Happy New Year to one and all. I cannot believe we have blown through 2025 already and I didn't make a single post for you. I am hoping to change that in 2026.  I am always looking for interesting and little known events to spike your interest, and have several histories started to post , perhaps one of them is your family.    Thank you for your loyalty all of these years.  I feel it is important to keep this web sire open and free for as long as possible, as most of the free genealogy sites are gone.   
Keep checking in.  I will be publishing  history of a family that started out in New Jersey and ended up in Millport NY.   
Have a Blessed and peaceful New Year!
​  The Random Genealogist 

A SHORT GENEALOGIC HOSTORY OF ERIN NY- CHAPTER 3
THE FOUNDERS
In 1816 a larger group relocated to the area, which would be known as Erin Township. Like Sperry, they relocated from Onondaga County from the area that would be Tompkins County.  Others came from Delaware County, settling in Erin Center, from New Jersey settled North of the Center part of town, from Rutland County, Vermont settling at Herrington’s corners, from Schoharie County, and from Orange County and Ithaca NY.
In 1816. The following families came and settled in the western part of the township, located near each other in the “Red Chalk Section. *
 John Banfield: (1780-1868) Buried in Westbrook Cemetery, Van Etten NY.  John married Margaret, (Peggy) Quick (1780-1846).  She is buried with him in Van Etten. Their son, James Banfield born in Tompkins county NY (1806-1877) is buried in Hicks Cemetery, Van Etten NY.   John Banfield settled into the wilderness now known as Erin NY in 1816.  He traveled south from the large county of Onondaga in the North, what we know today as Tompkins County.   John brought with him tools and supplies for felling trees, clearing settlements, hunting, building roads, plowing fields and he brought his family, with the goal of settling the wild country and carving out a new homestead where his family grew and prosper.  John belongs to a family group of 6 in 1820, including his wife and his four sons;  2 boys age 10-15, we know one of them is James, One son 16-18, one son 16-25.   Like all early pioneers, John was a farmer.
 John Banfield: (1780-1868) Buried in Westbrook Cemetery, VanEtten NY.  John married Margaret, (Peggy) Quick (1780-1846).  She is buried with him in VanEtten. Their son, James Banfield born in Tompkins county NY (1806-1877) is buried in Hicks Cemetery, Van Etten NY.   John Banfield settled into the wilderness now known as Erin NY in 1816.  He traveled south from the large county of Onondaga in the North, what we know today as Tompkins County.   John brought with him tools and supplies for felling trees, clearing settlements, hunting, building roads, plowing fields and he brought his family, with the goal of settling in the wild country and carving out a new homestead where his family grew and prosper.  John belongs to a family group of 6 in 1820, including his wife and his four sons; 2 boys age 10-15, we know them to be ; James Banfield, Jacob Bandfield, Benjamin Banfield, and David Banfield.   Like all early pioneers, John was a farmer.
By 1830 the Banfield children were all grown and starting their own families.  We find John and Peggy living alone on the farm.  John and Peggy continued to live in Erin through 1850, where the census tells us that the 70 year old farmer had a net worth of 200 Dollars, a  small fortune in those days.  His wife, Peggy, passed away in 1846 and was buried in the VanEtten Cemetery.  Melinda Banfield ( 57) and her children , Pamela Banfield  (21), Lucinda Banfield(16), and Aaron Banfield (14),  were living with him. These same people appear in the 1860 census with different last names, as servants and farm workers.   As he had no daughters, it seems likely that the census worker who took the information in 1850 made assumptions about the surnames of the persons in the household.  In 1860 they had moved to VanEtten Junction NY.   John was now 80 years old and   He was still farming. He is recorded as having a personal worth of 250 dollars and a real estate value of 1000 dollars.  Living with him at that time in 1860 are Belinda Banfield (61), Pamela Betts, (29), a domestic servant, and her daughter , Emeline Betts (10), and Aaron McMillan (22), a farm hand.    John Died in 1868 in Van Etten and is buried with his wife in Westbrook Cemetery, VanEtten Junction NY. 

James Elya”
 Abraham Elston:
 Daniel Curtis:
Gabriel Curtis: (brother to Daniel.)
Philip Thomas:
James Thomas ( brother of Philip)
Thomas Van Houter :
 
FROM  DELAWARE COUNTY
settling in Erin Center WERE THE FAMILIES OF
Isaac Shoemaker:
 Alexander McKey:
 John McKey: (son of Alexander)
 Thomas Beker:
 James McMillan:
William Stewart:
 Robert Stewert:
Jermiah Barns:
 Levi Decker:
 
 SETTLERS FROM NEW JERSEY SETTLED NORTH OF THE CENTER PART OF TOWN
 Robert Park:
Alexander Park: 
 
FROM VERMONT
Robert McDowell:
Vernan McDowell:
 
THOSE SETTLING IN THE NORTHWEST OF ERIN TOWNSHIP IN THE AUSTIN HILL AREA.
 Arden Austin:
 Samuel Vaugn:
 Daniel Vaugn: (brother of Daniel and James)
James Vaugn: (brother of Samuel and Daniel)
Jessie White:
 
SETTLING IN 1817
Richard Walker:
 Isaac Boyer: a soldier in the Revolutionary War from Pennsylvania.
 Isreal Boyer: (son of Isaac)
 James Boyer: ( son of Isaac, brother of Isreal)
 David Herrington: David relocated from Rutland County, Vermont and settled at Herrington’s corners.
In 1817 a large tract of land in the southern part of the township was taken up by Ccolonial John Tuthill:
 John Tuthill: (son of Col. Tuthill)
1819 BROUGHT SETTLERS FROM SCHOHARIE COUNTY
 Anthony Hollenbeck: (, a soldier in the war of 1812)
Henry Hollenbeck: ( brother of Anthony)
John Hollenbeck: (brother of Anthony and Henry)
Michael Robinson: Michael Robinson, an Irishman, came to the area in 1819 and settled in the red chalk district.  The Red Chalk district was named following surveyors having run out of white marking chalk, started using red to denote land boundaries.  Michael has the infamous distinction of having named the township in 1822., His selection was "Erin Go Braugh" (Ireland forever) in honor of his homeland.  The name was quickly shortened to the Erin we know today.
Michael was born in Ireland in or around 1770-1775.   He appears to have served in the war of 1812, as a privateer  at the age of 30 years. (US, War of 1812 Prize Cases, Southern Dist. Court, NY, 1812-1816. )  There is a Michael Robinson recorded in the 1810 US Census living in Monroe Orange County NY.  It is probable that it was our Michael, as he does not appear there in 1820, but does appear in Chemung, Tioga NY.  The census records tell us that in 1810,  Michael was living in a family group of four, one male 16-25 and one female 16-25 and two children, one male under 10 and one female 10—15.   These persons do not appear with him in the 1820 census in Chemung, Tioga, NY. Given the ages of the children, It is unlikely they were the children of Michael and the female adult in the home.  It is possible they were relatives, perhaps siblings that he was living with.  No other Robinson appears in that area in1810 or 1820.   
By 1820, Michael Robinson is an establish farmer and living in a family group of 7 people. Two being adults over 25, five being children under the age of 16.    The 1830 census shows Michael living in Erin, Tioga New York in a family group of 5, 1 male 10-14, 1 male (Michael) 40-49, one female 5-9, one female 15-19, and one female 40-49.   It would appear that the eldest male has moved out of the home and is living on his own somewhere, but we cannot know if this was a son, a relative or a hired hand of Michael’s, as I cannot locate Michael’s grave or locate living Robinsons in the Erin area between 1820 and 1840.   and he and his wife have added a new daughter.  The eldest female remains in the home.   What makes this all very curious is his will, executed following his death on November 10, 1831wherein he left his entire estate to one Polly Anna Banfield.  No one else is mentioned in his will.
Last will and testament of Michael Robinson – died 11/10/1831, leaving all of his worldly goods to Polly Anna Banfield located in Erin, Tioga, New York.
For now, Michael will keep his secrets, but I will keep my eyes open for future clues to this mysterious town father.    
In 1828, settled in Erin by way of Orange County and Ithaca.
 David Caywood: (, a revolutionary soldier)
William Caywood: (son of David, a soldier from the war of 1812, )
 These are the original founding fathers and founding families of Erin NY.   Others would come after them, capitalizing on their ingenuity and fortitudinous carving out of the township, but these were the true pioneers.  What became of these families after they settled into the pristine wilderness of Chemung County, at that time still a part of Tioga County

 
​

i​A brief genealogic history of Erin NY – by The Random Genealogist -2
 In 1816 a larger group relocated to the area, which would be known as Erin Township. Like Sperry, they relocated from Onondaga County from the area that would be Tompkins County.   John Banfield, James Elya, Abraham Elston, Daniel and Gabriel Curtis, brothers, and Philip Thomas, and brother’s James and Thomas Van Houter settled in the western part of the township, located near each other in the “Red Chalk Section. *
Others came from Delaware County, settling in Erin Center.  Among these were Isaac Shoemaker, Alexander McKey and son, John McKey, Thomas Beker, James McMillan and several sons, William Stewart, Robert Stewert, Jermiah Barns and Levi Decker.
 Settlers from New Jersey settled North of the Center part of town.  These included Robert and Alexander Park.  Robert and Vernan McDowell settled with them from Vermont.
Those settling in the North West of Erin Township were Arden Austin, Samuel Vaugn and his brothers Daniel and James Vaugn and Jessie White, all settling in the Austin Hill area.
In 1817 Richard Walker, Isaac Boyer- a soldier in the Revolutionary War from Pennsylvania along with his sons; Isreal and James.  David Herrington relocated from Rutland County, Vermont settling at Herrington’s corners.
In 1817 a large tract of land in the southern part of the township was taken up by colonial John Tuthill and his son, John Tuthill.
In 1819, Anthony Hollenbeck, a soldier in the war of 1812, and his brothers, Henry and John arrived from Schoharie County. Also settling in 1819 was the infamous Irishman, Michael Robinson, who settled in the Red Chalk District. His energy and talent soon led to his position of leadership. In 1822, the northern part of the town of Chemung was designated a separate town and Michael Robinson was given the honor of naming it. His selection was "Erin Go Braugh" (Ireland forever) in honor of his homeland.  The name was quickly shortened to the Erin we know today.
In 1828, David Caywood, a revolutionary soldier, and his son, William, a soldier from the war of 1812, settled in Erin by way of Orange County and Ithaca.
 These are the founding fathers and founding families of Erin NY.   On March 29, 1822, the township was legally incorporated, separating from the larger Chemung Township.  On the third Tuesday of May 1822, at the house of John Banfield an election was held to choose the town elected officials.  The first elected politicians in the tow were; Alexander McKey-Supervisor, Arden Austin-Town Clerk, Daniel Vaughan, Thomas Baker, Ebenezer Brown- assessors, John A. McKey, Jared Patchen, David Swartwood, Commissioners of highways, John Tuthill, Robert McDowell, William D. Steward- commissioner of common schools, Alexander McKey, Arden Austin, Francis Banfield- inspectors of common schools, John Tuthill, Robert McDowell- overseers of the poor, Varnu McDowell= constable and collector, Thomas Baker, John Banfield- fence viewers, John Banfield-ground keeper.
The first tax-payers were Alexander McKey, John McKey, John Tuthill, John Tuthill, Jr., Green M. Tuthill, Allen Hurlburt, David Harrington, Ransom L. Wade, Eli Sommers, Ira Simmons, Julius Simmons, Abraham Shoemaker, Daniel Swartwood, Isaac Shoemaker, Abraham Swartwood, David Swartwood, Jonah Osborn, Joseph McIntyre, William McIntyre, Brewster Goldsmith, Thomas Lewis, Christopher Hedges, Christopher Hedges, Jr., Farrel Hedges, Robert McDowell, William Hoyt, Daniel Decker, Varnum McDowell, Thomas McDowell, Francis Banfield, Michael Robinson, Joshua Clark, Thos. Baldwin, John Boyer, James Relyea, Oliver Relyea, John Hollenback, Anthony Hollenback, Henry Hollenback, James Hollenback, Abram Elston, Phillip Thomas, James VanHouter, Thomas S. VanHouter, John Banfield, Daniel Curtis, Gabriel Curtis, David Jackson, William Groom, John W. Watkins, Lewis Catlin, John Elston, Nathaniel Campbell, Mathew N. Norris, Richard Walker, Jared Patchen, Ephraim Bennitt, Daniel Bennitt, Jeddiah Bennitt, Caleb Curtis, Daniel Howell, Elias Billington, James Bishop, Henry Clear, Morris Dean, John Walker, Charles Chapman, Herman Sawyer, Horace Sawyer, Smith Paril, Nicholas Paril, Robert Park, Alexander Park, Jacob C. Swartwood, David Park, Jeremiah Jared, James Vaughan, John B. Andrews, Arden Austin, Cornelius Westbrook, Andrew H. Everett, Samuel Vaughan, James Boyer, Joseph Bennett, Silas Valentine, Zackariah Valentine, John McMillan, Isaac Van Tyle, Joseph Mills, John Hartgrove, Levi Decker, James Decker, Isaac Brown, William Brown, Silas Brown, Joseph Frost, Daniel Vaughan, Henry Decker, Benjamin Smith, William Smith, Elijah Shoemaker, Isaac Shoemaker, Jeremiah Barnes, John Cooper, John Burrows, W. D. Stewart. Robert Stewart, James McMillan, James McMillan, Jr., George R. McMillan, Elihu Everett. https://chemung.nygenweb.net/books/erinout.htm)
THE FIRSTS IN ERIN
John Mitchell kept the first tavern in the south part of the town, on Wynkoop Creek.
--Arden Austin was the first surveyor.
--The first schoolhouse was built in 1818.
--Basil Sperry built the first house, in 1815.
--Basil Sperry harvested the first crop, in 1816.
--Mrs. Basil Sperry was the first who died in Erin.
--Joseph Rodburn built the first grist mill, in 1855, on Newtown Creed, near Erin Centre.
-The first teacher in Erin was Robert Stewart, 1818. The first school-house was built in District No. 1, 1818,
--Thomas Baker built the first framed house, in 1825.
- John Banfield built the first framed barn n 1825
--Dr. James McMillan was the first resident physican.
--James H. Rodburn established the first store, in 1867.
--The first church erected was by the Presbyterians, in 1836, it was located about two miles southwest of Erin Village. Rev. Mr. Bevridge and John Graham were influential in its construction.
Mrs. Sperry and Mrs. Baker, the wife of Thomas Baker, were the first who died in the new settlement.
Dr. James McMillan was the first resident physician
--James and Joseph McMillan built the first saw mill, in 1824 .
--Green M. Tuthill was county clerk in 1847-9, deputy sheriff 1838-40.
--Erin was bonded for $30,000 to help construct the U. I. & E., R. R. in 1874.
--In 1844, Hon. S. Hazen, of Erin, represented Chemung county in the assembly.
--Isaac Boyer, John Hollenback, David Caywood, John Thomas were soldiers in the revolutionary war.
--Robert Stewart done distinguished service during the war of the rebellion, and was elected county clerk in 1868.
--Baptist Church of Erin was organized in 1864, Rev. Mr. Whitney was the first minister, church erected in 1871.
--John A. McKey was superintendent of the poor, justice of the sessions two terms, county coroner, supervisor, justice of the peace.
--Jason P. Woolever represented the township several time as supervisor, commissioner of loan, in 1854, justice of sessions and justice of peace.
--The M. E. Church was organized in 1827. Rev. James Taylor was the first local preacher. The original members were Jeremiah Barnes and wife, C. C. Humphreys and wife, Joshua Baker and wife, Cornelius Becker and wife, James Baker and wife. (https://chemung.nygenweb.net/books/erinout.htm)
.
 

Today we will take a look at the Hamlet and township of Erin NY, a quiet hamlet nestled in the Finger Lakes region of New York.  Erin is a rural township, covering 44.5 square miles in Chemung County NY, East of Elmira and bordered by Schuyler County on its northern border.   Newtown Creek runs westward through the town.  Erin extends from near the center of Chemung County to the north border.  Van Etten bounds it on the east, Baldwin on the south and Horseheads and Veteran on the west.  In 1879 the town of Erin boasted 26,493 acres, 11.559 of which were improved.  Erin township today (2024), remains a rural, wooded area teaming with wild animals, including wild deer, black bear, fox, bob cat, coyotes, beaver, porcupines, opossums, and possibly muskrats and otters.    Bald Eagles have returned to the skies of southern NY, alongside a variety of hawk, turkey vultures, and blue herons. 
The township of Erin originated as a part of Chemung township, which was originally carved out of Tioga County.  The following is a useful chart of the New York State counties with date of original and original host county.    The history of New York State started with the acquisition of land purchased by the British from the Dutch.  The history of acquisitions, explorations and eventual settlements is interesting but will not be pursued here.    The following is offered as a quick reference point.  Most of the townships through the finger lakes were developed after the revolutionary war, often by previous soldier who had served the Clinton- Sullivan campaign and had firsthand knowledge of the lands of the southern tier and the opportunities they offered.  Prior to the revolution this area was peopled by indigenous communities with lush farms, cattle and horses.  During the revolutionary war, many of these native villages were believed to side with the British.  After several settlements were viciously attacked by natives and British troops, General Washington ordered generals Clinton and Sullivan to eradicate the native population through a Scorched Earth program during which they tracked, mapped and burned native villages along the Finger Lakes and drove the native population to relocate in the Genesee River area.  Among those forced into exile was the famous Mary Jenison, “Jemison, Mary (Scotch-Irish/Seneca) The famed “white woman of the Genesee.” She was captured by Indians, then became wife to a Delaware, then Seneca chief and bore six children. Her accounts of her life and Sullivan-Clinton experiences are covered in James Seaver’s A Narrative of the Life of Mrs. Mary Jemison (1824).
 
