The Road to Sterling

If you've been following my research journeys this fall, you know that I have taken an interest in identifying Gillespie family groups in early Ulster/ Orange, NY by way of bounty lands that were delivered to the heirs of soldiers who died in the Revolution. The story that came out of the Marcellus bounty land was enough to inspire me to carry on with the next task of identifying the heirs of Robert Gillespie. But the road to Sterling has been more bumpy.

At this point in my genealogy life, I'm usually pretty good at figuring out how county lines changed over time, and where I need to be looking for records. But the more I tried to dig into Sterling, the more empty the results. The Gillespie family went through the NY State Legislature to get this Sterling property -- what happened to it? In Stuck Times like these, I have to pause and wonder What Am I Missing? What Don't I Know? In terms of New York counties as pertains to the Central Military Tract, I know I don't know alot. Time to ask for help.

Let me here express my humble thanks to all those who attempt to share what they know about complicated genealogical questions, and to one particular volunteer at the Cayuga County NYGenWeb Project.  Recently, complete strangers have re-energized my research with their mutual curiosity and willingness to share what they know.  I am certainly not the only one who believes in the importance of history and getting it right.  Thank you.

With that said, here is the helpful reply that I received to my inquiry about where to look for land records pertaining to Sterling Lot 51.  I find this explanation infinitely more clear than anything I have read on the internet:

Be aware that your Sterling Lot 51 land records research may involve looking within 2 or 3 NY counties. The original Military Tract Township of Sterling NY was established & surveyed into lots in circa 1794-1795.  Onondaga County NY was formed from Herkimer County in March 1794. Thus, lot 51 in the Military Tract Township of Sterling was originally part of Onondaga County NY. Cayuga County NY was formed from part of Onondaga County in March 1799. Then in March 1804, the west portion of Cayuga County (including the west half of the original Township of Sterling with Lot 51) became part of Seneca County NY.  A part of Seneca County (Including the west half of Sterling Township with Lot 51) was taken off to become part of Wayne County NY in 1823.  

Consequently, Lot 51 in the original Military Tract Township of Sterling was likely only considered part of Cayuga County from 1799 to 1804. From about 1804 to 1823, Lot 51 in the original Military Tract Township of Sterling was probably considered part of Seneca County NY.  Then after 1823, Sterling M/T Township Lot 51 was part of Wayne County NY. To further complicate things, the west half of the original M/T Tract Township of Sterling was renamed a few times between 1794-1823. I'm not sure of the exact dates... But it looks like the west portion of Sterling Township became known as part of the Town of Junius in Seneca County and then later became known as the Town of Wolcott in Seneca & later Wayne County. Today, Lot 51 in the original Military Tract Township of Sterling is NOW located within the Town of Wolcott in Wayne County NY.  

So Holy Cow. Based on the detailed knowledge of my helpful expert, Sterling would have been part of Seneca county in 1807. And LO! There we find a deed from William Gillespie of Newburgh, Orange, NY selling his 1/4th interest in Sterling Lot #51. The deed recites that this land was the patent granted to the representatives of Robert Gillespie, deceased. This much alone is enough to make me leap from my chair with joy. It all but confirms my working theory that the Ulster Gillespie brothers, namely William, Samuel, and Matthew, were also brothers of Robert who died after being captured by the British in 1777. But if the Sterling land was being sold in undivided fourths, and we now have William and by association Samuel, and Matthew -- who was the fourth? Based on the names in the list of Robert's representatives, I submit the fourth heir was a man named James Gillespie - the name of a man, indeed that of several men I have been spending inordinate amounts of time researching.

But this particular road to Sterling contains a bonus surprise. William Gillespie sold his part of the Sterling land for $1 to Andrew Gillespie of Lansingburgh, Rensselaer, NY, and Andrew and wife Sally subsequently sold it for $261 to Josiah Shippey of NYC. Why should we care about Andrew Gillespie? Because he also served in the Revolution, and in his pension application, he reported that he was born in Shawangunk, Ulster, NY in 1763. And because the only person to vouch for him was Matthew Gillespie of Lansingburgh who had known Andrew for over 60 years (yes, probably Andrew's brother). And because we have a collection of indirect evidence strongly suggesting that the father of Andrew and Matthew Gillespie may have been one James Gillespie.  

And so, this particular research quest to find Gillespie's in Sterling, Cayuga, NY ends in Wolcott, Wayne, NY where it appears, so far, that no Gillespie ever took residence.  But the Pay Dirt on this one is bigger than that.  The bounty land records have given us a much broader understanding of the Ulster/Orange Gillespie family group. Andrew Gillespie was not only a Revolutionary veteran, he was also a skipper on the Hudson, as were the men believed to be his brothers, Matthew and Joseph, and some of their sons after that.  These Gillespie's lived in Troy and Albany and New York City, that we know of, in the years leading to the War of 1812.  Their stories and their connection to the Ulster/Orange Gillespie's seem more clear by the day.  The more we learn, the richer the Gillespie family history becomes.

