Snow, Snow, Snow, What Do You Do With It

Have the times changed?  Maybe or maybe not depending on what you are referencing.  This morning while talking to my parents on Eastern Long Island in New York I heard the latest winter weather update…snow yet again tomorrow.  Afterwards I came across a letter that my great-grandmother, Carrie (Terry) Warner had written on January 15, 1893 to her brother Forrest Terry [17 years old] and thought of all the wintery weather happening across the United States. 

• Carrie was living in Baiting Hollow, Suffolk County, New York with her husband John B. Warner and 2 young sons.  Ella [20 years old] is her sister. Carrie’s parents and siblings lived in Peconic.  Today the temperature in Baiting Hollow will have a high of 36 degrees, a low of 23 degrees and is overcast.  While snow is not predicted for today it is predicted again for Thursday and Friday.

 

Here are two excerpts from Carrie’s letter in 1893:

“Snow, snow, snow, what do you do with it.  I guess Father [Gilbert Terry] has got the old sleigh down this winter has he not.  Ella I suppose is sleigh riding.  There is entertainment in the sleigh now instead of the buggy.  Cannot indulge very much however unless it stops snowing.  In that case, a little ride might be taken before it comes on again.  Perhaps it is too cold.  I have been out of the house but twice since I came from “P”[econic],once to church and the next day after my return, over to mother’s [mother-in-law Eleanor Warner] for a few minutes.  I would make a poor thermometer, staying by the stove all the time.”

• My paternal great-grandparents, Carrie and John B. Warner had two sons at this time.  Terry was almost 5 years old and Wesley was about 2 1/2 years old.

“Terry has fine times with his sled.  His father [John] gets on the horse’s back and takes hold of a string fast to the sled and away they go.  Took Wesley out riding so one morning.  The children go out every day and have not taken cold yet.  Wesley can not stand it but a short time, this cold weather.”

The following is a paragraph from the Orient section in The Long Island Traveler, January 20, 1893 on page 3:

“Snow storms have been so many we have lost count.  Cloudy weather it snows, and when the sun shines it snows some more.  Then the clouds obscure old Sol and the flakes flutter softly down upon us some more.  Really, some of us  (younger children) never, never saw the like before or since.”

Despite the dreariness of this never ending winter season many kids and adults are still managing to have fun just like they did 128 years ago.  Others are just done with the cold and snow.  I hope you are all managing through this crazy weather we are having and staying safe.

If you have any corrections or additions or stories to share I look forward to hearing them.

Enjoy the journey,
Debby

For additional posts about Carrie’s Letters click on the second tab at the top of the page entitled Carrie’s Letters.

A 1720 Family Land Deed for Nathaniel Warner and James Reeve

Land deeds are fascinating documents.  Sometimes land records are full of great family information and other times they can verify your ancestor was in a particular location at a particular time period.  As I was investigating early land records for Long Island, New York I started wondering about the earliest land records.  When were land records first recorded?  Who was the first to say they ‘owned’ the land?  How far back can I document my ancestor’s ownership of land?

While researching in Suffolk County, New York I learned that the King of England claimed the land as the country in this area was being settled.  Land ‘patents’ were frequently given to a small group of men as they began settling an area.  As the population grew the land was then ‘sold’ off to others.  According to the Suffolk County Clerk’s Online Records website there are land record transactions since 1857.  While searching at the County Land Records Division of the Suffolk County Center in Riverhead, New York I also discovered the Archivist room.  In a vault in the back of the room are the oldest ledgers.  When looking in the ledgers gloves are needed to turn the pages do to their age.  Several of the ledgers have been protected with archival sleeves which makes it easier to search but harder to take photos of the documents.

I recently discovered a land record attributed to my 6th and 7th great-grandfathers Nathaniel Warner and James Reeve. 

Nathaniel was the first Warner on this line to come to Long Island and remain for the rest of his life.  

