Wednesday, December 18, 2013

From Cape Cod MA to Southeast NY...Moody Howes

MOODY HOWES was born 18 Jul 1724 in Dennis, Barnstable Co, MA, and died 09 Apr 1806 in Southeast, Putnam Co, NY. He married (1) HANNAH SNOW 09 Feb 1747/48. She was born 04 May 1727 in Harwich, Barnstable Co, MA, and died 10 Jul 1758 in Southeast, Putnam Co, NY. He married (2) SARAH ELLIS 21 Apr 1759 in Southeast, Putnam Co, NY, daughter of JACOB ELLIS and ELIZABETH FOSTER. She was born 15 Apr 1730 in Harwich, Barnstable Co,MA, and died 19 Jan 1815 in Southeast, Putnam Co, NY.

Notes for MOODY HOWES:
Rev. War, Served as a Private, 7th Regiment, Dutchess Co. Militia under Major Adams

Children of MOODY HOWES and HANNAH SNOW are:
i. HANNAH HOWES, b. 04 Jan 1749/50; d. 09 Mar 1839; m. THOMAS JONES, 18 Jun 1768;
ii. MOODY HOWES, JR, b. 20 Oct 1751;
iii. JOHN HOWES, b. 22 Nov 1753;
iv. THOMAS HOWES, b. 04 Dec 1756; .

Children of MOODY HOWES and SARAH ELLIS are:
v. SETH HOWES, b. 21 Jun 1760;
vi. JOB HOWES, b. 09 Nov 1761;
vii. DANIEL HOWES, b. 13 Apr 1763, Southeast, Putnam Co, NY; d. 04 Feb 1824, Southeast, Putnam Co, NY.
viii. SARAH HOWES, b. 06 Feb 1765; m. WILLIAM CASE, 11 Dec 1788; .
ix. RUEBEN HOWES, b. 06 Dec 1766;
x. SAMUEL HOWES, b. 09 Dec 1768;
xi. DEBORAH HOWES, b. 04 Nov 1770; m. JOHN HAUBARD, 11 Apr 1796;
xii. EDMUND ALANZO HOWES, b. 04 Aug 1772; .
xiii. ELIZABETH HOWES, b. 04 Nov 1774; m. UNKNOWN REED, 08 Mar 1795;

Generation No. 2

DANIEL HOWES was born 13 Apr 1763 in Southeast, Putnam Co, NY, and died 04 Feb 1824 in Southeast, Putnam Co, NY. He married RUHAMA REED 28 Jun 1791, daughter of JACOB REED and RHUHAMAH BENEDICT. She was born 12 Jan 1773 in Norwalk, Fairfield Co, CT, and died 19 Mar 1864 in Southeast, Putnam Co, NY.

Children of DANIEL HOWES and RUHAMA REED are:
i. SUSANNAH7 HOWES, b. 1791; d. 1856; m. STEPHEN SMITH, 1807;
ii. FANNY HOWES, b. 25 Jan 1792; d. 30 Apr 1876; m. UNKNOWN FERGUSON, 16 Mar 1811;
iii. MALCHUS REED HOWES, b. 07 Aug 1793;

