Isaac Rounds

Isaac married Jessie Bennion 18 Nov 1906, Fiji. Jessie was born Abt. 1888, Fiji; died 8 Oct 1931. [Group Sheet]

1. Thomas Isaac Rounds was born 1 Sep 1918, Fiji; died Apr 1986, FL.

Charles married Esther Ryder 12 Nov 1881, Rewa, Fiji. Esther was born Abt. 1864, Rewa, Fiji; died 19 Jan 1943. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Marie has her name as Esther "Helen Elena Esita" Ryder; daughter of Isaac "Jake" Ryder and Louisa Bilo.

Notes:

Married:
"Amongst other startling events on the river (says the Rewa correspondent of the Fiji Argus, of November 25), a wedding on a grand scale has formed no inconsiderable share of the excitement, the occasion being the nuptials of two young half-castes, Charley Rounds and Mrs. Hester Pickering, the progenitors of both of whom have been long and favourably known in Fiji. The ceremony was performed at Rewa, on Saturday, the 12th instant, by the Rev. Father Fabier. After the ceremony, the assembled guests, numbering somewhere about 3000, more or less, indulged in festivities which lasted over several days, the dainties provided being 20,000 head of taro, 200 pigs, 4 bullocks, turtles, fish, and fowls innumerable. The wedding presents consisted of 4000 Masini-ni-Viti or tappa (native cloth), 100 bolts of cloth of English manufacture, 2000 mats, 1000 roots of kava, besides other innumerable native delicacies. A number of native dances were performed by the visitors, who came from all quarters, and who generally pronounced this to be the biggest thing of the kind which ever occurred in Fiji."

Notes:

A probate document (found online by Dulcie Stewart) for Joseph Rounds has confirmed my assumption that Andrew C. is truly Charles A. in this family, and that he is the individual who sailed from New Bedford and settled in Fiji 1850-1851. See explanation and details below.

An Andrew Rounds went on a whaling voyage in 1847. In the 1850 census at Dartmouth, MA, Andrew is age 19 and a sailor, living with his parents Joseph and Mary.

Charles A. Rounds age 14, greenhand, hometown Dartmouth, sailed from New Bedford on the ship Canton on 28 June 1845, headed for the Indian Ocean and due to return in 1847. Charles A. is the same individual as Andrew who was born 1831, son of Joseph and Mary. Andrew is back in the 1850 census as mentioned above but disappears from all records after that. Occupation is given as sailor.

By his own sworn testimony Charles Rounds settled in Fiji sometime around 1851; he married there in 1856. DNA shows a match between me and Charles's descendants, and this is the only family I know of that could be the link. Apparently at some point he went by his middle name, Andrew, but for some reason was simply known as Charles in Fiji.

It appears that Charles visited Fiji in June 1846 on an early voyage; he was back home in time for a voyage in 1847 and returned home again to be in the 1850 census. It must have been shortly after this that he went on another voyage, returning to Fiji in 1851 to settle there.

A note concerning his death on 6 Aug 1883 at Suva says he was Charles Rounds of Taunton, MA. I have checked the censuses for Rounds families in Taunton. In 1840 there were two families who had young boys: Marcus T. Round and Andrew Round. In 1850 these two families were still in Taunton; Marcus's son Charles A. Rounds was born c1833 and he is still in the 1855 MA State census and is listed in the Civil War at age 30, so he cannot be the one who went to Fiji. Andrew Round is Andre Rounds in 1850 and his son is a junior born c1838; he marries in New Bedford in 1859; so those families were eliminated as possibilities.

Why did he never use a middle initial in Fiji? Another thought is that he went to live with relatives and that's why he is not in the 1840 census with his siblings. There were several households of their relatives living in both Dartmouth and New Bedford. I did receive his death certificate from Dulcie which lists his children, including a Joseph and Josephine, which is interesting to me as so often family names were used for the children. William, Thomas, and John are also family names, but these can be fairly common.

I found a brief reference to Charles in a book at Google Books online; the title is "Native American Whalemen and the World . . ." by Nancy Shoemaker, p 135. It mentions that Charles Rounds of New Bedford was reimbursed the $155 due him from the people of Kadavu.

For more information on Charles in Fiji: https://roundsfiji.tribalpages.com/

All of the following notes are from Dulcie Stewart's blog: https://fragmentedidentities.wordpress.com/2009/07/15/a-new-day/

"I then emailed the US National Archives-Northeast Region, Waltham, MA and they were able to provide me with the following information from Crew List complied 1820-1939:"

Name: Charles A. Rounds
Ship: CANTON
Place of birth: Dartmouth, MASS.
Place of residence: New Bedford, MASS.
Citizen of the US
age 14, height 5' 1
Departure date was July 28, 1845

"The Canton arrived in Fiji June 29, 1846 (Robert Langdon, 1984) and in Australia July 20, 1846 (NSW Archives)."

