ELIZABETH (PHELPS) PIXLEY

Transcription

1 PIXLEY, ELIZA: Great Barrington, Berkshire County [1] ELIZABETH (PHELPS) PIXLEY, daughter of Josiah and Elizabeth (Taylor) Phelps, [2] was born in Colchester, New London County, Connecticut, on 16 May [3] According to the Phelps genealogy, that child died on 10 April 1716, [4] but it lists the next child as born on the same day. [5] That death date is apparently simply an error; the record of Elizabeth s birth in the vital records does not include a death date. But the Colchester records do show that her brother Zephaniah died on the latter date, 10 April [6] Elizabeth married in Sheffield, Massachusetts, on 14 April 1736, JONATHAN PIXLEY. [7] He was born in Westfield, Massachusetts, on 17 January 1711[/2], son of Joseph and Abigail (Clark) Pixley, [8] and was baptized there on 20 November 1711 [sic]. [9] He died in Great Barrington on 17 June [10] On 25 April 1770, Jonathan and Elizabeth sold the north half of lot #1 in the East Division, called the Housatonick Propriety, ninety-nine acres, to Jonathan Pixley, Jr. [11] On 20 January 1772, Jonathan [Sr.] quitclaimed on the west half of lot #28 in the West Division of the Housatonick Propriety to Isaac Pixley of Great Barrington. [12] However, this was not a son Isaac but a son of John and Mercy (Hall) Pixley. See the separate sketch for Abigail Pixley, widow of that Isaac U.S. Census, Great Barrington, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, roll 4, p Josiah Phelps married Elizabeth Taylor in Westfield 3 February 1703 (Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, , Westfield Vital Records, 81, image online at Ancestry.com). Four children are listed with them, born 1708, 1720, 1722, and At the settlement of Josiah Phelps estate in Sheffield on 13 November 1759, Elisabeth wife of Jonathan Pixley alias Elisabeth Phelps was one of five siblings or their heirs who would divide 384 (Hampshire County Probate, 9:28, 60 62, the settlement at 127). 3 Barbour Collection of Connecticut Vital Records, from Colchester Vital Records, L-3:199, TM-1: Oliver Seymour Phelps and Andrew T. Servin, 2 vols., The Phelps Family of America (Pittsfield, Mass.: Eagle Publishing Co., 1899), 2: Phelps and Servin, 2:1279. There are other errors in this family as listed there. 6 Barbour Collection, from Colchester Vital Records, L-1:654; also noted in Phelps and Servin, 2: Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, , Sheffield Vital Records, 13, image online at Ancestry.com, both of Upper Housatonic. 8 Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, , Westfield Vital Records, 81, image online at Ancestry.com; William Richmond McCallum, Genealogy of the Pixley Family in America since 1663 (Silver Spring, Md.: the author, 1978), 3 4, 8. This book seems to be reliable but provides few citations. Much of the information is probably from Edward Dinwoodie Strickland, William Pixley of Hadley, Northampton, and Westfield, Mass., and Some of His Descendants (Buffalo, N.Y.: Peter Paul, 1900), 10 11, Westfield, MA: Baptisms Performed in the Church of Christ, , database online at AmericanAncestors.com. 10 Strickland, William Pixley of Hadley, Berkshire County Deeds, Middle District, 8: Berkshire County Deeds, Middle District, 8:891. Elizabeth did not sign.

