An Uncommon Burr
(Author's note: Sometimes you just gotta look at the person next to you and say, "Cousins?" Because it all could be oh so very true.)
As always, unapologetically unedited. I apologize for f'ing anything up from dates to names to typos. What can I say? "Old Man Brain."
I.
This past week, I was reminded that I likely share a Burr family ancestry with an old college friend of mine, Timothy Burr. However, tracing any seemingly shared ancestry with a friend or anyone else for that matter to check on your "cousins ship" status can be a daunting task. And seeing as my connection to the Burr family is a few generations further back than Tim's very direct paternal line is, I could see that for me it would be even a more so.
Still, the possibility of this mutual Burr connection between us has always made me intrigued me. It seemed genealogcially worth while to check it out so I thought that I'd give it a whirl to see what was out there in terms of possibly proving it.
To begin with - about the only things I knew for certain was that both Tim and I had Burr relatives buried in cemeteries in Nebraska.
This has been certainly very little to go on, but hey, at least a start.
Above: The gravesite of my friend Tim's great-great-grandmother, Abby (Tuttle) Burr, at the Juniata Cemetery, Juniata, Adams County, Nebraska. See: FindAGrave.com memorial number: 65501646
Above: The gravesite of my great-great-great grandmother, Zeriah (Kenyon) Burr, at the Wilson Cemetery, Springfield, Sarpy County, Nebraska. See: FindAGrave.com memorial number: 139559252
While both of these ladies lived out their best "Nebraska frontier" lives as contemporaries of each of other and as the wives of Burr men, there is no immediate evidence that seems to connect their Burr husbands to each other.
Before I get too much further, I need to mention that in tracing my friend Tim's paternal lines I have relied heavily on Charles Burr Todd's A General History of the Burr Family pictured in the image above.
I need to mention also that it's in here (the book above) that things get extremely murky.
Not to jump too far ahead of myself - but submitted Family Trees easily trace Tim's lines back to Abby (Tuttle Burr) in that Nebraska Cemetery in the image shown above. These same family trees alongside secondary accounts that also attribute her husband to be John Burr "the second" whom she survived by thirty years or so.
This John Burr (that is Abby's husband) is attributed with a grave in Vienna, Oneida County, New York, where, oddly enough, in both 1840 and 1850 we do find John, Abby and their family:
Above: The presumed gravesite of John Burr II, husband of Abby (Tuttle) Burr at the Braddock Cemetery, Vienna, Oneida County, New York. See: FindAGrave.com memorial number: 38221055
And family trees generally attribute this John Burr as the son of Lt. John Burr, shown in the images from Charles Todd Burr's book mentioned above and in the cropped images of it below:
The trouble is, there is an eight year discrepancy between the birth date given for (#252) John Burr in the book's account above and the date on the presumed John's grave stone.
Now in genealogcial terms, poorly carved headstones are just that, and the "went west" discription alongside finding "John and Aby" in the same New York town all seems to fit. Still, without something more, pushing Tim's Burr family lines past this point (circa 1800) will need something more.
However, even given all of this obscurity, Tim's Burr family lines are a lot more traceable in terms of Todd's book than mine might even pretend to be.
Remember my ancestor whose grave site is pictured above, Zeruah (Kenyon) Burr? The lovely and talented Zeriah married a guy named "Stillman Burr" - my three times great grandfather.
Yet my ancestor, the mysterious Stillman Burr, doesn't even make it into the "maybe" category as a documented soul in Charles Burr Todd's book. Nope, my Burr ancestor is personna non gratis when it comes to even a theory about his bad self in the published Burr genealogy. LOL.
So as far as "the answer goes" with regard to a Burr kinship between Tim and me, well, we share the fact that both our Burr lines are "obscured" in the "official" book. Tim's being more like "Well, it looks like the line goes this way..." and mine being more on the
"Who the Hell did you say you were?" type.
II.
However, a lot of cool or interesting connections aren't made just off of one family surname.
As I perused the shared family surnames that were in both of our trees I could see that there were some interesting twists in the branches. I found the surname "Mosher" in Tim's tree, a name I've encountered in my own family and a name with strong ties to Mayflower passengers Francis Cooke and Richard Warren. Tim's strong New England lines through his Dad very likely will lead back to that old boat at some point.
