Full Context of Navajo County, Arizona Census, 1910
Surname: DeWitt
Given Name: Margaret M.
Relation: Wife
Age: 69
Birthplace: SCO
Occupation: Merch/dry goods
City/area: Woodruff
ED Sheet: 87 9A
Sort Num: 1634
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Autobiography of Margaret Miller WATSON DeWITT was born in Glasgow, Scotland, January 16, 1841; the youngest of a family of nine children. My father's name was John WATSON; my Mother's, Jane Mosea Miller Watson. Among my earliest recollections of my father, who died when I was a small child, is my seeing him wrapped in quilts seated in a chair, while I played peek-a-boo with him through the glass in our door. When I was about fifteen years of age my sister Jane, six years older than I, joined the "Mormon" Church and emigrated to America . The members of the family felt that by so doing
she had brought disgrace to our family. Early life in Scotland
My mother died when I was twelve years old,
and I lived with an older sister, Belle, who sold
the place and rented one little room for the two
of us. During this time my sister Jane wrote to
me in care of a friend, Agnes McKAY, urging me
to attend the "Mormon" meetings and
investigate their religion for myself.
This I did secretly — going to the meetings
when my sister supposed I was attending night
school. I was able to attend several meetings
conducted by the "Mormon" Elders before my
sister discovered my deception, which she
finally learned from the factory girls. Thinking
she was doing the proper thing, she gave me a
severe whipping and warned me not to go near
the Elders again. However, this only served to
strengthen me determination to find out for
myself all about the "Mormons" and
"Mormonism".
I still continued my secret correspondence with my sister Jane, who lived in Holyoke, Massachusetts, and she sent me money to pay my passage across the ocean. I remember going to the bank and getting the money, which I concealed in the bosom of my dress in the daytime
and in my shoe at night. Very soon after
this I left my sister Belle's home. We had eaten
breakfast, and I left as if I were on my way to
the factory. I saw the clothes spread on the
green to bleach (she washed the day before)
and I picked up my night-cap and slipped it
into my pocket. This was all I took with me
except the clothes I stood up in.
Flight to America
I went directly to my friends, the McKAYs, who
informed me that the next sail-boat would not
leave for two weeks. I couldn't go back home to
Belle, so my kind "Mormon" friends, the
McKays, hid me up for two weeks in the home
of a widow who boarded me; the McKays paid
her for her trouble. During this time the
McKays outfitted me with clothes for me
journey.
Bills had been posted and rewards offered for
my capture, so, fearing detection, I disguised
myself when I went to the sail-boat. Just before
boarding the ship I posted a letter to my sister
Belle telling her not to continue her search for
me, as I was on my way to America. I crossed
the gang plank and entered the ship. Then I
went below into the steerage until the ship
started.
I then want on deck and took a last fond
farewell of my native land. I was overcome with
conflicting emotions as I saw it disappearing
from my sight. For, though I was glad and
eager to come to America, where I could learn
more about "Mormonism" and join my sister
Jane, yet I felt sad to leave forever my native
land, my brothers and sisters and friends, I
extended my arms and cried, "good-bye
forever, old home"; and the ship, The Isaac
Wright, bore me off.
A hard sea voyage
Soon after leaving I became violently seasick
and lay on the bare deck for relief. Having
taken nothing with me except my clothing, I
had nothing to lie on.
A young woman came near me saying, "How's
this?" Haven't you any folks to look after you?
But no, I mustn't talk; I must do something."
She went to the cook-room and made a little
tea and toast. As I partook of it, my stomach
became settled, so that I could get up and
around. Soon I became more adjusted to life on
board ship. From Liverpool to New York, we
were on the sailing vessel six weeks and three
days.
When we landed at New York the McKay girl's
folks met us there. A large crowd was present
as we were getting off the ship. I kept saying
aloud, "0 have you seen my sister?" I hadn't
heard the popular song then being sung,
entitled, "0 Have You Seen My Sister?" At once
some one in that great throng caught up the
words and sang it while the whole merry crowd
began singing and laughing.
At Work In a Factory
I took the train from New York to Springfield,
Massachusetts, where my sister met me. Words
cannot express the joy of our meeting. I went
with her to her home in Holyoke. There I
remained with her and a group of emigrant
girls. We worked in a factory, earning the
money to pay our way to Utah. Having had
experience in working in the factories in
Glasgow, where there were five hundred steam
looms on one floor, I felt at home in the work.
They started me out with two looms; when my
sister saw that I could handle them easily and
still have plenty of spare time, she said to the
manager, "My sister is an ambitious little girl
and I'm sure she can handle more looms when
you can give them to her"? They gave me four
for awhile, but soon increased it to six, the
most ever given to any experienced girls in the
factory.
I made it a point always to be prompt; and the
watchman would laugh as he held his lantern
so that he could see my face as I sat at the big
doors each morning waiting for him to open
them and let me in. The minute the engine
started I was at my loom. Some of the girls
were always ten minutes or more late; when
they remarked at my higher wages on pay-day,
it was pointed out to them that ten minutes
each day will soon amount to dollars and cents.
Saving for Three Years
We received our pay in an office adjoining the
factory. Here two men counted out the money,
which was held in a big, seamless sack. The
books were opened and the numbers of the
looms were given. Then the girls were paid in
cash. As I received my wages, I often heard the
men whisper to one another, "Is that the one?"
I was small for my age and my skill as a factory
hand was talked about among the workers.
We worked in the factory for about three years.
Our boarding house was managed by two old
maid sisters who had rented a large house
especially for factory girls. We paid them each
month; and outside of our board, lodging, and
clothes, we saved every cent for our journey
across the plains.
My sister left for Utah three weeks before I did,
as there was not room for both of us in the first
company. I handed to the president of the
branch sixty dollars in cash to pay my way to
Utah.
Baptism at Night. Crossing the Plains
Before leaving for Zion, however, I had been
baptized and confirmed a member of the
Church. My sister and I had attended regularly
the L. D. S. services in Holyoke. Each meeting
strengthened my faith, though I had believed
the Gospel to be true from the first time I heard
the Elders preach it in Glasgow. On account of
the bitter opposition manifest by the anti-
"Mormons" there, my baptism was performed
at night. When I was taken to the river the ice
was broken, and there I was baptized,
I traveled across the plains with Thomas
LYONS, his invalid wife, and five children. They
had two hired teamsters, each driving a large
wagon-load of goods. I took care of their five
children and cooked every bite that was eaten
by our outfit of ten, from the time we left
Florence, Nebraska, until we reached Salt Lake
City. I walked all the way across the plains,
carrying the baby much of the time. Sister
Lyons had to be lifted in and out of the wagon
and had a special chair to sit on.
Incidents of the Journey
As soon as the men would pitch tents each
night, I would prepare supper over an open
camp fire, then get the children to bed. Often I
did not get much sleep, the mosquitoes being
very troublesome, and causing the children to
cry and fuss a great deal. I had never cooked
over a camp fire; when I needed information I
counseled with some of the older sisters, who
were very kind and willing to help me. I
learned to bake light bread in a bake-oven.
From each baking, we saved a piece of dough
for our next batch of bread.
There was one death in our company the
ceremony we danced most of the night to the
music of a fiddle. When about half way across
the plains, I had to leave my new trunk because
we were too heavily loaded. My clothes I put
into sacks.
We were three months crossing the plains,
under the captaincy of Edward Stevenson. My
sister heard of the company through the "Pony
Express" and was ready to meet me. She had
arranged for a place to work — for a Sister
Elizabeth Howard, who lived eight miles South
of Salt Lake City at Big Cottonwood. My sister
had a place in Salt Lake City and we often
visited.
An Important Meeting
With the first money I earned in Salt Lake City,
I purchased a new chest for my clothes. This
was made by a Brother Thomas ELLERBECK, an
excellent carpenter. I still have this chest and it
is as good as new.
The date of our arrival was September 16,
1895, with 350 souls and 150 wagons. That
evening in the HOWARD home as I stood by the
sink washing dishes, I noticed a young man
come into the room — a tall, straight,
handsome fellow. I nudged Sister Howard's
daughter, who was wiping dishes, and asked
"Who is that?"
"Don't worry. You may have him," she
answered.
I replied "I don't want to fall in love." About six
months later, when I was nineteen years old,
this same young man became my husband. I
had no parents to go to for advice so when he
proposed marriage, I went to Bishop BRINTON
and asked him to advise me. His answer was,
"You'll make no mistake, Margaret, if you
marry Alec DeWITT."
The Bride's Apparel
Sister HOWARD had been like a mother to me; at the time of my marriage she dressed me completely in the very best of clothes. My wedding dress was a beautiful white, tucked all around the full skirt and trimmed with lace and white ribbon. Sister HOWARD engaged Eliza R. SNOW and Sister WOODMANSEE to come to her home a week and sew on my wedding dress, sheets, pillow cases, quilts and everything preparatory for my marriage. I felt like a princess to be so honored. The bishop, who was to marry us, was working on the jury that day; but he walked eight miles
to our ward that afternoon in order to perform the ceremony that night.
The New Home
I had been afflicted with a sick headache during the afternoon and Sister Howard had sent me to bed. While I was there she and her daughters had fixed up our little two-roomed cottage, which Brother DeWITT had rented for our future home. I was dressed in my wedding finery as we walked to the bishop's home where we were married. Then we went to our little home. I noticed that it was all lighted up, and
when we entered we beheld a table laden with a feast -- roasted chicken and everything that goes with it. My bed was all made up with new sheets and pillow cases and the beautiful quilt that Eliza R. SNOW and Sister WOODMANSEE had made. We then spent a happy evening with the Howard family and the bishop's family. Mrs. HOWARD was an excellent cook and the banquet she and her girls had prepared was delicious. Brother DeWITThad brought a load of furniture from Salt Lake City; it had been unpacked and put in place. The new dishes were in a cupboard he had made. All this was a surprise to me.
Abel Alexander DeWitt
Prior to our marriage, my husband had been investigating "Mormonism" and was really converted to it, but postponed being baptized because he didn't want it said of him that he joined the Church to get the girl he wanted. He was baptized about two weeks later. My husband, Abel Alexander DeWitt, was born October 6, 1826 in Perry County, Indiana. He had traveled extensively -- had been South America — and was on his way to California to seek his fortune. Although he had really feared stopping off at Salt Lake City because of the numerous warnings he had heard, that if he did the "Mormons" would kill him, he finally stopped over and found a job at Howard's. There he investigated "Mormonism" and embraced it. He died at Woodruff, Arizona on September 16, 1913.
The Children of the Household
While living at Cottonwood we were blessed with six children: Lucy Jane was born March 28, 1861, and died at Salt Lake City July 16, 1923. Sarah Huldah was born March 26, 1863 and died November 18, 1904 at Lehi. Alexander was born October 1, 1865 and is still living. Elijah Reeves DeWitt was born February 18, 1867, and still lives. Elizabeth Catherine, born June 5, 1870, died April 29, 1904, at Thatcher, Arizona. Margaret Lenora was born July 20, 1872 and died August 13, 1873 at Big
Cottonwood. We moved to Kanab, Utah where our next three children were born: Martha Ann, born October 8, 1874 died December 29, 1879, at Kanab. John Daniel, born November 5, 1876 is still living, William Washington DeWitt was born January 10, 1879 and died December 1, 1907 at Woodruff, Arizona.
Called to Arizona
We were called by Church authorities to cross
the Colorado and help settle Arizona, so we
moved to Springerville, where our last three
children were born: Rhoda Ellen, born March
27, 1881, died October 24, 1888. Jesse Dillis
DeWitt was born April 23, 1883, and is still
living. Mary Eliza was born July 24, 1885 and
died July 24, 1885. When Jesse was about eight
years old we left Springerville and came to
Woodruff, where I am still residing.
When my last child was born, I was at death's
door, but through the faith of the elders I was
spared. Word went out -- Sister DeWitt is
dying. The elders left a 24th of July celebration
they were attending; they came and prayed for
me and I rallied.
Always a Relief Society Worker I was set apart as a Relief Society teacher after my first child was born. I have served as an active teacher in that organization ever since — a period of sixty-seven years. I am still an active teacher in the Woodruff ward. I used to go teaching in Big Cottonwood, carrying my baby on my arm. The bishop's wife, Sister BRINTON, used to say, "Be sure to stop last at my house." She would always have a delicious supper prepared, saying to as, "The servant is worthy of his hire." Though I am now eight-eight years of age, I still enjoy working in the capacity of a Relief Society teacher — a calling that I consider one of the greatest.
