(Almost) Wordless Wednesday: Jamie Baisley

Jamie Baisley and Grace Culp next to auto,  photograph, c. 1930s; original photograph, privately held by Karin Coppernoll, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,], Washington. The original photograph was supposedly taken by Albert Pastoor, the husband of Jamie Baisley's aunt, Edna (Baisley) Pastoor. It was taken near the Baisley farm in Dutchess County, New York. The photograph was inherited by Albert's son, John Pasteur upon the death of his mother, Edna Pastoor in 1955. In 1998, John Pasteur then gave the photograph to his daughter, Karin Coppernoll, who made this digital image of the original photograph.

Wordless Wednesday: Baisley Farm

The Baisley Family at the Farm, photograph, ca. 1944; digital image, privately held by Hiztorybuff.

Montrose Station, New York

The James Baisley family owned land near Montrose Station Road and near what was called Crugers Station in the late nineteenth century. Both places were stations on the Hudson Line of the Hudson River Railroad, later known as the New York Central Railroad, until they were abandoned in 1996 and replaced by a new station at Cortlandt.

The Erie canal had opened in 1825 which helped in the transport of goods across the state, but because the locks were very slow, stagecoaches would pile up causing the goods to be delayed. It was in response to this that the first railroad in New York was built in 1826. It was called the Mohawk and Hudson Railroad and went to the capital city of Albany.

A family photo of Montrose Station, c. 1940s

Because the towns along the Hudson River used the river heavily for transporting goods, they didn't see a need for a railroad until ice starting preventing travel in the winter. The Hudson River Railroad was formed and opened a line in 1851 in order to further extend the railroad. But it was only when Cornelius Vanderbilt purchased the railroad and merged it with other railroads he owned in 1869 that it became the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad, and was later renamed the New York Central Railroad in 1914.
In 1861 Abraham Lincoln rode the Hudson River Railroad and stopped in Peekskill, one of the villages near Montrose and Crugers, on his way to his inauguration. I'm sure my Baisley ancestors were among the many people who lined the streets of Peekskill and along the Hudson River Railroad to see their future president. I found an obituary of a great-uncle mentioning the incident and an article describing how another great-uncle was injured when he fell out of a train at Montrose Station.
Unfortunately it appears that incidents on the Hudson River Railroad were not uncommon. There is a tragic story about an accident at the bridge near Montrose in the 11 June 1872 edition of The Poughkeepsie Daily Eagle. You never know what you will find while browsing old newspapers.

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Happy Mother's Day 1914-2014

The first Mother's Day was celebrated in 1908 when Ann Jarvis organized the celebration to honor her mother's death and the "sacrifices mothers made for their children." It didn't become an official U.S. holiday until 1914 when President Woodrow Wilson officially signed a proclamation declaring "the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day 'as a public expression of love and reverence for the mothers of our country.'"
In honor of Mother's Day, I decided to search my family tree for all the women who might have been alive to celebrate that first official Mother's Day. There were 10 mothers between the ages of 18 and 80 in my family tree who were alive in 1914, four of whom were grandmothers as well.
Only four of those 10 mothers were in my ancestral line, and only one of them was a grandmother. My great-great-grandmother, Emily (Outhouse) Lamb, would have been a 74-year-old widow. She had four children who survived to adulthood to give her 13 grandchildren. She likely would have celebrated Mother's Day with her only daughter, my great-grandmother, Nettie (Lamb) Baisley, who gave birth to 7 of those grandchildren and would have been pregnant with her eighth child at age 41.
My great-grandmother, Anna (Kolb) Passtoor, was a German immigrant and would have been a widow at 41-years old. It was probably a bittersweet holiday for her since only two of her four children survived childhood. It would have been the only Mother's Day she would have celebrated; Anna died seven months later.
My great-grandmother, Stanislawa (Makowska) Chrzanowski, a Polish immigrant, would have been 26 years old and six months pregnant with her third child on that first Mother's Day.

So, on this 100th anniversary of Mother's Day, I honor those women of my past for the sacrifices they made for their children.



