Joshua A Cornell 1849 - 1943

When you're big into Genealogy, you find yourself becoming very familiar with people in your family tree who died long before you were born. So although Joshua Cornell is actually my great-great grandfather I tend to refer to him as "Grandpa Josh"  because its just simplier.  My very tolerant family apparently has gotten used to this because they know exactly who I'm referring to. I've heard some Grandpa Josh stories over the years which I kept in  mind while looking at his genealogy.

Joshua A Cornell was born on June 30, 1849 to Jacob G Cornell and Mary McCord.  He joined at home two brothers, Aaron and Willett, and a sister Sarah. His brother Ezra was born three years later.  There's little known about his mother, Mary McCord, and speculation that she was Jacob's second wife. If so, Joshua was her first child. But thats a whole other story to tell some other time. Joshua's brother Aaron had a blacksmith shop, which was in the exact spot the new Croton Dam was built, which is why many refer to the dam as the Cornell Dam. The family farm and where Joshua was born is now under water, one of many homes flooded when the dam was completed.

Joshua was taught the trade of a wheelwright at first, according to his obituary. However he also is listed in the census throughout the years as a carriage maker, a blacksmith, and a carpenter with his own shop. Joshua married Alice Chase on Oct 22 1871.  Their son Ira J Cornell was born in May of 1874, Wright Benjamin Cornell in November of 1878. It was much later, in November of 1889, Lester Albert Cornell was born.

 Here they  are all together:  Lester being the younger one on the left, behind him is Wright, with Wright's wife Lizzie (Elizabeth Titus) besides Lester. Standing in the back is Grandpa Josh with his wife Alice on the right. Ira is in the right front with his wife Allie (Almira Fisher) just slightly behind and to the left of him. Date of photo unknown, but Wright married in 1903 and Ira died in 1905, which gives us a small window when this photo could have been taken. Lester would marry much later  - in 1923, to Florence Purdy.

One of the stories I've heard told about Grandpa Josh  was that he had a temper and sometimes he & Alice fought. Matter of fact, (they would say) he lived out in the garage for a time. The garage they referred to was once Grandpa Josh's shop. he bought it in 1885 and then began to build their house next to it. I thought this a funny story growing up.

Wright, Joshua and Ira

 Then, as I began to research the family tree an odd thing happened. I found Alice & Lester in the census, but not Grandpa Josh. He was alive, so why wasn't he there? Family reminded me he lived in the garage for a while... apparently not for a night or two, but for a year or more.  Sure enough, looking around the neighborhood in the census, there Grandpa Josh was, living by himself in the Garage.  It wasn't the last Census I found him listed living alone either. no one seems to know how long he lived out there, or if it was an on and off type of thing.









Grandpa Josh, along with his sons Lester and Wright were well known for their carpentry skills. Some of the buildings for Trinity-Pawling, a private boys school in Pawling, NY, were built by the three of them.  The family also hunted. In 1926, at 77, Joshua was mentioned in the paper for getting some squirrel and a pheasant.

Alice Chase Cornell died in July of 1939, after being ill for a few weeks.  Grandpa Josh however lived a long time. When he turned 91 his family threw him a big get-together to celebrate. Joshua was the last of his siblings to pass away, in 1943 at the age of 94.

Lois Albee and Joshua Cornell  April 8,1942 at Grandpa Josh's home

   

Silas Fowler Tompkins

1. SILAS FOWLER TOMPKINS, my great-great-grandfather was born on 24 Feb 1825. He died on 02 Apr 1913.

When he was 21, he married Martha Ann Horton, daughter of Elias Quereau Horton and Mary Lyon on 26 Nov 1846. Martha was born on 26 Dec 1829 in Yorktown, Westchester Co, NY. She died on 06 Sep 1897.

Silas built a desk, which my cousin now has. She refinished it and sent some pictures so I could see it, including the nameplate with Silas' name in his own writing. 

I also found a copy of the Civil War Draft registrations which included Silas F Tompkins. He was 38. I believe the other Tompkins listed on the same page are relatives, but I'm not sure how yet. I have not found any record of Silas actually serving in the civil war.

My great grand aunt, Ruth Townsend Purdy did a lot of research on our family over the years. I have some of her research books and notes.

She had a family bible that had the Tompkins family information in it. I've never actually seen the bible in person, as it was donated to a research place when she passed away.

A distant cousin had pictures of the pages in it as well Aunt Ruth's transcriptions.

  She shared that information with me, and here is the page that had Silas's birth and Death dates on it along with many others.

Silass Birth is listed  in the top left corner and his death in the lower right corner.

