Seward, Jedediah

Jedediah SEWARD (1758 - 1842) and Martha SMITH (1760 - 1814)

my 4g-grandparents

Jedediah SEWARD was born on 26 May 1758 in Granville, Hampden County, Massachusetts Bay Colony, the son of Aaron and Elisebath SEWARD. He died in mid May, 1842, in Chenango, Broome County, NY. His gravestone in Glen Castle Cemetery, Glen Castle, Broome County, NY says he died in 1843.

He lived to age 83 or 84, and outlived his wife and all but 3 of his children. His will (below) leaves property to his daughter Sarah DORMAN, his son Levi SEWARD, and his daughter Ruth SEWARD. [JSW]

The will provides the link with my 3g-grandfather, Levi SEWARD, of Chenango. Also, several of my DNA close matches trace their ancestry to Jedediah, through his children Levi, William, Orin and Martha. This provides more evidence that Jedediah is my 4g-grandfather, and also strengthens the claim that Levi, William, Orin and Martha are children of Jedediah.

The first of Jedediah's many children was born about 1783, so he was probably married by then. Census records indicate that Jedediah was head-of-household in 1810, 1820, and 1830 in Chenango, Broome, NY, with a woman about the same age, probably his wife. In 1840 he was still in Chenango, without a wife.

Some researchers have Jedediah's wife as Martha SMITH, b. 1760 in Granville, MA, d. 1814 in NY. I have not seen any evidence for this, so I will regard it as a possible fact.

Jedediah SEWARD in the American Revolution

Jedediah SEWARD served as a Private in the Revolutionary War. On 7 Jun 1832 an Act of Congress provided benefits to veterans of the war, and Jedediah applied for the benefits on 30 Aug 1832. The documents associated with this application provide us with some details of his service. [JSP]

Jedediah lived in Granville until age 17 or 18, when on 7 Jan 1776 he volunteered at Granville, in the Massachusetts State Militia, under Captain BALL, in the 4th Mass. Regiment, commanded by Col. William SHEPARD.

Jedediah mustered at Cambridge, on the north side of Boston, and was stationed at Roxbury, on the west side of Boston. In April 1776 he went with the Regiment toward New York City. When the British landed in New York, the Regiment was sent to Kingsbridge and White Plains, north of New York City. They crossed the Hudson River at Peekskill, and entered Trenton, NJ on Christmas morning. That night they crossed the Delaware River, and before dawn on 26 Dec 1776 they surprised the encampment of British and Hessian troops, in what became the Battle of Trenton. 

After the Battle of Trenton they marched to Princeton, and Morristown. Jedediah was discharged, having served 1 year and 6 weeks, in late Feb 1777. 

Jedediah volunteered again in May 1777, at Granville, and joined Capt. William COOLEY’s Company in Col. Timothy ROBINSON’s Regiment. He marched to Saratoga, NY with the regiment, stayed there 2 months, and was dismissed.

He enlisted a 3rd time, May 1779 in New Britain, in Capt. ALLEN's Company of Militia in Col. John HARPER's Regt of New York troops, and served 7 months. 

Jedediah in NY after the Revolution

In his pension application [JSP], Jedediah's declaration states that he "lived at the close of the War in Cortright [Kortright] Delaware County N. Y. thence to Nanticoke Tioga N. Y. and in the year 1792 to Chenango Broome County where he now resides." 

The towns of Nanticoke and Chenango are both in the area now called Broome County, which was formed in 1806. (They would be called townships in other parts of the US.) The town of Chenango is distinct from Chenango County, NY, which is adjacent to Broome County.

Jedediah's parents, and probably most of his siblings, had moved from Granville to Kortright by 1790. There were several SEWARD/STEWARD families that settled in Kortright, Delaware, NY, including 5 households in the 1800 US Census. The history of Delaware County [WWM] names Jedediah SEWARD as one of the early settlers, and mentions Aaron and Sylvanus SEWARD, among the founders in 1789 of a church in Methodist Hollow, Kortright. See the Aaron SEWARD page.

The first of Jedediah's many children was born about 1783, so he was probably married by then. As mentioned above, his wife's name may have been Martha SMITH. The children were probably born in Kortright, Nanticoke and Chenango. 

The account above says that Jedediah came to in Glen Castle, a village in the Town of Chenango, in 1786. This was part of Tioga County until Broome County was formed in 1806.

The first child of Jedediah was probably Ruth, born about 1782-3, in Columbia County, NY, according to the 1855 NY State census records, below. [Columbia County was formed in 1786 from part of Albany County, so presumably she was born in the area that became Columbia.] The census also tells us she had been in Chenango for 62 years, since 1793.

