Henrietta (Goff) Howe - Who Are You?

On 18 February 1858, a woman named Henrietta Goff married Christopher C Howe (full name probably Christopher Columbus Howe) in McHenry County, Illinois. They were married by James H Baldwin, MG.[1]

Neither name is that common, and you would think this would be an easy problem to solve. After all, I can find Henrietta and Christopher in Iowa from 1860-1900, and have Henrietta's death certificate from 1902.[2] Of course, none of those name her parents. Other family members move to Iowa in the 1860s and 1870s. It seemed like a perfect fit. Until I realized....

There are two Henrietta Goffs living in McHenry County, Illinois in 1850. Both are born between 1832 and 1835 in New York.

The first is Henrietta Goff, aged 15 years and born in New York, living in the household of David Gough [sic] and Sarah Goff in Center, McHenry Co, Illinois.[3] This is my Henrietta Goff, as her mother is Sarah (Davis) Goff and her grandparents are Asa Davis and Sarah Richardson, and her great-grandparents are Jonathan Richardson and Rhoda Thompson.

The second is Henrietta Goff, aged 19 years and born in New York, living the household of Cameron and Lydia Goff [enumerated as Taff] in Brooklyn, McHenry Co, Illinois.[4]

Based on ages alone, the second Henrietta appears to be a better match than the first when comparing ages in later census records. But knowing how off census ages can be, I keep digging!

A family history, the Genealogy of the Child, Childs and Childe Family, by Elias Child and published in 1881, identifies Henrietta Goff, daughter of Cameron Goff and Lydia Morse, as the wife of Christopher C Howe.[5]

A 1885 history of McHenry County, Illinois, biography of Henrietta's brother William W Goff states that her husband is Christopher C Howe.[6]

The icing on the cupcake:

The Woodstock (Illinois) Sentinel, Thursday, 17 November 1898, Volume XLIII, Number 18 (whole number 2202), page 5, column 3; digital image, Newspapers.com, http://www.newspapers.com : accessed 12 June 2017.

Looks like it is back to the drawing board for my Henrietta Goff.

(Of course, these two families are related through the Goff family. The two Henriettas are second cousins, sharing a set of great-grandparents, David Goff and Almy Card.)




[1] "Illinois, County Marriages, 1810-1940," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GB2P-LH1?cc=1803970&wc=326F-ZNY%3A146220501 : 3 March 2016), 1420738 (005204724) > image 57 of 457; county offices, Illinois; entry for Christopher C Howe and Henrietta Goff, license number 1995.

[2] Illinois, Cook County, Department of Health: City of Chicago, Bureau of Vital Statistics, death certificate, Mrs. C. C. Howe (Henrietta), 27 September 1902, Chicago, file no. 6122; digital image, Cook County Clerk's Office - Genealogy Online, http://www.cookcountygenealogy.com/Search.aspx, accessed 12 June 2017.

[3] 1850 US Census, Illinois, McHenry County, population schedule, Center, p. 374 (stamped), lines 29-38, household 174, family 174, household of David Gough, 12 October 1850; digital image, Ancestry.com, http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 12 June 2017, citing NARA microfilm publication M432, roll 117.

[4] 1850 US Census, Illinois, McHenry County, population schedule, Brooklyn, p. 347 (stamped), lines 8-12, household 92, family 92, household of Cameron Taff, 19 October 1850; digital image, Ancestry.com, http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 12 June 2017, citing NARA microfilm publication M432, roll 117.

[5] Elias Howe, Genealogy of the Child, Childs and Childe Family, Of the Past and Present in the United States and the Canadas from 1630 to 1881 (Utica, New York:  Curtis & Childs, 1881), 181.

[6] History of McHenry County, Illinois : together with sketches of its cities, villages and towns : educational, religious, civil, military, and political history : portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens, also a condensed History of Illinois (Chicago: Inter-State Publishing Co., 1885), 601.

Richardson Research Questions

If you follow my blog or have visited my website, a major research focus of mine is my Dad's RICHARDSON family.


I've come up with a series of research questions that I am going to focus on for this family.

