Saturday, April 12, 2008

The Elusive Stephen Feather (ca 1740-1804)

I am posting some of my most elusive ancestors in hopes that someone will Google their name and find my post. Ideally, the Googlers will provide me with more information about my elusive female ancestor's ancestry. Realistically, they will commiserate with me about the lack of records and wonder why no researcher has figured the problem out yet.

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Family of Stephen Feather

Stephen Feather was born before 1740, and died 1804 in Westmoreland County, PA.

Notes for Stephen Feather:

The ancestry of Stephen Feather is unknown. He may be of English or German ancestry. The only data available are limited tax records, some census data, and the Revolutionary War pension file of his son, John Feather.

Stephen Feather paid taxes in New Brunswick, Middlesex County, New Jersey from 1772 through 1780. He served in the Revolutionary War, as did his son John. After the War, Stephen moved his family to Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania.

The 1800 US census record in 1800 shows Stephen Feather with five persons under age 26 (three males, two females) living in his household. The 1800 census also lists a Christopher Feather in Westmoreland county, and the 1810 census shows families for Daniel Feathers and John Feathers in Westmoreland county.

The Revolutionary War Pension Abstract for Stephen's son John Feather gives some background data on this family:

"John [FEATHER], Mary, W3236, NJ Line, sol appl 28 Jun 1833 Mercer Co PA aged 73 and a res of Salem township PA, sol enl in Middlesex Co NJ where he lived and where he was b in 1760 & soon after the Rev War the sol moved to Westmoreland Co PA & in 1822 moved to Mercer Co PA, a son John Feather was aged 61 in 1851 a res of Mercer Co PA & stated sol d there 3 May 1838 leaving a wid Mary who d there on 18 Mar 1847 & he also stated wid's maiden name had been Mary Wheeler & she & sol were m in VA in 1785, in 1851 there were 7 living children; Hannah Hunter, Jane Neely, John Feather, Betsey & Nancy Feather & prior to 1794 was b. Polly Stewart & Stephen Feather (this is the way it was written), sol's bro Cornelius Feather was aged 74 in 1851 a res of Salem township in Mercer Co PA & he stated his & sol's father was Stephen Feather who moved from Middlesex Co NJ about 2 yrs after the Rev War & the next winter moved to VA but returned to Westmoreland Co PA the following spring, sol's daughter Hannah Hunter was aged 65 in 1851 a res of Delaware twnshp in Mercer Co PA & she stated there were 2 dec'd children of sol, towit; William Feather & Rebecca Hunter both dec'd in 1851 & there were 7 living children in 1851." {Abner White, "Abstracts of Revolutionary War Pension Files," Vol. 1, page 1167]

The data on this family was obtained from census records and data obtained from Tom Fetters of Lombard, Illinois.

Children of Stephen Feather are:


i. John Feather, born About 1760 in Middlesex County, NJ; died 03 May 1838 in Mercer County, PA. He married Mary Wheeler 1785 in VA; died 18 March 1847 in Mercer County, PA.

ii. Cornelius Feather, born 1777 in Middlesex County, NJ; died 1852 in Salem, Mercer County, PA. He married (1) unnamed before 1804 in prob. Trumbull County, OH; born before 1785 in CT; died before 1830 in prob. Mercer County, PA. He married (2) Mary before 1850 in prob. Mercer County, PA; born About 1792 in PA; died in prob. Mercer County, PA.

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My own ancestry is through Cornelius Feather.

If anyone has additions or corrections to this family data, please, please, please, please (shades of James Brown, eh?) email me at rjseaver@cox.net.

Friday, April 11, 2008

"Non-Traditional Families" program by Stephanie Weiner at SDJGS meeting

Hey San Diego - here's a program announcement that sounds like a really great event:

Schelly Talaley Dardashti passed this announcement to me yesterday, and I thought all San Diego researchers may be interested in this program on Sunday, 13 April. Schelly's post is at
http://tracingthetribe.blogspot.com/2008/04/san-diego-non-traditional-families.html

How should genealogists handle sensitive data and issues discovered in their research? What are the implications of including, or excluding, information in your family tree? How does your decision effect those who come after you seeking genealogical information? What are the medical, ethical and halachic implications of these decisions regarding adoption, assisted reproduction and genetic disorders?

