The wife of Jesse Watson Olney

Jesse, the son of Julia Watson and James Brown Olney, was a lawyer from Catskill, NY and a graduate of Yale. In 1900 he was living with his widowed father in Catskill and then was not found again until 1918 when his WW I registration card listed him as a farmer in Victorville, California with wife Marie K. I did not find them in the 1910 census. In the 1920 census Marie was listed as born in Ohio.

Attempting to find marriage place and date, I began searching for him the in NY 1905 census.  On familysearch I came across a 1905 passenger listing for Mrs Jesse Olney, returning to NY from Bermuda. Going further I found a NYC marriage record for December 1905 uniting Jesse Watson Olney and Catherine Morris Bruno (then 24 per the ship record).   A bit confusing ... did she use a different name or was this a different wife?  I had trouble finding them in the 1910 census.

California has detailed death records, and I did find one for Marie Olney, listing her parents' surnames as Nelson and Parsons. But then I was stuck ... could not find them in census records, nor a birth records. Little by little, the story evolved -- greatly due to newspapers. But there were quite a few twists and turns before all the pieces fell into place. Based on newspaper items I found that Jesse and his first wife had divorced in 1909 and he married Marie in 1912 -- but not as clear cut as that may sound.

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.

Margaret and John Orr of Zanesville 1860-1880

I believe that Margaret's maiden name was Sheils and that she was born in County Roscommon, Ireland around 1830. She was mentioned in a biographical sketch of her younger brother John Sheils, a hotelier in Ulster County, NY published in 1896. There she was listed as married to John Orr (though spelled Awer, which I believe was incorrect), a foundryman in Ohio.

I think I found Margaret as Orr, age 30 born in Ireland, in the 1860 census in the Zanesville Ohio household of G.W. Graham 35 and  Rebecca 30 both born in Ohio. Her husband John is not with them, but there is a 16 year old Emma Orr born in Ohio. Who is she? Not likely to be Margaret's daughter. Perhaps she is a relative of John -- or even a daughter from an earlier marriage? How is Margaret affiliated with the Grahams? Where is her husband (I have not found him in 1860)?

The 1870 census in ward 6 of Zanesville shows John and Margaret together, he is 55 and she is 40. No sign of the Grahams nor of Emma Orr. Now with them are Agnes, 14 and Frank, 9 -- assumed children.  But where was Agnes in 1860 at age 4?

In 1880 Frank is living alone, aged 21; John 65 and Margaret 50 are together in ward 6 and it seems that Agnes was in the county jail.

That was the last I found of them.  A Margaret Orr, listed as 58, died in Zanesville in 1893 ... but I don't know if it is her. What happened to the rest of them?

Bonus info in Iowa State Census 1925

I have been stumped for a while on the deaths of James V Ely and his wife Sarah Loomis who lived in Hudson, New York. I have not found them in the 1930 census nor have I found a death or burial record for either of them.  One of their sons died in 1923 and they were both named as survivors, so that’s the last I knew of them.

Today I happened upon the 1925 state census record for their son Fred who lived in Cedar Rapids. What really took me by surprise was PAGE TWO where both parents are listed (mother with maiden name, which I knew already, but a bonus in a case where maiden name was not known). Place of birth and age at last birthday are also recorded for the parents.  James was listed as 68 and Sarah as 65 … so now I know they were still living in 1925. The search continues.

Confused about Hannah Taylor of Newport 1762/3

Based on published work from the local historical society, I thought that Hannah was born in 1762 the youngest daughter of Robert Taylor and his 3rd wife Rebecca Coggeshall. Her father died that year at age 74 -- perhaps old to be having more children. Rebecca was in her 40s.

Hannah married John Easton in 1808 following the death of his 1st wife Ruth, who has been reported to be Hannah's sister.  Ruth was born in 1760 reportedly the daugher of Robert Taylor ... but could they both be the offspring of Robert Taylor Jr (son of Robert and his 2nd wife Elizabeth Stanton) born in 1762?

There are Newport marriage records of a Robert Taylor marrying Mary Pitman in 1759 (which could match up with Ruth's birth in 1860) and with Mary Lyon in Nov 1762. Not at all clear that they are the SAME Robert Taylor --- nor which is which. I have struggeled to find death records, newspaper items, etc which might clarify, but none has resolved the issue yet.

To confound the issue, I recently received a photo of a cross-stitch sampler created in Newport in 1774 by a Hannah Taylor, who lists her birth date as December 17, 1763 --- is that my target Hannah? If so, she clearly was NOT the daughter of Robert who died in Nov 1762.

Photo and permission to post it courtesy of UK-based Tony Meyer who owns it.

My  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 !

Scrubbing the Hudson, NY 1915 Census

I was going crazy trying to find Getzel Panush and his son Abram in this state census. They were listed together in the federal 1910 census and then Abram was listed as head in 1920. I was trying to determine if his father was still alive in 1915.

I had found their names spelled in various ways but was not finding a match in 1915. I tried to find them by searching for their neighbors from the 1910 and 1920 census, but no luck.

Finally I searched for anyone of any age who was born in Poland and was living in Hudson. Found a quite a few, many with the names spelled oddly. There I found them, listed as PENSAK and Abram without a first name --- it was there, a bit hard to read, but it was there.

So, when names don’t work, try using place of birth and place of residence.  It worked for me.