DID YOU KNOW?
Fascinating Facts About Family Ancestry and the John More Association
- John and Betty
Taylor More were some of the first
European settlers in
the Catskill Mountains of Delaware County, New York, in 1772.
- John and Betty
befriended the famous Mohawk Chief, Joseph
Brant (photo left), who warned them
of an impending raid on settlers during the
Revolutionary
War. John, Betty, and their family was
saved when they fled their cabin home in the middle of the night.
- Cousin Jay
Gould (genealogical #326—Alexander Line) is America’s
9th wealthiest man of all time! (photo
below) One of the railroad baron’s of
the 19th century, Gould owned the Union Pacific Railroad and the Western
Union Telegraph Company. He died in 1892 leaving a fortune of $70 million
and a gothic revival mansion on the Hudson River, Lyndhurst Castle,
that is now part of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
- JMA has been featured nationally on the NBC
Nightly News with Tom Brokaw,
PBS, and in The New York Times.
- More family archives are preserved in the New
York State Historical Association’s Research Library in Cooperstown.
- The mid-19th century house
of Jonas More (fourth child
of John and Betty) is restored and displayed on the grounds of the
Cooperstown
Farmer’s
Museum.
- JMA has 9
family landmarks in New York State—mostly in the Catskills— including
the burial place of John and Betty and the site of John More’s
original cabin — affectionately known as the “pile of rocks.”
- JMA has a
record of nearly 14,000 descendants, more
than 9,000 of whom are living.
- Cousin James Hadley Billington (genealogical #824412) is the U. S. Librarian of Congress in Washington, DC. He was sworn in as the Librarian of Congress on September 14, 1987. Dr. Billington is the 13th person to hold the position since the Library was established in 1800.
Mohawk Chief Joseph Brant
Jay Gould
Lyndhurst Castle
James Hadley Billington - Librarian of Congress
