I'm still on a bit of a hiatus due to my computer being out of commission, but of course I never quit researching. And today I did the genealogy happy dance, clapped my hands, and shouted "Yes! Yes!", because I finally have concrete proof to add to some great circumstantial evidence in one of my lines!
First, some background can be found in two of my previous posts entitled Climbing the colonial branches and A Meeker Summary and Searching for a Breakthrough . Specifically, my starting point ancestor is the mother of my 2x great grandmother, Frances Maybelle Meeker. Her name was Sophronia Duram, and my connecting her to Joseph W. Duram of Waterloo, Seneca County, NY and his wife Minerva was discussed in my Meeker post. I also mentioned in that post that I believed that Minerva was Minerva Higley, daughter of Seth Higley and Lucy Herod. I arrived at that conclusion from some documents that linked the Duram family to the Higleys. A book entitled "The Higleys and their Ancestry: An old colonial family" described Minerva as "Mrs. Minerva Durham" and noted that she moved to Waterloo and that her mother moved with her. A Lucy Higley is buried in the Stark Street Cemetery near Waterloo, as is a Minerva, wife of J.W. Duram. The aforementioned book also listed her husband as Joseph Durham. A genealogy article published on auburnpub.com stated, "Thomas' son, Archibald, purchased land near the canal in 1822
from Joseph Durham (spelled Duram on the deed) and his wife Minerva
Higley, another daughter of Seth Higley." My final strong evidence was that in Seth Higley's pension application documents (Minerva's father), Philander Duram (brother of Joseph) noted that he had attended Lucy Higley's funeral and gone with his brother, her son-in-law, to purchase a headstone for her.
While concrete evidence of Sophronia being the daughter of Joseph and Minerva is my ultimate goal, I did score a victory today in proving that Minerva was, in fact, the daughter of Seth Higley, a patriot of the Revolutionary War, and that she was married to Joseph W. Duram of the Scots-Irish Durams. I decided to pop onto FamilySearch and check out their New York Probate Records. Unfortunately these records haven't been indexed, so the microfilm images must be browsed. I had previously checked Seneca County for the Durams and Higleys with no luck. Today, I decided to check Cayuga County, as the two families had previously resided in the town of Mentz.
I found a slew of Higleys in the general index. Cayuga County has a large collection of estate papers in different "boxes", and the general index notes the box containing the named person's estate papers. Seth Higley was in box 7. Unlike various record books, the boxes of estate paper packets did not have page numbers, so it was up to me to sift through every image.
And 1,069 images later, I found what I was looking for. Included in Seth's packet were the orders for different next of kin to appear in the court when his will was presented. It was in this list of kin, in a legal document, that I excitedly saw Minerva Duram mentioned specifically as a daughter of Seth Higley and wife of Joseph W. Duram. I am completely convinced that Joseph W. Duram and Minerva Higley are the couple I have been researching, and my additional research up the Higley line has not been an exercise in futility.
Another exciting item was the mention of Sylvia Duram, wife of Tolford Duram Junior. Tolford was the brother of Joseph, and moved with him to Michigan in the early 1850s. Sylvia lived to the age of 103, dying in 1900. This meant her death certificate was available on the Seeking Michigan website. Her parents were listed as Benjamin Collins and Sylvia Higley. Sylvia was a daughter of Seth, and it appears she had died before her father, hence Sylvia Collins Duram being listed as a next of kin. Not only did this give me the connection between Sylvia Collins Duram and the Higleys, which I had been wondering about, but it also gave the exciting name of Tolford Duram Junior. This indicated that his father, too, was named Tolford Duram. I mentioned my attempts to connect the Tolford and Elizabeth Duram buried in Stark Street Cemetery with my other Waterloo Durams in my Colonial post. Yet another piece of evidence that is leading me to believe that this Tolford and Elizabeth are the parents of the Waterloo Durams.
So, there you have it. Concrete proof that Joseph W. Duram and Minerva Higley were married, and more evidence that Tolford and Elizabeth Duram are good contenders for the parents of the Duram boys of Waterloo.
Showing posts with label Higley. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Higley. Show all posts
02 October 2013
21 August 2013
Random Person of the Day - Lany L. Duram
Lany was the daughter of my 4x great grandparents, Joseph W. Duram and Minerva Higley of Waterloo, Seneca, New York. All I know of her is from her headstone transcription at the Stark Street Cemetery in Waterloo.
Lany was born in 1823 and died on the 2nd of June 1837 and is buried in Waterloo. Her parents were J.W. and Minerva Duram, according to her headstone. She was only age 14 years.
