Joseph RASEY III & Catharine BRUCE

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Diana, Goddess of the Hunt — for Ancestors!

Every-Name Index

Joseph RASEY III
Catharine BRUCE

Please Note: Some secondary sources are giving our subject middle name, "Henry." Yes, our subject has a son named, Joseph Henry RASEY, but that doesn't necessarily mean Joseph III had middle name, Henry, and I have found no primary record giving Joseph III a middle name. The designations Joseph I, Joseph II, and Joseph III, with Roman numerals to indicate the generation, were added by family genealogists to help keep them straight while working on them, but those designations were never used in the original records or by the individuals themselves. In other words, just because there is a Joseph RASEY IV with middle name, Henry, doesn't remotely establish that Joseph III (or II or I) had middle name Henry.

Husband: Joseph RAZY / RAZEY / RASEY / RACEY III
Birth: 2 Feb 1783, Surry, Cheshire Co., NH
Death: 18 Jul 1869, Castleton Twp., Barry Co., MI
Disposition: buried Hosmer Cemetery, Nashville, Castleton Twp., Barry Co., MI
Occupation: farmer, shoemaker
Father: Joseph RASEY II
Mother: Lois MACK

Marriage said to be: 20 Sep 1807, Jay, Essex Co., NY, or Peru, Clinton Co., NY
It makes a tremendous difference where they were married because most marriages take place where the bride is living — with her parents.

Wife: Catharine / Catherine BRUCE / BRUSE / BRUSH / RUSH
Birth: 28 Aug 1791, MA
Death: 15 Nov 1863, Castleton Twp., Barry Co., MI
Disposition: buried Hosmer Cemetery, Nashville, Castleton Twp., Barry Co., MI
Occupation: homemaker

Some secondary sources show these parents for Catharine, but I have not only been unable to prove the connection, what I have found so far (viz., the BRUCE bio from The History of Essex County) appears to disprove it:
Father doubtfully: Benjamin BRUCE
Mother doubtfully: Philadelphia WHEELER — descendant of Mayflower passengers, Resolved WHITE and his father, William WHITE.
Obviously, there is a very strong incentive to make this connection, and even I (dedicated skeptic) am reluctant to let it go. If anyone has managed to connect Catherine to these parents, despite the bio, please share the proof! Or if you know who the parents of Catherine really are, please share that, too, so we can give this lapse into wishful thinking a final burial.

Children — born in NY:

1. Mary E. "Polly" RASEY, b. 21 Oct 1808
2. Delphia RASEY, b. 10 Mar 1811
3. Otis RASEY, b. 26 May 1812; d. 20 Jul 1844 (not found in 1840 census)
4. Zipha RASEY, b. 9 Feb 1814; d. 1892
5. Oliver C. RASEY, b. 1814/5
6. Alexander RASEY, b. 1817/8
7. Mildred Eleanor Louisa RASEY, b. 1819/20
8. Joseph Henry RASEY, b. 19 Sep 1822
9. Jonah Bruce RASEY, b. 22 Feb 1824

Keywords for search engines: genealogy; USA, US, United States, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont

Sources (n.b., Essex Co. is adjacent to Franklin Co. which is adjacent to St. Lawrence Co.; Barry Co. was formed in 1829 from St. Joseph and Kalamazoo Cos.; Hastings and Castleton Twps. are adjacent; Barry and Eaton Cos. are adjacent):

1. Marriage Record.

2. 1810 Census Index/Images (online at Ancestry.com): not found, and I did a page-by-page search of Jay, however, there are one or two names lost at the binding edge of each page, so he may have been there, especially as Rufus RAZY and Asahel RAZY were there.

