Daniel Gardner was born 1709 in Norwich, CT and died there in 1758. In 1739 he married Bathsheba Smith, born 1705 and she died in 1758. Both Daniel and Bathsheba are buried in Colchester, MA (FAG).
The Gardner children of this couple:
Bathsheba b 20 Oct. 1736
Daniel b 9 Oct. 1738
Preserved b 29 Jan. 1741/2
William b 20 March 1743
Stephen b 25 April 1745
Anna b 7 Sept. 1748
James b 19 Nov. 1750
Silvester b 29 April 1753
Elizabeth b 2 July 1755
Their third child, Preserved Gardner, born 1741, married on 19 May 1763 to Ann Wells in Colchester, CT. Source: Town of Colchester CT record, p. 57. Ann Wells was christened on 7 April 1745 in the Colchester, CT First Congregational Church, daughter of John Wells, Jr. and Ann Kellogg. John Wells Jr. was born 24 November 1718 and died 21 April 1761. Ann Kellogg Wells was born 1718 and died 29 Jan. 1798.
After the marriage of Preserved Gardner "Sr." and Ann Wells, in Colchester, their family included: (from the Colchester town records)
Lovina Gardiner b 27 March 1764
Margery Gardiner b 20 Nov. 1765 d 19 Sept.1830, Leyden, Franklin Co., MA
Preserved Gardner b 1775 and died 1853 in Jefferson Co., NY. (birth not registered)
At Halifax, in the County of Cumberland and province of New York, Preserved Gardner on 27 May 1777, a blacksmith by profession, for 70 pounds of lawful money paid to him by Joel Hall, of Hartford, CT, sold part of Lot No. 58 in the Township of Halifax. That portion of the lot was 50 acres. On 24 August 1784, Preserved appeared to acknowledge the deed before Thomas Taggart, Justice of the Peace. Source: Halifax Town record, p. 199.
Preserved "Sr." served in the Revolutionary War as a Sergeant in Capt. James Walsworth's Co., under Elisha Porter's Hampshire Co. Regiment. It is noteworthy that Elisha Porter raised thousands of troops for the War and Northampton County, MA sent more than its share of men. Preserved's military status was given as one month, eleven days and he was a sergeant. His service was during July and August of 1779, and included New London, CT. (Source: page 275 U. S. Roster of Soldiers and Sailors 1775-1783, MA, Vol. 6)
Between those two dates, Preserved Gardner signed a petition that was directed at the land jobbers who were making profits off land, that they seemingly did not have a right to do. (Petitions for Grants of Land 1778-1811, by Nye, pp. 151/2) The petitions were deposited in the Vermont State Archives.
In the 1790 Colrain, Hampshire Co., MA census:
Preserved Gardner with one male over 16 years; two males under 16 and
3 females.
On the 17th day of May 1792, Preserved Gardner, of Windom (sic) in the State of Vermont, farmer, for and in consideration of the sum of 206 pounds, lawful money of the state of New York mortgaged all that certain lot of land situated lying an being in the County of Saratoga, within the bounds of a Tract of land commonly called the Kayadorosossasa (sic) Patent which lot is in lot Number four of the subdivision in the fifteenth general allotment of the said patent known and distinguished by the name of lot Number One and is butted bound and contains as follows...containing one hundred three acres...that if the said Preserved Gardner pay to John H. Beeckman and Marta Beeckman, the sum of 206 pounds with lawful interest...on or before the first day of April now next ensuing the date hereof...before Boriah Palmer, one of the judges of the Court of Common Pleas for the County of Saratoga...sworn 10 May 1792...recorded 21 May 1792.
Source: Halifax Town, Vermont Town Records, page 66.
Preserved Gardner "Sr." born 1741 died prior to 17 November 1799 in Saratoga Co., NY. (Ref: Probate Record, Vol. 1, pp. 39 and 266.)
In 1793 Preserved Gardner was listed as a town officer in Malta, Saratoga Co., NY. An assessment roll of property in 1813 showed Preserved Gardner with a total of $2,265. Because his father had died in Malta in 1799, his son, Preserved Gardner, b 1775, was presumably helping the widow, his mother, dispose of property to pay his father's debts. The Senior Preserved Gardner died intestate and in Ann Gardner's petition as executrix of her husband's estate, she seemed to believe that the sale of seven acres and some outer buildings would cover the outstanding debts, and judging from the 1813 assessment value above, the deceased's property, not all of the extensive land holdings were sold.
