Oven Fire Destroys Moses and Jane Seely’s Home, Kimber Letter 6

3^rd Great Grandaunt Jane (Kimber) and Granduncle Moses Seely wrote to 3^rd Great Grandaunt Sarah B. (Kimber) and Granduncle William T. Mackney November 8, 1854. Jane and Sarah were sisters—daughters of Benjamin and Keziah (Bennett) Kimber. Sarah and Wm. T. Mackney lived in Troy, Pennsylvania when Jane and Moses sent this letter from Wawayanda, Orange Co., New York.

Letter 6 contains a letter from Jane and another from Moses. Jane tells Sarah and William “tuesday our house caught fire from the oven and all burned down”. She writes that Mrs. Horton got most of her things out “below stairs” and “upstairs we nor they got nothing”. The house must have been home to several families.

Moses wasn’t home when the fire started. The household items Grandaunt Jane saved included a table, bedstead, two beds, 4 pillows, 4 chairs, and a rocking chair. The Seely children, Susan Isabell and Willy Emit, were unharmed.

Neighbors took up a collection and raised $300 for Moses and Jane. Community members provided quilts, comforters, sheets, pillow cases, table cloths, clothes for the children, a dress and a skirt. Jane admits how thankful is that all their lives were spared.

Great Grandaunt shares her concerns about her sister Julia Anna (Kimber) Elston. 3^rd Great Grandaunt Julia’s doctor hopes she’ll survive another year. Another Kimber sister, Great Grandaunt Abigail, was caring for her.

Sister Phebe (Kimber) Decker visited Jane. Jane and Moses’ baby boy Willy Emit had been sick. Three year old Isabel was healthy and well.

In Moses’ letter he shares how he learned about the fire at his house. By the time he arrived home, 200 people were there.

Transcription Letter 6:

