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.
