2A-L: Calista Rosettie Guthrie
CALISTA ROSETTIE GUTHRIE
Parents: George Guthrie 1830IRE-1873NY and Margaret Walker 1840ENG-1910NY
Birth: 17 September 1867
Birth Location: Hopkinton, Saint Lawrence County, New York, USA
Marriage: John M Schuyler on 25 December 1888 in St. Regis Falls, New York, USA
Children: Philip Patrick (1889)
Death: 19 December 1895
Death Location: Waverly, Franklin, New York
Burial Location: Unknown
JOHN M SCHUYLER
Parents: Simon Schuyler and Mary Ann
Birth: March 1865
Birth Location: New York, USA – County Unknown
Occupation: Laborer (presumably)
Death: Aft. 1888, probably 1889-1892
Death Location: Unknown, presumably in New York, USA
Burial Location: Unknown
NOTES:
Born on 17 September 1867, Calista Rosettie Guthrie was the 4th daughter of the Guthrie family. She was only about 5 or 6 at her father’s death in 1873. George Guthrie was a laborer and farmer of Scot-Irish descent having immigrated to New Brunswick, Canada during the Potato Famine. He moved to Vermont where he met and married Margaret Walker, a black/mulatto servant of English birth and Afro-English ancestry. They moved from Vermont to Saint Lawrence County, New York after the birth of their first child and lived there for a decade.
The family was listed together in the 1870 census of Hopkinton, Saint Lawrence, New York:
George K Guthery, 40, white, Ireland, laborer, both parents of foreign birth, cannot read/write
Margaret Guthery, 31, black, England, keeping house, both parents of foreign birth
Eva Guthery, 9, mulatto, Vermont, both parents of foreign birth, attending school
Mary A Guthery, 7, mulatto, New York, both parents of foreign birth, attending school
Wealtha J Guthery, 4, mulatto, New York, both parents of foreign birth
Calista Guthery, 2, mulatto, New York, both parents of foreign birth
The family moved to Dickinson, Franklin, New York prior to the 1875 census, either just before or soon after George Guthrie’s death. The New York State Census lists Margaret Guthrie as the head of the family with six children under 15 years of age.
Log House (versus a Frame House)
Margaret Guthrie, 34, F, Black, England, (Listed as “now married” rather than “now widowed”) Day Laborer, Alien, Over 21 and not able to read/write
Evas C Guthrie, 14, F, Black, Daughter, Vermont, Single
Mary Ann Guthrie, 12, F, Black, Daughter, St Lawrence, Single
Wealthy J Guthrie, 9, F, Black, Daughter, St Lawrence, Single
Calista R Guthrie, 7, F, Black, Daughter, St Lawrence, Single
Martha L Guthrie 4, F, (Blank), Daughter, St Lawrence, Single
John Francis Guthrie, 1-8/12, M, (Blank), Son, Franklin, Single
Calista’s mother remarried to a Canadian farmer of Irish descent also living in Dickinson named John Ford. George and Margaret’s youngest child, their only son, John Francis Guthrie, assumed the surname of his stepfather, and so the 1880 US Census shows the boy with the Ford name and listed with his stepfather’s origins. Calista and the rest of her sisters were listed in the family as ‘boarders’.
The 1880 US Census:
FOARD, John B, white, male, 38, married, farmer, Self: Canada, Father: Ireland, Mother: Canada
———Margret, black, female, 39, wife, married, keeping house, Self: England, Father: Africa, Mother: England
———John F, mulatto, male, 6, son, single, Self: New York, (Step)Father: Canada, Mother: England
GUTHRIE, Evas C, mulatto, female, 19, boarder, single, Self: Vermont, Father: Ireland, Mother: England
———-Mary A, mulatto, female, 17, boarder, single, Self: New York, Father: Ireland, Mother: England
———-Wealtha J, mulatto, female, 15, boarder, single, Self: New York, Father: Ireland, Mother: England
———-Clista, mulatto, female, 12, boarder, single, at school, Self: New York, Father: Ireland, Mother: England
———-Lillie, mulatto, female, 9, boarder, single, at school, Self: New York, Father: Ireland, Mother: England
CLARK, Hiram, white, male, 22, single, laborer, Self: New York, Father: Vermont, Mother: Vermont
HANLY, John, white, male, 24, single, laborer, cannot read/write, Self: Ireland, Father: Ireland, Mother: Ireland
On Christmas Day, 25 December 1888, in St Regis Falls, New York, Calista married John M. Schuyler. We don’t know much about John because he disappears from the records almost instantly.
