Earl William Carson and Dorothy May Huff

Last week I was contacted by researchers, Art and Miriam Belding about their interest in the Baker family of the Ohio River Valley. They are working on the Baker branches that moved to Charlevoix Co., Michigan. These were the branches of interest to researcher, Earl William Carson, who many years ago wrote to Mrs. Fedorchak about his genealogy quest. Mrs. Fedorchak published at least one article in The Spirit of Democracy, published in Woodsfield, Monroe Co., OH, about their correspondence. As far as I can recall she never listed Earl's middle name and where he fit into the Baker tree or the name of his wife, Dorothy May Huff. I don't think she mentioned that both Earl and Dorothy had Baker ancestors.

Now, thanks to Art and Miriam, I was able to include Earl and Dorothy into my genealogy files for the first time. I'm pleased to learn that Art and Miriam have copies of many pages of Earl Carson's notes. It's a great thing for Baker family research to learn that Earl's notes aren't lost and to know that Art and Miriam are working on extracting the data and putting it into their Personal Ancestral File (PAF).

This morning, for the first time, I was able to prepare an Ahnentafel Chart that shows the Baker lines of both Earl and Dorothy.

When a contact like this happens it's always so much fun because you never know when, or if, a mystery will be solved. For me one of the most frustrating aspects of doing genealogy has always been that often we can't tell where a researcher fits and often no one knows what happened to their notes or whether they ever published anything and left it where those who come after can find it.

Dick Henthorn
1 Jun 2010

Baker, Isaac

Summary of Isaac BAKER - 16 May 2010
------------------------------------

Name: Isaac BAKER
Sex: Male
Father: John BAKER Capt. (bet 1735 and 1740 - 1787)
Mother: Elizabeth Ann SULLIVAN (14 Feb 1744 - 22 May 1836)

Individual Facts
Birth 13 Jan 1782 Fort Henry, Ohio Co., VA
Death abt 1865 (age 83) Boynton Twp., Tazewell Co., IL

Marriages/Children
1. Ruth BROCK
Marriage 6 May 1802 (age 20) Belmont Co., OH
Children
... George Washington BAKER (1801/2 - 1880)
... Jacob BAKER (1804 - )
... John A. BAKER (12 Apr 1806 - 18 Mar 1887)
... Isaac BAKER Jr. (1811 - )
... Sarah BAKER (20 Nov 1817 - Jul 1860)
... Lavina BAKER (1821 - 26 May 1861)
... John Nelson BAKER (8 Mar 1823 - 1 May 1907)
... Martin BAKER ( - )

Notes (Individual)
General:
Isaac Baker

PARENTS: Capt. John Baker and Elizabeth Ann Sullivan

BIRTH: Birth place listed as, Wheeling Creek on a family group sheet of Denver Yoho and Clarice Stanley.

MARRIAGE: From "Ohio Marriages Recorded in County Courts Through 1820: an Index" pg 41, Baker, Isaac m. Perkins, Ruth May 06, 1802 BELM DBA 069 (Furnished by Valerie Kramer)

QUESTION-CHILDREN: Did Isaac Baker and Ruth Brock really have two children, who reached adulthood, who had the same first name: John A. Baker and John Nelson Baker? If so, this is very unusual. Who can prove that both of these men were the sons of this couple? REH

RESIDENCES: Isaac Baker moved to Tazewell, IL, with his son, Isaac, after the death of Ruth (Brock) Baker. (Furnished by Anne Rast)

DEATH-CONFLICT: Was the date of death, 1886 in Taswell Co., OH or 1865 at Tazewell Co., IL (per DAR records)? Dick Henthorn and Valerie Kramer agree that they can't find a Taswell Co., OH. Can anyone cite a primary source that proves the death, 1865 in Boynton Twp., Tazewell Co., IL?


REFERENCE: From "Family Research in Monroe County, Ohio Vol I" pgs 398-399, "(6) Isaac Baker was born Feb. 1782 and died in 1865. N.S. DAR paper No. 319705 is for descent from Capt. John Baker through this son. That paper gives Isaac's birth as 1782 and death as 1865. It also states his wife was Ruth Brooke.

Hardesty's Historical Hand Atlas of Monroe Co., published in 1882, gives her name as Brock. I believe Brock is more likely, as Brocks also lived in Monroe Co. However, some of the Belmont Co. histories give her name as Ruth Perkins.

Page 9 of Hardesty's Historical Hand Atlas, Monroe Co. states, "John Nelson Baker, born this county (Monroe) March 8, 1823, son of Isaac Baker who died in 1865 and Ruth Brock, who died in 1844."