2 2 Elizabeth (Phelps) Pixley of Great Barrington, Berkshire County Although there is no probate record for Jonathan, almost immediately after his death his children sold much of his land on 22 June Henry McGonigal and Luzia [sic] his wife, Olive Pixley, spinster, all of Great Barrington; Eliphalet Fowler and wife Thankful, and Ezra Whittlesey and wife Anna, all of Stockbridge; and Jonathan Hubbard of Sheffield and wife Lucretia sold their right in half the house, two-thirds of the barn, thirty acres opposite Josiah Phelps house and forty acres opposite the dwelling house of our late father Jonathan Pixley to Reuben Pixley of Great Barrington. [13] On 9 September 1775, Reuben sold all of that (except the thirty acres) to Jonathan Pixley of Great Barrington. [14] Another deed by all of the living siblings to Samuel Smith is dated 26 July [15] Elizabeth s household in 1790 is bracketed with that of her son Jonathan, and probably consisted of herself and her surviving unmarried daughter Olive. Olive appears alone in the 1800 census, [16] suggesting that her mother may have died in the interim. In fact, a series of deeds from the children relating to Elizabeth s dower, dated 14 April and 29 May 1795, suggests that she died shortly before then. [17] Children of Jonathan and Elizabeth (Phelps) Pixley: [18] i. JONATHAN PIXLEY b. 5 April 1737; d. 21 Jan ii. REUBEN PIXLEY, b. 3 Jan. 1738[/9]; d. probably Pompey, Onondaga Co., N.Y., after 20 April 1805; [19] m. (1) ESTHER and had two children born in Great Barrington including Reuben, Jr.; [20] m. (2) 18 Feb. 1766, REBECCA GRIDLEY, [21] b. Farmington, Conn., 30 Aug. 1738, daughter of Timothy and Esther (Porter) Gridley. [22] On 9 Sept. 1775, Reuben sold land in Great 13 Berkshire County Deeds, Middle District, 12: Berkshire County Deeds, Middle District, 11: Berkshire County Deeds, South District, 32:105, recorded 13 December U.S. Census, Great Barrington, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, roll 13, p Berkshire County Deeds, South District, 33:92, 135, 136, Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, , Sheffield Vital Records, transcription from p. 13, image online at Ancestry.com. This says Obed, not Obediah. Some of the children also appear in Stockbridge Vital Records (see below). McCallum, Pixley Family, 8, also lists most of them. McCallum also lists a child named Isaac but was mistaken. See the sketch for Abigail (Hooker) Pixley. 19 On 20 January 1797, Reuben and Rebekah Pixley of Pompey, Onondaga County, sold twenty-one acres in Great Barrington to Josiah Phelps (Berkshire County Deeds, South District, 40:325). On 20 April 1805 Reuben, Jr., of Pompey, attorney to Reuben, Sr., sold shares of land in Great Barrington (ibid., 42:382; the power of attorney at 41:186). 20 Ralph and Pauline Pixley, The Pixley Story (Baltimore, Md.: Deford & Co., 1976), 19. Reuben Pixley, Jr., married in Lee 3 June 1795, Polly Chase (Vital Records of Lee, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850 [Boston: NEHGS, 1903], 155). 21 The date from Pixley, Pixley Story, 19. Esther, daughter of Reuben and Rebecca Pixley, was born in Great Barrington 6 January 1767 (Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, , Great Barrington Vital Records, 79, image online at Ancestry.com). 22 Barbour Collection, from Farmington Vital Records, LR6:3 (birth), LR6:27 (parents marriage); Pixley, Pixley Story, 19.

3 Elizabeth (Phelps) Pixley of Great Barrington, Berkshire County 3 Barrington to his brother Jonathan. [23] Reuben Pixley, son of Jonathan Pixley of Great Barrington... located in the Hoplands [in Lee], and gave his name to Pixley s Mountain. [24] He was of Lee when he and his siblings sold land in Great Barrington on 26 July [25] In 1790 Reuben Pixley was enumerated in Lee with three males 16 or over, one under 16, and three females. [26] As noted above, he and Rebekah were of Pompey by 20 Jan [27] iii. ISSAC PIXLEY, b. 26 June [28] iv. ANNA PIXLEY, twin, b. 25 July 1742; [29] living 1802 (see below); m. Stockbridge 28 Oct 1762, EZRA WHITTLESEY of Stockbridge, [30] b. Newington in Wethersfield, Conn., 11 Feb. 1737/8, [31] d. after 14 April 1802, [32] probably in Lisle, Tioga Co., N.Y., son of Jabez and Sarah (Stoddard) Whittlesey. [33] He was admitted to the church in Stockbridge in [34] During the Revolution, he served as captain in various Berkshire Co. units from 1775 to [35] In 1790 in Stockbridge, Ezra was listed with a male over 16 and perhaps six females. [36] On 