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MEXICO, NY Many thanks to Esther Rancier
for sharing her information on these biographies.
Their oldest son John, born 25 July 1645, married
Sarah Gaylord on 28 November 1671. She was the daughter of Samuel
and Elizabeth (Hull) Gaylord of Windsor. They had eight children.
After 1694 he married a second time to Jane Pearce.
Their fourth son Joseph, born 16 October 1681 in
Northampton, was taken captive by the French and Indians during the Battle
of Deerfield in 1704. Luckily he escaped the first night. On
28 May 1705 at Deerfield he wed Margaret Mattoon of Springfield, MA.
They had 12 children.
Their fourth son, Jonathan Sartle Alexander,
born 1749 at Fort Dummer wed twice. The name of his first wife remains
unknown. Most records say she became the mother of four children:
Robert, Reuben, Aaron and Joseph. These sons removed with their father
and his second wife Bathsheba (Rice) Hagar [sic] to Henderson, Jefferson
Co., NY. The son some call “Joseph” whose date of birth remains uncertain
may have been born in Vermont ca. 1796 with Bathsheba as his mother.
Bathsheba and John Hagar had children called Jonas,
John, Gardner, Martha and Bathsheba. After her second marriage she
had a daughter Susanna Alexander who married a Curtis. She may also
have been the mother of Josiah Alexander born ca. 1796 in Vermont,
During the 1820’s Jonathan and Bathsheba Alexander
remove to Mexico, Oswego Co., NY. They were accompanied by
Gardner Hagar and his family. They bought adjoining land in an area
which came to be called Hagar’s Settlement or Hagarstown. Gardner’s
family owned part of lot 123 and 135. Later on this area came to
be called South Mexico. The Parish family owned part of lot 123.
The Parishes gave 80 rods of it to the South Mexico Methodist Episcopal
Church Burying Ground Society. Gardner lived next door to this cemetery
which today is called the Wellswood Cemetery. Gardner was a trustee
of the society.
Gardner married Submit Presson after 1805.
They had 8 children, four of whom, Rhoda, Gardner P., Nancy and John were
born in Mexico. These children began to spell their name Hager.
Submit Presson was the daughter of Lemuel Presson who served in the Revolutionary
War. His wife was Lydia Fletcher.
Later in the 19th century several of Gardner’s
children moved west into Michigan. Gardner P. Hager, born 6 September
1825 in Mexico, wed Mary A. Holmes on 23 July 1848 at Richland, NY.
They resided their entire lives in Mexico, having 6 children. Gardner
died in Mexico 10 May 1892. There is no marked gravesite for him
yet located.
Gardner P.’s son, Delos Bibbins Hager, born 28
October 1850, wed 16 February 1870 in Mexico Emma D. Rose. They had
6 children: Orla J., born 8 February 1871; Lillie B. Hager, born 25 April
1872; Albert Hager, born 19 April 1875; Rose V. Hager, born 13 March 1881;
and Karl F. Hager, born 10 March 1885. Delos, Emma and son Bert were
buried in the Daysville Cemetery, Pulaski, NY. Many more Hagers were
laid to rest there also.
Rhoda Hager, born in Mexico ca. 1822/23, wed Ezra
T. Whitehead on 8 January 1854. Ezra Trim Whitehead was born in 1816
at Fabius, NY, the son of Nathaniel B. and Elizabth (Trim) Whitehead.
The Whiteheads were from Connecticut. Elizabeth Trim was the daughter
of Ezra Trim (1750-1835) who was attacked by Indians who kidnapped him
at Lackawaxen, PA in 1763. His whole family, mother and siblings,
were killed by the Indians. In 1764 the British redeemed him at Fort
Niagara, NY. He then settled in Dutchess County, NY where he reached
manhood. He fought in the Revolutionary War. Ezra died in Mexico
during 1887, age 71. He was buried in the Wellswood Cemetery.
Relatives state Rhoda died in 1884 and was also interred at Wellswood,
but in the 1984 Cemetery Census no stone was located for her.
Rhoda and Ezra had four children, all of whom left
Mexico. Alta Nancy Whitehead wed Charles B. Joice. Another
daughter, Alice Amelia Whitehead wed George Boots Minthorn and there are
known living heirs in Kansas. The sons were George and Jay Whitehead.
Much is known of Jonathan and Bathsheba Alexander’s
later years from his application for a Revolutionary War Pension.