1. Who were the parents and siblings of Jonathan (I) Richardson? 
2. Where did the Richardson family live before Leyden, Mass.? 
3. What was the name of Jonathan (I) Richardson’s wife? 
4. What other children did Jonathan (I) Richardson have besides Jonathan, John, Joseph, and Daniel? 
5. Was William Richardson (son of John) born in Ontario Co, New York or in Vermont? 
6. Who were the parents of George O Pierce (grandson of William Richardson, son of John)? 
7. What was the name of the wife of George O Pierce? 
1. Request sent to Onondaga Public Library in Syracuse, NY for NYS Vital Records Index lookup for both marriage record and death record. 
2. Received following citations: 
1. Marriage: George O. PIERCE, m. 9 May, 1885, Venice, #5177 
2. Emailed Venice Town clerk for instructions on how to order copy and costs on 3/30/2017. 
3. Death: Hattie Pierce, d. 1 March, 1897, Canadice, #9088 
8. Who were the neighbors of the Richardsons in Lot 70 of Livonia? 
9. When did John Richardson move to Ontario County? 
10. When did the family of Sarah Richardson and Asa Davis discover and convert to Mormonism? 
11. When did John Richardson and his wife Betsey Phillips die? 
12. Where were Jonathan (II) Richardson and Rhoda Thompson during the 1830 census? 
13. How many children did Jonathan (II) Richardson and Rhoda Thompson have? 
14. Is William Harrison Richardson (b. 1814) son of Joseph Richardson and Abigail Fisk the same William Henry Harrison Richardson that died in Lisbon, Juneau Co, Wisconsin in 1874? (Where were his male children born?) 
15. Did William Ryder Powell and Mary Martin actually marry? Did they divorce? Is William Ryder Powell the father of Mary Martin’s son John Powell? 
1. https://familysearch.org/wiki/en/New_York_Vital_Records#Divorce_Records 
16. Was William Ryder Powell prosecuted for horse stealing in Livingston or Allegany County, New York? 
1. Probably in the Supreme Court of either county. 
2. https://familysearch.org/wiki/en/New_York_Court_Records#Types_of_Criminal_Courts

Richardson Family - General Overview

I'm working on identifying all the descendants of a particular Richardson family that ended up in the Ontario Co, New York area between 1803 and 1810.

Sarah Elizabeth Richardson c.1850? (b. 1832, m. 1866 Elston Hunt)

I'm related to the Richardson family twice over via Sarah Elizabeth (Richardson) Hunt (seen above, before she married), my great-great-great grandmother: her parents were first cousins.

I want to correspond with as many Richardson relatives as possible to try and break down some walls (perhaps not brick, but fairly sturdy). A general outline of the first few generations follows.

1. [--?--] Richardson, who supposedly was killed by Indians during the Revolutionary War, and lived in Vermont.

2. His son, Jonathan (I) Richardson, b. abt 1742 (?), d. bef 1829 in Livonia, Livingston Co, NY. Unknown wife. He moved to Livonia when it was still part of Ontario Co, NY (probably by 1805) and was enumerated there on the census in 1810. He had at least four children:

3a. Jonathan (II) Richardson, b. 26 Nov 1762, m. Rhoda Thompson 24 Apr 1792 in Swanzy, New Hampshire, d. 5 April 1850, Independence, Allegany Co, NY. They had at least 11 children (11 have been positively identified):

    3a1. Sarah Richardson (1793-1857) m. Asa Davis (1787-1872). They became Mormon and moved west. Sarah died in Ohio, Asa in Iowa. (15 children identified!)
    3a2. Rhoda Richardson (1793/4-1869) m. Rowland Powell (abt 1790-1865). They lived and died in Livonia, NY. (Supposedly had 8 children, 5 of whom are identified)
   3a3. Clarissa Richardson (1795-1866) m. Calvin Powell (bro. to Rowland) (1792-1871). They moved from New York to Ohio to Illinois and then to Oregon. (13 children, 12 of whom are identified)
   3a4. Unknown female (b.1795-1800)
   3a5. Jonathan (III) Richardson (1799-1880) m. Miranda/Mianda Moore (1800-1886). They moved to Allegany Co, New York. (Supposedly had 12 children, 10 of whom are identified)
   3a6. Unknown female (b. 1801), possibly named Laura
   3a7. Unknown male (b. 1800-1805), possibly named Alpheus
   3a8. Anna Richardson (1807-1876) [TWIN], m1. Russell Bartholomew (1799-1801) (1 child), m2. Otis Harrington (1802/1804-bet 1880 and 1900) (4 children). Moved from New York to Ohio and then to Michigan with Otis Harrington.
   3a9. Uriah Richardson (1807-1883) [TWIN], m. Orra Burnman (1809-1884). Moved to Ohio and then to Michigan. (10 children identified)
   3a10. Daniel Richardson (1809-1891), m. Cynthia Backus (1812/3-1890). Moved to Michigan. (Four children, three of whom are identified)
   3a11. Philander Richardson (1810/1-1875) [TWIN] m1. Elizabeth [possibly Sanger] (1815-bef 1855), m2. Elizabeth [Unknown] (1800-bef 1865), m3. Achsah Amsden (1837-1912) [as her 1st husband; they were 1st cousins, once removed; she m.2 Seth Rider, bro to her brothers-in-law William Rider and Stephen Rider (see below)]. Lived and died in Livonia. (One child, by Achsah.)
   3a12. Philandra Richardson (1811-?) [TWIN] m1. William Rider (1804/5-bef Jul 1860), m2. Seth Ashley. Moved to Ohio and then to Michigan with 2nd husband. (Six children identified)
   3a13. Unknown female (1813-1872), possibly named Harriet.
   3a14. Unknown female (b.1810-1820, unknown death)
   3a15. Unknown male (b.1810-1820, unknown death)
   3a16. Louisa Richardson (1815-?), m1. Stephen Rider (1812/3-?), m2. Reuben Barnea. Moved to Ohio and then to Michigan. (Five children identified)
   3a17. Marinda Richardson (1818-1897) m. Benjamin Dann (1807-1898). Moved to Michigan with her husband. (Three children identified.)


