SATURDAY HAPPY DANCE ~ FINALLY! Located the marriage record of my paternal 3rd great grandaunt, Hannah DOTEN in 1810, Vermont

We all know that many, if not most of the records we are looking for are out there…..somewhere.  We just have to conduct the right search online, go to the right repository or connect with the right cousin to find them.

I don’t know why these records hide from us.  I think a lot has to do with our knowledge.  As we build our knowledge of a certain family and likewise our knowledge of what’s available, it seems that one day the light bulb goes off.  We have an idea, we search and BINGO!!  HURRAY!! We find what we were looking for.

In this case, it was the marriage record of my paternal 3rd great grandaunt, Hannah Doten Burrell. 

BACKGROUND: First of all, I didn’t even know she was my 3rd great grandaunt, until I began my Mayflower  research.  I knew that there was a Hannah BURRELL living with my 3rd great grandmother, Olive DOTEN HART and her family in the 1860 Michigan census.  However, , that census record does not tell us the relationship of people living together.  It’s not until the 1880 census that we are given the relationship status of the members of a household.

I’d always wondered who this 69 year old woman, named Hannah Burrell, said to have been born in Massachusetts and now living in Armada, Macomb, Michigan, with my Hart family was.

My Mayflower research lead me to the probate record of my 4th great grandfather, Isaac DOTEN.  This record named his daughters, by their married names………….and there she was.  Hannah Burrell, sister to my Olive Doten Hart.  Wow!  You can read about that wonderful find here FINALLY! Proving the father of my 3rd great grandmother, Olive Doten Hart (1805-1887–WHAT DID I FIND?

That happened back in 2019.  Since then, I’ve been trying to figure out who Hannah’s husband was.  I periodically go back to her and conduct a search.  I’ve located a lot of Burrells in Vermont and Massachusetts.

Today, I was looking at Massachusetts Town and Vital records.  When suddenly, I thought, why am I not looking for Vermont vital records?  Are there any online from that time period?

Off I went to Ancestry.  I conducted a search by state and found all the records available for Vermont.  Search>All Collections>pick the state and look at what is available.

I located Vermont, U.S., Vital Records, 1720-1908, which covers the time period I’m interested in.  I entered Hannah Doten.  That’s all, no dates, no places and got the following 4 hits.  I knew that my Doten family lived in Monkton, Vermont so the last entry was definitely of interest.  I also knew that 1810 would be about the time frame for Hannah to have married.  She was born in 1791 and that would have made her 19 years old.  I'm beginning to get excited.

As I hovered my mouse over the “view record” option I see that this record was indexed as Hannah Doten marrying an Esra Bursel.  There is an image available.  I’m guessing that the indexer typed what they thought was written.  BUT, we all know that looking at those images with knowledge of a family is way different than just indexing.

Here’s the index.

Name: Hannah Doton

Gender: Female

Marriage Date: 31 Oct 1810

Marriage Place: Monkton, Vermont, USA

Card Type: Bride

Spouse Name: Esra Bursel

Look what that image reveals.

I see a first name of Ezra not Esra.  And as to the surname.  It certainly wouldn’t be easy as an indexer to determine exactly what it says.  BUT, for me, it reads BURREL. Right time, right place, right bride. 

I have to tell you, I did the happy dance when I found this.  My job now, is to locate more information on Ezra Burrell and his family.

• Did Hannah and Ezra stay married? 
• Did they have children together? 
• What other records can I locate that will further prove this is indeed the right marriage for Hannah?

I have work to do. 

If you are connected to this family, you know I’d love to hear from you.  Maybe you have information to share with me and vice versa.  Please get in touch.

Happy hunting (it indeed was a happy day for me today)

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2021   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

CEMETERY SUNDAY ~ East Monkton Cemetery, Monkton, Addison, Vermont

East Monkton Cemetery also know as Morgan Cemetery is in Addison County, Vermont.  You can go directly to the FindAGrave page for this cemetery here East Monkton.

According to the findagrave website there are 337 memorials added to this cemetery and 99% have been photographed. 

According to the Cemetery Registry the address is 41 Church Rd., in Monkton, Addison, Vermont.  Although I conducted some pretty thorough searches on Google trying to learn more about this cemetery, it’s history etc., I didn’t have much luck.  One site said it was established in 1812.

As to the area of Monkton, Vermont I did locate this information on Wikipedia:

“Monkton is located in northern Addison County at 44°15′14.5″N 73°7′26.13″W. It is situated on the eastern edge of the Champlain Valley, in the foothills of the Green Mountains. It is bordered by the town of Ferrisburgh to the west, New Haven and Bristol to the south, and Starksboro to the east. To the north are the towns of Charlotte and Hinesburg in Chittenden County.

