The Port Byron Family Tree (PBFT) is a project with a goal of discovering connections. Most people or groups are added when we at Lock 52 receive a research request (like the Peck family) or find a photo (such as Otis Critchett) and we want to see how they fit into the greater community. It is a fun way to learn more about the people who made Port Byron what it is/was.

We recently had a comment about the Blake family of Blake’s Pharmacy, along with the Ogden and Topliffe groups.  Earl Blake married Ethel Topliffe and Ethel’s parents were John and Ella (nee Ogden) Topliffe. These folks all lived up by the railroad station in North Port Byron and John A Topliffe was the agent at the old New York Central Railroad station. We think this is John in this photo.

I start these investigations by comparing the birth, marriage, and death records against the people in the PBFT to see who might be a connection. After that I start checking the obits and other family mentions in the newspaper for possible links. The only name I could find in the tree was by way of Emma Ogden married who married Judson Olmsted, and we had a Sarah Olmsted who married John Tanner. Okay there needs to be a connection, correct?

Well I found the obit of a Helen Stevenson who married Melbourne Olmstead. (Note the spelling as the name is spelled with and without the a; Olmstead vs Olmsted. It isn’t that important.) Helen’s obit was fairly straight-forward but Melbourne’s said that Helen was a distant relative of Robert Louis Stevenson, the noted author. Okay it was now rabbit hole time.

Both Helen and Melbourne’s obits said that their niece Sarah Wethey had taken care of them in their last days, so now we have a Wethey in the mix. Sarah’s parents were Porter P and Sarah (nee Stevenson) Wethey. Okay this is easy! Sarah Stevenson had a sister who was Helen and Helen married a Olmsted who married a Ogden and I can close this investigation. Nope.

Porter had two wives, Sarah Large Stevenson and Mary E Stevenson. Oh, so Mary died and then Porter married her sister (It happened a lot). Nope. Both Stevenson woman had different parents, however Mary was the sister of Helen so that explains Sarah being the niece, or at least as a step-niece. Mary’s parents were William and Sophia (nee Clark) Stevenson, and Sarah’s were Edward and Mary (nee Large) Stevenson. To add to the mix, Sophia Clark’s parents were Jehiel and Parthenia (nee Olmstead) Clark. There is that Olmstead name again!

As an aside, have you ever driven along Clark Street in Auburn? This is them. The Clark’s were early settlers and had tried to start Clarksville, but it was soon swallowed by Auburn. Here is the 1853 county map showing Clarksville and Auburn.

And our friend Frank Skilton wrote this about the Olmstead family. (click on it to open it up to read it)

Well after a few days of work, I had to finish or stop this investigation. So I went back another generation and find that William Stevenson’s parents were Arthur and Rachel (nee Yard) Stevenson. AND I found that William had a brother named Edward, who married Mary Large, and the circle was complete. Yea! Porter had married cousins. After all this I had yet to find that  connection to the Ogden or Topliffe families, however I found some great Wethey stories.

As it turns out this Olmstead family was not related to Judson Olmsted or Sarah Olmsted Tanner. However we did find that Gladys Wethey had married a John Topliffe, and that Eunice Blauvelt had married Carlton Topliffe. Both John and Carlton were the sons of John and Ella. And happily, both Gladys and Eunice were in the PBFT!  Welcome to the tree Topliffe, Ogden, Blake, Olmstead, Stevenson and Clark families. And with that this investigation was closed.

Oh, there was no connection to Robert Louis Stevenson.

But the investigation had led us to mincemeat, and that is for another post.