The life sketches of the two Babcock brothers are still to be shared. Today, we will look at the family of Charles G. [as he was known in adulthood] and Harriet (Turner) Babcock.

Charles Babcock had a difficult life growing up and marriage didn’t make life much easier.

His exact date of birth is unknown, but was born about 1842. Family lore states he was born in Peekskill, Westchester, New York, which is possible as it is bordering Rockland County, where his family lived in 1855.

He was reportedly 22 years old when he married in 1866, making his birth year about 1844. However, his birth year was reported as 1842 when he died in 1891, born c1843 per the 1855 census and born c1843 in the July 1860 census. In 1870, he was reportedly born c1843, but in 1880, c1842. It seems he was probably born in later 1842 or early 1843, which would fit his age on most of the records in which he is found.

Charles’ gravestone at Preakness Reformed Church Cemetery indicates that he had military service. The photo of his gravestone is very difficult to read, but it looks like he was in Savannah during the Civil War.

Charles married Harriet Turner, daughter of John and Sarah (MNU) Turner on 1 October 1866. His marriage, and other family events, are recorded in the registers of the Hamilton Avenue United Methodist Church in Paterson, Passaic, New Jersey.

By 1870, Charles and Harriet had moved to Wayne, Passaic, New Jersey, living a few doors from her parents.

At the top of the page, we find:

Babcock, Charles, 27, machinist, born New York
Harriet, 21, born New jersey
Charles, 3, born New Jersey
Lucy, 10/12, born New Jersey

Circumstances have changed by 1880:

The Babcocks are family #210 in the middle of the page.

Babcock, Charles, 38, foreman in mill, NJ, NJ, NJ
Harriet, 29, housekeeper, NJ, NJ, NJ
Katie, 4/12, born February, NJ, NJ, NJ

So, between 1870 and 1880, Charles and Harriet lost not only son Charles and daughter Lucy, but also buried another daughter, Harriet, born 27 June 1873 in Paterson and died 18 March 1876, also in Paterson.

Therefore, Charles’ and Harriet’s only surviving child was daughter Catherine.

His occupations were recorded as machinist and foreman in a mill, of which Paterson had many!

Charles’ Babcock’s death was recorded on 30 November 1891 in Paterson. He was buried in the Preakness Reformed Church Cemetery, in Wayne, where her parents are said to be buried.

Harriet survived her husband by quite a few years, passing away on 16 August 1910, probably in Saddle River, Bergen, New Jersey, where she was enumerated with daughter Catherine Smith’s family in the 1910 census.

However, Charles Babcock wrote his will on 12 November 1891, a couple of weeks before he died. His daughter, Katie, was named as his only heir and Charles “friend” Edward Bolton, was named as ehr guardian.

Did Charles and Harriet divorce? No record has been found.

By the 1890s, Harriet would have been permitted to be the guardian of her daughter and, in any era, she was entitled to a share of her husband’s estate. Yet, nowhere in the will or probate is she mentioned.

She is listed as the widow of Charles Babcock in the 1894 Paterson city directory and was living with newlyweds Robert and Katie Smith in 1900. Why she inherited nothing is a mystery and isn’t even mentioned is a mystery.

Children:

1. Charles, born c1867; died between 1870-1880
2. Lucy, born 14 August 1869, Manchester, Passaic, New Jersey; died between 1870-1880
3. Harriet, born 7 June 1873, Paterson, Passaic, New Jersey; died 18 March 1876, Paterson, Passaic, New Jersey
4. Catherine, born 29 December 1879 [discrepancy with age in 1880 census], Paterson, Passaic, New Jersey; died 1939, New Jersey

Catherine celebrated the start of the 20th century in a big way, as she married Robert Alexander Smith on 1 January 1900 in Paterson.

Robert was born on 11 August 1880 in Paterson and died on 25 November 1954, also in Paterson.

They were the parents of three children:

1. Robert Alexander, born 11 August 1900, probably Paterson, Passaic, New Jersey; died 9 November 1949, Teaneck, Bergen, New Jersey; married Stella Reierson, in the 1930s, probably in South Dakota. They had no children.
2. Edward Meleady, born 22 April 1902, Paterson, Passaic, New Jersey; died 4 February 1974, Passaic, Passaic, New Jersey; married Hazel Fennell Gill, 6 September 1922, probably in Paterson. They were the parents of three children.
3. Harriet, born 1 September 1906, Newark, Essex, New Jersey; died after 1950; married Edward Herbert Van Tassel, 24 March 1925, Warren County, New Jersey. However, by 1930, she was back living with her parents, although noted as married. They apparently divorced as Edward remarried. Harriet continued to use the Van Tassel surname, but by the 1950 census, she reported she had never been married and apparently had no children.

The last chapter of the Babcock story will unfold tomorrow with the family sketch of Charles’ brother, George Westley Babcock.

The life story of Daniel S. Babcock’s family, overall, is a bit sad. Daniel was a shoemaker at the start of the Industrial Revolution. It doesn’t appear that he ever owned land and the family moved several times, given the dearth of census records and the fact that the two in which they appear show them as all born in New York or all born in New Jersey. If either is true, I tend to believe they were born in New York, since the 1855 census record is the earliest I can find for them and that is the record that states New York births.

It is likely that Daniel and Eliza buried two of their youngest children, Helen and Elizabeth, when both were pre-teens.