List of counties
[edit]
County
FIPS Code
[5]
County seat
[6]
Est.
[6][7]
Formed from
[2]
Named for
[3]
Density (Pop./mi2)
Pop. (2023)
[8]
Area
[6]
Map
 
Albany County
001
Albany
November 1, 1683
One of 12 original counties created in the New York colony
James II of England (James VII of Scotland) (1633–1701), who was Duke of York (English title) and Duke of Albany (Scottish title) before becoming King of England, Ireland, and Scotland.
594.11
316,659
533 sq mi
(1,380 km2)


Allegany County
003
Belmont
April 7, 1806
Genesee County
A variant spelling of the Allegheny River
45.12
46,651
1,034 sq mi
(2,678 km2)


Bronx County
005
none (sui generis)
January 1, 1914[9]
New York County
Jonas Bronck (1600?–1643), an early settler of the Dutch colony of New Netherland
23,619.64
1,356,476
57.43 sq mi
(149 km2)


Broome County
007
Binghamton
March 28, 1806
Tioga County
John Broome (1738–1810), fourth Lieutenant Governor of New York
274.23
196,077
715 sq mi
(1,852 km2)


Cattaraugus County
009
Little Valley
March 11, 1808
Genesee County
A word from an uncertain Iroquoian language meaning "bad smelling banks", referring to the odor of natural gas which leaked from Cattaraugus Creek
57.71
75,600
1,310 sq mi
(3,393 km2)


Cayuga County
011
Auburn
March 8, 1799
Onondaga County
The Cayuga tribe of Native Americans
86.21
74,485
864 sq mi
(2,238 km2)


Chautauqua County
013
Mayville
March 11, 1808
Genesee County
Loanword from the Erie language describing Chautauqua Lake; language now lost and cannot be translated
83.26
124,891
1,500 sq mi
(3,885 km2)


Chemung County
015
Elmira
March 20, 1836
Tioga County
A Lenape word meaning "big horn", which was the name of a local Native American village
197.96
81,325
410.81 sq mi
(1,064 km2)


Chenango County
017
Norwich
March 15, 1798
Tioga County and Herkimer County
An Onondaga word meaning "large bull-thistle"
51.09
45,920
898.85 sq mi
(2,328 km2)


Clinton County
019
Plattsburgh
March 4, 1788
Washington County
George Clinton (1739–1812), fourth Vice President of the United States and first and third Governor of New York
69.87
78,115
1,118 sq mi
(2,896 km2)


Columbia County
021
Hudson
April 1, 1786
Albany County
Christopher Columbus (1451–1506), the European explorer
93.32
60,470
648 sq mi
(1,678 km2)


Cortland County
023
Cortland
April 8, 1808
Onondaga County
Pierre Van Cortlandt (1721–1814), first Lieutenant Governor of New York
91.14
45,752
502 sq mi
(1,300 km2)


Delaware County
025
Delhi
March 10, 1797
Otsego County and Ulster County
Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr (1577–1618), an early colonial leader in Virginia. Name applied to the bay, river, and Lenape Native Americans
30.25
44,410
1,468 sq mi
(3,802 km2)


Dutchess County
027
Poughkeepsie
November 1, 1683
One of 12 original counties created in the New York colony
Mary of Modena (1658–1718), Duchess of York and wife of King James II of England
360.18
297,150
825 sq mi
(2,137 km2)


Erie County
029
Buffalo
April 2, 1821
Niagara County
The Erie tribe of Native Americans
771.11
946,147
1,227 sq mi
(3,178 km2)


Essex County
031
Elizabethtown
March 1, 1799
Clinton County
The county of Essex in England
19.19
36,775
1,916 sq mi
(4,962 km2)


Franklin County
033
Malone
March 11, 1808
Clinton County
Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790), the early American printer, scientist, and statesman
27.40
46,502
1,697 sq mi
(4,395 km2)


Fulton County
035
Johnstown
April 18, 1838
Montgomery County
Robert Fulton (1765–1815), inventor of the steamship
98.00
52,234
533 sq mi
(1,380 km2)


Genesee County
037
Batavia
March 30, 1802
Ontario County and land acquired in the Holland Purchase
A Seneca phrase meaning "good valley"
116.22
57,529
495 sq mi
(1,282 km2)


Greene County
039
Catskill
March 25, 1800
Albany County and Ulster County
Nathanael Greene (1742–1786), the American Revolutionary War general
71.52
47,062
658 sq mi
(1,704 km2)


Hamilton County
041
Lake Pleasant
April 12, 1816
Montgomery County
Alexander Hamilton (1755–1804), the early American political theorist and first Secretary of the Treasury
2.81
5,082
1,808 sq mi
(4,683 km2)


Herkimer County
043
Herkimer
February 16, 1791
Montgomery County
Nicholas Herkimer (1728–1777), the American Revolutionary War general
40.80
59,484
1,458 sq mi
(3,776 km2)


Jefferson County
045
Watertown
March 28, 1805
Oneida County
Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), the early American statesman, author of the Declaration of Independence, and third President of the United States
61.81
114,787
1,857 sq mi
(4,810 km2)


Kings County
047
none (sui generis)
November 1, 1683
One of 12 original counties created in the New York colony
King Charles II of England (1630–1685)
26,431.63
2,561,225
96.9 sq mi
(251 km2)


Lewis County
049
Lowville
March 28, 1805
Oneida County
Morgan Lewis (1754–1844), the fourth Governor of New York
20.58
26,548
1,290 sq mi
(3,341 km2)


Livingston County
051
Geneseo
February 23, 1821
Genesee County and Ontario County
Robert Livingston (1746–1813), the early American statesman and New York delegate to the Continental Congress
95.56
61,158
640 sq mi
(1,658 km2)


Madison County
053
Wampsville
March 21, 1806
Chenango County
James Madison (1751–1836), the early American statesman, principal author of the Constitution of the United States, and fourth President of the United States
101.09
66,921
662 sq mi
(1,715 km2)


Monroe County
055
Rochester
February 23, 1821
Genesee County and Ontario County
James Monroe (1758–1831), the early American statesman and fifth President of the United States
547.94
748,482
1,366 sq mi
(3,538 km2)


Montgomery County
057
Fonda
March 12, 1772
Albany County
Originally Tryon County after colonial governor William Tryon (1729–1788), renamed after the American Revolutionary War general Richard Montgomery (1738–1775) in 1784
120.41
49,368
410 sq mi
(1,062 km2)


Nassau County
059
Mineola
January 1, 1899
Queens County
The Princes of Orange-Nassau ruled the Netherlands when Long Island was a Dutch colony
3,050.14
1,381,715
453 sq mi
(1,173 km2)


New York County
061
none (sui generis)
November 1, 1683
One of 12 original counties created in the New York colony
King James II of England (1633–1701), who was Duke of York and Albany before he ascended the throne of England, Duke of York being his English title
47,303.85
1,597,451
33.77 sq mi
(87 km2)


Niagara County
063
Lockport
March 11, 1808
Genesee County
The Iroquoian name of a tribe within the Neutral Nation, the exact translation of which remains disputed
183.73
209,457
1,140 sq mi
(2,953 km2)


Oneida County
065
Utica
March 15, 1798
Herkimer County
The Oneida tribe of Native Americans
187.60
227,555
1,213 sq mi
(3,142 km2)


Onondaga County
067
Syracuse
March 5, 1794
Herkimer County
The Onondaga tribe of Native Americans
580.49
467,873
806 sq mi
(2,088 km2)


Ontario County
069
Canandaigua
January 27, 1789
Land acquired in the Phelps and Gorham Purchase
An Iroquoian word meaning "beautiful lake"
169.93
112,494
662 sq mi
(1,715 km2)


Orange County
071
Goshen
November 1, 1683
One of 12 original counties created in the New York colony
William of Orange-Nassau (1650–1702), who became King William III of England
485.66
407,470
839 sq mi
(2,173 km2)


Orleans County
073
Albion
November 12, 1824
Genesee County
The French Royal House of Orléans
47.89
39,124
817 sq mi
(2,116 km2)


Oswego County
075
Oswego
March 1, 1816
Oneida County and Onondaga County
The Oswego River, from an Iroquoian word meaning "the outpouring", referring to the mouth of the river
90.06
118,162
1,312 sq mi
(3,398 km2)


Otsego County
077
Cooperstown
February 16, 1791
Montgomery County
A Native American word meaning "place of the rock"
59.95
60,126
1,003 sq mi
(2,598 km2)


Putnam County
079
Carmel Hamlet
June 12, 1812
Dutchess County
Israel Putnam (1718–1790), an American Revolutionary War general
398.62
98,060
246 sq mi
(637 km2)


Queens County
081
none (sui generis)
November 1, 1683
One of 12 original counties created in the New York colony
Catherine of Braganza (1638–1705), Queen of England and wife of King Charles II of England
12,632.91
2,252,196
178.28 sq mi
(462 km2)


Rensselaer County
083
Troy
February 7, 1791
Albany County
In honor of the family of Kiliaen van Rensselaer (before 1596 – after 1643), the early landholder in the Dutch New Netherland colony
239.56
159,305
665 sq mi
(1,722 km2)


Richmond County
085
none (sui generis)
November 1, 1683
One of 12 original counties created in the New York colony
Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond (1672–1723), the illegitimate son of King Charles II of England
4,787.19
490,687
102.5 sq mi
(265 km2)


Rockland County
087
New City
February 23, 1798
Orange County
Early settlers' description of terrain as "rocky land"
1,712.60
340,807
199 sq mi
(515 km2)


St. Lawrence County
089
Canton
March 3, 1802
Clinton County, Herkimer County, and Montgomery County
The St Lawrence River, which forms the northern border of the county and New York State
37.91
106,940
2,821 sq mi
(7,306 km2)


Saratoga County
091
Ballston Spa
February 7, 1791
Albany County
A corruption of a Native American word meaning "the hill beside the river"
282.83
238,711
844 sq mi
(2,186 km2)


Schenectady County
093
Schenectady
March 27, 1809
Albany County
A Mohawk word meaning "on the other side of the pine lands"
761.44
159,902
210 sq mi
(544 km2)


Schoharie County
095
Schoharie
April 6, 1795
Albany County and Otsego County
A Mohawk word meaning "floating driftwood"
48.09
30,105
626 sq mi
(1,621 km2)


Schuyler County
097
Watkins Glen
April 17, 1854
Chemung County, Steuben County, and Tompkins County
Philip Schuyler (1733–1804), the American Revolutionary War general and Senator from New York
51.19
17,507
342 sq mi
(886 km2)


Seneca County
099
Waterloo
March 24, 1804
Cayuga County
The Seneca tribe of Native Americans
99.54
32,349
325 sq mi
(842 km2)


Steuben County
101
Bath
March 18, 1796
Ontario County
Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben (1730–1794), the Prussian general who assisted the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War
65.64
92,162
1,404 sq mi
(3,636 km2)


Suffolk County
103
Riverhead
November 1, 1683
One of 12 original counties created in the New York colony
The county of Suffolk in England
641.88
1,523,170
2,373 sq mi
(6,146 km2)


Sullivan County
105
Monticello
March 27, 1809
Ulster County
John Sullivan (1740–1795), an American Revolutionary War general
80.16
79,920
997 sq mi
(2,582 km2)


Tioga County
107
Owego
February 16, 1791
Montgomery County
A Native American word meaning "at the forks", describing a meeting place
91.23
47,715
523 sq mi
(1,355 km2)


Tompkins County
109
Ithaca
April 7, 1817
Cayuga County and Seneca County
Daniel D. Tompkins (1774–1825), the 6th Vice President of the United States
217.56
103,558
476 sq mi
(1,233 km2)


Ulster County
111
Kingston
November 1, 1683
One of 12 original counties created in the New York colony
The Irish province of Ulster, then an earldom of the Duke of York, later King James II of England
157.05
182,333
1,161 sq mi
(3,007 km2)


Warren County
113
Queensbury
March 12, 1813
Washington County
Joseph Warren (1741–1775), the early American patriot and American Revolutionary War general
75.15
65,380
870 sq mi
(2,253 km2)


Washington County
115
Fort Edward
March 12, 1772
Albany County
Originally Charlotte County, renamed in 1784 after George Washington (1732–1799), the American Revolutionary War general and first President of the United States
70.98
60,047
846 sq mi
(2,191 km2)


Wayne County
117
Lyons
April 11, 1823
Ontario County and Seneca County
General Anthony Wayne (1745–1796), the American Revolutionary War general
65.63
90,829
1,384 sq mi
(3,585 km2)


Westchester County
119
White Plains
November 1, 1683
One of 12 original counties created in the New York colony
The city of Chester in England
1,981.63
990,817
500 sq mi
(1,295 km2)


Wyoming County
121
Warsaw
May 14, 1841
Genesee County
A modification of a word from the Lenape language meaning "broad bottom lands"
66.33
39,532
596 sq mi
(1,544 km2)


Yates County
123
Penn Yan
February 5, 1823
Ontario County and Steuben County
Joseph C. Yates (1768–1837), eighth Governor of New York
65.09
24,472
376 sq mi
(974 km2)


Defunct counties
[edit]
County
Created
[2]
Abolished
[2]
Fate[2]
Charlotte County
1772
1784
Partitioned. Western part renamed as Washington County and eastern part transferred to Vermont.

Cornwall County
1665
1686
Transferred to the part of Massachusetts that later became the state of Maine and partitioned; one of the 12 original counties created in the New York colony

Cumberland County
1766
1777
Transferred to Vermont and partitioned

Dukes County
November 1, 1683
1692
Transferred to Massachusetts; one of 12 original counties created in the New York colony

Gloucester County
1770
1777
Transferred to Vermont and partitioned

Mexico County
1792
1796
Never settled or incorporated, reallocated to Oneida, Oswego and Jefferson Counties.

Tryon County
1772
1784
Renamed as Montgomery County

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_counties_in_New_York#Clickable_map
 
The settlement of the town that would become Erin NY, was undertaken soon after the close of the War of 1812.  Several of the early settlers had served in that war, still others served in the revolutionary war.   It is believed that Basil Sperry settled in the “Red Chalk” area of what is now Erin, in 1815.   He is believed to be the first to build a house, clear a field, and plant crops.  Sperry came from Onondaga County [which at one time included the counties of Cayuga, Cortland and from Cayuga came Seneca and Tompkins counties], but did not remain in Erin for long.  He had left the area by the first census taken in 1830.
 In 1800, Basil was found on tax records for Onondaga County for acreage purchased from the Howe plot.  Basil purchased 120 acres from that plot and owed a total of 31 dollars in property tax. 
 
By 15 Mar 1837, Basil Sperry was living in and purchased a tract of land in La Forte Indiana.   No primary source records could be located regarding his death or his family life.  
“Chrisy1953” Family Tree compliments of Anestry.com, tell us that Basil was born Birth 20 JAN 1774 in Woodbridge, New Haven, Connecticut.  He travels through the country, living in 1812-1850 in Erin NY, moved onto Trumbull Michigan and settled at last in LA Forte Indiana, where he died on April 1,1842.   Chrissy tells us that Basil was the son of Elijah Sperry (1750-1832) and Deborah Toller (1751-1801).  Both Elijah and Deborah were born and died in Connecticut.  There is no data concerning a possible marriage for Basil and no children mentioned.  
 
 

 

​Angela Desimone (8/9/1878-4/13/1912) Angela Married Frank J. Bertucci (1874) on November 28, 1900.They had one daughter, Gladys Angeline Bertucci born in 1907, and one son, Salvador Bertucci born in 1903.  Angela died on April 13, 1912.  In 1910 the little family was living on 1012 eighth street New Orleans.  Frank worked at an Oyster Saloon.    Frank remarried after Angela’s death.  Gladys eventually married Mr. Layman.  
Angelina Desimone (1875-1959), Married Francesco Basile on June 19, 1895. They had one son, Francesco Basile Jr (1896-1987).   Francesco shortened his name to Frank.  He was a hard worker and by 1910 had purchased a home at 2731 Washington Ave, New Orleans, which he owned free and clear.  He also owned and ran a bar room restaurant.  He is buried in Matairie Cemetery in New Orleans.
Lucia Desimone (8/11/1870- ) married Giovanni Losecco in  4/20/1899.  At this time I could find no additional records for either Giovanni, AKA John Losacco or Lucia Desimone.
Unknown female- no additional records have been located on this child at this time.
 