Editor, Relief Society Magazine:
I am sending a life sketch of Woodruff's oldest resident, "Grandma" DeWITT, written as she dictated it to me. Her record as an active Relief Society teacher is perhaps unsurpassed. A loving, laughing, witty little Scotch lady, very active for her advanced age, she is usually present at the dances and social activities. A year ago I danced the Old Year out and the New Year in with her! Her constant attendance
at Relief Society meetings, and her keen interest and active participation in the lessons, proclaim her fertile brain and sympathetic heart. Always eager to improve, she learned to play the organ after she was sixty five years of age, to be able to accompany herself as she sang the songs of Zion; and though rheumatism has incapacitated her hands for playing, she often sings. Her greatest joy is reading. When she is at home she is generally in her "reading nook" near her shelves of books by a light, cheery window. We love her for her gracious manner, her enthusiasm and optimism, her sincerity and courage
Thursday, March 13, 2008
DEWITT, Lucy Jane - My 2nd Great grandmother
History of Lucy Jane DeWitt Eagar
Written by Vinnie – Lucy’s youngest daughter
Lucy Jane DeWitt was born March 28, 1861 in Big Cottonwood, Utah,
the first born child of Abel Alexander DeWitt and Margaret Miller Watson DeWitt.
12 children were born in this family, the first 6 of these in Big Cottonwood.
She had a happy childhood and moved to Kanab, Utah when 12 or 13 years of age. There she grew to young womanhood and had so many happy times. When I pass through Kanab on my way to Salt Lake City, I always think – "Yes, this is where my Mother lived and was so happy." She had many dear friends
all through her lifetime and was devoted to her brother and sisters. She loved the young people and liked to associate with them.
She was married to Joel Sixtus Eagar in the St. George Temple on Feb 14, 1879. Soon after her marriage her people were called to Arizona, and Mother’s first child, Lucy Lenora, was born in Brigham City, Arizona on January 8, 1880. As soon as Mother was able they moved to Springerville, Arizona.
Mother loved to work with the young
people in the social welfare of the Church.
Organization of theatricals were her hobby,
and she was called to work in the Mutual
Improvement Association. Most unfortunately
friction arose in Mother’s home life, which led
to a divorce after she had seven children – two
of which died in infancy at Springerville.
Her father and mother had moved from
Springerville to Woodruff, Arizona. My Father
got her a house and lot there too, and then
moved her and her five children to Woodruff
where they could by near her Father and
Mother. This was in 1892. She was now on her
own, and had to make a living for her family –
it was terribly hard. Sixtus died on May 8,
1899 of rheumatism and heart trouble. In that
small pioneer village it was next to impossible
to get medical help. My two older sisters
would go out and work by the day – hand
washing – and get $.40 for a days work.
Mother would always raise a garden, and she
cared for the horses that pulled the mail
"Buckboard" winter and summer. In winter the
mail-drivers nearly perished in the cold, and
almost lost their lives in floods and swollen
streams in the summer. Mother would have a
big fire in the fireplace and something for them
to eat when the mail from the upper country
was due at four o’clock in the morning. The
drivers loved my Mother for her kindness to
them. She always had to have the mail horses
fed, watered and ready to go. She was poorly
paid for this work, but it helped. Then she got
the Post Mistress job, which helped also. She
had a terror that she would lose her children if
she failed to provide for them.
Mother wanted her children to have
opportunities to study music and get an
education. The older girls played the guitar and
sang, and by saving carefully my Mother
purchased a small organ. Oh, the joy it brought
– there was no sleep the night it arrived and
was unpacked. Some people criticized her for
skimping so hard to buy the organ, but we all
loved it too much to think that we could not
afford it. Music meant more than food to my
Mother.
My oldest sister, Lenore (or Nonie, as she
was called) was not very well. At one time she
was very ill with typhoid fever. It was so hard
to get all the foods we needed. We always kept
a milk cow, and raised vegetables and fruits.
Lenora married Franklin H. Owens on July 4,
1901 at Woodruff, Arizona and they went to
the Temple and were endowed in October
1901. They have a wonderful family of 10
children.
My sister Sara married James Brinkerhoff
on Oct 5, 1905 in the Salt Lake Temple. They
have 9 lovely children. Our family dwindled
down to just myself and my brother, Leo. It
was my Mother’s ambition to give us a special
education, so she sent me to Salt Lake City in
the Fall of 1908 to take a nurse’s Course. The
next year she and Leo sold the home in
Woodruff and came to Salt Lake. Leo entered
the L.D.S. Business College. I finished my
nursing course, graduated and did nursing
work for a year in Salt Lake.
L
Mother’s health was very poor. I returned
to Woodruff in 1910 and continued to practice
obstetrics. Then Mother returned to Arizona
also. I married Leroy Eugene Gardner on his
birthday November 11, 1911. My brother Leo
married Vernah Stephens, a wonderful girl
from Idaho, who was teaching school in Salt
Lake City. They are proud of their 3 fine
children.
Finally my brother came to Arizona to get
my Mother and take her to Salt Lake for
medical aid. I went with them and left my 5
little ones with my sister, Sara. My eldest son
went with us, as I had let him live with
Mother. She adored him and asked that he go
with her to Salt Lake City. Mother underwent
an operation to remove a tumor, and died July
16, 1922.
It was decided by all of us to bury her in
Wasatch Lawn Cemetery in Salt Lake. A
beautiful service was held, with high tribute
being paid to Mother. Many of her good
friends from Arizona (some residing in Salt
Lake at that time) attended the funeral.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Written by Vinnie – Lucy’s youngest daughter
Lucy Jane DeWitt was born March 28, 1861 in Big Cottonwood, Utah,
the first born child of Abel Alexander DeWitt and Margaret Miller Watson DeWitt.
12 children were born in this family, the first 6 of these in Big Cottonwood.
She had a happy childhood and moved to Kanab, Utah when 12 or 13 years of age. There she grew to young womanhood and had so many happy times. When I pass through Kanab on my way to Salt Lake City, I always think – "Yes, this is where my Mother lived and was so happy." She had many dear friends
all through her lifetime and was devoted to her brother and sisters. She loved the young people and liked to associate with them.
She was married to Joel Sixtus Eagar in the St. George Temple on Feb 14, 1879. Soon after her marriage her people were called to Arizona, and Mother’s first child, Lucy Lenora, was born in Brigham City, Arizona on January 8, 1880. As soon as Mother was able they moved to Springerville, Arizona.
Mother loved to work with the young
people in the social welfare of the Church.
Organization of theatricals were her hobby,
and she was called to work in the Mutual
Improvement Association. Most unfortunately
friction arose in Mother’s home life, which led
to a divorce after she had seven children – two
of which died in infancy at Springerville.
Her father and mother had moved from
Springerville to Woodruff, Arizona. My Father
got her a house and lot there too, and then
moved her and her five children to Woodruff
where they could by near her Father and
Mother. This was in 1892. She was now on her
own, and had to make a living for her family –
it was terribly hard. Sixtus died on May 8,
1899 of rheumatism and heart trouble. In that
small pioneer village it was next to impossible
to get medical help. My two older sisters
would go out and work by the day – hand
washing – and get $.40 for a days work.
Mother would always raise a garden, and she
cared for the horses that pulled the mail
"Buckboard" winter and summer. In winter the
mail-drivers nearly perished in the cold, and
almost lost their lives in floods and swollen
streams in the summer. Mother would have a
big fire in the fireplace and something for them
to eat when the mail from the upper country
was due at four o’clock in the morning. The
drivers loved my Mother for her kindness to
them. She always had to have the mail horses
fed, watered and ready to go. She was poorly
paid for this work, but it helped. Then she got
the Post Mistress job, which helped also. She
had a terror that she would lose her children if
she failed to provide for them.
Mother wanted her children to have
opportunities to study music and get an
education. The older girls played the guitar and
sang, and by saving carefully my Mother
purchased a small organ. Oh, the joy it brought
– there was no sleep the night it arrived and
was unpacked. Some people criticized her for
skimping so hard to buy the organ, but we all
loved it too much to think that we could not
afford it. Music meant more than food to my
Mother.
My oldest sister, Lenore (or Nonie, as she
was called) was not very well. At one time she
was very ill with typhoid fever. It was so hard
to get all the foods we needed. We always kept
a milk cow, and raised vegetables and fruits.
Lenora married Franklin H. Owens on July 4,
1901 at Woodruff, Arizona and they went to
the Temple and were endowed in October
1901. They have a wonderful family of 10
children.
My sister Sara married James Brinkerhoff
on Oct 5, 1905 in the Salt Lake Temple. They
have 9 lovely children. Our family dwindled
down to just myself and my brother, Leo. It
was my Mother’s ambition to give us a special
education, so she sent me to Salt Lake City in
the Fall of 1908 to take a nurse’s Course. The
next year she and Leo sold the home in
Woodruff and came to Salt Lake. Leo entered
the L.D.S. Business College. I finished my
nursing course, graduated and did nursing
work for a year in Salt Lake.
L
Mother’s health was very poor. I returned
to Woodruff in 1910 and continued to practice
obstetrics. Then Mother returned to Arizona
also. I married Leroy Eugene Gardner on his
birthday November 11, 1911. My brother Leo
married Vernah Stephens, a wonderful girl
from Idaho, who was teaching school in Salt
Lake City. They are proud of their 3 fine
children.
Finally my brother came to Arizona to get
my Mother and take her to Salt Lake for
medical aid. I went with them and left my 5
little ones with my sister, Sara. My eldest son
went with us, as I had let him live with
Mother. She adored him and asked that he go
with her to Salt Lake City. Mother underwent
an operation to remove a tumor, and died July
16, 1922.
It was decided by all of us to bury her in
Wasatch Lawn Cemetery in Salt Lake. A
beautiful service was held, with high tribute
being paid to Mother. Many of her good
friends from Arizona (some residing in Salt
Lake at that time) attended the funeral.
~~~~~~~~~~~
EAGER, Lucy Lenora - My great grandmother
Eagar, Lucy Lenora
Father: Eagar, Joel Sixtus Mother: Dewitt, Lucy Jane
Birth Date: 8 January 1880 City: Brigham City
Father: Eagar, Joel Sixtus Mother: Dewitt, Lucy Jane
Birth Date: 8 January 1880 City: Brigham City
PATTEE, Thelma OWENS - My grandmother
PATTEE, Thelma OWENS Thelma Owens Walser Pattee, 99, passed away on Sunday, October 2, 2005 at her home in Phoenix, Arizona. She was born March 13, 1906, in Woodruff, Arizona, the third child of Lucy Lenora EAGAR and Franklin Horace OWENS. Thelma married Henry Walser June 20, 1927, and they were blessed with three boys, Ervin Dale, James Waldo, and Franklin Dean. Little Dean was killed in a tragic accident in March 1933 and his father died unexpectedly only one month later in April 1933, leaving Thelma a widow with two little boys. She married Earnest Harold Pattee March 20, 1941, and in doing so acquired her third son, Harold Edward Pattee. Harold and Thelma had three more children, Raymond Clark (Miriam), Patricia Lee Wilson (Ken), and Thelma Marie Winters (Al). Thelma is survived by five children, 33 grandchildren, 111 great-grandchildren, and eight great-great-grandchildren, plus many nieces and nephews. She was pre-deceased by her parents; two husbands; sons, Dale and Dean; two brothers, 7 sisters. Thelma was a dearly loved wife, mother, grandmother, aunt and friend. She radiated love and strength to all who knew her. She had a strong testimony of the Savior, Jesus Christ, and was looking forward to being with her loved ones
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Stephen WILSON - My 7th great grandfather
This is the end of the WILSON line. I am trying to keep this organized by fathers/mothers line. Every story fascinates me. If you have any stories or knowledge, feel free to share it.
STEPHEN WILSON immigrated to America in 1688, from Cumberland County,
England. From the few facts about him available to us today, we are able to
construct a reasonably accurate general description.
STEPHEN was a member of the Society of Friends for several years prior to his
leaving England. It is unlikely that he left for religious reasons, the period of widespread religious persecution having long since passed. We may then assume that he left England simply because the future held more promise in America. Undoubtedly, he heard about the opportunities in this land through the steady correspondence that passed between Friends in America and those who remained in England.