The Stark Street cemetery contains the headstones of three of Joseph and Minerva's children. In addition to Lany, David N. died in April of 1839 at age 19, and Nancy A. Hamell died on 11 October 1840, age 19 years 10 months. I'm not aware if there was some sort of sickness going around during these years, but the 1837-1840 time range must have been extremely painful for the Duram family. My 3x great grandmother, Sophronia, would have been ages 11-14 during these years.
Some more information about the Durams can be found in my Climbing the colonial branches post.
Lany was born in 1823 and died on the 2nd of June 1837 and is buried in Waterloo. Her parents were J.W. and Minerva Duram, according to her headstone. She was only age 14 years.
The Stark Street cemetery contains the headstones of three of Joseph and Minerva's children. In addition to Lany, David N. died in April of 1839 at age 19, and Nancy A. Hamell died on 11 October 1840, age 19 years 10 months. I'm not aware if there was some sort of sickness going around during these years, but the 1837-1840 time range must have been extremely painful for the Duram family. My 3x great grandmother, Sophronia, would have been ages 11-14 during these years.
Some more information about the Durams can be found in my Climbing the colonial branches post.
20 June 2013
Random Person of the Day - Hannah Drake
Today's random person I don't have much information about. She was the first wife of my ancestor Captain John Higley, a colonial immigrant from England. According to the Simsbury Historical Society, John Higley was an indentured servant to Hannah's father John Drake. From these humble beginnings, John Higley became quite successful and married the daughter of the family he had served.
All I have on Hannah is a note of their marriage, on 9 Nov 1671 in Windsor, CT. She is said to have been born in 1653 and died in 1739. The majority of John's children appear to be born to her, but I am descended from his second wife, Sarah Bissell nee Strong.
All I have on Hannah is a note of their marriage, on 9 Nov 1671 in Windsor, CT. She is said to have been born in 1653 and died in 1739. The majority of John's children appear to be born to her, but I am descended from his second wife, Sarah Bissell nee Strong.
12 June 2013
Climbing the colonial branches
Though I planned to begin beefing up my existing tree with additional records and sibling tracking, the lure of new discoveries has pushed me back into examining my colonial line.
I consider my colonial line to be that of the Durams, as my other branches back into the 1700s and 1600s are all back in the "old country", whereas my Durams are the only family branch I have proven to be in the US during this period. I've discussed this family briefly in my Meeker post and a quick mention of the Higleys.
The Duram side, from some contact I've had with researchers, is Scots-Irish. They moved from Scotland to the Derry area of Northern Ireland (Ulster Scots), then on to New Hampshire (Londonderry), spreading out into Maine (Belfast) and New York. I find my Durams in Waterloo, Seneca County, NY in the 1850 census, with Horace and Sophronia Meeker nee Duram living with her father Joseph W. Joseph appears to have at least two other brothers, Philander and Tolford, living near him as well. There is a potential fourth brother, Philo, living in the area. Philander and Tolford also moved to Ottawa County, Michigan in the early 1850s with Joseph. Philander is a witness to his brother Joseph's arrangements for his mother-in-law Lucy Higley's (nee Herod) death in the pension application for father-in-law Seth Higley, a Revolutionary War patriot. Joseph's wife Minerva Higley was buried in nearby Stark Street cemetery, along with three of their children. Also buried there is a Tolford and Elizabeth Duram. I am currently working on connecting this couple with the Duram brothers of Waterloo.
I find Joseph Duram in Waterloo in the 1840 census. Philander has an older couple living with him this year. Could they be Tolford and Elizabeth, his parents? In 1830, the Durams were living in Mentz, Cayuga County, NY. The Tolford Duram living there may be the elder Duram judging by the ages given in the census. In 1820 the Durams are still in Mentz. Joseph W. appears to be starting his young family, and the other Duram head of household is Tolford. Again, this may be the elder Tolford. Finally, in 1810, I find a Tolford Duram living in German, Chenango County, NY. I need to compare the ages and genders of the people in this household to what would make sense for a Duram family with Tolford and Elizabeth as the parents. There is also a Tolford Duram living in Belfast, Maine at this time. I believe this is a different Tolford, though I have seen trees connect the Durams of Waterloo as children of this Tolford. I believe this to be an erroneous connection. I can't find my Tolford in 1800. Again, there is a Tolford Duram in Belfast in 1800, but I do not believe him to be the same as my Tolford. I can again find no obvious Duram connections in the 1790 census.
My final piece of Duram evidence on this trail is a marriage record I found for Aug of 1797 in New Hampshire with Tolford Duram marrying Betsy Usher. I'd like to see if I can connect this couple with Tolford and Elizabeth Duram of Waterloo. It seems a good lead as Tolford Duram is a common name only in the Scots-Irish Duram family that first settled in Londonderry, NH. My evidence suggests Joseph W. as the oldest child, and he was born in Aug 1798. If he is indeed the oldest child, the Tolford Duram and Betsy Usher wedding date is in a very favorable time frame.
