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| 1865 RI State Census, Hall family, Westerly, RI. Ancestry.com Mercy Perkins Hall
In yesterday's post, I showed the heading for this page of the RI State Census of 1865 for the household of Alvah Taylor's family of Main St. Westerly, RI. Mr. Taylor is the father-in-law of Keziah Hall, whose mother was Mercy Perkins, widow of Stanton Hall. With the help of Barbara Fallon, my cousin from Westerly, RI, I located the gravestones for this family in River Bend Cemetery in Westerly. I was looking just for Stanton and Mercy but what I found was the gravestones for their children and Alvah Taylor too. It is a fond memory to stand there and see the grouping of the stones and to spend delightful hours working on them.
I don't yet know who the people are below Mercy on lines 18-20 but I am working on it. Surname is Foster, I think and he is a teacher from nearby Connecticut. His children, including an 8 month old baby are with him but there is no wife listed so perhaps he worked on the farm with Alvah Taylor after the school day ended. He would have needed someone to help with his children while he taught and farmed.
Mercy had plenty of experience with children. She was one at marriage. She was 14. I still find that hard to grasp. This state census says she was born in Richmond, RI. Her parents moved from RI to New York and probably her choice was to be a nanny or get married. She was the last child in her family. It has been so hard to find out anything certain about her. That's why seeing this state census is so special. |
Friday, April 11, 2014
1865 RI State Census Mercy Hall
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2 comments:
Midge if I had to choose I think the 1865 R.I. state census would be my favorite. I love the way they give a good indication of address at the top of the page - something that wouldn't occur again for several decades. And town of birth? Awesome. Unfortunately, several branches of my family had left Rhode Island for a time around the mid-1800's. Glad you found some for yours.
Hi Midge, I have read that some girls were basically forced by parents to marry very young as their parents had too little resources to keep them at home. So it was husband or streets. Yikes!
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