The Wayne/Cayuga County Blog

 

Wolcott and Victory, NY near Lake Ontario

     Today, back to the blog about my family in Wayne and Cayuga County, New York.  Among the ancestors I've been looking at with an eye to finding Salem connections were the Fosters and Wheelers.  Some of the Wheelers are recent discoveries since until now I hadn't spent much time on the 17th century New England families in my tree. 

     The first Foster family member in Wayne County, New York that I'm aware of was my fourth-great-grandfather Joseph Foster Jr. born about 1760 in Salem, Massachusetts.  The book, Landmarks of Wayne County, by George C. Cowles says of Joseph:

  Among other pioneers and prominent settlers in the old town of Wolcott were Lott Stewart, inn-keeper at Stewart's Corners; Jarvis and Gardner Mudge; Ransom Ward, Joseph Foster, father of Asahel.

     The pioneers began arriving in Wolcott in about 1808, I know this is "my" Joseph Foster because he is here identified as the father of Asahel, (1791-1885).  While I haven't found a death date or place for him, this passage also tells me Joseph did not remain in Massachusetts and most likely died in the Wolcott area.  One of the questions I've long had was about Joseph's son Asahel.  While I descend from Asahel's second marriage, he did have a family with his first wife Hannah.  One of my new discoveries was Hannah's surname of Southwick.  For family historians with New York roots, a great resource on Ancestry is New York Town Clerk's Registers of Men Who Served in the Civil War.  In addition to military information, this database lists the names of the soldier's parents, usually with the mother's maiden name.  That's where I found Hannah Southwick.

     The soldier here was their son Alonzo Priest Foster who went on to fame as a surveyor for the US government and pioneer of  the state of Iowa.  I discovered Hannah's burial took place the first of March in 1834, after which Asahel married my ancestor Martha Gregory.  Now I wondered who Hannah's parents were and where they came from?  I began looking at all the Southwick families in the area.  There weren't many, the one who stood out age wise was Simeon Southwick Sr. who was in Wolcott in the 1820 census.  I needed more than that to conclude he was Hannah's father so I began researching him in earnest.  I found Simeon was from New Salem, Massachusetts, right next door  to the Foster's home town of Salem.  His parents were Benjamin Southwick Jr. and  Sarah Wheeler.  The name Wheeler rang a bell.

     Digging back through my records I found her, Mary Wheeler from Massachusetts, mother of Joseph Foster Sr.  If I could find a connection between her and Benjamin Southwick's wife Sarah Wheeler, that could strengthen my hunch that Simeon Sr. was the father of Hannah Southwick Foster.  Families often migrated together, and back then marrying one's second cousin was not at all rare.  While I haven't found definitive proof that Mary and Sarah Wheeler are sisters, I strongly suspect they are both daughters of Ephraim Wheeler and Maria Glazier.  I'm quite sure Sarah Wheeler Southwick is Ephraim's daughter, and he did have a daughter named Mary, the question is whether she is the same Mary Wheeler who married Joseph Foster?  I tend to think she is, but more research is needed.

     By 1830 Simeon Southwick Sr. was living in Victory in Cayuga County, New York near his son Simeon Jr. and his (probable) daughter Hannah and her husband Asahel Foster.  Hannah had but four years left to live at that point, but Asahel and his new wife were in Victory through the 1840 census, moving 10 miles further west to Wolcott, NY by the time of the 1850 census.  I love that feeling that happens when a connection is made and a light goes on, when you realize there is a pattern that wasn't apparent before.  I will update as I learn more...