Abigail
(Betts) Gates and Noah Gates:
Journey
from Connecticut to Ohio
1766
- 1842, authored 2004
Preface
It has been a long
journey in itself to discover Abigail and Noah. The beginning and
the end of this story are told in the title. However, the story then
and now, in between, is to me just as interesting. The large and
small events of the times and the impact on personal and local
history are all intertwined. There have been many participants in
making discoveries and untangling the details but especially two
cousins, Don Gates and Elmer Gates, both of whom I encountered on the
Internet, that I consider most responsible for making the connection
to Abigail and Noah, as they were on their own journey. Long before
I encountered either of my cousins I was quite certain that my
missing grandfather was one of three brothers, Noah, Moses or Coleman
Gates and of these Noah was the most probable. Obviously I had no
clue that Abigail Betts was the missing grandmother or even her first
name.
From
the beginning of my interest in the 1950s my first real discovery
came from an aunt who had the commission to Lieutenant of my
great-grandfather, William Noah Gates, just before he was mustered
out of the Wisconsin Volunteers following the end of the Civil War.
Later, along my journey I discovered the book about Stephen Gates by
Charles Otis Gates, Stephen Gates of Hingham
and Lancaster Massachusetts and his Descendants. A Preliminary Work
Subject to Addition and Correction [1898Gates].
Eventually I encountered [1966Torrey]
Clarence Almon Torrey, Ph.B. Stephen Gates of
Hingham, Lancaster, and Cambridge, Mass., and some of His
Descendants, in the NEHGR and tried to trace
both backward and forward. As I became more aware of resources I
worked on geographical areas and connections between individuals
building more confidence that I was missing only two generations in
the connection to Stephen Gates. Census records, Vital Statistics
Records and Land Records in Wisconsin and Illinois eventually
revealed Phebe M. Reed and Ashbel Gates as William Noah's parents.
So then who and where were Ashbel's parents (Phebe's parents were an
even deeper question ... or so it seemed for many years)?
Abigail
and Noah in Connecticut
Abigail and Noah began
their life together in Connecticut. We have evidence that Noah's
parents Ruth Olmsted and Samuel Gates were married in the Wilton
Congregational Church. I do not have specific evidence of when or
where Abigail Betts and Noah Gates were married but there is evidence
from records of the Wilton church that Noah had children baptized in
that church (but Abigail is not identified). The same source seems to
make it a safe inference that Noah was Samuel's son.
Abigail as a Betts was of
a numerous family making it still a mystery as to which family she
properly belongs. There are many guesses about her family and some
good evidence but nonetheless nothing absolutely certain. But even
10 years ago her first and last name were not known (at least to me).
Similarly Noah was the unknown grandfather. For many years all I
knew was that my great-grandfather's name was William Noah Gates.
Civil War records revealed that William Noah was born in Birmingham,
Erie County, Ohio where I have chosen to end the story of this
journey. So both Abigail and Noah were the lost grandparents.
Settlement
of Connecticut
The “English”
settlement of Connecticut has been told by many authors. The truth
is that much of New England had been depopulated of native peoples
through the previous decades of exposure to disease from maritime
visits by the English and others. Nonetheless there were still more
conflicts between periods of trust or uneasy coexistence.
Connecticut may have been one of better examples of coexistence until
the Pequot War 1637-1638. In the 1630s, determined by the coast or
access by river, the Connecticut River Valley was sparsely settled by
the English. In a larger perspective the settlement was at least
partly to offset the Dutch influence in New York across the Long
Island Sound.
We are mostly interested
in a later period and about Norwalk, Ridgefield and Wilton in
Fairfield County, Connecticut. The story of Ridgefield has been told
by George L. Rockwell in his book The
History of Ridgefield Connecticut [1927Rockwell].
The story of Wilton has been told by Robert H. Russell
in his book, Wilton Connecticut: Three
Centuries of People, Places and Progress [2004Russell].
The Betts surname figures prominently in both books but more with
the original Norwalk and then Wilton. The Gates are in Connecticut
by say 1709/10 and in Ridgefield before 1732 and those we wish to
follow were in Norwalk or Wilton for sometime before they left for
the vicinity of Stillwater and Ballston, Saratoga County, New York
circa 1800. Land Records may reveal more particulars but largely
remain to be examined.
