Probates: Thomas H. Brundage

I've now reached the point in my Master's research where I am going back over all of the probate records I copied this summer and looking for interesting things to latch onto. Yesterday this stood out to me (words underlined):

Will of Thomas H. Brundage
The last will and testament of Thomas H. Brundage of the Town of Bedford County of Westchester and State of New York. 

I, Thomas Brundage of Bedford aforesaid, do make, publish, and declare this my last will and testament in manner following, that is to say - 

First: I direct my executors herein after named to pay all my just debts and funeral expenses. 

Second: I hereby authorize and by these presents give to my said executors full power and authority to sell and convey all my real and personal property. 

Third: I give and bequeath to my son Nathan Brundage the 1/3 of all the proceeds of my estate and to my sons John Brundage and Walter T. Brundage the 1/3 to be equally divided between them share and share alike. 

Fourthly: I give and devise all the rest and residue of my estate to M. W. Fish, one of my executors herein after named, in trust for my daughter Rachel Ann Brazill, wife of Richard, the interest and income to be paid my said daughter during her natural life, and I further hereby authorize my said executor, in case of my said daughter being in destitute condition and needing more than the interest to make her comfortable, to allow her such portion as he may in his judgment think she requires. And I further provide in case of the decease of my said daughter not leaving any lawful issue then I give and bequeath all that remains of such portion or share to my sons then living share and share alike. 

Fifthly: I hereby nominate and appoint my friend Moses W. Fish and Burnett Miller of Bedford executors of this my last will and testament hereby revoking any former will by me made. 

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 5th day of December 1874.
Thomas H. Brundage [his mark]

My thoughts:

It's not surprising that Thomas Brundage set aside 1/3 of his estate for each of his sons with no strings attached, while appointing a trustee to look over his daughter's inheritance; such patronizing conditions were commonplace for female heirs. The fact that such conditions - and the inheritance itself - was intended to provide for the female heir's livelihood and prevent her from falling into destitution is likely implied in every case I have seen; that is to say, fathers who were making wills were anticipating that their daughters might need financial assistance in the future, and set up their affairs to ensure that they were taken care of.

However, I have never seen a father's concern for his daughter falling into destitution so explicitly stated. It's even more shocking considering that Thomas Brundage's daughter was married. Was this simply a "just-in-case" scenario, or did he have reason to believe that his son-in-law would be unable to provide for her?

Even in her hypothetically destitute state, Rachel Ann Brazill is made to rely on the "judgment" of a man - admittedly, a very judicious man (Moses W. Fish was justice of the peace for the county for many years and was very well-respected), but the belittling of Rachel, who was 31 at the time her father's will was written, stands out to modern eyes.

Of course, the patronizing attitude towards women is easy to explain as an artifact of cultural attitudes of the time; it likely has little or nothing to do with Thomas's personal views of his daughter or her financial acumen. Rather, it is the special concern that Thomas gives to Rachel's potential destitution, and his explicit mention of it, that stands out to me.

Gravestone of Susan Brundage (source)

To investigate, I looked up the Brundage family in the 1850 federal census. That year, Susan and Thomas had four children under the age of 13, and Thomas was working as a laborer, which implies that he did not have the same level of job security as a landed farmer or a skilled artisan. The value of his real estate was only $170. Thomas's neighbors, including several farmers and shoemakers, owned real estate valued at $200-$6,000. Relative to their neighbors, the Brundages may have felt disadvantaged, and possibly struggled to make ends meet.

(It's also notable that Thomas Brundage's will is not signed with his name, but with a mark, suggesting that he was illiterate. While illiteracy was much more common in the 19th-century United States than it is now, most of the people in the St. George's/St. Mark's community were literate. I suppose it is possible that Thomas Brundage was too weak at the time he wrote his will to sign his name - but many of the wills I have read mention being "very weake [sic] in body" and yet are still signed by name, in crabbed but still legible handwriting. I don't think I've come across another will belonging to a member of this community that was signed with a mark.)

In the next census (1860), Thomas was again listed as a farm laborer, this time with real estate worth $350 and personal estate worth $100. All four children were still at home, with 21-year-old John working as a shoemaker.

Susan Brundage died in 1868 at the age of 61. It stood out to me that she was more than 10 years older than her husband, and that her oldest child was born when she was in her thirties. Both would have been unusual at the time. Assuming that Thomas was Susan's first husband (which is a big assumption), they may have been married when he was around 20 and she was around 30, which would explain why she didn't have children earlier. Perhaps Susan was the last of her sisters to marry and as a result didn't receive as substantial a dowry as they did; even if this was not the case, her dependence on her natal family past the age when most women would have married could have placed a financial burden on them.

Of course, this is all speculation, but I'm trying to imagine what situations and personal experiences might have inspired a father to be more cautious about his daughter's financial welfare than usual. The family's history of financial instability could be a potential answer.

By 1870, the census closest to the date of Thomas's death, John Brundage had established his own household with a wife and two-year-old daughter. Fifty-two-year-old Thomas Brundage, now a widower, was living with his father John (74), son Nathan (30), and daughter Rachel Ann (27). Thomas was listed as a "farm hand," with an estate worth $500.

It was not particularly desirable for a man to remain a "farm laborer," "farm hand," or "laborer" throughout his life. The expectation was that the young farm laborer would work long enough to establish his own farm, or - perhaps more likely - inherit a part of his father's farm and become a proper landowner who would then employ young farmhands to do his dirty work. This was the cultural narrative, but of course it didn't always play out in real life. It might have been somewhat disappointing if Thomas ended up working as a laborer on other people's farms into his fifties. The fact that he had to support an aged father and adult children at the same time might have compounded his difficulties.

