#52Ancestors: Joseph PURDY, 1653-1709, Grandfather of UEL

Continuing the #52Ancestors  challenge by genealogist Amy Johnson Crow, here is Joseph PURDY, who is the grandfather of my children's United Empire Loyalist [UEL], Gilbert PURDY [1721-1778]. 

I know very little about Joseph, having only recently begun to attempt to take the PURDY line back a little further in time.  

From what I have found to date, Joseph born 1653, was the third son of Francis PURDY and Mary BRUNDAGE, settlers from England, possibly from Suffolk England, arriving before 1644.  All of the  five known children were born in Fairfield county, Connecticut. Francis died unexpectedly 4 Oct 1658 when Joseph was only 5 years old. His widow, Mary, married very shortly thereafter to John Hoyt; no further children known. 
Joseph apparently moved to the region of Rye New York in 1677, selling several pieces of his Fairfield Connecticut property in 1678. Rye was a patented township in about 1686. The map shows Rye abuts the Connecticut border with New York. 

Joseph PURDY married in 1680 to Elizabeth OGDEN, in Rye New York. Elizabeth's parents may be John OGDEN & Judith BUDD, but this has yet to be confirmed. Note there are conflicting lists of children for Joseph and Elizabeth with no agreed-on order of birth. 

The following group of 11 children, not all with birth dates, nor listed in valid birth order [most birthdates are estimates only], were apparently all born in Rye, Westchester, NY:

• Elizabeth, b. est 1681
• Samuel, b. est 1682
• Joseph jr, b. 1683, d. 15 Jun 1777 White Plains, Westchester NY
• John, b. est 1685
• David, ancestor, b. 1687, d. Oct 1766, Ulster Co., NY; m. est 1719 to _____ RUTTENBERG in Newburgh NY; only one son known [ancestor, Gilbert PURDY, sr.] 
• Jude [girl], b. est 1689
• Jonathan, b. 1693, d. 1772
• Mary, est 1695
• Francis, b. 1697, d. 1760
• Daniel, b. est 1699
• Phebe, b. est 1701, d. 1761

The names of all his sons and his four daughters are mentioned in his will, which was very helpful, confirming they are all his children. Likely they are all Elizabeth's as well. Joseph's will is dated 15 Oct 1703 in Rye; he died approximately 20 Oct 1709, and the Probate was proved in 26 Oct 1710.  I have just noticed there are no witnesses listed at the end of the abstracted will. Unusual. The Will abstract may be found on either sites: Ancestry or AmericanAncestors,  part of "Early Wills of Westchester."

Joseph died in 1709 in Rye, Westchester, New York, aged about 56 years old. It is believed he is buried in the small PURDY BURYING GROUND in Rye, along with his wife and several children. His wife, Elizabeth, died in 1742; she does not seem to have remarried, which is surprising as many of their children were under age and would have needed guardians. Clearly more digging is required to see if there are court records re guardianship.

As is usual with researching early ancestors, I am left with a number of confusing or conflicting information to be researched. Those children - I would like to find confirmed spouses and residences for them. Also, I need to find Elizabeth's will. Guardianship records [court records] need to be searched for. And I need to search more documents clarifying whether Elizabeth married for a second time. 

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If these are your ancestors, I am happy to share what little I have on these ancestors. And if there are errors, please do let me know, via calewis at telus dot net, or in the Comments below and I will get back to you either by email or in the Comments. I appreciate the opportunity to correct any issues in these family trees.

Blogger - or my computer - is still not letting me "reply" to your comments, for some unknown reason. If I don't reply to your Comment, please know that I'm totally thrilled you came to read my post and commented!  You truly make my day!!

Gilbert PURDY 1721-1777 - our United Empire Loyalist connection

United Empire Loyalists, aka UE or UEL, were those who not only supported the British against the rebellious 'Americans' in the Revolutionary War [1775 to 1783], but also moved to Canada. Many had all their land and goods confiscated by the Revolutionaries, and were hounded out of their homes and out of the country. In British-governed Canada, they were rewarded by the British government with land grants. Click on the link at the beginning of this paragraph for more details.

After starting my genealogy research about 12 years ago, I heard from a cousin that my ex-husband's Lewis family had UEL ancestors, but no one knew his name. Hmmm. How to prove UE links was a bit of a problem, as early Ontario - where the Lewis family had lived during that time period of the late 1700s - had scattered records. I assumed I would find a Lewis UE ancestor eventually, but we all know about the errors of assumptions!  

I had a breakthrough when looking through some Lewis family trees and found several referring to early AIKIN and PURDY families as "UE families". Exciting clues! My friendly helper at our BC Genealogical Society  Library, Marvellous Marvin, in 15 minutes had a pile of applicable UEL books, and two websites for me to do searching! Wow! The link was through the mother of Isaac LEWIS, [my children's great-grandfather], born in Ontario: Alma Jane AIKEN. 

