The Thatcher Brick Wall

It annoys me that I haven't been able to find any new information on my great-grandfather Alexander M. Thatcher (born 18 July 1818 and died 13 Jan 1880).  It doesn't help that he was working class, an employee in a paper company, who died from tuberculosis.  I decided to take advantage of resources listed at Cyndislist.com.  I couldn't access the ones from Ancestry, but I could get to the ones by Michael John Neill.  I found the Problem Solving one helpful and I decided to look at the information again. 

In my family you can't always arrive at the truth following a straight line.  Some document said that Alexander was from Chester.  Most documents said he was from Pennsylvania.  What if Chester was right but the state was wrong?  I decided to take a look at that.  It turns out that would give me several more places to look:

• Chester, Delaware, PA
• Chester, Hampden, MA 
• Chester, Middlesex,CT
• Chester, Morris, NJ
• Chester, Orange, NY
• Chester, Rockingham, NH
• Chester, Windsor, VT

I will try the New England ones first.  Alexander once lived in Hampshire County, next to Hampden Co. Middlesex County, CT, and Windsor County, VT, are along the Connecticut River, which could have brought him to Hampshire County.  Chester, NH, is a little farther away, but makes more sense than Chester in New York or New Jersey. 

Ada Winchell

I now know what my great-grandaunt Ada G. Winchell looked like.

I had originally thought that the girl below was Ada.  However, the ears aren't the same.  It's possible this is her sister Rachel Almira Winchell, who was two years older, or a female cousin.  There seems to be a marked resemblance.

I don't have much information on Ada.  She was born on 25 December 1866 in the Town of Great Barrington, Berkshire County, Mass., the daughter of John L. Winchell and Winifred O. Ashley.  In July 1870 the family was living in North Egremont in the same county.  By June 1880 her parents had bought the house at 25 Hart Street in Housatonic in the Town of Great Barrington.  

Ada was already working in a local cotton mill at the age of 13.  On 31 January 1890 Ada died of consumption, or tuberculosis, at the age of 23 in the Town of Great Barrington.  She is buried in Saint Bridget's Cemetery in Housatonic.

The Indian in the Family

Several years ago I was shown a letter that had been written to my great-aunt Jeanette Winchell Schwab in July 1970.  My Aunt Kate had it in her possession and I finally learned of it 36 years later.  I don’t know why it took so long for me to read it because the letter was written in response to a visit my parents and I made to my aunt a long time ago.  

Jeanette Winchell

Aunt Jeanette had asked the author what tribe the Indian in the family came from.  She had no idea but gave some valuable information on the Daniel Hoyt family from which she and Jeanette was descended.  This is what the author wrote about her family:

“…Daniels wife Nancy died Aug 4 1808 [in Hudson, Columbia County, NY] leving him with 6 children 7 mos to 12 yrs.  It is supposed that he took in the Indian maiden to help him with the children.  There is no entry in the Bible for his marriage but there is the birth of 2 more children recorded.  Edward born Mar 1 1810 and William Henry born Nov 10- 1812.  It is William Henry from whom the Snyders are descended….”

Hudson was in the ancestral land of the Mohicans.  It was quite likely “the Indian maiden” was Mohican, although members of others tribes have been known to travel up and down the river.  I grew up in Columbia County and I have not heard of members of other nations settling here in the 1800s, only in the recent past.

 The Snyders the letter writer refers to are  the descendants of John Martin Snyder and Jane Frances Hoyt.  John was born 8 April 1836 in Athens, Greene County, NY, the son of Jacob Snyder and Hannah Marquart.  Jane was born 24 April 1845 in Columbia County, NY, possibly in Claverack.  I believe they met at Moffat’s Store in the Town of Ghent, Columbia County.  Their first son was born in Latham, Albany County.  By 1870 the family had moved to West Stockbridge, Berkshire County, Massachusetts.  Eventually they settled on North Plain Road outside of Housatonic in the same county.  Jane also had a sister Loretta who had married Joseph Donsbough and settled in Sheffield, Berkshire County, but there is no mention of that family.

