Hudson-Mohawk genealogical and family memoirs, Volume I, Part 87

Author: Reynolds, Cuyler, 1866-1934, ed
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: New York, Lewis historical publishing company
Number of Pages: 656

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and died in Southampton ; was also a soldier of the revolution.

(V) Abigail, daughter of Nathaniel and Abigail (Edmonds) Elliott, married George Langford. (Langford III).

(The Sweeting Line).

(I) Henry Sweeting. the first English set- tler of this family, is descended from the Van Swietens of Leyden, from which place he fled in 1580 to escape the persecutions of the Duke of Alva, according to the rescarches of Rev. Walter Sweeting. of Market Deeping. England. A large number of Dutchmen and Walloons took refuge in Southern England at that time and contributed greatly to the prosperity of that country, especially in the manufacturing industries.

(II) Lewis, son of Henry Sweeting, was of Somersetshire, England. He and all the men of the family were clothiers and men of edu1- cation. The manor houses in which they lived are still in existence in Southern England.

(III) Lewis, son of Lewis Sweeting, was of Owey Stowey, Somersetshire, England.

(IV) Henry, son of Lewis Sweeting, was born in Somersetshire. England, and died in Rehoboth, Massachusetts, in 1728. He and his brother Lewis (tradition says), were in the Monmouth rebellion. They were taken pris- oners at the battle of Bridgewater and were condemned to death, but "Bloody Jeffries" was willing to be bribed, and the father and the youngest brother not being involved, they were rescued, and taken to Bristol, where a sloop waited in readiness. They took refuge in Rehoboth, but it was not until 1687, when William and Mary ascended the throne, that they appeared and registered their lands. Mr. Henry Sweeting was a very wealthy man for the time, educated, and one of four only in Rehoboth who had the title of Mr. He mar- ried (first) Joanna or Joan -, who be- came the mother of two children. He married (second) Martha Cole (Hugh*, James1) ; chil- dren : Henry: Lewis (see forward) : Benja- min : John ; Experience, married John Carey ; Mary, married Noah Mason : Sarah, married William Walker : there were one or two other daughters.

(V) Lewis, son of Mr. Henry and Martha Sweeting, was born in Rehoboth, and his father gave him a valuable mill site near or on the site of Pawtucket Mills. About four years after his marriage he was taken ill with a violent fever, which lasted for six weeks, "a man nurse, etc.," all this being shown in the widow's account, besides "a trip to Boston for best morning." He was married in Wren- tham, Massachusetts, to Zebiah, daughter of

John and Mary (Billings) Whiting, of Wren- tham and Dedham ; granddaughter of Nathan- icl and Hannah (Dwight) Whiting, of Ded- ham; granddaughter of William Billings, of Stonington, Connecticut ; and great-grand- daughter of John Dwight. Children: Jo- anna, who died in infancy; Lewis (see for- ward ). Zebiah (Whiting) Sweeting went back to Wrentham with her two children to live with her father, and, in spite of "best morning," soon married Dr. William Ware, of Dighton and Norton, Massachusetts.

(VI) Dr. Lewis, son of Lewis and Zebiah (Whiting) Sweeting, was born in Rehoboth in 1723. and was brought up by his stepfather, with whom he studied medicine. He was a man of prominence in the community, and when Mansfield was set off from Norton it took in that part of the town in which he lived. He and his wife died in Manlius, New York. He married Abiah Cobb, of Norton and Taun- ton. (See Cobb). Children: I. Zebiah, mar- ried Solomon Wetherell: children: i. Han- nah, married Sennett, in Rensselaer county ; her daughter married Scol-