Since STEPHEN WILSON was young, possibly in his twenties, and unmarried, it
would not have been too difficult for him to break ties with the Old World and take a ship to the New.
His friends in England provided STEPHEN with a sort of "To whom it may concern" character reference. This was a common practice of the day and the
responsibility for its accuracy was not taken lightly by the person or persons who wrote and signed it. Viewed in the context of the times, this document shows STEPHEN WILSON to be a sober, hard working, God-fearing, young man.
Apparently his feeling for religion was genuine, for upon his arrival, he
proceeded directly to the Chesterfield Meeting, Burlington County, New Jersey, and made himself known to the membership.
From first to last, his life in America was closely associated with the Quaker movement. The following document from the Society of Friends in England was copied in full into the records of the Burlington Meeting:
"WHEREAS, a Stephen Wilson of Eglishfields in ye Parish of Bugham & County of
Cumberland, Haveing a purpose in his mynd to goe to Pensilvania to settle
himselfe there is some Employmt. Of honest Labour in yt Country:
THEREFORE This is to Certifye and Alsoe to satisfye Friends or any other People in that Island that may employe ye said Stephen Wilson yt he hathe not come away or left his owne country for anye Misdemeanor or Miscarriage or matter of dishonestye of any Kinde yt wee knowe of never since he owned ye Truth but hath walked pretty orderlye for Severally yeares amongst us, and onlye yt it is his owne free will purpose a resolution to settle himselfe in that Plantaceon Beeing a Single Man.
John Banches Richard Richison
Philip Burnyeatt Kerem: Bowman
Christ Wilson John Serugham
James Dickenson Jere: Spencer
John Bobinson Peter Hudson
Richards Head Jon: Spencer. "
Shortly after he presented the above certificate, Stephen Wilson settled on a
tract of land "above ye falls" on the New Jersey side of the Delaware River.
Apparently, he had some skill or training as a carpenter since in 1690, he was employed in that capacity in the construction of the Falls Meeting House in Falls Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
This new Meeting House must have been situated much closer than the
Chesterfield Meeting to Stephen Wilson's farm because from this point on, we
find him mentioned only in connection with the Falls Meeting Group. Although
he continued to live on the New Jersey side of the Delaware, he now becomes
rooted, at least for historical purposes, in Bucks County.
We may assume that fortune smiled on Stephen Wilson and that his affairs
prospered, for he was soon prepared to take on an added responsibility. In
1692, in the Falls Meeting House he had helped build, Stephen Wilson married
SARAH BAKER. Sarah, born in West Darbye, Lancashire, England on October 18,
1672, came to America with her parents, Henry and Hanna (Hardiman) Baker in
1683-84. HENRY BAKER, in later years was a respected member of the Provincial Council and also a member of the Assembly.
An interesting insight into the rigors of Colonial life is provided by the
Quaker records of this period. As you may know, these people always showed the strictest adherence to their obligation to meet together for worship. It would not be a matter of convenience but rather of necessity that would prompt them to permit a number of their members to meet separately. Yet the records show that Stephen WILSON was granted permission by the Falls Group to hold separate meetings for worship in his home on "First Days". The records go on to tell us that this permission was granted only during the winter months when the Delaware was "impassable". Was it a series of near drownings, or an actual tragedy while crossing the ice-swollen Delaware that brought about these separate services? We may never know, but it is interesting to find that "Crossing the Delaware" in the dead of winter plays a small part in the Wilson Family History long before the time of that legendary crossing by Washington at Trenton.
Incidentally, STEPHEN WILSON was by now a member of the Provincial Council, so we may be sure the meetings were in good hands.
Once again, in 1706, STEPHEN WILSON helped to build a Meeting House. This time it was the Buckingham Meeting House in Buckingham Township, Bucks County. Wording used in the records and the fact that he kept the accounts indicate that he was in charge of the construction.
STEPHEN WILSON died in 1707. Presumably, his death was sudden and unexpected
for his accounts of the Buckingham building were not completed at the time of
his passing. The next year, on August 19, 1708, his widow married one ISAAC MILMER. She died in April 1715.
STEPHEN and SARAH (BAKER) WILSON had six children:
Stephen, Sarah, Mary, Rebecca, John, and Samuel.
Friends, or Quakers, as were his
Bucks County descendants. Because the records of births, marriages and deaths, habitually kept by this group, are still in existence, we have a clear picture of the Wilsons of that time and place. The information herein, covering the period 1688 to 1825, is based on these Quaker records, and as such, is to be considered authentic and accurate.
(from genealogy compiled by ORAN C. WILSON, 15 Jun 1958, Sandusky, Ohio)
STEPHEN WILSON immigrated to America in 1688, from Cumberland County,
England. From the few facts about him available to us today, we are able to
construct a reasonably accurate general description.
STEPHEN was a member of the Society of Friends for several years prior to his
leaving England. It is unlikely that he left for religious reasons, the period of widespread religious persecution having long since passed. We may then assume that he left England simply because the future held more promise in America. Undoubtedly, he heard about the opportunities in this land through the steady correspondence that passed between Friends in America and those who remained in England.
Since STEPHEN WILSON was young, possibly in his twenties, and unmarried, it
would not have been too difficult for him to break ties with the Old World and take a ship to the New.
His friends in England provided STEPHEN with a sort of "To whom it may concern" character reference. This was a common practice of the day and the
responsibility for its accuracy was not taken lightly by the person or persons who wrote and signed it. Viewed in the context of the times, this document shows STEPHEN WILSON to be a sober, hard working, God-fearing, young man.
Apparently his feeling for religion was genuine, for upon his arrival, he
proceeded directly to the Chesterfield Meeting, Burlington County, New Jersey, and made himself known to the membership.
From first to last, his life in America was closely associated with the Quaker movement. The following document from the Society of Friends in England was copied in full into the records of the Burlington Meeting:
"WHEREAS, a Stephen Wilson of Eglishfields in ye Parish of Bugham & County of
Cumberland, Haveing a purpose in his mynd to goe to Pensilvania to settle
himselfe there is some Employmt. Of honest Labour in yt Country:
THEREFORE This is to Certifye and Alsoe to satisfye Friends or any other People in that Island that may employe ye said Stephen Wilson yt he hathe not come away or left his owne country for anye Misdemeanor or Miscarriage or matter of dishonestye of any Kinde yt wee knowe of never since he owned ye Truth but hath walked pretty orderlye for Severally yeares amongst us, and onlye yt it is his owne free will purpose a resolution to settle himselfe in that Plantaceon Beeing a Single Man.
John Banches Richard Richison
Philip Burnyeatt Kerem: Bowman
Christ Wilson John Serugham
James Dickenson Jere: Spencer
John Bobinson Peter Hudson
Richards Head Jon: Spencer. "
Shortly after he presented the above certificate, Stephen Wilson settled on a
tract of land "above ye falls" on the New Jersey side of the Delaware River.
Apparently, he had some skill or training as a carpenter since in 1690, he was employed in that capacity in the construction of the Falls Meeting House in Falls Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
This new Meeting House must have been situated much closer than the
Chesterfield Meeting to Stephen Wilson's farm because from this point on, we
find him mentioned only in connection with the Falls Meeting Group. Although
he continued to live on the New Jersey side of the Delaware, he now becomes
rooted, at least for historical purposes, in Bucks County.
We may assume that fortune smiled on Stephen Wilson and that his affairs
prospered, for he was soon prepared to take on an added responsibility. In
1692, in the Falls Meeting House he had helped build, Stephen Wilson married
SARAH BAKER. Sarah, born in West Darbye, Lancashire, England on October 18,
1672, came to America with her parents, Henry and Hanna (Hardiman) Baker in
1683-84. HENRY BAKER, in later years was a respected member of the Provincial Council and also a member of the Assembly.
An interesting insight into the rigors of Colonial life is provided by the
Quaker records of this period. As you may know, these people always showed the strictest adherence to their obligation to meet together for worship. It would not be a matter of convenience but rather of necessity that would prompt them to permit a number of their members to meet separately. Yet the records show that Stephen WILSON was granted permission by the Falls Group to hold separate meetings for worship in his home on "First Days". The records go on to tell us that this permission was granted only during the winter months when the Delaware was "impassable". Was it a series of near drownings, or an actual tragedy while crossing the ice-swollen Delaware that brought about these separate services? We may never know, but it is interesting to find that "Crossing the Delaware" in the dead of winter plays a small part in the Wilson Family History long before the time of that legendary crossing by Washington at Trenton.
Incidentally, STEPHEN WILSON was by now a member of the Provincial Council, so we may be sure the meetings were in good hands.
Once again, in 1706, STEPHEN WILSON helped to build a Meeting House. This time it was the Buckingham Meeting House in Buckingham Township, Bucks County. Wording used in the records and the fact that he kept the accounts indicate that he was in charge of the construction.
STEPHEN WILSON died in 1707. Presumably, his death was sudden and unexpected
for his accounts of the Buckingham building were not completed at the time of
his passing. The next year, on August 19, 1708, his widow married one ISAAC MILMER. She died in April 1715.
STEPHEN and SARAH (BAKER) WILSON had six children:
Stephen, Sarah, Mary, Rebecca, John, and Samuel.
Friends, or Quakers, as were his
Bucks County descendants. Because the records of births, marriages and deaths, habitually kept by this group, are still in existence, we have a clear picture of the Wilsons of that time and place. The information herein, covering the period 1688 to 1825, is based on these Quaker records, and as such, is to be considered authentic and accurate.
(from genealogy compiled by ORAN C. WILSON, 15 Jun 1958, Sandusky, Ohio)
Samuel WILSON - My 6th great grandfather
Samuel WILSON, sixth child and third son of Stephen and Sarah WILSON, was born March 6, 1706. Little is known of his childhood, but it is more than likely he was raised by his stepfather, Isaac MILMER, after his mother's death. SAMUEL WILSON was 9 years old when his mother, SARAH, died.
He married REBECCA CANBY, daughter of THOMAS CANBY, in 1729.
Thomas Canby is mentioned in Davis' "History of Bucks County, Pennsylvania" as follows:
"Thomas Canby, son of Benjamin, of Thorn, Yorkshire, England, born about 1667, came to Pennsylvania in 1683 as an indentured servant of Henry Baker."
Thus, THOMAS CANBY, about the same age as STEPHEN WILSON, was an apprentice to Henry Baker, Stephen's father-in-law. It would appear that STEPHEN's son, SAMUEL, and Thomas's daughter, REBECCA, must have gotten to know each other during childhood visits to the Henry Baker home.
In 1730, Samuel and REBECCA settled and built their home on a large tract of
land in Buckingham Township, Bucks County. This land remained in the family
for many generations. As late as 1900, the homesite was a seed farm owned by a descendant, also named Samuel Wilson.
SAMUEL and REBECCA WILSON had one child, a son, THOMAS, who was born 19 March
1731. At this point, our source books and reference material fail us, at least in regard to SAMUEL and REBECCA. We find no further mention of Thomas'
parents, but we hope in the absence of direct information, that they led long
and happy lives.
(from genealogy compiled by ORAN WILSON, 15 Jun 1958, Sandusky, Ohio)
He married REBECCA CANBY, daughter of THOMAS CANBY, in 1729.
Thomas Canby is mentioned in Davis' "History of Bucks County, Pennsylvania" as follows:
"Thomas Canby, son of Benjamin, of Thorn, Yorkshire, England, born about 1667, came to Pennsylvania in 1683 as an indentured servant of Henry Baker."
Thus, THOMAS CANBY, about the same age as STEPHEN WILSON, was an apprentice to Henry Baker, Stephen's father-in-law. It would appear that STEPHEN's son, SAMUEL, and Thomas's daughter, REBECCA, must have gotten to know each other during childhood visits to the Henry Baker home.
In 1730, Samuel and REBECCA settled and built their home on a large tract of
land in Buckingham Township, Bucks County. This land remained in the family
for many generations. As late as 1900, the homesite was a seed farm owned by a descendant, also named Samuel Wilson.
SAMUEL and REBECCA WILSON had one child, a son, THOMAS, who was born 19 March
1731. At this point, our source books and reference material fail us, at least in regard to SAMUEL and REBECCA. We find no further mention of Thomas'
parents, but we hope in the absence of direct information, that they led long
and happy lives.