This passage puzzled me and I’ve pursued the mystery for a while: 

 “Frederic & Lena looked up records in South Egremont and found that a member of the Winchell family was recorded legally married to an indian girl.  The daughter of this marriage became the mother of Frederick’s grandfather and father of Lillian Warner who married G. Franklin Snyder.

I think when he told me of this he mentioned the tribe name but if he did I don’t remember.  I did not have any of this writen at all.  I asked him Do you mean this Winchell family up here on Hart St.  He said yes.  I don’t know how near a relative it was who married the indian I think he mentioned the first name but I don’t remember. Any way it gives Frederic Indian on both sides of his family through his great grandmother Warner.  I remember seeing her when I was a girl.  She lived in the extra apartment on the back of Warners house with daughter Grace Warner. None of this may affect you.  I doubt that it does but thought I should at least mention it.

 Do you remember Guy Warner at all Aunt Lils brother?  He used to tell Frederick when he was a boy that his wife Cora used to twit him about having indian blood.  That is what started them looking up records in South Egremont.”

 It posed a few questions and now I have some of the answers.  I finally had the time and the ability to trace back Lillie Warner’s family.  She was born Lillie M. Warner, not Lillian, 31 Jul 1872 in the Town of Great Barrington, Berkshire County, Massachusetts.  Her parents were Nathaniel Warner and Paulina Lewis.  Nathaniel’s parents were Asahel Warner and Julia Winchell.  I didn’t find this information until I found Frederick’s application to the Sons of the American Revolution where he listed her name.  Using Familysearch.org I located Julia’s death record in which her parents George Winchell and Sarah Livingston were listed.  She was a daughter to my great-great-grandparents who I never knew existed until last week!  She is the “Indian girl” the letter writer referred to.  This seems to be more evidence for my opinion that George’s father Eliakim married an Indian girl himself.   George was only 1/8 Indian.  Since at least two of his sons were marked as part Indian on the census, it seemed likely that George’s mother was Native too.

Within my family there is now a unique relationship among some of its members.  G. Franklin Snyder’s sister Alice B. Snyder married Henry F. Winchell in 1895.  They had ten children and five lived to adulthood.  Not only were G. Franklin Snyder and Lillie Warner’s children Carl, Frederick, Donald, Clifford and Rolland related to their aunt Alice, they were also related to their uncle Henry Winchell.  His family is also one of my research interests.  

Frederick M. Snyder, the previous family historian

 You may ask that now we know Frederick Snyder was probably Mohican on his father’s side, what about his mother’s?  Julia Winchell is a descendant of John Van Gilder, who was Mohican and Wappinger.  It is likely that her grandfather Eliakim’s wife was a Mohican woman, although she could have been a member of another tribe from Connecticut or Massachusetts.  Some of the Native groups in western New England today have ancestors who were refugees from eastern New England.  

 The author gave more information on the immediate family, which has been troublesome to document.  Cousin Frederick M. Snyder had the Daniel Hoyt bible. He had no children, so I hope one of his nieces or nephews has it.  I have been looking into this family and they all disappeared down into New York City!  I haven’t been able to locate a marriage record for son William Henry and Elizabeth Clapper.  I haven’t been able to document their daughter Christine or her husband. 

The last question this letter poses is who wrote it.  The author had to meet these conditions:  female, niece to G. Franklin Snyder and Lillie Warner, had a grandmother Snyder, be alive in 1970 and have a female relative Beth married 15 April 1970 in the Episcopal Church at Stockbridge.  I’ve been able to narrow the choices to two women:  Maud Snyder, daughter of William H. Snyder and Elizabeth Goodhind and wife of Atwood Gallup and Edith Evelyn Snyder, daughter of Frederick G. Snyder and Sarah Kerrigan and wife of Arthur Flavey or Falvey from New York State.  I need to look into Beth’s marriage to determine which woman it was.  With the price of gas these days I don’t hop over into Berkshire County as much as I used to.

