While something like a birth announcement or an obituary helps us fill in our family trees, the newspaper is also a great way to get to know your ancestors’ daily lives. My 4th great grandfather, Joseph Duram, is an amazing example of this. From newspaper records, I have pieced together quite the narrative about his life.
According to his headstone and census records, Joseph W. Duram was born on 18 August 1798 in the state of New York. He can first be found in the town of Mentz, where he and his wife Minerva, daughter of Seth Higley, sold their land to Archibald Wilson in 1822. The family is still in Mentz in the 1830 census. We pick them up again in the town of Waterloo, where in spring of 1833 Joseph advertises in the paper for 50 men to work at the dry dock in Waterloo. He is also selling a canal boat. Later in 1833 he also purchased the saw mill with Ebenezer Metcalf from the heirs of Elisha Williams. This venture failed, and a sheriff’s sale of his and Metcalf’s land commenced in the fall of 1837. His daughter Nancy had married David Hamell the previous year. He further petitioned for bankruptcy in Auburn in March of 1843. He was also elected constable that year. He appears to have repurchased the boatyard he advertised for in 1833 again in 1845. His wife Minerva died of apoplexy (stroke) at 48 years old on 23 November 1847. He remarried the following year to Mary Himelberger. He continued to fail in his business ventures, and the boatyard where he built boats with his family was auctioned off in 1850. The continued strain of these business failures may have contributed to the family’s decision to move west to Michigan, approximately in 1853 (though he was purchasing land in preparation by 1848). By his headstone, Joseph died on 6 October 1857 in Michigan at the age of 59.
A full if tragic life, laid out in the newspaper articles of the day.
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