The story starts in Smithville United Cemetery, in Smithville, Ontario, Canada. Near the old church there is a grave which states:
Simon P. Emerson
Born in Manchester, N. H., U. S.
Mar. 20 1810
Died in Smithville, C. W.
July 11, 1860
C. W. refers to Canada West, and of course N. H. is a reference to New Hampshire.
Simon was born around 1809 and his parents are unknown, but he married a woman named Harriet Griffin Douglas on February 1st of 1840 and there is a plethora of information about her ancestry.
They had one known child named Thomas Emerson, who was born in March 1841 in Smithville and died March 19, 1919 in Lincoln.
Harriett Griffin Douglas was born on September 7th, 1814 in Brantford, Ontario to Stephen van Renselaer Douglas (1790-1867) and Carolina Whitehead (1787-1875). Stephen and Carolina were married March 12th 1809 in Albany, New York and had 16 children - Thomas (b. 1810), John Rhodes (b. 1812), Harriet Griffin (b. 1814) , Elemena Andrew (b. 1816), Alanson (b. 1818), George Washington (b. 1821), Marcus Fayette (b. 1823), Martha Ann (b. 1825), Cassandra G (b. 1827), Marianna (b. 1827), Mary Marianna (b. 1828), Charles Burwall (b. 1829), Ester J (b. 1831), Eliza V (b. 1834), Emily Jane van Reasselin (b. 1837), and William Albert (b. 1839).
Stephen van Renselaer Douglas was born in Stephentown, New York, on March 24th 1790 to Wheeler Douglas (1750-1829) and Martha Rathbone (1753-1837). He had 9 siblings - Content (b. 1772), Martha (b. 1774), John Hancock (b. 1776), Alanson (b. 1778), Mary Schuyler (b. 1780), George (b. 1782), Charlotte (b. 1785), Minerva (b. 1787), and Harriet (b. 1793). He was 6 years of age when his father moved to Canada in 1796, and they settled in Brantford. He married Caroline in 1814, and she was the daughter of Rev. Thomas Whitehead, the minister of the Wesleyan Methodist church in Canada. They lived on a farm together in Brantford. He died on April 5th, 1867 in Brantford.
Charles Henry James Douglas' book says the following about Stephen:
"Stephen Van Rensselaer Douglas, born in Stephentown, N.Y., March 24, 1790. He was six years old when his father removed to Canada, and settled where the city of Brantford now stands. He married, March 12, 1809, Caroline H., daughter of the Rev. Thomas Whitehead, a minister of the Wesleyan Methodist church in Canada, and President of the Conference in 1840. All their married life was spent on the farm his father had cleared in the township of Brantford, and within eight miles of Brantford city.
‘He was,’ says one who knew him well, ‘a man of strict moral character; and although he never united with the church, still he was a regular attendant on the services of the house of God, and always welcomed the ministers to his hospitable home. His wife was a model mother and noble Christian woman, with a strong, retentive memory and well-balanced mind; and by her precepts and practice, trained up their very large family in the paths of righteousness and duty. They both lived to see their children grown up, and most of them settled in life; lived to see the wilderness removed and the fruitful fields and fine farms houses in the place thereof. He died april 5, 1867. His wife, Caroline, died Nov. 21, 1875."
Wheeler Douglas was born on April 10th, 1750 in Canaan, Litchfield, Connecticut, to Captain Asa Douglas and Rebecca Wheeler, who were married around 1737. Wheeler married Martha Rathbone, the daughter of Rev. John Rathbone and Content Brown. Wheeler and Martha were married in 1771. Both are buried in Smithville United Cemetery, with Wheeler dying in 1829 and Martha dying in 1837.
Captain Asa Douglas was born on December 11th 1715 in Plainfield, Windham, Connecticut. His parents were William Douglass II (1672-1719) and Sarah Elizabeth Proctor (1675-1731) of New London, Connecticut. Captain Asa Douglas was buried in Stephentown Cemetery, Stephentown, Rensselaer, New York in 1792. He died November 12th.
