GENERATION V

Nahum Daniels

Source: History of Herkimer County, N. Benton, p. 357

The move took young Nahum about 230 miles west, northwest of Mendon into the historic Mohawk River Valley and foothills of the Adirondack Mountains of Up State, New York.

The first wave of European settlers arrived in the area in the 1720�s. The colonial government had negotiated the purchase of the land from the Indians. The first settlers to arrive were a distinct group of German folks from the Lower Palatinate who had first lived along the Hudson River but wanted to move further west, seeking good land for crops and dairy farming distant from previously established settlements. Being the first settlers in the area was not without its risks, however. The French controlled the wilderness areas to the west and the remaining Indian tribes in the area would be the source of trouble in the following years.

In November 1757, the French and Indian War spilled over into the area and brought intense grief to the early settlers. Attacks on the community were severe. Their lives, property, livestock took heavy losses. Again a few years later, major movements and battles of the Revolutionary War would once again scar the people and countryside. Individuals and families who eventually sided with the British during the Revolutionary War held many of the pre-war land grants that had been awarded. Some even organized Loyalist Regiments and recruited Indians to fight against the American Militia & Continental Army. Raids by the loyalist and the indian tribes in the area against the Americans were frequent and brutal. The fertile lands controlled by the loyalists were used to grow crops that were turned over to the British military to feed their troops. After the war, those who sided with the British fled to Canada or elsewhere and all who bore arms against the United States had their lands confiscated. The Indians for the most part departed the area as a result of their support for the British cause. In the convening years the confiscated land was made available for new settlements at very reasonable rates that attracted many from the New England states.
Source: Journals of the Military Expedition of Major General John Sullivan

As the situation stabilized in the years after the war the flow of the first settlers from the New England area began starting in the 1786-87 timeframe. They occupied the lands south and west of what was to become Fairfield Village.

We have no way to know exactly why Nahum decided to leave the Mendon area; however, he was the youngest member of the family and his father, Major Joseph Daniels died when he was just 11 years old. While the Daniels family had been in Mendon since the beginning of the 18th century there seemed to be no real reason for him to remain in the area. Nahum�s father had provided him an eleven-acre portion of the family lands in his will. However, it appears that he must have sold the land to a remaining family member prior to his departure to the frontier country of upstate New York. In addition, its unclear but it may have been possible, Major Daniels was posthumously awarded a land grant for his service during the Revolutionary War. (Note: New York Regimental Surgeon Samuel Cooke, Nahum�s future wife, Ann Cooke�s father, was granted several hundred acres in Virgil in central New York.) If so that may have been a catalyst to his movement to the area.
Source: Goodrich, George B. The Centennial History of the Town of Dryden, 1797-1897

Bridge & Main Streets, Newport, New York
Click on image to enlarge

Nahum Daniels occupied a building at the corner of Main and Bridge streets, a short distance from the bridge that crossed West Canada Creek.
Source: History of Herkimer County, G. Hardin, p. 406

Ann Cooke Daniels' father, Dr. Samuel Cooke of Poughkeepsie, New York served as Surgeon in the Revolutionary War from August 25, 1775 through January 1, 1781. Dr. Cooke served in the 3rd NY, Diary of Major Henry Livingston describes his arrival on September 3, 1775, Elmore's, and the 5th New York Regiments. Samuel died on May 23, 1783 in Poughkeepsie. He was 45 years old.

Ann�s mother, Temperance Cooke still resided at her Poughkeepsie residence at the time of Ann's marriage to Nahum. Temperance owned and managed large landholdings acquired prior to and after her husband's death. She was granted 1,900 acres of land from the federal government for her's husbands service well after the end of the war.
Source: Revolutionary War Bounty Land Grants Awarded by State Governments, L. Bockstruck