Timothy Teall (1754 - 1820)

Born 21 May 1754 in Middletown, Hartford, Connecticut Colony

Ancestors

Husband of Phoebe Hull — married 13 Dec 1781 in Killingworth, Hartford, Connecticut

Husband of Dorothy Alcott (Alcott) Foot — married 23 Nov 1797 in Manlius, New York

Descendants

Died 14 Jun 1820 at age 66 in Manlius, Onondaga, New York

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Biography

Private Timothy Teall served with 3rd Regiment, Connecticut Militia during the American Revolution.

Timothy Teall is a DAR Patriot Ancestor, A113247.

Timothy was born in the town of Middletown* (probably Killingworth), CT in 1754, the son of Dr. Oliver and Ruth (Hurd) Teall^[1] He was baptized with his brothers Titus and Oliver, in Holy Trinity Church, Middletown, CT on June 10, 1759 "as can be seen by the Baptismal Records of the Church."^[2]

A descendant of three generations of physicians, he studied medicine and surgery,^[2] probably as apprentice to his father. Timothy, along with his brothers, Nathan, Titus, Oliver, and Joseph, joined the fight for independence. He was 21 years old when he enlisted with others from Killingworth under Capt. Aaron Stevens in 1775^[3] during the "Lexington Alarm." The Alarm was in response to attacks by the British on Lexington and Concord in April, 1775. His oldest brother, Benjamin, was not permitted to enlist because of the loss of an eye due to a childhood accident,^[4] but his sympathies were with his brothers and that of other Americans. However, their father, Oliver, a career British officer fought on the side of England. ^[4] Edward Teall writes, "I can find no record that they were ever re-united after the war or whether Surgeon Teall died in this country, or went to England when the British army was withdrawn."^[4]

The following information on Timothy's military record is taken from Dunn's Teall Genealogical Records. She copied the information from Connecticut Military Records, p 15, 17 & 613:^[2]
After the Lexington Alarm, Timothy fought with the Connecticut Militia's 8th Company under Captain Samuel Gale for three years. Later, he joined with Captain Martin Kirkland's Company in Col. Erastus Wolcott's Regiment (roll call on Feb. 28, 1777). He joined the Navy as a seaman, serving on the ship, Oliver Cromwell, in 1777 under Capt. Harding. He was in Col. Mead's Regiment when he was taken prisoner in January, 1780 at Horse Neck, CT and was confined in the hold of a prison ship in New York harbor "in bilge water and vermin, starved and cruelly treated. He did not gain his release until the Colonies had gained their independence [1783]. And even then, ill and unable to make himself heard, he was forgotten when the rest of the prisoners were released. When finally found and released, he was so emaciated that his family failed to recognize him upon his return home."

It should be noted that church records show Timothy's date of marriage (Dec 1781) occurred during the time that Dunn and other family historians assert that he was a prisoner. There is no doubt that he was taken prisoner in Jan. 1780, however. His name appears in the roster of captured Revolutionary Soldiers and Sailors; "Of Killingworth. In Col. Mead's Regt., prisoner in Jan., '80."^[5] According to local Onondaga County historian Rev. William M. Beauchamp, Timothy served for a total of six years, "but eighteen months of that time he was a prisoner,"^[6] which means that he was released about July 1781. This release date would have allowed him to marry in Dec. 1781 and therefore is likely accurate.

Timothy married Phoebe Hull, daughter of George Hull, in Killingworth, CT in December, 1781 ^[7] Their marriage is recorded in the First Church of Killingworth. Somewhat interestingly, Phoebe's 2nd cousin, Joseph Hull, married Timothy's sister Mary Teall in 1784. According to Dunn, after the war, Timothy returned to his practice in Middletown. Their first child, Amelia, was born there in 1782.

