Daniel Tryon (abt. 1725 - 1800)

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 3 Mar 1800 at about age 75 in New Milford, Litchfield, Connecticut, United States [uncertain]

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Michael Tryon [send private message] and Michael Maranda [send private message]

Biography

There is no evidence of the birth or early life of Daniel Tryon. The earliest records of his life are a series of petitions for a land grant for the town of Queensbury, NY, in 1760-1762. In these petitions he, and most of the rest of the petitioners, are from New Fairfield, CT. With few exceptions, these petitioners do not relocate to Queensbury. At about this same time he marries Ellenor Vaughan of New Fairfield. The grant is made and Daniel's brother-in-law, Zacheus Towner, surveys the new land and establishes the lots there. While still in New Fairfield in 1766 he purchases 100 acres of land in Shaftsbury, VT, and presumably moves there. He appears in the 1790 Vermont census as Daniel Trial. In 1791 and 1795 Daniel sells the Shaftsbury land to the Galusha family (future governor of Vermont). In the 1791 transaction he is living in Shaftsbury but in the 1795 transaction he is living in Caldwell's Manor (Noyan), Lower Canada. Many members of Ellenor's family also live there. There is no record of him beyond this time in Canada. There is a Daniel Tryon who is memorialized at Center Cemetery, New Milford, CT, who died in 1800 at age 75, who we have determined must be this Daniel Tryon.

Research Notes

It had been previously speculated that this Daniel Tryon may be David Tryon, son of Benjamin Tryon, for whom there is no history beyond his birth. Other than the similarity of first names and approximate birth date, there is little to connect the two and the originator of the speculation has dropped this line of reasoning.

Reason for the determination that Daniel is a son of Ziba Tryon and Dorothy Baldwin

There are relatively few Tryons in America at the time of Daniel's birth. He is likely of the second or third generation born in America and so there are few options for the identity of his parents. Tryons in the New Milford area are some of the family of Ziba Tryon in New Milford, New Fairfield, and Sherman. Also John Tryon settled in Litchfield, CT. There is nothing to associate Daniel to John other than both being in the same county. Most researchers think that Ziba is the most likely candidate for his father and the timing of his birth fits well with that family. Ziba's youngest daughter, Abigail, married first John Ferris of New Milford and second Benedict Carpenter of New Milford. Benedict lives adjacent to the Vaughan families in New Milford in 1790. The proximity of the headstones of Daniel and some of Ziba's family members in the cemetery in New Milford is additional circumstantial evidence. Lastly, while the name Daniel was not previously used in the Tryon family, it was common and prominent in the Baldwin family of Ziba's wife (the names Daniel, Abigail, and Samuel were of the first generation of the Baldwin family born in America and were common among the descendants). Based on the very close proximity (<10 miles) of Daniel (in New Fairfield and New Milford) with other family of Ziba (Ziba in New Fairfield, James in Sherman, Abigail in New Milford), the timing of Daniel's birth relative to other children of Ziba, and other considerations noted above, I suggest Daniel is the son of Ziba Tryon and Dorothy Baldwin.

Genetic Evidence: A direct father-to-son male descendant of Daniel has had FTDNA's Big Y analysis. SNP results show he shares exactly the same mutations as all of the other descendants of William of Wethersfield, Ziba's father. All are haplogroup R-FTD91363. All four descendants of Ziba who have tested share a mutation at DYS557, an STR marker, that is not shared with any of the other descendants of William, indicating Daniel is a descendant of Ziba. The other three testers are from two other sons of Ziba and do not share any of the private SNP mutations that Daniel's descendant has, consistent with Daniel being a son of Ziba.

Reason for our determination that the Daniel Tryon who is buried in New Milford, CT, is this same Daniel

1) At the time of Daniel's birth there are relatively few Tryons in America. He must be either the second or possibly third generation of Tryons born in America. Daniel is not a common name among the Tryons so to have two of them of the same generation would be surprising

2) Petitioners to the King for a land grant are typically successful business men or farmers who are prominent in the community. In this case (see land patent below) they are nearly all 35-60 years old. This is the basis for the estimated birth year for Daniel of 1725. This would make him ~35 at the time of the first petition and in his late 60s when he sells his farm in Shaftsbury and "retires." This approximate year matches the headstone in New Milford.

3) Daniel has strong ties to the New Milford / New Fairfield area (the two towns are 8 miles apart). We know he lives there in the 1760s and is prominent enough to be included in the petitions and grant for Queensbury. In the 1790 census of New Fairfield we find many of his wife's siblings and their spouses, all listed close on the same page (Zacheus Towner, Benedict Carpenter, William Vaune, Benjamin Vaune) ^[1]. The Vaughan family was known to be Tories because at least two of Ellenor's brothers moved to Noyan, Quebec, and had their property confiscated about 1781. It would not be surprising for him to return there either to visit or live after Ellenor died in the early 1790s and then to ultimately die there.

