Monday Is for Mothers: Olive Baldwin (1778 - 1843)

Olive Baldwin and her husband Joseph Gates (1779-1854) are the parents of my great great great grandmother Mary "Polly" Gates. As you will find if you follow the link to my post about Polly Gates, Olive was added to this line in 2015.*

[Hyde genealogy; or, The descendants,in the female as well as in the male lines, from William Hyde, of Norwich...

by Reuben Hyde Walworth, , 1788-1867. Source: Internet Archive]

Olive was born in Canterbury in Windham County, Connecticut on September 2, 1779. Her parents were Aaron Baldwin and Mehitable Leonard.

She married Joseph around 1794, probably in Windham although I haven't found any online record of their marriage. Their first child was born in 1795--a daughter whose name isn't known.

As always with women before 1850, we have to follow Olive through records in her husband's name. In 1800 according to the federal census they were living in Preston in New London County. Most likely the Dorothy Gates whose name follows Joseph's in the enumeration is his widowed mother.

[Year: 1800; Census Place: Preston, New London, Connecticut; Series: M32; Roll: 3; Page: 708; Image: 220; Family History Library Film: 205620. Ancestry.com. 1800 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: Second Census of the United States, 1800. NARA microfilm publication M32 (52 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.]

Dorothy Gates died in February of 1805 and by September of that year Joseph, Olive and their family were living in Otsego County, New York, where Polly Gates was born. Here's the household in the 1810 U.S. Census for Unadilla.

[Year: 1810; Census Place: Unadilla, Otsego, New York; Roll: 34; Page: 173; Image: 00098; Family History Library Film: 0181388. 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.]

[Image from The pioneers of Unadilla village, 1784-1840 by Halsey, Francis Whiting, 1851-1919; Gaius Leonard Halsey, 1819-1891.

Source: Internet Archive.]

By 1820 the Gates family had moved to Virgil in Cortland County, New York.

[1820 U S Census; Census Place: Virgil, Cortland, New York; Page: 621; NARA Roll: M33_66; Image: 341. Ancestry.com. 1820 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: Fourth Census of the United States, 1820. (NARA microfilm publication M33, 142 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.]

Olive died in 1843 so this 1840 U.S. Census record is the last official document she's represented in.

[Year: 1840; Census Place: Cortland, New York; Roll: 275; Page: 8; Image: 20; Family History Library Film: 0017184. Ancestry.com. 1840 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: Sixth Census of the United States, 1840. (NARA microfilm publication M704, 580 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.]

Olive Baldwin Gates died on January 6, 1843, and is buried in the Snyder Hill Cemetery in Virgil.

[Created by: Larry Wales; Record added: Apr 04, 2011

Find A Grave Memorial #67882262.

Photo: Larry Wales (#47374334)]

Joseph survived Olive by 11 years. He moved in with Polly and David Darling in Iowa and is buried there in Jones County.



*Credit where credit's due--Christine found this reference. Olive is not a very common given name among my ancestors and I think it's significant that Polly and her husband David Darling named one of their daughters Olive G. Darling (1838-1852). (Note that the Hyde connection is not in my direct line.)

© 2017 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Monday Is for Mothers: Dorothy "Dolly" Gates (1742 - 1805)

Dorothy was born on March 25, 1742, in Preston, Connecticut, the daughter of Daniel Gates and his wife Mercy Heald. She was their youngest daughter and didn't marry until after her father's death in 1767 when Dorothy was 27.

[To the right honourable, the Earl of Shelbourne, His Majesty's principal Secretary of State for the Southern Department. This plan of the colony of Connecticut in North-America. 1766. Source: Library of Congress Geography and Map Division Washington, D.C. ]

[Ancestry.com. Connecticut Town Birth Records, pre-1870 (Barbour Collection) [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006. Original data: White, Lorraine Cook, ed. The Barbour Collection of Connecticut Town Vital Records. Vol. 1-55. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1994-2002.]

Her first husband was Jesse Seaton, a resident of Plainfield (in neighboring Windham County about 12 miles north of Preston), whom she married on November 15, 1769.

[Ancestry.com. Connecticut, Town Marriage Records, pre-1870 (Barbour Collection) [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006. Original data: White, Lorraine Cook, ed. The Barbour Collection of Connecticut Town Vital Records. Vol. 1-55. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1994-2002.]

