| Notes |
- It is believed that John Pulsifer bn. Manchester Mass. 10 Sept. 1770,
son of Richard and Mary (Marshall) Vennen; is the same John who mar.
Deborah ( ? ) and is bur. Jay, N.Y. I further believe that this John
shows up there 1800 census along with brother Gerrish on the 1800
census for Alstead, Cheshire Co., N.H. and that they are all the same
John who appears in Plattesburg, Clinton co., N.Y. 1800 age 26-45
residing alone. At Alstead, N.H.; John's household names him the head
of household but he is not counted. It lists 3 males under 10; 1
female under 10 and 1 female 26 to 45. I suspect these two Johns are
the same person. Usually if a husband is deceased, it will give the
head of household under the wife's first name or simply list her as
widow so and so. Neither of these is the case here. He evidently went
to Plattesburg to prepare a home for his family, while leaving them
in the care of his brother, Gerrish. John later returned to Alstead
for them and they moved to Plattesburg.
From Clinton Co. Deeds (1788-1855) B:29; dated 24 Apr. 1801; John
Pulcifer of Plattesburg; gave a mortgage to Nathaniel Platt of the
town of Plattesburg on of the city lots laid out by Nathaniel H.
Treadwell, for Nathaniel Platt; lot # 11, one acre. * Note; this
parcel is in a section that was part of Beekman Platt and is
located in that portion of Plattesburg that was later removed to form
the town of Beekmantown, N.Y.
Deeds 1788-1855; D:74; dated 14 May 1808, John Pulsiver of the town
of Plattesburg; deeded to James Bailey of the same place for $100;
one acre being lot number 11 the title of free of mortgage.
By 1810; we find John residing in West Chazy, N.Y. with quite a large
family. In may be noted that he does not appear in the 1810 census
index, but checking the actual film, we find him there. The family is
listed as such:
John Pulsifer 2 males under 10; 1 male 10-16; 1 male 45 +; 2 females
under 10; 2 females 10-16; 1 female 16-26; 1 female 45+. This census
indicates that John was married prior to 1800. This is the last
mention of him in Clinton Co. This writer finds a John Pulcifur died
13 Mar. 1813 buried at Jay, N.Y. age 41 years; 8 mos., 21 days. This
would place his birth at 10 Jul. 1771--pretty close to 10 Sept. 1770
of the John born in Manchester. Next to John is buried Abel A.; son
of John and Deborah Pulcifur. died 13 May 1832at age 18 yrs., 6 mos.
This would indicate that the mother was pregnant when her husband
died.
Because of lack of records in New York during this time period and up
until 1880; when records there just did not exist; we can only gather
what clues we have and put together a general idea of events that
occurred. We believe the known children of John and Deborah are as
follows; Sally bn. 1795; unk. male bn. 1796; unk. male bn. 1797;
Nathan bn. 1 Dec. 1799; twin girls bn. abt. Nov. 1800; Alcey (Elsie)
bn. 1 Dec. 1801 at Plattesburg; unk. female bn. 1803; male bn. 1805;
John Jr. bn. 1808 Beekmantown (this would have still been
Plattesburg until 1822- John Jr. records say he was bn. Beekmantown,
Clinton Co., N.Y.); Nelson bn. 1809/1810 and Abel A.; bn. Oct. 1813;
after his father's death. With such a large family to care for and
yet another on the way at the time of John's death, it would seem
logical for Deborah to look for a husband. It would also be a hugh
burden on a man to take on the responsibility of such a large family.
So it is likely that Deborah sent the older children back to her
family to be cared for. She probably would have included Acley,
Nathan, and Sally. It may be noted that there was a Joseph Pulcifer
residing at Alstead in 1830 working on highways. But we can make not
connection to him. Since we first find this family in Alstead, N.H.;
it is assumed that they probably married in that state around
1794/1795 and that Deborah was from this state.
Since we know only the names of 5 of the children and lack the other
7; we will show what we know of the ones we do have, and how these
clues lead us to the conclusion of all of these John Pulcifers being
the same person. First Sally (also called Sarah) Pulcifur; bn. 1795
probably. in N.H.; she mar. about 1818-most likely in N.H. Her
husband; Joseph Baker was born 1781at Wilton, N.H. and their first
son; Silas Baker, was bn. N.H. 1820. It is likely that's where they
married before removing to Weld, Maine. The death certificate of
Nathan Pulcifur says he was born New York; while the census records
for Nathan in 1850, 1860 and 1870 all say he was bn. in N.H. This
writer has studied all the Pulcifurs in N.H. for the 1800 census in
an attempt to prove Nathan's parents. Nathan was bn. 1 Dec. 1799; so
should show up as a male child under 10 in the 1800 census. There
were six different families bearing the Pulsifer name. Two of these
could be immediately eliminated because of the age factor and they
had no sons in the under 10 age category. Yet another one because of
the will left after his death, that mentions no Nathan. This leaves
us with three possibilities..Leonard Pulcifer --Plainfield; Gerrish
Pulcifer- Alstead, and John Pulsifer, of Alstead. The Leonard would
fit, age wise and he does have a son in that age bracket. However,
checking the gravestone records of Plainfield we find; Francis S.
