Quakers in New York

Nine Partners Meeting House

Who were the Quakers? The Quakers is officially the Religious Society of Friends, but were nicknamed Quakers because they said to “Quake insight of the Lord”. It is a Protestant denomination. There is, like all churches, a long list of beliefs if you really dig into it. Some of the basics are their belief in peace— they were the original Conscientious Objectors— and simplicity. In the early days, the women often wore more somber colors in their dress such as grey and deep plums and such. You would not see a Quaker woman with a lot of lace about her clothing or much jewelry either. In modern times they have gotten away from different styles of dress, but will often opt for simpler options and less jewelry about them. Another difference in the early days was their way of speaking. Grammar was different then and “you” was considered formal and spoken to your superiors. “Thee” and “Thou” were used with your equals. As they considered everybody equal, they used thee and thou in speech. Over time our speech changed, and this was dropped from their vocabulary as it was from everybody’s until now it is a quaint idea that nobody follows.

Where are there any today?
Your backyard! Even if you don’t live in this state, there are likely some around you, and you don’t realize it. They really aren’t any different from any other religion. Yes, Quakers believe in peace and simplicity, but so do a lot of other people. They aren’t a religion that tries to set themselves apart from others and keep themselves separate.

Here are the places that I’ve discovered relatives in New York State:

Long Island. This was probably the first settlement of Quakers in New York. They were there starting about the late 1600s or into the early 1700s. Their main meeting house and most of their population centered around the present-day city of Hempstead. From there, some of them went to New York City for work and moved into the city.

From Long Island, many Quakers migrated over to the Hudson River and north. Other large settlements were in Dutchess County and what is now Putnam County. Do you happen to remember the property dispute between Connecticut and New York late in the 17th century? Probably not, as I know in my classes, it was quickly glossed over if it was even mentioned. It produced a piece of land not quite 2 miles wide running the length of the Connecticut border, about 60 miles, called the Oblong. The Oblong Meeting House has a bit of history. The land was donated for its building, much like other denominations’ churches. During the 17th and 18th centuries, this was one of the most thriving Quaker communities in the country. During the Revolutionary War, the pacifist Quakers were called on for help. Their meeting house was used for sick and wounded soldiers of General Washington’s Army.

There were other meetings around the area, Nine Partners and Crum Elbow amongst them.

Some ancestors came from New England and settled north of Albany in the White Creek area of Washington County. Seth Chase, whom I wrote about not long ago, was a Quaker owning a tavern in that community. That family later migrated farther north to Peru in Clinton County. where another Quaker Community was.

From Dutchess County, some went to central New York and established meetings at Scipio and Union Springs in southern Cayuga County. That is as far west as I know my Quaker families to have gone. Some moved farther west, but they are not of my direct line. For many of them, subsequent generations left the religion and joined other Protestant denominations. My great-grandmother, Maria Titus was born a Quaker, but as far as I know she didn’t follow the religion as an adult and neither did her offspring.

One thing that stands out for me is that Maria Titus did not follow the Quaker faith, at least not too strictly. In her adulthood was an event that occurred upon her death. First, she and her husband, John Ward are buried near his family at Evergreen in Scipioville. Not a Quaker burial ground. Second, when the heirs split up some of her belongings, they put all kinds of teacups on a table and allowed each grandchild to choose one. The first choice went to the youngest grandchild who was 8 at the time. He told me that he was attracted to the gaudiest cup on the table and chose that one— a white cup with bright gold trim all over it in an abstract design!

Lodema Tobias Titus, my last direct Quaker

Titus House

The Titus House

Where did people stay when they traveled in the early United States? People were traveling by land in stagecoaches and wagons as well as on foot and horseback. Some people were migrating and others were moving about on business. Many could not reach their destination in a day. Some would camp out along the route, but this was very uncomfortable, especially in wet or cold weather. Thus, inns sprung up along the trails and routes that crisscrossed through the wilderness to settlements, towns and cities. Many were spaced the distance apart of a days travel. Others were placed near where travelers would stop such as the edges of cities, near ferries or even just before a toll bridge.

