The Spaulding Sisters

By Kate Corbett Pollack

As the events between Reverend Spaulding and Josiah unfolded and culminated in the severe outcome written about in November’s article, the lives of Josiah’s four sisters was also developing with a fair amount of tragedy. Their experiences were not uncommon for women of this time. The APHGA is very fortunate to have copies of these amazing letters written by Josiah’s sisters and their descendents over the course of the 19th century, starting in 1801 and going to the 1850s. Information on individual women in this time period is severally lacking. Often, a woman is referred to in records as simply wife or daughter, and a researcher cannot learn anything about her, not even a maiden name, let alone her thoughts and feelings. Primary source material written by women themselves to their closest friends and family is a valuable look into their emotional lives, and to the hardship experienced in this era.

Mary Spaulding, the oldest of the Spaulding siblings, was born in Uxbridge, Massachusetts, in 1785. She married Isaac Pomeroy on March 8, 1810, in Buckland, a small village in western Massachusetts, when she was 24 years old. She then moved with him to Southampton, leaving her family and her sisters, with whom she was very close. Nancy Spaulding, then aged 21, wrote to Mary on March 27th, 1810, shortly after Mary left to start her new life with Isaac [punctuation added]:

But though I retire to my chamber to converse with a sister yet I find her not there, but silence reigns through the whole apartment. How then shall [I] be able to converse with her? My thoughts must take their flight on eagles’ wings over distant hills and vales to thy abode my sister and by the kind assistance of my pen and ink endeavor to converse a little with thee there. The absence and loss of thy company I sensibly feel.

Nancy would be married the next year, to John Coleman of nearby Shelburne Falls. Sadly, reports indicate that he was a severe alcoholic and later caused them to lose everything they owned. Together they had three children: Thankful (1816), Josiah (1823), and Deborah (1827). Josiah Coleman was born the same year as youngest Spaulding sister Lydia’s first child, Mary Howes. 1823 was also the year Reverend and Mrs. Spaulding passed, and the caged Josiah Spaulding was transferred to Lydia’s house where she was forced to care for him.

Mary Spaulding and Isaac Pomeroy had their first child in 1811, and named her Mary Ann. Mary’s younger sister Deborah happily writes at the time of Mary Ann’s birth to her sister:

I want verry much to hear from you and your sweet babe. I wish I could see her- that lovely girl once more you must kiss her for me. Lydia wants you should write her a letter…and write if Mary Ann talks yet.

By 1814, Mary was pregnant with her second child. Her first child, Mary Ann, died during Mary’s second pregnancy and she named the new infant Mary Ann as well. This was common in early America, when children often died. Mary Ann survived to adulthood and had her own children, naming a daughter after herself, and continuing the tradition of the name. On June 30th, 1815, Isaac Pomeroy passed away at age 33 in Southampton, leaving Mary Ann fatherless and Mary a widow. Isaac’s sister, Deborah Pomeroy Trowbridge, had developed a friendship with Mary Spaulding and wrote her many letters over the course of their lives, continuing to do so long after Isaac’s death. Deborah married Rufus Trowbridge, a minister, and moved to Buckland from Southampton, the opposite of Mary. There she became friends with Mary’s sisters, and joined them in writing to her. Deborah responds to seemingly every tragedy in Mary’s life, and it is clear that she understands and shares her pain and loss.

On June 29th, 1815, the day before her brother Isaac died, Deborah Pomeroy Trowbridge writes to the couple. She comments about departed friends and the death of their first child:

The loss of friends I very well know. I can easily call to mind the heart rending wounds at giving the parting hand to my deceased friends, every Son & Daughter of Adam must experience adversity…I hope that will call to mind your pleasant child with all its attracting charms and lovliness, its sickness and hour of Death-to have it torn from your arms by the king of terrors, and laid in the cold grave…

The language and grim style of writing may strike the reader as harsh, but death was commonplace for this family. They lived during a time before vaccinations, public health, and better doctors put an end to many of the diseases that frequently took people’s lives. It seems clear from this letter that Deborah did not even know that her brother was sick, let alone close to death. The illnesses common in those days often hit hard and killed quickly, with little warning. Cholera, for example, could kill a healthy person in twelve hours. It really did appear that God was striking people dead.

Buckland and Southampton by modern standards are not very far apart, about 30 miles. In the early 1800s, travel between rural villages thick with woods and impassable dirt roads made visits and communication difficult and infrequent. The only way a letter could be delivered was if the writer knew someone who was traveling to the town where the person lived. There was no such thing, in those days, as putting a letter out for the mail carrier, or in a mailbox. Mary had no way to communicate with Isaac’s sister to tell her that he was dying.

Death colored the women’s experience, and is mentioned in almost every one of their letters written in over a fifty-year period. It is not a subject that they gloss over. Sisters Mary, Nancy, Lydia and Deborah Spaulding, and Mary’s sister-in-law Deborah Pomeroy Trowbridge, wrote to each other quite candidly about their feelings. Death seemed to connect them and bring them closer. The sisters did not, unlike their brother Josiah, who had more access to education, question male authority or religious belief. Deborah’s husband Rufus Trowbridge was studying to become a reverend, and he wrote many letters to Isaac about religion. The men in the family were all as religious as Reverend Spaulding. Their letters, in contrast, are primarily about their thoughts on Christianity, wars and battles (the war of 1812 was a topic), and their careers and education. The explanation that epidemic disease and the deaths of their children were part of God’s plan was clearly accepted by the women. They do wonder at parts of this doctrine, but, like the men in their lives, they believe they have offended God and should not question anything for very long, lest they further offend him.

Deborah Pomeroy Trowbridge’s May 20th letter (undated but before 1823, possibly 1814-16) to Mary Spaulding Pomeroy further details death and sickness, and addresses another fact of the women’s lives - the brutal physical hardship and labor required of housewives at this time. Deborah was about 29 or 30 at this time.

I feel myself to be getting old and allmost worn out with hard work. What does it avail to us to labor so much for the Body when it must soon moulder in the grave to be food for the worms, we have this day been called to attend the funeral of Orlando Colman. He died Saturday night…Your sister has trouble enough to kill one-there is some sick in town now. Mr Forbes is dead, Mr Brackets have buried an infant today, William Farnam’s wife is dead…

Amazingly, Deborah lived to be 90! This was very unusual, and she far outlived the Spaulding women. Lydia only lived to be 39. Mary was 53 when she died, and Nancy 51. Forty was considered “old age” in these days, especially for women. (Josiah lived to be 79). The Spaulding and Pomeroy women were the wives of farmers and ministers, and they were poor. Lydia married wealthy Ezra Howes, but even he started out as a farmer. Every rural household in this area was a small farm of sorts, and the labor for women was back-breaking. The 1876 History of Pittsfield, (Berkshire County), Massachusetts tells us about domestic life in the years 1790-1810 for this region:

There were few appliances and inventions to relieve the labor of the housewife. The work of cooking, washing, sewing, and the like, was done by main strength. The cook must lift the huge iron pot, which hung on the crane out-swung before the blazing fire; and deposit and withdraw the baking in the deep, brick oven…The Laundress performed her task by pounding the soiled clothes in a barrel of water with a heavy pestle…Water was to be drawn by the cistern or well…And when all this was done, came the spinning, weaving, the brewing, the candle and soap-making. With all this, and the large families of children, which were almost the rule, it is no wonder that the percentage of mortality among women was large, and that those who sustained themselves were accounted marvels of capability.[1]

By 1816, Mary Spaulding Pomeroy had suffered so much loss and hardship that she had all but lost the will to live. 1816 was a year of pandemic typhoid fever. By the accounts in the women’s letters, death was widespread. They had no effective medicine to help with this sickness. Mary’s 1816 letter to her parents implored them to send medicine for little Mary Ann, who was seriously ill:

My little girl is some better today, how long it will last I do not know, but I should be glad if you would send her some of that cordial in a vial or something that will strengthen her…oh that wee might be prepared to go and meet our departed friends in a better world is what I hope and wish, for sickness and trouble seem to be my lot.

Mary Ann was two years old in 1816. The medicine Mary is asking for (a “cordial”) was just about worthless. There really was not much else available. It does not seem that Mary returned to Buckland after the death of her husband, but was taken in by the Pomeroys. Mary was, if letters are an indication, someone whom others were very fond of. It appears that after the deaths of Isaac and the first Mary Ann, Reverend Spaulding was not helpful to Mary, who was alone in Southampton, and did not invite her back home to Buckland after this tragedy. The Pomeroys of Southampton seem to have adopted her.

As we have seen, little Mary Ann thankfully survived this illness. Whether Mary’s parents sent her the cordial is unknown.

Mary Spaulding’s letter to her parents from May 1816 is a far cry from an earlier, November 1801 letter to her brother Josiah Spaulding, Jr. From this letter, written when Mary was 16, we gain insight into her personality. Her penmanship is measured and beautiful[2] and she seems calm.

My Dear Brother,
It is with pleasure that I now retire from all other employments to write a few lines to you…

She comments on what she sees as extravagant behavior of other young people in the area enjoying Thanksgiving festivities instead of attending a religious conference. She admonishes herself quickly, however:

…but I must stop have I not neglected the same am I any better I am not. I have spent many years in the pleasures of sin…sickness and sorrow and trouble may attend us the rest of our days. It will be nothing more than what we deserve for we have provoked God to strip us of all the mercys we now enjoy and consign us over to everlasting misery.