_________________
History.com staff. "Mother's Day," online article, History.com, (http://www.history.com/topics/holidays/mothers-day : 10 May 2014), First Mother's Day.
President Woodrow Wilson's Mother's Day Proclamation of May 9, 1914 (Presidential Proclamation 1268)., 9 May 1914; General Records of the United States Goverment, 1778-1992, Record Group 11; [Online version, www.archives.gov/historical-docs/todays-doc/?dod-date=509, National Archives and Records Administration, 10 May 2014.]
ArLynn Leiber Presser, "The Pre-forgotten Mother's Day," Arlynnpresser, 16 Apr 2012 (arlynnpresser.com/tag/mothers : accessed 10 May 2014).
Christopher Fox Graham, "May 11 Marks the 100th Anniversay of Mother's Day," Journalaz.com, 7 May 2014 (www.journalaz.co/Opinion/may-11-marks-the-100th-anniversary-of-mothers-day.html : accessed 10 May 2014).

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Nettie (Lamb) Baisley [52 Ancestors in 52 Wks]

Nettie (Lamb) Baisley c. 1940

My great-grandmother, Jennette Lamb was born about 6 Oct 1873 in Montrose, Westchester, New York. She was the third child and only daughter of Jacob and Emily (Outhouse) Lamb. Along with her parents, two older brothers, Winfield and Alonzo, and a younger brother, Stewart, in 1880, she was living in Cortlandt, Westchester County, New York [1], where the Lamb family had deep roots.  Jennette’s great-grandfather, also named Jacob Lamb, was a veteran of the American Revolution.

Not much is known about the early years of Jennette Lamb. By 1900 “Nettie” was married to Jacob Baisley, a man almost 10 years older than she, the son of James and Caroline (Scoutin) Baisley, and four children were living with them [2]. Although I have been unable to locate any marriage record, they were apparently married around 1889-1891.  A child “Fannie” was enumerated with them in 1900 having a birth of July 1889; but no birth record for Fannie (or other name variation) has been located, neither has any death record for a person of that name been located. I did find a birth record for a son, Alonzo Van R. Baisley, born 3 Jun 1891 to them [3]. He was known by the nickname of Van Allen or “Vannie.” One theory is that this “Vannie” is the “Fannie” enumerated on the 1900 census, even though the sex of the child was incorrect. On that census, Nettie is the mother of 4 children all of whom are living, and all four are accounted for.

1. Fannie/Alonzo Van R.  “Vannie,” born 3 Jun 1891 in Oscawana, New York;

2. Edna, born 26 Dec 1892 in Crugers, New York [4];

3. Florence, born 21 May 1895 in Montrose, New York [5];

4. Franklin, born 25 May 1897 in Montrose, New York [6].

I cannot find the family on the 1905 New York state census, but in 1906, Jacob and Nettie Baisley are named on a Westchester County deed [7] for the distribution of the estate of Nettie’s father-in-law. Also in 1906, Nettie’s brother, Alonzo, married Jacob’s sister, Carrie Baisley, which may have caused some family tension considering that the deed is the last document where Jacob and Nettie are named as husband and wife. Sometime between 1906, where they are named on the deed, and 1909, when another son, Raymond, is born, Jacob and Nettie split up.

In Ossining, New York, on 27 Oct 1910, Nettie married James Baisley[8], the son of Jacob’s brother, George. On this marriage certificate, Nettie states this is her first marriage; yet she has four children from her previous marriage living with her and her new husband on the 1910 census[9], as well as two additional children:

5. Bessie, born about 1901 in New York;

6. Raymond, born 9 May 1909 in Peekskill, New York [10].

The census also states that Nettie was the mother of 7 children, 6 of whom were living. This again brings up the question of a missing child. Is this missing child the Fannie named on the 1900 census? (If so, where was Van Allen, who was born in 1891, and not enumerated with them?) Or was there a child born between the births of Bessie and Raymond who didn’t survive? According to family tradition, there is no “Fannie” and Bessie is the daughter of Jacob Baisley and Raymond was the son of James Baisley, but I have no documentation for any of them. It is clear that Raymond was born before Nettie and James were married so my next step would be to obtain both his birth certificate and Bessie’s to confirm their father.

