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Beginners => Family History Beginners Board => Topic started by: cabennett on Monday 19 May 14 12:34 BST (UK)
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Help if you can. My great grandfather was William Oviatt of Theresa, New York (also Evans Mills and Watertown). His daughter, Mildred, was my grandmother. He was married to Ella May Conkey, ? date. Grandma told me he died in a hay press accident when she was 7 or 9. Indeed, Ella shows up on a 1920 census without William. According to my grandmother's information, he would have died circa 1916. HOWEVER, when I did an SSDI search it came up as him having died in 1959. My great aunt Irene was (apparently) from William's second marriage, according to grandma. But the man either simply appeared or disappeared, as the case may be, because I can't seem to find a paper trail.
Thoughts? Ideas? The 1910 census lists him as having been born in New York, and his parents having been born in New York as well. I could sure use a birth certificate but so far haven't been able to access that since NY is reluctant to put much of anything on the internet.
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Hello There ...
And welcome to Rootschat.
There is a William Oviatt on the 1920 US Federal census, living at Theresa Jefferson NY. He states that he was born C1879 in New York. Both his parents were Canadian.
He is married, but no wife is listed. He has a 9 year old daughter Francis, and there is a 43 year old housekeeper, Sarah Johnson also
JeannieR
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Hi
Welcome to Rootschat from me to
Watertown, New York, City Directory, 1924 William Oviatt - (Ella) William a labourer N NYU Inc h224 Moulton E.
Sandra
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Hi Again....
Sandra found the 1924 information in 1935.....
519 LeRay , Watertown NY , William was a labourer, and living with a Irene.
JeannieR
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The name Oviatt seemed familiar - it was touched on at the end of this thread in March 2013 - (but the original poster didn't come back to the thread) - think I suspected that the Sarah in the 1920 Census was Sarah Reed/Reid/Vandusen/Johnson. Will link in case there is a connection.
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=638756.9
Sandra
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Its always possibly there was more than one William Oviatt - a Watertown, New York, City Directory, 1934 lists a William H Oviatt r 519 Le Ray - whilst Mrs Ella A Oviatt is residing at R 215 Main W.
Watertown, New York, City Directory, 1931 shows William (Lab) and Irene (Clk) at 517 Le Ray
i.e - A WW1 Draft for a William Oviatt - 3 Feb 1879 - Jefferson NY - states William (none) Oviatt - a stock clerk for New York Air Brakes.
The 1910 census Theresa, Jefferson, New York - William and Francis fit the entry for 1920 -
William H Avitt 29 Born 1881 NY. Married 1 for 7 years. Concrete Works.
Ella A Avitt 30 Born 1880 NY. Married 1 for 7 years. Had 2 children and 2 survive.
Francis I Avitt 0 Born NY 1910.
Sandra
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1930 Census for William H Oviatt - Theresa, Jefferson, New York. The years married seem to match the 1910 census of William and Ella.
William H Oviatt 51 Born New York. First married at 24 years. Manager -Farm.
Sandra
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William mistranscribed on the 1915 Theresa, Jefferson Census - clearly Mildred on the image not Millton.
William K Cliatt (Oviatt) 35
Ella Oviatt 36
Millton (Mildred) Oviatt 7
Frances Oviatt 5
Elizabeth Canney 14 Lodger
Peter M Britton 74 Head of next household.
Sandra
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Thanks for all the help. Mildred was my grandmother. Irene was her sister, hence his daughter. I knew them both very well. You did come up with a couple of sources that I hadn't found. Sarah Johnson was a mystery to me. I'll check her with those other names as well as the date of her immigration.
I suppose there could be two William Oviatts in the Watertown area, though the city was pretty small at the time. Even today population is still only about 20,000 or so. Evans Mills and Theresa are a couple of those areas where if you blink twice you missed them.
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I don't understand the census entries of Francis though. Irene Frances was his daughter.
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My grandmother told me she had a brother whom she called Alvey, who apparently died circa 1964, but I can find no trace of him. I never knew him so it's possible he passed prior to my birth in late 1959. Again, I have no idea if his name is Alvin or what. He doesn't appear on any census that I've checked either so I am truly stumped.
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I don't understand the census entries of Francis though. Irene Frances was his daughter.
It was the other way round on the 1910 census - Frances I (Irene) - could often happen that the names changed round later.
Sandra
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You may want to check out http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/ If the William Oviatt in Theresa is yours, it looks like his father Phillip was accused of bigamy.
Also, if you haven't seen www.fultonhistory.com, it has a lot of upstate New York newspapers.
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Thanks! A lot of info there. I appreciate it, especially since I couldn't find William's father's name. But, yeah, I think that's my great great great grandfather who was a bigamist. I'll explore that further. No wonder no one in the family talked about him. lol