Lydia Ann (May) Dunlap (abt. 1829 - abt. 1876)

Born about 1829 in Pennsylvania, United States [uncertain]

Ancestors

Descendants

Died about 1876 at about age 47 in Ohio, United States [uncertain]

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Biography

Lydia was born about 1826-1829 in Pennsylvania.^[1][2] Her parents may have been Samuel Mays and Sarah Wunderlich (or Wonderly).

Lydia married Thomas Dunlap. Together they had four sons:

• William Dunlap, born in 1855
• Samuel Dunlap, born in 1858
• John Dunlap, born in 1860
• James T. Dunlap, born in 1864

The Dunlap family lived in Brady's Bend, Pennsylvania. Between 1858 and 1860, they moved to Massillon, Ohio.^[1] By 1870, they had moved to Canal Dover, Ohio. ^[2]

Lydia passed away about 1876.^[3]

Her son James named his firstborn daughter Lydia Ann, presumably after his mother.

Research Notes

No death or cemetery records or other primary sources have been found to support her death date; however, Thomas Dunlap remarried in 1878, suggesting that Lydia may have passed away before then.

Lydia's maiden name is not 100% certain; the following information may support it being May or Mays:

• Charles Albert Cornman's "Genealogical Record of the Wunderlich Family in America : Seventeen Branches," originally published in 1911, lists a descendant named Lydia May being married to Thomas Dunlap and having four sons (William, Samuel, John, and James). The birth months and years listed for each of the sons are consistent with those of Lydia Ann and Thomas Dunlap's sons (though the days do not necessarily match). Mr. Cornman's sources for this information are not listed in the book for verification.^[3]
• Samuel Dunlap's death certificate lists his mother's name as "Lotty (or Letty) Mays." William and James's death certificates simply list her as Lydia, and John's death record lists his parents as unknown.^[4][5][6][7]
• In the 1860 census, a 63 year old male whose name was transcribed as "S. Ways," with a birthplace of Pennsylvania, was listed as living with the Dunlaps.^[1] Cornman's book lists Lydia May's father as Samuel May, born in 1797 (which would have made him age 63 in 1860).^[3] However, Samuel Mays also shows up in the census for Brady's Bend, Pennsylvania in 1860. ^[8] The dates of the Brady's Bend, Pennsylvania and Massillon, Ohio censuses were about a month apart (could Samuel have been visiting Ohio then?). The Mays family also shows up in the Brady's Bend census from 1850. ^[9]
• Cornman's book lists Lydia May's date of birth as May 17, 1829 and her date of death as October 1, 1876.^[3] If this is the same person as Lydia Ann Dunlap, it would fit with Thomas Dunlap remarrying in 1878.

Her last name at birth may need to be changed to "Mays" instead of "May" (I am waiting to do this until more definitive sources are found, to avoid changing it and then having to change it back again).

Information from unsourced family trees on Ancestry.com and FamilySearch indicate that Lydia and Thomas may have been married in 1852 or 1853, and that the marriage may have taken place in Pittsburgh. To date, no primary sources to confirm this information have been located. Places searched for marriage record:

• Ancestry database
• FamilySearch database
• FindMyPast database
• Allegheny County Vital Records department (contacted September 2018 by A. Horn; only marriage records from 1885 onward are available)
• Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh (contacted September 2018 by A. Horn; no record of the marriage found in the Marriage Notice Index, 1786-1910 or in the 1852-1854 Pennsylvania Marriages, Microfilm P-98).

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} "United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MCPW-HNB : 13 December 2017), Lydia Dunlap in entry for T Dunlap, 1860.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} "United States Census, 1870," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M6LY-PZ8 : 12 April 2016), Lydia Ann Dunlap in household of Thomas Dunlap, Ohio, United States; citing p. 40, family 293, NARA microfilm publication M593 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 552,772.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3} Cornman, Charles Albert,. Genealogical record of the Wunderlich family in America : seventeen branches. Carlisle, Pa.: Cornman Print. Co., 1988. p. 122 (originally published in 1911)
4. ↑ "Ohio Deaths, 1908-1953," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X8ND-2RX : 9 March 2018), Letty Mays in entry for Sam Dunlap, 09 Nov 1916; citing Dover, Tuscarawas, Ohio, reference fn 71063; FHL microfilm 1,983,839.
5. ↑ "Ohio, County Death Records, 1840-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F6J4-6GQ : 9 March 2018), Lotty Mays in entry for Sam Dunlap, 09 Nov 1916; citing Death, Dover, Dover Township, Tuscarawas, Ohio, United States, source ID v 1 p 136, County courthouses, Ohio; FHL microfilm 890,361. - variation of first name listed
6. ↑ "Ohio, County Death Records, 1840-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F6J4-X9X : 9 March 2018), Lydia in entry for William Dunlap, 14 Apr 1924; citing Death, Dover, Dover Township, Tuscarawas, Ohio, United States, source ID v 1 p 138, County courthouses, Ohio; FHL microfilm 890,361. - first name without maiden name listed in her son William's death record
7. ↑ "Ohio Deaths, 1908-1953," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X87N-JVB : 9 March 2018), Lydia in entry for James Dunlap, 07 Mar 1939; citing Dover, Tuscarawas Co., Ohio, reference fn 20854; FHL microfilm 2,023,710. - first name without maiden name listed in her son James's death record
8. ↑ "United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MXRG-VHD : 13 December 2017), Samuel Mays, 1860.
9. ↑ "United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M44X-V5N : 12 April 2016), Lamb Mays, Brady's Bend, Armstrong, Pennsylvania, United States; citing family 23, NARA microfilm publication M432 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).