Between his marriage in 1856 and his enlistment in the Union Army in 1864, my ancestor Arthur Bull — a leather tanner who regularly relocated for work — took a Delaware County detour in his moves around New York State.
My great-great grandparents Arthur and Mary Elizabeth (Blakeslee) Bull were married in Bookdale, Susquehanna County, Pa. — the home of Mary’s family just south of New York’s southern border.
And at the time of Arthur’s military enlistment nine years later, they were back in nearby Town of Conklin, Broome County, N.Y., where they were counted in the 1865 state census.
But when the federal census taker called on 11 July 1860, Arthur, 27, and his family — wife Mary E., 22, and daughters Emma, 2, and Carrie, 7 months — were living in the Catskill Mountains foothills in the Town of Hancock, Delaware County, N.Y. (Walton Post Office).
Finding a great, great, great grandmother
Residing at the same address were Mary’s sister Rhoda. A (Blakeslee) Whitney, 29, her husband William Whitney, 47, and their sons Earl D., 10, and Albert J., 8.
And by one of those happy strokes of luck that sometimes happen in genealogy research, living with them was Hannah Blakesley [Blakeslee], 48 — likely Mary and Rhoda’s mother and my great-great-great grandmother, who I discovered for the first time through this census!
Arthur seemed to be doing well in 1860 — working as a foreman in a tannery with real estate valued at $1,000 or about $29,000 in today’s dollars (which may mean there are land records to search for) and personal property valued at half that much at $500.
His brother-in-law William Whitney was working as a “Hired man” with personal property worth $150 — about $4,400 today. Both Mary and Rhoda were given their occupational due as “Housekeeper” by the census taker.
My great-great-great Hannah does not have an occupation listed, but she likely pitched in to help — particularly with four grandchildren in the household.
Adjoining census entries list neighbors employed in such occupations as teamster, blacksmith, domestic, tannery hand, night watchman — and, of course, housekeeper. Yet the the area also retained its agrarian character, with other neighbors working as farmers.
Taken together, this census information paints a picture of an extended family of three generations living together under one roof in a solidly working class community, which was nestled in productive, rural farm country along the Delaware River’s western branch.
In short, a worthwhile Delaware County detour for Arthur Bull and his family before their return to Town of Conklin, Broome County, N.Y., on the eve of the U.S. Civil War — and a beneficial one for me as it helped my find my great-great-great grandmother on my Blakeslee line.
So where will the Bull family’s tannery travels take us next? How about back to Broome County, N.Y. — where Arthur’s parents and sister were living in 1860 and where his father Jeremiah may have owned a tannery in the hamlet of Corbettsville. More in the next post.
© 2015 Molly Charboneau. All rights reserved.
Nice post. Good sleuthing!
Thanks, Greg. Nice to have you back!
Good Job!
Randy
Thanks, Randy! Our mutual family tree has grown with the addition of our great, great, great grandmother Hannah Blakeslee.