CENSUS SUNDAY: John Doty, Farmer, Wawayanda, Orange Co., NY, 1790-1857

My 3^rd Great Grandfather, John Doty, was born July 23, 1790 in Orange County, New York.[1] Isaac Doty and Betsey Paddock were his parents and he was one of ten children.[2]

John married Dolly Hemingway about 1816/1817. Dolly was also born in Orange County and her parents were William Hemingway and Esther Halstead.

3^rd Great Grandfather first appeared as a head of household in1820 in the Town of Minisink, Orange County, New York.[3]

He relocated the family to Wantage, Sussex County, New Jersey by 1830.[4] Both John and Dolly had ties to Wantage. John’s grandfather, Benjamin Doty, had lived in Wantage. Dolly’s parents, William and Esther Hemingway also migrated to Wantage by 1830. John was about 40 years old by this date. An unidentified boy between 10 and 15 years of age resided in the Doty home. John and Dolly’s daughters, Clarissa, Anna Marie, Harriet and twins Lucinda and Arminda, represented the girls in the family. Dolly would have been about 38 years old.

The boys, Jefferson W., Albert, John and Alanson, were born by the time the 1840 federal census was taken.[5] The family remained in Wantage. I don’t know if Great Grandfather owned land in New Jersey.

Sometime between 1840 and 1850 John returned to Orange County and settled in Wawayanda on 125 acres of farmland.

1850 Federal Census

Minisink/Wawayanda, Orange Co., NY

Page 434, Line 22

John Doty Household

I especially enjoyed learning about Great Grandfather’s farm from the 1850 agricultural census. The census enumerator reported July 16, 1850.[6]

     Owner of Land John Doty

     Acres of Land: 110 improved acres; 15 unimproved acres

     Cash value of farm $4300 

     Value of Farming Implements and Machinery $25

     Livestock as of June 1, 1850: 1 horse, 17 milch cows, 4 other cattle, 16 sheep, 10 swine

     Value of livestock $450

     Produce During the Year Ending June 1,1850: 50 Wheat bushels, 100 Rye bushels, 75 Indian corn bushels,100 bushels of oats, 50 bushels Irish Potatoes, 120 bushels of buckwheat, 2,050 pounds of butter, 25 tons hay

     Value of animals slaughtered $125

Wow, 2,050 pounds of butter! That butter probably went to New York City for sale on the Erie railroad.

The agricultural schedule of the 1855 New York State census was even more detailed than the 1850 census.[7]

     Owner of Land John Doty

     Acres of Land: 123 improved acres; 2 unimproved acres

     Cash Value of Farm $5,000, of Stock $800, of Tools and Implements $150

     Acres plowed the year previous 20

     Acres in fallow the year previous 0

     Acres in pasture the year previous 50

     Meadow: 30 Acres, 40 Tons of Hay

     Oats: Acres sown 7, 150 bushels harvested

     Rye: Acres sown 15, 25 bushels harvested

     Buckwheat: Acres sown 6, 17 bushels harvested

     Corn: Acres planted 7, 200 bushels harvested

     Neat Cattle: Over one year exclusive of working oxen and cows 6,

          2 working oxen, 13 cows, number of cattle killed for beef 1

     Butter: number of cows 13, pounds of butter 1,600

     Horses 2, swine under 6 months 10, swine over 6 months 4

     Special manure used 1,000 lbs., Value $4

After Great Grandfather’s death on January 27, 1857 his estate was divided among his children.

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[1] Gravestone Inscriptions from Mills Cemetery, Kirbytown Road, Wawayanda, NY. John Doty’s birth date calculated from age at death entered on tombstone.

[2] The Doty-Doten Family in America, Descendants of Edward Doty, an Emigrant by the Mayflower, 1620 compiled by Ethan Allen Doty, 1897, page 359

[3] 1820 Federal Census, New York, Orange Co., Minisink, page 580

[4] 1830 Federal Census, New Jersey, Sussex Co., Wantage page 253

[5] 1840 Federal Census, New Jersey, Sussex Co. Wantage, page 97

[6] 1850 Non Population Schedule, New York, Orange Co., Minisink/Wawayanda, Pages 167-168, Line 13

[7] 1855 New York State Census, Orange County, Town of Wawayanda, Pages 48-52, Line 42