Nettie’s second marriage must have strained family relations and caused a family scandal. At any rate, it seems this second marriage of Nettie’s caused a rift in the Baisley family that resulted in estrangement lasting even to present time. My father knew nothing of his grandfather, Jacob Baisley, and it appears that even Jacob’s own daughters never visited him or attended his funeral when he died in 1943.

James and Nettie Baisley raised three more children, all born in Peekskill over the next few years, where they lived through most of the 1930s:

7. James, Jr. born 28 Mar 1911;

8. Elsie, born 2 May 1913;

9. Dorothy, born 31 Dec 1917 [11].

Baisley Farmhouse c. 1940

By 1940, the family had moved to Wappinger’s Falls, Dutchess County, New York [12] and established a farm. My father remembers visiting this farm many times throughout his early years. He remembers helping buck bales of hay and seeing all the farm equipment and the acres of crops. The family had a truck with the name “Baisley & Sons Produce” printed on the side in which they trucked their farm goods into town. I have several family photos of the big white farmhouse where all the Baisley clan gathered. Nettie was known to be quite strict, very old fashioned and very religious. She loved being surrounded by all of her children. Not only did she raise 9 children by two husbands, she also helped in raising her son Raymond’s children and her daughter Dorothy’s children [13].

The year 1943 was a year of loss for Nettie. In February, her ex-husband, Jacob Baisley, died, and in October, her husband, James Baisley, died. Nettie outlived them both by 11 years. She died on her 81^st birthday, on 6 Oct 1954 in Cold Spring, Putnam, New York. She is buried next to her husband, James Baisley, in Hillside Cemetery, Cortlandt Manor, New York. [14]

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[1] 1880 U.S. census, Westchester, New York, population schedule, Town of Cortlandt, enumeration district (ED) 92, p. 37 (penned), 179-A (stamped), dwelling 317, family 394, Jacob Lamb household; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 7 Jan 2010); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T9, roll 945. 

[2] 1900 U.S. census, Westchester, New York, population schedule, Town of Cortlandt, enumeration district (ED) 57, sheet 39-B (penned), dwelling 638, family 790, Jacob Baisley household; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 15 May 2012); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T623, roll 1,174. 

[3] Town of Cortlandt, New York, birth certificate no. 3178 (1891), Alonzo Van R. Baisley; Town of Cortlandt, Town Clerk's Office, Cortlandt Manor.

[4] Town of Cortlandt, New York, local birth certificate no. 3634, (1892), Edna Baisley; Town of Cortlandt, Town Clerk's Office, Cortlandt Manor.

[5] Town of Cortlandt, New York, , local birth certificate no. 4056 (1895), Florence Baisley; Town of Cortlandt, Town Clerk’s Office, Cortlandt Manor.

[6] Town of Cortlandt, New York, local birth certificate no. 4475 (1897), Franklin Baisley; Town of Cortlandt, Town Clerk’s Office, Cortlandt Manor.

[7] Westchester, New York, Deeds, 1768: 409, Charles W. Baisley and others to Harriet B. Foster, 12 June 1906 (recorded 15 Aug 1906); digital images, Westchester County Clerk, "pre-1967 Deeds," Westchester County Records Online (http://wro.westchesterclerk.com/landsearch.aspx : accessed 6 Jun 2012). 

[8] "New York, Marriages, 1686-1980," digital image, FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed 30 Apr 2012), marriage record no. 5472, James Baisley and Jeanette Lamb, 1910; citing New York Department of Health, Division of Vital Statistics, Albany. Microfilm of original records at the Municipal Archives of New York, New York City. 

[9] 1910 U.S. census, Westchester, New York, population schedule, Peekskill, enumeration district (ED) 10, sheet 18-A (penned), dwelling 284, family 383, James Baisley household; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 14 Apr 2012); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T624, roll 1090. 

[10] Elsie Mattingly (Whittier, North Carolina) to Karin Coppernoll, letter, 27 Apr 1993; privately held by Coppernoll; Mrs. Mattingly is the daughter of James and Nettie Baisley. She spoke from personal knowledge about her immediate family.

