The Moseleys

My last post featured this excerpt from a 1976 article about St. Mark's Church: "Efforts to locate the old rectory led (Mr. Hall's) sister, Catherine Hall Metz to recall that the site opposite the old church, where Conte's fishmarket now stands, was the home of a black family named Moseley who had been slaves before the Civil War. 'Mrs. Moseley,' Mrs. Metz remembered, 'taught piano to the Baldwins and others.'"

Sure enough, I found the Moseleys - or specifically a G. Moseley - living at that location in 1901. The Moseley house was sandwiched between St. Mark's Church and its parsonage, and would have had a lovely view of Kirby Pond before it was drained in 1888. G. Moseley still owned the property in the 1929-31 atlas. At this time it seemed that the house had been expanded, and a corner of the property now belonged to R. Moseley.

New Castle Corners 1901

New Castle Corners 1929-31

Looking into the census, I was able to identify George Moseley, the landowner, and his daughter Ruth Moseley, the piano teacher, in 1940. George's place of birth is given as Delaware, which was indeed a slave state at the time of his birth circa 1850 (that was only 23 years after slavery was abolished in New York State). You can see that each person's level of education was noted in this census. Ruth's was "C-2" (two years of college) while her father's was "0" (meaning no formal education). Viola Brice, age 19, was the Moseleys' maid, a native of Florida.

1940 US Federal Census of New Castle

I was also able to find the Moseleys mentioned a few times in the local paper. In 1932, the Recorder noted: "Miss Ruth Moseley, well known pianist of [the village], was the guest of Mr. and Mrs. William F. Kingsland of 30 Mechanics avenue last Saturday." In the 1930 census, William Kingsland, who was a mailman, his wife Carrie, and their 12-year-old daughter Esther were living at 30 Mechanics Avenue in Tarrytown.

The 1930 census shows that Ruth Moseley was born in New York, while both of her parents were born in Delaware. It also indicates that George was married for the first time at the age of fourteen, and indicates that he could neither read nor write.

1930 US Federal Census of New Castle

In the 1925 New York State Census, a family of Stevenses and one servant, Albertine Appo, were living with George and Ruth. This was the first census (going backward) in which George, then 75, was listed as having an occupation: "general laborer."

1925 New York State Census of New Castle

The 1910 census is the first (going backward) in which George's wife Annie appears. Like George, she and her parents were born in Delaware; also like George, she could neither read nor write. They were recorded having been married for 32 years (circa 1878). Annie was the mother of one child, which one would assume would be Ruth, but this will come into question later on. Eliott McMaster, a Scottish hired man, lived with them.

1910 US Federal Census of New Castle

The 1900 census gives more specific information about George's and Annie's dates of birth: George in March 1855, and Annie in August 1856. Contradicting the 1910 census, George was said to have been born in Maryland and Annie in New York. Though Annie was still listed as the mother of one child, Ruth was not recorded in the census. Instead, David Turpeau, a minister born in Louisiana, was listed as George and Annie's son. They also had one boarder, Sarah Brown.

1900 US Federal Census of New Castle

On May 16, 1890, the local paper reported:

According to a notice from 1887, "Mr. Arctic DeVoe, from Savannah," a "young colored man who has been living in this village for the past three years" who had been "recently employed by Mr. J. H. Crane, the furniture dealer," was now working as a coachman for County Register J. O. Miller. The paper added, "'Art' is quite a nice young fellow, attends to his business, and is thoroughly reliable."

It is interesting to note that George Moseley also worked as a coachman at this time - for none other than Judge William H. Leonard (hero/villain of the Kirby Pond controversy). On February 3, 1888, the Recorder reported that George Moseley "has bought the house and lot known as the Jackson house, east of New Castle Corners, and now occupied by Mr. Benjamin Miller."

A year earlier, in August of 1887, Moseley saved a man from being killed on the railroad tracks (a fate that befell far too many others in the village). The man happened to be Marcus Dean, who is buried in the cemetery. It seems that Dean was not particularly grateful to Moseley, but that may be due to the fact that he was quite old and in poor health at that time (he died two years later at the age of 89). Dean's obituary notes that he was also blind, in addition to being deaf.

In the 1880 census, George and Annie were living by themselves in Bedford.

1880 US Federal Census of Bedford

A letter from Ruth Moseley to The Crisis (official newspaper of the NAACP) dated December 27, 1929, is held in the W.E.B. DuBois Collection at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst Library. The letter requests information regarding "the John Wananabe Jr. Contest for musicians" and is signed Ruth A. Moseley.

