The “Other” Burdick Family

When I began my search for Papa’s Burdick ancestors, It only took a couple of census searches to find some unfamiliar names. How were the unfamiliar, and why did I wonder how they fit into our family puzzle? I had a family history which was written by a cousin of Papa’s. I guess the document I had could be best described as interview results, recorded in family groups, typed, copied and distributed. There are no sources, but there were stories of the cousin visiting everyone and recording what they had to offer. I never met that particular cousin, but I wish I had, since I would have been interested in the sources of the information. Included were transcriptions of a group of letters, and it would be nice to know if there were more letters, and if they were in a public or private archive.

In any event, I began to find information on people with the surname Burdick who did not appear to belong to our family. I started collecting information on these individuals in an effort to prove and document their relationship to our family. Or, to prove and document that a relationship does not exist. While the family members mostly claimed New York births, as did our ancestors the similarity ended there. I documented the family and it’s members, but have yet to connect them in any way to our ancestors.

I noticed that land transactions seemed to parallel family lines, in other words, families bought and sold among families. I carefully searched all the deeds I located for the two Burdick families that lived side by side in Colfax Township, Wexford County, Michigan. I found no land transaction between the two groups, not even a member of one group witnessing a deed transacted by the other group. This finding added to my growing pile of evidence that the families shared a surname, but did not have a relationship with the other group, and did not think of themselves as related.

For the record, I am listing the names of the two Burdick groups in Colfax, Wexford County, Michigan here.

Papa’s Burdick ancestors:

George Washington Burdick, b. 1827, Berlin, Rensselaer, New York, head of the family.
Mary Jane Abbott Burdick, b 1836, New York, George’s wife.
Susie Melissa Burdick, b. 1856, Andover, Allegany, New York, daughter.
Fink Clement Burdick, b. 1860, Andover, Allegany, New York, son.
Mable Genevieve Burdick, b 1868, Eleven Mile, Potter County, Pennsylvania, daughter.

Other surnames associated with this family:

Abbott, Erasmus, brother of Mary Jane Abbott.
Fenton, John P., husband of Susie M. Burdick.
Hall, Cora, wife of Fink Burdick.
Jones, Milo, husband of Mable Burdick.

The “Other” Burdick names I have found in Wexford County records:

Harrison H. “H.R.” Burdick, b. 1824, New York.
Martha A. Martin Burdick, b 1828, Ohio, his wife.
Cassius A. Burdick, b 1853, Indiana, son of H.H. and Martha
Cena Osborne Burdick, b. 1861, Indiana, wife of Cassius.
Charles A. Burdick b. 1880, Michigan, son of Cassius and Cena.
Adrian R. Burdick, b 1883, Michigan, son of Cassius and Cena.
Edgar Burdick, b 1887, Michigan, son of Cassius and Cena.
George M. or George Mark Burdick, b. 1863, Michigan son of H.H. and Martha.
Jessie Babcock Burdick, wife of George M., and subsequent to his death married his brother Harrison R. Burdick.
Harrison R. Burdick, b. 1874, Michigan, son of H.R. and Martha.

Other Associated names:
John Salisburg, husband of Almina Burdick.  Almina was a daughter of H.R. and Martha.

I will begin a series tomorrow for the deeds of the group which is apparently unrelated, or at least not closely related to our group.