book:william7
Differences
This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.
Both sides previous revisionPrevious revisionNext revision | Previous revision | ||
book:william7 [2011/03/25 07:59] – paulseymour | book:william7 [2014/11/01 15:16] (current) – external edit 127.0.0.1 | ||
---|---|---|---|
Line 3: | Line 3: | ||
//Note: This information was supplied by Paul Carleton Seymour.// | //Note: This information was supplied by Paul Carleton Seymour.// | ||
- | WILLIAM< | + | WILLIAM< |
// | // | ||
// | // | ||
- | // | + | // |
- | died 1827 in Thompkins, Delaware, NY. Married Dorothy LORD, daughter of Eliphalet | + | died 1827 in Cannonsville, Delaware, NY. Married Dorothy LORD, daughter of Eliphalet |
- | and Mary (Green) LORD of Prattsville, | + | and Mary (Greene) LORD of Prattsville, |
- | ^ Children (born in Thompkins, Delaware, NY): ^^ | + | ^ Children (born in Cannonsville, Delaware, NY): ^^ |
- | | [[willet8|Willet]] | + | | [[willet8|Willet]] |
- | | Lewis | | | + | | Lewis | | |
- | | Samuel Sands | Sands Creek, a tributary of the West Branch, was named for Samuel Sands, the owner of the largest mill on the creek, and one of the largest lumber dealers in that whole territory, rafting his lumber at Hancock. I wonder if he was related to Esther Sands, William Sr.'s first wife, and if he helped set up William Jr. in business.| | + | | Samuel Sands | I'm curious about why William named a son Samuel Sands. There is a Sands Creek, a tributary of the West Branch |
| Elias | | | | Elias | | | ||
| Chidsey | | Chidsey | ||
Line 21: | Line 21: | ||
| Charles Decatur | | Charles Decatur | ||
| Sylvia | | Sylvia | ||
+ | |||
+ | By Paul Seymour | ||
+ | |||
+ | **American towns founded by our Line of the family, and The Early Delaware | ||
+ | county, New York Seymours** | ||
+ | |||
+ | This seems like a good time to summarize all of the towns that were founded | ||
+ | by our direct ancestors, //that I know of, //most likely there were others | ||
+ | by the Hayes, Lyon, Betts, Lord, Greene families for example. | ||
+ | those with evidence backing their founding: | ||
+ | |||
+ | | Hartford, Connecticut | ||
+ | | Norwalk, Connecticut | ||
+ | | Stamford, Conn. founded 1641 | Francis Dan (traced through Leone Dann, mother of Westley Francis Seymour) had children born in Stamford in 1686. His family is possibly Dutch (Dahn) and arrived in 1647 with Peter Stuyvesant, and therefore were founders of New York City, then moving 20 miles to Stamford after New Amsterdam was claimed by the British, but that's only a respectable tradition passed down through generations [[http:// | ||
+ | | New Haven, Connecticut | ||
+ | | Ridgefield, Connecticut | ||
+ | | New Canaan Parish, Conn. | "In 1731, Connecticut' | ||
+ | | Newburgh, Orange, New York | Precinct established in 1763, organized as Town in 1788. William Seymour, Sr. Arrived in 1790 and is recognized as one of the most influential early leaders. | | ||
+ | | Sidney, Delaware, New York | Zenas Goodrich, 1772 (traced through mother of Gilbert Seymour [[http:// | ||
+ | | North Norwich, Chenango, NY | Johnathan Dann 1794 (traced through Leone Dann, mother of Westley Francis Seymour) [[http:// | ||
+ | | Cannonsville, | ||
+ | | Danville, Broome, New York | Philip Dan founded it prior to 1850 | | ||
+ | |||
+ | Rhode Island was settled by a pair of cousins, both named John Greene in the | ||
+ | late 1630's or early 1640' | ||
+ | Greene' | ||
+ | |||
+ | Now on to the history of one of those towns, where five generations in our | ||
+ | line of Seymours lived. First let's start with a brief history of Delaware | ||
+ | County written by Tim Duerden [[http:// | ||
+ | in mind that William Seymour, Jr. Arrived in about 1800. | ||
+ | |||
+ | < | ||
+ | By the time of the American Revolution most of the region had been | ||
+ | apportioned out in tracts to wealthy speculators from the cities along the | ||
+ | eastern seaboard and even among some who lived in Europe. Patent holders | ||
+ | sold some of this land to pioneering settlers, such as Gideon Frisbee, while | ||
+ | large tracts, sometimes consisting of thousands of acres, continued to be | ||
+ | owned by the likes of Dutchman Johannes Hardenburgh. | ||
+ | |||
