Genealogy By the States – Week 11 – New York

Part of the reason I took on the Genealogy By the States challenge is because I knew it would force me not only to post something every week, but it would allow me to get in some research time.  Only 11 weeks in and I have made some great discoveries that I may never have gotten around to.  This week was no different. 

I have lots of New York connections so my initial problem was figuring out who or what to tackle.  I ultimately decided to explore the New York Land Records, 1630-1975 image collection that was added to FamilySearch a few months ago.  What a relief to be able to explore the many counties I needed to search (just for one family!) from the comfort of my home.  I cannot begin to tell you how many films I would have had to order just to research this one family, not to mention the other families I have in New York. 

Part of the reason so many counties were involved is because this particular family lived in three different areas in New York, and during the times they were in a county, new counties were being formed.  Thank goodness for Red Book and the thoroughness of information on county formations and records.  And fortunately, I had kept excellent notes on the specific towns and the trail of counties the belonged to and when.

After searching all but one of the applicable counties, I found three deeds that were relevant to my research goal of finding land records for Aaron Webster in known places of residence in New York.  Oddly enough, each of the three are the selling of land and I was not able to find the initial purchase for any of them.  The good news is I have a better timeline to work with, which will be helpful for continued research on this family.

Below is one of the deeds I found in Jefferson County.¹

Click image to see the original on FamilySearch.

Another interesting resource I found was The Balloting Book, and Other Documents Relating to Military Bounty Lands in the State of New York (this was found under Onondaga County).  This book lists all of the townships (including those outside Onondaga County) and who was awarded each lot of land.  It also lists each person and whether they were actually deeded the land or if they assigned it to someone else.  For more information about the Military Tract of Central New York, see the Wikipedia entry for Central New York Military Tract and information put together for the Cayuga County NYGenWeb Project entitled A Summary History of the Military Tract of Central NY.

Even though this resource didn’t really apply to what I was working on (or any of my ancestors, that I’m aware of at this point in time), I thought maybe I could figure out who was awarded Lot 47 in Fabius that Aaron acquired and later sold in 1806.  I hoped that I could follow the trail and perhaps find the deed where Aaron purchased the land, thinking perhaps it wasn’t indexed correctly or at all under Aaron as the grantee. 

I was able to figure out that Thomas Warner, Lt. was awarded Lot 47 in Fabius and assigned it to Richard Platt.  This was verified by the deed index showing the transaction for that land from Thomas Warner to Richard Platt (however, I cannot locate the actual record).  Unfortunately, I could not find a record of Richard Platt ever selling that land.  On top of that, in the handwritten pages after the book, there are other names listed for Lot 47 in Fabius:  William Cooper and Seth Johnson.  This was further confirmed by the Awards of the Onondaga Commissioners book.  I’ll have to work on this further and see what shakes out.

My focus was on Aaron Webster’s land transactions in New York, but while I was searching the indexes, I also noted other Websters I knew were in the same areas.  So now I have a list of other deeds I need to pull and work on in the future.  My next step in Aaron’s project will be to transcribe the three deeds I found and adjust my visual timeline accordingly.  Those “unknown” gaps of time are getting smaller!!

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Sources

1.  Jefferson, New York, Deed Records, F: 210, Aaron Webster to Roger Read, deed, 21 March 1814; digital images, "New York, Land Records, 1630-1975," FamilySearch (familysearch.org : accessed 20 March 2013).

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Genealogy By the States is a theme created by Jim Sanders over at the Hidden Genealogy Nuggets blog.

Take 2 – My Revolutionary War Patriots

This post first appeared on this blog on July 3, 2010.  It has been slightly modified.

In honor of Independence Day, I thought I’d write a post about my ancestors who are Revolutionary War patriots.

Robert Parks

Robert PARKS is the patriot I went in under for membership to National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR).  His service is listed as a private serving under Captain Benager Leffingwell.  Robert is my sixth great-grandfather.  He was born 4 December 1737 in Voluntown, Connecticut and died in 1810 in Windham, Connecticut.  Following is my direct line to him (in bold):

1. Me
2. Joseph CAHILL (1945-1989), m. Jean MILLER (living)
3. Joan Garrison McMAHON (1927-1980), m. John Francis CAHILL (1922-1984)
4. Emma Jane GARRISON (1901-1970), m. John Ward McMAHON (1902-1962)
5. Sarah Jane MULLIGAN (1870-1947), m. James Manly GARRISON (1861-1909)
6. Sarah Norton WEBSTER (1828-1894), m. James MULLIGAN (1812-1879)
7. Betsey PARKS (1801-1856), m. Calvin Price WEBSTER (1802-1856)
8. Robert PARKS (1776-1863), m. Mary “Polly” Wheeler SMITH (1781-1844)
9. Robert PARKS (1737-1810), m. Elizabeth HALL (?-?)

