"LONGEVITY," for #52ancestors challenge:

This year I am participating in Amy Johnson Crow's genealogy challenge, "52 Weeks/52 Ancestors," which I also followed for two years 2014 & 2015.

We have relatively long-lived ancestors showing in our lines: my father's parents lived to mid-late 80s, my mother's mother/grandmother/great-grandmother lived in their 90s and 100s. I have every expectation of living to 100!

My longest-lived direct ancestor who lived over 100 is my 2nd great-grandmother, Harriet "Hattie" Philena ORMSBEE.  Here's a 1924 photo of her at 97 years of age, during a visit my grandmother took with her 5 children including my 2 year old mother, from Vancouver BC Canada to Englewood, New Jersey. She is the shortest in the photo, second from left.

My grandmother wrote on the back, identifying each person and their relation to her. I love how this photo shows relationships here. My 2 year old mother is playing with her mother's jewellery, and Madee and GreatGrandma Graves were clearly talking about something while waiting for the photo to be taken. I suspect Madee's husband, my great-grandfather, was taking the photograph.

From left to right:
"Madee" Clara Augusta "Gussie" GRAVES
      b. 5 Nov 1857 Jordan NY, d. 30 Oct 1955 Englewood NJ

"GreatGrandma Graves" Harriet "Hattie" Philena ORMSBEE
      b. 28 May 1827 Manlius NY, d. 20 Aug 1929, Englewood NJ

"Mary" [my mother] 2 years old in this photo

"Mother" - my Grandmother known as GrandPete,
      b. 19 May 1880 Syracuse NY, d. 23 Oct 1973 Burnaby BC Canada

I have a number of long-lived persons in their 90s as well, even back in the 1700s with baptism dates with birthdates as well. Of course, there are also a number of women who died young, likely in childbirth, as well as men who died before 50, perhaps in accidents or due to illnesses.

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If any of these are ancestors of yours, I would be happy to hear from you with your comments or corrected information. I am also very happy to share any details I might have that are not shown on this post. Contact information calewis at telus dot net is found at the very bottom of this blog.

Blooger has a glitch which is stopping me from replying to your comments, but please do know that I appreciate your comments very much. You make my day! Thanks so much for stopping by to read my family blog. 

END OF LINE: Arnold ORMSBEE / ORMSBY, approx. 1770 - 1830

Arnold ORMSBEE (var. Ormsby), is my 4th great-grandfather.  He is my mother's mother's mother's
mother's
father's
father.

I know almost nothing about him.  He showed up on the Oakwood Cemetery [Syracuse, Onondaga, New York] cemetery burial register as the father of Jacob ORMSBEE who died aged 86 years 9 months on 29 Mar 1893, in Syracuse. Actually, it states Jacob's parents were Arnold and Hannah Ormsbee.  News to me!  Finding any information about Jacob's parents in the late 1700s and early 1800s has been challenging.

Thanks to the free site FultonHistory.com, a newspaper social notice at the bottom of page 3 was helpful, giving me more names to research and confirming relationships of several others:
Syracuse Weekly Express, Wednesday June 27, 1888:
Four Generations Dining Together.
   A pleasant gathering greeted Mr. Jacob Ormsbee Thursday afternoon at his home, No. 18 Rust street, the occasion being the eight-second anniversary of his birthday.  Four generations ate and talked together.  Among those present were L.J. Ormsbee and his family, C.G. Graves and his family, Stephen A. Ormsbee and his family, Mrs. John Leary and others.  A purse of money was presented to the host in behalf of the relatives by H.J. Ormsbee.

  L.J. Ormsbee is  Lucius Jared Ormsbee s/o Jacob
  C.G. Graves is Charles Giles Graves, wife, Harriet Philena is d/o Jacob
  Stephen A. Ormsbee is Stephen Decatur Ormsbee and wife; SD is bro/o Jacob
  Mrs. John Leary is Anna Caroline Ormsbee Leary  d/o Jacob
  H.J. Ormsbee is Harry Jerome Ormsbee s/o LJ Ormsbee, so grandson of Jacob

My ancestor line goes through Charles Giles GRAVES and wife Harriet P. ORMSBEE. The names in this notice allowed me to add several people to my Ormsbee family line, adding more children, marriages, and a brother to Jacob.

So, Arnold ORMSBEE, or Ormsby, and details of his family as seen in 1810 and 1820 censuses, Manlius, Onondaga, New York, remains somewhat a mystery. Manlius was settled in the late 1700s, and is just east of Syracuse NY.

1810

 The 1810 census shows 4 males, 4 females in the household, with the eldest female ticked in the 16-25 column.  This is very confusing, since there is a teen male in the 10-15 column and I'm unable to think a 25 year old woman would have a 10year old son (or older!).  Three females are under 10.  Is the female in the 16-25 yrs column actually his wife? a second wife? or perhaps she's an eldest daughter, i.e., Arnold is widowed?  

 1820

The 1820 census adds more children. Note the first 6 columns are for males [4th column states males over 16], next 4 columns are for females, and the far right tick indicates he is involved in 'Manufactures' in some way.  Once again, the older woman in this household seems too young to be the mother of all the children.  And what was Arnold manufacturing in the small village of Manlius-?  Curiouser and curiouser.

The only other document I've found, which could be relevant,  is for an Arnold Ormsbee & c, [plaintiff] Court Judgment concerning $71.66 re Robert Pearsall, who did not show in court.  However this was in Delaware County New York (county seat, Delhi in northern part of county), over 90 miles away.  Could it be for "my" Arnold?  A very thin thread here, isn't it! So far I haven't found additional news for any other Arnold Ormsby/Ormsbee.

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If you have ancestors in this Ormsbee line, or know further information, I would love to hear from you via calewis at telus dot net, as my Blogger account updated and stopped me from being able to actually 'reply' to your comments.

Thank you so much for stopping by and reading this post.  This year, I've taken a break from posting, but I will be doing more in the coming months and years.  Cheers!