My Family History Primer, Expanded

Compiled and Edited by

Charles W. Paige

charlespaige@aol.com a.k.a. charlespaige@netscape.net; also chasme.paige@gmail.com

May 19, 2007; updated June 13, 2013, updated and expanded April 11, 2016, updated October 14, 2024

[Following the primer, also find an explanation of some “cousinships,” starting page 18; lists of ancestral and other relations used when determining cousinships, starting on page 20; a list of Barnes family life longevities on page 23; some genealogy research hints, starting page 24; and a family migration to Michigan chart on page 28.]

My Father’s Side of the Family

 

Grandparents Lyman and Hannah (Francis) Keyes:  brought my line of Keyes from East Bloomfield, Ontario Co., NY, to Cambria, Niagara Co., NY, before 1820; had seven children
(Fay, Brigham and Keys/Keyes lines:  My 3^rd Great-Grandparents; Lyman is also my 5^th cousin 5 times removed)

Grandmother Hannah (Francis) Keyes:  brought some of her children to Climax, Kalamazoo Co., MI, in 1835, seven years after Grandfather Lyman died; farmed and taught earliest school classes in her own residence at Climax before a school was built; married Step-Grandfather George Fletcher of PA, VA, and MI

Cousins to each other and my cousins architect Maurice Powers Carney of Battle Creek, MI, and attorney and amateur photographer Claude Silas Carney of Kalamazoo, MI:  each married a sister of brothers Richard and Joseph Burchnall Westnedge of Kalamazoo; Richard died at Manila, Philippines, of typhoid fever during the Spanish American War; “Fightin’ Joe” died of illness at Nantes, France, at the end of The Great War; Kalamazoo’s West Street renamed Westnedge Avenue in their honor
(Fay, Brigham and Keys/Keyes lines:  My 2^nd cousins twice removed and 8^th cousins twice removed)

Grandparents Phillip and Mary Shook:  brought my line of Shooks from PA (probably Turbot Twp., Northumberland Co.) to Lockport, Niagara Co., NY, by way of Seneca Co., NY; their house used as meeting place to start area's German Lutheran and Reformed Church, of which Phillip became an elder January 1, 1837 (later called the Evangelical Lutheran Church); Phillip and Mary had eight children; Phillip had three children by second wife Step-Grandmother Hannah
(Shook, Keys/Keyes lines:  My 4^th Great-Grandparents)

Grandfather Johnathan “Jonas” Shook:  was a principal member at time of organization of English Lutheran Church at Cambria, Niagara Co., NY, in 1837 (later called St. Paul's Lutheran Church); had nine children by wife Grandmother Annah (LaRoche) Shook
(Shook, Keys/Keyes line:  My 3^rd Great-Grandparents)

Grandparents Jonathan and Mary (Fay) Brigham:  married as first cousins; had ten children; Mary’s father was Grandfather John Fay who sailed to America in 1656 on same ship (the Speedwell) with Grandfather Thomas Barns, sailing from Gravesend about May 20, 1656 and landing in Boston, Suffolk Co., MA, June 27, 1656; the Fay line and Barns line joined nearly three hundred years later with marriage of Parents Jennie Louise Barnes and Howard Oswald Paige
(Fay, Brigham and Keys/Keyes lines:  My 7^th Great-Grandparents; Jonathan and Mary are also my 1^st cousins 9 times removed)

Cousins, the presidents and governors Bush:  shared grandparents John and Mary (Brigham) Fay; besides other elected and appointed governmental offices, George Herbert Walker Bush was 11^th Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), 43^rd Vice President of the United States (under President Ronald Reagan), and 41^st President; son George Walker Bush became the 46^th Governor of Texas and 43^rd President of the United States; and other son Jeb Bush was the 43^rd Governor of Florida
(Fay line:  My cousin George H. W. is 9^th and 10^th cousin and George W. and Jeb are 9^th and 10^th cousins once removed)

Grandparents Orlando and Lucinda (Shook) Keyes:  brought my line of Keyes from Cambria, Niagara Co., NY, to Climax, Kalamazoo Co., MI, in 1851; had seven children
(Fay, Brigham, Shook and Keys/Keyes lines:  My 2^nd Great-Grandparents; Orlando is also 6^th cousin 4 times removed)

Grandfather Rev. Orlando Keyes:  originally a cooper by trade; ordained a Methodist minister of the gospel about 1859; enlisted during Civil War in the 12^th Michigan Infantry, Army of the Republic, as Private with new son-in-law Private James Powers, and later served as chaplain of the 12^th Michigan Veteran Volunteer Infantry, dying January 12, 1866, from disease contracted in the army

Grandfather Riley Preston Page:  born at Macedon, Wayne Co., NY; came to Branch Co., MI, from Webster, Monroe Co., NY, with parents William H. and Chloe (Thayer) Robinson Page, brother William H., Jr., and some half brothers about 1857; returned there alone about 1896; fathered six children—three apiece by first two wives, Step-Grandmother Elizabeth Adelaide (Hollenbeck) Page and Grandmother Sarah M. (Keyes) Page; was a farmer, farm laborer, then sewing machine traveling salesman in MI and shoe maker/shoe repairer in NY; in 1897 bought house belonging to his half-sister Chloe M. (Robinson) Smith on Main Street in Webster, Monroe Co., NY; married third wife Step-Grandmother Emma (Conant) Finkle Wright Page at Webster; in 1907, purchased and moved to the George Brown house at Ontario Center, Wayne Co., NY; spent last years with Emma’s daughter Elizabeth (Wright) McMillan Merrill of East Rochester and then Fairport, Monroe Co., NY
(Tayer/Thayer and Page/Paige lines:  My Great-Grandfather and also 8^th cousin 3 times removed)

Grandmother Sarah M. (Keyes) Page:  married in Kalamazoo, MI, Step-Grandfather Harvey Olmstead Cline “H.O.,” who was a farmer, storekeeper, real estate broker, barber, and served two terms as sheriff of Ingham Co., MI; united in marriage by N. J. Cogshall, Clergyman, and marriage witnessed by Rev. C. C. McCabe of New York City and Rev. J. C. Floyd of Albion, MI; to “the two thousand prisoners who came under her care she was a true adviser and many a wayward one has been led to reform due to her kindness and motherly advice”
(Fay, Brigham and Keys/Keyes lines:  My Great-Grandmother and also 7^th cousin 3 times removed)

Uncle James Powers, husband of Aunt Irene “Rene” (Keyes) Powers:  served as Private in the 12th Michigan Veteran Volunteer Infantry with his new father-in-law, Rev. Orlando Keyes; after the war was employed as a Climax Twp., Kalamazoo Co., MI, teacher in 1865, 1867 (with Aunt Irene), and 1875, was a school inspector in 1868 and 1875, as a Republican was elected Highway Commissioner in 1871 and 1873, and Township Clerk 1874-76, but as a Democrat was chosen as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention from Michigan in 1896, was elected by 2nd District of Kalamazoo Co. to Michigan's House of Representatives for 1897-8 on the Democratic People's Union Silver ticket, and was an unsuccessful candidate for circuit judge in Michigan's 5th Circuit, 1899; with Aunt Irene spent last years in Seattle, King Co., WA; their cremains remained unclaimed until discovered in the 21^st century and given proper military burials
(Fay, Brigham, Shook and Keys/Keyes lines:  Irene was my Great-Grandaunt and also 7^th cousin 3 times removed)

Cousin Jesse Daniel Orlando Powers a.k.a. Jesse D. O. Powers:  like grandfather Orlando Keyes became a minister, though of a different denomination; attended Battle Creek College, after which he taught high school for two years; following marriage to former Mary Esther “Etta” Kraft, the couple attended the University of Michigan, then Jesse attended Meadville (PA) Theological College, from which he graduated in June 1897; that year he moved the family to Kennebunk, York Co., ME, becoming pastor of the First Unitarian Church, was elected superintendent of public schools, and became president of the school board; Sioux City (IA) Unitarian Church beckoned him in 1901, where he served until 1907, there organizing the Associated Charities; the family’s final hometown became Seattle, King Co., WA, where Jesse became pastor of the First Unitarian Church in January 1908; according to volume 6, p. 679, of the “History of Woman Suffrage,” published in 1922 by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan Brownell Anthony, et al, “In Seattle no one spoke more frequently or convincingly [for the amendment allowing women the right to vote] than the Rev. J. D. O. Powers of the First Unitarian Church and the Rev. Sidney Strong of Queen Anne Congregational Church;” that same book, Volume 5, p. 260, included Jesse’s name in the list of Seattle ministers who opened with prayer various sessions of Seattle’s 1909 national suffrage convention; he was listed as president of the State of Washington Peace Society in 1913, and in 1914 was appointed by Governor Lister as a delegate to the national peace conference held in Michigan
(Fay, Brigham, Shook and Keys/Keyes lines:  My 1^st cousin twice removed and also 8^th cousin twice removed)

Cousin Margret W. (Keyes) Blackenstoe Reed:  with second husband Irishman James Frazier Reed and four of her children, traveled from Union, Monroe Co., VA, to San Jose, Santa Clara Co., CA; survived ill-fated and traumatic Donner party, James Frazier Reed being one of its leaders; Margret brought one child born at Springfield, Sangamon Co., IL, by first husband Lloyd Carter Blackenstoe, and three children by James Frazier Reed—three more Reed children would be born in San Jose
(Brigham line:  My 5^th cousin five times removed)

Cousin Gershom Keyes, Great-Grandfather of the above Margret W. Keyes, took his family from Shrewsbury, Worcester, MA to Virginia, where he established Keyes Ferry on the Shanandoah River around the same time as Robert Harper established Harpers Ferry “at the confluence of the Potomac and Shanandoah Rivers” nearby—the latter ferry noted for the connection with its armory, John Brown, and the beginnings of the Civil War; Keyes Ferry was initially located in Mudfort, Berkeley Co, VA, in an area which later became the town of Bolivar in Jefferson Co., WV; according to historicharpersferry.com, besides a farm, livestock, two slaves and the ferry service, “Keyes owned a gristmill, sawmill, smithy or blacksmith shop, and two distilleries”
(Brigham line:  My 2^nd cousin eight times removed)

Cousin Brigham Young:  replaced Joseph Smith as head of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after Smith killed; took Mormons to Great Salt Lake area of Utah to escape persecution; founded Salt Lake City; explored a natural wonder of UT he named Zion, which later became Zion National Park; had fifty-seven children by twenty-three wives—thirteen of the children were born of six wives who had been widows of Joseph Smith
(Brigham line:  My 5^th cousin five times removed)

Cousin Ruth Elizabeth “Bette” Davis:  with mother—cousin Ruth Elizabeth (Favor) Davis a.k.a. “Ruthie”—left Lowell, Middlesex Co., MA, for Hollywood, CA, in 1930 as did so many other star-struck hopefuls yearning for fame and a career in movies; she found both under the name “Bette” Davis
(Keys/Keyes line:  My 7^th cousin twice removed and daughter Bette 8^th cousin once removed)