Their children:

1. Amelia (1782 - 1839) married Allen Breed
2. Nathan (1784 - 1871) married Clarinda Button
3. Anna (1786 - 1861) married Jonathan Worden
4. Oliver (1788 - 1857) married Catherine Walter
5. Phoebe (1790 - 1867) married George Lowden Taylor
6. Clarissa (1793 - 1871) married Reuben Hallet Bangs

By 1788, the Teall family had moved to Caughnawaga (now Johnstown) NY (son Oliver was born there in Aug 1788).^[8] Timothy and family appear on the census for Caughnawaga, Montgomery County, New York in 1790.^[9] Timothy was a member of the St. Patrick's Masonic Lodge in Johnstown, Fulton County, NY.^[10] The town of Caughnawaga, located close to the Mohawk River near present day Johnstown, was divided in 1793 and no longer exists in name.^[11] Timothy and Phoebe's fifth child, Phoebe, was born in Montgomery County (probably in Caughnawaga) in November of 1790^[12]

The family moved to the town of Manlius in central New York in 1791 where Timothy became one of the first physicians in Onondaga County.^[6]

Two months after the birth of their last child, Clarissa, Phoebe died in Manlius in 1793 at the age of thirty-four,^[13] Timothy and Phoebe had six children and had been married for 12 years before her death.

Timothy married secondly, Dorothy (Alcott) Foote in Manlius, NY in 1797.^[2] They had one child:

1. Asaph (1800 - 1879) married Sophrona Taylor & Anna Hedges

Timothy began to turn to public service about 1792. Town of Manlius records show that at the first town meeting in April 1794. "The Supervisor and Town Clerk were chosen by ballot, the remaining officers by the up-lifted hand Forty-two votes were polled...The following list was elected:...William Ward and Timothy Teall, Assessors..."^[14] The father of his future son-in-law, Gershon Breed, was elected overseer of roads at that same meeting. Timothy went on to hold several other governmental positions including Town Clerk and Town Supervisor in 1800 and Deputy Sheriff. "A yellowed commission ornamented with the Great Seal of New York and carefully preserved in the family shows him to have been made a Justice of the Peace in 1801."^[2]

Timothy was an active member of Manlius Trinity Church, now known as Christ Church in Manlius, NY. In a work authored by Al Vedder and Kathey Crowell, The Early History of Christ Church, Manlius, Timothy is mentioned as one of eight elected vestrymen in 1804. The church still stands today and is considered a national historic site.

"From Lakin's History of Military Lodge No. 93, F. and A. M. of the Town of Manlius, New York: Among the early settlers of the town of Manlius, New York, were a number of Free and Accepted Masons, who were the leading men of those days. Several of them met together on the 30th day of June, 1802, from different towns in Onondaga and Chenango Counties at the home of Libbius Foster, situate at Eagle Village in the town of Manlius, County of Onondaga, New York. With Brother Timothy Teall in the Chair, it was unanimously resolved to form a new lodge to be known as 'Military Lodge' No. 93. The name was chosen owing to its organizers being men of Revolutionary fame. Timothy Teall belonged to St . Patrick lodge of Johnstown, New York. He was elected first, Senior Warden, re-elected in 1803 and again in 1805; Treasurer in 1804; Secretary in 1806...."^[2]

Timothy died in Manlius, NY in 1820 at the age of 66.^[15] He is buried in the Fayetteville Cemetery in Fayetteville, NY next to his wife Phoebe and daughter, Clarissa Teall Bangs. According to findagrave.com, a single stone for Timothy and Phoebe is immediately behind Timothy's military stone. Their stone has fallen over and is sunken. Their headstone inscription:

TIMOTHY TEALL

DIED

June 14, 1820

AGED 66 years & 24 days

PHEBE HULL

Wife of

TIMOTHY TEALL

DIED

July 7, 1793

AGED 34 YEARS

Note: Middletown, CT was part of Hartford County until 1785. It is now within Middlesex County.