One such inn was known as the Titus House. It was on the Genesee Trail going across New York State. Originally situated fairly near the ferry on that road, it was an ideal place to wait. The ferry took travelers across Cayuga Lake at the north-end, just short of the swampy area that leads into the Montezuma Marshes. Later the long bridge was built near this ferry as a replacement. It was at one time the longest bridge in New York State. How near to the bridge was the Inn? A traveler looking out the front windows of the could gaze out over Cayuga Lake and slightly to the north, the bridge. It would take less than one minute to reach the east-end of the bridge from the front door of the Inn.

It had various owners over the years, however the most well known was David Sands Titus. Born in Dutchess County of the Quaker family of Gilbert and Jane (Hoag) Titus, he migrated westward in 1829. His somewhat unusual name comes from a son of a Presbyterian minister. The original David Sands joined the Quakers at Nine Partners meeting in Dutchess County and was instrumental in the founding of Cornwall monthly meeting in Westchester County. Many Quaker boys were given the compound name of “David Sands” in his honor. It was not unusual for a Quaker to settle in Cayuga County. A meeting, their name for a church, was just south of Cayuga in the village of Union Springs. In fact, they later moved the Oakwood Seminary (a Quaker boarding school) from Dutchess County to Union Springs.

David Sands was a farmer originally, but had also been a butcher while living in Beekman in Dutchess County. Here he opened the inn, but was often absent from there.He also had another job collecting tolls on the Erie Canal at nearby Montezuma. While gone from the tavern, his wife, the former, Julia Coapman, and son, Hiram would run it. He also held office in a training regiment for the district for about three years.

A story that has been told about the determination of Julia is the following: David Sands was going to Albany on business and wife, Julia, wanted to go with him. Now, David Sands Titus was a strong-willed man and didn’t hesitate to tell her “no.” He left without her, went to Weedsport and caught a Canal boat to Albany. Checking into the hotel at Albany, he opened his hotel room door to find sitting there, waiting for him, none other than Julia who had arrived earlier by train!

Hiram who helped in his father’s tavern, became a farmer as an adult. He owned a great deal of acreage in the town of Aurelius. He raised prize-winning cattle and horses, His home, a house on the Genesee Road with massive columns across the front, still stands today,

An older brother, Daniel Titus, was postmaster in Aurelius, from 1835-1841. Primarily a farmer, he owned land in Aurelius. He was killed in a rather grizzly railroad accident when tried to race his horse and buggy across the tracks late at night as a train approached. The train was much closer than he apparently realized. The Cayuga Chief newspaper printed the story of his demise in detail and blamed alcohol for it. They later retracted some of the blame which leads me to believe that a weary Daniel was trying to reach home and urged his horse on thinking he had more time than he did. Daniel was 53 when he died, leaving his wife Maria (Lockwood) Titus to care for their 9 children ranging in age from Samuel, 24, down to Marion, three. Samuel was my great-great grandfather.

Hiram Titus' Home

Wordless Wednesday: Great-Great Grandma Lodema

 

Wordless Wednesday: Titus houses in Cayuga

Saturday Challenge- Where Were They in 1900?

A typical scene*

From an old GeneaMusings by Randy Seaver.

Your mission, should you decide to accept it (cue the Mission Impossible! music) is to:

1)  Where were your ancestors in the year 1900?  Make a list with their ages and location (with the street  address if you know it).

This assignment shouldn’t be too hard I thought, I’ll only do my direct ancestors, not aunts, uncles, or cousins. Right. In the year, 1900, I had four grandparents, eight great-grandparents, nine 2-great-grandparents, and one 3-great grandmother alive! Well, here goes:

Grandparents

William Ward lived in Scipio with his parents at age 13. This undoubtedly would have been the Mapleton area.

Frances Ingalls Ward at age 11 would have been on the Fort Drum military base. No that’s not right. Fort Drum didn’t even exist yet. She lived near North Wilna on her father’s farm. Today the area has been absorbed into Fort Drum.

Marion Wooster was age 4. He had been born in Iowa, but in 1900 was living back east where the family had come from on the outskirts of the hamlet of Lysander in northern Onondaga County.

Alice Valentine Jennings Wooster would have been 7 and living on her father’s farmland in Ireland.

Great-Grandparents

Charles Ingalls at age 36 owned a farm in the town of Wilna Jefferson Co, New York, just north of the settlement of North Wilna. The previous year he had lost his first wife (my great-grandmother) in childbirth and had not yet remarried.

