Margaret REID, my maternal 3rd great-grandmother, is one more of those women ancestors in my direct line who appear as the wife of _______, and the mother of ________, and then she's buried. That's it.
No parents, no siblings, no information. Who is she?
Through FindAGrave, I can see her husband's gravestone stating he is the husband of (1) Margaret Reid, and (2) Jane DeGroff (there's a 3rd wife as well), with clear carvings of the first two wives' information on one side of the standing gravestone. Helpful. It gives her name and death date, and that she was 35 years of age at death, therefore she may have been born about 1803, give or take a few years.
I haven't been able to find any other person named Reid buried in the same cemetery, Collamer Cemetery, in DeWitt, Onondaga, New York.
There is a rumour I've heard in our family, that Margaret had come to New York from Scotland with her family, or at least, a father. But there's not really any evidence to substantiate this thought - or, at least, not that I've found to date.
She and John S. TERWILLIGER (1800-1873) were apparently married in about 1823, in New York, possibly in New Scotland, Albany, New York, where their first child was born. (The link takes you to the New Scotland Historical Association.)
They had the following 5 children:
- James M. [direct ancestor], b. 30 Jan 1825, m. 1851 Harriet F. Buell; d. 18 Oct 1909
- George, b.26 Apr 1827, m. Matilda B. Fowler; d. 1890
- Nancy, b. 13 Apr 1830, m. John Harpham; d. 2 Jan 1915
- Jane Reid, b. 26 Feb 1835, m. Dr. John Skinner; d. 8 Apr 1922
- Mary E., b. 24 Apr 1837, m. Roswell O. Brown; d. 15 Mar 1907
Margaret REID Terwilliger died about 20 months after the birth of her 5th child, of unknown causes.
On 13 Feb 1841, John married Jane DeGroff, who was b. 4 Jul 1812. He and Jane had 3 more little girls, before Jane died 14 Jun 1849, after the 3rd birth. On 4 Dec 1856, John then married a widow, Mrs. Harriet Ives, who survived him, with no issue; John died 31 Aug 1873.
If anyone has any further information about Margaret REID or if you have questions about any of these details, please contact me via calewis at telus dot net. I always love to read your comments below!
I'm currently watching RootsTech 2014 Conference live-streaming sessions, online. I'm struck again by how important it is to me to start getting my own stories down - now, so that MY 3rd great-grandchildren know me as so much more than these few tiny bits of information.
2 comments:
A no-family ancestor is a perfect description. I have one listed as Mrs. McBride in the cemetery records, and the family has no marker. Sigh!
Oh dear, that is so frustrating, Sally! She might just as well be Mrs. Anonymous, eh? Trying to gather even one clue... like names in next 2 or 3 generations - that can be a futile exercise. I've bumped against this several times! Maybe 'someone' out on the internet will catch this... and know some little thing... I live in hope. Thanks for stopping by!
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