Pioneer Families - THOMAS
Extracted From
Chapter XVII
Early history of the town of Hopkinton :
history of East Village (Nicholville) and vicinity,
diaries of Elisha Risdon and Artemas Kent,
soldiers of the Civil War,
genealogical record of sixty of the pioneer families

Carlton E. Sanford
Boston: Bartlett Press, 1903

[Transcribed by Dave Swerdfeger]




IN this chapter is given the genealogical records of many of the pioneers of the town, of all that I have been able to gather sufficient data and information to make a fairly full record. The preparation of these records has required much time, labor, correspondence, persistence and patience. Had I had in the beginning a full comprehension of the tedious labor required, I now feel sure I should not have undertaken it. That there are some errors in dates and possibly a few in names I am quite satisfied, since considerable of my information came from elderly people who wrote feebly and indistinctly. I think it will be readily understood, if the reader will bear in mind that it is in continuous order; that the first, second, third and fourth generations are each carried slightly to the right, and that each generation always has the same indentation.

ZEBEL THOMAS b. 1754, Claremont, N.H.; d. 1835, aged eighty-one years; m. Lois Damon, b. Claremont, N.H.; d. 1819. Came to Hopkinton in 1805, and settled on the east part of the farm now owned by David F. Henderson. The record is very incomplete. Had nine children, all born in New Hampshire:
  • John, b. 1778; d. 1870, Browning, Vt., aged ninety-two years; m. Asenah Mead; m. 2d, -----Vale, a widow. He built a hotel in Ogdensburg, gristmill in Lisbon and then hotel with Masonic hall on the corner where Chittenden's store stands. (See article on hotels in Hopkinton for his experience with customs officers.) In 1820, 1821, he built a distillery on the bank of the river in the rear of the residence of Samuel Goodell. After this he went to Ann Arbor and built the first woollen factory in the state, also a brick yard. In 1838 he came back and built sawmill, gristmill, etc., in Dickinson, when all woods. Had two children by first and two by second marriage:
    • Heman, d. in California.
    • Mead, d. in Michigan.
    • Mason, d. in Ogdensburg.
    • Lucy, d. in Michigan; also her mother.
  • Joseph, d. 1881, Dover, Del. Wife's name not known. Settled on one of the Crary farms in Pierrepont, went to Upper Canada in 1830, and in 1869 went to Dover, Del., to live with son Hiram. He was insane for many years. Had five children:
    • Lucius, physician, killed by cars at Dover in 1894.
    • Stephen, d. in Dover in 1895, aged seventy-five years, and rich.
    • Hiram, 1. Dover, Del.
    • Eber, 1. Dover, Del.
    • John, physician in Rochester.
  • William, d. in Bangor, N.Y. Settled in Bangor, went to Michigan and came back to Bangor. He married a widow McComber, who is now living with her son, George McComber, in Dickinson, at the advanced age of 101 years, September 10, 1901. Had one child by first wife:
    • Daughter.
  • Harvey. Wife's name not known. Was a pack peddler, went into grocery and dry goods business in Ogdensburg, was a director in the first companies to build a railroad to the lake, built wall on the bank of the Oswegatchie, became insane, left a large property. Had one child:
    • Harvey, 1. Rochester, N.Y.
  • James, d. 1881, Lawrence, N.Y.; m. Martha Mead. Lived on farm with father and then in Lawrence. Had one child:
    • Abner P., d. February, 1895, aged sixty-nine years.
  • Anna, b. 1782; d. 1872, Norwood, N.Y., aged ninety; m. Abner Paine of Hopkinton; m. 2d, Sidney Hale of Pierrepont.
  • Chauncey D., b. 1789; d. August 8, 1864, Lawrence, N.Y.; m. Hannah Blanchard, September, 1810; b. Rutland, Vt., 1788; d. February 19, 1863. Was a blacksmith, came to Hopkinton in 1807, had shop just north of Chittenden store, was there at the time of the British raid in 1814. Kept hotel in log house in Russell in 1815; then moved to Clinton, Camden, Parish, Thomasville, etc. Had ten children:
    • Nancy M., b. March 14, 1812, Hopkinton; d. July 6, 1818.
    • Chauncey D., b. September 9, 1815, Russell; d. 1863 in war at Helena, Ark.; wife's name unknown. Had two children:
      • Harry, 1. New Lebanon, Wis.
      • John, 1. Rochester, Minn.
    • Benjamin, b. 1816; d. 1816.
    • Norton F., b. April 18, 1818, Hopkinton; d. May 21, 1903, at Potsdam, N.Y.; m. Lucy Chaffin, March 20, 1850; b. Holden, Mass.; d. September 1, 1860; m. 2d, Sarah Flagg, September 11, 1861, Worcester, Mass.; d. September 16, 1889. He is a wagon maker by trade, was foreman in large shop at East Brookfield, Mass., and Elizabethport, N.J. Bought a farm on Madrid road in 1865, and in 1895 sold it and moved into Potsdam village. He has taken a lively interest in the diary and furnishes this record. Had two children by each marriage:
      • George, d. November 29, 1862, aged ten years.
      • Jones W., d. December 9, 1862, aged three years.
      • George A., b. December 7, 1862.
      • Frank C., b. May 30, 1864; m. Belle Nesbitt; 1. Chicago, Ill.
    • Nathan W., b. August 15, 1821; d. Rochester, Minn., 1897; m. Lydia E. Parker, Gouverneur.
    • Nancy M., b. 1823 (Mrs. James Ablard); d. February 3, 1885.
    • Hannah Jane, b. in Clinton, 1825; d. 1825.
    • Mary Jane, b. in Clinton, August 14, 1827 (Mrs. Ives Munroe); d. October 6, 1885.
    • Henry M., b. May 28, 1829; m. Belle Phillips.
    • Julliett, b. 1835; d. Lee Centre, N.Y., 1846.
  • Lois, m. Charles Weller in Pierrepont; m. 2d, Hiram Smith. Had nine children by first and one by second marriage:
    • Philander, m. Cynthia Woodruff.
    • Charles, m. Susan Gibson.
    • Alonzo, m. Mary Preston.
    • Eliza, m. Hiram Taylor.
    • Clarissa, m. Turner Tilden.
    • Laura, m. Alvin Woodruff.
    • Amy, m. Lewis Waste.
    • Melissa, m. Jason Gibson.
    • Almyra, m. Hiram Smith.
    • Norman Smith, m. Mary Gibson, Hopkinton, N.Y.

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