The Wives of Nathaniel & Nathan Horton, Sons of Caleb & Phebe Terry Horton

Regarding my orignal post, I am most interested in establishing the wives of Nathaniel and Nathan Horton, sons of Caleb & Phebe Terry Horton, particularly because I am directly descended from Nathan.

I know many researchers state that Nathaniel married Mehetabel Wells on August 15, 1739, but I have to believe this is wrong. I have searched the Salmon records, and nowhere is there a marriage record for Nathaniel Horton and Mehetabel Wells. The only time a Mehetabel Wells is mentioned is in Salmon's listing for a marriage record for BARNIBUS HORTON and MEHITTIBLE WELLS on February 18, 1796.

There is always the possibility that Salmon failed to record EVERY vital statistic of Southold during the years he was compiling them, and perhaps he missed noting the marriage between Nathaniel Horton and Mehetabel Wells. However, the kicker for me is that the marriage date many researchers have listed for them - i.e. August 15, 1739 - is the very marriage date that Salmon lists for NATHLL HORTON and MEHTABEL CASE. Could this mean that Mehetabel Wells and Mehetabel Case were one and the same, and that one of the surnames was her maiden name and the other a previous married name?

In the Salmon records, NATHLL appears as "NATH" followed by two small "L's" in the upper right-hand corner. I wonder if some reserachers have mistaken these small "L's" as some other symbol and come to believe that the name listed is simply "NATH" for Nathan, and have thus assigned Mehetabel Case as the wife of Nathan Horton rather than the wife of his elder brother Nathaniel. I personally believe that NATHLL refers to Nathaniel and not to Nathan.

Also, as I stated in my previous post, Nathan would have been too young to have married Mehetabel Case in 1739 (he would only have been around 9 years old), but his brother Nathaniel would have been around 20.

That being said, I am very open to someone providing a documented marriage record for Nathaniel Horton and Mehetabel Wells. I have just seen a lot of people stating it as true but without supplying a documented source. Or, if I have misinterpreted the Salmon records, I would welcome someone clarifying where I have gone wrong.

I think part of the problem may be that early published Horton histories stated that Nathaniel married Mehetabel Wells and Nathan married Mehetabel Case, and this has been handed down for so long now that it has been accepted as truth.

Another researcher informed me of a supposed 1749 Brooklyn, NY marriage record for Nathan Horton and Mehetable Case. I have searched the internet for this record and have come up empty. I have also accessed the records on Ancestry.com, and the only thing they show is the 1739 marriage of Nathll Horton and Mehtabel Case. This is from their “New York Marriages, 1600s-1800s,” which probably used the Salmon records as a resource. If the 1749 marriage record DOES exist for Nathan Horton and Mehetable Case, can anyone tell me how to access it?

In terms of Nathan Horton marrying Sarah Luce, I have only seen two references, both on-line. One is via the following link to burials at the First Congregational Church in Chester, NJ:

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~njmorris/cemeteries/cheste..http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~njmorris/cemeteries/cheste...

I do not know if Sarah Horton's tombstone actually states her maiden name was Luce, or if this is just a note added by the person maintaining the web site.

The other on-line source is the following 1997 post from someone who also refers to Nathan Horton marrying Sarah Luce:

http://newsfeed.rootsweb.com/th/read/HORTON/1997-08/08722954..http://newsfeed.rootsweb.com/th/read/HORTON/1997-08/08722954...

I also mentioned in my original post that many of the children of Nathan and Sarah Luce Horton appear to have been named for members of the Luce family.

Sarah Luce was a daughter of David and Jemima Corwin Luce. Her father was a half-brother to Nathan Horton’s father, Caleb Horton, both being sons of Sarah Wines Horton Luce. This made Sarah and Nathan half first cousins. In David Luce’s will, he names a daughter Sarah, but unfortunately does not mention her married surname.

The children of Nathan and Sarah Luce Horton, all born at Black River (Chester), Morris County, New Jersey were:

1. David Horton

David was probably named for his maternal grandfather, David Luce. Nothing else is known about him.

2. Israel Horton (1750-?)

Israel was born in 1750 in Chester, New Jersey and died young. He may have been named for his mother’s half-brother, Israel Luce, who was only four years older.

3. Nathan Horton (1757-1824), who married Elizabeth Eagles.

Nathan was probably named for his father, Nathan Horton.

4. Bethia Horton (ca. 1759-?), who married Caleb Terry, of Black River, Morris County, New Jersey.

Bethia may have been named for her mother’s half-sister, Bethia Luce, who was about three years older.

5. Zephaniah Horton (1760-1844), who married Jane McCourry (sometimes recorded as McCurry).

Zephaniah was born November 13, 1760 in Morris County, New Jersey and was most likely named in honor of his recently deceased uncle, Zephaniah Luce, who had died six months earlier.

6. Sarah Horton (ca. 1761-?), who married Daniel Sweazy/Swayze.

Sarah was probably named for her mother, Sarah Luce Horton.

Some internet sources have listed Daniel Swayze as a son of Caleb Swayze and a grandson of Samuel and Penelope Horton Swayze, thus making Sarah and Daniel second cousins. In his 1910 Genealogy of the Swasy Family, Benjamin F. Swasy does not list a Daniel Swayze among the children of Caleb Swayze. Even if Daniel was not Caleb’s son, he was most likely a near relative of Sarah.

Daniel is probably the Daniel Swayze who was born October 18, 1756, served in the Morris County, New Jersey Militia during the Revolutionary War, died August 27, 1843, and was buried in the Pleasant Grove Cemetery in Chester, New Jersey. [Penision record S4911?) If this is so, it would be unlikely that he was a son of Caleb Swayze who, with his immediate family, were known to be ardent Loyalists.

7. Jemima Horton (1768-1842), who married Robert Hughson.

Jemima was born August 13, 1768 in Roxbury (now Chester), Morris County, New Jersey and was probably named for her maternal grandmother, Jemima Corwin Luce and/or her aunt, Jemima Luce.

She died October 3, 1842 in Morris County and is buried in the First Congregational Cemetery in Chester. Her tombstone states she was 74 years old, indicating a birth year of 1748, despite her parents’ marriage year of 1749.

Jemima and Robert were married June 7, 1787 and were the parents of twelve children. Robert was born around 1762 in Somerset County, New Jersey and died December 27, 1848. He also buried in the First Congregational Church Cemetery.

During the Revolutionary War, Robert enlisted in Somerset County and served in a regiment commanded by his father, John Hughson. According to The Hortons in America, Robert and Jemima lived at Mount Highest, New Jersey.

8. Phineas Horton (1774-1857), who first married Bethia Luce. She was, no doubt, a relative, Phineas’s mother being Sarah Luce Horton. Phineas then married his first cousin once removed, Esther Horton, granddaughter of his uncle, Nathaniel Horton. Phineas was nineteen years older than Esther, he being thirty-five and she being almost sixteen when they married on August 20, 1809.

Phineas was born February 17, 1774 and died February 8, 1857. He lived all his life in Morris County, New Jersey where he was a merchant and owned a general store.


I would appreciate any and all assistance in verifying the wives of Nathaniel and Nathan Horton.

Sincerely,
Terry Harmon