USA > New York > Warren County > Queensbury > A history of the town of Queensbury, in the state of New York : with biographical sketches of many of its distinguished men, and some account of the aborigines of northern New York > Part 8
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To him, more than any other one man, is the credit due of opening up the re- sources of the place and preparing the way for that healthy development, and growth which makes it to day one of the great business centres of northern New York.
As is shown by the record, Mr. McDonald was chosen one of the vestrymen of the Episcopal church at its first organization.
At the formation of the old Commercial Bank he was elected its president, which position he held with great acceptance for a term of years.
From that time forth he kept retired from the cares and toils of public life, de- voting his leisure to the management of his estate and the remainder of his days were passed in serene tranquility.
He died on Sunday, the eleventh of September, 1870, and his remains were de- posited in the new cemetery, where a large and costly monument marks the place of his earthly. rest.
9
66
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY.
PECK DANIEL, 1807, 8, 9, 10, 11, SPENCER, HENRY, 1807, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13.
PEIRSONS, ELI C., 1835, 6.
PERINE, JOSEPH S., 1848, 9, 50, STEWART, ROBERT, 1860, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
PETTIT, MICAJAH, 1802, 3, 4, 5.
PHILO, NATHAN A., 1829, 30, 1, 2. TALLMADGE, SAMUEL S., 1827, 8,
PITCHER, ALFRED, 1823, 4, 5.
RIPLEY, ASA, 1820.
RIPLEY, JAMES, 1817, 18, 19, 20.
2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 50.
ROBERTS, WILLIAM, 1795, 6, 7, 8, VAUGHN, JAMES, 1811, 12, 13, 14,
9, 1800, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. 17, 18, 19, 20, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. ROBINSON, WILLIAM, 1851, 2, 3, VERNOR, JOHN, 1796, 7, 8, 9, 1800, '4, 6, 7, 8, 9. 1, 2, 3. .
SCOTT, DANIEL D., 1812, 13, 14, 15. WING, HALSEY R., (a) 1844, 5, 6, SISSON, JAMES, 1848. 7.
SKINNER, SAMUEL G., 1823, 4.
18, 19, 20, 1, 32, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9.
4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 70, 1, 2, 3.
STOWER, ASA, 1817, 18.
9, 30, 1, 6, 7, 8, 9, 40, 1, 2, 3. VANTASSEL, HERMON, 1839, 40, 1,
WING, NEHEMIAH, 1863.
(a) HALSEY ROGERS WING, eldest son of Daniel W., and Rhoda A. (Stewart) Wing, was born in a building occupying part of the site of the Middleworth House, at Sandy Hill, N. Y., which, at that time was one of the most active and flourishing villages between Albany and Montreal. His father was at the time named, and for some years subsequently, an innkeeper, in a building (since burned) known as the Eagle hotel. In 1814 he removed to the lower part of the village of Fort Edward, where he resided for a number of years near the place
DANSing
now occupied by S. R. Durkee. Here Halsey had the benefit of the local schools, and the experience acquired by rendering such assistance as he was able in the management of his father's business.
His aptitude for study, and persevering application to his books, undoubtedly determined the direction of his career and the choice of a profession. At the age of sixteen he was sent to the celebrated academy at Lenox, Mass. After three years of a thorough academic course under the supervision of Prof. Hotchkiss, its very able principal, he went first to Yale, and subsequently to Middlebury College, Vt., where he entered the Sophomore class, graduated in course and took his baccalaureate degree, on the 15th of August, 1832. He had probably already commenced the study of law, for his license shows that he was admitted to the bar as an attorney, in October, 1834. His legal studies were pursued in the office of the eminent jurisconsult, the Hon. Samuel Cheever. In the interim of student life he served for a brief period, as assistant district attorney of Albany county.
Soon after his admission to the bar, he was awarded a gold medal by the Young Mens' Association of Albany, for an essay of distinguished merit (afterwards
67
CIVIL LIST.
