We have had growing evidence of a connection between Rufus Adams of Greenwich and Sarah Douglas his wife of 'CT' as the parents of Alfred.
[They had an older dau, then a son the right age to be Alfred, then Anne, then a boy, then Sarah E. The range of birthdates is about 1814 to 1831. We are not sure Alfred is that second son - yet.]
Last night I found that Anne Adams Duncan was buried next to her husband David Duncan. A child Addie was also buried, though she died as an adult in 1916. And the three of them are buried next to Rufus and Sarah.
So it seems reasonable that she is their daughter. She is the right age to fit into their family structure as known from censuses, too.
The family is buried between a large plot of Stottlars and Warrens, and then followed by Warrens. In fact, with a few small interruptions, it goes like this:
Stottlar families (Stottlar, Stevens, Koch) - Warren families (Warren, Jessup, Gorham) - Adams families (Adams, Duncan, Warren) - Dobson families (related to Warrens) - Adams family - Warren family.
These are all rather contiguous, though I will go back and verify how big the gaps are.
But moving on, here is some new information. I found an 1860 census record of David and Anne Duncan living in New York City with their children. They are (big breath!): Lorenzo b 1846, Douglas b 1848, and Adeline b 1851. David and Anne are the right ages and they were born in CT, as was Lorenzo. The other two were born in NY.
This is interesting to me because of the name Lorenzo. This is Lorenzo Duncan. Earlier today I asked why Lorenzo D Stottlar was named that - who was it after? Or who were the Duncans?
Lorenzo D Stottlar was a later son of Mary Jane Adams, who had already had John (named after his father), Victor E, and Guy. (Guy is also interesting, but not for now!).
Now if Anne Adams was Mary Jane's aunt, as she would have been if Alfred fits into the family at the top of this message, then it would have been reasonable to name a child after her son. But if they were not related, if it were some random thing, then what a major coincidence! This Adams (Anne, dau of Rufus) has a son named Lorenzo Duncan, and that Adams (Mary Jane) has a son named Lorenzo Duncan Stottlar. And both were born in CT? And this is a coincidence? Makes reason stare!
Looking at the ages (to make sure the arrow of cause and effect is pointed in the right direction), Lorenzo D Stottlar was born in July 1861 (and also Lorenzo Jackson Adams was born in Port Chester in Dec 1861 - who is Alfred's grandson and Mary's, Fran's, and my ggfather. These two Lorenzos are known first cousins who grew up within 15 miles or so of each other.).
And Lorenzo Duncan? He was born in 1846. He was 15 years old when these boys came along. Maybe he died young, maybe not... I'll go look shortly.
It is beyond my comprehension that Lorenzo Duncan Stottlar could have been named for any other reason than that a relative was named that, or a famous person.
Aunt Anne was born in 1820. She lived in Greenwich and New York City. She was 22 when Hannah died. She may have taken an interest in her brother Alfred's young children. Lorenzo, her son, was born just a few years later, and since he was born in CT, we know she was still there at that time.
Mary Jane got the name Lorenzo Duncan from somewhere, and what better place to borrow it from than from her little cousin, 8 years her junior?
To me this ties together the family of Rufus, Sarah, and Anne and the family of Alfred, Hannah, and Mary Jane. And of course we have the extra little Lorenzo who was Augustus's son.
If it were just Lorenzo, I would look at it and say it was inconclusive. But Lorenzo Duncan? I checked google and couldn't find a famous person of that name in that time. The only known Lorenzo Duncan was right there in the family. What do you think?
As for the rest of the census (1860), Douglas was named after his grandmother Sarah, double-securing the Anne - Rufus tie, and Adeline was the Addie of the graveyard. Where did the name Lorenzo come from before Lorenzo Duncan? I don't know. I'm just...
THRILLED that we have now got Alfred's parents, after nearly 30 years (intermittent though they were!). A special thanks to Karen Elias, who supplied key info and said just yesterday morning, " I think it's got to be Rufus". I have spent the last 30 hours trying to disprove that and I give up! With joy!
We have pieces to fit in. Who was the older sister? Who was the younger brother? And...who were Rufus's and Sarah's parents?
As with every step of family history, every time you solve one problem you inevitably have to more - that former problem's parents. Ready set go!
I'm really keen on getting your feedback. If you don't think this makes sense, say so! Find the loose ends.
And before I end, I want to say a big thanks to Malcolm Stottler, who worked very hard at this for a very long time and who kept records full of clues that we can look at today. Helen, please accept our gratitude for him! Love to all, Peg
No comments:
Post a Comment