Who were the parents of Elizabeth (Mumford) Walker REALLY?

Question

Before her death in 1879, the widow Elizabeth Walker had lived nearly 20 years in the home of her daughter, Eliza Ann (Walker) Alexander in Sandusky county, Ohio.

"E.A. Alexander" contributed a memorial poem to Elizabeth's obituary in the Fremont Journal and Clyde Sentinel which suggests to me that daughter Eliza Ann also informed the detailed biography of the deceased, and my assumption is that she would have known this information directly from her mother. But some of these details have led me straight into a brickwall!

Elizabeth's obituary states that she "was a daughter of Nathaniel and Lydia Mumford, of the town and county of Windsor, Vermont, where the deceased was born, August 13th, 1792." Elizabeth and her husband David J. Walker "were married in Bloomfield, Canandagua county [sic: should be Ontario county], N.Y., October 5th, 1811." I don't have records for either one of those events, and I cannot find any record of Nathaniel and Lydia Mumford existing — not in Windsor, not in New York, not anyplace else.

If Elizabeth was born in Windsor in 1792 and married in Bloomfield in 1811, of course I'd look for her birth family in those areas in the census before or after those dates. (The number of options for a young single woman to make her way from Vermont to western New York were relatively limited; "migrated with her family" is the first place I'd look.)

For Vermont, I find (searching Mumford, Mumpford, Momford, Munford, and Montfort):

• The 1790 census lists only one Mumford anywhere in Vermont: Robinson Mumford in Monkton (not near Windsor).
• The 1800 census for all of Vermont lists only Robinson and Elijah (I'm guessing his son) in Monkton.
• The 1810 census for Vermont lists only Elijah and a Sarah Mumford in Monkton; Robinson appears to be in Hillsdale, New York.

For upstate/western New York, I find:

• One Ezekiel Mumford in Ontario county in 1790 but not after 
• One Thomas Mumford in Scipio, Cayuga county (not too far from Ontario county) in 1800 and in the town of Cayuga in 1810 
• A group of five Mumford families in Milford, Otsego county (not near Ontario county, not near Vermont) in 1800 and 1810
• Miscellaneous Mumfords in Herkimer, Greene, and Dutchess counties, and one in Lewis county (none of those places is near Ontario county nor Vermont) in 1800 and 1810

There was a large Mumford family in Rhode Island before and after the Revolution who had at least half a dozen different Nathaniels. So far I haven't found any evidence that any of them married a Lydia, nor any indication of any moving north nor west. It's possible Elizabeth's father originated out of this family somehow, but I sure don't have any records to back that up.

Some corners of the internet think Elizabeth's mother was Lydia Butler. I've looked into the Lydia Butler they're saying, and it seems fairly clear to me that she married someone else and had nothing to do with this family.

Based on the birth information for their children, it appears that Elizabeth and David lived in New York after their marriage, removed to Canada between about 1818 and 1822, and returned to New York through at least 1829. They're eventually found in the 1840 census in Seneca county, Ohio, and then in Sandusky county in 1850. David died in 1858 and Elizabeth is recorded in the Alexanders' home in 1860 and 1870. Elizabeth's maiden name is given as Mumford or Momford in a marriage record for her son Washington G. Walker and the death record for her daughter Eliza Ann. Other than those records, her obituary is all we've got.

Does anyone have any thoughts about sneaky Mumfords in Vermont and/or western New York who have thus far eluded me?

Comments

The Thomas Mumford in Cayuga (interesting because it's not too far from Bloomfield) appears to have married his wife Mary in Connecticut in 1795, too late to be (legitimate) parents of Elizabeth if she was born 1792. No apparent connection to Vermont. This Thomas died intestate in 1831, administration granted to his son in March 1832.

---

An excellent question.  You have completely laid out the details of where you've searched/researched.  I would encourage you to add all that to a research notes section on her profile. Sadly, I don't have any further information for you, or even suggestions, but surely someone else will!

Answer 1

By sheer coincidence, I've been researching family in Chautauqua County, New York, which is on the border with Ohio. I was sure I'd seen the name Mumford recently!

It may be in other records, too, but there are at least two Mumford entries in Historical sketches of the town of Portland : comprising also the pioneer history of Chautauqua County, with biographical sketches of the early settlers.

1. Henry, who came to Chautauqua from Jefferson County, NY about 1819. No wife mentioned. Died soon after moving to Kirtland, Ohio is 1836. His son Edward m. Hannah Crosby. Also to Ohio.
2. Walter, also a son of Henry, and came in about 1816. Moved to Wisconsin 1856 and died there in 1859. Wife's name not mentioned. Daughters Mary, Nancy, Sarah Anne and Jane.

None quite match your names, but maybe it's something else to go on? And, as always with these old books, their claims need verifying.

PS--Some of my family came to the area from Chittenden County, Vermont about 1816. The other branch was possibly NY or Massachusetts. So people were coming from all over, it seems.

Comments

Thanks so much for this tip!

Yup, I have other branches of my family who did the MA/CT/RI --> VT --> western NY --> OH/WI/IA migration pattern after the Revolution, so the trail is at least a bit familiar.