Where was John P Oviatt in 1850?

The 1850 census is the first U.S. census that enumerates names of all members in a household.  Until that time all census listings included the name of the head-of-the-household along with the number of males and females listed by age group.  This makes it particularly difficult in researching female lineage.  From the 1850 census I was able to discover that John P. Oviatt and his family were living in Concord, Lake County, Ohio.  

1850 United States Federal Census, Concord, Lake County, Roll: M432 701, page 281, image 341

I was able to find him in the same locality in the 1840 census, this time spelled correctly as Oviatt.  Since the name and location matched, as did the gender and ages of dependents I felt sure this was a fit.  So far – so good.  From there it got a little more difficult, but equally exciting.  Just a little reminder, this research took place prior to the explosion of the Internet, which meant many long exhausting hours pouring over microfilm and dusty books at various libraries.  Most information had to be gathered via U.S. mail and interlibrary book loans.  It was not possible to “google” information as we do today

Early Oviatt families in Connecticut

Although I find the census exciting and can spend hours exploring and talking about them I realize they can be tedious to some people - so I won't bore you with my census research (too much anyway).

Over the past two decades I gathered and compiled information on the early Oviatt families in Connecticut and the surrounding states. My research is recorded in my genealogy software starting with Thomas Oviatt born in 1626. I believe our Oviatt line is connected with the first Oviatt families of Connecticut since John P. Oviatt was born in Connecticut and migrated a few miles north into Massachusetts. Connecticut was the hub of the first Oviatt families.

Along with bits and pieces of valuable information and facts I have also encountered stories – stories that raise more questions than offer answers. With any research it is important to weigh the information presented. In 1916 Charles H. Oviatt writes an example of this. In an attempt to explain the origin of the Oviatt name he connects the emigrant John Uffitt and Thomas Uffitt with Thomas Oviatt. There are ship records that show the latter Uffitt emigrant sailed from London on June 30, 1632 and once in the new country joined the outspoken Reverend Hooker. He cites that in 1635 and 1636 Mr. Oviatt was a part of an exploration and founding of Springfield. Quite possibly his reference was to Thomas Uffitt and not Thomas Oviatt. He continues by stating that in 1639 Thomas joined the newly organized town of Milford, Connecticut where his relatives, the Bryan’s and Baldwin’s lived. He states that the son of Thomas Oviatt also named Thomas married but died childless. According to the recount by Charles H. Oviatt all of the early Oviatt families are derived from Thomas’s son John. He also mentions the connection to Bryan’s, a wealthy and prolific family. There are records showing that Thomas Uffitt married Isabelle Bryan in England but this should not be confused with Thomas Oviatt, b 1626 in Tring, Hertfordshire, England who was married to Frances Bryan and immigrated to the United States and died in Milford, Connecticut in 1691.

The emigrant ancestor Thomas Oviatt was born about 1626 -Christened 16 July 1626 - at Tring, Hertfordshire, England, to Thomas and Alice Bryan. They had long desired to immigrate to America to join his relatives. Alice Bryan, mother of Thomas Oviatt, was a sister to Alexander Bryan, of Milford, Connecticut. They were the children of Thomas Bryan and his second wife Francis Bowling.

What must life have been like for Thomas and Frances – why did they immigrate to the new world? Their country was in a state of economic, political, and religious tumult, and they saw great potential in the New World. They were displeased with the Catholic Church and all of England, so they came to the Colonies to start anew, and create what was, in their eyes, the perfect society. James I, who believed in the divine right of kings, thought he was allowed to disobey Parliament because he answered to no one but God. He started a conflict that finally sparked a civil war lasting seven years, during which time the government unsympathetically persecuted its citizens, driving many of them out of the country. Religious warfare had become extremely gory, and the amount of bloodshed was immense, simply because of each side's belief that any killing of the enemy was good since God was on their side. People did not know where to turn, and began looking toward the North American Colonies.

Thomas and Frances Bryan Oviatt finally immigrated to America. Because of their relationship to the Bryan’s, they may have taken a ship to the West Indies, as many immigrating to America did, there to await a ship of Alexander Bryan, Thomas's uncle who was a very wealthy ship owner of Milford, Connecticut running ships to and from the Indies.

Thomas and Francis's eight children were all born in Milford, Connecticut where they settled: John, Ester, Amy, Frances, Samuel, Abigail, Thomas and Dorothy.

