Surname Saturday -- PETTY [ with related lines Fairchild, Shepherd, Moffet, Wadsworth, Mitchell, Merritt]

Wow, already time for another surname Saturday post.  This time I'm tackling another on my father's American side, PETTY.  My lineage to this line is as follows: [see ahnentafel page above for complete lineage]

1. Moi

2. dad-Robert Edwards Fairchild

4. grandpa Victor Miller Fairchild

8. great Grandpa Fred William Fairchild

17. Roxey [or Roxy or Roxcy] Rosalia PETTY, known as Rose or Grandma Rose by everyone, not just the family. She was born on 11 Jun 1847 in New Hudson township, Allegany county, NY, the fifth of seven children of Rev. Zenas T(illotson) Petty and Mary Ann Wadsworth.  Of her siblings, the eldest, Albert (the only boy) died in 1851 at age 19, cause unknown; and the youngest, a girl Myra Ann, died as an infant or very young child. Two others married and after their husbands' deaths did missionary work.
    Rose married her husband James H Fairchild in her father's home ( he performed ceremony) in New Hudson, on 26 Feb 1868. They had 8 children, 5 boys and 3 girls. After  the birth of the first 2 boys, they moved to Portville, NY where her husband opened a shingle and grist mill. From newspaper articles, she was a member of the Woman's Auxiliary to the GAR, the WCTU (Woman's Christian Temperance Union), her church ladies society, and helped raise three of her grandchildren when their mothers ( her daughters-in-law) died while they were infants. Her home on Temple St. in Portville, NY was the gathering place for the family, including picnics and early family reunions. She traveled to nearby Pennsylvania, and as far as New York City by train to visit a daughter on Long Island. I do not know if she travelled to visit her sisters in Iowa or Nebraska, but letters were written, although only one or two survived. She died on 14 Feb., 1928, only one week before her last remaining sibling.
This picture of her with her 3 daughters was taken between 1902 and 1906 [by youngest's estimated age and before husband's death].

Nellie, Rose, Florence (Floss), Mary Alice (Matie)

The second photo is a "clowning" picture of her (center)  and her sisters Emily (l) [married to Lafayette Gleason and Mark Titsworth]and Mary Fidelia (Dele) (r) [married to Albert C. Schuknecht]. It was taken sometime before Emily's death in 1914, and after her other sister Sophia's death in 1891, or she would be pictured as well, I think. Dele died the week after Rose.

Emily, Rose, Mary Fidelia (Dele)

34.  Rev Zenas T(illotson) PETTY was born in Romulus (Fayette) ,  NY  on Oct 20, 1808. He was the second of 8 children of Jesse Petty and Mary Ann Moffatt (or Moffitt). He moved with his family to Belfast in 1821.  [More about his siblings in his father's writeup]. " He experienced religion at the age of 27" according to his obituary. "He had an iron constitution, and in his younger days, but few could equal him in manual labor."The date of his marriage is not known, but his wife was born in 1815, and their first child was born in April 1832, so 1830-31 is a good guess. He married Mary Ann Wadsworth, who was born in CT or MA on 6 Aug 1815.   Zenas was a preacher of the Wesleyan Methodist Church and served a "circuit" of several churches in the Allegany county region of NY. Included were Fillmore/Hume, and Phillip's Creek. His wife died in 1864 of typhus, and he remarried the same year Arvilla OLDS of Gainesville, Wyoming County NY. The daughters must have not completely gotten along with her because Dele went to Iowa to be with her oldest married sister Caroline sometime later. [ A note: Caroline also married a FAIRCHILD (Reuben). The family says the two were not related, but they may have been second cousins, if new sources prove valid] .
Zenas and Arvilla moved to Oramel, NY just north of Belfast in 1869, where they lived until Zenas' death on 19 May, 1884. "He was a kind father, an earnest christian and minister, and death to him after so long suffering was the friend he had so patiently awaited to come. [he suffered from "catarrh of the bladder" for seven years, then caught a severe cold which killed him]. He is buried in Riverside Cemetery, Belfast NY alongside his first wife. I have found no trace of Arvilla after 1884, so do not know if she remarried, or where she lived or was buried.... another mystery to solve someday ( not high on the priority list!).
Although I have seen a copy of one photograph of Zenas, I do not have it to print here. But in 1882, he wrote part of the 23rd Psalm in my great grandfather's autograph book which was given to him on his 10th birthday that year.  Here is that page---

A letter from a relative written to great aunt Matie remembered him as kind.  Whether stern was also mentioned I cannot now remember, so will post the letter at a later date.

