Most cemetery records keep notations of the mother, father, DOB, DOD, cause and other pertinent details of the deceased.
In Addie's case, the Gansevoort cemetery keeps no records at all, other than receipts/prices paid for permanent care, etc, none in the Northumberland Town Clerks' office, none in Ballston Spa Historical center, none in the Ballston City Library nor the Saratoga Library, none in any funeral home directories, just a non-informative note in 'news from Gansevoort' column in the Glens Falls Times noting her passing...
She only appears in one Census as the wife of Jas. E. Selfridge in 1885.
Results at the NY State Historical Center in Albany show the same..
There are no papers showing her birth, census family, marriage, or death.
There is also no Official Birth Certificate for her daughter, my Aunt Lottie..
All this happened before 1892, before the state of NY was required to keep records of such events.
However, after lots of digging, she shows up as the daughter of Lewis and Minnie Shield of
ED#9 Albany census of 1870, along with a sister Alice.
Instead of the generally assumed Irish name of Shields, this name is listed as 'Shield' and they're from GERMANY!
Even worse, their name was possibly 'mis-translated' at the port of entry and changed to "Shield" from the
German "Schild' which translates to the same thing, only in English verbiage..
A rural American habit of dealing with non-Anglo names was to add an 's' to a singular, but to our ears, needed
a plural sound to it.
There were plenty of Irish Catholic "Shields" farmers in the area, and probably, it was assumed that that was her
natural maiden name.
Thus is my rationalization of the seeming name change.
In Addie's case, the Gansevoort cemetery keeps no records at all, other than receipts/prices paid for permanent care, etc, none in the Northumberland Town Clerks' office, none in Ballston Spa Historical center, none in the Ballston City Library nor the Saratoga Library, none in any funeral home directories, just a non-informative note in 'news from Gansevoort' column in the Glens Falls Times noting her passing...
She only appears in one Census as the wife of Jas. E. Selfridge in 1885.
Results at the NY State Historical Center in Albany show the same..
There are no papers showing her birth, census family, marriage, or death.
There is also no Official Birth Certificate for her daughter, my Aunt Lottie..
All this happened before 1892, before the state of NY was required to keep records of such events.
However, after lots of digging, she shows up as the daughter of Lewis and Minnie Shield of
ED#9 Albany census of 1870, along with a sister Alice.
Instead of the generally assumed Irish name of Shields, this name is listed as 'Shield' and they're from GERMANY!
Even worse, their name was possibly 'mis-translated' at the port of entry and changed to "Shield" from the
German "Schild' which translates to the same thing, only in English verbiage..
A rural American habit of dealing with non-Anglo names was to add an 's' to a singular, but to our ears, needed
a plural sound to it.
There were plenty of Irish Catholic "Shields" farmers in the area, and probably, it was assumed that that was her
natural maiden name.
Thus is my rationalization of the seeming name change.
Most cemetery records keep notations of the mother, father, DOB, DOD, cause and other pertinent details of the deceased.
In Addie's case, the Gansevoort cemetery keeps no records at all, other than receipts/prices paid for permanent care, etc, none in the Northumberland Town Clerks' office, none in Ballston Spa Historical center, none in the Ballston City Library nor the Saratoga Library, none in any funeral home directories, just a non-informative note in 'news from Gansevoort' column in the Glens Falls Times noting her passing...
She only appears in one Census as the wife of Jas. E. Selfridge in 1885.
Results at the NY State Historical Center in Albany show the same..
There are no papers showing her birth, census family, marriage, or death.
There is also no Official Birth Certificate for her daughter, my Aunt Lottie..
All this happened before 1892, before the state of NY was required to keep records of such events.
However, after lots of digging, she shows up as the daughter of Lewis and Minnie Shield of
ED#9 Albany census of 1870, along with a sister Alice.
Instead of the generally assumed Irish name of Shields, this name is listed as 'Shield' and they're from GERMANY!
Even worse, their name was possibly 'mis-translated' at the port of entry and changed to "Shield" from the
German "Schild' which translates to the same thing, only in English verbiage..
A rural American habit of dealing with non-Anglo names was to add an 's' to a singular, but to our ears, needed
a plural sound to it.
There were plenty of Irish Catholic "Shields" farmers in the area, and probably, it was assumed that that was her
natural maiden name.
Thus is my rationalization of the seeming name change.
In Addie's case, the Gansevoort cemetery keeps no records at all, other than receipts/prices paid for permanent care, etc, none in the Northumberland Town Clerks' office, none in Ballston Spa Historical center, none in the Ballston City Library nor the Saratoga Library, none in any funeral home directories, just a non-informative note in 'news from Gansevoort' column in the Glens Falls Times noting her passing...
She only appears in one Census as the wife of Jas. E. Selfridge in 1885.
Results at the NY State Historical Center in Albany show the same..
There are no papers showing her birth, census family, marriage, or death.
There is also no Official Birth Certificate for her daughter, my Aunt Lottie..
All this happened before 1892, before the state of NY was required to keep records of such events.
However, after lots of digging, she shows up as the daughter of Lewis and Minnie Shield of
ED#9 Albany census of 1870, along with a sister Alice.
Instead of the generally assumed Irish name of Shields, this name is listed as 'Shield' and they're from GERMANY!
Even worse, their name was possibly 'mis-translated' at the port of entry and changed to "Shield" from the
German "Schild' which translates to the same thing, only in English verbiage..
A rural American habit of dealing with non-Anglo names was to add an 's' to a singular, but to our ears, needed
a plural sound to it.
There were plenty of Irish Catholic "Shields" farmers in the area, and probably, it was assumed that that was her
natural maiden name.
Thus is my rationalization of the seeming name change.
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