Who is Catherine Person?

When I initially began researching my family tree my focus was on collecting names on ancestry.com but as I started to branch out and gather more information I began to see the people behind the names and dates and one woman practically jumped out at me, Catherine Person. Who was this woman who kept showing up on censuses with my 4th great grandfather, Abel Baldwin, and his family? Was she a servant as she was initially listed or as I came to suspect someone much more intriguing?

What I do know is that Abel Baldwin was born on 20 Jul 1791 in Langdon, Sullivan, New Hampshire, USA as the first child of Joshua Baldwin Jr. and Elizabeth Spaulding. He had one sibling, Harry. He died on 15 Aug 1869 in Forestville, Fillmore County, Minnesota, USA. When he was 22, he married Polly Mary King, daughter of Samuel King and Betsy Jones, in about 1814 in New Hampshire, USA.

Abel Baldwin served in the military on 07 Sep 1813 in New York, USA in the War of 1812. He was living in Essex, Essex, New York, USA in 1830 and at that point Abel seemed to be maintaining two homes, possibly one with his wife, Polly and one with the much younger Catherine Person. He was still living in Essex, New York, USA in 1840 and in 1850 Abel was living with the much younger Catherine and his younger children and was farming land worth $14000. In 1855 at the age of 64 Abel handed the beautiful farm in Essex, New York over to his eldest son, Philip and loaded up the Conestoga wagons bound for Minnesota. He was accompanied by his other children (including our direct ancestors, Henry Clay and his son Fredrick Henry) and Catherine, not his wife, Polly King. Philip, remained in Essex on the farm there, and his family cared for Polly for the rest of her long life.

The pioneering family members relocated to SE Minnesota to farm. On 02 May 1855 Abel obtained the title to Section 5 in Forestville Township, Fillmore County.

He lived and farmed with his family in Fillmore, Minnesota until he passed away on the 15^th of August 1869. He signed his will a month earlier on 13 Jul 1869 in Forestville witnessed by: R.C. McCord and Michail Mahony. His estate was probated on 04 Oct 1869 in Preston, Fillmore, Minnesota. He was buried in Fillmore County in the Duff Cemetery located on his neighbor’s property.

Upon reading the will it is clear that Philip and Frederick are Abel’s only legitimate children. The rest of the children including our Henry are listed in the will as natural and adopted which was a formal way of acknowledging illegitimate children so they could inherit. In my genealogy research before I found the will at the Fillmore Historical Society I had already come to the conclusion that Emma, Josephine, Eliza and Zac were Abel’s and Catherine’s due to census records but had assumed Henry Clay was a late life baby for Polly. It turns out that either there is another unknown mother or Catherine gave birth to Henry when she was about 15. In Abel’s will after first covering his debts and funeral expenses he secondly, “I give and bequeath to Catherine Person (who has for many years lived with me and assisted me in my family affairs) the sum of two thousand and five hundred dollars.” He looked after all of his children one way or another in the will and also goes on to thank Philip with three thousand dollars for the “consideration of the care, attention and affection he has for many years shown his mother.”

At the time of Abel’s death, the three oldest sons all owned their own farms and were successful and respected members of their communities. I have not been able to track down what happened to Catherine and Zac after 1875 and the girls have also been difficult to track, possibly because they ended up remarrying or moved into states like Nebraska that do not have a lot of online records…yet.

Abel Baldwin and Polly Mary King had the following children:

1.    Philip S. Baldwin was born on 24 Jun 1815 in Stark, Coos, New Hampshire, USA. He died on 15 Sep 1885 in Essex, Essex, New York, USA. He married Abigail Spaulding on 02 Jul 1840.

2.    Frederick Baldwin was born in 1818 in Langdon, Sullivan, New Hampshire, USA. He died about 1871 in Forestville, Fillmore County, Minnesota, USA. He married Diana E. Yarnes in 1863 in York, Fillmore, Minnesota, USA.

Abel Baldwin and Catherine Monroe Kimball Person had the following children:

1.    Henry Clay Baldwin was born on 03 Mar 1828 in Essex, Essex, New York, USA (He is described in Abel Baldwin's will as his natural and adopted son.) He died on 03 Nov 1887 in Spring Valley, Fillmore, Minnesota, USA. He married Augusta C Stafford in 1851 in Essex County, New York, USA.

2.    Emma C. Baldwin was born in 1843 in Essex County, New York, USA. She married James K. McDermott on 25 May 1861 in Carimona, Fillmore, Minnesota, USA.

3.    Josephine Bonapart Baldwin was born in 1845 in Vermont, USA. She married John H. Tucker on 10 Jan 1877 in Fillmore, Minnesota.

4.    Eliza Baldwin was born in 1847 in United States. She married Diamond E. Runals on 01 Jan 1867 in Fillmore County, Minnesota, USA (Major D. E. Runals was a revered civil war veteran and probable owner of the antique drum that Clay Baldwin and James Baldwin looked after until it was passed onto the Edgerton Historical Society.).

5.    Zachariah T. Baldwin was born in 1851 in Essex County, New York, USA.