I also explored the surname of "Tuttle" found in Tim's family tree. These are the lines of Tim's great-great grandmother, Abby (Tuttle) Burr. Abby's Tuttle lineage is one that, at least in the surface, appears to lead back to the John Wadhams family of Connecticut - a line I certainly connect to- and a line that, for both Tim and me, is mostly traceable.
Abby (Tuttle) Burr's father is said to be a man by the name of Ichabod Tuttle.
Here's a wee bit of background history:
Below: The Wadhams Genealogy, page 23. The mostly traceable common ancestor that Tim Burr and I share is this man, John Wadham, of Wetherdfield, Connecticut. Tim descends through his first wife Hannah Bidwell, and me through his sencond wife, Abigail Baldwin.
Above: The Wadham's genealogy likely leading down to both Abby (Tuttle) Burr on Tim's side and from Abigail Baldwin Wadham on mine.
So by and large, the Wadhams line is mostly traceable for both Tim and me. The remaining unknown is a verification of the name of Abby's father as Ichobod Tuttle, and for his father as Ichabod, Sr.. There is a New York GenWeb piece that offers up some of this identification:
https://www.nygenweb.net/lewis/FamilyPhotoAlbum/BrooksBurr/BrooksNBurrFamilies.html
Still, the above link does not present with any source citations.
Based on census records this is what seems to pan out:
The identification of Abby (Tuttle) Burr as Ichabod Tuttle's daughter rests on the agreement of several sources. Her 1884 obituary states that she was born at Turin, Lewis County, New York, and gives her age at death as 78, placing her birth about 1805. An 1876 Bible inscription names its owner as "Mrs. Abby Tuttle Burr," the only document found (aside from state and county biographies based on statement of her daughter) that attaches the Tuttle surname to Abby Burr.
Ichabod Tuttle headed a Lewis County household in 1810 that included five girls under ten, and again in 1820, when it included one girl aged ten to fifteen. A daughter born about 1805 fits both brackets, and no other Tuttle household was found in Lewis County in 1820. In 1830 he was still in the same community, enumerated in West Turin.
The evidence is consistent with Abby being Ichabod's daughter, but it remains more or less circumstantial until a record naming her parents is found.
Above: 1820 U.S. Census for the household of Ichabod Tuttle, at (likely) Turin, Lewis County, New York
In a lot of ways, this particular genealogical connection between Tim and me feels more than sound even though most will label it only an inferential one. True enough is that it would require a strong proof argument if it was to pass a lineage society application. However, the negative search results here are strong and favor the identification.
And while not a "Burr connection" per se for Tim and me, it is an interesting one.
For me, the tale of Tim's ancestor "Ichabod Tuttle, the elder" is an cool one and one taken right out of the pages of American history books.
All in all, this can be stated as a tentative genealogy placing Tim and myself as "half eighth cousins" via the colonial gentleman John Wadham.
Our shared lineage shapes up like this in the image below:
However, any genealogy is just hearsay unless you can back it up with valid sources, or at least a proof argument that meets the GPS ("Genealogical Proof Standard"). The chart above falls just short of the GPS but it provides a descent enough road map to follow up with at a later date.
Works for me. :)
III.
It seems wrong to close out this blog post on a whole lot of "maybe" for Tim and myself in terms of genealogical connections. Indeed, I may be doing so again in my mentioning my own "third cousin seven times removed" Major Richard Hewitt- a seemingly direct ancestor of Tim's in the piece below - and a provable collateral relative of mine. (We descend from the same Hewitt progenitor)
Now I'm not going to go into the anecdotal connections that connect me to the good major.
Suffice it to see that "we New Englanders of origin" often find ourselves related to each other in six ways to Sunday. Nevertheless, I think the connection to Major Hewitt is an interesting one for Tim, and with a very wee bit of spit and polish, I believe it would make him eligible for membership in the Sons of the American Revolution.
Below: A brief description of some of the service of "Major" Richard Hewitt
Often referred to as "the Major" I thought this RW war guy was kind of cool to have among Ye Olde Branches of Tim's family tree. He is already acknowledged as a "Patriot Ancestor" by the Daughters of the American Revolution.
And while no one has applied for membership at the DAR (nor likely the SAR) through the Major's son Richard Hewitt, "the younger," it certainlly looks possible to do so. (Others have applied and been accepted through the Major's other children)
I guess what I thought was cool is that the Major was in the Continental forces and wan't just a run of the mill colonial with a grudge against the high price of tea and Mad King George.
