Garret Volk

Garret Volk married Elizabeth Guessne (Elisabeth Gessner) in 1808 at Madison Ave Or Northwest Or Sugar-Loaf St Dutch Ref New York Church, New York (New York Marriages, 1686-1980 at FamilySearch.org; no image).

Garrit Volck appears in the 1810 U.S. census for New York City, Ward 5. The census did not include family members' names until 1850.

Garret Volk was a private in the New York 2nd Militia during the War of 1812 (1812-15) (United States War of 1812 Service Records).

Garritt Volk appears in the 1820 U.S. census for New York City, Ward 9.

Garret Volk, age 73 (stone-cutter), son of John and Catherine, married Hannah Hotchkiss, age 56, of Egremont, Mass. She was the daughter of Ros[e]well and Anna Hotchkiss on February 19, 1862. Stated as his second marriage; her first. (See Massachusetts Marriages, 1841-1915, No. 004279235).

Gerrit Volk may have been married twice, not once, before he married Hannah Hotchkiss in 1862: see 1861 death record of Ellen Savage Volk, from Massachusetts Deaths and Burials (no town given):

• Name Ellen Savage Volk
• Death Date 16 Jun 1861, age 53 (born 1808)
• Marital Status Married
• Spouse's Name Gerritt Volk
• Father's Name Sylvester Savage
• Mother's Name Mary

Garret Volk died December 16, 1862 at age 74 years, 12 days, in Egremont, Mass. He was a stone-cutter. His birthplace is listed as New Jersey, with father John Volk of New Jersey and mother Catherine. See in "Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988, Egremont Births, Marriages and Death" (Ancestry.com; requires log-in -- see in MEDIA).

From a discussion of his son, Leonard Wells Volk, in Biographical sketches of the leading men of Chicago, at: http://books.google.com/books?id=oltKAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA341&lpg=PA336&ot...

Garret Volk was a marble-cutter, a trade in which he perfected himself whilst employed in working on the City Hall of New York city. Here he continued to reside for several years, both before and after his marriage, laboring at his trade. He afterwards tried his hand at farm-life, in New Jersey and Northern New York, without much success, however, and finally removed to Stockbridge, Massachusetts, where he resumed his old trade.

His son, Leonard W. Volk, started out in life a poor boy. His parents [Garret], once in comfortable worldly circumstances, became reduced in that respect by a sudden reverse of fortune, when he was quite young, and, having a large family of children to care for, they never entirely recovered from the lowly condition to which their misfortune had brought them. Young Leonard, when only seven years of age, left home to assume the responsibilities of life on his own account, and has been struggling, with varied fortune, ever since.

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From Under Every Tombstone, blog by Jim Craig of Evanston, Illinois:

Garret Volk (1788-1862) was married to Elizabeth nee Gesner (1790-1851). Garret Volk had been born in New Jersey but was a Private in the New York State Militia during the War of 1812. He was a stone and marble cutter by trade. Elizabeth Gesner had been born in New York. Elizabeth and Garret were married in New York in 1808.

It was said that Garret and Elizabeth had twelve children: 4 girls and 8 boys. I can only account for 9 children in total:

1. Thomas 1808
2. John 1810 {Feb. 20, 1810 in New York City (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FDY3-WJ4)}
3. Catherine (married Race) 1812 {b. 1812/1813-d. 1880, age 67 (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N72G-82T)}
4. Maria (married Bennett) 1816
5. Elizabeth (Minnie) (married Hall) 1818 1888
6. Cornelius G. 1823
7. Leonard 1828 1895
8. Abram (married Matilda Ward) 1829 1900
9. Thomas Jefferson 1830 1860

Note: also documented are:

• Henry, born Oct. 29, 1814 in New York City (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FDY3-7BK)
• Rachel m. Daniels, born 1832-died 1860 (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N7J7-X96)