Hot on my genealogy trail,,,,,,

Greetings!!

I have been hot on my genealogy trail and loving every minute of it, LOL.  When I wrote last I had discovered my great great grandmother's maiden name to be Bennett.  Boy have I discovered a lot more since then!!

First off, the name on the 1840 census turned out to be "Widow" Bennett, not Andrew.  The 1830 census showed the name William Bennett.  It turned out that William was my g g grandmother's father.  Also by 1840 my great great grandfather, Benjamin Parker was living in the household with the widow Bennett and her two daughters, one of which was my g g grandmother Emeline Elen Bennett Parker.

Hot dang, I am on a roll!!  William's father, my 4 xs g grandfather was Benjamin Bennett.  Benjamin Bennett fought in the Revolutionary War at the Battle of Minisink in July of 1779.  Unfortunately he died there.  His name is on the battleground monument.

The search has been continuing virtually non-stop every moment I am awake since this break through.  I found out Emeline's mother's maiden name was Stickney.  Both the Bennett and Stickney families were long time, well established families in both Orange and Sullivan Counties.  I have been able to track both families back to the 1600s when they arrived in this country.  Soon I will be looking to England to trace them even further.

But what about the name Horton?  How did that name come into play within the family?  Where did Mary Amelia get the idea that her mother's maiden name was Horton?  That mystery was also solved. 

After William Bennett died, his wife, my 3 xs g grandmother, Francis Stickney Bennett remarried a man by the name of Thomas Horton!!  Given the time frame of deaths and remarriages coupled with Mary Amelia's age, she did not know her biological grandfather but would have known her step-grandfather.  I was also able to trace Thomas Horton's family back into the 1600s in this country.

I still have a few things to figure out yet.  One, on the 1830 census, there was a male under the age of 5 in the household who does not show up in the 1840 census.  Who was he?  Did Emeline have a brother who died perhaps?  Was the age wrong and Benjamin was actually living with them then?  This is going to take some work to figure out.  Two, where is William buried?  I have not been able to track down any death records or cemetery records for him at this time, including for a possible son.  Three, Emeline's sister, Frances Bennett Anderson never shows with a husband, including a census showing her youngest child as just a few months old.  It appears that Frances moved with her children into the home of her mother and step father by 1850.  She shows in an 1855 census with them as well.  But by 1860 she is no longer there but her children are still there.  Did she die?  Where is she buried?  Did she remarry and leave her children behind?  And last but certainly not least, there is still the question of Benjamin Parker's parents and where he came from.  I have several possibilities I have been working on that look promising but so far I have been unable to connect the dots.  Stay tuned, LOL.

Until next time,,,,,,