I've been taking a bit of break from my NY Gillespy mapping project, but there's never a shortage of side topics to get my curiosity. Because the last place I studied was Walkill Precinct, I was reminded of a long-time mystery Gillespie, Robert Gillespie 1774-1857 who married Lea Crans. So I decided to reacquaint myself with Robert's life, and see if there's anything new to add to his story. You know, just for fun.
Who knew that following the genealogy trail to Susquehanna County, PA could be so much fun? There I found a deed between Robert's grandson, Joseph W. Gillespie, and Gilbert O. Sweet for one acre in Gibson, PA. Curiously, Gibson was the place where Almon C. Sweet lived with his wife, Caroline Foster. Caroline Foster was the daughter of Susanna Gillespie, ~1786-1829, who was in turn the daughter of James Gillespie and Mary Brown Bannerman, who in turn we can associate with the Rensselaer Gillespie family group. Much of my recent research has been devoted to the question of whether the Rensselaer Gillespies were connected to the Ulster/Orange Gillespies, as I believe they were. Now this little side trip to Susquehanna, PA gives us even more insight into all the possible connections.
All of which comes from recognizing the SWEET surname, (were their ancestors confectioners?), which in turn lead to another rather interesting discovery. Harford, Susquehanna, PA was originally a settlement called Nine Partners, Luzerne, PA. The settlers were nine families from Attleboro, Massachusetts, which seems to be the place of origin of the Sweet families I've been studying. One Sweet family intermarried with another Attleboro family: FOSTER -- the very same Foster family to which John Foster was directly related -- John Foster having been the husband of Susanna Gillespie and the father of Caroline Foster who ended up as the wife of Almon C. Sweet. Read here for more details of my findings.
The complexity of this situation with all the nuances of myriad genealogical interconnections is almost beautiful. It could be that, like the Gillespies, seemingly, everybody was somehow related to everybody else. How sweet it was, is, and shall ever be.