Charles Henry James Douglas' book says the following about Captain Asa:
"Asa Douglas, born in Plainfield, Conn., Dec. 11, 1715. He married, about 1737, Rebecca Wheeler. She was born Aug. 26, 1718. He removed fro Plainfield to Old Canaan about 1746, and remained there some twenty years. In 1766 he removed with his family to what was at that time Jericho Hollow, Mass., but which was subsequently included in Stephentown, N. Y. His son William had preceded him the year before. When Asa came he brought with him a company of men who cleared thirty acres of land and built a large farm-house. The nearest neighbor was four miles away, and they were obliged to go fourteen miles to the saw-mill. The garret of the house, which is still (1877) standing in good repair, was used during the Revolutionary war as a jail, there being at that early day none in the county. Asa participated in the war, and led a company of thirty 'Silver Grays' at the battle of Bennington, on the 16th of August, 1777, when the force of British and Indians sent to seize the stores collected at that place were defeated by the Americans under Col. John Stark. Asa continued to reside in Stephentown till the time of his death, which occurred Nov. 12, 1792. His widow survived him some fourteen years, and died June 12, 1809."
William Douglass II was born February 19th, 1672 to William Douglass and Abiah Hough Douglas. He was born in New London, Connecticut and died in Plainfield, Connecticut on August 10th, 1719. He married Sarah Proctor. He is buried in Old Plainfield Cemetery.
Information from an unknown source reads:
"Dea. William Douglas, born in New London, Conn., Feb. 19, 1672-3, He was admitted to the church, July 24, 1698. The next year he removed with his wife and two children to "the new plantation on the Quinnebaug, which was afterwards named Plainfield." Here lands were set off to him "on the east side of the river." He also owned lands in Voluntown, which he purchased of his father, Aug. 18, 1715, for "thirteen pounds of good and current money."
He was one of the little company that covenanted together and formed a church in Plainfield, in 1705. The Rev. Joseph Coit was called to the charge of this little flock, and William Douglas was chosen the first deacon. In the old burial ground at Plainfield, an ancient gravestone bears this inscription: - "In memory of Mr. William Douglas, Who was ye first Deacon of ye chu of Christ in Plainfield who Departed this Life August ye 10th A. D. 1719 in ye 46th year of his Age."
Deacon Douglas died in the prime of life, and greatly lamented. All the church and town records, and all but a few files of the probate records, of Plainfield, were consumed at the burning of the town by Arnold, in 1781. Among the probate records saved, was the will of Dea. William Douglas. It was dated July 6, 1717, and proved Sept. 25, 1717. In it he provides for his wife, Sarah, and eleven children, all of the latter under twenty-one years of age. His wife was Sarah Proctor, but no date of his marriage can be found in the New London records. His eldest two children were born in New London, all the others in Plainfield. His widow, Sarah, was living in 1729, but no record of her death has been found.
Children: -
i. Hannah, b. Sept. 7, 1696; bapt. Feb. 14, 1696-7; m. Feb. 9, 1713-4, Thomas Williams, Plainfield.
ii. William, b. Feb. 19, 1697-8; m. Mary Hanover.
iii. Samuel, b. April 13, 1699; bat. May 28, 1699; d. June 1703.
iv. Abiah, b. Feb. 26, 1701-2; m. May 3, 1720, Henry Holland, Plainfield; had Sarah Holland, b. Jan. 8, 1720-1.
v. John, b. July 28, 1703; m. Olive Spaulding.
vi. Sarah, b. Dec. 7, 1704.
vii. Jerusha, b. April 26, 1706.
viii. Samuel, b. Dec. 3, 1707; m. Mary -----.
ix. Benajah, b. Sept. 17, 1710; m. ---- ----.
x. James, b. May 20, 1711; m. Rachel Marsh.
xi. Thomas, b. Nov. 26, 1712; m. Martha Gallup.
xii. Asa, b. Dec. 11, 1715; m. Rebecca Wheeler."
