The Mystery of Montgomery Bartlett
According to court testimony sometime around 1861 Caleb Bartlett told his adopted niece Anne Sturges that he now had two heirs. They were his sons Montgomery (by his 1st wife) and Frank (by his 2nd wife).
Anne had been adopted by Caleb around 1841 when she was about 2. Looking at her family history there is no apparent reason for the adoption. In the 1840s her family moved to Ohio with Anne's siblings, but left her with Caleb and her aunt. She grew up in the Bartlett household without ever remembering Caleb's son Montgomery.
Unfortunately for me Caleb Bartlett avoided every federal census taker except in 1840 and a New York City census taker in 1855 which makes looking for Montgomery difficult. The 1840 census only listed three unknown females in the Bartlett household that would have been too old to be his children from his 1824 marriage. If Montgomery was born in late 1824 or early 1825 he would have been 15. He could have been apprenticed somewhere or even in a school like Phillips Academy possibly.
Since Caleb made the statement in 1861 then Montgomery was still alive and would have been about age 36. Where was he? And why didn't he appear at Selina's trial? I have searched census, birth, death, marriage and miltary records for any Montgomery Bartlett anywhere, even with numerous spellings, with no luck. He is just another missing Bartlett at this time.
Anne had been adopted by Caleb around 1841 when she was about 2. Looking at her family history there is no apparent reason for the adoption. In the 1840s her family moved to Ohio with Anne's siblings, but left her with Caleb and her aunt. She grew up in the Bartlett household without ever remembering Caleb's son Montgomery.
Unfortunately for me Caleb Bartlett avoided every federal census taker except in 1840 and a New York City census taker in 1855 which makes looking for Montgomery difficult. The 1840 census only listed three unknown females in the Bartlett household that would have been too old to be his children from his 1824 marriage. If Montgomery was born in late 1824 or early 1825 he would have been 15. He could have been apprenticed somewhere or even in a school like Phillips Academy possibly.
Since Caleb made the statement in 1861 then Montgomery was still alive and would have been about age 36. Where was he? And why didn't he appear at Selina's trial? I have searched census, birth, death, marriage and miltary records for any Montgomery Bartlett anywhere, even with numerous spellings, with no luck. He is just another missing Bartlett at this time.