JOE BARBER’S COLUMN
When you read this the winter of 2000-2001 will be
just a memory and thoughts and actions will be directed toward yards, gardens,
summer outings and traveling.
For those who are not members of the Olmste(a)d
Family Association (OFA), a summer happening I would like to mention is the OFA
reunion which will be held June 21-24, 2001 at North Park University, Chicago,
IL. Information on program, accommodations, etc. can be obtained from Robyn
Miller, 523 Winston Dr., Deerfield, IL.
In
this issue is an extract from the Vermont Historical Gazetteer (Volume 1, pub.
Burlington, VT 1868). It tells about the difficult life of a Jabez Omsted and
his family and of his tragic death. From the reference to a son Jonathan, and
considering the time and place, it appears this was Jabez #9129 (1760-1813),
the son of Moses. If these deductions are correct, this article will be of
particular interest to those of our kin who descend from Benjamin son of Jabez.
We are indebted to Marie Schroeder of Minnesota for providing this article.
Marie was looking for Snow ancestry and was searching for Chapman Olmsted #9314
and his wife Elizabeth Snow when we first made contact on the Olmstead Family
Genealogy Forum.
Some
time ago, Sue Zolkowski sent me excerpts from the History of the Town of
Pittsford, VT and from General Petitions for Grants of Land 1778-1811 taken
from State Papers of VT. She saw these in the library of Duke University in
Durham, NC where her oldest son studies.
The history of the Town of Pittsford states that 1781 was marked by various skirmishes between the settlers and marauding Indians and Tories. Fort Vengeance was garrisoned and the few families in the township resorted there for protection on occasions of alarm. In the month of May, Jabez Olmstead then living some two hundred rods east of his father discovered in the evening several Indians in the vicinity. Not thinking it safe to go to the fort, he with his wife and one child lay in the woods through the night. The next morning he discovered his home destroyed. This Jabez is probably the same #9129.
The following information was contained in the
General Petitions concerning lands:
On May 7, 1779 Jabez Olmsted and 64 others
petitioned to settle unoccupied land which was then the township of Orwell.
There was no record of action on this petition.
A
petition dated Sept 13, 1779 at Pittsford contained the names of Moses Olmsted,
Jabez Olmsted, Simeon Olmsted and some 43 others requesting the grant of vacant
land in Whiting and vicinity. Ebenezer Drury, who served in Captain Cooley’s
militia company of Pittsford, and saw action in 1779, ‘80 and ‘81, presented
this petition.
A petition dated Oct 26, 1779 was filed by Moses
Omsted and 15 others asking for unoccupied land in what was then the township
of Alburg. There was no record of action on this petition.
A petition dated Sept 23, 1788 at Chittenden signed
by Jabesh Olmsted and 20 others concerned a dispute about a new survey and how
it affected the town line of Chittenden and Philadelphia in the County of
Rutland.
In getting back to current times, I mentioned last
time about visiting the Carberry, MB cemetery where several of my Olmstead kin
are buried. Cousins from Carberry and Brandon are making a photo album of the
family monuments in the cemetery. This will help to tell a bit of the history
of those kinfolk.
May you all have a good summer.
Joe
Barber