 
 
 
1891 was a turbulent year for New Orleans Italian population.  With the influx of Italian’s fleeing the unrest in Italy, New Orleans natives were feeling increased agitation for the new immigrants.  Tensions rose over a perceived scarcity of jobs and an increase in crime that locals attributed to the Italian immigrants.  This all came to a head with the first murder of a police officer in New Orleans, Chief of police David C. Hennessy on October 15, 1890.  Chief Hennessy lived with his widowed mother on Basin Street in New Orleans.  On that evening he was leaving the Central Police Station with Captain William O’Connor.  Both men were heading home, Hennessey to Basin Street, O’Connor  to 273 Girod Street in uptown New Orleans.  The two men walked together   a short distance, then went their separate ways in opposite directions.  As Chief Hennessey was reaching his doorstep a group of men leapt out at him from the darkness and started shooting at him.    One of the bullets pierced his liver and settled in his chest, another shattered his right leg.  Hennessey returned fire but he was mortally wounded.  O’Connor, hearing gun shots ran the Hennessey’s side.  The men fled and Hennessey lay dying in front of his own home.  O’Connor would testify that Hennesey spoke to him as he knelt beside his friend saying, “Oh, Billy, Billy, they have given it to me and I gave them back the best way I could.”  O’Connor allegedly asked him, “who did this, Dave?” To which Hennessey responded, “The Dagoes”.  Hennessey survived the trip to the hospital and was able to speak with his mother one last time, but within a few hours he was dead.  The Chief of police had a grand funeral attended by thousands of mourners.
Although Hennessey could not identify the perpetrators and O’connor arrived only after they had fled, the Mayor, Joseph Shakespeare, spoke to the City Council after the funeral and declared, “We must teach these people a lesson that they will not forget for all time.” Hennessey had been a well-loved police officer in the city and his death led to a cry for justice form the people The News Papers, eager for a good story, stirred the pot and printed that the murder of a police man was “a declaration of war”, and an “Italian Assassination”. The mayor ordered a dragnet of the French Quarter, where many of the Italian immigrants had settled, and over two hundred and fifty men were arrested.  Nineteen of those were charged with murder.
The newspapers played up the event over the next several months, inciting the populace to believe the men under arrest were part of a secret society of organized crime.  It was then that the term Mafia was first used and the papers used it well. 
In February 1891 the trial was finally held.  The papers captured a daily play by play o the trial events and on February 28, 1891, the verdict was reached- NOT GUILTY.  The following day the papers published a public call to action, stating, “we will gather and go to the prison and clear out these Sicilian mafia thugs.”  The following day a large crowd gathered, no longer an outraged public, but a vengeful mob.  They stored the prison.  The warden tried to save the prisoners, letting them out of their cells and telling them to hide wherever they could.  The Warden and his men tried to ward off the crowd, but they were quickly subdued, and the mob flooded the prison.  The first few men they spotted were filled with bullets, several others were dragged out of the prison and hung from the lampposts and Oak tree.  The hanged men were left to dangle as a warning to their friends and family.  While they dangled, struggling against the hang man’s noose, they  were used for target practice while they swung.   Eleven men were hung that day.  The papers across the country declared that Chief Hennessey was avenged.  No action was ever taken against the crowd, not was the act condemned. 
Two things came of this heinous action, the word Mafia entered the  American lexicon, and Italy, disgusted by the events and the lack of condemnation for the act by any government official cut all diplomatic  ties with the US.
The following people were lynched:
 
Antonio Bagnetto, fruit peddler: Tried and acquitted.
(Antonia left behind a wife and at least three children; Joseph Bagnetto, Camille Bagnetto Marie Bagnetto )
James Caruso, stevedore: Not tried.
Loreto Comitis, tinsmith: Not tried.
( left behind a wife and one child)
Rocco Geraci, stevedore: Not tried.
(left behind a wife ,Carolina Lazzaro and the following children: Luigi, Maria, Rosalie, Giacomo, Giaccomo
Joseph Macheca, American-born former blockade runner, fruit importer, and political boss of the New Orleans Italian-American community for the Regular Democratic Organization: Tried and acquitted.
( He left a wife and one son,John J Macheca )
Antonio Marchesi, fruit peddler: Tried and acquitted.
(left a 14 year old son with no other family)
Pietro Monasterio, cobbler: Mistrial.
(Arrived in the US from Italy January 17, 1890.  He had family in Italy)
Emmanuele Polizzi, street vendor: Mistrial.
(Left behind a common law wife and no children)
Frank Romero, ward heeler for the Regular Democratic Organization: Not tried.
 
Antonio Scaffidi, fruit peddler: Mistrial.
Charles Traina, rice plantation laborer: Not tried.
 
The following people managed to escape lynching by hiding inside the prison:
John Caruso, stevedore: Not tried.
Bastian Incardona, laborer: Tried and acquitted.
Gaspare Marchesi, 14, son of Antonio Marchesi: Tried and acquitted.
Charles Mantranga, labor manager: Tried and acquitted.
Peter Natali, laborer: Not tried.
Charles Pietza (or Pietzo), grocer: Not tried.
Charles Patorno, merchant: Not tried.
Salvatore Sinceri, stevedore: Not tried.
 
 

​ In 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected to the presidency, without a single southern state vote.  He would be inaugurated to office in February 1861.    Immediately following his election, 11 southern states began to succeed from the union.  On February 8-9, 1861, 11 southern states met to establish a new, confederate government.  On March 4, 1861, President Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated the 16th president of the United States of America.   

​The Civil War started on April 12, 1861 with the firing on fort Sumter in South Carolina by Confederate General Pierre G. T. Beauregard.   The war raged across the nation from 1861 through 1866, tearing apart families, destroying long held friendships and leaving a sea of blood and death behind.   Between 640,000 and 700,000 people lost their lives in the war(https://www.historynet.com/civil)-
 In November 1864, the war was still raging hot across the nation.  Abraham Lincoln was reelected as president of the Union, being inaugurated on March 4, 1865.  On April 9, 1865, General Lee and the army of Northern Virginia surrendered at Appomattox courthouse, in Appomattox Virginia.  This is often hailed as the end of the civil war, but that was not the case.    The war continued in the deep south and through Texas.
On April 14, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln, was assassinated.  The country was in turmoil.  Andrew Johnson was sworn in as president.  The war continued throughout the south.  The American Civil War would finally be declared ended on August 20, 1866 by then president, Andrew Johnson.  For a time line of the civil war see https://www.nps.gov/gett/learn/historyculture/civil-war-timeline.htm .
Throughout the 1860’s much of the world was in conflict.  In Italy, Austria held much of the country.  Austria was fighting with Prussia.  By 1866, Italy was building towards a war of independence.  This would come to fruition in a skirmish between Italy and Austria between June and August 1866.  

​On March 17, 1861, Victor Emmanuel II of Savoy was proclaimed King of Italy.  His territory did not include the Papal states of Rome or Venitia.  But did bring the two Sicilian kingdoms into a unity with Italy.  His territory extended to the Piedmonts.  For more of the third Italian war of independence see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Italian_War_of_Independence .   also see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austro-Prussian_War
In short, the general population of Italy in the 1860’s consisted of a large population of serfs, or laborers, living in a war torn, economically disadvantaged country with compulsory conscription into the  military.  Tensions were high, advantages low, expectations that things would improve; non-existent. 
On April 10, 1866, 13 families, having left Palermo Italy in search of a better life, landed at the port of New Orleans, Louisiana aboard the Italian Brig the Catarina.  ( The ship also contained some couples and individuals but for the purpose of this paper we are looking at family groups.)

 Rosalie Desimone, (1875-1961 ),Rosalie Desimone was married to Salvatore Caserta (2/2/1865-5/11/1905), on March 19, 1891.  She was 18 years old, he was 26 years old and working as a saloon keeper.  Salvatore and Rosalie settled into a rental home located at 2011 Dryad street New Orleans.  Salvatore was born in Italy, Ustica, Sicily, and immigrated the New Orleans in 1877.  Salvatore and Rosealie wasted no time starting a family.  In 1892 Mary Caserta was born, followed in 1893 by brother Charles Caserta and in 1897 by brother Frank Caserta.  In 19oo the family also included a niece, Tchetta Bertuccio born 1888.   Salvatore died on May 11, 1905. He was buried in Metairia Cemetery.  In 1906 his body was reburied in Greenwood Cemetery in the Caserta family plot.    We do not know the cause of death.  We do know that Roselie did not mourn for very long.  She married Henry A. Figel in 1906.  Henry also lived on Dyad Street in New Orleans and also worked in the restaurant business.    He was born in New Orleans to German immigrant parents.  In 1907, Rosalie gave birth to a daughter, Florentine Figal.  Henry died in 1917 and was buried in Green Wood Cemetery in the Caserta plot.    By 1920 Rosalie has married for a third and last time.   Her new husband, Roger Pattison is very much like her tow previous spouses.  She continues to live on Dryad Street, now in 2009 Dryad in New Orleans and Roger, like the two previous, is a proprietor in a restaurant.  By 1920 two of the children have moved out to start their own lives.  Frank Caserta remains home, now 23 and still single.  He works as a wagon driver for the express business.  Also in the home is Florentine Figel, now 13 years old.  One does not know if Rosalie is just unlucky in marriage, or if there is more to the story, but in 1924Roger Pattison also passed away and is buried in the Caserta plot in the Greenwood Cemetery.   Florentine completes school and takes a job as a stenographer in the insurance business and continues to live with her mother.  In September of 1930 Florentine married Frank Radosta.  Rosalie continued to live with her daughter until her own death on June 25, 1961.

​Hello friends.  I just finished reading Moby Dick, the classic.  I do have to admit it was not the most exciting book I have ever read, but I felt it was time to “get er done”, so to speak.  But, while reading Moby Dick I learned a thing or two about whaling and the whaling industry of the early 18 hundreds.   Being a whaler was a long, hard, dangerous career.  Men would leave port for years at a time while hunting whales for the oil people used to light lamps before we had electric light.   Whale oil was a valuable commodity and a successful trip would earn the crew a small fortune, if they were able to bring their catch to shore.  The problem was the length of time each trip took, typically three years, made this an expensive undertaking for the crew, who would use their wages to pay back the debts incurred for the trip. 
 Most whalers shipped out of Nantucket New England, but some of the whalers came from other parts of New England.  When you think of the New England homes on the Ocean with the widows walk where wives would watch for their husbands ships to come in, they were very likely whalers.  Merchant ships left port for months at a time, but it was the whaler that spent most of their time at sea, sailing around the world in pursuit of whales, typically Sperm Whales.   Whaling men were hardy, rough and rugged men who enjoyed the comradery of ship life and the freedom of the sea. 
What I did not know before reading Moby Dick, (maybe you already knew this), was that book was based on two different whaling tragedies.  Whaling ships were not overly large and were typically crewed by no more than 20 hands and Captain.  So, with that all said, today we are going to start looking at the crew and wreck of the Essex on November 20, 1820 following an attack on the whaler by a bull sperm whale protecting his herd.  Twenty men sailed from Nantucket New England, 8 returned alive.  Can you claim any of the men in your family tree?  Maybe you have come to a dead end on one of your relatives and had no idea what happened to them.  Well, I am about to attempt to recover the lost souls of the Essex so they can rejoin their families and rest in peace, figuratively speaking. 
 

​The Essex was a three masted ship made of white oak, measuring 87 feet.  It was built in Amesbury Massachusetts and launched it’s maiden voyage in 1799.  The Essex was originally a merchant ship but was refit for whaling, due to its renown strength.  The Essex was based in Nantucket, the whaling capitol of the United States.  If you are interested in learning more about the shipping industry of the 17 and 18 hundred, you can visit the living history museum at Mystic Connecticut, or New Bedford whaling museum in Massachusetts. 
Whaling in the early 1800’s was a perilous endeavor.  After spotting a whale, which typically measured 75 feet on average and weighed approximately 57 tons, several small whaling boats were launched with an average of 6 men in each.   They would chase the whale with harpoons tied to ropes and tethered to the small boat.  When they were within range the harpoon would be hand launched, thrown at the whale and the whale would then be tethered to the small boats.  The whale would then thrash and buck until they tired.   Once the crew were able to get the whale tethered to two or more boats to immobilize it, the men would leave the boats and climb onto the back of the whale and harpoon it over and over until it died.  Then they would row the boats, towing the whale, back to the larger whaler.  In so doing, the whale would be bleeding into the water, drawing sharks around the small boats.
By 1820 the Essex was considered an old ship, but it had a prosperous history and was known to be a “lucky” ship.  Prior to the final voyage, the Essex had  been totally refitted, but at only 88 feet  in length, and measuring about 239 tons burthen,[2][4] she was small for a whaleship. Essex was equipped with four whaleboats, each about 28 ft in length. In addition, she had a spare whaleboat below decks.[5] These boats were clinker built, with planks that overlapped each other rather than fitting flush together.  (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essex_(whaleship)#Ship_and_crew)
Of the crew taking the final voyage, two had been on the previous voyage and received
promotions as a result of the prosperous returns that voyage brought in.  n 1819, George Pollard Jr.  was promoted to Captain at the age of 29.  Polard was one of the youngest men ever to captain a whaling vessel.  Similarly, ship mate, Owen Chase was promoted to first mate at the age of 23.  The youngest member of the Essex crew on the 1820 voyage was  the cabin boy, Thomas Nickerson, who was 14.[3]
The Essex set sail on it’s final journey on August 12, 1819, heading from Nantucket to the South Pacific.  On August 14, 1819, the ship was hit by a squall and was knocked briefly on it’s side, nearly sinking.  The Essex sustained damage and lost two whaleboats, and Captain Pollard initially wanted to return to port.  First Mate Owen Chase, knowing whalers to be a superstitious lot, and feared that a return to port would result in desertions as the men would believe the event was a bad omen, convinced Pollard to continue.  This was not the first time Pollard deferred his decision to that of his first Mate, to his deep regret.
 
The Essex was searching for sperm whales, but did not have their first sighting until two months into their journey, while the Essex was south of Rio De Janeiro. However, it was not until some two months into the voyage, when the Essex was south of Rio de Janeiro, that the first whale was sighted, and killed.   In January 1820, the Essex rounded Cape Horn, Southern Chile and entered the South Pacific.  They did not spot another whale until they reached the waters off Peru.  There they too in ten whales. In late May, Pollard decided to head farther from the coast, into a distant area that had recently proved highly profitable for whalers. In preparation, the Essex stopped at Atacames, Ecuador, in September 1820, and while there one of the crewmen deserted. Although shorthanded, the ship sailed on, stopping at Hood Island, Galapagos, where they fixed a leak on the Essex and caught nearly 200 tortoises. In late October 1820 they reached Charles Island and collected more tortoises before one of the crew members started a fire that soon spread throughout the small island, causing the men to flee.
 
The Essex resumed its journey, and on November 20, 1820, it was more than 1,500 nautical miles (2,800 km) from the Galapagos. That day whales were spotted, and three whaleboats were launched. The vessel commanded by Chase was damaged, however, and was forced to return to the Essex. While repairs were being made, a huge male sperm whale was spotted close to the ship. It was estimated to be 85 feet long; a typical male sperm whale was no bigger than 65 feet.  Some of the survivors speculated that the reason the usually timid creature attacked the ship may have been due to the hammering on the whaleboat, as repairs were being made.  They speculated that the sound of the hammering sounded similar to the clicks made by whales to communicate. Under this theory, the agitated animal believed that the boat was another male that had entered his territory.
 
Whatever its reason, the whale began speeding toward the Essex, ramming the port (left) side. After passing under the ship, the animal resurfaced and appeared stunned. However, it resumed its attack “with tenfold fury and vengeance,” striking the bow and causing catastrophic damage before disappearing.
 
The other whaleboats returned to the Essex  finding it had  capsized. Realizing that the ship was doomed, Pollard believed they should head for either the Marquesas or Society islands, more than 1,200 miles or 2,000 miles away, respectively. Not only were they the closest land mass, the crew would be sailing with the wind. However, Chase and Second Mate Matthew Joy feared that they would likely encounter cannibals. Instead, they argued for Peru or Chile, even though much of the course—which measured more than 4,000 miles, would be against both the wind and strong currents. Pollard ultimately relented, and on November 22 the men left the barely afloat Essex. The three whaleboats, which had been outfitted with makeshift sails and given two months of provisions, were each commanded by one of the officers: Pollard, Chase, and Joy.
 
The journey soon turned perilous as the provisions dwindled, the men began to suffer from dehydration, and the boats encountered bad weather and were in constant need of repair; in late November Pollard’s boat was damaged by a marine animal, possibly a killer whale. On December 20, after having traveled some 1,500 miles, they arrived at what they thought was Ducie Island  but was actually nearby Henderson, one of the Pitcairn Islands.   They found fresh water there but little food.  Realizing they would need to continue sailing, the crew returned to their navigation charts and determined that while Chile was 3,000 miles (5,600 km) away, Easter Island was less than 1,000 miles.  Although the men were unfamiliar with the Easter Islands, they were by now desperate and charted a course for it, setting sail again on December 27, 1820.  Three Sailors chose to remain behind on Henderson and take their chances.  The rest of the crew promised to send help once they reached land.
 
On January 10, 1821, Joy became the first sailor to die, and he was buried at sea; his boat then fell under the command of Obed Hendricks. The next day a storm caused Chase’s boat to separate from the others, and one of its crew members passed away on January 20. Some three weeks later, another sailor in that boat died, and the decision was made to cannibalize his body. On February 18, the remaining three sailors in Chase’s boat spotted a distant ship, the British brig Indian, and managed to sail to it, ending their 89-day ordeal.
 
