My New Year's Resolution for January 2025 was to spend the year working on identifying the parents of my third great grandmother, Susan (Rood) Chapin, using the Research Like a Pro process.
I succeeded! And I will share how I did in in a series of blog posts over the next several weeks.
I first shared information about this "brick wall" in 2011 with this sampler, created by my second great-grandmother, Susan Arville (Chapin) Adsit (1820-1906).
I have written several blog posts about what I previously knew about Susan Rood:
Chapin Family Sampler (November 2011)
Susan Rood's Parents (July 2012)
Susan Rood Chapin (July 2015)
And a few posts about her husband, Orramel Chapin:
Orramel Chapin Moving West Part 1 and Part 2 (July 2012)
Orramel Chapin-Boarding House Keeper (January 2019)
A quick summary: I knew that Susan Rood and Orramel Chapin married on September 17, 1816 (date from the sampler). Their marriage intention was recorded on August 20, 1816, in Ludlow, Massachusetts (Ludlow, Massachusetts, Town Records, Vol. 1, p. 427, Chapin-Rood marriage intention, 20 August 1816, at FamilySearch).
There are two published Chapin family genealogies which provided family information. I knew that I couldn't trust these sources because they can be quite unreliable, BUT they can provide clues, which these did.
Orange Chapin, The Chapin Genealogy, Containing a Very Large Proportion of the Descendants of Dea. Samuel Chapin, who Settled in Springfield, Mass. in 1642 (Northampton: Metcalf Company, 1862), at Internet Archive. (I have a physical copy of this one that was handed down in the family.)
Gilbert Warren Chapin, The Chapin Book of Genealogical Data With Brief Biographical Sketches of the Descendants of Deacon Samuel Chapin, Vol. I First Seven Generations (Hartford: Chapin Family Association, 1924), at Internet Archive.
The Gilbert Warren Chapin book states that Susan Rood was "of Sangerfield, N.Y." This proved to be an extremely helpful clue.
Looking at federal census records for Oneida County, New York (where Sangerfield is located), there is one Rood, with the given name Oliver, living in Sangerfield in 1820, and living in Paris in 1800. (Later research, including an 1804 land record shows that Oliver Rood purchased about two acres of land on the border of Paris and Sangerfield, very near the village of Waterville.)
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| 1800 U.S. census, Oneida County, New York, population schedule, Paris, p. 63 (penned), p. 193 (stamped), line 14, Oliver Rood; image, "1800 United States Federal Census," FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GRZN-FGL?view=index : 24 April 2025). |
In 1800, Oliver Rood lived in Paris, Oneida County, New York. His household included
1 male age 16-26 (Oliver)
1 female age <10 (possibly daughter Susan)
1 female age 16-26 (probable wife)
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| 1820 United States Federal Census, Oneida County, New York population schedule, Sangerfield, p. 310 (penned), line 14, Oliver Rood; image, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9YY1-9JLZ?view=index : 5 July 2025). |
In 1820, Oliver Rood lived in Sangerfield, Oneida County, New York. His household included
1 male age <10
1 male age 10-15
1 male > 45 (Oliver)
3 females age <10
1 female age 10-15
2 females age 16-25
1 female age 26-44 (probable wife)
It should be noted that, assuming this was her birth family, Susan was not in this household; she married Orramel Chapin in 1816.
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The Orange Chapin book stated that Susan was the "dau. of Joseph Rood, formerly of Ludlow, Mass." In A Challenging to Research Ancestor, I proved that Susan (born in 1799) could not have been the daughter of Joseph Rood; he was born in 1783, married Paulina Wood in December 1804, and died in August 1806, with a probate record easily found at FamilySearch naming his wife and children, Joseph and "Pollina." However, knowing that there was a Rood family in Ludlow, Hampshire County, Massachusetts, where Susan Rood and Orramel Chapin were likely married, suggested that Susan's parents possibly came from that area.
Next week, I will show how I used the clue from the Orange Chapin book that Susan was possibly the daughter of someone "of Ludlow, Mass," to help identify possible parents.
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