Ezra or Edward Sweet (1858-1925)

A surprise child was mentioned in an obituary- or was this a mistake? I think this was a purposeful misnaming.

Lucy Ann Dunn (1822-1910) was a daughter of Nathaniel H Dunn (1790-185x) and Sarah Adams (1796-1882). In 1840 Lucy married George Pearson Sweet (1820-1861). In 1868 Lucy married John Seal (1822-18xx).

I found five children born to Lucy Ann Dunn and George Pearson Sweet: George, Stephen, Emma, Sarah Virginia, and Ezra. The family was living in Trenton for the 1860 census.

1860 United States federal Census. Trenton, Mercer County, New Jersey.
George P Sweet, wife Lucy, and children George, Stephen, Sarah, and Ezra.
Emma died in 1854, so she is not listed in the 1860 census.

Lucy died November 10, 1910 in Bordentown, Burlington County, New Jersey. Her obituary only mentions one child, Edward Sweet, who operated a hotel in Perth Amboy, Middlesex County, New Jersey.

Obituary of Lucy A Seal
Trenton Evening Times Newspaper
November 11, 1910

Family tree of Ezra, maybe Edward, Sweet (1858-1925).
His wives were probably related, as they shared the surname Burchell.

I looked for Edward Sweet born to Lucy and George without success. I think the name Edward in the obituary incorrect. Edward was actually Ezra.

But was this a purposeful mistake? Perhaps. In 1910, Ezra Sweet was in legal trouble for "bringing to his place disreputable women" and "carried on a gambling den" at a hotel he kept in Perth Amboy. His "aged mother" was mentioned in a newspaper article.

The Daily Home News
of New Brunswick, Middlesex County, New Jersey
September 9, 1910.
Ezra Sweet was sentenced to two years in prison for illegal activities as a hotel keeper.

Perhaps Ezra was called Edward in his mother's obituary to disguise the connection to the illegal Ezra Sweet, hotel keeper.

Why weren't the other children mentioned in Lucy's obituary? Sarah Virginia Sweet (1849-1931) was still alive. Was Ezra his mother's favorite, no matter his legal indiscretions?

Additional Information of Nathaniel Dunn and Sarah Adams

Nathaniel Dunn (1790-185x) and Sarah Adams (1796-1882) were my fourth great grandparents. This branch lived in Burlington County, New Jersey, including portions that became Mercer County in 1838.

While exploring the lineage of Sarah's parents, Ezra Adams (1768-1824) and Hannah Haines (1771-1824), I uncovered some more facts about the lives of Nathaniel and Sarah.

Some descendants of Ezra Adams (1768-1824) and Hannah Haines (1771-1824) of New Jersey

Revising the Date of Death of Nathaniel Dunn

Previously I thought that Nathaniel's date of death was in the 1840s. Why? Because he was in the 1840 census but not the 1850 census. I did not have any record to document his actual death, but this is not unusual in the 1840s in New Jersey.

"Nathan" appeared in the 1840 federal census in Northampton, Burlington County, New Jersey. In the 1850 federal census, his wife, Sarah, was enumerated without a husband in nearby Trenton with the couple's youngest children, Sarah and David. I will note that it is possible that Nathan Dunn is not the same person as Nathaniel Dunn.

1840 United States Federal Census, New Jersey, Burlington County, Northampton Township
Household of Nathan Dunn
1 male 15-20 years old. 1 male 20-30 years old. 1 male 50-60 years old.
1 female 10-15 years old. 3 females 40-50 years old.

1850 United States Federal Census, New Jersey, Mercer County, Trenton
Sarah Dunn, age 52. Sarah Dunn Jr, age 18. David T Dunn, age 14.
All born in New Jersey.

Centralized recording of deaths started in 1848 in New Jersey in the form of ledger books. I found no good match in the index for 1848-1850. Compliance was poor, so an absence of someone from these ledger books does not mean that they did not die in the reviewed time period.