While it's possible that Nathan Brundage was also employed as a farmhand (although it isn't explicitly stated in the census), Rachel Ann's opportunities to provide for her own financial support would have been limited. Taking on the kind of employment that was open to women - such as millinery or teaching - might have reflected poorly on her father and brother's ability to fulfill their cultural roles as men. Thus it wouldn't be surprising if she was encouraged to marry - implicitly if not explicitly - in order to ease her family's financial burden and fulfill her own culturally prescribed role.

So what happened to Rachel Ann? Of course, we know from the will that she ultimately married, but I had the hardest time tracking her down. I guess it shouldn't have surprised me that in a document with a number of spelling idiosyncrasies - including "exutors," "autherize," "equily," "shair," and "intrest"- that Rachel's married name was spelled incorrectly. "Brazill" was actually "Bradsell."

Richard Bradsell, who was ten years his wife's senior, was born in New York to English parents. In 1880, the couple was living together in North Castle.

1880 Federal Census

Since Richard and Rachel weren't married until after 1870 (according to the 1900 census, they were married in 1874), Hiram Bradsell, a 21-year-old shoemaker, must have been Richard's son from his previous marriage. The other three sons were presumably Richard and Rachel's, her first-born son named for his grandfather Thomas. So Rachel, like her mother, didn't have children until her 30s. Given the trend in my own peer group, I suppose Susan and Rachel were just ahead of the times (though I doubt either was delaying childbearing until she was ABD).

According to the census, Richard was a "painter." The 1900 census is more specific - he was a house painter. In that year, he and Rachel were living with three of their sons - Thomas, Walter, and William - and Thomas's wife Theda. Rachel was said to be the mother of five children, one of whom had died. Thomas was a hotel keeper and farmer, Walter was a farm laborer, and William, who was only 14, was in school.

There are no real conclusions to be drawn here, only speculation. Did Thomas Brundage anticipate that his daughter would be destitute? Perhaps not, but the possibility was on his mind, perhaps because of his own experience struggling to support a family on a farmhand's wage. Perhaps the most important knowledge to take away from this, from my perspective, is the fact that people like Thomas were aware that women - even married women living in a middle-class community - could become destitute, and that the beneficence of their relatives might be all that kept them from the almshouse. Other fathers might have trusted that their sons would take care of their daughters in such a situation, but Thomas Brundage wasn't willing to take that chance.

While I can't comment on the moral character of Rachel's brothers in particular, I have seen records from the almshouse explicitly stating that a female resident was left destitute by relatives who either refused to support her or actually took her money. One widow allegedly had her savings squandered by her son and his wife; another languished in the poorhouse while her well-off children refused to provide for her. Perhaps Thomas Brundage wasn't even considering his son-in-law's ability to provide for his daughter; maybe he was looking ahead to her potential widowhood and the children, then only hypothetical, who might abuse or neglect her.

One part of the package of assumptions that overlies the middle class is that middle-classness is a relatively stable part of one's identity, much like race or gender. Class, then and now, is so much more than one's level of income or amount of property owned; it is a part of one's worldview and way of existing in the world. Yet middle-class people in the 19th century were often much closer to the margins than they would like to believe. Class could not be taken for granted, but had to be continuously cultivated and perpetuated from generation to generation. One couple's hard work to establish and maintain their middle-class status could all be undone if the next generation was too irresponsible or simply too unlucky. Provisions like those in Thomas Brundage's acted as insurance on the middle-class status - the class associated more than any others with simple "comfort," rather than luxury (upper class) or hardship (lower class) - of their successors. Thus, middle-class status was, in some respects, a heritable trait - but one that could be very easily lost.

Family Tree

1. Thomas H. Brundage (1818-1875) m. Susan Brundage (1807-1868)
1. John Brundage (1838-) m. Unknown
1. Susan Brundage (1868-) 
2. Nathan Brundage (1840-)
3. Rachel Ann Brundage (1843-) m. Richard Bradsell (1833-) in 1874
1. Thomas R. Bradsell (1875-) m. Theda
2. Samuel T. Bradsell (1878-)
3. Walter Bradsell (1879-)
4. William Bradsell (1885-)
4. Walter Timothy Brundage (1848-)

Harry Brundage

Harry Brundage, the only child of Nathan and Armenia Brundage, died in 1912 at the age of 24. According to the inscription, his gravestone was "erected by Mutual Engine & Hose Co."

1900 US Federal Census

Harry's father and mother died in 1903 and 1904, respectively. I haven't been able to find much more beyond this family of Brundages beyond that. I would be interested to know whether Harry died in the line of duty as a firefighter, and if he was married before he died.

1. Nathan Brundage (1843-1903) m. Armenia (1853-1904)
1. Harry F. Brundage (1888-1912)

28: Mary L. Yerks

Mary L. Yerks is one of three of Anthony and Louisa Yerks's daughters who are buried in the cemetery. The other two are Derinda Yerks, who died in 1856 at the age of five, and Sarah E. Yerks, who died in 1884 at the age of 22.

Anthony Yerks, the son of Peter and Mary Yerks, was born around 1826; his wife Louisa Ann was born around 1825.