14 April 1795, he and Ann were of Stockbridge when they sold their right in Elizabeth s dower to Jonathan Pixley. [37] On 16 Feb. 1795, Ezra of Stockbridge, Gent., purchased lot #560, 223 acres, in Union [later renamed Lisle]. On 13 June 1796, Ezra was still of Stockbridge, gentleman, when he gave half of lot #560 and half of the mill in Union to Samuel, my only 23 Berkshire County Deeds, Middle District, 11: Rev. Charles McEwen Hyde, Lee: The Centennial Celebration and Centennial History of the Town of Lee, Mass. (Springfield, Mass.: C. W. Bryan & Co., 1878), Berkshire County Deeds, South District, 32: U.S. Census, Lee, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, roll 4, p See note McCallum, Pixley, Also recorded in Stockbridge (Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, , Stockbridge Vital Records, 6, image online at Ancestry.com). 30 Charles Barney Whittelsey, Genealogy of the Whittlesey Whittelsey Family, 2nd ed. (New York: McGraw Hill Inc., 1941), 102; Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, , Stockbridge Vital Records, typed index cards, image online at Ancestry.com. This record calls her Thankful, probably simply a confusion between the twins. Intentions at Great Barrington 18 Sept. 1762, call her Anna (ibid., Great Barrington Vital Records, 74). 31 Whittelsey, Whittlesey, 102; Henry R. Stiles, The History of Ancient Wethersfield, 2 vols. (New York: Grafton Press, 1904; repr. Somersworth, N.H.: New England History Press, 1987), 2:786; U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, , database online at Ancestry.com. 32 Mrs. Edward V. Howlett, Historical Record of the Michigan Daughters of the American Revolution, , 2 vols. (n.p.: Michigan D.A.R., 1930), 2:215, says he died in 1794, as do other sources. But he was still living in 1802 in Lisle, New York, when he sold land (see below). 33 Stiles, Wethersfield, 2:786; D. Williams Patterson, John Stoddard of Wethersfield, Connecticut, and His Descendants (Succasunna, N.J.: E. W. Stoddard, 1873), 18; Whittlesey Association, Memorial of the Whittlesey Family in the United States (New York: Case, Tiffany & Co., 1855), 73 74; Whittelsey, Whittlesey, 79 80, Whittelsey, Whittlesey, Massachusetts Secretary of State, Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors in the War of the Revolution, 17 vols. (Boston: Wright and Potter, ), 17:263, U.S. Census, Stockbridge, Berkshire County, New York, roll 4, p. 590, the number of females blotted. 37 Berkshire County Deeds, South District, 33:92.

4 4 Elizabeth (Phelps) Pixley of Great Barrington, Berkshire County surviving male heir. On 23 Jan. 1797, Ezra and his son Samuel, both of Union, purchased lot #562, 273 acres, there. [38] In 1800 in Lisle, an Ezra Whittlesey and a female were age 45 or over. [39] On 14 April 1802, Ezra and Anna Whittlesey with Samuel and Huldah Whittlesey, all of Lisle, sold their lands in Lisle. [40] Ezra s grandson, Ezra Whittlesey, died on 17 March 1873 [41] and was buried in the Evergreen Cemetery in Corfu, Genesee Co., N.Y., [42] so the family evidently stayed in New York. But no deeds where Whittleseys purchased land in Genesee County in the early 1800s were recorded there. v. THANKFUL PIXLEY, twin, b. 25 July 1742; [43] m. by 1770, ELIPHALET FOWLER of Stockbridge, born Guilford, Conn., 11 Oct. 1743, son of John and Abigail (Hall) Fowler, [44] d. supposedly Richmond, Mass., in 1790; [45] however, he was in Onondaga Co., N.Y., in 1804 (see below). At least two children were born in Stockbridge, Justus on 21 July 1770 and Olive 28 Sept [46] In 1777 Eliphalet served for nineteen days in Col. Brown s Berkshire Co. regiment. [47] In 1790 Eliphalet was in Stockbridge, with two males over 16, two under, and perhaps four females. [48] On 14 April 1795, he and Thankful were of Stockbridge when they sold their right in Elizabeth s dower to Jonathan Pixley. [49] In 1800 in Pompey, Onondaga Co., N.Y., Eliphalet, 45 or over, was listed next to Justus Fowler, 26 44, and Levi and John Fowler, both [50] On 29 March 1804, Eliphalet Fowler was one of the creditors petitioning for redress against Justus Fowler, an insolvent debtor, in Onondaga County. [51] Eliphalet and Thankful had six children, Justus, Olive, Levi, John, Jerusha, and Horace. [52] 38 Tioga County Deeds, 1:357; 4:135, U.S. Census, Lisle, Tioga County, New York, roll 24, pp Tioga County Deeds, 4:133, 136, 139, U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, , database online at Ancestry.com. 42 Photograph of his gravestone online at FindaGrave.com. 43 Also recorded in Stockbridge (Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, , Stockbridge Vital Records, 6, image online at Ancestry.com). 