One Year Later

I guess people are pretty surprised when they hit the first anniversary of their blog.  I know I am.  Somehow I also managed to make this my 100th post.


I spent 2010 tracking various family lines back to the first immigrant to America, or a dead end, whichever came first.  I did pretty good, but there were a few lines with real mysteries I really wanted to solve, the Murray and the Stewart lines in particular.  Near the end of 2010, I wound down the comprehensive research and began to narrow my efforts.  I decided to focus on Murray and to make every effort to add enough pieces to the puzzle that the story would be much clearer.  I may mix in a small amount of time on other lines to keep burnout at bay, but I plan to keep Murray front and center.


I can't help but wonder what I'll uncover in the next 12 months.  Like the last few months, I won't be posting as often because I anticipate much of my research time will not provide any concrete results to share.  


I do have a little something cooking that could turn out to be interesting--I'm hoping to get a regional publication to do a story about my Murray line.  I've got my fingers crossed I'll be able to uncover distant relatives who have puzzle pieces to share.

Tuesday's Tip-Easier Search of Fulton History Archive

The NY newspapers that have been digitized at Fulton History  are a wonderful resource.  Information I've uncovered has led to some wonderful discoveries. But I found the Search function there very frustrating.


Okay, maybe it was a "Doh!" moment, but after a lengthy period of frustration, I stumbled onto an easier way to search the archive.  Maybe everyone else already thought to do this, but in the event there is some poor soul out there struggling like I was, I wanted to share this tip:


Instead of going directly to Fulton History, use Google search instead.  Just use "fultonhistory" as a keyword, along with whatever you are searching for.  I found this provided fewer--thus more manageable--and more targeted results.  (In one case this approach actually provided hits where the Fulton History search had found none.)  In addition, the Google Preview function on the search results page allows me to see a snapshot of the PDF.  I can tell from photos, illustrations, page design, fonts, etc if the paper roughly fits in the era I'm looking for.  It's not exact, but does help eliminate some wasted effort.

Cayuga County Research Report

I received the Cayuga County, NY Murray line research results last week and I’ve been analyzing the information and organizing my thoughts about the next steps to take.  (You can follow the path of my research on the Murrays:          #1       #2     #3       #4       #5       #6       #7       #8 )

Overall, I’m both thrilled and disappointed with the information.  Thrilled because 1) there was confirmation of one of my hypotheses, 2) there was invalidation of another hypothesis, 3) there were some solid leads for future research, and 4) now I no longer wonder “what if I could do local research?”.  The disappointment comes not from any realistic expectation that wasn’t met….I just couldn’t help but dream of more complete answers (I know..hahahahaha).

Here are the challenges I presented to the researcher and the outcomes:

• Copies of two newspaper obituaries:  James Murray in the June 12, 1822 issue of the Cayuga Republican and Ruth Murray in the March 24, 1857 Auburn Daily Advertiser  

Received copies of both and the previous information I had was an exact transcription.

• Documentation of Erastus' parentage, especially any information that supports, or contradicts, that the James Murray in the 1822 obit was Erastus' father

One hypothesis confirmed:  Ruth Murray and her three daughters seemed probable mother & sisters of Erastus—In an 1876 probate record summary for one of Ruth’s daughters, Erastus was listed as one of the next of kin, along with the sisters and a half-brother.

• Documentation, other than censuses, that Erastus & Christina were Albert's parents

Alas, nothing.

• Any marriage or birth records for the James/Ruth, Erastus/Christina (would especially like maiden name), Erastus/Loretta

Sigh,  Nothing

• General information about Erastus (especially the period of about 1860-1862, because that is when the family disintegrated and the Murray history, as I originally knew it, was fabricated)

In the same probate record mentioned above, it said Erastus hadn’t been seen in 16 years and was presumed dead.  Well, Erastus didn’t die until 1895, so this hints at him deserting his family around 1860, at about the same time his children were taken to the orphanage.

• Information concerning James and Ruth's parentage/birthplace

Nothing new.

At this point, it probably seems like I didn’t get much, but I had a budget and I placed a cap on the number of hours for this project.  There were lots of leads uncovered that the researcher simply didn’t have time to pursue:  the probate record was only a summary, there wear a Surrogate Court listing for a Lucetta Murray (along with several other Murrays), some land records that might be relevant, along with some other bits and pieces.  She also presented the sources she reviewed but where she found nothing—valuable information too.  That will save me wasted effort.

