Jonathan Perry (1772 - 1777)

Born 5 Jul 1772 in Wilton, Hillsborough, New Hampshire

Ancestors

Died 1777 at about age 4 in Packersfield, Cheshire, New Hampshire, United States

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Biography

This profile is part of the Nelson, New Hampshire One Place Study.

Genealogically Defined

Jonathan Perry died young.

Jonathan was born in 1772. He is the son of Ebenezer Perry and Dorcas Whitman. It was reported that he and his siblings all died in Packersfield, NH of dysentery in 1777. However, this report was produced about 100 years after that date. Packersfield has no record of those deaths. The town of Wilton, where he was born suffered a fire in the town offices about 1800, leaving most of the town's vital records in ashes. In the 1790 Federal Census for Wilton, NH, Abigail Perry, Jonathan's paternal grandmother was listed as the head of her household, and 2 other people were living in the household, one of them was probably one of her unmarried adult daughters, and one of them was a male over 16. This male is believed by some to be one of Dorcas (Whitman) Perry's male children. This conclusion is probably based on false information seen below.

A Whitman family book by Farnham claims that one son of Dorcas survived the dysentery. ^[1] "They resided in Alstead, N. Y.; he [the father, Ebenezer] was killed in the battle of Bennington, 1777, and about the same time she was further bereaved by the death of five sons, one son alone surviving from a family of six children.

LETS EXAMINE THE ABOVE QUOTE: 1. "They resided in Alstead, N. Y." The author, Farnham, was probably referring to Alstead, N. H. which was a young town in the 1770s. No Perry families are listed among the early residents of Alstead. But Alstead is in Cheshire County, as is Nelson. Nelson was incorporated under the name Packersfield in 1773. The name was changed to Nelson in 1814. The Ebenezer and Dorcas Perry family seems to have moved from Wilton to Packersfield in late 1776 to early 1777.

2. "he was killed in the battle of Bennington" All evidence suggests Ebenezer died on the way to the Battle of Bennington, by sniper fire, not at the battle of Bennington.

3. "the death of five sons" The family only had five sons if you count Ichabod, the child by Ebenezer's first wife. Ichabod certainly did not die, but lived to old age, and that is well known. However, the two daughters did die in that event. So, if all her children died, that would be 4 boys and 2 girls. But if Farnham is correct, one of Dorcas's own children survived. 4. "one son alone surviving from a family of six children." If you consider Ichabod to be the lone survivor, then the family consists of seven children, not six. If Farnham meant that one of Dorcas's own children survived, then he is mistakenly assuming that all her children were males. This is consistant with his statement that 5 sons died and one survived. CONCLUSION: We see that Farnham made a number of errors in that brief paragraph. There is reason to suspect his statement that "one son survived" referred to Ichabod. This conclusion is strengthened by the Probate hearing of 1779: May 17, 1779: Return of the Division of the Estate: This was signed by Dorcas [(Whitman) Perry] McIntire and Moses Adams, guardian for Ichabod Perry (he was still under 18). The Real Estate was valued at 1000 pounds. Ichabod was given 2 shares and Dorcas got 1 share. There was also 139 pounds, 9 shillings, and 5 pence, personal estate, which was divided equally between them.

If she had living children of her own, there would likely have been an allowance made for their upbringing. No other children were mentioned.

This book was published in 1889, and may have lead wishful readers to conclude that their ancestor was the one male survivor, thus creating a false family tradition. Perry-2810 is not the same person as Perry-4444.

Sources

1. ↑ History of the descendants of John Whitman of Weymouth, Massachusetts Publ.: New Haven, Conn.: Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor, 1889, Page 654, 1262 pgs., by Charles Henry Farnam.