52 Ancestors: Literally plowing through hubby's line

This week’s prompt for Amy Crow’s 52 Ancestors Challenge is: We will likely be plowing through a lot of snow by this time. What ancestor had a lot of struggles to plow through? Or take it more literally… It’s up to you. I have decided to take it literal. Hubby’s mother was a Deyoe by birth and her grandfather, and his father before him, was farmers in New York. While the Deyo family there is widely recorded, there is little about the Deyoe family, who may or may not be related. 

 

My husband’s maternal grandfather was Morgan Gramelia Deyoe (1877-1944). He was born in New York to Daniel Gramelia and Louisa Sharp Deyoe. Morgan was born in Greene County, NY but did not take to farming. Instead he ends up in Philadelphia working on Hog Island. There he was, in 1918, a mechanic for the International Ship Building. 

I have never been able to confirm when exactly Daniel died. I found Louisa, a widow, living in New Jersey in 1910. In researching for this article, I finally found 47 year old Louisa on the 1892 New York Census. I found her listed as Louisa Sharp, having gone back to her maiden name. She is listed as a farmer. Below her is 17 year old Morgan. He lists his name though as Morgan G Deyo. This is the only place I have seen him drop the e. Below him is a John W. Deyo, age 11. 

Daniel was a farmer. The 1880 Census shows 44 year old Daniel living in Lexington, Greene County, NY. He lived with his wife, 42 year old Louise, and their five year old son Morgan and their nine year old adopted son William Parker (Parker being his last name). On that same page there were two other Deyoe families listed. There was an Addison and his wife Elizabeth with their 14 year old twins, as well as a Charles and his wife Margaret. I do not have them connected yet but both Addison and Charles were farmers and both spelled their names Deyoe as well so I will research them more as I go on. 

New York conducted a State Census in 1875 which has proved quite useful. Daniel, 42 at the time, is a farmer and was born in Greene County. His wife Louisa, 38, lists her birthplace as Delaware. The question was, “In what county in this state or in what state or foreign country, were you born?” There is a Delaware County in New York State. Other references show her as being born in NY so I believe this is Delaware County, NY. 

On the same page as Daniel, I found Addison and Elizabeth with their children Charles and nine year old twins. Addison is a farmer and Charles is a farm laborer. They were all born in Greene County. They also have a hired black domestic servant living with them. Her name is Agnes Lawrence and she is from South Carolina. Living next to them, is Walker Deyoe, also a farmer, and his wife and children. Walker, his wife Caroline, and their boys William and John, were all born in Greene County. 

The 1860 Census is of course missing but I found Daniel in the New York, Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1790-1890. Unfortunately an image is not available at Ancestry.com. The record however does state that he was living in Lexington, Greene County, NY in 1860. I also found him in Lexington on the Agricultural Schedule that year. It only lists the head of the house so the entire family is not listed. The writing is very light but I can make out that Daniel had four horses, five milk cows, 23 other cattle, five sheep and four swine. 

In 1850 Daniel is still living with his parents. They are in Middletown, Delaware County. His 57 year old father, John, is a farmer. Living there also is Daniel’s mother, Sarah, age 54, and his siblings: 18 year old Hannah, 15 year old Polly, and 10 year old Christopher. At least, I believe this to be my Daniel. His mom’s name is Mary, although I do have other records where her name appears as Mary Polly “Sarah” indicating Sarah is a nickname. This is the only reference to his family in Delaware County that I found so far. Also, John lists the family name as spelled Deyo, without the e on the end. In either case, he is a farmer.

It would seem that at least two generations – Daniel and his father John – knew all about plowing through!  It would also seem that several Deyoe men were farmers.

Daniel is one of my goals this year to plow through. I cannot find his death date. I can narrow it to between 1880 and 1910.

 

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks is a weekly genealogical challenge issued by Amy Johnson Crow, of No Story Too Small. Look for my weekly posts each Thursday!  

 

 

© Jeanne Ruczhak-Eckman, 2015