What can you learn from a land record?

While working on Carrie’s Letters I found the following in one of her letters to her sister dated 27 March 1893, Baiting Hollow:

John is a business man now.  Has just got his deed for 37 1/2 acres of land all cleared and ready to plow but 1 1/2 acres, and that is in big wood.  Is going to begin plowing for oats tomorrow morning with two teams if the man knows how to do it.

When I was transcribing this letter I wasn’t sure about the number of acres.  I had never looked for land deeds but thought this might be a good time to start.  While I was back visiting my family in New York I decided to go search out Suffolk County Land Deeds.  My father decided to go with me and we had quite an experience looking for a possible land deed that would match Carrie’s letter.  Here is what I finally found (and transcribed):

Once I had this transcribed I realized I was incorrect about the acreage.  It wasn’t 37 1/2 but rather 57 1/2 acres (see arrow)
I now know who my great grandfather bought the land from, a description of where the land is, who held the mortgages and what the conditions of the sale were.
I had a chuckle over the condition that they ‘shall quietly enjoy the said premises’.  I also chuckled at my great grandmother’s comment above that ‘if the man knows how to do it (farming)’ since John had been farming for years already just not on his ‘own’ land.  I also continuously get a hint of my great grandmother’s sense of humor in her letters.
So, there is a lot I was able to learn by looking at the land record.  I also like being able to confirm things that Carrie has talked about in her letters.
Please let me know if you have any information to add.  I would enjoy hearing from you.
Enjoy the journey,
Debby

Portis/Porter M. Coolbaugh

What I already knew:
My maternal grandmother was Nettie Emily Coolbaugh Cornell.  She was believed to have been born in Athens, Bradford County, PA in September 1882/1883.

Her parents were Portis/Porter M. Coolbaugh (b. 14 Nov 1844 Monroeton, Bradford, PA    d. 16 Oct. 1911  Oxford, NY).  (Porter’s first wife was Emily H. Arnout)

and Harriet Bowning Coolbaugh (b. about 1850 and died 1930)

I thought Portis was in the Civil War.  I was able to find on line a copy of his Application to the New York State Woman’s Relief Corps Home. Portis, at 66 years of age, filed his application in Genoa, Cayuga County, NY on 4 April 1910.  From that single document I was able to gather a lot of information. 
Portis  was a Private in Company C, 107th Pennsylvania Volunteers.  He enlisted on 1 Mar 1862 and was discharged at the end of his term 2 Mar 1865 at Hatcher’s Run, VA.   

From his application he stated he married Harriet on 22 June 1875 and they had 4 children: Max Morris 33 yo, Manda (Amanda) B. 30 yo, Netta E. 27 years, Charles D. 24 yo.  He stated he was born 14 Dec. 1844 in Town of Monroeton, Bradford County, PA.

He stated that while in the line of duty at Fetchers Chapel, near Falmouth, VA he was disabled after “contracted Pneumonia which left me with affected lungs and in the Summer of 1864 I had the second severe attack of Chronic Diarrhea which brought on Piles and disease of the Rectum which have troubled me ever since”.  “Since leaving the service he on July 1908 contracted by a fall was ruptured from which he is now suffering, and by reason of which he is unable to support himself by his own efforts and labor, that he therefore applies for admission to the New York State Woman’s Relief Corps Home.” (I was able to find information on the internet for the Battle of Fredricksburg, VA in December 1862.  Falmouth is across the river from Fredricksburg.)

The application states he did not own real estate or have a mortgage.  He had no yearly income.  He would start receiving a $14.00 per month pension, Certificate # 368477 payable at the Buffalo Agency commencing on the 12thg day of January 1910.
It looks like Portis and Harriet were both moving in to the Relief Corps Home.

The application also lists by great grandmother Mrs. Netta E. Cornell as a Patternmaker who lived at Atwater, NY R.D. 25

I also know by the application that my great great grandfather was able to sign his own name.

