Ancestors in Early Wheatland Records

I had intended to publish this article a couple of months ago, but Mom’s hospitalization and passing have consumed my attention. I’m wrapping this up now without expanding it as much as I might.

Wheatland treasures

The Rochester Public Library of Rochester, New York, recently added documents from the Wheatland Historical Association Digital Collections to the library’s web site. These local records provide glimpses of ancestors in the Town of Wheatland, Monroe County, New York.

New York towns correspond to townships in Michigan and are mostly rural. The Town of Wheatland was established in 1821 when Monroe County was created from Genesee and Ontario Counties. At the outset, Wheatland was briefly named Inverness. The north half of the Town of Caledonia, Genesee County became the Town of Wheatland, Monroe County, while the south half became the Town of Caledonia in the new county of Livingston. This history is outlined on pages 73-75 of Wheatland, Monroe County, New York: A Brief Sketch of its History by George E. Slocum.

Staats Springsteen, my great-great-great-great grandfather, served in Butler’s Rangers during the American Revolution. After the war, he settled in the Niagara region of what was then part of the Province of Quebec and in 1791 became the Province of Upper Canada. By 1810 he and his family had moved eastward to the Town of Caledonia in the State of New York. He died there in 1826. Staats would have been familiar with the rich lands of the Genesee River valley from his service during the war.

Some topics of interest in Slocum’s history include

• An account of Ebenezer “Indian” Allan beginning on page 14. He was the first European settler in what became the Town of Wheatland. He might have known Staats Springsteen from his service in Butler’s Rangers.
• An account of the Sheffer family beginning on page 16. They were the first permanent European settlers in the future Wheatland. Peter Sheffer Jr.’s daughter Margaret married Phillip Garbutt, who was an executor for Staats Springsteen’s estate. Staats appears to have lived near Peter Sheffer.
• Mention of John Smith, Margaret Smith Springsteen’s father, as an early settler and as the first teacher in the Scottsville school, on pages 21 and 54.
• Mention of Price Springstead (John Price Springsteen) in an account of the Scottsville Artillery Regiment in the Patriot War of 1837-1838, on pages 79 and 80. He was Staats Springsteen’s youngest son.

School records

Among the Wheatland records in the digitized collection of the Wheatland Historical Association are reports of school districts summarizing attendance and allocation of funds among district schools. These records include some lists of parents with children between the ages of five and fifteen years. We will look here at a few families of interest in Volume 21, School Papers 1824-1834.

Note that the map in image 140 of the Slocum book identifies the location of district schools.

Year	District	Given name	Family name	Role	Children	Image
1824	1	Francis	Smith	Trustee		4
1824	2	Robert	Comfort	Parent	1	6
1824	2	Andrew	Smith	Parent	2	6
1825	2	Robert	Comfort	Parent	1	148
1825	2	Andrew	Smith	Parent	2	149
1825	2	Robert	Smith	Parent	2	149
1825	2	Andrew	Smith	Trustee		148
1825	3	Robert	Chambers	Parent	1	150
1825	4	Widow	Chambers	Parent	1	152
1826	1	Francis	Smith	Parent	2	169
1826	1	Robert	Smith	Parent	2	169
1826	1	Jacob	Springsteen	Parent	2	169
1826	3	Robert	Chambers	Parent	1	171
1826	4	James	Chambers	Parent	1	174
1829	1	Henry	Sackner	Parent	4	240
1829	1	David	Springsteen	Parent	1	240
1831	2	Robert	Comfort	Parent	1	58
1831	10		Springsteen	Parent	1	73
1832	1	E	Fish	Parent	4	26
1832	1	Fras	Smith	Parent	2	26
1832	1	D	Springsteen	Parent	2	26
1832	2	Robert	Comfort	Parent	3	29
1832	2	Robert	Comfort	Trustee		29
1832	10	David	Springsteen	Parent	3	48
1833	1	Ebenezer	Fish	Parent	5	77
1833	1	Francis	Smith	Parent	1	77
1833	2	Robert	Comfort	Parent	2	80
1833	2	Robert	Comfort	Trustee		80
1833	10	David	Springsteen	Parent	2	100
1834	1	A	Blood	Parent	4	109
1834	1	E	Fish	Parent	3	109
1834	1	Ebenezer	Fish	Trustee		109
1834	1	F	Smith	Parent	1	109
1834	2	Robert	Comfort	Parent	3	112
1834	2	Robert	Comfort	Trustee		104
1834	2	Robert	Comfort	Trustee		113
1834	6	G	Chambers	Parent	1	120
1834	10	David	Springsteen	Parent	3	131

First, let’s consider a few families of perhaps less-than-obvious interest.

