I am hoping to be in contact with anyone with ancestral ties to the CHURCH families who were in Dutchess and Ulster counties in New York in the 1750-1855 period. In particular, I would like to connect with Daniel Palcic and an unnamed genealogy researcher, perhaps Henry, who replied to him online back in 1998. I believe we are cousins.
Here is the key information.
Back on August 3, 1998, an unnamed Genealogy.com user replied to another CHURCH family researcher, Daniel Palcic, who had posted a query on June 14, 1998. The headline on this 1998 thread is “Re: CHURCH, Phoebe/Phebe; b.1755; Mayflower?”
The August reply begins as follows: “We are at the same stumbling block.We are descendants of Caleb Church b. 12-19-1772, who we believe is Phoebe Church Wilbor’s half brother. I have correspondance dating back to 1913 where people were trying to make the same connection we are.”
Here is a link to the original posting: http://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/church/55/
Here is a link to the reply: http://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/church/99/
And a link to other Church family postings by the unnamed genealogist: http://www.genealogy.com/forum/users/417274004/
I too am a descendant of Caleb Church and his wife Hannah Baker through their son Benjamin Church who migrated to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1835 from Ulster County. He was a pioneer carpenter and builder in the young Midwest city. Use the links to see what I’ve written about them:
Caleb Church: https://relativemusings.wordpress.com/2014/01/18/caleb-church-farmer-and-cooper/
Benjamin Church: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Church_(carpenter)
I currently am focusing on the CHURCH families of Dutchess County and Ulster County, New York, and would very much like to be in touch with Daniel and the unnamed person, perhaps named Henry, who posted about this part of the family. Or any others researching this family. What is very interesting to me is that Daniel’s research led him to think that the father of Phoebe, Caleb — and a brother Samuel I recently found via a will — was a either John Church or his brother Constant Church. They were the sons of Edward Church and his first wife, Grace Shaw, who had eleven children in Little Compton, Rhode Island.
Daniel proposes a possible Mayflower connection as follows: Richard Warren of the Mayflower1; Elizabeth Warren2 (Elizabeth, daughter of Richard Warren, who married Richard Church); Joseph Church3; John Church4; Edward Church5. This Edward Church5 had as his first wife, Grace Shaw.
There is a John Church with a household of 8 in the 1790 Census in Dutchess County. There are mentions of a John Church of Dutchess County in The Settlers of Beekman Patent, Vol. 3, by Frank J. Doherty, that seem to be the same man. Of the two brothers Daniel pointed to, this John Church is the focus of my current work in conjunction with a professional genealogist.
Laying out a timeline for this John Church, it seems likely that he would have been born between 1730 and 1735. Many settlers came to Dutchess County from Little Compton, Rhode Island, in the mid-1700s, including nine Wilbor siblings, two with marriage links to Church individuals in Dutchess County. The John Church of the right age in Little Compton would have been John Church, born 31 Jan 1732 in Little Compton, Rhode Island, Father: Edward Church, Mother: Grace Church, Page: 103 – Little Compton Vital Records. Just the person Daniel wrote about back in 1998.
Here are online resources about Edward Church and Grace Shaw:
> Family Group Sheet
> Another Family Group Sheet
> And information at WikiTree
Caleb Church and Phoebe Church, with spouses and children, are in the 1913 book Descendants of Richard Church of Plymouth, Mass., but in an “Unplaced Members of Plymouth Family” section because the precise lineage was unknown. See pages 321-323. Still descendants back then were sure there was a Mayflower connection and wanted to be in the book. We descendants have been searching for the connection ever since.
Hope to hear from you!
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http://www.workingdogweb.com/Family-Research.htm
Thank you! And good researching!
Relative Musings 