Mary (Mosher) Scriven (1755 - 1809)

Born 1755 in Crum Elbow, Hyde Park, Dutchess County, New York

Ancestors

Wife of William Scriven — married about 1769 in Westerly, Washington, Rhode Island

Descendants

Died 1809 at about age 54 in Grafton, Rensselaer, New York,USA

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Bob Scrivens [send private message]

Biography

Mary Mosher weds William Scriven at a young age

Mary moved to Grafton, New York with William Scriven, as his second wife, in 1783. (Based on research from Scrivens Family Geneology and some follow-ups [1]: see "James and William Scrivens Some background information: a summary" They had been married in 1769-70 [2] in Westerly, RI. (That was about a year after the death of William Scriven's first wife, Mercy (Lewis) Scriven.) Mary and William's first child, Elipha, was born in Westerly in 1770. If the date of Mary's birth is correct (1755), she was only 14 when married and 15 when he had her first child, Elipha. (Meanwhile, William would have been 28 when she was born in 1755, 42 when he married Mary Mosher.)

Mary's place of birth

Another family genealogist raised this question: if Mary Mosher was indeed born in Crum Elbow, NY, then how did she meet and wed William Scriven? The wedding record says they were married before William moved his family to Rensselaer Co. The William Scriven family probably came north, up the Albany Post Road after traveling west along the coast. (They probably came to New York City first, following the Boston Post Road to get there.) Much of the road north follows what is NYS Rt. 9 today.

It's interesting to speculate that William's new bride, Mary Mosher, had something to do with this. She has a birthplace listed here as Crum Elbow, just north of modern day Poughkeepsie, which is halfway between New York City and Albany. But If you Google Map that place of birth, you get an image of Crum Elbow Meeting House there, right along where the Scrivens would have been traveling north. So, maybe, despite the records saying otherwise, William married his new wife while he was relocating to Rensselaer Co. Or, at the very least, she perhaps still had Quaker relatives there. (Find-a-Grave lists four Moshers buried at the cemetery next to the Crum Elbow Meeting House who were born before 1800 [3]. One other, Mercy Mosher Deuel (b. Jul. 7, 1813 d. Oct. 8, 1884) had a married name, Deuel, which is a variation of the spelling of Mary's mother's surname, Devol The other possibility, of course, is that William's wife, Mary Mosher, was not the person born in Crum Elbow.

Mary and her daughter, Elipha (Polly)

Mary and her youngest daughter, Elipha (Polly), supposedly died in a house fire in Grafton around 1810-1820. The family story is that all their family records, Bible, etc., also were destroyed in the fire. See Mary Mosher, MyHeritage [4]

I have read some discussion about whether Elipha is a daughter or another spouse of William Scriven. The above story makes it sound like Elipha is a daughter, but it's possible there were two different people, and the names were the same--or just a mix up in transcription somewhere along the way.

Here is what FamilySearch says on the subject in a note on William Scriven's Pedigree page: "At one time it was thought that William Scriven was briefly married to a woman named Elipha. But that was a mistake from a misinterpretation of the clerk's record when he recorded the births of Isaac and Elipha Scriven. A careful reading of the original clerk's record clears this up. Isaac and Elipha were twins and were born to William and his second wife Mary Mosher. This is also said to be the case from the descendants of Elipha who married Asa Larabee. The "Scriven Record" supports this also. Elipha was nick-named Phally." [5]

Some notes on the Mosher family

Post by bpscrivens, Re: James Scriven,born England, bpscrivens1 (View posts) Posted: 25 Apr 2013 12:59PM on the Mosher family's claim to the East India Tea fortune:

"The Mosher East India Tea fortune? The Mosher family is interesting. You are probably familiar with the "Scriven Record 1899", compiled by Tacie Scriven Bigelow. My great Grand Father, Benjamin Henry Scriven wrote a letter to her about the family history as he remembered it, including a reference about the Mosher family seeking a large family inheritance in England, which had reverted to the Crown. This refers to a Hugh Mosher who worked with the East India Company, accumulated a fortune of 32 million pounds sterling, had never married, no heirs. The family in America unsuccessfully attempted to claim some of it. (History of the Mosher family book). Mind you, I have never been able to find who Mary Mosher's parents are. Some have assumed they were the Hugh Mosher family in Rhode Island. There is no documentation of this, Mary and her daughter Polly died in a fire in their Grafton home, 1809." (See a full discussion of this at a Pedigree Resource File on FamilySearch [6]

Also from bpscrivens:

Mary and William had 4 Children and 27 grandkids:

from Elipha: (Asa/Betsey/Barton/Lydia/William/Peter/Thomas/Mary Polly)

from Matthias: (Oliver Gilbert/Aaron L./Joseph/Eunice/Tacy/Benjamin/Stephen B/Annis/Sabin Amasa)

from Benjamin Henry: (Mariman/Angeline/Emerline/Julian/Lewis/Lott/Daniel C/Polly/Benjamin Henry)

Mosher Lineage Problem Clarified

Mary's lineage is complicated by the fact that, in some places, Hugh Mosher, Sr. is listed as her father, rather than his like named son, Hugh Mosher, Jr. Diana Sutor's research was invaluable in untangling this mix up.

