John Abbot Information

New information on the John Abbot family in Newfield, NY comes from Ted Reising-Derby :

Here is what I extrapolated from "our"John's pension records statement: about 1776 he was living in Oxford in Sussex Co. NJ, enlisted at Oxford NJ and lived there until about "4 years after the war" (if so, about 4 years after 1783?) therefore:

e1787 to e1795 in Northumberland Co. PA

e1795 to e1799 in Luzerne Co PA

e1799 to e1803 in Cayuga Co NY

e1803? to Newfield (a.k.a. Cayuta/Spencer) NY

*-HOWEVER, if Mary (ABBOTT)STRONG was born in NEW JERSEY in 1791, then as you can see, the above movement dates don't "mesh", and the dates need to be moved forward a bit.....certainly John was stating loosely his movements, anyway. Then maybe he was still in PA in 1800, until about 1807; and therefore would be in PA 1800 census?, but I am not finding him there either. I suppose if we knew the birthplaces of all of his children, it will make things fit better. No one, as yet, seems to have claimed this particular John ABBOTT as a DAR ancestor, or at least he is not in the DAR website database (altho two other, different, John ABBOTTs of NJ, are, including the other one who died 26 Jul 1840, and the DAR record says that one was not from Sussex Co.). About the only other thing that I gleaned fromrecords is that John's wife Anna seems to have died 1840/1841; her name is not on the deed when John ABBOTT sold his Newfield 20ac to David KELLOGG in 1841. When you were in Tompkins Co. area, did you locate John as a purchaser/grantee rather than as seller/grantor when he sold off his properties?[.....I suppose his purchase have been recorded in a different County (Tioga?) than the sale in Tompkins, due to all the border changes of that area.]One additional point about John ABBOTT's land transfers.....he apparently only deeded a small portion of his 20 acres to the school, being only 40 feet by 4 rods. The remainder of the 20 acres of property seems to also have been transferred by John, about a year later, in 1841, to David KELLOG....but at that later time Ann did not sign off (as she did to the school) so Ann was presumably dead by 1841. I guess we would have to check with Tioga Co. to see when John bought that 20 acres in Newfield a.k.a. "Spencer" a.k.a. "Cayuta"?..I'm guessing about 1805? Anyway, it would seem then, since John was still alive in 1841, that "our" John died in March 1850 probably while living with his dau.(?) Mary STRONG in Danby....or at least that corresponds to her living in Danby in 1850, and that he died "in Danby" just shortly before the 1850 census and mortality census (....presumably Mary was caring for her children and the elderly ABBOTTs in 1840...they were around 80 y.o in 1840.....so it's probable that she was still caring for John up til he died in 1850). That transfer of the remaining 20 acres in 1841 also verifies that John was still alive in 1841... therefore is a different Rev. veteran from NJ than the other "John ABBOTT" who died in 1840.

Strongs in Connecticut

We spent the first week in September in New York and Rhode Island where I celebrated a birthday at son David's home. On the 5th, he took the day off and we drove over to Connecticut to follow up on the Philip Strong lead and search a couple of towns which were known to have several Strong families. One reference had Philip born in 1760 in Hebron, Tolland Co, CT. The Tolland County website listed the town of Tolland as the county seat and as the place where documents could be found, so we set off with that as our destination. It is only 65 miles from Warwick, RI to Tolland and a scenic drive through wooded landscape and rolling hills. We passed by Hartford on the freeway and Windsor is not far off, where Elder John Strong the patriarch of the family settled. We arrived at the courthouse in Tolland and were directed across the street to the historical society only to discover that the early records in this county are stored at each of the town's courthouses rather than being centralized. The Philip Strong who died in Scipio, NY was listed as born in Hebron but his parents and other sibs were born in Warren, Litchfield CO, CT. Since we didn't have the time to travel further west, we decided to go to Coventry, just to the south of Tolland, where many of the Jedediah Strong family settled. We know from DNA studies that we are likely descended from either Jedediah (1637-1733) or John Strong Jr.(1626-1697). Furthermore, Coventry is known for being the birthplace of Nathan Hale, the patriot of the Revolutionary War, who was hanged as a spy. Nathan's mother was Elizabeth Strong (1704-1792), a great granddaughter of Jedidiah and from Northampton, MA. Her father was Joseph Strong Jr (1701-1773) (from Joseph Strong Sr - Thomas Strong) and her mother was Elizabeth Strong (1704-1792) (from Preserved Strong - Jedediah), second cousins.

