HAPPY DANCE WEDNESDAY ~ Church records for Thomas C. Hall, his wife Cora & their son Charles

 

What treasures can I share today?

 
How about church records recently received from a church in New York?
 
I called Bethesda Episcopal Church in Saratoga Springs, New York, last month.  I was interested to see if they still held any records from 1877-1900. 
 
I was specifically looking for records for my husband’s great grandfather and his wife, Thomas C. Hall, Cora E. Brown Hall and their son Charles S. Hall.

 
While we can find some records online, we all know, many are still not available.  Some are indexed, but even viewing an index or transcription is not the same as looking at the actual record.  There could be any number of errors on an index or transcription.
 
I did my happy dance this morning when I received an email from the church with 4 records attached!!!
 
Images of actual church record pages from church registers of Baptism, Marriage, Confirmation and Burial.
 
Here they are: Please click on any image to enlarge it.

MARRIAGE OF THOMAS C. HALL & CORA EMMA BROWN

on 5 Feb 1877

BAPTISM OF CHARLES SCHUYLER HALL 

16 Jun 1878

CONFIRMATION OF CHARLES SCHUYLER HALL 

28 Apr 1892

BURIAL OF THOMAS CORNELIUS HALL 

13 Jan 1897

I already had a marriage date & and the marriage certificate for Thomas & Cora.  You can read all about that find here:
CORA’S SCRAPBOOK–Her wedding cake & marriage to Thomas C. Hall–1877, New York
 
But, this image of the church record for their marriage was new to me and gives one more piece of evidence to this fact.
 
What I didn’t have was the other 3 documents – the Baptism and Confirmation for Charles S. Hall and the Burial record for Thomas. Those will now be added to my Legacy database and sourced and added to my Ancestry tree as well.
 
What records have you recently received that made you do a happy dance? I’d love to hear about them.
 
Have you considered calling or emailing a church, funeral home or cemetery to obtain records or information?  This is not my first time doing so and I have found it to be very rewarding.
 
TIP: Keep a record of any calls or emails.  Whether you use your genealogy program for this (I use Legacy), or a spreadsheet, notepad or some other method.  It’s important to keep the date and make note of what you said, who you spoke with, who you emailed etc.
 
When or if I receive information as I did in this case, I not only send an email of thanks, I write a thank you note and many times include a gift card.

 
If you are related to or connected to anyone in this blog post, please get in touch.  Let’s exchange information.

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl
Copyright ©  2010-2022   Diane Gould Hall
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

WEDDING WEDNESDAY ~ Edith E. Thorp marriage to George B. Surdam - 1865

Edith E. Thorp married George B. Surdam

December 28, 1865

in Lewis Corners, Oswego, New York

Edith Eliza Thorp is my 2nd great grandaunt.  She is the daughter of Monson Thorp, Sr. (1801-1888) and Lany Cooper (1815-1886).

Edith was born in Skaneateles, Onondaga, New York in Jan 1843.  

She first married Walter B. Thorp on 19 Jan 1862.  Sadly, Walter was killed at the Battle of Gettysburg on 1 Jul 1863, leaving Edith a widow with an infant girl, at age 20.

George B. Surdam and Edith married 2 years after Walter’s death.  They went on to have 4 children: Ida F., born 1870 in Michigan, George B. Jr., born 1871 in Michigan, died of Typhoid Fever in 1879, Udora Lany, born 1874 and Grace B. born 1881.

I did not have a record of Edith & George’s marriage until I received her Civil War Widow’s Pension file last week.  Contained in that file is this record of the marriage.

(CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE IT)

This couple moved from New York to Michigan before the birth of their first child in 1870.  All the children were born in Michigan, the last one being born in 1881.  The couple is then found in 1890 living back in Skaneateles, Onondaga, New York, where they appear to remain until their deaths in 1898 and 1915.
 
I would very much like to connect with anyone descended from this couple or from Edith’s first child Marian.

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2016   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

MYSTERY MONDAY–Who’s Your Daddy? Brick Wall Post #6–Lany Cooper Thorp 1815-1886-SOLVED!

SOLVED!

Lany Cooper is my paternal 3rd great grandmother.  I have not been able to find more than a minimal amount of information on her family (meaning her parents and/or siblings).

Here is what I know at this point:

She was born 16 Feb 1815 in Cato, Cayuga, New York.