Staats Springsteen’s older brother Caspar was also a member of Butler’s Rangers. He settled west of Niagara and raised a large family there. Russ and David Springsteen of Traverse City, Michigan’s Right Brain Brewery are descendants of Caspar and his wife Elizabeth Comfort. Elizabeth’s father John Comfort was recognized as a United Empire Loyalist and was also apparently a member of Butler’s Rangers. This begs the question of whether Robert Comfort in these school reports might have been related to John and Elizabeth.

Our nieces Emily and Morgan are related to Steve Fish on both sides of their family. Steve and his sister Donna have investigated their ancestry but got stuck on the Fish line (sorry, but it had to be done) years ago, puzzling over the origins of an Ebenezer Fish. Might Ebenezer Fish of Wheatland be part of their family?

Staats Springsteen’s will provides context for related families in Wheatland records:

• Jacob Springsteen, oldest known son of Staats Springsteen, married Margaret Smith, daughter of John Smith and Nancy Johnson or Johnston. Five children were born to them in New York from 1818 to 1828. John S. Springsteen and Francis E. Springsteen were their sons. Jacob appears in the 1826 school records of District 1 as the parent of two children between the ages of five and fifteen. These would be John S. Springsteen, my great-great grandfather and Nancy M. Springsteen, born in 1818 and 1820.
• Mary “Polly” Springsteen married Henry Sackner. I know of three children born to them in New York from 1826 to 1833 and three children born in Michigan from 1838 to 1846. Henry Sackner was listed in the 1829 records of District 1 with four school-age children. None of the children of Henry and Mary whom I have identified would fit this age range. According to her father’s will Polly was married by July 1825, but I know not when or who Henry’s older children were.
• David Springsteen married Clara Delano. I know of nine children born to them in New York between 1826 and 1844 before they moved to Michigan. The school records suggest that they might have had an earlier child born about 1824. David appears in school lists for 1829, 1832, 1833 and 1834 with one to three children. He might also have been the unnamed Springsteen listed for 1831.
• Jane “Jennie” Springsteen married Abram or Abraham Blood. I know of three children born to them in New York from 1825 to 1831 and four born in Michigan from 1836 to 1842. A. Blood appeared only once in these lists, with four children, in 1834. Jane’s father’s will suggests that she had more than one child in July 1825, possibly including the oldest child I have identified, Sarah Ann, born the following month. The school list indicates that there might have been two children born before Sarah Ann.
• Deborah Springsteen married Robert Chambers. No children appear to have been born to them, but they took in a young man born in New York around 1834 and a foster daughter born in Michigan around 1844. Her father’s will called for Debby to provide for her brother John until he reached the age of sixteen in 1829. Robert Chambers is listed in the school records for 1825 and 1826 with one child between five and fifteen years old. Given that Debby’s mother Anna had left Staats around 1823, this child might well have been Debby’s brother John. Robert Chambers and Phillip Garbutt were executors for the estate of Staats Springsteen.
• Lana Ann Springsteen married Marcus Sackner. Four children were born to them in New York from 1830 to 1837 and one daughter in Michigan in 1844.
• John Price Springsteen married Mary Eurana Bristol. Three sons were born to them in New York from 1838 to 1841 and three sons in Michigan from 1845 to 1849.

Margaret Smith, Jacob Springsteen’s wife, had five older brothers, all born in Scotland: Francis, James, Andrew, Robert and David Johnson Smith. Her younger siblings were John, Jane (who married Asa Abell), Agnes, William and Thomas Smith. Francis, Andrew and Robert appear in these school lists. Francis and Andrew Smith, as well as Ebenezer Fish and Robert Comfort, also appear as trustees.