Anyway, Tim's line to the Major looks to plays out as shown below. (We will need to verify each generation from the major to Tim for the line to hold.) Anyway, I thought we'd take a look at the line and see what was there, and what still needs to be followed up on.
It is proving to be an interesting genealogical exercise.
First- the line of descent from the Major to Tim:
Now below, let's take it generation by generation.
GENERATION ONE - "Major" Richard Hewitt (1736-1825) who married Experience Leeds
Below are two cropped images of Major Richard Hewitt's Last Will and Testament. In it he lists his wife Experience, and his eldest son Richard Hewitt, "now desceased." The Major mentions (but does not name his grandchildren by his son Richard.)
GENERATION TWO - Richard Hewitt, II,"the younger"(1766-1813) who m. Sarah/Sally Guile
See the Will above - Richard Hewitt, the major's son, is mentioned in the will of his father. Richard "the younger," is said to have married Sarah/Sally Guile. A marriage record for Richard the younger to Sarah/Sally Guile wasn't found, but a birth record for her appears to exist, and seeing as Sally is named in his Will, and that he's buried next to her, I think it's a pretty safe bet that we've got the right "Dick and Sally."
Besides, the best part is still back up in Richard the younger's Last Will and Testament.
You see, there he names his daughter "Phebe."
GENERATION THREE: Phebe Hewitt, (1799-1854) who married John Mosher
Okay, again, refer to Generation Two that names Phebe in her father Richard the younger's Will. But at this point we are going to have to stretch our muscles to show our gal Phebe married John Mosher. This will require a few twists and turns so bear with me.
First off, these burial records for "Phebe and John" below:
As there are no gravestone images at all to fall back on, we're definitely going to need a cemetery transciption to go with this and something more to tie this generation up. It helps that they are alleged to be buried with Phebe's parents in the Hewitt family cemetery, but again that is only genealogical hearsay at this point.
Fortunately for us, the 1842 Fulton County, New York, Surrogate's Court has taken care of that for us in the image below that names "Phebe, widow of John Mosher..."
Can you say, "Winner, winner, chicken dinner?"
GENERATION FOUR: Sarah Jeanette "Nettie" Mosher (1839-1888) who married Walter H. Burr
Now we may still have a few twists and turns to get to the easy parts of the lineage forward to Tim. Verifying the names of Nettie (Mosher) Burr's parents as John Mosher and Phebe Hewitt is not going to be a cake walk.
BUT we can infer their names and who they were from the following records:
Well, for one, we know that John Mosher died in 1842, and, pending a cemetery transciption, that he and the lovely Phebe are buried in the Hewitt Cemtery in Oppenheim, Fulton County, New York.
So what does the household for the widowed Phebe and her children look like in 1850?
Okay, I am commiting a huge genealogical faux pas in using this index image of the 1850 census.
However, the 1850 census "ink" comes out so faded on line this seemed a better alternative for the blog post. I believe that this index shows well enough Phebe Mosher, still in Oppenheim, Fulton County, New York, now widowed, with Sarah as her youngest child. I suspect the "Sarah B" shown in the transcibed index that the letter "B" is a faded out letter "J."
We could also use these reords which I haven't imaged here to help bolster up this generation:
- 1885 Nebraska census, Juniata, Adams County: Sarah Burr, 45, wife of Walter, with Giles Mosher listed as "Bro-in-law." Giles's age matches the 1850 Henry G., which ties Sarah back to Phebe's household.
- 1908 marriage record of Nettie's son Theodore (Adams County, Book 11, p. 225): his mother's maiden name is given as "Nettie Mosher." It confirms her maiden name but not her parents.
I'm also going to "fan out" here for the sake of brevity and this blog, to show this excerpt from "Women of the West," an article talking about Nettie's daughter, Elsie (Burr) Ogden that gives her mother's maiden name as "Mosher."
And yes, in case you were wondering this is cheating a bit - in a perfect world I would have a wee bit better records here - however for now I am going to rely on the obituary of Nettie Mosher Burr's husband, Walter H. Burr, which really ties it all nicely together in the image below:
The obit is important alongside the article from "Women of the West" in that it cross references "Nettie (Mosher) Burr as one and the same person as "Sarah Jeanette (Mosher) Burr." It does this via their daughter (and Tim's great grandfather's sister) Elsie (Burr) Ogden.
Its kind of a bonus feature in terms of an easy verification - it's likely not acceptable without other docs if applying to a lineage society.- but really does exactly the same thing.
