The court clerk in Orange was a gem. In every similar case I saw, he listed at least one parent. In those instances where the father had just died, he would name the man and add "dec'd" after it. The majority of entries, however, just named the mother. There were some I recognized where the mother had been a widow for some time. Other times, I had seen bastardy bonds for the child in question.
It's a kind of bittersweet find here. For the first time, we now know who Meshach's mother was. But, sadly, we have absolutely no other information on her. This is the first time her name has ever surfaced in Orange Co records. <sigh>
If nothing else, this should put an end once and for all to the myth of Meshach being the son of William and Delilah Ward....
From the Minutes of the Quarter Sessions and Pleas (Feb. 1816):
"Ordered that Meshack Ward Son of Charlotte Ward of the age of 10 years be bound to Caleb Wilson until he arrive to lawful age to learn the art & mystery of a farmer."
(Kevin)
Amazing! So this would be my Susanna's mother too? Or do you think there were two marriages?
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteMy apolgies, I've been away dealing with some family health issues. I guess I can only say that I don't think there were any marriages where Meshach is concerned. There is just nothing in the records to suggest otherwise. He was most likely a bastard child.
The fact that Susanna was born almost a decade before Meshach, tends to indicate to us that she's not a guarantee to be his sister. Heck, I well know anything is possible where the Wards are concerned ;) But as far as we've seen, the sole claim to Susanna being Meshach's sister comes from the fact that she ended up in his household in the 1870 census listed as "living in family."
That's as close as it gets....just nothing that we've seen ever definitively says he was her brother. I'm sure we have more to say about this in another posting at some point. In the meantime, feel free to ask any questions and I promise to try to keep an eye on this site and answer them for you!