The Durams are a bit more work for me, as my particular Waterloo branch isn't very well researched, and the connections I made in the past have not delivered the information they had planned to give me. The Higleys are a very well researched and documented line, except for my immediate connection of Sophronia as the daughter of Minerva Higley. But I feel sound in that connection, so the rest of the Higley line is, initially, a matter of documenting the existing records.
Many well-known colonial branches go into the Higley family. Seth Higley was a patriot of the Revolutionary War, and I have over 80 pages to go through in his pension application packet. His father, Solomon, was born in Simsbury CT, where the Higley family was well established. I follow his line up Nathaniel Higley to Captain John Higley, who arrive in the US as an indentured servant and worked his way to freedom. An image of Captain John Higley's gravestone from 1714 is available here. I had been hoping for a colonial connection, including a link to the Revolutionary War and some interesting colonial headstones, and I'm fortunate that one exists.
Nathaniel was the son of John and his second wife, Sarah Bissell nee Strong. She was the granddaughter of Elder John Strong, a leader of the church. The Strong family had a notable presence in the colonial US. Unfortunately for my tree, Nathaniel's wife Abigail Filer was also a descendant of Elder John Strong. Nathaniel's grandfather Return Strong was brother to Abigail's grandmother Experience Strong, making the two second cousins. While my Routledge family branch may consist almost entirely of the Routledge surname, I haven't actually found a common ancestor yet, so this is my first inbred line. Sigh.
On the plus side, Abigail Filer was the granddaughter of one of my top genealogy names, Zerubbabel Filer. There is also a colonial Phelps line to document, along with Seth Higley's mother's Holcombe line, which connects to many notable figures including Thomas Gardner, considered by some to be the first governor of Massachusetts because he had authority over the Masschusetts Bay Colony. There's even a Wikipedia article about him.
As you can see, unearthing the story of my colonial line is a tad more exciting to me than beefing up some existing branches. But...that will need to be done in its own good time too.
I consider my colonial line to be that of the Durams, as my other branches back into the 1700s and 1600s are all back in the "old country", whereas my Durams are the only family branch I have proven to be in the US during this period. I've discussed this family briefly in my Meeker post and a quick mention of the Higleys.
The Duram side, from some contact I've had with researchers, is Scots-Irish. They moved from Scotland to the Derry area of Northern Ireland (Ulster Scots), then on to New Hampshire (Londonderry), spreading out into Maine (Belfast) and New York. I find my Durams in Waterloo, Seneca County, NY in the 1850 census, with Horace and Sophronia Meeker nee Duram living with her father Joseph W. Joseph appears to have at least two other brothers, Philander and Tolford, living near him as well. There is a potential fourth brother, Philo, living in the area. Philander and Tolford also moved to Ottawa County, Michigan in the early 1850s with Joseph. Philander is a witness to his brother Joseph's arrangements for his mother-in-law Lucy Higley's (nee Herod) death in the pension application for father-in-law Seth Higley, a Revolutionary War patriot. Joseph's wife Minerva Higley was buried in nearby Stark Street cemetery, along with three of their children. Also buried there is a Tolford and Elizabeth Duram. I am currently working on connecting this couple with the Duram brothers of Waterloo.
I find Joseph Duram in Waterloo in the 1840 census. Philander has an older couple living with him this year. Could they be Tolford and Elizabeth, his parents? In 1830, the Durams were living in Mentz, Cayuga County, NY. The Tolford Duram living there may be the elder Duram judging by the ages given in the census. In 1820 the Durams are still in Mentz. Joseph W. appears to be starting his young family, and the other Duram head of household is Tolford. Again, this may be the elder Tolford. Finally, in 1810, I find a Tolford Duram living in German, Chenango County, NY. I need to compare the ages and genders of the people in this household to what would make sense for a Duram family with Tolford and Elizabeth as the parents. There is also a Tolford Duram living in Belfast, Maine at this time. I believe this is a different Tolford, though I have seen trees connect the Durams of Waterloo as children of this Tolford. I believe this to be an erroneous connection. I can't find my Tolford in 1800. Again, there is a Tolford Duram in Belfast in 1800, but I do not believe him to be the same as my Tolford. I can again find no obvious Duram connections in the 1790 census.
My final piece of Duram evidence on this trail is a marriage record I found for Aug of 1797 in New Hampshire with Tolford Duram marrying Betsy Usher. I'd like to see if I can connect this couple with Tolford and Elizabeth Duram of Waterloo. It seems a good lead as Tolford Duram is a common name only in the Scots-Irish Duram family that first settled in Londonderry, NH. My evidence suggests Joseph W. as the oldest child, and he was born in Aug 1798. If he is indeed the oldest child, the Tolford Duram and Betsy Usher wedding date is in a very favorable time frame.
