Timeline for Long Family Research

 by Fredrick E. Walton, Family Genealogist and Historian.

 Constance Wilhelmina Walton, nee Long, with her two youngest sons, 

John (Jack) and Freddie, my grandfather

Over the years, while researching other family members, I occasionally stumbled over some data regarding William (1832-1914)  and Elizabeth Long (1827-1902) which I have dutifully added to my family tree. After all, they are the parents of my great-grandmother Wilhelmina Constance Walton nee Long (1869-1931) and have a legitimate branch on my tree. 

My main focus has always been on the Walton sir name. While I have catalogued Long family data into the tree for years, It has never been a focus.  For a number of years, my cousin and sleuthing partner, Claudia Shuttleworth nee Walton, has shared her Long discoveries, but they have often been difficult to follow up on due to the lack of "low hanging fruit". I admit that this is simple laziness on my part, but in the world of internet Genealogy, it is much easier to follow the trail of a relative who, through happenstance, has left so many clues to document their life. 

My research has often focused on my Grandfather's early to mid twentieth century time period, where an abundance of data is available. William and Elizabeth Long lived in the late nineteenth century when many civil records did not yet exist, newspapers did not cover every family celebration, and church records for that period may not have been digitized or may not exist.

It recently occurred to me that, although I am a Walton, I have DNA from all of my Ancestors, including the Longs. We are a bit like your favorite cocktail, in the sense that you take a number of unique ingredients  and mix them together, when you're done...voila... something new and unique exists made from all the ingredients.

With that in mind I decided to revisit the data  I had collected on my Long family and see about coming up with a plan to fill in the blanks. I was surprised that this was not the first time I had this idea, because I found a timeline and data reference spreadsheet I created a decade ago.  

Here is a status of what I currently know about the Longs 

Long Family Timeline and Data Referance on Google Docs

Mystery Couple- William and Elizabeth Long

An Introduction

My great great grandparents on my father's side of the family were called William and Elizabeth Long. Family oral history, as well as census documents tell us they immigrated to America sometime in the late 19th century from England. When and where they arrived in America is still a mystery. When they were born and where they lived in England is still a mystery. The names of their parents is still a mystery.

They are a mystery couple, and I have some of their DNA!

In this age of computer genealogical sleuthing, where many records are available at the push of a button from the comfort of your den, the problem is not the lack of records, but rather an excess of records. It appears that there are dozens, if not, hundreds of William Longs, Elizabeth Longs and couples named William and Elizabeth Long that match the few general search terms we know about "our" William and Elizabeth Long. 

They are somewhat of a mystery, living just under the radar in the late 19th century where many of the genealogical references we take for granted today, were not yet in place. For example, they were both born before the English started recording births in 1837. Of course they most likely have Birth or Baptism records in some small Parish church, somewhere in England....if we only knew where they came from.

They immigrated at a time when immigration records were less formal than the more familiar and perhaps better maintained Immigration records from Ellis Island which began in 1892.  Where were they married and when? Was there even a marriage license or record filed in hte 1860s? They lived before there was a Social Security number or draft registration. Even City directories seem to be playing hide and seek for the Longs...never seeming to be published for the years they lived in various communities we know about. 

To the best of my knowledge, we don't have a photograph of them. In fact, with a single son and a single grandson, there are few heirs to carry on the Long family name to the present generation. This is a thread to still be followed with hope that the direct family line, when discovered, may have some of the answers we seek.

Two Walton Cousins, Myself and Claudia Shuttlefield have been poking at this mystery for years. The mother of each of our  Grandfather's was Wilhelmina Constance Long. She married George Walton, our mutual great grandfather. We have decided to roll up our sleeve and do our best to track down the answers to this mystery. As we unravel the clues we will post them here to share with current and future genealogists who may be trying to discover the same thing. 

If you are a descendant of William and Elizabeth Long...we would be delighted to hear from you. We hope you find our research useful.