In summary, Jedediah married near the end of the revolution, probably around 1782, and lived in the part of Albany County that became Columbia County in 1786, However, around 1786 they moved to Glen Castle, and in 1799 and 1803 they are found in Union. Both Glen Castle and Union were in the part of Tioga that became Broome County in 1806. By 1810 they had settled in Chenango, Broome, NY where Jedediah lived the rest of his life.

Census Records

I have not found Jedediah in the 1790 or 1800 US Census. However, he does appear in Union, Tioga (later Broome) County, NY in the 1799 and 1803 tax lists. In 1799 he had a farm, valued at $170, personal estate $33, and paid 20 cents tax. In 1803 his farm was valued at $242, personal estate $62, tax 55 cents. 

In 1810, Jedediah is listed close to Orange (must be Orin) SEWARD and Thomas DORMAN. 

Assuming a nuclear family, Jedediah and his wife, both over 45, had 2 sons and 4 daughters living with them. if my guesses below are correct, Orrin would have been about 12 in 1810, so he was mistakenly included in the 16 thru 25 group. Also, the female 16 thru 25 in unknown. Martha, age 22, had already married and left home. Unless she was the unknown in 16 thru 25, and her husband, Jacob COUSINS, age 29, was the second male in 16 thru 25.

As mentioned above, some researchers have claimed that Jedediah's wife, Martha (SMITH) SEWARD, died in 1814. I have not seen evidence of this, and Jedediah does seem to have a female companion in the 1820 and 1830 censuses, below.

1820 Jedediah and his household of 5 are listed near Sampson FRENCH, Clement FRENCH, Nathaniel LEE, Rowland LEE. It looks like Jedediah and his wife live with their daughters Ruth and Sarah. There is another girl, age 10 thru 15, probably a granddaughter. 

In 1830 the Jedediah SEWARD household listed near Nathaniel LEE, Sampson FRENCH, Seth SEWARD, Orrin SEWARD, James CATON (EATON), John LISK. Jedediah and his wife still live with their daughter Ruth, and another, who could be Sarah, except that Sarah lived with her husband, Stephen DORMAN, in 1830.

In 1840 Jedediah lived with a female who I believe was his daughter, Ruth SEWARD. Since he was a veteran, his age was also listed. This appears in the census near F. FRENCH, Levi SEWARD, several LEES and FRENCHes.

Jedediah SEWARD wrote his will on 8 May 1842, and his executors exhibited the will on 21 May 1842, so he died between those dates. The will was proved on 5 Jul 1842. There is no mention of his wife. Three of his children are given property: Sarah DORMAN, Levi SEWARD and Ruth SEWARD. Also mentioned is Stephen DORMAN, who must be Sarah's husband, or possibly her son. Ruth still has the surname SEWARD, so she probably never married. Also mentioned are several minors: Samuel SEWARD, Louisa SEWARD, Lorinda SEWARD, Albert SEWARD, Alva SEWARD, Jane LISK, Elizabeth LISK and Henry LISK. Apparently Jedediah had a daughter, deceased before 1842, who married a LISK and had 3 children. The executors were John ROBERTSON, Chauncey FRENCH (a grandson of Sampson FRENCH), and James LEE (no doubt related to the descendants of Walter LEE). [JSW]

There was more than one Jedediah SEWARD in NY in the early 19th Century, and several Levi SEWARDs. My 3g-grandfather Levi SEWARD was born in 1793, and was still living in 1842. He lived in Chenango, and moved to IL before 1850. So I believe he is the same Levi SEWARD who is named in this will, as a son of Jedediah SEWARD, who died in 1842.

Probable Descendants

The category of data that is missing for Broome County, before 1850, is any records that connect families and family members together. It is never clear who an individual's parents or children might be. The best clues we have as to Jedediah's children comes from his will, above, which mentions Jedediah's 3 living children, and 8 living minor children of his deceased children. There is no mention of his wife.

Jedediah's living children were:
Ruth, who was still single in 1842;
Levi, for whom we have a lot of information;
Sarah, who married Stephen DORMAN;

Jedediah's living grandchildren were:
Samuel SEWARD, Louisa SEWARD, Lorinda SEWARD, Albert SEWARD,
Alva SEWARD,
Jane LISK, Elizabeth LISK and Henry LISK

Samuel, Louisa, Lorinda, Albert were children of Orin SEWARD (see below), which shows that Orin was a son of Jedediah. There were several Orin SEWARDs, but the father of these children was born 20 Feb 1798 in Broome County, NY and married Mehetabel LIVERMORE. See below.

Jane, Elizabeth and Henry LISK must have been children of a deceased daughter, who married a LISK.

The sections below will cover the possible children.

Ruth SEWARD was born about 1783 in NY. She never married or had children, as far as I can tell. She probably lived with her father until 1840, but he died in 1842. In 1850 she was living with the ELWELL family, and later lived as a boarder with the TOMPKINS family.