+ | By the 1770's many Scotch-Irish settlers began to find their way down the | ||
+ | West Branch of the Delaware River, establishing tiny communities of log | ||
+ | homes in Kortright, Stamford and Harpersfield. Many of these settlers were | ||
+ | drawn to the county with the offer of 150-acre farms free of rent for the | ||
+ | first five years. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The Revolutionary War slowed the settlement of the future Delaware County; | ||
+ | indeed, many settlers fled to the relative safety of more populated areas in | ||
+ | present-day Otsego and Schoharie counties. As in other frontier areas of the | ||
+ | time, it is likely that most pioneer families along both branches of the | ||
+ | Delaware River wished merely to be left alone by the warring factions - and | ||
+ | their respective Indian allies. The Revolution left the territory " | ||
+ | depopulated," | ||
+ | |||
+ | After the war, survivors and new settlers returned to the region. Among | ||
+ | these hardy newcomers were numerous groups from the "Old World," | ||
+ | Scotch-Irish and Germans. In addition, a great many of these post- | ||
+ | revolutionary pioneers made their way to the Catskills from lower New York | ||
+ | State and New England, particularly Massachusetts and Connecticut. These new | ||
+ | settlers tended to be second and third generation descendants of original | ||
+ | pioneers in America who now found their path to economic success blocked at | ||
+ | home by what was considered, for the time, an over abundance of people and | ||
+ | an under abundance of land. Delaware County did not suffer from these | ||
+ | afflictions. | ||
+ | |||
+ | As scattered communities grew in the clearings of the forests and along the | ||
+ | rivers of present-day Delaware County, buildings of a more communal nature | ||
+ | and function joined the individual log cabins. One-room schoolhouses, | ||
+ | churches, water-powered grist and sawmills, and eventually a general store | ||
+ | here and there were constructed to fulfill the needs of a growing | ||
+ | settlement. | ||
+ | |||
+ | By the 1790' | ||
+ | population of the region had increased to the extent that the New York State | ||
+ | Legislature was petitioned to establish a new county. In 1797, when enough | ||
+ | support in the legislature had been secured, the region officially became | ||
+ | known as Delaware County, breaking away from Ulster in the south and Otsego | ||
+ | County in north. | ||
+ | |||
+ | This new political entity was made up of a mere six towns, and | ||
+ | representatives of each town met in March 1797 to begin the work of | ||
+ | constructing the county' | ||
+ | October 1797 the first jury of the Court of Common Pleas began to meet at | ||
+ | the home and tavern of Gideon Frisbee, located at the spot north of the | ||
+ | village of Delhi where Elk Creek joins the West Branch of the Delaware River | ||
+ | (presently the Delaware County Historical Association). Court continued to | ||
+ | be held at this site until construction of a new courthouse in the village | ||
+ | of Delhi was completed in 1799. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Delaware County' | ||
+ | transport goods to the expanding European-American population - a situation | ||
+ | that was not to change much until the mid-nineteenth century. As a result of | ||
+ | their " | ||
+ | which most important commodities were produced locally, either within the | ||
+ | household, or at the hands of local artisans and craftspeople. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Men and women, and sometimes, even children, shared equally in production | ||
+ | for this subsistence economy. On local farms, men and boys tended to the | ||
+ | larger livestock, while their female counterparts maintained the household | ||
+ | and looked after the smaller animals. In addition to vegetables and grains, | ||
+ | most households produced flax and wool, cut their own timber and in spring | ||
+ | tapped the maple trees for their sap. Trees also provided the raw material | ||
+ | for products such as potash and tannic acid. These isolated communities | ||
+ | frequently had cabinetmakers, | ||