But one of the best things uncovered helped solve a puzzle I hadn’t directly presented to the researcher and, at the same time, it presented me with an entirely new lead to follow.  It involved the relationship between the Murrays and the Stanfords.  In the information I provided to the researcher were these Stanford tidbits: 

• Erastus had a son named Stanford.
• In 1850 Ruth had a grandson named Edward Stanford enumerated with her.  By chance, that same year, I believed he was enumerated with his father, David Stanford.
• An assumption that David was Ruth’s son-in-law (I didn’t mention the nagging concern I had because David was listed as Ruth’s son in her obituary)

So, what was uncovered—in the same probate record—was that David was a half-brother, meaning that Ruth actually was his mother, not his mother-in-law.  So Ruth Snow had married Unknown Stanford first, then James Murray.  The researcher also spotted a Ruth Stanford in the 1810 census (the year David was born and two years before Erastus was born).  What the researcher didn’t know was that three names above Ruth Stanford in 1810 was the David Murray I had been tracking as possibly the father or brother of her future husband, James.  And it was in Erastus’ birthplace, Brutus, NY.

A few days after I received the report, I had an email exchange with the researcher that sparked some lateral searching.  In her personal research, she had come across Murrays in Seneca County that might be related.  From the summary she presented, I knew there was a connection.  It sent me down the path of researching extended family connections.  I found that the family of Erastus’ brother Richard had lived in the same area for many years.  That made me wonder if his line might have a more knowledge of the family history.  In turn, I began to wonder how I could find anyone from this line.  I found an obituary from 2010 that indicated three of Richard’s granddaughters were still alive at that time.  So, I’m thinking about placing a query in that paper to see if a connection can be made.

Mrs. Brown, You've Got A Lovely Daughter

In my last post I mentioned I was waiting for the results from a researcher I hired to do local research in a geographical area (Cayuga County, NY) where I was unlikely to spend time.  I received an email this past weekend that the research was complete, that she hoped to mail it to me this week and that she hadn’t expected to find anything new for me, but that she “might have a surprise that [I] haven't considered. If it turns out to be true, it may open new avenues of research...”

I haven’t been able to focus since.

I’ve been spending my time flailing about, occasionally trying new search techniques, hoping to hit on a nugget here or there, just to keep myself occupied.  Mostly, I’ve been using sibling research to locate parent information I haven’t been able to locate through my direct ancestors.  So far, I’ve only had one success, but it was the distraction I needed.

My great-great-grandfather, James Gaskill, was married to Elizabeth (also known as Betsey in one census).  I hadn’t been able to track down a maiden name, even with the help of the Tioga County Historical Society.  Using my great-grandfather’s name, Everett, hadn’t gotten me anywhere either.  On Family Search, I used his brother’s first name only (Sylvanus), his father’s full name and his mother’s first name.  Just like that I had a death certificate from Washington State with both parents’ full names.  My great-great-grandmother was Elizabeth Brown.

That ties in to a family legend told to me by my mom—that we were related to John Brown, the abolitionist.  I already knew John Brown would be at most a distant cousin because I’d already investigated his immediate family tree.  I haven’t had much success finding the link and I probably won’t spend too much time on it.  I know my mom would like to know if the story is true, but I’m more interested in finding out who Elizabeth’s parents were.

Since Elizabeth lived her married life in Tioga County, NY, I started with local history books that I already had for my Gaskill ancestors.  I discovered some Browns from Berkshire, MA who were early settlers and established Brown’s Settlement.  Interestingly, there was a John Brown who would have been about the right age for Elizabeth’s father.  So maybe we are related to John Brown…just not THE John Brown.  I haven’t found any specifics on her parents, but I’m continuing to look.  Eventually I’ll make an inquiry at the Tioga County Historical Society, but their facility is recovering from the serious floods of last fall and they currently aren’t able to handle any requests.

Meanwhile, I think I’ll spend some time organizing files.  That should keep me busy until…oh is that the mailman?

Mayflower connection? A Gossamer Thread

My mom told me she had always heard that one of her family lines goes back to the Mayflower.  I haven’t found it yet, but maybe someday I’ll will.  On the other hand, my paternal line involved expectations of a much more recent immigration.  But, it turns out that I may have stumbled onto a Mayflower connection there.  I’ve been unraveling the mysteries of the Murray line, originally thought to be Irish, but now looking more and more like Scotch Irish or even just Scottish.  I’ve kept at my effort in spite of the fact that I’ve uncovered only tiny tidbits here and there over the last few months.  I even hired a researcher to do some local research for me (I’m waiting for the report now). 