Another volume in this collection, A Record of Attendance at School District No. 1, 1850-1854, lists students by name.

Term	Given name	Family name	Days	Image
1850, Jan-Mar	Sarah	Smith	58	14
1850, Jan-Mar	Edwin	Springsteen	43 ½	16
1850, Apr-Jul	Sarah	Smith	61	18
1850, Apr-Jun	Nelson	Springsteen	27	23
1850, Sep-Dec	Sarah	Smith	74	26
1850, Sep-Dec	Mary E.	Smith	5	26
1851, Jan-Mar	Mary	Smith	50	34
1851, Jan-Mar	Sarah	Smith	57	34
1851, Apr-Aug
1851, Sep-Dec	Sarah	Smith	70	48
1851, Sep-Dec	Nelson	Springsteen	32	53
1852, Jan-Apr	Sarah	Smith	15 ½	59
1852, Jan-Apr	Nelson S	Springsteen	38	62
1852, Apr-Jul	Nelson	Springsteen	59 ½	72
1852, Apr-Jul	Sarah	Smith	34 ½	75
1852, Sep-Dec	Nelson	Springsteen	61	81
1852, Sep-Dec	Sarah E	Smith	64 ½	84
1852, Sep-Dec	Mary D	Smith	14	84
1853, Jan-Apr	Nelson	Springsteen	31	91
1853, Jan-Apr	Sarah E	Smith	38 ½	94
1853, Jan-Apr	Mary D	Smith	31	94
1853, Apr-Jul	Nelson	Springsteen	38 ½	101
1853, Sep-Dec	Ellen	Smith	32	105
1854, Jan-Mar	Ellen	Smith	58	116
1854, Apr-Jul	Ellen	Smith	35	124

Highway records

In the early nineteenth century residents were expected to provide labor for maintaining roads in their highway district. Residents were assessed for the number of days of labor expected. The highway tax lists suggest local residence and perhaps the amount of local property held. For example, in 1826, the year of Staats Springsteen’s death, Jacob Springsteen was assessed for 1 ½ days of labor in Highway District 1 while Peter Sheffer was assessed for 30 days in District 1 and Phillip Garbutt for 13 ½ days in District 4.

Early Wheatland assessments are in Volume 14, Highway Records, 1826-1841. They are currently identified on the Rochester Public Library web site as Volume 1, Highway Records, 1826-1841.

Year	District	Given name	Family name	Days	Image
	2	Francis	Springsteen	1	5
	12	David	Springsteen	1	10
	14	Geo	Chambers	1	10
	25	Sherman	Rogers	1	15
	25	Jacob	Springsteen	1	15
1826	1	Francis	Smith	3	56
1826	1	Jacob	Springsteen	1 ½	56
1826	2	Robert	Smith	1 ½	56
1826	4	Thomas	Smith	1 ½	57
1826	5	William	Smith	1 ½	57
1826	17	Robert	Chambers	1 ½	59
1827	1	Francis	Smith	4	61
1827	4	Thomas	Smith	2	61
1829	1	Francis	Smith	4	67
1829	1	David	Springsteen	2	67
1829	2	Robt	Chambers	2	67
1829	4	Thomas	Smith	2	68
1833	1	Frank	Smith	5	71
1833	2	Robert	Chambers	2	71
1833	3	David	Springsteel	2	72
1833	12	George	Chambers	2	73
1834	1	James	Chambers	1	75
1834	1	David	Smith	1	75
1834	1	Francis	Smith	4	75
1834	2	Abraham	Blood	1	75
1834	2	Robert	Chambers	2	75
1834	2	Ebenezer	Fish	2	75
1834	15	George	Chambers	1	78
1835	1	James	Chambers	1	81
1835	1	David	Smith	1	81
1835	1	Francis	Smith	6	81
1835	2	Robert	Chambers	2	81
1835	2	Nicholas	Sackner	1	81
1835	5	David	Springsteen	1	83
1835	15	George	Chambers	1	84
1836	1	James	Chambers	1	87
1836	1	David	Smith	1	87
1836	1	Francis	Smith	8	87
1836	2	Robert	Chambers	1 ½	87
1836	2	John P	Springsteen	1	87
1836	3	Jacob	Springsteen	2	88
1836	11	Robert	Smith	11 ½	89
1836	15	George	Chambers	1	90
1837	1	James	Chambers	2	93
1837	1	David	Smith	1	93
1837	1	Francis	Smith	7	93
1837	1	Jacob	Springsteen	1	93
1837	2	Price	Springsteen	1	94
1837	11	Robert	Smith	12	95
1853	3	Sherman	Rogers	1 ½	45
1854	1	Robert	Smith	6	27
1854	3	Sherman	Rogers	2	30
1854	15	Andrew	Sackner	1	36

