Gilbert Main (1768 - 1810)

Born 10 Jun 1768 in Stonington, New London County, Connecticut

Ancestors

Husband of Martha (Palmer) Main — married about 1788 in Stephentown, Rensselaer, New York, United States

Descendants

Died 1810 at about age 41 in Petersburg, Rensselaer County, New York, United States

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Biography

Gilbert Main, born 10 Jan 1768 at Stonington, Connecticut, was the third child of James Main and Hannah Wallace.

Based on the places and dates of birth and death, Gilbert was a teenaged member of the Main family when his father, Rev. James Main, relocated his family from Stonington, CT to Petersburgh, NY.

According to his bio on Find-a-Grave : [1] "Life was very rough and primitive in Stephentown, Albany County before 1790. . . . The first settlers had to build small log houses. Nothing very suitable for women. It appears the females . . . stayed in Stonington, at least until much later. Gilbert and his brother James, Jr., took wives and settled in Sweet's Corners and later up a bit north in Berlin." After his first wife died, he went back to Stonington and remarried. There was a smallpox epidemic in 1813 in the Little Hoosic Valley that killed hundreds. The population at the time was only a couple of thousand.

"Gilbert found his first wife already in Sweet's Corners, she was Huldah Sweet and gave him a son, Gilbert Sweet Main. Unfortunately, Huldah seems to have died shortly thereafter. Gilbert returned to Stonington and married Martha Palmer. She helped him settle in Berlin, and they had five children in the Little Hoosic Valley.

"Gilbert Sweet Main took off at 17, became a seaman briefly, married and settled in Franklin, Quebec, Canada. He had many children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren who liked Shiocton, Outagamie County, Wisconsin.

"His brother, James Jr., brought his Wife Mercy Taylor from CT. They had several children in Berlin, but she passed early. James, Jr., then found another local girl at Sweet's Corners, Eunice Bly, and he finished his live with her.

"Gilbert's Son, James (b. 1791), and his brother James' (b. 1766) daughter, Mercy (b. 1794), married in Petersburg, Rensselaer, New York, about 1814 . (1st cousins.) Most people have eight great grandparents. James and Mercy's kids had only six.

"Gilbert was too young to see action in the Revolutionary War, and died before being called into the War of 1812."

Gilbert Main died in 1810 at Petersburg, New York, and was interred in Main Cemetery, Petersburg, Rensselaer County, New York, USA : Find A Grave: Memorial #186047520

Sources

• Palmer Groups (1901-1905); Leavitt, E. W.; Palmer, L. M.; pp. 188, no. 1139: https://archive.org/details/palmergroupsjoh00leavgoog/page/n201/mode/1up

• FamilySearch.org [2]

• Genealogical Record of Nathaniel Babcock, Simeon Main, Isaac Miner, Ezekiel Main compiled by Cyrus H. Brown, Westerly R.I. The Everett Press, Boston, 1909, no. 497: https://archive.org/details/genealogicalreco1909brow/page/74