The Letter
In my recent blog about teachers in early Wolcott (*1), I had noted that in 1900 one of these teachers was “Grace R Butler, 20, boarding with Andrew J Slater family”. A few weeks later, I received a letter in the mail from James Hazard which said, in addition to several other things,
“The Slaters are my great-grandparents. Their daughter, Sara E., married Wilfred Pierpont. Do you have any information about where in town they lived, what the Slaters did for work, etc. The present town clerk sent me information about the marriage license but that is all she could dig up.”
Initially I just looked up the census records for 1900 which I had quoted. I noted that Andrew Slater was the entry right next to David Frisbie.
[1900 census]
To verify, I also looked at the census records before and after this period. In 1870, Andrew was living in Southington, and in 1910 he was living in Waterbury with his son and family. In 1880 he was also next door to David Frisbie. This was significant as David Frisbie spent his whole life in Wolcott and his house appeared on the 1868 map of the town. Thus, both the Frisbie and Slater families were part of that section of town called “Woodtick”.
[1868 map]
I sent the above to James, noting that Andrew was a farmer and his son, Joseph, was a carpenter. I also found the supplement to the 1880 census which gave further details about the number of acres that Andrew had on his farm and what they were used for.
But there was something that bothered me about the 1900 census records. There are three columns which are supposed to record the birth place of the individual, the birth place of their father, and the birth place of their mother. For Andrew, the places listed were New York, New York, and “Wolcott”. Note that for everyone else, these place names are states, so the word “Connecticut” appears all over the records. The word “Wolcott” seemed out of place! And I wondered why it was there. Some further investigation was in order!
Investigation into Andrew
According to the 1900 census, Andrew was born in October 1840. He and his wife, Lucy had 4 children, only 2 of whom were living. (Obviously, that would have to be their son Joseph who was living with them, as well as Sarah who was mentioned in the letter to me. (Note that the spelling as Sarah is consistent with both the Pierpont genealogies as well as is how Andrew spelled the name in his will.) So, I looked in the census records for the period 1840-1910 to see if there were any other clues. I was able to piece together a timeline of Andrew’s life – and I uncovered a number of errors in the census records as well.
The Truth – Andrew was born in Greene County, NY in October 1830. He married Lucy Robbins in 1856. She had been born in NY in 1839. Their children, all born in CT, were William (1858, died sometime before 1900), Sarah (1862), Laura (1866, died in 1868), and Joseph (1869). (The fact that Sarah and Joseph were the living children of Andrew and Lucy is also confirmed by Andrew’s will which was written in 1911 (two years before he died). In it he leaves $300 to his daughter, Mrs. Sarah E Pierpont, wife of Wilfred Pierpont, and the rest to his wife, Lucy Ann Slater. He then appoints his son, Joseph W Slater, as the recipient of his estate (after he and Lucy pass away) as long as he cares for both he and Lucy as long as they live and provides for their proper burial.)
The Errors:
·
1840 census – see “A final note” below
·
1850 census – none, age 20, living with father
Orrin (48), his wife Esther (49), and siblings Joel (22), Louisa (17), and
Sarah (14). All born in NY.
·
1855 NY census – none, age 24, living with
father Orrin (52), his wife Esther (55), and sibling Sarah (18). [Note that
errors of a year or so in age are common in census records and so this is not
flagged as a problem]
·
1860 census – unable to locate the family
·
1870 census – none, living in Southington, with
William (12), Sarah (8), and baby Joseph (10 months).
·
1880 census – living in Wolcott, age 50, with
wife Lucy (41), William (21), Sarah (17), and Joseph (10). But Andrew and Lucy
shown as being born in CT, as well as their parents born in CT.
·
1890 census – results lost in fire, so not
available.
·
1900 census – Andrew’s year of birth listed
incorrectly as 1840 instead 1830, and age incorrect as 50 (a year younger than
Lucy), when he was 9 years older. Andrew’s mother listed as born in Wolcott –
the inconsistency that started this investigation and rationale to be
investigated below.
