I usually look forward to writing my article with considerably more enthusiasm than I have been able to muster up this time. My problem is that I don’t feel as prepared with the subject chosen. I am certain there is still some significant information out there that would help to further unravel the mysteries in the Jabez Jr. and James Olmstead lines, both husbands of the twice-widowed Anna Warren Day. Since I promised to discuss this topic, I will give it my best attempt, and hope to do a decent job of keeping the facts separate from my guesswork.
I will begin with Jabez Olmstead Jr. who is familiar territory with me. He was born around 1773 and was probably the son of Jabez Sr. and Miriam Husse Olmstead of Hebron, NY. He was married first to Eunice and moved to Burritt’s Rapids, Ontario in 1799. The first record is an application for leasing of lot 28 in Marlborough Twp. This family, consisting of Jabez 28, Eunice 27, Hiram 3, and Noah 2, was listed in the early assessment records of Burritt’s Rapids in 1802. Since there has been no further record found of Jabez Jr. and Eunice in Ontario after 1803 my assumption is that they returned to Hebron, NY. The federal and state census records of Hebron confirm that there were at least two Jabez Olmstead’s enumerated from 1790 through 1825. An older Jabez (with a small family) in 1790 and 1800 and a younger Jabez (with a large family) in the years following. My guess based on all evidence collected over the years is that Jabez Jr. returned from Ontario to Hebron by 1803, possibly because his father was ill or had died. The known children of Jabez and Eunice were:
1. Hiram (1798 – 1871) was born in Washington County, NY. He was a farmer in Burritt’s Rapids, Ontario. He married his cousin Aurilla Olmstead around 1820. They had 13 children. Aurilla died sometime after 1851 and Hiram then moved his family to Lewis County, NY. He died in Palermo, NY.
2.
Noah
(1800 -?) was born in Burritt’s Rapids, Ontario. He married Sarah Wallace and
they had 6 known children and maybe as many as 8. Noah was living with a
daughter in the 1851 Kitley, Ont. census and that is the last record of him.
3.
Richard
(1802 – 1872) was a probable son of Jabez and Eunice. He was living with the
Thomas Olmstead family in Thornbury, Ont. in 1861 and died there in 1872. He
was a carpenter. He may have been married to and separated from an Elizabeth
who lived in Kitley, Ont. She had a son Oscar and a daughter Sarah. Oscar’s
marriage record names his parents as Richard and Elizabeth Olmstead.
4.
Jabez
(1806 – 1880) was born in Washington County, NY after the return of his parents
from Ontario. He married Orpha Knight in 1832 and then moved to Watertown, NY.
They had 3 sons. Jabez was a farmer. The connecting of him to the Jabez and Eunice
family came through a seven-page hand written document in 1929 by Bessie
Olmstead Croft, granddaughter of Jabez and Orpha. It basically outlines the
descendants of the Watertown Olmstead’s, tying them to Hiram of Canada (# 1
above). There are some errors, but the real significance is that it confirms
that these families were one and the same! In spite of the fact that most lived
in NY and some had moved to western states, they had kept in contact with each
other, confirmed by the information in the document. It was passed on to me
from Peg Johnstone, great-great granddaughter of Jabez and Orpha.
Eunice died by 1813 and Jabez Jr. married the widow Anna Warren Day. I have no proof, but think it likely that Eunice was also connected to the Day family of Washington Co. NY. Anna and Jabez Jr. produced 4 more children who grew to adulthood: Edwin Luther, Eunice Anna, David Day and Oscar Franklin. Jabez Jr. died probably around 1827. The folklore of the descendants of Jabez Jr. and Anna says that he moved his family to Ontario in 1828 and died that same year. I am inclined to believe that he died in Hebron as the 1827 land records show that Anna Olmstead of Hebron sold (quit claim deed) her land to her daughter Meribah Day. Meribah then sold a portion to Lanson Day. If Jabez Jr. were still alive he would have been conducting the land transactions rather than his wife and there are no land sales in his name at all, suggesting that he died before his family left for Ontario.