According to the United States Census Bureau, Monkton has a total area of 36.3 square miles (93.9 km²), of which 35.9 square miles (92.9 km²) is land and 0.39 square miles (1.0 km²), or 1.04%, is water.^[3] Monkton is home to Cedar Lake, located north of the center of town between the communities of "Monkton Boro" and Monkton Ridge.”

To find out who I have in my tree, buried at this cemetery is as easy as a few mouse click in Legay.  Master Locations>Find>type in the name and you get a list.  As long as you are consistent with your entries in any database, you should be able to easily use the “find” feature to create such lists.

(Click on any image to enlarge it)

As you can see I have records of 12 ancestors being buried in the cemetery.  At least these are the burials I’m aware of at this time.

CHAMBERLIN, Emily (1815-1892) – wife of 2nd cousin 4 times removed (married to Ryland Doten)

DOTEN, Clarinda E. (1819-1898) – 1st cousin 4 times removed (married to Abisher Lawrence)

DOTEN, Daniel (1798-1812) – 3rd great granduncle

DOTEN, Emily M.(1869-1881) – 3rd cousin twice removed (died age 12)

DOTEN, Isaac Sr. (1768-1852) – 4th great grandfather (married to Sally Follett)

DOTEN, Isaac Jr.(1789-1866) – 3rd great granduncle (married to Artemesia Follett)

DOTEN, Julius H. (1845-1893) – 2nd cousin three times removed (married to Loretta D. Scott who is buried in Massachusetts)

DOTEN, Millison (1808-1868) – 3rd great grandaunt

DOTEN, Ryland (1812-1881) – 1st cousin four times removed (married to Emily Chamberlin)

FOLLETT, Artemesia (1791-1861) – wife of 3rd great granduncle (married to Isaac Doten, Jr.)

FOLLETT, Sally (1766-1849) – 4th great grandmother (married to Isaac Doten, Sr.)

LAWRENCE, Abisher (1818-1893) – husband of 1st cousin 4 times removed (married to Clarinda Doten)

How many of these do I have headstone pictures for?

Looks like I have photos for 11 of the 12.  I’m only missing Artemesia Follett Doten’s.

First row left to right - Emily Doten - Abisher & Clarinda Lawrence - Daniel Doten;  Second row - Sally & Isaac Doten, Sr., little Emily Mary Doten, Millison Doten; Third row - Julius Doten, Ryland Doten & Isaac Doten, Jr.

If you are descended from or connected with anyone mentioned here, I’d love to hear from you.  Let’s exchange information

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2020   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

MAYFLOWER SOCIETY ~ Episode 4–Exciting news! I’m ready to mail my application package

WOW!  THE DAY HAS FINALLY COME AND I’VE COMPLETED MY APPLICATION PACKAGE

I’m very happy to be at the point of having put my package of proof/evidence together and being ready to mail it.

Long ago I set my goal to “someday” joining the Mayflower Society.  I had in mind which line might be the one.  However, I didn’t find that crucial piece of evidence I needed until June of this year.  I wrote about that BIG find here FINALLY! Proving the father of my 3rd great grandmother, Olive Doten Hart (1805-1887–WHAT DID I FIND?

Here we are 6 months later and I’m ready.

 

Included in my application package is evidence of my connection to passenger EDWARD DOTY.  The line of descent has been proven up to Generation 5, my 4th great grandfather, Isaac Doten, Sr. (1768-1852) and his wife Sally Nimblet (about 1766-1849).

My job was to provide evidence from Generation 6, my 3rd great grandparents down to me in generation 12.  THAT’S PROVING 7 GENERATIONS.

Piece by piece, generation by generation, I collected the documents.  Most of them were already saved on my computer and connection to each person in my Legacy program.

For the missing marriages of my 3rd great grandparents and my great grandparents, I needed to provide other evidence that showed they were a couple and that they produced children together.  Census records and birth and/or death records of their children, their own death certificates and obituaries helped to fill the gap of the missing marriage records.

As I wrote in a previous post, I was missing my own marriage certificate.  I went to our county office and got a copy of that.

Here are the generations from Edward Doty, Mayflower passenger to me.

(CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE IT)

Here is a picture of the 2” thick application package.

Here is a photo showing the seven generations for which I provided evidence, all separated and displayed.

And finally…..here is the envelope on the scale at the UPS office, ready to be sent out.  100 pages of evidence, 3 pounds, an original and one copy.  

I mailed the package Monday and it was received last night.  There is only one other application ahead of mine, for revue.  Once it is reviewed and the information entered on the “official” application form, it will be sent to another person for final approval.  I understand that process can take months.

