Clinton County, NY

Love the headline..

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This weekend I was working on my Stewart Line and I stumbled across this obituary for my 2X Great-Grandmother, Ella Mayo Stewart.

ellamayostewartobit

Bang really in your face, a bit of sensationalism anyone. This obituary appeared in THE Plattsburgh Daily Press. Ella is the widow of Joseph Gardiner Stewart of the previous post. Back in the post Never Stop Searching I wrote about hearing on a podcast about searching neighboring counties and/or towns. Well this obituary states that Ella died at her daughter’s home in Massena. (I couldn’t remember if Massena was in Franklin or St. Lawrence county.) Thanks to Google, I found it is in St. Lawrence County.

A quick search of NYS Historic Newspapers for St. Lawrence County resulted in this Obituary.

Ella Mayo Stewart Obituary Massena Observer

You can find the full obituary that appeared in The Massena Observer here. This obituary had so much more detail that the other obituary. So it definitely pays to read and search the papers for neighboring towns and counties.

Joseph Gardiner Stewart (1851-1912)

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Joseph Gardiner Stewart was born 4 Oct 1851 in Redford, Clinton Co, NewYork to  William Stewart (1811-1872) and Elizabeth Davis Stewart (1826-1897). Joseph Stewart is my 2nd Great-Grandfather.

Joseph Gardner Stewart

Joseph first appears on the 1860 census in the Town of Black Brook, Clinton Co, NY along with his parents, William (49) and Elizabeth (30), sister Mary (9), Elizabeth (5), William (3) and Margaret (11/12).

stewart1860census1860 Census from Ancestry.com

In 1870, Joseph (19) is still living in his parents household and they are now living in the town of Saranac. Also living in the house are Mary Jane (20), Elizabeth (17), William (14), Margaret (11) and Emma (11/12). Also listed with the household is Horace Wilson (21), a day laborer. (According to the 1900 Census Horace and Mary Jane were married in 1870).

stewart1870census1870 Census from Ancestry.com

In 1880, Joseph (27) is listed as the head of household. He lived in Garlick Falls, Clinton County, NY. He is married according to the census to a Hellen (21), with children James H. (2) and William (2/12) William is also listed as a jobber.

stewart1880census1880 Census from Ancestry.com

The 1900 census is a wealth of information for Joseph (51), it lists his birthday as September 1841, which does not agree with his first appearance on the census in 1860. He and Ellen have been married for 23 years and he is listed as a farmer and they are living in Black Brook, Clinton County, NY. Also in the household are James (22), William (20), Joseph (18), Gertrude (16), Charles (14) (my great-grandfather), Mabel (12), Ruth (10), John (8), Ethel (6), Samuel (1) and Henry (3/12).

Also living in the house are Nicholas Mayo (76) listed as a border but he is also Ellen’s father and George Soper (23) a servant.

stewart1900census1900 US Census from Ancestry.com

In the 1910 Census Joseph and Ella are still living in Black Brook with Ethel (16), Samuel (11) and Henry (10). It would seem the rest of the children had moved on with their lives.

Josephstewart19101910 US Census from Ancestry.com

Joseph Gardiner Stewart died on 25 March 1912 in Clayburgh, Clinton County, NY.

josephstewartdc(Death Certificate is part of my personal documents).

He is buried in the Redford Cemetery in Redford, Clinton Co, NY.

 

 

 

52 Ancestors- Week 42 – Adventure

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When I think of Adventure, I think of my Grandpa’s sister Olive. Olive Witherwax was born 19 February 1895 in Peru, Clinton County, New York. She was older than my Grandpa by 15 years. Sadly I don’t think my Grandpa new his sister Olive very well as she died when he was 10 years old.

Olive married Henry Rogers in Saratoga Springs in August 1916, she was 21 and he was 29. He was a Railroad Conductor. Olive Witherwax Marriage

Henry Rogers enlisted in the Army during World War I and was sent overseas.’Henry Rogers Transport

In 1919 Olive applied for a passport application to visit Henry in Germany. For a girl originally from rural New York and then a suburb of Schenectady, New York this must of been a grand adventure. I love old passport applications, especially when there is a picture.

Olive Witherwax Rogers made it to Germany to see Henry but sadly passed away on 20 October 1920 in Cobelenz, Germany. Her obituary appeared in The United States Army and Navy Journal and Gazette of the Regular and Volunteer Forces, Volume 58, Part 1.

She is buried in the family plot in the Niskayuna Reformed Church Cemetery in Niskayuna, NY. ANR - 588

Olive and Henry Rogers had no children and it strikes me as tragic that her grand adventure wasn’t really very grand.

52 Ancestors – Week 40 – Harvest

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This was a rough topic as it reminds me how much of our history has been lost. My Weatherwax family were farmers. My grandparents were dairy farmers and lived in Clinton County, the stopped farming full time around the time I was born.

