Great-Great-Grandfather Homer Thomas Porter

Clipping from the St. Albans Messenger of St. Albans, Vermont.  This obituary appeared Thursday, 31 Dec 1903 on page 8.  I found it through GenealogyBank.com; I'm very happy with my new subscription!*

Homer Thomas Porter and Dolly Bates are one set of my maternal great-great-grandparents.  It's always nice to have an obituary for an ancestor, but this one is especially nice for several reasons:
  --It specifies where he was living when he died.

  --Dolly Ann (Bates) is named as his late wife.
  --His father, Thomas, is named. With common names, it's always nice to have generations linked!
  --It not only says where Dolly was when she died, it also specifies why she was so far from Vermont.
  --Surviving relatives are named and residences specified.
  --His religion and commitment to it are included.

I had most of these events but only from a distant family  member.  Granted, an obituary may not be reliable but this one is still closer to being original than what I had previously.  All input considered, I'm feeling pretty good about reliability.  What I had is confirmed and I'm able to fill in some very meaningful new details.

And, I have something new to research: What was the "battle of Plattsburg" and why is it still mentioned 90 years later???

Line of Descent

For the curious or the observant, Dolly Ann (Bates) Porter and her mother-in-law Abigail (Bates) Porter are not closely related.  Abigail is a descendent of Clement Bates, while Dolly Ann is a descendent of Edward Bates of Weymouth.








*Disclaimer
I am a new, paid subscriber to GenealogyBank.  I do not receive any favor from them beyond my subscription.

Portrait of a Great Great: Mary Mason

With a full quarter of my ancestry coming from the Great Migration, I'm used to finding the occasional mention in American Ancestors, one of the periodical publications of the New England Historic Genealogical Society.  But the Winter 2015 (Vol. 16, No. 1) has set a new standard here for excitement!

One article is primarily about Abigail Smith Adams, wife of President John Adams and mother of President John Quincey Adams [1].  Author Michelle Marchetti Coughlin hypothesizes howAbigail's maternal great-grandparents may have affected Abigail.  Luckily for me, those maternal great-grandparents are also my 8th-great-grandparents, John NORTON and Mary MASON.

The entire article is very interesting and includes a good deal of family history information and detail, far beyond birth-marriage-death.  The great surprise is a portrait of Mary Mason, circa 1670!  The actual portrait, artist unknown, is on display at the Adams National Historical Park in Quincy, Massachusetts.  As part of the United States National Park Service (NPS), the website is great, too.  It includes a Photo Gallery with eight sections, one of which is Portraits in the Old House. Of the 32 portraits shown there, one is of "Mary Mason, circa 1670" and a download is available.  My illustration here is a clip of that NPS download. Please visit their fine site for your own full copy.

Conclusions

• Join national genealogy societies!
• Read their publications and be prepared for surprises!
• Appreciate fine government websites!

Line of Descent
Rev. John Norton = Mary Mason
Capt. John Norton = Elizabeth Thaxter
William Norton = Elizabeth Bennett
Moses Bates = Hannah Norton
Moses Bates = Ruth Shaw
Norton Bates = Betsey Sweet
Homer Thomas Porter = Dolly Ann Bates
Celim Homer Porter = Clara Evelene Davidson
my Grandpa Porter


[1] Coughlin, Michelle Coughlin. "A shared sensibility: Examining the legacy of John and Mary (Mason) Norton, maternal great-grandparents of Abigail Smith Adams." American Ancestors, 16 (1): 47-51.

Great Connection: Homer Porter & Dolly Ann Bates

A great day!  I'll spare you all the details, but recent "Member Connect Activity" at ancestry.com has led me to a "new" cousin, Marla, and her incredible photos of my great-great-grandparents Homer Thomas PORTER and Dolly Ann BATES!

Dolly Ann (10 Sep 1823 Westford, Chittenden, Vermont  - 1892 Great Falls, Cascade, Montana) was the daughter of Norton Bates and Betsey Sweet.  [There is no proven connection between these two Bates women: this Abigail is a Bates in the Clement Bates line, while Dolly Ann is in the Edward of Weymouth, Massachusetts line.]

Homer Thomas Porter (20 Nov 1813 - 24 Dec 1903, both Colchester, Chittenden, Vermont) was the son of Thomas Porter and Abigail Bates.   He married Dolly Ann Bates 11 Sep 1845 in Essex, Chittenden, Vermont.  

Thank you, Marla, for posting these photos and for permission to crop them for use here.  I look forward to a long and rewarding partnership with you!  You have made my month!!

