Thursday, April 13, 2006

Newton family, Pittsford, Monroe County, New York

Amasa D. Newton and his family are a particularly difficult one to trace. They were from Pittsford, Monroe County, New York (right along the Eric Canal) and his parents were apparently both dead by 1860 as the children are scattered.

The original family in 1850:
Pittsford, County of Monroe, State of Newyork
7th August 1850 by J. K. Buell
pg. 204A/407
line 32, 518/518 Alva NEWTON 32 M Laborer " [Newyork]
Sarah NEWTON 29 F England
Fanny E NEWTON 9 F Newyork
Nathan NEWTON 8 M " [Newyork]
Amasa NEWTON 4 M " [Newyork]
Sarat NEWTON 2 F " [Newyork]
Charles NEWTON 6/12 M " [Newyork]

In 1860:
1860 Monroe Co., NY Census, the town of Pittsford, Page No. 45/225
27th Nov 1860 by Levi L. Fulton
P.O. North Chili NY
line 17, 1702/1781 William A. RAY 33 M Farmer 7000/6750 New York
Miranda 31 F " [New York]
Florence 2 F " [New York]
Betsey LAKE 54 F Vermont
Byron 28 M Farm Laborer " [New York]
Murray 24 M Teach Com. School " [New York]
/1782 Ann MILES 64 F Housekeeper " [New York]
Sarah NEWTON 12 F " [New York]
Nathan 17 M Farm Laborer " [New York]

Interestingly, next door to the Newtons in 1850 is the John S. Agate family, including his sister Ann Agate, who is the Ann Miles listed above who apparently has my Sarah and Nathan living with her.

My ancestor, Amasa, is in Indiana:
1860 St. Joseph Co., IN Census, Clay Tp., Page No. 55,
18 June 1860 by John Gallagher,
P.O. So. Bend,
line 13, 392/392 J FARRAN 30 M " [Farmer] /250 Mich,
Henry 32 "[M] " [Farmer] 1800/ Ohio,
WH SMITH 47 "[M] " [Ohio],
Catharine FARREN? 61 F Conn,
Amsey NEWTON 13 M NY.

These Farrens and Amasa are in Berrien Co., MI in 1870. The Farrens, in fact, were in Berrien Co., MI in 1850. No idea how he ends up with them. They were in Ohio, then Berrien Co., MI, then St. Joseph Co., IN and then back to Berrien Co., MI. Some of them end up in Iowa, as does Amasa, though not in the same area.

In 1870, there is no sign of Nathan Newton, but Ann Agate Miles's household looks like this:
Page No. 20
Pittsford, County of Monroe, State of New York
22 June 1870 by Daniel Kingsley
P.O. Pittsford NY
line 28, 175/175 MILES Ann 70 FW Farmer 5000/300 New York
WILDER William 23 MW Farm laborer New York
Sarah 21 FW Domestic serv't New York

Of course, I think that this Sarah is my Sarah, but I couldn't pin her down until browsing the cemeteries at the Monroe Co., NY genealogy site, where I found this:
Anah B. Yates from the Honeoye Falls Times 24 March 1921
Monroe Co., NY, East Street Cemetery
WILDER Sarah A. Newton, wife of W. W.; d May 29, 1871 æ 23.

I can't believe they put her maiden name. So, my guess was correct! But unfortunately, she died quite young.

But this reinforces my idea that Sarah and Ann Agate Miles were related: why would Sarah live with a stranger for that long? And in 1880 Ann has another relative, Miranda Lake Ray, her nephew's widow, and their children living with her. She seems to like taking people in.

So far there has been no trace of Nathan or Charles Newton (after the 1850 census record), and Fanny could easily be disguised by marriage.

I feel very lucky to have traced Sarah. I just hope I'm on the right track about their relationship with Ann Agate Miles.

And I've had no luck trying to trace backward from Alva Newton.

It's all very interesting