On the Murry tree on ancestry.com [7], Mary Mosher is listed with these facts:

Birth 1755 in Dartmouth, Bristol, Massachusetts;

Death 1809 in Grafton, Rensselaer, New York.

Hugh Moser (1690-1764) and Mary Sabin (dates are wrong: b.1753) :Married to William in 1773 in Westerly, RI. Elipha is her daughter. But Mary, William Scriven's wife, was not the person born in Dartmouth. As of this revision (Feb, 22, 2015) there are 40 matches for "Mary Mosher" on WikiTree alone, and that is the difficulty.

On Mary Sabin, Steve Mix commented: "but that relationship [the marriage to Hugh Mosher] appears to be extremely unlikely. Mary Sabin was only two years older than Mary Mosher, and Mary Sabin was never married to Mary Mosher's father, Hugh Mosher. Also, Mary Sabin was 63 years younger than Hugh, so any marriage between them is extremely unlikely. Some internet trees commonly have her parents as Hugh Mosher and Mary Sabin. But in any case, she is certainly not the daughter of *this* Mary Sabin, so I am going to disconnect Mary Sabin as mother."

Steve's analysis is persuasive and convincing. (--Bob Scrivens)

Mary Mosher is the daughter of Hugh Mosher (1720-)

The following is a message received from Diana Sutor Cessna-24, on June 28, 2014, detailing the corrections needed for this lineage, Mix-216, and are now completed. This seems to be the best documented explanation of which Mary Mosher (b. 1755) we have here:

"Bob, I will be using the book Descendants of Hugh Mosher and Rebecca Maxson Through Seven Generations, Revised Edition by Chamberlain and Clarenbach to answer your question as I have not personally dug through all the records myself to answer your question. I descend from a different branch than you do.

"On page 8 and 9 of the book Hugh Mosher (b. 16 Nov 1690, Dartmouth, MA; d.1764 or 1765, Crum Elbow, Dutchess Co., NY); m. 25 Apr 1717 to Sarah Davol, daughter of Jonathan Davol, granddaughter of William Davol.

" Hugh Mosher b. 1690 is the son of Nicholas Mosher g ca 1666 and grandson of Hugh Mosher b. ca 1633.

• "They had the following children:
  • Hugh b. ca 1720
  • Adley
  • Sarah who married Timothy Mosher (son of James Mosher, grandson of Hugh Mosher b. 1633)
  • Ephraim b. 21 Sep 1726
  • Mary who married Richard Nicholson
  • Hannah
  • Abner b. ca 1732
  • Zebulon b. ca 1733
  • Barbara who married John Jordan
  • Phebe who possibly married Jeremiah Sherman Nicholas b. ca 1740

"On page 23 of the book is the son Hugh Mosher (b. ca 1720, Dartmouth, MA; d. between 1785 and 1790, probably in Crum Elbow, Dutchess Co., NY). He filed his intention to marry in Tiverton, RI 13 March 1745/6 to Sarah Davol (daughter of Christopher Davol, granddaughter of Joseph Davol. great granddaughter of Jonathan Davol gg grandaughter of William Davol).

"They had the following children:

• • Christopher b. 8 May 1747
  • Stephen
  • Hugh
  • Lemuel b. ca 1750
  • Samuel b. ca 1754
  • [Mary b. 1755] (see below)
  • Cornelius b. ca 1760

NOTE: if all these children, Mary's siblings, were born in Crum Elbow, NY (as the information above the list seems to suggest), it would seem that Mary probably was, too. The Dartmouth, MA POB for Mary [as is cited in some other listings for Mary Mosher] is actually Hugh Jr.'s, so Mary's may have been based on an assumption that is here contradicted. [That is, Mary Mosher was born in Tiverton, RI.]

"So, as you can see, it is unlikely that your Mary Mosher was the daughter of Hugh Mosher b. 16 Nov. 1690 as his last child was born ca. 1740. It is more likely that she could be the daughter of his son Hugh Mosher (b. ca 1720) as there is an appropriate gap in the birth order between Samuel and Cornelius.

"On page 8 of the book it states that the family group of Hugh b. 1690 moved before 13 January 1748 to Crum Elbow, Dutchess, NY and several of Hugh 1690's children spent time in Sussex Co., NJ before going to Crum Elbow, and that there are no surviving records from Sussex Co., NJ, prior to the 1830 census.

"On page 23 of the book it states that Hugh Mosher (b. ca 1720) migrated to New York before 1748, and Christopher Davol, his father-in-law and [member of the same] family group also moved at the same time.