44 H. D. Smith, John Fowler of Guilford, Conn., and His Descendants, Register 53 (1899): at Smith, John Fowler, Register 53: Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, , Stockbridge Vital Records, image of an index card, online at Ancestry.com. 47 Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors, 5: U.S. Census, Stockbridge, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, roll 4, p. 590, the number for females unclear. 49 Berkshire County Deeds, South District, 33: U.S. Census, Pompey, Onondaga County, New York, roll 24, pp Levi Fowler of Stockbridge, had married in Lee, Berkshire County, 22 February 1798, Silence Chase (Vital Record of Lee, 132). 51 Patriot, Utica, New York, 30 April 1804, p Alvan Talcott, Families of Early Guilford, Connecticut, Jacqueline L. Ricker, ed. (Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1984),

5 Elizabeth (Phelps) Pixley of Great Barrington, Berkshire County 5 vi. JONATHAN PIXLEY, b. 20 July 1744; bp. 24 July 1744; [53] m. MABEL FOWLER. See the separate sketch for him. She was first cousin of Eliphalet Fowler who married Jonathan s sister Thankful. [54] vii. OBED or OBADIAH PIXLEY, b. 2 Nov. 1746; [55] d. 11 Nov [56] viii. LUCRETIA PIXLEY, b. 26 Aug. 1748; bp. 28 Aug. 1748; [57] d. 24 Sept aged 55, bur. Sheffield Plain Cemetery, Sheffield, Mass.; [58] m. JONATHAN HUBBARD, b. Sheffield 25 June 1744, son of Rev. Jonathan and Rachel (Ely) Hubbard, [59] d. 1 Jan aged 80, bur. Sheffield Plain Cemetery. [60] Three children of Jonathan and Lucretia were recorded in Sheffield , but there were several children of Jonathan and Cristia Hubbard born It seems likely that Cristia was really Lucretia. [61] In 1790 Jon a Hubbard was listed in Sheffield, a male over 16 with four males under 16 and four females. [62] On 9 July 1807, Jonathan Hubbard of Sheffield, Gentleman, sold a seventh-part of the estate of Jonathan Pixley, the share of Jonathan s daughter Lucretia. [63] ix. DESIRE LUZIA PIXLEY, b. 19 July 1750; bp. 12 Aug. 1750; [64] m. before 22 June 1775, HENRY MCGONEGAL, [65] b. probably Voluntown, Conn., 26 Sept. 1743, son of James and Elizabeth (Henry) McGonegal, [66] d. Fabius, Onondaga Co., N.Y., in 1828 aged 85. [67] Henry appeared in the 1790 census in Great Barrington, as a male over 16 with four males under 16 and four females. [68] In 1820 in Fabius, Henry was 45 or over with a female and five young males, listed just below Samuel H. McGonnegal. [69] While Henry did not 53 Rollin H. Cooke, Great Barrington, Mass., Congregational Church, Vital Statistics, typescript (Pittsfield, Mass., 1900), 190 [FHL 0,234,568]. 54 Smith, John Fowler, Register 53: There were very few baptisms recorded in 1746 (Cooke, Great Barrington, Congregational Church ). 56 Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, , Sheffield Vital Records, 78, image online at Ancestry.com. 57 Cooke, Great Barrington, Congregational Church, Photograph of her gravestone online at FindaGrave.com, wife of Dea. Jonathan Hubbard. 59 Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, , Sheffield Vital Records, image online at Ancestry.com; Edward Warren Day, One Thousand Years of Hubbard History, 866 to 1895 (New York: H. P. Hubbard, 1895), 236; Heman Ely, Records of the Descendants of Nathaniel Ely (Cleveland, Ohio: Short & Forman, 1885), Photograph of his gravestone online at FindaGrave.com, called Deacon. 61 Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, , Sheffield Vital Records, 25, 37, image online at Ancestry.com. Cretia sometimes appears as a nickname for Lucretia U.S. Census, Sheffield, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, roll 4, p Berkshire County Deeds, South District, 45: Cooke, Great Barrington, Congregational Church, Berkshire County Deeds, Middle District, 12: William Henry Eldridge, Henry Genealogy, the Descendants of Samuel Henry (Boston: T. R. Marvin & Son, 1915), 142. Charles James Taylor, History of Great Barrington: (Berkshire County), Massachusetts (Great Barrington, Mass.: C. W. Bryan & Co., 1882), 220, says Henry came from Voluntown by 1758 and located in Muddy Brook. 67 Taylor, History of Great Barrington, U.S. Census, Great Barrington, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, roll 4, p U.S. Census, Fabius, Onondaga County, New York, roll 34, p. 38.

