What happened to Mary D Comfort, daughter of Joel ?

Mary, the oldest child of Joel Dubois Comfort and his wife Emeline Ludington, was born 1829 in Catskill, NY. According to church records she married James W Johnston 'of Dubuque, Iowa' in September 1856 at the Leeds RDC.  I have found no subsequent record for either of them. I had expected that James would be in the Greene County 1855 census, but he was not found. Nor have I located him in 1850 in Iowa or elsewhere.

Interestingly, Mary's parents are listed in the Catskill 1865 census with their youngest daughter Josephine and with a 6 year old granddaughter with the surname Johnston. Sadly, this record is almost impossibly hard to read. I cannot decipher the girl's first name nor did I find her with her grandparents in the 1870 census.

Who is she and where are her parents?  I cannot find James and Mary in 1860, when their daughter would have been an infant. I have found no 11 year old female Johnston in Greene County in 1870.
This family group remains a mystery.

Small town Newspapers -- Read the social items

Many small town newspapers reported the comings and goings of locals, perhaps an item about their dog running away, what they served their guests for dinner.  Those things do add up to a broader picture of the times, local traditions and your family plus their neighbors.

But an item like this from Catskill, NY can prove most helpful.

                          Leonard Hopkins of NYC was a recent guest 
                                   of his sister Mrs. Harry Allchin

Not only does it provide her maiden name, but links her with a brother.

As more and more small papers are being digitized, stay on the lookout for these tidbits regarding the families you are researching.

Remembering Civil War Ancestors

 
women were involved too !

Henrietta Peckham Colt

 Wisconsin Soldiers' Aid

Her nephew George Williams Peckham 1845-1914

     Wisconsin Heavy Artillery, 1^st Reg, Co B

Tertullus Ludington of Catskill, New York

While reviewing my Catskill Village cemetery photos in preparation for uploading them to findagrave.com, I realized that I had stumbled upon information regarding the children of Tertullus Ludington, my 5th great grandfather. His gravestone listed his death as 16 Jul 1821 at age 48. I had forgotten that I'd found other family members buried next to him.

Family Snippets: The Comfort Sisters of Catskill

Hiram Comfort (1791-1839) and Julia Ludington (1807–1886) raised five daughters in Catskill, New York where Hiram owned a sash and blind factory.  He had been born in Orange County, New York but was in Catskill by 1822 when he married Julia, the daughter of Tertullus Ludington (son of Colonel Henry Ludington and brother of Sybil who both played important roles during the Revolutionary War).