From Pam Wood Waugh's notes [1] regarding the land sales (see attached documents):

A land patent dated 20 May 1762 in the town of Queensbury, NY lists him among 22 grantees headed by Daniel Prindle, coming out of Connecticut. Land records associated with Daniel can also be located at the Bennington County Courthouse. The first record dated 19 Aug 1766 involved James Babcock of Shaftsbury selling 100 acres, called Lot #56 "of ye first Division in ye town of Shaftsbury" to Daniel Tryon of New Fairfield (Image:Tryon-852-1.pdf). This was not recorded in Shaftsbury until 22 Jun 1786. The second document was a land sale from Daniel Tryon of Shaftsbury to David and Jacob Galusha dated 14 April 1791, recorded there 24 November 1800 (Image:Tryon-852-2.pdf). The third document which is dated 13 February 1795 lists Daniel Tryon of Shaftsbury initially, but the writer went back and crossed out Shaftsbury and wrote in "Caldwell Manor in the Province of Canada" (Image:Tryon-852-3.pdf).

Based on the last land sale document, Joanna (Tryon) Adams is likely Daniel and Ellenor's daughter. In the document he notes that not included in the land he is selling is some acreage that he has deeded to Henry Adams. Henry Adams is the husband of Joanna.

A Daniel Tryon is noted as a petitioner for land in Quebec that was granted in 1800. The Daniel Tryon of this profile is the only one we know of who could potentially fit this person.

Hereford (village on the Quebec side of the interesection of the boundaries of Vermont, New Hampshire, and Quebec, 85 miles due east of Noyan)

"The tract within the district of Three Rivers bounded north by Clifton, east and south by the province line and west by Barford, subdivided into 308 lots, was erected into a township named Hereford, and in part granted Nov. 6th, 1800, to James Rankin and his associates, viz, Adam Kohlop, Samuel Pangbourne, Ephraim, Reuben Brunson, Henry Casgrove, James Liddle, William Taylor, John Vanvliet, Theodore Stevens, Nathaniel Wait, Silas Town, Joseph Weeks, Daniel Tryon, Michael Hyar, Samuel Danford, Zeras White, Richard Dean, Ephraim Wheeler the elder, James Sears, Doderick Fride, Henry Adams, and Wm. Johnston."

The text goes on to discuss the settlement and it appears that few, if any, of the above associates actually settled there. This is what we have seen elsewhere when prominent men petition for land which is subsequently settled by others. ^[2]

Earlier updates that I'm saving even though they've mostly been incorporated in the above notes:

Update 21 Sep 2017: A collaborator recently visited the grave site at Center Cemetery, New Milford, CT, and had this to say: "It appears likely he is buried there: in addition to the headstone there is a footstone with his name on it.

The adjacent gravestone to the left of Daniel is for Barsheba Curtiss, wife of Benjamin Curtiss. Find A Grave: Memorial #11571800

The adjacent gravestone to the right of Daniel is for William Vaughan. Find A Grave: Memorial #162505128

The person who created the FAG memorial for William Vaughan seems to think this headstone has been re-inscribed with the wrong dates. I did not get that impression from looking at the headstone.

Directly in front of William Vaughan's headstone are headstones for Samuel Oviatt (FAG# 46805427) and his wife Mindwell (FAG#46805428). I have to verify all this, but what I am seeing online is that Samuel Oviatt's grandfather is William Gillett, son of Sarah Tryon Gillett. Also, this Samuel Oviatt has a sister, Mary Oviatt, who allegedly married Dr. William Vaughan, son of Benjamin Vaughan and Rose."

Update 11 Mar 2019: Julie Tryon Brumsted recently visited the Connecticut Historical Society and returned with new evidence regarding Daniel Tryon. Ziba Tryon's daughter Abigail married a second time to Benedick Carpenter (see Abigail's profile). Benedict Carpenter was still living in 1790 and is found in the 1790 census of New Fairfield. He is listed in this census right after Zacheus Towner and before William "Vaune' and Benjamin "Vaune". All of these men are brothers-in-law to Daniel Tryon. In addition, Benedict Carpenter married for his 4th wife Elizabeth Knapp Wanzer, who was a witness to the will of Rose Vaughan, mother in law of Daniel Tryon. While all circumstantial evidence, it is hard not to conclude that Daniel is a son of Ziba.

Sources

1. ↑ "United States Census, 1790," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHKK-HSH : accessed 25 November 2020), Benedict Carpenter, New Fairfield, Fairfield, Connecticut, United States; citing p. 61, NARA microfilm publication M637, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 1; FHL microfilm 568,141.
2. ↑ History of the Eastern Townships, province of Quebec, Dominion of Canada: civil and descriptive / by C.M. Day., Montreal : J. Lovell, 1869

• Gravestone in Center Cemetery, New Milford, CT. Inscription: In memory of Daniel Tryon who died March 3d. 1800 age 75. [2]

• History of the Towns of New Milford and Bridgewater, Connecticut, 1703-1882 (death date - probably taken from tombstone)

• 1790 US Federal Census , Vermont, Bennington Co, Shaftsbury. Roll: M637-12, Page: 21. Household of Daniel Trial.

• A. W. Holden, History of Queensbury, pages 359-364.

• Louis Fiske Hyde, History of Glens Falls, p. 100.

• Will of Rose Vaughan dated 18 Aug 1785 naming her daughter Ellenor, wife of Daniel Tryon. Ancestry.com. Connecticut, Wills and Probate Records, 1609-1999.