Less than a year and half later, on March 23, 1771, Jesse Seaton died before he was able to sign his last will which one of his doctors had written at his direction and this noncupative will was admitted to probate. Except for a token sum "that he gave to his Brothers & Sisters to Prevent them from Braking his will in the disposing of his Estate," Jesse gave everything to his 28-year-old wife. There is no mention of any children.

[Notes : Probate Packets, Pope, Seth-Shepard, John, 1747-1880. Ancestry.com. Connecticut, Wills and Probate Records, 1609-1999 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Original data: Connecticut County, District and Probate Courts.]

Five years later Dorothy married her second cousin Joseph Gates,* a 54-year-old widower with six children (five daughters and one son). The couple had three sons, the oldest of which, also named Joseph (1776-1854), is my direct ancestor.

In 1795 when Joseph Sr. died at the age of 75, he had made provision in his will for his "loving wife Dorothy" including a life estate in his dwelling house, all his household furniture, and "one Good Riding Horse, Side Saddle & Bridle, & a Cow."

[Ancestry.com. Connecticut, Wills and Probate Records, 1609-1999 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Original data: Connecticut County, District and Probate Courts.]

Dorothy survived Joseph by ten years, dying on February 9, 1805, at the age of 62. The first entries in the inventory of her estate give us a view into her style of dress. She owned cotton dresses made of "callico" and chintz** for everyday wear but Dorothy could deck herself out in a black silk gown with a silk "cloke" and bonnet when she chose.

[Notes : Probate Packets, Gardner, David-Geer, H, 1748-1880. Ancestry.com. Connecticut, Wills and Probate Records, 1609-1999 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Original data: Connecticut County, District and Probate Courts.]

And among her household goods there was a mirror and a rocking chair with a cushion for comfort.

[Notes : Probate Packets, Gardner, David-Geer, H, 1748-1880. Ancestry.com. Connecticut, Wills and Probate Records, 1609-1999 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Original data: Connecticut County, District and Probate Courts.]


She and Joseph are buried in Hopeville Cemetery in Griswold, New London County, Connecticut.

My descent is through their granddaughter Mary "Polly" Gates whose daughter Mercy Ann Darling was the mother of Jesse David Webb, the father of my maternal grandmother Anna Delilah Webb.

*They shared great grandparents Stephen Gates (1634-1707) and Sarah Woodward (1642-1707).
**For an illustrated discussion of these fabrics look here and here.

© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Monday Is for Mothers: Mehitable Leonard (1747 - 1808)

Mehitable was about 13 when her father Captain Samuel Leonard died in 1760 and her name appears in probate records on a list of his named children. Her oldest brother, also named Samuel, had to be appointed as administrator of the estate by the Court of Probate of Norwich, Connecticut, because his father had not made a will.*

[Notes : Probate Packets, Leffingwell, Christopher-Lester, Lucy, 1748-1880. Ancestry.com.

Connecticut, Wills and Probate Records, 1609-1999 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015.

Original data: Connecticut County, District and Probate Courts.]

In the division of her father's property in Preston,** Mehitable's share included both a 14-acre lot and a selection of goods from her father's personal estate valued at over £49.***

 

[Notes : Probate Packets, Leffingwell, Christopher-Lester, Lucy, 1748-1880. Ancestry.com.

Connecticut, Wills and Probate Records, 1609-1999 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015.

Original data: Connecticut County, District and Probate Courts.]

In 1771 Mehitable married Aaron Baldwin from neighboring Canterbury**** where the couple had seven children that we know of, including my fourth great grandmother Olive Baldwin (1778-1843)*****

[Book 4; Ancestry.com. Early Connecticut Marriages [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.

Original data: Bailey, Frederic W. Early Connecticut Marriages as Found on Ancient Church Records Prior to 1800. Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1997.]

There are several Aaron Baldwin's in Connecticut at this time and I'm unsure of my ancestor's date of death. Mehitable died on April 6, 1808, and is buried in the Joseph Rood Farm Cemetery in Plainfield.

As you can see from the map below, Mehitable almost certainly never traveled far from her birthplace in eastern Connecticut.

[Detail from Connecticut From the best Authorities. B. Tanner, del. & sculpt. Engraved for the American Edition of Winterbotham's History of America, Published by John Reid, 1796. Source: David Rumsey Historical Map Collection.]

