G2G: Women marrying cousins in Colonial NY, and related (pun intended) questions.

Question

George Middagh-77 in his will says his daughter Sarah is the wife of Jacobus J Middagh. George also has a son named Jacobus Jr.

What do my fellow wikitree genealogists think: was Sarah literally a daughter who married a cousin? Was she actually a daughter-in-law whom George is treating like a daughter? How would you enter Sarah?

Also, does George having a son named Jacobus Jr. necessarily mean that George's birth name was Jacobus?

I know there are no certain answers, I'm just asking for opinions on the best way to enter these.

Thanks.

Comments

When our ancestors called a man "Junior," it did not necessarily indicate a father-and-son relationship. If there were two men of the same name in the community, to tell them apart the older one might be called "Senior" and the younger one "Junior." (Or they might be "the Elder" and "the Younger.")

From your description, my guess is that Sarah married a man named Jacobus Middagh, and also had a brother named Jacobus Middagh who was younger than her husband. The will referred to her brother as Jacobus Jr. in order to distinguish him from the other man. The fact that Jacobus had a "Jr." after his name doesn't necessarily tell us anything about his father's name.

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You show two of these men as being named Jacobus, with a preferred name of George. What is your evidence that "Jacobus" preferred the name "George"?

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Thanks, Ellen. Just that George referred to his son as Jacobus Jr. But you addressed that in your first response. I'll change the profile to George.

Answer 1

I think the available evidence suggests Ellen is correct that the Jr. and Sr. are not based on parent/child relationships but simply used to distinguish two individuals with the same name. At the same time I think the evidence does suggest that Sarah did marry a cousin.

Allow me to start with 3 assumptions: 1) the sons in George's will are named in birth order; 2) the family followed typical naming conventions; and 3) given the predominant ethnic origin of the area, and the daughter named Hilletje, the family is of Dutch origin.

Using the assumptions above, George's father we would then expect to be named some form of Art. There is a 1769 will for an Aert Middagh of Rumbout precinct in Dutchess Co. (in Wills, Vol Aa, A, 1751-1796). In this will are named the beneficiaries Hester (wife), Hester LaRoy (grand daughter), Jacobus, Joris, and Geertie (children).

Let's note here that the normal anglicized version of Jacobus is James while Joris becomes George.

Let us skip ahead to Census 1790 where among the people enumerated at Fishkill, Dutchess, Co. we find: George Middaugh, Aart Middaugh Sr., Aart Middaugh Jr., Jacobus Middaugh Sr., and Jacobus Middaugh Jr.

The 1800 census of Fishkill contains James Middaugh, George Middaugh,, Aart G. Middaugh, Aart J. Middaugh, James G. Middaugh, and James J. Middaugh.

In Census 1810, under the surname spelling Meddough, we find Aurt G., Aurt J., James G., and James J. (and others)

While I can't say the exact birth order of boys and girls, and there is some guesswork that would need to be confirmed I would guess at a family tree that looks something like:

1. Aert Middagh (d. 1769) + Hester Unknown

   1.1 Jacobus "James" (d. 1808 - see note 1) + Sarah unknown

      1.1.1 Aart (aka: Aart St.; Aart J.)

      1.1.2 Mindert

      1.1.2 Jacobus "James" (aka: Jacobus Sr.; Jacobus J.; James Sr.; James J.) m. Sarah Middagh (see 1.2.5)

      1.1.3 Hester m. John Tarpenning

      1.1.4 Rebecca m. 1799, Baltus Carman

   1.2 Joris "George" (d. 1800) + Elizabeth Peele (note 2)

      1.2.1 Aart (aka: Aart Jr.; Aart G.)

      1.2.2 Jacobus (aka: Jacobus Jr., James Jr., and James G.) m. Sarah Burhans

      1.2.3 Paul (presumably the Paul Middaugh that died intestate in 1810 and possibly Husband of Catherine Masten)

      1.2.4 Hilletje m. Peter Palen

      1.2.5 Sarah m. Jacobus Middagh (see 1.1.2)

      1.2.6 Hester

   1.3 Geertie

   1.4 Unknown daughter m. unknown LaRoy; died before 1769

      1.4.1 Hester

note 1 - See Dutchess Co. Wills, Vol C-D, 1806-1815

note 2 - I have associated a 4 May 1755 christening for a Hester, daughter of Joris Middagh and Elizabeth Peele, birth given as 4 March, witnesses given as Aart Middagh and Hester LaMettere with this person. (ref: Poughkeepsie and The Flats, Book 39) - I would investigate further to see if the witness Hester is Aart's wife and George's mother.

