Sarah Mary (Fordon) Oustoby Dodsworth
(1800-1854)
Sarah Mary Fordon was born 26 November 1800 at Robin Hood’s Bay in the
Fylingdales area of North Yorkshire, England.1 Her parents, William and Sarah Fordon
brought her to St. Stephen’s Church to be christened on 4 December 1800.2 Sometime
between 1810 and 1816 the family moved to Cherry Burton just west of Beverly in
Eastern Yorkshire.3
Sarah married William Oustoby on the 5th of December 1821 at Gainsborough,
Lincolnshire.4 William was originally from Beverly in East Yorkshire5 and almost
certainly descends from the Oxtobys of Beverly (the Oxtoby family being descended
from the Owstaby family known to have been in Etton in East Yorkshire since the 13th
century).6 The record of their marriage reads as follows:
Marriage Solemnised in the Parish Church of Gainsborough.
William Oustoby, Ironmonger, of the Parish of Gainsborough, Bachelor
and Sarah Mary Fordon of the Parish of Gainsbourough, Spinster were
married by licence the fifth day of December in the year of our Lord one
thousand eight hundred and twenty one
by me John Hartley, Asst, Curate
The Marriage was solemnised between us
William Oustoby and Sarah Mary Fordon
in the presence of Elizabeth Gibbons, Maria Gibbons, Wm Harrison7
This according to Family Search International Genealogical Index v5.0 –however, the IGI claims the date
is 24 November. Sarah’s cemetery stone and cousin Peter Harrison both agree it should be 26 November.
2
Parish records
3
See section: William Fordon (1757-1827), page 43.
4
Family Search International Genealogical Index v5.0
5
Cincinnati Daily Gazette, 5 December 1840, page 2.
6
Correspondence between Michael Fordon and David Austerberry. April-May 2006.
(See also: http://www.one-name.org/profiles/austerberry.html )
7
From the records of the Gainsborough Parish Church, Lincoln Archives, as cited in correspondence
between Michael Fordon and David Austerberry, 18 May 2006.
1
William’s profession is given as “ironmonger,” which meant a shop keeper or
dealer in hardware. At some point following their marriage the couple moved to
Newbald in East Yorkshire where William took up farming.8 Newbald would have put
them very close to Beverly and also to Sarah’s parents in Cherry Burton just to the north
and her brother George just to the east in Walkington.
9
There is every evidence that throughout her life Sarah was close with her younger
brother George. They were certainly in contact with each other in the decade of the
1820s.10 George and Sarah’s husband William were both farmers and shared a less than
favorable outlook on the future of their profession in East Yorkshire. Industrialization
and the enclosure of small landholdings were making it increasingly difficult for regular
farmers to compete. When George decided that America offered the chance for a more
prosperous life, William agreed.
George and his family set sail from England on the 25th of April 1831 from the
port of Hull aboard the British Ship Maida and William joined them.11 Sarah’s name
This surmised from William’s information in immigration records.
Bentley, Elizabeth P., Passenger Arrivals at the Port of New York 1830-1832, Baltimore, Genealogical
Publishing Co., Inc., 2000, page 27.
9
From John Cary’s map of the East Riding of Yorkshire, 1787.
Crowther, Jan, ed., Descriptions of East Yorkshire: de la Pryme to Head, East Yorkshire Local History
Series no.45, East Yorkshire Local History Society, Beverly, 1992, page 43.
10
Also, in 1824 Sarah and George’s brother, Samuel, died and left them both a significant sum. See will of
Samuel Fordon.
11
See section: George Fordon (1803-1876): The Atlantic Crossing.
8
does not appear on the passenger manifest. She did immigrate to the United States but
the date of her crossing is not yet known. Perhaps William went on ahead to find a
suitable location to settle down.12
Maida arrived at the Port of New York 2 June 1831. George then spent a year in
the “far west” with a traveling companion searching for a place to put down roots. It is
likely that the companion was William. George returned East and ended up settling in
the Town of Seneca near Geneva, New York.13
Apparently William chose a home in Ohio as his name appears in the 1840
Cincinnati City directory:
William Oustoby, born in England. He is a clerk at Shillito & Pullan’s dry
goods merchants. He resides on the west side of Broadway Street between
7th and 8th Streets.14
Shillito & Pullan’s dry goods store was a well known establishment in Cincinnati history.
At one time it was considered to be, “the most commodious dry-goods store west of the
Alleghany Mountains.”15 Although Sarah is not mentioned in this record it is likely that
she had joined William by this time. Unfortunately William suffered an untimely death
in 1840:
Died. In this city, yesterday morning, Wm. E. Oustoby, a native of
Beverly, Yorkshire, England; aged 46 years. His funeral will take place
This Day, at 2 P.M. from his late residence, back of Dr. Coredon’s, fourth
street, between Race and Elm—friends are requested to attend without
further invitation. New York papers will please notice this.16
Sarah would have found life as a widow challenging. Single women living alone
in early 19th century America were at a disadvantage. Apparently she continued to live in
the area. She married a man named Thomas Dodsworth on the 5th of May 1842 in
12
According to the passenger manifest information, William was 36 years old in 1831.
See section: George Fordon (1803-1876): Western Exploration.
14
Cincinnati City Directory for 1840 (copyright 1839). As cited in email correspondence between Michael
Fordon and M’Lissa Kesterman of the Cincinnati Historical Society Library, 28 April 2006. (William
Oustoby’s name does not appear in the city directory preceding the 1840 edition.)
