American Civil War Research Database

Posted on December 24, 2010 by

Last night on my way from NYC to Maine I stopped in to see my parents. My father told me about a great site to assist in Civil War research. The annual membership fee at the time of this post is $25. He showed me some of the information that is available on the site and it is well worth the $25. Together we looked up some folks in a branch of our family that I am researching. We were able to see a listing of military activities by date for each individual. We also were able to quickly see information about the regiment. Pretty cool stuff.

Here is the address: http://civilwardata.com/

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New this week Maine records on Ancestry.com

Posted on December 19, 2010 by

Well this is good news.

 

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Bookshelf and Sketches

Posted on December 19, 2010 by

Today I created two new pages on my blog.

First, I created a bookshelf page to list the sources that I am using to trace my downeast ancestry. I will update it as I go along.

Second, I added a page for sketches. I think it will be the best was for me to share my work with others. As I find new information, I will go back and update the sketches. Each sketch is will be stored as a PDF on the blog.

My first sketch has been posted. It is for my 5th Great Grandfather, Israel Foss. Link

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Family Tree Maker 2010 for the Mac Issue

Posted on December 12, 2010 by

Today as I was documenting another branch of my Foss family tree and I hit a snag in Family Tree Maker 2010 for the Mac. The issue seems to manifest itself when I attach two people that already exist in my Family Tree Maker file.

Issue: Israel Foss and Dorcas Foss are siblings. They are both children of Benjamin Foss and Sarah Mitchell. One of Israel’s daughters, Caroline, married Jonathan Clark. As always, I wanted to document his parents for my file. I found that his parents were Edward Clark and Dorcas Foss. I entered Edward Clark manually as the father of Jonathan Clark and then used the “Attach Mother” menu item to attach Dorcas Foss as the mother of Jonathan. Unfortunately, the relationship does not show in the 4-generation chart.

In the screenshot in the chart above you can see Dorcas Foss does not show her mother and father, but it shows the parents correctly for Israel Foss.

In the next screenshot you can see Israel as the sibling to Dorcas. Also, Benjamin & Sarah are shown as the parents. However, in the small chart above the relationships, note that her parents are not shown in the chart.

I checked to see if there was a software update available and there was not one available at this time.

Has anyone else seen this issue?

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Narrative for Israel Foss b c1772-1773

Posted on December 5, 2010 by

Today I began putting a narrative together for Israel Foss. I like to use the format from the series “Maine Families in 1790″. I like being able to read the sources as I read the narrative.  Unfortunately, it doesn’t look as nice on wordpress as it does in MS Word.

Israel and Betsey had 13 children. I think that documenting them in this narrative will be my focus for the next several weeks. For this week I have only added their first child, Charles. I am a descendant of Charles and Sarah (Davis) Foss.

Foss, Israel

Israel Foss, b at Machias ME, c 1772-1773 son of Benjamin and Sarah (Mitchell) Foss of Scarborough ME and Machias ME. (ae 77y in 1850 USC, Machias; his parents’ marriage in Scarborough on 7 Nov 1762 recorded in Maine Historical and Genealogical Recorder Volume 4 p. 32): d Machias 29 May 1857 and  buried at the Court Street Cemetery, Machias (MOCA, Special Publication No. 14, p. 568): m Machias Betsey Conners (Original Records of Maine Towns and Cities: The Town of Machias, hereafter Machias OR, p. 19, page torn no date) she b Machias 04 May 1787 dau of Patrick & Sarah (-) Conners (Machias OR, p. 57)

Children, b Machias: births in Machias OR, p. 117

i.  Charles, b 13 Dec 1805: m (1) 11 Apr 1827 Mary C Bowers (Machias OR, p. 57), b 11 Jan 1806 dau of Samuel & Mary (Cheney) Bowers (Machias OR, p. 64), d 20 May 1830 (Machias OR, p. 117). He m (2) Sara Davis (George W. Drisko, Narrative of the town of Machias [1904], hereafter Drisko’s Machias, p. 426), b 4 Nov 1809 dau of Samuel & Lois (-) Davis (Recorded as Sally in Machias OR, p. 69).

