Oops, I’m still behind. May was to have been my maternal Ferguson line. It is halfway thru June and I have done absolutely nothing on the Ferguson binder. I think I am caught up with work and do not have to do anymore traveling, so hopefully I can get back on track.
The Ferguson line first appears when Margaret Helen Ferguson married John Lyle Dougherty (10 Feb. 1868)¹, making her, my great grandmother on my mother’s side.

Margaret Helen’s father, Joseph, had immigrated from Ireland. Shortly after arriving (1848)² he married Mary Agnes Hall (1849)³ .
Joseph was the son of David Ferguson supposedly a Dublin physician. It has been very frustrating not being able to “jump the pond” when I have so much information on Joseph in this country. At various times prior to the Civil war, Joseph and his wife Mary Agnes had what I presumed were family members living with them who had recently immigrated from Ireland. First Ellen Ferguson (in the 1850 US Census for Forestburg N.Y.) and then a David Ferguson (in the 1855 NY state census for Forestburg N.Y.) Joseph and Mary Agnes also had a son David William who could have been named for the grandfather or the uncle. In that 1855 census the both Joseph and David have been residents of the town for 7 years. They therefore may have come over on the same ship, I have tried looking for a Joseph, traveling with a David and also threw in Ellen. Nothing yet. You would think with the Fergusons being from Ireland instead of Scotland they would be easier to find.

Joseph and Mary Agnes had two daughters and three sons. Margaret Helen, Maryetta, David W., Charles T., and Edwin H.

Maryetta was married  and was a private nurse. I have her married name but have not discovered who her husband was or where she was from 1866- 1900. She then appears in the 1900 US federal census as a widow living with her mother in Manhattan, NY. She apparently had no children and died in 1922 at 69 years of age.

I found where their son David was married in New York to Mary Coleman in 1892, but then I lost track of him.

Joseph’s son, Charles was a mailman in Leavenworth Kansas. He and his wife Rose appear to have had 10 children. Charles died in San Antonio on Christmas day 1934 at 75 years.

Their son Edwin operated a family hotel at the corner of Seventh Avenue and 125th Street in New York City.

It does not appear to be there anymore. The other two corners have more recent buildings.

My “to do” list includes filling in the gaps for Maryetta and David W. and to continue searching for Joseph’s arrival in America and determining who his parents were. If any Fergusons out there are further along in the quest of locating the parents in Ireland I would love to hear from you. Or even if you are still looking let me know by leaving a comment here. I love hearing from you.

Now on to the Fletcher Family Line.

¹Copy of original Marriage certificate.

² Transcript “New York Historic Homes and Family History”, vol. 4 pg.221, Pelletreau, William S. Historic Homes and Institutions and Genealogical and Family History of New York. Vol. I-IV. New York, USA: Lewis Publishing, 1907. Ancestry.com

³ 1850 US Federal Census, Forestburgh, Sullivan County, New York, Roll: M432_603; Page: 179B; Image: 366. Ancestry.com