Historic Note:

Albany:  The history of Albany began with early Dutch settlements in the 17^th century when Fort Nassau and Fort Orange were built in the area.  The village of Beverwijck was established near Ft. Orange and was later renamed Albany by the English.

“Albany is one of the first cities in the world to have installed public water mains, sewer lines, natural gas lines and electricity, infrastructure and utilities….”  -- from Wikipedia.

ODELL/OLIVER CLAN

Who was Orlando Oliver and how is he related?

On July 17, 1865, Mary Lord Oliver Warner, widow of Alanson Oliver, applied for widows’ benefits.  Appearing with Mary were Orlando Oliver and his wife, Phebe Oliver, residents of Taylor, Cortland Co., NY, who served as witnesses to the application.  Mary was also living in Taylor at the time of the application.

[Interestingly, the judge who presided over the application was Hiram Crandall; Crandall being the maiden name of Alanson’s mother.]

It’s very easy to jump to the conclusion that Orlando was some kind of relative of Alanson; the impulse is almost immediate.  And, while I don’t rule out that strong possibility, I can’t make that leap.  More research is necessary.

Orlando is not in my database of nearly 3,600 individuals; therefore, he has not previously appeared on any other documents or census records associated with my immediate Oliver family.

I’d had a copy of Alanson’s pension papers for some time before I got back to the name of Orlando Oliver; about 4 years.  There are other pieces of family information on the application papers that I added to my database but I had nowhere to put Orlando’s name.  I try to be methodical and move carefully and chronologically to be as accurate as possible.

For some time, there has been a disagreement about the parentage of Alanson’s father, Ezra Oliver.  I have no parentage listed for him because I have found no clear, concrete information, despite what other family members and researchers have told me.

For some time, it has been thought, by others, that an Aaron Oliver was Ezra Oliver’s father, Alanson’s grandfather.  I, however, had dismissed him as a possibility since the dates for his birth are very close to Ezra’s.  There is a rule of thumb, even back a couple of hundred years, that 20 is an average age to begin having children; give or take 5 years.  Simple logic should clearly be that 2 males, 5 or 10 years apart in age, cannot be father and son.

Oliver is a very common surname.  While the given name, Ezra, is not so common, we have 3 Ezra Oliver’s in our family.  There were other Ezra Olivers in the State of New York.  It doesn’t mean that we are related to them; just as all William Smiths are not related to each other.

However, Orlando Oliver is there, on a pension application for Alanson Oliver.  Is he related or did Mary, Alanson’s wife, just happen to know Orlando and Phebe Oliver and ask them to be witnesses?  I have just begun the research; this is what I’ve found so far and Aaron Oliver (which Aaron Oliver?) has reared his head.  Family history is an odd and surprising activity.

In looking at the 1890 Veterans Schedule for someone else, I saw Orlando and remembered that he was listed on Alanson’s pension application.  On that census, an address is usually given.  Orlando Oliver’s address in 1890 was Ledyard, Cayuga Co., NY.  So there’s a good possibility that he may also appear in Cayuga Co. on the 1880 US census and/or on the NYS 1892 census n that place; and, he does.

One of the joys of online family history research is the amount of information that has been gathered, organized, digitized and made available.  I’m a paying member of Ancestry.com so I have access to a great deal of information.  Unhappily, despite all that Ancestry, the Mormon church and a multitude of other online resources, I am still stuck at brick walls on most family lines.  Still, one of the things that Ancestry offers is the ability to upload your family tree to their site and make it available to the public (mine is not there).  I always check to see if someone has done so with each and every individual I have in my database.

The thing to remember with these personal family trees is that, like the insistence that a particular Aaron Oliver was Ezra Oliver’s father, much of this personal information is NOT necessarily researched or documented but is simply information that families have been passing along for who knows how long.  Anything found in these family trees, if one wants to be accurate, has to be researched and documented.

Still, these personal family trees can provide a jump to other possibilities if you’ve reached brick walls, as I have.  So, I looked to see if someone has Orlando and Phebe Oliver in their family tree and, yes, someone has; many people, apparently, have.  And, here’s where coincidence, family weirdness and serendipity begins.

According to quite a few family trees at Ancestry, Orlando was married to Phebe [Phoebe] Lord.  Funny, Alanson Oliver’s widow’s maiden name was also Lord.  Remember?  Mary Lord [maiden name] Oliver [first married name] Warner [ second married name] was applying for widows’ benefits which is where I first became aware of Orlando Oliver.  Coincidence?  Maybe; maybe not.

Some of those same family trees list Orlando’s parents as Aaron Oliver – maybe that Aaron Oliver that several people thought was Alanson Oliver’s grandfather – and Rebecca Crandall.  Again, Alanson Oliver’s mother’s maiden name was Crandall.  Coincidence?  Maybe; maybe not.

So, now I have Alanson Oliver, son of Ezra Oliver and Hester [Esther] Crandall and Orlando Oliver, son of Aaron Oliver and Rebecca Crandall.  Alanson is married to Mary Lord.  Orlando is married to Phoebe Lord.  Relatives?  Maybe; maybe not.

