Remember: John Doolittle and his Wife, Hannah Guernsey

Monday, March 19, 2018

John Doolittle and his Wife, Hannah Guernsey

"...they dug up an iron kettle of silver coins...kept the money themselves, but sent the kettle home to grandmother..."

I've always loved to read historical accounts of regular people making their way daily through times very different than mine. Now that I research my own family's history, the stories are even better because the people I read about are related to me. No matter how distant the connection, just knowing that we are of the same blood and that we share a bit of DNA makes them my people.

Two brothers, Abraham and John Doolittle, came to Boston, Massachusetts from England in 1640 (or perhaps earlier). This John Doolittle (there are many!) died in 1681, leaving no children. It is therefore believed that Abraham is thus the ancestor of all the Doolittles in America.

Abraham had a son named John, who had a son named Samuel, who had a son named Abel. Abel Doolittle (1724-1769) and his wife, Thankful Moss, had a son named (of course) John! So Abraham's great great grandson was the John Doolittle who stars in today's post.

John Doolittle (1750-1825) is my first cousin, six times removed. I'll explain that relationship at the bottom of this post. He married Hannah Guernsey (1755-?), the great great great granddaughter of John Guernsey, who was thought to have emigrated from the Isle of Guernsey in the English Channel and settled in Milford, Connecticut.

Quoting from The Doolittle Family in America, with my remarks in brackets:

John Doolittle was a stone mason by trade. In 1786, with the war of independence ended, he and Hannah with their 3 young ch. [Mary, age 8; Abel, age 6; and John, age 4] moved from Watertown and made the first settlement on the west side of the Susquehanna river in N.Y. It was at the mouth of Doolittle Creek, where the town of Win[d]sor, Broome Co., now stands.

Here is a map showing that today's trip from Watertown to Windsor would be 191 miles.

The story continues:

At that early day it was all a howling wilderness inhabited by Indians and wild animals. John cleared a place in the woods, built a log house with one room and made some rough furniture--the table and some of the wooden plates are still preserved.

The following is told by his gr. dau. Mrs. Marietta Doolittle Maynard, of Stanford, N.Y.: "When my grandparents rem. from Conn., grand father walked and carried large leather saddle-bags with their clothing in, and grand mother and the 3 ch. rode horseback on a big leather pillion containing other parts of their outfit. Their living was mostly game, fish and corn. After locating, my grandfather built a mill to prepare their corn for jonny-cake which they would bake on a board before the fire.

"They had many interesting experiences with the Indians. At one time he found a savage almost frozen to death. Grandfather cut a stick so that the Indian could help himself along, but the latter fainted--thinking the white man was going to kill him. Grandfather carried water from the creek in his hat and restored the Indian whom he took home with him. It was six weeks before the sick man was able to go away. In a short time he returned with a present of some apples and the carcass of a deer. Soon after this four Indians came and urged grandfather to go to the river bank with them, where they dug up an iron kettle of silver coins. They kept the money themselves, but sent the kettle home to grandmother.

"Their pioneer life had many trials and privations. One day three years after emigrating, Hannah was gathering greens and caught sight of a white woman across the river--the first since leaving Conn. By means of a slab raft they met, and she learned that a number of families had come to the locality. Soon after this religious services and a school were started."

The Doolittle Family in America goes on to tell that John and Hannah had seven sons and two daughters:

Mary, born Sep 27, 1778, married David Way

Abel, born Jul 27, 1780

John, born Sep 19, 1782

David, born Dec 28, 1786

Roswell, born Apr 26, 1790; died Aug 3, 1794

Sally, born Oct 18, 1794

Garrett, born Feb 6, 1797

Charles, born Sep 13, 1799

"They lived near the old homestead and d. at good old ages. Some of their descendants still reside in the same vicinity but many are scattered in other states. His sons became farmers. Their lands except Samuel's joined their father's along Doolittle Brook and the place is known as Doolittle Farms. There they lived and d.

John, Sr. prob did not remain more than a few years on the lands he originally settled near Win[d]sor, but rem. 1 1/2 miles farther up the river and located at what is now Onaquago [now called Onaquaga] in Broome Co. [New York].