I’m pretty sure that Robert’s father, Joseph, is also a patriot.  Even if he didn’t serve, I’m sure he contributed in some way that qualifies him as a patriot.  Still working on this one.

Jonathan Webster

Jonathan WEBSTER took the Oath of Fidelity in October 1777 at Glastonbury, Connecticut.  Jonathan in my seventh great-grandfather.  He was born 5 October 1705 in Hartford, Connecticut and died 14 November 1781 in Glastonbury.  Following is my direct line to him (in bold):

1. Me
2. Joseph CAHILL (1945-1989), m. Jean MILLER (living)
3. Joan Garrison McMAHON (1927-1980), m. John Francis CAHILL (1922-1984)
4. Emma Jane GARRISON (1901-1970), m. John Ward McMAHON (1902-1962)
5. Sarah Jane MULLIGAN (1870-1947), m. James Manly GARRISON (1861-1909)
6. Sarah Norton WEBSTER (1828-1894), m. James MULLIGAN (1812-1879)
7. Calvin Price WEBSTER (1802-1856), m. Betsey PARKS (1801-1856)
8. Aaron WEBSTER (1775-1823), m. Sarah NORTON (1780-1823)
9. Ashbel WEBSTER (1733-1801), m. Rachel PRICE (1737-1813)
10. Jonathan WEBSTER (1705-1781), m. Mabel RISLEY (1718-1871)

Solomon Norton

Solomon NORTON is apparently my sixth great-grandfather, although I have not been able to prove this through actual records.  According to NSDAR, he is a patriot, having served as a private under Captain Bostwick in New York.  There are three members listed that have gone in under his supposed daughter Sarah, but again, I have not proven this connection through any records.  By all accounts, Solomon was born 12 May 1751 in Farmington, Connecticut and died after 1837 probably in Villanova, New York.  Following is my direct line to him (in bold), assuming Sarah is his daughter:

1. Me
2. Joseph CAHILL (1945-1989), m. Jean MILLER (living)
3. Joan Garrison McMAHON (1927-1980), m. John Francis CAHILL (1922-1984)
4. Emma Jane GARRISON (1901-1970), m. John Ward McMAHON (1902-1962)
5. Sarah Jane MULLIGAN (1870-1947), m. James Manly GARRISON (1861-1909)
6. Sarah Norton WEBSTER (1828-1894), m. James MULLIGAN (1812-1879)
7. Calvin Price WEBSTER (1802-1856), m. Betsey PARKS (1801-1856)
8. Sarah NORTON (1780-1823), m. Aaron WEBSTER (1775-1823)
9. Solomon NORTON (1751-after 1837), m. Sarah REXFORD (1757-?)

When I wrote this back in 2010, I wasn’t able to prove whether Sarah Norton was the daughter of Solomon.  Unfortunately, I’m no closer to an answer.  But, I have found Solomon’s pension papers.  The copy of the original can be found here, and a transcription can be found here.  In 2011 I wrote a two-part post about Solomon, including a research plan.  Part 1 can be found here, and Part 2 can be found here.

A big salute to all those who have served or are currently serving our country.

Also, a reminder that anyone can access the NSDAR’s Genealogical Research System to search for patriots.   Celebrate the 4th of July by doing a little research on your Revolutionary War patriots.

SAR Applications Searchable on Ancestry

Ancestry has a new collection, just in time for the 4th of July.  You can now search the Sons of the American Revolution applications, which are indexed by all of the names found in the lineage of the application.  Images of the applications are also available.  I could not find the option to download the images, nor could I right-click the image in Firefox…I could right-click and save the image from Chrome (don’t know about IE…I don’t dare open it!).

I’ve only done a few quick searches, but I have already found SAR members who are cousins and am able to fill in some missing pieces and links in my research.  They’re also providing information to carry down the lines into the current generation, which I had not been able to do previously.  Hoping to find more as time permits.

And, don’t forget that you can also search the Daughters of the American Revolution databases by ancestor or descendant and obtain the lineage from the member’s application.

Are You Good at Reading Bad Handwriting?

I am working on transcribing the pension application for Solomon Naughton/Norton, Revolutionary War soldier.  There are about 20 words across 5 pages that I am having some trouble with.  If anyone would like to try to decipher these words, I’d appreciate the help.  All of the words are highlighted.  If you click on the link, it will open the document in Sribd for easier viewing and options to enlarge.  A big thank you in advance for anyone wishing to help.

UPDATE:  See new post, Bad Handwriting Gets Better With More Eyes.

NORTON, Solomon NORTON Pension Application