Margaret Gallup & Joseph Crary

Occasionally, I go wandering around within my own genealogy file.  Sometimes it is out of boredom and sometimes it is because I am curious…either way, I find some not so surprising results.  There are certain names that I see that raises red flags for me.  I have a good memory for names and dates.  Almost 20 years ago, I spent 6 weeks typing the information that was in the 1966 Gallup genealogy.  I was unemployed and bored, so I typed about 13,000 names into my genealogy program.  As I have gotten more experienced and the genealogy software more sophisticated, it has been easier to make connections within families.  So, when I get curious, it usually concerns a sibling of a direct ancestor of mine – in this case, Margaret Gallup.

Margaret was the second oldest of the children of Silas Gallup and Sarah Gallup. Yes…her parents were cousins, they shared great grandparents who were Benadam Gallup and Esther Prentice.  Here is their line: (Trying to make it clear - Silas' line in green and Sarah's in red and shared in purple)

Silas Gallup m. Sarah Gallup

Nathaniel Gallup m. Hannah Gore – Nathan Gallup m. Sarah Giddings

Nathaniel Gallup m. Margaret Gallup – Benadam Gallup, Jr m. Eunice Cobb

John Gallup III m. Elizabeth Harris & Benadam Gallup m. Esther Prentice

Margaret was born 21 Jul 1776 in Stonington, New London Co., CT. The family moved to NY sometime after 1789. Margaret’s father Silas along with his brother Levi, Samuel, Ezra and their cousin John Gallup moved to what is today Knox and Berne, NY and were some of the earliest settlers. My 4th great grandfather Ebenezer Gallup was born there in 1795. I don’t know what happened, but Silas Gallup died within a few years after their move at the age of 47. (1749-1796) and his wife Sarah Gallup died a few years later at the age of 48 (1751-1799). There were 11 children in the family, 4 of whom died young. Just looking at the circumstances of the youngest children makes me wonder what exactly happened. I have read that the youngest (my 4th great grandfather Ebenezer b. 1795) was raised by his sister, Silence. There were two other young boys, Nathan b. 1787 and Eli b. 1791 who might have been taken care of by Silence as well or perhaps one of the older siblings and Margaret might have been that sibling. She is 23 when her mother dies, and doesn’t marry until she is about 33 in 1809 to Joseph Crary. It is hard to figure out where she lived or who she lived with. By the time she does marry in 1809, both younger siblings are at least close to adulthood.

There were multiple families that moved from Connecticut to New York in the late 1780’s.  I would make the Joseph Crary family might have been one of these families.   Joseph Crary was the son of Isaac Crary and Mary Gallup.  He was born 28 Jan 1781 in Groton, New London Co., CT.  He married Rhod Lindsley around 1801 in Knox, Albany Co., NY.  They were the parents of three children and Rhoda passed away about 1808.  It was at that point that Joseph Crary married Margaret Gallup who was five years his senior.  I am sure she was considered an “old maid” during that time-period and having spent the last several years taking care of her siblings, she was a likely wife for a widower. 

Crary is one of those names that raises a red flag to me with Gallup research.  John Gallup and Hannah Lake’s daughter, Christobel marries a Peter Crary – so I would imagine that most of the Crary’s are descended from this line in early Connecticut.  There was a small tight knit community at that point, so it is inevitable that there are some family lines that criss cross.  Joseph Crary and Margaret Gallup had four children:  Alanson, Emily, Isaac, and Silas.  If you look at their family tree; three out of four of their grandparents are Gallups, three out of eight great grandparents are Gallups and out of the 16 great great grandparents there are five Gallups.  Not close enough to cause genetic problems but enough to make you wonder.

Joseph Crary and Margaret Gallup had the following children:

• Alanson Crary b. 21 Jul 1810 d. aft 1885 m. Eliza Whipple
• Silas Crary b 17 Oct 1813 d. 21 Dec 1880 m. Mary Ann Chapin
• Emily Crary b. 1816 d. abt 1820
• Isaac W. Crary b. 7 Jan 1820 d. 28 Apr 1910 m. Martha Ann Efnor

It is interesting to note that Margaret and her husband began their lives in Connecticut, moved to Albany Co., NY and then to Monroe Co., NY and within the next generation ended up in Kansas, Montana and California.