Notes for MALCHUS REED HOWES:
HOWES MALCHUS R 3 REGIMENT U.S. VOLUNTEERS. SERGEANT war of 1812

iv. NATHAN ALVA HOWES, b. 22 Apr 1796, Southeast, Putnam Co, NY; d. 29 Jun 1878, Southeast, Putnam Co, NY.
v. PHEBE HOWES, b. 09 Dec 1798; m. UNKNOWN HOYT, 02 Apr 1815;
vi. VILETTE HOWES, b. 19 Jan 1801; d. 27 Apr 1825; m. FREDERICK T BIRCH, 05 Jan 1818;
vii. ADELIA HOWES, b. 18 May 1803; d. 24 Jul 1880; m. WILLIAM HARVEY RIDER, 28 Mar 1826;
viii. DANIEL MORGAN HOWES, b. 26 Mar 1805; d. 04 Dec 1830.
ix. JACOB ORSON HOWES, b. 08 Mar 1807, Southeast, Putnam Co, NY; d. 07 May 1876, Southeast, Putnam Co, NY.
x. ESTHER HOWES, b. 17 Jan 1809; d. 14 Mar 1890; m. CHARLES RIDER, 31 May 1831;
xi. LAVINIA HOWES, b. 23 Oct 1810; d. 23 Sep 1831; m. SETH S CROSBY, 19 Dec 1827;
xii. REUBEN WING HOWES, b. 20 Oct 1813, Southeast, Putnam Co, NY; d. 29 Sep 1897, Yonkers, Westchester Co, NY.
xiii. SETH BENEDICT HOWES, b. 15 Aug 1815; d. 16 May 1901, Brewster, Putnam Co, NY.
xiv. PHINEAS HOWES, b. 25 Sep 1817, Southeast, Putnam Co, NY; d. 11 Oct 1894, Rockford,Winnebago Co, IL.

Sources on this family include:

Map of Southeast Centre 1867
Marriage, Birth and Death Records
Obituaries and Tombstones
Censuses – 1830 – 1930
Abstracted Will
Early Settlers of NY State
Gravestones of Putnam County by Barbara Smith Buys
NEHGS  July 1965 – Oct 1965
Carmel Newspapers, Putnam Co, NY 1849-1873 Indexed By Glen Wheeler
Westchester County Graveyards by Evelyn Briggs Baldwin
Family Bible Records
DAR applications

Monday, October 14, 2013

Charles S Beattys

Charles Beattys was my great great great grandfather.

 It was the 15th of December in 1832 in Connecticut. Gustave Eiffel, the architect of the Eiffel tower was born on that day. Andrew Jackson had just been re-elected President. And Charles is the third child to be born to Daniel Beattys, a stagecoach driver and his wife Caroline Hubbell in Danbury, CT.

 Daniel Sturges Beattys and Caroline had a son Daniel Silliman Beattys born in 1828 who only lived a few days. His second son, George Frederick Beattys was born in 1830. George Died in September 1832, and Charles Sturges Beattys was born not long after in Dec of 1832. He was followed by a brother George Hubbell Beattys in October of 1834. Frederick Lacy Beattys was born in April 1839, followed by the only girl in the family, Caroline Amelia Beattys in February in 1841.

 In 1850 the Family is living in Danbury Connecticut. The land they live on is valued at $3,000. Charles' father drove the stage coach from Danbury Ct, to a village named Brewster in the town of Southeast in Putnam county, NY. Charles seems to be hiding from the 1860 census taker. I'm not sure if he's in Connecticut or New York at this point. It seems he and Georgiana Howes married in between 1860-1861.

Charles and Georgiana had two known children - A son, who lived for three years. I've been told his name was Charles Beatys... but in the Milltown Cemetery in Southeast, New York, there's a stone for Daniel H (Howes?) Beattys who died Jan 1866 at three years old. The other child Georgiana and Charles Beattys had was Helen Amelia Beattys, Born September 2, 1861 in Dykeman's station in Putnam County NY.

Charles S Beattys Joined the Union army on Sept 8 1862 in Norwalk, CT. He joined the 27th Connecticut Regiment of Volunteer Infantry. They mustered out on October 4 1862. This group saw action in the Battle of Fredericksburg, on December 13, 1862. Charles was promoted to full Sargent on April 16 1863. He was active at the Battle of Chancellorsville, From April 30th through May 6th 1863. His record states he was wounded and captured on May 3rd at Chancellorsville. He was paroled May 14th 1863. I don't know if he was with his unit at Battle of Gettysburg, on July 1, 2 and 3, 1863. He mustered out July 27 1863 with a Honorable discharge.

After the War, Charles became an Advance Man for the Amburgh Menagerie and Circus. He was with Seth Crosby on work related duties when he died on the 21st of October in 1866. 5 years later, his wife Georgianna remarried Oliver Gay, another Civil War veteran. In 1877 Helen's daughter would marry Junia Dykeman and they would go on to be my great great grandparents.

