Family Friday: Some Distant Cousins (Through the Porter Line)

John Graves Shedd (1850-1926) married Mary Roenna Porter (1853-1942), a paternal third cousin, three times removed,* in New Hampshire in 1878. The couple had two daughters, Laura Abbie Shedd Schweppe (1879-1937) and Helen May Shedd Reed (1884-1978). This newspaper photo of their children was taken a year after their grandfather's death.

[27 Mar 1927, 151 - Chicago Tribune at Newspapers.com]

John Shedd's obituary explains why he's referred to here as "the late merchant prince of Chicago."

[22 Oct 1926, Page 1 - Battle Creek Enquirer at Newspapers.com]

He was a noted philanthropist, donating $2 million to the creation of Chicago's Shedd Aquarium. He also supported the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Shedd-Porter Memorial Library in New Hampshire.



*Here's how we're related:

[Ancestry.com]

© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Monday Is for Mothers: Sarah Talcott (1735 - 1809)

Sarah was only ten when her father John Talcott died in 1745. She and Obediah Willcox married in Hebron, Hartford County (now Tolland County), Connecticut* in February of 1749/50 when she was only thirteen.

[Title: Mack Genealogy : The Descendants of John Mack of Lyme, Connecticut.

Ancestry.com. North America, Family Histories, 1500-2000 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA:

Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016.]

The couple had 13 children, the last six of them, including my ancestor Lydia Wilcox (Porter), were born after the family removed to Surry in Cheshire County, New Hampshire. Sarah and Obediah are my fifth great grandparents.

[Ancestry.com]

Sarah died a year before her husband and they are buried next to each other in the Surry Village Cemetery.

[Photo added to findagrave.com memorial of Sarah Willcox #63426137 by Cheshire #47921031]

*This link from the Hebron Historical Society shows a map of Hebron in 1744 with the homesites of early residents marked, including those of Talcot[t] and Wilcox.


© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Did I Finally Find a Death Record for My 5th Great Grandfather, Benjamin Porter (b 1772)?

One of the benefits of being a member of the New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS/American Ancestors) is that you get access to some of their external databases, including the Nineteenth Century U.S. Newspapers database (Infotrac/Gale).

My mother's paternal grandmother Letta Estella Porter is a descendant of Benjamin Porter and Lydia Wilcox.

I haven't compared it to the holdings of my current newspaper subscriptions to GenealogyBank, NewspaperArchive, and Newspapers, but I thought I'd try it to see if I could find Benjamin Porter, my 5th great grandfather who seemed to disappear from record after appearing in the 1820 Census living in Alstead, Cheshire, New Hampshire.  Since Benjamin's wife Lydia married Henry Scovil in October 1821 in Walpole, Cheshire, New Hampshire, I had tentatively put his death at about 1820.  But that is an unsatisfactory death date!

The right age, and the right previous location.  "Deaths," Dover Gazette and Strafford (Dover, NH), Tuesday, 11 Aug 1829, page 3, col 2; Nineteenth Century U.S. Newspapers (via NEHGS/American Ancestors) (American Ancestors  : 22 Aug 2016).

I searched for "Benjamin Porter" before 1830, and was pleased to immediately discover a death notice for a Benjamin Porter in Charlestown (Boston), (then Middlesex county), Massachusetts.  What jumped out at me was his former residence in Lyme, Grafton, New Hampshire.  Although I have no direct evidence that Benjamin Porter ever lived in Lyme, I do know that his parents (William Porter d 1778 and Esther Carpenter d 1827) both lived and died in Lyme.

My speculation is that sometime in 1820/1821 Benjamin and Lydia separated or divorced, and that Benjamin went to live in the same town as his mother Esther (more records to research, and divorce proceedings in that time period should be interesting).

Then I think some time after that he moved to Charlestown, Boston, Massachusetts, probably not long before his death in August 1829, and thus didn't appear in the 1830 Census.

Partial snapshot of Benjamin Porter's probate record.  This doesn't show all the names associated with this record, which I will have to look up and follow up on.  The entire front and back page of this document citation: Middlesex County, Massachusetts. Probate court, Benjamin Porter, 10 Nov 1829, 72; digital image, [image 497-498],Massachusetts, Wills and Probate Records, 1635-1991, Middlesex County, Probate Records, V. 216-218, 1826-1830, Ancestry (http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=9069 : 22 Aug 2016).

Benjamin seemed to moved around a lot in his life, from being born in Coventry, CT, to likely living with his parents in Lyme, NH, before moving on and marrying Lydia in Surry, Cheshire, New Hampshire.  I don't know what he did for a living.

Their son William Porter (1796-1868) was born in Sheffield, VT, but then it appears they moved back to Surry where their other children were born.  William was a silversmith earlier in his life, and likely would have apprenticed to a silversmith in the 1810's (although I have a growing suspicion that he might have had access to that apprenticeship through his mother's Wilcox relations, which I'll cover in a different post).

If I have the right Benjamin Porter, I wonder what he was doing in Charlestown, MA?

He certainly seemed to spend the bulk of his life somewhere along the Connecticut River.

