Isaac Simonson Bird (1800 - abt. 1881)

Born 22 Oct 1800 in Richmond, New York, United States [uncertain]

Ancestors

Husband of Mary (Ross) Bird — married 19 Nov 1823 in Dunbarton, Merrimack, New Hampshire, United States

Husband of Phoebe Ann (Towland) Bird — married 16 Nov 1836 in United States of America [uncertain]

Husband of Amelia (Cooley) Bird — married 4 Jul 1866 in Morristown, Middlesex, New Jersey, United States

Descendants

Died about 5 Jan 1881 at about age 80 in Morristown, Middlesex, New Jersey, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Marion Ceruti [send private message]

Biography

Isaac was a Methodist.

Isaac was a Magistrate.

Isaac was a Justice of the Peace.

Isaac Bird was a New Yorker.

Isaac Bird was a New Jerseyan.

Isaac Bird was born in Richmond County, New York, in 1880. He was the son of Abraham b. 1770 and Elizabeth Bird 1781-1874. He passed away on 5 Jan. 1881. His death record indicates that both of his parents were born in the USA.

The Rev. Judge Isaac Bird had three wives and 16 children. However, life was difficult in those days, due to lack of modern medical knowledge and the Civil War. At least seven of his children died before their first birthday. At least two more died before reaching the age of 14. Of those who lived, one son, John Fletcher Bird, died fighting the Civil War and another son Edmond James Bird, lost his right arm and became a minister like his father. The BIrd family relied on their faith to get them through the tough times.

At the time of the 1850 U.S. Census, he was living in Morris, New Jersey, with his second wife, age 40, whose name was listed as "Phebe A. Bird. The children's names and ages were listed as follows: Mary L. Bird, 15; Edmund J. Bird, 10; Sarah E. Bird, 9; Emma A. Bird, 7; and Henry A. Bird, 0 (less than one year old). All of the children were born in New Jersey, as was Isaac's wife in 1950, Phoebe Ann Towland Bird. Isaac was a shoe manufacturer at the time and the family had two shoe makers in their household, both from Germany.

It is not known at what point he became a Methodist minister and a judge. But when the Rev. Judge Isaac Bird was a judge, he worked at the Court of Common Pleas and a Justice of the Peace.

The account of his life was written by his minister, the Rev. G. L. Bowman of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Morristown, New Jersey. The text of this account has not yet been recovered from the estate of Bird Smith Dawson, but is presumed to have been present somewhere among her extensive collection of family historical documents.

According to one source, on 11 Jan. 1881, Senator Youngblood made an address at Rev. Judge Isaac Bird's funeral. This means that his death was most likely in early Jan. 1881. According to another source, in the handwriting of Bird Smith Dawson, Judge Bird died on 5 Jan. 1884. According to the New Jersey, Deaths and Burials Index, 1798-1971, he died on 5 Jan 1880. This record indicates that he was 80 years 2 months old at the time of his death. If correct, that would put his birth date at 5 Nov. 1799, a date that no source supports. The Ancestry.com record indicates 5 Jan 1880. This is the source of uncertainty in Isaac's death date.

Research Notes

The family Bible and other family information in the hand writing of his son, James Ross Bird also provides information on the Rev. Judge Isaac Bird.

Internet searches yielded the following information regarding possible relatives of Judge Bird:

Elizabeth Sevain Bird, b. 1780, m. 10 Aug. 1800 on Staten Island Church, New York, USA.

Thomas Semon Bird, 10 Nov. 1805, Orange County, New York

Sources

• "United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch [1] Entered 4 April 2020, Isaac Bird, Morris, Morris, New Jersey, United States; citing family 650, NARA microfilm publication M432 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
• "United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch [2] entered 23 December 2020, Edmund J Bird in household of Isaac Bird, Morris Township, Morris, New Jersey, United States; citing family, NARA microfilm publication (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
• "United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch [3] entered 18 February 2021), Edmund J Bird in entry for Isaac Bird, 1860, Morris Township, Morris, New Jersey, United States.
• Family records transcribed from notes in the hand writing of Lucille Bird Dawson Ceruti. These notes presumably was based on written information by her mother, Bird Smith Dawson, a family historian.
• Family genealogical document regarding the Rev. Judge Isaac Bird's wives and children written in the handwriting of Bird Smith Dawson. (See image posted here)
• Annotation on the back of a picture of his son, Edmund James Bird, to the effect that Judge Isaac Bird was born on 22 Oct. 1800 and died on 5 Jan. 1884.
• "New Jersey, County Marriages, 1682-1956," database with images, FamilySearch [4] entered 4 April 2020, Isaac Bird and Amelia Cooley, 04 Jul 1866; citing Morris, New Jersey, New Jersey State Archives, Trenton; FHL microfilm 1,314,454.
• "New Jersey, County Marriages, 1682-1956," database with images, FamilySearch [5] 4 April 2020, Isaac Bird and Amelia Cooley, 04 Jul 1866; citing Morris, New Jersey, New Jersey State Archives, Trenton; FHL microfilm 1,314,457.
• "New Jersey Marriages, 1678-1985", database, FamilySearch [6] entered 20 January 2020, Amelia Cooley in entry for Isaac Bird, 1866.
• Ancestry.com. New Jersey, Deaths and Burials Index, 1798-1971 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. Original data: "New Jersey Deaths and Burials, 1720–1971." Index. FamilySearch, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2009, 2010. Index entries derived from digital copies of original and compiled records. FHL Film Number: 589830 [7]
• Ancestry.com, Abbey Chamberlain's paternal family tree [8]