To help answer these important questions, the San Diego Jewish Genealogy Society has a program that should be of great interest to all genealogists - Jewish or not - at its next meeting, at 1pm, Sunday, April 13, at the Lawrence Family JCC in La Jolla (members, free; others $3).

Stephanie Weiner will present "Non-Traditional Families: Issues of Privacy and Confidentiality in Constructing A Genealogical Tree."

She will present ways to deal with sensitive data and issues when non-traditional families are involved. What are the halachic, medical and ethical implications of decisions to include or exclude material such as those regarding adoption and assisted reproduction? With more genetic disorders being identified, and donor sperm conceptions, the issues will become more pertinent. What are the implications of including, or excluding, information in your family tree? How does your decision effect those who come after you seeking genealogical information?

As an adoptee, Stephanie has an abiding interest in access to vital records. She has worked with grassroots adoption organizations and has presented on the topic of adoption, orphans, and non-traditional families. Her most recent project has been the preparation of an online teaching module about adoption for the Jewish Education Council of Seattle.

A semi-retired librarian working part-time for the San Diego County Library system, she was a college and university librarian. Stephanie has been a speaker, since 2003, at IAJGS (International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies) annual conferences and has provided training in online genealogy for staff members and the general public. A featured speaker on genealogy for several San Diego County libraries, she has also presented at the Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Washington (Seattle).She is a member of the IAJGS Public Records Access and Monitoring Committee, the Genealogical Speakers Guild and the Association of Professional Genealogists.

For more information, click here.

Thanks, Schelly, for this information.

The Elusive Anna Kenyon (ca 1742-????, wife of John Kenyon)

I am posting some of my most elusive women ancestors in hopes that someone will Google their name and find my post. Ideally, the Googlers will provide me with more information about my elusive female ancestor's ancestry. Realistically, they will commiserate with me about the lack of records and wonder why no researcher has figured the problem out yet.

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Family of Anna (Kenyon) Kenyon

Anna Kenyon was born about 1742 in RI, and died before 1831 in probably Windham County, CT. She married John Kenyon 1764 in probably Newport, Newport County, RI, son of Sylvester Kenyon and Anna Barber. He was born about 1742 in Richmond, Washington County, RI, and died July 1831 in Sterling, Windham County, CT.

Notes for Anna Kenyon:


The parents of Anna Kenyon are not known. It is not known if her maiden surname was Kenyon or not.

Notes for John Kenyon:

Much of the information about this family was obtained from the book -
Kenyon, Howard Nathaniel,. "American Kenyons : history of Kenyons and English connections of American Kenyons, genealogy of the American Kenyons of Rhode Island, miscellaneous Kenyon material," Rutland, Vt.: Tuttle, 1979, originally published in 1935.

The numbers below refer to families numbered using the Henry system in the "American Kenyons" book. This John Kenyon family was not included in the book.

An extensive revision of the "American Kenyons" book was created and posted on the Internet in 1999 at http://hometown.aol.com/ctk0209/kgen/kgen1.htm by Clark T. Kenyon. The family of this John Kenyon is not summarized in this work.


[Edited on 2/19/09 for accuracy] Sometime during the 1990's, the author corresponded via email or on a message board with Richard R. Kenyon, who was gathering Kenyon family data together based on the previous work, and additions to the Howard Kenyon book (by the author HK, who died in 1957). He included these paragraphs from Howard Kenyon's 1935 work:

"The book 'A Commemorative Biographical Record of Tolland and Windham Counties, Connecticut,' by J. H. Beers, 1903, indicates that John Kenyon (1134) was the son of John Kenyon (1111) of Exeter, RI and Freelove Reynolds. This is clearly incorrect, since John Kenyon (11111) moved to Oswego, NY, where he was a pensioner for services in the Revolutionary War and where he made extensive affidavits relative to his identity and his war service. The author of this work erroneously assumed that the 1790 census for John Kenyon (1134) was the record of John Kenyon (167) who was reported in Hoosick, NY, 1790, since the latter John executed a deed in Voluntown to land in Rhode Island, which land transaction clearly identified the owner. However, there is no [other] record that John Kenyon (167) ever lived in Voluntown and it is clear that John Kenyon (1134) was first deeded land in Voluntown in 1778 and died there with a will.

