Scholefield Family Tree
I feel that I have gotten close to a stopping point on this Scholefield Tree. My searches into the ancestral lines are not yielding results.
However, the internet is changing all the time. Since our defined limits for these cold genealogy projects for unrelated individuals state that only online research will be conducted, the information explosion is something to keep in mind. My last task before wrapping up and writing a report on the Scholefield family, is to make sure that nothing new has appeared on the internet and that I have looked at all of the things I planned to research.
Once that has been completed, the project really won’t be finished, but it will be to a point where I will want to write up what I know and put it aside. Maybe someday I will return to it.
First thing I find: In regards to Harmanus, I wanted to look at the nearby families and a pension record on Footnote that could have belonged to a family member.1 The censuses weren’t conclusive — I couldn’t even locate the pensioner who was living with Harmanus in 1830.
The pension records didn’t reveal anything helpful. John/Johannes DeGraff was born 19 Aug 1754 in Glenville, Albany (now Schenectady), New York, to Claas and Ariaantje Schermerhorn.2 He provided his baptismal record and described his service during the war. But he didn’t say anything about his current family. This is the correct John because his application states he was currently living in Johnstown, Amsterdam County, New York.
However, the later censuses for the family (after Harmanus’s death) reveal some interesting bits of information.
The 1850 Census for the DeGraff family listed:3
Susan Degraff age 33
Hellen age 10
Catherine age 9
Alonzo age 4
Susan age 3
On the same page are the families of: Frederick Degraff age 51, John J. Degraff age 44, and John Degraff age 40.
By 1860 Susannah and Alonzo are alone in the home, surrounded by DeGraffs: Abm DeGraff age 53, John A. DeGraff age 50, Frederick DeGraff, age 61, John G. DeGraff age 44, Garret DeGraff age 30, Emanuel Degraff age 50.4
The 1870 Census listed:5
Susan DeGraff age 51
Susan DeGraff age 22
Alonzo DeGraff age 24
Mary V Scholefield age 8
Again we see some of the same names appear nearby: John A. Degraff age 61, John G. DeGraff age 65, John P. DeGraff age 33, and Abram DeGraff age 62.
These censuses point to some questions!
Research Plan:
- Investigate Catherine from the 1850 Census. Was she a daughter?
- Where did Susan DeGraff, child of Harmanus and Susan, go during the 1860 Census? Could she be living with family?
- Is it possible that some of the DeGraff men who live nearby could be siblings of Harmanus? Or are there just too many of them to tell?
1. See post dated 30 Nov 2009.
2.”Revolutionary War Pensions,” database and images, Footnote (http://www.footnote.com : accessed 16 Jan 2010); John De Graf (De Graff, De Graaf), New York, pension no. S.15090; Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M804.
3. 1850 U.S. census, Montgomery County, New York population schedule, Amsterdam, p. 125A, dwelling 251, family 271, Susan Degraff household; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 16 Jan 2010); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M432, roll 532.
4. 1860 U.S. census, Montgomery County, New York population schedule, Amsterdam, p. 524, dwelling 177, family 180, Susannah DeGraff household; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 17 Jan 2010); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M653, roll 787.
5. 1870 U.S. census, Montgomery County, New York population schedule, Amsterdam, p. 78B, dwelling 1054, family 1190, Susan DeGraff; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 17 Jan 2010); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M593, roll 974.