Sampson Battey (1779 - 1841)

Born 29 Sep 1779 in Warwick, Kent, Rhode Island, United States

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 12 Apr 1841 at age 61 in Brooklyn, Windham, Connecticut, United States

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Biography

from H. V. Battey, "Samson Battey of Rhode Island" ^[1]

"The sixteen children of Sampson Battey were all living and well at the time of his death. He settled in Scituate with his father's family, afterwards locating in Foster. "Sampson Battey, son of Josiah, was a tall, broad shouldered man, neither flesh nor skinny. In his younger days his hair was black. He was a stirring, energetic, sober and industrious man who stayed at home and gave his entire labors to rearing his family. He did not belong to any fraternal organizations, and probably was not much of a church goer. His farm in Foster consisted of forty or fifty acres upon which he kept two cows and a horse. This farm he bought from Solomon Wilcox, who had built a dam and erected a saw and grist mill thereon. In addition to tending his mill, Sampson worked his farm and was more or less of a house carpenter. Having several boys he received some help from them. The water held back by the mill dam flowed back upon the old bog meadow belonging to Jeremiah Wilcox. Jeremiah sued Sampson for flowage. This suit hung on for several years and Sampson, being annoyed by it, sold the farm and moved away with his family to Danielson, Conn., expecting to have his children work the mill, but they did not prove fitted for that work. So, after looking the country over he bought a stony, forbidding plot of ground in Canterbury. The town lines between Brooklyn and Canterbury ran through the house. Here he lived a few years and died of consumption." "The writer of this has been told that when Sampson Battey was courting Abigail Phillips her mother was a widow, and people, seeing Sampson call at the house, thought he was after the widow, but they found out he was marrying the daughter. ' Nabby', as she was called, was sandy haired and very thick-set and heavy." "His son, Welcome Phillips Battey, always lived at home with his parents, and after his father's death carried on the place and made a home for his mother and sister, Lydia. He was tall, broad shouldered and bald headed. What little hair he had was dark in color. He had consumption, and finally sold the place and moved to Brooklyn, Conn., where he died." "Allen Battey was tall and slim and red haired; he lived at home, worked on the farm, and died of consumption." " Jared Battey was red-headed , heavier set than some other members of the family, taught school, and then went west and worked in a drug store in Peru, Ills., where his brother, Owen W., lived. When his health failed he went back to Connecticut and died on the farm where his mother and Welcome lived." "Lydia Battey was black haired, slim and frail; a member of the Free Baptist Church at East Killingly, Conn. she was a school teacher and taught in her home village. After the death of her brother, Welcome Phillips, she and her mother lived in Danielson, (then called Westfield), Conn ., where she died of consumption and is buried in the Canterbury cemetery." "When Silas Battey was a young man he taught school at Greenbush, about a mile from his father's home. He afterwards learned or picked up the moulder's trade and had a little furnace of his own in Foster, near his Grandfather Phillip's place. He sold out and went to Providence, from the re to Bristol, R.I., and afterwards went west." "Silas Burgess, who married Mercy Battey, had some land in Illinois which he had never seen. He sent Owen W. Battey out to Illinois to inspect the land, and Owen got a position with a railroad company and never came back to Rhode Island to live. Silas Burgess and wife visited Bureau County, Ill., about the year 1877." Abigail Battey, widow of Sampson, spent the last years of her life in Providence, R.I., at the home of her daughter, Mercy Burgess. She is buried with Sampson, and their children, Welcome P., Allen, Jared, Abby E., and Lydia, in the Canterbury Conn. cemetery."

Sources

1. ↑ H.V. Battey. "Samson Battey of Rhode Island: the immigrant ancestor and his descendants" Council Bluffs, Iowa: H.V. Battey, 1932, #79

• Find A Grave: Memorial #79167891 Wheeler Cemetery, Canterbury, Windham Co., Connecticut

• U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970: Sampson Battey; SAR Membership 41011; Birth Date: 29 Sep 1779; Birth Place: Warwick, Rhode Island; Death Date: 12 Apr 1841, Death Place: Brooklyn, Connecticut; Spouse: Abigal Battey; Children: Owen Wheaton Battey