(from genealogy compiled by ORAN WILSON, 15 Jun 1958, Sandusky, Ohio)
Thomas WILSON 1731- My 5th great grandfather
Thomas WILSON has a very unique claim to fame in our family's annals. He had four wives. He married his first wife, Margaret BYE, on 21 April 1756, which would make him 25 years of age at the time. They settled on a farm near Salebury, Pennsylvania. Before her death on 11 December 1763 Margaret presented Thomas with two sons, Joseph and Benjamin.
Thomas was a widower for slightly less than two years, when he married Macre CROASDALE of Middletown Township. The date was 20 March 1765.
THOMAS WILSON purchased 200 acres in Bucks County in 1769 and moved his family to this land in 1772.
Thomas and Macre had three children: Thomas, Grace and Ezra. The date of Macre's death is not known, but Thomas, again a widower, and with five children now, married for the third time on 14 April 1779. His third wife was Sarah FELL. Sarah had two children, David and John.
Our family descends from David WILSON, Sarah's first child. David was born in 1780.
The date of Sarah's death is unknown but Quaker records show that on 8 March 1787, Thomas requested a certificate to move from Middletown to Shrewsbury, New Jersey, to marry his fourth and last wife, MARGARET KNIGHT. THOMAS and MARGARET had no children.
At age 73 on 23 July 1803 THOMAS WILSON died and was buried at Middletown,Pennsylvania.
(from genealogy compiled by ORAN C. WILSON, 1958)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Full Context of Pennsylvania Irish Quaker Immigrants, 1682-1750
Immigration of the Irish Quakers into Pennsylvania 1682-1750 With Their Early History in Ireland Part III. The Irish Friends In Pennsylvania A large number of Irish Friends made their way to the Warrington settlement. Among them were Thomas WILSON, from Grange, near Charlemont, about 1748, a little later removing to Fairfax Meeting, Virginia;
Thomas was a widower for slightly less than two years, when he married Macre CROASDALE of Middletown Township. The date was 20 March 1765.
THOMAS WILSON purchased 200 acres in Bucks County in 1769 and moved his family to this land in 1772.
Thomas and Macre had three children: Thomas, Grace and Ezra. The date of Macre's death is not known, but Thomas, again a widower, and with five children now, married for the third time on 14 April 1779. His third wife was Sarah FELL. Sarah had two children, David and John.
Our family descends from David WILSON, Sarah's first child. David was born in 1780.
The date of Sarah's death is unknown but Quaker records show that on 8 March 1787, Thomas requested a certificate to move from Middletown to Shrewsbury, New Jersey, to marry his fourth and last wife, MARGARET KNIGHT. THOMAS and MARGARET had no children.
At age 73 on 23 July 1803 THOMAS WILSON died and was buried at Middletown,Pennsylvania.
(from genealogy compiled by ORAN C. WILSON, 1958)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Full Context of Pennsylvania Irish Quaker Immigrants, 1682-1750
Immigration of the Irish Quakers into Pennsylvania 1682-1750 With Their Early History in Ireland Part III. The Irish Friends In Pennsylvania A large number of Irish Friends made their way to the Warrington settlement. Among them were Thomas WILSON, from Grange, near Charlemont, about 1748, a little later removing to Fairfax Meeting, Virginia;
David WILSON - My 4th great grandfather
In 1802, at age 22, DAVID WILSON married ELIABETH HIBBS. They had four sons:
Thomas, born 1803; Eli, born 1805; and John and Mahlon, birth dates unknown.
DAVID WILSON met his death in an accident and the events immediately following this accident have tragic overtones.
In 1810, DAVID travelled the 25 miles from his home to the bustling metropolis of Philadelphia, where he secured work as a carpenter. He fell while working on a five-story building and was taken unconscious to a hospital where he died. He was newly arrived and a stranger in Philadelphia and the authorities, unable to locate his family, quietly buried him in a potter's field a few blocks from the hospital. His son, ELI, and brother-in-law, William Hibbs, arrived in Philadelphia a few days later at the public market where they learned of his death. Since the Quakers were opposed to moving the dead, David's remains were not disturbed and rest today within sight of Independence Hall and in the shadow of the Curtis Publishing Building.
(from genealogy compiled by ORAN C. WILSON, 1958)
Thomas, born 1803; Eli, born 1805; and John and Mahlon, birth dates unknown.
DAVID WILSON met his death in an accident and the events immediately following this accident have tragic overtones.
In 1810, DAVID travelled the 25 miles from his home to the bustling metropolis of Philadelphia, where he secured work as a carpenter. He fell while working on a five-story building and was taken unconscious to a hospital where he died. He was newly arrived and a stranger in Philadelphia and the authorities, unable to locate his family, quietly buried him in a potter's field a few blocks from the hospital. His son, ELI, and brother-in-law, William Hibbs, arrived in Philadelphia a few days later at the public market where they learned of his death. Since the Quakers were opposed to moving the dead, David's remains were not disturbed and rest today within sight of Independence Hall and in the shadow of the Curtis Publishing Building.
(from genealogy compiled by ORAN C. WILSON, 1958)
Thomas WILSON - My 3rd great grandfather
THOMAS WILSON is the one who brought our name to Ohio. There is a conflict of dates regarding Thomas' move to Ohio. "A History of Preble County, Ohio" published 1881, states "Thomas Wilson emigrated from Berks (Bucks) County, Pennsylvania to Harrison Township about 1809." Other sources and family recollections place the date around 1820. This latter date seems much more
accurate, since tradition has it that Thomas walked from Philadelphia to Preble County, Ohio. It is hardly likely that a six-year-old boy would undertake such an adventure. In the absence of more complete information, it will suffice to say that Thomas arrived in Preble County between the years 1809 and 1820.
This period marks a time of dynamic expansion in the history of our country. The War of 1812 greatly accelerated the general movement to the West that was to reach tidal wave proportions at the time of the Civil War. In this frame of reference, it is easy to understand how Thomas WILSON, like so many of his friends and neighbors, could sever their ties with the east to stake their lives and fortunes on the vast "Ohio country over the mountains."
Ohio was genuinely primitive in the early eighteen hundreds. Settler and savage lived side by side in a sort of uneasy truce. Acts of violence on a large scale were extremely rare occurrences, but both the white settler and the Indian engaged in minor harassing actions that kept the frontier in a constant state of uneasiness. This condition is well illustrated by the following quote from the Preble County History mentioned earlier:
EARLY INCIDENTS
"A great deal of trouble was experienced with the hostile Indians, both prior to and during the War of 1812. Most of the mischief was done by small bands, as there would have been too much danger of capture had raids been made by very large bodies of men. Their depredations were confined mostly to running of horses and killing of cattle. Tradition mentions two attempts to murder whites, which failed through the failure of the guns to explode. A man by the name of Myers hd stepped out on a back porch, and while there, he heard what he recognized to be the snap of a flintlock. The gun of the Indian failed him, and before he could aim a second time, Myers had escaped into the house. He afterwards saw the very Indian who had attempted his murder, and who mentioned having snapped at him on a certain morning as he was standing on his porch.
"At another time, John Arkman's life was attempted by a hostile Indian. He was tying fodder when he heard the snap of the flint against the steel. He did not stop to interview his dangerous neighbor, but in the words of the aged narrator he "cut to the house lively." Every precaution was used to ensure safety by night against the attack of the wily foe. Everyone slept with some weapon at hand, ready at an instant's alarm to start up and battle for life. Traces were often found where the Indians had been prowling around during the night, probably only restrained from committing injury by their fear of the white man's vengeance. Although no record exists of any white being killed by an Indian in the township, reports to the contrary are found.
"At one time, an Indian came to the house of the Abbotts on Miller's Fork, and demanded admittance. Upon its being refused him, he attempted to force his way into the dwelling but was killed by Mr. Abbott by a fearful blow on the head with some heavy instrument. An Indian was buried by William Myers in the swamp near his house. Although no one can assert positively that he met death by violence, nevertheless, Myers was always regarded as the author of his death, but such was the dread in which the red man was held that no questions were asked. Anyone who could dispose of an enemy so cruel and cunning, was held to have done the country a service timely and praiseworthy.
"In 1812, Rebecca SHARPE, a sister of Henry SHARPE, was taken prisoner by some wandering Indians while visiting the Abbotts. She was carried to Darke County, and afterwards brought back to Preble County by her captors who stopped on Swamp Creek and made salt. They had a salt pit there which they guarded jealously against the whites. Miss Sharpe fixed the place in her memory and after her release, which occurred at Greenville soon after, she came back and gave information concerning the salt pit. After the Indians were through with their salt making, they were accustomed to stop the mouth of the pit with large stones and then strew it over with elm bark.
"Jacob Potter bought up a large track of land in the neighborhood and went to work to make salt. He had dug down a good ways, when someone, who was either jealous of his prospects, or who was a personal enemy, filled up the shaft with pieces of steel and iron and put an end to the work. Potter was out of funds, probably, and could not proceed with the work. At any rate, he sold out and made no more attempts at salt manufacturing.
"At the time of Rebecca Sharpe's capture, there were only four men in the township who were not drafted into the army. These four were John Lock, Jacob Werts, John Vantz, and William Lower. This act of the Indians in taking Miss Sharpe prisoner, caused such a fright that everyone but old Vantz left in haste for the blockhouse at Lexington, leaving stock, crops and everything to the mercy of the Indians. Vantz said that he had come all the way from Pennsylvania to find a home and that now that he had one, he didn't propose to leave it to the mercy of "them pesky Injuns." They might kill him if they wished but he would not run. He was never molested during his stay, although the stock of the other farms were run off and the crops destroyed.
"Upon her release, Miss Sharpe went back to Tennessee. Four years later, her relatives went after her and persuaded her to accompany them back to Ohio. She consented, but died on the journey when ten miles north of Cincinnati, within fifty miles of her destination."
THOMAS WILSON married ELIZABETH LEAS, a daughter of a prominent and prosperous Harrison Township farmer, WILLIAM LEAS. Thomas and Elizabeth settled on a tract of land near the town of Euphemia in Harrison Township, Ohio. Here they raised their family.
Although THOMAS had friends and family living in Pennsylvania, he gradually lost contact with Bucks County. Money was scarce on the frontier, barter was the basis of trade. And because communications were either non-existent or extremely expensive--a letter from Preble to Bucks County cost 25 cents, payable by the recipient--Thomas finally lost all touch with the eastern branch of his family.
Thomas and Elizabeth had eight children: William, Lydia, John, Eli, Theodore, Augustus, Jane and Flavius Josephus. Theodore Wilson was born 10 July 1837.
THOMAS, it is generally admitted, was a "poor farmer on a poor farm." His land was swampy and not productive. More importantly, he was not by inclination, a farmer. He was unusually well educated for the time and had a rather wide reputation as a poet. He was a hatter, by trade, and probably had a shop for this business in the town of Fort Jefferson, Darke County, Ohio. He is also said to have taught school and worked at the old stone Frazer Mill on Twin Creek near West Sonora.
For six years, from 1871 to 1877, THOMAS WILSON was Justice of the Peace in Harrison Township. He died December 21, 1877.
(from genealogy compiled by ORAN C.WILSON, 1958, Sandusky, Ohio)
accurate, since tradition has it that Thomas walked from Philadelphia to Preble County, Ohio. It is hardly likely that a six-year-old boy would undertake such an adventure. In the absence of more complete information, it will suffice to say that Thomas arrived in Preble County between the years 1809 and 1820.
This period marks a time of dynamic expansion in the history of our country. The War of 1812 greatly accelerated the general movement to the West that was to reach tidal wave proportions at the time of the Civil War. In this frame of reference, it is easy to understand how Thomas WILSON, like so many of his friends and neighbors, could sever their ties with the east to stake their lives and fortunes on the vast "Ohio country over the mountains."
Ohio was genuinely primitive in the early eighteen hundreds. Settler and savage lived side by side in a sort of uneasy truce. Acts of violence on a large scale were extremely rare occurrences, but both the white settler and the Indian engaged in minor harassing actions that kept the frontier in a constant state of uneasiness. This condition is well illustrated by the following quote from the Preble County History mentioned earlier:
EARLY INCIDENTS
"A great deal of trouble was experienced with the hostile Indians, both prior to and during the War of 1812. Most of the mischief was done by small bands, as there would have been too much danger of capture had raids been made by very large bodies of men. Their depredations were confined mostly to running of horses and killing of cattle. Tradition mentions two attempts to murder whites, which failed through the failure of the guns to explode. A man by the name of Myers hd stepped out on a back porch, and while there, he heard what he recognized to be the snap of a flintlock. The gun of the Indian failed him, and before he could aim a second time, Myers had escaped into the house. He afterwards saw the very Indian who had attempted his murder, and who mentioned having snapped at him on a certain morning as he was standing on his porch.
