Re: Amasa IVES Rev War d Chaut. >HUNT

Ken, I believe we gave a copy of the following to Joe Garcia, but don't recall sending it to you or posting it.We are fairly comfortable with the information and believe that all of this Amasa's children were by his first wife Bethiah.Mrs. Cape is a descendent of Jesse Roberts and Betsey Ives and has a lot of information on the Roberts family that we could provide if you are interested in filling in that line.(She has the original deed that created the Roberts family buring ground in Madison Co. NY)

John Cape

PRELIMINARY REPORT
on
A SEARCH FOR THE WIVES OF AMASA IVES
(Amasa(5) b.11/10/1747 per Wallingford CT. Vital Records V.13 P.543)
(Son of Stephen Ives and Sarah Hart)

SUMMARY

       The record is unclear onthe wives of this Amasa(5).Our trip throughthe vital records and land records in NY. VT.MA. and CT. during April 1999 provides some information and may lead to further investigation.

       We are now sure that this Amasa’s wife was Bethiah as ofMarch 24, 1794, and his wife was Mary as of March 19, 1816.Also that his children,2boys and 8girls,were children of Bethiah.

SCOPE OF THE SEARCH

       The search started in the land records in Mayville, County seat of Chautauqua County NYand included the library at Jamestown plus a trip to the Myrtle cemeteryin Poland township where Amasa(5) is buried.Additional search was made in Madison County land records at Wampsville and the library in Canastota, plus a trip to the Roberts family burying ground on Milestrip Road in Fenner township.

       At Pittsfield MA,county seat of Berkshire County the land records were reviewed and extensive research was done at the library, which has the best local genealogical reference collection we found.In northern Berkshire county, the land records located in the town of Adams, and the Adams and North Adams vital recordsin the town clerk’s office in North Adams were reviewed.Some local historical information was found at the library in North Adams.A side trip to check the land records at Bennington VT was unproductive.(The VT Ives families were located further north in the Tinmouth area.)

       In Bristol CT.the Clock and Watch Museum has an extensive collection of Ives clocks and some by Gideon Roberts.The library in Bristol has a reference collection with some original documents and records of prior research, primarily concerningclock manufacturing by the Ives and Roberts families.Land records were reviewed in Bristol, Wallingford and Farmington.Vital records were also reviewed to some extent.They are not accessible directly unless you have a “Genealogist Card”,although a few individual inquiries will be responded to.However, that is not a bar to access to the older records for two reasons.The Birth,Deathand Marriage records in CT prior to sometime in the 19th century were kept on blocks of pages interspersed at intervals in the land records.They can be usually be found by checking the Grantor/Grantee indexesunder “Births”, etc..However the best source ofCT vital records for the era is the Barbour Collection at the State Library in Hartford.It is a compilation of the local vital records entries and is cross referenced with an extensive card index.(A cross check of Barbour entries versus local entries at Wallingford indicates that all of the information available at the local level is also included in the Barbour database. ) The reference section in the State Library in Hartford contains an outstanding collection of genealogical resources, including acard index of newspaper, church, family-bible and probate records.There is also a very large collection of family history and historical books and records.

       The final stop was at Forty Fort PA and the monument that memorializes the Wyoming Massacre of July 3, 1778.Elias Roberts died there and his son Amasa was one of the survivors.(Family historical information indicates that the “James Roberts” listed on the monument as a survivor is really Amasa Roberts, whose son Jesse married Betsey Ives at Madison Co. NY on 8 January, 1815.??)

SPECIFIC FINDINGS

       The Barbour Collection and the vital records in Wallingford show that there were three Amasa’s born to the Ives families in Wallingford in 1740 to 1750:

       Amasa Ives, s. Jotham & Abigail,b. 2/7/1742?43Wall.VRv. 9,p. 554

       Amasa Ives, s. Stephen & Sarah,b.11/10/1747Wall. VR v. 13.p. 543

       Amasa Ives, s. Gideon and Eunice,b. 4/15/1748Wall. VRv. 9,p. 565

       Two Amasa's were also married at Wallingford.

       Amasa Ives Jr.m.Hulda Shailor 12/19/1771Wall. VRv. 19,p. 215
       ( Is he Jr. because he is the youngest of the two Amasa’s born in 47/48???)

       Amasa Ivesm.Rebeccah Ward12/13/1782Wall.VRv. 1,p.61

As will be indicated below,we also need to followAmasa(5)’s brother Stephen Ives.The records show:

       Stephen Ives,s. of Stephen and Sarah,b.1/20/1739Wall. VRv. 13,p. 543

and:

       Stephen Ives Jr.m.Susannah Parker Nov. 20, 1766Wall.VRv. 17p. 196

Following Amasa(5) andbrother Stephen, we find in the“Colonial Records and Proprietary Plans of Berkshire Northern District Registry of Deeds”(This is a copy of an early set of records that precedes the regular Berkshire County Land records and is located with them in the Clerks Office at Pittsfield MA.),the following entry on page 77:

ADAMS
EAST HOOSUCK
...
Page 88AdamsJanuary 18, 1791.
       Pursuant to a vote of Said Town of Adams 13 March 1786 we the subscribers being appointed a committee to lease out the Publick lands belonging to said Town have proceeded on the business Beg to report that we have attended that service and have leased out the publick lands to the following persons: viz:
....
....
To Stephan and Amasa Ives: the north half of second division lot No 45 containing 100 acres during the term of 999 years for the sum of 60 Pounds, 17 shillings and 6 Pence-----

We next look at the Berkshire County census records and find that:

1790                                                               Amasa       Stephen

       Free white males of 16 years and upward,              2              1
              including heads of families:
       Free white males under 16 years                            1              2
       Free white females including heads of families              7              5