· 1910 census – living in Waterbury with son Joseph and family. Andrew now age 79, Lucy age 71, properly from NY. But Joseph has parents listed as born in CT – apparently an error caused by census taker recording him on the last line on one page and the rest of the family on the following page. Number of children of Lucy (4 total, 2 living) is correct.
Thus, we have errors of place as well as of age in the above. These types of errors are relatively common. But the inconsistency of the “Wolcott” place of birth is still to be addressed.
Investigation into Andrew’s Parents
As noted above, in those census records where Andrew is living with his parents (1850, 1855), they are listed as Orrin and Esther. But the census records from those years do not record actual relationships, so they can only be inferred. Also, wives are only recorded with the last name of their husband and so tracing a maiden name can be difficult. So, let’s see what we can find out about this family.
I started out by looking to see what other researchers had recorded about this family. This is NOT because I accept those family trees as being totally factual, but by looking at what supporting data is linked to those trees I can validate the information in them and possibly find sources that I may have overlooked. Here is a synopsis of what I found:
·
Father – Orrin Hall Slater, born in 1802, died
in 1889
·
First wife – Polly Almira Curtis, born in 1805,
variously listed as having died on June 5, 1827 or 1837
·
Second wife – Ester/Esther Batchford Stevens,
born in 1799, died in 1875
·
Child – Joel C Slater, born 5 May 1826 or 1828,
died in 1909
·
Child – Andrew Jackson Slater, born 1830, died
1913
·
Child – Louisa Maria Slater, born 1833, died
1903
·
Child – Sarah Slater, born 1836, died 1922
· Child – Catharine Slater, born 1848
So, where did this information come from? In the 1850 and 1855 census records above, we can see Orrin, Esther, and the oldest four children. So that accounts for those family members. But we do not know whether Esther is the mother or the step-mother of these children. The fifth child, Catharine, is found only in the 1865 NY census where she is listed together with Orrin and Esther. So, our questions are around (1) Orrin’s first wife, (2) when she died, (3) why the confusion about Joel’s birth year, (4) when Orrin married his second wife, (5) who are the parents of each of the children, and (6) why Catharine only occurs in that one census with a gap between her and the other siblings. Let’s address these in turn…
Orrin’s first wife: Polly shows up in two places, both pretty significant ones. First, Joel died in Michigan and his death certificate list his parents as Or[r]in Slater (born in NY), and Pol[l]y Curtis (born in NY). Second, there is a gravestone in the Round Top Cemetery in Greene County, NY which lists “Orrin Slater, born Oct 28, 1802, died Apr 4, 1889” and “Polly Curtis, his wife, born Aug 20, 1805, died June 5, 1827”. There is an inscription on the top of the square stone “Father & Mother”. The findagrave.com entry for this plot also lists a son of Joel.
Polly’s death date: This seems to have come directly from the gravestone for Orrin and Polly and normally that would be pretty conclusive. But the stone is not one of white stone such as one would typically find in 1827, rather it’s a pink granite of the type used much later. In addition, the inscription on the top indicates that it would have been made by one of the children of Orrin after Orrin’s death, not by Orrin when his wife died so young. I surmise that Polly originally died in 1837 and was buried originally under an older gravestone. When Orrin finally died over fifty years later, one of his children, probably Joel, ordered that Orrin be buried with his first wife (hence the “Father & Mother” on the top), but the stone from 1837 stone had either aged so much that it was difficult to read, or the handwriting of Joel’s instruction to the stonemason was misinterpreted. At any rate, the year of Polly’s death was NOT 1827 as so many ancestral trees indicate.
Joel’s birth year: Joel’s year of birth appears almost universally as 1828 – in census records, in his death certificate, on his gravestone, etc. So why do so many trees have 1826 instead? I believe that this mistake is directly tied to the mistake in Polly’s death date. If one is building a tree in ancestry.com there are many consistency checks made. The parents are entered first, then the children. If one put 1827 as Polly’s year of death, then tried to enter a birth year of 1828 for Joel, the user gets a message that this must be a mistake since a child cannot be born after the mother is dead. But Polly is clearly the mother, as indicated on Joel’s death certificate. So, to eliminate the error, someone changed the date to 1826 and this got propagated to other later trees.