"He was deeded land in Richmond, RI, by his father, Sylvester Kenyon (113) in 1769. His mother, Anne, signed the conveyance. In the census in Rhode Island of 1774, he and his brother, Giles, were listed as heads of two families living together [in] Exeter. He made no claim for Revolutionary War service. He cannot be identified as being listed on the military census of 1777. He may have moved. In the deed to land from Peleg Kenyon of Voluntown, 1775, 100 acres, it recited that John was from Exeter, RI. He bought four other pieces of land in Voluntown and in 1793 sold 16 acres to his brother, Moses Kenyon (1136). The son, Lewis Kenyon (11341), was willed the farm bought from Jeremiah Babcock. George got one half the land purchased from Peleg Kenyon; Sylvester got the other half. One of his sons had a daughter named Phoebe. No identity of his wife is disclosed on his land transactions in Connecticut. He was shown in the census of 1790 and in successive census reports prior to his death. [Note by the editor: A handwritten note appears at this point in the typewritten manuscript: "Note error on m. of Anne Kenyon" It appears to have been entered at the same time the wife of John Kenyon (1134) was added. The handwriting in these two cases is different (not as neat as elsewhere). The cause for his comment is not clear. -- RRK]

The book "Mayflower Families Through Five Generations," Volume Three, George Soule, edited by Anne Borden Harding, General society of Mayflower Descendants, 1990 states on page 290:

"The identity and circumstances of marriage have not been proven. A John Kenyon m. Newport, RI, 24 xxx 1764 Ann Kenyon. Shortly thereafter his father Sylvester deeded him land in Richmond RI as his son of Portsmouth of Newport Co. RI. On 5 March 1778 John and wife Anna of Richmond with Sylvester and his wife Anna of Exeter sold Richmond holdings to Joseph Woodmansee. He removed from RI to CT about the time of the Revolution and acquired land and farms in Voluntown and Sterling CT. His will was proved Sterling CT 8 Aug. 1831 but did not contain the name of his wife. In the will be gives sons Lewis, George and Sylvester farms; names son John, daughters Almey Perkins, Nancy Champlin, Abigail Warren and Cynthia Kenyon. He names nine grandsons and nine granddaughters: Samuel, Joseph, John and George Hassard Champlin; James, Varnum, Searls, George and Palmer Dixon; Betsey, Fanny, Alsi (Elsie) and Abigail Champlin; Phebe Kenyon, Almey Oatley, Polly Wilcox, Harriet Card and Nancy Dixon."

The Mayflower Families book is, by far, the most authoritative work for this family to date, although the Russell Kenyon work seems to agree in the details, especially the children of John and Ann Kenyon.

Children of Anna Kenyon and John Kenyon are:


i. Nancy Kenyon, born about 1765 in Washington County, RI. She married Joseph Champlin before 1785 in prob. South Kingstown, Washington County, RI; born about 1758 in Charlestown, Washington County, RI; died 17 June 1850 in South Kingstown, Washington County, RI.

ii. Lewis Kenyon, born about 1767 in Washington County, RI. He married Elizabeth Austin.

iii. Sylvester Kenyon, born about 1769 in Washington County, RI; died 1838. He married Polly Vaughn 08 June 1817 in Sterling, Windham County, CT.

iv. Almy Kenyon, born about 1770 in Washington County, RI. She married Perkins.

v. Abigail Kenyon, born about 1772 in Washington County, RI. She married Warren.

vi. Cynthia Kenyon, born about 1773 in Washington County, RI.

vii. Mary Kenyon, born about 1774 in Voluntown, New London County, CT; died June 1810. She married William Dixon.

viii. John Kenyon, born 10 May 1776 in Richmond, Washington County, RI. He married Susanna Thurston 14 April 1799; born 12 December 1779 in Sterling, Windham County, CT.

ix. George Kenyon, born about 1778 in Exeter, Washington County, RI; died 21 March 1850 in Sterling, Windham County, CT. He married Sarah; born October 1780; died 11 June 1834 in Sterling, Windham County, CT.
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My own ancestry is through Nancy Kenyon, who married Joseph Champlin.

