Two weeks ago, I visited Clinton County, Pennsylvania with three of my dad’s first cousins. We spent some time at the Ross Library in Lock Haven briefly researching our Stewart, Merrill, McClintock/McClintick, and Close families. Entering Ross Library, Lock Haven, Clinton Co, PA Ross Library has a wonderful card catalog. Each card indexes a specific person and record. The records I saw included the Clinton County marriage license docket 1894-1897, the library’s “local history/memorabilia” albums and photograph collection, and various newspapers including: the Clinton County Times, the Clinton Republican, the Clinton Democrat, and the Lock Haven Express. I believe the library...
Before heading to Clinton County, Pennsylvania for a quick research trip two weeks ago, some cousins and I hired a researcher to pull some court files regarding our Stewart family. Upon our arrival, we drove to her house, paid her for her work, and received over 200 pages of copies. How exciting! I doubt I will ever go “paperless” as I love being able to spread papers out and work on them side by side and rearrange them. However, I also need to have digital copies of these documents both for my own research and to share with my cousins....
Yesterday, I drove to Clinton County, Pennsylvania with three of my dad’s first cousins. One of them, Tom, I had met last year. But, his two sisters, Sally and Ellen, I had just met. We spent part of the day at the Ross Library in Lock Haven, and also ‘toured’ three cemeteries looking for our ancestors headstones. Robert & Frances (Quigley) Stewart’s headstones at Dunnstown Cemetery in Clinton Co, PA While I’d seen a photo of the headstone for my 4th great grandparents, Robert and Frances (Quigley) Stewart, I was surprised at the size of it! Laid to rest in...
My 6x great grandparents, Cornelius and Phebe (Ward) Vincent, both fought for freedom during the Revolutionary War. Over 100 years ago, a newspaper journalist visited the cemetery where they had been buried more than 100 years earlier. He wrote a wonderful description of the cemetery, and happened to include the inscription of my ancestor’s headstone! Image of tombstone of Cornelius and Phebe Vincent taken by Jeff Harvey and posted 21 Nov 2012 This headstone is now more than 200 years old and is mostly unreadable. I appreciate Jeff Harvey, a volunteer at Find A Grave, for posting this photo and...
The 1910 census lists Elizabeth C Merrill, wife of Norman B Merrill, as a mother of 6 with 4 still living. I’m sure we all have families like this on our trees. We’d love to tell the stories of these “missing” children who both were born and died between census years. But, how can we locate them? One solution? Newspapers. What a wonderful source! And, it was newspapers that helped me locate the two “missing” children of Elizabeth and Norman B Merrill. The first newspaper article I found was dated November 25, 1902. It simply stated: The infant child of...
My Vincent ancestors moved from Essex County, New Jersey to Northumberland County, Pennsylvania in the mid to late 1700s. During the Revolutionary War, they were at Fort Freeland when it was attacked by the British and their Indian allies in 1779. The women, children, and elderly men were set free, but the able-bodied men were marched to Canada as prisoners. In 1876, The Columbian published a series of articles titled “History of Columbia County.” The fourth part of this series was published on January 28th and told about the capture of Fort Freeland. Part of the article tells about Bethuel Vincent:...
While trying to piece together the Correy family puzzle, I came across a book titled Reports of Cases Decided by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania Which have Been Omitted from the Regular Reports, Volume 3 by Lewis B. Walker, Esq. A chapter titled “Boyd’s Appeal” deals with the will of a George Correy. Robert Correy, William K Correy and Mary (Correy) Boyd are the three other names mentioned and I’ve come across them already as I’ve been researching the Correy’s. George Correy’s will, dated June 13, 1781, made his wishes about a certain piece of property known as follows: “I leave...
My newly discovered Correy family of Chester County and nearby Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is potentially the most interesting branch I’ve yet uncovered. I’m anxious to share these incredible stories. But, first I have to prove that all of these “Correy’s” are my family! I have a huge job ahead! Thankfully, there are lots of documents. I’ve found more than a dozen wills, over 50 other documents, and at least 50 names. But I’m struggling to put these family members together. And, it is quite possible that all of these individuals do NOT belong to the same family: my family! So, until...
John Vincent, a veteran of the War of 1812, was declared by the Court to be a “habitual drunkard” in 1840. He was about 48 years old and, according to the 1840 census, had 8 children living at home including four under the age of 10. His wife, Maria, must have had a tough time with so many children and a husband who was often drunk. John’s father-in-law, David Watson, was appointed trustee of John’s property which was worth about $25,000 with debts of $5,000. By 1843, however, John Vincent was thankfully better and he regained possession of his property....
Sarah Jane (Watson) Stewart, was only 27 years old when she died in 1853. She’d been married to John Q Stewart for a little over four years and given birth to two sons. Her oldest, George, would’ve been 3 years old, but it is possible he preceded his mother in death. The youngest, Alexander, was only 22 months old. Sarah Jane’s mother, Betsy, had died 7 years earlier while Sarah Jane was probably still living at home. Betsy was buried alongside other family members at Warrior Run Church Cemetery in Delaware Run, Pennsylvania. Five years later, Sarah Jane’s older brother,...
