Emily lost her mother as a young girl of 7 years old. By 1850, she was living with (adopted by) her father's brother, Dr. Dennis Cooley and his wife.
By 1855, Emily had married David Stewart, a record was not found (see David's obituary and attached BIO). They had twins, George and Mary "May", on February 9, 1856 in Oshkosh, WI. According to David's obituary, Amelia "Emily" passed away after childbirth? Now, I am now trying to figure out if there is another Emily/Amelia Cooley, or if that was the narrative because they chose to separate…amongst other reasons.
UPDATE: I found ONE Amelia Cooley in Franklin County, Massachusetts born in 1829, closer to his age. She was living with her parents there in 1850, but she was single, and still living with her widowed mother in 1860.
From my research, I am quite certain THIS Emily is the correct mother. She was only 15 when she married, and 16 when she gave birth…to twins! Looking at the timeline, the couple must have decided to split just before or immediately after the births. That was a lot to take on for a single mother, plus, Uncle Dennis had lost his only two children, so it worked out for everyone, more or less. Times were different back then, and certain issues were just not discussed, keeping things easy.
Emily and David BOTH remarried in 1859, which leads me to the believe that their divorce didn't finalize until 1858–1859.
Too many coincidences.
Like herself, May & George were also adopted and raised by Emily's uncle Dennis & wife, Clara (Andrus) Cooley. Sadly, George only lived 4 months. On the 1860 census, May was reported as May Stewart. Maybe they thought she would eventually go to live with Emily's or David's new families once they settled. But by 1870, she was reported as May Cooley, and also married as May Cooley. She certainly lived a full life, moving on to Louisiana, and a long marriage and children of her own.
See May's death record. Her biological parents names were known to her.
**********************************************************************
From my 10+ years of genealogy research, Emily is a nickname for Amelia. Early Germans were Emelie, and evolved it to Amelia. Emily was just the next evolution. This name swung the other way, probably again to cloud facts, but not lose mom completely.
Every record of Emily's IS under Emily, including a birth record. I believe they just slightly changed her name, so May would have a picture of who her real mother was, yet not totally give it away.
Another key component, Emily's first child with Omar was given the middle name, Dennis Cooley! To me, that is a big red flag. Uncle Dennis was very special to her, and she was honoring him with this gesture. He had been a father to her, and now to her twins. In life, and in death.
On the 1900 census, Emily reports mother of 6, 5 living. But I believe that should've been 7, 6 living. George was the only one that was deceased in 1900. Maybe she was counting the twins as one person, as she lost them both at once. :0(
This has been a tough puzzle to solve, but I'm hoping David's obituary was the last piece. If I find anything to the contrary, I will continue to update, as I have for the past several months.
So many variables.
I originally assumed George had to have been older than May, considering he died four months after HER birth, but, the bio from my new book, and the obituary emailed by that author, confirmed that they were actually TWINS!
The Stewart family genealogy by B. Frank Severance, " Genealogy and biography of the descendants of Walter Stewart of Scotland and of John Stewart who came to America in 1718 and settled in Londonderry, N.H. Greenfield, Mass. : T. Morey & Son, 1905, states that "He (David Stewart) was a contractor and builder, and followed that business for over forty years. He was one of the carpenters that helped to build Washington Hall, Greenfield, Mass. In 1855, he had a touch of Western fever and emigrated to Wisconsin, locating in Oshkosh, where he remained about one year, during which time he buried his first wife, Feb. 15, 1856. He then returned to Washington, Macomb Co,. Mich., where he met and married, Oct. 1, 1857, Mary, daughter of Louis and Nancy (Knapp) Davis of Washington, and they resided there for some years.
By 1855, Emily had married David Stewart, a record was not found (see David's obituary and attached BIO). They had twins, George and Mary "May", on February 9, 1856 in Oshkosh, WI. According to David's obituary, Amelia "Emily" passed away after childbirth? Now, I am now trying to figure out if there is another Emily/Amelia Cooley, or if that was the narrative because they chose to separate…amongst other reasons.
UPDATE: I found ONE Amelia Cooley in Franklin County, Massachusetts born in 1829, closer to his age. She was living with her parents there in 1850, but she was single, and still living with her widowed mother in 1860.
From my research, I am quite certain THIS Emily is the correct mother. She was only 15 when she married, and 16 when she gave birth…to twins! Looking at the timeline, the couple must have decided to split just before or immediately after the births. That was a lot to take on for a single mother, plus, Uncle Dennis had lost his only two children, so it worked out for everyone, more or less. Times were different back then, and certain issues were just not discussed, keeping things easy.
Emily and David BOTH remarried in 1859, which leads me to the believe that their divorce didn't finalize until 1858–1859.
Too many coincidences.
