be her step mother.
o That’s an acceptable discrepancy, but we do want to take note.
 Now I want to know this:
o When the other children died, who is named as the mother?
 TO DO: Get death records for Oscar, Joseph, Mary and Urban.
o In 1900, what is specified as the birth place of father for Anna and
Joseph?
 We know that in 1896 Joseph was in Newark, New Jersey, wife
Eva.
 In the 1900 census it lists birthplace of father and
mother as SPAIN. Why do we think this is? Hint: he is
listed as white.
o He and Eva have 2 children. Also in hh is mother
in law Margaretta Riley, confirming the earlier
marriage record is correct.
o 1910 bp of father unknown, mo PA
o 1920 NJ NJ NJ
 Anna Froelich (get this)
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If the family began to identify itself as white, they would be unlikely to pass down
stories of slave beginnings.
See also my page
How to Find African American Ancestors
http://barbsnow.net/AfricanAmerican.htm
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