APHGA Report for the Month of April 2010

The Great A. A. Pomeroy Book Update Project

Several new members have joined the APHGA, each sharing their research for later publication of an updated genealogy of the descendants of Eltweed Pomeroy. Based on our extensive US and Canadian Pomeroy research we also expect to publish books on other large Pomeroy families who are not descended from Eltweed. One large family that settled early on in the colonies is that of Richard Pomeroy, who settled on the Isles of Shoals (then MA, now NH) by 1670. Other Pomeroys connected with that area are Leonard Pomeroy, a merchant in Plymouth, England and a Thomas Pomeroy who was also an early settler of the Isles of Shoals. Nancy, Ed, and several APHGA members are researching these early settlers to identify whether they were related.

One family previously identified by Albert A. Pomeroy in his genealogies “The History and Genealogy of the Pomeroy Family...” as descendants of Eltweed Pomeroy seem more likely descended from Richard Pomeroy of the Isles of Shoals. This is the family of Benjamin Pomeroy and his wife Anne. According to A.A. Pomeroy, Benjamin was born in 1724, the son of Eldad Pomeroy and Sarah Wait. Benjamin and Anne had at least 4 children: Richard, b. 5 Aug 1750; Deliverance, b. 11 Mar 1753; Anna, b. 14 May 1755 and Margaret, b. 22 May 1758. According to A.A. Pomeroy, Benjamin “settled in Georgetown, Me.”

Other records associated with the history of Maine, identify a Benjamin Pomeroy, born in 1707 in ME who married “Ann” and had at least five children: Benjamin, b. 24 Jan 1741; Richard, b. 5 Aug 1750; Deliverance, b. 17 Mar 1753; Ann, b. 14 Mar 1755 and Margaret b. 22 May 1758. This Benjamin is identified as the son of Richard Pomeroy and Deliverance Berry.

Benjamin, son of Eldad would have been rather young to have been married and to have had a child by 1741. Additional research will be done, including a review of the Church of Christ, Congregational (Northampton, MA) records which were microfilmed and available through the Family History Library. We are hoping to find birth and/or baptismal records for the children of Eldad Pomeroy and Sarah Wait. We are also pursuing a search of early Maine vital and Church records.

We would love to connect with Plymouth, England Pomeroy descendants who may be related to Leonard, Thomas or Richard Pomeroy, to learn more about these families.

Mary Ann identified some new Pomeroy researchers who are descended from William Pomeroy, b. 13 Aug 1801 in NY State, who married Sarah L. Gleason on 31 Mar 1828 in Wayne County, NY. William died in 1866, probably in Van Wert, Van Wert County, New York. Sarah was b. 10 Dec 1808 in Manchester, Ontario Co., NY and died about 1842 in Brantford, Province of Ontario, Canada. She was the daughter of Bazaleel Gleason and Abigail Howland. William and Sarah had at least six children: Henry, b. 10 Nov 1829; Francis Cole, b. 26 Jan 1830; Carlos, b. 16 Feb 1832; Eliza Ann, b. 12 Aug 1834; Clarissa, b. 26 Jan 1836; and Sarah Jane, b. 30 Jul 1839. It is likely that the elder five children were all born in New York, while the youngest, Sarah Jane, was born in Canada.

Other researchers identify this William as the son of Phineas Pomeroy (Phinehas, Medad, Joseph, Medad, Eltweed) and Rebecca Sarah Spaulding, but our research leads us to believe that this is unlikely. According to Phineas Pomeroy’s Revolutionary War Pension, his son William was born 29 Jan 1781. We believe that William Pomeroy, son of Phineas, married Polly Yeomans and settled in Roulette, Potter County, Pennsylvania. So, the question remains, who were the parents of William Pomeroy, b. 13 Aug 1801 in NY, who married Sarah L. Gleason? Based on proximity Nancy feels it is possible that William was a son of Rev. Francis Pomeroy (Timothy, Daniel, Ebenezer, Medad, Eltweed), but more research needs to be done. Is anyone else researching this family?

Also, has anyone done any research on Ralph Gordon Pomeroy, b. 26 Apr 1893 in Cleveland, OH, resided at 113 South St., in Lockport, Niagara Co., NY on 5 Jun 1918 (WWI Draft Registration). Mary Ann found an obituary in the Chicago Tribune, dated 3 Oct 1918: “Ralph Gordon Pomeroy, aged 26 years, at Marine hospital Oct. 1 [1918] beloved son of Jessie M. Cutler of 4326 Lake Park av. Funeral from chapel at Forest Home cemetery, Thursday at 2 p.m. Services by Landmark lodge, No. 422, A.F. and A.M.”