Here is a list of items that I need to find information and sources on for this narrative:

  1. Source for last name of Betsey Conner’s mother Sarah
  2. Birth, Marriage, and Death dates and sources for Patrick & Sarah (-) Conners
  3. Marriage date and source for Israel Foss and Betsey Conners
  4. Death date and source for Betsey (Conners) Foss
  5. Marriage date and source for Charles Foss and Sarah Davis
  6. Death dates and sources for Charles and Sarah (Davis) Foss
  7. Source for last name of Sarah Davis’s mother Lois
  8. Birth, Marriage, and Death dates and sources for Samuel & Lois (-) Davis

created: 05 Dec 2010

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Patrick and Sarah Conners of Machias, Me – Where did they come from?

Posted on November 28, 2010 by

After determining the approximate birth date for Betsey (Conners) Foss from the census, I went to the back to the Original Records of Maine Towns and Cities: The Town of Machias to find Betsey Conners birth and parents. After researching the census, her birth is estimated to be between July 16, 1786 and Jul 15, 1787. I was quickly able to locate what I needed to determine her birth date and parents.

On page 57 of the PDF I found the following:

Betsey Conners May 4 1787 Patrick & Sarah Conners
John Conners July 22 1789
Peggy Conners Aug 24 1791 Sept 24 1791
James Conners April 12 1793
Jerome Conners April 18 1795

After finding that I went back to the other Conners entry on page 55.

Holy Conners March 5 1785 Patrick & Sarah Conners

Interestingly, in both historical books that I have from Machias Betsey’s last name is written as Connors. Patrick Connors is also mentioned in the tax payers list. However, in the Machias VR the last name is spelled Conners. Which is right? Well what I did to determine the right spelling of the last name was to look at the grave records found in the Maine Old Cemetery Association for Washington County. I found two of Betsey’s brothers records. Both of the stones have the last named spelled as Conners.

Machias Cemetery, Court Street, Machias, Maine, Washington County

Page 573: Conners, John died 12-15-1855, Ae 66 Yrs.
Betsey, wf. died 3-4-1870, Ae 69 Yrs. 10 Months

Page 587: Conners, James F d. Sept. 8, 1865 Ae 72 yrs 5 mos.

I have not found the marriage record for Patrick and Sarah Conners. I was not able to find Sarah’s last name. Furthermore, I am unsure where they came from. This mystery will have to stay on the back burner for a little while.

_________________________

Original Records of Maine Towns and Cities: The Town of Machias [PDF]. (2005). Rockport, Maine: Picton Press.

Machias Cemetery, Court Street, Machias, Maine, Washington County. (2006). In WASHINGTON COUNTY, Maine Cemetery Inscriptions of. Maine Old Cemetery Association Special Publication No. 14 [PDF]. (pp. 564-608).

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Birth date for Israel Foss based on the US Census

Posted on November 22, 2010 by

I was not able to find a recorded birth for Benjamin & Sarah (Mitchell) Foss’s son, Israel Foss, in the Original Records of Maine Towns and Cities: The Town of Machias. Because of this I need to use alternate sources. Today I am checking out the Machias census records on ancestry.com to see if I can find new leads.

1810 U.S. Census: Maine, Washington County, Machias

By 1810 Israel had three children. However, one of them had passed away in 1808.  This left two adults and two children in the household at the time of enumeration. After reviewing the household composition in the census I can then build out a comparison table to the known birth records. This is very helpful when working in a census in a city that has a lot of households with the same names.

Males

1 – Under 10  (Charles)

1 – 26-44 (Israel)

 

 Females

1- Under 10 (Betsey)

1- 16-25 (Betsey)

 
  Birth Death Approx. Age at

Enumeration
Israel     26-44
Betsey     16-25
Charles 14 Dec 1805   5
Sarah 1 Mar 1807 29 Nov 1808 Passed Away
Betsey 13 Mar 1809   1

1820 U.S. Census: Maine, Washington County, Machias

The total number in the household in 1820 is 9. This is made up of 2 parents and 7 children. Census enumeration and comparison chart is below.

