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For a long time we have only known of Samuel’s baptism in 1831 in East Ruston and his entry in the 1851 census with the family. Investigating the ancestors of Howard F Gotts who died in WW2, we have been able to link his great-grandfather Samuel Gotts who came from Norfolk in 1853 on the ship ‘Julia’ and married Martha Preston back to Samuel 155. The trail is not clean, but we feel we have the correct linkage.
In 1855 Samuel & Martha were in a rented log cabin in Somerset, Niagara County, New York State, on the border of Lake Ontario near Niagara Falls. They had been there for two months, but from Samuel’s arrival after Martha in August 1853 we don’t know where they were. By 1865 they had four children and were living in Hartland, about 9 miles south:
Here they were only 10 miles away from George 134 and Ann 142 Waterson, his first cousin, who had arrived in 1851. They must have met and supported each other, and George may have been the inspiration to come. By 1900 Samuel and family are also living in Ridgeway, clearly the place to be.