William Douglass II's stone, photo taken by Kevin Casey.
Simon P. Emerson
Born in Manchester, N. H., U. S.
Mar. 20 1810
Died in Smithville, C. W.
July 11, 1860
C. W. refers to Canada West, and of course N. H. is a reference to New Hampshire.
Simon was born around 1809 and his parents are unknown, but he married a woman named Harriet Griffin Douglas on February 1st of 1840 and there is a plethora of information about her ancestry.
They had one known child named Thomas Emerson, who was born in March 1841 in Smithville and died March 19, 1919 in Lincoln.
Harriett Griffin Douglas was born on September 7th, 1814 in Brantford, Ontario to Stephen van Renselaer Douglas (1790-1867) and Carolina Whitehead (1787-1875). Stephen and Carolina were married March 12th 1809 in Albany, New York and had 16 children - Thomas (b. 1810), John Rhodes (b. 1812), Harriet Griffin (b. 1814) , Elemena Andrew (b. 1816), Alanson (b. 1818), George Washington (b. 1821), Marcus Fayette (b. 1823), Martha Ann (b. 1825), Cassandra G (b. 1827), Marianna (b. 1827), Mary Marianna (b. 1828), Charles Burwall (b. 1829), Ester J (b. 1831), Eliza V (b. 1834), Emily Jane van Reasselin (b. 1837), and William Albert (b. 1839).
Stephen van Renselaer Douglas was born in Stephentown, New York, on March 24th 1790 to Wheeler Douglas (1750-1829) and Martha Rathbone (1753-1837). He had 9 siblings - Content (b. 1772), Martha (b. 1774), John Hancock (b. 1776), Alanson (b. 1778), Mary Schuyler (b. 1780), George (b. 1782), Charlotte (b. 1785), Minerva (b. 1787), and Harriet (b. 1793). He was 6 years of age when his father moved to Canada in 1796, and they settled in Brantford. He married Caroline in 1814, and she was the daughter of Rev. Thomas Whitehead, the minister of the Wesleyan Methodist church in Canada. They lived on a farm together in Brantford. He died on April 5th, 1867 in Brantford.
Charles Henry James Douglas' book says the following about Stephen:
"Stephen Van Rensselaer Douglas, born in Stephentown, N.Y., March 24, 1790. He was six years old when his father removed to Canada, and settled where the city of Brantford now stands. He married, March 12, 1809, Caroline H., daughter of the Rev. Thomas Whitehead, a minister of the Wesleyan Methodist church in Canada, and President of the Conference in 1840. All their married life was spent on the farm his father had cleared in the township of Brantford, and within eight miles of Brantford city.
‘He was,’ says one who knew him well, ‘a man of strict moral character; and although he never united with the church, still he was a regular attendant on the services of the house of God, and always welcomed the ministers to his hospitable home. His wife was a model mother and noble Christian woman, with a strong, retentive memory and well-balanced mind; and by her precepts and practice, trained up their very large family in the paths of righteousness and duty. They both lived to see their children grown up, and most of them settled in life; lived to see the wilderness removed and the fruitful fields and fine farms houses in the place thereof. He died april 5, 1867. His wife, Caroline, died Nov. 21, 1875."
Wheeler Douglas was born on April 10th, 1750 in Canaan, Litchfield, Connecticut, to Captain Asa Douglas and Rebecca Wheeler, who were married around 1737. Wheeler married Martha Rathbone, the daughter of Rev. John Rathbone and Content Brown. Wheeler and Martha were married in 1771. Both are buried in Smithville United Cemetery, with Wheeler dying in 1829 and Martha dying in 1837.
Captain Asa Douglas was born on December 11th 1715 in Plainfield, Windham, Connecticut. His parents were William Douglass II (1672-1719) and Sarah Elizabeth Proctor (1675-1731) of New London, Connecticut. Captain Asa Douglas was buried in Stephentown Cemetery, Stephentown, Rensselaer, New York in 1792. He died November 12th.
