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Helem was born about 1819. He is first seen in the 1850 census in Sanford, Broome, NY, with wife Rhoda and children Nelson 8, and Lucinda 2. He is a blacksmith. His neighbors are Francis and Mary Page and these two families are adjacent in 1855, 1860, and in a combined household in 1865. Helem is only present in 1850 and 1860 and is also found in Yuba county, California, from about 1863 on. He died in Yuba county in 1870 and the administer of his estate was his wife Eliza Tryon. In the 1870 census a few months after his death Eliza has two children living with her; Charles age 15, born in Michigan, and Ida age 6, born in California. Eliza remarried later that year to Joseph Holloman and she died in 1878. Helem has a large memorial in the cemetery in Marysville and Eliza is buried there too with her Tryon surname. This is obviously very complicated and the Research Notes below will go into more depth and documentation regarding his life and explore who his parents and siblings are.
In 1850 Helem R Tryon is in Broome County, NY, age 31, with wife Rhoda 28, son Nelson 8, and daughter Lucinda 2. Mary was born in CT and the other in NY [1]. Next door is Francis Page, age 60, wife Mary 58, and Mary Tryon 28, and Eton Tryon 11, and some Sage children including Nelson Page 17, and Sarah Page 15.
In 1855 the two households are still adjacent. "Polly" Page is now 66, Mary Tryon is 32 and "Clum" Tryon is 15. Polly is from CT, Mary from Delaware Co., NY, and Clum is from PA (note that they live close to the NY/PA border) [2]. Next door is Helem's wife Rhoda Tryon 33, and Nelson Tryon 14, Lucina Tryon 7, and Noah Tryon 1, all born Broome Co., NY [3]. Note that Noah was born May 1854 so Helem was there in 1853.
In 1860 the two families are much the same. Helem is back with them [4].
In 1865 there is only one household, led by Francis Page [5]. Rhoda Tryon lives there and is his daughter and her children are mistakenly called nephew/niece. Helem is not there.
Helem is next found in multiple 1863 and late IRS tax assessments in Marysville, Yuba, CA, and in 1867 in voter registration documents in Marysville [6], and died there in January of 1870. He is buried in the Marysville Cemetery and has a large monument there with his full name, death date, and age on it [7]. He died intestate and his probate documentation is extensive [8] [9]. Eliza Tryon, his wife, is administrator of his estate. In the Aug 1870 census [10] we find Eliza Tryon, age 45, from New York, with son Charles Tryon, age 15, from Michigan, and daughter Ida Tryon, age 6, from California. Charles and Ida continue to be found for decades with about the same birth years and born in the same states. Eliza remarried in Oct 1870 to Joseph Holloman [11]. Eliza Holloman died in 1878 and is buried in the same plot as Helem in the Marysville Cemetery with her Tryon surname [12]. Their daughter Ida May (Tryon) Duane is also buried there [13].
From the above we conclude that Helem and first wife Rhoda separated/divorced before 1862 and possibly as early as ten years earlier. He married Eliza somewhere in that time period and had a daughter Ida in 1863 and, assuming Charles is not Eliza's son from an earlier relationship, had a son Charles in 1855. Helem is missing from the household in New York in the 1855 census but returns for the 1860 census so it is not at all clear exactly what happened. To muddy the water further, there is a marriage record for Elizabeth Hert and Charles W. Tryon in Yuba county, CA, 7 Sep 1854. The earliest record of a Charles W. Tryon in the region is in 1862 in San Francisco where he is in the directory as a carpenter. Many hours of searching has not enlightened me further on the relationships here. Yuba county was huge and growing fast at this time (Gold Rush) and there could easily be multiple unrelated Tryon men there.
Helem is said to be son of John L. Tryon (1781-1833) and wife Mary (1790-1861). Mary remarried to Francis Sage after John's death. Siblings are said to be John L. Tryon (1818–1889) and Mary Tryon (1822-1865), and half siblings Nelson Page (1833-1914), and Sarah Page (1834-1854). There is evidence to support much of this.
The census records of Broome co., NY, do show Mary Page as wife of Francis Page with children Mary Tryon, Nelson Page, and Sarah Page. Helem and family are next door. Francis had an earlier wife, Christina, who died in 1831 and is buried in Sanford Cemetery [14]. Her inscription reads "Christina Wife of Francis Page died Jan 9 1831 in her 36th yr".
Mary Tryon (1822-1865) is buried in the Sanford Cemetery and the inscription on her headstone reads "Mary daughter of John L. & Mary TRYON died Aug. 21, 1865 ae 42y 11mo 16dys" [15].
Nelson Page (1833-1914) can be found on FindaGrave but his headstone is not recorded [16].
Sarah Page (1834-1854) is also buried in the Sanford Cemetery and her inscription reads "Sarah Daughter of Francis & Mary Page died aged 19 yrs 7 mos 17 dys" [17].
The other sibling, John L. Tryon (1818–1889), is found in many records but none that directly tie him to the family.
Records of the father of Helem and siblings have not been found. Candidate records are:
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T > Tryon > Helem Ransom Tryon
Categories: Tryon Family in America, Tryon Name Study | Broome County, New York