AN AMERICAN ODYSSEY:
COLLECTED WORKS OF
GENUNG FAMILY HISTORY
Compiled By
Norman Bernard Genung
AN AMERICAN ODYSSEY:
COLLECTED WORKS OF
GENUNG FAMILY HISTORY
Published by:
Norman B. Genung
937 W. 33rd Avenue
Spokane, WA 99203
First Edition
September 1996
Library of Congress Catalog Card
Number: 96-78447
Cover and page design by Norman B. Genung
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.............................................................................
PREFACE.....................................................................................................
ABOUT
THE AUTHOR’s..........................................................................
THE
GUENON FAMILY OF FRANCE........................................................
THE
GENUNG FAMILY OF AMERICA......................................................
THE
NEW BRUNSWICK BRANCH OF THE DESCENDANTS OF THOMAS GANONG
BENJAMIN
GENUNG OF BESEMER ON THE ITHACA
SLATERVILLE ROAD
HOMER
GENUNG, M.D.............................................................................
THE GENUNGS OF SNYDER HILL........................................................
The
Clan of Barnabas.................................................................................
The
Clan of Aaron.....................................................................................
The
Clan of Philo.......................................................................................
The
Clan of Christopher Peron...................................................................
YAVAPAI
COUNTRY MEMORIES...........................................................
LAST
WILL AND TESTAMENT OF JOHN GENONGE...........................
ENDNOTES.................................................................................................
INDEX..........................................................................................................
THE GENUNG
FAMILY ASSOCIATION................................................
I would like to acknowledge the following
individuals and organizations for their contribution to this work:
Dan B. Genung for his exhaustive work on
Charles Baldwin Genung;
Millard V. Coggshall for sending me the
stories “Benjamin Genung of Besemer on the Ithaca Slaterville Road” and “The
Genung’s of Snyder Hill”;
The
DeWitt Historical Society of Ithaca, NY for their research assistance;
The
Tucson Corral of The Westerners for permission for use material from The
Smoke Signal;
The
Family History Library, Salt Lake City, UT without whose existence this book
would not be possible; and
Donna
Potter Phillips for her editorial assistance and advice. Thank you.
This
work is a collection of material written by and about the descendants of Jean
Guenon (1640 - 1714) and includes his descendants by
all spellings, including Genung, Ganong, Ganung, Ganoung, Gannung and Ga
Nun. Some of these works were previously
published but none of them are currently in print. In an effort to preserve these works for us
to enjoy I have once again published them.
These
works are all presented exactly as originally published. I have preserved the original spelling,
punctuation, etc. so that the works would remain as originally intended. Only the
typeface has been changed to make this collection easy to read. So when you see that “misspelled” word, that
was the way the author wanted it!
“The
Genung Family of the United States” by Mary Josephine Genung, is taken from the
Introduction to “A History of the Descendants of Jean Guenon”. This book, was published in 1906 as a family
genealogy in which she presented the descendants of Jean Guenon to that
time. In this work she numbers each
descendant and you will see these numbers in the text here. I reprinted the numbers for those who have
copies of this book and want to cross-reference the individuals discussed.
Yavapai
Country Memories is from the collected papers of Charles Baldwin Genung,
pioneer of Arizona. These works, in
whole, are unpublished and are collected in the Sharlot Hall Research Library
and Museum in Prescott, Arizona or with family members. Parts of his works have been published in
“The Smoke Signal” and the story contained herein is reprinted with permission
from that publication. The biography of
Charles Baldwin Genung was written by his grandson Dan B. Genung as “Death in
His Saddlebags”.
As
previously stated, I have not changed or editorialized this collection. That does not mean that all the vital
statistics (dates and places) should be accepted as fact. These stories are a collection of
remembrances of the individual authors and represent a “secondary source” for
documenting your family history. The
names, dates and places contained here should be checked prior to your accepting
them as fact. That said, I hope you
enjoy these stories as much as I have.
Norman B. Genung
July 1996
Mary
Josephine Genung,
Ph.B.
Mary Josephine Genung was born on 30 Aug
1876 at Snyder Hill, New York to Joseph Aaron Genung and Mary Eliza
Cornelius.
She graduated from Ithaca High School in 1892. She won a state scholarship to Cornell
University where she earned a Ph.B. in 1897.
She was a member of the Congregational Church. She edited the landmark genealogy, "A
History of the Descendants of Jean Guenon of Flushing, Long Island"
published in 1906. She was married on 18
Nov 1897 to Leon Nelson Nichols with whom she had one son.
William Francis Ganong,
Ph.D.
William
Francis Ganong was born 19 Feb 1864 in Carleton, New
Brunswick, Canada to James Harvey Ganong and Susan E. Brittain. He was the winner of the Parker medal in the
St. John, New Brunswick schools in 1881.
At the University of New Brunswick he won various prizes, was one of the
founders of the University Monthly and was its business editor. He was a teacher at St. Stephen, New
Brunswick in 1884 and a science teacher
in Worchester, MA for the Natural Science Society in 1885. He earned a B.A. degree from Harvard
University in 1887 and held a Morgan fellowship while at Harvard. He was an Assistant, later instructor in
Botany at Harvard until 1893. He studied
at the University of Munich, Germany and obtained his Ph.D. in 1894 and
returned to become Professor of Botany at Smith College. He has given special attention to the history
and natural history of New Brunswick, papers on which have been published in
the publications of the Royal Society of Canada and in the bulletins of the
Natural History Society. He published
"A Genealogy of the New Brunswick Branch of the Descendants of Thomas
Ganong" in 1893. Other publications
include, Teaching Botanist, 1899; A Laboratory Course in Plant Physiology,
1901; a memoir in German on the Catacae; monographs on New Brunswick history,
natural history and bibliography and papers on zoology and botany in many
scientific journals. He was a member of
the Royal Society of Canada, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and various
botanical societies. He was married on 4
Apr 1888 to Jean Murray Carman; they had no children.
Albert Benjamin Genung
Albert
Benjamin Genung was born on 7 Dec 1890 to Homer Genung and
Lena Belle Stone. He earned a B.S.
degree in agriculture from Cornell University in 1913 and taught vocational
agriculture at Stamford, New York for two years. He was on the staff of the University of New
Hampshire for two years, an instructor at Cornell University for one year, and
an economist on the staff of the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington,
D.C. for 26 years. He owned a farm at
Freeville, New York and bred Jersey cattle.
He retired from U.S. government service in the spring of 1947 and
returned to Freeville, New York. He was
later a economist for the Northeast Farm Foundation; an officer in the state
Agricultural Society; a Son of the American Revolution; Tompkins County Board
of Managers; and Dryden Central School Board.
Albert was married on 30 May 1914 to Mildred Annie Derrick with whom he
had four daughters. Albert Benjamin
Genung died March 1963 in California.
George
Frederick Genung, D.D.
George Frederick Genung was born 27 Jan 1850 in Candor, New York to
Abram C. Genung and Martha Dye. He
earned an A.B. from Union College in 1870 and a D.D. from Union College in
1896. He was a Baptist minister and
pastor at Camillus, NY; Baldwinsville, NY; Amherst, MA; New London, CT;
Suffield, CT; and Brooklyn, CT. He
taught at Benedict Institute, Columbia, SC; was a professor in Theological
Seminary, Richmond, VA; and Chaplin at Wethersfield State Prison, CT. He was the author of "The Three‑fold
Story", "The Magna Charta of the Kingdom of God",
"Commentaries of Leviticus and Numbers" and articles in reviews. Twin brother of John F. Genung. George was married on 3 Aug 1875 to Harriet
Elizabeth Bronson with whom he had two children.
Charles Baldwin Genung
Charles
Baldwin Genung was born on 22 Jul 1838 at Penn Yan, New York
to Oshea Genung and Amanda Baldwin. At
age 11, his mother took him to San Francisco, CA by boat around the horn. From San Francisco they went inland to
Marysville where she established a daguerreotype photograph studio. They stayed there for some time and when he
was 16 he ran a milk route. His mother
moved the studio to San Francisco where they were successful until 1858 when
she decided to go to Hong Kong, China. She
engaged in portrait photography for about a year, then returned to California
where Charlie rode the range in the Sacramento Valley. After becoming ill, he returned to his
mother’s home in San Francisco where Dr. John R. Howard suggested he needed a
dry climate for his health. They set out
together for the deserts of Mexico, but upon hearing of gold in Arizona made
his way there, where he lived until his death.
Charles established his homestead in Peeples Valley, Yavapai County, AZ
and he was principally a miner and rancher.
Charles married Ida Elizabeth Hester Smith on 16 Feb 1869 at San
Bernardino, CA and together they had nine children. Charles Baldwin Genung died on 18 Aug 1916 at
his home in Peeples Valley and is buried at Citizens Cemetery, Prescott, AZ.