Grandfather Charles Orlando Page:  survived diphtheria contracted as an infant to be the only of three surviving children of Grandfather Riley P. Page to bring forward several generations of descendants; of the other two surviving siblings:  Uncle George Hudson and Aunt Mary (Reed) Page brought forward a single generation, Elsie May, who married Jesse Strange Harrison; Aunt Carrie (Page) Richards Soule Wheeler and first husband Uncle Theodore Dudley "Dorr" Richards began what would be a two-generation run beginning with their daughter, cousin Lola Mae, who married Joseph Burchard Milliman, was widowed young and in June 1911 became editor and business manager of the Scotts department of the Cereal, a Climax, Kalamazoo Co., MI, newspaper, and ended with cousin Helen Elizabeth (Milliman) Shafer Krans Forbes, who left behind three photo albums, and a Page family bible first owned by her Grandmother Carrie and containing Page family vital records, that weren’t returned to the Pa(i)ge family until 2010—eighteen years after Helen’s death; Grandfather Charles married Grandmother Maud Annabell Castner in 1902 and they had three children:  Margaret Frances, Howard Oswald, and Marshal Harvey, but were divorced in 1923; Grandfather Charles married in 1931 second wife Step-Grandmother Florence L. (Peck) Squier, informally called “Big Betty,” daughter of Mortimer Edward and Luella (Phelps) Peck; Florence was former wife of Homer E. Deaver and Glenn A. Squier and was mother of Betty Squier called “Little Betty”
(Fay, Brigham, Shook, Keys/Keyes, Tayer/Thayer, and Page/Paige lines:  My Grandfather; also 8^th cousin twice removed and 9^th cousin twice removed)

Grandfather Henry Welter:  born 1735 in Germany and came to America at age 5; was in American Revolutionary War as drummer from May 1775 until 1778; had four children by Grandmother currently unknown; lived to be 99 years old at Drakestown, Morris Co., NJ
(Casner/Castner line:  My 4^th Great-Grandfather)

Grandparents William and Sarah (Welter) Casner/Castner:  brought my line of Cas(t)ners from Morris Co., NJ to Milo, Yates Co., NY, in 1835; to Ovid, Clinton Co., MI, about 1855; helped found First Baptist Church of Shepardsville, Clinton Co., MI, in 1876; had eight children
(Casner/Castner line:  My 2^nd Great-Grandparents)

Aunt Sarah Castner, a daughter of grandparents William and Sarah (Welter) Castner:  married Salmon Johnson Sutliff in Ovid, Clinton Co., MI, where they had son Alvah (a.k.a. Alva) and raised foster or adoptive daughter Grandmother Frances (a.k.a. Franky), who would later marry Sarah’s brother Grandfather Edward Potter Castner; around time Edward and Frances married, the Sutliffs moved to Dent Township twenty-five miles east of Stockton, San Joaquin Co., CA, where Salmon’s brother Charles B(liss) and sister-in-law Dorliska (Beach) Sutliff had recently purchased a 720-acre ranch, and where Aunt Sarah Sutliff died shortly after her family’s arrival; Aunt Sarah’s widower husband and son immediately returned to Michigan to live with Uncle Salmon’s parents Romsley and Catherine (Barnhart) Sutliff in Lincoln, Isabella Co., where Salmon remarried to Lucilla (a.k.a. Lua) Way and soon died; cousin Alva eventually returned to California with wife Elizabeth M. (Therrett) and two surviving sons Earl J. and Leon Carl, settling in Los Angeles and Kent counties
(Casner/Castner line:  My Great-Grandaunt)

Grandparents Edward Potter and Frances “Franky” Marie Laronge (Gargett/Sutliff) Castner:  had three children; moved their family from Clinton Co., MI, to Lansing, Ingham Co., MI; for a few years leased the Butler House hotel from its owner Lewis Darby September 26, 1894, and purchased the hotel’s existing kitchen, dining room, office, sleeping room, and other furniture and fixtures from Darby, who later foreclosed on the chattel mortgage unfairly and in bad faith, and during the foreclosure sale purchased the chattel himself at a greatly reduced price; Grandpa Castner sued Darby in justice court, claiming the foreclosure sale was invalid, and won; Darby appealed to the circuit court and again lost; Darby claimed judicial error and took matter to Michigan Supreme Court, which decided September 25, 1901, in Grandpa’s favor (Castner v. Darby, 128 Mich. 241, 87 N.W. 199);  Grandparents Edward and Franky divorced in 1902
(Casner/Castner line:  My Great-Grandparents)

Grandmother Franky (Gargett/Sutliff) Castner Witherell:  a highly skilled seamstress who worked with furs; lived to be over 102 years old; after divorce, lived in Detroit, Wayne Co., MI, with daughter Aunt Yula; married to second husband Detroit barber Step-Grandfather Harry J. Witherell; they moved to Jackson, MI, from Detroit in 1921—the same year Aunt Yula died of tuberculosis in Jackson
(Gargett line:  Franc/Franky claimed her parents were James J. Gargett and Marie Laronge/LaRonge)

Step-Grandfather Harry J. a.k.a. Henry Witherell:  was born in MI, a son of Hiram Justin and Almira a.k.a. Alma (Stevens) Witherell, purportedly at Lakeport, St. Clair Co., though his brother Alvah L. and sister Sarah Blanch were born at Clyde, same county; during Civil War Harry’s 23-year-old father enlisted in Company K of the 2nd Michigan Cavalry September 20, 1861, at Lakeport, St. Clair Co., and was killed October 30, 1864, in action during the Battle of Shoal Creek, TN (Harry’s sister Sarah Blanch was born nearly four months posthumously); Harry lived a number of years at Sarnia, Lambton, Ontario, Canada, where three of his four children were born by his first wife Catherine, the daughter of Thomas and Mary Lawrence, who were living in Sarnia by the beginning of the Civil War—Mary, born in Ireland of Irish parents; Thomas, born in Tennessee of slave parents; in late 1880s Harry’s family, as well as Catherine's parents and brother, settled together at Port Huron, St. Clair Co., MI, just across the St. Clair River from Sarnia; Harry's son Harry Jr., nicknamed "Doc" and "Dockie" during his service in the First World War, sent pictures home from Europe, which were added to Dockie’s stepmother Franky's picture album; Harry Sr. was a barber as were his adopted brother Harry Davis (adopted by Harry’s mother and her second husband William Franklin Davis), brother-in-law Don Mcphee (who married Sarah Blanch), father-in-law Thomas Lawrence, Sr. and brother-in-law Thomas, Jr. (Thomas Lawrence and son were listed as hairdressers in Canadian censuses)

Grandfather Edward Potter Castner:  helped found First Baptist Church of Shepardsville, Clinton Co., MI, in 1876; after divorce, lived in Detroit, Wayne Co., MI, and married his second wife, Canadian-born Step-Grandmother Catherine E. (Yates) Gallagher, twenty-six years his junior and daughter of Irish-born parents Richard and Anne Maria (Hurst) Yates; lived in Redford, Wayne Co., MI (near Detroit); by Catherine had son Edward, stillborn; all three buried in Section 14, Lot 303, Plots 1, 2 and 3 at Grand Lawn Cemetery in Detroit

Grandmother Maud(e) Annabell(e) (Castner) Page Moore:  was also a highly skilled seamstress; took steps to preserve family history by writing memories in several small notebooks, and by giving list of her father, Grandfather Edward Potter Castner’s, siblings to her adoptive granddaughter Gayle Marie (Page) Miller, who had expressed an interest; had three children by first husband Grandfather Charles Orlando Page
(Casner/Castner line:  My Grandmother)

Step-Grandfather Ira Arthur Moore:  farmer in Carroll Co., IN; prison guard at the Indiana Reformatory at Pendleton, Madison Co., IN, for four years; moved to Jackson, MI, with first wife Lillian (Haslet) and joined the Southern Michigan Prison (SMP) staff as a guard in 1929; became Chief Steward at prison after prison riot of 1952 until retirement in 1958; as Chief Steward, known affectionately as “Pappy,” supervised preparation of about 18,000 meals a day for inmates and staff of prison and trustee farms; second wife was Grandmother Maude Annabelle (Castner) Page Moore

Grandmother Sarah (Lord) Wil(l)son:  on September 7, 1692, at 44 years old, accused of witchcraft, arrested at Andover, Essex Co., MA, and imprisoned fifteen weeks at Salem before being released; while in prison, was interviewed by Rev. Increase Mather, father of Cotton Mather; Grandfather Joseph Willson had to pay room and board for his wife during her incarceration, for which he was compensated after her release; Sarah and Joseph had at least one child
(Tayer/Thayer line:  My 7^th Great-Grandmother)

Grandmother Sarah Wil(l)son, Jr.: on September 7, 1692, at 14 years old, accused of witchcraft, arrested at Andover, Essex Co., MA, and imprisoned six weeks at Salem before being released; Grandfather Joseph Willson had to pay room and board for his daughter during her incarceration, for which he was compensated after her release; had at least one child by husband Grandfather Jacob Preston
(Tayer/Thayer line:  My 6^th Great-Grandmother)

Grandfather Thomas Tayer:  was son of Richard and Ursula Alice (Dimery) Tayer and born in Gloucestershire, England in 1596; brought my line of T(h)ayers from England to Braintree, Norfolk Co., MA, in about 1639; was a shoemaker; had at least four children by wife Grandmother Margery Wheeler; family resided in Braintree for more than 150 years; later, an “h” was added to make the name “Thayer” (The name “Tayer” originally meant the occupation of dressing skins.)
(Tayer/Thayer line:  My 8^th Great-Grandfather and 1^st cousin 10 times removed)

Grandfather Richard Tayer:  was son of Richard and Ursula Alice (Dimery) Tayer and born in Gloucestershire, England in 1600; brought my line of T(h)ayers from England to Braintree, Norfolk Co., MA, in about 1639; was a shoemaker; had at least three, and perhaps as many as seven, children—the first three by wife Grandmother Dorothy (Mortimer); family resided in Braintree for more than 150 years; later, an “h” was added to make the name “Thayer” (The name “Tayer” originally meant the occupation of dressing skins.)
(Tayer/Thayer line:  My 8^th Great-Grandfather and 1^st cousin 10 times removed)

Grandfather William Henry Page, Sr.:  born in County Essex, England, according to Page family bible; brought my line of Pages from England to America in 1829, including Step-Grandmother Martha (Hudson or Sanders) Page and at least four of their children—Esther, Ebenezer, Mary and Nathan S.; settled first in Wayne Co., NY; later, settled at Webster, Monroe Co., NY, with second wife Grandmother Chloe (Thayer) Robinson Page, and finally at Bronson, Branch Co., MI, in about 1857
(Page/Paige line:  My 2^nd Great-Grandfather)

Grandmother Chloe (Thayer) Robinson Page:  settled at Macedon, Wayne Co., NY, in 1800 with parents, Grandparents William and Chloe (Preston) Thayer, and nine siblings; origination point was Braintree, Norfolk Co., MA; had five children by first husband Step-Grandfather James Robinson; had two children by second husband Grandfather William Henry Page, Sr.
(Tayer/Thayer line:  My 2^nd Great-Grandmother and 7^th cousin 4 times removed)

Cousin Ernest Lawrence Thayer:  born in Lawrence, MA, in 1863 and raised in Worcester, MA, came from wealthy branch of Thayer family; graduated magna cum laude in philosophy from Harvard University, having been editor of the Harvard Lampoon and member of theatrical society Hasty Pudding; hired by school friend William Randolph Hearst as humor columnist for The San Francisco Examiner, where Thayer’s poem “Casey” a.k.a. “Casey at the Bat” was first published in June of 1888, acclaimed the most famous baseball poem ever written
(Tayer/Thayer line:  My 5^th cousin 4 times removed and 7^th cousin 4 times removed )

