Transitions

Judith Lutter

December 23, 1950 - December 29, 2013

Tail: Imlay and welcome Taylor

When I can't find discover someone's parents in my family tree, I call this a "tail."  Someone gave me this term to use instead of "brick wall."

A DNA connection turned up at 23andMe with Imlay of Monmouth County, New Jersey in his family.  I needed more on my Imlay line because mine stopped in the 1800s.  I need to travel back into the 1700s to make the DNA connection.

Ellen (or Eleanor) Euphamy Imlay was the Imlay tail.  She was one of my 4X great grandmothers.  She was married to William Walling (1804-1870) and lived her life in Monmouth County, New Jersey.  She died in 1895 in Keyport/Raritan Township in Monmouth County at age 87.  Her parents were listed as Elisha Imlay and Ellen Imlay.

Through the Red Bank Register newspaper archives (available free) I found a brother of Ellen, Joseph Imlay.

Joseph Imlay's death certificate listed his parents as John E Imlay and Eleanor Imlay.  Pretty close to Ellen's parents:  Elisha and Ellen.

FamilySearch has many (free) New Jersey resources, such as marriages recorded at the county level.  There is a marriage in Monmouth County for Elisha Imlay to Eleanor Taylor, 25 April 1802.  They fit as parents of Ellen and Joseph Imlay.

Imlay is a popular name in Monmouth County and is going to require quite a bit of sorting.  For the moment, I was luckier with Taylor.  The Monmouth County USGenWeb featured a transcription of a book, "Historical and Genealogical Miscellany," by John Stillwell.  There was quite a bit on Taylors of Monmouth County.

Of special interest was a blurb about two wills:
---George Taylor Senior, probated in 1835, mentioning that the children of his daughter, Eleanor Embly, would receive her share.

---James G. Taylor, probated in 1836, mentioning Joseph Imlay, son of Eleanor- James' sister.

Although this transcription of a transcription seemed to have the information to help me trace back two more Taylor generations, I could not rely on it as a source.  I could use it to get closer to the original source- the wills.  Again, FamilySearch makes available (for free) New Jersey surrogate records (except Morris County).  The wills (actually first transcriptions of the wills) and related court documents contain far more information and names than the book summaries, which is another reason to always get as close to the original record as possible.

Will of George Taylor Senior, written and probated in 1835 in Monmouth County, New Jersey
FamilySearch.org

George Taylor named a daughter, Eleanor Embly, in his will, but left her share of his estate to her children, who are not named.  Embly could be Imlay, but I need more to make a firmer connection.  This pattern of inheritance suggests that Eleanor Embly/Imlay was dead at the time the will was written.  Fortunately for research purposes 180 years later, George Taylor had many more children and he named them in his will.  This makes James G Taylor, whose will was probated one year later, likely to be a son of George Taylor.

James G. Taylor, will probated in 1836 in Monmouth County, New Jersey
FamilySearch.org

The will of James G. Taylor was probated in Monmouth County in 1836, one year after George Taylor Senior's will.  James' siblings are the children of George Taylor in the previous will.  Eleanor Embly became Elenor Imley, which is closer to Imlay.  But more importantly, her children were named, and they match what I already traced, that Eleanor's son was Joseph Imlay and her daughter was Eleanor Euphamy, who married William Walling.

So I now have parents for Eleanor Euphamy Imlay:  John Elisha Imlay and Eleanor Taylor.  TAYLOR is a new ancestral surname for me!

And I have to get back to John Elisha Imlay, for he is my new Imlay tail.

1.  George Taylor (d 1835)
     2.  James G Taylor (d 1836)
     2.  Eleanor Taylor (d before 1835) married (1802) John Elisha Imlay
           3.  Eleanor Euphamy Imlay (d 1895) married William Walling
           3.  Joseph Imlay (d 1894) married Martha Roberts

Preserved in a photograph

A wonderful photograph has come into my possession through eBay.  To be specific, it is an old type of photograph, a carte de visite ("CDV") from the 1860s.  It is small, four inches by 2/12 inches.  The image is a head shot of a man with a receding hairline, beard, dressed in a suit.

The auction advertised this carte de visite as:  "Civil War Era CDV Photo Garrett S Duryea Cold Springs Harbor LI NY."

On the back of the photo was written in pencil:  Garrett S. Duryea.  I have a few men with this name in my close family tree, as well as extended branches.  I needed to identify which Garrett could be portrayed in the photo.

First I looked up the photographer to get an idea of when this CDV may have been made.  One of the ways of dating a photograph is by finding out when the photographer was in business.  The imprint is on the back:  Banta, photographer, Hopper, photographer, No. 225 Bleecker street, N. Y.  At the website Langdon Road, Banta operated out of Hopper on Bleecker street in New York City in the 1860s.

So we are looking for a Garrett Duryea who was above the age of 30 in the 1860s in the New York City area, and there are a few candidates.  But- the eBay listing gave a location of Cold Springs Harbor, Long Island.  I googled "Garrett S. Duryea."  The first few listings were the site Long Island Surnames.  The featured Garrett S. Duryea was married in 1856 in Cold Spring Harbor and could be about the right age to be the subject of this CDV.  But I think that there is a better choice for the subject- a Garrett more closely related to me.

My 3X great grandfather, Stephen C. Duryea, had a brother named Garrett S. Duryea.  Garrett was younger than Stephen and probably born around 1820 in New York City.  I have not found any marriages or children for Garrett.  I found him in the census and city directories living with extended family.  He worked on ships, so it is possible that he may have been away from New York City for extended periods and missing from records during those times.

In the 1860 census, Garrett Duryea was living in New York City in what appears to be some kind of rooming house.  His cousin, Parmenas Jackson, is also a resident, which helps distinguish this Garrett S Duryea from the others.

Garrett's next chronological record is the 1866-67 city directory.  He was residing at 540 Greenwich in New York City.  This address housed different family members over the years, so that is how I know that this is the same Garrett S. Duryea.

Garrett's residence, 540 Greenwich, is about half a mile from Hopper's studio, 225 Bleecker.  Cold Spring Harbor on Long Island (Suffolk County) is about 35 miles away.

Mapquest.com

If the photograph is correctly labeled as Garrett S. Duryea, then this is likely my 3X great granduncle.  That is another, important variable:  we do not know who wrote the name on the picture and with what knowledge, so this may not be one of the men named Garrett S Duryea at all.  I have no photographs for any of his siblings or their children, so I have nothing to compare his image to see family similarities.  If I acquire photos of his generation or the next, I may be able to more firmly say that this is likely Garrett.