By Mary Josephine Genung1
The name Guenon has its origin in a word
common in nearly all European languages but spelled in various ways: ewen,
guin, win, guen, and so forth, all meaning friend or companion or in a special
sense a resemblance, a creature having a human resemblance, or the ape. A second possible origin, though not likely,
is an abbreviation of Huguenot, derived from Hughes (Hugo), mind,
intelligence. The former one is the
generally accepted meaning because of the French meaning of guenon as
translated ape and shown as such in the two coats of arms that have been given
to Guenon families in France.
The family in France, with rare
exceptions, has lived in or near the city of Saintes in the Province of Saintonge on the Charante
River in Western France. In religion the
family has for the most part been Protestant, even in the darkest days of
persecution. The majority of the
population in this part of France, with La Rochelle as a center, was Protestant during the years of tolerance, and a great
many secretly retained their religion during the centuries of persecution. Branches of the family left France and took refuge
in Holland and England where they could worship in the Protestant faith. When religious persecution ceased in France
the family became once more publicly of the Christian Reformed religion.
The earliest Guenon that has been found in
French records is Thomas Guenon who was living in 1489. Jehan Guenon, was a Solicitor and was living in 1538 and
still in 1561. He married Marie de Bizet, daughter of Etienne de Bizet, and
had at least one son Louys (Louis) who was living in Saintes in 1561. Jean Guenon, Sieur de Beaubuisson, son of Pierre
Guenon, served in the calvary in Italy and
France, and was killed at the Siege of Lisle in 1560.
Ythier Guenon married Luce d'Aymond and had two children: 1st, Anne Guenon married 8 Aug 1613 to Nicholas Du Hamel who was living at Saintes in 1628; and, Jean
Guenon de la Soubertiere among whose descendants was Francois Guenon de la Soubertiere who married Jeanne de Fay.
She was a widow in 1683. Guenon
de la Soubertiere was mentioned among the nobility in 1758.
Michel Guenon was living in 1567 and 1578. His son Jehan was baptized in 1579. In the same year mention is made of Jeanne
Guenon, wife of Joseph Eschaperiaux of Saintes who was married 27 Jul 1665. Etienne Guenon, Solicitor at Saintes married
Madeleine Ogier.
Their daughter Marguerite Guenon married in 1593 Pierre Senne of Saintes.
Judith Guenon was married at Saintes to Pierre Rocquemadour. Jeanne Guenon married first Odet Collineau, and second Garnier de Chautcloup. Another Jeanne Guenon married ____ Sarragon and was buried 26 Mar
1640. Another Jeanne Guenon married Jacob de la Couture 20 Jan 1631.
Yet another Jeanne Guenon was married 3 Jul 1645 to Marc Toupainct.
Jacques Guenon was living in 1664. Rene Guenon was married 7 Mar Guenon of Saintes married first Elizabeth
Poictevyn, second Marie Robin.
His children were Charles, born 28 Apr 1605; Francoise, born 22 Jul
1607; and Jeanne, born 24 Sep 1611.
Nicolas Guenon d'Aunizeuil en Champagne was executed as a
Huguenot in the 16th century. A widow N.
Guenon, whose husband had been a Solicitor,
died 21 Feb 1631. A child of her's died
11 Dec 1622. Pierre Guenon de Beaulieu was living in 1663. Many of these Guenons were living when Jean
Guenon, the ancestor of the American Genung
family, was living in France. Some of
them were very likely his immediate relatives.
It is possible, too, that he may be closely related to one of the two
Guenon lines that received titles of nobility.
Other Guenons distinguished themselves
after Jean Guenon left France.
Robinet's Dictionary of the French Revolution mentions two Guenons. Jean Louis Charles Victor Guenon, Baron of
Deschamps, son of Charles Victor Guenon of Deschamps and Marie Anne Marguerite Mesnil
Adelez de Broncas entered the French Army under the
Revolution, was in the campaigns of the period and of the Empire, and rose
rapidly. On 21 Apr 1815, which was in the period known as the Hundred Days, he
was made Brigade General. He was born 6
Feb 1763 at Briquebec in Manche.
Another in the Revolution was Nicolas,
Marquis de Guenan, born 22 Aug 1756 at Buzancais in
Indre, and died 9 May 1803 at Paris. He
entered the Royal Military School 17 Sep 1766, was Captain of Grenadiers 10 Feb
1792, Lieutenant Colonel of the 45th Regiment 29 Jun 1792, Colonel of the 5th
Regiment 26 Oct 1792, and in 1800 became Brigade General in the Army of the
Moselle.
By Mary Josephine Genung2
The collection of family records of the
Genungs and Ganongs was begun in various branches of the family many years ago,
but owing to difficulties encountered in the search for ancestral relationships
of the various lines, not much in the early history was accomplished. That the lines were descended from Jean
Guenon (John Genung) of Flushing seemed to be the general impression, though
Irish and English origins were also guessed.
The original sources of genealogical material gave little of value in
settling the questions of colonial ancestry.
Cemetery inscriptions, church records, state and county records and
family traditions were searched, but to no avail. The records for two or three generations
seemed a puzzle. When Prof. W.F. Ganong came out with his “Descendants of Thomas
Ganong” in 1893, he gave in his introductory
chapter the opinion arrived at by all who had searched the material, that the
Ganongs were descended from John, the older son of John of Flushing, and that
the Genungs were descended from Jeremiah, the other son. This was a natural conclusion, but was
unproven.
Not till we found Isaac Ganong's (No. 5511) extracts from John
Gannung’s (No. 5) will, did we know that
differences in spelling came a generation later among the sons of Jeremiah (No. 7).
The soft G of the Genung's belongs entirely to the New Jersey settlers
and their descendants, while the hard G of the Ganongs, Ganoungs, Ganungs, Ga
Nuns, etc., is from that spelling which was most common in Westchester county colonial days - Gannung, a spelling now
extinct.
The name of Jean of Flushing was spelled
Cinom in his marriage record; Genung as the first of the French inhabitants of
Flushing; and Gonunge in his last will and testament. The hard G was undoubtedly the pronunciation
he used, and the spellings conformed as nearly as possible to the sound of the
French Guenon rendered by his Dutch wife and English neighbors in
Flushing. The three eldest sons of
Jeremiah (No. 7) settled in New Jersey and, as far as
known, they uniformly spelled the name Genung and pronounced it with a soft G.
The other sons of Jeremiah, three of whom had descendants, went to Westchester
County, N.Y. and their families have used the hard G. There has been great variation in spelling
the second syllable of the name of the Westchester County line, but the first
syllable is always Ga, never Ge. An
interesting exception in the descendants of the three sons who settled in New
Jersey is that of John Genung (No. 2683), oldest son of Jeremiah (No. 2677),
who went to Westchester or Dutchess County, N.Y., where his
descendants have the hard G and spell the name with all the variations in the
second syllable. Another exception is
that of Gilbert (No. 4646), son of Jesse (No. 4410), who went from Putnam
County to Otsego County, N.Y. where for some reason he and
his descendants spell their name Genung.
From Flushing the family-i.e., the two
sons, John (No. 5) and Jeremiah (No. 7), went over the narrow western end of
Long Island Sound to Westchester County. Deeds of property are not found of the family
in Westchester Co., but for all we know they might have accumulated much real
estate, because the county and colony records are scanty. Certain it is that John (No. 5) must have had
no small amount of property to be carefully divided into seventeen shares. In the extracts from his will mention is made
of living in Westchester, with a possibility of its meaning either the county or
the town of Westchester that was the nearest town to Flushing across the sound,
and is now a part of the Borough of the Bronx, New York City. Jeremiah (No. 7) made his will in the town of
North Castle, up toward the center of Westchester
County, adjoining Connecticut, and others have lived in Bedford, the town next north of North Castle
and separated by but one town from the town of Carmel in Putnam County, the home of many Ganongs and
Ganungs since the Revolution.
Of the third male generation in America
all were sons of Jeremiah (No. 7).
The first of these sons, Thomas (No. 11) settled in New Jersey, probably
in Hanover, Morris County. His early death may have occasioned his
brothers, Ichabod (No. 1150) and Jeremiah (No. 2677), removing to Hanover to look after
his interest there. The children of
Joseph (No. 12), the only child of Thomas (No. 11), who also died as a young or
middle-aged man, were brought up in the family of Jeremiah (No. 2677), in the town of Hanover.
Others of the family removed from
Westchester County into the southern part of Dutchess County, N.Y., to the town
of Frederickstown. The town of Carmel was taken off Frederickstown in 1795 and
Frederickstown later became Kent.