That same year, the New York Age reported that Ruth Moseley and her students gathered books and toys to send to sick children at Harlem Hospital.

The book Breaking Barriers: An African-American Family and the Methodist Story elucidates David Turpeau's relationship to the Moseleys - apparently, George and Annie served as "surrogate parents" to David when he moved from Louisiana to New York. David, whose full name was David DeWitt Turpeau, married Ila Marshall and raised eight children in Ohio, where David served four terms in the State House of Representatives. In 1920, David and Ila christened their second youngest child Leontine Ruth after Ruth Moseley. In 1984, Leontine Ruth Turpeau Kelly became the first black (and second female) Methodist Bishop. She died on June 28, 2012.

Marcus Dean

Grave of Marcus Dean

The following biographical sketch of Marcus Dean was taken from a 1984 report on the cemetery housed at the historical society.

Marcus Dean, better known as "Uncle Marcus," was born about 1800 and died June 3, 1889 at the age of 88. By trade, he was first a stone-wall builder. In later years he became a shoemaker, as did so many in this area. He never married. He was a devoted member of the New Castle Methodist Church, at one time being a class leader.

Without funds and almost blind in his later years, the Methodist Church Trustees and other persons in the village contributed to his support. Probably his gravestone was provided by the same friends.

Update: I found Marcus Dean's original obituary from 1889 at the historical society:

This aged resident of the village has at last passed away and joined the innumerable throng beyond the grave. Mr. Dean died on Monday morning of this week, June 3rd, at about two o'clock, aged 89 years. He had been in very feeble health for some time past, and two weeks ago signs of the approaching end appeared.

Mr. Dean was born in or near this village, and has always lived here. In the earlier years of his manhood, he was a stone wall builder, but after awhile followed the occupation of making shoes.

For many years past he has been unable to do any work, by reason of his advanced age, and the failing of his eyesight and general activity. He has lived in the rooms over Mr. Nelson Grey's shoe shop, and for a year or so past has boarded with him, and been taken care of by Mr. and Mrs. Grey.

Mr. Dean was a faithful member of the M. E. Church, and was a veteran in its service. When he became unable to any longer support himself the Church took upon itself that duty, and by contributions provided for his necessary expenses. Other friends outside also rendered generous aid, chief among them being Mr. T. G. Mathews of New York, a former resident of this village.

The deceased was unmarried. He leaves one sister, Mrs. Wm. Thorne, of Danbury, and a niece Mrs. Robert Sayers, also of Danbury.

14: Debra Ann and Caroline Sarles Dean

Graves of Debra Ann Dean and Caroline Sarles Dean

There are three Deans buried in the cemetery. The graves of Debra Ann Dean (1799-1854) and Caroline Sarles Dean (1826-1906) are next to each other and look a bit incongruous. The former is slim, pale, and modestly detailed, and the latter large, modern, and blocky. Then there is the grave of Marcus Dean, which was badly damaged at some point after 1914; the part that remained was replaced on its base.

How were these people related? Were they related? Debra's grave states that she was the wife of Silas W. Dean, but he isn't buried in the cemetery.

One of Silas Dean's descendants, a man by the name of Henry Cornell Woolley Black, was a member of the Sons of the American Revolution, and it is from his application that I know that Silas himself was a descendant of Elijah Dean, a Revolutionary War soldier. Here is the genealogy that Henry Black wrote:

Sons of the American Revolution Application of Henry C. W. Black, 1932

I figured that Elijah Dean's descendants had probably also joined the DAR, so I searched in their genealogical database. Sure enough, four people have joined the DAR as descendants of Elijah Dean through his son David and his wife Deborah Holmes - including a granddaughter of Henry Black.

But let's return to Debra Ann Greene Dean, who is the only member of this line buried in the cemetery. In 1850, which is the first year that women and children ever existed as far as the census is concerned, she was living in New York City with her husband and their flock of children. Silas was a hatter.

1850 US Federal Census

Here we find a Caroline Dean whose age matches up with the Caroline Sarles Dean buried in the cemetery. I had assumed that she was born Caroline Sarles and married a Dean, but it's also possible that she never married, and that her name was Caroline Sarles Dean from birth.

