Getting a GRIP on New England Ancestors in July

Can you believe it’s July already, and we're halfway through the year? Where does the time go?

I’m excited for July, though. I don’t mind hot weather, and I love the long, lingering evenings of summer. I’m also looking forward to something I signed up for on a frosty February morning. Later this month, from July 21-26, I’ll be attending the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh (GRIP) at LaRoche College for the second time. I had a great experience last year and learned a tremendous amount in the Advanced Research Methods class, taught by Tom Jones. 

Happy students in Tom Jones' class at GRIP 2012 

This year I’m taking Bridging the 1780-1840 Gap: From New England to the Midwest, coordinated by Josh Taylor. Instructors Debra Mieszala, Rick Sayre, Craig Scott, and Paula Stuart-Warren will also be lending their expertise.

I’m eager to take this course because it focuses on one of the most common research problems I encounter: how to trace a family living in Ohio by 1800-1840 back to their origins in New England or New York. This is a tough period to research, due to the scarcity of records and general lack of detail in many records that do exist. I also find the whole topic of migration fascinating: why people chose to leave a settled area for the unknown frontier, how they moved everything they thought they’d need, the routes they traveled, the difficulties they encountered, and how they settled into their new surroundings. Compelling stuff.

In preparation, I’m gathering what I know about my (and my husband’s) migrating northeastern ancestors. So far I’ve assembled three clusters of families in the east that had worked their way west by 1840:

The Barnum Group

• BARNUM—Eli Barnum was born in Litchfield County, Connecticut, lived for few decades in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, and arrived in Portage County, Ohio before 1840.
• BISHOP—Fitch Bishop has been my biggest brick wall for a few years now. He married into the Barnum family and came to Portage County. But where was he from, and who were his parents? Siblings? Anything? 

The Sanborn Group

• SANBORN—Jeremiah Sanborn and his brother, Joseph Sanborn, came from an old New Hampshire family. They ventured to Loudonville in Ashland County, Ohio, before 1840.
• SMITH—Two Smith sisters, Clarissa and Mary Jane, were wives of the above-named Sanborn men. 
• IVES—Moses Ives brought several members of his family from Connecticut to Geauga County, Ohio. 

The Clark Group

• CLARK—George Clark came from Sussex County, New Jersey, to Licking County, Ohio, before 1820. (I’m hoping Josh will talk a little about New Jersey, even though it’s not technically part of New England.)
• DIVERS—Juda or Judy Divers, his wife, came with him from New Jersey.

All of these families probably trekked through Pennsylvania on their way to Ohio. In fact, I pick up the trails of many additional families in Pennsylvania, so I’m glad the course will take a close look at that state as well.

It amazes me, sometimes, to think of the risks these people took. What a sense of adventure they must have had. One thing I can’t help but wonder is why they did it. Why did my ancestors leave essentially everything they knew behind—their homes, their relatives, their friends, their communities—and set out for a completely different life in unsettled territory? Records alone don’t tell me that. Maybe I’ll understand their reasons better after I take this course.

GRIP directors Elissa Scalise Powell and Deborah Deal say there are still a couple of seats left in three courses, so it's not too late to jump in. They’re taught by fantastic instructors: Paula Stuart-Warren (a gem—I’ve taken an intermediate class with her and loved it), Craig Scott (who I swear knows everything about U.S. military records), and John Colletta (who is so much fun to listen to you hardly realize how much you’re learning). If you’d like to find out more, check out the GRIP website at http://www.gripitt.org. I imagine those last few spots will get snapped up pretty quick.

It's fun to meet up with friends like Becky Wiseman in the cafeteria

I know the week at GRIP is going to be a busy one, but I’ll try to post a little about what I’m learning, as time permits. I hope to get some new ideas for solving the puzzles of my northeastern ancestors, and have a good time seeing and making lots of genealogy friends. Let me know if you’ll be there. I can’t wait!

--Shelley

Related Posts:

Inaugural Day at GRIP

GRIP Announces 2013 CourseSchedule

And the GRIP Goes On…

Joseph Haven Sanborn, Loudonville, Ohio

Loudonville Cemetery is the final resting place of many members of the Sanborn family, who migrated to Loudonville, Ohio from New Hampshire before 1840. This stately gravestone marks the burial place of Joseph Haven Sanborn, born 13 January 1831 in Plymouth, New Hampshire, to parents Jeremiah B. Sanborn and Clarissa (Smith) Sanborn. Joseph was a railroad ticket agent for many years. He died in Loudonville, in Ashland County, on 24 August 1895, at the age of 64.

