In Their Footsteps: A 500 Year Genealogical Odyssey

By Arnold E. Palmer

In Their Footsteps is a Genealogical compilation of approximately 900 individuals and the story of how this Palmer Family came to be and where it came from.
As one might expect, the geography of a complicated genealogy such as this one has several disparate locations of importance. Thankfully, these ancestors chose to cluster around a select few well documented locales: New England, lower New York State, Northeastern New Jersey, Central New York State and the upper Saint John River valley in New Brunswick, Canada.
It also tells the story of how and why Samuel Benson Leydecker chose exile in the wilderness of New Brunswick over the prospects of staying in the Hackensack River valley of New Jersey after the American Revolution.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Nov 4, 2015
• ISBN: 9781514421239

Arnold E. Palmer

Mr. Palmer’s compilation is the culmination of more than forty-five years work as a family historian and genealogist. This work traces two of his paternal lines to the very earliest beginnings of the history of the United States of America. One extends through the Massachusetts Bay Colony of 1630s, and the second through Neuwe Amsterdam in 1650. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Geography from Syracuse University in 1973 and has been an avid historical re-enactor involved in the portrayal of an American Revolution soldier and later as a period land surveyor. He has built and displayed is own equipment at many historical events in the northeastern United States.

Book preview

Copyright © 2015 by Arnold E. Palmer.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2015917953

ISBN:      Hardcover      978-1-5144-2121-5

               Softcover        978-1-5144-2122-2

               eBook             978-1-5144-2123-9

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 11/03/2015

Xlibris

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

700896

Table of Contents

Conventions Used in This Document

Basic Assumptions and Observations

Names

Dates

Places

Variant Spellings

Abbreviations Used in Citations

The Geography

New England

Massachusetts

Maine

Cumberland County

Aroostook County

The Township of Mars Hill

The Township of Blaine

New Brunswick, Canada

Queens County

Maugerville, Sunbury County

Brighton, Peel, Simonds, Wakefield, and Woodstock, Carleton County

Defining a Border

Neuwe Amsterdam

Boswyck, Long Island

New Jersey

Bergen County

New York State

Lower New York

Central New York

The Major Family Surnames

Palmer

Hughes

Leydecker

Rideout

Ingersoll

Blackstone

Snow

Getchell

Maxner

Mercereau

Day

The Case for Thomas Rideout

The Null Hypothesis

The Evidence

Negative Evidence

The Analysis

Using Naming Traditions as Ancillary Evidence

Conclusion

The Hackensack Valley, 1776–1783

Starting Over in the Wilderness

The Ancestry of Edwin Leydecker

First Generation

Second Generation

Third Generation

Fourth Generation

Fifth Generation

Sixth Generation

Seventh Generation

Eighth Generation

Sources

The Ancestry of Hester Ann Rideout

First Generation

Second Generation

Third Generation

Fourth Generation

Fifth Generation

Sixth Generation

Seventh Generation

Eighth Generation

Ninth Generation

Tenth Generation

Sources

Descendants of Edwin Leydecker and Hester Ann Rideout

First Generation

Second Generation

Family of Hester Ann RIDEOUT and Edwin LEYDECKER

Third Generation

Family of Samuel Benson LEYDECKER III and Tressa A HARTE

Family of Marseline Elizabeth LEYDECKER and George A HUGHES

Family of George Amassa LEYDECKER and Carrie M TURTLE

Family of Olive A LEYDECKER and Horace CHESSMAN

Family of Olive A LEYDECKER and Granville R SIBLEY

Family of Margay Jenifer LEYDECKER and William Henry HAINES Sr.

