What is Apoplexy?

John Wheeler Watson died in Pittsburgh in 1893 of apoplexy at the age of 28.  The term apoplexy refers to bleeding into an organ or loss of blood flow to an organ. Sometimes the organ is specified but when it is not, the term generally refers to sudden stroke symptoms caused by a brain blood clot or bleeding into the brain.

Functional apoplexy is when a person appears to be having stroke-like symptoms but there is no brain abnormality ... from this comes the slang term we sometimes use currently "she went apolplectic".

Occupations: CORDWAINER

An occupation I stumbled upon in the 1855 census in New York State.

Cordwainer = shoemaker who made soft leather shoes and luxury footwear.

To differentiate somewhat, the term cordwainer referred to the maker of fine footwear while the term cobbler generally described the profession which would repair it.

The term cordwainer, originated in England, was intended to refer specifically to the the leather manufactured in Cordoba, Spain, initially from goathide and later from horsehide.  "Cordovan" was the fine quality eqinine shoe leather leather fashioned from the fibrous flat muscle beneath the hide on the rump of the horse. This leather is still used for men's shoes -- one pair can be made from one horse's hide.

She Died of Dropsy 1859

What is dropsy??  The term is now obsolete and really does not describe a cause, but rather a condtion.  Dropsy refers to edema -- an abnormal accumulation of fluid beneath the skin or within a cavity of the body. The cause of this condition, however, is not identified by the term dropsy.

In most cases edema would the result of congestive heart failure or failure of the liver or kidneys. So, if you are reviewing family health/medical issues and are concerned about ancestral causes of death, this designation won't help you much.

Just thought you should know.

Seeking all grandchildren of Col Henry Ludington

Col Henry Ludington and his wife Abigail of Dutchess County, NY had 12 children between 1761 and 1786.  Many of them stayed in New York State, some of them ventured west to Michigan and Wisconsin where they amassed fortunes in the lumber business.  The town of Ludington, Michigan is named for their grandson James.  Harrison, also a grandson, was Governor of Wisconsin.  I am related to the Tertullus line of Catskill, NY that accounted for 8 of the grandchildren. I would like to find all their cousins. Thus far I have identified 49 grandchildren, but have not determined if daughters Rebecca and Mary had any children to add to this clan.  If you happen to know, please share that information.

The children and their marriages were as follows:

1761    SYBIL  called the "female Paul Revere" + Edmond Ogden, 1 son
            Henry b 1786

1763    REBECCA  +  Henry Pratt     NO FURTHER INFORMATION

1765    MARY
            possibly married 3 times: David Travis, ? Colwell, Asahel Gilbert
            NO INFORMATION ON ANY CHILDREN

1767    ARCHIBALD + Elizabeth Sears, 3 children
            Orin 1796, Eli 1800, Cornelia 1801

1769    HENRY  died young

1771    DERRICK  believe he died unmarried at age 69

1773    TERTULLUS + 1) Rebecca Brown  4 children
                                2) Anna Egbertson, 4 children
            1) Eliza 1805, Julia 1807, Amelia 1808 , Henry 1809
            2) Ira 1814, Robert 1816, Harriet 1817, Tertullus 1820

1776    ABIGAIL believe she died unmarried at age 39

1778    ANNA + Joseph Colwell, 11 children
??? could he be related to Mary's 2nd husband mentioned above?
            Clarissa 1797, Vashita 1799, Sophia 1802, Anna 1804, Julia 1807,
            George 1809,  Warren 1811, Lewis 1814, Eliza 1817,
            Augustus 1819, Joseph 1823

1782    FREDERICK + Susannah Griffeth, 12 children
            Harrison 1812, George 1814, Nelson 1818, Oliver 1820,
            Harriet 1822, Anna 1823, Abby 1827, Joseph 1829,
            Samuel 1830, Cornelia 1832, Frederick 1834, Lewis 1838


1784    SOPHIA + John Caverly, 7 children
            Julia 1810, Esther 1812, Sarah 1814, Rebecca 1817, John 1820,
            Henry 1821, Phillip 1824

1786    LEWIS + Polly Townsend, 7 children
            Laura 1814, Delia 1816, William 1818, Robert 1822,
           Charles 1825, James 1827, Lavinia 1829

That makes 49 ... but I feel there could be more. The search continues.

   

WORTH CHECKING: Unusual first or middle names might be Mother’s Maiden Name

While looking in the newspaper archives for Charles E. Ludington, I happened upon an 1896 marriage announcement for Miss Florence Durand of Lake Forest, IL and Mr Ludington Patton of Milwaukee.  Ludington is one of my family names and some of them did live in Milwaukee, so I wondered if Mr Patton was related to my Ludingtons who originated in New York.  I had not encountered the family name of Patton previously.

Doing more research I found that Ludington Patton was born in Nov 1871 to James E Patton and his wife Sarah E Ludington – yeah, Wisconsin records can be SO helpful!  Then checking census records for the family, I found that his mother Sarah was born in Kentucky in 1839 – and she matched up with someone already in my tree.  She was the oldest daughter of New York born Harrison Ludington,the 13^th Governor of Wisconsin. Like with many females, it can be hard to locate them if they change their name through marriage.

I have many individuals in my tree with their mother’s maiden name used as a first or middle name.  In fact, Ludington Patton’s daughter was named Sarah Ludington Patton. So it's worth checking.

NY Town Clerk Register for Civil War = GOLD MINE

When Ancestry published these records a year or so ago, I found a few of them very helpful .. and some, not really helpful at all. It depended on the clerk in each village and how fully or carefully they completed the registration entries.

I had great success confirming that my ancestor James McDole of Ulster County had, in fact, been born in Northern Ireland (as suspected). Then I had great disappointment in the Delaware County registers that listed little more than name and company for many enlisting villagers.

Today I found detailed records for the village of Rushford, Allegany County. There had been confusion over the wives and sons of Norman Beecher. These CW records confirm that his oldest son Lyman was born to Norman and wife #1, Ann George and that other sons, including Chester, were born to his second wife, Lois George (Ann's sister).

If you had New York Civil War ancestors, be sure to check these records -- the local clerk may have recorded these details for your family too.

Why County Names Can Matter: Oswego or Owego?

Town and village names can be confusing, especially if there are similar ones in the same state. At times I wondered "why bother with the county name?", but realize it can be very helpful. A county name can help you locate a small village and track movement of your family group. It can also clarify a possible mis-spelling when two different places have very similar names.

An example that I encountered in New York are OSWEGO and OWEGO.  Family tree references were found for siblings in the Beecher family being born in both places.  They are about 100 miles apart.

Oswego is the larger of the two, in a county of the same name, north along Lake Ontario. While Owego is a smaller village in Tioga County, west of Binghamton. Of course, families move, but a distance of 100 miles in the 1870s for farmers would certainly catch my attention and cause me to double check.