Death of John Martino -- thanks to him we have free indexes to NYC records

As a long time volunteer myself, I just received the news of John's death on November 30. He had tirelessly led a large team of volunteers who created databases for many NYC b-m-d and other records. If you visit the NYC municipal archives, they direct you to italiangen.org as the only comprehensive index to the records held in the archive. Many researchers around the country have benefited from the work of this organization and the FREE information contained in them.

If you have used these records, you might want to send a contribution in his honor to help with postage and database costs and / or volunteer to help in their ongoing projects.

You can volunteer for future projects to be done at home with Mark Waldron at GenDatabases@gmail.com

Your contributions are tax-deductible !!

ITALIAN GENEALOGICAL GROUP INC is a non-profit organization in New York and its Employer Identification Number(EIN) is 11-3302825. ITALIAN GENEALOGICAL GROUP INC was established on 04/1996. The company's organization type is listed as Corporation.

Send a contribution to Italian Genealogical Group
   c/o Mary Anne Yenoli, 212 East 3rd Street, Deer Park, NY 11729

Someone sent me Watson gravestone photos

Lucky for me, someone found my blog with entries about my ancestors and they sent me gravestone photos of ancestors who died in NY state before 1850. I did know the years that both Sarah Taylor Peckham and her husband Wheeler Watson had died and knew they had moved from Rhode Island to Albany County, NY about 1800 -- but did not know the existence of their gravestones.

I would gladly acknowledge the photographer, but it was her friend (to whom she had passed the photos as "something that might be of interest to you as you like genealogy") who sent them to me without further identification of the photographer.  I assume that publishing the images here is OK, as I sent an email asking for permission, but received no response. Perhaps next year I can get to NY myself and find these stones.  Thanks anonymous photographer !!

Sarah Taylor Peckham died on 31 October 1838 in Rensselaerville NY at age 61 (per newspaper death notice) or 63 (per gravestone photo). She was born to George Hazard Peckham and Sarah Taylor in Rhode Island about 1776 and married Wheeler in 1799. She had lived in Albany County, NY for almost 40 years. She and Wheeler had 8 children, 7 of whom lived to adulthood and 31 known grandchildren.

Wheeler Watson was born in 1772 to Judge John Watson and Desire Wheeler, the 4th of their 8 children. He and 4 of his siblings (Thomas, Rufus, Bridget and Mercy) moved to Albany County, NY. He outlived Sarah by 8 years and was reported to have died in Prattsville at the home of his son-in-law Zadock Pratt and his daughter Mary Elizabeth (Zadock had previously married his daughter Abigial who died in childbirth in 1834). It is not clear to me if Wheeler is buried in Prattsville with just a commemorative stone in Albany County or if this photo indicates that he is buried with Sarah.

Watson – Cole Marriages in Rhode Island

Brothers Elisha Watson Jr and William C Watson of South Kingstown married Cole sisters Ann and Mary. The brothers were 2 of 6 children born to Elisha Watson 1748-1807 and Miriam Babcock 1750-1784. Ann and Mary were 2 of the 6 children born to William Cole 1735-1823 and Susannah Hazard 1758-1841.

Ann 1785-1874 and Elisha Jr 1776-1847 married in 1806 and had a large family of 9 children born between 1807 and 1827. Although several of their children did not marry, the family group grew to include 25 grandchildren.

Mary 1795-1885 and  William  1783-1870 likely did not marry until the 1820s and had 3 known children between 1828 and 1831. Their only son, William, died as a young child and neither of their daughters, who both lived to be 90, married.

Family of George Taylor Peckham and Cynthia Osgood

George 1808-1882, son of George Hazard Peckham Jr and Nancy Lawton

Cynthia M Osgood, 1807-1890, daughter of Luther & Lucy Osgood

 They married in Verona, Oneida, NY in 1827 and by 1850 were in Oswego

County where George was a tanner.

1830-1897    Robert Taylor married sisters Valeria & Jenny Peck

                        merchant in MN, CW soldier, moved to Chicago, 2 children

1832-1879    Erasmus Whaley married Kittie Price, then Nancy Wooster

                        tanner, CW soldier, 2 children who survived

1836-1896    Emily Marie married John S Dunham, candy manufacturer

                        moved to St Louis, 6 children

                        She died of typhoid fever in 1896

                        Her mother lived with them in St Louis and died there 1890

1841-1935    Ellen “Nellie”x, married Rev William H Bates

                        lived in NY, St Louis, DC and Colorado,  4 children

1844-1920    Osgood Hazard, married Julia F Sherwood, Susie Hartson

                        Candy manufacturer in St Louis, 3 children with “Fannie”

1846-1927    Florence married Albert Betts, Clothing Merchant

                        remained in Oswego County, 2 children

           

1850-1934    Marion not married,

                        lived for some years in Colorado with sister Nellie

died in auto accident in VA

1854-1856    Frank C                       died as a child

The two oldest sons served in the Civil War and that service perhaps was responsible for Erasmus’ first marriage in Kentucky.

