G2G: ISO parents to Eliza Blair b. Abt. 1812 Brick Wall

Question

I am looking for info about my amazing ancestor Eliza, (Blair-10946) from Sherburne, Chenango Co. and Cazenovia, Madison County, NY. Any leads in Blair families in that area? Read the profile of this inspiring single mom who sent all her girls to college in the mid 1800s. Thank you for your help!

Answer 1

I have been having a look at Eliza. I think its likely that some mixing up of information on either Jeremiah or who he married is happening. 

You say she married Jeremiah in 1828 (Do you have a Source?) and was married for 10 years...until his death in 1839. But he seems to have been married to Susannah Walsworth from about 1832 and had three children with her before he died...so unless he was married to both women at the same time, something is not adding up. 

I found Jeremiah's grave, buried beside Susannah Walsworth. The FAG entry says they married in 1832. Under Susannah's FAG entry it lists two of her children. Lydia Melissa Purdy b. 1833 and Milton Bentley Purdy b. 1839 All of them with headstone images. 

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/38882294/jeremiah-purdy

I found a Census record (1855) for Susannah Purdy, Widowed, who is with her children  Lydia Melissa Purdy who was born about 1834, Milton B. Purdy who was born about 1840 and Lucy M. Purdy about 1843. Census record birth dates are very often incorrect. The FAG entry gave earlier birth dates for Lydia 1833 and Milton 1839.

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K6SJ-KWH

Your Eliza Blair Purdy shows up widowed in 1850 with three children, Lucena b. 1831, Sarah b. 1833, and Jeremiah b. 1839. 

So I would suggest that there are two Jeremiah Purdy's that you have conflated. Unless there is some other explanation? 

Comments

Yes, 1850 is my last account of Eliza as indicated on her profile.  She is the one I am interested in finding.  The rest of the children and family are more-or-less well documented (incl. her husband's birth family).

Answer 2

So then I found this burial for another Jeremiah Purdy who's remains were moved from the Volmer Farm in Sherberne to Poolville...maybe this is where the mix up is happening with the Jeremiahs. Note his children's names! I noticed the oldest two were quite a bit before the others. And I wonder if they are all actually his children.  When I checked on the child Rhoda the wife's name was Eliza Graves. It may be possible that she was a Blair, remarried to Jeremiah...long shot that deserves some research perhaps. 

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/34386969/jeremiah-purdy

Comments

Correction, Eliza Graves is not a wife - should be Elizur Graves husband to Rhoda Purdy.

Sorry getting mired in the confusion out there on Jeremiah!

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So realized this is the father that married Lydia Thompson. But the original post showing Eliza and Susannah both alive and well in 1850 with respective children still stands.

Answer 3

Read this. Explains why the Jeremiah Purdy in the FAG entry is attached to parents John Denton and Elizabeth Peck Denton, Not sourced but a good lead

 https://www.werelate.org/wiki/Person:Jeremiah_Purdy_(1)

Comments

Yes, an interesting lead but as you say, not sourced.  I have this in my notes but have not connected it to WikiTree because lack of sources.

Answer 4

One more thing. The wikitree profile for Jeremiah's father says that he married 2nd Susannah Walsworth, which is what the FAG entries seem to be saying. Yet your bio for Eliza suggests his son was the one that fathered a child with Susannah despite being married to Eliza Blair??

Comments

Thank you Lorraine for looking into this. You are talking about Jeremiah Purdy Sr who married Susannah Walsworth very late in life (he was 70+ and she was 18), not his son (by Lydia Thompson), Jeremiah Purdy Jr who married Eliza Blair.  No, I do not have his son fathering a child with Susannah.  Susannah's connection and children with Jeremiah Purdy Sr are well documented not only in our family accounts (we have her daughter Melissa's journals) but also on DAR records and Find-A-Grave.