When I'm researching, I'll periodically come across a reference to a source not available online. I'll print out a copy of the information and add it to my folder of materials to borrow through Inter Library Loan or to access at a particular library. Frequently, the American Genealogical-Biographical Index (AGBI) will come up. According to Ancestry.com: "Most of the works referenced in the AGBI are housed at the Godfrey Memorial Library in Connecticut. A photocopy service is available."
For a long time I didn't really understand how to read the reference. For example, I am researching Lydia Fish, and the citation referred me to Vol. 54 and page 265. Before I learned that the real meat of the reference was below that, I went to find the AGBI in a library only to be disappointed that there wasn't more information there. This time when I had a reference to AGBI, I knew to read below the initial information and to search for that:
"Gen. Column of the "Boston Transcript:. 1906-
1941. (The greatest single source of material for
gen. Data for the N.E. area and for the period
1600-1800. Completely indexed in the Index.):
13 Dec 1921, 9343; 23 Jan 1922, 9343; 15 oct
1934, 2684"
What I needed to find were copies of the Boston Evening Transcript, not a copy of AGBI.
The New England Historic Genealogy Society in Boston has the pages (each the size of today's Boston Globe's) with the newspaper's "Genealogy" columns all carefully saved in multiple boxes, filed by year then month.
Wikipedia described the Genealogy column in the Boston Evening Transcript:
Because of the genealogy column The Transcript is of value to historians and others. Gary Boyd Roberts of the New England Historic Genealogical Society noted:
"The Boston Evening Transcript, like the New York Times today, was a newspaper of record. Its genealogical column, which usually ran twice or more a week for several decades in the early twentieth century, was often an exchange among the most devoted and scholarly genealogists of the day. Many materials not published elsewhere are published therein."[12]
[12] New England Historical Genealogical Society: Genealogical Thoughts by Gary Boyd Roberts
The frequently full page column devoted to Genealogy had its own rules:
There were three parts to the column each day: QUESTIONS, ANSWERS and NOTES.
It turns out that my reference to Lydia Fish, had one Question, one Answer and one Note. Unfortunately, they were not devoted to discussing my Lydia, however they did include a mention of Lydia Fish in each case and did include some extensive family history details.
~~QUESTION~~
The question as submitted 12 December 1921:
In case you find that hard to read, here is the transcription:
“(9343.) 1. DAVOL, DEUEL. Proof wanted
of the identity of Benjamin Davol, (name
spelled in various ways, Davol, Devil,
Davoll, Divil, Deuel) of Dartmouth, Mass.,
born Jan. 26, 1709, son of Joseph and Mary
Soule of Dartmouth, married Aug. 22, 1731,
Sarah Mosher, daughter of John Mosher
and Experience (Kirby) Mosher of Dart-
mouth, with the Benjamin Davol taking the
name Deuel, not liking to be called Devil
any longer, who moved from Dartmouth to
New York State, settling in the Oblong
Tract, at what is still called Deuel’s Hollow,
about 1735. Died at Pawling, Dutchess
County, N. Y., Jan. 19, 1792. His will was
recorded at Poughkeepsie, N.Y., 1892.
2. TRIPP, DEUEL. John Deuel, son of
Benjamin (Davol) Deuel, married Ann,
widow Tripp, who had a son named Wil-
liam. Wanted, date of birth of John
Deuel, and date of his marriage to Ann
He died December, 1772. I should like the
maiden name of Ann with dates of birth
and marriage to ____ Tripp, the name of
_____ Tripp, name of her father and mother,
and date of her death.
3. DEUEL, FISH. Cornelius Deuel, son
of John Deuel, born in 1756, died in 1809,
and married Mary Fish. Wanted, day and
month of birth and death of Cornelius, date
of marriage to Mary Fish, date of birth
and death of Mary Fish, name of her
father with dates of birth and death, name
of her mother with dates of birth and
death, and date of the marriage of father
and mother.