In 1812 the county of Putnam was formed from Dutchess County, including besides
other territory, all of the old Frederickstown.
Lake Mahopac, about whose borders so many of the
Ganongs and Ganungs have lived, lies in the southern part of the town of
Carmel, not far from the Westchester County boundary.
The issues of the American Revolution made
important changes among the family in the New York colony. Westchester, Dutchess, and Orange Counties suffered severely from differences of opinion
as to loyalty to the King. Hardly a
family in those counties stood united for or against the King. Many of the wealthier and more intelligent of
the population, as well as large numbers of the common people, remained
Loyalists throughout the bitter strife, which was nowhere more bitter than over
the hills of Westchester and Dutchess Counties, where the cowboy skirmishes and
raids made life and property unsafe. In
many families father and son were in arms against each other. Isaac Gannung (No. 5511) was a soldier in the American army
against which his oldest son, Thomas (No. 5515) was fighting as a Loyalist. Hannah Gannung's (No. 6367) daughter married Gabriel
Purdy and they too were Loyalists. Thomas Ganong (No. 5515) left his family for the Canadian
Province of New Brunswick at the close of the war, and Gabriel Purdy with his wife and family removed to Nova
Scotia.
How many others of the New York State branch of the family were
Loyalists it is impossible to tell. The
missing lines of the descendants of Edward (No. 4400) and the silence of other lines as
to any opinion in the days of the Revolution would seem to place some of them
on the Loyal side.
The Genungs of New Jersey were more
fortunate in the Revolution. Loyalism
was less prominent, its adherents less respectable, and their influence much
weaker in Morris and Essex Counties, New Jersey. So far as is known, the New Jersey Genungs
were all Revolutionary sympathizers.
The soldiers of the name in the American
army from New Jersey were:
Benjamin Genung, Wagoneer, State Troops.
Abraham Genung, private, Morris Co., State Troop.
Ananias Genung, private, Morris Co. State Troop.
Cornelius Genung, private, Morris Co. State Troops.
Isaac Genung, private, Morris Co. State Troop.
Stephen Genung, private, Morris Co. State Troop.
Jacob Genung, private, Eastern Battalion, Morris
Co., also State Troops, also Continental Army, 1st Regt..
The soldiers of the name in the American
army from New York were:
Jacob Gonoung, enlisted man, 7th Regt. Dutchess Co.
Militia.
Benjamin Genung, private, 1st Regt.
John Janon, private, 3rd Regt. Westchester Co.
Militia.
Joseph Gannon, private, 3rd Regt. Orange Co.
Militia (Col. John Hathorn).
Benj. Geuneiag, private, 3rd Regt. Orange Co.
Militia (Col. John Hathorn).
Isaac Gennings, private, 3rd Regt. Orange Co.
Militia (Col. John Hathorn).
William Ganong, private, 3rd Regt. Orange Co.
Militia (Col. John Hathorn).
Marcus Ganong, private, 6th Regt. Dutchess Co.
Militia (Col. Morris Graham).
John Ganung, private, 7th Regt. Dutchess Co.
Militia (Land Bounty Rights).
Jacob Gonoung, private, 7th Regt. Dutchess Co.
Militia (Land Bounty Rights)
Markus Ganog, private, 7th Regt. Dutchess Co.
Militia (Col. Henry Ludents).
Isaac Ganong, private, 7th Regt. Dutchess Co.
Militia (Col. Henry Ludents).
John Ganong, private, 7th Regt. Dutchess Co.
Militia (Col. Henry Ludents).
Jacob Ganoung, private, 7th Regt. Dutchess Co.
Militia (Col. Henry Ludents).
Reuben Ganung, private, 7th Regt. Dutchess Co.
Militia (Col. Henry Ludents).
After the Revolution the development of
new country under the new nation was remarkable. The lake country of the interior was becoming
known for the richness of its soil, and thousands of people who lived along the
coast from New England to the Carolinas sold all their real estate and moved
into the wilderness with their families.
The "Lake Country" began at Otsego Lake and extended across
the finger lakes of Central and Western New York to Lake Erie and on through
Northern Ohio and Southern Michigan to Lake Michigan. Naturally the eastern parts were settled
first. Many branches of the family sold
all in Westchester, Dutchess, and Morris Counties and moved to the Lake
Country.
The name Genung was given to a locality
first in Morris County, New Jersey, at or near where Thomas
Genung (No. 11) probably settled and died a young
man. It is not know from which branch of
the New Jersey Genungs Genungtown was named, but it is unlikely that the name
was used before the death of the older Thomas Genung. There was probably no post office ever
located in Genungtown, New Jersey because of its proximity to Bottle Hill on the main road from Morristown to
Elizabethtown, and it was at Bottle Hill where most of the people of Genungtown
attended Presbyterian service and buried in the Presbyterian church yard. In the 18th century the name Genungtown was
associated in the minds of people with "Uncle Tommy" Genung who lived
at the upper corner across from the school house. After Uncle Tommy died, the Genung family
name became less known at Genungtown, and in the growth of the village of
Bottle Hill, Genungtown came to be no more than the upper corners of the larger
hamlet. Then the residents of Bottle
Hill decided that their old village name was not elegant enough and renamed the
village Madison. Genungtown as a name
also ceased to be used to any extent after the Civil War, giving way to East
Madison. Since 1890 there has been a
considerable increase in the size of Madison until now, with its commuters and
owners of large estates, the old local names and old land titles are
disappearing. The name East Madison is
also little used. Dr. Leslie D. Ward has established the gate to his large estate
at one of the corners of old Genungtown, so that the locality has come to be
known as Dr. Ward’s gate.
As far as we know, the name Ganong and
other forms of the name beginning Ga have not been given to localities; at
least we assume that the town of Gunong on the island of Nias in the Dutch East
Indies does not come from some stray member of the Ganong family, but is a name
of East Indian origin accidentally similar to our American manufactured family
name.
The name Genung has appeared on maps in
three places outside of New Jersey. The
station on the New York, Ontario, and Western R.R. for the village of New
Britain, Orange County, New York, was located a mile from New Britain on the
farm of Robert Wallace Genung (No. 1986) and for some time the station was
called Genungs. With the growth of the
village of New Britain, the railroad company changed the name to New Britain.
A local map of Thompkins County, N.Y.,
gave the name Genungs to the farm and mill property of Jacob Peter Genung (No. 3841) in the southwestern part of the
town of Dryden.
The common name of the locality is Ellis Hollow. Rural mail route No. 3 from Ithaca passes
through Ellis Hollow and over Snyder Hill where many of the decedents of
Benjamin Genung (No. 3494) have lived.
One of the United States Geological Survey
maps of a portion of Arizona gave the names of the towns and larger and more
isolated ranches of that country. Genung
is one of the names on the map for the ranch of Charles Baldwin Genung (No. 90) in [Peeples] Valley, in the Weaver
Mountains, along Kirkland Creek, about ten miles south of Kirkland and four
miles northeast of Yarnell in Yavapai County.
We have traced the family into nearly
every state and territory of the United States, the provinces of Canada, into
the South American republics, and back to the old world, where they have
studied in Jean Guenon’s native country of France and also in Germany. They have been in missionary service in Burma
and military service in the Philippines, Hawaii, and Porto Rico.
From Jean Guenon down we have followed, as best we could, not
only the male but the female lines, in an attempt to show as well as possible
the sterling character of the families descended from a typical colonial
immigrant in the first century of American colonization.
By
William Francis Ganong3
Children’s
Children are the crown of old men; and the glory of children are their fathers.
– Prov. XVII: 6.
I. THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE GANONG FAMILY, AND
THE ORIGIN OF THE NAME
|
I |
n
any attempt to trace the history of a family like our own, which has never been
prominent in the professions, in any branch of learning, or in public affairs,
the greatest difficulties present themselves in consequence of the scarcity of
records, printed or written. When these are
altogether absent, as is often the case, the only resource is tradition, with
its limitations and liability to error.
Hence it is that much uncertainty exists as to the details of the
history of our family prior to the American Revolution, although since then, as
this work will show, the records are very complete.
The
most reliable and nearly universal tradition, in both the New York and New
Brunswick branches of the
family, assigns to us a French Huguenot origin.
It is said that our ancestor left France owing to the persecutions to
which the Protestants were subjected in that country during the seventeenth
century, and that he came to New York by way of Holland.
It
is unfortunate that there are no complete lists of those Huguenot exiles who
came to America, but among the names which early records mention one strikes
our attention at once from its remarkable resemblance, particularly in
pronunciation, to our own – that of Jean Guenon. The probability is very great, as we will
show below, that he was our ancestor.