(click on image to enlarge)

Transcription:                                                              from Liber B page 187

                                                                                       1739

To all Christian people to whom these presents shall come Benjamin Youngs and Samuel Hutchinson of the Town of Southold in the County of Suffolk in the Colony of New York Send Greeting whereas James Reeve, Joshua Tuthill, Mathias Huchinson, Richard Terry, Charles Booth, Thomas Goldsmith, Caleb Horton, David Horton, Daniel Tuthill, Joshua Wells, Samuel Conklin, Thomas Reeves, Nathaniel Warner, Joshua Youngs, David Stackhole, Joseph Wickham, Joshua Wells Junior, Joseph Hale?, Jonathan Dimon ?, Samuel Conkling, John Conkling and Henry Conkling all of the Town of Southold aforesaid Did and have agreed to Joyn with us the Said Benjamin Youngs and Samuel Hutchingson for to purchase of Cor. Henry Smith all the Tract of Land within mentioned and who did agree that the Same Tract of Land should be amounted Sixty Rights or Shares and that each parson abovementioned Shall have his proportion of the Said Tract of Land as follow that which is awarding to Each of their _ to Viz. James Reeve three Rights or Shares, Joshua Tuthill one Right, Mathias Hutchinson for Six Rights, Richard Terry one right, Charles Booth three rights, Thomas GoldSmith three rights, Caleb Horton three Rights, David Horton three Rights, Daniel Tuthill three Rights, Joshua Wells one Right and half, Samuel Conkling three Rights, Thomas Reeve Two Rights, Nathaniel Warner three Rights, Josiah Young Three Rights, David Pershale? three Rights, Joseph Wickham five Rights, Joshua Wells Jun. one Right and half, Joshua Wells Jun. one Right and half, Joseph Hale? One Right, Jonathan Diman one Right, Samuel Cafe One Right, John Conkling one Right and half, Henry Conkling One Right and half, We the Said Benjamin Youngs and Samuel Hutchinson the saving to Our Three Rights a piece which make up the Sixty Rights as above paid/Now Know Yee that we the Said Benjamin Youngs and Samuel Hutchinson have granted and assigned and Set over and by these present Do grant assign and Set over Unto the Several Person abovementioned and to their Heirs and assigns forever all our Right title and Interest to the Several Rights and Shares of Land which this Said persons are to have as is above Except the Joyned with us to purchase the Same always Refering our Own three rights a piece as abovesaid in Witness wereof we have hereunto set our hands and sealed this Twenty first day of February in the Year of Our Lord Christ One thousand Seven Hundred and Twenty or Twenty One.

                                                                                                                                               Benj. Youngs Seal

                                                                                                                                                       Sam. Huchinson Seal
Signed Sealed and Delivered
In the presence of
Josiah Davison, Jo_el Parshale
Recorded May the 29^th 1735
? Wm Smith ?

I do not know how big the area was that James and Nathaniel obtained since the document refers to a ‘Right’ or Share.  I also do not know exactly where the land was located in the ‘Town of Southold’.  Southold was a very large area that encompasses what today is also the Town of Riverhead.  My guess, since I have looked at land ownership on a map in the Village of Southold with no mention of Nathaniel, that it was probably located around the Mattituck area.  I know that Nathaniel was frequently noted as being involved in this area.

This was an extremely difficult document to transcribe due to it’s age, about 280 years.  I took several pictures at different angles to try and minimize light reflections on the document due to the plastic sleeve the document is in.  After first transcribing the document from my photo I ran it through a program Vivid-Pix which helped me read several of the words I could not previously decipher.  I would definitely recommend this program if you are working with old documents and photos.  Vivid-Pix even has a free trail if you want to try it out before buying.

(click on image to enlarge)

I believe that the year ‘1739’ is at the top of this document.  My guess is that while the transaction is reported to have occurred in 1720 it was not actually recorded in this Ledger until 1739 probably copied from the actually document possessed by one of the holders of the deed perhaps.  The older handwriting, spellings of the times and age of the document made several of the words and names difficult to decipher.  I welcome other interpretations of the missing or incorrectly noted information.  Perhaps you can read it better or know of the missing names of several of the men?  Be sure to let me know.  I also find it interesting to see how several common in the area Surnames have changed spellings over the years.  This is definitely a document that others need to review so we can obtain all the names for historical reasons.

If you have any corrections, additions or stories to share I look forward to hearing them.
Enjoy the journey,
Debby

1690 Long Island Land Deed

Having both maternal and paternal ancestral lines that trace back to the early 1600s I have become more and more interested in land deeds over the years.  Recently, while on Long Island and searching for land records I wondered about how and when land deeds began on Long Island? I was amazed to find a land deed from 1690 between an early settler on Long Island and Native Americans.  How surprising to find a land deed going back that far!  This is a transcription of the original that is held by the Suffolk County Historical Society in Riverhead, New York. 