Half-Uncle Chauncey and wife Louisa (Hill) Robinson:  took their family to Quincy, Branch Co., MI about 1857, where they kept a hotel
(Tayer/Thayer line:  My half Great-Granduncle and 8^th cousin 3 times removed )

Half-Uncle Luther and wife Mari (Hill) Robinson:  took their family to Matteson, Branch Co., MI about 1857, and later to Bronson, same county; Luther was a farmer and lightning rod salesman
(Tayer/Thayer line:  My half Great-Granduncle and 8^th cousin 3 times removed )

Half-Aunt Chloe M. Robinson:  married Henry Smith; they kept a hotel in Webster, Monroe Co., NY; widowed, sold her house on Main Street to her half-brother, Grandfather Riley P. Page, in 1897
(Tayer/Thayer line:  My half Great-Grandaunt and 8^th cousin 3 times removed )

Half-Aunt Esther Page, a daughter of William Henry, Sr. and Step-Grandmother Martha (Hudson or Sanders) Page:  was born in England and educated, with her sister Mary, at the Macedon Academy in Macedon, Wayne Co., NY; later appeared to be a woman of independent means, possibly due to signing a lease on the “30th day of December 1864,” along with Lucy E. Shaw, for a piece of land in Parkersburg, West Virginia, owned by Stephen C. Shaw, for the “purpose of mining and excavating and boring &c [etc.] for coal, salt, or salt spring coal or rock or carbon oil, or any other valuable mineral substance or substances”; was living with sister, Half-Aunt Mary (Page) Langdon, in Palmyra, Wayne Co., NY, by 1870; at age 71 married first time to 79-year-old Benjamin Hoag of Macedon Center, Wayne Co., as his third wife
(Page/Paige line:  My half Great-Grandaunt)

The part of Virginia where Esther was living broke off from its original state early in the Civil War and became annexed to the Union on June 20, 1863. Thus, Esther was living there when Virginia seceded from the Union, when West Virginia seceded from Virginia, and when West Virginia was added to the Union. Her area entered the Union twice:  once in 1788 as part of its tenth state, and once in 1863 as its thirty-fifth state; and seceded twice—once in 1861 from the Union, and once shortly thereafter from the Confederacy.

Half-Uncle Ebenezer Page, a son of William Henry, Sr. and Step-Grandmother Martha (Hudson or Sanders) Page:  was born in Sussex, England; was a blacksmith from Palmyra, Wayne Co., NY, when he joined the Civil War as mechanic and member of Company B, 138^th Regiment NY Infantry (which later became Company B of Ninth New York Heavy Artillery); stationed in Washington, D.C., where he helped build forts Bunker Hill, Kearney, Mansfield, Reno, and Foote; during Battle of Monocacy, called the Battle that Saved Washington, he “was sighting his rifle and was all ready to shoot when a ‘Johnny’ shot at him, the bullet striking the musket stock and slivering it”; Ebenezer “fell over and later found that his right hand was badly injured”; a sliver had become embedded, causing a “bad hand,” and was not found and removed for thirty-two years; after the war he settled in Brockport, NY, becoming a member of Veteran Association of the Ninth New York Heavy Artillery, Company B, and lived for just over 91 years; son William Sanders Page enlisted as volunteer in the 111th NY Infantry, Company A, in 1862, was wounded during Battle of Gettysburg in 1863, died from wound received during Battle of Cold Harbor in 1864, and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery
(Page/Paige line:  My half Great-Granduncle)

Half-Aunt Mary Page, a daughter of William Henry, Sr. and Step-Grandmother Martha (Hudson or Sanders) Page:  born in England; married Alonzo Langdon of Palmyra, Wayne Co., NY, where they settled; with husband, owned a farm and assorted enterprises which were left to only surviving son William Hudson Langdon, whose descendants, for generations, tended to live in Palmyra or Brutus (Cayuga Co.) or Brighton (Monroe Co.), NY
(Page/Paige line:  My half Great-Grandaunt)

Half-Uncle Nathan S. Page, a son of William Henry, Sr. and Step-Grandmother Martha (Hudson or Sanders) Page:  born in England, or according to at least one account, “at sea”; was a blacksmith at New Lisbon, Otsego Co., NY; settled at Sodus, Berrien Co., MI about 1857; was an engineer/mechanic from Sodus at age 28, when he joined the Civil War; enlisted in Company I, 12th Infantry Regiment Michigan in late 1861 (Rev. Orlando Keyes, future father-in-law of Nathan’s half-brother, Grandfather Riley P. Page, and Orlando’s son-in-law James Powers, Jr., would be in the same regiment, Company D); later, was attached to the 11th Independent Battery, Ohio Light Artillery Regiment, in January 1864; was returned to original unit in April 1864; received a disability discharge from original unit in September 1864 at Detroit, MI; with wife, former Sarah J. Maynard—daughter of Samuel and Margret (Vanderbeck) Degraff, though she used the surname of her step-father Samuel Maynard—settled with their three children in Chicago, Cook Co., IL in 1878; though the son, Ulysses Grant Page, would move to Los Angeles, CA, the entire Nathan and Sarah Page family would be buried at the Rosehill Cemetery in Chicago
(Page/Paige line:  My half Great-Granduncle)

Uncle William Henry Page, Jr., a son of William Henry, Sr. and Grandmother Chloe (Thayer) Robinson Page:  came to Branch Co., MI, from Webster, Monroe Co., NY, with English-born wife Aunt Mariah (Patch) and son Jay D. Page, parents William H. and Chloe (Thayer) Robinson Page, brother (Grandfather Riley), and some half brothers about 1857; had nine children; was a farmer and carpenter
(Tayer/Thayer and Page/Paige lines:  My Great-Granduncle and 8^th cousin 3 times removed)

Cousin Jay D. Page:  was only child of Uncle William and Aunt Mariah (Patch) Page born in state of New York, the rest being born in Michigan; started out as telegraph operator at Cedar Springs village in Nelson Twp., Kent County, MI, but soon took his young family back to New York, to a farm at Three River Point in Clay Twp., Onondaga Co., near Syracuse; started wholesale feed and liquor business in Syracuse called Jay D. Page & Co., Inc., around 1905, which was burned out during locally famous Mowry Hotel fire night of February 10/11, 1907; fire caused $202,000 in total damages, including a $16,000 loss to Jay’s store inventory, yet Jay D. Page & Co., Inc. was back in business May 4, 1907, and remained in business for many years; he and Virginia-born wife  Susie Virginia (Chappell) had three children
(Tayer/Thayer and Page/Paige lines:  My 1^st cousin twice removed and 9^th cousin twice removed)

Cousin Robert Emerson Page:  was born in Athens, Calhoun Co., MI, and was one of the wealthier of my known relatives; was a building contractor and inherited ownership of Jay D. Page & Co., Inc., along with his sisters Eleanor (who never married) and Genevieve; was apparently untouched by the Great Depression; he became a darling of the Syracuse Herald newspaper, which reported on many aspects of his life before, and especially after, his marriage to Ruth Steinwald Kuntzsch, only child of magnate William J. Kuntzsch of Syracuse and his wife, the former Magdalena “Lena” Steinwald; Robert and Ruth’s daughter Doris Ruth, in later years affectionately called “Jodie,” also became a darling of the Herald, which shared her parties and other adventures with society; besides Syracuse, where Robert was Commodore of the Syracuse Yacht and Country Club, the family also had a home at Coral Gables, FL, from where Doris Ruth’s 1939 wedding to budding attorney Benjamin Worcester Turner of Philadelphia received a full-page description in the Herald; the family yacht was the Dorubob (named after Doris, Ruth and Bob, and later there was a Dorubob II), sometimes moored on Oneida Lake at the Syracuse Yacht and Country Club, or near Coral Gables, FL, or in the Fort Myers (FL) Yacht Basin; in 1933:  “During the summer, they took a cruise on Lake Ontario and Lake Champlain stopping at Thousand Islands, Montreal, Burlington, VT, and Albany”; in 2008, cousin Gail, a grandniece of Robert and Ruth who had spent time on the Dorubob as a youth in the 1950s, described the yacht’s journey from Coral Gables, near Miami on the east coast of Florida, to the Fort Myers Yacht Basin on the west coast:  “The Pages would have come across the Intracoastal Waterway from Coral Gables, across Lake Okeechobee, through several locks down the Caloosahatchee River”
(Tayer/Thayer and Page/Paige lines:  My 2^nd cousin once removed and 10^th cousin once removed)

Cousin-by-marriage Russell Byron Clapper, husband of cousin Genevieve Page, a daughter of Uncle William and Aunt Mariah (Patch) Page:  was a botanist working in Beltsville, MD, as a plant pathologist for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA); in 1948, on a test plot at the Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge, Carterville, IL, he planted a blight-resistant chestnut tree he had developed after a blight had decimated the American chestnut trees in the 1930s; he developed the blight-resistant chestnut tree by crossing the American and Chinese chestnut trees and then back-crossing the hybrid with an American chestnut; in 1964, the new cultivar (plant propagated via stem cuttings not from seed) was named after him—the Clapper chestnut; cultivars of it are still used to develop blight-resistant trees today; he also wrote, “A Glossary of Plant Genetics,” which he self published (some of the preceding information was provided by Russell and Genevieve’s granddaughter Gail); Russell and Genevieve had one child
(Tayer/Thayer and Page/Paige lines: Genevieve was my 2^nd cousin once removed and 10^th cousin once removed)

Cousin Elizabeth Bella "Lizzie" Page, a daughter of Uncle William and Aunt Mariah (Patch) Page:  married at Fawn River, St. Joseph Co., MI, to Albert Monroe Haybarger, originally from Erie Co., PA; their family settled for some years in Lima, Lagrange Co., IN, and later at Coldwater, Branch Co., MI; in about 1903 their family of six—two parents and four children—emigrated to Fort Saskatchewan on the North Saskatchewan River, about 25 files northeast of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; the family became Canadian citizens around 1913; both Albert and son Charles Page Haybarger took up homesteads made available by the Dominion Lands Act of 1872, but lost them when their homestead area was confiscated by eminent domain to become part of the Elk Island National Park; Charles applied for and worked a new homestead farther north, but later the whole family, except Albert and Lizzie’s son Everett Munroe Haybarger, settled in the area of Vancouver, British Columbia; one of Charles’ three daughters, Shirley, was married to United States citizen Orin J. Stimson during the short reign of King George VI, and became a dual Canadian and US citizen; both Stimson daughters were born in the USA
(Tayer/Thayer and Page/Paige lines:  My 1^st cousin twice removed and 9^th cousin twice removed)

 

My Mother’s Side of the Family

 

Grandparents Robert and Hannah (Uxor) Mason:  resided at Bolton, Lancashire, England, where Robert died at Battle of Bolton during English civil war against King Charles I; son Grandfather Sampson Mason was soldier in Cromwell's Army; Sampson came to America in 1649, settling first at Dorchester, MA; in 1650 married Grandmother Mary Butterworth at Rehoboth, Bristol Co., MA, where they settled; Sampson and Mary had thirteen children
(Mason line:  My 8^th Great-Grandparents and 7^th Great-Grandparents)