COMMISSIONERS OF COMMON SCHOOLS.1
AMES, MOODY, 1828, 9, 30, 1, 3.
BARBER, HIRAM, 1835, 6, 7, 8.
BARTOW, ELIJAH, 1796, 7, 8, 9, 1800.
BEADLESTONE, STEPHEN, 1810, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16.
COWLES, DANIEL H., 1837.
EASTWOOD, MARTIN, 1830.
FERRISS, JOHN A., 1818, 19, 20, 1,
2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.
FERRISS, WARREN, 1796, 7, 8, 9, 1800. FOLGER, ELISHA, 1821.
FREEMAN, JONATHAN W., 1834.
printed) which was read before that body. The following are the inscriptions copied from the medal, now in the possession of the family.
OBVERSE.
The Huygen's Premium, Awarded, Nov. 1st, 1834, by The Young Mens' Association for Mutual Improvement, In the City of Albany, To Halsey R. Wing.
REVERSE. For the Best Essay on the influence of the Study of the Physical and Mathematical Sciences On the Character of Man
and the usefulness and application of these sciences to the Common purposes of life.
In December following, his name was inscribed upon the rolls, as solicitor in chancery, and about the same time he removed to Brockport, Monroe county, where he opened a law office, with E. B. Holmes as partner.
He remained but a short time at this place, but removing to the larger and more promising village of Buffalo, whose coming greatness and importance were already casting shadows before, he formed a new partnership with Judge Frederick P. Stevens. Here, with the dawn before him of a lucrative practice, and a wide spread popularity among the laboring classes, we find him fairly launched upon the swift current of life.
On the 31st of August, 1835, he was married with Harriet N., sister of the Hon. E. P. Walton, of Montpelier, Vt., who has lately represented that district for two consecutive terms in Congress.
Of this union, it is not improper to say that it has been one of the most perfect accord and harmony. The chivalric and devoted respect with which he always regarded the gentler sex, found an apotheosis in his wife, whom he reverenced and loved with a devotion which few have equalled, and none excelled. Through all his life, he seems to have made it a special study to spare those he loved from all care, trouble, anxiety or apprehension.
He came to Glen's Falls in 1841, in which year he was admitted as counselor at law, and the following year, as solicitor in the United States Courts, and coun- selor in chancery. He became, from the first, prominently identified with the
1 The office of school commissioner was created by the act of 1795, relating to common schools. According to the provisions of the law, not less than three, nor more than seven commissioners were annually to be chosen by the electors of their respective towns. To them was committed the supervision and direction of the schools, and the apportionment of the public moneys among the several school districts .- Vide Randall's Digest, p. 6. From 1800 to 1812 it does not appear that any commissioners of schools were elected in Queensbury. The office was abolished at the time the office of town superintendent was created.
68
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY.
GREEN, AMOS, 1824, 5, 8, 9.
MINER, JOHN, 1798.
GRIFFIN, BARTHOLOMEW, 1826.
MOSHER, ISAAC, 1834, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 40, 1, 2, 3.
JENKINS, PALMER B., 1831, 2.
KIMBERLY, ISRAEL, 1822, 3.
NELSON, ASAPH, 1830, 1, 2.
MCDONALD, WILLIAM, 1820.
NUMAN, LEWIS, 1835, 6.
MALLORY, JOHN, 1818.
PHILO, HENRY, 1839.
interests of the democratic party, of which he has been a life long, and unvarying supporter.
In the fall of 1843, he was appointed, by the board of supervisors, to the position of county superintendent of common schools.
In 1845 he became the first judge of the county, having previously been elected to the office of justice of the peace and inspector of common schools.
In all these multiplied relations he invariably fulfilled the trusts, and discharged the duties belonging to them with fidelity and conscientious thoroughness. His legal practice, built up in the face of a sharp and eager competition, was always respectable and renumerative, and that he did not descend to do the dirty work of a venal bar, will be no reproach to his memory in the estimation of those whose opinions are worth the having.
