It was 1965. My then-brand-new in-laws discovered I was interested in genealogy. They produced a page from a family bible showing that their earliest known ancestor Hiram Lawrence was born in Vermont in 1786, that he married second Mary Bryan Griffin, and with her had 3 children. The youngest of these was my father-in-law's direct ancestor, Pamelia Woods Lawrence. Pamelia married Alexander S Turner and in 1850, still a new bride,was living in Whitehall, Washington Co., New York. Pamelia's Lawrence family had deep roots in both New York and Massachusetts.
Alexander left a long paper trail through New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio -- all after his marriage. There seemed to be nothing -- first in vital and church records, deeds, books, journals or libraries, later online -- regarding his early years or his parentage. My father-in-law believed that his grandfather Lawrence Alexander Turner was the only child of Alexander Turner and Pamelia Lawrence.
My one-time father-in-law died before I found the lone census record revealing a second child in the family: Edwin Bryan Turner. Collaboration kicked in and suddenly family began appearing. Edwin's family had "the portraits" -- paintings of Hiram's daughter Pamelia Woods (Lawrence) Turner and her husband Alexander Steele Turner. After some false starts working through Turners in Washington Co., New York (there were several), we stumbled upon Payne (sometimes Paine) Turner living along the Vermont-New York border in Essex Co., New York. His family came to upstate New York via Vermont. Payne married Ruby (Witherby) Hammond in Oct 1820, the same year the couple were named Adminstrators of the estate of Jedediah Hammond. Ruby died in 1824 and is buried in Lewis Cemetery, Essex Co. with an infant daughter. Payne and Ruby had one son together, Alexander Steele Turner, born 22 Oct 1822 in Essex Co., New York.
David Wetherbee (sic), born in Lunenberg, Massachusetts in 1764, came from several generations of Massachusetts Wetherbees. His wife, Esther Hathorn/Hawthorne has a similar lineage. Their children included Ruba (sic) Wetherbee, born 1797 -- shown as married to Obadiah Hammond. Nothing else is mentioned in the online family trees about Ruba.
It appears that the Wetherbee descendants knew that daughter Ruba (sic) had married a Hammond and thought his name was Obadiah. Ruba fits the profile of Ruby who in 1800, as his presumed widow, was named co-Administrator of the estate of Jedediah Hammond and is the known mother of three Hammond children. If this is all correct, she is the same Ruby (Witherby) Hammond who married Payne Turner, by him had two more children, and who died in 1824.
Can anyone confirm or rule out this hypothesis?
