Tompkins County - Day 2

Monday 30 June 2008


We began today by visiting the county clerk's office at the court house in Ithaca. There are census records, land deed records and wills located in the building. The 1825 and 1835 census reports are not on the internet and thus were of particular interest. John Abbott and wife had 4 cows, 2 sheep and a hog. In the 1825 census there are 2 males listed, one below voting age, and a female. They owned 20 acres, 6 cattle, 14 sheep and 6 hogs. Reuben only owned 1 cow, 7 sheep and 2 hogs.We looked in the 1835 Newfield census to answer the question as to whether Reuben was still alive. After lifting a 2 foot wide, heavy, leather bound logbook and placing it on a long standing bench, it only took 5 minutes to locate John Abbott followed by Mary Strong and family. This settles the issue that Reuben had passed, probably in 1834 since Mary gave birth to a daughter in 1834 and Reuben Jr in 1832. Another interesting bit of information from this census,was the listing of their animals and hand made cloth. In the household were 4 males, one eligible to vote, and 5 females, 2 married and 3 unmarried under 16. In addition, she owned 17.7 acres, 2 cows, 12 sheep and 2 hogs. There is a listing of about 25 yards of cloth of linen, wool and cotton. Clearly the sheep were providing the clothes.
We did find the Danby land sale deed from Mary to Electa in 1853. It is assumed that this sale was done just prior to Jasper and family along with Mary moving to Ontario. In 1850, Mary was 59, Jasper 21 and Martha 16. Also in the household is Margaret Barbour, age 94. Her age matches up with John Abbott's wife but the name is a mystery. Was she previously married? Is this her maiden name? Unanswered questions.
Tomorrow we are meeting Cheryl at the University and will search marriage and death notices along with other papers that cover 1820 - 1870. We also plan to stop at the Historical Society building and in days to come, Newfield, Danby and possibly Owego, where Tioga County records were kept as of 1798. There were a lot of Strong families in the area during this time period, many of them in Lansing, according to the book of deeds. There is a good chance that these are related but we may not be able to prove it. We also will look for Philip Strong's birth record since he was likely born in or near Danby in 1851. Records are scarce for this period but we will continue to search.
The area is beautiful and the afternoon thunder showers freshen the air and make it quite enjoyable. We may not find the answers we seek but the journey is still worthwhile.