[11] Mattingly, Elsie, letter to Coppernoll, 1993, Coppernoll Family Papers, Baisley file, information for children of Nettie (Lamb) Baisley, Mrs. Mattingly's mother. 

[12] 1940 U.S. census, Dutchess, New York, population schedule, Wappingers Township, Hughsonville, enumeration district (ED) 14-108, sheet 1-B (penned), household 30, Raymond Baisley household; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 9 Aug 2012); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T627, roll 2,525. 

[13] Mattingly, Elsie, letter to Coppernoll, 1993, Coppernoll Family Papers, Baisley file, information for description of Nettie (Lamb) Baisley, Mrs. Mattingly's mother.

[14] Doris Smith (1033 Oregon Road; Peekskill, New York) to Karin Coppernoll, letter, 19 Apr 1993; privately held by Coppernoll, [STREET ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE]; Doris Smith is the secretary of Hillside Cemetery and wrote the names and dates of burial of the Baisley's interred there.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks #1 Emily Outhouse Lamb

Emily Outhouse was born on 26 Aug 1840 in Croton Lake, Westchester County, New York, the first of nine children born to Jacob Outhouse and Elizabeth Losee. Not much is known about her early years. She was born 57 years after the American Revolution ended. Barely a generation had passed since the United States was born. The new country was at war in Florida with the Native American Nation of Seminoles and, when Emily was 6 years old, the Mexican-American War began.

When Emily was 21, she married a farmer named Jacob Lamb, probably at the Reformed Dutch Church of Cortlandtown. They were just starting out in their married life together when the Civil War began. Her husband doesn't appear to have fought in the war. There are some indications that he was sickly or had a physical ailment which may have prevented his joining. Over the next 15 years, Emily would give birth to four children, three sons and one daughter. The country was undergoing enormous changes in its social and economic structure. During this time, the transcontinental railroad was completed, Susan B. Anthony was leading women's sufferage, and Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone while Thomas Edison invented the phonograph.

Emily was widowed in 1901 and briefly lived with her youngest son, Stewart. By 1910, when she was almost 70, Emily Lamb, began a career as a housekeeper for an immigrant German family. The head of the household was a widower, and she continued to work for this family well into her late 80s. It was then she apparently became ill and moved in with her son, Stewart and his family, for the remainder of her life.

Emily was a strong woman used to the hard demanding work common to housewives during the late 19th century. She had grown up on a farm and then raised four children. She helped work the farm they rented and kept house during a time when housework was harsh physical labor. Then, when most people are retiring, she continued to work as a housekeeper, and was a member of the Ladies Aid Society, often hostessing their meetings. One of the stories I grew up hearing was how Emily lost all the fingers of her left hand. As the story goes, Emily was in the home of the family for whom she kept house. One of the sons was cleaning his gun. Emily continually cautioned him about "taking care" with the loaded weapon. One day, after she had warned the son, his gun misfired and struck her in the palm of her left hand. She lost all the fingers on that hand. This accident apparently didn't prevent her from continuing to work as a housekeeper.

Emily was 92 years old when she died on 22 Oct 1932. She was survived by all four of her children, and left a legacy in 23 grandchildren and 22 great-grandchildren. Emily rests beside her husband in the Cedar Hill Cemetery in Montrose. She lived her entire life within a few miles of Montrose, New York.

Jacob Lamb (b. 6 Oct 1840; d. 8 Mar 1901) and Emily Ann Outhouse (b. 26 Aug 1840; d. 22 Oct 1932) had the following children:

1. Winfield S. Lamb – born abt. 1863 and died bet. 1932-1940; married Alida Boyce;

2. Alonzo Lamb – born 30 Jun 1870 and died 12 Feb. 1943; married Caroline Baisley;

3. Jeanette Lamb – born 6 Oct 1873 and died 6 Oct 1954; married 1st Jacob Baisley and 2nd James Baisley;

4. Stewart Lamb – born 5 Nov 1880 and died 23 Jan 1968; married Kathleen Terhune.

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Mattingly, Elsie. Letter. 27 Apr 1993 to Karin Coppernoll. Privately held by Coppernoll, Sultan, Washington.

New York. Peekskill. The Evening Star.