In 1835 Jonathan was recorded as age 83. He had served with the Massachusetts
Continental Troops. He was granted a pension but died on 7 March
1838 in Mexico. Bathsheba had a widow’s pension until her death in Mexico
in the home of her sons, Gardner Hager. Neither Jonathan nor Bathsheba
have a marked grave, but were probably interred in the Wellswood Cemetery.
In the 1830 Parish census there was an enumeration
for Josiah Alexander. He had one son under 5 and a daughter between
5-10. He and his wife were between 30 and 40 years old.
Another 1850 Mexico family were recorded thusly:
Solomon Alexander was another son of Josiah’s who
was born after the 1830 census was taken. He was one of the sons
given in the 1840 accounting. Ezekiel Leonard was likely the father-in-law
of Solomon.
Sylvester H. was counted twice in 1850. He
was listed with his family and again on the job as an apprentice blacksmith
for Samuel C. Smith. Sylvester H. died in 1858 at age 26. He
was buried in the Mexico Village Cemetery. His sister Elizabeth may
be the person in the same cemetery with a stone which said Betsey Alexander,
d. 1867, age 46.
In the 1870 Mexico census Josiah and Catherine
were both listed as age 74 with a net worth of $4000 and both born in New
York.
In a separate household Solomon Alexander’s family
was enumerated. It would appear that Josiah and Catherine were counted
twice, each rather differently.
Mary, Solomon’s daughter, died in 1875 at age 20.
Her grave was also in the Mexico Village Cemetery.
Solomon in later years was called Solomon L. Alexander.
He was president in 1881-87 of the Oswego County Agricultural Society,
so he must have engaged in some farming along with his shoe business.
In the 1880 Mexico census he was called Solomon
S. (an error). He was 50 years old, a shoe merchant who stated his
father had been born in Vermont. He continued living in Mexico with
his wife Sarah who died in 1903, age 79. Later in 1907 Solomon died
too. The couple were both buried in the Mexico Village Cemetery.
The question of Josiah’s parents remains unsolved.
Proximity would suggest that Jonathan and Bathsheba were his parents but
what if his first census statement in 1850 that he had been born in Massachusetts
was correct? Was he earlier misidentified as Joseph due to handwriting
problems? He didn’t name a child either Jonathan or Bathsheba, although
Solomon and Josiah were Alexander family names used earlier before the
movement to Vermont.
Jonathan left no probate. However, even if Jonathan
was not the father of Josiah, they were related in some degree of cousinship
with their roots in the Scottish dells and hills.
Although Josiah’s initial Oswego County settlement
was in the Town of Parish, the town line was adjacent to Mexico.
But he did not remove to Mexico into Hagar’s Settlement or Wellswood as
it is now known. The 1850 census showed a nearby neighbor of Josiah’s was
lawyer Luke D. Smith. Luke’s home was burned in 1852 as did the Mexico
Hotel located by the Smith home at Main and Church Streets. The hotel
stood only four households away from Josiah. This location puts Josiah
near the center of the Village of Mexico, not in Wellswood in the south
portion of town.
Special thanks are due to Alice Minthorn Hall of
Leavenworth, KS for the generous sharing of her research over the years.
The online records of Kenneth Ruiz and William A. Brobst offered direction
and detail.
SOURCES:
Alexander Family Genealogy Forum.
[9 February 2004].
Gurdon and Eleanor’s oldest son Chauncey,
born on 13 February 1753 at Fairfield, CT, wed on 19 May 1773 Hannah Hamilton
from Redding, CT. Chauncey and Hannah had ten offspring, residing
at Redding.
Their youngest son Joel Merchant, born on
28 September 1786, married Reuena Gray. It is believed they had eight
children. They were living in New York State during the War of 1812.
Joel served with Prior’s Regiment. In 1818 when Joel, Jr. was born
the family resided in Richfield, Otsego Co, NY.
By 1830 they settled in Columbia, Herkimer
Co., NY. An early history of the town of Columbia written in 1902,
Joel Merchant was mentioned a “an early occupant of the premises now owned
by Stewart McRorie.”
In 1838 Joel and Reuena’s son James B. Merchant,
born ca. 1821, died in 1838. James’ wife’s name remains unknown.
James’ daughter Caroline E. Merchant was born May 1833 in Delhi, Delaware
Co., NY. She married David F. Boyce in 1856. They raised eight
children in Franklinville, NY. Several of the Boyce children had
known issue.
