Humphrey Wightman (1780-1850)

Humphrey Wightman

 

Humphrey Wightman was born July 16, 1780 in Bozrah, New London Co., CT1, and died ca. 1850 in Parish, Oswego Co., NY1. He was the son of Abraham Wightman, Jr. and Catherine Randall. He married Eunice Palmer January 7, 1804 in German Flatts, NY, daughter of Stutely Palmer and Eunice Palmer. She was born September 9, 1780 in Stonington, New London Co., CT1, and probably died in Parish, Oswego Co., NY.

Humphrey spent his young childhood growing up in Bozrah, Connecticut on his father Abraham's farm during the pivotal years following the American Revolution. He moved with his family from Bozrah to German Flatts area in Herkimer County, New York, along with other families from this area, shortly after the formation of the United States of America in 1789 when Humphrey was still a young child. There, Humphrey spent his late childhood and adolescence, growing up on the farm in remote, hilly Warren, New York. Humphrey's cousin, first cousin Uriah Wightman (son of John), and his Uncles John and James, had farms right next to Stutely Palmer, Sr., in German Flatts proper. Humphrey was likely a frequent visitor to his relatives' farms in German Flatts, where he courted and proposed to Stutely Palmer's eldest daughter, Eunice. They were married early in 1804, when both were 23 years old, during the term of President Thomas Jefferson, and just a few months before the famous duel between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton that killed Hamilton. During his visits to the Wightman and Palmer farms in German Flatts, Humphrey also established close relationships with his first cousin William D. Wightman (son of James), William Wightman (a more distant cousin- the great-grandson of Daniel Wightman and great-great-grandson of Rev. Valentine Wightman), and Stutely Palmer, Jr., Eunice's brother. These relationships would prove important later on.

During Humphrey's young adult life, the American frontier in particular, and American culture in general, were transformed by the "Second Great Awakening". This evangelical revival movement marked the advent of the revival "camp meeting" where participants sang, shouted and danced in ecstasy. It was particularly powerful in Methodist and Baptist churches, and spawned the important ministry of Charles G. Finney. This had the effect of reinvigorating American religion, which had declined after the revolution, and set the stage for important moral movements in the coming decades, such as abolitionism and prohibition. As a likely Baptist growing up in rural New York, Humphrey was undoubtedly influenced by the movement, even if he did not participate in revivals himself.

Humphrey moved his family to Mexico, NY, following the trail blazed by William and William D. Wightman and Stutely Palmer, Jr. in February 1805. At this time, there was no civilization in this part of what would become Oswego County. It was cold, snowy, inhospitable country, being located in the heart of the "snow belt" east of Lake Ontario, but relatively fertile and good for agriculture, which was the settler's principle concern. Like the Mohawk River Valley that Humphrey and Eunice left, it is good dairy country, gently rolling terrain with many streams. Humphrey and Eunice bought land very close to the plots owned by William Wightman and Stutely Palmer on March 27, 1815, but according several accounts, they were known to reside in Mexico a decade earlier. The other Wightmans and Stutely Palmer were definitely there by 1806. None of these families appear in the 1810 federal census, suggesting that they were simply missed, being in a still under-populated and remote area. Their farm would later fall into that portion of Mexico that was separated and incorporated as the town of Parish in 1828.

The settlement of Mexico required enduring considerable hardship. The earliest school was established in a barn in 1811. In 1812, the whole region was ravaged by a cholera epidemic, and again in 1820 by a lethal dysentery outbreak. One estimate suggests that nearly half of the settlers living here between 1800 and 1820 perished due to illness, accident, or exposure. There were also wild animals to be concerned with; the town offered to pay wolf bounties in 1804 and 1812. Public schools were established in 1813, with Stutely Palmer serving as a commissioner and Humphrey's cousin William D. Wightman as inspector. The original school house was a log cabin type structure, built on the grounds of the Presbyterian Church. By 1825, the region would be significantly more developed following the completion of the Erie Canal, just to the south.

During Humphrey's adult life, the young nation fought the War of 1812 against the British. While there is no record that Humphrey served in the war, his younger brothers Nathan and Rufus served in the New York militia, Nathan with considerable heroic distinction. He also would have lived to see the rise of Andrew Jackson to the presidency of the United States, and the surge in abolitionist sentiment in the north.

The 1820, 1830, and 1840 US censuses all list Humphrey and his household in Mexico (Parish in 1830 and 1840), alongside Stutely Palmer, Jr. and William Wightman (not the childless William D. Wightman).

In 1837, Humphrey and his family weathered the great Panic of 1837 that swept the country as grain prices crashed and supply followed, creating a financial crisis for farmers like Humphrey. Asher may have been the only boy still living at home at this time, so it must have been a difficult time for a farmer in his mid-fifties.

Humphrey's Parish farm was deeded to his sons James and Asher in 1848. The older son George Ransom (our ancestor) had already moved out on his own by this time. William and Hannah Wightman, as well as Stutely Palmer are buried in the Colosse cemetery in Parish, but Humphrey and Eunice are not. It seems likely, however, that Humphrey and Eunice died in Parish.

 

Children of Humphrey Wightman and Eunice Palmer are:

Sources

1. Mary Ross Whitman, George Wightman of Quidnessett, RI and Descendants, (1939, Chicago: Edwards Brothers).

2. Diary of Charles Luke Keith, (1999, transcribed index by Barbara Triphahn), "Electronic."

3. John C. Crandall, Elder John Crandall of Rhode Island and His Descendants, (1949, New Woodstock, NY).

 

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