New York. Westchester. 1850 U.S. Census, population schedule. Digital images. Ancestry.com. http://www.ancestry.com : 2009.

New York. Westchester. 1860 U.S. Census, population schedule. Digital images. Ancestry.com. http://www.ancestry.com : 2009.

New York. Westchester. 1870 U.S. Census, population schedule. Digital images. Ancestry.com. http://www.ancestry.com : 2009.

New York. Westchester. 1880 U.S. Census, population schedule. Digital images. Ancestry.com. http://www.ancestry.com : 2010.

New York. Westchester. 1900 U.S. Census, population schedule. Digital images. Ancestry.com. http://www.ancestry.com : 2004.

New York. Westchester. 1905 New York state census, population schedule. Digital images. FamilySearch http://www.familysearch.org : n.d.

New York. Westchester. 1910 U.S. Census, population schedule. Digital images. Ancestry.com. http://www.ancestry.com : 2006.

New York. Westchester. 1915 New York state census, population schedule. Digital images. FamilySearch http://www.familysearch.org : n.d.

New York. Westchester. 1920 U.S. Census, population schedule. Digital images. Ancestry.com. http://www.ancestry.com : 2010.

New York. Westchester. 1925 New York state census, population schedule. Digital images. FamilySearch http://www.familysearch.org : n.d.

New York. Westchester. 1930 U.S. Census, population schedule. Digital images. Ancestry.com. http://www.ancestry.com : 2002.

New York. Westchester. 1940 U.S. Census, population schedule. Digital images. Ancestry.com. http://www.ancestry.com : 2013.

New York. Death Certificates. Town of Cortlandt, Town Clerk's Office, Cortlandt Manor.

"Find A Grave." Database and images. http://findagrave.com.

Wikipedia:The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia Foundation, Inc.

 

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Edna Marie (Outhouse) Schwarz (1915-1992)

It’s Thanksgiving Day and I can’t help but think back to those family holiday dinners of the past. It isn’t the preparations, the decorations or even the turkey that I remember the most. I'm thinking about my Aunt Edna.

 I can hear her cheerful greeting, her laughter, and her asking me to get her a cup of tea; I remember the walks into town and feel her arms giving me a hug. She was ever-present in my childhood. When I was a baby, she lived upstairs; then later, she lived with our family for a few years until I was a young teen; then she got an apartment nearby. She was always there.

Holidays were special because of all the preparations for visiting relatives and the big dinners. Aunt Edna made the best coleslaw I’ve ever tasted. I would stand on a chair next to her at the kitchen sink and watch

Thanksgiving   c. 1977     Edna (front far right) at kid's table   

her chop the cabbage. I didn’t really help; I think I just wanted to be near her to listen to her talk. Our dining room table wasn’t large enough for everyone, so additions were made to make a big L-shaped table. All of us children sat together at the far end away from the adults. Aunt Edna always sat at the kids’ table with us. After dinner, she and I would help clear the tables and then we would wash all the dishes, chatting, sharing news, and telling stories. Even on New Year’s Eve, all the kids were at her apartment, playing games and listening to music, while the adults went to their parties. She taught me how to play pinochle, let me taste her blackberry brandy, and listened to my childish woes.

Aunt Edna always had gray hair for as long as I’ve known her. She was more like a grandma than an aunt—she had hard candies in her pockets, Melba toast in her cupboard, and talcum powder in her bathroom. She had a caregiver’s heart, and an infectious laugh. She rarely got angry, and when she did, it wasn’t for long. One time, my brother and I crawled up beside her in bed when she was sleeping. Aunt Edna snored very loudly. We found a downy feather from the pillow and tried to float it over her mouth, just like in the cartoons. When she inhaled it, we laughed hysterically, waking her up. She didn’t even get mad; she saw the humor in it and laughed right along with us.

Another time, we were getting ready to go somewhere, and I remember her franticly looking all over for her glasses only to discover they were on her head. We laughed about that for a long time. When my brother and I asked her to take our shortcut “over the river and through the woods” to her apartment complex, she hesitated, but only a little. She followed us on that crazy shortcut, brushing brambles aside, crossing over a log, and laughing all the way. We spent many hours going for walks to the store, to the library and around the neighborhood. Aunt Edna had never learned to drive; she never learned to ride a bicycle; and she never learned to swim. But she had a big heart and a great capacity for love.