On January 20–27, three men died on Hendricks’s boat and were eaten. On January 28 Pollard lost his first man, who was cannibalized. The two vessels were then separated the following day, and the boat carrying Hendricks and two others—none of whom had navigational equipment—was never seen again; a whaleboat with three skeletons was later found on Ducie Island, though it was never determined if they were from the Essex.
 
Facing near death, the men on Pollard’s boat decided to draw lots to see who would be killed and eaten. Pollard’s cousin Owen Coffin pulled the shortest straw. Although Pollard offered to take his place, the teenager is said to have refused. He was shot on February 6, 1820 and eaten.   Five days later another crew member died, and he was also cannibalized. The two remaining men were rescued by the Dauphin, an American whaling ship, on February 23,1820.
 
All those rescued at sea were taken to Valparaíso, Chile, where they were reunited. After being told of the men on Ducie, the Australian ship Surry was dispatched to the island. Upon finding no one there, the Surry headed to Henderson Island, and on April 9, 1821, it rescued the remaining survivors. After returning to Nantucket, Chase wrote Narrative of the Most Extraordinary and Distressing Shipwreck of the Whale-ship Essex (1821; republished under various titles). In addition, Thomas Nickerson, a cabin boy on the Essex, later wrote his account of the sinking and rescue, but the notebook was lost and not published until 1984.
Amy Tikkanenhttps://www.britannica.com/topic/Essex-whaling-ship.

Because so many whalers were sailing from Nantucket, by 1819, Pollard and the Essex’s owners had to find crew members who were from Cape Cod and the mainland. In Nantucket parlance, these off-island chaps were called “coofs.”

There were numerous coofs aboard the Essex when she left the harbor on August 12, 1819. Viewed as outsiders, by native Natucketers, coofs were not part of the island’s “family.”

Even so, working on a whaler—which, by 1819, was both a ship and a factory—African-American crewmen experienced the relative equality of shipboard life. They mostly served as sailors and stewards.
 

​Nantucketers held the key jobs and command positions.  These were:
George Pollard  Jr- Captain  (age 29) b7/18/1791-d 1/7/1870
Captain George Pollard Jr. was just 29 years old when the Essex went down, and he survived and returned to Nantucket to captain a second whaling ship, Two Brothers. But when that ship wrecked on a coral reef two years later, the captain was marked as unlucky at sea—a “Jonah”—and no owner would trust a ship to him again. Pollard lived out his remaining years on land, as the village night watchman.
Pollard had told the full story to fellow captains over a dinner shortly after his rescue from the Essex ordeal, and to a missionary named George Bennet. To Bennet, the tale was like a confession. Certainly, it was grim: 92 days and sleepless nights at sea in a leaking boat with no food, his surviving crew going mad beneath the unforgiving sun, eventual cannibalism and the harrowing fate of two teenage boys, including Pollard’s first cousin, Owen Coffin. “But I can tell you no more—my head is on fire at the recollection,” Pollard told the missionary. “I hardly know what I say.”
Over the coming week, three more sailors died, and their bodies were cooked and eaten. One boat disappeared, and then Chase’s and Pollard’s boats lost sight of each other. The rations of human flesh did not last long, and the more the survivors ate, the hungrier they felt. On both boats the men became too weak to talk. The four men on Pollard’s boat reasoned that without more food, they would die. On February 6, 1821—nine weeks after they’d bidden farewell to the Essex—Charles Ramsdell, a teenager, proposed they draw lots to determine who would be eaten next. It was the custom of the sea, dating back, at least in recorded instance, to the first half of the 17th century. The men in Pollard’s boat accepted Ramsdell’s suggestion, and the lot fell to young Owen Coffin, the captain’s first cousin.
Pollard had promised the boy’s mother he’d look out for him. “My lad, my lad!” the captain now shouted, “if you don’t like your lot, I’ll shoot the first man that touches you.” Pollard even offered to step in for the boy, but Coffin would have none of it. “I like it as well as any other,” he said.
Ramsdell drew the lot that required him to shoot his friend. He paused a long time. But then Coffin rested his head on the boat’s gunwale and Ramsdell pulled the trigger.
“He was soon dispatched,” Pollard would say, “and nothing of him left.”
Three hundred miles away, Pollard’s boat carried only its captain and Charles Ramsdell. They had only the bones of the last crewmen to perish, which they smashed on the bottom of the boat so that they could eat the marrow. As the days passed the two men obsessed over the bones scattered on the boat’s floor. Almost a week after Chase and his men had been rescued, a crewman aboard the American ship Dauphin spotted Pollard’s boat. Wretched and confused, Pollard and Ramsdell did not rejoice at their rescue, but simply turned to the bottom of their boat and stuffed bones into their pockets. Safely aboard the Dauphin, the two delirious men were seen “sucking the bones of their dead mess mates, which they were loath to part with.”
The five Essex survivors were reunited in Valparaiso, where they recuperated before sailing back for Nantucket. As Philbrick writes, Pollard had recovered enough to join several captains for dinner, and he told them the entire story of the Essex wreck and his three harrowing months at sea. One of the captains present returned to his room and wrote everything down, calling Pollard’s account “the most distressing narrative that ever came to my knowledge.”
Years later, the third boat was discovered on Ducie Island; three skeletons were aboard. Miraculously, the three men who chose to stay on Henderson Island survived for nearly four months, mostly on shellfish and bird eggs, until an Australian ship rescued them.
Once they arrived in Nantucket, the surviving crewmen of the Essex were welcomed, largely without judgment. Cannibalism in the most dire of circumstances, it was reasoned, was a custom of the sea. (In similar incidents, survivors declined to eat the flesh of the dead but used it as bait for fish. But Philbrick notes that the men of the Essex were in waters largely devoid of marine life at the surface.)
Captain Pollard, however, was not as easily forgiven, because he had eaten his cousin. (One scholar later referred to the act as “gastronomic incest.”) Owen Coffin’s mother could not abide being in the captain’s presence. Once his days at sea were over, Pollard spent the rest of his life in Nantucket. Once a year, on the anniversary of the wreck of the Essex, he was said to have locked himself in his room and fasted in honor of his lost crewmen.
 
 
Owen Chase—the First Mate (Age 23)
By mid-December, after weeks at sea, the boats began to take on water, more whales menaced the men at night, and by January, the paltry rations began to take their toll. On Chase’s boat, one man went mad, stood up and demanded a dinner napkin and water, then fell into “most horrid and frightful convulsions” before perishing the next morning. “Humanity must shudder at the dreadful recital” of what came next, Chase wrote. The crew “separated limbs from his body, and cut all the flesh from the bones; after which, we opened the body, took out the heart, and then closed it again—sewed it up as decently as we could, and committed it to the sea.” They then roasted the man’s organs on a flat stone and ate them.
By February 18, after 89 days at sea, the last three men on Chase’s boat spotted a sail in the distance. After a frantic chase, they managed to catch the English ship Indian and were rescued.
 
Matthew Joy—the Second Mate
William Bond-Steward
Thomas Nickerson-Cabin boy (age 14)
The Essex boatsteers were:

• Thomas Chappel

• Obed Hendricks

• Benjamin Lawrence

sailors were:

• Owen Coffin (Pollards cousin or nephew)

• Isaac Cole

• Henry Dewitt (also a ship keeper who stayed aboard the Essex during whale hunts)

• Richard Peterson

• Charles Ramsdell

• Barzillai Ray

• Samuel Reed

• Isaiah Sheppard

• Charles Shorter

• Lawson Thomas

• Seth Weeks

• Joseph West

• William Wright

 
 

Thank you all,for your continued support of this web site. Please take a minute to send me a message  and let me know what items you find most helpful or  most interesting.  I would like to be able to continue to offer random bits of history, family trees, etc.  and would appreciate your input concerning  content.  This will help me plan for the rest of the year.  
    Thanks again,
​The Random Genealogist

The COPELAND DESCENDANTS: Elizabeth Copeland 
 
Eliza Copeland worked as a maid after he father’s death. By 1858 she had married Henry Moorehouse (1806-1881).  Henry was a farmer in Lanark Ontario Canada.  All of the children were born in Ontario Canada.  According to the 1851 Canadian census, Henry had been born in Wicklow, Ireland.       Elizabeth Copeland and Henry Moorhouse had the following many children:
Eleanor Moorhouse (1826-5/13/1855) Eleanor never married.
Eleanor Moorhouse (8/21/1823-6/19/1909).  Eleanor married Cornelius Neilson (1818-4/30/1869).  Cornelius was also an Irish immigrant, having been born in Carrickfergus, County Antrim N. Ireland.  Eleanor worked as a domestic servant, Cornelius was a watch maker.  Eleanor and Cornelius had 7 children; Annie Margaret Neilson (3/29/1852-1926) Married Alfred M. Greig (1850-3/12/1930) on 9/13/1876, Alfred was an attorney and later, a judge in Lanark County, Ontario Canada.  They did not live too far from Agnes Copeland and several of the other Copeland siblings who remained in Canada. Annie and Alfred had 4 children: Percival Greig (4/21/1878-1962) Married Constance Rowed (10/20/1887-4/15/1979).  Percy worked as a barrister in Lanark, Ontario Canada. Constance and Percy had three children- Anne Greig (5/26/1915- 1/2/2005) Anne was a registered nurse. She married Charles Read (7/18/1918)-who was a medical Dr.  They settled in Iowa USA, where they raised their children, Connie Read married Chuck Hippee and had Alaine, Anna and Camilla, Judy Read married Duane Guernsy and had Read Fredrick Guernsy, Susan Read married Glenn Maze, Patricia Read married Mr. Diaz and had Kim Diez and Nick Diez, and Charles Read married Pat.  The Read children were born in Canada and remained in Ontario raising their families.  Hubert Neilson Greig (1885-1886), Eleanor Greig (1889- ) Eleanor Mabel Greig (1889- ) married Charles Emerson Lindsay.  They settled in Chicago, no other information is available at this time.
 William Johnson Neilson (3/4/1854-7/17/1903) .  William was a medical doctor.  He settled in Manitoba where he married Minnie, last name unknown.  It is unknown whether he had children.
John James Neilson (1856-11/3/1951) married Josephine Upham (1861-1946) and settled in Perth Larnek Ontario, close to his parents’ home. John was a salesman.  It is unknown if they had any children.
Mary Elizabeth Neilson (1858-1861) Died at age 3.
Eleanor Neilson (1861-1954) never married.
Mary Elizabeth Neilson (12/7/1863-9/14/1954), married John McJanet (1861- ) and settled in Toronto. Additional information is unavailable at this time.
Henry H. Neilson (1866-1941) Henry was a watch maker.  He does not appear to have married. 
 
Ellen Moorhouse (1829-10/23/1889)
No additional information is available on Ellen at this time.
 
William Moorhouse (1830-1896)
No information is available at this time.
 Henry Moorehouse Jr. (1837-1866),
Henry never married.  He died at age 29.
Joseph Moorhouse (1832-1885)
Joseph was a farmer.  He settled on a farm in Carlton Ontario Canada. Her married Elizabeth Gilchrist and they had 5 children;
Henry Moorhouse (9/1859-1941) stayed in Ontario but moved around a bit. He worked for the town of Lark Ontario.  He married twice, his first wife, Sarah Wilson Thompson (1862-1897, gave him two children; Harry Clifford Moorhouse (10/6/1891-1935) Harry AKA Clifford served in WWI in England, entering services as a Fire Ranger joining the Canadian over-seas expeditionary force, on December 20. 1915.  While services overseas, he met and married his wife, they had a son, Henry Moorhouse (1919-) while in England.  The family returned to Canada shortly after the child was born, where they are located in the 1921 census.   On November 25, 1929, the family immigrated to the US, settling in Michigan. At this time nothing is known about the family once they arrive in Michigan.  Harry died in 1935 and was returned to Lark Ontario for burial with the family.   Mertie Moorhouse (4/1895-5/3/1968 ) Mertie married James Morron ( 1885-1940)  They remained in Canada, settling in Ottawa Ontario, where they had 6 children; Kenneth Ronald Morron (8/19/1922-12/2/1970) Kenneth married Beryl Doherty and settled in Ottawa, where thy had one child- Edward who settled in the New Jersey, USA. Marilyn Morron married M. Johnson.  Nothing more is known of them at this time., Ruth Morron married L.B. Heeny.  Nothing more is known of them at this time. Lou Morron married WW Heeny.  Nothing more is known of them at this time. , Dorothy Morron married F W. Speers.  Nothing more is known of them at this time., James Curtis Morron, nothing is known of him at this time.   Sarah Thompson Moorhouse died in 1897, leaving two very young children.  Henry married a second time to Mary Alice Smith (1867-1967) on 9/0/1900.  It is unknown if he and Mary had additional children. , Edward Alfred Moorhouse (1869-1938),Wesley Moorhouse (1865- ), Mary Jane Almira Moorhouse (1868-), Martha Moorhouse (1874-)
 
Edward Alfred Moorhouse (1863-1/28/1938) Edward was a farmer.  He married Myrtle (unknown around 1890.  This was a short union and produced no children.  He married a second time to Mary Ann AKA Minnie Brown in 1903. They do not appear to have had any children and no children are mentioned in either obituary. 
Wesley Moorhouse (12/3/1865-5/20/1945) Wesley worked as a customs agent for the Canadian Government.   He settled in Carleton Ontario and married Amelia Amanda Wilson (10/11/1874-1/18/1945) They had 4 children; Edith M Moorhouse (11/22/1892-10/24/1974) Edith remained in Ontario and married Harmon G. Horning (1894-1952) Harmon worked in Dairy / milk production and sales.  They had two children, Charles Wesley Horning who died shortly after birth (3/20/1924-3/28/1924) Charles was born with Spina Bifida , and Dorothy Horning.  Nothing is known about Dorothy at this time.  She was still a child when her father died.  Joseph Elliot Moorhouse (5/16/1900-1/18/1936).  Elliot, as he was called, was a medical Doctor in Ontario Canada.  He married Catherine Irene Sadler (1898 -9/8/1977).  They had three sons; Pryce Moorhouse (1924- ) remained in Sudbury, Ontario Canada.  He worked as a purchasing manager in Sudbury. Nothing else is known of him at this time.   Harold Moorhouse remained in Sudbury, Ontario Canada.  Nothing else is known of him at this time., and Arnold Edward Moorhouse (12/17/1927-7/26/1988) Arnold settled in Hickville, New York USA. He became a naturalized citizen.  He served in the US army from 9/19/1950-9/18/1952.  He does not appear to have married. Florence Moorhouse (4/22/1905-1994) married Gordon Charles Bidwell (1902-) Gordon was a farmer.  It is unknown if they had children. Gertrude Moorhouse (1908- ) no information is available at this time. 
Mary Jane Moorhouse (1868-4/26/1951) married John Samuel Hudson (1866-10/10/1964) on 10/13/1897.  Samuel Hudson was a famer.  He and Mary Jane had 4 children; Alfred Moorhouse Hudson (8/6/1898-1/19/1994) Alfred married Edith Mildred Kemp (  -11/10/1964).  They had two children, Edith Ann Hudson who married Gordon Robley MacKay (1894-), and Ruth Hudson.  It is believed that Ruth never married, as she was unmarried at the time of her mother’s death. After Edith’s  death Alfred married a second time to Jessie E. McLennan. They had no children together. , Stuart Woods Hudson (1901-1980) Stuart was a farmer.  He married Kathleen Graham .  They had three children; Graham Hudson, Gwendolyn Hudson, and Marion Hudson.  Marion married Trever Hawkins and settled in London England. No additional information is currently available on this family.  , Myrtle Hudson AKA Mertie, (4/12/1904-) married x2.  Her first marriage was to Milton B. Cochrane on 8/28/1934.  They had a son on 7/4/1935.  Her second marriage was to JM McDonald. No additional information is available at this time.   , Claude Hudson (9/11/1908-) Claude was a medical Doctor.  He settled in Sidney BC. No additional; information is available at this time.
Martha Moorhouse AKA Mertie (7/19/1873-10/21/1953z0 married Richard Wesley Pettepiece (1871-1940) on 1/18/1899, Richard was a farmer.  They had 6 children; Henry J. Pettepiece (9/30/1899-6/1984)  Henry was a Dr. working on osteopathy. He had his own practice.  In 1920 he settled in Camden Knox, Maine USA.  He married Irene A. Murray(4/26/1908-2/18/1998) on 9/12/1930, in Bangor Maine. They had one daughter, Joyce Pettepiece (1932-) Joyce attended boarding school in NY.  She married Everett H. Dudley on 8/23/1952 in Maine.  No additional information is available at this time., Thomas Edger  Pettepiece (5/11/1901-1991) married Gladys Reid Swerdfager(11/23/1901-) on 5/24/1922. No other information is known at this time., Hubert Wesley Pettepiece (1907-1957) married Helen Marie Bennett in Maine. They had one son, Bruce Edgar Hubert Pettapiece (1935-1936) who died of pneumonia.  Hubert appears to have married a second time but died shortly thereafter at the age of 50.  His death was unexpected and occurred in Florida.  Nothing more is known at this time., Milton Carmen M. Pettepiece (11/12/1908-11/2/2000) Maine Sunday Telegram, Portland, ME, Sun. 5 Nov 2000. Dr. Milton Carmen Pettapiece, graduated from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathy in 1932. This is where he met and married his wife, Hilda "Ferne" Moore. After completing a radiology residency at Philadelphia College, he and his brother, Harry Pettapiece, D.O., operated a clinic in Camden. In 1937, he was a founding staff member of Portland's Osteopathic Hospital of Maine. In 1941 he was a founder of the American Osteopathic College of Radiology. He was the head of the radiology department at the hospital for 42 years before he retired in 1975 at the age of 71. He was also one of the founders of the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine in Biddeford and served on the board of trustees for 12 years. Throughout his life he worked on the local, state and national levels to promote osteopathic medicine and patient care, receiving numerous distinguished service awards and honorary degrees. He was involved with the Civil Air Patrol, American Cancer Society, United Way, Hospital Chaplaincy Service, Maine trade delegations, Woodfords Congregational Church and was a member of the Masons. Dr. Pettapiece was also a golfer who founded the Maine Golf Hall of Fame in 1993, and he served as its first president. He also was past president of the Maine Senior Golf Association. He is survived by a son, a daughter, eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. His wife, Ferne predeceased him in 1997.Milton C Pettapiece & Ferne Moore were married in 1932 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  The names of his children are unknown at this time, Reta E. Pettepiece (7/7/ 1910-2/21/1994) married George Alexander Joynt in Oct. 1937.  She died in Florida. Reta was engaged to another man  in 1935,prior to her marriage to George Joynt.   No other information is available, Orville E. Pettepiece (6/25/1914-4/18/2004) married Gertrude AKA Trudy Lapointe (  ) They had two daughters, Joan Pettapiece ( ) married Ian McKie( ) they had Josh McKie ( ) who married Valery unknown, Kelly McKie ( ) Who married Marc Grenir ( and Jed McKie.( )  Diane Pettapiece married Richard Noel (  ) and had Brad Noel ( ) and Danielle Noel ( ) 


 stay tuned.  We have more to come.  In our next installment we will finish our look at the Moorehouse family and turn our attention to the family of John Copeland.  

