John Bailey Williston (1757 - 1833)

Born 23 Aug 1757 in Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts, British Colonial America

Ancestors

Husband of Phoebe (Stymiest) Williston U.E.L. — married 13 May 1788 in Bay du Vin, Northumberland, New Brunswick, Canada

Descendants

Died 9 Jul 1833 at age 75 in Bay du Vin, Northumberland, New Brunswick, Canada

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Mark Suggitt [send private message]

Biography

John Bailey Williston was born in 1757 in Springfield Massachusetts, to Joseph Williston III (1731-1768) and Mary Morgan (1734-1822). His father died when he was eleven.

John was a member of the American Revolutionary militia, enlisting as early as 1775. In 1778 he was 22 and a member of the Connecticut Militia, serving in Capt. Montague's company, Col. Porter's regiment. He and another soldier, Solomon Stickney, tried to defect to British forces and they were caught. A March 1779 Courts Marshall at West Point sentenced John to 100 lashes, carried out 14 April.

John next appears on the rolls of Long Island refugees in 1884, taken north to the colony of Nova Scotia in the spring fleet.

John received a Loyalist land grant on the Saint John River near Woodstock (New Brunswick) in 1787; this land was part of the grant to men serving in the King's American Regiment. John apparently abandoned this land and is next found in the north at Miramichi, working for Dutch settler Benjamin Stymiest at Bay du Vin. The next year John married Benjamin's daughter Phoebe.

John married Phoebe Stymiest in March 1788. They settled at Bay du Vin and raised a family of twelve children there. The Williston family would engage in timber harvesting and farming. John would partner with his brother-in-law Ben Stymiest III in a tract of timber land and a saw mill.

John died in 1833 and is said to be buried at Ullock's Point burying grounds, today known as Tuckers Point, next to Bay du Vin. John and Phoebe's grave markers are lost, but others remain, one being their first born Joseph and his daughter Phoebe who both died in 1818.

Obituaries

• Northumberland County Gleaner, 16 July 1833 - Death. At bay du Vin on the afternoon of Saturday last, at 4 o'clock, after a brief but painful illness, John Bailey Williston Esq., in the 76th year of his age. During the lapse of nearly half a century has Mr. Williston been a resident freeholder of Bay du Vin, where at an early period of life he was united with her, the future partner of existence - her who now for consolation looks up to Religion's sweet solace - ... (from Charles Williston book)

• The Weekly Observer, Saint John, 9 July 1833 - d. Bay du Vin, Westmorland, Saturday, 13th inst., John Bailey WILLISTON, Esq., age 76, resident there nearly 50 years. NBC CG.

NB: 16 Jul 1833 is a tuesday, so "saturday last" would therefore be 13 July...at 4pm; conflicting dates come from Carman WIlliston's book which claims he died July 9, the prior tuesday ...one supposes the Gleaner publishes every tuesday. Archive notes claims the obit was published 9 July ...transcription suspect...and possibly where Carman got his date. tbd.

• The Gleaner and Northumberland Schediasma, Chatham 16 Jul 1833 - d. Bay du Vin, Saturday John Bailey WILLISTON, Esq., age 76, half a century free holder of Bay du Vin. He had 10 sons and 2 daughters, survived by his widow, 8 sons 2 daughters.

DNA

FamilyTreeDNA website: Our Williston Y chromosome project has proven that Joseph Williston of Springfield, Mss. (b.1701) and John Williston, b. ca. 1658, of Suffolk County, Mass. are not related. The Canadian descendants of John Bailey Williston-Loyalist (b.1757) are a perfect match for the Springfield Willistons.^[1]

• the Canadian connection above is not confirmed by the link provided. Pending inquiry.

United Empire Loyalist status

John Bailey Williston status as United Empire Loyalist is undetermined as of June 2021.

The argument for UEL status: a muster record in Nova Scotia in the company of other Loyalists, and a subsequent grant of land near Saint John River (Lot 17, Block 4, Parish of Canterbury), part of the grant to the King's American regiment (unknown if John actually served in that regiment).