For the answer, we need to travel 50 years later to 1900, when the 74-year-old Caroline Dean was living with her sister Mary's son Henry - the one who would apply for the Sons of the American Revolution in 1932 - in Pequannoc, New Jersey. Henry lived with his Irish-born wife, Ella (Elinor), their daughter (Caroline) Elizabeth, and three "boarders" who were in fact relatives. Caroline and Selso Dean were Henry's aunt and uncle. Poor Henry and Elinor had had four children in their seven years of marriage, but only one was living.

1900 US Federal Census

Henry was a farmer. Elinor, whose maiden name was Casey, had come to the United States 18 years earlier.

The strangely named Selso Dean, who like his sister never married, was a soldier in the Civil War. I can't find him in any other censuses beside the 1850 and the 1900. He's buried in Arlington Memorial Park Cemetery in New Jersey.

Caroline Dean died on her 80th birthday in 1906 and was buried beside her mother. Four years after her death, her nephew and niece were living with their daughter in Babylon, Long Island. Henry now worked as a bill clerk in an express office - quite different from his former occupation as a farmer. Strangely, they are now listed as the parents of one child, with one living. Was the number given in the 1900 census a mistake, or did the Blacks neglect to mention their three deceased children in order to avoid dredging up bad memories? Perhaps the question was qualified in a different way in the 1910 census, e.g. not counting stillbirths. In any case, it's interesting to note that the 1900 census only counted a mother's children, while the 1910 census enumerates the children of both parents.

1910 US Federal Census

Five years later, the Blacks were still in Babylon, living with Elinor's sister Bessie and 19-year-old Blossom. Who is Blossom? She's listed as Henry and Elinor's daughter, and given her age, I'm inclined to say it's Elizabeth. Why she went by Blossom is a mystery. Her full name, given by her descendants to the DAR, was Caroline Elizabeth Ann Black.

1915 New York State Census

According to the DAR record, Caroline/Elizabeth/Blossom married George Joseph Brooks and died in 1918, leaving a daughter, Mildred Elinor. The date of her death suggests that she could have died in or after childbirth, or possibly in the flu pandemic of that year. As revealed by the 1920 census, Henry and Elinor assumed responsibility their granddaughter's care.

1920 US Federal Census

Elinor Casey Black died in 1925. Henry and Mildred moved in with his sister, Mary Woll (probably Woolley; I suspect the Henry Woolley listed living with Henry was her father-in-law), who seems to have been quite well off. Her house, which she owned, was worth $45,000. For comparison, my great-grandparents bought their five bedroom house in Westchester in the 1920s for about $3,000. The address was 64 West 69th Street - less than a block away from Central Park.

1930 US Federal Census

According to StreetEasy, the building at that address has four stories with ten units and was built in 1910. I believe that this is it, identified on Google Street View (the number 64 can be seen on the door in the lower center):

64 West 69th Street, NY, NY

By 1940, Mary Woolley had died, leaving the house to her brother Henry. He was 70, living with his 21-year-old granddaughter Mildred, 22-year-old lodger Phyllis Kaler, his chauffeur Norman Harris, and his cook (and Norman's wife) Catherine Harris. Both Mildred and Phyllis had been to college, perhaps the same one. Henry worked as a textile salesman.

1940 US Federal Census

Mildred married James Louis Pettit in 1942, and had five children. He was a captain in World War II. Mildred died in 1992 and James in 2008. You can read his obituary here.

1. Elijah Dean (1701-1760) m. (2) Sophia Leonard (1717-1762) in 1742
1. Elijah Dean (1747-1792) m. Susanna Bass (1749-1829) in 1768
1. David Dean (1769-1860) m. Deborah Holmes (1769-1827) in 1796
1. Silas Washington Dean (1800-1865) m. Debra Ann Greene (1799-1854) in 1820
1. Caroline Sarles Dean (1826-1906) 
2. Elizabeth Dean (1832-)
3. Agnes Dean (1834-)
4. William Dean (1835-)
5. Selso Dean (1840-after 1900)
6. Mary Dean (1841-1916) m. John Henry Black (1839-1908) in 1861
1. George H. Black (1864-after 1930) 
2. Mary Black (1866-1930s) m. Unknown Woolley 
3. Henry Cornell Woolley Black (1870-after 1930) m. Elinor Casey (1869-1925) in 1892
1. Caroline Elizabeth Ann Black (1895-1918) m. George Joseph Brooks (1893-)
1. Mildred Elinor Black (1918-1992) m. James Louis Pettit (1917-2008) in 1942