This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Moore, Irish, Duby? Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/2RB.2ACE/8345 Message Board Post: I need the help of others to find 2G-grandfather James Ezra MOORE. Following is all the information I have. born 14 Feb 1819, Ogdensberg, St Lawrence, NY at parents' home -- (unknown who parents are; mother's maiden name "DUBY" appears on a death document) died 20 May 1906, Bay City, Bay, MI married Emeline Arrozina IRISH 27 Sep 1847, Dundee, Monroe, MI Children: Royal Duwain, Lewis, Elva Julia, Lorenzo C, Ellen Sophia, Ezra Duaine, Meloria (sometimes MeloNia), Adeline (multiple spelling errors for names found in various places) ----- Family rumor says James Ezra didn't get along with his stepmother and ran away. At some point, he was working on a ship, one possibility is on the St. Lawrence River / St. Lawrence Seaway??? He was carrying an anchor... a very heavy one... It was mandatory to salute the captain of the ship when he passed by. He did not salute, or he would have dropped the anchor. The captain was angry, there was an argument, and James Ezra apparently threw the anchor at him. -- Part 1 of the story was that the captain was hurt... -- Part 2 of the story was that the captain was killed. James Ezra jumped ship and swam to shore... and got away? Because of name changes in 1860 & 1870 census (below), assume this happened between 1850 and 1860. We have several photos of this grandfather (piercing eyes), and ALWAYS his neck is covered. White scarf, unshaven, clean-shaven face with long, heavy neck hair, shirt buttoned clear up... The photo with the white scarf is especially noteworthy, because even though he is wearing a tie, the scarf is wrapped over the tie (crooked, not even tucked in to his shirt) and looks out of place. We are guessing maybe James Ezra did get caught... but they only stretched his neck a little before he got away! I believe once a person was hung - and survived - they were considered as having served their sentence and released... He is difficult to find in other censuses, maybe in hiding?, however: After his wife's death, he traveled MI state, supposedly living with various children. Before he was married, "James Moore" was a common name, and I don't have Emeline's easy-to-distinguish name for reference. Clues are: --since he jumped ship and swam ashore, he couldn't have been too far from land, (ocean or river is unknown). Census information: 1850 Census MI Monroe Dundee p23 (10 August) --Moore James, Emeline, "Leuis" - His own name with wife and son --(James E: age 30, Laborer, value of RE 100, born NY, no parent birthplace columns in this census; NOT marked that he cannot read/write) --(Emeline: age 23, born NY) --(Lewis: age 2, born MI) 1860 Census MI Lenawee Palmyra p 50 (Ancestry.com p 12) (15 June) --Moore Manes, Emeline + Children - Name change with same wife and child, plus additional children born since 1850 --(age 40, b NY, no parent birthplace columns in this census; NOT marked that he cannot read/write) 1870 census MI Manistee Arcadia p03 (12 July) --James Morren, wife and children are correct. --(age 50, born NY, both parents foreign birth, cannot read/write, US citizen) because of his changes in name and information, I cannot count on his "parents of foreign birth" as being accurate.