My memories of her are mostly the memories of a child. Having moved away as a teen, I never really got to know her as an adult. It’s only when I look back, seeing her life through a genealogist’s eyes that I can appreciate what she’s been through. It’s then that I realize just what a remarkable person she was.

Edna Marie Outhouse was born in Peekskill, New York, on 27 January 1915, the only child of Lester [i]

Edna (Baisley) Outhouse with daughter, Edna Marie c. 1918

Outhouse and Edna Baisley. Woodrow Wilson was president of the United States and Congress had just rejected an amendment to give women the right to vote.

In September 1918, when she was almost 4 years old, the Spanish Influenza hit Peekskill. Between the months of September and November, there were over 3000 cases. The local newspapers reported over 30 deaths each week. [ii]  My Aunt Edna lost both her father and her uncle, Franklin Baisley, in the same week—both just young men in their early twenties.

A widow with a young daughter, Edna’s mother moved in with her in-laws, Ralph and Annie Outhouse.[iii] She lived with them until the early 1920s, when she met and married a young sailor, Albert Pastoor, with whom she made a home in Peekskill.[iv] In the years that followed, three more children, all sons, were born. The family managed to make a living during the depression. Edna, being the oldest and the only daughter, had many household chores and helped raise her young brothers. She told me of a time she killed a neighbor’s rooster because it attacked her every day as she walked to school. One day she got tired of being harassed by it and killed it with an ax. She got in trouble for killing the neighbor’s prize rooster and had to work to pay off its cost.

In 1949, Edna again lost a father, and in another six years, her mother was gone as well. By that time, Edna was married and pregnant with her only child. Five years later, she was a single mother trying to raise a daughter in Jersey City, New Jersey, the handsome US Marine she married having deserted them. She never remarried.

I never once thought about the hardships she had faced in her life. Maybe it was just because we never saw

Aunt Edna   c. 1978

that side of her. She was never bitter but always happy. She never had much money, but she was a generous person, especially with her time. She devoted her life to her family, to being a foster grandparent, and to volunteering for 15 years at a Home for Battered Women. She never knew a stranger and would talk to everyone.

She’s been gone 21 years now, and I miss her dearly. I think about her often and wish she could see her family now. She would love watching her grown grandchildren, nieces and nephews with their own children. I know if she were here this Thanksgiving, she’d be sitting with the kids, playing games, teaching them how to play cards, handing out hard candies from her pockets, and asking me to get her a cup of tea.

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[i] The New York Times, "Jan. 12, 1915 - Congress Votes Against Women's Suffrage Amendment," The Learning Network, 12 Jan 2012 (http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/12/jan-12-1915-congress-votes-against-womens-suffrage-amendment/?_r=0 : accessed 23 Nov 2013).

[ii] "Influenza on the Wane," The Highland Democrat, 2 Nov 1918, p. 2, col. 4; digital images, Old Fulton NY Post Cards (http://www.fultonhistory.com : accessed 22 Nov 2013).

[iii] 1920 U.S. census, Westchester, New York, population schedule, Peekskill, enumeration district (ED) 18, sheet 6-B (penned), p. 220-B (stamped), dwelling 106, family 151, Edna Outhouse in Ralph Outhouse household; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 5 Jan 2010); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T625, roll 1,275.

[iv] "U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989," database and images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 14 Apr 2013), entry for "Pasteur, Albert (Edna)"; citing Richmond's Peekskill New York Directory, 1927, p. 160; Ancestry.com image 86.

Jacob Baisley

Jacob Baisley was the eighth child of James and Caroline Baisley[1]. I first discovered that Jacob Baisley was my great-grandfather in 1993 when I had a renewed interest in researching my family history. I have never met my paternal grandparents, both of them having passed on when my father was still a teen. My father told me that his grandfather's name was James Baisley and remembered visiting the Baisley farm in Wappinger’s Falls in Dutchess County, New York, when he was a boy. 