3. 1820 Census Index/Images (online at Ancestry.com; Image #4 of 4 — list was roughly alphabetized; indexed "Rasey"; extracted by Diana Gale Matthiesen):¤•/NR

1820 NY Essex Co. Jay Roll M33_69 p. 16B/424 Ln. 18 Raxey Joseph 300010-31010-0-100

These data indicate:

No. & Sex Age Class Therefore Born Individuals Inferred

3 males 9 or under 1810-1820 = Alexander (b. 1817/8)
= Oliver (b. 1815)
= Otis (b. 1812)

1 male 26-44 1775-1794 = Joseph (b. 1783)

3 females 9 or under 1810-1820 = Eleanor (b. 1819/20)
= Zipha (b. 1814)
= Delphia (b. 1811)

1 female 10-15 1804-1810 = Mary (b. 1808)

1 female 26-44 1775-1794 = Catharine (b. 1791)

1 person engaged in agriculture

Listed six lines below Asahel RAZEY.

4. 1830 Census Index/Images (online at Ancestry.com, Image #3 of 4; extracted by Diana Gale Matthiesen):¤•/NR

1830 NY Franklin Co. Duane Roll 90 p. 38 Ln. 9 Racy Joseph 122 000 100 - 011 211

These data indicate:

No. & Sex Age Class Therefore Born Individuals Inferred

1 male 4 or under 1825-1830 = Son

2 males 5-9 1820-1825 = Jonah (b. 1824)
= Joseph (b. 1822)

2 males 10-14 1815-1820 = Oliver (b. 1815)
= Otis (b. 1812)

1 male 40-49 1780-1790 = Joseph (b. 1783)

1 female 5-9 1820-1825 = Daughter

1 female 10-14 1815-1820 = Eleanor (b. 1819/20)

2 females 15-19 1810-1815 = Zipha (b. 1814)
= Delphia (b. 1811)

1 female 20-29 1800-1810 = ?

1 female 30-39 1790-1800 = Catharine (b. 1791)

Mary is married, so she can't be the female born 1800-1810. Our subject is said to be in St. Lawrence Co., but the numbers for the Joseph RACY in St. Lawrence County don't remotely resemble our subject's family, while the numbers for the Joseph RACY in adjacent Franklin County fit our subject perfectly. (The Joseph RACY in Oneida County is way too young — in his 20's.) As further confirmation, their son-in-law and daughter, James & Delphia (RASEY) KELLEY, are also in Duane.

5. 1840 Census Index/Images (online at Genealogy.com, Image #2-3 of 3; Hastings is mis-indexed at Ancestry.com as being in Berrien County; extracted by Diana Gale Matthiesen):¤•/NR

1840 MI Barry Co. Hastings Twp. Roll 203 pp. 34A-34B Ln. 6 Joseph Racy 001 210 010 - 000 000 010 0400000

These data indicate:

No. & Sex Age Class Therefore Born Individuals Inferred

1 male 10-14 1825-1830 = Son ?

2 males 15-19 1820-1825 = Jonah (b. 1824)
= Joseph (b. 1822)

1 male 20-29 1810-1820 = Otis? (b. 1812)

1 male 50-59 1780-1790 = Joseph (b. 1783)

0 females 40-49 1790-1800 = Catharine (b. 1791)

1 female 50-59 1780-1790 = ---

4 persons employed in agriculture

Oliver is married, so he's not the male born 1810-20. Listed one line above married daughter, Eleanor (RASEY) WILKINSON.

6. 1850 Census Every-Name-Index/Images (online at Ancestry.com; Image #4 of 4): Township of Castleton, Barry Co., MI, Roll M432_346, p. 125B, 918/937, enumerated 16 Sep 1860, official enumeration date 1 Jun 1850 (extracted by Diana Gale Matthiesen):¤•/NR

Joseph Rasey 67 M Farmer N Hamp

Catharine " 60 F Mass

Listed next to son, Jonah B. RASEY, who is next to grandson, Nathan BROWN, son of daughter Mary (RASEY) BROWN. Note that, in 1889, Jonah B. RASEY married Lucretia Ann HARDY, widow of his nephew, Nathan BROWN, as his second marriage and her fourth.