GENERATION FIVE: Theodore Sayer Burr (1882-1962) who married Myrta Poore
I'm not going to get too heavy here.
I figure Tim knows his grandparents just fine and doesn't need me to proof them out for a blog post. Nevertheless, I'd be more than a half ass wannabe genealogist of I didn't include some kind of identification linking Theordore to his parents, so here goes.
This nice (and wonderfully complete) marriage record will do the trick:
And yes, it's time for me to stop right about here.
So in conclusin to the Major Richard Hewitt lineage:
Richard Hewitt's will, dated 20 September 1819, names his "eldest son Richard Hewit (now deceased)," his daughter Mary Gile, widow of Daniel Gile, and his daughter Experience, wife of Randall Hewit. The will of Richard Hewit, "the younger" dated 22 March 1813 and proved 28 August 1813 in Montgomery County, names a daughter Phebe. It was witnessed by Randal Hewit and names Daniel Guile as an executor, these same two names that appear in the 1819 will as husbands of the elder Richard's daughters Experience and Mary. The 1810 census of Upenheim (Oppenheim), Montgomery County, New York, lists Mary Guile, Randel Hewit, and Richard Hewit within a few households of one another. Taken together, these records identify the Richard Hewit who died at Oppenheim in 1813 as the elder Richard's eldest son, and his daughter Phebe as the elder Richard's granddaughter.
No record found so far states that this Phebe Hewitt is the Phebe who married John Mosher of Oppenheim, although she was of the right age and lived in the same town. In 1842 Phebe Mosher, widow of John Mosher of Oppenheim, was granted administration of his estate. In 1850 Phebe Moshier, 51, lived in Oppenheim with Henry G., William B., John, Richard H., and Sarah, 11 (index).
In 1885 Walter Burr of Juniata, Nebraska, headed a household that included his wife Sarah, 45, his son Theodore, 2, and his brother-in-law [Henry] "Giles Mosher." Theodore S. Burr's 1908 marriage record names his parents as Walter Burr and Nettie Mosher. In 1930 Warren H. Burr, 6, was listed as a son of Theodore S. Burr in Hastings, Nebraska (index). Warren's 2010 obituary names his son Timothy, and the California Birth Index lists Timothy Gerard Burr, born 26 October 1954, with mother's maiden name Quilty.
Any lineage society application will ask us to prove that Phebe Hewitt and Phebe Mosher are one and the same persons. That is why I have ordered gravesite photos and will keep my eye out for a Hewitt family cemetry transciption list. If they're all buried together, it's a pretty safe inference that "the two Phebe's" are one and the same person.
IV.
I didn't realize that I had written so much and blathered on so. I had asked my friend a simple question about looking into the possibility of our shared Burr family lines, and the other possibilities just exploded. I'm comfortable presenting Tim's lines here to Major Richard Hewitt if the Continental Infantry as resolved. Despite them needing a bit more polish I think the lineage is a solid one.
I think my shared ancestry with Tim through the Wadhams family lines is fun - and it's almost a "done deal" once we get a little bit better information on certainly of Abby (Tuttle) Burr's parents. I think we're close to resolving it.
As far as the main question goes about shared "Burr" ancestry in common. Hey, it's there. It's murky as Hell, but there are just too many parallel lines of descent and migration patterns for it not to be. Granted, I think Tim and I will discover it is likely a very distant tie should we ever figure out how to discern it - still it's a fun one to explore.
As an aside to this - I have to say that growing up even "distantly Burr" as it might relate to Tim, in my mother's family we were not a family who would ever have been first in line to purchase tickets to Hamilton. LOL. I have no idea why, but if the subject of our alleged politically expedient cousin "Aaron Burr" ever came up my mother was silent. It wasn't that we either favored Aaron Burr over Alexander Hamilton - though maybe we should have in a lot of ways - it was moreso a sense that in my mother's voice I could hear her ancestry; her blood was "circling the wagons" so to speak around and in defense our Burr family heritage.
Even Aaron Burr.
I don't think my mother ever maligned Alexander Hamilton per se - but she was quick to mention that in our distant Burr family lineage, that bon vivant Alexander was not to be venerated like some unadulterated idol.
Funny these things, these ancestral memories.
In any event, I hope I have both supplied some information and some entertainment.
One never knows.
Understanding our family lines has always been an "uncommon Burr" to me.
Wink!