Charles Henry James Douglas' book says the following about Captain Asa:
"Asa Douglas, born in Plainfield, Conn., Dec. 11, 1715. He married, about 1737, Rebecca Wheeler. She was born Aug. 26, 1718. He removed fro Plainfield to Old Canaan about 1746, and remained there some twenty years. In 1766 he removed with his family to what was at that time Jericho Hollow, Mass., but which was subsequently included in Stephentown, N. Y. His son William had preceded him the year before. When Asa came he brought with him a company of men who cleared thirty acres of land and built a large farm-house. The nearest neighbor was four miles away, and they were obliged to go fourteen miles to the saw-mill. The garret of the house, which is still (1877) standing in good repair, was used during the Revolutionary war as a jail, there being at that early day none in the county. Asa participated in the war, and led a company of thirty 'Silver Grays' at the battle of Bennington, on the 16th of August, 1777, when the force of British and Indians sent to seize the stores collected at that place were defeated by the Americans under Col. John Stark. Asa continued to reside in Stephentown till the time of his death, which occurred Nov. 12, 1792. His widow survived him some fourteen years, and died June 12, 1809."
William Douglass II was born February 19th, 1672 to William Douglass and Abiah Hough Douglas. He was born in New London, Connecticut and died in Plainfield, Connecticut on August 10th, 1719. He married Sarah Proctor. He is buried in Old Plainfield Cemetery.
Information from an unknown source reads:
"Dea. William Douglas, born in New London, Conn., Feb. 19, 1672-3, He was admitted to the church, July 24, 1698. The next year he removed with his wife and two children to "the new plantation on the Quinnebaug, which was afterwards named Plainfield." Here lands were set off to him "on the east side of the river." He also owned lands in Voluntown, which he purchased of his father, Aug. 18, 1715, for "thirteen pounds of good and current money."
He was one of the little company that covenanted together and formed a church in Plainfield, in 1705. The Rev. Joseph Coit was called to the charge of this little flock, and William Douglas was chosen the first deacon. In the old burial ground at Plainfield, an ancient gravestone bears this inscription: - "In memory of Mr. William Douglas, Who was ye first Deacon of ye chu of Christ in Plainfield who Departed this Life August ye 10th A. D. 1719 in ye 46th year of his Age."
Deacon Douglas died in the prime of life, and greatly lamented. All the church and town records, and all but a few files of the probate records, of Plainfield, were consumed at the burning of the town by Arnold, in 1781. Among the probate records saved, was the will of Dea. William Douglas. It was dated July 6, 1717, and proved Sept. 25, 1717. In it he provides for his wife, Sarah, and eleven children, all of the latter under twenty-one years of age. His wife was Sarah Proctor, but no date of his marriage can be found in the New London records. His eldest two children were born in New London, all the others in Plainfield. His widow, Sarah, was living in 1729, but no record of her death has been found.
Children: -
i. Hannah, b. Sept. 7, 1696; bapt. Feb. 14, 1696-7; m. Feb. 9, 1713-4, Thomas Williams, Plainfield.
ii. William, b. Feb. 19, 1697-8; m. Mary Hanover.
iii. Samuel, b. April 13, 1699; bat. May 28, 1699; d. June 1703.
iv. Abiah, b. Feb. 26, 1701-2; m. May 3, 1720, Henry Holland, Plainfield; had Sarah Holland, b. Jan. 8, 1720-1.
v. John, b. July 28, 1703; m. Olive Spaulding.
vi. Sarah, b. Dec. 7, 1704.
vii. Jerusha, b. April 26, 1706.
viii. Samuel, b. Dec. 3, 1707; m. Mary -----.
ix. Benajah, b. Sept. 17, 1710; m. ---- ----.
x. James, b. May 20, 1711; m. Rachel Marsh.
xi. Thomas, b. Nov. 26, 1712; m. Martha Gallup.
xii. Asa, b. Dec. 11, 1715; m. Rebecca Wheeler."
William Douglass II's stone, photo taken by Kevin Casey.
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