We found the courthouse of Coventry, a small modern building along the main highway. A brief search of records brought us to a page in the log book with handwritten entries of the marriages, births and deaths of many of the Strong family members. Most of Joseph Strong's family are listed and are buried in Coventry along with Jedediah. We paid $10 to make a copy of the page from the log book. Unfortunately, there was no listing for  Philip Strong and the dates ranged from 1728 to 1775.

After a quick lunch, we drove on a two lane road in the countryside to the home of Richard Hale and Elizabeth Strong which is now an historical site. We took a tour of the home which is preserved along with the other farm buildings and fields. It is a typical home of its time as you can see from the picture of the Strong home, a two story frame building, painted red. There are pictures of the Hales on the walls. At one point Richard and Elizabeth shared the home with their son Richard Jr., each living in half of the house and sharing the kitchen and dining areas. The Strong family had a similar home just down the road about a 1/2 mile which we also toured, thanks to the custodian who is living in it.

Although we were unable to make any connections to Reuben Strong on this trip, we likely eliminated Coventry as his family homestead. It is always interesting to visit these areas and picture where and how these early settlers lived.

Philip Strong continued

From: Cayuga County Historian
Date: July 23, 2008 7:27:55 AM PDT
To: "D. Michael Strong"
Subject: Re: Strong search

Mike:
I found an abstract of Philip Strong's will as follows:
Philip Strong of Scipio
Dated Nov 30, 1812
Probated Jan 18, 1813
Mentions: sons: Joseph, Philip, Daniel Reed, John
wife: Reliance
daughter: Phebe
Executors: Abraham Dunning of Scipio
Alanson Tracy of "
Glen Cuyler of "
Witnesses: Lovice Reed
John Toll
Norman Stevens


Up to this point, everything seemed to point to Philip as a likely connection for Reuben. I would have expected him to be named in the will if that were the case but, unfortunately, there is no mention in the probate abstract.
Joseph was from Philip's first wife, Phebe, who would have been the primary candidate for Reuben due to birth dates.
John B. is from his second wife, Patience, and Philip and Daniel Reed are from the third, Reliance.
These are also the only children mentioned in Dwight's History of the Strong Family. From the 1810 Scipio census, there were two males under 10 which would have been Philip and Daniel. There was one male 10-15, which would have been John. There was one 16-25, which could have been Joseph and we had hoped maybe Reuben.
There is one female under 10 which is not accounted for, 3 that are 10-15 also not accounted for unless one is Phebe who would have been 15 or 16 and is mentioned in the Probate, but the others are not accounted for; one who is 16-25, either Phebe or we had hoped Mary; and 1 26-45, Reliance, Philip's third wife.
I have not looked for Joseph in the census but it is worth a look if he is separate from the family. He moves on to Chautauqua Co and was married in 1809 so may be out of the family, leaving Reuben still in the running. It's not clear though why he wouldn't be in the will unless he's related to another in the family. The search goes on.