So, unless I am contacted by them for more information or further evidence all I can do is wait.

I’ll let you know if my package was complete enough or whether I missed something.

 

I’m excited that the process has moved forward and hope I’m accepted into the society.

Are you a member of the Mayflower Society?  If so, from which passenger do you descend?  Maybe we are distant cousins?

To read my other posts about my Mayflower Society journey, click here.

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2019   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

MAYFLOWER SOCIETY ~ Episode 2 – My Journey to become a member

As I wrote about on June 22nd this year, I am in the process of trying to join the Mayflower Society.  You can read my first post here THE MAYFLOWER SOCIETY ~ I’ve begun my journey to join–Come along as I take my first step

It’s been nearly four months since I submitted my Preliminary Review Form.  How much longer would it take until I heard from them either yay or nay?  They review the information you submit and then tell you if you can proceed with your application.  Oh my the waiting…………………….

Yes, that’s me, jumping for joy.  I received a phone call yesterday from the very nice lady who had reviewed my preliminary form.  She was happy to tell me that I could now proceed with my official application.  AND!!!!  That she is confident I should be able to join the society.  WOOHOO!!

Now what?  What is the next step and what do I need to do?

As with any society everything revolves around proving who you are and how you are descended from the patriot, the first settler or in this case the Mayflower passenger.
 
My mind was a whirl of thoughts as I started going over the documents and proof that I would need.

The very good news is that my 4th great grandfather has been proven.  His name is Isaac DOTEN (1768-1852).  I will need to provide proof of his marriage and everything down the line all the way to me.

(PLEASE CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE IT)

Look at that.  Everyone I need information on is already in my tree.  The red lines indicate the ancestors who lead me directly to the DOTEN line I'm trying to prove.

What does that entail?  First of all, I’ve been a researcher for a long while now, over 16 years.  During that time I have recorded everything I could find about my direct line ancestors.  I use Legacy as my database, as well as having a working tree on Ancestry.  One thing I have is LOTS of records.  Some I have downloaded from various websites and others I’ve ordered directly from counties or states.

Here’s the types of records you need to begin an application process such as this one.  I’ll begin with me and list all the ancestors for whom I’ll need to gather records and what type of records I might need.  This is just a list off the top of my head and there may be more.

Me – Birth, Marriage
My Dad, Harry Norman Gould – Birth, marriage, death
My grandfather, Harry Whipple Gould – Birth, marriage, death
My great grandfather, William V. Gould – Birth, marriage, death, obituary
My 2nd great grandmother, Sarah Hart – Birth, marriage death, obituary, census records
My 3rd great grandmother, Olive Doten Hart – Birth, marriage, death, obituary, headstone, probate record of her father
My 4th great grandmother, Sally Follett – marriage, death, obituary, headstone, probate record

Doesn’t seem so bad, does it?  After all, those are the records we try to collect for all of our ancestors, right?  We’re talking about mostly records from the mid 1800’s.  That shouldn’t be too difficult.  Plus, as a thorough researcher I really should have most of these records already recorded, along with the images of those records.

The answer is YES.  I should have all of that.  Once I began to review my files I found I did have many, if not most of those records.  But, oh my, do those records have the information I’m seeking?  Are they all complete?  Was the information recorded properly?
 
Stay tuned for my next post to find out how many ways things can be recorded and what might it mean to my application process.

Happy hunting,
Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2019   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

FINALLY! Proving the father of my 3rd great grandmother, Olive Doten Hart (1805-1887–WHAT DID I FIND?

Olive DOTEN is my paternal 3rd great grandmother.  She was born in May 1805 in Vermont.  My search for Olive’s parents began early in my research, I’d say about 2005. What were her parent’s names?  Since she is married in the 1850 census, and the census records prior to that only have head of household (usually the men), I needed to find out some other way.

In 2000, I began keeping a spreadsheet to keep track of records I had ordered by mail or online.  This was back when we didn’t have so many records available online.  Because of my spreadsheet entry I know that I sent for Olive and her husband, Henry’s death certificates on 4 Apr 2005, from Macomb County, Michigan, I received them on 22 Apr 2005 and I paid $10 each for them.

(CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE IT) 
 

Yes, I received them, but they were transcribed copies and NOT the original records.  Helpful, but not always accurate, as most of us know.

Here’s her death certificate as received.  We are concentrating on parent’s names so let’s see what the certificate says.  Isaac & Sally DOLERI. 

 
That precipitated a long search for the surname DOLERI in Vermont, where Olive was born and in surrounding states.  I looked in every record you can think of and found nothing for Isaac or Sally Doleri.  In fact, back when I was looking, there were very few records for that surname.