A record of his death could have been recorded in a newspaper, surrogate court proceeding, or cemetery- but no good match was found in these sources either. These records could provide names of parents, birthplace, and place of burial, leading to uncovering the family of origin. Nathan's parents remained a mystery.

On September 22, 2023 I visited Mercer Cemetery in Trenton, where Sarah was buried in 1882. No record of Nathaniel. Actually no family was buried with Sarah. No stone marks her burial spot. Two of her daughters are also buried in Mercer Cemetery, just not with their mother. Lucy (1822-1910) was buried with her husbands, George Pearson Sweet (1820-1861) and John Seal (1822-18xx). Sarah (1833-1916) was buried with her husband, James Burroughs Keller (1830-1864).

Mercer Cemetery, Trenton, Mercer County, New Jersey
Sarah Adams, wife of Nathaniel Dunn, was buried in an unmarked grave
in this spot.

Sarah's daughter Sarah was the only one mentioned in her death notice.

Death notice of Sarah Dunn
Daily True American newspaper, Trenton, Mercer County, New Jersey
January 20, 1882

As mentioned, I was looking at the Adams and Haines families. They owned several parcels of land throughout the decades in Burlington County.

Upon Ezra Adams' death in 1824, Sarah and her siblings inherited lots partitioned from Ezra's larger 248 acres in Nottingham. I think that this land is now in Hamilton, Mercer County. Ezra's name turned up in searches as Sarah sold her land in the 1840s and 1850s.

Diagram of the partition of Ezra Dunn's land
in Nottingham, Burlington County, New Jersey in 1825.

Thanks to deeds from the 1850s concerning Sarah's portion of her father's lands, we can adjust Nathan's date of death to after 1850.

In 1850, Nathaniel Dunn was alive and residing in South Brunswick, Middlesex County, separate from his wife, Sarah. In this deed from 1850, Nathaniel and Sarah conveyed land in Hamilton to Andrew K Rowan. Andrew seems to have been a person who purchased and sold a lot of land in this time period. This deed referenced a prior transfer of this land to Jonathan Pullen in 1829. Sarah Adams had a sister, Susan Adams (1799-1874). Susan married Jonathan Pullen (1791-1880). 

Deed transferring land from Nathaniel H Dunn and wife Sarah to Andrew K Rowan
in Hamilton, Mercer County, New Jersey in 1850.

Relevant text:

Nathaniel H Dunn and Wife to Andrew K Rowan (Deeds. Mercer County, New Jersey. Volume T. Pages 8-10.) March 11, 1850. Nathaniel H Dunn of the township of South Brunswick, County of Middlesex, State of New Jersey and Sarah Dunn, his wife, of the City of Trenton, County of Mercer, State of New Jersey. Land in the township of Hamilton, Mercer County, being a part of the share which was assigned and set off by . . . the Orphans Court of the County of Burlington to divide the real estate of Ezra Adams, deceased, to said Sarah Dunn, late Sarah Adams, and also part of the real estate which said Nathaniel H Dunn and Sarah Dunn conveyed to Jonathan Pullen by deed dated 21st day of October 1829 . . . Recorded April 1, 1850.

Yet I don't find Nathaniel in the 1850 census in South Brunswick or anywhere.

Nathaniel Dunn died after the above transfer of land in 1850 but before January of 1852 when Sarah, described as his widow, transferred more land to Andrew K Rowan.

Deed transferring land from Sarah Dunn and Jonathan Pullen, trustee, to Andrew K Rowan
in Hamilton, Mercer County, New Jersey in 1852.

