I once asked my great aunt Elvie, who she was and Elvie dismissed my question with a wave of her hand, "Some Indian."
"What kind of Indian?"
"Some tribe that killed themselves off. Oh, a Blackfoot, I think it was."
So, for years I proudly, being of another generation, told my friends that I was part, a very small part, but part Native American.
Then years later I actually got smart enough to do some research and discovered that there was a good probability that I was Leni Lanape (Delaware). I was fascinated and discovered that they were an Algonquian-speaking tribe that lived at the basin of the Delaware River. They eventually had to merge with the Algonquian-speaking Mahicans, a tribe related to the Mohegans of Connecticut. These Mahicans inhabited the upper Hudson Valley of New York. Everybody was being driven from the Hudson Valley by the early settlers. The Connoys and Nanticokes also merged with the Delawares.
In 1609, Henry Hudson, an Englishman in the Dutch service, sailed into the Delaware Bay and claimed the area for Holland.
Trading posts were later established in the area by the Dutch in 1647. Although the Dutch had visited the area earlier and set up these trade posts, it was actually the Swedes who were the first to firmly settle in the area.
In 1638, the Swedes, established the colony of New Sweden which would endure for nearly twenty years.
Not looking good for the Leni Lenape people.
And, as expected the Dutch and Swedes eventually came into conflict with each other over the territory.
In 1655 the governor of New Netherlands seized New Sweden and made it a part of the Dutch Colony.
In 1664 it was seized again, this time by the English in the name of the Duke of York.
Back to Delia, when I started researching the genealogy of my family, I decided to scan all the old photographs that I had, into the computer. I studied the back of each photograph looking for any faint writing that would tell me who the heck these people were.
Then I started plugging what names I had into Ancestry.com. Imagine my surprise when Adelia E. Marvin b. 1835 has a search hint that reveals she was born in............are you ready for this? BLACK BROOK, New York. No, Blackfoot Indian but rather a woman who was born in Black Brook.
Let me just say that I am proud that for nearly fifty years I thought I had Native American blood coursing through my veins. Unfortunately, after having filled in most of my family tree there isn't a drop in sight.
So, where the heck is Black Brook?
Well, like a lot of towns and villages it got its name from the principal stream. It's in the southwest corner of the County and seems to be filled with rocks and mountains, making it not the best farming land around.
Forests are thin and the AuSable river forms a portion of the south boundary while the Saranac flows north-easterly across the northwest corner. Great and Little Black Brook are tributaries of the Au Sable.
The soil is cold, wet and not the best for farming but there were extensive beds of iron ore scattered through the town. The Palmer mine, the Myers and Trombois mines were also largely worked.
A town that drew those who worked the iron ore, charcoal and lumber, sawmills.
Adelia was born in Black Brook, later by 1835 the name was changed to Peru, New York. She comes from a very long and interesting family.
So, why was she dismissed in my family? Why wasn't her story passed down? Was the fact that she was twenty years older than my great, great, great grandfather a scandal? Why do we have her picture if she was so easily dismissed?
There is always this problem with getting answers when there is nobody left to give them.
So, I kept on plugging in the information that I had, the bits and pieces of conversation with my great aunt and my mother. The misinformation and the confused information and like doing a puzzle where many of the pieces look the same, one day you see that the arrangement FITS. That it makes sense and you sit back, in your chair, quite pleased with yourself until it dawns on you that what you now have is a completely different story,.
The new story fits all the bits and pieces. The new story moves this poor Adelia from first place to now being the "wife of 2nd great grandfather". Which is how in the genealogical world they describe three greats.
Which also means that she was NOT the mother of my great, great grandmother but perhaps a step mother, a first wife?
Which also begs the question why on earth has this photograph been passed down in the family and there isn't a single photograph of great, great, great grandfather Charles P. Baker or his second wife, Caroline, my great, great, great Grandmother?
No comments:
Post a Comment