While I know a fair bit about Charles I know very little of his father Daniel Beattys and nothing of his grandparents. Please email me if you know more about their story.

Sunday, September 1, 2013

The Unexpected Ancestor – A Hessian Soldier

I have found lots of Revolutionary Soldiers in my family tree. They’ve fought for NY, and fought for Ct, and fought for NJ and fought for MA – but I never expected to find one that fought for both sides. However, with the help of a cousin in California (Peter Fagan) I have discovered a new ancestor – a Hessian Soldier that also fought for CT.

I’ve been stuck on my Osborn line for a long time. The furthest back I could get was John Osborn who died March 4th 1848 and His wife Elizabeth _____ who died March 27th 1847. Getting that far back took help from a cousin in NY (Don Osborne) and some research as well. John and Elizabeth are buried in the Pierce Buring Ground, west of Pawling, NY. However I could find no clue as to the father of John nor any information on Elizabeth’s family.

After talking with Pete, I know now Elizabeth’s last name is Rhinevault. Her father William Rhinevault fought in the Revolutionary War. He filed for a pension after the war and I have obtained part of the pension file. This gives me all kinds of information including a family record of births, marriages and deaths for John Osborn’s family.

William Rhinevault states in his pension he was a Hessian soldier in Burgoyne’s army and was captured at Saratoga. This group of about 5,900 soldiers were supposed to be shipped back to Britain, but the colonists realized sending them back would make it possible for the British to send new troops in return. As a result, this group of soldiers were kept prisoner here for the duration of the war and came to be known as the ‘Convention Army’.

The Convention Army was marched through Massachusetts to Boston, and then through Ct, NY, PA, and other points south on their way to Virginia. The pension file does not say if William Rhinevault was one of many soldiers to disappear into the local population along the way, or if he was one of the ones offered his freedom if he fought with the colonists. He came to enlist one way or another in CT in the spring of 1780 as a private in Capt. Ten Eyck’s company, Colonel Webb’s CT Regiment, and after about a year, was transferred to Capt. Timothy Taylor’s company in Colonel Heman Swift’s CT Regiment, and there served until the spring of 1783.

Further Research into other records reveals William Rhinevault is most probably Wilhelm Reinwald, a soldier of the Brunswick troops, Regiment van Rhetz, Company van Ehrenkrook, born at Frankfurt/Main, age 19 years, 6 month (this record most likely recorded sometime in middle of 1779, which would make his year of birth appr. 1760) Religion: Evangelical, was at that time single, size 5' 2 3/4", He deserted on 24. July 1778 from the Winter Hill Barracks near Boston. This information seems to indicate he was from the Hesse-Hanua area which is where the description “Hessians” come from.

William Rhinevault married Mary Spencer, April 11, 1782 in Fredericks, Dutchess County, NY. This location is now known as Patterson, Putnam County, NY. I have no further information on Mary Spencer’s family. She and William later settled in New Fairfield, Fairfield County, CT. William’s Daughter, Elizabeth (Betsey) married John Osborn Nov 21 1804, the same day as Susanna Rhinevault married Ebenezer Osborn according the Fairfield County Marriage records.

The Pension file names John and; Elizabeth’s children: Sally, Mary, Phebe, Benjamin, Northrup, Daniel, George W, John, Abby Jane, and William. It lists their death dates which match the tombstones in Pawling, and also says John is the son of Benjamin Osborne and Sally _____. Although it gives Sally’s birthday of 13 Dec 1765, it doesn’t give any clues as to her last name. So although I’ve gained some generations on this family I have some new mysteries to solve as well.

The Hessian Soldier is related to me this way:
William Rhinevault, father of
Elizabeth Rhinevault Osborn, mother of
George Washington Osborne, father of
James Paulding Osborn, father of
Isabel Osborn Ryea, my great-grandmother.

He is my Great, great, great, great, great-grandfather.

