Brough Family Organization
www.broughfamily.org

Bott & Abbotts
Family Organization

The Bott and Abbotts Family Organization (BAFO) is a large Family Organization with ties to the Richard Brough Family Organization (RBFO). RBFO Genealogists currently assist the BNFO with genealogical research and historical documentation.

In 1858, Samuel Brough (1839-1911)--the youngest son of Richard Brough and Mary Horleston (after whom the RBFO is named)--married Elizabeth Bott (1838-1921) in Edensor, Staffordshire, England. This couple eventually moved to the United States and raised a family in Randolph, Utah. Elizabeth Bott's parents were Benjamin Bott (1817-1862) and Elizabeth Abbotts (1816-1896), whose known genealogies extend back to the 1600's.

The Ancestors and Genealogies of Benjamin Bott and Elizabeth Abbotts

In 2005, Nathell Hoffman of Randolph, Utah, supplied the RBFO with an old photograph (below) showing the gravestone of James Abbotts Sr. (1780-1881)--the father of Elizabeth Abbotts and grandfather of Elizabeth Bott--who was buried in 1881 in St. Chad's parish church graveyard in Seighford, Staffordshire, England.

In August 2010, James Highum sent the following email to the RBFO: "I was looking at your website and noted the photo [above] of the unidentified man standing next to the grave of James and Elizabeth Abbotts. I may be able to shed some light on this. I have the same photo in our family's collection. I believe that it is my great-great-grandfather, Thomas Abbotts. I base this on another photo I have of him, and it matches in appearance. It is possible that it is James as you suggest, since they were brothers and naturally there would be a resemblance, but mymother once told me that hte photo was of her great-grandfather Tom, and that he had sailed back to England to visit his ancestral home. He was a son of James and Elizabeth, their 5th child. He was born in 1827, emigrated to the United States in 1854, and settled in Caledonia, Minnesota, where he was one of the earliest settlers and town founders. I believe that he returend to Seighford around 1890 to 1900 and the photo was taken at that time. He died in 1912. Thomas married Mary Myatt in Staffordhsire, and emigrated with his two oldest children Mary and John, and had a total of ten children (I have record of only eight) the others born in Minnesota. (Known children: Mary, John, William, Jennie, James, Thomas, Bessie, and Lona.) His son Thomas Abbotts (1870-1957) was my great-greatfather, his grandson Thomas Harold Abbotts was my grandfather (1899-1962)."

In June 2008, James (Jim) Henry Brough and his wife, Rosemary Elisabeth Rigby, of Alsager, Staffordshire, visited St. Chad's parish church (below) in Seighford, Staffordshire.

Jim and Rosemary Brough found that the gravestone of James Abbotts Sr. (below) had, unfortunately, weathered and deteriorated over the past 127 years to the point that the text on the bottom portion of the gravestone was mostly illegible.

However, Jim and Rosemary Brough did find (below) other gravestones in good condition--including the gravestone of James Abbotts Jr. (1819-1888), the oldest son of James Abbotts Sr., and brother to Elizabeth Abbotts.