3b. Joseph Richardson (bet. 1765 and 1784, d. 1813) m. Abigail Fisk (1775-1851). He died in the War of 1812, she died in Mendon, Monroe Co, NY. (8 children, one born after the death of his father.)

   3b1. Joseph Richardson (1796-1868) m. Aurilla Rowley (1796-1878). [Abigail Fisk may not be his mother, it is still under investigation.] They moved to Michigan. (11 children, 8 of whom are identified.)
   3b2. Chester Richardson (1800-1884) m. Clarissa Hincher (1811-1871). They lived in Genesee and Monroe Counties, NY. (9 children, 8 of whom are identified)
   3b3. Rufus Richardson (1801-1873) m. Elizabeth Richardson (1807-1860). [Parents of Sarah Elizabeth, above, they were first cousins. See John Richardson (3c) below]. They lived in Livonia and Mendon, New York. (Four children identified.)
   3b4. Lydia Richardson (1803-1892) m. Eleazer Brooks Amsden (1797-1876). They lived in Mendon, Monroe Co, NY. (10 children, 9 of whom are identified. Parents of Achsah Amsden (see 3a11.))
   3b5. Daniel Richardson (1805-Unknown). Living as of the 1820 census, no record after that.
   3b6. Philinda Richardson (1807-1876) m. Noah Nash (1805/6-1852). Moved to Michigan. (7 children, 5 of whom are identified.)
   3b7. Elsie Richardson (1810-1886) m1. Asa Burton (1802/4-1871), m2. Marvin Burton (1804/5-Unknown). Lived in Mendon, Monroe Co, NY. (9 children identified, all from first marriage.)
   3b8. William Harrison Richardson (William Henry Harrison Richardson) (1814-Unknown). According to family history, moved to Wisconsin. Perhaps is the William Henry Harrison Richardson that married Emily Boynton and lived in Juneau Co, Wisconsin.


3c. John Richardson (bet. 1776 and 1794 - after 1830) m. Betsy Phillips (between 1776 and 1794 - ?). Lived in Canadice, Ontario Co, New York. 4 children, 3 of whom are identified.

    3c1. Unknown male (bet. 1794 and 1804 - ?)
    3c2. William Richardson (1805/7-1877) m. Eunice Winch (1805-1892). Lived in Canadice, Ontario Co, NY.  (11 children, 9 identified.)
    3c3. Elizabeth Richardson (see 3b3.)
    3c4. John Richardson (bet. 1805 and 1810, died as a young man). According to family history, "In school boy play he was pushed against the ever present stump and died from injuries received."


3d. Daniel Richardson (1781-1820) m. Philena Stebbins (1782/3-1850). [She m2. John Backus, father of Cynthia Backus (see 3a10).] They lived in Cornwall, Addison Co, Vermont before moving to Livonia, New York. (7 children identified.)

    3d1. Philinda Richardson (1805-1851) m. Horace Stone (1800-1873). [He m2. Lucetta Ebenriter (1824/5-1870).] They lived in Livonia and Mount Morris, both in Livingston Co, NY. (8 children identified.)
    3d2. Daniel J Richardson (1806-1857) m. Thankful G Camp (1810-1850). They lived in Mount Morris, Livingston Co, NY and in Ontario, Canada [then Canada West]. (2 children, 1 identified).
    3d3. Lydia Richardson (1808-?), appears to have never married.
    3d4. Washington E Richardson (1811-1884), m. Harriet Parker (1815-1885). They lived in Wyoming Co, New York. (2 children identified.)
    3d5. Diadama/Diadamia Richardson (1814/5-bef 1855) m1. Lewis Payne (bet. 1800 and 1810 - bef 1848), m2. Adonijah Fellows (1804-1864) [as his 2nd wife, first wife Polly Fitzgerald (bef 1810-bef 1848)]. Both families lived in Livonia, NY. She had at least three children with Payne and one with Fellows.
    3d6. Joseph B Richardson (1818-1877) m. Jennette Phelps (1819-bef 1900). They lived in Mount Morris, Livingston Co, NY. (At least 6 children.)
    3d7. William Waring Richardson (1820/1-1898) [possibly born after the death of his father] m1. Julia P [--?--] (1830-1860), m2. Sarah A (Walker) Osborne (1833-?) as her 2nd husband. He and his families lived in Livonia (first wife), Canada West (first and second wives), Illinois (no wife), and Indiana (no wife). (3 children identified.)


