 |
Descendants of Edwin Ruthven Fay
(born 12/22/1824 and died after 1910) |
|
|
Researched |
|
| |
|
At the Reunion of the Descendants of Andrew Ward, a welcome speech was delivered to the members of the reunion by "Mrs. Emily L. B. Fay, Secretary of the Stamford Historical Society, upon the theme, 'The early founders of Stamford and their descendants.'" Seeing a Fay name in that group stirred my interest, of course, and I wanted to find out who she was and why she was there. I first assumed that she was a member of the Ward clan, but, I now believe, erroneously. I think she merely welcomed them in the name of the Historical Society. A database of the early settlers of Stamford included Emily's ancesters, and it includes 9 Wards; but nowhere in that database do the Wards intersect with Emily's people. Also, the opening of the address seems significant: "To the Andrew Ward Association we extend a most cordial welcome.": WE, I assume, being town and Historical Society. |
| |
|
But Emily WAS a Fay, and so her ancestry and marriage remained of interest. She writes, "The preservation of family history is a supreme duty which every American owes to himself, his family and the community in which he dwells. How much has already been hopelessly lost through neglect; how much more of great value will likewise go in our day if we set aside the golden opportunities." That being her viewpoint, it is strange that a search does not reveal that much about her or the family into which she married. |
| |
|
Emily Louise Bostwick was born September 17, 1850, in Stamford, Fairfield County, Connecticut, to Leander and Hannah Elizabeth (Scofield) Bostwick. Both Leander and Hannah died by the time Emily was 10. On April 9, 1874, she married Edwin Ruthven Fay in Stamford. |
| |
|
Emily was living in Stamford with her Uncle John and Aunt Emily Bostwick in 1870; Edwin was in New York. How did they meet? John was a lumber merchant; perhaps a trip to New York City? We just don't know. |
| |
|
Edwin Ruthven Fay was born in Vermont; his birth is recorded in Orlin. Orlin knows nothing more except that in 1860, he was in Carmansville, a part of New York City. He was born in 1824, and Emily was his second wife, the same age as his youngest daughter. Edwin was born in Rutland, and seems to have spent a short time in Mount Holly, where he took over a general store for a period of time. No dates are given, unfortunately. He married "Mary L." and they had at least four children: Harriet, Edwin, Mary and William. I have not found him in the census of 1850, but by 1860 he is definitely in New York.
|
|
In 1860, the family is in New York City, where Edwin is a grocer. His family consists of wife Mary L, age 34, and three children, Harriet E., born about 1852; Edwin B., born about 1854; both in Vermont. The youngest child, Mary E. was born in 1856 in New York. Thus we can date his move to New York to the period 1854-1856.
|
| By 1870, Mary L. Fay has died. Harriet, his daugher, is now 19; Mary is 15; and there is a son William, who is 5. There is a chance that Mary died at the birth of William, but there is no evidence. Edwin lives in New York and is still running a grocery store. Emily Bostwick, 18, is living with her aunt and uncle in Connecticut.
|
| Edwin married Emily April 9, 1874. In the census of 1880, he is shown with Emily L., 25; daugher Mary E., also 25; William, who is 14. And Edwin and Emily have had a son Charles E., who is 5.
Edwin has joined the New York Police Department, and in fact, has risen to Superintendent. There is no sign of Harriet; she has most likely married.
|
| The family shows only 3 people in 1900: Edwin, now 75; Emily, 47; amd Charles, 22. They are still in New York.
|
|
By 1910, the family has moved to Connecticut. Edwin and Emily are alone now. Charles has married and set up his own household. He has become the Vice President of an Insurance Company, a position he still holds in 1920. In that year, we also learn that "Charles' Wife" was Helene, and her maiden name was Cazin. Her parents came from France. The two children, Beatrice and Gladys, are Helene's from her first marriage.
|
|
Edwin Ruthven Fay died between 1910 and 1920. Emily Louisa Bostwick Fay died May 19, 1913, and is buried in Simsbury Cemetery, Stamford, CT.
|
|
|