+ | basketmakers - craftspeople specializing in trades that farmers could not. | ||
+ | |||
+ | By the early decades of the nineteenth century acid factories were | ||
+ | flourishing in the southern part of Delaware County and sawmills | ||
+ | proliferated across the entire county. Soon resourceful residents were | ||
+ | utilizing the region' | ||
+ | of floating timber were lashed together for transport southward along both | ||
+ | branches of the Delaware to Trenton and Philadelphia. Cargoes of bluestone, | ||
+ | wheat, potash, wool and whiskey were often loaded onto the rafts for | ||
+ | transport to the cities. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Delaware County continued to attract new migrants through the first quarter | ||
+ | of the nineteenth century. However, the rugged topography of the region, | ||
+ | combined with accessibility problems, hindered any large-scale migration. | ||
+ | After 1800 and the construction of the Jericho Turnpike (connecting | ||
+ | Rhinecliff in the Hudson Valley with Bainbridge on the Susquehanna) and the | ||
+ | Catskill Turnpike (from Catskill in the east to Unadilla in the west) the | ||
+ | county gained slightly easier connections to the outside world - for people | ||
+ | and products alike. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Still, population growth in the new county was slow. In 1800 the population | ||
+ | stood at 10,000; some 60 years later it had reached 40,000 - and it has | ||
+ | continued to hover around this mark ever since. The opening of the Erie | ||
+ | Canal, well to the north of the county in 1825, while providing an easier | ||
+ | transportation route between the Hudson Valley and Buffalo, only served to | ||
+ | divert trade and population growth away from the Catskills and Delaware | ||
+ | County. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The rugged nature of the land also delayed the arrival of railroads into | ||
+ | Delaware County. While other areas of the state were becoming increasingly | ||
+ | accessible by train, most towns in Delaware County had to wait until the | ||
+ | 1860s and 1870s for regular service. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The advent of rail service, however, when it came proved a boon to the | ||
+ | region' | ||
+ | products could be shipped in refrigerated cars rapidly and directly to urban | ||
+ | markets hundreds of miles away. The creameries that received and shipped the | ||
+ | milk from local farmers flourished in those communities along the rails. | ||
+ | "Milk trains" | ||
+ | dairy industry continued to be the mainstay of the local economy until well | ||
+ | into the twentieth century. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Rail transportation, | ||
+ | a tourism industry in Delaware County. Local boarding houses and, later, | ||
+ | large hotels provided summer accommodations for throngs of city-weary | ||
+ | vacationers seeking the cool freshness of the mountains. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Newcomers, many paying their first visit to Delaware County as tourists, | ||
+ | have continued to settle in the region. Today Delaware County may be | ||
+ | described as having a mixed population of " | ||
+ | trace their lineage all the way back to the original pioneers, and the | ||
+ | numerous "city folk," denoting the segment of the community that has arrived | ||
+ | more recently (many in this second category are part-time residents). | ||
+ | |||
+ | Today, as during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, these groups have | ||
+ | often not seen eye to eye over questions of land use. Despite the different | ||
+ | ideas about the county' | ||
+ | indisputable: | ||
+ | couple of decades, the forest has once more spread its sylvan blanket over | ||
+ | the hills and fields of Delaware County, returning this small corner of the | ||
+ | world to an appearance much closer to a time before the arrival of the first | ||
+ | European pioneers. | ||
+ | </ | ||
+ | |||
+ | //Now let's move on to how the Seymours arrived in Delaware County, and see | ||
+ | how they helped formed it over five generations.// | ||
+ | |||
+ | //The following are excerpts from the Delaware County Historical website | ||