George had lived to be 73 and Cynthia 83. Of their 7 children who lived to adulthood, their average lifespan was 72.5 years with Erasmus only 47 and Nellie 94. Only 2 of 7 remained in NY State, the others disbursed to Chicago, St Louis, Colorado. Nineteen grandchildren lived beyond their first year.

Memorial Day 2015 Civil War Watson and Pratt

New York cousins John W Watson and George Watson Pratt perished in the Civil War 

Lt John W Watson 1841-1864 killed at the Battle of Nashville

       He was the youngest son of Judge Malbone Watson of Catskill, New York and brother of Major Mablone Francis Watson. John  followed his sister Harriet to Iowa in 1861 where he was studying law with her husband, William Graham. He fought with Co H of Iowa's 5th Cavalry and was killed on 15 Dec 1864. He is buried in the Catskill Village Cemetery with his parents and sisters; he was unmarried. (His brother Malbone, a West Point grad,  lost a leg at Gettysburg, but survived until 1891.

Col George Watson Pratt 1830-1862 mortally wounded at the 2nd Battle of Bull Run

    He was the only son of Zadock Pratt and Abigail Watson (sister of Judge Malbone mentioned above). Like his father, George was involved in the leather business. While commaning Co S of NY's 80th infantry he was mortally wounded on 30 Aug 1862 and died 12 days later in Albany. In 1855 he had  married Anna Atwood Tibbits and was survived by his widow and their 2 children, George and Elizabeth. He is buried at the Albany Rural Cemetery in Menands, New York.

The Children and Grandchildren of Joseph Furman and Polly Sheeley

Joseph1782-1853 (71) son of Nowell Furman and  Margaret Hoff

Mary H “Polly” Sheeley 1785-1874 (89) daughter of Jacob Sheeley

        and Hester Klaarwater

Mary 1801-1873 (72) + William A Gorton died 1860

            lived in Pennsylvania

            Nancy, Wilson, Phebe, Geo Wash, Joseph, Wm Jr, John, Nathan

Isaac 1803-1883 (79) + Elizabeth Sheley died 1863

            Isaiah, Joseph, Dorothy, Mary Olive, Almira, Nancy, Herman, Harvey

Jacob 1803-1809 (6)  died as young child

Esther 1808-1902 (93) + John I Hill died 1884

            John Jr, Joseph, Lucinda, Jane, Almira, Emily, William, Mary Antoinette

John 1811-1872 (61) + 1)Leante, died 1842  2)Jane Miller died 1906

            1) Rachel, William 

  2) Ira Oliver, Ann, Lanie, Hannah, Catherine, Cyrus, Joseph, Rose

Margaret 1815-1847 (32) + John D. Sweet died 1867    

   SHE LIKELY DIED IN WISCONSIN  ... have not found any records

            Sarah E, William Francis, Catherine Ann, John G, Ellen M

Catherine Ann 1816-1880 (64) + Isaac Dubois Hill died 1888

            Harvey, Mary Margaret, George, Dora, Sarah Helen, Robinson Daniel,

            Isaac Jr, Esther Ann, Eliza Jane

Marie 1820-1899 (79) + Isaac Sheeley died 1872

            William, George, Jane, Catherine Ann, Elmer, Helen

Joseph Jr 1821-1878 (57) + Ann Curry died 1901

            Nancy, Mary Ann, Elizabeth, Aquilla Joseph, Miles, Emma Janet

Elizabeth 1824-1899 (75) + Nelson Dunivan died 1912  

             John, Joseph, Lucy, Adaline, William Henry, cyrus, Alice, Ida, Charles,

            Frank

William  1827-1880 (53) + Phebe Van Wagler died 1900

            Sarah, Byron, Arthur, Arabella”Addie”

11 children  and 76 grandchildren

1878 Probate for Mary Rider of Orleans County, NY

I love finding legal notices regarding probate because they often identify family members and relationships previously unknown.   Mary’s popped up in a newspaper search when I was looking for David Conkling, who was named as a beneficiary.

I wasn’t immediately sure who Mary was, but guessed she was from Rensselaerville based on the names listed.  There was a Mary Rider in that village in the 1870 census … but not the right one. Along with federal census and cemetery records, I’ve come to rely on the “time gap” information provided by the 1855, 1865 and 1875 NY census records now available online.