Like herself, May & George were also adopted and raised by Emily's uncle Dennis & wife, Clara (Andrus) Cooley. Sadly, George only lived 4 months. On the 1860 census, May was reported as May Stewart. Maybe they thought she would eventually go to live with Emily's or David's new families once they settled. But by 1870, she was reported as May Cooley, and also married as May Cooley. She certainly lived a full life, moving on to Louisiana, and a long marriage and children of her own.
See May's death record. Her biological parents names were known to her.
**********************************************************************
From my 10+ years of genealogy research, Emily is a nickname for Amelia. Early Germans were Emelie, and evolved it to Amelia. Emily was just the next evolution. This name swung the other way, probably again to cloud facts, but not lose mom completely.
Every record of Emily's IS under Emily, including a birth record. I believe they just slightly changed her name, so May would have a picture of who her real mother was, yet not totally give it away.
Another key component, Emily's first child with Omar was given the middle name, Dennis Cooley! To me, that is a big red flag. Uncle Dennis was very special to her, and she was honoring him with this gesture. He had been a father to her, and now to her twins. In life, and in death.
On the 1900 census, Emily reports mother of 6, 5 living. But I believe that should've been 7, 6 living. George was the only one that was deceased in 1900. Maybe she was counting the twins as one person, as she lost them both at once. :0(
This has been a tough puzzle to solve, but I'm hoping David's obituary was the last piece. If I find anything to the contrary, I will continue to update, as I have for the past several months.
So many variables.
I originally assumed George had to have been older than May, considering he died four months after HER birth, but, the bio from my new book, and the obituary emailed by that author, confirmed that they were actually TWINS!
The Stewart family genealogy by B. Frank Severance, " Genealogy and biography of the descendants of Walter Stewart of Scotland and of John Stewart who came to America in 1718 and settled in Londonderry, N.H. Greenfield, Mass. : T. Morey & Son, 1905, states that "He (David Stewart) was a contractor and builder, and followed that business for over forty years. He was one of the carpenters that helped to build Washington Hall, Greenfield, Mass. In 1855, he had a touch of Western fever and emigrated to Wisconsin, locating in Oshkosh, where he remained about one year, during which time he buried his first wife, Feb. 15, 1856. He then returned to Washington, Macomb Co,. Mich., where he met and married, Oct. 1, 1857, Mary, daughter of Louis and Nancy (Knapp) Davis of Washington, and they resided there for some years.
Emily lost her mother as a young girl of 7 years old. By 1850, she was living with (adopted by) her father's brother, Dr. Dennis Cooley and his wife.
By 1855, Emily had married David Stewart, a record was not found (see David's obituary and attached BIO). They had twins, George and Mary "May", on February 9, 1856 in Oshkosh, WI. According to David's obituary, Amelia "Emily" passed away after childbirth? Now, I am now trying to figure out if there is another Emily/Amelia Cooley, or if that was the narrative because they chose to separate…amongst other reasons.
UPDATE: I found ONE Amelia Cooley in Franklin County, Massachusetts born in 1829, closer to his age. She was living with her parents there in 1850, but she was single, and still living with her widowed mother in 1860.
From my research, I am quite certain THIS Emily is the correct mother. She was only 15 when she married, and 16 when she gave birth…to twins! Looking at the timeline, the couple must have decided to split just before or immediately after the births. That was a lot to take on for a single mother, plus, Uncle Dennis had lost his only two children, so it worked out for everyone, more or less. Times were different back then, and certain issues were just not discussed, keeping things easy.
Emily and David BOTH remarried in 1859, which leads me to the believe that their divorce didn't finalize until 1858–1859.
Too many coincidences.
Like herself, May & George were also adopted and raised by Emily's uncle Dennis & wife, Clara (Andrus) Cooley. Sadly, George only lived 4 months. On the 1860 census, May was reported as May Stewart. Maybe they thought she would eventually go to live with Emily's or David's new families once they settled. But by 1870, she was reported as May Cooley, and also married as May Cooley. She certainly lived a full life, moving on to Louisiana, and a long marriage and children of her own.
See May's death record. Her biological parents names were known to her.
**********************************************************************
From my 10+ years of genealogy research, Emily is a nickname for Amelia. Early Germans were Emelie, and evolved it to Amelia. Emily was just the next evolution. This name swung the other way, probably again to cloud facts, but not lose mom completely.
Every record of Emily's IS under Emily, including a birth record. I believe they just slightly changed her name, so May would have a picture of who her real mother was, yet not totally give it away.
Another key component, Emily's first child with Omar was given the middle name, Dennis Cooley! To me, that is a big red flag. Uncle Dennis was very special to her, and she was honoring him with this gesture. He had been a father to her, and now to her twins. In life, and in death.
