Hudson-Mohawk genealogical and family memoirs, Volume II, Part 36

Author: Reynolds, Cuyler, 1866- ed
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: New York, Lewis historical publishing company
Number of Pages: 716

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prisoner and subjected to the most brutal treatment. He was saved from death through the intervention of an Indian chief who had been Putnam's prisoner on one occasion and had been treated kindly. He was taken to Montreal where his release was obtained through the efforts of Colonel Peter Schuyler, after whom the general's last child is named. He fought all through the French war, and was with the English forces in their attempt on the French and Spanish possessions in the West Indies. In 1764 he was at home, a hardy seasoned veteran, who had seen service under the ablest generals. He returned to peaceful pursuits, and in 1765 his wife died, and he connected himself with the Brooklyn church. In 1767 he again married. For a time he threw open his house for the accomo- dation of travelers, and "The old sign which swung before his door as a token of good cheer for the weary traveller is now to be seen in the Museum of the Historical Society of Connecticut."

He was chosen to the board of selectmen and deputy to the general assembly. He con- versed on several occasions with General Gage, the British commander, Lord Percy, and other officers, and told them plainly the Colonies could not be subjugated. The news of the battle of Lexington, April 19, 1775, arrived at Pomfret, Connecticut, on the morn- ing of the 20th. Putnam was ploughing in the field with his son Daniel, a lad of six- teen, who said, "He loitered not, but left me the driver of his team to unyoke it in the furrow, and not many days after to follow him to the camp." He at once plunged into the conflict, raising, equipping and drilling troops. He was raised to the rank of major- general by the continental congress, who on the 17th day of June (the day of the battle of Bunker Hill) conferred that rank upon Artemas Ward and Charles Lee, and two days later on Israel Putnam and Philip Schuyler.

He was in command of all the forces at the battle of Bunker Hill, Colonel Prescott com- manding the redoubt on Breed's Hill at the extreme right. He performed prodigies of valor on that day, and on the 2nd of July following received from the hands of "The Father of his Country" at Cambridge, Massa- chusetts, his commission as major-general. This caused much dissatisfaction and jealousy among some others who coveted higher rank, and resulted in the other three commissions being withheld for a time, but Putnam's had received the unanimous vote of congress, and he received it, the first major-general's com- mission issued by congress from Washington's own hand. He was at the battle of Long Isl-

and, where he superseded General Sullivan in command. He passed the winter of 1776- 77 in camp at Princeton, New Jersey. In 1777 he was in command along the Hudson, and later was in charge of the right wing of the army at Monmouth. In 1778 he was posted again along the Hudson. In 1779 he was stationed in Connecticut, and it was here at Horseneck, when overtaken by a force ten times his own, he dashed down a rocky preci- pice on horseback after bidding his little force seek safety in a swamp where they could not be followed by cavalry. In the winter of 1779- 80 he was attacked by paralysis, and the old hero's fighting days were over. He survived ten years. He died May 19, 1790. He was buried with full military and Masonic honors, and the marble inscription reads, "he dared to lead where any dared to follow." He was a bold fiery leader and inspirer of men, and one whose daring, dashing kind of warfare was quite as useful as the more complicated plans of the strategist. Washington said of him that he was "a most valuable man and a fine executive officer." He married (first) at Danvers, Massachusetts, July 19, 1739, Hannah, daughter of Joseph and Mehitable (Putnam) Pope, baptized September 3, 1721, died at Brooklyn, Connecticut, September 6, 1765. He married (second) June 3, 1767, Widow Deborah (Lothrop) Gardiner. Chil- dren, all by first wife: Israel, David, Han- nah, Elizabeth, Mehitable, see forward, Mary Eunice, Daniel, David, and Peter Schuyler, born in Pomfret, Connecticut, December 31, 1764.