Although Norwalk,
Ridgefield and Wilton may seem like a physically small area the “lay
of the land” in the 17th century certainly affected how
you got to a place, and how long it took, and therefore who and how
you associated with other people in the region. For example, it was
going to take a couple of days to travel comfortably from Norwalk,
on the coast, to Wilton, to Ridgebury in the north of Ridgefield.
This is borne out by the organization of parishes and local
government of the time. There were several petitions to establish,
due to travel times and conditions, new churches in Ridgebury and
Wilton.
The Betts
in Norwalk
The
Betts in Norwalk and thus Wilton and Ridgefield, Fairfield,
Connecticut, were present from the start of English/Puritan
settlement so it no suprise that there is much to be sorted out,
including a lack of standard spelling for the last name. A Thomas
Betts (b. d.) is reported to be the ancestor of most [2004Russell].
It seems obvious that Noah Gates and Samuel Gates were contemporary
with the numerous Betts after 1732 which is the earliest of our Gates
in the area.
Connecticut
has been well covered by historians and genealogists to collect
ancient vital statistics and church records. Our problem is that
there is no Abigail Betts among these records (at least known to this
compiler) that fits as an identified family member that might have
married Noah Gates. There is a later family Bible which by its chain
of posession and notes recorded in it that Abigail's father was
Thaddeus and that he was alive at least until 1814. Thaddeus was a
rather common first name among the Betts, including later a doctor
and U.S. Senator of the area.
As
we shall later see a Thaddeus Betts was also in Saratoga (then part
of Albany?), New York as early at 1786 and travel between the two
areas was not infrequent, the Hudson River being a convienent
highway.
But
again given the well covered plethora of Connecticut records there is
no family documented containing Thaddeus as its head that could also
contain an Abigail, even if not documented (subject to revision).
So what is one to conclude?
Perhaps
a family of Betts containing a Thaddeus who reached a marriageable
age left the area but remained in contact with family and had his own
family such that Noah became acquainted with a daughter Abigail.
Noah then became the transition in migration perhaps of four Gates
households (Samuel, the father, Noah, Moses and Coleman, sons) from
Connecticut and New York. Otherwise we have to conclude perhaps
more reasonably that we just have an incomplete enumeration of Betts
family in Wilton or Norwalk and our Thaddeus and Abigail are yet to
be discovered or linked.
The
Olmsted in Norwalk
The Gates
in Norwalk, Ridgefield and Wilton Connecticut
Jonathan
Gates and Sarah Keeler
The Three
Sisters
Saratoga
County New York
Saratoga become a county
in 1791.
Stillwater
Stillwater is located
north of Albany with the eastern edge on the Hudson River. In 1762,
most of the congregation (something less than 100 members) of the
Congregational Church in Canaan, CT, moved to the area
[1899StillwaterNY].
Malta
In
the excerpt below one can recognize surnames of many from Norwalk,
Wilton and Ridgefield, Connecticut: Keeler, Dunning, Rockwell,
Gregory and Samuel Gates, of which we may speculate is the husband of
Ruth Olmsted and father of Noah Gates.
Malta
was formed from Stillwater March 3, 1802. A portion of Saratoga was
added March 28, 1805. The first town meeting was held at the house of
Michael Dunning, jr., April 6, 1802, when these officers were
elected:
Supervisor,
Samuel Clark; clerk, Ashbel Andrews, jr.; assessors, Joseph Rockwell,
Luther Landon, Dean Chase; commissioners of highways, Abraham
Valentine, Ebenezer Dibble, Uriah Hawkins; overseers of the poor,
William Dunning, Samuel Gates; constables, Pontius Hooper,
Eleazer Millard, jr.; collector, Pontius Hooper; overseers of
highways, Obadiah Tompkins, Elisha Wood, Samuel Gregory, David
Keeler, Reuben Doolittle, Jesse How, Cornelius Abeel, Stephen
Ireland, Timothy Shipman; fence-viewers, Obadiah Mather, Robert
Hunter; poundkeeper, William Dunning. [1899SaratogaNY]
Thaddeus
Betts in Ballston, Saratoga County, New York
Thaddeus Betts appears in
the 1790 census (2 males16 up, 1 under 16 and 5 females) as do Joseph
and Jeremiah Betts as well as Elijah Gates within 5 households.