Philip Strong

From Jeff Hayward (ggg grandson of Anna Strong, Reuben's first born), July 10,2008

The fact that it seems less likely that Benajah Strong (the Lansing area Strongs) is our connection, sent me back to my notes. The last group that I was working on connecting to was Asher Strong. I had found a note that he and three of his sons moved through central NY and I had come across traces of them in Onondaga and Cayuga Counties. Ancestory.com now has much more on this family than before and it appears that it does not match up. They are fairly well documented and there is not a lot of possibilities for our Rueben. Seems like it is back to square one.
In starting over, it always seems best to start with what is known and work backwards. We know that John Abbot is in the Cayuta/Newfield/Spencer area in 1810 from the census listing and that he just recently arrived there via the pension papers. But Anna was born in 1810. It doesn’t make too much sense that they just move and Rueben and Mary meet, marry and have a child there that quickly. That puts us back in Scipio just before then; John and family spent 4 years there. Using census listings, there were a handful of Strongs in Scipio in 1810 and only 3 there in 1800. You are going to like this even more – one of the Strongs is Philip Strong. After digging a bit, it is apparent that these all are related from 3 brothers that came to NY around 1800 – Philip, Ezra, and Epaphronditus. This family can easily be traced back through their father Philip (b. 9 Feb 1735 in Hebron, CT to Ezra to Jedediah Jr to Jedediah to the Elder John Strong). Wasn’t that one of the possibilities from the DNA testing?
It does get better. Philip was married three times and I don’t think there is a good listing for his family. (The kids are born in the right period for our Rueben.) This Philip died on 20 Feb 1812 and is buried there in Cornwell Cemetery. The 1810 census is also interesting – it shows 2 children under 10, 1 10-15, 1 16 to 25 and Philip (over 45) and females 1 under 10, 3 - 10 to 15, 1 16-26 and 1 26 to 45 (I think this was the third wife (younger). None of the documentation shows him with this many kids. It is also possible that Rueben and Mary are with him. (We know that they are not with John Abbot and there is no listing individually for Rueben. (this is just a possibility). By 1820 the only one left there in Scipio is Epaphronditus. All of the other Strong are gone (Philip had a son named Philip that died in Scipio in 1808, Ezra became a Doctor and moved to Rochester, NY but is buried back in Cornwall Cemetery).
The parents of the three Scipio Strongs is Philip and Rhoda Payne. They ended up in Warren (Litchfield) Connecticut where most of the other siblings stayed.
If this does indeed match your DNA testing, it does have possibilities. At least it is a place to start… (I still do not see any links in PA for the Abbots where they were supposed to be.)

Churchill/Williams

We returned to Rhode Island after our week in Tompkins County and was reminded of the Strong connections. Reuben's grandson, Philip, my g grandfather, moved with his family to Ontario Canada where he grew up and met Mary Amelia Churchill, whom he married. Mary Amelia's father had also moved to the area through New York and had served in the National Guard. His father was Pardon Churchill who was born in Mansfield, Mass., or near there. In the year 1816 he made a journey into the forest lands of the Susquehanna County, Pa., purchased a tract of woodland, made a small clearing, and built a house. Returning home, he made preparations for removal and in the winter of 1817-18, having constructed a cloth-covered house or tent upon an ox-sled, and packing their supplies and necessary furnishings, and accompanied by his young wife and infant son, Asa, with John and Bathsheba Williams, his wife's mother [believe it should be brother, John Jay Williams] and sister, he set out for the new home. They were fourteen days on the journey to the wilderness, in the town of Herrick, where his farm was located. He died about 1825, leaving a widow and one son. He married in Scituate, R.I, ABIGAIL WILLIAMS, daughter of Squire and Anna Williams, the father being a descendant of Roger Williams, the pioneer settler of Providence, R.I. Squire Williams was in the fifth generation from Roger, and was born in Scituate, R.I., May 20, 1753, son of Benoni and Abigail (Smith) Williams. Abigail remarried after Pardon's death and moved to Leon, Cattaraugus Co, NY, not far from Ontario.

Tompkins County - Day 6

Friday, July 4, 2008

It is the 4th of July and all the government buildings are closed so the research has been completed for this trip. We spent the day going to Treman State Park and visiting other parts of the Ithaca area. The fireworks display were on the 2nd of July instead of the 4th and we learned today, as we expected, the fireworks had set off a number of fires on the Ithaca College campus. It was windy during the fireworks and we could see some of the burning fragments drifting towards parts of the campus. There had been lots of fire trucks and police traveling about with sirens blaring and lights flashing.
The gorges of Tompkins are up to their claims "Tompkins is Gorges". We had a 2 1/2 mile hike up the clifts of Treman State Park and through the wooded areas. There were several water falls and the park was full of campers. There were swimming pools at the base of some of the falls where people could swim. Our grandkids took advantage of the opportunity.
Tomorrow we pack up and drive back to Rhode Island.