This 1860 census is kind of hard to read, but you can make out the names of Anthony and Louisa Yerks and four of their children. One child, of course, had already died at this point.

1860 US Federal Census

By 1870, the Yerks family now had five children, and lived together with Anthony's father Peter and brother Gilbert.

1870 US Federal Census

Here is the Yerks family again in 1880. Here things get a little confused for me, because one of the family trees on Ancestry suggests that Adelia Yerks married Thomas Farrington and that they had two children by 1880, yet here she appears as an unmarried daughter living with her parents. Also, it's pretty clear that Louisa wasn't five years older than her daughter. She was 56, not 36.

1880 US Federal Census

Anthony - or Marc Anthony as he is called in his obituary - died in 1891. The obituary states he leaves behind "a son and daughter," but I believe this is referring to the son and daughter (George and Mary) who were still living at home at this point.

Nine years later, Louisa Yerks was living with George and Mary along with Harry Farrington, age 25. This is why the census for 1880 must be incorrect in some way - I found Harry Farrington as a child living with Adelia Yerks Farrington, who must have been married before his birth in 1875. Harry also had a younger brother, Arthur.

1900 US Federal Census

Ten years later, 87-year-old Louisa Yerks was living with her daughter Elmira Yerks Brundage, Elmira's daughter Florence, and a cousin, David Yerks.

1910 US Federal Census

Anthony Yerks's brother Gilbert Yerks, born 1834, served in the 17th New York Infantry from May 1861 to June 1863. In 1870 and 1880, he was living with his brother and his family and was unmarried. Then, in 1898, at the age of 65, he married a 56-year-old woman named Sarah B. According to the 1900 census, Sarah was the mother of 12 children, only four of whom were living.

As for the rest of Anthony and Louisa's children ...

Adelia A. Yerks married Thomas Farrington, a blacksmith and the son of George and Susan Farrington, and had two sons, Harry and Arthur. She died in 1935. Her son Arthur died in 1983 at the age of 103.

Elmira Yerks married Smith Brundage in 1876 and had five children, only two of whom were living in 1900.

Mary L. Yerks didn't marry and died in 1908 at the age of 52.

Gilbert W. Yerks was a farmer and didn't marry until 1902, when he was 41. He and his wife Martha had two daughters, Edith and Olive.

Sarah E. Yerks died in 1884 at the age of 22.

1. Peter Yerks (1795-) m. Mary (1799-)
1. Marc Anthony Yerks (1826-1891) m. Louisa Ann (1825-)
1. Adelia A. Yerks (1849-1935) m. Thomas Farrington (1849-)
1. Harry Farrington (1875-) m. Mary Jimeson (1873-1942)
1. Walter Farrington (1906-) m. Mary (1900-)
1. Donald R. Farrington (1930-)
2. Thomas Farrington (1933-)
2. Clarence Farrington (1908-1939)
3. Mildred Farrington (1916-)
2. Arthur Farrington (1880-1983) m. Jennie (1883-)
1. Ralph T. Farrington (1902-) m. Lillian (1903-)
1. Helen E. Farrington (1928-)
2. Ernest C. Farrington (1906-) m. Grace (1908-)
1. Ernest Farrington (1934-)
2. Ronald Farrington (1939-)
2. Derinda Yerks (1851-1856)
3. Elmira Yerks (1854-) m. Smith Brundage (1852-) in 1876
1. Florence Brundage (1880-)
2. William H. Brundage (1881-) m. Tillie Dingee (1877-)
4. Mary L. Yerks (1854-1908)
5. George W. Yerks (1859-) m. Martha (1878-) in 1902
1. Edith Yerks (1903-1977) m. Norman Williams Lander (1903-)
1. George Washington Lander (1928-1989)
2. Olive Yerks (1907-1985)
6. Sarah E. Yerks (1862-1884)
2. Gilbert Yerks (1833-) m. Sarah B. (1842-)
3. Alexander Yerks (1836-1909)

25: Henry and Abigail Tyler (update)

Graves of Henry and Abigail Tyler

Update on April 23, 2013: This entry has now been updated to reflect information taken from The Richard Washburn Genealogy by Ada Clementine Acker Haight (1937).

In 1850, the Tylers - Henry and Abigail - lived with their four children near the cemetery.

1850 US Federal Census

Henry Dusenbury Tyler died in 1854. In 1860, his widow appears in the census with the occupation "farmer" - the first time I ever think I've seen a woman called a "farmer" in a 19th-century census. Also notable is the fact that the family's wealth had increased considerably since 1850, despite the fact that Henry had died and two children had left the house.

1860 US Federal Census

Henry and Abigail's son Gilbert died in 1868 at the age of 33. Meanwhile, their daughter Mary Freelove married Elisha Belcher Sarles, the son of Robert Sarles and Jemima Washburn. In 1870, Abigail was living with Elisha and Mary and their three children, including one set of twins. It's frustrating that the 1870 census doesn't say how the two other children in the household, Mary Jones and Elizabeth Sarles, are related to the rest of the family. At age 9, Mary Jones isn't too old to be Mary Sarles's daughter from a previous marriage, but that's just speculation. Elizabeth Sarles may have worked for the Sarleses as a domestic servant, but was she also a relative?

1870 US Federal Census

Abigail Brundage Tyler died in 1879 at the age of 81, and was buried beside her husband in the cemetery.

