Alger - Family History & Genealogy Message Board

Mary Whitten Alger, Vermont, New York

anne_dickinson — 2012-03-18 18:10:59Z

I am searching for family info on Mary Whitten Alger who died in Saratoga County, New York, (where her son, John Page Alger lived), 12-08-1866 at age 66. She was the widow of Roswell Alger and had lived in Northfield, VT where he died.

Darlene May Cecil Alger

1okchoctaw — 2012-02-17 06:56:32Z

I'm looking for relatives of Darlene May Alger; maiden name Cecil. She was born in Kansas in 1936. Thanks.

Re: Silas Alger & Wife - Photograph

CWalcott1122 — 2012-01-15 02:44:00Z

Sometimes photos are marked with a photographer's name and location. No such luck here, apparently. No, I have no other photos to compare. If it had been the Silas I suggested, he would be only a VERY distant relative of my husband. Hopefully you will get other responses!

Re: Silas Alger & Wife - Photograph

pfeiffjr — 2012-01-13 23:44:03Z

Cindy,

There doesn't seem to be anything particularly regional about the shot, unfortunately. I'd say, though, that "my" Silas is different than your Silas judging by the date range and the strides made in photography during the 1870s and 80s. I'll be happy to shoot you a picture of the picture if you like. Do you happen to have any other pics with which to compare?

This may remain a mystery!

--Jim

Re: Silas Alger & Wife - Photograph

cwalcott — 2012-01-12 17:38:32Z

Hello --

I have several Silas Algers in my husband's extended Alger relatives. The only likely one might be Silas Madison Alger, born 1836 in VT and died 1923 in OH. His wife was Aurilla Amelia Wolcott, also born in VT.

Is there any geographic clues?

Cindy

Silas Alger & Wife - Photograph

pfeiffjr — 2012-01-12 04:05:48Z

Hello,

Tonight I purchased an old photograph and with it is a hand written note which says, "Silas Alger and Wife."

The photograph is a cased, wet plate collodion "ambrotype," which places it in the 1850 to probably about 1870 date range. The man and wife appear to be well dressed; he in a top hat and her in a fancy bonnet, etc. I would suggest that they are middle aged - maybe 50ish.

Unfortunately neither the case nor photograph have any identifying makers marks.

My motivation for posting this thread is to try to find some potential relatives of Mr. & Mrs. Alger with whom to share the image. If you are related to a Silas Alger who was born in the early 1800s, I may have a photo of interest to you. Please feel free to get in touch with me and I'll be happy to share.

Thanks!

--Jim

Re: Hi

Psychologist_here — 2012-01-02 00:15:44Z

Hello Jennifer, and all Algers....my name is Sandra Alger, plz befriend me on Facebook under the alias, Sands Kathryne, I am a licensed professional and use this alias.....I have some exciting information for you concerning the Alger family name....I live in Michigan.

Re: MARY E. ALGER, born abt 1787, VA

Psychologist_here — 2012-01-02 00:10:07Z

Hello, please find me on facebook and befriend me....my name is Sandra Alger, however I am a licensed professional so use an alias as Sands Kathryne....we have a discussion board goin on for Algers I can make you a member of our group then. You may find it interesting that there was a Mary Alger, Her maiden name was Alger, who then married an Alger so her married name was the same as her maiden name......

Re: MARY E. ALGER, born abt 1787, VA

Psychologist_here — 2012-01-02 00:10:06Z

Esther Hawkins Alger married to Lyman Alger 1800-1872

Wachala — 2011-11-13 19:57:16Z

taken from www.iowacoldcases.org

Esther Alger
Homicide

Esther Alger
72 YOA
Calamus, IA
Clinton County
September 25, 1872

By Nancy Bowers

The brutal September 25, 1872 murder of 72-year-old Esther Alger in her own home near Calamus tore apart the entire community. It also became a notorious example used by eastern Iowa newspapers that murderers are allowed to go unpunished.
A Large and Prosperous Family

In 1872, life was good for 72-year-old Esther Alger and her husband Lyman, both early pioneers who helped settled what became Clinton County long before Iowa was a state.

They lived in a large farm house on 700 acres in Olive Township. They raised crops, sold cattle, and also owned land in other parts of the state. The Algers were some of the most prosperous people in the area.

Esther and Lyman Alger lived on the road from Calamus to Buena Vista Ferry. Their house was described by the Jackson Sentinel as a “mansion” sitting near the road just at the edge of timber that skirted the Wapsie River. Today, that road is 178th Street.

Although they had no children of their own, Lyman and Esther had nearby a large, extended family that was the product of a complicated lineage of marriages.

Lyman Alger, a native of Madison County, New York, first married Dorcus Hawkins and they had five children: Mary Jane, Maria, Elmira, Damon, and Serrell. When Dorcus died in 1838, Lyman married his brother Serill’s widow, Martha Knight Alger; and they had a son.

After Martha died in 1840, Lyman married his first wife’s sister Esther, the childless widow of early, prominent Clinton County farmer Spooner P. Burton.

There were many grandchildren from the various marriages and the family lived in close contact in a small community near Calamus, where the Algers got their mail.

Nearby was the Curtis family which merged with the Algers when Lyman’s daughter Maria married minister and farmer Rev. DeWitt Clinton Curtis and had five children.

Dewitt Curtis married twice more and had two more children. He was one of 18 children himself, so the Alger and Curtis families very nearly populated the entire township on their own.
The Murder

Around 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, September 25, 1872, Lyman Alger left his home for a prayer meeting conducted by his son-in-law DeWitt Curtis at a school house a quarter-of-a mile away.

Not wanting to leave Esther alone, the old man asked his 19-year-old grandson Lyman Judson “Jud” Curtis — the son of Marie Alger and DeWitt Curtis — to stay with his step-grandmother.

No one is certain what happened after that. The only version ever told was from Jud Curtis.

Not long after his grandfather left for the prayer meeting, Jud said he decided to return to his father’s house, leaving Esther Alger alone. He claimed that just as he was nearly home — 48 rods away — he heard a gunshot and rushed back towards the Alger place.

As he ran towards the house, Jud stumbled over something.

The rooms inside were empty; however, Jud said he could see by lamplight that there was blood on the floor.

Jud said he ran back outside and then realized that what he earlier stumbled over was his step-grandmother Esther Alger, lying on the ground near the side of the house.

He spoke to Esther, but she did not respond. He passed his hand over her face and felt something wet.
The Alarm is Raised

Lyman ran towards the school house, screaming for help. All those at the prayer meeting rushed back with him to the Alger farm.

The men carried Esther’s body into the house where they could see by lamplight that the top and back of her head were battered and brains were oozing out of the skull. There was a bullet hole in her left breast.

It appeared Esther was shot in the house and ran into the yard; the murderer overtook her there and struck her 20 times on the head.

A rifle, secreted in the house, was recently fired.

Eleven hundred dollars — some of it in gold — was missing from a bureau drawer in a room next to the one where Esther was sitting when her husband left for church. The money was from the sale of cattle the day before.
A Premonition?

Esther Alger tombstone non 165 Courtesy photo findagrave.com
The grave of Esther Hawkins Burton Alger.