Males

2 – Under 10 (James, John)

1 – 10-15  (Charles)

1 – 45 and Over (Israel)

 Females

4- Under 10 (Sarah, Lucy, Mary, Betsey)

1- 26-44 (Betsy)
  Birth Death Approx. Age at

Enumeration
Israel     45 +
Betsey     26-44
Charles 14 Dec 1805   15
Sarah 01 Mar 1807 29 Nov  1808 Passed Away
Betsey 13 Mar 1809   11
Mary 01 Jan 1812   8
Lucy 02 Mar 1814 02 Sep 1825 6
James 25 Aug 1815   5
John 25 Jul 1817 24 Jun 1833 3
Sarah 19 Sep 1819    

1830 U.S. Census: Maine, Washington County, Machias

By 1830 Israel had 12 children.  Two of them had passed away by 1830. Furthermore, both Charles and Betsey, the two oldest children, should no longer living in Israel’s household.  This would make the composition be the two parents and eight children.

Males

1 – Under 5 (Lucius)

1 – 5-9 (Albert)

2 – 10-14  (James, John)

1 – 50-59 (Israel)

 Females

1 – Under 5 (Lucy)

2 – 5-9 (Caroline, Sarah)

1 – 15-19  (Mary)

1 – 40-49 (Betsey)
  Birth Death Approx. Age at

Enumeration
Israel     50-59
Betsey     40-49
Charles 14 Dec 1805   25
Sarah 01 Mar 1807 29 Nov  1808 Passed Away
Betsey 13 Mar 1809   21
Mary 01 Jan 1812   18
Lucy 02 Mar 1814 02 Sep 1825 Passed Away
James 25 Aug 1815   15
John 25 Jul 1817 24 Jun 1833 13
Sarah 19 Sep 1819   11
Caroline 07 Sep 1822   8
Albert 10 Jul 1824   6
Lucy 11 Jul 1826   4
Lucius 25 Jul 1829   1

1840 U.S. Census: Maine, Washington County, Machias

By 1840 Israel had 13 children.  3 of them had passed away by 1840 (Sarah, Lucy, and John). 6 had moved out (Charles, Betsey, Mary, James, Sarah, and Caroline). 4 remained in the household (Albert, Lucy, Lucius, and Henry).

Males

1 – 5-9 (Henry)

1 – 10-14 (Lucius)

1 – 15-19 (Lucy)

1 – 60-69 (Israel)

 Females

1 – 10-14 (Lucy)

1 – 50-59 (Betsey)
  Birth Death Approx. Age at

Enumeration
Israel     60-69
Betsey     50-59
Charles 14 Dec 1805   35
Sarah 01 Mar 1807 29 Nov  1808 Passed Away
Betsey 13 Mar 1809   31
Mary 01 Jan 1812   28
Lucy 02 Mar 1814 02 Sep 1825 Passed Away
James 25 Aug 1815   25
John 25 Jul 1817 24 Jun 1833 Passed Away
Sarah 19 Sep 1819   21
Caroline 07 Sep 1822   18
Albert 10 Jul 1824   16
Lucy 11 Jul 1826   14
Lucius 25 Jul 1829   11
Henry 23 Apr 1831   9

1850 U.S. Census: Maine, Washington County, Machias

In 1850 the Census began enumerating all members of the household and detailed each persons age. In addition to the complete enumeration of the entire family, they also started clearly labeling the day when the enumeration took place.

Israel is listed at 77 years old and the date of enumeration was on July 16, 1850.  This would put his birth between July 16, 1772 and Jul 15, 1773.

Betsey is listed at 63 years old.  This would put her birth between July 16, 1786 and Jul 15, 1787.

Dwelling
 Families Name Age Sex Profession Value

Of

Real Estate Owned

 Place

Of

Birth
13 16 Israel Foss 77 m Laborer   Maine
    Betsey  “ 63 f     “
    Henry   “ 19 m     “

The last thing for me to do is line up the age of Israel and Betsey with the 1810 to 1840 Censuses. I like to verify that the ages match the range.

  1810 1820 1830 1840
Israel 26-44 37 45-over 47 50-59 57 60-69 67
Betsey 16-25 23 26-44 33 40-49 43 50-59 53

Based on the evidence above I think I can conclusively state that Israel was born between July 16, 1772 and Jul 15, 1773.

Next steps for me is to go back through the Town Records to see if I can find a Betsey or Elizabeth Connors that was born between Jul 1786 and Jul 1787.

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