TWO GENERATIONS OFF JONATHAN 5 ROWLEY: AN EDWARD FULLER LINE The following research has confirmed generations that are primarily given accurately in printed genealogies but with some events not contemporarily recorded (as stated in the genealogies) or in some cases the genealogies make certain errors that are herein clarified. The following concerns the Mayflower descent of Henry Kent Bliss (1835-1909). His son Arthur Daniel Bliss applied in 1930 to the Sons of the American Revolution in New York State through his descent from Captain Micah Mudge (1718-1813), and cited his sources as the Thurston, Mudge, and Bliss genealogies. 1 This application identified the following generations: Abigail Rowley m. Micah Mudge [son of Capt. Micah Mudge] Charlotte Mudge m. Daniel Thurston Hannah Thurston m. Daniel Bliss Henry Kent Bliss m. Theresa S. Johnson Abigail Rowley has been identified as a descendant of Mayflower passenger Edward Fuller in the Mayflower Five Generation Series. She was born probably at Colchester, Connecticut, and baptized at Kent, Connecticut, 4 October 1747, the daughter of Jonathan 5 (Moses Rowley 4, Elizabeth 3 Fuller, Matthew 2, Edward 1 ) and Abigail (Green) Rowley. 2 Her father s will, dated at Kent, Connecticut, 21 December 1769, inventory 13 April 1772, mentions (among others) daughter Abigail by first name only. The following now identifies what the genealogies say and what the contemporary or soon after events can confirm. Alfred Mudge, Memorials: Being a Genealogical, Biographical and Historical Account of the Name of Mudge in America, from 1638 to 1868 (Boston, 1868), 88-89, lists the following pertinent information about Micah and his wife: Micah Mudge, son of Micah and Lucy, b. in Sharon, Conn., May 15, 1745; d. in Lumberland, Sullivan Co., N.Y., November 1801, ae. 59 y. 6 m. He m. Abigail Rowley, 1767, dau. of Issachar, New Lebanon. She m. 2 Ichabod Carmichael, and removed to Delaware Co., N.Y., and died about 1811. 1 Sons of the American Revolution Application of Arthur Daniel Bliss, 1930, State Number 5181, National Number 50175 (on Ancestry.com, accessed March 2013). 2 Kent Church Records, 1:87, Connecticut State Library, as cited in Bruce Campbell MacGunnigle, Mayflower Families Through Five Generations Descendants of the Pilgrims who landed at Plymouth, Mass., December 1620 Volume Four Third Edition Family of Edward Fuller (Plymouth, Mass.: General Society of Mayflower Descendants, 2006), 108-09.
Their children were : 1. Charlotte, b. June 14, 1768 : m. Daniel Thurston, Jr., in 1785. They had eight children, - Sarah, Abigail, Christina, Hannah, Daniel R., Elizabeth, Lydia A., and Keziah. She d. at Geneva, June 17, 1846, ae. 78 y. 3 d. He d. Nov. 1824 [five more children listed] The above undocumented information goes from 1742 until 1846, which was only twenty-two years prior to the publication of this genealogy. Within the rest of Micah s sketch, they make reference to Micah s son Luther providing information about his father s revolutionary war service. Most of the genealogies were often done via a questionnaire to living descendants over a long period of time, although generally authors did not attribute who supplied the information. The author indicates he did as such in the introduction of this genealogy. This Mudge genealogy follows Micah s two sons Luther (1773-1858) and Joel (b. 1792). The information about each is similar (occupation, politics, religion), and while references are given to Luther supplying direct information, it s likely both brothers supplied information to the author about their family (as well as an update when Luther died), and probably the information regarding their sisters and their families. While the information likely derives from the sons of Abigail (Rowley) Mudge, at least some of the information is inaccurate. The biggest issue is the purported father of Abigail as Isaachar of New Lebanon. A later treatment of the Rowley family in the New York Genealogical and Biographical Record in 1908 identified Jonathan Rowley s daughter Abigail as m. probably Micah Mudge. 3 This Jonathan Rowley (above identified as the Fuller descendant) had a son named Issacher who did remove to New Lebanon, Columbia County, New York. The Mudge genealogy above incorrectly identified Abigail s brother as her father. However, as Abigail s father Jonathan did not go to New York, and her elder brother Isaachar did, this may be the explanation as to why her brother was listed instead. There is no other appropriate Isaachar Rowley in this family that could be considered Abigail s father as Jonathan had no brothers with that name and the chronology makes it impossible for Jonathan s son Isaachar (born 1744) to be the father of someone who married in 1767, the above cited Rowley Family article from the New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, combined with the mostly otherwise accurate dates in this Mudge family genealogy, and the later Revolutionary War pension showing relationships between the Rowley, Mudge, and Thurston families in New York, all suggest that Jonathan Rowley s daughter Abigail works as the wife of Micah Mudge. 3 NYGB&R 37(1908):99.
