Jonathan Philbrick of Corinth, Vermont

Corinth Center Cemetery - 1992

    Jonathan Philbrick was born in Rye (Rockingham) NH on 6 April 1741.  According to Dearborn's history of Salisbury NH, he went to Salisbury (Hillsborough) and then to Corinth (Orange) VT, where he died after the 1810 census.  His wife was Mary, probably the Mary Folsom who married Jonathan Philbrick in Rye in 1766.
    Jonathan was most likely the son of James Philbrick (son of Ebenezer) and Elizabeth Rand, and his parentage probably would not be in question if it were not for Chapman’s genealogy of the Philbrick family.  This writer stated that Jonathan (born 1740, son of James and Elizabeth) was a blacksmith, who married Anna Jones and moved to Buckfield, Maine.  Dow, in his history of Hampton NH, disagreed, saying it was the son of Nathan and Dorcas (Johnson) Philbrick, born in 1735, who married Anna Jones.
    Just seeing the names of the children of Jonathan and Mary (Stephen, Mary, James, John, Benjamin, Sally, Ebenezer, and Daniel) and those of Jonathan and Anna (Dorcas, Elizabeth, Dolly, Sally, and Enoch) would prompt one to favor Dow’s conclusion.
    The Philbrick / Philbrook Research Group, which has compiled an exhaustive list of the descendants of Thomas Philbrick, the immigrant ancestor, is of the opinion that Jonathan of Corinth was the son of James and Elizabeth (Rand), but cites no document that confirms this fact.  In addition, a lineage society has acknowledged the relationship by accepting a supplemental application for a line from Jonathan of Corinth through James to Thomas.
    Whenever a statement that raises doubts appears in print, it has to be proved conclusively or refuted totally.  So far, to my knowledge, there is no source that actually verifies Jonathan’s parentage.

Sources:
1810 U.S. census, Corinth, Orange County, Vermont
Jacob Chapman, A Genealogy of the Philbrick and Philbrook Famnilies
John J. Dearborn, History of Salisbury, New Hampshire, p. 706 
Joseph Dow, History of the Town of Hampton, New Hampshire
Philbrick / Philbrook Research Group (http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nvjack/fylbrigg/descendants.htm : accessed October 2013)
"Church Records of Newington, New Hampshire," NEHGR, vol. 22, p. 157

Photo from Buffalogen's collection

Samuel Savage Jr. and his medical bill

   My 4th great-grandfather, Samuel Savage Jr., was taken ill while an enlisted soldier in the American Revolution. His father, Samuel Savage, presented a bill¹

“For Expences and Trouble occasioned by the Sickness of his son Saml Savage an Enlisted soldier from Durham when apprentice to Gerad Whedon, under the Command of Capt. James Arnold in Genl Woosters Regiment; when Sick on his return Home, and got as far as my House in Middletown on the 8th day (December 1775"

   Among the items for which he sought reimbursement were medicines,“Towls applyd to his Feet,” fire wood, candles, doctors’ visits, and “tenders” for a total of 69 days, “said Soldier being wholly helpless . . . Delirious & needing watchers at night.” More surprising were expenditures for:

“To 2 pints Wine 0.3.0"
“To 5 Gallons Rum @ 5/- for Medicines Watchers and Attendants, his sickness being very Loathsom and Infectious 1.5.0”                           
   Two physicians certified that the “soldier was extremely sick with the malignant nervous fever [probably typhus] and lay along time very dangerous,” “looked upon his case almost fatal for many weeks,” and believed the bill for £16.8.1 1/2 just and reasonable.
   On April 10th, 1776 Samuel Savage [Sr.] “Received an order on Colony Treasurer in full of the above acct.”
   Medical treatment was certainly very different back then - and so were allowable medical expenses!
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     ¹Connecticut Revolutionary War Records, Office of the State Comptroller, 1758-1984, Connecticut Pay Table Accounts, 1775-1776, Sick Bills, Jeffrey Copy, p. 18, Samuel Savage Jr.; call no. 973.3/fP292/Main Vault (1983); Connecticut State Library, Hartford

What became of Mary Bartley?

