Referenced in the family

Deborah French

b. 1807

Life

3 Dec 1807Born

Records & Research

Deborah French was born December 3, 1807 (birthplace unconfirmed; the 1910 genealogy is said to give Amity, Washington Co., PA), a daughter of Aaron French Jr. (1767-1850) and Ruth Coe (1770-1835) — parentage that matches the trusted family report. The identity rests primarily on the 1910 genealogy "Aaron French and His Descendants" by Charles Newton French; however, the cited AccessGenealogy URL is only the book's INDEX page and does not itself display her birth date, marriage, or death — those specifics could not be verified at the cited source in this audit. The claimed marriage to William Clark (1827) and death at Geneseo, Henry Co., IL (1885) are single-source and unverified, and carry real conflation risk: a DIFFERENT Deborah French (b. 1769, the subject's aunt) married a Clark (Isaac Clark) and is associated with Amity, PA, so "Deborah French who married a Clark / linked to Amity" matches the AUNT's pattern and must not be assumed for the 1807 niece without a record that pins the birth year.

Deborah French was a daughter of Aaron French Jr. (1767-1850, husband of Ruth Coe), consistent with the trusted family report and listed among his children in the French Family Association's Chart #21. The 1910 genealogy 'Aaron French and His Descendants' likewise contains a 'Genealogy of Aaron French, Jr.' section in which a daughter Deborah appears.

· Aaron Jr. French line (later Licking Co., Ohio; earlier Washington/Greene Co., Pennsylvania) family-association ↗genealogy-book ↗

Not yet confirmed — probable matches and family lore, shown for research. Treat with caution.

Deborah French was born December 3, 1807 — an exact match to the trusted family report's birth date of 1807-12-03. A birthplace of Amity, Washington County, Pennsylvania is attributed to the 1910 genealogy but could not be verified at the cited source. likely

1807-12-03 · Amity, Washington County, Pennsylvania (UNVERIFIED — attributed to the 1910 genealogy but not shown on the cited page) · Downgraded from 'confirmed' to 'likely'. The birth DATE matches the trusted anchor, but the cited AccessGenealogy URL is the book's INDEX page and does not display this date, so the date is not independently corroborated here — and matching the report's own date is near-circular, not a second independent anchor. The birthPLACE (Amity, PA) is an addition not in the trusted facts and is entangled with the AUNT Deborah French (b. 1769), who is documented as dying near Amity, PA; this raises conflation risk rather than providing a clean second anchor. A page-level citation showing the 1807 date under Aaron Jr.'s children is needed to raise this back to 'confirmed'. genealogy-book ↗genealogy-book ↗archive ↗
Deborah French may have married William Clark on October 25, 1827 (becoming Deborah Clark), per the 1910 genealogy. unconfirmed

1827-10-25 · Downgraded from 'likely' to 'unconfirmed'. Single source (1910 genealogy), and the cited AccessGenealogy URL is the index page, which does not display this marriage. No independent marriage record located. HIGH CONFLATION RISK: the subject's aunt, Deborah French (b. 1769), married a Clark (Isaac Clark, 1786); a 'Deborah French who married a Clark' is precisely the aunt's profile, so this claim must be treated as a lead, not a fact, until a record ties it to the 1807-born niece specifically. genealogy-book ↗
Deborah (French) Clark may have died January 1, 1885, in Geneseo, Henry County, Illinois, per the 1910 genealogy. unconfirmed

1885-01-01 · Geneseo, Henry County, Illinois (UNVERIFIED) · Downgraded from 'likely' to 'unconfirmed'. Single source (1910 genealogy); the cited AccessGenealogy URL is the index page and does not display this death. No death record, FindAGrave/BillionGraves memorial, or census line located. The Oakwood Cemetery (Geneseo) index 'Clark, Betsy D' entry is not confirmed to be her. Depends on the same unverified marriage-to-Clark identification above. genealogy-book ↗cemetery-index ↗

unconfirmed name/married surname: report “Deborah French (no married surname or spouse recorded)” vs. found “Possibly married surname Clark (m. William Clark, 1827) — single-source, unverified”. The trusted report listed no spouse. The 1910 genealogy is said to supply husband William Clark, but this was not verifiable at the cited (index) URL and mirrors the AUNT's pattern (Deborah French b.1769 m. Isaac Clark). Treat as an unconfirmed addition, not an established married name.

Open questions (8)

CITATION GAP: The cited AccessGenealogy URL (aaron-french-genealogy.htm) is the book's INDEX page only. It does NOT display Deborah's birth date, marriage to William Clark, or death at Geneseo, IL. Those specifics need a page-level citation from the 'Genealogy of Aaron French, Jr.' section (or the Archive.org/seekingmyroots PDF page) before any can be confirmed.
CAUTION (conflation risk): A DIFFERENT Deborah French (b. Nov 24, 1769, Essex Co., NJ; d. Dec 30, 1846 near Amity, PA; m. Isaac Clark Apr 12, 1786) is the AUNT of this person (sister of Aaron Jr., daughter of Aaron French Sr. and Mary Clark). Both the 'married a Clark' detail AND the 'Amity, PA' location attached to the 1807 subject coincide with the aunt's documented profile — strong reason to suspect cross-contamination until a record pins the 1807 birth year to the marriage/death.
The birthplace 'Amity, Washington County, PA' is not in the trusted family report (place was null) and could not be verified; confirm independently rather than carrying it as fact.
No standalone vital record, FindAGrave/BillionGraves memorial, or census line for Deborah (French) Clark herself was located to confirm the 1827 marriage or 1885 death — these rest on the 1910 genealogy alone, unseen at the cited page.
Were there children of Deborah French and (possible) William Clark? Not identified from sources consulted.
Confirm whether she is buried at Oakwood Cemetery, Geneseo, IL (the index has a 'Clark, Betsy D' entry of uncertain relevance) or elsewhere in Henry County.
Exact marriage location (Ohio vs. Pennsylvania) is unspecified; the family was moving toward Licking Co., OH by 1840 but in 1827 may still have been in PA.
The FFA Chart #21 sibling list and the '1820 census, Deborah at home' note were not independently re-verified in this audit and should be re-checked at the chart itself.

Sources consulted (8)

FFA Chart #21, Aaron French Sr. of New Providence, Union Co., NJ (French Family Association) · family-association
Aaron French and His Descendants, Charles Newton French (1910) — AccessGenealogy 'Aaron French Genealogy' INDEX (fetched and reviewed in this audit; index only, no per-person detail) · genealogy-book
Aaron French and His Descendants, Charles Newton French (1910), PDF (G002405) · genealogy-book
Genealogy of Deborah French and Isaac Clark (the 1769 aunt, DISTINCT person) — AccessGenealogy · genealogy-book
Ira Newton French (1797-1878) — Find a Grave (sibling of subject) · find-a-grave
Ira French (1798-1878) — Geni (sibling of subject) · geni
Oakwood Cemetery — Geneseo, Henry County, IL (burial index) · cemetery-index
Aaron French and His Descendants — Internet Archive (full book) · archive

Ancestry

Four generations back. Tap any name to recenter the chart, or open the full family tree.

Deborah French b. 1807

father Aaron Jr. French 1767–1850

father Aaron French 1739–1805

mother Mary Clark

mother Ruth Coe 1770–1835

father Joseph Coe

father Benjamin Coe b. 1629

mother Abigail Carman

mother Abigail Moon