52 ANCESTORS, 52 THEMES, No.30, Challenging: Charlotte BORTLE

This year's challenge by Amy Crow is another weekly blog based on Themes. Last week's theme was Musical, but I ended up writing about an ancestor with an interesting name:  Taliaferro CRAIG.  This week's alternate theme is CHALLENGING - and oh yes, I have several challenging brick wall ancestors. Here is the fourth post I've written [there are three earlier posts] on Charlotte BORTLE.  She is my 3rd great-grandmother, in my mother's lines.

Oh, Charlotte, where did you come from? I've looked and looked for any records of your parents, and further records which might give more details about you.  Some details are found in the [.pdf] 1881 book compiled by Albert Welles, "History of the Buell Family in England, and in America." Other information is found in Censuses, county and town histories, and FindAGrave headstones.

What I think I know:
Born:  ~10 Oct 1797 in New York state; date calculated from gravestone details.
Parents:  Both father and mother born in N.S. (Nova Scotia) - this detail only shows up on the 1880 Mortality Schedule
Married:  to Grover BUEL(L)  (1794-1874), on 17 Dec 1814 (age 17) in Northumberland, Saratoga, NY, by Reed Lewis, the Town Clerk in Northumberland, from 1811-1815.  Although this information has been copied from "something," I have not found the actual register/certificate. [on to-do list]
Children: 5 known children born:

• Mary, b. 18 Jan 1816 Northumberland, d. 20 Nov 1875 Lysander; m. 31 Aug 1843 to John W. Patterson, 4 children known
• Sally, b. 4 Feb 1819 Northumberland, d. 29 Aug 1826 Lysander, aged 7 yrs.
• Ann Janette, b. 15 Dec 1822 Northumberland, d. 1887 Marathon, Courtland NY; m. 26 Oct 1842 to Benjamin Baird; 2 boys known
• Simon, b. 13 Feb 1827 Lysander, d. 18 Feb 1882; m. 15 Oct 1851 to Julia Adelle Wyckoff in Skaneateles NY; no children
• Harriet [direct ancestor], b. 27 Jan 1829 Lysander, d. 4 Jan 1911 Roselle NJ;  m. 1851 to James M. TERWILLIGER; 2 boys

Died:  22 Sep 1879, Lysander, Onondaga, NY [Mortality Schedule of 1880]; this is 5 years after her husband's death.
Burial: after 22 Sep 1879, in Lysander Union Cemetery, Lysander, Onondaga, NY; listed with her husband Grover BUEL(L) on a gravestone.

That's it.  It's not terrible, and at least I have a last name.  I know from censuses and county/town histories that this Buel(l) family lived first in Northumberland, then moved in 1823 to Lysander, Onondaga, NY, until both Charlotte and her husband Grove(r) died in Lysander.

If she married in Northumberland where Grover also was born and resided with his parents before her 1814 marriage, then I might be able to find her parents - maybe.  Maybe there was a brother somewhere in the region as well.  An uncle.  A grandparent.

So far, I've pored through every page of the Northumberland region Censuses of 1790, 1800, and 1810, looking for any Bortle, Bartle, Bortel(l), Bartel(l), Bottle, Battle, and other variations...
Result:  zero. There are a few Bortle (& variants) in Columbia or Schenectady counties, further east.  But their family members don't seem to connect with Charlotte.

Of course, her family might have lived much further away, and moved to Northumberland after 1810.  Their Bortle family may have only had female children, or any male children may have moved away from this area.  Her parents may have died, and she may have been raised by a relative with a totally different name.  Many possibilities - and none of them help me find her parents.

I've looked at their children's names and their grandchildren's names, which hasn't helped; many of the names are common in the Buell family lines.  Although Charlotte's 3rd daughter - Ann Janette - that Janette spelling looks like a possible Dutch origin to me.

I've also done some preliminary searching in Nova Scotia for any Bortle families in the late 1700s and early 1800s, using all variants. So far, no useful results.

There IS another Charlotte Bortle, 1803-1898, who married a Daniel Ros(s)man, of Columbia County NY.  Some Buel(s) family trees on Ancestry, Family Search, and RootsWeb confuse the two, but there is good research on this alternate Charlotte, including her parents [John Bortle, Rachel Horton] and grandparents.  Definitely, she is not the Charlotte who married Grover BUELL. Sigh. Still, it's useful to know who she is NOT, isn't it.

If you have information or suggestions on "my" Charlotte BORTLE who married Grover BUEL(L) in 1814 in Northumberland, Saratoga, NY - I would be thrilled to research further in adding any more details for Charlotte.  Contact details are below, or add information or suggestions in the Comments section.

Blogger - or my computer - is still not letting me "reply" to your comments, for some unknown reason. If I don't reply to your Comment, please know that I'm totally thrilled you came to read my post and commented!  You truly make my day.

52 WEEKS, 52 THEMES: No.3, Tough Woman - Charlotte BORTLE.

This year's challenge by Amy Crow is another weekly blog, but based on Themes. Last week, it was King.  This week, it's on TOUGH WOMAN. A challenging topic, as I've often thought many of my women ancestors past were tough women to survive large numbers of children, settle in new places, often with limited resources. But I decided to write - once again - about my "most-tough-to-find" woman, Charlotte Bortle.  
This will be the third post about her in 3 years... Maybe this year will be the year. You can read more details I've written on my previous two posts, on Feb. 23, 2013, and Aug. 29, 2013. 

Charlotte BORTLE enters my life as the wife of one of the several Grover BUEL(L)s in my line - I keep track of them by their birthdates!  She is shown with her children, on censuses, and as the widow when her husband dies, and then finally, she is buried in the same cemetery.  That's it. Nothing more.  The gravestone photo above at right, is from Lysander Union Cemetery, Lysander, Onondaga NY [photo by permission of BArnold]

There is evidence (The History of the Buells in America, her Gravestone inscription) of her birth month and year, and an indication of place on both the 1850 and 1870 Census. This gives us a likely birthdate of 10 Oct 1797, and a likely birthplace of New York... possibly in Northumberland, Saratoga, New York, or in a neighbouring county.  

Northumberland was settled during the late 1700s, and "Mr. Buel" arrived after 1790, according to a small history of the region.

Charlotte married Grover BUELL 17 Dec 1814 in Northumberland, implying that her family were living in the region at that time or, before that date.  

However in the 1790 Census, I cannot find any Bortles of any spelling in the Northumberland region, although there is an Andrew Bortles living in Hebron, Washington County to the east of Northumberland. And in the 1800 Census, an Andrew Bortle is living in Greenbush, Rensselaer County, about 45 miles south of Northumberland.  A potential name to research.

I have tried to see if the children's names would be clues - she and Grover had 5 children - but the names are common in the Buell line, so this is not much of a clue. 

Here's the only odd clue I have:  when she died a few years after her husband, the mortality schedule shows her age, says she was born in New York, and that her Mother and Father were both born in "N.S." - which would be Nova Scotia, Canada.  

Nice clue, but so far I haven't found any Bortles of any spelling, in the region known as Nova Scotia.  More research to be done.  

Charlotte is my Tough Woman!  But I'm certain that out there somewhere, there is this great little record which gives Charlotte "wife of Grover Buell, born of parents  ____ & ____ Bortle". With many more interesting details about her parents, their occupations, where they came from originally, why they came to North America, and all sorts of fabulous information. 

I'm waiting, Charlotte...  Just sayin'...  

And if Charlotte is a brick wall for you too, or if you have any clues or other details I could use to follow up on, please let me know via calewis at telus dot net, or in the Comments below.  Thanks for stopping by.