1890 NY Civil War Widows

recreated blog from 12 Jan 2012

1890 NY Civil War Widows

After reading that the 1890 (Census) Veterans and Widows Schedule for New York survived I decided to check on Mary E. Foster widow of James Foster who served from New York in the Union Army during the Civil War.  I found the following record for Mary E. Foster and everything appears to be correct except for the locality.

The transcript of line 7 reads: Mary E Foster widow John, length of service 2 yrs 8 mos, PO Address: 134 E 55 St. Disability incurred = none. 

Enlarged line 7 for Mary E. Foster

Enlarged top of form, transcribed: Persons who served in the Army, Navy and Marine Corps of the United States during the war of the rebellion (who are survivors), and widows of such persons in New York, County of New York, State of New York, enumerated in June 1890.

 The confusion arises in that our Mary E. Foster lived in Rochester New York in 1890, and for a number of years before and after 1890.  According to the Rochester City Directory, Mary E Foster was living at 90 Lake Street in Rochester in 1890.  It would be easy to dismiss the record above as belonging to another Mary E. Foster, but in a check of Civil War veterans and widows for New York only 1 Mary E. Foster widow of John appears in the records and that does appear to be the Mary E. Foster the mother of Hattie L. Foster and grandmother of Frank John Glover.

I would love to hear from anyone who has some ideas to explain this contradiction.

Record Source: 1890 U.S. Census, New York, New York, "Special Schedule: Surviving Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines, and Widows," New York, enumeration district (ED) 619, p. 1, Mary E. Foster widow of James; digital images (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 18 Jan 2012); citing NARA microfilm publication M123, roll 45; Line 7.