"At another time, John Arkman's life was attempted by a hostile Indian. He was tying fodder when he heard the snap of the flint against the steel. He did not stop to interview his dangerous neighbor, but in the words of the aged narrator he "cut to the house lively." Every precaution was used to ensure safety by night against the attack of the wily foe. Everyone slept with some weapon at hand, ready at an instant's alarm to start up and battle for life. Traces were often found where the Indians had been prowling around during the night, probably only restrained from committing injury by their fear of the white man's vengeance. Although no record exists of any white being killed by an Indian in the township, reports to the contrary are found.
"At one time, an Indian came to the house of the Abbotts on Miller's Fork, and demanded admittance. Upon its being refused him, he attempted to force his way into the dwelling but was killed by Mr. Abbott by a fearful blow on the head with some heavy instrument. An Indian was buried by William Myers in the swamp near his house. Although no one can assert positively that he met death by violence, nevertheless, Myers was always regarded as the author of his death, but such was the dread in which the red man was held that no questions were asked. Anyone who could dispose of an enemy so cruel and cunning, was held to have done the country a service timely and praiseworthy.
"In 1812, Rebecca SHARPE, a sister of Henry SHARPE, was taken prisoner by some wandering Indians while visiting the Abbotts. She was carried to Darke County, and afterwards brought back to Preble County by her captors who stopped on Swamp Creek and made salt. They had a salt pit there which they guarded jealously against the whites. Miss Sharpe fixed the place in her memory and after her release, which occurred at Greenville soon after, she came back and gave information concerning the salt pit. After the Indians were through with their salt making, they were accustomed to stop the mouth of the pit with large stones and then strew it over with elm bark.
"Jacob Potter bought up a large track of land in the neighborhood and went to work to make salt. He had dug down a good ways, when someone, who was either jealous of his prospects, or who was a personal enemy, filled up the shaft with pieces of steel and iron and put an end to the work. Potter was out of funds, probably, and could not proceed with the work. At any rate, he sold out and made no more attempts at salt manufacturing.
"At the time of Rebecca Sharpe's capture, there were only four men in the township who were not drafted into the army. These four were John Lock, Jacob Werts, John Vantz, and William Lower. This act of the Indians in taking Miss Sharpe prisoner, caused such a fright that everyone but old Vantz left in haste for the blockhouse at Lexington, leaving stock, crops and everything to the mercy of the Indians. Vantz said that he had come all the way from Pennsylvania to find a home and that now that he had one, he didn't propose to leave it to the mercy of "them pesky Injuns." They might kill him if they wished but he would not run. He was never molested during his stay, although the stock of the other farms were run off and the crops destroyed.
"Upon her release, Miss Sharpe went back to Tennessee. Four years later, her relatives went after her and persuaded her to accompany them back to Ohio. She consented, but died on the journey when ten miles north of Cincinnati, within fifty miles of her destination."
THOMAS WILSON married ELIZABETH LEAS, a daughter of a prominent and prosperous Harrison Township farmer, WILLIAM LEAS. Thomas and Elizabeth settled on a tract of land near the town of Euphemia in Harrison Township, Ohio. Here they raised their family.
Although THOMAS had friends and family living in Pennsylvania, he gradually lost contact with Bucks County. Money was scarce on the frontier, barter was the basis of trade. And because communications were either non-existent or extremely expensive--a letter from Preble to Bucks County cost 25 cents, payable by the recipient--Thomas finally lost all touch with the eastern branch of his family.
Thomas and Elizabeth had eight children: William, Lydia, John, Eli, Theodore, Augustus, Jane and Flavius Josephus. Theodore Wilson was born 10 July 1837.
THOMAS, it is generally admitted, was a "poor farmer on a poor farm." His land was swampy and not productive. More importantly, he was not by inclination, a farmer. He was unusually well educated for the time and had a rather wide reputation as a poet. He was a hatter, by trade, and probably had a shop for this business in the town of Fort Jefferson, Darke County, Ohio. He is also said to have taught school and worked at the old stone Frazer Mill on Twin Creek near West Sonora.
For six years, from 1871 to 1877, THOMAS WILSON was Justice of the Peace in Harrison Township. He died December 21, 1877.
(from genealogy compiled by ORAN C.WILSON, 1958, Sandusky, Ohio)
Theodore WILSON - my 2nd great grandfather
1910 WILSON THEODORE 73
Margaret, 68, Ohio, married 49 years, 8 children, 8 living
Oren, son, 25, b. Indiana,
CARSON, Emma, daughter, widow, 44, b. Ohio
Wendel, grandson, 9, b. Indiana
Enid, grandson, 7, b. Indiana
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Having been a member of a large, and sometimes penniless family, THEODORE WILSON was forced to make his way on his own from earliest manhood. His father, THOMAS, provided him and his brother, AUGUSTUS, with enough in the way of an education to enable them to earn their living as school teachers. THEODORE continued in this capacity for twenty years, 1860 to 1880, first in
Lewisburg, Ohio, later in Howard County, near Kokomo, Indiana.
Through the summers, THEODORE farmed and worked for others. When I (ORAN WILSON) was a boy, he told me of cutting hickory sapling to be used a hogshead hoops. He remembered the fabled flights of passenger pigeons, now extinct, that were so numerous that they literally darkened the sky. At night when roosting, large limbs would suddenly snap and fall from the combined weight of these pigeons. Passenger pigeons were a most welcome addition to the plain fare of that era, and they were trapped by the millions for food. Man with his cunning proved a mortal enemy, so much so that by the early part of this century, not a single passenger pigeon survived.
On 3 February 1861, Theodore Married Margaret WERTS. She was 20 years of age at the time, having been born on 18 September 1841.
Sometime around 1875, THEODORE moved his family to Marion County, Indiana, settling on the outskirts of Indianapolis on Rural Avenue about 1/4 mile south of Troy Ave. They lived in a log house where the last of their eight children were born, Oran and Omer, twins, 17 April 1885.
1880 marks Theodore's last year as a teacher. For the remainder of his long life, he was actively engaged in farming.
In 1887, THEODORE built a new nine room house about 400 feet south of the log house. The first floor contained a kitchen and living room plus a parlor-living room and bedroom that were never used except for visitors. There were four bedrooms on the second floor. Typical of the period, and much admired by the grandchildren, were the brilliant multi-colored stained glass panels set into the front and side doors.
THEODORE WILSON raised produce on his farm. For many years, he served a regular route by wagon, selling produce, butter and eggs to his Indianapolis customers.
Although times have changed, it seems that the farm cats and their kittens were as much a problem then as now. THEODORE used to resort to the practice of secretly delivering kittens along with his farm produce. On one occasion, he took six kittens to town in a burlap bag. At his first stop, he untied the bag and the kittens scattered. His customer, seeing the kittens scampering away, asked about them. Theodore shrugged and in mock dismay answered, "Oh, my kittens got away!" A week later, on his stop there, the customer greeted Theodore with, "We caught all your kittens, Mr. Wilson," and promptly turned them over to him. More than likely, youngsters farther along the route were overjoyed to find six kittens looking for homes in their neighborhood.
In his later years, Theodore raised tomatoes and strawberries, and then finally specialized in strawberries alone. He earned quite a reputation from his success with strawberries. The Indianapolis News once ran a story about him referring to him as "Strawberry" Wilson.
To the best of my knowledge, Theodore was never seriously ill in his life. He farmed actively to within three weeks of his death, passing away at the farmhouse January 30, 1931. He was then 93 years of age.
Theodore's wife, Margaret, preceded him in death by 19 years. She died of a kidney infection, Bright's Disease, on 3 February 1912.
(from genealogy compiled by Oran C. Wilson, Sandusky, Ohio 1958)
His obituary:
NONAGENARIAN GROWER OF FINE STRAWBERRIES IS DEAD AT HOME
Theodore Wilson age ninety-three, former school teacher and widely-known farmer and strawberry grower of Marion County, died Friday at his home near Beech Grove, Rural Route 5.
Born in Preble County, Ohio, July 10, 1837, Mr. Wilson lived in Marion County
53 years. He taught school in Ohio and Indiana from 1860 to 1880 and since
that time had been engaged in farming and growing strawberries. His wife, Mrs. Margaret Werts Wilson, died in 1912. He came from a family of eight children, six of whom lived to be more than 80 years old. He was a member of the Beech Grove M. E. church.
Mr. Wilson, with his horse and wagon and boxes filled with strawberries, was
for a number of years a familiar figure on the streets of Indianapolis during
the strawberry season. Old customers assert that his berries were the largest specimens of the fruit they ever had seen. In latter years Mr. Wilson discontinued his daily peddling activities, but las spring he still personally supervised the cultivation and picking of the strawberry crop.
He often told the story of how he once had had the opportunity of buying a
strip of land on the south side of Tenth street, between Emerson Avenue and
Gray Street, at $10 an acre but did not buy it because he thought Indianapolis never would grow out that far.
An incident over which Mr. Wilson often chuckled was his unintended
contribution of a load of strawberries to Indianapolis police. The story is
told that one day the horse ambled away while he was interviewing a customer
and was caught by police and taken to police headquarters. The horse and wagon were retrieved later but the berries were gone.
"We were afraid they would spoil," was the explanation given.
Surviving are seven children, HOLLAND and HOWARD WILSON, MRS. ARVILLA BOND,
Indianapolis, VIRGIL WILSON, Seattle, Washington, WALTER WILSON, Columbus,
Ohio, and ORAN and OMER WILSON, Terre Haute. A sister, Mrs. Jane Laired, Los
Angeles, California and 25 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren also
survive.
Margaret, 68, Ohio, married 49 years, 8 children, 8 living
Oren, son, 25, b. Indiana,
CARSON, Emma, daughter, widow, 44, b. Ohio
Wendel, grandson, 9, b. Indiana
Enid, grandson, 7, b. Indiana
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Having been a member of a large, and sometimes penniless family, THEODORE WILSON was forced to make his way on his own from earliest manhood. His father, THOMAS, provided him and his brother, AUGUSTUS, with enough in the way of an education to enable them to earn their living as school teachers. THEODORE continued in this capacity for twenty years, 1860 to 1880, first in
Lewisburg, Ohio, later in Howard County, near Kokomo, Indiana.
Through the summers, THEODORE farmed and worked for others. When I (ORAN WILSON) was a boy, he told me of cutting hickory sapling to be used a hogshead hoops. He remembered the fabled flights of passenger pigeons, now extinct, that were so numerous that they literally darkened the sky. At night when roosting, large limbs would suddenly snap and fall from the combined weight of these pigeons. Passenger pigeons were a most welcome addition to the plain fare of that era, and they were trapped by the millions for food. Man with his cunning proved a mortal enemy, so much so that by the early part of this century, not a single passenger pigeon survived.
On 3 February 1861, Theodore Married Margaret WERTS. She was 20 years of age at the time, having been born on 18 September 1841.
Sometime around 1875, THEODORE moved his family to Marion County, Indiana, settling on the outskirts of Indianapolis on Rural Avenue about 1/4 mile south of Troy Ave. They lived in a log house where the last of their eight children were born, Oran and Omer, twins, 17 April 1885.
1880 marks Theodore's last year as a teacher. For the remainder of his long life, he was actively engaged in farming.
In 1887, THEODORE built a new nine room house about 400 feet south of the log house. The first floor contained a kitchen and living room plus a parlor-living room and bedroom that were never used except for visitors. There were four bedrooms on the second floor. Typical of the period, and much admired by the grandchildren, were the brilliant multi-colored stained glass panels set into the front and side doors.
THEODORE WILSON raised produce on his farm. For many years, he served a regular route by wagon, selling produce, butter and eggs to his Indianapolis customers.
Although times have changed, it seems that the farm cats and their kittens were as much a problem then as now. THEODORE used to resort to the practice of secretly delivering kittens along with his farm produce. On one occasion, he took six kittens to town in a burlap bag. At his first stop, he untied the bag and the kittens scattered. His customer, seeing the kittens scampering away, asked about them. Theodore shrugged and in mock dismay answered, "Oh, my kittens got away!" A week later, on his stop there, the customer greeted Theodore with, "We caught all your kittens, Mr. Wilson," and promptly turned them over to him. More than likely, youngsters farther along the route were overjoyed to find six kittens looking for homes in their neighborhood.