*It appears that her mother Lydia Stanton died at about the same time so perhaps the younger children found a home with Samuel Jr. and his wife Mary Freeman.
**You can visit Preston Historical Society's facebook page here.
***Captain Samuel's estate was was appraised at over £700 in the inventory completed on April 24, 1760.
****Of course Canterbury Historical Society has its own facebook page.
*****Olive's marriage to Joseph Gates (1776-1854) was one of Christine's most exciting finds last year.


© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

2015: Looking Back

When I agreed to join my daughter's blog on October 1, 2014, I decided on two ground rules: we had to post every day and each post had to have a picture. (I'm a visual person.) Looking back over the past year I'm proud of what we've done here and in the process we've both learned a lot.

[Art and Picture Collection, The New York Public Library. "Best wishes for a happy New Year." The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1909. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e3-47d9-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99]

Two of the most exciting names added to my paternal family tree in 2015 are Cheney Boyce (1591?-1643?), Ancient Planter of Jamestown, and John Whitney (1592-1673), member of the Company of Merchant Tailors of London before his departure for Massachusetts in 1635. Christine's recent discovery that Olive Baldwin (1778-1843) was the mother of my maternal third great grandmother Mary (Polly) Gates (1805-1883) has opened up new lines of research that will be covered next year.

Another fascinating discovery was that my paternal fifth great grandfather Abraham Heath (1740?-1807?) served with the Virginia line of the Continental Army during the American Revolution and was one of the cold and hungry soldiers at Valley Forge. In case you missed it, you can read about what the records said here: Parts One, Two, Three, Four, Five, and Six. (Parts Three through Five were posted on the 168th anniversary of the events described.)

My two most popular posts in 2015 were Sunday Drive: Train Travel in Victorian England which looked at the ubiquity of mid-19th century British train lines, and Fantastic Find: Catholic Parish Registers at the National Library of Ireland which passed on the news that the National Library had just made their microfilm collection of parish records available online (and for free).

Another fantastic find, The McAdory House, was particularly useful in helping me understand the kind of dwelling my early Alabama ancestors probably lived in. (Spoiler alert: No white pillars or oak allies in sight.) And for those of you who also have ties to Alabama, let me recommend again Letters from Alabama, written by the Englishman Philip Henry Gosse about his experience there in 1838.

Christine and I have been having fun posting photos of Christmases we have known (or have pictures of) for the past ten days as a way of slacking off but still maintaining our goal of daily posts. With the new year we'll be getting back to genealogy.

Have a safe and happy New Year's Eve!

© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Searching Through Unindexed FamilySearch Deed Records is Boring, So Let's Drum Up Some Enthusiasm To Get Through It!

No Joseph Gates here. Maybe he's on the next page??

I'm looking for my motivation today.

So I've been looking through Cortland County, New York, 1815-1820 deeds at FamilySearch.  Page by page, looking for a man (Joseph Gates), who I think is my direct ancestor.  But no sign of him yet.
Boring.

Joseph Gates began appearing in the Federal census records in Cortland County in 1820, and was listed as "engaged in manufacture."  I don't what he manufactured, I don't know when he came to Cortland (although I think it was some time before the 1820 census obviously), and I don't know his wife's name.  If he and his wife bought land, then I'd know when he bought land and know her first name.  My drive to know these things compels me to keep doing this boring search.  For me this is an obsession, although not a religious calling.

It's interesting to me that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, who run FamilySearch, do consider obtaining genealogical material to be a religious calling.  I recently learned that they plan to acquire all genealogical records in the world by the middle of this century.  Wow!

The word 'enthusiasm' has always interested me, as it originally comes from the Greek, meaning "possessed by [a] god's essence" and was for a long time used only in a religious context.  Not being a particularly religious person, I still like the idea of my enthusiasm (in this case for genealogy) to be from an outer source, and possibly of unlimited scope, although I think of the 'possession' as more that I am plugged into a greater outside energy than that I have a spirit inside me, directing my actions.

Thinking about Cortland County, Joseph Gates, Mormons, and a tremendous appreciation of indexed records, got me to thinking how I could find some kind of motivation (and of course to avoid looking through those darn deed records for a few more minutes), I looked to find if there was an inspiring video about indexing to drum up some enthusiasm, preferably from an LDS member who can explain their motivation from their point of view.

