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Descendants of Joseph Bemis

226. John⁵ Bemis (James⁴, Ephraim³, Ephraim², Joseph¹)¹³⁶⁴ was born 16 Feb 1773 in Worthington, Massachusetts¹³⁶⁴, and died 29 Mar 1851 in Bloomfield, Nelson, Kentucky¹³⁶⁴. He married Elizabeth Bloomer¹³⁶⁵ 1797¹³⁶⁵. She was born in New York¹³⁶⁵.

Notes for John Bemis:
[Draper:183-187] " The subject of this sketch, who was the third of four sons, was born on the 16th day of February, 1773. In consequence of his father's continued ill health and limited means, he was, at a very early age, thrown upon his own resources.

Even in boyhood, he was imbued with a singular love of letters, and conceived a fixed determination to master them. Having no means for acquiring the rudiments, he eagerly sought, and embraced the first opportunity, for employment in manual labor, with a single view to that object. With that indomitable energy, which was his distinguishing characteristic through life, he rose superior to every obstacle which stood in the way to his coveted acquirements. Every nerve of a vigorous and well-endowed constitution was strained to the uttermost to achieve his ends. Every leisure hour of this period was scrupulously employed in the study of such books as were within his reach.

The ruling passion of his life, which is rarely ever known to gain the ascendancy, until a much later period, seemed even now to possess the mastery, for he denied himself all participation in the usual sports and amusements of boyhood, lest they might consume time he had determined to appropriate to more valuable purposes. It was, probably, in this manner he acquired that contempt for all conventional pastimes and amusements, or games of chance, which never forsook him in after life.

It appears from some old manuscripts, that the intervening four years, from 1789 to 1793, were alternately occupied in some department of business, and attendance upon school. During this period he was under the tuition of Eliphalet Nott, who had charge of the Plainfield Academy, probably the best, and school at that time in New England.

At this date, 1793, he seems to have been pretty well advanced in letters, for we find him in charge of a school Pomfret, Connecticut. In what proportion his time is now divided, between teaching and studying, is not clear. His diploma, or certificate of graduation in Plainfield Academy, bears the date, 30th March, 1795.

He now spent two years studying Latin and the higher branches of English literature, under the tuition of an educated gentleman, who had become interested in him by his steady, persevering efforts at self-advancement. In 1797 he entered the office of Dr. Zachariah Standish, as a student of medicine, under whose supervisory instruction he made astonishingly rapid progress in acquiring the elementary principles of the science.

His certificate of the term of his professional studies, and permission to practice medicine and surgery, bears date June 3rd 1801.

After three months as an assistant to his preceptor, in the autumn of 1801 he emigrated to Kentucky, and located in Bloomfield, Nelson county, then called Middleburg.

In 1797 he had married Miss Elizabeth Bloomer (b. in New York), said to have been a lady of highly cultivated intellect, polished manners, and amiable disposition. On his first visit to Kentucky, he had left her with her friends in New York, where she remained for twelve months, at which time he went back, and brought her with him on his return.

The severe habits of early study to which the Dr. had subjected himself, together with the keen powers of observation, and so enlarged his capacity for the acquisition and retention of knowledge, that he had completely mastered all the standard works of his day.

He had amassed such a vast fund of information, and had such perfect command of the resources of the profession, that he at once took a very prominent stand, and acquired, in an incredibly short period of time, a reputation rarely attained by a country practitioner.

Boldness, self-reliance on, implicit confidence in the curative power of his remedies, remarkable therapeutical acumen, and a profound sympathy with his patients, marks the outlines of his professional character. He was emphatically a man for the occasion. The fertility of his resources was almost boundless. And while exhibiting the most unwavering confidence in the saving power of his remedies, and plying them with unwearied assiduity and skill, he had a happy faculty of imbuing his patients with the same unshaken confidence.

It is useless to say that Dr. Bemis was a very safe and successful practitioner. He had witnessed so many recoveries, against a reasonable expectation of friends, attributable, as he believed, to his vigilance, perseverance, and constancy, that hope never deserted him; nor did he relax his efforts until the taper of life had expired.

When in the height of his practice, his advice was sought in difficult cases in all the surrounding counties; and even after he had retired from the active duties of the profession, he was retained, throughout a very wide scope of country as consulting physician, to which calls he always yielded a hearty response. His thorough knowledge of the history and literature of the profession, his familiar acquaintance with the standard authors of the day, is ready comprehension, clear insight, accurate diagnosis, and lucid exposition of a case, attached great weight to his opinions with his professional brethren.

