Searching for Polly
It was a shot in the dark and it is paying off!
My ancestor Polly was a member of the Christian church as her son John Streeter Gleason mentioned in his biography and the church records found recently confirm that.
I had never tried it before but thought what’s there to lose? I sent an open records (Freedom Of Information Law or FOIL) request to Livingston County and after my email was forwarded half a dozen times, I was connected with the County Historian and we hit pay dirt! Thanks to Holly, Deptuy Livingston County Historian, an old record book of church records was found that had not been scanned…I asked for a few images and and historian Holly graciously sent them to me to share with family! Now the entire book is scanned but not available online yet. This was the first record that put Polly and her mother in the same place at the same time.
In Lakeville, Livingston registers, Polly is listed as being received in the Christian church 29 Aug 1818 with a Betsey Howard, who family says could be her mother. Interesting to note this is a year before John Streeter Gleason was born, so Polly would have been a member of the Christian church all of John Streeter’s growing up years. Polly’s oldest son Elijah is received into the same church 7 May 1825, possibly having been positively influenced by his mother’s and grandmother’s examples of good character. Another church record image confirms Polly Gleason and Betsey Howard were not removed and are still in good standing as of the 23rd January 1822.
As the search continued, I found the Gleason DNA project, that verified many of the records that had been found, but also drew a blank on searching for Polly Howard Gleason in the area and more about her family.
In Gleason’s family biography, my ancestor John doesn’t say what happens to his mother, as he grows older and leaves the house. Circumstantial evidence has agreed that Polly Howard married and lived with Ezekiel Gleason until around 1840 when she is no longer found, according to the age of the tic marks in the census record. Some suggest 1860 as year of death with no sources. Speculation abounds as to whether she left the family, divorced, returned to Massachusetts, etc but no proof of that has been found.
Interestingly, I thought about the FAN research and started to wonder why Ezekiel the father and a few brothers had moved to MIneral Point, Wisconsin, It seemed so random from New York. Elijah had a land grant, but upon looking at the image, what shocked me the most was was not the name of his mother, Polly Gleason, deceased, but that she was listed as sister to a deceased John Howard, who had served in the War of 1812!
Until this record, I never even knew John existed! But using the information on the land grants, I started researching him. His military record on Fold3. His land grant application on Ancestry and paying for application from the New York Archives. From taht I pieced together the following:
John Howard served as private in the 23rd infantry under Horatio Gates Armstrong, in Captain Odell’s company and also under command of Lietanant Henry Whiting. With the war heating up in New York, John signed on for service 19 Mar 1813 and 11 months later, he died on the 18th of Feb 1814 in Chateuguay, Franklin, New York. All verified with military records listing the information!
Following the new research, Polly Howard and her mother (who were last living in Livingston county, New York) passed away long before 1860, even before 1840. If Polly’s mother is indeed Betsey Howard, then Betsey had the son John who served in the US Army during the War of 1812 and it is because of him we have more direction and details to continue the search.
Someone, likely Polly, applied for his land owed due to his War of 1812 service. It was granted but the records show since Polly was deceased, the grant were returned So following land grant numbers and applications, I found the land Mineral Point land finally re-issued to Polly’s son, Elijah and other heirs, which is where they were living in the later census records and my ancestor John returns to visit his father and brother. It was all thanks to previously unknown Uncle John Howard’s service in the War of 1812. So my question as to when Polly had passed away was indirectly answered through researching her oldest son, Elijah.