(V) Mehitable, daughter of General Israel and Hannah (Pope) Putnam, was born in Pomfret, Connecticut, October 21, 1749, died November 29, 1789. She married, August 15, 1771, Captain Daniel Tyler, an aide-de-camp of General Putnam at Bunker Hill. He was born in 1750, died April 20, 1832. He mar- ried a second wife, Sarah, widow of Deacon Benjamin Chaplin, a granddaughter of Presi- dent Jonathan Edwards, and a sister of the wife of Aaron Burr. Captain Tyler's father, Daniel Tyler, died February 20, 1802, aged one hundred years, eleven months and twenty- six days. Three of the sons of Captain Tyler graduated at West Point Military Academy, Septimus, Edwin and Daniel.

(VI) Betsey, sixth child and second daugh- ter of Captain Daniel and Mehitable (Put- nam) Tyler, was born June 18, 1784. died March 17, 1831. She married Joseph N. El- dredge, of Warren, Vermont, born May 17. 1777, died April 3, 1842.

(VII) Mary Lucretia, daughter of Joseph N. and Betsey (Tyler) Eldredge, was born

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in Warren, Vermont, November 15, 1816, died October 3, 1880. Her father was postmaster of Warren. She married, December 5, 1844, Albert Booth Mosher, of Sharon, Vermont, born January 29, 1818, died May 14, 1895, at Sharon, where he was born (see Mosher VI).

TRUMBULL The original spelling of Trumbell is said to have been Trumbull, and was derived from the bravery of a young Scot who seeing his King in peril while hunting in the forest, caught the enraged animal by the horns turned him aside and allowed the King to escape. The grateful monarch knigh- ted the young man and named him Turnbull, granted him an estate near Peebles, Scotland, and a coat-of-arms bearing the device of three bulls heads with the motto: "Fortuna facet audaci." The coat-of-arms is perpetuated in the American branch of the Trumbull family. Probably no family among the early colonial and revolutionary stock has contributed so many distinguished men to their country's ser- vice in so many widely varied walks of life. They stand pre-eminent among statesmen, warriors, divines, poets, painters and histor- ians, while the affectionate nickname bestowed on Governor Jonathan Trumbull, of Connecti- cut-of "Brother Jonathan," has spread until it now applies to all citizens of the United States as "John Bull" applies to every Eng- lishman.

John Trumbull, ancestor of the Connecticut family, came from Cumberland county, Eng- land, and settled in Rowley, Massachusetts, where his second son Jolin was made a free- man in 1640; deacon of the church in 1686; lieutenant of militia in 1689, then removed to Suffield, Connecticut. He had four sons : John, Joseph, Ammi and Benoni, see forward. John (3), eldest son, was a clergyman of Water- town, Connecticut, father of John Trumbull, the poet, author of "McFingal," and other works. Captain Joseph was the father of Governor Jonathan Trumbull, war governor of Connecticut, a man of the highest type, an ardent and self-sacrificing patriot who helped in every way to gain independence for his na- tive land. Ammi, was a prosperous farmer of East Windsor, Connecticut. Benoni, was the father of Benjamin Trumbull, the historian, who is well known as the author of an early history of Connecticut. John Trumbull, youngest son of Governor Trumbull, was an officer of the revolution, but best known as the artist who painted the great national pic- tures by order of congress: "Declaration of Independence." "Surrender of Burgoyne," "Surrender of Cornwallis," and the "Resigna-

tion of Washington." He painted numberless other portraits and pictures, many being his- toric in character, which were of the highest artistic merit and entitle him to front rank among the great artists of the world. He was president of the Academy of Fine Arts from its foundation. He married; left no issue. Jonathan Trumbull, of Connecticut, born 1775, was the progenitor of the family that at an early day settled in Fulton county, New York, and are now of Schenectady.

(V) Solomon, son of Jonathan Trumbull, was born in Connecticut in 1797, died in the town of Ephratah, Fulton county, New York, in 1887, at age of ninety years. He was reared and educated in Connecticut, but when a young man removed to New York where he settled on a farm in Fulton county, town of Ephratah. He was a man of influence and an active, earnest member of the Methodist church, to whose interests both he and his wife were devoted. He was a Whig during the days of that party, and later a Republican. He married Maria Penny, born in Connecti- cut, died in Ephratah, New York, in 1907, at great age of ninety-seven years. Maria Penny was the daughter of Rev. Amial Penny, an early Methodist preacher of great power. He continued his ministerial labor until the end of his useful life, expiring in the pulpit while delivering a sermon. She and Solomon Trumbull were the oldest couple in the county at the time of his death, and passed together a married life of sixty years. They are buried in the Methodist burying ground. Children : Amial Penny, see forward ; Jonathan, Edward, Solomon, Alma, Mary, Jane (now I910 the only living child), married Cyrus Sponable, of Lassellville, Fulton county, New York.