What I want to know:
What information would Portis’ Civil War Pension records have for me?  Ordered

Please let me know if you have any information that adds to my search.
Enjoy the journey,
Debby

Ebenezer Barry and Catherine Bolen Barry

Today I’m trying to look at the information I have on my great great great grandparents Ebenezer and Catherine.
My paternal gradmother was Sarah Agnes King Warner (b. 1902 Brooklyn, NY and d. 1970 Riverhead, NY)
Her parents were George Washington King (b. 1878 Brooklyn, NY and d. 1959 Huntington, NY)

and Sarah Agnes Rowan (b. 1879 NYC and d. 1957 Brooklyn, NY)

George’s parents were Louis Arthur King (b. 1838/43 Brooklyn, NY and d. 1890 Brooklyn, NY)

and Sarah Maria Barry (b. 1851/2 Brooklyn, NY and  d. 1926 Brooklyn, NY)

Sarah’s parents were Ebenezer Barry (b. 1821 Sweden and d. 1901 Bronz, NY)

and Catherine Bolen (b. 1831 Gibraltar  d. 1891 New York City)
I try to enter information into my Legacy Family Tree program.  One of the many reasons I really like it is the chronology chart for

Some things I still don’t know about Ebenezer-what ship did Ebenezer come to the United States on, where was he born in Sweden, who were his parents?  What type of boat did he work on-did he do something during the Civil War?
Some things I still don’t know about Catherine-what ship did Catherine come to the United States on, did she come with her parents, was she born in Gibraltar, can I verify who were her parents?
I would love to find descendants of other children of Ebenezer and Catherine-John F., Ann Amelia, Elizabeth C., Louisa, Mary E., Ida S.
If you have any information that might add to my research I would enjoy hearing from you!
Enjoy the journey,
Debby

Carrie’s Letters - Bringing ancestral letters to life

When I was growing up all I ever knew about my great grandmother, Carrie Terry Warner, was that she died when my grandfather, Olin F. Warner, Sr. was a child.  She was someone that I never heard anyone talk about and I never asked.  I guess I thought since my grandfather was so young when she died he probably didn’t know that much or perhaps it was a sad subject and not one to be discussed.

So, I realized about 6 years ago that we had these letters…WOW!  What a great find.  I decided I needed to scan them and transcribe them.  Maybe if they were in chronological order and a print that was easy to read I would be able to get to know Carrie, my great grandmother.  It took my father and I several days to remove each letter from it’s envelope and scan them.  Then I began to transcribe each letter.  That seemed to take forever since pages of letters were not in order and she sometimes wrote side ways to use each inch of paper and on several pages she wrote her letter and then turned the page 90 degrees and wrote horizontally over the previous writing.

Thank goodness for technology and being able to enlarge and rotate a pdf page and lots of patience!  After I transcribed all the letters my son, Jason, helped me set up a ‘book format’ program that I could put each letter in to chronologically.  Great!  Now I thought I’ll go back and check each page for typing errors and I’m done, right?

Well, not so fast….I realized as I was reading the typed letters that I had tons of questions…who is that person she is talking about, that barn that burned down, the Post Office, what was that ‘Train Depot robbery’ she talked about, or that book that she was reading, to name a few.  I had set up my book format to have side bars.  Now the fun began. 

To begin - handwritten on the oldest letter’s envelope was “ Found these letters in attic and this is oldest one.  From April 16, 1873 to this date would make Mother (Ella Terry Billard) 7 years and 1 month old to the day.  Was she writing letters then? This was answered by Carrie’s friend and school mate who must have been a local girl because in the fall they returned to school together by boat from Greenport to N.Y. R”  I believe the R referrs to Russell Billard, George and Ella Terry Billard’s son. 
Now I can make the guess that Russell found the letters and gave them to my great grandfather John B. Warner for them to end up in his house in Aquebogue, NY. I can verify Ella was born 16 Apr 1873.  Who was the ‘local girl’ Russell referred to?  From reading the letters the first one dated 16 May 1880 was addressed to Ella and signed by Hannah.  Who is Hannah?  Russel said they traveled by boat to NY and then to Trenton, NJ for school.  So, I went to a local newspaper (Suffolk County Historic Newspapers) that is available digitally.  I was able to find the following;

Publication: The Long Island Traveler     July 1, 1880     page #2       Peconic “Arrived per Coit Sunday morning, Misses Tillie Edwards, Hannah King and Carrie Terry, from the Trenton Normal School, N.J.”

