Isaac Countryman (ca 23 Mar 1800 – 15 Apr 1882)

Isaac Countryman was likely born in Pennsylvania between 22 Sep 1799 and 23 Sep 1800 (186); however, his birthplace is uncertain, and his ancestors have not been documented.

Before May 1822, Isaac Countryman married Ellen Voorhees (aka Elen Voorhees), likely in the Ovid Township of Seneca County, New York (755). At their marriage, Isaac Countryman was about 21 years old, and Ellen Voorhees was 25 years old. Born in the Hillsborough Township of Somerset County, New Jersey on 24 Jun 1795, Ellen Voorhees was a daughter of Henry Voorhees and Margaret (Nevius) Voorhees (137, Page 344; 1347).

A daughter, Elizabeth, was born to Issac and Ellen Countryman in Seneca County, New York on 17 Feb 1823 (755). At Elizabeth’s birth, Isaac Countryman was about 22 years old, and Ellen Countryman was 26 years old.

The Isaac Countryman family, including Ellen and Elizabeth, migrated from Seneca County, New York to Pennsylvania before the birth of a second daughter, Catherine Countryman. Based on census information, Catherine was born in Pennsylvania during the period 3 Aug 1824 – 18 Jun 1825 (166, 753). Although available evidence is weak, The Isaac Countryman family may have lived among the several Countryman families in the Middle Smithfield Township of Pike County, Pennsylvania. The family returned to Seneca County before Jan 1828.

A son, Andrew J. Countryman was born in Seneca County on 21 Jan 1828 (188), and a second son Joseph Countryman was born in about 1830. Before 1840, at least four more sons were born to Ellen and Isaac Countryman in Seneca County: John Countryman in about 1832; Gideon in about 1835 (993); Martin V. Countryman on 21 Mar 1836 (763); and George Washington Countryman on 21 Dec 1838 (365). Joseph Countryman died on 27 Aug 1843 at 12 years of age (229).

By 1840, the Isaac Countryman family was living in the Varick Township of Seneca County, New York where the Ira Countryman household was enumerated by the 1840 federal census (749). Isaac Countryman was 30–39 years old. Living in the household were a female, age 30–39 years, presumably Isaac’s wife, two other females, both age 15–19, a male, age 10–14, three males, age 5–9 years, and two males under 5 years of age.

In about 1845, Isaac Countryman’s daughter, Elizabeth Countryman married Whaley Alexander Brooks, and his daughter Catherine married Abram Sixberry—both marriages probably occurred in Seneca County.

Between the 1840 and 1850 federal censuses, Isaac Countryman and his wife apparently divorced or otherwise separated. In addition to 50 year-old Isaac Countryman, the 16 Sep 1850 census enumerates only two sons living in his household: Martin Countryman, 15 years old, and George Countryman, 12 years old (750). The 9 Aug 1850 federal census enumerates Ellen Voorhees, with her maiden name, living with her mother, Margaret Voorhees, in the Lodi Township of Seneca County, New York (1347).

At the 1850 federal census, Isaac Countryman’s son Andrew J. Countryman was living with the William Sweet household in the Fayette Township of Seneca County, New York (757). Gideon Countryman resided with the Milton Smith household of the Romulus Township of Seneca County (758).

At the 1860 federal census, Isaac Countryman was living in the household of his daughter Catharine (Countryman) Sixberry (751). The winter of 1855 was particularly harsh in Seneca County. In March, Seneca Lake froze over for the first time since American settlement. The cold winter followed by the onset of the American Civil War may have forced Isaac Countryman’s move. Ellen Voorhees, then 63 years old, was living in the household of her brother, Stephen Voorhees, in the Lodi Township of Seneca County, New York (1349). The youngest child of Isaac Countryman and Ellen Voorhees, George Washington Countryman, was living in the David Vancourt household of the Romulus Township of Seneca County (761).

