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THE FAY FAMILY PAGE GENEALOGIES |
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| Ephraim Fay (1785 - 1864) and his Descendants |
| Hiram Fay (1811 - ) and his Descendants |
| and the connection between them |
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| There is no known connection between Lucy Chapin (see below) and Edward Chapin. The postcard was, however, sent from Homer, Cortland County, in 1882, and might indeed be from a very distant relative. The postcard was included on a page of New York star marks. |
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| Research into these lines (or, if I am right, this line) began in 2004 with a series of questions from Erik Fay about Hiram Fay, born in New York, died in Nebraska. Not being able at that time to solve the mystery of Hiram, I told Erik what I had found and put it aside. In May 2007, I happened upon Cubert Fay in the World War I registrations, and was interested in his name. In researching his background, I came eventually to Hiram and picked up the older material. I found a tree on ancestry.com posted by Reginald Day but containing source references to material from Karen Holst. The information found there supplemented what I had learned from Erik and what I had found through use of the standard census records, draft registration and social security records. I tried to get in touch with Karen and Reginald, but had no luck at first try. I also found messages on the boards from Lou Jenson, referring to the same line, but with the emphasis on Chapin. I corresponded with him, and he forwarded to me a much more recent file from Karen, which I have used in preparing this version. I also found a book, York County, Nebraska and its people : together with a condensed history of the state (hereafter called York County), which contained a short bibliography of Henry W. Fay and his father Hiram. I have included that material here. |
| According to Hiram's obituary found in a family Bible by Erik Fay, "Hiram was born in March 1811 in Cortland, Courtland County, New York. He moved in his 'early days' to Genessee County, Michigan. He moved to Chicago for the period 1853 - 1858. He later moved to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, then to Belle Plain, Iowa, and then to Taylor County, Iowa. He eventually landed in York, Nebraska where he died." All of the census records confirm this outline: New York to Michigan to Iowa to Nebraska, with descendants continuing to California and Oregon. York County places his death in 1883 at the age of 74. |
| Given this information, it should be possible to discover the identity of Hiram's parents. Many different possibilities have been checked (Orlin's index for Hiram, Fay in Michigan in 1830 and 1840, Fay in New York in 1810, among others). Research has not yet produced a confirmed answer, but it has produced a very strong possibility. The census of 1880--the only place we see any information at all--lists Hiram's father as born in Vermont, his mother in New York. Censuses, however, often are inaccurate in some of the information they provide. I believe that Hiram's father was Ephraim Fay, born in Massachusetts but moving early to New York. I have written to the Cortland County Historical Society, to see whether there is information available there. |
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| Hiram married Lucy Chapin on January 2, 1837 in Dearborn, Wayne County, Michigan (LDS). Lucy was born June 29, 1817, in New York (Karen Holst), and died in September 1874 in her 58th year (York County; Karen gives September 15, 1875, for her death). After Lucy's death, Hiram married Anna Wright, the widow of George Wright. It looks as if Anna and Lucy were connected through a rather complicated Chapin link, with Anna's son marrying Lucy's niece (Holst and Jenson). Anna was buried in Glenwood Cemetery in Iowa (Holst). |
| With the listing of Hiram and his family in the census of 1850 in Michigan, it becomes easier to follow his line. However, there ARE a few questions about the number of children Hiram had, and what happened to them. Consider the following set of five census records, and note the similarities and the differences between them. The "Holst list" was provided by an ancestry tree from Karen Holst and Reginald Day. It should be noted that this was a preliminary version of Karen's conclusions. The more recent version which she has provided does not show Eva as a Fay daughter, but it does still list Sarah Russel as a Fay daughter without discussion. And Karen has found one more child, Hiram Clement. Following the table is a discussion of some of the entries; and after that, a summary of the line as I see it. |
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| One of the things most clearly seen in this side by side listing concerns the position, birth and ages of the last three children entered for Hiram and Lucy on Holst's original list. It is certainly possible that Lucy bore three children within such a short period of time, but I was very sceptical, especially in view of the census data. The original list of children shows Sarah born in 1851, Eva in 1852, and Alice in October 1852. There is no census listing for Alice; one would not expect it, since she was born and died between censuses. Her name and dates must have been found in some other source by Ms. Holst. |
| Eva appears ONLY in 1870 as a girl of 18. In 1870, therefore, she would have been 8. Where is she in the census of 1860? She is NOT living with her "parents." It is my opinion that "Eva" is actually Frances Evelyn Brown, the wife of Henry Waterloo. Everything fits; Evelyn was born 12/1/1851 in Iowa; she and Henry were married January 2, 1870; this census was taken in August 1870. Henry and Frances Evelyn stayed with his parents for a time before setting up their own household. Eva is indeed a Fay, but by marriage and not by birth. The 1885 Nebraska State census actually lists her as "F. Eva Fay." As noted above, Karen also seems to have come to this conclusion. |
| The second question is about Sarah Russel. She appears in 1860 and 1870; she was born not in 1851 (Holst) but in 1856, according to the census. She is listed as a Fay in 1870. In 1860, the listing is questionable. There is no ditto mark to indicate that she is a Fay. The normal conclusion would be that she was a Russel. If she was 4 in 1860, she would have been born in 1856, the year of the state census. There is no entry for Sarah with the family in 1856. There IS, however, an entry for a Sarah Russel, the 1 year old daughter of Thomas and Catherine Russel. Thomas and Catherine are still in Iowa in 1860; Sarah is there, and a baby brother. This census was taken on July 10. On August 1st, Sarah is with the Fays and her brother, William F. Russel, is staying with John and Ester Bradford, a very short distance from Sarah and the Fays. I think that something happened to the parents between July 10 and August 1, and the children were placed with other families. Sarah seems to have been either officially adopted, or more probably, cared for as their own, by the Fays. When she married, she was married under the name Sarah A. Russel. |
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