Now I can verify that Carrie went to the Trenton Normal School in N.J. and that the ‘Hannah’ who wrote the letter to Ella was most likely Hannah King. I then went to the 1870 Census for Peconic, Suffolk County, New York and found:

Peconic: Hannah King born 1860, daughter of Henry and Elizabeth King

I was able to find Tillie (researched ‘girl’s names 1860’ to see Tillie as the nickname for Matilda) listed in the 1880 census:

Matilda L. Edwards as a boarder at the Trenton Normal School in N.J.  In 1870,  I think I found her listed as living in Alachua, Florida with Judge William and Julia Edwards.

As I research information for Carrie’s Letters I sometimes make guesses.  I hope that I am putting enough research into my guesses so they are considered by others to be reasonably correct, valid guesses.  If anyone reading this has information to verify or correct a supposition I have made I would greatly appreciate hearing from you.

Enjoy the journey,
Debby

Organizing information Joseph Cornell

When I travel to visit family in other areas I try to gather as much information and original documents as I can.  Unfortunately, I rarely have time to do more than put the info in an individual folder.  I like to use Legacy to record my family information.  It has many great features but one of the ones I like the best is that I can run a Chronology report on any person in my tree.  This helps me see all the ‘events’ in their life in chronological order. 
When I find the individual I am working on I click the tab for Chronology-

Then I get my Chronolgy report-

This is a great way to see my information but I like to also have information at a glance to keep track of what I have and what my plan is in my research.  I developed the following chart that helps me determine my ‘To Do’ list for this ancestor.

Now, at a glance, I know where I am in my research for this individual and this gives me a way to keep track of what’s next.

I would greatly appreciate hearing from you if you have comments or information to share.

Enjoy the journey,
Debby

Sentimental Sunday The Teapot

Have you ever ‘inherited’ objects that belonged to your ancestors?  Perhaps it was something you just liked or it just reminded you of someone special?  Perhaps it was an item you admired but never really knew the story behind it? Join me as I try to discover the ‘roots’ of a teapot that I inherited from my grandparents Olin and Agnes (King) Warner…

I am a tea drinker and over the years have collected teapots from various locations I have visited and received them as thoughtful gifts.  Growing up I remember this teapot being in my grandparent’s house in a curio cabinet.  After their deaths and that of my Aunt, Gloria Warner Farrell,  my cousins were tasked with cleaning out their house.  As they were sorting through things I asked for this teapot.  I knew nothing about it but for as long as I can remember it was in my grandparent’s house.  I brought the teapot with me as I moved over the years and casually asked others if anyone knew the history of the teapot.  I also asked a cousin on my paternal grandmother’s side to see if this was a King family treasure but no, it was believed to be from the Warner side.  That helped me narrow the family line.

Recently, while transcribing Carrie’s Letters Carrie talked about buying dishes, etc. after she married.  That got me thinking, hmmm… could this old teapot in my curio cabinet have been my great-grandmother’s?  How do I figure that out?
I started by removing the teapot and looking for any identifying marks on the teapot.  I found the following imprint on the bottom

It was hard to make out the letters on the imprint or the image but I thought I could read ADAMS.  Then I did what my son always tells me to do “Google it, Mom!”
When I googled

I found the following                                                 

That led me to

Now that I had something to compare the imprint to I could varify that the rest of the letters around the image were indeed ‘Warranted-Staffordshire Adams’ and the image was of an eagle. Which also gave me a date of when the teapot was made

Next, to try and figure out who it might have belonged to.  So, I knew that the teapot was not originally John and Carrie (Terry) Warner’s.  They were married in September 1885.  I then looked at the other Warner’s wedding dates figuring that this might have been a gift or part of a new household.  I also looked at Carrie Terry Warner’s line for similar dates.  The date that made the most sense was the wedding of Daniel and Eleanor (Howell) Warner’s in October 1841.

