Today we had our first family bike ride. It was fun! We went to Bicycle Sports Shop and rented a bike trailer, then we headed down to the Veloway. Dale and Jonathan rode their tandem bike (the attachment was a Christmas present to J. last year), and I pulled Kayleigh in the trailer on my bike. It was much easier than I anticipated--I didn't really feel like I was pulling anything, even though it was an additional 28 pounds at least. K. seemed to like it and never fussed once; on parts where there were a few turns in quick succession, I heard happy noises from the trailer. Dale and I really enjoyed being out with our children on a bike ride--a glimpse of things to come.
This entry is a labor of love, so to speak--there's nothing in it for me! Among the many items that I have gotten from Mom regarding family history of the Sprongs and Ensigns, there was a two-page gazette from 1800. It appears to be an original, although I know no criteria to judge it by. Mom said that it was her mother's, so on a couple of occasions I have scanned the names that appear in it to see if there are references to any ancestors, but no luck. Tonight I decided to be methodical about it and go through each item, pulling out the names and places, to see if anything presented itself to me as a reason for having this all these years.
Upon looking at it carefully, I realized that I think the reason it was kept is because it has much coverage in it of General George Washington's death. Kind of the same reason that I have the front section of the Houston Chronicle for certain things, like the Challenger disaster.
However, there must be lots of people out there somewhere who would dearly love to see the part of the gazette that pertains to their family. Since I have no idea if this paper has been preserved anywhere, or indexed, I am going to put my notes on my blog here. That way anyone Googling a name may be led here. If this is you, Reader, and you would like a copy of the gazette (I scanned it), please comment on this entry and I will contact you via e-mail.
The following are from the Ulster County Gazette, published at Kingston [New York], by Samuel Freer and Son; Saturday, January 4, 1800, Vol. II, Num. 88. This is not a professional abstraction but simply a listing of names and places mentioned. I have scanned the gazette and will be happy to send along the images to anyone whose family is mentioned. Please note that I am not an expert in the writing of the time, and there are many places where I have put an "f" that should probably have been an "s".
Since this is not meant to be read but just to get names out there for the search engines, I have not put each name or place on its own line. Please forgive me for this!
Event:
American Congress, December 10; text of response by John Adams to both the House and the Senate; Jonah Parker and Robert Page from Virginia mentioned. The following were appointed to the Ways & Means Committee: Harper, Griswold, Otis, Gallahan, Powell, John Brown, Stone, Nott, Platt. The following were appointed to a judicial committee: Harper, C. Goodrich, Bayard, Marshall, Sewell.
Military Events in Europe (Places and Names):
Names:
General Daendals, Prince William of Gloucester, General Suwarrow, General Korsakow, Lieutenant Colonel John Ramsay, Lieutenant Colonel Henry Clinton, Lord Greenville, General Korzakoff, General Markoff, General Durasoff, General Horze (killed), General Patrasch, Field Marshall Suwarrow, Swiss regiments of Bachman and Revore, Major-General Durey, Archduke Charles, General Melas, General Kray, General Thampioner, General Crolich, General Klenar
Places:
Winkle, Coborn, Schaffhausen, Conde, Stoach, Maffena, Head-Quarters Schaffhausen, Uznach, Wallishosen, Baden, Limmat, Weinaggen, Zurich, Weinengen, the Rhine, Aldra, Eglisan, Lake Constance, Mount Saint Gothard, Alltdorf, Schweitz, Rheinech, Bellinzona, Tavence, Tortona, Munich, Donawerth,
Palatinate, Bavaria, Savigianu, Jano, Scalenga, Riera, Tuscany, Genoa, Nice
Letter:
Letter from the Archduke Charles to "Head Quarters, Denaberchinger"
Items from Paris:
Mentioning Zurich, Frejus, Buonaparte, Berthier; Generals Lasles [sp?], Mormons [sp?], Murat, And...[unreadable due to a crease in the paper]; citizens Mons, Bertholot, Moreau
Item from London:
London, October 24, regarding evacuation of Holland
Items pertaining to the recent death of George Washington:
Mr. Goode from Virginia, Mr. Marshall
Address by the Senate about the death of GW
Responses to both the House and the Senate by John Adams
Description of Washington's entombment
Poem "On the Death of General Washington" by "a young lady" [very Emily Dickinson, although she hadn't been born yet!]
