Hi:

I have been trying locate a ship that contained Joseph Washington, Cutler Born 1829, Sheffield, Yorkshire, England and Died 24 March 1876 in Town of Litchfield Co., CT. and his two sons:
1. Joseph Washington, Jr. born: 1 Jan 1862-63, Sheffield, Yorkshire, England, Joseph may have died on the 31 March 1947 in Bridgeport, Litchfield Co., CT. I am still trying to find his death record in Connecticut.
2. George Washington, born: 29 Sept. 1864, Sheffield, Yorkshire, England, and died 29 Sept. 1924 in his daughter's home in Springfield, Hampden Co., MA, USA

I have looked through manifest here in America. Perhaps in England they the paper work for the 1st leg of the trip. Joseph Washington was in the 1871 England Census with his 2nd wife Mrs Harriet Saife, but had died in Litchfield, CT by the 24 March 1876, According to Several different Obituaries in the Sheffield Telegraph. I also have Death Record for him in Litchfield that compliments what is found in the obituaries. So, Joseph left England sometime after 1871 and bef. March 1876. There has got to be a Ship Manifest that will have a Joseph Washington and his two kids Joseph and George.

Thank you so much for your help with this.
Cathi Gross

Cathi, sorry cannot help with the manifest. However I think I can identify elizabeth who was buried as his wife.
From records stateside you have:
He arrived in usa in 1875
He had sons joseph 14 and george 9 with him.
He died in march 1876
Cause of death diabetes mellitus
1880 george is with elizabeth in connecticut
1882 elizabeth dies and buried with joseph as his wife.
Also we have that Joseph's wife Harriet , left behind in England, married in England immediately after he died in usa
The key to explaining all that is Diabetes Mellitus.
In the 19th century this was a killer. No insulin like today. It was also very simple to diagnose (sugar in urine). There was no cure, but the treatment was special diet and appetite lowering drugs. This could extend life a bit.

This means that when joseph set off for usa with his 2 young sons, he knew he did not have long to live. He left his wife behind. She presumably knew he did not have long to live.
Why did a dying man do that with his 2 young sons? He must have done it for their benefit. He would not take them to be abandoned alone in this foreign land. He must have been taking them to someone he knew, someone who would look after the children.
I suggest he was taking them to Elizabeth, who was going to be their mother. This must have been planned, and was better for them than leaving them in Sheffield with their step mother Harriet. He probably agreed it with Harriet, and he had agreed it with Elizabeth, by telegraph.
Who could Elizabeth be? She was born about 1833 and she was living in Litchfield county Conn.
The boys' mother, Joseph's first wife Sarah nee Carnall, had died in 1868. She had a sister Elizabeth born 1833 (the Family is in the 1841 sheffield census over to the left under Carnal). This Elizabeth married in Sheffield in 1850 to Samuel Harper(see FMP) and they had a daughter Maria in February 1851( see gro index). They are in Sheffield in the 1851 census, though strangely one month old Maria is not recorded with them (THANK YOU Moira). This family then disappears from UK . No further trace. No more children (gro index), no death for Samuel ( gro index and free bmd). They must have left the country.( and maybe they had more children)
You should look for Samuel Harper and his wife Elizabeth and Daughter Maria in Litchfield county and maybe in Ships manifests in the 1850s.
Maybe Joseph married Elizabeth, if she was a widow, She was his sister in law, and aunt to his sons. That marriage would be bigamous (because of Harriet) but why would he care. He was dying. The marriage would be difficult to find because registration had not yet started in USA.
Dave
Edit, going back to the apprentice and Freemens record for Joseph Washington born about 1770 (from memory). He purchased his freedom in 1803. If you contact the Company of Cutlers in Sheffield by email and ask the archivist very nicely, she will send you a copy from the register of his trade mark which was registered in 1803.

OOPS. It seems I screwed this one up. Cathi has informed me that she has found Samueland Elizabeth Harper in the censuses in Sheffield up to 1881, so they never left uk.
I guess I will have to live and learn.
Dave