And finally, let us not forget Robert Gillespie, the one who lost his life in what were surely inhumane prison conditions in 1777.  Thirty years after his death, Robert's family certainly remembered him on the road to Sterling, even without knowing that the struggle to be free from the British was still not over. Freedom is never free. I dedicate this post gratefully to their memory, the resisters, the fallen, the survivors, one and all.

NY Bounty Lands

I've lately been working on a study of men named James Gillespy/Gillespie in early Ulster/Orange counties, New York.  Even though at this point, I am not looking for a particular connection to the James Gillespie who appeared with my Michigan pioneers in 1850 Bloomfield, Oakland, MI, I became curious about the men named James Gillespy/Gillespie who served in the American Revolution. It turns out there was much to learn, in particular from the bounty lands that were awarded to Gillespie's in 1790:

• James Gillespy, NY. 4th NY Reg under Walker, listed among the dead.  Sep 1790, 500 acres to heirs.  This land was in Marcellus in Onondaga county, lot #34. The patent was delivered 7 Jul 1790 to C.C. Schoonmaker for W. Gillaspy, adm.  Given that C. C. Schoonmaker was from the Shawangunk area, W. Gillsapy was probably William Gillespy 1737-1813 who was enumerated in Shawangunk in 1790.
• Robert Gillespie. 16 Aug 1807.  200 Acres to Gillespie representatives James, Samuel, William, John, Barbara, Matthew, Jane, Ann, Polly, Olive, Burr, and James Gillespie Jr.  This land was in Sterling, Cayuga county, lot #51.

I followed up by checking on deeds in Onondaga and Cayuga counties, and found two Onondaga deeds selling the land of James Gillespie in Marcellus. These deeds show that the property was divided in fifths, and four Gillespie's were named:  John (wife Sarah), Margaret, Elizabeth (Wallace), and Hanna (Lebolt), all of Ulster or Orange counties, NY. David Gillespie appeared in Marcellus starting in 1801 (tax lists), so I have to presume that he was the fifth heir of James. Given my understanding of who was considered next of kin when someone died intestate, I believe that John and David were brothers of James, Margaret could have been an unmarried sister, and Elizabeth and Hanna were likely daughters of another Gillespie sibling who had died before 1790 (I guess George). See my article for more details.

That leaves the men named James listed as heirs of the bounty land of Robert Gillespie who served in the 5th NY Regiment and died after being captured at Ft. Montgomery in 1777. More research is in process which seems to indicate that Robert's heirs also tie back to Ulster and Orange counties, New York. So much to untangle, and so much to learn, not the least of which is the discovery that bounty land records are a very valuable source of genealogical information!

UPDATE 12/5/2019:  We have an update pertaining to the William Gillespie who was administrator of the bounty land of James Gillespie who served with the NY 4th Regiment.  It turns out that he too was awarded bounty land in Marcellus.  Read all about it.

Welcome to Mamakating

Mamekoting was one of the Hudson Valley native American tribes, which is today the name of a town in Sullivan County, NY, and uses the spelling Mamakating, pronounced "ma-MA-ka-TING".

So now we have another fun-to-pronounce place to add to our family geography, one that is a mere 20 miles from another fun-to-pronounce Gillespie location, Shawangunk.  I stumbled upon Mamakating by tracing Abraham Gillespie who had some land in Mamakating when the town was in Sullivan county. But Sullivan county was not formed until 1809, and so where was Mamakating before that?  Ulster.

In any case, Mamakating Precinct is one place where the 1775 Articles of Allegiance, also called the Revolutionary Pledge, have survived. Four Gillespy names appeared on that list:  John, James, David, and George.  Along with records showing that the Fifth Hanover Company in 1775 had officers Capt. John Gillespie and Ensign Samuel Gillespie, I think we have a good picture of the Gillespie families with strong roots in the Ulster area.  More research is upcoming!

Meanwhile, here is a new article relating more details about my initial research in Sullivan county.

John Gillespy of Shawangunk

In my periodic review of records and DNA matches, I found one very remote match to me and two other of our elder Gillespie relations. This DNA match has a direct ancestor named Martha Jane Gillespie, 1832-1908, daughter of John Gillespie and Maria Klyne, wife of Andrew J Evans. These families lived in the Shawangunk area of Ulster county, which is the general area of New York where our early Gillespie and Greer families lived.

This new John Gillespy deserves some attention. He was born in Orange County around 1803, which means that his family was in America before our relations came around 1812. Who was he? Here is my latest research exploring that question.

It's exciting to think that we have finally found some connection between my Michigan Gillespie family and the Samuel Gillespy families of pre-Revolutionary New York. It means that Michigan Gillespie's are remotely related to all those early New York Gillespy's. The evidence of that connection, however, still only stems from a fairly trivial DNA match. All of this learning about the family group of John Gillespy of Shawangunk still provides no documented tie to the Gillespie's who migrated to Michigan in the 1830s. But, I feel we're getting closer. The better we understand each Gillespy family group, the more likely it is that more connections will surface. Closer and closer.

