Descendants of Jeremiah French

 

 

Generation No. 1

 

1.  JEREMIAH1 FRENCH was born Abt. 1759, and died May 04, 1846 in Erin, Tioga County, New York.  He married (1) MARGARETE VANGORDER.    He married (2) HANNAH GILDERSLEEVE.  She was born 1770, and died Unknown.

 

Notes for JEREMIAH FRENCH:

Although the exact date of Jeremiah's birth has not been established,  the Census for Revolutionary and Military Services as Returned Under the Act for taking the Sixth Census, Owego, Tioga County, New York, 1840,  lists Jeremiah's age as 81. 

 

Jeremiah served as a Private from Sandyston, Sussex County, New Jersey in the Revolutionary War, enlisting in 1778; Pensioner's application number S43570.  

 

Source:  Florence Spencer

 

In The Official Register of the Officers and Men of New Jersey in the Revolutionary War, prepared by the State of New Jersey Adjutant General's Office in 1870, page 599, Jeremiah French is recorded as having served in Captain Westbrook's company, Third Battalion, Sussex, also Continental Army.

 

After being mustered out of the army Jeremiah removed to Shamokin, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania.  Jeremiah may have lived in Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts prior to 1778.  In 1778 Jeremiah resided in Sandyston, Sussex County, New Jersey.  From 1800 to 1846 Jeremiah lived in Tioga, Chemung and Steuben Counties, New York. 

 

Source:  Florence Spencer

 

From the book the "Passenger Pigeon in Pennsylvania", by John C. French comes the following:

 

"....Jeremiah French had served through the Revolutionary War and then traveled up the Susquehanna from his father's farm, near Shamokin, to Bradford County, where he soon married Miss Margaret VanGorder and took her to a farm on the Chemung River, north of Elmira, New York."

 

Source: Marion Scherer

 

On the 1790 Census, Jeremiah is recorded as having one son over sixteen, two sons under sixteen and two daughters under sixteen. 

 

Source:  French Family Association - Mara French

 

Jeremiah's parents are unknown at this time.  Jeremiah may have had a brother named Nathaniel.

 

From the Elmira Gazette, March 12, 1846 -  Died in Erin on the 4th inst., Jeremiah French, in the 97th year of his age.  Mr. French was in and fought through the Revolutionary War in the army of General Wasington.  He was in the battles of Monmouth, White Plains, Brandywine, and was in the army when Cornwallis surrendered.  (Source Tri -County History and Genealogy Site by Joyce Tice)

 

Notes for MARGARETE VANGORDER:

Margariet VanGorder  was the daughter of Margaret Quick and Johannes (John) VanGorder (Albert G., Gysbert Albert, Albert)

 

Albert Gysbert is the progenitor of the VanGarden/VanGorder family in America.  He and his son Gysbert Albert, were the first two American born ancestors of the family and Gysbert Albert was the first to bear the name of VanGarden.

 

The New Netherlands being taken from the Dutch by the English in 1664, all were required to adopt a surname.  Gysbert Albert took the name of VanGarden after the name of the village where his father lived in Gelderland, Holland.

 

Margariet's female ancestors were Aeltje Wygers, Rachel Rosencrans and Jannetje (Van)Vrendenburgh.

 

Source:  Research file of Greenleaf S. VanGorder

Buffalo and Erie County Library

Local History File

Special Collections Department

 

Notes for HANNAH GILDERSLEEVE:

Source:  Florence Spencer

        

Children of JEREMIAH FRENCH and MARGARETE VANGORDER are:

2.                             i.       MOSES2 FRENCH, SR., b. Abt. 1783; d. Unknown.

                                ii.       SARAH FRENCH, b. Abt. 1786, Pennsylvania.

3.                          iii.       WILLIAM FRENCH, b. June 03, 1790, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania; d. May 11, 1881, Middlebury, Tioga County, Pennsyvlania.

 

        

Child of JEREMIAH FRENCH and HANNAH GILDERSLEEVE is:

                              iv.       JEREMIAH2 FRENCH, JR., b. 1792, owego, Tioga County, New York; d. November 16, 1847.

