Searching for the children of Adam Clark and Olive Burdick of Westerlo, NY

I am a descendant of Adam Clark, MD 1791-1860 and his wife Harriet Watson. It took me a number of years to confirm that his father was Rhode Island born Rev Adam Clark Sr 1764-1837, a Baptist minister, who relocated to Albany County, NY.  A post identifying Adam’s gravestone in the Tan Hollow Cemetery in Westerlo, NY along with that of his wife Olive, naming her as Burdick, was a bonus. Both the Clark(e) and Burdick families were part of a tight-knit community of Seventh Day Baptists primarily living in Hopkinton and Westerly, Rhode Island. I have yet to confirm Olive’s parents, their marriage date + place, and their offspring.

 

As I went back to view early census records I could see that various children were in the Adam Clark household in Coeymans and later Westerlo, though some of the ages were confusing and contradictory. Since both Adam and Olive died before 1840, there are no names in the census records.

Through links on Findagrave (thanks to all the contributors !!) I discovered two of Adam Sr’s daughters, Dorcas and Marinda, both of whom married ministers and had obituaries that mentioned their father. Yeah !!  Dorcas,1799-1863, wife of Deacon Charles Lapaugh,  remained in Westerlo.  Marinda, 1807-1872, wife of Rev Nelson Ferguson, moved around NY state ending up in Monroe County about 200+ miles from Westerlo. Their brother Adam, 1791-1860, moved around a bit also and and died in Westchester County. 

Now, if I could just find the rest of the assumed siblings.

 

Who were the parents of Anna Orr Coyle of Zanesville, Ohio ? 

In my ongoing research regarding sisters Margaret and Ann Sheils who were born in County Roscommon, Ireland and emigrated to Zanesville, Ohio, I encountered the household of Thomas and Anna (Orr) Coyle in a 1893 newspaper death notice. The funeral of Mrs Margaret Orr (presumed wife of John Orr and sister of Ann) departed from the Coyle home on Zane Street. That made me wonder if Margaret could possibly have been Anna’s mother.

I have quite a bit of information regarding other members of Margaret and Ann Sheils’ birth family, most of whom lived in New York State. The sisters were 2 of the 10 children born to John Sheils (who died on the transatlantic voyage in 1853) and Hannorah Feeney (who died in New York in 1870).  Their brother John was a prosperous hotelier in Ulster County, New York who hosted many Tammany Hall cronies of their NYC Alderman brother Thomas.  Quite a bit has been documented and published regarding these brothers. A local biographical sketch of John, published in 1896, noted that his sister Margaret had married an Ohio foundryman, John “AWER”. 

I have found records of John and Margaret Orr living in Zanesville but they are incomplete and somewhat conflicting regarding their children. I did not find assumed daughter Anna living with her parents in any census record.  Could it be that Anna was with her mother in the 1860 census but mistakenly listed as Emma, born Ohio? From other records it seems that Anna may have been born in New Jersey. In 1863 she married Thomas Coyle and is listed in many records of her children as Anna Orr Coyle. She died in 1897, not too long after her mother. I have found no death record for her father, John, but assume he outlived Margaret whose death record listed her as married. Thomas and Anna Coyle were likely buried at Mt Calvary Cemetery but no findagrave listings or photos have been found; uncertain about Margaret and John Orr. The search continues.

What happened to the Moran and Bennett families of Glasco, NY ??

 Irish born John Bennett and Mary Moran married in Saugerties, Ulster, New York about 1870.  Mary had arrived with her mother Elizabeth and older brothers in 1853 joining her father Michael who had emigrated 2 years earlier. The Morans all worked in the local brickyard as did John Bennett. I have discovered no immigration information for John and wonder if the younger (by 12 years) Thomas Bennett listed with he and Mary in the 1870 census might be a brother or other relative.  No record of the three has been found after that census.  

Curiously, Mary’s parents, Michael and Elizabeth Moran, have two young Bennett grandsons with them in the 1880 census, James 8 and Michael 3. I assume they must be the sons of their only daughter Mary and her husband John Bennett. But what happened to the couple?

 

The Moran grandparents died in 1881 and 1882, when the boys were both under 10 – so, who took them in then? Mary Moran Bennett’s brothers had problems of their own and may not have been able to step-in to care for the boys. 

 

            Her brother James was murdered in 1879, leaving his wife with 5 young children.

            Her brother Michael Jr died in 1882 also leaving 5 children.

            Her brother Patrick married in 1881 leaving no further record of he and wife Mary.

            Her youngest brother Thomas married in 1880 and soon had several children himself.

 

So the mystery of the Bennett brothers is still open. The older son, James, has not been found in any record after 1880. Michael, however, seems to have joined the military in 1899 serving in the Spanish American War in the Philippines. In 1901 he married Irish immigrant Emily Catherine Blue in Brooklyn. And then their trail ran cold …..

The Mysterious Natalia Acosta 1861 - 1945

I first encountered the name Natalia Acosta while researching my Lake family members Maria Lake and her husband Robert Carley.  Maria (1839 -1917) was a daughter of Schuyler Lake and his wife Caroline Morse, the 5^th of their 10 children born in Ulster County, NY.I  Maria and Robert married in 1854 and raised their 4 children in or near Fallsburg, Sullivan County.