The lady who submitted the DAR paper was descended from Isaac and Ruth Baker through another son, George Washington Baker (1802-1880) and Nancy Floyd (1803-1859) who were married in 1821. This paper also refers to an earlier one for proof of service for Capt. John Baker, No. 317289, however I do not have a copy of that paper.

Paper #319705 also indicates that Elizabeth Sullivan and Capt. Baker were married at Philadelphia, Pa. in 1765.

Mr. Earl Carson of Boyne City, Michigan, also interested in this family, has stated that he believes Capt. John was married once prior to his marriage to Elizabeth Sullivan. Therefore if he and this DAR paper are correct and that marriage was in 1765, then Henry Baker (#1 in this column) born 1762/63 could not have been the son of Elizabeth Sullivan." (Furnished by Valerie Kramer)


RESEARCHER: Earl Carson of Boyne City, Michigan It is clear from the newspaper columns of Mrs. Catherine Fedorchak that Earl Carson was working on the genealogy of the Baker family.

Richard Henthorn asked Valerie Kramer if she knew where Mr. Carson fit into the Baker family tree and if he ever published the results of his research. Her reply follows.

"No, Earl Carson never published and it's a sad story.

I don't know exactly where he fits in myself. He lived in Michigan so is presumably a descendent of either John Carson and Sarah Conarissen Baker (dau. of John Farnsworth Baker, son of Martin D. Baker, son of Captain John Baker) or Samuel Carson and Laura Etta Baker (another daughter of John Farnsworth Baker). I don't know if John and Samuel Carson were related but it wouldn't surprise me. I guess this is an area I should pursue in more detail.

In any event, Earl Carson corresponded on a number of occasions with Mrs. Fedorchak as shown by his letters reproduced in the Fedorchak publications produced by the Monroe County Genealogy Society. Clearly he was working on Baker genealogy.

When I went to Michigan I visited with Myrtle Carson (nee Baker, dau of James Baker and Luella Kightlinger, son of Jacob N. Baker and Louisa May Butt, son of David Baker and Mary Jane Reynolds, son of Martin D. Baker, son of Captain John Baker), and with Benjamin Albert Thompson (son of Ulysses S. Grant Thompson, son of Margaret Ann Baker, dau of John Farnsworth Baker), and Laura Lynn Carson (Myrtle Baker-Carson's daughter-in-law through her son, Carl Carson.)

They told me, sitting around Myrtle's kitchen table, that Earl had spent 40 years amassing books, documents, notes, photos, and other Baker information. He had an entire room devoted to it. Upon his death his widow had it all boxed up and stored in a barn and wouldn't let anyone near it. She said she'd put up with it for 40 years and didn't want to hear about it any more. Reportedly she's rebuffed everyone who's tried to resurrect any of it. I did get a copy of a stack of notes that Myrtle had. Much of it is hard or impossible to read due to the poor quality of the original copy and much of it is just notes without context - lists of names or names and dates but no indication of what they are, etc. Perhaps with more study they would make more sense but I'm not sure it's worth the effort since they aren't primary evidence anyway. I got some information from them and am happy to have them but it may be the only legacy of Earl's 40 years of effort. If that isn't sad, I don't know what is!" (Furnished by Valerie Kramer)

Conger, James Lockwood

James Lockwood Conger

John Conger, who settled in Woodbridge, N. J., in 1667, was the ancestor of nearly all the native-born Congers in the country. He had two wives and a large family of children. From that day there has been a steady stream of Davids, Johns, and Josephs in succeeding generations of the family, most bewildering to one member of it, Mr. Charles L. Conger of McIntosh, Minn., who is patiently compiling a Conger Genealogy.

Very little has been preserved of the Cleveland life of James Lockwood Conger, a lawyer residing in the city between 1826 and 1840, save through a package of old letters written by Mrs. Conger to her only sister, Mrs. Erwina Miner of Centerville, Fairfield Co., Ohio. James L. Conger, b. in Trenton, N. J., was the son of David and Hannah Lockwood Conger, who later lived in Phelps, N. Y. He received his general education in that locality and studied law with Judge Ewing of Ohio.

In December, 1824, he married in Lancaster, O., Miss Paulina Belvedere Clark, daughter of Dr. Ezra and Sarah Clark, pioneers of that county and formerly of Middletown, Vt. James Conger was only nineteen years old and the bride but eighteen. The youth of the couple and the fact that they remained in Lancaster two years, suggests that he may have pursued his law studies after the marriage. A little boy named Seneca was born to them in Lancaster, who died young.

In April, 1826, they started for New York State to visit Mr. Conger's parents and perhaps with a view of settling near them. An acknowledgment of money received by the couple at that time is here given because of its phraseology

"Received, Lancaster, O., April 25, 1826, of our revered father, Dr. Ezra Clark, three hundred and fifty dollars towards our portion. J. L. CONGER. PAULINA B. CONGER."

They drove a span of horses all the way to eastern New York and return, as far as Cleveland, which they reached September 6th of the same year. And in this month begins the series of letters previously mentioned, a half-dozen only, but covering several years of the Conger's residence in Cleveland. These letters are unusual for that day and generation. The penmanship is beautiful, the composition correct in every particular. The writer must have been a woman of charming personality; a brave woman possessing great fortitude, but shy and sensitive, sweetly grateful for every kindness shown to her.

The depth of her affection is revealed in the messages to her aged father whom she seems to have idolized and whom, so far as the letters reveal, she never met again in this life. On her trip to New York she met Mr. Conger's family for the first time. Of these new relatives she writes

"I frequently think of the remark you made when we were last together, `Do not be too sanguine in your expectations of James' parents,' and I was cautious not to be so. But my own could not do more for me. James' sisters were all equally kind, each striving to be most so. I was almost afraid to mention anything I wanted for fear one of them would get it for me, and they seemed to think they could not give me enough. I really think the whole family would have liked to come on to Cleveland with me, they were so truly attached.

"Father Conger and James went to New York City, returning before July 5th. They purchased about three hundred and fifty dollars worth of books and other things. Father brought me a beautiful figured silk dress and other smaller presents."

The young couple drove back to Cleveland, but various and sundry household furnishings donated by the elder Congers were shipped by canal and Lake Erie. One barrel when opened was found to contain everything necessary for the laundry, while mop and dish-cloths had been tucked into another one. Nothing necessary or convenient in that line had been omitted or forgotten. And, just as the team was about to start on the long western journey, father Conger had placed a bill in his young daughter-in-law's hand, to be used by her for any personal need on the way.

When they reached Cleveland they found Mrs. Reuben Wood, wife of the future governor of the state, preparing for a visit to her former eastern home. Her sister was to accompany her, and they intended to remain until spring. Evidently the Conger and Wood families were previously acquainted. The latter at once turned over the house they occupied, with all the heavier furniture to Mr. Conger, at a rental of $80 for the eight months' use of it. This sum also included the kitchen garden well stocked with a variety of vegetables and five bushels of peaches yet ungathered.

The departure of Mrs. Wood and her sister is told in one of the letters. "They started on Sunday, September 10th. We went out on a lighter about a mile from shore to the steamboat with them. The waves were very high and became seasick on the way. Notwithstanding, on the whole I had a pleasant ride."

The young wife seems to have been very lonely in the new strange town, her only acquaintance in it having been Mrs. Wood whose return she pathetically anticipates. Meanwhile, Mr. Conger had purchased a lot on the south-east side of the Public Square. The east corner of the May Co.'s big department store now covers the site, and upon this he began the erection of a small frame-house, which, four years later, was considerably enlarged.

Mrs. Conger dwells upon the delights of its possession; speaks with pride of the sodding of her "door yard," and of her planting in it a rose, a lilac, and a snowball bush; of the high board fence surrounding three sides of the lot, and a little later of the arbor covered with five kinds of grapes, and of the square of English strawberries each side of the arbor, from which she picked sixteen quarts of fruit.

Stand, if you will, in front of the towering Cushing Building and imagine the little home, the lilac, and the snowball bush!

The furnishing of their house progressed slowly.

"I believe all the furniture we have, so far, are fees. James has sent to Pittsburgh, by a man who owes him, for a carpet for the front chamber and hall, and I have just finished a pretty rag-carpet for the back room."

The second summer after the house on the Square was occupied Mr. Conger's sisters, Hannah and Phebe, both mentioned as "beautiful young girls," make the family a long visit. We can imagine how pleasant those months must have been when we are told that "there are numerous young men in town, but very few young women." And in connection with this who can not read romance in the opportunities afforded in the statement, "There are many beautiful walks and rambles on this delightful lake. Every Sunday, after meeting, James and I take a walk by the lake, and often through the week we stroll through the Square and Ontario street to it and spend the twilight hours there." This was written August, 1827.

James Conger must have given evidence of unusual ability in his profession for one so young, or he never would have found himself associated with Thomas Bolton, one of Cleveland's most able jurists. "Bolton & Conger, Attornies and Counsellors, Hancock Block, No. 93 and 95 Superior Street," they announce professionally.

Some time after the panic of 1837, that was the cause of scattering many of the numerous Cleveland lawyers and doctors to all points of the compass, James L. Conger removed to Belvedere, Mich., where in 1847, after four years of battling with tuberculosis, Mrs. Conger died, aged forty-one. Mr. Conger married again, but there is no record furnished of this union. He became a prominent man of that community and at one time represented it in the lower house of Congress in Washington. He died in St. Clair, Mich., in 1876, aged seventy-one, and was buried in Columbus, O.

Children of James L. and Paulina Clark Conger:

Seneca Conger, b. 1825; died in infancy.

Helen Edwina Conger, b. Jan., 1827; m. Thomas Lough.

William James Conger, b. 1829; m. Abby Louise Meckler. He died in Columbus, O., 1882.

Three younger children died in infancy.

Helen Edwina Conger was born four months after her parents arrived in Cleveland, and often returned in after years to her native town, ever since it became "Greater Cleveland." She was welcomed each time in the homes of our oldest families as a loved and honored guest, for she was an unusually bright, attractive woman. She died but recently, leaving two daughters.

Mrs. W. B. Waggoner, one of them, resides in the city.

When James L. Conger removed to Michigan, he sold his Cleveland residence property to Dr. Erastus Cushing. He may have received less than $1000 for it. Today the lot is worth $8000 a foot front; a traffic tally recently taken showed that in the business hours of the day an average of 5134 persons pass this spot hourly.
(Source: The Pioneer Families of Cleveland, 1796-1840 by Gertrude Van Rensselaer Wickham, Vol. I & II; Found on the Internet, April 2006)

Conger, Omar Dwight

If you are interested in Omar Dwight Conger of Michigan contact me personally. I have a document about him that I am willing to share via Email. Look for my Email address in my profile. Find my profile in the About Me section at the bottom of the sidebar on the right.

Omar Dwight Conger on Wikipedia.

Mr. Dickie

Sewell Chester Briggs Sr. & Nancy Kyger

Descendant List of Sewell Chester BRIGGS Sr. - 1 May 2008

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1-Sewell Chester BRIGGS Sr.
b: 1783 in Oakham, Worchester Co., MA
d: 21 Dec 1845 in Williams, Union, OH
+Nancy KYGER
b: 1796 in , Monongalia Co., VA/WV
m: 13 Feb 1817 in , Washington Co., OH
2-Asa BRIGGS
b: 21 Nov 1817 in Salem, Monroe Co., OH
d: 5 Jan 1899 in Clarksfield, Huron Co., OH
+Margaret MERRIENE
b: in Apple Creek, Wayne Co., OH
m: 9 Jun 1842 in Wakeman, Wayne Co., OH
3-Asa C. BRIGGS
+Rachel STILES
+Ella BARBER
4-Edith BRIGGS
3-Margaret BRIGGS
3-Clarassy BRIGGS
d: in Wakeman, Huron Co., OH
3-Charles BRIGGS
3-Jason M. BRIGGS
b: 17 Sep 1850
+Abbie J. BREWSTER
m: 11 Feb 1873 in Wakeman Twp., , OH
4-Blanch BRIGGS
+M. J. BERGAN
4-Asa C. BRIGGS
4-May BRIGGS
+Unknown MCWHORTER
4-Cara BRIGGS
+Unknown LORETZ
4-Ralph BRIGGS
4-Clarence A. BRIGGS
b: 5 Nov 1874 in , Huron Co., OH
2-Clarissy BRIGGS
b: 8 Jun 1820
d: Sep 1902
2-Daniel BRIGGS
b: 6 Mar 1822
2-Joseph BRIGGS
b: 5 Jan 1825
d: in , , IA
2-Calvin BRIGGS
b: 9 Oct 1828
+Unknown UNKNOWN
3-Anna BRIGGS
2-Sewell Chester BRIGGS Jr.
b: 18 Feb 1831 in Trumbell, , OH
d: 1868 in Hartland, Huron Co., OH
+Sarah M. BLAKEMAN
b: 1838
m: 26 Oct 1854 in Fitchville, Huron Co., OH
d: 1905
3-Harriet E. BRIGGS
b: 29 Sep 1855 in Hartland, Huron Co., OH
d: 19 Jan 1889
+Myron E. BENSON
m: 1 May 1874 in Hartland, Huron Co., OH
4-Florance Ellin BENSON
b: 28 Mar 1877
+Louise STILES
m: 26 Oct 1900 in Norwalk, Huron Co., OH
5-Earl D. STILES
b: 1 Sep 1901
4-Walter Eugene BENSON
b: May 1880
4-Roxford E. BENSON
b: 31 Aug 1883
+Jessie WADDEL
m: 29 Aug 1915 in Hartland, Huron Co., OH
5-Dorthy Jennit BENSON
b: 1 Feb 1919
d: 2 Oct 1921 in Hartland, Huron Co., OH
3-George W. BRIGGS
b: 3 Dec 1857 in Hartland, Huron Co., OH
d: in Wolverine, Sheboygan Co., MI
+Anna Fedelia BRAILEY
m: in East Norwalk, Huron Co., OH
4-Joseph Suel BRIGGS
b: 16 Feb 1880
d: 5 May 1926 in Lansing, Ingram Co., MI
+Mabel Mae ROBERTS
b: 6 Dec 1883 in Wolverine, Sheboygan Co., MI
m: 6 Sep 1903 in Wolverine, Sheboygan Co., MI
d: 2 Dec 1958 in Lansing, Ingram Co., MI
5-Ruth Rosanna BRIGGS
b: 6 Sep 1904 in Wolverine, Sheboygan Co., MI
d: 8 Aug 1968 in Detroit, Wayne Co., MI
5-Ila Waive BRIGGS
b: 12 Jan 1906 in Wolverine, Sheboygan Co., MI
d: 18 Jan 1979 in Willoughby, Lake Co., OH
5-Roberta Arawanna BRIGGS
4-Ropha Orra BRIGGS
b: 3 Feb 1882
4-Dessie Sarah BRIGGS
b: 31 May 1885
+Oscar HATFIELD
5-Georgie HATFIELD
5-Wyldma HATFIELD
4-Emmily Anna BRIGGS
b: 21 Sep 1887
d: in Haslett
+Frank FRANKLIN
5-Delma Fedelia FRANKLIN
4-Flossia Ina BRIGGS
b: 16 Mar 1890 in Wolverine, Sheboygan Co., MI
d: 29 Aug 1965 in Lansing, Ingram Co., MI
+William PETERSON
5-Ancel George PETERSON
b: 21 Dec 1913
d: 20 Aug 1914 in Onaway, , MI
5-Delbert Charles PETERSON
5-Alice Virginia PETERSON
4-Laura Nina BRIGGS
b: 16 Mar 1890 in Wolverine, Sheboygan Co., MI
4-George W. BRIGGS
b: 7 Jun 1892
d: 9 Sep 1892
3-John C. BRIGGS
b: 11 Mar 1860 in Hartland, Huron Co., OH
d: 12 Mar 1860 in Hartland, Huron Co., OH
3-Newton BRIGGS
b: 30 Jun 1861 in Hartland, Huron Co., OH
d: 29 Apr 1863 in Hartland, Huron Co., OH
3-Minnie L. BRIGGS
b: 13 Aug 1867 in Hartland, Huron Co., OH
+Levi HARTAL
m: 1 Oct 1885 in New London, Huron Co., OH
2-Henry BRIGGS
b: 2 Apr 1833
d: in Moultrie, St. Johns Co., FL
+Mary E. MASON
3-Luther BRIGGS
b: 27 Feb 1869 in Hartland, Huron Co., OH
2-Luther BRIGGS
b: 30 Jun 1836
d: in Moultrie, St. Johns Co., FL


Prepared by:
Richard E. (Edson) Henthorn
From data shared by:
Diane Wilson
Revised: 26 Sep 2009

Tags: Genealogy, Briggs, Kyger

James Lockwood Conger

John Conger, who settled in Woodbridge, N. J., in 1667, was the ancestor of nearly all the native-born Congers in the country. He had two wives and a large family of children. From that day there has been a steady stream of Davids, Johns, and Josephs in succeeding generations of the family, most bewildering to one member of it, Mr. Charles L. Conger of McIntosh, Minn., who is patiently compiling a Conger Genealogy.

Very little has been preserved of the Cleveland life of James Lockwood Conger, a lawyer residing in the city between 1826 and 1840, save through a package of old letters written by Mrs. Conger to her only sister, Mrs. Erwina Miner of Centerville, Fairfield Co., Ohio. James L. Conger, b. in Trenton, N. J., was the son of David and Hannah Lockwood Conger, who later lived in Phelps, N. Y. He received his general education in that locality and studied law with Judge Ewing of Ohio.

In December, 1824, he married in Lancaster, O., Miss Paulina Belvedere Clark, daughter of Dr. Ezra and Sarah Clark, pioneers of that county and formerly of Middletown, Vt. James Conger was only nineteen years old and the bride but eighteen. The youth of the couple and the fact that they remained in Lancaster two years, suggests that he may have pursued his law studies after the marriage. A little boy named Seneca was born to them in Lancaster, who died young.

In April, 1826, they started for New York State to visit Mr. Conger's parents and perhaps with a view of settling near them. An acknowledgment of money received by the couple at that time is here given because of its phraseology

"Received, Lancaster, O., April 25, 1826, of our revered father, Dr. Ezra Clark, three hundred and fifty dollars towards our portion. J. L. CONGER. PAULINA B. CONGER."

They drove a span of horses all the way to eastern New York and return, as far as Cleveland, which they reached September 6th of the same year. And in this month begins the series of letters previously mentioned, a half-dozen only, but covering several years of the Conger's residence in Cleveland. These letters are unusual for that day and generation. The penmanship is beautiful, the composition correct in every particular. The writer must have been a woman of charming personality; a brave woman possessing great fortitude, but shy and sensitive, sweetly grateful for every kindness shown to her.

The depth of her affection is revealed in the messages to her aged fatherwhom she seems to have idolized and whom, so far as the letters reveal, she never met again in this life. On her trip to New York she met Mr. Conger's family for the first time. Of these new relatives she writes

"I frequently think of the remark you made when we were last together, `Do not be too sanguine in your expectations of James' parents,' and I was cautious not to be so. But my own could not do more for me. James' sisters were all equally kind, each striving to be most so. I was almost afraid to mention anything I wanted for fear one of them would get it for me, and they seemed to think they could not give me enough. I really think the whole family would have liked to come on to Cleveland with me, they were so truly attached.

"Father Conger and James went to New York City, returning before July 5th. They purchased about three hundred and fifty dollars worth of books and other things. Father brought me a beautiful figured silk dress and other smaller presents."

The young couple drove back to Cleveland, but various and sundry household furnishings donated by the elder Congers were shipped by canal and Lake Erie. One barrel when opened was found to contain everything necessary for the laundry, while mop and dish-cloths had been tucked into another one. Nothing necessary or convenient in that line had been omitted or forgotten. And, just as the team was about to start on the long western journey, father Conger had placed a bill in his young daughter-in-law's hand, to be used by her for any personal need on the way.

When they reached Cleveland they found Mrs. Reuben Wood, wife of the future governor of the state, preparing for a visit to her former eastern home. Her sister was to accompany her, and they intended to remain until spring. Evidently the Conger and Wood families were previously acquainted. The latter at once turned over the house they occupied, with all the heavier furniture to Mr. Conger, at a rental of $80 for the eight months' use of it. This sum also included the kitchen garden well stocked with a variety of vegetables and five bushels of peaches yet ungathered.

The departure of Mrs. Wood and her sister is told in one of the letters. "They started on Sunday, September 10th. We went out on a lighter about a mile from shore to the steamboat with them. The waves were very high and became seasick on the way. Notwithstanding, on the whole I had a pleasant ride."

The young wife seems to have been very lonely in the new strange town, her only acquaintance in it having been Mrs. Wood whose return she pathetically anticipates. Meanwhile, Mr. Conger had purchased a lot on the south-east side of the Public Square. The east corner of the May Co.'s big department store now covers the site, and upon this he began the erection of a small frame-house, which, four years later, was considerably enlarged.

Mrs. Conger dwells upon the delights of its possession; speaks with pride of the sodding of her "door yard," and of her planting in it a rose, a lilac, and a snowball bush; of the high board fence surrounding three sides of the lot, and a little later of the arbor covered with five kinds of grapes, and of the square of English strawberries each side of the arbor, from which she picked sixteen quarts of fruit.

Stand, if you will, in front of the towering Cushing Building and imagine the little home, the lilac, and the snowball bush!

The furnishing of their house progressed slowly.

"I believe all the furniture we have, so far, are fees. James has sent to Pittsburgh, by a man who owes him, for a carpet for the front chamber and hall, and I have just finished a pretty rag-carpet for the back room."

The second summer after the house on the Square was occupied Mr. Conger's sisters, Hannah and Phebe, both mentioned as "beautiful young girls," make the family a long visit. We can imagine how pleasant those months must have been when we are told that "there are numerous young men in town, but very few young women." And in connection with this who can not read romance in the opportunities afforded in the statement, "There are many beautiful walks and rambles on this delightful lake. Every Sunday, after meeting, James and I take a walk by the lake, and often through the week we stroll through the Square and Ontario street to it and spend the twilight hours there." This was written August, 1827.

James Conger must have given evidence of unusual ability in his profession for one so young, or he never would have found himself associated with Thomas Bolton, one of Cleveland's most able jurists. "Bolton & Conger, Attornies and Counsellors, Hancock Block, No. 93 and 95 Superior Street," they announce professionally.

Some time after the panic of 1837, that was the cause of scattering many of the numerous Cleveland lawyers and doctors to all points of the compass, James L. Conger removed to Belvedere, Mich., where in 1847, after fouryears of battling with tuberculosis, Mrs. Conger died, aged forty-one. Mr. Conger married again, but there is no record furnished of this union. He became a prominent man of that community and at one time represented it in the lower house of Congress in Washington. He died in St. Clair, Mich., in 1876, aged seventy-one, and was buried in Columbus, O.

Children of James L. and Paulina Clark Conger:

Seneca Conger, b. 1825; died in infancy.

Helen Edwina Conger, b. Jan., 1827; m. Thomas Lough.

William James Conger, b. 1829; m. Abby Louise Meckler. He died in Columbus, O., 1882.

Three younger children died in infancy.

Helen Edwina Conger was born four months after her parents arrived in Cleveland, and often returned in after years to her native town, ever since it became "Greater Cleveland." She was welcomed each time in the homes of our oldest families as a loved and honored guest, for she was an unusually bright, attractive woman. She died but recently, leaving two daughters.

Mrs. W. B. Waggoner, one of them, resides in the city.

When James L. Conger removed to Michigan, he sold his Cleveland residence property to Dr. Erastus Cushing. He may have received less than $1000 for it. Today the lot is worth $8000 a foot front; a traffic tally recently taken showed that in the business hours of the day an average of 5134 persons pass this spot hourly.
(Source: The Pioneer Families of Cleveland, 1796-1840 by Gertrude Van
Rensselaer Wickham, Vol. I & II;Found on the Internet, April 2006)
.

Tags: James Lockwood Conger, Biography

John Conger

John Conger & James Lockwood Conger

John Conger, who settled in Woodbridge, N. J., in 1667, was the ancestor of nearly all the native-born Congers in the country. He had two wives and a large family of children. From that day there has been a steady stream of Davids, Johns, and Josephs in succeeding generations of the family, most bewildering to one member of it, Mr. Charles L. Conger of McIntosh, Minn., who is patiently compiling a Conger Genealogy.

Very little has been preserved of the Cleveland life of James Lockwood Conger, a lawyer residing in the city between 1826 and 1840, save through a package of old letters written by Mrs. Conger to her only sister, Mrs. Erwina Miner of Centerville, Fairfield Co., Ohio. James L. Conger, b. in Trenton, N. J., was the son of David and Hannah Lockwood Conger, who later lived in Phelps, N. Y. He received his general education in that locality and studied law with Judge Ewing of Ohio.

In December, 1824, he married in Lancaster, O., Miss Paulina Belvedere Clark, daughter of Dr. Ezra and Sarah Clark, pioneers of that county and formerly of Middletown, Vt. James Conger was only nineteen years old and the bride but eighteen. The youth of the couple and the fact that they remained in Lancaster two years, suggests that he may have pursued his law studies after the marriage. A little boy named Seneca was born to them in Lancaster, who died young.

In April, 1826, they started for New York State to visit Mr. Conger's parents and perhaps with a view of settling near them. An acknowledgment of money received by the couple at that time is here given because of its phraseology

"Received, Lancaster, O., April 25, 1826, of our revered father, Dr. Ezra Clark, three hundred and fifty dollars towards our portion. J. L. CONGER. PAULINA B. CONGER."

They drove a span of horses all the way to eastern New York and return, as far as Cleveland, which they reached September 6th of the same year. And in this month begins the series of letters previously mentioned, a half-dozen only, but covering several years of the Conger's residence in Cleveland. These letters are unusual for that day and generation. The penmanship is beautiful, the composition correct in every particular. The writer must have been a woman of charming personality; a brave woman possessing great fortitude, but shy and sensitive, sweetly grateful for every kindness shown to her.

The depth of her affection is revealed in the messages to her aged father whom she seems to have idolized and whom, so far as the letters reveal, she never met again in this life. On her trip to New York she met Mr. Conger's family for the first time. Of these new relatives she writes

"I frequently think of the remark you made when we were last together, `Do not be too sanguine in your expectations of James' parents,' and I was cautious not to be so. But my own could not do more for me. James' sisters were all equally kind, each striving to be most so. I was almost afraid to mention anything I wanted for fear one of them would get it for me, and they seemed to think they could not give me enough. I really think the whole family would have liked to come on to Cleveland with me, they were so truly attached.

"Father Conger and James went to New York City, returning before July 5th. They purchased about three hundred and fifty dollars worth of books and other things. Father brought me a beautiful figured silk dress and other smaller presents."