4. FISH. Thomas Fish, son of Preserved
Fish of Portsmouth, R.I., born Dec. 1,
1703, married Dec. 16, 1724, Mercy Cogges-
hall of Portsmouth, R.I., born Dec. 22,
1704, moved in later years to America,
N.Y., County Dutchess. Children: Lydia;
Thomas, born in Rhode Island; Joshua;
Mary, and others. Mary Fish, wife of
Cornelius Deuel, was probably grand-
daughter of Thomas Fish. I should be
grateful for help on any one of the above
records. H.G.G.M.”
~~ANSWER~~
The answers were provided by serious readers who had information and would write back to the newspaper with their information. This response was relatively quick, 23 January 1922, and even contained information on where to find their sources [the town birth records of Darmouth, Mass., a deed in Dartmouth, Mass. and a request for military exemption in Oblong, Dutchess County, NY]. It didn't include formal citations, but it gave clues for a serious researcher to follow.
In case you find that hard to read, here is the transcription:
“9343. 1. DAVOL, DEUEL. H.G.G.M.,
Dec. 12, 1921. The information given in
this query appeared Jan. 2, 1907, Ben-
jamin Devel being third from George Soule.
His children are there given as: George;
Joseph, born Jan. 9, 1735, who married
Rachel Smith; John; Benjamin, Jonathan;
Bathsheba; Sarah; Abigail; Hannah.
Wanted, the marriage of the other chil-
dren. SAN FRANCISCO
4. FISH. Thomas (4) Fish, of Dart-
mouth, Mass. and Dutchess County, N.Y.,
(Preserved 3, Thomas 2, Thomas 1) was
born Dec. 1, 1703. Dec. 16, 1724, he was
married to Mercy Coggeshall, daughter of
John and Mary Coggeshall. The children
of Thomas and Mercy Fish as given on
the town records of Dartmouth, are: Lydia,
born Nov. 10, 1725; Wait (a daughter),
born Nov. 9, 1727; Amy, born Nov. 29,
1729; Preserved, born Nov. 6, 1731; John,
born Feb. 16, 1734; Elizabeth, born June
4, 1736; Sarah, born Dec. 28, 1738; Caleb,
born Oct. 30, 1740. About 1740 Thomas
removed with his family to the Oblong, in
Dutchess County, N. Y. Two more chil-
dren were born to him there: Joshua and
Job. I do not find that they had any son
Thomas.
John (3) Fish, Jr., of Dartmouth, (John
2, Thomas 1), born Jan. 14, 1707-8 was
married Jan. 29, 1729, to Remember Youin
in Dartmouth. Thomas, born June
12, 1732; Seth, born March 15, 1734;
Eliphaz, born Nov. 9, 1735. This John
Fish, Jr., also removed with his family to
the Oblong, Dutchess County, N.Y. He
was of Oblong, March 15, 1745, when he
made a deed converting his land at Dart-
mouth to John Fisher weaver. Under a
Colonial act passed on Feb. 19, 1755, for the
enrollment of Friends or Quakers who
claimed exemption from military duty, the
name of John Fish, farmer, in the Oblong,
appears. There were doubtless other chil-
dren of whom I have not the record.”
Interestingly, the first part of the question was actually previously asked 15 years ago and so the answer referred the reader back to the column on 2 January 1907.
~~NOTES~~
On 15 October, 1934, there is a Note about the FISH family. It doesn't give me information on my Lydia Fish, however, it does give a clue about the relationship between the various FISH families in the New England Colonies in the 1600s and it tells me about her ancestors. It doesn't say that it is in response to a question, but it does ends with an interesting Fish family which had 3 sets of twins (amazing in the days before fertility drugs) and a reference to someone named H.J.B.C. from a column on 23 August 1933. I didn't see that until I got home, so that will be saved for a future trip to NEHGS to check out.
Here is the transcription chocked full of FISH family details thanks to F.E.W.K.:
“NOTES
Note 2684. FISH. In the early settle-
ment of the English colonies in America
there were at least nine individual emi-
grants bearing the name of Fish: Jona-
than, John and Nathaniel, in 1637, to
Sandwich, on Cape Cod; Thomas, who
received a grant of land in Portsmouth,
R.I., in 1643; William, of Windsor, Conn.;
John of Connecticut; Joseph of Stamford;
Edward of Maryland; and Gabriel of
Exeter and Boston.
