Howell-Darling-2017 Research
Darling/Carpenter Line
52 Ancestors

By Don Taylor

Sometimes searching for an ancestor is a grueling process.  My researching my wife’s 4^th great-grandmother, Hannah (Carpenter) Darling looks to be one such project. My goal is to determine her death date and her parents.

My initial searches for Hannah on Ancestry.Com, Family Search, and Google found nothing that clearly related to Hannah. When challenged by a complicated research project I like to regroup and make sure that I know what I think I know.  Sadly, what I think I know came from only two sources. And neither of them were primary sources. They are:

1. Frank J. Doherty, in The Settlers of the Beekman Patent, indicated that Abner Darling’s wife was named Hannah (possibly Hannah Reed) and she was born on 16 Feb 1747.[i]
2. The Revolutionary War Pension file of Daniel Fenton indicates that his wife’s parents were Abner Darling and Hannah Carpenter, and they were married on 23 December 1768.[ii]

Any additional facts regarding Hannah’s life are facts regarding Abner and by association apply to Hannah.

One way to try to break through the research blockage is to look at the trees of other people researching the same person and see if they have any sources/citations that they have associated with Hannah with which I agree.

I noticed that one researcher indicated that Hannah and Abner were married in Pittstown, NY and Ancestry reported it was an “Unsourced Citation.” I know that sometimes the old Ancestry sync process didn’t handle citations well, so I messaged the individual through Ancestry to see if he or she had a source for that location for the marriage.

1800 Census – Bethlehem, Albany, New York – Hannah Darling

•             1 Male 10 to 15           Hannah had one son in this age range.
•             1 Female under 10       Hannah had no known daughters in this age range.
•             3 females 10 to 15       Hannah had three daughters in this age range.
•             1 female 26 to 44         Hannah would have been 53, not under 45.

For this 1800 Census to be correct, Abner had to have died before 1800 and Hannah left the Beekman Patent area. Both are possible, however, I don’t believe this is the correct Hannah (Carpenter) Darling. Further research is needed to clarify this possible fact.

1850 Census – Schenectady, NY, – Hanna Carpenter – Wrong.

I don’t believe Hannah would have changed her name back to Carpenter.

1888 Directory – Oswego, New York – Wrong

Our Hannah would have been 141 years old.

American Genealogical-Biographical Index (AGBI)

Hannah Darling b. 1750, New York, Volume 40, Page 52.
Hannah Darling b. 1750, New York, Volume 25, Page 194.

The index doesn’t provide enough information to determine if it I referring to my Hannah, so I’ll need to view these at a family history library (FHS).  I’m not currently scheduled to go the Maine State Archives, which is an FHS affiliate, until June.  But I think I’ll plan to go to my closest FHS next week or so.

So, my search of Ancestry, Family Search, the Internet (via Genealogy in Time), and Archive.Org books on Carpenter Family searching for Darling yielded nothing new.  Because of the lack of detail I have found concerning Hannah (Carpenter) Darling, I believe I will need to do a FAN study of her.

• First: I will look at all 14 of her children, see what happened to them.
• Second: Look at all Carpenters in the places where Hannah lived for potential relatives.

Ancestor #97

List of Grandparents

• Grand Parent:  Robert Harry Darling (1907-1969)
• 1^st Great:          Rufus Harry Darling (1857-1917)
• 2^nd Great:         Rufus Holton Darling (1816-1857)
• 3^rd Great:         Abner Darling (b. 1780-1839)
• 4^th Great:        Hannah (Carpenter) Darling

Hannah Carpenter (1747-?)

Birth

Hannah was born on 16 Feb 1747.[iii]

Marriage

Marriage Hannah married Abner Darling on 23 December 1768.[iv]

Adulthood

In 1779 the family lived in the King’s District, Albany County, New York.[v]

In 1790 the family lived in Hoosick, Albany County, New York.[vi]

Children:

Abner and Hannah appear to have had 14 children. They are:

Children:	Sex	Birth	Death
Mary Darling	F	16 Jan 1770
Lucy Darling	F	Feb 1771
Unknown Darling	M	1772
Sylvia Darling	F	03 Feb 1773	08 May 1838
Thomas Darling	M	08 Feb 1775	Bef. Oct 1776
Thomas Darling	M	02 Oct 1776
Esther Darling	F	22 Oct 1778
Abner Darling	M	20 Dec 1780	11 Jan 1839
Reid Darling	M	19 Jan 1783
Lucinda Darling	F	29 Jan 1785
Luana Darling	F	29 Jan 1785
Alanson Darling	M	14 Jan 1787
Deidama Darling	F	14 Jan 1787
Hannah Darling	F	03 Feb 1789

Hannah’s death and burial are unknown.

Further Actions / Follow-up

• View at a Family History Library:
  • American Genealogical-Biographical Index (AGBI)
    • Hannah Darling b. 1750, New York, Volume 40, Page 52.
    • Hannah Darling b. 1750, New York, Volume 25, Page 194.
  • Research each of the children (Except Abner who I examined previously).
  • Research Mary Darling and her husband’s Revolutionary War Pension files.
  • Research Carpenters in the area where Abner and Hannah lived.

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Endnotes

[i] Doherty, Frank J., Darling Family, The – Settlers of the Beekman Patent, The, Files, 6. – Abner Darling (1747-c.1805). See File: Darling.doc.

[ii] NARA, Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, Fold3, Daniel Felton – W 19259 – Page 4. https://www.fold3.com/image/17868586.

[iii] See endnote i above.

[iv] See endnote ii above.

[v] See endnote i above.

[vi] Ibid.