In my effort to link as many family members together as possible, I review Findagrave entries and add parental information and maiden names, if known.  Maria Lake Carley’s FAG entry #176176881 was rich with information.  She was linked to her parents, 7 siblings, her husband and all 4 of her children; none were new to me. However, I was quite puzzled when I looked at the attached photo and clearly saw the name Natalia A Acosta listed with Maria and Robert. Unfortunately her dates were not visible and she did not have a FAG record. The NY Death Index listed: Natalia A Acosta, 27 July 1945, Fallsburg which was a start, but it didn’t really identify her nor provide a link to Maria and Robert.

In reviewing Maria Lake Carley’s census records I found that a 13 year old niece named Nettie Lake was with them in 1875. Who was she?  Could this be Natalia? She was not with Maria in the 1880 census, but I wondered if she was the dressmaker, Netty Lake, recorded in NYC as a boarder. I decided to see if I could find a Natalia Acosta in New York and work backwards.

What happened to the Moran siblings of Saugerties?

My great grandfather, Thomas William Moran, was born in Saugerties NY in 1855. His parents, Michael Moran and Elizabeth Cunningham, immigrated from Ireland with their 3 oldest children Michael, James, and Mary about 1852. Their son Patrick was born in NY in 1853, followed by Thomas. All seven were recorded together in the 1855 and 1860 Saugerties census.  In 1870 only Patrick and Thomas were with their parents; their sister Mary was listed in the next household with her Irish husband John Bennett, a brickyard worker like the Morans.  The two older sons have not been found.

In 1880 the two youngest sons were still with their parents as were two Bennett grandsons (assumed to be the children of Mary whose whereabouts was unknown). Both William and Elizabeth died in the early 1880s. It is unknown if the 2 grandsons were reunited with their parents or not as Mary and John Bennett have not been found.   What happened to them?

I have had mixed success in tracking the two older sons, Michael Jr and James. Sadly, James was fatally assaulted in 1879 by tenants in a rent dispute. His widow Bridget raised their 5 children.  But Michael is a mystery. The oldest of the children, Michael Jr, was born in 1844 and has not been found since the 1860 census. The truly confusing issue is that I found a January 1883 NY probate record that seems to be showing his brother Patrick petitioning for guardianship of 5 children: Michael, John, Mary, Nellie, Lizzie. Were they Michael’s children? I cannot find them in the 1880 census. Where might they have lived? What happened to Michael and who was his wife?

That leaves us with Patrick Henry Moran, who was named his father’s sole executor in the summer of 1882 (does that indicate that the first born son Michael was not in the area, not in good health, not in his father’s good graces?). Patrick is documented in Saugerties working as a stone cutter and then at the brickyard. In May 1881 he married Mary Coyle there at St Mary of the Snow Church. I have not found any record of them since.

Schuyler C. Lake born 1875 in New York

Who were the parents of New York-born Schuyler Lake? In 1902 he married Bertha Albach in Michigan but neither of his parents were listed on their marriage record; nor were they named on his death certificate in 1922.  Could he be a descendant of Ulster County, NY Schuyler Lake 1810-1880? Harmon, the youngest son of the elder Schuyler and his wife Caroline Morse did move to Michigan but vanished without leaving many records.

Harmon Lake was born in Ulster County, NY in April 1855. About 1874 he married Lydia Barber who was born in Delaware County, NY in 1856; no marriage record has been found for them. Based on later records, it appears that their daughter Ella Jane was born in New York about 1875 and younger daughter Bertha was born in Michigan in 1878. Could Schuyler have been their son? None of the family members have yet been found in the 1880 census.

It is assumed that Harmon died prior to Lydia’s 1881 Wisconsin marriage to Albert Ledger.  In the 1900 census Lydia reported 5 living children, presumed to be: Ella and Bertha Lake, Edward 1882 + Inez 1894 Ledger …. Who was the 5^th?  Could it have been Schuyler Lake?

Lydia died shortly after the 1900 census, Ella had married in 1894 and was living in Wisconsin with her husband Clark Easter, Bertha had married John Grebel in 1895. Schuyler has not yet been found in the 1900 census.

In 1897 civil war veteran Reuben Lake, older brother of Harmon, died in Ulster County, NY leaving his wife Sarah Ann and minor children in a destitute state. Her widow’s pension application stated that they were living in a log cabin outside of town on land owned by the Michigan descendants of Reuben’s deceased brother Harmon.  That was the first (and vague) indication that Harmon had relocated there and was deceased by that time.

Mary D Comfort, wife of James W Johnson

Mary and James married in 1856 in Catskill, NY and had a daughter named Minnie in New York City in 1860. None of them were found in the 1860 or the 1870 census. I had stumbled upon a NYC marriage record for Minnie in October 1880 and then, checking the 1880 census, found her with her father (born in Ohio), an assumed sister Fannie (also born in Ohio), a stepmother (born in Mass) and 2 young NY born half siblings.

Focusing in on Fannie Johnston, I could find no record of the family in Ohio nor of her birth there about 1864.  With the 20 year time gap between the 1880 and the 1900 census, I hoped that Fannie had married and that I’d find some additional information about her birthplace. Unexpectedly I discovered an 1890 marriage announcement for Fannie HERENDEEN, daughter of James W Johnston, uniting with Rev Henry Freeman of Troy, NY. That led me to realize that Mary Comfort and James Johnston were not her parents as first assumed.