Curtis-Cayton Genealogy

Ireland, France & Germany

Patriot News!

If you have been wondering about the NSDAR approvals for William Van Horn and others on the Cayton side, here is an update.

The National Headquarters of the Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR) was closed due to the COVID-19 lockdown. They began sending in a small crew in mid-June and work resumed on membership applications and supplementals. I am a member through the Curry line - this is a line through my mother's family (Brooks-Curry). But, once you are a member, you submit supplementals to add patriots to your membership. Once I have a supplement approved, then that patriot is part of my line. So far I have Dr. Robert Curry, Jonas Friend, and William Brooks approved. All are on the Brooks-Curry line so any of my relatives can do a short-cut through me to membership. Yea!

Where does that leave the Curtis-Cayton line? Well, an earlier post details the story of William VanHorn. He is already a patriot and I am waiting for this supplement to be approved. Once it is, those relatives who are descendants of Gene Rillis Curtis & Myrtle Marie Cayton can use it to apply. I have been working with two cousins - both named "Sue" - and there is one of them on each side of the Curtis-Cayton line.

During all the craziness of the lock-down I was able to finally prove that Sally Fisher is the daughter of George Fisher! Why is this so important? Because we have been looking for this connection for over 20 years! Now, my Dad, Gene Cayton Curtis, and his cousins, Eric "Jack" Curtis and Ginnny Righter Good, have looked at these lines a lot. When I picked up the torch, I found that George Fisher was a patriot (!) so I just needed to prove the lineage. Here is what we had to prove:

Gen 1 Myrtle Cayton Curtis daughter of William Henry Cayton and Talitha Ann DeBarr (done!)
Gen 2 William Henry Cayton son of David Cayton and Ruhama Lough (done!)
Gen 3 Ruhama Lough daughter of Philip Lough and Sally Fisher (done!)
Gen 4 Sally Fisher daughter of George Fisher and Elizabeth Butcher (@#(@#*#&$**@!!)
Gen 5 George Fisher son of George Fisher and Elizabeth Conrad (done and done!) He's the patriot!

So you can see where the problem lies…

One day I was looking at one of my many, many references. This was a pdf of a marriages list I obtained from Hacker's Creek Descendants. This is a very interesting book in that it has a grooms marriage list, a brides marriage list, a grooms marriage bond list and a brides marriage bond list. And, for each entry, it tells you what book and page it is located on. This was one of those "hail mary" attempts to find something. Don't you know there was an entry for Sally Fisher marrying Philip Lough showing her father, George Fisher! I contacted Patty at Hacker's Creek - they are on lockdown so I didn't expect to hear much from her. The next day she sent me a jpg of the page! Hooray! It names Sally, Philip and says "my daughter Sally Fisher" right on the document! (see below)

So we were both doing a happy dance. Once VanHorn is approved, we can send this one in as well. A side note is that George's wife, Elizabeth Conrad, is an aunt of the Brooks-Curry line. While her brother is a patriot of ours, I have not found anything for her father. BUT, even though he was aged, it is possible I can find a tax or something for him that will serve as proof of public service. Then we will have yet another Cayton patriot.

As for the Curtis line, we are still trying to get the elusive connection through the Pettit line. Here is where we stand:

Gen 1 Gene Rillis Curtis son of George Mifflin Curtis and Lula LaBelle Parrack (done!)
Gen 2 Lula LaBelle Parrack daughter of Richard Henry Parrack and Mary F. Wertenbaker (done!)
Gen 3 Mary F. Wertenbacker daughter of Edward Wertenbaker and Anne Taylor Pettit (done!)
Gen 4 Ann Taylor Pettit daughter of Ira Pettit and Lucy Rout (@#(@#*#&$**@!!)
Gen 5 - Part I Ira Pettit son of William Pettit & Susannah Ballard (@#(@#*#&$**@!!) He's the Patriot!
Gen 5 - Part 2 Lucy Rout daughter of George Rout and Winifred Pope (done!) He's the Patriot!

That means these two patriots on the Curtis line are on hold until we figure out first Anne and then Ira. Again, something we have been collectively trying to prove for over 20 years. Wish me luck!Fisher-Lough_Support_Docs__dragged__pdf__1_page_