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Daniel Woodhurst was born in 1834 in Sittingbourne to parents William (3) Woodhurst and his first wife Mary. He was born on September 4th 1834 and was christened on October 5th 1834 [Sittingbourne Wesleyan Chapel Baptisms Register: IGI Batch C068631]. His surname is spelled as Woodhouse in the chapel register. The register describes his father as a brick-maker of "Vallenciene" [Valencienne] in Sittingbourne Parish and his mother as the daughter Mary of "Matthew and Sarah Friar".
The 1841 Census finds him at age "6" living with his parents and siblings at Buckland Bottom near Dover.
The 1851 Census finds him at age "16" living with his father, his stepmother Ann and his siblings in Ospringe Road, Faversham. He was occupied, like his father, as a brick-maker.
On September 18th 1854 he volunteered for a continuous service period of ten years in the Navy, starting on the ship HMS Waterloo. His entry document states that he was born in Sittingbourne, was 5 feet 4 inches in height, had brown hair and blue eyes [Nat. Archives: ADM/139/158]. He subsequently served on HMS Dauntless in the Crimean War and was awarded the Crimea Medal [Nat. Archives: ADM 171/26]. Dauntless, a wooden-hulled steam screw frigate, was launched at Portsmouth in 1847. Her role in the Crimean War is summed up in Wikipedia as follows:
In 1854, upon the start of the Crimean War, she sailed with the Fleet to the Baltic, then in December transferred to the Black Sea taking with her artillery details and stores. In February 1855 her gunfire helped to beat back a Russian attack on Turkish army positions at Eupatoria and in April she was at the bombardment of Sevastopol, when one of her 68-pounder guns burst, causing considerable damage to the ship, but somehow no casualties. Throughout the 1855 campaign on shore, the Dauntless provided officers and men for the Naval Brigade manning the batteries facing the landward defences of Sebastopol, and in October 1855 she made her final contribution to the naval campaign when she took part in the bombardment of Kinburn. She remained with the Mediterranean Fleet until she returned home to pay off in 1857.
Upon returning from the Crimea, Daniel decided to marry. His wife-to-be was Priscilla (nee) Hales. She was born in or around Doddington (near Faversham) around May 24th 1841 [Birth Index: Faversham 5 167, 1841 (Sept)] to parents Frederick Hales and his wife Mercy (nee) Dutwell (or Dutnall/Durtnall). Mercy was born at Otterden, Kent around 1809-11. Some descendants claim that Frederick married Mercy at Hartlip, Kent on April 17th 1827 and that he worked at one period on the construction of the railway line between London and Dover. The 1841 Census, taken on June 7th, finds Priscilla aged "13 days" living with her parents and six older siblings at Doddington. Frederick may have died in either 1842 [Death Index: Faversham 5 125, 1842 (June)] or 1843 [Death Index: Faversham 5 121, 1843 (Sept)]. Mercy subsequently partnered, but apparently did not marry, a chimney sweep Israel West. The 1851 Census finds the family living in Water Lane, Ospringe, describing Priscilla as aged "9" and assigning the West surname to her.
Daniel married Priscilla at Faversham Parish Church on October 11th 1857. The church's marriage register and the GRO reference [Marriage Index: Faversham 2a 951, 1857 (Dec)] both misrender his surname as Woodhouse. The register describes him as a bachelor and powder-maker aged "23", and her as a spinster aged "19" (but actually 16). They were both living in Ospringe Road. His father is described as a brick-maker and hers as a labourer "Israel Hales", evidently confusing the names of her father and stepfather. Neither party could sign their name. The witnesses were Mary Ann Rolfe and John (Tolbrook) Crisfield whose connections are unknown, but they married to each other the following year [Marriage Index: Poplar 1c 1153, 1858 (Dec)].
When he married, Daniel was almost certainly working in the gunpowder mills in Faversham, one of the town's main industries at that time.
There is some evidence that Priscilla occasionally went by the name "Selina" or "Selena", although her birth registration names her only as "Priscilla". She and Daniel named one of their children "Priscilla Selena".
In 1859 an application for a re-trial arose in the County Court concerning the legitimacy and timing of a sale of Daniel's household effects to a Mr. Wyles, which had been the subject of an earlier trial ("Woodhurst vs Wyles"); this was reported in The Kentish Gazette, issue of September 6th 1859. The court heard that Daniel had set out for America in May 1858 and was now on his way back to Britain. The case for a re-trial was rejected.
The 1861 Census finds him living with his wife and their 15-month-old daughter Mary Jane at 2, Davington Road in Davington. He was then working as a hay merchant's labourer. During the next twenty years he produced many more children at various places in Kent.
The 1871 Census finds him with his wife and children living at 20, Springfield Road in Tunbridge, Kent and described as an agricultural labourer "out of work".
In 1874 eight individuals, including Daniel, were summoned in front of magistrates at a police court charged with having permitted their daughters under 16 years of age to work in a brickfield, contrary to the Factory Acts then in force. All pleaded guilty. Three of them, in consideration of their impoverished state, were ordered to pay only the costs (9 shillings), whilst the other five, including Daniel, had imposed upon them the lowest possible penalty of 5 shillings, plus the same costs. The case was reported in The Kentish Gazette, issue of August 4th 1874.