So in 4 incomplete generations I have lots of descendants already. I haven't quite given up on finding where Jonathan (I) came from, but he is proving somewhat elusive. I hope if i keep putting items out about these Richardsons, someone will find me via Google (or Bing, whatever takes your fancy)! (Not that I don't appreciate those that have already contacted me. I am so excited that I have recently been contacted by descendants of each of these four brothers.)

Bartholomew Genealogy Dance!

So I have been working on trying to prove the name of my Anna (Richardson) Bartholomew Harrington's first husband for over a year - this is in Ohio in 1830.  I had a candidate by census records - Don C. Bartholomew was the only Bartholomew in Mentor Twp, Geauga Co, Ohio in 1830. Anna Bartholomew married her second husband in Mentor Twp in 1832.

Then found a book of newspaper extracts that proved that not only did Don Bartholomew survive his wife (not right for my Anna's second husband), but he also died after Anna had remarried her second husband.  Ok, so not him.


Back to the census drawing board. I came up with another candidate: Russell Bartholomew.  (He was in the 1830 census and not in the 1840 census, and appeared to be the right age.)  Issue - he wasn't in Mentor Twp. To a map! He lived in Concord Twp, which is right next to Mentor Twp in Geauga Co, Ohio.  Less of a issue.  Larger problem: He is a young, newly married man in the 1830 census! His wife remarried in 1832! I posit that they had a child, named David. But none of David's records name his parents. The book of newspaper extracts had an entry for Russell Bartholomew giving his death in January 1831.  This is all leading to Russell looking like a good candidate.

Looking at the 1830 census, I then went to the neighbors.  Russell and his young wife were living next to an older man named Jedediah Bartholomew.  Perhaps Russell's father?  Went looking for family trees online to see if anyone had done anything on the family. Well, a little bit - I found trees but they only had two children.  Then it is time to Google.

I found a post from 2006 on an Ancestry message board about New Jersey Rev. War veterans that mentioned a Bartholomew book from 1885 - "Record of the Bartholomew Family."

And there is Russell, marrying Anna Richardson and having one son, David. And Russell's father is Jedediah.

Of course, there are no sources or citations in this family history. So I still have work to do. Russell and Anna's marriage is not in indexes for Geauga Co, Ohio. It may be that they married in New York before coming to Ohio. (Of course, early New York vital records are fairly scarce.) 

So while I still have work to do, I know have at least one source (however secondary and/or derivative) that confirms my hypothesis that Anna Richardson married, first, Russell Bartholomew, and had one son, David Bartholomew (Civil War veteran). She then married, second, as his third wife, Otis Harrington, and had four more children.

Genealogy happy dance!

Title page of the Record of the Bartholomew Family, published 1885.

Genealogy Pet Peeve

Today's post is brought to you via frustration.  My pet peeve in genealogy is when you find someone that has compiled a tree online (or in a book) and the information gives you a date and a place, but no citation.  Well, citations would be nice, but I should easily be able to find the records, so I go looking for the information in the place the event supposedly took place.

AND I CAN'T FIND A RECORD OF IT HAPPENING IN THAT PLACE!

Sigh.

Like it is not difficult enough to have record losses and non-existant records, now I am chasing records that may exist but I am not sure of the location?! Oiy vey.


(c) Sara Gredler, 2013.

Wilbarger County, Texas - 2 thumbs up for the City Government!

So I am going to be traveling to Wilbarger County, Texas, next week for work (time for more bridge survey). It will be part of a larger trip in west and and northwest Texas. I am not expecting to get a trip up to Wilbarger county any other time. Because of this, I was planning on making a stop at Eastview Cemetery in Vernon, Texas, but I have no idea of where the people were buried. This is the SNOW family, including Stillman B. Snow, from Virginia. His father was Asiel Snow, who came to Pulaski Co, Virginia, from Massachusetts.

So I was looking up the cemetery, found some entries on Find-a-Grave, but no actual plot locations. So in preparation for next week's trip, I faxed the City Hall, which holds the records of the cemetery. I had not expected a fast reply, and included my mailing address, phone number, email, and fax number. Not 20 minutes later I had received a fax and a email from someone in the City Hall in Vernon. This included a letter, the cemetery record for the SNOWs, and a map of the cemetery giving me directions to the location within the cemetery.

The city of Vernon in Wilbarger county is fantastic. I wish I had more people to research there! I hope that I can actually stop in and say thank you. I probably won't get any time to research as the schedule will be tight, but every little bit helps. I have no idea if there will be any headstones there, but at least now I have the cemetery record and can check it out!

Richardson descendants

Look for an updated descendant file/chart to come on this blog shortly. I've gotten a lot more information that that 2010 post reflects.

Genealogy research stepped on toes?