John Schuyler was the son of Simeon and Mary Ann (MNU) Schuyler who lived in Leyden, Lewis, New York. They were a small family with 1 daughter, Sabrio Sophie (1863) and John (1865). There was a prominent family of this name during the colonial period, presumably a white family, while Simeon Schuyler is a free black as early as the 1850 census. I haven’t yet found any details on his personal story to reveal if he was a former slave, born free, and/or related. It appears that he was employed as a farm laborer and by 1880 was listed as a farmer with real estate valued to $2000 and personal estate of $800. Simeon’s wife Mary Ann had died in January of 1870. He remarried quickly to a Sarah Ann (MNU) by July of that year.
The 1870 US Census:
Leyden, Lewis, New York (Post Office: Glensdale) – Enumerated on 21 July 1870
Schuyler, Simeon, 54, male, black, farmer, real estate $2000, personal estate $800, born NY, US Citizen who can vote
_____, Sarah Ann, 48, female, black, keeping house, born NY
_____, John, 6, male, black, born NY, attended school within the year
The 1880 US Census:
Lyonsdale, Lewis, New York – Enumerated on 11 and 12 June 1880
Schuyler, Simeon, black, male, 62, widowed, Farmer, Self: NY, Father: NY, Mother: NY
_____, John M, black, male, 14, son, single, at home, attended school, Self: NY, Father: NY, Mother: NY
Philip Patrick Schuyler was born on 30 June 1889 six months after his parents’ marriage.
Just 3 years later, the 1892 New York State Census shows no sign of John M. Schuyler. Was he working elsewhere to support his family? Had he deserted them? Was something more nefarious going on? Did the headlines in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle on 4 Nov 1887 reading: “WILL HE SWING? Trying to Save the Neck of John M Schuyler” apply to Calista’s husband? Or had John Schuyler simply died by accident or illness?
Reading through the details about the Brooklyn barber who brutally murdered his own 3 year old daughter I was relieved to learn that the events had happened when this John M. Schuyler was only 13 and too young to be the married working man from Brooklyn. That still leaves a mystery as to what happened to Calista’s husband.
The 1892 New York State Census:
Lyonsdale, Lewis, New York, USA
Simon Schuyler, male 76, colored, born US, citizen, farmer
Clisty Schuyler, female, 25, colored, born US, citizen
Patrick Schuyler, male, 3, colored, born US, citizen
This is the last record found for Calista’s father-in-law, Simeon Schuyler.
The New York Death Index, 1852-1956 lists Clista R. Guthrie’s death on 19 December 1895 in St Regis Falls. Presumably, after the death of her father-in-law, she returned to St. Regis Falls where her mother was living, bringing her young son, Philip, with her. Calista would have been only 28 years old at the time of her death.
The 1900 census finds Philip in the home of his uncle, John Ford, a combined household that includes his grandmother Margaret (Guthrie nee Walker) Ford, his aunts, Evas and Lillie, and his younger cousin, Julian Ford.
The 1900 US Census of Waverly, Franklin, New York:
FORD, John, head, white male, Nov 1873, 26, married x1 yr, Self: New York, (Step)Father: Nova Scotia, Mother: England, farmer, owns house, farms
———-Dora, wife, white, female, Jan 1883, 17, married x1yr, 0 children, 0 living, Self/Father/Mother: New York
———-Margaret, mother, white, female, Apr 1839, 61, widowed, 8 children, 5 living, Self: England, Father: Africa, Mother: England, Year of Immigration to US: 1848, Number of Years in US: 52, housework, can read, cannot write
———-Evas, sister, white, female, May 1861, 39, single, S: Vermont, F:New York, M: England, Seamstress
———-Lillie, sister, white, female, Sept 1871, 29, single, S: Nw York, F: New York, M: England, housework
SCHUYLER, Phillip, nephew, white, male, June 1889, 10, S: New York, F: New York, M: New York, at school
FORD, Julian, nephew, white, male, Mar 1894, 6, S: New York, F: New York, M: New York
Philip was still living in the combined family household headed by his uncle, John Ford, during the 1905 NY State census. By 1910, his uncle John Ford’s family had split off into their own household as their family had grown. Grandmother, Margaret headed the other family home just a couple houses away that included Aunt Evas and cousin Julian Guthrie. Philip, 20, was a culler at a lumber yard, a year which he had been out of work for 16 weeks.
