Sometimes, but especially when investigating difficult families, it is necessary to cast a very wide net. In the case of the Babcock family, who, in my cousin’s case, had family members who never owned real estate, left no wills, don’t show up on tax lists and, for the most part, don’t appear in vital records, a wide net is really really necessary.

In this case, even that wasn’t enough since research was made even more difficult because of the 1790-1830 time period. Not only are census records from that era limited in information, but the New jersey censuses for 1790-1820 are totally missing. That is a hindrance when researching a family that kept hopping back and forth across the New Jersey-New York state line.

However, I did come across one William Babcock, who born in 1775 is just a tad too young to be a possible father for both John and Samuel Babcock, he might be closely related to them given his birth in Haverstraw, then Orange County, New York, but today in Rockland County and the fact that he was a shoemaker by trade.

Actually, I learned quite a bit about William Babcock because he was convicted of grand larceny in Rockland County in 1803, sentence to one year in Newgate Prison and began his sentence on 31 May 1803.

Newgate was the New York state penitentiary from 1797 until 1828 and was located in New York City. Admission records were kept and are extant today.

In 1800, William Babcock was enumerated living in Clarkstown, in the newly formed county of Rockland in New York.

The census indicated a very young family. One male was aged 16-25, one female was 16-25 and there were three children, two males under 10 and one female under 10.

From this, we can glean several probabilities, given that most men married no younger than 21 and there were three children at home.

William Babcock, aged about 25, born c1775
Mrs. Babcock, aged about 24, born c1775

They likely married c1796, probably in Orange County, New York, of which Rockland County was part until it was set off in 1798.

Their children were born c1796, c1798 and c1800.

Therefore, William Babcock married (1) Unknown (MNU), c1795 and this wife apparently died soon as William married (2) Phebe Secor, 21 June 1802, Kakiat, Rockland New York.

Something didn’t go quite right in William’s life, though, because the next year, he was convicted of the grand larceny crime.

The details in the admission page are incredible:

William’s entry is 8th from the bottom of the page and tell us:

William Babock, born Haverstram NY, aged 28, shoemaker, usual residence is Haverstraw, convicted of grand larceny, hair and eyes both brown, 5’10” tall, convicted in Rockland County, sentenced to one year on 31 May 1803.

He appears to be “Willm” Babcock, enumerated in 1810 in Haverstraw, Rockland, New York.

William is seventh from the bottom of the page. The household includes:

Male [aged 26-44]
Female [aged 26-44]

Son [10-15]
Daughter [10-15]
Son [under 10]
Son [under 10]
Daughter [under 10]
Daughter [under 10]
Daughter [under 10]

If the same William Babcock, one son died between 1800-1810. We then find the following family. Of course, which children were born in which order is unknown, but this is a starting point:

William Babcock, aged 35
Phebe, aged about 33
Son, born c1798
Daughter, born c1800
Daughter, born c1802
Son, born c1804
Daughter, born c1806
Daughter, born c1808
Son, born c1810

There is no William Babcock fitting this man in the 1820 census in New York. Might he have moved to New Jersey? Well, the 1820 New jersey census is lost, but there is a William Babcock living in Franklin, Bergen, New Jersey in 1830.

First, a bit about Franklin Township’s history – it was formed in 1771. Next, Pompton Township, New Jersey was set off in 1796 and became part of Passaic County when it formed in 1837. In 1849, Hohokus Township was formed from part of Pompton Township, which leads to Daniel S. Babcock, who was enumerated in 1860 in Hohokus Township, so we have another example of various Babcocks in this branch crossing geographic paths.

Unfortunately, no William Babcock appears in the FamilySearch full-text search in Bergen or Passaic Counties and no William Babcock, aged 70-79, is found in the New York or New Jersey censuses so William might have died by that time.

With no other extant records found, it is impossible to identify who William’s likely children were or what happened to this family.

You never know where research will take you. The prison record gave more information about this man than any other document of its time period, but after that, he remained quite anonymous before being lost to time.