+ | written by Don Seymour, who, as I learned after reading his work, and then | ||
+ | discovering my own family history, was also directly descended from Willet | ||
+ | Seymour, my GGG Grandfather. | ||
+ | of distant cousins. | ||
+ | questions asked by him, as we independently tried to find answers to some of | ||
+ | the same questions. | ||
+ | but eventually learned that he had died in 2003 in Illinios. | ||
+ | Endicott, NY in 1927 and was a retired insurance executive, a WWII navy | ||
+ | veteran, and evidently a kindred spirit. | ||
+ | him//. [[http:// | ||
+ | |||
+ | [[http:// | ||
+ | |||
+ | //Story submitted by Don//-- | ||
+ | < | ||
+ | In about the year 1800 there lived in the | ||
+ | village of Newburgh, NY a man by the name of William Seymour (Sr.). He was | ||
+ | reported to be a wealthy man for those days. He had a son named William that | ||
+ | tradition says was a rather reckless character, and the father, becoming | ||
+ | rather disgusted with the son's actions, gave him $1,000 and told him to get | ||
+ | out and do something for himself, as he was done helping him. | ||
+ | </ | ||
+ | |||
+ | //I don't know where Don got this info from, but I assume it's an old | ||
+ | family story, as I couldn' | ||
+ | all, is primarily a series of stories passed from generation to generation. | ||
+ | Since William Jr. (1785-1827) was born in 1785, according to this story he | ||
+ | was only 15 when he took off for the middle of nowhere, from either | ||
+ | Newburgh or Greenwich, or East Haven to the unsettled wilderness of | ||
+ | upstate New York, possibly with his mother, Rhoda Chidsey but as noted | ||
+ | above in William Sr.'s story she " | ||
+ | learned in Sr.'s story, E. Haven was a puritan town, and possibly an unwed | ||
+ | mother was to be shunned? | ||
+ | Drake (1783-1824) was accidentally shot in a hunting accident when he | ||
+ | was only 41. William Jr. died just three years later, at a similarly young | ||
+ | 42, but I've been unable to find out how.// | ||
+ | |||
+ | // | ||
+ | already learned that William Sr. was a rather important guy in Newburgh, and | ||
+ | being a civic leader and all, maybe Rhoda and Jr. were a bit of an | ||
+ | embarrassment. | ||
+ | hard evidence of why William Jr. went off to carve out a new existence at | ||
+ | such an early age. Maybe for William Jr. it was easier to tell folks that | ||
+ | he was bit of a wild child, rather than Daddy' | ||
+ | |||
+ | //There is some circumstantial evidence that Sr. was looking out for him, | ||
+ | aside from the story above which indicates $1,000 in seed cash. I'm sure | ||
+ | that back in the year 1800 a $1,000 went a long way when buying property in | ||
+ | unsettled Indian territory. | ||
+ | period being sold at 50 cents an acre.// | ||
+ | |||
+ | //I have to stress again the word " | ||
+ | name Samuel Sands kept popping up. This name turns up three times. | ||
+ | William Jr. settled on the banks of Sand's Creek, which is a tributary of | ||
+ | the west branch of the Delaware River which was named after one of the most | ||
+ | successful loggers in the area, Samuel Sands. | ||
+ | named one of their sons Samuel Sands Seymour. | ||
+ | that this might be because William' | ||
+ | wife's maiden name is Sands. | ||
+ | Dorothy Lord also named one of their sons Samuel Sands Seymour.// | ||
+ | |||
+ | //I've confirmed that Sam was some sort of relative of Esther' | ||
+ | there was an arrangement made that he would help young Jr. get started in | ||
+ | business. | ||
+ | interesting information, | ||
+ | not as brother and sister. | ||
+ | Sands and the Seymour families decided to simultaneously pioneer in the | ||
+ | lumbering business in unsettled Delaware County at the same time of the | ||
+ | Seymour/ | ||
+ | committee to build a turnpike from Newburgh over to the Delaware River at | ||
+ | this time in 1801, and as a shipbuilder certainly had need for good lumber, | ||
+ | at a good price. | ||
+ | [[http:// | ||
+ | http:// | ||
+ | |||
+ | //I did run across this story which might have been about the same Samuel | ||
+ | Sands, as the dates are reasonable, although would have made him an older | ||
+ | man at time of death // | ||
+ | |||
+ | < | ||
