Calder Sisters in the 1870 Census

When we left off, I said that there were three important notations for the Calder family which had been made in the 1870 census. Two of these notations were obvious, and required very little interpretation, the other require much more investigation.

The first involve two sister Charlotte and Nina (pronounced Ni’nah) Robert Lake had said that two of his aunts had been domestics in households in Gouverneur NY, at one point in time. The census of 1870 identifies both Charlotte and Nina fulfilling that role in different residents, during this time period.

The oldest sister Elizabeth is the third sister found in the census she was identified by Robert Lake as having married James J. Smith also of Gouverneur, NY and beginning her family. Now you are probably thinking, wait just a minute didn’t I read earlier in this blog that Christie Calder Lake was living in a Smith residence 10 years before this? You would be right! You did, however until just recently I was unable to make any connection between the Smith Family that Joseph Lake’s sister married into and Christie Calder was living with and the Smith Family that Elizabeth Calder married into. I will demonstrate that connection later in the blog when we get to that area of the story.

Nina Calder entered service in the home of William and Polly Walling and was living in the home during the 1870 census as a domestic, between this point in time and the census of 1880 Nina married Charles Fry, had a Child Ella Mae, was divorces and married Henry Quackenbush. That marriage ended in 1883 upon the untimely death of Henry; there were two children that resulting of their brief marriage. Nina left New York State after Henry’s death and went to Grand Rapids, Michigan where she died in 1896 of a Kidney Infection following surgery.

Charlotte Calder entered service in the home of John and Elizabeth Pooler and was living in the home during the 1870 census and a domestic. Not much is known about Charlotte the next time she is scene is in the 1880 census in Antwerp, Jefferson Co., and New York she is identified as Lottie Calder, parents born in Scotland, she being born in Ontario Canada. She is working as a domestic in the home of George Dains, and his wife who is the principal of a school in Antwerp. Charlotte is not found in any research after that point; I am still attempting to track down what happened to her but nothing has come of it to date.

We will continue with the 1880 census and the introduction of other researchers working on the same problems next time.

Christie Ann Calder and Joseph J. Lake the research beginning

Calder Family research began for my father and I when we visited his Great Uncle Robert Lake in an assisted living facility in Upstate New York. Uncle Bob was well into his 80’s at the time but very sharp; he was able to relate details of the past very clearly. He was born in 1902 and never met his grandmother as she had passed two years after his birth and his grandfather Joseph died the year after he was born. So much of the information that he was able to relate was from other sources, his parents, and relatives of the day.

Bob had said that Christie Ann Calder came to this country from Scotland when she was about 3 years old with her mother and father. He was unsure how many siblings were also with them at the time, but he said ultimately there were 4 other sisters. Elizabeth Calder, who married James Smith, from Gouverneur, NY had several children and lived out life in that town. Great Uncle Robert said that there was a Janet Calder, who married a Morgan, but he didn’t have any other information on what happened to them. Charlotte Calder was another mystery: she was in Gouverneur, NY and that area, but he did not know what had happened to her. The last sister that he knew about was Nina Calder and she first married Charles Fry and had one daughter, Ella Mae, before they were divorced. She then married Henry Quackenbush, and they had two children, Emmit and Clara. After Henry passed away Nina moved away, and Uncle Bob wasn’t sure what had happened to her after that .

This is basically how the story of the Calder research began for me and that interview took place in the late 1970’s. Bob died in 1982. Subsequent research has proven that the vast majority of Bob’s statements were indeed fact; there were some things that he may have not known or had forgotten over time that I will document in further posts.

Welcome to the Calder Genealogy Blog!!

Welcome to the Calder Genealogy blog. I have created this place to open a discussion with other researchers working on Calder Family Genealogy who may have similar issues to mine or are part of the John Calder and Elizabeth Forbes Calder family. At the present time the following family lines directly descend from these two individuals:

Lake, Fry, Smith, Morgan, Quackenbush.

However, since there is very little information about several of John and Elizabeth’s children at this point, there may come a time when research advances us to increase the initial direct lines list. As we progress through this research project and history of our family the subgroups and hopefully more primary groups will be discovered and discussed.

My hope is that this will turn into a useful research tool.