Still, the fact that he appears to have removed to New Jersey – and Hohokus township – makes me wonder about his relationship to Daniel S. Babcock.

I have to admit this is one of the more difficult families I’ve tried to research. Even my Slovak research was easier to document than these Babcock, whose origins extend back to early colonial America.

There is one more family worth considering as part of the Babcocks that might be closely related to Daniel S. Babcock, or at least relatively closely related, if that makes sense.

That’s because John Babcock and Elizabeth Fredericks (based on the 87year old Eleanor Fredericks living with (grandchild?) Eliza Babcock in 1850, Manchester Township, NJ) are part of the extended Daniel S. Babcock FAN club through their ties to Ringwood and Paterson, New Jersey and the to Hisor/Hyzer family, also in New Jersey.

Not much is known about John Babcock and Elizabeth, let’s call her Fredericks, for now.

Death records for a Samuel Babcock and Mary Merrigold name John and Elizabeth as their parents. In fact, Mary’s death record in Massachusetts (You gotta love Massachusetts record keeping!!!) states her mother was Elizabeth Fredericks.

With no stated relationships in the 1850 census, assumptions need to be made to form a theory. In this case, my starting hypothesis is that John and Elizabeth (Fredericks) Babcock both died before the 1850 census and that Elenor Fredericks is the grandmother of Eliza, Ellen and John Babcock.

The FamilySearch family tree has John and Elizabeth in it, but someone erred in filling in vital dates for John Babcock. They’ve entered the birth and death dates foe John’s son, Samuel Babcock, born c1816 and died on 4 February 1863.

Using Elenor Fredericks’ stated age in 1850, so born c1768, let’s say that Elizabeth Fredericks was born c1790 and that John Babcock, her husband, was born c1788.

From this starting point, we can begin to create the family unit.

John Babcock was born c1788 and died before 1850. He married Elizabeth Fredericks, c1811, perhaps in New Jersey since Elenor Fredericks’ census enumeration places her birth in New Jersey.

However, I believe that Eliza and Ellen and John Babcock were also children of John and Elizabeth (Fredericks) Babcock, so I will place them in the family based on prponderance of evidence.

Children:

1. Mary, born c1816, Ringwood, Passaic, New Jersey (per her Massachusetts death certificate); died 21 May 1899, Malden, Middlesex, Massachusetts; married Robert Merrigold, c1836, probably in Passaic County, New Jersey. They lived in Paterson, New Jersey at the time of the 1850 census.
2. Samuel, born c1819, New York; died 4 February 1863, Paterson, Passaic, New Jersey; married Hannah (MNU), born c1819, Pennsylvania, c1839, probably in New York
3. Eliza, born c1820, New Jersey; died 2 April 1889, Paterson Passaic, new Jersey; married James Hinchman, 3 November 1852, Paterson, Passaic, New Jersey
4. Ellen, born c1822, New Jersey; died 15 January 1889, Paterson, Passaic, New Jersey; unmarried
5. Catherine, born c1828, New Jersey; died after 1900, when she and John Stagg lived in Paterson, New Jersey; married (1) Mr. Noble/Knobel and had one son, Charles Noble, born c1846 (2) John W. Stagg, between 1850-1850. In 1860, Ellen Babcock lived with the family.
6. John, born c1827, New Jersey

Samuel and Hannah had three children at home in 1850:

1. Ann E., born July 1839, New York; died after 1910, possibly in Englewood, Bergen, New Jersey for that census; married George E. Cooper, 18 July 1866, Paterson, Passaic, New Jersey
2. George, born c1841, New York; married Abbie Hisor, 10 March 1864, Paterson, Passaic, New Jersey
3. Sarah, born c1849, New Jersey; possibly the Sarah Babcock, born c1848 who died 20 July 1881, Paterson, Passaic, New Jersey, unmarried

The ties that bind here include the fact that Abbie Hisor was the younger sister of Sarah Hisor who married John Turner in Wayne, Passaic, New Jersey. John and Sarah Turner were the parents of Harriet Turner, who married Charles G. Babock, son of Daniel S. and Eliza Babcock.