William Jennings at age 51 and his wife, Sarah (Damery) Jennings age 38 were living on their farmland in Keelinga, Leap, County Cork Ireland. This is a small community in southwest Cork not far from the sea. One of their granddaughters and her husband own it today.

John Ward was 46 and his wife, Maria (Titus) Ward was 42 that year. They lived in the town of Scipio on a farm that we believe was near the four corners of Mapleton.

Verner Wooster age 37 and his wife, Edith (Duff) Wooster age 36 would have been on one of their farms. This one was in Lysander, New York, but they still had a farm in Iowa that they would travel back and forth to over the years.

2-Great-Grandparents

John Brown age 65 and Anna (Wright) Brown age 64 were living in Antwerp not far from their son-in-law Charles Ingalls, recent widower of their daughter Achsah. Antwerp is the town next to Wilna and the homes were about 5 miles or so apart.

James Duff was age 64 and Nellie (Johnson) Duff was 53 this year. Their farm was in Hampton Township of Dakota County, Minnesota. This is south of Minneapolis.

William Ward was age 72 and his wife, Mary Ann (Blackwell) Ward was 74 in 1900. They lived in Scipio, probably on the property that Mary Ann owned at Manchester Road and Cork Street.

Mary Fay Ingalls was 60. A widow, she lived with her son Charles in Wilna, undoubtedly helping him with his children.

 

Elizabeth (Tift) Wooster, a widow at age 73, she is living in her son, Verner’s home in Lysander as mentioned above at the time of the census. She appeared to consider Verner’s home as her base while visiting her children for extended times. Seven of her ten children were surviving in 1900.

Lodema (Tobias) Titus, at age 69 lived in Ledyard, with her oldest son, Daniel. He is listed as the head of household on the census. However, this was the home she had occupied for many years not far from the Great Gully that separates Ledyard from Springport in Cayuga County.

3-Great-Grandmother

Mary (Aubin) Johnson was age 85. One of the two original white women to settle in Washington County, Minnesota, she was now living in her daughter Emma’s home in Castle Rock, Minnesota. Emma and her husband, William Duff, lived not far from their siblings Nellie and James Duff mentioned above.

Despite the number of people to account for, this was not hard to figure out. Prior research has made me aware of the general vicinity of the places that my ancestors had lived. The census for 1900 reminded me of where they were living; particularly for those that had, had different homes over the years or that were staying with children.

*The picture is from Lancaster Pennsylvania taken this year while on vacation. But as they all lived on farms in 1900, this would have been typical of what they might have seen out their windows.

Saturday Challenge- Ancestral Towns

This comes from GeneaMusing's fun challenges from early December. I finally got a chance to finish writing it.

1)    Have you ever visited one of your ancestral towns?  If so, tell us the town, where it is, when you went, and who are your ancestors from that town.

This could be a very hard question to answer. Does anyone have a few hours to spare to hear the complete answer? Probably not and it would be very boring. So, I will just summarize the ancestral towns I have been to.

Ward Farmhouse

I was born in a city where my parents had once lived and many collateral ancestors lived at various times over the years. I arrived home to what had been my grandparents’ farm and where one of my great-grandfathers had stayed during his last illness. Before I saw my first birthday, I surely had seen the towns where my one paternal line had lived in the little over hundred years they had been in America. Also, I had been to the village that my grandparents were living in and my grandfather’s parents had lived in at one time.

None of these were genealogical in nature. My parents weren’t interested in genealogy even after I got interested as a teenager. Instead, these visits were part of the day-to-day living of my parents. Many of my father’s ancestors had lived in the same rural communities for many years. These were the towns and villages of southern Cayuga County and a few in the northern end or nearby counties. An area where current relatives lived, my father made fuel deliveries as part of his job and that we might visit for any manner of reasons.

My mother’s family had been in Skaneateles for parts of two generations prior to her birth and not far away for previous generations of her paternal line.

Mother in front of her childhood home

Grandma Wooster was a different story. She had emigrated here from Ireland in her late teens. I have been to Boston, an area she first lived in and her final home of Skaneateles. I have yet to get to Brownsville, Texas where she was stationed in the Army.

Grandpa Wooster’s family had come “from the east”. I have explored Columbia County, Derby and New Milford Connecticut. All of these are places where the Wooster families have lived since they arrived from England in the 1600s.