This all definitely opens up more questions than it answers.


Edited to add: I found a specific date from the Columbian Centinel (Boston, Massachusetts), Saturday, August 8, 1829, page 3 (GenealogyBank):
"In Charlestown, Mass. on Sunday morning last, Benjamin Porter, aged 57 years, formerly of Lyme, N.H." So he died 2 August 1829.




© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Monday Is for Mothers: Martha "Patty" Shepard (1800 - Before 1875)

The time has come to give some attention to this third great grandmother. After all, we've already considered her father Joshua Shepard (1753-1804), her husband William Porter (1796-1868) and her son Orville Tracy Porter (1838-1916).

[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.

Monday Is for Mothers: Lydia Willcox (1775 - 1869)

The daughter of Obediah and Sarah (Talcott) Willcox, this paternal fourth great grandmother spent her whole life in New Hampshire. She was born on November 22, 1775, in the town of Surry in Cheshire County.

[Ancestry.com. New Hampshire, Birth Records, 1659-1900 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations. Inc., 2013. Original data: “New Hampshire, Birth Records, through 1900.” Online index and digital images. New England Historical Genealogical Society. Citing New Hampshire Bureau of Vital Records, Concord, New Hampshire.]

[The American Atlas: Or, A Geographical Description Of The Whole Continent Of America ... Engraved On Forty-Eight Copper Plates, By The Late Mr. Thomas Jefferys, Geographer to the King, and Others. London, Printed and Sold by R. Sayer and J. Bennett, Map and Print Sellers, No. 53, Fleet-Street. MDCCLXXVI. Source: David Rumsey Historical Map Collection]

There are more records I will share with you from Lydia's 94-year lifetime, but I have run out of time here in France where it's after midnight and time for bed. Adieu for now.

© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Some Notes About Joshua Shepard

It's always nice to find an obituary of an ancestor that reflects how well thought of he was.  Saturday, September 1, 1804, New Hampshire Sentinel (Keene, New Hampshire), vol 6, issue 285, pg 3. from GenealogyBank.com

My 5th great grandfather, Joshua Shepard (1753-1804), yeoman and Revolutionary War veteran, son of Jonathan Shepard and Love Palmer, died intestate on 22 August 1804 in Alstead, Cheshire, New Hampshire, at a relatively young age, with minor children including my four year old ancestress Martha "Patty" Shepard (b. 1800, married William Porter). Elsewhere in the probate it showed Cyrus Kingsbury was appointed to be guardian of Patty and her sisters Caty (who had turned 9 just days before Joshua's death) and Polly (about 8).  

His death warranted notice in a variety of newspapers at the time, from New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Maine, and Pennsylvania.  I'm surprised there were no mentions in Connecticut papers, where Joshua was born, but maybe that is just reflection on GenealogyBank's holdings. 

Using GenealogyBank and restricting the search to "Joshua Shepard" in 1804, I found his death was reported from late August 1804 to mid-September 1804, from Maine all the way down until Doylestown, Pennsylvania (marked red dots).  The green arrow indicates approximate location of Alstead.  Image is from Abraham Bradley's postal routes in 1796 (Abraham Bradley's Map of the United States, exhibiting the post-roads, the situations, connections & distances of the post-offices, stage roads, counties, ports of entry and delivery for foreign vessels, and the principal rivers (Philadelphia: William Harrison, c. 1796); digital image, Library of Congress Geography and Map collection (http://www.loc.gov/resource/g3700.ct003710/ : accessed 22 Sep 2015).

Joshua's wife, my 5th great grandmother Lucy Farnsworth (born 1762), had to go to the court in Jaffrey, Cheshire, New Hampshire (over 36 miles) to file as administratrix.

Lucy (Farnsworth) Shepard's application to be administratrix of her late husband's estate.  This document shows that Joshua's wife was named Lucy and that her brother was Joseph Farnsworth.  This information was already known to me, but it is nice to see confirmation of what I already have. Cheshire County, New Hampshire, Joshua Shepard probate file No. 114, Estate Files, S58-S143, 1793-1807: digital images, "New Hampshire, Wills and Probate Records, 1643-1982", Ancestry (http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=8996 : accessed 22 Sep 2015), search "Joshua Shepard."

A transcription:

To Abel Parker Esp. Judge of the probate of Wills &(?) for the County of Cheshire
Respectfully sheweth Lucy Shepard that she was the lawful wife of Joshua Shepard of Alstead in said county deceased whereby administration of the estate of said Joshua by law belongs to her.
She therefore prays that the administration of the estate aforesaid may be granted to her together with her brother Joseph Farnsworth of said Alstead
Dated(?) at Jaffrey the 3d day of Sept. 1804

Lucy Shepard

* Joshua's service record from Fold3.
* This is the most relevant set of laws in place I could find for New Hampshire c. 1804: The Laws of the State of New Hampshire: The Constitution of the State of New-Hampshire, and the Consitution of the United States, with Its Proposed Amendments. by J. Melcher, 1797.  I only briefly examined the work, but put it here in case I should need to consult it regarding the laws of probate.




© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.