Lena Hull Stoutenburg AKA Helena Hull

As I identify people who are related to me, I try to determine who are the parents of a person who became a relative through marriage. One such person is John M. Stoutenburg who was born in New York in 1833. In 1850, John is living with his parents in the Town of Hurley, New York. By 1860, John is head of his own household in Hurley and is married to "Lany".

According to the 1860 Census, "Lany" was born in New York. However, the 1870 Census records her place of birth as Ohio and she is identified as Lena. John and Lena are also found in Hurley in 1880. The 1880 Census indicates that John's parents were born in New York and that Lena's father was born in Ohio, as was she, and that her mother was born in New York.

According to John's obituary, he married Lena Hull in 1856 Although I learned of her maiden name through John Stoutenburg's obituary, I had no idea who her parents were. The first clue was in her obituary. Her parents were not identified other than they were native of New York and that her mother died when she was five years old, about 1843 or 1844.

Lena's obituary stated that she was born December 30, 1838 in Ohio and that her parents returned to New York with her when she was about two years old. It also claimed she was brought up by her grandfather, Conrad Elmendorf. Further, the obituary indicated that she spent the early part of her life in Olive Branch, New York.

The first US census that listed all members of a household was taken in 1850. Since Lena would be about 12 years old in 1850, I assumed that she would be living in Ulster County with her grandfather who allegedly raised her. I did find Conrad J. Elmendorf, age 68, residing in the Town of Olive along with his 71-year-old wife, Sally. The household consisted of just the two. The next household in the enumeration was that of Elias Elmendorf and his family. Elias is 42 years old and appears to be a close relative of Conrad Elmendorf. However, Lena was not enumerated in that household either.

Next I looked for any male with the surname Hull living in Ulster County who was born in New York about 1810 plus or minus 2 years. I found a 38-year-old Samuel Hull living in the Town of Hurley. The family consisted of 27-year-old Mary, his wife, and six children ranging in age from 3 to 19 years. The oldest four children could not be the children of Mary Hull as she was only eight when the eldest of the four was born and 15 when the youngest of the four was born. So it would appear that Mary Hull was not Samuel Hull's first wife.

Since Conrad Elmendorf was the name of Lena's grandfather, I found it significant that there was a 17-year-old male, Coenradt, included in the household. Further the family included a 12-year-old girl, Hellen. Lena was often a shortened version of Helena or Magdalena. But according to the census record, Hellen was born in New York.

I then found Samuel Hull and his family living in Olive, Ulster County in the 1855 New York State Census. The three older children in the 1850 Census were not included in the household but Hellen was. She appears as the eldest child in the family. Her name is recorded as Helena, age 16 born in Ohio. Both Helena and Samuel had resided in the community for 15 years.

In 1856, Lena Hull and John Stoutenburg were married. I found the couple in Hurley, Ulster County, New York in the 1860, 1870 and 1880 US Census. In 1900, Lena and John were living in Sioux Valley Township in Union County, South Dakota. Based on her obituaries and the various censuses in which I found Lena and John, she was born in Ohio.

Given the information from the 1850 and 1855 censuses of the Samuel Hull household, I believe that Samuel Hull is Lena's father and that her birth name was Helena Hull. The next step was to identify her mother's given name. I did come across a couple of family trees that included a Mary Elmendorf who was born in 1811 in Kingston, Ulster County, died in 1843 in Hurley and was married to Samuel Bostick Hull. The trees indicate that she was baptized in 1811 at the Shokan Reformed Church in Olive.

Lena and her parents moved to Ulster County from Ohio about 1840. I found a Samuel Hull in the 1840 Census in Olive. The household consisted of two adults, Samuel as head, a male between 20 and 29 (1811-1820), a female between 20 and 29, presumably Mary Elmendorf Hull. There were 4 children; a male between 5 and 9 (1831-1835), a female between 5 and 9 and two females under 5 (1836-1840). The age ranges of the children correspond to Conraedt (about 1833), Catherine (about 1831), Matilda (about 1835) and Helena (1838).

In 1850, John Hull was 8-years-old and a member of the Samuel Hull household. Mary Hull could have been his mother as she was about 19 when John was born. But, in the 1855 Census, Mary Hull resided in the community for 9 years whereas 12-year-old John Hull resided in the community 12 years, meaning he was born between 1841 and 1842. Since Lena's mother died between 1843 and 1844 when Lena was five, John Hull's mother and Lena's mother was one and the same person. Samuel Hull married his second wife a year or so after his first wife's death.