(VI) Amial Penny, eldest son of Solomon and Maria (Penny) Trumbull, was born in Ephratah, Fulton county, New York, Septem- ber, 1829, died there March 20, 1888. He was a farmer and a Methodist. He married in Ephratah, 1859, Sarah E. Dempster, born at the village of Lassellville in 1841, and still residing in that neighborhood. She is a lifelong Methodist, and was as deeply inter- ested in church work as her husband and father-in-law. She is a daughter of James and Theresa (Brockett) Dempster, and a granddaughter of Joel Dempster. James Dempster was of Scotch parentage and pos- sessed all the admirable qualities of that race, qualities that were transmitted to his children and made them the sterling family they were. The family were prominent Methodists, Sarah E., being a niece of Rev. John Dempster. the powerful and noted Methodist Evangelist. under whose eloquent pleading hundreds were

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led into the church. Children: I. Ida, born in Ephratah, 1860; married Elijah Miles, a farmer. of Lassellville, same town; son Ar- thur. 2. Charles W., see forward. 3. Cora, born 1864; married Milford Mosher; daugh- ter Jane, born 1892. 4. Clinton, died at age of seven years. 5. Jane, married Del Smith, of Fort Plain, New York.

(VIII) Charles W., son of Amial Penny and Sarah E. (Dempster) Trumbull, was born in Ephratah, Fulton county, New York, April 4, 1862. He grew up with little oppor- tunity for early education but, nevertheless, succeeded by hard work and by improving every moment to obtain a preparatory educa- tion. He entered Union College, literally worked his way through, and was graduated A. B. and C. E., class of 1892. He specialized in physics and after leaving the college was elected principal of the Union Free School at Palatine Bridge. He was a successful instruc- tor and earned a reputation that brought him a professorship in The Case School of Applied Science at Cleveland, Ohio. In 1896 he re- tired from pedagogy and became assistant en- gineer in charge of a party of surveyors on the New York canal improvement system. In 1900 he located in Schenectady, and occu- pied an important engineering position on the barge canal improvements. In 1902-03 he was city surveyor ; 1904-05-06, canal division engineer ; 1908-09 surveyed and laid out the line of the Schenectady and Troy Electric Railroad. During these years he had pur- chased and laid out in city lots a subdivision of the city, which he has improved and con- verted into residential property. He has erected twenty-five residential properties, all of which he still owns. He is also the owner of a large business block at the corner of Center and Liberty streets. In 1910 he erec- ted the largest garage in the city, located in the East End on Bedford Road. He also purchased a tract of two hundred acres near his old home in Ephratah, which he operates as a stock and dairy farm. During his busy years in Schenectady he prepared the plans from which six of the modern school build- ings of the city were built. He is a member of St. George's Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, Psi Upsilon fraternity, also elected by the faculty to Sigma Xi fraternity. Both he and his wife attend the Park Avenue Pres- byterian Church. He married, June 20, 1894, in Schenectady, Georgia Penny, born and edu- cated in that city, daughter of Franklin and Mary (Switts) Penny. She is also a descen- dant of Rev. Penny, the Methodist minister, and is a distant blood relative of her hus- band. Her father, Franklin Penny, was born

in Schenectady county, where he died in 1893, aged forty-five years. Mary (Switts) Penny, her mother, was a descendant of the early Dutch settler. She was killed in 1879 on Green street, Schenectady, while crossing the railroad track. In avoiding an oncoming train she was struck by one going in the opposite direction and instantly killed. Franklin Penny married a second wife, and had a son Howard, now of Rochester, New York. Child of Charles W. and Georgia (Penny) Trumbull : Florence, born December 6, 1896.

