Eliza (Sornberger) Pierce Sanford and her Descendants Part 2
Eliza (Sornberger) Pierce Sanford (1816-1859)
Eliza Sornberger grew up in Egremont, Berkshire County,
Massachusetts and Hillsdale, Columbia County, New York. She was born on 28 April 1816 in Egremont. At the
time of her birth, her family in Egremont included her parents Uriah and Betsey
(Cole) Sornberger, her paternal grandparents, John and Deborah (Rau)
Sornberger, her great-grandfather Frederick Sornberger, her older brother,
Edward, and her likely aunt Elizabeth and uncle Ransom. [9]
The
Sornberger family lived in Egremont until about 1830, where Eliza’s father and
grandfather likely operated a sawmill. [10] Her father Uriah was active in politics, he was elected
to two terms in the Massachusetts State Legislature beginning in 1826. [11]
While in Egremont, the Sornberger family grew and contracted through births, marriages, and deaths. Eliza’s grandfather died a few months after her birth on 14 July 1816 at the age of eighty-four. [12] Her brother George was born in 1818, and her sister Emmeline in 1820. [13] Her Aunt Elizabeth married Ezra Coe in 1818, and their first child, Ransom, was born the following year. They lived nearby in Mt. Washington, Berkshire County. [14] Two daughters Huldah Melissa and Olive followed in 1821 and 1823. [15] The Coes moved to Genesee County, New York by 1825. [16] Her uncle Ransom married Nancy Joiner of Egremont, probably before 1830, and moved to Claverack, Columbia County in the late 1820s. [17]
In early 1830, the Sornberger family moved to Hillsdale, Columbia County, New York. Eliza’s father, Uriah, purchased land there on 13 April 1830.[18] By early June, her grandparents, John and Deborah, also settled in Hillsdale.[19] In 1831, her grandparents leased a farm from her father for $ 2000. As part of the contract, Uriah promised to provide for his parents for the rest of their lives. [20]
9. For parents & grandparents
see "Genealogy of Columbia, "Chatham Courier (New York), 25 July 1935, unpaginated, second page
of second section, column 1, Sornborger; FultonHistory.com,
pdf 0429. Online trees identify mother as Betsey Cole. DNA confirms Rau
connection. For Frederick as father of John see Arthur C.M Kelly, Baptismal
Record of Gallatin Reformed Church, Gallatinville, New York, 1748-1899, (Rhinebeck,
New York, 1968), page 17. For brother Edward see New York, Columbia
County, Hillsdale, Hillsdale Village Cemetery, Book 24, page 29, Sornberger
graves; unknown website accessed on 22 July 2003 with information from Columbia
County Historical Society cemetery books.
There is no direct evidence for Elizabeth and Ransom as children of John
and Deborah. However, DNA and indirect evidence place them in this family.
10. Massachusetts,
Berkshire County, Great Barrington, Southern District Deeds, volume 56,
1818-1823, pages 81 & 83, 12 January 1816, Plynna Karner to John
Sornborger; FamilySearch.org, DGS 007464309, image 49 of 451.
11. Rules and Orders To Be Observed in The
Senate of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for the Year 1826, (Boston:
True and Green, 1826), page 21. Rules and
Orders To Be Observed in The Senate of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for
the Year 1827-8, (Boston: True and Green, 1827), page 22.
12. Joseph M Kellogg, Inscriptions , “Town Hill Cemetery, Egremont, (Berkshire
Co.) Mass, typed
manuscript, 1945, unpaginated, number 103; Allen County Public Library.
13. 1850 U.S. Census, Betsy Sornborger household. See note 7.For 1818 birth of George Sornberger, see New York, Columbia County, Hillsdale, Hillsdale Rural Cemetery, memorial 43232179, George Sornborger; gravestone image added by karen kelly, 18 October 2009; FindAGrave.com. New York, Columbia County, Hillsdale, Hillsdale Rural Cemetery, memorial 211908155, Emmeline Sornborger Johnson; gravestone image added by BoniJean, 22 May 2021; FindAGrave.com.
14. Frances
M. Witmer, Registrar of Te-car-na-wun-na Chapter, Le Roy, New York, “Coe Family,”; Edith Batsford Swancott,
compiler, Unpublished Family Bible Records together with Genealogical Notes and
Other Unpublished Data, (New York State Conference Daughter of the American
Revolution, 1926-1927), volume 7, page 44; FamilySearch.org, DGS 008218670, image 899 of 1183. 1820
U.S. Census, Berkshire County, Mt Washington, Ezra Coe; FamilySearch.org, DGS 005157028, image 4 of 4.
15. Frances
M. “Coe Family.” Most census records for Melissa
indicate she was born in New York, one says Geensee County. The 1900 census
says she was born in Massachusetts. Census records for Olive consistently
report New York as her birthplace. The 1875 census states she was born in
Genesee County.
16. Holland
Land Company, “Report of land
tables”, volume 503, 1825, pages 117-118, Renewed Sales In 1825 in Tract T, number
261, Ezra Coe; FamilySearch.org,
DGS 007858058, image 358 of 646.
17. New
York, Columbia County, Hudson, County Courthouse, Deeds, volume M,
1828-1829, pages 353-355, 1 September
1828, John Martin and Cyrena his wife and Philo Upson and Ransom Sornberger; FamilySearch.org, DGS 007120570, image
497 of 609. Patty Hankins, “Parents for Nancy (Joyner) Sornberger of Clinton,
Clinton County, Iowa and Egremont, Berkshire County, Massachusetts,” scheduled
for publication in the April 2024 issue of MASSOG.
18. New
York, Columbia County, Hudson, County Courthouse, Deeds, volume 0,
1829-1830, pages 452-454, Philo Upson
and Ransom Sornburger, FamilySearch.org, DGS 007120571, image 259 of 649.
19. 1830 U.S. Census, New York, Columbia
County, Hillsdale, page 192, John Sornberger; FamilySearch.org, DGS
005155909, image 14 of 36
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