    Mary Bartley was born in New York City (Manhattan) circa 1846, daughter of David Bartley and Margaret Burnes.  She was a member of the Bartley household when the 1850, 1855, and 1860 censuses of New York City were taken.  No further record of her has been found.  According to the 1860 census, her given name was Mary Jane.¹

1860 U.S. census, Manhattan, New York County, New York (Ancestry.com)

    Mary was still alive in 1862 when her father opened an account in the Emigrant Savings Bank in New York City, since he stated he had four children by his "former wife." (Margaret died in November 1860 and David had remarried.)
    Since Mary Bartley was not found in any 1870 census, she was probably dead or married.  She was not buried in either of her father’s plots in Calvary Cemetery, so it is likely it was the latter. 
    Marriage records indexed by the Italian Genealogical Group include Manhattan 1866-1937 and Kings County 1871-1937, and those of the other boroughs from 1898 and later. These records do not include a marriage for Mary Bartley.  Unindexed records have not been searched. 
    The indexed marriage records on FamilySearch reveal many brides and grooms whose mother’s maiden name was Mary Bartley; however, no proof that one of them is the person sought has been found.

Source:
    ¹1860 U.S. census, New York County, New York, population schedule, Manhattan, Ward 4, p. 34, line 14, dwelling N/R, family 294, David Battel; digital image, Ancestry.com (accessed 21 October 2014); citing FHL microfilm 803,789.  HeritageQuest Online indexed the surname as Batlet.

My mother always wondered . . . about Mary Lucy Hall

    My mother’s father died two weeks before she was born, having contracted pneumonia at his father’s funeral a month before. Her paternal grandmother had died a year earlier. The only surviving member of her father's family was thought (erroneously) to be Mary Lucy Hall, her grandmother’s sister.

Indian Hill Cemetery, 1986

     My grandmother and her new-born daughter went to live with her parents in New Jersey and lost touch with Mary Lucy. By the time my mother was old enough to ask questions about her father’s family, no one knew what had become of her. She wasn't buried in the family plot in Indian Hill Cemetery in Middletown, Connecticut, although her name was on the Hall monument.
    My grandmother had vaguely remembered that a nursing home in New York City notified her of Mary Lucy's death sometime in the 1920s. And she recalled sending money to this long forgotten facility for a gravestone.

Woodlawn Cemetery, May 2014

    It wasn’t until several years after my mother’s death that I searched New York City’s death records on microfilm at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City and found Mary Lucy’s death certificate. She had died in 1924 in a home for the aged in New York City and had been buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx. 
    Bronx Aquarian, a Find A Grave volunteer, responded to my request for a photograph of the gravestone and also took one of the monument on the plot.¹
    Wouldn’t my mother have been interested to know what became of Mary Lucy?

    1.  “Mary Lucy Hall,” memorial 113305249, Find A Grave.

Timothy & Jeremiah Kiley

    My grandmother was interested in her family’s history and often told me about her parents and their siblings. I listened politely to what she said, but never asked her any insightful questions. She died when I was in high school and not at all interested in genealogy. How I wish I had been more curious!
     I was intrigued, and horrified, to hear that her mother’s two brothers, sons of Timothy and Margaret (Donovan) Kiley, died as teenagers or in their early twenties, supposedly during or after service in the Civil War. Neither was found in the 1870 census, in New York City where the family lived, or elsewhere, and I’ve found no death or burial records for either. I wonder if my grandmother really knew what happened to them.
    Timothy Kiley, who was born in New York circa 1841, according to the 1850 census, was more likely born in Clonakilty, County Cork, Ireland, in 1839. He was not living with his parents in 1855 or 1860 and his whereabouts at those census times are unknown. Timothy Kiely enlisted in New York as a Union soldier in May 1861, but deserted in August 1861, as did a future brother-in-law in the same unit. He allegedly died, unmarried, from the effects of a long imprisonment during the Civil War. Did his imprisonment have anything to do with his desertion, or had he re-enlisted and been captured.
    Jeremiah Kiley, who was born in New York circa 1845, enlisted in 1861 as a drummer and was honorably discharged and mustered out in June 1862. According to my grandmother, he died during the Civil War, so he must have re-enlisted.
    One of the difficulties in tracing the surname Kiley is that alternative spellings are many (i.e., Keily, Kieley, Kiely, Kileigh, Killey, Killy, Kyle, etc.) and it is often mistaken for Kelly and Riley, or some variations thereof. While I have never found in records after 1861 anyone named Timothy Kiley who definitely could be my great-grandmother’s brother, it is conceivable that Timothy did not die (perhaps was disowned in disgrace?) and took up life apart from his family.
    As for Jeremiah, I have no ideas about what became of him.