Joel and Reuena’s oldest son William G. Merchant,
born ca. 1808, married Julia Ann Webster. The couple had five children,
according to the 1850 census in Richfield, Otsego Co., NY. This enumeration
showed:
Their oldest son Deloss W. Merchant,
born in June 1842. In 1870 he resided in Jackson, Boone Co., Iowa.
By the 1880 Harrison, Boone Co., IA census Deloss had wed Esther _____
from Ohio. They had four children. Deloss died before 1920.
By the 1850 census Joel, age 64, and Reuena,
age 63, both born in CT, were enumerated in the 1850 Columbus, Chenango
Co., NY census. Also in their household were the couple, Royal D.
Cone, age 28, town clerk, and his wife Reuena (Merchant) Cone, age 27.
The Cone’s union occurred at New Berlin, NY. Royal D. Cone, 27 of
New Berlin married Reuena Merchant, 25, on 3 July 1849. Royal’s job
as New Berlin Town Clerk involved keeping the official vital statistics.
By 1 June 1856 he had moved his family to Minnesota where he had obtained
a public land grant of 160 acres. Four children were born as the
family settled into the 2nd Ward of Winona, Winona Co., MN. Between
1863 and 1870 Reuena died. The 1870 Winona census showed the following:
Joel, Jr.’s family was recorded in the 1850
census at Winfield, Herkimer co., NY Joel, Jr. married on 15
February 1841 Adaline Dodge, born in Winfield. They had two daughters.
Here was the enumeration:
Maurice Wheeler Brown, son of Wheeler and
Lucy, had his father’s skill as a carpenter. He built many fine homes
in Mexico and Utica, NY. He also erected the Oswego County Asylum.
He married Celinda Underwood on 23 January 1855 in Mexico. They had
three children. Celinda died in 1887; Maurice died in 1899.
Celinda and Maurice both were buried in the Mexico Village Cemetery.
They were members of the Episcopal Church.
Reuena (Gray) Merchant died in 1867.
She was buried in the Mexico Villlage Cemetery. In 1870 Joel, age
83, lived as the head of household with a net value of $4,000. He
had the family of David Sweetland living with him doing the farming.
In 1873 Joel, Gr. Died and joined his wife in the Mexico Village Cemetery.
Joel left a will on 26 September 1871.
It was submitted to the court on 5 December 1873. Here is a copy
of the will:
“I, Joel Merchant of the Town of Mexico,
Oswego County, New York of the age of eighty-five years and being of sound
mind & memory do make, publish and declare this my last Will and Testament
in the manner following: that is to say, First I give and bequeath to my
daughter Lucy Ann Brown & her heirs the sum of three hundred &
fifty dollars to be paid at my decease.
Using the data from the will, other public
records and family researcher data, here is a list of all the apparent
children of Joel and Reuena. (Incidently the spelling of Reuena’s name
was taken from the Mexico Village Cemetery census of tombstones published
in 1984.) The 1830 census gave the family size as four sons and three
daughters. The oldest daughter Lucy was married before 1827 and thus
not in the household.
Lucy Ann Merchant b. 17 August 1806; m. Wheeler
Brown; d. 19 August 1880 in Mexico. Issue.
The birth order of Margaret and Sarah Ann may be
reversed. Not enough data is available on either daughter.
It was the usual practice for grandfathers to give an equal share of their
estate to the grandchildren of deceased heirs. Joel did not.
He did not mention Hiram, William or James leaving the conclusion that
all three were deceased. Hiram appeared to have died young, but both
William and James had issue. In other respects Joel’s will was not
the standard practice. Joel wrote a will that suited him without
regard for the “community”. The census records offer no help in establishing
the “proof” that Joel was the father of James and William. Descendants
from these two lines will need to do additional research.
In the 1880 census of Grand Rapids, Kent Co., MI
Joel, 61, and his wife Adaline, 62, were enumerated with a servant.
Their daughter Eliza H. had married Oscar L. Palmer.
Joel, Jr. died in 1888. He was buried
in the Valley City Cemetery in Grand Rapids. Adaline passed on during
1904 and joined her husband in their plot. Eliza H. and Oscar L.
Palmer were buried in the same plot later on.
SOURCES:
Bailey, Frederic William. Early Connecticut
Marriages. New Haven, Ct: Bureau of American Ancestry, 1896-1906.
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