French, Sampson Sr

Sampson FRENCH Sr (1717 - 1785) and Mary

my 6g-grandparents

5g – Samson FRENCH Jr (1742 – 1834)
4g – Sara FRENCH (1770 – 1850)
3g – Sara LEE (1803 – 1888)
2g – Festus EATON (1829 – 1909)
1g – George W EATON (1870 – 1928)
Dora EATON (1905 – 1970)
Private
Gary Lee GAPINSKI (1956 – )

Sampson FRENCH Sr was born 28 July 1717, in Dunstable, Massachusetts Bay Colony, and died 19 Jul 1785 in Southwick, MA. His parents were Joseph FRENCH and Elizabeth CUMMINGS. [MEQB, p. 96-105]

In 1735 his father died, and 18-year-old Sampson FRENCH Sr inherited 130 acres in the Township of Nottingham, NH. In 1752 he owned property in Richmond, NH, and in 1753, in Brattleborough, now in VT. By age 36 he had already bought and sold several properties in MA and NH.

Sampson's father had property in Dunstable "at the first house on the main road northerly of the State line." [CJF, p. 97] See the Joseph FRENCH page and the John CUMMINGS page for maps and more information on Dunstable.

Records for Dunstable covering the years 1733 to 1746 are lost [MEBQ, p. 96], and this data gap means that we know more about Sampson's ancestors and descendants than about Sampson and his family. We have some names of his wives and children, but little else.

He was in Dunstable at least until 1742, when his son Samson Jr was born. He removed to Haverhill by 1749.

Sampson FRENCH Sr fought alongside his teenage son Samson FRENCH Jr in the French and Indian War, 1758-60. Details can be found on the Samson FRENCH 1742 page.

It seems to have been Samson Jr who changed the spelling from Sampson to Samson, although both spellings occur frequently, for both men. There is a mention of other sons: David, Aaron and Jonathan [MEQB p. 96], but no more details.

Sampson FRENCH Sr was still a resident of Dunstable in 1761, and some time afterwards relocated to Hampden County, MA, where his son Samson FRENCH Jr lived. He died in Southwick, on 19 Jul 1785, at age 68.

Marriages of Sampson FRENCH

Sampson seems to have married twice. The records are conflicting. One of his wives was Sarah CLEMENT. Some records indicate that they married on 7 Jul 1739 in Dracut, Middlesex, MA, and others say 7 Mar 1748/49.

Sarah was born 2 Mar 1721 in Haverhill, daughter of Nathaniel CLEMENT and Sarah MERRILL.

Sarah must have died or run off soon after marriage, because Sampson remarried, to Mary CHIN. They married in Nottingham, on 18 Oct 1739, when Sampson was 22.

Strangely, there is another record of the marriage between Sampson FRENCH and Sarah CLEMENT, dated 7 Mar 1748/49. Did he remarry his 1st wife?

I think the 1748 marriage record must be mistaken. The birth record for Aaron FRENCH (below) is dated 14 May 1763, and names his parents Sampson and Mary. It is possible that this Aaron was the son of Sampson Jr, who would have been 20, but his wife was Lusannah.

Also, there are marriage records for Sarah CLEMENT marrying 4 other men. There was a large CLEMENT extended family in the area, so maybe there were several Sarah CLEMENTs? One Sarah CLEMENTS was born in March 1721 in Newbury, and married John BUCK.

Samson Jr named one of his sons Clement FRENCH, suggesting that his mother may have been Sarah CLEMENT.

My best guess is that Sampson married (1) on 7 Jul 1739 in Dracut, to Sarah CLEMENT. They had Samson Jr on 15 Sep 1742 in Dunstable. Sarah died in 1743. Sampson married Mary after 1743, and they had 4 more sons.

Sampson FRENCH in the Church

In 1746-8 the Rev. Samuel BIRD, a "New Light" preacher, was invited to Dunstable. His employment was supported by Sampson FRENCH Sr, and others, but many declared the decision to be illegal. Although a majority supported the settlement of the pastor, the yearly incomes of freeholders were taken into account, and those against settlement had more income, and prevailed. This was the beginning of a political division that lasted many years.

The New Light movement was associated with the First Great Awakening, which was popular in 1730-50 in Protestant Europe and British America. It emphasized a personal relationship with God, and relied less on formal sacrament and ritual. This movement affected most of the Protestant churches in the American Colonies, including Congregational, Presbyterian, Baptist and Methodist.