I have also visited where his Great-Uncle lived in Indiana. There I visited the family graves, and although I didn’t have enough time to connect with living relatives, I found where people live that are likely descendants of his oldest daughter. Their house and surrounding area that I was able to see and take pictures of, was part of her and her husband’s original farm.

their Indiana farm

Some of my Ward lines, namely, the Titus family came to Cayuga County from Dutchess County in the eastern portion of New York. I have been back there a couple times since my first visit, but it is an instance during that visit that stands out in my mind. I had just started researching to discover some of this family. While there I visited some Quaker Meeting Houses, their churches, as I knew the family had been Quaker. The Oblong Meeting House was open for tourists, but nobody was staffing it. I walked in there and had a feeling. It was if I wasn’t alone, but surrounded by a presence. A welcoming and loving presence. It was only later that I found out the Titus family had been active in this meeting, and helped build the meetinghouse.

Oblong Meeting House

That is the short version. Aren’t you glad you didn’t have to read the long version? I could detail many of the places they lived over the years…

Saturday Challenge: Unbroken Chain of Gravestones

From last week's Saturday Fun Challenge by Randy Seaver:

1)    Determine what is your longest unbroken line of ancestral gravestones - how many generations can you go back in time?  Do you have photographs of them?

The longest I have would be five generations on two of my father’s lines.

Gordon (1919-1998) & Alice (1924-2016) Ward in Evergreen (Scipioville Cemetery) in Scipioville, New York.

His parents’ graves, William (1887-1962) and Frances (Ingalls) (1889-1962) Ward are across the driveway from him in Scipioville.

His mother’s parents Charles (1864-1939) Ingalls and Achsah (Brown) (1864-1899) Ingalls.  Charles is buried in Fleming Rural Cemetery in Fleming, New York and his wife; Achsah is buried in Hillside Cemetery in Antwerp, New York.

Beside Achsah, are her parents: John Robert (1835-1917) and Anna (Wright) (1836-1923) Brown.

Over in the Quaker Cemetery in Philadelphia, New York is John Robert’s parents: Quartis (1795-1878) and Julia (Gibbs) (abt. 1798-1855) Brown. [These I do not yet have pictures of].

While in Redwood Cemetery over in Alexandria, New York are those of Julia’s parents: Samuel (1802-1885) and Margaret (Ford) (1808-1894) Wright. [These I do not yet have pictures of].

These graves span five generations, but only two counties. Despite the families moving to better places, immigrating sometimes great distances, these lines are all buried relatively near each other.

Originally thinking about this, though, I immediately thought about not a link of gravestones across time and place, but rather an unbroken line of four generations in one cemetery.  Those first two burials are both in Evergreen or Scipioville Cemetery.

If we follow the other line from my grandparents, you will find William’s parents: John (1854-1932) and Maria (Titus) (1858-1927) Ward along the same driveway and across the cemetery are those graves of his parents: William (1830-1902) and Mary Ann (Blackwell) (1828-1902) Ward.

This gives not quite as long a line of gravestones, but they are all in the same cemetery with many aunts, uncles and cousins scattered about in between.

Saturday Challenge- Most Census Records

Here is the latst assignment from Randy Seaver and Genea-Musings, if you choose to play along (cue the Mission Impossible music, please!): 

1)  Do you know which of your ancestors appears the most times in the Census records?  How many years?  Are there duplicate entries?  

My great-great-grandmother, Lodema (Tobias) Titus lived longer than possibly any of my ancestors. Her lifetime of 94 years spanned from 1831 to 1926.

Here are the census years she might conceivably have been in:

1835- New York State census.

1840- Federal census

1845- New York State census.

All three of the above census records have similar results. Although I have not found the family yet, they should be in the town of Springport, Cayuga County, New York or fairly close by. Although head of household only, she would have been counted within the household of her father, John Tobias.

1850 Springport, Cayuga Co, NY, p. 219A, dwelling 714, family 720 (Erastus Meyers) Lodema is a servant in the household of Erastus.

1855 Springport, Cayuga Co, NY ED “Corporation” p. [not listed], dwelling 146, family 146, frame house, value $600 (Samuel Titus) Lodemia, age 23, born Cayuga. The head of household is now her husband, Samuel.

