Dear Margaret REID:
Where did your parents come from? Hmmm? Scotland, maybe? There's a 'we think she was Scottish' story we have in our family.
When did you arrive in New York state? Sometime before your marriage to John TERWILLIGER, before 1825. Perhaps you came over with your family, or perhaps with another family as a 'servant'.
How did the TERWILLIGER family know your REID family? I keep assuming that because John and his father were farmers, that perhaps your family were also farming. But they're not showing up on any Census records so far.
What caused you to die so young? Only 19 months or so after your 5th child? Was there a nasty epidemic going through the community that winter, or did you catch pneumonia? Did you have a nasty medical condition - like tuberculosis, appendicitis, or something like that? My mind teems with possibilities that could afflict a young woman with 5 young children. So young. Only 35 years old when she died.
No answers...
Margaret REID is another female ancestor with few if any details about her or her parents.
She was the first of the 3 wives of John S(imon) TERWILLIGER in New York state. She and John apparently married about 1823, and had 5 children:
1. James M. TERWILLIGER (my ancestor), b. 30 Jan 1825, New Scotland, Albany, NY; m. Harriet BUELL, had 2 living sons only.
2. George Terwilliger, b. 26 Apr 1827, NY; m. Matilda B. Fowler, 3 girls (1 d. young)
3. Nancy Terwilliger, b. 13 Apr 1830, NY; m. John Harpham, 3 girls, 1 boy.
4. Jane Reid Terwilliger, b. 26 Feb 1835, NY; m. Dr. John Skinner, 4 boys
5. Mary E. Terwilliger, b. 24 Apr 1837, NY; m. Roswell O. Brown, 1 boy that I know of.
John S. TERWILLIGER married Jane DeGroff next, having 3 girls, only one living to adulthood, Sarah, a teacher. Jane died in 1849 after their 3rd baby. His third wife, a widow, Harriet M. Ives, he married in 1856; no children. John died 31 Aug 1873, and is buried in Collamer Cemetery, DeWitt, Onondaga, NY; his gravestone states he is "h/o Jane DeGroff & Margaret Reid"
But, Margaret... I'm not even sure you came from Scotland, although there is a story to that effect, and there IS a Margaret Reid on a passenger list with parents and two siblings for 1822. Possible. Absolutely no proof as yet.
There is still more research to do about you, Margaret REID: I need to dig page by page through the 1820 and 1830 Censuses for any Reid/Reed families in NY anywhere near New Scotland, Bethlehem, and DeWitt townships. Perhaps a letter to the Cemetery may result in more information. Passenger lists. Naturalization papers. Church records. Your surname shows up as a middle name of grandson Harry, but is spelled Reed on a gravestone. Luckily I always search on variants of a surname.
If any of these names are part of your ancestry, do comment or send me an email at calewis at telus dot net; I'd love to share any information I have.