The next printed genealogy highlighting this family is Brown Thurston, Thurston Genealogies (first edition, Portland, Maine, 1880), page 381 identifying the following: Daniel Thurston, born Feb. 13, 1766 formerly of Sharon, Conn; married Charlotte Mudge. He died Nov. 29, 1824. This edition only lists the above, a few other facts, and two daughters, the 1892 second edition provides much more detail including: (page 395) Daniel Thurston, born Feb. 13, 1766 formerly of Sharon, Conn.; married 1787 Charlotte Mudge In 1820 they moved to Busti, N.Y. He died Nov. 29, 1824; she died in Geneva, N.Y., 1842 or 3. Children (eight listed), including: Hannah, b. Sept. 15, 1796; m. 1 st John Jones, divorced; 2 d Feb. 25, 1820 Daniel Bliss, b. in Brattleboro, Vt., Feb. 5, 1780, a clothier in South Haven, Mich., d. Nov. 9, 1860; she went to Albion, N.Y., to live with her son, an d. Oct. 21, 1880. She had: Henry Kent (Bliss), b. June 5, 1835; a laborer in Albion. The dates of death of Daniel Thurston match in both the Mudge genealogy (Nov. 1824) and the Thurston genealogy (29 Nov. 1824). The Mudge genealogy says Charlotte died at Geneva 17 June 1846 ae. 78 y. 3 d., while the Thurston genealogy says she died at Geneva 1842 or 3. Clearly the informants of the information were different but there is some general agreement as to their death information. Daniel Thurston served in the Revolutionary War and his widow Charlotte s pension provides us the most amount of detail connecting the Thurston, Mudge, and Rowley families. The pension identifies Charlotte s maiden name as Mudge and says she knew Daniel Thurston, during his said service and saw him at her father s house when at home on Furlough that she heard her father at one time say that he was present when the said Daniel Thurston joined the company and at this time he was very young. (father s name not mentioned). Daniel Thurston enlisted in 1782 at Canaan, Columbia County, New York Also in the pension were testimonies of several witnesses present at the wedding of Daniel Thurston and Charlotte Mudge in 1785 or 1786, including Daniel Green. Daniel Green was present at the marriage of Daniel Thurston to Charlotte Mudge, which took took place at the house of Deacon Rowley in New Lebanon in the County of Columbia in said State, the ceremony was performed by a Justice of the Peace. 4 4 Charlotte Thurston Revolutionary War Pension, 1839, online at fold3.com.