15
History of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Ohio…, Cincinnati, Ohio, S. B. Nelson & Co., Publishers;
S. B. Nelson. J. M. Runk. 1894, page 477.
16
Cincinnati Daily Gazette, 5 December 1840, page 2.
13
Hamilton County, Ohio.17 She was nearly 42 and he was a farmer from England
probably in his mid 20s.18 The disparity in their ages might raise eyebrows today but in
the early 19th century in this area of the country it is less shocking than would seem.
Potentially marry-able women were rarer the farther west one traveled from the eastern
sea board. Thomas was a single man in a new country and in an area largely populated
by men and small families settling down. Sarah was recently widowed and probably not
naturalized. Under these circumstances they were as good a match as any.
Once married the new couple did not stay in Ohio long. Sarah next appears in
Geneva, New York in 1845 as a sponsor for her nephew George Archer Fordon’s
baptism.19 Sarah must have convinced Thomas to move to this area so that she could be
near family.
On the 11th of June 1854 Sarah died.20 The cause of her death is lost to historical
record. She was the first of our Fordon line to die in America. She was buried in
Washington street cemetery in Geneva.
Thomas Dodsworth did not stay single long. On December 20th 1854, just six
months after Sarah’s passing he remarried:
21
This seems like a very short mourning period today. It is true however that the
bachelor’s life would not have meshed well with the needs and lifestyle of a farmer in
19th century America. A farm operated best with someone tending the fields and live
17
Herbert, Jeffrey G., Restored Hamilton County, Ohio, Marriages 1808-1849, Heritage Books, 1998.
Thomas’ age is estimated here based on later census records. Reporting accuracy in those censuses
varies greatly.
19
22 March 1845. Records of Trinity Episcopal Church in Geneva, New York.
20
Cemetery stone, Washington street cemetery, Geneva, New York.
21
Geneva Courier, Geneva, N.Y., vol.XXVI, no.3, Wednesday, 27 December 1854, page 3.
18
stock, someone keeping house and doing chores and children filling in wherever they
could when they were of age. Thomas could not have managed all this on his own.
Thomas Dodsworth and wife Jane appear in the 1855 census (Thomas age 36,
Jane 33) as residents of the Town of Seneca (living in a frame house) for 1 year.22
Dodsworth appears on the 1856 and 1859 map of Seneca, directly across the plank road
from his former brother-in-law George Fordon.
23
detail from 1856 map showing T. Dodsworth (misspelled “Wadsmorth” here) living right
across the plank road from former brother-in-law George
24
detail from 1859 map showing T. Dodsworth
22
Census, Town of Seneca, County of Ontario, NY, 1855, page 219, family no.206. Ontario County
Archives.
23
Town of Seneca and Villiage of Geneva, Ontario Co., N.Y., from actual surveys, 1856. Courtesy Town
of Seneca Town Hall, photo by Albert Quackenbush IV.
24
Map of Ontario County, New York, published by A. R. Z. Dawson, Nos. 517, 519 & 521 Minor st.,
Philadelphia, 1859. Courtesy Olin Library Map Collection, Cornell University.
The 1860 census shows Thomas and Jane living in the same place as shown in the
map and with two daughters, Margarette (age 4) and Mary (age ½).25
Included in the 1860 census were the county agricultural schedules which
surveyed farmers’ holdings. According to the schedule for the Township of Seneca,
Thomas operated a farm of 44 acres of improved land26 and 6 acres of unimproved land.
His farm was valued at, contained and produced the following27:
$3,000.
Cash value of farm
$60.
value of farming implements and machinery
$295.
value of livestock
$45.
value of animals slaughtered
2
number of horses
3
number of milch cows
2
number of other cattle
4
number of swine
150
bushels of wheat produced
200
bushels of Indian corn produced
30 or 300?
bushels of Irish potatoes produced
1
bushel of clover seed produced
20
tons of hay produced
230
lbs. of butter produced
From this information we can see that Thomas’ operation was primarily a small cash crop
farm. Also he would have sold the surplus homemade butter and probably a few animals
for extra income. The family would have drawn from the various crops and cattle and
swine to supplement their meals of homegrown fruits and vegetables and purchased food
items.
25
Census, Town of Seneca, Ontario County New York, 17 August 1860, page 174, family no.1404.
Ontario County Archives. Census also shows them in a frame house.
26
Improved land was land that had been cleared for farm use: grazing, grass, tillage. Farm land under
cultivation or lying fallow. Unimproved land could have been forest, swamp or other areas not suitable for
farming. Source: Available 24 February 2010:
http://coweeta.ecology.uga.edu/trends/datadictionary/improvedfarmland.html
In 1862 George Fordon sold 50 acres of land to Thomas Dodsworth for $2,600
(Town of Seneca, lot no.3, township no.9).28 According to the 1865 census Thomas and
family are still living in the same place, in a frame house. Thomas is listed as
“naturalized.”29
The Dodsworths do not show up in the 1870 Town of Seneca census or the 1874
atlas. Whether they stayed in New York or moved elsewhere is not currently known and
here they pass beyond the scope of Fordon family history.
27
Schedule 4 --Productions of Agriculture in Seneca in the County of Ontario in the State of New York,
enumerated by me, on the 18th & 20th day of August 1860, John Ackley, ass't Marshal. Page 11-12.
(From microfilm, courtesy Cornell University Library)
28
Indenture, 15 April 1862. Ontario County, NY. Liber 123 of Deeds, page 527. Ontario County Archives.
29
Census, Second Election District in the Town of Seneca in the County of Ontario, N.Y., 1 June 1865,
page 74_2, family no.541. Ontario County Archives.