In his later years, Theodore raised tomatoes and strawberries, and then finally specialized in strawberries alone. He earned quite a reputation from his success with strawberries. The Indianapolis News once ran a story about him referring to him as "Strawberry" Wilson.
To the best of my knowledge, Theodore was never seriously ill in his life. He farmed actively to within three weeks of his death, passing away at the farmhouse January 30, 1931. He was then 93 years of age.
Theodore's wife, Margaret, preceded him in death by 19 years. She died of a kidney infection, Bright's Disease, on 3 February 1912.
(from genealogy compiled by Oran C. Wilson, Sandusky, Ohio 1958)
His obituary:
NONAGENARIAN GROWER OF FINE STRAWBERRIES IS DEAD AT HOME
Theodore Wilson age ninety-three, former school teacher and widely-known farmer and strawberry grower of Marion County, died Friday at his home near Beech Grove, Rural Route 5.
Born in Preble County, Ohio, July 10, 1837, Mr. Wilson lived in Marion County
53 years. He taught school in Ohio and Indiana from 1860 to 1880 and since
that time had been engaged in farming and growing strawberries. His wife, Mrs. Margaret Werts Wilson, died in 1912. He came from a family of eight children, six of whom lived to be more than 80 years old. He was a member of the Beech Grove M. E. church.
Mr. Wilson, with his horse and wagon and boxes filled with strawberries, was
for a number of years a familiar figure on the streets of Indianapolis during
the strawberry season. Old customers assert that his berries were the largest specimens of the fruit they ever had seen. In latter years Mr. Wilson discontinued his daily peddling activities, but las spring he still personally supervised the cultivation and picking of the strawberry crop.
He often told the story of how he once had had the opportunity of buying a
strip of land on the south side of Tenth street, between Emerson Avenue and
Gray Street, at $10 an acre but did not buy it because he thought Indianapolis never would grow out that far.
An incident over which Mr. Wilson often chuckled was his unintended
contribution of a load of strawberries to Indianapolis police. The story is
told that one day the horse ambled away while he was interviewing a customer
and was caught by police and taken to police headquarters. The horse and wagon were retrieved later but the berries were gone.
"We were afraid they would spoil," was the explanation given.
Surviving are seven children, HOLLAND and HOWARD WILSON, MRS. ARVILLA BOND,
Indianapolis, VIRGIL WILSON, Seattle, Washington, WALTER WILSON, Columbus,
Ohio, and ORAN and OMER WILSON, Terre Haute. A sister, Mrs. Jane Laired, Los
Angeles, California and 25 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren also
survive.
Omer A. Wilson - My great grandfather
financial treasurer for the WASHINGTON AVENUE Presbyterian Church (812-2321638) 619 WASHINGTON AVE, TERRE HAUTE, IN 47802
~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
Marriage Records:
Graham, Goldie P, W, Omer A, Wilson, Oct, 16, 1907, Apr, 13, 1886, Marion, 47, 216
~~~~~~~~~~~Omer and Oran were twins.
Omer A. put the initial in his name--not on birth certificate.
Obituary from the Terre Haute Tribune, August 13, 1952
OMER A. WILSON, CHEMICAL FIRM EXECUTIVE, DIES
Omer A. Wilson, 67 years old, 1307 South Seventh Street, secretary-treasurer of the Indiana Gas and Chemical Corporation and the Terre Haute Gas Corporation, died at the Union Hospital at 3:25 o'clock Tuesday morning. Mr. Wilson had served as an official with the local company since May 1, 1924.
Previous to then he was with the Vigo Mining Company and the Vandalia Coal Corporation for a number of years. Prominent in Terre Haute business circles, Mr. Wilson was also active in fraternal and civic affairs. He was a member of Terre Haute Lodge No. 19, Freeand Accepted Masons, and of the Washington Avenue Presbyterian Church. Born in Indianapolis, where he graduated from the Manual Training School, Mr. Wilson came to Terre Haute to reside 40 years ago. His principal hobbies were fishing and home movies. Surviving are his wife, Mrs. GOLDIE WILSON, four sons, Oran and Charles Wilson of Sandusky, Ohio, Howard Wilson of Columbus, Ohio, and Floyd Wilson of Corsicana, Texas; two daughters, Mrs. Edith Mahoney of Cold Springs, New York and Mrs. Alice Schwab of Columbus, Indiana; a sister, Mrs. Orville Bond of Terre Haute and nineteen grandchildren.
The body was taken to the Gillis Memory Chapel from where funeral services will be held Thursday afternoon at 2 o'clock with burial in Roselawn Memorial Park.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
Marriage Records:
Graham, Goldie P, W, Omer A, Wilson, Oct, 16, 1907, Apr, 13, 1886, Marion, 47, 216
~~~~~~~~~~~Omer and Oran were twins.
Omer A. put the initial in his name--not on birth certificate.
Obituary from the Terre Haute Tribune, August 13, 1952
OMER A. WILSON, CHEMICAL FIRM EXECUTIVE, DIES
Omer A. Wilson, 67 years old, 1307 South Seventh Street, secretary-treasurer of the Indiana Gas and Chemical Corporation and the Terre Haute Gas Corporation, died at the Union Hospital at 3:25 o'clock Tuesday morning. Mr. Wilson had served as an official with the local company since May 1, 1924.
Previous to then he was with the Vigo Mining Company and the Vandalia Coal Corporation for a number of years. Prominent in Terre Haute business circles, Mr. Wilson was also active in fraternal and civic affairs. He was a member of Terre Haute Lodge No. 19, Freeand Accepted Masons, and of the Washington Avenue Presbyterian Church. Born in Indianapolis, where he graduated from the Manual Training School, Mr. Wilson came to Terre Haute to reside 40 years ago. His principal hobbies were fishing and home movies. Surviving are his wife, Mrs. GOLDIE WILSON, four sons, Oran and Charles Wilson of Sandusky, Ohio, Howard Wilson of Columbus, Ohio, and Floyd Wilson of Corsicana, Texas; two daughters, Mrs. Edith Mahoney of Cold Springs, New York and Mrs. Alice Schwab of Columbus, Indiana; a sister, Mrs. Orville Bond of Terre Haute and nineteen grandchildren.
The body was taken to the Gillis Memory Chapel from where funeral services will be held Thursday afternoon at 2 o'clock with burial in Roselawn Memorial Park.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Deric PATTEE - My 9th great Grandfather
This is where the male Pattee line ends. As of today we have 408 years of history on this line. Geneology that has been discovered and passed on for future generations. I am eternally grateful for all those who have taken part in putting this line together and doing work for my ancestors. I pray that we may all work together to see this family united and strengthened through this work. I am grateful to a most wonderful God who has given us the power to find these people who are so precious in our lives. People who have sacrificed to make us what we are today.
------------------------
1 Deric (Pety) Pattee
----------------------------------------
Birth: 1600, Bar-Le-Duc, France
Bar-Le-Duc is the capital of Dept. of Meuse, 125 miles SE of Paris. Deric was of Flemish origin.
Spouse: Marie DuPrie
Birth: about 1623, France
Father: Daniel DuPrie (~1598-)
Mother: Marie Lescaillet (1600-)
------------------------
1 Deric (Pety) Pattee
----------------------------------------
Birth: 1600, Bar-Le-Duc, France
Bar-Le-Duc is the capital of Dept. of Meuse, 125 miles SE of Paris. Deric was of Flemish origin.
Spouse: Marie DuPrie
Birth: about 1623, France
Father: Daniel DuPrie (~1598-)
Mother: Marie Lescaillet (1600-)
Peter PATTEE - My 8th great Grandfather
========================================================
PETER PATTEE
Peter Pattee, son of Deric and Marie Dupree, was baptized in the French Church on Threadneedle Street in London, England on 22 February 1646.
The family is of Flemish origin and the first reference to their life in England is to be found in the Walloon Registers of Canterbury Cathedral on 13 May 1586. Sometime thereafter the family removed to London where they were among the founders of the French Church on Threadneedle Street. This church building has long since been destroyed, but the Church Records are preserved in the files of the Huguenot Society of London.
(There is a persistent tradition that Peter was the son of Sir William Petty (Patee), but this is not proved, and is probably incorrect. In any event, until such time as some additional proof is obtained, it should remain only a family tradition, and nothing more.)
In 1669, "on account of certain political opinions he entertained, he found it expedient to take a hasty departure from England." He settled first in Virginia where he married, and where his eldest son, Richard, was born, but the name of his wife, the date of her death, or the date of birth of their son, are not recorded.
He married (2) 8 November 1682, in Haverhill, Massachusetts, (Essex County Court Records say the date was 3 November 1682) Sarah Gill, born 27 June 1654 in Salisbury, Massachusetts and who died before 1720, daughter of John and Phebe (Buswell) Gill of Salisbury.
He married (3) 19 November 1720, in Gloucester, Massachusetts, Susanna (Davis) Hadley, widow of John Hadley. She was born about 1652, and died in Gloucester on 10 March 1736.
He took the Oath of Citizenship and Allegiance there on November 28, 1677. (NEHG Society’s "Register", Vol. 6, page 203.)
He was a soldier in King Philip’s War. (Record and Files of Quarterly Courts of Essex County, Mass., Vol. II. 1678-1680, page 289)
We are told that he established the first ferry at Haverhill, and that the locality still bears his name. Somehow, and somewhere he had picked up the trade of "cordwainer", as a shoemaker was then designated, and at the annual meeting of the town in the Spring of 1677, a year after the application of one William Thompson "to be accepted townsman, to dwell here and follow his trade of shoemaking" had been refused, Peter Pattee made a similar application, and met with a similar refusal.
His proposal to become an inhabitant of the town seems to have been lightly esteemed. But he was not so easily shaken off, and, in spite of the cool reception, he continued to reside there until his death in 1724.
Chase’s "History of Haverhill, " page 130, records that "Petter Patie making a motion to the town to grant him a piece of land to settle upon, it not being ‘till then known to the town that he was a married man and a stranger, having hitherto accounted of him as a journey-man shoemaker, his motion according to law was rejected. And the Moderator declared to him before the public assembly that the town doth not own him, or allow of him for an inhabitant of Haverhill, and that it was the duty of the Grandjurymen to look after him."
It appears that he was the first shoemaker regularly to follow his trade in a place since famous for the manufacture of boots and shoes, for he made shoes, despite the formal vote of the town
But this was in line with a general custom in the towns of that period. The very best families, when removing from one town to another, were, according to this custom, "warned out," merely, as a precaution, in case of pauperism later, to relieve the town of responsibility, and preventing the acquiring of a legal residence. As a rule no attention was paid to warnings. Nor did this rude refusal of his polite request discourage Peter Pattee.
In 1676 he left Virginia, possibly because of domestic unhappiness, as we find him accused of leaving a wife in Virginia, after he had married in Massachusetts, where he sought a new home. Neither the merits of the case nor its disposition appear in the records, but he apparently was not disturbed, for he remained where he had made his home in Haverhill, Massachusetts and lived there the rest of his days.
In 1680 he was "presented" to the court in Haverhill for "being absent from his wife for several years." And the next year was presented for having another wife In Virginia. But this action seems to have had little effect on the esteem in which he was held because in 1694 he was elected to the then important office of town constable in Haverhill by a "plentiful, clear and legal paper vote." This position was one of great responsibility in the seventeenth century.
The records of the Quarterly Court of Essex County, Mass., Vol. VIII, 1680-1683, record, "Peeter Pate, presented for absense from his wife, told what means he had used to get her to come an live with him. The court ordered him to make arrangements with some master of a vessel that goes to Virginia to bring her and report to the Court under the master’s hand what had been done. He was to pay costs to Andrew Greeley and a Mr. Aries.
He seems to have made a friend In the Honorable Samuel Symonds, Deputy Governor of the Colony, because, on 9 April 1668, he rendered a judgment as follows:
"Peter Pattee, having lived
neare three yeares in the
Country, and bene in service
in the warr, and somewhat
wounded, and living without
offence in the town of Hav-
erhill for some space of
time, as I am informed, I
doe allow him to dwell in
the Country."