Lena's obituary says that she was raised by her maternal grandfather, Conrad Elmendorf. That details outlined about does not provide any evidence that Lena Hull was living with her grandfather.
 
Locating a copy of the Arthur Kelly book of baptisms at the Shokan church is the next step to connect Mary Elmendorf to both Samuel Hull and Conrad Elmendorf.

Parke Davis Biological Farm

I was looking for information about Morgan J. Smead, who according to one family tree, died in 1913. Instead of finding evidence of his death having occurred in 1913, I found evidence that he was very much alive as late as 1942. Many of his records indicate that he was involved for many years with the Parke Davis Biological Farm in Oakland County, Michigan.

Morgan Smead was born in Pavilion Township, Genesee County, New York. His parents and siblings seem to have remained in New York. However, Morgan studied veterinary medicine at Toronto and then settled in Michigan. He married Alice Elizabeth Stevens, the daughter of John Brown Stevens and Angeline Elizabeth Stoutenburg, in Port Huron, Michigan in 1909.

Veterinarian Morgan and his wife, Alice, were living with her parents in Yale, Michigan in 1910. Morgan's father-in-law was a veterinarian. Alice's older brother, Chauncey was not a member of household in 1910. I have not located his whereabouts in 1910 but by 1918 he was working as a veterinarian in Michigan. As it turns out, Chauncey graduated in 1902 from Ontario Veterinary College, Toronto, Canada. (The Journal of Comparative Medicine and Veterinary Archives Vol. XXIII June 1902 No. 6 Edited by W. Horace Hoskins. Philadelphia: Office of Publication, 1902. Page 381}

Alice's younger brother, Walker, was enumerated with her parents, her husband and herself in 1910. Walker was a student. He apparently was a student in Toronto studying veterinary medicine in Toronto as his obituary claimed that he was the last surviving member of the Class of 1911 of the Ontario Veterinary College in Toronto.

Alice and Morgan met due to the fact that her brothers were veterinarians who studied at the same school as had Morgan.

Intrigued that someone would think that Morgan Smead had died in 1913 yet there was much evidence that he was living as late as 1942, I tried to come up with an answer. I discovered that Alice and Morgan has a daughter who was born in 1913 and lived only 5 days. The death certificate names her as "infant M J Smead" and says that she died of "fevers Parthenia following a difficult birth." For whatever reason, Morgan and Alice had no children after the death of that 5-day-old daughter.

As I looked at records concerning Morgan, it was clear that he had a long relationship with the Parke Davis Biological Farm, where he was employed for many years starting only a few years after the farm was established.

The Parke Davis Biological Farm was established in 1908 near Rochester, Michigan. According to page 416 History of Oakland County Michigan by Thaddeus D. Seeley, the farm consisted of 340 acres adjacent to the village of Rochester to the east. The Clinton River crossed the farm from the west and the Stony Creek crossed the farm from the north. Stony Creek joined the Clinton River on the farm proper. Morgan and Alice resided on Parkdale Road in Avon Township.


Looking at a 2015 map of Rochester, Michigan, I believe that a portion Bloomer Park is located at the site of the Parke Davis farm. Parkdale Road runs along the northern edge of the park and Stony Creek joins the Clinton River within the bounds of the park. Parke Davis added another 160 acres along the Michigan Central Raiload line to the farm. The site of the JHP Pharmaceuticals Manufacturing off of Parkdale Road is what remains of the Parke Davis Biological Farm.


I looked at Plat Maps of Avon Township for the years, 1872, 1896, 1925 and 1947. The Parke Davis farm appears in the 1925 and 1947 Plat Maps. In 1872, a C. Parker owned 340 acres at the approximate location of the Parke Davis farm. However, by 1896, the Parker farm was divided and sold to others. The History of Oakland County Michigan suggests that Parke Davis & Company purchased a 340-acre farm, not several farms that together formed 340 acres.

I was able to identify C. Parker. as Calvin Parker who was born in New York about 1820. He was living in Avon Township by 1850 when he and his wife, Mary, were enumerated in the census of that year. They owned a farm valued at $2350, which was valued about twice as much as his neighbor's farms. I found Calvin Parker in the 1860, 1870 and 1880 censuses in Avon Township, Oakland County, Michigan. In 1870, his farm was valued at $19,000. So it would seem that Calvin Parker owned a large farm.

He died on May 12, 1888 in Avon Township, according a Michigan Death Index. It is likely that his heirs sold the property between 1888 and 1896. In 1925, Parke Davis & Company owned 458 acres in the SE quarter of Section 11 and S half of Section 12.

