James SAWYER

Born: 1794 at Carpenter's Point, NY
Died: 1852 at Mill Rift, PA (58yo)

Father: Benjamin SAWYER
Mother: Hannah WOOD

Spouse: Catherine NEARPASS (1792-1859)

Children:

  • Hannah (b1813) m. Solomon MIDDAUGH
  • John Nearpass (1817-1904) m. Martha CRANE
  • Benjamin Carpenter (1819-1909) m. Mary VALENTINE
  • James Madison (1822-59) m. Hannah (MAPES?) (DAVIS) WINTERMUTE
  • William (1824-1908) m. Frances ARNOTT
  • Sally Ann (1828-79) m. James CASKEY
  • Michael N(earpass?) (1834-1904) m. Jemima COLEMAN

    James settled in Mill Rift, PA in 1808. His brother, John, also settled there (not sure who was first?). On 17 Dec 1812 he married Catherine NEARPASS. She was the daughter of John and Sarah (SQUIRL) NEARPASS of Orange County, Goshen, NY. All of the children of James and Catherine were born in Mill Rift, PA.

    Lisa Stitt, a fellow participant in the NYORANGE rootsweb list, found an entry in the ERFPC source on p. 58, Register of members: James SAWYER and his wife Catharine SAWYER were received on 6 May 1816 and dismissed 18 Feb 1818. The probable purpose of their dismissal was their departure for Mill Rift, suggesting they left Goshen in early 1818. James was 24 and Catherine 26 years old. If true, the oldest 2 children were born in Goshen, contrary to the statement above.

    Note: Elaine MASON records show James Madison SAWYER d. 1856.


    Contemporary Events (mostly from BN HT, CHME):
    - cf Ben1 for earlier dates
    - 1776 Declaration of Independence, War of Indep to 1783
    - 1781 Kant's 'Critique of Pure Reason' published, said human reason lmt'd to space/time, excluding religion (led to feelings-based religion [and liberal theology])
    - 1784 Brit PM Wm Pitt 'the Younger' est. political cntl of India
    - 1787 US Constitution put into force
    - 1788 1rst Brit convicts sent to 'Botany Bay' prison colony in Australia
    - 1789 French Revolution begins, President #1 Geo Washington (to Mar 1797)
    - 1791 Bill of Rights passed, 1rst 10 Amendments to US Constitution, John Wesley dies (b1703 88yo) Methodist fndr, emphasized holiness, Christian perfection
    - 1792 Charles G Finney born (d1875 83yo) ldr of 2nd Grt Awakening (modernist, pressure tactics)
    - 1793 K Louis XVI of France executed, wife Marie Antoinette shortly after, reign of terror to 1794, Rev. France declares war on Britain, Netherlands and Spain
    - 1795 5-man Directory rules France (Danton, Robespierre k.)
    - 1796 Napoleon leads French Army to conquer most of Italy by 1797, Rome, Switz., Egypt 1798, Syria 1799 ... (but now a pwrfl coalition is uniting against him)
    - 19C optimism based on 100yr peace (1815-1914), Industrial Rev (trans, farm, med adv), most Christians were postmillenialists
    - 1801 Cane Ridge, KY camp revival w/(Presb) Rev Barton W Stone, sparked 2nd Grt Awakening
    - 1803 LA Purchase i.e. US buys it from France, OH becomes 17th state
    - 1804 Lewis and Clark expedition to Nov 1805
    - 1806 Napoleon dissolves HRE
    - 1807 Slave trade abolished in British Empire (Wm Wilberforce)
    - 1808-16 President #4 James Madison (DR) 5' 100# father of US Constitution
    - 1811 Luddite riots in England, K Geo III declared insane, Geo IV t/o as regent (K 1820-30)
    - 1812-4 War of 1812 US v. Britain over shipping, territory disputes, 1812 Napoleon invades Russia w/Grand Army (bad move, only 100k of 600k survive)
    - 1815 Napoleon defeated at Waterloo, Congress of Vienna settles post-war Europe (Metternich, Castlereagh, Tallyrand)
    - 1816-24 President #5 James Monroe (DR) purchased FL from Spain in 1819, 'Monroe' Doctrine 1823, Francis Asbury dies 1816 (b1745 71yo) Methodist circuit-riding preacher
    - 1818 Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle; France joins 4 Grt Pwrs [UK, AHE, Prussia, Russia] in 'Quintuple Alliance', US-Canada border fixed at 49th parallel
    - 1819 CJ3 John Marshall: 'The power to tax involves the power to destroy', Simon Bolivar secures indep of 'Greater Columbia', Singapore fnd'd by Brit admin. Sir Stamford Raffles
    - 1820 Missouri Compromise, several new states
    - 1824-8 President #6 John Quincy Adams (DR) son of #2
    - 1828-36 President #7 Andrew Jackson (D) populist, 1st pres. to ride a RR, famous 'Battle of New Orleans' ldr in War of 1812
    - 1830 1rst passenger steam RRs open, Mormonism fnd'd (1 of 4mc)
    - 1832 [1rst] Reform Act in Britain, extends vote to middle class
    - 1834 Charles H Spurgeon born (d1892 58yo) influential London pastor; Friedrich Schleiermacher dies (b1768 66yo) German romantic and 'father of [modern] liberal theology' (echoed Kant, religion is about feeling, doing, NOT thinking); Wm Carey dies (b1761 73yo) pioneering English Calvinist Baptist missionary
    - 1836-40 President #8 Martin Van Buren (D) 1rst pres. b. a US citizen
    - 1836 Chartist movement in Britain demands vote for ALL adult males, TX wins indep from Mexico after battles at Alamo and San Jacinto
    - 1837 Q Victoria to 1901 64yrs, Dwight L Moody born (d1899 62yo) 'pietism v. modernism'
    - 1839-42 Opium War; Britain v. China
    - 1841 President #9 W H Harrison (W) elected 1840, dies Su 4 Apr 1841 in ofc, VP Tyler t/o
    - 1841-4 President #10 John Tyler (W) nicknamed 'His Accidency', Cyrus I Scofield b1843, Sojourner Truth freed 1843
    - 1844-8 President #11 James Knox Polk (D), acq most land for US since LA purchase
    - 1846 Height of Potato Famine in Ireland (1M d. by 1851), Corn Laws repealed, Mexican-American War to 1848
    - 1848 Year of revolutions in Europe, CA gold rush begins, 'Communist Manifesto' published
    - 1848-50 President #12 Zachary Taylor (W), military man, d. in office
    - 1850 Tai Ping rebellion in China, revolt against Manchu Dynasty (to 1864)
    - 1851 Great Exhibition in London (glass bldg?)
    - 1850-2 President #13 Millard Fillmore (W), ZT's VP, t/o on d., auth. Matthew Perry's trip to Japan, which helped open trade
    - 1852-6 President #14 Franklin Pierce (D), Gadsden Purchase adding NM and part of AZ to USA
    - 1853-6 British missionary David Livingstone crosses Africa, discovers Victoria Falls 1855
    - cf BenC for later dates

    Sources:

  • Dear Folks
  • Tom Hulse
  • Early Records of First Presbyterian Church in Goshen (ERFPC), compiled by Charles C. Coleman, 1934
  • BN HT = History's Timeline, Barnes & Noble, 1981, own.
  • CHME = Christian History Made Easy, Dr Timothy Paul Jones, Rose, 2005, own.