Maud Snyder Gallup

This investigation makes me wonder how much Frederick M. Snyder discovered of his family, did he answer all of his questions and how much did I have to repeat.  I won’t know, but I’m publishing this to make it easier for the next relative who gets curious.  In addition, because of the information on Daniel Hoyt’s second partner, my effort to research the ancestors of Alice B. Snyder in honor of her children has grown into a further effort to document the descendants of Mohican people in the original homeland.  

Update:

I have since learned that the author of the letter was Maud Snyder Gallup.

Surriners in Great Barrington

Here are some miscellaneous Surriner records I found in my notes:

Great Barrington Congregational Church Records, Records of St. James Church, Great Barrington 1770-1793.  Records of the Ministerial Offices of the Rev. Gideon Bostwick

p. 112  Surner Jacob d[died] 14 Noc 1807 aged 93 yrs.  Soldier War of 1812

Surner, Sarah, wife of Uriah d[ied] 9 Jan 1848 aged 29 (Uriah's first wife.  Henrietta was his second.)
Alonzo, d[ied] 21 Mar 1863, aged 20 yrs. 1 m[month] 5 d[ays] C[ompany]. A. Mass. 10^th infantry
Edwin d[ied] 12 Mar 1853 aged 8 yrs. Son of Uriah and Sarah
Marcus d[ied] 7 Sep 1865 aged 14 yrs.

My great-great-grandfather John L. Winchell's sister married Uriah Surriner Sr. and they lived in Housatonic in the house below, just down the street from John's house.  The 1870 census gave Uriah's occupation as a carpenter.  I wouldn't be surprised if he had worked on the Searles Castle with his wife's nephew Henry Winchell.

Uriah and Lucinda had four children:  William, George, Uriah Jr. and Lucinda.  I'd like to find out what happened to them.  It's not easy researching this family because the spelling of the surname is always changing.  I don't know the origin of it either.

My Family's Houses

My father's family came from a lovely village in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, called Housatonic. There are only a few photos from that time because my grandfather burned all he had in the 1960s.  It was easier to obtain photos of the houses they lived in than of the people. 

This is the house that Lawrence Vosburgh built on the western bank of the Housatonic outside of Vandeusenville.  Vosburgh was the stepfather of my gggreat-grandmother Sarah Livingston.  He was the third husband of her mother Rachel Boyes.  In 1850 as shown on the federal census Sarah and her husband George Winchell lived in this house with Vosburgh and his wife Rachel Boyes.

The next generation of Winchells moved to Housatonic.

This was the house that George's son and my ggreat-grandfather John L. Winchell bought with his wife Winifred O. Ashley on Hart Street in Housatonic.  I am still kicking myself for not arranging for a tour of the house when it was for sale.

This house next door belonged to John and Winifred's son Daniel H. Winchell.  Daniel was married to Alice Augusta Warfield.  They had a daughter Adelsa Roberta.  Daniel died of epilepsy when he was thirty.

Lower down on Kirk Street is the house that George and Sarah's daughter and John's sister Henrietta lived with her husband Uriah Surriner Sr.

Right around the corner from Hart Street on Main Street, Samantha Winchell, sister of John and Henrietta, lived in this house with her husband Isaac Strong.  I'll have to go see if they ever finished painting the house.

The Winchells were all carpenters at one time.  A friend showed me this photo one day and I recognized the last man on the right as my great-grandfather:

This is the only surviving document for the construction of Searles Castle in neighboring Great Barrington.  I suspect other family members were on the crew as well. 

Searles Castle today

If you go to Searles Castle, Estate of the Day, you will see more exterior and interior photos of the estate.  I have never seen photos of the interior of what my great-grandfather helped build until today.