Silas Fowler Tompkins and Martha Ann Horton had the following children:

i. MARY ELIZA TOMPKINS was born on 18 Jul 1848 in Westchester Co, NY. She died on 04 Jul 1921 in Westchester Co, NY. She married Reuben R Bunyea on 20 Sep 1871. He was born on 22 Feb 1831. He died on 22 Jan 1929.

ii. SARA JANE TOMPKINS was born on 20 Jan 1851 in Westchester Co, NY. She died on 2 Sep 1852 in Yorktown, Westchester Co, NY.

iii. HENRIETTA TOMPKINS was born on 30 Sep 1853 in Westchester Co, NY. She died on 10 Mar 1906 in Westchester Co, NY. She married Benjamin P Sipp on 20 Mar 1883. He was born on 18 May 1855. He died on 02 Dec 1916.

iv. CORNELIA A. TOMPKINS was born on 21 Feb 1856 in Westchester Co, NY. She died on 19 Sep 1934 in Westchester Co, NY. She married Orlando Lent on 16 May 1876. He was born on 01 Jul 1840. He died on 17 May 1925.

v. GEORGE H TOMPKINS was born on 15 Dec 1858 in Westchester Co, NY. He died on 17 Mar 1886 in Westchester Co, NY.

vi. IDA MAE TOMPKINS was born on 19 Nov 1861 in Westchester Co, NY. She died on 20 Mar 1937 in Westchester Co, NY. She married Jacob Irving Purdy, son of Jacob G. Purdy and Esther S. Sarles on 09 Dec 1891 in Yorktown, Westchester Co, NY. He was born on 17 Jan 1849. He died on 06 Jun 1919 in Granite Springs, Somers, Westchester Co, NY.

vii. ULLYSSES G TOMPKINS was born on 15 Jul 1866 in Westchester Co, NY. He died on 5 Oct 1948. He married Florence Slaving, daughter of Henry Slaving and Catherine Purdy on 05 Jun 1892 in Croton Falls, Westchester Co, NY. She was born on 15 Jun 1875. She died after 1930.

Silas and Martha are buried in the Amawalk cemetery in Yorktown, Westchester county, NY.

Obadiah Chase

I have a couple of ancestors that descend from the first settlers of America. Obadiah Chase is a descendant of one of the passengers on the Mayflower, Stephen Hopkins.

The tree from Stephens Hopkins to Obadiah is:

Stephen's son Gyles Hopkins and wife Catherine Whelen

their son Stephen Hopkins and wife Mary Merrick

their daughter Mary Hopkins and husband John Maker

their daughter Thankful Maker and husband Isaac Chase
their son Obadiah Chase who was born 1743 in Boston, Massachusetts.

Obadiah was the second child of 9 sibilings. When he was about 22 he married Susannah Knapp.

Below you can see how he fits into the family tree.
Obadiah is not only a Mayflower descendant, but also served in the revolutionary war.

 He is listed in the Daughter's of the American Revolution's Patriot Index.  All of us who can document our family line back to him caan become a member of the DAR, or of the Sons of the American Revolution. He is buried in the Old Carmel Church in Putnam County, NY.  He has a couple of gravestones as well as being recognized on a group moument as one of the soldiers in the American War of Independance.

               

Help for Beginners

Some basic rules:

1)Start with yourself and go backwards generation by generation.

2)Find some way to keep track of your info. I use FamilyTreeMaker on the computer now, but started with a plain spiral notebook.

And here's one way to start the process:

First, ask questions of all living relatives. A good time for this is holiday gatherings, as one person might answer and another will add information. They might conflict, but take it all in. You never know when a clue will appear to the truth. Don't believe everything you hear. write it down and confirm it with a records or two.

See what kind of documents the immediate family has. You might see a gold mine appear before your eyes.

Go to the Town records, County Records, State records. Look in the indexs, remeber to find the sibilings of your main search, as they may als have info to help you. Sometimes sibilings will give you enough clues to find out more on your direct line. After the indexes, look at the actual records. Some records are missed when making an index. Some facts on the record are not in the index. Some records are not copied correctly in an index. Be open to the idea the name is spelled differently.

Make a timeline. Even if it is estimated dates, see if you can place your ancestor at specific times in specific places. This can give you clues on where to look next.

Go look at the census. Take the timeline and names of sibilings with you. Look in the census for family members. Don’t be taken in if the name is not spelled exactly right. Often they are misspelled. You may need to look in several neighboring towns to find the people you are looking for. the ages might be off by a yerar or two too.
Look in the land records. You now have family stories, vital records, your timeline, and census items to tell you where your ancestor was when. See if you can find a land record or city directory to tell you what they where doing where wnd when. Land records might describe people in terms of their family.

Look at wills. See if you can find patterns between land exchanges and when people died. Sometimes land is gifted from one genration to another. is this the case with your family? Who else is involved? How are they related?

Start asking new questions of family. Send out inquiries through the internet. Ask for information from others studying the same town/family. Read local histories…county and town. See if the town has a local library. Read the newpaper… do they have archived papers? Where? Can you get to them. Look for obits and wedding announcements.

Go to the cemeteries. Look for the plots. Who is buried around them? What church did they belong to? Are there GAR, DAR, mason, etc markers? What markers are there and what do they mean? Can you find the cemeteries records, which would tell you who paid for the plot… and the heirs if there are open spaces in the gravesite.
Keep a record of where you have looked… and for what.

Keep a record of what was found… and where

When you are stuck, start with the timeline… and look at the resources you’ve used.

Ask. Ask others where to go, what might be found, what do they think?

Good luck… and happy digging!