In 1909, the Syracuse Herald featured the following story;^[16]

Revolutionary Hero's Tombstone a Farmhouse Step

In

Memory of

Timothy Teale

Esq who was born

May 21st 1751 and

died June 11 1820

in the 69th year

of his age

In October, 1909, Timothy Teall's headstone was found on the property of the Hoas family. It was uncovered as they were making repairs to the foundation of their house. In digging up the stone steps leading to the front door, the stone with the inscription above in old-fashioned characters was discovered. There was a mystery as to the history of the stone. No one at the time knew very much about it, but it was said that there once was an old cemetery further down the road. The cemetery contained the remains of early pioneers from the 18th century. Later, the bodies were moved elsewhere by descendants. Timothy Teall was moved to the Fayetteville Cemetery, but how his tombstone found its way into the foundation of a Hoas house is a mystery.

Timothy Teall "fought in the American Revolution, was one of the county's earliest physicians and bore an honored name among the pioneers. Not only that, but the family is a proud one and through some of its connections has been illustrious not only in the county, but far beyond its borders."

"Timothy Teal's father, Oliver Teall came to this country from England in 172[2 or 3] and settled in Killingworth, CT where Timothy was born in [illegible]. Oliver Teall, who was the third of that name in the family, was a surgeon on a British ship during the French war. His five sons, including Timothy, enlisted with the American forces at the outbreak of the Revolution, and with the exception of one, who died in camp, served all through the struggle. In the family records is a sketch by Oliver Teall, one of Timothy's brothers, detailing graphically his experience in the Revolution and telling of seeing General Washington frequently. Smallpox, contracted in camp, caused the death of the brother who failed to survive the war. His clothes were sent to his brother Oliver, who wore them and of course contracted the same disease, but recovered, as he phases it "through the blessing of God."

"Timothy himself, whose tombstone has come to such a sad pass, was in the navy during the struggle for independence and was captured off the New England coast, with all the ships company by a British man-of-war. The prisoners were taken to New York harbor and thrown into the hold of a prison ship, where, confined below decks amid dirt and bilge water, they lay for months, cruelly treated and insufficiently supplied with food. They got their freedom only when the colonies had achieved their independence, an even then, according to a story in the family, Timothy Teall, ill and unable to make himself heard, was forgotten when the other prisoners were released and lay still longer in the prison ship. After he had been eventually discovered and released he reached home in so emaciated a condition that even his family failed to recognize him."

A Pioneer in Manlius

"Soon after his return to Connecticut Timothy Teall married Phoebe Hull and in 1791 they made their way through what was then a wilderness to Manilas, thus being among the earliest settlers of that historic town. He was one of the organizers of the famous old military lodge of Masons, whose romantic history was given in The Sunay Herald last July. Though he was a physician and is so called in all references to him in the histories, the title "Dr." is left off his hame on the [illegible]. In 1794, three years after [missing several lines]... and Dr. Teall was elected one of the first Assessors. A yellowed commission, ornamented with a great seal and carefully preserved in the family, show him also to have been made a Justice of the Peace in 1801.

The original owner of the tombstone was twice married, his first wife dying in Manilius and when his body was laid in the little burying ground near Kirksville there survived him two sons and four daughters. The most noted of his sons was Oliver Teall, father of the waterworks system in Syracuse and builder of a large section of the Erie canal.

Dr. Timothy Teall must have been an important man in the early town of Manilas, and nobody in those days would have suspected how his tombstone was to be treated. He not only was the little community' physician, but was its magistrate and its Deputy Sheriff. Also he bought a farm and it is said that either he or his son established a gristmill on the brook that runs into the canal basin. Part of the ruins of an old mill are still to be seen close to the Hoas house under the bluff where Timothy Teal's gravestone now lies in the mud. On the stone his name is spelled "Teale," which was the old spelling of the family name.

