More on John Newberry
 Newberry family in New York

More on John Newberry and Jemima Benedict 1771-1843

There is not a lot of information regarding the Newberry's in Warwick. What does survive is contained in miscellaneous
records in Warwick.  What follows are a few of those that have survived.

When John Newbery II. died in 1818, he left a will that is witnessed by James and Phoebe Burt. John Newberry�s will
leaves his property to his sons and �a room in the house for my wife.� The sons eventually end up either losing the property
or selling it.  It appears that Daniel Durand son-in-law to John Newberry may have been owner for awhile.

After John died, Jemima was devastated and set out to read the Bible for her husband forty-nine times before her own
death. She cut a notch in the Bible each time she finished.  She was close to being through her fiftieth reading at the time
of her own death.  This Bible was in the hands of Mildred Durand Gordy in the 1920�s and perhaps in the 1940's was
taken care of by Fannie Benedict.  Its current location is unknown.  Mildred was the grand daughter of Arcenith Newberry
Durand and Daniel Durand. We are looking for the Bible's current location.
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Entries in a ledger of Stephen A. Burt, who owned a store at Bellvale 1823 to 1826 show that Anna Newbery, John
Newbery, carpenter, (probably son) Mrs. John Newbery, Widow of John Newbery and Joshua Newbery were all
customers. Bellvale is a hamlet within the town of Warwick about four miles from the village of Warwick. The Newberry
homestead was in the neighborhood of Bellvale on the current Bellvale Rd.

Entries in the Day Book of Francis Baird from December 1773 to May 1774 show that John Newbury was a patron.
Francis Baird owned the tavern and general store in the village. There is also a signed ledger showing 'a' Samuel Smith
did business there. New information about Baird's Day Book will be available from Albert Wisner Library soon.

Provided by Warwick Town Historian, Florence P. Tate P.O. Box 176, Warwick, N.Y.
10990-0176.

Assessment Rolls, Town of Warwick

1775 Assessment Roll   John Newberry, property estimated at �3 / 0 / 0

                                        Edwin Newberry, property estimated at �2 / 17 / 0

This information comes from History of Orange County, by Ruttenber & Clark page 567  

Warwick Town Assessment Rolls
Florence P. Tate, Warwick Town Historian  in June 2000 spot-checked the assessment rolls and the following is what
she discovered.                                                     

1801:  John Newberry
1811:  John Newberry
1813:  John Newberry, value of real estate $2,812.50  Personal property, $4,000;  tax $5.04
1816:  John Newbury
           James Newbury
1820:  John Newbury
           Joshua Newbury
1824:  John Newberry 165 acres; valuation, $1,475
           Joshua Newberry; 100 acres; valuation $977.
1826:  John Newbury
           Joshua Newbury
1830:  Jemima Newberry
           Joshua Newberry
           Anna Newberry (personal property, not real estate)
1834:  Jemima Newbury, widow
           Joshua Newbury (personal, no real estate)
1844:  None of that name

We also have the deed papers for John and Edy�s land.  These were secured through
Elizabeth Bonita, who is a title searcher in Chester, N.Y. Many thanks to both! 

Holley Surname

John Newberry was a witness in 1820 to the will of John S. Holley of the Town of Warwick
Jane Stephen's mother's maiden name was Holley. There was also a John Holley who was
the first Orange County man to die in the Revolutionary War in 1776 at the battle of White
Plains.
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There is recent information to suggest that Jane Stephens' mother was not a woman named
Elizabeth Holly.  Recently information seems to indicate that Jane's mother was Elizabeth Lydia
Scofield and her father was Obadiah Stevens Jr. They were married August 9, 1761. Their
children were Edward b. March 11, 1765, Sarah b. February 22, 1767, Jane b. June 9, 1771,
Lydia Stevens  b. July 23, 1773, Obadiah b. January 8 1776, William b. May 10, 1778, and
Seth b. March 4, 1781.  We are still working on finding more matches on this information.
Jane was known to have brothers William and Issac, so there may be one name missing in this
list. 

My thanks to Robert Acoveno for finding this information as compiled by Mrs. Susannah  Stevens Whitcomb,
whose work resides in the OCGS in Goshen, N.Y.  The information had a notation indicating the information
came from the Stamford, Connecticut Registration. She states that she didn't know where this particular family
connected within her own.
In the late summer of  2002, Larue Olson spent considerable time and effort looking
into the documentation for this family and was unable to corroborate the information presented in the ancestral
file.  She has also engaged Barbara DiMunno in looking for this information in Orange County. There are no
Holly's mentioned in the Newberry Journal ca 1841.