Mary's husband Elisha had quite a Civil War record. This is his muster roll abstract:

Let's see if I can work out some of the details. It looks as though he enlisted twice - in September 1861 and again in December 1863. On July 1, 1863, he was promoted to Corporal. He was sick in the hospital and later "wounded in the arm severely," but I have a hard time figuring out the dates - do they come before or after the event they describe?

In any case, Elisha Sarles belonged to the 49th New York Infantry, which happens to have its own reenactment group. Later he served in the 2nd Battalion, Veteran Reserve Corps, which doesn't have a reenactment group, but probably should.

I have recently become intrigued with Revolutionary War and Civil War reenactments, thanks in part to my friend Ramona. She's a journalist who documents her own investigation into Civil War history, including Civil War reenactments, on her blog The Civil War Tours. When I saw her yesterday, she showed me the catalog she'd just picked up from the current Metropolitan exhibition Photography and the Civil War. I was completely transfixed by the photographs in the catalog and am planning on seeing the exhibit for myself very soon.

Mary Freelove Tyler Sarles died in 1874. In 1880, Elisha lived with his four children and one servant, Betsey. Strangely, although his three older children are clearly the same three children from the 1870 census, two of them have different names. "Addie" is now "Abby," and "Jemima" is "Alice." In fact, these children are Abigail Tyler Sarles and Jemima "Mima" Alice Sarles. Tyler was clearly given his mother's maiden name as his first name.

1880 US Federal Census

After his wife's death, Elisha married Phebe Jane Ackerman, who was born in 1855 and died in 1890. He then married Jane Ann Jackson Mead, the widow of Gilbert Mead, who was born in 1843.

1900 US Federal Census

The 1910 census reveals that this was in fact Elisha's third marriage, and Jane's second. She had three children from her first marriage. They lived with one servant, Julia. Sadly, Jane died this year.

1910 US Federal Census

In 1915, I discovered something wonderful (well, to me, anyway). Elisha, having been widowed for a third time, was living with a family of Hamblens! My great-grandmother was Ruth Card Hamblin, and it was her research on the Hamblin family that first got me interested in family history, even though we never met. The Hamblens in this case are Elisha's daughter's family. Were they related to my Hamblins? We'll get to that later on.

1915 US Federal Census

By 1920, Elisha Sarles had died. Collins Emerson Hamblen, who was a tea and coffee salesman, and Abigail Tyler Hamblen were living with their four adult children: Allen Henry, also a tea and coffee salesman; Jessie Sarles, a bookkeeper in a dry goods store;  Edwin Tyler, a salesman for United Tobacco; and Harold Belcher, another tea and coffee salesman.

1920 US Federal Census

By 1930, only one Hamblin child remained in the house. Thirty-two-year-old Harold was still a salesman, and had married Violet Engleman in 1922, but apparently his wife and their son Harold Collins Hamblen, born in 1924, were not living with him at this time.

1930 US Federal Census

Both Collins and Abigail Hamblen died in the 1930s.

(Source)

This was Collins's obituary from 1937. It reveals the name of the business Collins and his sons owned - appropriately, C. Hamblen's Sons Teas and Coffees, which Collins had formed from the old Van Dyck Tea and Coffee Agency.

Yonkers Statesman 1937

Now, let's see if I can sum up the lives of Collins and Abigail's children.

Alice Estelle Hamblen was the Hamblens' first child; I neglected to mention her before because by the first census (1915) in which I mention the Hamblens, she was already married to Jonathan Holden, a lawyer and the son of Stephen Holden and Elizabeth Bentley. Between 1911 and 1925, they had ten children, including a set of twins named Haldis and Hildred. The family was living in Pleasantville in 1930 and Pine Plains in 1940. Alice and Jonathan died in the 1960s.

Allen Henry Hamblen worked as a grocery salesman and in 1920 married Agnes F. Jack, whose father was a Scottish immigrant. They were living in Yonkers in 1930 and had one child, Margaret Abigail, who was born in 1923. I can't find them in the 1940 census. Allen died in 1941.

Jessie Sarles Hamblen married Samuel Strachen McBride, who worked in real estate and was born in 1886 in Coreen, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. They lived in Yorktown and had four children, one whom they named Hamblyn. Jessie died in 1984.

Edwin Tyler Hamblen married a woman named Lissa in 1929 and worked in Collins's store in Mount Vernon. They had one child, Mary Jane Hamblen, born in 1930. He died in 1974.

Harold Belcher Hamblen married Violet Engleman in 1922 and also worked in his father's store. They had one child, Harold Collins Hamblen, born in 1924, who died in 1968. Harold Sr. died in 1978.

In the family tree below, you can see various members of the Tyler family whom I investigated, but haven't mentioned in the post above because it's simply too much.

Most popular names:
Abigail (4)
Alice (3)
Estelle (3)
Harold (2)
Edwin (2)
Ellis (2)

Surnames used as first names: Collins Emerson Hamblen, Hamlin McBride, Tyler Sarles

