Week 46: Poor Man/Woman #52 Ancestors — Making Sense of it All

Now you’re talking about my people. If I struggled with the last blog about “Rich” ancestors, this one will be a little easier. Ha!

Many of our Irish ancestors came to America as a result of the Great Famine (“An Gorta Mór” in Irish), emigrating between 1846 and 1851. They were the lucky ones. Even though passage on a ship to America could cost as little as $10, vast numbers of Irish couldn’t afford it.[1] They were the truly poor ones. Ireland’s population was eight million at the start of the famine years.[2] In the six years of the famine, over one million Irish died from starvation or disease.[3] I count my lucky stars that as poor as they were, my Irish ancestors were fortunate enough to be among the millions who emigrated to the U.S. between 1845 and 1855.[4]

However, the really bad thing about having a poor ancestor is the few records they leave behind.[5] There are always some records, but for one of my “brick walls” not nearly enough. Here’s what I don’t know about him: when and where he was born, who is parents were, and when and where he died. Yeah, that’s kind of a lot not to know. The guy I’m talking about is the family patriarch, David Baty, my husband’s 3rd great-grandfather.

He appears out of “nowhere” in 1808 to marry Emily Pickerill in Mason County, Kentucky.[6] He is probably over twenty-one since signed his own marriage bond, but because Kentucky only began registering births in 1852, no state record exists to identify his parents.

One of the reasons he may not have generated many records is that he doesn’t seem to have ever owned any land. There are no deed records for David in Kentucky or any of the other states where he lived. The one tax record I have found for him shows he owned no land (but four horses).[7] No deeds, no nothin’. And even though he served in the War of 1812, he apparently died before the U.S. awarded those veterans a pension.[8] David and Emily allegedly died in 1845 in Effingham County, Illinois, where some of their children settled.[9] However, no cemetery record, headstone, or probate record confirms this.[10]

So, there you have it. Glad he existed, but why did he have to be so poor?

[1] Edward Laxton, The Famine Ships: The Irish Exodus to America (New York: Henry Holt and Co., 1996), 1; digital images, Archive.org (http://www.archive.org : accessed 13 November 2019).

[2] Ibid, 19.

[3] Christine Kinealy, Saving the Irish Poor: Charity and the Great Famine, Openedition.org, 2015 (http://www.OpenEdition.org : accessed 2019).

[4] James G. Ryan, Ph.D., Irish Records: Sources for Family and Local History (United States: Ancestry Inc., 1997), 42.

[5] Yes, I know, this sounds like it is all about me, but isn’t it?

[6] Mason County, Kentucky, Clerk of the Court, “Loose bonds 1806-1819,” David Beatty-Emlou Pickerrell, 9 May 1808; “Kentucky, County Marriages, 1797-1954,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9S7-9CRV?cc=1804888&wc=QD3Q-4X8%3A1300412311 : accessed 4 December 2017), FHL microfilm 5,552,766, image 81 of 569.

[7] Mason County, Kentucky, Tax Assessor, “Tax books 1810-1831, 1835-1835,” 1810, p. 18, David Baty; digital image, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS3J-D79T-N?i=6&cat=156148 : accessed 1 August 2018), FHL microfilm 7,834,484, image 7 of 1553.

[8] The Adjunct General of Ohio, Roster of Ohio Soldiers in the War of 1812 (Columbus, OH: The Edward T. Miller Co., 1919), 93; digital image, Internet Archive (http://archive.org/details/rosterofohiosold01ohio : accessed 16 Feb 2016). Stuart L. Buter, “Genealogical Records of the War of 1812,” Genealogy Notes (Winter 1991, Vol. 23, No. 4); digital image, National Archives (https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/1991/winter/war-of-1812.html : accessed 18 November 2019).

[9] William N. Pickerill, The Genealogy of Samuel Pickerill, Soldier of the Revolutionary War (n.p. : W.N. Pickerill, 1905), 2. 1850 U.S. census, Effingham Co., Ill., p. 298 (stamped), dwell. 138, fam. 138, Mary E. Baty; NARA microfilm M432, roll 105. 1850 U.S. census, Effingham Co., Ill., p. 298 (stamped), dwell. 140, fam. 140, John L. Baty; NARA microfilm M432, roll 105. 1850 U.S. census, Effingham Co., Ill., p. 299 (stamped), dwell. 158, fam. 158, Levi Jacobs [husband of daughter Mary]; NARA microfilm M432, roll 105.

[10] FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/search/film/4595161 : accessed 18 November 2019) digital film 4595161 Effingham Co, Ill., Circuit Court, “Probate Index,” (1838-1964). No such records were found for Brown County, Ohio. FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89MG-SNGZ?i=9&wc=S2HC-6TR%3A266274401%2C266301101&cc=1992421) Ohio, Probate Court, “Index to Wills, Volume 1 (1817-1974).”