Of
Jean Guenon we know that he was a Huguenot exile from La Rochelle, France, and that on April 2, 1657, he set sail from
Amsterdam for New York in the ship “Draetvat.” In 1658 he settled
in Flushing, on Long Island, on a farm which he occupied for the
remainder of his life. On August 30,
1660, he married Grietie, or Margaret, Sneden. They had two sons,
John, born in 1669, and Jeremiah, born in 1671, and two daughters. He died at Flushing in 1714, his wife
surviving him some thirteen years (Gay’s Historical Gazetteer of Tioga Co., N.Y.,
p. 101; Baird’s History of the Huguenot Emigration, Vol. 1, p. 182).
Another
account states that he was but twelve years of age when he came to New York;
but this must be an error, as his marriage followed too soon, according to this
account on August 13, 1662. It is
further stated that his daughter Hannah married Joseph Hedger, and Susannah married one Louereer, and that John and Jeremiah shared their father’s farm at
Flushing after his death. In 1678 he was witness to the will of a
neighbor, the Sieur Dubuisson, and himself made a will on November 24, 1703
(Ricker’s History of Harlem). In
Mandeville’s History of Flushing he is mentioned in a
list of residents there between 1645 and 1698, and is called John Genung.
The
latter statement is particularly important, as it establishes the identity of
the name Guenon with the form Genung, and hence in the highest degree of
probability the descent of the very numerous Genungs of New York State from
Jean Guenon. Indeed, this is the
commonly accepted view both amongst themselves and others. Granting, as we must, that it is almost
certainly true, it but remains to show the identity of our name with that of
Genung to establish likewise our descent from Jean Guenon.
Although
our most careful research has failed to discover records to prove it, we
believe that the names have the same origin, for two reasons. First, their very close resemblance in view
of the very unusual character of both, and, secondly, the occurrence of exactly
intermediate forms. Thus, around Lake
Mahopac, in New York State (about fifty miles northeast of New York
City), at which place Thomas Ganong lived before the
Revolution, both names, Ganong and Ganung, are common and known to be
identical. Moreover, a search in the
early printed records of Putnam County shows that the forms,
Ganung, Gannung, Ganoung, Ganong, are used indifferently; and sometimes in
different records the same person has now one form and now another (Blake’s
History of Putnam County, 1849, pp. 329-332 and elsewhere; Pelletreau’s History of
Putnam County, 1886, pp. 123, 283, 308 and elsewhere). Ganong and Ganung, then, are identical;
Ganung and Genung can hardly be different, and indeed among the Ganungs of
Putnam County they are said to be
known in some cases to be the same. A
form, Genong, is also known, as will be referred to later. It seems therefore probable almost to
certainty that these are all forms of the same name, derived from Guenon, and
that we are all descended from Jean Guenon, the Huguenot. And if this is true, it is very probable that
the Genungs are descended from one of his sons, possibly Jeremiah, while we are
from the other, possibly John, the former family having the spelling assigned
to Jean’s name by his American neighbors, while ours is nearer to the true
French form.
Before
dismissing this part of our subject it is necessary to refute two errors as to
our family history, which have found their way into print. In Pelletreau’s History, already referred to,
it is stated (on p. 395), after reference to the French origin of our family,
that “the original of the name is believed to be Ga Nun, although only one branch adheres to that form.” In answer to this, it is enough to say,
first, the statement is entirely unsustained by evidence of any kind; second,
this form is not at all that of a French name; third and conclusively, amoung
the people of Lake Mahopac it is known that the
form is modern, many of them remembering one Charles GaNun, a lawyer, who was the first to assume it, and it is
confined to his descendants.
Again,
in the “Cyclopedia of Canadian Biography,” p. 493, it is stated that “Thomas
Ganong was of Irish descent on his father’s
side,” and the same belief has been held by at least some of his
descendants. Not only is there no
evidence of this, but the name is unknown in Ireland. Inquires have been made of the mayors of
several large Irish cities, and all reply that the name is unknown to them; and
the search made for us in the birth records for all Ireland, kept at Dublin,
shows no child of the name Ganong has been born in any part of Ireland for the
past five years. Had Thomas been of
Irish descent, his name could hardly have died out so completely. Even were the evidence much stronger than it
is for an Irish ancestry, it could not stand for a moment in the face of the
overwhelming evidence pointing to our French descent.
II. THE IMMEDIATE ANCESTORS AND OTHER NEAR
RELATIVES OF THOMAS GANONG
In
several of the printed records of Putnam County, New York, from which country our ancestor, Thomas, came at
the close of the Revolution, there are references to various Ganongs. There is, however, nothing to establish the
relationship to each other or to Thomas, though we cannot doubt, for reasons
presently to be mentioned, that the names of some of our progenitors must occur
in these records.
In
a list of the taxable inhabitants of Putnam (then a part of Dutchess) County in
the year 1723 the name Ganong does not occur at all in any of its forms
(Pelletreau’s History, p. 119). This
would indicate, supposing our beliefs as to our descent from one of the sons of
Jean Guenon to be true, that they had not yet removed from their father’s farm
at Flushing. In 1747, however,
there resided in Putnam County three men of our name
– Edward Ganong, John Ganong and Joseph Ganong (Blake’s History, pp.
329-332). In another list, of 1752,
these same three names occur, but spelled Gannung (Pelletreau’s History, pp.
308, 309), and it is further recorded that on January 20, 1757, Joseph married
Elizabeth Kellogg. A list of 1762
gives the same three names as residents near Lake Mahopac, and an Isaac Ganung is mentioned as a
chain-bearer to a surveyor (Pelletreau’s History, pp. 283, 289). In 1777, a list of taxable inhabitants of
Putnam County contains the
following names: Joseph Ganung, Gilbert Gannung, Jacob Ganung, John Gannung, Isaac Gannung. No mention is made
of Thomas Ganong, perhaps because he possessed no property, or else was not
of age, or he may have been resident elsewhere.
A somewhat earlier document, however, a pledge of 1775, expressing
dissatisfaction with the doings of Great Britain, and promising obedience to the Continental Congress and the General
Committee, contains the name Thomas Ganong (Blake’s History, p.
133). This pledge contains a list of
names of residents in the Amenia precinct, now near
the centre of Dutchess County. It is not certain,
of course, that this was our ancestor, but the close association of his name in
the pledge with that of Moses Barlow, a name which does not occur in the other lists we have
mentioned, renders this very probable, as the wife of Thomas was a Barlow. Moreover, his presence at this time in Amenia precinct, some
distance from Lake Mahopac, will explain the absence of his name from the list of 1777
above mentioned. His signature to such a
pledge is not at all inconsistent with his subsequent character as a Loyalist,
as very many of the Loyalists protested against the exactions of Great Britain
in 1775 who afterwards remained true to the King, when their fellow colonists
gave themselves up to the rash extremity of rebellion.
And
now, happily, we are coming to definite knowledge, by which we can establish
the relationship of Thomas Ganong to some of the others
mentioned in the above lists.
There
are at present living at Lake Mahopac, a granddaughter of
John Ganong, undoubtedly the John of the above list of 1777. Her husband, Mr. George H. Anderson, much
interested in these matters, has had the kindness in several letters to send us
the facts, which he gave as heard by him from his wife’s father Abel Ganong, the son of John.
At
the opening of the Revolution, three brothers, Thomas, John and Isaac Ganong, were living at Lake Mahopac. Of these, Isaac
took the side of the colonists, but John and Thomas remained true to the King,
and at the close of the Revolution had to remove with other Loyalists to Nova
Scotia, which then included also New Brunswick. After a few years,
John returned, settled at Lake Mahopac and married a Miss
Weeks of Westchester County. He died
about 1838, aged 87, leaving one son and several daughters, whose descendants
are numerous in the vicinity. Isaac, the
youngest of the brothers, at the close of the Revolution, in which he served
with credit and was wounded, also married and settled down near his brother,
leaving many descendants; but Thomas, the elder brother, remained in Nova
Scotia.
Very
satisfactory confirmation of Mr. Anderson’s statements as to John has been
found in the Nova Scotia Crown Lands
office. John does not appear as a
grantee of land in any of the New Brunswick records, but it is
recorded at Halifax that on June 16,
1785, he received 200 acres of land in Cumberland County; but as no further trace of him is found in Nova Scotia he must soon have
left the providence. It is worth
recording here that on the 22nd September, 1784, a grant was made of
250 acres in Queens County, N.S., to one Marques Genong; nothing further is known of him, but his name is an
interesting intermediate form between Ganong and Genung.
