Adelia "Delia" Joyce was born about 1863 in Pawling, Dutchess County, New York. Her mother, Margaret Campbell, died in 1870 after a train hit her. Adelia is listed with her father, Patrick Joyce, and her step-mother, Bridget Cortney, in the 1880 census in Pawling, occupation "out at service."
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| 1880 United States census Pawling, Dutchess County, New York Household of Patrick Joyce Retrieved from Ancestry.com |
I looked into this "out at service." I figured it meant that Delia was working and living somewhere else, probably as a servant. If she were living elsewhere, she could also be listed on the census at her place of employment.
Indeed I found her again in the 1880 census, still in Pawling, working as a domestic servant for the widow Margaret Craft, age 70.
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| 1880 United States census Pawling, Dutchess County, New York Household of Margaret Craft Retrieved from Ancestry.com |
To get to this point, I first had to figure out that the name was Craft. In the 1880 index, Margaret is actually listed as "Carzt."
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| Index at Ancestry.com for household of Margaret Craft in the 1880 United States census, Pawling, Dutchess County, New York. I submitted an alternate spelling. |
The name "Carzt" looked bizarre for this time and place so I had to find a more normal-looking spelling. Neighbors tend to not move much when we're dealing with farmland, so I searched for all the women named Margaret or Mary in the 1870 census in Pawling. And here she is, this time more clearly as "Craft."
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| 1870 United States census Pawling, Dutchess County, New York Household of Margaret Craft Retrieved from Ancestry.com |
Margaret Craft and daughter Mary aged beautifully from 1870 to 1880. But this is not the only way we know we have the same family. Look at the neighbors. You can see that the census taker in 1880 approached in the opposite direction from the route followed in 1870.
With a more reasonable spelling, we can explore the Craft family more easily. Margaret Toffey Craft's grave was posted on FindAGrave (by a Fallen Graver) and there is so much more to explore.
My great grandfather is this Francis Cullum, not sure if you ran across the story of his involvement here. We cannot find information that explains how he got to pawling or what he was doing there.
ReplyDeleteHi Maura. How interesting! Thank you for reaching out to me.
ReplyDeleteI have not found a further connection of Francis Cullum or Margaret Craft to the Joyce family, but we may uncover one in the future.
As a research note: Seemingly unrelated people living with my family get placed in the family tree as unrelated/unattached people. Often, further research reveals a familial connection, either in the past or after the record was made- two boarders marry each other.
Delia Joyce married Patrick Francis ODonnell in Bayonne, New Jersey in 1887.
Like Francis Cullum, Delia was not an Irish immigrant; both were born in New York. Working and living on a farm as a teenager may have been a way to earn money for their families until it was time for marriage.