Lavinia DeGroff Stillwell (1817-1856)

I stumbled upon a few more clues related to the Issac DeGroff Sr. family thanks to a fellow genealogical traveler - Jill Hatch - who is researching Jane Barkhoff (one of Issac Sr.'s daughters.)

Lavinia DeGroff.  I had set her aside in my mind as a dead end - primarily because I thought she never married and therefore left no heirs.   This setting aside was a careless decision for two reasons - (1) she did marry and (2) documentation of her death (she left no will but a letter of administration was filed) provided some valuable clues.

I should have also known better than to set aside as irrelevant any woman named for the wife of Aeneas - hero of the Trojan War.

Lavinia DeGroff was the second daughter of Issac DeGroff Sr. and his second wife, Amy.   Per the 1850 census,  her birth year is believed to be 1817.   She is found in this US Federal Census, living in Florida, Montgomery County, New York, with her parents, Isaac and her mother (reported as Emma DeGroff).

Lavinia is named in her father's will; along with her living siblings and half siblings, she his left $501.20 from her father's estate.   Lavinia is also named in her mother's (Amy)  will, filed three years later.  There is no documentation of the remaining estates' distribution associated with Amy's will.

Jill shared with me a letter of administration, filed in Kings County, New York in 1857.   The document lists Lavinia Stillwell as the former Lavania DeGroff and wife of Issac N. Stillwell, of New Utrecht, Kings County, New York.  Her date of death is given as August 4, 1856.    Lavinia had no children.  She was living in New Utrecht at the time of her passing.  The document goes on to list Lavania's next of kin: Lavinia was survived by:

• two half brothers: 
• Isaac DeGroff of Florida, Montgomery County, New York (Isaac DeGroff Jr.)
• Garret Voorhees of Parish, Oswego County, New York
• three sisters: 
• Rebecca Fuller, wife of John Fuller of Florida, Montgomery County, New York
• Eliza Ann Hover, of Florida, Montgomery County, New York
• Mary Patterson, wife of Culver Patterson, of New York City
• one half sister:
• Jane Barkhoff, wife of Robert Barkhoff of Florida, Montgomery County, New York
• one deceased sister, no name given
• sister had a son, DeGroff Servoss of Illinois 
• my research suggests this unnamed sister was Margaret 
• one deceased half brother
• brother had two girls, Nelly and Emma Voorhees of Florida, Montgomery County, New York
• one deceased half brother of a location unknown
• half brother had two sons, Isaac DeGroff and Henry DeGroff, both listed as place of residence unknown.

I was extremely excited to see this document!   

1. The surviving siblings matched up with my family tree for Isaac and Amy;
2. I was thrilled to see a half brother with a different last name - this suggested to me that Amy had been married prior to her marriage to Isaac - and gave me more clues to seek;
3. I was pleased to see another reference to DeGroff Servoss as I felt it validated my theories - I have assumed that the unnamed sister was in fact, Margaret, who I found to be DeGroff's mother;
4. The unnamed half brother, with two daughters with the surname Voorhees was another clue or hint to Amy's first husband; when I found Amy DeGroff (Isaac Sr.'s wife's) will - it listed Nelly and Emma Voorhees as heirs - and I did not know any  more about these girls; and finally, 
5.  I was not aware of a possibly additional DeGroff male to research.  The boys being named Isaac (another Isaac!) and Henry was fascinating - and the Henry in particular is a new male name I've not found this far back in the family tree and may provide some more clues (remember we do have a William Henry a few generations later.) 

I found Isaac N Stillwell in the US Federal Census 1850 -- he is listed as living with perhaps his nephew or a cousin  (Isaac H. Stillwell) and his family in New Utrecht; Isaac N gives his profession as "pilot" and his date of birth as 1804.  I found a burial for an Isaac N Stillwell, also in Cypress Hills National Cemetery, Kings County; he is listed as being a veteran of the War of 1812 but no pension application was found.

As is always the case, each find brings up more questions:

1. First - are my assumptions correct - was this Lavinia DeGroff truly Isaac Sr.'s daughter? 
2. If yes, how did she meet Isaac N Stillwell?  Were they distant cousins?   
3. When did Lavania and Isaac marry?  Given that Lavania was in Florida, Montgomery County in 1850 - and is not listed as married in either of her parent's wills filed - 1851 and 1853 - and she died in 1856 - they had a short marriage. 
4. Where is Lavania buried?
5. Who are the Voorhees brothers?    I have found some details on Garret in Oswego County - but the unnamed brother and father of Nelly and Emma remains unclear. 
6. Who is the other DeGroff brother - father of Isaac and Henry?   Why was their place of residence unknown to Lavania and why is he not named in Isaac Sr.'s will? 
• on this note - at the first reading of Isaac Sr.'s will - a George DeGroff was present; he was not named as an heir and did not attend the second reading.  I had assumed he was a nephew - but perhaps he was in fact, Henry and Isaac's father? 
• I do have a record of a Garrete DeGroff, being baptized on August 2, 1847, in the Reformed Protestant Church of Florida, Minaville. Garrete was the son of Henry P. and Amanda DeGroff.   This lead will be hunted down a bit further.