Research Notes

FamilySearch profile - John Bailey Williston LVQD-NX2

Children of John Bailey Williston and Phoebe Stymiest:

• Joseph Williston (1789-1818)
• George Williston (1790-Bef.1792)
• John Thomas Williston (1791-1865)
• Mary (Williston) Goodfellow (1793-1870)
• Abigail (Williston) Bulman (1797-abt.1881)
• George Williston (1800-1880)
• Luther Williston (1802-1880)
• Benjamin Williston (1804-1878)
• William Williston (1807-1880)
• Alexander Williston, 1807–1878
• Phineas Williston, 1810–1869
• Edward Samuel Williston (1813-1889)

Roots Web notes, January 5, 2014

JOHN BAILEY WILLISTON b. possibly Springfield, MA 23 AUG 1757, d. Bay du Vin, Northumberland Co., NB 9 JUL 1833 (or 22 JUL 1834) age 77 (or 76) years, m. (as Bailey Williston) Bay du Vin, Northumberland Co., NB 13 MAR 1788 (by James Horton) PHOEBE STYMIEST (b. NY...probably. Hempstead, Long Island, NY) 28 APR 1770. d. Bay du Vin (Baie des Ventes), Glenelg Parish, Northumberland Co., NB 23DEC1845 age 75 years), d/o Benjamin Christoffel and Abigail Rachael (Fardon) Stymiest.

June 1784 - first appeared in Loyalist muster at Annapolis County, Nova Scotia. Occupation: Carpenter. m. March 13, 1788 Phoebe Stymiest. Had 10 Children: Joseph, George, Luther, John T. , Alexander, Phineas, Edward, William, Mary and Abigail.

JOSEPH WILLISTON b. Bay du Vin (Baie des Ventes), Glenelg Parish, Northumberland Co., NB 12 JAN 1789, d. 16 OCT 1818, m. 17 AUG 1813 ELSPETH (ELPHSY, ELSIE) ALICE ('ALCEY') WALLS (b. ca. 1791-3, d. Bay du Vin (Baie des Ventes), Glenelg Parish, Northumberland Co., NB 28 JAN 1877 age 85 years; m. 2nd 11 NOV 1819 Thomas Ullock), d/o James and Charlotte (Brown) Walls.

Administration of Joseph's estate was granted 19 JAN 1819 to 'Alcey' Williston, presumably his wife. She was likely a d/o James Walls who petitioned for land in Northumberland Co., NB in 1788. James was granted lands in Ludlow and Northesk Parishes in 1816 and 1822. Another was John Walls granted land in 1814 with James Goodfellow and Donald Morrison. Probably in Newcastle Parish. Although judging by the 1851 census, there were no Walls in Glenelg Parish, Charles Walls, of Blackville m.12 NOV 1861 Mary McKinnon. Mary's father, Charles McKinnon, was from Glenelg Parish. Mary's sister, Phoebe, m. Charles' brother, George Wall. Charles and George were sons of s/o James and Sarah Ann (Munroe) Walls. In 1851, in Blackville Parish, 'Sarah Ann' Walls was b. ca. 1803. Her husband, James (d. Blackville Parish 27 APR 1851), may have been Elphsy Alice Wall's brother. I have also seen the name as 'Wells'. ^[2] (membership required to view page)

Sources

1. ↑ https://www.familytreedna.com/group-join.aspx?Group=Williston
2. ↑ The New Brunswick Genealogical Society web site, "First Families", at: https://www.nbgs.ca/cpage.php?pt=249