Thaddeus Betts appears again in the 1800 Census. His household has 2
males under 10 and 2 females 16 to 26 plus himself and 1 female both
45 and over. Thaddeus Betts appears again in the 1810 Census at
Ballston as the head of household with himself and one female 45
years and over. Ira Betts, Taylor Betts and a Joseph Gates(?)
are very nearby on the same page. In the next census, 1820, Thaddeus
Betts, Taylor Betts and Joseph Gates appear in the same order. Both
Taylor and Ira Betts appear to be younger than Thaddeus. Thaddeus's
household in 1820 includes himself and one female 45 and up plus one
male under 10 years of age. Assuming that all three Thaddeus are one
and the same he was no longer in Stillwater in 1830 (by inspection).
He would have at least been 75 in 1830 so he may not be living.
Is this Thaddeus the
father of Abigail? I have assumed that Abigail as a Betts was born in
Connecticut and probably lived somewhat nearby the Samuel Gates
family and thus made the acquaintance of Noah Gates. Now one needs
to believe that the Gates and the Betts (with the Betts leaving 10
years earlier) left Norwalk for New York about the same time and
continued in contact for sometime. There are several reasons to
think so but none can be considered more than a theory.
Other
evidence of a connection can be piled on as noted in the bibliography
[1935Bullard] but it remains on the the outer edge of the theory and
counts on Thaddeus being born in the 1740s..
Dorothy
Betts (husband Giles Fitch - a Revolutionary War soldier) is
identified as the daughter of Thaddeus Betts (of Ballston, New York).
The Fitches were from Norwalk Connecticut. About 1786 she migrates
(with Giles and a few interesting others) to St. John's Corners,
Greenfield, New York from Ballston Spa. Giles Fitche's sister Hannah
married Capt. John St. John. Both he and his brother Ebenezer Fitch
migrated together.
We
hope Dorothy had at least one sister (Abigail). Dorothy died 25
February 1815 at age 52 which implies her birth as about 1763
[1935Bullard p84]. Abigail according to others (no references
provided) was born 1765 April 22nd.
The
Dunning Street Cemetery
Michael DUNNING was the son of John &
Sarah (LAMBERT) DUNNING & grandson of Benjamin DUNNING
1 MICHAEL DUNNING b: June 03,
1726 in Newtown, Fairfield Co., Connecticut d: November
29, 1813 in Malta, Saratoga Co., New York
.. +HANNAH GREEN b: 1723 in
Connecticut d: January 09, 1775 in Malta, Saratoga Co., New York
The Erie
Canal
The
Military Tract of Central New York - Revolutionary War Bounty Lands
The Military Tract
contained the present New York counties of Onondaga, Cortland,
Cayuga, and Seneca and portions of Oswego, Schuyler, Tompkins, Yates
and Wayne. As an incentive to raise regiments, required per Congress
1776, to fight the Revolutionary War, the state of New York decided
to use land. Eight Military Tract Townships were eventually surveyed
and soldiers or their heirs were to receive 600 acres. Keep in mind
that these tracts do not map directly to today's Towns in these
counties and the process was a little more complicated. It was 1790
before New York actually accomplished the task of assignment and only
after new treaties with several Indian tribes were negotiated.
Given the area is
described as 1.75 million acres it is difficult to imagine how this
all took place, assignees designated, disputes settled, trades and
transfers accomplished and recorded [1825RevWarBounty].
Abigail and Noah Gates
were living in this area before 1810 and probably as early as 1806
given his resignation from the New York Miltia (41st) of
Saratoga County. This conclusion requires several inferences based
on Census, family histories, county histories and cemeteries. Land
Records are still to be examined.
Cayuga
County New York
Cayuga became county in
1799, formed from Onondoga.
Livingston
County New York
Livingston became a
county in 1821.
Mt. Morris
Connecticut's
Western Reserve
The
Firelands of Ohio
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