lard, one of whose descendants being Clinton Scollard, the poet of Oneida county, New York. 2. Abiah, married Job Gilbert, and lias descendants living in Michigan and Wiscon- sin. 3. Lucy, married Spencer Pratt, and has descendants living in the vicinity of Boston. 4. Lewis, married and removed to Manlius, and many of his descendants are in the west. 5. Anna, married Captain Alexander D'Aubie, an aide of La Fayette, and lived in Lee, Mas- sachuetts, and in Utica, New York. 6. Whit- ing, married, 1791, Sarah Kilbourne; chil- dren : i. Whiting. died unmarried. ii. Abiah, married - Worden, and has descendants in Syracuse, New York. 7. Eliphalet, mar- ried Lovina (Benton) Luce, and has descend- ants in New York and the west. 8. Nathaniel (see forward). 9. Mary, married Jacob Tyr- rell. 10. John, married Mary Sessions, and has descendants in the far west. II. Mason, married Judith Pratt, and has descendants in Lyons, New York, and its vicinity.

(VII) Nathaniel. son of Dr. Lewis and Abiah (Cobb) Sweeting, was born in Norton, Massachusetts, 1758, and died in Oneida coun- ty. New York. He was a pensioner of the revolution, during which time he was active and prominent. In the Lexington alarm his father, aged sixty, three sons, four sons-in- law, besides many cousins and other relatives, marched to Lexington, arriving just after the battle. Dr. Lewis Sweeting remained with the army until the "eight months' men" could organize and return, in order to keep the British in Boston. Nathaniel and his brothers

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returned in a few days to Norton or Mans- field, re-enlisted for eight months, and when Dr. Lewis Sweeting returned he was placed on important war committees, etc. He served as a surgeon in the army, but no documentary proofs of this service have been found. Na- thaniel Sweeting's pension describes the line of march to Dorchester Heights, where they were then stationed. At the end of eight months he re-enlisted. Later, about August 29, he was at Tiverton, as lieutenant, and was in charge of a boat and company intending to attack the British in Rhode Island, but the boat stuck fast on a bar, and the expedition failed. He was in the battle of Rhode Island. He was stationed at Fogland, in Little Comp- ton or Tiverton, guarding the coast. The American headquarters were at the Wing house, and a little farther to the north La Fayette had his headquarters at the Brown house. About 1781 we find Nathaniel and his brother Lewis in a militia company in Ste- phentown (now Rensselaer county ), Kiliaen V'an Rensselaer having raised a regiment by promising large bounties of his lands to sol- diers. After the war, until 1791. we find, where Stephentown, Berlin, Sand Lake and Nassau come together, in the high lands, Dr. Lewis Sweeting, Lewis Sweeting, Whiting Sweeting and Nathaniel Sweeting, and sev- eral of their sisters and their families. In 1791 Nathaniel and Eliphalet went to Oneida county. Dr. Lewis Sweeting and his sons, Lewis, John and Mason, went to Manlius, Onondaga county. Some time during the rev- olution Nathaniel Sweeting was on a "service of great peril." and acquitted himself so well that George Washington wrote hiin a letter commending him. This was probably the serv- ice of a spy, of which no records were kept. This letter was a highly prized treasure, and was packed in the box with Mary (Tyrrell) Sweeting's wedding china and her gold beads. This box broke away from the remainder of the load and went over Oneida Falls, the con- tents being entirely lost. Nathaniel Sweeting had had considerable experience with iron fur- naces at Raynham, through the Cobbs of Taunton, his mother's family, and he was for a short time at Lee, Massachusetts. When he came to Whitestone he started the Hecla Furnace, and his brother Eliphalet started the first furnace of Oneida county, at Paris Hill. One of the descendants of Eliphalet is Mrs. Henry O. R. Tucker, of Troy, New York. From Whitestown, Nathaniel Sweeting re- moved to Westmoreland, where his death .occurred. Hle married in Mansfield, Mary Tyrrell. (See Tyrrell). Children : I. Na- thaniel, married Ruby Phelps. 2. Almon, mar-

ried and went west. 3. Philip Belin, mar- ried Myra Barnard. 4. Chloe, see forward. 5. Anna, died unmarried. There were others who died young. There are very few descend- ants of his name ; some in Michigan and a few in Oneida county, New York.