Jud Curtis then made a startling claim: he said he dreamed three times prior to that night that his step-grandmother was murdered and $1,500 stolen from a trunk in the house.
The Investigation

The investigation of Esther Alger’s brutal murder and the robbery of the house was — according to the DeWitt Observer – bungled from the beginning.

Two men were arrested, questioned, found to have been absent from the community at the time of the murder, and released.

Suspicion then turned onto family members.

In the spring of 1874, 39-year-old Nathan S. “Nate” Curtis and his half-nephew 21-year-old Jud Curtis — who found Esther’s body — were arrested for the murder by Constable E.K. Wood of DeWitt.

In June of 1874 — nearly two years after Esther Alger’s homicide — a grand jury was convened to decide whether to indict the Curtis men.
Conflicting Accounts

The DeWitt Observer — often quoted by other area newspapers — mercilessly pursued the murderer, acting as a voice for the dead woman. Its editors made no secret they believed Jud and Nate Curtis were involved.

The newspaper pointed out these inconsistencies in Jud Curtis’s story:

Jud gave conflicting accounts of his distance away from the house when he heard the shot.
Even though Jud said he did not see or touch the back of Esther’s head and had no light, he ran into the prayer meeting shouting that the back of Esther’s head “was smashed to pieces.” However, because the killer had placed a bonnet — in which there were no holes or tears — on Esther’s head after she was killed, Jud could not have seen those injuries.
When the fired rifle — loaded when Lyman Alger went to church — was found, Jud Curtis claimed his father shot a rooster with it. His father DeWitt Curtis denied that. How, then, did the gun discharge?
If the killer or killers were lurking nearby waiting for an opportunity to kill Esther and rob the house, why did they shoot her, follow her into the yard and beat her, and then take time to return to the house and hide the gun?
And, of course, there were Jud’s alleged dreams of Esther being murdered.

The Observer’s case against Nathan Curtis was just as strong:

Nathan Curtis’s clothing was blood-splattered, but he claimed he never touched Esther’s body nor helped carry her into the house.
Nate Curtis was said to have bribed witnesses to prove he was elsewhere at the time of the murder; he proved, in fact, he was in two or three different places simultaneously.
Deloss Berroud — Lyman Alger’s grandson (the son of daughter Almira) — alleged to Constable Wood that he knew who killed Esther but had been threatened with death if he revealed the name. Specifically, he said Nate Curtis wrote him a letter saying to “keep his mouth shut.” Berroud also claimed he knew the money was buried under a large stone which he passed frequently, a sight that made him feel guilty about what he knew.
Nate Curtis also had unusual financial dealings with a shirttail relative named Brookman of Erie County, New York; Brookman was described by the Observer as “a poor, ignorant, thriftless man.” Claiming that his relative Nate Curtis was ill with typhoid fever, Brookman borrowed money in New York to travel to Iowa to visit Nate.
When he arrived in Clinton County, Brookman did not seem surprised to learn that Nate was not sick. After he returned to New York, he paid back the money he borrowed to travel to Iowa and bought a buggy, wagon, and harness; he also paid off a mortgage on his land — spending $1,300 in total.
Brookman also bought some real estate in New York state for Nate Curtis, who planned to move there.
It was impossible to see where a man like Brookman would’ve gotten that money. Did he receive it from Nate Curtis (who stole it from the Algers) to launder so Curtis could leave Iowa and live in New York state, far away from the murder scene?

No Resolution

The grand jury did not indict Jud and Nate Curtis.

Before it met, citizens wondered if an impartial jury could be found, even if the trial was moved to another jurisdiction, because emotions ran so high and there was so much publicity.

Also, it was impossible for the grand jury to sort out contradictions in the accounts and the multiple alibis of the suspects, most of them provided by family members.

Esther Alger’s 73-year-old husband Lyman, for example, refused to believe that any of his family was involved and swore that his grandson Jud was in five different places in the house before the prayer meeting.

Alger gave so many conflicting accounts of events that his word became worthless and some speculated he was becoming senile.

The Jackson Sentinel, quoting an article republished from the DeWitt Observer, said, “[Lyman Alger] is either an irresponsible dotard or a perjured old wretch.”

At the same time, the newspaper wondered:

“But if he is in his dotage, how does he manage to be so clear headed in all matters throwing suspicion and contempt on ‘outside’ parties? That conundrum beats us.

Mr. Alger is even now making arrangements to hunt down no less than three other persons for the murder, who are as innocent of the crime as we are, and we have never been within three miles of his place. He went to New York state — don’t know whether he went to B[r]ookman or not — and was told by a fortune-teller, wizard or witch, that three certain men did the work of murdering his wife. Now the county is to be put to the expense of three more prosecutions and hoodwinkings.”

A Long Life for the Suspected

Not long after the murder, Nathan “Nate” Curtis and his wife Mary and their four daughters — Evaline, Mary Jane, Agnes, and Margaret — moved to Hardin County. He died after the 1910 Census.

Lyman Judson “Jud” Curtis was said to have extensively traveled after his step-grandmother’s murder. He returned to Clinton County and married Grace Rector in July of 1884 and they had a daughter, Blanch E. Curtis. He died in 1933 at 79 and is buried in Rose Hill Cemetery near Calamus.
Guilt Money?

There were rumors that Lyman was aware of his grandson’s involvement in Esther’s murder and donated money to build the Free Will Baptist Church to ease his conscience.
A Similar Murder?

On February 18, 1874 in Long Grove, a small community about 15 miles southwest of the Alger farm, Elizabeth “Lizzy” Thompson Brownlie, 32, and her 4-year-old son Alexander J. Brownlie were murdered in their home.

Many believed the same killers were at work in that murder.

In reporting the Brownlie murders, the DeWitt Observer urged the community to find the guilty parties but was less than hopeful that would be done, writing:

“After the Alger murder there was for a time a considerable mock eagerness in trying to ferret it out, and a few arrests were made of perfectly innocent persons, and all the while and to this day, the finger of the community pointed to a man as the guilty one, right in the neighborhood, and he goes scot free!”

The Life of Esther Alger

Esther Hawkins Alger was born July 9, 1800 in the state of New York, perhaps in Erie County. She had at least one sibling, sister Dorcus, who became Lyman Alger’s first wife.

In April of 1820, Esther married Spooner P. Burton and they bought 40 acres in Clinton County, Iowa Territory, making them some of the earliest settlers in the area. They had no children.

Spooner Burton died before 1841, leaving Esther a widow.

Alger Cemetery Courtesy photo findagrave.com
A large monument in the Alger Cemetery marks the graves of Lyman Alger and his three wives.

On August 14, 1841, Esther married her brother-in-law Lyman Alger, whose first wife Dorcus (Esther’s sister) died in 1838. Lyman’s second wife (and also his sister-in-law), Martha Knight Alger, died only three months before Esther and Lyman married.

Esther moved to Lyman’s large farm, which he settled in 1838, and became matriarch of the extended Alger family. The couple had no children of their own.

Esther is buried in the Alger Cemetery, located about a half mile northeast of the present-day Ray Hudlick farm in Olive Township in Clinton County.