She was the second wife of Monson Thorp, Sr.  They married on 12 Apr 1835 in Cato, Cayuga, New York.  Monson’s first wife, Ann Eliza Armitage had died in about 1833, leaving Monson with a young daughter & son.  Anna Maria Thorp 1830-1903 and Rev. Wallace Walter Thorp 1833-1913.  Monson was a Wagonmaker.  He certainly would have needed help raising two young children under 4 yrs. of age.

Lany & Monson had 6 children, three boys and three girls as follows:

1.  Horace Henry Thorp born 1836 married Catherine Dorsey.  He died 1907.  (These are my direct ancestors)
2.  Lucyette Thorp, never married (1838-1866)
3.  Stephen B. Thorp born 1840 married Henrietta Barnes in Sep 1869.  Stephen had served in the Civil War.  He died of consumption on 14 Jun 1871.  No known children were born to this couple.
4.  Mary “Polly” Thorp, born 1841, married David Preston Flower about 1860.  Mary died 16 Apr 1892.  They had 5 children. 
5.  Edith Eliza Thorp born Jan 1843, married George Beech Surdam about 1863.  She died 29 Mar 1915.  They had 5 children.
6.  Monson Thorp, Jr. born 5 Feb 1847, married Eudora Louise Searls on 9 Oct 1870.  He died 11 May 1939.  They had 6 children.

Here is a view of Monson & Lany Thorp from my Legacy database:

(CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE IT)

The first hint I had of Lany’s parent’s names was on her death certificate.  Although her name is listed as “Fanny” and not Lany, I have confirmed the dates based on other evidence.  On this certificate, her parent’s names are given as Jacob Cooper and Polly Byrne, both of Albany, New York.
 


Here is a her death notice as published in the Skaneateles Press 24 Jul 1886.



After locating the death record and the death notice I also found a newspaper article about the 50th wedding anniversary for Monson & Lany.  This article was located via the Fulton History website.  
Please note, I wrote a blog post about using the Fulton History website, which you can access here http://www.michiganfamilytrails.com/2015/04/i-hit-jackpot-on-this-website-old.html

Skaneateles Free Press - 4 Apr 1885, column 3

Transription of the newspaper article above: “TO CELEBRATE THEIR GOLDEN WEDDING: Mr. and Mrs. Munson Thorp of this village will celebrate their golden wedding at their home on Jordan street, Sunday, April 12, 1883.  They were married April 12, 1833 at Cato, Cayuga county, that town being the native place of Mrs. Thorp, whose maiden name was Lany Cooper.  Mr. Thorp was born in Harpersfield, Conn. February 27, 1801, and is now in his 85th year.  They have always resided in Skaneateles since their marriage, and Mr. Thorp has been a resident of this village since October, 27, 1827. He is a wagon maker by trade first working in this town for the late John Legg, and for fifteen years he was employed by S & J Hall in the stone building now used by Thomas Kelley as a blacksmith shop.  Six children have been born to him, four yet living, all of whom have homes in the West.  Neither Mr. Thorp nor wife are very strong, but they keep house alone and manage the household duties between them.  While striving to lay up something for old age, Mr. Thorp has been unsuccessful, but has always managed to maintain his household without aid, though the struggle is hard for a couple so aged and infirm.  They will be “at home” to all their friends who may desire to call on them on their golden wedding day – a week from Sunday next.”

Finding newspaper articles like the one above certainly is a bonus for any researcher.  There is a lot of good genealogical information contained in the piece.  Of course it all must be confirmed, but still, such great leads.

I also have a copy of Lany’s Last Will & Testament.  The information contained here led me to married names of Lany’s daughters.  I also have her husband, Monson’s Last Will & Testament.

And finally, I do have a picture of Lany’s headstone.  You can visit her memorial on FindAGrave #32026022.  She is buried, with her husband, Monson and their daughter, Lucyette, at Lake View Cemetery, Skaneateles, Onondaga, New York.
 


Other than making a trip to Cayuga County, New York, I have not found anything that gives me more information about Lany’s parents and/or siblings, if there were any.  I would be grateful to anyone who could provide more information, or new ideas.  I've looked at census & land records in New York for the appropriate years and come up empty.