While waiting for the results from the researcher, I didn’t want to spend any significant amount of time on the Murray line in order to avoid duplicating efforts.  I decided I’d take a shot at the Snow line (My ggg grandmother, Ruth Snow, married James Murray).

I started with some broad searches and something caught my eye.  Nicholas Snow who married Constance Hopkins, daughter of Stephen Hopkins, original Mayflower passenger, kept popping up in the search results.  My ggg grandmother named one of her sons Hopkins, and she was born in Massachusetts, according to census records.  I had no reason to believe this was anything other than a coincidence, yet my intuition was telling me otherwise.  So I ramped up my Snow research.

I began narrow, specific searches and actually found a Ruth Snow born in the right year (1784) and in Rochester, MA.  I hoped this was the right person, but as my searches had shown, there are a lot of Ruth Snows out there.  This Ruth’s parents were David Snow and Phebe Stetson.  I was a little skeptical that she would be so easily found.

So how and why did my Ruth end up in the Finger Lakes area of New York if she was the daughter of David and Phebe?  I spent a lot of time searching for any kind of death record for either David or Phebe, hoping to find something from New York, especially from Cayuga County.  Nothing.  Finally, I decided to search the words “david snow” phebe and Cayuga.  I found a reference to a David Snow as an early settler in Cayuga County in the second page of search results.  On the fourth page of results, the summary included “David Snow and Phebe, his wife, of Onondaga”—Onondaga County is a neighboring county to Cayuga.  It linked to a PDF of genealogical notes for other families, but a page on land transactions in the Military Tract of Cayuga County had David and Phebe listed as landowners in Cayuga County!  I quickly added this to my research request and hopefully I’ll learn more when I get the report on the Murray line.

I think it’s likely I’ve got the right family, so I couldn’t resist researching more about David.  In the NEHGS online databases, I found a David, born in 1752 in Rochester, MA to Isaac and Thankfull.  I then found and Isaac Snow, born in 1719 in Rochester, MA to Jonathan.  Then thanks to the NEHGS Register being online, I found Isaac Snow, born 1719-20 who married Thankful King.  This Isaac was the son of Jonathan.  Looks like a match.  Again from the Register--Jonathan was the son of Nicholas, who was the son of Mark, who was the son of the Nicholas Snow and Constance Hopkins.

The evidence certainly isn’t sufficient to apply to the Mayflower Society, but if I had the inclination to do the work, I think Ruth Snow would get me there.

Military Monday: Can You Hear Me Major Tom?

Military Monday is a daily blogging prompt used by many genealogy bloggers to help them post content on their sites. Military Monday is an ongoing series by Cindy at Everything’s Relative.


Three years ago my brother posted about Major Tom Clark, a pilot MIA in Viet Nam.  Tom was well-known to our family because of his friendship with one of our uncles.  My brother recently posted a follow-up.  He also posted a link to another blog (Solomon's words for the wise) with Tom's complete story which I have included, in part, here.

On February 8, 1969 Captain Clark was flying an F-100D Super Sabre, of 416th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 37th Tactical Fight Wing, in a flight of four mission over Laos. The flight controlled by an F-4 Forward Air Controller, engaged a 23mm Anti-Aircraft Artillery battery. Captain Clark's aircraft was hit by rounds from the artillery battery, burst into flames, and crashed. No parachute was observed. Aircraft in the area conducted visual and electronic searches, with negative results. Subsequent to the incident, the U.S. Air Force determined Captain Clark to be Killed in Action (KIA), Body not Recovered (BNR). The Air Force posthumously promoted Tom to the rank of Major.
On February 12, 1991, a joint U.S./Lao People's Democratic Republic team investigated the crash of Thomas E. Clark's F-100. In late 1991, a Thai citizen turned over to U.S. Officials in Thailand human remains as well as military identification tag and a partial military identification tag bearing Major Clark's name. The remains were identified as other than Captain Clark's. In February of 1992 a team worked to excavate the suspected crash site of Thomas E. Clark in the Savannakhet Province with no apparent results. In October of 2005 a joint team re-investigated the crash site excavated in 1992. Another bone fragment was found but later identified as not part of a human. In October of 2009 another joint team re-excavated portions of the crash site and recovered human remains. After extensive examination, including isotope testing, the human remains were identified as the remains of Thomas E. Clark. 