The Durams are a bit more work for me, as my particular Waterloo branch isn't very well researched, and the connections I made in the past have not delivered the information they had planned to give me. The Higleys are a very well researched and documented line, except for my immediate connection of Sophronia as the daughter of Minerva Higley. But I feel sound in that connection, so the rest of the Higley line is, initially, a matter of documenting the existing records.
Many well-known colonial branches go into the Higley family. Seth Higley was a patriot of the Revolutionary War, and I have over 80 pages to go through in his pension application packet. His father, Solomon, was born in Simsbury CT, where the Higley family was well established. I follow his line up Nathaniel Higley to Captain John Higley, who arrive in the US as an indentured servant and worked his way to freedom. An image of Captain John Higley's gravestone from 1714 is available here. I had been hoping for a colonial connection, including a link to the Revolutionary War and some interesting colonial headstones, and I'm fortunate that one exists.
Nathaniel was the son of John and his second wife, Sarah Bissell nee Strong. She was the granddaughter of Elder John Strong, a leader of the church. The Strong family had a notable presence in the colonial US. Unfortunately for my tree, Nathaniel's wife Abigail Filer was also a descendant of Elder John Strong. Nathaniel's grandfather Return Strong was brother to Abigail's grandmother Experience Strong, making the two second cousins. While my Routledge family branch may consist almost entirely of the Routledge surname, I haven't actually found a common ancestor yet, so this is my first inbred line. Sigh.
On the plus side, Abigail Filer was the granddaughter of one of my top genealogy names, Zerubbabel Filer. There is also a colonial Phelps line to document, along with Seth Higley's mother's Holcombe line, which connects to many notable figures including Thomas Gardner, considered by some to be the first governor of Massachusetts because he had authority over the Masschusetts Bay Colony. There's even a Wikipedia article about him.
As you can see, unearthing the story of my colonial line is a tad more exciting to me than beefing up some existing branches. But...that will need to be done in its own good time too.
24 April 2013
Oh, you Tomlinsons...
Life has gotten in the way of genealogy research this year, though I have kept up with my DNA connections and other cousins. I've also been working on documenting my colonial Higley family, which I mentioned in my Meeker post a while back.
It's easy to deal with facts and numbers several generations back, even documenting sad events like my Ogram ancestors who were so poor that their church parish in Yorkshire, England scraped together a few pounds to pay to ship them oversees to Canada to give them a chance to pull themselves out of poverty, or my poor ancestor Thaddeus Martin, who died at the county poor farm where his poverty-stricken family was forced to leave him as he was "insane". Or brave Seth Higley, who had fought for freedom for the colonies in the Revolutionary War, but died with only a few sheep, a pot, and a spoon to his name, desperately needing a veteran pension from the young US government to sustain himself.
Though sad, these facts surrounding distance ancestors are interesting to unearth and make me proud of my heritage, like the success of the Ogram family in Ontario. However, the passing of my grandfather a week and a half ago gives a new perspective to the art of family history. Entering his date of death into my database was surreal. He was one of my biggest inspirations to pursue this research, my interest in family history definitely inspired by tales of his childhood. He was always talking about his mother's family, the Tomlinsons. I am very happy and thankful for all the new information I was able to share with him, and all the stories I was able to record before we lost him.
One of the last family secrets I was able to share with him was the following Tomlinson tale. His grandparents were Laurence Tomlinson of Caro, MI and Rachel Brown of Ontario, near Kitchener. We had always heard the family history of how she was brought from Ontario to Caro to keep house for Laurence's father, William Tomlinson. Laurence married his father's housekeeper when he was just 18, and she was 30. Her first child, Eva, was an eight month baby. I had pictured the teenaged Laurence chasing the housekeeper around until he was finally old enough to take the plunge into marriage (or, perhaps, because he had gotten her pregnant). They went on to have 3 more children, one of whom, Clifford, had died at age 1. Then their fifth child was born in 1909, but both Rachel and the baby died during the birth.
Note on photos: I don't mind if you wish to save a copy of the photos on this blog, but as most of them are original scans of personal family photos I would appreciate if you credited the source.
This was the story that had been passed down through the family and was supported by records. Then one day, I had been conversing with a Brown family researcher from Saskatchewan and he asked about someone named "Emerson Brown". Emerson was supposed to be the illegitimate child of Rachel, and it was assumed of Laurence as well. He could be found living with Susannah Ogram Brown, Rachel's mother, in the 1901 Canadian census. However, Laurence would've been only 13ish at the time of Emerson's birth in 1893/1894. Also, Emerson was born in Ontario, and Laurence had been born in the US, with no hint of ever returning to live in Canada, where his father was from. It made no sense that he would've impregnated Rachel, then the two make the trip back to Canada for Emerson's birth.