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First Baptist Pastor in Warwick

Jemima Benedict Newberry's father James Benedict was the first pastor in Warwick. �James Benedict was ordained
November 7, 1765 and installed as Elder and pastor of the Baptist Church of Warwick.� The people of Warwick knew
him as a traveling pastor and invited him to build a new parish for the city. He was an assistant pastor for the church in
Ridgefield, Conn. He built the first Baptist church building in Warwick. The footings for that building supposedly still exist
next to the cemetery where he and his wife Mary Blackman Benedict are buried. He married Mary Blackman in 1740.
He died in Warwick in 1792. Mary died early in life. He had two other wives, Jemima (no surname known) and Sarah
Bross, widow of Peter Bross - a parishioner. Sarah was supposedly a resident of the Ramapo Valley. Warwick town
historian, Florence Tate was instrumental in finding a full name for Sarah in June of 2000.

�On June 29, 1786 Elder Benedict was discharged at his request.�  - note from church record. In 1787 Elder Thomas
 Montanye is listed as pastor.

The Old School Baptist Church has an interesting history. In trying to find information about James Benedict's training
as a pastor it came to my attention that there was none for the Old School Baptists merely took it upon themselves when
they felt that they were called by God to preach the gospel. Old School or Primitive Baptists.

This link will take you to a paper on the Centennial Celebration of the Old School Baptist Church and gives a short
history of the founding of the church up through the Civil War.  It is written by the former pastor Elder Cox.

Sometime, in the 1770�s James Benedict had moved from Warwick to Wyoming, Pennsylvania [also know then as
Westmoreland] to establish a new parish for the Old School Baptists. This was during a time of terrible war. Benedict
and his family along with other Benedict�s and Blackman�s who came to settle, were trapped by the conflict. 
See extended history written by Elder Leonard Cox. coming soon.

The story goes that Iroquois Chief Joseph Brant came to Benedict the night before the planned attack and gave him
warning and safe passage away from Wyoming. Brant supported the English cause and rode with the English army
and a contingent of Mohawk warriors. The next day the remaining people were attacked and massacred. After the
attack Benedict returned to Warwick and took up the congregation he had earlier established, living there for the remainder
of his life.  It is unclear why Brant chose to warn Benedict.  There are two historical theories written, one was that Benedict
was a Mason as was Brant and they recognized each other as such.  The second, was that Brant revered men of the cloth.
Since Brant himself was trained as a pastor, I submit a third theory without proof � Benedict�s family was affiliated in some
way with the Iroquois nation - possibly he or his wife was native.

The War of the Revolution!

1 Calloway, Colin G.,  The American Revolution in Indian Country, Crisis and Diversity in Native American
     Communities,
Cambridge University Press 1995
2   Kraft, Herbert C. The Lenape Archeaology, History and Ethnography New Jersey Historical Society 1986

Other Sources:

1.  The Horton Papers, Orange County Genealogical Society.

2.  Van Duzer, Elizabeth C.  Elder James Benedict - The Pioneer Preacher of the Warwick and Wyoming Valleys Warwick, New York 
Reprinted from Volume XVIII, Proceedings of the Wyoming Historical Society.)
Copied from the original records of the Baptist Church
in Warwick, N.Y.
Wilkes-Barre, PA. 1923

3.  Mrs. Susannah Stevens Whitcomb Genealogy, Orange County Genealogical Society.

 

Other Topics and Destinations:

Newberry Researcher's Corner - BRICK WALLS  This page is dedicated to the continuing research of the family and the
 researchers who continue with me to sift through the ancient records of the New England and New York.

All pages
Stage 1
/Connecticut / New York / More Newberry's in New York Samuel Smith / Smith Farm / Revolution /
Old School Baptists
/Native people in New England / Stage 2 / Ohio / Missouri / Illinois & Iowa / Nauvoo /
Flight to SW Iowa
/ The Half Breed Tract / Cutlerite membership / dissidence in NauvooDeath of James Newberry /
Wives and Family
/ Children who Went west /Stage 3 /Exodus to Utah / Utah Morrisites / Hannah's Children /
Hannah's Necklace
/ genealogy table / Addenda /Newberry Brick WallsWhispers - beginning the search /
Bibliography
/ Family Album / Jonathan Newberry Bible /

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