Collins Mix and the Tioga County Poor House - Part 1

So I've got this problematic 4th Great Grandfather, Collins Mix.  He's problematic because when I first applied to the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), my application had to be rejected as the father/son relationship between Collins Mix and his son Jonathan Collins Mix is assumed but not proven.  The slightly unusual first name of "Collins" comes from his mother's maiden name.

I know that somewhere, there's got to be a small item in a local newspaper, or a bible page, but so far, no one has found them.  So, when I can, I come back to him to see what I can find.

Collins was born on 20 January 1777 in Wallingford, CT, to Thomas Mix and Lois Collins.  I know of one brother to Collins, an older brother named Joel.

By the time Collins was in his early 20s in the 1800 US Census, he was in Clarendon, Rutland County, VT, married to Leafe Ide.

By the 1810 Census, the family was south of there, in Northumberland, Saratoga County, NY.  Finally, by the 1820 and 1830 censuses they stopped their wandering in Candor, Tioga County, NY.  I have yet to locate him in the 1840 census.

From what I can tell so far, they had 4 living children, Olive, Jonathan Collins, Squire Ide, and Sevinah.  Interesting names to be sure, and genealogists LOVE interesting and unusual names!!!!  As a little girl I was frustrated with my own name, always having to pronounce it and spell it for people, but boy did my perspective change once I started researching genealogy!  Thomas Mix, son of Thomas Mix, son of Thomas Mix, son of Thomas Mix, and every female named Elizabeth or Sarah, UGH!!!!!  LOL, but I digress....

Now, on to the 1850 census, the first that really gives us some good details on our people.  I found Collins Mix, but he was not only alone, he was listed as a "pauper" in the Tioga County Poorhouse.

There's lots of reasons a person might end up in a "Poorhouse" in the 1800s - you could of course, be poor, but you might also have a disability like blindness or deafness, some kind of congenital disease, you might be an alcoholic, or have mental illness.  And despite the best intentions that might have gone into creating a poorhouse, it was a place best avoided if  possible.  So how is Collins there, alone?  He had adult kids, he had a wife.  Leafe shows up in the 1865 New York State census, living with her daughter Sevinah and her family so she was alive - unfortunately, despite her lovely unusual name, she remains elusive - I have not yet been able to find her whereabouts in 1850.

But now, Jonathan Collins Mix is findable in 1850 - I found him living in the same county as his dad Collins, in the Candor NY 1850 census.  He's listed with his wife and 4 kids.  So why isn't Collins living with his son if he's so close by?

So that's a clue that perhaps there was something going on with Collins where either he didn't want to be with family members or they weren't in a position to take him in.  Could have been mental illness, alcoholism, but all I know for sure is he's listed as a "pauper" in the 1850 census.  Could be he was just a jerk!  Or maybe his family were the jerks!  We'll never know for sure.

So armed with this information, back in 2009 I traveled up to the Tioga County Historical Society.  It's on a serene tree-lined street right up on the river in Owego NY.

There I found an index card in their files during a search for Collins Mix. The index card said the following information was from the "Tioga County Keeper's Book":

     Mix, Collins
     D. 17 Jan. 1852 ae 73 at the Poor House
     12 Nov. 1850 admitted ae 72, intemperate
     Residence Tioga County

AHA!  So there we go - "intemperate".  In this case, the word intemperate was often used to denote alcoholism.  So if that is truly what's going on, that would explain why his family, though nearby, didn't have Collins living with them.  Of course, he could have had a terrible temper......

Perhaps he was prone to rits of fealous jage

Anyhoo, with that information, I was then able to locate, on microfilm at the Historical Society, the following, which proved the death information on the index card:

     Mortality at the Poor House
     Names of persons who have died at the Poor House during the year 
     ending on the 1st Day of Dec. 1852 
     (Furnished by Col. Daniel Bacon, Keeper).
     ...
     Collins Mix, formerly of Candor, Jan 17th 1852, 73
     ...
     Average number of inmates, about 75
     Proportion of Deaths about as 1 to 5
     Of the whole number received, the proportion is as 1 - 17

This was from "The Owego Gazette", Number 21, 15 January 1853, page 2.

While there at the historical society in 2009, I asked about that Tioga County Keeper's Book mentioned on the index card, but was told at the time that they did not have it, though if I reached out to other historians in the area I might be able to locate it.

And so there for many years, was the end of my information about my 4th Great Grandfather, Collins Mix.

Up next, Part 2!!!!  No, I didn't prove the father-son relationship (I WISH!), but I did find out more cool stuff along with my cousin!

US Presidents in the Family - Part Deux

All right, so as a follow up to my last post on connections to U.S. Presidents on my maternal side, here are U.S. Presidents specific to my Paternal side.

My paternal side has deep roots in the U.S. just like my maternal side, but instead of New England, it's British immigrants to what is now Virginia and Maryland.