The Clark family was notified in June 2011 that the remains of Thomas E. Clark would be returned to the family.

Going Dutch

I’ve written about some of my Colonial American Dutch ancestry (Ditmars and Voorhees) and it took me back to the early 1600s in New Amsterdam.  It seems probable, at a certain point, that my New Amsterdam history involves exclusively Dutch ancestry.  It wasn’t until the 1800s that the first of my original New Amsterdam lines married outside the Dutch community.  So, no matter how many more surnames I uncovered, they probably weren’t going to lead me much further than the Netherlands.

I found tracing the Dutch names to be a bit overwhelming—the Dutch names were often transcribed with inconsistent English spelling (plus, even the first names didn’t roll off my tongue), naming patterns meant there were people of the same name floating around at the same time, and, worst of all, a lot of really bad research had found it’s way into the viral internet genealogy world.  Fortunately, there are a lot of dedicated researchers working on my lines.  I knew I wouldn’t be able to match their efforts and, frankly, I just can’t motivate myself to do the work to uncover every Dutch surname.  In fact, the various families intermarried so much, I suspected many lines would actually merge.  I’m indebted to earlier researchers who provided much of the information on the various Ditmarsen-connected spouses.  

  

So, starting with a 4x great-grandmother Jannetje (Jane) Vandeveer, who married Isaac Voorhees, I found no documented sources about her parents, but several places indicated her parents were Jan Vanderveer and Seytje Vanderveer (see intermarriage comment above) and led back to Cornelius Janse VanDerVeer, the emigrant from Holland.  But no proof going back even one generation from Jane.

And then there’s Aeltje Suydam, a 5x great-grandmother who married Douwes Ditmar.  Her line probably leads back to, well, hmm…I dunno yet.  Not comfortable even speculating here, though names are out there in family trees.

Jannetje Remsen, a 6x great-grandmother won’t fare any better.  Hard to believe, but I turned up more than one Jannetje Remsen, but not one married to the right Johannes Van Ditmarsen (yes, more than one of him, too).

I had more success with my 7x great-grandmother, Catryntje Lott.  She was the daughter of Peter Lott and Gertrude Lambert.  She married Douwe Jansz Van Ditmarsen in 1688.  Peter emigrated in 1652 from Holland and became a landowner in Flatbush, NY and was a member of the Dutch Reformed Church there. 

That leads me to Catryntje’s mother, Gertrude Lambert, my 8x great-grandmother.  I’ve seen her first name written as Gerritje, leading me to believe she is of Dutch heritage, but I found nothing about her parents.  I found trees with her birth in 1632 in Flatbush, but no sources.  Recently I found this, which made me wonder:

The next of the Ditmarsen wives, another 8x great-grandmother, Ariantje Lollensz, or something like that.  Her surname has been found in only one New Amstredam record, where her name was written Adryaenyen Lollenckx.  She had immigrated to America with her first husband (who died shortly after arrival) and son in 1664 and married Jan Jansz Van Ditmarsen junior in 1665.  It is possible she was not Dutch, but that her name was later changed to the Dutch version.

The genealgocal trail for Aeltje Douwesz, married to Jan Jansz Van Ditmarsen senior, has some clues, including a 1635 Amsterdam marriage intention for Jan Janss and Aeltje Douwens, but there is nothing that definitively links this couple to my ancestors.  It is known that she arrived in America in 1639, possibly via Bermuda.

The final Dutch ancestor, a 9x great-grandmother, included in this post was not connected to the Ditmarsen line.  Mary Deurcant married Lion Gardiner, an officer in the British army, when he was in Holland.  She was born in 1601 in Woerden, Hoolland to Derike Derocant and Hachin Bastians.  She and her husband arrived in America in 1635.

**********************************************************************************

And so here I find myself at the end of my first pass at uncovering my first immigrant ancestors in America.  I found out my family arrived much earlier than I ever anticipated and that they participated in some famous and infamous historic events.  I solved a few mysteries, including one I didn't even know existed, and discovered some new ones.

Now I’m going go back to the beginning to fill in the gaps as best I can.  I’ll be doing more research and less posting because of the nature of the work that will be required.  I’ll definitely need to spend some time at the Library of Congress.  I will probably need to hire a researcher for at least one line where I think the answers will be found in local records I can’t access online.