​Margaret Cochrane, (1835-1907) Margaret settled in Michigan, where she became a physician and married twice, first to Mr. Gray, then to Henry A. Cooper (1800-1888).  It is unknow whether she had any children. Because Margaret was such a common name, as were the surnames, Cooper and Gray, this researcher has been unable to definitively locate her to discover records at this time.
Posted 8/18/18
*********************************************************************************
 Susan Cochrane (1836-1928) Susan settled in Michigan, where she married Sandford Messenger (1836-1891) Sanford was a medical Dr.  Together they had four children before divorcing sometime between 1870 and 1880.  Susan later married John L.  Nostrant.   Susan and John did not have any children together.  Susan worked as a dress maker after her divorce.  Susan died in Lansing Michigan on  12/28/1928, at the ripe old age of 92. Susan and Sanford had the following children;
                                                                Lillian E. Messenger (10/1859-3/23/1927)
Lillian was born in Illinois but settled in the Lansing Michigan area. She married William A. Norton (1854-) on 1881.  William was a lawyer.  Lillian and William had two sons;
Guy William Norton (7/27/1884-1/30/1960) was a newspaper reporter who worked around the country with a career spanning 21 years.  During his career he met and reported on the likes of Al Capone and Billy Jean king.  He married Cora Church on 4/11/1910.  They had two children, Guy Norton Jr. (1/10/1917-10/16/1984) On 8/15/1940 Guy married Lorine Pitney .  Guy and Lorin had three children, still living, names unknown. Wilburta Norton AKA Billie (1/13/1912-) The family settled in Philadelphia PA. 
Russell Fane Norton (4/9/1886-5/27/1946) He married Dorothy.  Nothing else is known at this time. 
                                                                Minnie L. Messenger (2/1866-5/3/1942)
Minnie was born in Michigan On 10/17/1883, she married Ely Allen (1865-  ) Ely was a real estate salesman.  He moved his family to California around 1920.  In 1920, Susan Cochrane Nostrant, then widowed, lived with them.   Minnie and Ely had two children;
Elma Fay Allen (7/2/1887- ).  Elma also went by the name of Esme.  On 9/12/1914, she married James Blaine Chaney (12/5/1891-9/1965) James was a tailor.  They had two children; Ralph Allen Chaney (12/12/1917-1/16/1995).  Ralph worked as a tin smith and remained in Michigan.  On 9/21/1949 He married Margaret Helen Kennedy (1920-) it is unknown whether they had children. Richard Ely Chaney (4/21/1921-12/17/1983). On 2/11/1950 Richard married Shirley Mae Rasmussen ( 11/2/1927-10/10/1995) Richard and Shirley had at least one child; Ronda / Rhonda Kay Chaney (9/16/1956-)
 
                                                                Mattie Messenger (12/1/1869-7/20/1922)
Mattie Messenger was born in Michigan and settled there to raise her family.  She married Rudolph O. Loomis (   ) in Grand Ledge Michigan on 12/7/1891. They divorced at some time after 1920.  Rudolph was married 4 times, all ending in divorce for extreme cruelty.  Mattie never remarried and lived out the rest of her life with her daughter’s family.  Mattie and Rudolph had one son; Arthur Loomis ( 1894- 5/27/1894) Arthur died shortly after birth. 
 
                                                                Clifford Cochrane Messenger (11/27/1874-2/12/1958)
Clifford was a dentist in Michigan.  On 1/17/1900, he married Maude McLaughlin (1874-) They were divorced 5/26/1909 following Maude’s claim of extreme cruelty. Clifford then married Henriette Clare Bode (1886) on 7/20/1909, They divorced on 3/16/1911.  They had no children.              
 
 
***********************************************************************************
William L. Cochrane, (1841-1918) settled in Michigan and established a farm.  He married Nellie Ostrander, whom he later divorced.  William and Nellie had no children.
***********************************************************************
Isaac Newton Cochrane (1842-1916) Isaac Newton Cochrane settled in Indiana, where he married x2.  His first wife, Lydia Burtch (5/1848-9/1875) passed away three weeks after delivering their only child, Frank Burtch Cochrane (1873-1917).  Dr. Isaac Newton Cochrane then married Isabelle Thompson.  Isaac was a physician.  He also served as a colonel in the Civil War for Michigan.  Isabella and Isaac had four children together.
                                                                Frank Cochran (1873)
Frank’s obituary says it all:  from the Delphi Journal March 7, 1918:
Cochran, Dr. Frank, age 44; interment Masonic cemetery, Delphi. The citizens of Delphi were inexpressibly shocked on Thursday evening to hear that Dr. Frank B. Cochrane had been shot with a .45 caliber revolver, by his own hand. Dr. Cochrane had been for some months a victim of attacks of melancholia, and the last one was very violent. He had been at home throughout the day, and at 5:30 his wife, who was sitting on the front veranda, was alarmed by the shot, which was found to have entered the right temple, passed through the brain and into the wall opposite. He lived for nearly two hours,  but was never conscious after the shooting.  Frank Burtch Cochrane was born in Grand Ledge, Eaton county, Michigan, August 14, 1872. He was the son of the late Dr. I. N. and Lydia Burtch Cochrane. His mother died when he was three weeks old. About three years later his father located in this county and married Miss Isabelle Thompson, who loved and reared Frank as she did her own son. He received his early education in the schools in this vicinity. Later he attended school in Jackson and Ypsilanti, Mich., and Danville, Ind. He graduated from the Indianapolis Dental College in 1896. He established himself in a successful practice here. July 9, 1896, he married Mary Edith Cochrane of Jackson, Mich., who, with their son, Robert B., survives him. He was of a kind, genial nature, a warm, loyal friend, an affectionate husband and father, gratifying, as far as he could, every wish of his family. He had a love for and an artistic appreciation of the beautiful in music and the human in literature. He was a man who excelled in his profession.  Besides his wife and son he leaves his mother, Mrs. Isabelle Cochrane; one brother, William S., of Tulsa, Okla.; Miss Mary Cochrane and Mrs. Mabel Cochrane Devitt.  The sad accident which brought his life to a close on the evening of September 20, has taken from the community a man who will be missed by all. Those who knew him most intimately will ever feel a sense of personal loss in his untimely death. Funeral services were conducted at the home Sunday afternoon at 3:30 by the Rev. Ray Heritage of the Baptist church. Interment was made in the Masonic cemetery. 
Frank’s wife, Mary Edith Cochrane is his first cousin, daughter of William L. Cochrane (see above) . They had one child; Robert Eugene Cochrane (10/12/1900-5/14/1931).  Robert never married and died of heart trouble at the age of 30.
 
Oliver  M Cochrane (1878-10/18/1901)
Oliver never married, no children.
 Mary Cochrane , (6/28/1881-2/22/1981)
Mary was a librarian and well known in her local area.  She never married and had no children. She died 4 months before her 100th birthday.
 
William S. Cochrane (8/1/1884-2/10/1961)
William Sherman Cochrane was an attorney.  He settled in Tulsa Oklahoma, where he married Bess Stillman (11/19/1891-5/12/1954).  From the Delphi Journal 2/23/1961: Word was received by friends here Tuesday morning of the death of Attorney Will S. Cochrane, 76, who passed away at Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he practiced law for many years. Attorney Cochrane died Sunday morning following a long illness Funeral rites were held at the Episcopal church in Tulsa Tuesday morning. Born in Madison township, 1884, he was the son of Dr, I. N. and Isabel Thomson Cochrane. He. was graduated from the Delphi high school and University of Michigan Law School in 1905 and had practiced many years at Tulsa. He served as a law clerk for the Dawes Commission, named to represent the five civilized Indian tribes. Later, he was named District Indian Agent at Nowata, Oklahoma. He served as legal counsel for Sinclair until his retirement in 1945, and was a member of the Tulsa County Excise Board for about a year until Door health forced him to retire. He was an authority on oil law and won a case before the United States Supreme Court at the age of 28. A Mason, he held 50-year membership with the Delphi, Indiana, lodge. He also was a former Lieutenant in the Indiana National Guard. He leaves two sisters: Miss Mary Cochrane, former librarian Delphi, and Mabel DeVitt, of Delavan, Wisconsin. A brother, Oliver, a veteran of the Spanish-American War,, and a half-brother, Dr. Frank Cochrane, a former dentist here preceded him in death. His wife died in 1955 and his son, Preston, in 1957, but a grandson, William Cochrane, 15, resides in Coalings, California. Mrs. G. A. Shaffer and Attorney Cochrane were classmates in the graduating class of 1902. He moved to Delphi with his parents when in grade school.
Preston West Cochrane (6/8/1915-5/3/1957) married Julie Ann Beard (1913-1965 ).  They had one son, William Cochrane who was born 1942 and was living in California at the time o his father’s death.  Nothing else is known of him at this time .
 
                                                                                Mable Lorraine Cochran (5/26/1894-3/5/1978)
Mable was born in Indiana and married Herbert W. Devitt (1895-) in Carroll Indiana on 8/25/1917.  The couple quickly settled in with Mable’s parents, Isaac and Isabella Cochrane.  Herbert worked in a furniture factory and eventually became a sales manager there.  They had four children;
Herbert William DeVitt Jr. (9/3/1918-4/18/2004)Obituary Published in Desert News 4/31/2004: Herbert William DeVitt, Jr. 1918 ~ 2004   Herbert William DeVitt, Jr. passed away on April 18, 2004 in Salt Lake City, Utah. He was born on Sept. 3, 1918 in Indianapolis, Indiana to Herbert and Mabel DeVitt. He married Leona Geise on June 3, 1944, during World War II. They later divorced. Herbert then married Maxine Murray Hayward on Oct. 21, 1972.  Herbert served his country as a naval pilot in World War II. Also, he was held in high regard as a Economics professor at both B.Y.U. and the U. of U. He is survived by his wife Maxine; his three children: Bill DeVitt, Steve DeVitt, and Patty Blakesley; his sister: Mary Steib; Maxine's two children: Murray Hayward and Janet H. I. Crook; 12 grandchildren; and 11 great-grandchildren. Memorial services will be held at Friendship Manor, 1320 East 500 South, Salt Lake City, Utah, on Friday, April 23rd at 4:00 p.m.  Herbert’s children were mentioned in the obituary.  They are still living and there is no information available regarding them at this time. 
 
Mary Bell DeVitt (5/30/1922-) Married ? Steib.  Mary was still living in 2004, when her brother died.  No additional records were located concerning her or possible children. 
Suzanne DeVitt (3/15/1924- 2/1939 ) Died at age 15 of scarlet fever. 
 
*************************************************************************************
Martha (Mattie) Cochrane, (1844-1926) Martha was a Physician.  She settled in Michigan and married Reuben E. Strong.   Martha and Reuben had no children.
******************************************************************
Sarah A. Cochrane (1848-1937). Sarah Ann settled in Michigan and married William Plummer(6/1839-5/30/1933), a wagon maker.  Sarah and William had two living children
Mable H. Plummer (9/14/1870-5/22/1893) Mable married Frank Lockwood. Seage (18768-1951) on 12/25/1891.
 Reginald Copeland Plummer (11/22/1881-12/26/1936) AKA Rex or Copeland.. On 5/10/1919,  Rex married Ada Merrifield (1890-1948) and settled in the Seattle Washington area. Reginald was an ENT Doctor.   They had a daughter, Nancy Lee Plummer (4/4/1921-1985) On 4/15/1944, Nancy married Theodore Edmund Camlin (10/1/1902-3/30/1981) In Seattle Washington.  The Camlin’s settled in Illinois. Theodore worked as an accountant.  It appears that they had children but the names and additional information is unavailable, as they are still living. 
 
 This concludes the family of Mary Copeland and Samuel Cochrane.  Our history will continue as we delve into the past and present of the rest of the Copeland clan.  I hope you have been enjoying this brief history.  If this is your family, and you have additions or corrections, please feel free to drop me a line at [email protected]  or as a message on the web site.  Look for us on facebook. 
 *********************************************************************************

COPELAND FAMILY HISTORY-THE GRANDCHILDREN and descendants OF AGNES LOWERY AND ISAAC COPELAND
I apologize for the extraordinarily long delay in completing this post.  I have heard from several people interested in this family and I am happy to hear from readers that they are finding my site useful.   In our last post we had started our look at the grandchildren of Agnes Lowery and Isaac Copeland.  We have completed a look at the children of Mary Copeland and Samuel Cochrane.  As you may recall, Mary and Samuel did not make the journey to America with the rest of the Copeland clan. It was not until after Samuel Cochrane died that Mary and her children made the trip.  We will start this episode with a look at the descendants of Mary Copeland and Samuel Cochrane.
 
​Mary Jane Cochran (1824-1910)- Mary Jane was born in Armagh, Ireland.  After her father’s death, she and her mother and sibling joined her grandparents in Canada.   Mary Jane Cochrane married Lorenzo Raymond, who worked as a Justice of the Peace in Welland Ontario.  Mary Jane and Lorenzo had the following children;
                                                                Mary Elizabeth Raymond 6/27/1865-5/24/1955
Mary Elizabeth Raymond 6/27/1865-5/24/1955- Married Reverend Thomas Clark Street- Macklem and settled in the Toronto Ontario area.   It is unknown at this time whether they had children or not.  They remained in Canada until their respective deaths and are buried alongside Mary Jane Cochran and Lorenzo Raymond. 
                                                                Samuel D. Raymond (8/18/1856-1/1/1927)
Samuel D. Raymond (8/18/1856-1/1/1927) remained in Ontario Canada, where he married Annie M. Greenarmytage on Oct. 30/1895.  Samuel was a banker, starting off as a teller and working his way up to bank manager.  He and Annie had the following children;
John G.C. Raymond 10/9/1896-10/25/1961) John was a soldier when he met and married Constance ( Connie) Mildred Clare Teversham on April 26, 1919 in London England.  They had the following children: Diane Alexis Raymond (1920-2017- settled in Seattle Washington- arriving 4/14/1944), Patricia Cecile Raymond (1/3/1922-11/21/2002. Patricia emigrated to the Us, spending time in Boston Mass, where she met DR. William McLean Wallace.  Patricia took the name of Wallace but it is unknown if she and William married.  He appears to have had two other wives and marriage records could not be located for his marriage to Patricia.  Patricia had at least one son, born in Boston, Andrew McLean Wallace 1951-1995. There are possible three or four additional children, still living.  Patricia moved to Seattle Washington and finally settled in Cuyahoga County Ohio, where she died in 1995)   and Enid Clare Raymond (1928-1988.  Little is known of Enid at this time.  It is believed that she remained in Canada and may never have married)
Laurence Cochrane Raymond (7/9/1898-5/28/1997) Laurence worked as a clerk and, later, as a cabinet maker.  He moved briefly to California, but returned to Ontario, where he died in 1997.  Laurence married Kathleen Perry on July 8. 1925 in Woodstock Ontario.  They had four children, three still living, and Laurence Clark Raymond born in 1926-2016.
Marian Eleanor Raymond (10/8/1900-4/27/1986).  Marian married Norman Phillips Kirkham, on August 24, 1925 in Alberta, where she settled and together they had 3 children; Norma Marian Kirkham (1926-1977, worked as a stenographer.  She does not appear to have married.), Helen Jessica Kirkham (1928-2000, did not marry), and Thomas Raymond Kirkham, (1931-2012, settled in Manitoba Canada, where he married Simone Turcott. Together they had 5 children, all living at this time).  Norman worked as a hotel manager in Alberta. 
                                                                William Beardsley Raymond (1858-1945)
William Beardsley Raymond (4/20/1858-11/4/1945), William was a barrister in Toronto Ontario.  He married Alexa Mcdougal Cromar on August 3, 1909.  They had one child, Alexis Mary Barbra who died in infancy (1912-1912).  They do not appear to have other children.
 