It
seems settled, then, that Thomas was the brother of the John and Isaac Gannung named in the above
mentioned list, that of 1777. If we can
find their father in the earlier list, that of 1747, it would be either John or
Edward, as Joseph was married too late; and considering how John runs as a
Christian name though our family, it would be more probably he than
Edward. Another step would bring us to
the father of these three, who might be a son of John or Jeremiah Guenon. It is known that these two left Flushing in the last century and
left no descendants there: it seems
reasonable to suppose that one of them or his son settled at Lake Mahopac shortly after 1723
and had three sons, those who are mentioned in the list of 1747. The following, therefore, would represent the
possible, perhaps the probable descent of Thomas Ganong from Jean Guenon:
Jean Guenon
½
John Ganung
Jeremiah Genung
½ ½
A son, name
unknown The Genungs
½
Edward, John,
Joseph
½
Thomas Ganong. John. Isaac.
We
have already referred to the descendants of John and Isaac: some of these, together with those of Edward
and Joseph, and, perhaps, of others not mentioned in any of these lists, are
very numerous around Lake Mahopac. Others have
scattered to various parts of New York State; to Litchfield, Conn.; Juka, Mississippi, and elsewhere. It
is not possible or desirable for us, concerned as we are mainly with the New
Brunswick branch, to attempt to
trace the others, but the task would not be difficult were it followed with
devotion by some member of the New York branch.
Finally,
it remains for us to correct another error which has attained the undeserved
dignity of print. In the Cyclopedia of
Canadian Biography, it is stated that Thomas had two brothers, officers with
Wellington at Waterloo. We have made application
at Whitehall in London, where records are kept of all British officers for a
very long time back, and have been told officially that there have never been
in the British army any officers of the name of Ganong.
III. THOMAS GANONG, THE LOYALIST
Of
the life of Thomas Ganong before he came to New
Brunswick in 1783, we know
nothing, except that he was born in New York State, probably at Lake Mahopac, about 1745, that he married Joanna Barlow in New York State in
1775, and that three sons were born to them before they left the State. Even as to the part he took in the
Revolution, if any, we have no information; and we can only infer from his
subsequent history that he was one of that numerous class, the best of the
Loyalists, who while disapproving strongly of what was unquestionably unjust
treatment of the American Colonies by Great Britain, nevertheless held that the
way to redress their wrongs did not lie in revolt. The true character of the Loyalist movement has been greatly
misunderstood. It has been usual among
their descendants to represent them as a body of men who were too loyal to the King to be
content to live where he did not rule, and that hence they followed the British
flag from the new States to the Provinces of British America. As a matter of fact, the majority of the
Loyalists were true patriots who loved their own country but at the same time
desired British connection, just as and even more strongly than the great
majority of Canadians to-day love their country and desire to retain their
connection with England. The
consequences was that, as the extreme party became more successful, the
conservatives, counselling moderation and opposed to revolt, became more and
more obnoxious to their revolutionary neighbors. Many of these conservatives, or Tories, held
offices under the crown, and naturally took an active part in efforts to maintain
its supremacy; others not in office, but strongly British in sympathies, took
up arms for Britain and drew others with them, and this in itself helped to
intensify the popular feelings against the non-combatants. Hence it came about that when the Revolution
was brought to a close by the peace of 1783 all persons who had favored the
British cause, whether in arms or not, including men of all classes, were so
obnoxious to their successful fellow-countrymen, that confiscations of their
property, persecution of themselves and their families, and even in many cases
direct banishment from the country, compelled them to leave the new United
States altogether and remove to British America. Probably very few indeed of the Loyalists
left the United States who would have been allowed to remain; indeed, many of
them afterwards when permitted returned to the States. That for which they deserve our admiration
and respect, is not, as popularly supposed, their refusal to live under a
foreign flag, but their steadfast devotion to what they thought was right in
the face of violent and extreme opposition, and their refusal to use rebellion
instead of constitutional means for righting what they knew to be wrong and
unjust.
This
lengthy digression has been rendered necessary to explain what we believe to be
the position taken by Thomas Ganong in the
Revolution. We have no evidence that he
was a soldier, nor yet in public office; he was probably a farmer, and like
many of his neighbors was forced to leave New York because of his British
sympathies. It is very interesting to
note that very many of the ancestors of families now living on the Belleisle were likewise
residents near Lake Mahopac, and came with him to New Brunswick in 1783. The above-mentioned list of 1747 contains as
residents of that part of New York such well-known names as Perkins, Gray,
Cory, [Corey], Peters, Akely, [Akerly], Jenkins, Crawford, Sprag, [Sprague or
Spragg], Travis, Burns, Huson [Hughson], Drake, Brundage, Paddock and others,
now well known in Kings County, New Brunswick. The true history of
the Loyalist movement, the value of which to New Brunswick is beyond all
estimate, has yet to be written.
That
Thomas Ganong came to New Brunswick as a Loyalist in 1783
is the universal tradition amongst his many descendants in New Brunswick; and that he came by the first or spring fleet, which
reached St. John in May, is not only
otherwise supported by tradition, but is confirmed by a paper left by the late
John E. Ganong, a grandson of Thomas, who knew better than any others his
grandfather’s history. The paper was a
copy of an inscription for a monument intended to be, though it never has been,
erected to the memory of Thomas Ganong, and it reads:
To
the Memory of
Thomas
Ganong and Joanna Barlow, His Wife
Loyalists,
by the first fleet, 1783.
In
New Brunswick Thomas Ganong settled as a farmer
at Midland. It is not known
when he first broke ground there, but doubtless in 1784 or 1785. His grant, however, was not made until
February 10, 1800, and it is numbered 356 in the Crown Lands Records, and was
lot No. 9 in the grant of Hezekiah Hoyt and others, and
included 184 acres. As in many other
cases, his farm was doubtless assigned to him by lot long before the formal
grant was issued. On this farm he lived
until his death in 1810, after which it was occupied by his son Thomas until
1854, when it passed out of the possession of the family, and is now occupied
by Mr. John Piers.
The
exact date of Thomas Ganong’s death is unknown, as the Kingston church records of
this date have been lost, but it must have been in June or very early July,
1810. The vestry book of Kingston church shows that he
was alive May 31, 1810, and the date of the probate of his will, July 4, 1810,
shows that he died before that date. He
was buried in Kingston church yard, but the
position of his grave is unknown.
His
will is of such interest that we give it here entire:
[COPY.]
In
the name of God, Amen, I, Thomas Ganong, of Kingston, Kings County and Province of New
Brunswick, being weak in body but sound in memory (Blessed be God),
do this twenty-fourth day of March in the year of our Lord one thousand eight
hundred and ten make and publish this my last will and testament in manner
following (that is to say): First, I
give unto my beloved wife the one-third of all my estate, real and personal, so
longue as she remains my widow (that is to say, my present wife Joann Ganong), and to my son John Ganong I give five
shillings; and likewise I give unto my son Isaac Robertson Ganong the sum of five
shillings; and also I give unto my son James Ganong the sum of ten
pounds; and likewise I give unto my son James Ganong’s daughter Mary Ann Ganong the sum of five
pounds, to be paid to her when she shall arrive at the age of ten years old;
and to my son Thomas Carlton Ganong I give all the
remainder of my estate, as well after the decease of my wife as mine, real and
personal, whatsoever, moveable and immoveable, and I make and ordain my wife
Joann Ganong Executrix, with my son Thomas Carlton Ganong Executor of this my
will, in trust for the intent and purposes of this my will contained; and I
make my friend David Picket Senr. Overseer of this my will, to take care and
see the same performed according to my true intent and meaning thereof. In witness whereof I, the said Thomas Ganong, have to this my will and Testament set my hand and seal
the day and year above written.
Signed,
sealed and delivered by the said Thomas Ganong as and for his last
will and testament in the presents of us who were present at the signing and
sealing thereof.
(Signed) Thomas Ganong Seal
(Signed) Jeremiah Mabee.
(Signed) Amos Perkins.
(Signed) William Mabee.
It
is signed in a bold hand, though a trifle shaky, as though the writer were
feeble. This will was proved July 4,
1810 and the inventory on file shows that his estate consisted of 250 pounds
($1250) real estate, and 156.10 pounds ($780) personalty, a very considerable
amount, taking into account all of the conditions.
As
to his personal character, his grand-daughter Margaretta (Mrs. Daniel B.
Crawford) writes us as follows: “He is
spoken of by the oldest inhabitants now living as a man of exemplary character
and a Christian. If he could not go to
church on Sunday, he would take his Bible and go amongst his neighbors to
comfort them, taking particular care as to the teaching of the children of the
neighborhood. He was a most zealous
member of the Church of England.” In
person he is described as being rather short and stout, of complexion neither
especially dark or light. He was a
member of the vestry of Kingston church, in the record
book of which his name frequently occurs, the last entry being under date May
31, 1810, on which day he was one of six who voted that the pews in Trinity
Church still continue to be free.