If anyone has additions or corrections to this family data, please, please, please, please (shades of James Brown, eh?) email me at rjseaver@cox.net.

UPDATED 2/19/09: Corrected one paragraph (noted above) per information received from Richard L. Kenyon via email on 2/18/09.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Carringer Family Letters, 1890-1900 - Post 9

This series of family letters is from the parents, brother and aunt of Henry Austin Carringer residing in National City and San Diego in the 1890 to 1900 time frame. Austin's parents (David Jackson and Rebecca (Spangler) Carringer) and brother (Edgar, unmarried) resided in Boulder, Colorado during this period of time and there is news of towns people and events in these letters.

The ninth letter is from Austin's mother, Rebecca (Spangler) Carringer, in Boulder.

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Letter from Rebecca Carringer of Boulder, Colorado to Austin and Della Carringer in San Diego, California. No envelope.

Boulder Colo April 12 [18]97

Dear children your good letter found us about the same. We were not surprised to hear Austin had a cold for we said he would take cold sleeping in that damp place the lumber being green and the damp weather he could not help take cold he is going to over do the thing he better go a little slow there isent any thing to be made at such work. That is what I tell Pa but he wont heed I tell him if he wasn’t to ever get well he will just have to let every thing go. Oh Dear I get out of fashions with him. He will go to town I don’t want him to go but there is no use to say any thing he will go any way. We have had such bad weather all last week. Our moon lays [hays?] on its back to but it just has run over ever since it came so I don’t think that makes any difference. There is not anything new to say and I want to send this to town so will say good by hope this will find you all well. Love to all from parents and brother.


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It seems like they get a letter and send one back every week, even if there is no news other than the weather.

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Almost Wordless Wednesday

Just checking in to see if everybody has turned my lights out yet. As devoted readers know, Linda and I are on a week's mission to parent our grandsons and teach them more family history - and to help out my daughter who went to NC to greet her Marine hubby home from Iraq. They are doing well...we're glad.

"Almost wordless?" Well, she left the computer on for us and we've been managing to keep up with email and things, but it's a struggle to get more than an hour online because of the demands of the little guys. I made 5 car trips today - take Lucas to school and back, take Logan for a ride and back, take Logan to his music class and back (we had a nice Frostie too!), pick up Lucas at school and back, and rush to the store for halibut for dinner. When we got back from Lucas school, we found the computer haywire. What's up with that? I rebooted but it wanted a login and password along with an authentication fingerprint. Hmmm. Maybe I'm going to be wordless today...and the rest of the week. When we talked to my daughter, she told me the password and we're back online, but I was rummaging through the schedule to find an hour each day to go to an Internet cafe or library.

So it wasn't Wordless Wednesday after all. Tomorrow is our special day with Lucas while Logan is in school - we're going to the beach and run the dog. Linda and I plan to go out to dinner tomorrow night - my daughter's friend will babysit and put the boys to bed. We go pick up my daughter on Saturday - the boys will be really (I mean rreeeaaaallllllyyyyyyy) happy to see her. I'll probably have to drive home because she will be overwhelmed by the love. We go home on Sunday. We're looking forward to our own bed, more time online, and peace and quiet. Grandparenting is great one day at a time. 8 days in a row is really hard with these two little guys.

The Elusive John Kemp (1723-1793)

I am posting some of my most elusive ancestors in hopes that someone will Google their name and find my post. Ideally, the Googlers will provide me with more information about my elusive female ancestor's ancestry. Realistically, they will commiserate with me about the lack of records and wonder why no researcher has figured the problem out yet.

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Family of John Kemp
John Kemp was born about 1723, and died January 1793 in Fredericksburgh, Addington County, Ontario, CANADA. He married Anna Van Vorst before 1761 in probably Schenectady, Schenectady County, NY, daughter of Jacobus Van Vorst and Anna Beck. She was born before 22 October 1732 in Schenectady, Schenectady County, NY (baptism), and died July 1789 in Fredericksburgh, Addington County, Ontario, CANADA.