This Deacon Rowley is very likely the Issachar Rowley, brother of Abigail (Rowley) Mudge. In 1790 Isacker Rowley is enumerated in the 1790 census of Canaan, Columbia County, New York [New Lebanon was not formally created until 1818 out of the town of Canaan]. 5 Issachar married at Kent, Connecticut in 1769 and his last child recorded there was born in 1773, although his family Bible shows he had six more children until 1787. 6 Issachar s father-in-law, Nathaniel Warren, was living in New Lebanon by 1 July 1785, as identified in the Sharon Land Records, so Issachar was very likely in this area sometime after 1773 and by 1785 for him to be the Deacon Rowley where his niece was married. The fact that Charlotte Mudge married Daniel Thurston at the home of her uncle Rowley, may also be indicative that Issachar was likely close to his sister s children and contributing to their error that Issachar was Abigail s father rather than the correct relationship of brother. The events of the Thurston and Bliss families are a bit more straightforward with their documentation. John Homer Bliss, Genealogy of the Bliss Family in America (Boston, 1881), 101-102, says the following: Daniel [Bliss] of Brattleboro, Vt., clothier was born Feb. 5, 1780 [information about first marriage and children.] the father removed to Gerry, in Chautauqua Co., N.Y., and about that time was married, Feb. 26, 1820 to Hannah, daughter of Daniel and Charlotte Thurston, of Whitestown, N.Y., who was born Sept. 15, 1796. In 1859 he removed to South Haven, Mich., and died Nov. 9, 1860. While the family is living in New York at a time with very limited civil records of birth, the probate of Daniel Thurston in Chautaqua County, New York in 1827 can lead credence to the printed genealogy written sixty-five years later. Daniel Bliss was declared the administrator of Daniel Thurston s estate after apparent contesting of the estate by Elijah Devereaux, who is identified in the earlier referenced Thurston genealogies as another son-in-law of Daniel Thurston. While the relationship between Thurston to either Devereaux or Bliss is not stated in this record, this would be logical for an administrator to be the son-in-law of the deceased as stated in the referenced genealogy. 7 The death certificate of Daniel and Hannah s son Henry Kent Bliss in New York State in 1909 identifies his parents as Daniel Bliss and Hannah Thurston. While the majority of the dates of the later Mudge and Thurston families depend on mid to late nineteenth century genealogies, the dates at hand are credible, with the exception of Abigail s father as identified as her brother, although explained 5 1790 Census, Canaan, Columbia County, New York. 6 MD, 45:73-74. 7 Daniel Thurston Probate Record (1827) Chautauqua County Probate Reocrds, O:327-28.
by the family residences as shown from her daughter s widows pension. The probate of Daniel Thurston identifying Daniel Bliss as his administrator is also consistent the relationship as stated in genealogies. While many probate and land records have identified the families as living in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York at the appropriate times, the genealogies, combined with these cited records, provide the basis for the following genealogy. GENEALOGICAL SUMMARY 1. ABIGAIL ROWLEY 6, baptized at Kent, Connecticut 4 October 1747, daughter of Jonathan 5 (Moses Rowley 4, Elizabeth 3 Fuller, Matthew 2, Edward 1 ) and Abigail (Green) Rowley. 8 She purportedly removed to Delaware County, New York and died about 1811. 9 She married first at in 1767 MICAH MUDGE. He was born at Sharon, Connecticut, 15 May 1742, son of Micah and Lucy (Spencer) Mudge. He died at Lumberland, Sullivan County, New York, November, 1801. 10 She married second ICHABOD CARMICHAEL. 11 Mudge Memorials, 89, calls her dau. of Isaachar, New Lebanon. This is the Isaachar Rowley of New Lebanon, brother of this above Abgail. He is also the Deacon Rowley at whose home Charlotte Mudge married Daniel Thurston about 1785. Mudge Memorials, indicates that Micah lived in Sharon, Connecticut until 1760 when he moved with his father to Richmond, Berkshire County, Massachusetts. He afterwards removed to Caanan, New York where he resided in 1790. No probate for Micah Mudge has been found and no land records identifying heirs. Children of Micah and Abigail (Rowley) Mudge: 12 2 i. CHARLOTTE MUDGE 7, b. 14 June 1768; m. 1785 or 1786, DANIEL THURSTON. ii. RUTH MUDGE, b. 1771; d. at age of two years. 8 Kent Church Records, 1:87, Connecticut State Library, as cited in Bruce Campbell MacGunnigle, Mayflower Families Through Five Generations Descendants of the Pilgrims who landed at Plymouth, Mass., December 1620 Volume Four Third Edition Family of Edward Fuller (Plymouth, Mass.: General Society of Mayflower Descendants, 2006), 108-09. 9 Death information taken from Alfred Mudge, Memorials: Being a Genealogical, Biographical and Historical Account of the Name of Mudge in America, from 1638 to 1868. (Alfred Mudge & Son: Boston, 1868) [herafter Mudge Memorials], 88-89. 10 Mudge Memorials, 88-89, ae. 59 y. 6 m. 11 Mudge Memorials, 88-89. 12 Mudge Memorials, 88-89, the earlier children were likely born in Richmond, Mass., whose earliest surviving records begin in 1791. Joel is stated as being born in the state of New York from late censuses.