In 1851 one of those rare opportunities presented, which now and then prove the turning point in a man's fortunes. He was offered a partnership in an already established business, and the celebrated Jointa Lime Company, was formed, consisting of himself and Mr. John Keenan, to whose indefatigable industry and shrewd management, this company is largely indebted for its success.
In 1852 Mr. Abraham Wing sold out his large lumbering interest, together with the sawmill near the dam on this side of the river to Halsey R. Wing, and his brother-in-law, Lansing G. Taylor. After Mr. Taylor's death (which occurred in 1856), and the settlement of the estate, Mr. Wing became sole proprietor of the lumbering business aud the mills connected with it.
After assuming these varied business cares and responsibilities, Mr. Wing gra- dually withdrew from the practice of law, throwing his legal business into the hands of Isaac J. Davis, Esq., with whom he formed a law partnership in 1854 ; and who has since made his mark in the legal world as a sharp, astute counselor, and a brilliant and successful advocate.
Later on, Mr. Wing became one of the firm known as The Glen's Falls Com- pany, and of another, called The Glen's Falls Transportation Company, in both of which large financial and industrial interests were represented, and whose ex- tended operations have proved eminently successful and remunerative. He was also a stockholder and director in the Glen's Falls National Bank, and the Glen's Falls Insurance Company. In all public matters, connected with education or morality, Mr. Wing was an earnest and zealous worker. He was a regular at- tendant upon the ministrations of the Presbyterian church, and acted as one of its trustees at a moment of peculiar embarrassment and difficulty. He was an ardent and faithful laborer in the field of temperance, formerly a worthy patriarch of the old Glen Division, one of the charter members of Billy J. Clark Division, and a con- tributor to its exchequer.
' Mr. Wing was a ready promoter and advocate of the interests of education, con- tributing to its maintenance, and encouraging its elevation and advancement. At the time of his decease, he was one of the trustees of the Glen's Falls Academy. He was also elected president of the Young Mens' Association at its organization and served it faithfully in that capacity, until his term of office expired, giving
J A J Wilcox; Boston
Halsey R Ning
69
CIVIL LIST.
PIXLEY, LEWIS L., 1832.
RANSOM, FLETCHER, 1827, 8, 9.
ROBERTS, WILLIAM, 1796, 7.
ROBINSON, WILLIAM, 1833.
SCOTT, DANIEL D., 1817.
2, 3. SPENCER, HENRY, 1812, 13, 14, 15, 16, 19.
STOWER, ASA, 1812, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 1839, 40, 1, 2.
SWEET, DANIEL, 1833, 4. TIBBITTS, BENJAMIN, 1799, 1800.
SHELDON, N. EDSON, 1838, 40, 1, WILKINSON, ROBERT, 1817.
WING, BENJAMIN, 1796, 7, 8, 9, 1800.
WING, RICHARD, 1843.
the embryo organization much of his valuable time, with the hope and aim of giving it permanence and stability.
He always manifested the greatest respect for the observance and ceremonials of religion, tenderly regardful of the feelings of others, and, although he made no verbal professions of piety, his was that broader catholicity of doctrine and example, which holds to the belief in
" The Gospel of the Golden Rule, The New Commandment given to men, Thinking the deed, and not the creed, Would help us in our utmost need."
With the outbreak of the rebellion, Mr. Wing immediately became identified with the war movement, earnestly and faithfully laboring to further the interests of the Union. This is not the place, nor the occasion to animadvert upon the bitter partisanship which was resolute to declare that democrats were all " traitors," " copperheads," " disloyal," "in sympathy with the rebellion," etc., which trailed the venom and slime of foul slander upon the fairest reputations, and which assailed the purest patriots with the garbage of vituperation. Mr. Wing, as an active and prominent democrat, still clinging to that corner stone and palladium of our liberties, the constitution, as something to be revered, was, from this very prominence, a target for their assaults, and although never com- plaining, there is reason to believe that this state of things did much to embitter his existence, and to grieve unnecessarily and wantonly a sensitive spirit, always struggling conscientiously for the right ; and which, for mean and selfish ends, was persistently misrepresented and resolutely misunderstood.