He was still single at 30 and still working at a lumber camp. During this census year he was living in the home of his Aunt Lillian M Guthrie, her son Edwin, daughter-in-law Alice, and 4 of her grandchildren. Interestingly, Lillian and her family are all classified as white while Phillip is now listed as mulatto.
Philip’s WWI Draft Registration Card indicates that he was 27 years old, home address: Main Street, St Regis Falls, Franklin, NY, DOB: 30 June 1889, a natural born US Citizen, born at St Regis Falls, NY, USA, Present occupation/trade: laborer, employed by Brooklyn Cooperage Co. at St Regis Falls, NY, He has no dependents under the age of 12, a wife or sister, solely dependent for support, he is single, he lists his race as African, no previous military service, Medium Height, Stout build, brown eyes, black hair, not bald, no amputations or disabilities noted.
New York, US, Abstracts of WWI Military Service 1917-1919. This card indicates that Philip P Schuyler, Army Serial Number 2,722,282 was a resident of St Regis Falls, Franklin, New York, He was inducted at Saranac Lake, NY on 29 Apr 1918. His birthplace was St Regis Falls, NY. Age: 28-10/12 yrs. Served in 151 Des. Brigade to 26 Oct 1918; HQ Co 63 Pioneer Infantry to Discharge. Rank: Private. No overseas service. Honorably discharged on demobilization on 18 Dec 1818. He was “0” percent disabled at discharge.
In 1929, Philip was admitted to the US Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers. He was 39 at the time and documented as being totally blind with a case of laryngitis.
During the 1930 census, Phillip P Schuyler is listed at a State Camp for Veterans in Bath, Steuben, New York, a veteran of WWI. He is listed as male, negro, 40, single, he did not attend school, cannot read/write, S/F/M: Born in NY, not employed.
Philip died on 7 March 1939. He is buried at Bath National Cemetery in Bath, Steuben County, New York, Plot I, Row 10, 34. He has a military headstone documenting his WWI service as a private in Headquarters Company, 63rd Pioneer Infantry.
Y-DNA Project Participants: N/A
Autosomal DNA Participants: N/A – No Known Descendants
READING and RESOURCES
Murderer? No.
Does not appear to be the John M. Schuyler convicted of murdering his own child. He was later given clemency by the governor. That man was a barber from Brooklyn. His daughter was 3 years old at the time of the murder in 1881 estimating her DOB to be about 1878. The John Schuyler who married Calista Guthrie was born about 1865 according to the 1865 NY State Census, which would make him only about 13 years of age at the time the other man’s daughter was born.
The name “Simeon Schuyler” is found in an 1800 census of the Town of Linden in the Mohawk Valley.
Source: The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, by Richard Henry Green, 1918, New York, Digital Repository: Internet Archive.
See Also: The Reporter – 24 March 1804, Sat., Page 2 – An Article mentioning Mr Simeon Schuyler of Minden
Digital Repository: Newspapers.com
Colonial Schuyler Family and Name – Biographical Sketch of Philip Schuyler – Since Simeon an his descendants are racially described as black, and the colonial family is presumably white, was Simeon Schuyler related to this family or were they former slaves? Simeon was a free black during the 1850 census.
Source: Prominent Families of New York: Being an Account in Biographical Form of Individuals and Families Distinguished as Representatives of the Social, Professional and Civic Life of New York City. (1898). United States: Historical Company. Digital Repository: Google Books.