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Postcard from St. Catharines Library: Coffin Register

  The third in a series about discoveries made during my trip to western New York and Ontario, where I researched my Becker/Baker, Cassidy, Sheridan, Cailteux, and Schiltz families.    July 14, 2025 Dear Family,  Have you ever heard of a coffin register? I haven't. And just like you, I'm asking, "What's that?" I discovered a coffin register at the St. Catharines Public Library in Ontario on my trip. I was quite surprised to find an ancestor's name in it. This coffin register was a book used by the Thomas McIntyre company in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada, to record coffin orders between 1863-1865. McIntyre had a cabinet and furniture making business and eventually branched out to build wooden coffins for his clients.  Early funerals in America were usually conducted by family and friends of the deceased, including preparing the body, providing a homemade shroud or coffin, and even carrying the coffin to the grave site. By the mid-late 18th cen...
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Where Was Dewitt S. Blackman born?

In yet another birthplace mystery, I have two conflicting birth locations for Dewitt S. Blackman, a 3rd great grandfather to my husband. In one instance, "Lyanes, New York" was noted in Blackman's Civil War service record, and in another document in the packet, "Seneca Co., New York" was listed.1


Dewitt served in Company B, 47th Ohio Infantry. He was drafted and mustered in on 27 September 1864 in Toledo, Ohio for one year of service.2

Fortunately, this location discrepancy can be solved a bit more easily than my recent project with Elizabeth Kite. Historical maps to the rescue!

A quick internet search indicated that Lyons, New York is located in present-day Wayne County. Seneca County lay to the south of Wayne, in the Finger Lakes district of New York.3


Seneca County was created in 1804. The town of Lyons was formed about 1811, and was then located on the eastern edge of Ontario County.4 Both events happened well before Blackman's birth, about 1830.

This 1822 map shows Lyons in Ontario County, near the county's eastern border with Seneca County.5


In the meantime—and still before Blackman's birth—Wayne County was formed from portions of Ontario and Seneca Counties in 1823, enclosing Lyons in the process.6


By the time that Blackman was drafted into the 47th Ohio in 1864, Lyons had been located in Ontario and Wayne Counties successively. And due to its close proximity to Seneca County during Blackman's lifetime, it was probably easier for him to report he was from "Seneca, New York," much as one might say they are from a large city—more recognizable perhaps than their real birthplace of a nearby town or village.

The map below shows the 1829 boundaries of Seneca County georeferenced on a present-day map, with Lyons lying just outside the county.7

As counties were created and boundaries changed regularly during the development of our nation, our ancestors might not have moved an inch, but been located in several different counties during their lifetimes. Historical maps are invaluable in solving geographic mysteries such as where Dewitt Blackman was born, and others.

Until next time...

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NOTES

1 Compiled service record, Dewitt S. Blackman, Pvt. Co. B, 47th Ohio Infantry; Carded Records, Volunteer Organizations, Civil War; Record Group 94, Records of the Adjutant General's Office, 1762-1984; National Archives, Washington D.C.
2 Ibid.
3 Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyons,_New_York : accessed 13 February 2023), "Lyons, New York," rev. 4 November 2022, at 00:41 (UTC). Also: André Koehne, "New York Counties," Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php : accessed 13 February 2023). This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported. Emphasis by author.
4 MapsofUS, Maps of New York (https://www.mapofus.org/ : accessed 13 February 2023), "Interactive Map of New York County Formation History." Also: Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyons,_New_York : accessed 13 February 2023), "Lyons, New York."
5 A Complete Historical, Chronological, And Geographical American Atlas, Being A Guide To The History Of North And South America, And The West Indies ... To The Year 1822. According To The Plan Of Le Sage's Atlas And Intended As A Companion To Lavoisne's Improvement Of That Celebrated Work (Philadelphia: H.C. Carey And I. Lea, 1822. (on verso) ... T.H. Palmer, Printer), "A Geographical, Statistical, and Historical Map of New York"; digital image, David Rumsey Map Collection (https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~737~70011:Geographical,-Historical,-And-Stati : accessed 11 February 2023).
6 David H. Burr, Map of the County of Wayne (Albany: Rawdon, Clark & Co., and New York: Rawdon, Wright & Co., 1829); image, David Rumsey Map Collection (https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~20046~510042:Wayne-County- : accessed 13 February 2023).
7 David H. Burr, Map of the County of Seneca (Albany: Rawdon, Clark & Co., and New York: Rawdon, Wright & Co., 1829); image, David Rumsey Map Collection (https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~20044~510040:Seneca-County- : accessed 13 February 2023). Overlaid on present day map of New York using georeferencing tool on Rumsey map site.


 

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  1. KarenFebruary 16, 2023 at 3:15 PM

    Great job resolving the conflict between the two stated places of births. I love the way you presented it, used maps, and clearly described the discrepancy.

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    Replies
    1. Nancy Gilbride CaseyFebruary 16, 2023 at 3:32 PM

      Thanks Karen. Appreciate it, and good to know it was easy to understand.

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