Joseph's siblings are unknown
Joseph Ponsford had travelled to America in 1830 at the age of 21. He
returned to England two years later. He and Sarah Vawer were married on 13th
February 1837 in St. Mary Redcliffe Cathedral, Bristol, England, and lived in
Nailsea where seven of their children were born. In 1852 Joseph had
difficulty in finding employment in his trade as a tanner, and returned to
America. He stayed in Herkimer, New York state. Once settled in 1854 he sent
for Sarah and their family. Sarah spent eight weeks on the crossing to America,
which seems a particularly ardouos task for a mother travelling alone. She
landed in New York city on 30th June 1854.
The spent almost six years living in Herkimer, and then moved in the Spring of
1860 they moved we are told "coming to Minnesota in the spring of 1860 via the
great Lakes to Milwaukee thence to LaCrosse up the Mississippi to St. Paul and
from there by boat to Clearwater, MN".
Joseph took up a claim of 160 acres which he farmed sucessfully for many years,
and where Sarah died in 1882.
Sarah and Joseph's known children are
- Thomas Ponsford (18th March 1838 - 7th March 1909)
- William P Ponsford (3rd December 1840 - 5th March 1930)
- James Ponsford (January 1842 - 15th August 1863)
- John Delano Ponsford (15th April 1845 - 22nd November 1864)
- Samuel Henry Ponsford (10th April 1847 - 19th August 1926)
- Benjamin Ponsford (13th July 1849 - 28th June 1927)
- Mary Ann Ponsford Dorsey (1851 - 11th September 1914)
- Frederick Joseph Ponsford (22nd November 1856 - 25th March 1938)
- James A Ponsford (1858 - 11th July 1937)
Our guide to information about Joseph and Sarah Vawer Ponsford was via the findagrave website where
details were added by Jim Childers and Rebecca Frank. The website has
pictures of the grave monument to Sarah and Joseph, and a very old photograph
of the two of them sitting together. We do not have permission yet to
duplicate this picture or those of the memorial on this site but interested
people should follow the link to the excellent findagrave site.
Becky has very kindly supplied us with further information about the Ponsford
family, including a transcript of the Civil War diary of Sarah and Joseph's
son, John Delano Ponsford. We have no permission to release the fascinating
file here, but interested parties should contact us via our contact page.
