NYMONROE-L Archives

From: (Margaret Fallaw)
Subject: [NYMONROE-L] Roll Call-BUDD
Date: 14 Jan 2001 01:04:43 EST

From:

I'm still looking for the origins of my gggrandfather Leonard BUDD, b. 1803 or
1804--place unknown, parents unknown. In 1828 he m. Polly MATTHEWS (whose mother
was an OLCOTT) of Camden, Oneida Co., NY; her parents were early settlers from
Connecticut. The Leonard BUDD family is shown in the 1830 federal census as
living in Rochester. Leonard d. in Aug. 1836, probably in Demorestville,
Ontario, and is buried there. His widow and sons, at some point, returned to
Camden. Some years later, they all moved to Michigan (when the surviving sons
were adults).

According to a family-history account done by my uncle in the 1950s (based on
oral information from Leonard's grandchildren in my line), Leonard was a
millwright (and maybe his father was also). Supposedly, one or the other (or
maybe even both) was involved in the building of Rochester's first mill. Whether
that's fact or fiction I don't know. Has there been any detailed research done
on Rochester's milling history? If so, might it have been published, and where?
When were the earliest Rochester mills built?

Having found no clues yet, I've speculated that one possibility for Leonard's
given name is that his mother's family surname was LEONARD. Most likely, Leonard
BUDD and/or his parents came from elsewhere to Rochester in its early days--but
from where? There were early BUDDs in MA, NJ, eastern NY, and PA especially, but
my BUDDs could have come from anywhere, including Canada and England, from which
BUDDs continued to emigrate.

I also have Jeremiah and Mary Ann (SHEA) DOYLE, my Irish gggrandparents, who for
an unknown time lived not far over the Monroe line, in Bergen, Genesee Co., NY,
where some (if not all) of their children were born. They left Ireland for
Montreal in 1844, married in 1845 (she was 12!), and lived in VT (Vergennes
and/or Middlebury) for an unknown period. Evidently finding life there hard
(esp. farming), they used the Erie Canal (in part) to take them to western NY.
Why they stopped at Bergen I have no idea. Eventually they moved to Kalamzoo,
MI. A DOYLE daughter (Ellen/Nellie) m. William BUDD (a son of Leonard) there (at
least his 3rd wife).

Are there any histories of the Erie Canal that might give factual information
about westward-moving immigrants' use of the canal--including perhaps details
such as on the cost, time involved, why people went where they did off the canal
(were the westward bound lured by promotional materials from locations in
western NY, for instance?), movement of household goods, what a trip was like,
etc.--and perhaps also the flavor of that part of the US's westward movement?

Crossing my fingers on BUDDs especially!

This thread:

• [NYMONROE-L] Roll Call-BUDD by (Margaret Fallaw)