iii. LUTHER MUDGE; b. 29 May 1773; m. JEMIMA JOHNSON. iv. MICAH MUDGE, m. THEMIA HENRYS, rem. to South Carolina. v. ABGIAIL MUDGE, b. 1783; m. CLEMENT COREY. vi. JOEL MUDGE, b. 25 April 1792; m. ESTHER MINER. 2. CHARLOTTE MUDGE 7, born at probably at Richmond, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, 14 June 1768. She died at Geneva, New York, 17 June 1846. 13 She married at New Lebanon (then a part of Canaan), Columbia County, New York, in 1785 or 1786, DANIEL THURSTON. 14 He was born at Sharon, Connecticut, 13 February 1766, son of Daniel and Sarah (Curtiss) Thurston. He died probably at Busti, Chautauqua County, New York 29 November 1824. His probate was administrated 14 September 1827 by his son-in-law Daniel Bliss after an apparent contesting by his other son-in-law Elijah Devereaux. 15 Children of Daniel and Charlotte (Mudge) Thurston: 16 i. SARAH THURSTON, b. 1788; m. MOREHOUSE ABBOTT. ii. ABIGAIL THURSTON, b. 1790; m. ELIJAH DEVEREAUX. iii. CHRISTINA THURSTON, b. 1792; d. in infancy. iv. HANNAH THURSTON 7, b. 15 Sept. 1796; d. prob. Albion, Orleans Co., N.Y. 21 Oct. 1880; m. (1) JOHN JONES (divorced); m. (2) prob. at Chautauqua Co., N.Y., 25 Feb. 1820, DANIEL BLISS. 17 vi. DANIEL THURSTON, b. 5 March 1798; m. RUTH TIBBETS. vii. BETSEY C. THURSTON, b. 11 April 1800; m. GEORGE WASHINGTON CROSHAW. viii. LYDIA THURSTON, b. 18 Aug. 1803; m. JOSEPH CLEMENT. ix. KEZIAH THURSTON, b. 1805; m. GEORGE COMSTOCK. 13 Mudge Memorials, 88-89, or 1842 or 3 according to Thurston Genealogies, 395. 14 Charlotte Thurston Revolutionary War Pension, 1839, online at fold3.com. 15 Daniel Thurston Probate Record (1827) Chautauqua County Probate Reocrds, O:327-28. 16 Thurston Genealogies, 395-96. 17 The 1909 death certificate of their son Henry Kent Bliss lists his parents as Daniel Bliss and Hannah Thurston, with both of their birthplaces as New York; Thurston Genealogies, 395, lists Hannah and Daniel s marriage as 25 Feb. 1820; Bliss Family Genealogy, 101, lists it as 26 Feb. 1820, and identifies her as daughter of Daniel and Charlotte Thruston, of Whitestown, N.Y. Hannah s date of birth is the same in Thurston and Bliss. Hannah is in the 1880 census, age 84, with the family of her son Henry K. Bliss in Albion. The birthplaces of her parents are not listed.