Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Questions for Susan

     I would love to ask my brick wall ancestors a few questions to get those walls crumbling but for now I'll focus on Susan Lounsbury, my 4th great-grandmother who was married to Charles.
     I had written about Charles earlier this year in a post entitled 'Chasing Charles' dated January 9, 2012.  I also wrote a bit about Susan on March 13, 2012.  Since writing those posts I think I found Susan's final resting place.  I was checking Ancestry.com and saw that someone had posted a picture of a headstone for Susan.  This stone which is located in the cemetery of the Milton Marlborough United Methodist Church in Milton,NY reads Susan, wife of Charles L. Davis followed by the birth and death dates.  I had connected with a distant cousin a while back who told me that Susan had remarried a man named John Mackey after the death of her husband Charles.  If this is true and this headstone is for my 4th great-grandmother then why is she listed as the wife of Charles?  Why is she not listed as john's wife?  Why is she not buried with Charles?  Is it because there was no more room where Charles is located?  Where is John buried?  Is he buried in the same cemetery as Susan?  I called the church a few times but there was no answer.
     Is this my Susan?  Let's see what I've got so far....

1850  U.S. Federal Census has Charles L. Davis and Susan Davis living in       Marlborough, NY with their children
1851  Charles L. Davis died - buried in Anning Smith burial ground in Milton, NY
1860  U.S. Census shows Susan Mackey listed as wife of John S. Mackey.  Along with John and Susan, there is Ferris and Janette Davis
1865  NY State Census has John and Susan Mackey living with Susan's children Ferris and Janette
1875  NY State Census has John and Susan Mackey living with Ferris Davis and his wife and children
1876  Susan died - buried in Milton Marlborough United Methodist Church cemetery in Milton, NY

     It certainly looks like this is my Susan because two of the children that appeared with her in the 1850 census when she was married to Charles are still with her in the 1860, 1865, and 1875 censuses when she was married to John.
     Susan,  Is this you?  Are you my great, great, great, great-grandmother?

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Steffano ?

     My 2nd great-grandfather arrived in the United States in the late 1800's.  Where did he come from?  I thought I knew...  What year did he arrive?  I do not know.
     The U.S. Federal Censuses from 1910 and 1920, as well as the 1915 and 1925 NY State Censuses show Stephen Duper's country of birth as Austria.  I thought he came from Croatia.  I'll have to re-read that letter from my grandmother's cousin.  I remember reading that he was from Dalmatia and had a thick accent.
     I have conflicting information as far as the year of arrival.  The 1910 U.S. census has questions regarding citizenship.  It asked for the yer of immigration and whether naturalized or alien.  The enumerator who covered the area left those questions blank.  The 1910 and 1920 censuses has year of birth as abt. 1873.  The 1915 and 1925 NY State Censuses just have his age which was listed as 43 (1915) and 51 (1925).  The 1915 census states that he was in this country for 25 years.  The 1925 census has him in this country for 35 years.  According to both of those censuses the arrival year would have been 1890 yet the 1920 census has an arrival year of 1888.  Stephen's death certificate from 1931 states that he was in this country for 44 years which would make the year of arrival 1887.  I have three different years of arrival for this man.  When did he arrive?  I have two different years for naturalization - 1894 according to the 1920 U.S. census and 1892 according to the 1925 NY state census.
     I had not found Stephen Duper's name on any ship passenger list until just recently.  Well, that is I think I found him.  There were quite a few Dupers who came from Austria but none of them were Stephen Duper with a year of birth as 1873 which was the yer I really thought he was born.
     The ship passenger list has Steffano Dupper born in 1872 and arriving in New York on 21 March 1889.  Could this be my great-great grandfather?

Thursday, August 2, 2012

The Davises Divided

1930 ~ a new year, a new president, and the beginning of a new decade.

     Eleanor Davis was a 12 year old girl living with her grandmother in Brooklyn,NY according to the 1930 U.S. Federal Census.  Where were her parents?  I do not know.  I have not found Samuel or Josephine Davis with their sons in the 1930 census.  Why was my grandmother separated from her parents and younger brothers?
     Samuel Davis, along with his wife and children, was living at his parents address in 1925 and was at the same address though the 1930's.  I found Samuel in every Poughkeepsie city directory except the year 1930.  His sons Daniel and Samuel were in two of those directories and even his daughter Eleanor appeared in the 1936 city directory.
     I cannot believe that my grandmother was listed in the city directory with her father and brothers.  I spoke to MaMa's cousin a few years ago and she told me that my grandmother didn't live in Poughkeepsie but sometimes visited on the weekends.  I can believe this to be true because she was living with her grandmother in 1930 (according to the census) and was attending St. Leonard's elementary school in Brooklyn.  I have MaMa's autograph book from her 8th grade graduation and always thought that the dates didn't make sense.  That was before I found out that she was actually born in 1918 and not 1920.
     MaMa lived in Brooklyn during the 1930's while the rest of her family lived up in Poughkeepsie.  She was still with her grandmother when the 1940 census was taken.
     The Davises were divided for over a decade.