The Internet being the Internet, I found what I was looking for--a sermon by LDS elder David A Bednar - "Indexing":

© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Monday Is for Mothers: Mary (Polly) Gates (1809 - 1883)

Almost everything we know about this maternal third great grandmother comes from census records. She was born in New York in 1809 and may have been the daughter of Joseph Gates (1776-1854) who was living in Otsego County by 1810. Her mother's name isn't known for certain, although she may have been a Burdick or a Partridge.

Joseph Gates and his family were living in Virgil in Courtland County, New York, by 1820 and that's probably where Polly* married David Darling (1805-1895)** around 1830.

[A Map of the State Of New York. Compiled from the latest authorities; including the Turnpike Roads now granted as also the principal common roads connected therewith. Intended as well for the Student in Geography as a directory to the Traveller.

By Wm. McCalpin. Oxford, 1808. David Rumsey Historical Map Collection]

Polly and David and their growing family remained in Courtland County for the next two U.S. Census enumerations. In the 1850 Census for Harford, New York, we see Polly's name for the first time.***

[Year: 1850; Census Place: Harford, Cortland, New York; Roll: M432_493; Page: 425B; Image: 605. 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.]

[Colton's Township Map Of The State Of Iowa Compiled from the United States Surveys, & other Authentic Sources. Published By J.H. Colton. No. 86 Cedar St. New York. 1851. Entered ... 1851, by J.H. Colton ... New York. Drawn by Geo W. Colton. Engraved by J.M. Atwood. David Rumsey Historical Map Collection]

But the 1852 Iowa State Census shows that the Darlings had moved to Fairview Township in Jones County. Their daughter Olive, died there on January 15th of that year and is buried in Norwich Cemetery.

[Ancestry.com. Iowa, State Census Collection, 1836-1925 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. Original data: Microfilm of Iowa State Censuses, 1856, 1885, 1895, 1905, 1915, 1925 as well various special censuses from 1836-1897 obtained from the State Historical Society of Iowa via Heritage Quest.]

Just David is named in Iowa's 1854 census which only included heads of household, but the whole family is enumerated in the 1856 census.****

[Ancestry.com. Iowa, State Census Collection, 1836-1925 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. Original data: Microfilm of Iowa State Censuses, 1856, 1885, 1895, 1905, 1915, 1925 as well various special censuses from 1836-1897 obtained from the State Historical Society of Iowa via Heritage Quest.]

By the 1860 U.S. Census, their only child left at home is 19-year old Amanda, who six year later will become the second wife of my great great grandfather George Marion Tomlinson.

[Year: 1860; Census Place: Fairview, Jones, Iowa; Roll: M653_328; Page: 593; Image: 585; Family History Library Film: 803328. 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. ]

In the 1870 U.S. Census, Polly and David had been joined by their widowed daughter Lovenia whose husband Corporal Moses Sipe had died of pneumonia in Helena, Arkansas, in 1862. Their 11-year old grandson George Sipe is living there too.

[Year: 1870; Census Place: Fairview, Jones, Iowa; Roll: M593_401; Page: 67A; Image: 137; Family History Library Film: 545900. 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 1880 U.S. Census is the last enumeration that Polly appears in. She and David are living alone.

[Year: 1880; Census Place: Fairview, Jones, Iowa; Roll: 348; Family History Film: 1254348; Page: 433B; Enumeration District: 336; Image: 0450. Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1880 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. 1880 U.S. Census Index provided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints © Copyright 1999 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. All use is subject to the limited use license and other terms and conditions applicable to this site. Original data: Tenth Census of the United States, 1880. (NARA microfilm publication T9, 1,454 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.]

Three years later, on May 14, 1883, Polly died and was buried next to her daughter Olive in Norwich Cemetery. David survived her by 12 years, dying on January 28, 1895, possibly in Boulder County, Colorado.

[Photo by Earl Munday (#46874433); findagrave.com]

*Polly is a traditional nickname for Mary.
**The Darlings left their native Rhode Island when David was about 11 and after first settling in Chenango County, New York, were living in Virgil by 1825.
***My direct ancestor Mercy A. Darling (Webb-Walsh) is their second daughter.
****Note that there's a Webb family living nearby--are they related to the two Webb men, Abner and Jesse Sill, who married my great great grandmother Mercy and her sister Nancy Adelia?

© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.