Frederick Mabee (1735 - 1794)

Born 28 Jan 1735 in Yorktown, Westchester, New York

Ancestors

Husband of Lavinia J. (Pelham) Hilton — married 1765 in Charlotteville, Norfolk, Ontario, Canada

Descendants

Died 1794 at about age 58 in Charlotteville, Norfolk Co., Upper Canada

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Biography

Frederick Mabee was a United Empire Loyalist.
UEL Status:Proven
Date: Undated

Frederick Mabee was a United Empire Loyalist whose home had, at the British evacuation of New York, been confiscated, and he and his family subjected to indignity by many of his former neighbours because he declined to swear allegiance to the "New Republic", holding as he no doubt conscientiously did, that the grievances of the colonists should be settled by constitutional means rather than by the sword. They first settled in Belle Vue, Beaver Harbour, New Brunswick, Canada.

Frederick heard of the wonderful fertility and natural advantage of the Long Point (or as it was first called, the Turkey Point) country on the north shore of Lake Erie in Upper Canada from his 2nd cousin, Peter Secord,^[1] a U.E. Loyalist and Butler's Ranger who had earlier accompanied Frederick to Saint John (New Brunswick) from New York. Peter, being an old hunter, had already penetrated the wilds of Upper Canada with one George Ramsay, an Englishman, on a hunting and exploring trip, and he resolved to form a small colonization party to open a permanent party at Turkey Point.

Frederick & his wife Lavinia Pelham migrated from New Brunswick in 1792-93 to Norfolk County and settled at Turkey Point, Charlotteville Township, in late spring/early summer of 1793 with their 9 children: Elizabeth, Lydia, Nancy, Oliver, Simon, Mary, Sarah, Frederick and Pellum. The Mabee party, it is said, started for Upper Canada in the fall of 1792, but they wintered in Quebec and did not reach Turkey Point until some time in 1793. They drove twelve cows, rode horses, and employed an Indian guide to pilot the way through the wilderness.

The party consisted of Frederick Mabee and Lavinia (nee Pelham or Pellum), Oliver Mabee, their eldest son, aged about 19; Simon, the second son, aged 17; Pollum, the youngest son, aged about 5; three single daughters, Polly, Betsy and Sally; and two married daughters, Nancy, with her husband, John Stone, and Lydia, with her husband, Capt. Peter Teeple, and their four children. Frederick's 2nd cousin Peter Secord and a man named Thomas Welch also came with the Mabee party.

Frederick Mabee erected the first log cabin ever built at the new settlement, at the foot of the hill overlooking Turkey Point. Their corn was pounded in the stump of a walnut tree, the beetle being attached to a "sweep" like the "Old Oaken Bucket".

Old Frederick died only one year after arriving at Turkey Point. He died of apoplexy and was buried in a hollowed-out walnut log coffin. He was the first white man buried in the new settlement, and a large boulder marks his tomb at Charlotteville near Turkey Point.

His wife and family stayed on and became influential in the area. His widow subsequently married Lieut. William B. Hilton, a New York Loyalist of the Kings American Dragoons, but he died three years after the marriage.

Children of Frederick Mabie & Lavinia Pelham:

1. Elizabeth Mabee b: 1769 in New York
2. Lydia (Mabee) Teeple b: 06 JUN 1770 in Dutchess County, New York d: 16 February 1845 Oxford, Norfolk County, Ontario
3. Polly Mary (Mabee) Secord b: 27 SEP 1771 in Beekman, Dutchess County, New York d: 1822, Southwold, , Ontario, Canada
4. Nancy Ann (Mabee) Stone b: 25 MAY 1772 in Westchester County, New York d: 20 April 1854, Norfolk, Ontario, Canada
5. Oliver Mabee b: 10 JAN 1774 in Fishkill, Dutchess County, New York d: 2 July 1854, Charlotteville Twnsp, Norfolk, Ontario
6. Simon Mabee b: 1776 in Rombout Precinct, Dutchess County, New York d: 3 January 1843, Oxford West Township, Oxford, Ontario
7. Sally Sarah (Mabee) Montross b: 01 JAN 1779 in Fishkill, New York d: 11 December 1818, Charlotteville Twnsp, Norfolk, Ontario,
8. Frederick Mabee Jr b: 1781 in New York d:
9. Pelham Mabee b: 19 JAN 1787 in Turkey Point, Charlotteville Township, Norfolk County, Ontario, Canada d: 7 February 1861, Norfolk County, Ontario, Canada

Three articles about the children appear in "Pioneer Sketches of the Long Point Settlers" by E. A. Owen. (Pages 37, 316 & 321) There are a lot of inaccuracies, but the family's story is told in quite an entertaining manner. Frederick's sons-in-law, Peter Teeple, and John Stone were also among the party which settled in 1793.^[2]

Two daughters married U.E. Loyalists:

• Polly (Mary) married Capt. David Secord, son of Frederick's close friend and kinsman Peter Secord mentioned above. David was a miller at Niagara, but later settled on Catfishcreek, west of Orwell.

• Another daughter Sally married her 1st cousin Silas Montross of Turkey Point. Silas was the son of Peter Montross, who had married Sally's paternal aunt Leah Mabee.

The Mabee, Teeple, Secord, Montross and Stone families became prominent factors in the early days of settlement, but now [2020] their descendants are very widely scattered.

Research Notes

The Dease-Woodward Family Tree on Ancestry.com records 2 interesting pieces of information relevant to Frederick:

• Maybee brothers William, Frederick, Jeremiah, Jacob, and John served in the 5th Company Upper Battalion, Westchester County Militia under Captain Annanias Rogers in the Seven Years War (1756-63).

• Land speculation in New Hampshire in the 1760s: “The New Hampshire Grants, being transcripts of The Carters of Townships and Minor Grants of Lands Made by the Provincial Government of New Hampshire, Within the Present Boundaries of the State of Vermont, from 1749 to 1764”. On pages 514-518 is the original charter of Mansfield,^[3] recorded on June 8, 1763. Among the 65 names of the Grantees, each of whom was granted 320 acres, are the names [of brothers] William Maybee, John Maybee, Jacob Maybee, Jeremiah Maybee and Frederick Maybee.^[4][5]

See also the Wikitree profiles of Frederick's brothers John, Jacob, and Simon (he was hanged as a Loyalist spy by the Patriots in April 1777).

Sources

1. ↑ Their common great-grandfather was French Huguenot immigrant Ambroise Sicard who arrived in New York with his family (via London) in the mid-1680s. Coming from the area near Rochelle, France, they were one of the founding families of New Rochelle, New York.
2. ↑ For a detailed biography see: Pioneer Sketches of Long Point Settlement: Or, Norfolk's Foundation Builders ... By Egbert Americus Owen; Sketch 5, page 37
3. ↑ The original township of Mansfield is now part of Stowe, Vermont.
4. ↑ From pages 514-518 is the original charter of Mansfield, recorded on June 8, 1763.
5. ↑ The New Hampshire Grants occurred from 1749 to 1764 and involved land west of the Connecticut River. This area eventually became the State of Vermont. Before the American Revolution, the Province of New Hampshire covered a much larger area -- what is now Vermont and New Hampshire.

• http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=mabie%2Dmaybee&id=I510

• Family Search Submission ID MM35-TN7

• Family Search Submission ID MMSC-DDQ

• Family Search Submission ID MM95-RP2, Ancestral File Number 5300-K95

• Family Search Submission ID MMDZ-P6K

• Family Search Submission ID MMDY-PW1

• http://www.uelac.org/Loyalist-Info/detail.php?letter=m&line=2