68. Jesse Petty  Jesse Petty was born in New Jersey in 1779.  He married Mary Ann Moffatt. There is a marriage between a Jesse Petty and a "Polly" Moffet in Somerset NJ on 19 Feb 1803. This matches with 2 males under 10 in the 1810 census in Romulus NY, and Jesse's brother was supposed to have married the twin to Mary Ann, whose name was Betsy. There is a John Petty married to a Betsy in the area as well.   Jesse and Mary Ann or "Polly" had 8 children that I have data on. [There is a possibility of a 9th child, but it is not yet proven].  The children were: Rufus born about 1807, who was a schoolteacher in Belfast, but who went and joined Col. Fannin's troops in the Texas war of Independence, and was killed at the massacre at Goliad; Calista married a Benjamin Shepherd,then John and David,of which David never married and according to family stories "died in 1846. He cooked for a mess of men. He had loaned money, and it was supposed that he was killed by the man who owed him."  Sally Ann who married Theophilus Mitchell [ would you believe I found 2 men of that name?]  William who married Sarah Ann Johnson& move to Il; and Elias B who married Hannah Merritt.
       Jesse was called up in the War of 1812. His service started in Mar of 1814, and ended 28 days later, so saw no battles.

He died Mar 11, 1855, aged 76 yrs. He is buried in Chamberlain cemetery outside Belfast, next to his wife who died in 1833 aged 53.

136. Jesse's father, Name unknown.  According to the family stories, this man had several sons, including Jesse and John. They lived in New Jersey, across the river from New York. The father is supposed to have served in the Revolutionary War, being a prisoner 7 times. Also some of his older sons were also supposed to have served as well.  Not sure he was much of a soldier if the prisoner story is true. He is the next supplemental DAR paper I will work on after I finish the 3 almost completed. Do not know if he followed sons to NY or stayed in NJ. The land in NY could have been bounty land, but won't know for sure until I do more on this line!

Thus ends the initial saga of my PETTY surname!

Faithful Friday , profiles of my family

This post is a little different from my usual surname, or individual story posts. I have recently gone onto session again as an Elder in the Presbyterian church in La Canada, CA. For those of you who do not know, Elders in the Presbyterian church are ordained, answering the same questions of the Book of Order as Ministers, and are responsible for representing the congregation and are the government of the church at the local level, setting policies, serving on committees including membership to financial and personnel to buildings & grounds.  It is not an easy position, and is at least for me, a big step, and is awakening a new spiritual growth time on my faith journey. I decided to look across my extended family genealogy and write about some of the other ancestors and relatives who have been faithful servants of God.  There are many more than I had expected, so this will become a series of posts! We have been involved with the Presbyterian, Methodist, Catholic, Baptist, and Congregational churches, and even the Puritan and pilgrim churches throughout the centuries.....

The first two will be my Dad and grandpa (as I will always try to write about my Dad!):

My dad, Robert Edwards FAIRCHILD was a dentist in the Navy by vocation, and although never served as official in any church that I find documented, was heavily involved in every church we attended when he was not at sea. He and my Mom were always leading the high school youth groups, and I remember many pot-lucks and bowling alleys and trips to beaches and lakes with the groups growing up.  He even remarked to me once before his death when I was first asked, elected and ordained as elder, that that was one thing his father and daughter had become that he had not, and regretted. He was a very Christian man, with a great heart and great faith, who always had a great sense of humor, made people laugh, provided lots of dental care "off the books" and other help for many people in his life!


His father, Victor Miller FAIRCHILD (also a dentist) served as an elder in the First Presbyterian church in Olean NY.  I don't know if he was ever also a deacon, but he probably was. [note to self: self put that on research plan to do list!].  I don't remember much about him, as he died when I was five, only that he was kind, gentle, spoke quietly,  and always had lemon or peppermint candies for us. From the stories told by others, he must have been an honest, faithful man, and I think also did a lot of unpaid dental work for people.  He certainly was loved!  When he died unexpectedly of a cerebral hemorrhage at age 63, hundreds of people attended his funeral. I have marveled at all the signatures in the guest book, and the comments of sympathy and loss sent to his wife.

Here is my favorite picture of the two of them:

Then there was Grandpa's great grandfather [my great,great, great grandfather Zenas T Petty], who was a Methodist minister, but I'll be writing about him tomorrow as one of the Petty clan on Surname Saturday, so will skip for now. And two of his great aunts, Zenas' daughters, served as missionaries in the Presbyterian church at the turn of the 20th century. These two will be profiled next Friday.  And there are more!!!


and of course it's after midnight, so Friday is late!!!