In 1947, Parke Davis owned about 540 acres in Sections 11-14 with the largest portions in Sections 11 and 12. Bloomer State Park No. 2 was shown on the 1947 Plat Map. The company at some time between 1925 and 1947 acquired 160 acres along the Michigan Central Railroad line. Although I am speculating, it would seem that Parke Davis Company and Bloomer family jointly donated property or the Parke Davis sold land to the Bloomer family to form the Bloomer State Park.

Now back to Morgan J. Smead...

He was a Masonic Grand Master from 1950 to 1951 in Michigan. He died in 1962 in Rochester, Michigan.

Pieter Stoutenburg the Man

Every family has stories about its ancestors. One side of my family is no exception to this. Several of my ancestors were in North America at the earliest part of the European settlement. Today, I am writing a post on my blog about just one of the family stories.

The story is that rich Pieter Stoutenburg was the first treasurer of New Amsterdam or the treasurer of the Dutch Colony. Other stories exist that he was treasurer when the British took control of New Amsterdam and that he had done such a good job that the British authorities retained him as treasurer.

I found this story repeated in books written in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Many of these books were written on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of a county, state or community and often included genealogies of the pioneer families. Then I found the same language repeated in genealogical and biographical magazines. Now, it's repeated in family trees posted on the Internet.

There is often some element of truth in most family legends. It's like the game of telephone. Each time the story is repeated it has little changes. The Pieter Stoutenburg story is no exception. Pieter Stoutenburg did at one time serve as a treasurer.

Some history :

Pieter Stoutenburg was born in 1613 in the Netherlands, probably in Utrecht Province based on his surname as there is a Stoutenburg in that province. I have not found any record of his arrival in New Amsterdam but he was married in 1649 to Aefje van Tienhoven in New Amsterdam. Tienhoven is a town in Utrecht Province as well.

The records in which he is mentioned don't record his name as Pieter van Stoutenburg. That did surprise me as the only other person in New Netherland at the time that Pieter was there is Jacobus van Stoutenburg. Jacobus lived near current day Albany and eventually went back to the Netherlands.

 Now back to the story:

New Netherland was established more like a corporate holding than a colony. The Dutch West India Company appointed members and employees to management roles in New Netherland. It wasn’t until Pieter Stuyvesant arrived that the Company assigned a resident of New Amsterdam to serve as a local treasurer on the Company’s behalf. Wilhelmus Hendrickse Beekman held that position until the defeat of the Dutch colony in September of 1664.

The British established a colonial government in New York and appointed a mayor of New York City. The mayor appointed a city clerk who served the role of treasurer of the city. Thomas Willit was the first city clerk in New York City. He served from 1665 to 1668 when Cornelis Steenwyck was appointed. Cornelis occupied that position until 1671. Thomas Delavall and Matthias Nicoll also served as city clerk in 1671. John Lawrence was city clerk in 1672.

The Dutch briefly regained control the colony between 1673 and 1674. The function doesn’t seem to exist in 1673. Sometime in 1674, Johannes Van Bugh, as Burgomaster/Mayor, served as treasurer of City of New Orange/New York City. New Orange was the name that the Dutch then gave to the city in honor of the Dutch House of Orange. That name didn't last long and the British again called the city New York.

In 1676, the British established the position, “The Treasurer of the City.” Pieter Stoutenburg was the first to be appointed to that position. He was succeeded by Willem Bogardus in 1679. So this is probably where the story that he was the first treasurer of New Amsterdam arose.

Since Pieter Stoutenburg was in his early 60’s when he was appointed Treasurer of the City of New York, it hardly makes sense that he was the first treasurer of New Amsterdam let alone the treasurer of the colony.

So what about the rich Pieter Stoutenburg?

Pieter had small burghers rights. The wealthiest residents or people in the highest positions within the Company had great burghers rights. Property taxes were based on ranking of each property as 1^st class to 3^rd class. Owners of 1^st class property paying the most and those whose property is classified at 3^rd class paying the least. Pieter’s property on the various tax rolls was classified at 3^rd class.

 

Given the tax records, I am not sure that I would call him rich. However, he certainly was a man of means and standing within the community. He served as orphan master protecting orphan rights, as guardian to his sister-in-law’s orphans, as elder in the church, and other roles.

 

To me, he sounded like a person who cared about the well-being of children, his community and his civic involvement. Those mean more to me.

45th Anniversary of the Internet

Today is the 45th anniversary of the beginning the Internet. It's a little less than 4 hours from the time on October 29, 1969 that my husband successfully accessed a computer at Stanford Research Institute from a computer at UCLA.