Jonathan, John and Nathaniel were
brothers, sons of Thomas Fish of Wedg-
nock Park, in Warwickshire, and grand-
sons of John and Margaret Fish of Great
Bowden, in Leicestershire. William of
Windsor was a cousin of these three
being a grandson of John and Margaret,
through their eldest son, Augustine.
Thomas Fish of Portsmouth, and John
of Mystic (Stonington) Conn., also were
grandsons of John and Margaret, through
their daughter, Alice, who married Rob-
ert Fish of Market Harborough, probably
of a nearly related family. These six
cousins were a family which, for sev-
eral generations had lived in the parish
of Great Bowden, in Leicestershire, and
in that county and in Northamptonshire.
The name of Fysshe, Fisch, Fishe, etc.,
appears in English history at different
periods, as far back as 1200, when the
name of Yvo Fisch appears.
The definite ancestral line of the
American Fish emigrants begins with
John Fyshe, of Great Bowden, who was
born probably about 1555. He was of
the yeoman class and married Margaret,
whose maiden name may have been
Cradock. They had children, baptized in
Great Bowden; 1578, Augustine; 1580-1,
William; 1582, Katherine; 1584, Thomas;
1586, Sara; 1588, Ambrose; 1589, Mary;
1591, Elizabeth; 1593, Francis; 1596, Anne;
1597, Alice; 1599, Mary; 1601-2, John.
Thomas the third son, was the father of
Jonathan, John and Nathaniel, of Cape
Cod.
In the more populous section of the
parish of Great Bowden, and contempo-
raneous with the first named John Fyshe,
there lived a Thomas Fishe, of Market
Harborough. He was probably a de-
scendant of Edward Fysh, of Harborough.
He may have been a brother of John of
Great Bowden, or perhaps a cousin.
These relationships are suggested by the
fact that the name Austin was given to
one of the sons of Thomas, a name so
often used in the family in its other
form, Augustine. The record of the bap-
tisms of children at Market Harborough
begins with “1585-6, Thomas, son of
Thomas Fishe, 10 March.” Then follow:
1590, Austin, April 22; 1593, Robert, Aug.
12; 1595, William, Nov. 16; 1597, William,
March 27; 1599, Jeffrey, Oct. 28.
The above named Robert, son of
Thomas, baptized in 1593, was married,
at Market Harborough, Feb. 24, 1617-18,
to Alice Fish, daughter of John and
Margaret of Great Bowden. Their chil-
dren were baptized, some at Great Bow-
den and some at Market Harborough:
1618-19, Thomas, Jan. 1, at G. B.; 1620-
21, John, Jan. 21, M.H.; 1622, Ruth,
Sept. ?1, M. H.; 1623-24, Mary, Jan 24,
G ? 1625, Mary, at M. H.; 1626, Joseph,
? 17, M. H.; 1629-30, Nathan, March
? H.; 1630, Tabitha, May 8, M. H.;
10? Hannah, Nov. 24, M.H.; 1637,
Christian, Dec. 10, G. B.; 1639, Benjamin,
Aug. 1. [a part of the print was missing]
Robert Fish, the father of this family
of eleven children, died Dec. 20, 1639, at
Market Harborough, at the age of 46.
His family was broken up and seems to
have disappeared from the records of
that neighborhood. The elder sons,
Thomas and John, are accounted for in
Thomas of Portsmouth and John of Mystic
(where he died in 1689). Thomas of Ports-
mouth gave two of his children the
names of Robert and Alice. John, of
Mystic, gave the name of Alice of one of
his daughters.
Thomas (1) Fish, son of Robert, born
Jan. 1, 1618-19, died 1687, married Mary
_____, who died in 1699. He had land
granted to him in Portsmouth, R.I., in
1643. Thomas and Mary had children:
1. Thomas, died 1684, married Dec. 10,
1668, Grizzel Strange, daughter of John
and Alice Strange. Children: Alice, born
Sept. 15, 1671; Grizzel, April 12, 1673; Hope,
March 5, 1676; Preserved, Aug. 12, 1679;
Mehitable, July 7, 1684.
