I recently decided to look online for old maps of the Finger Lakes region of New York, the area where Hattie’s War is set. To my surprise, I stumbled on several maps that, on closer examination, revealed new details about Hattie’s family.
1854 Map of Groton, New York
Hannibal and Charlotte were married in Hector in 1849. Hannibal’s family was from the Groton area about 40 miles northeast of Hector. After they were married, they settled in Groton. You can see their residence on the map to the left. In 1862, while Hannibal was serving in the Union Army, Charlotte moved the family to Hector/Burdett to be closer to her family.
Map of Burdett/Hector, New York 1874
Charlotte Howell (Mrs. Howell on the map) lived on Factory Street in Burdett, just south of Hector. It is worth noting that maps from that time list the owners of parcels. Prior maps always listed ownership under a man’s name. After the war, widows were listed as owning the properties designated by Mrs… I count five widows in a few block radius of Charlotte.
Map sources:
Fagan, L, and Robert Pearsall Smith. Map of Tompkins County, New York: from actual surveys. Philadelphia: Horace & Charles T. Smith, publishers: Robert Pearsall Smith, 1853. Map. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2013593237/>.
Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division, The New York Public Library. “Burdett [Village]; Burdett Business Notices; Bennettsburg [Village]” The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1874. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e3-c141-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99