After over four decades of reseaarch, identities of several individuals and questions remain These are of some of them.
DECKER
FIRST, The identity of the father of Henry St. Clair Decker remains unknown. DNA comparisons of Carl Armbruster, whose mother Lydia Decker was a sister to Henry St. Clair Decker and other descendants of Aaron Decker reveal, beyond question that Lucy Bonker was the mother of both Lydia and Henry, but that William H Decker (son of Aaron) was only the father of Lydia.
CLUES to the father of Henry are (strongest to less likely) a James Jones, a hired hand, resided in the houshold of William and Lucy Decker from the time of Henry's birth until James's death. His family Bible was found along with Lucy Bonker's Family Bible. Emma Wheeler Decker, wife of Henry often said that Henry was NOT related to any of the other Decker families who were descended from Aaron Decker, so there must have been some common knowledge in the family about Henry's biological father.
This James Jones had no children of his own, nor surviving siblings, so a DNA match would have to be s remote one with a common ancestor 6 or more generations ago. Nevertheless, I have entered him as the father in all the DNA sites where James Decker has his DNA tested or uploaded, in hopes that a match may someday shed more iight on this question. I have attached notes to the entries for Henry St. Clair Decker on Ancestry.com where the most frequent test matches appear, indicating that the father listed is only speculation.
yDNA matches for James Decker show only 2 possible matches, but with common ancestors more than 6 generations ago. These surnames are Towery (4 matches) and Stokes (2 matches, and the pedigree for this person compared, does not clearly show a direct male line to the Stokes ancestor) There were Stokes families living in the Montezuma area during this time, but no males the correct age to be a possible candidate. There were no Towery or Lowery families in the area.
SMITH/GRANGER FAMILIES
The parents for Lucy Smith Bonker have been created on speculation based on the Bonker Family Bible (Images attached to this Bible are attached to sources)
Missing from that Bible is the marriage page showing who the person creating the record is. She is clearly a Granger who married a Smith. There is a list of Bonker children, and for Oliver and Matilda Bonker's deaths,so the Bonker line is clear. The person who started the record, and was the mother of Lucy Smith Bonker, was clearly a Granger. One full page is devoted to "My Father, William Granger and My Mother, Matilda Granger." and listing all of their children with birth dates. Because of the use of the name Lucy, I chose Lucy Granger as the person who married a Smith.
No death place or location has been found for Matilda Moore Granger, however there was a newspaper announcement in a Plattsburg, NY in 1820 where Matilda was seeking information about the whereabouts of one of her daughters, Eliza, who went missing when traveling to find her mother, after her brother, Chester, had moved from Oneida Co., NY to Ohio. When Chester moved to Ohio, Eliza had left to try and find her mother, Matilda, who had moved by this time. There is always a remote possibility that the Granger female who married the Smith, might have been this Elizabeth.
There is also the possibililty that Matilda Bonker, whose death is in the Bible. was, indeed, Matilda Moore Granger, who may have married Oliver Bonker as a second marriage after the deaths of both of their spouses. I have absolutely no proof of this, but If there was a prominent entry for "William Granger, my father" in the Bible, it seems strange there is no mention of Matilda,her mother. The first place Matilda Bonker's name appears is in the 1838 property transfer, when Oliver and his wife Matilda sold land to his son, Henry. When Oliver purchased the land in 1814, there is a spouse given for the person selling the property, but no spouse given for Oliver. Perhaps he had been widowed at that time. His youngest daughter, Hannah. was born in 1813, and her death record in Michigan says her mother was a Hannah. In 1810 Oliver and his wife, Hannah, sold land in Aurelius, so this is more evidence that the Matilda Bonker was a second wife. The 1820 census for Oliver does show a female the correct age in the household, but the newspaper article with Matilda Granger looking for her daughter was also in 1820.
There are only five females listed in the Bible as daughters of William and Matilda.(Matilda's maiden name of Moore is not given in the Bible, but vital records and published works clearly validate the Moore name.) They are Julia, who married Solomon Withy, and whose death is recorded in the Bible, Lucy, who may be the mother of Lucy Smith, Susannah, whose death date I have taken from a nearby gravestone, but who I have never proved is the same Susannah, Eliza, the daughter who went missing, and Mariah.