Mr. Wing was a public spirited man and a hard, efficient worker. To his ener- getic labors we owe many of our public improvements, and the development of our industrial resources, of which we have no further space to speak.
His last appearance in public, was on the occasion of a great public festival given at the Cosgrove Opera House, for the benefit of the poor. He was em- phatically a friend to the friendless, and few appeals for help were ever turned unanswered away.
His professions were sincere, his friendships enduring, and beneath a bluff carriage and reserved manner, he carried as kind a heart and a soul full of tender emotion, as ever animated a human being. Were all like him as honest and honorable, as pure minded and trustworthy, as unsuspicious of evil and em- bodying the apostolical description of charity, this world would indeed be a para- dise such as Eden might have been before the fall.
Surrounded abundantly by the comforts and luxuries of life, and the tender, assiduous care of kind and affectionate friends, he passed peacefully to his final rest on the morning of Wednesday, the 26th of January, 1870.
70
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY.
1
INSPECTORS OF COMMON SCHOOLS.1
ALMY, OBADIAH, 1839.
AMES, MOODY, 1826.
ARMS, JOSIAH L., 1820.
BALDWIN, ISRAEL P., 1812, 13.
LITTLE, RUSSELL M., 1841. Low, HARVEY C., 1835, 6. MALLORY, JOHN, 1812, 13, 14, 15, 20.
BARBER, HIRAM, 1826, 7, 8, 9, 32, MANCHESTER, GEORGE, 1832, 7. 3, 4, 7. MEAD, ORLIN, 1838. PACKARD, GRIDLEY H., 1829. BRAYTON, WILLIAM, 1834, 41.
BUELL, HORATIO, 1814, 15, 16, 17, PADDOCK, IRA A., 1824, 5, 8, 36, 18, 19, 20, 1, 2, 3. CLARK, ASAHEL, 1814, 15, 16.
CURTENIAS, JOHN L., 1834.
DEAN, CALEB P., 1840.
DICKINSON, DAVID F., 1817, 18, 19. EMMONS, ADONIJAH, 1815, 16. FERRISS, ORANGE, 1839, 40.
FORBES, HORACE, 1816, 17. Fox, WARREN S., 1838. GARDNER, DILWIN, 1817, 19.
GRIFFIN BARTHOLOMEW, 1842, 3. HARRIS, HENRY JR., 1839.
HAY, WILLIAM, 1823, 4, 5.
RANSOM, FLETCHER, 1823, 5, 9, 33. ROSEKRANS, ENOCH H., 1835, 6, 7. RUGG, GEORGE, 1842. RUGG, LEVI, 1812, 13.
SCOTT, DANIEL D., 1816, 1843. SEAMAN, ALLEN T., 1830, 1, 2. SHELDON, N. EDSON, 1839.
HENDERSON, JAMES, 1814, 16, 17, SKINNER, SAMUEL G., 1812, 13. 18, 19. STOWER, ASA, 1817, 20, 2, 6, 7. VAUGHN, JAMES, 1815. WHITE, JAMES, 1820, 1, 2, 4. HITCHCOCK, JOHN H., 1816. KIMBERLY, ISRAEL, 1821.
LEAVINS, ROYAL, 1817, 18, 19, 20, WILKINSON, ROBERT, 1813, 14, 15, 7, 8, 30, 1, 5. 16.
TOWN SUPERINTENDENTS OF COMMON SCHOOLS.
HOLDEN, AUSTIN W., 1856. MOTT, ISAAC, 1850, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. PADDOCK, FRANKLIN A., 1849. PADDOCK, IRA A., 1843. (Ap- pointed) 1844.
PERINE, JOSEPH S., 1848. (Ap-
pointed).
SATTERLEE, LEROY R., 1848. TALLMADGE, SAMUEL S., 1845, 6, 7.