Grandparents Thomas and Dorothy (Wheatley) Bliss:  brought my Bliss line from Devonshire, England, to Braintree, Norfolk Co., MA, in 1636 and ultimately to the religious colony of Rehoboth, Bristol Co., MA, where family resided for more than 130 years; had four children; their granddaughter Aunt Rachel (Bliss) Mann, daughter of Grandparents Jonathan and Miriam (Harmon) Bliss and first wife of Uncle Thomas Mann, and the baby in her arms, were two of first victims killed by Indians at Swansea, Bristol Co., MA, at the outbreak of the King Philip’s War in 1675
(Blysse/Bliss line:  My 8^th Great-Grandparents)

Grandfather Captain Samuel Bliss:  fought in the Revolutionary War; commanded a company of eight day minute men April 19-27, 1775, afterwards a company of eight months men in Col. Timothy Walker's regiment; was in Captain Slade's Company three years and was General Washington's steward at Morristown in winter of 1777; it is said he was a man of considerable influence and was much respected for his patriotism and other excellent traits; had five children by wife Grandmother Keziah (Wilmarth) Carpenter Bliss
(Blysse/Bliss line:  Both Samuel and Keziah were my 4^th Great-Grandparents, 2^nd cousins 6 times removed, 3^rd cousins 6 times removed)

Grandfather Calvin Hall Bliss, Sr.:  had five children by first wife Grandmother Seraph (Bothwell) Bliss, and four children by second wife Step-Grandmother Louisa (Tuttle) West Bliss; most of children by first marriage settled in Calhoun Co., MI, in mid-1860s, and most from second marriage settled at Farmville, Prince Edward Co., VA, in 1869 along with Calvin, Sr. and Louisa, who sold their 200-acre farm in Galen, Wayne Co., NY, and purchased a 264-acre plantation at Farmville near Appomattox Courthouse, VA; Calvin and Louisa’s son, Half-Uncle Calvin Hall Bliss, Jr., was sheriff of Prince Edward Co. in 1880, and Grandfather Calvin Hall Bliss, Sr. represented the counties of Prince Edward, Amelia and Cumberland, VA, in the Virginia State Senate from 1877 to 1887, during the years immediately following the post-Civil-War era known as Reconstruction
(Blysse/Bliss line:  My 2^nd Great-Grandfather 4^th cousin 4 times removed, 5^th cousin 4 times removed)

Grandparents Sidney E. and Helen M. (Hubbard) Bliss:  brought my Bliss line from Galen, Wayne Co., NY, to Calhoun Co., MI, in 1866, first to Tekonsha and then to Albion; they owned a farm three miles out of Albion, and Sidney, a carpenter, also built a house in town; had six children
(Blysse/Bliss line:  My Great-Grandparents; Sidney was also 5^th cousin 3 times removed, 6^th cousin 3 times removed)

Grandfather Thomas Hobart/Hobert/Hubbart:  originally from Woodbury, Litchfield Co., CT, became part of the American Revolution in February 1776, at age 16, when he joined at Southbury the 2^nd Connecticut Regiment under the command of Colonel Charles Webb, serving for one year (his brothers Elisha and John, Jr. would join the same regiment in May of 1777); was wounded in his right leg, causing him problems with fever sores later in life; a mason by trade, built most of the chimneys for the older houses in Russia settlement; married Grandmother Silence Bartlett of Sharon, Litchfield Co., CT; they settled in Russia, Herkimer Co., NY, where they had most of their nine children, living in a cabin 15 feet by 15 feet
(Hubbart/Hubbard line:  My 3^rd Great-Grandfather)

Grandfather Adam Frink Hubbart/Hubbard, originally from Russia, Herkimer Co., NY and named after Esq. Adam Frink, who owned a store in Russia and provided written testimony regarding Grandfather Thomas Hubbart’s petition for a Revolutionary War pension:  took part in my Hubbart/Hubbard line’s migration from the Finger Lakes area of NY (Wayne and Cayuga counties) to Calhoun and Barry counties, MI; in NY state, had at least three children by Grandmother Mary (Mcclean) and at least two by Step-Grandmother Ann M. (DeCamp); married third wife, Step-Grandmother Mariah McCarthy (also spelled McCarty), in MI
(Hubbart/Hubbard line:  My 2^nd Great-Grandfather)

Aunt Polly M. (Hubbart) Vincent, wife of Rodman Gardner Vincent, and sister of Grandfather Adam:  joined as a charter member, #12395, of the Fort Stanwix Chapter of the D.A.R. in 1896 when 96 years old; was believed to be the only actual daughter of an American Revolution soldier to be a charter member of a National D.A.R. Chapter (in 1896, the Fort Stanwix Chapter was formed in Rome, Oneida Co., NY by Mrs. William H. Bright, Miss Phoebe Stryker, and Mrs. James Searles); in 1932, Polly’s grave at Gravesville Cemetery, in the town of Russia, received a bronze tablet from the Fort Stanwix Chapter commemorating her unique charter membership
(Hubbart/Hubbard line:  My 2^nd Great-Grandaunt)

The following newspaper interviews recount stories told by Aunt Polly near the end of her 99-year life:

Story #1 (transcribed by Robert C. Neibling, descendant of Thomas’s brother Elisha Hubbart, from an article published in the Rome, New York Daily Sentinel on 24 September, 1932)

Uncle Killed By Indians

              “One of the earliest incidents of her father’s (Thomas Hubbart’s) life, which Mrs. Vincent related, was of an Indian uprising, in which her father’s brother was killed. This happened about the time of the commencement of the Revolution.  Mr. Hubbard’s brother was living in Connecticut at the time. The Tories led the Indians into the neighborhood and they attacked the house.  He was shot and wounded as he jumped from a window.  His wife, mother-in-law and three children were taken captive. The wife begged to go back to take care of her husband. The Indians said they would take care of him, and they led her back and killed him before her eyes.”

              “Years afterwards one of the children left the Indians and came back to civilization. He stayed only a little while, however. He had lived with the savages so long, that he was not content to live with his kindred, and soon returned to the people of his adoption.”

Story #2 (transcribed by Charles W. Paige, from an article published in the Rome, New York Semi-Weekly Citizen on 11 December, 1896—following an earlier but similar telling of Story #1 above)

 

“Another incident she relates took place in one of the old log cabin hotels. In the presence of her father a Tory there said, in a bragging way, that he had often carried babies around with a bayonet run through their bodies, just to torture the mothers. When the Tory had finished his story, Mrs. Vincent’s father picked up a big wooden chair and with that he laid the Tory low, breaking the chair. He then turned to the landlord and asked him what the damages were for breaking the chair, and the reply was: ‘Nothing, you can break every chair in the place that way, if you want to.’”

Story #3 (transcribed by Charles W. Paige, from an article published in the Rome, New York Daily Sentinel on 24 September, 1932)

 

“The War of 1812 was as fresh in the mind of Mrs. Vincent as the Civil War is in the minds of this generation. She remembered meeting a body of troops in the road, and she was of course very much frightened, as would be natural for a child of her years. She got out of the road and close to a fence, to get as far away as possible. The soldiers saw her fright, and reassured her by telling her they would not harm her. A company of soldiers was for some days encamped near where her father lived.”

Cousin Annie Elvira (Hubbart) Barker, a.k.a. Annie H. Barker, Annie Herbert, and Annie Herbert Barker, daughter of Uncle Levi Bartlett Hubbart and niece of Grandfather Adam Frink Hubbart:  early in her life lived in Leon, Cattaraugus Co., NY, then in Meagher Co., MT after marrying her 1^st cousin James Barker, Jr., son of Aunt Belinda (Hubbart) Barker, and spent the last half of her 89-year life in Marin Co., CA; became a schoolteacher and poetess; in 1883 the hymn “When The Mists Have Rolled Away” was published, the lyrics written by Annie and set to music by Ira David Sankey of Boston
(Hubbart/Hubbard line:  My 1^st cousin 3 times removed)

Uncle Alexander Wilson, Jr.:   was the son of Grandfather Alexander, Sr. and Grandmother Mary (McNab) Wilson; came to America from Scotland with his nephew Uncle William Duncan, Jr. in 1794; initially settled in Philadelphia, PA; at first was weaver; traveled extensively to sell woven goods and to collect bird specimens and information, and subscribers to his ornithological book series; often attributed as Father of American Ornithology, preceding John James Audubon by over a decade
(Wilson line:  My 4^th Great-Granduncle)

Half-Aunt Janet Wilson:  was a half-sister of Alexander Wilson, Jr. and daughter of Grandfather Alexander, Sr. and Step-Grandmother Catherine (Brown) Urie Wilson; in 1796, Aunt Janet married Uncle Duncan Wright in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland, a son of Peter and Agnes (Ferguson) Wright; Uncle Duncan left Scotland for Philadelphia in 1812 to establish himself in his specialty of textile bleaching, but his ship was waylaid by an American privateer, the “Yankee,” commanded by Captain James DeWolfe; Uncle Duncan’s destiny was thenceforth diverted from Pennsylvania to Massachusetts, where he and his family—Aunt Janet and the boys arriving in America in 1815—became important in diverse facets of the textile industry
(Wilson line:  My half 4^th Great-Grandaunt)

Grandmother Mary (Wilson) Duncan:  had six children by husband Grandfather William Duncan, Sr., who did not accompany family to America but may have arrived to join them in later years; brought the remainder of her children from Scotland to America in 1802 except for son George, who had already crossed the Atlantic; settled on farm at Ovid, Seneca Co., NY
(Wilson, Duncan, McNelly, Hood, Barns/Barnes lines:  My 4^th Great-Grandmother)

Uncle George Duncan:  in 1801, at age 14, entered as an apprentice on board the ship Haro, at Greenock in Scotland; ship was bound for Norfolk, VA, where it arrived on September 17^th; he checked in to Marine Hospital of Norfolk with yellow fever on October 4^th and died on the 7^th; his fate unknown by his concerned family until discovered by Uncle Alexander Wilson in 1809

(Wilson and Duncan lines:  My 3rd Great-Granduncle)

Uncle William Duncan, Jr.:  probable twin of Grandmother Isabella Duncan, came to America from Scotland with Uncle Alexander Wilson in 1794; settled in Philadelphia, PA; settled at Ovid, Seneca Co., NY; settled at Milestown, PA; was weaver; was schoolteacher; did some traveling with Uncle Alexander Wilson
(Wilson and Duncan lines:  My 3^rd Great-Granduncle)

Grandmother Isabella (Duncan) McNelly Ellis:  probable twin of Uncle William Duncan, Jr.; came to America from Scotland in 1797; lived in Philadelphia, PA; had five children by husband Grandfather John McNelly from Ireland; settled in PA; settled at Ovid, Seneca Co., NY; settled at Pulteney, Steuben Co., NY; widowed during War of 1812; married and had two children by Step-Grandfather John Ellis
(Wilson, Duncan, McNelly, Hood, Barns/Barnes lines:  My 3^rd Great-Grandmother)

Grandfather John McNelly:  came to America from Ireland about 1798 (the year of the Great Irish Rebellion); became US citizen at Philadelphia in 1808; enlisted as soldier in War of 1812; took part in US invasion of Canada led by Major-General James Wilkinson and was “slain by the enemy” according to a deposition by his widow Grandmother Isabella (Duncan)
(Duncan, McNelly, Hood, Barns/Barnes lines:  My 3^rd Great-Grandfather)

Grandparents Robert and Jane Hood:  brought my Hood line from area called Muddy Run in Turbot Twp., Northumberland Co., PA, to Seneca Co., NY; had three children
(Hood, Barns/Barnes lines:  My 3^rd Great-Grandparents)