Mary closes the letter saying they ought to repent their sins before it is too late and may they be prepared for heaven. She adds a mischievous PS, perhaps unable to help herself, and asks her brother if he has heard the latest gossip:

PS I will inform you of the death of Betsy Stinn, she died not long before Thanksgiving & it is expected that Lydia, her sister, is or will soon be married to the gentleman that courted Betsy. & what do you think of that, it has occasioned considerable talk here…

Of course, about nine years after this letter, when Mary is about 25, Josiah would be put in a cage by their father, around the same time as Mary and Isaac’s wedding. Glimpses into Mary’s personality are rare, as the intense tragedy of her life overshadows everything else that she might write about. In the years 1810-1812, the sister’s letters are more lighthearted; they talk about deaths in the villages, but also about dress patterns, seeds and gossip. It is possible that Josiah was caged in or around 1812. The sisters do not write about this, however.

Despite their hardship, life for this family continues. By 1836, Mary Spaulding Pomeroy’s daughter, Mary Ann, is married to her cousin David Pomeroy and has her own daughter, also named Mary Ann. Her firstborn, David Alonzo Pomeroy, only lived to be 4 years old, and died in 1839, the same year as Mary Spaulding. They died a month apart. Deborah Trowbridge writes to Mary Ann and David Pomeroy to extend sympathies for the death of Mary’s mother and their young son. Deborah has become close with Mary Ann, the daughter of her beloved friend, and keeps up a correspondence with her. Deborah Trowbridge, who lived until 1876, witnessed quite a bit of the Spaulding and Pomeroy family’s trials. She knows, at this time, that Mary Ann must need more than a little comfort, and assures her that things will be better in heaven. She writes on April 17th, 1839:

We shall soon pass this vale of tears and meet our dear friends in the world of spirits, this is not our rest... I feel glad [that] you have the Company of your dear Aunt Deborah in your trials…

She is referring to Deborah Spaulding, the late Mary’s sister, who has come to care for her niece and nephew. The strength and bond of these women continues to tie each other together in the hardest of times. On January 19th, 1840 both Aunt Deborah Spaulding and Deborah Pomeroy Trowbridge wrote a letter to Mary Ann and David Pomeroy; each writing on the same page. Aunt Deborah had returned to Buckland by this time, and both she and her friend were wondering how Mary Ann and David were doing almost a year later:

We have commenced now a year, while many of our dear friends the last year was called to bid adieu to all things below the sun; it is one year since Death began to werke in our family circle.

Aunt Deborah adds,

Kiss little Mary for me, I want to see her much.

Mary Ann Pomeroy, like her mother, Mary Spaulding, experienced the death of her children. David Alonzo, as we have seen, died in 1839 at age 4. Mary Ann Jr., born in 1836, only lived to be 24 years old. Leora Caroline, born 1841, died when she is 15. Deborah Jane (Jennie), born 1845, was the only child who lived a full life, living to be 71. Mary Ann Pomeroy, daughter of Mary Ann and David Pomeroy, left behind a diary that she kept in 1850, when she was fourteen years old. Her life was not much different than her grandmother Mary Spaulding’s, and her writing echoes the 1801 letter that Mary Spaulding wrote when she was 16. Mary Ann Pomeroy, writing 49 years later, also does not expect to live very long and believes, like her grandmother did, that God was taking the villagers because he is angry. Her daily accounts center around going to revivals and prayer meetings.

Her entry for April 1st, 1850 reads:

...what reason have I to hope in the mercy of God, what reason to hope that I have been born again, surely I am nothing in myself when I look unto my own heart I find it is deceitful about all things and desperately wicked…

She writes an entry for her birthday:

Sabbath Day
May 5th
This day is my birth-day. Fourteen years old, before another birthday may arrive I may be numbered with the dead. Fourteen years of my life are fled. I shall never live fourteen years longer.

Mary Ann did not live another fourteen years, as she predicted. Epidemic disease was still a huge problem in 1850. By the late 1800s, medical science began to make advancements enough to put an end to this type of strife that was, for so many years, a common experience for Americans.

There is one branch of this family that managed to escape Buckland and its terrors- the descendents of Lydia Spaulding. That story will be another post.

Sources

“Cholera Epidemics in the 19th Century” Contagion: Historical Views of Diseases and Epidemics. Harvard University Library Open Collections Program, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1362723/?page=3

“Changing Medical Practices in Early America,” by Laurie Trask Mann. Updated 12/03/2008. http://dpsinfo.com/wb/medhistory.html


Baldwin, Thomas W, compiler, Vital Records of Uxbridge Massachusetts to the Year 1850 (Boston, Mass.: Wright & Potter Printing Company, 1916) 62, 144,


David Pomeroy Household, 1850 U.S. Census, Southampton, Hampshire County, Massachusetts, P 65, Dwelling 73, Family 82; National Archives microfilm publication M432_320.

Marriages article, Salem Gazette, Salem, Massachusetts, 19 Jul 1831, Page 3

Vital Records of Worthington Massachusetts to the Year 1850 (Boston, Massachusetts: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1911)


O’Donnell, George T. “Causes of Typhoid Fever in Massachusetts,” American Journal of Public Health 10(6) (1920): 517–520. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1362723

Pomeroy, Albert A., History and Genealogy of the Pomeroy Family Collateral Lines in Family Groups ; Reprinted Higginson Book Company, 1912, Salem, Massachusetts p 267, 381, 397

A Pomeroy at the American Museum of Natural History

I need a break from cleaning my desk. So many fascinating things land on it, and if you’re a genealogist you know that you never actually finish researching. So things tend to pile up. I’ve been working on the pile for almost three hours now, so it was a pleasant surprise to receive an e-mail from Mai Q., a Research Services Librarian in the Department of Library Services at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. I had sent them an e-mail just yesterday and am quite impressed at the how quickly I got a response.

So why, you ask, did I e-mail the Museum? Well, let me tell you! Bill’s wife Sandra had e-mailed me a digital photo that her daughter-in-law had taken at the museum on a recent visit. The photo was a plaque that read “A Gift from Daniel E. Pomeroy”. Only part of the item that Daniel gifted was visible on the photo, and it read “PLAINS”. From the looks of the image, I guessed it was one of the Museum’s famous dioramas. I went out to the Museum’s website and browsed the diorama images, but I couldn’t pull up all the images. I did see one entitled “Serengeti Plains”, but without the image, couldn’t be sure this was it. I also checked our database for a Daniel E. Pomeroy and found a Daniel E. Pomeroy, born May 1868 in PA, son of Newton Merrick and Annis A. Pomeroy who lived in Englewood, NJ in between 1900 and 1928 and who was the Vice President of the Bankers Trust Company in New York City, and who, on 29 Jun 1928, was appointed to a committee at the Republican National Campaign meeting at the Willard Hotel in Washington, DC. Was this the same Daniel E. Pomeroy who donated funds (or items) for the Serengeti Plains diorama at the American Museum of Natural History? I knew I didn’t know, and I hoped that the Museum would know, so I contacted the Department of Library Services.

Thank goodness for librarians! In one day I had my answer. Mai Q., not only sent me information about Daniel’s support of the Museum, but also his obituary! According to the Roy Chapman Andrews Papers, Daniel E. Pomeroy was elected a Life Member of the Museum for “contributing funds for carrying on an ornithological survey of Ecuador. On November 9, 1925, at a meeting of the Board of Trustees, Mr. Pomeroy was elected an Associate Founder for his generous contribution for the collecting and preparing of a group for the African hall of the museum, and, in recognition of his generosity and especially of his genuine interest in the development of the Museum.” In 1926 he was elected a Trustee of the Museum. In 1931 he was elected a Benefactor of the Museum. The report goes on to say that “In 1926 through the generosity of Mr. Pomeroy and Mr. George Eastman and Colonel Daniel B. Wentz, Mr. Carl Akeley of the Museum staff left for Africa in search of additional specimens for the African Hall. He was accompanied by Mrs. Akeley and joined later by Messrs. Pomeroy, Eastman and Wentz. They secured a splendid series of specimens for the Africa Hall groups which far surpassed expectations.” The report also states that “Mr. Pomeroy has served as First Vice-President and as a Member of the Executive Committee of The American Museum of Natural History Planetarium Authority since its foundation in 1933.”

The obituary confirmed that this generous Daniel E. Pomeroy, was indeed the son of Newton Merrick and Annis A. Pomeroy. The following obituary ran in the New York Times on Friday, March 26, 1965:

“DANIEL POMEROY, BANKER, 96, DIES
Was Jersey G.O.P. Official – Naturalist and Sportsman.
Special to The New York Times.

Daniel E. Pomeroy, a New York financier and naturalist who twice served as the vice chairman of the Republican National Committee, died at his home in Sea Island, Ga., yesterday. He was 96 years old.

Mr. Pomeroy, who lived in Englewood, N.J., at 47 Beech Road, was a former vice president of the Bankers Trust Company and a member of its board of directors at his death. He had been active in New Jersey politics, serving for 21 years as a member of the state’s Republican committee.

An avid naturalist and big-game hunter, Mr. Pomeroy also served as a trustee of the American Museum of Natural History of New York for 11 years and was a member of the Eastman Expedition to British East Africa in 1926.

On that expedition, he worked closely with George Eastman, founder of the Eastman Kodak Company, and Carl F. Akeley, the sculptor and mananologist, in collecting data and specimens for the African Hall of the museum...”

I would like to personally thank Daniel E. Pomeroy for his generous support of this wonderful museum. I have fond childhood memories of days spent at the museum. I wasn’t hunting Pomeroys back then, though!

How I Fell in Love with Southampton, Massachusetts...

My husband Jerry and I had the pleasure of spending this past weekend in Southampton, MA. We made the trip to review the site planned for a new Pomeroy Anvil Monument in the town. It’s confession time, folks. I now must admit that I have been unfairly Medad Pomeroy/Northampton-centric, and had not given Southampton the credit it deserves for its part in Pomeroy history. But I have seen the error of my ways, and I now get stars in my eyes when I think of Caleb Pomeroy. To be honest, Northampton and Westhampton will always have a special place in my heart, but luckily there’s room for Southampton! (And now I’m getting curious about Easthampton...)