Lorenzo Clarke Raymond (1859-1942)
 Lorenzo Clarke Raymond (10/7/1859-6/19/1942) Lorenzo was a barrister and a Quaker.  He traveled extensively but does not appear to have married. 
*************************************************************************************
 Elizabeth Cochrane (7/9/1826-12/1/1899) settled in Battle Creek, Michigan, where she met and married John Cliff.  John, an English immigrant (1/12/1829-8/1/1856-). John was a farmer After the death of John Cliff, Elizabeth, needing to raise three small children, remarried to John Wilson (1812-1/24/1898).  John was also an English immigrant and a farmer.   ( Please note the Cliff Name appears throughout the record as both Cliff and Cliffe. This variation in spelling is not uncommon during the mid to late 1800’s.) 
 
                                                                Jennifer Cliff, born 1848- . 
Jennifer Cliff, born 1848- unknown.  Jennifer was a school teacher in Mont Calm Michigan.  Jennie moved to Indiana, where she gave birth to a son, Herbert L. Jeffrey, on May 17, 1880.  Herbert is believed to be the son of Herbert L. Jeffrey Sr. but no record of this person was found.  There is no marriage record or census record of a Jennifer Jeffrey, nor is there additional records of Jennifer Cliff.  At this point it is a mystery. 
Herbert L. Jeffrey (5/17/1881-8/3/1946) Hebert was bornin in Indiana, where he remained.  He worked for the rail road and moved his way up to a conductor position.  Herbert married Carrie Wilky in Dubois Indiana, on 1/1/1901. They had one daughter, Leona D. Jeffrey, born 1903 n Dubois Indiana.  No records of Leona have been located at this time.
                                                                Catherine Cliff (1851-1871)
Catherine Cliffe (7/10/1851-10/20/1871) was born in New York State on July 10, 1851. She moved to Michigan with her family, where she remained until her death on October 20, 1871. Katie, as she was known, was a school teacher.  She died from heart disease at the age of 20 years, 3 months and 10 days old.  She never married and left no off spring.
Samuel Cliff (1853-1923),
Samuel Cliff (1853-1923) was a brick layer.  He settled in Lansing Michigan, where he met and married Ida Matilda Sheets (8/22/1860-7/19/1930) on April 6, 1881.    Samuel and Ida had 7 children, all born and raised in Michigan. 
Lilah M. Cliff (8/14/1881-7/23/1951) married Wilbert Somerville (1878-1957) on April 12, 1909.  Delbert, AKA Wilbert worked as a bricklayer in his youth, but settled down to farming once he moved to Michigan.   He and Lilah had four children; Josephine C. Somerville (12/5/1910-1/17/1968) married Leon Keyes Bennett (12/10/1896-7/2/1974).  He was a laborer.  They had one child, Norma J. Bennett born 9/1/1939.  Norma Jean Bennett married Howard B. Doyal (1935-2008) and settled in Michigan.  They had one daughter, Katherine Elizabeth Doyal born 12/7/1963 in Illinois and Died 7/17/1970 in Chicago Illinois.
Mary Mabyn Cliff (12/31/1887-8/12/1966) Clinton County Michigan.  Mary went by the name Maybyn and Maybe or just May, through out her life.  On January 30, 1916, she married Lewis S. Phillips (3/28/1885-3/28/1975) Lewis was a farmer in Michigan.  Lewis and May had three sons; Cliff W. Phillips (10/13/1917-12/5/1979) Cliff married Geraldine M. Pierce in Lansing Michigan on 10/11/1940.  It is unknown whether or not they had children as no records were discovered confirming any children. Lewis S. Phillips Jr. (10/2/1922-11/28/1944) Lewis married Erdine Miller (1/26/26-9/19/2013) on May 26, 1944, while he was serving in the US Army.  Lewis was killed in action while training in Kansas, on 11/28/1944.  They had no children. Ronald Charles Phillips (4/2/1924-2/17/2010) Married his brother’s widow, Erdine Miller Phillips, on Sept. 5, 1948.   Ronald and Erdine had two daughters; Karen Phillips married James Holiday, Suzanne Phillips married Dennis Boone.There are additional living grandchildren and great grandchildren of Erdine and Ronald still living in the DeWitt Michigan area. 
Frances M. Cliff (January 1888-2/14/1972)  One record was found suggesting Francis married a VanZant and had a daughter, Maria, but I have been unable to confirm this through additional records and the find a grave information seems to indicate Frances never married.
 
Winnefred Ida Cliff (1/3/1891-1/24/1982) was born in Michigan and settled in Indiana, where she met and married William W. Harves (6/13/1892-11/1959).  William W. Harves Sr. worked as a general laborer.   Together they had 5 children.  William Wesley Harves Jr. (10/7/1918-4/22/2004).  William was a sales man.  He settled in Indianapolis, where he married Beverly Hartley (on 4/13/1962.  They had two children; William “Hank” Harves (unknown- living) and Hope Harves (1965) married Timothy Sallee.  7/16/1993.  Ellen Harves (12/17/1918-4/2/2015) Ellen married x3.  She was divorced from her first husband, Robert Hufford (1920-1999- Robert was married x 5- Ellen being his first wife).  They had one son, Robert E. Hufford Jr. (1938- living) who married Diane and settled in Georgia.  Robert and Diane had at least one son, who died in childhood, Wesley Hufford. She married a second time in February 1952, to Roy Phillips.  Roy brought a son to the marriage, Charles Phillips, who Ellen helped raise.  Charles is married to Mary and living in Chicago. Ellen married a third time, on June 1, 1970, to Roger F. Nusbaum.  Roger brought a young son, Kurt, and four grown daughters to the marriage. Ellen adopted Kurt Nusbaum, who is now married to Debbie and living in Illinois and was a step mother to the four grown girls; Sue married Delbert Haschemeyer, Donna, married Aschenbrenner and lives in Illinois, Ronda J. Nusbaum living in Arizona and Peggy Nusbaum in Montana. Richard C. Harves(2/19/1921-12/29/2007) settled in Indiana, where he worked for 30 years as a salesman for the Curtis 1000 company.  Dick retired from there in 1982.  He served as a gunnery instructor in World War II, and Married Jenell Conrad (11/2/1923-1/27/1994).  Dick and Jenell had three daughters, Cathie, (4/20/1945-6/13/2005).  Cathie married Mr. Herrod., Carol married Mr. Paine and settled in Texas, and Chrystal Harves who settled in Arizona.  Thomas Own Harves (4/6/1923- 9/8/2013) Thomas settled in Washington state, where he married x2.   His first marriage to Kathleen ended in divorce on 9/28/1973 and resulted in three children.  Thomas married a second time on 6/25/1974 to Florence E. Mickelson. 
 
Rhoda M. Cliff (3/22/1893-12/23/1943) Rhoda married I Edward Waldon (5/14/1890-10/20/1981) in Michigan on 11/15/1915.  Edward was a farmer.  They had two children; Coralie Rhoda Waldron (6/14/1916-4/16/1991) married Ernest Richardson.  It is unknown if they had children., and Edward Waldron (1/25/19178-4/3/1996) Edward was a farmer in Michigan.  He moved his family to Texas whrer he remained until his death.  He married Gertrude Brunink (1917-1988). They had one daughter, Carol Ann Waldron, still living. Carol Ann married Gilbert Stanley Wood, a farmer born in California, settled in Texas.   
Harold S. Cliff (4/5/1907-11/1979) Harold was born in Michigan and settled in Arizona, where he married Lucille E. Lucille was bornin Ohio.  Harold was a factory worker.  It is unknown whether he and Lucille had any children.
Edna I Cliff (9/2/1905-9/1993) Edna married Isaac Buitendorp (1904-7/7/1972).  Isaac was a delivery man who had his own business.  Edna and Isaac settled in Muskegon Michigan, where they raised  6 children, all still living.  Colon H. Beutendorp (3/26/1928-7/4/2011) colon settled in Texas and married Beverly Larson (1929-) Ruth Annette Buitendorp (1930-) married Carl Henry Simple, Norma Rae Buitendorp (8/8/1930-2/8/2016) married Mack Mackenzie ( 1893-1963), Richard Allen Buitendorp (10/22/1934-9/23/2011), Samuel Isaac Buitendorp (3/28/1946-), Marion Buitendorp (1947-) married Roy Robert Commet. 
 
                                                                Agnes Cliff, (1855-1943. 
Agnes Cliff, (1855-1943) married Dennis S. Knickerbocker (1838-4/22/1892) Dennis was a farmer.  Born in Pennsylvania, he settled in Illinois, where he met and married Agnes Cliff.  Together they raised 6 children;
Clifford Earnest Knickerbocker (1874-1949) Clifford was born in Michigan but settled in Missouri, where he worked in retail sales and finally, as a coal miner.  Clifford married Sarah J. Mc Sparrin in 1897. They had one child that died before 1900. 
 
Luella Knickerbocker (1876-1976it appears that she never married.  She settled in Kansas and lived to be 100 years old
 
George Washington Knickerbocker (2/22/1879-5/21/1954) was an insurance salesman, born in Kansas, he settled in Illinois, where he married Mable Esta (9/2/1889-6/26/1941).  They had two children; Roger Knickerbocker (6/19/1916-2/1977) and Georgia R. Knickerbocker (11/2/1930-7/23/1999) Married Nicholas G. Smith in Iowa on 10/8/1959.
 
Bert Arthur Knickerbocker (4/1/1881-1971) Bert was born in Kansas and settled in Missouri, where he worked as a carpenter.  Bert eventually settled in Illinois where he married Dollie Russel in 1906. They had three children; Bertie J. Knickerbocker born around 1900, Clifford Knickerbocker born 10/26/1912-5/11/1985) Cliff worked as a roller operator.  Clifford married Katherine Pike and had two children; Cloyce Eugene Knickerbocker (7/2/1937-5/17/1996) and Louis Knickerbocker (1939).
Walter Floyd Knickerbocker (8/20/1887-9/2/1888) died 1 year 13 days old.
 
Leonard Roy Knickerbocker (1890-1893) died in childhood.
 
 
  Elizabeth and John Wilson had two sons:
                                                                John Charles/ Charles John Wilson born 1859
 John Charles/ Charles John Wilson born 1859 (he used his middle and first name interchangeable). Married Clara Bing.  No further information available at this time.
 
                                                                Freddie Wilson born 1864.   
 
 Freddie Wilson born 1864.  No information was discovered concerning Fredrick Wilson.
 

 
Agnes Cochrane (1826-1899) Agnes also settled in Michigan and married Samuel Cliff, brother to John Cliff. Note that Samuel spells his name with an additional e at the end. He added this after 1870. The original spelling was CLIFF. John was also a farmer.  He is listed in the census as an Irish Immigrant, but likely the Cliff family, like the Copeland clan, had immigrated from English held Northern Ireland.  Agnes and Samuel had the following children;
 Edward Cliffe (1857-) This researcher was unable to find definitive records regarding Edward Cliffe.
 
 Maggie Cliffe, (1859-) This researcher was unable to find definitive records regarding Maggie Cliffe.
 William Cliffe, (1860-) Was born in Canada and settled in Michigan, where he met and married Frances Swift on 7/9/1896.   William was a farmer.  He and Francis had one child, Julia (May 1897-1973).  Julia married Erwin O. Rhines (1895-1/19/1969).  Julia and Erwin had one son; Robert E. Rhines (1922-1958) Robert married Betty Eileen Dalrymaple. 
 
 Gordon Cliffe (1865-6/18/1955) Born in Canada, Gordon emigrated with his family in 1870.  Gordon worked as a butcher.  Gordon married Gertrude Snoor (1867-3/17/1899) on 6/4/1890.  They had four children; Edward James (5/17/1891-8/8/1958) Edward married Marie Kitcher on 9/15/1915.  He was divorced on 8/14/1919. They had no children. , Rudolph F, (9/1892-)3/15/1964) Married Teressa Husted.  Rudolf was an iron worker.  He and Teresa had four children; Leonard Cliffe (1912-) no additional information is available, Gertrude Helen Cliffe (1918-1978) Married Donald Milton Gutekunst (1918-1971)no additional information is available at this time., Fletcher R. Cliffe (1923-1933)Died at age 10.,  and Wayne D. Cliffe (2/7/1924-4/9/1982 )  Wayne married Lois Sellers on 2/11/1944 and divorced 9/16/1950.   Ruth K , (1/1/1894-1963)  married Allen Briggs ( 1900-).  They had one child, Allen J. Briggs Jr. (1921-).  Allen Jr married Marguerite Bowersox (1925-) no additional information available.   Helen (10/1897-6/26/2003)Helen married twice, first to Ernest Luff. They had no children, the second marriage was to Ernest  Forest Merill ( 1896-)E. Forest was a medical Dr.  The family moved frequently.  They had three children; Sylvia Merrill (7/11/1925-3/11/1976) Sylvia married Ross Banes, a career military man.   Gertrude passed away in 1899, leaving Gordon to raise the children alone.  On 9/5/1900, Gordon married a second time, to Mary Schnoor (1881-1909), half sister of Gertrude.  Gordon and Mary had Four children; Agnes Mary Cliffe (1901-1928)died in Rochester NY, Baby Cliffe (1903-1903), Marion Mary Cliffe (1905-2002)married ? Booth. No additional information is available at this time. , and Gordon J. Cliffe (1909-1909).  Mary died in childbirth in 1909. Cliff married a third and final time on June 30, 1910, to Alta Lemm (1970-1945).    After 1900, Gordon moved form working as a butcher to working as a stock saleman. 

 
Samuel Jr. Cochrane, (1834-1914), born in Ireland and immigrated with his mother around 1856, Samuel served in the military and received a pension for his services.  Samuel, like others in his family, was a farmer.  He married Lucy Phelps (born 1841 in Michigan) Samuel died of heart disease in 1914.  Samuel and Lucy had the following children;
Ernest Cochrane (10/1/1869-1/25/1914), Ernest worked as a bicycle repairman and later, as a machinist in a factory.  Ernest married Ethel F. Taggert 10/10/1906.  They do not appear to have had any children.  Ernest died in 1914.  
 
Wayne Cochrane (12/29/1877- 1959) Wayne Alexander Cochrane was a medical Dr. in the Lansing Michigan area.  He does not appear to have married.
 
Ethel M Cochrane, (1879), no definitive records were located for Ethel Cochrane.
****************************************************************************
Alexander William Cochrane, (1835-1900)- not much is known about Alex.  He moved around the country, living in Illinois and Kansas and died in Montana.  He married Sarah Frances Short (last name unknown. ) Sarah went by the name Franny, (1851-1928), and had the following children;
 Inez Cochrane (1880-1935) was born in Indian Territory and was a school teacher, teaching in Montana.  She married John F. Hash in 1901 at Big Horn Wyoming. John worked as a stationary Engineer for the Rail Road.  John and Inez had seven children;
 Zeni Margaret Hash (12/22/1901-1/5/1976) married Ralph C Farnes  (11/18/1904-4/1992) in Billings Yellowstone, Montana on 2/2/1924.  Ralph worked as an auto mechanic in a garage.  They had two children; Ruth Zini Farnes (4/24/1928-1/20/2013) Ruth married x 3 and had a total of 8 children.  Her husbands were Thomas F. Armstrong (1/17/1923-) married on 2/8/1946, divorced 1/5/1948, on 1/14/1948 Ruth married Calvin Sjostrom (4/5/1925-10/18/1993).  We do not have the names of all of Ruth’s children as many of them are still living.  We do know Ruth and Calvin had a daughter, Barbara Diane Sjostrom on 11/28/1951.  Barbara has married x 2. Ruth and Calvin divorced after 1955.  Calvin was a truck driver.  He remarried.  Ruth married Alfred Landon Bissett (10/14/1936-1/7/2010) Alfred divorced his first wife in 1964 and married Ruth. Ruth and Alfred had one daughter, Zena Renee Bissett (3/27/1965-6/1992).  Zena married William Dean Keene.   It is unknown if they had any children.   Robert Ralph Farnes 2/10/(1931-)Robert is presumed to be still living in Montana.  He married Virginia Bailor 4/17/1950.  Robert was arrested for burglary in the first, pled guilty and was sentenced to two years in Montana State prison, entering prison on 10/2/1950.  Robert and Virginia were divorced on 5/24/1951.  Nothing more is known about Robert at this time.  If still living he would be 87 years old.
Fredrick C. Hash (1904-1124/1960) Fred married Mildred C. River (1909-) on 10/6/1926.  Mildred is the daughter of Frances Cochrane and Carson River of Illinois.  It is possible Mildred and Fred were cousins.   The couple lived for a time in Alaska, before settling in the state of Washington. Fred worked as a repair man and a clerk. They had three children; Jack Clifford Hash (8/5/1927-5/1/2008) Married Muriel.  He lived in Washington where he died.  No other information is known at this time, Virginia E. Hash (11/21/1929- ?) Married Donald H. Welcher and settled in Tacoma Washington, Barbara June Hash (7/3/1931-1/16/2014) Married Richard Dale Farnes (1928-2008) and settled in Washington. They are believed to have had three children, at least two still living, their daughter, Donna Louise Farnes (1959-1993) is deceased.
 Willard Fieldon Hash (1/29/1906-9/6/1967) was born and stayed in Montana, where he married x2, His first wife, Virginia Gretchen Saunders (5/14/1917) married 5 times, Willard was her third husband.  They were married in Billings Montana on 4/3/1944 and divorced on 5/31/1944.  He married a second time, to Lois Olive McClelland (7/21/1924-10/27/2013) in Roundup Montana on 7/17/1944. It is unknown if they had any children.
Eda Hash (1909-4/29/1995) married Fermon Lester Farnes on 9/16/1924.  Fermon, or Lester as he was generally called, was the brother of Ralph C. Farnes, who married Zeni Hash (see above).  Eda and Lester had two children; Harold Farnes (7/26/1925-1/30/2007) born in Washington, he married Annabelle Dora Kennedy and settled in Montana.  They have at least one child, Nancy Lee Farnes (1952-) married Ronald William Matheson.    Richard D. Farnes (4/12/1928-2/13/2008) married Barbara June Hash (7/3/1931-1/16/2014. Barbara is the daughter of Fred Cochrane Hash and Mildred C. River (see above)
Charles Watkins Hash (5/26/1910-2/26/1998) Charlie was born in Montana and settled in the Oregon/ Washington area.  He married Alma Heiser on 7/3/1932 at Roundup Montana.  It is believed that Charlie was a farmer or cattleman.  Little else is known about him and his family at this time.
Vernon Hash(1912-12/16/1970)  Vernon was born in Montana but settled in Oregon.  He was a welder by trade.  On 12/1/1933, Vernon married Irma Jones (2/22/1914-4/22/2007). Vernon and Irma had a least one son, Edward Allen Hash (12/19/1936-).  Edward moved from Montana to Washington state, where he married Phyllis J. Russell (1936).  Little else is known at this time.
Marvin Francis Hash (5/7/1916-3/9/1982) Marvin was a post man, delivering mail.  He settled in Billings Montana and married Georgianna B. Larssoon (1917-) on 9/17/1938.  They had at least one child, Marveen Frances Hash (6/19/1942-).  Marveen married Gary Dee Davis (1941-) on 3/5/1963 and divorced him on 6/7/1971.  She married a second time, to Edward William Kneble on 5/26/1973.  Marveen served in the US Navy. 
 