(VIII) Chloe, daughter of Nathaniel and Mary (Tyrrell) Sweeting, was born in Whitestown, New York, in 1794. She mar- ried. 1813. George Langford. (Langford IV).

(The Cobb Line).

(I) Augustine Cobb was in Taunton in 1670. He had a brother John, who also had a son Morgan, which would indicate that there was a connection with a Morgan family in an earlier generation. He married Elizabeth

(II) Ensign Morgan, son of Augustine and Elizabeth Cobb, was prominent in Taunton during the French and Indian war. He gave liberally to the First Episcopal church of Taunton. He married Abigail, daughter of Benjamin, and granddaughter of John Willis.

(III) Benjamin, son of Morgan and Abi- gail (Willis) Cobb, was born in Taunton and died just prior to the revolution. Several of his sons were active participants in the revo- lution and died young. Just before removing to Norton he married Mary, daughter of En- sign John and Mercy ( Myrrick) Mason. Children: Captain John ; Captain Benjamin ; Colonel Silas; Mason; Abiah (see forward) ; and several daughters who married into the Briggs, Makepeace, Babbitt, Lane and other families.

(IV) Abiah, daughter of Benjamin and Mary (Mason) Cobb, was born in Norton, and died in Manlius. She was a remarkable woman in many ways and the influence of her character was beneficially felt. She mar- ried Dr. Lewis Sweeting. (Sweeting VI).

(The Tyrrell Line).

(I) William Tyrrell, of Boston, is the first of whom we have record. He was a Scotch- man, and his descendants have intermarried with the best families of Weymouth and Ab- ington-Nash, Pratt, Kingsman, Simpkins, etc.

(II) Gideon was the son of William Tyr- rell.

(1I1) Samuel, son of Gideon Tyrrell.

(IV) Alexander, son of Samuel Tyrrell, was born in Abington. He married in Wey- mouth, where he lived after his marriage, Mary, his cousin, who was a daughter of Ja- cob Tyrrell, granddaughter of William Tyr- rell, and great-granddaughter of William Tyr- rell. Children, all born in Weymouth: I.

Robert R. Livingston

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Jacob, married Mary, sister of Nathaniel Sweeting, mentioned above, and his descend- ants are throughout the west. 2. Job, married Abigail Cobb; he was captured by the Alger- ines, and, returning after many years, found his wife had married again ; he went to Cen- tral New York, where he also married again, and where he died. 3. Mary (sce forward). 4. Chloe, married Captain John Cobb, and died soon after without leaving children.

Tradition says that Alexander and Jacob Tyrrell, of Bridgewater, ran the gauntlet at Fort William Henry, and proof of this is found in the State House in Boston-the en- listment of Alexander in the troops at Fort William Henry and two or three records of his wounded condition, and his death in the hospital in Albany. The Tyrrells of Wey- mouth and Abington were noted as fast run- ners.

(\') Mary, daughter of Alexander and Mary (Tyrrell) Tyrrell, married Nathaniel Sweeting. (Sweeting VII).

LIVINGSTON Robert R. Livingston, jurist, son of Robert (q.v.) and Margaret ( Howerden) Livingston, was born in New York City, in August, 1718, died at his coun- try seat, Clermont, New York, December 9, 1775. He acquired an excellent education which thoroughly prepared him for the active duties of life, and he devoted his attention to the practice of law in New York City. He was a member of the provincial assembly, 1759-68. and also served in the capacity of judge of the admiralty court, 1760-63: justice of the co- lonial supreme court, 1763 ; a delegate to the stamp act congress of 1765 ; commissioner to decide upon the boundary line between New York and Massachusetts, 1767, and again in 1773, and a member of the committee of one hundred in 1775. He married Margaret, daughter of Colonel Henry and Janet ( Living- ston) Beekman.

