New York Research

Breaking down some walls…

/ Chiara / Leave a comment

Today was a big day in genealogy research. New York City Records & Information Services released their brand new Historical Vital Records website.

Screen shot of the landing page.

Well I immediately went down a little rabbit hole and had the most success with Gerard’s family. I was able to get his family back another generation on one line which is fabulous. The other thing is the files are so crisp so it will be fun to go through the records I have to see if I can find better copies.

Here are the records I found and was able to get death dates for both of his 2nd Great Grandparents on his paternal side.

The first one I found was Martin Lynch who died in 1931.

Screen shot of Death certificate of Martin Lynch.

Best part is that it had his parents names so I hope to be able to find them in Ireland. Also states he was a resident of NYC for 50 years. I will try to see if I can find his grave in Holy Cross Cemetery also.

Next I was able to find Martin’s wife Bridget Larkin Lynch. She died a few years after her husband in 1935.

Screen Shot of Bridget Larkin Lynch’s Death Certificate.

I can definitely see this leading me down lots of rabbit holes and working on NYC lines. I am excited to see what I can find for more of Gerard’s family and what I can find anything new on my Dad’s family. Between this and the upcoming 1950 census I am super excited.

Shrubbing & DNA & a Rabbit Hole

/ Chiara / Leave a comment

Yes shrubbing out that tree and a DNA cousin have lead to a huge Rabbit Hole and it isn’t even a direct ancestor but when a good juicy story gets you hooked you follow.

I love a mystery and think I may of been a detective in a previous life. So I am working on shrubbing out the descendants of Benjamin Knowlton Coolidge and Olive Daby. Though I should also shrub out Benjamin Knowlton Coolidge and Betsey Black also since this family has some pedigree collapse going on and I discovered a triple cousin.

I am also working on creating a tree for my DNA cousin’s great great grandparents because I discovered a case of sisters marrying brothers, so we have a bit more pedigree collapse going on. Thankfully I have a couple of odd markers making the research go a bit easier with a somewhat common last name.

So one of my goals in the coming days is to actually work on some of my own research and scope out the Family History Center’s local to me. It will be nice to be able to access the records fairly easily. I have a list of records I need in my source box and my wonderful daughter said she wouldn’t mind going either. She likes doing research. I am thinking of doing a little 14-day mini-challenge, I did one last year with Nicole and Diana from Family Locket and Research Like a Pro and it helped me. I was able to find some great information and have a nice little report for it. The best part is it kept me focussed on one question.

So I am sitting here going down a rabbit hole and shrubbing along this tree, what are you working on in your tree.

I’m just shrubbing along….

/ Chiara / Leave a comment

So the past 2 days I have been answering some emails and working with DNA, if you know me I prefer digging through the records or traipsing through a cemetery than doing anything sciencey. Yes I made up a word. Anyway DNA requires sciencey work and while doing this I have uncovered a mess of what I call double cousins.

I am sure there is some correct term but my mind after very little sleep is not working at 100 percent capacity. Anyway my Daby and Coolidge lines are merging in more than one way. A DNA cousin messaged me and that lead me to Benjamin Coolidge and Olive Daby (Darby), who are my 3rd great-grandparents through my maternal grandfather. It also lead me to John Daby and Olive Bolton, who are the parents of Olive Daby making them my 4th great-grandparents.

This DNA cousin and I, along with the accounts I manage share several matches through these 2 couples. After getting some information I decided I should finish shrubbing out these 2 lines and maybe I would find what I was looking for.

Well I started with Miss Destina Coolidge who is the daughter of Benjamin and Olive. Destina married Thomas Bailey. Thomas Bailey had a wonderful obituary.