1900 US Census, Westchester County, Town of Cortlandt, New York

When I found my great-grandmother as the wife of Jacob Baisley enumerated on the 1900 census[2] , you can imagine my surprise—and my father’s surprise—and the numerous questions that followed. The census listed my grandmother, Edna, and her siblings, Fannie, Florence and Franklin. I immediately searched for birth records for my grandmother and her siblings in the Town of Cortlandt. Turns out, my great-grandmother, Jennette "Nettie" Baisley, née Lamb, had indeed had children with Jacob. My grandmother’s father was Jacob Baisley, not James Baisley[3].

The birth records created another mystery. I received records for four children, but Fannie’s wasn’t among them; instead I discovered a son, Alonzo Van R. Baisley[4], but he doesn’t appear on any census records; and Fannie never appears on another one after 1900; maybe she married or died. However Van Allen shows up in all of the later censuses, usually with his father and aunt. Was Alonzo Van R the same child as Van Allen? The date of birth for Alonzo Van R. Baisley is only one day off from that listed on Van Allen’s WWI draft registration card. I suspect Van Allen is a nickname for Alonzo Van R. Baisley.

Sometime between 1900 and 1910, Jacob and Nettie were no longer a couple. Nettie is the wife of James Baisley on the 1910 census[5], and all of Jacob’s children, except Van Allen, were living with Nettie, plus two more children were listed, Bessie, age 9, and Raymond, under one year old. Also noted on the census was how long they were married—2 years—and number of children born and still living. Nettie noted that she had birthed seven children and six were living. I suspect Fannie, who was Jacob and Nettie’s first child, died sometime between 1900 and 1910.

So who was this James Baisley?

A marriage record for James Baisley and Nettie Lamb[6] revealed that they were married in Oct 1910, stating this was the first marriage for both of them. If true, this means that my grandmother and her siblings were born out of wedlock. And it also means that they told the census taker they were only married for 2 years when, in fact, they were not married yet. I thought it interesting to note that Nettie was ten years older than James and she used her maiden name.  It also means that the father of Bessie and Raymond—Jacob or James— is in question until I can obtain their birth records. 

James’ birth record revealed that James Baisley was the son of George Baisley[7], whom I discovered was Jacob's brother[8]. Nettie Baisley had married her ex-husband’s nephew, James. I can only imagine the scenario at family gatherings. This may explain why most of his grandchildren never knew Jacob existed. Apparently he was estranged from the family, and one can hardly blame him; however, I have no idea what the circumstances were during that time in their lives. Maybe Jacob wasn’t a very good partner or an absent parent.

There is much I don’t know about my great-grandfather. Even his birth date is questionable. No one seemed to know exactly when he was born and so far I haven’t found any documentation of his birth. The census and his death record all give me different dates. The closest I have come to finding his date of birth is on a note included on Alonzo Van R.’s 1891 birth transcript[9] which states that Jacob was 23 and Nettie 18. This gives me a birth year for Jacob as 1868 and for Nettie as 1873, which is only a few years older than what is stated on their death records.

Jacob Baisley (far right) on his farm in Montrose, NY, about 1937 [16]

I haven’t been able to find a marriage record for Jacob and Nettie, either. I can surmise that they might have married as early as 1888 since according to the 1900 census, Fannie was born in July 1889; but that would make Nettie’s marriage age at 15 to Jacob’s 20, which seems a little young for her.  I have wondered whether she and Jacob were even married, but I think it would be unusual for them to have lived together unmarried for over 10 years and have had five children.

My impression is that Jacob was a lonely man. After his separation from Nettie, he was living alone[10] until moving in with his son, Van Allen, and widowed sister, Jennie, in her home in Crugers[11]. He lived there with his son, even after his sister’s death in 1936[12]. He seems to have had little contact with his other children. His death in February 1943[13] is barely a one-line mention in the paper and only mentions he is survived by one sister, Mary Decker, and one son, Van Allen, even though all of his daughters were still living[14]. Jacob never remarried. He is buried in Cedar Hill cemetery[15] in Montrose, where I have yet to find his marker. He rests in the cemetery where his sisters and his parents are buried. It appears that even in death, his estrangement from most of his family remains. 