She is surrounded by Alger family, including her second husband Lyman Alger’s first two wives — Dorcus Hawkins Alger and Martha Knight Alger. Each woman has her own stone, as well as a joint one with Lyman Alger, who died November 10, 1885 at the age of 85.

tombstone for Esther and Dorcus Alger Courtesy photo findagrave.com
Hawkins sisters Esther and Dorcus are memorialized on the tombstone of Lyman Alger, the husband of both.

Information Needed

Questions and information about the unsolved 1872 murder of Esther Hawkins Burton Alger should be directed to the Clinton County Sheriff’s office at (563) 242-9211 or 1-800-462-6530 or to Iowa Cold Cases through the Contact form
Sources

“The Alger Murder,” Jackson Sentinel, June 4, 1974.
“A Chapter of Crime,” Jackson Sentinel, October 3, 1872.
“General News Summary,” Ackley Independent, October 5, 1872.
“A Horrible Murder,” Burlington Hawk-Eye, September 28, 1872.
Love in an envelope: A Courtship in the American West. Leroy S. Carpenter, Martha Bennett Carpenter, and Betty Hensha, University of New Mexico Press, 2009.
“Olive Township Biographies,” The 1879 History of Clinton County by L. P. Allen.
“Who Murdered Mrs. Alger!” Spirit Lake Beacon, May 15, 1873

Re: Alger Family - IOWA

Wachala — 2011-11-13 19:51:45Z

Found this the other day, maybe this will help you guys out? Taken from www.iowacoldcases.org

Esther Alger
Homicide

Esther Alger
72 YOA
Calamus, IA
Clinton County
September 25, 1872

By Nancy Bowers

The brutal September 25, 1872 murder of 72-year-old Esther Alger in her own home near Calamus tore apart the entire community. It also became a notorious example used by eastern Iowa newspapers that murderers are allowed to go unpunished.
A Large and Prosperous Family

In 1872, life was good for 72-year-old Esther Alger and her husband Lyman, both early pioneers who helped settled what became Clinton County long before Iowa was a state.

They lived in a large farm house on 700 acres in Olive Township. They raised crops, sold cattle, and also owned land in other parts of the state. The Algers were some of the most prosperous people in the area.

Esther and Lyman Alger lived on the road from Calamus to Buena Vista Ferry. Their house was described by the Jackson Sentinel as a “mansion” sitting near the road just at the edge of timber that skirted the Wapsie River. Today, that road is 178th Street.

Although they had no children of their own, Lyman and Esther had nearby a large, extended family that was the product of a complicated lineage of marriages.

Lyman Alger, a native of Madison County, New York, first married Dorcus Hawkins and they had five children: Mary Jane, Maria, Elmira, Damon, and Serrell. When Dorcus died in 1838, Lyman married his brother Serill’s widow, Martha Knight Alger; and they had a son.

After Martha died in 1840, Lyman married his first wife’s sister Esther, the childless widow of early, prominent Clinton County farmer Spooner P. Burton.

There were many grandchildren from the various marriages and the family lived in close contact in a small community near Calamus, where the Algers got their mail.

Nearby was the Curtis family which merged with the Algers when Lyman’s daughter Maria married minister and farmer Rev. DeWitt Clinton Curtis and had five children.

Dewitt Curtis married twice more and had two more children. He was one of 18 children himself, so the Alger and Curtis families very nearly populated the entire township on their own.
The Murder

Around 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, September 25, 1872, Lyman Alger left his home for a prayer meeting conducted by his son-in-law DeWitt Curtis at a school house a quarter-of-a mile away.

Not wanting to leave Esther alone, the old man asked his 19-year-old grandson Lyman Judson “Jud” Curtis — the son of Marie Alger and DeWitt Curtis — to stay with his step-grandmother.

No one is certain what happened after that. The only version ever told was from Jud Curtis.

Not long after his grandfather left for the prayer meeting, Jud said he decided to return to his father’s house, leaving Esther Alger alone. He claimed that just as he was nearly home — 48 rods away — he heard a gunshot and rushed back towards the Alger place.

As he ran towards the house, Jud stumbled over something.

The rooms inside were empty; however, Jud said he could see by lamplight that there was blood on the floor.

Jud said he ran back outside and then realized that what he earlier stumbled over was his step-grandmother Esther Alger, lying on the ground near the side of the house.

He spoke to Esther, but she did not respond. He passed his hand over her face and felt something wet.
The Alarm is Raised

Lyman ran towards the school house, screaming for help. All those at the prayer meeting rushed back with him to the Alger farm.

The men carried Esther’s body into the house where they could see by lamplight that the top and back of her head were battered and brains were oozing out of the skull. There was a bullet hole in her left breast.

It appeared Esther was shot in the house and ran into the yard; the murderer overtook her there and struck her 20 times on the head.

A rifle, secreted in the house, was recently fired.

Eleven hundred dollars — some of it in gold — was missing from a bureau drawer in a room next to the one where Esther was sitting when her husband left for church. The money was from the sale of cattle the day before.
A Premonition?

Esther Alger tombstone non 165 Courtesy photo findagrave.com
The grave of Esther Hawkins Burton Alger.

Jud Curtis then made a startling claim: he said he dreamed three times prior to that night that his step-grandmother was murdered and $1,500 stolen from a trunk in the house.
The Investigation

The investigation of Esther Alger’s brutal murder and the robbery of the house was — according to the DeWitt Observer – bungled from the beginning.

Two men were arrested, questioned, found to have been absent from the community at the time of the murder, and released.

Suspicion then turned onto family members.

In the spring of 1874, 39-year-old Nathan S. “Nate” Curtis and his half-nephew 21-year-old Jud Curtis — who found Esther’s body — were arrested for the murder by Constable E.K. Wood of DeWitt.

In June of 1874 — nearly two years after Esther Alger’s homicide — a grand jury was convened to decide whether to indict the Curtis men.
Conflicting Accounts

The DeWitt Observer — often quoted by other area newspapers — mercilessly pursued the murderer, acting as a voice for the dead woman. Its editors made no secret they believed Jud and Nate Curtis were involved.

The newspaper pointed out these inconsistencies in Jud Curtis’s story:

Jud gave conflicting accounts of his distance away from the house when he heard the shot.
Even though Jud said he did not see or touch the back of Esther’s head and had no light, he ran into the prayer meeting shouting that the back of Esther’s head “was smashed to pieces.” However, because the killer had placed a bonnet — in which there were no holes or tears — on Esther’s head after she was killed, Jud could not have seen those injuries.
When the fired rifle — loaded when Lyman Alger went to church — was found, Jud Curtis claimed his father shot a rooster with it. His father DeWitt Curtis denied that. How, then, did the gun discharge?
If the killer or killers were lurking nearby waiting for an opportunity to kill Esther and rob the house, why did they shoot her, follow her into the yard and beat her, and then take time to return to the house and hide the gun?
And, of course, there were Jud’s alleged dreams of Esther being murdered.