Notes for John Kemp:

All of the data listed here has been obtained from Mrs. Cheryl Taber of Kingston, Ontario and Mr. Bob Kemp of Peterborough, Ontario, who are planning a book on the Kemp family.

The origin of John Kemp is not known. He was in the Albany -- Schenectady area of New York in the 1760's. John Kempe was one of the petitioners who requested a minister for St. George's Anglican Church in Schenectady in 1765. He resided in Guilford township, district of Ballston, Saratoga County, New York in the 1772 census (as John Camps) with a wife and eight children. John Camp was on the 1779 tax list for Ballston District.

John Kemp is in the muster roll of Captain Samuel Harden's Company, under the command of Lt. Col. Commandant Robert Rogers in His Majesty's Service in the Corps stiled the King's Rangers, dated at New York, 18 Oct. 1780, with the rank of Private. Jno. Kemp served in a detachment of the King's Rangers commanded by Major James Rogers, quartered at St. John's 21 January 1783. He was listed as from the Country of Merriland (is that Maryland?), age 60, size 5 feet 5 inches, and had served one half month. His sons Joseph and John were also in the same King's Rangers.

The family resided in Fredericksburgh, Addington County, Ontario as early as 1784. He was a farmer, and attended the Anglican and/or First Reformed Church.

The old United Empire Loyalists List shows John Kemp Sr of Fredericksburgh, soldier, on the Land Board of Mecklenburgh in 1790 and of 1793. He is also listed as being of the King's Rangers, Provision List of Kingston, 1786.

There are two petitions by John Kemp for land in Richmond township, Lennox County, Ontario in 1790 and 1793.

Notes for Anna Van Vorst:

Anna Van Vorst was married first to Nicolaas Van Der Bogaert (son of Tjerk Frassen and Margaret Grietje (Vedder) Van Der Bogaert) on 29 July 1751 in Schenectady, Schenectady, New York. He died before July 1758 in Schenectady, Schenectady County, New York. They had four children.

Children of John Kemp and Anna Van Vorst are:


i. Joseph Kemp, born before 20 July 1761 in Schenectady, Schenectady County, NY (baptism); died after 1836 in Ontario, CANADA. He married Catherine Bovee 03 December 1787 in Ballston Center, Saratoga County, NY; born About 1768 in near Hoosick Falls, Rensselaer County, NY; died after 1842 in ONTARIO.

ii. Jacobus/James Kemp, born before 09 January 1763 in Schenectady, Schenectady County, NY (baptism); died 23 March 1803 in Fredericksburgh, Addington County, Ontario, CANADA. He married (1) Phoebe Van Siclen 26 December 1790 in Fredericksburgh, Addington, ONTARIO; died before 03 January 1798 in Fredericksburgh, Addington, ONTARIO. He married (2) Jane Anderson 19 August 1799 in Fredericksburgh, Addington, ONTARIO; died before 08 September 1799 in Fredericksburgh, Addington, ONTARIO.

iii. Rachel Kemp, born before 23 August 1767 in Schenectady, Schenectady County, NY (baptism).

iv. John Kemp, born about 1768 in Schenectady, Schenectady County, NY; died Aft. April 1861 in probably Northumberland County, Ontario, CANADA. He married Mary Dafoe 26 January 1795 in Fredricksburgh, Addington County, Ontario, CANADA; born about 1776 in VT; died before 1851 in probably Northumberland County, Ontario, CANADA.

v. Nancy Kemp, born about 1770 in Schenectady, Schenectady County, NY; died after 1836 in Ontario, CANADA. She married Abraham Loucks about 1788 in Fredericksburgh, Addlington, ONTARIO; born 07 December 1760 in Churchtown, NY; died after 1852 in Fredericksburg, Addington, ONTARIO.

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My own ancestry is through John Kemp, who married Mary Dafoe.

If anyone has additions or corrections to this family data, please, please, please, please (shades of James Brown, eh?) email me at rjseaver@cox.net.

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

SDGS Meeting on 4/12 - "GenSmarts"

The next San Diego Genealogical Society meeting will be on Saturday, April 12th at 12 noon at the St. Andrews Lutheran Church (8350 Lake Murray Blvd at Jackson Drive, San Diego).

The speaker for both program segments will be Pam Journey on "GenSmarts: Your Research Assistant."

