Help connecting George Fairchild (Notable on WikiTree) to Fairchild branch of WikiTree.

Question

George Fairchild (Fairchild-856) is a direct descendant of Thomas Fairchild (Fairchild-48) born in early 1600's in England and ancestor of most Fairchilds in the new world.  This lineage can be traced using the work of Jean Fairchild Gilmore  Early Fairchilds in North America and their Descendants. Publication date 1991.

I am attempting to connect George's profile in WikiTree to Thomas and his descendants.  There is one ancestor whose profile is not in WikiTree.  Alexander Fairchild (Fairchild-185) married Mary Mallory and they had a son, Jesse, who is the missing ancestor.  He is the father of Silas Fairchild (Fairchild-2641).  If his profile is put into WikiTree there will be a complete connection between Thomas Fairchild and George Fairchild.

I have not created this profile because Jean Fairchild Gilmore does not have a birth date or a death date for Jesse (IB2-2-3), son of Alexander and Mary.   Early Fairchilds in North America and their Descendants] Compiled by Jean Fairchild Gilmore Publication Date 1991. page 97. 

Can anyone provide any additional information about this Jesse Fairchild?  I have exhausted the resources I am aware of for the Fairchild family and am at a dead end.

Comments

Since Silas was in upstate New York at the time of his death and was not on the last census, you might consider Canada. There was some migration back and forth by the Fairchilds. I ma not an expert on the resources there so no recommendations other than the Canadian equivalent to a census.

---

Thank you for the suggestion. You are correct that many of the Fairchild's (including my great great grandmother) were in Canada.  But the only migration from Connecticut for this branch of the family was to New York and Vermont.

---

Barbara, if all else fails, and I'm not saying this is the best solution, you could always estimate a birth date from either father or son's birth dates, and then put that in with a note in the biography that it is an estimate, as long as you cite the parentage.

---

E. Logan,

At this point, I think I'm going to conclude that all else has failed.  I agree that estimating dates is not the best solution which is why I posted my question here to give it some time.  I will make the estimates and create the profile and it can always be modified if something else turns up.  Thank you for responding.

---

Say -- I just did a little surfing around, and realized that on his Findagrave.com page, there is a LONG, sourced transcription from  "Biographical Review, Otsego County" 1893.  Which seems to be a respectable source.

This gives his parents as  Silas and Naomi (Bliss) Fairchild.  IMO, it's reasonable to cite this as your source: Biographical Review, Otsego County, 1893; transcription by suscat on Findagrave memorial 134129903

I'd guess this is from the Family Search e-edition, in which case the Chicago Manual of Style citation would be:  "Biographical Review Publishing Company. 2011. Biographical review: this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Otsego County, New York. Salt Lake City, Utah: Digitized by the Genealogical Society of Utah."

(You can probably ask the user suscat, who created the Findagrave site.)

---

Patricia,

Thank you for your response.  Unfortunately, the FIndAGrave you have cited is for the grandfather of the Jesse Fairchild that I am looking for.  The Jesse Fairchild born to Silas and Naomi is https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Fairchild-2640 in WikiTree and the source you cited is already a source on his profile.  That Jesse, born in 1809, is the son of Silas Fairchild (https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Fairchild-2641 in WikiTree).  Since I have not yet found a source with a birthdate for the Jesse who is Silas' father, I created his profile (https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Fairchild-2644) with an estimated birth date of 1745 and a death after 1770, since it is known that his son, Silas was born in 1763.

Answer 1

It's fine to make estimates based on everything you know about him -- often for this period, some of the dates are simply unknown, and CT church records in particular were often lost or destroyed.  See the discussion here:

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Template:Estimated_Date

Early New England rules of thumb: 

I generally estimate based on knowing that first marriages in New England at this time happened around age 23; first births at 25; and if I'm looking at  just one child, with no idea of where in the birth order, I estimate that the parents were about 35.  

IME, for first marriages, the spouses are usually about the same age -- about 23.  For marriages in mid-to-late child bearing years (widows and widowers) the women are younger than the husband, and still of child-bearing age; for late-in-life marriages, post children, spouses are usually closer in age again.   

Use the Estimated Date research box -- for instance: 

{{Estimated Date|Birth and Death}}

See this profile to see how that looks:  https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Church-166

More on estimated dates:

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Help:Estimated_Dates

To do further research on Jesse, Familysearch.org is free.  Be aware that the research and sources vary from truly terrible to awesome and unique; check everything carefully.  If you're looking at profiles in the familysearch family trees, some of the sources may link to paid sites. If something looks tantalizing, come on G2G and ask for a look-up; people are very generous. IMO, it's one of the pleasures of having a subscription.

Comments

Thank you, Patricia.  This is very helpful information.  I will use the WikiTree guidelines for estimating the dates. I was hoping to get something more concrete, but I will go with what I have and then in the future something else may be discovered.

I have both Family Search and Ancestry accounts and always check to see what they have when I am researching someone.  Unfortunately, as you say, there is a lot of bad data.  There was one record in Family Search for Jesse and Hannah's son, Silas, but no information for parents of Silas.

Answer 2

Have you tried searching the New England Historic Genealogical Society's online database" americanancestors.org.  I did a search for Alexander Fairchild of Fairfield CT and found 24 records cited as Old Fairfield CT families as well as a cemetery record. You will have to register as a guest to search and to view the document you may need to purchase a membership. An individual member is $95.00, but totally worth the price.

Comments

Thank you for the suggestion.  I was not aware of this resource.  However, it is Jesse Fairchild that I need dates for.  When I searched for his name on americanancestors.org there were only 5 records, none of them relevant.  I am not a member so I don't know if that limits what I can see.  I did leave my contact information and an explanation on the site and received a message that someone would respond.

---

Here is the birth certificate for Silas Fairchild, b. May 16, 1765, Keene, New Hampshire - Male.  Father Jesse Fairchild and Hannah Fairchild.

https://www.americanancestors.org/databases/new-hampshire-births-deaths-and-marriages-1654-1969/image/?rId=246125515&volumeId=13800&pageName=371&filterQuery=

It's not a record specifically for Jesse, but it indicates his wife's given name, Hannah, and a name for one of their children.

---

Silas is a good example of why you should search and review all names associated with the ancestor you are looking for. Databases indexes can be limiting because they usually contain only the name of the primary individual who has been keyworded in a searchable index.

Since you mentioned that Alexander Fairchild was the father of Jesse, I wouldn't disregard those records as not relevant unless you have already reviewed them, or know for certain none of them are associated with his son Jesse.

---

Thank you for your response.  Unfortunately, without a paid membership I am unable to view the record.  Jean Fairchild Gilmore (source listed in original question) has the information that Jesse married Hannah and that their son was Silas.

Answer 3

Hi Barbara,

I saw your research note on Jesse Fairchild's profile.  I just wanted to let you know I placed a couple of sources onto Jesse's profile both from Family Search.  They are guardianship records, one in 1751 where his mother, Mary is appointed guardian in his "non age", and then in 1758, where he is of lawful age to choose his own guardian.  This might help source his estimated birth year.