The marker, which bears the inscription "Blessed are the Dead, who die in the Lord," honors Joseph’s wife and daughter as well. Clarissa Annah “Clara” Smith (who usually went by Clara, possibly to avoid confusion with her mother-in-law) was born 6 January 1838 in Loudonville. She outlived her husband by many years, until 30 December 1913. The couple’s little daughter, Laura Clarissa Sanborn, was born 22 August 1870 and lived only five months, dying on 25 January 1871. Like her father and mother, she has her own little marker showing her actual location in the family plot.

Joseph H. and Clara Sanborn had three other children, who all lived to adulthood: Haven Levant Sanborn, Mary Asenath Sanborn, and Gilman Stanton Sanborn. None of them are buried in Ashland County.

Loudonville Cemetery sits on a hill not far from the center of town, and is well tended. It’s a pleasant spot in which to reflect on some of my husband’s early Ohio ancestors on a summer day.

--Shelley

Related Posts:

Joseph B. Sanborn and Mary Jane Smith Sanborn: Tombstone Tuesday

Clarissa Smith Sanborn of Loudonville: Sunday’s Obituary

Identifying a Mystery Photo

Joseph B. Sanborn and Mary Jane Smith Sanborn: Tombstone Tuesday

Loudonville Cemetery sits on a serene hillside in the heart of Loudonville in Ashland County, Ohio. This monument in the older section of the cemetery marks the final resting place of Joseph Beverly Sanborn, born March 6, 1810, in Chichester, New Hampshire, and his wife Mary Jane Smith Sanborn, born September 16, 1810, in New Hampshire.(1) Joseph B. Sanborn was a schoolteacher in Loudonville for many years.(2) Buried with them is their son, George P. Sanborn, who died at 11 years old.

The inscription reads:

JOSEPH B. SANBORN

MARCH 6, 1810

MARCH 8, 1882

HIS WIFE

MARY JANE SMITH

SEPT. 16, 1810

MARCH 19, 1870

GEORGE P. SANBORN

DEC. 30, 1833

SEPT. 25, 1845 (3)

Joseph B. Sanborn was my husband’s great-great-great-great-uncle.

(1) For Joseph B. Sanborn’s birth date and place: William H. Jones, Vital Statistics of Chichester New Hampshire 1742-1927 (Bowie, Maryland: Heritage Books, 2000), p. 35. For Mary Jane Smith’s birth place: 1850 U.S. Census, Hanover Township, Ashland County, Ohio, population schedule, p. 126B (stamped), p. 252 (written), dwelling 71, household 71, J.B. Sanborn; digital image, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com: accessed 24 June 2012); citing NARA microfilm publication M432, roll 658.

(2) 1860 U.S. census, Loudonville, Ashland Co., Ohio, population schedule, p. 177 (stamped), p. 197 (written), dwelling 1358, household 1401, Joseph B. Sanborn; digital image, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com: accessed 24 June 2012); citing NARA microfilm publication M653, roll 930.

(3) Joseph B. Sanborn, Mary Jane Smith, and George P. Sanborn tombstone, Loudonville Cemetery, Loudonville, Ashland County, Ohio; photographed by Shelley Bishop, June 2012.

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Moses L. Smith’s Toy Book: Treasure Chest Thursday

Moses L. Smith's Toy Book: Treasure Chest Thursday

Sometimes I wonder which of the things that we have will become the heirlooms of tomorrow. I’m not talking about the things we try to preserve, like photographs, scrapbooks, and collectibles. I mean the everyday objects that we use and enjoy without thinking too much about them. What will survive to make future generations wonder about us?

I bet Moses Levant Smith never expected his little toy book to outlive him by 107 years.

And yet I’ve become the latest in a long string of custodians of Moses’ book. On a recent visit, my father-in-law pulled a small envelope from his pocket with great relish, and produced a little object he had found mixed in with a shoebox full of office-type odds and ends from his last move. He knew I’d be delighted with it, and he was right.

The Life of Our Savior measures about 3 inches high by 1¾ inches wide, and weighs no more a bookmark. It was written and published by S. Babcock in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1840. Though the paper has mellowed with age, the text and illustrations remain clear. In seven tiny pages, it summarizes the life of Jesus in story form. On the back is an ad for the publisher: “Toy Books, of Every Variety and Description, Constantly for sale by S. Babcock. New Series of all the Different Sizes Just Published.”

But what really caught my eye was the inscription inside the front cover. In a lovely script hand is written:

Moses L. Smith

Presented by his Cousin

George P. Sanborn

Now that’s an inscription sure to make a family historian’s heart swoon.

Moses Levant Smith was born in January 1835 in Alabama, according to family and census records.(1) He would have been five years old when this book was published. By then his father, Dr. Joseph Haven Smith, had died. His mother, Annah Carrington Ives Smith, had taken the children back to Loudonville, Ohio, to live among their relatives.(2) He went by his middle name, Levant, in most of the records I’ve found him in. The Sanborn, Smith, and Ives families had long histories in New Hampshire and Connecticut.