I asked my grandfather, and he had never heard of an Emerson. Of course, babies born out of wedlock were very taboo at that time, so it's no surprise that it would've been kept a secret. Emerson himself, I was told, was very ashamed of it, and the news only got out as a deathbed confession. After some searching, I found an Emerson Brown, born to Robert and Mary Brown in Ontario, with the same birth date as Emerson's 1901 census record. Bingo, I thought. Emerson was actually the child of Rachel's brother, Robert.
Again, or so I thought. I had responded a few month's previously to an inquiry on the Genforum message boards from someone who had descended from Laurence and Rachel. Because my great grandmother had only given birth to my grandfather, and Eva never had children, he must be a descendant of Laurence's son, William Tomlinson. Wrong. Here was Emerson's grandson, sharing the deathbed confession that led me to believe, again, that Emerson must have been Rachel's first child.
I shared this again with my grandfather and aunts. There was laughter and comments about "those Tomlinsons". Although no one had heard of Emerson, no doubt the Tomlinson family was known to be, for lack of a better description, slightly wild.
My current working theory is that Emerson was the son of Rachel and William Tomlinson, father of Laurence. However, Rachel's lone U.S. census record indicates she came to Michigan after Emerson's birth. Whether this is actually true or not, I'm not sure. I'd like to find some border crossing records to see if there is any indication of when Rachel actually came to live with the Tomlinson family. Or, if there is some indication of any Tomlinsons returning to Canada around the time Emerson was conceived.
It's sad that societal pressures resulted in such a painful secret for Emerson, when really he and his family should have felt welcome in the Tomlinson family. I've enjoyed connecting with yet another cousin, though, and here's hoping we'll be able to solve the mystery.
It's easy to deal with facts and numbers several generations back, even documenting sad events like my Ogram ancestors who were so poor that their church parish in Yorkshire, England scraped together a few pounds to pay to ship them oversees to Canada to give them a chance to pull themselves out of poverty, or my poor ancestor Thaddeus Martin, who died at the county poor farm where his poverty-stricken family was forced to leave him as he was "insane". Or brave Seth Higley, who had fought for freedom for the colonies in the Revolutionary War, but died with only a few sheep, a pot, and a spoon to his name, desperately needing a veteran pension from the young US government to sustain himself.
Though sad, these facts surrounding distance ancestors are interesting to unearth and make me proud of my heritage, like the success of the Ogram family in Ontario. However, the passing of my grandfather a week and a half ago gives a new perspective to the art of family history. Entering his date of death into my database was surreal. He was one of my biggest inspirations to pursue this research, my interest in family history definitely inspired by tales of his childhood. He was always talking about his mother's family, the Tomlinsons. I am very happy and thankful for all the new information I was able to share with him, and all the stories I was able to record before we lost him.
One of the last family secrets I was able to share with him was the following Tomlinson tale. His grandparents were Laurence Tomlinson of Caro, MI and Rachel Brown of Ontario, near Kitchener. We had always heard the family history of how she was brought from Ontario to Caro to keep house for Laurence's father, William Tomlinson. Laurence married his father's housekeeper when he was just 18, and she was 30. Her first child, Eva, was an eight month baby. I had pictured the teenaged Laurence chasing the housekeeper around until he was finally old enough to take the plunge into marriage (or, perhaps, because he had gotten her pregnant). They went on to have 3 more children, one of whom, Clifford, had died at age 1. Then their fifth child was born in 1909, but both Rachel and the baby died during the birth.
Note on photos: I don't mind if you wish to save a copy of the photos on this blog, but as most of them are original scans of personal family photos I would appreciate if you credited the source.
Rachel Brown Tomlinson
This was the story that had been passed down through the family and was supported by records. Then one day, I had been conversing with a Brown family researcher from Saskatchewan and he asked about someone named "Emerson Brown". Emerson was supposed to be the illegitimate child of Rachel, and it was assumed of Laurence as well. He could be found living with Susannah Ogram Brown, Rachel's mother, in the 1901 Canadian census. However, Laurence would've been only 13ish at the time of Emerson's birth in 1893/1894. Also, Emerson was born in Ontario, and Laurence had been born in the US, with no hint of ever returning to live in Canada, where his father was from. It made no sense that he would've impregnated Rachel, then the two make the trip back to Canada for Emerson's birth.
I asked my grandfather, and he had never heard of an Emerson. Of course, babies born out of wedlock were very taboo at that time, so it's no surprise that it would've been kept a secret. Emerson himself, I was told, was very ashamed of it, and the news only got out as a deathbed confession. After some searching, I found an Emerson Brown, born to Robert and Mary Brown in Ontario, with the same birth date as Emerson's 1901 census record. Bingo, I thought. Emerson was actually the child of Rachel's brother, Robert.
