David French and Thomas French, Windsor Co., VT
It has been argued that my Thomas French of Andover, Ludlow, and Reading, VT, is the son of David French who married Sarah Elizabeth Hide of the line of Samuel French, the Joiner, but I have no information that would establish such a link except that the age fits (b. abt. 1787).So far as I can tell he was never at Andover, VT.The one who fits the available evidence much better is David, one of several Frenches originally from Dunstable, MA, who left Jaffrey, NH, and moved first to Andover and later to Grafton, VT, according to the History of Jaffrey, NH, which also says he had seven (unnamed) children.According to the same book he is part of the William French line via John French of Billerica and Tewksbury.However, David did not leave New Hampshire until 1794, and my Thomas French was born in Vermont ca. 1787 according to the 1850 census.It has taken me 30 years to conclude that the place of birth given in the census must be incorrect.My efforts to fit him into a family already living in Vermont at the time of his birth have been as unsuccessful as Ptolemaian astronomy.
The picture becomes somewhat clearer, something like removing an overlay from a map, if we can eliminate some of the other people in Andover as possible parents of my Thomas French.Because of the similarity of names, it helps to first determine the origin and connections of Thomas French, Sr., of Windham, father of Thomas French, Jr. (located at Peru in 1830), and then removes the "overlay" so to speak.To do this, it is easiest to work back from a known location.Thomas French, Sr., does not appear in the 1830 census, so Iassume that he died or left the state before that year.In 1820 he was at Windham, VT [000201-00201]He was born by 1764 at the latest, and maybe several years earlier.He is near Amasiah, Antipas and Hiram Howard, which may be significant because his son, Thomas, Jr., married Betsey Howard in 1818, and one of their children was called Amaziah.Besides the two Thomases at Windham in 1820 there is a Moses French, and two sons of John French, Jr., of Andover, Elias and John.These sons of John French, Jr., [of the Guilford, CT, line of Thomas French]also have close ties to Howards back in Andover, but despite the link they each have with the Howard family there is apparently no direct connection between the lines of John French, Jr. and Thomas French, Sr., of Windham.
This brings up the second "overlay."The John French families of Andover earlier resided at Dummerston, where it appears that their connection to the Howards began.See A.M. Hemenway, Vol. 5, Vermont Historical Gazetteer, Dummerston (1891), pp. 96-97.The name of the wife of John French (Mary Wilcox) reveals the connection of this French family to Thomas French of Guilford, CT.Micah French of Dummerston, previously of Royalston, MA, is from the Braintree, MA, line of John French.Nathaniel French of Dummerston was from Billerica (William French line).So it is obvious that several lines of Frenches were converging on Vermont.
To return to the first overlay, and continue going back in the census, the only Thomas French shown in the VT census index for 1810 is at Andover [the published index mistakenly says Chester], but he is too young to be the Thomas French, Sr., of Windham.I think he is my Thomas French of Andover (next generation).Thomas French, Jr. (later of Peru) was probably with Thomas French, Sr., wherever he was.The Thomas French of Middleton, Rutland Co., VT, is also gone in 1810, although he had been at Middleton at least since 1782.He is probably connected to the line of Samuel French the Joiner.
Regarding the second overlay, there is a Thomas French who was born to the family of Enos French and another Mary Wilcox, who is a possible candidate as one of the Thomases French in VT,but he was probably born after 1768 or so and would thus be a bit young to be the father of the Thomases French born in 1786-1787.Enos was the elder brother of John French, Sr.of Dummerston and Andover (the eldest brother, Ebenezer, was unmarried).This Thomas and a brother called Ebenezer each"went west" according to Alvin Talcott's book, p. 499.There is no head of household named Enos or Ebenezer in Vermont in 1790,The names Ebenezer and Enos do not appearin the familes of the Andover and Windham Frenches we are examining.The information about Ebenezer and Enos in the revolutionary war pension file of Ebenezer gives no indication that he or his father spent time in Vermont.
