MORSE: A Helpful Death Notice in 1909

The large Morse family lived in Wawarsing, Ulster County, New York. With such a common surname, it is not always easy to trace all its members.  Recently I was made aware of the 1909 obituary of Mary E Morse Corbin published in the Kingston Daily Freeman. Mary was the daughter of William Morse and Anna Peck, the 2nd of their 9 children. Her death notice mentioned the following family members, referring to them as “surviving members of her father’s family”; in fact they were her siblings. Her father was also one of 9 children and I will report on them in another post.

A recap of those mentioned include:

Her deceased husband Albert 1827-1900

His brother Isaac Corbin 1830-1888

Her 6 surviving siblings:

Mrs Thomas Smart in Penn = Jane 1829-1914

 Recently widowed and the mother of 12 !

Leonard Morse in California = 1831-1914

              out west since mid 1860s, widower no children

 John Morse in Ellenville = 1834-1915 married, 8 children

 Mrs W W Miller in NYC = Alice 1846-1915 

              twice widowed, 2 children

Mrs Belle Johnston of Staten Island = Isabelle 1851-1915

Mrs Seth Catlin of New Jersey = Emma 1843-1940, 5 children

Her other siblings were Edgar 1839-1887 who died unmarried in Nashville, TN (where their uncle George ran successful stockyard operations) and Addie 1838-1893 wife of Dr John Jackson Ward, 1 son.

Some of these siblings had married before 1850 and were never listed in the census with their parents, disappeared from NY (like Leonard) or females married several times becoming hard to identify and locate.

This newspaper item helped me piece together all of Mary’s siblings. I always find it helpful to flush out every person listed in a death notice.

What happened to Jennie May Peckham Wright?

Born to Robert Watson Peckham and his 1^st wife Valeria Peck in Richland, Oswego, NY in 1855, Jennie was raised by her maternal aunt Jenny Peck who married her father Robert after he was widowed in 1858. The family lived in Stillwater, MN and then settled in Chicago. It was there that Jennie married George Edward Wright, a native of Ohio, in 1879. They were married until George’s death in 1901; they had no children. I cannot find Jennie after the 1900 census when her stepmother Jenny was also living with them. Her stepmother died in Chicago in 1912 (though I cannot find her in the 1910 census) … were Jennie and Jenny living togehter? Why can't I find them?

At first I thought perhaps Jennie married Robert P, Smith in 1906, but it was not her. I found Jennie M Wright listed as a beneficiary in the 1919 probate notice for her relative George P. Elliott in New York. Was she alive? Where? I had found a possible death reported in San Francisco (where her cousin Helen lived) for Jennie M Wright born 1855 -- could it be her? If so, why would she be listed in a probate public notice 12 years later? So confusing!

Next I will check with the cemetery where her husband is buried. Puzzling.