• The New Brunswick Genealogical Society web site, "First Families", at: https://nbgs.ca/cpage.php?pt=249 --> member access only
• The United Empire Loyalists' Association of Canada; website, http://www.uelac.org/Loyalist-Info/detail.php?letter=w&line=416
• Black River area history book - Black River and Its First Settlers, by A. W. Macdougall, 2nd ed., ed. by W. D. Hamilton and Margaret A. Macdougall (2010).
• Bay du Vin area history book - Looking Back: A History of Bay du Vin New Brunswick, Anglican Church of Canada, Anglican Church Women, Bay du Vin; 1979; 126 pages; John Bailey Williston, page 18.
• 1912 Williston genealogy booklet - Williston Genealogy 1734-1912: Joseph Williston and Joseph Williston, Jr. A.D. 1667 — A.D. 1747, And The Descendants Of Rev. Noah Williston, With Certain Affiliated and Allied Branches A.D. 1734 — A.D. 1912; Compiled by A. Lyman Williston, M. A., Northampton, Mass., 1912, 28 pages; Internet Archive repository: https://archive.org/details/willistongenealo1912will/page/n3/mode/2up; NB: This work comprises only the descendants of Noah Williston, brother of Joseph Williston III and uncle to John Bailey Williston... Joseph and other siblings are noted, page 5, but not their descendants.
• 1992 Williston history book - The Willistons : four-hundred years of toil & triumph, written and compiled by Glenn R. Williston c. 1992, 158 pages; available to view at FamilySearch library online: https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/viewer/52861/?page=63&viewer=flip&o=info&n=0&q=#page=57&viewer=picture&o=download&n=0&q=; NB: Carman Williston is referenced in the book. Expanded details of each of Joseph Williston III children included, starting p41. Good history compliment to Carman Williston's book. Significant segment on John Bailey Williston, page 56, 96, 134, 135;
• 2001 Stymiest genealogy book - Down by the Old Mill Stream: A Stymiest Chronicle, Carl W.W. Stymiest, U.E.; Trafford Publishing, 2001, 598 pages; page 262: Williston, John Bailey 1757-1833, husband of Stymiest, Phoebe, 1770-1845.
• 2002 Williston genealogy book - Descendants of John Bailey Williston and Phoebe Stymiest, Charles Carman Williston; 2002, 455 pages.

• 1779 Continental Army service record - Massachusetts soldiers and sailors of the revoluntionary war WH-ZY, Secretary of the Commonwealth publisher, 1891; Boston, Wright and Potter Printing Co., State Printers; citing John Williston, page 520; Internet Archive document: https://archive.org/details/cu31924092740608/page/520/mode/2up; NB: there are probably at least two John Willistons shown in this document;
• 1788 marriage - John Baley Wiliston and Phoebe Stimist, 13 Mar 1788, Newcastle, Northumberland, New Brunswick. Ancestry.com. New Brunswick, Canada, Marriages, 1789-1950 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2017.
• 1788 marriage - "Canada, New Brunswick Provincial Marriages 1789-1950," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVBF-JBXD : 20 February 2021), John Baley Wiliston and Phobe Stimist, 13 Mar 1788; citing NewCastle, Northumberland, New Brunswick, Canada, p. 88, Provincial Archives of New Brunswick, Fredericton; FHL microfilm 845,799.
• 1833 burial - John Bailey Williston, pioneer loyalist, noted to be buried at Ullock's Point burying ground; Jan 3, 1947 in the NorthShore Leader, Newcastle, NB, page 6 article.
• 1833 obituary - d. Bay du Vin, Westmorland, Saturday, 13th instant, John Bailey WILLISTON, Esq., age 76, resident there nearly 50 years. NBC CG. The Weekly Observer, Saint John 9 Jul 1833 edition; New Brunswick Archives, Daniel F. Johnson NB Newspaper Vital Statistics, Volume 5 Number 953: https://archives.gnb.ca/Search/NewspaperVitalStats/Details.aspx?culture=en-CA&guid=8ad66fd6-3b2b-4433-96c4-2e8d5b39f7c4&r=1&ni=305392ComparisondataforJohnBaileyWillistonEsq.CarolAnnWillistonFamilyTreeTreedetails; NB: Westmoorland cited is an error in original newsprint or later transcription, John Bailey Williston lived and died in Northumberland. The two counties have never been connected. Also the cited publish date
• 1833 obituary - d. Bay du Vin, Saturday John Bailey WILLISTON, Esq., age 76, half a century free holder of Bay du Vin. He had 10 sons and 2 daughters, survived by his widow, 8 sons 2 daughters. The Gleaner and Northumberland Schediasma, Chatham 16 Jul 1833 edition; New Brunswick Archives, Daniel F. Johnson NB Newspaper Vital Statistics, Volume 5 Number 971: https://archives.gnb.ca/Search/NewspaperVitalStats/Details.aspx?culture=en-CA&guid=948764a3-2f9d-40e1-8839-af8a28a4b482&r=1&ni=305392;