52 Ancestors: Unusual Name

I have quite a few unusual names in my tree which made it difficult to pick just one.  But I decided to focus on my 6x great grandfather, Phineas Waller.  Not only is the name unusual but I've seen it spelled different ways - Phinneas, Phinehas and Phinias.  But the majority of the time it is Phineas so I'll go with that.

Per Connecticut Town Birth Records pre 1870 (the Barber Collection), Phineas Waller, the son of Abigail (Magoon) and Joseph Waller, was born in Woodbury, Litchfield County, Connecticut on 31 October 1717.  And the Connecticut Church Record Abstracts, Vol. 131, states that Phinehas, s. Joseph, was baptized on 3 November 1717.

Of course there weren't census records that far back so it's a bit difficult to trace him, but I have found quite a bit of information for him.  Years ago I contacted the Cornwall Historical Society and was provided with a lot of information that, sadly, went into a box until I pulled it out today.  Here's a sample:

Cornwall and its Antient [sic] Settlers by Timothy Stone

Wait - WHAT?  "on the hill bearing his name"?  Yep, that's right - Waller Hill is an actual 'place' in Cornwall, Connecticut and is named for MY Waller family.  It's a little hard to see below but in the shaded area is Waller Hill and Waller Hill Road.

I learned some interesting facts about Phineas from Cornwall and its Antient Settlers. 

In Table A, the List of the Polls and Rateable Property of the Town 1742, the listers were Jonathan Squire, Nathaniel Green, and Samuel Messenger - would that be the individuals who created the list?  No matter, Phineas was listed along with "1 head, 1 ox, 1 horse".  Huh?  And at the bottom it showed the totals: 1433 lbs, 45 persons, 52 polls, 41 oxen, 21 swine, 43 horses, 52 cows, 9 young cattle.  Okay, I think I've got it - 45 persons are listed on the List and 52 "heads" which could be the number of people?

Table B, The List of the Polls and Rateable Property of the Town, 1744 shows Phineas with 1 head and 1 horse.  What happened to his ox?

Table C, The List of the Polls and Rateable Property of the Town, 1745 shows no sign of Phineas.  But the footnote states:  "The omission of Benjamin Dibble and Phineas Waller from this list is unexplained, unless inadvertent.  They appear in earlier and later files.

And sure enough, Table D, The List of the Polls and Rateable Property of the Town, 1748 now includes Phineas with the numbers beside his name 31-0-0.  I have no idea what that means.

Another fun fact about Phineas is that he, along with Jonathan Harris, were the first deacons of Cornwall Church/First Church of Christ.  

I was also provided with the Town Meeting Minutes, 1740-1875, transcription and notes by Michael R. Gannett.  Here I found several references to Phineas.

October 12, 1743:  That Israel Moss should be Surveyor of Highways for the year ensuing, that Phineas Waller should be another, that John Griffis should be a third, that Jonathan Squier should be a fourth.

December 11, 1749:  That Phineas Waller and Isaac Moss should be Tithingmen for the year ensuing.  I found the definition of Tithingmen to be an elected local official having the functions of  a peace officer in various American Colonies (as in New England and Maryland).  

December 12, 1747:  Item, that Capt. Amos Johnson, Deac. Phineas Waller, Samuel Abbott should be a committee to take care of ye Parsonage & School Money belonging to ye Town of Cornwall for ye year ensuing.

September 18, 1759:  Voted that the pews in the Meeting House should be seated, & that at the discretion of the following person chosen a committee for sd purpose, viz., Deac. Phineas Waller, Reuben Squir, Lieut. Joshua Pierce, Capt. John Jeffery, Deac. Samuel Abbit, Sergt. John Dibble Esq., John Patterson.

December 11, 1759:  Voted School Committee for ye northwest women's school Reuben Squire, Phineas Waller, Phineas Spaulding.

June 12, 1780:  At a Special Town Meeting legally warned and holden at the Meeting House in the Town of Cornwall on the 12th day of June A.D. 1780, Mr. Phineas Waller was chosen Moderator of said meeting.

So I know that Phineas stayed in Cornwall until his death on 25 June 1787 in Cornwall.  One day I hope to find his burial site.

Thanks to the Cornwall Historical Society for providing so much information about my 6x great grandfather, Phineas Waller.

52 Ancestors: Challenge

This week’s blog prompt was, well, um……a challenge.

I have lots of challenges with brick wall ancestors, folks who either just showed up or left never to be heard from again, and documenting my ancestry to Ashbel Waller, my Revolutionary War patriot, so that I can join Daughters of the American Revolution.  But today I put all those challenges aside so that I could focus on the unidentified photos I have that were taken by my Great Grandfather, Abraham Gunzendorfer.

I don’t really know for sure if Abe was a “true” professional photographer but I do know that he at least dabbled in it and I have many, many photos to prove it.  I have a box of photos with this on the back.

While it is very cool to have these photos, it really makes it a challenge because I can’t be sure if the people or places are important to my family or just a photo that Abe took and hung on to.

