Lambert Eckerson: party animal?

     Over the years, I've come to think of my distant ancestors as not having much dimension.  While I admire them tremendously for facing the hard work, financial setbacks, and personal loss many of them experienced, none of what I learned about them suggested much time devoted to "fun."  As genealogists, we access things like census, land, court, and vital records, most of which make for matter-of-fact reading.  The pictures available to us are usually formal poses, with the subjects frozen into rather stern expressions.

     So, imagine the jolt I got, when I read the following article published in the Hornellsville (NY) Weekly Tribune of 20 October 1899.  It reprints an advertisement for a dance to be held in January of 1847, with tickets available "at the bar" for $1.50.  My ancestor, Lambert Eckerson, is listed among the managers of the committee hosting the event, which started at 1:00 p.m. and continued into the following morning.  The 1899 comment is that the venue was "the hottest old place in that section of the county." 

     Lambert Eckerson, 1821-1903, was almost two years away from his wedding to Harriet Graves at the time of the dance.  Would she have been allowed to attend such an event?  She would have been 21 at the time, but perhaps being in the vicinity of "the hottest old place" wasn't encouraged!

     Another smile when taking a peek into the lives of my ancestors.

    

Louise Coleman Dempsey, 1855-1923: hard-working single mom is nothing new

     My ancestor, Louise Coleman, used determination and hard work to make the most of life's challenges.  Born in 1855 in Rensselaer Co., NY, she married James Dempsey about 1877.  They lived for a time in Oswego, NY, near their parents, before moving to Cleveland, Ohio by 1885.  All together, seven children are known to have been born to this couple, until their marriage unraveled by the early 1890s.  Their married life was marked by regular moves into different lodgings, in the area of Cleveland surrounding the Walker Mfg. Co.  Perhaps James was employed there.  Their children were baptized at St. Colman's Catholic Church, which served the Irish community.  It  still operates today.
     At some point in the early 1900s, Louise and her two youngest children struck out for Chicago, where Louise worked as a "practical nurse" and midwife.  She was said to have received an inheritance from someone in New York, which made it possible for her to obtain the training.  This was no doubt her brother, Civil War veteran John Henry Coleman, who left her $1300 in his will upon his death in 1891.
     I believe that Louise wasn't on the best of terms with the remainder of her family in New York, because she expressed a disinterest in ever going back to visit, or in maintaining contact.  Perhaps something about the man she chose to marry wasn't acceptable, or perhaps pride kept her from going back.
     Louise never remarried, and died in California on a visit to her son James in 1923.  She is buried in River Grove Cemetery in Cook County, Illinois.  Although no marker is visible today, Louise was certainly remembered by her descendants as being a strong and loving woman.

Probate proceedings: why aren't they all like this?!?

     We've all had great hopes of placing our ancestors in an earlier generation by using wills and probate proceedings.  Unfortunately, too often some hazy terms are used such as "his wife," or "his children."  Sometimes, however, we are surprised by the amount of detail that's been meticulously added.  Here is an example from Van Buren County, Iowa, and the estate of my ancestor, George Channell, who died in 1898.  Note that every heir is named, along with relationship, residence and age.  It isn't as though these are young children, either.  This is an excellent means of confirming information I'd collected from other sources.
     A further example of the benefit of collecting ALL available data, not just listings out of indexes or abstracts.  This comes via microfilmed copies available via the Family History Library.  I viewed them in Salt Lake City, but the film can be ordered online for viewing at local Family History Centers.

Debt as an unexpected research tool

     After 32 years of researching my ancestors, I've begun to focus on organizing what I've already done, how well I've done it (or not), making digital copies of various materials, and creating a system for finding my way through the mountain of data.  Along the way, I've discovered that, in my earlier race backward in time collecting ancestors, there are many instances where I should have slowed down and consulted valuable resources for a more complete picture of the people, places, and periods in history.
     A recent research trip to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City gave me an opportunity to take a second look at some better resources.  Instead of acting on my first impulse, which is to yank a book of abstracts off the shelf, and check the index for my surname (we've all done it), I cranked through an unindexed, microfilmed copy of probate records for the years 1804-1817, in the Westminster District of Windham County, Vermont.  Vermont sometimes has more than one probate district per county, as is the case here.  These are the records of events written as they happened, not a later, typed version.  My original intent was to find something about a particular probate, but found an unexpected bonanza by accident.
     I stopped randomly on the pages of  records concerning the estate of Dr. Levi Sabin, in 1809, which gave incredible details of the community.  Among the lists of assets were notations of amounts due the estate by various individuals.  There were literally pages of these lists.  I suspect that the doctor had performed medical services on credit, and these made up a number of  notes due at the time of his death.  At the bottom of one page, I found my ancestor, Selah Graves, owing $14.05.  On the same page is his wife Sabra's brother, Ralph Roundy, as well as a member of the Emory family, which is another family connection.  Other pages list allied surnames, many of which appear next in western New York, where the next generation settled.
     The lists are a perfect snapshot of who lived in the community of Springfield, Vermont in the early 1800s. A name found on something like this is a good way to place a family on their trek in and out of communities between census years.  The FHC film number is 29150.
     I was interested in Dr. Sabin to the point of looking further into his life.  A number of applications have been submitted to the Sons of the American Revolution, based on the service of his father, Elisha Sabin.  Levi Sabin was born in 1764, died in 1808.  His marriage to Barbara Stearns occurred in 1790, in Rockingham, VT:  they produced a large family.  His estate appraisal also gives a couple of pages of medical books.
     Being in debt isn't a pleasant notion, but in this case, it proved a surprisingly useful tool; I plan to revisit this source for more happy accidents.