He was courteous and fair in his professional intercourse, candid and uncompromising in his views of practice, kind and generous towards the junior members of the profession, scrupulously observant of the rules of ethics, jealous of the honor of the profession, and uncompromising in his opposition to all professional outlawry. The hordes of empirics and nostrum-mongers who flooded the country in his day, found no mercy or foothold near him. His boldness and bitter raillery were weapons they much dreaded.
Dr. Bemis was an ardent and excitable politician, and took an active part in the New Court and Old Court controversy. He was an uncompromising advocate of the Old Court policy, and wrote a number of able articles on the subject, which were published in the " Spirit of '76, "at Frankfort. He had no sycophancy about him; never dissembled; was very decided in open in his attachments and antipathies; not unfrequently made enemies by his openness and candor.

His style of writing is vigorous, clear, concise--not much embellished with flowers. His natural turn was to pointed, and matter of fact, to allow space for either redundancy or decoration. Even in the midst of an overwhelming practice, he wrote a great deal. A number of his address is on the subject of Masonry, of which order he was a prominent member, are still extant. They glow with that fervor, that spirit of expensive benevolence, which animated his whole life, and breathe of nothing but what is wise, good and philanthropic.

He was always a close student; retained his love for literature to the last; studied Greek when over sixty years of age, besides keeping himself well posted in all the current literature of the day, except novels, for which he had a supreme contempt.

Dr. Bemis's religion turn of mind developed in early youth, grew with his growth, strengthened with his strength, and matured in his manhood, culminating in a desire to assume the office of minister of the Gospel, in which position he thought his faculties for doing good would be enhanced, a consummation which had been his ruling passion through life.

Although he had in the year 1817 retired from active duties of the profession, and resigned his practice to the charge of his son-in-law, Dr. S. B. Merrifield, his ardent, ever-active temperament did not allow him to take that repose, which he had probably promised himself previous to his retirement, and he turned his attention to the study of Theology. He was accordingly ordained as a minister of the Presbyterian Church about the year 1830. The duties of this office he continued to fulfill with zeal, fidelity, and great acceptance until his death, which occurred, of apoplexy, and the 29th day of March, 1851, in the seventy-eighth year of his age. "
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[1850 Census - District 2, Nelson, Kentucky - September 7, 1850 - image 71]
John Bemiss, 77, physician, real estate of $11200, born in Massachusetts;
Elizabeth Bemiss, 70, born in New York;
H. H. Bemiss, 34, farmer, born in Kentucky;
Mary C. Bemiss, 26, born in Kentucky;
James H. Bemiss, 8, born in Kentucky;
William H. Bemiss, 6, born in Kentucky;
Samuel Bemiss, 4, born in Kentucky;
Ann Bemiss, 2, born in Kentucky;
John Bemiss, 1, born in Kentucky.

[Kentucky : a guide to the Bluegrass State, p. 355]
BLOOMFIELD, 132m. (455 pop.), on Simpson Creek, was founded in 1799 by Dr. John Bemiss of Rochester, N.Y., but was not incorporated until 1819. The section of the town lying on the western side of the dividing creek was known as Gandertown because in early days the young men in this region indulged in gander pulling. A post set in the ground had a revolving crossbar from which a gander with a soaped neck was suspended by the feet. The men, mounted on horseback, rode at full speed past the post, attempting to seize the gander's neck as they went by. The prize was awarded to the contestant who succeeded in jerking off the head.

More About John Bemis and Elizabeth Bloomer:
Marriage: 1797¹³⁶⁵

Children of John Bemis and Elizabeth Bloomer are:

622

Fanny⁶ Bemiss ¹³⁶⁶. She married Samuel Merrifield¹³⁶⁶ 15 Dec 1814 in Nelson County, Kentucky¹³⁶⁶.

More About Samuel Merrifield and Fanny Bemiss:
Marriage: 15 Dec 1814, Nelson County, Kentucky¹³⁶⁶

+	623	ii.	Abby Bemiss, born Abt. 1801.
+	624	iii.	W. H. Bemiss, born Abt. 1816 in Kentucky.
+	625	iv.	Dr. Samuel Merrifield Bemiss, born 15 Oct 1821 in Bloomfield, Nelson, Kentucky; died 18 Nov 1884 in New Orleans, Louisiana.

227. Corporal Jotham⁵ Bemus (Jotham⁴, Ephraim³ Bemis, Ephraim², Joseph¹)¹³⁶⁷ was born 1760 in Bemus Heights, Saratoga County, New York¹³⁶⁷. He married Asenath Andress.