Daughters Caroline and Jane have been lost to time.

Sons Charles and George both married and had families.

That leaves youngest daughter Lucy. What became of her is heartbreaking.

Lucy is enumerated as a 3 year old child, born c1857, in the 1860 census of Hohokus, Bergen, New Jersey.

I hadn’t had much luck tracking her down until I tried MyHeritage’s Old News (separate subscription from MyHeritage itself). The local Paterson newspaper [The Paterson Evening Press] had printed some depositions taken from children who lived in the Paterson Orphan Asylum in the late 1860s. Conditions at the orphanage were being investigated.

One of the children deposed was Lucy Babcock:

From the date of the deposition – 22 April 1872 – and Lucy’s statement that she would be 14 years old on the following 9 May puts her date of birth as 9 May 1858. This is a year younger than the 1860 census record stating that she was 3 years old in 1860. Which date is accurate is unknown. I would think Lucy knew how old she was, but given her life circumstances, perhaps she was off by a year.

The deposition is about a little boy, Henry Bent, who died in the “care” of Mrs. Nichols, a matron at the asylum. The conditions which surrounded Lucy for much of her life were horrendous.

Lucy stated that she lived at the orphanage for “six or seven years until 1871” and that she was currently, in April 1872, living with her brother Charles at 20 Jay Street in Paterson.

Fortunately, many city directories survive for Paterson and a couple of entries were of interest.

First, when Charles and George each married, their parents’ names were recorded as “Daniel and Eliza” with no surname, and no maiden name for their mother. However, this fits with the 1855 and 1860 censuses.

Although Daniel hasn’t been found in the 1870 census, he does appear once in the 1871 Paterson city directory:

There is little doubt that this is “my” Daniel, as he is a shoemaker and living with him at 48 Prospect Street is his son, Charles. George, the machinist, might be his brother, who would have been only about 17, but it’s possible that George isn’t the man in this entry and perhaps wasn’t considered old enough to have his own directory listing.

However, Daniel completely disappears from all records after 1871. It appears he died around this time. Was his appearance in Paterson in that directory the reason Lucy was released from the orphanage? I don’t know.

So, we have Lucy’s statement that she lived in the asylum for six or seven years, which would place her living there about 1865-1866.

My theory is that her mother, Eliza, died about 1865. Lucy was the youngest child left at home, but given the lack of detail about her brother George’s teen years, I have to wonder if both Lucy and George were sent to the orphanage by a father who, for whatever reasons – economic or health – was unable to care for them.

Charles married in 1866, but apparently that didn’t change Lucy’s circumstances. Is that perhaps why Lucy lived with George in 1872? George would have been 18 years old in 1872 – might he have been released from the orphanage at that time and was allowed to take Lucy with him?

George eventually married and moved his family to Fairfield County, Connecticut – not a short trip in the 1880s. Even today, with traffic, it’s easily a couple of hours’ drive. Was he not close to brother Charles because of their childhoods?

More questions with no answers.

Lucy, happily, was living with George in 1872, but she was approaching the end of her life by that time. There is an undated death record of one Lucy Babcock of Paterson dying at the age of 19 years.

The Babcock story will conclude with family sketches of Charles and George Babcock.

Yesterday, I examined, in depth, the clues found in very few documents that provided a glimpse into the family of Daniel S. Babcock.

Today, we’ll look at what became of their lives.

Census records provide the family structure:

Daniel S. Babcock, born c1815, either in New York or New Jersey
Eliza Muns, born c1819, either in New York or New Jersey

Assuming that Eliza was Daniel’s first and only wife, they married c1839 or 1840.

Given that New York and New Jersey vital records in the 1800s are spotty, it isn’t surprising that no birth or death records have been found for any of them.

It’s possible, and perhaps probable, that Caroline married between 1860-1870 and she has been lost to time.

It is also quite likely that Jane also married. There is a Jane Babcock who married John Rigley on 16 August 1862 in Paterson, Passaic, New Jersey. The marriage record records Jane’s age as 21, but, if Daniel’s daughter, she was only about 17 or 18. I suggest this as a possibility because Charles and George Babcock both married in Paterson. However, neither John nor Jane Rigley [Wrigley] can be found in 1870.

It is much more likely that Helen and Elizabeth died in childhood. They haven’t been found living elsewhere in 1860 and they would only have been 12 and 9 in 1860.

Lucy is a story unto herself, to be told in a couple of days.

Children (born in NY or NJ):
1. Caroline, born c1841; died after 1860; no further record
2. Charles H. or G., born c1842
3. Jane, born c1845; died after 1860; no further record
4. Helen H., born c1848; died between 1855-1860; no further record
5. Elizabeth, born c1851; died between 1855-1860; no further record
6. George Westley, born c1854
7. Lucy, born 9 May 1857/58; died c1877

Charles Babcock, whose middle name is unknown but recorded as H. or G., who married Harriet Turner on 1 October 1866 in Paterson, Passaic, New Jersey, lived out their lives in the area and had four children.

George Westley Babcock married Cecelia Perry on 27 March 1874, also in Paterson. They, too, had four children, but the family removed to Fairfield County, Connecticut.

Each of these families will have their own sketches in a few days.

The final child, Lucy, really lived a short, tragic life. Her story will give an indication of what became of her parents, neither of whom appear in further census records.