Preserved Gardner, Jr. moved to Jefferson County, NY in about 1817, with a wife, Martha, and their children and had come from Malta, Saratoga Co. He married his first wife, Martha Wood (1778-1841). Preserved Jr. died in Ellisburgh on 27 November 1852.
Children of Preserved Gardner and Martha Wood:
1) Aaron bc 1804- no further record
2) Celestia b 1805 VT-1866; married Hiram Edwards. He was born 1802 and died 23 July 1860 at 58 yrs; children: Eveline, Julia, Gardner, Fredrick; lived Adams and Henderson, Jeff. Co., NY
3) Horace b 10 Nov. 1806 and died 17 Jan. 1899 in Plymouth, WI. His wife Saphronia Lewis
4)David M. b 1808- d 6 April1871; buried Quaker Cemetery, Jeff. Co., NY
5) Dorothy b 1810 married Ames, probably Dexter Ames; from death record of daughter, Althea Stoddard, b 1835; Jeff. Co., NY, d 30 March 1912 in LaGrange, Ohio. Death record names father as
Dexter Ames and mother as Dorothy.
6) Enos b 1813 d 2 Oct. 1883 in Sheboygan Co, WI; married Ruth Adams. Ruth was born 1827 and died 1918.
7) Amanda b 1816-1904 married Epenetus Wood of Ellisburg, Jeff. Co., NY. He was born 30 August1806 and died 28 February 1885. Epenetus married first Sophronia Jennings,
born 1817 and died 11 Aug. 1845. Amanda was his second wife, born 1817 and died 1904.
Both are buried in the Woodville Cemetery, Jefferson Co., NY.
8) Mariah b 1817 married Mortimer C. Lewis of Adams, NY. He was born 1810 and died in 1887. He and wife Mariah, are buried in the Elmwood Cemetery in Adams. Her birth is given as 1815 and she died 25 October 1884. Children: John D., Schuyler H., Charles H., Preserved H.,
Araminta E., Martha, Celestia J., Amanda. Parents of Mortimer Lewis: John and Betsey
of Vermont.
After Martha's death, Preserved Gardner, Jr. married Phebe Ann Baker. She was born 1788 in Vermont and died 18 July 1871 at 82 years in Jefferson Co., NY. From the will of Preserved Gardner, Jr., he named his wife, Phebe, and children, and set in place a life trust arrangement for her. See will this site and property records.
Horace Gardner, born 1806, was featured in the Portrait and Biographical Record, Pub. 1894, History of Sheboygan Co., Wisconsin, p. 286. It was Horace who revealed that he was born in Malta, Saratoga Co, NY, son of Preserved Gardner and Martha (Wood) Gardner. He also claimed that his paternal ancestors came over in the "Mayflower". He was age ten when his parents moved to Jefferson Co. and it was there that Horace married on 1 November 1831 to Sophronia Lewis, born 3 March 1815 and died 1898 at age 83 years, 5 months, 14 days, in Plymouth, WI. She was a native of Genesee County, NY. Her parents were Jacob and Polly (Signour) Lewis. Her mother died when she was three years old and a brother raised her. Horace and his wife moved to Wisconsin in 1855, and settled near Plymouth in Sheboygan County. From the Plymouth Post newspaper, dated 26 Jan. 1899, a notice that Horace had died at 92 years, 2 months, 5 days, and his wife had died previously.
Enos Wells Gardner, brother of Horace, was born in Malta also, and died 2 October 1883 in Sheboygan; he is buried in the Union Cemetery in Plymouth, WI, with Horace and other family members.
Sources other than those mentioned herein:
Vital Records: CT, MA, WI, Jeff. Co., NY
Land Records: Saratoga Co., and Jeff. Co., NY
Probate Records, CT, Saratoga Co., Jeff. Co., NY
Church Records: CT
Cemetery Records
Military Records of Rev. War CT and MA
Census records
FAG - Find A Grave
History of Norwich CT and Malta, Saratoga Co., NY
Town records
Gen. & Biographical Rec. of New London, CT pub. 1905
See also: Deeds of Jeff. Co., NH: Vol. U2, p. 26; Vol. 120, pp. 331/2
Researched by Marilyn Sapienza
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