9th US President - William Henry Harrison

Unfortunately, William, my 1st cousin 6x removed, died from pneumonia only 31 days into his term, this being the shortest any U.S. President served.  Stories say he died from getting sick after giving a very long inauguration speech in poor weather, but that's just a tall tale. He was, however, the first President to die in office so that freaked everyone out and they then had to make sure there were rules in place if that happened again.  William was the son of Benjamin Harrison V, who was a signer of the Declaration of Independence.  It's strange to think back to my childhood school visits to Independence Hall in Philadelphia meant I was walking literally in Benjamin's same steps.  Maybe I would have paid more attention!!

23rd US President - Benjamin Harrison

Benjamin (yes SOOO many Benjamin Harrisons) is my 3rd cousin 4x removed. However, I am related to him twice, on both my maternal and paternal sides (on my maternal side, he's my 6th cousin 5x removed).  I have a soft spot for finding out how I'm related to someone multiple times, I just love it LOLOL!  Yeah, I pretty much am my own cousin.  AnyHOO, on my paternal side, our common ancestors are his grandfather, Benjamin HARRISON IV (above) and his wife Anne CARTER.  The Carter family is also among some of the first families to immigrate to Virginia.

39th US President - James Earl Carter Jr.

Jimmy Carter, who is the first president I was aware of existing as a child, is my 10th cousin 1x removed.  Our common ancestors are John CARTER and Bridget BENION, Londeners who were parents to  emigrants to Virginia in the 1600s.

Now, since doing this research, I've found that there's actually even more Presidents that I'm related to on both sides but I thought I'd focus on the closest relations.

As long as you can find that one ancestral line that hits a royal somewhere in Europe, you're pretty likely to find that you are related to all kinds of historically famous people.  It's been a really fun indulgence the last few weeks going over all these lines and it does suddenly bring history to life when you realize some name you read is actually a relation, no matter how distant!

US Presidents in the Family

So I treated myself just after Christmas to a great book published by the New England Historic Genealogical Society: Ancestors of American Presidents, by Gary Boyd Roberts.

I knew there were a few presidents who were cousins, but I wasn't sure of exactly how and I really wanted to look at trustworthy research that I could then of course verify myself!

I looked first on my mother's side because my Dad already knew on his side of the family that he was cousins with the two HARRISON presidents, William Henry and his grandson, Benjamin.

My maternal MIX ancestry has some very deep New England roots, even one Mayflower ancestor so I knew that's where I would look for any lines that lead to Presidents and sure enough, we've got a grand total of FOUR, which is really cool.


13th US President - Millard Fillmore

Yep, lucky number 13 is my 5th cousin 5x removed.  Our common ancestors were Oliver PURCHASE and Thomasine HARRIS.  Oliver and Thomasine lived in Dorset, England, and it was some of their children who decided to journey to America in the 1600s. 

Millard Fillmore became president in 1850 because the sitting President Zachary Taylor died from cholera, and Millard was the Vice-President at the time.










18th US President - Ulysses S. Grant


Grant was my 6th cousin 5x removed.  Our common ancestors were William ROCKWELL and Susan CAPEN.  William and Susan emigrated from Dorset, England to Connecticut in the 1600s. 

I learned an interesting thing while finding out exactly who Ulysses S. Grant was - his birth name was actually Hiram Ulysses Grant, but due to an error on his West Point admission form, he was kind of "re-christianed" Ulysses S. Grant and apparently he stuck with it :-D He was twice elected President.








23rd US President - Benjamin Harrison

Benjamin is my 6th cousin 5x removed and his grandfather is my 4th cousin 7x removed. We are related on my maternal side through Benjamin's grandmother, Anna Tuthill SYMMES.  Through her our common ancestors are Francis CHICKERING and Anne FISKE of Suffolk, England.  Francis and Anna emigrated in the 1600s to Massachusetts. 

I was specific about Benjamin's grandmother because on my paternal side, we are related through Benjamin's Grandfather, who also just so happened to be a President (the 9th one), but more on him in my future paternal post!








30th US President - Calvin Coolidge, Jr

Calvin Coolidge is my 9th cousin 3x removed.  Our common ancestors were Bernard CAPEN and Joan PURCHASE.  Notice the last name of Capen, yes, Grant and Coolidge are related as well, they were 7th cousins, 2x removed.  And notice the last name of Purchase, he was cousins with Millard Fillmore too, 7th cousins, 3x removed. Interestingly, he also became president because he was Vice-President and the President died!  Warren G. Harding died from a heart attack.  Calvin stepped up and was then also elected President after that.

And there you have it!  It's interesting that all our connections go back to England and immigrants who came to New England in the 1600s.  Next up will be a review of Presidents on my paternal side.

Family in World War I

Today is Veteran's Day 2018 and that makes it 100 years since the end of World War I.  I thought I'd bring attention to relatives of mine that were part of WWI.

I don't happen to have any direct ancestors who were in the Great War, due to ages, deaths of my ancestors, so below are all relatives of some sort, not direct ancestors.  I've listed what branch of the armed forces they were in and any other notable information I might have.