1 The office of inspector of common schools was created in 1812, and from three to six in- spectors were annually thereafter elected until 1844. They were invested with powers similar to those of commissioners, the duties of examining teachers and visiting schools, devolving espe- cially upon them. In 1828, the number of inspectors was reduced to three by act of legislature.
7. PERRIN, IRA A., 1840, 1, 2, 3. PETTIT, MICAJAH, 1813, 14. PITCHER, ALFRED, 1818, 19.
RANGER, EZRA, 1833. RANGER, SAMUEL, 1830.
71
CIVIL LIST.
ASSESSORS.
BABCOCK, PHINEAS, 1778, 85.
BARBER, HIRAM, 1826, 8.
BARTOW, ELIJAH, 1795, 6, 7.
BEADLESTONE, CHARLES, 1833, 40. DIXON, ALANSON, 1848, 54, 7, 60.
BEADLESTONE, JOB, 1822, 3, 4, 5, EDDY, JOHN, 1790, 2, 4.
6, 7, 8, 9, 30, 1, 2, 8.
ELLIS, ENOCH, 1856.
BEADLESTONE, STEPHEN, 1805, 6, FAIRCHILD, SAMUEL, 1787. 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. BENEDICT, EZRA, 1859.
BENNETT, DAVID, 1783.
BRIGGS, WALTER, 1798, 9, 1800, 1, FERRISS, JAMES, 1795, 6. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.
BRIGGS, WILLIAM, 1862.
BROWN, ASA, 1794, 5.
BROWN, BENEDICK, 1775.
FULLER, EBENEZER, 1778, 9, 80.
BROWN, GEORGE, 1851.
BUSH, HENRY, 1873.
GARDNER, DILWIN, 1813, 16, 20, 1, 2. GRAVES, JOHN, 1779. GREEN, AMOS, 1820, 1.
CARPENTER, STEVENS, 1872.
CODNER, HENRY, 1841, 2, 3, 6.
GRIFFIN, BARTHOLOMEW, 1838.
CORNELL, BENJAMIN, 1796, 7, 1800, GRIFFIN, JONATHAN, 1814.
1, 3.
CORNWELL, EDWARD, 1815, 19. COWPER, JEFFREY, (a) 1766.
GURNEY, JOSEPH H., 1835, 6, 7, 9, 44. HAPBURN, JOSEPH, 1789.
(a) Previous to the issue of the Queensbury patent, this person had occupied temporarily the Block House at the Half-way brook. In regard to him Sir Jeffrey Amherst, in a letter to a Mr. Sharpe, dated New York, 20th October, 1762, writes as follows :
" The permit to Jeffrey Cooper to occupy the small Post at Half-way brook between Fort Edward and Lake George, was only intended for the preservation of the barricks, etc., that had been erected there, and for the conveniency of Pas- sengers, as I judged it unnecessary after the reduction of Canada, to leave a Gar- rison at that Post."
It would seem that Cowper was a seafaring man, for in the Calendar of English Manuscripts, in the Secretary of States' office, p. 657, is filed a petition by " Ephraim Cook, owner of the Snow Cicero, 34 guns," in which he applies " for a commission, and in case of his death, to his first lieutenant, Richard Harris, and Jeffrey Cowper, his second lieutenant to command said Snow Cicero."
This Cowper (as the name is also spelled in the town records), was, probably, a dependent of Lord Amherst, and without doubt the first bona fide white inhabitant of the town.' His name only appears in the town records for the year 1766.
In Abraham's Wing's account book he stands charged with
April, 1765. § 140 lbs. of pork. ₹ 7 " " nails.
FAXON, WALTER A., 1869. FERGUSON. HENRY, 1834, 40, 1, 2, 50, 65.
FERRISS, WARREN, 1790, 1, 3.
FOLGER, ELISHA, 1788, 91.
FONDA, WILLIAM A., 1864.
BROWN, DANIEL, 1841, 2, 3.
DEAN, DAVID M., 1830, 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 43.
DICKINSON, THOMAS, 1799.