So at this point in time my major research project (for my own ancestors) is the Richardson family that hails from western New York (Ontario/Livingston/Allegany/Monroe counties).  The progenitor of the family is Jonathan (I) Richardson, who appears to have been born c.1743 and died between 1821 and 1829, in Livonia, Livingston Co, New York.

I descend from two of his children: Joseph and John.  John appears to not have had a lot to do with the family that came to Livonia: he moved to the town of Canadice and that is where he raised his family and where his son William raised his family.  However, John's daughter Elizabeth married her first cousin, Rufus Richardson, son of Joseph.

Earlier this week I was searching on the Internet to see if anyone had done research on Joseph's youngest son, William Harrison (William Henry Harrison) Richardson, who was born in Livonia, New York, on 26 January 1814, a little less than a month after his father died in the War of 1812 at the Battle of Black Rock.[1]  A family history written by my great-great grandmother states that he went to Wisconsin.[2]

I had seen family trees for a William Henry Harrison Richardson who married Emily Boynton/Boyington and took a gander at the available records for the family.  I was really beginning to think that I had finally found the missing William HH Richardson. All the census records said that William, his wife Emily, and their first three children, all boys, were born in New York between 1838 and 1844, but gave no specific location.  And as I was looking at trees, I stumbled across one that had a set of parents for William HH Richardson that didn't match my hypothesis of William HH Richardson being Joseph's son. This tree had William living in Essex Co, New York in 1830 and 1840 - a place across the entire state of New York from my Richardsons.

So I wrote the compiler of the tree and asked some questions about why he had concluded that William was part of the Essex Co, NY family group rather than the Monroe Co, NY group. I also had a William Richardson in Monroe Co, NY in the 1840 census that fit the known makeup of the family, and was probably the son of my Joseph. I did get a reply back, which I appreciated, but nothing regarding why the Essex Co, NY group appeared stronger than the Monroe Co, NY group.  So I emailed again, asking very pointed questions.

And then, I started thinking. How would I be able to get at least some idea of where any of these people were born? That would at least give some confirmation of a general location and probably set me on the right path. The middle child, William Henry Harrison Richardson Jr, had served in the Civil War. Perfect! Maybe his enlistment papers would have his birthplace! But, unfortunately, that would mean ordering the file from the National Archives and waiting, and, I'll be honest, paying more money this month on genealogy. So, step two: did WHH Richardson Jr get a pension for his service? Bingo! He died in the war, and his wife got a pension.[3]


Fold3.com image of William H.H. Richardson pension index card

Looking at the index card on Fold3.com, I saw that the pension dated to 1865, just after the end of the war. With such an early pension and a low certificate number, would the pension itself be on Fold3, in the Widow's Pension files currently being digitized?

Bingo again!

Euphemia (Clark) Richardson's complete pension file, dating from 1865 to the 1920s, was online. YAY. But would it have anything in it to suggest a birthplace for William? I was not hopeful - after all, the idea was the prove more about the widow and her connection to the soldier than anything about the soldier himself.

But again, luck struck. A deposition from the county clerk of the county in which William and Euphemia married included all the data included in their marriage record, including the parents' names of both, and the birthplace of William HH Richardson Jr - Greece, New York.[4] And where is Greece? Monroe Co, New York.

Fold3.com image of page 8 of the William H H Richardson widow's pension.

Additional evidence that William HH Richardson of Waukesha Co and Juneau Co, Wisconsin is the same as the William Harrison Richardson, son of Joseph and Abigail, includes the fact that William of Wisconsin named his first son Rufus, a name used throughout multiple branches of Joseph and Abigail's family.

Also, a transcription of the tombstone of William HH Richardson (an image is found online at Find-A-Grave but the age is no longer part of the stone)[4], gives a calculated date of 27 Jan 1810. While the year is not correct, a date being a day off is not that uncommon.

Well, after thinking this through, I re-emailed the person I write previously with this evidence thinking it would help my case. And haven't heard back from him. Oops. I am not trying to step on toes, I am trying to working on this (extremely large) documentation project. I'm pretty sure we are cousins and I'd like to collaborate, but we shall see.


[1] Compiled military service record, Joseph Richardson Jr, Pvt., Capt. Gould Tyler’s Company, Blakeslee’s Regiment, New York Volunteers, War of 1812; Carded Records, Volunteer Organizations, War of 1812; Records of the Adjutant General’s Office, 1780s-1917, Record Group 94, National Archives, Washington, D.C.

[2] Richardson Family History (MS, no date), privately held by Sara Gredler, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Austin, Texas, 2012. Untitled, this handwritten narrative was written by Lillian (Hunt) Shepard, and covers two generations of Richardson descendants.

[3]Organization Index to Pension Files of Veterans Who Served Between 1861 and 1900, compiled 1949 - 1949, documenting the period 1861 - 1942, National Archives series T289, microfilm roll 620, entry for William H H Richardson, digital image, "Civil War and Later Veterans Pension Index," Fold3.com, http://fold3.com :  accessed 16 September 2012.