Notes for Corporal Jotham Bemus:
"The Bemis History and Genealogy" by Colonel Thomas Waln-Morgan Draper,1900, published San Francisco, California, copies in the Library of Congress

"He remained in the army until 1786, serving with distinction and receiving the 'Badge of Merit.' In 1805, (Turners Hist of the Holland Purchase, p. 460) he took 'articles' to land in Weston, New York, in twship 8. Range 7, and twship. 9. range 7. In the Library of Buffalo Historical Society, in the letters to Joseph Ellicott, agent of the Holland Land Company, is a M.S.S. letter from him, dated May 4, 1806, in which he says, he 'surveyed lot 44, twship 9, range 7, and is building on Lot 37, twship 9, range 7.' The letter is No. 187, Vol. 8, B. The lots mentioned are in the present town of Hamburg, Erie Co. near Buffalo. He was a member of the First Grand Jury west of the Genesee river, chosen in 1803. Rev. S. Hawley Adams has the following record regarding him. 'He was a farmer of Erie County, N.Y. He m. Asenath Andress: He was in the war of 1812 and died of sickness contracted thereby."

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Gravesite: BEMIS, Jotham Duell's Corners Cem Orchard Park NY 33 Abstract of Graves of Revolutionary Patriots, Vol.1, p. -Serial: 9787; Volume: 5

More About Corporal Jotham Bemus:
Name 2: Spelled Bemis in the Cemetery
Burial: Duell's Corners Cemetery, Orchard Park, New York ¹³⁶⁸

Children of Jotham Bemus and Asenath Andress are:

626	i.	Lydia⁶ Bemus ¹³⁶⁹.
627	ii.	Tryphena Bemus¹³⁶⁹.
628	iii.	Annie Bemus¹³⁶⁹.

More About Annie Bemus:
Residence: Married and lived in Buffalo.¹³⁶⁹

629

iv.

Sallie Bemus¹³⁶⁹.

228. William⁵ Bemus (Jotham⁴, Ephraim³ Bemis, Ephraim², Joseph¹)¹³⁷⁰ was born 25 Feb 1762 in Bemus Heights, Saratoga, New York^1370,¹³⁷¹, and died 02 Jan 1830 in Bemus Point, Chautauqua, New York ^1372,¹³⁷³. He married Mary Prendergast¹³⁷⁴ 29 Jan 1782 in Pittstown, Renssalaer Co., NY¹³⁷⁴, daughter of William Prendergast. She was born 13 Mar 1760 in Pawling, Dutchess Co., NY¹³⁷⁴, and died 11 Jul 1845 in Bemus Point, Chautauqua, New York^1374,¹³⁷⁵.

Notes for William Bemus:
[History of Chautauqua County, New York, From Its First Settlement to the Present Time; with Numerous Biographical and Family Sketches, by Andrew W. Young, printing house of Matthews & Warren, Buffalo, N. Y., 1875, p. 320-1] [US/CAN 974.795 H2y]

