JOSHUA BIGNALL CHAFFEE, son of Joshua and Mary St. John Chaffee, was born in Sharon, CT, March 8, 1781; died in Ellsworth, CT, March 11, 1832; married (1) June 4, 1809, Anna, daughter of Deacon Amos and Sarah Cook Seymour of Ellsworth. She died there, June 4, 1819, aged thirty-one. He married (2) December 25, 1820, Hannah, daughter of Ebenezer and Sarah (Bell) Birdsey of Stratford, CT. She was born in Cornwall, CT, September 29, 1791, and died in Ellsworth, August 28, 1886. After her first husband (Joshua Bignall Chaffee's) death she married (2) March 23, 1840, Major Samuel E. Everitt. He was a farmer, and for fifty years a land surveyor for Sharon, CT and vicinity, a selectman, a representative of his town in the General Assembly nine sessions between 1811 and 1832, a magistrate for forty years, and a member of the convention of 1818 that formulated the Connecticut State Constitution. He died in Ellsworth in 1870, and Hannah Birdseye Chaffee Everitt went to live with her son Eben Chaffee, and was with him until her death at age ninety-five.

Joshua Bignall chaffee was a farmer and lived in Ellsworth. He had a dark complexion, black eyes, and was five feet, eight inches in height. He was for several years selectman of Sharon, and at the time of his death was a Justice of the Peace there. He and both wives are buried in Ellsworth.

Children, by first wife, born in Ellsworth:

i. Elmore Chaffee, born April 26, 1810; died in Poughkeepsie, NY, August 10, 1834; married in Ellsworth, Feb.20, 1834, Esther, daughter of Aaron and Polly Dunbar, no children; she died in Preble, NY, August 25, 1839, aged twenty-seven; both were buried in Ellsworth; he studied law in Yale College, but never practiced.

ii. Jerome Seymour Chaffee, born December 14, 1814; died in Leedsville, NY, Feb 28, 1906; married (1) in Kent CT, Oct. 24, 1830, Aritta, daughter of James and Melinda (Berry) Stuart of that place; she was born in Kent, Dec. 15, 1812, and died in Amenia NY, Nov. 26, 1872. He married (2) in Sharon, CT, June 8, 1876, Adelia Emma, and daughter of Cyrus Sackett and Harriet (Skiff) Fuller of Sharon. She was born in Sharon, March 13, 1841 and died at Leedsville May 8, 1916. Jerome S. Chaffee had been Commissioner of Highways and Assessor, and in Leedsville was a farmer and grain dealer.

Children by second wife, born in Ellsworth:

iii. Mary Chaffee, born March 18, 1822; died in Ellsworth April 9, 1828; was buried there.

iv. EBEN WHITNEY CHAFFEE, born January 19, 1824; died in Amenia, ND, October 19, 1892; married in Sharon CT, Dec.31, 1844, Amanda Fuller, daughter of Cyrus Sackett and Harriet (Skiff) Fuller. She was born in Sharon, Aug. 5, 1825; and died in Amenia ND, May 22, 1907.

From 1909 CHAFFEE GENEALOGY, p.193 & 348; and Ancestors compiled by H.L.Chaffee Jan 8, 1928, and Carter G. Chaffee Jan 2000