Ancestor Bio – Sally Ann Darling (c. 1822-18??)

52 Ancestors – Week 2018-45

By Don Taylor

Tracking down women in 19^th Century records is often difficult. Over the past week or so, I’ve been searching for records about Sally Ann Darling, the sister of Rufus Holton Darling as part of my Darling research in Western New York. Searching many new sources, I’ve just not been successful in finding anything new about Sally Ann. I’m only barely convinced that she existed. That said, searching for evidence of Sally Ann led me to several other facts of interest, but first, what I think I know about Sally Ann.

Darling Research 2018 –The 6^th child of  #48 (Abner Darling)

List of Grandparents

• Grandfather: Robert Harry Darling (1907-1969)
• 1^st Great-grandfather: Rufus Harry Darling (1857-1917)
• 2^nd Great-grandfather: Rufus Holton Darling (1816-1857)
• 3^rd Great-grandfather: Abner Darling (b. 1780-1839)
• 3^rd Great-aunt: Sally Ann Darling

Sally Ann Darling (c. 1822-18??)

Birth

I have no real proof that Sally Ann Darling existed. I have found her in several trees shared by other people, including Family Search, but have not found any record proving positively that she existed. If Sally Ann were born in 1822, she would likely be one of the two females in the household of Abner Darling of Clarkson, New York aged 5 to 9 during the 1830 Census (the other likely being Hannah).

Similarly, with the death of Abner in 1839, she would have likely shown up in the 1840 Census record of her brother Rufus Darling who took over as head of the household. Sure enough, she appears to be in his household.  Rufus’ household includes two families, 15-19 years of age whom I believe are likely Sally Ann and Hannah.

Death

Her brother, Abner C. Darling’s obituary has no mention of Sally Ann. No entry is not evidence that Sally Ann didn’t exist nor does it provide evidence that Sally Ann had passed. However, it adds to my concern that the two children in Abner (senior) and Rufus’s census records could be entirely different people.  That said, if Sally Ann did exist, I suspect that she died sometime between 1840 and 1880.

Once again, my research for Sally Ann, so far, has not yielded any positive evidence of her existence.  

Bright Shiny Objects

However, my research for Sally Ann yielded several other bits of information (Bright Shiny Objects – BSOs) regarding other Darlings in Monroe County, New York.  It is my practice to ignore BSOs while researching someone, save the information or links to the information and come back to them later. I did that in this case and learned several things.

I confirmed that there was another Rufus Darling who lived in Monroe County during 1887. Second great-grandfather Rufus Holton Darling died in 1857; Rufus Harry Darling was living in Kalamazoo at that time. Additionally, Rufus A. Darling (son of Franklin C. Darling and Ellen Norton) was living in Minnesota in the 1880s. So, the Rufus Darling residing in Monroe County in 1887 is a heretofore unknown Rufus.

I found several newspaper articles indicating that Abner Darling had mail remaining at the post office as early as April 1824.  I knew that Abner was in Paris, Oneida County in 1820 and in Monroe County in 1830. Seeing that he had mail waiting for him in Monroe County in 1824 suggests that he located to Monroe County before April 1924, I also found a “History of Clarkson” newspaper article which confirmed Abner Darling’s death as Jan 11, 1839. The article also indicates that the cemetery was named the “Kenyon Cemetery” at that time rather than “Lakeside Cemetery” as it is currently known as.

————–  Disclaimer  ————–

Sources

• 1830 Census, Abner Darling – Clarkson, Monroe, New York – Page 271. Source Citation
1830; Census Place: Clarkson, Monroe, New York; Series: M19; Roll: 94; Page: 271; Family History Library Film: 001715 4
• 1840 Census (FS), Family Search, New York, Monroe, Clarkson, Page 177 – Rufus H Darling.
• Appleton Crescent (Appleton, WI), 1880-09-25, Page 3 – AN OLD SETTLER DEPARTS. – Death of Abner C. Darling. Newspapers.com., Appleton Crescent, Appleton, Wisc.
• Brockport Republic (Brockport, NY) – 1887-02-17 – February 17, 1887, Page 3, Column 4, “Parma” – Rufus Darling. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org.
• Brockport Republic (Brockport, NY) – 1890-07-17 – Abner Darling. The Brockport republic. July 17, 1890, Page 3, Col 2, Paragraph 14 – nyshistoricnewspapers – Abner Darling.