Part 1 of the Obituary that appeared in the Elizabethtown Post. Courtesy of New York Historical Newspapers.
Part 2 of Thomas Bailey Obituary – Courtesy of New York Historical Newspapers.
Part 3 of Thomas Bailey Obituary – Courtesy of New York Historical Newspapers

This obituary was too good to pass up and I put a link in my Ancestry Tree. You can view the Obituary Here: http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn92061913/1902-05-22/ed-1/seq-4/

Sadly both Destina and Thomas died in 1902 only a few months apart. So in my shrubbing I learned that Lydia Bailey married a Hiram Daby. Hiram is somehow related to Olive Daby Coolidge Some ancestry trees have him as the son of John Lloyd Daby who is Olive Daby’s Brother but I haven’t verified it. I would venture a guess to say he is a cousin of some sort. Unfortunately his obituary gave very little family information.

Hiram Daby Obituary appeared in The Adirondack Record – January 25 1923 courtesy of New York Historical Newspapers.

Hiram and Lydia Daby had 2 children Maria who died in 1898 at the age of 21 and Warren. Warren’s Obituary was a beauty. It alludes to all kinds of family lore that I would love to prove. (Those documents are proving to be elusive. I have not shrubbed Warren’s children yet but at least I have the info to move forward.

Warren Daby obituary appeared in the Adirondack Record – Elizabethtown Post – March 29, 1956 courtesy of New York Historical Newspapers.

Shrubbing these lines is going to take a while, I need to bring them forward from the 1840s through the present day and you have heard me all talk about the black hole that is Jay, New York. This will be a fun journey and hopefully I will discover some useful bits as I try to figure these things out.

Ancestor Profile – James Stewart

/ Chiara / Leave a comment

I have been working on filling in missing pieces of the family tree. especially shrubbing the tree out. This becomes especially helpful in the world of DNA. I have spent the last 2 weeks working on Gs family so I decided to look at one of my lines and see what I could do.

James Stewart was born March 1878, most probably in Clinton County. He is the sone of Joseph Gardner Stewart and Ella May.

He appears to live with his parents during all the census records I found him in beginning in 1880, 1892, 1900.  I really knew nothing about him until I found a picture on Ancestry of the July 26, 1927 Plattsburgh Sentinel about a Funeral for James. It was a fairly long obituary.

When I find things like this I head to one of my favorite sites NYS Historic Newspapers. So I performed a search of 1927 and James Stewart. Oh poor James.

James died in a horrific car crash. The following are 3 different articles from 2 different papers The Lake Placid News, The Plattsburgh Sentinel and The Plattsburgh Republican.

 

The Plattsburgh Republican had so many details (one of the things I love about old newspapers. It gives me the 2 men in the car with James. It gives me where his brother William lived in NYC (how did I not know that William lived here in NYC). It also told me the type of car a Nash Touring Car. I had heard of Nash, I even think there was a movie about them though I could be wrong. So a quick google search to see what a Nash Touring Car looked like yielded this picture.

Screen Shot 2020-04-12 at 9.09.09 PM

I think this is about a 1923 or 1925 Nash. Most of the pictures reveal that they were soft top cars. The guilt poor William must of lived with.

James Stewart died July 22, 1927 in Peru, Clinton County, NY. I am going to research and see if I can find the road they were driving on. I have probably been on it at some point growing up.

James Stewart’s funeral was held at the Redford Methodist Episcopal Church and he is buried in the Redford Cemetery from what I found he never married and never had children. He was 49 years old when he died and he should be remembered.

52 Ancestors – Week 14 – Water

/ Chiara / Leave a comment

The prompt for week 14 is Water. I am going to follow the trend and continue with Gerard’s family as they are who I have been focussing on during this period of social distancing.

Gerard’s family is primarily recent Irish immigrants, as in post 1840 or 1850s except for a couple of his lines on his Mom’s paternal side which are German and English (I would say, haven’t gotten to the gateway ancestors on the Bass line). Those Irish immigrants then settled in NYC primarily Brooklyn.

His paternal great-grandfather James McMahon was born 12 November 1875 in County Limerick, Ireland. He arrived from Ireland 3 August 1893 aboard a ship named the Germanic. On the Census records and his naturalization papers he lists his occupation as a Longshoreman.

Screen Shot 2020-04-11 at 9.17.34 AMScreen Shot 2020-04-11 at 9.17.05 AM(1910 US Census & 1915 NY State Census)

A longshoreman is a dock worker who is a laborer involved with the loading and unloading of ships.