Rev. BIRD later became Pastor of a church in Fair Haven, southern Massachusetts, which later joined the UCC. He is mentioned in this Brief History of The United Church on the Green in New Haven.

Descendants

Proceed with caution. Information below is highly speculative. The main clue connecting Sampson's family is: "[H]e removed to Southwick, Mass. He was twice married and had sons, Samson, Jonathan, David, Aaron and Daniel." [ESS, p. 19] Also, "His wife died in 1743 and he remarried." [MEB, p. 504]

1 Sampson FRENCH b: 28 Jul 1717 in Dunstable, NH (now MA), d: 19 Jul 1785

+ Sarah CLEMENTS m: 07 Mar 1748 in Haverhill, MA

+ Mary CHIN
......2 Samson FRENCH b: 15 Sep 1742 in Dunstable, MA (now NH), d: 03 Jan 1834 in Glen Castle, Broome, NY
...... + Lusannah Lucy ROOT b: 20 Sep 1752, m: 19 Oct 1768 in Westfield, MA, d: 11 Sep 1829
......2 David FRENCH
......2 Aaron FRENCH
......2 Jonathan FRENCH
......2 Daniel FRENCH

Samson FRENCH was born 15 Sep 1742 in Dunstable, MA (now NH), and died 03 Jan 1834 in Glen Castle, Broome, NY. He was probably the eldest child of Sampson and Mary FRENCH. He married on 19 Oct 1768 in Westfield, MA, to Lusannah "Lucy" ROOT, born 20 Sep 1752 in Southwick, MA, died 11 Sep 1829.

Samson and Lucy were my 5g-grandparents. See the Samson FRENCH 1742 page.

Jonathan FRENCH, son of Sampson and Mary, is probably the same Jonathan FRENCH who, along with his brother David, was one of the earliest settlers in Cambridge, Albany (now Washington) County, NY. He could be the one buried here, in Seceder Cemetery, Reynoldsburg, Franklin County, OH. If so, he was born 22 Sep 1751, and died 17 May 1838, and was a Captain in Captain YOUNGBLOOD's NY Militia during the American Revolution.

David FRENCH, son of Sampson and Mary, is probably the same David FRENCH who lived in Washington County, NY. He was one of the first settlers in Cambridge, Albany (later Washington), NY about 1763-5, along with his brother, Jonathan. [OHW]

He was born 23 Jan 1753 in MA, and died 6 Nov 1836 in Salem, Washington, NY. He married Susannah BLAIR in 1775. She was born about 1748. Her gravestone in the Watson-McNeil Road Cemetery, South Argyle, Washington County, NY tells us that she died 11 Mar 1813 in her 65th year.

There is probably some mistake, as I doubt that David and Jonathan moved when they were both under 14 years old.

David's gravestone in Old Turnpike Graveyard, Cambridge, Washington County, NY, commemorates his service in the Albany State Militia. He served as a Private in the 16th Regiment (Albany) Company M.

Cambridge, NY is about 30 miles NE of Albany, near the NY/VT border. David and his family resided there during the Revolution, and between 1800 and 1810, removed about 15 miles NW to Argyle, where they lived the rest of their lives.

Daniel FRENCH

Aaron FRENCH was born 14 May 1763 in Westfield, Hampden, MA. He married Sarah HOLLIDAY, of Simsbury, on 2 Oct 1783 in Westfield.

Esther FRENCH and Aaron FRENCH were married on the same day, by the same reverend, in Westfield, so I think they were probably brother and sister, children of Sampson FRENCH.

Sources

[CM] History of the first church in Dunstable-Nashua, N.H. (1918) by John Wesley Churchill and Charles Carroll Morgan

[ESS] Early generations of the founders of old Dunstable, thirty families (1911) by Ezra S Stearns

[GWC] History of Haverhill, Massachusetts (1861) by George Wingate Chase

[HMA] New topographical atlas of the county of Hampden, Massachusetts (1894)

[MEB] A Brief History of the French Family (1910) in The Annals of Iowa 9(6-7), p.493-514, by Mary Elizabeth Queal Beyer

[MEQB] A genealogical history of the French and allied families (1912) by Mary Elizabeth Queal Beyer

[OHW] Account of Old Home Week, Cambridge, NY (requires Ancestry license)

[TAM] Official topographical atlas of Massachusetts (1871)

[VL] Samson French in the Vasil Lee Family Tree

Updated 4 Sep 2022 by William Haloupek. Contact haloupek at gmail dot com.