While I'm on this couple and from our 2004 trip to Vermont: I am confident that this stone from the Malletts Bay Cemetery (Colchester, Chittenden, Vermont) commemorates Homer and his siblings, Ashbel and Sally (who married Horace H. Johnson).  Homer's Vermont death record and probate file (both available at familysearch.org) makes it pretty clear that the death date on the stone is incorrect and that 1903 is much more likely.  (A more legible image by Barb Destromp exists at findagrave.com)

Unexpected Gift from a Great Blogger

Bill West, of The Old Colony Graveyard Rabbit, recently posted lovely photos of the "Olde Beechwood Burial Ground"  in Cohasset, Massachusetts.  One photo that caught my eye turned out to be the headstone of my 5th great-grand-aunt, Sarah Bates, who died at about the age of 11 in 1737.

I know Bill also contributes to FindaGrave.com, so I quickly clicked over to their site and found out that Bill had indeed already submitted a photo and annotation for Sarah's father, Joshua Bates.  Thank you, thank you, Bill!

Thanks to Bill, I now have burial locations for both Joshua and Sarah!  I like filling in blanks in my database!  Now, I wonder if Bill West and I are related....

PORTER Descent

"In the proliferation of Porters in colonial Connecticut, several large and unrelated families can be sorted out.  Significant among them are the descendants of John and Anna (White) Porter of Windsor; of Dr. Daniel, Thomas and Robert Porter, all of Farmington; and of Richard Porter of Weymouth, Massachusetts." 

This quotation is from The American Genealogist article 'Some Connecticut Descendants of Richard Porter of Weymouth, Massachusetts' by John A. Leppman [1].  Unfortunately, I am not a descendant of Richard but of Dr. Daniel, and there is not as much written about him.  It is, however, reassuring to see a published article in a reputable journal saying that these several PORTER families are unrelated.

On the other hand, my PORTERS were somewhat prominent and left many records in the Hartford, Connecticut area and later in New Haven. It becomes just a bit harder to separate them when they left Connecticut for Vermont in about 1797.  But, I am blessed with one of those probate documents that you read about in a journal and ask, 'Why didn't my ancestor's leave a record like that?'  !

Thomas Porter (husband of Abigail Bates) appeared 20 February 1799 at a probate court in Waterbury, Connecticut on behalf of his father Ashbel to settle the estate of his grandfather Thomas Porter [2].  Thomas, the grandson, and his father Ashbel are both specified as being 'of South Hero in the County of Chittenden State of Vermont.'  Finding one document that clearly lays out three generations in two states for this common surname settled many of my concerns about correctly connecting PORTERs!

Conclusions
Probate records can be wonderful finds, especially for common surnames in colonial New England.  Maybe someday I'll attempt to find Dr. Daniel's English origins, but I think that will take a lot of work and a lot of luck!

This line of descent is:

Dr. Daniel Porter (American immigrant prior to 1644) =  Mary

Dr. Daniel Porter  =  Deborah Holcomb

Capt. Thomas Porter  =  Mary Welton

Ashbel Porter  =  Hannah Norris

Thomas Porter  =  Abigail Bates

Homer Thomas Porter  =  Dolly Ann Bates

Celim Homer Porter  =  Clara Evelene Davison

L Willis Porter

SOURCES
[1] The American Genealogist, 1977, vol 53, p. 31.
[2] Waterbury, Connecticut: Register of Probate Records. FHL film #6,139; Item 2: Volume 3, 1799-1820, p. 118. (Note: there are many other Porter entries throughout this film.)

First Friday Folder: Job Bates & Sarah Martin

I selected the Bates/Martin folder, my 4th-great-grandparents on my mother's side, for First Friday review because I am having so much trouble with their parents.  Given that researching this Job's parents has only led to bigger problems, back I go to making sure I do everything here that I can.

Physically, the folder was pretty well organized.  The family group sheet was old, so I printed a new one: the new one is 4 pages longer than before!  I like to work from a new print out because things look different to me on paper than they do on the screen.

I worked briefly on filling in gaps in the US census data for their 12 children and was able to find those for 3 more of the children in 1850-1880!  Now I only have gaps for 4, three of whom I cannot prove even lived to 1850. 

Job Bates and his wife, Sarah C. Martin

Job BATES and Sarah/Sallie MARTIN were the parents of the Abigail Bates  [1] who married Thomas Porter in  1813, probably in Chittenden County, Vermont [2]. Sarah died 19 August 1851 and Job died 4 (or perhaps 7) February 1863, both in Essex, Chittenden, Vermont.  They are both buried in the Essex Center Cemetery [3 & 4].  And, that appears to be as far as my certainty goes.... 