The Observer’s case against Nathan Curtis was just as strong:

Nathan Curtis’s clothing was blood-splattered, but he claimed he never touched Esther’s body nor helped carry her into the house.
Nate Curtis was said to have bribed witnesses to prove he was elsewhere at the time of the murder; he proved, in fact, he was in two or three different places simultaneously.
Deloss Berroud — Lyman Alger’s grandson (the son of daughter Almira) — alleged to Constable Wood that he knew who killed Esther but had been threatened with death if he revealed the name. Specifically, he said Nate Curtis wrote him a letter saying to “keep his mouth shut.” Berroud also claimed he knew the money was buried under a large stone which he passed frequently, a sight that made him feel guilty about what he knew.
Nate Curtis also had unusual financial dealings with a shirttail relative named Brookman of Erie County, New York; Brookman was described by the Observer as “a poor, ignorant, thriftless man.” Claiming that his relative Nate Curtis was ill with typhoid fever, Brookman borrowed money in New York to travel to Iowa to visit Nate.
When he arrived in Clinton County, Brookman did not seem surprised to learn that Nate was not sick. After he returned to New York, he paid back the money he borrowed to travel to Iowa and bought a buggy, wagon, and harness; he also paid off a mortgage on his land — spending $1,300 in total.
Brookman also bought some real estate in New York state for Nate Curtis, who planned to move there.
It was impossible to see where a man like Brookman would’ve gotten that money. Did he receive it from Nate Curtis (who stole it from the Algers) to launder so Curtis could leave Iowa and live in New York state, far away from the murder scene?

No Resolution

The grand jury did not indict Jud and Nate Curtis.

Before it met, citizens wondered if an impartial jury could be found, even if the trial was moved to another jurisdiction, because emotions ran so high and there was so much publicity.

Also, it was impossible for the grand jury to sort out contradictions in the accounts and the multiple alibis of the suspects, most of them provided by family members.

Esther Alger’s 73-year-old husband Lyman, for example, refused to believe that any of his family was involved and swore that his grandson Jud was in five different places in the house before the prayer meeting.

Alger gave so many conflicting accounts of events that his word became worthless and some speculated he was becoming senile.

The Jackson Sentinel, quoting an article republished from the DeWitt Observer, said, “[Lyman Alger] is either an irresponsible dotard or a perjured old wretch.”

At the same time, the newspaper wondered:

“But if he is in his dotage, how does he manage to be so clear headed in all matters throwing suspicion and contempt on ‘outside’ parties? That conundrum beats us.

Mr. Alger is even now making arrangements to hunt down no less than three other persons for the murder, who are as innocent of the crime as we are, and we have never been within three miles of his place. He went to New York state — don’t know whether he went to B[r]ookman or not — and was told by a fortune-teller, wizard or witch, that three certain men did the work of murdering his wife. Now the county is to be put to the expense of three more prosecutions and hoodwinkings.”

A Long Life for the Suspected

Not long after the murder, Nathan “Nate” Curtis and his wife Mary and their four daughters — Evaline, Mary Jane, Agnes, and Margaret — moved to Hardin County. He died after the 1910 Census.

Lyman Judson “Jud” Curtis was said to have extensively traveled after his step-grandmother’s murder. He returned to Clinton County and married Grace Rector in July of 1884 and they had a daughter, Blanch E. Curtis. He died in 1933 at 79 and is buried in Rose Hill Cemetery near Calamus.
Guilt Money?

There were rumors that Lyman was aware of his grandson’s involvement in Esther’s murder and donated money to build the Free Will Baptist Church to ease his conscience.
A Similar Murder?

On February 18, 1874 in Long Grove, a small community about 15 miles southwest of the Alger farm, Elizabeth “Lizzy” Thompson Brownlie, 32, and her 4-year-old son Alexander J. Brownlie were murdered in their home.

Many believed the same killers were at work in that murder.

In reporting the Brownlie murders, the DeWitt Observer urged the community to find the guilty parties but was less than hopeful that would be done, writing:

“After the Alger murder there was for a time a considerable mock eagerness in trying to ferret it out, and a few arrests were made of perfectly innocent persons, and all the while and to this day, the finger of the community pointed to a man as the guilty one, right in the neighborhood, and he goes scot free!”

The Life of Esther Alger

Esther Hawkins Alger was born July 9, 1800 in the state of New York, perhaps in Erie County. She had at least one sibling, sister Dorcus, who became Lyman Alger’s first wife.

In April of 1820, Esther married Spooner P. Burton and they bought 40 acres in Clinton County, Iowa Territory, making them some of the earliest settlers in the area. They had no children.

Spooner Burton died before 1841, leaving Esther a widow.

Alger Cemetery Courtesy photo findagrave.com
A large monument in the Alger Cemetery marks the graves of Lyman Alger and his three wives.

On August 14, 1841, Esther married her brother-in-law Lyman Alger, whose first wife Dorcus (Esther’s sister) died in 1838. Lyman’s second wife (and also his sister-in-law), Martha Knight Alger, died only three months before Esther and Lyman married.

Esther moved to Lyman’s large farm, which he settled in 1838, and became matriarch of the extended Alger family. The couple had no children of their own.

Esther is buried in the Alger Cemetery, located about a half mile northeast of the present-day Ray Hudlick farm in Olive Township in Clinton County.

She is surrounded by Alger family, including her second husband Lyman Alger’s first two wives — Dorcus Hawkins Alger and Martha Knight Alger. Each woman has her own stone, as well as a joint one with Lyman Alger, who died November 10, 1885 at the age of 85.

tombstone for Esther and Dorcus Alger Courtesy photo findagrave.com
Hawkins sisters Esther and Dorcus are memorialized on the tombstone of Lyman Alger, the husband of both.

Information Needed

Questions and information about the unsolved 1872 murder of Esther Hawkins Burton Alger should be directed to the Clinton County Sheriff’s office at (563) 242-9211 or 1-800-462-6530 or to Iowa Cold Cases through the Contact form
Sources

“The Alger Murder,” Jackson Sentinel, June 4, 1974.
“A Chapter of Crime,” Jackson Sentinel, October 3, 1872.
“General News Summary,” Ackley Independent, October 5, 1872.
“A Horrible Murder,” Burlington Hawk-Eye, September 28, 1872.
Love in an envelope: A Courtship in the American West. Leroy S. Carpenter, Martha Bennett Carpenter, and Betty Hensha, University of New Mexico Press, 2009.
“Olive Township Biographies,” The 1879 History of Clinton County by L. P. Allen.
“Who Murdered Mrs. Alger!” Spirit Lake Beacon, May 15, 1873

Re: Fanny Eliza Alger

Gen1899 — 2011-10-24 18:35:48Z

Have some information on Fannie Eliza Alger who married Robert H. Welts in Los Angeles. Need help with Fannie's sisters.

Re: Charles Alger and Hannah Barkman of Albany Co., NY

slippijr — 2011-09-17 16:53:24Z

I am the gggrandson of Charles Alger and Hannah Barkman. My Grandmother was Jenny Alger, who married Mark Stevens, of whom my grandmother, Helen Stevens was born. She married Lewis Ippoliti. I know of one brother (that I can remember)of my Grandmother's. His name was Happy. I am not sure of much else.

Re: Alger

altalger — 2011-08-08 01:24:22Z

Hi Jayne,
I will try to find some information. If I don't respond again in 2 weeks, send me another note.