 

Notes for JEREMIAH FRENCH, JR.:

Source:  Florence Spencer

 

 

 

 

Generation No. 2

 

2.  MOSES2 FRENCH, SR. (JEREMIAH1) was born Abt. 1783, and died Unknown.  He married NANCY.  She was born Abt. 1784, and died September 09, 1846 in Middlebury  Township, Tioga County, Pennsyvlania.

 

Notes for MOSES FRENCH, SR.:

Moses French, Sr., Nancy and their son William appear on the 1850 Census for Middlebury Township, Tioga County, Pennsylvania.

 

Source:  Tri-County History and Genealogy Site by Joyce Tice

 

 

 

 

 

More About NANCY:

Burial: the French Hill Cemetery, Middlebury, Tioga County, Pennsylvania

        

Children of MOSES FRENCH and NANCY are:

4.                             i.       MOSES3 FRENCH, JR., b. Abt. 1818.

                                ii.       WILLIAM M. FRENCH, b. 1831, Steuben County, New York; m. CATHARINE SMITH; b. Wellsville, New York.

 

Notes for WILLIAM M. FRENCH:

Source: 

 

History of Tioga County, Pennsylvania, Biographical Appendix, Middlebury Township.  W.W. Munsell and Company, New York:  1883 page 25.  Typed by Wilma Johns Sakowsky for the Tri-Counties Genealogy Sites by Joyce M. Tice.

 

 

3.  WILLIAM2 FRENCH (JEREMIAH1) was born June 03, 1790 in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, and died May 11, 1881 in Middlebury, Tioga County, Pennsyvlania.  He married ESTHER MARTIN.  She was born March 11, 1792 in Rhode Island, and died October 18, 1865 in Middlebury  Township, Tioga County, Pennsyvlania.

 

Notes for WILLIAM FRENCH:

William and Esther moved from Steuben County, New York between 1830 and 1850.  

 

William's remaining years were spent in Middlebury, Tioga County, Pennsylvania, where he was a member of the Methodist Church.  William was a lumber farmer.   

 

Source:  Florence Spencer

 

There is a photograph of William in the book "The Passenger Pigeon of Pennsylvania" written by his grandson, John Churchill French. 

 

William was a talented vocalist, many of the songs he loved are recorded in the book, "North Pennsylvania Minstrelsy", by Henry W. Shoemaker, with contributions by John Churchill French.  

 

Source:  Marion Scherer

 

There were several related French families located on French Hill in Middlebury, Tioga County, Pennsylvania. 

 

Also located on French Hill is the small French Hill Cemetery.  In addition to the previously mentioned burials at the French Hill Cemetery are, Catherine French, who married Palmer, born in 1844 and died in 1921; and Nathan T. French, born in 1858 and died in 1929, and Nathan's wife Mary. 

 

William, Esther and their children William Jr., Mariah, John W., Louise E. and Lucretia appear on the 1850 Census for Middlebury Township, Tioga County, ennsylvania. 

 

Source:  Tri-County History and Genealogy Site by Joyce Tice

 

From the article "Journey to Day Before Yesterday with Rhonda English Ladd, is the following:

 

French Hill was first settled by Moses French in 1823.  His brother William French came to French Hill in 1834.  Both were sons of Jeremiah French, a Revolutionary War soldier.  Besides these two sons, there were daughters.  These pioneers erected log houses, cleared land, and made homes for themselves that were quite comfortable.  In addition to farming, Moses raised honey.  He had two sons, Moses, Jr. and William French.

 

William French married Ester Martin, a daughter of Gideon and Tammer Martin.  They had three sons, Nehemiah (Nathaniel Nehemiah), William Jr., and John W.; three daughters, Mariah, Louise and Lucretia.

 

William French was something of a genius.  He was a cooper, a hunter, a crackshot, and a great worker.  When he needed cloth, he built a loom in which to weave it.  He built a spinning wheel, spun the yarn and woe the cloth.  When he needed a barrel, a wash tub, or a sap bucket, he made it.  He also made a keeler to wash dishes in and a piggin for buckwheat batter.  When he needed a threshing machine, he made that.  He also worked in the field all day without a hat and he never ate butter.  He never used a dog on hunting trips; he simply took the track of a deer and followed it.  William French died in 1881, just a few days before his 91st birthday. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More About WILLIAM FRENCH:

Burial: the French Hill Cemetery, Middlebury, Tioga County, Pennsylvania

 

Notes for ESTHER MARTIN:

Esther Martin was the daughter of John Gideon Martin and Tammer Hulett also known as Tammer Hewlett. 