Robert R. (2), son of Robert R. (1) and Margaret (Beekman ) Livingston, was born in New York City, November 27, 1746, died suddenly at Clermont. New York, February 26. 1813. He was a student at King's College, which institution conferred upon him the de- grees of A.B., 1765, and A.M., 1768, after which he pursued the study of law under the preceptorship of William Smith and William Livingston. He was admitted to the bar in 1773. and formed a partnership with John Jay. with whom he practiced in New York City, and upon his retirement from public life removed to Clermont, New York, where he engaged in agriculture and stock raising, being the first

to introduce gypsum in agriculture,- and also introduced Merino sheep west of the Hudson river. Being a man of scholarly attainment and wide influence, he was chosen for posi- tions of publie trust and responsibility, fulfill- ing the duties thereof with ability and credit. He served as recorder of the city of New York by appointment of Governor Tryon, 1773-75, but was obliged to relinquish the posi- tion on account of his outspoken espousal of the patriot cause in the latter-named year. He was a member of the provincial assembly in 1775; was a delegate to the continental con- gress, 1775-77 and 1779-81, and was a mem- ber of the committee of five, comprised of Adams, Jefferson, Franklin, Livingston and Sherman, appointed to draw up the Declara- tion of Independence, but was obliged to re- turn to his duties in the provincial assembly without signing the instrument. He was a member of the committee that drafted the state constitution adopted at the Kingston convention in 1777; he was chancellor of the state under the new constitution, 1785-1801, and in that capacity he administered the oath of office to President Washington, April 30, 1789; he was secretary of foreign affairs for the United States, 1781-83, and was chair- man of the state convention at Poughkeepsie in 1788, to consider the adoption of the United States constitution. He declined the office of United States minister to France proffered by President Washington in 1794, and in 1801 the portfolio of the navy from President Jef- ferson, who also offered him the mission to France, which latter he accepted, resigning his chancellorship. While in France he formed a strong friendship with Napoleon Bonaparte ; he also made the initial movement that re- sulted in the purchase of Louisiana from the French in 1803. He resigned from the office of United States minister to France in 1803, after which he spent some time in traveling through Europe, and while in Paris became interested in the invention of the steamboat of Robert Fulton, whom he assisted in his en- terprise with his counsel and money, eventu- ally becoming his partner. The first steamboat, owned by Livingston and Fulton, was built in France and was launched upon the Seine, but was a failure, and on returning to America they built and launched on the Hudson an- other steamboat, the "Clermont," in 1807, which was named in honor of the Livingston home in New York.

The honorary degree of LL.D. was con- ferred on Mr. Livingston by the regents of the University of the State of New York in 1792. He was a founder of the American Academy of Fine Arts in New York in 1801, and was

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its first president ; was president of the New York Society for the Promotion of Useful Arts, and upon the reorganization of the New York Society library in 1788, he was ap- pointed a trustee. He published many essays and addresses on fine arts and agriculture. His statute, with that of George Clinton, form- ing the group of the most eminent citizens of New York, was placed in the capitol at Wash- ington by act of congress. In the selection of names for a place in the Hall of Fame for Great Americans, New York University, made in October, 1900, his was one of the thirty-seven names in "Class M, Rulers and Statesmen," and received only three votes, his votes in the class equalling those for Richard Henry Lee and Stephen A. Douglas, and exceeding those for Martin Van Buren, Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, John J. Crit- tenden and Henry Wilson.

Mr. Livingston married Mary, daughter of John Stevens, of New Jersey. Children : Elizabeth S., married Edward P. Livingston. Margaret M., married Robert L. Livingston.