His
wife Joanna survived until 1832. She
died January 11, and was buried in Kingston church-yard beside
her husband on January 13. After her
husband’s death she lived with her son Thomas in the old homestead, and she is
well remembered by some of her descendants.
Her parentage is unknown, but from the association of her husband’s name
with that of Moses Barlow in the pledge of
1775, it is possible that she was his daughter.
Moses Barlow and his brother
Nathan are known to have
been sailors and to have come to Dutchess County from Cape Cod in
1756. It is a pleasant speculation
that Thomas Ganong may have been in
Amenia, Dutchess County, to marry Joanna Barlow when the pledge of 1775 was passed
around, and hence signed it with his father-in-law. At all events, their marriage must have
occurred about that time.
It
is sincerely to be regretted that no memorial marks the last resting-place of
Thomas Ganong. He was a good man
and loyal; may he live in the memory of his descendants.
IV. THE CHILDREN OF THOMAS GANONG
We
have already spoken of the limitations of tradition. A remarkable example of this here confronts
us in the fact that none of the descendants of Thomas Ganong in New Brunswick have any knowledge or
information as to his two elder sons mentioned in his will, John and
Isaac. Even his living grandchildren
have never heard of these two uncles of theirs.
Of them we know practically nothing with certainty, but it is very
probable that they returned to the United States as they grew up; it is evident
from their father’s will that both were supposed to be alive in 1810, and there
is no trace of them or their descendants to be found in New Brunswick.
Either
John or Isaac, returning to New York, married about 1800 a Miss Howard, and
they had two sons, Luther A., born 1802, and William, born 1804. The
latter died young, but Luther married while residing at Grenada, Miss., Cynthia Smith. They had six
children: Lydia V., born 1824, who married James Mitchell of Mississippi;
William L., born 1825, who married Marietta Sims; Luther M., born 1828, who married Louisa Womble; John A., born 1829, who married (1) Caroline Abell, and (2) Sarah Holcomb; James F., who died early, and Cynthia M., who married R.J. Alcorn of Grenada, Miss. Of these
William L. has left six children; Luther M., six children; John A., one child;
all these of course bearing the name Ganong.
Mr. John A. Ganong lives in New York, and the others in Mississippi and
Louisiana.
James, the third son, was born in New York State in 1781. He was a farmer and received a grant of land
from the Province of New Brunswick (No. 610) on February
5, 1812. It was Lot 11 in the grant
north of Belleisle Creek, made to Rev.
E. Scovil and others, about half
way between the Corner and Collina Corner, included 200 acres, and adjoined the
school and glebe lots on one side and grants of James Crawford on the other. It does not appear, however, that he ever
lived upon it. Like his brother Thomas
he was a Baptist. He is described by his
grandchildren as a man of medium height, fine looking, and straight as a
arrow. He died in 1850, and is buried in
the burial ground at Hatfield’s Point, and his wife is buried at Keirstead Town.
Thomas
Carleton, the fourth son, was born in 1785 at Kingston. He lived on the
homestead with his father, and after his death until 1854. He then removed with his wife to St. John, and lived there with his son, John E. Ganong, until his death. He
and his wife are buried in the Methodist burying ground at St. John. He is described by
his daughter Margaretta, as a man of medium height, slight and erect, with a smooth
round face, dark blue eyes and dark brown hair, quick-tempered but
kind-hearted, neat and particular in all work, very careful in business
affairs, and a very strict Baptist.
In
addition to the four sons, there was one daughter, though we do not know when
or where she was born. Her name was Mary, though she was called Polly by her brothers. She married a sea-captain named Roane. They sailed away on
their first voyage and were never again heard from. It was supposed they had been taken by
pirates.
The
entire New Brunswick branch of the family,
then, is descended from James and Thomas Ganong. These two married
sisters, Margaret and Elizabeth Cox. They were the two
elder daughters of Captain William Cox and Ann Dominick, Loyalists from New York.
As we are descended from them equally with Thomas Ganong and Joanna Barlow, the following record of their family, the original of
which is in our possession, will be of interest. It was made during the life-time of William
Cox, and is undoubtedly accurate and complete as far as it
goes.
|
NAMES |
BIRTH |
MARRIAGE |
DEATH |
|
William Cox |
31st Oct., 1757 |
15th April, 1784 |
|
|
Ann Dominick |
10th June, 1759 |
15th April, 1784 |
26th Dec., 1802 |
|
Children |
|
||
|
Margaret |
22d March, 1785 |
7th Oct., 1802 to James Ganong |
|
|
Elizabeth |
11th Sept., 1787 |
27th March, 1807 to Thomas
Ganong |
|
|
Ann |
19th March, 1789 |
20th March, 1811, to William
Northrup |
|
John |
26th Jan., 1791 |
|
Drowned in the Bell-Isle Bay, 15th
Oct., 1802 |
|
Mary Ann |
1st Nov., 1793 |
9th Jan., 1809 to John
Northrup |
|
|
Francis Daniel |
14th March, 1795 |
|
Drowned in James’ Peters’s Milldam, 8th
Sept., 1809 |
|
Blanch Fanny |
22d May, 1797 |
8th March, 1818, to Dan’l
Crawford |
|
|
Susannah |
2d Feb., 1799 |
8th Jan., 1818 to James
Northrup |
|
|
William Blanchard |
10th Sept., 1801 |
9th Oct., 1825, to
Margaretta Dominick |
|
It
will be noticed how much the Ganongs have intermarried with the
Keirsteads. Of them it is known that
they are descended from Dr. Hans Kierstede, a physician of Magdeburg, Prussian Saxony (see Schoonmaker’s
History of Kingston, L.I.). He came to
America in 1638, settled on Long Island, and married, June 29, 1642, Sarah
Roeloffse, daughter of Roeloff and Anneke Jans. They had several
children, from one of whom the Keirsteads of New Brunswick are descended.
Of
the other families with which the grandchildren of Thomas Ganong intermarried, those
of Crawford, Northrup, Perkins, Erb, etc., all are of Loyalist descent. Indeed, upon the Belleisle, first settled by the Loyalists, and to which there has
been practically no later immigration, there is to be found as unmixed a
Loyalist community as exists anywhere in Canada, perhaps the most unmixed of
all.
V. DESCENDANTS OF THOMAS GANONG
The
two sons of Thomas Ganong, James and Thomas Carleton, had twelve and eleven children respectively. Most of these married and had large families, which again have
married, until there are now living several of the
great-great-great-grandchildren, i.e., the fifth generation from our ancestor,
the sixth generation all told. An analysis
of the five generations after Thomas, based upon the records which follow,
gives the following result:
Of
children he had two in the New Brunswick branch, both of whom
left children.
Of
grandchildren he had 23, of whom 5 are still living.
Of
great-grandchildren he has had 161, of whom 107 are living.
Of
great-great-grandchildren he has had 339, of whom 274 are living.
Of
great-great-great grandchildren he has had 75, of whom 58 are living, the
oldest being 20 years of age.
In
synopsis, Thomas Ganong has left 599
descendants, of whom 445 are now living.
Of the 599, 304 have been men and 295 women, an unusual result. Of these, 205 have borne or bear the name
Ganong, of which number 113 have been men and 92 women. Of this number bearing the name Ganong, 67
are dead and 138 living. Of the 138
living and having the name Ganong, 73 are men; 2 of them over 60, 1 of them
between 50 and 60, 39 of them between 20 and 50, and 31 under 20. There is hence little present danger of the
name becoming extinct.
As
to occupation, it is not so easy to make an analysis, as several have followed
different trades at different times. But
the great majority of the men have followed the foundation trade of all others,
the ancient and honorable calling of farmer.
In the trades some have been carpenters, several blacksmiths, two or
three sailors. In business several have
been merchants, three manufacturers, and several clerks. In the professions there have been no doctor
and no lawyer, but several schoolteachers, and five ministers, all
Baptists. The latter are: Seth Wellington Keirstead, Elias Miles Keirstead, Elias William Kelly, Frank Melbourne Kelly, Joshua Burnett Ganong. There have been two
college professors – Elias Miles Keirstead, at Acadia College; William Francis Ganong, in Harvard University.
Five are college graduates – Elias Miles Keirstead, A.B., 1873, University of New Brunswick, A.M., 1883, Acadia College; Elias William Kelly, A.B., 1876, Acadia College; Frank Melbourne Kelly, A.B., 1884, A.M., 1887, Acadia College; William Francis
Ganong, A.B., 1884, A.M. 1886, University of New Brunswick, A.B., 1887, Harvard University; Joshua Burnett Ganong, A.B., 1892, Acadia College.