Alta

Re: Alger

JayneSzaz79 — 2011-08-07 23:16:15Z

Dear Alta:

I am not any of the persons you are addressing in your email, but I am an ALGER descendant. My great grandmother was Charity ALGER born about 1813 probably in NYS, married Orange PECK, died June 8, 1854 in the 42nd year of her life. She and her family lived in Delaware Co., NY. She is buried in the Pioneer Cementery there.

Do you have, or could you find out, any further information about Charity? I have not been able to find her parents and other family.

Thank you very much.

Jayne
perllan987@aol.com

Re: Leclaire Alger ( Sorche Nic Leodhas )

altalger — 2011-08-07 20:13:46Z

My Alger Family Tree has the Innis family name... Are you related to the author you admire?

Re: Hi

altalger — 2011-08-07 20:06:21Z

What do you know about your family history?

Re: Alger Book

altalger — 2011-08-07 19:58:15Z

Paul, Did you ever get the information from the book posted on your AlgerClan website? Thanks for putting together everything that you have. My own family members have been working on family history, but it is very nice to see that someone else is working on it too!
:)

Let me know if you would like any information from us. I am not the primary person working on the Alger line in my family, but I can get information if you would like.
[If you are not sure who I am.... My mother (Susan) and sister (Rachael) have connected with your website in the past].
Alta Alger

Re: Looking for an Alger/Swan connection

altalger — 2011-08-07 19:36:47Z

This is the information that I have. My grandmother and her sister-in-law have actually done more work in this area than I have. Does that answer your question?

Benjamin Swan (1774-1830)

Marriage: 1 January 1794
Warren, Litchfield, Connecticut, United States Edit

Rachael Alger (1773-)

ALSO, whenever I have looked at the family genealogy records, Matthew's wife's maiden name has always been a mystery. Where did you get Dunham from?

I would be willing to get more records from my relatives who are researching that line. Just let me know!

Re: HANCOCK, Clarissa (1790) Descendants

kennedysweens1 — 2011-06-19 21:17:11Z

Clarissa Hancock and Samuel Alger were my gggrandparents through ggrandparents Samuel Alger and Sarah Jane Ivie, and grandparents Anna Eliza Alger and Josiah Morgan. I would like to share information about this family.

Re: Samuel Alger and Clarissa Hancock

1frommany — 2011-03-21 15:25:45Z

Don,

I do have that, and it probably is where I saw the following portion:"He was a member of the 34th Quorum of Seventies (Book B.P. 259) and was ordained a High Priest 10 April 1853 by G.Y. Wallace and S.S. Sprague (H.P. Book A Page 1)." I would like to have copies of the referenced material. Any idea as to whether or not that would be possible?

I have tried, unsuccessfully, to locate militia records for New York and Ohio to see if Samuel was on the rolls. It may be time to revisit that effort.

James

Re: Samuel Alger and Clarissa Hancock

dmalger — 2011-03-21 00:28:01Z

Hi James,

Maybe you don't have the following:

Don

HISTORY OF SAMUEL AND CLARISSA HANCOCK ALGER
PIONEERS TO THE SALT LAKE VALLEY - 22 SEPT 1848
AND AMONG THE FOUNDERS OF PAROWAN UTAH - 13 JANUARY 1851
(original text was passed down to Florence McMullin Jensen & contributed to this web page by Carol Easterbrook Wolf))

Samuel Alger was born 14 February 1786 in Uxbridge, Worcester, Massachusetts. He was the son of John Alger and Elizabeth Hume Alger.

Clarissa Hancock Alger was born 03 September 1790 in Old Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts, the daughter of Thomas Hancock, Jr. and Amy Ward Hancock.

This couple was among the earliest converts to the Church, being baptized 16 Nov 1830, and came to the Valley of the Great Salt Lake in Brigham Young’s Company on 22 September 1848. Clarissa Hancock’s parents and eight brothers and sisters joined the church on the same day, as did her husband, Samuel Alger. He was baptized by John Murdock (later of Beaver Co., Utah).

We have few facts relating to the life of Clarissa Hancock Alger, but her blessing given by Patriarch John Smith is found in the Church Historian’s Office in Book II, page 286. Her family was ardent members of the Church and passed through all the trials and hardships of the early days in Ohio, Nauvoo, Winter Quarters and crossing the plains to the Salt Lake Valley. Her mother, Amy Ward Hancock, born 28 February 1769 was buried in Council Bluffs (now the old Mormon Cemetery in Florence, Nebraska). One of her brothers was a boyhood friend of Joseph Smith and two of her brothers were given special revelations by Joseph Smith in the Doctrine and Covenants Sections 52 and 124. (For further information about them see history of her daughter Clarissa Alger Whitney, wife of Francis Tuft Whitney.)

Samuel Alger was a convert to the Church on 16 November 1830. He, too, experienced all the history-making events of the expulsion of the Saints from Ohio, Nauvoo, and the trek across the stretches of Western America. And because he was one of the older members of the Church, he was given many offices of responsibility. He was an expert cabinetmaker and joiner by trade, and followed this profession all his life. He built a house for the father of Heber C. Kimball in New York when Heber was nine years old.

We read in the diary of his brother-in-law, Levi Ward Hancock, that Samuel Alger was a Lieutenant in the Ohio Militia in Chagrin, Ohio and in Bloomfield, New York. In feats of strength he was a log-roller. He could lay out his strength on an elm log without apparent effort and could throw a strong man as easily as a child.

He was a member of the 34th Quorum of Seventies (Book B.P. 259) and was ordained a High Priest 10 April 1853 by G.Y. Wallace and S.S. Sprague (H.P. Book A Page 1). He left Ohio in 1836 with his wife and family and resided in Randolph Co., Missouri for one year until the Mormons were driven out of the state. They then lived in Quincy, Illinois for eight months then settled in Deer Creek then in Nauvoo on the way west to Winter Quarters, Nebraska Territory.

In Nauvoo, at noon 12 September 1845, Samuel Alger was one of a committee of four writing to Brigham Young for aid for the Morley and Hancock settlements against the anti-Mormon mob. His wife was of this Hancock family. They wished to sell all deeded lands and receive wagons, horses, cattle, harnesses, stores, etc., to travel west. On 20 January 1848 a few months before starting to the Great Salt Lake Valley, Samuel Alger was one of the petitioners for a U.S. Post Office in the Pottawattamie Lands in the State of Iowa.

The Alger and Hancock families with many others left Council Bluffs under the leadership of Brigham Young for the Salt Lake Valley and arrived there 22 September 1848. This was Brigham Young’s second and last crossing of the pioneer trail. He remained to his death in the Zion he loved.

Samuel and Clarissa together with their children, John and Claris, lived in Salt Lake City from 22 September 1848 to 07 December 1850 when they left on a mission to explore and settle what in now Southern Utah. By now their daughter Clarissa had been married for some time to Francis Tuft Whitney, he having arrived in the Great Salt Lake Valley with members of the Mormon Battalion on 29 July 1847. The call to settle Parowan came 27 October 1850.