Please visit my other “Who’s Your Daddy?” posts here http://www.michiganfamilytrails.com/p/test.html

OTHER POSTS THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST
A STATE CENSUS RECORD THAT LEADS TO A LOT MORE QUESTIONS - The Monson Thorp Family

TOMBSTONE TUESDAY – My 3rd great grandparents – Monson & Lany Thorp

PLEASE contact me if you think you might be related, even remotely, to anyone mentioned in this blog.

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2015   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

HIDDEN GEMS IN NEWSPAPERS - I HIT THE JACKPOT ON THIS WEBSITE

 

 OLD FULTON NY POSTCARDS  This is a website I heard about via a Facebook group I belong to called New York Genealogy.  The first thing I thought was “well, I don’t have any ancestors from Fulton County, so why would this site be helpful to me?”  But…I kept reading about people finding all sorts of records from other counties in New York.  This website contains thousands of newspapers from New York and other areas and many other records.

 

As most of us are well aware, New York is one of the black holes for genealogy.  At least in some counties.  We will take all the help we can get in finding records.

I’ve tried using this site on a couple of occasions, but had no luck in finding any records.  Today I decided to give it another try.  I can usually figure things out when it comes to websites and this one should be no different.  However frustrating my previous attempts may have been.

Here is what the home page looks like.

Over on the left hand side you see the search screen.  It doesn’t seem complicated, so why didn’t I have any luck on my previous tries?

 

NOTE:  I think there are times when we are researching that we don’t necessarily have the time or patience to learn something new.  At least I have found this to be true with me.  Then I go back another time and everything works just fine.

So what is the secret to getting results here?  There are several option in the drop down menu below the search box.  They are: boolean, all of the words, any of the words and exact phrase.

Then there are the other choices: Fuzzy searching, Phonic searching etc.  You can see them in the screenshot above.

I decided to use “boolean” and “fuzzy.”

I entered my 3rd great grandfather’s name, Monson Thorp and was rewarded with 13 documents to look at.  WOW!  Monson lived in Skaneateles, New York.  (remember this site is called Old Fulton NY Post Cards)

(CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE IT)

My hopes were high since I see Skaneateles mentioned in the first 3 hits.  And,  it’s not like Monson is a common name. The dates mentioned in most of the 13 hits was also within the correct time to be my Monson.

I was rewarded in spades.  Eleven of the thirteen articles were about my Monson.  Everything from him being listed as to an Overseer of Highways in 1841 to being a member of the Horse Thief Society in 1854 to the settlement of his accounts after his death.

1841 - MONSON THORP - OVERSEER OF HIGHWAYS

1854 - MONSON THORP NAMED TO HORSE THIEF SOCIETY

I saved every article in PDF format and then converted them to JPG as that’s my preferred method for adding them to my Legacy database.  I made sure I labeled them all with my standard labeling practices so I could easily find each separate article.

I went on to search other members of my THORP family and was handsomely rewarded with marriage dates and death and burial dates in various articles.

IS THERE ANYTHING MORE THAT WE CAN ASK AS GENEALOGISTS?

The TWO BIGGEST FINDS in this group were ……

A small little piece in the paper about Monson Thorp visiting his son Stephen Thorp who was wounded at Gettysberg.  I previously knew that Stephen had served in the Civil War, but I did not know he was at Gettysberg. 

How many more records about Stephen will I be able to locate based on this tiny article?

SKANEATELES NY DEMOCRAT, 13 AUG 1863

An article about the Golden Wedding Anniversary of Monson & Lany Thorp.  This article contained exact places & dates that I did not previously have and mentioned Lany’s maiden name.   I believed her maiden name was Cooper, based on other documents, but it was sure nice to see it in this article.

 

MR. & MRS. MONSON THORP CELEBRATE 50 YEARS OF MARRIAGE - SKANEATELES FREE PRESS, 4 APR 1885

WHAT GENEALOGIST WOULDN’T BE DOING THE “HAPPY DANCE” AFTER FINDING ALL THESE GEMS?

I encourage you to keep exploring new sites as they become available AND, go back to the sites in which you previously had little or no luck.  You never know what you will find.

If you think you might be related, even remotely, to anyone mentioned in this blog, please contact me!

ANOTHER POST THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST

A STATE CENSUS RECORD THAT LEADS TO A LOT MORE QUESTIONS - The Monson Thorp Family

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2015   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION