Mehitable Sherwood^{[1, 2]}

Abt 1780 - 1826  (~ 45 years)

• Name	Mehitable Sherwood
  Birth	Abt Nov 1780	Fairfield, Fairfield Co, Connecticut   [3]
  Gender	Female
  _TODO	Open
  	Cutter looks like he got the list that had deleted Hezekiah in favor of Mabel
  Death	12 Mar 1826	Wayne County, New York   [4, 5]
  Burial	Abt 14 Mar 1826	Hunt's Corners (Briggs Cemetery), Wayne Co, New York   [5]
  Person ID	I138	Cooley Miller Sears Barnhouse
  Last Modified	28 Aug 2022

  
  

  Father	Jehiel Sherwood,   b. 1 Mar 1738/39, Fairfield, Fairfield Co, Connecticut d. 21 Sep 1807, South East, Dutchess Co, New York (Age 68 years)
  Mother	Sarah Squire,   b. 23 Jan 1746/47, Fairfield County, Connecticut d. 6 May 1793, Fairfield County, Connecticut (Age 46 years)
  Marriage	5 Oct 1763	Fairfield County, Connecticut   [6, 7]
  Family ID	F37	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	James Sears,   b. 24 Mar 1778, South East, Dutchess Co, New York d. 28 Feb 1857, Tyre, Seneca Co, New York (Age 78 years)
  Marriage	19 Nov 1797	Probably South East New York
  Children	1. Eli Sears,   b. Abt 1800, South East, Dutchess Co, New York d. 12 Jun 1854, Carroll Twp, Chataqua Co, New York (Age ~ 54 years)   2. Archibald Sears,   b. 23 Feb 1802, South East, Dutchess Co, New York d. 28 Oct 1893, Plano, Kendall Co, Illinois (Age 91 years)   3. Thomas Sears,   b. Probably South East New York d. Bef 1850, Grafton, Lorain Co, Ohio   4. Isaac W Sears,   b. 14 Oct 1813, Probably New York State d. 20 Mar 1895, Chatham Twp, Medina Co, Ohio (Age 81 years)   5. Caroline Sears,   b. Abt 1816, Dutchess County, New York d. 6 Apr 1859, Tyre, Seneca Co, New York (Age ~ 43 years)   6. Deborah Sears,   b. 15 Jun 1807, Probably New York State d. 6 Oct 1840, Savannah, Wayne Co, New York (Age 33 years)   7. Melanthe Sears,   b. Abt 1816, Probably New York State d. Abt 1870, Probably Wayne County, New York (Age ~ 54 years)   8. Sally Sears,   b. Abt 1815, Probably Wayne County, New York d. Yes, date unknown
  Family ID	F35	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	7 Jul 2007

  
  

• Photos

  In memory of/Mehitable/wife of James Sears/ who died March 12, 1826 in the 45th/year of her age.

  
  

• Notes

  Mehitable/Mabel Sherwood was the daughter of Jehiel Sherwood. She was born about November 1780. The first solid reference to "Mehitable" wife of James Sears, appears on the 1826 gravestone at Hunt's Corners, Wayne Co, New York. Previous references to the wife of James Sears had her name as "Mabel" Sherwood. Is the "Mabel" of South East, New York the "Mehitable", wife of James Sears, at Hunt's Corners? Circumstantially, it is convincing but no specific documentation exists to verify that Mehitable/Mabel Sherwood was the daughter of Jehiel Sherwood. She died 12 Mar 1826 in Wayne County NY aged 45 years and this inscription on Mehitable's gravestone was what I used to arrive at a birth date of approximately Nov 1780. The central problem with Mehitable is that in a Fairfield Church journal of families (not kept in real time), a list of Jehiel Sherwood's family members does not contain either Abigail or Mehitable. This has caused over a century of consternation even leading 19th century DAR applicants to falsify records (in the New York City Public Library) to enable the inclusion of these two children. In fact, Hezakiah Sherwood's name was erased from the Fairfield Church list in order to get Abigail's name in there. There's no justification for doing this. I am able to "fit" birthdates for all without erasing anyone. The burnng of Fairfield by the British in 1779 could well have prevented the recording of Abigail and Mehitable Sherwood's births. From Wikipedia: "On the morning of July 7, 1779, approximately 2,000 enemy troops landed on Fairfield Beach near Pine Creek Point and proceeded to invade the town. When they left the following evening, the entire town lay in ruins, burned to the ground as punishment for Fairfield's support of the rebel cause. Ten years later, President George Washington noted after traveling through Fairfield, that "the destructive evidences of British cruelty are yet visible both in Norwalk and Fairfield; as there are the chimneys of many burnt houses standing in them yet." The gravestone inscription in the Hunts Corners Cemetery in Wayne County NY is "In memory of/Mehitable/wife of James Sears/ who died March 12, 1826 in the 45th/year of her age." At one time there was a dispute about the year, that it could be 1824, but I have closely examined the gravestone picture and the last digit of the year definitely has a curved top thus it could not be a four.

  
  

• Sources

  [S389] Janet Wethy Foley, Foley - NY Settlers, (Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc.), Jan 1942, Vol VIII Nos. 7-8 (Reliability: 3). [S383] H Calkins, Jr (Ed.), Philippi Dismission, (The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, Vol XXXII, No. 3, July 1901 ), p170 (Reliability: 3). [S361] Daniel Berton Cooley, DBC Sherwood Analysis, Sherwood binder (Reliability: 3). [S310] Alfred S. Roe, Rose Sketches Mehitable, (Published by the author, Worcester, Mass. 1891), p 418 (Reliability: 4). [S26] Daniel B Cooley, Death & Burial M Sherwood. [S30] Donald Lines Jacobus, M.A., Jacobus - Fairfield main, (For The Eunice Dennie Burr Chapter/Daughters of the American Revolution, Fairfield, Connecticut, 1932 ), p900 (Reliability: 3). [S645] Bailey, Frederic W., Conn marriages, Page 36 (Reliability: 3).