The Algers and Whitneys, with 28 other families went to Center Creek or what is now called Parowan, Iron, Utah. They arrived at Center Creek on 13 January 1851 under the leadership of George A. Smith. It was only a few weeks after their arrival that New Samuel Whitney, the first white child born in Iron County, was born to Francis T. and Clarissa Alger Whitney.

After being released from this mission, Samuel and Clarissa Alger returned to Salt Lake City to reside for the next seventeen years. On 08 October 1853 Samuel Alger was sustained as a Patriarch in the October General Conference of that year and for the last twelve years of his life in Salt Lake, Samuel acted in that capacity. He was called “Father Alger” by all who knew him.

He had a burning testimony of the Gospel. We have a newspaper account dated 24 May 1868 of a speech he made in a meeting in Parowan. He stated that at the age of 81 years he quit chewing tobacco, after using it for 59 years and testified that he felt better for this abstinence. He lived to be 88 years old and was hearty to the end.

About 1865 he and his wife moved from Salt Lake to Parowan to be near their daughter Clarissa and family, and son John. They lived in Parowan for eight years. On 22 July 1870 Clarissa died. They had been married for 62 years. Samuel remained in Parowan until the summer of 1873 then went to St. George to live with his son John. Samuel died there after a stay of one year and three months. He died at the age of 88 years on 24 September 1874.

Samuel was an expert cabinetmaker and joiner and also made hundreds of coffins for his deceased friends. He made his own coffin and kept it under his bed for years. He had several of these, but always gave them away in an emergency. He finally died and was buried in a coffin not of his own making.

Heber C. Kimball said of Father Samuel Alger, “Father Alger through his life was a useful man and for the last 44 years of his life a faithful Latter Day Saint.”

Upon his death it was said, “There passed away one of the stalwart sons of God.”

Re: Samuel Alger and Clarissa Hancock

1frommany — 2011-03-19 19:28:55Z

Don,

My relatives and I have tried to get documentation on Samuel. I found references to him in the transcription of his uncle Levi Ward Hancock's journal and a couple of other places. I have his obituary from the Harold B. Lee Library digitial collections, but as far as any documents we haven't found any. I saw references to his being made an elder, I believe. A sister was helped by an acquaintance who had access to LDS records and she printed the family information/lineage. For someone who seems to have been a well thought of individual, there doesn't seem to be much about him to be found. And the Alger name seems to have been fairly common in New York and northeast Ohio during the time that he was moving through there. I have been through New England Historic Genealogical Society databases looking for records. A son of Levi Ward Hancock's mentioned Boston ancestry in his journal, but I haven't had much success in tieing things together, especially the link to ministers and the churches. So, let me know what you may have that would be of interest, and whether or not you want to continue this via e-mail.

James

Re: Samuel Alger and Clarissa Hancock

dmalger — 2011-03-17 02:00:23Z

Hi James,

Thanks for responding. My Alger line is Samuel>John>Alva Don Pulsipher>Charles Lafayette>Almo Don>me.

I'll look at the reference you gave. Is there anything you are trying to find from Eli back?

Thanks,
Don Alger

Re: Samuel Alger and Clarissa Hancock

1frommany — 2011-03-16 23:51:16Z

Don,

Samuel and Clarissa (Hancock) Alger were my 3rd great-grandparents also. I have checked with cousins who have researched the Algers with me and we don't know of any picture, or identified picture, of Clarissa. Another descendant, Carol Wolf, had a website with known pictures of the Algers and descendants. Have you been to foremothers.homestead.com? My lineage from Samuel is Samuel>Eli>James Anderson>James Alvah>Bessie. What is yours?

James Veach
1frommany@comcast.net

Re: Samuel Alger and Clarissa Hancock

dmalger — 2011-03-16 00:29:35Z

Samuel Alger is my 3rd ggf. I would very much like to find a picture of his wife, Clarissa Hancock. I've been looking for a long time.

Don M. Alger
dmalger@aol.com

Re: Samuel Alger and Clarissa Hancock

2011-03-07 15:57:41Z

Dear Barbara,
You have found the right one. My g g grandfather was Samuel Alger and he was born in Uxbridge,W, Ma. on 14 Feb 1786 Passed Away on 24 Sept. 1874 in St. George ,Utah He is also buried in St. George. Utah, He was married to Clarissa Hancock on 25 Feb. 1808 in Ma.
My g grandfather was Samuel H. Alger Born on 31 July 1826 and married Sarah Francis Ivie they are both buried in Colby,Kansas .
Please write to me at my e-mail address ( beth@cts.com ) and I will be happy to send any infomration I may have on the family. So good to find another family member.
Wilma B. Hoover

Re: Samuel Alger and Clarissa Hancock

2011-03-07 15:56:59Z

Re: Samuel Alger and Clarissa Hancock

wilmahoover60 — 2011-03-07 05:34:37Z

I have a new email address as of 2010
It is{wbeth@toast.net} I am the grand daughter of Sarah Elizabeth Alger Anderson and the great grand daughter of Samuel H Alger. In finding information on the Alger family I see my old email is still listed. Our provider stopped the service that is why the change.
Wilma Hoover (Alager)

Alger's New York, Ohio, Michigan

teaky37 — 2011-02-21 15:45:09Z

Looking for information on Emory (Emery), Samuel, Polly?, Emily Alger. Alger's were in NewFane, New York, Emory moved to Ohio in ?, and Emily was married in Bedford, Ohio, in 1841. Would like any and all information on this line of the family. Thank you.

Betsey Alger - One of Two Wives of Ebenezer Adsit of Old Lyme, CT

janealogy50 — 2010-12-11 15:17:02Z

In 2003 I wrote:

"We have always assumed that EBENEZER ADSIT married BETSEY ALGER at Lyme in 1772 and that she was his only wife and the mother of his many children (source: Newman Ward Adsit’s important work). I respectfully disagree and invite a discussion.

"My sources ( 1. “History of the First Congregational Church of Old Lyme, Connecticut 1665-1993,” Susan H. Ely, containing vital records by Elizebeth Plimpton, 1995; and 2. “Vital Records of Lyme, Connecticut to the End of the Year 1850,” Verne Hall & Elizebeth Plimpton, 1976) indicate he had two wives:

"N.W. Adsit tells us ELIJAH ADSIT, the couple’s first child, was born on 12 Jul 1744. Elijah was baptized on 2 Oct 1744, according to Congregational Church records in “History” (p. 256). However, on page 317 of “History,” the following is recorded: Sept 1744 Death of “ELIZABETH wife of EBENEZER ADSIT.” So, unless there was another Ebenezer Adsit in Lyme, the church record tells us that Elizabeth died two months after the birth of her first baby and before his baptism."

Today, in Dec 2010, I have re-read my original 2003 post and realize three glaring ERRORS I made while typing. In the third paragraph above, I meant to write that "ELIJAH ADSIT, the couple's first child, was born 12 Jul 1774. Elijah was baptized 2 Oct 1774" ... not 1744. I also meant to write that "on page 317 of 'History' the following is recorded: Sept 1774 Death of ELIZABETH, wife of EBENEZER ADSIT" ... not Sept 1744.

I realize why this post was never taken seriously by Adsit researchers. I should have rigorously proof-read and corrected my three glaring typos, and I apologize for the confusion (and eyeball-rolling?) I likely caused.