Jerry and I met with Ruth Ann B., Mark R., Ed C. and Jackie S. at Conant Park on College Highway. The park is large, beautifully maintained and well used. The monument will be placed between the fountain and the School House. After talking logistics, Ruth Ann, Jackie, Jerry and I went across the street to the Clark Chapman House, the home of the Southampton Historical Society. The house was built by Sardis Pomeroy Chapman for his wife, Dotty Searle in 1827. Sardis was a shoe and boot maker, an abolitionist and in later life, an avid genealogist. He traced his wife’s Searle line, and much of his research on the Pomeroys of Southampton has been incorporated into the A.A. Pomeroy genealogies. The house was deeded to the Historical Society in 1971 by the Clark family.

Bob K., the President of the Historic Society and Jodi C. gave us a fascinating tour of the barn and house and the many treasures housed within. At every turn I found another reference to the Pomeroys. A portion of the Pomeroy Tavern sign is hung in the dining room, two samplers created by young Pomeroy women are hung in the front room, a scrapbook signed by a young Pomeroy woman is also in the front (sitting) room. Objects and information about past residents of Southampton abound, and many of these surnames were familiar to me as related to the Pomeroys. Displayed in the stairwell of the house is an extremely well preserved Civil War flag. A child’s bedroom is filled with toys and memorabilia, a room dedicated to Southampton servicemen includes examples of uniforms, and an interesting room upstairs holds some of the collections of some of the more interesting people in town, including the journals of Dr. Gridley and part of the Native American artifact collection of Mitta Piper Swasey. When Bob brought out a transcribed copy of the journals of Reverend Judd and his son, I was hooked. I could have happily spent the next several days reading these amazing documents!

What impressed me the most about this museum was the fact that much of its contents were donated by the citizens of Southampton. That is a telling example of the importance and pride that this community takes in the history of their town. Ruth Ann took Jerry and me to the Center Cemetery, founded in 1738. This cemetery was hit hard by the recent early snowstorm, but much work had already been done to clean up the debris. Here again we found evidence of the town’s commitment to historic preservation. New flat granite markers were being placed near the worn stones of soldiers and others. These stones will ensure that people visiting the Cemetery in the future will be able to find their ancestors and read what was on the original markers.

Ruth Ann then took us for a drive around the historic district of the town, and down Pomeroy Meadow Road, named after Caleb Pomeroy. Each early home in the historic district has is marked with the year the house was built, and the name of the person who built it. My head was swimming with Pomeroys! Ruth Ann also told us about the library, and I’m dying to go back to Southampton and check out the library’s local history collection. I could easily spend a week here, doing research and walking down these streets so filled with history and ambience. I look forward to returning to Southampton and heartily urge anyone with roots in this town to plan a visit. This town is a real treasure.

Right now we are planning a July 4th 2011 dedication of the monument. I will keep everyone informed of the particulars as they get ironed out. It would be wonderful to have a big turnout of Pomeroy descendants at the event, and I can guarantee that you will fall in love with Southampton as I did!

DIARY OF A PHOENIX SCHOOL GIRL

By Barbara Dix, Town of Schroeppel Historian
Edited by Alethea Connolly
Excerpts from the Phoenix Register May 20, 2011

A long time ago I acquired a small diary written in 1884. There was not a name to identify the author, nor a place where it was written. I later identified the author as Cora Patrick and located the family in official Phoenix village records.

As a teacher, I found it very interesting to see that she was studying such diverse courses as philosophy, astronomy, rhetoric (speaking) and English literature, as well as practicing singing and piano. She was almost always with her friends at school, at her house and at their houses for overnight visits. They visited social events at each of the churches in the village. Her work at home was ironing, cleaning and sewing. She made her first muffins for tea that summer!

The diary had been first acquired at the “Pomeroy auction in Baldwinsville”. For years this was all I knew about what I referred to as the “Pomeroy Connection”. This didn’t mean much to me until March 2009 when I started to work as a research assistant on the A. A. Pomeroy Book Project. Lo and behold I realized that Cora’s husband H. D. Pomeroy was the well-known local mechanical engineer and inventor, Harry Dwight Pomeroy. Much later, I found that his older brother had married a relative of my husband.

We do know that Harry D. was born in Cortland and brought up in Syracuse so Cora might have met him through a mutual friend. He apparently was a clever and very inventive young man, as he was awarded a patent for improving a chain-making machine along with his employer, Ralph G. Barnes and his fellow worker, Earnest W. Keyes.

A SWEET CONNECTION

Published in the Phoenix Register July 1, 2011


Two of the earliest entries in the Cora Patrick diary (1884), that I wrote about two weeks ago, mention the name of Leah Sweet.

“. . . . It has stormed nearly all day and looks like winter now. I was going to Leah go Sweet’s party but it storms dredfuly (sic) and the roads are so bad.” January 3, 1884 “Leah Sweet called here this morning, her party is postponed until tonight all the boys were there last night but no girls. I intend to tonight. Kirk said if it stormed, he would come after me.” January 4, 1884.

I had an opportunity to see a lovely Empire style book or china cabinet that probably belonged to Leah’s family. It has come down in the Merriam/Burton family and now is to belong to a member of the DenBlyker family and it will be moving to Boston. I was thrilled to be able to see it before it leaves this area. Pat Henjes’ son will become the new owner and I was able to see it in the home of Cindy and Dick Burton who are the present owners. What a joy to see families value the local heritage.

. . . AND SPEAKING OF THE DIARY

Tuesday, a colleague and I visited, for the first time, Mrs. Audrey Ketcham, widow of Cora Patrick Pomeroy’s grandson, Richard Ketcham. Cora wrote the diary and went to school in Phoenix. Mrs. Ketcham’s daughter, Holly, owns Cora’s high school ring, which is the first such ring that I have ever seen. It is a gold ring, made of flat rather than round gold, with a black stone. A graceful script “85” is engraved in the stone, highlighted in gold and it fits Holly perfectly.

The Ketchams were very interested in the Pomeroy family history and visited Cooperstown where there is a locked Pomeroy Room. The room was opened to them and Mrs. Ketcham was able to copy two of the family recipes she found there. Later she made them and proudly served them to the family. She laughed as she told us the story and said, “ I was embarrassed because they were so bland they were tasteless!”

I was interested in a picture of Harry with a French horn because I used to play the French horn. Mrs. Ketcham said the family story was that Harry had once played with John Phillip Sousa. We are researching that story, but I have seen various statements that confirm that he was a respected musician in Syracuse and Cortland. A newspaper article states he was director of a chorus in the Cortland area around the turn of the 20th century.

One of our goals, at the American Pomeroy Historic Genealogical Association, is to update and republish the A.A. Pomeroy genealogy book published in 1912. In the course of this work we are finding and will find more answers to many of the questions that remain concerning the Pomeroy family.

For information or to discuss your connection with Cora Patrick or Harry D. Pomeroy, please contact me at 695-6641 or click here to e-mail me.


Published by permission of The Phoenix Register.

1840 US Federal Census Indexing Error on Ancestry.com

Just found this, and had to let everyone know. If you're looking for Westhampton, Hampshire County, Massachusetts in the 1840 U.S. Federal Census on Ancestry.com and can't find it, look under "North Hampton" (make sure to add the space between North and Hampton). Westhampton has been incorrectly indexed by Ancestry.com as North Hampton. This same error occurs on Heritage Quest.

Also, the last page (or rightly, the second to last page) of the Westhampton census is incorrectly combined with the Norwich census (incorrectly spelled "Norwick"). It is on the last page of the "Norwick" census.

News to Me! Ralph Pomeroy’s Marital Connections

Just this morning I read an e-mail from a Pomeroy descendant wishing to learn more about Ralph Pomeroy, the U.S. Paymaster during the Revolutionary War, and son of Reverend Benjamin Pomeroy and Abigail Wheelock, who hailed from Connecticut. He asked whether we had any information about Ralph’s wife Eunice Belden and their offspring, and asked what we knew of Ralph’s Revolutionary War Service.

Upon reviewing our database, I realized that we had rather sketchy information about Ralph’s wife, so I sought to learn more. We knew, from A.A. Pomeroy’s book The History and Genealogy of the Pomeroy Family, that Eunice Belden was born about 1744, the daughter of Thomas Belden and Ruth Wyllys Lord. Eunice had been married to a Mr. Gardner prior to her marriage to Ralph Pomeroy on 31 Jan 1770. The book The Barbour Collection of Connecticut Town Vital Records, Vol 1-55, edited by Lorraine Cook (Baltimore; Genealogical Publishing Company, 2002) confirmed the marriage date and gave Hartford, CT as the place of marriage. The book also recorded Eunice Belding’s marriage to William Gardiner in Hartford on 21 Oct 1764, and identified the birth of a son James William Gardiner on 19 Oct 1765, and gave a date of death for William of 8 Jun 1766, all in Hartford.

The book Historical Catalogue of the First Church in Hartford, 1633-1885, (Hartford; Published by the First Church of Hartford, 1885), found on googlebooks, also confirmed the 21 Oct 1764 marriage date of William Gardiner & Eunice Belding. Another book Families of Early Hartford, Connecticut, by Lucius Barnes Barbour (Baltimore; Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 2001) also found on googlebooks, gave some additional detail to the families of William Gardiner, Eunice Belden and Ralph Pomeroy. On page 256 was found the following statement: “William Gardiner s[on] of Dr. Sylvester Gardiner of Boston or son of John & Mary (Taylor) Gardiner b Mch 1742 died June 9, 1766 ae 24 (HTR) of wounds blowing up of school house bur Center Ch by Rev. Roger Viets. William Gardiner m Eunice Beldding, sister of Ruth Belden, Oct 21, 1764 (1 Ch Rec) (HTR). She mar/ 2 Ralph Pomeroy Jan 31, 1770 (1 Ch Rec) (HTR.)? James William s of William Gardiner bp Nov 24, 1765 (Viets Rec) b Oct 19, 1765 (HTR).”