November the 8, 1854

Dear Brother and Sister

I set down this evening with calmness of mind to

write a few lines to let you know how we are

getting along in the first place   I would say we

are all well and doing as well as we can   I

think I hear you saying who dont they wright

well I will tell you the reasons why we have not

   Moses came home from your house a friday

evening and a tuesday our house caught fire from

the oven and all burned down   we did ny get

anything out but one table and one bedstead and

two beds and four pillows, four chairs    I got

my rocking chair our and some few other things

Moses was not at home at the time    if he had

been I think we would got more out    Mrs. Horton

got most of her things out below  stairs but

upstairs we nor they got nothing    they all

think it was a good thing that Moses was not

there for he might have got burned or hurt but I

think like the old woman it was all for the best

   our loss was rather hard for us at first but

the neighbors have been very kind to us and have

made it part to us    they say they have got

three hundred dollars made up in money and they

have given us a good many things    I have had

ten quilts give to me and three comforters, ten

sheets, six pare of pillow cases, one dress, one

skirt, two table cloths and besides the children

clothes    I think they have all done what they

could and I feel so thankful to think that our

lives and our health is spared to us but Sarah

we are around yet and keeping house in the

little red house and we live to home there and

keep a pig    I would like to have you all come

and see us    Charles has commenced to build

another house    Charles and Mrs. Horton takes

it very cool    Mary your likeness has gone with

the rest of the things    I feel awful bad about

that for mothers sake    we thought it looked so

much like you but I must drop this subject and

tell you about the rest of the folks    we were

up to see Julia Anna last Sunday    she has been

very low    they did not think that she could

stand it but a short time but she is a little

better now    but I dont believe she will get

well    the doctor says she may live along a year

but she will never be well    she is very poor

Abigail is with her now    mother went and stayed

three days with her    and then Abby is going

back and stay with her until she is better or

worse    Johns family are all well    Phebe has

been here today    Mose and John went to election

and Moses has gone again tonight   I have to

stay alone all the time night and day    O Sarah

and Mary I do want to see you but it will be

only a short time if we all live before we shall

se one another   Sarah we have got a little

clock we can put in our pocket when we come out

there    Willy Emit has got so he can walk all

around by a chair    he has been quite sick with

his teeth and his neck swelled very badly but he

is better now   Isabel is well    she talks

about you most all the time    she says she is

coming to Troy to see Aunt Sarah and Mary

Sunday evening   I have heard from Julia Anna

today and she is getting worse all the time

she is confined to her bed nearly all the time

I should not be surprised to hear of her death

in a weeks time but O sister it will be solem

news to hear that another one of our number is

taken from us    but if the Lord calls her to him

from the family its all right and we must give

her up    it will be a short time at the longest

before we shall have to travel the same journey

but I hope we shall all be prepared to meet her

in that happy place where there will be no more

parting losses or crosses    Sister do not take

it hard for it is nothing but trouble in this

world    I must close my letter for this time.

Dear Brother and Sister

I promist to wright, to you as soon as I got home

but you must excuse me for circumstances alters

cases    I got to port Jervis friday morning

stayed there till kniqht    when I got home I

found my folks well    Satturday mather came to

see us    a Monday i went and took her home    I

enquired all along the road for some feathers

but could not find any so I went down through

Samem and then I whent to Erastus and staid all

night and in the morning started home    i

enquired all along the road for feathers but

heard on none and as i got along by James

Singleton they told me my house was a fire    I

run old bob from there home    I was over 200

folks there    the hous and wood shed all burnt

down    I had not a bit of corn left nor potatoes

   i was to Middletown last night    i found some

feathers 4/6 lb.    if you have not got, them yet

whrite and I will send them down to you    when

i come home it looked hard to see all my things

burnt up    Mr. Whindfield came to me and told me

was a going to get up a paper and gow around    i

told him i rather not and the next morning they

started one    Charles 10    Windield 5    they have

whent all round   they have all give me

something   $300.00    I soppose i have got a

winter job a drawing boards and timber so no

more    but remain your Borther and Sister now

and forever

Moses and Jane E. Seely

to William T. and Sarah B. Mackney

Notes by Seely Descendant Winifred Drake Ridell:

[Willy Emit was b. 10 Feb. 1854  d. 1 Dec. 1854

about a month after the fire.]

[Julia Anna was a sister to Jane and wife of

Erastus Elston, she d. 1 Apr. 1855]

[Phebe was a sister, wife of John N. Decker]

[The Mackneys were then located in Troy, Pa.]

SOURCE: Edna Raymond, a past Town of Minisink historian, gave me typed transcripts of the letters exchanged between the Kimber sisters and their parents. This letter is 6 of 31.

It was many years ago when I visited Edna and learned of the letters. Edna has since passed away. I believe Edna told me a couple from Illinois visited the Minisink Town Hall and brought the original Kimber letters. The Kimber descendant allowed Edna to photocopy the letters in his/her presence. Edna worked quickly. In those days copy machines were slow and the quality left much to be desired. Edna spent many hours studying and transcribing the letters as the ‘old time’ handwriting was especially difficult to read.

To read earlier Kimber Letters click on the label 'Kimber Letters' at the bottom of this post.

Isaac Doty, Wife and Kids Leave Minisink for Horseheads, NY

My first post OK DOTY’S—TIME TO TAKE IT BACK ANOTHER GENERATION introduced my readers to Isaac Doty. ISAAC DOTY’S STORY, MINISINK, NY continued the saga. Last week ISAAC DOTY’S STORY CONTINUES told more of 4^th Great Grandfather’s life. Today’s post completes Isaac’s story.

Isaac Doty needed cash again in 1809. The Doty’s mortgaged 50 acres of farm land in Minisink to Mary Kimber for $159.52. You’ll find a transcription of the agreement in my next paragraph.

