From the Towner History
Submitted by Joyce Rubens
This page is part of the Tri-County GenealogySites by Joyce M. Tice
No Unauthorized Commercial Use may Be Made of This Material
Edited, formatted & published by Joyce M. Tice
|
|
|
|
|
|
From the Towner History Submitted by Joyce Rubens This page is part of the Tri-County GenealogySites by Joyce M. Tice No Unauthorized Commercial Use may Be Made of This Material Edited, formatted & published by Joyce M. Tice |
|
The first member of the Baldwin family to settle in Chemung County was Isaac, sr., who emigrated with his family from Norwich, Conn., to the Wyoming Valley, where they remained only a few years, removing in consequence of the Pennamite and indian wars. They located farther up the river in the vicinity of Ulster, supposing they had crossed the boundary line between New York and Pennsylvania. Here they remained one or two years, when they again removed still farther up the Chemung River to what is now the town of Chemung, then a part of Tioga County, N. Y. This was 1784. Isaac Baldwin, sr., was born in Norwich, Conn., June 12, 1730, and his wife, Patience Rathbun, was born in Exeter, R. I., September 13, 1834. They were married November 16, 1751, and their children were as follows: Rufus, born March 8, 1753, married Hannah Hascall, and died June 30, 1834; Thomas, born February 23, 1755, married Molly Fuller, and died January 10, 1810; Watterman, born January 8, 1757, married Celinda Burnham; Affa, born December 14, 1759, married, first, a Mr. Jenkins and second a Mr. Harding, and died March 15, 1832; Adah, born October 31, 1762, married, first, a Mr. Gangez, and second, William Jenkins, and died March 1, 1845; Isaac, jr., born January 8, 1765, married Alice Hascall, second Zeriah Hinchman, and third Ruth McDowell, and died November 21, 1815; William, born August 26, 1767, married Zuba Seely, and died April 21, 1810, Henry, born February 27, 1769, married Milly Satterlee, and died April 29, 1813; Polly, born August 3, 1772, married Anthony Lowe, and died November 21, 1828; Silas, born march 12, 1775, married Sally Hascall, and died December 12, 1809; and Ichabod, born October 26, 1777, married Delizabeth De Puy, and was killed in a mill at Penn Yan, N. Y., in January, 1835. Adah Jenkins, who settled in Chemung in 1784, was the last survivor of this family. she was taken prisoner by the Indians when sixteen years of age at the Wyoming massacre, and was painted, shaved, and sent barefooted over the mountains to the Delaware River at Easton. Watterman, familiarly known as "Uncle Watterman," was a noted scout with the Indian chief "Cornplanter," and as Chedayne is the noted hero of that interesting volume by Ausburn Towner entitled "Chedayne of Katono." Thomas Baldwin was colonel of the first regiment in the county, and was the father of Vine Baldwin, who was the first white male child born this side of the allegheny Mountains, being born at Shequinta in 1784, while the settlers were en [IT:route up:IT] the river. He served in the War of 1812 and received a land warrant. William Baldwin was known as "Captain William." His son, Judge Grant Baldwin was a very prominent citizen in the early history of Elmira. Isaac Baldwin, jr., was also a colonel of a regiment and a merchant at Newtown in company with Vincent Matthews. Isaac, Thomas, and William each took up 640 acres of land adjoining each other in the vicinity of Wellsburg, which land is now embraced in the towns of Ashland, Baldwin, and Chemung. Thomas Baldwin's land covered the battleground of Newtown, in which battle he was wounded in the knee while serving under Sullivan. he planted an orchard on the spot where he was wounded. it is said that Rufus Baldwin killed the first Indian in Sullivan's campaign. Thomas served under General Washington in the Revolutionary war and participated in the capture of Cornwallis at Yorktown, Va. He commanded the seven men who recaptured the Franklin family from a party of seventeen Indians near Towanda, Pa. Watterman was taken prisoner under "Cornplanter" and was in confinement several years at Tonawanda Creek near Niagra. He was influential in consummating the treaty between Washington and Cornplanter and was the Indian agent for the latter for many years. When General Washington gave him his commission as agent the general gave Mr. Baldwin a horse and a silver-mounted saddle. The horse was called "Roenoak." so intimately have the Baldwins been connected with the progress and development of the valley of the Chemung that much personal history of the family has been embodied in various chapters throughout the work.
From Towner's History of the Valley and County of Chemung, by A. Towner, publ. 1892
|
.