Considered
geographically, the centre of distribution was Kingston. The greater part of
the family still lives in Kings County, principally in Kingston, Springfield and Studhold parishes, but also in other parts
of the county. Some live in St. John, others in St. Stephen, others at Woodstock and Lakeville in Carleton County, at Pokiok in York County, and in Albert County. A very few live in
Nova Scotia and a few in Ottawa. Others, again, have
gone to the United States, with a hope, by no means always fulfilled, of
bettering their condition, and live in Boston, Cambridge, Arlington,
Somerville, Worcester, and in Providence, while a few have gone as far as
Chicago and Wisconsin.
There
have been three cross marriages between descendants, as follows: Absalom Erb and Mary Effie Lake, Melbourne
Erb and Deborah Louisa Lake, Charles Wilmot Ganong and Deborah Adelia
Ganong.
The
families have not been remarkably large, the largest, that of Charles Ganong, having had 16 children.
The oldest living descendant is Mrs. William Keirstead (Elizabeth Ganong), who is aged 78.
The members of the family are not especially long-lived, only 6 of them
so far having attained more than 70 years of age. In religion the great majority of them are
Baptists.
With
respect to morality and freedom from offences against the civil and criminal
law, the record of the family has been singularly good; there have been the
inevitable black sheep, it is true, but they have been unusually few in number,
and mostly not of a very stable variety.
Few families can point to a cleaner sheet than can we.
A
marked characteristic of most of the members of the family is a great
appreciation of the value of education, and many of the older members have
given their children all of the advantages they possibly could. This is most wise, for it is only through
education that true advancement in life is possible, and without exception
those of the family who are succeeding in the higher walks of life are those
who have received the best education.
None
of the family have as yet been prominent in Provincial affairs, or especially
so in learning or business. But a time
will come when the race virility
accumulated through generations of out-door work in the field, at the
forge and on the sea will show itself in grand moral or mental force, and our
race will yet see a day of great achievement.
Thus
from Thomas Ganong and his wife Joanna
there has sprung in New Brunswick a sturdy,
independent, honest, moral race, such a race as makes the strength of nations.
May
our children preserve our best traditions and add lustre to our name and
history.
by Albert
Benjamin Genung4
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T |
HE
first settlers came into the forests of Tompkins County in
the late 1790s and around 1800. That was
the time when the tide of hopeful men and families was rolling westward from
the Atlantic seaboard into the frontier country of New York, Pennsylvania, and
the Appalachains.
Benjamin
Genung was one of those who migrated with his family,
from Hanover, Morris County, New Jersey.
Born May 10, 1758, he was the great-great-grandson of a French Huguenot,
Jean Genung, who had come to America in 1657. The family had lived nearly a century and a
half on Long Island and then in New Jersey.
Benjamin
had been a Revolutionary soldier, enlisting from New Jersey at 17 as a
wagoner. Later he was in Captain Lyon’s company of Colonel McDougall’s regiment of the New York line, fought
in the Battle of Long Island, of White Plains, and several other
engagements. Whether he drew one of the
Military Tract lots given to New York soldiers, I do not know. At all events, the homestead upon which he
settled, near Besemer, on the Ithaca-Slaterville Road, was bought from a
friend, Rev. Asa Hillyer in
New Jersey. He bought 400 acres, price
$875, Benjamin paying $500 cash and giving a mortgage for $375. The deed for this property was given on
January 15, 1800, while the preachers and newspapers were eulogizing George
Washington, whose untimely death had occurred only the month before. The tract was located on Lot 93, Dryden
Township, then Cayuga, now Tompkins County.
It may be noted that Township No. 23, though even then commonly called
Dryden, was actually part of the Town of Ulysses until 1802.
Having
secured a firm option and made a payment on this wilderness property the
previous year, Benjamin and his son Barnabas, or “Barney”, as his father refers
to him, packed up a pioneering outfit and made a preliminary trip up here to
look over the site. This was in the
summer of 1799.
They
immediately began girdling trees and chopping out a clearing. In three months time they had the timber down
on five acres, had the underbrush burned out sufficiently to scratch in fall
wheat among the stumps. The lonely
hardihood of those men who calmly struck out into the wilderness, a two or
three week trip, cleared land to start on, built a cabin, and got their little
pioneer farm under way before going back for their families, is something to
ponder.
Benjamin
at once proceeded to build a log cabin.
He and Barney, with the help of a neighbor named Iruna Peat and another man named Radley, rolled the logs
up in place when the time came. Twenty
by twenty-four feet the cabin was, twelve logs high, and with enough slope to
the roof to make a sleeping loft in each end.
The cracks between the logs was chinked up with sticks and mud, and
plastered up smooth. A rough stone
chimney and fireplace were built on the east end, the upper portion of the
chimney being temporarily of logs well lined and covered with mud. It was roofed temporarily with basswood and
elm bark, but had no floor at first.
On
the first good snow of December, Benjamin and Barney departed for New Jersey,
taking along on their ox sled the meat of one deer and a bear which Benjamin
had shot.
The
following spring of 1800 the entire family migrated to their new house in Six
Mile Valley. Their cabin was located on
the hillside facing out toward what later became the Brooktondale Valley, about
six miles south of Cayuga Lake.
They
came with a span of oxen and all of their worldly possessions packed into and
on a stout wagon, with canvas cover somewhat like the larger Conestoga wagons
of the freighters. The family, most of
whom walked the entire 23 day journey, consisted of Benjamin, then 41 years
old, his wife Hannah Beach Genung, and 6 children: Barnabas, aged 15, Aaron 12, Philo 7,
Christopher Peron 6, Rachel Lockey the only daughter, and little Timothy, aged 4.
Immediately
they were plunged into the endless work of a wilderness homestead. Food to be provided, clearing to be done, a
log barn to be rolled up for the oxen as well as pens for pigs and other stock;
ground to be fitted and corn and vegetables planted, cabin to be roofed and
floored and the chimney and fireplace finished, window sash to get made, rails
to be split and fences put up.
Benjamin
and the boys set about building a little barn of pine logs. The next job was to get the rest of the 5
acre clearing burned off and another acre or two added to it and corn, spring
wheat, and oats planted. With the grain
and vegetables in ground, more clearing; then wheat ripening and ready to
cradle; wild grass to be cut in the swamps for hay and bedding; more clearing;
oats and wheat to cradle and harvest.
Imagine
the things now commonplace that were not
in that pioneer household: nor does this
refer to autos, television, airplanes, and the like. That cabin was built without even nails. In it were no stoves, matches, hard soap,
granulated sugar, cotton thread, sewing machine, canned food, bed springs,
pencils, newspapers, prepared medicines, window screens, paint, nor even a lock
nor metal hinges on the door.
Outside
no electric nor telephone lines crossed the skyline, no automobiles went
roaring by, nor did any locomotive whistle disturb the quiet wilderness of Six
Mile Creek Valley.
Of
neighbors, presently the Genungs had several.
There was the Peat family half a mile down the slope west. Nearby was the Jehiel Bouton family, also from Morris County, New
Jersey. A couple of miles north over the
hill Peleg Ellis was building his cabin in the summer of 1800, his snug little
valley to be known in time as Ellis Hollow.
Hannah, with her experience of six children, was probably on hand when
little Delilah Ellis was born on a cold night, the 30th of the
following January--first child born in the Town of Dryden. Three miles to the northwest along Cascadilla
Creek, on Lot 71, Zephaniah Brown from Saratoga had his cabin, built the summer
before, and already had a track cut through for himself to The Flats (Ithaca).
Further
north, over in the big Fall Creek Valley, several settlers had come in the year
before--the Sanford, Foote, Clauson, and Lacy families at Willow Glen; the George
Robertson family also a little further west on the
Bridle Road, as they called the track that Joseph Chaplin had cut through from Oxford to Cayuga Lake
five years before, under contract with the State Legislature. Benjamin heard with interest that another new
settler, Elder Daniel White, had started building a grist mill on
Fall Creek, a mill that was the forerunner of the Village of Freeville and the
first grist mill in the Town of Dryden, completed in 1802 (on land now owned by
this writer).
The
following spring, 1801, brought some welcome newcomers, the Jacob Snyder family
from Essex County, New Jersey. They
stopped for some time with the Genungs, until Jacob bought of James Glenny of
Virgil a hundred acres just north up over the hill on Lot 82, paying $330. Snyder later bought more land and that
neighborhood came to be called Snyder Hill.
The Snyders had three sons and one daughter, and this pretty little
Rebecca Snyder was destined, when the War of 1812 began to
hasten the romantic thoughts of all young men, to become the bride of Aaron
Genung.
Benjamin
must have harvested and flailed out 50 or 60 bushels of wheat that first fall,
for he hauled a load of wheat to Owego on the early winter snow and bought some
sheep. The pigs he had brought from New
Jersey had thrived and produced more.