George P. Sanborn was the son of Joseph B. Sanborn and Mary Jane Smith Sanborn. The gift of this little book is especially poignant because George only lived to the age of eleven.(3)

When you think about how much children love miniature things—dollhouses, toy figures, little farm and zoo animals—it’s not hard to imagine that Moses Levant treasured his tiny book. The fact that it survives in good condition to this day, through a chain of indirect descendants and countless moves to various cities and states, just astounds me.

It makes me wonder what little things of mine might make some future family historian smile. What helps an object like this to be kept and handed down, instead of being thrown out or given away? What creates an heirloom?

(1) 1860 U.S. census, Russell Township, Geauga County, Ohio, population schedule, p. 13, dwelling 111, family 94, L. M. Smith; digital image, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com: accessed 1 March 2012), citing NARA microfilm publication M653, roll 967.

(2) Hattie (Boynton) Whiting, Ives-Smith Family History, ca. November 1949; Crites Family Papers, compiled by Harold R. Crites, currently in possession of Shelley Bishop. The family history does not provide source citations.
(3) Joseph B. Sanborn, Mary Jane Smith, and George P. Sanborn tombstone, Loudonville Cemetery, Loudonville, Ashland County, Ohio; photographed by Shelley Bishop, June 2012.

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Clarissa Smith Sanborn of Loudonville: Sunday’s Obituary

Clarissa Smith Sanborn of Loudonville: Sunday's Obituary

Clarissa Annah Smith, who married Joseph Haven Sanborn, was my husband’s great-great-grandmother. She went by the name Clara Smith when she was young, and Clara Sanborn after she married. This was probably to distinguish her from her father's sister, Clarissa Smith, for whom she was named. In one of those twists that makes family history research so difficult interesting, her aunt Clarissa Smith later became her mother-in-law. As a genealogist, I’m so grateful for her nickname, Clara—keeping track of two women named Clarissa Smith who both became Clarissa Sanborns gets a bit confusing!

When Clara Sanborn died, she received a beautifully detailed obituary in the Loudonville (Ohio) Democrat. It was published on January 8, 1914.

Transcription: 

        Clarissa Annah, daughter of Dr. J. H. and Annah Yves [Ives] Smith, was born in Loudonville, Ohio, January 6^th, 1838. When she was six months old her father died, leaving five children. She was married to Joseph Haven Sanborn on November 15^th, 1864, who preceded her in death in August, 1895. To this union were born four children: one daughter, Laura, died in infancy; three survive: Haven L., Tenabo, Nevada, Gillman Stanton, Cody, Wyoming and Mrs. Mary Crites, Hiram, Ohio, and one sister, Mrs. Jane Roberts, of Weiser, Idaho.

       When she was two years old her mother married Myron Soule, of Geauga county, where she made her home until her marriage, when she removed to Loudonville, which was her home until last August, when, failing in health, she went to stay with her daughter where she died last Tuesday morning, December 30^th, at the age of 75 years, 11 months and 24 days.

       She was a student of Hiram Eclectic Institute in the years 1855, 1856 and 1857. In early youth she confessed Christ and united with the Christian church at South Russell. Her home was always the preachers’ home. She was a life member of the C. W. B. M. and her life was full of good deeds.

       The remains were brought to Loudonville last Wednesday evening and funeral services were conducted by her pastor, Rev. A. D. De Bord on Thursday at 1:30 p.m., at the residence of her son, H. L. Sanborn, on North Water street. Interment in the Loudonville cemetery.

I love all the information this obituary provides. It’s a genealogist’s dream. Here we have the following information about Clarissa Annah Smith Sanborn:

• Her full name, parents’ names, and mother’s maiden name
• Her father’s occupation and approximate month of his death
• Her birth date and place, and number of siblings
• Her husband’s name and the date and place of their marriage
• The month and year of her husband’s death
• The name of an infant daughter who died
• The names and residences of her three adult children
• The married name and residence of her one surviving sister
• Her stepfather’s name and the county she grew up in
• Her age and place of death
• The years she was a student at Hiram Eclectic Institute (now Hiram College)
• The identity of her childhood church
• Her pastor’s name and activity in her church women’s association
• The cemetery in which she was buried 

Another notice appearing in the same issue gave the names of some funeral attendees: "Sherman Mumper, of Akron, Rollin Smith and Joel Burnett, of Chagrin Falls, Mrs. Emma Morris, of Columbus, and Mrs. W. H. Baumgardner, of Wooster, were here last Thursday attending the funeral of Mrs. Clara A. Sanborn." More clues to follow up on.

I’ve already confirmed most of the information from the obituary with other sources, and haven’t found any discrepancies yet. I plan to make a trip to Loudonville this spring to visit her tombstone. But I'm still missing a photograph of Clara. If anyone researching Sanborn genealogy, Soule genealogy, or the family of Dr. Joseph Haven Smith (Clara’s father) has information or photographs to share, I would love to hear from you!