A Clementine Granger was the second wife of Soloman Withy, apparently marrying shortly after the death of Julia. Biographies for Solomon Withy say that Clementine was the younger sister of Julia. If this is fact, then I have not added Clementine as an additional child, rather added her name as an alternative for Mariah. Reasons that I feel they are the same person are based on the Bible record. The copyright date on the Bible is 1827, All the other names and birthdates have been found to be correct, so, the author would have to have made an omission of one of her sisters. Mariah is the only unidentified daughter, her date of birth is late in the year, so the age would be appropriate for that given for Clementine Withy in censuses. The handwriting for all of the Granger entries, births and deaths, is clearly done by the same person, at likely, at the same time. This person had a clear knowledge of her names and dates, so it seems unlikely that she would have left Clementine off the family record.
Again, which Smith Lucy Granger married is not clear either. A list of Smith children with birth dates is provided, but it is not known how many of the children were siblings or which might have been another generation. Because Lucy Smith is the youngest of all the children listed, it is most difficult to assess her parentage. Israel Smith is the first in the list, and it says he is the son of D Smith. A published biography of Chancey Smith, one of the other children listed, says his parents were David and Tamison Smith. It says his mother died when he was 14 and his father 4 years later. David and Tamison are buried in Lake View Cemetery in Cayuga. The death date for Tamison would fit this description within 4 years. David's not., However no photograph exists for his stone, and the date is taken from a DAR transcription of an inventory done at the cemetry in the learly 1960s. No stones for either could be found in 2022. Since Lucy's mother was a Granger, and no Tamison is listed with the Granger siblings, it strongly suggests that Israel was likely the father of Lucy Smith Bonker.
WHEELER
The birth and parents of Annie Young Hodgeson Wheeler are not found in the New Jersey Vital records. Nor is any death record found for her father, George Young. Family stories are that her father was either a George or a William Young, who died at sea, Her mother, Ellen Doremus was married to her second husband, Miles Hodgeson in Massachusetts. That marriage record says that was her first marriage, and her marriage record to Osborn Ryerson states it is her second marriage, so possibly she was never married to a Mr. Young,
Annie's birth may be recorded under another name. I have searched the New Jersey Birth records, looking for her both by name and by given date of birth without a surname, and come up empty. The most obvious first question is whether she was indeed, the biological daughter of Ellen Doremus. I think the DNA testing has pretty much confirmed that. Ancestry.com has a good matching and through line comparison tool which has shown multiple confirmed matches for James Decker with descendants of Peter Yong (Jong), George Doremus, and Rem Onderdonk, so there is no question that Annie is a biological descendant of Ellen Doremus. The remaining unanswered question remains who or where is this George or William Young, her biological father. Of interest, is the fact that the DNA has far more matches with the descendants of Peter Jong than any of the other lines combined,, but, of course this could be directly reated to the number of people who tested, but one has to wonder whether Annie's father was related to one of Eve Yong Doremus's siblings or cousins.
A family story, (I cannot recall who told me this) said that Annie's father was a Scotsman. Because of this, I included an entry from the 1850 Paterson census, that gives a Jane Young, born in Scotland and an Ellen Young, born NJ. This Ellen is the correct age to be Ellen Doremus. No male is given in the household, and relationships are not provided. Ellen Doremus didn't appear in her parents' family in this census, however, this same Ellen Young is residing with Jane in the 1860 census. She married Miles Hodgeson that same year, and is listed as his wife in the 1860 census for Massachusetts.
HOUSTON
No birth record has been found for James Houston or his brother, Robert in or around Bridge of Weir where all the censuses say they were born. The 1851 shows Robert and his parents living there so the location should be correct. The houshold includes two Hendry boys, who were half siblings to James, and two Stewart boys. There is also an Isabella King who was 75 years of age, but only listed as a Lodger.