1749 -1814
Orange County, NY - Seneca County, NY
Jonathan was born in 1749 in Middletown, Orange County, New York, to . . . . Well, immediately there is a problem, because various sources give him various parents. (see sources below). I have until recently given him Ebenezer and Temperance Helme as parents, based on Hook's article in The American Genealogist - but only because Hook claims there is family tradition for this (but he does not cite the source, so I don't know how good it is). On my own, I would have linked our Jonathan with the descendants of Jonathan and Bethia Terry, based on geography and names - there are no Ebenezers and no Temperances among Jonathan's descendants. [Hook himself was tempted in this direction also.]
Just recently I came across an exchange by Una Bowman and Linda Hansen on the Owen Family GenForum site - both Una and Linda believe his father to have been Nathaniel son of Jonathan and Bethia Terry. Those two are researchers I REALLY respect, and so I have changed my mind, and decided to go with Nathaniel as the father of Jonathan. But it is only an opinion - there is no rock-solid documentation. Hook does not source his "family tradition," while Una and Linda have a Bible record - but there are problems with that also [From Una: "Unfortunately. at the time material was presented to establish the DAR line to Jonathan Owen (wife Eleanor) the date was only verified and no picture of the actual pages [was included]." If the statement "Nathaniel Owen, born about 1700, father of Jonathan Owen 1st . . . " was written by Jonathan b 1783, then it is very likely true - surely he would know his own grandfather's name.]
At this point [July, 2007], I believe Nathaniel to have been Jonathan's father - but that is just opinion on my part.
Jonathan married [Catherine] Eleanor Kortwright, "who lived in or near New York City" (according to Frelove Pyle) - their first son Nathaniel was born 5 July 1773. [Naturally, there is some confusion about Eleanor as well, but that I discuss on her own page. And I’m not sure about the “Catherine” part of her name - the Owens always refer to her as Eleanor.] Nathaniel was one of only 10 children - you will sometime find an additional 4 children listed for Jonathan and Eleanor, but they are in fact the children of this son Nathaniel.
Children: Nathaniel (5 Jul 1773 - 6 Sep 1862, Tompkins Co., NY)
m Mehitable Tucker ~1798 (12 Mar 1775, Long Island -18 Jan 1846 Schuyler Co., NY).
William (20 Feb 1775, Middletown, Orange, NY - 1855 Luzerne Co, PA)
there is some confusion over this man - see his section on the children of J & E page
m (1) Nancy McCord
(2) Jane Ware
Joseph K (1777, Middletown, Orange, NY - aft. 1814 Ohio).
Jesse (27 Jul 1779, Middletown, Orange, NY - 26 Aug 1844, Seneca Co., NY)
m Elizabeth Case (8 Mar 1781, Tompkins, NY- 15 Apr 1839, Tompkins).
Mary Polly - our next ancestor - (11 Nov 1780, Middletown, Orange, NY - 1838, Allegheny Co, PA)
[m Dunbar Auble]
m Moses Brown (28 Jun 1775, Goshen, Orange, NY)
Susannah (12 Jan 1782, Middletown, Orange NY - ?1839, Tompkins Co, NY)
m Daniel Brown
Jonathan (1 Sep 1783, Middletown, Orange, NY - 31 Jan 1865, Dix, Schuyler NY)
m Elizabeth Betsey Ludlum ~1803 in NY
(27 Feb 1781 - 28 Jan 1857 Perry City, NY) d/o John Ludlum & Sara Headley)
Eleanor (1 Oct 1787, Middletown, Orange, NY)
m Daniel Holmes
Sarah (17 Apr 1789, Middletown, Orange, NY - 20 May 1864)
m John Coddington 22 Feb 1810 in NY.
Aaron Kortwright (10 May 1794, Middletown, Orange, NY - 16 May 1847, Tompkins , NY)
m Mary Dunham ~ 1811. (She died ~1812).
m Martha Carman 23 Dec 1813 in Coxsackie, Greene, NY
(10 May 1795 Coxsackie - 22 Apr 1848) d/o Caleb Carman & Mary Lisk
Jonathan signed a Revolutionary Pledge before the Revolution and served militarily when the time came. He was a Lieutenant in the New York Militia, 2nd Regiment, Ulster Co (Captain Isaiah Vail). His brother-in-law, William Bodle, and two brothers, Joshua and David, served under him. Several Browns - Gilbert, John, Archibald and Duncan - served in the same regiment.. [Orange County is just south of Ulster Co.]