Those named were:

            Stephen VR Watson of Buffalo, NY

            David W Conkling of Kendall, NY

            Augusta A Bates of Westfield, Mass

            Mary S Boardman of Buffalo, NY

            Charlotte W Washburn of Rensselaerville, NY

            Hattie Parks of Hamlin, NY

            Mary Hardenbrooke of Kendall, NY

            Charlotte Watson of Kendall, NY

            Clayton Randall of Hamlin, NY

            Robert D Watson, residence unknown

           

I determined that the deceased was Mary Watson Rider, widow of Job and daughter of Rufus Watson and Mercy Stanton. She was born in Rensselaerville as were her siblings: Almira (later Conkling), Robert Dunbar, Stephen VanRensselaer, and William. Mary and Job had 5 children, all of whom predeceased her without offspring. After more research, I was able to identify everyone on the list and their relationship to Mary who was born in 1803.  Knowing that Robert Dunbar Watson was her brother made the “residence unknown” seem odd.

Descendants of Rufus Watson and Mercy Stanton

Rufus 1774-1850 and Mercy Stanton 1784-1836 were natives of Rhode Island who moved to and died in Rensselaerville, New York.  They had 6 children:

1803-1878   Mary   married Job Rider Jr 1798-1879

                        5 children, only 1 reached adulthood, no grandchildren

1810-1865  Almira married David Conkling 1806-1881

            1832   Augusta m Henry w Bates, no children

            1835  David m Louise Randall, 3 children

            1839   Mary S m Charles Boardman, 5 children

            1845   Margaret died age 5

            1849   Charlotte m Robert Washbun, 2 children

1814-1820  Rufus Jr, died age 6

1815-UNK  Robert D m his 2^nd cousin Laura Watson of RI

                        he mysteriously disappeared before 1860

            1849   (Robert) Irving . Elizabeth Campeau, 4 children

            1852   Frank m Anna Caswell, 3 children

1817-1880  Stephen VR m his 2^nd cousin Julia Watson of RI

                        she was sister of Laura listed above, died 1845

            1842   Stanton Cole, died age 8

            1844   Julia T m Arthur W Pease, 1 child

       second wife Charlotte Sherman

            1848   Rufus

            1852   Anna M m Samuel S Spaulding, 4 children

            1854   Jeanie H m Peter Norton, 2 children

            1858   Gertrude, died unmarried at 79

1819-1872  William R married Charlotte Boardman

            1849   Harriet m William Parks, 2 children

            1851   Ella B m Stephen W Randall, 1 child

            1854   Alex B poss died bef 1860

            1855   Ida A  not found after 1870

            1857   Mary F m Jacob Hardenbrook, 3 children

            1859   Charlotte m Stephen W Randall, 1 child

                            he was widower of her sister Ella

Emma P Watson of Catskill

Emma Patten Watson was born in 1850 to Rufus W Watson and Elizabeth Botsford, the second of their two daughters.   Rufus was a lawyer and district attorney who practiced in Coxsackie and Catskill. He had been born in Rensselaerville to lawyer Thomas Watson and Sarah Jenkins. Elizabeth was a native of Connecticut.

In 1874, the year before Emma married Eugene Burlingame, she was named as a beneficiary in the will of Mrs Emma Patten of Albany <actually published as PATTON>.  Her sister was not listed, only Emma who seems to have been named after the deceased … but how were they related? I had not encountered Mrs Patten during my research.

I found that Emma Colvard (1800-1874), a native of Rensselaerville, Albany County, had married Moses Patten.  She was the daughter of Philo Colvard (1777-1849) and his wife Dorcas (maiden name unknown). I believe they had just one adopted daughter.

I am puzzled about the relationship … why was Emma Watson named for Mrs Patten and why was she named in the will?  Why her unmarried sister Elizabeth not mentioned? I hope I’ll be able to answer these questions.

Emma C Patton probate in Albany NY 1874

I happened upon this probate notice which searching for Henry Sweet in Albany County, New York.  Henry and his mother were named a beneficiaries.  I’m not familiar with Henry’s family line and had not previously encountered Emma Patton. The following people were listed as beneficiaries … and I’m assuming they are all related one way or another.

Mrs Margaret Parker

Charlotte A Stimson

Kate McCabe and Ann Shelton

Mrs Charlotte A Cambrie

Mrs Jane Sweet and son Henry

Emma P, daughter of Rufus W Watson

5 children of Mrs Margaret Parker

Mrs Harriet J Washbon

Mrs Almina Stimson, wife of Samuel

Mary Stimson

Well, though I stumbled upon this probate notice accidentally, I am now REALLY interested since Rufus W Watson and his daughter Emma are members of my family.  Wondering how they are all related.

I began investigating Henry Sweet and his mother Jane based having found Wheeler Watson (born 1834 to Samuel and Sarah) living in Jane’s Rensselaerville household in the 1865 census ….. time to dig deeper.