Melissa C Olds (abt. 1859 - 1895)

Born about 22 Jul 1859 in Owego, Tioga, New York, United States

Ancestors

Died 6 Feb 1895 at about age 35 in Lineville, Wayne, Iowa, United States

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Biography

Melissa was born in 1859 at Tioga County, New York, possibly at the county seat of Owego, a town not to be confused with the city of Oswego on Lake Erie. She was the daughter of David Olds and Rosanna Seaman.

Melissa's mother Rosanna Olds was committed to the Willard Asylum at Romulus, New York. Thereafter her father David Olds gradually began to board his children at the Cayuga Asylum for Destitute Children before surrendering them entirely. David Olds abandoned New York and apparently never had any contact with his children by that relationship again. He migrated west, soon remarried, and headed another family which came to settle in Oregon.

Melissa's record at the Cayuga Asylum indicates that she was surrendered by her father on 9 Dec 1863 at Port Byron, New York. She would have been 4-years old at the time she was surrendered to the care of the Cayuga Asylum. Census records from 1865 indicate she was an inmate there with her brothers Franklin and David. In May 1869 Melissa was fostered out to a man named Enos Fuller (?) of German, Chenango County, New York and the record indicates he later adopted her.

Melissa Olds passed away in 1895 at Lineville, Wayne County, Iowa. She was only 36. How Melissa came to be in Iowa is as yet unknown.

Sources

• US Census Record, 1860. via Ancestry.com database. Melissa C Olds., age-1. Residence: Tioga, Tioga, New York.
• New York State Census Record, 1865. via Ancestry.com database. Melissa Olds, age-7. Residence: Auburn, New York.
• Iowa Deaths and Burials, 1850-1990. via Ancestry.com database. Malissa C Olds. Died: 6 Feb 1895 [1] [2]
• North American Family Histories, 1500-2000. "The Olds Family in England and America". Melissa C Olds. via Ancestry.com database. [3] [4]
• Photograph. Inmate Record, Melissa C Olds. from the archive of Cayuga Centers, Auburn, New York. (Successor to the Cayuga Asylum for Destitute Children) Photo appended to this record.