Johann Gottfried Hauer (John Godfrey Howard) Family Line
William B. Van Buren (1863-1843) Teamster
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by Carolyn Ann Howard
William B. Van Buren. He's pretty far away from me in my family line; my 2nd cousin 3x removed. But I don't want to just research Howards, and Van Buren is a fine name. He has this name because his mother, Lydia "Catherine" Howard, sometimes spelled with a "K," married John Van Buren in or around 1850. Catherine was the granddaughter of our patriarch, my 4th great-grandfather, John Godfrey Howard. Click on photos to enlarge
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| Early Postcard of Warsaw, N.Y. Courtesy of Wikipedia Commons, public domain |
William B. Van Buren was born 12 Jun 1863 in Middlebury, New York. In the household besides his parents were sister Cynthia, brother Charles, and sister Olive. In the 1870 census, he is with his parents in Middlebury along with his brothers and sisters, Cynthia, Charles, Olive, and younger brother Frank, who was born in 1869. By the 1880 census, it was just William and his younger brother along with two cousins, Henry and Charles. These were Seth Howard's boys, who was Catherine's brother. I don't know why they're there, but Seth's entire family was disrupted in the 1880 census, and he's in Michigan with another woman at that time.
William went by "Willie" as a child, according to the census records, so we'll call him Will. He married his 2nd cousin, Flora Howard, in 1882. Her father was Jacob Howard, who was Will's grandfather. If that doesn't create a feedback loop in your family tree, I don't know what will. They were just 3 years apart in age. When they married, she was 15 and he was 18. No shame, no foul, though. The couple stayed in Warsaw, New York, close to Will's family. Flora, at the time of their marriage, had been living in Rochester with her mom, about an hour's drive away today.
The young couple had four children prior to the 1900 Warsaw, NY census: William, born 1883; Katherine, who went by "Kittie," born 1885; Raymond, born 1887; and Flora Macey, born 1891. In the 1900 census, the Van Buren's are all together, Will and wife Flora along with their four children. Also living with them at that time was Flora's sister, on this census listed as Alida Howard. Other sources have her name as Lida and Lydia. There is also a border, Martin Gell. Will's daughter, Kittie, married a Martin Gell. However, this Martin is 15 years her senior. He may have been an uncle, but I don't know, as I didn't research the Gells.
Kittie firstly married Clayton Parmenter in 1907. By the time of the 1910 Warsaw, NY Federal Census, Kittie was already widowed with two young children, Kenneth and Clayton. She and the boys were with her father and mother, Will and Flora, along with her three brothers.
Our subject, Will Howard, Sr., was listed as a teamster in this 1910 census, as would be done the rest of his working days. The eldest son, Will, Jr., was 27 and a machinist for "elevator works." Son Raymond was 22 and a painter at "elevator works." Their youngest, 18-year-old Flora, no doubt named after her mom, was a laundress who worked "in laundry." Their daughter, the newly widowed Kittie Parmenter, was 25. Her occupation was listed as "none," but with a 5-year-old (Kenneth) and a newborn, (Clayton), we all know what her occupation was. I do not know how her husband died, but the newborn Clayton was born after his father's death in 1909 and is named after his father. The elder Clayton Parmenter, Kittie's first husband, is buried with his parents in West Middlebury Cemetery in Middlebury, New York.
The next record is the New York State Census for 1915. It is interesting. Firstly, we have William listed as "head" and as a teamster. His wife was next. There's no different family numbers or house numbers, it's all smooshed together, so perhaps there were more people in that same home? Their son, William was next in line and was also listed as "head." He was still a machinist. His wife was on the next line, Margaret. After Margaret was Katherine Gell, who is listed as a boarder. This Katherine Gell is William's sister, Kittie. After her husband, Clayton Parmenter, died, she remarried Martin Gell 18 Dec 1911, in Ontario, Canada. And now, she was there, not with her husband, but with her brother. Kittie had four children by then, two with Mr. Parmenter and two with Mr. Gell. This census, however, incorrectly had Kenneth Clayton's last name as "Gell." Her two new babies are Stanley and Evelyn. I don't know what's going on with Kittie and Mr. Gell, but it could be as innocent as he was working somewhere out of the city at the time the enumerator came by.
After this, tragedy struck the Van Buren family. I don't know what it is like to lose a child, and I never want to know. The Van Buren family lost three of their four. Firstly Flora Macey died from gastritis, 03 Apr 1912. Will's son, his namesake, died 31 Jul 1917, and I don't know why. He may have lost his life in World War I. He was buried in Warsaw Cemetery. Then Kittie died 14 Oct 1919. Her obituary doesn't say why, just that she died at her parents home. How heartbroken Will and Flora must have been, and I'm certain they never got over any of this.
In the 1920 census, Will and Flora were still in Warsaw with two of their grandchildren, Kenneth and Clayton Parmenter. The other two grandchildren were in Warsaw, too, but they lived with their father. Will and Flora's only living child, Raymond, was also in Warsaw, living with his wife and family.
In the 1925 New York State Census, Will and Flora are still making it. Will was 61 years old and was still working as a Teamster. Flora was 58. They have three grandchildren living with them now. Their oldest grandson, aged 20, has changed his name from Kenneth Parmenter to Kenneth Van Buren. It might be that his grandparents adopted him or that he changed his name in homage to them. He was a chauffeur! Next is 16-year-old Clayton Parmenter, who was named after his father. Notice that Clayton kept his correct last name. He was listed as a farmer. And surprise! Evelyn Gell, the 10-year-old daughter of Kittie and Martin (Matt) Gell was also living with her grandparents.
Flora died 25 Feb 1929 at the age of 62, leaving Will all alone on the 1930 census. He wasn't really alone, as he lived with William and Linda Conkle as a "hired man" whose occupation was "none." William Conkle was a farm laborer on a general farm. Will's son, Raymond, was just a few pages away from his dad in this census, so he wasn't far. Raymond was a laborer at a "milk fonderry company."
And finally, sometime before 1935, Will moved in with son Raymond and his family. In the 1940 census, we learn that Will had an 8th grade education and his son, 7th. Raymond was a farmer at "operator," working on his own account. Good for Raymond!
Will died 10 Mar 1943 at the Wyoming County Community Hospital.
I'm very disappointed Ancestry didn't have more records for the Van Buren family. It would be nice to have seen a better picture of their lives together. I'll keep checking in with the family from time to time to make sure no new information has been added.
