Scholefield Family Tree
So, I’m working along, making connections and adding data to this family line, and as I look at the next names from the lawsuit, I hit some difficulties. At this point, I have to think back to the Genealogical Proof Standard and determine how to deal with conflicting information. I can’t just ignore it because it may be the one thing that shows that a connection to another generation is incorrect.
From the lawsuit, there are a few more Moores I have not placed: Michael Moore and his wife Maria and Archibald Dunlap Moore and his wife Anna Maria.1
A Google search for “Archibald Dunlap Moore” turns up some family trees that report his parents as Michael Moore and Jane Dunlap.2 Archibald’s brother is reported as Michael Moore who married Maria Sherman. Could these two brothers be the last Moores I am looking for?
Trinity’s Parish Register search concurs that Archibald Dunlap Moore was born to Michael and Jane Moore on 14 May and was baptized on 7 Jun 1801.3 The site also confirms additional data from the tree.
However, my problem arises when the tree states that Archibald Dunlap Moore had two wives: Sarah P. Moore who he married in 1839 and Catherine Fleming Fogarty who he married about 1852. Catherine lived until 1892. So it appears that this Archibald wasn’t married to Anna Maria at the time of the lawsuit!
A search of the 1850 Census only returns one Archibald Moore who was born in New York: The son of Michael and Maria Sherman Moore who was born in 1834. Checking for any possibles who had alternate spellings or initials doesn’t help either. Searching for Ann Moores in NYC reveals none married to an Archibald. But, it does turn up one Ann with a younger Ann (lunatic), Mary (age 13), and Catherine Folarty in her home.4
In 1860, I find the family as mentioned on the family tree sites. Archibald is living with his wife Catherine and their children Archibald (age 5) and Jane (age 7).5
Because there is no specific date, I wonder if the date for Archibald’s marriage to Catherine was guessed at. It is possible that he was married to another woman who gave birth to his children and then he married Catherine. If I really think outside the box, I could make up even weirder stories! Maybe the 1850 Ann (who was born about 1802) was actually an error. Was that Archibald? If so, it appears that his future wife could have been living with the family. Maybe he did marry Catherine about 1852, but since he was in PA, he wasn’t in touch with his brother and the brother didn’t know that Anna Maria was dead? And I suppose that it could even be possible that the lawsuit was begun years before the notice was posted.
Of course, I always need evidence to support any final tree I build or all this is just a flight of fancy. Based on the one name, is there enough to discount this family as being a match to the lawsuit?
The father of Archibald Dunlap Moore who married Catherine Fogarty is reported to be Michael Moore who was born in 1753 and died in 1841.2 This would make him of an age to be the sibling of Jacob Moore and therefore the son of Michael and Hannah Moore. If we ignore (or at least qualify the findings) it seems that Michael Moore and Maria Sherman sued his brother Archibald and all of his first cousins — likely over an estate left by Michael and Hannah Moore.
If I weren’t restricted to our self-imposed guidelines, I’d attempt to get my hands on a copy of that lawsuit. It would likely clarify the situation beyond a doubt.
1. See post dated 22 May 2010.
2. Brother Jordan Baxter, S.T., Family Tree Maker’s Genealogy Site, Jordan Baxter Family Home Page (http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/b/a/x/Brother-jordan-Baxter-st/index.html : accessed 25 Jun 2010), “User Home Page Genealogy Report: Descendants of Father of Michael Moore,” Generation No. 2.
3. Trinity Church, “Parish Registers,” database, Trinity Wall Street (http://www.trinitywallstreet.org/history/registers : accessed 24 Jun 2010), entry for Archibald Dunlap Moore, baptized 23 Jul 1824.
4. 1850 U.S. census, New York County, New York population schedule, New York, Ward 9, p. 165B, dwelling 1284, family 2187, Household of Ann Moore; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 24 Jun 2010); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M432, roll 543.
5. 1860 U.S. census, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania population schedule, Philadelphia, Ward 15, p. 467, dwelling 186, family 203, Household of Archd D. Moore; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 25 Jun 2010); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M653, roll 1165.