Sources

1. ↑ Connecticut Births and Christenings, 1649-1906, database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F74W-6P1 : 11 February 2018), Timothy Teal, 21 May 1754; citing ; FHL microfilm unknown.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5} Dunn (Teall), Emma Elisabeth. Teall Genealogical Records in England and America, Los Angeles, 1926, p. 16.
3. ↑ "United States Rosters of Revolutionary War Soldiers and Sailors, 1775-1783", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QG2M-BW44 : 18 March 2018), Timothy Teal, 8 May 1775.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2} Teall, Edward M. Genealogical And Historical Notes of The Teall Family, self published, Chicago, Ill., 1889, p. 3. Ancestry.com. Genealogical and historical notes of the Teall family [database on-line]. Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.
5. ↑ "United States Rosters of Revolutionary War Soldiers and Sailors, 1775-1783", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QG2M-SWGY : 18 March 2018), Timothy Teal, 1780.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} Beauchamp, Rev. W.M., Revolutionary Soldiers: Resident or Dying in Onondaga County, NY, Onondaga Historical Association, Syracuse, NY, 1912, p. 98.
7. ↑ Bailey, Rev. Frederic W. Early Connecticut Marriages as Found on Ancient Church Records Prior to 1800, Bureau of American Ancestry, New Haven, CT, 1904, Book VI, p. 67
8. ↑ Oliver Teall obituary, Syracuse Daily Standard, Syracuse, NY 17 August 1857
9. ↑ "United States Census, 1790," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHKG-2TR : accessed 28 March 2018), Timothy Teel, Caughnawaga, Montgomery, New York, United States; citing p. 10, NARA microfilm publication M637, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 6; FHL microfilm 568,146.
10. ↑ Lakin, Charles A. Freemasons. Military Lodge, no. 93 Eagle Printing House, Manlius, NY, 1893. [1]
11. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Caughnawaga, New York," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. [2]
12. ↑ New York State Census, 1855," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K6QV-7FB : 13 March 2018), Phoebe Taylor in household of George L Taylor, E.D. 2, Manlius, Onondaga, New York, United States; citing p. 40, line #11, family #334, county clerk offices, New York; FHL microfilm 870,756.
13. ↑ "Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVV2-1ZGB : 11 July 2016), Phebe Hull Teall, 1793; Burial, Fayetteville, Onondaga, New York, United States of America, Fayetteville Cemetery; citing record ID 21033712, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.
14. ↑ Clayton, W.W. History of Onondaga County, New York, D. Mason & Co, Syracuse, NY, 1878, p. 364
15. ↑ "Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVV2-1ZG1 : 13 December 2015), Timothy Teall, 1820; Burial, Fayetteville, Onondaga, New York, United States of America, Fayetteville Cemetery; citing record ID 21033697
16. ↑ Unknown Author, Revolutionary Hero's Tombstone a Farmhouse Step, Syracuse Herald, Syracuse, NY, 21 March 1909.

• "Connecticut Births and Christenings, 1649-1906," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F74W-6P1 : 11 February 2018), Timothy Teal, 21 May 1754, Middletown Twp, Middlesex, CT, Father's name Oliver Teal, Mother's name Ruth Hurd; citing ; FHL microfilm unknown.
• "United States Rosters of Revolutionary War Soldiers and Sailors, 1775-1783", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QG2M-BW44 : 18 March 2018), Timothy Teal, 8 May 1775.
• "United States Rosters of Revolutionary War Soldiers and Sailors, 1775-1783", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QG2M-SWGY : 18 March 2018), Timothy Teal, 1780.
• Bailey, Rev. Frederic W. Early Connecticut Marriages as Found on Ancient Church Records Prior to 1800, Bureau of American Ancestry, New Haven, CT, 1904, Book VI, p. 67. "Timothy Teal & Phebe Hull, Dec. 13, 1781"
• Oliver Teall obituary, Syracuse Daily Standard, Syracuse, NY 17 August 1857
• "United States Census, 1790," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHKG-2TR : accessed 28 March 2018), Timothy Teel, Caughnawaga, Montgomery, New York, United States; citing p. 10, NARA microfilm publication M637, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 6; FHL microfilm 568,146.