7. 1860 Census Every-Name-Index/Images (online at Ancestry.com, Image #9 of 20 — indexed "Racy"): Castleton P.O., Castleton Twp., Barry Co., MI, Roll M653_536, p. 853, PN 229, 1834/1713, enumerated 12 Aug 1860, official enumeration date 1 Jun 1860 (extracted by Diana Gale Matthiesen):¤•/NR

Joseph Rosy 77 M Farmer 50 N H

Catharine 69 F Mass

Listed next to son, Jonah RASEY.

8a. Find-a-Grave: Entries (online at findagrave.com; linked the two on 20 Mar 2015):

Name Joseph Rasey Catharine Rasey

Birth 3 Feb 1781 28 Aug 1791

Death 18 Jul 1869 15 Nov 1863

Burial Hosmer Cemetery
Nashville, Barry County, Michigan

Inscription Image of stone
barely readable. Image of stone barely readable,
but it does say, "CATHARINE," not Catherine.

Memorial # 13418295 13418289

8b. Anon. 1997. Hosmer Cemetery, Castleton Township, Barry County, Michigan. Barry County Historical/Genealogical Society, Hasting, MI (online at Interment.net; contributed by Sara Colburn):

Rasey, Catherine, 77yr, Nov 15 1863, Row 1/2

Rasey, Joseph, 88yr 5mo 15dy, Jul 18 1869, Row 1/2

9. Birthdate calculated using Ben Buckner's Birthdate Calculator.

Name Deathdate Age at Death Result

Joseph RASEY 18 Jul 1869 15d 5m 88y 3 Feb 1781

(Calculated birthdates should always be prefaced with "ca." — you can't be certain the person who calculated their age did it correctly.)

Either the tombstone was mis-read or his age was mis-calculated because we have a civil record giving his birthdate as 2 Feb 1783, which is surely the correct one because his parents were married in 1782.

10. Anon. 1880. History of Allegan and Barry Counties, Michigan. D.W. Ensign & Co., Philadelphia (online at HeritageQuest at Genealogy.com):

p. 419 CASTLETON TOWNSHIP...
EARLY SETTLEMENTS...
Joseph Rasey and four sons, Oliver, Otis, Joseph H., and Jonah B., residents of St. Lawrence Co., N.Y., removed thence to Ohio in 1836, and to Castleton in 1838. There they located upon 80 acres on section 13, purchased of Tolman C. Hall, of Battle Creek. Mr. Clapp's house was opened to them until a log shanty could be erected, to which they then repaired.
In Mr. Racey's family was celebrated the first marriage, the parties being Mr. William P. Wilkinson and Miss Eleanor Racey. Mr. Racey died in the township in 1869. His son, Jonah B., is now a resident of Nashville; Joseph H. resides in Charlotte, Mich., while Oliver and Otis are both deceased...

p. 421 CASTLETON TOWNSHIP...
ORGANIZATION AND OFFICERS...
1843... Oliver Rasey... Highway Commissioners... Oliver Rasey... Justices of the Peace...
1844... Joseph Rasey... Directors of the Poor... Joseph Rasey... Constables...
1845... Joseph Rasey, Overseers of the Poor... Oliver Rasey, Constables...
1846...Oliver Rasey, Justices of the peace...
1847...Joseph Racey, Directors of the Poor...
1848...Joseph Racey... Directors of the Poor... Henry Racey... Constables...

11. Edward W. Barber. 1897. The Vermontville Colony. Robert Smith Printing Co., Lansing, MI (online at Ancestry.com). On p. 14:

West, in Castleton, just over the town line, a shoemaker, Joseph Rasey, had settled on a wild eighty acres, and to him with a side of sole leather and enough upper leather to shoe the family the boys would go every fall, after the frost had begun to bite, and have a pair of cowhide boots made for winter, going barefoot and enjoying an occasional stonebruise having been the summer custom...

12. James W. Howell of Baltimore, MD. Ancestors of James William HOWELL & Sherri Lynn (MARTIN) HOWELL (online at www.jhowell.net).

13. Erick James Owens. The Owens and Liedel Family. FamilyTreeMaker User Home Page (online at familytreemaker.genealogy.com).

14. WorldConnect / Ancestry World Trees (online at RootsWeb.com/Ancestry.com).

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Every-Name Index