Bedsole - NCGenWeb

Bedsole and the coat is described, but I dislike the design and colors of that one immensely. So I do not
claim the "Official" Coat. Instead, I claim the one you see at the top of this document and on the Bedsole
internet site at; www.thebedsoles.com
Nevertheless, I am certain there is a common ancestor for Bedsaul, Bledsoe, Bedsole and variations and
misspellings, somewhere in the past. I know that the evidence that there is or is not such an ancestor, does
not exist in the United States. I believe such an ancestor did exist most likely in Prussia. Anyway, back
beyond Germany as we know it, there is no paper trail. Therefore, conjecture becomes meaningless. So,
after only 3 weeks in Germany, my total costs had exceeded $25,000 ,so I left. What I did learn was, if you
hire a translator, have your info ready so you are not paying them by the hour to find stuff for you, and to pick
out that info you want translated. That takes so much time it will quickly bankrupt a very rich man.
In addition to all that, to find out anything about passenger shipping records from Germany, England or
Ireland, from as far back as I could find information up to about 1800, the period I was most interested in,
one needs to know at least the following: The exact names of passenger(s) as listed on ships records,
keeping in mind that Scribes at the time wrote and spelled the names the best they could guess from what
was said, because people in general could neither read nor write, much less spell. Names of the ships they
sailed on (many ships had the same name), the owner(s) of the ships, the country of the ships registry. Do
you have any idea how long that alone would take and how much you would spend, finding that out, if you
could find it at all?. You also need to know the date of departure, port of departure, passengers destinations,
ports of arrival, dates of arrival and etc. As if all that were not bad enough, prior to 1900, Germany had
thousands upon thousands of its citizens who supposedly shipped to the United States, and via England. So
shipping records in Germany would show their destination to be England. Then you have to go to England,
and hope you can find all the above shipping information from there to the U.S. Naturally, thousands of those
you would be interested in, stayed in England, thousands more changed their minds in England, and went
back to Germany, and more of them went to countries other than the U.S. or England, having left from
Germany and/or from England on different ships with various names, from various ports, on various dates
and with various people accompanying them. In other words, they could have gone instead to any country.
My conclusion is this; If you already possess all that shipping information, you don't need to go over there to
find it out. But if you do decide to, therein are another million research problems, requiring thousands upon
hundreds of thousands of dollars and who knows how many years, to research. Another overseas research
problem is this; Many Germans moving to this country, first shipped to England on english and/or german
ships. In England, they were often kept several weeks in "Holding pens", until a full shipload was available,
then they boarded english and/or german ships for the trip to this country. Several ships sunk enroute,
drowning all aboard, many became disabled and put into the nearest port, where passengers were left to
fend for themselves, and I have included an article of a court case regarding that fact. So be forewarned if
you want to go overseas and trace our ancestors.
In our own National Archives, for the Bedsoles, even for immigration records, there is nothing in the way of
passenger lists prior to about 1880-90, which was very surprising. Upon his last arrival in this country, on May
1, 1701, our Abraham was accompanied by his wife "Rose" and young daughter, "Elizabeth". Note that
all three were given English and not German names, which is the result of the writer at the time being
english, and the immigrants being German, who could speak no english.
Knowing all that now, does it mean you should bow down and be forever grateful to me ? ....YOU BET !
…...YES, INDEED !!.
In the earliest days, prior to1900, ships captains were not required to keep lists of passengers, much less