The synopsis of the talk reads:

"Ever wish you could have a genealogy research expert looking over your shoulder advising you on where to research next and what sources are available to uncover your ancestors past? Well, now there is - a software program called GenSmarts.

"GenSmarts doesn't replace your existing software program (e.g., PAF, RootsMagic, Legacy, FTM) but works with it to uncover research options you may have overlooked. It uses 'artificial intelligence' to look at your genealogy program files and make predictions about the record trail your ancestors may have left behind. It develops a profile of your ancestors based on where and when they lived which it checks against its inventory of known records to suggest prioritized research options. It will even go online (if you have an Internet connection, but not required) to survey free and fee based web sites research options.

"If you feel your research could use a little help or you just want to double-check your work, Gensmarts is the answer in an easy-to-use software package. Come and learn how this great program works and what it can do for you. If you haven't used it, you will definitely want to attend this meeting. If you are a GenSmart user, come and learn new techniques. Not to be missed!"

Pam Journey's curriculum vitae:

"Pam Journey, a society member since 1992, currently serves as our Library Director and heads our Education Committee. She earned a BA from San Diego State University with an English major and Library Science minor as well as getting her Teaching Credential. She served as librarian at Hale Jr. High School and Library Assistant with the Union-Tribune. She has taught genealogy classes to many county groups over the years. She and her husband, Gene, have been active in the Society for many years."

I encourage San Diego genealogy buffs to attend this meeting and learn about GenSmarts. I have it and have used it a bit, but would love to learn more. Unfortunately, I can't attend this meeting due to family commitments.

Monday, April 7, 2008

The Elusive Sarah Grande (ca 1691-???, wife of Thomas Allen)

I am posting some of my most elusive women ancestors in hopes that someone will Google their name and find my post. Ideally, the Googlers will provide me with more information about my elusive female ancestor's ancestry. Realistically, they will commiserate with me about the lack of records and wonder why no researcher has figured the problem out yet.

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Family of Sarah (Grande) Allen

Sarah Grande was born about 1691 in MA. She married Thomas Allen 27 June 1711 in Sudbury, Middlesex County, MA, (VR, 163), son of Benjamin Allen and Frances Rice. He was born 1690 in Sudbury, Middlesex County, MA, and died about 1777 in Sudbury, Middlesex County, MA.

Notes for Sarah Grande:

The parentage of Sarah Grande remains a mystery. The surname may be Grande, Grandy, Grunde, Grundy, or some other variant.


The most likely father was Robert Grande who resided in Roxbury in the 1650 to 1700 time frame.

Notes for Thomas Allen:

Thomas Allen was a farmer, and lived in Sudbury.

The birth of the children of Thomas and Sarah (Grande) Allen were recorded in the Sudbury town records, and are in the published Sudbury vital Records to 1850 book.

There are no probate records available for Thomas or Sarah Allen in the Middlesex County Probate Records.

Children of Sarah Grande and Thomas Allen are:

i. Thomas Allen, born 06 September 1713 in Sudbury, Middlesex County, MA (VR, 11).

ii. Daniel Allen, born 05 October 1715 in Sudbury, Middlesex County, MA (VR, 11).

iii. Sarah Allen, born 04 May 1717 in Sudbury, Middlesex County, MA (VR, 11); died 10 May 1796 in Concord, Middlesex County, MA. She married Jeremiah Knowlton 24 July 1735 in Sudbury, Middlesex, MA, (VR, 163); born before 02 August 1713 in Ipswich, Essex, MA (baptism); died 1752 in Concord, Middlesex, MA.

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My own ancestry is through Sarah Allen, who married Jeremiah Knowlton.

If anyone has additions or corrections to this family data, please, please, please, please (shades of James Brown, eh?) email me at rjseaver@cox.net.

