We all have them! Those stubborn ancestors that refuse to come out of hiding. No matter how much coaxing we do! Well, I think it's time to bring them out of the shadows - put their redacted story out there - another piece of the puzzle could be lurking just around the (cyber) corner, in someone's basement, or closet, or sitting in a box on a bookshelf ...... You never, ever know where that loose chink will manifest, the one that allows you to push out one brick, then the next. Food for thought. So without further ado....
Brick Wall Ancestor | # 6 John M Faulkner
Brick wall? I DO know who his parents are - it's his early life, pre-1850 that's got me banging my head. Here's the 411:
John M Faulkner, youngest son of Samuel and Elinor Faulkner of Wallkill, then Ulster Co, New York, born about 1782. John M is found in the Wallkill, NY census in the years 1810 and 1820. He goes missing in 1830, reappearing in 1840 in Tioga Co, NY. John M is listed in an 1839 family land sale document as residing in Tioga County, NY. (Thus confirming the 1840 census record) He is listed in that same document as having a wife named Catherine. Based on the census records, and my best guess, John M almost certainly had a wife prior to Catherine. He may have had as many as 15 children! Ten with wife #1 and 5 with Catherine. Now, we know that the census records prior to 1850 are sad and frustrating, listing only the heads of household and number of household occupants. Some of the presumed children could be other young relatives and not children of John's at all. On the 1850 census we finally learn the names of the children still living at home, and learn that Catherine was born about 1800, too young to be in the John M household (as a wife) in 1810. Other hints as to names of children come from those found buried alongside John.
I present here my hypothesis and nothing more. If any of this rings true with you, please contact me! I'd love to collaborate and get to the bottom of this mystery.
Based on the limited information I have been able to gather here is what I propose:
John married Wife 1 about 1803 and had the following children, all born in Wallkill, NY:
- Female 1 Faulkner b. about 1804
- Male 1 Faulkner born about 1806
- Female 2 Faulkner born about 1808
- Amanda Faulkner born 1811 died 1882
- Female 3 Faulkner born about 1813
- Male 2 Faulkner born about 1815
- Betsey Faulkner born 1816 died 1878
- Male 3 Faulkner born about 1818
- Female 4 Faulkner born about 1819
- Ruth Faulkner born 1821 died 1899 married Ichabod Ford
I suspect Wife 1 died sometime between 1821 and 1824.
John married Catherine LNU about 1825 and had the following children, all born in Tioga Co, NY:
- Samuel Faulkner born 1826 died 1859
- Isabella Faulkner born 1830 married Jobe Vandemark
- Adam Faulkner born 1832
- Andrew Jackson Faulkner born 1836 died 1871 married Elizabeth LNU
- Nelson Faulkner born about 1839 died 1909 married Martha Shaw
John M Faulkner died November 18, 1861 in Tioga Co, NY and is buried in Hope Cemetery. John is buried near Amanda & Betsey Faulkner and Ruth Faulkner Ford.
Catherine Faulkner is last seen on the 1875 New York State census living with son Nelson and daughter-in-law Martha. In 1880 Nelson and Martha are in Pennsylvania, and Catherine is no longer in their household.
End of story? I hope not - but that's all I know to date. Here's to discovering more!
©2017 Anne Faulkner - AncestorArchaeology.net, All Rights Reserved
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