1. Henry Dusenbury Tyler (1795-1854) m. Abigail S. Brundage (1798-1879)
1. Reuben B. Tyler (1828-1877) m. Fanny Tripp (1833-)
1. Martha Tyler (1854-)
2. William Tyler (1858-)
3. Emma Tyler (1860-)
2. Sarah M. Tyler (1830-)
3. Gilbert Henry Tyler (1834-1868)
4. Mary Freelove Tyler (1838-1874) m. Elisha B. Sarles (1838-) in 1866; he later married Phebe Jane Ackerman (1855-1890) and Jane Ann Jackson (1843-1910)
1. Abigail Tyler Sarles (1867-1931) m. Collins Emerson Hamblen (1867-1937) in 1887
1. Alice Estelle Hamblen (1888-1961) m. Jonathan Holden (1881-1967) in 1910
1. Elizabeth Holden (1911-)
2. Janet Holden (1912-)
3. Randall Holden (1915-)
4. Shirley Holden (1916-)
5. Audrey Holden (1917-)
6. Haldis Holden (1920-)
7. Hildred Holden (1920-)
8. Roger Holden (1921-)
9. John Holden (1923-)
10. Edwin Holden (1925-)
2. Allen Henry Hamblen (1890-1941) m. Agnes F. Jack (1892-) in 1920
1. Margaret Abigail Hamblen (1923-)
3. Jessie Sarles Hamblen (1893-1984) m. Samuel Strachen McBride (1886-)
1. Harold Gordon McBride (1922-1925)
2. Abby Estel McBride (1923-)
3. Hamblyn McBride (1924-)
4. Robert McBride (1927-)
4. Edwin Tyler Hamblen (1896-1974) m. Lissa (1905-) in 1929
1. Mary Jane Hamblen (1930-)
5. Harold Belcher Hamblen (1897-1978) m. Violet Engleman in 1922
1. Harold Collins Hamblin (1924-1968)
2. Robert Ellis Sarles (1869-1887)
3. Jemima Alice Sarles (1869-) m. Ellsworth Carpenter (1862-) in 1894
1. Florence Freelove Carpenter (1896-1896)
2. Ellis Jerome Carpenter (1897-) m. Mary Anna Close (1894-)
1. Frank Jerome Carpenter (1916-1933)
2. Alice Adele Carpenter (1918-)
3. George Henry Carpenter (1919-)
3. Mary Estelle Carpenter (1899-) m. Harold L. Southworth (1902-) in 1922
1. Harold L. Southworth (1923-1926)
2. Evelyn Barbara Southworth (1925-)
3. Eloise Lane Southworth (1927-)
4. Alice Bliss Southworth (1929-)
5. Diana Mary Southworth (1931-)
4. Tyler Dusenbury Sarles (1874-) m. (1) Cora Edna Underhill (1879-1897) in 1896; (2) Mertie Van Tassel (1886-1917) in 1903

Now, to return to the urgent question: was Collins Hamblen related to my Hamblin family? If you're interested in the answer, you can continue reading.

Howard Green

Grave of Howard Green

Now that it's back upright again, I thought it might be a good time to take a look at the gravestone of Howard Green and establish his place in the Green family. As it turns out, Howard was the grandson of the John and Mary Green who were the first immigrant couple I found in the cemetery. Howard's father was John and Mary's son John Green, and his mother was Fannie L. Brundage, daughter of Merritt and Alvira Brundage. This is their family tree, with the people who are buried in the cemetery in green:

1. John Green (1814-1896) m. Mary (1816-1901)
1. Alice Green (1847-)
2. Elizabeth Green (1852-)
3. Flora Green (1855-1860)
4. John Green (1856-before 1920) m. Fannie L. Brundage (1861-after 1940)
1. Howard Green (1883-1884)
2. Mabel Green  (1887-after 1940)
3. Lillian Green (1890-after 1940)
5. Anna Green (1857-)
6. Selena Green (1861-)

Sadly, Howard Green died at the age of one year. His two sisters, Mabel and Lillian, didn't marry, but lived in their family home as adults and worked as teachers. They and their mother Fannie were all living in 1940.

10: Gilbert and Mary Merritt Brundage

Grave of Mary Merritt Brundage

In 1850, Gilbert Brundage, a farmer, and his wife Mary were living with their three daughters - Susan, 28; Fanny, 25; and Sarah, 21; and 19-year-old son Merritt, as well as an eight-year-old Irish boy named Thomas Malory. The Brundages' real estate was valued at $10,000.

1850 US Federal Census

In the same year, Merritt's future wife Elvira Merritt (yes, Merritt) was living with her father, also named Gilbert, who was a painter with an estate worth only $1,000.

1850 US Federal Census

Four years after this census was taken, Gilbert died at the age of 67.

Grave of Gilbert Brundage

In 1860, his widow Mary was living with their son Merritt and his wife Elvira, 32-year-old Susan Green (Merritt's sister?), 28-year-old Sarah Brundage (Merritt's sister?), one-year-old Gilbert Brundage (Merritt and Elvira's son?), 19-year-old Whitney Brundage (whom I suspect might actually be Elvira's brother Whitney Merritt), and 13-year-old John Wood. As you can tell, the relationships between these people aren't made clear in the census.

1860 US Federal Census

In 1870 Mary and her daughter Sarah were living on their own. Mary died in 1875 at the age of 84.

1870 US Federal Census

Merritt's family appears in the 1870 census directly below Mary, suggesting they were neighbors.He and Elvira now have three children, two of whom were named after Merritt's family members.

1870 US Federal Census

Ten years later, the Brundages were living with their two youngest children, Merritt's brother-in-law Nathan Merritt (does this mean that Elvira was a Merritt, or is Nathan actually a cousin?), German boarder Charles Schmidt, and boarder Jonathan (?) Frawley. Nathan, Charles, and Jonathan worked in the optical factory. Which optical factory? My favorite optical factory.

1880 US Federal Census

According to the 1910 census, one of Merritt and Alvira's three children had died, presumably Fanny. At that point Merritt was working as a driver of a butcher wagon.