Abbie and Sarah Hisor were children of John Hisor and Sally Hinchman of Wayne, Passaic, New Jersey. Abbie (Hisor) Babcock died in 1867 and her grandmother, Sally, was buried with her when she died in 1872. They share an original gravestone.

There are too many coincidences I’ve documented in these particular Babcock lines for them not to be fairly closely related.

At this point, not one piece of conflicting evidence has appeared to disrupt my hypothesis about the structure of this branch of the Babcock family.

Warning to all, though: This is STILL JUST a THEORY. Please don’t copy and paste it into online trees! This is a work in progress.

I’m going to take this one step further to see if I can identify the earliest generation of Babcocks that might connect to this family. They may well have lived in Rockland County, New York, which was formed from Orange County, New York in 1798.

Yesterday’s post went into great detail outlining possible parents for Daniel S. and John J. Babcock. Remember, that right now, it is an UNPROVEN theory. So far, the puzzle pieces all fit, but that doesn’t make it fact.

There are two more families who may well have ties to Samuel and Jane Babcock. Yesterday’s family sketch included a baptismal record for Samuel’s and Jane’s youngest daughter, Catherine Frances, who was baptized at the age of 18 years in 1854.

Her baptism took place on the same day as that of Angus Robert Babcock, the one year old son of James W. and Elizabeth Babcock, the baptism of Robert McAdam, 7 years old, and the baptisms of the children of Jacob Garrison.

Since the baptisms were done at the home of James W. Babcock, it is reasonable to believe that he is a close relative of Samuel, Jane and daughter Catherine.

I was hoping Robert McAdam and the Garrisons might also prove to be related to the Babcocks, but no evidence for that has been found yet.

However, the possibility that James W. Babcock was the son of Samuel and Jane, and the brother of Catherine, is very real.

James W. Babcock was born 14 March 1829, per his gravestone, but censuses give his age matching a birth year closer to 1831.

James is first found in the 1850 census as an unmarried laborer boarding with the Conklin family in Ramapo, Rockland, New York.

James married Elizabeth, possible maiden name of Hannah, c1852. By 1860, the young family was living in Clarkstown, Rockland, New York.

Children:

1. Angus Robert, born c1854, Spring Valley, Rockland, New York; died 17 February 1927, Paterson, Passaic, New Jersey; married Wilhelmena Hengeveld, 14 January 1885, Haverstraw, Rockland, New York
2. Samuel, born c1856, New York; died 7 September 1890, Paterson, Passaic, New Jersey; married Mary (MNU), c1877
3. Levina/Gavina Eveline, born September 1859, New York; died 13 March 1942, Passaic, Passaic, New Jersey; married Loftus Phillips, 21 December 1881, Paterson, Passaic, New Jersey
4. Elmer E., born c1862, Rockland County, New York; died 3 March 1884, Rockland County, New York
5. Archibald, born c1865, Rockland County, New York; died 9 December 1950, Paterson, Passaic, New Jersey; married Margaret Hughes, c1888
6. Jennie Caroline, born 16 December 1867, Rockland County, New York; died 29 September 1950, Little Falls, Passaic, New Jersey; married Jacobus Hengeveld, c1886

I believe that James W. Babcock was a son of Samuel and Jane. Not only did he name children after his parents, unlike some other Babcocks, his family had the same types of ties to Bergen and Passaic Counties.

I feel comfortable with the latest updated version of the family of Samuel and Jane (Snyder) Babcock:

Children:

1. Daughter Snyder, born c1812
2. Daniel S., born c1815; died c1871, probably Paterson, Passaic, NJ
3. Daughter, born c1818
4. Son, born c1822
5. Son, born c1824
6. Keziah, born c1825
7. James W., born c1828/29; died 6 February 1896, Wortendyke, Bergen, New Jersey
8. John J., born c1832; died 3 October 1887
9. Angus Robert, born 1835; died 25 July 1914
10. Catherine Frances, born c1836, Sloatsburg, NY