George Westley Babcock was the younger of the two sons of Daniel S. and Eliza (Muns) Babcock. Exactly when he was born is uncertain, but probably about 1854 in New York.

He is at home in the 1855 New York state census and the 1860 federal New Jersey census, living in Hohokus Township, Bergen, New Jersey.

The 1860s were difficult for this family, but not because of the war. George’s mother, Eliza probably died about 1865, near the time George’s little sister, Lucy, was sent to the Paterson Orphan Asylum. It is very possible that George, too, endured the same fate.

There is one George Babcock, aged 17, born in New York in the 1870 census of Saddle River, Bergen, New Jersey. Saddle River is in the same area where Hohokus Township used to exist. This teenager might be our George, but he is a farm laborer living and working for Cornelius and Catherine Van Houten.

From his sister Lucy’s 1872 deposition, we know that George was living in Paterson, where his brother, Charles, also lived and worked.

George was a starcher by trade, working in the mills, like so many others, at the time he married Cecilia Perry on 27 March 1874 in Paterson, Passaic, New Jersey.

The 1880 census shows only George, Cecilia and “daughter” Lucy at home, aged 16. More on Lucy in a bit.

By 1882, George had moved his family to Fairfield County, Connecticut, although the family is MIA in 1900.

The 1910 census paints a picture of heartache for George and Cecilia, as there is one married child at home with them, but Cecilia reporting that she had given birth to seven children, but only four surviving. Only three of those children have been accounted for, taking into account the issue with Lucy Ella, born c1870.

The mystery of Lucy can be explained, though. Cecilia Perry was born in 1849 and had a very short marriage to Charles Earl, 26 July 1869, when Charles wasn’t yet 21 years old. By 1870, Charles was back at home living with his parents and Cecilia was living with her mother and siblings and 10 month old Lucy, born in August 1869 in Paterson.

Children:

1. George, born 8 May 1876, Paterson, Passaic, New Jersey; died September 1876, Paterson, Passaic, New Jersey
2. Stillborn son, 3 August 1878, Paterson, Passaic, New Jersey
3. George Westley, born 26 June 1882, probably Fairfield County, Connecticut; died 6 January 1950, probably Fairfield County, Connecticut; married Mary Wylie, 3 February 1906, Huntington, Fairfield, Connecticut. They had three daughters.
4. Margaret, born c1886, Connecticut; died 4 January 1949, Derby, New Haven, Connecticut; married Frank Dougherty, 20 March 1906, Derby, New Haven, Connecticut. She is buried with her parents. She had no children.
5. Lillian M., born 1889, Connecticut; died 13 December 1959, Shelton, Fairfield, Connecticut; married William Scaife Harkins, 25 December 1909, Huntington, Fairfield, Connecticut. They had one son and one daughter, but son John died at the age of 6 years.

So ends the family sketches of Daniel S. Babcock and his descendants through his known grandchildren.