72
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY.
HARRIS, ASA, 1794.
HITCHCOCK, JOHN, 1812.
HARRIS, MORRIS, 1844, 5.
HAVILAND, JOHN G., 1845, 6. HICKS, JACOB, 1771.
JENKINS, PALMER B., 1834. JONES, DANIEL, (b) 1772, 4. KENYON, JOHN, 1804.
HIGSON, JAMES, (a) 1777, 80, 3, 4, KIMBERLEY, ISRAEL, 1813, 16, 17, 9, 2, 3, 7, 1800. 18.
(a) On the 18th of January, 1777, James Higson at Queensbury advertises that he has taken it on himself to act as the " executor to the estate of Jacob Hix, de-
James Jegson.
ceased, in place of Ichabod Merritt." It is presumed from this, and other circum- stances that he had married a year or two previously, and perhaps longer, Content, the daughter of Abraham Wing, and the widow of said Hicks, who had died about the year 1774. Higson was taken prisoner together with Andrew Lewis, his brother-in-law, and William Robards, while hunting strayed cattle or horses near the Blind rock at the time of Carleton's raid, in 1780. Another version of the affair states that they were preparing to go a fishing near East creek, on Lake George, one of the number being engaged in chopping ; the noise of which attracted the enemy, and they were surprised and captured. They were all taken to Canada, and after running the gauntlet, were rescued from the savages, and confined in prison, Robards afterward escaped. The other two remained until the close of the war, being provided for to some extent, and probably kindly treated through the influence of some of their kinsmen who were refugees in Canada at that time. After his return Higson built upon and occupied the land known as the Rosa farm now owned by Mr. Bentley, about one mile north of the village on the Ridge road. On the authority of the late Mr. McDonald, Higson's wife was an intimate friend and confidant of Jane McCrea, they often exchanged visits, and after the atrocious massacre, the Indians exhibited Jenny's scalp, with its long tresses of golden hair, at her father's house near the lower freight house, back of the McDonald mansion. Higson had three children, two daughters and a son John. The latter removed west. From Betsey, the second child, are descended the Burnhams of this village. Judge Hay informed me that he remembered the Higsons well. They both used the Quaker dialect, and " aunt Tenty," as he called her, was a very chatty, agreea- ble person. Higson I think was of Scotch extraction.
Daniel Jones.
(b) Was a brother of the David Jones, so famous in American history as the be- trothed lover of the hapless Jane McCrea. The Jones family 1 consisted of a
1 Vide Wilson's Life of Jane Mc Crea, pp. 16, 17.
73
CIVIL LIST.
LAPHAM, STEPHEN, 1787, 8, 9.
NEWMAN, ORANGE, 1852.
LEAVINS, HEZEKIAH, 1817.
PALMETER, JAMES, 1823, 4, 5.
LEWIS, ANDREW, 1780.
PECK, BETHUEL, 1829.
MALLORY, JOHN, 1814.
PECK, REUBEN, 1808.
MARTIN, HENRY, 1785, 6, 7.
PHILO, NATHANIEL, 1829.
MCGEE, DAVID, 1814, 15.
MERRITT, ICHABOD, (a) 1766, 8, 9, 70.
MILLS, DANIEL JR., 1786.
PLATT, ELMORE, 1838, 9, 46.
MORGAN, ALONZO W., 1827, 8, 30, PUTNAM, ASAPH, 1767.
2, 3, 44, 5, 53.
RIPLEY, JAMES, 1835, 6, 7.
MORGAN, REUBEN, 1810, 11.
ROBARDS, WILLIAM, 1783, 4, 5.
widow and six sons, viz .: Jonathan, John, Dunham, Daniel, David and Solomon. They removed from Leamington, New Jersey, where they had been neighbors and friends of the McCreas, and settled in Kingsbury, where, in the vicinity of Moss . street, Daniel shortly obtained, by purchase of the patentees, a large tract of land. The family homestead was near the north-west corner of the Kingsbury patent.
