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Elizabeth Jane (Chettis) Bonney (1784 - 1871)

Elizabeth Jane (Jane) Bonney formerly Chettis
Born in Saint Andrews, Charlotte, New Brunswick, Canadamap
Daughter of and [mother unknown]
[sibling(s) unknown]
Wife of — married 1801 in Sprague's Falls [Baileyville], Washington, District of Mainemap
Descendants descendants
Died at age 87 in Princeton, Washington, Maine, United Statesmap
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Profile last modified | Created 13 Feb 2011
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Biography

Elizabeth Jane Chettis was born at Saint Andrews, New Brunswick, 6 Jun 1784, the daughter of John Chettis and (_____), d at Princeton, Maine, 15 Aug 1871, and buried there in the South Princeton Cemetery. [1] She is the adopted daughter of Abiel Sprague and Martha Bryant. She married at Sprague's Falls, 1801, Moses Bonney, [2] b at Roque Island [Machias], ME, 10 Oct 1778, the son of Joel Bonney and Elizabeth Sprague, d 4 Jul 1870 at Princeton and buried in the South Princeton Cemetery.

John Chettis, father of Elizabeth, was a carpenter and millwright who came with his family to the St. Andrews area in a sailing vessel for the purpose of procuring tall, straight trees for the masts of British naval ships. The Chettis family and members of the crew lived in shacks on shore near the wharves. One morning in 1785 the Chettis family awoke to find the crew and vessel gone! On this scene of desperation Elizabeth opened her pretty eyes to look trustingly into the eyes of a disheartened father and mother. Elizabeth is reputed to be the first white child born in St. Andrews. Such distinction was dearly paid for. The father, who had hoped to gain employment by building cabins and houses in the rapidly growing town, unfortunately soon sickened and died. Days dragged on and food gave out. The helpless mother, driven mad by the cries of her starving babes, was ready by violence to put an end to the tortures of slow death, when a kindly Indian happened that way and brought aid to them. A few months thereafter Mrs. Chettis returned to her native England, taking with her all the children except the baby Elizabeth, who was much too young to stand the severity of a long sea voyage. The babe was entrusted to the care of the original Baileys of Bailey Hill (Baileyville) and some years later was taken into the home of Abial Sprague, first settler of Sprague's Falls, now part of the Town of Baileyville. [3] [4]

Sources

  1. Find A Grave: Memorial #90809757
  2. Albert W. Bailey, Early Baileyville Maine and its Pioneers (Calais Advertiser Press, Calais ME, 1972), p. 53
  3. Bruce W. Belmore, Early Princeton, Maine (Southworth-Anthoensen Press, Portland, Maine, 1945), pp. 4, 5
  4. Albert W. Bailey, Early Baileyville Maine and its Pioneers (Calais Advertiser Press, Calais ME, 1972), p. 21




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DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with Jane by comparing test results with other carriers of her mitochondrial DNA. However, there are no known mtDNA test-takers in her direct maternal line. It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with Jane:

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Chettis-5 and Chettis-1 appear to represent the same person because: Clear duplicates
posted by David James