The North American and Daily Advertiser, (Philadelphia, PA)
– 26 August 1844
Some time ago, whilst I was trying to investigate my 3 x great-grandmother, Harriet Catherine Dando, née Williams, I came across this notice in the North American and Daily Advertiser, (Philadelphia, PA) dated Monday 26th August 1844. Harriet was the fifth wife of my 3 x great-grandfather, Joseph Dando, the Younger.
I’d originally found myself a bit stumped as to who everyone mentioned in the article was but I’ve finally managed to piece it all together. The Joseph mentioned was likely to be my 3 x great-grandfather’s son, Joseph Clifford Dando, born in 1830 to his second wife, Helen Sheriff (or Stirling). There’s some ambiguity over her surname. Then Charles is probably their second son, Charles Sterling Dando, born in 1833. He was baptised as Charles Sheriff Dando but later went by the name Sterling Dando. There were other Charles Dandos living at that time so this had initially led to some confusion.
Then there was the question of who was Stephano Dando, as it looked in the article. I’d previously thought it was meant to read as Stephen Dando. Joseph Dando, the Younger, had an Uncle Stephen who was still alive and lived in New York so I’d wondered if he might have travelled home to visit family. Not so.
Various Dando descendants around the globe have in their possession handwritten family trees and these all mention a Stevannah Dando but I could find no record of someone by that name. According to these family trees, she was purportedly the daughter of Joseph Dando, the Younger, and his third wife, Jane Clark, whom he married in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1836. Jane died on 31st December 1839.
Then recently, I found a burial and death record for a Stephana Dando in Bristol in 1847. She lived at Castle Green where I know her father, Joseph, lived around then. She was 9 years old when she was buried on 2 April 1847 in the Parish of St Augustine the Less, thus she would have been born in about 1838, most likely in Philadelphia, which fits with the timeframe when Joseph was married to Jane. The 1844 journey to England would confirm why her death was recorded in this country.
I’m in the habit of considering name variatons when researching family history but I’ve never before come across the name, Stephana, (not to mention the Stevannah misspelling) so this is why I’d had difficulty joining all the dots.
AI Generated image depicting the Dando family travelling on the Monongahela, owned by Captain Turley
Something I still haven’t ascertained is when did Joseph Dando, the Younger, travel back to England. My 2 x great-grandfather, William Elbert Dando, was born to Joseph and Harriet in Philadelphia in 1843. When did he come back to England and why did such a young child not travel with his mother? Perhaps one day I’ll find Joseph and William Elbert together on a passenger list.
[UPDATE: The Pennsylvania Church and Town Records mention that Joseph and Harriet Dando and Harriet Richards, the servant, moved to England in 1845. We know the two Harriets travelled in 1844 but perhaps it was the following year when Joseph returned.]
