Road Trip: Pound Ridge, New York

Stephen C. Duryea died 27 April 1887, according to his gravestone at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Tarrytown, Westchester County, New York.  I have copies of his probate records from Westchester County, mentioning his wife and surviving children with no surprises.

I cannot find his death certificate or an obituary.

I was recently in White Plains, so I headed over to Bedford and Pound Ridge.  Stephen's 1870 census had him in Pound Ridge, post office Bedford; while his last census entry in 1880 had him in Pound Ridge.  I ended up at the Pound Ridge Library.  They were quite helpful and directed me to a book called God's County, A History of Pound Ridge, New York by Jay Harris.

There was mention of Stephen C. Duryea owning property.  I found his parcel on a map from the 1870s.  I knew that he had purchased land in Pound Ridge from his probate records and from deed conveyances online at the Office of the Westchester County Clerk.

A search of this website does not show that Stephen C. Duryea sold these lands.  A map in God's Country from 1908 showed Mrs. Eyres on this plot.  Stephen's widow, Mary, had remarried Alfred D. Eyre.  So she owned the land at least until 1908.  I drove to the area, but without house numbers, I could not definitely find the correct piece of land.  I did find a lovely seen that I'd like to imagine they saw every summer.

Back home on the computer, I researched the deed conveyances again, this time for Eyre.  She sold the land in 1910.  Although the name was Eyre, formerly Duryea, the online index only picked up Eyre.

That explains what happened to the property in Pound Ridge.  I still need to find Stephen's death certificate.

Typed Indexes

In the 1860 census in Newark, Susan Bishop is residing with the Ward family.

Roll M653_689; page 326; lines 33-39; enumerated June 28, 1860

Julia Ward, age 19 in 1860, is probably Susan's daughter, who was Juliaette, age 9, in the 1850 census.  Now provided with a husband and a new baby, we can look for Julia's marriage in 1859 or earlier.  A potential match appears in the online index to New Jersey marriages 1848-1878.

Joseph Wood does not seem like a good match for George Ward, but Julietta Bishop and the date look promising.  So I went ahead and ordered the record.

In looking at this marriage record, the name appears to be Ward or Wood or Word, so you can see how someone could transcribe it as Wood.  That is why it is always best to get the most original record possible.  Why is he called Joseph in 1859 and George later?  I don't know.  He may be the Joseph G. Ward, age 12, or the Joseph A. Ward, age 14, both in the 1850 census in Newark.  Until I discover his parentage, I won't know for sure.

Identifying Mystery Photographs

As I previously wrote, I acquired a Bishop photo album but cannot identify any of the people.

I found a photo of Eugene Totten Bishop from his application for a passport in 1918.  He was born about 1876; last seen in the 1930 census in Newark, New Jersey.

So I looked through the Bishop family album and may have found a match.  Or may not have.  You decide.

Unidentified CDV