Again, we find men and family names of interest.

• Abraham Blood, husband of Staats and Anna Springsteen’s daughter Jane, was responsible to provide one day of labor on the roads of Highway District 2 in 1834.
• Robert Chambers, husband of Staats and Anna’s daughter Deborah, was responsible for one-and-a-half to two days’ labor for several years ranging from 1826 to 1836. George and James Chambers are of interest as potential close relatives of Robert.
• Ebenezer Fish was assessed to provide two days of labor in 1834.
• Sherman Rogers, husband of Jacob and Margaret Smith Springsteen’s daughter Jane, was assessed for one to two days for several years. The undated list was probably from some year in the 1840s. Labor requirements might have carried from year to year unless reassessed.
• Andrew and Nicholas Sackner are of interest as potential relatives of Henry and Marcus Sackner, husbands of Staats and Anna’s daughters Mary and Lana Ann.
• David Smith, Margaret Springsteen’s brother and son of John and Nancy Smith, was assessed for a day’s labor from 1834 to 1837.
• Francis Smith, oldest son of John and Nancy Smith, was assessed for three to eight days from 1826 to 1837.
• Robert Smith, son of John and Nancy, was assessed for about twelve days in 1836 and 1837 and six days in 1854.
• Thomas Smith, youngest son of John and Nancy, was assessed for about two days in 1826, 1827 and 1829.
• William Smith, son of John and Nancy, was assessed for a day-and-a-half in 1826.
• David Springsteen, son of Staats and Anna, was assessed for a day or two between 1829 and the mid-1840s.
• Francis Springsteen, son of Jacob and Margaret, was assessed for a day of labor in the mid-1840s.
• Jacob Springsteen, oldest son of Staats and Anna, was assessed for a day or two of labor between 1826, the year of his father’s death, and the mid-1840s.
• John Price Springsteen, youngest son of Staats and Anna, was assessed for a day of labor in 1836 and 1837. John’s property in 1841 was identified as parcel 14 of Section 2 on Page 2 (image 13) of A Survey of the Village of Scottsville:

The property for which John was assessed road labor in 1836 and 1837 was probably elsewhere. John bought parcel 13 in 1839 from John W. Botsford^[1] and sold it in 1840 to Lucretia Lamb.^[2] He then bought parcel 14 in 1841 from Chester Keyes,^[3] which he sold in 1842 to Jehial Read.^[4]

Tax rolls

Town records of tax rolls for several years from 1843-1852 are included in the Wheatland digital collection with links provided to records for individual years. They are collected in two volumes:

• Volume 26, Tax Rolls, 1843, 1844, [1845,] 1846, 1848
• Volume 27, Tax Rolls, 1849, 1851, 1852

These records reflect taxable property ownership and probable residence.

