His Age was 41-7-5

If you’ve been to old graveyards or looked at many death certificates you are accustomed to seeing ages listed this way.  It’s actually very helpful if the specific date of death is also recorded, as you then have the birth date as well.

I recently found this Windham NY gravestone listing:

             Sylvanus G. Miller, d March 13, 1860 aged 41y7m5d

Using the calculator, we can  assess that he was born Aug 8, 1818. 

So, yes, he should be included in his family’s 1820 census.   

Very helpful at times.

There are numerous online tools which will do that calculation for you such as the Tombstone Birthdate Calculator on Rootsweb. It looks like this:

 

Great Catskill Village Cemetery Resource

The genealogy community in Catskill, NY has done a terrific job of documenting gravestones in the Village Cemetery.  By listing them based on location, family groups can be found and understood – often providing a hard-to-find maiden name, a daughter’s married name (even if the husband is not buried there) and confirmation of children lost at a young age.

Here is an example (without the dates):

Julia Bennett, widow of Hiram Bogardus

Hiram Bogardus

Sarah R. Clark, w/o Howard Wilcox

Egbert Jedson, s/o Howard and Sarah Wilcox

Abraham, s/o Egbert and Elsie Bogardus

Julia Clark Linthicum

Martha Ann, widow of Z.M. Clark, and d/o the late Egbert and Elsie Bogardus <my favorite with so much info>

Eliza C. Bogardus
Emeline Bogardus

Elsie Comfort, w/o Egbert Bogardus

Egbert Bogardus

There are several generations listed here plus maiden and married names that were not previously known. It was immensely helpful in piecing together this family group.

What happened to Albert Loomis ?

Albert H Loomis, born in 1851 in Columbia County, NY married Mary W Clark of Delhi, NY in 1873.  By 1877, when her father died, they were living in New York City.  They were together without any children in the 1880 census at 196 Waverly Place. I did not find them in the 1900 census.  I knew from family tales that she was Molly Griswold by the time she died in 1939 and was told that she’d “had twins who died in the flu epidemic”. Actually, Albert had been a surprise to me as I initially assumed her only marriage was to Charles Griswold.

I searched but did not find any birth or death records for twins. Eventually, at the Municipal Archives in Manhattan, I did find records for the death of two young sons: George Clark Loomis born 1874 and Albert Jr born 1876. Within a span of 9 days (Dec 25, 1877 to Jan 3, 1878) they had both succumbed to diphtheria. Not exactly twins, but close in age and devastated by another type of epidemic. They were both buried in the Evergreen Cemetery in Brooklyn.

When I could not find Albert and Molly together in 1900 and, since I knew she had remarried, I thought perhaps he too had died – and was likely buried with the children in Brooklyn.  But, he was not buried there. Why didn't I find them in the 1900 census?  I never looked for him without her.... but, I guess I should have.

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.