What I can tell you, after decades of this kind of research, is that it’s almost as possible that it’s nothing more than coincidence as it is that there’s a relationship between these families.  But, I’m not going to tell you that either is the case; I’m going to continue researching until I know.  There’s more information in these family trees for Orlando and I’ll go through my usual steps of tracing Orlando from birth to death and each member of his family and his in-laws until I know what’s what.  And, I’ll report back.

Research Tip:

It’s very important to look at each item of information thoroughly – at some point - and to:

• decide how accurate the information is;
• see if the information leads to additional sources;

When we find a bit of family information we’ve been looking for, we often take it at face value, don’t question it and accept it as it is.

We look for an ancestor that lived in a particular place in approximately a particular time.  We find a person, in that place, in that time with that name and almost always assume that we’ve found the person we’re looking for.  And, maybe we did -- and, maybe we didn't

But, after years of research, one finds that in any particular period of time, there are often many, many people with the same name, living near enough, and close enough in time, to possibly be the person we’re looking for.  It’s a mistake to accept one piece of information as valid and correct without looking at it more closely and without looking for corroborating documentation.

In addition, it’s a hard lesson to learn but many records, even original documents, have errors.  People can be forgetful; people can be careless. Just because it's an official document doesn't make it correct.

I’ve had a variety of disagreements with other researchers of my various families over particular bits of information but, most seriously, about the parentage of one particular individual or another.  If people are not careful about the information they accept as correct; if they share that erroneous information with others, soon the amount of misinformation has multiplied making it more and more difficult to find the correct data.

I hope the following analysis of the indicated record will show how I go about determining if the information in any particular record or document is valid and how it leads me to additional research:

Analysis of the Charles DOUGHERTY entry in Presidents, Soldiers, Statesmen Vol. II, Hardesty, Publishers, 1896.

A work in progress

“Son of the late Gilbert and Mary (GARRISON) DOUGHERTY, was born at Shandaken, Ulster Co., N.Y., Sept. 16, 1843, and was a farmer, residing at Ashland, Greene county, when he enlisted in Brooklyn, N.Y., Feb. 27, 1865, as a private in Co. I, 80^th N.Y. Vol. Inf.  His enlistment was too late for him to see much active service, but after the close of the war, he was on provost guard duty at Suffolk, N.C., where he remained until near the time of his discharge, which was received at Hart’s Island, N.Y., Feb. 20, 1866.  Mr. DOUGHERTY married at Ashland, Sept. 17, 1863, Frances Victoria OLIVER, daughter of Ezra and Esther (CRANDALL) OLIVER, both deceased.  They have had seven children – Albert, William, Joseph J., Lewis, Josephine, Lizzie May and Harper R.  Mr. DOUGHERTY had five brothers in the service; Henry, William, James and John in Infantry Regts., and Romaine in the Cavalry.  Mrs. DOUGHERTY’s brother, Alanson OLIVER, died at Hart’s Island; her grandfather, Elnathan CRANDALL, was a Revolutionary soldier, and her uncle, William OLIVER, served in the Florida War.  Mr. DOUGHERTY’s grandfather, Garrison DOUIGHERTY, was also a Revolutionary soldier.  He is a pensioner and a member of Martin Hallett Post, 462, G.A.R., Dept. of New York.  His occupation is that of a farmer and his post office address is Hedgesville, Steuben co., N.Y.”

•  “[Charles was born, son of Gilbert Dougherty and Mary Garrison,] Shandaken, Sept. 16, 1843.”

The 1850 US Census, Ulster Co., Shandaken: (Sept. 26^th) indicates a slight error in the above record; calculating that Charles had been born 6 years before Sept. 26, 1850, he would have been born in 1844.  The date of the census, Sept. 26, was 10 days after the previous record’s proposed birthdate.  He would have been 5, on Sept. 16, 1850.  

            Gilbert, 46, farmer

            Mary, 46

            William, 23

            Henry, 21

            Sarah A., 19

            John, 17

            James, 15

            Elizabeth, 13

            Malissa, 11

            Romeyn, 8

            Charles, 6

            Mary, 3

            Sybil, 1

The following military record indicates the same birth year.

•  “…residing at Ashland, Greene county, when he enlisted in Brooklyn, N.Y., Feb. 27, 1865, as a private in Co. I, 80^th N.Y., Vol. Inf.”

Verified by (except residence is incorrect in above entry)

New York, Town Clerks' Registers of Men Who Served in the Civil War, ca 1861-1865, 39-40 as seen at Ancestry.com:  (this is a transcription)

Line 6

Dougherty, Charles Wesley

Residence:  Shandaken, Ulster Co.

