[Detail from New Hampshire. S. Lewis del. Tanner sc. (Published by John Conrad & Co., Philadelphia. 1804).
Source David Rumsey Historical Map Collection]
Patty* was born in Alstead, Cheshire County, New Hampshire, in 1800 and was her parents' youngest child. She was only four years old when her father suddenly died while harvesting wheat in August of 1804.
Her mother Lucy became the head of the household as we can see in the 1810 U.S. Census. (Patty and her next-oldest sister Catherine are represented by the "2" in the column that enumerates those "FREE WHITE FEMALES: Of ten years, and under sixteen."
[Ancestry.com. 1810 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: Third Census of the United States, 1810. (NARA microfilm publication M252, 71 rolls). Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.]
The next record we have for Patty is her marriage to William Porter, who lived in neighboring Walpole, on June 18, 1818, almost certainly in the building known as the Langdon Meeting House, which has served many functions over its lifetime. The clergyman who performed the ceremony was Robert Bartlett, a well-known Universalist** minister.
[Ancestry,com. New Hampshire, Marriage and Divorce Records, 1659-1947 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013. Original data: “New Hampshire, Marriage and Divorce Records, 1659–1947.” Online index and digital images. New England Historical Genealogical Society. Citing New Hampshire Bureau of Vital Records, Concord, New Hampshire.]
[Langdon Meeting House. Source: Langdon Heritage Commission]
The young family left New Hampshire for the Township of Mexico*** in Oswego County, New York, in about 1826.
[Map of the County of Oswego. By David H. Burr. Published by the Surveyor General, pursuant to an Act of the Legislature. Entered according to an Act of Congress Jany. 5th. 1829 by David H. Burr of the State of New York. Engd. by Rawdon, Clark & Co., Albany & Rawdon, Wright & Co., N.Y. Source: David Rumsey Historical Map Collection]
And that's where we find Williams's household in the 1830 and 1840 U.S. Census records; there's no record naming Patty until the 1850 U.S. Census. By then her 88-year-old mother Lucy Royce (now widowed a second time) and two of her sisters Lucy (66) and Mary (56) have joined the Porters in New York.
[Ancestry.com. 1850 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: Seventh Census of the United States, 1850; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M432, 1009 rolls); Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29; National Archives, Washington, D.C.]
In New York State's 1855 Census, we see that their 27-year-old son Charles is now the head of the house as his parents, several of his siblings and his aunts are now living with him in a frame (not log) house valued at $75. (I can't help but think they must have been really crowded in there.)
[Ancestry.com. New York, State Census, 1855 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013. Original data: Census of the state of New York, for 1855. Microfilm. New York State Archives, Albany, New York.]
In the Federal Census five years later, Charles is still head of the household but there's no sign of his wife or the baby girl who had just been born in 1855 and there's a 3-year-old girl named Frances so it's clear that tragedy has stuck the family.
[Ancestry.com. 1860 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: 1860 U.S. census, population schedule. NARA microfilm publication M653, 1,438 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.]
More changes have taken place by the 1865 New York State Census. William is once again listed as head of a household which now includes son Chauncy Shepard Porter and his growing family. Patty's sister Mary is still living with them.
[Ancestry.com. New York, State Census, 1865 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Original data: Census of the state of New York, for 1865. Microfilm. New York State Archives, Albany, New York.]
William died in 1868 and Patty and her sister Mary continued to live with Chauncy and his family until her own death sometime before the 1875 New York State Census. Mary Shepard died in 1877.
[Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: 1870 U.S. census, population schedules. NARA microfilm publication M593, 1,761 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.Minnesota census schedules for 1870. NARA microfilm publication T132, 13 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.]
The place where William and Patty are buried isn't known.
*Patty and Patsy were common nicknames for girls named Martha. You can find out more about that here.
**Although today Universalists and Unitarians seem to have been conflated, in early years the Universalists considered themselves different. If you want to learn more, here's a link to an 1840 publication titled Plain Guide to Universalism.
***Represented on this 1829 map by the pink section that's closest to Lake Ontario.
© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.
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