[4] Deposition of Juneau County, Wisconsin clerk for proof of marriage, 24 May 1865, part of Case Files of Approved Pension Applications of Widows and Other Veterans of the Army and Navy Who Served Mainly in the Civil War and the War With Spain, compiled 1861 - 1934, Application number WC56984, soldier William H H Richardson, widow Euphemia (Clark) Richardson, Company B, 38th Wisconsin Infantry, digital images, Fold3.com, original located at the National Archives, Washington, D.C.

[5] http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~knemeyer/10662.htm

(c) Sara Gredler, 2012.

Research Report - Bartholomew and Harrington in Geauga Co, Ohio

I got inspired by Tonia Kendrick's post about writing your research as you go and just happened to do some actual non-internet research today. (I took an extra vacation day today for a nice long weekend to celebrate my birthday.)

I wrote this in Evernote to keep it easily at hand and have pasted it into Blogger.

Date: 4 September 2012

Project: Descendants of Jonathan Richardson

Current focus: Identity of parents of David Bartholomew

Summary of known information:

     David Bartholomew was born abt.1830 in Ohio. Anna (Richardson) Bartholomew married, in 1832 in Mentor Township, Geauga Co, Ohio, Otis Harrington. I posit that Anna Richardson is the mother of David Bartholomew from her first marriage; David lived in the household of Anna and Otis Harrington in 1860 in Willoughby Township, Lake Co, Ohio.

     No probate under any Bartholomew in the correct time period in Geauga Co, Ohio. No guardianship for David Bartholomew either at the death of his father or at the remarriage of his mother.

     1830 census of Geauga county does include a Don C. Bartholomew that may be the father of David Bartholomew and husband to Anna, but this is conjecture only.

     No land purchases for either a Bartholomew or a Harrington in Geauga Co, Ohio from the BLM database website.

Research Objective: Search the 1830 and 1831 Mentor Township, Geauga Co, Ohio, tax rolls for any mention of Bartholomew or Harrington

Limitations: None

Repositories/Collections Used: Family History Library microfilm 506576 (see Bibliography)

Summary of Findings:

No data to elucidate the relationship between David Bartholomew, Anna (Richardson) Bartholomew Harrington, and Otis Harrington. Need to determine how Otis Harrington received his land by checking deed indexes)

Itemized Findings:

Each entry takes up two pages in the book. Each township includes real and personal property taxes. The first page of the year's book has the tax rates for each township and the township index. I scanned all of Mentor Township for both years. 

1830:

Mentor townships tax rates were 3.5% for state tax, 2.5% for county & school tax, 3% for road tax, and 1% for township tax, for a total of 10%.

No real or personal property tax records for Bartholomew in Mentor Township.

No real property tax records for Otis Harrington in Mentor Township

Under personal property, Otis Harrington was taxed for one "Neat Cattle" valued at 8 dollars. His tax was divided out for each type:

State tax: 2 cents, 8 milles; county tax: 2 cents; road tax: 2 cents, 4 milles; township tax: 8 milles; total tax: 8 cents 

     [1830 Geauga Co, Ohio, Property Tax Records, Mentor Township, personal property entry for "Harrington, Otis," page 11, line 16, FHL microfilm 506576]

[Money note here: mille is the equivalent of 1/1000 of a dollar; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mill_(currency))

Definition of neat cattle: horned oxen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cattle) or just regular cattle (Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (http://machaut.uchicago.edu/?action=search&resource=Webster%27s&word=Neat&quicksearch=on); 1828 edition defines it (at the same page) as cattle of the bovine genus, as bulls, oxen and cows; a single cow).

Value and tax amounts in 2010 money, using the Inflation Calculator (http://www.westegg.com/inflation/infl.cgi): 

$8 in 1830 = $161.55 in 2010. $8 in 2010 = $0.40 in 1830.

$0.08 in 1830 = $1.62 in 2010. You could not buy anything with $0.08 in 2010! 

1831:

Mentor townships tax rates were 3.5% for state tax, 2.5% for county & school tax, 3% for road tax, and 3% for township tax, for a total of 12%, the highest in the county.

No real or personal property tax records for Bartholomew in Mentor Township.

