Gone for Soldiers: Lyman Worden (1790 - 1883) Soldier

Several months ago I posted about Lyman Worden's 1880 interview by a local newspaperman and promised to look into what this maternal 4X great grandfather did during his three-month service during the War of 1812. Today's the day I fulfill that commitment.

In 1813 Lyman and his young family were living in Cayuga County when he was called into service with the New York militia.

[The Oswego daily palladium., April 21, 1880, Page 2.

Source: NYS Historic Newspapers, Image provided by: SUNY Oswego]

Here's a contemporary view of Fort Niagara from the British side of the river where Lyman's company camped for a week.

[Fort Niagara taken from the British side of the river at Newark.  William Strickland, 1787-1854, engraver. Published - Philadelphia, 1814 Oct. 

Source: Library of Congress]

And here's Fort George (from the American side) where his company spent an undisclosed amount of time but it couldn't have been very long as his whole time in the militia lasted no more than three months.

[View of British Fort George from U.S. Fort Niagara, c.1811 (LAC)]

And here's a portrait of the American General George McClure mentioned in Lyman's interview.

[Gen. Geo. McClure findagrave]

You can find more information about Fort George here and here; read about the events of the War of 1812 on the Niagara River here; and learn about the Native American involvement during the war here




© 2017 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Monday Is for Mothers: Elizabeth Brown (About 1794 - 1857)

Last week I posted about my third great grandfather Porter Worden so I felt this week was a good time to take a look at his ancestry starting with his mother Elizabeth, the daughter of Jeremiah Brown.*

Although there are several accounts claiming Cayuga County, New York, as her birthplace both the 1850 federal census and 1855 New York State census list Elizabeth's home state as Massachusetts. The Browns were living in Cayuga County by the 1800 U.S. Census and her husband-to-be Lyman Worden's family moved there about seven years later. Both families appear in the 1810 U.S. Census.

[Map Of The Northern Part of the State Of New York. Compiled from actual Survey By Amos Lay 1812. Entered ... 16th day of July 1812 by Amos Lay ... New-York. Source: David Rumsey Historical Map Collection.]

[Detail of above map--Cayuga County is outlined in pink.]

[Year: 1810; Census Place:Cayuga, New York; 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.]

[Year: 1810; Census Place:Cayuga, New York; 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.]

We haven't found a marriage record for Elizabeth and Lyman but their first child Porter was born on May 12, 1811. By 1820 the family was living in neighboring Oswego County where Elizabeth and her husband would live the rest of their lives.

In the 1850 U.S. Census we have the first official record naming Elizabeth. She and Lyman are living with their son Joseph and next door to Porter and Hannah and their growing family.**

[Year: 1850; Census Place: Oswego, Oswego, 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 the New York State census five years later we have a last glimpse of Elizabeth.

["New York State Census, 1855," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-8BP2-BM?cc=1937366&wc=M6GQ-C6D%3A237408001%2C237541501 : 22 May 2014), Oswego > image 9 of 28; count clerk offices, New York.]

Elizabeth Brown Worden died on September 19, 1857, and is buried in the Rural Cemetery in Oswego. Lyman would join her there in 1883.


*In the Records of the First Baptist Church in Cheshire (formerly New Providence) whose presiding Elder was Peter Worden there is this entry:

Unfortunately Brown is a very common surname and we can't be sure this Jeremiah Brown is Elizabeth's father but it points to a possible previous connection between the Browns and the Wordens in Massachusetts.

**This is the only time in census records that my great great grandfather Willet Orlando Worden is called by that name. 

© 2017 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Working on Wednesday: Porter Worden (1811 - 1891) Cooper & Farmer

If we had to rely only on the census records to follow this 3X great grandfather and his family we wouldn't know about several of the places he and his wife Hannah lived after they left their home state of New York. Fortunately his 1891 obituary in the Anamosa Eureka has come to light.

[Detail of a joint portrait of Porter and Hannah Leonard, c1860, Anamosa, Iowa.

Courtesy of Olive Slater-Kennedy]

[Iowa  Anamosa  The Anamosa Eureka   Thursday , February 26th , 1891.

Source: Digital Archives of the Jones County Genealogical Society.]

                  PORTER WORDEN
   Died, at the residence of Thurston Joslin, his
son-in-law, Feb 15, 1891 Porter Worden. He was
born in Oswego county New York, May 12, 1811,
was married to Hannah M. Leonard in the year
1838, ten children being the fruit of this union.
He came to Iowa in 1853. In the course of time he
moved to Missouri, lived in Nebraska for a time
and later returned to Iowa. In early life he
united with the Methodist church but in after
years united with the Baptist church at Fairview,
of which he was a consistent member at the time
of his death. The companion of his youth died in
Nebraska in January, 1887, at the age of 74 years.
They leave a family of eight children living. Six
of them were present to assist in caring for him.
He was a great sufferer in the last days but mur
mured not. He looked forward to the time when
he would soon be free from trouble. He fell asleep
in Jesus. His remains were followed to the church
by many relatives and friends, where services were
held, and then they bore him to Wilcox ceme-
tery where he now rests to aait the summons to arise.
  Mr. and Mrs.Joslin wish to tender their thanks
to the friends for their kind assistance in this
time of trouble.
                                      D. GIVEN, Pastor.

The information in the obituary would have been supplied by his children including Polly Ann Joslin and it mostly agrees with the records we have except that Porter was actually born in Cayuga County, New York--his family moved to Oswego when he was about five years old.

Hannah's family lived in Jefferson County, New York, and that's where she and Porter were living at the time of the 1840 and 1850 federal censuses. They moved to Iowa* within a year of her father Isaac Leonard's second marriage to a much younger woman.

His occupation was listed as "Cooper" in the 1850 U.S. Census, but in all later enumerations he was a farmer.

*First to Linn County before moving on to Fairview in Jones County by 1870. Neither their move to Missouri, possibly in connection with their daughter Elizabeth Anna and her husband Steven Peregoy who moved their family to Missouri around 1870, nor their sojourn in Nebraska (and Hannah's death there) would be known except for the obituary. Since their granddaughter (and my great grandmother) Elnora Worden Webb and her family had moved to Know County in 1885 it's likely that influenced Porter and Hannah's move there.


© 2017 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.