So, my guess is that the teapot originally belonged to Daniel and Eleanor, my great-great grandparents.  I believe that after their deaths in 1895 it would make sense that one of their sons (my great-grandfather John), who lived a few houses down the road would have inherited the teapot.  Carrie predeceased John and upon his death in 1920 his household was disolved and it’s a strong possiblity that my grandfather- Olin, Sr. (still at home at the time) might have kept this as a family treasure.

There is no way that I can ever prove where the teapot came from.  I am hoping that I have made a good guess by doing my research.  The researching proved interesting and informative and I know a lot now about Adams Staffordshire pottery.  The teapot has been cracked/broken and repaired over the years, so, I doubt it has any monetary value but the sentimental value is priceless!  I also now know that this is the OLDEST teapot I own.  What a journey!

If you have any information or a similar story to share please let me know.
Enjoy the journey,
Debby

Carrie’s letters Snow Days

Ancestral family letters can tell us about everyday life during the time period when they were written.  After my father and I scanned the box of letters that my great-grandmother Carrie Terry Warner wrote from 1880-1910 I transcribbed them all.  (See previous blogs – Carrie’s Letters posted 11/25/2015 and Carrie’s Letters Christmas 1896 posted 1/1/2016)  Once transcribbed I put them into a book format program and decided to put side bars to explain some terms. etc. that might come up.  I would often  think while transcribing about the audience that would read them in book format.  Would my son or niece and nephews reading them know what certain old time terms were?  I want the letters to be easily read by others.  Well, as I began to edit my transcriptions my curiosity also kicked in.  Who was Uncle Albert or Mrs. Griffing and Mrs. Tuthill of New Suffolk?  Why was she talking about them?  What was the train depot robbery?  Or the ‘Office’ that she talked about?  Thus began, now about 5 years later, a quest to determine as much as I can about people and the about the events from 1880-1910.

Growing up on the East Coast and later working there as a Teacher we enjoyed those occassional snow days.  Here is an except from a letter my great-grandmother Carrie wrote to her sister Ella Terry Billard on 15 December 1904 (Thursday), Baiting Hollow, NY.


“School is out here for the week.  Miss S. went home yesterday.  She boards up to Mrs. G. B. Wells and this snow has made it impossible for her to get back and forth and her sister is married Sunday, so she wanted to go home and John did not say her nay.  Think it will be as profitable for the children to have school a week when they can attend.  Terry and Wesley missed two days but went off this morning again.”
John was Carrie’s husband John B. Warner. Her son Terry was 16 years old and son Wesley was 14 years old.  I am fairly certain that Miss S. is Miss Agnes B. Shipman from Southold, NY who was listed as a School Teacher in the 1900 census.  I believe Mrs. G. B. Wells was Susan F. Wells the wife of George B. Wells of Baiting Hollow, NY. 
I also go back to the local newspapers that are now, thankfully, digitized and available for all to read.  I also like to see how close my great-grandmother’s account compares to the local newspaper.  I found the following article in the County Review dated 23 December 1904:
“ Baiting Hollow   There has been no school since Dec. 19, when the roads were in such a condition it was impossible for the teacher to come.  The following Wednesday Miss Shipman went home to attend the wedding of her sister and has not returned.”
Unfortunately, the newspaper from Southold, NY is missing the editions for this time period to find the wedding announcement for Miss Shipman’s sister either Ida or Mary, I belive.  I hope you agree that adding the additional pieces of information to the letters makes them a bit more interesting.  If you have any information to add or share, please, let me know.
Enjoy the journey, Debby