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.

 

Rev Adam Clark and Olive Burdick of Westerlo, NY

Adam and Olive are buried in the Tan Hollow Road Cemetery in Westerlo where she is listed as his wife. Adam died in April 1837 and Olive in Jan 1838. This listing came to my attention while seeking to identify the parents of my ancestor Dr Adam Clark (1791-1860) who married Harriet Watson, daughter of Wheeler, about 1820 in Albany County. A manuscript held at the NY State Library regarding Adam Senior’s farm in Westerlo identifies him as the father of Adam Clark and confirms the land deed records of Adam and Harriet found on the American Ancestors database of NEHGS.

Census records show Adam Senior in Coeymans in 1800 and 1810 with an assumed wife and 5 children, then in Westerlo in 1820 and 1830 with a less clear mix of adults and children. The ages for the oldest child match up with Adam Junior though the other children have not yet been identified. There is some confusion over the reported age of the female in the household making me wonder if Olive was the mother of the children.

Based on her burial record, Olive was born in 1770.

         Census year                  Reported Age             Olive’s Age

           1800                                 over 45                      30

            1810                                 26 – 44                      40

            1820                                 over 45                      50

            1830                                  60 – 69                     60

Understanding that ages are not always correctly reported, this makes me strongly suspect that the female in 1800 is a different person than the one reported in 1810.

I have been unable to find a marriage record or any record of the other Clark offspring. If you might happen to know, I’d love to hear from you.

Henry Jenkins, son of Jonathan or not?

I had a good deal of information about lawyer Jonathan Jenkins of Rensselaerville NY.  He was the son of Samuel Jenkins and Mercy Squire and the sister of Sarah who married Thomas Watson of my RI line.  In 1809 Jonathan married “Betsey” Mulford and I knew they had son Charles in 1810 and daughter (Julia) Harriet in 1816.  I thought that was it. Then I came across a listing of beneficiaries from the 1842 will of Eli Hutchinson of Catskill. Named were Charles, Henry and Harriet Jenkins, children of Jonathan. Really? I had not heard of Henry.

It is difficult to identify children who were born in those decades before the census named everyone in the household. I went back to check Jonathan’s records in 1810, 1820, 1830 – there was more than one assumed son. I did not find Henry living in Rensselaerville in 1850 … but thought perhaps I had found him, with wife Jane and daughter Mary in Albany.

I searched around for more information on Henry and thought he seemed to be the one referenced as living in Albany and Hudson, NY, at times a banker, legislator and later referred to as a lawyer (somewhat of the “family business” for Jenkins). I stumbled upon death notices published both in Arizona and in New York (both Albany and Hudson) for a Henry who died suddenly in Tucson in Nov 1868 – saying he was from NY, had arrived in 1859 and “left family in Albany”. Was that him?

Were they named MERCY or MARCY?

Seems there is a great deal of confusion over the spelling of this female name in my Wheeler and Watson family lines in the 18^th and early 19^th centuries.

The mother of my ancestor, Desire Wheeler Watson, I thought was Mercy Williams who married Thomas Wheeler. Here is an excerpt from the American Genealogist, vole 82, 2007 pages 60-61 as shown on the NEHGS website:  

A look at the family of Mercy Wheeler, first wife of Capt. Christoper Gardner of South Kingstown, provides additional argument that Rufus Gardener of New London was likely their son.  She is presented in The Gardiners of Narragansett as “a daughter of Thomas and Mercy (Williams) Wheeler.” ……In his will of 28 November 1760, proved on 6 January 1761, Thomas Wheeler of Stonington. “in a Weak and Low Status of Body”, names his wife, Marcy, son Thomas …. Daughter Marcy Gardner ….There is no estate file for Thomas’s widow, Mercy, in Stonington.

Well, which is it ?? Seems to change back and forth between using E or A, as I have seen with others, including these two who confused me when I first found the name spelled with an A.

       Mercy Watson 1778-1817, wife of Ezra Lester

       Mercy Watson 1810-1882, wife of Col John Watson

           Her NYC death certificate & Woodlawn memorial both use A

           Seems she was named for her aunt Mrs Mercy Lester above

Today I found another one, Mercy Stanton …or was it Marcy? Looks like A wins in this case.

The sons of Thomas Watson of Rensselearville

Until a few weeks ago I knew only that Thomas Watson was born in Newport, RI about 1770 and died in Rensselaerville, Albany County, NY in 1813.  I had found him in the NY census in 1800 and 1810 with an assumed wife and 3 sons.  Exploring a bit more I learned that he was a lawyer (as many in that family line were), he was a land owner and was survived by wife “Sally and heirs”.  I had suspicions that Rufus W. Wheeler (1806-1876), a Catskill New York lawyer, might be one of his sons.

I had a great breakthrough earlier this month when I received copies of pages from the records of Rev Samuel Fuller, a Presbyterian minister in Rensselaerville. [ Thanks to the NYSHA in Cooperstown, NY for their assistance]. Those pages unveiled the family as follows:

-       His wife was Sarah “Sally” Jenkins, daughter of Samuel who built the first house in the village

-       Three sons were named without ages, all baptized on the same date the year their father died

o   Rufus Wheeler

o   Samuel Squires

o   John Jenkins

-       She remarried in 1818 – a second marriage also for her husband Roger Metcalf of Otsego County (where Thomas’ oldest sister Desire and her husband Peleg Peckham lived after leaving Rensselaerville)

Rufus W. Watson is a common name in this family line, so at first I as not sure the baptized son was the Catskill lawyer.  But I found a reference to Rufus W. Watson of Catskill lawyer that mentioned his father Thomas was one of the earliest lawyers in Rensselaerville. Rufus is buried in the Catskill Village Cemetery with his wife Elizabth Botsford. He apparently spent his entire adult life in Greene County, NY.

So, now the question is what happened to Samuel and John?  Were they older or younger than Rufus?  The search continues.

Who were the parents of Minerva Lester Fish?

She lived in Rensselaerville, Albany County, NY and married Dennison Fish about 1832. They had the following children: William, Jonathan, Lester and Mary. 

Minerva died in November 1858 and is buried in Rensselaerville Cemetery.  Wondering if her father could have been Ezra Lester … and if so, who was her mother?

If you know, please contact me. Thanks !