1800

       Males under 10 years of age                            0              0
       Males between 10 and 16                                   0              1
       Males between 16 and 26                                   1              0
       Males between 26 and 45                                   0              1
       Males over 45                                          1              1              
       
       Females under 10 years                                   2              0
       Females between 10 and 16                            2              1
       Females between 16 and 26                            2              1
       Females between 26 and 45                            0              0
       Females over 45                                          1              1

Then inBook No. 1 of the First Series of North Adams Town Records we find the following marriages:

       Page 47       7/1/1790George Hodge-Sarah Ives
       Page 53       7/25/1792Abraham Cook-Esther Ives
       Page 58       5/9/1793Joshua Knapp -Lydia Ives
       Page 59       12/25/1797Nehemiah Hodge-Rene Ives
       Page 63       1/26/1806John Chamberlain-Lomira Ives
       Page 64       3/24/1805Amasa Ives Jr.-Betsey White
       Page 64       4/07/1805Ruluff Butler-Matilda Ives

The most significant document we found is in Book 3, Page 410 of the Land Records for the area located at the clerk’s office in Adams, (About 15 miles South of North Adams.)

It is a deed from William Towner, Stephen Ives and Amasa Ives to Elisha Brown & Jeremiah Colegrove.It is signed:
                                                 Wm Towner*Seal
                                                 Stephen Ives* Seal
                                                 Amasa Ives*Seal
                                                 Mary Ives
                                                 Bethiah Ives

The deed is dated November 27, 1793.
It was signed, sealed and delivered in the presence of Joshua Knapp and Zena(Zera?) Ives on March 24, 1794.
It was recorded October 5-9th(?)A.D. 1794

Amasa(5) and Bethiah were husband and wife as of March 24, 1794.


[We believe that Stephen’s 2d wife Maryis listed in the Rutland County Vermont Genealogical Gleanings transcribed and gathered by Elijah Ellsworth Brownell, Phil. PA, 1942 which shows that one of the Pensioners at Wallingford in Rutland County as of June 1, 1840 was:
       Mary IvesAge 75,Residing with John Ives, (Head of the family of residence)]


On to Madison Co. NY.(Where Betsey Ives married Jesse Roberts on 8 June, 1815.)In the Madison county land records at Wampsville we find a deedin BookJ,at pages 430/431 dated March 19, 1816 between:

       “Amasa Ives and Mary his wife of the town of SmithfieldCounty of Madison               State of New York of the first part and Amasa Ives Jun’r ...of the second part.”

       This deed is signed by Amasa Ives and MaryX(Her Mark)Ives and was               recorded on 6 June 1816.

In the 1810 census for Madison county we find:

       A. Ives
              Males 45 and up              1
              Females 10 to 16              1        (This must be Betsey??)
              Females 16 to 26              1
              Females over 45              1       (Is this Bethiah or Mary??)

       A. Ives Jr.
              Males 10 to 16              1
              Males 26 to 45               1       
              Females0 to 10              2
              Females 26 to 45              1       

In Mayville NY on June 22, 1835, the Holland Land Company sold the east half of lot No. 3 in Township No. Two in the Tenth Range toAmasa Ives(6?)This is the initial sale of this parcel after the acquisition and subdivision of the area by the Holland Land Company.(See Book 19, p.292)Subsequent deeds of property in this area are by Amasa(6) Ives and Betsey Ives.No deeds by Amasa(5) were found in the Chautauqua county land records at Mayville NY.

CONCLUSIONS

1.       It seems clear that the juvenile members of the Amasa(5) family counted on the censuses of 1790 and 1800 had to be children of Bethiah, since she was still alive on March 24, 1794 when the deed listed above was signed.

2.       We believe that Bethiah is Betsey’s mother, since the deed was signed on March 24, 1794 and Betsey was born on July 16, 1795.It hardly seems likely that Bethiah would die or leave and Amasa(5) would remarry and have a child by Mary within 16 months???The 1810 census in NY indicates that Betsey is also the youngest and last child of Amasa(5)???

3.       Some of the Ives females who were married at North Adams in the period from 1790 through 1806 should be children of Bethiah.If the children of Stephen from that group can be identified, then the remaining females married during that time are likely to be children of Bethiah.(Our review did not show that there were other Ives families of this generation in the North Adams area at that time???)

4.       No records of the surnames of Bethiah or Mary werefound.Some sources indicate that they may have been sisters with a surname of Ames, Eames, Aems, etc..(We question whether they were sisters, since Bethiah was able to sign her name and Mary was not???)To our knowledge no marriage records of Amasa(5) have been located.

FURTHER INVESTIGATIONS THAT SHOULD BE MADE

1.       Check the Death Notice for Amasa(6) published in the Mayville NY newspaper(Mayville Sentinel???) on 3 Feb. 1864DOD 25 Jan 1864.It may include some information about his parents?? This should be available on microfilm at the Patterson Library in Westfield NY.

2.       Check the Tinmouth and Rutland County Vermont records and other sources for identities of the Stephen and Susannah/Mary Ives children so the Amasa and Bethiah Ives children who were married at North Adams can be tentatively identified.

3.       Investigate the genealogy records of the husbands of the Ives females married about 1790 - 1806at North Adams to see whether any of those researchers have identified the parents of the Ives females.

4.       Check with the Boston Genealogical Society which is purported to have extensive vital records for MA.This may lead to some marriage and birth records that would provide the surname of Bethiah and/or Mary.

5.       Check the NY vital records at Albany to see whether there is any record of a death of Bethiah in NY and a marriage of Amasa(5) to Mary.


May 10, 1999

John A. Cape
Margery - Roberts - Harsin - Cape