So what about 1800?Somewhat surprisingly, Thomas French, Sr., appears to be the person in Andover who later lived in Windham.His family is 31110-32010, which makes his date of birth between 1755 and 1774.A revolutionary war pensioner named Thomas French, born about 1758, was married to a woman named Ruth (LNU), when he applied for a pension from Putney, VT , in 1820.There is a Thomas French married to Ruth who lived at Andover in the 1780s and 1790s.We know this because he and his wife Ruth sold land to David Howard in Andover around 1792.He and his wife appear to be the same persons who were warned out of Windham on April 14, 1815, which means they had been there less than a year at that time.On May 19, 1815, Amaziah Howard and his wife Hannah also received a warning out at Windham. For that reason I think that Thomas French (married to Ruth) at Andover in 1800 and 1790 is also the Thomas French, Sr., living at Windham in the 1820 census.Although his pension application was from Putney, he was not listed there on the census for that year.According to his pension application he lived with three daughters [the 1820 census shows two] andlater moved to Coventry, NH, where he died in 1837.He is the right age to be the Thomas French who was in Windhamin 1820.Although his pension application makes no mention of his having lived anywhere in VT except Putney, there would have been no necessity to name all the towns in which he had lived.His name does not appear on the muster rolls that I have seen, but his pension application said that he served under Capt. Tilton and Col. Enoch Poor of the New Hampshire line in 1776.That unit was engaged in fighting as early as May 16, 1775, and there were several other Frenches in Capt. Tilton's company: Joshua, a corporal; and privates named Nehemiah and John.Joshua, like his captain and lieutenant, were from Kingstown (now Kingston), NH.John was from Poplin (now Fremont).Because of the place where he joined the army this Thomas French is probably also from Rockingham Co., NH.Therefore, he does not have a very close connection, if any, either to the Guilford line or to the Jaffrey lines.He may connect to an earlier branch of the Braintree or Billerica lines, or to one of the other French lines.According to Ancestral FileI a person named Ruth Marshall married Thomas French in Fitchburg, MA, on 21 Sept. 1788.This could be the same Ruth and Thomas who lived in Andover in the 1780s, or in Putney in 1820, but I do not think so.The marriage date is one year too late for the Thomas married at Fitchburg to be the father of Thomas French, Jr., of Windham, unless he was born before his parents married.
We are now in a position to "see" my Thomas French more clearly on the map.
There is a sale of land by Aaron Leland of Chester, perhaps the Baptist preacher of that name, at Ludlow,on Dec. 2, 1817.The purchaser is Thomas French of Andover.He sold the same tract on Sept. 19, 1822, to Samuel Puffer of Andover, witnessed by Samuel Clark and his wife Phebe, whose surname is given by Ancestral File as Darling.This may be part of the reason that the surname of Polly has been stated as "Puffer."
The short lapse of time between the death of Polly and the marriage of Thomas French either to to Sarah H. Buswell or to Sarah Ann Webster has not been satisfactorily explained.Barely three months passed between the death of Mary/Polly( ) French, wife of Thomas French on August 27, 1832,and the marriage of Thomas French either to Sarah A. Webster on Nov, 17, 1832,according to the date given me by a great-aunt, or to Sarah H. Buswell of Cavendish on Nov. 29, 1832, at Ludlow, as shown by town records.Some sorting of names needs to be done to straighten this all out.