On 5 Apr 1864, Isaac Countryman purchased one acre of land for $5 from Lewis Ireland and his wife Eliza Ireland (217). The land was located on the Marsh Road between land owned by William Bird and that owned by Lewis Ireland. On 9 Apr 1870, Isaac Countryman acquired an additional five acres of land from Morris Bird and his wife Anny, paying $275 (774). This larger tract was apparently adjacent to the one-acre tract acquired in 1864.

At the 3 Aug 1870 federal census of the Varick Township of Seneca County, New York, Isaac Countryman was 70 years old and living alone but near the home of his oldest daughter Catharine (Countryman) Sixberry (752).

On 25 Nov 1871, Isaac Countryman sold the five acres of land in Varick Township that he acquired from the wife of Morris Bird by deed dated 9 Apr 1870 as well as the one acre tract that he acquired from Lewis Ireland and his wife by deed dated 5 Apr 1864 to Hannah Countryman, the wife of his son Andrew Countryman, for $250 (756).

The 18 Jun 1880 federal census enumerates Isaac Countryman at age 80 once again living in the household of his daughter Catharine (Countryman) Sixberry at Fayette, in the Fayette Township of Seneca County, New York (753). Catharine Sixberry’s husband Abram Sixberry was no longer living with Catharine; presumably he died before 1880.

On 21 Sep 1881, Isaac Countryman took residence at the Seneca County Alms House in Fayette Township (186). He died there on 15 Apr 1882. Isaac Countryman is very likely buried in the Seneca County Alms House Cemetery, located on County House Road (County Road 118) at its intersection with Disinger Road in Fayette Township.

Isaac Countryman and Ellen Voorhees

Several lines of evidence document Ellen Voorhees of Seneca County, New York as the wife of Isaac Countryman.

New York town clerks maintained registers of Civil War soldiers. The register of soldiers from Seneca County, New York includes George W. Countryman, a son of Isaac Countryman who served as a Private in the 15th Engineers. For the town clerks’ register, George stated that he resided in the Ovid Township of Seneca County, New York, and he named his father as Isaac and his mother only by the surname Voorhees (169).

Elizabeth Countryman, the first child born to Isaac Countryman and his wife, married Whaley Alexander Brooks, and they eventually resided in Barry County, Michigan. The Certificate and Record of Death for Betsey Brooks names Isaac Countreman as her father and Elen Vorhess and her mother (755).

The 9 Aug 1850 federal census enumerates the household of Margaret Voorhees in the Lodi Township of Seneca County, New York (1347). Margaret Voorhees was 83 years old. Living with Margaret was Ellen Voorhees, 52 years old, and also born in New Jersey. Ellen Countryman or Ellen Voorhees are not found otherwise within the 1850 federal census of Seneca County.

At 52 years old on 9 Aug 1850, Ellen Voorhees was born on about 9 Aug 1798. That date of birth is reasonably consistent with her ages of: 11 at the 1810 federal census (1343); 21 at the 1820 census (1344); and 41 at the 1840 federal census (749).

Apparently, having separated from her husband Isaac Countryman after the 1940 federal census, Ellen (Voorhees) Countryman lived with her mother in the Lodi Township of Seneca County, New York and assumed her maiden name, Ellen Voorhees.

Sources

169. Town Clerks’ Registers of Men Who Served in the Civil War 1865-1867. New York State Archives, Albany New York. Collection Number (N-Ar)13774, Box Number 56, Roll Number 30. (Images: Ancestry.com. Image on file.)

755. Certificate and Record of Death, Betsey Brooks. Nashville, Barry County, Michigan, 23 Feb 1905. Division for Vital Records and Health Statistics, Michigan Department of Community Health, Lansing, Michigan. (Images: Ancestry.com. Image on file.)

1343. Margaret Voorhies Household, 1810 U.S. Federal Census, Ovid, Seneca County, New York, 4 Aug 1810. Image 00155, Page 243, Roll 36, Family History Library Film 0181390. U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. Washington, D.C. (Images: Ancestry.com. Image on file.)

1344. Margaret Voorhise Household, 1820 U.S. Federal Census, Ovid, Seneca County, New York, 7 Aug 1820. Image 78, Page 331, NARA Roll M33_74. U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C. (Images: Ancestry.com. Image on file.)