Page 46 gave information about Eunice Belden/Belding’s parentage: “Thomas Belden of Wethersfield m Ruth (Wyllys) Lord wid of Richard Lord d of Hezekiah Wyllys. Children: Eunice Belden b 1744 m/1 Oct 21, 1764 William Gardiner blown up in schoolhouse May 23, 1766 m/2 Jan 31, 1770 Ralph Pomeroy. Ruth Belden b 1747 m/1 Jan 31, 1765 Capt John Stoughton m/2 Samuel Wyllys.” Page 699 gives additional information about Samuel Wyllys: “Gen. Samuel Wyllys s of George & Mary (Woodbridge) bp Jan 7, 1738-9 (1 Ch Rec) died June 9, 1823 mar Feb 3, 1777 (HTR) Ruth (Belden) Stoughton widow of John Stoughton. She died Sept 2, 1807, dau of Thomas Belden and Ruth (Wyllys) Lord. Census 1790 – 2-3-3-0-0. Children: Oliver St. John b Nov 9, 1777 (HTR), Samuel Hobard b Aug 16, 1784 (HTR) died Mch 5, 1797 ae 12 bur Center Ch, Mary Woodbridge b May 19, 1785 (HTR) m John M. Gannett, William Alfred b Feb 3, 1790 (HTR).

“Yale College 1758; went to England 1764 and remained there for six years; in 1771 he became the first captain of the First Company of Governor’s Foot Guard; in 1774 Colonel of the First Regiment; he served through the Revolutionary War as Colonel of a Connecticut regiment; was town clerk of Hartford 1796-1805; held other town offices, and was Major-General of the Connecticut Militia. He succeeded his father as Secretary of State 1796, and held the office until 1809. His wife was Ruth dau of Thomas Belden & Ruth (Wyllys) Lord and widow of Capt. John Stoughton whom she m Jan 22, 1765. He died Nov 25, 1766. Brewster Gen p 89 says Lucy Brewster (dau of Elisha & Lucy (Yeomans) Brewster of Mddtn born May 30, 1745 m Oct 11, 1764 as 1st wife of Samuel Wyllys of Hfd. (See Wolcott Mem p 216).”

Page 459 gave a short bio on Ralph Pomeroy: “Ralph Pomeroy s of Rev. Dr. Benjamin mar Jan 31, 1770 (HTR, 1 Ch Rec) Eunice (Belding) Gardiner widow of William Gardiner. She was dau of Thomas Belden and Ruth (Wyllys) Lord. Census 1790 – 4-1-3-1-2. Children: Infant/Abigail b Mch 17, 177- (HTR) died Apl 20, 1779 (HTR) bur Center Ch., Ralph b. Dec 1, 1771 (HTR) died Jan 10/11, 1792 ae 20 (2 Ch Rec) bur Center Ch., George b Dec 1, 1773 (HTR) died July 20, 1799 (HTR), Eunice b Nov 25, 1776 (HTR) m/1 Rev Amos Bassett Y.C. 1784 m/2 ( ) White, Frederick b. Aug 16, 1781 (HTR), Elizabeth b May 24, 1784 (HTR).
Eunice Pomeroy (Hfd) m Rev. Amos Bassett (Hebron Jan 19, 1802 (2 Ch Rec.).”

So, if I have read the above information correctly, Eunice Belden’s mother was a Wyllys, and her sister Ruth married General Samuel Wyllys. Was the mother of Ruth and Eunice related to Ruth’s second husband? Also, I have become fairly familiar with the Samuel Wyllys Pomeroys who were early settlers of Pomeroy, OH. Could this explain the reason for the use of this name? Sure, General Samuel Wyllys was well known at his time, and the name could have been given to a child because a famous name was thought to honor the originator and to communicate the hope of future greatness in the child. So, we don’t know for sure why Eleazar Wheelock Pomeroy and MARY WYLLYS (!?!) named their eldest son Samuel Wyllys Pomeroy, but, my goodness, Eleazer Wheelock Pomeroy was the brother of Ralph Pomeroy, and his wife, Mary Wyllys the daughter of Colonel George Wyllys, whom I believe was also the father of Samuel Wyllys. Small world.

The most interesting information I have found in my half-day research into the family of Eunice Belden was found in the book A History of The Episcopal Church in Narragansett Rhode Island, Including a History of Other Episcopal Churches in the State, by Wilkins Updike (Boston; The Merrymount Press, 1907) also found on googlebooks. On page 101 starts “Mars. Anstis Lee’s narrative of a Horseback Journey to Connecticut, in 1791. Written about 1845, when Mrs. Lee was in her eightieth year.” If you didn’t already think that most 18th Century inhabitants of the Colonies were related, read this:

“On one of the first days of May, 1791, in pursuance of previous arrangement, my oldest brother, Daniel Updike (who lately died at East Greenwich, in June 1842, at the advanced age of 81 years) and myself started on a visit to Connecticut.

“We left our father’s house, the residence of the late Lodowick Updike, near Wickford, on horseback, on Monday Morning.... We arrived at Plainfield village late in the afternoon and lodged at Judge Robert Lightfoot’s that night. The Judge had been a resident of Newport for many years before his removal to Plainfield. He was an intimate friend of my father and had visited our mansion in the days of my grandfather, Daniel Updike, for twenty seven years the Colony Attorney-General of Rhode Island... On Tuesday, after breakfast, we cordially shook hands with our friend and, with his benediction, left for Hartford. We passed through Canterbury and Windham and lodged that night at a public house in Bolton, kept by one Mr. White, twelve miles short of Hartford. We rose early, on Wednesday, arrived at Hartford, put up at Bull’s Tavern (sign of the Bunch of Guilded Grapes) and took breakfast on bloated salmon... While we were at breakfast, Mr. Ralph Pomeroy came to take us to his house, on a street leading from the main street, somewhere near where the Episcopal Church then stood. Mr. Pomeroy married the widow of William Gardiner, who was killed in the explosion of the Powder House, at Hartford, on celebrating the repeal of the Stamp Act. William Gardiner was brother to my mother and married Miss Eunice Belden, having by her one son named James, who died at Hartford some twenty or thirty years ago. William had kept an apothecary and grocery store at that town. He was brought up by his uncle, Dr. Sylvester Gardiner, of Boston, and established in business by his father, the late John Gardiner, a brother of the Doctor, but had not kept store long before the explosion. Mr. Pomeroy had been a commissary in the Revolutionary War, was a good person of a man and practiced law, at Hartford, with repute, as I understood. He had been frequently at my father’s, in Rhode Island, previously to this visit of ours. Mr. Pomeroy had four children by this marriage, Samuel, Ralph, Eunice and Elizabeth.

“This being the day before the General Election, the deputies and Presbyterian ministers began to arrive. By afternoon the city seemed to be full, when the Governor, Mr. Wolcott, was expected to arrive. To witness his entrance and the accompanying parade, Mr. Pomeroy took us to the house of General Wyllys, which stood opposite, or nearly so, to the State House. General Wyllys was the son of old Colonel Wyllys. He appeared to be a fine gentleman, aged about forty. His wife was Elizabeth Belden and sister of Mrs. Pomeroy, that being the reason we were carried there to witness the ceremonies preparatory to the election...

“Friday afternoon, the day after the election, we spent, upon invitation, with Colonel Wyllys, who lived at the Charter Oak place, an ancient looking mansion, that stood in a square by itself. From it was a splendid view, overlooking the Connecticut River and the city. The great oak was right before it. We were shewn the gardens and the grounds, which were beautiful and tastefully arranged with many flowers in full bloom. Colonel Wyllys was uncle to Mrs. Pomeroy. He was an old man, I should think over seventy, thin and spare, with red baize bound around his legs, probably on account of gout. He was a widower, and his son’s wife, a portly woman, probably about thirty years old, kept his house. She had two little children, say, one seven and the other five years old. Whether her husband was living or not, I don’t know. Mrs. Strong, the Colonel’s daughter, was also with him, having no children... President Stiles and Colonel Ingersoll, the Attorney-General of Connecticut, and several other gentlemen took tea at Colonel Wyllys’s. President Stiles and my brother conversed nearly an hour, very intimately together, respecting Rhode Island. The President had been settled over a Congregational Church, in Newport, many years, and was much in Narragansett, at the house of Colonel Francis Willet, uncle to my mother. I remember seeing Dr. Stiles once at St. Paul’s Church, Narragansett, when Dr. Smith, afterwards President of the Cheshire Academy, was rector. My father was introduced to him after service...”

What an incredible narrative! I like the fact that a young woman had the freedom (possibly because of her father’s wealth and stature) to travel with her brother and meet so many interesting and important individuals. Mrs. Lee stated that “Colonel Wyllys was uncle to Mrs. Pomeroy.” It seems likely that the Colonel Wyllys to which Mrs. Lee referred, was George Wyllys, born abt 1710, father of Mary Wyllys who married Eleazar Pomeroy. George Wyllys’ father was Hezekiah Wyllys, and his sister was Ruth Wyllys, who married first Richard Lord, then second, Thomas Belden. Colonel George Wyllys was the father of General Samuel Wyllys who married Ruth Belden, daughter of Thomas Belden and Ruth Wyllys, and sister of Eunice Belden/Belding who married second, Ralph Pomeroy. Who knew?!

