Mary Alice Johanson-Haigh Cornwall

Johanson -Haigh/Cornwall
(by Kent N. Cornwall)  Over these past many months of Flash Back Friday posts, the stories of Cornwall/Hodgkinson forebears have been shared.  Mom and I have worked together to find and piece together the stories that trace each family branch to it's beginnings in the Mormon Church and the eventual "Coming To Zion".  Each line, save one, on the fan chart is now terminated with a bright yellow highlighted ancestor, which marks the first of that line to become a member of the Church.  Historic recitations for 47 progenitors have been included until now when there is one final branch to document - the line that goes back from my paternal grandmother, Mary Alice Johanson Haigh.  It is not by chance that Mary Alice's branch has been left for last. 

Mary Alice Cornwall with grand daughters Lissy(North) and Cherie(Alvord)

Throughout my life,  Grandma Cornwall's history and parentage was simply not brought up except, it seemed to my young mind, in hushed tones which included, "it's something we just don't talk about."  All I ever knew growing up was that my Grandma Cornwall was born a Johanson and was brought up by the Haighs.  The status of her legal adoption was always mentioned in questions.  It was said that "in those days" (the late 1800s) when a family could not properly care for a child, it was not uncommon they be "given" to another family to raise.   Why or when that happened with my grandmother I never had a clue.

One can observe that the family history fan chart (via Family Search) connects Mary Alice (highlighted in blue) with the Haigh line, not her birth line which is Johanson.  So, the question in regard to this series has been - follow the foster/adoptive(?) line (Haigh) per the fan, or follow the DNA/blood line (Johanson)?

Research in the regular sources revealed the most limited information of any branch researched thus far.  Both the Haigh and the Johanson lines include sparse data and miss basic information with which to piece together a history.  So, what is to be done for this final post, to document the final line in the Cornwall/Hodgkinson tree?

We invite you to visit this site next Friday as we share some exciting, historic, by-chance discoveries made just a few days ago.  This find has filled in a few of the blanks I have always had regarding a major branch in our/my family tree.