Therefore, She is possibly the daughter of Hugh Mosher b. ca 1720 and his wife Sarah Davol daughter of Christopher Davol.

"Oh, and by the way, I would be careful about saying who was is in the Revolutionary War. Hugh Mosher b. 1690 did not serve in the Militia as he was already deceased. His son Hugh Mosher b. 1720 and his brother Ephriam sided with the British. Hugh was sent as a prisoner to Exeter, NH on 17 Oct. 1776 and boarded at Winthrop Howe's in the adjacent town of Kensington until the conclusion of the war.

"I hope this helps in your research and correction of the wikitree."

Diana Sutor

One other possibility

Since it has been so difficult (exasperating might be a better word) to track down Mary Mosher Scriven's lineage), why not end with the possibility that the Mary Mosher that William Scriven took for his second wife was not the one detailed above? In the same source, "The Origin and History of the Mosher Family . . ." cited above, there is another "Mary" listed on the bottom of p.8, a daughter of Hugh (b. 1690) who married a Richard Nicholson in 1747 and had her last child in 1757 (Martha). If her husband died shortly after that, this Mary Mosher (Nicholson) would have been available for re-marriage to William Scriven in 1769. She also would have been closer to William's age than the other Mary (if she were born, say, about 1727, that would mean that William didn't marry a woman half his age after all. Arguing against this Mary Mosher is the geography: if he was from Westerly, RI, and she was from New York, how did they get together?

(Note: Bob Scrivens and Mary are 7th cousins 8 times removed, tracing back through their first common ancestor, Jane Spencer. William Scriven, her husband, is Bob's fifth great grandfather, descended from his son, Joshua, and grandson, Zebulon.)

A final note on the many Hugh Moshers

I was glad to see that even someone in the Mosher family acknowledged the complications of tracing descent in that family. In Origin and History of the Mosher Family, compiled by William C. Mosher, 1898, he was writing about his ancestor, William Mosher, who lived in Manchester, England (p. 11). He writes, "The Manchester records show that he had four brothers, John, Thomas, Stephen, and George. . . . Strange as it may seem, three of these brothers each had a son named Hugh, who were distinguished men. Hugh, son of John, went to London, where he became a member of the East India Company [This Hugh was knighted, but left no children to inherit his wealth.] Hugh, son of Thomas, came to Boston, then Maine, and died leaving two sons, James and John. "A third Hugh Mosher, son of Stephen Mosher, reached Boston in 1636. He first located in Salem where he became friends with Roger Williams" and left for Rhode Island when Williams was banished in 1636. Williams rewarded this Hugh's loyalty with a deed to one fifth of the "fertile township of Westerly" in 1676. He was ordained, but was known by his rank title, "Ensign" Mosher. He died in Newport in 1694. (Incidentally, the only Mary Mosher whose date of birth was close to the one profiled here, is Mary (b. 1743, who married Wm. Graham in 1772), daughter of John William Mosher, son of James and Mary Duval.) [8]

Sources

Vital Record of Rhode Island, 1636-1850. First Series. Births, Marriages and Deaths.Vol 5 Part IV. Author Arnold, James N., Town Clerk, Repository Family History Library [9]

The Origin and History of the Mosher Family and Genealogy of one branch of that Family From the Year 1600 to the Present, Author: William C. Mosher, A M Alhambra, California, 1898. Repository Family History Library

• Source: S-2121940566 Repository: #R-2145910970 Title: OneWorldTree Author: Ancestry.com Publication: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc. Note: Repository: R-2145910970 Name: Ancestry.com Address: http://www.Ancestry.com Note:

• http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nyrensse/querys.htm

(from Landmarks of Rensselaer Co., by Wm. Anderson, 1897) in a post by Ed Scriven

Descendants of Hugh Mosher and Rebecca Maxson Through Seven Generations, Revised Edition by Chamberlain and Clarenbach

Mary Mosher, Pedigree File [10]

Scriven Record 1899 [11]

Origin and History of the Mosher Family by William C. Mosher [12]

Mosher, Crum Elbow Cemetery Find a Grave, database and images (accessed 02 December 2021), memorial page for Hugh Mosher (16 Nov 1690–1765), Find A Grave: Memorial #190821502, citing Crum Elbow Rural Cemetery, Hyde Park, Dutchess County, New York, USA ; Maintained by 47117651 (contributor 47117651) .

Acknowledgments

• WikiTree profile Mosher-483 created through the import of Alexander Family Tree.ged on Jul 16, 2012 by Rod Alexander. See the Changes page for the details of edits by Rod and others.

• Thank you to Robert Scrivens for creating WikiTree profile Scriven-95 through the import of 2293fi_608439562v2o181f2jw4c6.ged on Apr 19, 2013. Click to the Changes page for the details of edits by Robert and others.

• Thanks to Diana Sutor for her research and clarification of which Hugh Mosher was this Mary's father.