Note to self: do additional research on wife or wives of Colonel George Wyllys – A.A. Pomeroy states that Elizabeth Whiting was the mother of Mary Wyllys, but much of the research found today points to Mary Woodbridge as mother of Mary. Also, look into the history of Hartford after the repeal of the Stamp Act. Did the school house blow up, or was it the Powder House? Can we find proof that William Gardiner died in this accident? And last, but not least, get all this information into our database so we can make sense of all the connections!

Only A Being of Senseless Existence: A Father-Son Conflict Has Drastic Consequences in Early 19th Century New England

by Kate Corbett Pollack

The tragedy experienced by the Spaulding family of Buckland, Massachusetts did not stop with epidemic disease. Although that was likely a defining aspect of their lives, in the background something very strange was occurring - the incarceration of young Josiah Spaulding Jr., who was kept in a cage in the family’s home.

Josiah Spaulding, Jr. was born in 1786 in Uxbridge, Massachusetts, to Reverend Josiah Spaulding and Mary Williams. One source indicates that he was the only surviving child of a premature triplet birth. He would be the Reverend’s only son. Reverend Spaulding had gone to Uxbridge to be ordained as a minister in 1782 after graduating from Yale in 1778. He began a career preaching there, but it was cut short, and he was dismissed on Oct 2, 1787. It seems the Reverend’s hard-line Calvinist theology was not readily accepted by his parishioners. According to History of the Churches and Ministers in Franklin County, Mass. by Reverend Theophilus Packard, there was an objection raised in Uxbridge about Reverend Spaulding’s belief that God “foreordained every thought, word and action” of human beings. The entry for Reverend Spaulding in Biographical Sketches of the Graduates of Yale College states regarding Uxbridge, “It is surmised that his unpopularity was due to his Calvinistic theology.” It would not be the first time someone disagreed with Reverend Spaulding’s ideas, which were fast becoming old-fashioned in post-revolutionary America.

From Uxbridge, the Reverend and his small family (which also included daughter Mary, born April 17th, 1785 who would later marry Isaac Pomeroy of Southampton) traveled to Worthington, where Reverend Spaulding was installed as a minister on August 21, 1788. He was not well received there, either, and was dismissed in 1794. The History of the Town of Worthington reports that “He was evidently somewhat eccentric, though a man of full ordinary powers of mind.” Charges were made against the reverend in Worthington, but none were substantiated after being reviewed by an independent counsel. To be fair, Worthington at this time had difficulty with other ministers for reasons that were not necessarily their fault, and the town seemed to be disorganized and divisive. However, it was clear that the townspeople were not happy with Reverend Spaulding. (Interestingly, Spaulding’s successor was Reverend Jonathan Law Pomeroy, who fit in very well at Worthington and went on to have a successful career there).

Reverend Spaulding’s experiences at Worthington and Uxbridge would begin to fade into the past after he accepted a position as minister of the Congregational Church at Buckland, in 1794. He would remain there until his death in 1823 - much revered and admired by the citizens of the town. Reverend Spaulding had finally found his place. Buckland, located in the picturesque Connecticut River Valley, must have seemed a beautiful oasis for the troubled reverend and his family. By this time the Spaulding family had grown. Two daughters, Nancy and Deborah had been born in Worthington. The arrival of daughter Lydia, born in Buckland in 1797, made the family complete. Reverend Spaulding settled into his role as Buckland’s minister, and the family into their home at the parsonage. The years following the Spaulding family’s arrival in Buckland were quiet.

Josiah Spaulding, Jr. was 8 years old when the family moved to Buckland. As the son of a minister, there were certain expectations for his behavior and achievement. His father was highly educated, and his mother was also from an educated family in Taunton. She was the daughter of a judge, and from a town that produced many important people in her time. Both parents expected great things from Josiah, their only son.

Childhood for Josiah was marked by the usual mischief that young boys often cause; playing pranks on the family, and acting up in school. This was certainly out of line for the son of a reverend, but Josiah’s behavior became calmer as he matured, and he prepared to enter prestigious Willams College, in nearby Williamstown. Reverend Spaulding had ties to the school, and served on the boards of several academic institutions in the area. Despite his father’s connections, Josiah was not accepted at Williams College and was told to study harder. By the time Josiah was in his early twenties, it did not seem likely that he was going to be accepted to college at all, and his father secured him a teaching job at a school in nearby Plainfield. Josiah’s difficulty with his studies does not seem to be related to his intellect, however.

In March of 1808, Josiah received a letter from his friend Ezra Fisk, who was studying at Williams College. Josiah was 22, and Ezra was 23.

Worthy Friend,
Agreeable to your request and my own inclination I embrace the first opportunity for opening an epistolary correspondence with you, a correspondence which I hope will not soon be forgotten.

Ezra continued to write about the nice time he had in Buckland, visiting Josiah and the Spaulding family, and mentions Williams College. He seems genuinely impressed with and interested in a friendship with Josiah:

I cannot but anticipate some future enjoyment arising not from the friendship founded on the ever veering and fluctuating affections of self interest or the vain gloss of outward appearances, but from that which is founded on those undeniable affections which shall cement together with a bond never to be sundered.

Sadly, Ezra would not be able to develop a friendship or continue his correspondence with Josiah for much longer. Ezra went on to graduate from Williams College in 1809, and received his Doctor of Divinity from Hamilton College in 1825. He was later the pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Goshen, New York for many years. This was the type of life Reverend Spaulding no doubt envisioned for Josiah, and one Josiah could have possibly achieved- if it were not for the conflict between father and son.

Reverend Josiah’s strict Calvinist beliefs could not be swayed even slightly. He believed fervently in Calvinist doctrine and would not entertain anything else. Evidence of this can be seen in the reverend’s 367-page book, Universalism Confounds and Destroys Itself, written in 1805, in which he passionately disputes Universalism to the letter. It is not just Universalism that Reverend Spaulding disagreed with; it was any religion or school of thought other than his own interpretation of Calvinism. Clearly his beliefs had already caused problems for him, resulting in his dismissal from Worthington and Uxbridge.

The ideas of predestination, total inherited depravity and limited atonement were difficult for many people to believe, and by the early 1800s Calvinism had fallen out of vogue. Buckland, in its isolated rural setting, may have been an easier place for Reverend Spaulding’s rigid Orthodox theology to be accepted, as there was little exposure to anything else. Josiah Jr., like many adult children, had his own thoughts on religion, and they differed from his father’s. He had been exposed to a different generation, with its more lighthearted ideas-like those of his friend Ezra Fisk, who would become a Presbyterian.

Letters from 1808 between Josiah and Reverend Spaulding indicate that the young man had an intelligence that matched his father’s, and that he was able to debate him. Reverend Spaulding writes to Josiah in a letter dated May, 1808:

I think that you, nor any of us, ought to despair, or to doubt the mercy of God, we may be guilty of great sin in this way. There is the same ground and the same obligation for one to hope in the fullness of divine grace as another. We must, however, be truly penitent, and our hope that of the just, or it will wholly fail us.

Josiah’s response, dated June 15th, 1808:

You think that I, or no one, ought to despair in the mercy of God, nor doubt his goodness…I think this is true, but all the impenitent ought to doubt, while they remain in sin, that they shall not be saved unless they repent, not surely doubt in Christ, but in their own salvation without repentance …I think there ought to be great care taken to examine to our minds to whether they are penitent or impenitent. I fear that I am not so faithful as my duty requires...

Josiah’s ideas on penitence differ from his father’s. Reverend Spaulding believed in predestination. Josiah feels that a person can repent and be saved, an idea shared by contemporaries like Ezra Fisk, and common today.

Shortly after this letter was written, Josiah Spaulding Jr. was dismissed from his position at Plainfield, and returned to Buckland to live at home. Relations between Josiah and his father became increasingly tense, and neighbors reportedly heard them having terrible fights. Reverend Spaulding felt, as he later reported to his parishioners, that he had no choice but to chain his son to the floor of his bedroom, for he had completely lost his mind. Josiah was able to escape the chains after a year of rubbing them together to break them. He headed towards the barn, in a possible attempt to steal a horse and make his escape. Reverend Spaulding, alerted by daughter Lydia, tried to stop his son and a fight ensued. A strong neighbor assisted the Reverend in apprehending Josiah, and he was returned to the home. Reverend Spaulding then commissioned a large cage to be built by the local blacksmith. Josiah was forced inside, and would remain in it until his death at age 79. The cage became the ultimate manifestation of Reverend Spaulding’s desire to control his son.

Had Josiah lost his mind, or did he serve to remind his father of his own failures in his early career, and anger him by disagreeing with his religious doctrine? When Reverend Spaulding lost a Congregationalist to Universalism, he was so upset that he carried a sermon in his pocket for a year, written for that person, in hopes of winning him back should he see him again. Nearly every biography of Reverend Spaulding calls him “eccentric”, and his fiery attack on Universalism in his book is evidence of how seriously he took Calvinism. Is it possible that his only son choosing to rebel against and reject this doctrine was the last straw for Reverend Spaulding? Calvinism was being rejected all over New England during this time. Josiah may have shown wrath towards his father and genuinely frightened him during their disagreements.

It is also possible that Josiah developed an emotional issue as a result of being treated with such a heavy hand as he matured to adulthood. It is difficult to say what, exactly, led to him to be chained to the floor and later caged, but with his father’s respectable position in the village and in western Massachusetts as a religious and academic leader, one can see how he could get away with it. During this time period, a father’s authority was simply not questioned and insanity was thought of as being a test from God, as were all illnesses. Friends of Reverend Spaulding’s speak of his son as a trial for the poor man, his cross to bear.