Grandfather James Hood, Sr.:  a carpenter; brought my Hood line from Seneca Co., NY, to Pulteney, Steuben Co., NY, to Novi, Oakland Co., MI, ultimately settling in Moscow, Hillsdale Co., MI; had ten children by first wife Grandmother Catharine (McNelly) Hood; married second wife Step-Grandmother Emily (Richardson) Miller Hood, whose first husband, the Hon. Lewis T. Miller, had settled in Moscow Twp. in 1833-34 and become Moscow’s first postmaster, was a delegate to Michigan’s constitutional convention in 1835, and was an uncle of the Hon. William H. Seward, instrumental in the purchase of Alaska from the Russians
(McNelly, Hood, Barns/Barnes lines:  My 2^nd Great-Grandfather)

Grandmother Catharine (McNelly) Hood:  gave birth to ten children before losing own life after birth of twins while staying with Uncle James and Aunt Jane (Waddell) Duncan in Lyons, Oakland Co., MI; husband Grandfather James Hood, Sr. was away; children raised in separate homes by relatives and friends
(Wilson, Duncan, McNelly, Hood, Barns/Barnes lines:  My 2^nd Great-Grandmother)

Uncle James Duncan Hood:  twin of Uncle William McNelly Hood; raised by Uncle James and Aunt Jane (Waddell) Duncan; took a $50 bounty to serve in Civil War for another person; was captured by Confederate soldiers at Chickamauga and died at Andersonville Prison, GA
(Wilson, Duncan, McNelly, Hood lines:  My Great-Granduncle)

Grandfather Thomas Goodenow:  born at Donhead, St. Andrews, Wiltshire, England; came to America on "Confidence" in April 1638; settled at Sudbury, Middlesex Co., MA; with other residents of Sudbury later founded Marlborough, Middlesex Co., MA; selectman of Marlborough 1661, 1662 and 1664; surveyor of highways; built a bridge across Sudbury River; had seven children by wife Grandmother Jane (Ruddick) Goodenow; their crippled granddaughter Mary, a daughter of Uncle Samuel and Aunt Mary Goodenow, was killed and scalped by marauding Indians August 18, 1707
(Goodenow, Barns/Barnes lines:  My 8^th Great-Grandfather)

Grandfather Thomas Barns:  by some accounts born at Barking, County Essex, England, to a George and Mary Barns, at age 20 came to America on same ship (the Speedwell) with Grandfather John Fay, sailing from Gravesend about May 20, 1656, and landing in Boston, Suffolk Co., MA June 27, 1656; became early settler at Marlborough, Middlesex Co., MA; had seven children by wife Grandmother Abigail (Goodenow) Barns; in 1676, during King Philip's War, family temporarily fled to Concord, Middlesex Co., MA, while house and goods burned by Indians as part of destruction of Marlborough; the Fay line and Barns line joined nearly three hundred years later with marriage of Parents Jennie Louise Barnes and Howard Oswald Paige
(Goodenow, Barns/Barnes lines:  My 7^th Great-Grandfather)

Grandfather William James Barns:  first of my Barns ancestors born in America; with Grandmother Mary (Smith) Barns brought my line from Marlborough, Middlesex Co., MA, to East Haddam, Middlesex Co., CT; had nine children
(Goodenow, Barns/Barnes lines:  My 6^th Great-Grandfather)

Grandfather Thomas Barns:  orphaned at age 12—Samuel Evans of Haddam appointed as guardian; Thomas and Grandmother Rebecca Hungerford (Cone) Barns brought my Barns line from East Haddam, Middlesex Co., CT, to Sharon, Litchfield Co., CT; purchased extensive land, including the last 50 acres belonging to the local Indian tribe who had allegedly been swindled out of their other land holdings some years earlier by another white man—these 50 acres were the only disputed lands that had been legally returned to the Indians; in 1752 Thomas “took a formal deed of their possessions from two of their chiefs, Nequitimaugh and Bartholomew [a son of Apowakenaut—a chief of the Wampanoag /C.W.Paige]. It was contrary to law to take deeds of the Indian proprietors in that way, but the Legislature, on the petition of Barns, confirmed his title…”; some of the Barns land bordered an area called The Oblong; Thomas and Rebecca had eight children
(Goodenow, Barns/Barnes lines:  My 5^th Great-Grandfather)

Grandparents Thomas and Sarah Barns:  remained at Sharon, Litchfield Co., CT; they and several of their children mentioned in book “Born, Married and Died in Sharon, Conn”; youngest son Thomas Barns, Jr. married Mary “Polly” Tyler at nearby Amenia, Dutchess Co., NY
(Goodenow, Barns/Barnes lines:  My 4^th Great-Grandparents)

Uncle Thomas Barns, Jr. and Aunt Mary:  had the first two of their twelve children in CT before becoming the first of the family to settle near Auburn in Cayuga Co., NY about 1797 (although the “History of Cayuga County, New York 1789-1879” claims it was in 1795); cousin Deborah, one of their daughters, and her husband William Lobdell vied for being the first white residents of what became known as Argentine Twp. in Genesee Co., MI, with James H. Murray, who also located there in March, 1836; Lobdell Lake, a 545-acre lake near Fenton, MI, was named in Deborah and William’s honor
(Goodenow, Barns/Barnes lines:  My 3^rd Great-Granduncle and wife)

Grandparents Aaron and Martha (Eggleston) Barns:  brought my Barns line from Sharon, Litchfield Co., CT, to Mentz/Aurelius, Cayuga Co., NY, in 1816; used a “shell or dinner horn” to call people in from the fields; had seven children; 1816 is said to have been the year without a summer
(Goodenow, Barns/Barnes, Egleston/Eggleston lines:  My 3^rd Great-Grandparents)

Uncle Jeffrey Samuel Barns:  administrator to last will and testament of Grandfather Aaron Barns; settled at Mentz and Brutus, Cayuga Co., NY; settled at Butler and Galen, Wayne Co., NY; settled at Murray, Orleans Co., NY; settled at Niles Twp., Berrien Co., MI; settled at Butler, Branch Co., MI; had six children by wife Aunt Lucretia (Storke) Barns, who spent her last years at Quincy, Branch Co., MI; Lucretia’s brother Elliot Grey “E. G.” Storke was a witness to the signing of Grandfather David Sittser’s last will and testament, and wrote the important genealogical reference book “History of Cayuga County, New York 1789-1879”
(Goodenow, Barns/Barnes lines:  My 2^nd Great-Granduncle)

Cousin Julia L. Barns, firstborn daughter of Uncle Jeffrey and Aunt Lucretia, married farmer Philetus Chamberlain of Rose, Wayne Co., NY, and later, Mendon, Monroe Co., NY; their son, cousin Philetus, Jr., became an attorney and entered the bar in October 1879, starting in 1881 the law firm of Chamberlain & Page, later changed to Chamberlain, Page & Chamberlain, and later still, to Chamberlain D’Amanda (the current name) of Rochester, Monroe Co., NY; cousin Philetus, Jr. continued active in his profession until his death in 1937 at age 82—he had begun a dynasty of attorneys that would include:  George C. Oliver; Arthur Van Doorn Chamberlain, chosen in 1951 president of the New York State Bar Association; Philetus Mason Chamberlain, appointed in 1948 Assistant New York State Attorney General in charge of the Rochester office; etc., on into the 21^st century; along the way the descendants of Julia and Philetus, Sr. married into the William Teege oil refinery fortune of Titusville, Crawford Co., PA, and the Champlin family’s Pleasant Valley Wine Company fortune of Hammondsport, Steuben Co., NY; with accumulated wealth has also come philanthropic enterprises
(Goodenow, Barns/Barnes lines:  My 1^st cousin 3 times removed)

Grandfather Johannes Zitzer:  lived in Mundingen, Baden-Wurttenberg, Germany, south by southeast of Strasbourg near the border with France and in the area known as the Black Forest
(Zitzer/Sittser, Barns/Barnes lines:  My 7^th Great-Grandfather)

Grandfather Johann Martin Zitzer (a linen weaver), Grandmother Maria Catharina (nee  ) Knoll Zitzer, Uncle Andreas Zitzer (a linen weaver) and Aunt Elisabetha (Graf/Grav) Zitzer:  brought  my Zitzer family from Poppenweiler, Baden-Wurttenberg (a town in the Ludwigsburg District not far from Backnang and Stuttgart), Germany, to America April 2, 1738, settling in Dutchess Co., NY  
(Zitzer/Sittser line:  My 6^th Great-Grandparents; Andreas was 6^th Great-Granduncle)

Grandfather Johann Friederich Zitzer and Grandmother Johanna (Wingfiel/Wutfiel) Zitzer:  were married about 1742 in Rhinebeck, Dutchess Co., NY; had children baptized at Red Hook Lutheran, Rhinebeck Lutheran, and Rhinebeck Flats Reformed churches; Grandmother Johanna "Anna" joined Loonenburg Lutheran Church at Rhinebeck, Dutchess Co., NY, July 7, 1745  
(Zitzer/Sittser line:  My 5^th Great-Grandparents)

Grandfather Andrew Zitzer/Sitzer (variously spelled "Andreas" and "Andries"):  baptized October 16, 1743, at St Paul's (Zion's) Lutheran Church of Red Hook, Dutchess Co., NY; married Grandmother Sara Allen; settled along Hudson River, probably at Coxsackie, Greene Co., NY; Andrew Sitzer, Ensign, was assigned to the New York (Coxsackie and Groote Imbocht) militia’s Fifth Regiment and later the Eleventh Regiment during Revolutionary War; may have been the Andrew Sitzer who later married Elizabeth Ten Eyck December 1, 1799, at the Dutch Reformed Church, Coxsackie, Greene Co., NY
(Zitzer/Sittser line:  My 4^h Great-Grandfather)

Grandfather David Sittser:  was married to Grandmother Sarah Mills March 12, 1791, in St. Peter's Episcopal Church, Albany, Albany Co., NY, by Thomas Ellison, Pastor; settled in area called Rensselaerwyck Manor near Berne, Albany Co., NY, in 1790s until after 1810; occasionally leasing mills with his in-law Grandfather Samuel Mills, Sr.; immigrated with his family to Throop, Cayuga Co., NY (near Auburn), in about 1815 to help build new state prison at Auburn (David’s name is engraved on a wall in the old part of the prison); also that year, with his sons, built large farmhouse on Sittser Road in Throop, which remained in the family until about 1970; the “Sitzer or Community Cemetery” is located on part of original property across the meadow from the house, where David, Sarah, and some descendants and relatives R.I.P; had seven children by wife Grandmother Sarah (Mills) Sittser
(Zitzer/Sittser, Barns/Barnes lines:  My 3^rd Great-Grandfather)

Uncle Peter and Aunt Emeline J. (Miller) Sittser:  settled on old Sittser farm; became abolitionists and were part of Underground Railroad; at time of 1860 Federal census of Cayuga County had living with them Charles and Betsey Fergeson and child Maria, fugitive slaves—Charles being 38 years old and born in Virginia; later settled on a farm near Owasco Lake, where Peter and Emeline ran "Sittser's Resort" for summer boarders at foot of Owasco Lake until 1890  
(Zitzer/Sittser line:  My 2^nd Great-Granduncle and wife)

Cousin Clara (Sittser) Williams:  before marriage to physician Marcus J. Williams, was one of ten women attending Syracuse University at Syracuse, NY, who founded Alpha Phi women’s fraternity in September 1872; first meeting of the today-international fraternity/sorority held September 18 in Clara’s room
(Zitzer/Sittser line:  My 2^nd cousin twice removed)