Various Items:
--news regarding battles between the Austro-Russians and the French Army of the Rhine
--mention of the British frigate Lutine, lost on the 9th of October
--last notice re estate of Johanias Jansen of Kingston; executor Johannis I. Jansen
--notice by Seth Mosier
--notice of Jacob Van Voorhis of Catskill, insolvent debtor; petitioning creditors were Thomas Maule, James Snider, Abraham Brinkerhoof
--Peter Ten Broeck, sheriff, has seized property of Jonathan "Preflaer" for sale
--mortgage being sold at public auction--Jacobus Elmendorf of Marbletown, Germittie [sp? hard to read because on a crease in the paper] Van Keuren, Hendrick Krum
--Joseph Gasherie, John Crawford, Alexander Crawford
--Luther Andres & Co. selling things
Letters at the Post Office:
J. C. Elmendorf at the Post Office has letters remaining for the following people: George D'Zeng, Peter Overbagh, John Mowatt, Cornelius Tappen, John Tappen, George Eddy, Cornelius Thorp, Kingston. John C. DeWitt, Richard Jackson, 2 John Crispell, John O'Neal, Harley. Moses Cantine, junior, Doctr. Jacob L. Delamater, Samuel Frame, Alexander Orr, Levi DeWitt, Charles DeWitt, John Cnchingham [sic], Maria Hasbrouck, Charles C. Brodhead, Marbletown, Jonathan Terwillegar, Plattekill. Ralph Hasbrouck, Springtown. George Wirtz, Abel Jackson, John I. Lefever, New Paltz, Edward Hallock and Edward Hallock, Jun. Marlborough. Alexander McKie, Shawangunck. Dinah Smith, Rosendal, James Leonard, Abel Downs, Ezekiel Sampson, Colchester. John Grant, Alexander Grant, ANdrew Beers, Stampford. Samuel Preston, Stockport. John Buly, Shocon. Peter Wynkoop, Camp. Jacob James, Naverfink. Oakley, and Wood, Ulster county.
Sheriff's Sales, Peter Ten Broeck:
Lewis "Gafherie", town of Shawangunk; Edmund Turner, town of New Marlborough; George Merrick, town of Colchester; Samuel Terwilleger; --- [unreadable] Smith, town of Marbletown; John Ames, town of Catskill; Cornelius Benham, town of Windham; Lodewyck Schoonmaker, town of Rochester; John Timlow, town of Noverfink; Francis Potter or Porter, town of Rochester; John Pollock.
Various Items:
--Lots for sale in the Military Tract and in the Connecticut Purchase by Lodewyck Hoornbeek
--John Tremper, business in Dry Goods and Groceries
--Abraham I. Hasbrouck, Dry Goods and Groceries for sale
--Samuel Freer, goods for sale
--house and lot of Abraham Elmendorf for sale; Cornelius A. Elmendorf also mentioned
--Stephen Haughton, insolvent debtor; John M. Van Leon, petitioning creditor
--Benjamin Howland, insolvent debtor; Shubael Haskins, petitioning creditor
--John Schoonmaker at Rochester has half of a saw mill and a "Negro Wench" for sale
--William Peters at Marbletown seeks an apprentice
--Dissolution of partnership between Abraham I. Hasbrouck and Henry Jansen
--farm for sale by Matthew Blanshan, jr.
--Matys Van Steenbergh not responsible for debts of wife Hannah (second notice)
--Thomas Wood, farm for sale one mile from Jacob Hoornbeck's mill
--John Wiest at Kline-Esopus seeks gun bought from store of Abraham I. Hasbrouck
--farm for sale by Peter Helm, Jun., at Rosendall
--pleasure sleigh for sale by James Hasbrouck in Kingston
--Benjamin Demyer of Kingston missing two heifers (description of each provided)
--farm for sale by Hendrick Post
Just playing with some reports and found some mildly interesting facts. All items below pertain specifically to people in my database, which has just under 2,000 people in it.
The average age of a female at her first marriage was 24.1 whereas a male was 25.8.
The most children a female bore was 14. (This was my mom's great-grandmother, Lucinda Cecilia Parks, who married Horace Lyman Ensign.)
The average age of a female at her death was 62.6 whereas the average age of a male at his death was 60.3.
The youngest woman to bear a child was only fifteen years old, again on my mom's side of the family--Susannah Schumacher, Mom's 2nd great-grandmother, who married David Sprong in 1827.
The oldest woman to bear a child was forty-eight years old. Her name was Orpah Deming, and she was another one of Mom's 2nd great-grandmothers (her husband was Caleb Wadhams Ensign).