Meanwhile, Merritt's sister Sarah T. Brundage, age 50, was living on her own. She doesn't seem to have married. She died in 1898 at the age of 69 and was buried in the cemetery. This was her obituary:

On Sunday morning, Nov. 20th, 1898, at 5:30 o'clock, occurred the death of Sarah T. Brundage, at her home in this village, at the age of 68 years. About three months ago she was stricken with paralysis, and although at one time she somewhat regained the use of the paralyzed members, she never so far recovered as to be able to be about, and on Sunday previous to her death, she sank into a comatose state, from which she never rallied.

Her funeral occurred on Wednesday at 2 p. m. at the Methodist Church, Rev. A. T. Civill officiating, and the interment was in the family plot in the old Methodist burying ground.

Miss Brundage was born in the town of New Castle, and she was one of the village's old and highly respected residents. She is survived by one brother, Mr. Merritt Brundage, of this place, and two sisters, Mrs. Wm. Horton, who made her home with her, and Mrs. Erastus Johnson, of Rockland county.

Merritt Brundage appears in White Plains city directories up to 1919, when he would have been 88. I can't find Elvira in records after 1910.

Merritt and Elvira's son Gilbert, who was presumably named for both of their fathers, married Ida A. in 1881, and had a son who was named for his brother Frank. Gilbert was a veterinary surgeon, presumably of the James Herriott type, traversing the countryside and whatnot.

1910 US Federal Census

 In 1910 Ida was living with her only child Frank, a farmer. She is listed as married, not widowed, but where was Gilbert?

Whatever happened to Gilbert (and I'm presuming that he just died), Ida was still living in 1925, in the house of her son and his wife Louise E. Presumably she died before 1930, because at that point Frank and Louise were living alone. Frank was a road laborer. In 1940, he was working as a gardener on a private estate.

There's only two Frank Brundages in the Social Security Death Index; one died in Ohio, and the other in New York. The one who died in New York died in October 1962; I'm making a tentative guess that this was our Frank Brundage. There's only one Louise Brundage in the SSDI, and she died in Florida in 1980.

If we can, for a moment, travel back in time to Merritt's older sister Fanny - she married Erastus Johnson, and was living in Kingston, Ulster County, in 1860; in Ramapo, Rockland County, in 1870, with Erastus's 80-year-old father Daniel; and were still in Ramapo in 1900, when this census was taken. They had five children, three of whom were still living with them at this time, at ages 42, 38, and 35. Their daughter Fannie died in 1874.

1900 US Federal Census

Erastus Johnson died on October 28, 1908, at the age of 88, and Fannie in 1912. Erastus's portrait is featured in History of Rockland County, New York: With Biographical Sketches of Its Prominent Men, by Reverend David Cole, published in 1884.

The Johnsons' grave is featured on FindAGrave.com, along with their genealogy. Erastus was the son of Daniel and Hannah Coe Johnson, and had a wife before Fannie, named Elizabeth Raymond, who died in 1848. Erastus, Elizabeth, Fannie, and their children are buried in Summit Park Cemetery in Rockland County.

Strangely, three of Erastus and Fannie's four children seem to have never married. In fact, the three of them were still living together in 1930. Frederick died in 1933 and Annie in 1936. In 1940, 78-year-old Ida was living with her 84-year-old sister Elizabeth Eckerson and her 66-year-old nephew Harry - or rather, they were living with her, as Ida was listed as the head of household. She is also listed as widowed, which either means that I'm wrong and Ida was married, but resumed her maiden name at some point, or the census is mistaken.

1940 US Federal Census

Susan M. Brundage, Gilbert and Mary's oldest child, married William Horton.

1. Gilbert Brundage (1787-1854) m. Mary Merritt (1791-1875) before 1822
1. Susan M. Brundage (1822-?) m. William Horton
2. Fanny L. Brundage (1825-1912) m. Erastus Johnson (1820-1908) in 1854
1. Elizabeth Johnson (b. 1848) m. John Eckerson (b. 1843)
1. Harry J. Eckerson (b. 1874)
2. Annie Downing Johnson (1858-1936)
3. Ida Lincoln Johnson (1862-1940)
4. Frederick Merritt Johnson (1864-1933)
5. Fannie Brundage Johnson (1864-1874)
3. Sarah T. Brundage (1829-1898)
4. Merritt Brundage (1831-after 1919) m. Elvira Merritt (1838-1924) in 1860
1. Gilbert Brundage (b. 1859) m. Ida (b. 1861)
1. Frank G. Brundage (1882-1962?) m. Louise E. (1892-1980?) in 1913
2. Fannie Brundage (1861-after 1940) m. John Green (1856-before 1920)
3. Frank Brundage (b. 1862)

9: Gilbert, Mahalia, and Emeline Tompkins

Grave of Gilbert H. Tompkins

The cemetery is the final resting place of Gilbert H. Tompkins, his wives Emeline and Mahalia, and four Tompkins children ranging in age from two to 16 years.

Gilbert was born around 1801. Mahalia Brown, born around 1804, was his first wife and the mother of the children.

1830

In the stupid 1830 Federal Census (yes, I said it) Gilbert H. Tompkins is listed as the head of a household of nine people: three men between the ages of 20 and 29; one woman between the ages of 20 and 29; one man and one woman between the ages of 40 and 49; two girls younger than 5; one boy between the ages of 15 and 19; and one person who was listed as "deaf/dumb" and younger than 14.