Citations:

Clarissa Annah Smith Sanborn obituary, Loudonville Democrat (Loudonville, Ohio), 8 January 1914, p. 5, col. 6.

Clara A. Sanborn funeral visitors, Loudonville Democrat (Loudonville, Ohio), 8 January 1914, p. 1. col. 1.

Related Posts:
Using Obituaries to Find Maiden Names

Identifying a Mystery Photo

Identifying a Mystery Photo

This photo from my father-in-law’s collection is unidentified. He thinks it resembles his grandmother, Mary Asenath Sanborn Crites (1869-1958), but can’t be sure. I wish he had a picture of Mary as a young woman or bride to compare it to, but he doesn’t. The only other photo I have of her is in old age, after she suffered a stroke. So I’m attempting to analyze some clues from the picture. I thought walking through the process here might help others trying to do the same, and maybe even generate additional tips from readers.

To start the identification process, I scanned both the front and back of the photo. The back identifies the photographer as N. W. Smith, Loudonville, Ohio. His decorative imprint advertised, “Old Pictures Copied & Enlarged.”

Mary was born in Loudonville in 1869, so the place is a good match. What about the time period? If I had to guess, I’d say the girl in the picture looks to be between 11-16 years old. If it’s Mary, that means the photo would have been taken roughly 1880-1886. To help me figure this out, I turned to three books in my collection: Uncovering Your Ancestry through Family Photographs, by Maureen A. Taylor, and the Family Chronicle publications Dating Old Photographs 1840-1929 and More Dating Old Photographs 1840-1929.

From Taylor’s book, I identified the type of photograph as a carte de visite, a cardboard-mounted print, usually 2½” x 4¼”, introduced in the U. S. in 1859 and quite popular for at least the next three decades. So far, so good.

Next I turned to clues within the picture itself. There’s no backdrop, but I can look at her hair and clothing. This girl has a center part and short, puffy bangs, with the rest of her hair pulled back in a single braid. I didn’t find very many examples of girls with bangs in the books, but there were some in the 1880’s. I even found one girl with puffy bangs posed in much the same way (front on, looking off to the side), dated 1880.

Regarding clothing, those lace collars seemed quite popular on girls’ dresses in the 1880’s and early 1890’s. There isn’t enough of the dress showing to see what the waist looks like, but the shoulders aren’t puffed or ruffled. Straight, tight sleeves were common in the 1880’s, it seems, but in the early 1890’s you start to see a “kick-up” on the shoulder, according to Taylor. So this dress probably predates 1890. 

And that’s about as far as I’ve gotten so far. Are the clues in the picture consistent with identification as a young Mary A. Sanborn? Yes, pretty much. Are they enough? Unfortunately, no. What can I do to help the process? Here’s my plan:

1. Research the photographer. Diane VanSkiver Gagel wrote a book, Ohio Photographers: 1839-1900, which I want to look at. Is N. W. Smith listed in there? If so, when did he have his studio in Loudonville? Have any of his records survived? Fortunately, Columbus Metropolitan Library has the book in its collection. Loudonville wasn't large enough to warrant a city directory, but that would be another way to find information on a photographer in a bigger city. 

2. Study the hairstyle. Numerous books contain illustrations and information on hairstyles and fashions of various time periods. One I want to look at is Maureen Taylor’s book Fashionable Folks: Hairstyles 1840-1900. I'm hoping it may shed some more light on those bangs and single braid.

3. Look in my database. If not Mary, who could this girl be? Who else in the family tree fits into that place and time frame?


4. Try to locate more photographs. My father-in-law believes his sister may have more family photos, but he hasn't been successful in getting her to find or share them with him. Perhaps he and I could visit her together next summer. She might be willing to let me scan some photos that she's reluctant to part with. It seems highly likely that other photos of Mary Sanborn, either before or after her marriage to George F. Crites, exist somewhere. It's just a matter of finding them. 

I hope to get a little closer to an answer by following those steps. I’d be interested in hearing from anyone who has more experience with this sort of thing. Any suggestions for what else I might do?

Disclaimer: I purchased the publications I used for this little study, which are, in no particular order:

Maureen A. Taylor, Uncovering Your Ancestry through Family Photographs, 2^nd Edition (Cincinnati, Ohio: Family Tree Books, 2005).

Halvor Moorshead, editor, Dating Old Photographs, 2^nd edition (Moorshead Magazines, 2004).

Edward Zapletal, editor, More Dating Old Photographs, 3^rd edition (Moorshead Magazines, 2011).

(Written in response to 31 Weeks to a Better Genealogy Blog: Solve a Problem, an ongoing series by Tonia Kendrick at Tonia's Roots.)