Sources:
Pension File for William Rhinevault
Abstracts of Rev. War Pension Files
Family Record collection of Don Osborne
Personal Records of Peter Fagan
Hessian Records of J. H. Mertz
A short history of the Slocums, Slocumbs and Slocombs of America by CE Slocum
Old gravestones of Dutchess County by JW Poucher

Friday, April 19, 2013

The Shot Heard Around the World

April 19th, two hundred and thirty eight years ago today, there was a confrontation on Lexington Green.

Paul Revere had been up all night riding the countryside letting communities know that the "Regulars are coming!" We were all British then, the Regulars were the soldiers, so he wouldn’t have said “the British were coming!” Paul had no guarantee he would succeed. People could have been arrested. Arms could have been confiscated. Ammunition could have been taken away. They had no right to gather together, no right to say whatever they wanted, no right to do as they pleased. Paul’s news was an alert, that the soldiers were coming and they could do whatever they wished in the name of the King.

As I think back to what that must have been like for the folks who lived in Massachusetts Colony, I can't help but wonder, how would I have felt? What was this like for my ancestors? What kind of upheaval did it mean to them? Where was my family? How did they hear the news? What did they do? Did they realize how big the effects would be of this small confrontation on the green? Were they there?

I know I had ancestors who served in the American War for Independence. But instead of looking after the fact, Is there any way to find out what brought them to that decision? To leave home, family, the farm, and actually engage in battle with the strongest army in the world at the time? What kind of belief they must have had in liberty to turn their back on the only system of law they had ever seen.

The people who decided 238 years ago that they had had enough, they took the chance that there was something else, something better out there then living under a king, a regime that had no regard for the citizens of the colonies. They choose the uncertainty and were willing to give it all up so that their children, grand children, great grandchildren and descendants would have a better life.

So when you hear about the small ragtag militia that stood their ground on the green that day, the small group of settlers that took on the British Army (their army!) and defied the government (their government!)- realize this isn't some vague group of people who knew what the outcome would be.

Be very aware that someone walked away from everything they knew, and threw it away so you could have a better life. And that act of defiance became clear on April 19th, 1775, the date most people think of as the start of the American Revolution.   Today.

Monday, March 11, 2013

William Nelson Dykman

William Nelson Dykman  was  born  October 11 1854 in Cold Spring, Putnam County, NY.  His Parents were Jackson O'Dell Dykman and Emily Lucille Trowbridge.

William was one of three children: his brother Henry Trowbridge Dykman was born in 1856 and his sister Elizabeth was born in 1859.

William went to West Point Academy starting on 1 Sept 1871 and graduated in 1875. He graduated a Second Lietenant in the 22nd Infantry, and served until October of 1876. One of his last posts was at Fort Porter, in Buffalo NY.  He is often listed in the Newspapers as Colonel William N Dykman, but that doesn't seem to be reflected in the military Records.

After William left the military he studied the law at Union University in NY and graduated in 1878.  The law firm (Cullen and Dykman) he had with Edgar Cullen  still exists today. William became a very well  known lawyer in Brooklyn, taking many high-profile cases. William also headed the NY BAR Association for a time.

William married Isabelle Annan in June of 1885, daughter to Edward Annan.  William and Belle had a son, Jackson Annan Dykman  on July 11 1887.  Jackson married Susan B Merrick on 3  Feb 1915 in New Orleans.

By 1897, William had applied for passports for himself, Belle, and Jackson so they could travel overseas.  They travel to Southampton, England and to France by boat many times over the next 25 years, despite the fact Belle's niece was on the Titanic when it went down.  William and Belle also were active in Horse club circles, attending shows and Polo games.

 "White Acre", a large estate in Glen Cove, NY was established as William and Belle's home around 1912, designed by Harrie T. Lindeberg of Lindeberg's Domestic Architecture. It still stands today at 1 Meadowspring Rd on Long Island.


William Dykman died July 20  in 1937, and his wife Belle died March 31 1941.





Sources include:
New York and Ohio Newspapers
Johannes Dyckman of Fort Orange, Vol 2
The Trowbridge Genealogy
West Point Military Records
Federal Census Records
NY & UK Passenger Lists
US Passport Applications
Union University Record
Cemetery Records