Elijah Fleming (c.1827 – 1875-12-13) and Permelia A. Bingham (c.1829 – 1889-12-29) were my great-great-great-grandparents, being the parents of Herman Bingham Fleming.
Elijah was the son of Moses Fleming and Irena Crossman. Permelia was the daughter of Erastus Bingham and (probably) Sarah Lewis. They variously lived in Ticonderoga and Crown Point, New York and across the border in Vermont.
The variant spelling Flemming is often found in this family.
Elijah’s death date varies across several records. The town record with Dec 13 seems closest to the source, but I can only find transcriptions of it.
I have not found a birth record for either Elijah or Permelia, although some online family trees give Permelia’s birth as 1828-07-22 in Ticonderoga, NY, without a source. We can try to infer from census and other records, which are however not consistent.
Narrowing down Permelia’s birthdate is key to determining which of her father’s wives is her mother. Her death record states her father is Erastus, but does not name a mother.⟮1⟯
In 1850 Permelia was in the household of Carlos and Fannie (née Weed) Bugbee, presumably as a servant; in later censuses, she is married. For census data prior to 1850, see Erastus Bingham, which suggests he had three daughters born 1825–1830, one of who died young.
In addition, I tabulate Permelia’s sister (or half-sister?) Harriet Jane’s birth estimates, as it can help bracket Permelia’s birth; Harriet’s gravestone has an exact birth date of 1826-02-26, which is likely accurate, so that the censuses are mainly confirmatory. In 1850 Asa Lamson⟮2⟯Misspelled as Camson or Campson on some records., presumably Harriet’s (future?) wife, is listed with a Louisa aged 24 in Crown Point, NY; this would be a strange error for Harriet, but Asa and Harriet appear to have had children well before 1850.⟮3⟯
Here are reported places of birth and ages for various years, with subtracted years:
| Record | Year | Elijah | Permelia | Harriet Jane |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Census | 1850 | ⟮4⟯NY 23 1827 | ⟮5⟯NY 19 1831 | ? NY 24 1826 |
| Census | 1860 | ⟮6⟯VT 30 1830 | VT 32 1828 | ⟮7⟯VT 35 1825 |
| Enlistment | 1861 | 31 1830 | ||
| Death | 1875 | ⟮8⟯NY 53 1822 | ||
| Census | 1880 | ⟮9⟯VT 51 1829 | ⟮10⟯VT 50 1830 | |
| Death | 1888 | ⟮11⟯NY 62 1826 | ||
| Death | 1889 | 64 1825 |
There is considerable inconsistency in these dates and places. Harriet is probably an older sister to Permelia, but even that is not always shown. I tend to assume the earlier records are more reliable, as young ages are more likely to be better kept track of, but even so we have only estimates.
Permelia’s gravestone lists her age at death as 64 years, 9 months, which would put her birth in probably March 1825. This is an outlier on the early side, so I am treating it as wrong, and hopefully it is, because it has implications for who her mother is. See Erastus Bingham. The 64 could be a simple copying error, say for 61.
For more evidence about Elijah’s parents, see their entry.
Elijah Bingham enlisted for the Civil War in Ticonderoga on 1861-11-18 for a term of three years, joining Company G in the 96th New York infantry. He transferred to Company C on 1862-08-31. He deserted 1863-04-30.⟮12⟯ His gravestone says he served through 1865, so he may have returned.
They had only two children I can find:
I have a DNA match who is a male-line descendant of Willis. His haplogroup is R1b-CTS241, which is thus almost certainly the group for my Fleming family.