Year	Given name	Family name	Acres	Real estate value	Personal estate value	Total tax	Image
1843	G H S & D	Rogers	247	8445		37.94	15
1843	Harris	Rogers			500	2.63	15
1843	Mary	Rogers	1/4	300		1.35	15
1843	Widow	Rogers	50	1700		7.64	15
1843	David	Smith	1/2	175		.78	17
1844	G H S & D	Rogers	247	6700			16
1844	Mary	Rogers	1/4	250			16
1844	Widow	Rogers	49	1232			16
1845	G H & D	Rogers	246	6700			16
1845	Kesiah	Rogers	49	1200			16
1845	Mary	Rogers	1/4	250			16
1846	G H & D	Rogers	246	7000			18
1846	Keziah	Rogers	48	1200			18
1846	Mary	Rogers	1/4	300			18
1848	Daniel E.	Rogers	144	4464			17
1848	G H S	Rogers	1/4		5000		17
1848	Mary	Rogers	1/4	300			17
1849	Daniel E.	Rogers	144	4464		31.07	23
1849	George H.S.	Rogers			5000	39.12	22
1849	Harris	Rogers	6	900		6.26	23
1849	Keziah	Rogers					23
1849	Mrs.	Rogers	1/4	300		2.49	22
1849	Sherman	Rogers	1/2	50		.35	22
1851	Byron	Rogers	1/4	750			27
1851	Daniel	Rogers	144	10080	500		28
1851	G H S	Rogers			8000		28
1851	Mrs.	Rogers	1/4	600			27
1851	Sherman	Rogers	1/4	400			27
1852	Byron	Rogers	1/4	600	150	2.83	20
1852	Daniel E.	Rogers	144	9360		28.49	19
1852	Harris M.	Rogers	57	3135		10.03	20
1852	Henry G.S.	Rogers			8000	27.14	19
1852	Mary	Rogers	1/4	600		1.82	19
1852	Sherman	Rogers	1/3	400		1.21	19
1852	Peter	Sackner	25	1200		3.65	21

Election records

Voter records give us a record of residency for men of voting age. Several volumes of election records are posted in the Wheatland digital collection. Following is a list of some voters of interest in the records of two volumes:

• Volume 6, Election Records, 1828-1844
• Volume 7, Election Records, 1845-1850

Voter lists begin in 1842.

Year	Month	District	Given name	Family name	Volume	Image
			George	Chambers	6	3
1842	November	1	George	Chambers	6	78
1842	November	1	Phillip	Garbutt	6	62
1842	November	1	Sherman	Rogers	6	62
1842	November	1	David	Springsteen	6	64
1842	November	1	Jacob	Springsteen	6	62
1843	March	1	George	Chambers	7	5
1843	November	1	Phillip	Garbutt	6	135
1843	March	1	Phillip	Garbutt	7	2
1843	November	1	Harris	Rogers	6	134
1843	March	1	Harris	Rogers	7	4
1843	November	1	David	Springsteen	6	135
1843	March	1	David	Springsteen	7	5
1843	November	1	Francis E.	Springsteen	6	136
1843	March	1	Francis E.	Springsteen	7	5
1843	November	1	Jacob	Springsteen	6	136
1843	March	1	Jacob	Springsteen	7	6
1843	November	1	John S.	Springsteen	6	136
1844	November	1	George	Chambers	6	98
1844	November	1	Phillip	Garbutt	6	104
1844	November	1	Phillip	Garbutt	6	115
1844	November	1	David	Springsteen	6	106
1844	November	1	David	Springsteen	6	117
1844	November	1	Francis E.	Springsteen	6	108
1844	November	1	Francis E.	Springsteen	6	119
1845	November	2	George	Chambers	7	10
1845	Spring	1	George	Chambers	7	16
1845	Spring	1	George	Chambers	7	21
1845			George	Chambers	7	30
1845	Spring	1	Sherman	Rogers	7	18
1845	Spring	1	David	Springsteen	7	16
1845	Spring	1	David	Springsteen	7	21
1845	Spring	1	Francis E.	Springsteen	7	16
1845	Spring	1	Francis E.	Springsteen	7	21
1846	November	1	James	Smith	7	47
1846	November	1	James	Smith	7	57
1846	April	1	John	Smith	7	135
1846	November	1	David	Springsteen	7	46
1846	November	1	David	Springsteen	7	53
1846	April	1	Francis E.	Springsteen	7	135
1846	November	1	Jacob	Springsteen	7	43
1846	November	1	Jacob	Springsteen	7	48
1846	November	1	Jacob	Springsteen	7	56
1848	November	1	James	Smith	7	79
1849	November	1	Sherman	Rogers	7	110
1849	November	1	David Jr.	Springsteen	7	112
1850	November	1	Sherman	Rogers	7	159
1850	November	1	David	Smith	7	158