Tompkins County - Day 5

Thursday, 3 July 2008


We traveled to Danby in the morning and stopped at the Court House there for directions. Danby is tiny and there were only two women working in a rather worn down building. They were very helpful and friendly and gave us copies of maps of Danby including the 1853, 1866, water shed and current maps. Wid. Strong is on the 1853 map and a Hayward in her spot on the 1866 map. The ladies gave us directions on how to get to these spots and we wound our way down a single lane road, through the forest, up and down hills, onto a gravel road and then a dirt road back to a paved road and finally to a dirt road that was an old road that had been closed with the onset of the railroad. The property is just off this road and is now re-forested. We went up a driveway and found a gentleman that turned out to be a professor at Cornell who had received his PhD at the University of Washington in Seattle, where I am still faculty. He had built a home on this ground near a small pond, surrounded by forest and told us that it had obviously been farmland before. He had found an old well and remnants of a silo at the corner of where his driveway started. There was also barbed wire fencing out in the woods. We went back down his driveway and onto an old grassy road in our son's SUV and drove up a few hundred yards into the forest where we found old rusted parts to cars and an old bed spring in an indentation in the earth that appeared to have been the site of a farmhouse. It is impossible to know if this was the right place but it is certainly within a few hundred yards if it is not. It is interesting to picture this family living here and where my g grandfather Philip was born. The picture is taken in approximately what would have been their land. In 1850 Jasper, Mary and Reuben's son and my gg grandfather, is listed as head of the household at the age of 21. Mary is with him along with Reuben Jr who was 18. The land was sold in 1853 to Electa Hayward and they move shortly thereafter to Elgin, Ontario, Canada.
We drove on to the town of Owego on the Susquehanna River where the settlers came at the beginning of 19th century. This is the county seat for Tioga County of which Spencer, Danby and Newfield once belonged prior to division of the area into new counties and townships. We thought we might find records of John Abbott here since he was in the 1810 Spencer census of Tioga. Unfortunately, we were unable to find any records.
We drove back to Ithaca and spent a couple of hours in the Library where there were a number of old books on New York, including Revolutionary War records. It was here that we found evidence for John Abbot. Note the spelling of his last name varies from record to record which has complicated the search. It is spelled with either Abbot or Abbott. From various documents we have found: from the 1835 Pensioners Book; Revolutionary war veteran. John Abbot; rank: Pvt; annual allowance: $23.33; received: $58.32; Description of Service: NY MIlitia; When placed on pension role: 2 Aug 1833; Commencement of pension: 4 Mar, 1831; age: 71. From the New Jersey Pensioner rolls: pension commenced 1831, died 26 Jul 1840.
John and Anna Abbott deeded to School District No. 8 in the town of Newfield, Tompkins Co, NY, for the sum of $10, Northwest corner of twenty acres of land, corner of the highway.
From Jeff Hayward: John Abbott, S11929, NJ line, 28 May 1833 Tompkins Cty NY aged 70 on 29 Mar
last, b 1763 in Oxford in Sussex Cty NJ, enl at Oxford NJ thence to
Northumberland Cty PA about 4 yrs after the war thence to Luzerne Cty PA 8
yrs later thence to Cayuga Cty NY 4 yrs later thence to Newfield NY 4 yrs
later, sol served as a sub for John Williams.
We are still not certain that John and Anna are Mary's parents since I had noted in the past that he was an uncle and William was her father. At least we now have the New Jersey connection.
At least we've added a few more pieces to the puzzle and have a PA route of entry. If only we could now trace Reuben.