Grandparents Thomas and Sarah (Sittser) Barns:  settled at Mentz, Cayuga Co., NY; settled at Rose, Butler and Galen, Wayne Co., NY; settled at Seneca Falls, Seneca Co., NY; brought my Barns line from Seneca Falls to Jackson, Jackson Co., MI, October 24, 1843
(Zitzer/Sittser, Goodenow, Barns/Barnes, Egleston/Eggleston lines:  My 2^nd Great-Grandparents)

Grandparents David and Mary W. (Hood) Barns:  bought a 200-acre farm near Horton, Jackson Co., MI, that remained owned by their descendants for well over a century; David had two children by first wife Step-Grandmother Arvilla (Field) Barns and six children by Grandmother Mary
(Wilson, Duncan, McNelly, Hood, Goodenow, Barns/Barnes, Egleston/Eggleston, Zitzer/Sittser lines:  My Great-Grandparents)

Grandfather William Hood Barn(e)s:  recorded several highlights of family history on paper, later leading to discoveries of much more information; had four children by wife Grandmother Nellie Mae (Bliss) Barnes in Chicago, Cook Co., IL before returning to Jackson Co., MI
(Wilson, Duncan, McNelly, Hood, Goodenow, Barns/Barnes, Egleston/Eggleston, Zitzer/Sittser, Mason and Blysse/Bliss lines:  My Grandparents; Nellie is also 6^th cousin twice removed and 7^th cousin twice removed)

Grandfather Bygod Egleston:  brought my line of E(g)glestons from England to America about 1630, landing at Dorchester, MA; about 1635 moved to Windsor, Hartford Co., CT, at the confluence of the Farmington and Connecticut rivers and about six miles north of Hartford; had four children by wife Grandmother Mary (Talcott) Egleston; had seven children by wife Step-Grandmother Mary (Wall) Egleston
(Egleston/Eggleston line:  My 8^th Great-Grandfather)

Grandfather Nicholas Disbrough:  listed as one of original landowners of Hartford, Hartford Co., CT; cabinet-maker (two beautiful chests carved by him are in the Hartford, CT, Athenaeum); chosen chimney-viewer 1647, 1655, 1663, 1669; chosen surveyor of highways 1665; in 1683 became involved in dispute with neighbor over ownership of clothing chest resulting in Nicholas being afflicted by events deemed supernatural; after dispute resolved, such events ceased; a local pastor reported the purportedly supernatural phenomena to Rev. Increase Mather, to be used by both Increase and Cotton Mather, his son, to build case for Salem Witch Trials (account first introduced in Increase’s "Remarkable Providences, An Essay For the Recording of Illustrious Providences"  (Boston, 1684); and later, was the fourth example in Cotton’s "Thaumatographia Pneumatica"); Nicholas was surprisingly “suspicioned” a witch at time of trials (1692) but had died nearly a decade earlier; had four children by wife Grandmother Mary (Bronson) Disbrough, including Grandmother Sarah
(Disbrough and Egleston/Eggleston lines:  My 8^th Great-Grandfather)

Grandparents Samuel I (one) and Sarah (Disbrough) Eggleston:  settled in Middletown, Hartford Co., CT; had nine children
(Disbrough and Egleston/Eggleston lines:  My 7^th Great-Grandparents)

Grandfather Samuel IV Eggleston:  one of earliest settlers at Spencer’s Corner (a later name), Northeast Twp., Dutchess Co., NY; wrote a mandatory schoolbook called, “Know Your Schoolmaster”; had eleven children by wife Grandmother Hester (Buck) Eggleston, daughter of Grandfather Israel Buck
(Disbrough and Egleston/Eggleston lines:  My 4^th Great-Grandfather)

Cousin Mary "Lynn" (Edwards), who was born eight days after me in 1949, and her TV screenwriter/producer husband David Lawrence Angell:  were killed September 11, 2001, when their plane, American Airlines Flight #11, hit the north tower of the World Trade Center in New York City; this, according to John C. Field, a closer relative of Mary’s; Mary was a great-great-granddaughter of Sarah Vestalina (Field) and Charles Stewart Anderson; David Angell, Peter Casey and David Lee formed Grubb Street Productions, writing and producing such sitcom series as Wings, Cheers, and Frazier

(Barns/Barnes lines:  My 3^rd cousin twice removed, 9^th cousin once removed, and 11^th cousin once removed)

Parents Howard Oswald Page/Paige and Jennie Louise Barns/Barnes:  were instigators in the founding of the Retarded Children’s Society of Jackson, MI, and its resulting Hope School for mentally handicapped children that were otherwise ignored by the local educational system; similarly afflicted children and adults were later folded into programs sponsored by the local educational system—the stated ultimate purpose of the Society
(Page/Paige, etc., and Barns/Barnes, etc., lines:  Howard was also my 9^th cousin once removed and 10^th cousin once removed; Jennie was also my 7^th cousin once removed and 8^th cousin once removed)

As to myself and my siblings Royce Duane, Charlene Frances, Margaret Ann, and Mary Louise, to ourselves and each other we are 8^th, 9^th, 10^th and 11^th cousins. We are also 8^th cousins once removed and 10^th cousins once removed of Royce’s wife, the former Lucille “Elaine” Shaw, as she is related to us, at minimum, through our Goodenow and Smith lines

 

././././

 

The Subject was Multiple Cousin-ships

 

From Susan Johnston on Thursday, December 21, 2006:

 

This is so cool!  Thanks for sharing.  What does it mean when a cousin is both a 1st cousin and an 8th cousin - how does this happen?

You asked for it…;-)

 [Distances back through the generations are from the perspective of my siblings and me.]

You [Susan] are, of course, my niece. But you are also my 8^th cousin once removed on the Bliss line. This came about because my 4^th Great-Grandmother Keziah Wilmarth was a 2^nd cousin to her husband 4^th Great-Grandfather Samuel “Captain” Bliss.

They shared 7^th Great-Grandparents George Kendrick and Ruth Bowen. George and Ruth’s daughter, 6^th Great-Grandmother Mary Kendrick, married 6^th Great-Grandfather Samuel Bliss, and another of George and Ruth’s daughters, 6^th Great-Grandmother Ruth, married 6^th Great-Grandfather John Wilmarth, whose son, 5^th Great-Grandfather Nathaniel Wilmarth, married 5^th Great-Grandmother Mary Perry, and their daughter Keziah married Samuel “Captain” Bliss.

Keziah and Samuel’s descendants consequently continued dual relationships. Example:  My mother was Samuel and Keziah’s 3^rd great-granddaughter and 2^nd cousin 5 times removed. I am their 4^th great-grandson and 2^nd cousin 6 times removed, and you are their 5^th great-granddaughter and 2^nd cousin 7 times removed.

 

On the Page/Paige line you are my niece plus my 10^th cousin once removed and my 11^th cousin once removed. (Your mom, besides being my sister, is also my 8^th, 10^th and 11^th cousin.) The last two cousin-ships resulted from the following marriages.

 First set of cousins:  When 7^th Great-Grandparents Jonathan Brigham and Mary Fay married, they were 1^st cousins to each other. They shared grandparents (my 9^th Great-Grandparents) Thomas Brigham and Mercy Hurd. Thomas and Mercy’s daughter, 8^th Great-Grandmother Mary Brigham, married 8^th Great-Grandfather John Fay and had Mary Fay. Thomas and Mercy’s son, 8^th Great-Grandfather Thomas Brigham, married 8^th Great-Grandmother Mary Rice and had Jonathan Brigham. I am Jonathan and Mary (Fay) Brigham’s 7^th Great-Grandson and 1^st cousin 9 times removed. (This is whence my 10^th cousin relationship with your mother resulted.)

 Second set of cousins:  3^rd Great-Grandmother Chloe Preston married her 2^nd cousin, my 3^rd Great-Grandfather William Thayer. They shared 10^th Great-Grandparents Richard Tayer and Miss Dimery in England. Whereas Great-Grandfather William Thayer descended through the son, 9^th Great-Grandfather Richard Tayer/Thayer’s, line, Chloe descended through Richard’s brother 9^th Great-Grandfather Thomas’s line. I am William and Chloe (Preston) Thayer’s 3^rd Great-Grandson and 6^th cousin 5 times removed. (This is whence my 11^th cousin relationship with your mom resulted.)

 There, now aren’t you glad you asked?

We Paige kids are 10^th cousins of former president George H. W. Bush and 10^th cousins once removed of President George W. Bush. We are all descendants of John Fay and Mary Brigham of Marlborough, MA; our 8^th great-grandparents.

We Paige kids are also related to Lucile “Elaine” (Shaw), wife of Royce Duane “Bud” Paige, as both 10^th cousins and 8^th cousins.  We are 10^th cousins due to our descent from common ancestors Thomas Goodenow and Ursula Fayme (or Hayes) of England. We descend from their son Thomas Goodenow, who married Jane Ruddick and had daughter Abigail, who would marry Thomas Barns. Elaine descends from son Edmund Goodenow who married Ann Barry, and whose son John married Mary Axtell. We are 8^th cousins due to our descent from Samuel Smith and Mary Ensign. We descend from their daughter Mary Smith, who married William James Barns, and Elaine descends from son Ebenezer Smith, who married Sarah Huxley Barlow. Consequently, besides being Bud and Elaine’s children, the following are additional relationships each child has to the parents. To Royce Duane:  8^th cousin once removed, 8^th cousin twice removed, 9^th cousin once removed, 10^th cousin once removed, 10^th cousin twice removed, and 11^th cousin once removed; to Elaine:  9^th cousin and 11^th cousin; to themselves and each other:  9^th cousin, 9^th cousin once removed, 10^th cousin, 11^th cousin, 11^th cousin once removed, and 12^th cousin.

 

Lists of ancestral and other relations can be found starting on the next page.

Ancestral and Other Relations in the Page/Paige, Keyes, Castner, Thayer Lines

 

[NOTE:  Red and underlined text indicates Keyes, Brigham or Thayer siblings when determining cousinships.]