John W. Combs of New York City, circa 1830-1874

Gravestone of Anne (Kiley) Thilemann

    John W. Combs was born in New York circa 1829 or 1830. He had an unknown first wife, by whom he had two children, Charles M. Combs (born 21 January1857) and Caroline May Combs (born May 1862). His second wife was Anne C. Kiley, born in New York circa 1841, daughter of Timothy and Margaret (Donovan) Kiley, by whom he had one surviving child, Elizabeth F. Combs (born 19 December 1873).
    John’s death date is unknown, unless he is the John W. Combs who was buried in The Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn on 13 March 1874. Others in the same lot were Capt. Elias Combs, buried 1866; Matilda J. Combs; and Jennie Combs, both buried 21 April 1870. Matilda was Elias’ first wife (died in July 1868) and Jennie was his daughter. To date, no link between this John W. and Elias has been found.
    Anne was listed as “widow of John” in the 1874 New York City directory. She married, second, Frederic Thilemann Jr. (1843-1904) and died in 1898. Anne's daughter used her stepfather's surname as her maiden name.
    Charles M. Combs married Alice M. Green, and the couple had at least eleven children between 1877 and 1899. Charles died on 6 September 1936 and Alice died on 14 November 1936. Both were buried in Old St. Raymonds Cemetery in the Bronx. Charles’ death certificate lists his parents as John Combs and Anna Kiely [his stepmother].   
    Charles and Alice had three grandchildren: Eugene Randolph Murray-Aaron (1896-1974), Gerard Pulver (1915-1977), and Geraldine Pulver (c1917-?). Only five great-grandchildren have been found.
    Caroline May Combs, almost always called Carrie, married first John Cottrell, with whom she had three children. In 1883 she married Michael Francis Sheridan, with whom she had at least seven children. Michael Sheridan died in the Bronx in March 1900. His widow was enumerated in the 1900, 1910, and 1920 censuses. No record of her death has been found.
    Caroline had four known grandchildren: Gerard Grady (c1904-?), Thomas F. Grady (c1905-1966), Walter Grady (c1911-?), and Fred Sheridan (c1937-?). Four great-grandchildren have been found.
    Elizabeth F. Combs/Thilemann married Robert Bartley; she died in 1936 and he died in 1943. Elizabeth had one surviving child (a daughter who always thought her maternal grandfather was Frederic Thilemann), one grandson, and no great-grandchildren.
    Who was John W. Combs and who was his first wife? One hint is given in the record of a short-lived marriage of Caroline May (Combs) Cottrell Sheridan that gave her mother’s name as Carrie Sanders. Unfortunately, this record said her father was Charles Combs, which suggests that Carrie was not sure of her birth parents’ names.
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     Photograph by Bronx Cop for Find A Grave (November 2013) and used with permission. Gravestone is in Old St. Raymonds Cemetery, Bronx, New York.

From Buffalogen's photo collection

   This photograph at the left was taken by F. E. Perry of Perry's Point Photograhic Studio, Battle Creek, Michigan, which was in business in the late 1800s.  .
   The photo was inherited by a great-great-granddaughter of William Hamilton Blodgett (1823-1861) and his second wife, Agnes Eliza Parsons (1834-1900) of Green Bay, Brown County, Wisconsin, whose son, William Hamilton Blodgett Jr., married Elizabeth Ellen Sarah Clark of Manchester, New Hampshire, and settled in Hartford, Connecticut.






   Another great-great-granddaughter of William and Agnes Eliza inherited the photograph to the right and sent it to Buffalogen.  This third cousin is a descendant of Carrie Agnes Blodgett and her husband, Cassius Marcellus Upton, who was born in Battle Creek, Michigan..

   In Buffalogen's opinion, there is a striking ressemblance between the women in the two photographs - the wavy hair and hairline are distinctive and the eyes, nose and  mouth are similar. Both Blodgett descendants think they (or she) had some connection to the Blodgett and Upton families.