Revolutionary Pledge - 29 Apr 1775 - Blooming Grove District
John Brown
Silas Hulse
Jonathan Owen
John Owen
All of these records have different town names attached to them, and since there were a LOT of Jonathan Owens, and since they lived in a LOT of these different towns, I am not sure that this is really our Jonathan. However, the text below shows that he was a signer of SOMETHING.Heidgerd, Ruth P., ed . Ulster County in the Revolution (a guide to those who served). (S.l.: Ulster County Bicentennial Commission, 1977)
Owen, Jonathan - sgr. Newburgh. - 2nd Ulster 12 co 10-25-75, 2nd Lt. 3-23-78 (F-299) / James Clinton-Isaiah Veal (SAR 1896/407) Lt. (R-191); delinquent 8-2-80 (CP 6/73); ? B. 1749. D 8-21-1814. ,/ Catherine Eleanor Kortright, Lt. (DAR 509)-
Sgr means "signer, Articles of Association." Inside the parentheses is source information, but I didn’t write down what all of it means - sorry
Also you will notice that Jonathan was a Lieutenant; there are later references to him as a Captain, and it is not clear where they came from.
Jonathan Jr - 2nd Ulster ... ?b. 3-24-1757, d 5-11-1800, m Mary Dunning, Pvt (DAR 509)
This in not our Jonathan's son - it is his cousin - son of Gershom and grandson of Jonathan and Bethia Terry.
Una Bowman provided this information about the service of the 2nd Ulster
4 days commencing 29 April 1777, on alarm to Peenpack
2 days commencing 20 Sept 1778, on alarm to Peenpack
4 days commencing 4 July 1779, on alarm to Peenpack
6 days commencing 10 June 1781, on a march to the frontiers of Bashe's land
4 days commencing 20 Oct 1781, on alarm to Peenpack
And as for that “delinquent” notation:
1780 Aug 2 - Col Newkerk’s return of delinquent officers - these fellows didn’t show up for an alarm on June 26 - John Dunning, first Lieut of the company formerly commanded by Capt Veil; Jonathan Owen, second Lieut. (And) Do; Henry Smith ensign of the company formerly commanded by Capt Watkins. . . .
In 1785, he put in a claim for land
1785 April 25 - Claim of Jonathan Owen for a soldier’s right of land.
[This is supposedly to be found in the Calendar of Land Papers, Albany, NY, p. 145 - I have not seen a copy myself.]
Although family tradition, as well as at least two county histories (see below), claim that Jonathan did receive a grant for a square mile in the Military District, in fact he did not.
The Military District was 2 million acres in the Finger Lakes area of New York, set aside by the state legislature in 1789 for the use of soldiers of the Revolution. “This tract was surveyed in 1789 and 1790 and divided into twenty-eight townships containing 100 one square mile lots. . . . Each township had one lot reserved for "gospel" and one lot reserved for "literature". In 1791, New York private and non-commissioned officers of the Revolution took part in a drawing and were allowed to draw one lot. The results of the drawing were recorded in the "Balloting Book". As a result of the balloting, early settlers were from many different locations. Some land was occupied by the original owner, but other lots were sold to investors and potential settlers.” [This information comes from the Tompkins County GenWeb Page; a list of people who actually received lots (in what is now Tompkins County) is provided here. Onondaga County's site provides a map.]
According to another researcher (Carl W Fischer): "The only military grants are recorded in the Balloting Book and all others are merely family legend." Jonathan Owen is not in that book. (The only Owen/s listed is Uriah, who received lot 96 in Ulysses, now Ithaca. There is a Uriah Owens listed in the Revolutionay War Pension Abstracts book - born spring 1764, son of John Owens of Boston who died in the Battle of Bunker Hill - Uriah himself enlisted near Kinderhook, NY. He died 4 Sep 1819 at Galen, Seneca Co, NY.)
Jonathan did obtain some of this military land, but presumably by purchase from the original grantees. He shared with brother-in-law William Bodle (husband to Sarah) half of lots 65 (originally granted to James Duncan in Ulysses - now Ithaca) and 18 (originally granted to Andrew Roase in Ulysses, now Ulysses). I don't know when he bought the land, but he gave a portion of Lot 65 to his son Nathaniel in 1799.
He didn't move to the new land until sometime after 1800. He was still in Walkill for the first two censuses:
1790 New York, Ulster, Walkill
p. 221/64 Jonathan Owens 2 4 5 1 0
2m over 16 - b before 1774 Jonathan, son Nathaniel
4m under 16 - b after 1774 William, Joseph, Jesse, Jonathan
5f - wife Eleanor, daughters Mary Polly, Susanna, Eleanor, Sarah
1 “other free” person
1800 New York, Orange, Walkill
341 Jonathan Owen 10301 02101
1m under 10 born 1790-1800 Aaron K 1794
2f 10-16 born 1784-90 Sarah 1789, Eleanor1787
3m, 1f 16-26 born 1774-84 Jonathan 1783, Jesse 1779, Joseph 1777, Susanna 1782
1m, 1f over 45 - born before 1775 - Jonathan & Eleanor
I haven't found him in very many Orange County records - and when I have found a Jonathan, I have not been certain it was our Jonathan. He was (possibly) executor for Samuel Gilson in 1800, and he was named one of the executors of Nathaniel Owen's will (written 1796, probated 1802).
NOTE: the book Early Orange County wills : two volumes in one. [Goshen, N.Y. : Orange County Genealogical Society, 1991] provides the information that the executors - Jonathan Owen, William Owen, Stephen Smith - were all dec. before probate [in 1802] - which was another reason for supposing our Jonathan (d 1814) was not Nathaniel’s son. However, that information is INCORRECT or has been misinterpreted . The executors were not dead, they declined to execute - they merely relinquished their rights. Una Bowman found this:
Whereas on the third day of May in the year one thousand and eight hundred and two at Goshen in the said County of Orange before James Everett there unto by us delegated and appointed the said will was proved and in is now approved and allowed of by us and the said Jonathan Owen, William Owen, and Stephen Smith the executors they did by an instrument in writing under their hands and seal bearing date the fifteenth day of May in the year one thousand eight hundred and two renounced the executor ship of the said will and refused to be concerned therein and now being desirous that the goods chattels and ?of the said deceased by be ? and faithfully administered applied and disposed of according to the true intent and meaning of his said will a copy (A copy whereof is present is here unto annexed) do grant unto you the said Reuben Hopkins in whose fidelity we much confide full ? and ? to collect levy recover and receive all and singular the good chattels and credits of the said deceased and the same to administer and dispose of according to the . . . and effect of the said will . . .
Orange County NY - Will Book b: 323-4
I don’t know why Jonathan didn’t administer the will - perhaps because he was in the middle of a huge upheaval (14 wagons made the journey to the Military District in 1804). It is clear that his son Nathaniel and son-in-law Moses Brown had already moved before 1800, and possibly Jonathan himself was making trips back and forth, which would have made administering the will difficult.
Son Nathaniel apparently went to check out the land in the summer of 1798, and returned there the next spring with his family (his brother-in-law, Moses Brown, came along too - and brother Jesse as well). Jonathan gave him part of his grant:
Waterloo Deed-Hector, New York 19 December 1799 - Book A page 56-57. “Jonathan Owen and wife Eleanor Kortright of Wallkill, Orange County to Nathaniel Owen of Hector......” ½ part on the north side of lot Number 65 - with 10 acres being taken off half of said lot containing in all 310 acres more or less being part of the Military bounty land.
Witnesses John O Blinis Junior, Jesse Owen, George Moore.
Signed by Jonathan Owen and Elenor Owen made her mark.
Jonathan and most of the rest of the family made the move shortly after the census in 1800 - naturally different sources give different dates. Landmarks of Tompkins County, New York (by John H. Selkreg, 1894; D. Mason & Co., Publisher - available online at the Tompkins County GenWeb site - says:
Captain Jonathan OWEN moved in about 1800.
But it continues with the [incorrect] information about the military bounty land - although now that I look at it again, he does not actually say that the lot was granted to Jonathan, just that he had it.
He had a military lot of a square mile on which he located, and he built the saw mill and grist mill in Waterburg, and gave his son Jonathan a farm near Waterburg, where he lived to near his death.
(The online page does not include the book’s page numbers. This is in the chapter about the town of Ulysses. Nathaniel Owen and Moses Brown settled in Hector Twp - for a while at least.)