Pulsifer, who died 13 May 1807 at age 7 years, 3 months; placing his
birth as Feb. 1800; therefore Nathan could not possibly be a son of
Leonard; because he could not have had sons born Dec. 1799 and again
Feb. 1800 (3 months later). It leaves us only Gerrish and John.
Gerrish; according to the records of Surry and Acworth; had a total
of six children. We know there was John; Alfred; Jonathan; Lucinda,
Sabrina; and Betsy. That accounts for them all. This only leaves the
John at Alstead to be Nathan's father. Nathan states on the 1850,
1860; 1870 census that he was born in N.H.---so it is most likely he
is son of John Pulsifer at Alstead and is one of the males under 10
accounted for. However, family tradition for Nathan's family says the
story was always told that he was born in Plattesburg, N.Y. This just
supports further evidence that the two John's are one and the same.
It does not seem likely that a small child of maybe a year or two; at
best; would recall his life in New Hampshire if his family left
there around the time he was 2 and moved to Plattesburg, N.Y.
However, having been raised in the Plattesburg area until he was
about 11 or 12; these would be in his memory and the stories told to
children and grandchildren would have been from that time in his
youth. Alcey or (Elsie) Pulcifur was born 1 Dec. 1801 in Plattesburg,
N.Y. and therefore HAS to be a daughter of John listed 1800 at
Plattesburg. She mar. 1832 to Joseph Jewett. He was from Temple, N.H.
It is unfortunate that early records at both Wilton and Temple were
destroyed by fire. The 1860 census shows Elsey bn in N.Y. and their
first son, George W. Jewett born in N.H. It is likely that is where
they married, and most likely at Temple, where Joseph was from.
Because we now have Joseph Baker who married Sally Pulcifer residing
at Weld, Ma. and Jospeh was of Wilton, N.H. and Alcey/Elsey Pulcifur
mar. Joseph Jewett of Temple, N.H. and these towns of Temple and
Wilton border each other, it is likely that the two girls resided in
one of these towns and that's where their mother, Deborah is from. I
would guess that Nathan moved to Weld along with his sister Sally
after her marriage; or had gone there to visit her and decided to
settle in that town. In the Hills borough County, N.H. Court Records
1772-1799 on page 58; John Pulsifer; formerly of Walpole, N.H.;
"Warned out of Temple" 1794 file # 7060. This places our John in
Temple at the correct time frame for his marriage to Deborah and
further backs the theory that Deborah was probably of either Temple
or Wilton.
Nelson Pulcifur of Lewis N.Y. bn. about 1809/1810. Residing in Lewis,
N.Y. which is located not far from the town of Jay, N.Y. He had sons
named, Nelson, John, and Abel. It may also be noted that Nelson's
family says that they have heard tales that Nelson was probably from
the state of Maine, because they can recall stories of having
relatives living in that state and Nelson visiting them. Could this
be Nathan and Sally's families? Nathan Pulcifur has a son, John
Nelson Pulcifur and a dau. Alcey and a daughter Sally (after his
brothers and sisters)? Alcey also names a son John Joseph (for her
husband and her father?). There are letters addressed to one of
Alcey's daughters around the 1860's about the relatives in Wisconsin;
which is where John H. Pulcifer moved to. John Pulcifer Jr. , bn.
1808; names children John and Nelson. Gerrish Pulsifer was known to
be in Acworth,N.H. as early as 1796 where he married in 1797 to Betsy
Fish. He was in that town the same time as Richard Pulcifer who was
was bn. May 1766 at Manchester. This Richard is the son of Richard
and Mary (Marshall) Vannen/ Pulsifer Sr.. Richard Pulsifer Sr. is son
of Benjamin And Sarah (Gerrish) Pulsifer. It is therefore likely
since Richard and Gerrish were in the same town during the same time
frame, and Gerrish was bn Ipswich 14 Jul. 1774; that he is the son of
Richard and Mary (Marshall) Vannen Pulcifer and that he was named for
his grandmother, Sarah GERRISH. In Jan. of 1799, Richard has lost his
wife and so sells his land in Acworth and leaving his children in the
care of perhaps his brothers or his wife's family in Lempster, N.H.;
he returns to Massachusetts. Gerrish and John then move to Alstead,
N.H. It is by these facts and tid bits, I reach the conclusion that
the John bn. Manchester, Mass. 10 Sept. 1770 the son of Richard and
Mary (Marshall) Pulcifur; the John at Alstead, N.H. 1800 census; the
one at Plattesburg N.Y. 1800 census; 1810 census at West Chazy; and
the John buried at Jay, N.Y. are all one and the same person.
There are too many coincidences for this not to be true. If anyone
can prove otherwise; please let me know.
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1770 - 1813 (42 years)