Cemeteries of Millerton, New York

 Does anyone have information on cemeteries in Millerton, Dutchess County, New York?

I continue searching for information on the death of Catherine Donnelly, my third great-grandmother. She was born around 1833 in Ireland. With Michael Preston (1813-1904), she had at least six children and lived in Pine Plains, Northeast, and Stanford in Dutchess County before relocating to Independence in Warren County, New Jersey in the 1880s.

No death certificate has been located in New York or New Jersey for Catherine. I figure she died around 1900, when she was last seen in the federal census. Her husband was seen twice; once with her and once as her widower.

While reviewing Preston death records, I noticed a death certificate from Independence in 1896 for a baby named John H Preston, son of John Preston and Bridget.

John H Preston died November 8, 1896
in Independence, Warren County, New Jersey.
Age 1 year, 5 months, and 7 days.
Parents- John Preston and Bridget.
Burial at Millerton, New York.

John Preston (1857-1928) and Bridget Sheehy (1857-1916) were my second great-grandparents. In 1879 they named a son John David Preston. He did not die until 1922. I think it's strange that they would name another baby John in 1895 when they already had a child by this name.

1880 United States federal census
John D Preston, age 23; farm laborer.
Bridgett Preston, age 23; wife; keeping house.
Michael Preston, age 2, son.
John D Junior Preston, age 1; son.

Baby John was buried at Millerton. This is difficult to discern at the bottom of the certificate.

I hoped (and still do) that this is a clue as to the burial location of Catherine, circa 1900. Upon looking up cemeteries in this area, I found four in Millerton:

Irondale Cemetery

Saint Patricks Roman Catholic Church Cemetery

Spencer's Corners Cemetery

Winchell Mountain Burying Ground

I was able to make contact with one, Irondale. Staff kindly looked into the Preston and Donnelly surnames and found no matches to my people.

So, fellow researchers, if anyone is near Millerton or has access to records for cemeteries in Millerton, I would be most appreciative for some checking.

Thank you!

Preston DNA Puzzle Piece

Michael Preston and Ann were my fourth great grandparents.  Their existence is seen only in the death certificate of their son, Michael Preston.  He was born about 1820 in Ireland and died in 1904 in Bayonne, Hudson County, New Jersey.  His first appearance in the United States is the 1850 federal census for Pine Plains, Dutchess County, New York, where he is single, residing with the Thomas family.

Michael's death certificate does not provide a surname for his mother.

In the 1850s, Michael Preston married Catherine Donnell (or Donnelly) of Ireland and had several children.  I descend from their son, John D Preston (1857-1928).

I have found no one in the Pine Plains area with familial connections to my Prestons.  There was a Stephen Preston (1824-1896).  His death certificate lists his father as John Preston; mother unknown.

Then a DNA match appeared at FamilyTreeDNA to my uncle and his first cousin.  This DNA cousin's great great great grandmother was Ann Preston, born around 1827 in Ireland.  She first appeared in Pine Plains in the 1855 New York State census.  She married John Barrett (1825-1894).

The common ancestors of my uncle and his cousin were Frank ODonnell (1888-1959) and Anna Preston (1890-1921), telling us that the match will be found in this branch of the family tree.  Other Preston descendants are also at FamilyTreeDNA, but this DNA cousin does not appear in their list of matches.  This does not mean that they don't share DNA.  There are also more Preston descendants at Ancestry.com, but we cannot utilize DNA held at a different site.  If everyone could upload to GedMatch, we could check for shared segments.

Sharing a surname and a geographic location with the DNA match makes Preston and Pine Plains an excellent place to look for the connection.

The DNA match has a record for the death in 1892 of Ann Preston, wife of John Barrett, from the town of Pine Plains, naming her parents as Michael Preston and Ann Hadden.

Could Ann Preston, born about 1827, be a sister to my Michael Preston, born about 1820?  Maybe.

So far, I have found no connection between them.  No newspaper article mentioning cousins.  Never living together in the census.

We don't know where in Ireland Preston came from.  In County Wicklow, we have some possible matches.

In 1823 and 1826, a couple named Michael Preston and Anne baptized a son, Michael, and a daughter, Anne, respectively, in Baltinglass.  Both had a special notation- looks like Ballinarow or Barinarow.  Sponsors for Michael look like Pat Toley and Mary Reddy.  Sponsors for Ann look like Ready and Mary Haydon.

Here's the part that gets me on these Irish surnames.  In nearby Ballymore Eustace, in 1824 Michael Preston and Anne baptized a son, Michael.  Sponsors were John Burke and Anna Quirk.  Do either of these records belong to my ancestor?

Are my ancestors Michael Preston and Anna Hadden?
And were they from County Wicklow?

Did the same couple move between parishes to baptize a son (or sons) named Michael?

We need some more records before we can decide that Ann Preston (1827-1894) connects to my Preston branch as a sister of Michael, my Third Great Grandfather.

Double enumeration in the census, part three

Michael Preston has a double enumeration in the 1900 United States census.

How did I find both?  I stumbled across these two records by looking for the census entries for all of his children- not just the one from whom I descend.

He is listed with his wife, Catherine [Donnell], two daughters, and four grandchildren in Hackettstown, Warren County, New Jersey.

Preston, Michael.  Preston, Catharine.  Preston, Hannah.  Preston, Catharine.
Ultcht, John.  Ultcht, Catharine.  [Children of Charles P Ultcht and Anna Preston]
Walsh, Joseph.  Walsh, John.  [Children of Jeremiah Welch and Mary Preston]

He is also listed in the household of his son, John, in neighboring Independence.

Michael is married in one listing and widowed in the other.  This value in this double enumeration is that we can hone in on a death date and location for Michael's wife, Catherine Donnell.  In 1899 or 1900, the family relocated from Dutchess County, New York to Warren County, New Jersey.  Catherine was alive in the 1880 census; finding her husband listed as widowed and married in 1900 in New Jersey should narrow down the search for her death record to one year and one state instead of twenty years and two states.  I have, however, been unable to find a record of Catherine's death in either state.

Michael again moved shortly after the 1900 census.  He died in Bayonne, Hudson County, New Jersey in 1904.