PROBLEMS BEGIN...

Sarah C. Martin was born about 1763-1770 and probably in Connecticut [3].  She is often referred to in undocumented, online trees as Sarah Childs Martin, but I have not found any solid documentation of a middle name nor any tie to a Childs family.

Job Bates was possibly born 22 November 1768 in Attleborough, Bristol, Massachusetts to Simeon Bates and his first cousin, Abigail Bates [4]. I have more info linking my Job to these parents. My concern is whether or not that Job Bates is the Job Bates who is the father of the Abigail Bates who marries Thomas Porter: his entries in the 1850 and 1860 censuses, his children's censuses for 1880, and the History of Chittenden County [5] all give Connecticut as his birthplace. I think his children were probably the informants for all of those sources so they are not independent evidence, but it is still enough to make me hesitate.

Unsourced online family trees consistently have a marriage date for Job and Sarah of 1793 in Thompson, Windham, Connecticut, which is only about 40 miles from Job's supposed birthplace in Attleborough, Massachusetts.  But I have not found this record in Barbour, Bailey, or in Thompson town records. 

12 children, but who died when?

A publication from 1882 says that Job & Sarah had 12 children (8 boys and 4 girls), "...all of whom arrived at maturity, and six of whom are now living"  [6].  Another, from 1886, also says there were 12 children and 5 were living at that time [5] .  Unfortunately, neither names the children.  A grandson, Luther, is discussed and I am thinking he may have been the informant.

I have 12 children (split 8 & 4), but  I only have death dates for 9.  I can account for 6 dying before 1880 and 3 died in 1889.  That leaves the deaths of John, Hosea, and Elnathan unknown to me.  It does, however, seem to say that the three of them were alive in 1882 and one of them died before 1886.  That's the kind of unknown data that bothers me, even though it wouldn't really add anything to my direct line.

The PLAN

• Go through the Vermont State index cards on microfilm for full details on all the children, especially their birthplaces and being on the look out for 'new' children.  Perhaps I can determine the five who were living in 1885.  Also, look again for Job and Sarah.
• While I'm solid on land records for Job in Chittenden County, I should review/find all probate info for both Job and Sarah in Chittenden County and perhaps in other counties where he might have owned or inherited property.
• Try the Connecticut state index as mentioned at the SCGS Jamboree in June 2010 by Christopher Child in his presentation on Connecticut resources.  As I remember it, he said it is perhaps more complete and easier to use than the Barbour collection books.  (I have specific notes about that source somewhere in the ToFile Pile.)
• Review  my notes for the town records for Essex and Westford in Chittenden County, Vermont.  Perhaps I missed some or perhaps I should just plain go back and do them again?!
• Find probates for sons Clark in Michigan and Welcome in Vermont since they might refer to siblings.
• Review everything I have on Sarah's parents so that I can make a plan to find her birthdate and birth place.

Conclusions

Review is good and I'm glad I'm doing this formally at least once a month.  Writing it out formally this time led to my cleaning up about six little problems I didn't even list above!

Given all that I have on Job and having such things as dates, location, siblings, and land records, I'm fairly confident he is indeed the son of Simeon.  It's just all the Connecticut birthplace stuff that makes me hesitate.  On the other hand, I have good evidence for Massachusetts and while the Connecticut sources are numerous, they are probably not independent of each other.

SOURCES

[1] Vermont General Index to Vital Records, 1871-1908, FHL #540,106; Abigail (Bates) Johnson's card: Abigail (Bates) Johnson, born Connecticut, age 94y 6 (or 8)m 3d; died 11 Mar 1889 of lung fever, recorded in Colchester; widow; father Job, mother Sallie Martin

[2] Hamilton Child, Gazetteer and Business Directory of Chittenden County, Vermont for 1882-1883  (Syracuse, New York: Journal Office, August, 1882), available at Heritage Quest Online; p. 190: "Thomas Porter, son of Ashbel Porter, born September 17, 1773, came to Colchester from Grand Isle, Vt., in 1806, and bought the Amos farm, then owned by Moses Catlin.  Mr. Amos built the house now standing on the place.  January 24, 1813, he married Abigail, daughter of Job Bates."

[3] The 1770 date is calculated from her entry in the 1850 census for Westford, Chittenden, Vermont at age 80 and born Connecticut.  Her surviving children all gave their mother's birthplace as Connecticut in the 1880 census.  The 1763 date is calculated from her headstone's death date of 19 August 1851 at age 88 years.  See Findagrave for a photo.

