Category: Research Page 7 of 14

One of my biggest (and most frustrating) brick walls is David Witherell’s parents. I have clues but it’s not enough direct and indirect evidence yet to prove parentage. All of my clues at the moment point to John Witherell and Judith Bullard as his parents. I’ve mentioned these two previously.

So in the hopes that maybe I could learn more about the Witherells, I began to look into Judith’s family. Her family is the one mentioned in Pioneer History of Orleans County, New York after all, including the names of her parents: David and Elizabeth Bullard ((Arad Thomas, Pioneer History of Orleans County, New York: Containing Some Account of the Civil Divisions of Western New York, with Brief Biographical Notices of Early Settlers and of the Hardships and Privations They Endured, the Organization of the Towns in the County, Together with Lists of Town and County Officers Since the County was Organized, with Anecdotes and Reminiscences, Illustrating the Character and Customs of the People (Albion: Orleans American Steam Press Print, 1871), 231.)).

As I began to look into David, I kept seeing American Revolution records popping up with his name. He would have been about 15 when the war had started, which is a bit too young for me to look there for records((Thomas, Pioneer History of Orleans County, New York: …, 231.)). It’s not unheard of of course, just not somewhere I would have started with.

About the time I discovered there may be records for him from the American Revolution, the DAR also announced that their supporting documentation would be available for purchase. Good timing! So I searched, and found him listed with several associated applications. Several of them were from the line of Judith and John Witherell. I was incredibly excited! So I purchased the supporting documents and saw the member’s name and recognized it immediately – she was from David’s line too! I felt like I was definitely on the right track!

Some of her sources were awfully familiar. The same book I already noted above was used for the line of David and Elizabeth, linking them to Judith and John Witherell.  There were new books too, ones I hadn’t heard about until now (and added to my list to get). There was also this WONDERFUL source:

A copy of a page from a family Bible with John and Judith’s children’s birth dates listed. I HAD NO IDEA THIS EXISTED!!!

Intrigued, I went to Fold3 and looked for more records on David’s service. Here I was quite dismayed to find more behind this story… it turns out Elizabeth applied for a pension after David died. She has a long listing of everything he told her he did (he was apparently a fifer)((Declaration by Elizabeth Bullard, widow of David Bullard, 9 October 1843,  (Mass., Revolutionary War), pension no. R. 1419; digital images, Ancestry.com’s Fold3 (http://www.fold3.com : downloaded 22 February 2015), page 3; imaged from Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, National Archives microfilm publication M804 [roll number not cited at Fold3].)). However, there was no proof of his service and she was then denied pension because there were no records of him serving with any officer and she couldn’t provide any proof of his service nor of her marriage((Pension Office Letter of Denial, Elizabeth Bullard widow of David Bullard, 8 July 1844,  (Mass., Revolutionary War), pension no. R. 1419; digital images, page 19.)).

Where does this leave me? Well, I definitely have more now to go along with who David’s parents are and I’d say some pretty convincing clues that I could use in a proof argument (after more research of course). David would have been my first nearly confirmed relative who had participated in the American Revolution and I was quite excited about that. Now though, I don’t think I could quite say I could qualify for DAR with this particular ancestor.

Not to worry. I’ve had family in America for quite some time and I’m positive there are more ancestors who could have been a part of the American Revolution. 🙂

Have you used DAR’s records in your research? Share below!

Happy hunting!