Jefferson County, New York

PIONEER CONNECTIONS TO ST. LAWRENCE CO., NY:


Return to Tidbits



BENJAMIN CROSS-
One of the choice dairy farms of St. Lawrence Co., noted for its productions of butter and cheese, is that of BENJAMIN CROSS, in the town of Fowler. The master of this farm was the second son of Abel Cross, Jr., and grandson of Abel Cross, Sen., the latter being a native of Vermont, where he was born in 1767. He was a farmer by occupation and married DESIRE PALMER, a daughter of SAMUEL PALMER of Bennington, in the same state. To them were born six sons and four daughters:

ABEL, JR., being the fourth son, and born at Shaftesbury, VT in 1798; he married POLLY, a daughter of JONATHAN COOLEY, a native of Rhode Island. Mrs. Cross was born in Jefferson Co., NY, in 1801. To them were born six children, viz.:

STEPHEN
SUSAN
BENJAMIN born in the town of Fowler, Feb. 13, 1824 and resided with his parents. In 1848 he married MARY JANE, daughter of SMITH CLEVELAND, a native of Vermont, who died 6 July 1877. Mrs. Cross's mother died in 1872 at 66 years.
SELINDA
SARAH
MARIA

CAPTAIN DERBY -
was the son of BENJAMIN and POLLY (BREWSTER) DERBY, and was born in Huntington, Chittenden Co., VT, Sept. 18, 1817, and with his parents removed to Jefferson County when eleven years old. He entered the United States Army, and held a commission therein as first lieutenant.

Captain Derby resided in Wilna, Jefferson Co., until 1848, at which time he purchased a large tract of land of Gerrit Smith in Russell, St. Lawrence Co., and removed to that town, where he since resided...and purchased 75,000 acres...On November 1, 1838, Captain Derby was united in marriage with ANN DAVIDSON WOOD, a daughter of JONATHAN WOOD, of Jefferson Co., NY. She was born in Deerfield, Oneida Co., NY, Oct. 14, 1819. They were the parents of ten children:

WASHINGTON L.-married Martha A. Spaulsbury
DEWITT C.- died in a hunting accident early
EDMUND EUGENE
BENJAMIN F.
EDMUND D.
HELEN E.-married Truman G. Hamlin and she married 2)Edgar S. Burnbaum
LAURA A.-married Newman J. Alexander
MARY E.-married Frank R. Judson
EARL-married Nettie J. Harris
H. STANLEY

GEORGE N. SEYMOUR-
was born in Springfield, VT on 14 April 1794, the eldest son of a family of five children of DAVID and NANCY SEYMOUR:

GEORGE N.
HARRIET
ISAAC
DAVID L
NANCY ANN.

David Seymour, Sr., was a native of Hartford, CT. Nancy Seymour, nee Nichols, was a daughter of Nathaniel Nichols of Winchenden, MA. In 1806, David Seymour left his family in VT and moved to St. Lawrence Co., with Gen. Lewis Morris as a surveyor and contractor;he drowned in Heuvelton while bathing. Nancy, his wife, died at the residence of her daughter, Mrs. Gilbert in Ogdensburg, at the age of 87 years.

At the age of 14, George N. Seymour came to Ogdensburg. He was drafted and served in the War of 1812 for a short time, mostly at Sacket's Harbor...At the age of 23, in the year 1818, he married Miss SOPHIA MARY, daughter of LOUIS and SARAH deVILLERS, of Wilna, Jefferson Co. Her father was a native of Abbeville, France and descended from an ancient and respectiable family...Louis was transferred to a regiment serving in American under Gen. Rochambeau and came to St. Lawrence Co., about the close of the Revolutionary War, with County LeRaydeChaumont, for the purpose of joining the allies. Her father first came to Trenton, afterwards to Cooperstown, then to Butternuts where he married Miss SARAH KINNEY of Connecticut birth. It was at Butternuts that Miss Sophia Mary de Villers was born on 19 October 1797.

George N. and Sophia Mary had four children:
Harriet Ann - married Mr. John D. Judson of Ogdensburg
George de Villers - married Frances G. Ford of New Jersey
Isaac Lewis - married Mary Ann Cryalor of Williamsburg, Ontaro
Sophia Mary - married George Conant of Ogdensburg

WILLIAM JONES-
was born in Jefferson County on 30 May 1816, the eldest son of SOLOMON and SALLY JONES. The former of New England birth, the latter born in Canada.

For his first wife, in 1845, he married Miss FANNIE MOORE by whom he had two children-

FRANCIS LEVI - participated in the Civil War and died at home in 1865
ALBERT H.-resident of New York; first wife died in 1850; for his second wife he married in 1853 to Miss Elizabeth Fackrell, daughter of John and Jane Clements Fackrell. They were the parents of five children.


Copyright 2017 Jefferson County NYGenWeb — a member of the NYGenWeb Project

If you have any questions or comments about this page, please contact,
County Co-Coordinator Nancy Dixon or
Co-Coordinator Bruce Coyne.


Return to Jefferson County Genweb Page