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[1] Surrogate's Court, Westchester County, New York, Record Group 4 - Judiciary, Series 16, Estate Records 1775, 1782-1921, James Baisley estate inventory file no. 1897-16, Box A-0303(36)L, folder 7; Westchester County Archives, Elmsford.

[2] 1900 U.S. census, population schedule, New York, Westchester, Town of Cortlandt, p. 76B (stamped), enumeration district (ED) 57, sheet 39B, dwelling 638, family 790, Jacob Baisley household; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 7 Oct 2013); citing NARA microfilm publication T623, roll 1,174.

[3] Town of Cortlandt Clerk's Office, Westchester County, New York, transcript, birth certificate no. 314892, local registration no. 3634 (1892), Edna Baisley; Town of Cortlandt, Town Clerk's Office, Cortlandt Manor, New York.

[4] Town of Cortlandt Clerk's Office, Westchester County, New York, transcript, birth certificate no. 314891, local registration no. 3178 (1891), Alonzo Van R. Baisley; Town of Cortlandt, Town Clerk's Office, Cortlandt Manor, New York. Clerk wrote a note attached to certificate stating mother, Nettie Lamb's age was 18 and father, Jacob Baisley's age was 23.

[5]1910 U.S. census, population schedule, New York, Westchester, Cortlandt, Peekskill, p. 100-B and 101-A (stamped), enumeration district (ED) 10, sheet 18, dwelling 284, family 383, James Baisley household; digital image,  Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 7 Oct 2013); citing NARA microfilm publication T624, roll 1,089.

[6]"New York, Marriages, 1686-1980", FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org : 30 Apr 2012; database and image;   marriage record no. 5472, James Baisley and Jeanette Lamb, 1910; citing: New York Department of Health, Division of Vital Statistics, Albany. Microfilm of original records at the Municipal Archives of New York, New York City.

[7] New York, Department of Health, Birth Certificates, birth certificate no. 9923 (1884), James Baisley; New York State Department of Health, Albany.

[8]Surrogate's Court, Westchester County, New York, Record Group 4 - Judiciary, Series 16, Estate Records 1775, 1782-1921, James Baisley estate inventory file no. 1897-16, Box A-0303(36)L, folder 7.

[9]Town of Cortlandt Clerk's Office, Westchester County, New York, transcript, birth certificate no. 314891, local registration no. 3178 (1891), Alonzo Van R. Baisley.

[10] 1910 U.S. census, population schedule, New York, Westchester, Cortlandt, p. 232-A (stamped), enumeration district (ED) 18, sheet 9 (penned), dwelling 156, family 168, Jacob Baisley in George Albert household; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 7 Jul 2012); citing NARA microfilm publication T624, roll 1089.

[11] 1915 New York state census, population schedule, Westchester County, Cortlandt, election district 14,  p. 22 (duplicate), line 30, entry for Jacob Baisley in Jennie Hennion household; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed  8 Feb 2010).

[12]"Henion," (Peekskill, New York), The Evening Star, 1 Dec 1936, "Deaths" page, no page number; Field Library, Peekskill. The Field Library supplied photocopy of front page and obituary page.

[13] Westchester County, New York, death certificate (registered) no. 12 (1943), Jacob Baisley; Town of Cortlandt, Town Clerk's Office, Cortlandt Manor, New York.

[14] "Baisley--At Crugers, N.Y.," (Peekskill, New York), The Evening Star, 24 Feb 1943, no page number; Field Library, Peekskill. The Field Library supplied photocopy of front page and obituary page.

[15] Westchester County, New York, death certificate (registered) no. 12 (1943), Jacob Baisley.
[16] Jacob Baisley and Elmer Baisley family, ca. 1937; digital image, ca. 2012, privately held by Hiztorybuff. Albert Baisley, son of Elmer Baisley, gave a copy of the photograph to Hiztorybuff, his second cousin, once removed, with permission to scan it and use it in publications. The location and condition of the original is not known. Photo is of  (left to right) Albert Baisley, Willard Baisley, Thusnelda (Winkelman) Baisley holding Karl Baisley, and Jacob Baisley.