PAIGE The present generation of the Paige family, the seventh in America as represented by the Schenectady, New York, branch are represen- tatives of three great nations, England, Hol- land and France. The paternal line traces di- rect to England, as do the intermarriages with the Winslow and Keyes families. The Blood- good (Bloetgoat) marriage leads to Holland, and the Franchot to France. The emigrant an- cestors of these families were men of mark in their communities, and bequeathed to pos- terity records of honorable lives spent in ac- tive effort. They have transmitted also gen- erously of their brain and muscle, as is indi- cated by the great number of professional military and business men enrolled under the family names. The Winslow line beginning with Kenelm, 1629, is the most ancient family herein considered. The name Paige was often written "Page" even by members of the same family. Nathaniel Paige, the ancestor, is also written Nathaniel Page in records of his day, which is often confusing.

(I) Nathaniel Paige, founder of the family in America and direct ancestor of the Paige family of Albany and Schenectady, New York, was born in England about 1650. The date of his coming to New England cannot be as- certained, nor his English birthplace. He was of Roxbury, Massachusetts, in 1686, and in that year was appointed marshal of Suffolk county by President Joseph Dudley. In 1688 he removed to Billerica, Massachusetts, where he was made freeman in 1690. He was one of the eight purchasers of what is now Hard- wick, and one of the twelve purchasers of Leicester, Massachusetts. In 1687 he bought a farm in Billerica (now Bedford, Massa- chusetts), removing there as stated. He died April 12, 1692, at Boston. His will names wife Joanna, who was living in 1699. Chil- dren: I. Elizabeth, married, December, 1698, John Simpkins, of Boston. 2. Sarah, married, 1698-99, Samuel Hill, of Billerica. 3. Nathan- iel, died aged seventy-five ; married Sussanna Lane. 4. James, baptized November 28, 1686;

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buried at Roxbury. 5. Christopher, see for- ward.

(II) Deacon Christopher, son of Nathaniel and Joanna Paige, was born in Billerica, Mas- sachusetts, February 10, 1691, died at Hard- wick, Massachusetts, March 10, 1774. He removed to Hardwick where he was one of the pioneers of the town : selectman seven years ; assessor five years, and first deacon of the church. His occupation was farming. He married (first) Joanna , who died Oc- tober 27, 1719. He married (second) Eliza- beth, daughter of Deacon George Reed, whc died later than 1780. Child of first wife: I. Joanna, married Benjamin Children of second wife: 2. Christopher, born 1721 ; married and left issue who settled in and around Keene, New York. 3. William, mar- ried Mercy Aikens, of Hardwick, and left children: Rev. Christopher, of New Hamp- shire, and Lucy, married Daniel Ruggles. 4. George, born 1725; married and left issue. 5. Colonel Timothy, born 1727 ; representative to general court in 1781 : colonel of the Fourth Regiment of militia of Worcester county, Massachusetts ; married Mary Foster. 6. Jo- nas, living in 1792. 7. Elizabeth, died before 1743. 8. Lucy, married Seth Lincoln. 9. Na- thaniel, married and had a son Jason. 10. John, see forward. II. Elizabeth, married Sol- omon Green, and had a son Archelaus, who removed to western New York.

(III) John, son of Deacon Christopher and Elizabeth (Reed) Paige, was born in Hard- wick, Massachusetts, July 6, 1738, died at Schaghticoke, Renssalaer county, New York, April 13, 1812, and was buried in the same grave with his wife who died four days pre- vious to his own demise. He removed from Hardwick to Stephentown, New York, in 1790, and from thence to Schaghticoke .in 1793, where he owned and operated a large farm on which he resided. Family tradition states that Paul Revere on his famous ride stopped at the house of John Paige and awak- ened him. In the rolls of Massachusetts sol- diers of the revolution there are many of the name. They are found under the names Page, Paige, Pague and Peague. There is no rec- ord that particularly mentions a John Paige, of Ilardwick, although there are men by the name of John Page and Paige from Hard- wick. Jolın Paige married, January, 1765, (banns published December 23, 1764) Hannah Winslow, born May 6, 1740, at Rochester, Massachusetts, died at Schaghticoke, New York, April 9, 1812, daughter of Captain Ed- ward and Hannah ( Winslow) Winslow, of Rochester. Captain Edward Winslow was a son of Major Edward and Sarah Winslow,