1860 Ledyard, Cayuga Co, NY p. 34 dwelling, 242, family 242 (Sherwood PO) [Seabin/ Leabin as first name]- her name was somewhat unusual and often misspelled in records.

1865- Have not found Samuel and Lodema in this state census yet.

1870 Ledyard, Cayuga Co, NY p. 24, dwelling 228, family 227 (Union Springs PO) [Ladeny Tytus]. I’ve rarely seen Titus spelled this way- a definite misspelling and not a variation the family used.

1875 Town of Ledyard is missing from the microfilm roll. She would have been living here during the census, about a year after her husband’s death.

1880 Ledyard, Cayuga Co, NY ED 24, p. 8, dwelling 60, family 61 (Lodema Titus)

1890 Destroyed by fire.

1892 New York State census. Ledyard, Cayuga Co, NY, p. 1, Lodemia Titus, female, age 65, born United States, citizen.

1900 Ledyard, Cayuga Co, NY, ED 31, p. 6B, dwelling, 103, family 105 (Daniel Titus). Daniel is her second child and oldest son.

1905 Ledyard, Cayuga Co, NY, ED 1, p. 21 original, line 20 (Daniel Titus) Lodema, mother, age 72, born US, housework

1910 Ledyard, Cayuga Co, NY, ED 44, p. 5A, dwelling 114, family 117 (Ludima Titus- head)

1915 Ledyard, Cayuga Co, NY ED 1, p. 20 line 21 (Daniel Titus)

1920 Ledyard, Cayuga Co, NY ED 34, p. 5A, dwelling 110, family 112, (Daniel Titus) Lake road

1925 Aurelius, Cayuga Co, NY, ED 2, p. 9, line 10 (Lodema Titus), age 90, born US, housework, Genesee Rd.

So, out of 18 possible census records that she should be in, I have found her in 12 of them. Thanks to her long life-span and the many state census records as well as federal ones during this time period, Lodema would have appeared in the most census records of any of my ancestors.

Age Span of Great-Great Grandparents-- Saturday Challenge

It’s time to catch-up on last weekend’s Saturday Challenge from Randy Seaver:

1)  We each have 16 great-great grandparents.  How did their birth and death years vary?  How long were their lifespans?  

2)  For this week, please list your 16 great-great grandparents, their birth year, their death year, and their lifespan in years.  You can do it in plain text, in a table or spreadsheet, or in a graph of some sort.

Lodema, the oldest of my gg-grandparents

GG Grandfather -

Ward               William                       1 Feb 1830           31 Aug 1902        72 years

Titus                Samuel H                    13 Oct 1825         10 Mar 1874        48 years

Brown             John Robert                 18 Nov 1835        24 Oct 1917         81 years

Ingalls             Joseph D                     19 Dec 1834        21 Aug 1894        59 years

Duff                James                          26 Mar 1836        26 Feb 1926        89 years

Wooster          Barclay                        29 Aug 1819        3 Mar 1895          75 years

Damery           James “John”            1812                     1896                    84 years

Jennings          Richard J                                                                              unknown

GG Grandmother -

Blackwell         Mary Ann                    14 May 1828       11 Aug 1902        74 years

Tobias             Lodema                       16 Oct 1831         28 Mar 1926        94 years

Wright             Anna S                        12 Dec 1836        13 Feb 1923        86 years

Fay                  Mary Ann                    11 Nov 1840        24 Jul 1906          65 years

Johnson           Mary Ellen “Nellie”   25 Dec 1847        12 Feb 1921        73 years

Tift                  Elizabeth Hannah        11 May 1826       24 Mar 1906        79 years

Wolfe              Elizabeth                      1823                     abt 1862               39 years

Fuller               Mary                                                                                    unknown

There is a couple in Ireland, as you can see, who I have no idea of their birth and death years. There is much research to do in that area, but few records that can be found from a distance. This is one of the reasons that every time it is announced about new Irish records available online, I hold my breath and hope that they are Protestant and more specifically Church of Ireland (Anglican) records.

The oldest and the youngest were both female at 94 and approximately 39 years. Elizabeth Wolfe probably died either in childbirth or shortly after the birth of her daughter, Sarah Damery, my g-grandmother.

The average age for males of that generation was 72.5 and females 72.85. It is remarkable how close together the averages came out.

Wordless Wednesday- Evergreen Cemetery, Scipio, NY