Records state that Thomas was one of the wealthiest citizens of his day. On 15 September 1665 he witnessed a treaty between Ockenuga, a Sagamore Indian, and Richard Baldwin of Milford. Thomas visited England again, for on a return trip he brought a letter dated 30 August 1684 from a Mrs. Susanna Garment to relatives in Milford. This letter is now in an antiquarian collection in Connecticut. Thomas must have visited his father or arrived shortly after his death in England. In 1686 there was a record of a widow Oviatt in the area and Sylvester Baldwin (a relative) sued for the right to take over the household of Thomas Oviatt (father of Thomas b 1626) who was deceased. Sylvester was a descendant of Thomas Bryan also.

Thomas Oviatt died at Milford 25 May 1691. The date of his wife's death is not known. Of the three sons of Thomas and Francis – John, Samuel and Thomas Oviatt, only Samuel and Thomas married and had children. John died as a youth. Samuel, the son of Thomas and Frances Bryan, born 24 November 1672, married at Milford about 1694 to Mary Baldwin. Samuel and Mary were the parents of six children: Samuel (1685), John (1700), Alexander (abt. 1702), Esther (1703, Mary (1706), and Giles (1709). The third son of Thomas and Frances was Thomas, born August 1670 and married at Milford 7 June 1705 to Lydia Kellogg, widow of John Clark. She was born in Norwalk, Connecticut 1 April 1676, daughter of Daniel and Bridget Bouton Kellogg. Thomas and Lydia were the parents of eight children: Thomas (1706), Joseph (1709), Abigail (1712), Amy (1716), Giles (1720), Benjamin (1722), Frances (1725), and Samuel (1727). The family moved to New Milford, Connecticut, about 1724. Thomas died 13 January 1741 at New Milford and Lydia died 4 July 1742 at New Milford. There are records to show that the last child, Samuel, was born at New Milford.

From reviewing the information above it is easy to see how difficult it is to delineate and separate the Oviatt families. The names of Samuel, Thomas were popular family names. To add to the confusion, note that the first-born son of Samuel and Mary also named Samuel married and had children that often overlapped the dates of his Uncle, Thomas and his wife Lydia.

All of this adds to the interest that surrounds the first Oviatt families of Connecticut.

Brothers

I concentrated on the Boone County, Iowa area hoping to find Oliver's father. The only clue I had was Orlow. I found a listing for O.G. Oviatt which could be Orlow. In the index books I also found listings for additional Oviatt's. My plan was to check each of the names with the hope of  finding a connection somewhere, somehow...

O.G. Orlow was living with his brother, Andrew - this could be Orlow since the age and birth state matched.

1860 Census, Boone, Iowa; Roll: M653 312,Page: 319,Family History Library Film: 803312.

A few houses from Orlow was a listing for John P. Oviatt. Children did not always show up in the index books which made it difficult to target the name Oliver Oviatt. I was fortunate that Oliver was born around 1858 so he would probably show up in the 1860 Census.

BINGO... Oliver found - living with his father, John P. Oviatt and his mother, Elizabeth Oviatt. THRILLING!

I spent a great deal of time analyzing the data; carefully transcribing the information such as age, sex, place of birth and occupation. In addition to the facts shown above the 1860 Census also showed value of estate owned which is represented by the $2000 and $500 - value of real estate and value of personal estate.What seems modest today was substantial 150 years ago.

For many years researchers worked without indexes to most of the censuses. Slowly, over the years, indexing was completed for the earlier census records. Of course these indexes were published in books, not on the internet! The government provided a "soundex" index for some of the censuses 1880 and later, which is available on film. Now there are online and CD indexes to the censuses. 

The online census indexes are easy and convenient, but they contain errors and problems. Sometimes the book index or soundex is just what you need to find your ancestor in the census. If all else fails and going through the census page by page in the area where you think your ancestor should be is the only way to uncover them. Book indexes can be found at major genealogy libraries and are quite straightforward to use, although you have to watch for indexing problems. Using the soundex can be trickier, although again technology has come to our rescue and there are online aids. If you are going to use any post 1870 census records--and unless you and all your U.S. ancestors died prior to 1880  those records are essential.

Back to 1880

My next search was to see if I could find Oliver with his parents in the 1880 census. My excitement was bubbling over when I spotted a listing for him in Boone County, IA. Searching the record I discovered he was listed as a nephew in the home of Orlow Oviatt. Since the last name was the same logically this must be his father's brother. Okay - not as much luck as I had hoped for but definitely another clue.

1880 Census,  Cass, Boone County, Iowa; roll T9 328, Family History Film 1254328, Page: 212.4000, Enumeration District: 13

Being new to family history research I knew there were other types of records available but I decided to stay with the census data (for now, anyway). Later I did expand my research to birth, death and regional records. My next step was to check to see if I could locate Orlow Oviatt in the 1870 census - hoping for further connections.

More excitement - he was listed in the 1870 census. My enthusiasm was quickly dashed when I found him residing in the household of Job B. Vernon. His occupation was listed as Farmer. Could there was a connection between the Oviatt's and Vernon's?  In my research since I have not found any link between them - he was probably working the farm with Job Vernon.