Lyman Keyes and Hannah Francis m: Bef. 1812 > Henry Keys and Elizabeth Olds > Charles Keyes and Mary Downing m: 1/23/1758 > Elias Keyes and Keziah Brigham m: 12/13/1718 > James Keyes and Hannah Divoll m: 1693 > Elias Keyes and Sarah Blanford m: 9/11/1665

Lyman Keyes and Hannah Francis m: Bef. 1812 > Henry Keys and Elizabeth Olds > Charles Keyes and Mary Downing m: 1/23/1758 > Keziah Brigham and Elias Keyes m: 12/13/1718 > Mary Fay and Jonathan Brigham m: 3/26/1696 > Mary Brigham and John Fay m: 1668 > Thomas Brigham and Mercy Hurd m: 1637

Maurice P. Carney and Caroline A. Westnedge m: 3/07/1898 > William Henry Carney and Hannah Elizabeth Powers m: 9/29/1867 > Julia M. Keyes and Silas Carney m: 8/23/1835 > Lyman Keyes and Hannah Francis m: Bef. 1812

Claude Silas Carney and Sarah Evans Westnedge m: 9/10/1902 > Byron S. Carney and Alice Jane Fletcher m: 3/26/1872 > Julia M. Keyes and Silas Carney m: 8/23/1835 > Lyman Keyes and Hannah Francis m: Bef. 1812

 Phillip Shook and Mary Lilly m: Abt. 1800 > Johnathan "Jonas" Shook and Annah LaRoche m: 1827 > Lucinda Shook and Orlando Keyes m: 5/15/1845 > Lyman Keyes and Hannah Francis m: Bef. 1812

George Walker Bush and Laura Lane Welch m: 11/1977 > George Herbert Walker Bush and Barbara Pierce m: 1/06/1945 > Prescott Sheldon Bush and Dorothy Walker m: 8/06/1921 > Samuel Prescott Bush and Florence Sheldon m: 6/20/1894 > Harriet Eleanor Fay and James Smith Bush m: 2/24/1859 > Samuel Howard Fay and Susan Shellman m: 7/05/1825 > Samuel Prescott Phillips Fay and Harriet Howard m: 1803 > Jonathan Fay and Lucy Prescott m: 12/06/1776 > Jonathan Fay and Joanna Phillips m: 6/25/1746 > John Fay and Hannah Child m: 1721 > John Fay and Elizabeth Wellington m: 12/01/1690 > Mary Brigham and John Fay m: 1668 > Thomas Brigham and Mercy Hurd m: 1637

Sarah M. Keyes and Riley Preston Page m: 12/24/1873 > Orlando Keyes and Lucinda Shook m: 5/15/1845 > Lyman Keyes and Hannah Francis m: Bef. 1812

Jesse Daniel Orlando Powers and Esther Mary “Etta” Kraft m: 8/10/1892 > Irena Hannah "Rene" Keyes and James M. Powers m: 9/01/1864 > Orlando Keyes and Lucinda Shook m: 5/15/1845 > Lyman Keyes and Hannah Francis m: Bef. 1812

Margret W. Keyes and Lloyd Carter Blackenstoe m: Abt. 1832; also, James Frazier Reed m: 1834 > Humphrey Keyes and Sarah Hanley m: 4/24/1803 > Humphrey Keyes and Sarah Hall m: Abt. 1762 > Gershom Keyes and Sarah Eager m: 1718 > Mary Gershom Eames and John Keyes m: 3/11/1695-96 > Hannah Brigham and Gershom Eames m: Abt. 1673 > Thomas Brigham and Mercy Hurd m: 1637

Brigham Young > Abigail "Nabby" Howe and John Young m: 10/31/1785 > Susannah Goddard and Phineas Howe m: 4/23/1761 > Sybil Brigham and Ebenezer Goddard m: 1/27/1735-36 > Samuel Brigham and Abigail Moore m: 8/23/1716 > Samuel Brigham and Elizabeth Howe m: 11/16/1684 > Thomas Brigham and Mercy Hurd m: 1637

Ruth Elizabeth “Bette” Davis > Ruth Elizabeth Favor and Harlow Morrell Davis > Eugenia Thompson and William Favor > Charles Otis Thompson and Harriet Jane Bailey m: 1/10/1852 > Harriet A Keyes and Moody M Thompson m: 11/02/1827 > Amasa Keyes and Dorothy Goodenow m: 8/26/1795 > Benjamin Keyes and Lucy Merriam m: 4/13/1767 > Jonathan Keyes and Patience Morse m: 11/11/1726 > Thomas Keyes and Elizabeth Howe m: 1/23/1698-99 > Elias Keyes and Sarah Blanford m: 9/11/1665

Maud(e) Annabell(e) Castner and Charles Orlando Page m: 5/24/1902 > Edward Potter Castner and Frances “Franky” Marie Laronge (Gargett/Sutliff) m: 8/11/1878 > Sarah Welter and William Castner m: 2/07/1833 > Adam Welter and Margaret Schenkel m: Abt. 1809 > Henry Welter and ?

Howard Oswald Page/Paige and Jennie Louise Barnes m: 9-27-1927 > Charles Orlando Page and Maud(e) Annabell(e) Castner m: 5/24/1902 > Riley Preston Page and Sarah M. Keyes m: 12/24/1873 > William Henry Page and Chloe Thayer m: 7/20/1832

Chloe Thayer and William Henry Page m: 7/20/1832 > William Thayer and Chloe Preston m: 1791 > Wilson Preston and Susannah Aldrich m: 10/30/1765 > John Preston and Mary Ford m: 12/09/1736 > Jacob Preston and Sarah Wilson m: 6/17/1702 > Joseph Wilson and Sarah Lord m: 4/24/1678 > Robert Lord and Mary Waite m: 11/11/1630

Chloe Thayer and William Henry Page m: 7/20/1832 > William Thayer and Chloe Preston m: 1791 > Wilson Preston and Susannah Aldrich m: 10/30/1765 > Jonathan Aldrich and Mary Wilson m: 12/04/1740 > Seth Aldrich and Mary (nee ?) m: 1714 > Hulda Thayer and Jacob Aldrich m: 11/03/1675 > Ferdinando Thayer and Huldah Hayward m: 1/14/1651-52 > Thomas Thayer and Margery Wheeler m: 4/13/1618 > Richard Tayer and Ursula Alice Dimery m: 2/11/1591-92

Chloe Thayer and William Henry Page m: 7/20/1832 > William Thayer and Chloe Preston m: 1791 > William Thayer and Susannah Dunham m: 12/21/1765 > Daniel Thayer and Ruth Clark m: 4/15/1741 > Daniel Thayer and Elizabeth Thompson m: 6/02/1718 > Nathaniel Thayer and Hannah Heydon m: 5/27/1679 > Richard Thayer and Dorothy Pray m: 10/24/1651 > Richard Thayer and Dorothy Mortimer > Richard Tayer and Ursula Alice Dimery m: 2/11/1591-92

Ernest Lawrence Thayer and Rosalind Buel Hammett > Edward Davis Thayer and Ellen Maria Darling > Henry Thayer and Urana Thompson > Pelatiah Thayer and Hannah Thayer > John Thayer and Ruhama Smith > Isaac Thayer and Mary (nee ?) > Ferdinando Thayer and Huldah Hayward m: 1/14/1651-52 > Thomas Thayer and Margery Wheeler m: 4/13/1618 > Richard Tayer and Ursula Alice Dimery m: 2/11/1591-92

 

Ancestral and Other Relations in the Barnes and Bliss Lines

[NOTE:  Red and underlined text indicates Barnes, Goodenow or Smith siblings when determining cousinships.]

Jennie Louise Barnes and Howard Oswald Page/Paige m: 9-27-1927 > Nellie Mae Bliss and William Hood Barnes m: 11/29/1899 > Sidney E. Bliss and Helen M. Hubbard m: 1/10/1861 > Calvin Hall Bliss and Seraph H. Bothwell m: 5/20/1829 > Samuel Bliss and Anna Mason m: 9/16/1790 > Samuel "Captain" Bliss and Keziah Wilmarth m: 6/02/1757 > Nathaniel Bliss and Mehittabell Whittaker m: 12/24/1724 > Samuel Bliss and Mary Kendrick m: 4/15/1685 > Jonathan Bliss and Rachel Puffer m: Abt. 1648 > Thomas Bliss and Dorothy Wheatley > Jonathan Blysse > Thomas Blysse

Samuel Bliss and Anna Mason m: 9/16/1790 > Samuel "Captain" Bliss and Keziah Wilmarth m: 6/02/1757 > Nathaniel Wilmarth and Mary Perry m: 9/05/1706 > Ruth Kendrick and John Wilmarth m: 2/06/1671-72 > George Kendrick and Ruth Bowen

Samuel Bliss and Anna Mason m: 9/16/1790 > Brooks Mason and Anne Eddy m: 12/28/1758 > Russell Mason and Rhoda Kingsley m: 6/05/1736 > Pelatiah Mason and Hepsibeth Brooks m: 5/22/1694 > Sampson Mason and Mary Butterworth m: 3/09/1650-51 > Robert Mason and Hannah Uxor m: Abt. 1620

Jennie Louise Barnes and Howard Oswald Page/Paige m: 9-27-1927 > Nellie Mae Bliss and William Hood Barnes m: 11/29/1899 > David Barnes and Mary W. Hood m: 4/25/1860 > Thomas Barnes and Sarah Sittser m: Abt. 1822 > Aaron Barnes and Martha Eggleston m: Bet. 1790 – 1795 > Thomas Barnes and Sarah Cartwright > Thomas Barnes and Rebecca Hungerford Cone m: 3/14/1728-29 > William James Barnes and Mary Smith m: 8/20/1696 > Thomas Barnes and Abigail Goodenow m: 7/02/1662 > Thomas Goodenow and Jane Ruddick m: 1634 > Thomas Goodenow and Ursula Fayme m: 1593 > John Goodenow and Margaret (nee ?) m: 1560

Lucille “Elaine” Shaw and Royce Duane "Bud" Paige m: 6/25/1949 > Vernon Henry Shaw and Laura “Grace” Rice m: 7/28/1925 > Carrie May Dow and James Watts Shaw m: 12/23/1886 > Harriet Melissa Bush and Henry Smith Dow m: 3/16/1847 > Roland Bush and Harriet Phelps m: 4/06/1817 > Enoch Bush and Lucy Noble m: 3/15/1787 > Zachariah Bush and Mary Falley m: 11/29/1764 > Zachariah Bush and Mercy or Marcy Loomis m: 1/21/1740-41 > Ebenezer Bush and Miriam (nee ?) m: 7/1710 > Mary Goodenow and Samuel Bush m: 1/1676-77 > John Goodenow and Mary Axtell m: 9/19/1656 > Edmund Goodenow and Anne Hannah Barry m: Abt. 1630 > Thomas Goodenow and Ursula Fayme m: 1593 > John Goodenow and Margaret (nee ?) m: 1560

Lucille “Elaine” Shaw and Royce Duane "Bud" Paige m: 6/25/1949 > Vernon Henry Shaw and Laura “Grace” Rice m: 7/28/1925 > Carrie May Dow and James Watts Shaw m: 12/23/1886 > Harriet Melissa Bush and Henry Smith Dow m: 3/16/1847 > Roland Bush and Harriet Phelps m: 4/06/1817 > Enoch Bush and Lucy Noble m: 3/15/1787 > Gad Noble and Catherine Noble m: 3/8/1764 > Sarah Barber and Noah Noble m: 1/17/1736-37 > Sarah Smith and John Barber m: 10/9/1714 > Ebenezer Smith and Sarah Huxley m: 1693 > Samuel Smith and Mary Ensign m: 1662 > Rev. Henry Smith and Dorothy m: Abt. 1635

Helen M. Hubbard and Sidney E. Bliss m: 1/10/1861 > Adam Frink Hubbart/Hubbard and Mary Mcclean m: Abt. 1833 > Thomas Hubbart and Silence Bartlett m: 9/30/1787 > John Hobart and Mary (nee ?)

