Doreen  Dolleman’s Research

 

 

What a lot of good news I have to share since I last wrote you. Most exciting of all, but only to us, was that Bill and I became first- time grandparents. Grandson #1 was born in May and grandson #2 in June. We are enjoying this new occupation in life!

 

My next best news, which will be of interest to you, is that you finally twisted my arm hard enough that we now have a computer. Our wonderful, intelligent son-in-law got us all set up and is ever so patiently teaching me to use it. I am not mechanically minded so feel like a dummy most of the time and am often mad and frustrated at the darned thing. I have figured out e-mail and am already busy pestering many of you genealogy pals I love getting messages so please do write. One thing that really fascinates me is how much great genealogical information is available on the Internet. I was sharing with some of you that on my very first night of  “surfing the web” I found brand new details on Jemima Olmstead, daughter of Jeremiah and Sarah (Ferguson) of Granville/Ft. Ann. Bill and I were just in Washington County, N.Y. in May and made a special trip, miles out of our way to Ft. Ann. We were looking for any clue at all about Jeremiah’s family. Well, the library was closed, no cemetery caretaker was to be found, the clerk / historian was not at home, and so we left empty- handed. It amazed me to think that a computer beginner like me, with no idea as to what I was even doing or how I got there, could find on my first attempt something that I didn’t find on all our trips to N.Y.! It makes me wonder what other treasures are still to be found.

 

In spite of our failure in Ft. Ann we actually did make some good progress in Washington County. In the April newsletter I told you about Mr. Craig’s (Hebron historian) hand drawn map of the 1794 Cooper Patent. Well, this time we found the old Caleb Green home and Bill coaxed me to knock on the door, which was a very brave thing for me to do. We were welcomed by the Green descendant who still lives there and had a wonderful visit. She is very interested in both her family and local history. We were allowed to hold and inspect the framed original Cooper Patent as well as the 1794 Cooper/ Green indenture, witnessed by Gideon Olmsted and Jabez Olmsted Junior. Most exciting of all was her offer to have copies made for us in town the next day, which she did. I’ve asked Carlton to print the Cooper Patent once again so you can see the differences between the original and Mr. Craig’s  hand drawn version which was in the last issue. Notice the omission of William Bullis.

 

Now, you might wonder what could possibly be so interesting about signatures, but I hope to show that they can be a source of valuable information. Keep in mind that witnesses needed to be of legal age and that a junior in a signature was usually dropped after the death of senior. From this it would be logical to assume that Jabez Jr. of 1794 was at least 21 and his father was still alive. Since Jabez Jr. and Job’s  signatures on the 1792 Lowing Petition do not appear to be their own, but possibly were their father’s as all were in the same handwriting, they may not yet have been 21. We do know that Job was born in 1779 according to Bible records. This would put the birth year of Jabez Jr. around 1773 in order for him to be a minor in 1792, but 21 by 1794. It adds further evidence to the argument that I presented to you in the October 1998 newsletter that neither 9088 Jabez Sr. (wife Miriam Husse) nor  Jabez Jr. died in the Revolutionary War. It also leads me to believe that Jabez Sr. did not have a son Jabez Jr. born in 1760 as the “Red Book” proclaims, but rather one born around 1773. First- born sons were often named after a grandfather. Since Jabez Sr. and Miriam were married in 1758 it would not be likely that they had a junior by 1760. As you can see, this is a lot of reasoning to squeeze out of a couple of signatures, but is worth considering

 

Also while at the Washington County Courthouse and Archives I copied more land records for Aaron Olmstead (probable son of Jabez Sr. and Miriam), Jane Olmstead of Ft. Ann, and Anna Olmstead and her probable daughter, Meribah Day. In addition there were probate papers for Luther Day with Anna Day (later Olmstead) as administrator in 1813. I was also able to finish transcribing our Olmsteads from the Washington County 1825- 1865 N.Y. State Census.

 

Currently I have nearly completed my research on the Aaron Olmstead  line, including his son Aaron Jr. and hope to share it with you soon. My number one priority this past year has been to concentrate on the James Olmstead family and Anna Warren Day Olmstead  line of Oakland County, Michigan with the intention of proving the connection between the two families. There has been much confusion about Anna and the identity of her Olmstead husband. Bill Samland has been a great help to me with this project and we are making progress. If any of you Anna W. D. Olmstead descendants out there have a single document verifying the name of her husband or father of her children (obit, Bible record, death v.r., etc.) please let us know. We appreciate all the help we can get.