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.

Follow-Up on Mary D Comfort

Mary married James W Johnstone in Greene County, NY in 1856 and was never thereafter found in an official record – not a census, a death, a burial. Their marriage record listed James’ residence as Dubuque, Iowa but I could find no record of him there. Nothing was known of his birth date or place, his parents or his occupation. The only tidbit I had on this couple after 1856 was the appearance of a young Johnston granddaughter listed in the 1865 Catskill, NY census with Mary’s parents, Joel and Emeline.  The record was almost impossible to read & only the child’s surname had been transcribed making it hard to identify and track her later; she was 6 years old and NOT with her grandparents in 1870.

I searched the 1870 census in multiple states and locales, unable to find any members of the Johnston family.  I then turned to family search where I entered a query using only the surname, a birth date 1859-1860 with location New York, plus the full names of parents James and Mary. To my surprise, a NYC marriage record popped up for Minnie Johnston with a matching father and mother (listed as Comfork). It stated that Minnie had been born in NYC, in 1860 and, better yet, her marriage was in October 1880 AFTER the census !!

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 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.