My great-grandfather, Benjamin sold the family farm that had been in the family for about 150 years in the early 20th century but I do not have the whole story and the parts I have heard read like a Greek tragedy so I have yet to research to find the validity of the story. It is on the list of items for another day.

Recently I joined the National Society of American Farmers, this society spoke to me as it is honoring those who have come before us and were the backbone of America. It was the need for fertile land and opportunities that drove so many to cross the ocean to America. Our history is not without tragedies for how we treated those who were here before us but I truly believe we should learn from the past no matter how ugly it can get.

One little memory about my grandparents farm. There was a garden next to the house and it was huge. It had corn, cucumbers, sunflowers and the biggest pumpkins ever. I would say in was in the early 1980s because I remember my uncle still being alive but I just recall walking up and down the rows of the garden and this pumpkin that had to be 50-100 pounds it was like a boulder.

52 Ancestors – Week 39 – Maps

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I will be totally honest here until the past week or so I really did not use many maps in my research. I have recently fell in love with Locality Guides and part of creating a Locality Guide is to show different sources.

Since a lot of my research is in Essex County, NY aka the Black Hole of genealogy in my family, this was the first Locality Guide I created and I came across this gem of a map on the Library of Congress website.

essex county NY historical map

Maps really put things into perspective and make the research a living and breathing organism in my mind. It brings the names to life when I see where they were.

The next locality guide I am going to work on is for Clinton County New York. I have been lazy in these as I feel that since I had been there and did so much research there, I knew everything and you know, what I have discovered some amazing sources.

Here is the Clinton County Map I grabbed from the Library of Congress site but sometimes you can find maps in the county archives or state archives. Somewhere I have a hand drawn map of the land my Weatherwax family owned in Peru and it is fabulous to look at.

Clinton County Historical Map

I am on a research roll lately and am grateful that I discovered the importance of having maps in my research.

79 years ago…

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79 years ago, two of the most important people in my life, my Grandma and Grandpa were married. They married in Schuyler Falls when my Grandpa was 30 and my Grandma was 18. They were married for over 60 years until my Grandpa died in 2001.

Screen Shot 2019-10-06 at 5.08.03 PM

courtesy of New York Historical Newspapers.
Appeared in the Plattsburgh Daily Republican on October 11, 1940.

Happy Anniversary Grandma and Grandpa!!

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52 Ancestors-Week 32 – Sisters

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I could right about several sister sets right now but I am going to go back to my Larkin Line, since I am continually enthralled with my Sarah Larkin Beardsley.

If you remember I started this genealogy hobby with my maternal grandparents and the Larkin family is through my Grandpa. The story goes that Sarah was one of three sisters and the other two were Lucy and Johanna. I have no clue where this story came from and my Grandpa was the youngest child and his mom died when he was fifteen.

So I take up the quest to find out about the sisters and for years it was a dead end. We then stumbled across Lucy Larkin Thompson in Valley Falls. I actually found her because of the DAR Lineage Books but it took us on a research trip and My grandparents and I met a delightful librarian who in turn sent us to either a lawyer or accountant who was Lucy’s paper boy. I seriously wish I could remember the stories he told us about her.

Fast Forward to about 2001 or 2002 when I took genealogy back in full force and I discover a Grandson of Lucy’s but unfortunately he did not have anything to share with me, though he did mention a family story of Lucy having a baby on a train in Jonesville, Michigan. Jonesville was where Sarah practiced medicine.

I did know that Sarah had a sister Julia as she appears on the 1850 census with her and their parents Benjamin Wood Larkin and Ruth Morgan Larkin, in St. Lawrence County, New York.

It wasn’t until quite recently no more than 5 years ago. That I stumbled across this gem from the Minnesota Territorial Census in 1857.

1857 Minnesota Territorial Census for Fillmore County

I was seriously in shock finding this as I really wasn’t sure what happened to Benjamin and I do not have lots of information on him or Ruth. Sadly from this I am kind of thinking Ruth died in childbirth or shortly after the birth of Little Ruth and Benjamin married Margaret right after as George is Margaret’s son.

So now I have all these sister’s to find of Sarah and Lucy and I have no clue really where to look. I do know in 1860 Sarah is living with her grandparents and uncle in New York and last night I did find a FindaGrave entry for sweet little Ruth.

Ruth K. Larkin FindaGrave Memorial.
This is the same cemetery her Larkin Grandparents are buried in.

So once I finish my little project on the children of Emanuel Beardsley. I am thinking these Larkin sisters and what happened to their father Benjamin Larkin may be my next project. I would also love to know where poor Ruth Morgan Larkin is buried.

I feel sorry for these sisters as they were left motherless at quite a young age and then I think they must of been dispersed amongst relatives but that is conjecture on my part but I do this research for the stories I can find out.

