Looking for more info on Peter Naylor, d. 1818 in NYC.

Question

I've reached a brickwall ancestor and I'm low on ideas for how to break through. I'd really appreciate more eyes, and fresh ideas from the folks here at G2G.

Peter Naylor may have been the son of Richard Naylor (or Nalor?) of England, according to a genealogy published by NYGBR in 1877. Peter's birthplace and birthdate are unknown. He shows up in New York City as a mason and bricklayer around 1798 or 1799, when he marries the widow Rachel Blank/Blanck Kip and appears in Longfellow's directory of the city. He dies in New York in 1818.

I'm interested to know where and when Peter was born, where he was prior to his appearance in New York City, and where his remains were interred. Was Richard indeed his father? Where exactly was he born, what did he do, and did he ever live in Colonial America?

Comments

According to this New York City Municipal death record, Peter Naylor was 57 years old when he died, and was born in England around 1761. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F6MR-C32

How to confirm this info, or flesh it out?

Answer 1

Peter Nailor baptised 8 Jun 1761, Sefton, Lancashire. Father William.

Comments

Thanks Martin. I appreciate your effort, but I don't know how to evaluate the info. Where does it come from? Were there any other Peter Naylors or Nailors or Nalors born in England in about 1761, or was this guy the only one? Were there any with a father named Richard? Are there any records to suggest this Peter Nailor traveled to the Colonies? Manifests? UK Census records?

I'm really not familiar with UK records or the resources that might be available to answer these questions.

---

You can find him on familysearch.

BUT, there is a repeat baptism in the Bishop's transcripts in the Lancashire Archives on 23 Feb 1766. That might imply the earlier one died. That is available on Ancestry.

Obviously no-one can guarantee that is the only one. I did a general search on familysearch and Ancestry for Peter and various spellings at that date. This is the only one that showed up. I did try Richard as father, but no joy.

---

Thanks for your help. I confess I hadn't tried all the variant spellings of his surname. That's a good strategy for netting a broader array of results. I'll flag his entry as a possibility, even if it's just a slim chance they're one and the same.

Peter's sons were involved in lead and iron-working in Manhattan and Brooklyn, and got rich by selling to gold rush prospectors and manufacturing weapons & ammunition during the US Civil War. They shipped goods and raw materials from New York to an associated foundry in San Francisco. I was wondering if these Naylors might have been related to the one who ran an iron import firm, Naylor & Co. (or Naylor, Hutchinson, Vickers, & Co., or Naylor-Vickers) which was founded in Sheffield, England in the late 1700s, and set up an office in New York in the 1830s. The firm got attention from the government in the 1870s for cooking their books and falsifying records, undervaluing imported steel and iron rods to skirt customs fees. The local newspapers had big features on the scandal.

I'd love to poke around this possible connection, but I'm not sure the best approach. I really don't know how to navigate UK records and resources. I'd be grateful for any help and direction.

Answer 2

New York, New York City Municipal Deaths

Name	Peter Naylor
Event Type	Death
Event Date	14 Jan 1818
Event Place	Manhattan, New York, New York, United States
Gender	Male
Age	57
Marital Status	Unknown
Birth Year (Estimated)	1761
Birthplace	England

Citing this Record

"New York, New York City Municipal Deaths, 1795-1949," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F6MR-C32 : 10 February 2018), Peter Naylor, 14 Jan 1818; citing Death, Manhattan, New York, New York, United States, New York Municipal Archives, New York; FHL microfilm 447,544.

Comments

Thanks Doug! Yes, this is my best source for his possible birthplace and birth year. See my comment above and on his profile. Do you know what is the primary source for this database, or what other info might be included in the original record? I'd really love to look at the handwriting -- sources seem differ on whether he died in Jan or in Jun, and I think one of those months is likely just a transcription error.