6 6 Elizabeth (Phelps) Pixley of Great Barrington, Berkshire County acquire land in Onondaga Co., Samuel H. purchased 100 acres in Fabius from Reuben Jr. and Mary Pixley on 26 Feb [70] It appears that Henry and Luziah may have been divorced, as Luziah McGonegal of Great Barrington sold land without Henry s consent or signature on 29 May 1795 and purchased land from her sister Olive on 31 July [71] x. OLIVE PIXLEY, b. 21 May 1752; bp. 21 June 1752; [72] d. 21 Jan aged 91; buried in Water Street Cemetery, Great Barrington. [73] Olive was of Great Barrington during the purchases and sales by siblings on 29 May [74] On 31 July 1802, she was styled Olive Pixley, alias Olive Brace of Great Barrington when she quitclaimed on two pieces of land there to [her sister] Leuziah McGonegal. [75] However, in 1810 she was enumerated as Olive Pixley, living alone in Great Barrington. [76] John T. Miller, Jr., Rising Sun, Maryland, jmiller8@zoominternet.net September Onondaga County Deeds, C: Berkshire County Deeds, South District, 33:136, 142; 39: Cooke, Great Barrington, Congregational Church, Vital Records of Great Barrington, 80, from church records, says 1841; however, Cooke, Great Barrington, Congregational Church, 219, clearly says 1842; photograph of her gravestone, online at FindaGrave.com, says On the same stone is Lucia Pixley, died 2 April 1878, aged 83 years 6 months 27 days, daughter of Jonathan and Mabel Pixley (Massachusetts Vital Records from 1841, 301:38). See the sketch for Jonathan Pixley. 74 Berkshire County Deeds, South District, 33:136, Berkshire County Deeds, South District, 39: U.S. Census, Great Barrington, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, roll 17, p. 147.

7 Elizabeth (Phelps) Pixley of Great Barrington, Berkshire County 7 INDEX Hubbard Cristia ( ), 5 Jonathan, 2, 5 Lucretia (Pixley), 2, 5 Rachel (Ely), 5 McGonigal Desire (Pixley), 5 Elizabeth (Henry), 5 Henry, 2, 5 6 James, 5 Luzia (Pixley), 2, 5 6 Samuel H., 5 6 Miller John T., 6 Phelps Elizabeth, 1 2 Elizabeth (Taylor), 1 Josiah, 1 2 Pixley Abigail (Clark), 1 Abigail (Hooker), 1 2 Anna, 2 4 Desire, 5 Elizabeth (Phelps), 1 3 Esther, 2 Esther ( ), 2 Isaac, 1 John, 1 Jonathan, 1 5 Joseph, 1 Lucretia, 2 3, 5 Luzia, 2, 5 6 Mabel (Fowler), 5 Mary ( ), 6 Mercy (Hall), 1 Obadiah, 2, 5 Obed, 2, 5 Olive, 2, 6 Polly (Chase), 2 Rebecca (Gridley), 2 3 Reuben, 2 3, 6 Thankful, 2, 4 5 Porter Esther, 2 Smith Samuel, 2 Stoddard Sarah, 3 Taylor Elizabeth, 1 Whittlesey Anna (Pixley), 2 4 Ezra, 2 4 Huldah ( ), 4 Jabez, 3 Samuel, 3 4 Sarah (Stoddard), 3