grandson of Kenelm (2) and Mercy (Wor- den) Winslow, and great-grandson of Kenelm Winslow (3), third son and fourth child of Edward and Magdalene (Ollyver) Winslow, of Dwilwitch, England, and brother of Gov- ernor Edward Winslow, governor of Ply- mouth Colony, 1633-36-44, "Mayflower" pas- senger (as was his brother Gilbert ) third sign- er of the "Compact," and a most valuable man to the Pilgrim colony. Kenelm Winslow came to America in 1629 with his brother Josiah ; was deputy to the general court eight years, and a man of influence. He died at Salem, Massachusetts, September 13, 1672. He married, June. 1634, Mrs. Eleanor Adams, widow of John Adams, of Plymouth. She survived him and died at Marshfield, Massa- chusetts, where she was buried December 5, 1681, "being eighty-three years old." Kenelm, eldest son of Kenelm Winslow, removed to Cape Cod, settled in that part of Yarmouth which is now known as Brewster. He was an important man in the church and town, a large land owner and public officer. His son, Major Edward Winslow, was a farmer of Rochester, Massachusetts. In 1725, together with Ebenezer Lewis, of Barnstable, and Ed- mund Freeman, of Harwich, he erected an iron works to carry on the making and forg- ing of iron near his dwelling house on the middle branch of the Mattepoisett river. He was selectman 1716; town treasurer 1723- 27 ; justice of the peace ; major of militia and generally known by that title. His son, Cap- tain Edward Winslow, father of Hannah (Winslow) Paige, was a farmer and inherited the family homestead at Rochester, Massachu- setts. His wife, Hannah Winslow, also his cousin, was also a descendant of Kenelm Win- slow. After the death of his first wife, he married Rachel Winslow, another cousin, an- other descendant of Kenelm Winslow. He was published for a third marriage August 9, 1767, to Mrs. Hannah Winslow, of Dighton. He was the father of eighteen children by his marriages. John and Hannah (Winslow) Paige, were the parents of one child, Win- slow, see forward.

(IV) Rev. Winslow Paige, A. M., only child of John and Hannah (Winslow) Paige was born in Hardwick, Massachusetts, Feb- ruary 28, 1767, died March 15, 1838, at Gil- boa, New York. He studied for the ministry and became a regularly ordained minister of the Gospel. He was settled as pastor over the churches at Stephentown, New York, 1790, Stillwater, 1793-1807, town of Florida, Montgomery county, 1808-14, Florida and Windham, 1814-22, Broome. Blenheim and Windham, 1822-27 ; also missionary at Beaver

