The family bio, in "Gazetteer of Caledonia and Essex Counties, Vt. 1764-1887," stated that John Pettigrew, son of Robert and Elinor/Helen, married Mary Innis of NY City. I did not find their marriage notice in a newspaper. The marriage must have been in the late 1820s, as their oldest child was born before 1830. I found John Pettigrew, in 1850, with a wacky index spelling on Ancestry.com:
1850 United States Federal Census about John Pelegrin
Home in 1850: New York Ward 18 District 2, New York, New York
Name Age
John Pelegrin 44 , contractor, real estate value $85k, b. Scotland
Mary Pelegrin 42, b. NY
Robert Pelegrin 21
John Pelegrin 18
Elen R Pelegrin 16
Mary J Pelegrin 12
Catharine Burns 20
The son Robert is the same as the grandson of the patriarch Robert, who was featured in that same family bio. The son John is John W., and I will have more to say about him later in this post.
Another poster already supplied that John, the father, and family appeared in the 1860 census:
Home in 1860: New York Ward 21 District 1, New York, New York
John Pettigrew 50, b. Scotland, real estate value $200,000
Mary Pettigrew 45
John W Pettigrew 22
Ellen R Pettigrew 20
Leary J Pettigrew 18 (Mary J.)
For some unknown reason the family is enumerated in the household of Jasper Grosvenor, although John was already worth $5M in today's dollars.
John served as a New York City assistant alderman, 1842-44, under mayor Robert H. Morris:
http://www.mocavo.ca/Manual-of-the-Corporation-of-the-City-of-New-York-for-the-Year-1844-1845/320757/176Manual of the Corporation of the City of New York, for the Year 1844-1845
John's two daughters were married on the same day:
New York Times, 12 June 1858, pg 4.
June 1, 1858, Charles Cole married Ellie R., eldest daughter of John Pettigrew Esq., all of this City.
June 1, 1858, J. Henry Weeks married Jennie, youngest daughter of John Pettigrew, Esq., all of this City.
Then John Pettigrew's death notice:
Date: Thursday, April 1, 1869
Paper: New York Herald (New York, NY), Volume: XXXIV, Issue: 91, Page: 10.
March 28, 1869, after a painful illness, John Pettigrew died, in the 66th year of his age.
The funeral was from his late residence, 256 Fifth avenue. Relatives mentioned were his sons Robert and John W., and his sons-in-law Charles Cole and J.H. Weeks.
John's widow Mary died 4 Dec. 1892.
Fortunately, the wills of John and his wife Mary are available as part of a review of a court case, in the following book. The case starts on page 1:
http://books.google.com/books?id=sstibo-bcn4C&pg=PA1In the Court of Appeals, State of New York
The will of John Pettigrew starts on page 204:
http://books.google.com/books?id=sstibo-bcn4C&pg=PA204The will of Mary Pettigrew starts on page 214:
http://books.google.com/books?id=sstibo-bcn4C&pg=PA214Other useful family information is given in the testimony of several witnesses, as also in this book:
http://books.google.com/books?id=ILtU9C5XAs0C&pg=RA3-PA48Supreme Court, New York County.
Note that at the time of this court case their daughter Ellen Pettigrew Cole had been widowed and remarried to Otis W. Randall. Their daughter Mary J., or Jennie Pettigrew Weeks, had been widowed and remarried to Francis J. La Sala.
By John's will, his many real estate holdings were liberally distributed among his four children. His son John W. continued in the same trade as his father and became even more wealthy through his street-paving contracts with NY City. John W. outlived his father by only 6 years, and died 11 March 1875, intestate and without children.
Illinois Digital Newspaper Collections > New York Clipper > 20 March 1875
New York Clipper: "The Oldest American Sporting and Theatical Journal"
"DEATH OF A MILLIONAIRE TURFMAN-- Mr. John W. Pettigrew, a wealthy contractor and well-known turfman of this city, died suddenly at his residence in Fifth avenue in this city on Thursday, March 11. He had long been in a declining state of health, and in company with the well-known trotting trainer Johnny Murphy, he last Winter made a trip to California to recruit his health. The journey did him considerable good, and only the day before his death he had been enjoying a sleighing excursion. Only a week previously he had expended over $30,000 for three trotting horses, for he was a most liberal patron of the turf, both trotting and racing. He paid $15,000 for the fast mare Maggie Wilson, $10,000 for Nat Woodcock, and $6,000 for Tanner Boy; and when he fancied a horse, high figures did not deter him from becoming his possessor. He was also partial to the running turf, and was privately known as the financial partner and confederate in the Donahue stable. The deceased was esteemed and respected by all who knew him."
A former housekeeper, Jane Foshay, claimed she and John W. Pettigrew had married. Try to find copies of these articles online:
New York Times, 4 July 1877, pg 3:
LAW REPORTS.: STRANGE LIFE OF A CONTRACTOR. THE LATE JOHN W. PETTIGREW'S NURSE AND HOUSEKEEPER, WHO CLAIMS TO BE HIS WIDOW HER PECULIAR DUTIES AND COMPENSATION SINGULAR DISCLOSURES PROMISED IN A PENDING SUIT.
New York Times, 1 Nov 1879, pg 3:
JOHN PETTIGREW'S MONEY: A FIGHT FOR IT IN THE COURTS. A WOMAN WHO SAYS SHE WAS HIS WIFE MARRIED AT 14, AFTER EIGHT YEARS IN SCHOOL WITHOUT LEARNING TO WRITE.