Transcription Orange County, New York Mortgages, Liber G, pages 209-210

    A Mortgage from Isaac Doty of Minisink in Orange County & state of New York & Elizabeth his wife To Mary Kimber of the same place Dated the sixth day of February one thousand eight hundred and nine for All that certain tract piece or parcel of Land situate lying and being in the town of Minisink aforesaid & is part of Lot number Nine in the first Division of drownded lands in Wawayanda patent and is part of the farm on which the said Isaac Doty now lives to be taken off the North west end of the farm the whole width of the farm so far as to include fifty acres of Land__To be Void on the payment of One hundred & fifty nine Dollars & fifty two cents on or before the sixth day of February next with Lawful interest according to the Condition of a bond of Equal date herewith__ and the said Isaac Doty for himself his heirs executors and administrators, grant and agree to and with the said Mary Kimber her heirs and assigns, that if in Case it should so happen, that the said Sum of money above mentioned with the interest thereon to become due, or any part there of should become due and unpaid, that then, and in such case it shall and may be Lawful for the said Mary Kimber her heirs or assigns, to grant, bargain, sell and dispose of the said premises above mentioned, or any part thereof, at public vendue or otherwise, as to her shall sum meet, to my person or persons, and for such sum or sums of money as may be reasonably had for the same, and out of the monies arising or to arise by the sale or sales thereof, to retain and keep in her hand the said sum of money above mentioned and the interest that may be due thereon, together with the Costs and charges for such sale or sales, rendering the Overplus (if any be) to the said Isaac Doty his heirs, Executors or administrators, which sale or sales so to be made by virtue of these presents shall be and are hereby declared to be a full absolute and entire [bar] both in Law and equity against the said Isaac Doty & Elizabeth his wife their heirs Executors administrators and assigns and all Claiming under him them or any of them, and all benefit and equity of Redemption of the premises or any part thereof    In Witness whereof the said parties to these presents have hereunto interchangeably set their hands and seals the day and year first above written

Sealed and Delivered in the presence of

Polly Hopkins

Reuben Hopkins

                                                                               Isaac Doty

                                                                               Elizabeth Doty  (her mark X)

Acknowledged by the said Isaac Doty & Elizabeth his wife personally before John Steward one of the Judges of the Court of Common pleas for Orange County the sixth day of February 1809

A true record entered the sixth day of February 1809

By Hopkins, Clerk

Grandfather was to pay Mary Kimber $159.52 and interest by Feb. 6, 1810. I’m certain the Grandparents felt appreciative to Mary Kimber for the financial help she gave. I’d like to know Mary Kimber’s relationship to Isaac and Elizabeth. Was she a neighbor, friend, or relative? I’m curious as I have Kimber ancestry too.

When February 6, 1810 arrived, Isaac couldn’t pay his debt. The United States was in the midst of an economic depression because of President Thomas Jefferson’s Embargo Act of 1807. Congress hoped the embargo would keep our country neutral from the wars being fought between Britain and France. The result was decreased trade with many industries negatively affected.

Mary Kimber’s attorney, Stephen Jackson, started proceedings to sell the Doty’s 50 acres on August 26, 1810. The land would be sold at a public auction at the Court House in Goshen, New York.  A notice, ‘Sale by Mortgage’ was published in the Goshen newspaper Orange County Patriot. The advertisement was printed weekly in the January and February 1811 issues and it also appeared in the March 5, 12, and 26, 1811 editions.

 

Legal Notice from the Orange County Patriot

Published in Goshen, New York

March 12, 1811

Mary Kimber might have given Grandfather more time to pay the debt as the public auction was postponed until May 1, 1811. Who bought Grandfather’s land? A search of the Grantor indexes and deeds for Mary Kimber, Attorney Stephen Jackson, and Sheriff of Orange County provided no clues.

Isaac and his family lived in Minisink in 1810. According to the 1810 federal census the children at home included his sons—Isaac, Jr., Joseph, Benjamin, Abner, John and Jacob. Huldah was the baby of the family. Four year old Betsey died in 1809. Ruth, 17 years of age, still lived at home. The eldest, Hannah, wasn’t with the family. She had probably married Uriah Ferguson by this date.

Sometime between 1810 and 1811 Isaac left Orange County taking Elizabeth and the children to upstate New York.  Joseph, Isaac and Elizabeth’s son, told Ethan Allen Doty (the author of The Doty-Doten Family in America) that his father died about 1811 in Horseheads, New York. He was an 11-year-old boy when his father passed.

