The one thing I have found with researching for others is that you learn of new tools or different ways of looking for something that you can apply to your own research. The more I do "Pay It Forward" genealogy the more I find my research being taken to a whole new level.
That said I was helping a fellow researcher with his Vermont family and when I was done decided to take a look at a part of my ancestry that had been completed many years ago. It was pretty cut and dry. Research from a family member in early 1900's and DAR records from the 1920's. Something struck me as odd when I pulled up the Vital records for the town of Guilford in Windham County, Vermont.
The marriage of Solomon Barrows (Barros) to Chloe Andrews. They were married on 27 Aug 1793, Guilford, Windham Co, Vermont.
Finding Solomon and Chloe's graves I found Chloe's original birth date was off by 16 years. She was not born in the 1775 but in about 1759. Chloe Barrows Grave in Sadawga Cemetery, Whitingham, Windham Co, Vermont.
Looking at their possible ages made me start to think, they were old enough to have been married before. I knew Solomon had been married first to a woman named Lydia and two children before his marriage to Chloe.
What if Chloe's maiden name was not Andrews but that of her first husband. Checking for the surname Andrews married to a Chloe in the same area and time period. There was only one, Silas Andrews married Chloe Langford.
Have you ever had a moment when, even though you researched this family years ago, a name sticks with you and you know exactly what you are looking at when you see it.
Solomon Barrows and his wife Chloe had a daughter Lydia Barrows who married Salem Shumway, their first child was Chloe Langford Shumway. Yep, that was a name that had stayed with me all these years. I tried find out who she was named after with no luck. Now I am left wondering if it was for her Grandmother.
Chloe Langford married Silas Andrews and had one son Silas Jr. I have contacted all of the major researches who have their trees online and so far no response. Each has a different set of parents for Silas Jr, same birth and information but no one seem to have used his birth record for his parents. Silas Sr possibly died early as there are no later records of him found and Silas Jr removes to the Midwest before 1820.
I am hoping that any Andrews, Barrows or Langford (this is my OH MY) researchers in Vermont or Connecticut can help shed light on this issue.
Looking for thoughts, opinions, or help on this research.
Michele
