#essexCounty

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.

Dreaming of Warmer Days & Research Trips

/ Chiara / 3 Comments

It is a rainy and rather dreary day here in Queens, I am stuck at work. I am dreaming a research trip or two.

I am at the point in some of my lines where I need a good old-fashioned boots on the ground research trip. I haven’t been to a library or an archive for my own research since about 2000 when I went to DC and visited NARA and the DAR Library. I decided today would be a perfect time to list some places I want to go and some research I want to do.

I understand family search has some of the probate records for NYS but I always feel the actual packets may be better than what is listed in the books. Also I swear some of my family was completely left out of the will books. (It may be wishful thinking on my part.)

  1. Day trip to Brooklyn, NY to hit up Canarsie Cemetery and Holy Cross Cemetery.
  2. Municipal Archives in NYC – would love to view the Coroners Report microfilm. Look at several death certificates and marriage certificates.
  3. Trip to Clinton County (I probably could spend a week or 2 here).
    1. Head to the probate court to review the entire David Weatherwax file.
    2. check to see if there is a packet for either Jacob or Mary Weatherwax.
    3. check for probate records for my Larkin family, Jehiel Beardsley.
  4. Visit the Baker Burying Ground, Gillaland Cemetery and Harkness Cemetery while I am in the area.Screen Shot 2018-05-02 at 3.39.22 PM
  5. A Trip to Essex County, NY to check on the probates of Beverly Beardsley who died in 1815, as well as the Beverly Beardsley who died in 1897. See if there are probate Packets for Benjamin Knowlton Coolidge, Obadiah Coolidge, Elijah Preston and both Abner Preston Sr. and Abner Preston Jr.
  6. A quick trip to Rensselaer County Probate Court for the entire Probate pack for Sarah Larkin Beardsley. This one I am rather curious about as Sarah died in 1886 and she predeceased her husband by about 30 years.

Eventually I would love to hit up the various libraries and historical societies but currently I need to be meaningful in my trips.

I would also love to head over to Oneida County to try to find the probate for Benjamin Knowlton and his wife Phebe Wright. I need to prove my Sarah Knowlton Coolidge is their daughter. I also need to find a marriage record for Obadiah Coolidge to Sarah Knowlton and that just might require a trip to New Hampshire.

I am dreaming of sunshine, summer days and the time to travel in New York.

 

‘Twas the day before Thanksgiving

/ Chiara / 1 Comment

Twas the day before Thanksgiving and I have been focusing on family and the blessings of life as is the norm this time of year. I am thinking of those who came before and those who may come after. I am feeling incredibly blessed for all that I have.

There have been several of those family members who came before me that have been heavy on my mind. I can almost feel them reaching out to me to tell their stories.

Martha Winchester Beardsley, who is just a name on a tombstone in Clintonville. She died at the mere age of 20 but left 3 children behind. I know nothing but a couple of dates but I can feel here asking questions.

Arvilla Preston Shumway, who was married at 16, to a man almost 20 years her senior. She went on to have 10 children. What must her life have been like. I hear her story wanting to be told.

My own grandmother, Chiara Moro DellaVecchia, who was born in the United States and then went to Italy for 20 years before returning in 1938. What was the real reason the family returned to Italy. What must it of been like to come back. How had it changed.

We always here the stories of the men but what about the women. Their stories are just as important. Even though the records are sparse their stories need to be told. I so want to put together a profile of those families that speak to me.

I am not a writer and don’t profess to be one but I can feel the family before me asking me to tell their stories and now I need to figure a way to tell those stories and to share them. Our ancestors should not be forgotten and they should be more than the names and dates on a stone.

So today I am thankful for all of my family, past, present and future. Thank you for helping me be the person I am.

The quest to clear an AIR!

/ Chiara / Leave a comment

What is an AIR? An air is this pesky thing in the DAR. It stands for Additional Information Requested and right now it is the bane of my existence and I am thinking a couple of research trips may be what I need to do.

Here is the situation. I am working on proving my lineage back to Benjamin Knowlton, who was a member of the Committee of Safety and Correspondence in New Ipswich, Hillsborough, New Hampshire. Benjamin was married to Phebe Wright.

Benjamin was born in 1728 in Ipswich, Essex County, Massachusetts. He died somewhere in Oneida County, NY as he is buried in Sangerfield, NY.

Photos courtesy of Find A Grave.

My lineage goes through his daughter Sarah. Sarah was born in New Hampshire and I found a birth record for that. Sarah was married to Obadiah Coolidge in either Vermont or New Hampshire. (This is one of the things I am looking for.)

Sarah Knowlton and Obadiah Coolidge lived in Vermont and then settled in Jay, Essex County, New York. Essex County is my black hole for genealogy research. I lose several members of my family there.

Sarah Knowlton Coolidge died in 1832 in Essex County and is buried there. Her tombstone was erected by her son Benjamin Knowlton Coolidge.

Screen Shot 2018-11-15 at 8.33.31 AM

Photo Courtesy of Find A Grave.

My additional information request comes from the birth date on the tombstone does not correspond with the birth date in New Hampshire which I submitted as proof to the DAR.  So the requested I find the marriage record of Sarah Knowlton and Obadiah Coolidge or the will of Benjamin Knowlton naming Sarah as his daughter.

The Daughters of the American Revolution are sticklers for the documentation to prove the lineage. Benjamin Knowlton has several members under him but they all come through one child of his. He had several children who reached adulthood so this would open a new line to him. I am beginning to research sideways on this branch of the tree.

So I am thinking a research trip to Oneida County to see if I can find a will for Benjamin Knowlton or Phebe Knowlton may be necessary and then there is always a trip to Essex County, NY as there are almost no records on Family Search for them and there doesn’t seem to be many wills or deeds for the County anywhere before 1860 or so. I have 18 months to get my AIR resolved so if you have an idea or are researching these families, I would love to hear from you. Feel free to leave me a comment.

Have a great day.

GRIP Day 3

/ Chiara / Leave a comment

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Day 3 of GRIP was a bit of a  whirlwind. We covered wills, transportation and military. I was able to glean a few sources out of this overloaded mind of mine. I am sure it will get better when I type up my notes.

Wednesday evening a group of us DAR ladies met up and it was definitely fun to meet a group of daughters from different states. As there was no evening lecture I decided to use some of the newfound knowledge I learned and see if I could find some wills. I found one that was of interest and since I have a Have Written from the DAR I decided to work on it. It was a bit difficult as I didn’t have the letter or the documentation I originally sent. I am now tracing out the lines of the patriot and of his daughter’s family to see what is out there.  I have been writing lots of  notes in a notebook of the research I found but it definitely is not my usual set up making it a bit more difficult. I am thinking a trip to the Essex County Courthouse is in order unless I can convince my loving family who is going to Clinton County in August to go there.

Well it is time for me to have some breakfast before Day 4 of GRIP starts. This has been a wonderful experience so far and I am definitely thinking I want to return.

Have a great Thursday.