Susan Rood Chapin - A Challenging to Research Ancestor - 52 Ancestors #30

For this week's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks writing challenge from blogger Amy Crow Johnson of No Story Too Small, the theme is Challenging: It’s a good time to take a look at another challenging-to-research ancestor.

I wrote about this ancestor three years ago, and she is still a challenging ancestor to research, so I thought I'd share what I know about third great grandmother, Susan Rood, again, and share some possible strategies for future research.

The challenging questions are: (1) where was she born and who are her parents and (2) when and where did she die?

Susan Rood was born on January 26, 1799, according to the embroidered sampler that her daughter, twelve-year-old Susan Arville Chapin (1820-1906) created in 1832.

Mary Freeland Wolfe Family

The handwritten family tree for the Freeland family that I shared in October (smaller image at right) provides all kinds of information, even though it doesn't look like it at first.

The tree shows that the third child of Barbara Fullerton and David Freeland, Mary Freeland, married ____ Wolf. As I noted in the Freeland Surname Saturday post, I found 77-year-old David Freeland in the 1860 U.S. Census in Buffalo, New York, household of his daughter, Mary Wolf, her husband, Frederick Wolf (a Lake Captain), and their two children, Oswald and Charlotte.

I wanted to find out more about this Wolf family.

City Directories for Buffalo, New York, are found at Fold3.com for the years between 1861-1870 except for 1869. I found Fred/Frederick Wolf/Wolfe in most of them as a Captain, Lake Captain, or Sailor.

In the 1870 U.S. Federal Census in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, I found Fred Wolf, wife Mary Wolf, and children Lottie (age 21) and Ida Wolf (age 9). Fred Wolf is a "Lake Sailor."

Detail from 1870 U.S. Census for Fred Wolf family

I have not found son Oswald in the 1870 census, but I found him in the 1880 U.S. Census in Chicago, Illinois.

Detail from 1880 U.S. Census for Oswold F. Wolf family

Oswald (or Oswold) is now in Chicago, as a bookkeeper, with his two sisters, Charlotte and Ida, and his widowed mother, Mary. In later records, I find that surname is more often found as Wolfe.

I then explored Chicago City Directories at Fold3.com, finding Oswald F. Wolfe as a bookkeeper in most years between 1871 and 1880, and Frederick Wolfe as a seaman, mariner, or shipmaster in most years until 1878. At FamilySearch.org, I found the death of Frederick Wolfe on March 3, 1879, in the Illinois Cook County Deaths, 1878-1922, a name index. I then found other Wolfe family members in this death index, including wife Mary (Freeland) Wolfe (d. 1903), daughter Charlotte Wolfe (d. 1920) and son Oswald Freeland Wolfe (d. 1923). I have confirmed that the family, including Ida Wolfe (d. 1915), is buried at Rosehill Cemetery. It doesn't appear that there are any descendants.

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Mary Freeland Wolf

Two years ago, I shared some old photographs of Hunter and Freeland family members. There is handwriting on the back of the photos noting "Mrs. Wolf" and "Lottie Wolf." At that time, I did not know who they were. I now know that elderly Mrs. Wolf in the photos is Mary Freeland Wolf, born in Scotland around 1816-1819. Mary Wolf would have been around 80 years old when she and her daughter, Lottie, visited her sister-in-law, Nancy (Rainey) Freeland in Pittsburgh. (Nancy's husband and Mary Wolf's brother, James Freeland, died in about 1863.)

Charlotte Wolf

Lottie Wolf is Charlotte Wolf, born in 1849 in Buffalo, New York. She would have been first cousin to my second great-grandmother, Mary (Freeland) Hunter, whose pictures can be seen in a post from November 2011.

Lottie is my first cousin 4x removed.

I am thrilled that I was able to figure out who Mrs. Wolf and Lottie Wolf were in these pictures.

Orramel Chapin Moving West Part 2

This is a continuation of the tracing of my third great grandparents as they migrated westward during the nineteenth century. See Part 1 here.

Port Washington, Dist. No. 15, Port Washington, Washington County, Wisconsin, is where I find the Chapin family in the 1850 U.S. Federal Census, and now we get to see the names of all the others in the household, as well as some occupations.

O. Chapin, age 59, born in Massachusetts, works as a Forwarder. Relationships to head of household are not indicated (this doesn't happen until the 1880 U.S. Federal Census), but based on other research, relationships are as follows:

O. (Orramel) Chapin is the Head of Household

Susan Chapin, age 51, born in Massachusetts is Wife

H. H. Harrison, age 39, born in N.Y. is Son-In-Law and is also a Forwarder

Jane E. Harrison, age 27, born in Massachusetts, is Daughter

Alfred R. Chapin, age 25, born in Connecticut, is Son and works as a Clerk

Sarah H. Chapin, age 16, born in N.Y. is Daughter-In-Law, who married Alfred that summer 1850 (yes, at age 16)

Henry Harrison, age 4, born in Illinois, Grandson (Jane and H. H.'s son)

Lena Hamit, age 15, born in Germany is perhaps a servant.

I don't show it in this image, but William and Sarah Toogood are listed just above O. Chapin. I believe that they are Sarah H. (Toogood) Chapin's parents.