9 April 1678 (signed)
Samuel Symonds
Deputy Governor
James Pecker, Sr., of Boston, sometimes an inhabitant of Haverhill, certified on 17 January 1680 that upon request of Peter Patta of Haverhill in 1679 he took letters, which Patta had written to be delivered to his wife, if alive, at Varganah. The letters were not sealed and he asked said Pecker to read and direct them to the places where she might be.
Patta earnestly desired her to come to him in New England, said he would pay her passage and gave her other encouragement.
Pecker delivered the letters to men who would be careful of them, but he never heard anything from them, although he had inquired of men who came from the same town to which the letters were directed.
George Browne deposed, on 27 March 1681, that when the Deputy Governor gave an order for Pate to remain in the Country, deponent told the Court that he had left a wife in Virginia and that he was a wounded man. Ens. Pecker engaged to send the letters to Virginia.
Nathaniel Ayer deposed that he heard Peter Patye say a year and a half or two years ago that he had left a wife and child in Virginia about two years before. (Sworn 26 March 1681 before Nathaniel Saltonstall).
In the meantime, (on 11 November 1679) we find his name on the list of men impressed for military service by the Court at Salisbury, Mass. He continued to live in Haverhill, and, in 1686, was one of several persons accused of trespassing on the town "ways" and "common lands" by fencing in some parts of them.
Peter bought his 6-acre homestead of John and Cornelious Page on 8 March 1681/82. (Norfolk Registry of Deeds, Book III, leaf 274-275, Salem, Mass.)
At the annual meeting of the town of Haverhill on 1695, Peter applied for permission to build a gristmill at East Meadow River, but was denied. The reason given for this action was that the town waas under obligations to Currier & Greeley, millers. But, if tradition is correct, he built a mill just the ssame, some say the first in the town.
In 1696, perhaps incensed by the town’s refusal to allow him to build this mill, he entered a strange motion for keeping a tavern in his house, and offered conditions, which, if granted, would have greatly prejudiced the town. Being moved and fully agitated, the town declared "against his having any allowance for it." On 26 December 1696, Nathaniel Saltonstall wrote the Justices sitting at Salem, warning them against granting liquor licenses to men not personally known to them in remote places, and particularly to Peter Pattee of Haverhill, whom he said was so "cocksure" of getting one that he had already laid in "unaccountable store of cyder, rum, molasses and what not!"
As late as 1710 he was the regular ferryman at Pattee’s Ferry, which property he deeded to his son, Richard, on 19 January 1719/20.
He was long a stormy "petrel" in the town and only gradually fought his way to public favor. He was probably a man of considerable native ability and originality, but with a somewhat unconventional and un-diplomatic temperment for seventeenth century Haverhill. He was undoubtedly of different faith and standards of life from the stern old Puritan fathers of Haverhill at the time, as there are no records of his ever having joined the Haverhill Church, although his sons and daughters all did.
The salient facts of his life are revealed by the Haverhill records, quoted by the town historians, B.L. Mirick and George Wingate Chase, and the "Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Esse2x County, Mass."
Peter died in Haverhill, Massachusetts 19 October 1724. He is buried in the Old Pentucket Cemetery in Haverhill, Massachusetts where his gravestone reads ad follows:
"Here lyes buried ye body
of Mr. Peter Patee who
died October the 19 1724
aged 80 years."
His will, dated 11 September 1722, proved 2 November 1724, is recorded in the Probate Office of Essex County, Mass. Salem, Mass. in Book 315 of Wills on pages 146-147.
"The last will and Testomony of Peter Pattee of
Haverhill in the County of Essex. I being through
ye goodness of God in good health of body having ye
(full) use of my reason and memory and not knowing
ye time of my death, I having a desire to set my
house in order before my death and to settle my
outward estate, I desire to commit my spirit into
ye hand of ye Lord Jesus Christ and my body unto
decent burial.
IMPRIMIS: As for my outward estate I dispose of
(it) as followeth:
Item: I give to my son Samuel Pate ye sum of
Twenty pounds; as for my daughter Hannah Roberts, I
give ye sum of five pounds’ to my daughter Rolf I
give her ye sum of five schillings. Also I give
unto my grandson Peter Patte ye sum of twenty
pounds, and Seth Pattee five pounds, and John Pate
five pounds, and Humphrey Pate twenty pounds and
thirty pounds to be divided amongst ye rest of my
son Richard Pate’s Children to be disposed of
according as my son Richard Pate shall see cause.
Also wheras I have given to my beloved wife
Susanna two cows if I have them out of my own yt is
to be understood in my own possession at my death
and my wife survive as may appear by an instrument
I have given under my hand to my said wife bearing
date with this my will: my will is yt she shall
after my death, or if I be taken away in ye summer
months yt then she shall have them delivered
forthwith after my death. Also my will is yt all
contained in ye said instrument given to my wife
shall be fulfilled.
I also doe make an constitute my beloved son
Richard Patte to be ye executor of this my will.
All these legacys as above said to be paid when all
my just and due debts are pd: and funeral charges.
The money for ye payment of these legacys is
in my son Richard Patys hand which may appear by an
instrument or mortgage given under his hand for ye
payment of two hundred and fifty six pounds which
is put upon record in the County Records. For this
my will is yt ye rest of ye money contained in ye
instrument of two hundred and fifty-six pounds
above said this I give to my sd son Richard Patte.
For the confirmationln on this my will I have set
my hand and seale September 11 Anno 1722.
Signed & sealed in (Signed)
ye presence of
Peter Pate
Richard Palmer
Martha Gleason Her (X) mark
Samuel Penny
Children:
Richard born about 1677 Moses born 28 July 1683
Benjamin born 4 September 1684 Jeremiah born 3 November 1685
Samuel born 24 August 1687 Hannah born 13 June 1689
Mary born 29 October 1691 Jemima born 27 November 1693
Benjamin born 15 May 1696
Personal Correspondence, Linwood M. Pattee
Compiled by Linwood Melvin Pattee
Re-typed by Richard Mack Pattee - November, 2001.
=============================================================
PATTEE FAMILY HISTORY REPORT:
1 Deric (Pety) Pattee
----------------------------------------
Birth: 1600, Bar-Le-Duc, France
Bar-Le-Duc is the capital of Dept. of Meuse, 125 miles SE of Paris. Deric was of Flemish origin.
Spouse: Marie DuPrie
Birth: about 1623, France
Father: Daniel DuPrie (~1598-)
Mother: Marie Lescaillet (1600-)
Marriage: 24 Mar 1644, London, Middlesex, England
Children: Peter (1646-1724)
Marie (Pety) (1645-)
Judich (Pety) (1649-)
Abraham (Petty) (1658-)
1.1a Peter Pattee*
----------------------------------------
Birth: 22 Feb 1646, London, Middlesex, England
Death: 19 Oct 1724, Haverhill, Essex, Massachusetts
Burial: Old Pentucket Cemetery, Haverhill, Mass
The family was of Flemish origin, and the first reference to their life in England is to be found in the Walloon Registers of Canterbury Cathedral on May 13, 1586. Sometime thereafter the family moved to London where they were among the founders of the French Church on Threadneedle Street. This church building has long since been destroyed, but the Church Records are preserved in the file of the Huguenot Society of London. Peter was baptized in the French Church on Threadneedle St., London, England. In 1669 because of certain political opinions he entertained, he found it expedient to take a hasty departure from England. His will was proved Nov. 2, 1724 and the actual will was dated Sept. 11, 1722. Peter settled 1st in Virginia where he had one son. He moved to Haverhill in 1676. He took the oath of Allegiance Nov. 28, 1677 and established the 1st ferry at Haverhill, which is still called after him today. He applied for acceptance as "townsman" of Haverhill in 1677 (he had picked up the trade of "cordwainer") and was refused. He was too different in temperament for the puritans. His faith and standards were different too. In 1679 he was a soldier in King Philip's War. He applied for a grant of a piece of land to settle on and again was refused, yet he lived his life out in Haverhill.
They found out he left a wife and son in Virginia and he was ordered to send for them and pay the cost to Andrew Greeley and a Mr. Aires, which he did, but they were not found by the messenger that had sailed on the finding mission.
He was wounded in the war and was granted permission to stay in Haverhill.
In 1686 He was accused of trespassing on town ways and common lands by fencing in some of them.
In 1694 he was elected Haverhill's constable by majority vote.
In 1681/82 he purchased land from John and Cornelius Page.
In 1695 he applied for permission to build a grist mill and was refused.
In 1696 he applied for permission to operate a tavern in his house (probably to purposely infuriate the townsmen for refusing the grist mill and made it worse by being so cocky as to store up vast amounts of "cyder, rum, molasses and what not.)
In 1710 he was still operating Pattee's Ferry which he deeded to his son Richard on January 19, 1719/20
In 1710 he was again elected constable of Haverhill. "He was a "long and stormy petrel" in the town and only gradually fought his way to public favor. He was probably a man of considerable native ability and originality, but with a somewhat unconventional and undiplomatic temperament for the 17th century Haverhill." (Taken from Records and files of Quarterly Courts of Essex County, Mass.)
Peter now joined the Haverhill Church but his sons and daughters did not.
PETER PATTEE
Peter Pattee, son of Deric and Marie Dupree, was baptized in the French Church on Threadneedle Street in London, England on 22 February 1646.
The family is of Flemish origin and the first reference to their life in England is to be found in the Walloon Registers of Canterbury Cathedral on 13 May 1586. Sometime thereafter the family removed to London where they were among the founders of the French Church on Threadneedle Street. This church building has long since been destroyed, but the Church Records are preserved in the files of the Huguenot Society of London.
(There is a persistent tradition that Peter was the son of Sir William Petty (Patee), but this is not proved, and is probably incorrect. In any event, until such time as some additional proof is obtained, it should remain only a family tradition, and nothing more.)
In 1669, "on account of certain political opinions he entertained, he found it expedient to take a hasty departure from England." He settled first in Virginia where he married, and where his eldest son, Richard, was born, but the name of his wife, the date of her death, or the date of birth of their son, are not recorded.
He married (2) 8 November 1682, in Haverhill, Massachusetts, (Essex County Court Records say the date was 3 November 1682) Sarah Gill, born 27 June 1654 in Salisbury, Massachusetts and who died before 1720, daughter of John and Phebe (Buswell) Gill of Salisbury.
He married (3) 19 November 1720, in Gloucester, Massachusetts, Susanna (Davis) Hadley, widow of John Hadley. She was born about 1652, and died in Gloucester on 10 March 1736.
He took the Oath of Citizenship and Allegiance there on November 28, 1677. (NEHG Society’s "Register", Vol. 6, page 203.)
He was a soldier in King Philip’s War. (Record and Files of Quarterly Courts of Essex County, Mass., Vol. II. 1678-1680, page 289)
We are told that he established the first ferry at Haverhill, and that the locality still bears his name. Somehow, and somewhere he had picked up the trade of "cordwainer", as a shoemaker was then designated, and at the annual meeting of the town in the Spring of 1677, a year after the application of one William Thompson "to be accepted townsman, to dwell here and follow his trade of shoemaking" had been refused, Peter Pattee made a similar application, and met with a similar refusal.
His proposal to become an inhabitant of the town seems to have been lightly esteemed. But he was not so easily shaken off, and, in spite of the cool reception, he continued to reside there until his death in 1724.
Chase’s "History of Haverhill, " page 130, records that "Petter Patie making a motion to the town to grant him a piece of land to settle upon, it not being ‘till then known to the town that he was a married man and a stranger, having hitherto accounted of him as a journey-man shoemaker, his motion according to law was rejected. And the Moderator declared to him before the public assembly that the town doth not own him, or allow of him for an inhabitant of Haverhill, and that it was the duty of the Grandjurymen to look after him."
It appears that he was the first shoemaker regularly to follow his trade in a place since famous for the manufacture of boots and shoes, for he made shoes, despite the formal vote of the town
But this was in line with a general custom in the towns of that period. The very best families, when removing from one town to another, were, according to this custom, "warned out," merely, as a precaution, in case of pauperism later, to relieve the town of responsibility, and preventing the acquiring of a legal residence. As a rule no attention was paid to warnings. Nor did this rude refusal of his polite request discourage Peter Pattee.
In 1676 he left Virginia, possibly because of domestic unhappiness, as we find him accused of leaving a wife in Virginia, after he had married in Massachusetts, where he sought a new home. Neither the merits of the case nor its disposition appear in the records, but he apparently was not disturbed, for he remained where he had made his home in Haverhill, Massachusetts and lived there the rest of his days.