This is what I have uncovered on James Olmstead. According to various federal and state censuses his birth date would have been around 1770. At this point I have no record of who his parents were. If the assumption is made that it was not coincidence that Anna married two different Olmstead men, but that they were somehow related, then I have two rather logical choices of parents. One would be Jabez and Miriam Husse Olmstead. If this were true then Jabez Jr. and James were brothers and it would be logical that Anna Warren Day would be acquainted with both. My other choice, which is my favorite, was that James was the son of Gideon and Annaka Van Deusen Olmstead. Annaka was the daughter of Hartman Van Deusen and Margrieta Dykman. Gideon was a son of Jeremiah and Elizabeth Litten Olmstead, and a brother of Jabez Sr. (Miriam Husse). If this were true then James and Jabez Jr. were first cousins. The reasons for this being my favorite scenario are:
1.
James
resided in Pittstown, Rennsalaer Co. NY, near the area where the very few
records of Gideon and Annaka exist.
2.
In
the 1800 Pittstown census Hartman Van Deusen was enumerated next to the James
Olmstead family.
3.
James
had a daughter Anna (English version of Annaka) and a son Harley (could be an
English translation of Hartman).
James was first married to
Elizabeth (Betsey) Shepard, daughter of Hazael and Dorothy Shepard of
Pittstown. Hazael Shepard was a surveyor. He died in 1819 and son-in-law James
was executor of the estate. We read his will and estate papers in the
Renssalaer County courthouse in Troy, NY. We also found his stately home and
small family cemetery on the Shepard property. Hazael Shepard, his first wife
Dorothy, a daughter, and grandson Hazael Olmstead are all buried there. The
tombstones are still standing. Betsey’s sister Mary Shepard was married to
Stephen Hunt. Stephen and Mary moved to Monroe County, NY and to Oakland
County, MI right along with the James Olmstead family. By 1818 James had moved
his family to Wheatland, Monroe County, NY. We did some research there as well.
James Sr., James Jr. and Harley are in tax records. James is mentioned in the
“History of Monroe County, NY” and in “History of the Town of Wheatland”: “A
grain-cradle maker, James Olmstead settled on the farm north of Harris Roger’s
farm in 1818. He made an excellent grain cradle and his reputation was
widespread. At times he gave employment to three and four mechanics.” Also, “ The Olmstead cradle was as much in
demand in that day as is the Brockport New York reaper today”. The Olmstead’s
were members of the Baptist church both in Wheatland, NY and in Commerce, MI.
Betsey Shepard must have died during their time in Wheatland. By 1832 James had
moved on to Ontario and appears in the same locality as the widow Anna Warren
Day Olmstead and family. He was witness to a marriage in 1832. There is a
record of James Olmsted in a promissory note to E.M. Church in Ontario the 7th
of March 1834. He is listed in the
Oxford-on-Rideau assessment for 1833 and 1834. His marriage to Anne Olmstead
took place 29 Aug. 1832 in Bathhurst District, Ontario. By 1835 nearly all the
family of James Sr. and Anna had moved to Oakland County, Michigan. Thanks to
Bob Christiansen, a descendant, who made a trip in the fall of 1999 to Oakland
County and a subsequent trip by Bill and I in the fall of 2000, we were able to
get copies of many, if not all, of the Olmstead land transactions. It was
exciting because several of the land records proved that James and Anna were
husband and wife. The last record of James Sr. was the Michigan State census of
1845 in Commerce Twp. His family was recorded in the 1850 Oakland County
census, but James was not. The known children of James and Betsey were:
1. Hazael (1791 – 1806), buried in Shepard Cemetery Cemetery in
Pittstown, NY.
2. Anna (1794 – 1881), a spinster, in each
census always enumerated with family members. Died in Bancroft, Shiawassee
County, MI where Evalina (Olmstead) and Abraham Cole were living.
3. James Jr. (1798 – 1871), a farmer in Commerce
Twp., MI, married at least twice. He had a stepdaughter Mary Mann born 1839
(married Richard Kelley) so assume he married a Widow Mann before 1839. In 1841
he married Maria Read Hunt (1805 – 1883), daughter of Charles and Julia Read.
They had 3 children. James and Maria are buried in Four Towns Cemetery.
4. Harley (1803 – 1885), a farmer in White Lake, MI, married twice. First wife was Dyantha Spencer (1805 – 1840), mother of 5 children. Second wife was Rachel Ann Taylor (1820 – 1893), mother of 10 children. Harley and his wives are buried in Four Towns Cemetery.
5. Mrs. Hydea Cooper was mentioned in “History
of Monroe County, NY”. I have never have found anyone by this name.
6.
Mrs.