(And if the link doesn't work - it didn't once for me, although I found the page at that exact address - go to the Tompkins County site, go to "Bookshelf," then "Landmarks," then Chapter 13)
Another county history (Peirce, H. B. History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties, New York : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers. [Philadelphia : Everts & Ensign, 1879]) does not give a date for Jonathan's move, but does give the information about Nathaniel - as well as a story about Jonathan's claim, which may have been mistaken - or, again, may have been misunderstood:
Captain Jonathan Owen was an officer in the Revolution, and entitled to a military lot. He lived at Middletown, NY. William Bodle, Sr., the father of James, Jonathan, and William Bodle, Jr., was a neighbor, and he traded a horse with a soldier for his claim. In locating, one lot was selected in Ulysses, near the present site of Waterbury, and where Captain Jonathan Owen afterwards settled. The other lot was No. 65 in Hector township. They divided their lots, each taking the half of the lot. Mr. Owen selected the north half of lot 65, and gave it to his oldest son, Nathaniel. In the summer of 1798, Nathaniel, recently married to Miss Mehitable Tucker, came here, cleared a small plot of ground, planted it with corn, erected a rude shanty covered with bark, which he finished during the season. After harvest he returned to his home in Middletown, and made preparations for moving to his abode in the wilderness. In the spring of 1799, loading one horse with his wife and child, clothing, etc., started for his forest home.
Town of Hector - history - p. 619
Notice that our Lieutenant Jonathan has now been made a Captain. When? How?
Frelove Owen Pyle says
"The whole family, excepting William, emigrated to the central part of the State of New York in the year 1804. Some of the older children having families of their own made quite a large company, numbering in all fourteen wagons." One team was driven by the youngest son, Aaron K, then about 10 years old. "The country was then new and covered in many places with forest and roads in a rough condition. Jonathan (p. 4) Owen took up a tract of government land, it is thought a mile square for himself and some of his sons, in Tompkins County."
He may have been setting things up for the rest of the family to move between 1800 and 1804 when he appeared in court (in Seneca County) to acknowledge the deed made to son Nathaniel in 1799. (Which may explain his not administering the will of father Nathaniel.)
1804 June 22 “in Seneca appeared Jonathan Owen” - he appeared in court and was identified by Grover Smith as being well known by me - acknowledged the deed made to Nathaniel Owen as a voluntary act. [Eleanor did not appear, although she signed the deed in 1799.]
By 1806, he was being described as “of Hector”
1806 Dec 8 - Jonathan Owen, senior, of Hector, Seneca Co, for “two dollars cash in hand paid by said Jonathan Owen Junior and the further consideration of the goodwill and affection [senior] bears toward his son” - conveyed part of Lot 18, Twp of Ulysses, Seneca Co. 214 acres. Signed deed in presence of William C Humpreys and Moses Brown. [Eleanor neither signed nor confirmed that she relinquished her rights.]
In 1807, he sold the (last of?) his property in Orange County:
27 January 1807. Gilbert Horton living in town of Goshen purchased from Jonathan and Eleanor (Kortright) Owen living in Ulysses, Seneca Co., New York a twenty-eight acre tract which was in the town of Wallkill, County of Orange, New York. . . for $700, in his (Horton's) actual possession in town of Wallkill. Tract identified as “Beginning at heap of stones on the old County line that divided the Counties of Ulster and Orange. Surrounding land owners were Philip Miller, W. Philips, P. Philips and Thomas Clark. Elinor/Eleanor made her mark.
Grantor Book U, pp 235-7. Goshen, Orange, New York1807 Feb 5 - John Monell (one of the witnesses of the deed to Gilbert Horton) declared he did see Jonathan Owen seal and deliver the indenture as his act. Allowed by Wm Wichkam one of the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas for the County of Orange, NY
Grantor Book U, pp 235-7. Goshen, Orange, New York1809 Jan 3 Orange County “Be it remembered that on the third day of January one thousand eight hundred and nine came personally before me John Steward on of the Judges of the court of Common Pleas for Orange County the within named Ellinor Owen wife of Jonathan Owen and being by me examined private and apart from her said husband she did acknowledge that she signed it of her own voluntary will without any fear of threats
Grantor Book U, pp 235-7. Goshen, Orange, New York - missing page 238
[Not sure if that means Eleanor herself alone returned to Orange Co - or if Eleanor and Jonathan were there - from 1807-9???]
Frelove says: "Jonathan Owen spent his last days with his son, Aaron K. Owen, to whom he had given his home farm, the deed for which is preserved in the family, and it shows that the location at that time was in Seneca County, which County was subsequently divided. He died in the year 1814, at the age of sixty-five. His wife, Eleanor, having deceased some time previous."