In 1680 he was "presented" to the court in Haverhill for "being absent from his wife for several years." And the next year was presented for having another wife In Virginia. But this action seems to have had little effect on the esteem in which he was held because in 1694 he was elected to the then important office of town constable in Haverhill by a "plentiful, clear and legal paper vote." This position was one of great responsibility in the seventeenth century.
The records of the Quarterly Court of Essex County, Mass., Vol. VIII, 1680-1683, record, "Peeter Pate, presented for absense from his wife, told what means he had used to get her to come an live with him. The court ordered him to make arrangements with some master of a vessel that goes to Virginia to bring her and report to the Court under the master’s hand what had been done. He was to pay costs to Andrew Greeley and a Mr. Aries.
He seems to have made a friend In the Honorable Samuel Symonds, Deputy Governor of the Colony, because, on 9 April 1668, he rendered a judgment as follows:
"Peter Pattee, having lived
neare three yeares in the
Country, and bene in service
in the warr, and somewhat
wounded, and living without
offence in the town of Hav-
erhill for some space of
time, as I am informed, I
doe allow him to dwell in
the Country."
9 April 1678 (signed)
Samuel Symonds
Deputy Governor
James Pecker, Sr., of Boston, sometimes an inhabitant of Haverhill, certified on 17 January 1680 that upon request of Peter Patta of Haverhill in 1679 he took letters, which Patta had written to be delivered to his wife, if alive, at Varganah. The letters were not sealed and he asked said Pecker to read and direct them to the places where she might be.
Patta earnestly desired her to come to him in New England, said he would pay her passage and gave her other encouragement.
Pecker delivered the letters to men who would be careful of them, but he never heard anything from them, although he had inquired of men who came from the same town to which the letters were directed.
George Browne deposed, on 27 March 1681, that when the Deputy Governor gave an order for Pate to remain in the Country, deponent told the Court that he had left a wife in Virginia and that he was a wounded man. Ens. Pecker engaged to send the letters to Virginia.
Nathaniel Ayer deposed that he heard Peter Patye say a year and a half or two years ago that he had left a wife and child in Virginia about two years before. (Sworn 26 March 1681 before Nathaniel Saltonstall).
In the meantime, (on 11 November 1679) we find his name on the list of men impressed for military service by the Court at Salisbury, Mass. He continued to live in Haverhill, and, in 1686, was one of several persons accused of trespassing on the town "ways" and "common lands" by fencing in some parts of them.
Peter bought his 6-acre homestead of John and Cornelious Page on 8 March 1681/82. (Norfolk Registry of Deeds, Book III, leaf 274-275, Salem, Mass.)
At the annual meeting of the town of Haverhill on 1695, Peter applied for permission to build a gristmill at East Meadow River, but was denied. The reason given for this action was that the town waas under obligations to Currier & Greeley, millers. But, if tradition is correct, he built a mill just the ssame, some say the first in the town.
In 1696, perhaps incensed by the town’s refusal to allow him to build this mill, he entered a strange motion for keeping a tavern in his house, and offered conditions, which, if granted, would have greatly prejudiced the town. Being moved and fully agitated, the town declared "against his having any allowance for it." On 26 December 1696, Nathaniel Saltonstall wrote the Justices sitting at Salem, warning them against granting liquor licenses to men not personally known to them in remote places, and particularly to Peter Pattee of Haverhill, whom he said was so "cocksure" of getting one that he had already laid in "unaccountable store of cyder, rum, molasses and what not!"
As late as 1710 he was the regular ferryman at Pattee’s Ferry, which property he deeded to his son, Richard, on 19 January 1719/20.
He was long a stormy "petrel" in the town and only gradually fought his way to public favor. He was probably a man of considerable native ability and originality, but with a somewhat unconventional and un-diplomatic temperment for seventeenth century Haverhill. He was undoubtedly of different faith and standards of life from the stern old Puritan fathers of Haverhill at the time, as there are no records of his ever having joined the Haverhill Church, although his sons and daughters all did.
The salient facts of his life are revealed by the Haverhill records, quoted by the town historians, B.L. Mirick and George Wingate Chase, and the "Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Esse2x County, Mass."
Peter died in Haverhill, Massachusetts 19 October 1724. He is buried in the Old Pentucket Cemetery in Haverhill, Massachusetts where his gravestone reads ad follows:
"Here lyes buried ye body
of Mr. Peter Patee who
died October the 19 1724
aged 80 years."
His will, dated 11 September 1722, proved 2 November 1724, is recorded in the Probate Office of Essex County, Mass. Salem, Mass. in Book 315 of Wills on pages 146-147.
"The last will and Testomony of Peter Pattee of
Haverhill in the County of Essex. I being through
ye goodness of God in good health of body having ye
(full) use of my reason and memory and not knowing
ye time of my death, I having a desire to set my
house in order before my death and to settle my
outward estate, I desire to commit my spirit into
ye hand of ye Lord Jesus Christ and my body unto
decent burial.
IMPRIMIS: As for my outward estate I dispose of
(it) as followeth:
Item: I give to my son Samuel Pate ye sum of
Twenty pounds; as for my daughter Hannah Roberts, I
give ye sum of five pounds’ to my daughter Rolf I
give her ye sum of five schillings. Also I give
unto my grandson Peter Patte ye sum of twenty
pounds, and Seth Pattee five pounds, and John Pate
five pounds, and Humphrey Pate twenty pounds and
thirty pounds to be divided amongst ye rest of my
son Richard Pate’s Children to be disposed of
according as my son Richard Pate shall see cause.
Also wheras I have given to my beloved wife
Susanna two cows if I have them out of my own yt is
to be understood in my own possession at my death
and my wife survive as may appear by an instrument
I have given under my hand to my said wife bearing
date with this my will: my will is yt she shall
after my death, or if I be taken away in ye summer
months yt then she shall have them delivered
forthwith after my death. Also my will is yt all
contained in ye said instrument given to my wife
shall be fulfilled.
I also doe make an constitute my beloved son
Richard Patte to be ye executor of this my will.
All these legacys as above said to be paid when all
my just and due debts are pd: and funeral charges.
The money for ye payment of these legacys is
in my son Richard Patys hand which may appear by an
instrument or mortgage given under his hand for ye
payment of two hundred and fifty six pounds which
is put upon record in the County Records. For this
my will is yt ye rest of ye money contained in ye
instrument of two hundred and fifty-six pounds
above said this I give to my sd son Richard Patte.
For the confirmationln on this my will I have set
my hand and seale September 11 Anno 1722.
Signed & sealed in (Signed)
ye presence of
Peter Pate
Richard Palmer
Martha Gleason Her (X) mark
Samuel Penny
Children:
Richard born about 1677 Moses born 28 July 1683
Benjamin born 4 September 1684 Jeremiah born 3 November 1685
Samuel born 24 August 1687 Hannah born 13 June 1689
Mary born 29 October 1691 Jemima born 27 November 1693
Benjamin born 15 May 1696
Personal Correspondence, Linwood M. Pattee
Compiled by Linwood Melvin Pattee
Re-typed by Richard Mack Pattee - November, 2001.
=============================================================
PATTEE FAMILY HISTORY REPORT:
1 Deric (Pety) Pattee
----------------------------------------
Birth: 1600, Bar-Le-Duc, France
Bar-Le-Duc is the capital of Dept. of Meuse, 125 miles SE of Paris. Deric was of Flemish origin.
Spouse: Marie DuPrie
Birth: about 1623, France
Father: Daniel DuPrie (~1598-)
Mother: Marie Lescaillet (1600-)
Marriage: 24 Mar 1644, London, Middlesex, England
Children: Peter (1646-1724)
Marie (Pety) (1645-)
Judich (Pety) (1649-)
Abraham (Petty) (1658-)
1.1a Peter Pattee*
----------------------------------------
Birth: 22 Feb 1646, London, Middlesex, England
Death: 19 Oct 1724, Haverhill, Essex, Massachusetts
Burial: Old Pentucket Cemetery, Haverhill, Mass
The family was of Flemish origin, and the first reference to their life in England is to be found in the Walloon Registers of Canterbury Cathedral on May 13, 1586. Sometime thereafter the family moved to London where they were among the founders of the French Church on Threadneedle Street. This church building has long since been destroyed, but the Church Records are preserved in the file of the Huguenot Society of London. Peter was baptized in the French Church on Threadneedle St., London, England. In 1669 because of certain political opinions he entertained, he found it expedient to take a hasty departure from England. His will was proved Nov. 2, 1724 and the actual will was dated Sept. 11, 1722. Peter settled 1st in Virginia where he had one son. He moved to Haverhill in 1676. He took the oath of Allegiance Nov. 28, 1677 and established the 1st ferry at Haverhill, which is still called after him today. He applied for acceptance as "townsman" of Haverhill in 1677 (he had picked up the trade of "cordwainer") and was refused. He was too different in temperament for the puritans. His faith and standards were different too. In 1679 he was a soldier in King Philip's War. He applied for a grant of a piece of land to settle on and again was refused, yet he lived his life out in Haverhill.
They found out he left a wife and son in Virginia and he was ordered to send for them and pay the cost to Andrew Greeley and a Mr. Aires, which he did, but they were not found by the messenger that had sailed on the finding mission.
He was wounded in the war and was granted permission to stay in Haverhill.
In 1686 He was accused of trespassing on town ways and common lands by fencing in some of them.
In 1694 he was elected Haverhill's constable by majority vote.
In 1681/82 he purchased land from John and Cornelius Page.
In 1695 he applied for permission to build a grist mill and was refused.
In 1696 he applied for permission to operate a tavern in his house (probably to purposely infuriate the townsmen for refusing the grist mill and made it worse by being so cocky as to store up vast amounts of "cyder, rum, molasses and what not.)
In 1710 he was still operating Pattee's Ferry which he deeded to his son Richard on January 19, 1719/20
In 1710 he was again elected constable of Haverhill. "He was a "long and stormy petrel" in the town and only gradually fought his way to public favor. He was probably a man of considerable native ability and originality, but with a somewhat unconventional and undiplomatic temperament for the 17th century Haverhill." (Taken from Records and files of Quarterly Courts of Essex County, Mass.)
Peter now joined the Haverhill Church but his sons and daughters did not.
Susanna BEALE PATTEE - My 7th Great Grandmother
{The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, October 1992, page 322.}
On 31 July 1715 Susanna PATEE, wife of Richard, was "received to the Lord's Supper" at the Haverhill First Parish where the same year "ch. of Richard Pate" were baptized (First Parish, 2:51, 98). These are the first records to positively locate the family at Haverhill.
On 5 September 1729 Susanna was suspended from communion when the congregation voted her guilty "of public scandal in raising and publishing to so many persons an infamous report of Mrs. Lydia PEASLEE the wife of Nathaniel PEASLEE, Jun., in saying that "She was drunk or the worse for drink or words to that purpose', and for belying herself, and contradicting a confession which she gave under her hand to Mrs. PEASLEE aforesaid." In order to be restored to the Lord's Table she was required to publicly acknowledge her faults. This was apparently difficult for the impenitent Susanna, who instead submitted to the church a paper "in vindication of herself from those faults for which she was suspended [and] intimating that if there was any such confession twas brought about by very unfair means." The brethren disagreed, insisting that Susanna submit another confession. She eventually complied, and was finally restored to full church membership 4 June 1731
On 31 July 1715 Susanna PATEE, wife of Richard, was "received to the Lord's Supper" at the Haverhill First Parish where the same year "ch. of Richard Pate" were baptized (First Parish, 2:51, 98). These are the first records to positively locate the family at Haverhill.
On 5 September 1729 Susanna was suspended from communion when the congregation voted her guilty "of public scandal in raising and publishing to so many persons an infamous report of Mrs. Lydia PEASLEE the wife of Nathaniel PEASLEE, Jun., in saying that "She was drunk or the worse for drink or words to that purpose', and for belying herself, and contradicting a confession which she gave under her hand to Mrs. PEASLEE aforesaid." In order to be restored to the Lord's Table she was required to publicly acknowledge her faults. This was apparently difficult for the impenitent Susanna, who instead submitted to the church a paper "in vindication of herself from those faults for which she was suspended [and] intimating that if there was any such confession twas brought about by very unfair means." The brethren disagreed, insisting that Susanna submit another confession. She eventually complied, and was finally restored to full church membership 4 June 1731
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