52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge: Fanny Smith

Today I would like to tell you about Fanny Smith and the challenges I met while researching. I do not know Fanny’s birthdate but guess she was born sometime between 1783 and 1790 since her own parents, Henry Conkling Smith and Julia Vail, married March 9, 1783, in Goshen, Orange County, New York.

The 1790 federal census placed the family in Goshen. Henry Conkling Smith was often called Conkling Smith in documents, and this is how I found him in the 1790 census. The family consisted of six members: three males and three females. The males were Henry Conkling Smith, his eldest son Gilbert born in 1785, along with another male under the age of sixteen. The three females included Julia (Vail) Smith, daughter Fanny, and an unknown female.

By 1800, the Smith family had relocated to the Town of Deer Park in Orange County by the time the federal census was recorded.

Conkling Home in 1800 Deer Park, Orange County, New York:

1 Free White Males under 10 years: Son Caleb born ca 1799.

2 Free White Males of sixteen and under 26: Son Gilbert and unknown male

1 Free White Males of twenty-six and under 45: Father Henry Conkling Smith

3 Free White Females under 10 years:   Christian/Christinna, Dolly and unknown girl

1 Free White Females of ten and under 16: This could have been Fanny.

1 Free White Females of sixteen and under 26:    Or this could be Fanny.

1 Free White Females of 26 and under 45:  Mother Julia Vail Smith

Fanny married David Penney November 14, 1805, according to Edwin Tanjore Corwin’s book, ‘The Corwin Genealogy in the United States’, published in 1872. David Penney’s mother was a Corwin. Just so you know, this genealogy did not cite sources, and I cannot say I am convinced the marriage date is accurate.

I am also assuming Fanny and David wed in Orange County, New York. Since Fanny married David Penney in 1805, I looked for her with her husband in the 1810 federal census. It was disappointing when I was not able to distinguish Fanny’s husband, David Penney, from his father David Penney.

It was not until 1820 that I located David Penny Junior in the 1820 Wallkill, Orange County, New York federal census.

Name David Penney Junior      

Enumeration Date           7 Aug 1820

Home in 1820 (City, County, State)   Wallkill, Orange, New York, USA

1 Free White Persons - Males - Under 10    Perhaps this is Lewis Penny. David lived in Lewis Penny's household in 1850.

1 Free White Persons - Males - 26 thru 44    David Penny

3 Free White Persons - Females - Under 10    Esther and Abigail are David and Fanny's documented daughters. 3rd female unknown

1 Free White Persons - Females - 10 thru 15     unknown

1 Free White Persons - Females - 26 thru 44  Fanny (Smith) Penny

1 Number of Persons - Engaged in Agriculture  David Penny

5 Free White Persons - Under 16    Esther and Abigail; possibly Lewis Penny and two others

2 Free White Persons - Over 25   Parents

7 Total Free White Persons

7 Total All Persons - White, Slaves, Colored, Other

The Penney family was enumerated in the 1825 New York State Census in Calhoun, Orange County, New York—two males and six females. Fanny was counted as the one married female under the age of 45 years. One unmarried female between the age of sixteen and forty-five lived in the home. Four unmarried females under sixteen years old were part of the household. Two males rounded out the David Penny residence.

I could not tell whether the 1830 census entry I found for David Penney in Calhoun was Junior or Senior.

The 1835 New York State Census recorded David Penney’s family in Mount Hope, Orange County, New York. He was not called Junior, but I know it to be so because his father died in 1834. That same year David and Fanny Penny mortgaged their land to Samuel Seward in Orange County, New York.

David acquired land in Virgil, Cortland County, New York in 1839. He later sold the land, but Fanny was not named in the document. An1841 deed began, “David Penney of Virgil County of Cortland of State of New York and his wife of the first part and Augustus E Hibbard of the Town County & State aforesaid of the second part …”. Was this Fanny or a later wife?

Fanny qualified as my Overlooked Ancestor in my Jan. 24, 2025, blogpost. You can view it here. And today she again makes her presence in the challenging category.

Overlooked Ancestor: 4th Great Grandmother Fanny Smith, married David Penny November 14, 1804, Orange County, New York

Amy Johnson Crow’s ‘52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge’ prompted readers to write about an overlooked ancestor. Fourth Great Grandmother Fanny (Smith) Penny came to mind. She was not overlooked because I ignored her. I thought of her often and would try periodically to learn more about her. I simply could not find any new leads until the morning I found her daughter Esther using FamilySearch full text search.

Quite by accident I found Dolly Smith’s will on familysearch.org never expecting to find my Third Great Grandmother Esther (Penny) Bennett in the document.

The only information I knew about Grandmother Esther’s mother came from her death certificate revealing her mother was Fannie Smith born in the Town of Goshen, Orange County, New York, and her father David Penny from the Town of Mount Hope, also of Orange County.

In Dolly Smith’s will written January 1, 1874, she bequeathed money to her niece and my Third Great Grandmother Esther Bennett, wife of Alvi Bennett. At last, I found a sister for my Fanny Smith.

Dolly Smith’s will provide the names of six legatees--three nephews and three nieces. Two of the nephews, Coe, and Gilbert Smith, were sons of Dolly and Fanny’s brother, Gilbert Smith. The third nephew, Coe Conkling, was a son of Dolly and Fannie’s sister, Harriet (Smith) Conkling. The nieces Cornelia Conkling and Mrs. Harriet Field were also children of Harriet (Smith) Conkling.

I found Dolly in the 1850 federal census in a home with Christina and Elsa Smith living in Mount Hope, Orange County, New York. Christina was the eldest at 55 years of age, Dolly 53 years old, and Elsa 48 years of age. Two of the Conkling children were living with their aunts. The 1855 New York State census identified Dolly and Elsey as sisters dwelling in Mount Hope. Even though the 1850 census did not record Christina as a sister to Dolly and Elsa, I am confident that she is.

The FamilySearch full-text search was good for me again. I located Gilbert Smith in a will prepared by his Uncle Joshua C. Smith August 1, 1816. Joshua C. Smith of the Town of Goshen, Orange County, New York gifted his nephew Gilbert Smith, son of Henry C. Smith, all his personal property after his debts were paid. He also wanted his nephew to receive all the land he was due for his service during the War of 1812 for which he did not yet have a warrant.

Once I located the father of the Smith siblings, it was not long before I found the mother. Henry Conklin Smith married Juliana Vail March 9, 1783, per the First Presbyterian Church, Goshen, New York records.

I even learned of another sibling. Caleb Smith was born about 1799 and migrated to Ohio. A Register of Deaths for Clinton County, Ohio records his death on June 10, 1870, and names his parents Henry C Smith and Julia Smith.

I am pleased that I found six siblings for Fanny as well as her mother and father.