James McMahon died in early January 1956 and is buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Brooklyn, NY.

Funnily enough Gerard’s 2X Great-grandfather on his maternal side also worked in a water based business. He owned a dredging company. Peter J. Moran was born April 1880 in New York. He died 23 October 1945 in Brooklyn, NY.

Screen Shot 2020-04-11 at 9.23.53 AM

One of my future projects is too read about the William Beard & Co Dredging Company and seeing what it was.

 

52 Ancestors – Week 13 – Nearly Forgotten

/ Chiara / Leave a comment

The prompt for Week 13 was nearly forgotten, to me the people in the family tree who died as infants, children, teenagers, young or without children are the ones who tend to not have their stories told.

I have been researching on a couple of Gerard’s lines. One of the people I found in his tree is little William McMahon. William was born 25 May 1913 in Brooklyn, New York to James McMahon and Mary Roddy McMahon. Baby William died 27 February 1914 at 9 months old, according to his death certificate the  cause of death was bronchial pneumonia. His parents must of been heartbroken.

williammcmahondc(death certificate for William McMahon)

The line I have really been looking into is the Butler/Hurley lines. My husband’s great-grandmother is Mary Elizabeth Butler. She was born in about 1888 in Ontario, Canada the daughter of David Butler and Mary Hurley Butler. All these Marys are why I am not a fan of Irish research.

The 1905 New York state census for Brooklyn shows us the Butler and Hurley families living at 713 Leonard Street. In the house hold are wife Mary, daughters Mary and Margaret and sons William, age 9 and David age 7. The family has been in the United States for 6 years. Also living in the household are a David Hurley age 69, Joseph age 24 a David Hurley age 30. The Hurleys are possibly the father and siblings of  Mary Hurley Butler. William Butler was at school and in my mind he was probably a mischevious  little boy.

Screen Shot 2020-04-09 at 3.54.58 PM(1905 New York State Census)

The 1910 United States Census for Brooklyn reveals Mary Butler was the Head of the household and widowed. Living with Mary were daughters Mary and Margaret and sons William and David. William and David have no occupation. They are living at 108 Milton Street in Brooklyn.

Screen Shot 2020-04-08 at 9.25.22 PM(1910 US Census)

Sadly William Butler died 12 April 1913 at 859 St. Johns Place Brooklyn, NY. William was 17 years old. He was working as a clerk for a fruit broker. The cause of death is listed as chorea, acute aortic (?) ulcer, rheumatis, acute endocarditis. It sounds like poor William had a lot going on for such a young man. Sadly he died only 5 years after his father. His poor mother was probably broken hearted.

williambutlerjr(Death Certificate of William Butler)

So by writing about both William’s I am ensuring there is a record of them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

52 Ancestors – Week 11 – Luck

/ Chiara / Leave a comment

Luck is a fun topic. I always feel super lucky when I discover something new about an ancestor. My favorite way to learn things is by reading newspapers.

I have been working on building out my trees and newspapers have been a great way to do this, especially in less populated areas because everything is found in newspapers. From obituaries to information on people who are feeling poorly.

These two obituaries are about 2 of the children of Peter Shumway and Arvilla Preston Shumway. The obituary of Mrs. Mary I. Preston was also a clue that she married a cousin of hers, George R. Preston, I haven’t pieced it all together but the clues are there.

Screen Shot 2020-03-23 at 7.33.15 PM

This is an article about my grandpa’s brother. He died before I was born but I did not know that he was the Fire Chief in Schroon Lake. Tidbits like this are what brings family members alive to me and I always consider myself extremely lucky to find things like this.

52 Ancestors – Week 10 – Strong Woman

/ Chiara / Leave a comment

So for this prompt for the 52 Ancestors Challenge I wanted to choose a different relative in my family. I decided Sarah “Sally” Sawyer Preston would be my choice.

I believe Sally Sawyer Preston was born in 1769 to Joseph Sawyer and Judith Kelly Sawyer in New Hampshire. She married Abner Preston on 12 September 1787 in Cavendish, Vermont.