The first time that I recall an acknowledgment of this day in 1969 was in 1999. I began to receive calls at my office looking for my husband because it would be the 30th anniversary of the day on which he was able to connect his computer to another computer in Menlo Park, California.

I had just graduated in September 1969 from UCLA and my husband-to-be was a graduate student at UCLA. I joined the UCLA Alumni Association as a life member within a year of my graduation. My husband who earned three degrees from UCLA never did. It was my membership of the UCLA Alumni Association the precipitated these calls.

Through the influence of my father, I often found myself as the only female in a male dominated area of study, job, etc. I was the only female in my high school physics class. I was a mathematics major at UC Berkeley where I learned ALGOL and FORTRAN 2.

At UCLA, I joined the Computer Club in which I was one of two or three females during the time in which I was a member. It was at Computer Club that I met Charley. We had dated off and on for almost 3 years. In September 1969, we were at a wedding of an engineering student friend when we decided to become engaged to marry.

By 1969, it was clear to me that I was probably going to marry this guy. I was cooking dinner for him four week nights a week. I was including his laundry with mine when I did mine. I was a bit miffed when his clothes were soiled by crawling in the space below the raised floor in that computer room of October 29, 1969.

Ira Flatow asked Charley last Friday if he had any idea of what that night meant in 2014. He said that he had no clue. Charley's response it right on. The only thing that I remember of that time was wondering why the ARPA contract couldn't afford to buy Charley coveralls so he didn't harm his clothing while crawling under the floor.

Oldest House in Hyde Park - William Stoutenburgh Home

The Stoutenburgh-Teller Family Association is the proud owner of the oldest house in Hyde Park, New York. The house was built in the latter half of the 18th Century by William Stoutenburgh, son of Jacobus Stoutenburgh, the first settler of Hyde. Park. The area was known as Stoutenburgh and Stoutenburgh Landing.



William Stoutenburgh Home - Photo at FDR Presidential Library
Oldest home in Hyde Park, NY

Donations through the years have helped to support the maintenance of this old house. This year this old house needed more maintenance than expected. A member of the Family Association offered to match donations to the Association between now and October 31st up to $25,000.

If you are a descendant of Jacobus Stoutenburgh, descendant of his grandfather, Pieter Stoutenburg, or a person who loves to preserve pieces of colonial history, please consider sending a contribution, however large or small, to the Stoutenburgh-Teller Family Association, PO Box 365, Lenoir City, TN 37771-0365. Your donation is tax-deductible.

Make the check out to the Wm. Stoutenburgh Historic Homesite and write "Challenge" in the memo area of the check. Although the matching offer expires on October 31, the Family Association is happy to receive donations at any time.

The Man with An Identity Crisis

When I add a person to my family tree by marriage, I like to include his/her parents. When a female is added through marriage, I ofttimes find it a challenge to identify her parents. Once I identify her parents, I like to include some basic information, such as, when and where her parents were born and died.

My relative, Harry E. Richardson, was married to Frances by 1930. Trying to identify her parents was a challenge. As I dug deeper in, I learned the names of her parents. It wasn't easy because her father seemed to have an identity issue.

Christian Strohm was born 1871-1872 in Michigan. He was enumerated with his parents 1880 in Elmwood Township, Leelanau County, Michigan at the age of 8. His father was born in Wurtemburg, Germany and his mother, in Baden, Germany.

In the 1900 Census, he was enumerated as Christ Strohm and born in November 1871. He had been married for 2 years at that time. The young couple were living in Elmwood Township.

In 1910, the family was living in Blair Township, Grand Traverse County, Michigan. In the 1910 Census, was he recorded as Christopher Srohm (sic) and is a farmer who owns his farm outright. Frances is the youngest child in the household.

I found the change in his name a bit strange and credited it to the enumerator. But then I found that he was enumerated as Christpher in 1920 and in 1940. However in the 1930 Census, his name was written as Chris J. Strohm.

His obituary in the Traverse City Record-Eagle in entitled, "Christ Strohm, Pioneer, Dies." and his gravestone reads, " Strohm, Chris J. 1872 - 1958."

He used the name Chris In the 1903-1904 Traverse City and Grand Traverse County Directory. But by the next directory, he is recorded as Christopher Strohm. Christopher Strohm is listed in the various directories between 1904 and 1927.

Christian, Christopher, Christ, Chris Strohm may you rest in peace.

How Did Frederick E. Hyde Fjord Get Its Name?

The trustees of the Stoutenburgh Family Burying Ground in Hyde Park, New York, are mapping the location of gravesites and identifying how those buried there are connected to Jacobus Stoutenburgh and his wife, Margaret Teller. I was asked if I could find out more about Frederick E. Hyde and his wife, Susannah Stoutenburgh Hyde, who are buried in the cemetery.
 