More Than Meets the Eye,.....

     In my perpetual search for clues for the origins of my ancestor, Allen Ives, I often collect data on the family of his step-father, Benedict Singer, and for Allen's half-brothers, Benjamin F. and Francis Marion Singer.  I make a point to visit the FamilySearch.org website frequently, and browse through any records of interest.  They add new online materials regularly.
     Recently, I was reminded of the need to look further than how an item might be described in a title.  The example?  A record collection described with the following title:  United States, Records of Headstones of Deceased Union Veterans, 1879-1903.  In the paragraph below the title,  giving more detail, is the following qualifier, "Some cards may include War of 1812 veterans.  The gravestones were provided between 1879-1903."
     Sure enough, when the surname Singer was entered into the search box, the name Benedict Singer appeared among the results.  He was buried in Somerset, Indiana in 1870.  Further information indicates that he served as a private in the 1st Regiment of Pennsylvania Militia.  Cemetery:  Mount Vernon, Somerset (Wabash County).  Date of death is simply 1870.  At the bottom of the card is a stamp that says Lee Marble Works, and a hole has been punched in the rest of it, but there's clearly a date that says March 29, 1902.
    When I first looked in this resource, I was only expecting to find "Union Veterans" from the Civil War era, perhaps someone from the next generation down.  Instead, I was reminded of the old saying, "Don't judge a book by its cover."

      

Genealogical cloak and dagger: who knew?

From the 100th-year anniversary issue of the National Genealogical Society Quarterly comes the following anecdote.  Who says genealogy is a dry topic?

Writing about former editor George Ely Russell, it states:  "In 2011 George Ely Russell credited Milton Rubincam's always punctual and perfectly typed book reviews for keeping him on schedule and for almost getting him fired from his day job.  Each quarter Russell, a married government employee with a top-secret security clearance, would stand on the sidewalk outside his office and accept a package from an attractive young woman.  Resulting speculation that he was a spy receiving secret documents taught him to keep delivery of Rubincam's book reviews away from his business address."

Rutland County, Vermont letters: David Bates family

     I recently attended the annual banquet and conference held at the New England Historic Genealogical Society in Boston.  Special guests were Michael & Kitty Dukakis, who spoke about their experiences as the children of immigrants, and of their recent European trip in search of their ancestral origins.  The keynote speaker was Professor Bryan Sykes, noted geneticist, who unveiled his newest book, DNA:USA - A Genetic Portrait of America.

     There was enough time during my visit to spend three days in the wonderful NEHGS research library, the scope of which is much broader than New England.  Seeking information which might add to my knowledge of my ancestors on the move, I made a point of combing the online card catalog before I left home.  I made note of the following manuscript:

Call #Mss C451 "Letters addressed to David Bates at Poultney, Rutland Co., Vt. Correspondents include his son David Bates; Josiah Reed; Silas Gould; Rachel (Loveland) Partridge; and others. The Bates and Reed families moved from Vermont to New York about 1815. Their letters discuss travel and living conditions, family matters, spiritual piety, the acquisition of land, and farming conditions."

     None of these people are my direct ancestors (that I know of!), but I thought their experiences might reflect that of my own family during the same time period in the same locations.  The letters range in date from I think 1809 to 1817.

     I was able to handle the actual 200-year-old documents carefully, wearing gloves and using a library card to turn the pages.  There are 11 letters, some easier to read than others.  A very small digital camera, used without a flash, enabled me to record the image without doing any damage.  Some other details I was able to glean were the towns of Castletown(ton), Rutland Co, VT, Poultney, VT, what may be Worthington (unknown state), Auburn, New York, Phelpstown (New York), and Murry (Murray), New York.  Besides the names mentioned in the catalog citation, I saw both David Bates Sr. and Jr., Ruth G____(illegible), a comment from Rachel Partridge who states "mother is not very well and Philips is in a poor state of health," Belinda Bates, Ebenezer Partridge, "Uncle James (Bates?)," and  Eunice Bates, who may be the wife of David Bates, Jr.
     One comment gives an idea of the heavy labor involved in moving to an uncleared location:  David Bates, Jr. writes to his father, "I have chopt twenty acres of land."
    The more complete picture that can be gained by seeking out these absolutely unique sources is well worth the time and effort.