In genealogy there is a technique called "cluster" genealogy, which is the practice of branching out beyond one's ancestor to research individuals and families that are connected in some way. Often people in the same location are linked either by family or marriage so the connection with the Vernon's was plausible.

Had I been more intuitive and educated on Cluster Genealogy I may not have missed a valuable connection in the 1880 census that I had just transcribed. Later on I came back to the 1880 census looking for additional ancestors. On the same page that listed Orlow I discovered a connection to the Hurst family. Oliver Oviatt's wife, Roxie is Roxanne Hurst. William Buck is the nephew of Leander Hurst, the grandfather of Roxanne and Melinda Williams is her aunt. It truly is a small world.

At the time I had no idea that William Buck and L.B. Williams would be a connection.

EUREKA - Oliver Oviatt found

Unlike internet research of today a location as well as a name was needed to begin. I knew that my father was born in Iowa, and felt pretty sure that my grandfather was also born in Iowa. Since he was born in the mid 1880's the logical place to start would be the 1890 census.

Sadly, most of the original 1890 population schedules were destroyed or badly damaged by a fire in the Commerce Department in 1921. Records enumerating only 6,160 individuals—less than one percent of the schedules—survived. Unfortunately, Iowa data was lost, which meant I needed to start with 1900.

My excitement was hard to contain when I found a listing for Oliver V Oviatt in Boone County, Iowa. The listing referenced the number of the roll and the location of the listing. Being a "newbie" to the world of microfilmed data I quickly learned to thread the reels onto the reader and scan through to my desired page.

BINGO - there he was.

1900 United States Federal Census, Cass Township, Boone County, Iowa,  pg 29A, line 41

Photocopying the actual pages wasn't possible at that time. It was necessary to transcribe the data onto paper forms (only pencils were allowed - no pens). Care had to be taken to make sure the data was transcribed correctly. Each corresponding line had to be copied - tedious work, but none-the-less exciting. So much can be learned by analyzing each entry, each line and each mark. In today's genealogy world it is easy to become a lazy family historian. If the only form of research is importing data into a software program a connection can be missed.

It is now possible to download copies and save them directly onto a hard-drive or insert the image into a family tree. Don't misunderstand - this is fantastic if used in conjunction with traditional sources. I started using Family Tree Maker in the early 1990's (version 1) and have upgraded over the years. I thought about changing software platforms but decided to stay put. I believe I am using FTM 2010.

In addition to Oliver I also found Roxie, my great grandmother, my grandfather, Charles L and his siblings.

Wow - what a find! 

Little did I know that the "iceberg" loomed below. 

Oliver Oviatt, my first clue

Before the internet, census research consisted of a visit to a family history or a state library. Census information consists of  reels of microfilmed information housed in large filing cabinets. All types of data is cross-referenced in books that list names in census, birth, state and family records (if we are lucky). 

I soon found out that not all records are referenced and not all references are correct. "People" transcribe names and handwriting can be interpreted differently. In addition to this, census takers often spelled names phonetically which means Oviatt could be spelled Ovet, Oviet, Oviat (many variations). 

The process consists of hauling large books from shelves and thumbing through lists of surnames until... EUREKA!

The excitement of finding a link is thrilling!

I was fortunate to live in an area with access to the large family history library at the Oakland LDS church as well as the Sutro library in San Francisco.

The first step was my father, LeRoy Oviatt

My father, LeRoy Ellsworth (Roy) Oviatt was born to Charles LeRoy (Ray) Oviatt and Ruth Huxtable. He had one sister, Irene Lillian Oviatt. His parents divorced and Ruth remarried having one more daughter, Wilhelmina Sophia Werner, my father's half-sister.

My father, LeRoy Ellsworth Oviatt and my grandfather, Charles LeRoy Oviatt

.  Charles LeRoy Oviatt b. 20 Dec 1886, Madrid, Boone Count, IA, d.22 Jan 1983, Centralia, WA
       m. 01 Sep 1914 to Ruth Huxtable b. 23 Sep 1898, Plainville, WI, d. Jun 1975, Denver, CO
..  LeRoy Ellsworth Oviatt, b 22 Jan 1918, Sioux City, IA, d. 18 Jan 1990, Centralia, WA
.. Irene Lillian Oviatt, b 17 Nov 1919, Sioux City, IA

Charles LeRoy Oviatt 









My father had a note with the names Oliver and Roxy on a pad which served as my first clue. Being new to genealogy I started with a visit to the family history library at the LDS church in Oakland. This was long before access to information on the internet. I discovered the best place to start was the census data.