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June Ross Cornish American Collection

 Collection — Box: 1-5
Identifier: MS-006

Collection Scope and Content Summary

Collection, undated, of Cornish American records amassed by June and Richard Ross of Redlands, California. . Includes an eleven volume index of information documenting the Cornish diaspora in America. Information was culled from around the United States in newspapers, court records, census records, vital records, passenger lists and mining company records.

Dates

  • 1885

Access

Available for use in the Michigan Technological University Archives and Copper Country Historical Collections.

Biographical Note

Lillian June Jennings, born on September 9, 1920, grew up in Houghton and graduated from Houghton High School in 1938. Her mother, Lillian (Nappa) Jennings, was of Nordic extraction, and her father, William Jennings, had an English heritage that would be very important to his daughter later on in her life.

June met Richard Albert ("Dick") Ross in California and married him in 1947. After Dick's retirement in 1975, the Rosses became passionately invested in genealogical research, and they devoted the years from 1977 through 2004 to national and international research trips. Guided primarily by June's background, the couple traveled to Cornwall and the American mining districts that had welcomed Cornish miners, collecting and indexing genealogical data along the way. Their immense research files included vital records, church documents (such as baptismal information), newspapers, immigration and travel data, local directories, and an extensive slate of other published and unpublished materials.

Dick died at age 84 on February 16, 2005. June passed away six years later on August 10, 2011.

Extent

4.18 cubic feet (5 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

Collection, undated, of Cornish American records amassed by June and Richard Ross of Redlands, California.

Related Materials

Several other collections in the holdings of the Michigan Tech Archives also include genealogical materials compiled by Richard and June Ross:

MS-007, June Ross Marriage Indexes of Cornwall, England

MS-008, June and Richard Ross Collection

MS-013, Ross Collection of Christening Records of Cornwall, England

Further materials from June and Richard Ross belong to the holdings of the Keweenaw National Historical Park archives. The reading room at this facility is named in their honor.

Processing History

Elizabeth Russell, 10/14/2010 Revised by Emily Schwiebert, 6 Mar 2024

Title
June Ross Cornish American Collection
Author
Elizabeth Russell, 14 Oct 2010 Revised by Emily Schwiebert, 6 Mar 2024
Date
10/14/2010
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Description is in English

Repository Details

Part of the Michigan Technological University Archives and Copper Country Historical Collections Repository

Contact:
1400 Townsend Drive
Houghton 49931 U.S.A. US