"According to John Young (1984) Charles Rounds arrived in Fiji in 1851, his source was the Land Claims Commission 1875-1887."

"Charles Rounds was the first Rounds in Fiji. He arrived April 1851 on a whaling vessel from New Bedford, Massachusetts, United States. He married Fanny Pickering, daughter of Charles Pickering and Burekovia Tabuakovei of Burebasaga Village, Rewa."

From Dulcie's email:
Charles Rounds arrived in Fiji in April 1851 (Fiji Land Claims Rehearing: No. 23 Toga Island, 4th January 1878). He died 6 August 1883 in Suva and was reported by William Henry Bruce to the US Secretary of State that Charles was from Taunton (Consular Despatches, No. 11).

However on Charles death certificate (attached), his place of birth given is New Bedford, and on his son's birth certificate (John Round born 2 July 1878) he was listed as being 46 (so born about 1832) and from New Bedford.

Charles married Fanny Vani Pickering 1856, Rewa, Fiji. Fanny was born Abt. 1842, Fiji; died 26 Apr 1881, Tovutovu, Fiji. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Joseph's death record says he was born in Tiverton, occupation mariner, and names his parents as Alfred and Sarah Rounds, also born in Tiverton. He died of paralysis at age 77y 5m 2d. This agrees with his birth date.

Although his birth record is listed in the New Bedford transcriptions, all other records agree that Joseph was born in RI.

In the 1820 census, the family is at Tiverton, RI:
FWM 3<10, 1 26-44; FWF 2<10, 1 26-44.

In the 1830 census, there is only one Rounds family listed at Dartmouth, MA. This is the family of Joseph Rounds:
FWM 2 15-19, 1 40-49; FWF 1<5, 1 5-9, 1 10-14, 1 30-39.

In the 1840 census, the family of Joseph Rounds at Dartmouth, MA, is as follows (there are 2 Joseph Rounds families in in that census): FWM 1<5, 1 5-9, 1 20-29, 1 50-59; FWF 1 10-14, 1 15-19, 1 20-29, 1 40-49. One person is employed in the navigation of the ocean.

In the 1850 federal census, the family is still at Dartmouth: Joseph 65 RI farmer, Mary 56 RI, Mary 29 RI, Abby E. 20 MA, Andrew 19 MA sailor, David C. 13.

In the 1855 MA state census, the family is still at Dartmouth: Joseph 70 farmer, Mary 61, David 19 farmer.

In the 1860 federal census, the family is at Dartmouth as follows: Joseph 75 RI laborer, Mary 66 RI, David 23 MA. The post office for them was North Dartmouth. I have found the likely location where they lived, based on an 1852 map which shows them living on Slocum Rd. near the corner of what is now Sharp St., in North Dartmouth.

The daughter in the 1820 census has been found to be Sarah, listed as one of Joseph's children in his probate records.

A probate document dated 15 Oct 1868 (found online and shared by Dulcie Stewart) is for Joseph Rounds "who last dwelt in Dartmouth" and died on 6 Aug 1862, "leaving a widow, whose name is Mary Rounds (since deceased)"; lists next of kin, all surname Rounds except one: John of Dartmouth, Mary A. of Dartmouth, Abby E. also of Dartmouth, Sarah A. Tripp widow of Godfrey R. Tripp (deceased) of New Bedford, Charles A. "last known of the Feegee Islands now supposed to be dead," David C. of Wheelen Michigan, Joseph Jr. "supposed to be dead as he has not been heard from in twenty years, all the above are children of said deceased." The executor of the estate was Isaac H. Coe. The document was signed by John Rounds, Sarah A. Tripp, and Mary A. Rounds. (Thanks to Cousin Dulcie for finding the image of this document; accessible at americanancestors.org)

Joseph — Mary Polly Remington. Mary (daughter of Thomas REMINGTON and Alice "Elce" GRINNELL) was born 18 May 1794, Tiverton, Newport Co., RI; died 23 Sep 1866, Dartmouth, MA; was buried , Rural Cemetery, New Bedford, MA. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Polly and Molly were common nicknames for Mary in earlier centuries. The death record of Joseph Jr. names his parents as Joseph and Polly Rounds.

The death record of Mary Rounds says she was born in Tiverton, and names her parents as Thomas and Alice Remington (both born RI). She died at age 72y 4 m 5 d, of Erysipelas.