Family of Effie Elviry LEYDECKER and Joseph William STEWART

Family of Prudence Victoria LEYDECKER and Charles Allen DAY

Family of Grace Hastings LEYDECKER (12) and George PINSON

Fourth Generation

Family of Flora Hasting LEYDECKER and James Percival MERCEREAU

Family of Frank Albert HUGHES and Anna Marie METZGER

Family of Bessie May HUGHES and John Henry MAXNER

Family of Florence Gertha HAINES and Esdras Joseph LANOIS

Family of Hester Viola HAINES and Fred Robie LORING

Family of George Maxwell HAINES and Millie Etta HURLBURT

Family of Burchard Edwin STEWART and Grace BARKER

Family of Burchard Edwin STEWART and Lillian

Family of Florence Victoria STEWART and Abijah Davenport PIERCE

Family of Grace Florence DAY and GUNDERSON

Fifth Generation

Family of Vera Lurline MERCEREAU and Harry Clark ROBBINS

Family of Gerald George PALMER and Madeline Dorothy TRAUTMAN

Family of Carl Henry MAXNER, Sr., and Florence

Family of Dorothy Elizabeth MAXNER and Lawrence L CLARK

Family of James MAXNER (49) and Elsie TUCKER

Family of Haydon Esdras LANOIS and Barbara Michell JONES

Family of Bernard Dexter LANOIS and Shirly Jean ROSAR

Family of Melba Constance LANOIS and James SPARKS

Family of Stanley Rogers LORING and Harriet Lena COFFIN

Family of Winthrop Leydecker LORING and Alice Virginia CLAY

Family of Judith Eleanor LORING and Gene Alfred SIMKIN

Family of Lloyd Wesley HAINES and Jennifer Clara BESSE

Family of Quentin Esdras HAINES and Barbara

Family of Ardith Jacquiline HAINES and Merl JACOBSEN

Family of Harold George HAINES and Frances BURDELL

Family of Paul Russell HAINES and Joyce

Family of Paul Russell HAINES and Rae ANN

Family of Paul Russell HAINES and Diane JAQUES

Family of Katherine Viola HAINES and William Fred COLBY

Family of Gerald Raymond HAINES and Frances Ruth CANFIELD

Family of Burchard Livingston STEWART and Carol Jean NICHOLAS

Family of Betty Louise PIERCE and Jerome Potter BROWN

Family of Stewart Wayne PIERCE and Elizabeth LOUDER

Sources

Name Index

The Ancestry of Arthur Burnham Palmer

First Generation

Second Generation

Third Generation

Fourth Generation

Sources

Name Index

Department of Obscure Information

Fun Facts

Statistical Facts and Figures

Popular Names Found in This Genealogy

Known Origins

Known Age at Time Of…

Known Month at Time Of…

A Dedication to Downeast Humor

The following notice was found in the Ellsworth American newspaper of Ellsworth, Maine, from the year 1891. The newspaper is still publishing each week, about 170 years so far. A great sense of humor is evident. Sadly, no author is listed.

Whereas our not so hotsy-totsy sister, Susannah Persis Fluetta Wussener, has seen fit to depart this life, having done so by running headlong into a hurricane off Killdeer Point without benefit of oars in her skiff (never having had both oars in the water during her earthly life), therefore, be it resolved that we, the happy as clams members of this circle, do solemnly swear that we will henceforth enjoy being able to promote at least one idea per meeting without having to listen to twenty-five minutes of her opposing guff, resolved that we will deck the halls with boughs of holly for the next 12 years in her memory and resolved that the surviving members of her jubilant family will receive a hearty handshake when meeting anywhere on the street and, time permitting, will be dragged off to the nearest bar for a healthy snort, courtesy of the su-per flu-wus Memorial Trust."

May all of our descendants have both oars in the water and a chuckle in their hearts.

Arnold Elton Palmer

October 2015

Conventions Used in This Document

Basic Assumptions and Observations

* Data collection is an ongoing process. As more information is added, it is presupposed that until another event changes a venue (name, date, or place), the original data holds true. It should be noted that this method will omit undocumented events.

* The Genealogical Proof Method of analysis is used throughout this document. Whenever a conflict [of significant proportions] arises, one (1) or more testable hypotheses are promulgated and analyzed for their potential validity using all available data. Once all hypotheses have been tested, they are compared, and the most likely scenario is declared.

* Those persons whose parentage is doubtful are flagged with with the linkage left intact.