Comments

Perhaps it is only a coincidence, but there is a Wikitree profile for a Gertrude (Middaugh) LeRoy that *could* be the Gertie I gave above (see 1.3)

While they are from very different places you may also want to watch out for confusion between the above Joris "George" Middagh and Joris Middaugh of New Jersey who also has a wife Elizabeth.

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I think my comment in note 2 about the possibility of Hester LaMettere being the wife of Aart Middagh could point to the Wikitree profile for Aert Jorisse Middag being the same Aert Middagh as given at 1 above. (The death of 1769 I gave above should have been *after* 1769 as that is when his will was dated)

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Here are some entries I found browsing through Poughkeepsie and The Flats, Book 39 that flush out the guesswork I gave above.

Marriages

May 15, 1752. Marriage intentions registered for Joris Middag, j.m. born at Claversack (sic) & Elizabet Pele j.d., born at Esopus, both residing at Pou[ghkeepsie], married June [20?].

27 Jan 1754. Marriage intentions registered for Frans La Roy, j.m. born at Pou[ghkeepsie] & Geertje Middag, j.d. born at Claversack (sic), both living at Pou[ghkeepsie], married 10 Feb.

15 Oct 1771. Marriage intentions registered for Petrus Peele, from Kingston & Hillettje Middag, j.d. born at Pou[ghkeepsie], both living at Rumbout prec., married after the 3rd proclamation. (date of 15 Nov 1771 is given in New Hackensack and Greenbush, Book 28)


Christenings:
*There is a note at the end of the christenings for the year 1745 indicating that one or more books must be lost and records resume at 1764.

22 Sep 1765, Meindert, child of Jacobus Middag & Lena Viele; witnesses Meindert Viele & wife Rebecca Palmentier

16 Mar 1766, Jacobus child of Joris Middag & Elizabeth Pelen; witnesses Jacobus Middag & wife Helena Vielen

2 Nov 1766, Geertje, child of Frans La Roy & Geertje Middag; witnesses Aart Middag & wife Hester De La Maitre

29 Nov 1766, Joris child of Jacobus Middag & Lena Viele; witnesses Joris Middag & wife Elizabeth Peele

1 Nov 1767, Jacobus, child of Jacobus Middag & Helena Viele; witnesses Meindert Harris & Jannetje Viele

11 Dec 1768, born 13 Nov, Paulus child of Joris Middag & Elizabeth Peele; witnesses Petrus Peele & Heiltje Burhans

1 Oct 1769, born 20 Aug, Rebecca child of Jacobus Middag & Lena Viele; witnesses Meindert Viele & wife Rebecca Palmontier

28 Oct 1769, Seletje child of Frans La Roy & Geertje Middag; witnesses Jacob Ellen & wife Seletje La Roy

[no day] Nov 1771, born 25 Aug, Lena child of Jacobus Middag & Lena Viele; [no witnesses]

born 5 Oct 1772, Maria child of Frans la Roy & Geertje Middag; witnesses Michiel Pels & wife [not named]

born 22 Dec 1772, Joris child of Petrus Peele & Hilletje Middag; witnesses Joris Middag & wife [not named]

2 Nov 1783, Joris child of Aart Middag & Lena Van Vliet; witnesses Joris Middag & Elizabeth [ditto]

 

The transcriber also notes that some records that belong in the Poughkeepsie records were actually recorded at New Hackensack, for example:

4 Jul 1761, Aart Middag child of Frans Le Roy & Geertje Middag; witnesses Jacobus Middag & Lena Viele

 

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Rob, take another look at the will you posted for Jacobus Meddaugh (d. 1808).  I think you'll find that his wife's name is "Lenah" rather than Sarah.  That old handwriting is hard to read, but this is actually better than a lot of what I've seen.  The capital letter "L" is very similar to the capital letter "S," but if you look at other examples of the "S" in the will, you'll see the difference.

My records show that "Lenah's" maiden name was VIELE.  Lena(h) may have been a nickname for Helena, as the christening records above seem to indicate.

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Suzan,

Good catch on my misreading of Sarah/Lenah.

My guess is that Lena(h) is the correct name at birth, and that in this case it is not being used as a diminutive of Helena. Only one of the records I have so far looked at uses Helena and that could simply have been an assumption made by the recorder - I am persuaded by the fact that the 1771 daughter was baptized as just "Lena" and not as Helena. Obviously a baptismal record would be the only way to know for sure.