On the 1900 census, Emily reports mother of 6, 5 living. But I believe that should've been 7, 6 living. George was the only one that was deceased in 1900. Maybe she was counting the twins as one person, as she lost them both at once. :0(
This has been a tough puzzle to solve, but I'm hoping David's obituary was the last piece. If I find anything to the contrary, I will continue to update, as I have for the past several months.
So many variables.
I originally assumed George had to have been older than May, considering he died four months after HER birth, but, the bio from my new book, and the obituary emailed by that author, confirmed that they were actually TWINS!
The Stewart family genealogy by B. Frank Severance, " Genealogy and biography of the descendants of Walter Stewart of Scotland and of John Stewart who came to America in 1718 and settled in Londonderry, N.H. Greenfield, Mass. : T. Morey & Son, 1905, states that "He (David Stewart) was a contractor and builder, and followed that business for over forty years. He was one of the carpenters that helped to build Washington Hall, Greenfield, Mass. In 1855, he had a touch of Western fever and emigrated to Wisconsin, locating in Oshkosh, where he remained about one year, during which time he buried his first wife, Feb. 15, 1856. He then returned to Washington, Macomb Co,. Mich., where he met and married, Oct. 1, 1857, Mary, daughter of Louis and Nancy (Knapp) Davis of Washington, and they resided there for some years.
By 1855, Emily had married David Stewart, a record was not found (see David's obituary and attached BIO). They had twins, George and Mary "May", on February 9, 1856 in Oshkosh, WI. According to David's obituary, Amelia "Emily" passed away after childbirth? Now, I am now trying to figure out if there is another Emily/Amelia Cooley, or if that was the narrative because they chose to separate…amongst other reasons.
UPDATE: I found ONE Amelia Cooley in Franklin County, Massachusetts born in 1829, closer to his age. She was living with her parents there in 1850, but she was single, and still living with her widowed mother in 1860.
From my research, I am quite certain THIS Emily is the correct mother. She was only 15 when she married, and 16 when she gave birth…to twins! Looking at the timeline, the couple must have decided to split just before or immediately after the births. That was a lot to take on for a single mother, plus, Uncle Dennis had lost his only two children, so it worked out for everyone, more or less. Times were different back then, and certain issues were just not discussed, keeping things easy.
Emily and David BOTH remarried in 1859, which leads me to the believe that their divorce didn't finalize until 1858–1859.
Too many coincidences.
Like herself, May & George were also adopted and raised by Emily's uncle Dennis & wife, Clara (Andrus) Cooley. Sadly, George only lived 4 months. On the 1860 census, May was reported as May Stewart. Maybe they thought she would eventually go to live with Emily's or David's new families once they settled. But by 1870, she was reported as May Cooley, and also married as May Cooley. She certainly lived a full life, moving on to Louisiana, and a long marriage and children of her own.
See May's death record. Her biological parents names were known to her.
**********************************************************************
From my 10+ years of genealogy research, Emily is a nickname for Amelia. Early Germans were Emelie, and evolved it to Amelia. Emily was just the next evolution. This name swung the other way, probably again to cloud facts, but not lose mom completely.
Every record of Emily's IS under Emily, including a birth record. I believe they just slightly changed her name, so May would have a picture of who her real mother was, yet not totally give it away.
Another key component, Emily's first child with Omar was given the middle name, Dennis Cooley! To me, that is a big red flag. Uncle Dennis was very special to her, and she was honoring him with this gesture. He had been a father to her, and now to her twins. In life, and in death.
On the 1900 census, Emily reports mother of 6, 5 living. But I believe that should've been 7, 6 living. George was the only one that was deceased in 1900. Maybe she was counting the twins as one person, as she lost them both at once. :0(
This has been a tough puzzle to solve, but I'm hoping David's obituary was the last piece. If I find anything to the contrary, I will continue to update, as I have for the past several months.
So many variables.
I originally assumed George had to have been older than May, considering he died four months after HER birth, but, the bio from my new book, and the obituary emailed by that author, confirmed that they were actually TWINS!
The Stewart family genealogy by B. Frank Severance, " Genealogy and biography of the descendants of Walter Stewart of Scotland and of John Stewart who came to America in 1718 and settled in Londonderry, N.H. Greenfield, Mass. : T. Morey & Son, 1905, states that "He (David Stewart) was a contractor and builder, and followed that business for over forty years. He was one of the carpenters that helped to build Washington Hall, Greenfield, Mass. In 1855, he had a touch of Western fever and emigrated to Wisconsin, locating in Oshkosh, where he remained about one year, during which time he buried his first wife, Feb. 15, 1856. He then returned to Washington, Macomb Co,. Mich., where he met and married, Oct. 1, 1857, Mary, daughter of Louis and Nancy (Knapp) Davis of Washington, and they resided there for some years.
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