EASTON Robert Easton, the emigrant ancestor and founder of the Albany, New York, family herein recorded, came to this country from the north of Ireland in 1818. He was of Scotch origin; his father, James Easton, is supposed to have been of the Fifeshire (Scot- land) family. It is not known positively when Robert Easton was born, but probably about 1775, at Carnmoneytown, near Belfast, county Antrim. He is designated there as a "small farmer," working leased land on the domain of the Marquis of Donegal, the family all being Scotch Presbyterians. He married and his children were born at this place. He was in comfortable circumstances until two rainy seasons in succession destroyed the crops ( 1816-17). To avoid going in debt for seed, wheat, and potatoes for another season, he decided to sell out his stock and emigrate. In 1818, with his wife and eight children, he sailed from Belfast, Ireland, for Montreal, Canada. Soon after his arrival at that city he died suddenly of an illness contracted while in search of suitable land on which to locate. His wife survived him but a few months. He married, in Ireland, Eliza, daughter of Ephi- raim Craig, of Carrickfurgus. Tradition places the Craigs among the Covenanters in the carly part of the seventeenth century, when a company of these persecuted people left Scotland and colonized in the north of Ireland. Children: Jane, James, Ephraim (of further mention), Eliza, Charles, Margaret, Matilda, and Robert. Of these only four mar-

ried : I. Jane, born 1797, married Robert Stewart, July, 1823. at Montreal, later locating in Albany. New York; children : Robert, James, Ephraim, Eliza, all died unmarried. 2. Eliza, born 1808, died December 10, 1883 ;. came to Albany in 1823, later removing to. New York City, where she married Andrew Mills ; children : Anna, married Orville Ben- nett : Fannie, married C. M. Mather: John; Isabel and Andrew (2). Andrew Mills (1), born in New York City, 1806, died there, June 23, 1879. He was extensively engaged in shipbuilding for many years, and at the- time of his death was president of the Dry Dock Savings Bank, being succeeded by his son Andrew (2). 3. Charles, died July 4,. 1869 ; followed the other members of the fam- ily to Albany, later settling in New York City, where he became prominent as a very wealthy cotton broker. He married Deborah

who died July 1, 1879, aged eighty-one years ; children : Charles (2) married - Taber, of Albany; Louisa; Henry; Walter, unmar- ried ; Mary E., married Edward Fuller ; Al- fred, married - Ford (had Anna, mar- ried Charles Lane Poor) ; Frederick, married Williams (had Charles Philip, Wal- ter, and Isabel). 4. Ephraim, through whom the line continues.

(II) Ephraim, son of Robert and Elizabeth (Craig) Easton, was born in county Antrim, Ireland, in Carnmoneytown, about 1801, died July 2, 1879. He accompanied the family emi- gration to Canada, residing in Montreal until his marriage in 1824, when with his bride he came to Albany, making the journey (which consumed two weeks) in a sleigh, bringing with them all their belongings. In 1833 he- became a naturalized citizen, and the same. year bought his first piece of property, and until his death always owned the home he occupied. He married, in Christ Church Ca- thedral, Montreal, Canada, January 24, 1824, Eliza Patterson, widow of John Walker. She was born, June, 1796, in the parish of Kiltart, situated on Lake Allen, county Leitrim, Ire- land, eldest child of William and Nancy (Trimble) Patterson. William Patterson owned or had a life lease of a large farm on the Whitlaw (or Whitan) domain, of which his father, Mark Patterson, was the agent. Mark had two sons, William and John, and four daughters. William died at Kiltart, Jan- uary 14, 1803, comparatively a young man, and is buried in the Louders family vault within four miles of Ballinamore. At his- death the farm reverted to his brother John, the widow and seven children going to live- among her own people, the Trimbles, of Man- or Hamilton, Leitrim county. Nancy was a:

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daughter of James Trimble, a native of Fer- managh county, and his wife Dorothy James, who had other children-Mary, Betty, Dolly, James, John, William-the latter having been educated for the ministry. In 1812 Nancy Trimble Patterson died, and her children, Eliza, Jolın, and Jane, were taken by relatives. Eliza went to live with her Aunt Betty Algoe. and in 1818 married John Walker, son of a well-to-do farmer. In the fall of 1819 they left Belfast for Montreal, Canada, accompa- nied by her sister Jane and brother John Pat- terson. In March, 1820, her daughter Eliza (2) was born, and in April of that year her husband, John Walker, died in Montreal. Eliza Walker (2) married in Albany, New York, December 27, 1838, George Ovens, born in Wiltshire, England. Eliza ( Patter- son) Walker married (second) January 24, 1824, Ephraim Easton, and died on Christ- mas day, 1886, at Albany, in her ninety-first year. She was a woman of strong character, staunch and steadfast, a loyal adherent of the Church of England, as were her ancestors. At the time of her death she was the oldest communicant of the Church of the Holy In- nocents, and it seemed especially fitting that she was laid to rest on Holy Innocents Day.