Nevertheless, thanks to Compiled Vital Records of Vermont, on microfilm, and despite their incompleteness, my Thomas French can be rather easily distinguished now fromThomas French of Peru, VT, in 1830, who is identifiable in his movements.Thomas French of Peru was born about 1786-1787 based upon data from the 1850 and 1860 census.Since he appears to be the person who married Betsey Howard at Windham, he is probably the Thomas French, Jr., of that town in the 1820 census, when he was first listed as a head of household, next to Thomas French, Sr.At that time there was only one child in Thomas Jr.'s household, a female.In the 1840 (New Benn.) census he had five boys and one girlbut no spouse, so he was apparently a widower by then.This fits with the death date given for Betsey French (1839). In 1850 he was married to a woman named "Sally," who was close to the right age (44) to be Sarah H. Buswell (b. June 21, 1804), but it is highly unlikely that he is her spouse because the marriage occurred seven years prior to Betsey's death, and he would not have been a widower early enough to have married Sarah H. Buswell in 1832.The 1860 census shows that Thomas French of Peru had moved to Weston, VT, andhad a wife named "Harriet," which would tend to suggest that his "Sally" had died, or more remotely, that they had divorced, unless "Sally" was listed by her first name in 1850 and her middle name in 1860.The names of the known children of Thomas French and Betsey Howard are Alonzo, b. 12-30-1820;Joseph, b. 5-7-1823; and John, b. 5-19-1825 (d. 9-20-1825), all at Windham, based on Vermont birth records.Others shown in the censuses starting in 1850are: Amaziah, Eldridge (these two, at least, old enough to be the children of Betsey), Katy, Francis, Lorenzo, and Melissa.By coincidence, "Alonzo,"John," and "Lorenzo" occur in both families: one of Shepherd A. French's brothers wasJohn Lorenzo French.Amaziah is probably named for Amasiah Howard, whose name appears in Windham Co. in the 1820 census.He may be Betsy's father.
The movements of my Thomas French can also be distinguished and traced.Picking him out in 1850 is no problem.He was living at that time in Reading.Simon French, age 26, said to be a son by his first marriage, is also in Reading.Leaving aside the spouse identification problems for the moment, we can at least trace this Thomas French of Reading back through previous censuses.In 1840 he was at Plymouth [50200001-00111], age 50-60, which is just the right age for someone born in 1787.His wife is 20-30, which is just the right age for Sarah A. Webster, b. May 27, 1813, according to the date of birth given me by a great-aunt.In 1830 he was at Ludlow [1321001-000001], age 40-50, wife (Polly), age 30-40.Placing him in 1820 is more difficult.If Thomas of Peru in 1830 is Thomas, Jr., of Windham in 1820, then my Thomas in 1820 is probably Thomas of Andover in that year, with a much larger family [410110-00210].Some of these children may be younger siblings of Thomasor children taken in by the family.Otherwise my Thomas would have more children than he is known to have fathered before 1820.Another Thomas French, the one at Chester in 1820,is in the same age group as my Thomas French (26-45) but he has a family that is too small.He should have at least two boys (Leonard and Thomas) if he is my Thomas French, but he has only one.I am curious to know who he is, but I have no information about that.He seems to disappear from Vermont during the following decades.My Thomas French [age 16-26]is still at Andover with John, Howard, David, and David French, Jr.in 1810.The index which says they were at Chester is wrong,The census microfilm itself shows only one head of household at Chester in 1810 named French.He was Solomon French.The Thomas French who was at Andover in 1800 was an older person than my Thomas.I believe he was the individual listed at Windham in 1820 as Thomas French, Sr.
But how does all this lead to the conclusion that David French of Jaffrey is the father of Thomas French of Andover, Ludlow, and Reading? Mary/Polly (), possibly "Puffer," married Thomas French of Andover.She died at age 40 on August 27, 1832.The death appears to be recorded both at Andover and at Ludlow.A death record in the compiled vital records for Vermont indicates that Leonard French of Andover, who died on July 20, 1859, at the age of 40 years and eight months, was the son of Thomas and Polly French.This would make his birth year Nov. 1818.It is the first (and only)documentary confirmation I have found that Thomas French and Polly were the parents of Thomas French's first set of children, and the first (and only) confirmation outside records of my family that prove the actual names of any of those children.It also provides proof that there were two persons named Leonard French in this locale at this time.However, the 1850 census index for Vermont shows only oneperson named Leonard French, at Chester, along with Joel, John, and Joseph E.French.The Leonard French at Chester, b. 1801 (said to be a son of David French and Hannah Butterfield),married Lucy Robinson of Chester on March 3, 1830.If the older Leonard is indeed the son of David French and Hannah Butterfield, it is the best evidence I have seen yet that my Thomas French is connected with the same David French, of Jaffrey, NH.It would mean, however, that my Thomas was not born in VT as stated in the 1850 census, but in NH, because David French did not come to Vermont until 1794.Such census errors are rather common for people who enter a state as children and rather less common for people who enter a state as an adult, although I have seen both kinds of error.Often the person responding to the census taker simply does not know.
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