Relevant text:

Sarah Dunn and Jonathan Pullen, Trustee to Andrew K Rowan. (Deeds. Mercer County, New Jersey. Volume V. Pages 348-349.) January 3, 1852. Sarah Dunn of the City of Trenton, County of Mercer, State of New Jersey, widow of Nathaniel H Dunn, deceased, and Jonathan Pullen of the township of Hamilton, County of Mercer . . . Containing twelve acres and twenty three hundredths of an acre of land being a part of the share of land which was assigned and set off by Orphans Court of the county of Burlington to divide the real estate of Ezra Adams, deceased, to said Sarah Dunn, late Sarah Adams. Recorded January 9, 1852.

With this new target date, I still do not see a record of death in the ledgers created at the state level. I have not found an obituary or burial that matches Nathaniel.

The Tumultuous Relationship of Nathaniel and Sarah

Nathaniel and Sarah had problems. How do I know? She attempted to divorce him in 1839. The divorce action did not success with the New Jersey State House of Assembly because Sarah's documents did not support her claims. We cannot tell from the newspaper articles why she was claiming her right to divorce.

Legislative House of Assembly
March 4, 1839
Reports. By Mr Cassedy that the application of Caroline Canfield for a divorce
was within the jurisdiction of the chancellor; and that in Sarah's Dunn's case,
no documents had been presented to substantiate the petition.
Published in the Bridgeton Chronicle

Mention of the divorce petition was found in several newspapers as it progressed through the Assembly, though Nathaniel was not named. Proceedings of the Assembly confirmed that Nathaniel was Sarah's husband and that this was indeed the target couple. (Minutes of the Proceedings are mostly digitized online; however, 1838-1839 is not online. The images were provided courtesy of the New Jersey State Library.)

The failed divorce action of Sarah Dunn against Nathaniel H Dunn, 1839.
Votes and Proceedings of the Sixty-Third General Assembly
of the State of New Jersey.

The year after this attempted divorce, in 1841, the sheriff sold Nathaniel Dunn's land in Mansfield, Burlington County to William Leatherbury (1805-1883) to satisfy a judgment in a lawsuit by William Leatherbury against Nathaniel and Sarah. William was a son-in-law of Nathaniel and Sarah. He was married to their daughter, Hannah Dunn (1818-1889). What the underlying legal action was, I do not know yet. William's mother was Mary Dunn. I do not know if Mary Dunn was related to Nathaniel Dunn.

Hannah was discovered thanks to a DNA match.

Deed transferring land from Isaac Hilliard, Sheriff, to William Leatherbury
in Mansfield, Burlington County, New Jersey in 1841.

Relevant text:

Isaac Hilliard, Sheriff, to William Leatherbury (Deeds. Burlington County, New Jersey. Volume Z3. Pages 21-23.) March 1, 1841. William Leatherbury township of Mansfield, Burlington County, New Jersey. Decree of Court of Chancery dated November 1, 1840: William Leatherbury was complainant and Nathaniel Dunn and Sarah Dunn, his wife, were defendants. House and lot of land in the township of Mansfield, town of Fieldsburgh, County of Burlington, and known as Lot number 137 in Jonathan Rhea's town plot, containing one quarter of an acre. Nathaniel Dunn purchased of Thomas Stanmire by deed bearing the date of January 16, 1836. Recorded March 6, 1841.

Now it makes sense why Sarah's was enumerated in 1850 without her husband and why they lived apart as mentioned in the deed from 1850.

Sarah Remarried

In 1856 Sarah married William Marseilles (1788-1859). I only discovered this recently when I was looking for her parents, who were mentioned on this ledger entry. (We do not always find names of parents on these earlier records, but the recorder for this place and time recorded names of parents for almost every couple.)

Ledger entry for the marriage of Wm Marseilles and Sarah Dunn.
Trenton, Mercer County, New Jersey
Viewable at Ancestry

Sarah did not use the surname Marseilles. She was Sarah Dunn in the census from 1860, 1870, and 1880. She was Sarah Dunn on her death certificate, obituary, and burial record. I had no idea that she took another husband after Nathaniel died. She was not mentioned in his obituary and he was not mentioned in hers.