The task was an easy one for me as I already knew who she was and her connection to Jacobus and Margaret. However, I really didn’t have much information about her husbands. Frederick Hyde was Susannah’s second husband. The things that I learned about her first husband will make for a post another time.
 
I located the couple in the 1925 New York State Census and also in the 1930 and 1940 US Censuses. He had no occupation indicated in any of the three censuses. The 1940 Census indicated he had income from sources other than wages and that he had completed five years of college. The couple traveled to Europe often as I found them on the passenger list of several sailings.
 
When I searched for Frederick E. Hyde at Google, I received several hits but not what I expected.
 
There is a fjord on Greenland called Frederick E. Hyde Fjord. It is at least 150 kilometers in length (a bit over 93 miles in length). The fjord is the northernmost fjord on the island with its mouth on the eastern side of the island opening on the Arctic Ocean. The shores of the fjord are apparently ice-free during the summer as seen in photos on the Internet.
 
Frederick E. Hyde Fjord is located on a peninsula known as Peary Land. The 28th Meridian West crosses through the fjord.

Peary Land

 
The Peninsula is defined by the Arctic Ocean to the north, east and west and by two fjords to the south. The mouth of Victoria Fjord is on the western side of Greenland, and the mouth of Independent Fjord is on the eastern side. Frederick E. Hyde Fjord divides Peary Land into North Peary Land and South Peary Land.
 
Other than physical descriptions of the fjord, I wasn’t finding anything that told me how the fjord got its name. Some of my earlier research revealed that Dr. Frederick Erastus Hyde and his sons, Benjamin Talbot Babbitt Hyde and Frederick Erastus Hyde, Jr., were members of several scientific institutions.
 
Dr. Frederick Erastus Hyde was member and benefactor of the Linnaean Society, the American Museum of Natural History and the American Association for the Advancement of Science among others. Frederick Erastus Hyde, Jr. and his brother, Benjamin Talbot Babbitt Hyde, were also members of the some of the same organizations as their father. They also financed explorations in the American Southwest between 1893 and 1907. I found no evidence that the brothers were involved with explorations elsewhere.
 
I recalled from my school years that Robert E. Peary had been the first to reach the North Pole. Given that the northernmost part of Greenland is called Peary Land, I decided to see what I could find out about Peary and his expeditions. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, Robert Edwin Perry explored the area in 1892, 1895 and 1900.
 
Searching in Google Books I found many recently published books about Peary’s expeditions and also some that studied whether Peary was or was not the first to reach the North Pole. I was delighted to find a digitized book written by Robert Peary himself entitled, Nearest the Pole: A Narrative of the Polar Expedition of the Peary Arctic Club in the S. S. Roosevelt, 1905 -1906.
 
Reading page 329, I learned how Frederick E. Hyde Fjord got its name.
 

EXPEDITION OF 1898—1902

"Arrived here at 10:30 P. M., May 20^th, from Etah via Fort Conger, and north end of Greenland. Left Etah March 14^th. Left Conger April 15^th. Arrived north end of Greenland may `3th. Reached point on sea-ice latitude 83° 50’ N., May 16^th.

On arrival here had rations for one more march southward. Two days dense fog have held me here. Am now starting back.

With me are my man Matthew Henson; Ahngmalokto, an Eskimo; sixteen dogs and three sledges.

This journey has been made under the auspices of and with funds furnished by the Peary Arctic Club of New York City.

The membership of this Club comprises: Morris K. Jesup, Henry W. Cannon, Herbert L. Bridgman, John Flagler, E. C. Benedict, James J. Hill, H. H. Benedict, Fred’k E. Hyde, E. W. Bliss, H. H. Sands, J. M. Constable, O. F. Wyckoff, E. G. Wyckoff, Chas. P. Daly, Henry Parish, A. A. Raven, G. B. Schley, E. B. Thomas and others.

R. E. Peary

Civil Engineer, U. S. N."

 

The book includes a chapter on the Peary Arctic Club. Frederick E. Hyde was one of the founding members and was elected as its first vice president. Morris Jesup was elected President and apparently is the person for whom Cape Morris Jesup is named. The cape is located at the northernmost part of Greenland.

 

Most of the founders of the Peary Arctic Club were born between 1830 and 1850. Frederick E. Hyde was born in 1844 while his son, Frederick, was born in 1874. Based on the ages of the founding members, I believe that the Dr. Frederick E. Hyde was one of the founding members and that is for him that the fjord is named.