Thursday, August 29, 2013

A SMALL MUD WALL - Charlotte BORTLE

I know very little indeed about my 3rd great-grandmother, Charlotte BORTLE.  However, I'm only calling her a "mud wall" rather than a brick wall in order to keep positive, and to remind me to continue gathering clues.  Just starting to write this blog and I'm already finding several clues, plus ideas of what else to dig through!   

Charlotte BORTLE was born 10 Oct 1797 in New York state, of unknown parents.  She appears on the marriage register, Northumberland, Saratoga, New York, married by a Justice, Reed Lewis, to Grover BUELL - one of my three Grover BUELL direct ancestors. Those three Grovers are another story needing to be told, later.   Marriage date:  17 December 1814.

Her husband, Grover, was born 24 Dec 1794 in Northumberland, Saratoga, New York, so I am making an assumption that her BORTLE parent(s) lived in that area at the time.  Northumberland as a town was formed in 1798, according to their website. 

After they married, they seem to have stayed in Northumberland, as their first 3 girls were born there:  Mary, b. 18 Jan 1816;  Sally, b. 4 Feb 1819;  Ann Janette b. 15 Dec 1822.  The family apparently moved in 1823 to Lysander, Onondaga, New York, and remained there until the parents died there several years apart, in the 1870s.   Both Simon - the only boy - b. 13 Feb 1827, and the final and 4th girl, Harriet (my direct ancestor)  b. 27 Jan 1829, were born in Lysander, Onondaga.  Check out this website for more information on the village of Lysander.

Charlotte died the 22nd September 1879 in Lysander, and is buried in Lysander Union Cemetery.  Her inscription is on her husband's gravestone, and can be found here;  the stone states she was 81 years, 11 months, and 12 days old.  

Grover was a farmer, and Charlotte was listed as "Farmer's wife" on the Federal Census Mortality Schedule for Lysander, Onondaga, New York. She had died in the year prior to the 1880 Census, thus providing a few more clues for me by being recorded. Her listing is in rather small writing, but states (my additions):
Buell, Mrs.   (age) 82  F  W   (b) New York  (fa) N.S.  (mo) N.S.  (occupation) Farmer's Wife   
      (month died)  Sep't (1879)  (cause)  Asthma   (attending physician)  Dr. Leslie Martin



Of course you can see those clues, can't you?  Her father and mother - birthplace listed as N.S.  Nova Scotia, Canada!  Yeah!!  Well, they are only clues, nothing proven at all. But I'm hopeful and will be doing more research as soon as possible.  Bortle is considered to be from a possible Dutch origin, and the name of their 3rd daughter, Ann Janette, implies this origin as well.  Another tiny and interesting clue. 

If you have any of the 3-in-a-row Grover BUELL ancestors in your tree, do contact me; and/or if you have information on Charlotte BORTLE and her family, I'd love to hear from you:  calewis at telus dot net  [you know what to substitute for the words].  


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Welcome!

Family, friends, and others - I hope you enjoy these pages about our ancestors and their lives. Genealogy has become somewhat of an obsession, more than a hobby, and definitely a wonderful mystery to dig into and discover. Enjoy my writing, and contact me at celia.winky at gmail dot com if you have anything to add to the stories. ... Celia Lewis