Jury lists

Volume 2, Jury Lists includes the following men who were called to serve over the years:

• Phillip Garbutt, image 21
• Byron Rogers, images 47 and 54
• Daniel E. Rogers, images 37 and 42
• George H.S. Rogers, image 47
• Sherman Rogers, image 47
• Francis Smith, image 5
• John Smith, image 37
• John S. Springsteen, image 35

Byron, Daniel and George (Henry) Rogers were brothers of Sherman Rogers, son-in-law of Jacob and Margaret Smith Springsteen.

Mary Thorn’s Journal

Mary Thorn, born in 1834, kept a diary of events in her life and neighborhood. Her journal for over a year beginning in January 1855 is included in the Wheatland digital collection as Diary of Mary Thorn, 1855-1856.

Among the people mentioned in Mary’s diary are

• Byron Rogers, brother of Sherman Rogers
• Mrs. Martin Rogers, sister-in-law of Sherman Rogers
• David Smith, apparently the son of Thomas and Emeline Smith
• Emeline Smith, wife of Thomas Smith
• Esther Smith, reported in the transcribed journal to be a sister of Thomas Smith
• Henry Smith, son of Thomas and Emeline Smith
• Israel Smith, son of Thomas and Emeline Smith
• Susan Smith, daughter of Thomas and Emeline Smith
• Thomas Smith, son of John and Nancy Smith, brother of Margaret Springsteen, and neighbor of the Thorn family
• Peggy (Margaret) Springsteen, daughter of John and Nancy Smith, wife of Jacob Springsteen

References can be found in the digitized journal as follows:

Given name	Family name	Date	Image
Esther	Smith	January 19, 1855	20
Susan	Smith	January 19, 1855	20
Thomas	Smith	January 19, 1855	20
Thomas	Smith	January 24, 1855	21
Henry	Smith	February 3, 1855	26
Mrs. Martin	Rogers	February 17, 1855	31
Emeline	Smith	February 20, 1855	33
Esther	Smith	March 3, 1855	39
Thomas	Smith	March 6, 1855	41
Thomas	Smith	March 9, 1855	43
Esther	Smith	March 17, 1855	46
Henry	Smith	March 17, 1855	46
Susan	Smith	March 17, 1855	46
Henry	Smith	March 21, 1855	47
Thomas	Smith	March 21, 1855	46
Esther	Smith	April 3, 1855	54
Esther	Smith	April 5, 1855	55
Thomas	Smith	April 6, 1855	55
Esther	Smith	April 13, 1855	58
Thomas	Smith	April 14, 1855	59
Emeline	Smith	April 20, 1855	62
Esther	Smith	April 20, 1855	62
Thomas	Smith	April 21, 1855	62
Esther	Smith	April 23, 1855	63
Thomas	Smith	April 23, 1855	63
Esther	Smith	April 26, 1855	64
Esther	Smith	April 30, 1855	66
Emeline	Smith	May 15, 1855	70
Susan	Smith	June 4, 1855	77
Thomas	Smith	June 5, 1855	78
Esther	Smith	June 9, 1855	80
Thomas	Smith	June 9, 1855	79
Esther	Smith	June 10, 1855	80
Emeline	Smith	June 12, 1855	80
Byron	Rogers	July 4, 1855	91
Susan	Smith	August 9, 1855	109
Esther	Smith	August 18, 1855	114
Thomas	Smith	September 4, 1855	123
David	Smith	September 14, 1855	130
Emeline	Smith	September 21, 1855	136
Peggy	Springsteen	September 21, 1855	136
Thomas	Smith	October 26, 1855	149
Thomas	Smith	October 27, 1855	149
Henry	Smith	November 1, 1855	152
Israel	Smith	November 1, 1855	152
Thomas	Smith	November 1, 1855	152
Emeline	Smith	November 5, 1855	153
Esther	Smith	November 8, 1855	155
Thomas	Smith	November 8, 1855	155
Thomas	Smith	November 14, 1855	158
Thomas	Smith	November 24, 1855	162
Thomas	Smith	November 28, 1855	163
Thomas	Smith	November 30, 1855	164
Emeline	Smith	December 4, 1855	165
Thomas	Smith	January 4, 1856	180
Esther	Smith	January 20, 1856	20
Henry	Smith	February 11, 1856	202
Israel	Smith	February 11, 1856	202
Thomas	Smith	February 11, 1856	202
Emeline	Smith	February 12, 1856	202
Thomas	Smith	February 12, 1856	202
Emeline	Smith	February 21, 1856	206
Esther	Smith	March 13, 1856	220
Thomas	Smith	March 24, 1856	225
Esther	Smith	March 30, 1856	228
Susan	Smith	April 21, 1856	236
Esther	Smith	April 23, 1856	237
Thomas	Smith	April 26, 1856	239
Esther	Smith	May 10, 1856	241
Esther	Smith	May 14, 1856	242