* The normal age of majority for children is eighteen (18) years, unless specified otherwise.

* Insofar as possible, all lineages, facts, dates, places, and other data have been corroborated by two (2) or more independent sources.

* Firsthand information can be of dubious quality. Whenever possible, data of this type have been supplemented with one (1) or more independent sources to substantiate its veracity.

* The veracity of each source is unique—it ranges from just plain bad to superative. Each source also ranges greatly in scope from one-off to the truly massive. It is assumed that each source used in this book is creditable.¹ It is, however, the reader’s resposibility to verify such information. The following table may be used as a guide to the confidence this author has placed on the research:

* Three special sources are identified and used extensively in this document:

➢ EXTRAPOLATED DATA – denotes information that has been derived from other data source(s).

■ Typically, this data is a rough approximation of a date of birth using spousal information. Experience suggests that this practice offers a benchmark that is off no more than a few years. There are some cases, however, where the guess is off by as much as twenty (20) years. Thus, the supposition is just that, an educated guess.

■ When used to identify the birth dates of spouses in multiple marriages, each is tagged with the same year as the individual with the known date of birth. It should be noted, however, that the dates of birth for subsequent mates are frequently later than a previous marriage mate—sometimes significantly so.

■ When used to identify a parental marriage date, the supposition is that the firstborn child was conceived after the marriage. Clearly, this was not always the case.

■ It should be noted that the accuracy of the guess is enhanced considerably whenever the unknown date can be bracketed between two verifiable dates—especially so when they are close together.

* UNDOCUMENTED INFORMATION – denotes any fact, date, etc., as being probable but undocumented by this author.

* SUSPECT INFORMATION – denotes any date, name, etc., as being strongly suspect.

* When used, these citations will have explanatory information attached.

* City directories are treated as a form of census information. In many cases, such data is presented in yearly accounts. Whenever an individual appears in several consecutive years, only the first entry is entered in the DATE FIELD with the last entry noted in the event MEMO field. In some cases, a single year or two may not appear in the directories followed by subsequent entries. When such occurrences happen, the omission(s) will also be recorded in the MEMO field.

* For purposes of limiting the working lifespan of any individual, a maximum of one hundred (100) years is used.

* For those persons with a birth-date less than one hundred (100) years from the present and no date of death is given, the probability of death increases rapidly the closer to the century mark the age becomes. At age seventy (70), the probability is 86.5 percent; at age eighty (80), the probability is 92.0 percent; at age ninety (90), the probability is 95.0 percent; at age one hundred (100), the probability is 99.9 percent; and by the age of one hundred ten (110) years, the probability is over 99.999 percent. (The longest lifespan ever recorded is 114 years!)

* In a great many cases, it is obvious that a given individual has been dead for a very long time, and yet no date of death is indicated. The use of a question mark ? in the DATE FIELD is used to limit the length of that individual’s lifespan to conform to the maximum of one hundred (100) years. There are two uses for this practice:

➢ On occasion there will be a place of death without a date—the question mark simply limits the lifespan.

➢ More often, no data is available—the question mark becomes a placeholder that definitively identifies that the individual has been deceased for some time—age unknown.

Names

* All surnames are in uppercase.

* All names are entered in complete form: given, middle, and surname whenever possible.

* As per standard practice, all surnames for females have been entered as maiden name when known.

* Both prefixes and suffixes are used when appropriate, i.e., Reverend, Jr., Sr., Miss, Mrs., Dr., et al.

* The spelling of all surnames have been normalized according to current practice, viz.; variant spellings are consolidated to conform to modern spelling except within the story line for purposes of increasing the efficiency of computer searches.²

* Many early European traditions reused names for offspring who had died in childhood. In such cases, an uppercase letter (i.e.: , , ) is attached as a suffix to a person’s name in order to identify the individual from others within the same nuclear family with an otherwise same complete name. The alphabetic order is indicitive of birth order.

* When parts of a name are not known, the following notations have been used:

Dates

* All dates are entered in DD-MON-YEAR format with a four-digit year.

