Deyo,  Histories

A Deyo History- recounted

This document and information is sourced from email messages sent to Mark Rabideau by Patty Gravel.

In 1982 Wilfred Deyo, the son of Richard Deyo and the grandson of Eli Deyo, went to Altona to trace the Deyo family line.  While there he met with family members to gather their oral history. His findings made there way to me via my Mom (Today my Mom is 85; her mother was Mina Deyo Oconnor, the daughter of Eli Deyo and Philomen Lafountain).

Here is what Wilfred gave us in his report (although through many years of research on Ancestry.com ,Yahoo clubs,Family Tree maker, and information exchanges with relatives I have met on line, I have added to my Deyo family information.);

  • b 1800 Canada    Joseph Deyo Sr
  • b 1799 Canada    Julia (Faye) (wife of Joseph Sr.)
  • b 1844 Canada    Joseph Jr.
  • b 1846 Canada    Ralph
  • b 1830 Canada    Eli #1 (see Note 1)
  • b 1836 Canada    Mary
  • b 1843 Canada    John (Zeb)
  • b 1847 Canada    Frank
  • b 1850 Canada    Eli #2

Note 1: Eli #1 b.1830 in Canada must have died in infancy, since another Eli was born in 1850.
Eli #2’s Marriage certificate lists Lacolle, Province of Quebec as his place of birth. The Joseph Deo family came to the US  through Rouse Point,ending in Altona NY after Eli #2’s birth in 1850.

Deyo Properties purchased:

  • 1871- Deyo,Joseph of Plattsburgh purchaced for $350.00 half of a lot #8 on west side of Wm St
  • 1873- Deyo,Joseph of Plattsburgh purchased half of lot #8

Census Information:

  • In the 1880 census, Joseph and Julia are 80 and 81 years of age respectively, according to the Town of Altona.
  • The 1870 census lists the family in the town of Alburg,VT with Eli Deo (age 21), Ralph Deo (age 23),Joseph Deo (age25) and Zeb Deo (age 27).
  • The 1880 census in the town of Altona shows Deo,John (age 37), Mary (age 30),George (age 12), Jerome (age 11), Selinda (age 4), and Napoleon (age 8mo).

Wilfred goes on in his notes to say that he got most of his info from:

  • Richard Deyo- his father
  • George Deyo- his uncle
  • Mary Deyo- his aunt (see Note 2)
  • Addie Shield- the Clinton County Historian

Note 2:  Mary Deyo’s birth certificate from St.Joseph Roman Catholic Church in Coopersville NY lists her baptismal name as as Marie Dion.

I found plenty on the internet genealogy sites for John Deyo/Deo. I believe his descendants had a store in Altona. By the way, there is a Deyo Rd in Altona, where the original Deyo Farm is located.

ManyRoads Creator, Professional Genealogist, Family Historian, ManyRoads Podcast co-host, Old Guy and most importantly 'opa'