The 1881 Census finds him living at 210, Shortlands Road, South Side in Sittingbourne, occupied as an agricultural labourer.
The 1881 Census also finds his sister-in-law Isabella Ann (nee Hales) Marsh living in Union Road, Faversham with her husband William Marsh and numerous children. She and William had married in 1852 [Marriage Index: Faversham 2a 835, 1852 (Sept)].
Around this time the family must have been considering emigrating to America to improve their circumstances, possibly encouraged by relatives already there and/or by whatever Daniel had concluded after his trip there in the late 1850s and perhaps subsequent trips. Daniel now set out to America again in 1882, unaccompanied by any family members, and arrived at New York on November 15th 1882. He had first travelled to Rotterdam and then sailed from there on the W.A. Scholten. The ship's manifest describes him as a labourer aged "48".
Soon afterwards he was the subject of a snide and impertinent commentary appearing in The Kentish Gazette on December 30th 1882 in the "Stray Notes" column. The writer "Adam" had, a few weeks previously, written in the newspaper asserting that Daniel had "deserted his wife and a large family who are now in Sittingbourne" by crossing the Atalantic. He ("Adam") remarked now that he had since been reprimanded by another correspondent "Eve" for venturing an opinion upon Daniel's conduct, it being pointed out by "Eve" that "This is not the first time he [Daniel] has left his wife and gone to the same shore and returned back to England after the absence of a few months, and why not this time?" "Adam" however was unrepentant, suggesting that if Daniel had been in difficulties at home then he should have faced them "like a man" here in England "instead of seeking to evade his responsibilities by flight. The duty he owes to his children ought to have kept him by their side". It seems extraordinary that "Adam" should have attacked in these terms another citizen's right to travel in order to seek better opportunities, and just as extraordinary that the newspaper should have printed his views on the matter.
A year later his sons Albert Henry (1) and Earl George (1) went out to join him. They went first to Amsterdam and sailed from there on the steamship SS Zaandam, arriving at New York on December 7th 1883. The ship's manifest lists them as passengers No. 13 and 14, aged "16" and "22", respectively.
Meanwhile it appears that the family in Sittingbourne were getting into financial difficulties, revealed by an article in the East Kent Gazette published on April 26th 1884. Priscilla, named in the article as Mrs Selina Woodhurst, had been summoned at the Petty Sessions on April 21st for not keeping two of her children at school. She said she had been unable to pay the fees as Daniel in America had been ill and unable to send her money. The magistrates were unsympathetic and fined her ten shillings.
Soon after this Priscilla and all the remaining children departed for America. They sailed on the City of Montreal direct from Liverpool to Michigan, arriving there on July 26th 1884. Why the family had not all emigrated together in a single journey is not known. It may be that whoever funded their travel was unable to provide all the funding at one time. Perhaps Daniel was able to earn enough during his first year or two in America to pay for the voyages of the others. However this may be, once they were all together they settled in Jackson Co., Michigan.
The autobiography of Albert Henry (1) confirms some of the above details of his own emigration with his brother. Another descendant's report mentions in this context the ship Queen of Britain, but this may refer only to the first part of Daniel's journey to Rotterdam or that of the two sons to Amsterdam.
In later years various family members gave slightly inaccurate dates for their migrations on their census forms. For instance, the US 1900 Census entries for Priscilla, her daughter Priscilla Selena and her daughter Alice - in three separate households - all wrongly state that they had arrived there in 1883. However, the dates stated above are certainly the correct ones, being cited on the original ship manifests.
A few years after William Marsh died, his widow Isabella and at least six of her children emigrated to join Daniel and Priscilla in Michigan, possibly around 1893 [descendant's report].
The US 1900 Census finds Daniel at age 65 living with just Priscilla in Summit township, Jackson Co. No occupation is entered for him. It states that they had been married for 42 years, had produced 13 children of whom 10 were still living, that they had both immigrated in 1883 and that Daniel was naturalized.
The US 1910 Census finds Daniel and Priscilla in Summit township, Jackson Co. Daniel's age is given as "74" and his occupation as brickwork mason. Also in their household was the family of their son Daniel Esaias. This record cites 1884 as the immigration date for Daniel, for Priscilla and for Daniel Esaias.
The US 1920 Census finds Daniel and Priscilla still in Summit township, their ages given as "83" and "78". Again, Daniel Esaias was in their household, but his wife Louise was with their married daughter Ruth.
A descendant has kindly supplied to the site author a copy of a photograph showing Daniel and Priscilla on the porch outside their home, taken shortly before Priscilla's death.
According to descendants, Priscilla died in Jackson on March 8th 1921 and Daniel on April 18th 1926. They were buried at the Woodland Cemetery in Jackson in unmarked graves lying about 50 feet from the grave of their son Albert Henry (1).
This list is consistent with the entries written in a Family Bible currently possessed by Daniel's descendants.