NYMONROE-L Archives

From: (Margaret Fallaw)
Subject: BUDD family, esp. Leonard L. Budd
Date: 15 Aug 2000 13:02:29 EDT

For a LONG time I have been looking for information on my gggrandfather Leonard
Budd (whose MI probably is L), as well as his parents and possible siblings. A
late uncle did research and a typescript in the 1950s-60s that in general was of
pretty good quality, though I have found some errors. He was able to consult
several of Leonard's grandchildren, though I don't think they knew much since he
died quite young, and also apparently the Budd family Bible before it and 2
others were--shriek--sold to an antiques dealer.

I hope someone reading this will be able to help me over or around my Budd stone
wall. I live in Maryland and my 95 y.o. mother (whose memory has largely failed)
lives with us, so a research trip to NY is out of the question.

Here's the info I have: Supposedly, Leonard's family settled in Rochester
sometime in the 18th century. (No evidence given, however.) Leonard (L?) was
supposedly born about 1800 and learned the trade of millwright. He supposedly
built the first grist mill in Rochester (I kind of doubt it was the first,
though perhaps his father, name not known, was in the same trade and built an
early mill). He evidently traveled to other towns for his work, and that may be
how he met Delia Mat(t)hews (b. 8/6/1805, dau. of Lyman and Polly Olcott
Mathews) of Camden, Oneida Co., NY. They were probably married 1/10/1828.
Perhaps they (and/or Leonard's siblings or parents) would be shown in the 1830
census as living in the Rochester area? However, I have not found any such
census online, nor an index. Might there have been a city directory that early?
Parents might be shown in earlier censuses?

Four sons were born to them: Albert in 1828, Byron in 1830 (d. 1847, buried in
Camden), William George (my gggrandfather) in 1832 (supposedly during a cholera
epidemic), and Clinton in 1835. (I doubt that traditional naming patterns were
followed here, as Byron might well be after the poet, and Clinton after the NY
Gov. None seem to be names in their mother's family.) The LDS familysearch.org
site suggests that they were born in Camden (or perhaps at least christened
there, though my late uncle did not have this info and seems to indicate they
lived in Rochester during this period. I suppose it's possible the mother went
to Camden for the births.

Leonard supposedly died while on a construction job in Demorestville, Ontario,
across the lake, on 8/12/1836. My uncle's account says he was buried in St.
Thomas Churchyard in Belleville, Ontario, which is quite specific info. However,
the Ontario Cemetery Finding Aid says he was buried in Demorestville Cemetery.

It is unclear where his widow and children lived after his death. My uncle's
text suggests that she lived in their Rochester-area home for about 11 years
before returning to Camden, even though that seems somewhat unlikely. Perhaps
she might turn up there in the 1840 census, perhaps as a head of household?
Might there have been a notice of his death in a Rochester newspaper?

My gggrandfather Wm. George Budd became a watchmaker and jeweler. His first
marriage (don't know where, but perhaps Camden) was to Mary Stevenson, in 1854,
who died in 1857. She died about the time that his brother Albert moved to
Kalamazoo, MI, where Albert met his wife; they had two daughters, neither of
whom married.

William next married an Irish immigrant (from Co. Kerry), Katy E. O'Rourke,
probably in early 1863, and they moved to Kalamazoo from Camden. She died there
a few days after their arrival. William's mother, Delia, and his brother Clinton
moved to Michigan at about the same time. Clinton supposedly stopped off at
Hillsdale and stayed there until 1896. No info about marriage or children,
though the info is that he died in Hillsdale in 1896. Mother Delia married the
widower father of Albert's wife.

According to my late uncle's version, William did not marry again until 1877, in
Michigan, to Ellen (Nellie) Doyle Parrish, my great-grandmother, a widow with a
child. (Though I'm not so sure that he and Clinton didn't marry women in Chicago
in the meantime, which may account for the teenage girl he and Nellie "adopted,"
supposedly as a companion for her child; my mother had her suspicions.)
Interestingly, her Doyle family (with Irish immigrant parents) seems to have
lived for a time, as they made their way west, in Bergen, very close to Monroe
Co. Nellie evidently was born there, according to what I found online, though
family tradition says she was born in VT, where the Doyles lived for an unknown
period as they made their way down from Montreal, their port of entry. They
supposedly went west on the Erie Canal.

William was a real rolling stone. After his 3rd marriage, he lived in numerous
places in Michigan (including Alpena, where I found him in a city directory as a
jeweler), Bryson City (NC), and finally in West Pullman, Chicago, where he died
in 1922. Nellie died in 1940.

I noted that later in the 19th century, a Rochester directory lists a Budd (or
two). Whether such Budds might be connected to Leonard's family, I haven't a
clue. Might any of you know?

The Budds, from at least Delia on, were Episcopalians, though William's wives
were Catholics (some of whom changed affiliations after marrying him).

Who Leonard Budd's parents were and where they came from is a good question,
esp. since the post-Revolutionary period was such a period of change and
westward movement. There are early Budds in NY (Long Island, Westchester Co.,
Dutchess, at least), NJ, PA, and MD, and additional Budds seem to have come from
England as fresh immigrants through the 18th and 19th centuries. I suppose it's
most likely that Leonard's parents went west from an older section of NY, but I
can't assume anything.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated!

This thread:

• BUDD family, esp. Leonard L. Budd by (Margaret Fallaw)