They had to be housed behind solid logs from the first, for bears would
raid a clearing even to broad daylight to get a pig. Joel Hull over in Willow Glen killed a bear with his axe
after it had seized his only shoat in daytime and was making off with it
(1803).
Benjamin
made the trip to New Jersey in the late winter of 1802, to make payments on his
mortgage and see his relatives. Nearly a
month’s hike, round trip. But he was
back in Dryden in time to see the Township officially given that name. Previously Township Number 23, though
commonly called Dryden, was a part of the Town of Ulysses. In late March 1802, the Ulysses town meeting was held at the home of Nathaniel
Davenport at
The Flats (Ithaca) and at that meeting it was voted “that the Township of
Dryden be set off from Ulysses.”
Benjamin Genung attended that meeting and voted to create a
separate Town of Dryden, making a note of it in his book.
Benjamin
had cows in those early years for his account book records butter sold for one
shilling a pound. We also have further
evidence from the following incident.
This was related by my father, Dr. Homer Genung, who had it from his grandfather
Philo. When the latter was a young lad,
one fall evening he was sent after the cows as usual. It was dusk and he could not see much in the
woods but was headed toward the sound of cowbells out there in the brush. As he walked along the path he came up behind
what he thought was one of the young heifers and gave her a slap on the rump to
hurry her along. But what he had slapped
was a black bear! Badly scared he turned
and ran back toward the house yelling for his father. Benjamin came running, gun in hand, and went
after the bear. He shot it, too, and
Philo later did part of the work of tanning its hide which was given to him.
The
clearing away of the virgin forest went on day after day and year after
year. Those splendid trees were chopped
down, tops piled in windrows, the butts hauled together with chain and oxen,
piled in rough fashion, and the whole burned.
Wood
ashes had a market value; field ashes at that time were worth 5 to 10 cents a
bushel. About 600 bushels would make a
ton of pot or pearl ash which was worth around $125 to $150 a ton and
upward. A settler who carefully saved
all the wood ashes could get enough income from them to pay a good part of the
cost of clearing.
Here
is a letter to Benjamin Genung from an Ithaca firm:
Mr.
Benjamin Genung
Sir
Please
assist Mr. Thompson in
preparing for boiling the ashes under your care.--And have the stones drawn for
building the furnace.--You will also board him on our account.--Tomorrow we
will send out the kettles. We wish you
to go and bring the boards of Dr. Hutchensons from Mr. Rais for Mr. Thompson to
make the
leaches of.--On Thursday Mr. Gere will be out to see you.
Yrs.
&c.
Salmon Buel & Co
Ithaca, 18th April 1808.
Many logs were split for rails,
especially basswood, ash, and chestnut.
They figured about 21 rails to make two rods of good fencing. Some of the best timber was sawed up into
lumber. Benjamin’s account book showed
he was “drawing a load of boards to the lake,”
or drawing a load to Milton (Genoa) both for himself and for others frequently
in the years following 1800. The hemlock
and white oaks were peeled of their bark for the tan-yard at Mott’s Corners (Brookton).
It was a hot job peeling hemlock logs when the bark would come off
easiest in June or July. The latter was
stripped off in 4-foot rings; these cylinders of bark were set up in the sun to
dry out, then corded up to be hauled and sold to the tanyard. Such bark was worth $4 to $6 a cord.
Benjamin
made trips every fall for salt to the salt springs on the shore of Onondaga
Lake. Salt was a dollar a bushel all
through the southern country. It could
be had for 60 cents at the wells at Salina.
By selling some to neighbors this made it worth while to fetch a load on
good sleighing, after other work of the season had eased. A few years later the old “Salt Road” which
passed just east of Freeville became famous for its salt traffic from Salina to
Owego.
It
took Benjamin about a week to make the round trip to Onondaga. In the marshy flat around the head of
Onondaga Lake were the most famous salt springs in the country. The main springs bubbled out of the marsh at
the foot of Salt Point, near where Onondaga Creek ran into the lake. The little village of Salina was built on
this point. Syracuse did not exist then.
The
salt works was interesting. Formerly
they had boiled out the salt in huge iron kettles. But by 1804, the year of one of Benjamin’s
recorded trips, they were running the salt water into cisterns and from these
into potash kettles holding about 80 gallons each, which were set over
wood-burning furnaces. The water would
be boiled briskly until the lime was deposited and removed. Then the salt would begin to crystallize, the
water was boiled off slowly, and finally the salt was taken out of the kettles
and drained dry. From these springs it
was of high quality and of handsome grain.
Fifty gallons of water made a bushel (56 lbs.) of salt; it was claimed
that this was the strongest natural brine in the world. The principal springs and works were run by
the firm of Wood & Byington. They
expected to make 100,000 bushels of salt that year. The State put a price limit of 60 cents a
bushel at the works; it collected a duty on it of 4 cents a bushel.
Some
other prices of that day, as recorded in Benjamin’s account book, were: salt 8/
(meaning 8 shillings or one dollar) a bushel; pair of horseshoes 3/ in 1800;
corn 4/ a bushel; wheat and rye each 8/; sugar 1/ a pound in 1802; pair of
shoes 16/ (or $2) in 1804; ditto 12/ in 1806; butter 1/ a pound; “cider
spirits” and whiskey each 2/ a quart; potatoes 3/ a bushel; flax 1/ a pound;
buckwheat 4/ a bushel; pair of trousers 8/; pair of socks 8/; oats 2.5/ a
bushel; keep of mare 7 weeks 1 pound, 15 shillings; board of man 5 weeks 2
pounds, 10 shillings in 1806.
An
event which stirred the neighborhood in 1805 was the building of the western
part of the Catskill Turnpike. That
replaced the old Indian trail and settlers’ track with a road all the way from
Oxford, through Lisle and Richford, to Ithaca and on through Catherinestown
(Watkins Glen) to Bath, finally straight on west to Lake Erie. The Genung oxen worked on this road along
with other local labor. And from that
time on the farm had a real road to its important trading canter, Ithaca. A road that presently echoed to the rattle of
teamsters driving big freighters and of stagecoaches on regular run from Ithaca
to the Hudson. There came a time when
the rivalry between stagecoach lines became so keen that one could ride from
Ithaca to New York for $1.50.
Work
on the new turnpike from Owego to Ithaca was going on all through 1809-10 and
the following year it was opened for use.
Now one could haul a load to the Susquehanna in two days without getting
stuck in the summer, and over sound bridges, and in a short time with settlers’
homes flanking the road most of the way.
The
Genung children were growing up now.
Rachel Lockey married a young man named William Pew on
Sept. 8, 1806, she being then sweet sixteen, and they went to live in Pewtown
where one could see the curving hills far down Cayuga Lake. To them were born eleven children, the last
in 1830. Some years later she was
married again to a man named Dennis Turner and moved away to Waterburg, N.Y.
On
New Years Day 1807 young Barnabas also married a sixteen year old girl named
Susannah Johnston, he being then twenty-one. From then on he lived on Snyder Hill.
In time an even dozen little Genungs went out from the home of Barnabas
and Susannah.
When
war talk began in 1812, Aaron hastened his marriage with pretty Rebecca Snyder
who lived just a handy walk over the hill; they were married on the 29th of
March, 1812, she being then 18 years old, he 24.
On
the 12th of June, 1812, war was declared.
The Dryden company, under lusty Captain Peleg Ellis of
Ellis Hollow, promptly volunteered and was incorporated into the force that was
being assembled to invade Canada via Niagara.
In July they marched away. Aaron
said good-bye to his bride of three months.
Later in the year Barney went also, leaving behind a wife, three year
old daughter, and little four months old son, Nathaniel. Likewise Rachel’s husband, William Pew,
leaving her with two children, the youngest a baby girl only a year old. Almost all the young men in the community
went finally, Arthur and Stephen June, Marcus Palmerton, Johnathan Luce, Peter Snyder, Aaron Cass.
By the time John Ellis, brother of Peleg, had gone out to “the
lines” at the head of the second company of Dryden militia, it is said that
there were left but 14 able bodied men in the whole township.
Aaron
Cass, a Revolutionary veteran who had settled
near Ellis Hollow in 1804, was killed by a British cannon ball as the army
attempted the ill-fated crossing of the Niagara River. The whole American force that stormed the
heights of Queenston was captured, amoung them 40 Dryden men. Col. Bloom of
Lansing (later sheriff of Tompkins County) was wounded. Also Stephen June of
the Dryden Company was shot through the mouth and neck; but both these men
lived to tell the tale. Aaron Genung was unscratched. The prisoners were soon paroled, exchanged,
and sent home.
At the close of the war, or possible in 1814, Benjamin’s younger brother Moses, four years his junior, moved up from New Jersey and settle