What light does this shed?

These records provide some insight into the circumstances and relationships of direct ancestors, their siblings, and cousins. They also give us a better idea when some of these families might have moved west to Michigan.

I’m still left wondering what happened to my third-great grandfather Jacob Springsteen. I knew already that he was still in Wheatland in 1840, apparently with two sons, three daughters, and no wife in residence.^[5] I don’t know where Jacob’s wife Margaret Smith Springsteen was in 1840, nor do I know where either Jacob or Margaret were in 1850. We know from Mary Thorn’s journal and from the New York state census that Margaret was living in Wheatland in 1855.^[6] She was living then in the household of Davis Huntley, whose name might have been the inspiration for her son John naming my great-grandfather Loyal Davis Springsteen. Margaret died July 24, 1859 in Madison County, Ohio and was buried in the New Carlisle Cemetery with the family of her brother David Johnson Smith.^[7]

What, then, became of Jacob? Election records from the Wheatland digital collection show that he was in Wheatland as late as November 1846. Did he move to Michigan? Did he die in Wheatland before 1850? I have found no record of his death in Monroe County, New York.

There is no end of mysteries to solve in family history research.

Source notes

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^[1]Deed of property, John W. Botsford and Hannah Botsford to John P. Springsteen, 8 July 1837, recorded 31 July 1839 in Liber 48, Page 468; Office of the County Clerk, Monroe County, New York.

^[2]Deed of property, John Price Springsteen and Mary Eurana Springsteen to Lucretia Lamb, 1 July 1839, recorded 7 July 1840 in Liber 50, Page 539; Office of the County Clerk, Monroe County, New York.

^[3]Deed of property, Chester Keyes and Maryett Keyes to John P. Springsteen, 1 April 1840, recorded 1 October 1841 in Liber 56, Page 14; Office of the County Clerk, Monroe County, New York.

^[4]Deed of property, John P. Springsteen and Urania Springsteen to Jehial Read, 23 December 1841, recorded 21 March 1842 in Liber 55, Page 497; Office of the County Clerk, Monroe County, New York.

^[5]“United States Census, 1840,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHYF-FPV : 13 August 2017), Jacob Springsteen, Wheatland, Monroe, New York, United States; citing p. 194, NARA microfilm publication M704, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 297; FHL microfilm 17,193.

^[6]“New York State Census, 1855,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K6Q9-KF6 : 13 March 2018), Margaret Springstein in household of David Hunter, E.D. 1, Wheatland, Monroe, New York, United States; citing p. , line #25, family #29, county clerk offices, New York; FHL microfilm 833,773.

^[7]Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/ : accessed 17 May 2019), memorial page for Margaret Springsteen (25 Dec 1796–24 Jul 1859), Find A Grave Memorial no. 17416368, citing New Carlisle Cemetery, New Carlisle, Clark County, Ohio, USA ; Maintained by Robert “Rob” Weller (contributor 46505507).