1790 Census Montgomery County: Teel, Timothy 1 1 * * *

(1st no: 1 free white male over 16 years, 2nd no: 1 free white male under 16 years)

*-Illegible

[https://montgomery.nygenweb.net/census/caughna1790.html}

• "United States Census, 1800," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XH5Y-NJX : accessed 28 March 2018), Timothy Teal, Manlius, Onondaga, New York, United States; citing p. 172,173, NARA microfilm publication M32, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 24; FHL microfilm 193,712.
• "United States Census, 1810," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XH2Z-QMZ : accessed 28 March 2018), Timothy Teele, Manlius, Onondaga, New York, United States; citing p. 68, NARA microfilm publication M252 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 34; FHL microfilm 181,388.
• "New York State Census, 1855," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K6QV-7FB : 13 March 2018), Phoebe Taylor in household of George L Taylor, E.D. 2, Manlius, Onondaga, New York, United States; citing p. 40, line #11, family #334, county clerk offices, New York; FHL microfilm 870,756.
• "Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVV2-1ZG1 : 13 December 2015), Timothy Teall, 1820; Burial, Fayetteville, Onondaga, New York, United States of America, Fayetteville Cemetery; citing record ID 21033697.
• Beauchamp, Rev. W.M., Revolutionary Soldiers: Resident or Dying in Onondaga County, NY, Onondaga Historical Association, Syracuse, NY, 1912, p. 98. https://books.google.com/books?id=LpZ4AAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false

"Timothy Teall: This local head of a well known family came to Manlius from Killingworth Ct in 1791 with Phebe Hull his wife. He served in Capt Aaron Stevens' company, Killingworth, at the time of the Lexington alarm; then in Capt Samuel Gale's company, of the same place, in the same year. In '77 he was in Capt Kirtland's company and was taken prisoner in 1780. In all he served six years, but eighteen months of that time he was a prisoner, having been taken at Horse Neck when Gen Putnam made his famous escape. Dr. Teall had six brothers in the service. At the first Manlius town meeting he was made assessor and became town clerk in 1800. He was the first Senior Warden of Military Lodge, but the dates of his birth and death do not appear. Jonathan Worden and Allen Breed were administrators, July 3 1820."

• Bruce, Dwight H., ed, Memorial History of Syracuse, NY from its Settlement to the Present Time, H.P. Smith & Co., Syracuse, NY, 1891, Part II, p. 78.
• Bruce, Dwight H., ed, Onondaga's Centennial: Gleanings of a Century, Boston History Company, Boston, MA, 1896,Vol. I, p 159, 408, 773 & 798. "In 1791 he settled in Manlius, where he practiced as a physician and held various town offices" (p 159).
• Clayton, W.W. History of Onondaga County, New York, D. Mason & Co, Syracuse, NY, 1878, p. 364, 367 & 375. "On January 1, 1815, he [Reuben Bangs] married Clarissa Teall, daughter of Dr. Timothy Teall, and sister of Oliver Teall. Her father fought , with six brothers, in the war of the Revolution six years. He came to the town of Manlius, Onondaga County, in the year 1791, and became one of its most prominent and respected citizens" (p 375).
• Dunn, Emma Elisabeth (Teall) Teall Genealogical Records in England and America (Dunn, Los Angeles, California,1926), p. 15 - 17, 26, 40.
• Dudley, Dean, The Bangs Family in America with Genealogical Tables and Notes, self published, Montrose, MA, 1896, p. 207. "Reuben H. Bangs m. Jan. 1, 1815, Clarissa, dau. of Dr. Timothy Teal, who was among the first settlers of Onondago county, N.Y."
• Lakin, Charles A. Freemasons. Military Lodge, no. 93 Eagle Printing House, Manlius, NY, 1893. [3]
• Teall, Edward M. Genealogical And Historical Notes of The Teall Family, self published, Chicago, Ill., 1889, p. 4 - 5. Ancestry.com. Genealogical and historical notes of the Teall family [database on-line]. Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.
• Worden, Dora Pope, Descendants of Oliver Teall and Allied Families, self published, Ithaca, NY, 1922, p. 4 & 6.
• Unknown Author, Revolutionary Hero's Tombstone a Farmhouse Step, Syracuse Herald, Syracuse, NY, 21 March 1909.
• Wikipedia contributors, "Caughnawaga, New York," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. [4]