William Alexander Cochrane (2/9/ 1882-1960) was born in Kansas.  He moved to Montana with his parents and siblings where he worked as a painter, and later purchased and ran his own farm.  On 10/22/1925 he married x 2.  On 10/21/1910, William married Olive Estelle Hullar(1/10/1887-12/24/1965- born in Auburn NY). This was Olives second marriage.    Olive married 4 times and died alone, in a nursing home in Idaho, of an over dose of nebutol on 12/24/1965.  On 10/25/1922, William married Emily May Denson (11/2/1892-12/4/1978 ) and raised a family.   Emily had been married once, before she wed William, and several children that she brought to the marriage.  It is noteworthy that the children took the Cochrane name, but it is unclear if thre was ever a formal adoption of the children by William. ; Hazel Maureen Hemmerly (11/9/1918-9/21/2006) On 6/5/1935, At the tender age of 16, Hazel M. Hemmerly was married to her step uncle, Walter Greenwell Cochrane and moved to Idaho. (see below), Alice Hemmerly (1914- ) Alice married x3.  Her first marriage to James O. Lee took placed when Alice was 15 or 16 years old.  She had two children with James; Barbara J. Lee (1930-) and  Kenneth Lee (1932-) her second marriage taking place on 6/25/1936 to Clifton H. Chase. Clifton died prior to 1940 and Alice went on the marry E. J.  Howerton on 7/5/1941.   and Adeline Hemmerly (11/24/1915-9/5/2002)  married Emerson Ray Bunn on 6/5/1935.  They had at least one child, Betty Lucille Bunn (8/28/1951-living) On 9/3/1972 she married Gary John Sahly and they are believed to be living in California.  Clayton Hemmerly (12/26/1920-4/23/2015), Clayton married x2, it is unknown if he has any children.  It appears he retired to the California area. William and May had two children together; Wilma Cochrane (1924-) married James Jones on 9/3/1943.  and Wheeler John /’Jack” Cochrane (11/6/1926-) settled in Washington, where he married Ivy Rebecca Bailey (7/25/1926-) on 6/15/1952.  No additional information is available at this time.
 
Walter Greenwell Cochrane (1/24/1889-11/9/1972) Walter was a farmer. He was born in Wyoming, where he married his step niece, Hazel Maureen Hemmerly on 6/5/1935.  The family settled in Big Horn Montana. They had at least two children; Vicki Jo Cochrane ( 1/31/1954- ) Vickie married x2, Her first husband was Mr. Braten. This ended in divorce in Nov. 1972 and she married Charles Glen Walker. This was also his second marriage.  No further information is available at this time.  Gerald Cochrane (9/3/1938-8/30/2001) Born in Montana and settled in Tacoma Washington.  He married Judith llona Erck on 6/5/1958.  No other information is available at this time. 
 
(Note- the Cochrane families appear to have family “homesteads” in both Tacoma Washington and surrounding area and in Montana in the Red Lodge area.  The families move back and forth between these two states regularly.   Many members of the family are buried in the Red Lodge area of Montana.
 

​Mary Jane Cochran (1824-1910)- Mary Jane was born in Armagh, Ireland.  After her father’s death, she and her mother and sibling joined her grandparents in Canada.   Mary Jane Cochrane remained in Canada, settling in Welland Ontario, where she died on Sept. 10, 1910.  Mary Jane Cochrane married Lorenzo Raymond, who worked as a Justice of the Peace in Welland Ontario.  Mary Jane and Lorenzo had the following children; Samuel D. Raymond (1856-1927), William Beardsley Raymond (1858-1945), Lorenzo Clarke Raymond (1859-1942). Darwin J. Raymond (1860-1931).
 Elizabeth Cochrane (1826- ) settled in Michigan, where she met and married John Cliff. John, an English immigrant (1829-1856-). John was a farmer.   John and Elizabeth had four children before his untimely death in 1856.  The children were; Jennifer Cliff, born 1848- died in childhood, Catherine Cliff (1851-1871), Samuel Cliff (1853-1923), and Agnes Cliff, (1855-1943).  After the death of John Cliff, Elizabeth, needing to raise four small children , remarried to John Wilson.  John was also an English immigrant and a farmer.  She and John had two living sons by 1870, John Charles/ Charles John Wilson born 1859 ( he used his middle and first name interchangeable), and Freddie Wilson born 1864. 
Agnes Cochrane (1826-1899) Agnes also settled in Michigan and married Samuel Cliff, brother to John Cliff.  John was also a farmer.  He is listed in the census as an Irish Immigrant, but likely the Cliff family, like the Copeland clan, had immigrated from English held Northern Ireland.  Agnes and Samuel had the following children; Edward Cliffe (1857-), Maggie Cliffe, (1859-), William Cliffe, (1860-) and Gordon Cliffe (1865-).  Note that Samuel spells his name with an additional e at the end. He added this after 1870. The original spelling was CLIFF.
 Samuel Jr. Cochrane, (1834-1914), born in Ireland and immigrated with his mother around 1856, Samuel served in the military and received a pension for his services.  Samuel, like others in his family, was a farmer.  He married Lucy Phelps (born 1841 in Michigan) and had the following children; Ernest Cochrane (1869), Wayne Cochrane (1877), Ethel Cochrane, (1879), Mary E. Cochrane (1879), Wayne Cochrane, ( ).  Samuel died of heart disease in 1914.
Mary Jane Cochrane (1830-1910) Mary Jane Cochrane settled in Ontario Canada, where she met and married Lorenzo D. Raymond.  Lorenzo was a Barrister, born in Canada on 9/28/1812.  He died on 1/12/1872 in Niagara Falls Ontario Canada.  Mary Jane and Lorenzo had the following children; Samuel D. Raymond (1856-1927), William Beardsley Raymond, (1858-1945), Lorenzo Clarke Raymond (1859-1942), Darwin J. Raymond (1860-1931), Mary E. Raymond (1865-1955).
Alexander William Cochrane, (1835-1900)- not much is known about Alex.  He moved around the country, living in Illinois and Kansas and died in Montana.  He married Sarah Frances ( last name unknown. ) Sarah wet by the name Franny, (1851-1928), and had at least one daughter, Inez Cochrane (1880-1935) Inez married John F,. Hash.
 Margaret Cochrane, (1835-1907) Margaret settled in Michigan, where she became a physician and married twice, first to Mr. Gray, then to Henry A. Cooper (1800-1888).  It is unknow whether she had any children. 
 Susan Cochrane (1836-1928) Susan settled in Michigan, where she married (unknown) Mr. Nostrant.  Little is known about Susan other than her death in Landing Michigan on 12/28/1928.
William L. Cochrane, (1841-1918) settled in Michigan and established a farm.  He married Nellie Ostrander, whom he later divorced.  William and Nellie had no children.
Isaac Newton Cochrane (1842-1916) Isaac Newton Cochrane settled in Indiana, where he married Isabelle Thompson.  Isaac was a physician.  He also served as a colonel in the Civil War for Michigan.  Isabella and Isaac had the following children; Frank Cochran (1873), Oliver  M Cochrane (1878), Mary Cochrane , (1881), William S. Cochrane (1884), and Mable Cochran (1894). 

Martha (Mattie) Cochrane, (1844-1926) Martha was a Physician.  She settled in Michigan and married Reuben E. Strong.   Martha and Reuben had no children.
Sarah A. Cochrane (1848-1937). Sarah Ann settled in Michigan and married William Plummer, a wagon maker.  Sarah and William had one daughter, Mable,(1870).
 
 
 
 
 
Elizabeth Copeland worked as a maid after he father’s death. By 1858 she had married Henry Moorehouse.  Henry was a farmer in Canada.  They had the following children; Henry Moorehouse Jr. 91837-1866), John Moorhouse, (1833-1900),Isabella Moorhouse (1843-1917),Eliza Jane Moorhouse, (  ), William Moorhouse, ( ), Anne Moorhouse, (  ) Elizabeth Elleanor  ), Charles Moorhouse, (  ).
 
John Copeland (1810-) remained in Ontario Canada, working as a sailor. He married Harriet Boughton Fairman. They had the following children; Isaac Seymore Copeland (1849-1919), Susan E. Copeland (1853-1918), John Robert Copeland (1855-1882), Harriett Copeland (1860-), Charlotte Elizabeth Copeland (1863-1940), Charles F. Copeland (1867-1952)
 
Margaret Copeland (1814-1889) settled in Lewiston Niagara NY, where she married Colonel Arthur Gray.  Arthur was born in Canada (1811-1886). They had the following children; Isaac Gray (1831-), Elizabeth Gray (1837-), Catherine Gray (1842-), Margaret Gray (1845-), Arthur Gray Jr. (1849-), Katie (1843-), Margaret Gray (1845-), Jessie Gray (1858-), Libbie Gray (1860-), John Gray (1851-), Grant Gray (1855-), William Gray (1857-)
 
Susan Marie Copeland (1818-1895) Married Martin Snively (1812-)..  Martin was a cabinet maker. They remained in Ontario and had the following children; Adelade Snively (1843-1925), Sarah Snively (1845-1926), Mary Snively (1848-1933), Darcy Snively (1849-1933).
 
William Lowery Copeland (1820-1887) married Margaret Martha McNeely.  William remained in Welland Ontario Canada, working as a farmer.  They had the following children; Mary Jane Copeland (1852-), Martha Copeland (1853-), John Copeland (1855-), Anne Copeland (1859-).
 
Robert Emmett Copeland (1822-1907) was a farmer in Michigan.  He married Mariah/ Maria Lindley.  They had the following children; Ellen Copeland (1847-), Arthur G. Copeland (1850), Agnes Copeland (1852-), Willard Copeland (1854-), Dencie/ Harriet Copeland (1866), John Copeland (1858-), Jessie Copeland (1862-), Charles R. Copeland (1865-)
 
Agnes Nancy Copeland, died 3/23/1862. Nancy remained in Ontario Canada. She never married.

​
 In our next post we will look at the children of Eliza Copeland and Henry Moorehouse.

THE COPELAND FAMILY 1777-
Letter from Isaac to Mary Copeland Cochran
Lewiston, N.Y.
March 12th 1824
 
Dear Children,
I send you these few lines to let you know that we are well and present.  Thanks to God for all his mercies.
We sailed on the 27th of May 1823.  The third day we got on a sandbar near Arklow.  We all got bery sick except Eliza.  She was sick two days.  We had very high contrary winds most all the way.  When we came on the banks of Newfoundland we had very cold weather.  About the first of July we passed several mountains of ice.  We landed at Quebec on the 5th of July 1823.  Then to Prescott and from there to Kingston where we stopped four weeks.
I went to the land office at Kingston to locate land and could have done so by going forty or fifty miles back into the bush, but on being resolved on Talbot's Settlement, I thought little about it.  Kingston is a very flourishing place.  We next went to Little York.
The steamer we took in Kingston was bound for Smith's Creek, but at night came a tremendous hurricane and we never expected to see land again.  Because of the storm the steamer took us past Smith's Creek and landed us at Little York.  We stayed there two weeks for Eliza had fever and ague.  When she got better we went forward on our journey to Port George, where Nancy and George William were seized with fever and ague, and Robert with chin cough.
By this time it was about the fifth of October when we had to stop our journeyings.  Their sickness lasted about six weeks.  It wat then too far in the season to travel.  I had then to look for a place for stop till spring.
We came to Lewiston and here I found a place and employment for us.  I have been hauling since November and the girls spinning knitting and sewing.  We got some money, pork, flour etc. for our work.  This is a new settlement and belongs to Holland Company.  They sell land for $5 and acre, in a state of nature.  It is good land but my mind is set to see Talbot's before we settle anywhere.
I am glad that Jane Spear has given her brother and sister so much encouragement to come, but for my part I will not encourage any more than thus far - that is you think of coming this is the time for you .  The expense if brining a family here and the difficulty together is very great.
If you come bring plenty of clothes for yourselves, clothing here is dear and shoes dear, and very bad.  The best place for coining money here is in the Lockport Canal.  A man will get thirteen dollars a month and found, from April to November paid in cash.  It is eighteen miles from where we live to the Canal.  I wish you to write as soon as possible after this comes to hand and let us know of your affairs, especially concerning yourselves, your crops and cattle.
I hope you will let us know whether you applied for Mary's money or not, and if you succeeded in the affair.  I hope you did.  I want to know how Barney McCannies affairs went.  I hope he got clear.  Let us know if David Conan has come to America. 
The best trade I have observed since setting foot on this land is farming-mason and stone cutting nest, a good trade.  Tailors do well and I think shoemaking is not behind the best of them.
Victuals not dear; flour is sold for three dollars a hundred weight; Indian corn for half a dollar a bushel.  Cows sell for ten and sixteen dollars sheep two dollars and a pair of good oxen cost sixty dollars.  A man will get half a dollar for common work and for cradling or mowing a dollar a day.
I have seen some of Joseph Brown's.  He lives in the state of New York within eleven miles of us and is doing well.
We live in New York state within ten miles of the Falls of Niagara on the river side, bout four hundred and sixty miles from New York City.  We are not any off out of course yet -- Pittsburg or Talbot's Settlement, but this is a very cold place in winter, only for that I would purchase land here. 
This place (Lewiston) is joining an Indian Settlement and very destitute of the Gospel.  I am in the notion of going to Talbots to see it before moving the family out of this.  If I do not see it proper to take the family there, I will purchase land here.
The Indians have a missionary preacher that attends them.  I have been in their meeting house several times.  They are much reformed within these few years.  Four or five years back their practice was cruel.  When their women got old they would burn them, and they have been rescued by white men.  One of these is living here yet.  The missionaries - Universalists and Methodists are what prevail here.  The doctrines of free grace and predestination are foolishness to these people.
Your mother has had her health considerable well since we came to this country.  We want for nothing only the comfort of you, dear Samuel and Mary.  If you were here I think it would be well for you and for us.  I also wish James Thompson were here.  It is the only place for a young man.  If you or James Thompson come, your mother wishes me to ask that you bring "The Pilgrim's Promise".  If you come or not, write when this comes to hand, and let us know whether you are coming or not.
~Affectionately ------ Father
 
This letter was written to his eldest daughter Mary and her husband Samuel Cochrane who, with their children, were left in Ireland.  Later Samuel died and Mary with her brood, eleven by that time, came to the U.S. Smith's Creek which is now Port Hope.  Talbot's Settlement is now London, Ontario.  Robert was one year and two months old when they left Ireland.  He was born March 4, 1822.  He came to live on a farm in Michigan in the spring of 1848.
His father, who wrote this letter, was named Isaac Copeland and his mother's name was Agnes Lowry - of Scotch decent but born in Ireland.
The punctuation, spelling, etc, are exactly like the original letter, so one realizes that he was any educated man.
Later, I think a few months after this letter was written, he started for Talbot's Settlement but was murdered on the way and all his gold taken leaving his family destitute.  But his wife must have been a grand woman for though the children were put with other families, she gathered them together every Sunday and advised and instructed them so they all grew up good men and women.
In Isaac's family were:  Mary Cochrane, Eliza (maid), Agnes Nancy Thompson, John, Margaret Gray, Susan Snively, and Robert.
 