This is, apparently, one of his first photos because he did me a favor and wrote on the back.  Why, why, WHY didn’t people identify the subject by labeling it.  Yes, I know that probably 80% of my photos are blank on the back – I guess I figured I’d never forget which kid is which but as the years go by, I find myself questioning my memory.

Thanks, Abe.  And not only did you tell me that it was your first photograph, I’m extremely happy to have confirmation that you were the Gunzendorfer son who dabbled in photography.

What is the significance of this?  Just an interesting ship or was someone important to you on this ship?

There are many photos of parades and presidential visits – I shared the story of Abe photographing President McKinley’s visit to Monterey in 1901 HERE.  And here’s a parade which I’m guessing is down Alvarado Street, one of the major streets in Monterey at the time.  I can’t be sure but I believe The White House, the Gunzendorfer family mercantile, might be the building just to the left of the Del Monte Drug store.

Speaking of Del Monte, Abe has a few photos of the Hotel Del Monte.  This hotel was established in 1880 and was one of the finest luxury hotels in the country.  During World War II the hotel closed and was leased to the Navy.  It first served as a school for enlisted men and later became the Naval Postgraduate School of the United States Navy.  It is now known as Hermann Hall and functions as administrative offices and hotel for the school.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotel_Del_Monte

Wonder what and where this is?

Could this be the street in Monterey Abe and Bertha lived on?  Or just a beautiful street somewhere in America?

Who are these people?  And did they really just drink all that?

Or these nice young women – who are you?

Or this – should I know this young man?

Wait, wait, wait just a minute.  Could this be Milton Harry Schwartz, Birdie Schwartz Gunzendorfer’s brother?

Milton Harry Schwartz, 28 February 1894

And then as I looked further in the box, I found this.  And on the back it said “M.H. Schwartz, photographer”.  So Milton was a photographer, too?  And this is the same guy, right?  Oh geez, things just got more challenging.

Finally, Abe gave me a clue – check out this photo from 1898.  I’ve seen that dog before and now I know these gents are Jacob W. Gunzendorfer, Abe’s younger brother, and Abe. 

While I love having all of these photos, I wish I didn’t have the challenge of identifying all of the people and places.

52 Ancestors: First

I’m so happy to have another year of blog prompts from Amy Johnson Crow.  The good news is that these prompts get my juices flowing – the bad news is that each week gives me more questions and additions to my “to do” list.

This week’s prompt is First.  I reflected on this for a few days – who was the first ancestor I researched?  Whose was the first grave I saw?  Who was the first….. And then it came to me – which of my ancestors were listed in the First United States Census in 1790?

Without looking I knew that of my direct ancestors, one would be Ashbel Waller, my 5x great grandfather.  My maternal ancestors go back a LONG way in the United States while my paternal ancestors didn’t arrive until the mid 1800’s.  So I could skip that side of the family and focus on my maternal side.

First, I wanted to learn more about the first census, which had an official enumeration date of 2 August 1790.  That census showed a population of 3,929,214 in, of course, 13 states.  The cost of the census was $44,000 or a cost per capita of 1.1 cents.  There were 56 pages with the data from an estimated 650 enumerators.  All of this was directed by the Census Bureau Director, Thomas Jefferson.  1790 Census Fast Facts

Sure enough, there was Ashbel in Luzerne, Pennsylvania – along with his brothers Daniel, Joseph, and Nathan.

First Census of the United States, 1790 (NARA microfilm publication M637, 12 rolls).

There it shows that there were five household members – 1 Free White Male, 16 and over, 2 Free White Males, under 16, and 2 Free White Females.  So the one white male over 16 would be Ashbel, the two white males under 16 would be Salmon (my 4x great grandfather!), and, and, and…. who?  I can only guess at the females in the house – wife Sarah (Abbot) Waller and a daughter.  But I’m not 100% sure of the birth dates for the children so will need to do more research to be sure.  Add it to my “to do” list.

I know that Ashbel’s father, Phineas, died in 1787 so he wouldn’t be there.  And I don’t know when his mother died but since she was born in 1717, it’s very probable that she was also dead.  Add it to my “to do” list.

Here’s how I descend from Ashbel – Clara Fitzgerald was my mother’s mother.



Next up was another branch of my tree, my mother’s paternal side of the family.  And there is my 4x great grandfather, Daniel Martin. 

Year: 1790; Census Place: Laurens, South Carolina; Series: M637; Roll: 11; Page: 448; Image: 267; Family History Library Film: 0568151

He is listed with three Free White Males, 16 and over; 4 Free White Males, under 16; and 4 Free White Females.  My guess is that along with Daniel, the other two white males age 16 and over were two sons.  The 4 white males under 16 could have been other sons, although I don’t have too much information on them.  And I only know of two females – wife Mary (Saxon) and daughter Mary.  Add that to my “to do” list.

Daniel’s parents were dead by 1790 and my 3x great grandfather, George Asbury Martin, was not born until 1798 so it looks like it was just Daniel enumerated in 1790.

And here’s how I descend from Daniel.  Earle Martin was my mother’s father.



I think that’s all I’ve got unless I go into siblings and their children.  Something I will not add to my “to do” list.  Yet.