2. Mehitable, married Aug. 6, 1667, Jo-
seph Tripp, son of John and Mary
(Paine) Tripp. Children: John, born July
6, 1668; Thomas, March 28, 1670; Jona-
than Oct. 5, 1671; Peleg, Nov. 11, 1673;
Ebenezer, Dec. 12, 1675; James, Jan. 12,
1677; Alice, Feb. 1, 1679; Abiel, Jan. 8,
1681; Mehitable, Oct. 9, 1683; Joseph, Aug.
24, 1685; Jabez, Nov. 3, 1687; Mary, Aug.
22, 1689; Daniel, Nov. 3, 1691.
3. Mary, died April 4 1747, married
March 18, 1671, Francis Brayton, son of
Francis and Mary Brayton. Children:
Mary, born Jan. 1 1676; Thomas, June
14, 1681; Francis, March 17, 1684; David,
Oct. 23, 1686; Mehitable, Jan. 12, 1693;
Benjamin, Sept. 8, 1695.
4. Alice, died 1734, married William
Knowles, son of Henry. Children: Henry,
(born Sept. 9, 1675), William, Daniel. Rob-
ert, John.
5. Daniel, married, 1682, Abigail Mum-
ford daughter of Thomas and Sarah
(Sherman) Mumford. Children: Comfort,
1683; Thomas, 1685; Ruth, 1687; Daniel,
1690, Sarah, 1694, Jeremiah, 1698.
6. Robert, married 1686 Mary Hall,
daughter of Zuriel and Elizabeth Hall.
Children: Robert, 1690; Mary, 1693; Wil-
liam, 1695; Zuriel. 1697; Isaac; Alice, 1792;
Jonathan, 1704; Daniel, 1707; David, 1710.
7. John.
Preserved (3) (Thomas 2, Thomas 1)
Fish, married May 30, 1699, Ruth Cook,
daughter of John and Ruth (Shaw) Cook,
and died July 15, 1745. Children: Grizzel,
born 1699; Ruth, 1701; Thomas, Dec. 1,
1703, married, 1724, Mercy, daughter of
John and Mary (Stanton) Coggeshall;
Amy, 1705; Sarah, 1707; John, Feb. 23,
1709; Preserved, 1713; Benjamin, 1716,
married Priscilla Arthurs.
Thomas and Mercy (Coggeshall) Fish
had children; Lydia, born 1725; Thomas,
married, 1750, Hannah Cornell; Mary,
married Cornelius Deuel; Joshua, born
1743; Hannah; John, born Feb. 16, 1734,
and two more.
Benjamin and Priscilla (Arthurs) Fish
had children: Sarah, born 1740; Pre-
served, 1741; Rhoda, 1743; Stephen, 1745;
Peace, 1747; John, 1749; Gilbert, 1751;
Artemas, 1754; Elisha (1), 1756; Elija,
1759; Elisha (2) 1762; Elihu, 1759, Gard-
ner, 1763.
Ruth (3) Fish (Daniel 2, Thomas 1),
married Joseph Thomas, and had a son,
Joseph, born 1718, who married Sarah
Estes, and had a large family, including
David Thomas, born 1761, who married
Elizabeth Fish, daughter of Robert and
Bathsheba (Barber) Fish. Robert was a
grandson of Robert and Mary (Hall) Fish.
Daniel (3) Fish (Robert 2, Thomas 1)
had a son Preserved who had a son Job,
born 1774, married 1797 Mary Wilcox.
Mary (5) Fish Duel (Thomas 4, Pre-
served 3, Thomas 2, Thomas 1) had chil-
dren Isaac Preserved, Ruth, Mary, Ed-
mund, Audrey, Mercy, Thomas.
Joshua (5) Fish (Thomas 4, Preserved
3, Thomas 2, Thomas 1), born Jan. 13,
1743, married Phoebe Wright, daughter
of Job and Mary (or Phoebe) Wright,
Children:
1. Hannah, born 1765, married 1784
Jonathan Howland, and had children,
Isaac, Samuel, Daniel. Mercy, Hannah,
Esther and Phoebe.
