Who are Michael Tinney’s Parents?
I have a genealogy puzzle and I need some pointers.
I have been wrestling with Michael Tinney, father of Isaac Garratt Tinney (1833-1908). I.G.Tinney reported in a mug book that his father was a blacksmith born in Connecticut in 1795 and died in 1852. I have been trying to identify Michael’s parents. I have a theory that he may have been adopted and questions.
Stephen Reed of Connecticut married Mary/Marie Dorset/Dowsett/Doucet dau. of Laurent “Lawrence” Doucet from Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia. Stephen Reed may have died in 1794-ish (or later).
In June of 1802, widowed Mary Reed married Joseph Tenney (1724-1806). They had one recorded child, Joseph, born in August of 1802. Mary came to the marriage with 4 surviving children from her marriage to Stephen Reed. Of course Joseph Tenney may or may not be the biological father of the child born in 1802.
Is Mary Dorset Reed Tenney the mother of our Michael? Which of these men (or another man entirely!?!) is Michael’s father.
As a blacksmith, Michael would have been apprenticed to somebody - where would records be found to determine who was his teacher?
What records and what depository should I investigate and how can I prove or disprove his parentage.
I have looked for Michael’s life in: Ancestry, Family Search, NEHGS, GenWeb, Barbour, Old Fulton Postcards (newspapers), Fold3, Ontario Cemetery Finding Aid, US Censuses, Canadian Censuses, FindaGrave, and The Descendants of Thomas Tenney (M J Tenney 1904).
I’ve traced a migration route of Tenney/Tinney from Connecticut to New York to Prince Edward County to Northumberland County (Ontario) to Michigan.
Answers
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Do you have a FamilySearch record ID for Michael?
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His number = LYV7-X4V
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In looking at the FamilySearch tree, I'm not seeing any document that proves who the parents of Isaac Garratt Tinney were, nor any documents for his siblings either. Nor am I seeing this mug book that you are referring to. Nor really any significant sources about Michael himself that can prove anything about him yet. I'm guessing you have more sources than you are actually listing in the tree right now.
To me, it looks like you need to go back and make sure you know who Isaac's parents were for certain so that you can solidify exactly where Michael was and when before you can go back to Michael's parents.
It's important to keep in mind also that while they were recording vital records in Connecticut quite early, they are incomplete. So there may not be a birth record for Michael, even if he was born in Connecticut.
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His FS number = LYV7-X4V
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“I have looked for Michael’s life in: Ancestry, Family Search, NEHGS, GenWeb, Barbour, Old Fulton Postcards (newspapers), Fold3, Ontario Cemetery Finding Aid, US Censuses, Canadian Censuses, FindaGrave, and The Descendants of Thomas Tenney (M J Tenney 1904).
I’ve traced a migration route of Tenney/Tinney from Connecticut to New York to Prince Edward County to Northumberland County (Ontario) to Michigan.”
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Fold3 has his militia record for his service in P. Swift’s company
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Settlers of the Beekman Patent, vol. 5 p. 529-531 Marriage of Michael Tinney to Mary Garratt.
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My bad on the mug-book. Here’s the citation: page 30
Summers, Ewing. Genealogical And Family History of Eastern Ohio. New York: Lewis Pub. Co., 1903.
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1851 Canada census - Misindexed as “Ting” in Murray Twsp in Northumberland Co., Ontario.
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Okay now that's making sense. The history book helps me to understand where you got the information to begin with. I added it as a source in the tree.
A few ideas that come to mind if you haven't tried these already:
Search for Michael Tinney in the land and probate records in Wellington, Ontario, and for any other Tinneys to see if there's a relative mentioned somewhere
Look in the newspapers for Tinneys in Wellington
Look for others of the Tinney surname that served in the same regiment as Michael did in the War of 1812, perhaps he had a brother or other relative that enlisted with him
Look for Tinneys living in the area in which Michael enlisted (not sure where exactly this regiment have enlistments from, but you could look that up and see what Tinneys are living nearby)
Look for Tinneys in the land deeds and probate records for whatever area of New York Michael enlisted in
Look for Tinneys in Wellington in the 1851 census
I'm seeing his wife in the 1851 census in Ontario, it doesn't name others in the household, though. It seems odd that Michael is listed with a death year of 1852 if his wife was living alone in the census in 1851 (if she was).
Since you don't have a specific location in Connecticut, it seems me that you need to find some relative of Michael, or some record that pinpoints you to where exactly in Connecticut he came from. The birth records for Connecticut are quite incomplete. Since you've searched the big sites already, there probably isn't one that was recorded for him, so you will need something else to pinpoint him to a Tinney family group somewhere, or you're just shooting in the dark at any Tinney family living in Connecticut. I would see if you can find anything more about him in Wellington and in New York that give you more clues since you know exactly where he was living in those places.
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I really appreciate your time and feed back. I anticipated the thought about the area in NYS where he enlisted. Actually, I went one better combing these record sources for all Tinney/Tenney families in New York from the CT border to the area where his company was mustered. He was undoubtedly related to various persons I found that made that westward migration. But his relationship to these families remains unclear. I have looked at cemeteries in the areas he lived in Ontario - including his in-laws who were Quakers. And they were all over. But no blood kin of his. Sigh.
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Jeniann; Thanks for the fine help you have given John.
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