 (click on image to enlarge)

Transcription:

December the 30. 1690

Be it Known unto all men whom it may concern, that we whose hands are under written, do conform unto Richard Woodhull Junior of Brookhaven, his heirs executors administrators assigns for ever to have and to hold for ever, (that is to say) the High Ways on each side of the Neck, commonly called by the English Rattle Snake Neck the high ways to be Eight-Rods wide [44 yards], down to the Meadows with fencing stuts, building timber houses yards, or any live Timber what _ _ so ever the said Richard Woodhull shall have occasion for, with all other privileges or commanages [land owned by more than one person] yards Cow houses or other buildings with a further conformation of all the Meadows that is moveable whether high or low _ ground, fresh or salt grass, both in Snake Neck and in Wonacrosscome Neck and Connecticut Meadows Lands We whose hands are under written do conform unto the said Richard Woodhull his heirs and assigns forever, And further of the said Zobacheus Sachem, with the rest whose hands are underwritten, do give and conform unto the said Richard and his heirs and assigns for ever, that is to say Yards houses barns hovels _ and fencing across our Lands, For the conveniency of his Meadows and former Deed given both in Land and Meadow, both in the old Pathway _ and new, we the Said Indians do give grant make over and Conform all ye above said promises conformations gifts or grants above mentioned And we the said Indians whose hands are underwritten freely give _ Our good friend Richard Woodhull eight Rods deep of Woodland round the Neck next to Meadows both in Snake Neck and Wonacrosscome Neck for his conveniency for Wintering of Cattle: And this we whose hands are under written do Warranty against all persons or person what so ever shall lay any claim or challenge to ye same, and we do promise and witness we our heirs and assigns for ever to maintain, and give a further _ confirmation if need require.

As witness our hands

Tabacckas Eis mark

Wasqnasatsook Eis mark

Taceques Eis mark

Pamuta Eis mark

Antuok Eis mark

Wap Eis mark

Aiof Eis mark

Posuum Eis Mark

Wud Ramps

Singed and Sealed in presence of us

Tom T Frances Eis mark

Ludas Eis mark

Richard R. Floyd Eis mark

Susabbah Lloido

Deciphered and written from the original by Mr. John Thorne (?)
At Mastic, L.I. about 1910

• Note: Please excuse misspellings of names, etc. above.  If you know the correct spelling please let me know so corrections can be made.  There are also symbols that I was unable to replicate. 

As I transcribed this I wondered where exactly ‘Rattle Snake Neck’ was?  I searched for ‘Rattle Snake Neck, Long Island 1690’ and found the following in a book (click on title to read book for free on Google Books) entitled The Indian Place-Names on Long Island and Islands Adjacent: With Their Probable Significations by William Wallace Tooker (published in 1911)  on page 60:

Sometimes finding such a record, even though it doesn’t directly relate to your ancestors can be an amazing find.  Records like this help tell the story of the early settlers and what was happening around your ancestors.  What a treasure this document is for the history of the area!

If you have any corrections, additions or stories to share I look forward to hearing them.
Enjoy the journey,
Debby

Gena Philibert-Ortega Presents

Gena Philibert-Ortega presented 2 informative talks Saturday at the San Diego Genealogical Society.  Gena is an author of articles and books, speaker, blogger and genealogist with an emphasis on researching women’s history and lives.  Gena kept us engaged with examples of some of the interesting things she was able to find out about women.  Throughout both presentations Gena reminded us that researching our female ancestors is different then researching our male ancestors. 

Gena’s first presentation was entitled was entitled Wives, Girlfriends, Widows, Exes and Mistresses: Documenting Women.

Gena showed us some great examples of how events in our ancestor’s lives produce a variety of sources of information that we may not have thought of.  Gena talked about using genealogy databases, vital records, libraries/archives, digitized books/articles, using finding aids and relationships to locate information.  She also talked about not using the general ‘search’ options within databases but to search for a particular ‘type’ of record and then search within that record.

• I wanted to use some of Gena’s suggestions to see what I could find on Hannah Petty Warner from my last blog post.  Searching in Ancestry using the Card Catalog and taking a chance, I searched Presbyterian Church records and was able to locate the baptismal records of 4 of Hannah and Daniel’s children including my direct line ancestor James:

• I also now know that the family attended the local Presbyterian Church.
• Searching in Google Books for “Hannah Warner” I stumbled upon a book entitled The Descendants of Andrew Warner published in 1919. While the ‘Hannah’ I was looking for is not the Hannah I found in the book, Andrew Warner IS my 8th great-grandfather and this is an amazing find! 

Gena’s second presentation was entitled Her Name Was Not Known: Researching Your Female Ancestor’s Life.