We know that Jedediah had a daughter (assuming a nuclear family) in Chenango in 1810, in the 26 thru 44 age group, thus born between 1766 and 1784. Ruth seems to fit.

In 1850 Ambrose ELWELL was a farmer, with a farm valued at $1,200. The 3 oldest children had attended school within the past year. The relationship between Ruth SEWARD and the ELWELLs is unknown.

The 1855 NY State Census has Ruth living with the TOMPKINS family. We learn that Ruth was born in Columbia County, NY and has been in Chenango for 62 years, so she came to Chenango at age 10, presumably with her parents, about 1793.

The 1860 US Census has Ruth SEWARD living with the TOMPKINS family. Stephen S. TOMPKINS is owner of real estate valued at $3,000 and personal estate $600. I don't know why the servant was listed first. Again, the relationship between Ruth SEWARD and the TOMPKINS family is unclear.

In 1865 Ruth SEWARD lived with Esther TOMPKINS. Esther was owner of the home, valued at $800, and Ruth was a boarder. Esther had had 6 children, and was married once, but a widow in 1865. Ruth had never married. (This record may be hard to find, because the transcriber for Ancestry has spelled Ruth's name Lenoard.)

Orrin SEWARD was born on 29 Nov 1788 in Broome County, NY and died 25 Oct 1836 in Peoria, IL. He married about 1808 in Chenango to Mehetable LIVERMORE, born 28 Sep 1791 in Belchertown, Hampshire, MA, and died 27 Aug 1873 in Truro, Knox, IL. They had 12 children in Chenango, and moved to IL about 1835, where they were among the early settlers of Truro Township, Knox County, IL.

[Orrin is sometimes spelled Orin, Oren, Orange, Orrindatus. I'm not sure whether Aaron is another form of the same name.]

There were several Orrin SEWARDs, probably all part of this extended family. I believe that this Orrin SEWARD was a son of Jedediah SEWARD, subject of this page, but the evidence is indirect.

Orin had an uncle, Orindatus SEWARD, born 24 Oct 1772 in Granville, MA. Thanks to the good records kept in Granville, his birth is well-documented, a son of Aaron and Elisabeth SEWARD. However, nothing else about him seems to be known, and he is often conflated with other Orin SEWARDs.

The Jedediah SEWARD who wrote his will, above, in Chenango, 1842, had a son named Levi SEWARD, still living in 1842. I believe this Levi SEWARD is my 3g-grandfather, born 12 Jan 1793 in Broome County, NY. The will also names children of deceased children of Jedediah, including Samuel, Louisa, Lorinda, and Albert SEWARD. These are names of the younger children of Orrin and Mehetable SEWARD, as recorded in other records, below. This establishes that the Orrin SEWARD born in 1788 was a son of Jedediah SEWARD.

The information below comes from [LFA, pp. 159-60].

In the 1820 US Census for Chenango, the families of John LISK, Seth SEWARD and Orrin SEWARD were listed consecutively, so the probably lived close together. Orrin SEWARD had a family of 7 which fits nicely with other data.

Levi SEWARD was born 12 Jan 1793 in Broome County, NY, and died 16 Nov 1880, at age 87, in Kane County, IL. He married Harriet SPENCER. Harriet was born 5 Jan 1809 in NY, and died 5 Mar 1885, at age 76, after being trampled by her cows, on her farm near Plato Center, Kane County, IL. They moved from Broome County, NY to Kane County, IL between 1845 and 1848.

Levi and Harriet were my 3g-grandparents. See the Levi SEWARD page.

Sarah SEWARD was born about 1800, in Broome County, NY. She married Stephen DORMAN.

The DORMAN family lived in Colesville, Broome, NY in 1850. Morgan was a laborer and Clarinda had attended school in the past year.

Sources

[FFF] Jedediah Seward in the Fillmore Family File

[HPS] History of Broome County : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers(1885) by Henry Perry Smith

[JSB] Jedediah Seward birth record

[JSP] Jedediah Seward's pension (1832)  (28 images, requires Ancestry.com license)

[JSW] Jedediah Seward's will (1842)  (4 images, requires Ancestry.com license)

[JWL] Annals of Castle Creek, N.Y., and vicinity, together with genealogies of some of the early families, by Julius Whiting Lilly, 1905

[KCI] Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and Knox County (1899)

[LFA] The Livermore Family of America

[MRS] Massachusetts Revolutionary Soldiers

[RWV] Revolutionary War veterans in Broome County (1960)

[WWM] The Town of Kortright, in The History of Delaware County, by W. W. Munsell, Electronic text by Linda Ogborn

Updated 20 Feb 2024 by William Haloupek. Contact haloupek at gmail dot com.