Did newly widowed Grandmother Elizabeth and the children return to Orange County after Grandfather died? I can’t say. Please contact me if you know what happened.

Back in Sussex County, New Jersey, Grandfather’s creditors claimed the proceeds from the sale of 9 acres in Wantage that had belonged to Isaac’s father, Benjamin Doty. The authorities in Sussex County didn’t know Grandfather had died and called him an “absconding debtor” in a legal notice published in the Orange County Patriot April 6, 1813. Poor Grandmother was left a widow with young children and debts.

Legal Notice from the Orange County Patriot

Published in Goshen, New York

April 6, 1813

Isaac Doty’s Story Continues

When last I wrote about 4^th Great Grandfather Isaac Doty, he was a husband, father, farmer and property owner in Minisink, Orange County, New York.

In 1801 Grandfather was a member of the Free & Accepted Masons Farmer’s Lodge No. 14 of Wantage, New Jersey.[1] Wantage, Sussex County, New Jersey was home to Isaac Doty’s parents, Benjamin and Mary Doty. I’m certain Isaac lived in Minisink, New York but kept this Sussex County association. Wantage is near the NY/NJ state line bordering the Town of Minisink.

  

"Landscape with farm" - oil painting on canvas by Théodore Fourmois

Courtesy Wikimedia Commons

In Orange County Isaac and Elizabeth welcomed Isaac Jr. to the family circa 1802.[2]

Isaac’s father, 5^th Great Grandfather Benjamin Doty, died close to November 1802 in Sussex County, New Jersey. Benjamin didn’t prepare a will. Isaac and his mother, Mary Doty, petitioned Surrogate Court to be appointed administrators for his estate. The Sussex County Court granted letters of administration to them Nov. 18, 1802.[3]

In 1803 Great Grandfather was among the charter members of a Free Masons Masonic Lodge in Orange County, New York. The Olive Branch Lodge No. 102 was established in Minisink Dec. 20, 1803 in Brother Israel Lee’s home.  Isaac was a Tyler, an officer of the Lodge.[4] The Tyler guarded the door from ‘unqualified, malicious or simply curious people’. According to Wikipedia, a Tyler is the name of the office of outer guard of a Masonic Lodge. The Olive Branch Lodge later held their meetings in Westtown at the academy building on the upper floor.

I mentioned earlier Isaac and his mother acted as administrators for his father’s estate in Wantage, New Jersey. They needed to file an application to sell Benjamin’s land (August 21, 1804) because Grandfather Benjamin’s personal estate didn’t fully pay his debts and expenses.[5] At a special meeting in Sussex Orphan’s Court Oct. 25, 1804, a decree was granted permitting Isaac and his mother to sell Benjamin’s land in Wantage.[6] The lot contained about seventy or eighty acres and adjoined the lands of James Decker and Jeremy Rogers. Perhaps Sussex County land deeds will offer more details about the property and sale.

Back in Orange County, two daughters joined the family. Betsey was born about 1805 and Huldah made her appearance in 1807.

I have more to share but will save it for another day.

---

[1] The New Jersey Genesis, Volume 13, Number 3, April 1966 Issue, Contributed by Howard E. Case

[2] The Doty-Doten Family in America compiled by Ethan Allen Doty, page 359

[3] New Jersey Abstracts of Wills, Volume 39, page 136

[4] Craft Masonry in Orange and Rockland Counties, New York Compiled by R.’.W.’. Gary L. Heinmiller, Director, Onondaga & Oswego Masonic Districts Historical Societies (OMDHS) September 2010, online http://www.omdhs.syracusemasons.com/sites/default/files/history/Craft%20Masonry%20in%20Orange%20and%20Rockland%20Counties.pdf

[5] Sussex County, New Jersey Minute Book Vol. A-1, page 32

[6] Sussex County, New Jersey Minute Book Vol. A-1, page 45

Isaac Doty’s Story, Minisink, NY

I introduced 4th Great Grandparents Isaac Doty and Elizabeth Paddock in my last post. Today I’d like to continue telling Isaac’s story.

