Back in time--1820

So, when last heard from, I was trying to organize all the data I’ve collected on the Dehorty family in Delaware to try to identify the father of my brick wall, 3g-grandfather James M. Dehority (1819-1891).

I am most of the way through that, having sorted through census records, probate records, orphan’s court records, tax records, marriage listings in the Delaware Public Archives’ card files, land records, and various mentions in books and journals on the period. I’ll chronicle my thoughts here in hopes that if someone reads this and notices things I have overlooked or errors of any sort, they will be so kind as to leave me a note.

I’ve decided to focus on the time around the 1820 census, as James was born in 1819 (or, by one count, 1816). Either way, he would be under age 5 in 1820. If I count the number of Dehorty men on the census who are of an age to father a child in 1820, I have 15 candidates. If I use information from James’ obituary, that he was orphaned by age 8, then I am looking for someone who has died by the 1830 census, both husband and wife (and the wife could have died prior to 1820). This is a little harder, but I can definitely eliminate 5, so I am down to 10.

Of the 10, there are 2 definite candidates. One Benjamin Doroty of Little Creek Hundred, Kent County, is enumerated in 1820 with 9 people in his household, of which 2 are males under the age of 9 and 2 males of “fathering” age (16-25). Benjamin dies intestate in 1823. The problem with Benjamin is that his wife is listed a s Louvania, and the will to Thomas Dehorty previously mentioned references a James, son of Sarah Silivan (Paternity Search in Delaware).

Research that I just received also finds a John Dehorty in the tax lists of Kent County who is a head of household in 1820, but dies insolvent by 1823 (must be a bad year for Dehortys). Here is where I run headlong into what I don’t know about the 1820 census.
I think that everyone counted in the household was a member of the family, excepting the slave listings. But, could they be related as siblings of the head and his wife, grandchildren, cousins, or in other ways related? This is where my count of 10 could be high. There seem to be a lot of “blended” households on my list. There is a John Dorothy in Duck Creek Hundred, Kent, listed in 1820. Could this be the one from the tax list? Or, might he be listed as a tick mark under a different household? How do I resolve the unnamed gentlemen from the census?

This is going to require some thought.

Slogging Along

It has been quite the wet week in our little part of Virginia. Downpours and flooding and lots of reasons to stay indoors when you don't have to go out.

It was a good week to get results from a professional genealogist whom I engaged to try to find information about you might be the father of my "brick wall" ancestor, James Madison Dehority (1819-1891) from Delaware.

I received 8 pages of data, an amazing amount found in just 4-5 hours in the Archives. It just goes to show how much more efficient are the folks who know the records of the time like the back of their hands. Some of the information I already knew, but much of it was new to me. He made an educated guess as to the likely candidate from what he found. Rats! This is not going to be a "smoking gun", can't be anyone else but kind of discovery, but a guess made based on a process of elimination.

What became evident very early on was that my organization of information in my FTM program by individual was not going to be the best way to embark on this hunt. So, I have spent every spare moment organizing what I have on the Dehortys of Delaware (sounds like the Kennedys of Massachusetts, doesn't it?....or Kelloggs of Battle Creek?...no, that's cereal). I decided to organize by census year and group land record and tax record between the given census years to help me zero in on the 1815-1820 time frame. Re-typing and sourcing all this info has been quite the slog this week, but I'm almost ready to merge the data from the professional research. I can only hope that it points with some certainty to one of the families.

I can only hope....

Saturday Night Fun-the Great-Greats

I've been in a real genealogy "funk" lately. DNA test results on a distant cousin that were due July 6th won't be posted for a couple of weeks. I'm waiting with fingers crossed on a report from a genealogist in Delaware doing research on one of my brick walls. Those kinds of things never come quickly enough, do they? And, I just can't translate one more old land record.

To the rescue is Randy Seaver's Saturday Night Genealogy Challenge: Name and place your 16 great-great grandparents. One thing I love about blogs, and Randy's in particular, is that they focus my attention on what I know, and what I don't. It turns out, there's a lot I don't know about these folks.

Let's get started:

1. John Wesley DeHority, b. 16 Oct 1840, Madison Co., IN, d. 28 Aug 1881, Madison Co., IN. Ethnicity: IRISH.
   
2. Jane W. Moore, b. 14 May 1840, Madison Co., IN, d. 25 Aug 1925, Elwood, IN. Ethnicity: UNK.
   
3. George Washington Hupp, b. 3 Dec 1834, Shenandoah Co., VA, d. 18 Jan 1923, Elwood, IN. Ethnicity: GERMAN.
   
4. Isabelle Stokes, b. 7 May 1843, Butler Co., OH, d. 7 June 1918, Elwood, IN. Ethnicity: ENGLISH.
   
5. Abram Gooding Mauzy, b. Feb 1825, Bourbon Co., KY, d. Aug 1905, Rushville, IN. Ethnicity: FRENCH.
   
6. Emily R. Jamison, b. 29 May 1828, Bourbon Co., KY, d. 12 July 1873, Rushville, IN. Ethnicity: UNK.
   
7. Houston Carr, b. 6 Feb 1821, KY, d.10 Sept 1856, Rushville, IN. Ethnicity: UNK.
   
8. Mary A. Dunnohew, 8 Sept 1834, OH, d. UNK. Ethnicity: UNK.
   

Now, for the other half. These are the folks that I don't know. I do know that in all probability, they are all LITHUANIAN. I just haven't braced myself to tackle "jumping the pond". Since the oldest complete generation that I have are the greats, I'll list them here:

1. John Douglas (Dobrovolskas), Dates UNK, but born and died in Lithuania.
   
2. Anna Urnikas, b. UNK, d. before 1916, Lithuania
   
3. Jacob Wychulis (Vaiculis), b. 3 May 1865, Lithuania, d. 3 Apr 1942, Old Forge, PA. Ethnicity: LITHUANIAN.
   
4. Anna Burke (Bartkeiwicz), b. 1874, Lithuania, d. 10 May 1951, Old Forge, PA. Ethnicity: LITHUANIAN.

So there you have it! I don't know whether to be pleased about what I know, or blue about what I don't know.

It must be something about August......