Josiah was kept caged in the Spaulding home until 1823, when Reverend Spaulding and Mary Williams both died within months of each other. Josiah was then transferred to the home of his sister Lydia, who had married the wealthy Ezra Howes, later a U.S. representative. Lydia was made to care for her caged brother until her death in 1836. Ezra married a woman named Lois Warriner in 1837, and she took Lydia’s place as Josiah’s caretaker. Lois and Josiah got along. She cooked his favorite foods, and the two were said to have something of a friendship. By this time, Josiah was no longer able to stand or walk upright. Josiah outlived the Howes and was transferred to the county poorhouse, where he remained until his death in 1867.

Newspaper articles from 1866 and 1868 report that Josiah was a “raving maniac”, who had tried to murder his parents and sister Lydia.

Just as he was nearly ready for college, being 21 years of age, he became violently and hopelessly deranged. The first public outbreak of insanity was at church, on Sunday, while his father was at prayer, when he suddenly threw the psalm book at his mother's head. (From the Springfield Daily Republican, 1868)

Whether this is true or not, ideas of ‘insanity’ have clearly changed over time. There is little evidence that Josiah did much beyond throwing the psalm book. It does seem very possible that he was a distracted student, and spoiled by his parents growing up, which may have caused him to act out, but there is not much to support the image of him as a ‘raving maniac’.

Spaulding family letters in the photocopied collection of the APHGA do not mention Josiah Spaulding, Jr. after he was incarcerated in his parent’s home. His sister Mary Spaulding Pomeroy, who wrote to him before the incarceration, does not mention him in any further letters. He is not spoken of by his relatives after 1808. Mary had her own trials (see APHGA September, 2011 blog post, Calvinism and Epidemic Disease in the Sussana Cole Letters), and died young, as did all Josiah’s sisters. Josiah outlived the entire family by many years, managing to avoid the infectious diseases that killed them.

It is hard not to wonder what his four sisters thought of their only brother being kept in a cage and if it compounded their already tragic lives. Their letters, which speak of their painful trials, so marked by death and despair, take on a different light when one is also aware of what was happening to their only brother, whom they never speak of. Surely the image of him caged and desperate must have haunted them. And what was Josiah’s experience of his sisters’ tragedy? If in fact Josiah was not insane, and was as lucid as a caged person could hope to be, could he comprehend their loss and sadness? Was he aware of the tragedies of his sister’s lives, and the deaths of their children? And did he ever see his friend Ezra Fisk again? With further research, it may be possible to answer some of these questions, including the question of Josiah’s insanity.

An anonymous letter to the editor of the Springfield Daily Republican, April 20th, 1868, describes a visit to Josiah Spaulding:

…And, when later, the fall before he died, a gentleman visited him on purpose to observe the effect of more than three score years of insanity, he was surprised to find so noble a specimen of a man still left. Nothing soft and flabby in his countenance, no remote sign of idiocy, but a piercing gray eye, a broad forehead, firmness and resolution marked on all his features, impressing the visitor with wonder at the strong and quick, though deranged mind before him.

Josiah Spaulding ends his 1808 letter to his father, written shortly before he would be chained up, by quoting a poem, The Dying Mary Ann, by Betsy Fitch:

But what, shall I, a wretch, complain,
Or Charge my God with counsel vain?
And shall I dare repine?
Afraid to die, too vile to live;
My God, a trembling wretch forgive,
And let they mercy shine.

Many thanks to researcher Pat Whipple for her help with this article.

Bibliography/Sources:

Baldwin, Thomas W., compiler, Vital Records of Uxbridge Massachusetts to the Year 1850. Boston, Mass.: Wright & Potter Printing Company, 1916. P. 144, 308

Dexter, Franklin Bowditch, Biographical Sketches of the Graduates of Yale College: With Annals of the College History Vol. IV, July 1778-June, 1792 New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1907. P.55-58

James Clay Rice, Rev. John Hatch Bisbee and C.K. Brewster, History of the Town of Worthington From Its First Settlement to 1874, Springfield, Massachusetts: Clark W. Bryan & Company, 1874. P. 28-9, 103.

Packard, Rev. Theophilus, Jr. A History of the Churches and Ministers and of Franklin Association in Franklin County, Mass. Boston: S.K. Whipple and Company, 1854. p.15-18, 53-59, 367, 429.

Vital Records of Worthington, Massachusetts to the year 1850 published by the New England Historic Genealogical Society. Boston, Mass., 1911. P.62.

“Centennial Celebration of Sanderson Academy, Ashfield Mass. June 16th and 17th, 1921 Address by Frederick L. Greene, Esq. President of the Board of Trustees.” http://www.ashfieldhistorical.org/green.html p. 1-3

Buckland Centennial, September 10, 1879: Addresses, Poems, Songs, &c. Massachusetts, 1879. P.16, 23-4.

Springfield Daily Republican. Springfield, Hampden County, Massachusetts, September 18, 1866.

Perry, Neil L. “’Raving Maniac’ of Buckland Spent 57 Years in Cage” The Springfield Union, Thursday, 18 December 1966. P. 18 col 1-4

Was Mary Ann (Coe) Pomeroy in Le Roy, NY between 1816 and 1822?

It’s been a busy week and a half, and I’ve finally found a few minutes to report on our trip to Le Roy, NY. Lee and I spent three days at the Le Roy Historical Society and Jell-O Museum, an hour at the Myrtle Street Cemetery and a few hours at the Woodward Memorial Library in Le Roy, searching for any clue that Mary Ann (Coe) Pomeroy and her sons Francis and Edwin Pomeroy were in Le Roy between late 1816 and 1822.

Mary Ann’s older brother, Martin O. Coe, and his wife Clara (Hatch) Coe had moved to Le Roy by 1812, Martin having served at Black Rock and in the area during the War of 1812. Mary Ann and Martin’s father Ithamar Coe, with his wife and several children, moved to Le Roy by November 1816, when Ithamar was installed and ordained as a deacon of the First Presbyterian Church of Le Roy.

Mary Ann and husband Spencer Pomeroy had signed a “Cancel of Marriage Contract” on 19 Oct 1816 in Pompey, NY. This was not a legal divorce, as at the time divorces could only be obtained through the Chancery Court of New York State. The essence of the “contract” is that Spencer and “Mariam” “disannull the marriage covenant” between them and that Spencer gives “Mariam” the “liberty and full right to marry and live with any one that she may make her choice”. This contract puts me in mind of notices found in newspapers during this time period where a husband states that as his wife has left his bed and board that he is no longer financially responsible for her, but the lack of wording regarding the financial aspects of this annulment or contract make me wonder why such a document was drawn up and signed by the parties. One theory that we are pursuing is that Mary Ann planned to move with her children to Le Roy along with her parents and siblings. A notice of a letter remaining in the Sandusky, OH Post Office for “Mariann Pomroy” as of 31 Dec 1822, and published in the Sandusky Clarion 15 Jan 1823, is the earliest evidence of Mary Ann’s removal to Huron County, Ohio.

1820 US Federal Census research has been inconclusive, as Mary Ann has not been identified as a head of household. Her husband, Spencer Pomeroy was found in the 1820 US Federal Census in Manlius, NY as head of household with two free white females, one aged between 26 and 45, and the other aged 45 and upwards. We surmise that the older female was Spencer’s mother, Sarah L. (Allen) Pomeroy. The younger female is the correct age range to be Mary Ann (who was born 8 Jun 1790 in Ballstown, NY), but where are her sons Francis and Edwin? Francis W. Pomeroy, born 12 Aug 1807 in Pompey, would have been about 13 years old, and Edwin V. Pomeroy, born 10 Oct 1809 in Pompey, would have been about 11 years old. It seems likely that they would have been living with their parents at this age.

Ithamar Coe is listed as head of household in Le Roy, NY according to the 1820 US Federal Census. This enumeration, dated 20 Feb 1821 lists the following people in the household: 1 free white male of 10 through 16; 1 free white male of 16 through 26; 1 free white male of 45 and upwards; 1 free white female of 10 through 16; 1 free white female of 26 through 45; and one free white female of 45 and upwards. The older male and female are likely Ithamar Coe and his wife Sarah (Ball) Coe. As Ithamar and Sarah had several children, it is important to rule them out when trying to figure out who the remaining four people in the household were.

Ithamar and Sarah’s oldest child, Sally Phoebe Coe, born 1 May 1784 in MA, married Colonel Anson Hungerford 12 Sep 1802 in Clinton, NY. He was born 21 Sep 1779 in Farmington, CT and died 12 Jul 1864 in Watertown, NY. She died 15 Aug 1859 in Watertown. Anson Hungerford was enumerated in the 1820 US Federal Census as head of household in Watertown. The number of people in this household is consistent with what we know about this family.

Ithamar and Sarah’s second child was Martin Oliver Coe, mentioned above. Martin was born 24 Sep 1786 in Ballstown, NY and married Clara Hatch (born 14 May 1790 in Pawlet, VT) 15 Sep 1810 in Pompey, NY. He was enumerated in the 1820 US Federal Census as head of household in Le Roy. The number of people in his household is consistent with what we know of his family.

Leicester Coe, the third child of Ithamar and Sarah, was born 1 Jun 1788, probably in Ballstown, NY. Very little is known of Leicester (or Lester) and we suspect he may have died as a child or young man. If he were living in 1821 (when the Le Roy census was taken), he would have been 32 years old, which makes it unlikely that he was the free white male enumerated in the Ithamar Coe household between the ages of 10 and 16, or the free white male between the ages 16 through 26.

Persis Matilda Coe, the fifth child of Ithamar and Sarah (Ball) Coe, was born 25 Feb 1794, probably in Clinton, NY. She married Dr. Benjamin Bliss on 21 Sep 1817. Benjamin Bliss is enumerated in the 1820 US Federal Census in Le Roy, NY as head of household, on the same page with Ithamar Coe and Martin O. Coe. The number of people in his household is consistent with what we know of this family.