1347. Margaret Voorhees Household, 1850 U.S. Federal Census, Lodi Township, Seneca County, New York, 9 Aug 1850. Image 51, Page 23A, Roll M432_597. U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. Washington, D.C. (Images: Ancestry.com. Image on file.)

Isaac Countryman Census Summary

1840 U.S. Federal Census (749)
Isaac Countryman Household
Varick Township, Seneca County, New York
Ira Countryman, a: 30–39
+ Female, a: 30–39 (Elen Voorhees)
Female, a: 15–19 (Elizabeth Countryman)
Female, a: 15–19 (Catherine Countryman)
Male, a: 10–14 (Andrew J. Countryman)
Male, a: 5–9 (Joseph Countryman)
Male, a: 5–9 (John Countryman)
Male, a: 5–9 (Gideon Countryman)
Male, a: under 5 (Martin V. Countryman)
Male, a: under 5 (George Washington Countryman)

1850 U.S. Federal Census (750)
Isaac Countryman Household
Varick Township, Seneca County, New York
16 Sep 1850
Isaac Countryman, a: 50, b: New Jersey (Laborer)
Martin Countryman, a: 15, b: New York
George Countryman, a: 12, b: New York

1860 U.S. Federal Census (751)
Abram Sixberry Household
Varick Township, Seneca County, New York
25 Jun 1860
Abram Sixberry, a: 60, b: Unknown (Day Laborer)
Catharine Sixberry, a: 37, b: Pennsylvania
Joseph Sixberry, a: 15, b: New York
Mary Sixberry, a: 11, b: New York
Martha Sixberry, a: 8, b: New York
Geo W. Sixberry, a: 6, b: New York
Eliza T. Sixberry, a: 3, b: New York
Charlotte A. Sixberry, a: 6 months, b: New York
Mary McKee, a: 101, b: Unknown
Isaac Countryman, a: 59, b: Pennsylvania (Day Laborer)

1870 U.S. Federal Census (752)
Varick Township, Seneca County, New York
3 Aug 1870
Isaac Countryman, a: 69, b: Pennsylvania, Laborer
1880 U.S. Federal Census (753)
Catherine Sixberry Household
Fayette Township, Seneca County, New York
18 Jun 1880
Catherine Sipberry, a: 56, b: Pennsylvania
Father b: Pennsylvania, Mother b: Pennsylvania
Joseph Sipberry, a: 35, b: New York (Laborer)
Martha Sipberry, a: 27, b: New York
George Sipberry, a: 25, b: New York (Laborer)
Isaac Countryman, a: 79, b: Pennsylvania (Laborer) Widower
Father b: Pennsylvania, Mother b: Pennsylvania

Seneca County, New York Land Holdings

On 5 Apr 1864, Isaac Countryman purchased one acre of land in the Varick Township of Seneca County, New York from Lewis Ireland and Elizia his wife for $25 (754). The tract was described as “bounded on the north by lands owned by William Borroughs, on the west by lands owned by Morris Bird, on the south by the center of the highway running easterly and westerly (commonly known as the Marsh Road), and on the west by lands owned by the said Lewis Ireland.”

On 9 Apr 1870, Isaac Countryman purchased an additional five acres of land from Morris Bird and his wife for $250 (774). This larger tract was described as commencing in the centre of the highway at the southwest corner of lands owned by J. E. Benninghoof, formerly Lewis Ireland, thence north along said Benninghoof’s land to lands owned by Thomas Tarr, thence westerly along said Tarr’s land … thence south along said Tarr’s land to the centre of the highway, thence east to the place of beginning.

On 25 Nov 1871, Isaac Countryman sold the five acres of land in Varick Township that he acquired from the wife of Morris Bird by deed dated 9 Apr 1870 as well as the one acre tract that he acquired from Lewis Ireland and his wife by deed dated 5 Apr 1864 to Hannah Countryman, the wife of his son Andrew Countryman, for $250 (756).

The approximate location of the combined six acres of land along Marsh Road can be identified on an 1858 map of Seneca County, New York showing major property owners (775).