Census 1810 - in Seneca
1810 New York, Seneca Ulysses 278
Jonathan Owen 00101 00001
Jonathan and Eleanor and one male 16-26 (born 1784-94) - Aaron 1794
1811 Jan 26 - Jonathan Owen and Eleanor his wife, Town of Ulysses, Seneca Co, NY - to Hecoll? Halsey for $717 ½ part of lot #18 . . . at the south west corner of a certain forty acre lot lately in the possession of Moses Brown, now belonging to Jesse Owen, thence west to stones . . . containing 112 ½ acres. Jonathan signed, Eleanor made her mark. Wit Oliver C Comstock, Aaron K Owen
1811 Feb 22 - Jonathan and Elinor (his wife) Owen confirmed that this was their intention to sell the land.
Seneca Co NY, Land Deed Book E:32
1812 Dec 13 Mother Owen departed this life age 65 (name Eleanor Kortright inserted)
(Jonathan Owen Bible)
Jonathan wrote his will in 19 Aug 1814 and died two days later.
21 August 1814 Father Owen departed this life
Jonathan Owen (1783) Bible - although this entry and the one about Mother Owen do not appear on the photocopy Una sent me (which had been typed by Mrs Charles E Thompson), I assume Una saw and made a copy of a fuller version.
Abstracts of Wills and Letters of Administration from Book A, 1813-1827 on file in the Seneca Co. Surrogate 's Office, Courthouse, Waterloo, New York.
OWEN Jonathan, decease of the town of Ulysses. Will: son Nathaniel, my children Jesse and Polly, wf. of Moses Browne, and Joseph and, Sarah, wf. of John Coddington, and, Eleanor, now or late wf. of Daniel Holmes, Susannah wf. of Daniel Browne, sons Jonathon and Aaron Kortright. Signed by his mark Jonathon(X) Owen, 19 August 1814. Wit. Robert Swarthout, Orson Dolph, John X Moore. Page 74.
Available online at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~nyseneca/wills.htm
You will note that William is not mentioned in the will - although Hook says "His [Jonathan's] will was written at Ulysses, 19 Aug 1814 . . . . It named all the children mentioned below . . . ." and then he does include William on the list. The only option is to get a copy of the actual will, but I am willing to suspect a simple transcription error left William off the online abstract. [Una Bowman says that William is in the will.]
1814 Aug 27 - Inventory of the estate of Jonathan Owen taken by Jonathan Owen jr and Caleb Carman, assisted by John Tanner and Aaron K Owen. Notes against Jesse and Aaron Owen, Ralph Updike. "We find a demand against the town of Ulysses of $37.50 being part pay for building a bridge." One note against Justis Hall, "three notes against Daniel Holmes twenty four dollars each all desperate for $72.00." And "about five acres of land doubtful $50.00." "One note against Aaron K Owen on interest since the first of May last of $25.00." - the inventory also includes items like wearing apparel $38.75, ten sheep with a bell on one of them $26.00.
And that’s all I know at this time about Jonathan Owen. Many of his children stayed in the same general area, but Frelove says " . . . their descendents of the third generation are most of them widely scattered."
Back to father Nathaniel
to alternate father, Ebenezer
to alternate mother, Temperence Helme
Back to Owen Home Page
Forward to Jonathan's children
Forward to next ancestor, Mary Owen
Back to Lee's Genes Home Page
Questions, comments, additons, corrections? contact me at: lee@leesgenes.com
Page last updated 28 July 2007
Sources:
i. Hook, James William. "The Owen Family of Suffolk, Orange and Westchester Counties, New York." The American Genealogist, v 31 #1 (121) Jan 1955 p 42 particularly.
Hook says Jonathan's father was Ebenezer.
II. Pyle, Frelove Owen. Geneology. [S.l. : s.n, 1907]
Frelove does not go further back than her grandfather Jonathan.
III. Swick, Harriet J. “The House of Owen.”Yesteryears, v 9 #36 (June 1966) pp 180- 82.
Swick says Jonathan's father was (if I read her correctly) the Jonathan Owen who married Mary Dunning, sons Jonathan and Daniel.
Hook says the Jonathan who married Mary Dunning was the son of Gershom Owen and he does not list either Jonathan or Daniel as sons.
IV. Durham, Emily Merrian. "Owen Descendants in New York State." Yesteryears, v 10 #38 (Dec 1966) pp 67-71.
Durham says Jonathan's father was Jonathan Owen of Salisbury, CT (mother Patience Valliance).
V. Various Rootsweb files, most of which agree with Hook, but some of which say Jonathan's father was Nathaniel, s/o Jonathan and Bethia Terry.