This is why the 1830 Census is stupid - I have to do the guessing as to who these people were. One of the 20-29-year-old men was Gilbert, and presumably the woman in her 20s was his wife Mahalia. The little girls, one of whom was deaf or dumb (or both), were probably their daughters. The man and woman in their 40s could be Gilbert's or Mahalia's parents. The teenage boy could be a brother.

Was either of the two little girls buried in the graveyard? Well, let's first ask which of Gilbert and Mahalia's children were alive in 1830. Their daughter Adelia was one year old in 1830. She is probably one of the little girls. And their daughter Elizabeth Ann would have been six years old. Gilbert and Mahalia's son Franklin wouldn't be born until 1838 and their daughter Mary Jane until 1833.

Since one year old seems a little young for a deaf/dumb diagnosis, especially back in the day, I have to assume that Elizabeth Ann was the "deaf/dumb" person under 14 listed in the 1830 Census.

The Tompkinses' neighbors at this time have surnames that are just on the verge of making me roll my eyes - I've seen them so many times - namely, Miller, Purdy, and Kirby. These names are rampant throughout this area all through the eighteenth, nineteenth, and early twentieth centuries - and then they disappear.

1840 US Federal Census

In the 1840 Census, which is also stupid, Gilbert's household numbered only four - himself, his wife, and two sons, one age 5-9, and the other age 10-14. At this point I'm not sure who they are. The couple's son Franklin B. would have been two years old at this time, if he were still living; he died in June 1840. I can't tell from this stupid census what month it was taken.

In the years since the last census, the Tompkinses' two daughters had died - Adelia on April 4, 1834,  at the age of 5, and Elizabeth Ann on March 16, 1840, at the age of 16 - and another daughter, Mary Jane, had been born in 1833 and died in 1836.

Grave of Mary Jane Tompkins

Everything is illuminated with the inauguration of the First Official Non-Stupid Federal Census in 1850. Here, finally, is Gilbert H. Tompkins, hatter, with his wife Mahalia, their 19-year-old son Washington G. Tompkins, carpenter, their 8-year-old daughter Mary E. Tompkins, their 6-year-old son Gilbert Jr., and Mahalia's father George Brown, age 69.

1850 US Federal Census

How do I know that George Brown was Mahalia's father? I just do.

You want me to prove it? Well, I can't. I can't because if Mahalia was living with George Brown at a time before she was married to Gilbert, her name wouldn't have been recorded, because she's a woman. So you'll just have to trust me when I say that no one takes in a 69-year-old man unless he is his/her father/father-in-law. Especially in 1850 when you have hats to make.

Speaking of hats, Gilbert's hat-making business is further described in the Non-Population Schedules. He worked by himself, making 400 custom wool and fur hats a year at a value of $650. Was that in proceeds or profits? Who knows, they were still working that capitalism thing out at this point.

Sadly, Mahalia didn't survive to see the next census. She died on August 9, 1856, at the age of 52. I lose Gilbert in the next census, but he reappears in 1870, married to Emeline Cornelia Mead. He is 69 and working as a farm laborer; she is 59. The value of their real estate is $2000.

1870 US Federal Census

Emeline would have been about 45 when Mahalia died. I had assumed that her marriage to Gilbert must have been the second for her as well, but I was mistaken. It was her first - and not her last. Here she is in History and Genealogy of the Mead Family of Fairfield County, Connecticut. Her parents were Edmund Mead and Rebecca Knapp.

page 290

In 1880, Gilbert was still working as a farm laborer at the age of 79. He died on August 16, 1885, at the age of 84.

Afterward Emeline married Harvey Briggs, and died on July 25, 1892. Her gravestone only mentions Gilbert as her husband.

Grave of Emeline Cornelia Mead Tompkins Briggs

What of the surviving Tompkins children? I think this is Gilbert H. Tompkins Jr. in 1880, although the age doesn't exactly match up with the six-year-old Gilbert of 1850 - he should be 36, not 30. Close enough? Mostly I want this to be him because he worked at the optical factory. That optical factory is now famous, as far as I'm concerned. You wouldn't know, because I haven't posted any relevant genealogies yet, but a lot of the people buried in the cemetery (or their relatives) worked at that optical factory. I know exactly where it was, too. One day I'm going to scope out the ruins.

1880 US Federal Census

Anyway - here is Gilbert Jr. with his wife Sarah and children Harry, Edith, and Emeline. Was Emeline named for Gilbert's stepmother? Was 24-year-old Sarah really the mother of 9-year-old Harry?

I can't say. But here's the marriage announcement for Gilbert's daughter Edith in 1893. She would have been just 18.

Edith Tompkins's marriage announcement 1893

Seven years later, the couple was living in Ossining with their two daughters, Helen and Madeline. According to the census, Philip's father was born in Germany and his mother was born in Pennsylvania, and he was a plumber.

1900 US Federal Census

Ten years later, the Flecks were still in Ossining, living at 7 Everett Avenue with their daughters Helen, Madeline, and Phyllis, and their 24-year-old servant Mary, who was from Virginia. I can't quite make out Mary's last name.

1910 US Federal Census

According to this realtor's listing, their house was built that same year. This is what it looks like today.

7 Everett Avenue, Ossining

In 1915, the family employed a 16-year-old cook named Elizabeth Erlem, and lived at 82 South Highland Avenue in Ossining. Was Erlem Mary's last name too? It looks like it could be.