Under real property, Otis Harrington is listed under "Harrington Otis & Augustus". The land is in Range 9, Township 10, location: Russell Lot E, and consists of 101 acres worth $582. His tax was divided out for each type:

State tax: 2 dollars 13 cents 7 milles; county tax: 1 dollar 45 cents 5 milles; road tax: 1 dollar 74 cents 6 milles; township tax: 1 dollar, 74 cents 6 milles; total tax: 6 dollars, 98 cents, and 4 milles

     [1831 Geauga Co, Ohio, Property Tax Records, Mentor Township, real property entry for "Harrington Otis & Augustus," page 5, line 1, FHL microfilm 506576]

Value and tax amounts in 2010 money, using the Inflation Calculator (http://www.westegg.com/inflation/infl.cgi): 

$582 in 1831 = $11752.57 in 2010; $582 in 2010 = $29.28 in 1831

1831 - $6.98.4 = $140.95 - 2010; $6.98.4 in 2010 = $0.35 in 1831

Under personal property, Otis Harrington is listed by himself and is taxed for 3 "neat cattle" valued at 24 dollars. His tax was divided out for each type:

State tax: 8 cents 4 milles; county tax: 6 cents; road tax: 7 cents 2 milles; township tax: 7 cents 2 milles; total tax = 28 cents 8 milles.

      [1831 Geauga Co, Ohio, Property Tax Records, Mentor Township, personal property entry for "Harrington Otis," page 11, line 25, FHL microfilm 506576]

Value and tax amounts in 2010 money, using the Inflation Calculator (http://www.westegg.com/inflation/infl.cgi):

$24 in 1831 = $484.64 in 2010; $24 in 2010 = $1.21 in 1831

$0.28.8 in 1831 = $5.65 in 2010. You might have been able to buy a gum ball from a machine with 28 cents in 2010.

Next Steps:

Current focus:

Check earlier tax records in Mentor township, specifically 1825-1829 (different microfilm rolls) for Bartholomews.

Check later tax records in Mentor township, specifically 1832-1840 (when Lake county was created from land in Geauga county) for Otis Harrington.

Check grantee/grantor index for Otis Harrington and Augustus Harrington.

Current project:

Review database for any other townships that need to be checked for related families (Rider in particular) and scan from current microfilm.

Bibliography:

Ohio, Geauga County. Tax Books, 1830 and 1831. Ohio Historical Society, Columbus, Ohio. FHL microfilm 506576. Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah. 

Friedman, S. Morgan. The Inflation Calculator. 2010. http://www.westegg.com/inflation/ : accessed 4 September 2012.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1828 edition, "Neat," The ARTFL Project, Chicago, Ill.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition, "Neat," The ARTFL Project, Chicago, Ill.

Wikipedia (http://www.wikipedia.com), “Mill (currency),” rev. 23 August 2012. 

Wikipedia (http://www.wikipedia.com), “Cattle,” rev. 1 September 2012. 

Richardson conundrum

So I ordered (via fax) copies of the documentation for Jonathan Richardson Sr (the progenitor in Livonia, New York) from the DAR last week and they came on Monday.

I was excited to see that they had included documentation of later generations that I didn't expect.  Also, copies of four deeds from Franklin Co, Massachusetts (at the time of their creation, the land was in Hampshire County).  These four deeds appear to fit with the fact that a Jonathan Richardson (occasionally identified as a "Jr") sold land in Leyden, Massachusetts, around the time that the Jonathan Richardson family appears to move from Massachusetts/New Hampshire/Vermont/eastern New York, and appear in Livonia.

However, it also brought up more issues.  The documentation include a circa birth date (c.1742) and a place (Brattleboro, Windham Co, Vermont, which I *guess* could be correct, considering that Brattleboro was the first Vermont settlement [1]), as well as a wife's name: "Hannah Warren."

WHERE DID THIS NAME COME FROM?

I have not seen "Hannah Warren" on any document; I have not seen the name Hannah; I have not even seen a name for a wife of Jonathan Richardson Sr.  I know he had one - men obviously can't give birth - but her identity is a mystery to me.

Of the aforementioned Hampshire County deeds (now Franklin), there are two where Jonathan buys land, one in 1794 and one in 1796, and two where he sells the land - both in 1804.  (I plan to fully transcribe and post these later.)  The two where he sells land do not include a wife renouncing her right to dower (for a great post on dower, see The Legal Genealogist for an example in Michigan; the comments discuss Massachusetts not having repealed the right of dower until 2008, to take effect in 2011[2]).  So now I am really at a conundrum.  Is this "my" Jonathan?  Is it his son, Jonathan Jr?  Where is the wife that should be there, if, as I hypothesize, this is "my" Jonathan Sr?  Jonathan Jr was already married in 1804 so if it was him, his wife Rhoda should have signed away her right to dower.  I was under the impression via the 1810 census that she had moved to Livonia with the family, but maybe I am operating under a false assumption.  That could be a sister or sister-in-law rather than a wife.

The other choice is that the researcher did not think those pages important, and so did not copy them and include them in the DAR application!  But now at least I know that there is something there.

But I am still at an impasse as to connecting these two men as one person, and if either of them are really the man that supposedly served in the Revolutionary War.

*spin, spin, spin* These guys give me hurt-y brain.  On the plus side, at least I know that I am not the only one - I just got an email from a distant cousin that explained that she stopped work on this line because they made her crazy.