Sophia Coe, the 6th child of Ithamar and Sarah (Ball) Coe, was born 28 Jun 1797. She married William Morgan 28 Oct 1819, probably in Le Roy. William Morgan is enumerated in the 1820 US Federal Census as head of household in Le Roy, NY. His household appears to contain people who are additional to his immediate family. Listed in the household were 1 free white male under 10 (likely William and Sophia’s son Gustavus Adolphus Morgan, born about 1821); 1 free white male of 10 through 16; 1 free white male of 16 through 26 (likely William Morgan, born 31 May 1797); 1 free white female of 16 through 26 (likely Sophia Coe); 1 free white female of 45 and upwards. We do not know who the free white male of 10 through 16 or the free white female of 45 and upwards was.

Orman Coe was the 7th child of Ithamar and Sarah (Ball) Coe, and was born 28 Apr 1799 in Paris, NY. He married Ruth Jane Rowe (Born 29 Dec 1806 in Paris), on 28 Sep 1829. He is likely the free white male of 16 through 26 who is listed in Ithamar Coe’s household according to the 1820 U.S. Federal Census.

Seth Coe, the youngest child of Ithamar and Sarah (Ball) Coe, was born 22 Mar 1801 and died 11 Aug 1819. This rules him out of any 1820 census enumeration.

So, could Mary Ann (Coe) Pomeroy and her two sons, Francis W. and Edwin V. Pomeroy be living with her family in Le Roy when the 1820 US Federal Census was taken on 20 Feb 1821? At that date, Mary Ann would have been 30 years old, her son Francis would have been 14 and her son Edwin would have been 11. Mary Ann was the right age to have been the free white female of 26 through 45 in the Ithamar Coe household, and either of her sons would have been the right age to be the free white male of 10 through 16 in that same household. Additionally, either of her two sons would have been the right age to be the free white male of 10 through 16 found in the William Morgan household. But how can we know this for sure? While several of our researchers had visited the Le Roy Historical Society and Jell-O Museum a few years back, Lee and I decided to make an additional trip based on our continuing research of the Coe and allied families in Le Roy during the time that we are trying to locate Mary Ann and her sons.

I had done some previous research on the history of Le Roy, concentrating on the makeup of the town during the time that Martin and Ithamar settled there. I was looking for other families who had come to Le Roy from Pompey, NY, hoping to find a connection between them and the Coe family. I identified the following families who were in Pompey prior to moving to Le Roy: the Daniel Judd family; the Timothy Hatch family (father of Clara who married Martin O. Coe); the Joseph Annin family; the Levi Farnham family; and the Salmon Butler family. It is interesting that another Coe family (if related, very distantly) also settled early in Le Roy. I additionally looked for people of families that left Le Roy to settle in Huron County, OH around the same time that Mary Ann and he children seemed to move there. To that end, we found a Pixley family in Le Roy who may have been related to the Reuben Pixley family that settled early in Pompey and later moved to Huron County, Ohio.

The Le Roy Historical Society has an impressive collection of primary and secondary source records relating to the history of Le Roy and surrounding communities. Lee and I reviewed scrapbooks, ledgers, diaries, vertical files, genealogies, school records, letters and reminiscences of early settlers, scholarly journals, maps and books during our visit. Although we did not find any specific references to Mary Ann (Coe) Pomeroy, or her sons Francis and Edwin, we did find some additional information about the Coe family and the Pompey families we were interested in. One interesting source identified Ithamar Coe’s half brother, Luther Coe, as teaching school in Le Roy during the winter of 1803 – 1804. While we knew that Luther had come out to Le Roy, this is our earliest reference to him in this place.

We really enjoyed our visit to the Historical Society, and want to thank their welcoming staff members. I was quite surprised to see how many people visited the Jell-O Museum – the place was humming! We would also like to personally thank Lynne Belluscio, the Curator of the Historical Society and Jell-O Museum, and would like to recommend that any Le Roy area researchers consider visiting this unique and resource packed museum and historical society. They’re open every day from April 1st through Dec 31st and on weekdays from January 1st through March 31st.

Lee and I took 292 photographs while in Le Roy, now we will start the arduous process of transcribing and reviewing the information we found, and adding this to our databases and to the Mary Ann Coe book. Well, it looks like winter has come early to the Northeast, so it’s the perfect time to settle down in front of the computer screen and start typing!

Oh, before I forget, Le Roy, NY will be celebrating its bicentennial next year. If I remember correctly, the date of the celebration will be Friday, June 8, 2012. For more information, contact Lynne at the Jell-O Museum. We’ll be attending, and hope to see you there!

Some Gleanings from the CNYGS Conference

APHGA Staff Report
Central New York Genealogical Society Conference
North Syracuse, NY on October 14-15


During the Saturday morning conference session, keynote speaker Barry J. Ewell told the audience he redirected his life onto the genealogy-hunter’s trail because of his mother. Her death in 1998 was the compelling, precious, private reason “that changed the course of my life.” The family gathered records, photos, mementos, and he was soon haunted by the desire to know “who she really was.” His mother, to assure that he got the message, appeared to him in dreams, reminding him, “tell the children about me.”

Many of us have similar reasons to become “history detectives,” and the Conference sponsored by CNY Genealogical Society, as a celebration of their 50 years of sleuthing gave 150 of us many ways to forge ahead toward our goals. Two of our members, Director Nancy Maliwesky, and researcher, Barbara Dix, worked diligently on the program planning committee.

While Barry Ewell repeatedly told participants to “verify, verify, verify,” the information we collected in our research to establish accuracy and credibility, his second lesson was just as important. That was about connecting with others. “You can’t do it yourself,” he said. “It requires asking questions of those who are resource people, people who know the situation.”

That is exactly what happened during this conference, sharing information, advice, experiences, resources, and lots of encouragement, in a comfortable, relaxing setting at the Comfort Inn in North Syracuse. Barbara Dix, one of our Pomeroy researchers, and Town of Schroeppel historian, believes this “intermingling of minds” is one of the best things about history conferences. “You meet people, and reacquaint with people, and you add to each other’s knowledge.”

A Dean from Jefferson Community College came to the conference because she wants to put together a story of her families’ ancestors to pass on to her nieces and nephews. “It’s less about the names and dates, and more about learning how they lived and what they did.”

Eventually, most of us want to “tell the story,” but are still trying to locate sources of vital records and historical details. Some of that information can be found through the internet, but much is still at the local level. Libraries and archives are a bountiful resource, whether at a university, or run by the state, county or town. This conference provided speakers to highlight some of their unique resources and services.

Carole T. of Dewitt said she learned new sources from Suzanne Etherington’s presentation. Suzanne, an Advisory Officer for New York State Archives Government Records Services, spoke about the NY State Archives, and how to look for local records at the county, town and village level. APHGA staff member Pat Whipple found Suzanne’s directions on how to access the NYS Archives via internet to find out what records a local government or historical society may have, was an important practical research tool. (See “how–to” directions addended.) “Knowing what records a county and municipality are required to retain,” Pat said, “gives researchers more confidence to request vital historical documents from local government sites. Suzanne encouraged us to request these records, because many, such as chattel mortgages and early tax assessment records, provide valuable details for researchers.”

Barb Dix heard Holly Sammons, who heads the Local History and Genealogy Department at the Onondaga County Public Library. She didn’t realize that in addition to the many resources kept by the department, they also personally assisted those who need and request assistance. “I told a friend of mine in Oswego that day, to call the OCPL Local History room and see if they might help her, and this morning I got an e-mail back, saying she took my advice and they are now responding to her request.”

The best advice is, never underestimate what your local library can do to help you. Florence G, a town historian, who has been seeking her “needle in a haystack” for a long while, told me that one of her most helpful clues was discovered in a book in the Pulaski library that had an index of marriages for 1828. So her next field trip will be to Geneva, where the marriage took place.

“Getting off the computer, and going to the locations where your family grew up, was one of the important lessons Mr. Ewell emphasized,” Betty Banta, reported. Betty, a Pomeroy researcher, said Ewell “praised librarians, and encouraged researchers to visit them as well as the local historical society, but told us it is important to call ahead, and be specific about what you are looking for, before making the trip.”

College and university archives are also valuable repositories for genealogists. What surprised many who attended Edward Galvin’s presentation, was the wide array of information they have about students, faculty and alumni. Galvin, who is Director of the Syracuse University Archives, showed the diverse collection through his power-point presentation, some of which date back to the early 1870s. Numerous publications have been stored and are accessible, perhaps, more to come. “It would be wonderful if the University got their Daily Orange newspaper and a couple of their newspapers on microfilm,” Carole T. told me. Betty noted that while she doesn’t have a family member connected to Syracuse University, that the general type of information discussed by Mr. Galvin such as yearbooks, student newspapers, associations, literary magazines, and alumni records, will help her when she looks for information at her father’s Wisconsin college.

Breaks between sessions provided ample time for energizing exchanges and swapping information between old and new friends. During one of them, Frances C. passed along the name of Jan G., a knowledgeable volunteer at the Niagara Genealogical Library, who might be able to assist me in researching Pomeroys in the Lockport area. It is always good to have the name of a person to contact for research assistance.

As Carole told me, it was “very helpful to have the surname list, and I highlighted the ones of interest and tracked down several people with common surname interests right there.” One participant, who enjoyed her first genealogy conference, wished she had more time to spend with vendors. She gained helpful information about library and archive holdings from presentations and suggested an excellent future topic. “I would like to know more about marriage and the family in the 18th and 19th centuries, especially regarding divorce.” Her interest, which includes how to sort out adoptions, out-of-wedlock children, and the phenomena of husbands marrying the deceased wife’s sister, is likely to be of interest to many other researchers.

