Preserved Fish (1770 - 1849)

Born 5 Nov 1770 in Dighton, Bristol County, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Ancestors

Husband of Abigail (Carpenter) Fish — married 1791 in Vermont

Descendants

Died 10 Oct 1849 at age 78 in Ira, Rutland County, Vermont, United States

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Biography

This Preserved Fish, born 05 Nov 1770 at Dighton, Bristol, Massachusetts, was the seventh child of Abigail (Hathaway) Fish (1729-1775) and Robert Fish (1731-1817) ^[1],^[2]. His birth place was the old Fish farm that his grandfather, Daniel Fish, had established after leaving Portsmouth, Rhode Island.

Preserved's mother died when we was five years old, after which he was bound out to one of his older brothers, Matthew, at New Ashford to learn the stone mason's trade. At the age of 19 he "bought" his remaining time from Matthew for sixty dollars, however because he was a poor boy he became indebted to him for that amount. He then set out north with other settlers into the New Hampshire Grants (later the state of Vermont), arriving in the district of Ira, in 1790. There were few modes of travel in those days: oxcart, stage coach, horseback, or by foot. He apparently kept contact with his compatriot migrants after they had settled in Vermont.

He married in August 1791, Abigail (Carpenter) Fish (1773-1852) of Clarendon, Vermont [b. 24 Mar 1773 at Rehoboth, Massachusetts], whose family had migrated to Clarendon, a town adjoining Ira to the east. Perhaps Abigail's relocation to Vermont was an inducement for Preserved to likewise migrate there.

With ability as a stone mason to make money and the thrift to save it, Preserved soon repaid his debt to his brother, and invested his savings in farm lands and mortgages. Thus while his ten sons were growing into manhood they were kept busy tilling his constantly increasing acreage. At his death, Preserved Fish was the town's richest man, leaving an estate of $45,000 after having given $20 thousand worth of property to his four sons and one daughter who remained in Ira.

Preserved and Abigail (Carpenter) Fish had 12 children:

1. Russell Fish, b. 5 Mar 1792; married 1) Betsey Carpenter; 2) Mary Dexter; d. 6 Aug 1878
2. Daniel Fish (1794-); married Amanda Aiken
3. Leicester Fish (1796-1855); married Eunice Newton
4. Leonard Fish, b. 25 Jan 1796; married Celinda Hewitt; d. 24 Jul 1883
5. Betsey Fish, b. 5 Sep 1798; married Leonard Mason; d. 18 Aug 1891
6. Aram Fish (3 Mar 1801 - May 1804)
7. Served Fish, b. 18 Jul 1881; married 1) Anna Cook; 2) Sally Ann Offensend; d. 14 Jan 1881
8. Hiram Fish, b. 2 Sep 1805; married 1) Naurina Newton; 2) Minerva Chapman; 3) Martha Rice; d. 6 Apr 1891
9. Bradley Fish, b. 17 Sep 1807; married 1) Mary Gilmore; 2) Susie Carlton; d. 8 May 1805
10. Enos Fish, b. 25 Dec 1809; married 1) Marcia Chapman; 2) Elvira Morton; 3) Jane Flagg Bateman; d. 24 Aug 1888
11. Alanson Fish, b. 11 Jul 1811; married Eunice Whipple; d. 5 Jun 1840
12. Harrison Fish, b. 24 Dec 1815; married Nancy Offensend; d. 23 Aug 1867

Preserved Fish died 10 Oct 1849 at Ira, Vermont. His grave is in Riverside Cemetery, Ira, Rutland County, Vermont, USA ^[3].

Sources

1. ↑ Fish, Lester Warren. The Fish family in England and America: genealogical and biographical records and sketches Rutland Vermont, USA. 1948; p. 107, 122-153: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89067390757;view=1up;seq=172
2. ↑ "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/Q29G-BXC1 : 6 November 2017), Preserved Fish, 05 Nov 1770; citing Birth, Dighton, Bristol, Massachusetts, United States, , town clerk offices, Massachusetts; FHL microfilm 777,615.
3. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #42658256