Born Sept. 16, 1844, Shandaken, NY

Enlisted as Pvt, 13^th Artillery, enlisted Feb. 1865, mustered in ? 1865, for 1 year in NYC. White, no relief granted, married.  Laborer, father:  Gilbert DOUGHERTY, mother Mary GARRISON, Transferred to Co. I, 20^th NYSM Infantry.  Still in service at point of this entry.

Also, in this source and record are the registrations of Charles’ brothers:  Henry, James, John, William and (interestingly) Elbert Romayne; all of whom registered at different times.  This record doesn’t show the exact date of enlistment, nor the Co.  There is some discrepancy between the 2 records in terms of enlistment date, regiment and Co.  Comparing the letter of the company with other capital letters on the page, I did change my first impression from Co. J to Co. I, which brings me into agreement with the other record.  Again, comparing the # of the regiment to which he was transferred to other numbers on the page, I disagree with the other record that indicates it as 80^th NY Vol. Infantry; none of the 8s on the page look similar and, while a bit too elaborate, it is a 2 and the regiment is the 20^th.  In this record, the regiment is indicated as the 20^th NYSM.  After much discussion online about the significance of the M and after visiting the regimental page of The New York State Military Museum, The agreement is that the M signifies Militia or Volunteer; therefore, in agreement with the other record.

Qualifying these investigations with the caveat that many documents contain one, if not multiple errors; it is therefore, important to find as many documents as possible to try to reach matching information which might be more trusted.

• “His enlistment was too late for him to see much active service, but after the close of the war, he was on provost guard duty at Suffolk, N.C., where he remained until near the time of his discharge, which was received at Hart’s Island, N.Y., Feb. 20, 1866.”

I have no records, so far, to address Charles’ service as provost guard or his assignment to Suffolk, N.C.  I might find additional records, in the future, that verify this.  He was still in service at the date of the previous record so there is no discharge information in that record.

• “Mr. DOUGHERTY married at Ashland, Sept. 17, 1863, Frances Victoria OLIVER, daughter of Ezra and Esther (CRANDALL) OLIVER, both deceased.”

The corroboration for the marriage date, so far, is from a family member and from apparent agreement in census records.  Family information and census records also seem to verify Frances OLIVERs parentage, although until receiving this record, we had no idea of Esther’s maiden name which has since been verified by several additional sources.

•  “They (Charles and Frances) have had seven children – Albert, William, Joseph J., Lewis, Josephine, Lizzie May and Harper R.”

The children are verified by several census records with the addition of John and George.

•  “Mr. DOUGHERTY had five brothers in the service; Henry, William, James and John in Infantry Regts., and Romaine in the Cavalry.”

This information is verified by similar records in the above source:  New York, Town Clerks' Registers of Men Who Served in the Civil War, ca 1861-1865, with one interesting addition, Romayne’s record indicates that his name was Elbert Romayne.

•  “Mrs. DOUGHERTY’s (Frances Victoria OLIVER) brother, Alanson OLIVER, died at Hart’s Island; her grandfather, Elnathan CRANDALL, was a Revolutionary soldier, and her uncle, William OLIVER, served in the Florida War.”

There’s a great deal of data in this sentence:

The first error is Alanson OLIVER’s place of death.  Military records, in my possession, indicate that Alanson died, Feb. 1, 1865, St. John’s Hospital, Annapolis, MD.  He did serve in the military.

On receipt of the entry of Charles DOUGHERTY in Presidents, Soldiers, Statesmen, I began looking for Elnathan CRANDALL who, as Frances' grandfather, would have been her mother's brother.  Initially, I found nothing.  Then, I found several individuals with the same name.  The first Elnathan CRANDALL I encountered could not have been Frances OLIVER’s grandfather because he was born within a year or two of her mother and might have been a brother or cousin of her mother, Esther.  I have not yet identified the possible Elnathan, nor have I found an Elnathan CRANDALL in the Revolution.  More work is needed before accepting this piece of information, that he was Esther/Hester CRANDALL’s father.

On first reading and several subsequent readings of the entry, I assumed that William OLIVER was Frances OLIVER’s brother and clearly hadn’t read closely enough.  There are 4 William OLIVERs in the family tree, so far.  She didn’t have a brother named William.  The entry indicates he was her uncle.  For him to be her uncle, he had to have been her father’s brother.  Therefore, I have to assume that Ezra OLIVER, her father, had to have had a brother, William.  Since we don’t know Ezra OLIVER’s parentage, we also don’t know William’s.  However, If William served in the military, there may be a record which gives the names of his parents, and, therefore, Ezra’s.  This will extend the OLIVER family tree another generation and, perhaps, reveal more.  It may also be possible to find a William OLIVER living near Ezra OLIVER on one or more of the censuses; I haven’t checked yet.

It says William OLIVER served in the Florida War; there were several.  It will be necessary to figure out which one. 

I’m not currently interested in the rest of the entry since I’m related to Charles DOUGHERTY only through his marriage to Frances Victoria OLIVER.  Sometimes, it’s important and even necessary to research the families of in-laws in order to discover more about the target family.  I don’t expect that to be the case in this instance.