[4] Massachusetts, Attleboro: Vital Records, 1694-1900, FHL # 1,987,017; Item 1, p. 26.  However, in the 1850 census of Westford, Chittenden, Vermont, my Job is 80, which would yield a birth year of about 1770, and born in Connecticut.  Also, his Essex Common Burial Ground headstone inscription of 4 February 1863 at age 93y 2m 13 d leads to a calculated birthdate of about 21 November 1769.  See Findagrave for photos.  

[5] History of Chittenden County, Vermont. Syracuse: D. Mason & Co., 1886; p. 698. Available at Heritage Quest. 

[6] Hamilton Child (comp.), Gazetteer and Business Directory of Chittenden County, Vermont for 1882-83.  Syracuse: Journal Office, 1882; p. 256.

First Friday Folder: Simeon Bates & Abigail Bates

I see all the neat blogging ideas for days of the week, such as Wordless Wednesday or Surname Saturday, and they do inspire me, but I think I'm just not that kind of genealogy blogger.  However, I have been thinking about doing something alliterative maybe once a month that would directly support enhancing my research.  My new idea is for the first Friday of the month: take one family folder from my file drawers and spend some time with it.

My plan is to go through it and look at:

Clean-up:  Are there any duplicates or other papers I can remove? (I always feel good when I can make a folder smaller!)  Is there anything that even shouldn't be in this folder in the first place?!

Organization:  Is everything in the right grouping: for instance, are all the census documents together and in order?  Are the family group sheets for the children who aren't my direct line together?  Have all the documents and other sources been entered in my database?  Do I need to print any new family group sheets?

Problems:  Are there any glaring problems with this family and have I clearly written my concerns?  If it is a time period with censuses available, is there a census summary grid and is it up to date?  Where do I stand in having appropriate sources and are they recorded?

Plans:  What do I do next?  What do I need to do so I can do the next thing?

Simeon Bates and his wife, Abigail Bates

So, today I began with 5th great-grandparents Simeon BATES (21 Mar 1737/1738 - 1828) and Abigail BATES (3 Oct 1733 --  ), who were themselves first cousins as both were grandchildren of Joshua BATES and Rachel TOWER.

This folder had some duplicates in it that I could discard and 2 pages misfiled.  I had not entered my source for their children's baptisms & communion. There were several worksheets that could be better grouped for easier review. The family group sheet printout was 2 years old, so it was really good I had discarded some unnecessary duplicates or else cleaning out the folder could have actually increased it!

I ran the names through the databases at New England Historic  Genealogical Society (NEHGS) to look for new additions, printed a couple of pages, and updated my database.  The big problem with this couple is that "Simeon Bates" is NOT a rare name in that time period/locality.  There are numerous, sourceless genealogies online that have Simeon with two wives: Abigail Bates and Martha Swift.  I'm very confident that my Simeon did NOT marry Martha Swift.  The Bates/Swift couple is clearly having children at the same time that my Bates/Bates couple is and in different towns.  And, neither of them is the Simeon Bates of lighthouse fame!

I need to review Attleborough, Bristol, Massachusetts history and types of available records, especially probate to see what I can find.  I need to track Abigail.  I must track their children more thoroughly: I only have anything past births for 2 of the 6.

Conclusions
I think it's a good idea to go back and look at folders every so often, if only to be something different from current, long standing projects.  It's a nice, little break!

I knew that I wouldn't reach any great resolution with this folder, but it's certainly in better shape now than it was!  And, I think I am more likely to get somewhere with it when I do go back to it. 

Great New Resource: DAR Genealogical Research System

I'm a regular reader of Randy Seaver's Genea-Musings blog. His entries are frequently so good that I can tell I need to set one aside and come back when I can really get into it. Tonight I finally sat down to read his 20 November blog on how to use the DAR Genealogical Research System at the DAR website.

I won't use my time or space here needlessly repeat Mr. Seaver's info. I will say that I had a lot of fun putting in some of my PORTER-line ancestors and seeing what I got!

Dan DAVISON/DAVIDSON, Moses BATES, and Ichabod MARSHALL were all there! It doesn't look like there's any much new info for me, but I printed it out and will study it.

In addition to service info, there is info on which of their descendent lines have been used for DAR membership purposes. While the online info is NOT proof of lineage, it does give info that could facilitate finding primary sources. Be prepared to spend lots of fun time at this site!