+ | My Great Grandfather, | ||
+ | (//very near Tompkins and on Sand's Creek// | ||
+ | Pierrepont, NY. I am certain of their details. My problem is with Daniel' | ||
+ | father, Samuel, and grandfather, | ||
+ | all of it written in shaky script 80 years later. Here is Samuel' | ||
+ | Samuel was engaged in lumbering and timber in the vicinity of Mansfield | ||
+ | (//not near Tompkins// | ||
+ | a lonely cabin where it was assumed he took refuge while traveling from | ||
+ | Elmira, NY and a lumber camp. As he was known to have been carrying a large | ||
+ | sum of money. Robber/ | ||
+ | the tragedy his wife died on December 14, 1835. The children, Bertha Ann, | ||
+ | then 8 years old, Daniel, 6 and Silas, 4 were taken in by Samuel' | ||
+ | Hetty Knight (Knoght?) and her husband John. Information on my supposed | ||
+ | great grandfather, | ||
+ | be Hannah, Harriet or even Catherine. He would have been born around 1760 | ||
+ | and dead by 1826. Here is a list of his children, all or most born in | ||
+ | Delaware County, without an assurance of authenticity: | ||
+ | Kent; George died young; Samuel married Jane Wylie; William married | ||
+ | Priscilla Thomas. Any help would be appreciated. | ||
+ | </ | ||
+ | |||
+ | Hal Sands - posted 03-2003 | ||
+ | //Maybe William met a similar fate walking back from Philadelphia with | ||
+ | a pocket full of cash? So far, I haven' | ||
+ | |||
+ | //For any of you who trace back to William Sr. and Esther, I did run across | ||
+ | some interesting information on the Sands family, which I'll be glad to pass | ||
+ | along here. First, Esther traces back to some more founders of America and | ||
+ | prominent citizens of merry old England. | ||
+ | Sands born 1621 in Reading, Berkshire, England and after having been an | ||
+ | original settler of, he later died on Block Island, Rhode Island in 1694 | ||
+ | [[http:// | ||
+ | http:// | ||
+ | Evidently, although not proven beyond a doubt, there' | ||
+ | evidence supporting the fact that Esther' | ||
+ | Edwin Sands. | ||
+ | Wikipedia site for Block Island-// | ||
+ | [[wp> | ||
+ | |||
+ | < | ||
+ | In 1699 the Scottish sailor William Kidd visited Block Island, shortly | ||
+ | before he was accused of piracy and hanged. At Block Island he was supplied | ||
+ | by Mrs. Mercy (Sands) Raymond, daughter of the mariner James Sands. The | ||
+ | story has it that, for her hospitality, | ||
+ | apron, into which Kidd threw gold and jewels until it was full. After her | ||
+ | husband Joshua Raymond died, Mercy moved with her family to northern New | ||
+ | London, Connecticut (later Montville), where she bought much land. The | ||
+ | Raymond family was thus said to have been " | ||
+ | </ | ||
+ | |||
+ | //I wonder how many inter-family squabbles have erupted over the centuries | ||
+ | between siblings trying to get their share, or someone else' | ||
+ | residuals from the apron?// | ||
+ | |||
+ | //Also interesting to note that in addition to Block Island, the Sands | ||
+ | family also founded Sands Point, Long Island, near Oyster Bay where Esther | ||
+ | comes from.// | ||
+ | |||
+ | [[http:// | ||
+ | < | ||
+ | It was named | ||
+ | not for its beaches, but for brothers James, John and Samuel Sands, early | ||
+ | settlers of the area. They came in 1695 and purchased 500 acres at the tip | ||
+ | of a peninsula called Cow Neck from the Cornwalls, who had been there for 20 | ||
+ | years. Sands Point was originally owned by three families namely the Sands, | ||
+ | Vanderbilts, | ||
+ | of the nation' | ||
+ | inspiration for East Egg in "The Great Gatsby", | ||
+ | 1910, Daniel Guggenheim purchased his 216 acre Hempstead House, formerly | ||
+ | Castle Gould. Later years, his son Harry Guggenheim, founder of Newsday set | ||
+ | up his estate Falaise nearby. In recent time, the estate is part of the | ||
+ | Sands Point Preserve, notable for a medieval fair run by Medieval Scenarios | ||
+ | and Recreations Ltd., which is held every September. Sand Point became | ||
+ | incorporated village in 1910. | ||
+ | </ | ||
+ | |||
+ | //Okay, now back to the Seymour-Chidsey line. As it turns out, but not | ||
+ | as any surprise, Rhoda is the GG Granddaughter of one of the founders of New | ||