Harry Smith was also mentioned in “History of Monroe County, NY”. There was a
Harry Smith of White Lake married in 1836 to widow Louisa (Lovisa) Reynolds
(born 1801). She is the right age and in the right location to be the daughter
of James and Betsey, but proof is needed.
According to early census records there was one other young male in the James Olmstead Sr. household. In the biographical sketch of Harley it says that his brother James Jr. and 3 sisters also settled in Oakland County. So if there was another brother he may have remained behind in Monroe County, NY.
Another possible daughter was Evalina Olmstead (1815 – 1891) who married Abraham Cole (from Monroe County, NY) in Oakland County, MI. They had 9 children. The Cole’s moved by 1860 to Shiawassee County, MI.
Anna Warren Day Olmstead was born 1 April, 1782 in Tyringham, MA, daughter of Benjamin and Hannah Lewis Warren. She married widower Luther Day of Granville, Washington County, NY. They had a daughter Meribah and also may have had a son Lanson born 28 Jan. 1800 in Granville. Luther Day died 8 Jan., 1810 at 33 years of age. In Washington County estate papers dated 4 June, 1813, Anna Day and Noah Day were named as administrators. An inventory list includes a Bible (to die for!). At some point during this time period Anna married Jabez Olmstead Jr. and as mentioned above they had four children who grew to adulthood and possibly 2 infants who died young. Sometime after the 1827 Washington County land record Anna and her family moved to Ontario, possibly because her stepsons Hiram and Noah Olmstead had returned to the Burritt’s Rapids area by the early 1820’s. Other than her marriage to James Olmstead in 1832, the only other record I have found of Anna’s years in Ontario was her name as witness to the marriage of her daughter Eunice in 1834. In Nov., 1835 Anna Olmstead purchased 40 acres of land in Commerce Twp., MI. Her husband James Olmstead Sr. purchased 42.59 acres in Oct., 1835. In the subsequent years there were numerous land transactions involving them and their sons and sons-in-law. Anna was widowed for the third time sometime between 1845 – 1850. In the 1850 census she was living with her son Oscar and family in Commerce Twp. Anna died 25 Sept., 1858, age 76, and is buried in Four Towns Cemetery. Her tombstone is flat on the ground and split in half. She is buried in lot 22, owned by James Olmstead, according to Waterford Twp. records. There are a total of 8 recorded burials in lot 22, the earliest being in 1840. They include Harley Olmstead’s first wife and six of his children. The children of Jabez and Anna Olmstead:
1.
Eunice
(1818 – 1891) married George Wood in 1834 in Ontario. He was a carpenter in
Commerce Twp., MI. They had 10 children
and were divorced in later years. She is buried in the Commerce Cemetery.
2.
Edwin
(1813—1888) married Elizabeth Irwin in 1834 in Ontario. He was a carpenter in
Commerce Twp., but moved in 1877 near Nickerson, Kansas. They had 8 children.
3.
David
Day (1823 – 1884) married Jennette Reid in 1841 in Oakland County, MI. He was a carpenter and justice of the peace
in Waterford Twp. He moved to Nickerson, Kansas in 1872 and became a judge.
They had 10 children. Oscar (1826 – 1899) married Melissa Sternbergh in 1849 in
Commerce, MI. He was a carpenter. Later they moved to Bancroft, Shiawassee
County and then Van Buren County, MI. Both are buried in Fremont Cemetery. They
had 6 children.
I have only briefly outlined the children of Anna Warren Day Olmstead, Jabez Olmstead Jr., and James Olmstead as there is considerable recorded information available on them and their descendants. The mystery has always been over the relationship between Anna, Jabez, and James. I hope to have helped those of you who are descendants of any of these three lines. I mentioned at the beginning that I feel certain that there is still information somewhere that would help clear up some of the remaining puzzles. I will give a few ideas as to what might possibly be of help, hoping that some of you might be motivated to join in the search:
1.
A
death record for Oscar Franklin Olmstead – 18 June, 1899, Van Buren Co., MI
2.
A
death record for Edwin Luther Olmstead – Feb., 1888, Grant, Kansas
3.
A
death record for Mary Mann Kelley – still alive in 1880 Commerce, MI census
4.
Olmstead
obituaries in Oakland, County, MI. (I already have Harley and Rachel
Olmstead’s).
5. A death record for Louisa (Lovica) Smith –
alive in 1870 and gone by 1880, Waterford, MI census.