I called the Macomb County Clerk’s office and asked if they would please send me a copy of the original record.  I, of course, offered to pay for it.  They said they could not release it, and the transcribed copy would have to suffice.  Darn!

Back in 2011 based on evidence from information about the DOTEN family in Monkton, Vermont and the name of her oldest son being Isaac Doten Hart, I changed the focus of my search to the surname DOTEN. 

In the meantime, Michigan, Death Records, 1867-1950 came online and later images were added.  OH BOY!!!  DO YOU SEE WHAT I SEE?  Her parents listed as Isaac & Sally DOTEN.

Michigan, Death Records, 1867-1950
Name:    Olive G Hart
[Olive G Doten]
Gender:    Female
Marital Status:    Widowed
Birth Date:    1806
Birth Place:    Vermont
Death Date:    10 Apr 1887
Death Place:    Armada, Macomb, Michigan, USA
Death Age:    81
File Number:    14
Father:    Isaac Doten
Mother:    Sally Doten

And when the image was added online I was finally able to make my own decision as to what was written.  Look closely at the parent’s name in the right column.  Does that say Doleri or Doten?  A transcriber should always look closely at how all the entries were written.  You can see that this person carried the cross mark on his T’s a little to the side on some of the entries.  He does that in several names like the name Walter, Hebblewhite and Milton.  ALWAYS remember to look at other entries on any record you receive. 

IS THIS PROOF THAT ISAAC & SALLY WERE HER PARENTS?  NO, it’s evidence, but not proof.  My search continued.

Fast forward to 2019.  Last weekend while attending SCGS Jamboree, I had some spare time. You can read about my experience here SCGS JAMBOREE 2019 ~ It was a fun time with friends and lots of learning.

I decided to look on Ancestry for Vermont probate records and look for Isaac DOTEN.  I’d done plenty of background research and had plenty of “possible” Isaac Dotens in my Legacy database.   Had I searched for probate records before?  Yes, but it’s been a few years.
 
I went directly to Vermont, Wills and Probate Records, 1749-1999 and entered Isaac Doten with a death date of 1855 plus or minus 5 yrs.  This was based on my research of the Doten family in Vermont.  No records found.  I tried all sorts of combinations of names.  First name only, last name only, no death year.  You get the idea.  NOTHING!

Now I went into the “general” search “all collections” and tried again. Look at what I entered in the search box d?tin.  We have to try everything.

FINALLY, after many tries I’ve come up with some possibles, in the right place, Vermont, with a matching first name of Isaac.

 
I clicked on the link for Vermont, Wills and Probate Records, 1749-1999 (yes, I had just searched that very database and come up empty). Never give up.  This is what I saw.  LOOK!  This Isaac is in Addison, Vermont, which is the exact county where I’ve located so many Isaac Doten’s.

I began going through the pages of this 26 page will packet and OH MY GOSH!!!!  ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

On page 5 of the record is the list of Isaac Doten’s daughters AND THESE MUST ALL BE THEIR MARRIED NAMES!!!  I had no idea if Olive had siblings or who they might be.  I immediately recognized the name Hannah Burrell.  I’d found a Hannah Burrell, age 69 living with Henry & Olive Hart & their children in the 1860 census in Michigan.  I’d never been able to figure out her connection to the family (if there was one)……..until now.

Here they are, Olive and her sisters:
HANNAH BURRELL, LYDIA CREED, OLIVE HART & BETSY SUMNER

Here's a close up of that section in this probate record that nearly made me jump up and down at the conference last weekend.

 
Are you doing the happy dance with me?  I was pretty excited. I have now OFFICIALLY proven that my Olive Hart was the daughter of Isaac Doten. This record along with other evidence is my proof.  Additionally, I’ve taken my family back another generation AND I have Olive’s sisters to research.  What will I find?  By the way, there was a brother, also named Isaac.  He was the oldest and was the administrator of the will for his father.

How I am connected to Isaac Doten, Sr.

Isaac Doten, Sr. & Sally Follett – my 4th great grandparents

Olive G. Doten & Henry Hart – my 3rd great grandparents

Sarah M. Hart & John C. Gould – my 2nd great grandparents

William V. Gould & Mae E. Thorp – my great grandparents

Harry W. Gould & Marie W. Lindsay – my grandparents

Harry N. Gould & Patricia A. Milne – my parents

Stay tuned for more posts about my Doten line.

If you are related to the Doten family or anyone else named in this post, please contact me.  I need to find more cousins from these lines.  I am on Gedmatch A918842.  If you match, let me know.

Happy hunting,
Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2019   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION