14 January 2010

Who Was Sylvester P. Marshall's Mother?

Sylvester P. Marshall was the 2nd husband of my great-great-grandmother, Cynthia (Richmond) More. Cynthia, who was widowed when her husband, James More, died on 26 December 1870, in Lapeer Co., Michigan, married Mr. Marshall on 17 July 1873. Sylvester's 1st wife, Harriet Nye, died 22 January 1872 in Lapeer County.

In 1850 Sylvester, age 24, b. NY and his wife, Harriet, age 18, b. MI, were living in Macomb Co., Michigan, with Cynthia, age 56, b. CT (presumably Sylvester's mother), and 14 year old Fidelia Marshall, b. NY.

Sylvester's death record of March 4, 1907, gave his name as Sylvester Pelton Marshall. Hmmm. Perhaps his mother's maiden name was Cynthia PELTON. A Google search revealed that Cynthia Pelton had married Josiah Marshall (who was known to be Sylvester's father), according to this source, a book entitled "The descendants of Rev. Thomas Hooker, Hartford, Connecticut 1586 - 1908."

So my 2nd great-grandmother was married to a descendant of the celebrated Reverend Thomas Hooker. Other descendants included President William Howard Taft and Aaron Burr. There were no children from Cynthia (Richmond) More's marriage to Sylvester P. Marshall. In fact, they were divorced before 1882 when Cynthia signed a deed (49-594 in Lapeer Co., MI) as Cynthia More, formerly Cynthia Marshall.

This source shows Cynthia Pelton's "Pelton" ancestors as does this site; the "Pelton" book can be found here.

The "Hooker" book indicated that Cynthia (Pelton) Marshall died in Genesee Co., New York; she may have, but it appeared as though she was living in Michigan, in 1850, as were many, if not all of her children.

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