From our perspective, the Conference Program planners offered a substantive, energizing educational experience for genealogists. If any of our readers would like more information about aspects of the program please contact us through our blog.

And if you are in the Central New York region, why not become a member of the Central New York Genealogical Society! Go to this link for membership information: http://rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nycnygs/membership.htm

Alethea Connolly, researcher
APHGA
……………………………………………………………


ADDENDUM: Accessing the New York State Archives from Suzanne Etherington’s presentation on Researching Rural Communities: Local Government Records and Other Sources, October 15, 2011, by using the Historical Document Inventory database (info formerly found in the New York Red Books) maintained by the New York State Archives to determine what records a local government or historical society may have for a surname, place or subject matter you are researching. To access:

1. Go to New York State Archives website - http://www.archives.nysed.gov
2. Click on Research link on the left side.
3. Click on Excelsior Online Catalog link under Research Tools section.
4. Type your “words or phrase” in the search box, select Historical Document Inventory from the “library” drop down menu and click Search button.
5. A list of “titles” in chronological order from newest to oldest is given.
6. Click on Details button to the left of the title.
7. Click on Catalog Record tab to view the abstract and repository location for the title.

Coincidence... I Think Not!

Over several years of hunting Pomeroys I’ve come across too many “coincidences” to keep track of. It seems that whenever one of us starts to research a particular Pomeroy, inevitably we will receive and e-mail or phone call from one of that Pomeroy’s descendants! I’ve got a great story to share that illustrates this case in point.

As many of you know, I and my husband are both musicians, and we’ve been regularly frequenting some open mics in our community. As we get to know our fellow musicians, the topic of profession often comes up. It’s always fun to explain what I do for a living, and I usually preface this conversation with “I have the best job in the world!” (And I do!)

Lately, several musician friends have approached me with their own Pomeroy stories. One of the most interesting is that of a Sheridan family who were living in Otisco, NY in the 1850s. Both parents died within about a year of each other, and their children were orphaned. My friend, and fellow musician, is a descendant of that family, and he told me that he had copies of records that identify Lemuel Strong Pomeroy as being named guardian of these children.

LEMUEL STRONG POMEROY! My heart leapt! Our researcher, Alethea Connolly, has been working on the Otisco Pomeroys, of which Lemuel has become one of our favorites!

In looking into the Pomeroy/Sheridan connection, we found that another Otisco Pomeroy, Flavius Burt Pomeroy, Lemuel’s second cousin, had Jennie Sheridan in his household according to the 1865 New York State Census. She is identified as a “ward”. Jennie POMEROY is found living in the Flavius Burt Pomeroy household according to the 1870 U.S. Federal Census. A.A. Pomeroy, in his book “History and Genealogy of the Pomeroy Family”, identified Jennie Pomeroy, born May 19, 1853 as a daughter of Flavius Burt Pomeroy and his wife Sophronia Clark. He states that Jennie married Henry Billings 15 Oct 1879 in South Butler, N.Y., who was born 20 Jul 1847 in Clyde, NY. In volume III of “The History and Genealogy of the Pomeroy Family”, a correction is made stating that Jennie married Henry Kellogg “(not “Henry Billings”) as printed on page 586 of Part Two”.

Well, last evening, one of our APHGA Members, Walt P. contacted me regarding his Pomeroy family, and low and behold another crazy Pomeroy circle was completed. You see, Walt is a descendant of Flavius Burt Pomeroy, and had mentioned in his e-mail that he had two old photo albums purportedly belonging to Flavius. Unfortunately, most of these pictures are not marked, so he has no way of knowing who these people are. There were a few, though, that contained the names “Aunt Jennie Kellogg” and “Henry Kellogg”. Walt had read one of my recent blog articles and the name Kellogg rang a bell with him, and he contacted me to see if I might know who these Kelloggs were.

I checked our database and my jaw dropped when I realized that Jennie Kellogg was, indeed, Jennie M. Sheridan! I rushed off a short e-mail to my musician friend, and then wrote back to Walt, explaining who Jennie was, and how we had come to find out about her. If I hadn’t had that conversation about the Sheridans with my musician friend, we may never have known that Jennie Pomeroy was really Jennie Sheridan!

Walt has graciously offered to scan the photos in his albums so that I can share them with the Sheridan family, and post them on our website. Who knows, maybe some other family researcher is looking for these people as we speak. Wouldn’t THAT be a coincidence?!

Desperately Seeking Mary Ann!

Lee and I are very excited about visiting the Le Roy, NY Historical Society, and Jello Museum in two weeks, as part of our research on the Mary Ann Coe book. The Le Roy Historical Society has a great collection of ledgers, account books, diaries and reminiscences of early Le Roy, and we're hoping to find proof that Mary Ann moved to Le Roy with her parents from Pompey, NY about 1816.

If you know anything about Mary Ann (Coe) Pomeroy who later was the common law wife of Benjamin Junkins in Norwalk, OH and finally the wife of David Powers (in Norwalk, New Haven and Sandusky, OH), or if you can suggest other places in Genesee County for us to research, please contact us!

Sometimes You’ve Got To Write It, To See It!

As many of you know, I’ve been really concentrating on writing the Mary Ann Coe book lately. I’m 380 pages into the first draft, and have now decided that instead of a feature length film this book will need to be a mini-series (hopefully HBO!) I’m certainly learning a lot during this process, and I thought I’d outline a few of these “Aha” moments here.

1. Where do you begin – We’ve done so much research that it seemed daunting at first to know how to organize all of it so that it made sense and flowed. I decided to start with an outline, and as chapters suggested themselves, I would add them later. I then created one page in Microsoft Word for each chapter. This has had the added benefit of making it easier to find the chapter I’m looking for as I scroll through the ever growing document, as the chapter header is visible when using the right scroll bar.

2. What to do when you’re stuck – Sometimes finding the words to actually start the book seemed the hardest of all. I remembered back to a college level writing class I took at Syracuse University, and remembered my professor saying that it’s often easier to write in blocks, where the inspiration hits, not necessarily in a linear pattern, from beginning to end. So, if the intro is bringing you to a standstill, go on to a section of the book where you have something to say, and come back to the introduction later.

3. It’s important to put your subjects in context, to their times and communities. While writing about a certain place, I have found it helpful to have a copy of the history of that place at hand. It really helps to learn more about the geography and the other people in the towns where your family lived, as they will play a part in the story also. And don’t discount the importance of religion – if you can identify the church or society your ancestor belonged to, you can better understand the circle that he or she moved in.

4. Most importantly, I’ve learned that writing about your genealogy research allows you to look at it as a whole, as opposed to just reviewing it in a genealogy database. I found that when I was writing that entire new avenues of research would open up to me, as I would be looking at several people at once, as opposed to the way you look at individuals or families in a database (one person or family at a time). In writing about all these interrelated individuals, I have noticed connections that I had not previously made. Sometimes you’ve got to write it, to see it!

Update on the Central New York Genealogical Society's 50th Anniversary Conference, from the Vendor Committee

Our conference is truly "GOOD AS GOLD!"

The Planning Committee of the Central New York Genealogical Society 50th Anniversary Conference is pleased to announce the vendors and exhibitors who will be participating in our “Good As Gold” Conference, October 14th and 15th, 2011 at the Buckley Road Comfort Inn in Syracuse, New York:

• The American Pomeroy Historic Genealogical Society
• Central New York Genealogical Society
• Cornell University Press
• Creative Memories
• Gaylord Brothers
• Half-Shire Historical Society
• Heritage Makers/Horse Cents Photography
• History Star Productions
• Industrial Color Labs
• Jefferson County Genealogical Society
• Lyme Heritage Center
• National Institute for Genealogical Studies
• New York Genealogical and Biographical Society
• New York State Council of Genealogical Organizations
• Onondaga County Public Library
• Onondaga Historical Association
• Oswego County Historical Society
• Pompey Historical Society
• State University of New York (SUNY) Press

The Vendor and Exhibitor Halls will be open to banquet and conference attendees, with limited vendor participation on Friday night, from 5:00pm through 8:30pm and full vendor participation on Saturday from 8:00am through 4:30pm.

Our vendors and advertisers have generously offered door prizes. Drawings will be held in Vendor Hall at 4:15pm Saturday following the workshops. Conference attendees must be present to win a prize.

Door Prizes to date include:

• Digital Photo frame valued at $150, donated by the American Pomeroy Historic Genealogical Association
• 1 year membership to the Central New York Genealogical Society, valued at $30.
• Family Archives Kit bundled with archival photo albums from Gaylord Brothers
• Photo basket from Heritage Makers/Horse Cents Photography
• Bundle of online genealogy courses valued at $900, from the National Institute for Genealogical Studies
• 1 year membership to the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, valued at $60.
• 2 $25 Dinosaur Bar-B-Que gift certificates donated by CNYGS.
• $25 Staples gift card donated by CNYGS.

In addition to these door prizes, each conference attendee will receive:

• A coupon for one free print up to 8”x10” with any retouching order over $29, from Industrial Color Labs
• A 20% Conference discount and free shipping on all orders placed at the Conference from SUNY Press.
• A free online course “Social Media for the Wise Genealogist”, valued at $89, or half off the cost of the online course “Methodology – Part I: Getting Started”, from the National Institute for Genealogical Studies.

Because we’ve received such a great response to our conference, we are extending our registration period. Late registrants (after September 15th) will not have their four surnames listed in the Syllabus.

If you’ve been considering attending, but thought you missed the deadline, don’t worry – send your registration in today to enjoy one of the premier genealogy events in the Central New York area! We look forward to seeing you at the Conference! Registration forms are available on the CNYGS website at: http://rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nycnygs/50th_anniversary.htm or e-mail CNYGS50th@yahoo.com.