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Dam, 1822, Windham and Broome, 1827-30; Broome, 1830-36; Gilboa, 1836-37. He re- ceived the degree of A. M. from Brown Uni- versity in 1828. He married, in Windham, Connecticut, May, 1787, Clarissa Keyes, of Ashford, Connecticut, born May 1, 1768, died May 14, 1846, daughter of General John and Mary (Wales) Keyes, a descendant of Solo- mon Keyes, the earliest on record of his branch of the Keyes family in America. Rob- ert Keyes is of record in Watertown, Massa- chusetts, in 1633. It cannot be proven that Solomon was the son of Robert Keyes, al- though there is a similarity in the coat-of-arms of the two families that would suggest that the Robert and Solomon families are different branches of the same head. Solomon Keyes was town clerk and tithingman in Chelms- ford, Massachusetts, and seems to have been a man of influence. The old Keyes homestead, a roomy two-story white house, now nearly two hundred and fifty years old, stands in the town of Westford, which was set off from Chelmsford in 1729. The earliest record of Solomon is his marriage to Frances Grant at Newbury, Massachusetts, October 2, 1653. Five of his children were born there. In 1664 he settled in Chelmsford, where his five young- er children were born. In the old town book of Chelmsford it is recorded "Sargent Solo- mon Keyes died March 28, 1702." His wife Frances died 1708. Solomon Keyes, eldest son of Solomon and Frances (Grant) Keyes, married Mary -. Their eldest son Eli- as married Mary - -. Their son Samson, born November 21, 1719, married and was the father of General John Keyes, who was a commissioned officer for the state of Con- necticut ; a companion in boyhood and in ma- ture years of General Israel Putnam, and Colonel Thomas Knowlton (who married his sister Anna), under whose command he was when the latter fell, mortally wounded, at Harlem Heights in 1776. General John Keyes was a devoted patriot and contributed his energies and property freely to his country's cause. It is said that he kept eight negroes in his service during the revolutionary war. He frequently took his negro servant Caesar behind him on his horse in going to battle. Soon after the war he emigrated to Vermont, where he remained but a short time, obtaining a grant of a township under the act of con- gress according lands to revolutionary officers and soldiers ; he removed to Canajoharie, New York, then a wilderness. A slaveholder, and living at a time when social distinctions were pronounced and acknowledged, he was a courtly and punctilious gentleman of the old school. He died in the town of Canajoharie,

Montgomery county, New York, April 13, 1824, aged eighty years. He retained to the last his vigor of mind and body. The day previous to his death he rode three miles to transact some business ; on his return he re- tired at his usual hour and in apparent health; early the next morning he was discovered life- less. He married, September 28, 1767, Mary Wales, daughter of Captain Elisha Wales, of Ashford, Connecticut. Their eldest daughter Clarissa married Rev. Winslow Paige. Chil- dren: I. Colonel John Keyes, see forward. 2. Hannah, born at Stephentown, New York ; married Archibald Croswell. 3. Maria C., born at Schaghticoke, New York; married David Cady, and died at Schenectady, August II, 1874. 4. Judge Alonzo C., born at Schaghti- coke, died March 31, 1868, at Schenectady, where he left a family. He was judge of the New York court of appeals. 5. Diana C., married Allen H. Jackson, and died May 19, 1863, at Schenectady. 6. Antoinette, born at Schaghticoke; married Judge Platt Potter, of Schenectady, and had a daughter Mary.

(V) Colonel John Keyes, eldest son of Rev. Winslow and Clarissa (Keyes) Paige, was born at Hardwick, Massachusetts, August 2, 1788, died December 10, 1857, at Schenectady, New York. He was graduated at Williams College, 1807, and was a cadet at West Point. He studied law and was admitted to the bar, and commenced practice in Schenectady, con- tinuing until the outbreak of the war of 1812 with Great Britain. He received a captain's commission in 1812; was soon promoted to colonel; was aide to Generai Covington and afterwards to General Wilkinson. He served throughout the war and earned for himself a distinguished reputation as a soldier. In 1818 he was elected district attorney ; clerk of the supreme court, 1823-42; regent of New York State University, 1829; presidential elector, 1844, and April 8, 1845, was the suc- cessful candidate of the Democratic party for mayor of Albany. the forty-fourth elected incumbent of that office. The Whig candi- date was Friend Humphrey, the then mayor, whom he was successful over by thirty-eight votes. After retiring from office he removed to Gilboa, New York, and in the fall of 1856 went to Schenectady. He was a member of the Dutch Reformed church, and a man who stood high in his profession and in the re- gard of his friends. He married (first) in Schenectady, New York, October 16, 1817, Helen Maria, daughter of Governor Joseph Christopher and Maria (Kane) Yates. She died January, 1829, at Albany, leaving a son, Joseph Christopher Yates Paige, born July 8, 1818, in Schenectady, New York, died May

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Hudson-Mohawk genealogical and family memoirs, Volume II, Part 36

Author: Reynolds, Cuyler, 1866- ed Publication date: 1911 Publisher: New York, Lewis historical publishing company Number of Pages: 716

Author: Reynolds, Cuyler, 1866- ed
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: New York, Lewis historical publishing company
Number of Pages: 716