During Gena’s presentation she talked again about how elusive our female ancestors may seem but we can still find out so much about them if we know how to search.  She discussed the five aspects of a Woman’s life that need to be considered when you are researching to help develop a better understanding of your ancestor: the woman herself, her family, the locality where the woman lived, the time period she lived in and information about her neighbors and community (FAN club-friends and neighbors).  When searching have a list of Keywords to search, such as all the variations of a woman’s name, a location, etc. and search each one. 

• If I go back to my post entitled Bible Records for Hannah Petty Warner and use some of Gena’s considerations for researching her what can I find to add to Hannah’s story?  I decided to look at the 1800 US Federal Census in a different way and I believe I find Hannah living with her son David Warner (her husband had died in 1787) based on her age at the time of the census.  If this is correct, I can tell by the census she was living in Riverhead, that her son Benjamin and family were living close by as where families named Woodhull, Corwin, Benjamin, Tuthill, Terry, Reeves, Youngs, Wells, etc.  These were her neighbors and coincidentally other family names I might be researching for other family lines.  This is good information to know.  Her son James, my direct ancestor, was living further away but in the same town.  I previously wouldn’t have looked at the Census since usually it’s hard to find women before the 1850 Census.
• Riverhead, founded in 1792,  had a total of 1498 inhabitants in 1800.  This all adds some more information to Hannah’s life story.

Gena gave us some amazing suggestions for searching for women by the records that were created around their lives.  Already I am realizing first hand that women’s records and information about their lives are available just not in the same way we search for our male ancestors.  Gena reminded us that “Thinking outside the proverbial genealogy box will assist you in finding clues to those ancestresses lives.” 

If you have any corrections, additions or stories to share I look forward to hearing them.
Enjoy the journey,
Debby

Be sure to check out Gena’s website Gena-Philibert-Ortega and her blog Gena’s Genealogy.  Gena has authored the books From the Family Kitchen: Discover Your Food Heritage and Preserve Favorite Recipes  and  Cemeteries of the Eastern Sierra. 

Nathan Benjamin II

As my research goes back in time it is sometimes very difficult to find and verify information on some ancestors.  Nathaniel Benjamin is my 5x great-grandfather.  What can I learn about him beyond his name?  I was surprised at what I found.

Nathan was born in 1733. The son of Nathan and Deborah Clark Benjamin. 
                                                                                          (click on map to enlarge)

(section of a Map engraved and published by William Fadden 1779 and in a collection at Stony Brook University Libraries)

1750 According to an article published in the Long Island Forum in 1958 and written by Lillian Hallock “Nathan was one of the pioneers who went into the western part of Southold Town known as the “Great Woods” or “Third Survey”  and there built his house and reared his family.  Then, and many years later, there were no roads that any wagon could travel on-only stone, boats or ponderous ox carts.  He had a large farm and owned the highest cliffs on the Sound shore, nearly half mile wide, from the Sound to the Manor Line, nearly four miles long.”

In 1775 Nathan was a Lieutenant in the American Revolution. 
Nathan married Jemima Aldrich on 13 February 1754/5 in Southold, Suffolk, New York.
Nathan and Jemima’s children were:

• Nathan Jr. (born 1759/60)  - my 4x great-grandfather
• Mary Bethia (born 1759/60)
• Phineas (1762)
• Jacob (born 1764)
• Deborah
• Jemima (born 1779)

From the book entitled The Benjamin Family in America I learned that in 1777 Nathan moved his family to Saybrook and then to Guilford, Connecticut.  Returning to Long Island in 1780.

In the 1790 US Federal Census Nathan is reported to be living in the Township of South Hold, Suffolk County, New York.  He is the Head of Household.  There are in the household-3 Free white persons-Males -aged 16 or over, Free white persons-Females-2, Number of all other free persons-1, Number of household persons-6.

In the 1800 US Federal Census Nathan is reported to be living in the Town of Riverhead, Suffolk County, New York.  Free White Persons - Males - Under 10- 2, Free White Persons - Males -10 thru 15-1, Free White Persons - Males - 26 thru 44-1, Free White Persons - Females - Under 10-2,  Free White Persons - Females - 10 thru 15-2, Free White Persons - Females - 26 thru 44-1, Number of Household Members Under 16-7, Number of Household Members Over 25-2, Number of Household Members-9

Nathan died on May 14, 1805 at the age of 72 and is buried in the Baiting Hollow Congregational Church Cemetery, Riverhead, Suffolk, New York.

I definitely want to learn more about Nathan’s Revolutionary War service.  I will have to see what I can find.


If you have any corrections or additions or stories to share I look forward to hearing them.
Enjoy the journey,
Debby