(III) Charles Patterson Easton, only child of Ephraim and Eliza (Patterson) Easton, was born at Albany, New York, October 10, 1824, and died at St. Augustine, Florida, March 3, 1885. He received his education in private schools and at the Albany Academy. In 1838 he started his business career as a tally boy in the Albany lumber district; from this subordinate position he rose to the high- est. In 1847 he engaged in the retail lumber trade on his own account with more pluck and energy than cash capital. In 1857 he estab- lished himself in the wholesale lumber busi- ness and became one of the largest dealers. As his sons grew up to manhood they were admitted as partners in the business, and the firm of C. P. Easton & Company was recog- nized as one of the most sagacious and reliable in the district, maintaining a credit and an integrity unsullied. In religious and charit- able undertakings Mr. Easton was very promi- nent, being a faithful working Christian ; he was zealous in Sunday school work of the Methodist Episcopal church, which he joined at the age of eighteen, although he had been brought up in the Episcopal church. Mr. Eas- ton was a Republican in politics, having joined that party at its formation. He was for sev- eral years member of the Republican general committee, and its president for one year. He was candidate for member of assembly in 1872, and for state senator in 1873, but in

both instances was defeated. Ile had never sought political distinction and in both cases the nomination sought the man. He was fre- quently a delegate to the Republican state conventions ; in 1872 was an alternate and in 1880 a delegate to the national convention. He was one of the renowned three hundred. and six that stood by General Grant to the. last ballot, and received one of the bronze. medals commemorating that struggle. In 1878 Mr. Easton was appointed by the legis- lature one of the commissioners to enlarge Clinton prison, and in 1880 he was appointed by the same authority a member of the com- mission to erect the new city hall at Albany .. Governor A. B. Cornell appointed Mr. Easton,. January, 1880, on his military staff as quarter- master-general, with rank of brigadier-gen- eral. In 1865 Mr. Easton was elected a mem- ber of the Board of Public Instruction, and was successively re-elected for a period of six- teen years, seven of which he was president of the board. All of these years he devoted himself untiringly to the educational interests of the community, especially to the advance- ment of public school methods. He was the author of the preamble and resolution provid- ing for the organization of the Albany Free Academy, afterwards called High School, which was adopted by the board in July, 1867. When opposition became most positive and powerful, when others faltered and despaired, his faith and determination never wavered, and. finally he succeeded in securing an appropria- tion for a high school. When its rapid growth made enlargement and better accom- modation necessary, he became the leader of the public sentiment which demanded and se- cured the new building. This building has for some years been inadequate and now (1911) it is about to be abandoned as a high school for a new and modern building in the West End of Albany. In the Albany high school, founded largely through his agency, Mr. Easton achieved the greatest success of his public life, and as long or wherever the insti- tution exists in Albany it will be a monument to his labor and public spirit. At the time of his death, he was a director of the National Exchange Bank; a trustee of the Albany Or- phan Asylum ; manager of the Albany County Bible Society ; an ex-president of the Young Men's Association, and a charter member and trustee of the Fort Orange Club. In every one of the many positions Mr. Easton was called on to fill, he displayed marked execu- tive ability, sound judgment, strict fidelity, and the plainest common sense.

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Hudson-Mohawk genealogical and family memoirs, Volume I, Part 87

Author: Reynolds, Cuyler, 1866-1934, ed Publication date: 1911 Publisher: New York, Lewis historical publishing company Number of Pages: 656

Author: Reynolds, Cuyler, 1866-1934, ed
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: New York, Lewis historical publishing company
Number of Pages: 656