NGSQ Table of Contents - March 2008 Issue

The March 2008 issue of the National Genealogical Society Quarterly (Volume 96, Number 1) was received last week. The Table of Contents includes:

FEATURE ARTICLES

* "Clara V. Moore and Carrie Peterson: Proving a Double Enumeration in the 1910 Census" by J.H. Fonkert, CG - page 5

* "Identifying the Children of David Pugh and Nancy Minton of Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee" by Daniela Moneta, CG - page 13

* "Tracking Basil Williams of Maryland and Pennsylvania through Changing Residences and Multiple Marriages" by Nicki Peak Birch, CG - page 23

* "Using French-Canadian Catholic Parish Records to Establish a Missing Kinship Relationship" by George L. Findlen, CG - page 39

* "Tying Together Indirect Evidence: Finding Frederick Drollinger's Father" by Kay Germain Ingalls, CG - page 47.

NOTES AND DOCUMENTS

* "The Tennesseetown Manuscript Census: A Legacy for Topeka, Kansas, Exoduster Descendants" by Mary Mall - page 53

BIBLE RECORD

* "Gaddis Family Bible" - page 38

REVIEWS - page 65.

UPDATE

* "Abstracts of Revolutionary War Pension Applications" - page 22

SIDELIGHT

* "Which Marriage was Legal!" - page 64.

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The Sidelight article illustrates a very complicated problem on one page. My thought was "I'm sure glad that I didn't have to sort that one out!" What an amazing document they found in the Civil War Pension Files that illustrates several cases of "marriage" without the convenience of divorce.

This issue had excellent articles that touched on different record types illustrating difficult research problems in several localities. It's no surprise that most articles are written by Certified Genealogists. Reading these articles provides excellent food for thought about my own research problems, and those of my colleagues.

Sunday, April 6, 2008

Best of the Genea-Blogs - March 30-April 5, 2008

Here are my picks for great reads from the genealogy blogs for this past week.

My criteria are pretty simple - I pick posts that advance knowledge about genealogy, address current genealogy issues, provide personal family history, are funny or are poignant. I don't list posts destined for the Carnival of Genealogy, or other meme submissions (but I do include summaries of them), or my own posts.

* "1890 Census Recovered" by the Ancestry Insider blog. The Insider wrote a believable post, especially for an apparent insider, but note the date. This was the best of the April Fool's Day posts, although the Family Tree Magazine cover was excellent also.

* "Twice Told Tuesday: The Baffled Photographer" by footnoteMaven on the Shades of the Departed blog. fM has some interesting photographs of cats, and tells a great story too.

* "JewishGen: How It all Began" by Schelly Talalay Dardashti on the Tracing the Tribe:The Jewish Genealogy Blog. JewishGen.org is going through a transition, and Schelly has written several posts of the latest news. This post provides some interesting history about the site itself.

* "Creating Our Church Archives, Part I: In The Beginning" and "Part 2: Sorting and Inventorying" by Cricket Hackmann on the Shaking the Family Tree blog. Cricket has been working on her family church archives and is providing a blueprint on how she's doing it.

* "Beauty's Grave" by Terry Thornton on the Hill Country of Monroe County, Mississippi blog. Terry is a great story-teller, and this is a keeper. The poem is a beauty too.

* "A Melded Web Site/Blog Environment" by Thomas MacEntee on the Destination:Austin Family blog. Thomas continues his discussion of personal web sites and blogs and comes to a blended decision.

* "We're Hiring" by Paul Allen on the Paul Allen (the lesser) blog. Paul describes the goals and objectives of his company, FamilyLink.com, and also notes that the company is hiring.

* "Newspapers" by Lori Thornton on the Smoky Mountain Family Historian blog. Lori describes the items that genealogists would miss if newspapers cease to exist and what would replace them. I agree with Lori.

* "Planning to Publish ... The Easy Way" by Ann Hege Hughes writing on the GenealogyandFamilyHistory.com blog. Ann works for Gateway Press, and itemizes the best way to provide book material ready for publication.

* "Gen-Activities for Kids" by Amanda Forson on the WorldVitalRecords Blog. Amanda lists some web sites to help kids to pursue genealogy along with their parents.

* "Genealogy Search Trend on Google" by Kathi on the Ancestor Search blog. Kathi determines that the popularity of "genealogy" as a search term on Google has steadily decreased over the past five years. I'm not surprised!

I encourage you to go to the blogs listed above and read their articles, and add their blog to your Favorites, Bloglines, reader, feed or email if you like what you read. Please make a comment to them also - we all appreciate feedback on what we write.