+ | Haven, CT, Deacon John Chedsey. | ||
+ | E. Haven. Unfortunately, | ||
+ | happened to Rhoda. | ||
+ | Seymour in which it's stated that Rhoda accompanied William to Delaware | ||
+ | County at around 1800, but nothing further.// | ||
+ | |||
+ | //A little more Chidsey information// | ||
+ | [[http:// | ||
+ | |||
+ | < | ||
+ | John Chedsey was a tanner of leather and shoemaker and was very active in | ||
+ | the New Haven Church and community. | ||
+ | |||
+ | 1644: Colony Constitution was enlarged and revised and 11 more names were | ||
+ | added, John Chedsey' | ||
+ | the hand of Francis Newman. | ||
+ | |||
+ | 1681: Deacon John Chedsey, a tanner of leather and shoemaker //(just like | ||
+ | our Seymour ancestors in Sawbridgeworth)//, | ||
+ | green on a 3 acre square lot between John Potter and John Austin. Afterwards | ||
+ | 10 acres were granted him by the village on the west side of the fresh | ||
+ | meadows which ever since have been known as Chedsey Field and Chedsey Hill. | ||
+ | (East Haven Register) | ||
+ | |||
+ | 1683: In March John Chedsey proposed to the village to have a 3rd division | ||
+ | of land us equal to 10 heads and 100 estate which he doth apprend to be 60 | ||
+ | acres, etc. A 3rd division of land, 20 acres for cash 100 lbs in the list | ||
+ | and 4 acres to each child and 20 acres to each family, John Chedsey drew, | ||
+ | but his estate is not listed so amount of land was not. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Deacon John and his sons Caleb and Ebenezer were active in town politics | ||
+ | when they moved to East Haven (Stony River, the village), but Joseph was not | ||
+ | mentioned in East Haven affairs, nor was the eldest son of Deacon John, | ||
+ | John. Evendently Joseph and John did not remove to Stony River when their | ||
+ | father did. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Deacon John's tombstone was removed from the original site to the wall of | ||
+ | the cemetery. It is a slab of brownstone which could be read in 1967, but is | ||
+ | fading as the stone is soft. | ||
+ | </ | ||
+ | |||
+ | //It looks like Rhoda' | ||
+ | and maybe poor Rhoda was shunned after having a son out of wedlock. | ||
+ | only guess. | ||
+ | would think that it would have been unusual for a young woman to leave home | ||
+ | and live alone in late 1700's America.// | ||
+ | |||
+ | //Now back to Don's story// | ||
+ | < | ||
+ | William, Jr., came to Cannonsville and bought a | ||
+ | large tract of timber land and proceeded to make himself a home and raise a | ||
+ | family. On December 16th, 1803, he married Miss Dorothy Lord, daughter of | ||
+ | Eliphalet and Mary (Green) //(this is the 3rd time that the Seymours and | ||
+ | Greenes have mixed that I know of. Thomas Seymour and Catherine Parr | ||
+ | (daughter of Maud Greene, and my parents being the other two that I'm aware | ||
+ | of) //Lord of Prattsville, | ||
+ | opposite bank of the West Branch of the Delaware River from where the | ||
+ | village of Cannonsville was located, and there started to make a real home | ||
+ | and raise a family. | ||
+ | important, and with the river adjacent to his land providing a cheap, | ||
+ | although rather tiresome and hardy means of transportation to the cities | ||
+ | nearer the sea, he turned his attention to lumbering and rafting his lumber | ||
+ | mostly down to Philadelphia, | ||
+ | Seymours following him. He also cleared the land from which a good portion | ||
+ | of the living for the family was raised. | ||
+ | |||
+ | William, Jr. and Dorothy raised a family of ten children: **Willet**, | ||
+ | William, Lewis, Samuel Sands, Elias Chidsey, Roswell, George, Ezekiel, | ||
+ | Charles Decatur, and Sylvia. Willet, Charles and Ezekiel lived their lives | ||
+ | in and near the homestead. After William Jr's death in 1827, their mother | ||
+ | married Ethan Underwood and had one son, John, and when Underwood died, she | ||
+ | married Ezra Hoag. She died in 1866. | ||
+ | </ | ||
+ | |||
+ | //In an article on Cannonsville, | ||
+ | Dorothy is mentioned as being an original founder of the Cannonsville | ||
+ | church.// | ||
book/william7.1301057989.txt.gz · Last modified: 2011/03/25 07:59 by paulseymour