Sarah Sittser and Thomas Barnes m: Abt. 1822 > David Sittser and Sarah Mills m: 3/12/1791 > Andrew Sittser and Sarah Allen m: Abt. 1760 > Johann Friederich Zitzer and Johanna Wingfiel/Wutfiel m: Abt. 1742 > Johann Martin Zitzer and Maria Catharina (nee ?) Knoll m: 8/21/1714 > Johannes Zitzer

Mary W. Hood and David Barnes m: 4/25/1860 > James Hood and Catharine Ann McNelly m: 8/28/1825 > Robert Hood and Jane Haynes? > John Hood

Mary W. Hood and David Barnes m: 4/25/1860 > Catharine Ann McNelly and James Hood m: 8/28/1825 > Isabella Duncan and John McNelly m: 6/15/1799 > Mary Wilson and William Duncan m: 8/24/1776 > Alexander Wilson and Mary McNab m: 6/15/1754

Martha Eggleston and Aaron Barnes m: Bet. 1790 – 1795 > Samuel Eggleston and Hester Buck m: 3/18/1761 > Samuel Eggleston and Abigail Bevin m: 11/02/1729 > Samuel Eggleston and Patience Payne m: 8/07/1703 > Samuel Eggleston and Sarah Disbrough m: 5/18/1661 > Bygod Egleston and Mary Talcott m: Abt. 1610 > James Egleston and Margaret Harker

Mary "Lynn" Edwards and David Lawrence Angell > Marilyn Rae Myers and Thomas Henry Edwards/Jr m: Abt. 1942 > Berneice Vestaline Robbins and Raymond Foster Myers m: 6/14/1916 > Mary "Matie" Jane Anderson and William C. Robbins m: 9/12/1890 > Sarah Vestalina Field and Charles Stewart Anderson I m: 3/26/1868 > Melissa Barnes and William F. Field m: Abt. 1845 > Thomas Barnes and Sarah Sittser m: Abt. 1822 > Aaron Barnes and Martha Eggleston m: Bet. 1790 – 1795

 

Ah, Longevity for a Barnes line

 

All but one of the following age record holders of Thomas and Sarah (Sittser) Barnes’ descendants, whose names and life lengths are currently available in my genealogical database, were of the 4th generation as of 2013; the only exception then was Ella, who was of the 3rd generation. Florence, Clyde and Mae were siblings, as were Helen and Jennie. Lillian was a 1st cousin of Helen and Jennie. Maxine Eva, Horace, and June “Dusty” were 1st cousins of each other, with Ella being their aunt. Ella was a 1st cousin once removed of all the rest.

 

As of 2019, the 5^th generation began being added to the longevity list (those reaching the age of at least 89 years before death) with Charlene Frances (Paige) Garrett. As of 2020, Harold Leggett became the oldest of that generation and was the oldest male, while Royce Duane “Bud” Paige became the second oldest male in this Barnes line. As of October, 2024, Marie Louise (Barnes) Beebe, still living, heads the longevity list at over 102 years of age. Her brother, William Aaron Barnes, Sr., also still living, so far has reached 91 years and 6 mos.)

 

Lillian Bereniece (Barnes) Hoeg, 19 Jan 1913-14 Aug 2013, age 100 yrs 6 mos 26 days

Florence Field, 15 Mar 1888-16 Aug 1986, age 98 yrs 5 mos 1 day

Helen Mary (Barnes) Leggett, 19 Dec 1902-18 Apr 2001, age 98 yrs 3 mos 30 days

Harold William Leggett, 25 Dec 1924-26 Mar 2020, age 95 yrs 3 mos 1 day

Jennie Louise (Barnes) Paige, 27 May 1908-19 Aug 2003, age 95 yrs 2 mos 23 days

Ella S. (Rhoodes) Fowler, 10 Nov 1857-04 Apr 1951, age 93 yrs 4 mos 25 days

Royce Duane “Bud” Paige, 26 Nov 1928-14 Nov 2020, age 91 yrs 11 mos 19 days

Maxine Eva (Johnson) Maher, 15 Apr 1887-30 Sep 1978, 91 yrs 5 mos 15 days

Horace N. Levengood, 20 Oct 1904-11 Aug 1995, age 90 yrs 9 mos 22 days

June “Dusty” Rhoodes, 17 Apr 1890-02 Aug 1980, age 90 yrs 3 mos 16 days

Mae Dayton Field, 14 Dec 1883-18 Oct 1973, age 89 yrs 10 mos 4 days

Charlene Frances (Paige) Garrett, 13 Apr 1930-17 Jul 2019, age 89 yrs 3 mos 4 days

Clyde Schram Field, 19 Oct 1890-Oct 1979, age 89 yrs ? mos ? days

 

Charles W. Paige

Tuesday, June 21, 2011, updated Tuesday, October 8, 2024

 

Some Helpful Hints to Genealogists

 

The following are things to consider when researching people using census indexes or other sources. NOTE:  Indexes are often incorrect. Verify with the source document/image when possible.

• Variations in spelling of surnames (Use of soundex, when available, can help here.)

Variations in the spelling of surnames can result from:

• Illiteracy of, or spelling experimentation by, the name holder
• Misspelling or phonetic spelling by census taker
• Misreading of spelling by indexer
• Etc.
• Variations in spelling or replacement of given names

Variations in the spelling of given names can result in much the same way as may occur with spellings of the surname. Added to these are uses of:

• Initials only
• Middle name substituted for or transposed with first name (especially probable if a Sr./Jr. relationship existed with either parent)

Example:  For decades I lost track of the only full brother of my ancestor Riley Preston Page, and was, therefore, also oblivious to the brother’s large family. As it turned out, the older brother, William Henry Page, who happened to be a junior, used Henry as his first name—the previously unknown (by me) middle name shared with their father, and continued doing so until after the father’s death in 1862. After that, he used William. Interestingly, for years the brothers often lived near each other, yet the presence of the older brother was obscured until I accidentally made the connection through a Branch County history book in which both men were referenced.

• Name derivative (e.g. Polly for Mary, Peggy for Margaret, Mattie for Martha, Sally for Sarah, Fanny for Anna, etc., ad infinitum)
• Abbreviated first or middle name (e.g. Dan or Danl for Daniel; Ben or Benj. for Benjamin; Chas for Charles; Liz, Lizzy, Libby, Eliz, Eliza, Beth, Betsy or Betty for Elizabeth; Eb or Ebon for Ebenezer; Ed or Eddy for Edward or Edmond, etc.)
• Different spouse than expected
• Death was common, potentially resulting in remarriage of the surviving spouse
• Remarriage of a woman between census years could result in her being difficult to find, such as in the next census (unless at least the surname of the new husband is known)
• A new spouse for a man could have the same given name as his former spouse, especially if there are common names like Elizabeth, Mary, Sarah, etc., creating possible confusion due to notation of potentially different age, birth location, parents’ birth location, maiden name, etc.
• A spouse could have been married any number of times before, carrying along a string of former surnames that might or might not include the maiden name.
• Wrong age (too old, too young, unchanging between census years)

Age is one of the most likely aspects of a census to be incorrect or incorrectly indexed. Some possible causes:

• Person providing information makes estimation/guess
• Person providing information doesn’t want actual age known
• Census taker makes their own estimation
• Indexer misreads age/date
• Wrong location
• People moved (and are still moving) around a lot, especially since the end of the Revolutionary War; be willing to expand the search area, if needed
• 10 years between census-taking could equate to any number of moves by a person or family. Because of the destruction by fire of many 1890 census records, there may be a 20-year gap—between 1880 and 1900—for researchers to deal with.
• People went where the jobs were, for example, farm laborers, like some of my ancestors prior to 1900. They were migratory and had to follow the work. Families who moved frequently might get missed being mentioned in local history recordation, such as through books and census reports, hindering tracking.
• Focus on unusual names or unusual spellings of names when usual ones are difficult to find.
• In some family lines people have a similar set of names, both helping and confusing tracking a particular family or person.
• Names like William, Sarah, Elizabeth, Mary, John, James, Robert, etc., are very common, especially when coupled with Johnson, Smith, Jones, etc.
• People have disappeared throughout history, sometimes physically and sometimes due to lack of, or inadequate, records. Some of many possible reasons are:
• Disease/death
• Remarriage
• Frequent relocation, made easier as means of transportation improved
• Refusal to take part in the census process or somehow missed by a census-taker, or census information was collected but somehow destroyed or otherwise became unreadable or unavailable
• Shying away from participating in public activities and/or politics
• Illiteracy resulting in any number of spellings of given and/or surname
• Inaccurate indexing
• Foul play
• War
• Settling in an undeveloped or uncivilized area, such as a mining camp or new frontier
• Don’t “adopt” an ancestral line or relative(s).
• Look at all the facts surrounding a person and/or family to determine whether they are of the line you are researching.
• Don’t necessarily accept whole cloth another person’s research information. They may be inaccurate, or may have been led astray by accepting someone else’s research information, and so on.

Example:  A previously unknown (to me) distant cousin took me to task, via email, for connecting one of his ancestors to one of my family lines. He said that according to a commonly believed, trusted and accepted source among his fellow researchers/genealogists, his ancestor came from a totally different ancestral line. He and all of his fellow researchers following that line back in time had hit a brick wall, and had all but given up on pursuing it further. It took a while before the overwhelming evidence I had already collected convinced him that the connection to my ancestral line was, indeed, correct. Using my proofs, he was then able to convince other of his fellow researchers, via their online message board, to also change to the correct line.

• Occupations and circumstances might change between census years, but be wary of sudden or radical changes. That 50-year-old farm laborer living alone with net value of $100 from the last census is probably not the 60-year-old attorney-at-law of the same name and locale, with net value of $6,000 and a household of six people, appearing in the next census. Some additional research would be in order.
• Don’t follow a single line of descent and ignore all others, when siblings or other relatives of the subject(s) being researched are known.
• Uncovering and recording information about siblings and relatives makes the overall picture richer.
• Sometimes historical notation may be found for a sibling or other known relative that will shed light on the main person or line being researched.
• Researching parallel lines may lead to a larger pool of living “cousins” willing to share information to the common good.

The following is a list of dates, locations, spouses, and occupations for my ancestor Riley Preston Page (my parents always just called “R. P.”) that took research over many years to unravel. He is the best example I can present to validate several points of consideration listed above. Note the varying name spellings including use of initials, frequent and sometimes radical location changes, spousal changes, and variations in occupation. These were all for the same person. I had some similar problems with researching my ancestor Adam Frink Hubbart/Hubbard, but his changes in circumstances were not nearly as radical as those listed below. [Created October 16, 2006; updated October 8, 2024]

(Note:  Information for years ending in zero “0” came from census reports.)

1839—Birth, Macedon, Wayne Co., NY, according to Riley when he married Emma (Conant) Wright, or Manchester, Ontario Co., NY, according to his death certificate; parentage listed as William H. Page and Chloe Thayer when married to Emma, but as Ebenezer Page and Mary (or May) Thayer on death certificate

1840—(only head of household William H. Page named), Macedon, Wayne Co., NY

1850—Riley P. Page, Webster, Monroe Co., NY in school

1859—Riley P. Page married Elizabeth Hollenbeck or Holenbek at Burr Oak, St. Joseph Co., MI (Hollemtuk on marriage certificate, but Holenbek when their daughter Carrie B. Page Richards Soule married Elmer Wheeler)

1860—Riley Page, Matteson, Branch Co., MI   farmer

1870—Reyley Page, Batavia, Branch Co., MI   farm laborer

1873—Riley P. Page married Sarah M. Keyes at Charlotte, Eaton Co., MI, agent

1880—Riley P. Page, Charlotte, Eaton Co., MI   traveling salesman (sewing machines)

1900—Riley P. Page, Webster, Monroe Co., NY   shoe maker

1905—R. Preston Page married Emma (Conant) Wright at Webster, Monroe Co., NY, shoe maker

1910—Riley P. Page, Ontario, Wayne Co., NY   shoe maker

1920—Riley Page, East Rochester, Monroe Co., NY   none

1928—Death East Rochester, Monroe Co., NY, burial somewhere in Ontario, Wayne Co., NY—exact burial location yet to be discovered