Again, or so I thought. I had responded a few month's previously to an inquiry on the Genforum message boards from someone who had descended from Laurence and Rachel. Because my great grandmother had only given birth to my grandfather, and Eva never had children, he must be a descendant of Laurence's son, William Tomlinson. Wrong. Here was Emerson's grandson, sharing the deathbed confession that led me to believe, again, that Emerson must have been Rachel's first child.
I shared this again with my grandfather and aunts. There was laughter and comments about "those Tomlinsons". Although no one had heard of Emerson, no doubt the Tomlinson family was known to be, for lack of a better description, slightly wild.
My current working theory is that Emerson was the son of Rachel and William Tomlinson, father of Laurence. However, Rachel's lone U.S. census record indicates she came to Michigan after Emerson's birth. Whether this is actually true or not, I'm not sure. I'd like to find some border crossing records to see if there is any indication of when Rachel actually came to live with the Tomlinson family. Or, if there is some indication of any Tomlinsons returning to Canada around the time Emerson was conceived.
It's sad that societal pressures resulted in such a painful secret for Emerson, when really he and his family should have felt welcome in the Tomlinson family. I've enjoyed connecting with yet another cousin, though, and here's hoping we'll be able to solve the mystery.
24 November 2012
A Meeker Summary and Searching for a Breakthrough
The Meeker line has always been tough to follow. I started out knowing the name Frances Maybelle Meeker, my 2x great grandmother, from my Grandma Smith's family Bible. We also had a couple pictures of Grandma Meeker. Another photo, addressed to one of her children, was captioned to be from "Uncle Frank Meeker". Presumably, this was her brother.
I was able to find Frances (who often went by Maybelle or Belle) in the 1870 census living with a brother, Thomas F., a younger half-sister Nancy van Rheeden, and parents Sophronia and William van Rheeden. They were in Polkton Twp, Mich (or Coopersville), and the Meeker children were born in Michigan. An internet search revealed transcripts of emails stating that her obituary (she died in 1939) did not list her parents and stated she was born in Coopersville on 4 July 1856. The same site stated her death certificate gave parents Mr. Meeker and Sophronia Durand (click here to access).
The first step was to follow the family members. It appears the entire family settled in Wexford Co. Sophronia died in 1900, so her death certificate was available on the seekingmichigan.org website. Here her parents were listed as Joseph Durham and Minerva Collins. So we had two potential maiden names for Sophronia: Durand and Durham.
Her brother, Thomas, disappeared after his 1881 marriage in Cadillac to a Rachel Felton. Before this, in 1880 he is likely in the census at Haring (Wexford Co.) working in a logging camp. The only other document related to Thomas that I have found, aside from his 1860/1870 census listing with his family, was his listing as living at the Ottawa County Poor Farm from 11 Dec 1867 to 6 Feb 1868. The only note with this listing is that he ran away on 6 Feb, along with "Good By Tom". He was listed with his family in 1870, so it's hard to say what he was doing at the poor farm. It could be his family was having trouble providing for him, or he had gotten into some kind of trouble.
After 1880, Frank Meeker begins appearing in documents. I could find no trace of him before his marriage to Linda Elsworth on 3 Mar 1887 in Cadillac. He was married again in 1897 in Hamilton Mich to Theresa Cole, with whom and where he was living at the 1900 census. I found Linda Meeker in Cadillac in the 1900 census, so I assume they were divorced sometime in the ten years between his marriages. The only other document I have for Frank Meeker is his death certificate. He died at the state hospital of senile insanity, which makes me wonder if he was stricken with Alzheimer's or dementia. Though he was never living with the van Rheeden family in 1860 or 1870, he is most likely a Meeker sibling. His second marriage record listed his parents as Horace Meeker and Sophronia Dunman/Durman, and his death certificate listed his parents as Horace Meeker and S. Van Raider/Raiden. Not a terribly common combination of names, plus I had the "Uncle Frank Meeker" photograph. These records gave him a range of possible birth years of 1840-1853, compared to Thomas born 1855 and Frances born 1856.