Did I miss a great genealogy blog post? Tell me!

The Elusive Sarah Martin (1792-1860), wife of John Putman

I am posting some of my most elusive women ancestors in hopes that someone will Google their name and find my post. Ideally, the Googlers will provide me with more information about my elusive female ancestor's ancestry. Realistically, they will commiserate with me about the lack of records and wonder why no researcher has figured the problem out yet.

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Family of Sarah (Martin) Putman (1792-1860), wife of John Putman

Sarah Martin was born 07 March 1792 in New Jersey, and died 21 December 1860 in Delhi, Norfolk County, Ontario, Canada. She married John Putman about 1808 in probably Sussex County, NJ, son of Peter Putman and Sarah Kinnan. He was born before 27 September 1785 in Walpack, Sussex County, NJ (baptism), and died 10 May 1863 in Delhi, Norfolk County, Ontario.

Notes for Sarah Martin:

The parents of Sarah Martin have not been defined. Some secondary sources claimed that her maiden surname was Milford or Mulford (her second son was named Milford or Mulford).

It is possible that she was born and raised in Sussex County, New Jersey, since that is perhaps where she married John Putman. There is a Mulford Putman, son of Thomas and Sarah (Ludlum) Martin, who was born in 1791 in Union county, New Jersey.

Notes for John Putman:

The data presented on this Putman family was obtained from Mark Putman, who publishes the Putman Family Bulletin. One of his publications, "Descendants of David Janse Putman, son of Johannes Pootman of Schenectady, New York", covers the present ancestral line.

John Putman was baptized 27 September 1785 at the Walpack Congregational Church in Walpack, Sussex County, New Jersey.

He married Sarah Martin about 1808. John and Sarah Putman moved to Steuben County, New York between 1810 and 1820. Their children were probably born in Wayne Township, Steuben County, New York.

About 1834, John Putman, with his brother Isaac Kinnan Putman, moved his family to Fredericksburg (later called Delhi), Norfolk County, Ontario, named after Frederick Sovereign, an early settler. John Putman may have followed the lumber trade from Steuben County, New York to Norfolk County, Ontario, since many of John's sons were lumber men. John Putman and Isaac Kinnan Putman pledged an oath of allegiance to Canada, recorded in Norfolk County in 1842. On 1 November 1839, Deacon Frederick Sovereign, Deacon William McLennan, and John Putman were elected by the Middleton Baptist Church of Delhi to attend a council convened to ordain Samuel Smith.

Sarah Putman died in Delhi, Norfolk, Ontario 21 December 1860 at 69 years of age. John Putman died in Delhi 10 May 1863 at the age of 78. Both were buried in the Middle Township Cemetery, but when the cemetery was sold in about 1970 to build a store, their gravestones were moved a short distance to the Delhi Cemetery.

Children of Sarah Martin and John Putman are:


i. Peter Putman, born 1813 in prob. Wayne, Steuben County, NY.

ii. Mulford M. Putman, born 1815 in prob. Wayne, Steuben County, NY. He married Elizabeth Barns.

iii. Isaac Putman, born 1819 in prob. Wayne, Steuben County, NY.

iv. Eliza Putman, born 01 January 1820 in Wayne, Steuben County, NY; died 17 March 1895 in Delhi, Norfolk County, Ontario, Canada. She married Alexander Sovereign 03 March 1840 in Norfolk County, Ontario, Canada; born 22 December 1814 in Middleton, Norfolk County, Upper Canada; died 15 August 1907 in Windham, Norfolk County, Ontario, Canada.

v. Rebecca Putman, born 26 August 1822 in probably Wayne, Steuben County, NY.

vi. Mary Putman, born 04 June 1825 in probably Wayne, Steuben County, NY.

vii. Martha Putman, born About 1829 in probably Wayne, Steuben County, NY.

viii. William C. Putman, born 11 February 1834 in probably Wayne, Steuben County, NY. He married Mary Chambers 03 July 1860 in MI; born about 1833 in Canada.

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I am descended from Eliza Putman, who married Alexander Sovereign.

If anyone has additions or corrections to this family data, please, please, please, please (shades of James Brown, eh?) email me at rjseaver@cox.net.