After the American Revolution ended, Isaac married Elizabeth in Orange County, New York circa 1783. Great Grandmother was known as ‘Betsey Paddock’ in Ethan Allen Doty’s book, “The Doty-Doten Family in America”.

Isaac and Elizabeth welcomed their first child, Hannah, about 1785. Jacob came along in 1788 followed by my 3^rd Great Grandfather John in 1790.

I couldn’t locate Isaac and Elizabeth Doty in the 1790 federal census. I searched the Minisink, Orange County, New York enumeration without success.

Perhaps Great Grandfather Isaac wasn’t a ‘head of household’. This might explain why he doesn’t show up in 1790. Maybe the family was in Sussex County, New Jersey where Isaac’s father was living. Unfortunately, the 1790 New Jersey schedules disappeared long ago.

Isaac and Betsey’s family grew; Ruth arrived about 1793, Abner 1796 and Benjamin 1798.

December 14, 1797 Isaac needed money and mortgaged 197 ¾ acres of land to William Wickham from the Town of Goshen (except 3 acres and 23 rods previously sold to John Davis). Grandfather borrowed 600 British Pounds plus interest. Did he owe a debt or want to buy more land? I wish I knew why he needed the money. Does anybody know how much 600 Pounds was in American dollars?

A 200 Pound payment was due May 1, 1778, another due May 1, 1779 and the final 200 Pound payment May 1, 1800. You can see the county clerk’s copy below followed by my transcription of the agreement. Normally when a mortgage had been paid, the clerk wrote in the left margin of the agreement stating the mortgage was fully paid and satisfied. As you can see, the margin is empty indicating Grandfather wasn’t able to pay off the mortgage. It looks like he lost the land to William Wickham.

Mortgage Book D, page 62 

 

Transcript:

   A Mortgage from Isaac Doty of the Town of Minisink in the County of Orange & State of New York To William Wickham of the Town of Goshen in the said County Esquire Dated the fourteenth Day of December one thousand Seven hundred & ninety seven for all Land lots situate in the patent of Wawayanda in the Town of Minisink & is bounded as follows Beginning at the most Westerly Corner of the same at a heap of stones then runing North fifty two Degrees & forty five minutes East thirty seven Chains & seventy seven links to a Birch tree in a swamp then south forty six degrees & thirty minutes East fifty Chains to a heap of stones then south forty three degrees & thirty minutes west thirty seven Chains & twenty links to a heap of stones then north forty six degrees and thirty minutes west fifty six chains & thirty links to the place of Beginning Containing one hundred and ninety seven acres & three quarters Excepting out of the same three acres & twenty three rods which was formerly sold to John Davis__To be Void on the payment of Two hundred pounds on the first Day of May next the further sum of two hundred pounds like money on or before the first Day of May following & the further sum of two hundred pounds on the first Day of May which will be in the year one thousand Eight hundred with Interest on the whole to be paid annually__according to the Condition of a bond bearing even Date herewith__proved by the Oath of George D. Wickham one of the Subscribing witnesses before John Steward one of the Judges of the Court of Common pleas for Orange County the first Day of January one thousand seven hundred & ninety Eight

      A true Record Entered the fourth Day of January

      one thousand Seven hundred and ninety Eight

      Hopkins, Clerk

The 1799 Town of Minisink assessments included Isaac Doty. His real estate was estimated at $600 and his personal estate $507. I don’t know if Grandfather still owned his land but he had something in order for the town to collect a tax. Although he owned property in Orange County, no recorded deeds exist.

A seventh child, Joseph, was born Jan. 19, 1800 in Minisink.

Minisink tax assessments dated 1800 show Isaac’s real estate remained at $600 while his personal estate was less than the previous year--$446. Grandfather’s financial standing improved in 1801. His real estate assessment increased to $930 with his personal property also valued at $930.

There’s more to Isaac’s story. Watch for my next post.