So I had parent names of Horace Meeker and Sophronia Durham/Durand/Durman, a missing sibling Thomas, and a magically appearing sibling Frank. Horace was out of the picture sometime between 1856 and 1859, as Frances was born in 1856 and Sophronia was remarried sometime within the year of the 1860 census. I have been unable to find any marriage record for Sophronia and William van Rheeden. I had two theories for Frank and Thomas. One was that Thomas, with middle initial F., was in fact Frank and began going by Frank rather than Thomas sometime after 1881. Frank's death certificate was filled out by his state hospital physician and a birthdate of 1840 was simply incorrect. Sophronia's death certificate stated she had only three children (Thomas/Frank, Frances, and Nancy). The other theory is that Sophronia was young when she had Frank and he somehow was separated or otherwise disowned from the family, but followed them as they moved. Her death certificate states she was 14 when first married, which would have been in 1840, one of Frank's birth dates. Frank's second marriage index states he had only been married once previously, but if Frank and Thomas were the same it would've been twice, first to Rachel Felton and second to Linda Elsworth. As I continued searching for Horace and Sophronia's origins, I began leaning towards the first theory, though I'll need to find additional evidence on either brother to prove one or both theories wrong.
This is where I remained for a long while until, in an attempt to revive the hunt, I googled some of the Meeker names and came across this post by my second cousin Georgia, wondering if the Durhams in Coopersville originally from Waterloo, Seneca, NY could be related to our Sophronia Durham Meeker van Rheeden. I got the idea to search the 1850 census for Waterloo, then, and found a Horace and Sophronia Mickle living with a Joseph Duram and his family. This Joseph Duram family had then moved to Coopersville a few years later. Although not 100% conclusive, it is such an unusual combination of names and close enough to Meeker that I was quite certain it was them. Although Joseph's wife's name was Mary, more research revealed this to be his second wife and his first wife Minerva was found in the nearby cemetery, with children of J.W. and Minerva Duram also buried there. Although Collins was listed on Sophronia's death certificate, after researching I've determined that J.W.'s first wife was Minerva Higley, daughter of Revolutionary War patriot Seth Higley (strong evidence of the Duram marriage in his pension application records). Not only was it exciting to determine Sophronia's parentage, but linking to a Revolutionary War patriot has always been a wish of mine. The Durams/Durhams are a Scots-Irish line, which is traceable to the mid 1500s (although I'm still waiting to hear back from the researchers I've contacted) and the Higleys are an old, well-researched colonial family. Although I don't have a birth certificate to link Sophronia with J.W. Duram and Minerva Higley, I'm quite convinced this is an accurate relationship and Sophronia was simply a previously-unknown child to Duram researchers. My line for Sophronia is open and waiting to be documented.
So that left Horace as a continued brick wall, until yesterday when I checked my DNA results and saw my mother was matched as potential 4th cousins with a man whose lineage included a William Meeker of Chenango Co. NY, originally of NJ. Horace's 1850 census stated he was born in NJ around 1820, although his children usually listed him as being born in NY, and the area this William Meeker family lived was close to Waterloo, where the Durams lived. So as of now, I'm working on two theories. First, Horace is a previously-unknown child of William Meeker. Second, Horace is from the Meeker family of Lodi, Seneca County, which is near Waterloo. Both of these Meeker lines are of NJ and two Tichenor sisters married into them, which could be the source of the close 4th-6th cousin match my mom received and the Meeker relation is further back in time. I was matched more distant with this potential cousin, 5th-8th.
So I'm still working on collecting info on these two Meeker families, but my interest in connecting my Horace with them has definitely resurfaced.
Note on photos: I don't mind if you wish to save a copy of the photos on this blog, but as most of them are original scans of personal family photos I would appreciate if you credited the source.
I was able to find Frances (who often went by Maybelle or Belle) in the 1870 census living with a brother, Thomas F., a younger half-sister Nancy van Rheeden, and parents Sophronia and William van Rheeden. They were in Polkton Twp, Mich (or Coopersville), and the Meeker children were born in Michigan. An internet search revealed transcripts of emails stating that her obituary (she died in 1939) did not list her parents and stated she was born in Coopersville on 4 July 1856. The same site stated her death certificate gave parents Mr. Meeker and Sophronia Durand (click here to access).
The first step was to follow the family members. It appears the entire family settled in Wexford Co. Sophronia died in 1900, so her death certificate was available on the seekingmichigan.org website. Here her parents were listed as Joseph Durham and Minerva Collins. So we had two potential maiden names for Sophronia: Durand and Durham.
Her brother, Thomas, disappeared after his 1881 marriage in Cadillac to a Rachel Felton. Before this, in 1880 he is likely in the census at Haring (Wexford Co.) working in a logging camp. The only other document related to Thomas that I have found, aside from his 1860/1870 census listing with his family, was his listing as living at the Ottawa County Poor Farm from 11 Dec 1867 to 6 Feb 1868. The only note with this listing is that he ran away on 6 Feb, along with "Good By Tom". He was listed with his family in 1870, so it's hard to say what he was doing at the poor farm. It could be his family was having trouble providing for him, or he had gotten into some kind of trouble.
