Thursday, January 6, 2011

Treasure Chest Thursday - 1888 New York Marriage Record of Isaac Seaver and Alvina Lewis

It's Treasure Chest Thursday, time to share one of the documents or artifacts in my family history collection.  In previous posts, I have displayed documents from the Civil War Pension File of Isaac Seaver, my second great-grandfather. 

I received the complete Civil War Pension File for Isaac Seaver on Monday - see my post My Christmas Present Came Today - Oh Boy! - and it has 81 pages in the file.  Many of them have little or no information on them.  I'm going to cherry-pick some pages for this and later Treasure Chest Thursday posts.

Today, the marriage record of Isaac Seaver and Alvina Lewis on 15 September 1888 in St. Regis Falls, Franklin County, New York:

The information on this marriage record includes:

CERTIFICATE AND RECORD OF MARRIAGE
State of New York - Bureau of Vital Statistics
County of:  Franklin
Town of:  Waverly
Village of:  _____________
City of: _______________
Registered No. 28

I hereby Certify, that Isaac Seaver and
Alvina M. Lewis were joined in Marriage
by me in accordance with the laws of the State of New York, at St. Regis Falls
this 15th day of September 1888

Witnesses to the Marriage: _____________________________
Signature of person performing the Ceremony: Rev. J P. Dunham

Date of Marriage:  Sept. 15th 1888
Groom's Full Name: Isaac Seaver
Residence of Groom:  Leominster
Age:  65
Color:
Occupation: Blacksmith
Single or Widowed: Widowed
Birthplace of Groom:  Mass.
Father's Name: Benj. Seaver
Mother's Maiden Name: Sarah L. Palmer
Number of Groom's Marriage: third
Bride's Full Name: Alvina M. Lewis
Residence of Bride:  Mass.
Age:  41
Color:
Single or Widowed: Widowed
Birthplace of Bride: N.Y.
Father's Name: Harry H. Bradley
Mother's Maiden Name: Hulda Clancy
Number of Bride's Marriage: second
Name of Person Performing Cer'm'ny:  Rev. J.P. Dunham
Official Station: Pastor M.E. Church
Residence: St. Regis Falls
Date of Local Registration:  Oct. 6

This is the first New York marriage certificate that I've seen in my research (I know, I'm spoiled by Massachusetts records). 

There is one error in this record - the maiden name of Isaac Seaver's mother.  I have no idea who Sarah L. Palmer is!  His mother was Abigail Gates (1797-1867), who was married to Benjamin Seaver (1791-1825),and I have the birth certificate to prove it.  Who is Sarah L. Palmer?  Was she the wife of Isaac's legal guardian after 1836 - his uncle Jeremiah Knowlton Gates (1808-1845)?  The record I have is that his wife was Sally (--?--) Spalding (1800-1865).  It may be that she was born Sarah L. Palmer, married a Spalding before marrying Jeremiah Gates at age 34. 

1 comment:

Charley "Apple" Grabowski said...

Interesting that they lived in Massachusetts but married so far away. Perhaps it was easier to get to St Regis back then! A combined wedding - honeymoon, perhaps?

Pic of the M E Church