However, these critical facts remain: Newman Ward Adsit gives Betsey Alger as Ebenezer Adsit's only wife and the mother of his ten children. But the Old Lyme First Congregational Church record proves (1) a woman called "Elizabeth, wife of Ebenezer Adsit" died at Lyme in Sep 1774 and (2) Ebenezer's son, Elijah, was baptized in Lyme on 2 Oct 1774. There is ZERO evidence from the Old Lyme church records or from Newman's book that there were two Ebenezer Adsits in Lyme in 1774.

Betsey, of course, is a common nickname for Elizabeth. Was the Elizabeth Adsit who died in Sep 1774 the woman whose maiden name was Betsey Alger? According to Newman Ward Adsit, she must have been. He wrote on page 7: "Ebenezer Adsit...born at Lyme, Connecticut 7 June 1747; died at Westbrook, Ontario, Canada in 1826; married at Lyme in 1772 Betsey Alger; died at Westbrook, Canada in 1815. They lived at Lyme until about 1775 when they removed to Canaan, Columbia county, New York later to Westbrook, Canada." So Newman tells us Ebenezer and Betsey married in 1772 and had Elijah in Jul 1774.

The problem with Newman's information is that Ebenezer's wife, Elizabeth Adsit, died at Lyme in 1774. I have not found (has anybody?) a church or Bible record of Ebenezer's 2nd marriage in Lyme. For that matter, the Old Lyme church records show no 1772 marriage to Betsey Alger. I believe that after Elizabeth Adsit's death in Sep 1774, Ebenezer had son Elijah baptized (Oct 1774) and both moved to Canaan, New York (probably about 1775, as Newman wrote). I believe Ebenezer married a woman there who became the mother of his next nine children and who died in Canada. As most of us know, genealogical records from that period in New York are extremely difficult, if not impossible, to find; therefore, it doesn't puzzle me why a second wife would never have been discovered.

I am convinced that Ebenezer Adsit had two wives. I welcome your comments. Given that Ebenezer and his wife produced NINE children, there must be tens of thousands of descendants. This is a topic that warrants discussion.

Sincerely,
Jan

Re: Lillie Viola Alger (Bamford)

chickadee79 — 2010-12-09 03:52:02Z

those names have been remixed in ontario lines, my mother a Bamford, my father an Alger.

ALGER George B - Vietnam Wall section 37W - our honor and thanks to those who put their lives on the line for us

t42Vietnam_ParkerCoTX — 2010-11-14 22:35:38Z

ALGER George B - Vietnam Wall section 37W - our honor and thanks to those who put their lives on the line for us

Honor our Veterans. This is one of many photographs of the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Parker Co, TX. Feel free to use this picture for your personal records. This is one of the 218,950 photos free at http://teafor2.com where they are listed in order by state(Texas), county(Parker), cemetery(Vietnam) and Surname.

If you know more about this person please reply here instead of contacting me because this is not my family.

Re: SAMUEL ALGER

teaky37 — 2010-11-13 16:23:34Z

Hi, in my husbands line is Emily O. Alger, she married Chauncey Leech in 3/18/1841 in Bedford, Ohio, her brother was Emory Alger, his parents were, Samuel and Polly Alger, we have a letter dated back in 1830 it starts off with dear children. It has Lockport written on the top. We are the Leech part of Alger's. We would appreciate more information on Algers. Thank you,
Peggy

Re: alger / mackenzie

deborahburr57 — 2010-11-04 21:56:40Z

thanks for your reply anyway.....leaving no stone unturned. Deborah

Re: alger / mackenzie

kathcan — 2010-11-04 16:40:20Z

I am sorry I don"t know anything about these families. My husbands cousin was interested because her father died early so put this in for her. http://www.geocities.com/~hebridscots/ Try this sight as they may have come from there.

Re: alger / mackenzie

deborahburr57 — 2010-11-02 22:59:40Z

I am helping a fellow who lives in Australia. In his family line there is a Dollena Marion MacKenzie. She was born in 1885 supposedly in Canada. She married John A. G. Noble in Kentucky USA in 1909. They then lived in Michigan in the 1910 census. They then moved to Texas where she died in 1916. Her death record indicates that her father was John Alger MacKenzie and her mother's maiden name was Delaurier. The 1910 Detroit census indicates mother was French (likely French Canadian). Does any of this indicate that John Alger MacKenzie was from the family you mention. Any help appreciated Deborah Burr, Ontario, Canada

Re: Algers of Virginia,

blilredcorvette — 2010-08-03 06:57:55Z

My grandfather was Melvin Burns Alger, son of Jacob Van Buren Alger and brother to Reta Belle. I do have some information that I have searched out over the years and have even visited the old home place on Island Ford Rd. near Rileyville, VA. My father is Robert Burns Algier (dec) son of Melvin & Elizabeth Tysinger Alger (dec).
Hope to hear from you.

Re: Algers of Luray Va. in Page Co. Va.

jims1off — 2010-06-11 08:47:58Z

would love to here from you. My family is located in minn.But hit dead end before 1932 thank you very much.

Re: Stephen Brown Alger

cherylalger — 2010-06-01 20:45:33Z

Are you sure your Stephen Brown Alger was born in Oxford England?
There are Algers living in Oxford, Massachusetts at the 1827 and I think there is a stphen brown alger son of John alger and olive brown.

Also should check Douglas, MA and Surrounding towns
May be the Stephen your looking to find.

Re: Seek marriage info: Eleanor Alger/Jabez Hancock

JSchwan — 2010-05-15 05:13:38Z

My husband is 3rd g-grandson of Jabez & Eleanor (Alger) Hancock.

We are trying to link Jabez (alt. jabus) to his father Jabez Hancock (m. Tamme/Temperance Beebe) living in Longmeadow MA 1790 census and grandfather Jabez Hancock (m. Rachel Wright) also living Longmeadow MA.

Jabez (m. Eleanor) was born 1793 and the family had moved out of Longmeadow. Jabez (m. Rachel) and most children ( and also many of the large Beebe family) had moved to the Paris NY area. Jabez (m. Rachel) set up a pottery in Waterville and they are buried Waterville.

While we cannot find "paper" (Vitals) on the lineage, we think it is incredibly odd we have so much on the family from the New England area, then moving MA to NY , on the family business ( potter) and then censuses which list Jabez (m. Eleanor) as a "potter".

While we cannot prove the lineage, we are looking for someone who can.

Re: Seek marriage info: Eleanor Alger/Jabez Hancock

arnegan — 2010-05-06 06:38:28Z

Hi there, I was just looking up Jabez Hancock out of curiosity because I am related to him. My family are descendants of John Hancock-and I am trying to figure out if Jabez was his son or his nephew?

Anyway-thought I would connect with you because you expressed in your message that you were interested in learning more about his family.

