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The Mystery Sacketts of Vermont

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Introduction

Several years ago, not long after I subscribed to the Sackett-L@rootsweb.com. I began to see messages posted by Mary Lou Sackett looking for the ancestry of her earliest known Sackett ancestor,  Joseph Sackett b. abt 1774 in Vermont.

Using the censuses from 1850-1880, Mary Lou had determined that her Joseph Sackett was born in Vermont.  However, using the censuses to trace her Joseph back through the years she was with presented a gap between 1820 when Joseph was enumerated in Genesee Co., NY; and 1800 when he was enumerated as Joseph Sacket, Jr. in Panton, Addison Co., VT.

Another problem concerning Mary Lou's ancestors is the fact that one of them, Hiram Sackett, was married in 1814 in Luzerne Co., PA. During the same time frame there were two more Sackett marriages in Luzerne Co., PA.  Susannah Sackett m. 1812, Aaron Phillips and Roxanna Sackett m. 1813, David Phelps.  It is known from subsequent census records that Hiram Sackett reported his birth place as VT. However, The only Joseph Sackett listed in the 1810 census for Luzerne Co., PA is reported as being too young to be either of the younger Joseph Sacketts in the 1800 census for Addison Co., VT

Sacket, Joseph, Jr.
Year: 1800; State: Vermont; County: Addison; Township: Panton
Roll:     Page: 53
Census: 300 10 -310 10

Sacket, Joseph
Year: 1800 ; State: Vermont;  County: Addison; Township: Weybridge
Roll:     Page:
Census: 300 10 - 100 10
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Sacket, Joseph
Year: 1810; State: Pennsylvania; County: Luzerne; Township: Abington
Roll: M252_49    Page 107
Census: 301 00 - 211 00
[It is interesting to note that, according to the ages reported, Joseph and the female presumed to be his wife, would have been ages 5-15 in 1800, and there are five children in the household under 10 years and one female age 10-15.]

So the puzzle becomes more confusing. Hiram Sackett reported that he was born in VT and records show that he was married in Luzerne Co., PA in 1814. It appears possible that two of his sisters were married there in 1812 and 1813. But the only Sackett household listed in the 1810 census for Luzerne Co., PA has only one child, a female, who would have been old enough to be married in 1812 or 1813. And we have not found a Joseph Sackett household in the 1820 census that would appear to match that of Joseph Sacket in Luzerne County.

So the absence of Mary Lou's Joseph in the 1810 census appears to be the result of some areas of the country being missed in that census. For example, in the 1800 census there were seven Joseph Sacket(t)s enumerated: 1 in CT; 1 in NY; 2 in PA; 3 in  VT. But in the 1810 census there are only three Joseph Sacket(t)s enumerated: 1 in NY and 2 in PA. Then, in the 1820 census there are seven Joseph Sacket(t)s enumerated: 1 in CT; 5 in NY; 1 in PA.

Looking at the ages of the Josephs in the 1820 census, it becomes obvious that some of them would also have been enumerated in 1800. However, there were only three Joseph Sacketts in the 1810 census. The one found in NY was in Onondaga County does not have a household that would match with either of the younger Joseph Sacketts who were in  Addison Co., VT in 1800.  One of the Joseph Sacketts found in PA in 1810 was in Bucks County and his family was there in  1800 and 1820.  The other Joseph Sackett, as stated above, was living in Luzerne County.

In December of 2001 I was contacted by Eileen Russell concerning her quest for her Sacket ancestors. She had traced her line back to a Joseph S. Sackett in St. Lawrence Co., NY. Our first inclination was to identify Eileen's ancestor with 5783-Joseph S. Sackett (b. 1847), son of 3077-Dr. Solon Philo Sackett. But the 1850 census for St. Lawrence County shows that the Joseph S. Sackett (b. c1841) found there was the son of Lyman Sackett (b. c. 1802, in VT)!!

About the same time Eileen enlisted the assistance of Jan Lavine of St. Lawrence County. Through Jan's search of the St. Lawrence County records we were able to determine that one of the Sackett families found in that county was the family of Joseph Sackett, Sr of Panton, Addison Co., VT; Joseph Sackett, Sr. from Addison Co., VT was the grandfather of Lyman Sackett. We also learned that the part of St. Lawrence County where the Sacketts lived was not enumerated in the 1810 census.

These pages contain the results of the research efforts of Mary Lou Sackett, Eileen Russell, Jan Lavine, and myself along with the assistance of members of the SACKETT Discussion Mailing List.

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