   With Isaac’s death, Agnes was left to fend for herself as best she could.  She settled in Saint-Catharine’s, Niagara Regional Municipality Ontario, Canada, where she remained until her death in 1855.  The children were sent to live or work with various other families, as Agnes was unable to care for so many children, but, as mentioned above,  she brought them all home every Sunday for Sunday dinner and religious instruction.
  Mary Copeland, who remained in Ireland, married Samuel Cochrane. Mary and Samuel had 11 children.  Following Samuel’s death, Mary and her children made the journey across the ocean, settling at Smith Creek, which is now Port Hope Michigan.   Mary landed November 7, 1848.  Mary became a farmer in Michigan.   Mary and Samuel Cochrane had the following children; Mary Jane Cochran (1824-1910, Elizabeth Cochrane (1826- ), Agnes Cochrane (1826-1899), Samuel Jr. Cochrane, (1834-1914), Alexander William Cochrane, (1835-1900), Margaret Cochrane, (1835-1907), Susan Cochrane (1836-1928), William L. Cochrane, (1841-1918), Isaac Newton Cochrane (1842-1916), Martha (Mattie) Cochrane, (1844-1926), Sarah A. Cochrane (1848-1937).
 
Elizabeth Copeland worked as a maid after he father’s death. By 1858 she had married Henry Moorehouse.  Henry was a farmer in Canada.  They had the following children; Henry Moorehouse Jr. 91837-1866), John Moorhouse, (1833-1900),Isabella Moorhouse (1843-1917),Eliza Jane Moorhouse, (  ), William Moorhouse, ( ), Anne Moorhouse, (  ) Elizabeth Elleanor  ), Charles Moorhouse, (  ).
 
John Copeland (1810-) remained in Ontario Canada, working as a sailor. He married Harriet Boughton Fairman. They had the following children; Isaac Seymore Copeland (1849-1919), Susan E. Copeland (1853-1918), John Robert Copeland (1855-1882), Harriett Copeland (1860-), Charlotte Elizabeth Copeland (1863-1940), Charles F. Copeland (1867-1952)
 
Margaret Copeland (1814-1889) settled in Lewiston Niagara NY, where she married Colonel Arthur Gray.  Arthur was born in Canada (1811-1886). They had the following children; Isaac Gray (1831-), Elizabeth Gray (1837-), Catherine Gray (1842-), Margaret Gray (1845-), Arthur Gray Jr. (1849-), Katie (1843-), Margaret Gray (1845-), Jessie Gray (1858-), Libbie Gray (1860-), John Gray (1851-), Grant Gray (1855-), William Gray (1857-)
 
Susan Marie Copeland (1818-1895) Married Martin Snively (1812-)..  Martin was a cabinet maker. They remained in Ontario and had the following children; Adelade Snively (1843-1925), Sarah Snively (1845-1926), Mary Snively (1848-1933), Darcy Snively (1849-1933).
 
William Lowery Copeland (1820-1887) married Margaret Martha McNeely.  William remained in Welland Ontario Canada, working as a farmer.  They had the following children; Mary Jane Copeland (1852-), Martha Copeland (1853-), John Copeland (1855-), Anne Copeland (1859-).
 
Robert Emmett Copeland (1822-1907) was a farmer in Michigan.  He married Mariah/ Maria Lindley.  They had the following children; Ellen Copeland (1847-), Arthur G. Copeland (1850), Agnes Copeland (1852-), Willard Copeland (1854-), Dencie/ Harriet Copeland (1866), John Copeland (1858-), Jessie Copeland (1862-), Charles R. Copeland (1865-)
 
Agnes Nancy Copeland, died 3/23/1862. Nancy remained in Ontario Canada. She never married.


Next time we will look at the Grandchildren of Isaac and Agnes Copeland.

 As promised, today we will take a look at the family history of Isaac Seymour Copeland- publisher and founder of The Elmira Star Gazette.
       Our story begins in Northern Ireland in 1777.  Isaac Copeland was born in Newry, county Down Ireland  in 1777. He was Presbyterian and loyal to the crown.  




​   In 1783, in Newtown, Hamilton County Armagh,  Ireland, Agnes Lowery was born to Sir William Lowery, a British officer of Scottish decent.  At this time exact records concerning sir William Lowery/ Lowerie/ Loughry have not been located.  Agnes was also Presbyterian and her family were loyal to the crown.  

      Agnes and Isaac were married on 3/29/1802 in Newry, County Down, Ireland. It was here that they started their family.  Agnes Lowery and Isaac Copeland had the following children , all born in Newry Down Ireland; Mary Copeland (1803-1888), Elizabeth Copeland (1803-?,) Agnes Copeland (- ), Nanacy Cope;land (-), Margaret Copeland (1814-1895), Susan Copeland (1818-1895), William Lowry Copeland (1820-1887), and Robert Copeland (1822-1907).  The family set sail for Canada on May 27, 1823, leaving their eldest daughter, Mary and her husband and children behind to follow later.   It appears they were planning to move to Talbot' settlement , which is now New London Ontario Canada.  They spent their fist winter in Lewiston , Niagara NY.  Isaac carried gold, as it was a universal currency in those days, to purchase his homestead in Talbot.  When spring came he resumed his journey to the Talbot settlement, thinking he would see how it compared to the settlement in Lewiston before making a decision.  Isaac was murdered en route and his gold stolen, leaving his family destitute in an unfamiliar and hostile land. He was buried in St. Thomas Old English Cemetery in Elgin County,  Ontario Canada.   Shortly before his death, on March 12, 1824, Isaac wrote a letter to his daughter and her family, in Ireland telling of their adventures on the way to their new home.  He tells how some of the family, Young Nancy, George William and Robert,  were ill with fever and Ague and they were forced to stop and rest until  they recovered.  It took 6 weeks for the fever to leave the children and good health return. By that time it was too late in the year to travel, being  Oct. 5th, 1823. They stopped in Lewiston, where they found work. Isaac started hauling in November and the girls spent their time spinning, Knitting and sewing to help make money for the remainder of their journey.  Isaac writes that the land in Lewiston is owned by the Holland land company and selling for $5. an acre in a "a state of nature", meaning unimproved wilderness, but Isaac was determined to go on the Talbot before making a decision to settle in Lewiston.   Isaac laments that there  was  no church in Lewiston and the settlement is adjacent to the Indian settlement, where he went for services performed there by the Universalist and Methodist Missionaries.  
   For more on the history of the Talbot Settlement check on  http://www.elgin.ca/ElginCounty/CulturalServices/Museum/talbot/Talbot%20Settlement.htm

  In our next post we will look at the fate of the family and find out more about the children of Issac and Agnes Copeland.   Stay tuned.  

​

Hello everyone. I hope you have had a good spring and welcome to summer 2017.  I guess it has been longer than I thought since my last post. I apologize.  As this is a free site I am chained to the world of work, so unfortunately I have been unable to  post for awhile.   I have been working on a couple of new projects and will be posting them soon.  I also wanted to let you know we will be upgrading our site in the near future to include a site search component.  That should make everyone happy, including me.  It will be much easier to find specific content once we get that up and running.  
   I do want to thank everyone who has stuck with us while I have been away.  Keep checking in.  I am always researching something, so you never know when some new information or a new family history may post.  Most recently I have had a note from a granddaughter of Robert Keenan of Olean, asking if we can find out a little more about her family.  So, stay tuned, as we will be looking at the Keenan's of Olean. and , of course any associated family.  The Keenan clan is a large one and there are several different Keenan family in New York and Pennsylvania, so it will be interesting to see if we can connect the dots and find a common ancestor.  If you have a Keenan in your tree you will find this history particularly valuable.  
      I have recently completed a look at the Copeland Family of Elmira NY and will be posting some of that information soon.  This is an interesting, though fairly brief history.  The Copeland family founded the Elmira Star Gazette and were instrumental in the founding of the Ganette news empire, though Copeland did not receive the credit he should have for his accomplishments. 
     If you have questions or ideas fro upcoming segments or see something that needs correcting, let me know. Send me an email or a comment and I will get back to you.  I hope you are enjoying  this web site.  Stay tuned.
Sincerely,
​The Random Genealogist  

David,
​ Thank you for this update.  Regarding the Green/ Coates family- I will check my notes and see what I can find for you.  Thank you for your support.

      I would like to take a minute to thank all of you for our patronage over the years, and your patience, as I start projects and contimue to get side tracked with life.  I hope you have all had a happy holiday season and are looking forward to the new year.  It has been a difficult year for the United states, politically speaking, and there is much uncertainty ahead.  But this site is not about looking ahead, is it?  We spend much of our time looking back at the men and Women who shaped our lives  and the world around them.
​  In the spirit of the New Year, I would like to take a look at two men responsible for one of the most enduring and ,perhaps one of the most taken for granted traditions our country has come to embrace;     the Time Square count down ball.
      New Years eve was celebated in New York's Time Square, as early as 1904, following the opening of the first subway, and the establishment of the New York Times  new headquarters in Times Tower.  The area that is now Time Square, had previously been named Longacre Square.  The owner of the New York Times and the impressive Times tower, then the second tallest building in the world,  was a German Jewish  immigrant, Adolph Ochs.  Ochs executed an unprecendented New Years Eve celebration in 1904,  as a way of inaugurating his new building and celbrating hsi paper's tremendous success.   Ochs spared noexpense to make his celebration an historic event.  It began with an all day festival, held in the square surrounding the tower, and culminated at midnight with  fireworks, noise makers,  and cheering from over 200,000.  
   The New York Times' description of the occasion paints a rapturous picture: "From base to dome the giant structure was alight - a torch to usher in the newborn year..."
      The celebration became an instant fixture in New York City,and captured the attention an they were teh preeminanttry and of the world.  The word spread like lightning, Time Square was the place to be on New Years Eve.   Two years later, the city banned the fireworks display, but Ochs was undaunted.  He hired the Strauss Sign company to design a new Years eve sign that would do justice to the world reknown Times Tower.  
    Strauss signs was founded in 1897 by German Immigrant,  Benjamin Strauss.  Strauss was a well known artisan in New York.  His cmpany was responsible for many of the posters adn show cards that adorned the shops and streets of New York.  It was Strauss genious, and good fortune, that he hired Jacob Starr, a Jewish immigrant from Russian held Poland.   Jacob came to Manhatten in, or around 1907.  He was a metel worker and an electrical engineer.   Starr build the first ball, to be fastened to the flagpole on the tower, to be lowered as a count down heralding the change form 1907 to 1908.    The original ball was built of iron and wood and lit with 100 incandescent light bulbs.   The first ball weighed 700 pounds and measured 5 feet in diameter.  The creation of this dynamic display rocketed Strauss signs to the forefront of the "Spectaculars' trade, the creation of large, lit displays and signage.  Strauss' company was commissioned to oversee the ball drop, and continue in that capacity to the present day.
     Starr went on the become an innovative desiner of marques and entertainment centers in New York adn around the country.  In 1920 he left Strauss Signs and started his own business, a franchise of Artkraft Ohio, a company working with neon.  Starr's company, Artkraft - New York.  His business flourished and in  Starr and Strauss merged their companies to form Artkraft-Strauss.  By 1950 they were the preeminant sign manufactures in New York adn were established world wide.  Jacob Starr was also responsible for the famouse statue of the flag raising over Iwo Jima, erected on 4/27/1945 as a tribute to the brave men and women who fought and died in world war II.
    Jacob  Starr was born in Russia held Poland in 1889.  Jacob immigrated to America in 1907. He married his wife, Anna in 1920.  Anna was also a Jewish immigrant form Russian helf Poland.  She immigrated to America in 1911.  Jacob and Anna had three children, Melvin Starr born 1919, Leta Starr born 1929, and Jean.  Jacob and Anna Starr foundedteh Women's League for Isreal, which consisted of the Ann and Jacob Starr evaluation Center in Isreal.  Jacob Starr was a trustee of the Synagogue.    Jacob died in 1976, 5 months after Anna passed away.  
     

The Cayuta Cemetery , according to the sign on  the site, was opened in 1879.  It is  a fairly well maintained and still active cemetery on county  Route 224 in Schuyler County NY.  The cemetery sits beside a quaint little country church on the left side of the road just past the lumber yard in Cayuta.  When I was there, the yard needed to be mowed, but it was not  badly over grown.  There were a few stones that have fallen and have propped up with some care, though not reset.  There were a few mostly sunk in to the ground and spaced that indicate many more that have sunk below ground.  ​ selected a few families to photograph and  research.  I am posting the stones I have pictures on here and will follow with some  family history facts.  I hope you will find it of interest.

  The web site- Find  A Grave- launched a community event this weekend, Oct. 7-9, 2016.  Find a grave is calling on their participants to locate a cemetery on their web site, look at photo requests and go out and photograph graves to post on their web site.   This a a great way to preserve history and grow the on line data availability for family historians and individuals seeking to complete or enhance their family tree.  I support this effort and encourage you to take some time to check out their web page, look for a local cemetery and participate in the community days event, even if the post is a week or two late.  
 The Random Genealogist, in the spirit of the event, decided to look for and photograph the Alpine Cemetery in Alpine New York.    I look at the web site indicated there are 4 photo requests, 179 persons located in the cemetery and 0% of the cemetery photographed so far.  One problem, this is an old pioneer cemetery and Find A Grave did not provide a location. undaunted at this minor detail, I set out for Alpine, a very small hamlet in Schuyler County New York. We drove up and down and no sign of a cemetery anywhere.  Finally, as the sun was setting yesterday, I stopped and asked a couple who looked like they may know something about the local area.  They did, indeed.  They informed me that there is an old, little known cemetery, off of Oak Hill Road on the property of a local businessman.  They indicated that the cemetery is up on a hill and back a distance from the road.  They cautioned to make sure I get permission from the home owner before setting out, as he owns the cemetery and is particular about his property.   Good advice and appreciated.  Unfortunately, I have not been able to contact him yet, and it is raining here today.  Still, it is my plan to complete this mission in a day or two and post the photos here and also on Find A Grave.  Once I have had a look at the cemetery I will report back on it's condition and will attempt to do a couple of histories for some of the families I find there.  So, Stay tuned, there is more to come.
   Also, as I was not able to get to Alpine Cemetery yesterday,I stopped by the Cayuta Cemetery on State Route 224 and picked a few families to do histories on, and took pictures of the  graves. I hope to have something up on that before the weekend comes to a close.  In the mean time, have a happy and safe Columbus Day weekend.

Tim Kaine by follers on July 19, 2016


Birth Name: Timothy Michael Kaine
Place of Birth: St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S.
Date of Birth: February 26, 1958
Ethnicity:
*81.25% Irish
*18.75% Scottish
Tim Kaine is an American politician. He is the Democratic Party’s 2016 nominee for Vice President of the United States, while Hillary Clinton is their nominee for President.
A Democrat, he has served as a U.S. Senator from Virginia, since January 3, 2013. He was previously the 76th Mayor of Richmond, Virginia, from July 1, 1998 to September 10, 2001, the 38th Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, from January 12, 2002 to January 14, 2006, the 70th Governor of Virginia, from January 14, 2006 to January 16, 2010, and a Chair of the Democratic National Committee, from January 21, 2009 to April 5, 2011.
Tim is the son of Mary Kathleen (Burns) and Albert Alexander Kaine, Jr. His father was of Scottish and Irish descent. His mother is of Irish ancestry. Tim is married to Anne Holton, who has served as Virginia Secretary of Education, since 2014, and whose father, A. Linwood Holton, Jr., was Governor of Virginia, from 1970 to 1974.
Tim’s paternal grandfather was Albert Alexander Kaine (the son of Alexander “Alex” Kane/Kaine and Isabella/Isabelle Potts). Albert was born in Kansas, to Scottish parents. Tim’s great-grandfather Alexander was born in Campsie, Stirlingshire, to Peter Kane, who was born in Ireland, and Jane/Jean King, from Greenock, Renfrewshire, Scotland. Tim’s great-grandmother Isabella was born in Cavers, Scottish Borders, the daughter of William Potts and Isabella Patterson Hermiston.
Tim’s paternal grandmother was Annabella/Annella/Ann Ellen Mary Farrell (the daughter of Patrick John Farrell and Mary Catherine Fleming). Annabella was born in Kansas. Patrick was Irish, from Donnybrook, Dublin, the son of Patrick Farrell and Mary Milnamow, both from Longford. Mary Catherine was born in Ontario, Canada, to an Irish father, Thomas Patrick Fleming, from Kilkenny, and a mother, Elizabeth Downey, who was born in Ontario, to Irish parents.
Tim’s maternal grandfather was Leo M. Burns (the son of Michael F. Burns and Bridget “Bridgie”). Michael was born in Illinois, to Irish parents, Patrick Burns and Sarah. Bridget was born in Missouri, also to Irish parents.
Tim’s maternal grandmother was Pauline A. Mannion/Manion (the daughter of Thomas Patrick Mannion and Mary A. Hannan). Thomas was born in Missouri, to Irish parents, John Manion/Mannion and Margaret Gormley, both from Galway. Mary A. was born in Illinois, also to Irish parents, Richard Hannan, from Stranorlar, County Donegal, and Mary Elizabeth Sullivan, from Waterford, Waterford City.
Sources: Genealogies of Tim Kaine – http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com
https://www.geni.com