Daniel was one of the earliest settlers in Queensbury, and to his enterprise and energy in great degree are attributable the early development of its water power and resources. Records and conveyances still exist to show that he was interested in the first saw mill and grist mill ever built at Glen's Falls. They stood on the site of the race way and marble mill just above the bridge. He married Deborah, sixth child of Abraham and Anstis (Wood) Wing. She was born the 6th of 7th month, 1750. Among other property that he owned here was the islands in the river, which he bought of the Jessups of Luzerne, and which were afterwards . conveyed to Abraham Wing. One of these bears to this day the name of Wing's island. At the outbreak of the Revolution he adhered to the royal cause, and with other loyalists fled to Canada. One of his brothers, besides David, held a commission in Jessup's loyalist's battalion in Burgoyne's army. His lands here, which were not previously disposed of, were condemned by the commission of for- feiture, confiscated and sold after the war. At the time of Carleton's invasion in 1780 his house was burned by the invaders. In a letter contained among the manu- scripts so often referred to, he feelingly communicates to his father-in-law, the tidings of his wife's death, in childbed, in Montreal 28th March, 1782, the infant dying about four months after. Subsequent to the war he settled at Brockville, Upper Canada, where he received from the Crown, a large grant of land in com- pensation for his losses here, and where his descendants still reside, being people of consideration and influence. During the war, about the year 1781, his son Richard was arrested and imprisoned at Albany as a loyalist and tory. Through Abraham Wing's intercession and influence he was liberated.
Within the memory of many living, the heirs at law made an effort to recover from the state, the value of the confiscated lands, but were not successful.
(a) The three eldest daughters of Abraham Wing married three brothers, sons of Nehemiah Merritt of the Oblong, Dutchess county, N. Y., namely, Nehemiah, Daniel and Ichabod. The first two of these never removed to Queensbury. Icha- bod, with his wife Sarah, did, and we find his name among the list of town officers for the year 1766.
Their oldest child, Joseph, was the first child of white parents born in this town. The family record places the date of his birth 17th of 12th month, 1766. From
10
PITCHER, ALFRED, 1822, 3, 4, 5, 7, 31.
PITCHER, JONATHAN, 1786.
74
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY.
ROBERTS, WILLIAM JR., 1802, 3, VAN DEUZEN, ABRAHAM, 1840. 12. VAN HEUSEN, JACOB P., 1871.
SANFORD, DAVID, 1805, 6, 7, 10, VAN HEUSEN, VOLKERT P., 1868. VAUGHN, STEPHEN, 1855, 8. VERNOR, JOHN, 1798, 9, 1800, 1, 2.
11. SANFORD, ELNATHAN, 1808, 9. SCOTT, DANIEL D., 1816, 17, 19, 20. WHIPPLE, ARCHIBALD P., 1863, 6. SEELYE, NEHEMIAH, 1772, 3, 5, 6, WILLIAMS, DAVID, 1833, 4. 7, 8,9.
WINCHIP, ANSEL, 1826, 39, 49.
SEELYE, REUBEN, 1813, 14, 18, 21. WINCHIP, JOEL, 1798, 9, 1804.
SEELYE, REUBEN, 1861, 4, 7, 70.
SISSON, JAMES, 1847.
SPENCER, HENRY, 1809.
WING, BENJAMIN, 1769, 70, 1, 3, 4, 6, 84, 8, 9, 91.
SPRAGUE EBENEZER, 1790.
WING, NEHEMIAH, 1815.
WING, WILLIAM, 1818, 19.
OVERSEERS OF THE POOR.
BEADLESTONE, JOB, 1814, 15. BENEDICT, EZRA, 1851, 2.
BENTLEY, STEPHEN, 1871, 2. BLOOD, SEWELL, 1839.
BOYD, RUFUS, 1864.
BROWN, BENEDICT, 1773, 4, 9, 83, FOLGER, ELISHA, 1788, 9, 90, 1, 2. 4, 5. GREEN, AMOS, 1829.
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