41599_312440-00267

Sally was 18 years old. I am not sure where Cavendish is in relation to her home in New Hampshire but even today Vermont is not a very populus state so it may of been remote.She had 3 children while still in Vermont.

In the  1800 US Census,  her husband Abner is listed in the town of Jay in Essex County, NY. As you know Jay for me is the black hole when it comes to genealogy research. Maybe when this pandemic is over I can visit and make some headway in all the research I need to do there.

Screen Shot 2020-03-22 at 8.24.31 AM

Sally and Abner had several more children in New York. At this time Essex County was just beginning to be settled and even today it is an extremely rural town in northern New York.

Screen Shot 2020-03-22 at 8.30.30 AM

Back in its heyday Jay was a logging town, but at the time the Prestons arrived the land still would of need to be cleared and this town is in the middle of the Adirondack State Park. This would not of been an easy life for the Preston family.

Abner Preston died 17 November 1835 and is buried in Wilmington, New York. Sally Preston lived to be 85 years old. She died 15 August 1854.

Abner Preston, Sally Sawyer Preston

To live such a long life in this time period takes a strong person. I hope to someday learn more about Sally Sawyer Preston’s everyday life.

 

52 Ancestors – Week 8 – Prosperity

/ Chiara / Leave a comment

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary

prosperity

pros·​per·​i·​ty | \ prä-ˈsper-ə-tē  \

Definition of prosperity

: the condition of being successful or thriving especially : economic well-being
As I thought of this topic, the person who kept coming to mind was my grandfather Antonio DellaVecchia.
Antonio DellaVecchia was born 24 January 1903 in Vasto, Chieti, Italy. He left home at the age of 17 to travel to America. He arrived in New York City in 1920 on a ship that sailed from LeHarve, France with his cousin Paulo Florio.
My grandfather did not spend much time in NYC as he settled in Clifton Heights Pennsylvania, where he became a naturalized citizen in 1926. He then went back and married my grandmother in 1929 in Lentella, Italy.
He came back to the United States and was a very successful contractor and investor in real estate.
This is a list of the properties that my grandmother had after my grandfather died in 1976.
Screen Shot 2020-03-01 at 5.52.03 PM
My own Dad and brother have continued with the construction company.
My grandfather lived the American Dream.

Another Rabbit Hole

/ Chiara / 1 Comment

This week I have been going down a lot of rabbit holes. Currently I am in the beginning stages of my final ProGen Assignment. I have to write a narrative about an ancestral couple and their children. I have decided I seriously do not want to write about my Stewart Lines as there are just to many children. Seriously the Stewart Line had 8 or 9 and those Shumway’s with 11 seriously not happening.

So I was going to work on my Witherwax line but I may want to use them for certification. So then I was leaning towards G’s Scoundrel of a Great-Grandfather Henry Bass. (I love Henry, plus he has great material, Possible bigamest).

I finally yesterday had a calling. A certain ancestor was calling me and it is requiring me to flesh a tree out slightly and I want some insight into the Characters and I stumbled across in the papers. You know I love my papers. Thank heavens for the NYS Historic Newspapers.

I found this gem, when searching Maria Weston. I had to use her husband’s name Sylvester Weston but look what I found.BenjaminWeatherwa and MinervaBeardsleyThe Plattsburgh Sentinel, courtesy of NYS Historic Newspapers

In Chesterfield, May 10, 1890, at the residence of Mr. Sylvester Weston, by Rev. J.H. Bond, Benj. F. Weatherwax, of Valcour and Miss Minnie Beardsley, of Clintonville.

So how about those apples. Benjamin Weatherwax and Minnie Beardsley are my great-grandparents. I knew they were married in Chesterfield (I have their marriage license) but I figured they were married in the Methodist Church. Things like this put things together for me.

So as a hint to the relatives that spoke to me it was Mr. Beverly Beardsley. I figured he had something he wanted me to look for and I should listen.

It has been a somewhat productive week for rabbit holes.