Is this Ralph the son of Irving L. Pomeroy (Luther, Milton, Titus, Ebenezer, Eldad, Caleb, Eltweed) b. Apr 1868 in Lockwood, d. 13 Feb 1941 in Chicago, who was living with his mother in Lockport in 1900 and 1910, and identified as a widower in the US Federal Census. If so, was Irving divorced, not widowed?

Barb continued her review of Pomeroys found in early newspapers and continued her research of the life of Marcus Mills Pomeroy (Hunt, Hosea, Ebenezer, Ebenezer, Eldad, Caleb, Eltweed) for an article she will be writing. She is also continuing to review and transcribe Pomeroys in the 1865 NY State Census – she’s currently reviewing Kings County.

Barb continues to enter Eltweed descendants with missing information into a spreadsheet so we can keep track of what research needs to be done for the upcoming book. Barb has entered over 1500 records so far. Barb will be working with Betty to better identify where research still needs to be done, by family and by place. Barb also attended the Association of Public Historians of New York State Conference in Buffalo, NY this past weekend. If you are doing genealogical research in New York State, you’re lucky. Did you know that in 1919 NY State passed legislation to create officially appointed historians in every town, village, city, borough and county across the state? These historians can be very helpful in researching the communities in which your ancestors lived. For a listing of NY State Historians, check out the APHNYS website at http://www.aphnys.org/index.cfm . (Barb can be found in the Lake Ontario Region directory!)

Betty continued her review of Pomeroys in Northampton, MA census records that were previously unmatched. Betty has also been entering early CT vital records from the Barbour Collection. Betty has also been researching female Pomeroys whose married names are identified in these records by collecting census information for these families and entering that information into our databases. Betty has also been working to connect the many Parsons in our database to identify relationships between these people. Betty traced the Joseph Lathrop family. Joseph, b. 23 May 1815 in West Springfield, MA, married Abigail Alexander Pomeroy on 16 Oct 1838. Abigail, b. 16 Sep 1815 in Warwick, MA was the daughter of Medad Pomeroy (Medad, Seth, Ebenezer, Medad, Eltweed) and Jerusha Alexander. Betty was able to trace these families through the 1850 to 1870 US Federal Census records. She also researched the James Leander Pomeroy family. James was b. Nov. 1845, in New Gloucester, Cumberland Co., ME, son of Edward Pomeroy (Warham, Enos, Caleb, Samuel, Caleb, Eltweed) and Ann A. Rogers. Betty has been able to bring this line forward two generations based on Census record research. James and wife Laura settled in Gloucester, Essex Co., MA. If anyone else is connected with this family, we’d love to compare notes!

Betty also went to the Onondaga County Public Library with Lee and Ed and helped Lee to review and transcribe Pomeroys and collateral lines in the New York State Vital Records index. She and Lee also reviewed the Parsons vertical file at the library. Betty also continued her review and transcription of Pomeroys in the 1865 NY State Census. She is currently working on Poughkeepsie, NY records.

Lee continued to match Pomeroys found in 1911 Canadian Census records and British Columbia Marriages and Death records indexed on Ancestry.com. She was able to identify a “Honna Purmoy” as Hannah, the spouse of Oliver Pomeroy, son of George A. Pomeroy (Silas, Abner, Caleb, Samuel, Caleb, Eltweed) and Rebecca Palmer. Lee also organized a research trip to the Onondaga County Public Library to review Pomeroys in the NY State Vital Records index and Maine and Onondaga County records. Lee has been keeping a spreadsheet of the transcribed vital records for later data-entry.

Lee connected with a Pomeroy family when she was in Roscoe, NY on Saturday, April 20th. This family descends from Eltweed. Lee has contact information and has handed it over to Nancy. She also reviewed Pomeroy information in the Cortland Library, in Cortland, NY that same day.

Lee contacted the Sr. Managing Editor at the Syracuse Post Standard to clarify our understanding of their copyright practices and spoke with Pat and Barb about articles being planned. She prepared a report on the publication project for Project Roots department members.

Ed continued to research and data-enter information found on Pomeroy families who lived in Stark County, OH and later moved to Dekalb County, IN. Ed will be reviewing Hancock County, ME grantor/grantee indexes at the Family History Library this week. Although these deeds are available online, they early books are not indexed, so he will be copying Pomeroy, Lunt and Coffin entries to identify which books and pages the deeds are on. Ed is also planning a trip to the Onondaga County Library in Syracuse with Lee and Betty. Ed will continue his review of the Maine Vital Records CD collection available at the library. Ed’s previous visit turned up some very useful information, including the marriage information for William Pomeroy and Nancy Grant, and Samuel Pomeroy and Lydia Gatcomb.