The young couple drove back to Cleveland, but various and sundry household furnishings donated by the elder Congers were shipped by canal and Lake Erie. One barrel when opened was found to contain everything necessary for the laundry, while mop and dish-cloths had been tucked into another one. Nothing necessary or convenient in that line had been omitted or forgotten. And, just as the team was about to start on the long western journey, father Conger had placed a bill in his young daughter-in-law's hand, to be used by her for any personal need on the way.

When they reached Cleveland they found Mrs. Reuben Wood, wife of the future governor of the state, preparing for a visit to her former eastern home. Her sister was to accompany her, and they intended to remain until spring. Evidently the Conger and Wood families were previously acquainted. The latter at once turned over the house they occupied, with all the heavier furniture to Mr. Conger, at a rental of $80 for the eight months' use of it. This sum also included the kitchen garden well stocked with a variety of vegetables and five bushels of peaches yet ungathered.

The departure of Mrs. Wood and her sister is told in one of the letters. "They started on Sunday, September 10th. We went out on a lighter about a mile from shore to the steamboat with them. The waves were very high and became seasick on the way. Notwithstanding, on the whole I had a pleasant ride."

The young wife seems to have been very lonely in the new strange town, her only acquaintance in it having been Mrs. Wood whose return she pathetically anticipates. Meanwhile, Mr. Conger had purchased a lot on the south-east side of the Public Square. The east corner of the May Co.'s big department store now covers the site, and upon this he began the erection of a small frame-house, which, four years later, was considerably enlarged.

Mrs. Conger dwells upon the delights of its possession; speaks with pride of the sodding of her "door yard," and of her planting in it a rose, a lilac, and a snowball bush; of the high board fence surrounding three sides of the lot, and a little later of the arbor covered with five kinds of grapes, and of the square of English strawberries each side of the arbor, from which she picked sixteen quarts of fruit.

Stand, if you will, in front of the towering Cushing Building and imagine the little home, the lilac, and the snowball bush!

The furnishing of their house progressed slowly.

"I believe all the furniture we have, so far, are fees. James has sent to Pittsburgh, by a man who owes him, for a carpet for the front chamber and hall, and I have just finished a pretty rag-carpet for the back room."

The second summer after the house on the Square was occupied Mr. Conger's sisters, Hannah and Phebe, both mentioned as "beautiful young girls," make the family a long visit. We can imagine how pleasant those months must have been when we are told that "there are numerous young men in town, but very few young women." And in connection with this who can not read romance in the opportunities afforded in the statement, "There are many beautiful walks and rambles on this delightful lake. Every Sunday, after meeting, James and I take a walk by the lake, and often through the week we stroll through the Square and Ontario street to it and spend the twilight hours there." This was written August, 1827.

James Conger must have given evidence of unusual ability in his profession for one so young, or he never would have found himself associated with Thomas Bolton, one of Cleveland's most able jurists. "Bolton & Conger, Attornies and Counsellors, Hancock Block, No. 93 and 95 Superior Street," they announce professionally.

Some time after the panic of 1837, that was the cause of scattering many of the numerous Cleveland lawyers and doctors to all points of the compass, James L. Conger removed to Belvedere, Mich., where in 1847, after four years of battling with tuberculosis, Mrs. Conger died, aged forty-one. Mr. Conger married again, but there is no record furnished of this union. He became a prominent man of that community and at one time represented it in the lower house of Congress in Washington. He died in St. Clair, Mich., in 1876, aged seventy-one, and was buried in Columbus, O.

Children of James L. and Paulina Clark Conger:

Seneca Conger, b. 1825; died in infancy

Helen Edwina Conger, b. Jan., 1827; m. homas Lough.

William James Conger, b. 1829; m. Abby Louise Meckler. He died in Columbus, O., 1882.

Three younger children died in infancy.

Helen Edwina Conger was born four months after her parents arrived in Cleveland, and often returned in after years to her native town, ever since it became "Greater Cleveland." She was welcomed each time in the homes of our oldest families as a loved and honored guest, for she was an unusually bright, attractive woman. She died but recently, leaving two daughters.

Mrs. W. B. Waggoner, one of them, resides in the city.

When James L. Conger removed to Michigan, he sold his Cleveland residence property to Dr. Erastus Cushing. He may have received less than $1000 for it. Today the lot is worth $8000 a foot front; a traffic tally recently taken showed that in the business hours of the day an average of 5134 persons pass this spot hourly.
(Source: The Pioneer Families of Cleveland, 1796-1840 by Gertrude Van Rensselaer Wickham, Vol. I & II; Found on the Internet, April 2006)

Tags: Conger, Genealogy, Hobby