Absalom Littel (abt. 1710 - abt. 1785)

Born about 10 Oct 1710 in Elizabeth, Union, New Jersey

Ancestors

Descendants

Died about 1785 at about age 74 in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, USA

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Catherine Ehlert [send private message] and Nick Littell [send private message]

Biography

He was born in October 1710 and his parents were Mary (Ladner) and Anthony Littel.

The life of the pioneers of southwestern Pennsylvania was so bitterly hard that the payment of taxes was often an almost unbearable burden. Several warrants have been found recorded, but the home of Esther (Pettyjohn) and Absalom Little and their family was "Absalom's Oak" situated in the present Luzerne Township of Fayette County, Pennsylvania. The warrant of 13 Nov 1784 was followed with a consequent survey on 11 Jan 1785 and a patent dated 03 Nov 1787 for a tract of 197.5 acres called "Absalom's Oak". It but it seems quite certain that "Absalom's Oak" with its buildings was a part of his parents 300 acre tract. During their long tenure of residence and possession, previous to legal ownership, transfers occurred from time to time, some of them unrecorded, which created a slight variation in the land descriptions, Absalom was called Junior when he formally promised to maintain and support his parents throughout their natural lives. This deed was witnessed by John Pettyjohn, who was either a cousin or nephew to Esther - and if nephew, he was probably married to their daughter Deborah Little. ^[1]

Absalom or Absolom Littel or Littell passed away about 1785 in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, USA.

On 24 June 1788 his widow Esther Little purchased from Thomas Scott, a 307 acre land tract called "Scotland", which lay next west of "Absalom's Oak". This evidently included the portion of her original home farm, which had been deeded in 1776 to her son Absalom and re-deeded in 1780 by him to the said Scott, to whom it was warranted, surveyed and patented during 1785 to 1788. The trivial purchase price of five shillings (which she paid on 21 Nov 1791, thus completing the bargain) for this large tract, as compared with its valuation of 122 pounds in the tax record of 1791, argues that Thomas Scott was a near relative and that the transfer was in the nature of a gift. The deed itself incorporated the stipulation that after the death of Esther, one-half of this land should go to her daughter Fanny Little and her heirs, and that other half to her son Abraham Little and his heirs. ^[1]

Research Notes

A source is needed to confirm his birth location ...

- born in New Jersey ? OR

- born in Delaware ?

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} "Gates and Allied Families" v2 compiled by Mary Walton Ferris in 1931

• Family Data Collection - Individual Records compiled by Edmund West on ancestry.com

• Ancestry Family Tree