1915 New York State Census

In 1925, youngest daughter Phyllis was the only child left in the house on South Highland Avenue. Age 21, she worked as an accountant.

1925 New York State Census

But she was gone in 1930, when Philip and Edith were living with their maid servant Anna Colman, who was 19 and born in Ireland. The Flecks owned their house, which was worth $35,000. Philip worked as a contractor in plumbing and heating.

1930 US Federal Census

Philip died sometime within the next decade, leaving Edith a widow by 1940. At that point she rented a home at 58 Ellis Place in Ossining, where she lived with her widowed 41-year-old daughter, Madeline Little. Madeline, an interior decorator, was currently unemployed.

1940 US Federal Census

Ten years earlier, Madeline had lived in Morristown, New Jersey, with her husband Stuart Little, a newspaper editor. Yes, Stuart Little. They had been married for eight years.

1930 US Federal Census

Curiously enough, though Madeline is listed as "widowed" in the 1940 census, Stuart Little enlisted in the war on August 15, 1942. In fact, he didn't die until 1968, according to U.S. Veteran Gravesites Records. He was ultimately a Colonel. Were he and Madeline divorced?

It would seem so, because Stuart was buried at the West Point US Military Academy Cemetery with Bessie Herman Little, who died in 2002 in Oregon. She was a magazine editor who is credited with creating the character Patsy Walker for the second issue of "Miss America" magazine. I've never heard of Patsy Walker, but you can read all about it in this interview with Allen Bellman, whom I've also never heard of.

Madeline Fleck Little died in 1994 in Washington, D.C., at the age of 95.

And what about Madeline's aunt Emeline, youngest child of Gilbert Jr. and Sarah Tompkins? She married William Heagle in 1896. In 1900, the couple was living with William's parents in Ossining, and William was working as a post office clerk.

1900 US Federal Census

In 1910, they had an eight-year-old son, William Jr., and were living with William's father at 58 Ellis Place. Yes, the same building where Emeline's sister Edith Fleck and niece Madeline Little lived in 1930. All four were still there in 1920, when William Sr. was working as a real estate broker, and William Jr. was working as a night watchman at a wire mill. I wish it was the optical factory.

1910 US Federal Census

And yes, Emeline and William were still living at 58 Ellis Place in 1930 - but they owned the house, while Emeline's sister Edith rented.

The 1940 census found Emeline, a widow, as a guest at the Seaside Inn in Daytona Beach, Florida. Yet she was also listed in the census in Ossining, living with her son William, her daughter-in-law Helen, and their son Peter. William Jr. was the owner of a real estate business, presumably inherited from William Sr. They lived at 44 South Highland Avenue.

Well. I feel like I should make an attempt to sort out all these various Tompkinses, Meads, Browns, Flecks, and Heagles, and fill in some of the missing bits. So here goes ...

1. Gilbert H. Tompkins (1801-1885) m. Mahalia Brown (1804-1856) before 1824; m. Emeline Cornelia Mead (1811-1892) in 1858; Emeline married Harvey Briggs after 1885
1. Elizabeth Ann Tompkins (1824-1840)
2. Adelia Tompkins (1829-1834)
3. Washington G. Tompkins (b. 1831)
4. Mary Jane Tompkins (1833-1836)
5. Franklin B. Tompkins (1838-1840)
6. Mary E. Tompkins (b. 1842)
7. Gilbert H. Tompkins (b. 1844) m. Sarah (b. 1856)
1. Harry O. Tompkins (b. 1871) m. Elenora Brundage (b. 1871) in 1896
1. Russell Jesse Tompkins (b. 1897) m. Anna (b. 1897)
1. Russell G. Tompkins (b. 1920)
2. Clarence Gilbert Tompkins (b. 1898) m. Emma (b. 1911) in 1929
1. Elenore (b. 1930)
3. Eva M. Tompkins (1900-before 1910)
2. Edith M. Tompkins (b. 1873) m. Philip H. Fleck (b. 1871) in 1893
1. Helen J. Fleck (b. 1896)
2. Madeline Fleck (1898-1994) m. Stuart Little (1898-1968); divorced before 1940; he married Bessie Herman (1911-2002)
3. Phyllis A. Fleck (b. 1901)
3. Emeline Tompkins (b. 1875) m. William Heagle (b. 1873) in 1896
1. William Heagle (b. 1902) m. Helen (b. 1902)
1. Peter Heagle (b. 1931)

Let's see if I can sum up some of the things I discovered since making this list -

1. Gilbert Jr.'s son Henry married Elenora Brundage. A Brundage! There are plenty of those in the cemetery. Henry was a shipping clerk in 1900. They had two sons, and a daughter who died young. The family was living in Manhattan in 1910 - 3153 Broadway. Bronx in 1915. Greenburgh, NY, in 1940, when Henry was working as an elevator operator.

2. Russell Tompkins had a World War I Draft Registration Card! My favorite! He worked for a railroad company. He had brown hair and blue eyes. In 1940, still a railroad inspector making $2000+ a year in Mount Pleasant. Wife Anna, son Russell G.

3. Clarence G. Tompkins married Emma when he was 31 and she was 18. In 1930, living at 132 St. Mark's Place, Brooklyn; he worked as a restaurant manager. Daughter Elenore. In 1940, living in Queens, 1424 30th Ave. Income $1920/year. World War I Draft Registration Card - working as a railroad steward; tall, medium build, brown eyes, brown hair.