52 Ancestors – Week 31- Brothers

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I truly believe that our ancestors reach out to us and speak to us. I have been doing a lot of research on my Beardsley/Curtis Lines.

I have been working on an assignment for ProGen but I am also trying to link back to another Revolutionary War Patriot, Eldad Curtis. It is tough going because after the Revolution these lines moved around a lot. Also so far I have found 3 wives for Eldad.

So when I received an assignment in ProGen to transcribe a will and develop a Research Plan. I decided Emanuel Beardsley would be perfect he is a brother to my Beverly Beardsley and I had done no real research on him. Let’s be honest it took me for ever to sort out the mystery of the Beverley Beardsleys and Ancestry is still full of errors as some trees have him living to be like 120 years old.

Anyway I digress, the theme this week is brothers and I have been a bit obsessed. It all stems from this passage in the History of Clinton and Franklin Counties.

Screen Shot 2019-08-19 at 7.19.35 AM

So this passage has so much information and needs more but it was a huge diving off point for me. I love families that use familial names but also hate it because it creates a mess.

Screen Shot 2019-08-19 at 7.33.26 AM

So I have been studying these families and expanding them in hopes to go back further as you never know who is related. It is also fun to go back and hear names my grandpa talked about. I think this is the branch of the family they went to see as I truly believe his mother Minerva was bounced between these relatives as I never find her anywhere with her parents.

My Beverley Beardsley married and Ada Curtis in Wells Vermont. She was the daughter of Eldad Curtis and Clotilda Weeks or Meeks. Well I also discovered that an Immanuel Beardsley married an Astilda or Clotilda Curtis. So I am trying to piece this all together and I have DNA that shoes a connection but I really want more.

So my project for my research report has been the birth order of Emanuel’s Children named in his will and that has been interesting and has me doing a Deep Dive into DNA and that is not something I am very good at so I am looking for a crash course in it and am very happy for Ancestry ThruLines which is giving me places to go look for traditional research.

So today’s question does anyone have any good DNA webinars for dummies???

52 Ancestors – Week 27 – Independent

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Week 27’s prompt was supposed to go up around Independence Day and it was suggested to write about a relative who fought in the American Revolution. IF you have read for a while you will know that I am a proud member of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

I knew I had relatives who fought in the Revolution since about 1998 or so but did not join until 2016. Life and such got in the way and it was a lot of work. Plus I am glad I waited because I wouldn’t of been a member of the wonderful Increase Carpenter Chapter, I am a part of.

I joined in 2016 under my 5X Great-Grandfather Lorin Nehemiah Larkin. I chose him because he was the easiest as my other known patriot at the time was not in they system. Lorin Larkin was a Private and served in 3 different states, Connecticut, Vermont and Massachusetts. He was born in Stratford, CT in 1755 and died in Beekmantown, NY in 1845.

I have 2 other supplemental patriots to date one being Bezaleel Wood. I have written about him before. He served for Massachusets as a Private. He is also a 5X Great-Grandfather of mine. He was born in Lunenburg, MA and died in Plattsburgh, NY. I have been blessed to visit his grave in the Baker Burial Ground. He is also the patriot that 2 of my aunt’s joined under.

My last supplemental that was approved was for Timothy Bolton, my 5X Great-Grandfather. Timothy was a private from Massachusetts. He died in Windham County Vermont.

Having relatives who served in the revolution makes you want to fight for what this country was founded for. The right to be free. I have other patriots I am trying to prove an that silly AIR (additional information requested) on Benjamin Knowlton who served in New Hampshire but that is proving tricky. One of the reasons, I like to file the supplementals is to open lines to other potential members. I am up to about 8 patriots that are in the system and I really should prove my new patriot David Weatherwax. Maybe this year.

Also my daughter is getting ready to be a dual Children of American Revolution and Daughters of the American Revolution, which is pretty good for a girl who is majoring in Museum Studies and American History.  After she is in I am going to work on a few supplementals for her as she also has patriots on her Dad’s side, which will mean a whole new area of research for me, the south.

Do you have a patriot in your line?

52 Ancestors – Week 24 – Dear Diary

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Sadly, I have never seen a family diary for any of my ancestors. The one ancestor I could imagine writing a diary is my 2X Great Grandmother Sarah Larkin Beardsley.

Dr. Sarah larkin Beardsley

I could imagine her writing about losing her mother at a young age. Living with her grandparents. Living with her aunt and uncle, about getting married at 19 and then deciding she wanted to be a doctor and going to medical school. I imagine she might write about leaving her child with relatives (it would be great to know who, as we don’t find Minnie until 1890 when she is married).

I would love to read about her practicing medicine and the pain of losing a child. I would also like to read her thoughts about dying young. Her amazing life cut short as she died at the age of 39.

This woman is one whose strength I always draw upon because she did so much with the time she had on earth. I am proud to be descended from her.