After 1880, Frank Meeker begins appearing in documents. I could find no trace of him before his marriage to Linda Elsworth on 3 Mar 1887 in Cadillac. He was married again in 1897 in Hamilton Mich to Theresa Cole, with whom and where he was living at the 1900 census. I found Linda Meeker in Cadillac in the 1900 census, so I assume they were divorced sometime in the ten years between his marriages. The only other document I have for Frank Meeker is his death certificate. He died at the state hospital of senile insanity, which makes me wonder if he was stricken with Alzheimer's or dementia. Though he was never living with the van Rheeden family in 1860 or 1870, he is most likely a Meeker sibling. His second marriage record listed his parents as Horace Meeker and Sophronia Dunman/Durman, and his death certificate listed his parents as Horace Meeker and S. Van Raider/Raiden. Not a terribly common combination of names, plus I had the "Uncle Frank Meeker" photograph. These records gave him a range of possible birth years of 1840-1853, compared to Thomas born 1855 and Frances born 1856.
So I had parent names of Horace Meeker and Sophronia Durham/Durand/Durman, a missing sibling Thomas, and a magically appearing sibling Frank. Horace was out of the picture sometime between 1856 and 1859, as Frances was born in 1856 and Sophronia was remarried sometime within the year of the 1860 census. I have been unable to find any marriage record for Sophronia and William van Rheeden. I had two theories for Frank and Thomas. One was that Thomas, with middle initial F., was in fact Frank and began going by Frank rather than Thomas sometime after 1881. Frank's death certificate was filled out by his state hospital physician and a birthdate of 1840 was simply incorrect. Sophronia's death certificate stated she had only three children (Thomas/Frank, Frances, and Nancy). The other theory is that Sophronia was young when she had Frank and he somehow was separated or otherwise disowned from the family, but followed them as they moved. Her death certificate states she was 14 when first married, which would have been in 1840, one of Frank's birth dates. Frank's second marriage index states he had only been married once previously, but if Frank and Thomas were the same it would've been twice, first to Rachel Felton and second to Linda Elsworth. As I continued searching for Horace and Sophronia's origins, I began leaning towards the first theory, though I'll need to find additional evidence on either brother to prove one or both theories wrong.
This is where I remained for a long while until, in an attempt to revive the hunt, I googled some of the Meeker names and came across this post by my second cousin Georgia, wondering if the Durhams in Coopersville originally from Waterloo, Seneca, NY could be related to our Sophronia Durham Meeker van Rheeden. I got the idea to search the 1850 census for Waterloo, then, and found a Horace and Sophronia Mickle living with a Joseph Duram and his family. This Joseph Duram family had then moved to Coopersville a few years later. Although not 100% conclusive, it is such an unusual combination of names and close enough to Meeker that I was quite certain it was them. Although Joseph's wife's name was Mary, more research revealed this to be his second wife and his first wife Minerva was found in the nearby cemetery, with children of J.W. and Minerva Duram also buried there. Although Collins was listed on Sophronia's death certificate, after researching I've determined that J.W.'s first wife was Minerva Higley, daughter of Revolutionary War patriot Seth Higley (strong evidence of the Duram marriage in his pension application records). Not only was it exciting to determine Sophronia's parentage, but linking to a Revolutionary War patriot has always been a wish of mine. The Durams/Durhams are a Scots-Irish line, which is traceable to the mid 1500s (although I'm still waiting to hear back from the researchers I've contacted) and the Higleys are an old, well-researched colonial family. Although I don't have a birth certificate to link Sophronia with J.W. Duram and Minerva Higley, I'm quite convinced this is an accurate relationship and Sophronia was simply a previously-unknown child to Duram researchers. My line for Sophronia is open and waiting to be documented.
So that left Horace as a continued brick wall, until yesterday when I checked my DNA results and saw my mother was matched as potential 4th cousins with a man whose lineage included a William Meeker of Chenango Co. NY, originally of NJ. Horace's 1850 census stated he was born in NJ around 1820, although his children usually listed him as being born in NY, and the area this William Meeker family lived was close to Waterloo, where the Durams lived. So as of now, I'm working on two theories. First, Horace is a previously-unknown child of William Meeker. Second, Horace is from the Meeker family of Lodi, Seneca County, which is near Waterloo. Both of these Meeker lines are of NJ and two Tichenor sisters married into them, which could be the source of the close 4th-6th cousin match my mom received and the Meeker relation is further back in time. I was matched more distant with this potential cousin, 5th-8th.
So I'm still working on collecting info on these two Meeker families, but my interest in connecting my Horace with them has definitely resurfaced.
Note on photos: I don't mind if you wish to save a copy of the photos on this blog, but as most of them are original scans of personal family photos I would appreciate if you credited the source.
| Belle Meeker Smith | Frank Meeker |
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