William Bemus was born at Bemus Heights, Saratoga county, N. Y., Feb. 25, 1762. About the beginning of the Revolutionary war, he removed with his father to Pittstown, Rensselaer county. He was married Jan. 29, 1782, to Mary, daughter of Wm. Prendergast, Sr. Mr. Bemus and his family were a part of the company of emigrants composed chiefly of Prendergasts, who journeyed to Tennessee, and returned to this state, and settled in Chautauqua. [See Prendergast Family, p. 264] He came to Ripley in the fall of 1805, and spent the winter in the present town of Westfield, near Arthur Bell's, in the west part of the town, on the Buffalo & Erie road. The next spring he settled on the east side of Chautauqua lake, on land bought in January, 1806, at what has since been known as Bemus Point, in Ellery, where he resided until his death. He died of dropsy, Jan. 2, 1830, aged nearly 68 years. He purchased other lands in the neighborhood of his residence; also, early in January, 1806, on the west side of the lake, where his son Thomas settled, who is believed to have been the first occupant of land in the town of Harmony, though he remained several years unmarried. The wife of Mr. Bemus, born March 13, 1760, died July 11, 1845, aged 85 years. They were buried in Ellery, in the Bemus Point Cemetery. They had a large family, all of whom removed to Chautauqua county. Their children were: 1. Daniel, who was a physician, and removed to Meadville, Crawford, Pennsylvania He married a Miss Miles, and died at Meadville. 2. Elizabeth, wife of Capt. John Silsby; they removed to Iowa, where they died. 3. Tryphena, who married John Griffith. [See the Griffith Family.] 4. Thomas. 5. Charles. 6. Mehetabel, wife of the late Daniel Hazeltine, of Jamestown, where she still resides. 7. James, who married Tryphena Boyd, and resides at Bemus Point.
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[Draper:42] He moved from Bemus Heights to Pittstown Rensselaer Co., N.Y. where he married. His wife's father was a leader in his section and for his patriotic resistance to the obnoxious rent laws, was in 1766 condemned to death for high treason, but was subsequently pardoned by the King. William Bemus in 1805 left Pittstown with his own and his father-in-law's family, a party of 30 persons, and journeyed to Kentucky and Tennessee, but came back to New York State and settled on the shores of Chautauqua Lake, at Bemus Point March 9, 1806. In 1804, according to Turner, he had taken articles to land in township 2, range 12, the site on which he settled in 1806. He evidently visited the region before his trip south. He was a man of mark in the community, of high character, benevolent instincts and public spirit, yielding a large influence. His military record has already been recorded. (see notes for father)
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[Revolutionary Soldiers of Chautauqua Co., NY] BEMUS, William. Born 25 Feb. 1762 in Saratoga County, NT. He died 2 Jan. 1830, aged 67 years, 10 months, 7 days. He served as private in Capt. Ephraim Woodworth's Co., under Col. Cornelius Van Veghten's Regt., Albany Co. New York Militia. He moved to Chautauqua County in 1805 and settled at "The Narrows", now known as Bemus Point. He married Mary Prendergast in 1782. She was the eldest daughter of William Prendergast and sister of James and Mathew Prendergast, both of whom were prominent in the affairs of Chautauqua County. She died 11 July 1845, aged 85 years. TOWN OF ELLERY - BEMUS POINT
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[Genealogical and family history of western New York, 61-2]
(II) William, son of Major Jotham Bemus, was born at Bemis Heights, Saratoga county, New York, February 25, 1762, and, in early life, removed to Pittstown, Rensselaer county, with his father, where he married Mary (Polly) Prendergast. In 1805, he accompanied his father-in-law, William Prendergast Sr. and family (twenty-five persons in all) to Tennessee, and , in 1806, to Chautauqua county, New York, where he settled at Bemus Point (named for him), on Lake Chautauqua, in the town of Ellery, where he resided until his death, January 2, 1830. He married, January 27, 1782, Mary (Polly) Prendergast, born March 13, 1760, died July 11, 1845, daughter of William Prendergast. Children: Daniel, a physician of Meadville, Pennsylvania; Elizabeth, married Captain John Silsby, removed to Iowa; Tryphena, married John Griffiths; Thomas; Charles, of further mention; Mehitable, married Daniel Hazeltine, of Jamestown, where she died September 22, 1887, in he ninety-fifth year; James, married Tryphena Boyd.

More About William Bemus:
Burial: Bemus Point Cemetery, Bemus Point, Chautauqua, N.Y.¹³⁷⁵

More About Mary Prendergast:
Burial: Bemus Point Cemetery, Bemus Point, Chautauqua, N.Y.¹³⁷⁵
Buried @: Bemus Point Cemetery, Ellery, NY

More About William Bemus and Mary Prendergast:
Marriage 1: 29 Jan 1782, Pittstown, Renssalaer Co., NY ¹³⁷⁶
Marriage 2: 27 Jan 1782 ¹³⁷⁷

Children of William Bemus and Mary Prendergast are:

	630	i.	Bemus⁶ ¹³⁷⁸, born 10 Oct 1783 in Pittstown, Rensselaer Co., NY¹³⁷⁸; died 10 Oct 1783 in Pittstown, Rensselaer Co., NY¹³⁷⁸.
+	631	ii.	Dr. Daniel Bemus, born 04 Sep 1784 in Pittstown, Rensselaer, New York; died 21 Feb 1866 in Meadville, Crawford, Pennsylvania.
+	632	iii.	Thomas Bemus, born 19 May 1786 in Pittstown, Rensselaer Co., NY; died 23 Jun 1829 in Harmony, NY.
	633	iv.	William Bemus¹³⁷⁸, born 20 Dec 1787 in Pittstown, Rensselaer Co., NY¹³⁷⁸; died 10 Jan 1789¹³⁷⁸.
+	634	v.	Elizabeth Bemus, born 05 Nov 1789 in Pittstown, Rensselaer Co., NY.
+	635	vi.	Charles Bemus, born 31 Aug 1790 in Pittstown, Rensselaer, New York; died 10 Oct 1861 in Jamestown, New York.
+	636	vii.	Tryphena Bemus, born 23 Apr 1793 in Pittstown, Rensselaer Co., NY; died 19 Feb 1851.
+	637	viii.	Mehitable Bemus, born 10 Jan 1795 in Pittstown, Rensselaer Co., NY; died 22 Sep 1889 in North Warren, Penn..
+	638	ix.	James Bemus, born 02 Feb 1797 in Pittstown, Rensselaer Co., NY; died 02 Jun 1874 in Bemus Point, Chautauqua Co., NY.
	639	x.	Jedediah Bemus ¹³⁷⁹, born 13 Apr 1799 in Pittstown, Rensselaer Co., NY¹³⁷⁹; died 02 Nov 1799 in Pittstown, Rensselaer Co., NY¹³⁷⁹.

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