Orrin’s second marriage: Orrin is clearly married to Esther by 1850, but how long have they been married? The answer can be found in the 1855 NY census which contains a column labeled “Years resident in this city or town”. As a lifelong resident, Orrin is listed as age 52 and having lived in Cairo, NY for his entire life (52 years). Esther, on the other had is listed as having been born in CT and only having lived in Cairo for 6 years. Thus, Orrin and Esther only married in late 1848 or early 1849.
Who are the parents: Having answered the prior questions on Polly’s death date (1837) and Orrin’s re-marriage (1848/9), it is now apparent that the parents of Joel, Andrew, Louisa, and Sarah are Orrin and Polly since they were all born in the period 1828-1836 before Polly died. Thus, in the 1850 and 1855 census records, Esther is a step-mother, not the birth mother of those four children. Another indication of this is that in the 1865 NY census, both Orrin and Esther are listed as having been married twice. Thus, Esther was either widowed (the most likely) or divorced when she and Orrin married in 1848/9.
Catharine: Catharine only appears in the 1865 NY census where she was 17. If she were a child of Orrin and Esther, then she should have also been in the 1855 NY census with an age of 7. That would also be unlikely, since that would have placed her birth before Esther moved to NY from CT. Despite her being listed with a last name of Slater, I can find no other records listing her. I conclude that she is NOT a sibling of the other Slater children, but possibly a grandchild from one of Esther’s other children who is staying with them for a time. And her actual last name may not be Slater, but something else, but was presumed by the census taker. (Note that I have run across this situation in the past with NY ancestors of my own.) But since Catharine is not pertinent to our story, I’m not going to take the time to investigate further.
A final note – in the process of doing this investigation, I located Orrin and family in the 1840 census. This census only lists the head of household and tick marks for each family member. The tick marks for Orrin include [Free White] Male age 5-9 (Andrew, then almost 10), Male age 10-14 (Joel, then 12), Male age 30-39 (Orrin, age 38), Female under 5 (Sarah, age 4), Female age 5-9 (Louisa, age 7), and Female 20-29. Since Orrin’s first wife, Polly, died in 1837 at age 32, this is not Polly. And since he didn’t remarry until 1848/9, it’s not his second wife Esther who would be 41. So, who is this woman about 10 years younger than Orrin who is living with them? I have no ready answer and there are no other indications in any other records who this might be!
Investigating Prior Generations
Having confirmed that Andrew’s mother was Polly Curtis Slater, it is much easier to follow the trail back a few more generations to see where the “Wolcott” name comes from in the errant 1900 census records.
Polly’s father was Joel Curtis (hence her first child being named after his grandfather). He was born in 1786 in CT. Joel’s parents were Abel Curtis[s] (1741-1828) and Anna Alcott (1751-1821). But I have written about them before. As I noted in a blog about the Alcott/Alcox family (*2), John Alcox and his wife, who settled in Wolcott [Farmingbury] in 1731, had 12 children, the youngest daughter being Anna – “Anna (1751-1822), married Abel Curtiss from Wallingford, 1 child, buried in Edgewood Cemetery”.
Thus, we finally get back to the roots of Andrew Slater and the cryptic note of his birth mother being born in “Wolcott”. Perhaps when the census taker talked to Andrew’s wife on that fateful day in 1900 (the wife was most often the one who answered the door when the census taker arrived as the men would be out working), she said to him, “Andrew’s father was born in NY, but his mother’s family was one of the original settlers of Wolcott” and the census taker noted the sense of that response as “Wolcott”. At any rate, it was not a coincidence that Andrew moved to Wolcott back in the 1870s – that was the town of his mother’s roots and he thus had a number of relatives still living in the area.
Notes:
*1 - https://ramblinrussells.blogspot.com/2020/12/wolcott-history-census-records-schools.html
*2 - https://ramblinrussells.blogspot.com/2015/04/wolcott-history-alcox-family.html
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