 

On the 1850 Census of Middlebury Township, Tioga County, Pennsylvania, Esther is listed as born in Rhode Island.  On the 1860 Census Esther is listed as born in Connecticut.

 

Source:  Tri-County History and Genealogy Site by Joyce Tice.

 

Esther's father is mentioned in the article regarding his great grandson, John Churchill French in the book "The History of Roulette Pennsylvania" by Robert R. Lyman, Sr., 1967.  The article lists Esther's father's name as John J. Gideon Martin and further states that John J. Gideon Martin instructed Isaac Lyman as a boy in border warfare in the Lake George area of New York and gave him the title of Major. 

 

Isaac Lyman kept the rank of Major during the Revolutionary War.  In the book entitled Genealogy of the Lyman Family in Great Britian and America, author unknown,  Isaac Lyman's fourth wife is listed as Sarah French.  IGI lists Sarah as Sarah Franch. 

 

John C. French mentions John Gideon Martin in his book "The Passenger Pigeon of Pennsylvania as follows:   Seneca John Titus - " In his youth he was taught to read and the tactics of scouting for an army by John Gideon Martin, scout of Oriskany, and the surrender of Burgoyne." 

 

Source:  Marion Scherer

 

From the article Journey to Day Before Yesterday with Rhonda English Ladd comes the following:

 

Back to French Hill (Middlebury Township, Tioga County, Pennsylvania):

 

John Gideon Martin, an Irishmane, came to America about 1765, and settled in the New England State.  He was a scout at the Battle of Oriskany, and was with Arnold and the 800 Massachusetts troops who drove the enemy back to Lake Ontario.  After that, he served as a scout with General Sullivan when he swept the Seneca Lake country with sword and torch.  John and his wife, Tammer, came to French Hill with their son-in-law, William French.  He lived there until his death in 1845.  There is no monument to mark his grave, but he is buried in the French Hill Cemetery.

 

More About ESTHER MARTIN:

Burial: the French Hill Cemetery, Middlebury, Tioga County, Pennsylvania

 

Marriage Notes for WILLIAM FRENCH and ESTHER MARTIN:

Esther and William were married between 1816-1817.  [2]

        

Children of WILLIAM FRENCH and ESTHER MARTIN are:

5.                             i.       NEHEMIAH3 FRENCH, b. July 24, 1818, Horseheads, Chemung County, New York; d. March 21, 1906, Roulette, Potter County, Pennsylvania.

6.                           ii.       WILLIAM FRENCH, JR., b. Abt. 1825, Horseheads, Chemung County, New York; d. November 17, 1867.

                              iii.       MARIAH FRENCH, b. Abt. 1832.

7.                         iv.       JOHN WESLEY FRENCH, b. January 13, 1835.

                               v.       LOUISE E. FRENCH, b. Abt. 1840.

                              vi.       LUCRETIA FRENCH, b. Abt. 1844.

 

 

Generation No. 3

 

4.  MOSES3 FRENCH, JR. (MOSES2, JEREMIAH1) was born Abt. 1818.  He married ROSINA SHAFF. 

 

Notes for MOSES FRENCH, JR.:

Moses French, Jr., his wife and three daughters appear on the 1850 Census for Middlebury Township, Tioga County, Pennsylvania; and again with his wife, three daughters and three sons on the 1860 Census for Middlebury Township, Tioga County, Pennsylvania. 

 

Residing in the same household as Moses French, Jr. is William M. French, age 29.  (1860 Census)

 

Source:  Joyce Tice Tri-County History and Genealogy Site

 

 

 

 

 

 

        

Children of MOSES FRENCH and ROSINA SHAFF are:

                                 i.       NANCY A.4 FRENCH, b. Abt. 1842, Middlebury  Township, Tioga County, Pennsyvlania; d. September 09, 1846, Middlebury  Township, Tioga County, Pennsyvlania.

 

More About NANCY A. FRENCH:

Burial: the French Hill Cemetery, Middlebury, Tioga County, Pennsylvania

 

                                ii.       ELIZABETH FRENCH, b. Abt. 1845.

                              iii.       CHRISTIANA FRENCH, b. Abt. 1847.

8.                         iv.       JANE FRENCH