I know there are more I haven't found yet, but this is who I have for now!  I also think it's important to note that of the 8 men listed here for my paternal side, 3 of them died from Influenza.  This was the Flu Pandemic of 1918 which unfortunately not many have a memory of as a warning for today. 

Maternal Side

My maternal 1st Cousin 4x removed Edward John KIRBY was a Private in the US Army. He began service on 07 Jun 1917 at the age of 20, he was born in the Finger Lakes area of New York.


My maternal 2nd cousin 3x removed Hiram N. MADIGAN was a Private in the US Army. He grew up on a farm in Ontario County, New York. Here is is mentioned in the 17 Aug 1917 Democrat and Chronicle out of Rochester, NY:

My maternal 3rd cousin 2x removed Clarence Vernon MIX was a Private in the US Army. Born in Kansas, his family moved to Idaho to farm, and he is the older brother of Paul, below.


My maternal 3rd cousin 2x removed Paul Irven MIX was a Private in the US Army. Born in Kansas, his family moved to Idaho to farm, and he is the younger brother of Clarence, above.


Paternal Side

My paternal Great Grand Uncle Anton Roman POKORNOSKI was a Private in the US Army, from 20 Dec 1917 through 20 Nov 1918. He was a farmer by trade, born in Minnesota.  He was 26 when he went to war.


My paternal Great Grand Uncle Michael N. PAWLAK was a Private in the US Army.  He never saw action overseas though, he died in Chicago of Influenza on 07 Oct 1918.  He was only 22 and had lived on a farm his whole live in Minnesota.


My paternal 1st cousin 2x removed Bernard C. HARRISON was in the US Army.


My paternal 1st cousin 3x removed Joseph LEWANDOSKI was a Private in the US Army.  He died in France on 28 Sep 1918 of Influenza.  He was only 24 and had lived on a farm in Minnesota his whole life.


My paternal 1st cousin 3x removed Thomas C. PAWLAK was a Fireman 3rd Class in the US Navy.  Born in Minnesota, he was in the Navy from 15 Dec 1917 through 17 Dec 1918; he was a 22 year old farmer, born in Minnesota.


My paternal 2nd cousin 2x removed Ellis Reuben HARRISON was in the US Army. He died of Influenza at Camp Meade in Maryland on 16 Aug 1918, he was 24 years old and had always lived in Maryland. Here he is listed on a Death List within a long article about the current state of the Flu epidemic in the 15 Oct 1918 Baltimore Sun:

My paternal 2nd cousin 2x removed Freddie Eugene HARRISON was in the US Army.


My paternal 2nd cousin 2x removed John William BURDETTE was in the US Army.

DNA Cousins - Paternal Side

So as a follow up to my last post on maternal DNA cousins, here are my Paternal DNA cousins.  The purpose here was to look in my DNA matches within Ancestry to see how far back in my tree I can go with some cousin connections.  Ancestry shows if others show the same people in a tree as me, and we are matching some DNA.  That helps confirm that the tree may be correct (assuming there is documentation to back it up of course).

PATERNAL SIDE:

Robert CARTER, b. 1663 and Elizabeth LANDON, b. 1683

These two are my 7th great grandparents from Virginia.  It's very interesting to me that my maternal and paternal trees have absolutely NO intersection whatsoever.  My maternal side goes back to the Puritans who first came to New England and other immigrants who came in through New York and then moved to New York State and westwards.  My paternal side started with the immigrants who settled Virginia and included later immigrants who came in through the port of Baltimore.

Benjamin HARRISON IV, b. 1695 and Anne CARTER, b. 1696

Okay, so the son of Benjamin and Anne that is my direct ancestor, William, is not yet a proven son of these two, though it's generally accepted that he is.  But considering the VAST amount of Harrison cousins in my Ancestry account, he's definitely of that family line for sure, so it could really be true he is an undocumented son.  Without him, my 7th great grandparents above would not be true, but I'm listing them anyway at this point.  Hopefully it will be proven one day!

Nehemiah MOXLEY, b. 1738 and Elizabeth NORWOOD, b 1740

These two are my 6th great grandparents, they were in Anne Arundel County, Maryland.  The Moxley family spread far and wide in Maryland.

Thomas LUCAS, b. 1733 and Mary CHAMBERLAINE

These two are my 5th great grandparents, they were located in Maryland.

William SHIPLEY, b. 1729 and Rebecca SELLMAN

These two are my 5th great grandpaents, they were also located in Maryland (seeing a pattern here?).  The Shipley family spread far and wide in Maryland just like the Moxley's, there are tons of them!

Anton POKORNOWSKI, b. 1813 and Marianna BUDZYNSKI, b. 1830

These two are my 3rd great grandparents, they both emigrated from Poland with their 7 children and settled in McLeod County, Minnesota. There they had 2 more children.  Oh, and Anton had a first wife in Poland and he had 8 kids with her, some of whom stayed in Poland, some of whom emigrated as well.  SO MANY CHILDREN!  This probably explains why I have a lot of DNA cousins in Ancestry with this line!

I'm really interested in how DNA is going to affect verification of family lines, it's certainly different from the old days!