A Late Surname Saturday -- Antonipieri

Here is another late surname post.... but it takes me a long time to go through all the evidence and write up  not only what is sure, but what still is not proven. And it bothers me that these are some of the closer  generational surnames.  I will have to post additional pages to the blog or a website to include all the documentation, or these posts will be WAY too long!  But maybe if a relative sees this, I will know more shortly!

The next surname is Antonipieri. This is an even more rare Italian surname than Fessia.  The site  http://www.gens.labo.net/ that shows the surname density in Italy looks like this:

And there are lots of stories in this family. But I digress....
My lineage is as follows-- (see Ahnentafel page tab above to follow)

1. me

3.--my mom
7. my Grandmother -- whose name is Maria Antonetta Jacomina Theresa Antonipieri ... to which gets added Felice and Fessia  for her two husbands.
Maybe...

Because her nickname is Tonina, some think her name was Antonina, and there is a family uncertainty over whether it is Jacomina Theresa, or Theresa Jacomina or if it's Teresa or Theresa....  and her husband Angelo Felice also used the surname as Felix, the German version, as the region that she is from, Friuli-Venezia-Giulia is next to Austria, and they speak  Furlong which is supposed to be the most difficult dialect to learn....
She was born in Enemonzo  15 May 1890.  She arrived in America on her birthday, May 15, 1911, with her husband Angelo Felice from Buia who first came to America in 1907. According to family stories they met at a wedding of a relative in Udine.  Tonina was one of at least 6 children, 3 boys who all died in WWI according to Mom, and at least 2 other sisters, Maria who married a Borta and ran either a trattoria (restaurant) or hotel in Udine, and Florida about whom all I know is her name.  An uncle of hers ( not sure which side) was either a Monseigneur or Bishop in the Catholic church.  Grandma's first husband died of flu or pneumonia as did a small infant Adolf, leaving her with my aunt Mary, born in Dec 1911.  She married my grandfather, Augusto Secundo Fessia in Utica on 1 Jul 1917.
Grandma Fessia went back to visit several times before WWII. On one trip in 1923 -24, she took both Mary and her daughter Margaret. Margaret contracted polio either there or on her return and died soon after. So when my mother was born in October 1924, they named her after her dead 5 year old sister...... and she was never allowed to go on the final trip she made back home prior to WWII. In 1927, she had my Uncle Dan.
14. her father Daniele  Antonipieri.  As the records from this region have not been microfilmed by the Mormons, and the priests don't respond to my letters, I do not know when or where he was born.  I have seen the picture of Daniele and his wife Caterina (?) whose last name is either Bonnano or Romano depending on which relative or document you consult. It was told to me that it was their wedding portrait. It hung in the living room of my grandparents over the piano. But it may not be, as it is not marked....

Daniele died during WWII, and somewhere I have a picture of his coffin sent to me by my uncle Dan [named for his grandfather] being carried through the crowded streets of the town, It had a Tyrolean hat on top, and he was supposedly  the last or oldest remaining "Alpiner"  which was the first Italian military after the Italy became a united country.  I must find that photo and post it later.  The story about him my mother told me was that during the first World War, he used to sneak across the border to steal food for the village and hide it from the Germans. That someone betrayed him, and the Germans found him andbeat him badly and left him in a ditch to die. His wife spent days looking for him, and when she found him, almost didn't recognize him because his hair had turned white overnight.

I hope to visit Italy later this year, and Enemonzo will be a stop for me. If any of these stories are true, I really want to locate the info and meet any of the remaining relatives! It would also be nice to push this line of mine back a few more generations!

and if you are related and know more, please contact me!

Sentimental Sunday - Pietro Fessia & his daughter Margherita

Well, today I am posting a postcard photo I found in a box. I don't know if the picture was one my Uncle Dan sent me, or Mom had, or where it came from, but it's more important to my Chilean cousins, and since the mail now is iffy, I'll post here so they can see it.   And since it has explanation, I chose to show it on "Sentimental Sunday", rather than "Wordless Wednesday"!
This photo was taken September 24 1933 in Tome', Chile. It says  "To Giovanni"  who is Pietro's younger brother, but the address written in blue pencil on the side is F. Leandro 1314 South St., Utica NY which is Felicita (Fessia) Leandro , Pietro's younger married sister.  The Italian at the bottom is about the picture being of Pietro and his eldest (or first) daughter Margherita [Italian spelling of her name]. I'm not sure whether the first part is "I send", or" return to me", but it will be winging its way to his youngest daughter Marta in Talcahuano as soon as the mail is reliable! It is really special, as Pietro died in 1934 of pneumonia.