2. Job, born 1766, married 1787 Rachel
Lounsbury. Children: Elizabeth, born
1789, married William Jones; Elias Hicks,
1792, Married 1813, Betsy Van Wagner;
Phoebe, 1795, married Daniel Norton;
Hannah, 1797, married 1821, Nahum
Warner; Ezra; Job, born 1803, married
first, 1826, Maria Brown, second 1837,
Abigail Sinclear, third 1839, Pluma Geer;
John Nelson, 1805, married 1828 Susan
Arnold.
3. Peter, married Elsie Howland.
4. Preserved, married Lydia Strong,
and had children: Joshua, born 1799, mar-
ried 1831 Juliana Moore; Hannah, married
Ashbel Curtis; John; Mary, married wil-
liam Elliot; Phoebe, married Hall Curtis;
Sally, married Rus Curtis.
5. John, married Polly Howe, and had
Platt Fish.
6. Thomas, married, March 4, 1795,
Lydia Briggs. Children: Hannah, born
1796, died young; Daniel, 1798, married
1819, Anna Sprague; Polly, 1800, married
1816, Luther Sowle; Ann, 1801, married
1822, Thomas B Sowle; 1846, Jonathan
Hoyt; Anson T., 1806, married Sally _____;
Lucinda, 1810; Hannah, 1815, married
1832, J.L. Staples.
Artemas (5) Fish (Benjamin 4, Pre-
served 3, Thomas 2, Thomas 1), born 1754,
married Ann Shreve. Children: Job,
born 1777, married Mary Sisson; Ruth,
1779, married Abraham Barker, 1802;
Peleg, 1780, married Alice Sisson; Isaac,
married Sarah Bunnel; David, 1786; Mary,
1788; Anne, 1790, married ______ Potter;
Artemas, 1799; Eliza, 1799.
Elias Hicks Fish (the name indicates
that his parents were Quakers), son of
Job (6) (Joshua 5, Thomas 4, Preserved 3,
Thomas 2, Thomas 1) born 1792, died
1867, Burr Oak, Mich., married Betsy
Van Wagner, daughter of Nicholas and
Katherine (Grant) Van Wagner, whose
genealogy has been traced back to Aert
Jacobson and Evert Pels, early settlers
in Albany, N. Y. Children: Rachel
Lounsbury, born 1814, died 1905, unmar-
ried; Nicholas Van Wagner, 1816, died
1895, married Matilda Perkins; Charles
Lounsbury, 1818,died 1903, married
Susan M. Stewart; Alexander, 1820, died
1823; Elias (M.D.), 1824, died 1902, married
Mary Gurney; Job, 1828, died 1923, mar-
ried Ann E. Peabody; Mary Ann, 1831,
died 1923, married Albert W. Judson;
John (M.D.), 1833, died 1888, married
Mary Peabody; Emily, 1836, died 1913,
married, first, Henry Canfield, second,
Dr. O. H. Wood; Elizabeth Jones, 1838,
died 1902, married Charles Powers.
Job Fish, above, had children: Flor-
ence, Williston and Josephine, twins,
Nicholas and Matilda, twins (died in-
fants), Mary, Job, John, Albert and An-
nie, twins. Of the eight children, all
were school teachers, and all but one
were college graduates. The father was
a teacher for more than fifty years. (The
last statement is for the benefit of
H. J. B. C. 5741, Aug. 23, 1933.)
F. E. W. K.”
~~~~
What an incredibly caring and sharing community of genealogists who kept that column of the newspaper going over many years. Very similar to the community of support I have found today between genealogists, town employees, genealogy & history societies, blogs, G+, and FB.
I have no idea how many questions that were submitted went unanswered. I'm sure they had their own "brick walls" of the day that they too struggled with solving, just like we are today. I could list a few I'd love to have submitted.
 |
| The Oblong Friends Meeting House in Dutchess County, New York. Thomas Fish and his wife Mercy Coggeshall moved to Oblong with their family, including their daughter Lydia who married Timothy Dakin, shortly before the OblongFriends Meeting was set off from the Purchase Monthly Meeting in 1744. This building dates from the 1760's. Lydia Fish Dakin was my GGGG'great grandmother she would have attended meetings for worship and meetings for business on the women's side. The building is split down the middle inside and has matching men's and women's halves. Women had their own business meetings in those days.  |
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