Take care-

Richard d'Algier-Alliger-Alger Franch Huguenot

WalterBurgner30 — 2010-04-30 17:23:46Z

It is a middle English personal names variously written Alger, Algar, Alcher, Aucher, etc. These represent a falling together of at least three different continental Germanic and Old English names: Adalgar ‘noble spear’ (Old English Æ{dh}elgar), Albgar ‘elf spear’ (Old English Ælfgar), and Aldgar ‘old spear’ (Old English (E)aldgar). The continental Germanic surname was brought to England from France by the Normans: French and English (of Norman origin): from the Old French personal name Auger or Alger. Variant spellings: Algar, Allgar, Allger, d’Aliger, d’Algire, Alliger, Elgar, Elger, Ellgar and Ellger.

d'Algier-Alliger-Alger Family

The history of the d'Algier-Alliger-Alger family of Massachusetts and Lyme Twp, New London, Connecticut can be traced back to the progenitor, Richard d’Aliger-Alliger, a French Marquis. He was a French Huguenot and is said to have resided in Paris, France where there is a statue or bust of him in a French Huguenot Church in Paris, France. He was of the French Huguenot nobility and because of the persecution of the French Huguenots they migrated to England.

Richard d'Aliger-Alliger, Marquis was possibly born in Paris, France about 1595-1600 and died probably sometime after 1650 in England. Who he was married to is unknown but they had children. Note: He was of the French Huguenot nobility and because of the persecution of the French Huguenots he migrated to England. Note: The Reformed Protestant Church established by John Calvin by 1550, and was known as “French Huguenot” or “French Protestant” was banned by the Edict of Nantes. Any person in France who claimed to be French Protestant’s was considered to be "heretics" by the Catholic Church in France. Probably when Richard d’Aliger, Marquis became a French Protestant he lost any claim to nobility in France and mutilation of the records of French Protestant’s of noble blood were destroyed. There really hasn’t been any documentation that would proof that his claim to nobility in France was erased by the mutilation of records but it would stand to reason that he was considered a "heretic" in France by the Catholic Church at that time.
Children:

1. Jonathan Alliger-Alger born 1630 in France or England

Re: Alger Family - IOWA

kenalger1 — 2010-04-06 05:37:53Z

If you are still looking for information on Algers in Iowa, let me know. My line of the family was in Iowa for many years.

Peter Alger

joylynnbronson — 2010-03-24 21:51:21Z

Looking for info on Peter Alger. He lived in Michigan during the 1880"s. He was born in NY about 1844-1846. He was married a few times. One wife was Eva. He had children Anna and Harry.

Sarah "Algee" Alger b. c1803 poss. Gagetown, New Brunswick Canada d/o Alexander Alger and Ann Robinson

toplin21 — 2010-03-11 00:30:56Z

Hi all,

I'm trying to place Sarah Jane Algier b. c1803 m. bef 1847 to John V. Baxter Watt. I have found online reference to Alexander Alger who m. Ann Robinson with a daughter Sarah Alger b. c1804 who married Daniel Acklerley on 11 Apr 1824. Could this Sarah Alger who m. Daniel Ackerley be the same Sarah Jane Algier who m. John V. Baxter Watt around 20 years later? They all lived in the same area in New Brunswick, Canada, so it seems likely.

Any help is welcome.

Regards,

Jeff
Concord, MA

Re: Harry Ernest Alger & Ellen Alger

jra1971 — 2009-11-27 09:25:01Z

Many thanks for the information.

Re: Harry Ernest Alger & Ellen Alger

judyartley53 — 2009-11-27 06:12:11Z

Hi,

Lillian and Emily were born 13 Aug 1911, Shasta Co. Mother's Maiden Name=Curd. Source: California Birth Index 1905-95.

Charles William Alger b. England was naturalized 11 June 1924, Superior Court. Source: Shasta County, CA Naturalization 1852-1932.

A Harry Clifford Alger, b. England was naturalized 23 Jan 1929, Superivor Court. Source: same as above.

I found the family in 1930 living in Township 1, Shasta Co., CA.
Harrie E. Alger, b. England, 65 yrs old, immigrated 1883, store clerk copper mine.
Ellin, wife, b. England, 55, immigrated 1910.
Clifford, b. England, 24, immigrated 1910.
Lillian E., b. CA, 19.
Emila M., b. CA, 19.

In 1938 Lillian and Emily Alger were teachers in Shsata Co. Source: California Voter Registration, Shasta Co.

In 1940 they were teachers in Redding. Source: same as above.

A Charles W. Alger, b. 1902, State of Residence=CA, County=Butte enlisted 27 Nov 1942 in Sacramento in the U. S. Army. Education=4 yrs high school, Marital Status=Married. Source: U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Records 1938-46.

A Charles Alger b. 12 Sept. 1902, Last Residence=Chico, Butte Co., CA died July 1983. His soc. sec. # was assigned in CA before 1951. Source: Social Security Death Index.

A Charles William Alger b. 12 Sept. 1902, Other Country died 6 July 1983, Butte Co. Mother's Maiden Name=Curd. Source: California Death Index 1940-97.

I'd request an obituary from Random Acts Genealogy Kindness. Go to www.raogk.org, read guidelines, choose California, choose Butte Co.

After I receive an obituary, I use www.whitepages.com, www.zabasearch.com or Google the survivor's names to try to find current contact info.

A Harry C. Alger b. 13 May 1906, Last Residence=Redding, Shasta Co., CA died 13 Nov 1988. His soc. sec. # was assigned in CA in 1952. Source: Social Security Death Index.

A Harry Clifford Alger b. 13 May 1906, Other Country died 13 Nov 1988, Shasta Co. Mother's Maiden Name=Curd. Source: California Death Index 1940-97.

There is a volunteer for Shasta County who will do obit look ups at the Shasta Co. Library. Go to www.cagenweb.com/shasta/lookups.html. Successful Searching!

Re: ALGERS of Page County, VA

kstroop44 — 2009-11-25 15:13:33Z

Nancy Elizabeth Alger b. 1863 in Page County, Virginia, d. 2-4-1899 Mill Creek, Virginia married Ambrose Christopher Painter on 3-1-1884 in Page County, Virginia. Nancy was the daughter of Lemuel D. Alger b. 1-15-1815 d. 12-30-1877 and Mary Ann Getts b. 1818 d. 1870.
Nancy's siblings are as follows:
Lydia C. Alger b. 1839
Julia A. Alger b. 1841 married William T. Knight
Frederick Alger, Sr. b. 1846 d. 1886 married Sarah Seekford
Mary F. Alger b. 1844 married Alfred Getts
Sidney Ann Alger b. 1846 d. 1912 married a Housden
Zachariah T. Alger b. 1850 married Henrietta V. Shomo
Pamelia Ann Alger b. 1851 d. 1922 married John Simon Keyser
Philip Alger b. 1855 married Charlotte J. Rhinehart
William L.S. Alger b. 1857 married Mary L. Foltz
Charles B. Alger b. 1859 d. 1917 married Mittie F. Shomo
Emma Alger b. 1867

I am a decendent of Frederick Alger, Sr and can answer some questions about that line of the family...but I am unfamiliar with Charles Robert Alger his decendents.

Re: MARY E. ALGER, born abt 1787, VA

debfreedman — 2009-10-21 03:10:17Z

I hope this Mary Alger was born Mary Elizabeth Biller, married Enos Alger 1809 in Rockingham County. Sarah & John Corbin were still in Madison County in 1880. Can anyone help us connect?