Enjoy!  And I hope it  helps take their minds off the aftershocks!

Surname Saturday- MILLER, Scotland, USA (NY) [with ties to Fairchild, Burton, Bayne, Anderson,Sinclair, Morrison]

 Well, the earthquake in Chile overtook last week's post before I could finish it. So here it is a couple of weeks late!


The next surname to tackle in my pedigree is Miller. This name, although not one I carry, is special to me. Although not arriving in this country from Scotland until the mid 1800s, through service and marriage, this family has helped connect me to my very American DAR, DUVCW, and  Mayflower ancestors.
My lineage is

1. me

2. my father Robert E. Fairchild (see Fairchild post)
4. my grandfather Victor Miller Fairchild (see his data in earlier Fairchild surname post)
9. Lucy Gertrude Miller 
Born in Hinsdale, Cattaraugus Co., NY on 10 Mar 1874, she was the middle of seven children. Her siblings were Etta, Angela (Angelia), Fred, Alva, Elmer, and Laura. She married my great grandfather Fred W Fairchild (2 Feb 1872 Belfast, Allegany, NY -17 Jun 1932 Portville, Cattaraugus, NY) on 3 Mar 1894 in Olean, NY. They were married by the Rev James McKee and the witnesses also carried the surname McKee .... they eloped!

the mother's name on the reverse of the license is incorrect; she was Mary Elizabeth, not Isabella....

Gertrude (as she was known), must have been a sweet wonderful person, as her best friend named one of her daughters after her, and at least one other in the Miller family did also. She died suddenly of an infection about a week following the birth of her second child, grandpa's sister Marion, at the young age of 23 years, 1 month, and 1 day, on 11 April 1897.

18. John Miller (Jr.) The tale of the Miller family arrives in the U.S. in this generation. John Miller was born in Scotland, and arrived in the U.S. as an infant with his parents and older sister. He was the second of 6 children. There are at least 2 slightly different dates for his birth given. On his death certificate, it appears as Dec 8 1847. The ship arrival records (the "Cuthbert" arriving NY from Greenock, Scotland on 3 May 1849) have him as 3 months old.

At present I haven't located the birth record in Scotland, so haven't nailed down which date is the correct one. [note to self: find it!] They were enumerated on the 1850 census living in Franklinville, NY with Alexander Miller (who is assumed to be the brother to John Miller Sr). He married Mary Elizabeth Burton sometime before the birth of their first child Etta, on 7 June 1868.  Many of the marriages at that time were kept in the minister's log, and so far, this one hasn't surfaced.... So I'll guess that it was about 1867. John was a blacksmith in Hinsdale like his father before him.

John and Mary Elizabeth (Burton) Miller

He died on 19 March 1934 in Hinsdale, Cattaraugus, NY. They are buried in Maplehurst cemetery there.


36. John Miller (Sr.)    born in Crieff, Scotland 20 May 1820 (parish register), 25 May 1820 per Death certificate.  He married Mary Elizabeth Bayne b. 1826 in Dunblane, Perthshire, Scotland on 1 Nov 1845 according to Old Parish Register 348 Dunblane Vol 4., where he was listed as being of Stirling. He was a blacksmith by trade,and is enumerated with his brother Alexander ( also a blacksmith) in 1850 in Franklinville. Alexander moved on to Michigan later, leaving John and his family to remain in NY.  He served in the Civil War, where he enlisted at age 42 as a Pvt in Co. D, 154th NY Vol Infantry on July 8, 1862. He was discharged on Dec 29, 1862 due to "coarse veins in legs". He was discharged before the unit went to Gettysburg.He and Mary had seven children.   He died 29 May 1902 in Hinsdale, Cattaraugus, NY.

72 John Miller   born in Alloa, Clackmannan, Scotland between 1790 and 1793. He died circa 1850 in Scotland. He married Elizabeth Anderson.  They lived on High Street in Crieff, where he and his sons were blacksmiths. 3 of his children immigrated to the US. His son David remained in Scotland.

 The rest here is conjecture, not fully proven:

144.  Henry Miller   born 19 July 1753 Scotland. Married Janet St. Clare ( Sinclair). Living in Alloa, at time of John's birth. There are no other records in Clackmannan of another Miller couple with a son John of right age, so supposition is that these are the parents of John and his brother Henry who was baptized 7 Mar 1790

if that is true, then
288.  John Miller  b ca 1730 Scotland Married Grizzell Morrison 7 Aug 1752 in Clackmannan, Scotland. Had child Henry born 19 Jul 1753.