MCKAY-ELKENNY-L Archives

Archiver > MCKAY-ELKENNY > 2007-06 > 1181335719


From: Harry McKay <>
Subject: Re: [MCKAY-ELK] A new name to look for
Date: Fri, 8 Jun 2007 15:48:39 -0500


Kate,

I have a book on the Edwards family and do not find anyone in Lydia
(Edwards) family that fits the bill to be Lavity McCay. Lydia had two
brothers: (1) Abner Edwards who married Fanny Cleveland, both born in
MA., (2) Timothy Edwards married Catherine Clapp, both born MA. None of
Lydia's sisters, all born MA., married a McKay.

I think you are right, Kate, in thinking that the age is 64 and not 14
for Lavity. It is true that the surname could be incorrect and that this
is just a friend or an in-law of one of their children living with them.


Another idea I had....Could this be Larissa Lamb McKay, widow of Seth
McKay? I have been unable to find her on a 1850 census. She died in
January 1860, so it is doubtful that she was on that year's census. Some
of her children moved to Illinois and she is not with the ones I found.
If Larissa was born ca 1786, she would have been 16 years old at marriage
and 64 years old in 1850. Does anyone know if she was called by another
name? According to Mary Lou Petrie's genealogy chart, Larissa Lamb was
born 23 Jan.1786 in Bennington, VT., died 2 Jan.1860 in Danbury, CT. So,
this Lavity certainly does fit by age and place of birth. Any ideas,
Mary Lou?

Yes, a lot of the families did stay close until in the 1860's. The Mary
Ann Smith below Daniel and Lydia is their daughter. Most of Daniel's
family moved west, and Daniel, also, after Lydia's death. He died in
Wisconsin.

Thank's to both of you for the responses.

Blanche McKay

On Fri, 08 Jun 2007 10:15:44 -0400 Kate Davis <> writes:
> Greetings,
>
> I looked at this record, and agree that the birthplace is VT, but I
> think the age is 64, not 14. The bottom part of the 6 is faded, but
> the
> slope of the writing matches other 6's and doesn't match the 1's.
>
> Daniel's nephew Daniel, son of Sylvester) is living a few towns away
>
> with his wife Harriet () Cary McKay and daughter. This extended
> family
> certainly did keep close, it seems.
>
> Lavity almost certainly is an inlaw of some sort. I would question
> the
> reliability of both her age and surname, as they match Lydia, and
> might
> just be an error. Lydia was an Edwards, and her parents were third
> cousins. The Edwards' clan was from the Northhampton Mass area,
> which is
> very close to Vermont. My guess is that Lavity is an inlaw from the
> Edwards' side.
>
> Edwards' is in another line, and I'll look about to see if there is
> a
> "Lavity" somewhere, maybe even a sister to Lydia.
>
> -Kate
>
> Nancy Cluff Siders wrote:
> > Blanche,
> >
> > Those are terrific examples of tough census records! I agree!
> There had to
> > be some deaf census takers!! All census takers should have been
> tested for
> > their hearing and ability to write clearly! :)
> >
> > Lavity or Lavety is quite interesting. I searched Google and
> there were
> > others with this given name and it is a surname as well. My
> thinking is
> > that she's perhaps a sister-in-law of Daniel...? I looked but
> didn't find
> > anyone with any similarity. Her birthplace appears to be VT.
> That would be
> > strange for the birthplace for a 14 year old granddaughter,
> wouldn't it?
> > Lydia does not have a ditto for her last name but Lavity or Lavety
> does. I
> > see what you mean by the habit of not dotting all the i's!
> >
> > I'm sorry I cannot come up with anything else to help.
> >
> >
> > Later...Nancy
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From:
> > [mailto:] On Behalf Of Harry
> McKay
> > Sent: Thursday, June 07, 2007 1:13 PM
> > To:
> > Subject: [MCKAY-ELK] A new name to look for
> >
> > Nancy,
> >
> > Thank you for putting in the recents facts about and e-mail
> addresses for
> > Aurora, NY. It is a lovely place and I hope you can go back
> someday soon
> > to visit.
> >
> > I have been trying to find the 1850 census for B.G. McKay
> (Bazaleel
> > Gurney) for quite awhile and finally had some success after
> putting in
> > just Tryphena's name in the first name column on Ancestry with New
> York
> > as the state. And it came up under the name Tryphena May. I
> can't
> > figure out how they got from McKay to May unless the transcriber
> was a
> > little deaf. Anyway, that is a new name for you to look for.
> B.G.'s
> > name was spelled Bezalal and Tryphena's father, Alexander, was in
> their
> > household in the Town of Aurora. I noticed several names down
> there is
> > an Elizabeth May, age 62, in with a Paul family. It may be a
> legitimate
> > May name, however. I could not read the man's first name and do
> not know
> > of any Paul connection to McKay's, anyway.
> >
> > I found Daniel McKay in 1850, Aurora, under name McCay. In with
> Daniel
> > and Lydia is what looks like Lavity or Lavety McCay, female, age
> either
> > 14 or 64. Could some of the group please look at this and see if
> you
> > know who this person is and what the correct age is? Ancestry has
> the
> > name listed as Lavety, but since the transcriber did not dot all
> i's, I
> > am not sure.
> >
> > Great to see the recent messages coming through.
> >
> > Blanche McKay
> >
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