There are two major stumbling blocks I have encountered in building this project.

FIRST Harriet (Hattie) Sprague (Newton adopted name) Scranton Morse was adopted as a young child from an orphanage in Utica. According to her daughter, Louise Tanner, she knew that her birth name was Sprague and that when she attempted to find anything further, discovered that the orphanage had been destroyed in a fire and that there were no records to be found.

I have searched the wills and guardianship records Oneida and surrounding counties for anyone with a Sprague surname around the period of her birth, and come up empty. Two censuses and a survey of the orphange both give her name and the correct age, so this validates the Sprague surname, and the orphange record describes her as an orphan, not a foundling, so this would suggest parents were deceased, but there is no way of knowing. It is unknown if it was an unwed mother or a father who had the Sprague surname.

DNA may be the best clue to finding a longer ancestry for Hattie. As of 2024, I have been able to test my and father's DNA against 3 known individuals who are descended from Hattie and her second husband, Algie Morse. Because of this relationship, only people with common matches between them will be related through an earlier generation of Hattie's ancestors.

There is one line, with the surname of Foco, or the longer name, Foucault, of French Canadian ancestry that has emerged with a close relationip with both descendants of Hattie's husbands, and this has led to finding matches with descendants of
a Louis Hotte, also of Montreal, Quebec..A descendant of this line has been placed into the tree as one parent of Hattie. Many common matches with an apparent Sprague line have emerged, but still no conclusive link can be projected.

SECOND Thomas Giladett has never been located with a birth record or parents given. John Green, father of his wife Roxanna Green has been identified by using Roxanna's birth county in the NYS censuses and matching her age with those in Green households in Dutchess County.

Thomas's only place of birth is listed as Connecticut in all of the censuses. His two youngest daughters are listed as being born in CT, but all of the earlier children were listed as being born in Dutchess Co.

DNA comparisons between descendants of Thomas but not the Scranton line and John Robert Shaw show 14 common matches but many more distant matches. A few have trees attached, but most are not identified or have not provided family trees for comparison.

Several deeds are found in the Onondaga County for purchase and sale of several parcels on land by an Elisha Giladet, or Gulidet inthe towns of Ulysses and Ovid between the years 1795 and 1797. A search for DNA matches with ancestral Gallaudet names revealed 6 with direct lines to Elisha Gallaudet, a prominent engraver, father of the Elisha who purchased the property in what is modern day Ulysses, in Tompkins County and Lodi in Seneca County. This is the strongest evidence for a direct linkage to the Gallaudet family and it is entirely possible that Elisha Jr may be the father of our Thomas.

The DNA has shown that Miles Sherman Gillidette, of Iowa, is also a descendant of Thomas thru his eldest son, William, although published histories say that Miles's father died when he was very young. It also has not revealed any connection to any one with the Galaudett surname, as Rev. Thomas Galaudett comes up in almost every surname search. An exhaustive search of that family has also not shown any possible candidate for a connection.

Kerry Wolf, a descendant of Thomas and Roxanna through their daughter Mary Elizabeth Giladette Ferry, has a letter that says "This is from a letter from Ora May written December 1, 1927, to my Grandfather. ...."On my mother side I believe his name was Wilds and my mother's Father was French, Thomas Gilladett . . . He was a share holder with lots of land and money so I have been told to bad we did not get some of his money My Grandfather was an only child'

Louis Giladette is a descendant of William B and Lucretia. I had an email from Louis, many years ago saying "Harrie My grand father was a only child. He had 3 children Earney, John ,Betress. When the children were in grade school a lawyer came from England and wanted Harrie to send one of the boys to England to be raised . This was to fill a seat in the house lords, the laywer said that john, Earney were the only two Gilladette males in the world as far as I know. That's the story I was told. I know their are other spellings of Gilladette but none were related."

A couple of other references I found on Ancestry is one for a Thomas Giladett living in Herkimer County in the 1800 census. Our Thomas is too young for this to be him. The only child in the household seems to be a female.

A Thomas Giladett signed off on a land grant for War of 1812 veterans in Iowa in 1871. I have found no record of him as a soldier in that war. https://glorecords.blm.gov/details/patent/default.aspx?accession=0516-389&docClass=MW&sid=1rcmbpdj.szm#patentDetailsTabIndex=1

Attached to Thomas in this project, as a photo exhibit, is a page from a published list of people owed money in London. It lists a Samuel Gildatte as someone with unclaimed funds. There is no copyright on this publication,but the references and recommendations seem to indicate this was published sometime around 1884. It is possible this might be some connection to the lawyers visiting and wanting to take a child back to England.

Perhaps, just a red herring, but there are two Gillet families living next door to to Robert Marks (Lyman Scranton's father-in-law). in 1800. A Daniel Green is also a neighbor.