Death certificate of Sarah Dunn
Died January 19, 1882 in Trenton, Mercer County, New Jersey
Available through New Jersey State Archives (not online)

Further Questions and Research

Who and what caused Sarah and Nathaniel's legal troubles? Did William Leatherbury sue Sarah and Nathan to protect their land and money from forfeiture? Or did William have legitimate legal issues with Nathaniel?

At the New Jersey State Archives I plan to check the Chancery Court dockets for these lawsuits and maybe a divorce.

Hannah, an earlier child of Nathaniel Dunn and Sarah Adams

Another child of Nathaniel Dunn (1790-1840s) and Sarah Adams (1796-1882) was discovered, thanks to Ancestry's DNA matches.

Nathaniel and Sarah were paternal 4th great grandparents. They lived in Nottingham, Burlington County, New Jersey. This area later became part of Mercer County. I descend from their son, Ezra (1821-1898). The date of death and the parents of Nathaniel are not determined yet. Sarah's parents were Ezra Adams (1768-1824) and Hannah Haines (1771-1824).

This map from 1834 shows the New Jersey counties at the time Nathaniel Dunn and Sarah were raising their family. The area of Burlington County where Nathaniel lived now lies in Mercer County. It was near the borders of Hunterdon, Middlesex, and Monmouth Counties, as well as another state, Pennsylvania. Because of changing borders and close proximity to other county and state lines, records for Nathaniel may be spread across many repositories.

Among the DNA matches at Ancestry are other descendants of Ezra Dunn, along with descendants of Ezra's sister, Lucy, and brother, David. 

The "Shared Matches" function produces dozens of other matches. These people do not necessarily share ancestors of Nathaniel or Sarah. If the match were on the same segment of DNA, then we would suspect a connection to Dunn or Adams. Ancestry will not reveal which segments of DNA are shared, so this is a drawback to this feature.

Someone matched in the fourth cousin range and provided a limited family tree. I honed in on the Burlington County, New Jersey branch and a great-grandmother named Hannah Dunn, wife of William Leatherbury (1805-1883). They had children from the late 1830s through the early 1850s.

1850 United States Federal census
Mansfield, Burlington County, New Jersey
William Leatherbury, coppersmith
Hannah, Zillah, William, Ezra, Mary, Sarah

Hannah died October 23, 1889 in Fieldsboro (Bordentown), Burlington County, New Jersey. I traveled to the New Jersey State Archives in Trenton to view her death certificate. Her parents were listed as Nathaniel Dunn and Sarah Dunn! She is tentatively placed as the oldest child of Nathaniel and Sarah According to her death certificate, she was 70 years old in 1889. This places her birth around 1829. In the 1850 census, her birth year would be attributed as 1819. The earlier record is usually more accurate for age.

1889 death certificate of Hannah Leatherbury
Her place of birth is listed as Mercer County, which was actually
Burlington County at the time of Hannah's birth.

I also copied the death certificate of Hannah's husband, William Leatherbury. He died September 20, 1883 in Bordentown, Burlington County. He was born in Maryland to William Leatherbury and Mary Dunn. More documents are needed to determine if this really was his mother's name.

Hannah and her husband William were buried in Bordentown Cemetery. I added them to Find A Grave. One of their children, William (1840-1909), was also buried in this cemetery.

The children discovered (so far) of Nathaniel Dunn and Sarah Adams:

1. Hannah Dunn, born about 1819, married William Leatherbury.

2. Ezra Dunn, born about 1821, died 1898, married Hermion Dunlop.

3. Lucy Ann Dunn, born about 1822, died 1910, married George Sweet and John Seal.

4. Catharine Dunn, born about 1825, died 1865, married John Holcombe Butterfoss.

5. Sarah Dunn, born about 1833, died 1916, married James Burroughs Keller.

6. David Dunn, born about 1836, died 1925, married Lucy Smith.