* The order of accuracy is assumed to be: YEAR first, MONTH second, and DAY last, unless otherwise specified.

* For partial dates, the following notations have been used:

* For questionable dates, the following notations have been used:

Places

* The name of a country is in uppercase.

* USA is assumed if the name of a country has been omitted.

* All locations given are geopolitically correct at the time the event officially took place. This placename may or may not correspond with the present-day name. When discrepancies occur, it is usually due to changes in governmental boundaries over time.

* Street addresses, church, and cemetery names are given when known. Cemetery plots are also included if known.

* Order of accuracy is: COUNTRY, State, County, City, unless otherwise specified.

* Question marks within square brackets [?] indicate missing or dubious location information. Often this is because that part of the location has been extrapolated from other data (census or place of parents’ marriage, etc.). Typical examples include the following:

➢ Peel [?], Carleton County, New Brunswick, CANADA

➢ York County, New Brunswick [?], CANADA

➢ Gorham, Cumberland County, Maine [?]

Variant Spellings

* Variant spellings for the surname GETCHELL include GETCHALL,³ GATCHELL, GATCHALL, and GITCHAL.

* Variant spellings for the surname LEYDECKER include LYDECKER, LEYDEKKER, LIDECKER, LIDECKER, LYDIKKER, LYDEKKER, and LYDEKER.

* Variant spellings for the surname RIDEOUT include RIDOUT. Other variants exist but are unconnected to this lineage.

* Variant spellings for the surname INGERSOLL include INKERSOLL and INGERSELL.

Abbreviations Used in Citations

1

The Geography

As one might expect, the geography of a complicated genealogy such as this one of approximately nine hundred individuals has several disparate locations of importance. Thankfully, my ancestors chose to cluster around a select few well-documented locales: New England, lower New York State, Northeastern New Jersey, Central New York State, and the upper Saint John River valley in New Brunswick, Canada.

Much of the history of this Palmer Genealogy deals with the geography of New England and the Coastal Maritimes of Canada. For the reader’s ease of understanding, it is best if this diverse region is broken into four primary sections: Eastern Massachusetts, Coastal Maine, Northern Maine, and the Saint John River valley in New Brunswick.

New England

Massachusetts

Eastern Massachusetts figures into this equation in a number of ways. First of all, it is comprised of some of the very oldest settlements in the country, Haverhill, Salisbury, Beverly, Lowell, and Salem. These and several other very early settlements made up what became known as the Massachusetts Bay Colony. In any event, my research has found several ancestral ties to this area that have contributed to some of the collateral parts of this genealogy. From its very inception, this area was destined to become a large commercial trading center for all of New England and the Atlantic Maritimes and thus offers a spider web of connections – both regional and transatlantic. And last but certainly not least, the present State of Maine was originally called York County [Massachusetts] and later became the District of Maine in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Obviously, Maine has had a long and storied history with the Bay State not only in terms of governmental relations but also by the fact that a great many early Maine families had both family and business connections in Boston and its vicinity. Such is the case for this Palmer family. Consequently, many of my present-day cousins live in or have connections residing in Metropolitan Boston and the surrounding area, especially in the cities of Lowell and Beverly, both of which lie just north of Boston proper.

Maine

Cumberland County

Coastal Maine is often referred to as stern and rock bound. More than one wag has suggested if one were to stretch out the coast of Maine to a straight line, it would run from the Canadian border to Miami, Florida! It is certainly a storm-lashed and rocky coastline. Such physical geography breeds a hardy and resourceful culture. The hard-bitten Maine Yankee is therefore frugal and not easily defeated by man, beast, or nature. Such was the experience of my ancestors.

Early in the history of European settlement of North America, the territory now called Maine was a vast wilderness of virgin timber and rivers observed and surveyed only by those explorers willing to live by their wits and next to a sparsely populated and, at times, not so friendly, indigenous native American Indian civilization. In time, other resourceful people joined these pioneers to become lumbermen, fishermen, and farmers. Its chief exports in the years from the early 1650s