1773 - 1849
New York
Peleg was born 12 June 1773 in Pawling Twp, Duchess County, NY, son of Abraham and Abigail (Smith) Slocum. His father was a wanderer, living first in Massachusetts, then Rhode Island, then New York. He was their youngest child, born after they had moved to New York, and the second to be named Peleg (the first Peleg was born 1771 and died 1772). His parents had been Quakers, and may in fact have moved to Rhode Island to enjoy more religious freedom. It is not clear if they remained Quakers all their lives, or if Peleg was one. Apparently his father, who had been granted license to run a publick house in Rhode Island, became "intemperate" as he grew older, so the Quakers may have disowned them. This is total speculation on my part!!!
Peleg married Ruth Hill in Pawling, NY in 1792 (13 Feb). They moved first to Columbia County (they were there in 1811) and then to Genesee County (Darien Twp). He was a farmer. This information comes from the Slocum book, and it appears to be slightly mistaken.
It appears from the census that before Peleg was in Columbia County, he was in Delaware County - there was an Ebenezer Slocum there too and I think he was Peleg’s brother. [Although he might not have been - the Slocum book says Ebenezer moved to Monroe County in about 1805, but the only Ebenezer Slocums I found in 1810 (2 of them) were (both) in Delaware County. Eben shows up in Genesee County - Monroe was formed from Genesee - for the 1820 census.] I think the Slocum book relies on personal memories for some of the later generations, and I think sometimes they are a little faulty.
So. Peleg may have moved to Delaware County in the 1790s, with his brother, but he moved back east, to Columbia County, before 1810. Sometime in the 1810s he moved west again, to Genesee County (brother Ebenezer moved there at more or less the same time), where he remained until his death in 1849.
Peleg and Ruth had eleven children:
Humphrey b. 17 May 1792
m Eunice Adams (One of the Rootsweb files says her name was Abrams)
He and his wife and family lived in the Monroe/Orleans County area until the 1840s
sometime before 1850, they moved on to Michigan
He died in 1864, in Livingston Co, MI (One Rootsweb file says he died 1864 in Indiana)
Africa b. 19 Feb 1794
I think this is a male.
He died, according to the Slocum book, in 1812 (Jan 11) when he was only 18.
Eleazar b. 8 March 1796
m Sarah Marshall (12 Jan 1818)
I haven’t found him after the 1820 census (when he was in Monroe County)
- and I didn’t copy the pages about him from the Slocum book, so I’m not sure where I should look
William M b. 23 Feb 1798
the Slocum book says he “d. young in Columbia Co” |
from the census, I think maybe he died before 1810.
Abram b. 21 June 1800
“died same year in Columbia Co”
Peleg was in Delaware County in 1800 for the census
- possibly they moved to Columbia Co before the year was out???
Abigail b. 18 Oct 1801
m John Marshall (15 Apr 1819)
3 ch. - a son who died young, 2 daughters who lived long enough to marry but then died soon after
d in Orleans Co - 7 Sept 1826
Dotia (our next ancestor) b 2 May 1804
m Day Emerson Pattee
moved 1st to Illinois (Stephenson Co), then to Iowa (Hardin Co) where she died
Peleg b. 28 July 1807
m Nancy Newton (according to the Slocum book) and then Esther Carskadden, and then Mary E Egbert
(according to a Rootsweb file) On one census, his wife is named Harriet A ????
there are several Pelegs in the New York censuses, and I am not sure which one (if any) is him
he moved to Indiana in the 1840s.
d 5 June 1862 or 1863
Harriet R b. 12 Sept 1811
m Truman Montgomery (30 March 1845)
They lived in Darien Twp in 1850 (her widowed brother Zina lived with them)
Truman died between 1850 & 1860 and Harriet moved to Michigan to be near her brothers.
George b. 25 Feb 1813
m Sophronia Kinsman
George seems to have been the first of the family to move west - he was in Michigan in 1840.
d 1862
George may have died during the Civil War.
Zina B b. 11 March 1817
m Thankful Dibble in 1847
Thankful died before the 1850 census I think
- Zina is living with his sister Harriet at that time, and he has a 2-year old, Henry P Slocum, with him.
But Henry was not with him in 1860, at which time Zina was living in Michigan.
I think Zina died during the Civil War - he served in the 1st Reg. Mich Light Artillery
d 1862 (according to Rootsweb file)
The children stayed in the same general area of New York for several years, and then in the late 30s, early 40s, there occurred one of those migratory impulses and most of them went west - they ended up in Michigan mostly, but our next ancestor, Dotia, went all the way to Iowa.
This is his (Peleg's) census information:
1800 = 27
?1800 NY - Delaware - Delhi 1324 - Peleg 41010 00010
brother? Ebenezer there too
4 m under 10 = Humphrey, Eliezer, Africa, William, [Abram 1800?]
1m 10-16 = X (Humphrey would have been only 8)
1810 = 37
1810 NY, Columbia - Grainger 826- Peleg Slocom - 12101 20010
1m, 2f under 10 Peleg 3, Abigail 9, Dotia 6
2m 10-16 Africa 16, Eliezar 14, William 12 d?
1m 16-26 Humphrey 18
1f 26-45 Ruth
1m 45+ Peleg 37
1820 = 47
1820 NY Genesee Sweden 282 - Peleg 210001 10001
2m, 1f under 10 Zina, George Harriet
1m 10-16 Peleg
1m, 1f over 45 Peleg, Ruth
missing Dotia m 1823
not missing Abigail m 1819
1830 = 57
1830 NY Genesee - Warsaw 302 - Peleg - 1021001 1110001
this is probably not him too many young people - unless a son & children?
1m, 1f under 5 unk male, unk female
1f 5-10 unk male
2m, 1f 10-15 2 unk males (unless one is George 17), Zina 13
1m 15-20 George 17
1m, 1f 40-50 Peleg = 57, Ruth
missing Harriet 19 (didn’t m until 1845), Peleg 23
1840 = 67
1840 NY Genesee - Darvin 583 - Peleg 000010001 00021001
2f 15-20 - could be the two young girls from 1830
1f 20-30 - Harriet 29
1m 20-30 - Zina 23
1f 50-60 - Ruth? (she supposedly died 1834)
1m 60-70 = Peleg 67
d 1849
Ruth died in 1834 (May 20). Peleg died 2 Feb 1849.
Or maybe not. I found a cemetery listing for them (at the Genesee County GenWeb site)
Darien Cemetery, Genesee County, New York
(Located on the north side of US Route 20, (Broadway) ½ mile west of NY Route 238).
Slocum
Peleg, d. November 29, 1813, @ 75y
Ruth, wife of Peleg, d. March? 20, 1824?, @ 60y, difficult to read
Ruth’s date, March 20, 1824, could have been misread for May 20, 1834, especially since the transcriber said it was difficult to read. But Peleg’s date! About the only thing right is the age. February 2 is nothing like November 29 - nor could it be mixed up with his birthdate June 12 (although the years possibly could be confused - 1773 - 1813 - if the stone was very worn.) I think it must just be a flat-out mistake. But I could be wrong. The census listings are not exact after 1820 - they seldom are, but still, that makes it difficult to say for sure that Peleg was still in the census. I am going to assume that the Slocum book is correct about the death date - it doesn't say he died "about 1849," it says he died February 2, 1849, and that specific date must have come from somewhere.
Another genealogical puzzle.
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