Ed identified a new Canada/Maine Pomeroy family that was living in Catalina, Newfoundland. This was George Pomeroy, b. abt 1816 who married Elizabeth (maiden name unknown). He died 1 May 1905 in Catalina. Elizabeth, b. abt 1822, d. 18 Oct. 1898 also in Catalina. The couple had at least one child, William James Pomeroy b. abt 1816 who d. 1 May 1905 in Catalina. William married Emily Sharp on 1 Mar 1890 in Catalina, and the couple had at least four children, all born in Catalina: Mary Ann Pomeroy, b. 11 Dec 1890; Jessie Pomeroy, b. 1 Sep 1894; George Pomeroy, b. 2 Dec 1897; and Rene Pomeroy, b. 30 Sep 1900. Does anyone descend from this family? If so, please contact us!

Pat researched an interesting record that Nancy found in Ancestry.com’s U.S. Army, Register of Enlistments, 1798 – 1914, database. Thomas Pomeroy, (according to this record) was born abt 1799 in Pompey, Onondaga Co., NY and enlisted 2 Sep 1813 (at the age of 14!) into the U.S. Army Artillery. He joined in Greenbush, NY under Capt. Barker for service of five years. Other records in this same database identify Thomas as being born in Onondaga Co., NY and being a musician in the army at the tender age of 9. We would love to figure out who this Thomas was. There were no Pomeroys listed in the 1800 US Federal Census in Pompey, NY. There were Pomeroys who settled early in Otisco, but no Thomas that matches the description above. Who is this young man?

Nancy checked our blog’s web statistics and was pleasantly surprised. We are averaging 200 unique visits to our blog site per month, since the blog was started just six months ago, with a record 256 visits in March 2010!

The Pomeroy Collection

Nancy scanned, conserved and organized the archive of letters associated with the Frederick Lawrence Pomeroy (James Clark, Stephen, Ebenezer, Ebenezer, Eldad, Caleb, Eltweed) family which was added to the collection recently.

Nancy has accessioned several genealogy and historical society newsletters, journals and magazines. Nancy also purchased and received the book “Local Color, Stories of Westhampton’s First 225 Years”, edited by Jacqui Hickey LaFrance, James E. Bridgman and Sarak K. Mulvehill and published by the Westhampton Historical Society. This is a reprint of the book that was published originally in 2003.

Two new and interesting additions to the collection are large felt advertising pennants for Pommery Champagne. Our facilities team has just hung one on the outside wall of the Project Roots Office. Nancy feels like celebrating! (Well, Nancy always feels like celebrating...)

The Pomeroy Anvil Trail

Work is well underway on the Pembroke, Maine, Pomeroy Anvil Monument dedicated to Thomas W. Pomeroy, a very successful clairvoyant physician who was born in Pembroke. Thomas lived and practiced in New York City from 1880 to 1926, but he and his wife returned to Pembroke every summer where they built a lavish summer home. Thomas was a Master Mason and member of the Crescent Lodge 78 for 73 years. The Town of Pembroke and the Pembroke Historical Society are planning a dedication ceremony on July 4, 2010 after the parade. The monument will be installed at the American Legion on Front Street. Now’s the time to get your hotel reservations if you plan on coming to the dedication – Nancy, her husband Jerry and Bill and Sandra Pomeroy have their reservations and are looking forward to the event. Nancy was so impressed with the people of Pembroke when she and Jerry went on a scouting visit to Pembroke last July. She and Jerry are looking forward to their return visit.

The Mary Ann Coe Project

Nancy has started to write the Mary Ann Coe book. This has been a very rewarding and eye-opening endeavor so far. It’s incredible how the simple act of writing a narrative makes you think of additional research and helps you to see the subject of your research in a different light. Nancy is compiling research done on the Coe family in the towns of Durham, CT; Granville, MA; Ballstown, NY; Paris, NY; and Pompey, NY, and would love to talk with other people researching the Coes or the towns listed above.

Pat continued her research on Carlos C. Coe, a relative of Mary Ann who was an early balloonist in New York State. Pat took a field trip to Rome, NY and visited the Jervis Public Library, the Rome Historical Society and the Rome Cemetery, as part of her Carlos Coe research. While not much was found on Carlos, Pat did collect information on Pomeroys from the Rome and Utica area, including the family of Daniel C. Pomeroy (Silas, Nathaniel, Noah, Noah, Joseph, Medad, Eltweed). Pat is also researching the Adam Junkins family in Cadiz, OH. Adam was the brother of Benjamin Junkins, Mary Ann’s second “husband”. Pat also researched NY State’s insolvency laws for an article we hope to have published soon.

In between packing and moving, Judy has continued to transcribe articles in the Firelands Pioneer Journal and has made some great headway in entering Pomeroy vital records.

We have added 320 new people, 165 new sources and 2686 new citations to our genealogy databases over the past three weeks.