(I am tempted to put a LOLcat here, but I will deny myself the pleasure of silly cat photos.)


[1] Wikipedia (www.wikipedia.com), "Brattleboro, Vermont," rev. 17 June 2012.

[2] Judy Russell (The Legal Genealogist, legalgenealogist.com), "Reversion of Dower," 17 April 2012.

Writing up your genealogical argument...and the Jamboree

At this point, all I am doing to prep for the next Richardson post on the blog is setting up all the documentation that I have pulled together.  Some analysis is included, and some of the documents are rather straightforward.  Right now I am just working on, essentially, bullet points.

BUT! It certainly makes you get all your ducks in a row.  Some of my citations I have had in my genealogical software forever, which makes it really easy to drag them into the word processing document I am writing up.  Some documentation has been in my possession since I started my genealogical journey, and I have never written the source citation for them, and the data they contain has never been entered into my database.  With some data I assumed things that I then needed to double-check, and I learned something new.  (For example, a Leyden, New York comes up in Wikipedia search, but does not come up using Rootsweb's Town and County database.)

I have spent today working on these posts and watching live web casts of sessions at the Southern California Genealogical Jamboree.  I am so lucky that I got to view some of these programs, and for those that were not live streamed, I can view some of the syllabi via the Jamboree iPhone app.  I wish more had been streamed, but I will take what I can get.  Though apparently an 8:30 am session is early no matter the timezone: I was super mad at myself for missing Mr. Bittner's Complex Evidence talk this morning!

< smacks hand >

Though I will say that the soundtrack for Snow White and the Huntsman composed by James Newton Howard has been great blog-post writing music.

(c) Sara Gredler, 2012

Current research projects

Current research projects in progress:

• Descendants of Jonathan Richardson, progenitor of large family that began in western New York (Ontario, Livingston, and Allegany Counties).  His wife may have been Hannah Warren.  The family may have been from Leyden, Massachusetts.  I follow everyone, including daughters and their descendants with new surnames.
• Currently working on a branch of the family, the Worthly family, that lived in Biddeford, Maine.  A daughter married a man by the last name of Caouette, a descendant of French Canadians.  So I am trying to "learn" enough French to read census records and Drouin collection records.
• Descendants of Patrick Mahan and his wife Nancy Laughlin.  They immigrated to Philadelphia, PA in July 1819 (naturalization application of Patrick Mahan) from northern Ireland (Patrick was from County Donegal and Nancy from County Tyrone).  They moved to Indiana Co, Pennsylvania and were there by the time the census was taken in 1820.  I have a list of documents to request from the county to try to suss out *exactly* in either county either of them were from.  Both were Presbyterians.
• Ancestors and descendants of Asiel Snow, from Pulaski Co, Virginia.  His first wife, Mary Bullard,  is distantly related, by marriage, through another family I am researching, the Forbushes.  It is possible that Asiel Snow is also related to me through the SNOW family (possibly one of the SNOWs that are descendants of Nicholas Snow and Constance Hopkins, Mayflower passenger).
• Looking for the death of Asiel's son Stillman Bullard Snow, almost certainly in Texas.  An online family tree states that he died in Vernon, Wilbarger Co, Texas, around 1898.  Even living in Texas, I am so far away from Vernon that if there is a tombstone I can't get there any time soon, and I have no idea which cemetery he might be in.  He may be buried in Eastview Memorial Park in Vernon.
• Asiel's parents were Stephen Snow and Lydia Woodward.  Stephen Snow's parents appear to be Reuben Snow and Mercy Sears.  Mercy's parents appear to be Roland Sears and Mary Freeman.  If not connected to Asiel through the Snow family, then I will almost certainly be connected to him through the Sears/Freeman connection.
• Looking at the connections between the MOONEY and NORTON families in Rochester, New York.  Both Irish Catholic families, Ann Norton married Peter Mooney, had three children, and when both parents died, Ann Norton's brother Patrick Norton became their guardian.  Ann Norton and a brother, John Norton, worked at a hotel in Rochester.  Ann Norton almost certainly met her husband at her job and married around 1865.
• Ann's brother, Michael, may have served in the Civil War.
• Still looking for Michael Norton, John Norton, and Michael Norton's soon to be wife Helena Sullivan in the 1865 New York State census on FamilySearch.org
• Crossing my fingers that the 1855 New York State census will come online soon.
• Working on a "client" project for a friend to start prep for working on a professional genealogy portfolio.
• Working on an article for our local genealogical society's quarterly publication on the ELLIS family of England, Canada, and western New York.
• Cleaning out my Ancestry.com shoebox - which has over 4,000 documents in it.
• Cleaning out my data folder, with innumerable amounts of data in it that is waiting for data entry into my genealogy program.

Whooo.  That is a lot of stuff.  Plus trying to keep up with the blogs and actually that crazy thing called WORK.  Dang that real life and bills.