Theodore van Wyck Masten and Mary Horton - How did they meet?

I've been communicating with Devan Masten Wood of Saratoga Spring, and he wrote to me:

"However, I did zone in on Theodore V. Masten 1831 who married Mary Horton in Saratoga County. It piqued my interest why he came up 'here,'  found a bride & went back to Wurtsboro!" 

And so this resulted in an afternoon of musing and researching.

Let's focus first on the Horton line. It seems the Horton's moved around considerably.

• William Horton (father of Mary Horton) was born in 1785 in Montgomery County, NY
• His brother John (b. 1796) was born in Charleston, Montgomery, NY (not far from Saratoga).
  
• William married Ruhama White in Yorktown, Westchester, NY in 1808.
• His sister Permelia was born in Charleston, Montgomery, NY in May 1809.
  
• William and Ruhama's son Ira was born in Yorktown, Westchester, NY in April 1811.
• William's enlistment paperwork (1813) states that he was a sailmaker. He was with Captain A. Sherman's detachment and served at Fort Lewis, Brooklyn, NY.
• William - 1850 census states he is a pedlar (sic) and residing in Schenectady, NY.
  
• (For some reason I can't find him in the 1860 federal census)
  
• William - 1865 NY census living with son Henry, born Montgomery County (which differs from what I have elsewhere) in Binghamton, Broome, NY. Occupation: Handman? 
• William - 1876 - As per his obituary he died in Wurtsboro, NY at the home of his daughter, Mary (Mrs. Theodore V. Masten)

Ruhama White grew up in Peru, Clinton, NY, which is on the west side of Lake Champlain, where she lived with her father Edward (b. 1759) and mother Rachel. However, her grandfather, Andrew was from Nine Partners, Dutchess County, and her father was likely born there. Her mother, Rachel (b. about 1761), was also likely born in Dutchess County (see below).  I started to question the entire connection in Peru, Clinton, NY as in the "North America, Family Histories" for Sarah (Cox) Weeks, Horton - 2nd marriage to Gabriel Horton b. 1.9.1809 son of William and Rueuama (---) Horton of Westchester and Dutchess Counties (which completely ignores residence in Clinton County). Sarah and Thomas (her first husband) were Friends.

 

However, I came across the history of "William White of New York and Connecticut" (NYG&B Record, 1993, Vol 124), where I found that Andrew (b. ca. 1734) married Amy Palmer on 23 Nov 1758 at Nine Partners Monthly Meeting. Between 1760 and 1778, Andrew as on the Nine Partners-Crum Elbow Tax List.  In 1783, Amy White and their daughters were removed from the Nine Partners Monthly Meeting to Easthousack Monthly Meeting. Later that year Andrew and his sons were re,oved to the Saratoga, NY, Monthly Meeting. Andrew moved to Danby, Rutland County, VT by 1785, where his son Ruluff was born. In 1785 he moved to Peru, Clinton, County with his sons, which included Ruhama's father Edward.   

 

I did find a removal record for Ruhama's father, Edward White:

 

 

Edward (b. 1759) married Rachel, perhaps the daughter of Nehemiah Reynolds of Dutchess County. Rachel and Edward had seven children between 1785 and 1799, including Ruhama.

• In 1850 Ruhama was living in Schenectady with William and children Henry, Emma, Seymour, Deborah, and Mary. Henry and Seymour were working as tinsmiths. 
• In 1860 Ira Horton, William and Ruhama's son was living in Yorktown, Westchester, NY 
• In 1870 Ira Horton was living in Cortlandt, Westchester, NY
  
• At the time of her death in 1860, Ruhama was living in Cortlandt in Westchester County.
• Interesting but not relevant: In 1909, Mary Horton Masten visited Pensacola, Florida to spend the winter with her daughter Mrs. E.A. Kelly. Her son, Seymour L. Masten accompanied her on the trip.

So how did William Horton and Ruhama White meet? And why did they marry in Westchester County?

So we know that Edward White left Dutchess County for Danby, VT and later to Peru, Clinton County. Ruhama is born in Peru, Clinton NY but had familial ties to Dutchess County. William Horton was living near Saratoga. Perhaps the families maintained contact and that was how they met, what is clear is they left upstate NY to marry in Westchester County, where their first child was born. They later moved back upstate, perhaps because William was a peddler. Clearly they moved around quite a bit.

 

 

I've mapped the families' travels. Click here if you want to access the Google map.

 

And this still doesn't lead us why Theodore V. Masten "came up 'here,' found a bride & went back to Wurtsboro!" My mom's theory is that Theodore was in Saratoga for the races. And so we learned that horse racing Saratoga began in 1847 when trotting races took place on a dirt track later known as "Horse Haven" along Union Ave. Theodore was a grocer, carpenter, and farmer, so it would be likely he had horses.We do know that in 1874 he traveled some 25 miles to Port Jervis, where he got in trouble for selling strawberries without a license and using short measures. So its quite conceivable that he had horses.