Different Diffin

Back in 2013, I reported some Diffin Connections to, we believed, our Gillespie family of Armagh. We had three reasons to pursue this lead:

• In the 1881 census of Quebec, there was one Mary Diffon, age 27, living with my ancestor James Gillespie. Who was she?
• My Gillespie family inherited an old photograph taken in Armagh which was labeled in pencil (by whom we don't know) as Mrs. Diffin.
• Contact from a Mr. Diffin who lives in Ireland, and whose ancestors were Henry Diffin and Mary Jane Gillespie.

Here is what we've learned since then.

Indeed, Mary Jane Gillespie married Henry Diffin in 1866. Her father was Thomas Gillespie 1799-1865 who lived in Ennislare and married Mary McCord. Several records are missing for this family group, so much of what we know is based on the genealogy research of Mr. Diffin in Ireland as well as what we can surmise from extant records. There is still some possibility, at least in my mind, that the photograph we have is of Mary Jane Gillespie Diffin. And if that is true, then the fact the photograph ended up with Gillespie family belongings who went to Quebec still suggests that we are some how related to Mary Jane.

Meanwhile, who was Mary Diffon living with James Gillespie in 1881 Quebec? We have not found anybody in the family lines of Henry Diffin to explain who she might have been. But as I mentioned 6 years ago, there were other possible Diffin connections to our family, which now might offer the explanation we've been looking for.

As we know, my ancestor James Gillespie emigrated to Quebec in the 1830s but before leaving Ireland, he married Mary Orr Jamieson in Lisnadill. Mary was the daughter of Arthur Jamieson and Mary Orr. I recently searched for other children born to Arthur Jamieson, and found one Ann "Nancy" Jamieson, born in 1832 who married one James Diffin in 1852! This James Diffin was from the same townland, Garvaghy, where Henry Diffin had lived, making it seem likely that James and Henry were cousins. And even though I find no baptism record for Mary Diffin born about 1854, it seems quite likely that she was the daughter of James Diffin and Ann Jamieson. In that case, she was James Gillespie's niece (by his wife), apparently coming to Quebec when she was 25. I have not found what became of Mary Diffin after 1881, but now we better understand her connection to our family.

So how are the two Diffin lines of Henry and James connected? The answer to that question is still as uncertain as how are the families of Thomas Gillespie of Ennislare and Thomas Gillespie of Cavanacaw connected? But thanks to clues found in North America, we know these families most certainly have some connection, some how. Research goes on.

Georgia Woods

2019 is starting with an unexpected genealogy surprise: living relations in Georgia who connect to the Woods family from Armagh! It's so easy to keep all our focus on the patriarchs, Gillespie, but we must remember the simple fact that everybody in my direct line descends from John Gillespie and Jane Woods!  So what has lead us to this discovery of Woods relations?  29.1 centimorgans shared across 2 DNA segments, that's what, a predicted fourth cousin match to me. Here's a brief account of how we pieced the story together.

A study of the match's tree lead to a William Wood who settled in Georgia in the 1830s. Family records indicate that he was born in County Armagh! A study of our family tree showed that my ancestor, Jane Woods, had a brother, William Woods, who came to Quebec in the 1820s. Mary Gillespie Henderson mentioned this William Woods in her book "Memories of My Early Years" as well of several of his children. But how were these two Woods families connected?

Contact with another Woods researcher in Georgia provided letters written by relations in the 1940s describing what they knew of their Woods family history. According to the letters, two Woods brothers and a sister came to the US when they were young, leaving Canada after their mother died and their father remarried. The letters also stated that the original Woods immigrant was from Ireland, and there were other brothers in Canada, uncles possibly named Robert, James, Gilbert, and Carson. Finally, there was also mention of Woods cousins in Chicago who had been in correspondence with the Georgia family.

Well, it so happened that our William Woods indeed had a first wife who died in 1832 in Quebec, and he remarried soon after. We have been familiar with the children that William had with the second wife in Quebec, but there had never been even a hint that he had brought other children with him upon his arrival in Quebec. Now it seems clear that he did, and that one of those children was William Wood who moved to Georgia! Unable to find Quebec records that pertain directly to the Woods brothers who moved to Georgia, I set about to corroborate the other clues from the Georgia family letters. Here's what I found:

• William Woods had a son named James by his second wife. That James was found living with one Robert Woods in Montreal in 1861. That Robert Woods was born in 1812 in Ireland, so it seems likely and probable, that this Robert was also a son of William Woods and his first wife.
• Further research of Robert's children revealed that three of them later moved to the Chicago area, all of them living there into the 1940s. Here were the Chicago cousins mentioned in the letters!
• Finally, by his second wife, William Woods had a son Alexander, and two of Alexander's sons were William Carson Woods and Henry Gilbert Woods. Since relations often called each other by middle names, these could well be the uncles named Carson and Gilbert. Even the previously-mentioned James Woods had a son named Henry Gilbert Carson Woods, so those names were definitely in our family group.

Thus we have come to a yet another new chapter of our family story. These Woods families (morphed to WOOD in the US) were headed into a dark period of American history, navigating the Civil War and all its bloody violence, and then losing many children to the 1866 small pox epidemic that shook the South. But survive they did to bring their stories into the bigger family history.  Welcome to all Woods cousins!