I have only bits and pieces of reserch as yet, and need to do much more digging, but this is what I have to date:

Gilbert PURDY [sr.], b. about 1721 in Newburgh, Ulster, New York, married Mary DORLAND about 1755 and had at least 9 children that we know of.  He was a shipwright, and before he joined the British Army in 1777, he had a 40 Ton sloop just built, up in stocks at his property. 

In 1777, Gilbert died at Chesapeake with General Howe's Army, en route to Philadelphia. This army under Gen. Howe was overwhelmed by the Revolutionary soldiers under Gen. Washington. 

Gilbert and Mary had the following children, born in the Newburgh region of NY:
   1.  David, b. 20 Oct 1756, m. Abigail Ostrum [dau of a UEL soldier], settled in Ernestown, ON
   2.  Mercy, abt 1758, m. about 1785 to Major John Everett [UEL soldier], settled in Kingston ON
   3.  Mary, b. about 1761 [no information]
   4.  Gilbert [jr.] ancestor, b. 9 Jan 1763, d. 5 Jan 1851 Kingston ON; m. Ann E. JENNINGS [1771-1844]; settled in Kingston region ON [Cataraqui]; 8 children, eldest daughter Martha is ancestor
   5.  Micajah, b. 10 May 1766, d. 1844; Kingston ON
   6.  Rhoda, b. 15 May 1768, d. in NY state, USA
   7.  Catherine, b. 24 Aug 1770 [no information]
   8.  Charlotte, b. 25 Aug 1773, d. Kingston ON; m. abt 1795 to Nicholas Herchmer
   9.  Samuel, b. 25 Mar 1775, d. Kingston ON
As is obvious, I need to do research for more information on each child, spouse.

Gilbert joined General Howe's "Pioneers & Settlers" Army, sometimes called "Regiment Guides and Pioneers", and died in 1777. His widow and their children were hounded in New York by those hostile to the British rule, and wanting an independent country.  Goods, animals, and property were confiscated from her over a period of time. 

As the British government began to provide land grants to the loyal soldiers and their families, Mary took her children up to the Kingston region, and petitioned for land. At first her petition was rejected, but eventually, I could find Orders in Council [OC] accepting the petition for various members in the family starting in about 1800, one at a time, over about 10 years. One daughter, Rhoda, returned to New York state, likely to marry, and she did not receive any land.  Mary had petitioned for 200 acres for herself and 350 acres for her 7 children who qualified.

Mary DORLAND Purdy fought vigorously for her children, and the final OC grants were provided in 1810.  She died January 16, 1813 in Kingston Ontario, aged 79 years.  

Our line goes from Gilbert and Mary as follows:
     Gilbert PURDY & Mary DORLAND -> 
     son, Gilbert PURDY [jr.] & Ann Elizabeth JENNINGS ->
     dau, Martha PURDY & Robert AIKIN [AIKINS] ->
     son, John Lewis AIKEN & Eliza Jane BAKER ->
     dau, Alma Jane AIKEN & Isaac Charles LEWIS ->
     son, Charles Wm LEWIS & (1) Ada RICE -> 
            son, Charles LEWIS
                                                & (2) Reba K. RICE -> 
            sons Bill LEWIS & Jack LEWIS  

More information will be coming later in the new year, as I continue to dig further to be certain of each link. I have a list of items to search, such as land grant details, petition details, maps, vital statistics, more information on the spouses, to be certain I have the correct connections. Our PURDY connection is based on information given from a specific person's claims to the UEL Association of Canada, sources as shown on the UELAC website:
   1) BMD - Original Certs
   2) PURDY FAMILY GENEALOGICAL RECORDS, by Clayton C. Purdy, U.S.
   3) THE OLD UNITED EMPIRE LOYALISTS by Milton Rubincam, 1976
   4) THE LOYALISTS IN ONTARIO, by William D. Reid
   5) Genealogical Records (Family Tree) by Ron Makin (ronmak@idirect.com)
   6) VOYAGE OF A DIFFERENT KIND, by Larry Turner, 1984
   7) LOYALIST LINEAGES OF CANADA, by Toronto Branch, UELAC, 1991, Vol 2, pps. 896-897

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I am certain there may be errors of one sort and another as this is my first dive into UEL records, so do feel free to correct my information and/or provide me with information on how I might find more accurate details. I will be in touch with the UEL Association of Canada of course, as well as digging for more Ontario resources.  You can contact me through the address at the bottom of the blogs.

Google Blogger is still not allowing me to directly answer any comments, but do know that I appreciate that this information may be useful to others. And if you do comment, please know that you will make my day!  Cheers.