March 6 - Betsey Cushman Lyman

     When I first started on my trail of finding out about ancestors, I was always looking for that one trail that would entertain my family, astound my friends and give me bragging rights. Funny how after searching many leads, putting in many hours, reading other genealogy blogs and watching WDYTYA, your appreciation for the mundane, the ordinary becomes even more important. Everyone has a story and it is our job to find it. Still....

      imagine how excited I was when following a trail for my son-in-law's maternal side of the family, I came across a misspelled name, followed a hunch and found the connection (backed up by records from FamilySearch.org) to Betsey Cushman.

Betsey is the GGGG grandmother of my son-in-law Joshua. She was the daughter of William and Zerviah Handy Cushman. She was born in Brookfield, Orange Co., Vermont on March 6, 1795. Her Cushman line traces back to Reverend Isaac Cushman of the Mayflower fame. I have found relatives of the family who have become registered members of the Mayflower Society, but no one in the immediate family was aware that there was this connection. Maybe some day.

        But back to Betsey.  She married Cornelius E Storrs Lyman on March 17, 1814.  In the book,  Minnesota Beginnings - Records of St Croix County Wisconsin Territory, 1840-1849 p.331 it is written: "Mr. Lyman is of the seventh generation of the Lyman family that came over from England in 1631. He was born in Brookfield, Vermont, Aug. 11, 1792. He was married in Brookfield to Betsey Cushman and came to Illinois at an early date, whence he removed to Marine Mills, in 1842, where he kept a boarding house until 1844, when he removed to Stillwater, where he kept a boarding house until 1848. He then removed to his farm three miles above Stillwater, where, by industry and economy, aided by his faithful wife, he was able to build a comfortable home, in which they continued to live until at a good old age they were removed by death, which claimed them in the same year, the husband dying January, 1864, and the wife in April. They were members of the Presbyterian church from early life, and respected as citizens, honored as Christians. Mrs. Lyman was one of the excellent of the earth. Mr. Lyman had an inexhaustible fund of humor, and was rather fond of practical joking. Many of his jokes were of the rarest description. They left two sons, Cornelius Storrs and David Pride."

Happy 217th Birthday!